OCR Text |
Show 1:!2 JAMAI CA. e1· pat·r on, b y 11 1· s 111 ·1 :1 ng two large prope. rties belonbaing I M f Sll.go These he IS now conduct· to t 1e arquess o · .. 1· ng, rt or 1u ·s own benefit , in add1.t 10n to several sugar and coffee es tates of which he IS the owner; and I find he is yet further extending his sugar cultivation, by forming a new plantation for the ~urp~se, on a farm hitherto in grass. These procccdmgs mvolve a practical testimony of the highest value, in favor of the present system. They are, as I understand, con· nected with the fact, that the payment of wages to a comparatively s;nallnumber of free laborers, produces a far less formidable debit in account, than the support of a thousand slaves, with all its collateral pecuniary burdens. Our friend Bravo has had the good sense to scpa· rate the two points of rent and wages. He charges the people a fair rent on their cottages and provision grounds, according to the money-value of their occnpation; at the same time, he pays them good wages, and leaves them at perfect liberty to take their labor to a better market, if they can find one. The conse· qucnce is that they are in general happy and contented, and work on his estates willingly and vigorously. The result of his own experience, and of his extensive knowledge of the island, is just this-that the emancipated negroes are working well, on the properties of their former holders, wherever they arc fairly, kindly, and wisely treated. These adverbs are severally intended to have their distinct force. All infractions of pure justice-all new fangled attempts to compel labor-all oppressive, inequitable modes of management-- must in the first place be renounced . Harsh, JAMAICA . 123 unkind treatment, profane swearing, and all hard language, must in the second place be avoided. And lastly, there must be discretion and firmness. Where fairness and kindness are practised, there will still be little probability of success, if unwise sacrifices arc made of the rights of the master-if; for instance, the laborers are allowed to take any quantity of wild land that they please, for their provision grounds, for little or no rent, and so to render themselves independent of wages. Again, the occasional caprices to which they are prone, and which are apt to irritate the tempers of overseers, require to be met by a calm and steady reststance. On one of A. Bravo's estates, the people had, shortly before, struck work for the renewal of an extravagant rate of wages, which had been allowed them, under peculiar circumstances, the year before. Our friend knew that the demand was unreasonable and quietly yet firmly resisted it. The consequenc~ was that, in a very few days, they were all at work again as heartily as before. He is further of the judgment that, like other laborers all the world over they require a careful superintendence. In the natur~ o~ things, thei1· service will be more or less eye-serVIce, until they come to be fully impressed with their moral and religions obligations, as cultivators of the soil. After breakfast we drove to Kelly's, one of Lord srl go ·s properti·e s. Here all is prospering, under A. Bravo's care; and the proprietor has given directions forth e bm " ld"m g o f" one hundred comfortable cottages on the estate, which are to be leased to the laborers, with one-acre plots of ground, so as to render them |