| OCR Text |
Show xiv PllEFA'l'ORY LETTER. But lastly in making this republication, I have one peculiar . . ' b' h' 1 I deem to be of the highest object m v1ew-an o ~ect w 1c 1 . . 1 f ospcrity of the cause of practtcal 1mportance to t 1e uture pr freedom, and especially to thy own plan for the extinction of the slave trade-1 mean the maintenance of the present prohibitory duties on slave grown coffee and sugar. If un~er the difficulties of the present crisis, as it regards the quanttty and price of these articles, the duties in question. should be r~laxed or extinguished, a market of immense magnttude would Immediately be opened for the produce of the slave labor of the Bra• ils, Cuba, and Porto Rico. The consequence would be, that ruin would soon overtake the planters of our West Indian colonies, and our free negroes would be deprived of their principal means of obtaining an honorable and comfortable livelihood ; but far more extensive, far more deplorable, would be the effect of such a change, on the millions of Africa. A vast new impulse would be given to slave labor, and therefore to the slave trade; and both the number and energy of those who delight to prey on the vitals of Africa would be indefinitely increased. True indeed it is that the high price of sugar is an incon· venience of no small magnitude to the population of Great Bri· tain and Ireland; and if that price should be still somewhat increased, the inconvenience will be more severely felt than it is at present. But the following letters contain, I trust, some clear and indisputable evidences that these difficulties are in their nature temporary. The present diminished produce of sugar and coffee in the West Indies, is the result of that unsettlement which took place immediately after the date of full freedom.Nor can it be denied, that this unsettlement, in Jamaica espe• cially, has been connected with unfair and impolitic attempts to compel the labor of free men. The desertion of estates, occasioned by these attempts, has given rise to a corresponding diminution of the crops. l~REFATOUY LE'I'TEil. XV It is certain, however, that a !Jetter understanding between the parties concerned has already taken place to a great extent; and there can be no question that the foundation is now laid, in many of our West Indian colonies, including Jamaica, of an increased production of their staple articles. The drought which has lately taken place in that island, must indeed have an unfavorable bearing on the question. But this is a circumstance which has no connection with the subject of labor, and which, as we hope, another year may fully remedy. Give a little time to the working of freedom in these interesting colonies-exercise patience for a year or two, while the seeds of prosperity are developmg themselves, under the influence of liberty-and free grown sugar and coffee will, as I believe, be poured, in ample abundance, into the British market. In Antigua, where full freedom is six years old, the production of sugar has been almost doubled. If the genuine operation of freedom is not restricted in Jamaica, I feel a strong hope that it will, before very long, be nearly doubled in that colony also. In the mean time, I cannot but be deeply sensible of the importance of a faithful endeavor on the part of abolitionists to promote,. by thetr mfluence over the emancipated negroes, a steady attentiOn to the cultivation of the staple articles of these and other islands. The negroes in Jamaica, and the friends wbo instruct them and maintain their cause, have undoubtedly been exposed to more than a few provocations. But let them not be tempted by such circumstances to harbor any hostile feelings towards the planters-let them rather endeavor to maintain that christian forbearance which wins its way infinitely better than vwlence and revenge. In the mean time, for the sake of the slaves in the Brazils, in Cuba, and in Porto Rico and far above all, for the safety of untold multitudes in benigh:ed Africa-let them direct th e·t r energt·e s to the extension of the cultivation of sugar and coffee. I d we 11 on t h ese articles not for the purpose |
