icholas M. Walliams 4 a ro Memorial eee 5 “ =e bs, e . SB Ethnological Collection ¥ a SL A y Boston Colle ge See N 6 = Library PEX TRACT FROM \ y PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1839, RELATIVE TO THE WEST INDIES Arranged under the following Heads :— I. Progress or Inpustry anp GENERAL ConpITIoN oF SociIETY SINCE Ist Auaust, 1838. If. Strate or rue Law as it Now Exists. III. New Laws proposep To MEET THE New Rewations or Society. IV. Avmrnistration or Justice. V. Prison Reautarions, &e. VI. Laws revatine to IMMIGRATION AND DEPORTATION FROM ONE COLONY TO ANOTHER, VII. Procezpines or tun Locan LEGISLATURES. BYVCA UTE ROR FEY: LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFIC CC: OoNe To toN TS. SECTION I. PROGRESS OF INDUSTRY, AND GENERAL CONDITION OF SOCIETY SINCE Ist AUGUST, 1838. JAMAICA. 1838. SUBJECT» PAGE Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg . June 25. State of island—preparations for freedom ° eter t 5 bts 4, . July 27. Visit to coast parishes—rate of wages not settled— notices to quit—proclamation ° ° ° See p24 ; oe , - Aug. 13. First week of freedom—behaviour of the peasantry . 4 The Bishop of Jamaica to Aug. 6. Same subject ° ° ° . ° e oi WE Lord Glenelg Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg. Sept. 7. Disturbance in Trelawney—tranquillity restored sae iD ae ra F - Sept.10. Progress of arrangements between proprietors and la- bourers—notices to quit—labourers willing to work on fairterms . A ° : ° ° ound 5 ae 3 « Sept. 24, Claim of proprietors to charge rent during the first three months—arrangements retarded—attempts to coerce cheap labour—disposition of peasantry . ‘ . "3 aS : - Dec. 3. Hjectments—discontent—industry suspended . CA fee) 1839. % as : . Jan. 5, Holidays passed quietly ° ° ° . a LO oes Ps . - Jan. 8, Disposition to labour not increased—exorbitant rents and wages ° . ° * ° ° - 10 The Marquis of Normanby to Feb. 28. Conduct of Sir Lionel Smith—position and duties of Sir L. Smith the labouring population . : : P VEN, 99 35 . » Feb, 28. Alleged misunderstanding of peasantry concerning their right to houses and grounds : ° - 12 99 ain “ - Mar. 27. Apparent inconsistency in Sir Lionel Smith’s reports 12 Sir L. Smith to May 13. Explanation : . . ° ° « 12 the Marquis of Normanby The Marquis of Normanby to Mar.27. High rents—what effect on labour : : - 13 Sir L. Smith 9 9 ° « April 1. Practice of commuting labour for rent, how far pre- valent miss e ry e ° e . e 13 Sir L. Smith to May 27. Answer to preceding . ° . ° . ° - 14 the Marquis of Normanby om) 23 é » Apnil 6. National schools—Rev. G. D. Hill’s report ° - 17 ; d9 5t n - April22. Conduct of negroes—unfounded complaints against Baptist missionaries and stipendiary magistrates . 20 ? 9 ° - April22, Alleged misunderstanding as to houses and grounds . 21 a2 vi CONTENTS. 1839, SUBJECT. PAGE The Marquis of Normanby to April15, Same subject . ° ° ° Sir L. Smith Sir L. Smith to May 28. Same subject—general tranquillity . ° ‘ oy al the Marquis of Normanby 6 Ae . « May 28. Same subject—proclamation . 4 . . A ” 59 C - June 17. Same subject—resolutions and addresses from Baptist congregations, denying the existence of the supposed misunderstanding—reports from stipendiary magis- trates e e e ° e@ e e 22-32 ”9 ats ° . June 24. Same subject—letter from Rev. T. F. Abbott . « 33 58 55 ° - July 3. State of morals among the young negro women in St. Thomas-in-the-Hast . ° . . 36-4] 9 99 “ e July 3. Alleged misunderstanding as to houses and grounds— further resolutions . ° ° ° 5 - 42 9° 99 ° . July 17, Disturbance on Spring Hill coffee-plantation—measures to suppress it. . ° . ° . - 43 The Marquis of Normanby to Aug. 30. Measures approved . . . e s e 44 Sir C. T. Metcalfe Sir L. Smith to July 18. Supposed misunderstanding as to houses and grounds— the Marquis of Normanby further resolutions . : 5 ; 5 oe 45 op Bs . - Aug.16. Apprehensions of intended movement amoug peasantry explained and accounted for—general tranquillity— labour resumed ° . ° . . » 47 oe as ° « Aug.17. Further concerning morals of young negro women in St. Thomas East ° ° : : . - 48 Hh ie ° - Sept. 7. National schools—state of island—disagreements about labour and rent - ° . “ 4 48-5] Lord John Russell to Sept. 9. Prospects of the island ° 4 . e sinol Sir C. T, Metcalfe Extracts from Reports of Stipendiary Magistrates. I.—Proeress or Inpustry anp GENERAL ConDITION OF PEASANTRY :— St. Thos. Hast—(Ewart ; Chamberlaine ; Pryce) . : ° . . SO Portland—(Brown ; Lambert) 5 ° : ; 4 . : 2 ay St. George’s—(Fishbourne; Hewitt) . é : : : . abi) St. dndrew’s—(Bourne; Daly) . : c A ; 5 . 63 Port Royal—(Kent; Hamilton) . . : : A « 66 St David's—(Willis; Baines; Kent) ° 4 : : So OY St. Mary’s—(Walsh; Marlton; Fyfe) . : ; : “ é - 69 St. Ann's—(Woolfrys ; Reynolds; Emery; Walsh) . . : sive t Manchester—(Grant) . 5 : A : : : : : ° a SS Clarendon—(Pringle ; M‘Leod) : : 6 : : : : : eS Vere—(Mahon and O'Reilly) 8] St. Catherine's, St. John’s and St. Dorothy’s—(E. D. Baynes; Ramsay) 4 a: 64 St. Thomas-in-the-Vale—(Jackson and Bell) © . i : . . ep ek, Trelawney—(Lyon ; Kelly; Dillon) : : : ; : - = eo St. James's—(Carmaby; Facey; Finlayson) . : - : . < a) Ge! Hanover—(Harris ; Cocking) x ; . - 99 Westmoreland—(Gordon and Abbott) . : : 3 elo St. Ehzabeth—(Daughtry ; Rickets ; Gurley) . . ° : : = LOS Kingston—(Moresby) . : 3 ° . . . : = Os II.—Rarte or Waczs :— St. Thomas-in-the-East—(Ewart ; Chamberlaine; Pryce) . . . : = LOZ Portland—(Lambert ; Brown) : ; : : : . . - 108 St. George’s—(Fishbourne and Hewitt) . 3 . is . - 109 St. dndrew’s—Daly ; Bourne) ‘ 5 ° ° : oe LO Port Royal—(Kent and Hamilton) . . ‘ ; CONTENTS. St. David's—(Willis) . ° . - . . St, Mary’s—(Walsh; Marlton) : . ° * St. dan’ s—(Reynolds; Emery ; Woolfrys) : c : 3 © Manchester—(Grant) . . . ‘ . : . ; 5 ° eae : M‘Leod) : : . 3 . . “ : . Fere—(O’ Reilly 3 ; Mahon) ~ . . . . é ; : St. Catherine’s, St. Dorothy’s, and St. John? s—(E. D. Baynes; Ramsay) : ° St. Thomas-in-the-Vale—(Bell and Jackson) . . : : ° ‘ 4 St. James’s—(Facey; Finlayson; Carnaby) . ° c ° A . 0 Hanover—(Harris; Cocking) ° : . ° e . ° ° : Westmoreland—{ Abbott) . : : “ : . ° St. Ehzabeth—(Daughtry ; Ricketts ; Gurley) ° ° : ° ° ° II]. —Rent or Houses anp GRounpDs :— St. Thomas-in-the- Harts -Charapeny | Ewart; Pryce) . ° : ° ° Por tland—(Lambert ; Brown) ry e ° e : ° e e St. George’s—( Fishbourne and Hewitt) . ° : ° : ° : . St. Andrew *s—(Daly) . ° ° ° : . : ° ° Port Royal—(Kent and Hamilton) . ‘ ° . ° . ° “ ° St. David’s—(T. Baines) : ° c . : : ; St. Mary’s—(Laidlaw and Fyfe ; ; Walsh ; Moulton) ° . ° ° ‘ ° St. Ann’s—(Woolfry ; Reynolds ; Dillon) ° . ° : ° ° ° Manchester—(Grant) ° : : ° ° ° ° . ° Clarendon—(Pringle) — . ° F . c ° > ‘ ° Vere—(Mahon and O’Reill y) . . ° . . ‘ St. Catherine’s, St. John’s, St. Dorothy? s—(E. D. Baynes ; ; Ramsoy) : . ° St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, St. John’s—(Jackson and Bell) . . : . Trelawney—(Lyon and Kelly) . ° ° ° . 7 ° : St. James’s—(Finlayson ; Carnaby ; Facey) ° ‘ ° : ° ° ° Hanover—( Harris; Cocking) « ‘ ° ° : . . ° Westmoreland—(Gordon and Abbott) ¢ ; i és é 3 H A St. Elizabeth—(Daughtry ; Gurley) ° ° ° . ° : : ° IV.—GENERAL Errects or EMANCIPATION :— Daughtry ; oor Chamberlaine; Lyon, Dillon, and Kelly ; Marlton ; M‘Leod; Pringle; E. D, Baynes; Fishbourne and Hewitt ° ° ° ° ° V.—Proeress oF Epucation AND ReLie1ous INsTRUCTION :— E. D, Baynes; Grant; Daughtry ; Bourne; Pryce; Hamilton; Mahon; Kelly; Marlton e ° ry ° e e e ° e e ° e VI.—Cosr or CuntivaTion By Free Lasour, AND VALUE OF PROPERTY :— Grant ; Chamberlaine; Carnaby; Daughtry; Lyon, Dillon, and Kelly; Bell and Jackson ; Pryce; Pringle; E. D. Baynes; Ramsay; Bourne; Fishbourne BRITISH GUIANA. 1838. SUBJECT. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg July 30. Disposition of labourers to remain with their present masters—proposed tariff of work—wages offered ., 29 9 ° . Aug. 13. Celebration of 1st August—adjustment of rate of wages Pe) 29 : . Aug. 28. Cheerful resumption of labour. : . ° 9 35 . . Sept.6. Labourers remain on estates—progress of industry— scarcely a commitment during the month—favour- able prospects . : ° ° ° ° . 29 ” - - Sept. 18, Irregularity of work in neighbourhood of town—exten- sion of industry in Berbice ° : : ° Pn) ” A . Oct. 5. Most estates going on well—dissatisfaction rare— harmony between employers and labourers. ° or) >> : . Oct. 15. Labour still irregular—causes—address to negroes on advantages of regularity . “ j ‘ ° 9 23 ° - Oct. 15. Return of produce—decrease—want of continuous labour ° e e ) ° ° @ e 165 171 173 Vill CONTENTS. 1838. SUBJECT. ‘ ; PAGE Governor Light to Lord Glenelg Oct. 31. Ejectments rare—contracts—stipendiary magistracy . 185 aig 9 ° - Dec. 12. Progress of labour—accounts contradictory—symptoms of prosperity—convictions fewer—labouring popula- tion peaceable and effectually secured against op- pression . . ° ° 3 é 5 - 185 92 3 . - Nov. 1. Various returns . ; 5 : rs sf - 186 lane a6 5 - Dec. 29. Diminished production of sugar—partial abatement of hands—general prosperity—increased imports—im- proved tastes . ~ ° ° 4 e - 188 5 1839. rae 5 “ « Jan. 15, Increase of produce in Berbice—of foreign trade— ; season favourable—reduced number of prisoners— labourers generally industrious—various returns . 189 23 > ° « Jan. 30. Attempts to reduce wages — unsuccessful — labour steady where tact is shown, but less at command in emergencies . ° . ° ° . - 194 29 5S : - Feb. 20. Prospects of colony—address to combined court. - 194 ote bets 55 ° - Feb. 28. Petition for abolition of Sunday market . c - 199 The Marquis of Normanby to June 2. Agrees with petitioners—will advise order in council Governor Light to effect the object . ° ° . . - 201 Governor Light to April 23, Forbearance of employers in bringing complaints ju- the Marquis of Normanby dicious. . : ° : 5 . - 202 Pe) 99 ° - April 26. Custom-house returns—causes of deficiency—drought —extensive conflagrations—good conduct of negroes 202 on) 9 ° - May 6. Tenure of houses and provision-grounds—no prospect i of a general system of rent at present . < - 203 99 99 : « May 28. Return of vessels entered inwards and cleared outwards —remarks . ° . ° . : - 204 2) 39 ° - June3. Rate of wages—present tenure of cottages a check ci on irregularity—attachment of negro to place of his birth e e e ° ° e e a 205 Ao 5 ° - June 21. Mr. Wolsely’s circuit—instructions to stipendiary ma- gistracy . . ° é ° . - 206 The Marquis of Normanby to Aug. 14, Instruction approved f . 207 Governor Light Governor Light to June 26. Value of property—prices of certain plantations re- the Marquis of Normanby cently sold : . 207 ° e o e BARBADOES. 1838. Aug. 11. Ist August—orderly conduct of negroes—some excite- ment, but no ground for alarm—Mr. Jones’s report 209 Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg : ae ° » Aug, 22, Appointment of commissioners to make a tour of the ie island—Mr. Jones’s report—nature of misunderstand- ra ings—no disturbance apprehended . . - 210 PY ; ° + Sept.20. Commissioner’s report . : e ° : - 211 5 S55 ° « Oct. 31, Report of judges of Assistant Appeal Court—com- plaints less frequent—return to industry—prospects —Mr, Jones’s report—improved condition of society —confidence in administration of justice - 214 1839, Sir E. M. MacGregor to April 6. Decrease of punishments ‘ ° ° ° ° - 216 the Marquis of Normanby Memorandum of conversation April 23. Sentiments of labourers ; as expressed by ceitain of their with a deputation of labourers own body ° “ * . ° 7 . 217 Extracts from report of April 15. Working of free system 2 ° ° . - 218 Mz, Jones CONTENTS. 1X 1839. SUBJECT. PAGE Extracts from report of April 20. Working of free system . - : . e - 220 Messrs. Cuppage, Tinling, and Garraway ST. VINCENT. 1838. Lieut.-Governor Tyler to Aug.11. 1st August passed quietly . : ° : - 223 Sir E. M. MacGregor 09 Ae . . Aug.18. Rate of wages offered—accepted in 2nd an 3rd dis- trict—refused in 1st—statement of certain proprietors —Solicitor-General appointed police magistrate e 223 Lord Glenelg to Oct. 15. Proceedings of Lieut.-Governor approved ° » 225 Sir E. M. Macgregor Lieut.-Governor Tyler to Aug. 28. General resumption of work—estates all under culti- Sir E. M. MacGregor vation except two or three . : : 5 - 226 1839. ” bf : -April 29. Dependency of proprietors upon labourers—agreements to labour in force in most places—proprietors in 1st district conforming to general plan—reports from police magistrates for October, November, December, and January . é ° | ° . - 226 GRENADA. : 1838. Lieut.-Governor Doyle to Aug.13. Ist August—exemplary conduct oflabourers . » 234 Lord Glenelg Sir E. M. MacGregor to Sept.18. Proceedings of military detachment—dispositions of Lord Glenelg peasantry—impolicy of threats of ejectment . - 234 839. Minute by Sir E. M. MacGregor May 27. Labouring population quiet and orderly—relations be- tween them and the proprietary body may be ex- ETO, Yi yi y pected to improve : . . ° 3 - 235 Sir E. M. MacGregor to June 8. Relations improving, but not yet well adjusted . - 235 the Marquis of Normanby TOBAGO. 1838. Sir E. M. MacGregor to Aug. 23, 1st August passed quietly—indications of discontent Lord Glenelg and insubordination : ; . “ - 235 Lieut.-Governor Darling to Sept.20. Discontent suppressed without calling out military . 235 Sir E. M. MacGregor ” aS ° - Dec.11. Agreements between managers and labourers—five concluded—arrangement likely to become general— paucity of complaints and commitments . « 236 ; , 1839. Lieut.-Governor Darling’s SpeechMar. 12. Prospects of colony—agreements for extra labour—edu- to Legislative Houses cation—diminution of crime é : : Bea y | Address of Assembly . - Mar. 14, Labourers becoming less industrious ° : 237 Address of Council . « Mar.18. Unsettled state of labourers—many withdrawn from field-labour altogether ‘5 : a . 238 Sir EK. M. MacGregor to June 8. Address to Council and Assembly, with their replies— the Marquis of Normanby state of island . ° < : ° A - 238 TRINIDAD. . 1838. Sit G. F. Hill to LordGlenelg . Aug.10, Arrangements for work—rate of wages : ° + 239 1839. Colonel Mein to Lord Glenelg . Mar.27. Wages and labour—position of labouring class—want of industrious habits 5 0 : : - 239 Colonel Mein to May 10, State of colony—disposition of labourers—value of la- the Marquis of Normanby bour—rate of wages—position of proprietors—pro- ductiveness of the island—education—crops will fall short one-third ic sare . ° . 240 CONTENTS. LEEWARD ISLANDS. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Sir W. Colebrooke to Aug. 16. Ist August passed quietly—difficulties in adjusting Lord Glenelg wages. cj . : . 9 . ° . Oct. 15. General tranquillity . . A ° ° . 1839. - Mar. 16. Few cases for prosecution—delay in passing acts for regulation of contracts and relief of poor—contracts —engagements for sharing crops ° : ° ANTIGUA. 1839. Sir W. Colebrooke to Mar. 26. Employment of children in field-labour — offences— Lord Glenelg wages—free villages—education—influence of clergy —religious societies . ° : . ° . - May 21. Condition of independent villages—terms of tenancy on estates not favourable to settled habits—emigra- tion—value of property ° ° ° ° . . June 12, Return of exports—increase since abolition of slavery MONTSERRAT. 1838. Sir W. Colebrooke to Aug. 16. Ist August passed quietly Lord Glenelg 1839. Report of Jan. 9. Christmas holidays passed peaceably—mills all at Stipendiary Magistrate work 5 A ; a . Feb. 1. Satisfactory appearance of crop—improved condition of peasantry . ° ° . : fs ‘ Mr. President Hamilton to May 4. Arrangements with regard to rent—leases for seven or oe) 3) * Sir W. Colebrooke nine years offered by Mr. Hamilton to all persons 243 243 wishing to become tenants . ° . ° 4 ST. KITTS. 1838. Sir H. MacLeod to Aug. 15, 1st August passed in thanksgiving and rational enjoy- Lord Glenelg ment—labour resumed, mostly under written con- tracts . ° ° ° ° Sir H. MacLeod to Aug. 16. Same subject—influence of special magistracy . Sir W. Colebrooke Sir W. Colebrooke to Sept. 10. Leases independent of agreements to labour recom- Sir H. MacLeod meaded—rural settlements . Sir W. Colebrooke to Sept. 10. Impolicy of ejectments . Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Oct. 31. Approval of Sir W. C.’s views . ° ° Sir W. Colebrooke Sir H. MacLeod to Sept. 10. Terms of agreement recommended by Sir H. M., and Sir W. Colebrooke generally accepted . - : : 4 Mr. Olpherts’s reports Sept., Oct., Labourers behaving well—agricultural operations as and Nov. forward as usual : : “ : ; Pal NEVIS. Mr. Kenney sreports . Aug.to June. Progress of arrangements with regard to labour, rent, &c. 23 1839. Sir W. Colebrooke to June 17. Leases recommended . President VIRGIN ISLANDS. 1838. Mr. President Thomas to Aug. 9. Labourers continue on estates—work resumed . Lord Glenelg CONTENTS, xl 1838, SUBJECT. PAGE Mr. Gordon’s report. - Sept. 5. Labourers behaving well—working hours, wages, &c. . 253 1839, na a - Feb. 5. No prosecution at sessions . ° ° . - 254 Mr. Dyett’s report . ° . June 1. Labourers engaged in cultivating their grounds—wea- ther favourable—prospects of agriculture good « 254 DOMINICA. 1838. Mr. President Bridgwater to Aug. 13. General tranquillity—progress of arrangements for Sir W. Colebrooke labour. : . ° . ° . « 255 Sir W. Colebrooke to Aug.16. Disposition to engage in labour for shares of produce 255 Lord Glenelg Mr. Bridgwater to Sept. 3. Improved disposition of labourers . . ° » 255 Sir W. Colebrooke 9 1) : - Oct. 4. Reluctance to enter into contracts 3 : - 255 1839, Sir W. Colebrooke to Jan. 12. Peaceable conduct of peasantry—engagements on coffee- Lord Glenelg plantations “ ° : : . e - 256 Stipendiary Magistrates’ reports Feb.and General condition . ° ° . : . 256 March. Lieut.-Governor Macphail to April 22. Remarks on various points . : : ° 258 Sir W. Colebrooke 29 Bs e . June 8. Same as above-—emigration . “ : 4 « 260 BAHAMAS. 1838. Colonel Cockburn to Aug. 2. Last month of apprenticeship—Mr. Winder’s report . 261 Lord Glenely 4 wa . - Aug. 6. First week of freedom—all quiet . ° ° - 261 29 aS : - Aug.10. Labourers and employers continue on good terms - 262 HONDURAS. 1838. Colonel Macdonald to Aug. 10. Celebration of Ist August—all working as usual on the Lord Glenelg 2nd—no complaints . ° : A ° e 263 SEC TTON | Et STATE OF THE LAW IN THE WEST INDIES AS IT NOW EXISTS. GENERAL. 1838. ! Lord Glenelg to Governors Sept.29. Points on which existing laws require amendment— of Legislative Colonies civil and political franchises . . . 265 3 99 : - Nov. 30. Laws regarding militia—repeal or suspension recom- mended ° ° . ° ° : - 270 JAMAICA. Lord Glenelg to Aug. 31. Act for terminating apprenticeship—amendments re- Sir Lionel Smith quired—ejectment — maintenance of diseased and infirm—summary jurisdiction of local magistracy 271 Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg . Aug.14. Law for determining complaints between master and servant . - 5 : . . c e 274 Lord Glenelg to Sir L. Smith . Sept.29. Legislature recommended to repeal this law—oppressive sentences may be remitted by Governor ° - 274 CONTENTS. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg . Sept.10. Tenure of houses and grounds—right to charge rent during first three months—Attorney-General’s opi- nion—law against vagrancy—position of peasantry . 275 Lord Glenelg to Sir L. Smith . Oct. 29. Law with regard to ejectment—laws against vagrancy should be repealed . ° 0 . A - 216 Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg . Sept.24. Attorney-General’s opinion as to rents—opinions of , Messrs. Middleton and MacDowall ° 5 . 2778 Lord Glenelg to Sir L. Smith . Nov. 14, Same question—opinion of crown-law officers . - 280 7 1839. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg . April 5. Landlord and Tenant Act—objections—Mr. Hill’s re- port e ° e ° e e ° e 281 Marquis of Normanby to Aug.10. Mr. Hill’s suggestions to be recommended to council Sir C. T. Metcalfe for adoption—decision suspended : ° - 285 Sir L. Smith to May 13. Measures for relief of sick and diseased after Ist June 286 Marquis of Normanby Marquis of Normanby to July 12, Measures approved, but advances of money to be con- Sir L. Smith sidered as recoverable from the usual funds . - 286 © Sir L. Smith to June17. Law of ejectment—Attorney-General’s opinion . - 287 Marquis of Normanby Marquis of Normanby to Aug.15. Same question—opinion of crown law-officers .« « 288 5 Sir L. Smith Extracts from Magistrates’ re- Sept. to Difficulty of recovering wages due—contract laws—ex- ports May. piration of annual laws—want of new laws . - 289) BARBADOES. | Lord Glenelg to Feb. 2. Police Act—power of constables 5 4 . 294 Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir E. M. MacGregor to April 23, Explanation . ° . : A ‘ . 294 Marquis of Normanby Marquis of Normanby to Aug.23. Explanation allowed . . 5 e ° 295 Sir K. M. MacGregor Lord Glenelg to Feb. 2. Trespass Act—power to kill stray stock . . . 295 Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir E. M. MacGregor to April 6. Practical effect ofabove law . hs ; : . 296 Marquis of Normanby 25 39 : . April23. Same subject—Mr. Jones’s report. : . 296 Marquis of Normanby to June24, Same subject : ° 3 : 5 5 . 297 Sir E. M. MacGregor 5 Judges of Appeal Court to Jan. 10 Law of ejectment—opinion of law-officer ; 298 Priv. Secretary z Sir E. M. MacGregor’s message Aprill6. Misunderstandings respecting ejectment . - 299 to Council and Assembly Answer from Council . . April22. Will be taken into consideration . . . : Extracts from March. Various laws wanted . 4 . ° ° ° Police Magistrates’ reports Marquis of Normanby to Aug. 1. Enactment of necessary laws to be recommended to Sir E, M. MacGregor legislature . : . . ° ° ST. VINCENT. 1838. Lord Glenelg to Aug. 31, Act for terminating apprenticeship—objections—eject- Sir E. M. MacGregor ment—aged and infirm—penalties : ° . Jy. Nanton’s report ° - August. Various defects inthelaws . ° . . 1839. Mr. Crosby’s report ‘ « Jan. 15, Law for determining complaints between masters and servants . A 6 ° e | Lieut.-Governor Tyler to stipendiary magistrates Lord Glenelg to Sir KE. M. MacGregor 3) 993 *. Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. MacGregor Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F, Hill Lord Glenelg to Sir E, M. MacGregor ce) be) ° Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg oe) 39 © Lord Glenelg to Sir W. Colebrooke Abstract of replies to Circular Lord Glenelg to Sir W. Colebrooke Abstract of replies to Circular Same Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. Colebrooke Abstract of replies to Circular . Mr. Kenney’s reports 39 re) e 23 a9 ° CONTENTS. xi 1839. SUBJECT. PAGE April23. Contract law—Attorney-General’s opinion on various : disputed points . . : . é - 304 GRENADA. 1838. Oct. 15. Act for terminating apprenticeship—objections—eject- ment—provision for aged and infirm ° « 306 - Nov. 12. 1839. : : : Jan. 30, $Bight of sammary ejectment by magistrates—refer- ees ence to former despatch. . ; ‘ ‘ 300 Aprill5, TOBAGO. 1838. : Oct. 15. Act for terminating apprenticeship—ejectment—provi- sion for poor. . ° ° ° ° - 309 TRINIDAD. Noy. 1]. Jurisdiction of magistrates—corporal punishment » 309 ST. LUCIA. Sept.29. Ordinance for terminating apprenticeship—ejectment— provision for paupers—powers of local magistracy . 310 « Noy.30. Decision on four ordinances ° ° ° . 3tl LEEWARD ISLANDS. Oct. 9. Answers to circular of 6th November, 1837 : e 313 1839. ; « Feb. 1. Summary ejectment—provision for securing to the tenant the value of standing crops ° . - 315 1838. Dec. 15. Law of summary ejectment . ; . - 316 ANTIGUA. 2 Stateof the law . : . ° : . - 317 1839. 1 Feb. 2. Vagrancy Act—restrictions on sale of commodities— Contract Act—Police Act ° : e - 319 MONTSERRAT. . State of the law ° ° ° . : - 321 ST. KITT’S. ‘ . Same ° : ~ : ‘ “ “ - 323 Aug.14. Trespass Act—provisions against unauthorised oceupa- tion of land—vagrancy : ° e ° - 326 NEVIS. 1838. State of law e ° ® ° ° ° e 327 ; oan Expiration of Act for support of aged and infrm—re- J : dress in case of civil wrong—vagrant and contract e an. ; Ae Ares Bi a h f 399 5 Feb, act wanted—hospital and poorhouse . Be elin i Ge X1V CONTENTS. 1839, SUBJECT. ; Sir W. Colebrooke to President Jan. 2. Stipendiary magistrate to make monthly circuit ge 35 ° . Mar. 14. Recovery of small debts—infirmary ° ° VIRGIN ISLANDS. 1838. Abstract of replies to Circular . State of law . ° . Sir W. Colebrooke to President Mar. 14. Support of aged and infirm poor Sir W. Colebrooke to June 10 Same subject ° ° . Marquis of Normanby DOMINICA. Abstract of replies to Circular . State of law ° : ° ° ° Mr. Kingsbury’s report .» . Aug.11. Provision for infirm—want of police stations 1839. Sir W. Colebrooke to Feb. 22. Hjectment . ° ° : Officer administering Mr. Kingsbury’s report . Mar. 6. Want of laws—medical attendance ° ° ° Major Mannin to Mar. 28. Neglect of aged and infirm—difficulty in enforcing Sir W. Colebrooke fines ° ° . ° ° . Marquis of Normanby to July 19. Enforcement of fines . ° Sir W. Colebrooke Lieut.-Governor Macphailto June 8. Medical attendance—aged and infirm Sir W. Colebrooke BAHAMAS. Lord Glenelg to Vagrancy acts Colonel Cockburn HONDURAS. 1838, Lord Glenelg to Noy. 12. Power of summary ejectment Colonel Macdonald SC LLON, i TT. \ NEW LAWS PROPOSED TO MEET THE NEW RELATIONS OF SOCIETY. 1838. Lord Glenelg to Crown Colonies Sept.15. Transmitting orders in council relating to contracts, vagrancy, and marriage. . : Lord Glenelg to Sept.15. Transmitting copy of the last Legislative Colonies Lord Glenelg to Oct. 16. Transmitting order in council fer preventing unauthor- Crown Colonies ised occupation of crown-lands : ° : SF ; Nov. 12. Alienation of crown-lands—copy of circular, 30th January, 1836 . 4 ° ° Lord Glenelg to Nov. 12. Alienation of crown-lands—transmitting copy of order Legislative Colonies in council for preventing unauthorised occupation 1839. Lord Glenelg to all the West Jan. 15. Police acts—project of law—general principles . India Colonies e e ° 5b Feb. 1. Poor law—minute by Mr. Lefevre—remarks . Sir L, Smith to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. Macgregor CONTENTS, XV JAMAICA. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Dec. 3. Deficiency of necessary laws for protection of the several classes . ° . : : : - 394 BARBADOES. Aug. 31. Contract and vagrancy acts—objections—will be dis- allowed—act for government of poor—for preventing riotous assemblies. . ° ° . 395 Sir E, M. Macgregor’s Messages Aug. 28, Kducation—militia—police . ° ° ° - 398 to Assembly 1839. Lord Glenelg to Feb. 16. Poorlaw . ° : : : ° ° . 398 Sir HK. M. Macgregor ST. VINCENT, 1838. Sir E. M. Macgregor to i re Vagrancy and masters’ and servants’ acts—objections Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. Macgregor Lieut.-Gov. Tyler to Sir KE, M. Macgregor Marquis of Normanby to Sir EK. M. Macgregor Sir KE. M. Macgregor to Marquis of Normanby | Marquis of Normanby to Sir K. M. Macgregor Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. Macgregor , Sir E. M. Macgregor to Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. Macgregor Lieut.-Governor Darling to Sir E. M. Macgregor Lord Glenelg to Sir KE, M. Macgregor Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. Macgregor Lieut.-Governor Darling to Sir E. M. Macgregor Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. Macgregor TA EEA to be disallowed—act for more effectual administra- Si { tion of justice—should be amended . A - 399 Dec. 14. Court of appeal . . : : : ° - 404 1839. Aprill3. Objections to police act—and to act for appointing rural constables . : . : : ° 4 April.6. ¢Act to punish theft and injury to property—to annul contracts not made in the colony—to substitute Aug. 27. sterling for currency—to provide for administration of justice ;—to be left to their operation ° » 405 GRENADA. 1839. Feb. 5. Acts relating to militia—illegal occupation of lands— clandestine deportation—adjustment of wages—objec- tions—will be disallowed . ° ° . - 406 Jan. 30. Tune 12: Act to amend deportation act—disallowed F » 408 TOBAGO. 1838. Sept. 20. Appeal court ° ° ° . . ° » 408 1839. Jan. 1. Act for appointment of rural constables—objections— disallowed . ° 5 : : : - 408 Jan. 21. Act for better recovery of wages—disallowed . - 409 Feb. 5. Act for preventing illegal occupation of lands—dis- allowed . ° ° : ° . c » 410 Mar. 1. Act for maintenance of poor—to be reconsidered. - 410 Aprill0. Vagrancy and contract acts passed in the model of Aug. 10. the orders in council—confirmed. ’ 40 TRINIDAD. Lord Glenelg to SirG. F. Hill Nov. 10. Ordinance for determining complaints between employ- Sit, 3 ers and labourers—superseded by order in council . 411 Noy. 10. Vagrancy ordinance—ditto . . : ° « 411 Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F Sir G. F. Hill to Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Sir G. F. Hill Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to Officers administering Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg 99 2? 33 N2) Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. Colebrooke Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. Colebrooke Mr. Hamilton to Sir W. Colebrooke Lord Glenelg to Sir W. Colebrooke Sir W. Colebrocke to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir W. Colebrooke 39 23 Sir H. M‘Leod to Sir W. Colebrooke Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir W. Colebrooke 93 3 CONTENTS. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Hill Nov. 11. Ordinance for preventing assault and battery—con- firmed with amendment . e ‘ é . 412 Nov. 12, Petty theft ordinance—objection—disallowed . - 412 Nov. 13. Malicious injury to property ordinance—objections— disallowed ° : 6G ° 7 ° : Nov. 14. Unauthorised occupation of lands’ ordinance—autici- pated by order in council . ° : ° : Nov. 15. Trespass ordinance—objections—disallowed : ° 1839. (Petty theft and injury to property ordinance—objec- Jan. 19.) tions—to be disallowed—courts of petty sessions recommended — police ordinance — decision sus- pended—ordinance for preventing trespassing of cattle—objectionable clause to be repealed—ordi- nance for decision of civil actions confirmed 4 May 20, July 22. Amended police ordinance—decision suspended . ° LEEWARD ISLANDS. 1838. Aug.17. Poorlaws . Aug.21. Education . ° : 5 . e ° Dec. 9. Communication of the disallowance of several acts 1839. Mar.16. Marriage laws . ° . . ° Mar. 16. Defective provision for poor . ° ° . June 10. Danger of delaying the enactment of necessary laws ANTIGUA. Feb. 18. Police act—act for appointing rural constables . 422 July 3. Decision on above actsto be suspended—larceny act— objectionable provisions . . : : « 423 MONTSERRAT. 1838. May 4. Poorlaws « 1839. Jan. 8. Summary ejectment Sr Kia S, 1838. Sept. 15, Rural police bill—objections Dec. 20. Objections approved . : ° Oct. 15. Act for termination of apprenticeship—disallowance of act for adjustment of servants’ wages . 1839. Feb. 29. Marriage act not likely to be amended NEVIS. 1838. June 1. Petty debt court—vagrancy and petty debt act Aug.31. Objections to vagrancy act—disallowed « Dec. 1. Servants’ wages act disallowed ° CONTENTS, XVil 1839 SUBJECT. PAGE Lord Glenelg to Jan. 1, Marriage act disallowed. ° ° ° ° « 429 Sir W. Colebrooke ”9 Oo - Feb. 16. Poor law and police acts—decision suspended . . 429 Marquis of Normanby to Mar. 16. Clandestine deportation act—decision suspended - 43 Sir W. Colebrooke VIRGIN ISLANDS, 1838. Lord Glenelg to Oct. 15. Act for punishment of common assaults—decision sus- Sir W. Colebrooke pended—vagrancy and servants’ wages act—objec- tions—disallowed : ° : . . - 430 1839. Sir W. Colebrooke to i June 10. Acts for regulation of contracts—for punishment of ale eee a Arie? 06 vagrancy—for maintenance of prisoners and relief arquis 10) rman IY 10) ° . > pan pa) Oh s ti BS is i A 431 SW. Colebrooke of poor—left to their operation DOMINICA. 1838. Sir W. Colebrooke to July 29. Subjects recommended to consideration of legislature . 432 Lord Glenelg a Bets . Aug. 28. Measures for re-enactment of vagrant act . ° - 432 1839. Sir W. Colebrooke to Feb. 22. Want of laws for relief of poor . . ° « 432 Officer administering Sir W. Colebrooke to April24. Several bills brought in by Attorney-General—hopes Marquis of Normanby the measure will not be much longer delayed - 432 Lieut.-Governor Macphail to June 8, Want of medical attendance, and provision for aged, Sir W. Colebrooke &c.— message sent to legislature . ° : - 433 Juneld. Act for terminating apprenticeship — objectionable clauses—legislature to be invited to repealthem . 433 Marquis of N ormanby to Sir W. Colebrooke BAHAMAS, 2 1838. Lord Glenelg to Gol. Cockburn Dec. 15. Marriage law—decision suspende . ° ° » 434 HONDURAS. 1838. Col. Macdonald to Lord Glenelg Aug. 28, Rejection of clause entitling apprentices to retain their houses for three months—no inconvenience has arisen é ° ‘ é . ' - 435 SECTION LV ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. GENERAL. L 1838, ord Glenelg to all the June 28. Stipendiary magistrates to be retained for the present. 437 Governors 9 29 - Oct. 1. Reports to be made ° ° . ° : - 43 ’ 3 « Dec. 29, Salaries of special magistrates to be continued till the end of 1839 . A “ . fe e 438 JAMAICA. Sit L, Smith to Lord Glenelg . June 28. Necessity of retaining services of stipendiary magis- tracy—selection of forty-two to be retained . - 439 lord Glenelg to Sir L, Smith . Aug. 15. Selection approved - . : . . « 442 b XVI CONTENTS. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg . Dec. 24. Arrears of business in the supreme court—want of a Sir L. Smith to Marquis of Normanby Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith Sir L. Smith to Marquis of Normanby Reports of Stipendiary Magis- trates, August 1838 to August 1839. new court. A p A : : A . 443 1839. May 3. Interference of stipendiary magistrates at vestries . 445 June 16. Matters to which interference should be confined « 447 May 14. Same subject—observations by Messrs. Bell and Jack- SON e e 6 ry ° ° ° ° e Amount of fees to clerk of peace—position and conduct of local magistrates—unjust seizure of sugar-canes 447 —vestries ° e ° e ° e 6 449 BRITISH GUIANA. 1838. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg Sept 9. Stipendiary magistrates all retained p ° » 453 Lord Glenelg to Governor Light Oct. 29. Approval. ° ; . : ° : ° Governor Light to Lord Glenelg Oct. 5. Position and conduct of local magistracy—necessity of 3) 93 453 a better system . ‘ 5 ‘ a « 404 . Oct. 13. Arrangements with regard to stipendiary magistracy —prospect of their permanent establishment . . 455 Lord Glenelg to Governor Light Dec. 29. In reply 4 c ‘ ° ° ° : . 456 Governor Light to Lord Glenelg Nov. 8. Appointment of commissioners to preside at inferior Ee) 33 Lord Glenelg to Sir E, M. MacGregor Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg 33 3? Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. MacGregor Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor Mr. Nanton to Lieut.-Governor Tyler Mr. Crosby to Lieut.-Governor Tyler Lieut.-Governor Darling to Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir F. G. Hill to Lord Glenelg courts recommended to court of policy « . « 456 . Nov. 18. Jurisdiction of stipendiary magistrates « : » 457 BARBADOES. 1838. Oct. 15. t. 8s i aie a its Assistant appeal court act—objections—amended act —decision suspended till further information - 458 - Oct. 12. Dec. 15. Nov. 20. 1839, | Reply to Lord Glenelg’s objections—successful oper- Tah. 11. ation of act as amended—apparent efficiency of the new court . . 2 : : . - 463 Mar. 1. ST. VINCENT. 1838. Aug. 31. Arrangements respecting magistracy ° . - 464 Nov. 17. Reduction of fees to magistrates—act to settle dis- putes between masters and servants : z - 465 5 1839. Jan. 15. Reduction of fees . 5 i . : - 465 TOBAGO. 1838. Sept. 20. Recommending special magistracy with exclusive juris- diction . $ 3 ‘ a , an - 466 TRINIDAD. 1839. Jan. 3. Want of more summary proceeding in cases of petty theft—difficulties in establishing trial by jury—ob- jections to a weekly meeting of stipendiary magis- trates of adjoining districts—stipendiary magistrates should have exclusive jurisdiction ’ : « 466 Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to Officers administering Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg 9 39 Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to President Mr. Kenney’s reports Mr. Kenney’s report Sir W. Colebrooke to President Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg $3 39 Colonel Cockburn to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to all the Governors 39 bee Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg ?? oS) CONTENTS. LEEWARD ISLANDS. 1838. X1x SUBJECT. PAGE Aug. 14, Reform of courts—petty juries —stipendiary magis- trates ° : . : . : 6 . 468 Nov. 7. Abolition of fees to magistrates 5 : . - 470 1839, Jan. 11. Remission of penalties inflicted under certain clauses of the vagrancy and contract acts ° ° - 470 Jan. 12, Abolition of fees to magistracy ° 2 ° - 470 ANTIGUA. 1838. Aug. 14, Jurisdiction of local magistracy—difficulty of appeals . MONTSERRAT. 1838. Aug. 14. Laws not in print—resignation of town magistrates . ST. KITTS. 47]. 472 1838. Aug. 14. Opposition to stipendiary magistrates : ° - 472 NEVIS. 1838, Aug. 31. Quarterly sessions. ° : ° : 472 « Sept. 30. Breaches of hiring and vagrant acts . ° « 473 « Noy. 20. ; : F Appointment of courts for stipendiary magistrates to 1839. hear complaints in on fixed days ° ° » 473 Jan, 2. VIRGIN ISLANDS. 1838. : Aug, 14, Position of local and stipendiary magistrates . e 473 DOMINICA. July 26. New commission of the peace ° ° é - A74 » Aug. 14, Magistracy . : ° : : ° . « 474 BAHAMAS. Nov. 1. Arrangements with regard to stipendiary magistracy « 475 SECTION V. PRISON REGULATIONS, &c. GENERAL, 1838. July 12. Prisoners for obsolete offences to be pardone . e 477 . Aug. 13. Transmitting prisons’ act—instructions . ‘ Aq7 JAMAICA. Aug. 13. Release of prisoners under sentences of slave courts . 479 « Sept. 25, Proclamation of prisons’ act . ; 3 é - 479 XX Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith Reports of Stipendiary Magistrates Lord J. Russell to Sir C. T. Metcalfe Sir L. Smith to Marquis of Normanby Lord J. Russell to Sir C. T. Metcalfe Governor Light to Lord Glenelg Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg 33 99 2. Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir E. M. MacGregor to Marquis of Normanby Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg 39 29 ~ Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir KE. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir W. Colebrooke to | Lord Glenelg CONTENTS. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Dec. 25. Prison regulations—reports—house of correction in Kingston—disgraceful state of prisons . ° 1839. Jan. 5. Further reports—contracts for feeding prisoners dis- continued by order of magistrates in Hanover—small number of prisoners. - ° - ° ° Jan.23. Further report from stipendiary magistrates in St. Ca- therine’s—crime and punishment—improvement in prison discipline . . . : ° . 494 Mar. 27. In reply : ° . . : ° . 499 Apr. to State of prisons in several districts - . Aug. Sept. 10. Resistance to prisons act by corporation of Kingston —want of funds ° ° ° ° ‘ . July 27. Prisons in Spanish Town—insecurity— officers and constables in arrear of salary : : . 500 Sept. 24. Reply—assembly to be called on to pass requisite mea- sures 2 A 4 : ‘ - 502 BRITISH GUIANA. 1838. Noy. 13. Regulation of prisons in George Town BARBADOES. Sept. 8. Rules for government of tural prisons Oct. 21. Proceedings relative to prisons act . Dec. 8. Act to associate inspectors of prisons with commis- sioners of superintendence . : A ° - 517 1839. Mar. 14. Reports of prison inspectors . ° . . 519 July 12. Remarks by inspectors of prisons in England 536 ST. VINCENT. May 8. Report of prison inspectors TOBAGO. 1838. Nov. 28. Measures for carrying into effect prisons’ act 1839. Feb. 19. Prison inspectors’ report ° . . e Mar. 20. Additional rule relative to prisoners under hard labour 572 July 12. Rule approved : ° . 574 Mar. 21. Act for establishing rules respecting the same . 74 Aug. 23. Remarks on above act by inspectors of prisons in wn England . : A c ° : : - O77 LEEWARD ISLANDS. Mar, 28. Transmitting prison regulations—general remarks— want of funds to carry regulations into effect . « 579 CONTENTS. Xxl ANTIGUA. SUBJECT. PAGE Copy of Regulations, &c. : : ° . . ° . : : . . - 581 1838, Lord Glenelg to Dec. 14, Report of inspectors of prisons in England : « 585 Sir W. Colebrooke MONTSERRAT. Minute of Board of Privy Dec. 4. Rules adopted by council . ° : ° « 586 Council 1839. Sir W. Colebrooke to May 20. Amended rules. . ° : . ° 592 Lord Glenelg ST. KITTS. Sir W. Colebrooke to Mar. 28. Regulations for carrying prisons’ act into effect . - 594 Lord Glenelg 2 Sir W. Colebrooke to May 20, Amended rules. ‘ . : é 5 « 599 Marquis of Normanby ; NEVIS. 1838. Sir W. Colebrooke to Nov. 21. Prisons ego ay magistrate appointed in- Lord Glenelg spector . ° . ° . ° - 603 1839. ” ” ° « Mar, 28. Rules for carrying act into effect . . ° - 603 VIRGIN ISLANDS. Sir W. Colebrooke to Mar. 28. The same . . . ° . . . - 608 Lord Glenelg Sir W. Colebrooke to May 20. Amended rules. . ° ° ° ° - 619 Marquis of Normanby DOMINICA. Sir W. Colebrooke to Apr. 12. Regulations still incomplete . ° e F . 622 Marquis of Normanby HONDURAS. 1838. Col. Macdonald to No. 17, Prisons act proclaimed—measures taken . ° » 62 Lord Glenelg SECTION VI. LAWS RELATING TO IMMIGRATION AND DEPORTATION FROM ONE COLONY TO ANOTHER. 1838. Lord Glenelg to . July 30. Transmitting or der in council making invalid all con- Gov. of Legislative Colonies tracts not entered into within the colony ° 631 Lord Glenelg to July 31. Same subject . . . : . : « 632 Crown Colonies Lord Glenelg to Windward and Dec, 19. Transmitting copy of despatch respecting proposed Leeward Islands and Baha- scheme of immigration into British Guiana . mas BRITISH GUIANA. . Gov, Light to Lord Glenelg . Oct. 1, Proposed scheme for promoting immigration—resolu- - 633 tions of court of policy—measures taken by governor 633 XxX COXMTENTS. 1838. SUBJECT. PAGE Gov. Light to Lord Glenelg . Oct. 15, Form of application for emigrants . . : - 637 Lord Glenelg to Gov. Light . Dee. 19. Remarks on proposed scheme—views of government— conditions to be insisted upon se : . . 638 BARBADOES. 1839. Lord Glenelg to Feb. 2. Act to regulate emigration—uniformity of legislation Sir E. M. Macgregor desirable . ‘ ° : e e e e ST. VINCENT. 5 45 . Feb. 2, Calling for copy of St. Vincent’s emigration act. - 641 Sir KE. M. Macgregor to Jan. 11. Representations against Trinidad emigration measures 641 Lord Glenelg Marquis of Normanby to Mar. 30. Reply . ° : : : . Sir E. M. Macgregor att A - Aug.27. Emigration act—objections—disallowed . TOBAGO. Lord Glenelg to Jan. 21. Act for preventing clandestine removal of labourers— Sir E. M. Macgregor objections—disallowed A 5 5 : . 643 Lieut.-Governor Darling to Mar. 21. Remarks on regulations for protection of emigrant Sir E. M. Macgregor labourers—no disposition to emigrate from Tobago. 644 TRINIDAD. 1838. Sir G. F. Hill to Lord Glenelg. Dec. 11. Importance of encouraging immigration—resolutions of council—ordinance_« 3 : ; : . 645 1839. Marquis of Normanby to Feb. 21. Remarks on ordinance—amendments required . . 647 Sir G. F. Hill Colonel Mein to Aprilll. Suggestions will be brought under consideration of Marquis of Normanby council . : . 4 ° : ; . 648 LEEWARD ISLANDS. Lord Glenelg to Feb. 2. Respecting acts for preventing clandestine deportation Sir W. Colebrooke ST. KITT’S. 1838. Sir H. Macleods’s speech to June 21. Announcing that the deportation act will not be recom- Council and Assembly mended for confirmation . . ° . - 649 Sir W. Colebrooke to July 25. Approval of above : : a 3 : - 650 Sir H. M‘Leod Bis >> . Aug. 6. Inefficacy of restrictive regulations . ° . - 650 Sir W. Colebrooke to Aug. 6. Has assented to deportation act on the understanding Lord Glenelg that it would not be recommended for confirmation . 650 Lord Glenelg to Oct. 15, Objections to deportation act—disallowed . ° - 651 Sir W. Colebrooke NEVIS. Sept. Mr. Kenney’s reports. - 2Oct. }Attempts to entice labourers to British Guiana « Nov. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Sept. a ee of aes ne ig ae ay Respecting the disposition to emigrate « April. CONTENTS. XX1ll SECTION VII. PROCEEDINGS OF LOCAL LEGISLATURES, Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir L. Smith Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg Lord Glenelg to Sir L, Smith Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg Lord John Russell to Sir L, Smith Election return. f Lieut.-Governor Tyler to Sir E. M. MacGregor Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg Lient.-Governor Darling’s Speech to Houses Reply of Assembly >, of Council : Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Sir H. MacLeod to Sit W. Colebrooke Sir W. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg Colonel Cockburn to Lord Glenelg Colonel Cockburn’s Speech on opening the Session Se JAMAICA. 1838, SUBJECT. PAGE Nov. 1, Speech to legislative houses—resolution of assembly to suspend business . : . é - - 655 Dec. 13. Reply . . ° . ° ° ° . - 656 Nov. 12, Proceedings of assembly—dissolution 657 Dec, 28. Measures approved . e . : . « 662 Dec. 24. New assembly adhere to determination of the last— expiration of annual laws—state of colony—of repre- sentation—measures for carrying on the government 662 1839. Feb. 15, Measures to be adopted by government . 2 - 666 - « Showing number of voters, &c.,in each parish . . 668 ST. VINCENT. Jan. 14. Communication from assembly—state and prospects of colony e e e e e e e e 669 TOBAGO. 1838. Dec. 21, Reception by council and assembly of orders in coun- cil of 7th September—no prospect of salary being granted for professional judge . ° ° - 671 1839. Jan. 10. Council will not take orders in council of 7th Septem- ber into consideration at present . ° ° - 673 Mar. 12. Recommending enactment of laws on model of orders in council ° ° . ° ° . «OMe Mar. 14. Will take the matter into early consideration—protest 673 Mar. 18. Will proceed to business as usual—protest against par- liamentary interference ° ° : ° e 674 LEEWARD ISLANDS. 1838. Dec, 20. Unfitness of local assemblies for general legislation— necessity of a more comprehensive arrangement . 675 1839. May 21. Slow progress of legislation . . C ° » 675 ST. REPT S. 1838. Dec. 21. Transmitting address of assembly to Secretary of State—relusal to legislate—imperfect representation 676 Dec. 29. Regretting tone of address. . . : 607 BAHAMAS. Nov. 1. Bills framed on orders in council to be brought in by Attorney-General : ° ° ° . - 678 Noy. 20. Recommending enactments in conformity with orders in council ° ° ° ° ° ° - 678 EXTRACTS FROM PAPERS, §c. &c. &c. SECTION I. PROGRESS OF INDUSTRY, AND GENERAL CONDITION OF SOCIETY SINCE Isr AUGUST, 1838, Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 25th June, 1838. Stncz the promulgation of the Act, there has hardly been time to Jamaica, hear generally of its effects on the labouring population, except that .. they are universally quiet and happy ; and the sugar crop, nearly at ee : € : ¢ 2 MCOLIY 2: Se. Tope oes its close, is getting in as usual. Proprietors are everywhere engaged in making bargains for work: the plans are various ; some proposing houses and grounds for two days’ labour in the week, and some for five days’ labour on wages, they paying rent for grounds and houses. The price of wages is also variously proposed; but it is satisfac- tory to know the labourers are extremely cautious, and are not likely to be imposed upon. I have heard several occasions, where they stipulated for the same rates as proprietors demanded in the valua- tion of apprentices’ services. The country is deriving infinite benefit from the influence of the Missionaries, not only in impressing the negroes with their moral Obligations, but also in their protecting advice to secure them the Just remuneration of their labours. Your Lordship must, however, be prepared to hear that the labourer will enjoy a few days’ idleness immediately after the Ist August, and there may be a few excesses arising from idleness and Joy: but I am satisfied they will soon afterwards settle down into their ordinary habits; and though the House of Assembly, in their petition to the Queen, demanded measures to secure “the peace of the island” and «the rights of property,” I know of no period in the history of Jamaica when those objects were so unlikely to be dis- turbed as at present. Your Lordship must further expect to hear of worn-out and mo- heyless estates being totaly abandoned, for want of means to pay the labourer, This will be magnified as one of the evils of freedom; B Jamaica. I, p. 58. 2 Progress of Industry, and but the labourers will naturally go to those who can pay them, and it will not affect general cultivation. Great apprehensions aré entertained for the want of small money ; the negroes everywhere require prompt payment. Whatever difficulties may arise must be mmaterial ; for one great blessing, Freedom, has spread over the land, and its virtues will counteract all the designs of the oppressor and wrong-doer. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 27th July, 1838. CommoporE Doveras having kindly lent me the Tartarus steamer for ten days, I embarked on her, on the 13th instant, to visit all the coast parishes, having previously given notice that the head men of estates and other intelligent negroes should be assembled to meet me. Previous to my leaving the seat of government, I issued a pro- clamation, copy of which I have now the honour to enclose. I returned to Kingston on the 24th instant, having visited the pre- cinct of St. Thomas in the East, the parishes of Portland, St. George’s, St. Mary’s, St. Ann’s, Trelawney, St. James’s, Hanover, Westmoreland, and St. Elizabeth’s; and on the 25th instant I vi- sited the inland parishes of St. Andrew’s, and Port Royal Mountains. In all these parishes, I can assure your Lordship, I found the negro population well prepared for freedom, and nothing could ex- ceed the enthusiasm with which they everywhere received me, and their loyalty and gratitude to the Queen’s Government. I addressed them in every parish, and generally in the terms of advice contained in the Proclamation, which produced the good effect of removing from their minds many doubts on their future rights and interests. They all expressed a determination to work, and seemed to under- stand well the consequences of idleness. The only instances of dissatisfaction expressed by any of the negroes, were those in which they had lately paid heavy prices for the purchase of their freedom; and I had it carefully explained to them that the two years of freedom relinquished by the late Act of the Legislature was quite unexpected, and could not have been fore- seen, and that there was no remedy to enable them to recover. On the important question of wages, I found it universally deter- mined upon by the negroes, that they would come to no terms until after the Ist of August. Planters and attorneys had proposed va- rious rates ; and I think they will settle down generally at a shilling, currency, a day, with house, garden, and free grounds ; or at a shilling English, the labourers paying a small rent for house, grounds, &c. The negroes are well advised of the value of their labour, and I am satisfied that they will not be imposed upon by employers, or be unreasonable in their own demands for wages. Your Lordship is too well acquainted with the character of the numerous small planters in this island, to form the conclusion, that we shall get over this change of condition among the labourers General. Condition of Soctety. 3 without some attempts at petty oppressions, incredible ‘as such an evil course would seem, with reference to mutual interests. ‘These small owners and overseers, when not properly controlled, are giving the labourers notices to quit the properties, and are creating a great deal of discontent and uneasiness, knowing their attachment to their houses : this has generally been done with the hope of reducing the value of labour, but I do not think it will be carried to any great extent, or that the experiment will be long persevered in. I hope yet to be able to visit all the remaining parishes before the Ist of August, but some are so inaccessible from bad roads, I may not be able to accomplish it through all; and from what I have’ already seen, there is not the smallest cause for uneasiness as to the conduct of the free labourers throughout the island: they will be peaceable and industrious where they have common encouragement and fair treatment. Proclamation, &c. Preedial Apprentices: Ty a few days more you will all become free labourers, the Legislature of the island having relinquished the remaining two years of your appren- ticeship. The Ist of August next is the happy day when you will become free, _ under the same laws as other freemen, whether white, black, or coloured. I, your Governor, give you joy of this great blessing. Remember that in freedom you will have to depend on your own exer- tions for your livelilood,.and to maintain and bring up your families.— You will work for such wages as you can agree upon with your em- ployers. It is their interest to treat you fairly. It is your interest to be civil, respectful, and industrious. Where you can agree and continue happy with your old. masters, I Strongly recommend you to remain on those properties on which you have been born, and where your parents are buried. But you must not mistake, in supposing that your present houses, gardens, or provision grounds, are your own property. They belong to the proprietors of the estates, and you will have to pay tent for them in money or labour, according as you and your employers may agree together. Idle people, who will not take employment, but go wandering about the Country, will be taken up as vagrants, and punished in the same manner as they are in England. The ministers of religion have been kind friends to you, listen to them, they will keep you out of troubles and difficulties. Recollect what is expected of you by the people of England, who have paid such a large price for your liberty. They not only expect that you will behave yourselves as the Queen’s Sood subjects, by obeying the laws, as I am happy to say you always have done as apprentices ; but that the prosperity of the island will be increased Y your wiiling labour, greatly beyond what it ever was in slavery. Be Snest towards all men; be kind to your wives and children; spare your Wives from heavy field-work as much as you can; make them attend to their duties at home, in bringing up your children, and in taking care of B2 Jamaica. ———s Jamaica. I. p, 64, p- 70. 4 Progress of Industry, and your stock: above all, make your children attend divine service and school. If you follow this advice, you will, under God’s blessing, be happy and prosperous. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 13th Aug., 1838. THe vast population of negroes of this island came into the full enjoyment of freedom on the Ist of August. The day was observed, by proclamation, as one of thanksgiving and prayer; and it is quite impossible for me to do justice to the good order, decorum, and gratitude which the whole of the labour- ing population manifested on the happy occasion. Not even the irregularity of a drunken individual occurred. Though joy beamed on every countenance, it was throughout the island tempered with solemn thankfulness to God; and the churches and chapels everywhere filled with these happy people, in humble offerings of praise for the great blessing he has conferred upon them. The island has continued perfectly tranquil. ‘The labourers have not generally returned yet to plantation work ; managers are endea- vouring to give as low wages as they can, and the labourers hold out for better terms. This struggle was to be expected, and will, no doubt, settle down. At Falmouth, in Trelawney, where there has always been a hostile spirit among the planters against the missionaries, some foolish persons proposed or threatened to hang the Rev. Mr. Knibb in effigy. It got abroad, and magnified into a real intention of hanging that gentleman: his congregation assembled in great num- bers, armed with cutlasses and sticks, determined to defend their favourite pastor. Nothing dangerous occurred, and the people gradually dispersed. . . . . I have carefully abstained from interfering on the question of wages. In St. Dorothy’s, which I visited last week, they were much disappointed that I would not determine what they ought to receive. At Bushy Park, an estate of 700 negroes, they finally agreed to take ls. Sd. currency, or Is. sterling, a-day; and they have, I believe, all returned to work. I am under no uneasiness whatever for the future tranquillity of the island. The Bishop of Jamaica to Lord Glenelg, 6th Aug., 1838. I HAveE very sincere pleasure in bearing my testimony to the peaceable and orderly behaviour of all classes, and particularly of the negroes, on this auspicious occasion. I never beheld a more impressive and affecting scene than Spanish Town exhibited, where I assisted at the duty; and all the accounts received from the clergy concur in reporting the same correct behaviour generally throughout the island. I had long known the objects of this benevolent mea- sure as the most patient, enduring, and ‘‘ long-suffering” people on _ General Condition of Society. 5 earth, and “not easily provoked ;” but it was not till the actual promulgation of this great and glorious measure of justice and mercy, that I was enabled fully to appreciate their advancement in Christian principles, evincing the good effects of religion on « ser- vants who have hitherto not known,” or very imperfectly, ‘ their Lord’s will.” They have proved themselves worthy of the boon they have received, by their conduct, and are much better prepared for it than I could have possibly conceived. The quiet manner in which the whole has passed off has added much to the general effect, and made a deep impression on men’s minds. It has encouraged and animated the good, and confounded and disappointed the bad. I feel convinced that nothing less than this happy change in their condition could ever have held out to us the hope of effectually im- proving the people, and so long as one link of the hateful chain of slavery remained, that great work must have been delayed. I have only to repeat to your Lordship that the conduct of all classes of the people on this Joyful occasion has been beyond all praise, and I am not aware of any instance of intoxication or bois- terous merriment in either of the large towns in this neighbourhood 5 . to mar the Christian character of the late festival. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 7th Sept., 1838. Jamaica, — In my despatch, No. 153, of the 13th ultimo, I acquainted your I. p. 74. Lordship that an un pleasant excitement had manifested itself among the labouring population of Trelawney, on the 4th ultimo, in con- _ Sequence either of a real design, or of a report which had been industriously circulated, that it was intended to burn in effigy their favourite Baptist minister, the Rey. Mr. Knibb. I declined to accede to Mr. Knibb’s request, that a special com- Mission should be appointed to inquire as to the author of these teports, because the people having been easily pacified, I thought it would only keep up an unnecessary excitement; and I had for some days reason to think that the best results had attended the course I pursued, and that the tranquillity of the parish would not be again disturbed ; but I regret to state that on the 19th ultimo the same feeling was again exhibited, and in a much stronger degree, in con- sequence of a rumour (founded upon the circumstance of Mr. Ward, another Baptist minister, having received a severe fall from his horse) that Mr. Knibb was actually murdered. I inclose for your Lordship’s information copy of the report made by the custos of the parish of the circumstances attending this commotion, with the evidence taken before the magistrates enclosed, copy of the report of the stipendiary magistrate, Mr. Lyon, and copy of a letter from Mr. Knibb, who appears to have anxiously and effectually exerted himself to allay the excited feelings of the peasantry. As this was the second time within a few days that the people had assembled with arms in their hands, avowedly to avenge them- Jamaica, ooomaemet 0. 31. 6 Progress of Industry, and selves for any injury which might have been inflicted upon Mr. Knibb, I considered it highly necessary, however great was my de- pendence upon the influence of their minister over them, that at least a repetition of such scenes should not be permitted with im- punity, and that measures should be taken for the discovery and conviction of the individuals, who, by spreading the report of Mr. Knibb’s death, had created this alarming commotion. I accordingly addressed instructions to the custos, of which [ have the honour to enclose copies, and at the same time apprized the officer command- ing the troops at Falmouth, of the course which I wished him to pursue in the event of his being called upon to support the civil authorities. I have since received from the custos and Mr. Stipendiary Justice Lyon the reports, of which I have the honour to transmit copies, by which your Lordship will perceive that tranquillity is once more restored, and that such steps have been taken as will probably lead to the punishment of the parties who circulated the report of Mr. Knibb’s death. In perusing the documents which accompany this despatch, your Lordship will not fail to perceive that, violently excited as the people were on the 19th instant, they still quietly submitted to the authority of Mr. Lyon, who prevented them from entering the town of Fal- mouth by opportunely stopping them upon the bridge, and persuaded them to return quietly to their homes, a circumstance highly credit- able to that gentleman, as showing the confidence which the people place in him as their friend and protector. Mr, Lyon's Report. Sir, Trelawney, 4th September, 1838. In reference to your letter No. 10, dated 27th August, directing I should take means to identify the leaders and promoters of the violation of the public peace on the 19th inst., and report, by the earliest post, the measures taken to bring the parties to justice, I have to state, immediately after the outrage I issued a warrant for the apprehension of a woman named Sarah, who had conducted herself in a very violent manner, and uttered threats of burning the town and taking vengeance. Another war- rant was issued for the apprehension of ‘a woman of Spring estate, whose identity could not be established, and who was in consequence discharged. Subsequently, in company with Mr. D. W. Kelly, I visited Arcadia estate and atrested Thomas Graham, who was charged with threatening to burn the estate and kill the overseer and his wife. [also visited Axford and Etinedon estates, and made every inquiry and used all possible means to discover others of the ringleaders, and particularly a party who had, on the 19th instant, threatened to burn Etingdon, and kill Mr. Scharschmidt, the overseer, on the event of the report proving true, but without success. Matthew William was apprehended, charged with having conveyed the report to the Baptist congregation at Rio Bueno, and which produced among them great excitement. Yesterday, at Falmouth, there was a general meeting of magistrates, who investigated the charges against the individuals in custody, and who com- General Condition of Society. 7 mitted for trial to the assizes Thomas Graham, Sarah, and M. William. Jamaica. I am of opinion that William’s conduct is not indictable, as I am confident aT, he conveyed the intelligence of Mr. Knibb’s assassination to the Baptist congregation at Rio Bueno with a belief in its truthfulness, and without any malicious intention or premeditated design of causing the strong excitement and tumult which was the unfortunate consequence of it. The tumultuous assemblage that approached the town, armed, was chiefly composed of negroes from the extreme windward part of the parish, (those who assembled from estates in the neighbourhood I had persuaded to retire previously), and were of a most inferior class of persons, with whom I have seldom had any intercourse; which circumstance, in con- nexion with the excitement produced by riding in great haste and address- ing a large body of people in active motion, and without a knowledge of the estates from which they came, renders it impossible for me positively to identify any one of them by name, though I have not the slightest doubt that, did I know where to look for them, there are many whom I should be able to recognize. As the parish is now tranquillized, and the labourers generally resumed their work, and as there is every probability, from the pains that have been taken to explain to the preedial population the danger, illegality, and wickedness of permitting themselves to be so easily excited, and from the apprehension excited by the legal examinations that in future the public peace will not be liable to such risk and disturb- ance. ; I hope his Excellency will be of opinion that enough has been done to satisfy justice, and to convince all persons that their safest reliance is upon the power and vigilance of the law. The Rev. Mr. Knibb has assured me he has visited upwards of 100 pro- perties during the past week, and penetrated through the interior of the borders of Clarendon, remonstrating with the people upon the impropriety of their conduct, and exhorting them to a confident reliance upon the law for the punishment of wrongs and the protection of individuals. The depositions taken before the magistrates in the cases of persons implicated in the late tumult will be forwarded to his Excellency through the office of the clerk of the peace. : Ser L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 10th Sept., 1838. I wave the honour to report to your Lordship on the state of the y, p. 82. island since the black population came into freedom on the Ist of August last. The enclosed nine reports from stipendiary magistrates are gene- rally satisfactory. Others are equally so as to the conduct of the free labourers; but, having legal queries, are under reference to the Attorney-General, and some have not yet been received, pending further inquiries. The reports will show your Lordship that, although there has been a considerable cessation from labour since the Ist of August, It has nowhere been wanting when encouraged by fair offers of wages, while their orderly conduct and obedience to the laws has been most extraordinary, considering their treatment under the recent Operation of the apprentice law in this island, and the many provo- See p.52, ef seq. Jamaica. a I, p. 92. See p.52, ef sea. Bo: Progress of Industry, and cations they have had to resentment; yet I rejoice to say I have not heard of a single instance of violence towards any of those by whom they have been oppressed, and not a single instance of a capital offence has come to my knowledge since the great mass of the black population came into freedom. The planters are, of course, resorting to all the means in their power to procure cheap labour. The third clause of the apprenticeship abolition law gave the free labourers the use of their houses and grounds for three months ; that is, they could only be ejected after a three months’ notice to quit, prescribed by the Act. Notices have accordingly been very generally served upon them to quit, and heavy rents demanded in the mean time as means of inducing the labourers to accept low wages. ‘These unfortunate attempts have a good deal retarded general cultivation by free labour ; but their willimgness to work on fair terms throughout all the parishes is most satisfactorily established ; and where the appren- tices may have made unreasonable demands, has been a good deal owing to the exorbitant value of labour judicially fixed on parties purchasing their discharge from apprenticeship. ee I have already reported to your Lordship the only occurrence connected with the behaviour of the peasantry that gave me any un- easiness, that of their tumultuously entering the town of Falmouth armed, some with guns and others with cutlasses and bludgeons, upon believing that the whites were going to hang their favourite minister Knibb ; and upon another occasion that he had been actually mur- dered upon the road. I have taken the necessary precautions to prevent such illegal assemblages in future; and, if any military aid should be required, I have taken care that the regular troops only shall be employed. The planters are disappointed that I do not send troops about the country, and issue proclamations to coerce labour. The progress of freedom has not been interrupted by the move- ment of a single soldier, for they would only be used as a terror to compel cheap labour ; and proclamations would be abused to the same end: but I have gone myself into nearly all the parishes, and have done all I could to bring employers and labourers to a fair under- standing of their mutual interests. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 24th Sept., 1888. I nave the honour to enclose your Lordship herewith various reports from the stipendiary magistrates on the state of the labour- PMC ASECS.11 se) 04 The deplorable consequences of the Attorney-General’s opinion, that proprietors had a right to charge the labourers for rent, for the three months which had been secured to them by the apprenticeship General Condition of Society. 9 abolition law, has created the most unfortunate state of excitement throughout the island, and interrupted and retarded many agree- ments for labour: still there is a very general desire among the peasantry to work for fair wages; and where they have been well treated, on many estates, they are still working well. I beg in particular to refer to the report of Mr. Lyon, so highly satisfactory on these points. Nearly all the other reports allude to the oppressions going on in demanding exorbitant rents for the people’s huts on properties, and money for grazing cattle, or any stock they may have. These cases are fully exposed in Captain Baynes’s report. Many complaints have been made to me where the labourer has been only credited with 5s. currency a week for his labour, and charged 8s.aweek for rent and his stock, thus bringing the labourer 3s. a week in debt, with nothing left to him to maintain himself or family. Your Lordship will be sensible that I have nothing in my power to correct these abuses. I have advised all such complainants not to pay any sums which they did not previously agree to; and [ am in great hopes the right or legality of such demands will be deter- mined in the Middlesex grand court, which meets on the Ist ae It grieves me that I cannot send your Lordship a more cheering report of the state of the island by this packet; but two most im- portant facts have been established by experience, that the negro free labourer has been everywhere found willing and eager to work for fair remuneration; and that, so far from his resorting to the woods to squat in idleness, as their enemies predicted among the evil consequences of freedom, they are submitting to the most galling oppressions rather than be driven to quit their homes. Notwithstanding many fraudulent attempts to coerce cheap labour, and heavily as the working classes feel their oppressions, their conduct has been patient and submissive beyond all praise ; and I am under no uneasiness for the peace of the island, though I am powerless to remedy the cruel wrongs imposed upon them. Sor L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 3rd Dec., 1838. I uamenr that I am not able by this packet to give your Lord- ship a very satisfactory account of the progress of voluntary labour ; not that there have been combinations or refusals among the black population to work for fair wages and kind treatment: but the three months’ grace, which, by the abolition apprenticeship law, Was intended to give the labourers time to agree for their old loca- lions, or engage new ones, having expired, and many of them not having entered on terms with their former masters, forcible ejectments are being resorted to to a considerable extent ; and whole families are turned adrift, and exposed to great misery and distress, until they can obtain fresh settlements. Jamaica. ae See p. 77. LSS th BY se eg aa area ryncennanare eee Jamaica, I, p, 183. I, p. 228.) I. pe 229. 10 Progress of Industry, and In proportion as these violent proceedings are carried on, and which I have no power whatever to control, discontent and murmur spread amongst the people, and will for some time impede or reduce cultivation, but not to the extent which is here represented as ruin- ous. Indeed, under all the disadvantages of present appearances, I am still sanguine the pressure for labour for the ensuing crop will yet induce a conciliatory course on the part of the planters, who, I am inclined to think, have resorted to ejectments as a means of abating the price of labour. . . . . I have no hesitation in declaring to your Lordship that nothing is wanting to the success of free labour in Jamaica but just and fair dealing towards the labourers. Necessity, the great controller of temper and human interests, may yet induce this desirable end; but at present mismanagement and discontent have greatly sus- pended industry, and placed the ordinary agriculture of the island in considerable confusion. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 5th Jan., 1839. I nave the honour to inclose your Lordship several reports of stipendiary magistrates on the conduct of the labouring popula- tion up to the Ist instant, and it is with great satisfaction I inform your Lordship the holidays have passed over in perfect peace and regularity. Sir L. Smith to Lord Glenelg, 8th Jan., 1839. _ Tue disposition to labour, from various causes, has not certainly increased. Both parties are unreasonable; principally because there is no law to protect one in securing his wages, or the other in the work agreed for: exorbitant wages and rents are the conse- quences of this unsettled state, and the Governor is abused for it, though I asked for a law to regulate these obligations in both the last sessions, butin vain, and I have no power, of course, to interfere without a law. Lhe Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith, 28th Feb., 1839. In addressing to you the first official communication since Her Majesty has been pleased to confide to me the Seals of the Colonial Department, I am happy to be able to assure you of my appro- bation of the energy and firmness with which you have conducted yourself, in various difficult emergencies which have perplexed the course of your government. It may naturally be expected that, from my personal experience, I should not be inclined to underrate the extent of your difficulties, and the same cause induces me to express, upon this occasion, the General Condition of Society. 11 peculiar satisfaction with which I have contemplated the favourable progress of the great social revolution in the condition of the agri- cultural population, of which it was my happy lot to assist in establishing the foundation. The general orderly habits, the kind disposition, the innocent moral conduct of the negroes, seem to be admitted on all hands, and whilst such testimony is creditable to their natural character, it cannot but redound to the praise of all those ministers of the Gospel from whom they have received moral and religious instruction, which has borne such timely fruit. I re- eret, however, to observe by the last accounts received from you by my predecessor, that you are obliged to speak in more unfavourable terms of their disposition to continuous labour; you state, in your letter to Lord Glenelg, that you consider both parties as unreason- able. I approve of the proclamation by which you have endea- voured to excite them to industry ; but you will also, I trust, recol- lect that no means should be left untried at this most important crisis in the fate of the colony, to impress upon the minds of the agricultural population the extent of the gratitude they owe to Divine Providence, for a change in their worldly condition, sudden and ex- tensive, in a degree unparalleled in the history of man. Under these circumstances, in allegiance to the Sovereign under Whose auspices the change has been perfected, in grateful return to the nation at whose charge it has been effected, in confirmation of the good opinion of their friends and advocates, and in justice to their present employers and late masters, whose fortunes are at stake, it behoves them to be most careful that there should never be any just cause for the imputation that they are obstinately un- willing to give their labour for a fair and moderate remunerative price. The consequence of such an impression being once fairly established would not only be the bitter disappointment of some of the noblest and most disinterested sympathies of human nature, but destruction to their own social happiness. It is not within my pre- sent province to speculate further as to the effect which the failure of this mighty experiment might have upon the future fate of that portion of the human race still unhappily held in bondage. I trust, not only that you yourself, but that all official persons employed under you in watching over the interests of the negroes, and in protecting them against wrong of every description, will at the Same time impress these sentiments upon them: they are those of One who has never ceased to watch the change with an interest which personal observation of the evils of slavery had rendered peculiarly keen, and who deeply feels the responsibility which his Sovereign has been pleased to impose upon him, of superintending their state and conduct, and of conveying through you to them Her Majesty's gracious commands. Jamaica, Jamaica. I. p. 230. I. (6.) p. 31. 1. (5.) p. 32. 12 Progress of Industry, and The Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith, 28th Feb., 1839. SEVERAL representations have been made to me, within the last few days, on the authority of communications from the island of Jamaica, that considerable misunderstanding still prevails on the mind of the negro, as to a supposed right on his part to his house and provision grounds. Should there be any foundation for this statement, I am sure you will feel that it is absolutely necessary that every step should be taken on your part, and those under your orders, to correct an error, which must lead to incalculable mischief, in the present unsettled state of the social relations of the island, and complete confusion as to the rights of property. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith, March 27th, 1839. In writing my public despatch of the 14th instant, I reserved for a separate communication any notice of the answers which you returned on the Ist of January to the address of certain Baptist missionaries. You will have seen, from the letter of Mr. Burge in- closed in that despatch, that ean phrases used by you on that occasion have become the subject of much observation. I can per- fectly understand that at a moment of such trying difficulty you should have felt it important, by the cordial reception of that ad- dress, to encourage, in the valuable support of your Government, a body which was sure to exercise such powerful influence over the negro mind. I cannot but at the same time regret that you should have unguardedly expressed yourself in such decided terms as to labour, under certain circumstances, never being wanting. <“ I have sent,” you say, ‘“‘ numerous testimonies to England to show that where labour has been encouraged by fair remuneration and kind treatment, it has nowhere been wanting ;” an opinion which further inquiry induced you so very soon to qualify in your letter to Lord Glenelg of the 7th of January, as I fear this apparent discrepancy will be liable to invidious comment. I should myself feel, however, that this change of opinion was capable of explanation by the peculiar season when unfavourable indications were then, perhaps, made more obvious, by the conclu- sion of the holidays without a resumption of labour. Str L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, May 13th, 1839. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s letter, marked “ separate,” dated the 27th of March last, in which your Lordship adverts to the seeming inconsistency in my having replied to an address of the Baptist missionaries on the Ist of January last, that labour, where it had been encouraged by fair remuneration and kind treatment, had nowhere been wanting, while in a letter to Lord Glenelg a few days afterwards (it was dated the Sth and not the 7th of January) I qualified this opinion, and ad mitted the want of continuous labour. General Condition of Society. 13 This inaccuracy of expression, as your Lordship imagined, ori- ginated from the holidays. Before Christmas the labourers had been generally working well; but nobody could have foreseen they would have taken such long holidays, for they kept them up to the middle of January. Up to Christmas my information convinced me labour had not been wanting; but in the first week in January, when complaints of their idleness increased, I issued a short proclamation, and dated it on New-year’s Day, exhorting them to industry. Thus on the same day I alluded to the labourers’ past conduct, and took the only means I could of discouraging the evil of long holidays ; and I own, when I wrote confidentially to Lord Glenelg on the 8th of January “that the disposition to labour had not in- creased,” I was under considerable apprehension that they would not return to their work at all. That they had not had fair play was fully exemplified in many of the magistrates’ reports sent to your Lordship’s office, where more rent was charged than wages paid; thus endeavouring to extort work for worse than nothing, since the excess of rent brought the labourer in debt. The charging rent for house and grounds for every individual of a family is still continued, as your Lordship will find in Mr. Sti- pendiary Justice Daly’s report on one of the St. Andrew’s districts, transmitted by this packet. I have conversed with negroes since the holidays, and asked why they were idle so long, and their reply was, “It was first free Christmas, and we all foolish ;” an answer, perhaps, of good ex- cuse for last Christmas, and of better promise for the next. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith, March 27th, 1839. I wave to request that you will inquire and report to me whether there is any reason to believe that the demands made on the €mancipated population for the high rent of their houses and pro- vision grounds have had any, and if any, what effect in preventing the continuous labour of the persons in question, or in impairing their disposition to work for wages. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith, April lst, 1839, Ir having been represented that a practice extensively prevails in Jamaica of commuting the labour of the negroes for the rent pay- able for their houses and provision grounds, I have to request that you will report to me whether there is any foundation for the above Statement, and if so, that you will furnish me with the best informa- hon which you may be enabled to collect, with a view to show the extent to which this practice exists. Jamaica. See p, 130.’ I. (5) p. 32, I. (5.) p. 33, Jamaica. ee See p. 135, 14 Progress of Industry, and Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, May 27th, 1839. I po myself the honour to enclose a report and accompanying document from the assistant secretary in the stipendiary justice department, which will afford your Lordship all the information which can be derived from the records in that office of the extent to which the practice of commuting labour for rent exists, and of the effect in preventing continuous labour which has been occasioned by the demand of high rents from the labouring population; to which points your Lordship has called my attention in your de- spatches, No. 28, of the 27th March, and No. 32, of the Ist of April last. Stipendiary Justice Department, Spanish Town, Sir, 23rd May, 1839. Ir I am to understand the inquiry of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State, in despatch No. 32, dated the 1st of April, as relating to the contracts for labour, in which rent becomes chargeable for all those days when, under any circumstances, the labour of the resident tenantry is either not required or not given to the plantation, a practice which ex- tensively prevails in the colony, then I am able to supply the following facts from the correspondence of this department as a reply to that in- quiry. A great interruption in the continuity of agricultural labour results from agreements, in which there is a provision for commuting labour into rent. This will be clearly understood by considering that such agree- ments not merely provide for an equivalent for breaches of contract, in the shape of rent to be charged when labour ceases, but become a constant incitement to the labourer to exercise his own discretion, whether he shall give labour or give rent as often as a more lucrative market for work is supplied off the plantation on which he is located. The agreement under such contracts is usually made in this manner :— In consideration of reduced wages, say 1s. 8d. currency, or a quarter- dollar per day (4s. sterling being the estimated value of the dollar), the resident labourer shall live rent-free; but for every day that every effi- cient labourer within a cottage shall be absent from work, there shall be paid the sum of 10d. currency, or one-eighth of a dollar for each of the work- ing days in the week the tenant may be absent from the fields of.the plan- tation on which he is located. Now, it is evident that if any neighbouring plantation finds it worth while to raise the price of labour by offering 3s. 4d., or half a dollar a day, so as to get an accession of strength, on an emergency, from those pro- perties on which labour is commuted into rent at the discretion of the la- bourer, the continuity of labour must be interrupted, since it must be worth the while of the labourer to pay the rent of 10d. per day, seeing that there is a clear gain of 50 per cent. on the day’s wages of his own plantation, or of one 10d. over and above his forfeiture for absence. The extent to which this arrangement has proved the fertile source of disputes and of interruption may be seen in the several reports of Mr. Marlton relative to the system in St. Mary’s, where, perhaps, competition for labour has been more open than in any other parish of the island, and where the average of wages has been the highest. The planter has been induced to resort to these contracts from the spe- General Condttion of Soctety. 15 cious advantage of getting rent, when his own interest may induce him to dispense with the labour of his tenant. The weather may interrupt the continuity of labour; the proprietor or his representative may find it convenient and profitable sometimes to commute labour into rent; but when the tenant may be required to resume his work, he may, in his turn, find it convenient to exercise his discretion, and work elsewhere; or he may be compelled to disappoint his own estate by the necessity he is under of completing some job-work which he has undertaken on another plan- tation during his allowable absence. The system is altogether an unmanageable one; where both parties have a discretion as to labour, or rent in lieu of labour, there can be no certainty, and therefore no continuity of labour. Jamaica, — The report of Mr. Lambert for the month of April, to be transmitted See p, 123. to the Secretary of State by the present packet, gives a very detailed ac- count of the various modes of rent and labour in the parish of Portland, and illustrates the prejudicial effect of the scheme of commuting labour into rent. Some strong points, illustrative of the interruption to which labour is subject, will be found in the report of Messrs. Fishbourne and Hewitt for the parish of St. George, also to be forwarded to the Se- cretary of State by the present packet. I enclose a report from Mr. Finlayson, stipendiary Justice for St. James, being a case adjudicated at a district court, composed of local and stipendiary justices, on the 17th instant, in which the nature of the dis- putes engendered by the system of commuting labour into rent is shown In operation, Tn reply to the inquiry in despatch No. 28, dated 27th March, whether there is “any reason to believe that the demands made on the emanci- pated population for the high rent of their houses and provision grounds have had any effect in preventing continuous labour,” I beg to state that these excessive rents have detached many labourers from-their former plantations, driven them to locate on other properties, or operated in ren- dering labour precarious, by compelling them to become independent set- tlers on small locations: this cireumstance will be found very strikingly detailed in Mr. Daughtrey’s reports for the parish of St. Elizabeth. In- dependent villages have already grown up out of the oppression of high Tents in Manchester, Vere, St, Mary’s, St, Thomas-in-the-Vale, Trelaw- hey, and Hanover. : I have, &e. 7‘ _ Ricuarp Hint, Assistant Secretary, Stipendiary Justice Department. C. H. Darling, Esq., Secretary, &c. Sir, Montego Bay, 21st May, 1839. I uave to bring under the consideration of his Excellency the Governor a case which occurred at the District Court at Adelphi, on the _ instant, in which there was a difference of opinion among the jus- ices. _ A labourer upon the estate of Paisley, named Bowen, brought an ac- tion against his overseer, Mr. Brown, for 18s. 4d. of wages. The defendant admitted the number of days’ labour to be correct. but he alleged, that as the plaintiff did not work five days in each week, he Was entitled to make a deduction of 10d. for each of three days’ absence as rent for houses and grounds. Jamaica. 16 Progress of Industry, and Mr. George Gordon expressed an opinion that the rent could be retained, as the man was liable for rent for the days he did not work. Dr. Carey concurred in this opinion. Mr. Carnaby was of opinion that weekly wages could not be stopped without an action. I stated my opinion that the plaintiff was entitled to judgment for the full sum claimed, with costs, reserving to the defendant to bring an action for his claim of rent. No agreement to pay rent had been proved. The votes being equal, the decision was adjourned till next court. A copy of the minutes, taken by myself, is now transmitted. It has now become a practice in this quarter to claim rent for days on which a labourer may be alleged to be absent from work, without esta- blishing any agreement to that effect, or proving the absence of the party. Mr. George Gordon, who gave his opinion as a justice in favour of the power to retain the rent from weekly wages, is himself deeply interested in similar cases, both as an extensive attorney and as a proprietor; and, in point of fact, on the same day brought an action against a woman for payment of the trifling sum of 3s. 4d. for rent on account of casual ab- sence from work, which was dismissed at my suggestion, upon the ground of her being a married woman. As much irritation and bad feeling is occasioned by petty claims against the labourers, I wish to be instructed if an indefinite or contingent sum of rent can be put as a set-off against the payment of weekly wages. I have, &c. (Signed) Water Finutayson, S.J.P. C. H. Darling, Esq., &e. &e. &e. Copy Minutes of Proceedings, Adelphi Court, 17 May, 1839. Justices: Geo. Gordon, Carey, Finlayson, Carnaby. Mr. Mackenzie declined to act. Bowen v. Brown, 18s. 4d. Wages. Thomas Bowen, Paisley, sworn; stated that he was cutting canes four days; 300 for {four bits, or 400 for 3s. 4d.; he cut 400 each day.. An- other week he cut 300 roots for two days; when he went to Busha, he told him that as he did not cut on Friday he would stop a 10d., and he would not take the money. The other week he asked for the money, when Busha said he would stop four bits, as he only worked two days; Busha called him damned brute. Busha has sent away his witness to-day to Loogan. Susan Morris, Paisley, sworn; stated that she heard Busha say he would charge 10d. for every day Bowen did not work; she did not cut canes with Bowen. Defendant stated that he would admit the number of days to be cor- rect. He was ordered by Mr. Hislop to stop 10d. for every day the people did not work five days weekly during crop. He offered the money, but directed his book-keeper to make deduction of 10d. for three days, for rent of house and grounds. Mr. Carnaby stated that weekly wages cannot be stopped without an action. Mr. Gordon stated his opinion that the rent could be retained, as the man is liable for rent for the days he did not work. Mr, Finlayson stated that the plaintiff was entitled to the full sum General Condition of Society. 17 claimed, with costs, reserving to the defendant to bring any action for his claim of rent, and no agreement has been proved to pay rent. Dr. Carey concurs with Mr. Gordon. Mr. Mackenzie declined to vote. The votes being equal, the decision was adjourned till next court. (Signed ) Watter Fintayson, S.J.P. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 6th April, 1839. I nave lastly to request your Lordship’s perusal of the accom- panying copy of a report made to the Bishop, by the Rev. G. D. Hill, who has been appointed inspector of national schools in this colony. In this capacity it will be his duty to make frequent journeys through the island, and the Bishop has promised to provide me with copies of all his reports for the information of Her Majesty’s Go- vernment. The Rev. Mr. Hillis a highly intelligent, well educated clergyman, and I consider the enclosed report (which relates how- ever only to the parishes of Port Royal, St. Thomas-in-the-East, and St. David) very valuable, as being the result of personal obser- vation by a perfectly unprejudiced party, combined with informa- tion obtained from the managers of properties themselves, To the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Jamaica. My Lorp, Kingston, 27th February, 1839, Jamaica, »(5.) p. 46. On the 12th and 13th instant I examined the school at Kasington, p. 82. St. David’s. The master, Mr. Bravo, under the constant superintendence of the rec- tor, takes much pains, and only wants system to have a good school. He showed much readiness to correct many deviations from the rules and practice of the central school. _ Between 80 and 90 children were present each day, some of them com- ing five or six miles, from Cocoa Walk, Qélas Valley, Lloyd’s, &., and returning daily. An excellent arrangement, of which others avail themselves, is made for their remaining from Monday to Saturday, if provisions are sent. Under present circumstances, Easington is perhaps as rood a situation 4s could have been selected for the school. On Yallah’s Bay the people chiefly attend the chapels of Dissenters, and there is a Baptist school. From Orange Park many labourers were at church on the 10th, with the proprietor, Mr. George Taylor, on whom they seem to rely with con- fidence and regard. Mutual good humour, salutations, jokes and laughter, were what I wit- hessed on his visiting his labourers in the field on the 11th; and on the Way to Orange Park, my brother, who accompanied me, noticed, as I did myself, the more than usual civility and respectful demeanour of the peo- ple. We observed that they had thrown off the old habit of hiding their houses in bush or plantation, and lived fearless in the open view of their fellow-creatures. We saw people picking coffee where the berries were Very scarce,—the last clearing of trees,—and understood from Mr. Taylor that they were doing it at 10d, a-bushel, for which they had taken in his Cc Jamaica. 18 Progress of Industry, and whole crop. We understood that, on a neighbouring property, they would not pick under 2s. 6d. a bushel for an overseer, and sometimes not for that, No rent is charged at Orange Park. The people had threatened to leave the property when Mr. Taylor took it. A shop is established, new houses are built for the labourers, and the overseer is not permitted to interfere in any way with their labour in the field. Mr. Taylor gives 15s. an acre for cleaning foul coffee, and 12 labourers now do more than double the number did as apprentices. I submit these and other circumstances to your Lordship as illustrating the character and disposition of the people for whose improvement the national schools are established, and showing the importance of obtaining their confidence in the prosecution of any measures for their advantage. On the 14th and 18th I, inspected the national school at Morant Bay, which was ina very defective state, and where but few traces of our system of instruction were to be found. Mr. Kelly promises better attention for the future. There is a good new school-room built by aid of S, P..G.in F.P., and a residence for the master built by the parish. On going through the west end of Morant Bay with the master, and calling at the several cottages, I found the Methodists and Independents masters of the field. Few people, it seems, attend the church, and the preachers at the chapels enjoin the attendance of the children at the dissenting schools. There is here a parochial schoolmaster, also at a salary of 250/. per annum from the vestry, who has, I am informed, but 10 charity scholars. In the national school, ill-conducted as it was, I found 75 scholars present. Mr. A. Barclay mentioned to me the probability of the parochial grants being reduced in consequence of the losses sustained by the want of con- tinuous labour on estates. We observed, however, the estates from Morant Bay to Fairfield were most of them making sugar on Thursday; and on Friday, the day sometimes selected by the negroes for working their grounds or going to market, those we passed in Plantation Garden River were doing likewise. Mr. M‘Cornock, too, showed us the cost of making 11 hogsheads of sugar in the week, amounting to 42 odd shillings. The labourers promised to do more, as 11 hogsheads a-week would not take off the crop of Golden Grove: so that I hope the gloomy anticipations of Mr. Barclay will not be realized, though the complaints of the sugar planters were general. On the 15th I visited Rocky Point parochial school, conducted on the oldsystem by Mr. Jeffries, and therefore not adapted to the instruction of many children. I cannot recommend that this school should be admitted on the list of national schools, or the present master receive any temu- neration from your Lordship. On the 15th L also visited the Bath parochial school, under the charge of Mr. Wardle, who does not profess to follow the national school system. About 30 scholars were present, and the master said he could take no more, whence the Rev. T. Wharton had lately refused admission to 10. If his school-room was properly laid out, there would be accommodation for 100, and with the piazza, for 150 scholars. Nothing could more fully exemplify the unfitness of this old system of the parochial schools for the general instruction of the people, or the very inadequate return made to the parish for the great expense they incur. On the 17th I assisted in the duties of Golden Grove chapel, where a large congregation crowded the inside, and many attended outside the walls. I heard the Bath chapel, too, was crowded with negroes. Some a General Condition of Society. 19 labourers applied to Mr. Wharton while we were with him, to determine a dispute with a neighbouring overseer. On the 19th we reached Coley national school. Mr. Gabay takes much pains, and will have a good school when his deviations from system are corrected. Here only, where the school is on an estate, I heard of differences between the master and overseer, the latter being said to entice away the children to work. This will be remedied so soon as the new school-room to be built by aid of S. P. G. in F. P., and master’s residence near the chapel at Barracks, is completed. The chapel is a neat building, nearly finished, to contain 500 without galleries. I have constantly warned the masters against the use of that harsh language and repulsive manner which was common in the days of slavery, but the ill effects of which, in whatever pursuits it is allowed to prevail, cannot be doubted in the case of the free labourers. Complaints, in no measured terms, are made before stipendiary magistrates against servants and labourers, even when it is admitted that those very labourers are working well, the property is in good order, and making large returns. Mr. M‘Pherson, who came to Jamaica 53 years back, and has been an extensive manager of estates in former days, spoke of the quantity of task-work done by his labourers in the previous fortnight as much more than was ever done under the slave system. My brother understood the Overseer of Mount Vernon to say, that 35 now do the work of 90 under the apprenticeship. Hence the children on coffee properties can well be Spared, and usually attend school. Some of these from a considerable distance, as those of New Moncklands attending Coley. We proceeded the same day to Old Moncklands, where, after explanation of the alternate quarter’s payment of salary, arrangements were made for Mr. Shutler’s return to resume charge of the school. A school-room and good residence is provided for the master. There are many children of emigrants and negroes. Mr. Patterson has laid out 5000/. in im- provements. Large returns are now made from his estate, his shop for all sorts of goods, and his tailors’, saddlers’, and shoemakers’ establish- Ment, under able workmen brought from Scotland. The storekeeper said his receipts were 20/. a-day, or 1001. a-week, beside credits. A market Was to be established the ensuing Saturday. Mr. Patterson said the emigrants were often refractory and trouble- some, but set a good example to the negroes in many respects. Good cottages have been built for them, and the negroes emulate their neatness in gardening and furniture, as well as in clothes. ; On the 20th we visited the site of the proposed chapel at Woburn Lawn, St. David’s. The work is not yet commeneed, for want of a contractor. Dr. Shroter, of Mount Industry, St. Andrew’s, and New Battle, in Port Royal, proposed a school, exclusively for his and his friend’s labourers, the whole expense of which they would defray, and put It under the national system in every other respect. To which arrange- ment I assented. By way of Westphalia and Pleasant Hill, where, as at Woburn Lawn, there was every appearance of successful cultivation, we arrived on the 22d at Clifton Mount school, where Mr. George Davis had relinquished the system of a national school in almost every respect. Reading alone Was taught, but the want of slates and other supplies formed some excuse for the state of the school. He obtained supplies in Kingston on Saturday Oa Jamaica. ee ee Jamaica. (5) p. 85. 20 Progress of Industry, and last, and was to commence in better accordauce with the regulation of the central school on Monday. I have addressed a letter to the Honourable Thomas M‘Cornock, rela- tive to the establishment of a national school at Manchioneal. The minute detail of circumstances as they occurred appears better cal- culated to make your Lordship acquainted with the position of the national schools, and the progress of improvement among the labouring classes, than any conclusions I might venture to arrive at. And under this con- sideration I beg leave to submit my report in its present shape for your Lordship’s approval. I have, &c. (Signed) Geo. D. Hitt, Inspector of National Schools. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 22nd April, 1839. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s despatch of the 28th February last, No. 1, in which your Lordship is pleased to express your approbation of the line of eonduct I felt it my duty to pursue, in the various difficulties with which I have had to contend, in the administration of this Government. I am happy in being able to assure your Lordship, that the same favourable characteristics to which your Lordship has alluded, as marking the commencement of the great change which has taken place in the condition of the labouring people, continue to attend its progress; and I am gratified to think that the Reports subsequent to that, addressed to my Lord Glenelg, (and to which your Lordship alludes in your despatch,) which I have forwarded from time to time, will have relieved your Lordship’s mind of any fears you may have been led to entertain, lest a determined perseverance, on the part of the negro, in refusing to labour for moderate remuneration, should have at once deprived them of the favourable opinion of the friends of emancipation, and disappointed the reasonable hopes of the British nation. Instances, no doubt, still exist, in which the certainty of con- tinuous and regular labour upon particular estates is precarious ; but these originate in causes entirely beyond the control of the Govern- ment. And I wish your Lordship distinctly to understand that I have never yet had a case brought to my notice in which I could find the slightest ground for imputing such unfortunate occurrences to the improper interference or advice of either the stipendiary ma- gistrates or the Baptist missionaries, although these are the bedies against whom the clamour of the planters in this colony is now raised more furiously than ever. Your Lordship may rely upon my continuing to watch over the many interests connected with the future prosperity of this colony with an anxious desire to render justice to all, and that I shall not cease to impress the necessity and propriety of a similar course upon all official persons and others who may be within the reach of my authority or influence. nena General Condition of Society. 21 Jamaica, Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 22nd April, 1839. I nAvE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s I. (6) p. 86. despatch, No. 7, of the 28th February last, stating that your Lord- ship had been informed, upon the authority of communications from this island, that considerable misunderstanding still prevailed on the mind of the negro as to a supposed right on his part to his house and provision-ground, and expressing your Lordship’s confidence that every step would be taken by me and by those under my orders to remove an impression so injurious in all its consequences. In my proclamation, and in my verbal addresses to the negroes before the day of freedom arrived, I earnestly impressed upon them that the houses and grounds they had hitherto occupied were not their own, being sensible that any misapprehension on this point would have been most natural in a people who had been held all their lives in slavery, and whose families, for generations, had been born and buried upon the very land which they were now, for the first time, to be told was not at their own disposal. I have since lost no opportunity, either personally or by injunc- tion to the magistrates, of removing any misapprehension on the subject which may have been found to exist. I firmly believe that the prevalence of this opinion is now very tare; and the many practical proofs which have been given to the labourers of the legal rights of their employers, either by ejectment or by suing for rent, must have generally convinced them of the error into which some of them may have fallen on this point. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir L. Smith, 15th April, 1839, I unDERSTAND there still exists an extraordinary delusion in the y. (5)'p. 164. minds of the agricultural peasantry, as to the right to their houses and grounds being vested in them, and not in their masters, and that they are still looking to the arrival of a law from England which shall confirm them in this error. You will, therefore, upon the re- ceipt of this despatch, immediately issue a proclamation reiterating most distinctly what you had formerly stated at the termination of the apprenticeship on this subject, and conveying to them the Queen’s explicit denial of the recognition of any such claim on their part, as 1 understand they are disposed to rest on Her Majesty’s authority. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 28th May, 1839. I nave had the honour to receive your Lordship’s letter of the 15th ultimo, and in reply to inform your Lordship that I lost no time in issuing a proclamation to the labouring classes in the terms your Lordship commanded, copy of which will be transmitted by this packet. . .. Though there haye been very many Jamaica. I. (5) p. 190. 22 Progress of Industry, and instances where ejectments have been served against the people for refusing to work, or to get rid of wages due by masters to labourers, still I have not heard of a single instance in which they have insisted on keeping their houses and grounds on any pretence of right. I shall be prepared to resign this government whenever my suc- cessor arrives; and it is with sincere pleasure I have to report to your Lordship the general tranquillity of the labouring population. i think the complaints against want of labour have considerably abated, though it may not yet be entirely of that incessant or continuous character, satisfactory to the planter ; but which, in my opinion, can alone be introduced under free labour by time, competition, and encouraging remuneration. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 28th May, 1839. I nave the honour to transmit herewith copy. of a proclamation which I have issued in obedience to the instructions contained fn your Lordship’s confidential despatch of the 15th ultimo. Proclamation, &c. Wuereas it has been represented to Her Majesty’s Government, that the agricultural population of this island Jabour under considerable mis- understanding as to a supposed right, on their part, to the houses and provision-grounds which they were permitted to occupy and cultivate during slavery and apprenticeship : and whereas such misunderstanding, wherever it exists, is calculated to produce great evil both to the said labouring population and to the proprietors of the soil of this island ; I do hereby make known, that I have received instructions from Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, to assure the labouring people, in Her Majesty’s name, that such a notion is totally erroneous, and that they can only continue to occupy their houses and grounds upon such conditions as they may agree upon with the proprietors of such houses and grounds, or their lawful agents in this country. And whereas it has béen further represented to Her Majesty's Govern- ment that the labouring people do, in many parts of the island, believe that a law is to be sent out from Great Britain to give to them the said houses and grounds, without any reference had to the rights of the lawful. proprietor of the said houses and grounds, I do hereby further make known that no such law will be sent from Great Britain for that purpose. And I do hereby require and command all magistrates and others in authority, to make as public as possible this Proclamation throughout the colony. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 17th June, 1839. I nave the honour to transmit, at the request of the parties by whom they were passed, certain resolutions agreed to at meetings General Condition of Society. 23 of the labouring population connected with different Baptist churches, in’ reference to the proclamation lately issued respecting the sup- posed misapprehension on their part as to a right to their houses and grounds. Addresses were forwarded to me from two of the meetings, em- bodying the purport of the resolutions, but I declined to receive them, as inconsistent with my duty; I have the honour to enclose copy of the letter addressed to the Rev. William Knibb on this oc- casion. I take this opportunity of transmitting the accompanying reports from some of the stipendiary magistrates, anda letter from the Rev. Mr. Stainsby, the rector of the parish of Hanover, in reference to the proclamation in question. ee ee tee Enclosure 1. Ar a numerous Meeting of Members and others attending at the Chapel of the Rev. J. M. Phillippo, in Spanish Town, on Tuesday Evening the 11th June, 1839,— (After a short address by the Rev. J. M. Phillippo, and prayer for the guidance and blessing of the Most High,) Dr. A. L. Palmer was called to the Chair, on a motion of the Rev. J. M. Phillippo, seconded by Henry Livingston, Esq. The meeting was addressed by the following individuals, Head-men and late Apprentices on some of the principal properties in the parish of St. Catherine, Messrs. Marshall, O’Meally M’Lean, M‘Culloch, Ellis, Barnes, William Ellis, Turner, Lewis, and M‘Lean; and the following resolutions were passed unanimously :— 1. That this meeting, consisting principally of persons engaged in labour in the cultivation of the soil, have heard with sincere sorrow that information has been given to our beloved Queen and our fellov -subjects in Great Britain, of various acts of misconduct en our part, and amongst other things, that we, or some other persons situated as we are, have laid claim to an ownership in the houses and lands which we have hitherto occupied, or to some right in the same beyond that which the laws allow. 2. That our unbounded sense of loyalty to our Sovereign, and grati- tude towards the generous nation which has made a noble sacrifice in order to obtain for us the first of human blessings, as well as justice towards those beloved and honoured ministers of God who daily teach us how to value and to use that blessing, make us most anxious to declare that we never have entertained or expressed any such claim with respect to such houses or lands, and never, individually or collectively, done any act of any kind whatever which could induce any candid or impartial person to think that we held such an opinion; had we entertained any such error, it must have been removed by the pains which were taken by Our minister, at the commencement of our freedom, to explain to us that we had no such right; on the contrary, we have never for a moment refused to be considered liable to the payment of a fair and just rent; and where such rent has not been paid, it has either been owing to an exor- bitant and unreasonable rate of charge, or to some other cause totally different from a claim of right. Jatiaica, 2S SS ee Slee Jamaica. 24 Progress of Industry, and 3. That we conscientiously believe that what we now state with respect to ourselves is universally the case with all the labourers throughout the island. ; 4, That although we are unhappily not unaccustomed to hear the class to which we belong, and those devoted men to whom we look up for such guidance in this world as may lead us to happiness in the world.to come, grievously calumniated and misrepresented, we cannot, upon this occasion, conceal the pain which we feel in finding that such calumuies have so far prevailed as to be made the occasion of a proclamation in the name of our revered Sovereign, which seems to imply that we are setting up the pre- tension which we now disclaim; that one of the first uses which we are making of our newly acquired rights, is to infringe upon the rights of others, and that we are acting in a manner which would seem to throw discredit upon the great blessing which we are enjoying, and tend to pre~ yent its being spread (as it is our daily prayer that it should be) through - out the whole world. 5. That, anxious to remove the impression which we feel to be so in- jurious to us, we desire that these resolutions be signed by our pastor, Mr. Phillippo, and by him delivered to our kind friend and protector, his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, to be transmitted to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies. James M. Pxr.uippo. ee Sir, Montego Bay, 11th June, 1839. I uave the hononr to forward the enclosed Resolutions for the most noble the Marquess of Normanby, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. I have, &c. (Signed) Tuos. BurcHELL. To the Honourable H. Labouchere. AT Meetings of the Members and Congregations in Connexion with the Baptist Churches at Montego Bay, Mount Carey, Shortwood, and Bethel Hill, comprising a numerous Body of the Peasantry, the follow- ing Resolutions were unanimously adopted :-— Resolved, 1. Tuar in consequence of false and malicious representations having been made at the Colonial Office to our great injury, we feel ourselves called upon to express our devoted and loyal attachment to our Sovereign Queen Victoria; to assure your Excellency that we entertain the highest respect and the most perfect confidence in you as our Governor 5 and that we are, as we have ever been, disposed to yield obedience to the laws of the land; to pay respect to any instructions forwarded to us by the Bri- tish Government, and to any advice given to us by your Excellency. 2. That we feel great indignation on account of the base and false communications made at the Colonial Office by persons who, having no longer the power of lacerating our bodies, and perpetuating our moral degradation, have resorted to the despicable means of secretly assassinat- ing our characters; presuming upon the ignorance in which they have so long kept us, and our consequent inability to meet promptly and rebut fully their vile and cowardly aspersions. 3. That we do not, and never did, entertain the idea, that the houses and grounds we occupy are our own property by any legal right or title ; 7h a General Condition of Society. 25 nor have we heard any law that was expected from the Queen and the Imperial Parliament to give us such legal possession. 4. That so far from supposing that we had any lawful claim to the houses and gronnds, we have been fully and painfully taught our depend- ence, by notices to quit; by enormous demands of rent from husband, wife, and every child, though residing in one house; from the anomalous and unjust demand to pay additional rent for every day we, or any portion of our family, may be absent from work, whether occasioned by sickness or any other cause; from the summary ejectments which have been in- flicted upon some of us; and from the demolition of houses, and utter destruction of provision-grounds, which others of us had to endure. 5. That in proof no such sentiment exists, or has existed in our minds, we have paid, either by labour or in cash, exorbitant rents for eur huts and grounds. Having laboured at ls. 8d. per diem instead of 2s. 6d., the regular wages given to us during the apprenticeship, or from our masters from whom we were hired; and at which rate, upon the oaths of the overseers, our services have been valued as apprentices, and which we have had to pay for the purchase of our apprenticeship terms ; thus allow- ing 104. per diem for every able member in the family capable of hard work, and an equal proportion for every inferior member as payment for the occupancy of the houses and grounds, although many of these houses were built by ourselves, and at our own expense, and others are of such a description as to be unfit for the residence of any human being. 6. That the parties who have made these representations at the Colonial Office must have been influenced by the most cruel feelings and ungener- ous motives towards us the peasantry of this colony. 7. That we have no confidence in the House of Assembly of this island, in which we are unrepresented, and we therefore look with earnest anx- iety to the British Government, and to the Imperial Parliament, for the enactment of laws until the period when the great body of the people have an opportunity of voting for members to represent the general interests of the community in the popular branch of the Legislature. So that the Governor, the Government, and the people may never again be insulted by a manifestation of that intemperance and obstinacy which has over- whelmed the country in the present difficulties, 8. We depend with confidence on the integrity and wisdom of the Im- perial Parliament for protection, and for the propagation of equal laws, and by which we shall be secured so long as we pay rent, at least against the arbitrary conduct of the overseers or managers of estates, who at present, without reason, right, or law, demolish the houses and destroy the pro- vision-grounds we occupy and cultivate, to gratify their caprice or male- volent feeling. 9. That the Rev. Thomas Burchell, our minister, be requested to sien these resolutions on our behalf, and forward a copy of the same to his Ex- cellency the Governor, Sir Lionel Smith; to the most noble the Marquess of Normanby, the Secretary of State for the Colonies; to Joseph Sturge, Esq. ; and to the Rev. John Dyer; that they may be published in the “ Colonial Reformer,” a copy of which shall be transmitted to Mr. Burge. Tuos. BurcHe.y, Baptist Missionary. Montego Bay, June, 1839. Jamaica. ——o) ( i ; q 5 i i} hi | Jamaica. 26 | Progress of Industry, and Salter’s Hill, St. James, Jamaica, Sir, 6th June, 1839. We have the honour to transmit the enclosed Resolutions for Her Ma- jesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies. We have, &c. (Signed) J. L. Lewry, Chairman. Wiuiiam Denpy, Baptist Minister. To the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. At a meeting of the Peasantry connected with the Baptist Churches under the care of the Rev. Walter Dendy, held at Salter’s Hill, St. James’s, on Wednesday Evening the 5th June, 1839,— Israel Levy Lewin, Esq. in the Chair, Tue proclamation of the 25th of May, respecting houses and provision grounds having been read aud explained by the Chairman: On the motion of the Rev. I. B. Pick kton, seconded by Mr. Stephen James, one of the peasantry, Resolved,— That we now, as we have always done, express our loyalty to our Sovereign Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, of other dominions, and of this island. We avow our attachment to, and contentment with the government of Jamaica, under the administration of his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, and we declare our determination to render obedience to the laws. On the motion of Mr. John Grey, seconded by Mr. John Gordon, two of the peasantry, Resolved,—That we consider ourselves aggrieved that Her Majesty’s Government should entertain such erroneous notions concerning the pea- santry of this country as to be induced to direct the issuing of a proclama~ tion to counteract the effects on our minds of a supposed right on our part, in common with the rest of the peasantry, ‘* to the houses and pro- vision grounds which we were permitted to occupy and cultivate during slavery “and apprenticeship ;’? and we most pean y say that nothing but the grossest misteprescpiaions of those who have unkindly feelings towards us, and who consider it their interest to falsify our views and cha- racter, could have caused such an impression in the mind of Her Majesty's Minister of State for the Colonies. On the motion of the Rev. Walter Dendy, seconded by Mr. Charles Bernard, one of the peasantry, Resolved,—That so far from considering ourselves entitled to the houses and grounds | we occupied as slaves and apprentices on plantations and settlements, ages in the ma jority of instances since we have become free subjects, aa enormous rents, in the value of our labour; the ma- nagers having deducted stipulated sums from the wages of every working individual i in a family; and the unjust and unlawful exaction has increased the fair rent-charge of the houses and grounds three or four times their marketable value, supposing that they were decent and commodious. On the motion OF Mr. William Gordon, seconded by Mr. George Reid, two of the peasantry, Resolved,—That we earnestly entreat Her Majesty’s Government to cause the enactment of such laws as may be just and fair between landlord and tenant, and by which we will be secured against the enormous imposi- General Condition of Society. | yg tion of rents withheld without our consent from the wages of the husband, the wife, their children, and other inmates of a single dwelling,—a practice, we are given to understand, unknown in any other civilized ‘or free coun- try, and certainly of a dishonest and disreputable nature. And it was Resolved,—That a copy of these resolutions be respectfully forwarded by the chairman and our minister, the Rev, W. Dendy, to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to his Excel- lency Sir Lionel Smith, to William Burge, esq. island agent, to Joseph Sturge, esq., and the Rev. John Dyer, secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society, and that these resolutions be published once in the “ Colonial Reformer,” of Jamaica, and the “ British Emancipator,” and ‘ Patriot,” of London. 1. L. Lewin, Chairman. Water Denpy, Baptist Minister. Mr. Lewin having left the chair, the Rev. Walter Dendy proposed that the thanks of the meeting be tendered to the chairman for his conduct in the chair, which was responded to with marked satisfaction. Rio Bueno, 10th June, 1839. May it please your Excellency, _ Tue accompanying resolutions were passed at a meeting of about 800 persons connected with the Baptist congregations assembling at Rio Bueno and Stewart Town, held at the latter place on the evening of Thurday the 6th instant. At their request I forward a copy for your Excellency’s perusal. Trusting that your Excellency may long be continued in the govern- ment of this colony, and be permitted by a kind Providence to witness the prosperity of its best interests, I have, &c., (Signed) Brensamin Butt DENTER. To His Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, Bart., &e. &e. &c. Resolved, 1. Tar this meeting has learnt, with deep regret, from a proclamation issued by order of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that represen- tations have been made to Her Majesty’s Government that the agricul tural population labour under a considerable misunderstanding as to a supposed right on their part to the houses and provision-grounds which they were permitted to occupy and cultivate during slavery and appren- ticeship, and that the said labouring people do, in many parts of the island, believe that a law is to be sent out from Great Britain to give to them the said houses and grounds, without any reference had to the rights of the lawful proprietors of the said houses and grounds. 2. That knowing these “representations” to be without the shadow of a foundation, as it respects this district of the island, and believing them to be only a new device to which the enemies of freedom are driven to depreciate the character of the labouring classes, this meeting feels it a duty respectfully to declare, for the information of Her Majesty’s Govern- Ment, and of the British public at large, that the rights of the lawful pro- Prietors to the houses and grounds occupied by their labourers, has never ‘Jamaica, Jamaica. 28 Progress of Industry, and been disputed ; that, on the contrary, rent for the same has been univer- sally demanded, and as universally paid, either by a deduction from the Jabourer’s daily wages, in which case the payment extends to every work- ing member of the family, or by weekly payments in money; that where discontent has heen manifested on the subject of rent, it has generally arisen either from the exorbitant charges made, or from the aged and in- firm, as well as mere children, being included in them: that they chal- lenge the resident proprietors and managers to disprove these statements by bringing forward specific cases to the contrary, or to show that any law has been expected from Great Britain which should give the peasantry a right to that which does not belong to them; and they further declare that, had such a law arrived, sanctioned by the British Government, their own notions of justice would still have convinced them that they ought to occupy their houses and grounds upon such conditions only as they might agree upon with the proprietors or their lawful agents in this country. 3. That while this meeting will yield to no part of the community in ardent loyalty for Her Most Gracious Majesty, and respect for her re- sponsible advisers, we cannot but regret not only that the good conduct of the lately emancipated peasantry should appear to be entirely overlooked, but that a want of confidence in them should be manifested on the part of Government, and that the “representations ’’ of a base and hireling press, an agency in England equally corrupt and venal, and a body of men who have ever been the enemies of the negro race, and the determined oppo- nents of civil and religious liberty in general, should have been received and acted upon in preference to those of liberal proprietors, magistrates, and ministers of the Gospel, who have been universally known as the most strenuous advocates of peace, order, and equity. 4. That this meeting pledges itself on the subject of these “ representa- tions,” still to follow the advice given by their worthy and excellent Go- vernor prior to their emancipation, and by the ministers of religion and the special magistrates, both before and since that event took place; trust- ing that, by a continuance in a proper course of conduct, they will ere long force upon the minds even of those most slow to receive it, the con- viction that tbe labouring classes are really grateful for the boon conferred upon them by the justice and generosity of the British nation. 5. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, and to such other of the friends of freedom as may be deemed advisable by the minister and deacons. (Signed on behalf of the Meeting.) Bensgamin B. DeEnteEr, Chairman. Falmouth, Jamaica, 8th June, 1839. A'T a Public Meeting, held at the Baptist Chapel, in the Town of Fal- mouth, on Saturday, the Sth day of June, 1839, for the purpose of taking into consideration the Charges made to Her Majesty’s Ministers against the Labouring Population of Jamaica, by the enemies of F'ree- dom, the following Resolutions were unanimously passed :-— 1. Tuar this meeting has heard with astonishment and regret that charges seriously affecting their characters as free subjects of Her Majesty have been preferred against them at the Colonial Office, which has led to the recent proclamation of his Excellency the Governor, and that it ee = ————————————————eEeEeEeEeEeEEEeE——————aa—EEE7E General Condition of Society. 29 declares, as far as it is concerned, those charges are wholly devoid of truth. 2. That this meeting has never for one moment entertained the foolish idea that their houses and grounds belong to the present occupants, and declare most positively that they never once even heard that a law was to be sent from England for the purpose stated in that proclamation, until it was thus announced. 3. That it has ever been, and is still, the opinion of this meeting, that a fair and equitable rental of the houses and grounds they occupy, totally distinct from, and unconnected with, the labour they perform, is the best method of preventing the numerous disagreements which may now arise, and that they are prepared to enter into such engagements whenever their employers choose to make the offer. 4, That it is the firm belief of this meeting that the unfounded charges preferred against them at the Colonial Office were made for the purpose of throwing discredit not only upon them, but upon the administration of their most noble-minded Governor ; that it is the commencement of the same policy which has been pursued towards every governor whose appro- bation we have won by the propriety of our conduct, and which has led to their removal from our shores ; and this meeting implores Her Majesty’s Ministers to respect the feelings of the 300,000 free subjects, who are dis- tinguished by their attachment to the British Crown, and not to listen to those who seek the removal of every governor whose administration is marked by humanity and justice. 5. That a letter embodying the sentiments expressed at this meeting be forwarded to his Excallency Sir Lionel Smith, Governor of Jamaica; that the resolutions be printed in the “‘ Falmouth Post ” newspaper, and that a copy of the same be forwarded to his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, with a respectful request that he will transmit them to the Marquess of Normanby, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies. (Signed on behalf of the Meeting.) Wiuitam Kvyipss, Chairman. Enclosure 2. Sir, King’s House, 14th June, 1839. Havine laid before the Governor your letter of the 10th inst., enclosing an address from the members attending the Baptist Churches assembled at Falmouth, at.the Refuge, and at the Waldensia Chapels, I am desired by his Excellency to inform you, that he cannot, consistently with his duty, receive a document of that nature, addressed directly to himself, as Her Majesty’s representative, having reference to an act of the executive, in fulfilment of instructions from Her Majesty’s Government. Any resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the people upon public Measures, it will be at all times his Excellency’s duty to forward for the consideration of the Home Government: and in my letter of yesterday’s date, I had the honour to apprise you that his Excellency would accord- ingly transmit, by an early opportunity, the resolutions forwarded, with your letter of the 10th instant. I have, &c. q (Signed) C. H. Daruina, Secretary. The Rev. Wm, Knibb, Falmouth. Jamaica, Jamaica. 30 Progress of Industry, and Enclosure 3. Sir, Trelawny, 14th June, 1839. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular, No. 499, dated May 29, which shall be faithfully attended to; at the same time I feel it but justice to the intelligence of the people to observe, that I do not believe there are any in this parish so uninformed or ignorant as to imagine they have any legal right to the occupation of the houses and ground they possessed as apprentices, after the termination of the notices to quit, without remuneration to the owner, either by labour at a reduced price, or by the payment of rent; neither has it come to my knowledge that any one of the late apprenticed labourers has been, or is in the ex- pectation of any law from Great Britain to give him the legal occupation of these houses and lands. I have, &c., (Signed) Epmunp B. Lyon, Sir, Port Maria, St. Mary's, 3d June, 1839. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular, No. 499, the King’s House, 29th May, 1839, transmitting copies of a proclamation bearing date the 25th May, which I am directed to distribute among the labouring population, and which shall receive my attention. I beg to state, for the information of his Excellency, that an erroneous impression was abroad among the peasantry on the subjects alluded to in the proclamation, months since. I heard it personaily from many of them in January last, but I do not believe that ten persons, labourers in this district, could now be found labouring under such delusion. Con- viction has been forced on their minds by the number of judgments (on the various estates) giving for rent, during the past four months ; and by the general system here pursued of charging 5s. weekly rent. The planters assisted in inducing the people to cherish the delusion, by working on the Macaroni system, which professes no claim to rent from the labourer when working on the estate, or when sick, but which actually takes rent from every labourer. The eyes of the labourers, even on the Macaroni estates, are now open to the necessity of paying rent ; for a wife often asks why she is to pay rent for absence, when her husband pays no rent? by taking ls. 3d. in place of 2s. 6d. daily wages. I have taken ereat pains, on all occasions, to impress on the labourers, that SS the Governor at Port Maria told them the houses and grounds were not their property;”’ this, with the judgihents against them, convinced them; and I confidently but restpectfully state, that the proclamation is not necessary as far as it applies to this district. It may not be improper for me to state here, that the planters of this quarter cannot state to his Excellency that T am a “partizan”’ of the negro. On my return here in January I ascertained the profession of belief among the labourers of their right to the houses, and stated such in my January report. My use of the Governor’s name, and my own autho- rity, soon put down such belief. I beg to call His Excellency’s attention to my report for May last, in which is set forth Mr. Oldham’s plan of labour on Friendship estate. In conclusion I bee to state, since my experience here (from January to date) all proprietors have rece ivecrent. General Condition of Society. ol Those estates working on the 2s. 6d. plan directly ; those on the Macaroni plan indirectly. I have, &c. (Signed) Wm. F. Maruron, tipendiary Magistrate, St. Mary’s. C. H. Darling, Esq., Governor’s Secretary. &e. ‘&e. &e. Sir, Monday, 3rd June, 1839. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a circular, No. 499. dated 25th May, 1839, containing directions from his. Excellency the Governor, to distribute among the labouring population sundry copies of a proclamation, dated 25th May, 1839. In giving to the document that publicity which his Excellency enjoins, I feel it also my duty most respectfully to state that, until the issue of the proclamation, I never, to the best of my recollection, heard of any instance of the agricultural population discrediting a.previous proclamation to the same effect, dated July, 1838, and labouring under the double mis- understanding, first, of their supposed right to their houses and grounds ; and, secondly, of their expectation of a law from England to give that right, which has been, in my humble opinion, erroneously represented to Her Majesty’s Government they had previously claimed. I have, &c. (Signed) H. Morespy, 8. M. Captain C. H. Darling, Governor’s Secretary, &e. &e. &e. Sir, Montego Bay, St. James's, 4th June, 1839. _ I Bee to acknowledge the receipt of circular, No. 499, of the 29th ult., with relative packet containing copies of the proclamation by his Excel- lency the Governor, as to the occupancy, by the emancipated labourers, of houses and grounds. I immediately caused the proclamation to be circulated as widely as _ possible. I may be permitted to observe, that throughout the various causes brought before me since the Ist of August last, I have no recollection of a legal claim to houses and grounds having been made by any one of the labouring population. I have, &e. (Signed) Wm. Carnasy, Stipendiary Magistrate. Captain Oat. Darling, Governor’s Secretary, &e, &e. &e. Sir, Montego Bay, 4th June, 1839. sd HAVE had the ‘honour of receiving your circular letter of the 29th ult., No. 499, with the copies of the proclamation, which will be duly cir- culated among the labouring population. : I may at the same time observe, that I have not met with an instance of the labourers, conceiving that they have any right of property in the houses or erounds. Indeed, in this parish, they have had too many severe Jamaica. Jamaica. 32 Progress of Industry, and intimations to the contrary, by the proprietors destroying their houses and rooting up their provisions, I have, &c. C.H. Darling, Esq. (Signed ) Water Finzayson, 8. J.P. ec. &e. &e. + Enclosure 4. Sir, Lucea, Hanover, 4th June, 1839. In consequence of having seen a proclamation from his Excellency the Governor, stating, that “it had been represented to the Queen’s Govern- ment that the agricultural population of, this island Jabour under con- siderable misunderstanding as to a supposed right on their part to the houses and provision-grounds which they were permitted to occupy during slavery and apprenticeship ;”’ and that “the labouring population do, in many parts of the island, believe that a law is to be sent out from Great Britain to give them the said houses and grounds, without any reference had to the rights of the lawful proprietor,” I think it no more than a bare act of justice to inform his Excellency that, as far as the labourers generally of this parish are concerned, I have good reason to believe that such representations are without foundation. ‘The labourers generally, I believe, would be very thankful to be admitted to the privileges of yearly tenants for the houses and grounds which they occupy, on a reasonable and fair consideration of money to be paid to the proprietors. But the planters generally are averse to this arrangement, because they would not be able to hold over the labourers, in ¢terrorem, the threatened expulsion from their houses and grounds, whilst the fruits of their labour are on the ground. The consequence is, that on three estates only in this parish, as far as my knowledge extends, are the people in the situation of tenants by the year, although I am fully aware that on several others, the people - have earnestly petitioned their employers to concede this point. I may also mention that a friend of mine, the Rev. Richard Quarrell, of Phoenix estate, in this parish, has put all his labourers upon a system of rent for their houses and grounds, payable weekly. They all readily consented, with one exception only. The person so refusing, Mr. Quarrell brought before the Court of Common Pleas in April last, and obtained a judgment against him, which Mr. Q., however, afterwards forgave him on paying the costs of the suit. This man has since come to terms. There are in all on Pheenix estate about 170 souls. This, I think, may be considered a tolerably fair specimen of what the rest of the labourers would do were a similar proposal made to them. I may further explain that Mr. Quarrell’s plan of rent has reference only to the head of each house, and to the actual occupiers of land, and not, as has been formerly attempted by planters, to draw so much money per week from each labourer, to wit, so much from a man and so much from his lawful wife, and so much for every child at work living in the same house with their father, for rent of houses and grounds which these latter occupied under their parents. 1 am fully convinced in my own mind that the agricultural interests of the country are being much prejudiced by the determination of the planters to allow the people to hold their houses and grounds only on sufferance. They will, in the end, leave the properties, as many have done already. I have, &e. C. H. Darling, Esq. (Signed) J. STAINSBY, General Condition of Society. 33 Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 24th June, 1839. Jamaica. At the request of the Rev. T. F. Abbott, a Baptist missionary, I I. (5.) p. 212. have the honour to enclose a letter addressed by him to your Lord- ship, in reference to the recent proclamation respecting the supposed delusion in the minds of the negroes as to a right to their houses and grounds. Had this letter been addressed to myself, I should, for the rea- son stated in my despatch, No. 117, of the 17th instant, have de- clined to receive it; but as it is addressed to your Lordship direct, I have not felt justified in withholding it. Sir, St. Ann’s Bay, 18th June, 1839. In consequence of the recent proclamation, emanating from Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, and promulgated through his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, I have considered it necessary to address the enclosed letter to the Most Noble the Marquess of Normanby, Minis- ter for the Colonial Department, and shall {eel obliged by its being respect- fully forwarded, after his Excellency the Governor shall have perused it. I have, &c. To C. H. Darling, Esq., (Signed) Tuos. F. Asgorr. &e. &e. &e. St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, 11th June, 1839. My Lorn Marquess, A srnsz of justice impels me to address you in behalf of the deeply in- jured peasantry of this colony, and especially of that portion of them under my pastoral care; and I earnestly crave your Lordship’s attention to my brief remarks, on the accuracy of which I unhesitatingly stake my cha- racter as a Christian minister. Eyer since the abolition of slavery, the press of this island has teemed with accounts of the unreasonable demands of the Jahouring popula- tion; of the partisanship of our Governor, Sir Lionel Smith; of the mal- administration of the law by the special magistrates ; and of the improper iterference of the Baptist missionaries between masters and servants, on the one hand; and on the other with refutations of these statements ; with charges of mismanagement against very many of the representatives of absentee proprietors, and other managers of properties; and with authen- ficated cases of wanton cruelty perpetrated at their instance. In the midst of these conflicting statements, it must be extremely diffi- cult, even for disinterested persons, not on the spot, to form a correct opi- nion of the real state of affairs. You, my Lord, are far better qualified to judge in this matter than any of your predecessors in office. You are not unacquainted with the cha- Yacter of our peasantry; you cannot have forgotten the cheerfulness with Which they listened to the excellent advice you gave them just on the eve of their nominal emancipation ; the promptitude with which they obeyed you; or the general consistency of their conduct, to which honourable tes- umony has been borne, as well by yourself as ty your successor, the Mar- quess of Sligo, and our present Governor, Sir Lionel Smith; and while I Would most scrupulously avoid, even by implication, impugning your Motives, I do most deeply regret that you have been so far imposed upon D Jamaica, 34 Progress of Industry, and by the artful misrepresentations of designing men as to give instructions to our esteemed Governor to issue a proclamation which casts unmerited censure upon our peasantry, and throws discredit upon the statements of their friends. I beg leave to assure your Lordship, on behalf of the congregations under my care, comprising upwards of 3000 persons, that they neither suppose that they have a right to the houses and grounds they occupied during slavery, nor believe that a law is to be sent out from England to give them the said houses and grounds. Since the abolition of the apprenticeship system, I have visited various parts of the island, have met not fewer than 10,000 of the apprentices, addressed them in relation to their rights, privileges, and duties as free- men, and heard the free expression of their sentiments, and I have no hesitation in saying that the charges preferred against them, as a body, have no foundation in truth. I freely admit that the attachment of the labourers to the places of their birth, and to the burial-places of their ancestors or offspring, is so strong that they would rather make any sacrifice than leave them; and of this too many managers have taken a disreputable advantage. I admit, fur- ther, that I have met with some who have refused to pay the rent de- manded of them, when that demand has been exorbitant, and who have refused to work on the terms proposed to them, when those terms have been deemed unfair, and even to work at all for those masters who during slavery were distinguished only for cruelty. You, my Lord, do not need to be told that similar feelings are manifested by freemen in other countries, and will be, I think, disinclined to blame the newly-freed men of this for daring to maintain their rights. But while I make these admissions, I do most solemnly assure your Lordship that I have not met with any who have been unwilling to pay a fair rent for their houses and grouuds, or to work for those who will treat them as human beings, for equitable remuneration. That there are amongst the recently emancipated many idle, dishonest, and unworthy members of society, I am not disposed to deny. That there is at least an equal proportion of this stamp in the other classes of the community, who have fewer excuses for their crimes, is painfully mani- fest; and your Lordship is well aware that the same may be said not only of the peasantry and mechanics, but of the aristocracy of highly-favoured England. With reference to the charges against the people, I have only to add that I can confidently state, not only from personal observation, but from the testimony of humane and influential masters, that where they are treated well they behave well ; and while they reasonably seek to be paid for what they do, they are willing to pay for what they get. It is not necessary for me to eulogize our highly-valued Governor. His acts, which have merited and received the approbation of our most gra- cious Sovereign, and the grateful acknowledgments of a free and generous people, proclaim his worth. It is equally unnecessary for me to become the apologist of the special magistrates, since those of them whose conduct is defensible, and who in the midst of opposition and reproach have dared to perform their duty, are quite capable of defending themselves, and I doubt not have already * done so to the satisfaction of your Lordship. As to the charge that the bad working of the free system on some pro- perties is attributable mainly to the mismanagement of the managers of General Condition of Society. 39 those properties, I can only say that, so far as my observation has ex- tended, it is too true. You are, my Lord, acquainted with the character of certain parties iu this island, and must know full well that they have committed all the evils with which they stand charged ; and judging from their own admissions, and the reports of his Excellency the Governor, and the special magistrates, you must acknowledge that they have not greatly improved since your departure. But here I must be permitted to disavow any intention of passing indiscriminate censure upon the whole body of planters. Tam happy to bear testimony that I have met with some of mild and gentlemanly manners, who have been disposed to treat men of every hue as men, and from whom [I have received the most favourable reports of the conduct of their labourers; but these, alas, are too few for the welfare of the colony. In conclusion, I have a remark to make on the charge brought against the Baptist missionaries, of exercising undue and improper interference between masters and servants. The Baptist missionaries have reluctantly interfered when solicited to do so, and only then, as faras I know. ‘That they have been frequently requested by proprietors, attornies, and overseers thus to interfere, cannot be denied, since they have such requests in writing in their possession ; that through their interference, amicable adjustments of differences between contending parties, and arrangements for the future have been effected, is beyond dispute Ifit be asked why the Baptist missionaries are unsparingly censured by those whose interest it is to keep absentee proprietors in ignorance of the teal state of things, while the missionaries of other societies, with few ex- ceptions, are unnoticed or praised, I reply, that this may be owing either, first, to the fact that more of the labouring population attend the ministry of the Baptist missionaries than attend the missionaries of any other deno- mination ; or, secondly, that the enemies of truth and justice have selected the missionaries of one denomination, vainly hoping to make them the victims of their wrath, supposing success would be more secure than though they attacked the whole; or, thirdly, that those ministers who are praised by oppressors have sacrificed the interests and happiness of the poor and helpless for the sake of a disreputable popularity with the rich and powerful. In any case, the Baptist missionaries fear no scrutiny. ‘They desire to be judged, and approved or condemned, by the evidence of impartial wit- nesses. ‘They do not covet or seek an evanescent popularity with the poor and ignorant, nor are they desirous of provoking the hostility of the great ; but they are as fully determined as ever to vindicate injured innocence, and to relieve the oppressed; and in so doing, they have no fear of incur- ming your Lordship’s disapprobation, while they will enjoy the smiles of an approving conscience and an approving God. T have, &c. ; (Signed) Tuos. EF. ABBorT, To the Most Noble the Marquess of Baptist Missionary. Normanby, Secretary of State for the Colonies, &c. &c. &e. p22 Jamaica, Jamaica. I. (5.) p. 214. 36 Progress of Industry, and Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 3d July, 1839. Havine informed your Lordship, in my despatch of the I1th May last, No. 99, that I should call on the ministers of religion in the parish in which Dr. Cooke resides, to report their opinion of the correctness of the statements made by that gentleman to Mr. Burge, relative to the increased profligacy and immorality of the young ne- gro women, I have the honour to enclose your Lordship a series of letters which I have received from them on that subject, including a communication from the Lord Bishop of the diocese; and it is worthy of remark, that while his Lordship appears to have been under the impression that in the important parish of St. Thomas-in- the-East there was little ground for the sweeping assertions of Dr. Cooke, the rector of that parish is the only minister, with whose reply I have yet been favoured, who acquiesces in the truth of these assertions, and appears to attribute the profligacy which he reports to exist to the fact of the women in many instances absenting them- selves from field labour. Enclosure 1. My pear Sir, Union Hill, 20th June, 1839. I am favoured with your letter of the 15th instant, enclosing a copy of a letter addressed to the clergy of the parish of St Thomas-in-the-East, in consequence of some observations of Dr. Cooke to the agent of the colony, on the increasing demoralized state of females in that part of the island. I will frankly confess to you that my first impressions on reading this statement were that they partake of that party spirit and Jamaica mono- mania which so much characterizes all the highly-colored representations of the planters, and particularly those which Mr. Burge has submitted to Parliament. There is no subject more painful to the feelings of us all than the bitter fruits of slavery, with reference to the degradation of the female character. These evils I have long deplored, and make them the perpetual subjects of ali my addresses to the clergy; they are inherent in that sad state of things from which we have lately emerged; but to make this acknowledged proof of the miseries of slavery a political argument, and to ascribe it to any remarks or advice of the Governor, is a part of that system of dogged opposition and determined contumacy which has so justly excited the in- dignation of the British public against this colony. Dr. Cooke is a man of some ability, but has resided too long in this country to be free from the prejudices and opinions, which as a planting attorney himself, and the companion of planters for these last 30 years, a medical practitioner on the estates during slavery, and for many other reasons which suggest them- selves to my mind, cannot be considered as a fair and impartial witness. Under ail these circumstances, well as I know, and much as I deplore the sad state of female libertinism in this country, I cannot subscribe to the opinions expressed by Dr. Cooke, or ascribe without much stronger evidence of the fact, to so limited a cause, abstracted from its political tend- ency, an evil so monstrous ; and, I fear, arising from other causes far more general than any particular advice of his Excellency the Governor in the present improving state of things. I have never heard this subject General Condition of Society. 37 mentioned by the clergy, or by the superintendent of Schools, who has been twice in that parish during the last three months. I feel assured that had it been to the extent described, and a matter of such notorious infamy, I must have heard of it. 1 will, however, bear the subject in mind, and make all the inquiries in my power, for the further information of his Excellency the Governor. I remain, &c. Captain Darling, (Signed) C. Jamaiva. &c. &e. &e. Enclosure 2, Brooklands, Morant Bay, Sir, 28 June, 1839. I Have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular of the 14th instant, No. 555, conveying to me his Excellency’s desire that I should state how far the opinions expressed by Dr. Cooke, in his letter to the island agent of the 17th of January last, and his subsequent letter to yourself, under date the 8th ultimo, regarding the moral conduct and habits of the labouring population, accord with my own observatious on that head ; I beg leave to state, in reply, that I firmly believe the correct- ness of Dr. Cooke’s opinion as to the state of the peasantry at that time. It is consistent with my own personal knowledge, that for many months succeeding the abolition of the apprenticeship, the village of Morant Bay swarmed with the idle and dissolute of both sexes from the neighbouring estates, congregating at night about the wharfs and lower part of the town, and indulging in every species of vice and debauchery. The evil I believe is much diminished at the present time. There certainly existed for many months an impression on the minds of the women that his Excellency had advised them not to labour in the field ; and with many, that they had been specially exempted by law from all field labour, an indisposition to which still continues to manifest itself. It is with considerable reluctance I state, that with the abolition of the apprenticeship the young of both sexes have thrown off all regard for the authority of their parents; acting in direct opposition to the will, and even threatening to bring them up before the magistrates, when threatened with punishment, The parents, fearful of the consequences, abstain from the exercise of that controul and salutary discipline so necessary for the wellbeing of the child. In my various conversations with the head people of estates, this want of control over their children has often been made a subject of deep complaint, and that in consequence few will even assist them in the very cultivation of their grounds, but are continually resorting to the towns, and abandoning themselves to a life of idleness and profligacy. I am of Opinion there is not the same extent of profligacy practised on the estates as formerly; and I quite agree with the opinion of the island curate, that although an improvement may here have taken place, vice is decidedly on the increase in the towns and sea-ports, Mr. Wharton, in teply to my letter addressed to him on this subject, by desire of his Excel- ency, writes, “‘ T bee to state my own belief tu be that the moral conduct of the rural population is improving; but in towns, and especially sea- Ports, vice is on the increase. However, as this is a branch of statistics of which I, as a clergyman, can have very little knowledge, I have made diligent inquiry, and finding that opinions are very nearly balanced, per- Jamaica, mae Jamaica, 38 Progress of Industry, and haps the conclusion nearest the truth is, that very little alteration for better or worse has as yet taken place.” From the other curates of the parish T have as yet received no reply to my letters addressed to them on this subject. Considering any longer delay in replying to your circular inconsistent with the respect due to his Excellency, I have determined on availing my- self of the opportunity that now offers of forwarding this reply at once, but will not fail to convey to his Excellency their opinions as soon as I receive them. I have, &c. (Signed) S. H. Cooke, To C. H. Darling, Esq. Rector of St. 'Thomas-in-the-East. Rectory, Morant Bay, St. Thomas-in-the-East, SIR, 19 June, 1839. In accordance with your request by letter of the 14th, I write to inform you of my views regarding the important subject therein adverted to. 1@, With respect to the present habits of the labouring population of this parish, as compared with their moral conduct previously to receiving the blessing of entire freedom, I am unable to offer any remark, having arrived in the colony subsequently to. that period ; but, notwithstanding, having had for the last five months opportunities of observing either more or less the character and general deportment of the people on many of the estates in this neighbourhood, I feel no hesitation in saying, that it is my firm conviction that a moral and religious influence is extending, that libertinism and licentiousness are on the decrease, and that the general tone of society is improving. Being unacquainted with the nature of the advice given. by his Excel- lency the Governor, any farther than by report, I cannot in consequence form any opinion as to the effect produced thereby ; I speak only of the present aspect of affairs, morally and religiously considered. If you will be so kind as to inform his Excellency of these my senti- ments, you will greatly oblige, Sir, &c. (Signed) Francis WurtEHEAD, C. H. Darling, Esq., Governor’s Secretary, Wesleyan Minister. King’s House, Kingston. Sir, Rural Fill, 24th June, 1839. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular letter, No. 555, of the 14th instant, containing extracts from letters addressed by Dr. Cooke, of Shady Spring, to the agent of the island and to his Excellency the Governor, in which he affirms that licentiousness and libertinism are fearfully on the increase in every town and sea-port village in the country, and alleges that this is attributable to that “unfortunate advice the Governor gave to the negro women not to work in the fields ;”’ also requesting me to inform his Excelleney how far the opinions ex- pressed by Dr. Cooke regarding the moral conduct and habits. of the labouring population accord with my own observation on that head. In reply, { beg respectfully to inform his Excellency the Governor that, si uated as [ am in a rural district, within which there is no town or sea- port village, my means of observation have been necessarily limited, and General Condition of Society. 39 consequently my opinions on the subject in question are given with a proportionately less degree of confidence. As regards my own immediate district, however, including a range of coast of six miles in extent, I have much pleasure in being able to inform his Excellency that since the first day of complete freedom the tone of morality among the labouring population has been gradually improving, nor have I witnessed any exhibition of that licentiousness said by Dr. Cooke to offend the eye in every town and sea-port village in the country. I am, however, informed by gentlemen residing in towns and sea-port villages, and who are somewhat partial to the negroes, that since the great day of complete emancipation, they have observed among the labouring population, especially among the younger women, a considerable change for the worse; that idleness, drunkenness, and debauchery are sadly in- creasing, and that the unfortunate victims of these vices discover a bold- ness and effrontery which too plainly evinces how far they have already sunk in moral degradation. But, admitting the truth of all this, and I am by no means disposed to dispute it, how it can be traced to any advice given to the people by his Excellency, I confess I am at a loss to comprehend. It is stated by Dr. Cooke that the Governor advised the women “ not to work in the field.” No such advice, however, was contained in the proclamation issued by his Excellency. The words, as far as I can recol- lect, for I have not a copy of the proclamation at hand, were, “ Spare your wives from heavy field work ;’? and some of my people who heard the Governor’s address at Port Antonio said that that was in substance the same. Now, in the first place, in this clause his Excellency was speaking in reference to married women ; they were “ wives;” Dr. Cooke’s statement, however, includes all the female labourers that have passed the age of childhood. His words are, ‘‘ the women.’ And then, again, these wives were to be spared from heavy field work, not from working in the field altogether. Thus, then, there appears some discrepancy between the Governor’s advice and Dr. Cooke’s statement of it. Tam not unaware that this advice, after having been purposely perverted from its obvious meaning, was caught at and used as a plea for not work- ing at all by the idle and vicious. But these evidently were already what it is affirmed the Governor’s advice has made them. With regard to that passage in which it is stated that “the young women consider no means of subsistence disgraceful except rural labour,”’ I can only say that there has been, as far as my knowledge extends, no unwillingness to labour in the fields shown by such in this district. Many of the young women who were not wanted on the estates have been work- ing since August as labourers at the building erecting at this place, and have given satisfaction. It may perhaps not be altogether irrelevant to the subject in question, as it indicates, I conceive, the improving state of the district, to mention, that towards the Rural Hill Church Missionary Chapel upwards of 500/. in money and labour have been contributed by men, women, and children during the past year. Upon the whole, therefore, I beg to state that Dr. Cooke is, in my Opinion, labouring under a mistake in asserting, without limitation, that the young women are unwilling to work on the estates, and particularly in attributing the prevalence of libertinism and licentiousness to the advice given to the women by his Excellency the Governor. Had he, instead of thus attempting to impute blame to his Excellency, ‘Jamaica, Jamaica —— 40 Progress of Industry, and stated that this alleged increase of licentiousness and insubordination among the labouring population is owing to the awfully immoral example we have set them; to our refusing them, for so long a time, the means of moral and religious instruction; to our violent opposition to those clergy who took an interest in the negroes’ welfare; to the sad multiplication of spirit-shops in our “ towns and sea-port villages ;” and, in too many instances, to our unconciliating, imperious, and oppressive conduct; then could I have most conscientiously subscribed to the declaration. I have, &c., (Signed) W. T. Wooncock. Captain Darling, Government Secretary. Stipendiary Curate. ——— Sir, Morant Bay, 26th June, 1839. I sec to acknowledge your favour of the 14th instant, and I deeply regret that any cause should ever have existed for such a ‘‘ circular ;” while I feel this regret, it gives me pleasure to inform his Excellency, that as far as opportunities have been afforded me, both on estates and at Morant Bay, of observing the decency, morality, and advance of civili- zation among the negroes of both sexes, I am conscientiously constrained to state that I differ in opinion on this subject from Dr. Cooke. Mar- riages among the young and middle aged are more numerous than they were before the Ist August, 1838, and since that period many young per- sons living at Morant Bay, whose conduct was diametrically opposite to every thing like morality and religion, have broken off from their glaring wickedness, and joined classes for religious instruction, which are con- ducted by Mrs. Franklin and myself. L have not witnessed an increase, much less a daily increase, of liber- tinism and licentiousness among the young negroes, neither have I reason, as far as my knowledge extends, to think that such is the case. I have hoped, and still do, with all proper deference to the doctor’s opinion, that the people generally are fast improving in morals and re- finement. I believe many young women have left the estates with the intention of obtaining situations in towns, but I cannot say that they have done this from a sense of disgrace, which they suppose attaches itself to rural labour, neither do I think that it is the result of his Excellency’s advice to the negro women; but I am disposed to think that their attachment to town and their connexions in it, would have led them to act as they have acted, even if the Governor had not said a word on the subject of their labour. In fine, although these statements, which I make most conscientiously, will. not accord with those of the doctor, yet in justice I must observe, that he has most readily and kindly provided me a shed, well supplied with forms, on Blue Mountain estate, for the preaching of the Gospel, where libertinism and licentiousness are exposed, and tiie cause of morality and religion advanced. I have, &c. Captain Darling, (Signed) BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. King’s House, Spanish Town. Mem.—The writer of this is a minister of the London Missionary, , Society. General Condition of Society. 4] Sir, Bath, 3rd July, 1839. I am in receipt of his Excellency’s circular, requesting my opinion as to the validity of Dr. Cooke’s statement respecting the morals of the labouring population, as far as it accords with my observation on that head. In complying with his Excellency’s request, I beg leave to state, that in the Plaintain Garden River district I have nearly 3,000 of the labouring classes immediately under my pastoral care ; and instead of ‘ libertinism and licentiousness increasing among the young negroes of both sexes,” I am happy to inform his Excellency it is quite the contrary. In proof of this I would mention the prevailing disposition among the negroes to enter the matrimonial state. We have celebrated among the members of our society since the 1st of August, 1838, no less than 110 marriages; I therefore think that Dr. Cooke’s statements are utterly unfounded. Ihave no means of ascertaining to any great extent what effect “his Excellency’s advice to the negro women not to work in the field,” has had upon them, but have heard that in very few cases advantage had been taken of it. I have, &c. C. H. Darling, Esq. (Signed) James Rowpen, ec, &ew Ke. Wesleyan Missionary. Sir, Bell Castle, Manchioneal 27th June, 1839. In stating the result of my observations and inquiries relative to the moral effects of emancipation on the negroes, I can by no means agree with Dr. Cooke. On only one estate, viz. * Happy Grove,”’ have I heard that licentious- ness has increased of late; but there is hardly a property in this district, I believe, on which so large a proportion of the tenants labour in the field and at the mill as there; and the negresses that compose Mrs. King- don’s “‘ Maternal Association” (a society of from 20 to 30 mothers, who meet once a week to receive instruction in the best method of training up their offspring) complain much of the ruinous effects of field labour on their daughters’ morals; so that if there is really an increase of “ early libertinism,” it may be fairly attributed to the contagious influence of lewd conversation and indecent conduct in the field, and consequently it had been far better if they had continued in the mistake into which they fell till they had it properly and repeatedly explained to them what class of females his Excellency had reference to in the “advice” alluded to by the doctor. But I do not believe that immorality is more common than before; on the contrary, it is nearly universal with the people to” seek marriage, as far more creditable than concubinage; to send their children to school wherever exorbitant rent-charges do not tempt them to send out the children to earn part of the rent; and Iam assured that domestic har- mony and comfort are greatly progressing; churches and chapels are better attended than ever, excepting, perhaps, where officiate persons of abandoned life. Had I not been from home, I should have done myself the honour to reply to your favour earlier. IT remain, &c. _ _Capiain Darling, (Signed) Joun Kinepon. King’s House, Spanish Town. Mem.—The writer of this letter is a Baptist minister. Jamaica. Jamaica. I. (5.) p. 218. 42 Progress of Industry, and Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 3rd July, 1839. At the request of the Rev. J. Clark, a Baptist minister, I have the honour to transmit a series of resolutions adopted at a meeting of the Brown’s Town and Bethany Baptist Congregations, relative to the supposed delusion existing in the minds of the peasantry as to a right on their part to their houses and grounds. Falmouth, 2 4th June, $39. I swatu be greatly obliged by ycur laying the enclosed resolutions before his Excellency the Governor, with the request of the individuals composing the congregations under my care at Brown’s Town and Bethany that his Excellency would be pleased to forward them to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies. SIR, I have, &c. C. H. Darling, Esq. (Signed) J. Crark. Secretary to his Excellency the Governor. (True copy.) C. H. Darling, Sec. AT anumerous Meeting of the Emancipated Peasantry, under the Pas- toral Care of the Rev. John Clark, Baptist Missionary, held in the Baptist Chapel, Brown’s Town, St. Ann’s, on the 7th June, 1839, the Sentiments embodied in the following Resolutions were unanimously expressed, and at subsequent Meetings of the Congregations at Brown’s Town and Bethany the Resolutions were adopted. 1. Tuat we have learned, with much surprise and indignation, from the proclamation just issued by his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, that our enemies and the enemies of freedom, who formerly used all their power and influence to hold us in a state of degrading slavery, have now falsely and maliciously represented to Her Majesty’ s Ministers that we suppose we have a right to the houses and provision-grounds which we were per- mitted to occupy and cultivate during slavery and apprenticeship, and that we believe a law is to be sent out from Great Britain to give us the said houses and grounds, without reference to the rights of the lawful pro- sme: That we exceedingly regret that the noble Marquess at the head of rhe Colonial Department should have given credence to the statements of men who would gladly reduce us again to a state of thraldom, and have caused a proclamation to be issued, conveying an implication that we neither understand nor deserve the rights and privilezes of freemen, as we are not aware that any part of our conduct since the memorable Ist of August has been inconsistent with that gratitude which we profess and feel to the Queen, Parliament, and people of England, and to our highly esteemed Governor Sir Lionel Smith, for their noble exertions on our behalf. 3. That with the most profound respect to all in authority over us, we feel bound, in justice to our own characters, strongly and unequivocally to deny the truth of these representations. We never fora moment enter- tained the thought that after the termination of the apprenticeship we had General Condition of Society. 43 any claim to the houses and grounds formerly allowed us, except for Jamaica, the first three months of freedom, a privilege secured to us by an Act of = —— the Island Legislature. We never had any expectation that a law would be sent from England giving us a right to those houses and grounds. Had we even entertained such preposterous notions, the instructions so kindly given to us by his Excellency the Governor, by the stipendiary magistrates, and by our ministers, would have convinced us to the con- trary ; or had these been insufficient, the charging, and compelling us to pay exorbitant rents, either in money or in labour, the notices to quit, and summary ejectments, the demolition of houses and destruction of pro- vision-grounds, to which we have been subject, would long ere this have brought us to the opposite conclusion. 4, That although compelled to speak thus strongly in repelling the unjust charges brought against us, we would as strongly express our loyalty to our beloved Sovereign the Queen, our entire confidence in, and attachment to, our excellent Governor, our firm conviction that our noble friend and advocate the Marquess of Normanby, and the rest of Her Ma- jesty’s responsible advisers, will exert their powerful influence in protecting us from oppression, and in securing to us those privileges to which, as British subjects, we are now entitled, and our sincere hope that the elec- tive franchise may be so extended, that those of us who possess small free- holds, or pay a certain annual rental, may, whenever another House of Assembly is formed, possess the privilege of voting for, and sending to that House, men distinguished by liberality of sentiment, integrity of purpose, and loyalty to Her most gracious Majesty the Queen. 5. That our minister, Mr. Clark, be requested to sign these resolutions on our behalf, and ferward a copy to his Excellency Sir Lionel Smith, with a request that it may be transmitted to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, to Joseph Sturge, Esq., to the Rev. Jobn Dyer, Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society, to J. H. Thredgold, Hsq., Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society, and that they be published in the Colonial Reformer and in the British Emancipator. (Signed) Joun Criark, Baptist Missionary. Sir Lionel Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 17th July, 1839. I wave the honour to report that, in consequence of the labourers I. (1840), p. 3. on Spring Hill coffee plantation, in the mountainous part of the parish of St. George, having on two occasions evinced a spirit of resistance to the parish constables, when executing distress and con- tempt warrants, I directed that the stipendiary magistrates should accompany a body of special constables, who were charged with the apprehension of the ringleaders in the first resistance. 2. The magistrates, I regret to say, were not only received with violent language, but pelted with stones by some of the most turbu- lent of the party, amongst whom, however, the women were the most conspicuous. I then considered it prudent to march a small detach- ment of the 2nd West India Regiment into the parish, having no doubt that their presence there would be quite sufficient to ensure respect to the civil power, without having recourse to any actual employment of the military force. Jamaica, (1840), p. 4. 44 Progress of Industry, and 3. I accordingly directed the custos to take all necessary measures for bringing the offenders to trial at the Court of Quarter Sessions, then sitting by adjournment, and earefully enjoined upon himself and the stipendiary magistrates that they were on no account to call for the active co-operation of the troops, unless the civil power were again violently resisted. 4, The result, as your Lordship will perceive by the enclosed copy of a letter from Mr. Stipendiary Justice Fishbourne, has been such as I anticipated. The military were not called upon to act; but most of the offenders have been duly apprehended, and were to be tried on the 16th instant. 5. It may be important to mention that, in these and one or two other instances in the same district, where the people have evinced a less submissive disposition to the civil power than has almost univer- sally characterized the conduct of the labouring population through- out the island since the Ist August, there is no ground for believing that it has originated in any idea that their houses and grounds were their own property ; although there is no doubt that the bad feeling on Spring Hill originated in misunderstandings with the overseer as to the mode in which rent was charged and the amount demandeds and was fostered in no inconsiderable degree by the injudicious man- ner in which the constables proceeded with arms, in the first instance, to distrain upon the negroes’ goods. 6. The people of this district have ever been remarkable as being the least civilized in the island; and they are at this moment, I believe, more inadequately provided with moral and religious instruc- tion, whether through the Established Church or the various mis- sionary bodies, than any other portion of the population. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir C. T. Metcalfe, 30th August, 1839. Iw a despatch, dated the 17th of July, No. 136, Sir Lionel Smith has reported a disturbance which took place on the Spring Hill coffee plantation, in the month of July, amongst the labourers, who dis- played a spirit of resistance to the parish constables when in the execution of distress and contempt warrants. The measures adopted by Sir Lionel Smith, for the purpose of ensuring respect to the civil power, and the restoration of order, appear to me to have been very proper; and I am glad to find that: the presence in the parish of a small detachment of the military was sufficient for repressing any further commotion. I think that it will be desirable to bring under the notice of the Bishop of Jamaica the destitute state of the people of this district in regard to their moral and religious instruction. I therefore request that you will make a communication to the Bishop on the subject, as the representation of Sir L. Smith leads to the belief that the district in which Spring Hill plantation is situated is very inadequately pro- vided with these means of instruction. General Condition of Society. 45 Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 18th July, 1839. T nave the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a letter from the Rev. James Reid, Baptist missionary, and the Rev. W. G. Barrett, of the London Missionary Society, enclosing certain resolutions entered into by the labouring people who follow their ministry, in reference to the supposed delusion on their parts as to a right of property in their houses and grounds. Enclosure. Four Paths, Clarendon, 9th July, 1839. May it please your Excellency : Sir, At the request of our congregations we beg to forward you the resolu- tions adopted by our congregations respecting the late proclamation issued by your Excellency. In so doing, we beg you, on behalf of our congregations, to assure Her Majesty’s Secretary of State how utterly unfounded are the accusations upon which they were led to believe such a proclamation necessary. We have to apologise to your Excellency for our ignorance of the eti- quette proper to be observed on such occasions, and which led to the adop- tion of the Memorial lately transmitted to your Excellency. x, We have also most respectfully to thank your Excellency for the kind- ness and courtesy displayed by your Excellency to the deputation which lately had the honour of an interview with your Excellency. Uniting with our people in their cordial attachment to your Excellency’s ‘administration, We have, &e. (True Copy.) (Signed ) James Rerp. C. H. Darling. W. G. Barrett. Resolutions adopted at a Meeting of the Churches and Congregations under the care of the Rev. James Reid, of the Baptist Missionary Society, and the Rev. W. G. Barrett, of the London Missionary Society, held in Ebenezer Chapel, George Yard, Clarendon, Jamaica. 28th June, 1839. Resolved I. That this meeting, having heard the late proclamation of his Excellency the Governor read and explained, is deeply grieved and disappointed that the labouring population should be considered either so wickedly depraved as to demand the property of others, or 80 ignorantly foolish as to believe that a law would be sent from Her Majesty the Queen to confirm them in that claim; but, at the same time, expresses its firm conviction that it does not contain the senti- ments of his Excellency the Governor respecting them, but is in com- pliance with instructions from the Colonial Office. Resolved II. That this meeting affirms, without fear of contradiction, that they never entertained the idea of the houses and grounds being their own, and never intended to make them so by an act of robbery, in proof of which they would point to the numerous notices served upon the house apprentices three months previous to the lst of August; to his Excellency’s proclamation issued in the beginning of July, which was read to them by their ministers, and again by his Excellency the Jamaica, I. (1840), p. 5. 46 Progress of Industry, and Jamaica. Governor to assembled thousands at Parnassus; and to the fact that very many persons have left the properties to which they were for- merly attached, and are now living on their own freeholds, or in hired premises. Resolved IV. That this meeting views the statements on which the pro- clamation has been founded as in unison with the loud assertions since so abundantly disproved, that the crops of the present year would not be taken off; and as a base and cowardly attempt to blast their character, to ruin their interests with the British people, to ren- der them, like their enemies, disaffected towards Her Majesty’s Go- vernment, and to prevent them from enjoying the blessings which emancipation was intended to confer. Resolved V. ‘That amid all the base and slanderous accusations which are industriously circulated respecting the labouring population of Ja- maica, this meeting, confidently reposing in the liberal views and upright determinations of Her Majesty’s Ministry, in the firmness and straightforward policy of Sir Lionel Smith, Her Majesty’s repre- sentative in this colony, and in the consciousness of their own inno- cence, holds up this new libel on their characters to be contradicted and annihilated, like the others, by existing facts. Resolved VI. That our ministers be requested to sign these resolutions on the behalf of this meeting; that a deputation of four persons wait on his Excellency the Governor to convey to him personally the senti- ments of the labouring population in this district ; and that these resolutions be also forwarded to his Excellency, with the earnest but respectful request that he will transmit them to Her Majesty’s Secre- tary of State for the Colonies. Resolved VII. That these resolutions be published in the ‘‘ Colonial Re- former” newspaper, and also in the “ British Emancipator.” Signed at the request and on behalf of the meeting, W. G. Barrett, Missionary of the London Missionary Society. James Rein, Missionary of the Baptist Society. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 12th August, 1839. 1.(1840),p.22. AT the request of a meeting of the peasantry, held in the parish of Vere, on the 27th June last, I have the honour to transmit a series of resolutions relative to the supposed claim, on their parts, to their houses and grounds. Resolutions adopted at the Baptist Chapel, Hayes Savannah, Vere, on Saturday, 27th July, 1839. Resolved I. That we, the labourers in Vere, have learned with sincere regret, through the proclamation of Sir Lionel Smith, that a represent- ation has been made to Her Majesty's Government, most injurious to the character and insulting to the feelings of the labouring popula- tion of this island, setting forth that we had laid claim to the houses and grounds we formerly occupied as slaves, as being our own pro- perty now that we have been made free. General Condition of Society. 47 Resolved IT. That we, on our own behalf, and on behalf of the whole of the labouring population in this district, emphatically declare that we never did consider the houses and grounds as our property, and never did, by any act or deed, give the slightest ground for suspecting that we ever held such an opinion; and we feel perfectly satisfied that those who have originated and spread such reports have done so with the full knowledge that their statements were destitute of the smallest foundation, and for the express purpose of misleading the Government, and injuring the character of the labouring population. Resolved IJI. That this meeting declares it an impossibility for any one in the parish of Vere, and enjoying the use of reason, to believe that the house and ground he occupied was his own, after the manner in which the Governor’s proclamation was explained, first by their minister, and afterwards by himself, on the Bog estate, and more especially after the number of notices to quit which have been served, the ejectments which have taken place, and sums of money which have been will- ingly paid for rent. Resolved IV. That, notwithstanding all the calumnies and misrepresenta- tions which have been industriously heaped upon the labouring popu- lation, yet, in the confidence which integrity inspires, and trusting in the enlightened policy and liberal principles of Her Majesty’s Govern- ment, and the honest, faithful, and upright conduct of his Excellency the Governor, we are determined to manifest by our conduct that we are neither so ignorant nor so wicked as our enemies would repre- Sent us. Resolved V. That these resolutions be signed on behalf of this meeting by the chairman and their minister; that a copy be presented to his Ex- cellency Sir Lionel Smith, with the respectful request that he would forward it to his Lordship at the head of the Colonial Office, and that a copy of the same, with a brief of account of the meeting, be pub- lished in the “ Colonial Reformer’? newspaper, and “ British Eman- cipator.” Resolved VI. That the thanks of the meeting be presented to Dr. Palmer, for his kindness in attending, and for his able conduct in the chair. A. L. Patmer, Chairman. James Rerp, Missionary. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 16th August, 1839. In explanation of the allusions to some apprehended movements of the peasantry in Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth, made in the Teports of Messrs. Abbott and Daughtrey, I beg to transmit, at the same time, copies of letters from the custodes of these parishes, and of the correspondence which ensued in consequence... .. . . 3. Your Lordship will observe that the alarm which is represented aS existing was occasioned by the peasantry having latterly been in the habit of amusing themselves with fowling-pieces, combined with the circumstance of an individual, said to be a Maroon, having, as is alleged, used extremely improper language in conversation with a abourer on Petersville estate. 4. I consider this alarm to be founded more in the apprehension Jamaica. 1.(1840), p. 23. 48 Progress of Industry, and Jamaica. which, among the white population, usually marked the recurrence sear of a season of rest from toil to the negroes, than from any justifiable cause; and I trust your Lordship will consider that, in directing the apprehension of the party accused of giving the improper advice, every step has been taken which the occasion required. 5. The island is in a state of profound tranquillity, and labour has, I believe, been everywhere resumed. 1.(1840), p.45. 1.(1840), p. 53. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 17th August, 1839. | Wirth reference to my despatch, No. 124, of the 3rd ultimo, I have the honour to enclose a copy of a letter from the Rev. Mr. Stearus, curate of the district of Manchioneal, relative to Dr. Cooke’s assertion of the female peasantry. The rector of the parish, the only minister in it, who supported Dr. Cooke’s statement, did not think proper to forward a copy of this communication to me, but, through the kindness of the Bishop, [ have been placed in possession of it. (Copy.) . REVEREND Sir, Manchioneal, 25th June, 1839. Your letter of the 14th instant, enclosing copy of the circular from the King’s House, was duly received, and I beg to say in reply that, having been closely confined to my studies up to the end of January last, I have had but little opportunity of observing the moral conduct and habits of the labouring population till within the last few months. It is probable that more immorality meets the eye than formerly, but I do not think that this can justly be imputed to the advice given to the negro-women by his Ex- cellency, nor does my own observation (so far as it goes) confirm the opinion expressed by Dr. Cooke with regard to the daily increase of libertinism and licentiousness amongst the young, although their morals are certainly most awfully depraved. I remain, &c. (Signed) WILLIAM STEARUS. The Rev. S. H. Cooke, Morant Bay. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 7th September, 1839. I Ee to enclose to your Lordship a Report received, through the ishop, from the inspector of national schools, the Rev. G. D. Hill. 2. I take the opportunity of assuring your Lordship that the most perfect tranquillity prevails throughout the island, and that the labouring population are, as far as I can obtain any satisfactory testi- mony, pursuing their usual avocations. Disagreements have, in some parts of the island, again sprung up, in consequence of a desire, on the part of the planters, to make alterations in the terms both of labour and rent, which they have been no doubt induced to by the circumstance that the greater part of the crop is now taken off, and pra General Condition of Society. 49 that the pressure for continuous labour is consequently not so ereat. The labourers, on the other hand, resist this attempt to take advant- age of the circumstances of the moment. 3. In the parish of St. David, a resistance of the ordinary parochial authorities has lately taken place, arising entirely from some super- Stitious practices connected with the African “ Obeah,”’ which are still prevailing in a district where the effects of the religious instruc- tion of the people had been scarcely brought into operation. 4, T directed the refractory parties to be lodged in gaol for trial, and that a sufficient body of special constables should be sworn in for the purpose of apprehending them; as I have received no further report on the subject, I conclude that the measures adopted have been found adequate to the end in view. Montego Bay, St. James’s, My Lord, 6th August, 1839. On my way from Kingston to this town I passed through Rio Bueno Trelawny, on the Ist July. The master of the national school, Mr. White, was ill. The number of pupils has greatly increased since my last visit. At the Good Hope, in the same parish, on the 2nd July, the workmen Were engaged in enlarging the chapel to twice its original size. The charge of the national school there, and at Windsor, is vacant ; but there are candidates under probation at Montego Bay, who will probably be qualified for the appointments in the course of September. The very inefficient school on Hopewell Estate has been given up; and the Rev. J. C. Stone has sent Mr. Sharpe, who conducted it, to take charge of the national school at Linton Park. From what I saw of that gentleman’s conduct of his former charge, my anticipations are not very sanguine of success in his latter. Mr. Stone is so well pleased with the exertions of Mr, Poulter, late of Guy’s Hill, that he retains his services in Falmouth, vice Gibson. At Marley, St. James’s on the 3rd July, the Rev. J. Smith reported 125 children on the list of his school, The attendance, however, was irre- gular, and it is hoped shortly to establish a national school there. A hand- some chapel, 70 feet by 42, of size similar to that of Swanswick, but more lofty, is nearly completed, with the exception of the tower, which is only eight feet, as yet, from the ground. In passing hastily through the country few opportunities presented themselves of ascertaining facts relating to the state of the labouring: classes. The planters generally make loud complaints of the depressed condition of agriculture. In Montego Bay strong feelings prevail on poli- tical and relivious subjects among the employers on the one hand, and the labouring classes on the other. Hence obstacles were early presented to the establishment of a large national school. A too zealous regard for the church attempted, in more instances than one, to exclude all children but those of churchmen; and the vigilant suspicions of the Dissenter, who Tegards himself as an object of persecution, were soon awakened to a belief that our instruction was hostile to the interests of the society to which he Was attached. The existing schools had offered little general insight into the advantages of a religious and useful education. ‘The attendance of Pupils seems in most of them to have been small or irregular; and little trouble was taken to search for the children of the poor and ignorant in their own houses. Instructions on religious subjects, and figures, seem E Jamaica. Jamaica, 50 Progress of Industry, and to have been much disregarded; and boys who profess to have learnt their Latin Grammar, have made no progress in information which would help them to earn their bread through life, or prepare them for their latter end. In announcing on the 6th of July that the new national training-school . would be opened on the 8th, it was my first object personally to explain what instruction was offered, and what is really useful in the humbler walks of life. The practical illustration afforded by the black boy, Rob- bins, who had accompanied the master from the central school, Kingston, was of great service in this respect; and his often repeated examinations in the Oxford catechism, elicited frequent expressions of astonishment. Montego Bay is supposed to contain about 8000 souls, or little more than one-fifth of the population of Kingston. In three weeks we were enabled to collect a school of 330 children (and the number has since been increased to 374), of whom 310 have been this day present together, being a greater number, I believe, than is to be found in any school in Jamaica, except the central national school in Kingston. The holidays in commemoration of the abolition of slavery have retarded our progress last week ; but there is every prospect of admitting 150 pupils more in the course of this month. ‘There are four male and three female probationers in training for charges in this and the neighbouring parishes. Both the boys’ and the girls’ schools are ably conducted in separate rooms by Mr. and Mrs. Amiraux, with Eliza Johnston as an assistant in the infant school. The progress hitherto made by the children is highly creditable. Mr. Wauchop, a respectable bookseller, has undertaken to establish in this town, at his own risk, a depdt of books and other supplies for the conduct of national schools. Mr. Young, the organist, has undertaken the instruction of the children and probationers in psalmody and sacred music, a charge to which he is fully competent. He has sent a piano-forte to the school, with a view to the improvement of his pupils. The trustees of the free school have given the use of three separate compartments for the boys, girls, and infants, until it shall be determined whether the buildings under their charge, or the “ Soho Mill,” shall be appropriated as an additional place of worship, which is required in the town, and with a view to provide which, a resolution was passed at the last meeting of the vestry. The rooms now occupied are well adapted to ° the purpose of a national school, and, if the scholars of the free school are removed, will supply a residence also for the master and mistress. The building called the “Soho Mills” is spacious and handsome, and capable of containing a much larger school than can be collected in Montego Bay. Your Lordship is already aware that the vestry supply a moiety of sti- pend for the master and mistress superintending, and for the teacher of the infant school here. It is proposed to build a chapel at Montpeliers, and provision has been made for the moiety of stipend for a master of a national school there. ‘The school-room is ready ; and a candidate will be recommended for the appointment so soon as he has obtained his certifi- cates of qualification. It has been proposed to establish four more national schools in the parish, the arrangements for which are not, however, com- pleted. Many applications have been made for admission on probation, by per- sons not deemed eligible candidates for the charge of schools. The inadequacy of the previous means of general education, and the rapid accession of pupils on the opening of our national school, sufficiently attests the usefulness of the institution, and the need that existed for its General Condition of Society. 51 establishment. But I trust its good effects are felt beyond the sphere of immediate instruction which it bestows. The number of new national schools projected in the neighbourhood indicates that the influence of one successful example has made further progress through a parish, in which no such institution had before existed. ‘The liberality of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the admirable regulations under which its aid is bestowed, invite and encourage the exertions of individuals and public bodies. And where, from want of means, a school maintained altogether from local resources would never have been contemplated, a moiety of stipend is raised nevertheless to meet a grant so judiciously bestowed. But the greatest difficulty that has been encountered in the establishment of national schools throughout the island has been the want of efficient teachers. To meet this, the astistance of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (bestowed at an enormous expense in sending out masters) is manifestly inadequate; and the plan at once less expensive, and more efficient, seems to be, to offer to candidates greater facilities of training in this country. There are now many schools waiting for masters in this and the adjoining parish. The seven probationers, already in training here, will fill some of these charges; and the position of our new training school, in the principal town of the north side of the island, and lying between Falmouth and Lucca, at a distance of little more than twenty miles from each, relieves many candidates of the expense and difficulty of a lone journey to Kingston, and the cost of living in a place to which they are sitangers—expenses and difficulties that have deterred many eligible per- Sons from entering our institutions. In this respect the new training- school will, I hope, prove a valuable acquisition to the interests of education throughout the north-western districts of the colony. It gives me much satisfaction to be enabled to assure your Lordship of the orderly and peaceable demeanour of the people in this town on the Ist of August, of which I was an eye-witness until a late hour, when the few parties that had been collected in the streets dispersed for the night. The devices and expressions used by the humble classes indicated the favourable disposition of the labouring population to promote the best interests of the colony. I have, &e. (Signed) Gro. D. Hi11, Inspector of National Schools, The Hon. and Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Jamaica. Lord John Russell to Sir C. T. Metcalfe, 9th September, 1839. I wave had under my consideration Sir L. Smith’s despatch, 1.1840), p.19, No. 141, of the 19th of J uly, transmitting the periodical reports of the stipendiary magistrates upon the state and prospects of the Plantations E 2 Jamaica. ptr te A he SERGI OEE TG OTE Exrracts FROM THE Reports oF THE STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATES, RELATIVE TO— 1. The Progress of Labour and General Conduct of the Peasantry in the several Parishes. 2. The Rate of Wages. 3. The Amount of Rent charged upon the Labourers, for their Houses and Grounds, and the manner of obtaining it. 4. The General Effects of Emancipation. 5. The Progress of Education and Religious Instruction. 6. The Cost of Cultivation by Free Labour, and thejValue of Property. 1.—Tur Procress or Lasour AND GENERAL CoNDITION OF THE Pra- SANTRY IN THE SEVERAL PARISHES, ST. THOMAS IN THE EAST. Jamaica. In the lower parts of the parish the major part of the people are at work, St, Thomas, put in the upper part of the parish there are only seven properties on which East. the labourers have turned out. =e The agreements are for task work, and I have heard no complaint against Sept. 5, 1838, the quality of the work. I. p. 84, I beg, also, to inform you, that the people who have not yet made arrange- ments with their late employers have declared that they will immediately do so after their interview with his Excellency. Chamberlaine. I have just returned from the Plantain Garden River district, where I co se 1838. have been during the last week, and have seen many of the labourers and oO several proprietors, managers, and attorneys of plantations. I am happy in being enabled to inform his Excellency, that on nearly all the properties in that opulent district, the work of the plantations is going on, more or less, with various prospects of success. Job work, wherever practicable, has been extensively recommended by me; and ls. 8d., with houses and erounds, per diem for day work will most likely be the general rate of hire. The people have not resumed work to the extent of their effective num- bers on the several properties, but the example of those who have been 7] trying the job system, and the success which has in many instances attended their exertions, will, no doubt, in a short time, operate very beneficially. Job work has been tried in many places, and is fast becoming the favourite system. The employers have been satisfied with the exertions and work of ) the labourers, and these, on the other hand, have been fairly remuner- ated for their services, earning per diem 1s. 8d., 2s. 1d., 2s. 6d., and some- Progress of Labour, §c. 53 times 2s. 11d. and 3s. 4d., besides having no rent to pay for houses and grounds, or medicine and medical attendance. At the rate in which the labourers exert themselves at job work, many of the estates will be able to keep their cultivation with a less number than have hitherto composed the gangs. eer eens The 1st of August came and passed off in a manner highly creditable to the labouring population. The planters offered the terms they had pre- viously resolved on, and they were in most cases declined. ‘ Notices to quit” were served on the labourers in all directions ; in many instances on the whole population of a plantation indiscriminately, and in some instances previously to being afforded an opportunity of accepting or rejecting the proffered terms. The season selected to serve these notices, and the indiscriminate and objectionable mode of serving them, naturally produced considerable excite- ment and consternation among the peasantry, who, looking to the prospect of being soon turned away from the homes of their infancy, the burial-places of their parents, and to which so many associations had endeared them, hetook themselves to marketing. The produce of their grounds, ripe and unripe, were taken up, and the roads leading to the several markets were literally thronged with human beings. A few weeks passed on in this state of uncertainty ; the planters offered more liberal terms, and they were accepted gradually, and proportionately to the tone and spirit in which they were offered. By degrees cheerful industry assumed her proud appearance. To minds unwarped by the prejudices of education and habit, the supe- tiority of free over slave labour was soon apparent. It was soon demon- strated that a freeman could perform more work than a slave; that many of the plantations, whilst they would be rid of the contingencies of the slave system, and the necessity of providing for a superfluous number, made up of the old, young, and infirm, could be cultivated with a less number of hands than previously comprised their nominal stren gth; and that the alacrity and cheerfulness with which labour was performed afforded the strongest guarantee for’ the future tranquillity of the island, and security from those periodical insurrections which generally attended the institution of slavery, The Christmas holidays approached, and it became necessary that the Peasantry should provide themselves with those supplies of salt fish, pork, Sugar, clothing, and other domestic wants, which in former years they re- ceived from the stores of the plantations: their great distance from the markets of the metropolis compelled them one by one to withdraw them- selves from labour at an earlier period than they had heretofore been accus- tomed to do (generally the 24th December) ; though I know of no instance ™m which the agricultural labour of the estates was entirely suspended (ex- cept by the positive order of the manager) beyond six or eight days before the usual period, out of which, Saturday and Sunday, the labourers are not, Jamaica. St. Thomas, East. Chamberlaine. Jan. 31, 1839. I. (2), p. 13. 54 under ordinary circumstances, required to perform agricultural duties for Jamaica. Soe 1 St. Thomas, East. t Progress of Labour he estates. The Christmas holidays passed off in a great measure free from the umultuous revelries and assemblages with which they were accompanied under the old system; the improved tastes of the people were strikingly manifest, and they enjoyed their festivities rationally, and as became free- men. I. (2), pe 15. It is matter for congratulation, that, amidst all the incitements and pro- vocations to do wrong, the labouring population have conducted themselves orderly and temperately. Their veneration for the Queen and devotion to England are as remarkable as they are satisfactory and encouraging. That very “influence,” so much deprecated by the planters, has been successfully exerted to tranquillize the minds of the peasantry, and to induce them to accept of fair and moderate wages. At the quarter sessions in October (for this precinct, with a labouring population estimated at 30,000), two months after a change had been effected in the condition of the people unprecedented in the history of the world, but one new indictment was sent before the grand jury; the offence was petty larceny, and the accused were acquitted for want of proof. In the quarter sessions for the present month, and after such a season of excitement as the Christmas holidays, seven convictions took place; three for petty larceny, one for a common assault, and three for being engaged in a riot at the instigation of and in defence of their employer. Chamberlaine. Feb. 13, 1839. I, (3), p. 56. The number of inmates of the house of correction for the parish, for the five months and a half, commencing Ist of August, 1837, and terminating 12th of January, 1838, compared with the numbers for the same months from the Ist of August last year, is as follows :— 1837. 1838. Average daily number of inmates, August 31 6 5 Re September ¢ 182 5 “ ‘ October . Bh, G4 7 3 43 November. . 36 on December . BL. aye 2 99 From the Ist to the 11th of January, 1838, there was an average daily number of 27. In January, 1839, from the Ist to 3rd, there was 1: from 4th to 8th, nil.; from 9th to 11th, 2. Of the number of inmates in 1837, some were convicts, and were libe- rated on the Ist of August last: the numbers who were so I have no im- mediate means of ascertaining. Labour is generally resumed throughout the parish. The crops are being taken off; and in the Plantain Garden River Dis- trict all the mills are about, with two exceptions, Wheelerfield and Potosi, where the machinery is undergoing repairs. I have within the last three weeks travelled over a considerable part of the parish, and on no occasion did I encounter any disinclination on the part of the peasantry to labour, on receiving fair wages. and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 55 The planters generally did not, intend to commence crop until after the Jamaica, Christmas holidays. Immediately after meeting and passing resolutions Sa: Tab condemnatory of the labouring population, they set their mills about, and” Baas are now taking off the crops with every prospect of favourable results. . . There are many properties having large populations and producing small returns, that cannot under the present system afford to employ as many labourers as they did under slavery and the apprenticeship ; indeed, they do not require as many : and in this parish there are daily instances of gangs travelling from plantation to plantation in quest of employment. Cane-holes are now being dug at a much cheaper rate than ever they were under slavery or apprenticeship. The progress of the crop, the commencement of which I mentioned in ue mbes my report for January, has been steady and gratifying. There has been, L (Ab, p. 15. : indeed, on a few properties, some misunderstanding between the labourers and their employers, which led, in one or two instances, to a suspension of labour; but these interruptions were so transient that I might very pro- perly omit any reference to them. . . . , I know of no instance since the present rate of wages have been offered to the agricultural labourers in which they have refused to labour. It is true that this rate has been, in almost every case, proposed by the stipen- diary magistrates to those labourers who were to be employed in the imme- diate manufacture of sugar; and why they have not been requested to pro- pose terms for the performance of other description of work I am at a loss to imagine, The crops are stated to be later than usual, and that the former quantity Pryce, of produce will not generally be realised this year, from the absence of I ee early arrangements for wages and rents, arising, in many instances, from ~ Cn the want of a good understanding, and, in place of a mutual confidence, reciprocal distrust. . 2... The field workers are at present estimated at about one-third the agere- gate numbers; and it is admitted they will prove equal to the productive cultivation, from the justly anticipated increased quantity of free labour under the job and task-work system, compared to daily slave labour. In reference to the crop, I have no hesitation in statin g that it is pro- Ewart. gtessing with as much steadiness as any reasonable person could expect. I May an There is not, I am aware, the same quantity of sugar made up to this date Oe that was made last year up to the same date; but when we look at the confused state in which the labourer has been placed since the 1st August, the many circumstances that have operated to bewilder and make him rest- less and dissatisfied ; when it is seen that on no two estates a uniformity of system prevails, that in some instances labourers who are receiving from 4s. 1d. to 2s. 6d. per day are charged no rent, while others in the imme- diate neighbourhood, receiving less wages, are required to pay ; and when to this is added the painful suspense which the labourer cannot but feel, in Teference to the continued use of land for the cultivation of ground pro- Jamaica. St. Thomas, East. Pryce. May 30. T. (5), p. 197. 56 Progress of Labour visions: all these circumstances considered, together with many more that are not here enumerated, will not make it difficult to account for the dif- ference alluded to. ——— In obedience to the commands of his Excellency, I have the honour to report that the operations on the plantations in this district at this period of the year are confined principally to the manufacture of the staple com- modities of sugar and rum, in which most of the planters are busily engaged, and several judicious managers acknowledge that things, generally speak- ing, are going on very satisfactorily ; and I respectfully submit to his Excel- lency otherwise than represented in the anonymous and exaggerated news- paper reports. The backwardness of the crops may be accounted for from causes over which the peasantry had no control, and the system stands burdened with faults originating with those whose old prejudices have not had sufficient Ewart. June 5, 1839. I... 205. time to subside on the one part, and the naturally suspicious feelings of the negro on so great a change on the other; hence arose,—1. The want of early and judicious arrangements after Ist August, arising from the absence of a valuable mutual confidence. 2. The alarm created by the service of notices to quit, and threats of ejectment, and early exactions of rent on several properties, some charging from the Ist August. 3. The machinery on several estates being under repairs during the usual period of crop, as was the case at ————-— and other estates. 4. At ——-——— the crop was delayed (as informed by the manager) in the expectancy of a steam- engine, and the over-ripe canes produced less than half the quantity of sugar and rum they otherwise would have done had they been manufac- tured at the regular period; and I humbly suggest to his Excellency, that the same observation might apply very probably to many other estates in the district. 5. I regret to report to his Excellency that the irregular mode of payment on some estates, and the austere mode of acting of some of the subordinate managers, had an effect quite the reverse of a beneficial one, on the free-labour agricultural system, the success of which, I submit to his Excellency, very mainly depends on an honesty of purpose, and an honesty of acting towards the peasantry, for whose orderly, industrious, and obedient conduct I pledge to his Excellency the full value of my very humble opinion. . - « « I feel happy to report to his Excellency the continued tranquillity of the district, and that agriculture is evidently progressing much more steadily, and with a much better understanding generally, than heretofore... . . The planters generally admit the efficiency of agricultural labourers, though the relative numbers does not amount to more than about one- third of the aggregate numbers of former days, thereby proving to your Excellency the great advantages of free over the old and gone-by slave labour system. There has been no heavy weather since the commencement of the May season to interrupt the steady progress of the crops. and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 57 I am happy to be able to state that the progress of the crops is satis- Ewart. factory and encouraging. I have the honour to report to his Excellency the Governor, that Thurs- day, the Ist instant was observed most religiously throughout the district, 4, July 3, 1839, 1. (1840), p. 12. ryce, ot Oe and that the subsequent festivities have passed by in an orderly manner; I. (1840), so much so, that I have not heard of a single instance where the public P" ee peace and tranquillity of the district have been disturbed. The peasantry as yet have only partially resumed labour, and I respect- fully submit to his Excellency, that one entire week, on the close of the year’s toil, was to be expected, and is not too much for respite and rational recreation. eed The tranquillity of this populous and important district remains undis- turbed. The peasantry resumed their labours generally on Monday last, and it will, doubtless, be most satisfactory to his Excellency to learn that their conduct and demeanour, during the recess from toil, was rational and correct, and reflects much credit upon them as a body. PORTLAND. The generality of the managers are averse to give information respecting the cultivation of the estates. The labourers, on the other hand, are anxious for an inquiry of this nature. © The former complain that the labourers do not perform a sufficient quantum of work for the amount of wages given ; the latter, of the low wages and high rents, and notices to quit, which have been generally served on them, and now acted upon by ejecting them from their houses and land, although in some instances the party was at work on the estate. Much bad feeling is engendered by the managers having re- Course to every means in their power, however trifling, of annoying the labourers when their slightest wish is opposed, such as detaining their Wages on some frivolous pretext, shooting their hogs, making use of abuse, and grossly indecent language. Those managers who pursue an opposite mode of management meet with success, and find no difficulty in carrying on the cultivation of the estates under their charge, as is clearly exemplified in the case of Spring Garden and Hermitage estates. —= Owing to the immediately preceding holidays, and it having been thought by many that the proper time had arrived for requiring a stipulated con- sideration from the labourer for the use of house and grounds occupied by him on the estate, a certain degree of unsettlement has existed during the month of J anuary, so as to require the progress of agriculture generally to be described throughout this district as in a great measure interrupted, and Consequently retarded ; whilst, at the same time, another cause tending to delay a general resumption of labour arose in the desire to introduce the Pryce. August 14, I. (1840), p. 23. Portland, Brown. Jan. 31. I. (3), p. 46. Lambert. Feb. 12, 1839. I. @), p. 29: Jamaica. Portland. Lambert. Feb. 28. I. (4), p. 6. Brown. Mar. 6. I. (4), p. 14. Lambert.’ April 2, 1839. I. (5), pe 93. Brown. April 8. 1 @), P98 58 Progress of Labour system of “job-working,” which, where adopted, has been found so fully satisfactory to all parties. I confidently report, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, as the result of this month’s observations and inquiry, that a decided im- provement has during this period taken place in the agricultural relations of this district. . . . . An average number of labourers, equal to two- fifths of the whole, or tofour-fifths of the male late apprentice population, of all classes and ages, located. on the estates included in the return, are continuously engaged in agricultural pursuits on those estates... . . In conclusion, I beg leave to express the hope that reason exists that still more visibly apparent improvement may be looked for in the ensuing months, as both managers and labourers become more familiar with a system they are now equally unacquainted with. I hear no complaints now of want of labourers; the cry seems now to be, that a sufficient quantity of work is not done for the money paid. This complaint, if it has any foundation in truth, is easily remedied, as the la- bourers in most instances will readily accept of job-work if offered fair terms. This system seems to obtain ; the general rates paid are as follows :—for digging, 4s. 2d. per 100 holes; for clearing, from 10s. to 23s.4d. per acre, according to the foulness of the piece (13s. 4d. per acre is about the average) ; for manufacturing, from 3/. 13s. 4d. to 4/. per hogshead. Every estate in the district has been employed during the month manufacturing sugar, and on some, large pieces have been dug and planted, and every other process of agriculture carried on. The quantity of produce made I have no means of ascertaining; but | may observe, that a ship with 4 full freight left this port on the 24th of the month, and two others are now loading; besides a quantity of produce is sent by droghers to Kingston. . . - » I have only further to remark, that the general conduct of the labouring population in this district continues to be highly proper, and in every re- spect what their most sanguine friends could wish or expect. A decided improvement has in many instances taken place; and I do not hesitate to record the reasonable expectation of still further satisfactory progress, which will be more markedly demonstrated in a comparison of returns of more distant dates. The entire direct cultivation of the sugar estates continues to be per- formed by job-work, and proceeds with an increasing regularity ; “digging”? and “planting ” are performed as offered to the labourer, the one operation following the other, without detention or hesitation, unless it be from the want of tops, the supply not being equal in some instances to the demand. Agriculture continues to advance in this district in a satisfactory manner. Most of the estates continue manufacturing produce, others are employed and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 59 at present planting canes, whilst on some estates both operations are suc- Jamaica, cessfully carried on at the same time. Portland. An equal number of labourers have been engaged as during the month Lambert. of March, which at that time far exceeded any preceding period, and a r ee ed larger quantity of labour has been performed, from the extension of the “\?P system of job-working. Throughout the whole district, the number of labourers employed in the ree service of others has continued about the same through the last three y, Ge 197, months, at the commencement of which there was a considerable augmen- tation. Cane holeing and planting proceeds on every side where required to be performed. . . . . The principal part of the work of the estates, in fact, the entire cultivation, is now performed by job-work, which it is hoped and expected will, ere long, be very generally extended to the process of manufacture. Tam happy to have it in my power to continue reporting favourably of ‘Brown. the progress of agriculture in this district ; the estates continue to manufac- I on roe ture produce ; and on every estate plants are put in for the ensuing crop; ie large sums have been paid by the labourers for rents, on different estates ; task-work is the system generally adopted ; complaints betwixt master and servant have materially decreased of late; and on the whole, I am glad to say that a much better feeling seems to prevail. Several estates in this district continue manufacturing produce, whilst Brown. others are employed cultivating the canes for the ensuing crop, The July 14, estates in this parish, and, I believe, in most parishes on the north side of é Co the island, do noi finish crop in June, as is the case on the south side, the process continued without intermission throughout the year. I have ne means of ascertaining the quantity of produce made, but from the number of vessels loaded at Port Antonio, compared with last year, I believe the crops will not fall much short of last year’s, although a diminution is reasonably to be expected from the time that was lost at the commence- ment of the system, owing to the misunderstanding respecting wages. ST. GEORGE’S. As yet the people have not settled down into habits of industry ; but I S¢. Georges. am happy to observe that the number of labourers in the fields is increasing Fishboawie gradually ; and I have no doubt, if they are only treated with good temper Oct, 10, 1838. and moderation, and that payment of wages is punctual and fair, that 1. p. 126. labour will become general, and the excitement amongst the employers become extinct. Jamaica. St. Georges. Fishbourne & Hewitt. Feb. 5, 1839. 1. (3), p-36. Fishbourne & Hewitt. Mar. 20. I. (5), p. 58, 60 Progress of Labour Labour was generally resumed in this parish after the Christmas holi- days, about the 6th January, both on the sugar and coffee properties. The cultivation of the cane pieces and the manufacture of sugar are going on actively, and there is every appearance of a steady disposition on the part of the labourers to take off the present crop. - - + - The coffee fields in the Buff Bay River District appear to be in very fair order, and there are but few complaints of want of labour. On one or two properties there the people have refused to work on any terms whatever, alleging as their reason their personal dislike to and distrust of their managers. We have much satisfaction in observing that a greater appearance of set- tled industry is shown by the labourers now, than at any period since the Ist August last. In this part of the island the manufacture of sugar continues without intermission throughout the whole year; the planting and cultivation also are carried on at all seasons. Since the transmission of our last report, an amendment in the working of the people on the sugar estates has proceeded steadily, and we earnestly hope that the state of the parish will soon present such en aspect as will justify the anticipations of the friends and advocates of free labour, and agreeably disappoint the gloomy forebodings of those who predict the most ruinous consequences as the result of emancipation. The coffee crop usually commences in November and terminates in Feb- ruary, the heaviest picking being about Christmas and the beginning of the year. The crop now finished has proved to be, as was generally antici- pated, much below the average of other years. This diminution in the quantity of produce is attributable to natural causes, as is fully stated in Mr. Fishbourne’s report of 5th August, 1838. . . . The following explanation will show why not above one-half of the num- ber of labourers heretofore considered effective, has been in the fields since 1st August last. There were twenty-three jobbing gangs in this parish, who resided for the mo&t part on small settlements upon which little or no cultivation was carried on. By these gangs most of the cane-holes of the parish were dug, and part of the cultivation of the canes and cleaning of the coffee fields and pastures was performed. They were usually hired by the job, to estates frequently situated at great distances from their homes, and were generally absent for a whole week together. Since the commence- ment of freedom, these gangs (which in many instances were collected into one body from several small settlements) have been either broken up, or they have been occupied in making necessary repairs to their houses, fences, | &c., which, from their previous mode of life, had been much neglected, and | we believe that they have no intention of resuming the same harassing system of labouring to which they were exposed during the apprenticeship. This will account for the abstraction of about one thousand four hundred and nineteen people from the effective labouring population of the parish. The women, too (who in crop-time on sugar estates, which continues in this parish throughout the whole year, formed two-thirds of the field-gangs, and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 61 the men being principally employed about the works and as wain-men, &c.), have now withdrawn themselves, to a very great extent, from field-labour, to pursue those avocations to which females usually devote themselves in other countries. In addition we may be allowed to mention, that women within a few weeks of their confinement, or with infants a few weeks old at their breasts, mothers of large young families, children under twelve years of age, people with ulcerated feet and legs, those who have returned to the south side or to other parishes from which they were removed before the apprenticeship, the sickly, and those having relations incapable of assist- ing themselves, amounting, jobbing-gangs included, to about four thousand and sixty-nine, no longer, as hitherto, form a part of the labouring popula- tion of this parish. . . . . In conclusion, we feel bound to acknowledge that, on the part of the emancipated apprentices, a great disinclination to continuous work has existed until latterly ; and we regret to add, that it is Within our own knowledge that on many properties, where every collision with the people has been studiously avoided, no rent demanded, nor notices to quit served, liberal wages have been again and again offered and refused, for no assignable cause, unless it be a desire to extort prices for their work 80 high that the cultivation of sugar and coffee could not be profitably con- tinued. On inquiring amongst the planters and others, we have been informed that the quantity of sugar manufactured per week is smaller than is desir- able. By some this is ascribed to the want of labour, or to the tardy work- ing of the people in the fields ; by others it is attributed to the bad yielding of the canes, in consequence of their not being taken off sufliciently early. We are happy to learn, generally, that the number of labourers has con- siderably increased, and that there exists a better understanding between them and their employers now than at any period since the Ist August last. On the coffee plantations we are informed that cultivation is proceeding very satisfactorily, except on a few properties, which have been wholly or partially deserted, and where there is a bad feeling between the overseers and people. We have not as yet received any accounts of the estimates for Next year’s crops. As regards sugar estates generaily, the information I receive is very contradictory. Upon a few I learn that they are doing as well, or better, than during the apprenticeship ; that their fields are in a higher state of : cultivation now than at this period last year; that sugar is manufactured, and other descriptions of labour performed, at reasonable rates, arid ina Satisfactory manner; that the people, particularly the males, work well ; that the canes for next crop look healthy ; and that whatever diminution there may be in the amount of sugar shipped this year, can be accounted for on other grounds than the indisposition of the people to work. On Many estates [ am informed that probably not above one-half of the resi- dent population have worked in the fields since August, 1838; and even this number cannot be induced to give steady continuous labour; that the Jamaica, St. Georges. Fishbourne & Hewitt. May 20, 1839. I. (5), p. 163. Fishbourne. Aug. 7. . (1840), p. 28. Jamaica. St. Georges. 62 Progress of Labour cultivation of the cane fields is in a very backward state, although the extent of land in canes is diminished; that pastures are in bad order, the fences out of repair, and trespass by cattle very frequent ; that there is great difficulty in collecting rent, arising (as they say) from the defective state of the law and the administration thereof; and that people refuse to carry on the manufacture of sugar, or the cultivation of the canes, for reasonable hire. . « . « + From the middle of March last to the latter end of July a severe drought has prevailed in this parish. The rivers and springs, which supplied the mills with water, were dried up, and the young canes planted for next year’s crop have been much injured, in some instances to such an extent as to render it necessary to replant the ficlds. ‘These are-not the only conse- quences ; canes already over-ripe became rotten from the impossibility of manufacturing them, thus at once keeping back and diminishing the crop of this year, and greatly injuring and delaying that for next. The rattoon canes on light soils, and the pastures, have suffered much from such an unusual duration of dry and hot weather. . . .. - In some delicate kinds of plantation labour, upon which it would be con- sidered injudicious or dangerous to employ people by the job or task, I am informed that the quantity of day-work is far from reasonable, I believe this complaint is in many instances well founded... . Estates have suffered either from injudicious management, or from the impatient temper of the managers, or from the want of money to pay the people. Some are old and exhausted. On the other hand, serious injuries have been caused by the misconduct of the labourers, by their inattention to the cattle, by their negligence as watchmen, by their refusing to work for certain managers, and, in some few instances; by their holding out, until the canes became unfit for sugar-making, for a higher rate of pay than could be afforded. I am credibly informed that at Newry estate, in the parish of St. Mary’s, which estate is not above three miles from Annotto Bay, labourers are paid from 3s. 4d. to 5s. a-day, with an allowance of rum, sugar, and herrings. This being much higher than anything given in this parish, has induced many of the people in Gray’s Inn, Osborne, Gibraltar, Fort George, and. Iterboreale, all in the immediate neighbourhood of Annotto Bay, to with- draw their labour for some time from these estates, and to dispose of it at Newry. The manufacture of sugar and rum on the plantations named must necessarily be retarded, and the preparations for next crop be either much impeded, or altogether discontinued from the want of labourers. The general opinion of managers of sugar estates in this parish, as well as I, under the disadvantage mentioned in the first paragraph of this report, have been able to ascertain, is, that the last six months present a marked improvement in the conduct and feeling, as well as an increase in the industry of the people, as compared with the first six months after the ter- mination of the apprenticeship. Frequent communications and inquiries amongst managers and head negroes, as well as my own personal observations, have convinced me that and general Conduet of the Peasantry. 63 as far as the coffee properties of this parish are concerned, and more parti- Jamaica. eularly in the Buff Bay River district, about which so much was so reck- lessly said during the first few months of freedom—the success of the new °% 7ges system has been most undeniable, and its superiority over those pre-existing most conspicuous. There are more effective or larger gangs in the fields, a greater proportion of labour is done, and the fields are in a higher state of cultivation now than they were at a corresponding period of last year... .. The conduct of the people in the coffee district during the last twelve months has, in my opinion, fully evinced their fitness for freedom—and the daily increasing spirit of industry which more and more widely exhibits itself, and which appears firmly and enduringly rooted amongst the people, encourages me to look forward to the cheering prospect of augmented agricultural prosperity, with increased civilization and general content- ra The anniversary of the commencement of freedom was distinguished by p. 32. the assembling of immense numbers of the people in the various places of worship. A great improvement in their dress and general appearance was very visible. I have not heard of a single person being drunk or dis- orderly ; and from what I have learned, I believe the day was celebrated by the emancipated population throughout the whole parish in a manner worthy of the great and memorable occasion. I regret to say that at the parish church no white persons, except the Rev. W. Lindsay, who officiated, and myself were present. Nor did any one of any colour, class, or sex attend, who was formerly the owner of slaves or apprentices. It affords me unmixed gratification to be able to state that the parish is in a state of profound tranquillity. ST. ANDREW'S. This season of the year is the most unfavourable to the general working St Andrews. ofthe people. During the rainy seasons the masters are not eager to em- pie ploy labourers ; and those of the latter, who are not in perfect health, do not Oct, 16, 1838. like, except pressed by necessity, to encounter the rains. I have no doubt I. p. 187. that when the weather is good, and the coffee generally ripe, the number of labourers will be at least doubled. I apprehend there are quite as many persons at work as the proprietors are at the present moment willing to pay, with perhaps a single exception. It is gratifying to me to find, after all that has been said and written about my bad advice, that a small property (Hall’s Prospect) is the only one on which the labourers are not at work at very moderate wages,—cer- tainly much less than would be demanded for the same quantity of work by the English, Scotch, or Irish peasants. The crops of coffee promise to be unusually good ; and candid managers admit that the increased crops will be gathered in, and far more than re- imburse the proprietor for the increased expense. ° Sit Sail ee Jamaica. St, Andrews. Daly. Feb. 15, 1839. I, (8), p. 42. Daly. Mar. 21. 1. (4), p. 11." Daly. April 22; 1839, I. (5), p. 92. 64 Progress of Labour The crops upon the sugar estates in this district have been generally commenced ; and although it would be premature to offer any opinion as to the returns, yet it is satisfactory to see all the labourers, late apprentices, at their posts, of which I have had ocular proof, having visited most of the estates personally, and indeed having had many favourable accounts from the managers. . . «© « Of the orderly conduct of the peasantry I am enabled to bear the most ample testimony, and indeed in the good report of the industry of the labourers I am borne out by the concurrent opinions of some gentlemen of considerable experience. All the sugar estates in the parish of St. Andrew are busily and cheerfully engaged in the manufacture of produce; the weekly returns of many ex- ceed those of last year; for instance, Waterhouse Estate is making nine hogsheads of sugar per week, the cost of which is 4/. per hogshead. Constant Spring, which commenced under very untoward circumstances, is now getting on admirably, making, although their mill is bad, eight hogs- heads per week ; at the same time preparations are being made for the en- suing crop. . . . . There is scarcely an estate in the parish which has not “already made upwards of twenty hogsheads of sugar, although the crops were commenced at a much later period this year than has been cus- tomary..... The coffee crops in this parish, from the information I have received from several proprietors, promise to be superior this year ; the fields looking clean, and a healthy verdure about the trees, which promises a rich harvest ; but I have my fears for the means of the future supply of ground provisions, from the opposition given negroes by many of the planters, and the weekly tenancy, which leaves the matter so entirely at the disposal of the landlord. The seasons are, thank God, peculiarly favourable this year, some fine refreshing showers having lately fallen. The conduct of the peasantry continues peaceable and orderly; I may add more in simple truth than egotism, that when they consider themselves unjustly treated by their employers, they appeal in full confidence to the stipendiary magistrates for the protection afforded by law. The conduct of the labouring classes continues peaceable and orderly in the extreme. Sugar continues to be manufactured without difficulty, and at moderate expense, ranging from 4/. to 5/. 6s. 8d. per hogshead. Pre- parations are being made for the ensuing crop with spirit, and are, upon many estates, forward. . . + + The people, I am happy to say, continue peaceable. In no instance has there been the slightest resistance offered to the authority of any one; and the profound respect which the negro population have for the laws is best evinced in the proper restraint which they place on their feelings in every situation of difficulty, invariably ap- pealing to these laws, and submissively yielding to their decisions. . . . . The coffee properties in this district are in the most promising state tha they have been for many years; all the planters admitting that the prospect and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 65 ofa rich and luxuriant crop presents itself all over the mountain district, and the cultivation sufficiently forward. The soil upon many estates in St. Andrew is very unproductive, and the crops generally far below those of other parishes. That many of the crops, however, must have fallen off this year (some more than others, according to circumstances,) I believe to be the case. Nor could it be otherwise, from the frequent disputes arising out of the questions of rent and wages, and the mixing up of both. The seasons are now particularly favourable for the preparations for the ensuing crops, and as far as I can observe, most of the managers are availing themselves of the delightful showers which have been occasionally falling within the last fortnight. | General inquiries, however, enable me to state with confidence that this year’s crop of coffee (and I have no sugar estates in my district) will very considerably exceed, in quantity, last year’s, and I feel confident that the increased price will more than compensate the extra price of free labour. I believe there never was: such a quantity of corn, peas, and provisions, planted; the seasons have been very favourable, and the proprietors, as well as the labourers, have abundant cause for gratitude and hope. The condition of the fields and provision grounds bear the best testimony to the industry of the workmen, whilst the state of the house of correction, and the increased attendance at the churches, chapels, and schools, afford the best proof of their rapid, I may say, astonishing improvement since they have become free. Tam told by several overseers that they have every reason to hope for a still better crop next year. On a neighbouring estate to this, the manager stated to the people on Saturday last, that the fields were in such a condition of forwardness, that he could dispense with their services for the next three weeks, and I cannot learn that a single plantation is behind hand for want of labourers. The brother of the overseer on Clifton Mount, an estate which I was said to have ruined, told me only last week that the crop this year would prove three times that of last year ; whilst on Chatsworth, which Lord Sligo re- quested me to attend instead of Clifton Mount, I am told the crop will be four times as great as last year’s, and that they anticipate a much greater one next year, as their fields are in a condition unknown for many years past. - I affirm, without fear of contradiction, that the prospects in this district never were so good, and that the character of the people has improved, and is improving, to an extent beyond the most sanguine expec- tations of the most Sanguine persons. The district is, thank God, perfectly tranquil, and the cultivation of the estates appear to progress favourably, although some of the planters are dissatisfietl at the labourers not working five days in the week; on the other hand, the latter state, that having done so during crop time, they now require the Friday and Saturday to enable them to plant provisions, this being the F Jamaica. St. Andrews. Daly. May il." I. (5), p. 103. ; Bourne. May 24. I, (5), p. 157. Daly. June 16, 1839. I. (5), p. 202. 66 Jamaica. St, Andrews. Daly. July 17, I, 1840), p. 19. only season of the year suit heard of any recent instances The estates in this district are by no mea Hall, Maverly, Waterhouse, and Mona, are spoken as doing well. The prospects of the cofiee-planters are 8 and I believe they have been, in general, giving Progress of Labour prices being very high. Port Royal. Kent and Hamilton. Oct. 11, 1838. I. p. 135. Kent. Feb. 22, 1839. I. (3), p. 67. I cannot perceive that the e three of the principal estates in ng, and Constant Spring, that these estates appeared to be as f Temple Hall was particularly for- have, I understand, left the estate, through We beg to observe, that apprentices have left the p few people employed, as appears by the arise from any unwillingness on their par a kind manager and fair wages, as we find, have been rejected, some assigning asa reason th planting the grass to employ time, we know, from our own observation, from exposure to the sever Another hardship arisi upon them, so soon as week that they have been la people being that they may believed, when we add, that to return to their homes, are expected It will be perceive few people are € apprentices they for invalids, there is clearly say it is Now eight o’clock This indolent habit is gaining The trees throughout this parish, d it is expected the crop will equal that of 1835. for the “present, to meet the exorbitant demands made bearing, an the coffee grower, for picking. At present, there cannot be are making such high wages ; compelled to able for that. I am happy to say that I have not of the destruction of provisions by the landlords. namely, Temple Hall, Golden Spri with no less pleasur clean as gardens. e than confidence, The cultivation o ward, although nearly half the tenantry and have settled in its vicinity. PORT ROYAL. ns in bad condition. of by the managers poken of favourably, Pembroke liberal wages ; the market states are at a loss for labourers. this district a few days since, I passed and I state we do not find that many of the emancipated mployed. on the ng out of this system is, the rains clear away, to labour one day for each ying by. Another source of discontent is, the labour in like manner one day for each week ill scarcely be have been laid up in sickness ; and it w should rain come on when in the field, they and be paid for only half the day. roperties to which they were attached; that the accompanying return, does not t to work, where they are under in numerous instances, they at it would only be trans- them in these heavy rains; when,.at the same that they could not be spared ity of the weather during the apprenticeship. their employers calling d, in looking over the first columns of the Table, how estates, as compared with the number of had on the 3l1st of July last ; even making the allowance a great falling off in labour; and I regret to before they get to the field in the morning. - ground since the Christmas holidays. as well as St. David’s, have a heavy This enables said to be much want of labour, whilst they but previous to crop coming in, the negroes and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 67 were more engaged on their own grounds than in attending to the cultiva- Jamaica. tion of the estates. Pot Bae The behaviour of the labouring class and the state of labour, I am happy Hamilton. to say, are generally very satisfactory... . . . Feb. 25, 1839, ‘ Aga cas I. (4), p. 16. Tam happy in being able to bear testimony of the demeanour of the labouring ‘class ; nothing possibly can exceed their general propriety of conduct ; there has not been a single complaint for drunkenness, gross Misconduct, or theft, since Ist of August last; district orderly and quiet. — From this it will be seen that the period has arrived when the crop None should be nearly all in, which [ am happy to say has been accomplished L (5), p. 154. without any loss of coffee, notwithstanding the contrary statements which appear in the public papers. The fields generally have been in a high state of cultivation, until very Hamilton, recently ; owing to the late fine-seasoned storms, vegetation has been so i Gye sh abundant to cause the herbage to spring up spontaneously, which is not °°”? P' ""* unusual at the spring of the year; still, however, light hoeing will disen- cumber the weeds, and make the face of the country beautiful beyond description. I venture to assert, without fear of contradiction, that in this district the labouring population have far exceeded the sanguine expecta- tions of the planters. . . . . The crops on almost all the properties in my district (with two or three trifling exceptions), have been sent to market, and, I am happy to state, has far exceeded the last year’s crop by some thousand pounds weight. ‘ St. David's. ST. DAVID S. It appears scarcely one-third of the late apprentices have returned to g ee 38. their work, and I regret to say they are not performing labour continuously. I. p. 191. I feel it necessary to remark that the few labourers employed on estates Kent. arises from no unwillingness on the part of the negroes to work, as I find, oe mM many instances, they have been rejected when they have come forward **' ~~’ and offered themselves, assigning as a reason that they did not require them m these heavy rains, and by others, that so many hands would not be wanted in freedom. Tn this parish the people are orderly and well-conducted, although not Baines and working so steadily as we trust they will subsequently. Nice ia I. p. 149. | Albion and Orange Park have set a fine example from the commence- Baines, Ment of entire freedom, and I have been assured that they perform their He ime labour better than ever they did at any former period. Some properties are -* P* **”" Not so fortunate ; but in many cases it proceeds from the want of means to pay the labourer, or not being provided with instructions from the pro- F 2 Jamaica. St. David’s. Willis. Feb. 12, 1839. E. (sy pes7. Kent. "t Feb. 20, I. (3), p. 70. Willis. Mar. 12. I. (4) p. 6. Willis and Baines. April 9. I. (5), p. 57. Willis and Baines. May 6. I. (5), p. 154 Progress of Labour 68 prietor in England. Many are expected out, who, for a time, will ‘super- intend the management of their own estates till they can lease them to advantage. It appears not one-third of the late apprentices are at work ; and that my report exhibits a little more than one-sixth of the produce made to the 31st ult., compared with last year. The planters also positively state the crops cannot be taken off without a continuous labour of five days in each week. There are only three estates in this parish where the labourers are working five days. The trees this year have a heavy bearing, and it is expected the crop will equal that of 1835, which enables the planter in some degree to meet the exhorbitant wages demanded. ‘The coffee crops in this quarter have been, during the last three years, below an average, but which is always looked for after an abundant crop. It will easily be perceived, bya elance at the first columns of the Table, how few people are at work on the estates. - - + + + ss ee ttt! This apparent falling off in labour is to be accounted for in various ways. Ist, On several of the large estates they have more hands than they can afford to pay at the present rate of wages, and consequently those rejected wander about seeking employment, which can always be obtained in crop time. 2ndly, On other properties great difficulty is found in procuring labour, as the negroes are certainly more intent in working their own grounds than cultivating the estate, finding it more profitable than any wages that can be offered them. Throughout this part of St. David’s they are going on very quietly ; and no difficulty will be experienced in getting the crop in, beyond the high wages demanded. Wages as formerly ; more people turning out; working, with few ex- ceptions, steadily ; receiving liberal encouragement from their masters, and are very peaceable. Major Baines requests me to state that the coffee properties in his district are going on remarkably well, to the satisfaction of both master and la- bourer. Sugar estates going on steadily, in the same state of cultivation as when we last had the honour of reporting, and no complaints in the coffee dis- tricts. — We have the honour to state, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, that this parish is in much the same state as when we last had the honour of reporting. The coffee crops are nearly picked, and have turned out favourably, but we cannot say so much of the sugar estates 5 and at the same time beg leave to observe, that no increase of labour has been*given on the different sugar properties, the numbers at work remaining about the same. and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 69 The sugar estates have fallen off considerably ; this is generally attri- Jamaica. buted to the want of five days’ continuous labour. The labourers DOW OD (1 most estates are working steadily, but at same time cultivation is very ea backward. On some properties not a cane piece cleared or plant put ia; Willis and on others a few acres cleaned only. This is accounted for in consequence July is, of a deficiency in strength at the commencement. A considerable quantity I. (1840), of canes still upon the ground, but, from the spring that has taken place, P- 16. it requires at least double the quantity of liquor to the hogshead. We are happy to state, in reference to the coffee properties, that we can report favourably ; crops over, falling off trifling: we have visited a number of coffee plantations : the people are much more satisfied, and are going on well. We feel much pleasure in stating, since we had last the honour of report- ing, that no case of ejectment, vagrancy, idle and disorderly, or breach of contract has come before us; and that in no instance (to our knowledge) has an invalid been compelled to leave the property. For the information of his Excellency the Governor, we have the honour Willis and to state that the holidays have passed off tranquilly, and that the people _—_ Baines. : Aug. 14, generally have resumed their labour. I. (1840), p. 24, ST, MARY’S, We were the first district to make free sugar, and since the Ist of Au- Sf Mary’s. gust, 1838, as well as previously, the conduct of the peasantry of this wajsn. district has been admirable. Nov. 20, 1838, poe I. p. 208. With respect to the appearance of the cane cultivation, I beg to state to Wianian. your Excellency that hardly any preparation has been made for the crop of Feb. 11, 1839. 1839 by planting; and that only partially have the canes for the crop of 1 Paes 1838 been taken off the ground. During the apprenticeship, the mills were kept about in the manufac- ture of sugar for 14, 16, or 18 hours, as required ; at present, few proper- ties can command labour beyond the duration of the day (or from sunrise to sunset), so that to take off the canes, the cane cultivation must be neg- lected. I regret to say that all this is visible ; and although some proper- ties are in pretty good order, others are in a very bad condition. I am perfectly satisfied that those employers who are considerate and punctual in payments with their labourers, have best succeeded in procuring labour. In this quarter the peasantry are so situated that, with their provision- lands and a few days’ work in the week, they can purchase comfort, with- Out continuous labour. . . . I wish to convey to your Excellency my conviction that, with steady and good management, on the rent system, the sugar estates in the central dlis- trict will command labour, but that the labour will not be so continuous as to enable the employers to make the same crops as formerly. Nothing but sheer want or enormous wages will induce the people to labour during the Jamaica. St. Mary's. Walsh. Feb. 12. I. (3), p. 33. Marlton. Mar. 11. I. (4), p. 22. Fyfe. no date), 1, (5) p. 47. Marlton. Apr. 1, 1839. I. (5), p. ol. Marlton. May 7. I. (5), Pp» 106 Progress of Labour 70 night about the works. . In this parish we have no regular crop seasons, and are subject to many pressures that do not occur in other sugar parishes. We require constant attention to keep the canes clean; the Christmas and for three (in some places four) weeks all labour was at a stand. I am happy to say that, during the last fortnight, a decided improvement has been perceived, and I am convinced that when the pea- santry are thoroughly convinced of their true position, by a uniform admi- nistration of the law, that they will enable me to give a much more favour- able report of their industry. holidays came on, In no instance, where honesty and fair remuneration has been dealt out to the labouring population, have they slacked .in industry. On L consider them more inclined to labour for the “ Queen’s the contrary, y than has ever been extracted under any coin,’ and with more energ circumstances. . The canes promise a fair yielding, and we will make a good return on ; the management is what the absentee proprietors have to e e e many estates contend with. In this parish the labourers are rich in provision-lands ; wages are high, and the demand for labour much greater than the supply. Many people have withdrawn from labour who are supported by the gains of their fela- tions. The consequence must be that the poor estates will not be able to keep up the sugar cultivation, and that the properties which are rich from situation, &c., will employ the labourers of the poor estates. As well as I can ascertain, this had been the case already, the rich properties giving an allowance of herrings, rum, and sugar, besides the 2s. 6d. daily wages. It would be unfair to compare the crop of 1838 with that of 1837; for the crop of 1837 terminated generally on the 25th March, 1838; whilst that of 1838 was closed, in most cases, on the 31st December of the same year. Making allowance therefore for this fact, and for the effects of five or six weeks’ remission of labour, the actual quantity of sugar manufactured in this parish is not, I think, generally much less than that of the prior year. There will, however, be a considerable falling off in this and next year’s crop. The sugar estates having closed crop and recorded the accounts, an opportunity will be given of ascertaining the different sums of money paid as rent in this parish. A great falling off in the sugar returns must be expected, from the diminished hours of labour. No one hopes again to see the system of night-work which formerly prevailed. ywer to state for your Excellency’s information what the It is not in my p< , as I have not personally visited the sugar prospects are for the next. crop estates. ‘The seasons are favourable, the peasantry orderly, ‘and well sup- renenienge| and general Conduct of the Peasantry. re plied ‘with food. I hear, from various managers, that sufficient labour Jamaiea. cannot be relied on from the people residing on the properties. St. Mary's. The managers of those estates, as far as I can ascertain from them, are yfantton. taking off the crops; but are not satisfied with the amount of labour ob- June 3. tained. Although they are in a better position than the estates working on 1. O}yes aaa the 1s. 3d. plan, they cannot command sufficient labour to-make the same weekly quantity of produce as formerly, paying the necessary attention to the cane-field. . . . . I regret to say that I cannot speak favourably of the estates working under the ls. 8d. plan. ST. ANN’S. The people are working cheerfully for hire, except inthe manufacture of —S¢ Any’s.’ sugar upon the four small estates im that part of the parish which lately Woolfrys. composed my district, but those estates are all pimento properties as well as Sept. 5, 1838. sugar, and upon which they have been engaged picking the pimento, the 1. p. 5°. picking of which, when fit, cannot be procrastinated. It is quite impossible to expect from the people in one month (that which their employers are deficient of) perfection. I am persuaded, and feel every confidence, that by a proper and judicious bearing on the part of the proprietors the cultivation of the soil will progress in a very short time to the satisfaction of all reasonable people. It is both my duty and inclina- tion to endeavour to establish a good understanding between the people and their employers. Many of the proprietors are holding off, particularly the pen and pimento — Woolfrys. properties, from making any reasonable offers to the people, assigning, as a rad 17, 1838, reason, that their pastures being now in a clean state, and the pimento noe picking nearly concluded, they require few or no labourers. This is all very true; but I am of opinion that their primary motive is an impression, that, after the three months allowed by law, the labourers will be compelled to accept any rate of hire rather than leave their present houses and grounds, particularly those who possess comfortable habitations and productive grounds. The people throughout my district have behaved well since 1st August, Reynolds. and have laboured hard for their bread, with the exception of Mammu Ger Ae Bay, Carlton, and Wakefield estates, whose free labourers have had to in ee seek labour elsewhere, owing to the want of good fecling on the part of the proprietors, whose names I have given in my official Report... . . From the Ist of August up to the Ist October instant, the free labourers upon pens had ample employment, picking pimento, and their wages was at the rate of 5s. per barrel, earning at least per day, 2s. 6d. currency. My late district is in a happy state of tranquillity, and industry is visible _ Reynolds. On every property. . . . . At this moment there are three chance or Lei strangers’ ships in the ports of this parish, taking in abundance of produce, : Jamaica. St. Ann's. Woolfrys. Jan. 1. I. p. 185. Woolfrys. Feb. 14. I, (3), p. 44. Reynolds. Feb. 19. I. (3), p. 42. Emery. Feb. 20. I. (3), p. 18. Woodfrys. April. ,p. 158. ‘Reynolds, May 21, 1839, I. (5), pe 159. Reynolds. June 5. I. (5), p. 204. Woolfrys, June. I. (5), p. 211. 72 Progress of Labour independent of the vessels that annually anchor in St .Ann’s Bay, and all will return in quick time to England with ful cargoes. — The deportment of the peasantry during the Christmas holidays has been characterised by peace and quietness, thereby defeating the prognostication of the alarmists, who anticipated anarchy and rebellion. es The majority of the properties on this side of the parish are pimento and grazing pens: no coffee plantations. I certify that the mills throughout my late district upon the sugar es- tates since the Ist August 1838, have been about whenever the managers were ready to make sugar; and that the people, when treated moderately, evinced an anxious wish to labour for their bread. At present there isno crop of any kind in progress of manufacture. No sugar estates in my district. —— Those of the grazing and breeding pens and pimento properties (there are no coffee plantations in this district), where the owners possess the means, and will offer a fair remuneration to the labourers, are in a more clean and satisfactory condition than during most part of the apprenticeship; the labourers are getting fast imto the system of task-work, earning from 1s. 8d. to 3s.4d. per day, and no complaint of the work not being faithfully performed. The seasons continue favourable, and a very heavy crop of pimento is anticipated. The mills have never been stopped upon the estates throughout my late district since the Ist of August last, the people having always cheerfully turned out to labour. My late district continues in the same tranquil state that my report for April announced. . . Since the Ist of August last, no person has been convicted as a rogue and vagabond in my late district, that I am aware of; no punishment has been ordered by me against any person for breach of contract. ~ ‘The late heavy rains and strong breezes has diminished the expectation of realizing a heavy crop of pimento, as was anticipated. Some of the properties will not yield one-third of what was expected, others better sheltered from the influence of the wind will do better. The erroncous impressions which the peasantry formerly entertained, that they were entitled to the free occupation of their houses and grounds after the expiration of the three months allowed by law, has been long eradicated from their minds, except in a few isolated cases. Amongst all classes and nations of persons are_ to be found refractory and bad people, and general Conduct of the Peasantry. Ves: and it cannot therefore be reasonably expected that a people recently re- Jamaico. leased from bondage can be exempt. Pe The planters generally must divest themselves of the idle and futile im- pression they appear to labour under, that they have a right to do as they please with the labourers, as if they were still their slaves ; they must treat them as a free people, and act fairly towards them, and then I have no doubt but that they will never have cause to regret the abrogation of the apprenticeship system. The grazing and breeding pens are as last reported. Woollrys. The pimento picking will commence on Monday next ; the crop will not | Aaa, exceed one-third of what was formerly anticipated, Pp: Sass During this month there has hardly been a sufficiency of rain. No alteration in the price of labour My late district remains in a perfect state of tranquillity ; the people are _ Reynolds. : : July 2 industrious. I. (1840), p. 14. The sugar cultivation on many estates is far superior than in past years, Walsh. and no fear remains of our great measure proving successful under the Avg: 6, ‘ : . (184 auspices of just laws. A $5, ms At the last Court of Quarter Sessions, 9th ultimo, there was nota case | Woolfrys. for trial ; two for assaults were previously compromised by the parties, ae 840), The anniversary of the abrogation of the apprenticeship and uncondi- p. 24. tional enjoyment of freedom was celebrated in a manner highly creditable to the labouring population: all was peace, quietness, and sobriety. The different places of worship were thrown open, and divine service performed to numerous and attentive congregations, who returned thanks to the Almighty Preserver of all mankind, for His blessings and great good bestowed upon us. The state of the weather during the latter end of the last month was rather dry, but on Sunday afternoon last we had heavy rain for nearly five hours, The Ist of August was observed in this parish as a day of thanksgiving, Reynolds. The people conducted themselves with every degree of decorum, and after Avg. 6, service was over, they returned to their homes to enjoy themselves. I haye p. Co not heard of anything in the shape of quarrel or complaint on that day. MANCHESTER. Tn this part of the country the conduct of the peasantry has been above Manchester, all praise; patient in the endurance of wrongs, industrious, and well- inna behaved. I do not stand alone in publicly stating this to be the case. Nov. 50 em am gratified in being able to refer to the charge of the highly respectable I. p, 179. chairman of the last quarter sessions—one who could have no interest in Jamaica Manchester. ‘Grant. Jan. 9, 1839. I. (2), ps 4. 74 Progress of Labour misrepresenting the state of the parish—to the grand jury. He stated that “ there was no case on the calendar of so serious a nature as to require that the court should direct their particular attention to it; that the majority were cases of assault, which, in several instances, did not refer to that class of persons who had recently been admitted to the enjoyment of unrestricted freedom. That the circumstance, he had no doubt, would be as satisfactory to them to hear as it was gratifying to him to announce; and that it induced him, as well as the magistrates associated with him, to entertain the most sanguine hopes of the future prosperity of that ‘part of the country.” . . . - Many of the late apprentices of the worst character have become industrious and well-behaved peasants. . . . . Many of those who formerly claimed as invalids, and many diseased persons, who under the former systems were totally idle, and in a wretched condition, and from whom no labour could with any show of humanity be exacted, now exert themselves to the utmost, and earn, however small in comparison with the earnings of able-bodied persons, wages m every way adequate to their limited wants and comforts. Many properties on which a fair inducement is held out to the peasantry by the employers, are much more forward than at this time last year. . . . . Were it necessary, I could mention numerous instances of the extraordinary quantity of labour performed by the peasantry since the Ist of August. I mean extraordinary when compared with that done under either of the former systems; but as I believe it to be generally admitted, I need only remark, that money has proved, and will prove, a far more powerful stimulus than any which could have been applied during slavery or apprenticeship. Not a single outrage has been proved to have occurred through the whole parish, and the calendar at the quarter sessions, which were held on the 8th instant, contained only two cases of larceny; one postponed from last quarter sessions; one person out on bail did not appear. The other was a case in which an old infirm man, named Joe Richardson, caught a fellow- labourer’s hog in his ground, and illegally detained it some days. He was found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment. From the Ist of August to the 31st December there were only four con- victions for larceny in this parish by persons who had been apprentices. One by a white man. Surely this does not give a very frightful picture of the state of the parish. With regard to the state of properties, severa] reasons, other than indis- position to work, might be assigned, even were the facts as stated. It is well known that planters will not clean coffee in rainy weather, as the weeds spring up so rapidly at such times that cleaning is considered labour lost. Now during the fall of the past year, scarcely a single day passed. that heavy rain did not fall. It was the most rainy season known for many years. Again, we have just passed the coffee-picking season, during which other plantation work necessarily ceases, and the Christmas holidays, which were devoted by the people to amusement. Another cause of pro- and general Conduct of the Peasantry. ia perties being in a bad state is, that several proprictors have not had money Jamaica to carry on cultivation, and others who had did not choose to spend it, or Pe sought to screw down the labourer to terms which would not remunerate ; him. Others by demanding excessive rents have disgusted their people. Yet every casualty is falsely and maliciously ascribed to idleness on the part of the negro. I can assert, however, fearless of what I state being disproved, that the parish is not in a worse state, nay, that it is in a better state, than it has been for years at this season, and that the labourers are ready and willing to work ; that some commenced labour on the 2nd January, a great portion on the 7th, and that all would have been working had they been called on and offered fair wages. oes During the past month great progress has been made in work and in Grant. cleaning of coffee pieces throughout this parish. At this and at an earlier 133 rh period of the year the fields have always been foul, in consequence of the ae es labour being expended, and being all required to secure the crops. Early in the month a number of properties were, however, completely clean. This, and a fact which, without the least hesitation, I venture to assert, and can prove, that the general appearance of the coffee-fields through- out the parish is more favourable than it has been for some years past at this period of the year, is no trifling proof of the superiority of the new system (and that at its commencement) over the old. On one property 500 acres of pasture have been cleaned, 100 chains of stone wall built, all the coffee pieces cleaned, and the people have contracted to top, log, burn, lime, and plant 50 acres of woodland for 6/. an acre, in the completion of which contract they are now employed. The people sometimes go about looking for work. On a property on which there were not 100 apprentices, and perhaps only 50 of these able persons, the overseer has had 100 able hands one day, and on the following 140 at work weeding his coffee. .. . . That labour is not continuous may be true ; but that continuous labour is necessary to carry on the culti- vation of a coffee property, I deny. The system from which we have just emerged embraced the principle of continuous labour; not so the present, as any one could have supposed, and as experience has proved. Men who call out about the necessity of continuous labour have their pro- perties in excellent order, and most of them more forward than at this time last year. , . . . To afford the whole population settled on any estate Continuous employment, would, in my opinion, increase the expenditure vastly; and if a legal obligation to do so existed, I am convinced the Manager would, and with just reason, reprobate it. SS GRE = i : Since my return I have been over a great part of the parish, and never _— Grant. With greater pleasure. There is scarcely a property not clean. Onanum-_ Mar. me ber the pruning of the coffee-trees is already finished—the majority well pep t through with that work ; and the produce at the wharfs ready for shipment. Pruning has never been commenced so early as thisseason. The ships are Jamaica. Manchester. Grant. Apr. 20, 1839. I. (5), p. 89. 76 Progress of Labour making rapid progress in the loading ; one will sail in a few days laden entirely with coffee for England. . .. - Labour is so easily procured, that coffee pieces on different properties thrown up and their cultivation abandoned for some years past, are now cultivated ; and at the present prices will amply repay the expenses attendant on the cultivation, and give a fair remuneration to the proprietor. . . . . The best proof of the in- dustry of the peasantry, of the well-working of the new system, and of the absurdity of the assertion that continuous labour is necessary, is the gratify- ing and important fact, that throughout the parish the usual cultivation of the properties is not only carried on, but that preparations are making by falling land for future plants, abandoned properties taken up and cultivated, and improvements made and in contemplation, which could never have been executed under any other than a free system. The work principally performed in this parish during the last month was pruning, and I believe that task is now very nearly accomplished on most of the plantations. Where pruning is already finished, the people are employed either in falling land for new plants, cleaning pastures, or build- ing stone walls. The women, of whom very few are pruners, are, in most instances, em- ployed in “billing bush,” and cleaning pastures and thrown-up coffee- pieces. Where pruners are not paid by the acre, managers state that 2s. 6d. currency per day is fair wages for that description of labour, and this amount is everywhere given. On a number of properties, where, during the apprenticeship, the entire labour was expended in the cultivation of the coffee, and hundreds of acres of pasture allowed to get into a state of “ ruinate,” the pastures have lately been cleaned for, on an average, 3s. 4d. per acre. I saw lately one pro- perty, where nothing had been done to the pastures for years, completely cleaned; the manager told me that the greater part had been done for 3s. 4d. per acre; and he stated, that if the apprenticeship had lasted a dozen years, he would not have been able to do what he had done for the property since the commencement of the free labour system. I believe, however, it is not now denied by the greatest opponents of the system, that the parish is in better order than it has been for years. Were I asked my opinion, I should say that the cultivation of properties is now about two months more forward than at the same period for a series of years past ; everything is progressing rapidly, and with the utmost tranquillity. In speaking of the industrious habits and peaceable conduct of the pea- santry, it may not be out of place here to insert the charge of the Chairman of the last quarter sessions to the grand jury of the parish, and to remark, that two, out of the three cases of assault, were committed by white per- sons; it was as follows: ‘‘Mr. Foreman and gentlemen of the grand jury, I am happy to say that your duties will again be very light; there is no case of larceny on the calendar, and only three for assault.” The popula- tion of the parish must be nearly 20,000. rs and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 77 During the month of April the work principally performed in this parish Jamaica. was the cleaning of the coffee, clearing pasture land of brushwood (in many ae : uae Manchester, instances not before touched for years), and building of stone walls. The BOS coffee pieces will require to be cleaned once more before the picking of the yeaa crop commences... . .« I. (5), p- 162 As usual, the peasantry are conducting themselves with the greatest propriety ; they are peaceable, orderly, and industrious. The seasons have yet been favourable for the ensuing crop. Gant. The incessant rain ‘has been such as sometimes to render it impossible June 10. for the people to be out of doors. In such weather it is injudicious to 7 age disturb the weeds, and very little hired labour is in requisition, as will be seen by the following extracts of letters now before me. The manager of Lyndhurst writes :—“ The people have not yet commenced weeding the coffee. They are now cleaning some of the pastures until the weather ceases.” The manager of Heavitree states:—‘‘ The heavy weather has made me make the people that had not quite finished their different acres in cleaning, stop until the rain clears up alittle.” On some properties, however, the managers have allowed labour to proceed, and the people have been employed at such work as could be judiciously continued, such as cleaning pastures, and building stone walls. One of the largest pens has been cleaned for less than sixpence sterling an acre; and throughout the parish, pastures, and land heretofore in pasture, but not before touched for years, have been opened and cleaned, from the abundant supply of labour in the market. This work can be accomplished by weakly people. Many managers have communicated to me the same fact, for the purpose of proving that occasions occur, even now, when superabundant labour has to seek a market for employment. On the property of one of the twenty- seven gentlemen who signed Mr. Burge’s manifesto, denying the assertion that the negroes were not averse to labour, the people have made repeated applications for work, but have not been employed for some time, in Consequence of the necessary work of the plantation having been com- a os I cannot close this communication without adverting to the cry raised at present in reference to fire-arms. That there is any proof of a mischievous intention on the part of the peasantry in their desire to possess guns I MEMIGENY. ... . + 2 « People who contemplate wrong generally conceal their means of effecting it, The negro carries his gun in open day. The cleaning of the coffee pieces is progressing, and on many properties Grant. that work is samteted: July 17, Tregret to state that the prospects for the ensuing crop are not very - ae favourable. The heavy spring rains injured the early blossom, and the ay weather at present is most injurious in prematurely ripening, termed “burning,” the fruit. There has been no May blossom this season. Jamaica. Manchester. Grant. August 6. I. (1840), Dp. 20. Clarendon. Pringle. Jan. 26, 1839. I. (2), p. 10. Pringle. Feb. 2. I. (2), p. 12. M‘Leod. Feb. 5. I. (3), p. 50. Pringle. Mar. 1. I. (4), p. 24. 78 Progress of Labour The parish is in a state of perfect tranquillity—and every day is de- veloped some new proof of the superiority of free labour and unrestricted competition. L have the honour to report for the information of his Excellency the Governor, that the Ist of August passed over quietly, and that from a journey of upwards of 60 miles through the parish yesterday, and the day before, I am enabled to state that the labourers have, on almost every pro= perty where labour can be procured, resumed their respective occupations. St. George’s chapel, in Mile Gulley, and the church and London Mission- ary chapel at Mandeville eould not hold the number of persons who con- gregated to attend divine service. On many properties the labourers were employed until the 31st of July. I mention this, and that they were again at work on Monday last, in consequence of their proceedings and conduct being as usual publicly misrepresented, and in consequence of the circula- tion of the most mischievous and exciting reports as to their intentions. CLARENDON. At present, all the estates in the lowlands have as many labourers as the planters wish, and I know that the same is the case in the neighbouring parish of Vere. In the lowlands of this parish all the estates, with the exception of Shat- toe estate, have the people employed in taking off the crop, and labour appears had continuously. All the sugar estates are at full work, and I believe as much labour is obtained upon coffee plantations, and other properties, as the planter wishes to engage. « .« + « With a continuance of the present auspicious weather, a crop may be expected at least equal to that of last year. It will indeed be late, because much time was consumed by the managers and labourers in settling the terms on which it should be taken off; but it is the decided opinion of the most intelligent planters, that with a continuance of the present highly favourable weather, and of the industry now shown by the negroes, at least as large a crop of sugar will be realised this year as in 1838. Of the cof- speak so favourably ; nor have I been able to obtain such cting this article as would be useful’ to Government at falling off even in the crop of fee crop I cannot information respe present; but I see no reason to fear any great coffee. All kinds of provisions, I am happy to add, are abundant and cheap. During the month of February past, on the sugar estates situated in the lowlands of Clarendon, the work of taking off the crop has been going on Very few of the managers have hitherto been enabled to make regularly. period during as good week’s work as they have done at a corresponding the apprenticeship ; yet the people generally appear to be working steadily and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 79 and regularly, and matters are perceptibly improving... . . . The seasons Jamaicak here have been very backward, and on some estates the canes are not ripe, aici and yield badly ; this, combined with other causes, will probably conduce Chinen to delay the finish of crop this year, to the extent of a month or six weeks beyond the usual period. Since returning to my district on Saturday last, I have been making yycqeod. diligent inquiry as to the progress of the crop, and I. have learned nothing Mar. 6. tending to alter the opinion I gave in my letter of last month, namely, that ** (th Be a with a continuance of the present favourable weather, the crop will be equal, if not superior, to that of last year. The practical planters (the overseers). are apparently changing their Pringle. opinions very rapidly, and there are few amongst them now, in this part of _ Apr. 1. the country, who do not admit that plantation labour is going on more / (>: 59 tegularly than it did during the apprenticeship, and more pleasantly to them beyond all comparison. Many of these men now feel how much their position has been altered for the better since the moral reproach of slavery has been removed.. . . . On most estates there is already ma- nufactured one half of the crop; and on some, the sugar made considerably exceeds that point. On several estates, during the month of March, there has been more sugar made in one week than ever had been done on the same properties during the apprenticeship, and within the same period of time. - + - .I have further to state my opinion, that, despite all difficulties and many animosities, the crops of the lowland estates generally will be secured with favourable weather, at a time little later than the usual period, and on some estates as early as formerly. I consider my district to be in a highly favourable state, and that with weLeod. ordinarly good weather it will assuredly make a much larger crop of sugar ay 3; pe than last year. The state of the coffee properties, though not quite so good ~ Oh as as that of the sugar estates, is nevertheless favourable. In a general point of view, the conduct of the negroes is extremely good, nor can I find any fault with that of the planters. T have to report that very heavy and long-continued falls of rain have M‘Leod. damped the hopes of several planters, who were calculating on a consider- | May 1. able increase of produce this year over that of the last.. . . . The coffee 1°» P: 107 Properties will not suffer nearly so much as the sugar estates, and the appearance of the coffee for the next picking is extremely favourable. The month of April has proved the most favourable hitherto to the secur- Princle. ing of the present year’s crop; and the favourable representations made May 10. by me in my report for the month of March must be repeated in this. I. ©), p. 160 Although I cannot report equally favourably of all the estates in the low- lands of Clarendon, yet the extreme prosperity. of the majority of them leads tothe conclusion that the want of success on one or two other properties Jamaica. Clarendon. * | oma Lal oad Pringle. June 5. (5), p. 201. M‘Leod. June 5. . (5), p- 205. Pringle. August 2. . (1810), . 39. M‘leod. Aug. 7, . (1840), , 32. Progress of Labour 80 arises from causes totally unconnected with the industry or the want of it amongst the negro population. peas The taking off the crop on the sugar estates, and the manufacturing of the produce, is yet the principal employment ; and I have now to repeat my former statement, that crops will be secured on all, except one or two pro- perties, within a week or two later than the finish of the crop season in previous years, and on some well-managed properties, the manufacture of sugar will cease sooner than last year ; and I have also to state, that on several properties there will be made more sugar this season than last, par- ticularly on Halse Hall chateau, and on some others. A long duration of heavy rains (which still continue) has seriously re- tarded the progress of crop in this district. It must now, therefore, una- voidably be very late; but still I trust that it will not be inferior either in the quantity or the quality of the sugar to the crop of last year. The coffee plantations do not, of course, suffer equally from the present weather, and appearances for the ensuing pick of coffee are highly favourable. No change of importance has taken place in the rate of wages. The conduct of the negroes may justly be estimated from the circum- stance mentioned in the letter accompanying this ; that there is not a single prisoner in the gaol or house of correction of this the second largest parish of the island; and I am truly happy in likewise bearing testimony to the good conduct of the planters. On the wharfs of Clarendon and Vere there are 500 hogsheads of sugar, and not a ship in any of the harbours, or, as far as I can hear, likely to be, for some time, and every day I see more sugar continuing to arrive from the mountains in the parish of Clarendon. I shall be unable for some weeks yet to ascertain the amount of produce that will have been made from the present crop in this district ; but I think it right to mention, that I have reason to believe it will not be so large as I some time since expected. The deficiency will chiefly be ascribable to the uncommonly rainy weather which occurred in May and June. Of the conduct of the negroes in general I am happy to report most favourably. His Excellency the Governor has already been apprised, that in the month the gaol and house of correction stood with their gates wide open and I am happy to add (as I have done in the monthly report upon those institutions which accompanies this) that there is not now a single prisoner in the house of correction, and that the gaol contains but three persons, and these likewise not under sentence, but only on committal for trial. Having stated this of the negroes, justice obliges me to add that I regard the general conduct of the planters of this district of June for eight days together : in an equally favourable light. and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 81 VERE. Jamaica, The planters in this parish not having charged rent for the first three rae months, as requested by the Governor, it is impossible to ascertain the Meee number of labourers on each property. O'Reilly. We are happy to be able to inform you that this parish is perfectly quiet, Oct. 23, 1838, and the people are working extremely well, with the exception of the pro- +P» 141. perties Mr. —-—— js attorney for. Our periodical rainy seasons, and on which the crop almost entirely O'Reilly. depends, has been this year so prolonged that even at this late date the Tee Roe canes are not in many places, sufficiently ripe to cut, which I am quite con- ~’ een fident is the sole and only reason that has thrown the crop so far back. One estate (Old Yarmouth) has, I am informed, stopped the mill, in Consequence of their canes not being ripe enough to make sugar. There can be no doubt but that the crops will be taken off, but that they will be late, for the reasons before stated, and certainly not for want of labour. Last month very few of the mills were about, in consequence of the canes Nihon hot being fit to cut. I am happy to be able to report, for the information Feb. 12, of his Excellency the Governor, with the exception of two or three proper- 1 (3); p. 87 ties, every other estate is about. . . . - I fear the crop in this parish will not be as large as it was last year. Ihave been informed by a gentle- man, a planter, and a most intelligent one, that the canes are not yielding, and the falling off is in no way attributable to the new system. The trials and convictions were but three: the first, a labourer, was O'Reilly. brought forward for having committed an assault, which the bench thought _ Feb. 19. — sufliciently punished by a fine of 74d.: the second, of a young girl having 1 ie pilfered a small quantity of corn; she was sentenced to twenty days in gaol: but of the last case would I could speak at all favourably. Mr. Thom, the overseer of the Bog estate, was brought forward, charged with having cruelly assaulted a labourer of an adjoining property, and with hav- mg knocked him senseless with the back of a cutlass; he pleaded guilty, and was fined 20/., or two months? imprisonment in gaol. Thus has three months of newly-acquired freedom of so large a body only een marked by two trivial breaches of the law. The only case in which features of an agetavated nature appeared was in that of the overseer of (I believe) the largest estate in the parish, almost in the island. T cannot conclude this without drawing your attention to a report that _ Mahon. was made at the Alley the first of this month as to the working of the new Lae oo system, &c., which report appeared in the public prints of last week; it 80€s on to say, “ That notwithstanding the high wages, the people fre- quently absented themselves from the work of the plantations to cultivate their gtounds, especially during rainy weather, and that in some instances the cane-holes that were dug in October remain still unplanted from this G Jamaica. Vere. O’Reilly. Mar. li. I. (4), p. 23. ‘ Mahon. Mar. 20. I. (4), p- 13. Mahon. Apr. I (5), p. 16 Mahon. Apr. 16. I. (5), p. 93. O’Reilly. 82 cause.”’ Progress of Labour I have made strict inquiry as to the truth of the above, and find that there is but one estate so situated in the parish, namely Paradise, and the cause of it is this, the people stuck out for the same rate of wages which was given on other properties, and which the attorney refused, the place being a poor one, and could not well afford it. The crops are progressing, and scarcely any instance of a breach of the law has occurred, and not one of riot or combined resistance on the part of the people. Notwithstanding the harshness and unnecessary feelings displayed by the planters in putting into force that part of the newly emancipated population, of the law sanctioning the ejectment it is indeed gratifying to observe the peaceful and, generally speaking, steady working of the people under cir- cumstances so new, and treatment so irritating. The manufacture of sugar is going on satisfactorily, every estate in the parish without an exception is at work; the pay, namely, 2s. 6d. currency, is uniform all over the parish, and I have no hesitation in stating, wherever the work is not willingly and cheerfully performed, my opinion is, that it is entirely in consequence of the harassing treatment pursued by the planters. In my last report I took occasion to remark upon the improvement which : g, had taken place in the working of the people, the success which attended the liberal course adopted by certain managers, the discontinuance of the harassing system of resorting to ejectments, and the increasing good under- standing which appeared to be growing up between the gentlemen in charge of estates and the labourers located upon them ; and I am most happy to say that I have observed nothing since the transmission of my last report which could alter my opinions on these subjects, but, on the contrary, all that I have seen, an d the information that I have cathered in my intercourse with all classes of the community, have strongly confirmed them. The behaviour of the negroes and the state of labour for the last month are most satisfactory. . + « . On some of the properties they have given up their Saturdays, in the hope that they may be able to take off the crop before the wet weather sets in. The crops are successfully progressing. . When I reflect on all ee oe the harassing circumstances that have been resorted to, as if for the purpose 7) Be“ of preventing continuous labour, such as wholesale ejectments, enormous O'Reilly. June 9. rents, &c. &c., I am surprised that the planters have been able to secure their crops—which, though not yet finished, can be saved with a few weeks’ dry weather, on all estates having any pretension to good management. I cannot speak as favourably of the state of labour in this parish, in re- ote sg porting for th (oP Pat tunately been enabled to do for some months past. e month of May, as I could have wished, and as I have for- I have observed much and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 83 want of confidence in the people towards their managers, and an unsteadi- Jamaica. ness, or rather a want of uniformity and cheerfulness in labour, not before pep perceptible; and I believe much of the unfortunate feeling to have arisen 3: from a very large proportion of the labourers in this parish having been deprived of the grounds they enjoyed, and were almost entirely supported from, while in a state of bondage. In conjunction with the above primary cause, I have also to observe, that during the greater portion of the month of May, the weather has been so rainy and inclement as almost entirely to preclude the possibility of manufacturing sugar, and to hold out such in- ducements to those labourers who have not been deprived of their grounds, as has most naturally been taken advantage of by them, to plant their pro- Visions, and take advantage of a short period when their labour is less necessary on the estate, and most beneficial to themselves. Since my last report, labour has been going on somewhat irregularly Mahon. throughout the parish ; the rate of wages remains as usual, namely, 2s. 6d. I ae ae a day to able people. I can make no excuse for the labourers beyond that © ~~’ a of the weather being so very wet and unsettled, which I am aware is in a great measure the cause of the falling off in this particular. It is to be regretted that any backwardness on the part of the labouring population should be exhibited just now, when their exertion would be of such great Service as to taking off the canes as quickly as possible before the late very heavy rains have seriously injured them, or in planting and preparing the field for the future crop, employment which these seasons urgently point out. Although the weather has not been so wet as entirely to stop the manufacturing of sugar, yet it has been sufficiently so seriously to retard it, and as a necessary and unavoidable consequence, the next crop must be somewhat diminished. . . . . I fear depriving the people of their grounds has made them discontented, at the same it is pleasing to see how very orderly and quietly they conduct themselves. Very many of the estates are about finishing crop, and are ina high ed state of cultivation; and I am happy to say that several of the planters, L. (1840), deeply wedded to the old system, are opening their eyes to the impolicy of p. 11. their conduct at the commencement of the new one. I conceive it, however, my duty to say, that the prosperous state of this parish would be beyond question, but for the unhappy condition of, . . "++... .. whichstand alone for bad feeling and consequent bad MePKINGS . kk. and I cannot but regret that these estates are made the criterion as to the well working of the system, when it is notorious that the parish would be in a more prosperous and healthy condition now than during any period of the apprenticeship, but for the very properties which, I am happy to say, form the exception, and not the rule. In my last report, for the month of May, I considered it my duty to Bence ' F : U : state, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, that labour had £ (1840), been going on somewhat irregularly, in consequence of the weather being p. 11. a2 Jamaica. Fere. O'Reilly. August 11. I. (1840), p. 36. St. Catherine, St. John, St. Dorothy. Kk. D. Baynes. Sept. 20, 1838. I. p. 96 84 Progress of Labour so very wet and unsettled. It affords me much pleasure to say, for the Jast month, the labourers on every estate in this parish have been constantly at work, and are using every exertion in their power to get the crop off in good time; to my certain knowledge many estates can get more hands than they require. The labourers prefer task work, and this practice is usually adopted, I am pleased to say, almost on every estate (as far as I can learn), which benefits all parties. Some estates have finished crop.....-- On some estates the peasantry have entered into a contract with their own medical men at 6s. 8d. a year for each person, although they were allowed attendance gratis by the estates. Complaints are now but few, and those brought before us are generally for assaults. On my visiting the gaol and house of correction last, I found both departments without a prisoner. In conclusion, I beg to state, that a reciprocal feeling of good-will between the employer and the employed is gaining strength every day. I have the honour to state, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, that the condition of this parish during the past month has been most cheering and satisfactory; no disturbance of any description has occurred; and the conduct of the people has been beyond praise; the labour of all the estates was cheerfully and industriously continued up to the Ist of August, which was;naturally a day of thanksgiving and rejoic- ing ; and it was indeed a gratifying sight to view the crowds of well-dressed and intelligent people assembled together on the anniversary of that ever- memorable day, to render their heartfelt thanks to Him who had that day twelvemonth delivered them from their long bondage, and raised them to the station that their conduct has since proved they so well deserved ; no single instance of disturbance on their parts took place in the parish, and the usual course of labour was resumed in a few days; every well-managed estate has some time finished crop, and are now directing all their strength to the cultivation of the cane-fields. Sp, CATHERINE’S, St. JoHN’s, AND St. Dorotuy’s. The general conduct of the labouring population has been industrious and orderly since my appointment to this district... . . . They have manifested no excitement, nor overstepped the bounds of order and propriety in their exultation at the great change which has taken place in their condition ; the inconsiderable display of angry feeling which took place in Falmouth, was entirely owing to the malicious perverseness of certain mischievous and wicked white men, who prepared to burn Mr. Knibb, the favourite minister of the negroes, in effigy, a threat which these simple beings applied to the reverend gentleman’s person, and sought to take measures to prevent. A few words from the stipendiary magistrates soon restored tranquillity, without a stone being thrown or a blow struck. The houses and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 85 of correction, so full up to the last moment of the apprenticeship, owing to Jamaica. the numerous and unceasing complaints from masters, are now, at the ee Cilio expiration of nearly two months, either entirely empty, or with so few ” ‘gy yy inmates, that the daily duty of keeping the place clean cannot be performed S¢é. Dorothy. by them. The quarter sessions have been held in the populous parishes of St. James’s and Trelawny, the one containing a population of 22,000, the other of 26,000 souls ; one prisoner only was arraigned at the former, and three at the latter; yet the calendars formerly were so numerous as to occupy the time of the court for several days.* These facts speak volumes for the good and docile disposition of the negroes. There having been but very few complaints brought before the magis- Ps Ranier trates relating to contracts for labour, it is to be presumed that both parties, LG ‘s ps Pe We: Master and servant, now sufficiently understand their respective interests to regulate their differences without reference to a police court. . . . , The sugar crop is progressing with the usual average result of labour; the parish is orderly and quiet; the instances of crime are fewer than at any period of the records of the courts; and though the magistrates are not assisted by a police for the protection of persons and property, there is that prevailing submission to their authority that renders the want of that force almost not felt in this parish. The manufacture of sugar has only just commenced for the season in this E. 1) Baynes. precinct, containing the parishes of St. Catherine, St. John, and St. Dorothy. ; Gy ae It seems therefore premature as yet to offer an opinion as to its extent, or to the likelihood of the crop being taken off at a moderate cost. It cannot be denied that the illiberal part of the planting interest are now feeling the effects of their parsimony and injustice in having on the very first. step into freedom alienated the minds of their labourers by their ill-judged and im- potent efforts to extort an exorbitant rate of rent, and at the same time to depress the rate of wages below a fair remunerating price. The short- sightedness of the landholder in offering to the freeman less than half the Temuneration he received for his labour as an apprentice was met, as it re- quired little reflection to see that it would, by a suspension of the agricul- tural labour on the property, and by the application of the time and energy of the peasant (in order to procure subsistence for his family, and to meet the high rent demanded of him) to the cultivation of his provision grounds, from which he did not then, nor indeed does he now (I speak of the great mass of the population), apprehend the probability or even the possibility of an ejectment. Where the new freemen had to do with intelligent and humane masters, who offered liberal wages, and studied the comfort of their dependants, aangements were successfully entered into, of which neither party has yet had cause to repent. J could name many of these wise and provident whose properties are flourishing, and whose labourers are con- ented, . * Thave not seen a drunken negro since the Ist of August. Jamaica. St. Catherine, St. John, St. Dorothy. E. D. Baynes. Apr. 3, 1839. 1s(0,) 5p. .7 0» Ramsay. Apr. 6. 1D) P-.7 3. 86 Progress of Labour Of the three parishes which compose this precinct the agricultural popu- lation of that of St. Catherine are more generally employed, and work more continuously and steadily, than their neighbours in those of St. John and St. Dorothy, though there are several estates in the two latter which are doing well. The managers of properties are by no means so despond- ing in private conversation, as they are or affect to be at their public mectings ; and I observe, that it is rare to find one who gives an unfavour- able account of that under his own management. The exports, which at the party meetings got up by the prejudiced and interested attorneys, who misrepresent the planting interest, would, it was confidently said, fall off to the amount of half, are not likely, under existing circumstances, with the present supply of labour, though the shipment may be late, to decrease, even under so many unfavourable circumstances, in the proportion of one-sixth of last year’s crop. . + + + The conduct of the black population continues to be orderly and peace- able in a degree to excite wonder. Three months have elapsed since the disbanding of the police force, yet [ am unacquainted with a single instance in which a want of their services has been experienced. As far as I am able to judge, everything is going on as well as it was possible to expect on so great a change, and certainly beyond the expressed opinions of some of the most experienced agriculturists, who predicted, in my hearing, at the commencement of the apprenticeship, that when unre- stricted freedom should arrive the peasantry would yield themselves up to an unrestrained state of licentious idleness and debauchery. On the contrary, the country is tranquil, and the labourer is employed in peaceful industry. It is therefore unfair, I think, to expect more than this at first, and, by a continual system of bickering and disputing, drive the pea- santry to seek employment elsewhere than on the lands on which they were formerly located, when experience has shown that where nothing was to be expected much has been doing. As regards the progress of the crop this year, as compared with previous years, the following is a fact, obtained from the plantation-book of the only property to which I have been permitted to have access, estate K :—On the 26th of February, 1835, 6 hogsheads of sugar made up to this date, and the crop consisted that year of 109 hogsheads of sugar and 50 puncheons of rum. In 1836, on the 5th of March, 6 hogsheads of sugar had been made; the total crop consisted of 903 hogsheads and 12 tierces of sugar, and 26 puncheons of rum. In 1831, the mill was not at work until the 15th of March; the crop consisted of 53 hogsheads of sugar and 23 puncheons of rum. In1838, 16 hogsheads of sugar were made on the 26th of February; the extent of the crop was 80 hogsheads of sugar and 39 puncheons of rum. In the present year, 1839, under a system of free labour, on the 26th of February, 23 hogsheads of sugar were made and in the curing-house, and the crop is expected to average 74 hogsheads of sugar. The falling off of the crop this year is attributed to the estate having been neglected. Here, ee a i a A Sn a and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 87 therefore, is a statement of the forwardness of the crops of one estate in the precinct within my jurisdiction for five successive years, by which his Ex- cellency will perceive in no one of the previous years had there been manu- factured a quantity of sugar equal to what has been made at the same date in the present year ; and it may not be unworthy of remark, that in the year 1837, when the crop was a small one, as will be the case this year, the crop was not commenced until the 15th of March. The facts of this one estate may show what are the fair inferences as to all the others. _ On a neighbouring estate to this, I am informed that 55 hogsheads of sugar had been made up to the 3rd of March last, and that they were making from 10 to 14 hogsheads per week. The wages paid on this estate are as follows :—To cane-cutters, 2s. 6d. ; cane-tyers, 2s. ld.; boilers, grinders, and firemen, 3s. 4d. each per diem. I am also informed that few amongst the labourers on this property were located there during slavery and the apprenticeship ; this estate, therefore, has laboured under the disadvantage of seeking for labourers. On the estate first alluded to, adjoining this pro- perty, there were 91 apprentices liberated; 56 of whom were employed in agriculture on the property, 35 not at work, being old and disabled persons, and there were only 6 out of this latter number which could not be satis- factorily accounted for. On an estate in the neighbourhood of this town, on which there were 230 apprentices, there are only 80 required to keep up the cultivation. At the commencement of the crop 10 hogsheads per week were made; but on the Week ending the 16th of March they only manufactured 6 hogsheads, in consequence of some misunderstanding respecting wages, no permanent arrangement for taking off the crop having been entered into. On another sugar estate, the labourers engaged in making: the sugar were offered 4/. currency for every hogshead of sugar made, to be taken by the job, and the amount to be paid to them for distribution amongst them- selves. At first the people swerved from the agreement in consequence of a misunderstanding with a former overseer, who, they stated, had not been punctual with them. Some few were tried for a breach of contract ; and the overseer states that the adjudication has produced the most beneficial results. Thave added a Tabular Return of the state of crime in the parish of St. Catherine, with regard to petty sessional offences, in a population of 11,00 souls. . , Jamaica. St. Catherine, St. John, St. Dorothy 88 A RETURN of the Number ‘of Convicrions, on Summary Trials, at Petty Sessions, held in St. Jago de la Vega, from 1st January to the Progress of Labour Convictions under the 6th Will. 4, c. 32, 36, 40, and 41, and 1 Vict... Cs o- had before the Stipendiary Magistrates ~ 20th March 1839. EK. D. Baynes. Apr. 12, 1839. I. (5), p. 100. KE. 1). Baynes. June 15. I. (5); p- _ = 3 asd a % =) ra =} A (eae Onwis. to. ° ~ a a SESuaSuns oO. - oO 5 She) Oas| ge BP. al! | enue ci & BES |jvlae lise | oe 28 an) 2s A ORD = 3 SS | SiS) | Mace | Se Bus mo : LS) i) S83 2 S45 S aay 2 eS 5s2Q Sok | 38H on 2 Nature of Borg BP ea | CEM = a aod as) oe ae a2 Punisl t a3 3 S§ 55 a xs ts SS. Esa.) S85 aa unishments. tac ox & BAT Ps 3 el eel poeene resco tl men tren al S < = mies! es eet 2 a2 gen | 4 ge g | Be8|ogs| $*|"S | Es as ° = R Fine or Hard Labour M.| F.|M.| F.|M.| F.|M.] F.|M.| F.|M.| F. | M-.| F.|M.) F. | M. F.)M. | FM.) F inthe | House of Correction. [eee apes) Wands | eee Moke ee) Pee a eS SS | | = aS HOMMS shel Li eb alie—nes Wes ly |= 5) FO bo) See Pace OA PC eS ie -- The fies im- posed have been ge- nerally paid, rather than go into the} House of Correc- tion, INDALES wis 1A0 cides: Lebehials) Wie Sere SARS 5 2 Wintiese ew syipa Od WRVGRIAESs” es ie ti aies aoe etre ace eeu re meio? 35 Total Number of Cases . + « -« 132 ——-— The progress of the crop and the manufacture of sugar continue to be satisfactory in this district. Complaints, whether from employer or labourer, have been less frequent than during the preceding month. Several ejectments have, however, taken place, under the Ist Vict., and the magistrates have visited certain breaches of contract on the part of the employed, with some severity, which has probably had the salutary effect of rendering them less numerous. Altogether the prospects of agriculture are more favourable than on the occasion of so great a change, could at so early a period have been a prior? anticipated, and even than the generality of managers of properties are disposed to admit. I annex a return of all the sugar estates, 27 in number, in this precinct, with the general result of such information as I have been able to collect from various sources, taking care to balance conflicting circumstances against each other. It will be seen, that from three I have not obtained any in- formation, that two are decidedly going on badly, and nine but indifferently; ten are doing passably well, and not less than 11 are in a most favourable CONAIUOM. 15) Werke lis The work on a sugar estate is very uncertain and irregular, and greatly dependent on the weather; at some seasons, 100 hands may be required in the field, at others there may not be work for 50 or even 20. The manager, now under the necessity of reducing the cost of cultivation, as low as possible, considers that he best consults his interests by not employ- ing a greater number of labourers than is actually necessary for the work in hand. A large body of workmen are thus often thrown out of employment on the estate on which they reside, and are of course compelled to procure the means of subsistence from employment eisewhere. Hence it often and general Conduct of the Pedsantry. 89 happens, that where the former employer has occasion for his late labourers, Jamaica. they are no longer at his command. It is not, therefore, so often, in fact, \. Ge ° ° « Catherine that the negro refuses to give continuous labour, as the estates that do not St: ee offer constant employment. St Dorothy. The calendars of the last grand court, and of the July quarter sessions E. D. Baynes. Of this precinct, though heavy as regards the general population, were the , Jy 18. © 1.1840) reverse in respect of the freemen of the lst of August last. They contained p. 18. a greatly more than ordinary average of white and coloured offenders ; the peasantry, numerically as eight to one to the other classes, did not furnish prisoners in a greater proportion than that of one to three. Crime is thus, in this vicinity, twenty- fourtimes less frequent among the late apprentices than among the former freemen. If an increase of crime can be shown to have taken place, the shame and degradation of this change for the worse is limited to the white and coloured population. The progress of agriculture still continues to be checked in many instances by the want of punctuality in the payment of wages. This perhaps is mainly attributable to the scarcity of small silver for change. ... . rc I regret that I am still unable to report the manifestation of any increas- ing good feeling, in general, between employers and their labourers. The unfrequency of complaints, of late, in these parishes, is to be attributed chiefly to the necessity experienced by managers of taking off the crop. To effect this important object, they have been under the imperative neces- cessity, however reluctant, of paying a high rate of wages, which has the elect of keeping a large portion of the labouring population at work. St. THoMAs IN THE VALE. Matters are assuming a more favourable aspect throughout the parish me oe a since his Excellency’s visit, and although there does not yet exist that con- —— fidence between the proprietory and the peasantry which is necessary for ee ieee the permanent prosperity of both, although the labourers have not yet Ue 99, settled down (so completely as I would wish) into a cheerful and continu- ous performance of their agricultural duties, I have every hope that when the liberal system, which I am happy to say obtains upon several pro- perties, is more generally adopted and understood, and carried on, as it should be, in a spirit of forbearance, affairs will proceed to the advantage of both classes, and to the satisfaction of the best friends of the colony. After the Christmas holidays, agricultural labour was not generally. Jackson and Tesumed until about the 18th instant. This has been accounted for in Bell. various ways. By some it has been brought forward as an instance of the LG), ce Mnate laziness of the emancipated class; others, considering that it was oi the first festival at which they could dare to do so, pronounce it very natural that they should indulge themselves in a longer respite than hereto- fore has been customary; while a third party ascribe it to the sudden ex- Piration of the Petit Debt Act, under which proceedings were in progress Jamaica. St. Thomas in Vale. Jackson and Bell. Feb. 28. I. (4), p. 13. Jackson and Bell. Mar. 30, 1839. 1s @yis we Bell and Jackson. Apr. 39. I. (5), p. 105. 90 Progress of Labour against several for rent; and the consequent failure of those proceedings given rise to the notion either that the laws had been relaxed in their favour, or that an unfair effort had been made to extract a rent, the pay- ment of which could not be legally enforced. Various other reasons may be hazarded, but to whatever cause the fact is attributed, all parties, we believe, admit that the conduct of the peasantry, during this period, their general appearance, and the enjoyments they indulged in, were remarkably rational and sober, and totally devoid of those barbarous and heathenish customs that formerly characterized the slave. . - . + It is obvious to us that matters are improving gradually, though perhaps slowly. The agricultural affairs of the parishes of St. Thomas in the Vale and St. John are progressing in that favourable manner which we anticipated in our last report, and (even admitting that the crops are backward) we think that if a comparison with a corresponding period in past years were now to be made, it would be found more favourable than if made a month ago. The St. Thomas in the Vale court of quarter sessions was held on the Ath instant, and as it has been usual to take criminal calendars as evidence of the moral state of a community, we are gratified in stating that there were only four new and three continued indictments ; of the seven, three remained over, two were dismissed, one-acquitted, and one found guilty. Since we had the honour of addressing our last report to your Excellency, the agricultural affairs of the parishes of St. Thomas in the Vale and St. John’s, have progressed in a satisfactory manner ; the weather has been favourable for manufacturing ;_ a better understanding obtains between the proprietory and the peasantry, and we now feel confident, that any defi- ciency in the crops cannot be attributed to any want of labourers to take them off. We have observed cane-holes preparing on several estates, and although the weather has been too dry to render any attempt at planting advisable, some managers, we are informed, have planted. The estates throughout the two parishes have not been in want of labourers; the weather has been favourable, and the crops are being taken off and sent to market with as much expedition as heretofore has been usual. Worthy Park Estate, we are credibly informed, made 20 hogs- heads of sugar in one week, at a cost of 3/. 10s. currency per hogshead in the manufacturing, and that at such rate an industrious man could earn between 3s. and 5s. currency per day. Other properties, not possessing the same advantages, have certainly failed in quantity, and, as a consequence, have had to pay a proportionately higher price per hogshead ; but in all cases of the sort we think that it may fairly be attributed to local disad- vantages, inferior machinery, or other causes unconnected with the con- duct of the labourer. . ee ae and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 91 We are happy to assure your Excellency that we have not heard of a Jamaica. single instance of the negroes absenting themselves from work. On Mon- : avai: , 6 . St. Thomas ir day last the festivities of the Ist of August were indulged in, after a reli- Vale. gious observance of the day, with a sobriety and moderation that would au , have done credit to any peasantry in the world. Taekace, August 8. —- I. (1840), p. 27. TRELAWNEY. Labour on estates in this parish has progressed with such unprecedented Tre/awney. rapidity during the last four weeks, that, incredible as it may appear, ae already there are many managers seriously perplexed as to the means of Sen. a profitably employing their usual hands. On Hyde Hall, Etingdon, Georgia, I. p. 93. Steelfield, Bounty Hall, Friendship, Acton, Chester, and many other estates, the cane-pieces and pasture, though extremely foul from the con- centration of all the labour to the completion of a more than average crop previous to the 31st of July, and the total. suspension of labour for the two weeks subsequent, have been all cleaned, or nearly so; many of which pastures they could not spare the labour or find time to touch during the last two years; and walls have been repaired and rebuilt to a greater extent than ever. More work has been performed within these four weeks than in any 12 of the apprenticeship, and I believe I may safely say, slave system also. Cane-pieces, which the scale of labour for this parish as- sumed would require from 12 to 14 hands per acre, have been completed for 13s. 4d. per acre, and from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. a day earned by the con- tractors ; while other pieces have been cleared at 6s. 8d. and 10s. per acre, for which 8 to 12 persons were assigned by the scale, and the same rate of wages realised. Walls have been and are building for 13s. 4d. per chain, for which 20s. was paid during the apprenticeship, and 60s. during slavery ; and pastures are cleared at 6s. 8d. to 10s. per acre, which had not been cleared for two and four years before, and which it was supposed required 8 to 10 people to perform ; and at this reduced rate, by working 12 hours daily, many of the contractors have realized 5s. per day ; verifying literally the remark of his Excellency, that one freeman was worth three slave la- bourers; in fact, in many instances the stimulus of reward has proved capable of producing, without unhealthy exertion, ten times the quantity of labour that the most strenuous coercion without it could induce. . : But notwithstanding so many just grounds for present gratulation, and such earnest of future prosperity in the industrious application of the pea- santry, 1 much fear that as but small growth has been made in the canes destined to form the crop of next year from the absence of moisture, scarcely a shower having refreshed the earth during the last eight or ten weeks, that in the event of any deficiency of quantity, there will be a clamour taised, and inferences drawn, unfavourable to freedom, as contrasted in its product with the results’of the system from which we have been happily delivered. I allude thus early to this probability, that his Excellency may be prepared for the murmurings and dissatisfaction of those in this parish, 92 Progress of Labour Jamaica. Who, unfortunately for the harmony of systems, abound in all communities, a men who take more delight in prognosticating evil, than in cordially co- Trelawney. ; 4 operating to produce benefits. Kelly, The estates in general are only now commencing to take off the crops; Heb al829, cen - i ; ; 1.(3) p. 45. I will in a few weeks be better able to judge, and to send in a more full return than I can at this early period, as in all probability, during the first or second week, there will be alittle more trouble than afterwards; but from the general disposition of the people, I have no doubt if they are judi- ciously treated, and fairly dealt with, they will take off the crops well. Lyon, The majority of estates are making their arrangements for the crop . Feb. 20. | | Where no difficulties are interposed from want of means to pay for 1S (1G) meee if : : 1 the labour, or from the want of confidence on the part of the labourers, in consequence of deviations from contract, or unpunctual payment of wages, the stimulus of reward is sufficient to ensure all the labour requisite in the affairs of the plantation. Lyon, The labourers in this parish are in a tranquil and orderly state, the mills, L Da. with few exceptions, are now about, and I am not aware that there is any difficulty arising whatever in taking off the crops, particularly where the labourers are justly and fairly dealt with. Kelly, The labourers in this parish are in a tranquil and orderly state, the mills I. (a) et i are all about, and the certainty of getting off the crops is no longer doubtful, as labour is positively more continuous and more eagerly sought after than it was at the commencement of crop. od Lyon, Kelly, With respect to the estimated average of labourers, the data from’ which Be tate: the committee reason are altogether delusion. It was one of the burthens 1. (5) p- 53. of the slave system, that the proprietor was required to stock himself with a number of slaves beyond what was necessary for the ordinary purposes of agriculture, that he might be prepared with sufficient work-people on those occasions, in the manufacturing of his staple, in which an extraordi- nary number was required. He was in a word incumbered with a mass of labourers, daily set to work, more for the purposes of discipline, than for any profits which attended their industry. The free system disencumbered the planter of this burthen, and substi- tuted a demand for labourers, varying according to the necessities of the plantation. It reduced the numbers to few persons one month, and extended them to many another, just as the calls of agriculture or manufacture increased or diminished the necessity for labourers ‘at different times. An average, taken during the six months of planting and weeding, when the least number of work-people are required to be retained, gives no cri- terion of labour for the six months of crop, when every person is available for some sort of work, either in the mill or in the field. If one-half of the and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 93 average work-people in any of the years of slavery and apprenticeship Jamaica. (which included efficient and inefficient persons) have appeared at work, Teta When it was a proper discrimination, under a system of wages, to select ~ and employ only the efficient, we should have said that that fact augured the best prospects for the crop, had not that portion of the crop, taken in since the report we comment on was written, proved our conclusion to be true. Manufactures, and indeed labour of all kinds, is proceeding favourably ; Lyon and and the vessels in the harbour are loading rapidly with sugar and rum. The Mao St. Vincent sailed out this morning with a cargo of 810 hogsheads of I. (6) p. 159 sugar, besides smaller casks. Independent of the regular arrival in Falmouth of produce equal to the demands for lading seven vessels, which now remain in harbour, consi- derable quantities have been shipped from this parish to Montego Bay, for transhipment to vessels loading there. . . . . Mr. Sherly, the pro- prietor of Hyde Hall and Edington sugar estates, and Ghanmorgar and Retirement Pens, extremely valuable and flourishing properties in this parish, has directed his attorneys to build upwards of 100 additional cottages, and to encourage by every fair means the location of labourers in them. Weare led to entertain sanguine feelings with regard to the future from Lyon and the evidence of prospective care in the tillage of estates. As we ride ea through the country we observe the turning of trash on the recently-har- I. (5) p. 210. vested fields is effected with less delay than during the last two or three years; the penning of cattle on the land for manure is performed with More regard to its effectiveness than formerly; and that the progress of Planting has been carried to an extent that, with the benignant influence of that Providence which has bountifully interposed during this last year to Sive thé increase (when the jarrings of contentious men appeared bent on creating waste and desolation), cannot fail of producing a profitable harvest for the ensuing year. . . » . On several estates crop has ter- minated. The results of the crop being no longer now a speculative probability as Lyon. to the amount of produce, it will be useless making any remark beyond a - (isd), teference to the Custom-house returns as data which must decide all con- p. Ly troversies. The estimate of produce shipped from the colony, being how- ever in the colonial returns given in hogsheads, and not hundred-weights, as at the King’s Beam in London, will afford very inexact data for com- parison, so many economical circumstances rendering it necessary to Mecrease the size of the hogshead to the largest possible dimensions, This economy has reference to the manufacture of the hogshead, to the wainage, the drageerage, freight, and the payments by tale for each hogshead of Sugar made by the plantation labourers. In disputed freight of sugar by the hogshead, it was enacted by the statute of 23 Geo. II. cap. 5, that Jamaica. Trelawney. Kelly. August 6. I. (1840), p. 32. St. James’s. Carnaby; Aug. 14, 1838. I. p. 88. Facey, Sep. 4. I. p. 84. 94 - Progress of Labour each hogshead should be adjuged to contain 14 cwt., and each tierce Scwt.; at present, hogsheads are not unfrequently made to contain 22 cwt. I have the honour to state, for his Excellency’s information, that upwards of thirty important estates in this parish have finished crop, with what success the duties of our exports will best explain, as the difficulty of obtaining exact or accurate information on that head has increased to a degree that might involve the accuracy of any report that I might forward to the executive relative to the number of hogsheads of sugar made on each estate. The crops in general are nearly terminated, and if reports are correct, there will be a decrease from the last returns: this in a great measure is to be attributed to the unpropitious season we had for the growth of our staples, the prolonged drought of February, March, April, and May, not only impeding the growth, but injuring the quantity and quality. The sprouts in general now look well; and some managers have informed me they anticipate having good crops next year. It is with much pleasure I have also to report on the very quiet and orderly state of this populous parish. The lst of August, and the succeed- ing days, have passed off without the slightest disturbance, and the people attending their different churches in greatnumbers. Nothing could exceed their decorous conduct. It was impossible for any peasantry to be better dressed, or more respectable in their appearance. ...... The ships which arrived in this port from England, for the purpose of obtaining produce, have sailed previous to the Ist of August with full cargoes. St. JAMES’S. Upon the greater number of estates in my late district, the people during last week resumed labour, but for no fixed sum of wages, the terms offered by the attomeys (1s. 0$d. and Is. 3d. per day) being considered by the labourers too small, while at the same time they expressed their readiness to work, and leave the rate of payment for subsequent arrangement. I regret, however, now to report, that since yesterday morning the estates generally are at a stand, as the attorneys, it is said, have refused permission to work, unless the labourers accept the terms offered, being now Is. 3d. per day, with certain allowances. These have been rejected by the people. It will be observed, that the offer of 1s. O}d. per day, originally made, has been increased to 1s. 3d. His Excellency will be glad to learn that the peasantry in this parish are behaving well, and labouring cheerfully, where fair wages, kind treatment, and a speedy prospect of payment is held out to them. On those estates where the proprietor, or his attorney, either cannot or will not exceed a shilling and halfpenny per day, the people have received “ notices to quit,”’ and are endeavouring to procure employment elsewhere. and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 95 From frequent personal communication with the labourers in my own district, I had the best means of ascertaining that the people were every- Where anxious to work for money after the Ist of August; and I often urged to the managers the propriety of offering a rate of wages before the that day, in order that no delay of labour might occur. Owing to some Cause, however, which I cannot satisfactorily explain, the attorneys and Managers of estates, (with one exception) refrained from offering any rate of wages till after the 1st August. During the apprenticeship the wages usually given to labourers, for the half Fridays and Saturdays were from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. per day; but after the 1st of August the wages offered by the attorney were at the rate of Is. 05d. per day. This offer, so very far below what they had been accus- tomed to receive, was rejected by the people. Instead, however, of refusing to work, the people generally throughout the parish offered to go on with the usual labour, upon the understanding that they were to be subsequently paid at the rate to be afterwards fixed in the parish. Upon some estates this was assented to, while on other proper- ties the offer was declined. Towards the end of August the managers of several estates offered 1s. 8d. per day to the labourers, in addition to houses, grounds, and doctors’ bills. This offer was acceded to; and upon these properties the people went to work. . . . . The managers of two or three properties still persist in their resolution not to offer more than 1s. 04d. per day, to which the people will not accede; and upon those properties consequently no labour has been performed. . . . . During the uncertainty and anxiety which neces- sarily prevailed about the settlement of wages, I am glad to give my testi- mony in favour of the peaceable demeanour and orderly conduct of the labouring classes. No tumultuous assemblages occurred ; and where they declined to accept the terms proposed to them, they did so calmly and respectfully. Hitherto they have not removed themselves from any of the Properties in search of higher wages; indeed, if they shall be compelled to do so, it will be entirely in consequence of legal measures being adopted by the proprietors for ejecting them, as they almost universally express the utmost reluctance to leave the estates where they have been born and brought up. Notwithstanding all these proceedings, I am glad to be able to report that the people continue to work cheerfully ; the parish remarkable for its quiet and orderly state; and as to crime, the calendar for the past quarter-ses- Sions contained only three cases of petty larceny, in a population little short of 30,000 souls. Th point of fact the people are everywhere willing to work for fair and reasonable wages ; they beg for employment. The weather during the quarter has, upon the whole, been rather fayour- able for the crops. Jamaica. St. James's. Finlayson, Sep. 30. I. p. 119, Carnaby, Oct. 9, 1838. I. p: 122; Finlayson, Dec. 31. I, p. 187. 96 Progress of Labour The district embraces 22 estates, and of these 19 are sugar properties, the remaining three being small grazing-pens. In St. James, crop opera- tions do not permanently begin till about the middle of January; and this Carnaby. year, prior to the end of that month, 12 of the estates had put the mills per- Feb. 19, 1839. ; 1. (3) p. 40. manently about ; but there has not been time to ascertain their weekly average manufacture of sugar. ‘This can only be done during the present month, and will form part of my Report for February. Of the other seven estates, four were waiting the completion of repairs and alterations about their works, &c., while upon one only had the people re- fused to “put about.” The property I allude to is called “ Friendship,” under the management of Mr. William Heath, as attorney or trustee, and upon which the wages offered by him were much under what were given and accepted in the immediate neighbourhood. ‘The remaining two estates have been without any works since 1832, and are, in consequence, entirely at the mercy of their neighbours, for the manufacture of their sugar... - In consequence of there having been little or no fall plant put into the ground, in August and September last, caused by the disputes regarding the rate of wages, as formerly reported on by me, I am of opinion that next year’s crop will not come up to the present. The only tangible complaint I hear of is, that the labour given is not continuous, some days affording a superabundance of people, while upon others they decrease. In a little while, however, I have no doubt all this will be remedied, when parties come to understand better what are fair and reasonable tasks for every branch of estates’ cultivation and manufacture. Indeed the same difficulties had to be contended with and overcome long ‘ after August 1834, and till the justices were enabled to fix and recommend job and task-work generally. . . +: I do not apprehend any difficulty or interruption in taking off the crop generally. Indeed, upon Lutium estate, one of the largest in the parish, the people had this year made weekly 13 to 14 hogsheads, each averaging in gross weight 23 ewt. ; and I have no doubt that where honest terms are Jamaica. St. James’s. offered, and punctually discharged, equal industry will prevail. Finlayson, The commencement of crop labour in the parish was later than usual, in for Feb., 1839. consequence of the culpable delay upon the part of the managers of proper- I. (4) p- 5. ties in offering fair terms of wages to the people. . . . . One ship, the “ Reserve,” Captain Hoseason, has already sailed from this port heavily laden with sugar and rum; and we are informed that instruc- tions have been given for her immediate return to take home another cargo this season. Carnaby, It is worthy of notice that, generally speaking, making allowance for the : as oy decrease of hours in keeping the mills about this crop, as much is now made 2) P 9 weekly, as during the period of apprenticeship, where no accidents have happened to the mill, and while water continues plentiful. and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 97 Upon estates which have been well managed the crops will exceed those Jamaica. of last year, as upon Bluehole, Spring Gardens, Unity Hall, Saltspring, Hazlenymph, Belvidere, Potosi, and others. But on other estates, owing to dry weather, and the neglect of cultivation, Finlayson and after the Ist of August, there is reason to apprehend a deficiency of crop. Rie | Z The weather has been favourable for crop.) oer ot ee Phe, 120). p. aa barque Water. Lily and brig Africa are to sail from Montego Bay, fully loaded, in the course of the present week. St. James’s. The crop is rather more than half over, and will be deficient compared Carnaby, with the returns for last year ; this result I apprehended in former Reports, L Op. aa and then gave the reasons for such; and which deficiency may be here again repeated, very briefly, as arising, first, from an unusual continuance of dry weather for months subsequent to the termination of the apprentice- ship, which materially affected the growth of the cane, and in my opinion, is how the principal cause of the short coming in of sugar; and secondly, from the time wasted away during August and September, in disputes about wages, by which the cane-fields were much, if not altogether ne- glected, and vegetation retarded by weeds.} Another consequence of all this is, that while the return of sugar is much diminished, the expense of manufacture is greatly increased. In general, I see no difficulty in getting off the canes where fair wages are offered and punctually discharged. It is worthy of notice, that in the interior district, as described in state No. 2, the expenses of sugar-making, per hogshead, run from 3/. 10s. to 5., while in the flat districts of the parish this expenditure is much higher ; this can only be accounted for by putting it down to prudent management. The dry weather still continuing, planting operations are retarded, and next crop will suffer in consequence. During this month the season has been favourable for crop operations, Finlayson, except on estates which have water-mills, where the labour has been greatly Os 5 ot retarded by the dry weather. Montpelier, Retirement, Tryall, Running Gut, and several other properties, have been unable to make their usual number of hogsheads from this cause. It is still evident that upon estates which have been well managed, the crops for this season will exceed those of last year. . . . ~ But on other estates, owing to dry weather, and the neglect of cultivation after the Ist of August, there will unquestionably be a deficiency of crop. Crop operations in this parish continue to proceed as reported in my Carnaby, Teturns for February and March last. Upon some estates they have I Gia finished, and generally, I hear of no interruption to agricultural labour. ; Recently, the seasons have commenced, and the rains which have fallen tend both to aid the manufacture of sugar, as well as to enable the planter to supply the fields for next year’s produce. . . . The rates of wages are the same as stated in my former reports. The complaints between H Jamaica. St. James's. Finlayson and Carnaby, for May. I. (6) p. 212. Finlayson and Carnaby, June 4, 1839. I. (5) p. 208. Finlayson and Carnaby. June 30. I. (1840), p. 14. Progress of Labour, 98 master and labourer about wages and estates’ disputes are not so numerous as formerly, and crime does not increase. There has been a good deal of rain during the month, which has pre- vented some properties from getting on with work in the mill-yard and boiling-house. But the people have been beneficially employed in field labour, Crop has been concluded on the following estates, namely— Worcester, Fairfield, Catherine Mount, Spring Garden, Potosi, Flowerhill, Adelphi, But the information which has been given does not enable and Retreat. as compared with those of last us to state the precise number of hogsheads year. Owing to dry weather, and the neglect of cultivation August, by the delay on the part of managers in offering fair rates of wages, be a deficiency of crop upon many estates. In- deed, upon a number of properties there was most unpardonable delay in commencing crop, particularly at Portobello, Greenpond, Spot Valley, Suc- cess, Spring, Hampton, Windsor Castle, Lilliput, Rosehall, and others. At —, the discontent was kept up for a long time, and the labour retarded by offers of wages different from those of other estates; and the annoyance of numerous actions for payment of rent. But, upon recently passing through the property, we were glad to see the people digging cane-holes, and otherwise occupied in the work of the estate, which they were anxious to have completed months ago. The ship Mersey, and the brigs Appleton and Copse, have sailed from Montego Bay, fully loaded with sugar and rum, during the month; and two of the largest vessels that come to the island have left the Bay since. The weather during the month has been favourable for the young plants. after the lst of there will unquestionably This morning a body of labourers from estate, in this parish, waited upon us at our residence, on Montego Bay, stating that the crop on that estate had been finished on Friday last, and that yesterday morning the people had been told that there was no further employment for them upon ; The people gave as to make this known, i their master’s property; which, they adde We informed them that we had no control over their managers in any and recommended them not to be idle a single day, if they t the same time, told a reason for calling upon us, that they were anxious n case they might be charged with not labouring upon d, they were most anxious to do. matter whatever, could get employment on the adjoining estates; but, a them that they must not fail to enter into arrangements for paying rent for their houses and grounds, if they were permitted to occupy them on — We believe that this estate has for years been very ill-managed and un- productive. Owing to dry weather last season, neglect of cultivation by managers after the Ist of August, and inexcusable delay upon many properties in commencing crop, there will bea deficiency of sugar upon a great propor- and general Conduct of the Peasaniry. 99 tion of the estates in the parish; but this deficiency cannot with justice be Jamaica. attributed to the labourers, who have, under many discouragements, acted Sk Jameel with great propriety. Upon the estates of Bluehole, Flowerhill, Potosi, Belvidere, and Childermas, where the crops are finished, there has been increase as compared with the crops of the preceding year. After finishing crop upon » the managers have thrown it up as a sugar estate, and discharged the people. This step has excited some astonishment, because, although the property has been ‘very ill managed for several years, still the last crop is understood to have yielded a con- siderable surplus, after defraying all expenses. During the quarter the weather has been favourable for crop. The following vessels have sailed from Montego Bay during the quar- ter, all deeply laden with sugar and tum, namely, the barque Water Lily, the brig Africa, the ship Mersey, the brigs Appleton and Copse, and the ships David Lyon, Garland Grove, Christian, and Murray; and several others, including some transient vessels, are in port loading. There has been a general deficiency of crop upon most of the estates in Finlayson, the parish, owing to dry weather last season, neglect of cultivation after Facey, and the Ist of August, and general bad management upon the part of over- ee ; seers and proprietors in refusing or delaying to offer reasonable wages to I. (1840), the labourers, by which the crops were injured. But upon Bluehole, P33: Flowerhill, Potosi, Belvidere, Childermas, and Seven Rivers, there has been an increase During the month four vessels have sailed from Montego Bay, all deeply laden with sugar and rum, namely, the two brigs Brilliant and Blucher, ‘Wansient vessels, and the ships Carshalton-park and St. George. Other three vessels have since sailed from the bay. The weather during the month has been favourable. rar eran rroae een vores sensei HANOVER. There is a bad feeling evinced by many of the planters towards the people, Hanover. in endeavouring to deprive them of a part of their hard-earned wages, either Hanis under the plea of rent, or that a sufficient quantity of work was not done, Oct. 8, 1838. &.; and sometimes arbitrarily, without assigning any reason. I hayel.p. 131. Caused to be issued a number of summonses for the balance of wages thus tetained., The peasantry are most anxious to continue their labour, but they are disheartened at the conduct observed towards them. Several have been employed one week ; the next week they are not employed, and are refused What money may be due them, and they are told to go and get their money thebest way they can. The complaints I have received have been mostly against overseers. T regret to report that the progress of agriculture is greatly retarded, as is F Pere, evident from the small quantity of sugar made at this period of the year, I. (3) p. 51. H 2 100 compared with previous crops, and also the backwardness of the plant for Jamaica. Hanover. Harris, March 11. I. (4) p. 12. secution of agricultural pursuits : ment on their part to remain on Progress of Labour, the ensuing year. ——_—. Generally speaking, the labourers have evinced a disposition and astrong anxiety to settle themselves down to a quiet, industrious, and continuous pro- in every respect there is a strong attach- the properties on which they have hitherto been located : there is not the slightest desire on their part to roam about from place to place, and to eat the bread of idleness ; and, had the gentlemen in the management of properties met the people in a fair and conciliatory spi- rit, the unhappy disagreements that have, Cocking,; April 1, 1839. I. (5) p. 50. Harris, April 2. I. (5) p. 52. Cocking, May 14. J. (5) p. 156. Cocking, June 3, I. (5) p. 206. and are still, in many respects, existing, would have been avoided. . . . From information, I believe that many sugar estates have been, and are, going on tolerably well in taking off their crops, notwithstanding sundry halts and differences arising from the causes aforesaid: on the other hand, I am apprehensive that there are some of the estates much behind in taking off their crops ; and it is feared that, unless the labourers’ minds are made easy as to the certain occupation of their houses and grounds, and the certainty of getting their wages punctu- ally paid, a healthy state of things will not be restored. The manufacture of produce on the generality of estates is progressing, but in a slow and unsatisfactory manner. This is mainly attributable to the almost total absence of continuous labour. —— On the part of the labouring population I must do them the justice to say, that they have invariably evinced a disposition to settle all existing disputes, by entering into due and proper arrangements, such as, in my opinion and judgment, no reasonable man wouldtobject'to. 9.6. Subject to certain interruptions, produced evidently from the causes re- ferred to, the manufacturing of the crops and the cultivation of the land would appear to have been tolerably well attended to and progressed in. Generally the manufacture of sugar in this parish, during the past month, has been progressing much in the same manner as stated in my last report. Four estates, viz., Blenheim, New Paradise, Pell River, and New Retrieves, all under the management of Mr. George Gordon, have finished their crops. Blenheim has manufactured 131 hogsheads, and 71 puncheons rum ; being 14 hogsheads below the estimate. The other estates in this district are get- ting on slowly. The heavy rains have set in, which will, I fear, greatly retard the progress of the crops. For the last three or four weeks the labourers attached to the Leeward por- tion of this parish have behaved very badly, inasmuch that they have left off the manufacturing of sugar (which ought to be quickly taken off, in conse- quence of the very unusual wet seasons setting in), for the cultivation of their provision-grounds, and scarcely giving from two to three days’ inefii- cient continuous labour. This will seriously retard the taking off the re- and general Conduct of the-Peasantry. 101] mainder of the sugar, and will in part ruin the next year’s crop. The la- bourers have more provisions, ginger, and arrow-root, planted for themselves in this parish, than, I verily believe, in any other two parishes in the island. It is with much pleasure that I acquaint you, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, that the Ist August instant passed off mos cheerfully amongst all classes. The crops are ended, with the exception of one estate, and the managers are using their best endeavours to prepare for the ensuing crop. —_ ee WESTMORELAND. It will be seen that job-work is very much resorted to, and that the amount of remuneration varies little throughout the parish, and the system appears to give every satisfaction to the labourers as well as to their em- ployers. The present state of agriculture is far from being prosperous. The most frequent complaints are that the labourers will not work continuously, nor will they work as long, or do as much in the day, as they did in their state of apprenticeship ; and great difficulty is found to get them to work every Friday. Saturday, the market-day, is universally taken to themselves, to procure a sale of those provisions of which they have probably too bountiful asupply. Iam, however, induced to hope that the comparatively small amount of labour performed in the last month, may in part be attributable to the difficulty necessarily consequent upon the commencement of the first crop under free labour, in fixing wages, determining amount of work, &c., and particularly after the labourers had been unsettled by a long Christmas tecreation. Should these circumstances, or any of them, be the cause of their present unwillingness to labour, as they must in all probability gradu- ally subside, I trust my next monthly report will enable me to bear witness ‘0 an improvement in the general working on the different properties in the parish. Sorry, as I am, at being obliged to report unfavourably of the labouring Population of a parish, whose conduct during the term of apprenticeship was considered as praiseworthy as any in the island; still I cannot shut my eyes to the fact, that a diminution of at least one-third of the crops must be the Consequence of the people persisting in their refusal to work for moderate wages. My own opinion is, that until the provision-grounds are done away with, or very much curtailed, no continuous labour is to be expected on @states ; and recent cases of ejectment have strengthened my conviction on that head Tregret that on almost every estate there still exists the same complaint, that less work is performed than during the apprenticeship, and that the task, Jamaica. Hanover. Cocking. August 5, I. (1840), p. 24. Westmorelana Gordon and Abbott, Oct. 30, 1838. Ep Lay: Abbott, Feb. 5, 1839. I. (8) p. 48 Gorduii, Feb. 11. I (8) p. 33; Abbott, Feb. 28. for which 3s, 4d. per day is, promised, is rarely completed, the labourers T. (4) p. 193 102 Progress of Labour, Jamaica. turning out late in the morning, and persisting in drawing off much earlier “aa than formerly, a foolish idea having got into the negro’s head that (to use estmorelands . . i ; his own words) he must not sell “his free ;” and he thinks that freedom ought at all events to produce a diminution of his manual labour, or he would be undeserving such a boon. I have, notwithstanding, much pleasure in stating it as my opinion that, since my last report, an improvement is visible in the state of agriculture throughout the parish. Such an opinion I should, perhaps, advance with : caution, so short a period having intervened ; and especially as the charac- ter of the negro is so unsettled, that one week you may hear a good account of an estate’s work, and the next probably the overseer will complain that little has been done, or that the people have struck work. Gordon, Some improvement has taken place upon various estates, as compared lL (dn. 16. with my last report. This, however, is far from being the case on other properties ; and I believe it impossible for any one at present satisfactorily to account for the reluctance shown by the labourers to work for the follow- ing wages, generally offered throughout the parish ; viz., field cane-cutters, cartmen, 2s. 6d.; mill and boiling-house, 3s. 4d.; unless it be from the easy mode of obtaining subsistence through the means of their provision- grounds. That such a conclusion can be drawn, may be inferred from the two following facts, consistent with my own knowledge :—Some labourers, when asked why they would not be employed, have answered me, “ that they had no idea, now that they were free, of straining themselves 3” which amounts to a disinclination to earn more than is absolutely necessary to support them- selves, without looking to what is required for sickness or old age. And secondly, what appears to be more strange, is, that they will often leave their own estates to go and obtain employment upon others at a great distance, for the same wages offered at home, and in many instances for less. On some estates which I could instance, former allowances are continued, such as fish, rice, &c. &c., and medical attendance is general. Yet this has not been met with a corresponding feeling on the part of the people, who con- sider it given more as a right which they are entitled to, than as a favour eranted by the proprietor. we eS The wages and allowances continue the same on the different estates. I.(5)p.96. The quantity of sugar made has certainly been considerably less than during the preceding month; but this is easily accounted for, by the labourers on many properties having absented themselves from work for nearly a week in attending the annual races in the parish, and also by the occurrence of Easter, during which the usual holidays have been overlooked by the ne- eroes. Abbott, The labourers on every estate are at work, and the wages are the same ‘ Ned i 09. 28 before detailed, the amount of which the managers of property complain is much too high forthe services performed. . . . . Itis pleasing also to notice the very peaceable state of this parish generally, and the ab- and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 1038 sence of much crime, instanced by the small number of prisoners in the Jamaica. gaol and house of correction, the total number amounting to no more than nine. Nor has any complaint been brought before me for several months en of the misconduct of a labourer in the service of his master ; from which facts | have a night to assume that the state of agriculture (at least in Westmorland) cannot be so deplorable as some persons would imagine. Indeed those circumstances afford the best evidence of the general orderly conduct of the free labourers towards their employers. The heavy rain which has fallen during the whole of the last month has F Abbott, ; : Be : f J Ue caused an almost total cessation of work at the sugar mills in this parish ; y, arn 206." although I am happy to say that on many estates the crop had been taken in previously to the commencement of the wet season. 1am happy to state that the anniversary of the great boon of freedom _ Abbott. has been observed by the negroes with becoming reverence and propriety ; > gio) a and that the Ist. of August, notwithstanding the fears of some alarmists pe 25 (occasioned chiefly by many of the labourers having provided themselves with fire-arms), has passed off without the slightest interruption of that peace and order which has uniformly existed throughout this parish since the period of their emancipation. It is pleasing to notice that the different places of worship were com- pletely thronged, and great’ numbers could not gain admittance; and, although the labourers have partaken freely of the festivities of so joyous an occasion, I have not the least doubt but they will generally return to their work in the ensuing week, and I flatter myself that latterly a better disposition to labour has manifested itself on many estates. ST. ELIZABETH. The negroes of this district and neighbourhood, under their new and ex- St, Elizabeth. citing circumstances, are maintaining the utmost peace and order, and Dagan exhibiting equal firmness and forbearance. They are, in general, anxious Aug. 14. to settle down in their usual employments without more delay ; and I know !- p- 88. NO instance in which fair terms have been proposed to them in a concilia- tory spirit, and accompanied by proper explanations, that they have been finally refused. Peace and good order remain undisturbed among the whole labouring Daughtry, population. Beyond a little noisy talk, when terms and wages were being Pa ia oe discussed, I have not heard of the slightest departure from strict propriety — ay of conduct, . . . . Atthe district court held on F riday last nota smgle case of complaint presented itself; that court, be it remembered, having sat to adjudge cases which had arisen during the very critical period of two weeks before and two weeks after the introduction of the great civil change upon which the eyes of the world are fixed. Jamaica St. Elizabeth. Daughtry, Sep. 18. I. ip. 90. Daughtry, Oct. 24. I. p 150. Ricketts, Nov. 10. I. p. 166.° Daughtry, Jan. 1, 1839. I. p. 184. 104 Progress of Labour, In but few instances yet, I regret to say, have fixed and satisfactory agreements been entered into. Still labour is not altogether suspended. Every week makes an addition to the labour of the district; and I see nothing but the perverseness and infatuation of certain masters to prevent, ere long, the general resumption of work by our peaceable and well- disposed peasantry. As a proof that the sugar planters expect to realize the coming crop, I have the best authority for stating, that the demand for steers has been un- usually great, the pens of this parish having been nearly cleared, and at satisfactory prices. This circumstance has relieved the gloom of the pen managers. Every week develops the greater energy of free labour, especially where it is applied to the job. Pastures are being cleaned in the same time a formerly,, by little more than a third of the hands; the work done, too, effectually and cheerfully. Cultivation, instead of retrogading, is, on many properties, visibly extending. Perhaps the true state of things. is to be judged of more accurately just at present, by observation and incidental in- formation, than from returns to be collected feomeouners: os Ss ee A diminution of the number of hands heretofore employed, would not necessarily prove that the rest had refused terms, or that the property was deficient in labour; for in nota few instances, partly from a more judicious distribution of the labour, and partly from the greater efficiency of the labourer. little more than half the former hands are found sufficient. . . I have heard, too, with pleasure, that many of the free settlers, born in that state, and who, because labour under the old system had the aspect of a penalty, thought it a greater degradation than poverty, have now come forward to take allotted tasks on plantations, turning out as briskly as the best, and rnaking exertions quite as great. The pens in general are in a very good state of cultivation, and an im- mense disposable strength of labour not yet called into operation; twice the quantity of work is done than during the apprenticeship by any indi- vidual labourer working for money. Many people are idling, and I have heard of very few instances in which pen labourers have jobbed on sugar estates ; they always ask labour on pens, where, except in chipping log- wood, they can obtain no employment, as these properties were always over supplied with labour fer the purpose of realizing an income by jobbing. In the part of this extensive parish which has been within the range of my observation, the behaviour of the negro peasantry during the first Christmas of freedom has not only been, as under the apprenticeship it in- variably was, irreproachable, but has been marked by the clearest indica- tions of advancing civilization and improving morals. One class, at least, the store-keepers of the parish, are in high spirits. 105 and general Conduct of the Peasantry. Their sales to the negroes both of superior clothing and superior provisions, have exceeded all example and all expectation. Tastes of this kind, once formed, will not be surrendered; and that which may now be partial, the contagion of fashion or the impulse of vanity will soon make more general. But how are such created wants to be supplied without labour? Whoever may affect to question it, my own conviction is that the greater part of the money which has found its way into the counters of the shopkeeper on this occasion has been the fruit of free labour. The appearance of many of the properties indicates the fact ; and if more labour has not been obtained, and at moderate rates too, it has been owing either to the peevish disinclination of the proprietor to pay for it, or to his not having yet made those arrangements which are required in order to his obtaining a supply of cash for the purpose. I rejoice to be able to state that in the parish generally the crime of theft is much less frequent than under the apprenticeship. Crime is beginning to have a stamp of disgrace affixed upon it among the negroes themselves, and it will ere long cause a man to lose caste. The emancipated population of this parish have not worked in a satisfac- tory manner on the sugar properties. The preparations I formerly reported for the fall plant of canes were all abandoned, and the cultivation requires increased activity on the part of the labourers to repair the omission in the spring, and keep up the usual crops. Holland estate has planted only 11 acres of canes since the Ist of August, with the help of the plough. Many of the mills have been at work; some properties have stopped altogether after making three hogsheads; and the people employed at 3s., 4s. 4d., and 1s. 8d. per day, rent free, have demanded a full week’s wages for that quantity of sugar, when 10 hogsheads ought to have been manufac- tured; thus the sugar has been made at the rate of '7/. 6s. 8d. per hogs- head, for cutting, tying, grinding and boiling alone. Holland estate, which during the apprenticeship made 15 hogsheads weekly, has only made 10 hogsheads. The only exception to this statement is a small property called Lancaster. On Fonthill estate the tenants will do nothing ; and not one estate has been conducted without great difficulty, and very large outlays to grass- Cutters for the cattle-pens, weeding pastures, fencing, and other contingent expenses, besides the actual work performed in the cane-fields. Tattribute much of these evils to bad advice, and the difficulty always experienced in commencing the sugar crop. The coffee properties have finished picking at the rate of 5/. per 1000b. weight ; the pens are generally thriving, although very few of the tenants come near the estates ; and when not working on these properties, cultivate provisions. Jamaica, St. Elizabeth. Ricketts, Jan. 31. I. (3) p. 50.4 The manufacture of sugar has been every where commenced, and in most Daughtry, Instances is making such progress as leaves no room to doubt that the crops will be got off nearly by the usual time. After all that has been said Feb. 24, 1839. I. (A) p. 24. Jamaica. St. Llizabeth. Ricketts, March 1. I. (4) p. 23. Gurley, April 16. 16) p98: Daughtry, May 7. L (5) p. 104. 106 » Progress of Labour, of the canes rotting on the ground, and the bad disposition of the people, I know scarcely an instance in this quarter in which the mills were not put about as soon as all was ready for the operation. The agricultural prospects in this parish have decidedly improved ; sugar has been manufactured very generally at the rate of 12 dollars per hogs- head, and all the estates have manufactured produce during the past month...) « : The labourers on pens are cultivating provisions and not assisting on the sugar properties. The only disadvantageous circumstance I have to men- tion is that the newly emancipated consider it disgraceful for free labourers to work in the rain, and leave field work in consequence, on the commence- ment of every shower. Nothing can exceed their general civility and orderly behaviour. In my last report on the progress of agriculture, and the price of labour in this parish, I stated that the crop had been gathered in, and was in a state of preparation for the market, since which a considerable quantity has been shipped, and the remainder in course of shipment. The fields have lately undergone the usual periodical cleaning; the appearance of the trees is luxuriant, and there is every prospeet of an abun- dant crop. The price of labour has not altered ; 10s. per acre is about the average in cleaning or hoeing the fields, which with ‘pruning is the only agricultural labour that has been performed since my last report. The manufacture of sugar is in progress at this time on the estates. . The labouring population, I can vouch for it, are not idle, and if not employed on their late masters’ estates they are engaged more profitably elsewhere.) 95) 2)". I cannot close this report without alluding to the few cases of punish- ment that have occurred within the last quarter ; during that interval there has been only 10 cases of imprisonment in a population of 20,000 souls ; this circumstance alone is highly creditable to the class of people so lately emancipated. — All the early ships frequenting this and the adjoining parishes of West- moreland have sailed for England within a few days of their accustomed periods with full cargoes. The actual industry of the ne- eroes must by no means be judged of by the diminished labour on sugar estates. It has had in part a new application ; as for instance, cutting logwood and fustic, both profitable articles of export, and of which a prodigious quantity has been fallen and chopped during the last few months. This employment could not have been chosen as less laborious, but as more lucrative, and subjecting the parties engaging in it to less of the restraint and regularity of estate labour. But it is not enly that the early ships have obtained their cargoes; others are filling; and it has nearly ceased to be a point of doubt that all the regular traders to and general Conduct of the Peasantry. 107 these ports will be fully laden, and take their departure at about the usual dates. Field labour has been readily obtained at about 10s. per acre, and with that exception, and pruning in a few instances, nothing has been done on the coffee estates. crop in August, which there is no doubt will be abundant. On all the properties around my residence, and on every other to which my inquiries have yet extended, the people have resumed their usual work ‘this morning. Wherever the treatment, and all other arrangements, have been judi- ciously accommodated to the change, and payments are equitable and punctual, a more settled feeling is evidently obtaining among the people ; and such a portion of labour is now secured as leaves no doubt, with respect to properties so favoured, that cultivation will be maintained. The first anniversary of the entire emancipation of the labouring classes has passed with general thanksgiving, and the utmost harmony and good order prevailed throughout this parish upon that interesting occasion. With regard to the agricultural state of the parish, I can add but little information to that contained in my last Report, except that the coffee-crop has commenced with the cheering prospect of its proving more abundant than ordinary. 7 8» KINGSTON, I am informed by some respectable merchants of this city that one-third deficiency of the sugar-crop, as compared with former years, may be anti- cipated. When, however, is considered the change from a coercive to a volunt invalids, and many women, the above deficiency cannot be considered as a proof of the inactivity or idleness of the remainin population. The coffee-crop is said to be abundant beyond anticipation. a) g portion of the working 2 ne ec eee I].—Tue Rare or Wacss. ST. THOMAS IN THE EAST. I ary system of labour, the consequent withdrawal from hard labour of children, ? Jamaica St. Elizabeth. Gurley, We are now looking forward to the commencement of June 1, 1839. I. (5) p. 203. Daughtry. August 5, I. (1840), p. 24. Gurley. August 6. I. (1840), p. 37. Kingston. Moresby. July 2, . (1840), Zh One shilling per day has been offered generally throughout the parish St. Thomas in e e ° for ablebodied labourers. Feeling the great importance of €eouraging them to return to their habits of industry, I have not failed East. Ewart, since the Ist of August to urge upon them the necessity of accepting the Sept. 5, 1838. Wages offered to them. . . I, however, soon found that to accept the shilling; still, the people generally were determined not . p. 84. 108 Rate of Wages. as they were anxious to be directed by me, I induced some of them to take _ work by the acre, and it is very gratifying to report that the major part of St. Thomas wn : Mite : 5 : East, the people in my district have been working in'this way for the last three weeks, earning from 2s. 6d. to 2s. 11d. per day. Jamaica. Ata late period in the month of July the managers formed combina- tions among themselves to fix the rate of wages: in the most opulent and fertile district of the parish (Plantain Garden River) Ls. per day, and in other districts 10d. per day, were pronounced to be the maximum of wages to be paid to the agriculturists. las Chamberlaine, The Ist of August came and passed off in a manner highly creditable to Jan. 31, 1839. the labouring population. The planters offered the terms they had pre- I. (2) p. 13. 5 ‘ 4 (2) P viously resolved on, and they were in most cases Meclmedee si ils A few weeks passed on in this state of uncertainty ; the planters offered more liberal terms, and they were accepted gradually. As soon as labour was resumed after the holidays, I was requested by Ewart, Feb. 13. several managers to visit their properties, and propose terms to the la- I. (3) p- 39. pourers for taking off crop. Both parties were very anxious to effect ar- rangements, but the latter would not consent to any unless I was present. The managers have agreed to pay 2s. 1d. to field labourers working nine hours, and from Qs. 6d. to 3s. 4d. to those employed about the works for 14 hours. At these rates it is anticipated that a hogshead of sugar may be made from 11 to 14 dollars. In no instance have I found the slightest difficulty in effecting arrangements with the labourers; and I have every confidence in their working well and continuously. Pryce, At day labour, which I respectfully submit to his Excellency should be Mar. 31, 1839. abolished, and succeeded by job and taskwork generally, the labourers 1.(6)p- 9. gets 1s. sterling per day, or 8s. 4d. currency weekly, for five days of nine hours, the one-half of which sum is usually deducted for the rents of house (miserable huts in some instances, I am sorry to report) and grounds. Dee PORTLAND. The average price of labour by the day (which it should be observed is Portland. 5 k only resorted to in the manufacture of the produce with one exception) 1s ee 2s. per day gross, that is subject to a deduction, on the average, of 2s. 6d. Feb. 2 I (4) p. 6. per week for rent. Thus, of the 11 estates quoted, four pay ls. Sd. per day, or 8s. 4d. per week of five days, and charge Is. 8d. per week for rent of house for family, and 1s. 8d. for each ground occupied, whence an average of 2s. 6d. each adult. Five pay still 1s. 8d. per day, or 8s. 4d. per week of five days, but make no charge for rent, 2s. 6d. being a consideration given for labour, equal per week to 10s. 10d. Two pay 2s. 1d. per day, or 10s. 5d. per week of five days, and charge the rent as above. Rate of Wages. 109 On every property in this district (where their services are required) most of the labourers are at work for reasonable wages, the highest rate being 1s. 8d. per day. This amount is given to able-bodied labourers only: others are paid much less, in some instances as low as 10d. per week. Job work is now generally adopted. The rates paid are— For digging, per acre . £5 For planting, per acre ; : 1 For cleaning, per acre, from 10s. to 20s. For manufacturing, per hhd. . : 4 The rate of wages continues the same, without any material alteration, 4s, per day being still the average amount paid to able persons, subject to a rent-charge. No alteration has taken place on the average rate of wages, which still remains at 2s. (currency) per day, subject to the payment of rent; but it must be observed, that the principal part of the work of the estates, in fact the entire cultivation, is now performed by job-work, which it is hoped and expected will, ere long, be very generally extended to the process of manufacture. ST. GEORGE’S. Wages vary from 1s, 8d. to 2s. 6d. per day to able hands; the latter sum is given to those only who do not reside on the property on which they are working. Job and task work are undertaken occasionally at fair prices. Sugar manufactured by the job is made for about 4J. per hogshead, includ- all expenses, Job and task-work are adopted very generally in all descriptions of labour to which they are applicable. Cane-holes are dug by the job at from 5/. to 6/. per acre. The price paid to jobbing-masters before August, 1838, was from 10/. to 12/., and I have heard of 152. per acre being offered on an emergency, and refused in consequence of the distance to be travelled by the negroes. It was considered that if 40 able people dug an acre of cane-holes they did good work, and jobbing-masters got 102, or 12/. for that quantity, which is equal to 5s. or 6s. a-day. The task, as laid down in the parish scale of labour, was 80, 75, or 50 holes a-day per man, or at the rate of from 40 to 64 negroes per acre. The free negroes now dig 80 holes a-day for 3s. 4d., which, there being 2,722 holes to the acre, is at the rate of 5/. 13s. 4d. per acre, or from 4/. 6s. 8d. to 6/. 6s. 8d. an acre cheaper than the same would have cost an estate during the appren- ticeship. In very good soils, 70 and 75 holes for 2s. 1d. ‘or 2s. 6d. are given. An instance has come to my knowledge of a negro who contracted to dig, pick, tie, and carry plant-tops, and plant off a plece of 74 acres, for 8/. per acre, or 604. for the job. The contract was fulfilled and the money Jamaica Portland Brown, March 6. I. (4) p. 14. Brown, April 8. I. (5) p. 93. Lambert, ay 10. May I. (5) p. 160. Lambert, May 31. I. (5) p. 197. St. George. Fishbourne and Hewitt, Feb. 5. I. (3) p. 36. Fishbourne, Aug. 7. I. (1840), p- 29. 110 Rate of Wages. Jamaica. paid. The same during the apprenticeship, if dug at 10/., and the other acs parts of the labour done at 3s. 4d. a-day, the rate of day-labour paid job- Portland. : bing-masters for the last two years, would have amounted to nearly double the sum with which the free negro was contented. Other descriptions of work are done at rates tolerably moderate. Cane-pieces are cleaned at from 8s. 4d. to 20s. per acre, according to circumstances; pastures are billed and burned off at from 6s. 8d. to 15s., the price being regulated by the age and quantity of “ bush” growing on them. Altogether, I am con- vinced that exorbitant, or even high rates, are neither expected nor paid. RL EES Se sT, ANDREW'S. and the cost of making sugar St, Andrew’s. | The wages required are generally moderate, On some a does not, from all I have as yet ascertained, exceed 5/. per hhd. Feb. 1 places the people work at the rate of 1s. sterling per day (nine hours), and I.(3) p-42 24d. for every succeeding hour. Bourne, The ordinary rate of wages is ls. Sd. currency per day for able people ; s (5) pe 156. from 15s. to 20s. currency per annum for clearing the coffee fields ; from 10d. to 1s. 8d. per bushel for picking from the trees; and from 10d. to 1s. 3d. for picking at the table, when the work is performed by task instead of by the day. lida dai olan Seeder PORT ROYAL. Port Royal. — "There are two estates at 1s. per diem, five others at ls. 3d., and all the Kent and others at 1s. 8d. for first class field labourers. Hamilton, poet et otis Oct. 11, 1838. ren Mer mers I. p. 135. The rate of wages throughout this district 1s mostly 1s. 8d. currency to Kent, able-bodied labourers, provided they can perform their task, otherwise an “ae tan er entusimade.. . «+. ie). in picking, 1s. 3d. per bushel as the ai general sum paid. ntl ST. DAVID’S. St. David’s. The wages given for field labour, Is. Sd. a day, except for pastures, they are generally job work; 2s. 6d. a day given to the people about the works Willis, ‘ Feb. 12. _ free of rent when performing labour. I. (8) p. 37. ST. MARY’S. St. Mary’s. Headmen, 2s. 6d. per day, besides houses and grounds. Tradesmen, 2s. 6d. per day, besides houses and grounds. Walsh, Oct. 8, 1838. Labourers : I. p. 134. : : Ist class, 1s. 8d. per day, besides houses and grounds. Ond class, 1s. 3d. per day, besides houses and grounds, 3rd class, 10d. per day, besides houses and grounds. This scale is generally adopted throughout the parish. _ ane eee oe Rate of Wages. lll Jamaica. The amount of daily wages varies in every parish, from the nature of the soil, &c.; in some districts, the first able hands work as low ag Ls. sterling Se a per day, and feebler hands at 6d. sterling. Feb. 12, 1839, i I. (3) p. 33. I : ys : Marlton, n this central district, the sum of 2s. 6d. appears to be the rate of daily = 4.93. wages given to the first class labourers. I. (3)§p. 35. — Walsh. Our common rate of wages is from Is. to 1s. 6d. sterling per diem. L Gy 46 , ST. ANN’S. The general plan adopted upon the sugar estates is to pay 1s. 8d. per S! Ann's. day of nine hours; giving free to the people their houses and grounds for Reynolds, three months; and where a contrary practice was set on foot, all went Oct. ipa 38 mrone. 4 16 I. p. 112 From the Ist of August up to the Ist of October instant, the free la- bourers upon pens had ample employment, picking pimento, and their Wages were at the rate of 5s. per barrel, earning at least, per day, 2s. 6d. currency. Able labourers are paid 1s. 8d. per day, and when working in spells Pee, N. ° 2s. 6d. per day. I. p. 184. The price of labour, I think I am safe in asserting, is generally fixed at Emery, Is. 8d. per day currency for able people, and less according to capabilities. : Gs a . Pp. . Upon very many of the pens the people are now employed in task work, pees cleaning pastures at 3s. 4d. to 5s. per acre, and earning at the rate of y, (9), 5 (3) p. 44. 4s. ld. to 2s. 6d., and in a few instances at the rate of 3s. 4d. to 4s. 2d. per day each. a The labourers throughout my late district continue to work on the es- Reynolds, tates for the same wages as stated in my report for the month of March May 21. : b I, (8) p. 159. last; for instance, at 1s. 8d. per day, with their houses and grounds free () Pde of rent. MANCHESTER. The average payment for pruning by the acre is from 16s. 8d. to 23s. Ad. Manchester. currency ; and the coffee is carried to the different wharfs for a reasonable : : : j be Grant, sum per tierce, varying, of course, with the distance and the condition of the Mateh 18, several roads. I. (4) p. 9. CLARENDON, The report states that the negroes will only work for excessive wages, de- seinen Manding, in some instances, 3s. sterling per day. I have to inform you, Pringle, that 1s. 6d. sterling is the largest sum that has been paid for field labour. Jan. 26. Ih some cases of piece or task work the labourer may have earned more, but a aca the general wages paid has been 1s. sterlmg per day, with a deduction of Is. or 1s, 6d. or 2s. sterling for rent per week. eerie Hott Jamaica. Clarendon. Pringle, Feb. 2, 1839. Ly) ple M‘Leod, Feb. 5. I. (3) p. 50. Pringle. Mar. 1. I. (4) p. 24. Pringle, Apr. 1. I. (5) p. 50.) Pere. O'Reilly, Feb. 11. I (3) p. 37. Mahon, Feb. 12. I. (3) p. 37. Rate of Wages. 112 On some estates, Seven Plantations among others, where, with a cattle- mill, there are ‘nine hogsheads per week made, the people, both cane-cut- ters and those manufacturing the sugar, are paid 1s. 6d. sterling per day, but upon most of the other estates, and except Parnassus estate, the labour- ers are paid Is. sterling per day, of nine working hours. The general rate of wages is 1s. 8d. for nine hours of labour; but on the sugar estates now in crop 2s. 6d. is frequently given for the same quantity of labour among ordinary workmen; and a corresponding price for the harder labour of boiler-men, the hole-men, and different kinds of trades- people, some of whom earn from half-a-dollar to 5s., and even a dollar a day. On most of the estates in this neighbourhood the wages paid to the la- bourers at the commencement of crop was 1s. sterling per day, with house and ground rent free during the continuance of crop season (usually four or five months), but some few managers raised the labourers’ wages to Is. 6d. per day of their own accord, at the same time circumscribing the numbers employed, hoping thereby to accelerate the work, and confine the cost of the manufacture of the sugar to a moderate expense. This naturally in- duced the labourers on some other estates to demand the same wages, and. now the rate of pay is generally the last-named sum ; but on many estates there are a considerable number of the people paid 2s. per day, viz., the boiler-men and some others, the work of whom involves skill, trust, and severe bodily exertion. I may here state that the cost of manufacturing the sugar is by no means the highest where the largest wages are given. To prove this I shall mention Parnassus and Seven Plantations estates, where the highest wages are paid, viz., 2s. per day to all the able la- bourers. The cost of making sugar in this part of the parish is generally about Al. 10s. currency, per hogshead, with which the planters profess themselves to be content. The rate of payment for labour remains as I reported it last month; but on Chateau estate, and on some others, I find that the labour- ers are paid 1s. 3d. sterling per day, and not Is. 6d., as I reported. OO VERE. I think I may state with safety that the wages now universally given, to continue during crop, is 2s. 6d. (or 1s. 6d. sterling) per day of nine hours for able hands; ls. 8d. for second class; and the rent usually charged about ls. 8d., though much higher rates (of rent) were demanded, but generally speaking, not paid. At the expiration of this month I will be able to report the number of hogsheads made, and at what rate. Dry River, Hill Side, Harmony Hall, Ashley Hall, and Bowens, were all about, and the people working cheerfully at 2s. 1d. per day; but hearing the neighbouring properties were giving Se ee Rate of Wages. 113 2s. 6d. they refused to continue making sugar unless they got 2s. 6d.a (lay: — Japeatene when this was offered them they immediately returned to work, and those BE properties are now doing well. The people in this parish are not to be Ms blamed for sticking out for high wages ; they were working out of crop for _O’Reilly, Is. 8d. a day, and in crop at 2s. 1d., until the planters began to compete L. Oo with each other, to see who would give most wages, so as to secure his neighb our’s labourers. The wages almost universally over the whole of the sugar estates is, for Mahon, : April 16. nine hours’ work of an able person, 2s. 6d. currency per day. i (5) p. 93 The rate of wages continues at 2s. 6d. to able people, and ls. 3d. to others, per day. As far as I can learn the average rate for manufacturing sugar in this parish, is from 4/. 10s. to 6/., unless the canes are yielding very badly, which I am sorry to say is the case on some estates, from the unfavourable seasons we have had. The wages generally paid the people are the same as last month. viz. O'Reilly. Is. 6d. sterling or 2s. 6d. currency, for a day’s labour of an able person. iGa noe ST. CATHERINE’S, ST. DOROTHY’S, AND ST. JOHN’S. There are many properties, and especially in my district, the lowlands of s+. Catherine, St. Catherine, on which the people are actually working on these unequal sae re terms ; that is, for 9d. sterling per diem; a rate of wages so low that it ay does not secure to them a return for their labour equal to that which they E. D. Baynes, : Sept. 20, 1838. Teceived when slaves. . . . . Lo : eo nt eAe 2 ; e Pp: . Tradesmen and artificers who work in the towns, earn many of them a dollar for their daily wages without difficulty, and there is a great demand for them. Employers in the country offer this description of workmen 2s. Currency, or 1s. 3d. sterling. Nothing is more improbable than that they will accede to, or remain long contented with such terms. The labour on the sugar properties is for the most part by job-work, dif- Ramsay, fering according to the nature of the work to be done, with a price by Lae a quantity and by acre regulated by the condition of the cane-fields. In the grass farms, the labour is paid for by each bundle of grass weigh- ing 28 pounds, at one halfpenny per bundle, 40 bundles being estimated an average day’s work. Wood is cut by the cord; two persons would be occupied one day in cutting a cord of wood, and the price for cutting a cord of wood is 2s. 6d. each person. Logwood is cut and chipped per day at 2s. 6d. each person. The pimento and coffee plantations pay for their labour by the bushel, at 2s. 6d., varying, however, according to the quantity of berries on the frees at the commencement, middle, and termination of the crop; for other ordinary work, the negroes are paid for the day at 1s. 8d. Road mending is paid at 2s, 1d. per day each labourer. Jamaica. St. Catherine, St. Dorothy, St. John. . D. Baynes, April 3. I. 6) p. 72. St. Thomas in Vale. Bell and Jackson, Oct. 13, 1838. Dp 27. St. James's. Facey. Aug. 21, I. p. 84. Facey. Sept. 4, 1838. I. p. 84. Finlayson. Sept. 30. Hep. 9. Carnaby. Oct. 9. Tip. 20. 114 Rate of Wages. Wages remain at the same standard as at the commencement of 1s. sterling per diem for field labour, with 1s. 6d. for those employed in the manufacture of sugar, is the ordinary rate; but the latter class are often occupied during 16 hours daily for that sum. crop 5 ST. THOMAS IN THE VALE. Though a considerable portion of the late apprentices are at work, more or less regularly, the terms vary so much between different properties, and at different periods of time onthe same property, that a return for one week would sometimes materially differ from that of another. ST. JAMES’S. It gives me pleasure to state, that, in consequence of Mr. George Gordon’s offer to pay 1s. 8d. per day for able field people, that the majority of the planters have consented to the same terms. I have not heard of an instance where the offer has been made, that the employer has had any reason to complain of the unwillingness of the people to accept it. ls. 8d. is the rate of wages in this parish. Putting out of view particular causes of difference which still exist, and may probably continue for some time longer upon some properties, 1s. Sd. per day may now be fairly regarded as the general rate of wages in the parish of St. James; because, even where piece-work is given, the parties seem to calculate upon drawing Is. 8d. for each day’s labour. The question of wages was undoubtedly one of difficulty ; but it does not appear to me that it was met with proper liberality upon the part of the managers. Owing to their delay before, and even after the Ist of August, in making offers of wages, much time was lost when the labour might have been of service to the estates; and if there shall be a consequent falling-off in the crops, the managers alone will be to blame for the loss, because the labourers were all along willing to work for wages. Say & So early as Monday the 5th August, very many of the estates’ people offered to resume labour, but were strictly prohibited from putting a hoe m the ground, unless they accepted the planters’ terms of 1s. 04d. currency, per day, equal to 7$d. sterling. . . ~ ;» Few, if any, of the labourers would accept those terms, but almost all offered to resume work, and continue at labour, leaving the wages to be afterwards fixed by the average of what might be given in the parish. . Because of this difference continuing, field-labour made little progress during the greater part of the month of August, the masters refusing to in- crease their offer, many of them declaring that they could stand out for months if the dry season continued, while others began their system by issu- ing “ notices to quit,’ evidently to coerce the Jabourers into their terms. Rate of Wages. 115 Notwithstanding these perplexing, and, to the people, harassing obstacles, Jamaica the labourers generally repeated their effer to go upon field-work, and leave the wages to be afterwards settled, but this was as often refused. Latterly, and after another interval, the offer was raised to 1s. 3d., and in the end, George Gordon, Esq., an extensive attorney, made offer of 1s. 8d. per day, with houses and grounds, and medical attendance, which terms were at once accepted by the people, and this last rate may now be said to regulate the Parish of St. James, though several planters get ample value for such a sum by bargaining for cleaning the cane-field at a rate per acre proportionally lower: continued agricultural labour in the parish may, therefore, take its date from the last week in August, upon the terms offered by Mr. Gordon, with a few exceptions. St. James's i | } 1 a 4 Hi ul iit + | t —— During the quarter there has been little or no alteration, either with Finlayson. regard to the employment of the labourers, or the rate of wages. Upon | a se Several estates the people are paid 1s. 8d. for a day’s labour, without any demand for houses, grounds, or doctors’ bills. But the labour is principally performed by piece or job-work, at a certain rate per acre, which varies according to circumstances. The wages during crop are now generally fixed at 3s. 4d. currency, for Carnaby. {6 hours, or 24d. per hour for any shorter period. This applies to em- one pia: ployment about the works, while those engaged in the field go on by task at | > ta the rate of 2s. 6d. for cutting 300 cane-roots ; or by measurement, the same payment to nine people for cutting one acre. Where this task is not adopted, 1s. 8d. per day is given for nine hours’ labour, exclusive of house, grounds, and medical aid. Owing to culpable delay on the part of managers of properties, after Finlayson. the Ist of August last, in not offering fair terms of wages to the labourers, (Rep. for Jan.) the cultivation of many estates in this parish was neglected for several PO weeks, to the serious injury of the crops. The delay was in no respect im- putable to the labourers, who were everywhere willing to work for fair Wages, and, in several instances, actually commenced labour, leaving the rate of wages for future arrangement. From this cause the commencement of crop-labour has been later than usual. The general rate of wages during crop, for 16 hours’ labour, may be stated at 3s. 4d. per day to the mill-yard people; and 2s. 6d. per day to the Cane-cutters, for 300 roots, or holes. These are the terms at Content, Glasgow, Bluehole, and other large properties. But there are estates, suca as Saltspring and Kasthams, where the people are employed for a more limited number of hours, and the wages are consequently less, being 2s. 6d. or 3s. a-day to the mill-yard people, and 1s. 8d. a day to the cane-cutters. Upon Flower-hill it is said that the canes are cut at the rate of 20s. per acre, 12 Jamaica. Hanover. Harris. Dec. 3. 1838. I. p. 176. _ Cocking. Feb. 5, 1839. I. (8) p. 51. Harris. Mar. 11, 1839 I. (4) p. 13. Harris. April 2. I. (5) p. 52. Cocking. June 3. I, (5) p. 206. Westmorland. Abbott, Feb. 28. . (4) p. 19. St. Elizabeth Daughtrey. Sep. 4, 1835 op: 89. Rate of Wages 116 HANOVER. As to the wages, the terms offered since the Ist November are generally one-fourth less than during the three months from August, which the people strongly protest against, especially as an exorbitant rate of rent is now de- manded; whereas from Ist August they got a higher rate of wages, without paying anything for rent. The range of wages generally offered to the labousers for the manufac - ure of sugar and ginger, is from 1s. 8d. to 2s. 6d. to 5s. per day. I beg to enclose a copy of a letter from the attorney and manager of Hopewell estate, in which it will be seen that two hogsheads of sugar cost him upwards of 19/. From information upon which I can fully rely, I am led to believe that the labourers are generally still holding out for high wages. I understand that from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. per day, including extra ser- have been paid to effective labourers, subject to deductions for rent at the rates and in the manner herein mentioned. The rate of wages during the past month appears to have been from 9s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. per day, including extra services to effective labourers. In some instances it has been alleged that deductions have been made there- * vices, per week, from for rent. Several estates are offering an increase of wages to try and get off the remainder of the crops. aE EEEEEIRREREnenaennn WESTMORLAND. The wages throughout the parish differ little from those enumerated, the average rate being 2s. 6d. per day for cutting canes, and 8s. 4d. per day for mill and boiling-house people, if a specific task be done; otherwise they are paid pro tanto, or 2s. 6d. only per day. ST. ELIZABETH. That in the course of last week some considerable progress has been made in this neighbourhood towards a settlement of the differences between §. the master and labourer, on the score of wages. In every case the master has been induced to give way ; he should, for his previous propositions were anything but liberal. In some, the concession has been mutual; and many of the late appren= tices have done themselves credit by the good sense and good humour which they have manifested on this occasion of final arrangement. and it was right Rate of Wages. pay, The rates of wages are, for chipping logwood, from 20s. to 25s. per ton (and 17s. 6d. the lowest) ; at which latter rate an ordinary labourer can realize, with four days’ labour only in the week, 50J. per annum. . Jamaica. St. Ehzabeth. : : ... Ricketts: Coffee is picked from the trees for 3s. 4d. per barrel generally, making Nov. 10, 5/. per 1000 tr. of dried coffee. I. p. 166, I cannot discover in either the coffee or sugar cultivation that there is Gur urley. any defined scale of wages. The price of labour (whichis generally under- Feb. 1, 1839 taken by the job) varies on almost every property, a bargain being struck I (8) p. 57. between the employers and the labourer as the seasons advance for cleaning the fields, pruning, gathering in, manufacturing, &c., without reference to any other party. These different arrangements, although attended wtth many evils, cannot be well remedied, one property, according to the locality, being much more laborious to cultivate than another, it would be therefore impossible, to state any fixed rate of hire given. In cleaning the coffee-fields by the acre, the price varies from 4s. to 8s. sterling, and the crop has been gathered in at about 2s. per barrel : taking the medium of the prices here specified, 6s. per acre will be the average price ; and I consider an able man might hoe or clean one acre in five days, so as to enable him to devote every Saturday to his provision-ground. Three-fourths of the year may be said to be consumed in the cultivation, and the remainder in the gathering, and manufacture of the produce, when he might earn 2s. per day. It will appear by the above estimate that he might earn about 18/. per annum in the cultivation of his employer’s estate, by continuous labour : but that is not to be counted upon for various reasons, and I shall endea- your to explain why it cannot. Take an estate, for instance, containing 200 acres of coffee in cultivation, with 50 labourers attached. According to the general system it requires to De cleaned four times per annum, or once every quarter; each cleaning, then, would only occupy the people twenty days, and the intervening time must be lost until crop season, which might give them three months fur- ther employment during the year ; the whole, however, will not amount to More than six months ; his wages, therefore, would not amount to more than 9/. per annum. Por ordinary labour we urged them not to think at present of more than Daughtrey. Is. per day, from which they were taught to expect that a stipulated sum Feb. 24, 1839. Would be deducted weekly for the use of their house and ground. To these ** terms for their free labour, the great body of the people, in the part of St, Elizabeth to which my remarks apply, were reconciled, expectiag to earn Something more, of course, by an extra-exertion when employed at job- work, The general rate of wages has been Is. 6d. sterling for field labourers, td half-a-dollar for those employed in the mill and boiling-house, where I, (4) p. 24. Ricketts. March 1. (4) p. 23. Jamaica. ——— St. Elizabeth. Gurley. April 16. I, (5) p. 98. Gurley, Aug. 6. I. (1840), p. 37. St. Thomas in East. 118 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, rent was charged. In other cases, ls. Sd. currency, 2s. 6d. and 3s, rent free, medicine and medical attendance included. I am informed about 23d. per hour is the general rate of wages, except in stoker-men, &c., who get from employments of trust, such as boiler-men, 2s. 6d. to 8s. 4d. per day. The wages given for picking is about 9d. sterling per bushel, subject to a reduction of 3d. as the crop advances. The curing and manufacture of the coffee at the works of the estate is mostly performed bya few indivi- duals employed at annual wages, about 10/., with some few privileges on the property. The gathering and manufacture excludes for the present all other descriptions of agricultural labour. On the sugar estates 14d. per hour, and on pen farms 3s. per acre, seems to be the established rate of wages for all field-labour. The head people and attificers receive higher wages according to their capability or respon- sibility. {1l.—ReENT CHARGED FOR HOUSES AND GROUNDS, AND THE MANNER OF OBTAINING IT. ST, THOMAS IN THE EAST. The pernicious system of serving “ notices to quit”? on the people, who have not immediately accepted the terms of hire proposed to them, will, I Chamberlaine. fear, retard for some time the successful working of the free system, which Sept. 4, 1838. 1. p. 86. cannot, under such and other irritating circumstances, be said to have a Pair wrial,. jhe mel ere et T have learnt with much pain (from authentic sources) that it is the intention of the attorney on one of the largest and most important estates in the parish, to serve all the labourers indiscriminately with ‘* notices to quit.” Such an impolitic step will keep up a most injurious excitement, produce feelings of irritation and disappointment in the minds of the labourers, and give the manager an unfair, and unjust advantage over the people, who may be trying their best to please, and who will thus be exposed to an arbitrary caprice at the expiration of three months. . . .- Among the many varieties of addenda to the “notices to quit’? which have been served on the labourers, I have extracted the following: The refusal of the man to receive ls. 3d. per diem, returning 74d. (one-half) for his house and grounds, called it forth. “Thomas Hearn having withdrawn himself from my service, after offer- ing him equitable wages this is to give notice, that ke is to pay me 3s. 4d, per day for the use of his house and grounds, from the Ist day of August until the 1st day of November next, when he is obliged to quit this pro- perty. (Signed) “ Parip Hearn.” Three shillings and four pence per day for a labourer’s house and ground ! re and the manner of obtaining tt 119 The great number of summonses issued for rent during the running of Jamaica, the first three months of freedom, the officers employed to execute these i ‘ summonses (in many instances the privates of the lately disbanded police- ””” Fibro: ie force), the number of judgments granted by local magistrates, the exorbi- ie. tant amount of rents in many cases demanded ; the understanding now being Peer extensively promoted not to employ the labourers living on other plantations ; T. (2) p. 15. and, fmally, the intended (and, to some extent, already done) employment by the principal agents of the two chief constables of the parish to receive and collect the rents, are all circumstances most objectionable and injurious to the welfare of the country. The new scheme of employing the constables as rent collectors (at a fixed per-centage on the amounts collected) under the specious pretext of obviating collisions between the overseers and book- Keepers and the labourers, I look upon with alarm, particularly when I bear in mind that it forms part of the duty of these very officers and their subordinates to issue and execute the processes necessary to enforce payments. Bad, however, as were the consequences which resulted from this in- Bare adequate encouragement to the labouring population, at a time when even Feb. 13. sacrifices should have been made to secure their labour, the effects which LQ. followed the agitation of the question of rent was infinately worse. Indeed, had the bitterest enemy to the interest of the planters desired to devise a scheme by which he might accomplish the destruction of all kindly feeling between them and the labouring population, he could not have found one more useful for his purpose than this question. It took away from the labourers’ mind all confidence in the justice and modera- tion of his employer, and increased his confidence and reliance in the integrity of the magistracy. ‘This was the natural consequence of the conilicting opinions which prevailed on the subject of rent. The la- honrers had been told by many magistrates, previous to the Ist of Au- gust, that they were not liable for rent till Ist November; their em- ployers, guided by the opinion of a distinguished member of the bar, in- sisted they were; but, amidst these dissensions, the progress of agriculture to the close of the year was much better than could have been expected. As soon as labour was resumed after the holidays, I was requested by Several managers to visit their properties, and propose terms to the labourers for taking off crop. Both parties were very anxious to effect arrangements, but the latter would not consent to any unless I was present. The Managers have agreed to pay 2s. 1d. to field-labourers working nine hours, and from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. to those employed about the works for 14 hours. At these rates it is anticipated that a hogshead of sugar may be Made from 11 to 14 dollars. As all the estates that are ready to commence Mop are about, in my next report I shall be able to speak more fully of the result of sugar-making. In the meantime I have great satisfaction in Stating that in no instance have I found the slightest difficulty in effecting aTangements with the labourers; and I have every confidence in their Working well and continuously. Jamaica. St. Thomas in East. 120 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, I was informed that the labourers on a neighbouring estate had not turned out that morning, and shortly after they came up to my residence, attempting to excuse themselves on the ground that the weather was bad, and that they had not been paid fairly for their last week’s work. As to ee ale weather, their excuse was not at all reasonable; and I told them if March 6, 1839. I.(4)p.15. any portion of their pay had been stopped, they would have recovered it just as soon by remaining quietly at work. This was my advice to them, Pryce. March 31,1839. I. (5) p. 95. and they promised me to resume labour the following morning, which they did, but the manager refused to employ them. I advised them to turn out the next morning, but the manager again refused to employ them; and had I not been made acquainted with the views he entertained, I should have been quite ata loss to imagine what he expected to gain by refusing to employ labourers at this the most important period in the cultivation of a sugar property. But, as he himself admitted, he wants to bring them to their senses by ejecting three or four of them. He was, however, pre- vented from carrying his threat into execution ; for as soon as the attorney heard of his extraordinary, if not unpardonable, conduct, he directed that the labourers should be forthwith employed, and that none of them should be ejected. I cannot help remarking here, that in many instances managers are too prone to regard trifling deviations from what they conceive to be the discipline of asugar estate, as personally offensive, and take upon them- selves to refuse employment and threaten with ejectment those with whom they have these petty disputes. It is true, indeed, that very few cases of ejectment have as yet been tried; and I am aware that the attornies in the district are not disposed to resort to that measure ; and for this reason, as as well as many others, the pracfice of managers holding out threats cannot be sufficiently condemned. It keeps the agricultural population in a con- stant state of alarm; and many of them promising young men, who are anxious to build cottages, have declared to me that they are so frightened by these threats, that they are deterred from making any settlement on the properties on which they were born, and are induced, from their unsettled state, to waste some portion of their time in endeavouring to secure a home on some other property. At day labour, which I respectfully submit to his Excellency should be abolished, and succeeded by job and task-work generally, the labourers get 1s. sterling per day, or 8s. 4d. currency weekly, for five days of nine hours, the one-half of which sum is usually deducted for the rents of house (mise- rable huts in some instances, I am sorry to report,) and grounds. The rents on some plantations are not only charged on the occupant of the house and ground, but his juvenile family are made to contribute a rateable proportion of rent at the whim or caprice of the manager, so that the wages of the labourer is reduced in some instances to 6d. sterling per day. On some estates I am happy to report to his Excellency that much praiseworthy moderation and discretion has been used, and on other pro- perties no rents have as yet been demanded from those who labour on the estate, while on others the labourers have been summoned to the petty and the manner of obtaining it. 121 courts, tried under Charles 2nd., had their chattels distrained upon; some have been imprisoned, and others ejected from the plantations. . 3 On the equitable settlement of the rent questions, and the consequent absence of that suspicion and annoyance of distraints which at present harass the negro mind, from threats, menaces, and, I am sorry to say, wanton misstatements, I have every confidence alike in the ultimate well- being of the peasantry and proprietary body, whose interests I humbly sub- mit to his Excellency are inseparable. The accounts which I have received of the progress of the crops in this district are, on the whole, favourable; though I regret to inform you that on some estates considerable misunderstanding still exists between the labourers and their employers on the subject of rent. The misunderstanding between the labourers and their employers, to which I adverted in my last report, has produced, in several instances, Jamaica. St. Thomas in East. Ewart. April 3. I. (5) p. 49. Ewart. May 8. itreparable injury to the progressive manufacture of sugar in this district, 1- @) p- 100. Of the extent of this injury the recent misunderstanding on ——— estate will furnish sufficient proof. On that property I effected an arrangement as soon as the manager was prepared to commence crop, understanding at the time that no rent would be charged against those who had entered into the arrangement. A few weeks ago, however, the collector of rents visited the estate, and demanded payment from the labourers, threatening them with imprisonment if they refused. They did refuse, and left their Work, and, shortly after, the manager called at my residence to request me to use my influence with the people. He confessed that they had just grounds to be dissatisfied; that he was compelled to exact rent in obe- dience to a peremptory order from the attorney, who had threatened to temove him if he did not comply with his instructions ; to prove which he produced his rent-roll, and the instructions he had received from his em- ployer. On looking over this rent-roll, I found that the rental amounted to 1300/. annually, a sum which, it is believed, the estate has not netted for many years; that to make up this large amount, neither children nor infirm persons were spared ; that labourers, who from age or inflrmity were earning 10d. a day only, were called upon to pay as much rent as those Teceiving 2s. 1d. or more; and, moreover, that children attending school in the neighbouring town were rated according to their age. With this unsparing scale of charges before me, and the clear impression on my Mind that labourers were not to be charged rent during crop, it was scarcely to be expected that I could feel disposed to advise them to pay, or, indeed, that they would be disposed to listen to my counsel. I, however, advised them to return to their work, which they consented to do if the Manager would promise not to disturb them about the arrears of rent till the attorney visited the property ; but he refused to agree to this, and pro- ceeded to summon a few of the labourers, against whom he obtained judg- ments from two local justices. The consequence of this unfair and ill- advised proceeding was, that the labourers immediately left the property, Jamaicae St. Thomas in East. Pryce. April 6, 1839. I. (5) p. 198. Ewart. June 5. I. (5) p. 205. Portland. Lambert. Sept. 18, 1838, I. p. 96. 122 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, declaring that they would not return to it unless the manager would in- crease their wages or reduce their rent. For five weeks the manager held out; but when he found that the rainy seasons were approaching, and knew that his canes were spoiling on the ground, that labour was not to be procured from any other quarter, he acceded to the terms of the people, though not till he had, according to his own estimate, lost several hogsheads of sugar. I have been particular in stating this case, because the circum- stances of it have been grossly misrepresented in one of the public journals. The people have always paid their rents, about 3s. 4d. weekly, cheer- fully, and very regularly, with some few exceptions; and {many of the planters admit that the rum crops and rents will cover all contingencies of the properties under even the present lavish establishments. The unfortunate disputes, to which I have so often referred, between the labourers and their employers, on the subject of rent, are apparently de- creasing. PORTLAND. I have the honour to acknowledge your letter, No. —, of the 14th inst., on the subject of the jurisdiction of the Petty Debt Court, in matters of rent alleged to be due from labourers “‘ for the three months.” In relation to this question, I beg leave to report, that the particular course above alluded to has not as yet been resorted to in this district; a far more summary process having been determined and acted on, by simply making out accounts against the late apprentices for so many weeks’ rent of house and grounds, at the rate of half a dollar per week. Swearing, or pre- tending to swear, these accounts to be correct and true (there being at the time no hiring, no agreement, either verbal or in writing), and obtaining the issuing of warrants to levy for the amount so stated, and charges; and this in cases where no such amount had been previously demanded. Thus mak~- ing the warrant of a magistrate the means of extorting, through dread of the consequence, a liquidation of a suppositious claim. The facility with which these warrants are obtained encourages the sys- tem, and offers the most secure protection to the conscience of at least one party concerned, who is released from all penalties consequent on the veri- fiation on oath of any matter not quite correct; for, although the warrant commences most solemnly, “ Whereas information and complaint have been made on oath before me,” &c., yet it is notorious that a simple note from a distance of 10 miles, enclosing accounts filled up in every respect, (saving the signature of the magistrate to whom they are forwarded, with a request that he will sign the certificate of “ the oath having been duly administered and the contents sworn to before him,”’) has the same effect as if the com- plaining party did come in person. This fact (though suspected) has acci- dentally come to my knowledge from seeing, in the office of the clerk of the peace, several accounts for rent, so sent in by a magistrate of the parish to a and the manner of obtaining it. 123 brother justice in Port Antonio yesterday, who, as requested, signed his Jamaica, name to the words “ sworn to before me on this 17th September, 1838,” —- (when the party supposed, or rather made to appear, to be sworn, was not "and. within many miles of the spot,) lodged the mock affidavits in the office of : clerk of the peace, and ordered,the issue of the several warrants which he was prepared to sign (for a friend), without any oath being administered, or con- nected with any part of the transaction, save that taken by the justice, “ that all his acts in such his official capacity shall be those of honesty and truth ;”? and who would have done so, had not Mr. Batty’s opinion been brought to his notice. It is worthy of remark, that the success that attended the issue of the first packet of these warrants at half a dollar per week (for on their presentation the money was paid down instanter to the constable), has brought out the second budget of affidavits at an increased rate of 100 per cent, or 5s. per week. A meeting of the magistracy was called here yesterday by J. P. Deans, Brawn: Hsq., the senior magistrate, for the purpose, as he said, of inquiring into the Oct. 16, 1839, state of the parish, on account of the labourers refusing to pay rent, or leave Ty ie their houses. I beg to state, that in all communications I have had with those people, iM no instance have I heard them express such a determination. Indeed, I have no hesitation in saying that they will promptly pay a fair rent for their houses and grounds as soon as the question is settled. In some instances high rents are demanded of the labourers, and on Brown. several of the estates many of them have been summarily ejected from their aan o dwellings, sO On the adjoining estate, Prospect, on a plan troduced by myself, all are Lambert. paid 10s. 5d. per week. The occupiers of houses and grounds pay for what April ae they distinctly occupy; and what is the result? The average number of LO labourers employed has increased 50 per cent. over the last month’s return. Making sugar has commenced, at job-work, at 12 dollars per hogshead. The estate is reported by the manager and attorney as “ perfectly clean, and everything in its proper place ;”? and “ more holes opened than there are as yet tops to plant for next year’s crop.” Rent is demanded on every property, and is willingly paid by the la- Brown. bourers. The general rate paid is 3s. 4d. per week for a house and ground, April 8. and a further sum is generally demanded for every inmate above a certain eee age, said to be for ground. The general conduct of the labouring popula- tion in this district continues to be highly satsfactory. The question of rent is made so completely a portion of the arrangements Lambers for labour on the estates, and consequently becomes’so intimately connected April 30. with the progress of the new state of things, that I beg permission here to I. (3) ps 160s Telate a few of the different modes adopted to obtain that most simple charge Jamaica. Portland. 124 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds In only one instance, that of Prospect estate, S. K. Jackson, Esq., attor- ney, am I aware-of a distinct charge being made and collected, separate from the question of wages. From this estate no complaints have ever proceeded for non-payment of rent; for which the occupier of a house pays 1s. 8d. per week, and for grounds 1s. 8d. per week for each rented of an ordinary size ; whilst in by far the greater majority of cases on other estates, when brought before the magistrates, the question has hinged either on the performance of labour, or on some bargain for service. In other instances different systems are introduced, with the little success that can be expected from the wide departure from even an ordinary degree of simplicity that has been adopted. At estate ( » Esq., attor- ney), an able man contributes 3s. 4d., or two days’ labour per week, for a house and ground; his wife gives 1s. 8d., or one day; and his children (of which suppose him to have one second and one third class), each give one day also, or 2s. 1d., for the privilege of living with their parents, and being supported by them ; making, together, a reduction from the wages of such a family of ‘Is. 1d. per week, or, if estimated at the rate of wages paid to strangers on the same estate, of 9s. 2d. per week—(for, most unaccountably, strangers receive 2s. 1d. per day, or 25 per cent. higher wages than the estate’s labourer, who, from his wages of 1s. Sd., is compelled to contribute as above),—or 23/. 16s. 8d. per year, or about 90 per cent. higher than on the neighbouring estate, Prospect, whilst between the condition of the two properties no comparison can exist. The system of charging an increased rent by way of penalty for “ not working,” has been introduced on — estate by —. Thus, the rent of a house and ground charged to a man and his wife, if at work, is 2s. 1d. per week; but, should either be absent, unless it be the woman in consequence of her having many children, a further sum of 1s. 8d. is forth- with added, making 3s. 9d. per week. Children from the age of 13 to 15 are kindly permitted to live in their parents’ houses, and to be fed by them, freé from any charge, provided they are at work for the estate, or, if not-at work, are incapacitated from working; but, should they be engaged in domestic services at home, or otherwise, for their parents, the father is re- quired to pay 1s. 8d. per week for each; those over 15 are charged 1s. 3d. per week, if at work, but this is made 3s. 4d. should that member of the family happen to be absent. A plan somewhat similar to this has been introduced, with a most natural degree of dissatisfaction to the labourers, by —, on the —; but here the system of mystification goes farther, for rent is doubled during absence, provided the party cannot produce the certificate of his medical ‘a4 attendant to prove his sickness. A charge for the maintenance of wife, children, or other inmates in a man’s house, to whom a full ordinary rent has been charged for both house and ground, has been demanded on — estate, andis now sued for in 15 instances by -——, Esq., as attorney for that property, who has equally sued a labourer for “maintenance” granted by him to his aged mother, who is already protected until the 1st day of June next by the provisions of the Act for the Abolition of the Apprenticeship. —— ee eS ee ee ee ee Sine ete we and the manner of obtaining it. 125 On some estates, —, —, no direct charge is made to those at work: but this plan falls with an apparent unfairness on those who, through sickness or unavoidable accident, may be unable to appear in the field, and are consequently deprived of the means of liquidating this charge at the only time they are made to know of the existence of such a liability. This general, but by no means uniform, system of mystifying transactions which might and ought to be reduced to the greatest simplicity, has the elect of causing a great drawback on the results naturally to be looked for, [from] a plain method of treating a question of so much importance; for it has undeniably created a distrust in the mind of the labourer, and, I must add, not unreasonably so, when I see a majority of the demands made for rent either reduced considerably in amount, or dismissed altogether when brought before the justices. The advantages to be derived by an opposite system to that now al- luded to, are clearly demonstrated on Prospect estate, whence proceed no complaints. Rent, toa considerable amount, is collected with no difficulty, but all wages are paid separately, and without any deduction, whilst the estate is reported to me by the attorney as being “in hand to the fullest extent.”” The condition of other properties is no less satisfactory, which is attributable in a great measure to the general adoption of job-work, on which system the entire cultivation is carried on, and which is now adopted on several estates in the entire operations of manufacture. The system of job-work generally adopted in this district continues to work well. Rent is charged on every property, and in general willingly y. paid; if not, it is immediately enforced according to law. The district is p. 10. perfectly tranquil. ST. GEORGE’S. The question respecting the payment of rent has caused much misun- derstanding and litigation in this parish. Several labourers have been summoned to Buff Bay petty sessions, and compelled to pay various sums per week. In this immediate neighbourhood, charges, amounting to from adollar to 10s. for house and ground for one person, have been made in Many instances. These exactions, and refusals to pay for work at the Tate agreed on, have prevented many industrious persons from working as constantly as they would do if fairly and honestly paid. The charge for rent seems to have been at length fixed at 1s. Sd. per week for each house, and Is. 8d. per week for each ground, but the de- Mand is by no means universal. On some preperties it has never been applied for; on others, the payment of it is rigidly enforced. Several causes operated to prevent the favourable working of the new system, but none more particularly than the subjects of rent, wages, and ejectments. About the 1st of August last, wages (fixed by the employer at rates generally reasonable and fair, occasionally not so, but in all cases Jamaica, Portland. Brown, July 14. (1840), St. George’ s. Fishbourne. Oct. 10, 1838. Tops 126: Fishbourne and Hewitt. Feb. 5, 1839. I. (8) p. 36. Fishbourne and Hewitt. March 20. TL Gyipease Jamaica. St. George’s. 126 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, lower than it was usual to pay to the owners of jobbing-gangs for day- labour, and lower than the people were accustomed to earn on their Fridays and Saturdays during the apprenticeship term) were offered and refused. Demands were made for rents at rates also fixed by the employer, without any agreement with the negroes; and the latter, believing that they had a right to their houses and grounds for three months rent free, refused to pay these demands. After a few weeks passed in idleness and altercation, some of the people accepted the offers of their employers, and partially turned out to work ; but some of the latter, determined that their demands for rent should be complied with, deducted the rent from the week’s wages, at such rates as they thought proper, and the labourers determined not to submit to charges which they understood were not justly due, either stopped work altogether, or disposed of their labour on adjoiming estates. Upon this, notices to quit were liberally served, and ejectments threatened ; the negroes becoming alarmed, commenced digging up their provision-grounds, and to such an extent was this practice carried, that it was submitted for the opinion of Mr. Attorney-general and Mr. Batty, whether, and in what manner the people who did so “could be punished ” for what was termed “ destruction of their grounds.”’ To enforce the demands for rent, about 90 summonses were issued, and the courts of petty sessions at Buff Bay were, week after week, filled with the lately enfranchised negroes as defend- ants. But the rules laid down by Mr. Custos Grosett, for conducting the business of the courts of petty session, had the effect (whatever was the intention) of preventing the rent question from being brought before the bench for hearing; and so complete and effectual was the exclusion, that we believe judgment was taken on two cases only, between the Ist August and 31st December last, although the plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses continued to attend the court every week. - + + + > Although written accounts for rent have been only partially rendered, yet verbal demands were very generally made; and many proprietors, or s, were not satisfied with one rent for one house and ground, but their agent either in labour or money, from every required payment at various rates, member of a family. Some persons refrained from demanding rent in money, but endeavoured to get it in labour, varying their charge from one one to three days’ labour weekly, from every individual on the property. Others made no charge at all, as they would therefore be able to eject the labourer at any moment, as no tenancy would exist, the Attorney-general having given his opinion on this subject in the following words: “ A ser- vant put into the occupation of a cottage, with less wages on that account, does not occupy it as a tenant.” Under these terms the labourer would be liable to ejectment without any notice whatever, and be compelled to leave the provisions, the result of his own industrious cultivation, no matter what their value, for the benefit of the master. A few consented to rent houses and gardens only to the labourers; and the use of the grounds being only winked at, the cultivator was intentionally left entirely at the mercy of the owner of the land. As we give a few instances. of unfair and exorbitant accounts, it is only necessary for us to remark here, that in general the charges made were just and moderate; and had not the | : | | | ; : 4 : ; ’ i and the manner of obtaining it. 127 rules pertinaciously adhered to by Mr. Custos Grosett prevented judgments being given in such cases, we have no doubt that when a few decisions had been pronounced and promulgated, rent would have been regularly paid. The people having, from the cause just stated, escaped payment during the first sixmonths of freedom (half of which, according to the Attorney and Soli- citor-general of England, was not justly due,) they are now desirous of evading it altogether. Could it be expected, we might reasonably inquire, if the demand for rent was, as the resolution states, only partial, that the payment of it should be otherwise than partial ? In some instances, where the demands were neither made verbally nor in the shape of written accounts, nor deducted openly from the wages due for a week’s labour, the amount of daily pay was regulated so as to cover the rent; and therefore the question was studiously kept in the back- ground, and only became apparent to the labourers from the fact, that whilst strangers were paid 2s. 6d. per day, they were given, for the same work, only Is. 8d. a-day, the 10d. being considered a deduction for rent. This plan, apparently so fair, was manifestly very injudicious; for, whilst it bore upon every individual working on the estates on which it was adopted, it passed over those who were idle or who were allured to the neighbouring estates by offers of a higher rate of wages than they could get at home. Thus industry was paralyzed or punished, and indolence indirectly rewarded; dissatisfaction and jealousy were created amongst those who laboured upon the plantations on which they resided, and an unfortunate habit of wandering from one employer to another was origi- Hated and encouraged. As a general remark, it may be said that rent, Instead of being demanded as a right due to the proprietor from all persons actually holding houses and grounds, in like manner as in England, was too frequently exacted only from those who refused to labour on the terms offered, or who otherwise disobliged the employers. The great body of hegroes was thereby taught to consider the payment as a punishment rather than a just aud lawful charge for the houses and grounds occupied by them; and the impossibility of obtaining decisions in the petty sessions confirmed this unfortunate opinion, and hence arose the general disinclina- tion to comply with the reasonable demands of the employers. There is no doubt. that throughout the parish the labourers do not work as Continuously and effectively as might be expected, stimulated as they are by offers of payment in proportion to the amount of labour performed. this various causes may contribute, but we do not think it necessary to go farther than the subject of rent, respecting which much misunderstanding and dissatisfaction still continues. The difference of opinion which existed as to the hability of the people for rent during the first three months of free- dom, and its unfortunate consequences, have been fully set forth and ex- plained in our report of the 20th March last, and we now refer to it only for the purpose of confirming what we then stated. On some plantations Promises were made to charge no rent “if the people continued to work - Tegularly,”? and we regret to say that these promises have not been faithfully kept in all cases, Instances have come before us as magistrates, of persons » Jamaica. St. George’s Fishbourne and Hewitt. rm, May 20, 1839. Po 1. (5) p. 163. Jamaica. Si. George’s. Fishbourne, Aug. 7. I. (1840), p. 30. Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, 128 so cireumstanced, who, having laboured with tolerable regularity for weeks, and even months, were subsequently summoned for rent for the whole pe- riod from Ist November last, upon the pretext that they did not work “ regularly” but only occasionally. No uniform plan of charging rent has been adopted. Many mix up the matters of rent and wages together, and magistrates are frequently called on to decide charges arising out of these circumstances. Several of the old and infirm, who are entitled to the use of their houses and grounds, under the 6th clause of the Act for the Abolition of the Apprenticeship, to the 1st June next, as well as many of the parents of young children, have been summoned for rent; but as suitors in such _ cases have been invariably nonsuited, such demands are now seldom brought before the magistrates for adjudication. The high rates of rent and the vexatious proceedings resorted to regarding it, together with the reasonable price 2/. (per acre, currency) at which abundance of land of good quality is being sold, have driven or induced many, latterly, to desert the estates to which they formerly belonged. This is more injurious to the plantations, because those people who have the means of purchasing freeholds—generally respectable, confidential men—must necessarily have been particularly prudent and industrious to accumulate the necessary funds. Thus the people most valuable to the estates are the first to quit them. Lam informed by head negroes that the people in the Buff Bay River district are suffering now from their having sold off, and neglected to plant The service of notices to quit destroyed all feeling of security in being allowed to reap what they planted: they dug up and disposed of their provisions just before and after the 1st of August, 1838 ; they were afraid to plant again, and now they are not as well supplied with provisions as during the apprenticeship. Large quantities of fish, pork, and other necessaries are purchased by them from managers who have opened on their own account small stores on the plantations under their charge. Iam sorry to say that a vast quantity of rum is also disposed of in these shops. The people, being now less apprehensive of immediate and wholesale ejectment (as was threatened in the beginning of freedom), are repairing their losses by devoting Friday and Saturday to the cultiva- tion of provisions. . x a Fe Rent continues to be the cause of most of the irritation and heart-burn- ings which ‘prevail throughout this parish, The objection is not to the principle of paying a fair and reasonable sum as rent, but to the amount demanded, and the modes in which it is levied. Coupling the payment of yent with the application of the tenant’s labour is one cause of quarrel. Charging it for every member of a family, husbands, wives, and children above ten years of age, and deducting it from the labourer’s weekly pay, without his or her consent, prevails to a great extent, which provokes the discontent and opposition of the negroes. They feel, and justly, I think, No magistrate nor minister could abuse as usual last year. that such exactions are unfair. the confidence reposed in them, nor insult the common sense of the people, by advising them to comply with such demands. The planters ascribe the refusal not to their own unreasonableness, nor to the manifest injustice of and the manner of obtaining it. 129 the charges, but to “ the interference of the baptist ministers and stipen- diary magistrates in the free and voluntary dealings between the negro and his employer!” I find a new plan now adopted. A man agrees to pay ls, 8d. a-week rent, in money or labour. He plants his provisions, repairs his house and fences, and pays ls: 8d. regularly every week. But for some trivial offence he is told that for the future his rent is not to be 1s, 8d. in money or labour, but 5s. a-week in money alone: and he is threatened with an expensive suit in the Court of Common Pleas, ‘* where the juries and not the magistrates decide.” Two original vouchers are herewith enclosed. Proprietors and attorneys are unwilling to make the people annual tenants, the people are desirous of obtaining some legal security that they will be allowed to reap the provisions they plant. A twelve month’s tenure appears to be absolutely necessary for this purpose. It is apprehended that if the negroes become annual tenants, they may hereafter be created voters for members of Assembly, vestrymen, &c., and this I learn is con- sidered a strong objection against letting the people their houses and grounds by the year. It is now held that all the people are only weekly tenants; and whilst this continues, masters have greater power over indi- viduals who displease them, than if an annual tenancy existed. The sub- stitution of an annual tenancy, in which only one tenant of a house and ground could be recognized, would effectually put down the prevalent Vexatious plan of charging husbands, wives, and children indiscriminately for the one house and ground, to the consequent pecuniary loss of some influential individuals. ST. ANDREW’S. Jamaica, St. George’ se There have been, however, applications for orders for ejectment, and I 7, Andrew's. have had considerable difficulty in inducing’ the ordinary magistrates to deny the applications; which appeared to me, on inquiry, to have been done for y Daly. ov. 30, 1838. the purpose of intimidation, or, as the planters themselves said, for “ exam- I. p. 214. ple,” where the labourers refused to enter into the terms proposed...) 4. As regards the general working of the system, I consider the present state of the rent question a strong barrier to its success in this district; an istance of which I shall here quote: Mr. G — who has some estates in this neighbourhood, represented the people in this district to be in a per- fect state of idleness; his declaration was made in the open court-house ; and coming from him as senior magistrate or custos, Weight with it; Into was likely to carry but in a short time after, a large body of his labourers came court, and proved, as the cause of their not being at work, that the greatest part of their wages were withheld for rent, under the following cir- cumstances ; every individual member of a family was charged with the Tent of one house, at the rate of 1s. 8d. each, in addition to the same charge for ground ; thus would a man and his wife, with three other members of their family, have to pay Mr.G — for the house and land necessary for their common support, no less a sum than 43, 6s. Sd. annually ; the house originally not costing more than 104. or 12/., and the land generally waste K Jamaica. St. Andrew’ s. Daly. Feb. 15, 1839. I. (3) p42. Daly. March 21. I. (4) p. 11. Daly. April 22, 1839. I. (5) p. 92.° 130 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, mountain land; this, and similar circumstances, have, in most instances, caused the labourer to withhold his services from his former master ; the people, generally, express themselves willing to pay anything moderate for their houses and grounds, but they are decidedly averse to work for those who overcharge them; and I should hail with delight the arrangement of this question, as one of the most important objects connected with the interests of all classes here. The conduct of the peasantry is, | am happy tosay, orderly and peaceable in the extreme. The threats to eject did unsettle the minds of the labourers upon one estate, Constant Spring, and I fear that the cultivation has suffered in con- sequence. Soon after August these people were threatened with ejectment, and handbills sent round (printed), offering wages to strangers. I antici- pated the evil results of this, and called upon the agent of the proprietor, cautioning him against such a proceeding. However, these practices were continued; and in was not until the removal of the manager that confidence was restored. Iam happy to learn’ that the people have resumed labour since the appointment of another manager. The rent has been relinquished upon some properties during the crop season ; upon others, contention is still kept up upon this subject: for in- stance, upon Temple Hall Estate the attorney or agent, , ordered the provisions to be rooted up, although the people were paying rent weekly at the rate of from 5s. to 3s. 4d. per week, and were working steadily for the property at the very time. What could have dictated such a step I cannot imagine; in one instance which I brought before the petit sessions, the overseer of Temple Hall was fined; in another case the local magis- trates neutralised the votes of the stipendiary magistrates, Mr. Bourne and myself, and the overseer escaped, although it appeared that the labourer was paying rent for the very ground in which his provisions were de- stroyed; in fact there were no limits fixed. Such circumstances are, I need not say, calculated to unsettle the minds of the peasantry, and mar the best exertions for the welfare of the country. The claims to rent in this district may now be considered as undisputed, except where the demands are exorbitant, or made contingent upon the labour of the tenant at the will of the landlord ; for instance, some land- lords double the rent when the labourers absent themselves from their ser- vice; this of course unsettles the whole system, and produces discontent and endless controversy. The agreements by contract have proved very unsatisfactory, and the labourers appear determined not to renew them; they have been frequently charged with breach of contract, when, on trial, it appeared that sickness, or some other natural cause, prevented the fulfilment of their agreements 5 all such cases were of course dismissed, but still had the effect of deterring the people from again being subject to such trials, and they prefer working and the manner of obtaining it. 131 at the rate of 1s. sterling per day, the heads of families paying double that sum weekly for houses and grounds, the other members of families ls. ster- ling weekly for grounds alone. I can see no general indisposition on the part of the negroes to labour, and the right of the landlord to rent is undisputed; but notwithstanding this, it is my painful duty to state, that much dissatisfaction exists in the minds of the negroes, and that they are far from being reconciled to their present lot, the causes of which are, the frequent rooting up of their provi- sions under very slight pretences; the very capricious tenure allowed them of houses and grounds, and the exceedingly repulsive manner in which it is attempted to charge them with rent; for instance, a man paying at the tate of 3s. 4d. weekly, for house and ground, is also charged an additional sum for his wife’s use of the ground, generally 1s. 8d. weekly, and a fur- ther charge is made against every other member of the family who is able towork, of from 1s. 8d. to 10d. weekly. Two managers from the pro= Perties of the honourable Mr. Mais, and Mr. Fowles, of Kingston, applied for judgment recently at the courts of petit sessions in this parish, and although the husbands of the women against whom the charges were made Were paying rent at the rate of 3s. 4d. per week, yet the managers pressed for judgment on account of their wives, and on my refusing to adjudicate, these gentlemen appeared considerably annoyed, and considered themselves ill used; one of them, Mr. Mais’s overseer, publishing what he considered his grievance in the newspaper the following day. For my own part, I could not conceive how any man paying his rent regularly could be con- trolled as to the number of persons, particularly members of his own family, he might think proper to maintain. I have frequently advised the planters to limit the grounds, and to charge according to the quantity required by each, which would leave the tenant no room for doubting the rent actually due, or the extent to which he would have a positive right to cultivate the land ; but in no instance do I believe this has been done, if I except Cap- tain East, of Maryland, who, at a very early period, marked the boundaries of the grounds of each labourer ; and thus, from the generally loose way in which the people have the occupation of these grounds, constant disputes are kept up, which frequently end in the destruction, by the manager, of all the fruits of the negro’s labour; the latter generally comes with his grievance to the stipendiary magistrate, a summons is issued, and the case is heard at the next court of petit sessions, when it generally turns out that Some sort of indefinite order had been given not to plant provisions in a particular district of the property, not to extend the old cultivation in the Same direction ; and sometimes an order is proved to have been given not to open any more land ; but, as the rent is demanded, and that is yielded. to by the negro, he, who has been all his life the child of habit, fancies that a few feet of land one way or another is of little importance, and that if he is charged rent, he has a right to plant, in addition to his old provi- Sion ground, which was planted in the time of slavery; thus it is that a K 2 Jamaica. St. Andrew’s, Daly. May 11. I. (5) p. 103. ae niente al Jamaica. St. Andrew’s. fy. Daly. June 16. I. (5) p. 202, Daly. July 17. I. (1840), p. 18. 132 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, constant scene, upon many properties, of the most heart-rending nature, is kept up to the detriment of both parties. : The overseer of — lately obtained judgment against three young girls who refused to pay rent, two of them having been under the pro- tection of their parents, who were actually paying rent; the third was exempt by law, from bodily disease of a most loathsome nature. They were, however, all committed to gaol. The father of one came to me after they had been in custody five days, and gave me the first intimation on the subject. I proceeded to the gaol and took the depositions of the girls, which I beg leave to forward herewith. I then proceeded to Mr. , who, being the landlord, was the only person who could order their instant release. I showed him the depositions, and pointed out the ille- gality of the detention of these girls, when he gave me an order imme- diately for their release. The father of one also made a deposition before me, which I also enclose herewith. I am informed that every negro upon is now under notice to quit in three months; and the same notice has been given to the people upon Mr. ’s property, ; indeed, the overseers gave intimation to some of the people who refused to pay rent for the occupation of grounds by their wives, in the open court- house; adding further, that they would destroy all the provisions at the expiration of the quarter. These circumstances are to be deplored; for in truth I see no other obstacle of importance, save this contention re- specting provision grounds, to the successful working of most of the pro- perties in this parish. I have, according to instructions, distributed his Excellency’s late pro- clamation (copies) among the labouring population, and explained. the nature of it fully. I would omit an act of justice towards that class were I not to assure his Excellency that, in no instance whatever, have they in this district departed from the same advice conveyed in his proclamation of July last; indeed, the rents they have been paying best attest this fact, which I alluded to in my former reports. The paramount subject of rent is met by the negro, as it has been all along in this district, in a spirit of fairness, which readily yields to any reasonable claims made by the proprietors of the soil, and perfect submis- sion to the authority of the law, but I regret to say that many difficulties continue to present themselves, from the restrictive rules laid down by the landlords, each member of a family being required to work at a certain rate of wages, and for a specified number of days in the week, the slightest deviation from which subjects him, with his family, to ejectment from his only home. To escape this state of dependency, many of the late apprentices are purchasing or renting lands in the vicinity of their former masters’ estates. The planters argue, that unless they can command the services of a certain number of labourers the cultivation of their estates would be unprofitable, and thus differences arise out of cirumstances which no third party could control. This state of things must retard the present and the manner of obtaining tt. 133 cultivation of many estates; but when free labour is literally established, I am confident that the negro will work much more cheerfully than under the above-named restrictions, which only tend to render him discontented and restless. The charges made against the junior members of families for Tent give rise also to much dissatisfaction ; and it needs no particular ob- servation of mine, I’am sure, to prove how objectionable in many points this system is, he unsatisfactory system of charging the rent per capita still exists, and many estates are, in consequence losing their tenants, who are settling upon detached lands, under more favourable circumstances in every respect being unrestrained as to the application of their labour. PORT ROYAL. The numerous disputed cases with respect to wages which have come before us originate in the irregular and capricious mode of charging rent to the labourers for their houses and grounds, and which can never be pro- perly understood by them, so long as the present system continues. I take leave to remark, that the labourers are now fully aware of their Tights, and are determined to maintain them 3 on the other hand, there Lie es - (4) p. 16. still exists a petty jealousy and bickering on the part of the planters, and ahue and cry is raised that the labourers will not come into terms and. Work for fair wages. I unhesitatingly deny any such assertion ; no charge of that nature can be fairly established against them; the blame rests with the planters in almost nine cases out of ten: what with demanding double Tent, mulcting them of their pay, non-payment of wages due, the daily threat of turning them off and rooting up their grounds, and of still im- bibing olden prejudices, and taunting them—that punishment alone is the impetus by which they are to be made to labour. Under these circum- stances, the labourer perceives an advantage is being taken of him; re- laxes from his duty, in the hope of coming into some more equitable terms with his employer : in consequence, much suspicion and distrust arise, and the labourer is ultimately compelled to seek protection at the hands of the magistrate: cases of this nature, I regret to say, have been of too fre- quent occurrence. The planters do not think it conducive to their interest to enter into any specific engagements with the labourers, in the presence of the magistrate ; they consider that it would be an officious interference, and tend to wrest from them their remaining power. Where 1s. 8d. is the rate of wages, rent is charged for house and grounds, varying from 1s. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per week to each individual, and en some estates this sum is doubled when the wrath of the overseer is ex- cited in their not working the number of days he required, and no difficulty 18 fo und in getting it enforced by the local justices at the court-house. On 9 p. 35. I. p. 218. I. (5) p. 154. Jamaica, St. Andrew’s. Daly Aug. i I. (1840), Port Royal. Kent and iH Hamilton. Dec. 7, 1838 Hamilton. Kent. May 25. 134 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds. some few estates the wages are 1s. O}d. per day, and no charge for rent, but is not honourably acted up to in all cases; indeed the present system of charging rent is altogether objectionable, it being used as a coercive Jamaica. i 'Port Royal. power over the negroes. . +» « + No ejectments have taken place in this parish since 19th ultimo, when 23 were turned off Green Valley by the proprietor, in consequence of their refusing to bind themselves down to his terms; the principal features in which were, to work steadily five days in each week, or find a substitute ; to give up their grounds, and in lieu of them to be allowed a garden 30 by AO feet: the whole gang resolutely held out against this, and most of them have not waited until ejected, but have quietly left the estate: this experi- ment having failed, I do not apprehend the attempt will be made by any others, at least for a time. Fi arilton In my last report, I adverted to the threat held out by Mr. 5 the June 8. —_ proprietor of Plantation, of entirely dispossessing the labourers of I.) p-209 their grounds; I then warned the overseer of the very impolitic and un- wise course he was about to pursue: my predictions, however, have been verified. In the month of April, 20 of the most able people were summa- rily ejected; since which period they have all left the property, with the exception of about 25 or 30 labourers, to carry on the cultivation of so extensive and valuable a property: the people were ready and willing to give four and five days continuous weekly labour, and to pay a rent-charge ground, and to be fairly remunerated for their labour, but ; he wished for house and which reasonable request did not meet the views of Mr. ms repugnant to their feelings as free men, bear- , has to coerce them into his ter ing the semblance of slavery in its odious shape. The overseer, since relinquished his situation. . + + = The rent question, I regret to state, is not quite settled down ; the over exactions on the part of the manager cause great discontent. ST. DAVID’S. At present, in this parish, great forbearance has been evinced by propri- St. David's. agers of estates respecting houses and grounds, which I trust ar etors and man eee aac. will be of ultimate advantage to all parties. I. p. 216. ST. MARY’S. St. Mary's As acharge is frequently made for “ house and ground,” when the peo= ao ple work on the estates to which they are attached, they are generally dis- Laidlaw and posed to work on the adjoining estates, where they get full wages for five Fyfe. ‘ : Bet. 94, days, without the above deduction. I. p. 138, This, and the diversity of wages offered, will account for the fact of many of the estates being cultivated by non-residents. and the manner of obtaining tt. 135 I am now compelled to inform you that the local magistrates have taken upon themselves the responsibility of deciding the rent question between the proprietors and the late apprenticed labourers. The consequence is, that considerable excitement exists in the leeward district of St. Mary, and any bad results must be entirely attributed to the conduct of all the parties in authority, both on the estates, pens, and settlements. . . . , I enclose for His Excellency’s perusal one notice served on a labourer at Estate ; this is only a sample out of the hundreds that I am pre- pared to prove. This man, Thomas Henry, is demanded to pay three dol- lars per week for his house and ground, that is to say, the sum of 52/. per year. [ask, in common sense, how it is possible that the agriculture of this country can be carried on with such unreasonable management? . ; It is my duty further to state, that if this system is persisted in, I look forward with deep regret at much loss to the absentees; as the labourers, from excessive rent-charges, are trying to locate themselves in every patch of land that can be obtained by purchase. This, eventually, will leave many ill-managed properties a barren waste, and which never would occur hada more temperate and judicious line of policy been administered by those intrusted with the internal authority on the properties. oc re ee On properties where the labourer receives 2s. 6d., he is generally paying 5s. weekly rent for his cottage and provision land. This relation of wages and rent has been established by deducting the rent from the wages earned during the week. Such a proceeding could only be legal by “* agreement ;” at present, the employers are departing from it, and are receiving the rent by voluntary payment, in many cases by several weeks’ payment at once. Tbeg your Excellency to observe that the properties in the best state of cultivation are those on which the rent plan has been established. Another plan to obtain labour is to give house and land without charge for rent, but wages to a first class labourer of 1s. 8d. per diem, deducting 10d. for every day of the five working days that the labourer is absent; so that this plan charges a man 4s. 2d. weekly rent, when not working for the estate. By the rent plan, one cottage and provision lands are held by a family for 9s. weekly rent; by the other plan, the whole family pay rent, which is Stopped from their wages (for absence), The consequence is that the labourers leave the cane estate on which their residences are, with the 1s, 8d. plan, and labour on the estates paying 2s. 6d. These two systems haye caused much discontent and confusion among the peasantry, who really labour under a delusion that their houses and lands ought to be, and are, their own property. Convinced as many must he, on the rent plan, some maintain that they must not pay rent when sick ; but, on the other plan, some assert that they have no house and land » and ought to receive 2s, 6d. in place of Is. 8d. I have endeavoured to point out to all parties the advantage of the rent plan, which go clearly appears in the cultivation of those estates where the Plan is established. On those estates, the people labour more cheerfully, eee) ey Jamaica. St. Mary’s. Walsh. Nov. 20. I. p. 208, Marlton. Feb. 11, 1839, I. (3) p. 33. Jamaica. St. Mary’s. Walsh. Feb. 12. I. (3) p. 33 Marlton. March 11, 1839. I (4)p. 22. 136 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, and an influx of strangers is the consequence. On the Is. Sd. plan, the people do as much work as they think the 1s. 8d. worth. In the present position of this colony, much discontent, and I fear more, will ensue, if the planters continue their present reckless course ; for example, A. rents B. a cottage and pieces of land at a weekly rent, or other termination, to work on the property, to have a given sum per day, and to pay a weekly rent. B. is contented, performs a fair portion of work, and pays his rent. B. cultivates his ground in his leisure time, and his growing crops are worth 40 dollars, and which will be ready for market in two or three months; A. is an unjust man, and wants, for example, to show his power; A. discharges B. without a cause, and drives him from his house and ground, although B. offers to pay the weekly rent until his grow- ing crops are ripe; B. holds possession, but A. roots up all B.’s previsions, and tells him to go the Governor. B. complains to the stipendiary magis- trate, and, as I am informed, the attorney-general declares A. had a right to do the act, inasmuch as no existing laws can punish A. for destruction of B.’s property. I assure your Excellency in some instances orders have been given to drive the estate’s cattle into the labourers’ cottages and gardens, and yet in no instance have the people resented, or broken the peace. There has not been any alteration made in the rate of wages since my last report, but some other sugar properties have adopted the rent plan in preference to the payment of 1s. 8d. daily wages, without charge for cottage and land. It is quite clear to me that the rent system will very shortly educate the peasantry, and that it will make both parties more careful in their conduct. There exists among the labourers the most ardent attachment for the dwellings they occupied during slavery; a judicious use by the employer of this passion isthe most powerful hold in securing the labour of the late apprentice. The determination to remain on the property is, by judicious managers, encouraged ; and, after agreement for rent, the labourer’s cottage is put in repair. The tenant, being contented, naturally labours on the estate for the means to pay his rent and to support his family, in preference to going a distance to earn the same amount of daily wages. I am happy in being able to say that the above statement applies to one or two properties in the central district. On others, where the rent plan has been established, the weekly rent has been paid without any repair to the cottage, leading to dispute between the parties, the tenant stating that he pays 5s. weekly for a worthless cottage, which is met by the landlord telling him that if he does not like it he can leave it. Inall such cases I advise the tenant to quit and seek shelter else- where, being convinced that an inconsiderate manager will soon see the impolicy of not satisfying a tenant that a cottage and land is really worth the charge made for rent of it. I have attached five accounts for rent on Langley estate, where the manager refused to make any repair to the houses. The charge is for one and the manner of obtaining it. 137 family occupying the same premises. I explained in court to the parties Jamaica that as the employer persisted in charging what he chose for his property, oi ae the tenant would decide between payment or giving up possession... . . ae During the month I decided on many cases of rent, and issued distress warrants to levy, in cases where the tenants pleaded sickness, bad houses, &e. for non-payment. The planters continue to give the same rate of wages and to demand the Marlton. : . April 1. same rent stated in my previous reports for January and February, and the ; 6) non labourers appear to be convinced that they must pay for their houses and grounds. The usual plea when summoned for arrear of rent is, that the house is bad ; and they appear to think the magistrate has the power of making the employer repair the house. Many aged persons appear under such circumstances, and I have the greatest trouble to convince them, that if they will retain a house and land they must comply with the proprietor’s demand for the rent. Not one person had gone to prison for arrear of rent, nor has distress been levied in any one of the number of cases decided on by me for rent. Nothing can more clearly show the ability to pay which exists among the peasantry ; at the same time I am satisfied that, in some cases, they paid three times the fair value as rent. — In the leeward of St. Mary’s the employers will neither rent the cottages Walsh. nor grounds, and if the wife of a hard-working man should prove heavy in ae 2, , es pregnancy, they stop 10d. per day from the husband for every day that she ~ a’ Is sick, and if the husband dare say a word he is driven from the estate like adog; this they;do by ejectment before two country magistrates. And the same way, if the people send their children to school, 10d. for each child isdemanded from the labourer. This is taxing Christian knowledge and education. In other instances they root up and cut down provisions, or drive the stock into their gardens, and if they complain to a stipendiary Magistrate they are ejected and driven from the estates ; and even for those that have complained little or no redress can be obtained, from the obscurity of the law, and the determination of the employers to oppose by persecu- tion anything like equal justice. All our laws are vague, and unsuited to this civilized age. I fear that the peasantry will despond, and that oppres- Sion will advance until a remedy be applied. The labourers continue in receipt of the same amount of wages, and are Marlton. paying the same rate of rent stated in my previous reports for this year. I or 106 During the quarter ending 3lst March 275 summonses had been sent out mthis parish, under the Forty-shilling Act of Charles II.; 38 warrants to distress had been issued ; with one exception (in April) every one was paid without levy, and that exception was in the case of a healthy young la- bourer, who preferred going to gaol to the payment of six dollars ; he was under the impression, I believe, that he would be released after 10 days’ eeprisonment. . . . Jamaica. St. Mary’s. Marlton. June 3, 1839. I. (5) p. 207, 138 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, The great demand for labour induces in general kind and fair treatment from the various managers; but it is a very difficult matter to protect the labourer when his employer, from some spiteful feeling, determines to eject the person from his house and cultivated provision g sri andl Some men are to be found who are blind to the interest of the proprietor of the estate in turning away a labourer, although paying his rentregularly, so long as they can uit their old Hove aeuined feeling. I lately represented a case of this description to your Excellency. The attorney, who is also a magistrate, was summoned and fined 3/.; but the labourer is without compensation, and to get rid of him, merely 408 com- plaining, his rent is increased from 5s. to 10s. weekly for a wretched house. Such cases are rare, but I allude to them for the purpose of showing how little authority there is in our hands to repress them. Some ma- nagers speak favourably of the industry of the labourers ; others complain bitterly. The most successful are those who by liberal treatment secure la- bourers from other properties, particularly from those estates working on the system of Is. 8d. daily wages without charging rent, except when the la- bourer is not at work. From one estate of the last description I saw 26 labourers last week sum- moned to show cause why they should not be ejected; they every one de- clared they would give up possession and quit the estate. During the past month, I have not (with one exception) had any trouble or dispute between masters and servants from the properties work- ing on the plan of 2s. 6d. daily wages, and 5s. weekly rent. ; There is but trifling difficulty in obtaining the payment of 5s. wed rent, as the employer ‘geoshitis for recovery of arrears under the Act of Charles II. The labourer easily obtains the means to pay, but the usual plea is the bad condition of the cottage. With respect to this system of wages and rent, no alteration has taken place, and both parties are on a bet- ter iifredesiaiandinin eats In one respect the eteployets have complete controul over the labourers. The former give a cottage and provision-land to the labourer for a rent of 5s. weekly, paying the latter daily wages of 2s. 6d. If the labourers attempted to raise the rate of wages, the employers would raise the rents. One magistrate of the parish has decided that a labourer was bound to pay double rent for his cottage and land at a week’s notice. The labourer had been in possession of his house and ground, paying 5s. weekly rent, since November. He complained tome of injury done to his ground by his landlord, who was fined 3/. To get rid of the tenant the employer served him with a week’s notice to give up possession, or pay double rent. ‘The employer obtained a summons from a magistrate, who decided against the labourer. Thus was a man who regularly paid rent for his cottage and land for six months compelled either to give up possession of his growing crop at a week’s notice, or pay double rent. If this be law, and acted on to any extent, the labourers will have no security for the labour expended on their provision grounds. and the manner of obtaining it. 139 The general arrangements made between employer and servant in the central district, stated in my last and in previous reports, have not been altered, with the exception of Friendship Estate, which I learn has been placed on the rent system, the labourers receiving 2s. 6d. daily wages. Jamaica. St. Mary's. Marlton, July 1 Some estates in the leeward district have also abandoned the plan of 1s. 8d, I. (1840), daily wages, without charge for rent of house and ground, in favour of the ° rent system. Such is the competition for obtaining labour amongst the planters, that they resort to all methods in their power to secure their object. The Macaroni plan, so termed, was the most ostensible—doubling the rent at a week’s notice, when the labourer is not working on the estate, is another plan. Such is the uncertainty of the law at present, that my only remedy is to advise the complainants to remove from the estate where they com- plain of ill treatment. The labourers retain great affection for their homes; at the same time they do not like to enter into contracts to work continuously on the estate Where they reside. I had an opportunity of testing this feeling by the conduct of many labourers on Albion Estate, the property of Sir Alexander C. Grant. The present manager, Mr. Gordon, made an agreement with the holders of houses and grounds on the estate to pay a weekly rent of 5s. for house and land: a ground-rent to be paid by those inmates of houses who held extra land. The labourers were to give their labour to the estate at the highest rate of wages given elsewhere; but if they laboured off the pro- perty without giving notice to the manager, they were to pay double rent for the week’s absence. ‘The manager obtained summonses for the rent against many who had broken the terms; and on proof of the agreement, and the breach of it, judgment went against them for the double rent. It appears as fair a use of the right of property on the part of the pro- prietor as any labourer could expect; but it is an agreement full of diffi- culty in the execution. I well know the labourers accepted the terms to avoid being ejected from their homes to which they are so much attached, and I well know it is this feeling of attachment which managers in general tely on for bringing their labourers into terme. 6% In the case of Albion, the manager obtains the highest we of rent paid for a negro cottage and ground by labourers in the district ; in fact, a greater rent than that paid on many estates where no charge is made for extra ground for the inmates of a cottage. .. . He pays the highest rate of rent, and receives the hicken rate of wages, on condition of having that rent doubled, if he exercises his will by work- ing out, without leave from the manager. What does the estate gain? the supply of labour, which is in such ee By this plan a labourer binds himself under a penalty to rent his old house and ground at the highest rate. BS rnidst the heart- Gaetan consequent on ejectments, enforcing rent for bad houses, &ec., not one case of resistance to the constable has Deon known in this district ale Jamaica. St. Mary’s. Walsh, Aug. 6. I. (1840), p- 35. Marlton, Aug. 6. I. (1840), p. 34. St. Ann’s. W oolfrys. Oct. 17, 1838. top. dis. Woolfrys. Jan 1, 1839. I. p. 185. 140 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, I assure your Excellency, that the great noise raised by the planters, saying that the people refuse to pay rent, is totally false, as far as my jurisdiction extends; on the contrary, the planters refuse to rent houses at all, thinking thereby, that the people will be more under their control. — I cannot give your Excellency any additional information to that con- tained in my Report for June, save that, with one or two exceptions, I consider the understanding between the landlords and tenants to be much aI PrOVed.) iy Boa! ss During seven months’ experience, I have not, on any occasion, felt the want of a police force, to enforce my decision on the labourers in any question of tenancy, or rent. I have felt pleasure in reflecting, that what is termed moral force, was here quite sufficient to insure obedience. The influence of the missionaries, the use of the Governor and the Queen’s name, have not failed me in insuring obedience to the law, under circum- stances very trying to the prejudices of the negro. ..... Tam satisfied that, as long as the general conduct of the managers of estates continues to be what it is,| we shall not require any other than our present force to enforce the rent payment. ST. ANN’S. If the people are not annoyed by the demand of some and the threat of others (there are some few exceptions) for rent of house and ground during the three months allowed by law, the plantation labour of the differ- ent properties would be progressing more satisfactorily, and I regret to find that, generally, a very hostile feeling prevails against the late apprentices, which is calculated to engender a corresponding dislike on the part of the people. ; Upon all complaints made by people for the charge of rent for house and ground from the 1st of August last, I have told them, and also the proprie- tors, that if the proprietors expect to be paid such demand, they must resort to a higher court to try to obtain it; but that if any money is due to them (the labourers) I will compel the employers to pay them without any de- duction for rent. It is my most anxious wish to endeavour to cultivate and establish a cordial understanding between the employers and the labourers, and to which my attention hgs been directed; but all my efforts must prove unavailing so long as the planters are influenced by such unworthy feeling. The clerk of the peace (Mr. Dawson) and Mr. Cox, having lately in court promulgated that the master could with impunity unroof, break down, and eject the labourer from his house and ground (without any regard io the provisions under the Ist Victoria, c. 3, s. 3 and 6), several planters haye held out threats to act by their advice. and the manner of obtaining tt. 141 The masters and managers now possess a new and summary mode of Jamaica. punishing the labourers, who are chiefly employed by the day, or job-work ; the people are compelled to submit to every species of annoyance and op- pression, and if they dare complain or murmur, the inevitable consequence is instant dismissal from the property, and the consequent loss of the occu- pation of their house, and the labour bestowed upon, and the produce of their garden and ground. I stated in November last that demands were made as high as 10s. per Week for the use and occupation of house and ground ; I now beg leave to enclose you two notices, (there were dozens presented to me,) in which you will find that 20s. per week is charged by the order of Mr. A. Geddes, the attorney of Goshen. ‘St. Mary’s. On some estates there has not been made any demand for rent for houses Reynolds, and grounds, . . . . Onother estates and pens the people are charged 7 p eee t for their houses and grounds from 3s. 4d. to 5s. per week, which is paid cheerfully. et The labourers are charged at the rate of 3s. 4d. to 5s. per week for house Woolfrys. and grounds, and 3s. 4d. for inmates in most of the plantations. I. Gn As to the pens in my district, all are paying rent; and those people who Reynolds. Feb. 9. are not required to labour have ample employment upon the sugar estates. (3) p. 42 The invariable charges to the peasantry for rent are as follow :— Emery. To a married man, 1s. 8d. currency per week for house; 1s. 8d. for grounds. , 2» 20» mar I. (3) p. 18, His wife ,, ls. 8d. ditto ground ; in all 5s. weekly. eo To inmates for ground only, according to the amount they work for per day ; say, if for 1s. 8d., then the same amount per week, and if for ls. 3d. or 10d., the same amount also. To reputed wives, house-rent is charged in addition to the ground-rent. Where rents are not charged, cultivation has best succeeded 3 where Dillon. Tents are charged, wages are higher, and labour less continuous, besides the I Fe), host of evil feelings it engenders. The man paying rent will be desirous — ne of equalizing his position with his neighbour who does not, and he effects a object by demanding higher wages ; in plain figures, the account stands us :— The average sum hitherto recovered for house and grounds is 3s. 4d. a Week; the man paying rent demands and receives 2s. 6d. a day, or 12s. 6d. aweek ; he who does not pay, works for 1s. 8d: a day, or at the rate of 9s. 4d. a week, leaving a balance in favour of rent of only 2d. per week ; and yet for this vision, this twopenny-farthing delusion, some properties have been depopulated, canes permitted to rot, and coffee to drop ; the negro has been driven from the house of his erection, the trees of his planting, the grounds of his making, and the grave of his parents ; moreover, the tenure Is objectionable, as most of the bread kind takes twelve months to mature, Whilst his title extends only to the termination of the week. 142 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, Jamaica. Very few cases of ejectment have come before me. Upon the pens St. Mary's. rents have been charged, and punctually paid. T he scale is from 3s. Ad. Roe to 5s. for house and ground; the heads of families are made responsible ; May 21, 1839. and, when employed, wages at the rate of 2s. ld. per day is paid to each I. (5) p-159. able labourer. — Reynolds. Drax Hall Estate, the second best in this island, under the judicious ma- : AS oe nagement of Mr. Henry Swanson, is going on admirably ; terms of rent have ; --"** been entered into, and all appear happy and satisfied. . . + « The only contract entered into upon any of the estates is that which I already have referred to; viz., Drax Hall; it has been for six months, with three months’ notice to quit, or be off the contract. The estate pledges itself to pay able labourers 2s. 6d. per day, and the heads of families to pay the estate at the rate of 4s. 2d. per week for their houses and grounds, nor does it matter how many inmates may domicile in each house. Reynolds, In every instance that terms have been entered into as to the payment July 2. of rents, the peasantry have punctually fulfilled their agreements; but I. (1840), ay As ; p. 14. I feel itright to remark, that on some estates and plantations rent has not been demanded up to last week, since the first of August last; and even if otherwise, I am convinced the people would have agreed to it. I am also glad to report, for his Excellency’s information, that no case of ejectment has come before me during the last month. oe The attorneys have not demanded rent, but pay at the rate of 1s. 8d. per | I. (1840), day to able labourers, with their houses and,grounds free. I have reason p. 34. to think that the people are generally inclined to enter into terms as to rent, and on estates where terms on a moderate scale were proposed by the planters, the people at once yielded to them, nor have they failed to pay rent in accordance. I am also glad to state for his Excellency’s information, that two cases only of ejectments have been brought under my view for the month of July last. MANCHESTER. Although I am fully sustained in the assertions I have made, by incontro- vertible facts, I do not mean to state that the ample and entire success of the ee vase: great measure has yet been fully developed ; for, so long as the very import- I, p. 180. ant question of liability for rent remains undecided ; so long as some pro- prietors’ attorneys and managers demand in many instances four times the amount of rent for houses and grounds which they ought in fairness and honesty to demand, so long will doubt and suspense have an injurious effect on the minds of some people. Where a man’s duties and liabilities are de- fined, he knows what he has to surmount: where they are undefined, sus- pense and doubt paralyze his energies and his industry. Manchester. and the manner of obtaining it. 143 Where such demands are made for rent as are made by some of the ma- nagers and proprietors, it is quite enough to unsettle the minds of the peo- ple. Where the rent is fair (4. per annum for house and garden, and the ground rented by fair valuation), I know an instance where the people ex- pressed their readiness to work at any employment, or in any place the manager wished ; and the head person said on Monday last, “ If you want 100 additional labourers at any time, I can get them by a day’s warning.” But where the charges are more than double what I have stated for the head of the family, and when every individual of the family is charged a separate and distinct rent, although all living in the same house, and occu- pying the same provision-ground, it is unnatural to suppose the people will work willingly ; and yet it is a fact. In some parts of the country the people find it difficult to get employ- ment ; and they frequently, in speaking of the high rents they have to pay, complain that the parties who receive the rents do not give them a suffi- ciency of work on the properties on which they are located to enable them to liquidate that demand on their resources, Letter received by Mr. John Davy from his Overseer, March 3. Tintended to have wrote you by last week, to give you an account how I succeeded in getting the quarter’s rent. I had given the people notice to come forward and make payments on 23rd of last month ; they told me they were making ready for me, and would pay me next Saturday ; yester- day, during the day, they came, 23 tenants, and paid me 1/. 10s. each. Amount 34, 10s. There is still remaining due three or four houses. consider them very bad debts, as they are very unable to pay.* Many of the people have told me they would rather pay weekly, being afraid they would not have so much money when the quarter became due. I told them I would state their wishes to you ; if you would allow me to take it weekly from them, I Would tell them in a few days. I am getting on well with the ginger, and Many of the people that are industrious are making good wages. -I sent the Coffee to the wharf: two tierces, containing 1407 lbs. I will begin this Week to send down ginger. In regard to the question of rent, I beg to be permitted to observe, that the people have no idea that they are to have their houses and grounds tent-Iree. There. may be a few instances of a disincination to pay, but not from any idea that the houses and grounds are theirown. His Excellency may temember the rent-roll for the first quarter, appended to my despatch for the month of January ; and on “ Hermitage,” a property belonging to Dr. Porter, and under the management of Mr. Davy: the first quarter’s * They have since paid.—M. Grant, s.u. Jamaica. Manchester. Grant. Jan. 9, 1839, I. (2) p. 5. Grant. Apr. 20, 1839. I. (5) p. 89. I. (5) p. 163. Grant, June 10. I. (1840), eas Jamaica. Manchester. 144 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, rent became due on the 1st of February, and was immediately arranged for. On the lst of May, the day on which the second quarter’s rent became due, the people walked up in a body, and arranged their different debts. But the mostinteresting fact with which I have become acquainted, and one which proves that not even the disabled believe themselves to be exempt from this tax on their resources, is the following :-—The first quar- ter’s rent became due to the proprietor of a property, on which were resi- dent two men with very sore legs, and one man with only one hand. They went to consult the overseer, and inquired in what manner they could earn sufficient means to settle their rents. The overseer told them they could break stones for the public roads, for which he would pay them 43d. ster- ling per barrel. They agreed, commenced, have continued since at the same labour, paid their rents, and have, besides, earned sufficient profits for the means of existence. There is a system adopted by some persons in charge of properties of charging what the negroes call ‘‘ head money; 7. e. every one resident on a property above 12 years of age is compelled to pay so much per week. For instance, if the father of a family happens to be in possession of one house and one ground, himself, his wife, and each of his children are re- quired to pay the “head money.” The people are, of course, perfectly willing to pay the annual, quarterly, monthly, or weekly real value; but this is not sufficient. The “ head money,” as they term it, must be exalted. I fancy a Scotchman or an Englishman would be a little discon- tented had he to pay rent, not having reference to the value of his house and garden, but to the number of children with which he might happen to be burdened. At Grove Place, one of the largest properties in the parish, where the “head money” is rigorously exacted, (although the receiver was urged to allow them to pay according to the value of their houses and grounds,) some of the ablest of the people were working on an adjoining property lately, and said that they could not afford to work on the property on which they resided, as “ head money” was charged; and that they were compelled to go oftener to their grounds to make them worth the money. Thus are the plantations deprived of labour, the proprietors’ land destroyed, and thus is the labourer induced to employ his time in an occupation which does not, I am confident, fairly remunerate him. .... . I am happy to say that the “ head money” system, to which I have alluded, is giving way to a more just arrangement, and I trust will speedily be abolished. There is in existence another practice, which I conceive to be highly impolitic; that of resorting to a system of mixed incidents in the terms of labour, by charging rent to persons that do not work, and by exempting others that do work, on the property. Among the evils which such a plan must generate is this: it operates as a distinction of favour and disfavour; and, as paying rent is always associated with some mis- understanding, which has led the labourer to seek his market for work off the property in consequence of employment being refused him on his own plantation, it fixes a stamp of disgrace on the individual who, among @ and the manner of obtaining it. 145 number of exempted persons, is called upon to pay rent. It is not the Jamaica. injustice, but the invidiousness and impolicy of the system which is repre- Mase hensible. CLARENDON. The demand for rent has been nearly universal, and the obtaining it has Cvarendon. only been limited by the means at the disposal of the planters of enforcing Bae it; in some instances all the members of a family have separately paid rent jan. 36. out of their labour for one house. In one instance, 1/. currency a week I. (2) p. 10. was sued for, as the rent of one house and ground, and many judgments Were taken for rent for the period between the Ist of August and the Ist of November, before I came to the parish. That the planters here are satisfied with the labourers may be gathered Pringle. : from the fact that during the month of March no labourer has been ejected Apr. 1. from house or lands; and the entire number of labourers ejected from EL OFn a Properties in the Lowlands up to that time does not amount to more than 12, and this amongst a labouring population amounting to between 6000 and 7000. During the month of March neither has there been any case of a suit under the Forty-shilling Act, for use and occupation of house or lands, the case being from a sugar estate ; and the three or four cases which have occurred have been from pens where labour was not required, and the labourers employed on neighbouring sugar estates, For the three months past there has not been in petty sessions for the Pringle. Lowlands of Clarendon a single application to eject a labourer, nor a single June 5. complaint against a labourer for breach of contract or misfeasance as a ' (°) P: 29: servant, is important. These remedies against the labourer are very quickly put in force where the planters feel themselves aggrieved ; and during the Same period there have been few cases of process issuing against the la- bourers for rent, or for the use and occupation of houses and land. On all the pens, coffee properties, &c., the labourers are paying a rent, averag- ing 2s, sterling per week ; the payments are generally made weekly, and Thear no complaints of refusal to pay, or irregularity of payment. But the case is different on the sugar estates: the managers, at the commencement of crop, as a bonus to the labourers settled on them, voluntarily gave up any claim for rent during the time of the taking off the crop, and I believe that this had been adhered to on all the estates excepting ——. VERE. We visited Raymond’s estate on Wednesday the 31st ult., at the desire Vere. of the attorney, Mr. Sconce, and the labourers of the property, for the Mahon and purpose of naming a rent for the future occupation of their houses and y grounds, I, L O’Reilly. ov. 8, 1838. p. 178. Jamaica. Vere. O'Reilly. Feb. 11, 1839. (3) 9: 37. O’Reilly. Feb. 19. I. (3) p. 17. 146 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, Mr. Sconce purposed naming the sum of 5/. currency for each house and ground; and though we were fully aware that, on the aggregate, it was a moderate charge, we stated our conviction, that in some instances it would be hard, while in others it would be quite disproportionate to the absolute value of the grounds. We therefore commenced by visiting each labourer’s house, and ascertaining the extent and value of the grounds in cultivation ; the duty proved a most arduous one, but we can scarcely find words to express our gratification at the conduct of the people in every cottage ; their former master, as their friend, from whom they had nothing to dread but much to expect, and the day passed off without a murmur; every labourer was satisfied, and appeared grateful for the sum named, and willingly agreed to pay it; but we must assure his Excellency that we carefully avoided taxing the labourers’ industry, and the average amount of rent named we believe to be something less than 5/. per annum for each labour- er’s house and ground; this property is in the highest state of cultivation, and 200 labourers could at any moment be procured, if required. We have already been requested to visit several other properties for the same purpose, and we are in hopes that the truly liberal example set by Mr. Sconce will be followed by every attorney in the parish. We have great pleasure, in conclusion, in assuring his Excellency that much good has already resulted from the quiet mode in which this arrange- ment has been conducted. ed Most of the planters have determined to diminish the people’s present erounds to a vegetable garden, thereby thinking to render the labourer more dependent on them for support, but which measure will, I fear, cause many to purchase small parcels of land, and ultimately deprive the estate of the labour of the most able and industrious class of people who now form the very sinews of the estate. — ee The next case I beg leave to mention is, that at the weekly court, held on the 16th inst., at the Alley, Mr. Coates, the overseer of Dunkley’s estate, the property of George William Hamilton, Esq., Member of the Honourable House of Assembly for St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, on requiring summonses preparatory to the ejectment of a great number, declared the astonishing fact, “ that it was his intention to eject according to law every person hold- ing houses and grounds on the estate, and that he would then relet the houses at a fair rent.” In conclusion, I have only to express my astonishment at the forbearance of the people when I see such cases as this, and when I know that hun- dreds of ejectments are taking place, and that the local magistrates are almost daily employed putting in force that part of the Act for the total abolition of the apprenticeship, when it is a fact that I, as a stipendiary justice, have been entirely shut out from ever having adjudicated in a single case. and the manner of obtaining tt. 147 I beg leave to acquaint you, for thelinformation of his Excellency the Governor, with the steps intended to be taken by many of the planters in this parish. I have heard many of them express their determination to take away the grounds from the labourers, and they are ejecting them for that purpose. The managers of two estates, Ashley Hall and Dunkleys, are ejecting all the people residing on those properties. On my remon- strating with them on the harsh measure they were taking, they assured me it was not their intention to send the people away, but.to get possession, so as they might (as I should suppose) at any moment those poor creatures gave the slightest offence deprive them of house and grounds. I sincerely hope those uncalled-for and severe measures will not be generally adopted in this productive parish ; if so, I fear it will give much dissatisfaction to the labourers, and will be the cause of preventing them from working for their employers with that cheerfulness they are now doing. . . . . The tent charged varies considerably, according to the circumstances under which an agreement has been entered into for its payment; and I cannot think that any injustice has been done the people with regard to the amount ; but the motive which in most instances actuates the managers in bringing the cases before a court is, they openly assert, for the purpose of forcing continuous labour. In some cases brought before the magistrate, on his asking the overseer “If he had either himself or agent demanded the sum sued for?” he has been answered thus, “Indeed I have something else to do!” thus trying to saddle the labourer with double the sum, in the shape of costs of the amount sued for. The decisions on these cases will, I trust, ‘Show that the law will never be allowed to be made the channel through Which the rancorous feelings of the planters can be indulged in towards the labouring population ; indeed, I fear that most of the managers are endea- Vouring, under the colour of law, both in the rent and ejectment cases, to establish a system of compulsory labour, and the plan of entirely depriving the people of their grounds now appears the mode most universally adopted. nly a few days ago eighty ejectment cases were tried for one estate— Ashley Hall—and this is but an instance in the many. Every estate in the parish is doing remarkably well, which I entirely attribute to the planters doing away with that abominable system of eject- mg the labourers, I am happy to state that a much better feeling exists Now between the employer and the employed than did when I last reported for the month of February. Ido think that on those estates where the people are paid regularly, as by agreement, and treated as freemen ought to be, cultivation will be carried on as successfully as ever, unattended by the horrors of slavery. The liberal planters that have met the change in a proper spirit, are now taping the benefits, which I hope will be an example to others. No interruption to the working of the free system, as stated in my former reports, has taken place, with the pleasing exception of the total Cessation of all ejectment cases, which has, I am convinced, materially L 2 I. (5) p. 90. Vere, Mahon. Feb. 20. I. (8) p. 18 O'Reilly Mar. 11 I. (4) p. 23. Mahon. Apr. 16. O'Reilly May 28 5) p. Jamaica. Veres O'Reilly. June 9. I. (5) p. 209. O'Reilly, July 9., I. (1840), aU Oe Mahon, July 10. I. (1840), p. ll. O’Reilly, Aug. 11. IT. (1840), p- 36. 148 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, tended to restore confidence in the people towards their managers, which had, unfortunately, been in many instances but too justly forfeited. The rent charged varies so much that I cannot name any sum as a criterion to judge by, sometimes the enormous sum of 6s. 8d. currency, or As. sterling, being demanded per week for a common negro cottage, without grounds of any description ; but the sum generally demanded is about one- half of the above. In our weekly courts scarcely any case arises but the natural differences resulting from the payment of wages or rent; and I feel truly happy in stating, that at last a fair mode of recovering and placing rent on the people’s houses and grounds, is general; and the heart-burnings arising from that cause have ceased to exist with the abuse itself. There is one estate I wish particularly to bring under the notice of his Excellency, as having made more sugar this year than it ever has done during the apprenticeship—Pusy Hall, the property of Mr. Godson: not one person from this estate has been ejected or summoned for rent, for which reason I attribute in a great measure the well doing of this property ; there are many other properties doing remarkably well. I have to remark, those properties that are doing so well, the people have been always treated kindly. The labourers pay: their rent regularly when demanded; and those that have grounds keep them in the highest cultivation. The rent cases are now almost the only thing brought before the Court, and they very seldom indeed appear, unless where an unjust demand is made, such as charging the man, his wife, and perhaps one or two children, each Is. 8d. per week, although they only occupy one house, merely because they all work in the great gang; the evidence generally brought to substantiate such a chargeis, “the people were called up and told such a demand would be made, and asked ‘ if they agreed ;””” to this one oz two headmen would answer, “ Yes, Massa,” no doubt for good reasons ; and on this pretence of an agreement have many of the people been brought before the Court; and where the local justices out-numbered the special, the plaintiff, or planter, has invariably got a verdict, although the people solemnly declared they never made any agreement, and without one tittle of evidence to prove they had; and I firmly believe, but for such unjust and oppressive conduct, this parish would have been in a much more flou- rishing condition. Another mode of recovering rent was attempted, but put a stop to by our first decisions and remarks thereon. A charge of 4l. or bl. for rent was made against a labourer, but he was only sued before the justices for 40s., or generally something under, to make it appear as if that were the entire amount; get a decision for that and costs, and next week bring up the unfortunate being, and sue him for the balance, thus saddling the defendant with two sets of costs, and obviating the necessity and the manner of obtaining tt. 149 of taking the case before the Court of Common Pleas—and I much fear Jamaica. that, before we were aware of the iniquity of the proceeding, some of these Unjust verdicts were given, especially as they generally brought one of the most ignorant forward, who, not understanding his own rights, thought all Was just, and the rest of the people, knowing the decision, and being threatened with a similar proceeding, have paid these demands; but fortu- nately, one or two prominent cases were brought forward, clearly proved to be unjust, and dismissed, and the people cautioned as to their rights, which induced others to resist, and the decisions have finally stopped the attempt. Vere. ST. CATHERINE, ST. JOHN, ST. DOROTHY. It isa fact that two, three, and even four days’ labour are demanded gy, Catherine. from every member of a family ; from the husband, from the wife, and St. John. from every one of their children, as the rent of the miserable dwelling with ms me : which negroes have hitherto been contented, and of an acre, or an acre and E. D. Baynes. a half of provision ground. The privilege of running stock on the common, lar 18305 estimating the horse and the ass at the highest consideration, the scale oe descending to the goat and the hog, and even prescribing limits to the number of poultry to be kept at large, are all to be taken in payment of the labour given, and the amount to be deducted from the weckly wages. Rating labour at 1s. sterling per diem for an able hand, the rent thus demanded often amounts to 40/. or even 50/. Even during the current three months which have been allowed by law to the late preedial apprentices, rent has heen demanded, and judgment obtained from the magistrates, in some parts of the island, at a rate vastly beyond the accommodation afforded. Houses and provisions generally expected to be paid for at the rate of » p. Baynes two days’ labour each labourer in the week; but nothing yet finally Oct. awarded on this head. Ly On properties where rent is charged, both for house and grounds, it is gp, Baynes. now generally at the rate of 3s.4d. for the head of.the family, and Is. 8d. Feb. 4, 1839. for each of the other members, which is of course to be deducted from the I. (2) ps 4, amount of wages, which are thus, in some cases, reduced to 5s. for an able labourer, weekly. . . . . Many persons decline charging rent for the grounds occupied by the negroes, to avoid making them tenants, and so Tetain in their own hands the power of summary ejectment. —— From the Ist of August to the Ist of November last, the rule which pre- Ramsay. vailed in the parish, with scarcely a single instance of doubt as to its legal __ Feb. 21. propriety, was the relinquishment of all claim to rent for houses and grounds OE during the running of the three months’ notice to quit; the rule of law having been taken to be as it has been laid down by the Attorney and Solicitor-general of England. Jamaica. St. Catherine. St. John. ' St. Dorothy. E. D. Baynes. Apr. 3. I. (5) p. 71. Baynes, July 18, I. (1840), p. 18. 150 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, From the Ist of November, arrangements were generally entered into, in which house and grounds were granted in consideration of labour, or occupied on payment of a stipulated rent, payable by the week out of the wages earned either on or off the plantation. The instances of ejectment under the law have been but few ; but those few, by showing the power of the law, have had the effect of inducing a quiet submission to the orders of the proprietor where he refused to accept as a tenant any labourer not entitled to his further confidence. Instead of decreasing in number, ejectments are daily becoming more frequent ; and in too many instances do the ignorant, the unreflecting, or the prejudiced continue, without a chance of obtaining any good object by such course, to harass and oppress the peasantry resident on their estates. Some go with parties into their houses, in the absence of the occupants, without any form of law, throw out the furniture, and lock the doors against their return. Others drive cattle into their provision-grounds, for the pur- pose of reducing them to extremity by destroying their means of subsist: ence. There are even some who resort to the plan of harrying their stock ; and all this they will gravely tell you is done in a pure spirit of concilia- tion, and with the sole view of encouraging them to work for the estate! Others again, when a few shillings are due for rent, instead of seeking to recover the debt in a summary way, bring the case, for the purpose of an- noying and harassing the tenant by the enormous expense of such cause, before the Court of Common Pleas. Writs for the caption of two labourers, directed to the provost-marshal general, fell some days since into my hands. One was against a labourer named Samuel Brown, at the suit of an overseer named Reid, of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. The amount de- manded was 1/. 18s. 4d., on which the costs of court amounted to 3/. 15s. 6d.,. making 5/. 13s. 10d., to which again, by this vexatious process, had to be added the fees of the provost-marshal, bringing up the claim to between 9. and BOY. 2°. %.)'s The rent by poll still prevails: by the more moderate landlord it Is gene- rally charged at the rate of 2s. sterling per week to the head, and half that sum to. every other member of the family. There are, however, many ma- nagers who set no bounds to their cupidity or to their oppression, but demand twice, thrice, and even four times the above amount, and who do not scruple to resort to any extremity, when disappointed in the attainment of their unjust object. The rent question still hangs, like the sword of Damocles, suspended over the island, and no appearance of tranquillity will warrant us in relying on its permanence, until this difficult point be finally settled. Itis a black cloud in the horizon which forebodes a tempest; it is the minute insidious portion of pestilential virus which often infects and destroys the whole body. 151 and the manner of obtaining tt. ST. THOMAS-IN-THE-VALE, 8ST. JOHN. I beg to enclose, for the information of his Excellency, copies of five ac- counts, the originals of which I have in my possession, which have been rendered by Mr. Elliott, proprietor of Tophill plantation, in this parish, St. Thomas in Vale. St. John. Jackson. apt, Jo. against labourers employed on that property, and late apprentices thereon. 7, », “09. The accounts speak so sufficiently for themselves, that I shall not trouble his Excellency with any comments on them; they are in the handwriting of Mr. Elliott, who, I am informed, is a liberal man, and of an independent fortune. He is a merchant of Kingston. Thomas Bonner, Dr. 1838. To Francis Elliott. Sept. 22. To rent of my house, garden, and grounds, from 3rd tigust to date,’ af Gs. Fass OP ay a a oa ee By 36 days’ labour, at 10d... «© eS : tte 6 Settled in full with me (signed) F. Elliott. Clothing 10d. per day, to continue during the'crop, he having got clothing. Robert Barkley, wife and daughter, Dr. 1838. To Francis Elliott. Sept. 22. To rent of my house, garden, and grounds, from 3rd August to date, being eight weeks, at 7s.6d. £3 0 O To pasturage of a mare and follower, from 3rd Au- gust to date, at 3s.4d. per month Pi haere a 0 6 8 23.6 8 By your labour, wife’s and daughter’s, 14 days, at Is.3d. O17 6 £2. 9 2 George Edwards and wife, Dr. 1838. To Francis Elliott. Sept. 22. To rent of my house, garden, and ees from 3rd August to date, at Ts. 6d. 3 0 0 By labour of you and your wife, 7 days, at Is. “$d. wre @. (88 e ° e ° ° e £211 3 John Blair and wife, Dr. 1838, To Francis Elliott. Sept. 22. To rent of my house, garden, and grounds, from the 3rd August to date, eight weeks, at 7s.6d. . .£3 0 0 By three days’ labour yourself, four days’ ditto your wife jat big webs a2. 40 3 Jamaica. Si. Thomas in Vale, St, John. Bell and Jackson. Oct. 13, 1838. I. p. 127. Jackson and Bell. Jan. 31. I. (3), p. 55. Jackson and Bell. Feb. 28. I. (4), p. 13. 152 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, Note-—The parties against whom the above four accounts have been rendered assert that they have, between them and their families, four houses ° i all, and not more. T. W. J. Bryan Edwards, Dr. 1838. To Francis Eliott. Sept. 22. To rent of my house, garden, and grounds, from 3rd August to date, eight weeks, at 3s.9d. . . . £110 0 By four days’ labour, atls.3d.. . «© « «© 0 5 O £1 hae Note.—Bryan Edwards denies that he has a house, and states that he lives on the property in the house of his cousin. T. W. J. od Whilst there certainly does exist an inclination between the proprietory and the peasantry to encourage a growing confidence, nothing appears to us to call so loudly for a settlement as the question, not only as to the liability of the late apprentices to pay rent for their houses and grounds, but as to the certainty of their being permitted to retain them upon reasonable terms. Upon several properties no charge is at present made, though on some 3s. 9d. to 6s. 3d. per week has been demanded from each individual jointly inhabiting one cottage. However unreasonable or illegal such demands may be, itis very difficult to apply an adequate remedy. We have it from a proprietor of two estates in St. Thomas-in-the-Vale that he pays his labourers at the rate of 6d. sterling per cart-load for cutting canes; and, in the manufacturing of sugar, each person (big and little) employed is paid 14d. sterling per pan, ground and boiled (about 220 gallons of liquor), at which rates an ordinary working person may earn, in twelve hours, from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. sterling, and that 1s. sterling per week is charged to the head of each family for house-rent, and as much more to each person resident in the house for the liberty of cultivating such pro- vision-grounds as he or she might require; a few head-men and responsible persons are employed at annual or monthly wages, in which cases house and ground-rent are not charged. We believe these to be a fair average of the terms generally offered, and they appear to us reasonable and liberal. Notwithstanding all that may hitherto have been said to the contrary, it is now generally admitted that the labourers not only agree to pay, but actually do pay, rent for their houses and grounds; but this bone of con- tention between the late apprentices and their masters is no sooner removed than, unfortunately, up start fresh subjects of dispute. During the exist- ence of slavery, and under the apprenticeship system, it was of little im- and the manner of obtaining it. 153 portance what quantity of land the negro was permitted to cultivate, inas- much as his time was limited; but now, when as a free man he is master of his whole time, the rent of his grounds, indisputably, should be propor- tionate to their extent, locality, and quality. This appears both just and practicable, yet, by a strange perversity, the easy and honest course is re- jected, and a method as impolitic as unjust pursued in its stead, which, as long as it continues, will inevitably prove the fertile source of innumerable difficulties. Both the landholder and the peasantry are dissatisfied with the plan now generally adopted. The one desecrates as unjust a charge by the poll‘on the number of his family, whereby a man, with a wife and six chil- dren, is called upon to pay eight times as much as his neighbour, who, not burthened with a family, may cultivate as much or more ground. In such case the rent charged to the man of family is sometimes sufficient in a few months to purchase a larger piece of land than he possesses. On the other hand, the proprietor grumbles that the labourer will not work for the estate continuously, his grounds being so extensive and productive that he reaps more profit in their cultivation. We need not stop to inquire which is the injured party. We will not question the assertion which tends to prove that the cultivation of cocoas and yams is wore profitable than the manufac- ture of sugar and rum. But we may fairly ask of the planter, why he does not remedy the evil when it is so easy to doso? Why is the extent of each ground not ascertained, and rated (where rent is charged) according to its value, instead of poll-taxing the peasantry for the privilege of cultivating an undefined quantity of land, and then quarrelling with them for taking too much? Such is the case at present, because the planters will not take the trouble of doing what is necessary to alter it; and we hesitate not to affirm that there is scarcely an overseer, in either of the parishes of St. Thomas-in- the-Vale or St. John, who knows so much as the situation of the grounds for which he charges rent. Instead of pursuing the straightforward and easy course, the overseer resorts to the magistrate with melancholy statements of contracts broken, tespasses committed, and crops ruined; and claims much credit for his Moderation and mercy in demanding no further “ punishment” than the summary ejectment of the offending party—(thus is a salutary protection, Intended by the law to guard the proprietor of the land in his legal pos- Session, made a bugbear to coerce the free man) ;—careless alike of the forms of law as of the principles of justice, he frequently comes unprepared with the necessary evidence, and the magistrate’s refusal to presume material facts calls forth the hackneyed denunciation of stipendiary partiality and Injustice. If, however, he establishes the charge, and the labourer, con- Victed asa trespasser, is ejected, the consequence of what we have above Stated again appears, as the person ejected may return to the same property under such a plea as “this is not my ground from which I was ejected yes- terday, it is my brother’s, and he pays rent for it.”” The overseer again has recourse to the magistrate, and requires the man to be exiled from the . property,”’ where his family live as tenants and are willing to succour him, in order effectually to eject him from a house or ground which the planter Jamaica, St. Thomas i” Fale, St. John. Jamaica. St. Thomas in Fale, St. John. Jackson and Bell. Apr. 30. I. (5), p. 108. Trelawney. Lyon. Sept. 15, 1838. I. p. 93. Lyon & Kelly. Oct. 16. p. 118. 154 Rent.charged for Houses and Grounds, cannot point out. Failing in this monstrous effort, with unfeigned indig- nation the planter leaves the court, and in exaggerated terms portrays the injuries he has sustained, and, first deceiving himself, he succeeds in mis- leading others, till, borne away by the false current, they regard the sti- pendiary magistrates as treacherous and corrupt, and, rather than appeal to men whom they imagine are resolved on the ruin of the country, they either sink into apathy, or betake themselves to schemes precisely adapted to bring about the very evils which they dread. One proprietor in St. Thomas-in-the-Vale adopts another plan. He charges no rent for grounds, but “permits” the labourers to cultivate as much as is necessary, evidently entertaining an opinion that he thereby con- nues them as tenants-at-will, and secures to himself the power of suddenly depriving them of their grounds, should they refuse to accept his terms. . The despotism with which this gentleman would invest himself is not even graced with that liberality which, at first, it appears to possess, for although no rent is charged for “ grounds,” every farthing of it is included in his de- mand for house-rent. The rent system is fast settling down. ae TRELAWNEY. With so many evidences of a prosperous futurity, I regret extremely that the system of giving notices to quit is still wantonly resorted to by some overseers as a means of intimidation to those who do not yield a submissive obedience in all things. I have this week been visited by several married, and some aged and decrepid females, from Gibralter Estate, who have exhibited notices they received last Monday, dated July 31st, and signed by Mx. I , of , the attorney (who has never visited the estate since the termination of the apprenticeship system), which notices were served on them by the overseer, because they had devoted their attention to their husbands and families who are working on the same estate, evidently with the design of compelling them, under the fear of a separation, to relinquish their attention to their domestic duties, and apply themselves unremittingly to the labours of the field. I have apprised them of the impraticability of ejecting them from the residences of their husbands, and assured them of legal protection, as far as my power or ability would extend; and, though they expressed themselves consoled and comforted by the assurance, yet it is most probable that these notices, absurd and unjustifiable as they are, will very much unsettle the feelings of these illiterate persons, and, by estranging, eventually operate to the prejudice of the proprietor. But for these and some similar acts of indiscretion and folly, there would be nothing to desire or lament. On all the properties enumerated, no rent has been charged to the work- ing people; and, on a great many, medical attendance is paid for by the proprietor. and the manner of obtaining tt. 155 But while the progress of agriculture this month has, in many instances, been satisfactory, we are constrained to remark, there have also been, on several estates in this extensive parish, many causes in operation calculated to prove disastrous to the interest of the proprietors. To mention an Mstance or so; on. Notices to quit were served upon the people, by sending them into the boiling-house, and about the mill-yard, without the presence of the attorney, Mr. , or the overseer, to render any explanation, and, in consequence, for several days all labour was suspended, and those who had the means immediately sought for land to purchase; Mr. , when apprised of the intention of the best people to leave the property before he should eject them, anxiously and earnestly solicited the Rev. Mr. Knibb to remedy the evil his own indiscretion had created. Notices to quit were served upon the people of —-—— estate, while engaged in labour in the mill-yard, without any explanation, and occasioned a cessation of labour for a day or two, and a feeling of dissatisfaction which will induce, we fear, some of the best people to purchase land and remove themselves. Several instances of wanton destruction of gardens and provision-grounds have occurred. An additional circumstance, which has operated in detaching many families of labourers from their old plantations, is the insecurity of the 7 Jamaica. Trelawney. Lyon & Kelly. May 3l. estate, while labour was progressing smoothly, 1. (5), p. 210 Lyon. July 31, (1840), tenure on which they were permitted to hold their tenements and provision p. 37. grounds, even when they had readily entered into engagements for per- manent labour, and for a regular payment of rent by the week or month. The courts of law have never decided, whether such agreements are an ad- Mission to a general occupation, and whether a general cccupation here, as in England, shall be considered an occupation from year to year, and the reasonable notice from the landlord to the tenant to quit possession shall be held to be a notice for some reasonable time, expiring at the end of the tenancy, so that the tenant shall have time to reap and take away the fruits of his labour. The practice which has prevailed under the recent change has been to interpret all holding of tenements and grounds, to be a holding merely at the will of the landlord, and to consider a rent paid by the week, for lands in tillage, to be determinable on a week’s notice for delivering up the possession under a liability to double rent. It is hardly possible to conceive any system more vexatious than this is—or so thoroughly sub- versive of all those habits of domestic prudence, which prevailed among the tural population before they became labourers for wages... . ~ - Unless some declaratory law fixes the rule by which the small sen cuiiaiie of labourers shall be regulated, so as to ensure to the predial tenants the fruits of their labours in the fields, for which rent has been accepted by the landlord, the most prejudicial consequences may be apprehended to the habits of the labourer, and to the economy of wages on plantations, by the rental of cottages and provision grounds. Jamaica. St. James's. Finlayson. Sept. 30. 1838. pe tO: Carnaby. Oct. 9. I. p. 121. 156 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, ST. JAMES’S. With the view of compelling the people to agree to a low rate of wages, some of the attorneys served their labourers with notices to quit their houses and grounds at the expiry of three months. Upon the estate of Carlton, belonging to Sir John Gordon, the whole people were served with notices to quit so recently as the present week. Such a measure, if carried into ultimate effect, would be ruinous to the properties, by the removal of the very persons by whose labour the cultivation is carried on. Other proprietors or managers are of opinion that they can get the better of the claim for wages by affixing high rents upon their houses and grounds. Dr. R , the manager for Rosemount, without offering any specific sum of wages, has demanded, in some instances, no less than 15s. a-week for houses and grounds; while Mr. H——, the proprietor of Springmount, has asked 20s. per week. Such absurdly extravagant rents never can be paid by people earning only 1s. 8d. per day of wages: the consequence must inevitably be, that neither Dr. R nor Mr. H will have a single labourer residing upon their properties in the course of a few weeks. Not a few of the attorneys in the parish have issued very largely “ notices to quit,” and in many instances simply because the terms offered by them to the labourers were not accepted. So far, indeed, has this unwise practice been carried, that the aged have not escaped this cruel return for all the labour of long spent lives, while upon an estate (Catherine Mount) an unfortunate woman, who has lost an arm in the service of the property, is now certified to remove by a “notice to quit,” and there seems no law existing by which protection can be extended to this helpless and perse- cuted creature after June next. That these notices have had a most in- jurious effect upon permanent labour no one can deny who happened to be painful witnesses to the daily number of faithful labourers who were to be seen carrying in their hands these “ notices to quit” as a reward for a life of toil and suffering. Another subject of grievance, and which has caused much confusion, is the question of rent for houses and grounds. For about one month after the 1st of August no demand was made on this head by the planters, and all was settling down quiet ; but, in conse- quence of his honour the Attorney-General having recently thereafter given it as his opinion that rent was exigible for the three months subsequent to the Ist of August, many of the planters instantly availed themselves of an opinion thus given by an officer of the Crown, by causing innumerable “ notices for rent”? the claims varying from 2s. 6d. to 20s. weekly, to be served upon the labourers. ‘The effect has been that the minds of the people are unsettled, and much discontent in consequence prevails. I annex to this report notices for rent served by Mr. H——, of Spring Mount estate, upon Richard Miller, for no less asum than 20s. weekly, and by Dr. R——, of Rosemount, for 15s. per week, from one of his labourers; also a notice to quit by this Mr, H——, upon Richard Miller, from whom he claims the 20s. rent. and the manner of obtaining it. 157 But some managers still endeavour to coerce their people to take a low rate of wages, by resorting to acts of oppression :— 1. By destroying the provision-grounds. Mr. — deliberately gave his pen-keeper directions to turn the estates’ cattle-into the grounds of the labourers. Mr. — gave his overseer, — , orders to destroy the provisions of a man actually labouring on the estate; and Mr. ——— instructed his book-keeper to destroy the provisions of a labourer, which was accordingly done, and the poor man’s provisions conveyed to the overseer’s buttery, for the use of the estate. 2. By destroying the houses. Mr. —, having taken umbrage at several of his people for suing him on account of damage done by the estates’ cattle, actually went himself, with eight assistants, to the house of a labourer, and destroyed his provisions; Mr. —, assisting with an axe and cutlass, cut down a large naseberry-tree in the garden, tore off the roof from the house, and threw the furniture upon the king’s highway. During this lawless and oppressive transaction the poor man was in the house with asick child, and no warrant of ejectment, or other legal authority, had ever been applied for. The houses of Gibson and other labourers were also destroyed. 3. By taking out ejectments. Mr. — has ejected a labourer and his family, and he has several other cases in dependence ; and Mr. has ejected a labourer from ————, and two persons from the estate of , of which he is receiver. a On some estates much discontent and ill-feeling have been excited by serving the labourers with notices to quit, by ejecting them from their houses, and by the wanton destruction of their provision-grounds. This has been particularly the case at Springmount, Palmyra, Portobello, Iron- shore, Spring, Tryall, Worcester, Kirkpatrick, Hall, and Fairfield. Other causes of ill-feeling and discontent still continue to exist in con- Sequence of notices to quit, extravagant demands for rent, ejectments from houses, and the wanton destruction of provision-grounds ; but the people in general have been orderly and peaceable in their conduct. At Spot Valley, which is a large and important estate, the attorney in- sisted upon the people working 10 hours a-day for 1s. 8d., and to take 24d. for each extra hour; and he also stipulated upon their paying a dollar a Month for houses, and the same sum for grounds. These terms were re- jected by the people as being different from the wages paid on other estates ; and the attorney, with the view of compelling acquiescence, harassed them with numerous actions for rent. In the mean time many of the people have been working on adjoining estates, so that not merely has the present crop been much injured by the delay and consequent want of labour, but the preparations for next crop have been entirely neglected. ‘This loss upon two crops will no doubt be attributed to the people, but certainly without any adequate cause, as they are willing to labour for the usual rate of wages. ee a Jamaica. St. James’s. Finlayson. ec. I. p. 186. Finlayson. Jan., 1839. I. (3), p. 41. Finlayson. Feb. I. (4), p. 5. Finlayson. ° Apr. I. (5), p. 110. 158 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, Jamaica. Even up to the present moment some managers are creating discontent PP a , among the labourers, by stipulating for rents, and demanding a penal sum - James s. x > 2 of 10d. for each day’s absence from work of any member of a family, as Finlayson and Shae ; Camahy. upon * * * * and other properties. June , Soe I. (1840), But upon some properties, such as * * * * much discontent has a am been recently occasioned by demanding rents of 1s. 8d. per week for the Finlayson and houses, and 1s. 8d. per week from each first gang labourer, for grounds ; ae and upon other estates, such as * * * * and others, by stipulating I. (1840), for a penal sum of 10d. for each day’s absence from labour, by any mem- aoe ber of a family. It would be of material importance to the parish if managers would refrain from making any deviations from previous arrange- ments with their people. But new suggestions are eagerly seized hold of with the view of reducing the amount of wages, and every alteration is cer- tain to excite dissatisfaction, which is often increased by the threats, some- times carried into effect, of compulsory ejectment in case of non-compliance with the new terms. Finlayson, Upon some estates the managers are creating discontent among the ieee labourers, by stipulating for rents, and demanding a penal sum of 10d. for July, each day’s absence from work of any member of a family. I. (1840), p- 33. HANOVER. Hanover. As to the rent, the people are willing to pay a reasonable and honest = according to the value of the house and the land they occupy, and Dec. 3, 1838. they have proposed that friends on either side, should ascertain what I. p. 177. would be a fair and proper sum; but to this the landholders decidedly object; they want to fix an arbitrary rent: thus they demand for the occupation of a hut 3s. 4d. per week, amounting to 8/. 13s. 4d. per annum. Now, nine-tenths of the huts are almost valueless until repaired ; they are scarcely worth the odd shillings and pence. Then, again, it is demanded that a man, his wife, and each member of his family capable of working, shall each pay 1s. 8d. a-week for the land they occupy ; thus, allowing a family, consisting of a man, his wife, and two children old enough to perform work, to be in the occupation of land to the extent, say, of two acres—the rent, thus calculated, would amount to 140. 6s. Sd. per annum for this quantity of land; whereas the honest value as rent for two acres of land, of the quality generally in the occupation of the labourers, would not exceed 2/. Thus, then, for a hut dilapidated is charged perannum . £813 4 Two acres of land occupied by a family of fourmembers . 17 6 8 Actual value of hut, until put in repair, say about £0 13 4 Two acres of land, at 20s. per acre . - - . 2 0 O — 213 4 There is therefore demanded over and above the honest value, and a reduced rate of wages offered . . « + » . £23 6 8: and the manner of obtacning tt. 159 And allowing a man and his wife to have more than two children capable Jamaica. of labour, but all only in the occupation of the same extent of land, and no =e more, this preposterous rate of rent would be increased at the rate of 4/. 6s. 8d. per annum for each additional child. The people, with every reason on their part, object to this rate of rent ; they offer to rent a house and a stated quantity of land for such sum as might be considered the reasonable value (in rent) of the premises ; each head of a family renting as much land as would be sufficient for the support of his family. But the landholders, or their representatives, will not hear of such an arrangement; no, they would then be debarred charging half-a-dozen rents, or more, instead of one. Hanover. Scarcely a day has passed but numbers of labourers from almost every eee estate in the parish have been to me, declaring that their masters will not y, (3), p. 64. come to proper terms with them: that they offer them small wages, varying nominally from 1s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per day, including extra labonr, and at the same time demanding from them high rents for their houses and grounds, such as 5s. a-week for each member of a family occupying the same hut and same extent of land, and, when their wages were to be paid them, a half or two-thirds kept back for rent. The labourers, never having agreed to the rate of rent so arbitrarily charged them, and receiving little or nothing for a week’s labour, became dissatisfied ; and the attempts lately made by the managers to compel the people to accept their terms, by refusing to rent them their houses and lands, and prohibiting them from planting provisions, with the threat of having them destroyed, and, in some instances, the actual damaging and destroying their provisions and hogs; these and other disagreeables of a minor nature caused that absence of good feeling between master and labourer that during the past month has not been steadily and continuously carried on. The labourers invariably inform me, and I perfectly believe in their sin- cerity, that they are willing and anxious to carry on the labour of the pro- perties upon fair terms being made with them; and their particular anxiety is, to get the use and occupation of their houses and lands upon a Tent for twelve months certain, so as to plant and reap their provisions. The threat of not letting them have the land has had an effect upon the labourers which the planters are not aware of, or are unwilling to admit the existence of. This principally has been the cause lately of the inter- Muption to the regular and quiet discharge of agricultural duties. I am aware that, at this moment, several properties may be said to be at a stand, the negroes declaring they want an agreement to have their grounds Tented to them for twelve months certain. The labourers on Fat Hog Quarter estate have done very little work for Cocking. that property since the Ist of the year. A great many of them were I pay "T, brought before the police-court on Wednesday last, in consequence of their taki tefusal either to work or to pay rent ; on their saying that they were under Jamaica, Hanover. Harris. Mar. 11. I. (4), p. 12. Westmoreland. Gordon and Abbott. Oct. 30. I. p. 111. Abbott. Feb. 28. 1. (4), p. 20. 160 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, the impression that they were not liable to pay rent, I gave them a week to consider. Within the last fortnight I attended a place of worship, in the leeward part of the parish, where it was represented to me the people would not labour but for very excessive wages, and then not steadily or continuously ; and at the conclusion of the service I had an opportunity of ascertaining the sentiments of about 300 of the peasantry. Numerous were the com- plaints they made to me of not receiving their wages ; that, after they had laboured, their hire would be detained from them on the plea of rent; in all cases each individual of a family was made to pay for the same house and same extent of land generally at the rate of 5s. a-week each; (I know of instances where a family, according to the number of the members thereof, including children of from 10 to 12 years of age, have been charged 10s., 15s., 20s., and even 5/. per week, for one and the same premises) ; in some cases the balance of their hire would be paid over; in others, refused, without any reason being assigned ; and in a number of instances the people were prohibited from planting their provisions, with the threat of having them immediately destroyed. The people expressed themselves quite tired of the way things were going on: they, with great readiness, avowed their perfect willingness to rent their houses and a sufficient quantity of land, each for the exigencies of his own family, paying there- fore a reasonable rate of hire, having the occupation secured to them for twelve months at a time, the shortest period possible for the planting and reaping in their crops of ground provisions; and they would also be satis- fied with reasonable wages for carrying on the cultivation of the proper- Be aailine,. sss On a few properties 1s. 8d. a-day is given, without rent charged, but, whether the people pay rent or not, they have no security in keeping their grounds. On the contrary, if they plant, it is under the threat that their provisions will be destroyed; and in some instances the threat has been actually carried into execution. Thus the people are made to pay an arbi- trary and excessive rate of rent, and yet the rights and privileges of tenants are denied them. They have no security even for one week of remaining unmolested in the use and occupation of the premises they pay so dearly for. It is certain this state of things cannot but be productive of discord and confusion. WESTMORELAND. With the exception of three or four of the above properties, each of the estates provides medical attendance to those labourers at work; and up to this time no charge has been made in the shape of rent for their houses or grounds. — It is to be remarked that those properties are now doing best which have prosecuted ejectments under the Act for the abolition of apprenticeship ; and the manner of obtaining it. 161 indeed, such proceeding has proved very beneficial, inasmuch as it has taught the labourer his dependence on his employer for his support and the many privileges he enjoys. During the past month not a single order of ejectment has been granted, one case only having been brought before me, but the requisite proof could not be adduced. ST. ELIZABETH’S, Jamaica. Westmoreland. Abbott. May 1. I. p. 107. On many properties two days per week for houses and grounds are oy, ryzabeth’s. being voluntarily given, and on others means of some kind are devised to ah Daughtry. get pressing jobs done. hee ai. pees Pip.89. The proceedings to recover for rent are marked by many features of Daughtry. Injustice and oppression. Forbearing as the people eminently are, I should me 18. » p- 95 almost fear for the consequences, if these measures were taken to the extent they are threatened; they are most clearly vindictive; there is not even an attempt to conceal it. One of the magistrates, who sat at a recent local court to decide a ques- tion of rent, and advocated the fairness of a claim of 5s. per week, has told all his people since that he shall enforce this demand from every adult indi- vidual upon his property, and that after next month he will have a dollar. In one of his houses are four persons; husband and wife, brother of the wife, and another young man. From each of these this magistrate demands 9s. per week. To the plea of one of the young men that he had no house, and of the other that he had no ground, his ground being elsewhere, it was replied, he did not care for that, he would have 5s. per week from them all. An application for the repair of their houses has been peremptorily refused ; ~ they must repair them themselves, they have time enough.” He refuses to give them day-work at all; nor even task-work in such moderate allotments as would be within the limits of their reckoning, but large portions that must be the labour of weeks, and respecting which they are as much in the dark as to the time it may occupy as they would be in attempting to survey the property. They are not without their fears, nor am I, that, when the work was accomplished, it would be found that they had paid their rent, and no more. I have advised them to beg their master to divide the task, and give them about a week’s work at once, as a trial ; and they left me with that resolution. These facts are narrated as a sample of many. Those masters who persisted in making exorbitant demands for rent have lost, or are fast losing, their most efficient labourers. Others who I Tequire additional hands, and pay them fairly, are placing their pens in a better state than they were in during the apprenticeship. The system of a labour-rent, which was at first the favourite scheme of the masters, is yielding to the far better plan of a money payment, although M Daughtry. Nov. 13. “p> Las. Jamaica. St. Elizabeth's. 6 Gurley. Feb. 1. PS) ipo 7. Guiley. June 1. I. (5), ps 203. 162 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, I regret to say that too often the sum demanded is still greatly out of pro- portion to the actual cost of a negro-house, and of the land he has in culti- vation. ‘The consequence is, that the minds of the people are fixed upon the object of obtaining homes of their own, which considerable numbers have indeed already done; but in the exercise of a providence, which is one of their conspicuous characteristics, they are keeping in connexion with present advantages till their own little places are in order to receive them. Rent for house and provision-ground at from Is. to 6s. per week, and in some instances upwards, has been demanded, as will appear by the accom- panying documents, which I beg may be laid before his Excellency. Tak- ing the medium in this case also, the rent may be estimated at 3s. per week, or 7/. 10s. per annum: this would leave him little or nothing for clothing himself and family, doctor, and to contribute to the building, repairing, and support of the church to which he belongs; the latter is no trifling part of his expenditure, and in which he takes great pride. The return for his labour being quite inadequate to meet his expenses, he therefore resorts to his grounds, from which his labour is repaid tenfold and all his wants supplied. Under such circumstances his continuous working for his employer is not to be expected. Yet this is the reason why he is represented as idle, and not disposed to labour. I need scarcely re- mark that this is a very unfair conclusion; he only requires to find an equi- valent advantage in continuous labour to induce him to the same exertion as other men. I have since my last report been able to direct more attention to the sugar cultivation, which it seems has lately created so much dismay, and has been the subject of the most gloomy representations on the part of the planting-attorneys to their constituents in England. It appears, from what I have seen, that some of the estates in the Nassau Mountains may possi- bly not be able to take off more than two-thirds of the present crop; but there are many and good reasons that have brought about that state of things, for which the planters have only to thank themselves; first, the unyielding and inconciliatory manner in which they managed the estates during the probationary period of the apprenticeship. Second, the irregu= larity with which the labourer is paid; there is a general complaint on the estates, that, after waiting six weeks or two months, they are put off with only a moiety of what is due, upon the score of the attorney not being able to procure change ; and, on appealing for an explanation, a notice to quit the property has followed, and, in some instances, assaults have been per- petrated on them for their importunity. I am sure the irregularity here com- plained of, and the imprudent method of demanding rent froma whole family, has been the means of many estates being almost deserted, and the cause of that disinclination to continue to work on them complained of, In consequence of the confidence with which the island agent, Mr. Burge, has asserted that little reliance is to be placed in the statement that rent is demanded in this unequitable manner, I beg leave to append to this report and the manner of obtaining it. 163 a few of the numerous accounts for rent, with the charges made against the family individually, as incontestable proofs of my statement, Against the whole family—husband, wife, and children : Richard Stewart, Take notice, that the rent for your house, garden, and ground, for yourself and wife, is 3s. 4d. per week, and for your two sons, Richard and Edward, and daughter Susan, the further sum of 3s. 4d., from the Ist instant, the same to be paid weekly in money or labour. (Signed) H. Hurcusson. Craig Head, 5 November, 1838. Affidavit of Richard Stewart, labourer. Personally appeared before me, Richard Stewart, and being duly sworn, saith, that the within-named Richard, Edward, and Susan are his children, and that they are residing with him in the same house at Craig Head, where he was located as an apprentice until the 1st of August last, and where he has since been residing; that he has no objection to pay 3s. 4d. per week for the said house, ground, and garden, but he protests against paying any additional rent for his family. Sworn before me, this 7th day of November, 1838. Joun Gur ey, S. Justice. Jamaica ss. Manchester. Take notice, that you will be, as you are hereby, required, immediately at the expiration of three months after this notice, peaceably and quietly to surrender, quit and deliver over to me (or us) the possession of all that lot or lots, piece or pieces or parcels of land, as well as the dwelling-house Orpremises, with the appurtenances, situate at Craig Head plantation, in the parish of Manchester, which you have been heretofore permitted by me (or by us) to occupy, under the penalty, on your failing so to do, imme- diately after the expiration of the time aforesaid, of your being deemed and considered a trespasser. Dated this 5th day of November, 1838. To Richard Stewart, of the parish of Manchester, and in the county of Middlesex. Against both Husband and Wife. Thomas Powell, To Montpelier Pen, Dr. Feb. 1, 1839.—To house-rent, from 1st November to date, at 2s. 6d. per week, 13 weeks . ' BAe To ground-rent for yourself and Lavinia Powell, at 1s. 3d. per week each PS i ae £3 6600 M 2 Jamaica. St. Elizabeth’ s 164 Rent charged for Houses and Grounds, Jamaica. Thomas Powell, To Montpelier, Dr. iy NOTE Feb. 1, 1839.—To the pasturage of one mare and one filly, from Ist August last to date, at 5s. each per month of 28 days , . Ae ts ae tee | Montpelier Pen, To Thomas Powell, Dr. Feb. 1, 1839.—To cleaning Commodore pasture, 32 acres, at 3s. 4d. per acre ; : Np ails clr. Deduct :— Ground-rent account House-rent account Pasturage ditto Due by you . ’ S : Thomas Powell says that it took him and his wife, Lavinia Powell, and another woman, 40 days to clean Commodore pasture. ‘Joun Gury, Stipendiary Justice. Against Husband. William Richards, Sept. 17, 1838.—For house, ground, and garden, rent from 2nd August to date, six weeks, at 6s. 8d. per week ; : : 4 oe) 0 ae Against Wife. Eliza Richards, Sept. 17, 1838.—For house, ground, and garden, rent from 2nd August to date, six weeks, at 6s. 8d. per week - : James Howard (late apprentice to Brighton), To Agnes Anderson, Dr. Sept. 19, 1838.—To seven weeks’ rent of a house and a eround, at 5s. per week : Pit Wig Cr. By nine days’ labour, at 1s, 8d. . on) OOES £1 Ome The documents here set forth illustrate the mode of charging rent, with reference to the liability of a whole family. I also.add an account for rent with a credit for labour, in which it will be found that, estimating the week’s labour at sometimes four and sometimes five days in each week, the rent at 5s. per week is equivalent to a payment of three days’ labour weekly. I think this latter account will show that, comparing the price of labour _and the manner of obtaining tt. 165 by the sums charged for rent, labour must be considered as rather at Jamaica. an inadequately low than an immoderately high price, as has been asserted in the various public meetings held by the West Indian proprietors in England. St. Elizabeth’s. From the rate of wages above mentioned a weekly rent of 2s. for house Gurley. oa : : : Aug. 6, and provision ground is demanded by the proprietor on most estates, which L (18 40), is now generally met without any demur, where a proper understanding has p. 37. been previously established between the parties. IV.—Tae Generar Errects or EMANCIPATION. From the best information I can collect, they would, in general, be paughtry. satisfied to return to work on receiving 5s. per week, with the use of their Aug. 14, 1838. houses and grounds. On some properties they have, indeed, offered to take ~ !" a less than this, but it has been rudely, perhaps sternly, refused. The con- sequence has already been, that the attention of not a few of the most valuable people is turned to efforts to obtain possession of little independent settlements, where they can at least place their families, and where, in time, and when they have additional means, they will remove themselves. Nothing can be more obvious than that the attempt which planters are making to depress the rate of labour below its present fair value must tend to produce, ultimately, the very opposite effect. I may mention that the people are now encouraging the establishment of rant, dispensaries, and are freely purchasing tickets for their families, on the Nov. 20, 1838. proposal annexed, marked (G). piste The savings-bank of this parish has only been opened two days; a sum of 316/.16s. 8d. has been deposited, and there is a certainty that a far larger amount will very soon be put in. Does not this offer an inexpensive security for good order, and against vagrancy, more effective and more cheering than the establishment of police or other restrictive laws ? The internal commercial trade has been most sensibly improved, and the cy. yerlaine. storekeepers have been materially benefited, by the change from slavery to Jan. 31, 1839. freedom. Silver coin, which previously bore a premium of three to four 1: (2), p. 14. per cent., fell to one per cent., and subsequently to no premium at all, from its extensive circulation by the peasantry to provide themselves with the wants and comforts of the Christmas season. With ordinary energy and common prudence, the crops will be taken off at remunerating prices. The improvement in the moral condition of the liberated labourers since — Grant. the day of their final emancipation is greater than their most sanguine Mar. 18, 1839. well-wishers could have anticipated. At the quarter-sessions in January a: last there was only one case of larceny; and at the quarter-sessions to be held in April I am not aware of any case to be brought forward but one Jamaica. Lyon, Dillon, and Kelly. Mar. 27, 1839. I, (5), p. 55. Marlton. Apr. 1, 1839. 1) psol. Macleod. May 1, 1839. I. (5), p.107. 166 General Effects of Emancipation. put off from last court for want of evidence, in which a person took her daughter’s gown out of her son-in-law’s house, on the decease of his wife. There has only been one person. in the house of correction for some time, sentenced during apprenticeship. On scarcely a property is a watchman kept or required ; and, although coffee and other produce is openly exposed on barbicues or other places, a case of theft is exceedingly rare. We cannot conclude this reply to the Trelawny report without remark- ing that the abrogation of the apprenticeship has with astonishing celerity developed all those elements of prosperity contemplated by statesmen as one of its most important objects, in a degree beyond the most sanguine expectations; as evinced in the large amount of capital since invested in this colony in the purchase of lands, at an amazingly increased value, by resident individuals; in the improvement and increase of buildings for social and mercantile uses; in the erection and enlargement of temples for religious worship; in the improved cultivation, and greater care and at- tention paid to the fencing and subdivision of land; and in the greater division of wealth among the working people, by which their personal ap- pearance and social habits and morals have been improved to a most gratifying, and, considering the short space of time, surprising extent. Of the blessings of freedom to the labouring people, no unprejudiced person, acquainted with even the apprenticeship system, can doubt. One of the great difficulties formerly was the management of the sick in an estate’s hospital. The people frequently took refuge there from hard work: all the oppres- sions consequent on having an unkind or harsh overseer, and the difficulty of detecting imposture, have ceased. No women, suffering from pregnancy, or from having numerous children, are now brought before magistrates to be punished for not turning out to work in the fields. No estates’ con- stables can abuse their authority, and confine in cells people for insolence, absence, &c. All these considerations can be fairly urged on the attention of the labourers, and be made incentives to industry and good conduct. I am happy in being able to say that a more peaceable community cannot be found. Petty theft is not heard of, formerly so common in this parish. . . I consider the peasantry in this quarter are in the best position, com- pared with other labouring people. With industry they command every comfort, and where they are not liberally treated they can by movement soon bring their employer to terms, from the facility of finding houses and grounds and employment on other estates. When this takes place, all heart-burnings and process-at-law will cease. is A great number of negroes, as I have all along anticipated, are now buying land and settling themselves upon their purchases; but this cannot in common sense be deemed a fault on the part of the negroes, whose behaviour, in a general point of view, continues extremely good. [am General Effects of Emancipation. 167 happy to be able likewise to speak in an equally favourable manner of the — Jamaica. conduct of the planters. Rani The planters in this neighbourhood have now a new bugbear to occupy __ Pringle. Be vias vs: snail qeeig May 10) 18a their imaginations—the fact of the newly enfranchised purchasing little 7 (5), 9. leu) spots of ground, seldom larger than one or two acres, whereon they are building houses for homes to themselves: the planters state that these people will recede from agricultural employment. It is almost unnecessary for me to state that these fears are groundless. These people cannot live without labouring for some one, as the land they have purchased is unable to support them. The opening of a free trade between this island and that of San Domingo E. D. Baynes, cannot fail to be attended with numerous advantages to both; not from an 05) 3; pei interchange of the staples, for they are the same; nor from an increased ©“ ?***” supply to Jamaica of ground-provisions, yams, cocoas, &c., as some imagine, in order to drive the competitor in this country from the market, for that would be positively injurious ; but of other commodities, not so generally or so successfully cultivated here, such as rice, corn, beans, peas, with various other pulses, and of small stock, pigs, sheep, fowls, all extra- vagantly dear with us. A still more extended and more civilizing advan- tage will be derived from the intercommunication of commodities derived from without by either country. We are glad to perceive the application of the plough to the cultivation Fishbourne of the cane-fields. During slavery and the apprenticeship, the cane-holes A hee. were generally dug in this parish by jobbers, who were in the possession of I. (5), p. 164. attorneys, managers, or their particular friends. Had the use of the plough been as much resorted to as the nature of the land admitted, and as the interests of the proprietors demanded, the profits of the jobbing masters Would have been greatly diminished. These jobbing gangs, and the in- terests of their former masters, no longer exist, and therefore it will now be found necessary, as it has ever been expedient, to adopt the speedy and €conomical mode of preparing land for the growth of the cane by the plough, in preference to the more slow, laborious, and expensive method heretofore practised. The negroes are certainly making rapid progress in civilization ; even x, D. Baynes, among the aged, you do not now often fall in with one that is not a Chris- : rE 15, aa tian. Polygamy is becoming more rare, whilst marriages are twenty-fold eats a More frequent than they were five years since. I believe that it is as seldom now that parents do not carry their infants to the baptismal font, as it was during slavery for them to do so. Those abominable orgies, then 80 common at night, as the only time that could be vacated from labour, either for the profit of their master or for their own subsistence, for the purposes of amusement and recreation, are fast going out of practice, now they have it in their power to indulge themselves with an occasional holi- Jamaica. Pringle. June 5. I. (5), p. 201. 168 General Effects of Emancipation. day at their own convenience. On some estates steers are killed for the consumption of the negroes, who purchase the beef with avidity, a luxury to which they were utter strangers during slavery. ‘Three animals, I am told, were slaughtered at Aleppo and Brimmer, each, last week, and the meat all bought up by the negroes at a very early hour. Stores also are established on some properties, for the mutual convenience of the master and the labourer, as they spare the latter the trouble of travelling sometimes 20 miles to market; whilst the former gets back, through this channel, much of the money which he expends for wages. These are highly advan- tageous to both parties, where the transactions are for ready-money pay- ments only. They are likely in other cases, especially where wages are not settled weekly, to lead to complaints and distrust on the part of the negro. —$— In some of my previous reports I am afraid that I have conveyed a false impression respecting the capabilities and worth of the land cultivated by the negroes for their own support; and it is not surprising that individuals, not practical planters, should fall into the errors to which I allude, and more particularly so when it is remembered that the planters have long, from interested views, made it a practice to give extravagant accounts of the value of the lands allotted for negro provision-grounds. I have stated that an acre of land will, with little cultivation, supply a negro family with corn and “ bread kind ” adequate to their support; but this is true only to a certain extent, for the acre of land will only supply the cultivator with one crop, and therefore to live upon one acre of land will require a new acre every year, and in some situations every half-year. The negroes, during slavery, were privileged to open lands wherever they found the land good, and not in cultivation by their masters; this privilege was much cur- tailed during the time of the apprenticeship, and now is to the extent of fixing the limit of the negro’s occupation to the piece of land he has at pre- sent in use, the value of which, except in isolated instances, will speedily be nothing. These are facts of considerable importance, as bearing on the statements made by the planters respecting the purchases of land now being so extensively made by the negroes recently emancipated. ‘They assume that these purchasers of land will withdraw themselves as labourers from the cultivation of the staples of the colony. That this assumption is erro- neous I shall presently show. On the borders of Clarendon and Manchester a town is springing up at Porus, by the unaided energy and industry of the negro settlers, of whom there is now, as near as I can guess, 1500, including the females and chil- dren. Within an area of two square miles several proprietors are selling land for the purpose. The most extensive sales have been made by Mr. Andrew Drummond. This gentleman, since August last year, purchased 400 acres for 500/. currency; the whole of this, except about twenty re- served acres, he has sold in lots averaging from fifteen to twenty-five acres each. What he purchased for 500/. he has sold: for 2000/. It appears that the purchasers from Mr. Drummond only acted as agents, and amongst General Effects of Emancipation. 169 them and the entire body of the settlers, there is now only three who hold = Jamaica. so much as five acres each, and the generality of these freeholds contain no aa more than from one acre and a_ half to two acres. I have visited this village several times, and conversed with the settlers, and also with some respectable individuals who reside in the immediate neighbourhood of Porus, and I learn that the conduct of these new comers has been irreproachable, and that their industry has been surprising. The quality of the land is so bad, and freeholds so small, which these persons have purchased, that it is almost an impossibility that they can reap any produce from them ; and this the settlers know well. I was informed by them that they only wished for homes where they could not be troubled, and that they might have the liberty of working where they might choose for their livelihood. What they thus told me they are doing, although still busy with their houses and fences. They are employing themselves mostly by job, taking contracts to clean pastures. These individuals, being mostly from the coffee properties and grazing properties, appear disposed to continue at the kind of labour to which they have been accustomed. There are three very fine sugar-estates in the immediate neighbourhood, on the Clarendon side, but none of these settlers have yet taken employment on them, but there is little fear but that they will do so in due time, and the locality of the village will certainly enhance the value of these sugar-estates, as well as the other properties in the neighbourhood. I observe a great desire among the negroes to purchase land, which they Gaunt, have been enabled to effect at about six pounds per acre. Severalhundred June 10. acres have been sold at Porus Savannah, on the border of Clarendon. A I. Q 840), number of houses have been built there since the Ist of August; and the Pome population of the village must already exceed 1000. It is daily extending, and the population increasing; and, as it is likely to be of importance to the parish, I will, at some future period, give a more particular account of it. Many proprietors have advertised for sale the mountain lands heretofore Lyon. cultivated as provision grounds by their labourers, from an assumption that July 31. their produce, by rendering the people independent of estates’ labour for de See sustenance, has a tendency to prevent that regularity of labour they deem necessary for sugar culture; this, in conjunction with the irritation pro- duced on some properties by the indiscriminate service of notices to quit, has induced a very large portion of the best class of agricultural labourers in this parish to become purchasers of land, thus producing an effect the very reverse of that contemplated by their masters, in rendering them more Independent of daily hire than before ; and also creating a present evil to the community in general, by the amazing increase of price occasioned by it, in the articles of yams, cocoas, plantains, &c., the common food of all classes of working people. Yams and cocoa’s, which usually averaged in this parish 10s. to 15s. per cwt., have been, within the two last months, Selling at 20s. to 30s. per cwt. in the town of Falmouth, the chief supply being drawn from Hanover and St. Ann, and occasionally from Cuba. 170 General liffects of Emancipation. Jamaica. The sudden reduction in the cultivation of the mountain provision grounds, ny and the circumstance of the greater portion of the estates people being now purchasers and not sellers of such produce, is one cause at present operat- ing to enhance the price of labour. Upwards of 800 acres have already been distributed in allotments of from one rood to two acres among the labourers of this parish, at prices varying from 10/. to 40/. per acre, while the missionaries and other persons are still engaged in negotiating further purchases for that purpose. eae During slavery and apprenticeship one-third of the people residing on US. . . . re (isto), estates were considered incapable of, and were exempted from, labour. p. 28. Seventy out of one hundred slaves or apprentices was considered a fair pro- portion. Of those seventy probably one-third was composed of the preg- nant women, or mothers of large young families, the very old or very young, sickly or ulcerated individuals, and domestics, &c., who, 1f deducted, would leave about one-half of the gross strength of the estate, or about fifty effective labourers. The decrease, therefore, of the number of effective field-servants is not so large as those not acquainted with plantation eco- nomy might imagine, on being told that not above half the people on an estate now work in the fields. As long as the people are permitted to cultivate excellent land, well suited for the growth of provisions and arrow-root, and as long as they find that working their grounds is more profitable than plantation labour, so long it cannot be expected that they will labour continuously and steadily. They are actually unrestricted in the extent of land they may cultivate, and they are therefore independent. Besides this powerful cause of inconstant labour, the various rates of pay and allowances offered on contiguous estates, as well as the different systems adopted respecting rent, have con- tributed much toward breaking down the long-standing desire of the negro to labour where he was born, and has engendered a habit of wandering from parish to parish, or from one estate to another, in search of better terms than he can obtain at home. Even the Africans, who were indented and located on some plantations in this parish, after working on different estates on which the highest rates of pay were given, have all gone to St. Mary’s, where they receive better pay, allowances, and accommodations than in this parish... - + + p. 31. Planters are unwilling to permit families to reside on their plantations, the females of which refuse to devote themselves to agricultural labour. The object is to increase the number of constant field labourers: the effect I have reason to believe will be the reverse—for many respectable people are now availing themselves of opportunities of purchasing or leasing small pieces of land, where they are preparing to place their wives and children, and where they also will retire when they can quit the estates, without sacrificing the provisions now in the ground. Within the last three months I have been consulted by very many as to the necessary steps to be taken so as to secure themselves from molestation hereafter in their settlements. Twelve months have elapsed since freedom was proclaimed, during Progress of Education and Religious Instruction. 171 which period the Courts of Quarter Session and Common Pleas have sat Jamaica. every three months, and not one of the emancipated blacks has been called We fO serve asajuryman.. . 2... . An exclusion so complete, affecting about 10,000 emancipated blacks in p. 32. this parish, is no less striking than objectionable; it is one of the means silently enforced for maintaining invidious distinctions between this class and other free inhabitants of the parish, and for perpetuating exclusions and disabilities incompatible with the spirit of the British constitution. V.—Procress or Epucation AND Rexicious [Nstruction. The free children are, in the towns, usually sent to school; but on the g, p, Baynes. estates the too general aversion of the managers to all steps taken to Sept. 20, 1838. enlighten the minds or to ameliorate the condition of the peasantry has led ep them to resist the establishment of schools on the properties under their charge. Hence, I regret to say, the negro villages too often abound in children fast approaching to puberty, who wander about in a state of nudity, untaught to do anything for themselves or others. Every denomination of sectarians in the island, with the exception of Presbyterians and Independents, has a place of worship in Spanish Town. There are also various schools for the education of youth. That of the Rey. James M. Phillipps, the Baptist minister, is by far the best conducted and the most numerously attended. The good effects of compensated labour are every day becoming more _@rant, apparent. During the apprenticeship a constant source of complaint was, Nov. 20, 1838. that the young children were keptin ignorance and in idleness. The effect ae of a free system is clearly discernible on this point. There are in this parish twelve schools. These have become crowded with the children of such of the labourers as are able to keep them clean and spare their labour; and it is now no uncommon thing to see a mother whose means are less, with her four or five children, busily employed in picking coffee from Morning to night, to raise the funds to support and clothe, and, at inter- vals, to send them to school. It may not be improper here to mention that the desire for religious instruction increases daily. There are in this parish thirteen places of worship, with full congregations. Several candid proprietors have lately informed me that they feel their Daughtry. produce in all its stages far more secure than formerly. Jan. 1, 1839. The superior character and behaviour of instructed negroes is forcing ae from some, who have heretofore given the institutions of religion but little countenance, the value and importance of “ such safeguards,” especially, they say, “in the present very peculiar and critical state of the island.” When I first came into the district there was only one school for the Bourne, instruction of the negroes. There are now four, and I believe that all are 4 o) jc ct well attended; and, if I may judge from the one kept on Sundays at my ‘ Jamaica. Grant. Mar. 18, 1839. 1, (4), p. 9. Pryce. Mar. 31, 1839. 1. (5), p- 99. Hamilton. June 8, 1839. I, (5), p. 208. Mahon. June 12, 1839 I. (5), p. 205. Kelly. Aug. 6. TI. (1840), p. 32. 172 Progress of Education and Religious Instruction. own place, the improvement of the scholars, especially the adults, is fully equal to that of Europeans. Too much praise cannot be given to the Church Missionary Society, and the London Missionary Society, for their zealous and well-directed efforts to instruct the negroes in this parish. The church and schools are crowded, and the greatest desire for religious and other instruction evinced by the entire population. They never think it too late to learn, and it is curious sometimes to see a man about forty years of age or upwards learning his letters, or spelling words of two and three syllables. The number of marriages and baptisms increases daily, There isa great change in the apparel of the mass of the peasantry, and in their general demeanour they are most respectful. The peasantry continue not only most anxious for the increase of reli- gious and educational impulses, but bear all the burthens of instruction with cheerfulness ; in proof of which I beg leave to state to his Excellency the Governor the intention of those in this district under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Rowden, Wesleyan minister at Bath, who have agreed volun- tarily to erect a new church at their own exclusive cost, and mean to con- vert the old chapel into a school for the education of the rising generation. The moral conduct of the labouring population warrants the highest commendation. Some months past a great portion of them evinced a marked desire for religious instruction, and, witha view of gratifying them in so desirable and praiseworthy an object, I applied to the Wesleyan body for one of their ministers to attend at my residence every Sabbath, which was readily acceded to, and it affords me infinite pleasure in stating that within the last three weeks from 100 to 150 congregate weekly ; their demeanour on such occasions reflects the highest credit on them. District perfectly tranquil. It is to be lamented that schools are not more numerous in this parish; - there is one on this estate (Morland), and it is astonishing how far the children are advanced ; some of the children, not more than four and five years of age, are able to read and spell very correctly. I have been present at some of their meetings, in which the warmest demonstration of loyalty to the Crown, of esteem and affection for his Ex- cellericy the Governor was manifested, and of their determination to obey the laws; their meritorious conduct, I am of opinion, in a great measure is chiefly owing to the progress of education and moral influence with which the labouring population are daily becoming more acquainted. I have attended at the examination of one or two schools under the management of the Baptist missionaries, and have been much pleased at seeing such a vast number of children so far advanced in substantial education, and so well instructed in moral and religious duties. There are upwards of 2000 Progress of Education and Religious Instruction. 173 children receiving daily and weekly instruction under the superintendence of the above missionaries in this parish. Itis pleasing to represent to your Excellency, that at the last parish vestry, 200/. currency were voted to the Rev. Mr. Cowan, and to the Rev. Mr. Simpson, missionaries of the Scotch church, in this parish. Applica- tion was made to the vestry by the reverend gentlemen for pecuniary as- sistance in conducting their schools. Presented and supported by two vestry men, overseers of estates, the vestry unanimously granted the money. VI.—Cost or CuLTIVATION BY FREE LaBouk, AND VALUE OF PROPERTY. On the abolition of the apprenticeship, it was asserted that that measure, even if beneficial to large properties, would be the cause of ruin to small ye settlements. The event has utterly disproved the truth of the assertion, for the small properties were the first on which labour was expended; the pecuniary means of the proprietors or owners enabling them, from the lowness of wages under a free system, to do that which, for the converse reason, they had been unable to do during the term of apprenticeship. . . . . With regard to the cultivation of properties generally, I have the calcu- lation of a gentleman long resident in the island to prove that a pen may be cultivated for one-third of the slave contingencies, a good coffee-property for a small per centage more, and a sugar-estate for about one-third more than the slave contingencies. ae With regard to the expenditure of properties, I am confident that cul- tivation can be carried on at much less expense than under the former BCI, 5 5 ke I know a property on which there was 350 slaves. The amount expended on account of labour, from the Ist of August to the 31st of December last, on this property, was 449/. 1s. On an average, between taxes, clothing, medicine, medical attendance, &c., each apprentice or slave cost the owner of the property at least 5/.; this, for the year, would be 1,'750/., and at the Same rate, for the five months, 725/. The annual rent of houses, gardens, and grounds on the property, will amount to about 500/. per annum; and at the same rate, for the five months, it amounts to 208/. 6s. 8d., which sum, deducted from the 449/. 1s. expended in labour, leaves a balance of 2401.14, 4d. as the outlay for labour required on the property for the five months; and for the same space of time the expense of apprenticeship, or slave contingencies, would amount to 725/., leaving a balance in favour of the expense required for free labour of 484/. 5s. 8d.; and the late de- ficiency law required five people, besides the overseer, doing militia duty, to be employed at salaries, and maintained on the property. ‘The saving Jamaica. Marlton. Aug. 6. I. (1840), p. 34. Grant. v. 20, 1838, p- 180. Grant. Feb. 9, 1839 I. (3), p. 19. Jamaica. Chamberlaine. Feb. 13, 1839. I. (3), p. 56. Carnaby. Feb. 19, 1839. I. (3), p. 41. Daughtry. Feb. 24, 1839. I. (4), p. 25. Lyon, Dillon, and Kelly. Mar. 27. I. (5), p. 54. 174 Cost of Cultivation by Free Labour, effected by the change in this particular is very great, The book-keepers are now dispensed with. The supercession of a free system has been a great relief to the owners of unproductive properties, They were bound to give the prescribed al- lowances to their slaves, without reference to their own profits. To illustrate this position, I can point out a property on which were settled 100 slaves. The lowest estimate of expenditure on their account is 5001. a-year, and the possession, notwithstanding the high price of produce, has of late years regularly increased the owner’s debt, Since 1st August to 3lst December, the labour account has amounted to 99/. 4s. 2d. The usual cultivation has been carried on and improved ; the pastures, hitherto neglected, are cleaned; and about 30 acres of coffee, which had grown up to the state best described by “ ruinate,”? have been opened. The produce, small as it is, now secured, will pay all the expenses of the plantation ; and, even in this first year of experiment, place the proprietor on a better footing than under a continuance of the previous system he ever could have hoped for. The collection of a rent from 1st November to Ist February will be a further relief. There are several plantations which did not pay their contingencies under the slave system; there are many that could not have continued in culti- yation much longer, even under that system. None such have been yet abandoned. On the other hand, there are several plantations on which the very first crops taken off by free labour will be at a cheaper rate than under slavery or apprenticeship! Though not exactly connected with my district, I cannot omit this opportunity of communicating a fact, made known to me a few days ago, as bearing upon the value of and revenue from estates under a free system, when properly managed. A property was lately purchased in a midland parish, unfavourably situate, by being at a considerable distance from any port or wharf, from which the proprietor has stated he expects to realize out of the proceeds of this year’s crop, after defraying contingent expenses, one-half of the purchase-money. The estate it is understood was sold for 5000/. currency. Since the mills have been put about, the chief complaint I hear is of the cost per hogshead, varying, according to circumstances, from 3/. 10s. to 5l By the extended application of ‘machinery, and other improvements, the cost in future years may doubtless be somewhat reduced. With regard to the assertion that the sum paid for labour is so high as to render it impossible that the returns of sugar-planting can sustain it, it is only necessary to say that experience has proved that the expenditure varies from 3/. 10s. to 5J. per hogshead. The planter, therefore, has it i his power to compute his expenditure against his profits; and, with sugar selling in the colony at 40s. to 54s. per cwt., and rum from 6s, 8d, to 8s. Ad. and Value of Property. 175 per gallon, it may without difficulty be shown the result must be extremely favourable to him. Notwithstanding, we may mention, as a proof of the prosperity of the country and the general confidence in the continuation of that prosperity, the increased price of landed property and the difficulty of procuring, at any price, dwelling-houses, particularly about the towns, where many new build- ings are being erected; a stimulus has been felt by traders, artisans are eagerly sought after, and the people evidently begin to see that the loudly- echoed complaints about the country being ruined proceeded more from imaginary than real causes. In the manufacture of sugar extra hours of labour are necessarily required and given, and the average cost per hogshead, or ton weight, may be stated at about two sovereigns, or ten or twelve dollars per cask ; on unproductive estates, with indifferent canes and machinery, this price will necessarily be somewhat enhanced... . . I take this opportunity to apprise his Excellency of the recently en- hanced yalue of spare lands, six acres and a half of uncultivable sea-side lands having been purchased from the proprietor in St. George’s, by a Mr, Francis, at the rate of 100/. per acre. The cost of making sugar in this part of the parish is generally about 4]. 10s. currency per hogshead, with which the planters profess themselves to be content. Jamaica, Bell and Jackson. Mar. 30, 1839. I. (5), p. 98. Pryce. Mar. 31, 1839. LG) peas Pringle. Apr. 1, 1839, 1 @) poe In the midst of so much misrepresentation and so much real or affected E. D. Baynes, despondency on the part of the planter, the confidence of the great majority of the other classes of the community in the stability and security of pro- perty remains unabated. Land, especially in the vicinage of towns, has Tisen, and is increasing in value. Mr, Duncan Hamilton, of Retreat, in the parish of St. John, who four years since assured me that he did not think he could get 3000. for his property, has within these few weeks disposed of it to Mr. Alexander Reid Scott, a storekeeper, of Kingston, for the sum of 10,000/. During slavery and the apprenticeship, the jobber charged from 10/. to to 12/. per acre for digging, with his slaves or apprentices, an acre of land into cane-holes: now, at wages of ls. 8d. per day, an acre of cane-holes may be dug for the sum of 2/. 10s, currency; at 2s. 1d, wages, it will cost 3/. 2s, 6d.; at 2s. 6d. wages, it will cost 4/. 10s.; and at 3s. Ad., the highest rate of wages that I have heard of, it will cost only 5/., just one- half what it cost in times past. The whole estimated expense of each negro to the planter was from 6/. to ‘7/. per annum. — April 3, 1839, I, (6), p. 73. ;Ramsay. Apr. 6, 1839. I. (5), p. 75, ‘Jamaica. Bourne, May 24, 1839. I. (5), p. 157. Grant. June 10, I. (1840), p. 8. 176 Cost of Cultivation by Free Labour, Mr. Joseph Gordon, the custos of this parish, has offered to lease for 2000/. per annum twoestates of the Duke of Buckingham’s, which are said not to have netted the late Duke 1000/. per annum for many years past I have remarked that the persons who are loudest in proclaiming the deplorable state of the country, are the very persons who grasp most firmly the property they have in it, and, if they have the means, are most willing to purchase more. This may be honest. They may be doing this without any sinister motive. I know one of them who purchased a pro- perty about three years ago. He was lately offered nearly treble the amount he gave for it. Did he take it? No; but in the same breath he would assert that the country was ruined. In Clarendon, matters are going on pretty well, but there are some of the properties in the mountains of that parish on which the manufacture of sugar cannot be carried on with profit adequate to the outlay of money and trouble attendant on the cultivation and on the difficulties and ex- penses of the embarguidiar. It is well known that during slavery and apprenticeship the debts due on many properties mortgaged to English merchants accumulated annually. This, although detrimental to the interest of the proprietor, was not so to the merchant. It secured to him, at an annual loss to the proprietor, freight for his ships, interest for his money, commissions for his trouble, and the monopoly of the estate’s supplies. It was, therefore, the interest of the merchant to keep up the cultivation of poor and badly situated properties, though they were profit- less in every respect to the absent proprietor. Now, I fancy, matters will be different. The debts of the proprietor, instead of having diminished on their first amount, having accumulated to a greater sum than the ~ estate is worth, the property will likely be sold, and another staple resorted to, maintaining a proper relation between expenditure and profit. We will suppose that there is one-fourth less of the population at work in producing and manufacturing the staple productions, than under the slavery or apprenticeship systems. It is well known that to prove the impossibility of successful agriculture, persons pointed to the diminution of field Jabourers immediately subsequent to the Ist of August. A sufficient period of time has elapsed since the termination of the apprenticeship to prove the fallacy of such opinion or assertions. In the first place no comparison can be drawn between the exertions of a slave and a free man, between compulsory and voluntary labour. It has happily been even already shown that the great stimulus to exertion is self-interest, that money is found to be a far more powerful excitement to industry than any which has yet been had recourse to. If it is therefore proved that the result of the money stimulus has been extra exertion, it necessarily follows that fewer persons are required to carry on, under the voluntary system, cultivation to the same extent as that carried on under the compulsory. I have said that the fact has been proved. I refer to the state of this parish, and the new coffee lands fallen and planted. This will prove, too, that the planters do not consider the wages to be too high, for it cannot be and Value of Property. 177 supposed that addition would be made to previous cultivation, if it could not be done at such a rate as to insure to the persons interested, if not profit, at all events indemnification from any loss. I believe that in communications to the island agent, through the com- missioner of correspondence, the progress of agriculture, and the present and future anticipated condition of the country, has been tested by the number of persons actually engaged in agricultural labour since the Ist of August. This might, I allow, have been done with a conscientious ¢nten- tion to show the actual existing state of affairs. But I may be allowed to ask, whether it is fair, whether it is honest, to take the weekly average of persons at work from the Ist day of August to the date on which the ‘return was made up? Only to insert in this average list the persons at work who were formerly attached to the property, leaving out strangers, and to compare this with the weekly average return of persons at work during the whole term of the apprenticeship, including jobbers from other properties, weakly and ineffective labourers, such as diseased persons, pregnant women, and children ? I know a property where this return was called for, and will show what it was likely to be. Out of 70 or 80 apprentices, about 10 or 12 efficient persons only remained under the free system. Jobbers had always been employed during the apprenticeship with the resident work-people ; the weekly average number of labourers at work during that term we may suppose to have been at least 200. When under the free system, perhaps, as the average was taken from the first day on which the people were free agents, and was reduced by dividing the number employed by the number of weeks in the interval between the requirements of labour, and only included persons who were the former slaves or apprentices of the planta- tion, it would not exhibit more than 20 or 25 in each week at work. Mr. Burge called for “ facts.’ This would be a fact. ‘ During the term of apprenticeship I had, on an average, 200 labourers each week. Since the commencement of the free-labour system, on an average, only 20 or 25 of my people have been at work.” It is, of course, quite un- hecessary to mention that the property is in better order than it ever had been during the apprenticeship, and that this was done by labourers from other properties who had completed the work on their own plantations. “Facts”? were required, but it was unnecessary to mention this...,... Ihave no doubt, in furnishing the island agent, through the Commis- sioner of Correspondence, with “facts,” the Manchester gentlemen who undertook that responsible task have communicated the important and pleasing intelligence that, in the first year of freedom 1200. tierces of coffee was shipped at Alligator Pond over the number shipped in the last year of slavery ; 2.e., 2100 was shipped in 1833, and 3300 in 1839. At this period last year, while the result of free labour was a speculative Matter, calculations were published by various parties on the probable expense and profit of sugar cultivation by free labour; in nearly all the data, it was presumed that no profit would be realized by those estates N Jamaica, Lyon. July 31, I. (1840), p. 38. Jamaica. Fishbourne. Aug. 7. I. (1840), p. 30. Bell and Jackson, Aug. 8. I. (1840), p. 26. 178 Cost of Cultivation by Free Labour, which made less than 80 hogsheads. The amount for contingencies in- separable from such manufacturing establishments was computed to be nearly as great on these small estates as on larger ones. The experience of this crop has, however, shown that apprehension to have been delusory, as I have had opportunities of learning that where less than even 80 hogsheads have been made, a very considerable income has been realized. One estate in this parish, making 75 hogsheads, with a proportionate quantity of rum, has netted 1000/. sterling. The capability of successfully cultivating the staples of the colony, under a free system with judicious and economical management, having been proved by the experience of the past year, it will in future be requisite to observe and report upon the proper application of labour, and the judg- ment exhibited in the culture of lands, as a’ necessary prudence on the part of managers to insure a permanent succession of prosperous harvests, and their own estimate of the prospects of interest which the future will realize for all existing investments of capital in colonial agriculture. Job and task-work are resorted to in all descriptions of labour, and the prices paid for jobs and the hire per day for regulated tasks are both rea- sonable. One gentleman has informed me that all his fields being clean, the labourers have engaged to fall a large piece of wood-land (TI think 40 acres), cut up the timber, burn off the bush, line and plant it with coffee for 5/. an acre, For this description of labour exactly 61 people per acre under the apprenticeship, (according to the scale of labour laid down by planters) would be allowed. Five pounds currency per acre gives nob quite one English shilling per day to each labourer, which surely is reason- able. Cleaning pastures, making or mending fences, and other descrip- tions of labour, are done at rates equally or more moderate. After the commencement of the apprenticeship, Mr. Aris purchased a sugar estate, called Enfield,’ in St. Thomas in the Vale. Alarmed at the panic which pervaded upon the attainment of unrestricted freedom by the late apprentices, he sold the freehold to Mr. Sanguinetti for 5,000. (about 2,000/. more than Mr. Aris paid for it), Alter realizing 2,000J. by the crop, Mr. Sanguinetti re-conveyed the estate to Mr. Aris for 6,000/., thus obtaining by one year’s cultivation, 40 per cent. upon his capital (some portion of which was never paid down), and 60 per cent. by the cultivation and sale; this, too, during the most eventful period, the first year of unconditional freedom ; and, large as this return is, we understand that it does not exceed that which was obtained by Mr. Aris “previous to his dis- posing of the estate. Mr. Duncan Hamilton sold an estate in St. John’s, lately, by which he was as great a gainer as either Mr. Aris or Mr. Sam guinetti. These facts we mention, as they tend to prove, beyond a doubt, that the value of property has not been depreciated to that alarming extent which it serves the views of some persons in this country to impress upon the public mind. Such facts we know, when not denied, are termed excep- tions to the rule, isolated cases; but with the hope of disabusing the publi¢ and Value of Property. 179 mind and awakening that confidence in the country, the want of which, Jamaica. among other causes, greatly tends to its depression, we beg leave to state one or two other facts totally unconnecied with the conduct of the labourers, towhich may be attributed the falling off of the crops and the dimini returns from properties in this country. . ... . The want of a sufficient metallic currency greatly tends to enhance the price of labour, and to render its supply precarious. At the end of a week’s labour the negro is frequently paid a check, the value of which he is unac- ut quainted with, and in which he places no confidence. He then has to pass it at a discount of from four to ten per cent. Even small checks in ex- change for large ones are sometimes at a premium, and we fear, as it is to the interest of many persons to continue this state of things, that it will not cease until a law is passed, compelling bankers and others to redeem their notes in coin, or preventing their issue so extensively. The banks charge a heavy per-centage for silver, even when paid in exchange of their own notes. British Guiana. I. p. 252. 180 Progress of Industry, and BRITISH GUIANA. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 30th July, 1838. From the satisfactory reports I continue to receive relative to the disposition of the labouring population, after the Ist of August, to continue with their present masters, I anticipate little necessity for the interference of the police, though it would be imprudent to be without some civil force. Most of the planters and proprietors have proposed terms to the peasantry, which, though not binding to either party, will be generally accepted. Asa beginning, seven hours and a half labour as at present; a tariff of work as before, which indus- trious people finish in three or four hours, and they then will receive extra wages as at present for all excess of work. On my return from visiting the three counties, I shall be enabled to give your Lordship more detailed accounts ; the present terms offered are eight dollars a month, with house, medical attendant, and plot of ground, and no supplies from the estate; or a lesser pro- portion of money, and all the allowances they now have as appren- tices; it is generally believed that the former terms will be most acceptable. It will be my particular duty to watch the various changes made by the apprentices in their present locations; if they are not nume- rous, it will be a corroboration of the favourable reports of the late Sir Carmichael Smyth, as to the contented and happy condition of the apprentices. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 13th August, 1838. I nave the most heartfelt satisfaction in announcing to your Lordship the happy termination of the last trace of slavery on the Ist of August. ‘That day was passed. in thanksgiving and prayer, in every part of this extensive colony; not one instance of disorderly or offensive conduct can be adduced, to throw any slur on the character of the new race of freemen ; itis a proof both of the good disposition of the negro race, and of the harmony existing between the old and new freemen of British Guiana. . . . we - Labour could not be expected for some days; but the cessation from labour produced no interruption of general tranquillity. .. ; « The least sanguine of the proprietors anticipate little bad final result; and I have made it generally known to those that the free labourers at Antigua had not all resumed their work for three weeks after emancipation. The difficulty of settling a rate of wages 18 almost arranged; money was so easily gained for extra work to the apprentice labourers, that they cannot readily comprehend why 4 comparatively small rate of wages has been offered to them in theit free condition, forgetting that they have the same opportunity of obtaining extra prices for extra work. This, however, will find its level; as my address has remedied, and 1 hope explained it. ec iemen ra C LAL N Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 28th August, 1838. [ nave the satisfaction of reporting to your Lordship, that although I there were partial absences from labour, and perhaps not quite as ” much diligence as eager planters may wish, yet on every estate in Berbice, after I had visited it, I found that the work had been cheer- fully resumed ; that on several estates double work had been done for extra wages, and the confidence of the planters was beginning to gain ground. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 6th Sept. 1838. From all that I can learn, there is little now to fear of any con- On some few estates on the west coast of Essequibo, local causes have excited discontent, and no great industry shown; the same causes have produced the same effects in parts of Demerara. The last accounts from Berbice, three days ago, mentioned that the planters were satisfied, and on several estates more work has been done than during tinued cessation from labour. industrious. The stipendiary magistrates in general speak favourably of the progressive state of industry; a disposition to remain on the estates Where the labourers were located is general; change of location has been commonly confined to those who, in their state of slavery or apprenticeship, had been removed from their original residence. The quiet disposition of the new freemen may be appreciated by learning that there has scarcely been a commitment by a justice of the peace during the whole month of August. in making this report, which I trust will b ship. The intelligent, unprejudiced men of property in the colony have no fear for the future; and the experience of the last month gives every reason for anticipating favourably the undiminished prosperity of the colony. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 18th Sept. 1838. Loca circumstances have, in some cases, made a difference in the conduct of the labourers; but the greatest number are cheerfull resuming their work with re depended on the employers. from agriculture General Condition of Society. 5 to] ta) co) ; this will be soon checked, as the forbearance of the employers, who have hitherto abstained from ejecting the idle from the apprenticeship. Where- ever tact and moderation have been shown by managers and masters, there has been a fair share of work performed, ‘The settlement of wages on the Ist September has opened the eyes of the idlers, and convinced them that the idle cannot receive in equal portion with the T have great pleasure e gratifying to your Lord- Much has ‘The estates in the immediate neigh- bourhood of this town have suffered most from irregularity of work. The means of gaining money by jobbing have tempted the labourers gularity and industry. British Guiana. p. 277. I. p. 277. I, p. 295. British Guiana, I. p. 298. 18 Pe 299. 182 Progress of Industry, and the cottages on the estates, will cease, and the labourer, finding he has neither house nor provision-grounds at his command, will be dis- posed to give that portion of his time to the estate as will entitle him to a residence. From Berbice I still continue to receive the most satisfactory accounts. There has been no interruption of labour since my depar ture from it; on many estates more work has been done, and larger number of labourers in the field than during the apprentice system. In every part of the colony there has been much greater industry this month than during the last. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 5th October, 1838. I am happy to say, that, although induced to write to your Lor d ship in consequence of observing partial attempts at severity, yet the general feeling is in favour of mildness and conciliation. On the east coast of Demerara there has scarcely been a committal; very few of the estates in the whole colony express dissatisfaction, or have made any change in their usual produce; some are making more sugar than during the apprenticeship ; and there appears to be few exceptions of harmonious feelings between employer and employed. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 15th October, 1838. TxoucH, on many of the estates throughout British Guiana, a fair portion of work is obtained, yet it cannot be denied that an irregularity of labour exists; the planter cannot as yet be certain of the same number in the field two days together, and when in the field many of the negroes, after working for a short time, leave their work to follow their own inclinations. They do not as yet seem to understand the necessity for giving an equivalent to the estate for the advantages it affords them. ‘This is more particu- larly felt in the islands of the Essequibo, and on part of the dis- trict towards the Pomaroon, on the sea-coast. Some of the estates on Walkenhaam and Legonan have experienced a great loss of hands, by many of the labourers returning to estates whence they had been removed in time of slavery, and consequently part of their rich crops will remain uncut, if the places of those who retire are not supplied. The negro, credulous in the extreme, believes the slightest report of advantages held out to him by being in the neighbourhood of the town; the nature of their location in the islands, and on the coast of Essequibo, prevents easy access to the capital, they therefore are desirous of being where it is more with- in reach. ‘Che establishment of a steam-boat, which a spirited American, named Benjamin, has undertaken, and which is to begin its voyages to the coast and islands of the Essequibo ina few days, will, I trust, by the facilities it will afford of communica- tion, be the means of checking the present disposition to leave the estates of that part of the colony. I have thought it right to publish an address tothe negroes on General Condition of Society. 183 the necessity of being regular in their industry, without alluding to the unsettled state of the islands, which, indeed, is an evil that will cure itself, as experience will show the labourers that they will gain very little by the change. A copy of my proclamation is herewith annexed; it is too much to expect a complete resump- tion of steady, industrious habits throughout the colony in so short a period after the lst August; but I trust your Lordship will not disapprove of the mode I have adopted to recommend the idlers to change their conduct. To the Freed Men and Women of the Ist August. I have been watching your conduct for the last two months. I have received reports from the stipendiary magistrates of every district. Some are favourable to you as labourers; all give testimonials of your peaceable conduct; but I am sorry to say, you do not all prove yourselves worthy of the name of free people—nor do you all respond to the expectations I had formed of you, which were, that after a short relaxation, natural and allow- able, in your new state, you would see the necessity of providing a surplus for yourselves and families, by the full labour of your hands, and thence endeavour to raise yourselves in your grades of society by the savings of your wages. I hear that some of you, contrary to your duty, content yourselves with irre- gular labour—that your masters cannot depend on your contracts of monthly hiring—that you go into the field one day and abstain from it the next— that when you have earned sufficient to fill your bellies, like the wild beasts after satisfying their hunger, you lie down to sleep, or idle your time—that when in the field many of you do not work a quarter of your specified task, and then pretend to wonder that you are not paid a full rate of wages. Ave you aware to what this leads? the abandonment of estates and your own degradation! Can you expect that owners of estates will supply you with houses and other advantages, or be content with the labour you choose to give in return? Can you suppose they will allow you to have your own whims about work, or your own disposal of time? Can they afford to pay the interest of the first cost of their estates, of the buildings, and constant expenditure to keep the buildings and lands in a state to receive your labour, if they are not assured of a fair portion of your labour ? I hear of ill-disposed people, who circulate false reports amongst you, who encourage you to think that you are not sufficiently paid—that you are overworked. Do not believe them; they are your enemies. If you do not give a fair portion of your labour to the estates, your places will soon be supplied ; when so long as you have money you may afford to be idle, but your own sense must tell you that money, not increased by ad- ditional earnings, will soon be exhausted, and your idleness must bring many of you to trouble. I exhort you not to disappoint the hopes of those who have been so desirous of hastening your emancipation, having thought you worthy of it. I believe there have been very few instance of severity towards you, and you must be aware of the great forbearance of the greater number of your employers. I am taking every means in my power to secure to you kind treatment and justice; but I warn you, for your own sakes, that if you do Not give a fair portion of your labour to the estates on which you are located, the proprietors will drive you from them, for they must have industrious labourers, or they will be ruined, and you along with them. British Guiana. 184 Progress of Industry, and British Though additional supplies of labourers will soon arrive from other colo- Guiana. nies, yet your masters can find work for them as well as for yourselves, but they will not employ you if you do not show you are worthy to be retained on the estates; they will prefer old servants to new ones, but if the old are idle, the new will assume their place. I address this to the idle. I have had pleasure in knowing that many of you have not disappointed the expectations I formed of you, and, there- fore, to such persons this address does not apply. Henry Lieut, Governor. Guiana Public Buildings, October 8, 1838. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 15th October, 1838. Tux collector of the customs having brought in his quarterly re- turn, I have the honour of forwarding a copy of it to your Lordship, anticipating the usual general return, which is sent home in a printed form. It presents a considerable decrease in the last quarter, although much may have been made in the quarter still unentered at the Custom-house ; but then it may be considered that a portion may have been in the same position previous to the commencement of the former quarter. We must certainly expect a decrease in the ensuing quarter, unless there is a more continuous supply of labour; there is no reason, however, for supposing that when the labourers have had their ex- perience of the little advantage to be derived from idleness, or from change of place, that they will not settle steadily to their work. ‘The arrival of a few free labourers from other colonies will, I have on doubt, hasten that period. RETURN of Coronrat Propuce Shipped from this Colony in the Third Quarter of 1838, viz— from the 6th of July, to the 10th of October, 1838, as compared with the Average Quantity of the corresponding Quarters of 1831, 1832, and 1833. Sugar. Rum. Molasses. Coffee. |C ottom ; ‘ Hhds. ‘Trs. Bris.| Puns. Hhds. Brls. : “Trs, Bls. Ibs. | Demerara Average, ie 5 ol : f ee WGP teen, eee Ager aente 673,978 | Berbice do. GOs eit O40. ae 87} 763 18) 6° 944 ,250 14,722 1,210 1,761 9,414 46 011,618,228 2\4,161 194 67) 685,200 S35) Ga GoGgepo sed oO sodG i Berbice do. eo revee i3 5 € é |» 500 0 0 142,200 Demerara, third 8 Ones 13,244 817 292:4,661 194 67 f Increase ..eesseeescccen. So Gut c f Decrease. ..eesssseseeses 94 679 1,593) Cua’ Roxzinson, Collector. Custom House, George Town, Oct. 13, 1838. P. S. SrapLe, Comptroller General Condition of Society. 185 Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 31st October, 1838. So far from any desire to eject from the cottages of the estates, British Guiana. the greatest anxiety has been shown to induce the negroes to remain, I. p. 306. to) . . the planters being well aware that their existence depends on the labourers ; and, therefore, have rarely, if ever, proceeded to such extremities. The only contract beyond the calendar month, which by the Order in Council of the 7th September is reduced to four weeks, that has come to my knowledge, and I have reason to believe is the onl instance in the colony, was made in writing, for three months, be- tween the proprietor of a small coffee estate and a very small gang of labourers, on the western extremity of the Arabian coast of the Essequibo, close to the Pomaroon river, from the lst August; it ends therefore to-day. It was on the same terms as many of the implied monthly contracts: four dollars per month, with the same allowances of food, house, medical attendance, and provision grounds, as during the time of the apprenticeship, for first-rate labourers, and a diminishing scale of money and food for those who did not do a full day’s work; and this for five days’ labour only in the week. In my visit to the different districts of the colony, I warned the negroes against entering into contracts, and recommended the planters strongly not to think of attempting to bind their labourers by any contract, till their new position should be thoroughly under- stood. The resolutions of the Court of Policy transmitted with my despatch, prove there is no desire to establish any restriction beyond that of monthly hiring. I consider the power given by the Orders in Council to the sti- pendiary magistrates alone to adjudicate for breaches of monthly hiring, will have a most beneficial effect: it will relieve the local Magistracy from great responsibility, and will secure that continuous labour, the want of which has been so much felt on many estates since the Ist of August, and will in this colony be generally felt as a boon. Governor Light to Lord Gienelg, 12th December, 1888. I nave hitherto avoided giving your Lordship any determined y, p: 314. opinion on the ambunt of labour, or disposition to abstain from it. During the last three months, I have lost no opportunity of obtain- ing information. It has often been so contradictory, that [ have been obliged to pause, ere I could venture to make it the subject of a despatch. The reports from the stipendiary magistrates were generally fa- Vourable, but acknowledging at times irregularity of labour, which Was to be expected; but on the whole, some few localities excepted, there was no reason to be much dissatisfied. ‘ p : IT am beginning now to understand the causes of the many con- tradictory reports which circulate. There are here the “bulls and bears” of the Iixchange; the sellers and buyers; with others, as teport says, who wish to support their credit by exaggerated British Guiana. 186 Progress of Industry, and accounts of the success of their estates. All this is consequent to the recent great change in the state of the colony ; it will find its level: the best proofs will be in the Custom-house returns, which, uuder any circumstances, must have been less this year than the last, from the unfavourable season in some parts of the colony. Wherever I ride I see the chimneys of the boiling-houses smoking; if there are estates under average work, it may be ascribed to local causes. Merchants could not. prosper were industry failing; they would not risk expensive buildings in the districts, in which to esta- blish stores, on a scale equal to those of George Town (almost un- known during slavery and the apprenticeship ), did they not augur well for the colony. These are facts which speak for themselves. It is certain that a large influx of people from the country have flocked into the capitals, both of Berbice and Demerara. Many have left them; those who could obtain employment remain. In George Town new houses spring up in every direction ; and though thefts and a species of burglary are often reported, yet the gaol at this moment contains only one-half of the number it had six weeks ago, and the district prisons have few prisoners. In the absence of those official reports required by your Lord- ship’s despatch circular, dated Ist October, all of which have not been received, I have to report most favourably of the peaceable and orderly conduct of the whole labouring population. ‘This could not exist if there was not a corresponding kind treatment on their loca- tions. The redress of acts of oppression is so certain, and the labourers themselves have such a full knowledge of their own rights, that whatever disposition there might be to oppress, the means are wanting. The step taken by Her Majesty's government to place the jurisdiction in the hands of the stipendiary magistrates has given full security to the labourer, and will in the end be universally, where it is now only partially, satisfactory to the employer. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, November 1st, 1838. T ave the honour to transmit the usual Returns for the Quarter ending 30th September. GovERNMENT NOTICE. The following Returns for the Quarter ending 30th September, are pub lished for general information. By command of his,Excellency the Governor, W. B. Wotsetety, Guiana Public Buildings, Assistant Government Secretary: October 20, 1838. (A).—Return of Marriages in British Guiana during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. 1. Marriages by special licence . 2. Marriages by publication of banns . Total (B.)—Return of Communicants at the Holy Sacrament during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. 1. Church of England Z : ». 2,428 2. Church of Scotland : , ; 250 3. Reformed Church of Holland . : : 4, Lutheran Church ; i : 12 5. Roman Catholic Church i 3 y 6. Church Missionary Society : ' 20 7. Wesleyan Missionary Society . «jing t6 8. London Missionary Society . : 4,854. 9, Moravian Missionary Society ’ : #5910 (C.)—Return of Persons receiving Instruction in Schools in British Guiana, during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. Average No. Adults. Ditto Children. Total. i. Sunday Schools . ... 38,460 4,081 7,041 2. Day Schools . 2 ¢ 4 212 2,735 2,947 3. Evening Schools . . . 1,919 421 2,340 5,591 1,237 12,828 (D.)—Return of Convictions before the Supreme Criminal Court, during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. Males. Females. ales 1. In the District of Demerara and Essequibo . 1 0 2. In the District of Berbice . . No court held. Total . i> e 0 (E.)—Return of Convictions before the Inferior Criminal Courts during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. ’ Males. Females. 1. Demerara : q f 53 3 2. Essequibo ‘ 5s ‘ 10 0 3. Berbicc é : : 4 3 Total : 67 6 (F.)—Return of Shipping, Tonnage and Seamen entered the Ports of Bri- tish Guiana during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. No. of Vessels. Tons. Seamen. 1. Demeraraand Essequibo . 143 27,287 1,523 Boasermive "4 gE Ry 50 6,538 A5] Potaleon 1. nee 898 33,825 1,974 * A few Returns wanting. General Condition of Society. 187 British Guiana 188 Progress of Industry, and British (G )—Return of Labourers and Artificers arrived in British Guiana Guiana. during the Quarter ending the 30th September, 1830. Males. Females. 1. Demerara 149 60 2. Berbice ; 89 18 23% 78 (H.)—Return of Colonial Produce shipped from the Ports of British Guiana during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. Sugar. Rum. Molasses. Coffee. {| Cotton. Hhds. Trs. Bris. | Puns. Hhds. .| Hhds. Trs. Bls. : Ibs. Bales 1. Demerara--} 8,615 451 331 |2,611 733 4,161 194 67 | 685,200 208 OueBerbice vec] ma Oto) 00 or. 633 84 500 O 0 | 142,200 34 Total....| 10,228 531 368 |3,244 817 292 |4,661 194 67 | 827,400 | 242 (I.)—Return of the Value of Goods imported into British Guiana during the Quarter ending 30th September, 1838. = mins Miia 1. Into the Port of Demerara . 116,099 9 8 2. Into the Port of Berbice . 22.153 12°F Total -sterling (K.)—Return of Balance in the Colonial Chests on the 30th September, 1838 1. In the Chest at Georgetown. 2, In the Chest at New-Amsterdam Total : ° £ 48,941 19 114 Compiled from the Official Returns. W. B. Wo.seE.ey, Assistant Government Secretary. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 29th December, 1838. Ir must be acknowledged there has been a diminished produe- tion of sugar during the last six months, one month of which was the suspense before emancipation, and the other comprehending the irregularity of labour m the month following. It may be ascribed also to a large number of labourers, who, though artifi- cers and mechanics on the estates, were at times employed on field-work, at the will of the master. ‘These have now made their selection, and are entirely lost as agriculturists. The general prosperity of the colony cannot be affected by such partial abatement of hands. If exports diminish from this colony General Condition of Society. 189 imports of British goods increase: the loss to the Treasury of England on the one hand is made up, or nearly so, on the other. The merchant who at Christmas used to supply certain articles to the estates to the amount of 70,000 or 80,000 guilders, finds only a demand for one-tenth part; but he has made it up by a ready sale of other articles to the labourers, to the full amount, or even beyond, of what was purchased by owners or agents of estates. Where salt fish was issued in eross, hams are sold in retail ; where coarse clothes were demanded, nothing will satisfy but superfine. With such tastes, want ofindustry need not be dreaded; though, considering the immense resources of this colony for the cultiva- tion of the staple commodities, your Lordship cannot wonder if I respectfully advocate the advantages to be derived from an influx of population. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 15th January, 1839. As compared with 1831, 1832, 1833, the produce of sugar in Berbice is 545 hogsheads excess for the year 1838 ; but it must be taken into consideration that one more sugar estate came into pro- duce during the last year; there is an increase equal to about 60 hogsheads above 1837, with an excess of rum, molasses, and cof: fee in rather greater proportion. ** * * * CS 7k The foreign trade has increased so much in the last year, as to cover by the duties collected more than two-thirds of the civil list; any attempt to interfere with this shall be met, I hope, in such way as will prove firmness, but at the same time a desire to con- ciliate, appealing rather to common sense than to any great ex- ertion of the authority given to me. In conclusion ;—the year has closed, and begun with a season unusually favourable to the agricultural interests, raining, as [ have heard planters say, gold,; for the heavy rains"have fallen chiefly during the night, while passing showers alone have inter- fered with the work on the estate, with little intermission of sun and heat. The labourers have in some districts prolonged their Christ- Mas holidays longer than usual, but gaols and prisons still continue with one-half fewer prisoners than before the Ist Au- gust—a state of society proving that freedom has not been fol- lowed by riot and crime. I have the honour to forward to your Lordship the printed quarterly returns, ending 31st December, 1838; also comparative Teturns of produce for each quarter between 1837 and 1838; of ditto prisoners in gaol, and commitments and convictions before inferior courts of justice for the same period. It is satisfactory to me to be able to report the continued dimi- nution of number of prisoners, and, in spite of partial idleness, very favourable accounts of the industry of the labourers. —_ British . Guiana. 190 Progress of Industry, and British I have not the least doubt there would beno reason to com- Guiana. plain of want of industry on any estate, were proper tact adopted, ea as is so successful on many. I shall take an early opportunity of visiting those estates which are said to be unsuccessful. GovERNMENT NoTICE. His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to direct that the follow- ing Returns for the Quarter ending 31st December last should be published in the Royal Gazette for general information. By command, (Signed) H. E. F. Younes, Government Secretary, Guiana Public Buildings, 21st Jan., 1839. Axsstract of Returns for the Quarter ending 3lst December, 1838. (A.)—Return of Marriages in British Guiana during the Quarter ending 31st December, 1838. 1. Marriages by special license. .- 2. Ditto by publication of bans . . Potal. >. (B).—Return of Persons receiving Instruction in Schools in British Guiana, during the Quarter ending, 31st December, 1838. Average Number. Tora. Adults. Children. 1. Sunday schools : J 2,912 35119 6,027 2. Day schools . . 121 2,969 3,090 3. Evening school . : 1,650 596 2,246 Total 4,683 6,680 11,363 (C.)—Return of Convictions before the Supreme Criminal Court, durmg the Quarter ending, 3lst December, 1838. Males. Females. 1. In the district of Demerara and Essequebo . 2. In the district of Berbice . : ° : General Condition of Society. TOE (D.)—Return of Convictions before the Inferior Criminal Courts, during the Quarter ending, 31st December, 1838. Males. Females. Jia Demerara e e e ° ° ° e ° ° ° 37 2, Essequebo . : ° . . ° ° . : : 25 : Berbice P é 7 9 (E.)—Return of Shipping, Tonnage, and Seamen entered the Port of British Guiana, during the Quarter ending, 31st December, 1838. Number of Vessels. 1. Demerara and Essequebo . : : . 115 2. Berbice . . ° ° : ‘ . 38 (F.)—Return of Labourers and Artificers arrived in British Guiana, during the Quarter ending, 31st December, 1838. Males. Females. | 1, Demerara E 38 2. Berbice . 3 = $ . i 9] 129 (G.)—Return of Colonial Produce shipped from the Ports of British Guiana, during the Quarter ending, 31st December, 1338. Molasses, Coffee. |Cotton. Sugar. Rum. Hhds. tres. bris. Pun, hbhds. bris. Casks. tres. hris. Lbs. Bales. 3,096 971 397 S19... 189 84 | 3,913 1,008 421 4,453 0 0O| 404,550] 219 652 0 \ Ob 744.4500 at 1. Demerara 10,585 358 537 2. Berbice 3,044 128 19 8,457 0 0 | 167,553 | 478 Total . | 13,629 486 556 (H.)—Return of the Value of Goods (exclusive of Goods of British origin or manu- facture) imported into British Guiana, whereon the Import Duties have been paid during the Quarter ending, 31st December, 1838. £ Soe: 1. Into the Port of Demerara . : .. 48,850 -3..9 2. Into the Port of Berbice é ‘ - 21,993 11 8 Total sterling ‘ - 100,748 15 5 192 Progress of Industry, and (1.)——Return of Balance in the Colonial Chests on the 3lst December, 1835. S- =-85~ hy 1. In the Chest of Georgetown : . 44,644 16 10 2. In the Chest of New Amsterdam AA 9 Total sterling : MB jor a cians | Compiled from the Official Returns. H. E. F. Youne, Government Secretary. Return of Produce Shipped from the Ports of British Guiana, during the March Quarter of 1837 and 1838. Sugar. Rum. Molasses. Coffee. cotton} 1837. Hhds. tres. bris.| Puns. hhds. bris. Hhds. tres. bris. Lbs. Bales. | Demerara 11,410 733 713| 3,036 1,558 491 | 5,966 0 0] 813,600 | 755 | Berbice 1,977 69 92 872 88 2 674 0 0 11,072,050 181 |} 2 Total 13,387 802 805 | 3,908 1,646 493 | 6,645 0 0 /1,885,650° 936 | 1838. i Demerara 12,496 508 590 | 3,702 1,139 5 é 565,950 | 402 Berbice . 3,468 340 108 | 1,276 212 2 2 426 ,750 243 ——__ Total . | 15,964 848 3 ? 992,700 | 645 Excess in favour of 1887. . Excess in fayour of 1838. é 2,577. 46 0 Return of Produce Shipped from the Ports of British Guiana, during the June Quarter of 1837 and 1838. Sugar. Rum. Molasses. Coffee. 1837. Hhds. tres. rls. Puns. hhds. bris. Hhds., tres. bris. Lbs. Demerara . | 10,708 454 511 2,453 782 284 4,393 192 18 774,750 Berbice . .» 1,889 164 112 623 50 4 582 0 275,400 Total . | 12,597 618 623| 3,076 832 288| 4,975 192 1,050,150 5 SET ESS 1838. i Demerara . 9,889 523 337 764 447 5,026 26 104 i Berbice . -« Qesit 182-7920 5 0 810 Total 12,710 705 357 769 447}; 5,836 26 104 1,155,890 i Excess in favour Po wotlSsae. i Excess in favour of 1838. 5 wai General Condition of Society. 193 Return of Produce Shipped from the Ports of British Guiana, during the September Quarter of 1837 and 1838. Sugar. Rum. | Molasses. Coffee. Cotton] 1837. Hhds. tres, bris. Puns. hhds. bris. Hhds. tres. bris. Lbs. Bales, f Demerara 11,844 499 581 3,219 810 300 (Leia 6 54 214,050 365 | Berbice . . 2,456 175 9 640 70 8 507 0 0 635,100 225 | —_—_— —= Total . | 14,300 674 590 3,859 880 308] 7,839 6 54] 849,150} 590} 1838, Demerara .| 8,615 451 331 2,611 733 292) 4,161 194 67] 685,200} 208 | Berbice . 1,613 80 37 633 84 0 500 0 0} 142,200 34 § ot Total . | 10,228 531 368 3,244 817 292) 4,661 194 67] 827,400} 2425 Excess in fayour of 1837, , 4,072 143 229 615 63 16} 3,178 0 0 21,750 | 348 Excess in fayour of 1838, ry ee eo eo eo ers eo 0 188 13 ee ft.) Return of Produce Shipped from the Ports of British Guiana, during the December Quarter of 1837 and 1838. Sugar. Rum. Molasses. Coffee. {Cotton} ne 1837, Hhds. tres. bris. Puns, hhds. bris. Hhds, res. bris. Lbs. Bales. Demerara « | 14,908 922 965 2,901 VLOSs (30 9,645 0 100 47,250 256 : Berbice . . 3,694 199 166 L237 God 1,716 0 0 234,000 24 # Total . /18,602 1,121+1,131| 4,138 1,219 378 | 11,361 0 100] 281,250] 280 | 1838, : Demerara 10,585 358 537 3,096 971 397 | 4,453 0 0} 404,550 | 2195 Berbice 3,044 128 19 817 37 24 652 0 0 744,450 61 § ee 13,629 486 556 | 3,913 1,008 421 nw Total 8,457. 0 0] | 167,553 | 476m Excess in fayour of 1837. 4,973 635 575 225 211 0 Excess in favour of 1838, 194 Progress of Industry, and Number of Persons Convicted before the Number of Persons Convicted before the Supreme Court of Criminal Justice in Inferior Courts of Criminal Justice in the Years 1837 and 1838. the Years 1837 and 1838. In the March quarter 3 — June quarter 1 — September quarter 1 — December quarter 4 — December quarter 38 9 I. (3), p- 78. 1837. 1838. 18397. 1838) In the March quarter : 87 — June quarter. . 163 — September quarter 57 —— 13 345 Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 30th January, 1839. Arremprs had been made to induce the labourers to take a nine-hours’ tariff for wages paid on other estates for seven and a half hours’ labour. ‘The negro is naturally suspicious ; he knows his privileges, and has a full sense of his value to the agricultural interest. I have every ground for asserting that where the la- botirers did not all, or in great part, quit the estates after sucl proposal, they have borne it in mind, and have shown their feel- ing by indifference to their employers: the natural result has been diminished crops. I will not, however, deny that many estates have suffered from loss of labourers, who, under coercion, were subject to be sent into the field, such as tradesmen, servants, and persons em- ployed about buildings, who on emergency assisted in taking off the crops: thesé are now free, and have abandoned all field- labour. ‘Till their places are supplied by emigrants, it is not un- likely that produce will bé diminished. On the other hand, where tact, judgment, and conciliation have excited a corresponding feeling, steady labour is obtained; and | could mention more than one estate that has made more sugaf this year than in the most favourable years of apprenticeship. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 20th February, 1839. Tur combined court having met yesterday according to pro clamation, I opened the session with the address, of which I have the honour to transmit a copy. In this address I have endeavoured to counteract the impression tending to augur ill of the future prospects of the province; my calculations have been checked and tested by the Receiver-general and the Collector of Her Majesty's Customs; I have every reason to believe they can- not be controverted. Extract from Governor Licu’s Address to the Combined Court, 19th February, 1839. Gentlemen,—In this my first address to the financial representatives in combined Court assembled, I should, under ordinary circumstances, have General Condition of Society. 195 thought it my duty to enter largely on the state of the province. Iam more peculiarly required, on the first meeting after the important change which has taken place in society, to present such a view of its present and future prospects as may enable you to decide whether we have much reason to anticipate any permanent diminution of the general prosperity, or to believe the resources of the colony are so impaired as to necessitate any unusual modes of taxation to meet the public expenditure. However sudden was the abridgment of the apprentice system, no rea- soning can persuade that, under the excitement in the mother-country, and with the example of general emancipation throughout the islands, this colony could have carried on peaceably any system of coerced labour. Visionary indeed must be the ideas of those who could expect that the pro- duce of their estates would be increased by successful opposition to the voice of liberty. We have no right, then, to ascribe to emancipation the deficiency of staple products since the 1st of August. Tf exportable produce be diminished in quantity, it has increased in value; if the planter do not obtain full labour, yet his payments on that Point are lessened. I am disposed to believe the proprietors have still power, under a legitimate understanding, to which the planters should tigidly adhere, of checking the idleness of which there is complaint. It has been successfully adopted on one estate; if general, it would assuredly remedy the evil, provided every justice was afforded to the industrious—1 speak in the interest of the whole labouring population. An idle labourer ought not to be kept on an estate, he ought not to bereceived oti any ; there ought to be an unanimous resolve to abstain from the employment of any man who, under no bodily infirmity, does not perform the usual labour of the estate to the extent customary previous to the Ist of August. I defy the most enthusiastic, false, or true philanthropist to say that a day’s labour, which may be completed in five or six hours, or even in less time, is an oppressive demand on the labourer, paid as he is, and favoured as he is, almost universally, with other privileges, which place him far above the condition of the labourer in Europe. The freedom which leads to the mere supply of the common calls of hunger will never raise the descendant of Africa in the scale of human beings, which the friends of freedom so much desire. The idle should return to the lands of their forefathers—the ps, the deserts—for which alone they are fit; society does not want them. The exaggerated, unfair accounts of the unhealthiness of this climate, Industriously circulated in the islands where there is a surplus population, have hitherto prevented an influx of labourers; there is an attachment also of the creole to the soil, which has made him hesitate ere he abandon it; but when a more speedy communication with the islands is secured by Means of steam navigation—when the creole finds he may benefit by high Wages, and have no difficulty in returning to his home—when the timid has found that even the Kuropean may perform moderate and suitablé labour without becoming a victim to the climate, the advantages to be ob- tamed by a transfer of their labour to this rich province must induce an milux of population. It is well known that 600 or 700 industrious labourers here can produce a larger return of the staple commodities than the whole produce in several est Indian islands, with an average agricultural population in each of 4000: obstacles thrown in the way of emigration from such places cannot long ayail. _ It is here that the ill-paid labourer of these islands will seek his bread ; Wis for the benefit of the new freeman, he should know, that here he can 02 British Guiana. British Guiana. 196 Progress of Industry, and hope to profit largely by his industry, can raise himself from poverty to competence, and even affluence—which in his own island must rarely be within his grasp; nor, by becoming a denizen of British Guiana, need he fear that he relinquishes a ready access to the ordinances of his religion, tothe benefits of education, or to any of the comforts of civilized life. The labourer choosing for himself his own location, or acting with the advice of the Government emigration agent, will find these inestimable advantages as abundant in this colony as in that from whence he may desire to emigrate, I have the authority of a late despatch from the Secretary of State for the Colonies for saying Her Majesty’s Government are not adverse to legi- timate emigration; the undoubted right of every freeman to choose his re- sidence can never be contested. The proclamation giving effect to the resolutions of the court of policy, inviting emigration, has placed this colony above all suspicion of unfair dealing ; and I did not allow myself to anti- cipate the disapprobation of Her Maj esty’s Government, unless some plan, more favourable and of more immediate operation, were in contemplation, or that the subject required explanation, which has proved. to be the case. It becomes me now to bring before you the financial prospects of this colony, based on the past. In the space of eight years, we may say, two have been years of crises—1834 and 1838. Produce of the Colony. In the Six Years. Hhds. Sugar. From 1831 : . : : ° 62,575 >» 1832 . ° ° : . 59,686 >» 1833 ‘ ° ° : 60,584 5 1835 : . * . : 63,910 » | 1836 : . 4 : : 67,529 tes Bos . . . : . 58,886 373,170 In the three years preceding 1834, namely, from 1831 to 1833 inclusive, the produce was : ° 182,845 In three subsequent years : : . 190,325 Increase in three years : . : 7,480 The average crops of those six years is A : 62,195 The crop of 1838 . ° . : 52,531 Diminution in 1838 : . : : 9,664 — aan It is, however, to be remarked, that during the six years in which the average crop amounted to 62,195 hogsheads, the number of hours of com- pulsory labour was for the first year ten hours, second and third years nine hours, and the three remaining seven hours and a half. The difference between the crop of 1837 and that of 1838 is only 6355, less than the difference between 1837 and 1836; compared thus with 1837 the planter is a loser. The Demerara and Essequibo planter paid in 1838, on the amount of the crop in 1837, 14 per cent. He will have to pay in 1839, on the crop of 1838, 21 per cent. ; and the result is, that where he paid f.1000 in 1838, he will have to pay f.1168 in 1839. In 1833, however, the price of sugar was three stivers per pound; the impost on the planter was 2% per cent. General Condition of Society. 197 In 1834, sugar at 3st. impost . ° 1% per cent. 1835, ,, 3 3 . . 1} #83057 4) oes ° . 1Z 3 1837, 29 tt 99 s cs In 1834 the crop was 52,544 hogsheads, at 1640 Ibs. to the hogshead ; at three stivers it was worth f.12,925,824. In 1838 the crop was 52,531 hogsheads, at 1640 Ibs. per hogshead, and at four stivers per pound (now near five) ; the first may be taken as an average value of sugar in 1838; it was worth f.17,230,168. The advantage to the planter has therefore been, by the increased price of sugar in the second year of crisis, /.4,304,334. It appears, then, that a small increase of per centage on that hitherto paid, except in 1837, is all that is required to render the produce-tax as sufficient as it ever was to meet the public expenditure; that this increase may be borne in consideration of the augmented price of produce, and by the recollection that it was cheerfully paid to a greater extent in former years, when the value of produce was less thap it is at present, and the capi- tation-tax was an additional burthen upon the resources of the planter, from which he is now, and has been for some years, happily relieved. It is not to be forgotten that predictions of ruin in 1834 were followed by as large crops in 1835 and 1836 as had been obtained in 1831. It may be said more ground had been taken into cultivation in the years succeed- ing 1834, and now anticipations are held that the estates will be obliged to abandon the cultivation of part of the cane-land; but may not a closer con- centration of the cultivation and increased attention to the fields retained compensate for this? If land be abandoned, plantain walks are established, which, on their present limited extent, are almost if not fully as profitable, as the sugar-cane required fewer hands, less care, and are as much part of the profits of an estate as the staple commodities. It is not, however, by such product that the exterior commerce of the colony can be improved ; and although there appears at present no stagnation in common mercantile transactions, yet it could not have been expected that internal commerce could probably long withstand any great diminution of exportable produce; that the merchants do not anticipate this, is proved by the numerous stores established in all parts of the colony, where they were before unknown ; and though those articles formerly furnished wholesale to the planter are now no longer required, yet equal if not greater trade takes place under a new form. You will agree with me that George Town presents few symptoms of anticipated ruin. I must now draw your attention to the estimates: the past is before us; We must apply to the present times the information given by the past. In 1835, the import duty paid into the Receiver- General’s hands . ‘ ‘ E f.121,899 1836 A ‘ A ditto 5 333,843 1837 : : : ditto : 340,354 1838, January to June, i ditto 3 Pat 339.998 * July to December . ditto » » 129,116 ? Your estimate of this duty for the past year was : 210,000 It has exceeded the estimate b : : : 62,998 The produce of this tax for 1839 cannot be estimated at less than F.129,116x2, equal to f.258,232, within 12,000 guilders of the estimate for * From July the import-duty ceased on British goods. British Guiana, eet British Guiana. 198 Progress of Industry, and 1838, in spite of the import duty on British goods being withdrawn. The increasing consumption of imports by the mass of the population leads me to expect that this estimate will prove considerably below the produce of the imports duty in the present year. The receipts from the Custom-house on the order of the executive haye been for the last year f.130,000; they were estimated at £80,000. The duty on wines and spirits was estimated at 780,000; it has pro- duced f.138,996, an excess of f.58,996. The duty on rum has fallen short of the estimate, but an amended ordi- nance has. however, been enacted, and an improyed system of licensing liquor-shops adopted, from which an extension of this branch of the revenue may be confidently hoped. The poll-tax cannot be taken into account ; buta surplus item of f-98,398 was placed on the estimate to provide against deficiencies. The secretary will hand to you the estimate of the amount required to be raised by taxes for the service of the current year, which you will have to discuss in detail with the court of policy. The ways and means are to be found; the withdrawal of the joe notes from circulation, or rendering them convertible into specie, will diminish the interest on the funded capital applied to the ways and means by 80 much as may be determined by your arrangements. But the time is come when the currency must be placed on a sound footing. With the final withdrawal of the joe notes, a base coin should no longer be tolerated; a momentary inconvenience may be felt, but with freedom you must 00 longer limit your views to the present moment; I have done my duty by introducing an ordinance on the paper currency, nor can there be a doubt that the legislature of the colony will very shortly give to that proposél ordinance the force and effect of law. As an offset to the loss of interest on the funded money applicable to the paper currency, the annual expenditure will be lessened by the dissolution of the militia. Some idea of the relief this will be to individuals may he formed, when I mention that in the course of five years, from Ist January, 1834, to 3lst December, 1838, fines amounting to 612,000 guilders have been incurred; but, although only a fraction of that sum has been paid into the colonial treasury, yet imprisonments have been undergone, addi- tional loss of time by the assembly of courts-martial has been imposed om various parties, which occasioned much vexation and expense to the cour munity. The amount saved by the reduction will be f. 30,350. I am fully disposed to yield to the general impression that the planters have had difficulties to encounter which may entitle some to augur ill for the current year; it is difficult to persuade, under actual loss, that it 18 only temporary, and that the losers should not despond ; but as predictions of ruin in 1834 were not fulfilled, it is but reasonable to postpone the col: sideration of again proposing to Her Majesty’s Government the imposition of any tax or duty which has been disapproved, until such time shall have elapsed as will enable us to verify those predictions of a continued dimil- tion of produce, which dispose some persons to imagine that the colony cannot bear its present amount of taxation in the mode in which it 1s @ present levied. Hitherto, excepting one year, 1834, the planter has paid 1% per cent. on his produce; in 1837 there appeared a means of meeting the expenditil® with the per centage of #, but in 1833, when sugar was at three stivels, the per centage on the planter was 27. The maximum this year will be 25. If high prices continue, this addition will not be felt, or, if felt, can only General Condition of Society. 199 be so, as I have already stated, to the extent of f.168 for every f. 1000 of taxes now paid by the planter. This is not a burthen which can justify the combined court, should it be their intention, as I trust and believe it is not their intention, to place obstacles in the way of passing the requisite supplies for the year. It will be my duty to resist the imposition of any tax on British manufactures connected with the estimates for the present year, to which my instructions put a most positive veto. I recommend then strongly to your consideration whether it will be prudent to run the tisk of deranging the affairs of the colony, and of embarrassing the govern- ment here, by declining to add a small additional per centage, which will prove your willingness to give the free system a fair trial, and strengthen your application to Her Majesty’s Government for any boon you may desire. 2 * * * * * I am bold in my anticipation of brighter days for the colonies, in con- sequence of emancipation; and I have given strong proofs since I haye been in the West Indies, that, although an ardent admirer of true liberty, and an upholder of emancipation, yet no popular outcry against the pro- prietary bodies in those colonies with which I had official intercourse has prevented me giving them that support which justice required, without abating one iota of watchfulness over the condition and the rights of the labourin g classes. The importance of this province is fully known to Her Majesty’s Govern- ment. I have lost no opportunity of pointing out the resources it presents. The improvements in machinery for agricultural purposes and for drainage, to which your attention will of necessity be drawn, will hereafter render manual labour less laborious. The European may then share in the cul- tivation of the land; unwholesome swamps will disappear; thousands of acres will be reclaimed from their state of nature or abandonment 3 and where we now count our population by thousands, their hundred-fold increase will lay the foundation of an empire, with sources of wealth to the mother-country inferior only to her India possessions in the East, with this advantage to the former, that the latter will always be of more tedious access, whatever may be the facilities afforded to mutual intercourse by steam navigation. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 25th Feb., 1839. I wave the honour to forward a petition of certain inhabitants, of whom a considerable number are respectable, praying your Lord- ship would be pleased to direct that the market should be entirely closed on Sunday in George Town. I obtained a decision of the court of policy some weeks ago, that nothing should be sold in the market after nine o’clock on Sunday Morning, which I thought would lead to the total extinction of Sun- day traffic. The objection to this is founded on the liability of meat to taint if bought on Saturday, as it would require the slaughter of cattle earl in the morning; and, from the heat of the climate, would be thus rendered unfit for use on Sunday; milk, fish, and vegetables, ob- tained only in the market, would also, by the entire abolition of Sunday morning traffic, thus be placed out of the reach of many of the community. ‘ British Guiana. I. (5), p. 246. British Guiana. 200 Progress of Industry, and It was alleged that fish and milk, and even vegetables, were for sale in the mother country on Sunday ; and that if the market were shut in George Town, it would be difficult to prevent the exposure of such necessary articles for sale in the various parts of the town, and lead to abuses, now under control in the market-place. On receiving the petition I thought it my duty to bring the subject again forward in the court of policy yesterday, desiring the petition to your Lordship to be read ; the same objections above quoted were made, and the sense of the court being against the petitioners, I have no other mode of relieving them but by submitting their case to your Lordship’s decision. ‘The Ordinance No. 1, anno 1837, entitled, « An Ordinance to ensure a better Observance of the Sabbath-day, and otherwise to promote Habits of Morality and Decency,” contains in the 5th clause a provision, excepting “the sale of meat, bread, fish, or fruit or vegetables at any time before or after the hours set apart for the celebration of Divine Service,” from the prohibitions enacted. by the Ordinance, I have, &c. (Signed) Henry Lieut. Enclosure in No. 50. To his Excellency Henry Light, Esq., Governor of British Guiana, &c. &c. &e. SIR, George Town, 17th Dec., 1838. We most respectfully request your Excellency may be pleased to transmit the accompanying petition to Lord Glenelg, and in doing so we confide in your Excellency’s powerful advocacy with the Colonial Secre- tary of State in favour of its prayer. We have, &c. (Signed) 63 Signatures. od To the Right Honourable the Lord Glenelg, Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Petition of the undersigned, Her Majesty’s faithful and loyal subjects residing in George Town, British Guiana ; Most humbly sheweth, Twat your petitioners have long lamented the desecration of the Holy Sabbath of the Lord which has prevailed in this place, principally owing t0 the existence of a public market on the morning of that day. That the Ordinance for the better observance of the Sabbath in this colony has not afforded an effectual remedy against this gross evil: That your petitioners have, on two several occasions, addressed the honour able court of policy to abolish the Sunday market: That their first application was not attended to, and the other only re sulted in a modification of the existing market regulations, by ordering the gates to be shut at mine instead of ten o’clock a.M.: That your petitioners are most firmly convinced that all endeavours for General Condition of Society. 201 the moral improvement of the labouring classes in the colony will be much | impeded by the continuance of a Sunday market, they being thereby enticed from their own homes, their churches, and their Sabbath schools, in order to reap the benefit of the sale of their stock and ground provisions : That a Sunday market, while it tends to demoralize the generality of the labouring class, injures in a very’serious manner the interest of the pious and virtuous labourer, who acts according to his conscience, and pre- serves inviolate the command of God to keep holy the Sabbath-day, as he is thereby shut out from a fair competition for the fruits of his imdustry, which he would possess were the market-gates shut on the Sabbath, and _ Saturday appointed instead thereof as a market-day : That your petitioners believe this is the only one of Her Majesty’s West India colonies in which such a stain upon the Christian character of the community is tolerated by authority : That the opinions expressed in the court of policy during a discussion on the subject as reported in the ‘“ Royal Gazette’? of 15th December, 1838, respectfully submitted herewith, deprive your petitioners of the hope of success from any further application to that honourable body. Your petitioners, therefore, address your Lordship, and most respect- fully pray that your Lordship may be pleased to take the premises into your favourable consideration, and procure Her Most Gracious Majesty's order, that the Sunday markets in this colony be abolished, and the day observed in that holy and solemn manner which is demanded by its own divine institution, and agreeable to the prac- tice of sincere Christians of all denominations. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. (Signed 64 Signatures. George Town, 17th December, 1838. The Marquis of Normanby to Governor Light, 2nd June, 1839. I wave to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 45, of the 28th February, transmitting a memorial from certain inhabit- ants of George Town, in which they pray that the market in that town may be entirely closed on the Sabbath. Coinciding in the view taken by the petitioners, I regret that the court of policy did not see fit to meet their wishes when you sub- mitted the memorial to their consideration. Should that body, on further deliberation, adhere to their determination not to suppress open market on Sunday, I shall feel myself compelled to advise Her Majesty to effect that object by an Order in Council. Independently of any other consideration, I regard it as a matter of great public convenience that the tumult of an open market on Sundays should be avoided. As regards perishable articles of food, they might be allowed to be sold on Sundays, except during the hours of Divine Service, at any places where such articles are usually sold on other days of the week. British Guiana. British Guiana. I. (5), p. 274. 1. (5), p. 275. 202: Progress of Industry, and Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby, 23rd April, 1839. In many districts the employers abstained from all complaints during the four or five succeeding months to August. In others the employers were less patient. I have reason to believe that the for- bearance of the first has been of essential advantage to them, for where complaints were frequent, there they still continue in greater ratio. Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby, 26th April, 1839. I nave the honour to transmit to your Lordship the Custom- house returns of produce shipped from this colony for the January quarter of the present year. There is a considerable falling off for the counties of Essequibo and Demerara; and there is far from a trifling decrease for Berbice. I beg your Lordship to bear in mind, that the cane cultivation on most of the estates is distant, at extreme points, four, five, and sometimes eight miles from the works; that the cane-fields are intersected by trenches leading into a main trench running the whole length of the cultivation. The trenches are just wide enough and deep enough to allow their being navigable for punts; and on the sufficiency of water in these trenches depends the feasibility of carrying away the canes, as they are reaped, to the mill. In ordinary seasons, the trenches are sufficiently supplied from creeks, savannahs, or lakes, with water to communicate freely with the works by means of punts, dragged by mules pacing the side-lines of the great trench. The season, which had been ex- cessively favourable at the beginning of the year, and gave promise of large return, has not, for upwards of 72 days, hada respite from excessive drought; the consequence has been that the savannahs, creeks, or lakes have been dried up; the trenches, haying no supply, have been exhausted, and the canes have been left uncut, from the impossibility of conveyance to the works. This, then, is the chief cause of the failure during the last quarter, and not the idleness of the peasantry, to which some of the planters are disposed to ascribe it. The good feeling, not to say devotion, of the negroes on many of the estates has been evinced strongly within the last three or four weeks, in arresting the alarming progress of the conflagration of the woods and savannahs which form a belt round most of the estates, and are either separated from the cultivation by trenches or creeks. Upwards of 70 miles in Demerara alone are at this moment smoking, or in flames, or destroyed: two or three estates on the west coast of the river Demerara have suffered much from the progress of the fire. The same fires rage in other parts of the colony, but not to such extent. General Condition of Society. 203 Enclosure in No. 57. BrerrisH Guiana. Exports for the Quarter ending 3lst March, 1839, contrasted with the Exports of the cor- responding Quarter of the Year, 1838. Mo- | Sugar. Rum. lasses. Coffee. Demerara and Essequibo: | Hhds. — Trs. “Hse Puns. Hhds. Brls.| Casks. | Bgs.or Bls. Trs. March Quarter, 1838.. |12,496 508 590)3,702 1,139 500) 8,212 |3,773 1839.. | 7,928° 414 273/2,796 884 160] 3,597 | 875 184 93 Deficiency...... | 4,568 94 317/1,006 255 340) 4,615 |2,898 Berbice: March Quarter, 1838.. | 3,468 340 108/1,276 212 21} 1,251 |2,845 0 i, 1839...) 2,483 Yow FA 082) 186)" 96 450 207 455 Deficiency...++. | 1,035 183 94) 194 26 0 801 |2,638 0 STATEMENT of the Vature of Goops imported in British Guiana, whereon the Import Duties have been paid during the Quarter ending 31st March, 1839, not being of the Origin and Manufacture of Great Britain and Ireland. 1. Return of the value of goods imported into the port of Be Saas Demerara and Essequibo : ; ‘ : TESA ASU 2. Pitan, of those imported into the port of Berbice ‘ j ‘ 5 P ‘ ; : 9,314 16 5 Tora Sterling . £ 80,889 10 4 STATEMENT of Batance in the Cotonzat Cussts on 31st March, 1839. OS Pani 1. In the chest at George Town : : F “ OL Lae ae 2. In the chest at New Amsterdam : F : orlates It” 5 Torat Sterling . 69,890 15 0 (Signed) M. J. Retemeyver, Colonial Receiver-General. Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby, 6th May, 1839. Onz of my greatest difficulties has been to settle the tenure by I. (5), p. 27. which the labourers hold their houses and provision grounds; they have both been granted as part of wages; by ceasing to work for the estate, the labourer ceased to have a right to houses and provision grounds. The proprietor entered into his full rights, as the owner of the bed-room occupied by a groom, coachman, or servant, obtains possession when he discharges either of those servants. aaa British ~ Guiana. I. (5), p. 35. 204 Progress of Industry, and Had the monthly hiring or notice continued in force, no labourer could have been subject to ejectment without sufficient time to procure another residence being afforded to him; but by the verbal contract of 28 days terminating on the last day, if the em- ployer and employed happen to disagree on that day, both parties are free to accept or reject terms of renewal. I have secured to the labourer the right of reaping the provisions he has planted on quitting an estate. It will be some time before I can anticipate a general system of rent for cottages. Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby, 28th May, 1839. I nave thought it my duty to obtain a comparative return from the Custom Office of the number and tonnage of vessels entered inwards and cleared outwards, for the years 1836, 1837, and 1838, which I have the honour to forward to your Lordship, adding a few observations on the different data. Ist. The increasing demands of British Guiana for manu- factured goods, and other supplies, has occasioned an addi- tional tonnage inwards of 10,618 tons, as compared with that of the year 1836, and of 4,270 tons, as compared with that of the year 1837. 2nd. The number of vessels outwards in ballast is no criterion of the extent of the deficiency of export, because the importation will, for several succeeding years, in all proba- bility, require a larger tonnage than the exports, even though these latter should be equal to their amount in days of slavery; and this cannot be unless there is an influx of labourers ; inasmuch as the women will most probably not labour in the field as constantly as they have heretofore done. 3rd. The tonnage outwards in ballast is not of ships usually trading to this country, as may be inferred from the circumstance that the vessels in question did not return to the ports whence they came, but proceeded, for the most part, to the states of America, or being vessels coming from the states or British possessions, having disposed of their cargoes of lumber, provisions, &c., obtained dollars to pur- chase cargoes, elsewhere. 4th. It is‘presumed that the real decrease in the outward tonnage is about 10,000 tons in 1838 as compared with 1837, and this decrease is not greater than the events of last year rendered probable. } I trust these remarks will enable your Lordship to judge of the real grounds for the outcry made by interested persons against the diminishing resources of the colony. ee 205 General Condition of Society. Port oF Grorce Town, Demerara. An Account of the Number and Tonnage of Vessels entered Inwards and cleared Out- wards, inthe Years 1936, 1837, and 1838, distinguishing Vessels with Cargoes from those in Ballast. LAA A SS TTS A EE ETE 6 ST SL SE SS LIE I LET TIED, Inwards. Outwards. With Cargoes. In Ballast. With Cargoes. In Ballast. YEAR, ) No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. BOSO) <)\s).« 504*| 86,974 39 935 443 | 81,375 100 | 10,689 Loey, e 502 | 89,348 30 1,083 378) || 720, 160 128 | 15,873 BOBO Ss 6 6 505 | 93,618 31 1,206 310 | 60,407 229-p| 35,152 Custom House, 27th May, 1839. Cua. Roginson, Coll. Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby, June 3rd, 1839. On light soils weeding is paid at the rate of one guilder or one- third part of a dollar for 100 roods. On heavy soils the same plice is paid for 75 roods. ‘The estates on the east bank of the Demerara river have peculiarly heavy soils. Mr. Scoble acknow- ledges that, allowing an hour in passage to and from the field, a labourer (able-bodied) may finish his work in five hours ; there- fore starting at six in the morning, he is ready at eleven o’clock to earn a second guilder, which the industrious easily accomplish, and are home by four or five o’clock in the afternoon. The planter would be perfectly content with a certainty of continuous labour of one task. I have had the honour of stating to your Lordship the induce- ments which the neighbourhood of the towns hold out to shirk the master’s work, and undertake labour by the job; it is not to be supposed that the proprietors of estates will willingly denude themselves of some check on the natural cupidity of individuals, by renting cottages close to their own works to persons who, being regular tenants, might render those works useless; yet the refusal to do this is considered by Mr. Scoble as a grievance, the greatest, as far I have been able to discover, under which the new man labours. I think it my duty to prepare your Lordship or it, In distant parts of the province there are other inducements for idle persons to neglect the estates’ work, and adopt an irregu- lar mode of subsistence, which is in a high degree checked by withholding as yet the right of tenancy. * . 5 The old leaven of the planter must wear away sooner in this * The correct tonnage of this year may be stated at about 83,000 tons, the remainder being tonnage of vessels.trading between Berbice and Demerara, and not included in the subsequent year’s return (the Custom-houses being combined, and the trade considered as coasting’),—F, R. 7 Of these only one returned direct to the port from whence it came.—H, L. British Guiana. I. (5), p. 306. British Guiana. I. (5), p. 307. 206 Progress of Industry, and colony than in many others; managers and overseers must aban- don the use of harsh language, imperious commands or unjust demands, otherwise the work on the estates will slacken. New wants daily springing up in the labouring population will induce continuous industry ; the regularity of that industry being assured, tenancy will not be opposed; but even this will then be scarcely required, as the industrious will be too valuable to be subject to caprice, and the idle would soon find tenancy was as inconvenient as conditional occupancy. I have reason to believe the attachment of the negro to the place of his birth is such, that very few are to be fouud who have not returned to the estates on which they lived as slaves after some absence. ‘The exceptions are amongst those who in slavery were transferred from one estate to another. Free- dom being given, they have almost invariably gone back to the original estate. Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby; 21st June, 1839. Mr. Wolseley’s report of his circuit is sent herewith ; he has already enabled me to judge of the advantages to be derived from the circuit system, and he has given me information which has called forth the annexed circular to the stipendiary magis- trates. Government Secretary’s Office, Demerara, SiR; 24th June; 1839. Tuer Governor has been surprised to learn that doubts are entertained by the stipendiary magistrates of the necessity to visit the several estates in their respective districts, in the absence of complaints from the labourers or employers. JI am therefore desired by his Excellency to convey to you the following remarks and instructions for your information and guidance :— It appears to the Governor that, as the jurisdiction of a stipendiary magistrate is to be exercised in a summary mavner,* and that general of special reports are to be furnished to his Excellency from time to time,t these objects and others “ generally necessary for the complete carrying of the powers of the stipendiary magistrates into execution,}”’ cannot be effi- ciently and accurately attained without a frequent resort to the spot where the requisite information is to be procured, and on which the parties are resident over whom you are required to exercise a summary jurisdiction. Recent instances of gross and extensive neglect in two districts have oc- curred in the immediate vicinity of Georgetown; and, inasmuch as this neglect would have been prevented, or remedied, at an early period, or visited with the penalties of the law, had the then magistrates respectively acted up to the spirit of their office, it has become imperatively necessary that you should visit each and every estate in your district, at least once a month, and summarily adjudicate upon all complaints brought to your notice. * Sec. 2, c. 4, Order in Council, 7th Sept., 1838. ¢ Sec. 2, c 5. t Sec. 3, ¢. 4. General Condition of Society. 207 His Excellency feels persuaded that the occasional presence of the ma- British gistrate on estates will be productive of much good, both to employers and Guiana. employed, by encouraging the industrious, by judicious advice and admo- mition to the idle, and by summarily adjudicating upon or arbitrating petty differences, which, by delay or neglect, might assume a more serious character. Yours, &c. (Signed) H. E. F. Young, Government Secretary. To , Esq. Stipendiary Magistrate, District, No. The Marquis of Normanby to Governor Light, 14th August, 1839. I HAVE received your despatch, No. 101, of the 21st of June, 1. (5), p. 317. enclosing the returns of the stipendiary magistrates for the month Me of May, together with your circular letter of the 24th of June, in mh Ge | which they are instructed to visit all the estates in their respective districts at least once a month, whether there be any complaints preferred or not. I approve of this instruction, and I anticipate very good effects from the circuit system which you have adopted. In the several records of complaints, I observe a variety, both in the nature of the offences brought before the respective magistrates and in the punishments awarded, which, though it may possibly be accounted for by local circumstances with which I am not acquainted, would Naturally suggest a suspicion of some want of uniformity in the administration of the law. Mr. Wolseley’s circuit will enable him to compare the circumstances of the several districts in this tespect, and may materially assist your endeavours to promote ; that regularity and uniformity in the proceedings of the stipen- diary magistrates which is so much to be desired. Governor Light to the Marquis of Normanby, 26th June, 1839. A prrusat of the valuation of the under-mentioned estates, I. (5), p- 317. since the Ist of August, will convince your Lordship and Her Majesty’s Government that emancipation has not diminished the prices of property, the best proof of the confidence in the steady Prospects of the colony :-— Plantation ZeLanp1a, on Walkenhaam, Essequibo; 42,0007. - was offered to the proprietor, residing on the spot, was accepted, but the day following the proprietor begged to be permitted to Tecall his assent; 1839. Plantation Autyess, Berbice, sold in 1839 for 28,000/. its full value, undiminished by the emancipation of the labourers. Plantation Tuomas, Demerara, sold seven or eight years ago for 9,0007.; purchased since the emancipation for 20,0007. British Guiana. 208 Progress of Industry, and Plantation Vrow Anna, Leguan Island, Essequibo, sold in 1839 for 35,0004., its full value undiminished by the emancipation. Plantation ABERDEEN, Essequibo, sold for 20,0002. in 1839, a larger price than was paid for it eight or nine years ago by the seller. Plantation Frrenpsurp. Demerara, cotton and plantains sold in 1839 for a greater price than paid for it in 1833 or 1834. Plantation Winpsor Forest, Demerara, for 42,000/., the full value, undiminished by emancipation. Plantation Prorit, Demerara, sold for its full value, undimi- nished by emancipation. General Condition of Society. | BARBADOES. Sir LE. M. Macgregor to Lord Glenelg, 11th Aug. 1838. Barbadoes. On the Ist of this month, which had been set apart for public II. p. 49. thanksgiving, his Excellency Sir Samford W hittingham and myself, with our respective staff, were present in the cathedral, where the Lord Bishop preached to a crowded congregation. In all the other churches and chapels the attendance of the labourers is stated to have been numerous and orderly; and the day was observed in the most satisfactory and decorous manner throughout the island. The imputation of their being extensively disaffected may, therefore, be dismissed as groundless; but that a considerable devree of excitement should exist amongst the peasantry at this crisis is naturally to be expected, especially when, from their simple habits, they are so easily imposed upon as to give credence to the assertion made to them, that “if they turned out to labour so soon after emancipation they would forfeit their freedom, and. incur a further apprenticeship of six or seven years.” ‘This im- pression, from a conversation with several labourers who consulted me personally, I know that they had not hesitated to imbibe, until undeceived by myself; and with the view chiefly of dissipating similar notions entertained by numbers in the country, I shall be under the necessity of immediately publishing another proclama- tion for their guidance. On many properties the utmost quiet and cheerfulness prevail ; and, in my humble opinion, there is no discontent now actuating the agricultural labourers in Barbadoes that will not ere long give way, if discreetly and temperately, but firmly, met by the local authorities of the island. Report from Mr. Jones, Inspector of Rural Police, 10th Aug. 1838. Havine been required by his Excellency to report on the state of the island from the Ist instant to the present time, I have the honour to discharge a pleasing duty in stating, that the conduct of the lately emanci- pated labourers during that period has been most decidedly peaceable and quiet; nor have they ever evinced, in the least culpable degree, those out- ward manifestations of joy which may naturally have been expected under all the circumstances of their case. Qn the 1st of August, it was most gratifying to observe the negroes, in great numbers, dressed in their best apparel, with every appearance of cheerfulness and thankfulness, calmly and peaceably bending their steps to the churches and chapels, some of which were so filled that numbers who could not find accommodation were content to remain without; indeed, it appeared as if with one consent they had resolved to show that they knew how to appreciate the blessing of freedom, insomuch that the whole day F II. p. 5-4, Barbadoes. 210 Progress of Industry, and carried along with it an air of solemnity which could not possibly have been anticipated by any one. This, however, did not prevent them, on their return to their homes, from the enjoyment and indulgence of the abundant provision of good things preé- pared for the occasion; and, it is a circumstance worthy of remark, that not a single breach of the peace, of good order, or decorum, was known to occur, a fact that would scarcely be credited by persons not witnesses to the same. On the 2d instant, on a number of estates, the labourers resumed their accustomed employments; others, who were disposed, took “‘a holiday” until Monday, when they, generally speaking, turned out to work, which good disposition continued until the 8thinstant, when, I regret to say, it was in some measure interrupted,—the labourers on many estates striking work, assigning as their reason, that they had been informed “ if they turned out to labour so soon after emancipation they would forfeit their freedom, and incur a further apprenticeship of six or seven years.”’ The injury done to the agricultural interests of the island, if this mis- chievous opinion gains ground, will be of a most serious tendency to all connected therewith; and no exertion shall be wanting on my part to disabuse the minds of the negroes on this point. On a few of those estates, however, they have returned to work, and I en- tertain a hope that, by Monday next, the whole labouring population will be fairly at work. Sir E. M. Macgregor to Lord Glenelg, 22d Aug. 1838. I HAVE every reason to be satisfied with the demeanour of the labourers who have resorted to me on various occasions for advice; but it is not by any means to the peasantry alone that the existing erroneous impressions are confined, and I look forward with con: fidence to the exertions of Archdeacon Parry, Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, and Mr. Justice Garraway, all entirely unconnected with Barbadoes, who are about, at my request, to undertake a tour of the island, with the view of allaying the existing excitement; which, however, owing to the measures that have been adopted, I am happy to add, appears to be already on the wane. — Mr. Jones to Sir E. M. Macgregor, 20th Aug. In conclusion, I would most respectfully submit my opinion, that the system of free labour, equally new both to the proprietor and labourer, if judiciously dealt with, will be productive of the best results ; the misundet= standings that have occurred arising from each party being desirous of making sucha bargain as is most suitable to their respective interests, (the proprietors requiring tbe labourers to work five days of nie hours each, tne labourers contending for four days of eight hours each per week ; the wage of an effective labourer being set at two bits, equal to 10d. sterling per day, besides medical attendance and a cottage,) and should not be viewed as dis: affection to the laws, no acts of violence having occurred, and the countly remaining in a decidedly quiet and peaceable state, to which I do not apprehend any interruption from the emancipated negroes, ee cnmrmarett General Condition of Socrety. Sir E. M. Macgregor to Lord Glenelg, 20th Sept. 1838. 211 Barbadoes. I nave the honour of transmitting for your Lordship’s informa- 11. p. 6. tion a further account of the proceedings of the Commissioners lately employed in visiting the agricultural districts of this SOL OL MRUERICS, Extract from Commissioners’ Report, 11th Sept. Havine thus, in executing your Excellency’s wishes, visited every parish 1. p. 82. in the island, and conversed with both the higher and lower agricultural classes at 15 different central points, we beg leave to close our Report with a few general remarks as to the impressions left upon our minds on the different subjects to which our attention was directed by your Excellency’s ** Instructions.’ In the first place, your Excellency was pleased to advert to ‘* the mutual misunderstandings which had unhappily arisen in several instances, between the landed proprietors and labeuring population since the recent abolition of apprenticeship ;”” and from our preceding reports it will have appeared that we found such misunderstandings still in existence, not universally (for in five instances out of the fifteen we had the satisfaction of reporting differently), but, as your Excellency had stated, “in several instances.” The subjects of misunderstanding, as we have already stated im detail, we found to be chiefly these: the contract for five days’ labour in each week ; the question of absence from work without leave, and the scale of work: to which we must add, as also contested points, though to a far less extent, the rate of wages and irregularity of payment; the number of hours conisti- tuting a day’s work; the mode and amount of rent for allotments of land occupied by the labourers; and the employment or not of their children in agricultural work. The general opposition to the five days’ contract we are disposed to attribute to the impression entertained that an agreement of this nature entails a second apprenticeship on the labourer, and although this fallacious idea has been met by each of the Commissioners by a clear exposition of the rules which govern contracts in all parts of the world, and the evident advantages accruing to the labourer under contract, still the feeling of unqualified freedom is, at this moment, too strong to admit a calm appeal to their reason. Perhaps, too, the pertinacity of the labourer in adhering to this view of the contract Act, may be traced to the hasty, and, in some instances, harsh measures pursued immediately before and after the Ist of August, against the labourers for breach of contract, when as yet they were imperfectly acquainted with the obligations imposed upon them. Summary ejectments for refusal to work the five days continuously made them suspicious as to the nature of a contract, while imprisonments for deficiency of labour forcibly reminded them of their late apprenticeship, and created the present feeling that a contract to work was nothing more than a continuance of that system. Under this impression we submit that the directors of estates, and others in authority, possess, themselves, the Most efficacious means of disabusing the minds of the working classes of one of the most specious delusions under which they at present labour, by adopting that conciliatory course of conduct, so earnestly recommended by the Commissioners, by which alone mutual confidence and harmony may he effectually restored. That some misunderstanding should arise at first, after so great a change in the relative position of the employer and labourer, sae “need excite (as your Excellency observes) no surprise ;’’ on the con- Pre Barbadoes, II. p. 82. 212 Progress of Industry, and trary, it would be very surprising if no misunderstandings had arisen. We would also be permitted to repeat a remark made to us in one of the parishes, that those who brought forward their ‘complaints before us were not always, if ever, faithful representatives of the general feeling, but rather members of a restless faction (chiefly young persons), whose object was to make the most of the change for their own selfish interest, or even for the gratification of their own ease and pleasure. In some places we found that the conduct of the labourers had been marked by a rude contemptuous bearing towards their employers, as if freedom had been intended to dete- riorate their manners and to make them insolent. We did not hesitate to condemn severely so foolish and unworthy a notion. We are happy, how- ever, to add, that we found much less of mutual misunderstanding in our late visits than we did at the outset, and we would encourage the hope that our endeavours, under your Excellency’s auspices, have in some measure contributed to this welcome result. That we exerted ourselves for this end, and the other objects of our commission, to the best of our power, and with that zeal which respect to your Excellency demanded of us, and which our own wishes for the welfare of these colonies prompted, we can sincerely say; though on the value otherwise of our efforts, or the success which may have attended them, it is rather for your Excellency to judge than for us to pronounce. It may, however, be gratifymg to your Excellency to be informed, that when in St. Andrew’s parish (the last which we visited), we received from several gentlemen strong direct testi- monies to the good effects which had resulted from the appointment of this commission of conciliation, especially in the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Joseph. In the former, it was said, many of the labourers had reported to their acquaintance, that the Commissioners had ‘ spoken to them very kindly, and given them good advice,” which they seemed inclined both to follow and to recommend. From St. Joseph’s parish @ similar statement was made by another. gentleman, and on one estate in this parish, our advice given at the parish church on the 6th instant, was stated to have had the effect of causing a full assemblage of labourers at work in the afternoon, whereas in the morning their number had not exceeded six. As it was the good of the country which prompted yout Excellency to institute the commission, we should think it wrong to omit such particulars as tend to show that it has not altogether failed of promoting that great end of your Excellency’s watchful and benevolent solicitude. Whether our efforts have led to a more considerate administration of the law, and to fewer commitments for breach of contract, we cannot positively state; but we venture to assert that the suggestions which we felt it our duty to offer on these points, as well as on the altered position of all parties in consequence of the abolition of apprenticeship, and the great importance now of a conciliatory course (united with firmness) in the direction of estates, were received with the greatest kindness and candour ; and, 80 received, we trust they will not be without their effect. We would here distinctly repeat, that the labourers, so far from entertaining the idea that their new condition as freemen exempts them from the necessity of daily labour, on the contrary, readily admit the importance of cultivating the soil, and express their determination to continue in the performance 0 agricultural duties; although this admission, being qualified by certam reservations as to the terms of their labour to be conditioned by themselves, has been objected to by the directors of estates as detrimental to the regular working of landed property, and has caused temporary embarrass= ment to both. General Condition of Society. 213 As to the houses of correction throughout the island, having already arranged our circuit before we were apprised of your Excellency’s wishes on this subject, we have not been able to visit so many as we should other- wise have done. We visited stations ‘ B,’’ “ D,” and * E,” and the im- pression made on our minds is, that they require (especially prison D) additional ventilation, and that the solitary cell ought to be enlarged, being too confined for any climate; for if the body be cramped and under suffer- ing, the great good derivable from solitary imprisonment is lost, inasmuch as the mind, instead of recurring to past misdeeds, and forming future plans for amendment, is continually reverting to its bodily ailing. Two contiguous cells knocked into one, or three into two, would render them more salutary and more serviceable. The stations generally are well chosen, and the rural police well lodged. Iron bedsteads would be a great addi- tional comfort and means of health. The stables are badly arranged and badly ventilated , and the health of the horses would be materially improved by a little stable discipline, such as being kept cleaner, the litter removed during the day, and more comfortable bedding allowed at night. We would also strongly recommend, for the efficiency of the police, internal instead of external communication with the stables, the doors now opening towards the country, instead of communicating with the interior of the station. The subject of education, agreeably to your Excellency’s instructions, occupied much of our attention, and the more so, as in eleven places out of the fifteen, we assembled either in or at a schoolhouse, or with one close at hand. In one instance the children were examined, and acquitted them- selves remarkably well. But your Excellency is well aware how numerous the schools are in the island of Barbadoes, (though still inadequate to its very dense population)—many of them built almost expressly for the bene- fit of the children of the labourers,—and how successful, under a gracious Providence, have been, in this department, the labours of the clergy under the vigilant and energetic direction of the Lord Bishop, as well as of others also, aided by munificent grants from Parliament and from societies in England, as well as by liberal support within the island, both private and parochial, On the part of the labourers themselves, there appears to be generally a great wish to secure for their children the blessings of edu- cation ; a circumstance which we regard as highly auspicious, inasmuch as education must lead to improvement both in the character and condition of the people, and improvement to increasing industry; though there will probably be danger for a time, lest the parents, in their anxiety to educate their children, should omit to train them to labour,—but this is an evil Which will by degrees be corrected, partly by the want which the parents Will soon feel of assistance from the labours of their children, and partly, no doubt, by the care which will be taken on the part of their teachers to undeceive the parents on this subject, and to point out to them how, by beginning education early, and other arrangements, they may secure suit- able instruction to their children, without making them idle or unprofitable. Of the present state of the agriculture of the island, it would ill become us to speak with confidence, being of necessity incompetent judges. To our eyes, indeed, the country seemed to wear for the most part a promising appearance, especially as compared with that of other islands in the West Indies ; but with the exception of St. Peter’s parish and part of St. Philip’s, and of single estates here and there, we have been told generally, that (for Barbadoes) the crops are backward, and the provision crops especially ; as to the latter, however, we have heard it distinctly maintained that the yam has been cultivated this season to a greater extent than usual, and that, in Barbadoes. Sane 214 Progress of Industry, and Barbadoes, some places at least, if there is less corn (i. e. guinea corn), it is because it is not considered to be, at the present rate of wages, a remunerating crop ; and on such grounds of economy, it is not unlikely that some changes may take place in the system of agriculture, in consequence of the great change which has taken place in the mode of paying the labourer. At the same time we are fully under the impression that the agriculture of the island has fora time been thrown back, partly by differences arising from the abolition of the apprenticeship, and partly also (if not still more) by the unsettled state in which the minds of the labourers were, and the con- sequent unsteadiness of their work during the last few months of the ap- prenticeship. How far the planting of provisions has been made so much an object this year, as it was used to be when the labourers were fed instead of being paid in money, we are not prepared to say. In regard to the future prospects of the island, we would cherish the opinion that, under Providence, the agricultural prosperity of Barbadoes is not likely to suffer from the partial and temporary interruption that has occurred in ‘some places to field labour, and which was to be expected after so great a change in the relative position of all parties concerned. And in conclusion, we are not inclined to despair respecting a country where religion and education are advancing rapidly hand in hand ; where industry, too, has been so sedulously practised, and will continue no doubt to be on all sides most earnestly inculcated ; and where the cultivation of the soil has been brought to so high a degree of perfection. Our great fear is from the influence of bad advice, given, whether orally or in print, to the as yet inexperienced, and for the most part, unlettered freemen; but we trust that by good advice from their real friends, and equitable treatment from their employers, under a just and vigilant administration of the laws, the good sense and good feeling of the peasantry will be enabled to resist the evil influences alluded to, and that they will soon become both happier and more profitable members of society, in the use of that freedom which has been so wisely and so generously bestowed upon them. Sir E. M. Macgregor to Lord Glenelg, 31st Oct. 1838. I HAvE endeavoured to supply your Lordship with correct im- Il.p.101. telligence regarding the proceedings since the abolition of appren- ticeship of the agricultural classes; and I have now the honour of transmitting additional documents bearing upon that important subject. Messrs. Cuppage, Tinling, and Garraway, to Sir E, M. Macgregor , 29th Oct. p- 103: Since we have recently assumed our duties as judges of the Court of Appeal, our personal observation on the relative position of the two classes has been materially circumscribed ; and our attention has been consequently turned to the magistrates’ reports, transmitted by his Excellency for our inspection, as authentic sources from which the desired information might be fairly supplied. Our examination of these documents for the months of August, Sep tember, and to the 15th of October, 1838, exhibits a gradual decrease of punishments during the last two months, compared with the number of offences charged by employers against their labourers in the month of August; from which we would conclude that time, aided by a short but General Condition of Society. 215 practical experience, has operated favourably in awakening the higher and lower agricultural classes to the truth that mutual co-operation is virtually essential to the future welfare of both; and that a more universal feeling of kindness towards each other has thence resulted. We have also observed, that punishments generally, and for breach of contract in particular, appear less frequent of late; and although cases of the latter description are noted, a large majority has been either compounded or dismissed ; an assertion which is borne out by the ‘* General Abstract” which we have now the honour to submit for his Excellency’s information. Under these circumstances, we feel ourselves warranted in advancing our opinion, that the geueral condition of the labourer is highly satisfactory, and that the temporary excitement attending the important change from servitude to freedom has been rapidly succeeded by a return to industrious labour, on the part of a large majority of the peasantry of this island; and here we may be permitted to add, that the number of litigated cases, brought before the general justices of the peace for decision, is considerably dimi- nished from that which our knowledge, as special justices, leads us to conclude would have arisen, in the same interval of time, prior to the establishment of freedom. As to the prospects of the colony for the present and forthcoming year, we have availed ourselves of the annexed extract from the Barbadian news- paper of the 27th instant, the desponding tone of which journal, during the months immediately preceding and subsequent to the period of emancipa- tion, contrasts vividly with the encouraging language it now speaks. Extract from the Barbadian Newspaper, 2'1th October, 1838. “The productiveness of Barbadoes estates, under skilful management, propitious weather, and regular continuous labour of the peasantry, has been sufficiently exemplified this year, as the following will show. The sugar shipped this year, as taken from the Custom-house books, is, up to the present time, 31,689 hhds., 1,981 trs., and 985 brs. Equal to. ; f ; : 3 . 33,133 hhds. The crop shipped in 1837 was . . . 32,755 Difference in favour of the present year besides some sugar still in store. . 378 hhds. “ Calculating that about 2,000 hhds. are consumed in the island (probably this is within the mark), will give the present year’s crop at more than 35,000 hhds. What shall we venture to predict for the next year? “Why, if the estates are regularly and properly worked under the free system, the crop of 1839 may be expected to exceed the present. The prospect is good, and the season as yet favourable. Mr. Jones, Inspector of Police, to Sir E. M. Macgregor, 30th Oct. Barbadoes. Tue country, as his Excellency must be fully satisfied, has never been pi 106. otherwise than in a peaceable and. orderly state; and that there has been, on the whole, less disaffection, less crime, and less punishment among the labouring class since the emancipation, than in the same space of time during the litigious apprenticeship system. The negroes are every day becoming better acquainted with their present position, with their true interest, and with the propriety and expediency of the laws, to the adminis- 216 Progress of Industry, and Barbadoes. tyation of which they are the more reconciled, from the confidence they feel in the Assistant Court of Appeal in the redress of any real or imaginary grievance they may suffer. Indeed, the happy selection of three gentlemen of the most decided integrity of character to constitute that court, is a suffi- cient guarantee to the poor of all complexions that justice will be impartially administered, although I do not anticipate that the duties of those gentlemen will be very arduous. The administration of justice by the local magistracy having very much improved under his Excellency’s auspices, is at present conducted in 4 spirit and with a mildness hitherto unequalled (witness the very few prisoners at present in the whole of the rural prisons), and pre- sents a strong contrast to the suspicion with which the Jate special magistracy were viewed, a system the negroes were feign to be content with, but to which they were never reconciled. I have spoken to them frequently and freely; and although they might and did, from motives of policy, conceal their dislike from the general observer, they had not that confidence they now feel. I would again repeat the conviction under which I penned my letter of the 20th of August, and would appeal to his Excellency’s judgment whether T have not been borne out, by the past and present state of the country, in the opinions I have entertained, and frequently expressed to his Excellency, on the change in the condition of the negroes in this island; and I am glad to find that the favourable report received at a “later date,’ which Mr. Mayers mentions, further corroborates my reports. In conclusion, I beg leave again to state, that the negro population is at the present time in a peaceable and composed state; that they are indus- triously pursuing their agricultural employments; and that the island everywhere presents a prospect of a large crop of the staple commodities, m the opinion of experienced planters larger than for several years past. Sir E. Macgregor to the Marquis of Normanby, 6th April, 1839. II.(continued) I wave the honour of submitting to your Lordship the copy of p- 102. a letter from the Judges of the Assistant Court of Appeal. —— 6th April, In our letter of the 29th of October last, we, at that time reporting on the 1839, state of the agricultural classes during the months of August, September, and October, 1838, expressed our opinion that the number of litigated cases brought before the general justices for decision was considerably diminished from that which our knowledge, as special magistrates, induced us to cone clude would have arisen in the same interval of time, prior to the establish ment of freedom. The results exhibited in these documents, by which it 1s shown that a monthly surplus of 900 punishments obtained during the existence of the former intermediate jurisdiction, fully corroborate the opinion we then ventured to record; and while we bear a willing and cheerful testimony to the commendable behaviour which has distinguished the mass of the free peasantry of this island, and to the ready disposition evinced by their immediate employers and the legislative Houses of this colony for their progressive advancement in the civil and moral scale of society, we cannot refrain from entertaining the pleasing expectation that the local magistracy, between whom and the labouring population a watchful and impartial tribunal has been constituted by the creation of a Court of Appeal, will become the happy medium of maintaining and perpetuating that General Condition of Society. 217 spirit of good will and mutual forbearance between the higher and lower agricultural classes, which is so vitally important to their common welfare. Memorandum of a Conversation between the Acting Private Secretary and a Deputation of Labourers from St. George’s Parish, at Gorern- ment House, on Tuesday, the 23rd of April. Tur acting private secretary, after the Governor had retired, entered into conversation with the members of the deputation, and gathered the following interesting facts, through the medium of John E. Pear, one of that body. He was requested to favour the private secretary with the causes to which he attributed the irregularity and unsteadiness of the labourers, in the per- formance of agricultural duties, since their freedom. He answered, that “ freedom was a new thing; that both the masters and servants had been hasty ; that the latter had sometimes left the estates on which they had previously been working through foolishness, while the former, in some instances, would not remember that their labourers were free; that this state of things was now altered; the labourers generally had returned, and were remaining on their old properties, and that the employers were treating them with respect, which would be sure to keep the people there. The truth was, the people did not yet know the value of time; if they worked for three or four days in the week, their earnings were sufficient to keep them for the whole week ; but this was a mistake, because the people who only worked for haif of the week were punishing themselves, and could not expect to put by anything for the schooling of their children, or to buy any comforts for their wives and families.” He repeated, and was supported by his fellow-labourers present, that this desultory kind of labour on the part of the lower agricultural class of his parish would soon disappear, and be succeeded by regular industry, and a permanent location on the estates to which they were respectively attached by birth and previous long residence. With respect to the repugnance evinced by the labourers to enter into contracts of service, he said, that ‘‘ this dislike to written agreements, im- mediately after freedom, arose, in many instances, from a disinclination on the part of the labourer to serve an employer who might have been a severe task-master to him while an apprentice, but that the general feeling enter- tained was, that, by signing a paper, they were to do the same work, and be exactly like apprenticed labourers, as before ; that this feeling was now discouraged among themselves, and that he considered a fair contract for labour would be the best thing for the labourer and for the property.” On the subject of the children, he observed, that “ it was true they did not put them to work on the estates just now, but they were most anxious to give them some of the advantages, which it was out of the power of their parents to bestow upon them when young, and they would consider themselves much to blame if they permitted their children to grow up Without being able to read the Bible; it was this feeling, and no wish to keep them from work, which urged them to give their children a little schooling ; whenever they became old enough to assist in working the estates, they would at once recommend them to do so; it would not only benefit the children themselves, but the parents also; he had children, who were exactly circumstanced as he had above stated, and be would not be doing them justice if he brought them up under the idea that because they were free they were not to work.” The sentiments spoken by this labourer were equally shared by his com- Barbadoes. II.(continued) p- 116 Barbadoes. TJ. (continued) p. 141. 218 rades, and their general as well as particular remarks upon the present feeling of the agricultural portion of the parish of St. George, which they vouched for as pervading the whole of that district, warranted the conclu- sion that all minor misunderstandings consequent upon the novel position in which masters and servants were relatively placed after the Ist of August, 1838, were fast yielding to an increasing consciousness, on both sides, of their mutual interests. (Signed) Progress of Industry, and JoserpH Garraway, Act. Priv. Secretary. Extracts from Mr. Jones’s Answers to Questions relative to the working of the Free System in Barbadoes, 15th April, 1839. Surricient time has not elapsed since the final abolition of slavery to smooth down the asperities and irritations arising out of the past state of society, to establish that mutual feeling of dependence and that confidence between the higher and lower classes which are to be found in countries where the peasant is free-born, and where the proprietor of the soil has never viewed him asa chattel. I should say, however, that a feeling of suspicion and distrust which existed on the part of the labourer is giving way, and that a mutual good feeling is on the increase, which cannot fail to be productive of the most permanent and beneficial results, unless further retarded by injudicious measures, or by crafty and designing persons for promoting their own ambitious views. Pais That the negro works and may be said to work well is not to be demied, but I do not think with that cheerfulness, with that steadiness and diligence which some persons are apt to infer from the state of the cultivation, when compared with some of the other colonies. This perhaps is not to he won- dered at, when the impulses are considered by which the slave and the free-born peasant have been actuated, A little time, and faithful friends to instruct the negro will, I have no doubt, place him in as favourable a point of view as his European fellow-labourer. I would intrude one more remark‘ to the allotment system, which has hitherto been in practice, of letting out half an acre of land each to labourers located on estates, is pro- bably (and in my opinion) to be attributed the reluctance which in @ majority of cases has been evinced to labour regularly on estates. Some of these persons, according to the number in family, have the charge of two or three of such allotments, and the labourer naturally prefers cultr vating for himself than for another, and as soon as he becomes a small farmer, he ceases to let his daily labour to the large landholder ; thus dif- ferences arise between the parties, which end perhaps.in the ejectment of the labourer. I consider this system (which I believe the planter is now quite aware of the evils attendant thereon) is giving way, that it is preju- dicial to both parties, and the sooner it is abolished the better. ~ Generally from 6 to 9 4.m., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 3 to 6 P.M. At some seasons of the year (according as the sun rises and sets), the labourers turn out to and knock-off from work half an hour later; on some places the working hours are from 6 to 9 and from 10 to 4, which I think a better arrangement. Task-work is now more generally practiced and encouraged than at the outset; it is more convenient to the planter and more advantageous to the labourer, who may, if he pleases, frequently perform two tasks in one daj, and seldom does less than three tasks (i. e. three days’ work) in two days, without infringing on the hours usually allotted for refreshment, a proof that what is considered an average day’s work is not too much when ex General Condition of Society. 219 pected to be performed by the day labourer, which is frequently not per- formed when they are so engaged. The principal impediment to a more general adoption of this system of labour is, that the task is frequently hurried over and carelessly performed by the labourer, with a view to his immediate pecuniary benefit, and which is often submitted to by the planter rather than go to loggerheads about it,—an evil to which the English farmer would not submit under similar circumstances. First class labourers employed in manufacturing sugar receive a quarter of a dollar a-day for nine hours’ work; boilers, carters, and others, whose labour is continuous through the day, receive three bitts; other classes in proportion. All have the free use of cane juice, raw or boiled, while so engaged. Labourers are paid weekly ; generally Saturday morning. . . . A deduction is made weekly from the labourers’ pay for the rent of the allotment. Estates do not rent a house or land to any labourer who would not work on such estate, and this is done to secure labour. Planters are very jealous of their labourers being employed by each other. Although the labourers are'located on the estates, they cannot be said to be engaged otherwise than by the day, as any labourer may discontinue his services if he pleases and quit the estate, or the planter may discharge him at any time. teil al adelante Written agreements are viewed with great distrust, in consequence of the ignorance of the negroes in this particular. {i BOLO I was in expectation that a considerable number might have been in- duced to emigrate to the new colonies, but it has turned out otherwise ; I believe more have gone from this parish (St. Michael) than any other, but that few of them have been from the agricultural ranks, they being, for the most part, persons who could well be spared, many of them great vaga- bonds, whose absence I consider very beneficial to the community, and are not likely to improve the morals any more than the agriculture of those places whither they have gone. The cultivation of this island is peculiar, and may be called a garden cultivation, which must be seen to be understood; the worn-out soil, the annual manuring, and the constant rotation of crops, can only be kept up in future, as it has been hitherto, by a large agricultural population. I do not think that any large portion of labourers could be spared without dis- Meyentage. 6s 8s ete The estates are more willing to employ than the parents are that the children should be employed on them. The generality of the parents would prefer their children being engaged in any other than agricultural pursuits. yin, Mb I do not believe the proprietors would return to the former system if they RNG iH) heli at UR The prospects are fair, as respects the crop of sugar; on other points Opinions are various; mine is, that the crop of sugar and provision does not receive that attention which their importance demands, as will be clearly shown, if the rumour of “war with the United States of America’’ be con- firmed; the season has been regular. T am very much in favour of a savings-bank. I think that small sums now improvidently expended for the want of some secure place of deposit would be invested therein, and prove a great assistance in cases of illness, &., about which the negroes do not give themselves much thought, never haying been accustomed to provide for themselves in these respects. I think our labourers are a happy peasantry; and that unless they are unfaithfully dealt with by designing people, and rendered discontented, Barbadoes. 220 Progress of Industry, and Barbadoes, they have the means placed within their power, by God’s good providence, of becoming the happiest peasantry in the world. Report from Messrs. Cuppage, Tinling, and Garraway, 20th April, 1839. IL.(continued) RereRRine to our last communication of the 6th instant, we avail our p- 143. selves of the present opportunity afforded us in returning the series of “ Replies” made by the respective police magistrates, as well as the im spector-general of police, on the working ofthe free system in Barbados, respectfully to submit a few observations which have suggested themselves, after a diligent examination of these documents. The principal points upon which a temporary misunderstanding between employers and labourers seem to have arisen are represented to be,— 1. Irregular and unsteady labour on the part of the peasantry generally. 2. The total absence of all written contracts for labour. 3. The determination hitherto evinced by the labourers to refuse the assistance of their children in the performance of agricultural duties of the lightest description. Other interesting and important topics will be found alluded to in these reports ; but considering that the subjects we have particularized may be taken as the source from which the minor points of disagreement have sprung, we have confined ourselves to the exposition of the various causes to which the attentive observation of the police magistracy may have attn- buted the existence of the major evils complained of. With regard to the first, the concurrent testimony of these reports fully corroborates the general fact that agricultural labour has, since the eman- cipation, been irregularly performed. To account for this unsteadiness, various causes are noted: the majority of the magistrates ascribe this dis- inclination for the performance of continuous labour to the high rate of wages, varying from 24 bitts to 3 bitts, or from 1s. 1d. stg. to 1s. 33d. stg. per day of nine hours, a rate of payment, it is asserted, more than sufficient to satisfy the paucity of the labourer’s wants, as the earnings of two days will procure ample subsistence for seven; others attribute the evil im question to the land allotments given to the labourers on the estates to which they are nominally located; some to the capriciousness and natural indolence of the labourer, and others to the defective mode of payment adopted by some employers towards their dependants. These several arguments, no doubt, contribute each their respective weight in accounting for the established decrease of agricultural labour, and, although a marked disinclination to settled habits upon one location, and the difficulty con- sequently arising to the planter of calculating upon a daily average number of labourers in his fields, has been hitherto manifested, we are inclined to attribute this fluctuation of regular mdustry, not to confirmed indolence, of a desire on the part of the adult labourer to discontinue the tillage of the soil, but to the want of the knowledge of the true value of time, as well as to the noyelty of his position, in the former of which, more particularly, passing events abundantly prove him to be defective; for example, it is am admitted fact that the earnings of three days are more than equivalent for the purchase of the necessaries of life for six; herein, we imagine, is to be found the most weighty inducement to the peasant of this island for the partial display of his physical powers, and the capriciousness which he is sometimes apt to evince in the performance of his allotted labour. Were General Condition of Society. 221 he fully sensible of the value of time, and the pecuniary advantages result- ing from its occupation in continuous labour, this complaint of irregularity and unsteadiness would naturally cease, and with the aid of savings-banks, under the care of which admirable institutions the labourer might deposit the surplus of his weekly earnings, we are firmly persuaded that the peasantry of this colony would exhibit a picture of contentment and general comfort, realizing the best anticipations of their most benevolent advocates. It has been stated that ‘‘ want,”’ that great stimulus to industry, is happily here unknown, while it is admitted that a growing taste for the luxuries of life is rapidly increasing; the acquisition of these indulgences, accompanied by a consequent demand for a larger outlay of the labourers means, will, therefore, necessarily act as a powerful incentive to the daily appropriation of his time to agricultural duty, as the only source from whence these novel and artificial wants may be supplied. When the progress of education shall have been sufficiently developed (to effect which object the exertions of the clergy are unceasingly employed), we may then ascribe to a higher feeling the causes which would induce the labourer to prefer continuous industry to roving and unsteady habits. In the meantime, however, and until the moral and social precepts inculcated by religion and education shall have produced their full fruits upon the mind of the labourer, we would venture to submit that the present irregularity of the agricultural cultivators of the soil will fast disappear, and we have no doubt will soon be entirely dissipated by the increasing demand for the personal and domestic luxuries of life, to procure which their undivided energies must be exerted. 2. On this subject we are disposed to think that the absence of a law regulating the relations between masters and servants has been mainly in- Strumental in creating the elements of distrust between employer and labourer, to which the want of a general good understanding, and of a reciprocal feeling of confidence may be fairly attributed. Since the dis- allowance of the late Contract Act, the labourers, we are led to understand from the unanimous record of the police magistrates, have invariably re- pudiated all agreements for hire. In no one instance has a written instru- ment for the performance of service been lodged in the magistrate’s office ; and the system which consequently prevails of casual day labour is alike disadvantageous to the proprietor as well as to the cultivator, being at- tended with delay and uncertainty to the former, and injurious to the latter, by fostering the seeds of a roving disposition and of irregular labour. We can easily imagine that it was natural for the labourer, after escaping from the trammels of apprenticeship in August, 1838, to view with some degree of suspicion any request made to him for a contract of his labour. This Tepugnance might have been induced, however erroneously, by assimilating their condition under contract to that from which they had so lately emerged ; but months have sinced elapsed, during which period, although injudicious friends have not been wanting, whose doctrines, instead of eradicating mis- taken impressions, have tended to engender and perpetuate feelings of dissatisfaction by an incessant recurrence to the past, still the labourer has acquired sufficient information on the subject to dispel the illusion under which he originally laboured. From our experience, during the operation of the late Island Act, for regulating the relations of masters and servants, we feel bound to record our opinion, that the Act in question was practi- cally and generally working for the good of both classes of the agricultural body. The labourer was protected from sudden ejectment; medical aid, a house and a spot of land were legally secured to him so long as he served Barbadoes. Barbadoes. ood 222 Progress of Industry, and upon the property; and, above all, the necessity imposed upon the em- ployers of giving a month’s notice to the labourer ere he could be dis- charged, and vice versa, afforded ample time to both for calm and sober reflection, which would naturally have the salutary effect of smoothing all asperities of temper, and pave the way to a reconciliation and to a return of mutual confidence and good will. We would, therefore, respectfully state our opinion, that the introduction of a wholesome law upon this head is vitally essential to the immediate as well as future interest of the labourer, and to the agricultural prosperity of the soil which it is his lot to cultivate. 3. The disinclination of the parents to train children to agricultural pursuits is stated by the magistrates to prevail universally. It is, however, gratifying to observe, that the reason assigned by the parents for the with- drawal of their children from estate labour, is the urgent wish they cherish of imparting to them the benefits of a homely education, by placing them at the schools which abound in the respective parishes of this island. Al though we are fully sensible of the loss accruing to an estate by the depri- vation of the juvenile portion of its tenantry, inasmuch as the lighter duties devolving upon them would be performed with disadvantage by the adult population ; still we hail with satisfaction the adoption of this conduct on the part of the labourer, as presenting the most effectual means by which the young peasant will he taught at the preparatory schools to which he may be sent, that honest industry is not incompatible with the full enjoy- ment of freedom; and when this important truth shall have exercised its healthful influence upon the mind of the juvenile labourer, he will need no further argument to stimulate him to exertion, and to perform with cheer- fulness the duties of that line of life in which he has been placed. In conclusion, we would fain hope that a temperate and equal adminis- tration of the laws, through the medium of the police magistrates, under the vigilant superintendence of his Excellency, will soon conduce to the permanent establishment of that harmony between the employer and his dependant, which has been temporarily interrupted by the causes we have above attempted to elucidate ; and while the Court of Appeal, the existence of which, we find, by the magisterial reports, is widely known and appre ciated by the labourer, constantly exercises a watchful scrutiny over all magisterial proceedings, and is at all times prepared to afford its protection to the oppressed, we venture to submit, that this tribunal, of which we have the honour to be members, having happily gained the confidence of the higher and lower classes of the agricultural body, will be productive of equal advantage to both, and become the instrument of ensuring the re-existencé of a good understanding between the proprietors and cultivators of the land. General Condition of Society. ST. VINCENT. St. Vincent. Lieutenant-Governor Tyler to Sir EB. J. M. MacGregor, llth August, 1838. _ I Have much pleasure in acquainting your Excellency that the Ist 11. p. 145. of August has passed over in this colony without the slightest inter- tuption to the peace and good order of society, and the day observed throughout the government with every mark of solemn respect, highly creditable to the community at large. Lieutenant-Governor Tyler to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 18th August, 1838. Since I did myself the honour of communicating to your Excel- y lency the conduct of the labouring population on the Ist of August, ui a short time has elapsed, which has in some measure developed the inclination which they evinced to work, or not, for the wages gene- Tally offered to them thoughout the colony ; namely, ls. 6d. currency the first gang, 1s. the second gang, and 9d. the third, with medical attendance and medicine. In the second and third districts, nearly the whole number of estates have entered into the agreement, and the greater proportion of labourers are at work ; but I regret to say, in the first district they still refuse to come into the terms proposed, declaring the wages insufficient; no act, however, of insubordination has taken place, but the enclosed copy of a statement from some of the proprietors resident in the first district, together with a copy of my reply, will show your Excellency the apprehension entertained by the gentlemen in that quarter. ~The legislative houses having met yesterday by adjournment, a deputation from both branches presented me with the enclosed address and resolution. It is my intention immediately to act upon the authority therein vested in me; and by the great benefit derived from Mr. Nanton’s appointment and professional influence over the minds of the rural population, I have secured the services of Mr. Ross, Her Majesty’s Solicitor-General of this colony, to accept the appointment of police magistrate for the first district upon the resig- nation of Mr. Sutherland, late special justice, who will still continue to exercise. a concurrent jurisdiction with the local magistracy of that district. Under this arrangement, I have not the least doubt, When the laws are explained and administered to the labourers bya legal person in whom they have confidence, and who is influenced, I am well informed, by honourable and liberal principles, that they will as readily come into the proposed agreement as those who have Previously experienced the same advantages in the second district. RNR MEU St. Vincent. 224 Progress of Industry, and ‘ (No. 1.) To his Excellency George Tyler, Esq., x.u., Lieutenant-Governor of the Island of St. Vincent, and its Dependencies, Sc. &c. &c. Sir, We, the undersigned proprietors, magistrates. attorneys, and mana- gers resident in the Charaib Country, in the island of St. Vincent, beg leave respectfully to lay before your Excellency a statement of the present un- fortunate and critical situation of this district. On Wednesday the Ist August, in compliance with the Act passed by the Legislature, the appren- tices were released from all further obligations to the estates, and declared perfectly free. The places of divine worship were thrown open in obedi- ence to your Excellency’s proclamation, and they were allowed to pass the whole of the remainder of the week in merriment, the services of none being requested but those who were absolutely necessary to take charge of the stock. Further to promote the same good feeling, they were allowed, not only their houses, but the free and unrestricted use of their extensive pro- vision grounds, and to entertain any or all of their friends from the neigh- bouring estates. Thus matters passed on quietly and orderly until the usual signal, by ringing the bell, was giving at six o’clock on Monday morning to recom- mence work, when they all refused to labour in the field on the terms pro- posed, ls. 6d. per day, together with their houses, grounds, medicines, and medical attendance. The magistrates of the district have taken great pains to undeceive them, and to correct the erroneous notions they entertain, that they are entitled by law both to their houses and grounds, and can retain undisturbed possession of them for 12 months, without performing any work for the estate. We ourselves, as well as the ministers of all denominations, have taken great pains to explain these matters, and also to point out that the wages are not only liberal, but higher than those of the neighbouring islands, and that any further advance would be ruinous to the properties. Our united efforts have hitherto proved unavailing; they contumaciously refuse both to return to their work, and to give up their houses, and are proceeding to add so much insolence to insubordination, that it is doubtful whether it would be prudent on the part of the magistracy to venture to carry the law of ejectment into force. Under these circumstances, we have deemed it our duty to bring under your Excellency’s immediate notice the precarious position of the district, in order that such measures may be adopted as your Excellency may deem most expedient to open the eyes of these deluded people to their true inter- ests, and to convince them that their own prosperity will and must invari- ably depend upon the prosperity of the estates. We have, &c. Arex. CUMMING. JAMES SUTHERLAND. Tuomas ALEXANDER BROWNE. Avex. M‘Leop. Parrick CRICHTON. Daniet Hueeins. Grorce M. M. Browns. Jas. FEATHERSTONE. (Signed) 11th August, 1838. (No. 2.) Gentlemen, ‘Government House, 13th August, 1838. The statement which you have laid before me of the present situa- tion of the Charaib Country, owing to the refusal on the part of the labours General Condition of Society. 225 ing population within that district to work for the daily wages proposed to them, has been perused by me with some disappointment and regret; but I am not aware of any measures that I have authority to adopt in addition to those already taken, which could further conyince the people within the district of their true interests. I cannot be supposed to be a judge whether the wages proposed by the proprietors are fair and reasonable or not for the labourer to receive, neither could I in any way interfere to impress upon their minds the neces- sity of accepting what was offered. Should any violation of the Jaw be committed, the authority of the law must be had recourse to and supported; but I am willing to believe, from the conduct now pursuing by the labourers in and about Kingstown, that forbearance and. conciliation will in due time supersede the necessity of having recourse to any legal assistance; it is, however, of the utmost im- portance that, whenever the aid of the law is called for, it should be under circumstances fully warranted by the local statutes, and in strict conformity with the principles they contain. Lord Glenelg to Sir LE. J. M. MacGregor, 15th October, 1838. I wave received your despatch, No. 227, of the 22nd August, transmitting two despatches and other documents from the Lieu- tenant-Governor of St. Vincent, on the state of that island. I have perused with much satisfaction the report of the Lieutenant-Governor of the gratifying manner in which the great change in the colonial society was celebrated ; and although in St. Vincent, as elsewhere, I regret to learn that differences existed between the proprietors and the agricultural population as to the rate of wages, the general con- duct of the emancipated population appears to be such as to afford ample encouragement as to the results of the great change which has been so happily effected in their condition. I have to request that you will convey to the Lieutenant-Governor my approbation of his proceedings with reference to the circum- stances detailed in these communications. He appears to me to have acted correctly and judiciously in declining to exercise any inter- ference with a view to induce the labourers to accept the terms offered by the proprietors. Any violation of the law should, of course, be promptly repressed by the Executive Government. Ad- Vice also should be willingly given to those who ask it, and no means ought to be omitted to circulate timely information and to produce aright understanding of the new position both of employers and labourers. But the labourers must be left perfectly free to accept or reject the terms on which proprietors may wish to engage their labour. The interference of the Government in such a case would in all probability retard rather than accelerate that mutual good understanding which may, I hope, be expected soon to succeed the differences almost inevitable at the commencement of so entire a change in the condition of society. St. Vincent. Tes loos St. Vincent. II. (2), p. 160. II. (2), p.213. (Nanton.) Oct. 29, 1838. 226 Progress of Industry, and Lieutenant-Governor Tyler to Sir HE. J. M. MacGregor, 28th August, 1838. Since I had the honour of communicating to your Excellency the state of the labouring class in this colony, I have much pleasure in being able to report to your Excellency that the measures T was then about to adopt have had the desired effect of inducing the greater portion of them to resume work; and I am informed, with the exception of two or three estates, upon which the labourers are at present disinclined to enter into any agreement, arising either from the recollection of former grievances or personal dislike to their managers, every estate is under cultivation; and_ that the general conduct of the negroes, taking all circumstances into consideration, is highly creditable to them. Ry. Licutenant-Governor Tyler to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 29th April, 1839. Ir is unnecessary to inform your Excellency of the various shades of difference of situation which exist between the rural population of Barbadoes and of this island, the former having a redundant popu lation, rendering the proprietary body independent of the conduct of the unwilling labourer; whereas, on the contrary, in this colony, the proprietary body are in a great measure necessarily dependent upon the will and caprice of the labourer, and are in consequence obliged, on occasions, to forego the punishment of eviction, rather than dispense with whatever portion of service they might be inclined to give, by which irregularity of labour has been more encouraged than checked; I should however observe, where mutual confidence exists, and that mode of punishment has been adopted as an example, the results have proved beneficial to both parties. The greater portion of this colony is under agreement to laboul, with the exception of a part of the first district, and I am happy @ inform your Excellency, since my last communication, that there appears to be a desire evinced by the planters in that district to com form to the general plan, by entering into contracts with theif labourers, under the auspices of the stipendiary magistrate, whois now armed with the additional authority of the law, recently passed for that purpose. With these prospects in view, and an anxious desire to allay all excitement and angry feeling which may have hitherto contributed to engender a disinclination to continuous work on the part of the labourer, I have communicated to the stipendialy magistrates of each district the course which I am of opinion should be adopted, and which, I trust and believe, will meet with suppolt from the proprietors, and re-establish confidence in the labourer. ee] Extracts from the Reports of the Police Magistrates. In compliance with your Excellency’s desire, I have visited the estates within this district. In my progress I endeayoured to conciliate the labourers, by adyexting General Condition of Society. 227 to the advice which you had given to them in person before the 1st of gt, Vincent. August, and by stating that my visit was occasioned by the interest which you felt in their welfare, I gave importance to my own representations and commanded their respect. They received from me a full exposition of the law, as applicable to their newly acquired rights and duties. They were urged to bring up their children in habits of industry, to send them to school three days in the week, and to permit them to work three days for wages. They were made to understand that colonial cultivation required annual contracts, under which the person who put a crop into the ground should engage to take it off, and thereby remain long enough upon an estate to reap the provisions which they planted. Finally, I called upon them to enter into such an agreement as would secure their services upon the estates until the lst day of August next. The agreement which I proposed was, that they should labour Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in every week, and Friday in every other week, for nine hours each day; the labourers in the strong gang receiving ls. 6d., those in the weak gang receiving 1s., and infants and infirm persons receiving 9d. per day. This agreement has been entered into upon all the estates which I Visited, except on Evesham Vale, the Upper Diamond Estate, the Prospect, and Sion Hill; the gentlemen in charge of those estates did not attend, and consequently no arrangement could be made. Some few persons refused to enter into the arrangement; they were principally men who were about to join their wives on other estates, or women who were about to join their husbands; all of whom were anxious to satisfy me that they did not refuse from any unkind feeling towards their late masters. Some slight objection was made to the rate of wages, but it was soon withdrawn when the labourers fully understood that extra pay would be given for extra work, and when at their earnest entreaty, I promised that a printed scale of labour, signed by me, should be sent to each estate. The period of labour was objected to only by females with young children, who refused to work more than seven hours in the day. A few complaints were made that persons who were incapable of sup- porting themselves did not receive the allowances to which, by law, they are entitled, and I desired the friends of such persons to lay their case before me at my sittings in Kingstown. In many cases aged and infirm labourers claimed an exception from labour, and were directed only to do that which the medical gentleman, who attended the estate, should certify they were capable of performing. And the bad state of the negro houses formed one very general ground of discontent, which the planters are making every effort to remove. I close my brief report of the staté of this district, which comprises one- third part of the labouring population of the island, by informing your Excellency that only 72 labourers have refused to enter into a contract to labour: that since the last day of August no offence of greater magnitude than a common assault and battery has been committed; that not one per- son has been forcibly ejected from his dwelling; that the labourers express one general feeling of satisfaction at the just and impartial administration of the law; and that they are all in the quiet and orderly discharge of their customary humble duties. G2 sacs = Svea aS St. Vincent. (Ross.) Nov. 17, 1838. II. (2), p. 172. (Crosby.) Nov. 17, 1838. II. (2), p. 173. 228 Progress of Industry, and I have the honour of forwarding to your Excellency the copy of a letter addressed to me by the chairman of a meeting held relative to the expe- diency of a visit from me to the respective properties in this district, for the purpose of effecting, as far as it was practicable, some definite arrange- ment between the labourers and their masters to secure the services of the former up to the Ist of August next. I lament that some unanimous understanding was not arrived at upon the occasion by all the gentlemen having charge of estates in this quarter. The result of their proceedings necessarily precludes any further inter- ference on my part. I stated the agreement to be that they should work for nine hours a day, from six of the clock in the morning till the same hour in the afternoon, having one hour for breakfast and two hours for dinner ; that they should work alternately for five days in one week, and for four days the other week, and at the rate of 1s. 6d. a day for the first class field-labourers, 15. a day for the second class, and 9d. or 6d. a day for the old and little people. I also pointed out to them the obligations which would be im- posed upon their masters and themselves if they entered into such am agreement, and the manner in which they would by that means dispose of their time and labour in exchange for money, as well as the necessity for annual agreement in order to secure the cultivation of the land. I did not require either party to sign the agreement, the labourers being for the most part unable to read, and not therefore likely to sign any papel the purport of which they could not of themselves be acquainted. I strongly urged upon them the advantage of bringing up their children to habits of labour and industry, and recommended them to send their children to school for three days in the week, and to cause them to labour for the estate the other three days in the week. . sods Almost all the labourers on the different estates I have visited hare entered into this agreement except those on Golden Grove estate, m Bostock Park estate, and Queensbury estate. The people of the first of these, and the attorney of the other two, did not attend, and, therefore, n0 agreement could be entered into. Those who declined entering into this agreement on the estates which they had resided as apprentices, of whom they were in all 56, did so from the most part in order to join their hus bands, or wives, or other relations on other estates, upon which many of them, I have since heard, have agreed to labour upon the terms above described. I did not address the labourers upon Mount Hope estate, having been informed by the proprietor that he had previously to my visit entered into an agreement with them and that he would not therefore occupy my time. I pointed out to them that the wages of 1s. 6d. a day was for that pro portion of labour which they were accustomed to perform as apprenticel labourers, and that those who were industrious might increase the amoult of their daily wages, by voluntarily performing, within the time agreed upon, as free people, a greater quantity of labour than under the apprentice ship system. I also promised, at the request of many of them, to have adopted in the districts on such estates as desired it, a scale of labour s0 4 to enable them to ascertain the amount of labour they would have to p= form for 1s. 6d., and so in proportion when they exceeded it. Some few others complained of their houses being out of repair, an inconvenienté which the planters are using every exertion to remedy. And some few women, nurses and mothers with several children, refuse to labour beyon seven hours a day, which was cheerfully agreed to. General Condition of Society. 229 Throughout the greater proportion of this district the labourers are follow- ing their usual occupations with as great a regularity as could well have been expected; but on some estates it appears difficult for them to asso- ciate the idea of continuous uninterrupted daily labour with entire free- dom. Experience, however, will no doubt soon convince them of the benefit of it to themselves, and gradually overcome their present disinclina- tion. I had no complaints of those who were incapable of labour not receiving the allowances to which they were entitled, and but few only claimed exemption from labour through infirmity and age, and these were re- quired to perform only such labour as should be approved of by the medical attendant. The whole of the labouring population in this ‘district are quite orderly and respectful, and appear fully to appreciate the increased happiness pro- duced by their recent change of condition. I have the honour to send to your Excellency, as directed by law, a return of the complaints which have been brought before me in this district. Dec. 1, 1838. In this return your Excellency will see no serious or alarming offences, the I. (2),p- 184. cases being principally confined to questions of a private nature, and com- paratively a trifling description. The general complaints against the labourers now is, that the quantity of work performed by them is much less than it should be; as far as I have been able to judge, from the statements and opinions of both classes interested in the quota of work, from the asser- tions of planters on the one hand, and counter-statements of experienced labourers on the other, I am inclined to think this complaint is, on the main, well founded, and that the quantity of work performed by the labourers has not been what in fairness it ought to be; the fact is, the labourer has yet been little strained in his means by poverty ; he has not yet been led to set their proper estimate upon the advantages at present in his possession; and it argues well for the prosperity of his condition, that the comparative value which he has set upon labour is exaggerated and. correct, so far as that value is to be estimated by wages alone. In other respects, I am happy to add, the conduct of the labouring popu- lation has been good. A few breaches of the peace have been preferred before me, as might have been expected; these have principally laid between the labourers themselves, with one or two exceptions. The decrease in the agricultural population is shown to be 855; and I understand that the preparations of these persons, previously to the Ist day Dec. 12, 1838. of August last, evinced a fixed determination to quit the properties on which I. (2),p. 174. they had laboured, as soon as they should be able to do so. On inquiry I am informed that many of them are young persons, who are either em- ployed by their parents or sent to school; that others have hired grounds from persons in the neighbourhood of Kingstown, where they are employed in cultivating provisions; that others have hired themselves out, and are engaged in various occupations; that several have apprenticed themselves to tradesmen ; that some are at labour in the other districts; and that some have left the colony. The cheerfulness with which the labourers, who remain on the estates in this district, continue to perform their duties, may, in a great measure, be attributed to their having entered into voluntary contracts to labour until the Ist day of August, without the exercise of any magisterial or other power; but under a plain and’ simple explanation of the alternative enact~ St. Vincent. (Ross.) (Nanton.) St. Vincent. ites (Crosby.) Jan. 15, 1839. II. (2),p- 177. 230 Progress of Industry, and ment of the Abrogation Act, “ you must engage to continue to labour on the estate for wages, or you must quit the estate.” On all occasions they have submitted respectfully to the power of the law; and although before the termination of the apprenticeship some few did think that they were entitled to the unconditional enjoyment of their houses and grounds, yet so early as the 6th day of August, when the right was, for the first and only time, claimed at this office, they were, on explanation, satisfied, and ad- mitted that they had been misled. I do not mean to mislead your Excellency into a belief that the labourers are now working with the same steadiness as they did when they were slaves and apprentices; they do, unquestionably, sometimes absent them- selves in small numbers for a day; some few neglect their work for several days together ; and most of the gangs frequently loiter in returning to the field in such manner as to reduce the hours of labour from nine to eight and a half, eight, and occasionally to seven hours. From this return your Excellency will observe there is an apparent pre- sent loss from the agricultural population of this district of 372 labourers; and it is highly probable there are few among this number incapable of labour, but that they are, on the contrary, for the most part, persons of effective strength. Many of these, probably a third, are children or young persons under the age of 18 years, some of whom are gone to school, some to trades, some to distant relatives, and some to other occupations as domestic servants, sempstresses, &c. Some of those who are older have gone to reside in the towns, in order to follow other occupations ; some, even of these, have placed themselves at trades; some few have obtained small patches of land for the cultivation of provisions, and some few women content themselves with such means of subsistence as can be found them by the labour of their husbands. In numerous instances in which these children have left the estates, the parents have felt fully sensible that after a short time they must resume their labour for their own support, and have as frequently expressed a wish that after they had acquired a knowledge of reading and writing, that they should again return to their usual labour on the estate to which they had been formerly attached, and I have also com tinually found this sentiment to be impressed upon the minds of the children themselves. It is more difficult to account for the manner in which those children who became free on the Ist August 1834, have been disposed of. Few of those who were free on that date remain on the estates, but all those who have been bern since are to be found upon them. By far the greater partol those who are on the estates, and have the opportunity, are at school ; but! am aware of only one of these children being employed on any estate in this district in agricultural labour. : Your Excellency will also observe, that 61 of the 372 labourers only refused to enter into any contract, five having been discharged by the former magistrate, and 56 by myself, and that the remainder 311 left their respec: tive estates prior to my visit. Your Excellency will also observe, that the present working agricultural population bears rather more than the proportion of 10°5 to 1 to those who will soon, in all probability, be unable to provide for themselves, and be reduced to a state of pauperism; and that the proportion of the same pop lation to the children under the age of 11 years is very nearly as 5 tol. Your Excellency will also observe that the average number of labourets now performing labour on each estate is 58¢, and which necessarily includes the non-preedials on those estates. . . . + « General Condition of Society. 231 In this district, since I have had the honour of holding the appointment of police magistrate, no act of violence beyond a common assault, no gross impropriety of conduct, has come under my cognizance. The complaints among the labourers themselves have been most trifling, and those between their master and themselves have been less. frequent than could have been expected. The agreements to serve till the 1st of August next were entered into by them without magisterial interference, but simply from the alter- native being proposed to them in the terms of the Abrogation Act. I am happy also to inform your Excellency, that some of those who have quitted the estates are returning to them, and that I have no doubt, in a few months, that the greater proportion of such will again be found, with few exceptions, upon those estates on which they were formerly attached. Some few of the estates will, no doubt, entirely go out of cultivation, and the labour of these estates will be carried to those more favourably situated, and by this means, and by an improved mode of cultivation, and a careful application of labour, which the scarcity of it will necessarily produce, will no doubt make up for the deficiency, and an equal, if not a greater, quan- tity of the staple commodity of this country will be produced, and an infi- nitely greater quantity of happiness be experienced by the labouring popu- lation. It would be impossible for so great a change to take place without some present disadvantage being experienced by some persons now possessing estates, but I have no doubt that even those estates which may be deprived of the means of producing sugar may be otherwise more profitably culti- yated, such estates being incapable of sugar cultivation under a free system, unless there was a most redundant population. In the Chateaubellaire division I fear there will be some diminution in this crop, and I fear some of the estates are backward for the ensuing crop; but in the other divi- sions, from the information I have obtained, [ understand that, with the exception of, perhaps, three estates, there will be an average crop, notwith- standing the present loss of labour, and that they are generally as forward as most years with the ensuing crop. The increased happiness of the labouring population is quite evident to every unprejudiced mind, and the best informed and most intelligent among the planters are well satisfied with the present result of the late grand experiment, and are exerting their best energies to surmount all the difficulties which must arise from a diminished force, and which I have no doubt and hope they will successfully overcome. Some are discontented and disappointed, but I think they are, for the most part, men who feel themselves to be and are, from their want of experience and other causes, totally incapable of possessing an influence over the minds of free agents; but I do not think that these few instances can in any way show that the change has been, on the whole, otherwise than as 'T have described; and I am of opinion, that in cases in which this discontent is very conspicuous, that there are various local causes which might produce it, and in no Manner to be attributed to the change to which I have alluded. The feclings of the labouring population have undergone the greatest change, and they must and will be treated as freemen: so must the feelings of those who are placed in authority over them ; they must forget the days that are gone and the power they have happily lost. The improved con- dition of the labouring population has produced a most happy effect, and it is agreeable to observe the importance they place upon their acquisition of freedom. ‘Their character is becoming more open and unreserved ; their cheerfulness increased, and their general behaviour much improved. They must be treated with mildness, consideration, and care, and directed by a St. Vincent, oo we KD SSiKess Bo iret St. Vincent. (Ross. ) Jan. 30, 1839. II. (2), p. 183. (Polson.) Jan. 31, 1839. II. (2), p. 181. 232 Progress of Industry, and superiority of intelligence, and then they will rapidly become a happy and industrious peasantry. Se os From the general return which I have had the honour to send to your Excellency from this district, it appears that 829 labourers quitted the estates on the Ist August last; 117 were evicted for refusing to labour for wages; 440 are infirm persons, incapable of performing work ; 829 are children, who became free on the Ist August, 1834, and who have not yet performed any labour, and 190 labourers have joined the different estates, leaving at present a grand total of 3,016 effective labourers on the 25 estates comprising this district, or little more than an average of 120 labourers to each. Of those who have been evicted for refusing to work for wages, or who have quitted the estates of their own accord, some have gone to the towns and engaged themselves as domestic servants, porters and boatmen; some have sought for employment on estates where higher wages and greater perquisites offered, and some again have taken to the cultivation of provisions on lands rented for the purpose in different parts of the island. There exists in the minds of the labourers a deep-rooted aversion to cane cultivation, caused, no doubt, by the recollection of their past servitude. A population, therefore, so circumstanced require great encouragement. to put them in a proper frame of mind to consider. their former description of service, when stript of its servile character, to be both reputable and lucra- tive ; and here it affords me great pleasure to remark, that the advice given by your Excellency to the labourers to resume the cultivation of the land, has been attended with the most beneficial results in this district; many of them following the advice of your Excellency, have returned to their former occupation on estates where, in a state of slavery, they were treated with kindness and consideration, and I am told the numbers are daily increas- ing. With regard to the infirm and old persons incapable of performing work on estates, I have every reason to suppose that they are taken care of as directed by law; at least only one case to the contrary has come to my knowledge, and which was brought before me on the 3rd September last, and my adjudication thereon has been already reported to your Excellency. It is with much satisfaction that I state, that the parents of the children who became free on the Ist August, 1834, are so well aware of the advan- tages of education to their children, that most of them have been sent to schools where they are instructed, I understand, for sums varying from 1s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. a-week each, the parents supplying food for their support. This may, indeed, appear a moderate system of education, but trifling as it is, if generally diffused, it cannot fail in a great measure to modify the character of the rising generation, and give it a new lift in the scale of society. ‘The parents for the most part profess their determination to make their children work after they have had a little schooling. I have been given to understand that the conduct of the people on all the islands since the Ist August last has been most quiet and orderly. At the Union island, which is entirely the property of one individual, the people had generally entered into an agreement to work four days im the week at a moderate task-work. . . . . . I am sorry to say, from the appearance of the cultivation, the statements made to me, and the ad- mission of the people themselves, that the labourers had not been domg much more than half the work they ought to have done. At Mirou and Canouan no fixed wages are paid to the labourer. . « « = On the former island, the people are working well and regularly ; on the latter, the contrary, I pointed out to the latter, that for their own interest, General Condition of Society. 233 the cotton being now ripe, they ought not to work irregularly, or they would lose or depreciate greatly the remuneration accruing from their labour since the 1st of August. At Mustique, on which there are two estates, the proprietors and people are on the best possible terms, since the visit I made there with Mr. Ander- son, by direction of your Excellency in September last; the agreement which was then entered into for the payment of daily wages of ls. 6d. to the first class, 1s. to the second class, and 9d. to the third class, for five days’ labour, nine hours a-day in each week, has continued to the satis- faction of both parties; this, of course, in addition to their houses, grounds, and medical attendance. In Bequia, by far the largest of the Grenadines, the labourers are not generally working so well as in Mustique; the rate of wages and the labour agreed for is the same. ‘The island contains nine estates, and the complaint is, and I consider it well-founded, that with the exception of one small estate, the proprietors do not get the number of hours’ labour contracted for. On two of the principal estates they work well from eight to nine hours, but on the remainder they rarely labour for more than seven to eight hours. On nearly all the estates, particularly those the most densely populated, there are a great many persons living and cultivating provision grounds, who will do no work for the estate, though perfectly able, and offered the usual wages; this fact has been brought under my notice, though no application has been made to enforce the provisions of the Abrogation Act. I think this will entirely cease after the Ist of August next, for when the labouring classes have to pay rent for their houses and grounds, they will not allow any person to live with them who does not contribute to pay that rent In consequence of a dislike the people appeared to entertain to bring up their children to the cultivation of the soil, and seeing how few of the young people who were made free in 1834 were at any work, I considered it my duty to address the parents on the subject, poimting out the harm which would eventually arise to themselves from such conduct, and recom- mended that they should send the children to school for two or three days in the week, and let them do such labour for the remainder as their strength fitted. them for, and to accustom them early to receive money for their work. They promised to follow my advice, and appeared most anxious that their children should have the benefit of attending a school. The well bringing up of the children I consider now, by far, the most important point to all classes; the evil of not working regularly or con- tinuously, will in time cure itself; but if immediate attention is not paid to the education and promotion of industrious habits amongst the young, I am afraid they will soon retrograde most rapidly in their morals and general conduct, and we shall look in vain for cultivators of the soil. I am sorry to report that there is not a schoolmaster in any of the islands. In Mustique and the Union there were lately schools supported by proprietors, but they have both, from unavoidable circumstances, been at present discontinued. From proprietors and all classes I have received the strongest assurances of support in procuring the erection of school-houses, and the appointment of a master in each of the islands; and I hope shortly to lay before your Excellency a report on such a vital subject. The parents of the children express their willingness to contribute to the maintenance of the schoolmaster, by the payment of a weekly sum for each child. St. Vincent. ae Progress of Industry, and Grenada. GRENADA. Lieutenant-Governor Doyle to Lord Glenelg, 13th August, 1838. II. p, 172. I coNsIDER it my duty to report direct to your Lordship, making a similar report to the Governor-General, that the conduct of the labouring population on the Ist August instant (when unrestricted freedom was proclaimed to all), was in the highest degree exemplary. The early part of the day was passed by them at their respective laces of worship; afterwards there were very extensive festivities, at which the most praiseworthy regularity was observed. ‘There was not a drunken or disorderly person seen in the streets of St, George; and it has been reported to me that the same sobriety and propriety of behaviour prevailed in the country. I think it but due to the people to mention these facts to your Lordship. Sir E. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 18th September, 1838. I nave the honour of transmitting, for your Lordship’s informa- tion, the copies of a despatch and of its enclosures from the Lieute- nant-Governor of Grenada, containing a report of the proceedings of a military detachment, temporarily employed in that island in the support of the civil power, and which, upon the cessation of the ex- citement which had required its presence in the parish of St. Patrick, returned to Fort George on the evening of the 30th of August. II, p. 173, Liewtenant-Governor Doyle to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 6th September, 1828, I feel very confident, judging from information received from the other parishes, that wherever managers will diligently and calmly explain to the people on their estates what work they expect them to do, and the remu- neration in wages they are to receive for it, and provided they are punctual in the payment of the amount so promised, and that the people are not harassed and teazed, and their wages stopped on account of every trifling deficit of work, the great mass of the people will settle down quietly, and enter into engagements to work for estates for reasonable and adequate wages. There appears, however, to be a want of consideration on the part of many managers, and an eagerness and haste to carry to the extreme that portion of the law which allows the ejection of the labourer from his house and ground, upon his not coming immediately to an agreement to work for the estate. Those who know the attachment that those people entertain for their houses and grounds will not fail, at once, to observe the impolicy of trying to drive them into hasty and hard bargains by threats of ejectment. I think [ may safely assure your Excellency, that the trifling excitement m the parish of St. Patrick has solely arisen from want of due attention to those points, and from no other cause. The magistrates would willingly have retained the troops longer; but as there was positively no further occa- sion for their seryices, and as the few men left in Fort George were on con- stant duty, I entirely approved of Captain Clarke’s returning when he did. General Condition of Society. 235 From a Minute by Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 27th May, 1839. Grenada. Tue quiet and orderly deportment of the greater portion of the yy; (2), p. 220 labouring population is a source of sincere gratification to the Go- ~ oe a yernor; and after time shall have rendered them better acquainted with the improved situation to which the emancipation from appren- ticeship has raised them, and that agitation shall have subsided by which the West Indian communities have necessarily been excited during the late alterations in the fabric of colonial society, it may reasonably be expected that the internal intercourse between the pro- prietary body and the working classes, as well as the external rela- tions of the local Legislatures with the Imperial Government, will eradually recover from the various embarrassments hitherto surround- ing them. Sir H. J. M. MacGregor to the Marquis of Normanby, 8th June, 1838. Tue relations between the proprietors and working classes in this 77, (9), p.220. colony, although improving, do not seem to beas yet so well adjusted as in Tobago, and a number of Jabourers were said to have emigrated to Trinidad, some of whom, however, it was added, had returned to their native island. TOBAGO. Tobago. Sir EL. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 23rd August, 1858, I po myself the honour of forwarding to your Lordship the en- 77, », 198, closed copy of a despatch, this day received, from the Lieutenant- Governor of Tobago, in which his Excellency reports that, although the labouring population of that island conducted themselves in an orderly and decorous manner on the Ist of August, indications of discontent and of insubordination have been subsequently manifested, which I sincerely hope will be suppressed by the measures contem- plated by his Excellency for that purpose. Lieutenant-Governor Darling to Sir H. J. M. MacGregor, 20th September, 1838. I pip not think it necessary to enter into any justification of my II. p. 209. conduct, although somewhat improperly reflected upon by the As- sembly as being deficient in ‘energetic and wise policy,” because they, as well as every right-judging person in the island, must be now satisfied that I pursued the most prudent course; everything that could have been expected from the intervention of the military has been obtained without it, and no trace of the evil disposition that Tobago. II. (2), p- 222. 236 Progress of Industry, and might have been roused into action by a premature and unnecessary resort to force been manifested. I shall not trouble your Excellency with any further reports on the state of the island, in which everything as relating to the negroes will, with very few exceptions, in a short time become perfectly satis- factory to all reasonable expectations. Lieutenant-Governor Darling to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 11th December, 18388. I nAve much pleasure in transmitting to your Excellency the enclosed copy of a letter from Mr. M‘Intosh, stipendiary magistrate, reporting that, in the course of the last week, he had been called upon to ratify agreements between the managers of five estates, 1n the district lately under his superintendence as special magistrate, and their labourers, for the ordinary and extra labour required till 1st of August next. Mr. M‘Intosh further reports his opinion, that, within a very short period, the arrangement will become general throughout that district, The example has been followed by one estate in the adjoining dis- trict, and I have little doubt that it will be soon established through- out the island. I look upon this as a most important point, as ind- cating the increasing confidence of the labourers in their employers, and the improved understanding that is beginning to obtain between the parties of their relative rights and privileges. I am very glad to add, that nota complaint has reached me for upwards of a fortnight, nor has there been any committal to gaol or punishment for breach of contract within that period. It may be well to mention, that the terms detailed by Mr. M‘Intosh are independent of houses and provision-grounds, which are secured to the labourers. Auchenskeoch, 11th December, 1838. I have the honour to report to your Excellency the gratifying fact, that I have been called upon, in the course of last week, by five directors of estates in the district formerly under my superintendence as a special ma gistrate, to ratify agreements between them and their labourers for the ordi nary and extra labour required, until the Ist of August next. I considet the terms offered and accepted fair and reasonable. The first class of labourers are to receive 8d. per diem, the second class 5d. for nine hous’ work, and for their extra labour the same rate of remuneration as they had received for taking off the crop of 1836. I am engaged to visit the largest estate in the Leeward district to-md™ row, for the purpose of witnessing a similar agreement, and I have no doubt that within a fortnight from this period, special hirings will have beet effected throughout the entire district. SIR, I have, &c. (Signed) W. D. M‘Intosu, Stipendiary Magistrate. General Condition of Society. - 937 From Lieutenant-Governor Darlings Speech to the Legislative Houses, 12th March, 1839. Some months have now elapsed since the important change took place in the social condition of our labouring population, on which the future prosperity of these colonies must chiefly depend. I have watched the progressive effect of this change with the deepest anxiety, and am, upon the whole, inclined to look forward to a more favourable result than was anticipated a short time previous to its coming into operation. It affords me much satisfaction to acquaint you, that of the 72 estates now in cultivation in the island, the labourers of 63 have entered into special agreements before the stipendiary magistrates, for the necessary extra labour during the present crop, on reasonable terms, and in some instances for an extension of their services beyond that period. It is also gratifying to me to acquaint you, that an increasing desire is daily growing up amongst the lower classes to obtain the benefits of education, as evinced by the large number of adults, as well as children, who are now attending the public schools; of which we have one at least in each parish, besides several private schools in various parts of the island. I have reason to expect the best results from the experiment of working convicts at hard labour, as a secondary punishment, instead of transportation. The diminution of crime throughout the island may be taken in justification of this hope, and be fairly considered as the effect of a system of punishment which places the consequences of evil deeds constantly before the eyes of those who might be inclined to violate the law. There have been but three persons committed for trial since the last criminal court, and these for minor offences. It isa great gratification to me, before taking leave of this subject, to acquaint you, that the conduct of the convicts themselves has been such as to have induced me, with the advice of Her Majesty's Coun- cil, to cause the fetters to be removed from the first gang. ‘They have been discontinued; and I am sanguine in my hopes that the ends of justice will be equally obtained by this diminution of severity in vindicating the authority of the law. From the Address of the Assembly in Reply, 14th March, 1839. Tun House must record, with great concern, that notwithstanding the free labour system may heretofore worked better than might have been anticipated a short time before its coming into operation, yet daily experience has of late not only proved that the labouring population are becoming less industrious, but that a bad spirit and great indifference to their employers’ interests at present are pre- valent among them. Tobago. II. (2), p. 236. II. (2), p. 238. Tobago. ot II. (2), p. 237. II. (2), p. 249. IT. (2), p.251. 238 Progress of Industry, and From the Address of the Council in Reply, 18th March, 1839. Tuar this Board have watched with great anxiety the conduct of the labourers since the abrogation of the Apprenticeship Act ; and although several members of this Board are deeply interested in the cultivation of estates, they feel really at a loss to pronounce an opi- nion as to the future working of the newsystem. ‘The labourers are still in a very unsettled state throughout the island, and this Board regret to find that generally complete reliance cannot be placed on their labouring continuously, which is absolutely necessary for carry- ing on the cultivation of estates to any advantage. This Board also regrets to state, that from the best information, nine-tenths of those who have left estates have withdrawn themselves from the field cultivation altogether. Sir E. J. M. MacGregor to the Marquis of Normanby, 8th June, 1839. I wave the honour to report, for your Lordship’s information, that having landed in Tobago on the 19th ult., I awaited the meet- ing of the Legislature, fixed for the 21st, and on that occasion ad- dressed the Honourable the Council and Assembly in the terms of which a copy is enclosed. Receiving from his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor the most gratifying accounts of the general tranquillity prevailing in that island, whence, notwithstanding its proximity to Trinidad, there had been no emigration of the enfranchised labourers, I re-embarked on the afternoon of the day last-mentioned. From Sir E. J. M, MacGregor’s Speech to the Legislative Houses, 21st May, 1839. It further affords me the most lively satisfaction to ascertain from the reports of his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, that harmony happily presides over the Councils of the colony; that, with a few exceptions, the demeanor of the enfranchished population offers a favourable prospect of the successful establishment of the free labour system, and that the Legis- lative Houses are not disinclined to conform to those leading principles of policy which the Ministers of the Crown have seen cause to recommend, From the Reply of the Assembly, 24th May, 1839. While the House agree with the reports furnished to your Excellency by the Lieutenant Governor, that the demeanour of the enfranchised population did at one time seem to offer a favourable prospect of the successful esta- blishment of the free labour system, yet the House are reluctantly com- pelled to adhere to their sentiments lately delivered to the Lieutenant Governor, that the labouring classes are not improving in habits of industry, and that a feeling of great indifference to their employers’ interest is very prevalent amongst them; results which, however plausibly they may be accounted for by the speculative moralists, have sadly disappointed the sanguine expectations of a great majority of this House, although the — 7 EEE General Condition of Society. 239 House must acknowledge that thc laws lately passed have produced some good effects. od From the Reply of the Council, 28th May, 1839. Tobago. It was not to be expected that the great change in the social system of the II. (2), p. 252. labouring part of the population would be unattended by many difficulties, which it would require time to smooth away. There are many complaints made respecting the working of the new system, and several members of this Board, from their connexion with the agricultural population, are aware that these are in many instances well-grounded; yet we trust that, profiting generally from the just and well-timed remarks made by your Excellency, and coming from such a high and respected authority, they will meet with that attention this Board anxiously desires they may have, and that under your Excellency’s paternal government our labourers may become an industrious and thriving peasantry. TRINIDAD. Sir G. F. Hill to Lord Glenelq, 10th August, 1838. Trinidad. Atreapy considerable progress has been made on many of the I. p. 238. sugar estates in settling the terms on which the labourers have actually commenced to work ; the wages are generally eight dollars per month, and three pounds and a half of salt fish per week, with house and cultivable ground. The labourers have left some of the estates, and proposed to work on others ; this has occurred where, as apprentices, they had expe- rienced harsh treatment. On a few estates where the proprietor. had published an offer of 12 dollars a month to negroes from Grenada and St. Vincent, his labourers refused to work for him for less; this cannot last, and I contemplate with great satisfaction the obvious conviction of the labourer that he must earn his bread. Colonel Mein to Lord Glenelg, 27th March, 1839. I zea leave to remark to your Lordship, from the observations I II. (2),p. 287. have made in this island, and from what I have learnt from those who are well informed on this subject, that there is no part of the world which stands less in need of any provision for the poor, than the island of ‘Trinidad. ‘The wages of the lower classes are extremely high, the demand for labour very great, and the supply exceedingly scanty, so that no difficulty exists to obtain livelihood ; and I may also remark to your Lordship, that any one who has the mere use of his hands has no occasion to fear want in this colony. I beg leave also to lay before your Lordship what I consider to be of still greater importance, namely, the fact that the people of this Island haye no industrious habits; to trace the causes of its being so Trinidad. II. (2), p. 290. 240 Progress of Industry, and would be unnecessary at this moment, but I beg leave to suggest, therefore, that all legislative enactments should be made with a view to create industry, and a spirit of accumulation, to provide against want, the former but rarely, and the latter state of mind scarcely, known at all here. Under these circumstances, I take the liberty to observe to your Lordship, that every legislative enactment which tends to lead the working classes of this colony to look for support to any other source but themselves, in the present state of their moral condition, should be approached with great caution. Colonel Mein to the Marquis of Normanby, 10th May, 1839. I sHatt now proceed to lay before your Lordship such general observations as may throw light upon the state of this colony, in which so great a change in the moral condition of the people has been made, by the removal of all the remaining restraints upon their conduct and freewill, which existed during the apprenticeship system. I feel it right to observe to your Lordship, that the necessity which existed of their working by compulsion having been done away with, there is now a re-action to a contrary state, and they are satisfied, in the generality of instances, to earn just enough for sub- sistence without going further. I think that if the negro could be led to a spirit of forethought or the idea of laying by something for the future, either for himself or his family, it would produce a very different moral state; it being received as true, that a state of com tinuous occupation or habitual moderate labour is the sure way to improve the moral condition of a people. ‘The evils which we com- plain of in these islands no doubt are those which principally have arisen from a previous state of slavery; they require time and judi- cious government to correct them; but I nevertheless venture to remark that they are evils actually existing, and in all our efforts for the welfare of the colony must be held in view. Upon collecting the opinions of the different estate owners in this island, I find that the negroes on most estates abstain from work for two days at least in the week ; and that although, from the nature of their character, they do not express active insubordination to their employers, yet they are well aware that the master is very much at their mercy, that labour must be had, which is difficult to obtaim, and that in leaving one employer they have only to turn round and apply to another, who, from the same necessity for labour, will instantly hire them. ‘There is no competition, and the wages are exceedingly high; the average wages for agricultural labourers being half a dollar a day. Last year it was common to give as allowances, in addition, 3 lbs. per week of salt fish, 7 lbs. of plantain, and 2 gills of rum daily ; house-rent and medical attendance gratis. At present, with the same wages, the usual allowances have been lowered, of most estates, to the use of house and provision-grounds, and some General Condition: of Society. 241 spirits daily. Mechanics easily earn a dollar a day, equal to 4s. 2d. sterling. Although the necessaries of life are very expensive in this colony, at the same time the wants of the working population are proportionately few, and therefore it may fairly be said that there is no labouring populati ion in Europe who are so well paid, and in every respect so thoroughly independent, as the peasantry of this island. The natural result of this state of things is, that the proprietor is the principal sufferer, surrounded with difficulties, and shackled in many cases with accumulated debt. Many of the evils resulting from slavery seem now falling upon him; he cannot get the neces- sary labour for his estate, and his labourers are as much independent of him as they were before obliged to be submissive. This island, my Lord, as I before had the honour of remarking to your Lordship, has capabilities of production possessed by few other colonies: almost all the produce of the earth, which a warm and fer- tile climate is capable of producing, can here be attained with little labour. Spices, roots, fruits, grain, all reward the cultivator with abundant increase. Its harbour , the Gulf of Paria, is capable of affording ample shelter to vessels, and a freedom from storms gives greater security to the mariner, whilst we are placed in a position which allows of direct and advantageous sea traffic with all nations. I venture to remark to your Lordship that the inquiry might be made, how the progressive prosperity of such an island should be impeded, the powers and production of which have increased in so wonderful a degree since it fell into our possession from the Spa- niards. The answer would be, the want of Jabour. I venture to state to your Lordship, that should there be competition in labour we should have habitual industry as the result, moral improvement would follow, and consequently increased intelligence among all classes. Having drawn your Lordship’s attention to the moral state of the inhabitants of this island, I think it will be proper to acquaint your Lordship that every effort has been made for the instruction of the rising generation, and facility given for the attainment of substantial education, in proof of which, Thane only to refer your Lordship to the list of the schools we Possess, to show you, that every attention has been given to supply instruction ; indeed it would be as well if these sources of education were not too much increased, but rather judiciously distributed, so that the poorer classes would not have too great ease in the attainment ; for I believe I may venture to remark, that those things, whether iacnil or physical, \ hich are in extreme profusion, are less valued than what is nc with some effort, whilst due care should be taken that this effort should not amount to an obstacle, but should act as an incentive to attainment. ‘Lhis appears to have been the view taken by the superintendent of the Mico charity, who thinks it advisable always to exact a certain payment from each scholar, finding, that unless the instruction has Some cost attached to it, little valueis set uponit. As yet the desire of the poorer class fully keeps pace with the means of instruction, R Trinidad. Trinidad. 242 Progress of Industry, and and I trust a moral improvement will follow proportionate to the mental cultivation, which otherwise might become power capable of misuse. I am sorry to inform your Lordship, that the crops will fall short one-third this year, and many of the smaller estates will be thrown out of cultivation both of sugar and cocoa. However, I am of opinion that, in the present uncertainty naturally attached to a new system, it is impossible to draw correct inferences, and that it will require two or three years before the minds of the black population become accustomed to a state of freedom, and to the responsibility which attaches to men who rely upon themselves for support, free from compulsion to labour, but subject to those moral penalties which fall upon idleness. General Condition of Society. LEEWARD ISLANDS. Su W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 16th August, 1838. I nave much satisfaction in reporting to your Lordship, that from the communications which I have received from the officers administering the governments in Dominica, Montserrat, St. Chris- topher, and the Virgin Islands, that the transition to entire free- dom on the Ist of August was accomplished with the utmost tran- quillity and good feeling on the part of the enfranchised labour- ers ; and that in obedience to my instructions a public thanksgiving was observed in all the churches and chapels, which were nume- rously attended. Some difficulties are likely to occur in adjusting the wages of labour in the different islands, from the desire of the planters to fix them at a low rate; but having obtained accurate information on the subject, from resident proprietors in Antigua, I have cir- culated the details to the different islands as some guide in regu- lating engagements, although these rates are less than will gene- tally be acceptable. Sw W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 15th October, 1838. I rransmit to your Lordship the communications which I have received from the several islands under this government, in regard to the disposition of the peasantry, and I am gratified in being able to report so favourably of the general tranquillity which pre- vails, and of the progress which has been made towards their set- tlement in the new relations in which they are placed. It was reasonable to expect that this progress would be facilitated in situations where preparatory measures had been taken for so great a change, and retarded where these had been neglected. Si W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, \6th March, 1839. In forwarding to your Lordship a further series of reports from the stipendiary magistrates in Dominica, St. Christopher, Mont- serrat, Nevis, and the Virgin Islands, it affords me much satis- faction to be able to state that the negro peasantry throughout these islands have continued to evince the same peaceable dis- position and respect for the laws which have characterised their conduct since the termination of their apprenticeship. At Tortola there were no cases for prosecution at the last ses- Sions; and the few that have occurred in the other island are un- important. Iregret that these reports do not present in all in- Stances so favourable a view of the relations subsisting between the employers and labourers on plantations; this may be ascribec m some instances to the delay in passing Acts for the regulation of contracts, and for affording adequate relief for the poor; and other causes have been noticed by the magistrates. R 2 Leeward Islands, ITI. p. 8. III. p. 53. IIL. p. 62. ee eee seerseceee es states es Leeward Islands, —_ a Antigua. ILI. p. 67. 244 Progress of Industry, and The reluctance of the peasantry to enter into contracts in writ- ing, and for any term beyond a month, which had been evinced in Antigua, prevails throughout all the islands, and has not been effected by the existence of contract acts. If the negroes held their homesteads on a more secure tenure than as tenants at will, or if they were settled in villages indepen- dently of the planters, I am not aware that it would be advan- tageous either for themselves or their employers to enter into long engagements; the demands for labour vary in the different sea- sons and in different situations, and the distribution would be better, regulated under weekly or monthly hirings, except where engage- ments are made for sharing the crops. These engagements, which are prevalent on the coffee estates in Dominica, will lead eventually to the accumulation of a farming capital and the pay- ment of money-rents—a change which can alone enable the pro- prietors to avert the consequences of the present precarious and improvident system of management. ANTIGUA. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 26th March, 1839. Ir is satisfactory to me to be able to inform your Lordship of the generally good disposition of the peasantry in this island. The most gratifying circumstance which I have occasion to notice, is the employment of the children in the labours of the field. The repugnance to an employment which was formerly compelled, for some time prevailed. It was natural that they should seek to engage their children in pursuits which had not been thus de- graded; but the effect of complete emancipation has been to cor rect this feeling, which continues strongly to prevail in the islands where the apprentice system is upheld. he offence of cane breaking has not increased, but the rural constables have been vigilant in detecting the offenders, and I apprehend that petty depredations on property may have partly been the effect of the practice of deducting from their wages the amount of fines for breaches of contract. I am convinced that it would be good economy in the planters to pay more liberally for effective labour. The ordinary wages of 6d. sterling per diem are inadequate, and hence the number of women who are still employed in the ordinary labours of the field. It is gratifying to observe the conduct of the inhabitants of free villages who have purchased and settled the lands since August, 1834. They are generally employed on the neighbouring estates, and are equally remarkable for their industry and their improved moral habits. The planters have not appeared to appreciate so fully as they ought to do the effects of education upon the labouring classes ; and although they are not unfriendly to the exertions of the clergy an the religious societies, the Legislature has not contributed to sup- as ea General Condition of Socrety. 245 port their establishments, to the influence of which I am disposed to refer in an essential degree the prosperous condition of the colony. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 21st May, 1839. Havine paid particular attention to the condition of the inde- pendent villages, I can attest, from my own observations and the reports of the clergy and the magistrates, that the people who in- habit them have been conspicuous for their moral and industrious habits. They are members either of the Church or of the Moravian and Wesleyan congregations; and your Lordship will have recently perused a report of the superintendent of police, that no complaint had been brought against them. It is well known that they work on the plantations, while their homesteads attract the attention of strangers for the neatness of their dwellings, and the diligent and successful cultivation, which is the result of secure possession; and as they are members of clubs for obtaining medical relief in sickness, the accidents alluded to can hardly occur, and it may be sufficient to state, that no such cases have come to the knowledge of the police department. Although there are several most respectable examples of re- sident proprietors who promote the comfort of their retainers, and reap the advantages arising from their attachments, I apprehend that there are other estates which are not so satisfactorily situated ; and that the retention of the entire labouring population, as tenants at will, is a principal cause of unsettled habits where they obtain, and of negligence in the cultivation of their grounds. . Ihave, on former occasions, observed, that to promote settled habits is of the first importance to their moral and social improve- ment, and on this ground I have objected to the encouragement held out to emigration. That there is ample and profitable em- ployment within these islands for the present population, has been strikingly attested by the failure ofthe Demerara agents to obtain labourers even in the Virgin Islands, where the Governor of Bri- tish Guiana relied on a general disposition to remove. As I have recently had occasion to address your Lordship on this subject, I need not further dilate on it now. The impression that these colonies are less productive, from having to resort to improved tillage, is a popular error, sufficiently disproved by the rapid increase in the value of property, especially in Antigua; and although various products may be advantage- ously cultivated, sugar must continue to be a valuable staple, which a gradual change in the rural economy of the colonies will tend to preserve. The connexion between tenancy and labour, which is calculated to secure this object, is one which would strengthen the attachment of the peasantry, by the prospect of an improved condition as the reward of their industry. That these views are gaining ground, and that they are enter- tained by many influential persons, I have reason to believe; and Antigua. ——— III. p. 103, Lip. 112, Antigua. 246 Progress of Industry, and in contending against some of the positions advanced in the ad- dress, I still entertain a hope that the influence of those members of the Legislature, who are favourable to them, will lead to their ultimate adoption. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the Marquis of Normanby, 12th June, 1839. Rererrine to my despatch, Antigua, No. 33, of the 10th im: stant, I have the honour to enclose a return of the quantities of sugar, rum, and molasses exported. from this island in each year from 1824 to 1838 inclusive, on which I have stated the averages, for sticcessive periods of five years, previous and subsequent to the abolition of slavery. The Auxiliary Act for the liberation of the peasantry having been passed early in 1834, the effect of that mea- sure must have been fully appreciated in the crops of that year ; but it may be generally observed, that the variation in the amount of produce raised in the several years has been occasioned by the seasons, and the return amply attests that the labour of the colony has been as effectually applied in the last five years as in those which preceded the year 1834. Crors in the Island of Antigua, from 1824 to 1838 inclusive, with the Averages for every Five Years. Years. Sugar. Rum. Molasses. Heuibuds. | Puncheons, ~~ Baheeotl Ce ee eae Oe a Sa 19,884 4,732 7,448 SHS e a be kee | Re Ses, ois 16,901 4,082 8,182 ORG ue Se see ee al poet: 17,085 2,966 8,742 Heer tele ate, Ge hbase, che 53909 987 2,990 TOESee ee RS. Sites LE 14,150 2,126 75,912 BAVERNGC es ee) 8 14,797 2,797 5, 0672 USO Oe eR eS Re ee gs 12,849 3,024 6,338 PRS Oe thiamine Seb B20) S 12,025 2,943 4,259 Peete Baie ek gg 13, 148 2,489 7,912 Wot) queen pues meat i ie) § 73 12,612 2,180 8, 148 PSS oes See: ay. A 11,092 1,704 8,231 Average . . «6 « « 12,189 2,468! 7,1778 1834 Sie tt a8 20,263 1,149 13,818 oe Se eal na ae alae Sa 4 13,576 1,907 8,425 te RS Ra hac 10,312 946 4,149 “lel haa iol Wik ie Sen ons 5,325 431 3,039 ABO eR AR Bae 18,251 A515 12,113 Average . » « « «@ 13,545 P1095 _ 8, 3084 Sucar—Increase in five years ending 1838 . . . . . 41,866 hogsheads. Rum—Decrease in five years ending 1838 . . ». » . 2,459 puncheons. Mouasses—Increase in five years ending 1838 .« 1,1312 puncheons. General Condition of Society. MONTSERRAT. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Gilenelg, 16th Aug., 1838. Montserrat. I nave much satisfaction in reporting to your Lordship that, HL p. 118. from the communications which I have received from the officer administering the Government in Monserrat, the transition to entire freedom on the Ist August was accomplished with the utmost tranquillity and good feeling on the part of the enfran- chised labourers. Report of Mayor Graeme, Stipendiary Magistrate, 9th Jan., 1839. t Tut Christmas holidays have passed over in the most peaceable and orderly manner; perhaps there has been a little too much dancing on the estates in the immediate vicinity of the town, but in the country districts this favourite amusement has been kept within due bounds: Every mill in the island is now at work. Report of Major Graeme, \st Feb., 1839. Il; p. 138: Tuere is nothing of particular interest to notice, unless it be yyy, p. 138, the satisfactory appearance of the crop, which affords a sufficient refutation to the charge of indolence so often brought forward as acomplaint against the negro; and I have also the pleasure to add, that I perceive a sensible improvement in the bodily appear- ance of the peasantry, especially in that of the children, a circum- stance which must be extremely gratifying to every well-wisher of the great measure now so happily accomplished. Mr. President Hamilton to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 4th May, 1839. Wiri reference to my late report in forwarding the blue book III. p. 149.' as respected the arrangements contemplated in the quantum of rents to be paid weekly by the labourers for their houses and gardens and provision grounds, with liberty to keep and raise stock of all kinds; the same continues in progress, and in some instances effected, the sugar planters generally aliowing the addi- tional daily wages of 44d. sterling for five days in each week, and charging them with a similar weekly sum for the rent of their houses and grounds. The sugar planters, who exclusively enjoy the benefit of the repeal of the 4} per cent. on the export of their sugar, rum, and molasses, decline giving the advance of the 4d. per day to all labourers who are not attached to their respective estates, and paying them a similar sum for rents; this bears hard upon me who have no employment for the labourers on my lands, and they Montserrat. St. Kitts. eee III. p. 167. IIL p. 181. 248 Progress of Industry, and may, most probably, be induced for this advance of wages to quit their present domiciles, and the loss of them as tenants would be a serious inconvenience and. loss to me. I have this week made the following proposals to them to induce them to settle on my estate, viz. :— To give them the preference of 60 to 100 acres of best quality mountain lands, within three miles and a half from the town, weil watered with rivulets issuing from the mountains, a situation never affected by dry weather, and well adapted for the cultiva- tion of coffee, ginger, arrow-root and provisions of all kinds, to be subdivided into one, two or more acres, according to the means of persons wishing to become tenants; these lots to be regularly surveyed, and ultimately intended to form a rural village, m accordance with the views entertained by your Excellency, as expressed by you in conversation with me, and enforced by your message delivered tome by Mr. Warner. Each tenant, on taking possession, can have a lease for seven or nine years, at such moderate rent as may be agreed on. I shall offer those lands on lease to all persons who may wish to become tenants, to be regularly laid out, so as to endeavour to form a compact village district. ST. KITTS. Sir H. M‘Leod to Lord Glenelg, 15th Aug., 1838. I sHAuu report through the usual channel on the recent change in society by the first opportunity, but your Lordship will be naturally anxious for the earliest intelligence. It is therefore with the liveliest satisfaction I have the honour to state, that the passing from the late system into freedom in this island was only marked by the Ist of August having been kept as a day of thanksgiving and rational enjoyment by the people. I beg further to mention that on the Monday after the eman- cipation, labour was resumed throughout the island, and now in most instances under written agreements. Your Lordship will be gratified to hear that on so joyous an occasion, no single case of intoxication or breach of the peace occurred among the freed people during the four days they kept as holidays. Sir H. MLeod to Sir W. M, G. Colebrooke, 16th Aug., 1838. On Saturday following I again rode round the island, and in my progress was everywhere met by the people for the same purpose, and with the same deep expression of gratitude. In most parts of the island the four days were kept as holidays, General Condition of Society. 249 during which time, though coming into the towns, not one case of drunkenness or breach of the peace occurred,—the labourers returning to the estates for their different enjoyments, where their employers bear the same testimony to their good conduct. On the Monday following, with hardly one exception, the whole of the estates were at work, although engagements had not been entered into. ‘These are now fast making throughout the colony ; mdeed, the very great majority are already working under agree- ments, and I have every reason to report in the most favourable manner of the state of the island. ‘There has been an evident disinclination to make agreements without the late special magis- trates as witnesses, who I have invariably recommended as such to the labourers, and I have no hesitation in saying, that much, it not most of this satisfactory state of affairs, is due to them. There have been, and still are, certain difficulties to be got over, particularly where the estates have been overhanded, and the negroes, who are compelled to seek employment elsewhere, leave the estates, on which they have probably been born, with much reluctance. It is not to be supposed that the people can at once understand the full bearing of their relative duties, but Iam warranted in saying that very little time will be required for that purpose. Sw W. M. G. Colebrooke to Sir H. M‘Leod, 10th Sept., 1838. St. Kitts wer renee Apvertrine to your observation that, “‘in estates which have III. p. 182. been overhanded, the negroes, who are compelled to seek em- ployment elsewhere, leave the estates, on which they have pro- bably been born, with reluctance;” I hope that the resident proprietors throughout these islands will appreciate the advan- tage to themselves from not breaking up these associations, and of allowing the labourers to rent their cottages and gardens where they have no immediate demand for their labour. I cannot doubt that they will be sensible that by the formation ofrural settlements on their estates, they will progressively give tothem a permanent value independent of the fluctuations of colonial commerce. When the proprietors may be absent, these views may however be counteracted, and the formation of settlements on Crown pro- perty may therefore become essential to provide for the families Who may be ejected, and to prevent the evils which may thus be inflicted on the colonies. ‘ Sw W.M. G. Oolebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 10th Sept., 1838. Tur very gratifying report which Sir Henry Macleod has been yyy. p. 180. enabled to make of the conduct of the negroes in St. Christopher St. Kitts, cere III. p. 183. III. p. 188. 250 Progress of Industry, and is at once a proof of their general good disposition and the claims which the Lieutenant-Governor has acquired to their confidence and regard; and in referring your Lordship to my letter to Sir Henry Macleod, I request to draw your Lordships attention to the injurious practice, which he describes as having commenced, of “ ejecting the peasantry from the estates on which they may have been born.” On the impolicy of this proceeding, as regards the proprietors themselves, it is not necessary to dwell; but in countries where the local attachments of the peasantry are strengthened by the sacrifices they have often made in raising and improving their habitations and homesteads, it is impossible that they can regard otherwise than with strong feelings the summary ejectment of their families by attorneys and overseers, and the transfer of their holdings to others. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 31st October, 1838. LT ENTIRELY concur in the observation which you addressed to Sir H. Macleod as to the removal of labourers from the estates in which they have been long resident, and I trust the proprietors will generally enter into the views which you have so well ex- pressed on this subject. Sir H. Macleod to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 10th Sept. 1838. Tu terms I recommended were ls. per diem for the first five days in the week, leaving the Saturday, in some cases, open to the labourer throughout the year; in others, except in crop time when additional wages are given, the hard labour of digging cane-holes, either by job at four dollars an acre, or a quarter dollar per diem on scale. House, provision-grounds, leave t graze stock; medicine and medical attendance; wood and grass for themselves and stock; all, under the old system, considered as indulgences, secured by these terms to the labourers free of charge. The advantages of Saturday being given to the labourers are, that they can cultivate their grounds, attend the markets, of obtain hire upon their own terms for that day. The wages of ls. was considered by the labourers as too small, and there was a great disinclination to take it; but they were not aware of the relative value of the old indulgences I have men- tioned, and it was necessary to show them these were not their own property, but must be considered as so much money ; and it was most gratifying to witness the intelligence evinced by them, and the unflinching confidence they placed in my explanations: even, in very many instances, where the people had actually built their own houses, but on their employers’ property, they did nob General Condition of Society. 251 hesitate to believe me, when I pointed out the right of the soil- owner. ‘I'he general reply to these explanations was, that they had not understood the matter before, but were ready to take even smaller wages, if I told them to do so. The great majority of the labourers of the island are now working under agreements on these terms. I have been thus particular, that her Majesty’s Secretary of State may be fully aware of the steps I have taken, and feel assured that had I not thus acted, many, if not most, of the estates would have suffered. I beg distinctly to state, however, that whenever I spoke to the people, it was my care to show them, though I recommended the terms as fair, they were perfectly free not to accept them, and hire themselves wherever they could get better. This I have since impressed upon them whenever oppor- tunities have offered; and although, as the case now stands, I think the terms fair to both parties, and that my bounden duty is to protect the one as well as the other, yet, should any unfair advantage, on the strength of restriction laws be attempted, it will be my duty, particularly under the Order in Council lately published for the protection of labourers going to the Crown colonies, to point out to them where a better market for labour can be had. Reports of Mr. Olpherts, Stipendiary Magistrate, for September, October, and November, 1838. TurovucHout these months the behaviour of the labourers has been good, and complaints have been as few in number as unim- portant in character. Such labourers, as in the first instance, quitted the estates to which they had been attached as slaves, have, with very few exceptions, returned to their old homes; and from the appearance of the estates throughout the district, I consider that agricultural operations are as equally advanced as they were at this season in last year. NEVIS. Extracts from the Reports of Mr. Kenney, Stipendiary Magistrate, 9th August, 1838. Durie the last three days I have visited the estates in this island, and have pleasure in stating, that generally the labourers have resumed work on all estates; trifling changes have taken place, and, on two or three, arrangements have not yet been con- cluded between employer and labourer, but I have every reason to hope that in the ensuing week all will be satisfactorily settled. St. Kitts. IIL. p. 224. Nevis. ILI. p. 278. 252 Progress of Industry, and Nevis. On visiting the estates, the employers, with one or two excep- = tions, have expressed satisfaction at the general conduct of the Sept. 1.1838. Ill. p.279. labourers, and feel assured that in a short time all will be domi- former avocations. Some few changes have of course taken place, but in a lesser degree than could possibly have been anticipated by the most san- guine: I however regret to add, that a considerable number of young men are idling about Charles Town, under the pretence of acting as porters, &c. &c. Oct. 1, 18:8, . With few exceptions, general satisfaction prevails; a scarcily Ill. p. 281. of labourers, however, exist. On several estates task labour is given. Field labourers :— Ist class, 8 dogs per day—Gd. sterling. 2d class, 6 dogs. 3d class, 4 dogs. Overlookers, watchmen, stock-keepers, and tradesmen, from 4 to 5 dollars per month. Offers have been made on several estates to increase the wages if six days’ continuous labour is given, but without success. No definite general arrangements have yet been entered into for the boiling-house, but it is the wish of the employers to pay accord- ing to the quantity of produce manufactured. ; The schools are well attended. There are in the island 5 national schools, 3 infant, 3 Sunday, 3 noon, and there are others establishing on some estates. Nov. 1, 1838. Complaints are prevalent of the little work performed, and of Ill.p. 285. the scarcity of labourers; many estates have as many of the latter as they require. —— Hen 1, 1839, Satisfaction prevails, except on a few estates, where the em- III. p. 293. . ployers do not make sufficient allowance for the great change that has taken place, and cavil at the labourer for being late, oF absenting himself from work for a day or an hour. March 1,1839, Lhe peasantry do not work for wages as cheerfully as could III. p: 295. “have been anticipated or wished. The Sabbath is nowhere more respected than in Nevis, and the places of worship well attended, more particularly the Wes- Ceo I y leyan Missionary Society. ciled on the respective estates of the island, and following their. General Condition of Society. 253 The daily wages are generally as formerly, 6d. and 4d. ster- _ Nevis. ling; but estates are giving much higher rates to try and obtain May 1, 1839. more efficient labour. Head people and watchmen four dollars iL p. 300: per month, and the tradesmen principally by job. The rates of wages vary on different estates from 1s. to 6d. June tl, 1839. sterling for nine hours labour for the first class, and 4d. for IM PG the second. class, all extra hours paid for. ‘Tradesmen gene- tally by the job, and watchmen and head people four dollars a month. Several of the proprietors are obtaining task labour, and pay according to the quantum of work performed ; the most satis- factory mode for both parties, and would be highly beneficial if it would be generally adopted. Sir W. M. G'. Colebrooke to the President of Nevis, 17th June, 1839. Tux reports of the stipendiary magistrate for May are, on the III. p. 302. whole, satisfactory ; and it is gratifying to observe that the labour- Hie ers continue génerally to work on the plantations for moderate ‘Tee wages, although no contract law is in force. I request that the stipendiary magistrate may explain in what manner the young persons, mentioned in his answer to No.9, gain their livelihood ; it would tend to encourage the deserving to attach them to estates, and to promote industry, if leases of their tene- ments and holdings were granted to the labourers on estates. The stipendiary magistrates will recommend this measure to the pro- prietors, and endeavour to promote it. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Virgin Mr. Thomas, President, to Lord Gilenelg, 9th August, 1838. selene I am much gratified in saying that, with very trifling excep- 11, p. 308. tions, the labourers have continued on the several estates and commenced to work on Monday last, with alacrity and cheerful- hess, for the contracted wages; since which, also, many have accepted the terms offered, and engaged in the cane cultivation. Report of Mr. Gordon, Stipendiary Magistrate, 5th September, 1838. Tue general conduct of the labourers in this colony has been 111. p. 322. highly satisfactory ; their behaviour has been orderly, and they have been working assiduously. In general there is no want of good feeling between employers and labourers; were it otherwise, as the hirings in this colony are for the most part general, either party, by giving a week’s notice, may dissolve their engagements. Virgin Islands. III, p. 338, IIT. p. 365. 254 Progress of Industry, and On some estates, the working hours are from six in the morning till six in the evening, half an hour being allowed for breakfast and two hours at noon; on others, from six in the morning till quarter to four in the afternoon, with half an hour for breakfast; five working days in the week. The only description of plantation work going on since Ist August has been moulding and weeding the canes, for which able labourers, male and female, get 6d. sterling a day; second class, 4id.; and third class,3d.aday. . . . . All children of labourers able to work readily procure employ- ment on the estates, at the rate of wages of the second and third classes; but many children, particularly females, have been with- drawn by their parents from field labour. The younger children attend the schools when they have a facility for doing so. ‘There are, at present, no infant schools in the colony; there are two Sunday schools in Road Town, one of which is under the direction of the rector, and the other under the direction of the Wesleyan missionaries, and both are numerously AVCHOeE, (ey ss I have never been able to discover that any encouragement has been given to promote marriages amongst the labourers. The sabbath is very much respected, and the places of worship are regularly attended. Report of Mr. Gordon, 5th February, 1839. Tue general conduct of the labourers in the Virgin Islands continues satisfactory ; and I have nothing now te communicate beyond what is contained in my previous reports, further than that the grand sessions of the peace, held on the 4th instant, have again passed over without a single prosecution. ‘This circumstance speaks highly for the quiet and orderly conduct of the inhabitants of these islands. Report of Mr. Dyett, Stipendiary Magistrate, 1st June, 1839. Tue labourers in these islands have conducted themselves during the past month in a sober and orderly manner; and I am happy to report that they have generally engaged themselves in the cultivation of their allotted grounds on the estates. The weather so far has favoured their exertions, and there is reason 10 hope that in a short time they will reap abundantly the fruits of their industry. At present the best feeling appears to exist between the labourers and their employers, and, as far as the agricultural interest of these islands is concerned, every prospect of success is afforded. General Condition of Socrety. DOMINICA. Mr. Bridgwater, President, to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 13th August, 1838. Dominica. I am truly happy to assure you, in the first place, that the 111. p- $79. greatest tranquillity has prevailed in every quarter. A general reluctance to engage for labour manifested itself during the past week, to which, however, there were not wanting several excep- tions, chiefly on locations in the neighbourhood of the town. This morning | was glad to learn that such examples had been followed by many others; in particular I was assured by Mr. Laidlaw, that on the various extensive sugar plantations under his charge, on the leeward side, the peasantry had entered into agreements to commence their work this morning for stipulated daily wages; he had not heard from windward, but appears to entertain no appre- hension in regard to the final result. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 16th August, 1838. In Dominica, I was gratified to find, that a disposition prevailed III. p. 8. in many resident proprietors to engage their labourers to cultivate upon shares of the produce, which will progressively lead to the introduction of a system of farming, and the accumulation of a farming capital in the island. Mr. Bridgwater to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 3rd September, 1838. I wave not yet received from the stipendiary magistrates the III. p, 381. reports of the last week, but I have learned with extreme pleasure, through personal interview with some of our principal landowners, that a decided improvement has been felt this week amongst the labourers, particularly in those of the windward districts, who had hitherto refused to engage for labour on any other than highly exorbitant terms. Having been undeceived in the erroneous im- pression they had formed, that a higher rate of wages had been accorded to the labourers nearer town, they have now con- price: generally, to contract for labour at the same rate as the others. Mr. Bridgwater to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 4th October, 1838. From all the stipendiary magistrates, with the exception of Mr. 111. p. 397. Phillips, whose report for the past month has not yet reached me, Ihave received the gratifying assurance of the continued peaceable deportment of the peasantry. PO Dominica. Til. p. 59. O'Sullivan, Feb. 8. IIL, p. 440. Phillips, March 1, Ill. p. 441. 256 Progress of Industry, and There still continues, indeed, a general reluctance to engage into special contracts for labour for any fixed period of time ; yet that a feeling should exist to view with extreme jealousy any sup- posed attempt to infringe on their newly-acquired rights, is not unnatural; and I feel every confidence that this groundless sus- picion will gradually yield to a conciliatory disposition on the part of the landed proprietors, and to the praiseworthy zeal and un- remitting exertions exhibited by the stipendiary and local magis- trates to impress on the minds of the labourers, that their enter- ing into such contracts cannot possibly affect their privileges as freemen, but will, on the contrary, tend to increase their social comforts, and secure their own interests equally with those of their employers. Sir W.-M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 12th January, 1839. Turn situation of Dominica has at all times presented diff culties which have not occurred in other islands, but the good conduct of the enfranchised peasantry has secured the peace of the country, even when their settlement upon the plantations has been impeded by the difficulties in adjusting agreements with the planters. On the coffee plantations engagements have been made to work, upon condition of dividing the crops, an arrangement which will probably lead to farm leases, and thereby effect a beneficial change in the rural economy of the colonies. Until this change be.accomplished, and till permanent settlements can be formed, I do not anticipate that much attention will be given to the culti- vation of a variety of valuable products congenial to the soils and climate of these islands. Extracts from the Reports of the Stipendrary Magistrates. No schools have been established by the proprietary body ; but the Roman Catholic rector is taking measures to secure the attend- ance of Catholic clergy to the peasantry in the remote parts of the island; this, I am satisfied, will be attended with beneficial re- sults, as the labourer will become more attached to his plantation, and the employer may calculate with more certainty on continuous labour than he can at present. ‘ No medical attendance is provided by the estates. The sugar estates are now in full operation, taking off the crop with their usual complement of labourers. From the peculiar localities of this rural district there is not another containing so great a variety of character; it has villages on the “ Queen’s Three Chains,” extending along a coast of about 25 miles. General Condition of Society. I divide the labourers into three classes :— l. Estate residents, 3. Squatters, 2. Villagers. 4. 'Trampers. The Africans belong to the Ist, which is the most numerous and respectable, and can be depended upon for regular work, although in some cases very dilatory. ‘The French refugees usually belong to the other classes. The second, since the lst of August, are found to be valuable auxiliaries to the adjoining estates in taking off the crop. The fourth are reduced in numbers and getting into steady habits. The labourers maintain the same undisturbed and quiet con- duct. On some estates they have resumed working their pro- vision grounds, and still continue to save up their earnings, which circumstance, I am induced to think, arises from many of them having in perspective some idea of purchasing small portions of land. ——+ The people continue quiet and peaceable; but from the infor- mation I could collect, they are not performing the quantum of labour which they ought for the wages given them. This, in my opinion, is owing principally to the want of contract and other laws, which are rendered necessary, as well for the protection and security of the labourer, as for securing continuous and perma- nent work to the proprietor. There is a good feeling, generally speaking, between the employers and the peasantry. There has been no material alteration in their condition since last report. There have been two infant schools established by the Roman-catholic rector ; they are supported by voluntary contri- butions, and principally from the peasantry. I am of opinion that if the employers would support the rector in his benevolent views, the ultimate benefit to be derived by them would be very considerable. ‘The wages continue at the same standard as stated in former reports. In the boiling-house, where they work for 12 hours, the wages are 10d. sterling. I think they observe the Sabbath with great decency, and in the more remote quarters, where there is no church, they attend at the house of one of the religious instructors, where prayers are read. The peasantry are every day evincing a greater desire to enter into the married State, and this I attribute to the circumstance of the district hav- ing been recently visited by the Roman Catholic rector and his assistants, and 1 have no doubt a resident clergyman would be of vast service to this part of the island, and would be the means of inducing the peasantry to remain on the estates to which they had been attached, and thus prevent their going so frequently to Roseau for religious instruction, and for the observance of the numerous festivals of their church. Dominica. Kingsbury, March 6, III. p. 44. O'Sullivan, March 7. P, 440. Dominica. Lloyd, March 18. Ill. p. 441. III. p. 457. 258 The people have conducted themselves during the past month, as hitherto, in an orderly and peaceful manner, but I regret | cannot report improvement with regard to industry in the culti- vation of the estates. Steady labour cannot be depended upon; the labourers absent themselves without giving notice of their intention, and remain in the quiet possession of their houses and grounds for days and weeks, without paying rent in any way for them, or contributing towards the cultivation of the estates. . . . . The crops have commenced but proceed slowly. An attempt was lately made to introduce the payment of rent for the houses and grounds of the labourers, and to establish a general scale of wages, which failed. Many of the late apprentices have not done a single day’s work for the estate on which they live since the Ist of August last, and continue to occupy, as a matter of right, the houses and provision grounds, which renders them independent of the owner of the soil, and sets a bad example to such as are inclined to work. I con- sider, as long as the peasantry have the power to keep possession of their houses, and to cultivate as much ground as they please, without paying rent either in money or labour, that the cultiva- tion of the estates cannot be carried on successfully. If a system of task-work were introduced much benefit would arise both to the master and labourer, but the chief obstacle to steady work is the ability the people have to live on the estates without contributing towards their cultivation in any way. The children will not work, and their parents appear to be ur different as to their habits. The infirm and diseased are still without the assistance contemplated by law that they should receive, and the peasantry are yet without the benefit of medical attendance. There is an infant school on Castle Bruce estate, conducted by a female teacher, and a Catholic maitresse d’instruction has lately been established on Tabery estate; but a school, conducted by 4 responsible teacher, on a regular and efficient system, is much required in the district. When Mr. Miller visited this island, with the view of establishing schools in different parts, to be sup- ported from the funds of the Mico Charity, I requested him 10 accompany me to windward, but he said, as long as there was n0 medical assistance to be obtained in the quarter, he could not think of establishing any school there. Progress of Industry, and Lieutenant-Governor Macphail to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 22nd April, 1839. In transmitting to your Excellency the monthly reports of the stipendiary magistrates, I have the honour to submit the follow ing observations on the various points they touch upon :— It is most gratifying to collect from them, that the peasantry General Condition of Society: 259 are, throughout the island, most peaceable; that their domestic habits are improving; that marriages are increasing; that their personal appearance is more attended to, with an increased con- sumption of British goods; that (according to Mr. Lynch’s report of his district) no want of good feeling has been evinced between employers and peasants, except on two estates; that (in Mr. Phillips’s district) several sales of land have been made to persons formerly apprentices; and that a strong desire for the possession of landed property is shown. Religious instruction is favourably received, it appears, though the means afforded are extremely limited. Education, I imagine, will soon be fully provided for, owing to the liberal and judicious exertions of the Mico trust, in addition to the existing means. The unfavourable circumstances, noticed in these reports, are chiefly attributable to the absence of the laws which the altered relations of society demand; and the necessity for their adoption is strongly pointed out in several of the enclosed reports. Among the existing evils is that of great indolence, evinced by very many of the peasantry. _ Squatting and illegal holdings have been resorted to in various mstances. They are generally averse to entering into written contracts. Frequent appeals, by both employer and labourer, have been made for non-performance of alleged verbal agreements. Many large plantations will most probably suffer, in a consider- able degree, owing to the deficiency of continuous labour. ‘The peasantry seem, as yet, insensible to the advantages of friendly societies and savings-banks. ‘This appears to arise from _ their suspicious disposition. Notwithstanding these adverse circumstances, they may easily be met, and I doubt not overcome, by appropriate laws and administrative measures. The establishment of petty sessions and other contemplated fnactments will, I trust, inspire confidence, and call forth corre- sponding exertion. he economical, and even penurious habits of the labourer, are avourable (instead of being adverse) to the establishment of benefit societies and savings banks, provided that disposition be accompanied by due confidence in the Government. This, by per- severance in proper means, may be induced, for they have much docility and good feeling to work upon. _ The law will no doubt provide for the support of the old ahd mim ; and whatever indisposition may hitherto have existed on the part of the proprietors to afford medical aid, I have reason to ope that in many instances it will be supplied, though, owing to the fluctuating numbers of those who work, some difficulty may ‘+ it, if the medical practitioners insist on being paid by the ead. With the most favourable expectations as regards the future 2 Dominica, Dominica, II. p. 473. 260 Progress of Industry, and condition of the peasantry, I am yet anxious to see obviated the existing impediments to the free intercourse of the stipendiary magistrates with the population of their respective districts. They chiefly appear to be as follows :-— The rugged and almost impassable nature of the roads, and the ereat distances of the estates from each other. The difficulty of obtaining accurate information, owing to the invidious light in which the magistrates are regarded by owners and managers when investigating complaints. Their having no right of ingress to estates, and being conse- quently looked upon as trespassers. The want of a suitable station-house in each district, as also of a convenient dwelling for himself and family. These are alleged as reasons for the inefficient performance of duties and, I imagine, with much reason. But though the removal of these obstacles will involve expense and labour, I apprehend they may be readily overcome, if the en and the Executive properly and cheerfully meet them. Licutenant-Governor Macphail to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, Sth June, 1839. I nave the honour to transmit the five reports of the stipendiary magistrates for the month of May. They continue to describe the conduct of the peasantry as being peaceable and orderly. Some instances of erecting cottages and gardens are noticed. A growing respect for the observance of the Sabbath is remarked. Marriages continue to increase. Much benefit is anticipated from the establishment of the Mico schools; four of which will be opened on Monday the 10th instant. Where good wages are given there appears to be no deficiency of labour; but I fear that great exertions are making by secret agents to procure the clandestine evasion of the industrious pea santry from this island to Trinidad; and as speculators are enabled to offer much higher wages than can be afforded here under present circumstances, I do not see how emigration can be efficiently checked while the colony languishes under a privation of such measures as would call out its resources, and demonstrate to the industrious the superior utility to be derived from the cul- tivation of their own soil. I regret to learn that the Point Mulatre settlers are disinclined to work on the neighbouring estate, and that they are encroaching on lands to which they have nO Tine Or Bley es ae It is reported that some estates have suffered from drought, but this applies more to the cultivation of the ensuing year’s crop, those of the present year having had the advantage of favourable weather, as far as I can learn. en General Condition of Society. BAHAMAS. Colonel Cockburn to Lord Glenelg, 2nd August, 18388. TuE enclosed communication from Mr. Winder, and which I have just received, is of so satisfactory a description that I take leave to enclose it for your Lordship’s information. Mr. Winder could not have concluded his labours more creditably to his own praiseworthy exertions, or more strongly proving the good conduct and disposition of the owners and apprentices within his district. District of New Providence, Bahamas, Sir, 2nd August, 1838. I have the honour to transmit to you a return for the month of July, and to express my satisfaction at its being the last which can be made under the apprenticeship system, now so happily and honourably abolished by the Legislature of these islands. I have still greater satisfaction in forwarding a return which does not exhibit a single case of punishment inflicted upon an apprenticed labourer during that month, a circumstance unprecedented in the journals of the special magistrates who have officiated in this district since the Ist of August, 1834. During the past month I have visited the western and south-western parts of this island, and have been engaged in making arrangements for the maintenance of the aged and infirm. On the estate of James Moss, Esq, the whole of the able-bodied labourers have entered into engagements for continuing the cultivation of the land upon equitable terms, sanctioned by myself, as a justice of the peace. The aged have been removed to town, and will be amply provided for at the expense of Mr. Moss, during the term of their natural lives. I have, &c. Colonel Cockburn to Lord Glenelg, 6th August, 1838. Tue vessel which conveys this is on the point of sailing, and I avail myself of the latest opportunity to report, that everything con- sequent on the arrangements which took place on the Ist of August has passed off to my entire satisfaction ; everything has been quiet. Those set free have rejoiced in their new state, but without the slightest disposition to tumult or insubordination; and, as far as I have yet been informed, there appears every disposition on the part of those who were of late owners and apprentices still to continue together. I feel satisfied that the short time which has elapsed since the passing of the Act has increased the hopes and expectations of all concerned as to the benefits which will result from it. Bahamas. TVep. 125 IV. p. 13, Bahamas. IV. p. 14. 262 Progress of Industry, and Colonel Cockburn to Lord Glenelg, 10th August, 1838. I nave much satisfaction in reporting that nothing can be more favourable than the accounts I have, up to this date, received from the different districts, respecting the conduct of those who received their unrestricted freedom on the Ist of August. The labourers appear to be actuated by a sincere wish to continue in the service of their former employers, and the employers to enter into arrange- ments for their mutual benefit. General Condition of Society. HONDURAS. Colonel Macdonald to Lord Glenelg, 10th August, 1838. Honduras. I wap the honour, on the 13th ult., to communicate to you that ry. p. 95. the proprietors of preedial apprenticed labourers in this settlement had resolved to bring to a termination the servitude of these indivi- duals on the Ist instant. This resolution having received the sanction and unanimous con- currence of the meeting here which stands in the place of a local legislature, I considered that an event so important as the final abo- lition of slavery, could not be celebrated in a way more properly than with the solemnities of religion; I therefore directed Divine service to be performed on that day, and I issued my proclamation notifying the same, and ordering all stores, shops, and other places of business to be closed during the hours of public worship. An immense assemblage of apprentices, of all classifications, having met, by agreement, at the court-house, proceeded to church, when the bells commenced ringing, with a variety of banners appropriate to the occasion, and attended by a band of music. After having heard the service, and a most suitable discourse, which they listened to with a serious and respectful deportment, they marched into the green fronting my house, where one of their number addressed me, thanking me, in the name of his assembled brethren and sisters, for what the Queen had done for them, and making every profession of loyalty and good conduct for the time tocome. After I had informed them that they were now so far free agents, and exhorted them to demean themselves with propriety, they departed, and spent, by the kindness of their recent owners, the remaining part of the day in festivity and mirth. . I assure your Lordship the scene was one of a most interesting kind, one more easily imagined than described—but once seen, could not fail to have made an indelible impression on any mind of even common sensibility. It has been my pleasing duty to communicate, more than once, to your Lordship the quiet and peaceable disposition of the apprentices of this place. I may here mention that Commander Carey and the officers of the Comus, who were present on the occasion, remarked, that in all the ports of the West Indies which they had ever visited they had never beheld so respectable and happy a set of people. _ Agreeable as this intelligence is to transmit to your Lordship, it Is still more satisfactory for me to inform you, that the emancipated persons were all industriously pursuing their usual avocations on the Morning of the 2nd, no complaint, of any kind whatever, having been as yet preferred against one of them, clearly proving the change Is a good one; and I have no hesitation in expressing my belief that a very little experience will show that these persons are eminently capable of British civilization, laws, and liberty. In conclusion I have only to say, that to attain so desirable a result I have laboured heartily and uninterruptedly, cheered with the hope of obtaining, what will be to mea sufficient reward, your Lordship’s approbation. SECTION II. STATE OF THE LAW IN THE WEST INDIES, AS IT NOW EXISTS. Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the Legislative Colonies (except Jamaica). Sir, Douwning-Street, 29th September 1838. THE various returns which have been received, in answer to the questions contained in my circular despatch of the 6th November 1837, have been under the consideration of Her Majesty’s Govern- ment ; and I now transmit to you, for your information and guid- General. Fo Da koe Vide Papers relative to the ance, a copy of a despatch which I addressed to the Governor of Abolition of Jamaica on the 15th instant, on the various topics which formed the subject of that inquiry. I adopt this course in preference to writing a distinct despatch to each separate colony, because these returns afford conclusive evidence that all the colonies from which the answers have been received are subject to a code substantially the same on the subjects referred to in my circular despatch; and, where they differ, that the distinction is referable rather to varieties of opinions than to variation of circum- stances. The observations, therefore, which I have to make on these returns are, with very little exception, all comprised in the enclosed despatch to Sir Lionel Smith. ‘This communication, together with my cir- cular despatch of the 15th instant, will put you in possession of the views of Her Majesty’s Government on all the most material subjects on which it appeared requisite to re-consider the laws of the colony, with reference to the altered condition of the labouring population. The only difference which appears to me worthy of particular Notice, as existing between some of these returns, relates to the description or amount of qualifications for civil and political fran- chises. I request your attention to the laws on this subject in force in the colony under your government, with a view to any amendments which you may feel it your duty to recommend, in accordance with the sentiments of Her Majesty’s Government, as already explained to Sir Lionel Smith. With regard to the few colonies of which the returns to my circular despatch are wanting, it may be safely assumed that their answers will exhibit the same general uniformity which is discovered in those now before me. I am, therefore, glad to be enabled to obviate further delay, by sending my present communication to those colonies Siavery, 1838 part 5 (1), p.3. Sept. 15, 1838. (FY), General. 266 State of the Law as tt now exists. also, and reserving for a future occasion any special remarks, for which any peculiarity in their returns, when received, may appear to call. I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG. Enclosure. Sir, Downing -Street, 15th September 1838. Amonest the various returns to my circular despatch of the 6th Novem- ber 1837, on the subject of the state of the law in the West Indies, which would succeed to that of apprenticeship, under the Slavery Abolition Act, I have received your despatches of the 4th of March (No. 41), and of the 17th of May (No. 99). I have now to resume the consideration of the various questions to which that circular refers, aided by such information as I have been able to collect from the answers made by the law-officers of the Crown throughout the various colonies, and by my own examina- tion of their various codes. I commence with the island of Jamaica. My first inquiry was, what are the qualifications for the exercise of each of the civil and political franchises existing in the colony? From the answers I learn that there are no disqualifications of religion or of colour, and I am referred to the new election law, as settling the qualifications of members of the Assembly and their constituents, of mem- bers of parochial vestries and their constituents. Respecting jurors, justices of the peace, coroners, and other judicial franchises, the answers are silent. The result, however, would appear to be, that there is a pro- prietary qualification at present for the exercise of all the political and judicial franchises mentioned in these answers, and in some to which the answers do not expressly refer, and that this is so low a qualification as to extend the enjoyment of these rights to a very large proportion of the adult male population of the colony. The Legislature have, on two recent occas sions, attempted to narrow these franchises, as far as respected the House of Assembly and the vestries, but each of these Acts has been disallowed. Her Majesty’s Government, having maintained, in the most decisive terms, and without exception, the principle that neither distinctions of national origin nor those of religious opinion should be admitted, in the West Indies, as disqualifications for office, and having opposed themselves to the adoption of proprietary qualifications, designed or calculated to ac complish that disqualification by indirect means, have never denied that the possession of some definite amount of property ought to accompany the exercise of all the more considerable franchises, whether political or judicial, of those colonies. They regard property there as the proper cr terion of fitness for such trusts ; first, because the holders of it have a more direct and palpable interest than other men in maintaining the public tranquillity, and in avoiding crude and dangerous experiments on esta blished institutions; and, secondly, because property, as it affords the means of leisure and education, raises a fair presumption of superior know- ledge, intelligence, and fitness for the conduct of civil business. I am dis- posed to admit that the proprietary qualification ought not only to be main- tained, but to be attended with new and effectual securities, for ascertail- ing that it is not fraudulently claimed. ButI am still more disposed acknowledge that, in the very peculiar state of society in the West Indies, it would be reasonable to demand, asa test of the right of exercising these franchises, that they should be enjoyed by none who cannot read and write. State of the Law as it now exists. 267 This is a test which might be readily applied in any case in which there might be reason to suppose that a party claiming to vote, or to be elected, was so illiterate as to be destitute of the first rudiments of learning, and the efforts made for the diffusion of knowledge would render any com- plaint of such a criterion ill founded and unreasonable. The second question was, What are the rules defining the right of admis- sion to schools, places of public worship, or other institutions maintained at the public expense for the general good of society? On this subject I am happy to learn that there is no room for any complaint, nor occasion for any amendment. My third inquiry is, What are the rules determining the obligation to perform militia service? I find that all persons between the ages of 16 and 50, with the excep- tion of certain public officers, are liable to be called on for service; that the number of each body of parochial militia is, however, limited; that the obligation to serve falls first on the proprietary class, who, for this purpose, are defined in three different methods; and that the -selection is actually made by the justices and vestries. Now it is evident that some selection must be made, for otherwise the militia force in Jamaica would far exceed the real exigencies of the public service, and would expose the island to an enormous and unprofitable ex- pense. I cannot, however, think that the making this choice should be left to the justices and vestries. The command of all troops embodied in arms being an inalienable prerogative of the Crown, the choice of officers and privates should, I think, be vested inHer Majesty’s representative, or in officers to be appointed by him for that purpose. I am further of opinion that the exemption ought to extend to ministers of religion of every deno- mination, and to all persons habitually employed as schoolmasters. My fourth question was as follows :—‘‘ What, if any, are the legal ‘re- straints upon the exercise of particular trades, such as publicans, pedlars, porters, boatmen, huxters, &c.?” Under this head I learn that there are no restrictions excepting the laws which, with a view to police, require that publicans, pedlars, porters, and boatmen should take out licences. In the case of publicans, it appears that the magistrates exercise a discretion in fixing the amount to be paid for the licence; a rule obviously capable of abuse, and which should, I con- ceive, be altered, by substituting for it either one fixed sum, or sums vary- ‘ing in different places according to some predetermined rule. The fifth inquiry contained in my circular related to a subject of the highest importance. The question was—‘‘ By what rule has the law regu- lated the mutual rights and duties of employers and servants in husbandry, and in any other kind of handicraft? By what rules are such parties governed in many contracts for future hiring and service, for any period, whether definite or unlimited? By what methods can the performance of such contracts be enforced, or the breach of them punished? In what courts or magistrates is that jurisdiction vested, and what provision exists for the recovery of servants’ wages and petty debts?” From the answer to these questions I learn that the law of Jamaica on this subject is comprised, first, in the common law of England; and, secondly, in the local statutes 55 Geo. ITI. c. 19, and 5 Will. IV. c. 2. Hence it follows that there is no law whatever respecting the formation or the continuance of contracts of service. They may be entered into in any form, and for any time. The disputes between the parties may be deter- mined by any two or more justices. In case of misconduct of the servant, General. General, 268 State of the Law as tt now exists. the justices have very extensive powers of fine and imprisonment, extend- ing even to commitment to hard labour for three months; in case of mis- conduct of the master, the power of the justices extends only to setting aside the agreement. Their decisions are final, and without appeal. There is a summary jurisdiction for the recovery of wages before the magistrates. From this state of the law it is impossible not to apprehend serious abuses and widely extended distrust and discontent. I should be sincerely concerned to suppose that the local Legislature would consider such pro- visions as adapted to the actual state of society in Jamaica. Instead, how- ever, of entering at length into an exposition of the objections to which it seems to me open, and the manner in which they should be remedied, I confine myself to a general reference to the Order of Her Majesty in Coun- cil for establishing the law of master and servant in Guiana, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, in which you will find a full exposition of the views of Her Ma- jesty’s Government on the whole subject. You will recommend to the Council and Assembly the repeal of the statutes 55 Geo. III. c. 19, and 5 Will. IV. c. 2, and the substitution of a law framed in conformity with that Order in Council. This is a subject of the most urgent and vital importance. The sixth inquiry was—“ What classes of persons are entitled to he maintained as destitute poor, and what are the existing provisions on the subject ?”’ The Chief Justice refers to the Colonial Act, Charles II. c. 18; the At- torney-General adds a reference to the 35 Charles II. c. 11, and the 4 Geo. IV. c. 26. It seems to have escaped their notice that the Acts of Charles II. were repealed by the 6 Geo. IV. c. 17, nor has either of them referred to the statute 17 Geo. III. c. 31. I shall not, however, stop on the present occasion to comment upon this part of the statute law of Jamaica. Its inaptitude to the new condition of society there might indeed readily be shown, but I am obliged to postpone this branch of the subject until I shall be in possession of the suggestions which I hope to receive from the Commissioners of the Poor Law of England and Wales. The seventh inquiry was—‘ What are the rules of law existing in the colony, for defining, preventing, and punishing vagrancy, and for compelling able-bodied persons to earn their own living?” On this subject the Chief Justice and Attorney-General refer to the statutes 35 Charles II. c. 11., and 32 Geo. III. c. 11. On collating these Acts with Her Majesty’s Order in Council for preventing and punishing vagrancy in Guiana, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, you will find that they differ most essentially in their cardinal principles. You will earnestly press om the Council and Assembly the repeal of the existing vagrant laws, and the adoption of a new law, coinciding in its general spirit with the Order in Council to which I have referred. In the mean time it will be your duty to watch, with the utmost vigilance, over the execution of the statutes at present in force in the island respecting vagrants. I cannot but anticipate, from their operation, serious abuses and consequent discontents. The eighth inquiry was—“ What part of the public revenue is usually raised by a poll-tax, or by taxes on articles of primary necessity ?”’ From the answer of the Chief Justice I learn that there is a parochial poll-tax raised in many parishes, though the judge is unable to state under what authority. It is of great importance that this doubt should be cleared up. The principles of taxation usually adopted in this country are unequl- vocally opposed to an impost so unequal as a poll-tax of precisely the same amount on the rich and onthepoor. I do not now enter upon the large and State of the Law as tt now exists. 269 arduous inquiry, how far those principles might demand some modification when applied to societies like those of the British West Indies. To engage in this discussion at the present moment would compel me to digress too widely from many topics of immediate exigency, and of a more directly practical nature. The ninth question was—‘ What are the public burthens or imposts payable by free people, in the form of actual labour, either for the repair of roads, or for the execution of other public works ?” The answers on'this subject are defective. The Chief Justice states that there are no such imposts. The Attorney-General adds that there are none of necessity payable by actual labour. I apprehend the case to be, the roads are executed by pecuniary contributions, but that, failing these, the defaulter is bound to labour in person. I wish to be apprised whether such is really the fact; for if so, the poor, being unable to contribute money, will be called upon for contributions in kind, and thus subjected to a very unequal share of the public burthens. The tenth question is—‘“ In what respects does the law of the colony differ from that of England, in the definition, prevention, or punishment of treason, rebellion, insurrection, or sedition committed by free persons ?”’ I am referred to the statute 33 Charles II. c. 16, which appears unim- portant, and to the 4 Geo. IV. c. 13, which has been periodically renewed. The second section of that statute is conceived in terms so vague and com- prehensive, that Her Majesty’s Government cannot authorise you to assent to any future revival of it. The first section of the Act, which very largely extends the English definition of treason, would require to be brought into a nearer conformity with the law of England before the renewal of it could be sanctioned. The eleventh question inquires—‘ By what rules has provision been made for preventing the unauthorised occupation of lands belonging either to the Crown or to private persons ?”’ It appears that the law of the island is silent on this subject. This is one of the topics embraced in the series of Orders of the Queen in Council, which are about to be extended to the colonies, subject to Her Majesty’s legislative authority. I postpone this question, therefore, until that Order shall have been completed. The inquiry No. 12, respecting gaols, has been superseded by the Act passed on that subject in the last Session of Parliament. The next question (the 13th) is as follows :—‘ Is there any law requiring the local magistracy to make to the local government periodical reports of the exercise of their authority ??? It appears that there isno such law. I must therefore state that, in the altered condition of the colonial society, Her Majesty’s Government con- sider the exercise of such a superintendence as indispensable. To the utmost extent of your lawful authority, you will insist on periodical reports of this kind, and, so far as that authority may be defective, you will advise the local legislature to supply the deficiency. The fourteenth inquiry is—‘“ Are any of the local magistracy paid by stipends, and is it in the Governor’s power to remove the local magistrates for misconduct ?” Since this question was proposed you have received authority to retain, for a time, the services of a large body of stipendiary magistrates, payable by the British Treasury. I am also expecting your reply to my despatch, No. , of the , on the subject of the permanent The power of employment of a certain number of stipendiary magistrates, General. General. I. p. 27. 270 State of the Law as it now exists. removal appears complete, except in the case of the magistrates of King- ston. You will advise the Legislature to invest the local government with powers for the suspension of members of the corporation from their magis« terial functions on sufficient proof of incapacity or misconduct. The fifteenth inquiry was—“ Is there any officer whose duty it is to pro- secute or proceed, ex officio, in cases of injuries done to manual labourers of free condition ?” On this head the law is obviously defective, the only responsible person being the Attorney-General. It is manifestly impossible that he should undertake or execute such duties throughout the whole of Jamaica, or that he should be charged with them at all except in cases of peculiar import- ance. Some'plan, therefore, should be devised for appointing subordinate officers for this duty in each of the different parishes. The stipendiary magistrates would most properly be charged withit. If your present powers are inadequate to the purpose of investing them with that function, you will apply to the Legislature for the enlargement of those powers. The last of the inquiries which I proposed was the following :—“ Is there any other topic on which the legal rights or obligations of the labour ing population, or the provisions for asserting or enforcing them, differ materially ffom those which exist in this kingdom ?” The answer to this inquiry is in the negative. It therefore only remains for me to caution you against assenting to the enactment of any such law, I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG. Sir Lionel Smith, Bart., &c. &c. &e. Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the West India Colonies, Sc. Sir, Downing-street, 30th November, 1838. Amoncst the laws of the West Indian colonies to which I adverted in my circular despatch of the 15th September, as requiring revision, in consequence of the recent change in the colonial society, are those which relate tothe constitution and government ofthe militia. Various suggestions for this purpose have engaged the attention of Her Ma- jesty’s Government, but the result of the intelligence which has reached me on this subject has convinced me that, under the existing circum- stances of the West Indies, it is scarcely possible to overcome the objections to the present militia system by any modification of its details. The militia was originally established in the West Indies, partly indeed with a view to repel hostile invasion during war, but chiefly for the repression of any insurrection or dangerous movement among that large part of the population which was held in slavery. This force was constituted on the principle of the legal obligation of every freeman of a certain age to serve in it, a principle capable of being acted on so long as the free inhabitants formed a comparatively small portion of the community, but altogether inapplicable to the present condition of universal freedom. This circumstance alone would render it necessary to adopt a new principle in the organiza tion of the militia, in the event of its continuance; and a serious difli- culty immediately arises as to the mode in which such a re-organiza- 271 State of the Law as it now exists. tion should be effected. The exclusion of any class of the inhabit- ants from service in this force, on account of their colour or former servile condition, would be contrary to the whole policy of the Go- vernment, and would tend to perpetuate a distinction which it is most desirable to obliterate. On the other hand it is extremely doubtful whether, in the present early stage of the new condition of society, the plan could safely be resorted to of composing the militia by ballot indiscriminately from the whole population. Again, the motive which, during the existence of slavery, recommended the maintenance of a militia as a security against internal commotion, has passed away. All that is now wanting for the preservation of order is an effective police, for which the militia could in no case be an adequate substitute. For protection from invasion (an event, I trust, extremely remote and improbable) these colonies must chiefly depend,on the naval force in the West Indies. But, in the occurrence of any such con- tingency, there could be little difficulty, even in the absence of a militia, in organizing corps of volunteers to assist Her Majesty’s regular forces. ‘The maintenance of a militia, therefore, under pre- sent circumstances, as a regular establishment, appears to Her Ma- jesty’s Government to be unnecessary and inexpedient, while the considerable expenditure which it now imposes on the colonies might be far more usefully applied in the maintenance of an efficient police. I am therefore to desire that you will take an early opportunity of bringing this subject under the attention of the local legislature, and invite them to consider the expediency, under the altered circum- stances of the West Indies, of a repeal or a suspension of the existing militia laws. The question of a renewal of this force on a different principle from that on which it has hitherto been constituted may, if neces- sary, be hereafter considered. { have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG. Lord Glenelg to Sir L. Smith, 31st August, 1838. I nave received your despatch of the 28th June, No. 126, enclos- ing four Acts passed by the Legislature of Jamaica in the month of June last, one of which is an Act for abolishing the apprenticeship of the praedial labourers throughout the island. Having already expressed to you the satisfaction with which Her Majesty's Govern- ment had learnt that the Legislature of Jamaica had, in common with the Legislatures of the other West India colonies, adopted this Measure, as, under existing circumstances, the most. conducive to the permanent well-being of all classes of the community, it 1s far from my wish to criticise, with unnecessary precision, the subsidiary enact- ments comprised in the Act in question. General. Jamaica, ~ Dp: O33 Jamaica. 272 State of the Law as it now exisis. The boon which has been conferred on the late apprenticed popu- lation is of too great importance not to be duly appreciated by them, and, in great measure, to counterbalance any minor defects which may be traced in other provisions of the new law. I feel it, however, my duty to advert to some defects of this nature, in the hope that, as they have probably been the result of mere inad- vertence, they may, when brought under the consideration of the Legislature, be corrected by suitable amendments. The clause in the second page of this Act (the successive sections are not distinguished by numbers) provides that, from the Ist of August, 1838, if any person, now (that is at the date of the Act) an apprentice labourer, having received three months’ notice to quit, in the form mentioned in the following section, shall refuse or omit fo quit and deliver up possession of any land, dwelling, or building which he shall have been permitted or suffered to occupy, to his employer, he shall be deemed a trespasser; and it shall be lawful m such cases for any two justices of the peace, associated together, upon complaint made upon oath, to summon the parties so offending before them, and on conviction thereof, by warrant under their hands, to authorize any constable or police-oflicer summarily to eject such offender from such land, building, or dwelling. There can be no doubt that, although the sudden ejectment of the labourers, on the expiration of the apprenticeship, from the houses of grounds previously occupied by them as apprentices, would have been a most unjust and impolitic act, it was desirable that clear intimation should be given to the negroes that, with the attainment of unqualified freedom, they have ceased to possess the same legal claims to houses and maintenance from their former owners as had been secured to them while apprentices ; and that for the future they must be regarded in the light of tenants holding their houses and grounds, when not their own absolute property, under agreements voluntarily entered into between them and the owners of the land. The section to which I have referred appears to have been framed with this view, as in a proviso attached to it all tenancies existing by agreement between an employer and his labourer are expressly exempted, during the continuance of such agreement, from the operation of the summary process of ejectment after three montlis notice provided in the former part of the section. I infer, too, that it was the intention of the Legislature that the section should apply only to cases of houses or ground occupied by the labourer during apprenticeship, and not to any of which he might snbsequently become the tenant, although, in referring to the grammatical struc ture of the sentence, a wider application might plausibly be ascribed to it. It appears to me, however, that the enactment is objection- able, as implying a distinction to be maintained subsequently to the abolition of the apprenticeship between the class which, at the date of the Act, were subject to apprenticeship, and other inhabitants ol the island. It is of the utmost importance to maintain the general principle, that henceforward the emancipated class must as such be subjected to no penalties, restraints, or disabilities, which do nol State of the Law as it now exists. 273 equally affect every other class of society, and the enactment in question appears to me to invade, however unintentionally, that principle. Whether a more summary process of ejectment than that already sanctioned by law in Jamaica, in the event of a tenant holding under no agreement, may not be expedient, is a question into which I will not now enter; but I am clearly of opinion that, whatever may be the provisions of the law on this subject, they ought equally to affect all classes, and that they ought to contemplate the relation, not of employer and servant, but of landlord and tenant. You will take an early opportunity of bringing this subject under the consideration of the Legislature, and of suggesting to them an amendment of this provision of the Act with respect to the objection which I have stated. Another portion of the Act provides for the temporary mainten- ance of the diseased and infirm. Her Majesty's Government have observed with much satisfaction the distinct recognition of the prin- ciple, that some provision ought to be made for persons of this class by their former owners. The doubt which I entertain is, whether the enactment be adequate to the due enforcement of this obligation. In the first place, I could have wished that a more remote period than the Ist June, 1839, had been fixed for the continued occupa- tion of their houses and grounds, by the aged and infirm negroes. I trust that individual benevolence and justice will supply what appears to me the deficiency of the law in this respect. But, in the second place, a more serious objection exists in the small amount of the penalty attached to the violation of this enactment. £5 currency appears to me a very inadequate penalty to prevent the dispossession of a labourer from his house and grounds, should any proprietor or his agent be dispossd to violate the law. ‘The penalty, moreover, cannot be levied by distress against the goods or property of the offender, and, if levied, it is to be applied, not as an indemnity to the injured party, but for the benefit of the parochial poor, which is in effect for the advantage of the rate-payers. You will also invite the Legislature to reconsider this enactment, with a view to remove from it these defects and objections, which must in a great measure detract from the merit and value justly to be ascribed to a full assertion of the principles on which it is founded. Until the result of your communication to the Legislature on the points to which I have adverted shall have been ascertained, Her Majesty’s decision on this Act will be suspended. There is one other point of much importance to which I feel it my duty to call your attention, in connexion with the subsidiary enactments of this Act. ‘The summary jurisdiction, for the exercise of which they provide, is intrusted, not to the stipendiary, but to the ordinary justices. It would probably be useless to invite the Legislature to exclude the ordinary magistracy from jurisdiction in such cases. Her Majesty's Government, however, feel it to be of the utmost consequence that any powers to be exercised by magis- . ji am aicae Jamaica. coer 274 State of the Law as it now ewists. trates, as between employers and their servants, should, for the pre- sent at least, be confined as much as possible to a stipendiary magis- tracy, unconnected by any personal interest with the operation of the law. The safe and satisfactory working of a system so different from any which has hitherto existed in the West Indies will depend in a great measure on the confidence which the great body of the people will entertain in the impartial administration of the law. The authority which you have received to retain for the present the services of as many of the special magistrates as you may think expedient will enable you, I trust, in a great degrec, to accomplish this object. ‘The stipendiary will indeed possess only a concurrent jurisdiction with the ordinary magistrates; yet a judicious distribue tion of them throughout the island will give the labourers, generally, the power of applying to them, and claiming their interposition m any case of grievance or injustice; and, although I am far from anti cipating acts of oppression or injustice on the part of the great majority of the gentlemen in Jamaica who are in the ordinary com- mission of the peace, I think it right to remind you of the importance of a careful superintendence of their proceedings, and of a firm exercise of your power of removal from the commission of any magis- trate who, either from interest, passion, or indiscretion, may prove himself unfit to be intrusted with the magisterial powers. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 14th Aug. 1838. I am very anxious to draw your Lordship’s attention to the Ad of this island, 5 Will. IV., c. 2, for enlarging the powers of justices in determining complaints between masters and servants, &c. This Act has already been found to operate with great severily against the European emigrants; and the friends of the negro ate naturally apprehensive that it may be converted into a powerhil engine of oppression against the labourers, as it gives authority toa single justice to apprehend, under his warrant, “ servants in hus- bandry’’ who absent themselves or neglect to fulfil their contract, and punish them by hard labour, not exceeding three months, orby forfeiture of wages. I hope your Lordship will be enabled to rid us of this Act, either by a formal disallowance, or by the authority of the Imperial Parlia- ment. Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith, 29th Sept. 1838. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despateh, No. 156, of the 14th of August, in which you recommend, for ce? tain reasons which you have adduced, that measures should be taken for preventing the operation of the Jamaica Act, 5 Will. IV., & 2, “ for enlarging the powers of justices in determining complaimls State of the Law as it now exists. 275 between masters and servants, &c.” either by its disallowance or by the authority of the Imperial Parliament. This Act having been left to its operation, because it was made to continue in force only until the end of the year 1840, or a few months later than the time originally fixed for the termination of the preedial apprenticeship, it cannot of course now be disallowed. It un- doubtedly has acquired a new and very objectionable character in consequence of the abolition of the apprenticeship on the Ist. of August last, as it was not originally intended to continue in opera- tion, except for a very limited, period after the termination of the apprenticeship. I think that under existing circumstances you should take the first opportunity of recommending to the local Legis- lature the immediate repeal of this Act, and the substitution for it of a law framed in accordance with Her Majesty’s Order in Council respecting masters and servants of the 7th instant, a copy of which was contained in my circular despatch of the 15th. Jamaica, On the result of this recommendation must depend the propriety 7ide Circular of resorting to any further means for the protection of the labouring (@), p. 19. , class, In the meantime, however, it will be in your power to remit any penal sentences imposed under its authority which appear to you Severe or oppressive. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 10th Sept. 1838. Havine been always of opinion myself that three months’ pos- y, p. gs. session of the houses and grounds of the late apprentices was granted by the Legislature as a protecting provision, upon the sudden cessa- tion of all the allowances for their support, on coming into freedom, I had no reason, in passing the bill, to suspect its injurious opera- tion against them; and I, therefore, thought it best to put the ques- tion for the decision of Her Majesty’s Attorney-General, by whose positive reply your Lordship will observe he has, by his authority, sanctioned the master’s charge for rent, commencing from the Ist August, in all cases, unless “ the value of the houses and grounds is provided for by special agreement,” I quite dread the consequences. From the attachment of the people to their old locations, they must be reduced to the employer's own terms of wages, or be driven off the properties as vagrants. Then, I beseech your Lordship to look to the provisions of the local Vagrant Act, unrepealed, 35 Car. II., c. 11. This Act was intro- duced against the lawless soldiery of Governor Doyley; and many Violent planters are now rejoicing in the power it gives of flogging free men from parish to parish ; and there is an improvement in its penal powers by the 32 Geo. III., c. 11, still unrepealed, which adds six months’ hard labour in the house of correction. Your Lordship may bid me apply to the Legislature to repeal these frightful laws; but I should apply in vain; and, in midst T Jamaica. I. p. 90. 276 State of the Law as tt now exists. of freedom, we have still terrific engines of oppression and tyranny preparing for the emancipated population. GOVERNMENT NOoTIcE. King’s House, 30th’ August, 1838. Tue Governor directs the publication for general information of the following cases, submitted for the opinion of the Attorney-General, with that officer’s opinion attached. By command, C. H. Darina, Secretary. (Copy.) Sir, King’s House, 27th August, 1838. I am desired by the Governor to request you will give your opinion for general publication :— Ist. Whether in instances of notices to quit their houses and grounds having been served upon the late apprentices, they are liable to be made to pay rent for the occupation of such houses, &c. during the three months allowed by law ? Opinion.—They are. (Signed) D. O’Rei1xy. 2dly. Whether apprentices remaining on such properties for the time allowed by law, can, though working under agreement for their usual em- ployers, be made to pay rent for the three months so allowed by law. Opinion. —They can, unless the value of the occupation of the house and ground is provided for by special agreement. (Signed) D. O’REILty. I have, &c., (Signed) C. H. Darurne, Secretary. Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith, 29th Oct. 1888. THE views taken by some of the planters of the question concert ing the negro’s possession of his house and grounds may lead to consequences which cannot be contemplated without much solic tude. Whatever may have been the results of the opinion stated by the colonial Attorney-General, that the negroes, in the absence of special agreement to the contrary, were liable to a rent for the three months’ occupation which was allowed them under the emancipa- tion law, I apprehend that these results must now be beyond the reach of counteraction ; and it would be in vain, therefore, to pursue the discussion. But an important question of law suggests itself im connexion with the subject ; namely, whether, under the Emancipa- tion Act, or, according to the general principles of law, independently of that Act, a labourer who, on the Ist of August last, was occupy- ing a house and grounds, the property of his employer, in consider ation of his services, became liable from the Ist of August to summary ejectment as a trespasser, in the event of his holding over; or whether such a person could be lawfully turned out of possession, except by an action of ejectment. ‘This question has been submitted for the State of the Law as it now exists. 277 consideration of Her Majesty’s Attorney and Solicitor-General, whose report, when received, will be transmitted to you. With reference to the 9th and 10th paragraphs of your despatch, in which you called my attention to the arbitrary and oppressive enactments now in force, of the colonial statutes 35 Car. IT., c. 11, and 32 Geo. III., c. 11, under which persons adjudged to be vagrants are liable to corporal punishment, and to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour, I have to instruct you, notwithstanding the doubts of success which you entertain, to apply to the Legislature of Jamaica for the repeal of these provisions. It is impossible for Her Majesty’s Government to acquiesce in the continuance of such laws on the statute book of any colony ; it is, therefore, necessary that I should be placed, without loss of time, in possession of the determination of the Jamaica Legislature on the subject. You will communicate to me, as soon as possible, the result of your application tothe Legisla- ture. Her Majesty entirely approves of the precautions which you have taken to have the regular troops only employed, if military aid should be required, and of your determination to prevent their employment at all, in the coercion of labour. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 24th Sept. 1838. Jamaica, So many persons have been of opinion that the Attorney-General’s 1. p, 92. opinion, as to rents, was not sound, that I deemed it advisable to call for the opinions of the only other two barristers who are not con- nected with the plantation properties; and I have the honour to submit their decision for your Lordship’s notice. — CounsEL’s OPINIONS. Casr.—Your opinion is requested, whether, under the 1 Vic. c. 3, the late I. p, 102, predial apprentices are liable to pay rent for their houses and grounds, or whether they can be ejected without the notice alluded to in the 3d section of the Act? And if rent is payable, can it be recovered under the Petty Debt Act, and how are the magistrates to act when rent is sought to be recovered before them under that Act? Orrnion.—I am of opinion that the late preedial appenticed labourers are not liable to make any remuneration for the use and occupation of their houses and grounds for three months, from the Ist of August last. Such a liability must arise under some contract, either expressed or implied. It is admitted that there is no express contract, and I do not think there is any- thing in the previous relation between the preedial apprentices and their late masters from which a contract to pay rent, or make other compensation, can now be inferred. The implication is, I think, quite the other way. No return or compensation, except in services, was ever made or thought of during that relationship. On the contrary, the houses and grounds were provided by the master under a legal obligation. By the slave law the owner was bound to furnish his apprentice with grounds or other sufficient maintenance. By the Abolition of Slavery Act he continued under the same obligation, and under the 45th and 46th clauses of that Act, I think Jamaica, 278 State of the Law as it now exists. the apprentices acquired an interest during the apprenticeship term, thereby limited, adverse to that of his employer in the grounds set apart for his support. I do not think the local legislature could change the nature of that interest without the concurrence of the Imperial Parliament. However, the cultivation of their grounds under the then existing law, relieved the master from the weekly allowance or provision he would otherwise have been compelled to make to each of his apprentices, who, on their part, were bound to maintain and cultivate their grounds in a proper manner. Under this reciprocal obligation (independently of the adverse possessory right to the soil which I think the Abolition of Slavery Act expressly gave such apprentices as were provided with grounds for their support) they acquired an interest in the produce which they had raised by their own labour, and became purchasers of the crop on the ground on the Ist of August, both in consideration of the labour which produced it, and of the services which they had up to that period performed for their employers. The late Act abolishing the apprenticeship system (presuming that Act has the force of law), relieved the apprentices from all future service after the Ist of August, and furnished the master with the means of regaining the absolute ownership, without any sort of restriction, in the houses and grounds of his late apprentices, by a notice to quit in three months, during the running of which notice the apprentice might take off his crop and provide himself with fresh means of subsistence elsewhere, if he did not continue in his late master’s employment as a free labourer. I conceive, therefore, that the third section of the Act, abolishing the apprenticeship system, intended to recognize the exclusive right of the apprentice to his grounds, to declare that possession legal, and, in fact, to secure to him a right of occupancy or free term for three months after the service of the notice, which I think that section peremptorily requires from the master before he can treat the occupier as a trespasser, or eject him from his. possession. The great difficulties and danger that might ensue from an indiscriminate and immediate expulsion of the late preedials after the Ist of August, in case the Imperial Parliament did not afterwards accept the terms upon which entire emancipation was granted, confirms the impression on my mind that it was not the intention of the local legis- lature (if it had the power) to grant any such right to the proprietor. 2. I think if rent could be enforced, that the magistrates, under the Petty Debt Act, have no authority to ascertain and award it, principally because, in such an inquiry, “the title to land or real estate is involved.” The first thing the plaintiff has to prove, is his demise and right to receive the rent in respect to his intesest in the land. Besides, the demand is in the nature of unliquidated damages, and the Act did not contemplate actions of that sort. 3. In all cases of difficulty, a magistrate may withhold judgment until he can associate himself with one of the judges of the superior courts. Spanish Town, 14 Sept. 1838. (Signed) Boswexiy MippLetToN ‘= Orinion.—I am of opinion, that during the subsistence of the notice prescribed by the Act 1 Vic. ec. 3, the owners of the late apprenticed predial labourers are not legally entitled to any rent for the houses and grounds in their occupation. A demand for rent can legally arise only on a contract or agreement between the parties, either expressed or implied. It is admitted that n0 express contract exists; I think none arises by any implication of law, which may not be rebutted when the peculiar circumstances are considered State of the Law as it now exists. 279 under which the late masters and apprentices stood with reference to each other. It appears to me, that no analogies can fairly be drawn from those decisions of the English Courts in which agreements have occasionally been implied, and actions for use and occupation sustained, because, since the extinction of pure villanage, the relative position in which the late owners and apprentices in this island were placed, had these ceased to have any existence. Prior to the late Act, no contract or agreement for rent did, or in point of fact could, exist. Any analogy, therefore, derived from transactions between free agents would wholly fail. By the slave laws, and particularly the 57 Geo. III., c. 28, and 1 Will. IV., ¢. 25, masters were bound to furnish their slaves with adequate provision grounds, which those laws contemplated, not as a remuneration only for services performed, but as a means of subsistence which the owners were otherwise peremptorily bound to supply, and as a substitute for the money payment which the former of the recited Acts prescribes. Under these laws, then, the owner could not arbitrarily dispossess his slave of his grounds. The Abolition Act, and Acts in Aid, adopt the spirit and embody the language of the slave protection Acts, and upon the construction of the whole of these, it appears to me that the late apprentices obtained a limited proprietorship in their ‘‘ own grounds,”—the very language of the statutes. They became purchasers, in the legal sense of the word, of their allotted grounds, with a free right of occupancy and beneficial pernancy of the proceeds. ‘The considerations which constituted them purchaser, were the services performed, the pecuniary or other provision withheld by their owners, which they must otherwise have received, and the lahour “in their own time” bestowed on the cultivation. This appears to me to have been the relative position of master and apprentice under the old law. Events not contemplated by either party, put an immediate, almost com- pulsory conclusion to the apprenticeship system, and it was found necessary, on the one hand, to give the master some summary mode of recovering the absolute dominion of the soil he had thus parted with, and on the other, to protect the existing interest of the freed labourer in his grounds, as well as to make some temporary provision for the aged and diseased. With this view, the legislature provides that.the apprentice shall not be considered a trespasser by occupying his grounds till after three months’ notice to quit, making some more extended arrangements for the aged and diseased. It certainly appears to me to have been the intention of the legislature to give the apprentice three months’ free occupation and pernancy of the profits of his grounds, or in other words, to continue his limited proprietorship for that time. I think the clause was intended to give both the master and the apprentice a benefit, and not to confine it to the former alone. It would hardly have been in contemplation to displace from their homes some 300,000 labourers, without any immediate means of support or subsistence, to render them liable to distress for unascertained rent, or to actions for use and occupation of that which the law (under the peculiar constitution of society which theretofore existed) had recognised as their own. 2. I consider that any proceedings under the Petty Debt Act to enforce payment for rent, or remuneration of any kind, would be wholly irregular and illegal, that tribunal having no jurisdiction to interfere with any matter where the title to land is involved. 3. The magistrates are, by the forms of their commissions in England, directed, in cases of difficulty, not to adjudge the matter, unless in the presence of a judge of the superior courts. A somewhat similar direction Is contained in the grand commission of the peace in this island, to which Jamaica, Steet Jamaica. | 280 State of the Law as it now exists. reference is made in all the other commissions, and under which justices are forthwith to certify the case to the Supreme Court. In cases, therefore, of such paramount difficulty as the present, the magistrates ought not, I think, to act on their own responsibility. 14th September, 1838. (Signed) W.C.Macpoveatt. Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith. Nov. 14th, 1888. I nave the honour to enclose, for your information, the copy of the report which I have received from Her Majesty’s Attorney and Solicitor-General on the question submitted to them on the relative rights of proprietors, on the one hand, and occupants on the other, of premises in the possession of the late apprenticed negroes in Jamaica. The opinion of the law officers of the Crown is, as you will observe, directly opposed to that of the Attorney-General of Jamaica, as to the liability of the negroes to rent during the three months following the Ist of August last. I fear, however, that the consequences of this demand having been extensively made, cannot now be avoided or remedied, and I can only hope that the decision which you were expecting on this question from the Middlesex Grand Court, which was to meet on the Ist October, may have been in accordance with what, from this report, appears to be the correct construction of the law. Should this have been the case, the right of the negroes would seem to be clearly established, to receive back from the proprietors, either in a money payment or in an abatement from their future rent, the value which they may have rendered for their houses and grounds during the three months in question. It would be most undesirable, that by any further doubt on this subject, any additional obstacle should be placed in the way of fair and equitable agreements between the employers and their labourers; and it is also of importance that no misapprehension should exist m the minds of the negroes as to their position with regard to their houses and grounds, after the expiration of the three months, in the absence of any specific agreement. I trust that such agreements will be generally made, and I am convinced it will be found advan- tageous to all parties, that the fair value of the tenement occupied by the labourer should be paid by him to the proprietor, under an agreement admitting of no dispute, and that the labourer should receive a fair remuneration for his labour. The two subjects are wholly distinct, and an attentive perusal of the documents which you have transmitted satisfies me that much evil and injustice must result from confounding them in a manner which charges the rent of the tenement on every inmate of the house, in the shape of a deduction from what would otherwise be the ordinary rate of wages. This, however, is a subject on which the Government can have no right to interfere, except by the exertion of its influence with those who are desirous of placing the new system on a foundation calculated to promote the welfare and interests of all classes. State of the Lau: as it now exists. 281 I have suggested this subject, wmong others, for the considera- tion of some of the chief proprietors in this country, and I shall be glad to learn that you have beers enabled successfully to do the same with resident proprietors, an¢ ‘persons in charge of estates in Jamaica. i My Lorp, Temple, November 12, 1838. We have had the honour to recei ¢ your Lordship’s letter of the 9th instant, transmitting to us various pars concerning the relative rights of the proprietors on the one hand, and “TSoccupants on the other, of pre- mises in the possession of the late apprenticed negroes in Jamaica, on and after the 1st of August last; and requesting our opinion upon the general questions raised in these papers, and especially whether the tenants of such premises holding, over after that dat.’ are liable to summary ejectment as mere trespassers, instead of being dis _vssessed by process of law; and whether they are liable to payment of rent between the Ist of August and the 1st of November; and if so, under what species of agreement such rent can be claimed, and by what process it can be enforced. Having attentively considered thesecyapers, we have to report to your Lordship that we entirely dissent from the opinion of the Attorney-General of Jamaica, which has been submitted to us. We think that till the expiration of the apprenticeship, and the expiration of the three months’ notice to quit, the apprenticed negroes had a qualified interest in the premises occupied by them. They occupied the premises by authority of law, and not by the voluntary permission of the proprietors. The con- sequence is, that they are not liable for rent in any shape, in respect of the occupation between the Ist of August and the lst of November. In the absence of all express agreement, there is nothing from which any implied agreement to pay rent can be inferred; and the claim of the proprietors for compensation, in whatever shape made, is wholly unfounded. But at the expiration of the notice to quit, the interest of the apprenticed negroes ceases; and, if they should continue to hold over, they would be liable to be treated as trespassers, under the Acts 4 Will. IV., c. 41, and 1 Vic., c. 31. According to the common law of England, any tenant that holds over after the expiration of his term is a trespasser; and there is nothing repugnant to the law of England in enacting that, under such cir- cumstances, he may be dispossessed by summary process, under the warrant of magistrates. A similar Act, passed during the last session of Parliament, with respect to all tenements in England under the yearly value of 20/. We have, &c. J. CAMPBELL, (Signed) R. M. Rotre. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 5th April, 1839. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s despatch, No. 402, of Ist February last, requesting to be furnished with the result of my observations upon the Act of the local legisla- ture, No. 3294, relating to landlords and tenants, upon which Act Her Majesty’s decision has hitherto been suspended. In general terms, I beg to report to your Lordship, that the pro- visions of the Act are very ill suited to the class of tenantry against Jamaica, I. (5), p. 37. Jamaica, 282 State of the Lau\ as it now exists. whom in this country it is prine“pally brought into operation; its forms are tedious and cumbrous, ‘ie expenses attending their execus tion very heavy, and the powers of the landlord may be exercised ina manner vexatious and harassing"o the labouring tenants; but fora more detailed statement of the ; ctical working of this Act, and for some valuable suggestions for as-.milating the Jamaica laws, upon this head, to those introduced into Ireland a few years ago, I would beg to refer your Lordship to t: *' enclosed memorandum, which at my request has been drawn up’ 7 Mr. Hill, the stipendiary magis- trate and assistant secretary in9Se, t department. en, % Redort. The spirit in which any Bill re}Oing to landlord and ‘tenant would be made to act on that dependent cla,;7-of the colony who had been released from slavery, and were now the lawouring tenantry on plantations, might have been gathared from a Bill inti¢duced by Mr. Milner, the member for St. James, for ejecting by summarynprocess, from their houses and grounds, tenants under a rent of 20/. per annum. That law provided for a labour-rent, or, in other words, for a holding of tenements by labourers, on some other consideration than rent, in which no tenancy from year to year would be created, and in which no notice to quit, in the terms of a notice for a tenancy for rent, would be necessary. The tenant was to be ejected summarily, and in the first draft of the Bill printed by the House of Assembly, the process of ejectment was to be en tered up against the party ejected as against “a convicted rogue and vaga- bond ;”? these were the words to be used, and the person so convicted was to be subjected to the pains and penalties of a person in this state of infamous repute. This clause was expunged in the draft of the Bill printed in the next session (1837 and 1838), but the fact that it had ever been contemplated to make it a part of the law of the colony, sufficiently showed the spirit m which any powers of summary ejectment would be made to operate against the labouring tenantry. There was to be a similar power of summary ejectment when a tenant paying rent overheld the demised premises after the determination of his interest. From the first notice up to the final process of the court, two weeks only were to elapse. In this way the Bill passed both the House of Assembly and the Council in March, 1838, but it did not receive the assent of his Excellency the Governor. The Bill relating to landlord and tenant, chap. 26, 1 Victoria, now in opt ration, is the same as the English Bill, and is only manageable for large inte rests. In dealing with small tenants, it is altogether a slow, cumbrous, eX pensive, and inappropriate remedy. It exposes the tenant to a most oppressive amount of law expenses, even in suits in our 20/. eourts, called courts of common pleas, in which the parochial magistrates in quarter session have jurisdiction as judges. Annexed to this Report are copies of two actions, with the preliminary expenses before judgment is taken, endorsed on the back. After judgment shall be obtained, the additional expense will be 8/. It is under the 12th clause of the Act relating to landlord and tenant, chap. 26, 1 Victoria, that these actions are sent out. They are actions for State of the Law as tt now exists. 283 use and occupation, and might be made to apply to the conditions under which almost all the labouring tenants of plantations are now holding their houses and grounds. If permission for such a general occupation as makes the labourer a tenant from year to year at a stated rent be avoided by a landlord, the consequence will be, the hability of the occupant to a suit under this 12th clause for the value of the use and occupation, for any por- tion of time however small. All the evils of summary ejectment, under the rejected Bill brought in by Mr. Milner, with all the pains and penalties of reputed rogues and vaga- bonds operating upon the party proceeded against, are abundantly entailed on the labouring community by the ejectment clause of the Act for abolish- ing the apprenticeship. ‘To this Act all the former apprenticed labourers are subject, if they break the subsisting contracts for labour by which they still occupy their ancient tenement, and cultivate their former provision- ground. To obviate the perplexities of law, a system of rent-agencies has been instituted in some parishes, in which agencies the stipended constables are employed, that the influence of their office may be brought to bear in col- lecting the weekly use and occupation sums at a per centage. The system is rapidly entailing on the colony all the evils of Irish driving. The answers in the “ Reports and Evidence on the State of Ireland,” ordered to be printed by the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, in the session of 1825, are equally applicable to the system now in progress here. It may equally be said of the colony, under such a state of things, that “there exists no check to the power of distraining ;”’ that ‘* under the colour of law, the landlord may convert that power to any purpose he pleases ;”? that the consequence is, that “ he can extract from the peasant every shilling beyond bare existence which can be procured from the land ;” and that the system is resorted to “ to oblige the people to work, by threat of driving them, at a low rate of wages. . . . . The remedies given by the law are extremely difficult for a poor tenant, and are, for all practical purposes, as bad as if they did not exist.’ The only check against ex- tortionate levies, is the Act 1 Vic. chap. 25, “to regulate the costs of distresses for small debts, rates, and taxes.”? The common pleas, as a court for adjudicating small claims, with such an accumulation of business as that resulting from the admission of a great Tural community into a participation in the laws for the general protection of property, consequent on the abolition of slavery, is altogether an unsafe and unsatisfactory tribunal. To the objection that the judges of this court are proprietors, is superadded that still greater obstacle to confidence in the laws, that the jury are proprietors of that worst description, small pro- prietors, whose constant contact with the labourers serving them places them in an unceasing state of hostility of interest, incompatible with fair and impartial justice. Already, for all the more important matters of law, it is found that the business of the assize courts is most inconveniently increased. It is not unusual for the business of the assizes to be so en- cumbered as to press upon the criminal trials. The inadequacy of time is productive of either hurry or delay, and if the court does not suffer in its credit, it is impeded in its vigour or diminished in its certainty. The best remedy for this accumulated mass of judicial evils, would be an institution similar to that of the assistant barrister’s court, created by the Act for holding “ civil bill”? courts in Ireland. A barrister presides in this court as sole judge, and the following are the several cases in which his court has jurisdiction : Jamaica, 284. State of the Law as it now exists. Jamaica. All actions of debt, on bond, bill, or specialty, for payment of money saa only ; and all actions on the case on inland bills of exchange and promis- sory notes up to 20/. Action of trespass for injury done to the plaintiff’s person or goods, and all actions on the case where the damages laid shall not exceed 5/. Actions of debt by tenants against their immediate landlords, where the tenant, having paid his rent to the immediate landlord, shall be distrained upon by the head landlord, up to 504. Actions of debt against parties duly summoned to attend as witnesses in the Civil Bill Court, and making default, up to 1/. Actions of ejectment— First, where the tenant, being in arrear to the amount of half a year’s rent, shall desert the premises, leaving them uncultivated, or carrying off the stock and crop, so as no sufficient distress may be had to countervail the arrears of rent then due. Amount of rent reserved unlimited. Secondly, where the tenant overholds the demised premises after the determination of his interest, Thirdly, where an arrear of one full year’s rent shall be due to the land- lord. Limited to cases under these two heads, where the rent reserved shall not exceed 50/. per annum. Actions of replevin, where the amount of the reserved rent, in respect of which the distress has been made, does not exceed 10. It will be seen in this enumeration that the jurisdiction of the civil bill courts, in all that relates to the law of landlord and tenant, is sufficiently comprehensive, and that whether it be to protect the tenant or to give faci- lities to the landlord in recovering his rent or obtaining possession of his tenement by ejectment, it is sufficient for the ends proposed. Its autho- rity in actions for debt under 20/. would obviate much of the difficulties which prevail in settling questions arising out of contracts for job-labour, and its jurisdiction in actions of trespass for injuries done to either the person or goods of a party plaintiff, would afford remedies in many of those cases of damage arising from the trespass of cattle, &c., for which the summary courts of the colony can give no sufficient reparation. As the Civil Bill Court is a court of strict law for the plaintiff, that is to say, a court in which he must sustain his case according to the same rigid principles that would apply if the same issue had been tried by a jury at common law, while for the defendant it is a court of equity, or a court m which he is exempted from all the technicalities and embarrassments that attach to written, pleadings, in which he can resort to every equitable ground of defence, and can appeal to the oath of the plaintiff and sift his conscience on the subject of his alleged cause of action, it seems especially suited to the necessites of our untaught peasantry, and relieves them at once from all those difficulties which beset their ignorance and unacquaint ance with judicial proceedings. The aid of a jury is available in cases of controverted fact, For whatever perplexity, therefore, a reference to the professional judgment of the barrister does not provide a solution, there 1s a resort to the decision of a more popular tribunal. No other institution seems to offer equal pliability for the wants and necessities of a community like that which slave emancipation has created in the colony. April 2, 1839, Ricuarp Hitt. State of the Law as it now exists. James Brown. To Springfield Plantation, Dr. Jamaica. February 7, 1839.—To rent due by you for the use and oc- £. s. d. =a cupation of a certain dwelling-house and premises with the appurtenances, and of certain provision-ground situate on the above plantation, by yourself and wife, or reputed wife, from the 1st November last to date, 14 weeks at 5s. per Bal IR Sik ea MRS OT Ba me ase, aes neal) Stor WO March 6.—Further rent as above, from the 7th of February last to date (four weeks and five days), at 5s. per week . 1 To paid you this amount at sundry times . . .). . O1 Cr. By 52 days’ labour performed by you on above plantation, from the 7th of August, 1838, to 3rd of January, 1839 . 3 0 ‘Tk Balance.due by you, 4«., «: 0% 22, @ 2s ENDORSEMENT. For May, Court of Common Pleas, 1839, St. Thomas-y°-Vale. Read v. Brown, James.—Arrest. Beh Read. St. Thomas-y°-Vale. ANS, Take bail, as per affidavit filed, forthe sumof . . . . £2 6 2% Hh Mad costs... wk Sol WORLDS OPI DO AOy OM. BA aa eee Lit Se ie Samuel Davis. To Springfield Plantation, Dr. February 7, 1839.—To rent due by you for the use andoc- £. s. d cupation of a certain dwelling-house and premises with the appurtenances, and of certain provision-ground situate on the above plantation, from the Ist of November last to date, Beesead: per week's 00) CSOD Ch BREA eae Sane Gita To cash paid you on the 14th of December last . . . . 0 6 3 Cr. 242-41 By 10 days’ labour performed by you on above plantation Beaneen: the above dates) sui 8. ou See wD SD Ip OMTEE MS Balance due by youat date . . £118 4 ENDORSEMENT. For May, St. Thomas-y*-Vale, Court of Common Pleas, 1839. Read y. Davis, Samuel.—Arrest. Read. St. Thomas-y°-Vale. Take bail, as per affidavit filed, forthe sumof . . . . £118 4 Brie. oc erge ensmry onl? IM QNR, 92 Lia 20 et ieee Marquis of Normanby to Sir C. T. Metcalfe, 10th Aug., 1839. I nave received Sir Lionel Smith’s despatch, No. 72, of the 5th 1, (5), p. 45. April last, enclosing a report from Mr. Hill, a stipendiary ma- gistrate, on the practical working of the Act, No. 3294, relating to Jamaica. I, (5), ps 99 286 State of the Law as tt now exists. landlords and tenants, which had been called for by my predecessor in his despatch of the Ist February last. You will convey to Mr. Hill my thanks for this report, the result of which is to show, that although the law is less oppressive than it would have been in its original form, it is still a formidable instru- ment of vexation; and the report contains suggestions for the im- provement of this branch of the law which appear to be exceedingly judicious and valuable. You will, therefore, submit Mr. Hill’s suggestions to the con- sideration of the Legislative Council, in the hope that they will be induced to adopt them in an amended Act, and thus prevent the necessity of my advising Her Majesty to disallow the present Act. Sir Lionel Smith to the Marquess of Normanby, 13th May, 1839. Tue sixth clause for the abolition of the apprenticeship prohibits persons in possession of estates from discarding sick and diseased labourers until the 1st June next. At that time, therefore, we may calculate on these poor people being generally removed from the estates they are now living on, and as the Vestry Law has expired which enabled the different parishes to provide for their poor and diseased, there will, I am apprehensive, be very extensive misery and mortality amongst these unfortunate people for want of common care, unless the evil is timely provided against. In these circumstances I propose instructing the stipendiary magi trates to watch the state of the poor, the diseased and helpless, and to report where the ordinary means of relief have entirely failed, and provide for them either in the houses of correction or hospitals which may have been before used by the parishes for such purposes, off such advances of money by my authority from the Receiver- general,” as may be absolutely necessary to preserve their lives, accounts of such advances being kept, in order to be recovered from the respe¢- tive parishes whenever a competent Government is established. The Marquess of Normanby to Sir Lionel Smith, 12th July, 1839. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch, No. 101, of the 13th of May, in which you report the measures which it was your intention to adopt for the relief of such of the sick and diseased labourers as might, after the Ist of June, be left without the means of support, in consequence of the expiration of the law under which such provision would have been made for their subsistence. I have to acquaint you in reply, that provided a case of clear and urgent necessity should arise, and that the measures in question are not resorted to under any other circumstances, or their application extended further than that necessity shall require, I have no objet- tion to sanction the course you propose to adopt; but it can only be on the clear understanding that all advances which may be made by the Receiver-general for the relief of such cases of urgent necessity, are to be recoverable hereafter from the parochial funds usually chargeable with such relief, * It may be,in the absence of law, that I shall have to make advances from the Queen’s chest,—L, S. State of the Law as it now exists. 287 Sir Lionel Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 17th June, 1839. I wave the honour to enclose an opinion of the Attorney-Gene- I Jamaica, . (1840), ral’s, to which I request your Lordship’s attention. Its effects?” upon the peasantry appear-to me to be most mischievous, as it ena- bles an overseer of a property to eject a labourer from his grounds at any time, and to take possession (as has been done in several in- stances) of the provisions which the labourer had planted. I have great doubts whether this opinion upon the law is correct ; and I therefore transmit it, that your Lordship may, should you think proper, refer it to the Crown law officers at home, Enclosure 1. Sir, Montego Bay, 7th May, 1839. SEvERAL cases for rent have recently occurred, to which I beg to call the attention of his Excellency the governor. In my return of the proceedings of the quarter sessions, I have alluded to the actions for rent which ‘were brought against the labourers of Spot Valley, in one of which the jury returned a verdict for the sum claimed. Two other cases occurred at the Adelphi District Court on the 19th ult., before Mr. Carnaby and myself as justices. They were brought by Mr. Sinclair, the attorney for Hampden, against two labourers, named Reid and Mathewson. 'The rent claimed was 5s. a-week. In these cases it was alleged that, on 4th March last, it was intimated to the people that they were to pay 5s, a-week for house and grounds, which the defendants refused to pay. The notices to quit under the Act 1 Victoria, c. 3, were not given till long afterwards. After hearing the evidence, I expressed an opinion that the agreement to pay rent was not established, and that no judgment could follow. On the other hand, Mr. Carnaby was of opinion, that where a specific rent is demanded by a proprietor, and the party afterwards remains in possession, he must pay rent. But he stated that he thought the sum claimed too high. In consequence of this difference in opinion, a decision was post- poned till next court. At the following District Court on the 3rd instant, Messrs, Geo. Gordon, Carey, Mackenzie, Carnaby, and I attended, when the cases were again heard. Messrs. Gordon, Carey, and Mackenzie expressed an opinion in favour of the claim for 5s. a-week. Mr. Carnaby repeated his former opinion, and stated that he thought 3s. 4d. a-week enough; and I ex- plained my views that ne rent could be enforced. Accordingly judgment was given by the majority of the court for the sum claimed. It is perhaps proper to explain my own views of the subject. My im- pression is, that unless a party shall voluntarily give up his former posses- sion, and agree to pay rent, no rent can be legally demanded from him. If the party do not voluntarily give up possession, and agree to pay a certain sum of rent, it is then open to the proprietor to give the three months’ notice to quit, and eject the party. If a party remain in posses- sion after the three months’ notice has expired, and after a specific amount of rent has been demanded, I should then, and not till then, hold him liable in payment of rent. Probably my views of the subject may be incorrect, and it is under this feeling that I have offered the present explanation, in the expectation that Jamaica. 288 State of the Law as it now exists. I may be set right, because it is of great importance that uniformity of decision should prevail on such a point. I have, &c. (Signed) Water Finuayson, S.J. P. C. H. Darling, Esq., &e. &e. &e. Enclosure 2. Opinion.—Apparently the majority of magistrates decided properly if the persons were weekly tenants before the notice of 5s., if not tenants at all they could be dispossessed without having recourse to 1 Victoria, c. 3 When the term of a tenant has expired, if his landlord give him notice of a certain rent, in case he holds on, then if he holds on he must pay that rent, (Signed) D. O’ReILLy. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir C. T. Metcalfe, 15th August, 1839. Havine referred your predecessor’s despatch, No. 120, of the 17th June, relating to the liability of tenants in Jamaica, under certain circumstances, to pay rent, to Her Majesty’s law officers, with the request that they would state whether they considered the view of the subject taken by the Attorney-General of Jamaica to be correct, I have the honour to enclose to you, for your information and guidance, a copy of the law officers’ opinion, from which you will perceive that they do not concur with the Attorney-General of Jamaica in his construction of the law. State of the Law as it now exists. Extracts from Stipendiary Magistrates’ Reports. Several questions about wages have lately been brought before the sitting magistrates for decision. The stipendiary justices were of opinion, that those cases could be determined under the Small Debt Act; but majorities of the local magistrates entertained different views, and a great proportion of those cases have been non-suited; so that the poor people have been unable to recover payment of wages for labour actually performed by them ' to their employers. In several instances the labourers have been compelled to sue the planters for the payment of their field work, but though the actions were brought under the Acts for the recovery of Small Debts, and which contain summary jurisdiction for sums under 10/., nearly the whole of the unfortunate claimants have been non-suited upon some imaginary ground of incom- petency or point of form, the effect of which is, that these poor people are denied a remedy for their hard-earned wages, and also compelled to pay considerable costs in addition. In the decision of all these cases, the three stipendiary magistrates of St. James were left in a minority by unusually full benches of local justices. The labourers complain of the uncertainty of getting their full wages paid to them, and that there is always some dispute, compelling them to seek redress in the petty debt courts; and the value of the time expended by the labourer pending the process to bring the parties into court, and the fees of the clerk of the peace, are more than the wages in many instances : they therefore bear the loss, and seek employment elsewhere. It has now become the practice with overseers and managers, in questions with the poor labourers, to threaten them with the expense of ruinous litigation in a higher court. Unless some strong measures ‘shall be adopted by Government to put a stop to this system, I am apprehensive that much injustice and oppression to the labouring population will be the consequence. The poor cannot compete with the wealthy in a court of law; and if the magistrates are to tun the risk of becoming involved in expensive law-suits arising out of every decision which they may give, they will naturally feel averse to give Opinions against the wishes of the rich. Great Pond Sugar Estate.—The labourers (with few exceptions, and which are to be found upon most plantations) are willing to work, and did work cheerfully, at 1s. 8d. per day, and 2s. 6d. in spell keeping, during U Jamaica, —— Finlayson. Sept. 30, 1838, I . p. 120. Carnaby. Oct: 9 I. p. 121. Ramsay. Oct. I. p. 142, Finlayson. Nov. 6. I, p. 170. Woolfrys. Jan., 1839. I, (3), p. 44. Jamaica, Carnaby. Feb. 19. I. (3), p. 41. Bell and " Jackson. Apr. 30.° I. (5), p. 98. E. D. Baynes. Apr. 12. I. (5), p. 101. 290 State of the Law as it now exists. the months of November and December; they were then told that they were to have the use of their houses and grounds free of any charge; instead of which, when they demanded payment at the end of the year for their labour, rent was then demanded and stopped out of their pay, and a great number of them were compelled to apply for summonses to obtain payment of the balance due to them after such deduction ; and others, whose amount exceeded 40s., have been obliged to remain without redress for the present, in consequence of the expiration of the late Petty Debt Act on the 31st of December last; as, if they sue in the Court of Common Pleas, it will entail an expense upon them of 12s. 6d., retaining fee upon each action, should they obtain judgment; and if unfortunately non-suited for want of sufficient proof, a cost of 2/.1%s.9d. This I made the com — plainants to understand, so that they may either await the re-enactment of the 6th Will. IV., c. 9, or proceed in the Court of Common Pleas. I advised them to wait till March, when probably the House of Assembly might be convened. : : The labouring population show at present great reluctance to become parties to any written agreement or contract; and this I attribute almost wholly to the fact very generally known to all, that the only law in & istence in the island, regulating such matters, is of a very penal characte, and highly oppressive towards the labourer. I refer to the Act passed by the Assembly in July, 1834 (5 Will. IV., c. 2). We may be permitted to allude to the difficulties in which these parishes, in common with others throughout the island, will shortly be placed by the failure of the usual means of raising sufficient funds for their intemél government ; almost all the laws under which the inhabitants have hitherto been assessed, have expired, as also the collecting constable’s law, undet which that officer could enforce payment of the parochial taxes. ‘The absence of an insolvent debtors’ act subjects persons under process for debi to an indefinite term of imprisonment. The great demand for chang incidental on the daily or weekly payment of wages, unusual till the terme nation of the apprenticeship, and the merchants and shopkeepers having speculated upon it, has brought small coin up to the extraordinary high premium of 10 per cent., by which the poorer classes of the community have suffered much loss and inconvenience, and the energies of the laboutél relaxed. These circumstances, combined with other causes, which call only be removed by legislative enactments, keep up a feverish excitement in the public mind, and may be supposed to retard, in a great degree, that advancement and those improvements which might otherwise be expected. The inconvenience arising from the suspension of so many of the ordinaly laws of the island has, though very considerable, not proved so extensiv’ as might have been anticipated; one of the most unfortunate effects has State of the Law as it now exisis. 291 been the lengthened detention of the numerous insolvent debtors, who now fill the crowded and unhealthy gaols of the colony. The evils consequent on imprisonment in a tropical climate, always great, are now vastly increased. Individuals, male and female, whole families of different rank and condition in life, are all, without [prospect of release, thronged together in a narrow space. Itis probable that, in many instances, incarceration has been resorted to in consequence of vindictive motives, and that the expiration of the insolvent law has afforded an opportunity, too readily seized by some, of gratifying several of the worst feelings of our nature. A still greater evil is the want of the customary provision for the support of the poor, owing to the law under which it was formerly raised being one of those which expired on the 31st December last. The near approach of the Ist of June, on which day the right of the aged and infirm to remain on the property of their former masters will terminate, renders this a subject for serious consideration. Should, which [ trust they will not, the cupidity or perverseness of many proprietors lead them to eject, after a life spent in their service, these helpless and wretched beings from the houses in which they were born, and from the lands which they have themselves brought into cultivation, an incalculable amount of destitution must inevitably ensue, which, with existing means and resources, it will be impossible for either the general or parochial authorities to remedy, or even alleviate. The result will, however, afford an excellent opportunity, which ought not to be lost, of testing the good feeling and merciful consideration of the late master ‘towards his former dependents. The magistracy, itis true, have, in this town, formed a temporary hospital in the house of correction, and the parish vestry, at the request of the stipendiary justices, have allotted about 500/. for its support; but this is a mere lazaretto; few are admitted into it, except in the last stage of desti- tution or disease. It is, moreover, already full. I have not heard of any similar scheme of relief being resorted to elsewhere. The same magistrates have also established, from the amount of fees, which, though not hitherto generally taken, are authorised by law, a poor-box, from which relief is given to deserving objects; but its receipts are scanty, although Sir Joshua Rowe occasionally sends his fees to us, and a benevolent saudlinad ual has recently contributed 100/., whilst the demands on us are increasing, as the whole of the poor of the precinct, containing a population of 20,000 labourers, are without other resources. We respectfully beg leave to notice the oppressive tendency, and the abuses that may be, and (without imputing corrupt motives to any one) we Jackson and are sorry to say, too often are, committed under the sanction of the Island oe Act, 5 Will. IV. c.2. The fourth clause of that Act, enacts, “That if any I. 6), p. 109. Servant in husbandry, or any mechanic, artificer, handicraftsman, labourer, person employed in droggers, body or house servant, or other person, shall contract with any person or persons whomsoever to serve him, her, or them, u 2 Jamaica, Bell. 30, 1839. Jamaica. 292 State of the Law as it now exists. for any time or times whatsoever, or in any other manner, and shall not enter into or commence his or her service according to his or her con tract, or, having entered into such service, shall absent himself or her self from his or her service before the term of his or her contract (whether such contract shall be in writing or not in writing) shall be completed, or neglect to fulfil the same, or be guilty of any other miscon- duct or misdemeanor in the execution thereof, or otherwise respecting the same, then, and in every such case, it shall and may be lawful for any justice of the peace of the parish where such servant in husbandry, mechanic, artificer, handicraftsman, labourer, person employed in droggers, body or house servants, or other person, shall have so contracted, or he employed, or be found, and such justice is hereby authorised and empowered, upon complaint thereof made upon oath to him by the person or persons, or any of them, with whom such servant in husbandry, mechanic, artificer, handicraftsman, person employed in droggers, labourer, body or hous¢ servant, or other person, shall have so contracted, or by his, her, or their attorney, manager, or agent, which oath such justice is hereby empowered to administer, to issue his warrant for the apprehending every such servant in husbandry, mechanic, artificer, handicraftsman, persons employed im droggers, labourer, body or house servant, or other person, and to examine into the nature of the complaint; and if it shall appear to such justice that any servant in husbandry, mechanic, artificer, handicraftsman, person ell ployed in droggers, labourer, body or house servant, or other person, shall not have fulfilled such contract, or have been guilty of any other mit conduct or misdemeanor as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for such justice to commit every such person to the house of correction, there to remain and be held to hard labour for a reasonable time, not exceeding three months, and to abate a proportionable part of his or her wages fa! and during such period as he or she shall be so confined in the house of correction, or, in lieu thereof, to punish the offender by abating the whole or any part of his or her wages, or to discharge such servant in hus bandry, &c.” Lat Your Excellency will perceive, from the above, that the justice is directed to issue his “ warrant”? for the apprehension of persons charged with am offence which is but vaguely defined, and which, under any circumstances, can hardly be termed criminal ; an offence, too, the commission of which in this country is almost entirely confined to the poor and ignorant portions of the community. The contract need not be in writing, perhaps it need not possess mutuality, certainty, or any of the legal requisites to written Col tracts; so that if an overseer makes a proposal to a labourer, which is not immediately objected to or dissented from, he may make oath “ That A. B. did enter into a certain agreement to attend cattle on C. D. estate, which he has neglected and refused to comply with.” Upon this affidavit the justice may issue his “ warrant.” Under such warrants we have know? persons confined in gaol to await their trial, who have ultimately been dis charged, because either no agreement could be proved, or no person State of the Law as zt now exists. 293 appeared against them; others, again, have been mulct in wages, which Jamaica. acts as a bonus to the master, and tends to encourage these complaints. i In the present present circumstances of the island, at this period in the _ Mahon. transition of the people from slavery to freedom, it is much to be regretted 1b. 106. that there is not a body of men (such as a police force) unconnected with and independent of local and planting interest, available for the execution of those duties now inefficiently performed by parish constables, who are appointed by and removabie at the discretion of the justices and vestry. The great want is a uniformity in the law, on which the labourerscannot —yyantion. now place reliance; I believe both employer and servant are anxiously May 7. looking forward to some general and defined law on the subject of tenancy, I. (5); p. 106. notice, &c., and until such takes place this agricultural district will not be settled down into continued and successful industry. Barbadoes. —) II, p. 112. II. (2), p. 66. State of the Law as it now exists. BARBADOES. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor, 2nd February, 1839. Tur Police Act of Barbadoes (No. 606) expires in August; 1840, the date originally contemplated for the final termination of the preedial apprenticeship. Complaints have been made that this Act confers on police con stables a discretion in determining offences which is open to abuse, The clause more particularly referred to, is that which directs the police to apprehend persons about to commit any felony, or whom the officer may have good grounds to suspect have committed, or are about to commit, any felony, &c. It is to be presumed that the framers of this Act contem: plated the passing a new Act at the close of the apprenticeship, adapted to the new state of ‘society: but as unqualified freedom has already been granted to the negroes, I am induced to hope that the Barbadoes Legislature will, without loss of time, recon= sider this law, with a view to its amendment and adaptation to the present condition of the labouring population. Su E. M. MacGregor to the Marquis of Normanby, 23rd April, 183% Tue rule to which the complainants at the Colonial Office ap- pear to have prevailed upon his Lordship to object, seems to be - as follows :— « Every police officer, whilst on patrol or in the performance of other duty, or even when off duty, shall apprehend all persons committing any felony, or about to commit any felony, or whom he may have good grounds to suspect have committed or are about to commit any felony.” Should it be your Lordship’s pleasure that this power shall not be exerted, I will immediately issue an order to the inspector of rural police to prevent its exercise; but my own sentiments ré specting it remain unaltered, since I assented to the Act m March, 1836, which is much better calculated to preserve discl- pline and check an abuse of power, I apprehend, than any new Act likely to be substituted in its place, inasmuch as it provides that «every such serjeant or private of police so offending shall be liable to be tried by a court-martial, and may be placed under arrest by the special justices of the district, the inspector, or other superior officer under whose order or command he may then be until he shall have been tried by such court-martial, and, bemg convicted of any or either of the said offences by such court-mar tial, shall suffer such fine and imprisonment, or either, as such court-martial shall inflict or award,. such fine not to exceed one hundred pounds current money of this island, and such im> prisonment not to exceed twelve months,” &c. State of the Law as tt now exists. 295 These provisions apparently hold out no very tempting prospect of encouragement to police officers improperly arresting persons on suspicion of felony. The Marquis of Normanby to Heo M. MacGregor, 23rd August, 1839. On referring to Lord Glenelg’s despatch of 2nd February, you will perceive that the objection there stated to the powers con- ferred on the officers of police for the summary arrest of offenders are quoted by Lord Glenelg as complaints made by others, and are not stated by him as difficulties entertained by himself. His Lordship appears to have referred to them merely with a view to invite your explanations; and as the answer which you have returned appears to me to establish that the complaint was un- founded, as far as respects any practical inconvenience which has hitherto arisen, I am content to let the discussion rest. If any such inconvenience should arise, there will be wanting in the local government and legislature neither the power nor the disposition to correct it. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor, Qnd February, 1839. Barbadoes. Tur Trespass Act of Barbadoes (No. 595) gives to the owner, II. p. 112. proprietor, or person in charge of any plantation or place the power to kill stray stock; and it appears doubtful whether the terms of the Act convey to tenants or agricultural labourers a cor- responding right to kill the stock of the landlord or master when trespassing on their allotments. It is obviously just, if it is neces- sary for the protection of property that such a power should be given at all, that it should be granted to all persons who are liable to damage by trespass of this kind, and that it should not be con- fined to any privileged class. There is, however, good reason to doubt the policy of granting this power at all; and it has been represented to me that the law has occasioned scarcity in feathered stock and sheep in the market, as the negro, rather than incur the risk of losing his stock, has given up the habit of keeping it. On referring to the correspondence which took place respect- ing this Act, and especially to the letter addressed to Sir Evan MacGregor by Mr. Clarke, the Solicitor-General, under date of the 4th of December, 1836, I perceive that the measure was at that period deemed necessary to remedy a growing evil, and that an expectation was entertained that the knowledge of the exist- ence of a power to kill stray stock would operate in such a manner as practically to supersede the necessity of its exercise. The effect, however, of the law seems to have been to discourage the keeping of stock by the negro population, and appears to me to place an unnecessary check on their industry and means of acquir- ing additional comforts. Barbadoes. et II. (2),p. 47. 296 State of the Law as it now exists. If you should concur in these views, I request that you will recommend to the Legislature of Barbadoes an amendment of this law. Sir E. M. MacGregor to the Marquis of Normanby, 6th April, 1839. Lorp GteneEte having remarked, in relation to the Stock Tres. pass Act of this island, “The effect, however, of the law seems to have been to discourage the keeping of stock by the negro popu- lation; and it appears to me to place an unnecessary check on their industry and means of acquiring additional comforts.” I do myself the honour of enclosing copies of an opinion of Mr. Solici- tor-General Clarke, and of a report, &c., upon this point from the Agricultural Society. The president and members of this society, who, of all persons, must be the most deeply interested in the welfare of the labouring population, assert, that “« The negroes certainly keep less feathered stock and fewer pigs than formerly ; but there is a great increase m the number of sheep kept by them, and many keep cattle. The chief cause of their keeping fewer feathered stock and pigs is, because they have not that superabundance of corn and roots with which they were supplied during their late condition, adequate money- wages being universally substituted.” That, «with regard to mutton, pork, and beef, the main cause of a want of these is, that there is not now the same quantity of corn grown as hitherto, and the proprietors of estates have not the same means of fattening cattle and sheep for the market. There is also a greater demand for butcher’s meat than formerly, the labouring classes being now great consumers, especially of pork; and that “ the value of the stock now owned by the labouring population is greater than it was at any former period.” For the present, at least, it does not appear to me advisable, therefore, to address the Legislative Houses of Barbadoes upon the immediate subject of this particular law. Sir E. M. MacGregor to the Marquis or Normanby, 23rd Apri, 1839. Rererrine to my despatch of the 6th instant, No. 41, Barba does, I beg leave to forward, for your Lordship’s further informa- tion, respecting the effects of the Stock Trespass Act of this island, the copy of a report from Mr. Jones, inspector of rural police, a most active, intelligent, and vigilant officer, on whose able and impartial performance of his duties experience induces me 10 rely with confidence. State of the Law as tt now exists. 29 ae | Enclosure. April 16th, 1839. ee In reply to your communication of the 11th instant, enclosing two questions proposed to the Agricultural Society, with the answers thereto, and submitting the same for my opinion, I have the honour to state, for his Excellency’s information, that, with reference to the first question, I concur with the Society, ‘‘ That the negroes keep less feathered stock and fewer pigs than formerly ;”’ and that this is chiefly attributable to the deficiency in the supply of corn and provisions, money wages being sub- stituted. i With respect to the second question, I should say that the deficiency of feathered stock and of pigs, with which the markets were principally sup- plied by the negroes, may be accounted for, firstly, from the great increase in the price of corn and roots, upon which those articles were reared ; secondly, the negroes having more money at command, there has been probably some relaxation of industry in this particular; and, thirdly .the labourers themselves consuming more poultry than formerly, their wages affording them the means of procuring those articles of comfort and luxury, for the purchase of which they were used to take their poultry, eggs, &c., to market for sale. } The deficiency of mutton and beef is no doubt in a great measure also accounted for by the decrease in the productions of the country above mentioned, although, if “sheep and cattle,’ reared ‘“ with grass and pas- turage,”’ “ have become more profitable stock’? to be kept by the labourer, I see no reason why the proprietor should not benefit by the example of the former. It would appear, then, that to the increased demand for these necessaries of life, not met by a corresponding supply (without considering the cause), is to be attributed their present deficiency and consequent high prices, and that it cannot, in fact, be chargeable on the “Stock Trespass Act,’ which operates as a wholesome check on the cultivation of estates being greatly injured by the carelessness of the labourers, in preventing their trespass, and which is most rigidly enforced, to the prejudice of the labouring class. I would observe, that the additional number of sheep and cattle kept by the negroes (mentioned by the society) has not had the effect of cheapening mutton and beef corresponding with the increased price of pigs and poultry, mutton having advanced in the same ratio, and beef being kept down only by the importation of cattle from the foreign colonies. I do not think that the value of sheep and cattle now kept by the labourers more than equivalent to the decrease in that of pigs and poultry. On these questions, however, it is to be presumed that the society, composed as it is of practical agriculturists, with daily opportunities of judging by personal observation, is more competent to decide than an individual whose inter- course with that body is so limited as mine is. The Marquis of Normanby to Sur E. M. MacGregor, June 24th, 1839. I wAvE received your despatches, Barbadoes, Nos. 41 and I, (2), p.50. 58, of the 6th and 23rd of April, on the Stock Trespass Act. The allegation alluded to in Lord Glenelg’s despatch of 2nd February, No. 188, to the effect that the law authorizing the killing of stock when trespassing on plantations, had deterred the Barbadoes. ees 298 State of the Law as i now exists. negroes from keeping stock, is met in the Enclosures to your pre- sent despatches by contrary statements of much authority. But neither yourself, nor the Solicitor-General, nor the Agricultural Society, nor the inspector of police, whose several reports you enclose, have adverted to the objection made by Lord Glenelg, that the Act, whilst giving to the owner, proprietor, or person m charge of any plantation or place, the power to kill stray stock, does not clearly convey to tenants or agricultural labourers a corresponding right to kill the stock of the landlord or master when trespassing on their allotments. As you state that, for the present at least, it does not appear to you advisable to address the legislature on the immediate sub- ject of this particular law, I presume that you have reason to anti cipate that the legislature would not at present be induced to listen to an objection which is apparently not denied to be well founded. It will remain, therefore, for you to exercise your dis- cretion as to the proper time to be chosen for endeavouring to obtain the amendment of this law. The Judges of the Assistant Appeal Court to the Acting Prwate Secretary, January 10th, 1839. A FEw applications on the part of the agricultural labour- ers having been made to the Court of Appeal, soliciting advice as to the legality of immediate expulsion by their employers from the estates on which they have been working, we have the honour respectfully to request that his Excellency will be pleased to cause us to be informed whether any enactment at present exists which might legally operate as a check to the system of summary — ejectment, whenever exercised against the working classes. The Contract Act, now disallowed, provided a safe remedy for this evil: in its absence, however, we have felt it to be our duty to represent the circumstance for his Excellency’s consideration. OPINION. In the cases alluded to by the special justices, the employe appears to have exercised a right which, in the absence of a law or an agreement to the contrary, every one possesses of selecting and dismissing at pleasure his own servants and labourers. The mode of accomplishing this no law could effectully prescribe, 80 as wholly to prevent occasional hardship on discarded servants; and it is sincerely to be regretted that the Contract Act alluded to, which took this power from masters and gave it to magistrates, did not meet the approbation of her Majesty’s Government, as attribute any hardship which may be sometimes experienced by @ sudden ejectment to the disallowance of that Act. (Signed) R. Bowcurer CLARKE. January 10th, 1839. State of the Law as tt now exists. 299 Message from Sir E. M. MacGregor to the Council and Assembly, April 16th, 1839. In reference to a' message addressed on the 3lst of October last to the Legislative Houses, the honourable House of Assem- bly is apprised that several petitions from individuals of the working classes, and representations from police magistrates, have been addressed to the Executive, with regard to misunderstand- ings respecting claims to houses or provisions, frequently attend- ant on the removal or ejectment of labourers from properties to which they were formerly attached. Without entering into the merits of any particular case, but animated by a sincere desire for the mutual advantage of the parties interested, the Governor submits to the honourable House whether, under the present circumstances of the country, it might not be expedient to provide by legislative enactments for the im- partial and equitable settlement of questions arising on such occasions between the proprietors of estates and the labouring population. Answer from the Council, April 22nd, 1839. Tur Legislative Council has the honour to acknowledge the Governor’s message of the 16th inst., submitting to the Board the expediency of providing by “legislative enactment for the impartial and equitable settlement of questions arising between proprietors of estates and the labouring population. The Governor must be well aware of the importance which the Board attaches to the settlement of these questions, which has been delayed by the disallowance of several Acts specifically framed for this purpose. The Board beg to assure his Excellency that the subject shall meet with their early consideration. Extracts from the Police Magistrates’ Reports, March, 1839. The disallowance of the late island laws, regulating the relations between masters and servants, and for the suppression of vagrancy, has been attended with this disadvantage ; in the former case, of depriving, at the whim of his employer, a labourer of his employment, and at the same time of his house; and in the second, by withdrawing the necessary check on his idle habits, leads him, perhaps, to the commission of crime, which before he was unacquainted with. In my humble opinion, the disallowance of those laws was wise and judicious. We ought, nevertheless, to have an Act for the suppression of vagrancy, but the same should be based upon sound and liberal principles. Barbadoes. —— II. (2), p. 71. seq. Thornhill, Hole Town, Carew, St. Thomas. 300 State of the Law as tt now exists.” Barbadoes. I think the present a more fit time to consider the necessity of those laws, for revising them, and bringing them into operation, which will be Jones, _ beneficial to the interests of the inhabitants generally, without respect to eee of caste or property ; something should at all events be done to regulate the ‘hiring of domestic servants. Applethwaite, | The practical measures I have to suggest for the benefit of the labouring St. Philip. population, are the enactments for regulating the relations between masters and servants, and for the suppression of vagrancy; and, if possible, to pre- vent that sudden and abrupt ejectment of the labourers from their cottages without some time being allowed them for their removal. Evelyn, I think we are yet in want of some salutary enactments to meet the Christ Church, altered relations of society, and to ensure the well-working of the great experiment of free labour, such as the law of vagrancy; to regulate and enforce the due observance of engagements between labourers and em- ployers ; to check and punish gambling ; and to afford summary redress in cases of minor trespass, as well for the protection of the landlord as the labourer in the occupation of his cottage. Pilgrim, I have to suggest that some more comprehensive provision be made for St. John’s. the maintenance of the disabled and infirm, or the destitute mother and infant. I beg to submit that the fees chargeable on commitment of offenders to prison by the rural constables are high, and inconsistent in comparison with the other fees. I consider the operation’ of a Vagrant Act to be necessary to enforcing industrious habits in the labouring classes. I have also to observe that the operation of a Trespass Act would much con- duce to the well ordering of society, and that the labourers are as much inconvenienced as employers for want of a summary redress of trespass, both in their relation to their employers as also between themselves, and particularly inasmuch as the attendant expense of an action of trespass is beyond their reach. Moore,Hendy, ‘We have no further suggestions to offer, than respectfully to express a and Gill, hope that those good and wholesome laws passed for the good government prise Town. oF the country by the local legislature, in the full spirit of justice and equity to all parties, and after the model of similar laws (as far as circumstances will admit) in the mother country, particularly the Vagrant Act, and that regulating the relation between masters and servants, may be permitted to take effect. Corbin, I think that much benefit might arise to the community were some SpeightsTown, enactment made (without any reference to a general system to define mutual obligations and remedies in the form of a Contract Bill) to prevent the sudden separations of the employer and labourer, which too frequently occur. A period of even a few days would afford time to either party to reconsider the cause of disagreement, and, by allaying sudden irritation, in many cases reconcile all differences. the licentionsness of the island press be legiti- timately introduced, it would tend greatly to the peace and good order of this community, Could a due control over State of the Law as tt now exists. 301 Good and equal laws, emanating from liberal-minded legislators, forgetful of the past and anxious only for the future, and alive to meet the successive developments of a new state of society, seem all that is wanting to render us a happy people. I would respectfully suggest the enactment of a law for the prevention and punishment of frauds, which are daily committed on the labouring population and others by petty tradespeople; also an Act to regulate the hiring of servants, and to afford protection to the labourers from sudden and abrupt ejectments from their cottages and land allotments. I conceive that a contract, trespass, and vagrant Act being in force im- mediately, would be very beneficial to this community in general. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. M. MacGregor, August Ist, 1839. Wiru reference to the replies made by the police magis- trates to the 14th question addressed to them, I need scarcely remind you that they all agree as to the practical inconvenience arising from the want of proper laws to regulate the relations between the labourers and their employers. I approve of your message to the House of Assembly, recommending the enactment of a law on the subject of ejectments; and I trust you will not omit to urge upon them the adoption of those other measures, the urgent want of which appears to be universally admitted. ‘Barbadoes. Austin. Cummins, St. George. Morris, St. Lucy. St. Vincent. II. p.18. State of the Law as it now exists. ST. VINCENT. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 31st- August, 1838. I nave received her Majesty’s commands to address to you the following communication upon an Act of the Legislature of St. Vin- cent, passed in the month of May last, No. 368, to abrogate the apprenticeship of preedial labourers in that island, which was trans- mitted to me in your despatch, No. 151, of the 7th of June. Her Majesty is happy to acknowledge the spirit of enlightened liberality by which this statute was dictated ; but I feel it my duty to advert to some of its provisions, which appear to me open to objection, probably the result of inadvertence and of a want of sufficient attention to the precise terms of its subsidiary enactments. The Legislature has acted with policy and humanity in providing ° e against the sudden ejectment of the labourers from the houses and erounds which they occupied in a state of apprenticeship. The condition, however, on which an apprenticed labourer is to retain his tenement until the Ist August, 1839, is, that he shall continue to perform suck work as shall be assigned to him, and shall truly and faithfully perform it for stipulated wages. I presume that inall such cases the existence of an agreement was contemplated to which the labourer had. been a voluntary party, and I trust that the mutual interest of employers and labourers will, in the great majority of cases, have insured both the existence and the fairness of such agreements. But the terms of the enactment seem to imply a power on the pat of the employer of assigning to the labourer any amount of work, however unreasonable, and a consequent liability on the part of the labourer to be ejected from his house by mere caprice, without the protection which it was the obvious design of the Legislature to afford him. Independently of this objection, the grounds on which an employet is expressly authorised to eject a labourer are so vague, and in some instances so inconsiderable, while the penalty for his unlawful dis possession is so small, that no reasonable certainty of tenure 3 secured to the labourer, and the object of the enactment seems to be in great measure defeated. The just and humane provision for the continued maintenance by the employer of persons permanently incapable of maintaining them selves is made to depend upon the condition of no “ other benevolent and effectual plan being devised in their favour.” I presume some general law for providing for the aged and infirm was in the com templation of the Legislature in the use of these terms, but they are obviously so vague and indefinite as to afford an opening for future doubts and uncertainty. It is most desirable that such uncertainty should be removed. I would further remark that the penalties to be recovered under this Act are not to be applied as an indemnity to the injured party, but in aid of the public revenue. There will, consequently, be very little motive for enforcing them. 304 State of the Law as it now exists. St. Vincent. course is to permit the labourer to continue in the possession of his —— house and grounds, and the means of purchasing every necessary of life, until the master shall come into his terms. In pursuing the one course, no injury is done to the labourer; he is not obliged to accept the offered wages, but may seek for higher wages elsewhere without any loss of property. In pursuing the other course, the labourer will fall into those excesses which are invariably attendant upon unrestrained liberty and idleness, and the proprietors will be ruined. Mr. Crosby, Police Magistrate, 15th January, 1839, II.(2), p.179. CompLainrs between masters and servants are inquired into and adjudicated upon under the provisions of the statutes of 20 Geo. Il, c. 19, and 31 Geo. IT., c. 11, and drunkenness is punished under the 21 Jac. I., c, 7, these statutes being in force in this colony. Lneutenant-Governor Tyler to the Stipendiary Magistrates, 23rd April, 1839. II. (2),p.215. Dousts being entertained as to the effect of the Act recently passed, intituled, «An Act for Regulating the Rights between Mas ters and Servants, and for the better Enforcement of Contracts, having reference to contracts previously entered into under the Abrogation Act, or other agreements for labour, I deemed it expe dient to submit to Her Majesty’s Attorney-General some quesiiots for his consideration and opinion upon points which, in my judg ment, it is important should be uniformly understood and acted upon by the stipendiary magistrates ; copies, therefore, of the queries, and the Attorney-General’s answers, are herewith enclosed for yoll information and guidance. I am, &c. (Signed) Gro. Ty.eEr, Lieut.-Governor. To ————, Esq. Stipendiary Magistrate. What contracts may be considered Those entered into under the Ab: in force under the Abrogation Act, rogation Act, by which, when tle and in what manner can they be labourer ceases to perform the work enforced ? assigned to him, he is liable to le evicted. For wages due to him he must have recourse to the ordinaty course of law, if the amount exceeds 5/. currency ; for sums not exceed ing that amount, a summary remedy has been provided by an Act passe in November last, by which a juste? of the peace has jurisdiction to hea, determine, and enforce payment, State of the Law as tt now exists. 303 You will instruct the Lieutenant-Governor of St. -Vincent’s to invite the attention of the Legislature to these observations, with a view to the amendment of the law in the several particulars which I have felt it my duty to notice. Her Majesty’s decision on the Act will, in the mean time, be suspended. Mr. Nanton, Police Magistrate, to Lieutenant-Governor Tyler, August, 1838. To your Excellency I beg permission to state that in the discharge of my magisterial duties | have encountered several difficulties which call for the interposition of the Legislature. The stocks in the market-place are not legalised as a place of punishment. There is.not any punishment for galloping horses in Kingstown. It is difficult to determine in what manner petty thefts and juvenile offenders are to be dealt with; even children cannot be whipped. The manner of proceeding in case of riot 1s uncertain. Insane persons cannot be punished, and there is not any asylum for them. Indigent persons are without relief, and may be taken up as vagrants. All the provisions of the law in case of fire have expired since 1834. These difficulties, however, have been but slight when compared with the questions which have arisen since the Ist instant, and on which I have pronounced decisions to the following effect :— The labourer is to exercise free, unbiassed, and unrestricted liberty in determining whether he will continue to work for wages, or whe- ther he will quit the estate of his late master. Should he determine to quit, his provision-grounds are to be valued by persons mutually chosen. ‘The valuation*is to be paid to him, and he is to be allowed a reasonable time for hisremoval. His house, also, he may remove, if it has been built at his own expense, and is not a fixture. Should he determine to remain, he is to have the gratuitous use and enjoyment of his house and grounds until the Ist of August, with free and uninterrupted access to them for his wife, family, and friends. When the master and servant cannot agree on the rate of wages, the servant being seated in idleness on the estate of his master, and insisting on retaining his house and grounds until that which he demands has been agreed to, and when expulsion is required as the alternative of refusing to work for offered wages, the labourer must make his election; he must take the offered wages, or he must quit the estate, an alternative necessarily attendant upon his station in life. There is but this course and one other to pursue; and that other St. Vincent. — ne II. p. 148. 2 LOD SACRE REC Grenada. State of the Law as tt now exists. GRENADA. Lord Glenelg to Sir EH. J. M. MacGregor, 15th October, 1838. I wave received your despatch, dated the 9th of July, No. 169, enclosing an Act passed by the Legislature of Grenada in the month of June last, for the abrogation of the system of praedial apprentice. ship. Her Majesty’s Government regret that in this, as in so many other cases, the great principle of the abolition of the apprenticeship system should have been established in connexion with other enact: ments of a more questionable nature. 'The Act appears to assume, and, therefore, to give a legislative sanction to the opinion, that an apprenticed labourer, who, on the 1st of August, was found in the occupation of a house, might lawfully be ejected from it on that day without any action or other proceeding at law against him; for the object of the second clause seems to be to prevent the exercise of that right in the case of the aged and infirm, and in their case only. I am not satisfied that this was an accurate view of the law. The emancipated labourer was found on the Ist of August, not a tres passer, but the lawful occupant, as a tenant at will, of his residence, and of the lands occupied with it. It might have been perfectly reasonable to devise some method by which the owner should easily and quickly recover possession against any such tenant holding ovet without the landlord’s consent. A law.of that kind, applicable to this country, was passed in the last session of Parliament. But the tacit assumption that the tenant in such a case would be a meré trespasser, who might be summarily turned out of his home without any notice of legal proceeding against him, appears to involve maty practical consequences of doubtful justice, and of still more ques tionable policy. Even in the case of the aged and infirm, for whom a temporary protection is afforded, a summary ejectment is authorized in the case of offences too vague or too slight to be justly punishable by 8 serious a penalty. Such are the cases of insubordination, quarrel some or disorderly behaviour, drunkenness, trespass, or other gross delinquency. The indefinite character of these rules is the mote objectionable, because they are to be administered by justices of the peace, who may often have a direct or indirect interest in the que tion upon which they are thus to adjudicate. ; The continuance of the provision made for the aged and infirm's to depend upon a condition so vague as that of some other benevolent and effectual plan being devised in their favour, and even this provi- sion extends only to the case of permanent disease, although there are many cases of disease not permanent in which such relief would be indispensable. ‘he right to this relief is also to be determined, without appeal, by two justices of the peace, who, if themselves belonging to the proprietory body, cannot approach the questiol without the bias of some real or supposed interest in it. 308 State of the Law as it now exists. Grenada. = S07 HK. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 30th January, 1838, II.(2),p.218. In obedience to the instructions contained in your Lordship) despatch of the 12th November last (No. 70, Granada), that the Lieutenant-Governor should “refer to his legal advisers for a answer to the question, Under what law the magistrates of that colony claim the right of summary ejectment ?” I have the honour of sul: mitting to your Lordship copies of a despatch from his Excellency, and of a communication from the Attorney and Solicitor-General, in reply to the inquiry propounded by your Lordship. Enclosure. Government House, Grenada, Sir, 17th January, 1839. I beg to submit the accompanying communication from the Attome and Solicitor-General of this island, in reply to your Excellency’s despatth, No. 248, of the 22nd ult., and its enclosure, from the Right Honourable the Lord Glenelg. T have, &c. (Signed) C. J. Doyxe, Lieut.-Governo. His Excellency the Governor-General, &e. &e. &e. Barbadoes. Granada, 2nd January, 1839, We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellent’ | communication of the 27th ult., requesting an answer to the questiat, Under what law the magistrates of this colony claim the right of summa — ejectment ? We have the honour to state, that the only law under which the magix | trates can claim to exercise the right of summary ejectment, is the Act | passed by the Legislature of Granada on the 8th of June, 1838, intitle, ‘An Act for the Abrogation of the present system of Pradial Apprenit® | ship, upon the first day of August next,’? whereby the labourers Wt | secured in the enjoyment of their habitations and tenements until tl thirty-first day of August next, except in cases of insubordinate, quarrel | some, disorderly or riotous behaviour, orin case of drunkenness, thet trespass or other gross delinquency on their parts, when it is provdth — that it shall be competent to any two or more justices of the peace, mpl — due and impartial inquiry made into the merits of the complaints, byl! | authority under their hands and seals, to sanction the expulsion of a) | such delinquents. We have, &c. (Signed) W. J. Davis W. Swnaae. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J, M. MacGregor; 15th April, 1839. II. (2), p.219.__ I wave to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 9, ofthe 30th January, enclosing the answer of the law officers of the Crown in Grenada, to the question proposed by my predecessor in his What contracts may be considered in force under the new Act for regu- lating contracts, and in what manner can they be enforced ? Are there any and what contracts which may be summarily enforced in this island, and by what law ? Do the stipendiary magistrates possess the power under the new Act for regulating contracts, &c., of punishing any offence which may be committed either by the master or servant towards each other, as are enumerated in the 23rd and 24th clauses of the Act, in the absence of any contract under it ? Have the stipendiary magistrates the authority under the Act for re- gulating the rights of masters and servants, &c., to punish an offence committed bythe master against the Servant, or by the servant against the master, although not under con- tract, but inerely a hiring by the day, week, or month ? A servant complains that he has worked a week under hire, and the master refuses to pay him his wages ? A servant complains that during his work his master has ill-used him ? A master complains a servant has, during his day’s labour, ne- glected his work, or injured the pro- perty of his master ? Can the above complaints, if made by either party to a stipen- diary magistrate, be taken cogniz- ance of, and, if proved, punished by the Act above alluded to ? (Signed) State of the Law as it now exists. 305 Those, if any, entered into sub- sequent to the passing of the Act founded on the Order in Council, for regulating the rights of masters and servants, &c., and enforced by the same. Those which may have been en- tered into subsequent to the passing of the Master and Servants Act, founded on the Order in Council, and by that Act described and ex- plained to be contracts of service, and enforced under the same Act. See also the answer to the first question. I do not think the stipendiary magistrates have power to punish offences for breach of contract, un- less entered into under the Master and Servants Act, accompanied by the safeguards pointed out by the Act. As contradistinguished from writ- ten contracts alluded to in fourth answer, I am of opinion the stipen- diary magistrates have jurisdiction in the cases stated, if an oral agree- ment, expressed or implied, has been entered into subsequent to the passing of the Master and Servants Act. ‘This can only be in force for four weeks. P. Hogson, Attorney-General. St. Vincent. —— Trinidad. St. Lucia. ae 2 I. p. 286. 310 State of the Law as tt now exists. tent of thirty-nine stripes; I have to desire that you will transmit t me, without delay, a report of the law officers of your government, setting forth the enactments by which any summary jurisdiction, including any extent of corporal punishment, is conferred upon the magistrates in ‘Trinidad ; such report to be accompanied by a draft of an Order of Her Majesty in Council, for the repeal of such enatt- ments. I have to remark, that an account of the existence of such a juris: diction ought to have formed part of the answers to the inquiries proposed in my circular despatch of the 15th November, 1837. ST. LUCIA. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 29th September, 1838, In my despatch of the 14th instant (St. Lucia, No. 58), I apprised you that I reserved for a separate communication, those parts of the ordinance for the termination of the existing system of apprenticeship within that island, which relates to other topics. I have now therefore to observe, that the clause No. 2 limited 'til the Ist of November in the present year only, the exercise of the rights of the proprietor to eject the emancipated labourers from thett tenements. ‘This interval of three months’ secure occupation of theit homes appears to me to have been inconveniently short ; but even this security was granted only to such persons as should perform sutl work as should be assigned to them for stipulated wages, so that, if I correctly apprehend its effect, the ejectment might be accomplished immediately, either by the demand of excessive labour, or by tie offer of an inadequate reward. It might also be inflicted as a punistr ment for drunkenness or trespass, or quarrelsome or disorderly beba- viour, or any other gross delinquency ; offences, some of which ate too slight and others of which are too indefinite to be justly punished with an immediate expulsion of the offender from his home, on the adjudication of any two justices of the peace. The penalty of sixty livres is also so inconsiderable, that an ill-disposed person woul scarcely be deterred by it from a breach of the law, especially as the ejected tenant is not authorised to remove any growing crops. As however, this part of the law will have become obsolete before yol can receive this despatch, any further comment upon it is unnecessaly: The provision made by this ordinance for the maintenance 0 paupers is open to many objections; but I abstain from entering upon them, as I am not yet prepared to communicate to you the General Order in Council, which it is proposed to make for the mall tenance of the destitute poor in the West India colonies, which ate subject to Her Majesty’s legislative authority. I have already ap prised you that this Order will not be made until I shall be in po session of the advice which I am expecting to receive from the Poot Law Commissioners for England and Wales upon this subject. The ordinance in question confides to the local magistracy powels St. Lucia. 312 State of the Law as tt now exists. For these reasons, this ordinance will be confirmed by Her Mi. jesty in Council, by an Order which will repeal so much of the eighth clause as relates to the ordinary justices of the peace, and the whok } of the ninth clause. The ordinance for laying a duty on licences to be taken out by pedlars, &c., confers on the ordinary justices of the peace the same extensive powers of fine and imprisonment, to which I shall haveto advert in regard to another of these ordinances. Her Majesty’s con: firmation must, therefore, depend on the concurrence of the local Legislature in the transfer of those powers to the judges of the Royil Court, and the stipendiary justices. The ordinance for the regulation of porters, jobbers, and water. men in the towns and harbours of St. Lucia, by the second claus renders persons offering themselves to be employed in any su¢h capacity without a licence punishable under the vagrant law aside and disorderly persons. It also enables any single magistrate to commit persons charged with offences under this Act to imprison | ment with hard labour for one month or any shorter period. This | extension of the vagrant Jaw being repugnant to the Order of Het | Majesty in Council of the 7th of September on that subject, it has been impossible to advise the Queen to confirm this ordinance, Het Majesty is pleased, therefore, to disallow it. The revival of it, with the omission of any reference to the vagrant Jaw, will, however, ke unobjectionable, provided that the powers of imprisonment which confers on all the ordinary magistracy, be confined either to the st- pendiary magistrates, or to the judges of the Supreme Court, actiig either collectively or separately. The ordinance “to prevent, in a summary manner, the seducitg or taking menial servants, or servants in husbandry, artificers, or othet Jabourers, under existing engagements,’ being repugnant to Het Majesty’s Order in Council of the 7th September, the Queen has been pleased to disallow this ordinance also. State of the Law as tt now exists. 307 With regard to the labourers who are not aged or infirm, the right of continuing in the occupation of their tenements is made to depend upon their continuing to perform on the plantation such work as may be assigned to them, to the satisfaction of their em- ployers, for such wages as may be agreed upon between the parties. Consequently. it would appear to be in the power of any employer to dispossess the ]abourer by demanding an unreasonable amount of work, or by refusing a reasonable amount of wages. The able- bodied labourer, also, is liable to a summary ejectment by any two justices for any of the slight or indefinite offences already mentioned. If a landlord should not avail himself of any of these methods of dispossessing such a labourer, but should expel him by other means, the penalty is only 5/, currency, which would be no penalty at all, but the reverse, if the house and land and growing crops should be worth more than the penalty, and if these are to be considered the property of the owner of the soil. ‘The limitation, moreover, of one month for the recovery of penalties, would render even this slight remedy still more unavailing, for the injured labourer would scarcely know how to proceed for the recovery of the penalty except under legal advice, which, if within his reach at all, might often be un- attainable within the prescribed period. Notwithstanding the preceding objections to this Act, the dis- allowance of it is impossible, for it would throw back the labourers upon their former condition as apprentices, a measure which could issue in nothing but universal confusion and disorder. The decision of Her Majesty in Council on the Act will be suspended until it shall appear whether the local Legislature are disposed to amend it in. those respects to which | have referred. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 12th November, 1838. I opsERVE in the requisition for military assistance of the magis- trates, Messrs. Richard and Munn, whose letters of the 24th August you enclose, that the circumstances which gave rise to that applica- tion occurred at the execution of a warrant of ejectment, granted by them on the affidavit of the manager of the property, complaining that one of the negroes, having refused to labour for wages, kept possession of his house on the estate, contrary to law. I have to request that you will desire the Lieutenant-Governor of Grenada to tefer to his legal advisers for an answer to the question, Under what law the magistrates of that colony claim the right of summary eject- ment ? Such a power is not, I apprehend, enjoyed by the magistracy of Grenada in the’ case of any other tenants but those who belong to the emancipated class; and it is a power so formidable in its abuse, that it is impossible to acquiesce in the assumption of it, unless on the clear authority of law. Grenada. II. p. 177. 314 State of the Law as tt now exists. Leeward 5. Where any laws have been passed for regulating the right telanee: ok employers and of servants in husbandry and others, they hav 5. been taken from the Antigua Acts of 1834, which Tecognisi Contract laws “ special contracts” and “ general hirings,” terminating on nolit ees being given. Objections have been found to apply to this la ghts and du- > : 4 ties of servants provision, and it has been excluded from the Act of St. Chris in husbandry topher. oy ieee It is desirable to encourage the settlement of labourers, al ede circular 4 Siete A ° ° letters, 24th their acquisition of property, by renting their holdings, or by er August. gagements for labour, and the violation of special contracts should Enclosure (2.) hence alone be cognizable by the magistrate, except for compel ling the payment of wages for labour performed. 6. 6. The poor laws of the several islands are inapplicable to tle Poor Laws. present state of the Colonies, and require to be generally revise Ae mo either as defective or objectionable. i7th Aunt, In Antigua, the parishes are assisted from a general. fund = arising from an import duty, which is open to great objection, tlt property of the parishes being justly liable, and ample to met the charge. In Montserrat, the Virgin Islands, and Nevis, the claims of 4p plicants are referable in detail to the Assemblies. It is new sary that a system of parochial relief should be adopted, whitl | would provide for the aged and impotent, and check the growl of pauperism, an evil which may be apprehended from the system of management upon several estates of absent pir 7. prietors. aa Vagrancy 7. The vagrancy laws are professedly founded on the Englil ae on Ne. Statutes, but they contain several objectionable, and some obso Be A pprea- lete provisions; these have been noticed in the Parliamentaly ticeship. Reports. The Acts passed in Antigua in 1834 include them rious offences which have been made punishable as vagranqil the other islands, the law officers having concurred in declatilf them to be in conformity with the law of England. 8. 8. No tax in the nature of a poll-tax is now raised in the Poll-taxes, or islands. ‘The imposition of a duty on articles of primary ™ taxes on ary cessity, to relieve the parishes from a portion of their rates up" clesofprimary : d : ! . : det necessity. property for maintenance of the poor, has been mentioned m Vide Act No. 6. peer seth 9. Where estates are still liable to the repair of roads, the arch, 1833. : : 3 9. work is neglected, or negligently performed. If these works welt Enclosure (3.) Labour-rates. generally executed by means of statute labour, commutable até current rate, and under efficient superintendence, such a systelt would be adapted to these Colonies, where it is impracticable t0 raise the necessary funds by means of loans. 10. 10. There are no colonial laws for the punishment of {et Laws for son, &c. oe of 11. The laws for the punishment of trespass are sufficient 10 11. prevent the unauthorised occupation of lands, but measures Ub Laws for pre- to be taken for the effective settlement of Crown lands in all the venting occu- ;., pation of lands. islands. Leeward Islands, 316 State of the Law as tt now exists. the interests of the labourer, and prevent the injury which (m frequently results, from wilfulness or negligence when his cates withdrawn. It is of the first importance to inspire the enfranchised pe santry with a respect for property; and in thus protecting then in the enjoyment of the fruits of their domestic industry, a stitmt lus will be given to their exertions to improve their resources, bj which the colonies will be largely benefitted. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G'. Colebrook, 15th December, 1838, I HAVE received your despatches, No. 232, of the 15th October, and No. 257, of the 7th November, enclosing various reports 0 the state of the colonies under your government during the months of August and September. Most of the remarks which these communications would hare | called for have been anticipated by yourself in your letters to the respective presidents and lieutenant-governors, which leave me | little else to say than that I concur in your views, and appro | your instructions. Some other matters, touched on in these pr | pers, have already been noticed in my previous despatehes | There is one, however, on which, though it has been necessary to advert to it in my communications with Sir Murray MacGregor | and Sir Lionel Smith, I have not yet had occasion to address you; _ I allude to the assumption, prevalent throughout the West Indies, that apprenticed labourers holding over their premists ” after the Ist of August are liable to summary ejectment as met trespassers, without any action or other proceedings at lawagailit them. Sir H. Macleod speaks of it as matter of regret that summaly ejectment is permitted by the laws; and I observe that in all the islands within the Leeward government, a few applications of this nature have been sanctioned by the special magistrates ; I 1 mark, also, that you yourself, in condemning the impolity™ | exercising this power, do not suggest any doubt as to the legallly of it. I am at a loss, however, to discover any valid ground on which such a right can be asserted, unless there is some positive law 0 ejectment on which it is founded. The emancipated labourer was found, on the Ist of August, not a trespasser, but the lawful o¢- cupant, as a tenant at will, of his residence, and of the lands occupied with it. It might have been perfectly reasonable to & vise some method by which an owner should easily recover poss sion against any tenant holding over without the landlord’s con sent. A law of that kind, applicable to certain tenancies in tls country, was passed in the last session of Parliament. But wir out the enactment of some such positive law, the right of disp sessing him by summary process under the warrant of mag) trates, does not appear to exist. Having consulted the law State of the Law as tt now exists. 309 spatch, No. 70, of the 12th November, under what law the magistrates of that colony claim the right of summary ejectment ? From the nature of the law officers’ reply, I perceive that I must recall your attention to Lord Glenelg’s despatch of the 15th of last October, No. 67, and request you to inform me whether any pro- gress has been made in effecting the amendments recommended by my predecessor in the Act for the termination of the Apprenticeship. I must distinctly apprise you that it will not be possible for Her Ma- jesty’s Government to acquiesce in the continued exercise by the magistracy of the island of the powers of summary ejectment upon the most slight and indefinite grounds, which, asit appears from your despatch, they derive from that statute only. I earnestly hope, that by adopting Lord Glenelg’s recommendations, the local Legislature will relieve Her Majesty in Council from the very painful necessity of disallowing a law, the main object of which was so honourable to its authors, but which in its present form affords such ample oppor- tunity and temptation to an abuse of the power of the magistrates. TOBAGO. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 15th October, 1838. Grenada. Tobago. eee Ture Act, No. 307, terminates the apprenticeship of the preedial 1: p- 195. labourers in Tobago. ‘The time beyond which such labourers might not be expelled from their homes having expired on the Ist of the present month, any comment on this part of the law would now be superfluous; yet I cannot omit to remark, that it appears to assume, as a matter beyond dispute, that a labourer who, on the Ist of August, was found in the occupation of a house and lands within a plantation, was not a tenant at will, to be ejected in the same manner as other tenants of that description, but a mere trespasser, who might be dispossessed by the order of a magistrate, without any notice to quit, or other formality. The provision made for the maintenance of the poor appears liable ‘to various objections; but it would be premature now to engage in a discussion of this part of the measure, as this subject, as you are aware, is under consideration with reference to the opinion of the Poor Law Commissioners in this country regarding it. For the present Her Majesty in Council will make no Order respecting this Act. TRINIDAD. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 11th November, 1888, Trinidad. Wiru reference to Mr. Jackson’s statement, that, independently 11. p. 255. of the new law, the summary jurisdiction of the commandants exer- cised in such cases, though ill-defined, extended to the infliction of imprisonment with hard labour, and corporal punishment to the ex- Antigua, 5. Contract laws, &c. 6. Poor laws. 7. Vagrancy laws. 8. Poll taxes, or taxes on articles of primary necessity. 9. Labour rates. 10. Laws for punishment of treason, &c. 11. Laws for preventing occu- pation of lands. State of the Law as wt now exists. tax, from 20/. to 100/., according ti variety of liquors embraced in th licence. Porters, jobbers, and wate} men, pay one dollar for annual |: cence; pedlars, &c., two dollars pr quarter. (Acts, Ist June, 1838; 17th July 1834; 20th Aug. 1835; 23rd Aug, 1834.) Several Acts of the island at grounded on English statutes. Jun diction vested in justices of the peate and affording facilities for recovtly of servants’ wages to5/. Other petty § debts sued in court of complainls where chief justice presides, and de termines, without jury, claims not e& ceeding 30/. (Vide Acts, 21st June, 1834; 2rl December, 1834; 6th Aug., 1839; 20th Aug., 1836; 10th Septemb, 1835.—No. 474, s. 151.) Second clause of Antigua Abolitia Act, 4th June, 1834, enacts all pe sons manumitted lst August, eligible to receive parochial relief on sul footing as all other subjects. Vestn determine claims of all applicants, aud levy rates, &c., for this and othe purposes. (Vide Q. 8.) Vagrant Act, 5th July, 1834, de fines vagrancy as in English stattllg and provides punishments, &c. (Note.—This is a permanent Act.) No part raised by poll tax. Dut payable on corn, flour, meal, bee pork, salt fish, &c. ; duty 2% percelll on prime cost of all goods import into island chiefly applied to poh Vide Act, 4th March, 1833. (Vide Q. 6.) None. No special laws in force to punish these offences ; but if they occur, at punishable under the common lai such statutes as were in force at tht time of original settlement of island. No particular rules. The Crow lands, if any, very limited. The Te pass Act gives remedy against mil sion into private land ; and civilachol of ejectment resorted to in cases? illegal occupation. (Act, 23rd August 1834, 8. 14) Antigua. ‘the utmost importance to the welfare and early enfranchisem™ 320 State of the Law as tt now exists. requisite that the law of Antigua should be amended; and that the colony which set so honourable an example in granting uy qualified freedom to its labouring population, should also kk distinguished for the readiness of its Legislature to provide fa the new state of society by a course of liberal and enlightenel legislation, adapted to its progressive improvement. I need nd refer to the peculiar circumstances which may have justified thf passing of this Act in 1834; it is sufficient to observe that lam not unsuited to that date may be altogether inapplicable to tle present state of society in the West Indies. I am aware that this subject has not escaped your accustomel vigilance for the welfare of the community placed under yout government, and that you acquainted me on the 15th Octobes last, that upon your receipt of the drafts which I had promised ta transmit, you would not delay to recommend their adoption by all the local Legislatures, and that you would report the result; but you added that you could not hold out the expectation of # complete a revision as might be desired of the Acts of Antigi and St. Christopher, passed in 1834 and 1835 by the Legislaturts of those islands... ... An act has been represented to me as being in force in Antigus by which vexatious and unnecessary restrictions are imposed 0 commodities offered for sale. The Antigua Act, No. 386, passel the 23rd August, 1834, answering this description, has bet repealed by Act No. 427, passed Sth May, 1837. The former Act is, however, referred to in your despatch of tle 15th October last, in a manner which leads me to apprehend tit there may be some mistake in regard to its repeal. I request! that you will explain to me the state of the case in this respeth and also inform me whether there is now in force in Antigua all law respecting the sale of provisions or other articles of trallf which in your opinion is justly obnoxious to the above objection The Antigua Act, No. 403, of the 6th of August 1835, respet ing the hiring and wages of servants, requires written agreemelll to be entered into with scrupulous formality in all cases of speci hiring, even for the shortest periods of time; and provides that verbal or implied contracts shall be construed to be yearly hirings determinable at a month’s notice. It may be justly observels that these provisions have a tendency to increase rather than diminish the dangers against which it is the professed object! the law to guard. Itfurther appears that this Act indirectly pe petuates the connexion between tenancy and labour, by makilg the occupation of a tenement, in the character of a servant to the landlord, prima facie evidence of a yearly hiring. It must indeed be borne in mind that this Act was passed al! time when Antigua was the only island in the West Indies wht! had consented to the unqualified abolition of slavery ; that if experiment of free labour was there first to be tried amongst ® recently emancipated population ; and that it was therefore ; State of the Law as tt now exists. 3ll which would, I think, be more properly vested in the stipendiary jus- tices of the peace. But on this subject I refer you to the circular despatches which you will already have received. It is Her Majesty’s pleasure that the ordinance to which I have referred should for the present continue in force; but as, on the in- troduction of the proposed Order in Council for the relief of the des- titute poor, some parts of this ordinance may probably be disallowed or repealed, I am unable at present to signify to you Her Majesty’s confirmation of it. You will, I am persuaded, require no repetition of the assurance which I have already had the honour to convey to you, of Her Ma- jesty’s entire approbation of your conduct in assenting to this law in its present form. Fully appreciating the difficulties with which you had to contend, and aware how new and arduous was the path which ~the local Legislature was required to open, Her Majesty’s Govern- ment regard the result of your and their labours, with no other feel- ings than those of the utmost satisfaction that an ordinance was at length adopted, which, if not incapable of amendment, was yet so little liable, even in its subordinate details, to any serious objections. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 30th November, 1838. St. Lucia. I wave had the honour to receive your despatch, No. 59, of the II. p. 296. 9nd October, enclosing four ordinances passed by the Lieutenant- Governor and Council of St. Lucia. 1. « An Ordinance to amend the Police Ordinances now in force within the Island of St Lucia.” 2. « An Ordinance for laying a duty upon Licenses to be taken out by Pedlars or travelling Hucksters.” 8. « An Ordinance to provide suitable Rules for the regulation of Porters, Jobbers, and Watermen, in any of the Towns and Harbours of this Island.” 4, « An Ordinance to prevent in a summary manner the seducing or taking Menial Servants, or Servants in Husbandry, Artificers, or other Labourers, under existing Engagements.” The ordinance to amend the Police Ordinances, &c., appears to be unobjectionable, officers of police to penalties to be imposed by any two J except that by the eighth clause, it subjects the ustices of the peace, instead of leaving them subject exclusively to the superintend- ence of the commissary 0 law has placed them. f police, under whose special government the The ninth clause is also objectionable because it extends the Act to a subject foreign to the immediate scope of such legislation. The general law of police, as it exists at Castries, Is ex- tended to all the towns and villages of the colony. Whatever may be the policy or impolicy of this measure, it should have been ex- cluded from an ordinance of which the design is merely to determine the establishment, the general duties, and the government of the police. The police laws of Castries embrace many topics wholly foreign to this. af of j ae i. : I - 322 Montserrat. 4, Legal restraints on exercise of trades. 5. Contract laws, &c. 6. Poor laws. 7. Vagrancy laws. 8. Poll taxes, or taxes on arti- cles of primary necessity. 9. Labour rates. 10. Laws for punishment of treason. 11. Laws for preventing occu- pation of lands. State of the Law as tt now exists. No publicans, properly so callel Retailers of liquors pay licence, 5(l; of rum pay 33/. per annum. Aly one may sell, without licence, ay quantity of fermented liquor, &c., nd under four dozen bottles, or under ter gallons spirituous liquors. Small ax on hucksters, pedlars, &c. A Bill lately passed, not yet It ceived Governor’s assent, establishes rules. Hiring general or specidl general, one year ; dissolved at om month’s notice. Due performant § enforced by justice of the peace, hj imprisonment or hard labour, abate ment of wages or discharge. Init of employer, redress for wages Ii! exceeding 10/., and damages ant costs, not above treble the amount t wages withheld. Appeal to Govemm &c. Local magistrates adjudicil petty debts not above 10/. (Under revision ; excluding gent ral hiring clause.) No provision for the destitute poh except old, infirm, and diseased lt bourers ; relief either permanent! temporary, and received on applic tion to the Legislature. Some i allowed annuities, and temporaly™ lief afforded to all who apply fot 4 and are disabled by sickness fivl earning their living. No law in force. , ( Vide correspondence in Append to Despatch, No. 229, of the 15th October, relative to Bill sent back fo revision.) None by poll, or tax on necessali® Revenue derived from tax on mci tonnage, and transient duties, impo and export duties, and a tax on 9% and horses. None. No special law, save clause of Mr litia Act, referring to insurredtitl empowering Governor to prodlalt martial law. Statutes of England i force. Local magistrates have jut in cases of petty trespass. Jnaut g rized occupation of lands likely take place from the great extent uncultivated land capable of growill provisions. dlictiol State of the Law as it now exists. ‘St. naturalized or made a denizen, pos Phostopher. sessing freehold 10/. currency, quali: fied to vote for representative, Any person possessing freehold 40/. cut rency eligible for election. Qualification of councillors not de. fined by law. 2. Rules defining right of ad- No institutions. One did exist for mission to schools and places of maintenance and education of white destitute orphans ; but the Act esta blishing it was disallowed. No par ticular rights of admission ; much the same as at Nevis. Very few free seals § in the town church; Wesleyans al Moravians attract mass of labouring population. religious worship. 3. Militia laws. No law at present in force. Hi therto all free persons between 16 aul 60 have been compelled to serve, all the emancipated slave within 14 days of his becoming free. 4. Legal restraints on exercise Publicans, retailers, hawkers, &ty of particular trades. must have certificate of character; licences, 20/.; licence for rum, Sil per annum, and 9s. to the Executitt} 3s. to the secretary. Licence-mont] paid to the vestries by the Treasury: Pedlar’s licence five dollars, al character. Boatmen and porters quired to have a badge, for which they pay 4s. 6d. per annum ; numbel limited to 110, and porters to 140. 5. Contract laws, &c. No particular laws. In case of non-performance of contract, recouls was had to action for damages. Judges without jury, authorized by Coutt Act to adjudicate in cases not exceelill 15/.; necessary to deliver a summols and copy of the account to defendatl six days before the court day ; month's grace allowed to defendant to ples court sits only six months. By \# grant Act agricultural labourer leavili work unfinished he engaged to pt form, deemed vagrant, 1835. A coll for more easy recovery of debts ™# established, powers as in Nevis; © the extent of 10/., or acknowledgt balance of account, not exceeding originally 207. Two justices may de termine cases not above 4/. State of the Law as it now exists. LEEWARD ISLANDS. Si W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 9th October, 1838. 1. Tue Leeward Islands having been originally settled by English colonists, possessed from the outset the common law of England, and as much of the statute law as was applicable to their situation. As the value of land could not be estimated on Leeward Islands. If, pi 1@2 Qualification its first appropriation, the common law qualification of freehold forthe exercise possession, without reference to value or extent, was adopted, and ' still constitutes the right of voting for the General Assembly and some of the Local Assemblies. This right was fully recognised in the convocation of the General Assembly in 1708, after an in- terval of seventy years. The qualification of voters for the Local Assemblies is the same where not superseded by local enactments; but the House of Assembly of Antigua has limited, by its own resolutions, the exer- cise of this franchise. In Dominica, a colony originally settled by the French, the common law of England was recognised by a Royal Proclamation of 1775, which defined the qualification of voters to be the pos- session in freehold of 10 acres of land, or a leasehold tenure of 207. per annum, or 10/. per annum in buildings. The introduction of slavery had the effect of discouraging the free settlers and increasing the possessions of slave proprietors which are augmented in value since the abolition of slavery. This class may be considered to be represented in the Council. They possess in the Leeward Islands considerable influence in returning members to the Assemblies; but in Dominica, where qualifica- tions are more readily acquired, a majority of the Assembly have been returned by popular election. The qualifications for the exercise of civil and political fran- chises in the several islands ought to be uniform, and it would tend to good government if the common law qualification should be generally recognised and restored. 2. ‘There being no schools or places of religious worship main- tained at the publie expense, from which any class are excluded, it may be sufficient to observe, that none should at any time be established on such a principle of exclusion. of civil and political fran- chises. 2. The rules de- fining the right of ad- mission to schools and places of reli- gious worship, &c. Vide circulars enclosed, 21 and 23 August 1837, (No. 5.) 3. No law now exists in these islands for the exclusion of an class from the militia, nor ought such a principle to be admitted. enclosed, 4th August, 4, The laws for limiting the exercise of certain trades by li- cense are professedly framed for the protection of the public, but they ought not to operate to the exclusion of any class, as the dis- tribution of labour will be better regulated by the demand for it than by the operation of restrictive laws. 34 Militia laws. Ade circular 1838. (No. 6.) 4. Legal re- straints on the exercise of particular trades. Vide Secretary of State’s despatch, St, Kitt’s, (No. 8), 31st January, 1835. State of the Law as it now exists. 315 12. A recent Act of Parliament gives authority to the Go- yernor to correct abuses in prisons, and, in conjunction with the Council, to make rules. 13. I have required that returns should be made to me monthly frem the several islands, and by the magistrates of Antigua. 14. The local magistrates appointed by the Governor unpaid by stipend; and, in Antigua, fees have been abolished, as tending to abuse. Their names may be struck out of the com- mission of the peace. The stipendiary magistrates appointed by the Secretary of State continue to act in the islands where the apprentice system prevailed; and until the judicatures are reformed, it is desirable that they should be continued, and that two should be appointed in Antigua, who would act also as inspectors of prisons. 15. It may be apprehended that the difficulties and expenses that indigent persons would incur in prosecuting for injuries must effectually deter them at present from seeking such redress against the summary decisions of magistrates. 16. The great distinction which exists between the situation of the labouring classes in this Colony and in England, proceeds from the diversity of the laws which locally prevail, their obscurity, and the impossibility of effecting at present any general revision or assimilation of them. _ Equally inefficient are the arrangements for the administration of justice. These essential reforms would probably have been effected by the General Assembly of these islands, but must now depend upon the authority of Parliament, by whom the criminal laws should be ameliorated, and efficient and independent judi- eatures established throughout the Colonies. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, \st February, 1839. I enctosr copies of the three circular letters, which I have addressed to the several islands under this Government. As the summary ejectment of labourers has in some cases been made under the authority of local Acts, I have considered that it would be desirable to make provision for securing to them the value of their standing crops. In some instances the labourers have destroyed them, and in others they have been wantonly destroyed by proprietors or managers; and where this has occurred, I have directed that the parties who had thus injured the-property of the labourers, should be prosecuted. It must be obvious, however, that after the labourer and his family have quitted a plantation, the loss of his crops may be the consequence of neglect, and the trespasses of others, which the proprietor or Manager will have no interest in preventing; and that the valu- ation of them at the time, by umpires, will be calculated to secure Leeward Islands. 12. Prisons and houses of correction. 13 & 14. are The local ma- gistracy. holon Ex-officio pro- secutors for injuries to labourers. 16. Legal rights or obligations of the labour- ing class in these islands and in Eng- land. III. p. 61. 317 oficers of the Crown on this subject, I find this to be their decided opinion. I am happy to find that this assumed power does ‘not seem as yet to have been extensively resorted fo; and I trust that this explanation of the state of the law re- garding it, will put an effectual stop to those more general and oppressive proceedings which Sir H. Macleod appears to appre- end. I have to request that you will again communicate to that officer my approbation of the course which he has adopted, and my satisfaction at the success with which his exertions have been attended. State of the Law as it now exists. ANTIGUA. Abstract of Replies to Lord Glenelg’s Circular Despatch of the 6th November, 1837.—(See p. 189.) 1. Qualification for the exercise of civil and political franchise. as vestrymen, or to elect vestrymen within their several parishes through- out the island. The eligibility of persons to serve on juries confined by law to free- holders, merchants, traders, lessees, of estates, proprietors of estates for life, or greater estate, or managers of sugar plantations. No law regulat- ing qualification of Members of As- sembly nor electors, which is regulated by rules of Assembly (11 August 25, 30 June 36) grounded on old Acts of the island. (Vide Acts, No. 80,s.1; No.509, s. 13; No. 120,58.9; No. 158, s.7; No. 475, s. 62; No. 50, s.2; No. 199, s. 8.) No particular rules; no obstacles are thrown in the way of general ad- mission. yery one is at liberty to select his own form of worship; all have right of admission either into the Established Church or into chapels of any dissenting congregation. No law at presentexists. The last Act confined the liability to service to professional or other gentlemen, merchants, storekeepers, clerks in offices, warehouses, or counting- houses; managers or overseers of estates; freeholders, or the tenants or occupiers of houses of the yearly value of 20/. currency. Retailers of rum, wines, spirits, cordial waters, &c., pay heavy annual 2. Rules defining right of ad- Missions to schools, places of Re- ligious worship, &c. 3. Militia laws. 4, Legal restraints on exercise of particular trades. Leeward Islands. Antigua. All freeholders are qualified to act III. p. 33. 12. Prisons and Houses of Cor- rection. 13, Laws requiring local magis- tracy to make reports. 14, Stipends to local magis- trates: power of removal. . bs. Ex officto prosecutions for mmjuries to labourers. 16. Laws effecting the labouring population, in what other respects different from those of Great Bri- tain, State of the Law as it now exists. 319 Common gaol in St. John’s; under provost-marshal, subject, as regards state and internal discipline, to con- trol, &c., of Governor, judges of Queen’s Bench and Common Pleas, attorney and solicitor-general, and commissioners of legislature. House of correction under personal charge of keeper, subject to five visiting justices; appointments in Governor. No law. Order issued by Governor, shortly after arrival, requires monthly report from each magistrate of cases submitted for his adjudication. No magistrate receives either sti- pend or fee. Governor may remove any magistrate from commission of peace for misconduct, &c. In criminal cases, referred to the Court of Queen’s Bench and Grand Sessions, the attorney or solicitor- general prosecutes, ew officio, in all cases of injury done to Her Majesty’s subjects. In cases where summary jurisdiction is vested in magistrates, complaints of manual labourers, as well as others, are readily entertained nd promptly redressed. No distinction prevail in the laws affecting the lately emancipated class and all other of Her Majesty’s sub- jects. Criminal laws now under revision ; and it is hoped no other difference will be found from the laws of the mother country than such as local circumstances may render altogether unavoidable. (Signed) Rr. Horsrorp, Solicitor-General. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 2nd Feb., 1839. Tur Antigua Vagrancy Act, dated the 5th July, 1834, contains 111. p, 80. Many of the objections which have been urged against the St. Kitt’s Act, on the same subject. You observe in regard to this law, that having been confirmed by the Crown, there has been a disposition on the part of the other local Legislatures within your Government to regard it as Unobjectionable, and to adopt its provisions in their respective Codes. It is on this account, in my opinion, the more urgently Antiguas State of the Law as ut now exists. 321 of the apprentices in other colonies, that the result should furnish a successful example of the willingness of the negroes, in a state of absolute freedom, to work for wages. These and other con- siderations, to which it is not necessary to refer more particularly, may possibly have justified the passing of enactments of a more stringent nature than would be defensible under any ordinary circumstances. The peculiar emergency to which I allude, now no longer exists; and it is a matter of pressing importance, that the law of Antigua on this subject should undergo extensive amendments. _ The order lately passed by Her Majesty in Council for the Crown colonies, for regulating contracts, &c., between masters and servants, will furnish a model for this purpose; and I shall be anxious to learn what may be the result of your recommenda- tions to the Antigua Legislature on this subject. The Police Act of Antigua, No. 419, expired in July last, or on the first subsequent meeting of the Council and Assembly. As you have alluded in your despatch of the 15th October to the objectionable parts of this law, I feel that I may safely rely on your discretion in respect to withholding your assent to any bill containing similar provisions. MONTSERRAT. Abstract of Replies to Lord Glenelg’s Circular Despatch of the 6th November, 1837. 1. Qualifications for exercise of None. A moderate qualification civil and political franchises. for jurymen, members of Assembly, and voters, is absolutely required. The constitution of juries is very de- fective; all classes are alike admitted to serve; the least qualified put them- selves forward, while the best hang back. 2. Rules defining right of ad- No institutions maintained at pub- Mission to schools and places of licexpense. Fewschools established religious worship. by clergy and Wesleyans. Norules; open to all. Places of public wor- ship open to all. 3. Militia laws. Number of privates not to exceed 400 men, but has never reached that number. All free men between six- teen and sixty must enrol themselves, under penalty. Militia in a very in- efficient state. Y Antigua, Montserrat. Ill. p. 33. State of the Law as tt now exists. 323 12. Prisons and houses of cor- One prison only in the island; un- Montserrat. rection. der officer administering government, © —— who has authority to correct abuses in Management. 13. Laws requiring local magis- No law; but same rule applies tracy to make reports. here as in Antigua. 14, Stipends to local magis- Receive no stipends. Governor trates. has power of removal. Receive fees. _ 15. Ex officio prosecutions for No public officer appointed for the injuries to labourers. purpose, though much required, to protect and redress grievances of la- bourers. Their total ignorance of laws affecting their rights, and in- ability, from want of means, to seek the ordinary redress by law, may ren- der them liable to much oppres- sion and wrong, without some such shield. _ 16. Laws affecting peasantry ; None at present exists; but it may in what other respects different be necessary hereafter to provide from those of Great Britain. against combination amongst em- 4 ployers and servants, which is . not provided for by the Contract Act. (Signed) Henry Dyert, Queen’s Counsel. ST. CHRISTOPHER. St. Christopher. Abstract of Rephes to Lord Gilenelg’s Despatch of the 6th Nov. 1. Qualification for exercise of Civil franchises embraced in the III.’p. 33. civil and political franchises. qualifications for judges, justices of the peace, coroners, the bar, jurors, and vestries :—Qualifications of first three undefined by law. Any one admitted to bar, on producing certifi- cate of admission at Westminster, or of having kept terms regularly at Inns of Court in London for three years, or served five years; certificates in this case required from party in whose office he has served. Every free inha- bitant having freehold of 20/. cur- rency per annum, or personal estate of 100/. currency, qualified as juror. All paying parochial rates vote for vestrymen, and every freeholder or leaseholder of plantation or estate in parish of which he is candidate eligi- ble, if of 5007. currency value. Any natural-born Christian subject, or y 2 6. Poor laws. 7. Vagrancy laws. 8. Poll taxes, or taxes on arti- cles of primary necessity. 9. Labour rates. 10. Laws for punishment of treason. 11. Laws for preventing occu- pation of lands. 12. Prisons and houses of cor- rection. 13. Laws requiring the local Magistracy to make reports. | 14. Stipends to local magis- trates. 15. Ex officio prosecutions for injuries to labourers. State of the Law as u now exists. 325 Relief afforded from funds raised St. by different vestries, arising from Christopher. produce of liquor licence, &c. No law regulating them. Law passed March, 1835, amongst other provisions declares persons leav- ing contract labour unfinished va- grants; also interruptions of Divine service, practising obeah, telling for- tunes, &c., pretended science, noisy games in streets, reputed fathers of children refusing to comply with deci- sion of justice of the peace, by leaving residence, and various others, for which see Act. (Note.—A permanent Act.) Tax on exported produce raised by annual enactment on incomes derived in island. Tax on general imports passed, but disallowed. None. No colonial statute on this subject. Act passed in July, 1834, meets this object. Gaol under the Governor and pro- vost marshal, who is patent officer, and responsible to Governor. ‘Tread- mill under seven commissioners, ap- pointed by Governor; supervisor of mill also appointed by Governor. No house of correction. One work or poor-house for reception of persons applying for parochial relief, esta- blished by vestry of St. George, Bas- seterre, and under their exclusive ju- risdiction. No law. Same as in Nevis. Duty of justices of the peace to to inquire into cases of injury involy- ing breaches of the peace against any individual, and, if necessary, bind offender in recognizances to appear at next court of session, or other court of competent jurisdiction, or, in de- fault of bail, to commit. The first law officer then proceeds by indict- ment. This officer receives salary from colonial treasury. ee St 326 State of the Law as it now exists. 16. Laws affecting labourers, in None known. Christopher. what respects different from the III. p. 251. laws of Great Britain. (Signed) Rr. Ciaxton, Solicitor-General, The Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, | 14th August, 1839. Tue Act, No. 299, for “the summary punishment of tres: passes,” authorises any justice of the peace to impose a penalty, not exceeding 50/., on any person who shall either maliciously or wilfully do any damage to a great variety of articles, amongst which are enumerated, “milestones,” “potatoes,” “ vegetables of any kind whatever,” or “‘ real property of any kind whatever.” It is further provided, that no authority shall be sufficient to justify the occupation of any land in the island, “whether it has hitherto been under cultivation or not, whether it be cleared or not, in the mountains or in the low grounds, unless the occupait shall have a written licence from the owner.” Should the occupant fail to prove and produce such licence, any justice of the peace may fine him 50/., and may order a restitution of the land, with all the buildings and crops upon it; and if the fine be not paid, may commit the offender for three months’ im prisonment with hard labour. The justice of the peace, on complaint by the grantor of any breach in the conditions of the licence, may compel the occupant to compensate the owner of the land by a payment not exceeding 50/.; and in default of payment, may adjudge the occupant to im prisonment for sixty days. Moreover, if any offender against this Act be a male, under the age of sixteen, his imprisonment is nob to exceed six weeks, but then he may be adjudged to suffer thitty stripes; and if the offender be a female, she is to be imprisoned for six weeks, and is to sustain, in place of the stripes, such com muted punishment as the law authorises in the case of females. It is expressly declared, that any person committing any offence against this law may be arrested without warrant. If the licence to occupy land has been granted on any condition of rent or service, the justice, on proof of the nonperformance of the condition, may cancel the licence ; and for this purpose the testimony of the owner himself is declared to be sufticient. No occupant without licence may have any remedy under this Act for any injury done to his land or crops. The injustice of these provisions is so obvious as scarcely to 1 quire or admit of further explanation. I may, however, observe net the following, amongst other consequences, would result from them :— 1. The protection given to the owners of land is not balanced { State of the Law as it now exists. 327 by any protection whatever to the occupant. The owner has the remedy of summary ejectment,—of forfeiture of crops and build- ings,—of fine,—of imprisonment, and even of whipping, and re- quires no testimony but his own. The occupant is absolutely remediless. 2. A tenant from year to year might be dispossessed of all his land, and of the fruits of all his labour, and might be subjected to all these painful and disgraceful punishments, simply because, in accordance with the common law of England, he had considered the verbal demise of the land a sufficient title as against his land- lord. 3. The mere loss of a written licence, and the want of evidence | to prove the contents of it, would be followed by all these penal consequences. 4. A child under the age of sixteen years may be whipped and kept on the tread-mill for six weeks, for doing any mischief to ve- getables, or to land, although the fault in such cases might be such as not to deserve any greater punishment than a serious rebuke. The Act, No. 300, respecting vagrancy, contains so many pro- visions directly opposed in principle to those of the Order of Her Majesty in Council of the 7th September, 1838, on the same sub- ject, that Her Majesty’s Government could not allow it to conti- nue in operation. I transmit herewith an Order passed by the Queen in Council, on the 31st ultimo, disallowing the above Acts, for the reasons which I have stated. NEVIS. Abstract of Replies toLord Glenelg’s Circular Despatch of the 6th November, 1837. 1. Qualifications for exercise of civil and political franchises. the qualifications for judges, justices of the peace, coroners, the bar, jurors, and vestries :—Judges, justices of the peace, and coroners are appointed by the Executive, by and with the advice of Privy Council, but no legal quali- fication. Any one admitted to the island bar who has been admitted at Westminster, or—(see St. Kitt’s). Barristers cannot practise as attor- neys: these are admitted, on motion of solicitor-general or other barrister, by Court of Queen’s Bench and Com- mon Pleas ; must reside in the island, and not exceed four; must produce St. Christopher. Nevis. The civil franchises embraced in III. p. 33. State of the Law as it now exists. Nevis, certificate of having studied thres ena years. Jurors (Grand) :—A freehold of indeterminate value, or personal pro perty worth 3002. currency or 200/ per annum, but not adhered to. Petit freehold of 10/. per annum, or estate of 100/. value, or income of 80/. per annum. Freeholders and household ers entitled to vote for vestrymen, Who may themselves be either. Representative :—Freehold of thity acres, or freehold house of 40/, per annum, situate anywhere in the said voter ; freehold 10/. per annum m parish where he votes. No quali- fication for councillors. 2. Rules defining right of ad- No schools supported by the public mission to schools and places of Pews appropriated by vestry according religious worship. to extent required by tax-payers; rest free. By no means adequate accommo dation for the labouring population. 3. Militia laws. All free between fifteen and sixty, 4. Legal restraints on exercise Retailers of rum pay 301. for licence; of particular trades. others prohibited to retail in less quan tities than two dozen bottles or gal lons without licence. Regulations with regard to hucksters, &c., as 0 dered by Vagrant Act, now repealed; none other yet passed. 5. Contract laws, &c. No particular laws have hitherld existed other than those contained i the Apprenticeship Act. Courts of complaints, embracing all debts noi more than 15/.; proceedings sum- mary and inexpensive. Act recently expired; new Act not yet receive assent of Executive. 6. Poor laws. Relief afforded on application by petition to Assembly, countersigne by minister and churchwardens 0 parish; a weekly or monthly allow ance then granted. A small estate, devised in fee by Mr. Guy, early m ~ eighteenth century, to trustees, is sé apart for poor. These lands alt usually rented from year to year, Ur der authority of vestry. 7, Vagrancy laws, No law at present exists ; that passed in 1835, not being satisfactory, Was amended, but not yet in force. (Note.—It has since been disal- lowed.) 8. Poll-taxes, or taxes on arti- cles of primary necessity. 9. Labour rates. 10. Laws for punishment of treason. 11. Laws for preventing occu- pation of lands. 12. Prisons and houses of cor- tection. 13, Laws requiring local magis- tracy to make reports. 14, Stipends to local magistracy. 15. Ex officio prosecutions for Injuries to labourers. 16. Laws affecting labourers, in what other respect different from " those of Great Britain. State of the Law as tt now exists. 329 Same as in Montserrat. Parochial stipends, &c., raised by vestry, in su- gar, by assessment on employers of apprentice labourers; a small part raised by tax on import of foreign produce or manufacture. A general tax on all imports would be beneficial. None. Statutes of England down to year 1628 would be the law. Twenty-second clause of the ap- prentice law met this object; at pre- sent there exists no law on the sub- ject. Gaol under provost marshal ; house of correction under superintendent of police, who is master of it. General superintendence of police and house of correction vested in board of com- missioners, appointed by officer admi- nistering government. Provost mar- shal and keeper responsible to Go- vernor, who may suspend either. No law. Same as in Montserrat. Duty of attorney or solicitor-gene- ral to prosecute, in all cases of vio- lence, in the complaint court. For civil injuries free labourers must have recourse to ordinary remedy of action at law. Absence of system of poor-laws ; settlement; poor-rates; parochial maintenance as in mother country, No other particulars known wherein they differ from corresponding class of persons in England. (Signed) Rr. CLaxton, Solicitor-general, Extracts from the Reports of Mr. Kenney, Stipendiary Magistrate. Dec. 1, 1838. I sxc leave to bring to your Honour’s notice, that the Bill for y77, p. 284, the temporary support of the aged and infirm expired yesterday, and that those persons are now dependent on the bounty of their’ former owners. Although I am perfectly assured that where there are resident Nevis. Jan. 1, 1839. III. p. 294. Feb. 1, 1839. III. p. 294. III. p. 284. III, p. 295. 330 State of the Law as tt now exists. proprietors those persons will be properly cared for, I am afraid that, on properties under the direction of managers who may be afraid of incurring the responsibility of such expense, the same may not be the case. I therefore submit the same for your Honour’s consideration. The poor labourer has no means of bringing an action against his rich employer for a civil wrong; I therefore beg to suggest that Her Majesty’s Attorney or Solicitor-General should be m structed to act in such cases as they may consider advisable. A Bill for vagrants and idlers, and a general hiring Act for contracts and wages, are essentially requisite for the well-doingal therenlonyiets you % A hospital and poor-house ought to be provided by the colony | for the diseased, and those without families incapable of support ing themselves. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the President of Nevis, 2nd Janu, 1839. You will be pleased to intimate to Captain Kenney that le should appoint stations at which to receive complaints in the dit sions, and make at least a monthly circuit of the island, Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the President of Nevis, 14th March, 1839. Wits reference to my personal communications with you during my late visit to Nevis, I request to call your attention, and that of the Council and Assembly, to the statement of the stipendialy magistrate, as to the inconvenience experienced by the pooltt classes in recovering claims. You are aware that provision has been made in this and other islands by the appointment of a court for the recovery of sma debts, and which has lately been extended to St. Christopher. I request also to urge upon the attention of the Legislature the claims of the poor, and the policy as well as humanity of making adequate provision for their relief by the establishment of an Ir firmary. State of the Law as it now exists. 331 Virain IsLANnpDs. Abstract of replies to Lord Gilenely’s Circular Despatch of the 1. Qualification for exercise of civil and political franchises. 2. Rules defining right of ad- Mission to schools and places of Teligious worship. 8. Militia laws. 4. Restraints on exercise of par- ticular trades. 5. Contract laws, &c. 6th Nov. 1837. All persons of sufficient education. Jurors must have been freemen for five years, and are only required to read and write and know arithmetic. Twelve months’ possession of free- hold property, with the title thereto on record, of 40 acres, or a house of AO. per annum in any town, qualifies to sit in the House of Assembly. Twelve months’ possession of freehold property, with title thereto on record, of 10 acres, or a house of 10/. currency per annum in any town, qualifies for a voter for representative. One public school; children under 14 of both sexes admitted. No other institution maintained by public. Free males resident six weeks, be- tween 16 and 60, capable of bearing arms (except clergymen, officers of customs and of army and navy). (Acts, 27 September, 1831; 18 November 1831). No restraints other than a licence required by auctioneers, pedlars, ap- praisers, bakers, and retailers of spirits, &e. Regulated by the Act which came into force 1st August, 1838. General hiring determinable on week’s notice ; special, before justice of the peace, and in writing read and explained, and officially attested. Contracts en- forced, or breaches punished, by one or more justices of the peace, who have power to fine and imprison. One or more justices of the peace may hear and determine summarily, and must make decision in four days after. Appeal may be made to court of Queen’s Bench and Grand Sessions, on security to answer same being given. Summary jurisdiction given in like manner for recovering wages, but not petty debts, which are re- covered in Common Pleas by way of complaint. Costs, 113s. sterling. Virgin Islands. III. p. 33. ° 332 Virgin 6. Poor-laws. Islands. 7. Vagrancy-laws. 8. Poll-taxes, or taxes on articles of primary necessity. | 9. Labour-rates. 10. Laws for punishment of treason, in what respects different from the laws of England. 11. Laws for preventing occu- pation of lands. 12. Prisons and houses of cor- rection. 13. Laws requiring local ma- gistracy to make reports. 14. Stipends to local magis- trates. 15. ex officio prosecutions for injuries to labourers. State of the Law as tt now exists. All requiring assistance entitled to maintenance as destitute poor. No law exists at present. Relief granted generally on application by petition to Assembly, a standing committee of whom inquire into cases, and make order on treasury. Act recently passed. for suppression of vagrancy. (Still unconfirmed, and_ recom mended to be disallowed). A poll-tax in slavery and appren- ticeship; no tax on articles of pi- mary necessity, except licence of 6d, sterling per quarter for selling sugar, on which a halfpenny per |b. is lemed, and a licence for baking bread of 67. per quarter. This latter intended to fix an assize of bread, and to conttol the smuggling of flour into the colony, it being a dutiable article under the 6 Geo. 4, c. 114, which duty is col lected by customs department, and paid into colonial treasury. None. In none. The law of Englandisim force in these respects. Twenty-seventh clause of Vagrant Act met this object. Forcible eatiy and detainer is punished, by the statulé- law, by fine and imprisonment, ant award of restitution. Trespass punlsir able as by law of England. Common gaol only place of confine ment. Prisoners divided or classified; males and females separate. Under provost marshal, head-keeper, Wy matron, eight visiting justices; two act each week. Appointed by officer administering government, to whom reports are made monthly, by law, by provost marshal. President may correct abuses. No law; but same rule applieshett as in Antigua. Police magistrate and superintent ent of police receive salaries. Powel of removal vested in Executive. Duty of senior Queen’s counsel to prosecute and proceed, ex offictd, ™ State of the Law as tt now exists. 333 cases of injuries done to any class, and for all crimes and misdemeanors, for which the colony allows a salary of 100/. sterling per annum. 16. Laws affecting labourers, in The protection of the legal rights, what other respects different from &c., differs from Great Britain, inas- those of Great Britain. much as there will not be any law charges against parties complaining when the remedy is in the summary jurisdiction of the magistrates, or in the criminal court of Queen’s Bench and Grand Sessions. The costs, like- wise, taxable in a civil suit, cannot exceed 5/. sterling, except for extra witnesses, the production of records, or an additional number of defendents beyond one. (Signed) Cuas. Luoyp, Sen. Q.’s Counsel. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the President of the Virgin Islands, 14th March, 1839. _ Havine observed, in the reports of the stipendiary magistrate, that the aged and infirm poor about the town and quays have no ‘support whatever, I request you will urge on the Council and Assembly the policy as well as the humanity of establishing an infirmary for their relief. Sir W. M. Gi. Colebrooke to the Marqus of Normanby, 10th June, 1839. Your Lordship is aware that, in the auxiliary Abolition Acts passed in 1833, provision was made for the poor upon the plantations during the term of apprenticeship; and that, on the termination of that system in the last year, a temporary measure was adopted in each of the colonies to meet the change. These have generally proved defective, and much suffering and the loss of some lives have been the consequence. From the difficulty of inducing the local Legislatures to adopt any general or permanent arrangements, and as the expenses of the workhouse system will prove an obstacle to its early introduc- tion in the disordered state of their finances, it will be necessary, for a time, to accept such provision as the Legislatures may be induced to make. _ Virgin Islands. III. p. 339. III. p. 352. Dominica. HII. p. 83, State of the Law as it now exists. Dominica. Abstract of Replies to Lord Gilenelg’s Circular Despatch of the bth Nov., 1837. 1. Qualification for exercise of civil and political franchises. 2. Rules defining right of ad- mission to schools and places of religious worship. 3. Militia laws. 4, Legal restraints on exercise of particular trades. 5. Contract-laws, &c. For representative of parish, 30 acres of land in fee-simple, fee-tale, or for life, or in right of a wife; of town of Roseau or Portsmounth, 50 acres or a messuage in either town of 50/. rental. For elector in’ parish, 10 acres in fee-simple, &c., of any house and storehouse, or other buili- ings situate in any of the outlying towns of this island, with rental of 10/. currency, or having 204, pet annum for life out of a charge m lands or tenements. Elector in tom, any house, &c. &c., in either tow with rental worth 20/. currency pet annum. All freeholders, merchanis, traders, lessees of lands, managers il plantations, reputable housekeepers, and tradesmen resident in parishes St. Joseph, St. Paul, St. George, Sk Luke, and St. Mark, except French inhabitants not acquainted with Eng lish, and those under 20 years of age, are qualified to serve on juries. (By proclamation of Geo. 3, 2is June 1775. Island laws, Act No. 37, page 196.) None. Every one attends worship at his own convenience, and accottl ing to his own persuasion. All free males resident in the island between 16 and 50, excepting Mem bers of Council, officers of Govetir ment, &c. &c. (Act 9th March 1833.) No legal restraint. Retailers take out licence 100/. currency. Portéls and boatmen same as St. Kitt’s; weal badge, under penalty of 5/. currendy: Not acted on for several years. (Act No. 25, p. 129.) No rules of colonial enactmenh The common law, and such statute law as would affect this island, coul alone apply. Servants’ wages all petty debts, if under 25/. and above 6/. 12s., may be summarily recovered 6. Poor-laws. 7. Vagrancy laws. 8. Poll-taxes, or taxes on articles of primary necessity. 9. Labour-rates. 10. Treason-law: in what re- spects different from that of Eng- land. 11. Laws for preventing occupa- tion of lands. 12. Prisons and houses of cor- rection. 13, Laws requiring local magis- tracy to make reports. State of the Law as it now exists. 335 before single judge of the Common Pleas ; and similar claims, under 132s., recovered in same manner before justice of the peace. (Laws :—Supplement, No. 16, p. 45; Act, No. 5, p. 23, of Laws of Dominica. ) Fifteenth clause of Vagrant Act authorizes Governor to appoint com- mittee of three members, rector to be one, who may draw on the treasurer for any sum not exceeding 50/. per quarter. Act passed in 1837 for punishment of idle and disorderly persons, &c. No other law compelling able-bodied persons to earn their own living. (Recently disallowed.) A poll-tax during slavery and ap- prenticeship. No colonial law im- posing tax on articles of primary necessity. All adults required to contribute one day’s labour, thrice per annum, for repair of roads; or, in default, pay 6s. currency for each day. (Waywarden Act, 1835.) In none whatever. Abolition law met this object. At present no law is in force; and it is said a considerable number of acres is held in this way without title. (By the recent Act for terminating the preedial apprenticeship, provision has been made to prevent unauthorized occupation of lands.) No workhouses nor houses of cor- rection; one prison; one treadmill. Under provost marshal and Governor ; the latter virtute officat; the former under Colonial Act. A law passed in 1831, for better government of gaol, expired in 1833, and not sincerenewed. The Governor possesses no authority to correct abuses under any colonial law. No law. Police magistrate pub- lishes weekly report of his proceed- ings in newspaper, by desire of Lieu- tenant-Governor. Dominica. —— Dominica. III. p. 380. 336 14. Stipends to local magis- trates. 15. Ex officio prosecutions for injuries to labourers. 16. Laws affecting labourers, in what other respects different from those of Great Britain. State of the Law as wt now exists. Police magistrate receives salary of 500/. currency per annum. All magis trates removeable at pleasure of the Crown. None for civil injuries; they have the same redress as Her Majesty’ | other subjects. The Attorney-General carries on all prosecutions in criminal cases. None, by any colonial law; 7.¢, a regards labourers of free condition. A new system and entire new code 0f laws are imperatively required to mett the coming change. Remarks.—It would be desirable, in the event of the judicial system taking place, that in cases of if portance, under certain terms, the venue should be permitted to he changed from one island to another The qualifications of candidates and voters isa perfect mockery. Any one may convey to another 10 actts of unknown lands; no pretence is se up that such is cultivated; and m the party making oath that he has 4 freehold estate in actual possessidll he is admitted to vote. The cased! the candidate is subject to grealél abuse; they need but produce theit recorded deeds of a nominal qualifici- tion, and no other is required. The large proprietors, whose capital and industry maintain the credit and the public institutions of the county, are, by this subversion of the fist principles of the constitution, virtually excluded from the representation. (Signed) W. Brave, Attorney-G eneral. From Mr. Kingsbury’s Report, 11th Aug. 1838. A taw has lately passed in this colony which provides a sul of 4s. 6d. current money per week for each infirm or diseased late apprentice, on their producing a medical certificate. Many will be unable to obtain this relief unless a medical practitioner visits the estates and small settlements in my extensive district, am inspects and certifies fit objects for such allowance. I deem it my duty to advert to the very limited means afforded State of the Law as tt now exists. 337 at this moment in my district for ensuring the peace, protection a property, or the prevention of squatting; therefore beg leave to suggest the immediate necessity of establishing a police sta- tion, either at Lasoye Point, or any other desirable situation in the quarter. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the Officer Administering the Govern- ment of Dominica, 22nd Feb., 1839. Tuave not yet received from you a report of the result of the Prosecution in the flagrant case of ejectment which you reported, where the provisions of the labourers were destroyed. I observe that the summary ejectment of labourers has in some instances since obtained ; but the magistrates will by this time have under- stood that such a proceeding is illegal; and there are no cases which are more promptly taken up by the magistracy of this island, from a sense of the injurious effect upon the minds of the labourers, arising from a sense of insecurity in their possessions, and to which their disposition to emigrate is mainly ascribable. From Mr. Kingsbury’s Report, 6th March, 1839. In the absence of necessary laws, the agricultural labourers are becoming daily more indolent and unsteady in their work, thereby Gusing much difficulty and delay to the employers of the wind- Ward sugar estates in taking off their crops. When salutary and Tequisite laws are established for the protection of both employers and labourers, I would strongly suggest the necessity that medical attendance should be furnished to the labourers employed on plantations. The expense for obtaining the same would not, on calculation, exceed one halfpenny sterling per day each. Major Mannin to Sir W. ML. G. Colebrooke, 28th March, 1839. Ix reference to your Excellency’s letter of the 22nd ult., I have the honour to state that, there being no probability of a bench of deal magistrates enforcing the Act for the support of the aged and infirm, I recommended that Mr. Lynch should call upon two sipendiary magistrates to associate with him for that purpose. HoW transmit the report which I have received on that subject, “Companied by a copy of the Attorney-General’s opinion. You Wilat once perceive that the aged and worn-out have been most grossly neglected, and that the conduct of the chief persons con- ned has been anything but creditable to themselves, both in teach of all good faith and evasion of the law. Dominica. ILI. p. 438. III. p. 441. III. p. 454, Dominica. III. p. 455. III. p. 474. 338 State of the Law as wt now exists. Report of Messrs. Kingsbury, O’Sullivan, and Lynch, 5th March, 1839. We have the honour to state, for your Excellency’s information, that m the 19th ultimo we proceeded to investigate certain complaints of infim and diseased persons, on account of the nonpayment of the sum of 4s, 6d, weekly allowance granted to such persons, pursuant to an Act for terminal ing the apprenticeship of the preedial labourers within this island; ant, sufficient proof having been adduced before us of the right of the com plainants to said allowance, we adjudged the defendants to forfeit the sum of 2/. 10s., and further proceeded to serve each of them with a convictidl, requiring them to pay such forfeit into the treasury, for the use of the colony. The said parties having neglected to comply with the termsol such conviction, and as we entertain some doubts respecting the modedt properly enforcing the said fines or forfeits, we have the honour to request that your Excellency will be pleased to procure, for our guidance, the opinion of Her Majesty’s Attorney-General as to the manner of legally enforcing payment of said fines, whether by warrant of levy and distress, directed to whom, or how otherwise. Opinion of Attorney-General, 23rd March, 1839. I am of opinion that no conviction made under the 2nd clause of the Act intituled “‘ An Act for amending an Act intituled ‘ An Act for termimal ing the Apprenticeship of the Predial Labourers within this Island ont Ist day of August 1838, to encourage Settlements upon Plantations, and to prevent Persons from squatting or establishing themselves upon Lands to which they have no legal Title,’ ”’ can be enforced by warrant of levy and distress, because no direction is given to whom such warrant is to lt addressed for execution. The general principle of interpretation would infer a sufficient power to be connected with the jurisdiction of the justi to carry the law into effect: but I perceive, on reference to several laws the Island of Dominica, that a specific power is generally granted as t0 the execution of a warrant, under which circumstance it might be contendel that it should be a necessary portion of every law, and the want thereof 18 fatal to the ability to enforce the conviction. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. M. Gt. Colebrooke, 19th July, 1839. Havine referred for the consideration of the law officers of the Crown your despatch, No. 6, of 9th May, with its enclosures, relative to a difficulty which has arisen in Dominica in enfordalg the payment of fines on persons who have neglected to provt} for poor and infirm negroes on their estates, I have now to ais mit to you, for the information and guidance of the Lieutenant Governor of Dominica, copy of the opinion given by the #¥ officers of the Crown, stating that there is no legal objectio to executing the conviction of the magistrates. Lieutenant-Governor MacPhail to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 8th June, 1839. Tuer want of medical attendance, and of a provision for the aged, infirm, and orphans, calls loudly for legislative remete With this view I have, agreeably to your Excellency’s reque sent a message to the Legislature, and await the result. State of the Law as tt now exists. BAHAMAS. Lord Glenelg to Colonel Cockburn, 2nd February, 1839. Bahamas. Wirs reference to my circular despatch of the 29th September ry. p. 17. last, and in pursuance of my inquiries respecting laws in force in the West India colonies injuriously affecting the emancipated population, I have to request your attention to the Vagrancy Acts, Nos. 838 and 888, the former passed by the Bahama Legislature on the 12th November, 1833, and the latter on the 27th January, 1835. It is declared in Act, No. 838, that all assemblages for no specific and lawful object, all loitering, carousing, or the like, in or about liquor-shops, loud singing or whistling, playing at cricket or other like games, flying of kites or other like pastimes, &c., in or near to streets or highways, are unlawful ; and offering meat, corn, or other articles, for sale in the market in a loud voice to attract customers, is made punishable by an imprisonment of five days. By other provisions, strangers arriving in the Bahama Islands, whether they be British subjects or not, may be summarily removed. These Acts, especially No. 838, will be found in other respects essentially different in principle from the Order of Her Majesty in Council for preventing vagrancy in the West Indian Crown colonies. In addition to the general instructions on this subject which were ttansmitted for your guidance in my circular despatch above referred to, I feel it right specially to direct you to press on the Bahamas Le- gislature the repeal of these laws, and the adoption in their stead of am enactment respecting vagrancy, coinciding in its general spirit with Her Majesty’s Order in Council on that subject. tn the meantime, Her Majesty’s Government trust that a judi- Hous exercise of your discretionary powers may be sufficient greatly {0 mitigate the evils and discontents which a rigorous execution of the present law would be likely to engender. Honduras. IV. p. 30. State of the Law as it now exists. HONDURAS. Lord Glenelg to Colonel A. Macdonald, 12th November, 1838 I wave had the honour to receive your despatch, No. 31, of the 28th of August, in which you transmitted a copy of the proceedings of the general meeting held on the 9th of July, and advert to the rejec- tion by them of the enactment which provided for the retention til the lst of November, by the negroes, of the houses which they octet pied previously to the termination of the apprenticeship. As this enactment would, even if adopted, have become obsolete within a very few days after my receipt of your despatch, it would answerno practical purpose for me now to consider how far the rejection of It was a wise and proper measure. I cannot, however, abstain from calling your attention to a question which that enactment suggests, and which may be of considerable importance hereafter. It would, appear to have been taken for granted alike by those who framel and by those who rejected this clause, that the emancipated laboure was liable to a summary ejectment from his house, unless his occu pation of it was assured to him by a law passed for that express pull pose. But it isnot easy to discover the grounds of that assumpliol. On the Ist of August last, the labourer was in the lawful occupation of his dwelling, and if he held over after that time, might be liable to ejectment, like any other free man, in due course of law. But to regard him as a mere trespasser, who might be turned out of his house without any previous judgment authorising that measillé would, so far as I can perceive, be an unlawful act, for which the landlord would render himself responsible, either in a civil actiot, 0 upon a criminal prosecution, according to the circumstances by which it might be accompanied. SECTION III. NEW LAWS PROPOSED TO MEET THE NEW RELATIONS OF SOCIETY. Copy of a Circular Desparcu addressed by Lord Glenelg to the Governors of British Guiana, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, and Mau- Hi ritius. | Sir, Downing-street, 15th September, 1838. a In deference to the recommendation of the Committee of the General. House of Commons, which sat in the year 1837, on the subject of 7. Bae Negro Apprenticeship, the enactment of laws to meet the new state of Society consequent on the termination of the system established by the Act for the Abolition of Slavery, had been postponed until the nearer approach of the Ist of August, 1840, the time originally fixed for bringing the preedial apprenticeship to a close. The anticipa- tion of that period, by the Acts recently passed in all the colonies, has rendered this legislation a subject of immediate and urgent im- portance. The laws which have been passed in the different colonies for abridging the term of preedial apprenticeship have been preceded or accompanied by other enactments, having for their object the govern- ment of the emancipated population in their new character of per- sons entitled to unqualified freedom. The laws of this kind, which have hitherto reached me, contain some enactments which have ap- peared to Her Majesty’s Government unexceptionable and judicious; but I am obliged to add, that these have been connected and blended with other provisions of an objectionable nature. I am well aware that these laws have been framed in unavoidable haste, and in refer- fnee to subjects on which the colonial legislatures have not had the benefit of local experience for their direction; and to these circum- stances is probably to be ascribed much of what would seem to be _ &xceptionable in the new code which has thus been framed. In the circular despatch which, on the 6th of November, 1837, [ Vide papers re- addressed to the governors of all Her Majesty’s West India colo- aye e us ies, I instructed them to collect and transmit to me answers to vari- slavery, 1838, ous inquiries, of which the object was to ascertain exactly how far the Part 5 (1),p.3. laws already existin g would be adapted to the exigencies of colonial General. 342 New Laws proposed to meet the society after compulsory labour should have been entirely abolished there, and unqualified freedom should have taken the place of the apprenticeship system. ‘The answers to that circular are still incom: plete, and are in many respects defective; yet they sufficiently esta- blish some important general conclusions. ‘They show that the old slave code exercised a very powerful influence on the structure and character of those laws which were made for the government of the free members of society; that there are many enactments in the colonial statute-books which must now undergo a most important change in their meaning and practical effects, even if unaltered ima single letter; and that there are many powers which, however neces- sary while slavery existed, could not be exercised now without great inconvenience and injustice. This remark might, without difficulty, receive many proofs and illustrations, upon which, however, t3 unnecessary for my immediate purpose to enter. The new legislation required in the West Indies will have forits first object the repeal of obsolete or inapplicable laws, or parts laws, affecting persons of free condition. I reserve for a separate communication the detail of the enactments of that class in force the colony under your government, which might be either wholly } repealed or materially amended. The second general object of the new legislation will be the imtto- duction of laws calculated to meet the new exigencies of society. Het Majesty's Government are very unwilling to multiply such enath ments beyond the necessity of the case; but there are some mall topics, respecting which new laws are evidently indispensable Without attempting to make a complete enumeration of these, may mention the law which regulates the mutual rights and dutiesdl masters and servants, the law for the prevention and punishment of vagrancy, the law of marriage, the militia law, the law for the mall tenance of the poor, the law. respecting police, and the law for pie venting the unauthorized occupation of land. In obedience to the commands of Her Majesty in Council, I here with transmit to you three Orders in Council, relating to the three first of the topics already mentioned. I have reason to expect thal an Order in Council respecting the unauthorized occupation of land will very shortly follow. With regard to the laws for the mall nance of the poor and the government of the police, the decision? Her Majesty in Council will be suspended until Her Majesty's G0 vernment shall be in possession of the suggestions and advice of the authorities in this kingdom, who are best qualified to form a comet opinion upon those subjects. With regard to the militia law, lam not at present prepared to state when an Order of Her Majesty in Cou: cil will be completed ; but the subject has engaged careful attemtidl, and will be pursued with such despatch as the nature of the caseméy admit. It now becomes my duty to explain to you the grounds on which Her Majesty’s Government have proceeded in advising the promul- gation of the three Orders which accompany this Despatch. The law regulating the relation of master and servant forms a part new Relations of Society. 343 of every new code transmitted from the West Indies. The necessity for some legislation on the subject scarcely admits of doubt. The jealousies and mutual distrusts which are amongst the unhappy fruits of slavery, will, I trust, gradually give place to more salutary feelings. But they can scarcely fail for a time to exercise a preju- dicial influence in the minds both of masters and of servants, in what- ever relates to the forming, the enforcement, and the abrogation of contracts for service. Hvyen in this country the Legislature has found it necessary to interpose between parties standing in this relation to each other; and it would be vain to trust to the sense of individual or of common interest for the prevention of the abuses, and for the settlement of the disputes which may arise out of contracts for service in agriculture or manufacture in the West Indies, in the very pecu- liar condition of society existing there at present. It is, therefore, the object of the first of the Royal Orders in Council to determine in what manner, and for what time, such contracts may be made, and how they may be dissolved, and how the rights incident to the con- tracting parties shall be enforced. The second of the accompanying Orders relates to the subject. of vagrancy. The vagueness of this term, and the ambiguity of meaning which to a certain degree is inherent in it, has given rise to some laws on this topic of a very objectionable character. If by the word vagrancy be understood the moving from place to place of persons in search of labour, or actuated by any other useful or blameless motive, the pre- Vention of it would be entirely foreign to the views of Her Majesty’s Government. But the word, when designating an offence, must be taken in a far more restricted and technical sense. It isthe term in common use in our own law to describe persons who are living in a State of vicious and unnecessary idleness, without any honest means of subsistence, and who therefore become burdensome to society as paupers, or dangerous to the public peace as delinquents. Amongst such persons are numbered those who outrage public decency by their demeanour, those who seek their living by dishonest arts and practising on vulgar superstitions, and those who are found in cir- cumstances indicating the intention to commit depredations on pro- perty. Ifthe terms « vagrant,” or “ rogue and vagrant,” do not very amply describe such persons, there is perhaps no other more appro- priate expression to be discovered. It is, however, only against such offenders that the second of the Orders in Council which I enclose pointed. For the prevention of this class of offences society in the West Indies formerly relied on the domestic authority of the em- Ployer. The termination of that authority requires the introduction of some adequate (but not more than adequate) substitute for the Sigle purpose of protecting the colonial societies against practices such as I have mentioned ; and it is with this object that this Order has been framed. The third of the accompanymg Orders in Council regulates the lan of marriage. On this subject difficulties of the most embarrass- Mg nature have arisen from the ancient slave code of the colonies, General. General. Enclosure 1, 344 New Laws proposed to meet the and from the low state of religion and education which formerly pre vailed there. The negroes were accustomed to form connexions which they regarded as matrimonial, although not solemnized até cording to the established rules of law. The effect is, that such ties are sometimes disregarded, and too lightly dissolved; that the par. ties, when religiously observant of them, are nevertheless compelled to regard themselves as having lived in concubinage ; and that the offspring of such connexions are considered as illegitimate. Nor is this all. The paucity of clergymen in holy orders of the Church of England, and the extent to which dissent from the communion ol that church prevails, render it a matter of great difficulty to contract a legal marriage. Hence a great comparative disregard of one Ol the most sacred relations of life, and of the obligations of morality in that respect. The accompanying Order will be found to provide a remedy for these evils, both prospectively and retrospectively. I cannot close this communication without adverting to one pit ciple which pervades the accompanying Orders in Council. lt % the exclusive jurisdiction of the stipendiary magistracy in all cases arising under them. ‘This has been thought, for a time at least, fo be indispensable, in order to obviate the possibility of suspicion ast the disinterested administration of these laws. The provision which Parliament made for the temporary continuance of the salaries of the special magistrates will have removed all difficulty from the applica tion of this principle ; and I have only to instruct you, in any future appointment to the list of stipendiary magistrates, to adhere to the same rule which has hitherto prevailed, of limiting your selection! gentlemen unconnected by pecuniary interest with the enforcement of the law which they are to administer. On the receipt of this Despatch you will publish the accompallf: ing Orders within the colony under your government in the usual and most authentic manner. You will perceive that they are so framed as to have the authority of law immediately from their arrival. You own duty respecting the proclamation of them extends only to asc taining by that method the precise date of your receipt of them. I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG Enclosure 1. At the Court at Windsor, the 7th day of September, 1838 :—Present, The Queen’s most Excellent Majesty in Council. Wuereas so much of the Act made in the 4th year of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth for the Abolition of Slavery through: out the British colonies, for promoting the industry of the manumitted slaves, and for compensating the persons hitherto entitled to the service of such slaves as relates to the apprenticeship of such manumitted slaves, hath ceased, or may shortly be expected to cease, to be in force m the colonies of British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Mauritius: whereas it is expedient that provision be made by law for regulating within new Relations of Society. 345 the said colonies respectively the relative rights and duties of masters and servants: it is, therefore, hereby ordered by the Queen’s most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, that within each of the said colonies of British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Mauritius, the various rules and regulations hereunto subjoined, and comprised in the following chapters, shall henceforth be observed, and shall have the force and effect of law. And it is further ordered, that all laws, statutes, and ordinances in force in the said colonies, or any of them, which are or shall be in any wise re- pugnant to or inconsistent with this present Order, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed. And it is further ordered, that for the purposes, and within the meaning of this present Order, the officer lawfully administering the government of any of the said colonies shall be deemed and taken to be the governor thereof; and that for the purposes, and within the meaning of this present Order, the word “ servant?’ shall be construed and understood to comprise any person employed for hire, wages, or other remuneration, to perform any handicraft or other bodily labour in agriculture or manufactures, or in domestic service, or as a boatman, porter, or other occupation in which the emancipated population of the said colonies, or any of them, were usually employed while in a state of slavery or as apprenticed labourers ; and that for the purposes, and within the meaning of this present Order, the word ‘‘ masters” shall be construed and understood to comprise any person, whether male or female, employing for hire, wages, or other re- “muneration, any person falling within the before-mentioned description of aservant; and that for the purposes, and within the meaning of this present Order, the words “contract of service’? shall be construed and understood to comprise any agreement, whether oral or written, whether express or implied, into which any persons falling within the before-men- tioned description of the word servant, shall enter with any other person or persons, for the performance of any work or labour of any kind herein before particularly mentioned; and that for the purposes, and within the meaning of the present Order, the words “stipendiary magistrate”’ shall be construed and understood to comprise such magistrates only as shall be meluded in any special commission of the peace to be from time to time addressed to them in the name and on the behalf of Her Majesty by the governor for the time being of the colony to which such magistrates may belong for the execution of this present Order; and that for the purposes, and within the meaning of this present Order, the words “ Chief Civil Judge”? shall be construed and understood to mean, in the colony of British Guiana, the Chief Justice of the Court of Civil and Criminal Justice of Demerara, and in the colony of Trinidad, the Chief Judge of the Court of First Instance, and in the colony of St. Lucia, the First President of the Royal Court; and in the colony of Mauritius, the First President of the Court of Appeal. And it is further ordered, that all words in this Order and in the said regulations importing the singular number or the masculine gender only, Shall be understood to include several persons as well as one person, and females as well as males, unless it be otherwise specially provided, or there he something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction. And it is further ordered, that the governor of each of the said colonies téspectively shall immediately, upon the receipt by him of this present Order, publish, or cause to be published, a proclamation reciting at length the whole of the present Order, and stating the day of the month and General. el General, eee 346 New Laws proposed to meet the year on which the same was so received by him; and from that day the said Order shall take effect and have the force of law in each of the said colonies respectively. Provided, that if this Order shall arrive in anyof the said colonies before so much as aforesaid of the said recited Act of Parliament shall have ceased to be in force therein, the operation of this Order in any such colony shall be suspended until so much as aforesaid of the said Act shall have so ceased to be in force therein, but no longer. And the Right honourable Lord Glenelg, one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly. (Signed) C. C. GreEvILiE. Cap. I.—On the Repeal of the Existing Law. Sec. 1. All laws in force in any of the colonies aforesaid, respecting coir tracts of apprenticeship, or service to be entered into within the limit of the said respective colonies, between any master and servant, or respeth ing the rights and duties of masters and apprentices or servants, in such their relation to each other, or respecting the mode of enforcing such com tracts, and the penalties to.be inflicted in case of the breach or non-per formance thereof, or respecting the dissolution of such contracts, are It pealed. 2. The before-mentioned repeal shall not annul or affect any contract entered into within any of the said colonies previously to the taking effect therein of a certain Order made by Her Majesty in Council on the 30th day of July, 1838, relating to contracts of apprenticeship or service enterel into either without or within the limits of the said respective colonies. 3. Nevertheless, any contract of apprenticeship or service to be pér formed within any of the said colonies shall be liable to be set aside im the manner and by the authority hereinafter mentioned, whatever mij have been the date thereof, upon reasonable proof being made to the satis faction of such petty sessions as hereinafter mentioned, that either of the parties to such contract was induced to enter into the same by any fra misapprehension, misrepresentation, or concealment. Car. I1.—On the Formation or entering into of Contracts of Service. Sec. 1. No contract of service shall be of any force or effect within aj of the colonies aforesaid, unless the same shall be made within the mits and upon the land of the colony in which the same is to be performed. — 2. No contract of service shall be in force within any of the said coloms for more than four weeks from the date thereof, unless the same shall be reduced into writing, with all the formalities subsequently mentioned. 3. No written contract of service shall be in force within any of the sal colonies, unless it shall be signed with the name, or, in case of illiterate persons, with the mark of each of the contracting parties in the presence? a stipendiary magistrate, nor unless such stipendiary magistrate shall sub- scribe the written contract in attestation of the fact that it was entered mld by the parties voluntarily, and with a clear understanding of its meailllj and effect. 4. No such written contract for service shall be valid for more than on year from its date. 5. Every such written contract shall expire at the close of the sti time of service without any notice on either side for that purpose. 6. Every such written contract shall specify as accurately as may be pulated new Relations of Society. 347 the general nature of the employment in which the servant is to be en- aged. a 7. When the contract is for work to be performed not by the piece, but by the time, it shall specify, as precisely as may be, the number of hours of daily labour, and the hours of the day at which such labour is to com- mence and to be suspended, and to recommence and to terminate. 8. In cases in which the remuneration or any part of it is to be made not in money but in kind, the contract must specify, with all practicable precision, the nature and amount and quality of the articles to be supplied to the servant, and the time when, and the places or place at which such articles are to be delivered. 9. No servants’ wages, if contracted for in money, may be paid in kind, or if contracted for in kind may be paid in money, or in any other than the stipulated kind, except by the express consent of the servant. 10. All contracts of service shall be drawn up as nearly as possible in the following terms :— *¢ Be it remembered. that on this day of in the year of our Lord , A. B. of and C. D. of appeared before me, HL. F., a stipendiary magistrate of the colony of and in my presence signed their names or marks (as the case may be) to the following contract of service. “The said A. B. agrees to hire the services of the said C. D., and the said C. D. agrees to render to the said A. B. his services in the capacity of a for calendar months, commencing on the oe GON” Ge inst., and terminating on the day of | in the year ~) Te it is further agreed between the said parties, that the said C. D. shall be employed in [field labour], or as [a household servant], or as [a boatman] (as the case may be), and that the hours of labour of the said C. D. shall not be more than daily, commencing at the hour of and terminating at the hour of with [one hour] (or as the case may be) for breakfast at of the clock, and [one hour] (or as the case may be) for dinner at of the clock, daily. And it is further agreed, that the said A. B. shall pay to the said C. D., as such servant as aforesaid, wages at and after the rate of by the [day, week, month, or year,] (as the case may be) and that such wages shall be paid on the day of each [week, or month] (as the case may be). And it is further agreed, that the services of the said C. D. shall be partly or wholly (as the case may be) remunerated by the delivery to the said C. D. of the various articles and allowances specified in the list hereunto subjoined, which shall be of such amounts and qualities as are specified in the said list, so far as such specification is possible. [Here add any special engagement compatible with the law and not adverted to in this form.] (Signed) SA. BY 174 C, BD? “The preceding agreement was signed by the above-named parties in my presence on the day and year above written, voluntarily, the same being, as far as I am able to judge, fully understood ge them respectively. (Signed) “BF ., Stipendiary Magistrate. General. General. 348 New. Laws proposed to meet the Car. III.—On the Apprenticeship of Children. Sec. 1. Children above the age of 10, and under the age of 16 years, may be apprenticed by their fathers, or, in the case of fatherless children, by their mothers, or, in the case of orphans, by their guardians, to any trade in the practice of which any peculiar art or skill is requisite. 2. No child may be apprenticed as a labourer in husbandry, or in the manufacture of colonial produce. 3. The apprenticeship of such children may be for any time not exceeding five years. 4. Any person of the full age of sixteen years or upwards may, by his or her consent, be apprenticed to any trade, in the practice of which any pect liar art or skill is required, for any terms not exceeding five years. 5. The law respecting apprentices in England shall, as far as may he practicable, be applied to the case of such apprenticeships as aforesaid; but there shall be no apprenticeship of any kind, or under any circumstances, of persons as labourers in husbandry, or in the manufacture of colonial pt- duce. All engagements for those purposes must be made in pursuance df the rules contained in the second chapter of these regulations. 6. Provided that the powers which in England are vested in the justices of the peace for enforcing or dissolving contracts of apprenticeship, and for authorizing the making of such contracts, shall in the said colonies, be vestel in the stipendiary magistrates thereof respectively. Cav. IV.—On the enforcement of Contracts of Service. Sec. 1. The stipendiary magistrates shall have an exclusive jurisdiction for the enforcement of all contracts of service, and for imposing all penalties for the breach, neglect, or non-performance thereof. © 2. This jurisdiction shall be exercised in a summary manner. 3. For ensuring regularity and method in the exercise of this summaly juridiction, the governor of each colony shall prepare forms of proceeding to be observed on lodging complaints, in issuing summonses, in the citatiol of witnesses, in the pronouncing awards and sentences, in issuing warranis or orders for the execution of such awards or sentences, and generally ia the complete carrying of the powers of the stipendiary magistrates into exe cution; which forms shall be submitted by such governor to the chief civil judge of each such colony, respectively ; and, being approved by such judge, the same shall be observed in all proceedings before the said stipen- diary magistrates. 4, All such forms of proceeding shall, from time to time, be revised, repealed, or amended, by the authority, and in the manner aforesaid, a occasion may require. 5. No sentence, award, or order made by any stipendiary magistratem the execution of the jurisdiction so vested in him, shall be liable to be reversed, set aside, appealed from, or questioned, by any court of justice any of the said colonies, except on the ground of an unlawful assumption of power, or other illegality on the part of such stipendiary magistrate; but the same, when consistent with law, shall to all intents and purposes, be binding, final, and conclusive. 6. For all acts done by any stipendiary magistrate in the exercise of the jurisdiction hereby vested in him, such magistrate shall have, and be entitle to, the same protection and. indemnity as by any law in force in the colony any magistrate is entitled to claim, or to have, in respect of any act by him done in execution of the powers vested by law in him. new Relations of Society. 349 7. On complaint preferred, and proof made, before any stipendiary ma- gistrate, that any servant has neglected to perform his stipulated work, or that he has performed it negligently or improperly, or that by negligence or other improper conduct he has injured the property of his master, entrusted to his care, the magistrate may, in his discretion, adjudge the servant to any one or more of the following penalties; that is to say, a pecuniary penalty for the benefit of the master, not exceeding one month’s wages, or the commitment of the servant to prison, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding 14 days, or the dissolution of the contract of service. 8. On complaint preferred and proof made by a servant before any sti- pendiary magistrate that his master has not paid the servant’s wages, or delivered to him the articles stipulated for, or that the articles so delivered were not of the prescribed amount and quality, or that by the negligence, or other improper conduct of the master, the contract of service has not been faithfully performed, or that the master has ill-used the servant, the stipendiary magistrate may make order for the payment of the wages in arrear, or for the delivery of the stipulated articles, or for compensation to be made to the servant for any injury by him sustained by such negligence or improper conduct of the master, or by his non-fulfilment of the contract, or by his ill-usuage of the servant; and if such order be not complied with according to the exigency and tenor thereof, the magistrate shall and may Issue a warrant for the seizure and sale of the goods of the master, or so much thereof as may be requisite for making such compensation; and failing any sufficient distress, the magistrate shall and may make order for the commitment of the master to prison, for any time not exceeding one month, unless compensation be sooner made. The magistrate may also in any of the cases aforesaid, if he shall see fit, order the contract of service to be cancelled either in addition to, or in substitution for, any such order as aforesaid. 9. Nothing herein contained shall prevent, or be construed to prevent, any proceeding before the ordinary tribunals of the colony, for any iJl-usage of a servant by his master, or of a master by his servant, if the stipendiary magistrate shall decline to entertain any such case, and shall see fit to refer the same to the ordinary course of law. _ 10. If any question shall arise between a master and a servant respect- ing the meaning of their contract, or the rights of either party under the Same, or the obligation imposed on either party thereby, it shall be lawful for the stipendiary magistrate, on the application of either party, to arbitrate between them; and his award, on all such questions so brought before him, Shall be conclusive without appeal. Car. V.—On the subordination of the Stipendiary Magistrates to the Governor, and of the Police to the Stipendiary Magistrates. Sec. 1. Every stipendiary magistrate shall hold his office during Her Majesty’s pleasure, and shall be liable to be suspended therefrom by the governor of the colony, until Her Majesty’s pleasure shall be known. 2. Every such magistrate shall act for such district or districts as shall from time to time be assigned for that purpose by the governor. Every such magistrate shall be obedient to the lawful commands of the governor in all things relating to the duties of the office of such magistrate. Every Such stipendiary magistrate shal] be bound to make to the governor such general or special reports of his proceedings in the discharge of such his duty as the governor shall from time to time require of him. General. General, Enclosure 2. 350 New Laws proposed to meet the 3. The stipendiary magistrates shall from time to time, as occasion may appear to them to require, or where they shall be so directed by the governor, meet together in petty sessions, at which sessions not less than two such stipendiary magistrates shall ever be present ; and it shall be law ful for such stipendiary magistrates, in petty sessions assembled, to asso ciate with themselves one ordinary justice of the peace, and no more: and such stipendiary magistrates and justice, or the majority of them may, il such petty sessions assembled, exercise any of the powers hereby vested m the stipendiary magistrate separately, provided that no such petty sessions be convened except by the previous sanction of the governor of the colony, which sanction may be given either for holding such sessions periodically, at some times and places to be appointed by him, or for holding the same for any special occasion at any particular time and place. 4. All constables and other officers of police in the said colonies, respet- tively, shall obey and carry into execution all lawful orders and warrants df the respective stipendiary magistrates, or of any such petty sessions # aforesaid. Cap. VI.—Respecting the Combinatian of Masters and Workmen. Sec. 1. The Act of the British Parliament, passed in the sixth yeardf the reign of George IV., intituled, “ An Act to repeal the Laws relative to the combination of Workmen, and for other purposes therein mentioned,” shall be in force in the said colonies, and applied in the administration of the law therein, so far as it may be practicable to apply the same; but the powers thereby vested in the justices of the peace in England shall in the said colonies be vested in the said stipendiary magistrate, and the powél thereby vested in any court of general or quarter-sessions shall in the sald colonies be vested in the said before-mentioned court of petty sessions, and the power thereby vested in Her Majesty’s superior courts of Westmunstét shall in the said colonies respectively be vested in the superior courts of civil and criminal justice thereof; and for the better adaptation of the sail Act of Parliament to the circumstances of the said respective colonies, such analogous forms of proceeding shall be prescribed, in manner aforesaid, by the governor of each such colony respectively, with the sanction of the chié judge of the same. (Signed) C. C. GreviLit Enclosure 2; At the Court at Windsor, the 7th day of September, 1838 :—Presenf, — the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Wuerzeas it is necessary to make provision for the suppression of Vagrancy, and for the punishment of idle and disorderly persons, rogue and vagabonds, incorrigible rogues, or other vagrants, in sig It is therefore ordered by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, that every person being able, either by labour, or by other lawful means, to maintain himself or herself, ot iis wife, or his or her children or child, who shall wilfully refuse or neglect 80 to do, and thereby become burthensome, or render his wife, or his ot her children or child, burthensome upon any parochial or other public funds sel apart for the relief of the poor; every common prostitute wandering the public streets or highways, or in any place of public resort, and behavilg new Relations of Society. 351 in a riotous and indecent manner; and every person wandering abroad, or placing himself or herself in any public place, street, wharf, highway, court or passage, to beg or gather alms, or causing, or procuring, or encouraging any child or children so to do, shall be deemed an idle and disorderly person within the true intent and meaning of this order: Provided never- theless that no person shall be deemed to be an offender under this order, by reason of any such begging or gathering alms as aforesaid, or by reason of his or her causing or procuring, or encouraging any child or children so to do, unless it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the stipen- diary justice before whom he or she shall be charged with such offence, that the offender could by his or her own labour, or other lawful means, or by parochial or other public funds appropriated for that purpose, have been provided with the necessaries of life. And it is further ordered that it shall be lawful for any stipendiary justice of the peace to commit any such idle and disorderly person, being thereof convicted before him, by his own view, or by the confession of such offender, or by the evidence on oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses, to any lawful place of confine- Ment, there, or on the public streets and highways, to be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding fourteen days. II. And it is hereby further ordered, that any person committing any of the offences hereinbefore mentioned, after having been convicted as an idle and disorderly person, every person pretending or professing to tell fortunes, or using or pretending to use any subtle craft or device, by palmistry, obeah, or any such like superstitious means, to deceive and impose on any of Her Majesty’s subjects, every person wilfully exposing to view in any street, road, highway or public place, any obscene print, picture, or other Mdecent exhibition, every person wilfully, openly, lewdly, and obscenely exposing his or her person in any street, public road or highway, or in the view thereof, or in any place of public resort, every person endeavouring to Procure charitable contributions under any false or fraudulent pretence, every person playing or betting in any street, stelling or wharf, road, liighway, or other open and public place, at or with any table or instru- Ment of gaming, at any game or pretended game of chance, every person having in his or her custody or possession any picklock, key, crow, jack, bit or other implement, with intent feloniously to break into any dwelling-house, Warehouse, store, shop, coach-house, stable or outbuilding, or being armed With any gun, pistol, hanger, cutlass, bludgeon, or other offensive weapon, or having upon him or her any instrument with intent to commit an felonious act, and every person apprehended as an idle and disorderly person, and violently resisting any constable or other peace officer so apprehending him or her, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond within the true intent and meaning of this order: and it shall be lawful for any Stipendiary justice of the peace to commit such offender, being thereof Convicted before him, on his own view, or by the confession of such Offender, or by the evidence on oath of one or more credible witness or Witnesses, to any lawful place of imprisonment, there, or on the public streets or highways, to be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding Wenty-eight days; and every such picklock, key, crow, jack, bit, and other implement, and every such gun, pistol, hanger, cutlass, bludgeon, or other offensive weapon, and every such instrument as aforesaid, shall, by the conviction of the offender, become forfeited to Her Majesty for the uses of the colony. III. And it is hereby further ordered, that every person breaking or escaping out of any place of legal confinement, before the expiration of the General. General. 352 New Laws proposed to meet the term for which he or she shall have been committed or ordered to be con fined, by virtue of this Order, and every person committing any offence against this Order, which shall subject him or her to be dealt with asa rogue and vagabond, such person having been at some former time adjudgel so to be, and duly convicted thereof, and every person apprehended i arogue and vagabond, and violently resisting any constable or other peact officer so apprehending him or her, shall be deemed an incorrigible rogue within the true intent and meaning of this Order. And it shall be lawil for any stipendiary justice of the peace to commit such offender to any lawful place of confinement, there to remain until the next session of the then and there to be dealt with as hereinafter directed. IV. And it is hereby further ordered, that it shall be lawful foray police officer or constable whatsoever to apprehend any person who shall be found offending against this Order, and forthwith to take and convey hitt or her before some stipendiary justice of the peace, to be dealt with m such manner as hereinbefore directed. V. And it is hereby further ordered, that it shall be lawful for ay stipendiary justice of the peace, upon oath being made before him, thil any person hath committed or is suspected to have committed any offence against this Order, to issue his warrant to apprehend and bring hetor him, or some other stipendiary justice of the peace, the person so charged; to be dealt with as is directed by this Order. VI. And it is hereby further ordered, that when any such idle and disorderly person, rogue, and vagabond, shall give notice of his or her intention to appeal against the conviction of him or her, and shall eniet into recognizance, as hereinafter directed, to prosecute such appeal, such stipendiary justice shall require the person by whom such offender shell be apprehended, and the person or persons whose evidence shall appear to him to prove the offence and to support such conviction, to become bound m recognizance to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, to appear al the at the next session of the , to give evidence against such offender, touching such offence; and the is hereby authorized and empowered, at the request of any person who shall hat become bound in any such recognizance, to order the colonial to pay unto such prosecutor, and unto the witness or witnesses om his ot her behalf, such sum or sums of money as to the court may seem reasilh able and sufficient to reimburse such prosecutor and such witness 0! wit- nesses respectively for the expenses he, she, or they shall have severally been put to, and for his, her, or their trouble and loss of time in and about such prosecution: which order the clerk of the court is hereby directed ant required forthwith to make out, and deliver to such prosecutor, 0 unto such witness or witnesses; and the said colonial hereby authorized and required, upon sight of such order, forthwith to pay unto such prosecutor, or other person or persons authorized to receive the sil such money as aforesaid; and the said colonial shall be allowed the same in their account. And in case any such person or pest? as aforesaid shall refuse to enter into such recognizance, it shall be Jaw for such stipendiary justice to commit such person or persons so refusil J any lawful place of confinement, there to remain until he, she, they shall enter into such recognizance, or shall be otherwise discharged by due course of law. R VII. And it is hereby further ordered, that when any person shall he 7; committed for trial before the said , charged with hemg an incorrigible rogue, it shall be lawful for the court to examine into whe new Helations of Society. 353 circumstances of the case, and on conviction, to order, if they think fit, that such offender be imprisoned in some lawful place of confinement, and there, or on the public streets or highways, to be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding six calendar months from the time of making such order. VIM. And it is hereby further ordered, that in case any constable or other peace officer shall neglect his duty in anything required of him by this Order, or in case any person shall disturb or hinder any constable or other peace officer in the execution of this Order, or shall be aiding, abetting, or assisting therein, and shall be thereof convicted upon the oath of one or more witness or witnesses, before the > every such offender shall for every such offence forfeit any sum not exceeding 20/. And in case such offender shall not forthwith pay such sum so forfeited, the same shall be levied by distress and sale of the offender’s goods, by warrant from such ; and if sufficient distress cannot be found, it shall be lawful to commit the person so offending to any lawful place of confinement, there to be kept for any time not exceed- ing 30 days, or until such fine be paid, and the shall Cause the said fine when paid to be paid over to the colonial for the use of the colony. IX. And it is hereby further ordered, that it shall be lawful for any stipendiary justice of the peace, upon information on oath before him made, that any person, hereinbefore described to be an idle and disorderly person, Ora rogue and vagabond, or an incorrigible rogue, is or are reasonably Suspected to be harboured or concealed in any house or place, by warrant Under his hand and seal to authorize any constable or other person or persons to enter at any time into such house or place, and to apprehend and bring before him or any other stipendiary justice of the peace every Such idle and disorderly person, rogue and vagabond, and incorrigible Togue, as shall be then and there found, to be dealt with in the manner hereinbefore directed. X. And it is hereby further ordered, that every conviction of any offender as an idle and disorderly person, or as arogue and vagabond, or as an Mcorrigible rogue, under this Order, shall be in the form or to the effect set forth in Schedule (A.) hereunto annexed, or as near thereto as circum- stances will permit; and the stipendiary justice or justices of the peace, before whom any such conviction shall take place, shall and he and they is and are hereby required to transmit the said conviction to the P there to be filed and kept on record; anda copy of the conviction so filed, duly certified by the clerk of the court, shall and may be read as evidence Many court of record, or before any stipendiary justice or justices of the peace acting under the powers and provisions of this Order. XI. And it is hereby further ordered, that any person aggrieved by any act or determination of any stipendiary justice or justices of the peace in or Concerning the execution of this Order, may appeal to the said , giving to the stipendiary justice or justices of the peacc, whose act or determination shall be appealed against, notice in writing of such appeal, and of the ground thereof, and entering within seven days into a recog- Mizance with sufficient surety, before a stipendiary justice of the peace of the said colony, personally to appear and prosecute such appeal; and upon Such notice being given, and such recognizance being entered into, such Stipendiary justice is hereby empowered to discharge such person out of Custody ; and the said shall hear and determine the matter Of such appeal, and shall make such order therein as shall to the said 2 General, General, acme 354 New Laws proposed to meet the court seem meet; and in case of the dismissal of the appeal, or the affirm ance of the conviction, shall issue the necessary process for the appre hension and punishment of the offender, according to the conviction; provided always, that such appellant shall be bound to prosecute his sail appeal before the next sitting of the said ,» in case sith sitting shall not happen within the said period, but if such sitting shall he had within such seven days, then at the next succeeding and not afterwards. XII. And, for the protection of persons acting in the execution of this Order, it is further ordered that all actions or prosecutions to be com menced against any such person or persons for anything done in pursuamtt of this Order, shall be laid and tried in the , as the case may be, wherein the fact was alleged to be committed, and shall be com mitted within three calandar months after the fact committed, and nol otherwise, and notice in writing of such action, and of the cause theredl shall be given to the defendant one calendar month at least before tle commencement of the action; and no plaintiff shall recover in any sith action, if tender of sufficient amends shall have been made before sih action is brought, or if a sufficient sum of money shall have been paid ill court, after such action brought by or in behalf of the defendant; andifa verdict should pass for the defendant, or the plaintiff shall become nonsilt, or discontinue any such action after issue joined, the defendant shall recover treble costs, and have the like remedy for the same as any defer dant hath in law in other cases; and though a verdict be given for tht plaintiff in any such action, such plaintiff shall not have costs againstilt defendant, unless the court, before which the trial shall be, shall certifyit approbation of the action. XIII. And it is hereby further ordered, that it shall and may be Javhil for any two or more stipendiary justices of the peace at any time to not nate and appoint any discreet person or persons to be constables or peitt officers for the purposes of this Order, and to swear him or them to the due execution of his or their office. XIV. And it is hereby further ordered, that no person shall act orbt considered as astipendiary justice, within the meaning of this present Oxdéh save only such persons as, being in the receipt of stipends assigned for thie maintenance as such justices, shall be included within a special commissidl of the peace, to be issued in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, appointing them to act as stipendiary justices for the said colony of , or for some county or counties, or other district or districts thereof, XV. And it is further ordered, that all laws and ordinances now in fo in the said colony for the prevention or punishment of vagrancy, or which» are in anywise repugnant to or inconsistent with this present Order, sh be and the same are repealed. And the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg, one of Her Majesty’s Princip#l Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly. (Signed) C. C. Greville SCHEDULE (A.) British Guiana to wit. In the parish [or town] of BE it remembered, that on the day in the year of our Lord at of British Guiana, is convicted before me for that he the said did [specify the offence, and time and place, when and where the 'same,was committed, 4 the in the colony new Relations of Society. 355 ease may be.] And I the said adjudge the said for the said offence, to be imprisoned or to solitary confinement in the and there kept to hard labour for the space of days ensuing from the date hereof, this day to be accounted one. Given under my hand and seal, the day and year first above mentioned. A. B., Stip. Justice of the Peace. Enclosure 3. AT the Court at Windsor, the 7th day of September, 1838 :—Present, the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Wuereas since the abolition of slavery throughout the British colonies, plantations, and possessions abroad, the marriage laws of the said colonies, plantations, and possessions, have been found inappropriate to the altered condition thereof, and inadequate to the increased desire for lawful matri- mony therein. And whereas it is expedient and necessary to amend the said marriage laws, and to adapt the same to the altered state and condition Of society in the said colonies, plantations, and possessions. It is therefore hereby ordered by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, that from and after the taking effect of this order, it shall be lawful for any minister of the Christian religion, ordained, Or otherwise set apart to the ministry of the Christian religion, accord- Iig to the usage of the persuasion to which he may belong, to publish, Within the colonies of British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Mauritius, or any of them, banns of marriage between per- sons desirous of being joined together in matrimony, and such publication ‘Shall be made in an audible manner some time during public divine service On a Sunday, in the face of the congregation before whom such minister Shall officiate in the parish in which both or one of the parties to be married Shall dwell, and shall contain the Christian and other name and surname and Place of abode of each of the said parties, and shall be so published by Some such minister for three Sundays preceding the solemnization of the Marriage, during the morning service, if there be service in the morning, or U there shall be no morning service then during the evening service; and if the parties to be married shall dwell in different parishes, the banns shall be published in like manner in both such parishes; and if the said parties Shall be of different persuasions, the banns shall be published in like man- Net before each of the congregations to which the said parties may respect- Wely belong, whether both the said congregations shall assemble in the same Patish or not. And where one or both of the parties shall dwell in any &xtra-parochial place, then if there be a cengregation of the persuasion to Which any such party shall belong assembling for public divine worship as aforesaid in such extra-parochial place, the banns of the party or parties dwelling in such extra-parochial place shall be published in manner afore- Said in such extra-parochial place; and if there shall be no such congre- gation in such extra-parochial place, then the banns of such of the parties tobe married as shall dwell in such extra-parochial place, shall be pub- lished in manner aforesaid in some parish next adjoining to such extra- parochial place; and in cases where’ the banns shall have been published i different places, the officiating minister at either of the said places shall, Mthe request of both or either of the parties whose banns shall have been Za 2 General, Enclosure 3. General. 356 New Laws proposed to meet the published as aforesaid, give to the party requiring the same a certificated! the banns having been duly published in the place of which he is an oflitr ating minister, and on the production of such certificate to the officiating minister of the other place where the banns were published, or.of such cer- tificates to any other such minister as aforesaid in the parish or extra-pane chial place to which one of the parties shall belong, it shall be lawful ii such minister where the banns were published, on receiving such certificate from such other minister where the banns were published, or for such mr nister as aforesaid, to whom the certificates of such ministers of both places where the banns were published, on receipt of such certificate or certificates (as the case may be) to solemnize matrimony between the said patti according to such form and ceremony as shall be in use or be adopted by the persuasion to which the minister solemnizing such marriage shall bt long. Provided that whenever the form and ceremony used shall be other than that of the united Church of England and Ireland, each of the patiit shall, in some part of the ceremony, make the following declaration := “T do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why J, A. B., may not be joined in matrimony to C. D., here present.” And each of the parties shall say to the other :— ‘‘ T call upon these persons here present to witness that I, A. B.,do take thee, C. D., to be my lawful wedded wife (or husband).” And it is hereby further ordered, that no minister shall be obliged to publish banns between any persons whomsoever, unless the persons t0lt married shall, two days at the least before the time required for the fit publication of such banns respectively, deliver, or cause to be delivered, t such minister, a notice of their true Christian and other names and sult names, and a description of their place or respective places of abodqll such parish or extra-parochial place as aforesaid, and of the time during which they have dwelt in such place or places; and that it shall not be la ful for any minister to selemnize any marriage after three calendar monts from the last !publication of banns of such marriage; and in all sé where three calendar months shall have elapsed without the marriage hiaill been solemnized, the publication of such banns shall be void ; and beloté § the said parties can be married by banns, it shall be necessary to republish banns anew, in manner and form aforesaid, as if no banns had ever heen published between them. And be it further enacted, that no such minister as aforesaid, wh0 shill solemnize any marriage after due publication of banns as aforesaid, betweel persons, both or one of whom (not being a widow or a widower) shal al the time of such marriage be under legal age, shall be answerable, a sponsible, or liable to any pain, penalty, or proceeding, for having soleil nized. such marriage without the consent of the parents or euardials, ot other person (if any) whose consent is required by law, unless such parents or guardians, or other person, or one of them, shall forbid the marmage,#l give notice thereof to such minister before he has solemnized the same; all in case such marriage shall be forbidden as aforesaid, and such notice sl be given as aforesaid, the publication of the banns for such marriage Sit be absolutely void. And it is hereby further ordered, that where by any law i force, oh which may hereafter be in force in any of the colonies to which this Or applies, by which licenses for marriage, without the publication of hauls, new Relations of Society. 357 may be granted or issued in any such colony by the governor thereof, or General. any civil authority therein, it shall be lawful for the parties intending Marriage, or either of them, to require that such licence shall authorize the solemnization of the marriage, in respect of which such licence is applied for, in any place where, and by any minister by whom such marriage could have been solemnized by virtue of this Act, if banns thereof had been published as aforesaid. | “ And whereas it may happen that some of the colonies to which this i Order applies, or in some parts thereof respectively, there may not be any such minister as aforesaid, or not a sufficient number of such ministers to | 7 afford convenient facilities for marriage, and it is expedient to provide for Ve such cases.”’ | It is therefore further ordered, that in every such case, and whenever the same shall happen in any of the said colonies, it shall be lawful for the governor of such colony to appoint by writing, under his hand and official seal, one or more such fit and proper person or persons as he shall from time to time deem necessary or expedient, to be called the marriage officer, to solemnize marriages within such part or parts of the colony im which such appointment shall be made, as the governor shall from time to time direct: and it shall be lawful for the governor at any time, and from time to time to revoke and cancel any such appointment or appointments, and to alter, vary, enlarge, or contract the district or districts in which any person 80 appointed shall have power or jurisdiction to celebrate marriage, for any ai it cause which to him shall seem meet; and every such appointment shall ie specify the part or district within which the person thereby appointed shall haye power and jurisdiction to celebrate marriage ; and until some law shall be made, passed, allowed and promulgated for regulating marriages by persons so appointed, it shall be lawful for the governor, and he is hereby tequired to direct, declare, and promulgate the manner by which the inten- tion of parties to marry before any such marriage officer shall be made pub- lie: provided always, that it shall not be lawful for any such marriage officer t0 solemnize marriage between persons, one or both of whom shall be un- der lawful age (unless in the case of a widow or widower), after such mar- Mage shall be forbidden, and notice thereof given to him by any person haying lawful authority to forbid the same: provided always, that in every Marriage before any such marriage officer not celebrated according to the form of the united Church of England and Ireland, the parties shall, in some part of the ceremony, respectively make the declarations hereinbefore set forth, as in the case of marriage by any such minister as aforesaid: provided also that every such minister as aforesaid may nevertheless pub- lish banns and celebrate marriage under and by virtue of this Order in any part or district within which any such marriage officer shall have power Or jurisdiction to celebrate marriage, as fully as if no such marriage officer had ever been appointed. “ And whereas it may happen that the parents or parent, guardians or Suardian,: of one or both of the parties to be married may be non compos mentis, or absent from the colony, or otherwise incapable in law or in fact of consenting, or may be induced unreasonably and impro- : to withhold his, her, or their consent to a proper marriage, or may be _ dead.” It is therefore hereby ordered, that in case any such parent or guardian Whose consent is necessary to a marriage, shall be non compos menits, or absent from the colony or otherwise incapable as aforesaid of consenting, or shall withhold his, her, or their consent to any marriage; or in case General. oe 358 New Laws proposed to meet the there shall be no person capable of consenting, it shall be lawful foray person desirous of marriage, to whose marriage such consent is necessay, but cannot be given, or is withheld, to apply, by petition, to the chief ciml judge, or person officiating as such for the time being, of the colony, whi is hereby empowered to proceed upon such petition in a summary way; alll in case the marriage proposed shall, upon examination, appear to himti be proper, the said chief civil judge, or person officiating as such, shill judicially declare by his order, in writing, that such marriage is proper aid may be solemnized forthwith; and every marriage duly solemnized ii pursuance, or under the authority or direction of such Order, shall bea good, valid, and effectual, to all tents and purposes whatsoever, as if sith consent as aforesaid had been duly given thereto. And it is hereby further ordered, that after the solemnization of fj marriage under or by virtue of this Act, it shall not be necessary, insip port of such marriage, or in any action, suit, or proceeding where the same may come into question, to give any proof of the actual dwelling of ihe parties married, or of either of them, before the marriage, or that the banis were published, or that the marriage was solemnized in the place and ly a person, where and by whom the same ought to have been published ail solemnized respectively, nor shall any evidence be received to proyellt contrary. And it is hereby further ordered, that in no case whatsoever shall aly suit or proceeding be had in any court or before any jurisdiction whit soever, to compel the celebration of any marriage, by reason of any promt or marriage-contract entered into, or by reason of seduction, or of ail cause whatsoever which shall arise after the taking effect of this Only any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding: provided always, thil ] nothing herein contained shall prevent any person agerieved from suing for or recovering damages in any court, or by any proceeding wherei aud whereby damages may be lawfully recovered for breach of promise of ill riage, or for seduction, or other cause as aforesaid. And in order to preserve evidence of marriages, and to make the pi0il thereof certain and easy, and for the direction of such ministers and mit riage officers as aforesaid in the registration thereof, it is hereby furth® ordered, that from and after the passing and taking effect of this Onder, all marriages, (except marriages by special licence to marry at any ill and place where such special licences can be lawfully granted,) shall be solemnized with open doors, between the hours of (eight) in the forenddl and (four) in the afternoon, in the presence of two or more credible wr nesses, beside the minister or marriage officer who shall solemmide the 4 same; and that immediately after the solemnization of every marriage, tl” entry thereof shall be made in a marriage register book, to be kept for that purpose, by some such minister or marriage officer as aforesaid, or m sume safe custody for the place in which marriages may be solemnized ; and 1 every such entry in every such register it shall be expressed that the mir riage was had by banns or licence; and if both or either of the pals married by licence be under age, and not a widow or widower, that 1 ws had with the consent of the parents or guardians, or other perso 0} persons having lawful authority to withhold consent to the marriage # after such order of the chief civil judge, or other person officiating ® such as aforesaid, and shall be signed by the minister or marriage ofiict as the case may be, with his proper addition, and by the parties marriel, and shall be attested by such two witnesses; and every such entry shall b in the form or to the effect of the following specimen :— 1838, Marriages solemnized at George Town, in the Parish of When *|Married. Names and Surnames, John Williams Lucy Chambers new Relations of Society. ORIGINAL REGISTER, of Ages. | Condition. full | bachelor age minor| spinster 1838. Rank or Profession, carpenter Residence at the Time of Marriage. After Banns or Licence, in the County Consent by whom given, or Judge’s Order. ee Henry Chambers, the father. Married in the Wesleyan Chapel at George Town aforesaid, after Banns, by me, This Marriage was solemnized between us John Williams Lucy Chambers A.B., Wesleyan Minister. } in the presence of us Cc. D, And of every such entry, at the same time, before the parties depart, shall then and there be made on a separate piece of paper, parchment, or vellum, a duplicate original register, in which the same matter shall be entered, and signed and attested by the same parties in manner or to the elect of the following specimen :— DUPLICATE ORIGINAL REGISTER. 1838, Marriages solemnized at George Town, in the Parish of of 1838. in the County & © oF wo ao Pee bs When Names 4s Se) s. 9 Consent by whom No. bas and Ages.|Condition.| 332 os | 750 given, or Married. 3 eee) 3) ae) eC Surnames. aS gi | 2 35 Judge’s Order, a a) ° ae on ae . yu wiiierdiet deed anotet) oie our Shia For every general search not directed to any par- Meter Coy Mis oe Cie ee ie Sy 4) io) Our Sh For every search for a particular entry . . Two shillings. For every search for two or more particular en- tries, and not exceeding four entries. . . One shilling each, For every search for any number of particular entries exceeding four. . . «+ « .» . Four shill For every such certified copy as aforesaid . . Two shillings. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any cleigy man of the Established Church of England and Ireland from receivillf for any duty performed by him under this Order, such fees or payments & have heretofore been customarily paid to such clergyman, according t0 the rules of the said church, for the performance of such duties respectively: Provided always, that nothing in this Order contained shall authorize require any clergyman of the Established Church aforesaid to solemml marriage in any other manner than is prescribed by the Rubrick ; provided also, that it shall be lawful for the governor to authorize such mamagt officers as aforesaid to receive such further or other remuneration @s It shall from time to time think the nature of their duties shall reasonably require, And it is hereby further ordered, that if any person shall unlawiully; wilfully, and maliciously erase, obliterate, or destroy, or cause or procilt to be erased, obliterated, or destroyed, any such original register or duph cate original register as aforesaid, such person shall be deemed guilty a? misdemeanor, and on being duly convicted thereof, shall be liable be Imprisoned in the common gaol in the jurisdiction in which he shal] be tried and convicted thereof, for any term not less than three nor exceeding new Relations of Society. 361 twelve calendar months; and if any person shall unlawfully and wilfully forge or alter, or falsely make or cause or procure, or permit to be forged or altered, or falsely made, any such original register, or duplicate original register, or any certified copy thereof respectively, or shall knowingly and wilfully deliver, offer, utter, or put off any such forged, false, or altered copy, he shall be liable for such his offence, on conviction thereof, to be imprisoned in such gaol as aforesaid, for any term not exceeding eighteen months, nor less than six months. And it is hereby further ordered, That it shall and may be lawful for the respective local legislatures of the said colonies of British Guiana, Tri- nidad, St. Lucia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Mauritius, by any ordinance to be by them for that purpose made, to provide for the better adaptation of this present Order to the local circumstances of such colonies respec- tively, provided that such ordinance be not in contradiction or repugnant to any of the provisions of this Order; and that all such ordinances be made, confirmed, or disallowed, as the case may be, in the manner and ac- cording to the rules provided by law in reference to any other ordinances of the said respective local legislatures. And whereas, since the abolition of slavery in the British colonies, plan- tations, and possessions abroad, doubts have arisen and exist as to the vali- dity of certain marriages contracted and solemnised previous to the aboli- tion of slavery in the said colonies, plantations, and possessions, between slaves, and between parties one of whom was a slave, and also in some cases between free persons of colour, and, since the abolition of slavery, between apprentices and other persons of free condition, by ministers of the Christian religion other than clergymen of the United Church of Eng- land and Ireland; and it is expedient and necessary that all such doubts should be removed, and such marriages and reputed marriages should be ascertained and confirmed, and that all persons who may have solemnised any such marriages or reputed marriages, or who have in any manner as- sisted thereat, should be indemnified from and against all pains, penalties, forfeitures, and proceedings, to which such persons or any of them may be Nable therefor. It is therefore further ordered, that all marriages which at any time before the taking effect of this Order shall have been solem- nised in any of the colonies to which this Order applies, by or before any such minister of the Christian religion as aforesaid, shall be, and the same are hereby declared to be and to have been from the time of the solemnisa- tion thereof respectively, good, valid, and effectual to all intents and pur- poses whatsoever, any law or usage to the contrary thereof in anywise not- withstanding ; and all pains, penalties, forfeitures, and proceedings of Whatsoever kind or description, which any such Christian minister may have incurred or become liable to before the taking effect of this Order, by teason of his having solemnised or assisted at any marriage whatsoever, or i anywise in relation thereto, is and are hereby remitted, released, re- pealed, and made void. And whereas in the colonies in which marriages have been celebrated as aforesaid, registers thereof have been duly made and kept by such ministers as aforesaid who officiated thereat, it is therefore further ordered, that all Such registers and all copies thereof respectively, certified under the hand of the person for the time being having the lawful care of the same, to be true copies, shall be and are hereby declared to be good evidence of such Marriages as aforesaid respectively, as fully as if such registers had been Made and kept, and such certified copies had been made respectively by General. General. 9 362 New Laws proposed to meet the persons appointed by law to make and keep the same, and shall be 1 ceived in evidence in all courts, and before all judges and magistrates, And it is hereby further ordered, that, the better to preserve evidence of marriages so registered, and to facilitate the proof thereof, every person it whose custody any register lawfully is or shall be at the time, shall, within six months after the promulgation of this Order, to which the same ex tends, respectively make or cause to be made, a fair and correct copy of every such register, and of every entry therein contained. And it shall be lawful for any such Christian minister, as aforesaid, to examine, verily, and correct (if and where found incorrect), by the original, any such copy of a register kept by the persuasion to which he belongs, and to take the same before any magistrate, and make and sign the following declaration, which any magistrate, to whom the same shall be tendered, is hereby ar thorised and required to receive, and to certify in manner following, thatis to say :— “1, A. B. [describe the persuasion to which he belongs], do hereby solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare, that I have carefully examined this copy, beginning the day of [month and year], and ending on the day of [month and year], and containing pages, and entries of marriage, with the original register, and I believe the same tole throughout a true and faithful copy of the original register of which it pir ports to be a copy. (Signed) “ A. Be “The said A. B. appeared this day of , before me, C. D., one of Her Majesty’s justices of the peace, in and for , and made and signed the above declaration in my presence (Signed) < C. De Which declaration, and magistrate’s certificate thereof, shall be enterdl and signed at the end of the copy to which it relates, and the copy shall he then securely sealed up and forthwith sent to the Colonial Secretary’ aforesaid, to be by him kept with the registers of marriages in his offi where the same may be searched, and every copy of any entry therein ¢é tified under his hand to be a true copy, shall be of the same force and efiedl as any certified copy whatsoever, made by him, is or can be, and whidl certified copies he is hereby required to make, and may receive paymeil for as in other cases. And if any such minister as aforesaid shall wilfully make and sign ay such declaration, knowing the same to be false, he shall be liable to the pains and penalties to which persons guilty of wilful and corrupt perjilty are liable. And whereas, in consequence of imperfect instruction in the Christal religion, and from other causes, many marriages, de facto, have taken plate between persons, one or both of whom were in the condition of slavery, bu! which marriages, de facto, have never been sanctioned by any public Celt mony, or formally registered ; and in many such cases the parties have hal offspring of such last-mentioned marriages; and it is expedient that pl vision should be forthwith made for enabling such persons to confer updl their children the benefit of children born in lawful wedlock : it is therelote further ordered, that it shall be lawful for all persons having contracted marriage as last aforesaid at any time within one year after the coming mW operation of this Order, duly to solemnise the marriage ceremony before al) new Relations of Society. 363 clergyman of the Established Church, or in any other manner authorised by this Order; and every person so recognising a previous marriage, de facto, shall at the same time make and sign the following declaration, which shall also be attested by the witnesses present, and signed by the minister or marriage officer before whom the ceremony is performed. “We, A. B. and C. D., do hereby severally, solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare, that on the day of , in the year ‘ or thereabout, at , we, the said A. B. and C. D., intermarried with each other, and that we have had issue of the said marriage chil- dren, and no more, namely :—[Here state the names and ages of the chil- dren, and if any be dead state the fact]. (Signed) "ae BD ix. Ll, oC De And such marriage ceremony shall have relation back to the time of the marriage, de facto, and all such children shall be deemed and taken to have been born in holy wedlock, and shall possess and enjoy all the rights, privi- Teges, and advantages of persons born in lawful wedlock; and to preserve evidence thereof, a duplicate original declaration shall then and there, be- fore the parties depart, be made, signed, and attested in the same manner, and the original declaration shall be appended to and kept with the original Tegister ; and the duplicate original declaration shall be appended to, sent, and kept with the duplicate original register, and shall, for all purposes of ‘evidence, be deemed part thereof respectively: Provided always, and it is hereby declared, that such last-mentioned ceremony and declaration may be performed and made without the previous publication of banns or a licence. And it is hereby further ordered, that where, in any colony to which this Order applies, any other language than English shall be commonly used, the governor shall cause a true and faithful translation of this Order, and particularly of the several forms and declarations herein contained, to be Made, expressing the true intent and meaning thereof; and such transla- tion, when promulgated by the governor, may be lawfully used by all per- sons speaking such language; and everything done under this Order, by Means of such translation, shall be as valid and effectual, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as if the same had been done in the original language of this Order, any law or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. And it is hereby further ordered, that the word ‘ governor’ in this Order shall be taken to mean the governor or other officer lawfully administering the government of such colony; and the word “ parish,” in colonies divided Into parishes, shall be taken in its ordinary sense ; and in colonies not di- ‘vided into parishes shall be taken to mean such other districts ur divisions as for civil purposes are equivalent to parishes. And the term “ extra-pa- rochial place’’ shall be taken to mean any place not included in any such parish, district, or division. And if in any case there be no such district or division, or if it be uncertain to what kind of district or division the word "™ parish” is hereby intended to apply, the same shall be determined and Officially declared by the governor. And it is further ordered, that this Order shall take effect and come into Operation in the colony of Mauritius on the Ist day of February 1839; in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, on the said Ist day of February 1839; and in all other colonies to which it applies or extends, on the Ist day of December 1838. And it is further ordered and declared, that within the meaning of and General. General —— ee I. Pe 19, 364. New Laws proposed to meet the for the purposes of this Order, all islands and territories dependent upm any of the colonies to which this Order applies or extends, and constituting parts of the same colonial government, shall respectively be taken to he parts of such respective colonies. And the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg, one of Her Majesty’s Principil Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly, (Signed) C. C. Greviiie. Copy of a Circutar Despatcu addressed by, Lord Gienete tothe Governors of the Legislative Colonies in the West Indies. SIR, Downing-street, 15th September, 1838. I HEREWITH transmit to you copies of three Orders, madeby Her Majesty in Council on the 7th instant, having for their object the introduction into the West India colonies, which are subjectt0 the legislative authority of Her Majesty in Council, of a law regi- lating the relation of masters and servants, of a law for the prevelr tion of vagrancy, and of alaw for giving validity to certain mar riages. I also enclose the copy of a Circular Despatch which I have at: dressed to the governors of those colonies to which these Orders im Council extend. I transmit these documents to you, in order that you may, at the earliest opportunity, communicate them to the legislature of the colony under your government. ‘They will serve to explain, mor clearly than might otherwise be practicable, the views of Her Ma- jesty’s Government as to the changes of the law of the British West Indies, by which the abolition of the apprenticeship system ought to be accompanied. They will serve as a guide to yourself in givilg or withholding your assent to any laws which may be tendered by the Council and Assembly for your acceptance. ‘To any which maj, in their general principles, be consistent with these Orders, you! assent will of course be given. ‘To any which may be framed om principles at variance with, or repugnant to, those on which these Orders proceed, it is Her Majesty’s pleasure that you should not assent. All due allowance must, of course, be made for real ani essential differences of local cireumstances; but the most ample ant conclusive experience shows that those differences do not exist im the British West Indies io such an extent as to forbid complete wr formity in the principles, anda very general coincidence in the struc- ture of laws framed for the regulation, throughout them all, of such questions as those to which the accompanying Orders in Coumltl refer, I intend to adopt the same course with reference to the Or ders in Council, when passed, on the other topics adverted to in the enclosed circular. I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG new Relations of Society. 365 Copy of a Circutar Despatcu addressed by Lord Gurnete to the Governors of the Crown Colonies, British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Mauritius. Sir, Downing-street, 16th October, 1838. Wiru reference to my Circular Despatch of the 15th ultimo, relative to the legislation required to meet the new exigencies of soci- ety in the West Indies, I have now the honour to transmit to you the Order in Council to which I therein referred, which has been passed by Her Majesty in Council, for preventing the unauthorized occupa- tion of land in the colony under your government. I have, &ce. (Signed) GLENELG. Enclosure. At the Court at Windsor, the 6th day of October, 1838; present, the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Wuereas in the colonies of British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Mauritius, divers persons, without probable claim or pretence of title, have taken possession of lands therein respectively situate, and it is neces- sary that provision be made for the prevention of such encroachments. It is therefore ordered by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, that the stipendiary justices of the peace within the said colonies respectively shall, in manner hereinafter mentioned, exercise a summary jurisdiction for the removal of all persons who have so taken or shall take possession of any lands, from the lands of which they May so have taken or shall take possession in such colonies respectively, subject nevertheless to the provisions hereinafter mentioned. And it is further ordered, that for the purposes and within the meaning of this present Order, such persons only shall be considered and be entitled to act as stipendiary justices of the peace as are entitled to act in that capa- city under certain Orders of Her Majesty in Council, bearing date the 7th day of September, 1838, for regulating contracts of hired service, and for the prevention and punishment of vagrancy within the colonies aforesaid. And it is further ordered, that it shall be lawful for every such stipendiary justice of the peace to receive any information which may be laid before him upon oath, charging any person or persons with having, without probable claim or pretence of title, entered upon or taken possession of any lands in any of the said respective colonies; provided, that if the lands mentioned or referred to in any such information shall belong to or be vested in Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, such information shall be preferred by the Surveyor-General of the colony, or by some person acting under his autho- tity and on his behalf; but that if the lands mentioned or referred to in any such information shall belong to or be vested in any body politic or corpo- tate, or in any persons or person other than Her Majesty, her heirs or suc- cessors, such information shall be preferred by the owner or owners of such lands, or by some person or persons who, as general or special agent, attor- hey, trustee, or otherwise, may be authorized to represent and to act for and on the behalf of such owner or owners, or by some person or persons who General, . p. 24. Enclosure. General. 366 new Laws proposed to meet the may be authorized by the supreme court of justice in such colony to prelét such information. And it is further ordered, that every stipendiary justice before whom any such information shall be preferred, shall issue his summons for the appear ance before him of the party or parties alleged to have so illegally entered upon or taken possession of such land, and of any other person or persons whom it may be necessary or proper to examine as a witness or witnessesm the hearing of any such information, and shall proceed in a summary way in the presence of the parties, or, in case of the wilful absence of any pér son against whom any such information shall have been laid, then, in his absence, to hear and determine such information; and in case on the hear ing thereof it shall be made to appear by sufficient evidence to the satisfac tion of such justice that the party or parties against whom the same shill have been laid, hath or have entered upon or taken possession of the lant mentioned or referred to in such information without any probable clamor pretence of title, then such justice is hereby authorized and required i make an order, directing such party or parties to deliver up to Her Majesly, her heirs or successors, or other the owner or owners of such lands, or per son preferring the information, as the case may be, to be named in suth order, peaceable possession of such lands, together with all crops growimg thereon, and all buildings and other immoveable property upon and aflixel to the said lands; and in case the party or parties against whom any sill order shall have been made shall not, within a fortnight after service therédl, deliver up possession of the said lands and premises pursuant to the sail order, then and in such case it shall be lawful for such justice to adjudge such party or parties to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, foray time not exceeding 14 days, and to make a further order for the immedi delivery over of the possession of such land and premises to Her Majesty her heirs or successors, or other the body politic or corporate, or persomdt persons, whom such justice may have found to be entitled to the possessilll thereof, and who shall be named in such further order; and the govemof of the colony in which such lands are situate shall thereupon cause possessidll thereof to be delivered to Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, or to sud other body politic or corporate, or person or persons accordingly. Provided always, and it is further ordered, that no such order forthe delivery up of possession of any such lands shall be made by any such jit tice as aforesaid if it shall appear to such justice that the party or parliés against whom any such order is sought, hath or have been, by himself i themselves, or by those under whom he or, they claim title, in the quiet p&¥ session of the land mentioned or referred to in any such information for me year next before the date thereof, or that such party or parties hath or have any probable claim or pretence of lawful title to such lands, or to the ocr pation thereof. 5 And it is further ordered, that for the purpose of any such order be made by any such justice as aforesaid, the adjudication of such justice shal be conclusive as to the title of the person to whom delivery of the said lands and premises may be directed to be made; but nothing herein contaille shall extend to take away or abridge the jurisdiction by law vested m the superior courts of civil justice of the said colonies respectively, in taking cognizance of and adjudicating upon titles to land: and any person against whom any such order as aforesaid may have been made, may, notwithstanle ing such order, proceed by the ordinary course of law to recover possessil of such lands in case he shall be able to establish a title thereto, and may also in such case recover a reasonable compensation for the damage he maj new Relations of Society. 367 have sustained by reason of his having been compelled to deliver up pos- session of the said premises; and in like manner, in case of the dismissal of any such information, the party having preferred the same may proceed before the ordinary tribunals as if no such information had been preferred. Provided always, that in case any such information shall be dismissed, it shall be lawful for the said justice, if he shall think fit, to order the person by whom the same may have been preferred, whether such information may have been preferred by the Surveyor-General, or by any other person, to pay to the party or parties against whom the same may have been preferred, such sum as the said justice may consider to be the amount of costs fairly incurred by such party or parties by reason of such information so dis- Missed, and the payment of such costs may be enforced in the same way as the payment of other debts may be enforced in such colonies respectively. And for securing method and accuracy in the execution, by the stipendiary justices, of the jurisdiction hereby vested in them, it is hereby further or- dered, that the governor of each of the said colonies shall prepare forms of. the proceedings to be observed on lodging complaints, in issuing summonses in the citation of witnesses, {in the making orders, and generally for the complete carrying into execution of the powers hereby vested in the stipen- diary justices; which forms shall be submitted by such governor to the chief civil judge of each such colony respectively, and being approved by Such judge, the same shall be observed in all proceedings before the said Stipendiary justices, And it is further ordered, that all such forms of proceeding shall from time to time be revised, repealed, or amended by the authority and in the Manner aforesaid, as occasion may require. And it is further ordered, that no order made by any stipendiary justice in the execution of the jurisdiction so vested in him, shall be liable to be reversed, set aside, appealed from, or questioned, by any court of justice in any of the said colonies, but the same shall to all intents and purposes be binding, final, and conclusive ; subject nevertheless to the rights of the par- ties to proceed as hereinbefore mentioned before the ordinary tribunals of the said colonies respectively. And it is further ordered, that for all acts done by any stipendiary justice in the exercise of the jurisdiction hereby vested in him, such justice shall have, and be entitled to, the same protection and indemnity as by any law in force in the colony any magistrate is entitled to claim, or to have, in re- pee of any act by him done im execution of the powers vested by law in m. And it is further ordered, that for the purposes and within the meaning 6f this present Order, the officer Jawfully administering the government of any of the said colonies shall be deemed and taken to be the governor thereof; and the words, chief civil judge, shall be construed and understood tO mean, in the colony of British Guiana the Chief Justice of the Court of Civil and Criminal Justice of Demerara, and in the colony of Trinidad the Chief Judge of the Court of First Instance, and in the colony of St. Lucia the First President of the Royal Court, and in the colony of Mauritius the First President of the Court of Appeal. And it is further ordered, that all laws, statutes, and ordinances in force in the said colonies, or any of them, which are or shall be in anywise repug- Mant to or inconsistent with this present Order, shall be and the same are hereby repealed. And it is further ordered, that the governor of each of the said colonies Tespectively shall, immediately upon the receipt by him of this present General. eet 368 New Laws proposed to meet the General. Order, publish or cause to be published a proclamation, reciting at lengih the whole of this present Order, and stating the day of the month and yea on which the same was so received by him; and from the publication of such proclamation this Order shall take effect and have the force of lawit each of the said colonies respectively. And the Right Honourable the Lord Glenelg, one of Her Majestys Principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions here accordingly. (Signed) Wm. L, Batuurst Copy of a Crrcutar Despatcu addressed by Lord GLEneExe to me Governors of Crown Colonies, British Guiana, Trinidad, St. lit cia, and Mauritius. SIR, Downing-street, 12th November, 1838. I. p. 26. In my despatch of the 16th ultimo I transmitted to you a Order, which had been passed by Her Majesty in Council, forpie venting unauthorized intrusion upon unoccupied lands in the cololy under your government, which Order you were to proclaim imme diately upon the receipt of it. This object being thus provided toy it will remain to regulate the alienation of lands belonging tlle Crown strictly by the principles which were explained in my cireulit despatch of the 30th of January, 1836. I am disposed to belitie that, at the present time, the lowest price at which, according to thow principles, land ought to be offered for sale in the West Indies, ish sterling per acre, and you will consider yourself prohibited tom reducing the upset price below that sum, without special referent and permission. You are, however, authorized, and indeed it will be your duty fix a higher upset price when the value of the land renders suella course expedient. In other respects you will consider the Royal Instructions whith were addressed to the governors of New South Wales, Van Diemens ” Land, and Swan River, and of which I enclose a copy, as applied yourself. Vide Papers These instructions have been in successful operation for severtl ordered by the years, and you will guide yourself by them, as far as the cirttli House of Com- : : : ee . stances of the colony over which you preside renders it practicable mons to be printed, 18th T have, &c. Oct. 183] Signed GLENELG. No. 328; p. 3. ee Cory of a Crrcutar Desparcn addressed by Lory Grenexe to iit J Governors of the West India Colonies, &c. Sir, Downing Street, 30th January, 1836. Papers, &c. Tur accounts which I have received from time to time of the condilt 1836, III. (1), and industry of the apprentices, appear to prove that cultivation may be p- 10. profitably carried on in the West Indies as long as the apprenticeship lasts and afford much encouragement to hope that full and complete emai@ pation will be attended with beneficial results, both to the employet$ an the labouring population. Some precautionary measures, howevel, gol to be required, in order to guard against that degree of danger ihe new Relations of Society. 369 value of property, or the more permanent interests of society, which can scarcely fail to attach to so great and important a transition. It must not be forgotten, that the conditions under which society has hitherto existed will, on the expiration of the apprenticeship, undergo an essential change. During Slavery, labour could he compelled to go wher- ever it promised most profit to the employer. Under the new system it will find its way wherever it promises most profit to the labourer. If, therefore, we are to keep up the cultivation of the staple productions, we must make it the immediate and apparent interest of the negro population to employ their labour in raising them. There is reason to apprehend that at the termination of the apprentice- ship this will not be the case. Where there is land enough to yield an abundant subistence to the whole population in return for slight labour, _ they will probably have no sufficient inducement to prefer the more toil- some existence of a regular labourer, whatever may be its remote advan- tages, or even its immediate gains. Should things be left to their natural course, labour would not be attracted to the cultivation of exportable pro- duce, until population began to press upon the means of subsistence, and the land failed (without a more assiduous and economical culture) to supply all its occupants with the necessaries of life. As soon as a natural labouring population should thus arise, and the growing necessity of making the most of the land should ensure the proper application of their labour, it might be expected that the present staples would again be brought into cultivation. But the depreciation which would take place in property, and the rude state into which society would fall back in the mean time, Make it desirable to adopt measures to check this apparently natural course. How far it may be possible to check it effectually, it is not easy to de- termine; but by diminishing the facilities of obtaining land, it may cer- tamly be impeded. It is true, that where so much unoccupied land belongs to private persons, it is difficult to make any arrangement which will ensure the proper distribution of it; nor am I prepared at present to recommend any definite measure for that purpose which may be free from inconve- Mience. But it is of great importance in the mean time that the evil Should not be aggravated by the inconsiderate neglect, or the incautious distribution of those lands which are at the disposal of the Crown. In order to prevent this, it will be necessary to prevent the occupation of any Crown lands by persons not possessing.a proprietary title to them ; and to fix such a price upon all Crown lands as may place them out of the Teach of persons without capital. The specific regulations by which this May be best effected will probably vary with the local circumstances of €ach Colony. It is my present object to explain to you the nature and grounds of the measure, that you may be enabled to examine those circum- Siances in their true bearing upon the question, and to arrange the details accordingly. It would appear that a country is then in its most prosperous state, When there is as much labour in the market as can be profitably employed. Tn new countries, where the whole unoccupied territory belongs to the Crown, and settlers are continually flowing in, it is possible, by fixing the Price of fresh land so high as to place it above the reach of the poorest Class of settlers, to keep the labour market in its most prosperous state from the beginning. This precaution, by ensuring a supply of labourers ‘at the same time that it increases the value of the land, makes it more profitable to cultivate old land well than to purchase new. ‘The natural tendency of the population to spread over the surface of the as ah each B General. General. 370 New Laws proposed to meet the man settling where he may, or roving from place to place in pursuit of virgin soil, is thus impeded. The territory, expanding only with the pres sure of population, is commensurate with the actual wants of the enti community. Society, being thus kept together, is more open to civiliang influences, more directly under the control of Government, more fullof the activity which is inspired by common wants, and the strength which is derived from the division of labour; and altogether is in a sounder state, morally, politically and economically, than if left to pursue its natural course This policy has of late years been pursued with very good results in ou North American and Australian Colonies; and there is no doubt thati may be applied with advantage in the West Indies also. It cannot, mF deed, be expected to be either so simple or so effectual in its operation, owilg to the existing relations of West Indian society contracted under a dir ferent system, to the alternately neglected and exhausted state in which the long operation of an opposite policy has left the already appropriated te ritory to the unnatural condition of the labouring population, and to the artificial channels in which productive industry has hitherto been col fined. It is probable that the particular regulations which have bee found to answer in the possessions alluded to, may not be applicable so different a state of things. Of this, however, within the limits of yolll government, you are the most competent judge. I have, therefore, request that you will take the matter into your earliest consideration, and that you will then submit to me, in detail, the arrangements which Jol may recommend as best calculated to carry the views of His Majestjs Government into effect in the Colony under your care. One general regulation, however, I am prepared immediately to enfotte: that in future no Crown land shall be disposed of to private individuals otherwise than by public sale, a minimum price being fixed, but this pitt not to be accepted until, upon proper notice, it shall appear that no mes prepared to offer more, the highest bidder being in all cases entitled to the preference; ten per cent. upon the whole purchase-money to be paid down at the time of sale, and the remainder at an early period after the sale, and previously to possession being granted. The rules to be observed in surveying and portioning out the lands the number of acres which should make up a lot, and the amount of the minimum price, it will be for you to suggest. It is not impossible that different parts of the colony under your charge may require different sei of regulations, according to the quality or produce of the soil, the vicinity of towns or rivers, the advancement of the population in the refinements 0 civilized life, and its greater or less density. On these points I cal ofler | you no other guide than a reference to the object which the propose measure is intended to effect. That object is not to force the cultivauont the present staples by depriving the negroes of every other resourtt i subsistence, but merely to condense and keep together the population? such a manner that it may always contain a due proportion of laboue® When that is the case, the most profitable produce will always afford the highest wages, and the highest wages will always draw the largest supply of labour. To discourage the extension of cultivation, or to confinel! M0 any particular field, is by no means desirable. But some securily st if possible be taken, that all thei territory which is cultivated at all shoul be cultivated well. The minimum price of land, therefore, should he ng! enough to leave a considerable portion of the population unable to buy until they have saved some capital out the wages of their industry, ™ e the same time low enough to encourage such savings by making thep® session of land a reasonable object of ambition to all. new Relations of Society. 371 I have already intimated, that the large tracts of unimproved and un- occupied land which belong to private persons, though they will interfere with the efficacy of the measure, do not diminish its necessity. I am, therefore, unwilling to encumber the subject with a reference to matters which may be reserved for separate consideration. Many of those persons must, however, be deeply interested in the success of the policy which I have pointed out, and may probably be induced to enter into the views of Government, and to make such cessions or adopt such regulations as may be of advantage to all parties. In pursuing your inquiries on the imme- diate subject of this despatch, you will naturally be drawn into communi- cation with them; and you will not fail to recommend any practicable arrangements by which you think the speedy and effectual operation of the Measure may be promoted. In many cases serious difficulties will occur in securing unsold lands for the future from the intrusion of usurpers and squatters. You will not omit to notice the nature and extent of those difficulties in the colony under your care, and the measures by which they may be most conveniently overcome. I have further to request that your communications on this subject may be accompanied by the best information which you can obtain, as to the extent and value of the Crown lands under your government, and the pro- portion of them which is already occupied by persons without legal title. T have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG. Copy of a Crrcutar Drspatcu addressed by Lord GLENELG to the Governors of the Legislative Colonies in the West Indies. SIR, Downing-street, 12th November, 1838. General. nl Fide 179. In my despatch of the 15th of September last I forwarded I: p- 26. to'you three copies of Orders, which had been passed by Her Majesty in Council, for the purpose of introducing into the Crown colonies three laws, for regulating the relation of masters and servants, for the pre- vention of vagrancy, and for giving validity to certain marriages. These documents were transmitted to you with a view of their beng communicated to the legislature of the colonies under your government, as.developing the principles on which it is desirable that laws applicable to those subjects should be founded. ' I now transmit to you, for the same purpose, a copy of another Order of Her Majesty in Council, for preventing, in the Crown colo- Mes, the unauthorized occupation of land. It remains for me to instruct you to regulate the alienation of lands belonging to the Crown strictly by the principles which Were explained in my circular despatch of the 30th January, 1836. I am disposed to believe that, at the present time, the lowest price at which, according to those principles, land ought to be offered for Sale in the West India colonies, is 1/. sterling per acre; and you will Consider yourself prohibited from reducing the upset price below that sum without special reference and permission. You are, however, authorized, and indeed it will be rey duty, to 2B: General. 372 New Laws proposed to meet the fix a higher upset price whenever the value of the land renders such a course expedient, In other respects you will consider the Royal Instructions whiel were addressed to the governors of New South Wales, Van Diemens Land, and Swan River, and of which I enclose a copy, as applied to yourself. These instructions have been in successful operation for several years, and you will guide yourself by them, so far as the circutr stances of the colony under your government render it practicable, I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG, Copy of a Circutar Despatcu addressed by Lorp GLEnEic 0 the Governors of the West India Colonies, &c. Sir, Downing-Street, 15th January, 1839: During the last five months of the past year, I have received from the colonies in the West Indies various Police Acts, all of which hare been examined, with the assistance of the Commissioners of Meit0- politan Police, in order to extract from them all whatever suggestiols might be useful, towards the formation of a good general system of police, for her Majesty's possessions in those parts. My original intention was, as stated in my circular despatch of the L5th of Sep- tember last, that the whole should be digested into an order of the Queen in Council, applying to those colonies which are subject 0 Her Majesty’s legislative authority, which order would have be carried into effect in those colonies, and then, that they should be transmitted in copy to the Governors of the colonies having legisla- tive assemblies, as embodying the scheme of police which Her Ma- jesty’s Government had to recommend for adoption by the Jocal legislatures. I have, however, found it necessary to deviate from this course, in consequence of the difficulty which was felt in regu lating the details of such a measure, in the absence of that accutil? local information which is essential to the adaptation of a law, 0 this nature, to the respective colonies. . a In substitution, therefore, for the order in council, I now transmilt to you the accompanying project of a law, for the establishment of @ civil police force, and I have to request that you will bring it under the consideration of the legislature in the colony under your gover ment. You will be pleased to represent to the legislature that this docu ment is to be considered as explanatory of the views of Her Majes!y’ Government, respecting the general principles on which a police lav should be framed, and that those principles may be stated as 10” lows :— First, The separation of administrative and judicial superintendent! of the police force; the one being intrusted to the proposed imnspe tors, and the other to the justices of the peace. Second, The union and concentration of all the police of the coloty new Relations of Society. 373 under one common authority, instead of placing a specific force under each separate justice or body of justices. Third, the confiding the business of police to public officers paid for that, purpose, and not to constables nominated by the owners of different plantations, or other private persons. Fourth, The entire dependence of the ordinary police on their superior officers; and the possession, by such officers, of the means of rendering their control efficient. You will perceive that the subject of the office and duties of sti- pendiary magistrates is not touched in this project of law. Regula- tions concerning them will more properly be matter for distinct con- sideration. Neither has any attempt been made to state what are the offences for the prevention of which the police are to be employed, for it is of great importance to keep entirely apart the two separate subjects ; first, of the constitution and government of the police force; and “secondly, of the law defining the crimes for the prevention of which the police is instituted. I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG, Enclosure. Whereas it is expedient that provision should be made for establishing an effective system of police within Be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for the governor of the colony of in pursuance of any instructions to be to him from time to time for that purpose addressed by Her Majesty, or by one of Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State, to nominate and appoint one proper person to be inspector-general of police throughout who shall Teside in and shall be charged and invested with the general ‘direction and superintendence of the force to be established under this ordinance, and to appoint from time to time not more than two fit and proper persons to be deputies to the said inspector-general, and to appoint any two or more proper persons to be sub-inspectors, or inspectors of an island, or of counties, parishes, (or by whatever name the local divisions for police purposes are designated,) and any proper persons to be clerks in the office of such inspector-general; and every such inspector-general, and deputy inspector-general, and sub-inspector, or inspector of (the local district), shall on his appointment to such office forthwith take, before any two magistrates, or before any justice of one of Her Majesty’s Superior courts of record at the oaths required to be taken by justices of the peace in and also the oath hereinafter contamed, and shall thereupon become and be without further qualification or appoit- ment, and continue so long as he shall hold the said office, but no longer, a justice of the peace for every county, &c. in Bed Provided always, that no such person shall act as a justice of the peace at any court of general or quarter sessions, or on any matter out of sessions, except for the preservation of the peace, the prevention of crime, the detection and committal of offenders, and the other purposes of this ordi- nance. General. oe General. ey 374 New Laws proposed to meet the Oath.—I, do swear that I will well and truly serve out Sovereign Lady the Queen in the office of inspector-general (or ) without favour or affection, malice or ill-will; that I will see and caus Her Majesty’s peace to be kept and preserved, and that I will prevent, t the best of my power, all offences against the same, and that while I shal continue to hold the said office, I will, to the best of my skill and know ledge, discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law, so help me God. And no person appointed under this ordinance to be inspector-general, ot deputy inspector-general, sub-inspector, or inspector of shall be capable of holding the said office, or of acting in any way therein, tatl he shall take and subscribe the above oath; and the said oath shall beat: ministered by any two magistrates (or justices of any of Her Majesty’ superior courts of record at , and such magistrates (or ) shall forthwith give to the person taking the same, a certificate thereot under their hands, such certificate to be forwarded to the governor of tht said colony, or to such person as he shall appoint. And be it enacted, that when and so soon as an inspector-general, do shall be appointed for the powers and authorities of all cus todies (or other corresponding officers presiding over any county, distri¢t, corresponding division of the colony), shall immediately cease and deter mine, so far as respects the superintendence of police within the parish, county, or district for which such custos, or other officer, is authorize i0 act. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the governor for the time being of from time to time, as he shall think fit, to remove any inspector-general, or deputy inspector-general, sub-inspector or mspet tor of who may be appointed under this ordinance, and uponallj vacancy in any of the said offices by death, removal, disability, or otherms, to nominate and appoint some other proper person to fill the same, subjetl to Her Majesty’s confirmation or disallowance of every such appointmell And be it enacted, that a sufficient number of fit and able men shall ftom time to time be appointed by the governor as a police force for the whol of the colony of who shall be sworn in by the inspector general, or one of the deputy imspectors-general, to act as constables fot preserving the peace, and preventing robberies and other felonies, and ap prehending offenders againt the peace; and the men so sworn in shall have all such powers, authorities, privileges, and advantages, and be liable 0 all such duties and responsibilities as any constable duly appointed now has, or hereinafter may have, either by the common law, or by virtue of any s# tute or law now or hereafter to be in force in the said colony of and shall obey all such lawful commands as they may from time time receive from the inspector-general, or either of the deputy inspeclons general, or any sub-inspector, or inspector of for conductilg themselves in the execution of their office. And in order to provide for one uniform system of rules and regulatl throughout the whole establishment of police in be it enaclet, that the said inspector-general may from time to time, subject to the apply bation of the governor for the time being, frame such orders and regulations as he shall deem expedient for the general government of the mel to be appointed members of the police force under this ordinance ; the places ° their residence, the classification, rank, and particular service of the sevelt members, their distribution and inspection, the description of arms, accoll trements, and other necessaries to be furnished to them, and which of thet ons new Relations of Society. 375 shall be provided with horses for the performance of their duty, and all such orders and regulations relative to the said police force as the said ‘inspector-general shall from time to time deem expedient for preventing neglect or abuse, and for rendering such force efficient in the discharge of all its duties; and the said inspector-general, or either of the said deputy inspectors-general, or either of them, may at any time suspend or dismiss from his employment any man belonging to the said police force whom they shall think remiss or negligent in the discharge of his duty, or otherwise unfit for the same, and when any man shall be so dismissed, or cease to belong to the said police force, all powers vested in him as a constable by virtue of this ordinance shall immediately cease and determine. And be it enacted, that no constable to be appointed under this ordinance shall be at liberty to resign his office, or withdraw himself from the duties ‘thereof unless expressly authorized so to do in writing by the inspector- general, or deputy-inspector, sub-inspector, or inspector of under whom he may be placed, or unless he shall give to such deputy-in- spector, sub-inspector, or inspector of , or the inspector-general, one month’s notice of his intention so to resign or withdraw ; and if any such constable shall so resign or withdraw himself without such previous permission or notice, he shall for such offence forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding on conviction before one justice of the peace; and it shall and may be lawful for such justice, in case such penalty shall not be paid, to commit such person to the common gaol or house of correction for any period not exceeding , and to be kept to hard labour ; and all penalties so to be levied shall be paid to , to be applied and accounted for to the purposes of this ordinance. And be it enacted, that when any constable to be appointed under this ordinance shall be dismissed from, or shall cease to hold and exercise his Office, all powers and authorities vested in him as a constable shall immedi- ately cease and determine to all intents and purposes whatever; and if any such constable shall not, within one week after he shall be dismissed from or cease to hold and exercise his office, deliver over all and every the arms, ammunition, and accoutrements, horse, saddle, bridle, clothing, and other appointments whatsoever, which may have been supplied to him for the "execution of such office, to such person and at such time and place as shall he directed by the inspector-general, or the deputy inspector-general, sub- Mspector, or inspector of , under whom he may be placed, every person making default herein shall, upon conviction for every such offence before a justice of the peace, be subject and liable to imprisonment in the common gaol or house of correction for any period not exceeding months, and kept to hard labour, as such justice of the peace may direct ; and it shall be lawful for such justice of the peace, and he is hereby authorized and required, to commit every such offender accordingly, and to issue his warrant to search for and seize, to the use of Her Majesty, all and every the arms, ammunition, accoutrements, horses, bridles, saddles, cloth- ing and other appointments whatsoever which shall not be so delivered ‘Over, wherever the same shall be found. And be it enacted, that if any constable to be appointed under this ordi- nance shall be guilty of any neglect or violation of duty in his office, or shall neglect or refuse to obey and execute any warrant lawfully directed to be by him executed, or shall be guilty of any disobedience of the orders and regulations framed as hereinbefore mentioned by the said inspector-general, or other misconduct as a constable, he shall for every such offence, on conviction thereof before a justice of the peace, forfeit and pay a penalty General. General. 376 New Laws proposed to meet the not exceeding __ , and the amount of such penalty shall and my be deducted from and out of any salary accruing due to such offenderunda this ordinance, upon a certificate thereof to be by the justice before whin he may be convicted transmitted to the receiver-general or treasurer of th said colony ; and it shall and may be lawful for such justice, in case such penalty shall not be paid, to commit such person to the common gad house of correction for any period not exceeding » to be kept to hard labour, and all penalties so to be levied shall be paid to ; to be applied and accounted for to the purposes of this ordinance. And be it enacted, that if any person not appointed and acting underthis ordinance, shall have in his or her possession any arms or amunition,0t any article of clothing, accoutrements, or appointments supplied to any per son under this ordinance, and shall not be able satisfactorily to account for his or her possession thereof, or shall put on or assume the dress, mame, designation, or description of any person or persons, or any class of persis appointed under this ordinance, for the purpose of thereby obtaining admis sion into any house or other place, or of doing or procuring to be doneaiy other act, which such person or persons so putting on or assuming sill dress, name, designation or description would not by law be entitled todo, or procure to be done, of his or their own authority, every such perso 9 offending shall, in addition to any other punishment to which he orsht may be liable for such offence, forfeit and pay for every such offence aj sum not exceeding , to be recovered by distress and sale ofthe goods and chattels of such offender, on conviction before a justice of tht peace, or in default of payment thereof shall be imprisoned for any penil not exceeding months, and there kept to hard labour, everysith penalty to be paid over to , to be applied and accounted fi to the purposes of this ordinance. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the mspece tor-general, or deputy inspector-general, to be appointed under this ord nance, or either of them, or any other person or personsto be nominated for the purpose from time to time by the governor, to examine on oath intotlt truth of any charges or complaints preferred against any person to heap pointed under this ordinance of any neglect or violation of duty im hi office, and to report thereon to the governor ; and any person who ol such inquiry, or on any other occasion on which an oath may be administelt under this ordinance, shall give false evidence or take a false oath, and be thereof duly convicted, shall be deemed guilty of wilful and corrupt petit and shall be liable to such pains and penalties as persons convicted iM ful and corrupt perjury are or may be subject and liable to. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Governor to fix and point such annual salaries as to him may from time to time seem pip not exceeding the several sums hereinafter specified, to be paid out of the Colonial Treasury, in such manner, and subject to such regulations al provisions, as he may direct, to the several persons appointed under this ordinance ; that is to say, to the inspector-general of police an annual salt} not exceeding ; to each deputy-inspector an annul salary not exceeding ; to each sub-inspector, to each inspecialt , an annual salary not exceeding a head constable or serjeant of police, or whatever designation is give™ these intermediate ranks, an annual salary not exceeding and to each constable an annual salary not exceeding to the clerks in the office of the inspector-general annual salaries n0 ing, in the whole, for all such clerks, the sum ) + and d texcectl new Relations of Society. 307 able proportion of such salaries shall be payable for any portion of a year during which any person entitled thereto may serve or have served ; and in ease of the dismissal of any such person, and the imposition upon him of any fine or penalty under the provisions of this ordinance, it shall be law- ful to retain and deduct the amount thereof from and out of the salary due, or accruing due to such person. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the Go- vernor to order that any such sum or sums as may be necessary and proper, shall from time to itme be advanced and paid out of the Colonial ‘Treasury for the payment of the several salaries and remunerations and allowances, and the purchase of arms, accoutrements, horses, bridles, saddles, appoint- ments, houses and outhouses, furniture and accommodations, payable or proper for the use of the police force to be appointed under this ordinance ; and also for the rents and taxes payable for and in respect of such houses and outhouses, and for repairing all such houses and outhouses from time to time, and for the forage of the horses, and for the expenses of the mayis~ trates, inspector-general, or any other person belonging to the police force to be appointed under this ordinance, when they shall respectively be absent on duty from their residences, and for all other necessary and reasonable costs, charges, and expenses incurred, or to be incurred under this ordi- nance; and all money so issued shall be paid to such person as the Governor may think proper, under such rules and regulations as the Governor shall from time to time appoint and direct. And be it enacted, that if any question arise as to the right of any in- spector-general, deputy inspector-general, inspector, sub-inspector, chief constable, or common constable, to hold or execute any such office respect- ively, common reputation shall, to all intents and purposes, be deemed and held to be sufficient evidence of such right ; and it shall not be necessary to produce any appointment, or any oath, affidavit, or other document or mat- ter whatsoever, in proof of such right. And be it enacted, that all fines imposed on any chief or other constable Under this ordinance, and all penalties and proportions of penalties, and damages awarded to any person appointed under this ordinance on any sum- mary conviction, as the prosecutor of any information or otherwise, shall be paid to the receiver-general or treasurer of the colony of , and be carried by him to a separate account, so that the same may form a fund, to be ealled the ‘‘ Police Reward Fund,” to be appropriated for the payment of such rewards, gratuities, bounties, pensions, or other allowances, as the Governor may from time to time award or direct to be paid to any person or persons appointed under this ordinance, or to the widows and families of any such person at his death. And that it shall and may be lawful for the Governor to direct, if he shall think fit, that any proportion not exceeding 10s. mthe year for every 1001. of the salary of every person appointed under this ordinance, and so in proportion for any salary less than 100/., shall be deducted yearly from such salaries, and added to the reward fund, and form part thereof. And be it enacted, that where any person charged with any misdemea- hor or petty felony shall be brought, without the warrant of a justice of the peace, into the ‘custody of any inspector, sub-inspector, chief consta- le, or serjeant of police, appointed under this ordinance, it shall be lawful for such inspector, or sub-inspector, chief constable, or serjeant of police, H he shall deem it prudent (provided the justice of the peace before Whom the party charged with such misdemeanor or petty felony is to be taken for examination on such charge be not then in attendance it his office), to take bail by recognizance without any fee or reward General, General. 378 New Laws proposed to meet the from such person, conditioned that such person shall appear for examina tion before a justice of the peace, at some place to be specified in the recog nizance, and at such earliest time then next after when such justice of the peace shall be in attendance at his office; and every recognizance so taken shall be of equal obligation on the parties entering into the same, and liable to the same proceedings for estreating thereof, asif the same had been taken before a justice of the peace; and the name, residence, and occupation of | the party, and his surety or sureties, if any, entering into such recognizance, together with the condition thereof, and the sums respectively acknow ledged, shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be laid before such justice as shall be present at the time and place when and where the party is required to appear; and if the party do not appear at the time and place required, or within one hour after, the justice shall cause a record of the recognizance to be drawn up, and shall return the same to the next general or quarter sessions for , in which the offence charged should be brought for trial, with a certificate at the back thereof, signed by such justice, that the party or parties have not complied with the obligation therein contained ; and the clerk of the peace shall make the like estreats and schedules of every such recognizance as of recog nizances forfeited in the sessions of the peace ; and if the party not appear ing shall apply, by any person on his behalf, to postpone the hearing of the charge against him, and the justice shall think fit to consent thereto, the jus- tice shall be at liberty to enlarge the recognizances to such further timeas he shall appoint ; and when the matter shall be heard and determined, either by the dismissal of the complaint, or by binding the party over to answet the matter thereof at the sessions or otherwise, the recognizances for the a apearance of the party before a justice shall be discharged without fee ot reward. And be it enacted, that the inspector-general, subject to the approbation of the Governor for the time being, shall from time to time direct a sul cient number of men belonging to the police force to be appointed undet this ordinance, and of such ranks as shall be necessary and proper, to atte on the justices of the peace acting in and for any city, town, county, district, or other division of the said colony respectively, who shall obey and exedil all the lawful warrants, orders, and commands of such justices in all matters, civil and criminal. And when any warrant, order, or command of any magistrate shall be delivered or given to any constable, chief constable, or sergeant of polieé he shall, if the time will permit, show or deliver the same to the (under whose immediate command such constable shall then be), and such shall nominate and appoint, by endorsement thereon, such one or more of the constables, or of other ranks under his orders, and sue assistant or assistants to him or them as such shal) thin proper, to execute such warrant, order, or command ; and every such col stable or other whose name shall be so endorsed, and evely such assistant as aforesaid, shall have all and every the same rights, pow and authorities for and in the execution of every such warrant, ordet,@! command, as if the same had been originally directed to him o then expressly by name. Provided always, and be it enacted, that when any action shall be brought against any constables, assistant, chief constable, or sergeant of police, 1! any act done in obedience of the warrant of any magistrate, such consta e, assistant, chief constable, or sergeant of police, shall not be responsible 1 any irregularity in the issuing of such warrant, or for any want of jurisulc new Relations of Society. 379 tion in the magistrate issuing the same; and such constable, assistant, chief constable, or sergeant of police, may plead the general issue, and give such warrant in evidence; and upon producing such warrant, and proving that the signature thereto is the handwriting of the person whose name shall appear subscribed thereto, and that such person is reputed to be and acts as a magistrate for such or district, as the case may be, and that the act or acts complained of were done in obedience to such warrant, the jury or court who shall try the said issue shall find a verdict for such con- stable, assistant, chief constable, or sergeant of police, and who shall re- cover his costs of suit. And for the protection of persons acting in the execution of this ordinance, be it enacted, that all actions and prosecutions to be commenced against any person for anything done in pursuance of this ordinance, shall be laid and tried in the parish, county, or district, where the fact was committed, and shall be commenced within six calendar months after the fact committed, and not otherwise; and notice in writing of such action, and of the cause thereof, shall be given to the defendant one calendar month at least before the commencement of the action; and in any such action the defendant may plead the general issue, and give this ordinance and the special matter in evidence at any trial to be had there- upon; and no plantiff shall recover in any such action if tender of sufficient amends shall have been made before such action brought, or if a sufficient sum of money shall have been paid into court after such action brought by or on behalf of the defendant; and if a verdict shall pass for the defendant, or the plaintiff shall become non-suit, or discontinue any such action after Issued joined, or if, upon demurrer or otherwise, judgment shall be given against the plaintiff, the defendant shall recover his full costs as between aitomey and client, and have the like remedy for the same as any defendant hath by law in other cases; and though a verdict shall be given for the Plaintiff in any such action, such plaintiff shall not have costs against the defendant unless the judge before whom the trial shall be shall certify his approbation of the action and of the verdict obtained thereon. And for the More effectual prosecution of offences punishable, upon summary convic- hon, by virtue of this ordinance, be it enacted, that where any person shall be charged, on the oath of acredible witness, with any such offence before any justice of the peace, the justice may summon the person charged to appear before any justice of the peace, at the time and place to be named Msuch summons; and if the person charged shall not appear accordingly, then (upon proof of the due service of the summons, by delivering a copy thereof to such person, or by delivering a copy to the wife or servant, or some inmate of the family of such person, at his usual place of abode), the jistice before whom he ought to have appeared may either proceed to hear and determine the case ex parte, or may issue his warrant for apprehending sich person, and bringing him before him: provided always, that the pro- Sectition for any offence punishable upon summary conviction by virtue of this ordinance shall be commenced within three calendar months after the Commission of the offence, and not otherwise. And be it enacted, that any sums which, by any justice of the peace, shall be adjudged to be paid for any offence against this ordinance, which have not been hereinbefore directed to be paid and appropriated to some other fund, shall be paid to the receiver-general, or treasurer of the said colony of , to be by him added to and applied as part of the funds for the purposes of the police under this ordinance; and no person shall by reason of the application of any penalty to the use of the police funds, be deemed to be an incompetent witness before any court of justice General. General. 380 New Laws proposed to meet the or justice of the peace in any proceeding whatever, for any offence again this ordinance, or any matter mentioned in this ordinance, and no justice of the peace shall be disabled from acting in the execution of this ordimante by reason of his being liable to the payment of any money for the mar tenance of the police under this ordinance. And beit enacted, that the justice of the peace by whom any person shill be convicted and adjudged to pay any sum of money for any offen against this ordinance, may adjudge that such person shall. pay the same, either immediately, or within such period as he shall think fit, and thi in default of payment at the time appointed, he shall be imprisoned inthe common gaol or house of correction, and be kept to hard labour formy time not exceeding two calendar months, where the sum to be paid shill not exceed.5/., and for any term not exceeding four calendar months whet the sum shall not exceed 10/., and for any term not exceeding six calentit months in any other case; the imprisonment to cease in each of the cits aforesaid upon payment of the sum due. And be it enacted, that the justice before whom any person shall bi summarily convicted of any offence against this ordinance, may cause tht conviction to be drawn up in the following form of words, or in any othtt form of words to the same effect, as the case may require ; that is to si, \ Be it remembered, that on the day of to wit. in the year of our Lord , at , im , A. B. is convicted before me (naming the justice), one of Her Majesty’s justices of the peace for the said , for that he, the said A. B. (specify the offence, and the time and place when and wht the same was committed, as the case may be), and I, the said justitt adjudge the said A. B. for his said offence to forfeit and pay the sul al , and in default of immediate payment of the said sum, tobe imprisoned in the for the space of , unless the stl sum shall be sooner paid (or), and I order that the said sum shall be puil by the said A. B. on or before the day of and in default of payment on or before that day, I adjudge the said A. B. to he imprisoned in the for the space of months, unless ile said sum shall be sooner paid; and I direct that the said sum shill be paid to , receiver for the police, be by him applied according to the ordinance passed at titled an ordinance for . Given under my hand the day ant year first above mentioned. And be it enacted, that no conviction, order, warrant, or other malt made or purporting to be made by virtue of this ordinance, shall be quastil for want of form, or be removed, by certéorar? or otherwise, into aly? Her Majesty’s courts of record at , and no warrant of commit ment shall be held over by reason of any defect therein, provided that it be alleged therein that the party has been convicted, and there be a good an valid conviction to sanction the same; and where any distress shall be made for levying any money by virtue of this ordinance, the distress It shall not be deemed unlawful, nor the party making the same be deeme A trespasser, on account of any defect or want of form in the summons, coll viction, warrant of distress, or other proceedings relating thereto; nd! shi the party distraining be deemed a trespasser, ab initio, on account of ally irregularity afterwards committed by him; but the person aggrievé such irregularity may recover full satisfaction for the special damage, if ay on an action upon the case. new Relations of Society. 381 And be it enacted, that no justice of the peace for » or his clerk, or any person on his behalf, elsewhere than at one of the public offices at which he shall act for the districts to be established under this ordinance, shall, directly or indirectly, upon any pretence whatever, take or receive any fee, reward, gratuity, or recompence, for any act by him or them done, or to be done in the execution of his or their office or employ as justice of the peace or clerk as aforesaid, upon pain of forfeiting the sum of 100/. for every such offence, one moiety thereof to the said receiver-general or treasurer, to be applied to the purposes of this ordinance, and the other moiety thereof, with full costs of suit, to the person who shall sue for the “same in any of Her Majesty’s courts of record at , and that every summons which shall, after the passing of this ordinance, be issued by any justice of the peace for , requiring any person residing Within the limits of any one of the said districts to appear at any place Without the limits of the district in which he may be then residing, to answer any information or complaint touching any matter arising within the limits of such district, shall be utterly void and of none effect, any law, custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided always, that nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to extend to any. fees taken at any general or quarter sessions of the peace, or at any meetings of justices for . (Specify any cases of exceptions, such as, in England, Meetings for regulating ale-houses, or for making regulations for local government of the parish.) And be it enacted, that the fees contained in the schedule attached to this ordinance may be lawfully demanded and received for the several acts, matters and things therein specified, upon proceedings had before any jus- tice of the peace, at the police office within each district to be established under this ordinance; and it shall be lawful for any justice, at such offices respectively, to refuse to do any act for which any fee shall be demandable, unless such fee shall be first paid, and that if any such act shall be done, and the fee due thereon shall not be paid, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace to summon the person from whom such fee shall be due, and to make an order for the payment of the same, with the costs of the proceed- ings, and in default of payment to levy the same, with the costs of the dis- tress, by warrant under his hand and seal. And be it enacted, that in some conspicuous part of each of the police offices within the said colony there shall be affixed a table of the fees which may legally be taken at such offices respectively, according to the schedule annexed to this ordinance. And be it enacted, that the justices at each of the police offices within the said colony, and their clerks respectively, shall, in books to be provided for that purpose, keep a full, true, and particular account of all fees taken and Teceived at each of the said offices, together with all penalties and forfei- tures which shall have been recovered, levied or received in pursuance of any adjudication, conviction, or order, had or made at any of the said offices, or any process or warrant issuing from the same, to which books of accounts the said receiver-general or treasurer shall at all times have free access ; and the said justices shall, once in every quarter of a year, deliver Unto such receiver such account, duly certified, with proper vouchers and receipts, and shall pay the amount of all such fees, &c., unto such receiver- general or treasurer, to be applied in manner hereinbefore mentioned. And be it enacted, that any penalties or forfeitures, shares of penalties or forfeitures, which are or shall be hereafter made recoverable in a sum- mary way before any justice of the peace, by any Act or Acts, and by such General, General. 382 New Laws proposed to meet the Act or Acts respectively the same are or shall be limited, and made pay able to Her Majesty, or any body corporate, or to any person or persois whatsoever, save and except the informer who shall sue for the same, any party aggrieved ; in any such case the same, if recovered at any of the said police offices, shall, notwithstanding anything in such Actor Acts respectively contained, be adjudged to be paid to the said receiver, to beby him applied for the purposes of this ordinance. And be it enacted, that if the justices to be appointed under this or nance, their clerks, or any other person, having received any such fees al any of the said police offices, shall neglect to account for and pay the same in manner aforesaid, or having levied or received such penalties or ir feitures, shares of penalties or forfeitures, shall neglect, within 21 days after notice for such purpose, to pay the same into the hands of suchit ceiver-general or treasurer, it shall be lawful for such receiver-general it treasurer for the time being, in his own proper name only, or by his name and description of office, to sue for and recover the same, with costal suit, as between attorney and client, in any of Her Majesty’s courisil record at , by action of debt, in which action it shill be sufficient for such receiver-general or treasurer to declare as for monty had and received to the use of such receiver for the purposes of this oid nance; and the defendant or defendants in such action may, at the disott tion of any judge of such court, be held to special bail in such competetl sum as such judge shall order and direct; and in any such action the the court may, at the instance of either of the parties, refer the accounll dispute in a summary manner, to be audited by any officer of the coutlot other fit person, who may examine both plaintiff and defendant upon oath, which oath the said referee shall have power to administer, and upo the report of such referee, unless either of the parties shall show good causell the contrary, such court may make a rule either for the payment of such sum as upon the report shall appear to be due, or for staying the proceed ings in such action, and upon such terms and conditions as to the salt court shall appear reasonable and just, or may order judgment be entered up by confession for such sum as upon such report shall appeal to be due. And be it enacted, that the inspector-general of police, and the deptly inspectors-general, sub-inspectors, inspectors of , WC, and constables, and the justices of the peace, clerks of police, and other officers to be appointed under this ordinance, so long as they shall continue ho the said offices or appointments respectively, shall be and each is hereby exempted from serving on all juries or inquests whatsoever. (Insert what ever exemptions are intended, as, for example, in Trinidad, from serving as an assessor in the court for the trial of criminal prosecutions.) And be it enacted, that an account of all the monies réceived and 6x pended for the purposes of this ordinance, made up to the 3lst day af December in each year, shall annually be laid before the colonial legisl ture, within 30 days thereafter if the legislature be then sitting, oT within 30 days after the first meeting of the legislature of stb: sequent to the 3lst day of December, and such account shall specily the total of every sum received for the purposes of this ordinance, and shall als specify the different heads of expenditure for the purposes of the police and the amount actually expended under each. And be it enacted, that there shall be laid annually before the legisla ture of , during their sitting, a statement of the num oe of the police employed in each island or district in , in whic new Relations of Society. 383 statement shall be particularly distinguished the number of persons in each class or rank of the police so employed, with the salaries and allowances actually enjoyed by each class, such statements and accounts to refer to the year ended on the Ist of January of the year in which they are hereby directed to be laid before. And be it enacted, that if any victualler or keeper of any house, shop, room, or other place for the sale of any liquors, whether spirituous or other- wise, shall knowingly harbour or entertain any man belonging to the said police force, or permit such man to abide or remain in his house, shop, room, or other place, during any part of the time appointed for his being on duty, every such victualler, or keeper as aforesaid, beg convicted thereof before any one justice of the peace, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay such sum, not exeeeding , as he shall think meet. And be it enacted, that if any person shall assault or resist any person belonging to the said police force in the execution of his duty, or shall aid Or incite any person so to assault or resist, every such offender, being thereof convicted before any one justice of the peace, shall for every such dilence forfeit and pay such sum, not exceeding , or the said justice, at his discretion, in any case in which he shall think proper, instead of imposing any fine upon such offender, may commit any such offender, upon conviction for every such offence, to the common gaol or house of correction, for any period not exceeding , there to be kept to hard labour. Copy of a Crrcutar Despatcu addressed by Lorp GLENELG to the Governors of the West India Colonies, &c. Sir, Downing-Street, lst February, 1839. In my circular despatch of the 15th of September last, I announced to you the intention of Her Majesty’s Government to reduce into the form of a law, their views respecting the measures which it would be fit to recommend to the different West India Legislatures for the telief of the destitute poor. The fulfilment of this intention has been Unayoidably postponed until now, because it is only within the last week that | have received from the senior member of the Poor Law Commission for England that report on the subject which has appeared to me indispensable for the assistance of Her Majesty’s Government. I have been the less reluctant to incur this delay, heeause, for the reasons to which I shall subsequently advert, the question has not appeared to me to be of a very urgent nature, and mM almost all the colonies some temporary provision for the relief of the destitute poor has already been made, by enactments accom- Panying the laws for the termination of the apprenticeship. I now enclose a copy of a minute, drawn up by the senior Poor Law Commissioner, Mr. Lefevre. You will perceive that he con- siders the Irish Poor Law Act of the last session of Parliament as a model, which, with certain variations, might advantageously be adopted by the West India Legislatures. In transmitting this document for your assistance in framing the law to be recommended to the Legislature of the colony under your General, Vide p. 179. General. 384 New Laws proposed to meet the government, I think it desirable to add some remarks which the author of the minute has not made, because, as I presume, he con sidered them as more ‘properly falling within my own province, I entirely subscribe to his opinion, that the workhouse system is al once the most effective, and the most humane remedy which could be devised for checking the growth of pauperism. I further concur with him in thinking that such a law as he has suggested would he very wisely incorporated into the code of the British West Indies But I regard it rather as a security against future and_ probable abuses, than as required for the correction of any immediate or pressing evils. I apprehend that pauperism, as it exists in this kingdom, isscarcely known in those colonies; and that unless encouraged by impidir dent legislation, or by a vicious administration of the law, it ismdt likely to appear there. So great is the demand for labour, andi few and so readily supplied are the physical wants of the poottl classes of the colonial society, that it would be difficult to find among them an able-bodied man, really incapable of self-support. If no needless obstacles be opposed to the emigration of labourers to those colonies in which the demand for labour and the rate of wages ale highest, I believe that for many years to come all persons able ant willing to work will be secure of an adequate subsistence. The real objects of public relief will, for the present, be compostll chiefly or exclusively of orphans too young to labour, of persons sil fering under disease, and of those who are disabled by the infirmities of oldage. In a large majority of the colonies a single hospitaldl moderate dimensions would receive all the destitute sick, and pit vision might be made for the education and maintenance of evel] destitute orphan child in a single school not exceeding the ordinaly size. ‘Those who are disabled by decrepitude or incurable infimk ties will find many resources in private charity, or in the affection af their relatives or connexions, a feeling in which I believe the negi race is rarely found to be defective. ‘The result is that, practically it would be necessary to establish houses for the reception of scarcely any class, but that of aged and.incurably diseased persons who would be without any resource from their own relatives or friends. 0! this purpose a very moderate expenditure would be sufficient, and the machinery contemplated in the accompanying minute might? a great extent, be superfluous and redundant. On the other hail the plan suggested in the accompanying minute would I concell be of the highest value, when considered, not as a remedy for al existing evil, but as a security against its appearance. Society at large having now assumed the duty heretofore meu bent on private proprietors, of maintaining the destitute poor Ue the utmost importance to lay down from the first, in the form of a positive law, the principles upon which that duty will herealtel be discharged. If any pledge should be incautiously given for maintenance, at the public expense, of the destitute poor ons terms as would render a dependant existence more inviting than® life of labour and independence, there can be no doubt that aly? new Relations of Society. 385 bodies of men would always be found ready to avail themselves of such an opportunity of gratifying the love of inaction and repose, to which the climate of the West Indies, so much predisposes the inha- bitants of every class. The difficulty of discriminating between unavoidable. want, and want produced by mere indolence, would be as great there, as it has been in this kingdom, and the test of a well- regulated workhouse might be applied to the colonies, with as much efficacy, as in the mother country; therefore, although such a law asthe minute proposes might, in a certain sense, remain inopera- live on the statute book, yet it would silently operate to prevent the growth of pauperism altogether. It would be called into action infrequently, or perhaps not at all in some of the colonies; but it would have laid down a sound principle, and would have established arule of action, to be applied, on however small a scale, for the dis- crimination between genuine and unreal destitution. It would supply the proper objects of public charity with the means of escaping the pressure of extreme want, whenever it might arise, while it would discourage all persons from becoming burthensome to the public who could find any resource in their own providence and activity, or in the assistance of their kindred and connexions. It will be your care to adopt the best means in your power, con- sistently with the constitution of the colony under your government, for recommending to the local Legislature the consideration and adoption of a law framed on the principles, and, as far as may be practicable, embodying the details, of the measure recommended ‘inthe accompanying minute. The extensive experience of the author ofthat document, not merely in the administration of the poor law, but in the conduct of colonial affairs, would entitle his judgment to the greatest weight, even if it had not been supported by reasoning of so much value as that which he has employed in the elucidation of his opinions. I have, &c. (Signed) GLENELG. Enclosure. _ Amonest the enactments necessary for adapting the code of the West Thdies to the existing state of society in those colonies, a prominent place Must he assigned to the laws for the relief of the destitute poor. If the attention of Her Majesty’s Government were confined to the con- Sequences of the unamended English poor laws, the alarming amount of the burthen which it imposed on the property of the country, the diminished Industry, and the growing improvidence of the labouring classes, the ano- Malous relations which it established between the employers and labourers, Telations so false as to threaten the disorganization of society, there would Not be much difficulty in advising the Colonial Legislatures to submit to the various painful consequences which necessarily result from the absence Of any legalized mode of providing for the poor, rather than to encounter the possible results to which allusion has been made. Her Majesty’s Government are, however, relieved from this painful dilemma, by the proceedings which have of late taken place in this king- are General, Enclosure. General. 386 New Laws proposed to meet the dom in reference to the poor laws. Not only has it been shown, bythe diligence and research of those eminent persons who were in 1832 appoint to inquire into the administration of the poor laws, that there existedim the work-house system a remedy for the train of evils which are abot enumerated, but that remedy has been already applied to a great exten and with such success as to induce the Legislature of this kingdom, il reliance on the efficacy of that remedy, to undertake, with respect to he land, the same task which it is proposed to recommend to the Legislatites of the West India colonies, namely, the establishment of a legal and ss tematic provision for the relief of the destitute. The careful attention which was given to the Irish Poor Law byib framers, the deliberate investigation which it underwent in both Housesdl Parliament, appear to justify Her Majesty’s Government in taking that lay as the model of the measures to be adopted in the West India colomty with such modifications as the laws of those colonies, and the peculiar sialé of society which now exists there, may require. Although many, or even most of these modifications can only be mall by persons having that intimate knowledge of the laws and habits of thot colonies, which can rarely be found unless amongst those who are actually resident there, yet there appear to be some important points, both of ptr ple and detail, in the Ivish Poor Law, and in the execution of its objects which ought to be specially brought under the attention of the Colonial Legislatures, and on which it therefore becomes the dtity of Her Majesty's Government to give the fullest explanation. It will therefore be attempted, in this Minute, Firstly, Briefly to explain the principles on which the workhouse sysielt rests ; Secondly, To describe the proceedings which must necessarily take plat in order to carry the workhouse system into effect, and to point out the mode of constituting the functionaries who are to conduct these proceet ings; and, Lastly, To give a brief exposition of the several provisions of the Irish Act, distinguishing those which are applicable to the circumstances of the West India colonies, and commenting upon those which seem to reqillt attention. First.—The principle on which the workhouse system rests is simple and. intelligible. It consists in this, that the relief afforded to the destitute, at the expel of the community, should be afforded in such a manner as to rendet the condition of those who receive it less desirable than that of the indepentett labourer, or of those who, by their previous industry, or the aid of thett friends, have the means of self-support. It is manifest that this principle can only be rendered operative, by 8” ing relief under such arrangements as shall clearly define the condilio? the pauper, whilst he is in the receipt of such relief, which cannot ™ effected unless by regulating the exact amount and nature of his maimlt® ance, and by placing him under the inspection and control of ploy officers. The workhouse offers the only sure and practicable means to this end. In an establishment of that nature, whilst on the one hand every real necessil of the pauper can be relieved, no inducements to accept such relief a? held out except to the actually destitute. It was the abandonment of this principle, and the adoption of as new Relations of Society. 387 of out-door relief, which led, in England, to the intolerable expense, and still greater moral evils, which has been already noticed ; and unless it be Maintained in its full strictness and integrity, it will be vain to expect that those who are now commencing a life of independent industry, will learn their new and important duties of maintaining themselves and their children, supporting their aged relations, providing for the contingencies of sickness and accident, and laying up the means of self-support for a distant old age. Second.—It is necessary to point out the steps which must necessarily be taken in order to establish the workhouse system. This enumeration may be useful, not only as indicating the course to be taken by the func- tionaries who may be appointed to carry into effect the arrangements which may be decided on by the Legislature, but also for the purpose of bringing clearly under view, those particular points as to the constitution and duties of those functionaries, in respect of which, it seems necessary to recommend. Some deviation from the arrangements, which have been adopted in the Irish Poor Law. The steps which must necessarily be taken for the establishment of the Workhouse system are,— I. The defining the condition of the inmates of the workhouse, or in other words, the framing of proper workhouse regulations. Until these are framed, it would not be possible to arrive at any satisfac- tory conclusions as to the nature and arrangements of the buildings to be provided. II. The ascertaining the probable number of the destitute for whom accommodation is to be provided. III. The preparing and deciding on the nature, size, arrangements, and plan, of a workhouse, with its requisite appurtenances. IV. The selections and purchase of a proper site, or, if the case admits of it, of buildings already existing, which may be available for the objects in view. | Y. The building a new workhouse, or the adaptation of existing build- ‘ings. VI. The providing its furniture and all requisite appliances. VII. The providing of funds necessary for these purposes, and for the - relief of the poor. VIII. The appointment of the necessary officers of the workhouse. IX. The fixing of the period at which the relief of the destitute should commence. » X. The actual administration of relief in the workhouse, which involves ‘the following amongst other points: 1. The hearing and deciding on applications for relief by proper autho- Tities, to be constituted for this purpose. 2. The direction and control of the officers of the workhouse, and the enforcement of the performance of their duties. 3. The contracting for the supplies. XI. The vigilant inspection of the workhouse and its inmates by some authority independent of the ordinary authorities who manage it. XII. The audit of the expenditure. The various proceedings which have been enumerated are confided by the British Legislature to the superintendence of two classes of function- aries; the Poor Law Commissioners, and the Board of Guardians. a General. General. 388 New Laws proposed te meet the The actual administration of relief is confided to elective boards of guar dians, chosen in the several districts for which they respectively act, ail who perform their duties gratuitously. The duties of a legislative character, that is to say, the framing the work: house regulations, and the providing the workhouse, and the proceedings preliminary to it, are intrusted to the Board of Poor Law Commissionels. It would seem that the limited extent and peculiar circumstances of ile West Indian Colonies call for a modification of these arrangements. It will probably be found more advantageous to place the actual administration of relief in the hands of a small number of paid functionaries, instead of coir fiding it to a numerous board, acting voluntarily and gratuitously. This recommendation is made upon the following grounds; namely, 1. The increased responsibility under which duties are discharged ly paid, as compared with gratuitous, agents. 2. The greater uniformity and the stricter adherence to rules and prine ples under which a small number of unchanged persons act, than a numb rous board whose composition is frequently varied by the change of it members, and by the absence of some, and presence of others at each sit cessive meeting. 3. The real economy to the community which arises from the appoint: ment of a paid board, instead of calling upon a larger number of petsills to sacrifice their time and labour. 4. Because those residents in the West Indies who are fit to undertake the duty, are, for the most part, engaged in the performance of Various git tuitous services to the community, such as holding a seat in the legislatut, or the magistracy, so that the attention and labour necessary for the due management of relief to the poor, especially in its outset, could, with dif culty, be given by them. 5. The strictness necessary for the proper management of the workhols® would, if enforced by a board of guardians, composed as they prineipall would be of those who have hitherto had the control and managemell slaves or apprentices, often give rise to unjust accusations of severity 0M the part of the guardians; and the composition of the board might excite Unt due, but, nevertheless, disadvantageous prejudice, in the minds of that part of the community for whose immediate benefit the relief is intended, Wherever the legislature of a colony concurs in the establishment of a paid board of guardians for the relief of the poor, it may further be reco: mended, that some of the executive details which the Poor Law Commis | sioners perform in Ireland, should, in the colony, be transferred to the gull dians. Those details consist of the preliminary inquiry for the relief 0 the destitute; the preparation of the workhouse plans; the selection al purchase of the site; the contracting for the building of the workhouse, a! the superintendence of its completion. With regard, however, to the fram ing the workhouse regulations, as they not only define the condition of it inmates of the workhouse, but also operate in the way of protection 0 those inmates against any undue authority of the guardians, it would appeal my dicious to depart from the principles of the Irish Bill, which lodge this power in officers exercising a species of legislative authority, and controlling and regulating the proceedings of the guardians. ; Although the reasons which made the creation of such a board 1 Tre: land, in which there will be a great many boards of guardians requiring 4 be superintended, do not exist in the same force in the West India colome) yet, probably, much inconvenience would arise in a colony having a leg new Relations of Society. 389 lative assembly, if the Legislature itself were to attempt to devise detailed regulations for workhouses, and if, during its recess, there were no consti- tuted authority having power to make any immediate modifications of the regulations, which sudden and unforeseen circumstances may render neces- sary. It would seem to follow, that in each colony having a Legislative Assem- bly, the establishment of a board of commissioners for this object, which should consist of three persons, one to be nominated by the Governor, the others to be respectively members of the Council and Assembly, and to be elected by those bodies respectively. It is not proposed to confine the functions of these commissioners solely to the devising of the workhouse regulations. ‘They should have power to make such other regulations as they might see fit, for the guidance and control of the boards of guardians; they should fix the period at which the administration of the relief to the poor should commence; and their approval should be necessary to the site, the plans, and the cost of the workhouse, and to the dismissal] of the officers of the workhouse. It may further be recommended, that these commissioners should, more- over, have the nomination of the paid guardians, reserving to the Governor the power of dismissing them. The commissioners should likewise, by themselves, or by an officer to be appointed by them, audit the accounts of the guardians, and should occa- sionally visit the workhouse and inspect the condition of its inmates. It would seem that the duties of these commissioners, although important, Would not involve such an expenditure of time and labour as to require them tobe paid. The measures above enumerated, as practically necessary to the establishment of a system of workhouse relief, will be accomplished, as ‘Tespects the colonies having legislative assemblies, not by the immediate action of the Legislatures, but by the commissioners and the guardians, Whose functions have been explained and distinguished. There are, however, various matters incidental to the management and telief of the poor, which must be decided by the Legislatures of the colonies in the first instance. To these reference will be made in the following exposition of the Irish Poor Law Act: IV. The first section of that Act merely recognises the Poor Law Com- Missioners for England and Wales, as the Commissioners for carrying it mto execution. In lieu of this section it will be necessary to substitute, in the Bills Which may be proposed to the legislatures, clauses directing the appoint- ment of the board of commissioners in the manner which has already been Pointed out, and prescribing the mode in which their business is to be per- formed. The 2nd section, which clothes the commissioners with the power of examining witnesses, and calling for documentary evidence, and the 13th and 14th sections, which give effect to this power, by penalties for disobe- dience, and by providing for the expense of witnesses, will require but little modification to adapt them to the circumstances of the colonies. The same may be said of the 3rd section, which confers on the commis- si0ners the more important power of making rules, orders, and regulations for the maintenance and relief of the poor, and for the guidance and control Of the guardians. The 4th and 5th sections, which impose on the commissioners special Testrictions in respect of any general rules which they may issue, need not Occupy attention. General. General. 390 New Laws proposed to meet the The 6th, 7th, and 8th sections, which prescribe the mode of giving notice of, and publishing the rules and orders of the commissioners, will furnish suggestions for such similar provisions as may be deemed requisite im the colonies. The 9th and following sections up to the 26th inclusive, excepting the 13th and 14th, which have been already noticed, relate to officers peculiar to the English and Irish Poor Law Acts, and to the formation of districts of management under the name of unions, and to the establishment i elective boards of guardians in those districts. These several provisions would be either unnecessary or altogether inap- plicable in the West India Colonies, which will each form a single distnl of management under a paid board of guardians. The constitution of the guardians into a corporate body, and the power given to the Commissioners of regulating their manner of proceedings, which form the subject of the 27th and 28th sections, should be duly pit: vided for by the Legislatures. It must be observed, however, with regal to the 29th section, which makes three of the guardians a quorum, thatit does not seem advisable to lay down positively that two at least of the boatd of guardians, who will only consist of three, should be necessary to git effect to any of its acts. The power of directing the appointment of paid officers, and. of removing paid officers, as in sections 31 and 33, should be carefully reserved tothe Commissioners. The withholding the power of dismissal from those who have the pow of appointment, although by no means a frequent arrangement. in legis tion, increases the security of the proper exercise of both those powels, As respects section 32, which relates to the provision for the payment of salaries, any observations as to the source from which these expenses alt to be supplied, must be reserved for the sequel, which relates toa alet portion of the Act. The 34th section of the Act vests in the Poor Law Commissioners thos houses of industry, workhouses, and foundling hospitals, which are in part supported by any tax or compulsory rate or contribution. It is not 1e00mr mended that any legislation should take place on this point, until full formation shall have been received with reference to such institutions ( any) of this nature as may exist in the colonies. The 35th and 36th sections, which authorise the Commissioners t0 PU vide workhouses, will require such alteration as will give them the ellet of vesting similar powers in the paid guardians, restricted, however, as has already been proposed, by the necessary consent of the Commissionels It is probable that provisions for facilitating the purchase of buildings! sites for workhouses, similar to the 37th, 38th, 39th, and 40th sectiols will be found productive of convenience. The 41st section of the Act, which confers on the guardians the pow of giving relief, and points out how that power should be exercised, W doubtless receive the most careful attention of the respective govern0l® It should be observed, that it is not of an absolute or compulsory charac- ter, and that, although it enables the guardians to relieve the destitult! does not confer on these a positive right to relief, capable of bemg enforce or vindicated by any legal proceedings. This is a wise and necessary precaution on the first establishment of 8 system of relief, and should apparently be adopted by the Legislatures? the West India colonies. The preference to be given to the aged, infirm, and children, over the able-bodied, as pointed out in this 41st section, new Relations of Society. 591 pears to be even more just and fitting in the West Indies than in Ire- land. The comparative paucity and uncertainty of the ties of blood between the aged and younger negroes render the former peculiarly the objects of the protection and aid to be provided for by a poor-law; and their claim is strengthened by the consideration of their having passed their lives ina condition which did not admit of their laying up a provision for their old age. On the other hand, the demand for the labour of the able-bodied, the limited extent of their wants, and the facility of transferring themselves from a colony, in which their services may be superfluous, to another colony, in which such services would be of the highest value, placed the able-bodied under such peculiarly favourable circumstances as to lead to the conclusion that henceforth, for a considerable period, a very small num- ber of this class will require support from the public. The 42nd, 43rd, and 44th sections, which effectively establish a species of settlement by residence, so far at least as to fix the charge of the relief of paupers upon the districts wherein they reside, become inapplicable, if the Legislature should decide that the maintenance of the poor shall be defrayed out of the general funds of the colony. The 45th section, which empowers the Commissioners to direct that the provisions of all general and local Acts, relating to the relief of the poor, should cease, will doubtless suggest to the governors the necessity of a pro- Vision, similar in its nature, but more general in its effect, in order to put an end to all the existing laws for the relief of the poor, as soon as the new law shall have been established and brought into effect. The 46th and 47th sections, respecting medical charities, do not appear to require any present notice. The 48th and 49th sections, which direct religious service to be provided in workhouses, and chaplains to be appointed, and which protect the inmates from improper interference with their religious opinions, will require the Most careful attention on the part of the respective governors, and on that of the legislatures. Notwithstanding similar, although not quite so effective provision, in the English Poor Law Amendment Act, the Commissioners have been much embarrassed by this subject, and have found no small difficulty im prevent- ing the workhouse from being the arena of irritation between the ministers of different religious denominations. Having regard to the peculiar delicacy of this subject, it should be pro- vided for by a short separate Bill, in order that there may be an oppor- tunity of considering and deciding on it, independently of the general mea- sure. The 50th section provides for the appointment of certain officers, to be entitled parish wardens. The duties of these officers are not peculiarly defined ; but it would ap- pear that the Legislature, foreseeing that the non-existence of out-door relief would render the appointment of officers analogous to the English relieving officer unnecessary, intended to provide an agency for the purpose of supplying the guardians with local information, and of dealing with cases of persons in sudden and urgent necessity, so far only as to enable them to reach the workhouse. Although it may be difficult positively to recommend the creation of these officers in the colonies, yet some agency must be pro- Vided for making inquiries into the circumstances of the applicants for Telief ; not so much with reference to their necessities, for they will be tested General. . 392 New Laws proposed to meet the by the workhouse, but in order to ascertain whether they have any anl what families, or any and what relatives, bound to maintain them. If the paid boards of guardians were respectively to employ a paid officer for these purposes, and were to fix his residence judiciously, he would pro. bably be found sufficient not only for the inquiries adverted to, but for making arrangements for the transmission of paupers to the workhouse, and for providing them with such intermediate sustenance or medical aid, as ther condition may absolutely require. The 51st section, which relates to emigration, is unnecessary in the pre sent state of the colony. The 52nd section, which prohibits the application of the funds raisedfir the relief of the poor in any other mode of relief than that pointed out by the Act, is necessary to secure an exact adherence to the workhouse system The 53rd and 54th sections, which provide for the maintenance of chik dren by their parents, and wives by their husbands, require to be specially noticed. In consequence of the comparatively unfrequent occurrence of lawiil marriage amongst the negro population, it is clear that the provision forthe maintenance of children by parents will, in the existing state of socielf, almost solely attach to the female parents. This limited application of the law, however, would be far from unit portant, as it would furnish a strong and salutary motive to the femaleto form legal ties by marriage. With regard to children who may henceforth be born after a fixed dill, it would be most injudicious to give any facility for charging the putative father, as the increased responsibility incurred by the mother of a bastatt, far more than counterbalances the effect of the impunity of the father, — In the mean time, however, and until some improvement takes placem the habits of the negro, it may properly be a matter for the considerationa! the Legislature, whether, for the purposes of the poor-laws, and indeed for other civil purposes, a state of quas? legitimacy might not be establishél which should distinguish the children which have resulted from permalll concubinage, from the offspring of licentious intercourse. The experience derived from the working of the English Poor liv Amendment Act recommends the adoption of a clause similar to the bbl section, which authorises relief to be treated in certain cases as a loan, all to be recovered accordingly. The respective governors will be able to ascertain whether an enaciitlll similar to the 56th section, respecting the assignment of pensions, Cal be rendered useful or available in the colonies. The liability of children to support their parents, may be enforced bya clause similar to the 57th section. With regard to this section, it is right to observe, that it is not calel into action until the parent actually receives relief; that is to say, until the test of the workhouse has been applied to such parent, in order to ascettall whether he or she is, or is not, able to obtain, by independent labour, the means of self-support. This principle should apparently be applied il other cases in which the maintenance of destitute persons is thrown up” other individuals. i Such individuals are entitled to be protected against simulated in firmly or pretended inability to work; and there is no other protection but mt workhouse. In reference to the maintenance of children by parents, and of wivé by husbands, the 58th and 59th sections are of great importance. . The latter new Relations of Society. 393 provides against the desertion of families; the former, which obliges the head of the family to remain in the workhouse if any of the family are main- tamed therein, will enable the guardians to enforce that most necessary regulation which precludes the relief of parts of families. The 60th section is the necessary complement of those which have pre- ceded it. The 61st and following sections, as far as the 80th inclusive, prescribe the mode of making, levying, and collecting the rate applicable for the relicf of the poor. Although there is no doubt as to the policy, or, indeed, as to the neces- sity, in a country of such large extent and so peculiarly circumstanced as Ireland, of localising the charge for the relief of the poor, and of fixing it, for the most part, on the owners and occupiers of the soil; yet, having re- ference to the very limited extent and population, even of the largest West India colonies, to the importance of giving to all classes of those communi- ties, especially to the labourers themselves, an interest in the careful admi- nistration of relief to the poor, having regard also to the inconveniences which flow from the establishment of a new special taxation, the expense of original valuations, and the continued cost of keeping them correct, the dis- putes and litigations which may arise, even from the most carefully devised system of valuation and rating—it would not be fit to propose that the re- hef of the poor should be defrayed by a poor-rate, or to suggest any other course than to provide the means of relief out of the colonial revenues. Consequently, in lieu of the section, which relates to the rating, such provisions should be substituted as may be necessary for. supplying the guardians with the requisite funds from the colonial treasury, with such’ Securities against the misapplication of the advances as may appear advisable. It is needless to advert to the 80th and following sections as far as the 88th section inclusive, which relates to the constituency and election of a hoard of unpaid guardians. The 89th, 90th, and 91st clauses enable the necessary parties to contract loans for the purpose of building workhouses. The adoption of measures of this nature in the West Indian colonies, would relieve the present inhabitants of those colonies from the necessity of providing immediately and at once for the whole expense of building work- houses and of their requisite outfit, the more especially as it is probable that the prospect of the immediate pressure of the necessary outlay would lead to the adoption of workhouse arrangements on amore limited scale than would be likely to lead to the successful operation of the workhouse system. The 92nd section, which gives to the Commissioners power to regulate contracts; the 98rd section, which prevents the guardians from being per- sonally concerned in any such contracts, or in the supply of any goods for similar purposes; the 94th section, which secures the accountability of the guardians and other subordinate officers; and the 95th section, which empowers the Commissioners to appoint auditors, with authority to enforce that accountability, may properly be taken as the models of corresponding provisions in the Bills which should be prepared. The special notice of the legal advisers of the respective Governors should be directed to the 98th and following sections of the Act, as far as the 105th inclusive, which ensure ‘the due performance of the duties enjoined by the Act, and obedience to the orders issued under it, by the establishment o1 adequate penalties, and by indicating the mode of proceeding for them ; and likewise the 113th section, which provides for the protection of the officers of the law from vexatious suits. General, General. Jamaica. I, p. 158. 394 New Laws proposed to meet tne Their particular attention should also be directed to the 114th, 115th, 116th, and 117th sections, which prescribe the mode of trying the legal validity of the orders of the Commissioners. Provisions of this nature will, however, be probably unnecessary & respects the West India Colonies; and it will perhaps be found better t leave to the legislatures of the colonies, the task of checking and remedymg any excessive or erroneous exercise of the powers of the commissioners. The 96th and 97th sections have been designedly passed over as unne cessary, as to the exemptions from stamp-duty and postage, and the 106th and following sections up to the 112th inclusive, which relate to appeals against the poor-rate. Of the remaining sections, from 118th to 125th and last, it is only neces sary to advert to the 123rd, which renders it the duty of the commissioneis to report annually to the legislature. . Upon this it may merely be observed, that in the West India Colomiesa power should be given to the Governor to call at his discretion for repotls; not only from the commissioners, but from the guardians, through the intervention of the commissioners. The views which have thus been explained will probably enable the respective Governors, with the assistance of their legal advisers, to malilit for the consideration of the legislatures of the colonies under their respet tive governments, the necessary Bills for establishing and carrying iid effect a safe and satisfactory system of relief to the destitute. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 3rd December, 1838. We are unfortunately without any wholesome laws to protect the fair rights of masters and servants, and have all the evils of evasiil of common agreements by one party, and distrust on the other, I apprehend the friends of the negroes have generally warned them against any contracts of service under the 5 Will. IV. ¢. 2, m account of the extreme punishment it inflicts of hard labour or ior feiture of wages; and this, the only law, may be said to be useless, It is true your Lordship has furnished me with the basis of thes laws, and others equally emergent, for the deliberation of the Hous? of Assembly ; but they were refused to be received, as well as al other business from the Government, by the last House of Assembly; and I have no hope whatever, as far as the returns of the presell election have gone, of any better success with the new House, which is to meet on the 18th instant. The election law now in existence requires about fifteen months registration to qualify voters for the Assembly, vestries, &c.; conse quently nearly 300,000 people, the lately emancipated negroes, must be for some time unrepresented in the House of Assembly. ; It is very true they enjoy equal rights with other classes; but if specific laws have been found desirable for the working classes m@ free countries, how much more must they be required in a state 0 society where the proprietor is smarting under the loss of absolute control over his slaves. It is out of my power to protect these poor people as Her Mx jesty’s Government require, and the English public seem to expel new Relations of Society. BARBADOES. ' Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor, Aug. 31, 1838. I HAVE received your despatch, dated 8th July, No. 165, en- closing nine Acts passed by the Legislature of Barbadoes in the months of April and June last. : The Act, No. 663, to regulate the hiring of servants, provides that it shall not be necessary for forming a binding contract between any master and servant, that it should be reduced to writing; but that every general hiring for service shall be taken to be a hiring for one year and no longer, unless a shorter time shall be agreed on between the parties, in the presence of at least one witness ; or unless there be a written agreement read over and signed in the presence of at least one witness, who shall subscribe his name. In the absence of any witness or written agreement, an entrance into service, and continuance therein beyond the term of one week without objection, is to be deemed a general hiring for one year under this Act. Any such general hiring may be determined at any time within the year by either party giving to the other one month’s Notice of his intention to dissolve the engagement. These rules are not drawn up with the brevity and clearness which are peculiarly desirable in a law regulating the rights and duties of one of those relations of life in which the great mass of society will be placed towards each other. If I rightly understand their meaning, the effect. of them is, that if there be a written agreement for service Signed in the presence of any one witness, the servant may bind himself for any term however protracted, and will not be able to Telieve himself by any notice from that obligation. Her Majesty’s Government are of opinion, that, for the present at least, the eman- Cipated population of the West Indies should not be permitted to bind themselves by such contracts for more than one year, and that every such contract when made to endure beyond one month, should be reduced into writing, and signed by the parties in the presence, if possible, of a stipendiary magistrate, who should be required to subscribe it in attestation of the fact, that the servant correctly un- derstood the meaning and effect of the agreement. The continuance in service without objection for a week, cannot reasonably be construed into an implied contract to serve for a year. Some general form should be prescribed for all written contracts of service, otherwise ignorant persons may readily be subjected to oblications, the force and character of which they cannot understand. There should also be prescribed another form, in which notices for the dissolution of such contracts should be given. The penalty payable in the case of the master failing to supply the servant during sickness with necessary medicine or medical + Barbadoes. aoe II. p. 43. Barbadoes. 396 New Laws proposed to meet the attendance is not to be applied as an indemnity to the injured party, but is to be paid into the public treasury. There will therefore le no adequate motive for engaging in prosecutions for the recovery d such penalties. A servant in husbandry who shall absent himself, or be guilty any misconduct or misdemeanor, or wilfully neglect to perform his allotted work, is to be considered guilty of a misdemeanor. All differences between masters and servants are to be determined by any two justices of the parish or district. Such justices may order payment of wages not exceeding 10/. currency, and in the evento! nonpayment, may issue a distress, and may award to the servail costs not exceeding treble the amount of the debt. On the other hand, they may punish the offending servant by commitment, will or without hard labour, for one month, or by an abatement of his wages, or by discharging him from his employment, An appeal is given to the Governor in Council as a court of errors against fhe order of any justice of the peace, except it be an order of commit ment. The appellant is to give six days’ notice of the appeal, and is to enter into a recognizance with a surety to try the appeal and 10 abide the order. These enactments are open to very serious objection. First, the offences for which the servant may be punished are defined by words of far too great latitude and va gueness. Secondly, the jurisdiction is vested in any two justices of the parish, and it may not uni sonably be contemplated that the parochial justices will not le regarded by the emancipated population as impartial administratos of such a law as this. Thirdly, the justices have no power of coit- mitting an employer who refuses to pay the wages. Fourthly, the justices cannot proceed against the employer at all for any faultat misconduct towards his servant, the nonpayment of wages excepted. Fifthly, the faults of servants may be- punished by imprisonmell, stopping of wages, or discharge from the service; yet whatever be the fault of the master, there is no power of discharging the servant from his contract. Sisthly, any one of these penalties may be ili posed for any one of the many indefinite acts already mentioned, although these acts comprise a wide variety of delinquendits Seventhly, the appeal to the Governor in Council is a remedy oil] in name; it cannot be used in case of a commitment, where the wall of a remedy will be most severely felt; and it is in other cases t0 be attended with forms and solemnities which it is impossible fora ignorant servant to observe without legal assistance, which assistal® he will not have the power of procuring. I am aware from yo! recent despatch, No. 164, of the 7th July, that a bill was at that time in progress for the establishment of a Court of Appeal from the decisions of magistrates, which I hope may go far to remedy the inconvenience to which I have just referred; but as 1 am not awalt whether that bill has passed, and am as yet unacquainted with the precise nature of its provisions, I am bound to consider the Goverllt! and Council the only existing court of appeal, with reference t0 the present Act. new Relations of Society. 397 For the arbitration of questions in dispute between masters and servants, it is provided, that the parties shall appoint either four or six arbiters, one half of whom are to be masters and the other half servants. If they cannot agree, they may call upon any justice of the peace, who is to give a casting vote. No complaint for field- work or manufacture is to be decided in this manner, unless the complaint shall have been made within three days after the per- formance of the work. I cannot anticipate that such a tribunal would be attended with beneficial results. Under such circumstances, Her Majesty’s Government have been unable to advise the Queen to confirm this Act. An order of Her Majesty in Council for the disallowance of it will be transmitted to you as soon as the necessary forms can be completed. The Act, No. 665, respecting vagrancy, is drawn on the usual plan of such laws, dividing vagrants into three classes, of idle and disorderly persons, rogues and vagabonds and incorrigible rogues. The definitions of the offence are taken, with scarcely any variation, from the British statutes, and the powers vested in the justices of the peace in England are transferred to the corresponding functionaries mthe colony. From the nature of the case, this is an authority of Very great extent, and exceedingly indefinite; for the crime of Yagrancy consists not so much in the commission of any specific Ollence, as in the being found in circumstances which raise and justify the suspicion of criminal intentions, or which indicate habits of life injurious to the peace of society. The large powers which inthis country are confided to the magistracy for the punishment of Vagrants, are kept in check by many circumstances which have no existence in the West Indies. If, however, the powers of this Act Were confided to stipendiary magistrates, they would perhaps be Open to no conclusive objection. But the case is different when such powers are entrusted to justices of the peace who are personally engaged in the agriculture and manufactures of the colony, and who have so recently stood in a relation to the labouring class, which must for a time tend to produce in the mind of that class some degree of distrust and suspicion. a this ground, Her Majesty in Council will disallow this Act also. On the Act, No. 666, for the Government of the Poor, the de- cision of Her Majesty in Council will be suspended until [ shall be in possession of the Report of the Commissioners for the Poor Law of England on the subject. The Act, No. 667, for the prevention of riotous assemblies, authorizes the punishment of transportation. It is not desirable to Inerease the list of offences for which this penalty may be inflicted. You will therefore, in the execution of this law, avoid, as far as May be possible, the resort to this mode of punishment. The rest of the Acts enclosed in your despatch of the 8th July " be confirmed, or left to their operation, by Her Majesty in ouncil. Barhadoes. Barbadoes. II. (2) p. 75. 398 New Laws proposed to meet the Messages from Sir E. M. MacG'regor to the House of Assembly, Aug. 28, 1838. A PRINTED report.by C. J. Latrobe, Esq., on “Negro Educationinthe Windward and Leeward Islands,” preceded by a despatch from my Lord Glenelg, and accompanied by a “‘ Schedule, shewing the appt: priation in detail of the sum of 30,0002. voted by Parliament in 189), for the promotion of Negro education; also the amount of aid oil of such grant applied for by the different societies cooperating will Her Majesty’s Government in carrying that object into effect,” as well as by “A Report of the Trustees of Lady Mico’s Charity,” presented by the Governor for the consideration of the House. The Governor trusts that the exertions of the joint Committee al the Council and Assembly, therein alluded to as “having commenced its sittings in July, 1837,” will have enabled the honourable Boatl to determine upon the measures proper to be adopted by the Legis lature of this colony, in concert with Her Majesty’s Government ll furtherance of an object of so much importance to the well-being dl the community, as that of suitably providing for the education of the children of the working classes. With reference to messages addressed to the Legislative Hous two on the 5th of October, 1837, and a third on the 8rd of April las the Governor invites the early attention of the honourable the Hause of Assembly to the condition of the militia, as well as of the ural and Bridge-town police, and to the recommendation of the honour able the Commissioners for the employment of a small police comp in the service of the common gaol. These subjects derive additional ,importance from the present Or cumstances of the colony, and the assurance of the Govemdl® anxiety to proceed to their consideration, in any manner most agiet able to the Council and Assembly, is renewed accordingly to yo honourable House. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor, Feb. 16, 1889, Wiru reference to that part of my despatch (No. 107), of dist of August last, which related to the Barbadoes Poor Law (No. 6 6), I have the honour to acquaint you, that as my circular despatel 0 the Ist instant will have put you in possession of a model of a Jai upon that subject for the consideration of the local legislatures think it unnecessary to offer any remarks on the Act (No. Ot ) until they shall have had an opportunity of reconsidering the subject with the view of passing an Act in conformity with the tenor of tha communication. new Relations of Society. ST. VINCENT. Sir H. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 7th June, 1838. I po myself the honour of forwarding to your Lordship the under- mentioned Acts, &c., passed by the Legislature of St. Vincent; viz. No. 365. « An Act for the Punishment of Idle and Disorderly Persons, Rogues, and Vagabonds.”’ No. 366. “An Act for preventing the Combination of Servants ot Masters, for regulating and enforcing Contracts, and determining Disputes between Masters and Servants, for adjusting and recover- ing the Wages of Servants, for preventing the Payment of Wages in Goods, Produce, or by Truck, and for preventing the Embezzling of Property by Servants.” No. 367. “An Act for the more effectual Administration of Justice in the Office of a Justice of the Peace, and for the Appoint- ment of Police Magistrates and a Constabulary Force in these Islands.” Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 14th August, 1838. In obedience to the commands of Her Majesty in Council, I herewith enclose an Order in Council, disallowing two Acts passed mi the month of May last, by the Legislature of St. Vincent, the fitst numbered 365, for the punishment of vagrants, the second numbered 366, for regulating contracts between masters and servants. T also enclose a copy of the reasons assigned by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Plantations for this de- cision in their reports on the subject to the Queen in Council. The brevity with which such reports are invariably prepared leaves to me the duty of entering more at length into the details of the objec- tions which have been entertained to these Acts. The Vagrant Act is objectionable on the general ground that it defines with a dangerous latitude of expression the offences which it Proposes to punish. ‘Thus in the first class of vagrants, designated as idle and disorderly persons, are included “every seamen, mariner, apprentice, or other person disobeying the lawful commands of their Masters or employers ;” “ every person who shall open his or her house for the purpose of dancing or other noisy merriment,” without having obtained a special licence for the occasion from a justice of the peace; “ every person who shall be at such house, other than the usual occupiers and inmates thereof, after due notice to quit by any constable, and also after due notice that the meeting was un- licensed ;” “every person quarrelling in the streets after ten o'clock atnight ;” “every person trespassing on the land of any plantation.” These definitions of crime embrace many venial actions, and many Which are blameless; and with regard to trespasses, they confound the distinctions between wrongs which should be the subject of civil action, and wrongs which should be visited by penalties as crime. St. Vincent. rece Il. p. 119. I. p18 St. Vincent. 400 New Laws proposed to meet the The offence of carrying away the produce of an estate without the consent of the owner, is classed among acts of vagrancy, thoughit must either be a felony or no crime at all. The carrying away such articles, without satisfactorily proving in what manner they were obtained, and the purchasing such articles, knowing the same to have been so carried away, are also actions entirely misplaced in the list of offences which constitute the wrong-doer an idle and disordetly erson. All these acts of vagrancy may be punished by any ordinaty justice of the peace, by commitment to the treadmill for a month; and the justice may proceed, not only on the evidence of a single witness, but on his own view. Her Majesty’s Government cannot concur in confiding powers so extensive, and so readily capable of abuse, even to the stipendiary justices, still less to those who are acting under no pecuniary responsibility. The second class of vagrants, described as rogues and vagabonts, are, first, those who after a previous conviction shall commit any of the before-mentioned offences. Any petty chapman wanderitg abroad, and not being duly licensed, is placed in the same class, although the words do not necessarily imply any offence, as the mal may be wandering abroad without offering anything for sale. Per sons not having any visible means of subsistence, and not givimga good account of themselves, are also declared rogues and vagabond, if found wandering about and lodging in any hut. It is difficult to understand in what the offence of lodging in a hut consists, andi such a case the real offence would be constituted by the wantdl visible means of subsistence, connected with an inability to giveal account satisfactory to any single justice of the peace. Yet on tle oath of a single witness, any man falling within any of these vagilt definitions may be committed by any justice to the treadmill fo three calendar months. The third class of vagrants, namely, incorrigible rogues, are thos who after being convicted as rogues and vagabonds, shall commité second offence of the same lad. Any such person may, on the oath of a single witness, be committed by any single justice of the peace to the treadmill, until he can take his trial before the regular courts, by whom he will be further pul ished as for a misdemeanor. The Act further provides in section 4, that any person may 4? prehend, and, if necessary, confine any offender against the Act, a forthwith take him before some justice of the peace. ‘The person apprehending the party so charged may take from him any gootls in his possession or use, carrying them before the justice of the peace; and the justice may not only order that any money foun on the person of the vagrant shall be applied towards the expen of the proceedings against him, but may order the sale for that put. pose of all the effects which may be found in his possession. powers thus given to any man to apprehend, and even to confine another, on charges so vague as those which I have mentioned, must . oO ~ subject every one to the absolute authority of the persons under whose new Relations of Society. 401 control, or in whose employment, he may be living. It, in fact, enables the employer of workmen to punish them by imprisonment, without even the previous sanction of a justice of the peace, if the object of his displeasure can be brought within the range of any one of a series of definitions, the most general and vague by which it is possible that crime should be described. It is obvious that in a society in which arbitrary punishments for domestic offences have so recently been sanctioned by the law, there is extreme danger of the revival of that practice under the colour of such enactments. The power of confiscating the property of the offender by the order of a single justice must, of course, greatly enhance the danger of the uirtual resumption by the employers of much of their former domestic authority over the emancipated class. The court of sessions, or the court of oyer and terminer, may sentence an incorrigible rogue to imprisonment, with hard labour, for one year; and if the offender be a male, may further order him to receive 50 stripes during his imprisonment. When the indefinite Nature of the offence is considered, and when it is further borne in mind that the sessions by which such an order may be made may be held exclusively by the ordinary justices of the peace, it is impossible toregard powers thus extensive without serious alarm for their pos- sible abuse. By the 9th clause, a penalty of 20/., and, in default of payment, an imprisonment for three months, may be awarded by a single justice of the peace against any person who shall disturb any con- stable in the execution of his office, or shall be assisting in any such disturbance. In what the offence of disturbing a constable consists, Or in what it may be construed to consist, it would seem scarcely Possible to explain. Yet penalties of such severity should be pre- ceded by the most accurate definition of the offences against which they are pointed. On proof that there is good reason to believe that any property is unlawfully concealed by any person, the justice may issue a search Warrant for the seizure of the property; and unless the person in Whose possession it shall be found, or some other person, shall in six days produce satisfactory proof of his right to such property, any — justice of the peace may order it to be sold for the use of the public. T cannot discover the justification of a law of such extreme severity as this, which, in effect, places all the poorer classes of society in a State of the most absolute dependence on the justices of the peace. The weight of the preceding remarks is greatly enhanced by the Observation that under the 12th clause it is provided that no pro- Ceeding before any justice under this Act shall be quashed for want of form. Consequently the most essential forms of justice may be Safely disregarded. Further, the Act is retrospective in its operation, denouncing its Penalties even against those “ who shall not have committed any Offence against it,”’ Under all these circumstances, the confirmation of this Act could Not fail to produce serious inconvenience and injustice. As a pre- 2D St. Vincent. St. Vincent. 402 New Laws proposed to meet the cedent for imitation in other colonies, it is still more formidable than in its operation im the single colony of St. Vincent’s. But the Act for regulating contracts between masters and servatis is, I regret to say, open to yet graver objections. It provides by the first clause, that if any person shall, by molesting, or in any Way obstructing, another, force, or endeavour to force, any hired servant to depart from his hiring, or prevent, or endeavour to prevent, aly such servant not being hired or employed from hiring himself to, or from accepting employment from, any person, he shall be liable fo imprisonment with hard labour for three months. Now supposethe case, that a father, by “ molesting” his son, should “ endeavourto revent” him from accepting employment in a service to which the father might entertain the most reasonable objections, he would he liable to this punishment. The illustration might of course be taken from any other relation of life less intimate than that of parent and child. It is clear, however, that there are many domestic and per sonal connexions, the parties to which are not merely entitled, bul bound, to use their utmost influence with each other to prevent their engaging in employments which may be injurious to the welfared the party about to make such an engagement. This law, while it leaves employers free to molest or obstruct each other in their choice of servants, forbids, under a summary and most serious penalty, aly corresponding interference in the choice of a master. The same clause subjects to the same penalties any one who shall molest. or obstruct another for the purpose of inducing him to belong to any club, or to contribute to any common fund. It may fairly be inferred from the succeeding words, that it was intended to pull this prohibition only against clubs associated, or against funds col- lected, with a view to deprive workmen of the exercise of their own free will as to the acceptance of employment or wages; but this qualification of the rule is intimated so obscurely, that the justices whom the execution of it is entrusted might, without any appatell breach of the law, extend it to many venial, and even to some Vey useful actions. The 5th clause provides that no servant who shall have been tained by any person, shall depart from his employer before the & of his term, except for a reasonable cause, to be allowed by a just of the peace. ‘To this it is added, by the 6th clause, that no sut servant shall depart, even at the end of his term, without a previo) warning given before the expiration of one-fourth part of the ime for which he may have been hired. Now, as there is no limitation as to the length of such contracts, a servant who should improve dently engage himself for two years, or more, cannot be relewe from his contract without giving six months’ notice, or more, 4% the case may be, and without being provided with evidence that sue notice had been given. ‘The law should have defined the utmost allowable length of the contract, and should have provided som method for rendering easy the proof of notice to quit. Every servant departing, without cause allowed by t the peace, before the expiration of the term and of the notice tog he justice of ult, new Relations of Society. 403 is either to be compelled to serve for a time equal to that of his absence, or to make satisfaction to his master for the loss, failing of which any justice of the peace may commit the servant to hard labour until he shall consent to serve out the time of his hiring, and such further time as may be necessary to defray the costs of the complaint. It will afterwards appear what are the corresponding temedies given to the servant in the event of the breach of the con- tract on the part of the employer, and how unequally the law is framed in that respect. But the 10th clause requires peculiar notice, as a departure from the great principle of personal freedom. It provides that all work- men on estates shall be at their work at or before six in the morning, and shall not depart till six at night, except at breakfast and dinner, the times to be allowed for which shall not exceed three hours in the day. Every hour’s absence is to be followed by a penalty of 6d. I can find no apology for such an interference as this with the freedom of private contracts. There can surely be no reason why, as between free men, hours of labour should not be regulated by arrangements according to their mutual convenience. The laws Which restricted the right of the owner, as to the extent of the toil to be exacted from a slave, were passed in restraint of arbitrary “power. They are now adopted in restraint of personal liberty, and, therefore, assume a perfectly new character; nor can I omit to observe, that this Act, while it insists on labour during nine hours daily, expressly permits the employer to commence it before six in the morning, and thus to add indefinitely to its amount. Labourers leaving their work unfinished are not only liable to be imprisoned for a month, but in addition to this severe punishment, May be subjected to a fine of 10/. for the employer’s benefit. There is also a special power of imprisonment for a month of any servant who shall either wilfully or maliciously make any assault or aliray, either on his employer or on any other person having the oversight of him. It is unfit that there should be any special law on the subject of assaults, to which every class of society is not alike amenable; but if such a law could be admitted at all, it is quite as Necessary for the protection of the servant as for that of the master or overseer. For the offence of embezzlement, a single magistrate may commit a servant to hard labour for two months. ‘his is an extent of authority which cannot safely be committed to the ordinary Magistracy. The 21st clause expressly permits the payment of wages in kind, and not in money, if the wages be given in the shape of clothing, salt-fish, medicine, medical attendance, tools, or implements. 'The servants must indeed have previously agreed to receive payment in this form. It is necessary, however, and should have been provided, that all such contracts should be of short duration, and that they Should be invalid unless previously sanctioned by a stipendiary Magistrate. 2pd2 St. Vincent. St. Vincent. II. (2), p. 166. 404 New Laws proposed to meet the The definition of labourer, within the meaning of the Act, iss extensive as virtually to embrace the whole emancipated population, The powers vested in the magistrates of determining all disputes between masters and servants, could not properly be confided, except to the stipendiary magistracy. The 25th clause enables the magistrates to punish, by commit: ment to the treadmill, for any indefinite time, a servant guilty of any « miscarriage,” or any “ ill-behaviour” in his service, or they may order an abatement of his wages, or discharge him from his employ: ment. It is impossible to sanction such punishments for offences indefinite. But in the event of a complaint against the masterd! ill-treatment of his servant, though the offence be more specific, the punishment is incomparably more lenient. It consists simply in a power of putting an end to the contract. This is the inequality of the law to which I have referred in a preceding part of this despatel. The 32nd clause renders the decisions of the magistrates final and conclusive, while it absolves them from the necessity of observing any form or regularity in their proceedings. ; On the whole, I am compelled to state that the confirmation of It would tend to reproduce, in a new form, many of those evils whieh it was the design of Parliament to bring to a close by the abolitiol of slavery. I cannot doubt that the Legislature of St. Vincent will on consideration, admit the force of many, at least, of the objections which it has been my duty to state to these laws, and I earnestly hope that they will apply themselves to legislate, on the subject 10 which these Acts refer, on principles adapted to the new stale? society, consequent on the important change which has recently taken place in that island, and thus lay the foundation of a sysiél equally protective of the rights and conducive to the interests of all classes of the community. The Act, No. 367, which establishes a police magistracy, and 8 constabulary force, contains a table of fees, which appear to be Uk reasonably high, when it is considered that the emancipated poplt lation will chiefly be charged with the payment of them. For example, the examination of the vagrant is to cost 2s. 6d. ; the col viction may cost either 5s. or 15s.; the warrant, 2s, 6d.; evel) examination on oath as much more, and so on. Now these chatge when added together, would amount to so serious a burthen, in the case of poor people, as greatly to aggravate the rigour of the penalties to which I have already had occasion to refer. It will not be i my power to advise Her Majesty to confirm this Act, unless te mee shall see fit to repeal, and greatly diminish this table? ees. Lieutenant-Governor Tyler to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 14th December, 1838. In reference to my recent communications to your Excellency relative to establishing an assistant court of appeal in this island, # new Relations of Society. is with regret I have to inform your Excellency, that a bill for that 405 purpose was again brought into the House of Assembly on the 5th instant, which, after the first reading was thrown out, by every member voting against it except the one, who, at my request, intro- duced the bill ; under these circumstances, 1 have no further reason to hope that the measure will be adopted in this colony. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir H. J. M. MacGregor, 13th April, 1839. St. Vincent. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your two de- II. (2),p. 164 spatches, Nos. 350 and 352, of the 22nd December, transmitting Nos. 371 to various Acts passed by the Legislature of St. Vincent, in the months of July, October, November, and numbered, in the registry of Acts in this office, from No. 371 to No. 378 inclusive. The Acts, No. 372 and 378, have both reference to the Police Act, No. 367, alluded to in Lord Glenelg’s despatch of the 14th August, wherein his Lordship recommended certain alterations to be made in the fee table annexed to the Act. Ido not perceive any objection to the confirmation of these two Acts, provided the former Act shall be amended in the manner pointed out by Lord Glenelg ; but until that emendation shall have been made, I cannot submit these Acts to Her Majesty in Council for approval. The Act, No. 376, for the appointment of rural constables, is also An Act for a similar purpose was passed in Tobago, in the month of August last, and was disallowed by Her Majesty in Council, for the reasons stated in Lord Glenelg’s despatch of the For the same reasons, | have felt myself under the necessity of advising the disallowance of the St. Vincent’s Act, and I enclose an Order passed by Her Majesty in Council, on objectionable. Ist January last, No. 50. the 10th instant, to that effect. Lhe rest of the Acts of this series have been left to their operation, by the enclosed Order passed by Her Majesty in Council, on the same day. Sir H. J, M. MacGregor to the Marquis of Normanby, 6th April, 1839. 378. Hzrewirn I have the honour of forwarding to your Lordship the yy, (), p. 184. undermentioned Acts passed by the Legislature of St. Vincent, as received from his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor. No. 1.—** An Act to extend to these Islands parts of certain Acts of the Imperial Parliament, relative to ‘Thefts and Injury to Pro- perty.” No. 2.—** An Act to render null and void all Contracts for the Performance in this Colony of any Service or Labour in Agricul- No. 380. No. 381. St. Vincent. II. (2), p. 193. Grenada. IL., p. 185. 406 New Laws proposed to meet the ture, or in or about. the Manufacture of Colonial Produce which may be entered into in any of the other of Her Majesty’s Posse. sions in the West Indies.”’ _ No. 3—< An Act (with a suspending Clause) for the Abolition of Currency and the Substitution of Sterling Money in these Is- lands.” No. 4.— An Act for regulating the Rights of Masters and Ser vants, and for the better Enforcement of Contracts.’’ No. 5.— An Act to provide for the Administration of Justice in the Office of a Justice of the Peace, and for the appointment ofa Police Magistrate for the Kingstown District, and a Constabulary Force in these Islands. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 27th August, 1839. Two Acts passed by the Legislature of the Island of St. Vincent in the months of July, November, and December, 1838, and March, 1839, Nos. 372, 378, 381, 383, and 384, having been referred by the Queen in Council to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for ‘Trade and Foreign Plantations, that Committee have reported to Her Majesty in Council their opinion that the said Ads should be left to their operation. I have the honour to transmit to you herewith an order of Her Majesty in Council, dated the 26th instant, approving that Repott GRENADA. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 5th February, 1839. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despateh, No. 272, of the 2nd October, transmitting four Acts passed by the Legislature of Grenada in the months of July and August last, and numbered 325, 326, 327, and 328, respecting which I have @ request your attention to the following obervations :— ! The Act, No. 325, amending the several Acts for the regulatiol of the militia, enacts, in effect, that none of the emancipated popu- lation should serve in the militia, and this provision being opp0s? to the views of Her Majesty’s Government on this subject, as & plained in my circular despatch of the 30th November last, J have been compelled to advise Her Majesty to disallow this Act. The Act, No. 326, for preventing persons taking illegal possession of waste or ungranted lands, provides that, upon information on oat being given to any one or more justices of any person having ille- gally located and fixed himself on land belonging to the Crown # individuals, the justice is to summon the party to attend on soll fixed day, when he is to produce to any two or more justices the deed or written authority by which he has so taken possession? new Relations of Society. 407 and located himself upon the land; and if the party shall fail to produce any written document, authorising him to take possession of and cultivate the land, or to erect a building thereon, the justices are to order him immediately to quit the land, and are to direct the buildings to be taken down, and are to adopt whatever measures they think necessary to carry this order into effect. In the passage which I have thus abridged, occurs a parenthesis in the following words, “ unless such party shall have become pos- sessed of such lands by descent or other lawful means, whereby he may be unable to produce any deed or written document, such fact to be proved on oath to the satisfaction of such justices.” The substance of these enactments therefore is, that any two justices of the peace may hold any man to the proof of his title to the occupation of any land, requiring him either to produce a sufficient written title, or to prove on oath to their satisfaction that he has a good title, of which it is impossible that documentary evidence should be produced. This provision is at variance with several of the provi- sions of the Order in Council of the 6th October, on the subject of the occupation of waste lands; and among others, with that which vests an exclusive jurisdiction in stipendiary magistrates, the grounds of which have already been explained to you. I have therefore advised Her Majesty to suspend her decision upon this Act until I shall have been informed of the course which the legislature may have adopted after having been made acquainted with the provisions of the Order referred to. The Act, No. 327, for preventing the clandestine deportation of labourers, is open to all the objections which existed to the Tobago Act, No. 313, on the same subject ; and having in my despatch of the 21st ultimo fully stated my objections to that Act, it is unneces- sary that I should now do more than inform you that Her Majesty has been advised, for the same reasons, to disallow the Grenada Act. Tobserve that the law-officers rely on the precedent of Antigua in justification of this measure, but I may remark that the laws of Antigua, which accompanied the abolition of slavery in that island in the year 1834, were received with the indulgence to which that legislature had so peculiar a claim, for whatever precautionary enact- ments they thought it necessary to connect with the immediate and Complete abolition of slavery, without any intervening state of ap- Pprenticeship. Experience, however, has since shown that the condi- tions with which that measure was connected in Antigua were, with few exceptions, unnecessary. The Act, No. 328, for the better adjustment and more easy tecovery of wages, is so completely at variance with the Order of Her Majesty in Council of the 7th September last on that subject, ‘that I have been under the necessity of advising Her Majesty to disallow it. ‘The objections to this Act being similar to those which I have recently had occasion to bring before you with regard to other Acts of the same nature, I think it unnecessary here to repeat them. I have the honour to enclose an Order passed by Her Majesty in Grenada. nn II. (2), p. 217. II. (2), p. 218. Tobago. el ps 210. 408 New Laws proposed to meet the Council on the 4th instant, disallowing the Acts, Nos. 325, 397, and 328, as well as No. 318, for the reason therein stated, Sir E. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 30th J anuary, 1839, Wit reference to my despatch of the 2nd October last, No. 27), I do myself the honour of forwarding the copy of a letter from his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and copies of an Act passe by the legislature of Grenada, intituled « An Act to amend an Act intituled *‘ An Act for preventing the Clandestine Deportation or Emigration of Labourers, Artificers, Handicraftsmen, and Domestic or other Servants, from this Island, and for establishing Regulations concerning their Departure from the Colony.’ ” The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 12th June, 1839. An Act passed by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Asset bly of Grenada, in October last, No. 332, and transmitted in your despatch, No. 4, 30th J anuary, having been referred by the Queel in Council to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council tor Trade and Foreign Plantations, that Committee have reported to Her Majesty in Council their opinion that the said Act should be disallowed, because the Act which it would amend has been dis allowed. I have the honour to transmit to you herewith an Order of Het Majesty in Council, dated 3rd inst., approving that report. LLL NEE SRE PN SSAA SO SS SST OT GES TOBAGO. Laeutenant-Governor Darling to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor; 20th September, 1838. Your Excellency will perceive that the House of Assembly have promised to take the question of an assistant court of appeal nto consideration. Lord Glenelg to Sir KE. J. M. MacGregor, 1st January, 1839. I HAVE received your despatch of the 19th September (No. 260), together with the Act (No. 312) of the legislature of Tobago, il tuled “ An Act to authorize the Appointment of Rural Constables in this Island.” This Act authorizes any two justices of the peace to appoint two rural constables on any plantation on which 100 persons are settled, new Relations of Society. 409 or one such constable for any smaller number of persons, not being less than 25, In considering this Act I have not overlooked the fact, that an Act for the same purpose was passed recently by the legislature of Barbadoes, and has been allowed. But objections which had not occurred to me then, have been since suggested to enactments of this nature. I transmit to you }jherewith a copy of a communication from Sir William Colebrooke, dated 15th September, 1858, in which these objections are stated. Although they had escaped me hitherto, I think you will agree with me that we ought to attach much weight to them, supported as they are by the high authority of Sir W. Colebrooke. There appeared to me to be strong grounds for apprehending with him, that on a system of plantation police, the constable will, under a new name, assume the office of the driver under the regimen of slavery ; and that to require men to be continually working under the eye of a police officer, might encourage the continuance of servile habits and feelings. I cannot but think it preferable, therefore, that, in imitation of English usages, there should be parochial con- stables, or constables appointed for some districts, however desig- mated, who, having a general superintendence of the peace of their neighbourhood, instead of being themselves the servants of any par- ficular person, would act with greater independence and more justice to all parties. For these reasons Her Majesty in Council will be advised to disallow this Act. I hope to be enabled to transmit to you at an early period a draft of a police law, which the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police have undertaken to prepare, embodying the principles of legislation Upon this subject which Her Majesty’s Government would recom- mend for adoption by the West Indian legislatures. Lord Gilenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor. 2\st January, 1839. Tue Act, No. 314, for the better recovery of wages, is little else than a transcript of the laws of other islands which have been dis- allowed. ‘The decision pronounced by Her Majesty in Council on the Act of St. Vincent, No. 366, of Barbadoes, No. 663, of the Virgin Islands, No. 110, and of St. Kitt’s No. 285, proceeded on grounds which are applicable to this Act also, and it is not less than the others at variance with the provisions of the Order of the Queen in Council of the 7th September. I have thus been under the hecessity of advising Her Majesty to disallow it. Tobago L., p. 209. Tobago. ee II. p. 213. II. (2), p.224. II. (2), p. 243. 410 New Laws proposed to meet the Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 5th February, 1839, Tus Act, No. 317, for preventing persons occupying waste lant is open to the same objections which I have stated in my despatch of the 5th inst. to exist to the confirmation of the Grenada Act, No. 326; and being in other respects opposed to the Order in Council of the 6th October last on this subject, I have not fil myself justified in advising Her Majesty to allow it to continuein operation. It has therefore been disallowed by Her Majesty in Council on the 4th inst., the order for which is herewith enclosed. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, lst March, 1839. Wiru reference to that part of Lord Glenelg’s despatch, No. 40) of the 15th October last, which related to the Tobago Act, No. 307, making provision for the maintenance of the poor, I have to observe, that as his Lordship’s circular despatch of the 1st ultimo will have put you in possession of a model of a poor-law, for the consideration of the local Legislature, no decision on that Act wil be taken by Her Majesty in Council, until they shall have hada opportunity of re-considering the subject, with the view of passilg an Act more in conformity with that model than the Act whichis now before me. Lneut.-Governor Darling to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 10th April, 1839. I wave the honour to forward to your Excellency for the purpo® of being transmitted to England, the transcript of an Act recently passed by the Legislature of this island, for the suppression 0 vagrancy. This Act being a copy, verbatim, from Her Majesty’ Order in‘Council on the subject, with such alterations only asale necessary to give it the form of a legislative enactment, I havent hesitated to assent to it. I have also assented to another Act to regulate the contracts fot wages, in strict accordance with Her Majesty’s Order in Council ol that head. I have been induced to take this step in consequence of al ide that was fast gaining ground, and operating very injuriously amongst the labourers, that there was to be no law about work and wages. There was in fact no protection for either master or servant this important point, and in order to check so great an evil, 1 have ventured to overstep perhaps the precise bounds of my authority, giving these Acts the force of law, without your Excellency’s previals Sanction. new Relations of Society. 41] I trust, however, that the brief explanation I have given will Tobago. excuse the irregularity. ae | The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 10th Aug., 1839. I wave had the honour of receiving your despatches, No. 19, U. (2),p. 249. 23rd of April, and No. 26, 8th of May, enclosing four Acts passed by the Legislature of Tobago in the months of February, March, and April last. I annex a list of these Acts, together with the numbers by which N°. 321, 322, they are registered in the books of this office. eae I have had much pleasure in submitting these Acts for the approval of Her Majesty in Council, more especially the three last, relating to Vagrancy, Contracts, and the Apprenticeship of Children, the passing of which in conformity with the corresponding Orders of ‘Her Majesty in Council, as regards the Crown colonies, is highly creditable to the Legislature of Tobago. I enclose an Order passed by the Queen in Council on the 31st ult. confirming these four Acts. TRINIDAD. Trinidad. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 10th Nov., 1838. I nave brought under Her Majesty’s consideration the Ordinance II. p. 254. No. 4, enacted on the 13th of August last by yourself, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government of ‘Trinidad, Intituled, ‘‘ An Ordinance to ascertain and regulate the Powers of Justices of the Peace in determining Complaints between Employers and Labourers, and between Masters and Servants, Artificers, Handi- craftsmen and others.”’ Her Majesty is pleased to disallow this Ordinance because the Objects which it has in view, so far as they are consistent with the principles approved by Her Majesty, have been provided for by an peter of Her Majesty in Council, passed on the 7th of September ast. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hili, 10th Nov., 1888. I nave to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 103, of 11. p. 265. the 22nd of September, enclosing three Ordinances, Nos. 10, 11, and 12, passed by yourself and the Council of Government of Trinidad, intituled, No. 10. An Ordinance “ To raise a Revenue from Licences to retail Rum and other Spirituous Liquors within the Rural Police Districts of the Island of Trinidad.” Trinidad. il. p, 255.,, 412 New Laws proposed to meet the No. 1]. An Ordinance ‘ To declare the Meaning and Interpre. tation to be given to the word ‘* Governor,’ whenever the same q occurs in any Law or Ordinance now in force or hereafter to be it force in the Colony.” No. 12. An Ordinance “'To consolidate and amend the Law relative to Vagrants, Rogues and Vagabonds, and _ incorrigible Rogues ; and to assimilate the same, so far as may be, to the Lams of England in like cases.” liaving laid these Ordinances before the Queen, I have nowthe honour to acquaint you, that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to confirm and allow the first two of these Ordinances, Nos 10 and 11. With regard to the third, No. 12, Her Majesty has been pleasel to disallow that Ordinance, because it is repugnant to, and has beh superseded by, the Order made by Her Majesty in Council on ti 7th of September last, for the prevention and punishment of 1 grancy in ‘Trinidad. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 11th Nov., 1838. I nave brought under Her Majesty’s consideration the Ordinance No. 5, enacted on the 13th of August last by yourself, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government of Trinidad, intituled, «‘ An Ordinance to provide a summary Power of punish- ing Persons for Common Assault and Batteries. . 2... : The power given by this Ordinance to the magistrates (which not confined to the stipendiary justices, but extended to the whde magistracy), of awarding fines with costs, in cases of assault, extent to a fine with costs amounting together to 20/. currency; wheres by the recent Act of Parliament (from which the Ordinance his been taken), the fine which may be imposed by a justice of the peat in this country is limited to 5/. sterling. The large amouth® penalty may, perhaps, be necessary; but Her Majesty’s Govetlt ment are of opinion, for reasons which have been explained in former communications, that, for a time at least, the summary power (lr ferred by this Act should be placed only in the hands of stipendiaty magistrates, Her Majesty has therefore been advised to confirm thi Ordinance, with an amendment to this effect. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 12th Nov., 1838. I HAVE brought under Her Majesty’s consideration the ordinance No. 6, enacted on the 13th of August last by yourself, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government of Trinidad, intituled, ‘‘ An Ordinance to provide a summary Power of Punish ment for Petty Thefts.” This ordinance enables any justices of the peace, whether stipell- diary or other, to convict any person of stealing, or unlawfully Killing new Relations of Society. 413 or wounding with intent to steal, animals of different kinds kept in a domestic state, and either to imprison the offender for a month, or to adjudge him to the payment of 10/. beyond the value of the animal stolen or wounded. [ven in case of larceny, not accompanied by burglary, housebreaking, or robbery, the single justice of the peace may convict the offender, and punish him by two months’ imprison- ment. ‘I'he same proceeding is to be had in the case of stealing ina dwelling-house under the value of 10/. ‘There is a similar power of summary conviction and punishment in the case of stealing, cutting, destroying, or damaging with intent to steal, beans, or any other vegetable production, and in the case of stealing or throwing down, with intent to steal, any fence. Receivers of such stolen goods, and all abettors of the offender, are in the same manner made liable to the summary jurisdiction of the justices. Persons committing Offences of this kind may be arrested without any warrant from the justice. This law, therefore, permits the conviction and punishment, as a thief, of a man without any regular form of trial, on the solitary judgment of a magistrate acting in private. Admitting, as I do, that much danger may accrue to property by leaving such offences to a tardy process of law before the regular tribunals, I yet consider that some middle point may be found between the two extremes of summary conviction, on the one hand, and, on the other, commit- ment for trial in courts sitting at long intervals. For example, there would appear to be no impossibility of convening a jury for the trial of petty thefts before a stipendiary magistrate; and ex- perience would seem to show, that the administration of justice Would not be the less strict as the jurors might approach more Closely the condition in life of the accused party. If a scheme can be devised, founded upon this principle, I shall be happy to bring under Her Majesty’s consideration any ordinance Which you may transmit to me for the purpose of carrying it into effect. Her Majesty has been pleased to disallow, on the grounds above explained, the ordinance, No. 6, of the 13th of August. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 13th Nov., 1838. I nave brought under Her Majesty’s consideration the Ordinance, No. 7, enacted by you, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government of Trinidad, on the 15th August last, intituled, * An Ordinance to provide a summary power of punishment for Malicious injuries to property.” This ordinance is open to the same, or nearly the same, objections as those which, in my despatch of yesterday’s date, No. 362, I have Stated to be applicable to the ordinance, No. 6, for the punishment of petty thefts. Her Majesty has been pleased to disallow this ordinance for the same reasons that dictated the disallowance of the other. Trinidad. II. p.'257. Trinidad. II. p. 257, New Laws proposed to meet the Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 14th Nov., 1838. I nave brought under Her Majesty’s consideration the Ordinanee, No. 8, enacted on the 13th of August last by yourself, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government of Trinidad, it. tituled, « An Ordinance for the more effectually preventing Persons from settling on or occupying waste and uncultivated lands withoit authority.” Her Majesty is pleased to disallow this Ordinance, becaus¢ the objects which it has in view, so far as they are consistent with the principles approved by Her Majesty, have been provided for bya Order of Her Majesty in Council, passed on the 6th ultimo. I have, at the same time, to convey to you, and to request thil you will express to the Council, Her Majesty’s approbation of the zeal and judgment which have been evinced upon this occasioitin the enactment of a law, the most material provisions of which, had they not been anticipated by the legislation of Her Majesty im Council, would have been regarded as highly beneficial to the colony. Lord Glenelg to Sir G. F. Hill, 15th Nov., 1838. I wave brought under Her Majesty’s consideration the Ordinanee, No. 9, enacted on the 15th of August last by yourself, with the advice and consent of the Council of Government of Trinidad, i tituled, ‘“* An Ordinance for the more effectual prevention of wilful trespasses on lands.” In bringing this Ordinance before Her Majesty, I have had reference to the protest of the Chief Justice, transmitted in yoll! despatch, No. 89, of the 6th of September, and also to the vinditr tion by the acting Attorney-General, Mr. Jackson, transmitted your despatch, No. 101, of the 21st of that month. The Ordinance enacts, that persons trespassing on the lands ot estate of others, and continuing so to trespass, after having beet required to quit by the proprietor or person in possession, oF his servant, agent, manager or overseer, may be lawfully apprehende by these parties, or others acting under their orders, and conveyé before a justice of the peace of the district, and that the offendes whether so apprehended or not, shall forfeit, upon conviction, suf sum not exceeding 4/. currency, as to the justice shall seem f, together with the costs of the conviction. The Chief Justice states, first, that the Ordinance is unnecessaly) so far as it has any reference to unlawful aggressions upon Iants amounting to what the law of England styles trespasses, inasmuch a by the law of the colony such acts may be prevented, and also my be restrained, and the aggressor removed from off the land by i possessor, who may also bring his action at law; and, second, ttl the Ordinance will, in practice, have the effect of enabling proprietols new Relations of Society. 415 or managers of plantations to interfere with the right of labourers Trinidad. occupying cottages upon plantations to have their relations or friends come to visit them, which right (he observes) has been often vexa- tiously interfered with. Mr. Jackson, although stating his entire persuasion that the Ordinance was not intended to have the effect adverted to by the Chief Justice, states in less positive terms his opinion that the legal consequence would not follow. As it is of great importance that no doubts should be created on such a subject, Her Majesty has been pleased to disallow this Ordinance. Sir G. F. Ell to Lord Glenelg, 19th Jan., 1889. I wave the honour to forward to your Lordship the enclosed yy, (2), p. 262. Ordinances :— No. 1. “To provide a summary power of punishment for Petty Thefts.” No. 2. “ To provide a summary power of punishment for Malici- ous Injuries to Property.” I beg leave to remark upon these Ordinances, that the mischief they have been intended to remedy was deemed to require immediate attention. In consequence of Her Majesty having disallowed the Ordinances previously passed on the same subjects, I thought it expedient, Without delay, to prepare those which I have now the honour to enclose, and I have endeavoured to obviate in these two Ordinances What appeared to be objectionable in the former enactments, by giving the summary jurisdiction to the stipendiary magistrates exclusively. The amount of fine in each of these Ordinances has been lowered. Together with the above-mentioned Ordinances I have also the | honour to forward for Her Majesty’s approval the following :— No. 15. «* An Ordinance for preventing the Trespass of Cattle and other Animals on the Lands of Persons other than the Pro- prietors of such Cattle or Animals.” No 16. “ An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance, entitled, An ‘Ordinance to establish a System of Rural Police.” No. 19. “ An Ordinance for the more easy and speedy decision of Petty Civil Actions.” (No. 3. “ An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance, entitled, An Ordinance to establish a System of Rural Police.” The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 20th May, 1839. | I wave received the late Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Hill’s II, (2), p.275. | despatch, No. 6, of the 19th January, enclosing the under-mentioned Trinidad. 416 New Laws proposed to meet the Ordinances, passed by the Lieutenant-Governor and Council in the months of November, December, and January last. No. ]. An Ordinance to provide a summary power of punishment for petty thefts. No. 2. An Ordinance to provide a summary power of punishment for malicious injuries to property. No. 15. An Ordinance for preventing the trespassing of cattle and other animals on the lands of persons other than the proprietos of such cattle or animals. No. 16. An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance, entitled, “An Ordinance to Establish a System of Rural Police.”’ No. 19. An Ordinance for the more easy and speedy decision a petty civil actions. : No. 3. An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance, entitled, “An Ordinance to Establish a System of Rural Police.” Having brought these Ordinances under Her Majesty’s considett tion, together with the correspondence which had previously pasell between my predecessor and Sir G. Hill, on the subject of certain ot the Ordinances which have been now amended, I have received Het Majesty’s commands to make the following communication to youll! respect to them. The first Ordinance, to provide a summary power of punishment for petty thefts, has been substituted for the Ordinance disallowed by Lord Glenelg’s despatch of the 12th November, No. 362. The Lieutenant-Governor states, in his despatch, that he has obviated the objections made to the former Ordinance ; it does idl however, appear that that object has been accomplished. The objection to the Ordinance of the 18th of August was, i substance, that it subjected all persons to summary conviction ail punishment on the adjudication of a single magistrate for mally offences of a very serious nature, for which the party charged ought to undergo a regular trial before some competent court of justidé To this extent the Ordinance of the 12th of January, 1839, exactly coincides with that of August, 1838. It is true that the stipendialy magistrate alone may now exercise this power; but I apprehel that Lord Glenelg’s objection was addressed not merely to the elt cumstance of the jurisdiction having been granted indiscriminately to all the magistrates, but to such a power being vested in any single magistrate proceeding in a summary way. As Ordinance, No 2 which provides a summary power of punishment. for malidolls injuries to property, likewise leaves unaltered the mode of trial, which has been specially objected to, Her Majesty has no altetm tive but to disallow that law, as well as the preceding one. ; In conveying to you Her Majesty’s commands that these Ordi- nances, Nos. | and 2, should be disallowed, and thus imposing 0 the Lieutenant-Governor and Council the necessity of passing fres enactments, I request that you will observe to the Lieutenanl Governor that a satisfactory substitute for the summary jurisdictidl of a single magistrate might, I think, be found in the establishment of a court of petty sessions, held by two stipendiary magistrates, of new Relations of Society. 417 by three, and if by two, with an appeal in case of the disagreement of the two. The Ordinance, No. 3, to amend an Ordinance, entitled, « An Ordinance to Establish a System of Rural Police,’ has been passed in amendment of the Rural Police Ordinance of August, 1838. On that Ordinance the Royal decision was suspended in contemplation of the enactment by the Queen in Council of an Order on the sub- ject. The project of a police law having been sent out to the colony instead of an Order in Council, in Lord Glenelg’s circular despatch of the 15th January, I have to state, that until I shall be apprized of the measures which may be taken in pursuance of that circular, Her Majesty’s decision on Ordinance, No. 3, and on the Ordinance of August last, amended by it, will continue to be suspended. In Making this communication to the Lieutenant-Governor of ‘Trinidad, Trequest that you will express my wish to receive at as early a period as possible the result of the deliberations of himself and the Council on the subject of the police project. The Ordinance, No. 15, to prevent the trespassing of cattle, con- tains a clause (No, 7), which provides that any person may kill any swine, goat or kid, which may be found trespassing on his cultivated or enclosed lands, or to kill any swine wandering at large away from the place where such swine may be kept. In the first case, the per- son killing the animal is to have it for his own use, In the second case he is to take the head only, and to leave the carcass for the owner; but if the owner does not take away the carcass within six hours, then the person who killed the animal, or any other person, May take it for himself. It is much to be regretted that such an enactment should have been introduced into a law, which in other tespects appears unobjectionable and useful; but it is superfluous to show, by argument or illustration, the injustice which might be done by the exercise of the powers which this clause confers. I have, therefore, to desire that you will instruct the Lieutenant-Governor to recommend the repeal of it to the Council, as the only condition upon which it would be in Her Majesty’s power to avoid the neces- sity of disallowing the Ordinance, of which it forms a part. Upon the Ordinance No. 16, to amend an Ordinance entitled, “An Ordinance to establish a System of Rural Police,’ Her Ma- jesty is pleased to suspend her decision, for the same reasons which have been stated to be applicable to the Ordinance No. 3, which was ed in amendment of the rural police Ordinance of August, With regard to the Ordinance No. 19, “ For the more easy and speedy decision of petty Civil Actions,” I have to inform you that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to confirm and allow that law. Iam happy to acknowledge the great diligence and cireum- Spection with which this Ordinance appears to have been drawn up, and the general tendency of it to promote the interests of all classes, and especially of the poorer classes of Society. Although there are some provisions in it which I might have thought open to doubt, yet I have felt myself safe in advising Her Majesty to sanction the 8 Trinidad. 418 New Laws proposed to meet the Trinidad, aw, in the conviction that such errors as experience may bring to —— light, will be corrected by the exercise of the same forethought and Sills : Mg . ‘ 5 knowledge which are to be traced in every part of this law. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 22nd July, 1839. II.(2),p. 290. J nave to acknowledge the receipt of Colonel Mein’s despatth, No. 32, of the 16th of May, enclosing copy of an Ordinance, No}, passed on the 22nd of April, “to amend an Ordinance, intituled ‘ An Ordinance to establish a System of Rural Police,’ and to imereite the Number of Rural Police Districts of the Island of Trinidad.” I request that you will refer Colonel Mein to my despatch, No.1), of the 20th May, and inform him, that Her Majesty having beet pleased to suspend her decision on the several Ordinances which have been passed for the establishment of a system of rural police in the colony, until Her Majesty’s Government should be apprised of the measures which may have been adopted in pursuance of the project of a police law, sent out to Trinidad on the 15th of last Januaty,tt follows that Her Majesty’s decision must be equally suspended o the present Ordinance. new Relations of Society. LEEWARD ISLANDS. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 17th August, 1838. Leeward Islands. Havine reason to believe that the laws for relief of the poor in III. p. 8. these islands are inadequate to afford the necessary provisions for the aged and infirm who may henceforth become chargeable, and Who would have been otherwise provided for until 1840, under the Acts for abolishing slavery, I have addressed a circular letter to the officers administering the several governments, that the subject may be brought to the notice of the local legislatures ; considering it important that the poor laws should be amended before the claims of the enfranchised classes to relief from their late employers may be finally superseded. (Circular.) 17th August, 1838. Representations having been made to me that the local laws are in many Tespects defective in the means provided by them for the poor in the several islands under this government, I request that you will bring under the im- Mediate consideration of the Council and Assembly of the expediency of effecting an early revision of the poor laws, in order that the aged and infirm who, have been heretofore entitled to relief from the estates on which they were located, may be duly provided for. The success which has attended the formation, with the aid of this Legis- lature, of an establishment in St. John’s for the reception of those who, being Without relatives or friends, may require in-door relief and medical care, and Who are sent into it from the country parishes at stipulated rates, induces Me to recommend this plan to your consideration ; but in the majority of eases, I am aware that the simple habits of the people will render preferable asmall allowance to be made to them for their subsistence, or in aid of it ; and the appointment of guardians of the poor in each parish will be an éssential arrangement, in order that prompt relief may be afforded when Tequired. In drawing the attention of the Legislature to this important subject, it is Necessary to observe that the provision of the 23rd clause of the Act of Parliament 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 73, and the third and following clauses of the Act 1 Vict. c. 19, cannot be considered to be superseded until Her Majesty it Council may have approved of the local Acts of the several islands. Sir W. MU. G. Colebrooke to the Officers administering the several Governments, 21st August, 1838. Tur attention which has been given by Her Majesty’s Govern- IU. p. 30. Ment to the means of promoting education in the colonies, and the liberal support which has been obtained from Parliament, from Teligious societies in England, and from some of the Colonial Legislatures in aid of this important object, I am prompted at this time to request that you will bring before the Council and 252 Leeward Islands. 420 New Laws proposed to meet the Assembly of the measures which, if adopted by them, would favour the growth of those principles, and the diffusion of that knowledge, on which the welfare, industry, and happiness of these communities must henceforth mainly depend. Establishments holding out the means of instruction in the higher branches of education may be formed upon the plan of tle proprietary schools now common in England; and from the or cumstances of many respectable families in the colonies, they have a just claim to public support. This assistance, however, 1sm4a greater degree required in the formation of primary or parochial schools, where the indigent classes may generally obtain for their children such religious and general instruction as is afforded in the schools which are now established. To aid this important object by interesting the high and mot influential classes in the undertaking, I recommend the formation of a Board of Public Instruction to assist you as their presidentm carrying out these views, and I should hope that the Legislature would be induced to place at your disposal a fund to enable you to give effect to them. The principle adopted by His Majesiys Government in the application of the funds granted by Parliament, has been to dispense them in aid of the funds of the religious societies; and such a principle, by encouraging the appropriation of charitable funds, would be judiciously adopted in the applica: tion of the colonial funds. In communicating to you these general views, you wil be guided in their application by local peculiarities. In communilies where the people can have ready access to large schools, these are to be preferred as generally more efficient and economical; but where the population is scattered, a number of small schools may | be required. ‘The most simple arrangement should in these C8 — be made, it being more essential to provide that all should rece some instruction, and acquire the habits of attention and order; than that a few should be more efficiently instructed. Recommending the subject to your zealous support, and relying on the disposition of the Legislature to co-operate with youm®@ undertaking of this importance. I have, &c. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 9th Dec., 1838. Hlavinc recommended to the local Legislatures a revision 0 the vagrant, contract, and marriage laws, upon the pring recommended in your Lordship’s circular despatch of the 5th September, and the local Legislatures having objected to do ‘ while Acts which they had passed were under reference for te decision of the Queen in Council, I had much satisfaction im bemg able to communicate at once the disallowance of the several Aadts mentioned in your Lordship’s despatches, « Nevis, No. 72, 3 Christopher, No. 81,” and “ Virgin Islands, No. 80.” new Relations of Society. 421 Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 16th March, 1839. I unctosE to your Lordship the copy of a letter from Sir Henr Leeward Islands. Macleod, explanatory of the difficulties which I regret to report HI. p. 233. have cecurred in other islands, under this government, in effect- ing such an amendment of the marriage laws as would meet the views of Her Majesty’s Government. Independently of the objection to the enactment of a separate Marriage law in each island, which must unavoidably lead to vari- ous modifications, and the general objections which are entertained to the retrospective clauses, it is necessary to provide for the cases in which reputed marriages have been dissolved by the ministers of the different congregations on the ground of adultery, and the parties remarried to others. Ina conference with the Moravian and Wesleyan ministers, this was fully admitted to have been their practice, and as provision would require to be made to meet the case, it would be desirable that the children of the later Marriages should be legitimized by legalising the dissolution of the first. The Royal instructions forbid the passing a law of divorce in the colonies, and I am not prepared to recommend any relaxation of this restriction; although in relieving the negro race and their descendants from the effects of former disabilities, some special provision is retrospectively required. Sir W. M. G'. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 16th March, 1839. Your Lordship is aware that an Act for the relief of the poor yyy, p. 63. has been passed in St. Christopher, and Bills for that object are in progress in Montserrat and Dominica. I regret the tardiness of the local Legislatures in making provision for the poor, and the sufferings to which many infirm persons have in consequence been exposed. That it has occasioned a strong feeling in the negro population has been shown in many instances, nor can the financial difficulties Which are alleged be admitted by those who are aware of the Value of the productions which are raised by their labour. [have not failed to recommend this important subject to the consideration of the local Legislatures. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 10th June, 1839. 1 approve of the recommendations which you have caused to UI. p. 64. he addressed to the several Legislatures, relative to measures for the protection and government of the labouring population; and Trecret to observe that so many of the colonies are still without proper enactments for this purpose. ‘The danger of allowing the present time to pass without laws for the enforcement of the reci- procal obligations between masters and servants, cannot be pressed Leeward Islands. ees Antigua. III. p. 100. 422 New Laws proposed to meet the too earnestly upon the attention of the local governments. With out such laws, the relations between the labourers and their employers cannot be expected to prosper; and it is by their first experience of this new relation, that the future life and habitsof j the negro peasantry will in great measure be determined, Whether they shall settle down into an industrious peasant labouring in the service of their former masters, or whether the unsteadiness and irregularity, which is now complained of, shall become permanent and habitual with them, will depend upon the wisdom and prudence of the Legislatures at this juncture. In the meantime it is most satisfactory to learn that the peace: able and orderly conduct of the negroes continues everywhere uninterrupted ; and that your exertions for the establishment d friendly societies among them are likely to be successful. ANTIGUA. Su W.M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 8th Feb., 1839. I nave had the honour to receive your Lordship’s cireulat despatch of the 15th January, enclosing the project of a lawior establishing a local police force in these islands. In compliance with your Lordship’s instructions, I have diredted that the subject should be recommended to the local Legis tures, with the explanations contained in the despatch. In my despatch, Antigua, No. 7, dated 18th January, I statel the principles on which the Police Act of this island had been renewed for three years, and in the same despatch I explained the advantages attending the appointment of rural constables by the magistrates, on the ground of which I recommended that this Act should be confirmed. As, however, some of the provisions of the Police Act ate # variance with the principles explained in your Lordship’s despateb, I shall propose to the Council and Assembly that an amende Act be passed in accordance with your Lordship’s views. In the meantime, I recommend that the Act should not be dis allowed, whereby the force would be disorganised. In regard to the Act for appointing rural constables, you Lordship will have observed, that it does not contain the objet tionable provisions of the former Act, whereby they were 4) pointed on the recommendation of the owners and directors 9 estates. I regard this institution as of the greatest importance for the peace of society, and for the improvement of the enfranchise classes; and as it has proved a valuable auxiliary to the stip diary police, any extension of which would be attended wi expense, which may be better applied to other objects, I earnest) recommend that this Act, passed for three years, may receive #@ Majesty’s confirmation. new Relations of Society. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, Antigua. 3rd July, 1839. I HAVE had under my consideration three Acts passed by the Nos. Legislature of Antigua in the months of November, December, 44- and January last, and transmitted in your despatch, No. 7, of the 18th January, and No. 13 of the 18th February. I annex a list of the titles of these Acts, accompanied by the numbers by which they are registered in the books of this office. Ihave likewise received your despatch, No. 15, of the 18th ‘February, on the subject of Nos. 444 and 445. With regard to these two Acts, I perceive that you are about to submit to the local Legislature Lord Glenelg’s police circular despatch of the 15th January. I agree with you, therefore, in thinking that no formal decision should be taken by Her Majesty in Council, on the Act No. 444, until it shall have been amended in accordance with that circular. Indeed I consider it desirable that no Police Act should be finally disposed of until all the West India colonies shall have legislated on the subject, when the various Acts can be compared with each other, and with the model sent out by Lord Glenelg, and Her Majesty’s pleasure taken respecting them. For this reason, therefore, no decision will at present be taken upon the Act, No. 445, for enabling the local magistrates to appoint rural constables. These appointments being placed in the hands of the magis- trates, instead of their being made by the owners of estates, is a a decided improvement, and they will not lose their validity during the postponement of Her Majesty’s decision upon the Act. The Act No. 446, for the prevention and punishment of larceny, although, with few exceptions, a transcript of the Acts of Parlia- ment on that subject, is nevertheless open to serious objections. The punishment of transportation beyond seas is common to both. But it is the present policy of Her Majesty’s Government to diminish, as much as possible, the influx of convicts into the Australian colonies, more especially of those coming from the West Indies, as the negro race suffer exceedin gly from the climate, and are at once useless and burthensome, as members of society in Australia. This Act also, in accordance with the British statutes, authorizes the punishment of whipping. I have already expressed my objections to this mode of punishment in my despatch of 30th April last, respecting the Criminal Acts lately passed in Saint Christopher’s; and were it not that you have stated in your despatch of the 18th February, No. 13, “Antigua,” that this “punishment has been entirely disused in Antigua,” I should be Unwilling that this Act should continue even in a temporary Operation. You will endeavour to obtain a repeal of these two enactments ; but Her Majesty’s final decision on this Act will be suspended, as — 444, 445, Antigua. Montserrat. ey III. p. 118. III. p. 122. 424 New Laws proposed to meet the in the case of the corresponding Acts of St. Kitt’s, until the ques tion respecting the future judicial establishment, and the govem ment of prisons in Antigua, shall be ripe for decision. MONTSERRAT, Mr. President Hamilton to Sir W. M. G'. Colebrooke, 4th May, 1838, In reply to your Excellency’s letter of the 30th of April, [beg leave to inform you, for the information of Lord Glenelg’s despateh of the 13th February, that the Act passed for the abolition of the | apprenticeship provides that all the liberated apprentices shall be as much entitled to parochial relief, when they require it, as aly other class of Her Majesty’s subjects in this island. This, ol course, has reference to such apprentices as were not attached to the estates. For those upon the estates, the Bill enacts that the aged and infirm are to continue to receive the same suppott and allowance that were granted to them under the Amelioration Act. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 8th Jan., 1839. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatth (No. 216) of the 13th September, transmitting a Montserrab Act, supplementary to the Act repealing the Act for the Abolitio of Slavery. This Act proceeds on the assumption to which! have adverted in my despatch (No. 98) of the 15th Decembes as not resting on any valid ground, that an emancipated apprelr ticed labourer, holding over the possession of his dwelling after the Ist of August, is a mere trespasser, who may, in the absente of any express enactment to the contrary, be ejected without any process of law, at the will of his owner. To prevent the m- proper exercise of this assumed power, it forbids the landlord to expel any such personif he shall be willing to continue to perfomm such work as shall be assigned to him, and shall faithfully perform it for stiuulated wages, except in cases of insubordinate, quate some, disorderly or riotous behaviour, or in cases of drunkenness, theft, wilful trespass or other gross delinquency. At the same time it renders him liable for any of these offences to be ejected from his tenement in a summary manner, under the warrant 0 two justices of the peace. The effect of this enactment is to rend the whole emancipated population dependent, not only for the tenure, but even for the momentary possession of their homes, the caprice of their employers, or on the discretion of coloma justices, in imputing to the workmen any one of a long catalogue of offences, some of a vague, others of a trifling nature. The penalty of ejecting a labourer without the sanction of a magistrate new Relations of Society. 425 is 202. currency, of which one-half would go to the party ag- grieved ; but 10. currency might be an inadequate compensa- tion for the loss; nor do I think that a mere fine is a proper punishment for a man who, by violence, ejects his neighbour from a tenement, to the possession of which he is lawfully entitled. I am disposed to doubt whether some of the other powers con- ferred on the colonial magistracy by this Act are not somewhat larger than in their present relations with the labouring popula- tion can be safely confided to them. But whatever may be urged in vindication of them, I am of opinion that the clauses relating to summary ejectment are calculated to place a very dangerous authority in their hands, which I should not be justified in advis- ing the Queen to sanction. On this ground, Her Majesty has been pleased to disallow this Act, by an Order in Council of the 12th ultimo, which is herewith enclosed. ST. CHRISTOPHER. wr W.M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 15th Sept., 1838. I nave the honour to transmit copies of a correspondence which has passed between Sir Henry Macleod and myself on the sub- ject of a Bill which had passed the Council and Assembly of St. Christopher for establishing a rural police force in that island. ' The Act of Antigua, from which it was copied, was passed in 1836, for two years, and being about to expire, I objected to recognise in the other islands so objectionable a principle as the appointing constables on the recommendation of the owners or Managers of estates. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 20th Dec., 1838. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt oy your despatch (No. 220) of the 15th of September, and I have in reply, to con- vey to you my approval of your determination, for the reasons which you have stated, to withhold your assent to the Act passed by the Legislature of St. Kitt’s, for establishing a rural police force in that island, and to the Act subsequently passed in amend- ment of it. Iam still in communication with the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police on this subject, and I hope shortly to be able to transmit to you a statement of the plan recommended by them for the establishment of an efficient police force in the West India colonies. Lord Glenelg to Se W. M. G. Colebrooke, 15th Oct., 1838. Montserrat. St. Christopher. III. p. 183. III. p. 187. The Act No. 284, for the Abolition of the Preedial Apprentice- 111. p. 178. ship, connects that important measure with some enactments for St. Christopher. III. p. 234. ITI. p. 257. 426 New Laws proposed to meet the the maintenance of destitute persons, which will have ceased to be in force almost as soon as this despatch can reach you; I there. fore abstain from the remarks which I should have thought it necessary to make respecting those provisions, if they had been either permanent or of longer duration. Her Majesty in Council, will disallow the Act No. 285, for the adjustment of servants’ wages. In adopting this decision, itis not to be understood that Her Majesty either expresses or intends to imply any disapprobation of your decision to assent to the Ad on Her Majesty's behalf. ‘The novelty and urgency of the occa- sion, and the unavoidable absence of any model to which you could refer, amply justify the course which was adopted. Buton referring to the Order in Council of the 7th of September, com- municated in my despatch of the 15th of September, you will per ceive that it differs so widely, not in subordinate details only, but in its main principles, from the Act under consideration, that the disallowance of that Act on the ground of that essential dif ference in principle was plainly inevitable. Sir H. Macleod to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 26th Feb., 1839. I wave received and laid before the Legislature your despateh, stating that Her Majesty had been advised, for certain reasons, to withhold her consent from the Marriage Act passed here. | have already announced to your excellency that any retrospective enactment cannot be looked for, for I had in vain urged it, From what I can now understand, it is the intention not again to legis late on this matter, and it must be therefore left, among other essential things, to Imperial Legislation. I have only again to regret that a measure of such vast const quence to the newly emancipated should be thus postponed. NEVIS. Sur W. M. G‘. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 1st June, 1838. T enciose to your Lordship a letter from the President of Nevis with two Acts; the first to establish a petty debt court, and the second an Act to punish and repress vagrancy, and for the licensing of pedlars, porters, and boatmen, which I recommend for the confirmation of the Queen in Council. Also an Act to extend the provisions of an Act for the punish ment of petty thefts, which I recommend for confirmation. 427 Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. Gt. Colebrooke, 31st August, 1838. I HAVE received your despatch, dated the Ist June (No. 118), enclosing an Act passed by the Legislature of the island of Nevis (No. 142) in the month of May last, intituled, « An Aet to repeal an Act, intituled ‘An Act to punish and repress Vagrancy and other Offences committed by idle and disorderly Persons, to com- pel Hawkers and Pedlars to take out a Licence, and to regulate the Wages of Persons employed as Porters and Boatmen in the several ‘Towns within this Island.’ and to enact certain Provisions m lieu thereof.” The second clause of this Act authorises all police-officers to ap- prehend all vagrants, and all persons declared by the Act to be vagrants. ‘These words expressly sanction the arrest, not merely of persons falling within the subsequent definition of vagrants, but of any other persons who may correspond with that term in some greater latitude of signification ; consequently it leaves the police- Officers or justices at liberty to make arrests on a charge which is entirely indefinite. Under the definition of vagrants is included, first, any sailor who shall have deserted the vessel to which he may belong. The subject of the duties of master-mariners and seamen would, as it appears to me, have been more fitly reserved for an Act framed for that special purpose. Secondly, all persons are declared vagrants “who shall be found idly wandering about this island, without having any visible means of subsistence, or being able to work, and thereby or by any other means to maintain themselves and families, shall wilfully neglect or refuse so to do, by which default or neglect they or any of them Shall become chargeable to the public.” Under these terms, taken in their strict grammatical sense, every idle wandererer, who has no visible means of subsistence, is brought within the breach of the law, although he may not be justly chargeable with any offence, and although no burthen may be thereby imposed on the public. I presume that it was the intention to connect this definition with the subsequent part of the clause ; but such intention does not appear to have been carried into effect. The term “families,” as it occurs in this sentence, is, I think, improperly indefinite. Every magistrate is left, accord- ing to his own discretion, to determine what are the kindred for Whose maintenance men or women are responsible. Thirdly, persons domiciled or dwelling on any lands without the permission of the owner are also declared vagrants; and persons trespassing on any lands, by cultivating or attempting to cultivate them, are classed as vagrants. It is unquestionably important to take proper precautions against the illegal occuvation of land, to Which the intruder has no title ; but this ougat to form the subject of separate legislation, as the Acts here defined belong to a differ- ent class of offences from vagrancy. ‘The same remark applies to the next definition of vagrancy, which is that of cutting wood, or taking away the produce thereof, without legal authority. new Relations of Society. Nevis. III. p. 263. III."p. 271. III. p. 270. 428 New Laws proposed to meet the The distinction between different offences is still more diste- garded in the enactment, which declares that any man who shall interrupt Divine service is to be punished as a vagrant. Gam. bling, or playing at any noisy or unlawful game, though given as a definition of vagrancy, are also terms which apply to offences of a totally different kind; the mere playing, indeed, at any noisy game not also an illegal one cannot in itself constitute any offence, Any person guilty of any riotous or indecent conduct will fil within the reach of this law, though riot is a distinct crime, and indecency may or may not be the fit subject of penal legislation, according to its nature and circumstances. Finally, any person is a vagrant who shall make use of any blasphemous or indecent language. It is superfluous to comment on the impropriety of such a definition of the crime of vagraney, Any two justices of the peace may, for any one of the preceding offences, impose a, fine of 102. currency, or commit the offender for thirty days, with or without hard labour. Such powers in the hands of any two justices to be exercised for the punishment of offences so numerous and so indefinite, will virtually place the whole population in a state inconsistent with the possession of the rights of freemen. For these reasons this Act will be disallowed by Her Majesty in Council as soon as the necessary official forms can be completed. Lord Glenelg to Sir W.M. G. Colebrooke, 15th October, 1838. Tue Act, No. 136, respecting the police of Nevis, must alsostill await Her Majesty’s decision. The subject to which it relates is under the consideration of the authorities in this country who are the most competent to form a correct estimate of the couse which ought to be pursued for establishing a civil and rural polite in the British West Indies. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 1st December, 1838. Two Acts, passed by the President, Council, and Assembly of the island of Nevis in July, 1838 (Nos. 145 and 146), and trans- mitted in your despatch of the 3rd September last (No. 204); having been referred by the Queen in Council to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for trade and foreign plantations, that Committee have reported to Her Majesty in Council their opmion that the Act No. 145 should be allowed, and the Act No. 146 be disallowed, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith am Order of Her Majesty in Council, dated the 29th November, ap- proving that Report. new Relations of Socrety. 429 The Act, No. 146, for hiring of servants and recovery of wages, dis- allowed, because this Act is framed on principles, in many respects, incon- sistent and at variance with those on which the Order of Her Majesty in Council, of the 7th September, 1838, for regulating, in British Guiana, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, the mutual rights and obligations of masters and servants is framed. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 1st January, 1839. I nave been honoured with your two despatches, No. 205 of the ord September, and No. 246 of the Ist November, transmitting two Acts passed by the Legislatures of St. Kitt’s and Nevis, for reculating the solemnization of Dissenters’ marriages in those islands. You will have been already in possession of my circular depatch of the 15th September, enclosing a copy of the’ Order of Her Ma- jesty in Council for amending the marriage laws in the Crown colonies; and your attention will have been called to the great difference which exists between the Acts above alluded to, which are similar in their enactments, and the provisions of the Order in Council. Under these circumstances, I have felt it my duty to advise Her Majesty not to confirm these Acts, trusting that the Legislatures will see the propriety of passing laws in conformity with the pro- visions of the Order in Council. The Nevis Act, not having a suspending clause, will be disal- lowed by Her Majesty in Council. I enclose an Order, passed by the Queen in Council on the 12th November, leaving the Act No. 144 to its operation. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 16th February, 1839. Nevis. Ill. p. 277. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch III. p. 274. (No. 204) of the 8rd September last, transmitting, with other Acts passed by the Legislature of Nevis, one for compelling masters to make a temporary provision for the care and maintenance of such of their apprentices as may be unable, from age or bodily or other infirmity, from earning their own livelihood. As my circular despatch of the Ist instant, relating to this sub- ject, will have put you in possession of a model of a poor-law for the consideration of the local legislature, I think it unnecessary to offer any remarks on the Act which I have received from you, until they shall have had an opportunity of reconsidering the sub- ject, with the view of passing an Act in conformity with the tenor of that communication. _ The same observations apply to the Nevis Police Act (No. 136), adverted to in my despatch of the 15th October last (No.83), and which formed the subject of my circular despatch of the 15th ult. Nevis. — III. p. 292. Virgi Islands. III. p.§318. New Laws proposed to meet the The Margus of Normanby to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 6th March, 1839. 1 nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch (No. 3) of 12th January, transmittmg two Acts passed by the Le gislature of the island of Nevis in the month of October last, the one (No. 148) for regulating the security to be given by the mas. ters of vessels, and the other (No. 149) for preventing the clan- destine deportation of debtors, &c. As you state that you have recommended to the President of Nevis the propriety of amending these Acts, in conformity with the suggestions contained in Lord Glenelg’s despatch of the [oth October last, No. 81, with reference to the St. Kitt’s Deportation Acts, Her Majesty’s decision on these Acts will be suspended until | I shall have been informed of the result of that recommendation, VIRGIN ISLANDS. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebroke, 15th Oct., 1838. Tue Act (No. 108) for the punishment of common assaultsdoes not appear in itself open to any material objection, but as Her Majesty’s Government feel it of importance, in the preseml state of society in the West Indies, to exercise great caution advising Her to assent to any Acts of a penal nature, while n0 definite arrangement has been adopted as to the maintenance dl a stipendiary magistracy, the decision of Her Majesty in Coundl in this case will for the present be suspended. The Act (No. 109) for the suppression of vagrancy does m0! accurately correspond to its title. It commences by imposilg penalties on the careless use of fire,—an offence which, in such a climate, may very properly be visited by penalties, but which has little or nothing in common with the offence of vagrancy. Any man “ obstinately persisting in intruding himself on ally premises after being warned to depart therefrom,” is also punislr able under this law as a vagrant. The meaning, of course, Wa to prevent encroachments on land, but the words are such as 0 reach the case of an unwelcome visitor at a house which he had been warned not to enter. The appointment of plantation constables is given to the Court of Queen's Bench. There can be no good reason for transfermng such a duty as this from the executive government to the legal tribunals. Among the definitions of vagrancy to be found in this Act, al many of so wide and vague a nature as to embrace a multitude o cases which it is impossible to suppose the Legislature cou really have intended to render liable to penalties. I abstall, however, from a more minute examination of these provisions? the law, as the order of Her Majesty in Council, of the 7th ult. transmitted in my despatch of the 15th of September 1838, & new Relations of Society. 431 plains, with all possible distinctness, what are those enactments on the subject of vagrancy to which the Queen in Council is pre- pared to assent. For these reasons, this Act will be disallowed by Her Majesty in Council. The Act (No. 110) for the recovery of servants’ wages, and for the better protection and regulation of servants, is, to a great extent, transcribed from the Act of St. Christopher’s (No. 285), to which I have referred in my despatch of this date (No. 81.) There are, indeed, some important variations, but both these Acts differ so widely in principle from the Order in Council on this subject which has been deliberately framed by Her Majesty’s Government, that to confirm them would not only be a departure from the principles upon which that order was framed, but would neutralize the recommendation which you have been authorized to make to the respective Legislatures within your government, that Acts should be passed by them corresponding in principle with that order. This Act, also, will therefore be disallowed by Her Majesty in Council. Sir W. M. Gt. Colebrooke to the Marquis of Normanby, 10th June, 1839. I nave the honour to enclose to your Lordship authentic tran- II. p. 351. scripts of three Acts which have been passed by the Legislature _No- !12. of the Virgin Islands. First,—For the regulation of contracts between masters and servants. Second,—For the prevention and punishment of vagrancy ; and, Third,—F or the appropriation of monies to the maintenance of the prisoners, and the relief of the poor. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 26th Aug., 1839. Tue Acts Nos. 111, 112, 113, and 114, passed by the President, Council and Assembly of the Virgin Islands, in December 1838, and February 1839, having been referred by the Queen in Coun- eil to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, that committee have reported to Her Ma- Jesty in Council their opinion, that the said Acts should be left to their operation. I have the honour to transmit to you herewith an order of Her Majesty in Council, dated 26th August 1839, approving that report. Virgin Islands. No. 113. No. 114. II. p. 365. Dominica. III. p. 369. III. p. 378. IIT, p. 440. New Laws proposed to meet the DOMINICA. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 29th July, 1838. Wuen the Council and Assembly met yesterday, I took occa sion to urge upon their immediate attention the necessity of making provision for the establishment of schools, the opening df roads, the improvement of the prisons, and the amelioration of the criminal laws; and having had the advantage of full con- sultation with the Lieutenant-Governor upon the affairs of the colony, I am gratified in conveying to your Lordship my confident’ assurance that he will be enabled to prevent the recurrence of the unprofitable disputes which have disturbed the harmony of the community, and which might, if continued, endanger the publi tranquillity. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 28th Aug., 1838: I rnciose to your Lordship a letter from the President of Dominica, reporting the measures taken by him for the re-enath ment of a Vagrant Act in that island. From the proceedings of the Assembly since the commencemett of the sessions, I entertain every confidence in their disposition 0 forward the public business of the colony at this eventful periol Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to ‘the Officer administering the Govelte ment, 22nd Feb., 1839. Havine in a letter of this date urged upon your consideratidl, and that of the Council and Assembly, the necessity of passillg efficient laws for the relief of the poor, I will only repeat, that te sufferings of the aged and infirm cannot fail to create a stromg feeling of discouragement amongst the labourers, and indispos? them to make those exertions on which the prosperity of Hl colony will depend. Si W. M. G. Colebrooke to the Marquis of Normanby, 24th April, 1839. Mr. Lioyp, the Attorney-General, who is a member of the Assembly, having prepared and brought in several bills to pr vide, amongst other things, for the relief of the poor, the punls® ment of vagrancy, the regulation of contracts, the improvement? the police, and the appointment of petty sessions, I hope that these important provisions will not be much longer delayed. new Relations of Society. 433 Lieutenant-Governor MacPhail to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, . Sth. June, 1839. Tur want of medical attendance, and of a provision for the aged, infirm, and orphans, call loudly for legislative remedies. With this view I have, agreeably to your Excellency’s request, sent a message to the Legislature, and await the result. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 15th June, 1839. , I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, (No. 2) of the 4th March, enclosing the transcript of an Act (No. 424) for terminating the apprenticeship in the island of Dominica. This Act was passed on the 1th July last, and was amended by an Act (No. 422) passed on the 31st of that month. The amended Act was transmitted in your despatch (No. 178) ofthe 13th August, but the original Act has now for the first time reached this office. ' As the Act, No. 422, appears to be rather a substitution for the Act No. 424 than an amendment of it, I shall confine my observations to the first-mentioned Act. The main object for which this Act was passed was achieved on the Ist of August last, but, in declaring that the apprenticeship system should cease on that day, the local Legislature thought fit to connect that boon with a restrictive regulation, which is greatly to be regretted. Clause 3rd authorizes the summary ejectment by any two justices of the peace of a person occupying land without being able to produce a written document, duly recorded, that he is legally possessed of that land; that is in almost every case in Which the emancipated population are concerned; and this juris- diction is to be exercised even though the owner of the land raises no question on the subject. It is, however, unnecessary that I should enter fully into the Objection to this clause, as it is so directly opposed to the principle laid down in my predecessor’s circular despatch of the 12th November last, in which I most cordially concur. The clause numbered 2, making provision for the destitute Poor, is manifestly inadequate to meet that exigency. But upon this subject, likewise, you are in full possession of the Views of Her Majesty’s Government, as detailed in Lord Glenelg’s Grcular despatch of the Ist of February last. Dominica. III. p. 474. III. p. 423. You will therefore call upon the Legislature of Dominica to’ Tepeal those clauses of this Act which do not relate to the discharge Of the apprentices, or which have not become obsolete. If they should decline to accede to that suggestion, it will pro- bably be my duty to advise Her Majesty to disallow this Act Next year, when so much of it as relates to the apprenticeship | Will have lost its value. $y PA) Bahamas. IV. p. 16. New Laws proposed to meet the BAHAMAS. Lord Glenelg to Lieutenant-Giovernor Cockburn. 15th December, 1838. Amongst the series of Acts passed by the Legislature of the bi hamas in the month of October, 1837,is one (No. 952) for declaring | the validity of certain marriages, and providing for the registenng | thereof. Although this Act contains many clauses to which exception might | be taken, I have not considered it necessary to tender any final advice to Her Majesty with regard toit, in the anticipation that the Legis | ture would be induced to pass an Act on this subject, coinciding, substance, with the Order of Her Majesty in Council of the Tthat September last, which accompanied my circular despatch of the ath September. You will, however, understand that Her Majesty’s decision on that Act is merely suspended until I shall be made acquainted with the course which may have been taken by the Legislature of the Bahams with reference to the recommendation contained in that circular. new Relations of Society. HONDURAS. Honduras. od Colonel A. Macdonald to Lord Glenelg, 28th August, 1838. Your Lordship will observe that the meeting disallowed the first ry. p, 26. clause of the enactment marked No. 1, which provided for the retention up to the Ist of November next, by the apprenticed labourers, of the houses which they had occupied previous to their eMancipation. Had I apprehended any danger or serious inconvenience from the flon-compliance of the meeting with my proposition, I would have exerted my authority, and issued a proclamation making it impera- tive on proprietors, under certain conditions, to afford that reason- able shelter which is required for individuals thrown in a moment for ahome upon the world; but my anxiety on this subject was never much awakened, and the perfect tranquillity which now exists, with the absence of all complaints, justify the anticipations | entertained. SECTION IV. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. Circular Despatch from Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the West India Colonies, &e. Downing Street, June 29th, 1838. Wirtu reference to the legislative measures extensively in progress throughout the West Indies, for an early termination of the system of negro apprenticeship, I have to inform you that Her Majesty’s Government have felt that the continued employment, for a limited time, of at least a considerable number of the exist- ing special magistrates, would greatly conduce to the peaceable and successful transition of the labourmg population to a state of unqualified freedom; and I have, therefore, to convey to you authority, in the event of the termination of the apprenticeship by Act of the Local Legislature in the colony under your govern- ment, to retain so many of the special magistrates as you may consider necessary, and as may be willing to serve for a limited period, at their actual rate of salary and allowances. ‘Their exclusive and special jurisdiction will of course cease with the law which it was the express object of their appointment to admi- nister; but as local magistrates, exercising a concurrent jurisdic- tion with the ordinary magistracy, they may probably render essential service at the commencement of the new relations of f0ciety consequent on the approaching change. You will, how- ever, understand that this is merely a temporary arrangement, and that it will probably be superseded at an early period by one of a more permanent character, and better adapted to secure the improved administration of justice; but with respect to which it is unnecessary that I should here enter into any detailed state- Ment, as I have adverted to the subject in other communi- cations. Sir, Curcular Despatch from Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the West India Colonies, &e. Downing Street, October 1st, 1838. As it is of importance that authentic information should be within the reach of Her Majesty’s Government respecting the actual working of the new system which has so recently been esta- blished in the British West Indies, I am to desire that you would issue to all the magistrates, stipendiary or otherwise, within the colonies under your government, instructions directing them, by the last day of every month, to transmit to you answers to the Sir, General Lp. 1. I. p 23, General. od 438 Admimstration of Justice. several questions proposed in the accompanying paper. le returns to those questions you will transmit to me by the earliest opportunities after they shall have reached you. Quzstions to be answered by the Justices of Peace, both Ordinary ani Stipendiary, of the Colony of 1, Enumurate the names of the persons who, under any order made hy you, either singly or jointly with any other magistrate, had been ejectel from any land or buildings in virtue of the powers in you vested by aly law in force in this colony, specifying the extent of any such land, and the estimated value of any such land or buildings, with the situation ther respectively ; the names of the parties at whose instance every such onder was made, the date of every such order, and the grounds on which il proceeded, 2. Enumerate the names of all persons convicted by you singly, at by you jointly with any other justices of the peace, as idle and disorderly persons, or as rogues and vagabonds, or as incorrigible rogues, and the date of every such conviction, the name of the informer, the ground on which the conviction proceeded, and the nature and extent of the punish ment. 3. Enumerate the names of all persons who, with your concurrence ot sanction, have entered into any contracts for service, specifying the dated! such contracts, the names of the parties between whom they were male, the length of time for which they were to continue in force, and the nature and amount of the services to be rendered, and of the remuneration fot such services. 4, Enumerate the names of all persons against whom you have pil nounced any sentence, or made any order, authorizing the infliction of any punishment for the non-performance of any contract of service, stating tle date of any such sentence or order, the ground on which each suth sentence or order proceeded, the name of the person on the information, of at the instance of whom the same was made, and the nature and amount of the punishment awarded in each case. The first of these returns is to be dated on the Ist of August, 1838, and each succeeding return, from the day next following the date of the reliltl immediately preceding it. Circular Despatch from Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the Wes India Colones, &c. Sir, Downing Street, December 29th, 1838. Her Majesty’s Government having had under their coms: deration the question of the further maintenance, for a limited time, from the funds of this country, of a stipendiary magisttacy in the West India colonies, the general tenor of the recent infor- mation received from those colonies has strengthened the cont tion of Her Majesty’s Government of the importance of placmg the ordinary administration of justice, in matters affecting the relations of masters and servants, as far as possible in the hands of a paid magistracy, not locally connected, and directly respol sible to the Executive Government. In the formation of a pel manent establishment for this purpose, a material change m the Administration of Justice. 439 present system will possibly be expedient, for which legislative authority will be required; but in the mean time it appears neces- sary to retain the magistrates at present serving in the West Indies on their existing footing. Although their appointment Was originally made with a view to the impartial administration of the apprenticeship code, and the charge incurred by this country on account of their salaries was one which might have been expected to cease with the termination of the apprenticeship, Her Majesty's Government have considered it but reasonable that, under the circumstances in which the years of the appren- ticeship have been voluntarily relinquished by the Colonial Legis- lature, the expense of a stipendiary magistracy should be borne by this country for the period for which it was originally under- stood to have been incurred. They have therefore determined to apply to Parliament. in the course of the next session, for a sufficient sum to defray the existing establishment for the year 1839. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 28th June, 1838. I sHaut of course be extremely anxious to receive your Lord- ship’s commands in respect to the special magistrates, consequent upon the abolition of the apprenticeship, after the Ist of August next. What I propose to do is, to continue a certain number after that date as local magistrates, giving them to understand, of course, that whether they will be continued in their salaries or not must entirely depend on your Lordship’s pleasure. I have no hesitation in declaring to your Lordship, that the aid of good stipendiary magistrates is absolutely necessary to secure justice to the labouring population, and to the peace of the Colony at large. Planter magistrates, constantly brought in con- tact with the late apprentices, will not be able to give them satis- faction, nor have they indeed time to attend to such duties, in neglect of their properties. For two years more at least then, I would humbly beg to tecommend to your Lordship that we should be allowed to retain two magistrates at least for every parish.* The county of Surrey contains seven parishes; the county of "Middlesex nine parishes; the county of Cornwall five parishes ; in all twenty-one parishes, and requiring, at two each, forty-two stipendiary magistrates. Presuming that your Lordship may possibly entertain this question, I proceed to explain the principles on which I would propose to select those I should wish to retain. Of the 60 special magistrates now employed, many have distin- guished themselves by persevering good faith in their duties. * Two magistrates are in fact required by the local laws to adjudicate in all cases of assault and claims to wages. General. ‘Jamaica. I. p, 59. Jamaica, os 440 Admuustration of Justice. These have seldom been popular with the planters, but nev have been intentionally unjust; and their most valuable recom. mendation now, even to the planters themselves, is, that they have generally acquired great influence over the labourers; ant that influence, I am satisfied, they will exert in freedom aswellas they have done in apprenticeship. I have the honour, therefore, now to submit the names of gentlemen, whom I much wish to retain as the salaried Magis: trates of the Queen. The selection has been governed by my experience of their conduct, and directed to those only whom I could depend upon to exert themselves in ali circumstances to d0 justice to the labourers, ' P.S.—Since closing this despatch, I have received a very in: teresting letter from Mr. Special Justice Daughtrey, on the sub: ject of mdependent magistrates, which I beg to enclose, as | perfectly concur in the view he has taken of the subject. Enclosure 1. List of Gentlemen proposed by the Governor to be retained as Stipendiary Magistrates in Jamaica, to be paid by the British Government. Year of Names. Appointment. Mr. Abbott 5 4 ; : h 5 -) wees Mr. Baines : fi : 3 i . | vabsee Mr. Brown 3 ; : ‘ i . 218385 Mr. Baynes : ; " : . \ MESBE Mr. Bourne f j i " d E . 1834 Mr. Bell . 5 , 4 : * y » 18384 Mr. Carnaby. y i i $ . . 198385 Mr. Chamberlaine . ‘ is 4 - 1836 Mr. Cocking . i ; ; : . 1834 Mr. Daughtrey : ‘ ; 5 . 9 dee4 Mr. Daly . ; ; : : t J 1834 Mr. Dillon A i ; : f ‘ 1835 Mr. Ewart . ‘ : ; ; : > disak Mr. Emery al ie en oer ae - , Lae Mr. Facey y 3 ; ‘ 2 ~ (18386 Mr. Finlayson . : i i D «See Mr. Fishbourne : 5 f 1835 BTS Byte is lima VU ath, tne La a Mr. Grant " : a aes y Gee Mr. Gordon i ; y 4 " 1836 Mr. Gurley 5 j K , ' , « 1 LBB Mr. Jackson 4 ‘ s ; 6 « L8g Mr. Hamilton . ; ; : Ae Mr. Harris . : 4 .) 1835 Mr. Hewitt : . , A , . ali885 Mr. Hill . ‘ fs : ; : : . 1884 Mr. Kelly, D. Ws)... ene 1835 Mr. Kent . , R : : * 1834 Mr. Lambert , ‘ s ‘ 3 , 1835 Mr. Laidlaw . i . 1834 Admimstration of Justice. Year of Names. Appointment. Mr. Lyon 1833 Mr. Macleod 1833 Mr. Moresby 1834 Mr. Mahon 1837 Mr. O’Reilly 1837 Mr. Pringle 1836 Mr. Ramsay 1834 Mr. Reynolds 1834 Mr. Ricketts 1836 Mr. Walsh 1835 ‘ Mr. Woolfrys 1835 Mr. Willis . 1835 Enclosure 2. Sir, Glenburnie, St. Elizabeth's, 26th June, 1838. Hrs Excellency will be glad to hear that the people of my distric generally are manifesting a very admirable temper and behaviour in the anticipation of their early release from apprenticeship. The news of this unexpected benefit has been received by them rather with a feeling of Serious thankfulness, than with gaiety and exultation. They are conscious. of all its value, but to the thoughtful and well-intentioned it has brought with it points of solicitude unknown before, and which, happily perhaps, tend to sober their joy. Not a little of my time is occupied in giving them advice. In the pros- pect of the termination of my special labours, it is no small satisfaction to me to reflect that, throughout the period of office, whatever may have been the fluctuation of feeling towards me in the mind of the planters, the ap- prentices have given me their unwavering confidence. ‘They do so still; and, to the credit of their good feeling and their good manners, the marks and expressions of their respect rather increase as the time when our pecu- har relative position shall terminate approaches. Yesterday evening, after work, a whole gang came to me from a neigh- Douring property “‘ for magistrates’ advice,” they said. The master, it appeared, had just sent them word through the constable that any who Were not disposed to work after Ist August for 10d. per day, with their houses and grounds, would be required to leave the property; that, more- over, it was his determination not to allow them to continue to run hogs, and that they must find their own doctor. The communication itself had, I found, rather startled them; and they were especially hurt and dis- appointed that “‘ master should have been so abrupt”? with them on the Occasion, and sent a message of such importance, in these new times too, through the constable, instead of speaking to them himself, I told them I was sorry master had not talked to them about it himself, but they knew he was rather an old-time man, and people were apt to be slow in changing for the better, but that they would see even master change by degrees when the new times came. I advised them to send master a very Civil, quiet message, “‘ that they must take time to think upon the plan, and would wish to know what others did before they agreed; but that it was their desire to stay on the property if master and they could make a good agreement.”? This advice quite met their views. Their next subject of application to me was to be informed whether there would not be “ gentlemen from England to see them righted,” after the Jamaica, See Jamaica, 442 Administration of Justice. Ist of August; the question was put with great earnestness by the chit spokesman, in the name of the rest; and the speaker, in conveying tome the apprehensions they entertained of being left to the “ country magix trates,’’ evinced no little penetration and no small foresight of their probable situation under disputes about payments and agreements, when “ master and master’s friends ’? would have to decide for each other. In communicating an incident like this, I do some violence to my feelings, because I may appear to have a personal and private interestin the question; but I am relieved by the persuasion that his Excellency knows me too well, and is himself too high-minded, to impute to mea motive so mean and grovelling. Unsparingly, and almost indiscriminately, as the body to which I belong have been condemned in England, there are not a few of them whom {le negroes esteem as their friends, and whose departure from among them they will regard with the most lively regret. At a peculiar crisis like the present, every illustration of the feeling of the people possesses some value; and this alone has induced me to make his Excellency acquainted with the little incident which forms the chiet subject of my letter. I have, &c. Capt. Darling, Government Secretary, (Signed) Jn. Daveutrey, &e. &c. &e. Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith, 15th August, 1888. I wave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatel No. 128, of the 28th of June last, in which, with reference to the abolition of the apprenticeship system, you express your convic: tion of the necessity for the aid of good stipendiary magistrates, in order to secure justice to the labouring population, and the peace of the colony at large ; and propose to continue the services of a certain number of those gentlemen who have been hitherto acting as stipendiary special justices, under commissions as local magistrates. As your suggestions have been anticipated in my previous despatches on this subject, which you will have received shortly after the date of your despatch, I need only express my satislac- tion at the coincidence of opinion between us on this point, and! shall be ready to entertain any further suggestions from yoll calculated to give greater efficiency to the stipendiary magistrates in Jamaica. I approve generally of the selection which you have made ol stipendiary magistrates to be retained for the present, as I have no doubt that you have been solely guided by your knowledge of the qualifications of the different’ candidates, and by the most anxious desire for the successful conduct of this important branch of the public service. It will, however, be understood that the present arrangement is temporary, and that a further reduction in the number of stipendiary magistrates may be required. I have read Mr. Daughtrey’s letter (enclosed in your despatch) with great interest. It is in perfect accordance with the general Administration of Justice. 443 conduct and proceedings of that excellent magistrate, and I have much satisfaction in knowing that the colonists of every class will continue to enjoy the advantages of his public services. Str Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 24th December, 1838. I wave the honour to transmit to your Lordship a letter from Sir Joshua Rowe, representing the defects in the administration of justice, constituted as the courts of law now are, with only one professional judge to carry through the business of the Grand Court and Assize Court. In ordinary circumstances I should have represented the in- jurious operation of this imperfect system on all classes of Her Majesty’s subjects to the House of Assembly; but that body having declined to do business, I am under the necessity of bringing the subject to your Lordship’s consideration. I have, &c. (Signed) Lions Situ. SIR, Spanish Town, 1st December, 1838. Tur great arrear of business in the supreme court, a list of which I have the honour to enclose to you, induces me to call your Excellency’s attention to the pressing necessity of making some alteration in the consti- tution of that court, and in those of assize and gaol delivery, to meet the vast increase, particularly of criminal cases, which has been gradually aug- menting since the Ist of August, 1834. The Act which then came into operation for the Abolition of Slavery having annihilated the twenty-three slave courts in which all offences committed by slaves were tried, the Jamaica, I. p. 162. superior courts have had to do all the work, which before had been done ig them, without any alteration being made to meet this additional crown _ business: no less than 350,000 persons were brought within the jurisdic- tion of the supreme and the two courts of assize by the Act of 1834. The necessity of delivering the gaols almost amounts to a denial of jus- tice to the suitors, as they can never calculate on their causes being tried during the court, in which they should be disposed of, and thus great de- lay occurs in disposing of questions, aud great expense is entailed on parties litigant, from the necessity of bringing witnesses to the courts several times. By a reference to this accompanying list of arrears, your Excel- ' lency will perceive that, independent of those cases involving questions of law, thirty-four causes were left untried in the October Grand Court, with very little prospect of many being disposed of in February, if there be the usual number of prisoners for trial ; and you will observe that, besides this long list of continued causes, the unargued contested motions and de- murrers amount to thirty-one. The change the more immediately to be desired to meet this growing evil, is a division of labour in the courts, You are aware that, although the courts are courts of nist prius and gaol delivery, yet that only one spe- cies of business goes on, which of course renders the attendance of the jurors and witnesses twice as long as is really necessary: I should therefore recommend, that, as in England, there should be a court of nisz prius and a crown court sitting together in each county: at present the whole labour falls on the presiding judge, who is the chief justice, unless he is prevented Jamaica. oo 444 Admumstration of Justice. sitting. To this alteration there is one objection, viz., the effect it wol have on the emoluments of the Attorney-General ; for if there was to }y a crown court sitting, together with a court of nisi prius, as he is obliged to conduct all prosecutions, he would necessarily be deprived of a greai part of his private business, and his office rendered so unproductive, that no one would hold it; still the necessity for some alteration in the cout is so pressing, that I have thought it right to call your Excellency’s attr tion to the subject, that you may bring it under the notice of the local legis- lature and Her Majesty’s Government, and some plan might be devised tp make the labour of the Attorney-General less onerous, or to increase his official income, now almost nominal, to such an amount as might repay him for the entire devotion of his time to public business: I should als add, that the labour of the clerk of the crown has greatly increased from the abolition of slavery, as he has to prepare all the indictments, and get up the evidence in all crown prosecutions, for which he is most inadequately paid. I have, &c., (Signed) J. Rows, C.J. List of Contestep Mortons remaining undisposed of. October Grand Court, 1838. Jure Certiorari, at the instance of Newhill. And. & Kemble. As aN Stainsby. - 95 Holt. ” D. ex D. M‘Gillivray v. Morant, on points of law reserved. V. A.V. In re criminal information v. Aitcheson, for leave to file. Aikman. D. ex D. Grant v. Anthony, new trial. M. & M. The Queen to the Justices of St. James. G. &S. Brydon v. Gegg. V. A. V. Harker v. Vickard. Harker. Same v. Dignum. eS Fouseca v. Goldsmith. Watts. D. ex D. N. A. Smyth v. Waite. F. & Smith. The Queen to the Custos of Kingston, to remove proceedings, &c, Aikman. D. ex D. Barnett v. Senior. Archer. Mason v. Moore, to change venue. H. & M. Kelly ». Marlow, to quash proceedings in extent. W. & Land. Smith v. Maverly, is F, & F, Reid v. Lewis, for certiorari. G. & S. The Queen v. Shergold, _,, G.&§&. Tory & al. v. Peart ex, to alter return to writ, FL. & F. Jure Certiorari, at the instance of John Cuff. Archer. Jure criminal information . Capt. P. Brown, for leave to file. Anderson. a William Dyer, 63 ” i application toamend the schedule of Isaac Morris. V.A Vs Gunter V. Atkinson, to inspect Wharf-books. F. & F. In re at instance of the trustees of the Ferry-road, to quash certiorall B. G. W. 33 Demurrers to be argued. Shilts v, Wallace. H.D. M‘W, Same v. Ramsay. Regina v. Reed, John Thomas. Aikman. Same v. Clarke, Samuel, jun. » v- Douglas, H. M. 39 39 Dignum. M.& A. W.A.V. a & S. Anderson. F&F. H. D. M. M.& A. M. &M. Scott. Administration of Justice. 445 List of continued ConTEstep CAUSES. Parker v. Moore, J. H. Longmore v. Patrick. Brydon v. Gegg. Boucher v. Wheatle. Lowe, Admor v. Smith. Blake & al v, Tory & al. Parnall v. Marshall. »_v. Jones & al. Smith v. Bent. D ex D. Smith v. Bailey. James v. Jones. Glanville v. Gurley. Nepean v. Scott. Levy v. Phillipps. Vaz v. Morris. Swan, assee. v. Eberall. Giles v. Sinclair. Sinclair v. Asher. Dignum. Sanquinetti v. Smith, F.&Smith. Dunn v. Pourie. F.&Smith. Jackson v. Dellpratt. Same v. Same. Same v. Harrison. Same v. Same. Jackson v. Macnuff. Same v. Bernall. Same v. Rose. Jackson v. Fletcher. Same v. Hemmings. Derbyshire v. Anderson. Knox v. Walker. Feurlado, assee. v. Da- vidson. Swan v. Cowan. Foreman v. Whitehouse. Adolphus v. Seaford & al. Sir Lionel Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 3rd May, 1839. Jamaica. ey Wirx respect to the stipendiary magistrates voting at parish 1, (5) p.2. vestries, I have the honour to enclose the copy of a circular in- struction, which I issued in March, 1837, directing them to “ par- ticularly abstain from voting at vestries, or interfering in any way in the internal affairs of the parish.” By the enclosed extract of a despatch from Lord Glenelg, it will be perceived that it was his Lordship’s express suggestion that the instruction issued by me was modified, and the magistrates not only permitted, but, as it were, enjoined to take a part in certain parochial measures, which form a very important portion of the duties of the vestries. I now beg to report, that in some recent instances very desirable reforms have been introduced by the stipendiary magistrates, and carried at vestry meetings; and that as they are taxed in com- mon with other persons residing in the parish, and are invested with no greater or more special powers than other magistrates, I cannot concur in the opinion expressed by the commissioners of correspondence, and communicated to your Lordship by Mr. Burge, in his letter of the 20th February last, that their, con- duct in this respect is “most indecent ;” they have been, in fact, only acting up to the instructions which they had received from Her Majesty’s Government. Availing myself of the discretion which your Lordship has given me on this head, I shall await a further intimation of your Lordship’s pleasure after you have pe- tused the correspondence which I have now transmitted. Jamaica, 446 Admimstration of Justice. Extract of a Despatch from Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith, No. 1b, dated Downing-street, 1st July, 1834. In No. 638, dated 16th March, the special justices, to whom a local com- mission has been issued, are directed particularly to abstain from voting af vestries, or interfering in any way with the internal affairs of the parish. I fully assent to your position, that the object of conferring local com missions on the special justices is to give them jurisdiction over cases not cognizable by a special justice where apprentices are immediately cor cerned ; and I am well aware that an unnecessary and injudicious inter ference on the part of the special magistrates with the ordinary affairs of the parish in which the apprentices are not interested, might materially impede the useful exercise of their peculiar and appropriate functions, but I enter tain very considerable doubt of the expediency of prohibiting them from taking any part in the proceedings of the vestries. The vestries have an important duty to discharge with reference to the regulations of gaols ‘and workhouses; in the latter of which, especially, many of the apprentices are confined by sentence of the special magistrates. I have already had occasion to advert more than once to abuses alleged to exist in these places, and I have intimated an opinion, that unless some remedy should be applied to them, it might be necessary for the special magistrates to abstain from committing apprentices to the workhouses. It appears to me therefore obvious, that the influence of the special magis- trates might be most beneficially exercised as it respects the interestsof the apprentices, by their taking a part in such of the proceedings of the vestrits as relate to the regulation and discipline of workhouses in Jamaica. There are also, as I have reason to believe, other questions affecting the apprentices subject to the decision of the vestries, such as the amountof clothing which is to be deemed sufficient, in which it is extremely desirable that the special magistrates should occasionally take a part. I am not disposed to think that you intended the prohibition to extend to cases 0 this nature ; but I would suggest to you the expediency of so qualifying the concluding sentence of the circular as to preclude the possibility of ay misapprehension on this point. Enclosure 2.—Circular, No. 638. Sir, The King’s House, 16th March, 1831. I am desired by the Governor to acquaint you, that as the object of conferring the commission of a local magistrate upon the special justices was principally to enable them to act as general justices of the peace, m cases where it might be necessary to remove a complaint into the supend courts, or in cases not cognizable by a special justice, where apprentices ale immediately concerned, his Excellency desires that your proceedings in you! general capacity may be strictly limited to cases of the nature alluded 1 and that you particularly abstain from voting at vestries, or interfering any way in the internal affairs of the parish. I have, &c. (Signed) C. H. Daruine, Secretary: Special Justices. 447 The Marquis of Normanby to Sir Lionel Smith, 16th June, 1839. I nave to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 87, of the 3rd ult., in answer to mine of the 14th of March, transmitting a copy of the report addressed to me by the agent of Jamaica, re- lating to the state of agriculture and the conduct of the labourers in the colony. The only practical question referred to in your despatch to which it is necessary that I should advert is, whether the stipen- diary magistrates should be permitted to attend and vote at the vestries. J am of opinion that they should not take any part in the proceedings in vestries, except upon subjects in which the in- terests of the peasantry are directly concerned. Administration of Justice. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 14th May, 1839. Jamaica. I request your Lordship’s attention to the report of Messrs. I. (5), p. 99." Bell and Jackson, as containing some very pertinent observations with reference to the practice of stipendiary magistrates voting at vestries. Haying seen a copy of a communication from a committee of the St. I. (5), p. 109. Thomas-in-the-Vale vestry to your Excellency, founded on a resolution of that vestry, by which your Excellency was requested “ to draw the atten- tion of the stipendiary magistrates to the propriety of their not voting at the vestries on money matters that are viewed parochial, and connected With the expenditure of parish money, to no part of which do they con- tribute ;?? we think it our duty to take notice of the matter here, not as a question between the vestry and ourselves, but as involving principles of Vital importance to the wellbeing of society, and that it might be recorded in what we believe to be its true colours, namely, an effort to dentude the stipendiary justices, as a body, of all influence, and effectually destroy that confidence which the poorer classes throughout the island place in their honest guardianship. As individuals we would gladly be relieved of so irksome and invidious a duty ; but as magistrates we consider ourselves bound at all times to keep a watchful eye over, and to use every legitimate means in our power to prevent, the accomplishment of any measure unduly burdensome on the poor and unrepresented portions of the community. The labouring population are not represented in these vestries, though Many matters that immediately concern them are there discussed and decided on. We may instance the road grants, in which the free competi- tion of the labourers who perform the work may be rendered a source of economy and improvement ; the hospital grants, exclusively directed to the wants and necessities of the labouring poor; provision for gaols and houses of correction, and for the due discipline of prisons ; appointment of a con- stabulary force; church rates; poor rates; extra grants for building and repairing churches, chapels, and schools, for the support of schoolmasters, and for the purchase of books, &c. : the rate and mode of laying the paro- chial taxes; and the free right of contracting for the performance of public work, which is now almost entirely monopolized by members of the Board. Jamaica. 448 Admuistration of Justice. All these matters are intimately connected with the raising and appropri tion of the parochial funds; indeed, as there is scarcely a measure inti duced in vestry which is not, more or less, ‘ connected with the expenditure of parish money,” so the poor and unrepresented labourers may be said to be involved in them all. The peculiar necessity for our vigilance will present itself to your Excel: lency when we state the fact, that one half of the magistrates of St. Thomas: in-the-Vale are directly interested in the raising and appropriation of the parish funds, either as public contractors or as paid. officers of the parish; and, together with some of the vestrymen, they are so entwined in eath other’s interest, either by the ties of kindred or by connexions in busines, as to form a body distinct and independent of the mass of the parishioners, These are the gentlemen who object to the stipendiary justices voting, because, as they say, we have no interest. Without questioning its truth, we may connect the observation which has been boldly advanced, that the stipendiary magistrates are the protectors, and possess all the confidence, of the lately liberated apprentices, with the fact, that these liberated apprentices, forming seven-eighths of the popult tion, are now subject to taxation, and are daily becoming more and mot acquainted with and prepared to exercise their civil rights. It cannot be supposed that they are unobservant spectators of these matters 3 nor canit be denied that such proceedings are apt to dissever all ties of respect between these magistrates and vestrymen and the community, whose general interesis they are supposed to represent. The negro well knows that the cedat tree, though it resists the storm, is not strengthened by the blast; and, however honest these gentlemen may be, with whatever degree of integnty they discharge their trusts, the attempt at exclusive control over the ‘parish funds, and the temptations that surround their peculiar position, will not escape notice, and, it is much to be feared, will cause all their transactions with these lately liberated people, even as to their domestic arrangements, 10 be imbued with distrust ; indeed, we do not think it extravagant or unfat to attribute to the circumstances above detailed that dissatisfaction whith we have frequently seen evinced by the late apprentices, when subjected to the judicial control of these gentlemen. Extracts from the Reports of the Stipendiary Magistrates relative to the Administration of Justice in Jamaica. Various cases have occurred in this parish since the Ist of August, in which the labouring population have had to appeal to the petty courts for assault, and the recovery of wages, &c., in all of which a preliminary fee of 4s, 6d., and a mile-money, at the rate of 6d. a mile, has been demanded by the clerk of the peace. This in many cases amounts to a considerable sum, which the poor labourer cannot always readily meet, consequently it be- comes almost a denial of justice. In illustration, I shall here mention a case that has lately occurred :—A man engaged with the overseer of Wear Pen to take a job for five dollars, upon which he hired others to assist him ; having completed his job, he asked for the money, when the overseer ten- dered him four dollars, and refused to pay more. The man came to me, and I went to the clerk of the peace with him. The expenses would have amounted to more than the sum sought after, and he was told that if he pro- ceeded he would lose all, as he had not a written agreement, or witnesses other than those whom he had engaged to perform the job, which would not be admitted in evidence ; he has, therefore, been obliged to submit to the loss of one-fifth of his money. Although I am not aware that this evil can be immediately remedied, I deem it my duty to apprise you of it, for the information of his Excellency the Governor. I am told that the fees above alluded to are exacted by custom alone. Ata court of petty sessions held at St. Ann’s Bay, on Saturday last, a man complained of an assault and battery. The clerk of the peace de- manded his fees for a warrant. I then took an opportunity of stating that it was my determination, upon all proper occasions, and when the party Was poor and unable to pay the fees for a summons or warrant, to issue it myself, gratis, without any reference to the clerk of the peace. This the impaid magistrates exclaimed ayam: nd said that the vestry had come to the determination of allowing the clerk of the peace a salary, and that all fees in future were to be paid into the parish chest. I told them, in reply, that if the poor and indigent were to be compelled to tender the fees which he was unable to pay, it would amount to a denial of justice, and that I Would act upon what I had then declared; as, even under the Petty Debt Act, the clerk of the peace was only entitled when he was required to make outasummons. This did not appear to suit the taste of those gentlemen, ind they, on their part, declared that they would on all occasions adhere to the resolution of the vestry, because they, the planters, were now the poor, ad not the late apprentices. vamaica. Gurley. Aug. 20, 1838. I. p. 95. Woolfrys. Oct. 17, 1838. ) p> 113, 450 Admimstration of Justice. Jamaica. The labourers complain of the uncertainty of getting their full wages pail esate to them, and that there is always some dispute, compelling them to sek Oct. 1838, redress in the petty debt courts; and the value of the time expended ly I. p, 142. the labourer pending the process to bring the parties into court, and tht fees of the clerk of the peace, are more than the wages in many instances; they therefore bear the loss, and seek employment elsewhere. Daly. In the discharge of my duty, I cannot here refrain from remarking the “sg re 1838. almost insurmountable difficulty I experience in obtaining the calm aml eee dispassionate opinions of the local magistrates, on the above and similit | subjects. The excitement generally produced is of such a nature as 10 exhibit more of party spirit than that undeviating impartiality wiih should characterize the proceedings of a bench of magistrates. Indeed it would appear that whenever a particular question is about to be brought forward, it is attempted to decide it by the numerical voice of the local mr ] gistrates, as was evident from the unusual attendance at the Halfway Tree petty sessions, on the 26th ultimo, when no less than eight local magis rates attended ; the ordinary number required, including the stipendimy, being only three. The principal question to be decided on that day arose out of the follow ing circumstance :—I had been repeatedly applied to for an order tothe police, to intercept all negroes (late apprentices) who might be carryill sugar-canes to market, which I of course declined doing, stating, at the same time, the illegality of such a proceeding. “The order was, howevtl, given by one of the local magistrates, and the police stationed at the prin cipal roads in the parish, leading to Kingston; and on the 22nd ultimo, from twenty to thirty negroes were stopped, their canes taken from them some having had asses laden with them, they were obliged to follow the police for miles to get back the asses after the canes were deposited in the house of correction; they then came to me complaining of this treatmen I advised them to attend at halfway Tree on the succeeding Tuesday, being anxious that the illegality of such a proceeding should be declared as pub licly as possible, so as to prevent a recurrence of such injustice. A minute investigation took place before this unusually large assemblage of mip trates, which ended in the dismissal of even a charge of suspicion agains! these people, whom it was proved had cultivated the ‘canes in thei ov! provision-grounds. Their canes were restored, but in an unmarketable state ; and all their loss of their little produce, time, &c. &c., remain Wr requited. A subject of pressing importance, and one entitled to the cou Feb. 13, 1839. of Her Majesty’s Government, is the administration of justice in this islan¢. Chamberlaine. a) pe S6. great deal depends on the confidence which the labourers have in. the fairness, disinterestedness, and equity of the administrators of the Jaw. Without impugning the motives of the local magistrates, I trust I may be permitted to allude to a circumstance of frequent occurrence, and which certainly bears a most unseemly appearance. Three magistrates meet Admimstration of Justice. 451 petty sessions, two of them are managers, proprietors, or attorneys of Jamaica. plantations, and leave their seats alternately to prefer complaints or —— demands for rents, &c., against the labourers. A very striking instance of this was exhibited at the last petty sessions that I attended at Manchioneal. Two out of three of the judges were directly interested in the establishment of particular principles and peculiar interpretations of the law, and who themselves preferred complaints. At the same court there was a striking illustration of the practical in- justice of some of the terms proposed by the planters, copies of which accompanied my despatch of the 3lst January. Two elderly women were brought down to answer a demand for four weeks’ rent, at 5s. each per week (these four weeks they had not been labouring on the estate); they alleged that they were prevented by indisposition. Judgment was granted for the full amount sought to be recovered, together with expensive costs. Yet when these very people are not prevented by illness or other causes from labouring, all the wages they receive is 4s. 2d. each per week. The stipendiary and the ordinary justices frequently differ in opinion on —yfariton. the law; one day the employer sits as a magistrate, the next day appears May 7, 1839, as a complainant or defendant: I need not observe to your Excellency that Oa the negro can have but little confidence in a magistrate when he knows him to have been convicted and fined before the stipendiary. Mahon, The business in the courts of petty sessions has increased so considerably ya 8, 1839. as to induce the gentlemen holding local commissions to withdraw almost 1. (5), p. 107. entirely from those courts, and to leave adjudications affecting masters and servants almost entirely in the hands of the stipendiary justices. It is with some degree of reluctance that we again allude to the proceed- _ Bell and ings of the St. Thomas-in-the-Vale vestries. In a recent report we men- Fee tioned the monopoly of parochial offices and employment by members of 1.(1840), p.27- that board. A short time ago a committee of the St. Thomas-in-the-Vale vestry was appointed to decide upon what repairs were necessary to the parochial court-house; the committee met, and at the next vestry the chairman and another member of that committee both tendered for the work which they themselves had specified, when, strange to say, the chair- man obtained the preference because his tender, exorbitant as it was, was ashilling less than that of his opponent; to pay for this, the labourer’s assis taxed equally with the landholder’s steed ; yet has the former no voice init, Another gentleman, also a member of the vestry and a justice of the peace, considers it no derogation to hold the subordinate and humble office of pound-keeper; his stock strayed into, and did considerable damage 10, a poor man’s corn-field. The poor man, probably awed by his autho- tity and influence, or doubting how far it would be prudent in him to send the pound-keeper’s stock to the pound, declined to do so, but, trusting to his sense of justice, took the stock home and represented the injury he had Sustained ; recompense was refused him, and he applied tous. The laws, 262 Jamaica. 452 Admimstration of Justice. however, afforded this man no summary redress, and he was tauntingly referred to his only remedy, an expensive and uncertain action in the higher courts for the trespass. So ill requited was this poor man’s courtesy, that it cannot be wondered at if it should, in future, give place to a cor temptuous disregard of everything that may emanate from this gentleman, even in his character of magistrate. Errors in many instances are, 10 doubt, justly attributable to the labouring class; but when the persons to whose example they look up so far forget the common decencies of life, as to avail themselves of their official situations to engross all parochial employment, and condescending to hold the humblest offices, act as we have described, it is by no means astonishing that their authorily is disregarded, and when the law enables them to punish, the officer and the man are looked on as the same, the punishment loses its salutary eflec, it is viewed as vengeance, and fails, in its most essential purpose, {0 reclaim the wrong-doer, and turbulence and excitement are thus engen dered and kept alive. Administration of Justice. RRITISH GUIANA. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 5th September, 1838. At present I have considered it necessary to continue the whole of the stipendiary magistrates in British Guiana, who are now acting under ordinary commissions as justices of the peace, and they have been found useful in settling the disputes which have naturally arisen at the commencement of the new social system. The general feeling is in favour of a paid magistracy. I have been unwilling, however, to bring the subject forward im- mediately, and have gladly taken advantage of the time likely to elapse before my despatches announcing the emancipation of the apprentices could be acknowledged by your Lordship, to allow the stipendiary magistrates in their new relations an opportunity of proving to the planters the necessity for retaining them, and by that means allaying the jealousies which have existed against their being permanently employed. I have expressed in my previous despatches my opinion that justice will be better administered by persons who are unconnected with the colony, such as are the major part of the stipendiary ma- gistrates here. It is only at the meeting of the combined courts in January that finds for such an establishment can be voted. I might pass an ordinance in the Court of Policy, by the aid of the official members, of the nature recommended by your Lordship, but the combined court would have it in their power to frustrate its being carried into execution, if I cannot secure the co-operation of the non-official mem- hers of the Court of Policy. I am in great hopes that in a short time the new position of the stipendiary magistrates will be under- stood, and their utility acknowledged ; I can then bring forward the subject with more chance of success. Lord Glenelg to Governor Light, 29th October, 1838. I wave received your despatch, No. 48, of the 5th September, in reply to my despatch on the subject of a permanent paid magis- tracy. The information which has reached me, from various parts of the West Indies since the recent change in the colonial society, has confirmed my impression of the necessity for the employment of a certain number of paid magistrates, with a view to the impartial and efficient administration of justice, and I am happy to find that there is a general feeling in British Guiana in favour of such an atrangement. For the present I have only to convey to you my full approbation of your having retained the whole of the late sipendiary magistrates in the colony. ‘British Guiana, I. p. 295. British Guiana. I. p. 297. 454 Adnumistration of Justice. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 5th October, 1838. On the termination of the apprenticeship I found it necessary {0 increase the number of ordinary justices of the peace. I considerel it a temporary measure; but to counteract any attempts at oppres- sion, and to be enabled to judge of the discretion of the justiciary body, I required a monthly return of all commitments, in a pres: cribed form. Some of these returns have reached me; as also the | report from the sheriff of Essequibo of the proceedings of his infetiot courts. These courts are held at stated periods; the sheriff is assisted by a certain number of justices of the peace. I examined the report attentively ; and being struck with the irregularity and severity o the sentences, referred it, with two of the monthly returns of com: mitments, equally irregular and severe, to the Attorney-general, who has pointed out so many glaring instances of defective indictmelt, examination, and sentence, that, without impugning the integrity of the parties, I find it necessary to address your Lordship on the sub- ject. I have sent back the sheriff’s report, with the Attorney-gene ral’s remarks, for explanation, and shall forward both, so soon as! receive it back, to your Lordship. Under the apprentice system the law was simple; a stipendiary magistrate enforced it, and could not greatly err; but he is now a simple justice of the peace, paid, indeed, but with no more voice than an unpaid magistrate. In a country where so few of the proprietary body reside, if 1s not possible to find proprietors to whom a commission of the peace wotild be given ; managers are, therefore, appointed ; they sit on the beth at the inferior courts; and as neither sheriff nor magistrates have any legal knowledge, irregularities must be the result ; a change ls necessary, or it will be difficult to secure a proper administration 0! justice. ° ° e e e e ® ° An idle negro, having a home and provision grounds, goes to the field, and instead of a whole day’s work, will content himself with half or a fourth; leaves the field, either sleeps or wanders about the trenches, catching fish, or lounges; he has food enough, but forgets that such small portion of labour does not repay the estate for the advantages afforded tohim. The planter, having borne this some time, becomes angry, applies to the magistrate, who may be im the same position as himself, and the sentence is dictated more by fellow- feeling than law, at least it appears so in the cases which have caused me to make these observations to your Lordship. I have luckily discovered this in the outset. The district of Essequibo is so extensive, is broken by so many islands, four, five, six, and seven miles apart, that the salary of the present sheriff (500/.) would be swallowed up in expenses for ta velling from one end to the other, were he to be constantly holding courts ; therefore summary convictions are resorted to. Violence assaults, thefts toa certain amount, breaches of the peace, breaches Administration of Justice. 455 of contract for labour, and offences connected with labour, vagrancy, seem to be indiscriminately brought before the inferior courts and the local magistracy. I shall take further measures to prevent abuses until some more perfect system be adopted; the chief will be to require a copy of the evidence taken by the justices, previous to the committal and punishment of offenders, with the clause and ordinance under which the power is given, an accompaniment to the monthly return. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 13th October, 1838. In my despatches, No. 48, date 5th September, and No. 69, date 5th October, I had the honour to state my opinions on the subject of the late stipendiary magistrates. In the first, I gave my reasons for withholding, for the present, the introduction of an ordinance re- lating to them, being a reply to your Lordship’s despatch, No. 23, ‘date 4th July, recommending that measure to me. I have allowed it to rest unmooted, satisfied the planters themselves would find out the necessity of a paid migistracy. It has happened as I expected, and I have no doubt in a short ‘time I shall be able to have an ordinance brought in by one of the most influential members of the colonial section of the Court of Policy, to give effect to your Lordship’s recommendation. In my despatch, No. 69, date 5th October, I recommended a selec- tion from the present stipendiary magistracy, with larger salary. It has been thought desirable to have one for every parish, and already they have been voluntarily placed by the local justices as chairmen, when occasion requires, in several districts ; but as there are more parishes in the three counties than the original number of stipen- diary magistrates, it is evident this arrangement would be excessive. I consider ten would be ample; but they should receive such sala- ties as would enable them to move about freely, and not subject them to be under obligations to the planters in their circuits. This would add much to their influence, and might hereafter secure the services of active and intelligent men from England, when vacancies occur in the number retained. This colony cannot remain station- ary in point of prosperity ; its resources are so great, that if labour can be secured, that prosperity must increase, and will render the payment of a stipendiary magistracy of trifling account to the colo- nists, and therefore will be cheerfully paid when made a colonial question, which it bas been my object to obtain, and for which I tespectfully hope your Lordship’s approval. British Guiana. British Guiana, 456 Adnumstration of Justice. Lord Glenelg to Governor Light, Dec. 29, 1838. I wave received your despatches, Nos. 69 and 76, of the 5th and 13th of October, on the subject of a stipendiary magistracy it British Guiana. The information which you have communicated in the former of these despatches, strongly confirms the view which hal been previously taken by Her Majesty’s Government, of the neces sity of placing the ordinary administration 'of justice, especially as between masters and servants, as far as possible in the hands of responsible magistrates, locally unconnected, and receiving salanes from the Government. My circular despatch of this day’s date, will have communicated to you the intention of Her Majesty’s Government to apply Parliament for the requisite funds for the maintenance, during the ensuing year, of the stipendiary magistrates now serving in the West Indian Colonies. This arrangement will enable you to continuein their office, for the present, the whole of the magistrates hitherto employed in British Guiana and will afford ample time for the enactment of the proposed ordinance for the permanent. establish: ment of a stipendiary magistracy of a somewhat different character The general principle on which such an ordinance should be framed was stated in my despatch, to which you have referred, of the 4th July last, and is further adverted to in your despatches now before me. I quite concur in your opinion, that it will be desirable to mantain rather a smaller number perhaps than the present, but with higher salaries, and with a special jurisdiction enabling them to superintend and direct the proceedings of the ordinary justices. As you were in expectation that an ordinance on this subject, in accord- ance with my recommendation, would shortly be submitted to the Court of Policy, I abstain for the present from any further observa- tions on the details of such an arrangement. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, Nov. 8, 1838. I have expressed my views on the advantage of a legal head to preside at the inferior courts. It will give a solemnity to their decisions, which, I think, will be eminently beneficial in the new condition of society ; and, if agreed to, will, [ hope, be approved by your Lordship. Extract from Address to the Court of Policy, Nov. 6, 1838. I submit to your consideration the propriety of enabling the executive to appoint commissioners from the bench and bar to hold courts in the different districts, at such time and place as may hereafter be decided, either abolishing the inferior courts entirely, or subjecting them to lega supervision. Administration of Justice. 457 Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, Nov. 18, 1838. The Orders in Council relating to vagrancy and obligations of masters and servants having annulled all former Ordinances, in which certain powers were given to special magistrates to punish summarily for petty assaults, petty thefts, and enforce the payment of petty debts, I have considered it would be furthering the views of Her Majesty’s Government to vest the same powers in the stipen- diary magistrates, as by this means much inconvenience will be prevented, likely to arise from persons who cannot find bail when brought before the magistrate, and will be subject to imprisonment for offences which may be arranged at once, if the power be renewed. I have given notice of an ordinance to vest in the stipendiary magistrates the powers given to the late special justices, under the ordinances No. 74, 1836, and No. 8, 1837. British Guiana. I. p. 305. Barbadoes. Tip. 47. Administration of Justice. BARBADOES. Lord Glenelg to Sw E. M. MacGregor, 15 Oct., 1838, I wave received your despatch of the 21st July, No. 180, ¢ closing an Act passed by the Legislature of Barbadoes to authors the appointment of an Assistant Court of Appeal. This Act authorises the Governor to appoint three justices of the peace to be judges of the new court, to be called the Assistant Cout of Appeal. The judges are to be removeable by the Governor, and all provisional appointments are to be made by him, which areto be valid until disapproved « by Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State for the Colonies.” On these enactments I must observe, that the’ appointment of judges ought to be vested, not in the Governor, but in the Queer, in whose name and on whose behalf the Governor should make boll the original and the provisional appointments. The disapprobation of the Queen, and not of a Minister of the Crown, should bete quired to supersede an appointment made provisionally by the Go- vernor. I may add, though this is a comparatively unimportant remark, that the terms employed to designate the Secretary of State, by whom this power is to be exercised, although sufficiently acct rate for popular use, are not precise enough for the purposes oi 4 legal enactment, since, strictly speaking, each of Her Majesty's Se- cretaries of State has assigned to him all the functions of that offe the existing division of duties being a conventional, and not a legal, arrangement. ‘The Act further enables any two of the three judges to hold the court, without providing for the case of a difference d opinion between the two. It makes no provision for the paymentot the judges, the Legislature having assumed that stipendiary m& gistrates, paid by the British Treasury, will be selected for this office. I have, however, no authority to pledge the Lords of the Treasury to any such payment after the expiration of the currelt year. The jurisdiction of the court is very extensive. It embraces,m the way of appeal, all questions of which the justices of the peate have cognizance. It will, therefore, embrace many in which the emancipated population have no direct or immediate interest. le difficulty of holding out any prospect that the court will be pe manently maintained from the funds of this country is the more considerable on that account. I fully appreciate the motives which induced you to assent t0 this Act; and I am aware of the difficulty of effecting the object which you have in view in a satisfactory and unobjectionable manner fear, however, that the expectations which you entertain that. this measure will secure an effective protection to the emancipated class can hardly be realised. A person aggrieved by a decision of 4 Adminstration of Justice. 459 justice of the peace is to appeal to this tribunal ; but the appellant is to perform so many conditions, and is to be subject to so many restraints, that when the ignorance and poverty of the great body of them is remembered, it is not possible to suppose that they can really overcome the many impediments with which they will have to contend in seeking the redress of injuries. In the first place the appellant must, on the very day of the decision, declare his purpose to appeal, although he may be ignorant, till long afterwards, of the illegality of the order pronounced against him. ‘Then he must give to the other party a written notice of the appeal, stating the cause and the matter of it, and this must be done in two days from the date of the order. Yet the injured party may be unable to write, and will scarcely ever be able to draw up a legal document of this kind Without professional assistance, which the poor have no means of obtaining. The appellant must then, within two days, enter into a ‘ecognizance, with two sureties for prosecution of the appeal within ten days, and also for abiding the sentence of the court, and for pay- ment of whatever costs the court may award. This is a process Which the poor and ignorant will, in the vast majority of cases, be unable to gothrough. But, if these difficulties be overcome, the ap- pellant is then to apply to the justices from whom he appeals for a written copy of the proceedings, which copy he is, within three days, to lodge with the court of appeal. Upon these various and burthen- some proceedings fees are to be paid. The jurisdiction of the Court of Queen’s Bench and Common Pleas over all inferior courts being expressly reserved, the stipendiary judges will be actimg under the control of the ordinary justices of the peace, of whom the Court of Queen’s Bench is composed. But if all these impediments shall be surmounted, and a favourable decision obtained from the Assistant Court of Appeals, there is still another appeal to the Governor and Council, which must involve the successful appellant in a new, ar- duous, and expensive course of litigation. Suppose the most ordinary case of the non-payment of a servant's Wages. The injured party is to apply to the justice of the peace. If redress be refused him, he is to engage in a long series of tech- “ical proceedings, securities, payment of fees, and a double appeal, in which the earnings of a year would be rapidly consumed, in order to enforce the payment of the wages of a single day. In such a controversy the rich and the poor would meet on terms of such dis- parity as to render the supposed remedy a mere illusion in practice. It may, however, be said that the Act is, at most, ineffectual, and, ‘therefore, innoxious. But I cannot subscribe to the opinion that, in the present state of the West Indies, a law of this kind, which must fail to accomplish its design, is really unattended with positive injury. If sanctioned by Her Majesty in Barbadoes, it would be adopted as a general precedent in the other colonies, and would form an insuperable bar to the introduction of a different system better calcu- lated for the protection of the emancipated labouring class. On these grounds The Queen in Council, however reluctant to differ from the local Legislature, will disallow this Act. Barbadoes. Barbadoes. Il. p. 67. Admimstration of Justice. Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, Sep. 8, 1838. Amonest the messages addressed to the Legislative Houses, ont will be found recommending amendments in the Assistant Courtd Appeal Act; and I am anxious not only to facilitate this proces, but to subject all the proceedings of the general justices to the revisal and correction of that court, in order to ensure the establish ment of a mild and uniform magisterial system; an object which, I have reason to believe, the gentlemen of the country coincide will me in earnestly desiring. concen His Excellency the Governor to his Honour the Speaker and Housed! Assembly. Certain difficulties appearing to counteract the practical operation of the recent Act, creating an Assistant Court of Appeal, especially in regatt to the written notices, and recognizances thereby required, the Govemt requests that the honourable House of Assemby will be pleased to take the said Act into re-consideration, with the view of altering such of ils provisions as on due inquiry may be found proper to amend. (Signed) E. J. M. MacGregor, Governor Government-House, Barbadoes, 28 August, 1838. Sir H. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, Oct. 12, 1838. I wave the honour of forwarding, together with its summary and the Crown law-officers’ opinion, the transcript of an Act to ament « An Act, intituled, «An Act to authorise the appointment of al 2299; Assistant Court of Appeal. In reference especially to the 3rd clause of this Act, which rendes it the duty of the Court to inspect and examine returns to be pri cured from the several justices of the peace, on the Ist and 15th of every month, and declares that the judges “shall have authority 10 call for the proceedings on any case in which they shall detect aly error of judgment, and shall, on giving notice to the parties interested, have power to correct and revise the same, and shall duly report thereon to the Governor ;” as well as to the accompanying copies ° letters to the judges of the Court and general justices, | since hope that this Act will be left to its operation, or confirmed, there being, in my humble opinion, no more effectual, and yet less mvr dious, method of accomplishing your Lordship’s views for ensurine (for the present) a preponderating influence over colonial magisterial proceedings, to the stipendiary justices appointed by the Crown Administration of Justice. 461 SumMMarRY. An Act to amend an Act, intituled, ‘‘ An Act to authorise the appointment of an Assistant Court of Appeal in this Island.”’ CuausE 1 repeals the 4th clause of the Act to authorise the appoint- ment ‘of an Appeal Court. Clause 2 enacts that any person who shall be aggrieved by any de- cision of any justice may appeal to the Assistant Court, on making known to the justice his intention to do so within three days after sentence pro- nounced, and giving the other party like notice of such intention ; the justice is in every such case to send to the Assistant Court, under a penalty of 10/., within six days of the notice, unless the appellant abandons his appeal, a correct copy of the proceedings; on the proceedings being lodged, the clerk is, within two days, to issue a summons to the parties to attend the hearing, and the court are on such hearing empowered to ex- amine on oath, if they deem it expedient, the parties themselves, to ex- amine any of the witnesses, and then to make such order as to them shall appear just, with or without costs; and they are invested with the same authority to carry their own sentences into effect, as the justices from Whose decision the appeal was made. Clause 3 compels the several justices of the peace, on the Ist and 15th days of every month, to make a return to the clerk of the Assistant Court of Appeal of all the cases heard and decided by them during the past fortnight, according to a form annexed. And it is the duty of the court {0 inspect and examine these returns, and to call for the proceedings in any case they please; and on giving notice to the parties, shall have power to correct and revise the same, which they are to report to the Go- vernor. Proviso, that whenever they alter the decision of a justice, the party affected thereby may appeal to the Governor in Council. Clause 4, repeals penalty imposed by 5th clause of original Act. (Signed) C. T. Cunninauam, 11 October, 1838. Colonial Secretary. (No. 2.) Referring to my report of the 2lst of July last, on the Act to amend Which the present law has been passed, I have now the honour to state the reasons which led to the passing of this Act, and its legal effect. The lst clause of this Act repeals the 4th of the recent law for consti- tuting an Assistant Court of Appeal, that Act having been passed, when hot only the annual dissolution of the House of Assembly, but the com- plete emancipation of the apprentices was near at hand; it was expedient to hurry it through the Houses, so as to secure the recognition of its ge- Neral principle, without hazarding opposition to any of its details. The 4th clause, regulating the forms to be observed on appealing, was there- fore nearly taken from the then existing law. As soon, however, as the Legislature re-assembled, the subject was again recommended by the Ex-~ ecutive to its attention, and after several debates the present bill to amend the former was carried. ‘The whole 4th clause has been repealed; three days allowed for giving notice of appeal, instead of one; any kind of Notice substituted for the written one, containing the cause and matter of appeal hitherto requisite, and in place of entering into recognizances with two sureties to prosecute the appeal, abide the judgment of the court, and pay the costs, no recognizances of any kind are now required; and it is furthermore the duty of every justice, on any appeal being interposed from any kind of decision (under a penalty of 10/., to be summarily le- Barbadoes. Barbadoes. 462 Adnmimstration of Justice. vied), to forward the proceedings in the case to the Assistant Couth who are thereupon to summon the parties, and take the whole case init their cognizance and disposal, as if the complaint had been originally made before them. Composed as this court is of experienced stipendiary magistrates, possessing the confidence of the Governor, paid and ap pointed by the Crown, entirely unconnected with the colony, and entrustel with such a complete supervising power over the decisions of the gener justices, no greater proof can be afforded by the legislative body of Bar badoes (many of whom are acting magistrates), of an anxious desire n0l only to secure the most impartial administration of justice, but event defer to these suspicions which, whether discerned or not, do attach in some quarters to the acts of the proprietary magistracy. That this desire to remove all possible objections to the mode of at ministering summary justice in this island, and to evince the earnest dis position entertained by the Legislature to sacrifice every local feeling in the attainment of this object exists, is still further proved, by the extra dinary power given to this court in the 3d clause; under which the pie ceedings of all the justices will pass in review before them every fortnight, and in any case in which they may think fit, they are authorised to it stitute an inquiry, and to correct or revise ihe decision, if it appears {0 them just so to do; in order, however, to guard against any error ll their part, the usual and constitutional appeal to the Governor in Countll is added. The penalty imposed by the 5th clause of the original Act, beingil effect substituted by the 2d clause of this amended one, is necessarily pealed. The moral effect of the institution of this particular cout dl appeal, has been already highly beneficial ; and when these imporiatl amendments are generally brought into operation, I feel perfectly sule that it will secure the general confidence of all classes, and effectually prevent injustice to any. (Signed) R. Bowcuer CLARKE 11 October, 1838. Lord Glenelg to Sw E. M. MacGregor, Dec. 15, 1838. I wAve the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 280, of the 12th October, transmitting an Act passed by the Legislature of Barbadoes (No. 678), amending the Act which they had passed on the 19th July (No. 671), for authorising the appoill ment of an Assistant Court of Appeal. You will have already received my despatch of the 15th October (No. 120), stating the objections which I entertained to some of the provisions of the amended Act, and informing you that Her Majesly would be advised to disallow it. I was not at that time aware that any amendment of that Actw# in contemplation. The present Act, however, although it does 0! remove all the objections which existed to the former Act, cil siderably diminishes them, by materially simplifying the mode 0 proceeding in cases of appeal; while it at the same time evin0e4 disposition, on the part of the Legislature to carry out faitly the principle of the law. Under these circumstances, I am unwilling Adnumstration of Justice. 463 to'deprive the Legislature of the opportunity of reconsidering the subject, with the view of removing the other objections stated in my despatch of the 15th October. With this view I have advised Her Majesty to suspend the disallowance of the former Act, and likewise a decision on the present Act, until I shall have heard further from you on the subject. Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, November 20th, 1838. Barbadoes. [nave been honoured with your Lordship’s despatch of the 15th 11. p. 207. of October, Barbadoes (No. 120), but time presses me so much at present, especially owing to a recent change in the packet and Mail-boat arrangements, that I have little opportunity of alluding fo its contents except for the purpose of expressing an earnest hope that my subsequent reports and the improvements introduced into the Assistant Court of Appeal Act, may have effected an al- teration in your Lordship’s sentiments, on further consideration of that subject. Without dwelling on the technical objections respecting the ap- pointment of judges by the Governor, and the designation of the Secretary of State, errors not easily to be obviated in the peculiar Course of Legislative proceedings in these colonies, | must be per- Mitted to observe that, did a difference of opinion occur between two of the three judges, there could seldom arise much risk of mischief “before the presence of the third might be obtained, and that your Lordship is mistaken in supposing that ‘the jurisdiction of the Court of Queen’s Bench and Common Pleas over all inferior courts being expressly reserved, the stipendiary judges will be acting under the control of the ordinary justices of the peace, of whom the Court of Queen’s Bench is composed.” The Court of Common Pleas in this island is not composed of ordinary justices of the peace, nor has that court jurisdiction over any inferior court; and a still more distant alibe can be proved in the instance of the Court of Queen’s Bench, there being no such court in existence in this island. In the amended Act, the obstacles to an easy and cheap appeal Rave been removed, and greatly enlarged powers confided to the judges ; while the only court to which an appeal is reserved is the Court of Error, composed of the Governor in Council, to which Court appeals from the decisions of the ordinary magistrates would proceed direct, if the Assistant Court of Appeal were to be abolished. To these observations I must, on this occasion, content myself with adding my acknowledgements for your Lordship’s kind appre- Cation of my motives, in assenting to the Act constituting the Assistant Appeal Court, and my respectful assurance (the accuracy of which the enclosed documents will demonstrate), that the expec- tations which I entertained, that this measure would secure “ an @fiective protection to the emancipated class,” have been more than Tealised, hitherto, by its effiient and successful operation. ,Barbadoes. St. Vincent. —— II. p. 118. 464 Administration of Justice. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor, 11th January, 1839, I HAvE received your despatch (No. 317), of the 20th November, on the subject of the Assistant Court of Appeal Act ; my despateh (No. 129) of the 15th December, will have informed you that on the receipt of the amended Act I had felt myself relieved from the necessity of advising the immediate disallowance of the original Act, and I shall be very happy if such further alterations shall be mate in it as will render it fully adequate to the accomplishment of the im- portant object with a view to which it has been framed. In the mean time, your assurance of the practical benefit which has already attended the operation of this Act is very satisfactory. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir EF. M. MacGregor, lst March, 1839. A serrEs of returns has been laid before me, giving a summary view of the proceedings of the magistracy of Barbadoes since the lst of August. . ; : ‘ , : : ‘ From these returns, I learn with satisfaction that the number of complaints since the termination of the apprenticeship has been much smaller than in the corresponding period last year ; and from the unfrequency of appeals, as well as from the results of them,! trust I may infer that the newly-constituted court has been found ta operate effectually, not only in reversing unjust decisions, but m preventing unreasonable complaints. ST, VINCENT. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 31st August, 1838. THERE is one other point of importance to which I must call yout attention. ‘Thesummary jurisdiction created by this law is intruste to the ordinary magistracy of the colony. Without intending the slightest disrespect to those gentlemen, J am bound to state the col viction of Her Majesty’s Government of the necessity, with a view to the safe and satisfactory working of the new system, of confining, as far as possible, for the present at least, such jurisdiction, in mat ters between employers and their servants to stipendiary magistrates, unconnected by personal interest with the enforcement of the law. I feel that it might be Inexpedient to propose to the Legislature 10 exclude the ordinary magistrates altogether from the exercise of such jurisdiction, as such a proposal would probably not be made to them with success; but under the authority which has been given to yo self, and the other governors of the West India colonies, to retain for the present as many of the special magistrates as may be thoug I requisite, I trust that the administration of the laws on these subjees may be in great measure placed in their hands, and. that by 4 judi Adminstration of Justice. 465 cious distribution of them, opportunity may be afforded to the labour- ing population to apply to them without difficulty in any case in which they have ground of complaint. It is of much importance that confidence should be generally felt in the impartial administration of the law; and while I should be guilty of injustice towards the great majority of gentlemen in the West Indies holding the ordinary com- mission, were I to suppose them deficient in those qualities which are essential to a beneficial discharge of their duties, it is impossible not to apprehend that the relation in which they have hitherto stood to the labourers may give rise to suspicion and mistrust, which time and experience only can remove. You will feel the increased necessity, under existing circumstances, of a vigilant superintendence of the proceedings of the magistrates, and in the event of any misconduct you will not fail to exercise the power with which you are intrusted of removal from the commission of the peace. Mr. Nanton, Police Magistrate, to Lieutenant-Governor Tyler, 17th November, 1838. St. Vincent. In consequence of your Excellency’s suggestion that the fees in this zy, (2), p. 175. Office should be reduced, I have directed that, in cases where the agricultural labourers make complaints, they shall only pay one-half of the usual fees; and in cases where they are convicted the fees are entirely given up. In cases which are of a private nature, and wherein I exercise a discretion in permitting compromises, small sums are frequently paid into this office, which are placed at the disposal of the rector, for the benefit of the poor of this parish. Disputes between masters and servants are investigated nnder the Provisions of 20th Geo. II., c. 19, and 3lst Geo, IL., ¢. 11, which are in force in thisisland; and under the 21st James I. drunkenness is punished by fines, which are placed at the disposal of the church- Wardens for the benefit of the poor. Mr. Crosby, Police Magistrate, to Lieutenant-Governor Tyler, 15th January, 1839. In all cases in which any of the late emancipated population are IL. (2), p. 179. complainants, only half the amount of fees have been demanded, and in very few cases in which they have been complained against have any fees whatever been demanded. II. p. 210. Trinidad. II, (2), p.:261. Administration of Justice. TOBAGO. Lneutenant-Governor Darling to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 20th September, 1838. + I veNTURE to repeat my opinion as to the advantage to be derivel from a body of special magistrates, with exclusive jurisdiction, with out which I cannot help fearing the labourer will scarcely be faitly dealt by. TRINIDAD. Stir G. F. Hill to Lord Glenelg, 8rd January, 1839. Tux necessity of some summary mode of proceeding in cases of petty thefts, not accompanied by force or violence to the person, and of petty injuries to property, is so great, that I fear some public it convenience from the want of such Jaws, even in the short interval which must elapse before I can assemble the Council, and lay some new measure before them. A summary power in cases of petty thefts was formerly exercised within the rural districts by the commandants of quarters, under the proclamation of Sir Ralph J. Woodford, of the 28th day of June, 1825 (referred to by Mr. Scotland), which gave a power of punish ment to the extent of forty stripes, or imprisonment with hard labour for any term not exceeding two months, or fine not exceeding Bl currency, and within the town of Port of Spain, by the alcaldes i ordinary, under the 18th clause of the Order in Council of 16th Sep- tember, 1822, under which petty thefts could be punished by fine not exceeding 30/. currency, or by imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding two months, or by hatt labour in chains on the public works. The office of commandant and the criminal jurisdiction of the aleal- des have been put an end to; the first by the Ordinance establishing a system of police within the rural districts, the second by the tow police Ordinance. With regard to the amended Ordinances which it will be necessily for me to provide, I feel some difficulty ; nor do I see any othet arrangement that can be made for the present, than to limit the jut diction in these cases to the stipendiary justices, who act under 4 pecuniary responsibility. ’ Your Lordship suggests a trial by a jury convened before a sr pendiary justice, and drawn from a class approaching the condition in life of the accused party. I gladly hail the encouragement thus given to the introductial into this colony of the right of trial by jury ; a right as yet but vay imperfectly shadowed out in the addition, in criminal cases, of thte assessors to the three professional judges; but I greatly fear that would be very difficult for the present to act on your Lordships suggestion. Administration of Justice. 467 In many of the rural districts, the population is so widely scat- tered, that there would be great difficulties in getting together even so limited a number of jurymen as three or four, for the immediate trial of these petty offences. The wealthier class, that from which the assessors are generally drawn, would not easily submit to a duty which, from its frequent Tepetition, might become irksome, whilst persons of the same class with the offenders are not sufficiently instructed to justify the in- trusting them with so serious a duty. It is true that some of these inconveniences would be avoided if offences of this class were to be tried at courts of petty sessions, held at fixed intervals; but in this case all the advantages of a summary jurisdiction would be lost. The postponement of the trial involves the necessity of committing the accused party to safe custody in the ease of his being unable to find bail. ‘To detain five or six offenders in the lock-up-house attached to each police-office would be impos- sible; and to commit an accused party who may, by possibility, be Innocent, to a common gaol, where he would be mixed up with Convicted offenders, is an evil to be avoided. It had been suggested to me that a plan might be adopted of Making the stipendiary justices of the two or three immediately adjoining districts assemble once in each week in each district for the trial of these offences ; but this plan also appears to me objection- able. To travel from the central station-house of one district to that even of the adjoining district, is at certain seasons of the year, in this colony, a work of great labour. It is to be observed, also, that under this arrangement each district of the three would be deprived of the presence of its stipendiary justice for two days in each week, and, consequently, an evil would arise in the necessary postponement of the trial of all other offences. ‘The same difficulty of keeping accused parties in safe custody, and of feeding them in the interval until trial, would arise to a very great extent. In this choice of difficulties | am inclined to prefer the intrusting the jurisdiction to the stipendiary justices, acting each singly in his Own district; and for this purpose I propose, without delay, to Introduce the necessary ordinances, governing myself in their details by the suggestions of your Lordship’s despatch. | After all, supposing the magistrate to be competent in point of Information, and free from bias, my own opinion is, that the prompt- Ness and cheapness of an immediate trial, even by a single justice, are such as nearly to counterbalance to the accused party, and to the public at large, the advantages of a more formal trial, and more learned examination, purchased, as these advantages necessarily are, at the cost of lengthened anxiety and delay to the accused, and expense to the public. It is necessary that I should observe, that the magistrates do not act in private, as your Lordship seems toinfer. By the police ordi- Mances of this colony it is required that all cases should be heard and determined in public at one of the police courts. (Sa a SE ie EC SRA EAS PT CY REN RN TORBEN IS SE SE RE Trinidad. Leeward Islands. II. p. 6. Admuustration of Justice. LEEWARD ISLANDS. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 14th August, 1838, Your Lordship is aware that the courts of sessions, and indeed all the courts, are established under Acts of the local legislatures and which, with the exception of Antigua, have been so far te pealed as to admit of the establishment of the circuit courts under the authority of the Act of Parliament of 1836; and in accord: ance with the views which I have before expressed, I am ofopinion that any attempt to place the administration of justice on a mote satisfactory footing in these islands would fail in its effect, unless a general reform of the courts should be simultaneously accom plished. A partial revision of the local Acts, which would have the eftect of associating stipendiary magistrates with the local magistrates, or of conferring on the former exclusively a summary jurisdiction, would, even if attainable, afford but an imperfect remedy, asm the first case the local magistrates would form the majority, anl in the latter the stipendiary magistrates would require the same protection against appeals to the quarter sessions which it had been recently deemed necessary to extend to them in the /4th clause of the amended Act of Parliament for the abolition of slavery. But though such a provision could safely be made mthe case of magistrates specially appointed to administer a particulat law, it would be obviously impracticable to extend it to those wh0 might be appointed generally to administer summary justice im the colonies, or to deprive the subject of an appeal from their de cisions. Lhe disposition of the stipendiary magistrates (appointed under the abolition law) to act with integrity may be fully conceded, and the value of their influence as impartial advisers of the labout ers in their new relations with the other classes; but as genet magistrates, they must experience the same difficulties which the local magistrates complain of in acquiring a knowledge of thelaws they are called on to ‘administer; and although I should antic pate many advantages in all the islands from retaining them se vices, which will indeed be indispensable until some definite at rangements are made, I am nevertheless bound to observe, thattt would conduce in a greater degree to the welfare of these commlr nities, and especially of the classes who may be considered to 1 quire special protection, that the colonial courts should be reforme by the institution of the circuit courts contemplated by Parlia- ment, and the appointment of local courts in each island to supe sede the quarter-sessions. These courts are irregularly attende by the local magistrates, and exhibit the anomaly of unprofessional men charging juries upon grave and complicated questions of law, Administration of Justice. 469 deciding by majority on such questions, leading to consequences which your Lordship can readily appreciate; and where their juris- diction may not be absorbed by that of the circuit courts, it would be preferably entrusted to a single judge of professional attain- ments, sitting with a jury, before whom all appeals should be tried against the summary decisions of the magistrates, whereby a con- stitutional protection would be afforded to the subject. If these local courts should be appointed to sit monthly, Iam of Opinion that adequate means will be found for protection of the indigent classes against any misconduct in the local magistracy, and that the enlightened and independent administration of the laws in the circuit courts will effectually control those influences which have hitherto unduly prevailed. With this support the Executive authority will be also strengthened in exercising the Royal prerogative in the dismissal of magistrates, when any flag- tant irregularities should be proved, on appeal to the courts of justice. The opportunities of associating the people in the administra- tion of justice, by their admission to sit upon juries, constitutes one of the most effectual means of neutralizing prejudice, and of elevating the standard of morals in men of every class; nor is there any privilege more highly appreciated hy those who were formerly excluded from participation in civil rights. If the later English enactments had recognised the principle of associating petty juries with the magistrates in the administration of rural justice, I should have recommended such an institution im these colonies; and if stipendiary magistrates should be ap- pointed, I conceive that it would be desirably adopted, both as a Means of raising the character of the people by inspirmg them with a respect for the laws, and also of obviating the necessity of appeals from the decisions of the magistrates. It only remains for me to observe, that partial changes, which are calculated to excite feelings of jealousy in the local magistracy, without effecting a substantial revision of the system, are open to great objection ; and although the stipendiary magistrates can only at present exercise a general jurisdiction in common with the local Magistrates, a knowledge of their disposition to protect the la- bourers, is conducive at this time to the peace of the colonies, by moderating the effects of party spirit. The disposition of the en- franchised people. to place confidence in the advice of those who are unconnected with their late employers, has everywhere been manifested, and I should much regret that the stipendiary magis- trates should be withdrawn from these islands until definitive ar- Tfangements have been made. I enclose a copy of a circular letter which I have addressed to the Officers administering the governments in the several islands, re- commending the appointment of petty sessions, to be held monthly, m the towns. Leeward Islands. Leeward Islands, III. p. 54. III. p. 196, III.Yp. 59. 470 Admimstration of Justice. Enclosure. (Circular.) 14th August, 1838, With reference to Lord Glenelg’s circular despatch of the 29th Jum, and the expectation which his Lordship has formed of a progressive redut tion being effected in the stipendiary magistracy of these colonies, I requet that you will bring under the consideration of the Legislature of the expediency of making provision for the appointment of a petty sessions, to be held monthly, in which one or more of the stipendiary mt gistrates may be associated with the local justices, for the decision of such cases as may be made referable to their jurisdiction. As the local magistrates could not be expected to undertake the decision of cases occurring beyond the limits of their divisions, the assistance of the stipendiary magistrates would facilitate such an extension of their juristit- tion without personal inconvenience to them, and the stipendiary magit trates would not be precluded in the intervals from visiting their respective districts. - Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the Officers administering the Govern ments, 7th November, 1838. You will have communicated to the Legislature my former 1t commendation, that the fees taken by magistrates should be abolished; and I request you will address the magistrates by at cular, impressing on them the propriety of discontinuing to take fees, as well with a view to remove the derogatory impression t0 which the practice has given rise, as to facilitate the administration of rural justice. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, \1th January, 1839. From my circular letter of the Ist November, enclosed with my despatch, No. 278 general, of the 9th December last, your Lon: ship will have observed that I had requested the officers admis tering the local government to remit any penalties which might be imposed for offences not properly comprehended in the laws ia! the punishment of vagrancy and breaches of contract. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 12th January, 1839. A pisposttion has been evinced by a majority of the local ma- gistrates in all the islands voluntarily to relinquish an emolument which impedes the administration of justice and exposes them to derogatory imputations; but I am of opinion that it will be de- sirable that these fees should be abolished by law, or at least pal into the public treasury, as in Antigua. Administration of Justice. 471 ANTIGUA. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 14th August, 1838. Antigua. Tue abolition of slavery in Antigua, without the adoption of the 1. p. 5. apprenticeship system, having precluded the introduction of sti- pendiary magistrates, had led to no change in the local magistracy. By the constitution of these colonies, the members of council and other principal functionaries have been included in the commission of the peace; but, during the existence of slavery, their functions as magistrates were more circumscribed than at present. The courts of quarter sessions, which are composed of all the magis- trates, under certain modifications, in some of the islands, have, since the abolition of the slave courts, and assisted by grand and petty juries, exercised unlimited jurisdiction over all crimes and offences. In 1834 several laws were passed in Antigua, giving summary jurisdiction to the magistrates in various cases, and it was cus- tomary for them to exercise this jurisdiction beyond the limits of the divisions in which they resided. From the inconvenience attending this practice, I required that all complaints should be heard by the magistrates of the division in which the parties re- sided, and that monthly returns should be made to me of the cases decided by them ; and as due inquiry has been made into all complaints that have been preferred by parties against the decisions of the magistrates, I am bound to declare my opinion that justice has been administered in a manner that reflects credit on the magistracy ; and that there are some individual magis- trates whose influence has been exerted in a manner highly ho- nourable to themselves and beneficial to the colony. It is to be observed, however, that, in Antigua, several of the magistrates are gentlemen of education who reside on their estates; and, allowing for the circumstances arising out of the system of rural economy in these colonies, where the labourers are employed under special contracts or general hirings, they have in general too just a sense of the rights of other classes to administer the laws in a spirit which would lay them open to any flagrant charge of partiality or injustice. There are, however, objections to the existing system which cannot be overlooked. It is not to be presumed but that cases may have occurred in which appeals might have been successfully prosecuted against the summary decisions of magistrates; and some have come to my knowledge in which the parties might have recovered damages, but the obstacles have been such as to discourage the indigent classes from resorting to this remedy, even in cases in which they might confidently have looked for relief, Through the vigilance of the rural constables in detecting offences, and”the spirit in which the laws have been administered, 472 Adnumstration of Justice. Antigua. there has been a progressive reduction in the number of offences a result which however must in a greater degree be referred fp the religious impressions inculeated by the clergy and the mis sionary teachers, and the improved education of the people. I have observed that many intelligent proprietors, who are ma gistrates, reside on their estates ; and as the laws are for the most part printed, fewer difficulties have occurred in their administw tion than might otherwise have been expected ; and if the faci ties of appeal to a superior court unconnected with the magistray had existed, a corrective would have been found for any inept Jarities which may have arisen. Montserrat. MontTsERRAT. Sw W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Gilenelg, 14th Aug., 1838. In Montserrat some of the most efficient of the local magistrates who reside on their estates have declined to act, from their i ability to administer the laws, which are notin print, and which are therefore equally unknown to themselves and to the people who are bound to obey them. . ... . The President of Montserrat having recently associated the stipendiary magistrates with the town magistrates, has led to the resignation of the latter, and a reference of the question has bed made to me. IIT. p. 6. . SET St. St. CHRISTOPHER. hristopher. Stir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 14th Aug., 1838. _ III. p. 6. Ar St. Kitt’s, as I learn from Sir H. MacLeod, some opposition has been manifested to the stipendiary magistrates, who have creditably exerted themselves in support of the enfranchised labourers, and objections have been urged against the tend of my circular instructions for their guidance, which were forwarde with my despatch of the 25th of June. ESSE OTL TE OSE EIST Nevis. NEviIs. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the President of Nevis,| 31st Aug., 1838. HiT. p. 279, Oxservine by your letter of the 18th instant that the cout of sessions is only held once a year, I request that you will draw U8 attention of the Council and Assembly to the necessity 01 Pl™ viding for quarter sessions to meet the altered circumstances? society. . t Adnumstration of Justice. 473 From the Report of Mr. Kenney, Stipendiary Magistrate, 30th Sept., 1838. Nevis. During the month many persons of both sexes were brought I. p. 283. before me for a breach of the General Hiring and Vagrant Acts ; but, in consequence of their ignorance of the same, were, dis- charged, the said Acts having been fully explained to them? From the same, 20th of Nov., 1838. As your Honour will observe by those returns that no persons III. p. 283. have been committed by me during the space of three months, I think it necessary to state, that there being resident justices of the peace in every parish, complaints will naturally be made be- fore the nearest magistrate in preference to the stipendiary in town, from which to the extreme parts of the island, the distance to and from would exceed 20 miles; if, therefore, your Honour should think it advisable, I should suggest that a place be pro- vided in the most distant parishes, where the stipendiary magis- trate should attend at a certain hour, once or twice a week, to hear all cases that may be brought before him. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the President of Nevis, 2nd Jan. 1839. You will be pleased to intimate to Captain Kenney that he 111. p. 284. should appoint stations at which to receive complaints in the divisions, and make at least a monthly circuit of the island. VirGin ISLANDS. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 14th Aug., 1838. Virgin Islands. Tue connexion subsisting between the local magistrates in 111, p. 6. Tortola is calculated to weaken the confidence of the labouring class in their impartiality upon questions affecting their separate interests, an objection which more or less applies in all the islands. And in the recent revision of the criminal laws at St. Christo- pher’s, this has been urged by the Solicitor-General as an objec- tion to preserving the appeal to the quarter sessions from the summary decisions of the local magistrates. I have reason to be- lieve that the stipendiary magistrate has had much difficulty in Maintaining his position against this influence in Tortola. CBRL EIN BE AE EET ELE ELE OLS COE TD Dominica, Knees IIT. p. 369. Administration of Justice. Dominica. Si W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 26th July, 1838. On the Ist of August the stipendiary magistrates will enter m the discharge of their functions as general justices of the islant, and I have taken the occasion to issue a new commission of fle peace, and to include several gentlemen who are resident in the divisions, and who will act with the stipendiary magistrates in preserving the public tranquillity. I rely much on the rural com stables who will be sworn in upon every location ; a class of pot sons who, in Antigua, have been active and vigilant in upholding the laws and in apprehending offenders. The stipendiary magistrates, who will continue their circuits are required to transmit their journals. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 14th Aug., 1838 In Dominica, the local magistrates have rarely acted as such since the abolition of slavery, the laws conferring a summary julis diction over slaves having expired, and others not having beet passed to meet the change. From the unimproved condition of the island, the magistrates have for the most part resided m the towns, and the stipendiary magistrates who are in the commission of the peace, and the police magistrate in the town, have usually been left to decide the few cases which were not referable to the quarter sessions. Even the stipendiary magistrates have gene rally resided in Roseau, from inability to obtain residences mthe country, and have made monthly circuits of their districts. eS AE REESE Nee, Admunistration of Justice. 475 BAHAMAS Ineutenant-Governor Cockburn to Lord Glenelg, lst November, 1838. Bahamas. et Tne extent of additional ;duty which will be required from sti- IV. p. 14. pendiary magistrates, in conformity with the new arrangements by which all agreements between masters and servants are to be go- verned, will make it necessary for me to replace one, if not both, of the special magistrates (Messrs. MacGregor and Penny), whom I have already reported to your Lordship as having returned to Eng- land ; indeed, I fear that even the number (six) formerly sent out as special magistrates, but whom I shall henceforth denominate as stipendiary magistrates, will scarcely be sufficient, owing to the distant and scattered position of one island, to carry the proposed new laws into effect. SECTION V. PRISON REGULATIONS, &c. Copy of a Circular Despatch, addressed by Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the West India Colomes, Se. SiR, Downing-street, 12th July, 1838. In a Report which I have recently received from Captain Pringle, the officer who was appointed to inquire into the state of the prisons in the West Indies, my attention has been attracted to a statement, that in some of the gaols there are individuals still in confinement as runaways, and apparently as convicts for life, under conviction for that offence during the time of slavery. As the continued punishment of these offenders must be an un- profitable suffering, now that there are no longer any persons who could be deterred by it from the repetition of similar offences, I “have to instruct you to ascertain where such cases exist in the colony under your government, and I have further to authorise you to grant a free pardon to all persons imprisoned for offences under the obsolete laws against runaway negroes; unless, owing to any special circumstances, which you will report tome, you con- sider such a course in any case to be objectionable. Circular Despatch, addressed by Lord Glenelg to the Governors of ; the West India Colomes, &c. Sir, Downing-street, 13th August, 1838. I nave the honour to transmit to you a copy of an Act of Parliament which has been passed, intituled, « An Act for the better government of Prisons in the West Indies.” ‘The provi- gions of this Act have been framed, partly on the report of Cap- fain Pringle (a copy of which I also enclose) on prisons in Jamaica, and partly on the precedent of provisions relating to the subject, as it respects prisons in this country, I am aware that the necessity for such an Act may be much greater in some colo- nics than in others, and I have no reason to doubt that, in some at least, every disposition will be evinced by the Legislature to correct evils and abuses in their prison discipline and arrange- ments. Much will probably still remain for the local legislatures to do, in order to place this subject in a proper position. Her Majesty's Government, however, felt it necessary that an imme- diate remedy should be applied to such evils as may be removed by the adoption of an uniform system of superintendence and in- spection throughout the West Indies. The intervention of Par- liament has been the only effectual mode of accomplishing this General. ey poss 1 and 2 Vic- toria, c. 67. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, July 17, 1838. No, 596, General, 478 Prison Regulations, &c. object; a Bill was accordingly introduced, which has been adoptel with the unanimous assent of both Houses of Parliament, and has within the last few days, received the Royal assent. The Acta you will observe, will take effect only from the date of its procle. mation in the respective colonies; a provision which has been im troduced in order to prevent any inconvenience which might other wise arise from uncertainty as to the precise period of its coming into operation. You will give effect to this intention by issuing a proclamation, fixing the date of its coming into force in the colony under your government. It will be your duty, in conjunction with the council, to examine and revise the regulations at present in force respecting the govet: ment of prisons, and to make such alterations and additions as ap- pear to be requisite, in order to insure the maintenance of govt order and discipline, and the proper care and treatment of the prisoners, In doing this you will especially keep in view the im portance of due classification of the prisoners, so far as this may be compatible with the present buildings. You are further authorised by Her Majesty to appoint oneor more persons, on whose qualification for the oftice you can rely, to inspect the prisons within your government, for the effectual dis charge of which duty ample powers have been given by this Act. In the first instance, you will appoint one or more of the special justices to this office, as it will form an appropriate part of ther duty, and one which they may easily and beneficially discharge, now that they have been relieved from the onerous functions ml posed on them by the late apprenticeship code. You will, d course, furnish them with proper instructions for their guidante, and I would only here suggest that their inspection should beat uncertain periods, and should take place without any previous notice of their intention. The power with which you are intrusted of removing any mF proper officers, will be exercised with firmness and decision, whel- ever such a measure is required, by circumstances coming to youl knowledge. The extreme power of declaring any prison unfit to be used such, is intended to apply to cases in which such a measure is tle only method of preventing those evils which would otherwise restll from the confinement of prisoners in a place obviously defectivell those arrangements which are essential to the health and propt treatment of the prisoners. I would instance, as an example, aly prison in which, owing to the insecurity of the building, the pir soners, in order to prevent escape, are subjected to modes of re: straint which would only aggravate their punishment, and which in a suitable building would not be necessary ; or any prison Ml which the cells are so constructed as to be injurious to health, # to inflict needless pain. Other causes for such an interferentt may at once suggest themselves to you, or become apparental the repors of the inspectors, but you will of course avail yourse of allthe means in your power of. procuring a remedy for such Prison Regulations, &c. 479 defects, before you have recourse to the power which is conferred on you by this Act in this respect. You will not fail to comply with the provisions of this Act, which require the transmission of certain information to Her Ma- jesty’s Government, for the purpose of its being laid before Par- liament ; and you will keep me duly informed of whatever mea- sures you adopt in pursuance of this Act. JAMAICA. Sir Lnonel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 13th August, 1838. I rook advantage of the opportunity afforded me by the auspi- cious event of the lst August, to extend an act of grace towards a great number of the unfortunate prisoners confined in the gaols and houses of correction of this island. ' Many of these had been in confinement for several years, under sentences of slave courts, for running away and for various crimes, mncident solely to the condition of slavery; these, without discri- mination, I have liberated, giving to each a patent of free pardon. Others, who were undergoing the sentence of the law for offences of a criminal nature, but whose long imprisonment, good conduct, or other peculiar circumstances, appeared to render them fit ob- jects for Her Majesty’s clemency on such an occasion, and who Were recommended by the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, and the custodes of parishes, received a similar indulgence. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 25th September, 1838. I nave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s I. p. 91. despatch of the 13th ultimo, marked “ Circular,” transmitting the Copy of an Act of the Imperial Parliament, intituled, «An Act "for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies ;” and I now beg to enclose the copy of a Proclamation which I have this day issued, to give immediate effect to the said Act. The custodes of parishes will forthwith be called upon to send im copies of the rules and regulations of the several houses of cor- rection and gaols; and, upon receiving these documents, I shall immediately assemble the council, under the provisions and for the purposes of the first clause of the Act. Whereas an Act has been passed by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, in the first and second years of Her Majesty’s reign, intituled “ An Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,’”’ which said Act is in the following words: (Here follows the Act 1 & 2 Vict. c. 67.) Now, therefore, know ye that, in pursuance of the authority vested in Me by the eleventh clause of the said before recited Act, I do hereby appoint and declare that the said Act, and every article, matter, and thing therein Contained, shall be in full force and take effect within this Her Majesty’s Island of Jamaica, from and after the date hereof. 480 Prison Regulations, &c. Jamaica. _ Given under my hand and seal at arms, at St. J ago-de-la-Vega, this 25th day of September, in the second year of Her Majesty’s reign, Annogie Domini 1838, (2.5.9) (Signed) LIonEL Smita. By his Excellency’s command, C. H. Dartine, See, Str Inonel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 25th December, 1838. I.p. 166. I wave the honour to enclose your Lordship herewith,— __No.l. 1. Copy of the Regulations issued by the Governor and Countl Nov. 29, 1838. for the better government of the Prisons. No.2, 2. Copy of a Circular under which they were furnished to the Dec. 14, 1838. stipendiary magistrates. Ae 3. A Report from the stipendiary magistrates on the stated! Dec. 6, 1838. the Spanish Town House of Correction. cs oi 4. A Report from the provost marshal-general, stating the im Dec. 8, 1838. * practicability of classifying prisoners in the present state of the pee prisons; and, Nov. 29, 1838, 5, Minutes of examination before the Privy Council of the phy- sician and supervisor of the House of Correction in Kingston, touching the system of feeding and punishing of the prisoners. 2. These documents will put your Lordship in possession of the general state of our prisons, than which nothing can be more dis graceful to any country. Enclosure 1. In Council.—29th November, 1838. Unoer and by virtue of an Act of the Imperial Parliament, passed m the Ist and 2nd year of Her Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,”? the following rules have been approved and establishedrby his Excellency the Governor and their Honours the Council, for the government of the several Gaols, Houses of Correction, Hospitals, Asylums, Workhouses, and every other place within this Island, however called, which shall be used for the cole finement of persons charged with or convicted of any offence, and for the care and superintendence of the prisons, and for the duties of the keepés and officers of such prisons, Ruxes and Reeurations for the Jamaica Gaoxs, Housss of Correction, &c. 1. The keeper of every county gaol, or gaol, or house of correction; shal reside therein, and shall occupy such rooms or apartments as the mage trates shall direct, and shall not be concerned directly or indirectly m any other occupation or trade. No keeper or officer of a prison or hous? ™ correction, or any person employed in any of the said places shal sell nok shall any person in trust for him, her, or them, or employed by him, : or them, sell or have any benefit or advantage from the hiring of servan 5; or sale of any article to any prisoner or inmate ; nor shall he or she, direety or indirectly, have any interest in any contract or agreement for the su? Prison Regulations, §c. 481 ply of the prison or house of correction, or in the hiring of servants for such institutions. 2. A matron shall be appointed in every prison and house of correction in which female prisoners shall be confined, who shall reside in the prison or house of correction, and it shall be the duty of the matron constantly to Superintend the female prisoners therein. 3. The keeper shall, as far as may be practicable, visit every ward, and See every prisoner, and inspect every cell, once at least in every 24 hours ; and when the keeper or any other officer, being a man, shall visit the female prisoners, he shall be accompanied by the matron, or, in case of her unavoidable absence, by some female officer or other female person of the prison. 4. The keeper of any of the aforesaid establishments shall keep a journal, in which he shall insert his name daily, and state the hours at which such keeper shall visit and inspect the cells of the gaols; and in which all other officers of the gaol or house of correction shall daily insert their names, and record all punishments inflicted by his authority, or by that of the visiting justices, andj the day} when such punishment shall have taken place, and all other occurrences of importance within the prison ; which journal shall be laid before the justices of every quarter or special sessions, and signed by the chairman, in proof of the same having been there produced, except in the parish of Kingston, where the journal of the house of correction of that parish shall be produced to the common Council, to be signed by the mayor or alderman presiding, for the same purpose ; and at all times when the visiting justices shall visit any of the Said institutions, and the clerk of the peace of each parish is hereby directed to send a copy of such journal to his Excellency the Governor, or the person administering the government, within ten days after the same shall have been presented tu the court of quarter session or common council. 5. Due provision shall be made in every prison or house of correction for the enforcement of hard labour in the cases of such prisoners as may be sentenced thereto, and for the employment of other prisoners the means of hard labour shall be provided. 6. The male and female prisoners shall be confined in separate buildings or parts of the prison or house of correction, so as to prevent them from Seeing, conversing, or holding any intercourse with each other; and the prisoners or inmates of each sex shall be divided into distinct classes, care being taken that the prisoners or inmates of the following classes do not Intermix with each other. In Gaols: First, debtors and persons confined for contempt of court on civil process. Second, prisoners convicted of felony. Third, prisoners convicted of misdemeanors. Fourth, prisoners Committed on charge or suspicion of felony. Fifth, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of misdemeanors for want of sureties. In houses of Correction: First, prisoners convicted of felony. Second, prisoners con- | Yicted of misdemeanors. ‘Third, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of felony. Fourth, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of misde- | Meanors. Fifth, vagrants, such prisoners as are intended to be examined as Witnesses in behalf of the Crown in any prosecution shall also be kept sepa- Tate in all gaols and houses of correction. Provided always, that nothing in this rule contained shall be construed to extend to prevent the justices from authorising at their discretion the employment of any prisoner in the per- formance of any menial office within the prison: And provided also, that if the keeper shall at any time deem it improper or inexpedient for a prisoner | toassociate with the other prisoners of the class to which he or she may | | | | | belong, it shall be lawful for him to confine such prisoner with any other class oD) I ~ Jamaica. Jamaica. 482 Prison Regulations, &. or description of prisoners, or in any other part of the prison, until he om receive the directions of a visiting justice therein, to whom he shall ap with as little delay as possible, and who, in every such instance, shill ascertain whether the reasons assigned by the keeper warrant such deviatin | from the established rules, and shall give such orders in writing as he shill think fit under the circumstances of the particular case. 7. Female prisoners shall in all cases be attended by females. 8. Every prisoner sentenced to hard labour, shall, unless prevented ly | sickness, be employed so many hours in every day, not exceeding té hours, exclusive of the time allowed for meals (Sundays and holiday usually kept in this island excepted). Convicts who shall have been séi- tenced to work in the penal gang, when working out on the public r0all, or otherwise out of the prison, or house of correction, are not to be allowel to remain out after sunset on any pretence whatsoever. All prisoner # be locked up at seven o’clock, debtors excepted. The utmost order ail strict silence to be observed by all prisoners when at work on fhe tread-miil. 9. Prayers to be selected from the liturgy of the Church of England by the chaplain, shall be read every Sunday by the chaplain, the curate, of by some other person duly qualified ; and portions of the Scriptures shill be read to the prisoners or inmates, when assembled for instruction, by the chaplain, or by such person as he may appoint or authorise; but thil no prisoner shall be required or obliged to attend such prayers unless le or she be a member of the Church of England; and the keepers of gadls and houses of correction are hereby directed to allow dissenting ministets or Catholic priests on every Sunday to read prayers to such prisoners # are not members of the Church of England. No manner of work toe done on the Sabbath-day, except those of necessity, such as cooking df victuals, and those connected with general and personal cleanliness. 10. When the keeper of any prison or house of correction shall be under the necessity of putting a prisoner or inmate in irons or solitary col finement for misbehaviour, the particulars of the case shall be forthe with given to one of the visiting justices, who shall hear and determin upon it. 11. Every prisoner maintained at the expense of the island, or aly parish, shall be allowed a sufficient quantity of plain and wholesome font, to be regulated by the justices and vestries, except in Kingston house 0 correction, where the same shall be regulated by the common coll, regard being had, so far as may relate to convicted prisoners, to the nalue of the labour required from, or performed by such prisoner, 80 that the allowance of food may be duly apportioned thereto : prisoners or mmales under the care of the surgeon or physician shall be allowed such diet as he or they may direct in writing : care shall be taken that all provisions sl plied to the prisoners or inmates shall be of proper quality and weight such food as aforesaid shall cease on a prisoner’s going into hospital, when such diet only as directed by the medical attendant to be allowed. 12. Prisoners who shall not receive any allowance from the island, whether confined for debt, or before trial, for any supposed cnme or offence, shall be allowed to procure for themselves, and to receive at prope! hours, any food, bedding, clothing, or other necessaries, subject to 4 strict examination, as may be reasonable, and prevent extravagance and luxury within the walls of the prison : all articles of clothing and bedding § * be examined, in order that it may be ascertained that such articles at@™ likely to communicate filth or infection, or facilitate escape. 13. No prisoner who is confined under the sentence of any couth sg any prisoners confined in pursuance of any conviction before 2 justice Prison Regulations, &c. 483 shall receive any food, clothing, or necessaries, other than the gaol allow- ance, except such as may appear expedient with reference to the several classes of prisoners, or under special circumstances, to be judged of by one or more of the visiting justices. 14, The gates of the prisons and houses of correction are not to be opened before five o’clock, a.m., nor be kept open after seven o’clock, P.M, except in cases of urgent, necessity, such as fire, &c.; at which hours all persons employed in the prisons and houses of correction must be within the walls; and the keepers of such prisons and houses of cor- rection are expected to see this rule strictly adhered to, on pain of dis- missal, and to report forthwith to the visiting justice any infringement of this rule. 15. No persons to be allowed to visit the gaols or houses of correction for the purpose of communicating with any prisoner before the hour of ten, AM., nor aiter four o’clock, p.m; and all persons visiting prisons are to be turned out at four o’clock, unless permitted to remain later, by an order in Writing of the visiting justice. 16. The wards and ceiling of the wards, cells, rooms and passages, used by the prisoners throughout every prison or house of correction, shall be cleaned or scraped, and lime-washed, at least once every four months the rooms, passages, and sleeping-cells shall be washed or cleaned every day, or oftener, when requisite ; and convenient places for the prisoners or immates to wash themselves shall be provided. 17. All prisoners or inmates shall be allowed as much air and exercise a8 may be deemed proper for the preservation of their health. 18. No spirituous liquors of any kind shall be sold in any prison or house of correction, or admitted for the use of any of the prisoners or Mmates therein, unless by an order from the surgeon or physician, in Writing, specifying the quantity, and for whose use ; no wine, malt, or other fermented liquor, shall be admitted for the use of any prisoners, except in such quantities, in such manner, and at such times, as shall be allowed by an order in writing of the visiting justice. 19. No gaming shall be permitted in any prison or house of correction ; and the keeper shall seize and destroy all dice, cards, or other instruments of gaming. 20. No money, under the name of garnish, or whatsoever other term, shall be taken from any prisoner or inmate, on his or her entrance into the Piison, or under any pretence whatever. 21. Upon the death of a prisoner or inmate of any prison or house of Correction, notice thereof shall be given by the keeper forthwith to one of the visiting justices, as well as to the coroner of the parish. 22. No keeper of a gaol or house of correction to absent himself, unless Mbusiness connected therewith, without special leave from the visiting Justice, or when compelled by law, or on pain of dismissal. He is strictly enjoined to see all the rules duly carried into effect, and he is particularly directed to adopt the utmost regularity and cleanliness in every depart- Ment, and, by a firm yet kind mode of treatment, insure to himself the Tespect and obedience of his prisoners; and he is required to attend Morning and evening, and see such prisoners who may be in the cells for Solitary confinement, at which time he is to see the food and allowance of Water for each duly delivered. 23. The turnkeys of the gaols, and the boatswains of the houses of cor- fection, to keep watch every night within the walls, as follows :—one from eight to eleven o’clock, p.m.; one from eleyen to two o’clock, a.m., and One from two to five o’clock, a.m. Dh, 3, Jamaica. Jamaica 484 Prison Regulations, &c. 24. The medical attendants to visit the gaols and houses of correction tt least three times each week, and oftener, if necessary, and they are to ly before the quarter sessions, at each sitting, a report of the state of the gal and house of correction—of the state of cleanliness and health of the prisoners and inmates, a copy of which report the clerk of the peace {i each parish is directed to send to his Excellency the Governor, or the pir son administering the government, within one week after such report shill have been laid before the court of quarter sessions. | W. G. Stewart, Clerk to the Council, (Circular.) Enclosure 2. Sir, The King’s House, 14th December, 1838, I am desired by the Governor to acquaint you, that he has beet pleased to appoint you Inspector of Prisons, under the Act of the [mpenil Parliament, 1 & 2 Victoria, c. 67, intituled, ‘‘ An Act for the better Govem ment of Prisons in the West Indies.”’ 2. You will be pleased to make such arrangements with other stipendialy magistrates, residing in the parish of (who have all receive similar appointments) as may ensure that the prison, &c., shall be visite during the first and second fortnights of the month by different inspectors The duties which this appointment imposes, will thus be equally dividel among the stipendiary magistrates. 3. You will, in compliance with the instructions contained in a Despatch from Lord Glenelg, copies of which are enclosed for your informatiot, make your inspections at uncertain periods, and without any previ0lls notice of your intention. ' 4. I transmit also herewith copies of the Rules and Regulations which have been established by the Governor in council, under the authonly? the Imperial Act, a copy of which is also enclosed for your information ant guidance. 5. These documents will sufficiently inform you of the general objects of your appointment, and of the nature of the reports, which his Excellency expects to receive from the inspectors of each parish, either jointly, separately, at least once in each month. 6. In exercising the powers conferred on you, by the third and fourth clauses of the Act, as to examining officers of prisons, you wili not consider it as authorizing you to examine any other than the supervisor and the subordinate officers resident in the prisons, and his Excellency fully reli upon your using discretion and moderation in the discharge of the duties generally, which devolve upon you under this appointment. : I have, &c. The Stipendiary Magistrates. (Signed) C. H. Darsind, Enclosure 3. SIR, Spanish Town, 6th December, 1896 We enclose, for the information of his Excellency the Goveml™ the copy of au examination taken at the House of Correction, relating” the escape of ten persons from that prison. Fl His Excellency will perceive that the parochial authorities have refs to make any provision for carrying into effect the hard labour to which con victs and misdemeanants are sentenced, and that they have neglected t0 furnish the necessary aid for the watch and ward of the prison. The defective construction of the institution , which provided for no othet Prison Regulations, &c. 485 classification under the former prison laws, than the separation of males and females in two distinct yards, renders it impossible to carry into effect the more minute classification of criminals, required to be observed by the orders of the Governor in council under the Act of the Imperial Parliament, while the very insufficient wall with which the buildings are surrounded, as well with regard to the materials of which it is constructed, as to the height and thickness of the wall itself, renders it impossible, with the most satisfactory arrangements for inspection, guard, and security, that the inmates will not on all future occasions as successfully break prison as they have done in the present instance. In the present determination of the colony to resist the carrying into effect the Prison Bill, it is reported that the usual parochial grants for the House of Correction will be discontinued. Neither the salaries of the keeper nor of the matron, nor the taskmaster (the only existing superin- tendents of the institution), are to be granted, and the funds for the sub- sistence of prisoners are no longer to be provided. The only real utility of the House of Correction at this time, is as an hospital for the sick poor, Who are sent in by the magistrates, and for the reception of the dying desti- tute picked up in the streets, and conveyed thither by the same authority. There were seven such inmates of the institution at our visit, one recently dead, and the other dying, but this humane public aid for the poor and friendless must fail, if the parochial authorities should pursue the same scheme of opposition to this part of the institution, and refuse after January to provide for the salary of the surgeon and physician, and for means for the sustentation of the sick and destitute. We have to add, that the order which we made that the two prisoners tetaken out of the ten escaped, should be made to wear fetter rings, with a sufficient length of chain between each foot, that the chain might be held up by a girdle to the waist, could not be carried into effect, there being no fetters in the institution. We were obliged to substitute a very insufficient Testraint, the appending a long chain to a hand-cuff, locked on one hand only, and ordering the locking up of the delinquent prisoners in close cells at mght. We have, &c. Wim. Ramsay, Stipend. Justice. E. D. Baynzs, Stipend. Justice. Rieuarp Hit, Stipend. Justice. WoAw Bruise (Signed) Captain Darling, Secretary. Monday, 3rd December, 1838. Information having been lodged on Sunday morning, by Mr. Burrowes, the keeper of the Saint Catherine’s House of Correction, of the escape of Henry Cornick, Thomas Jones and Thomas Williams, convicted 8th November last of larceny, and sentenced to hard labour for the space of 81x calendar months ; and of William Taylor, convicted of assault on Flora Johnston, and sentenced to hard labour for three calendar months; and William Brown, convicted of larceny, and in like manner sentenced for twelve calendar months; and Richard Brown, convicted of larceny, and in like manner sentenced for six calendar months ; and John M‘Intosh, con- Victed of larceny, and sentenced for six calendar months; and Robert Henry, convicted of larceny, and in like manner sentenced for six calendar Months; and of the escape of Richard Carr, convicted at the October grand court of larceny, and sentenced to hard labour in the house of cor- fection for nine months: and of Charles, convicted at the same court, of Jamaica. — Jamaica. 486 Prison Regulations, &c. felony, and sentenced to hard labour in the same place for two yeas; William Ramsay, Edward Davis Baynes, William Anthony Bell, al Richard Hill, Esquires, Stipendiary Justices, this day visited the sail House of Correction, to institute inquiry into the said escapes. John Bagnold Burrowes, the keeper of the House of Correction, examin on oath, states, that on the morning on the 20th November, on inspecting the cells and lock-up apartments of the inner prison, as usual, he fount that Henry Cormit and Thomas Williams, two prisoners, locked up for the night in the stocks-room, had escaped, by breaking the wall under the window, and where the escape out of the room had been effected; that they had taken the door off the privy, and making of it an ascent for the outer wall, had, by climbing the wall at the back of their room, escaped from confinement. No information has been received respecting these prisonel since. That on Friday last, the 30th November, Thomas Jones, who had been in the hospital under medical care ever since his commit ment, and who had not been in close confinement, on Friday night had broken the outer eastern wall of the prison, and _ effected his escape ; the wall in this part is not more, I think, than a brick anda half thick, and composed of old decayed bricks, and therefore was easily worked through; the hole was made near to the ground ; that the other Six prisoners, namely, Charles and Richard Carr, the two grand court Con victs, and Richard Brown, William Brown, John M‘Intosh, and Robat Henry, the convicts from the quarter session, escaped on the night of Saturday last, the 1st instant; that they must have effected their escapes about midnight, a noise having been heard at that time; that this noise proceeded from two other prisoners who were in the room with them, ad who cried out that their comrades had escaped ; that they effected thet escape by climbing the northern wall of the gaol, Mr. Ramsay. Question. Did you consider the walls of the prison secure P—Answer | did not, because I had repeatedly stated that they were insecure, and called the attention of the magistrates to the circumstance. Q. Were any steps taken in consequence to make the prison mote secure >—A. No, there were not. Q. Are the bricks in various parts of the wall so decayed as to enable any person in a short time to pick a hole through them ?—A. Theyat very decayed. in several places, and by the absorption of wet during wel weather, the walls are subject to great decay. Q. Were all these prisoners sentenced to hard labour ?—A. They welt: Q. What means were provided within the gaol for carrying into effect their sentences ?>—A. None whatever. I could not send them out to collect stones, because I had no authority to work out of doors as a chain gang and the magistrates had not provided materials within the prison for the hard labour of the prisoners. a Q. Have you adverted to these difficulties in your conversations with the chief magistrates ?—A. I have, and I have been referred to the Govert ment for my orders; and I have accordingly waited for the publication? the general orders, under the Prison Act of the Imperial Parliament. These orders have only now been made public, having been only printe i published in last Saturday’s Gazette. I have now inserted the order of it Governor in Council of the 30th November in the gaol-book. _ i Q. Have you any means in your power of providing hard labour those sentenced thereto, and for the employment of other prisoners, ac00® ing to the 5th rule of the order above adverted to, without receiving pel niary or other aid from the parochial vestry ?—A. I have not. 7 | Prison Regulations, &c. 487 Q. Were the men who have escaped totally unemployed during the time they remained in prison.—A. They were totally unemployed. I have only one task-master assigned me by the parish. There is no gate-keeper and no cook for the prisoners; there is consequently no watch at night, and the ordinary wants of the inmates of the prison render it necessary that ‘they should be permitted to pass frequently into the yard immediately about the house. At present the task-master is employed by some of the custos in overlooking a parcel of hired labourerers, now employed in clean- ing the race-course. He was absent all last week, and is still absent on that duty ; so that I am at present without his aid. Q. Have you recovered any of your prisoners?—A. I have recovered Thomas Jones, the sick soldier of the 56th regiment, who broke the wall, and escaped. He was brought back by a picquet of soldiers of the 37th ; and I have this morning received Richard Carr, who was apprehended at Cottage Pen, and brought back by the order of Mr. Justice Darling. Q. How many inmates are there in the hospital?—A. There are six men; one died this morning, whom I now report to the justices as recently dead, and on whom an inquest was holding at the time of the present writ from the justices, the death having been reported to the coroner by me this morning. Q. Are these inmates of the hospital, convicts, or destitute poor sent in by the magistrates 9—A. They are not convicts, nor prisoners in a state of detention, but destitute poor, sent in by the magistrates, almost generally ina dying state. The medical attendants visit every day. I now hand in their report. [The book inspected.] The last entry for Arabella Duncan, the woman who now lies dead, is dated 30th November, and the order is that she is to have “‘ beef soup and five-pence bread daily.’” She had arrow-root besides. Johanna Williams, another inmate, now lies dying. The entry for this person is, that she is to have a pound of beef, five-pence bread, and a gill of gin daily. Besides this, she has tea and arrow-root. There is a matron always in attendance; but she requires assistance, and I have to solicit that it be afforded her, in the care of so many sick persons. M. Burrows, Superintendent. Taken before us this 3rd day of December, 1838. William Ramsay. Richard Hull. E. D, Baynes. W. A. Bell, 3.P. Enclosure 4. Provost Marshal General’s Office, 8th December, 1838. I wave the honour to enclose a communication which I have re- ceived from my deputy, in charge of the Middlesex county gaol, relative to the late regulations, a copy of which appeared in the public papers. You will perceive he principally points out the present impossibility of comply- ing with the sixth clause. Sir, I have, &c. C. H. Darling, Esq. J. Aue. SULLIVAN, P.M. G. Secretary. Deputy Marshal’s Office, Kingston, 13th December, 1838. On my return home on Sunday from the elections, I saw the rules and regulations for gaols and houses of correction, published in the Royal Gazette. They shall be complied with so far as practicable; but it 1s im- possible in this establishment to carry the sixth rule in force ; the building Sir, Jamaica. Jamaica. 488 Prison Regulations, &c. only enabling me to keep the male and female prisoners separate, in respect to prisoners either tried or untried. Male and female debtors are in {he same yard, and crown witnesses are confined in the debtors’ apartments, The eighth rule directs that all prisoners, with the exception of debtor, shall be locked up at seven o’clock. At this season of the year, it bemg quite dark at that hour, we should be compelled to lock up by candle-light, which would be attended with considerable risk of prisoners escaping, besides that of carrying lights through the prison. No provision beg made for feeding prisoners here, 1 must continue to give the allowances under the island law. Until the elections were over, I could not addres you on this subject, as you must be aware I was out attending to them, I am, &c. A. J. Liyoo, p.m, J. A. Sullivan, Esq. P.M. G. Surry Gaol. —— SIR, Spanish Town, 6th December, 1838, OxsseRvine in the public papers that the rules and regulations for the discipline of the gaols, &c., have been made by their honours the Coun- cil, and received the assent of his Excellency the Governor, I beg leave to observe for your information that, in the present state of the county gaol of Middlesex, it is entirely out of my power to conform to the sixth clause of those rules, which refers to the several classifications of the prisoners, there being at present but two compartments in said gaol, viz., one for debtors, and the other for all description of criminals, whether tried or not. With regard to the several other clauses, you may depend upon my having the same strictly adhered to. As yet the justices and vestries have not orderel the description or quality of food to be served out to the prisoners; and until I shall have received such orders, I should suppose I must continue with the usual allowance of money allowed by the Island Act to said prisoners. I have, &c. John A. Sullivan, Esq., P.M. G. D. H. DexamorTe, DM, Deputy Marshal’s Office, Montego Bay, SIR, 18th December, 1838. Tue senior magistrate of this parish handed me yesterday a certified copy of certain rules and regulations, framed by their honours of the count and approved of by his Excellency the Governor, for the regulations of prisons, &c., in this island; and I was also informed by Messrs. Finlayson and Facey, stipendiary justices here, that they have been appointed m- spectors of prisons for this parish. These gentlemen were to have called yesterday at the gaol, but as yet they have not doneso. I understand, however, that they have been instructed to visit without giving me notte, As far as this part of their order goes henceforth, I do not mind; butl think that their first visit ought certainly to be while I am present, merely for the purpose of going over the regulations, to see how far I could be able to carry them into execution. I consider it a duty I owe to you (under whom I have the honour i hold my situation), as well as in justice to myself, to point out such parts of the rules and regulations as it will be utterly impossible (however much I may be inclined to do so) for me to carry into execution, v1Z.— Rule 1. The keeper of every county gaol is called upon to reside there Prison Regulations, &c. 489 &c. If this refers to my gaoler, the difficulty is overcome; but if it be intended for myself, who is really and bond fide the keeper, it will be im- possible for me to carry this rule into execution, because there are no buildings suitable for such purpose as my residence, &c. Rule 6. It is impossible in this gaol to carry into execution (under any circumstances whatever), the provisions of this rule. The gaol is one entire open yard, with two buildings, one for the use of debtors, and the other for criminals generally. The former building has five rooms up-stairs, and as many below, the latter occupied by the matron and boatswains. The criminal apartment has five rooms up-stairs, and the lower part has eight small apartments. These are the whole accommodation of the prison, with the exception of the gaoler’s residence. ‘This rule calls for five dif- ferent apartments for each sex. Rule 8. Under this rule the prisoners are to be allowed to be at large until 7 p.m. This may answer very well in the summer months; but at present it is quite dark before 6 p.m., and if the prisoners are allowed to be at large until 7, I have every reason to believe that there will be many escapes. ven at present, the greatest care is necessary that they do not go over the walls (which are very low) during the day. I shall be most happy to receive any order or instructions from you upon these several points, or upon any other parts of the regulations which you think necessary. I have, &c. D. J. Soares, p. M. Enclosure 5. The Evipencre given by Dr. FErcuson, before the Privy Council, on Thursday, the 29th November, 1838. I wave been in attendance from 1822, occasionally on the sick, in the Kingston workhouse and house of correction, as the medical attendant; I have nothing to do with the county gaol. At present the inmates are supplied with Indian corn ground and mixed with salt or salt pickle, taken from the barrels of the shads. I have heard it has sometimes been given, by way of punishment, with- out salt, but for no length of time, under the sanction of the visiting Magistrate, for a day, or at most two days. They have besides, daily, a certain quantity (a few ounces) of salted fish, herrings or shads, according to their size. Some time ago a change was proposed by me, and ground provisions twice in the week were then ordered to be issued. No ground provisions were issued previously. I think, before Captain Pringle’s visit, I have heard that rice was substituted when ground provisions could not be procured. When the soldiers were first sent there two years ago, no change in the food was resorted to. The soldiers often said they could not eat it. Their stomachs became distended, and I supposed it to arise from indigestion, and from a disordered condition of the stomach. After a time their health became impaired, feet swollen, and it was impracticable to carry the sen- tence of hard labour into effect. After the order was given to change the diet, the soldiers and other in- Mates decidedly improved. Within the last five months there has been Jamaica. Jamaica, 490 Prison Regulations, §c. little sickness, owing to that change, and the less frequent resort toh treadmill. The present mode of employing them in breaking stones, it lieu of the mill, has been useful. Every suggestion of mine has been attended to. No shed is yet erectel, but one is to be built. The men are in the meantime removed to underthe shade of the house. No difference is made between soldiers and others at present. The sil diers dislike corn-meal; when they complain, something else is substituted I do not think the food that was formerly given was sufficient to let them undergo continuous tread-mill labour, say three months, without suffering, Arrow-root, oatmeal, gruel, wine, and ox-tail soup is occasionally given, The diet, generally, is not preferred by the soldier. In the asylum or hospital department, I order whatever I think fit for the inmates. I contract to attend the house of correction and asylum for a certain sim, On one occasion a prisoner complained of neglect (having only a sore leg) to Mr. Moresby ; tow and proper dressing were ordered. I visit theasylum or parochial hospital every day, and besides whenever I am required. Ther are four or five insane prisoners, who have been put in there for shelter One case of Cocoa Bay is not in confinement ; I doubt if it be contagious, Corn-meal for a day or two, without salt, could do no harm, but would be injurious if continued. It is the sameness of food that becomes disgust ing and injurious. Diarrhcea occasionally occurs. The regulation as to food is improved, but I would prefer more frequent changes than now is the practice. In solitary confinement change is necessary, although not so large a quantity is required as when working. Four days after the soldiers were sent in, their legs became swelled; they were removed, then sent back again, and afterwards were worked the tread-mill. A diet should be fixed for each day, say one day corn with salt or fish, another rice with fish, another yams, or cocoas, or plantains, and soon rotation ; and tread-mill prisoners should have beef and soup on Sundays, with yams, &c. Shads should be changed, as they become very acrid, and fish substituted. Variety is every thing; the quantity is quite sufficient. Sugar, rice, gruel, arrow-root, and wine is given to the soldier when he falls sick, which often arises from sameness of food, and this occasions col siderable expense, which might be avoided in many cases if they were fed properly from the beginning. 'Tread-mill labour in excess must be mjlr rious. Many soldiers come in in bad health. When it occurs, they at always reported by me, and taken away by the commanding officer to the regimental hospital. Every disposition to arrange a daily diet exists. The obstacle has bem the expense for so many as were formerly there. One pound of meatamal per week would be enough. Bedding was not provided for the soldiers, and they slept in their clothes on the floor. Those working on the mills being heated, and having wy change of clothes, and laying down on the floor, must be injurious. Blan kets might be given. I recommend a change of clothes to be put onal the prisoners after leaving the tread-mill. The workhouse hospital should be detached, and a sick ward provided. Prison Regulations, &. 491 The Evipence given by Mr. Arrcuison, supervisor of the Kingston House of Correction, before the Privy Council, on Thursday, 29th November, 1838. Insubordination arose on the occasion alluded to from bad characters in the first instance, and from want of means to put it down immediately, the magistrates not having attended for some time. No magistrate attended from the 3rd of October last. I often applied ; various reasons were given; some said they could not make it convenient. The chairman stated he did not like to interfere at present, and, after re- iterated complaints, he referred me to the mayor. I told the mayor what the chairman had said. I have myself no power to punish. I have power to confine temporarily, but have not done so for the last twelve months. I must report when it is done I once put two persons who were outrageous in the stocks (Marks and Brown). They used so much violence, that, to prevent an outbreak, I con- sidered it absolutely necessary; and I thought it a minor punishment to solitary confinement. Winter’s complaint of insufficiency of food, I conceive to be an ex parte statement, without my having had the opportunity to rebut it. I did not reduce his food beyond what was ordered to begiven to him. For insubor- dinate conduct on one morning I reduced his allowance to one pound and a half, and I gave the surplus to the other prisoners; but it was only on one occasion. The food given is boiled corn-meal, which is changed every Thursday and Sunday to yams or rice; and on those occasions it is always boiled. ‘Three quarters of a pound of rice, raw, is equal, when boiled, to two pounds and a half, or three pounds; and halfa shad, or herring, is given withit. I give a pint of salt to put to the meal. Five pounds each day of ground provisions are given for the two meals, which weigh two pounds and a quarter on distribution. James Winter was very insubordinate. I sent for Mr, Wiltshire, and it was then that the complaint was made that rice was too light. I stopped "it for two weeks, as I could not get yams; I was obliged to give corn-meal, after which rice was renewed, at the instance of Mr. Moresby. In the cases of insubordination on the 8th September, corporal punish- Ment was inflicted. Rodney and Winter got a few stripes on that occasion —only nine given to Winter. Rodney was punished by order of Mr. Viccars, for attempting to poison himself, another for having pounded glass; making in all three punished. No complaint of mine. Represented it to Viccars. The establishment consists of a door-keeper, three boatswains, two white men, and a coloured man, each paid 80/. per annum; and a cook, formerly a convict, but liberated, is paid seven maccaronis per week. Dr. Fergusson is very particular in examining the food. A quarter of an hour is the longest spell on the treadmill. One of the Wheels is ordered to be worked at ten minutes, the other at a quarter of an hour. The interval of rest is fifteen minutes to each wheel, making an average of from three hours and a half to four hours of work on the mill per day. There is a matron in the hospital. I do not perceive any difference in the effect of the treadmill labour on the prisoners in the summer months, or in the latter part of the year. Jamaica. Jamaica. I. p. 193. Dee. 18, 1838. 492 Prison Regulations, &c. Sir Lnonel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 5th January, 1839. REFERRING to my despatch, No. 209, of the 25th ultimo, I hare since received various reports on the state of the prisons. They generally confirm all the defects formerly reported, and as I have no power to remedy those defects, I must necessarily abstain from a direct interference with the prisons, under the pro: visions of the Imperial Act. I have thought it advisable to send your Lordship one report, that from Mr. Harris, inspector for the prisons in Hanover, wher the parochial magistrates had issued orders to discontinue the contracts for feeding the prisoners, and for the discharge of the prison officers. I immediately instructed the custos to prevent those evils making myself responsible for the expense on the part of Go vernment, and as the Attorney-General’s opinion has been com- municated to the parochial authorities, that they are responsible by law to keep up the prisons, I hope no inconvenience will arise. It is of great comfort to me to be able to state to your Lord: ship, under circumstances in which I can do no good, that the e cellent conduct of the population has reduced imprisonment toa very small proportion of it. (Enclosure.) SIR, Lucea, Hanover, 18th December, 1838. I Brg leave to acknowledge the receipt of Circular No. 1139, date the 14th December instant, in which I am informed that his Excellency has been pleased to appoint me an inspector of prisons, for which honour! beg to tender to his Excellency my respectful acknowledgments. I this morning proceeded to the gaol and house of correction thera | was shown by the officers certain documents, of which the enclosed ate copies. ‘The contractor for supplies to the establishments has applied t0 me for instructions how to act in the emergency. He says his contracl will last to the 28th December instant, to which date he is willing to sup- ply food to the inmates, and wishes to know whether he should do it. said, according to what he stated to be his contract, I considered the vest would be held liable to that date, and that therefore I thought he ought to continue the supplies to that date. The officers of the institutions likewise applied to me to know what they were to do, as they were dismissed by the parochial authorities. | t0 them that I was not ‘prepared to give them any instructions; but [1 quested them to continue performing their several duties, until I could communicate with his Excellency. T requested Mr. W. R. Kemp, the clerk of the peace, to inform me who were the magistrates who issued the orders for the dismissal of the offcels of the institution, as, being a magistrate myself, I was totally unacquamle with any such measures. After some hesitation he put down on a piece? paper the names of “ Mr. C > and “‘ Mr. C 2? T distinctly aske him, whether the above magistrates acted as for themselves and the rest the body of magistrates, or only for themselves? he replied, ‘ he imagilé on behalf of themselves only.” Prison Regulations, §c. 493 Under these, to me very novel, circumstances, I pray his Excellency Jamaica will be pleased to grant me full instructions in the matters herein detailed, as early as possible. I have, &c. Joun Harris, Stipendiary Justice of Peace. To Richard Hill, Esq., Assistant Sec. &C. &e. &e. Peace-office, Lucea, 1'1th December, 1838. In consequence of a circular from his Excellency the Governor, No, 1148, dated the 15th instant, having been this day laid before the magistrates, stating that the stipendiary justices resident in this parish have been ap- pointed inspectors of its prison and house of correction, I am directed by the local magistrates to acquaint you, that your several appointments under their authority ceases from this date. I am, &c., (Signed) WiuiiaM R. Kemp, Clerk of the Peace, Hanover. To Charles Younger, Keeper of the Gaol, and to the Matron, Superintendents, Taskmasters, and other Officers em- ployed therein. Peace-office, Lucea, 11th December, 1838. In consequence of a circular from his Excellency the Governor, No. 1148, dated the 15th instant, having been this day laid before the magistrates, stating that the special justices resident in this parish have been appointed inspectors of its prisons and house of correction, I am directed by the local magistrates to acquaint you, that your several appointments under their authority cease from this date. I am, &c., (Signed) W. R. Kemp. Clerk of the Peace, Hanover. To James Buchanan, Keeper of the House of Correction, Mrs. Bu- chanan, Matron to same, and the Superintendents, Taskmasters, and other officers employed therein. Sir, Lucea, Hanover, 31st December, 1838. I nap the honour to address a communication, through you, to his Excel- lency the Governor, on the 18th December instant, relative to the dismis- sal of the officers of the public institutions of this parish, by the parochial authorities, in consequence of the Stipendiary Magistrates being appointed inspectors of prisons, &c. Not having been honoured by any notice of this communication, I am apprehensive the same may not have come to hand ; I beg therefore to forward duplicates of my despatch alluded to. I beg further to observe, that unless arrangements are speedily made, there will be no source from which to supply the prisoners and patients with food and other necessaries. The officers of the institutions likewise Jamaica. 1.3), p. 3. 494 Prison Regulations, &c. request to know whether their services will be required in future, and to whom they are to look for payment of their salaries. On these points Mr. Cocking and myself cannot give any explicit dire tions, as we are without instructions on the subject from his Excellency, I am, &c., JouHn Harris, Richard Hill, Esq., Assistant Sec. Inspector of Prisons, & Stipendiary Justice Department, SCG. &e. &e. Str Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, January 23rd, 1839. I nave the honour to enclose herewith a report from the stipendiary magistrates for the precinct of St. Catherine, on the state of crime, as brought before the late quarter sessions, and the various arrangements which those gentlemen, associated toge- ther, were enabled to carry for the improvement of prison dist: pline, and for the reduction of fees to the clerk of the peace, which had borne very oppressively in the administration of justice. The quarter sessions of the different parishes being held a various times, they cannot all be furnished, to be sent home toge: ther, but I have selected the present report because it isa vely satisfactory one; and I am very safe in assuring your Lordship the diminution of crime since the Ist of August will be very apparent in all the other reports I shall have to transmit. When your Lordship calls to mind my report of the quarter sessions of this precinct last year, and the difficulty I had m checking the sentences of corporal punishments, both in prisons and the market-place, your Lordship will find great cause 10 rejoice that the condition of the people has already lessened crimes and punishments. ; Your Lordship will, I trust, concur with me in bestowing praise upon the indefatigable and humane exertions of the stipendiaty magistrates of this district, to whom we are indebted that the ordinary sufferings of imprisonment have been ameliorated, and that justice has promptly and carefully been administered upd all offences. os Enclosure. Sir, St. Jago de la Vega, January 12th, 1839. Ws, the undersigned stipendiary magistrates for the precinct of St Catherine, have the honour to report, for the information of your Exeel- lency, the proceedings of the late court of quarter sessions, held in this town, for the parishes of St. Catherine, St. John, and St, Dorothy, Tuesday last, the 8th instant. It is fortunate in the struggle of conflicting opinions, and at a time whel the most contradictory assertions are boldly made, and obstinately mall tained, to be enabled to oppose to them the substantial existence of facls and by the light of truth to dispel the mists of conjecture, or to remove i? mask of falsehood. Prison Regulations, &c. 495 During the four years of the apprenticeship, the cry that crime was on the increase was loudly raised by almost the whole of the planting interest, and as constantly denied by the advocates of emancipation. The former, in support of their position, were accustomed to point with confidence to the number of cases brought on some occasions, and in some parishes (for even this was not general), before the courts of quarter sessions, which, if it proved an increase of crime, it would not be against the apprentices but their masters ; for more than half of every calendar was ordinarily com- posed of cases of assault committed by the latter on their servants; but, in truth, it proved nothing but that the negro could not be abused and mal- treated any longer with impunity, and that he sometimes knew how to take advantage of the law made in his favour, or, at most, that among the hegroes, as during slavery, and as in all uncivilized as well as civilized societies, the sense of the right of property was still, in some individuals, superseded by the cravings of want or by the desire of acquisition. The persons who pretend that ‘crime has increased in this community wilfully disguise from others a fact known to themselves, that none but enormous and atrocious offences were formerly subject to judicial inquiry and punishment ; all crimes of lower grade were visited by domestic disci- pline when they affected the interests of the proprietor ; when they did not, and the public only was injured, the master rarely gave up a delinquent 'Slave to justice, except in cases which subjected him to the penalty of transportation or death, in both which instances the owner was reim- bursed for his loss; in all others he was deprived for a time of the services of his dependant. Much as has been said of the sufferings of the negro in slavery, there is reason to believe that half of the horrors of that state have never been divulged, and that not the hundredth part of such offences as are now brought before the courts of quarter sessions were then made the subject of any public animadversion whatever. The court of quarter sessions held on the 8th instant in this town, the first at which cases originating during the apprenticeship, and lying over, were not brought forward, presents a calendar lighter, both in the number and in the magnitude of offences, than any that has been known for many years. ‘Though the idleness, insubordination, and misconduct of the negro population continue still to be watchwords in the mouths of almost every planter, they are, unfortunately for them, met by decreasing calendars in eyery court of justice in the island, The result of the late quarter sessions of this precinct, which consists of three parishes, and contains a population of at least 20,000 labourers, furnishes abundant proofs of the amelioration produced by freedom on the Morals of the negro. We attach a copy of the calendar, with a few obser- vations, showing that the prisoners were chiefly persons of the middle class and of free condition before the general emancipation of the lst of August last. Your Excellency will perceive that there were three indictments remaining over from last session, and nine new cases, which nine may be ‘Teduced to seven, for the evidence on one was so insufficient that it was not even sent to the grand jury, and should not have appeared on the list; the other was a cross indictment for an alleged affray and assault said to have taken place during the Christmas holidays, which was abandoned by the complainant. Four cases only came on before the justices, and on but two of these was conviction obtained. The defendant in one was arespect- able tavern-keeper, who was fined sevenpence halfpenny for boxing his hephew’s ears ; and in the other, the only labourer out of 20,000, the only prisoner wasa freeman of the Ist of August, who’ was convicted of removing a piece of wood from one heap to another, for the purpose of Jamaica. Jamaica. 496 Prison Regulations, &c. defrauding his master, and was sentenced to imprisonment for the spaced one month. This individual was from the parish of St. Catherine; fron that of St. John, containining a population of 7000 souls, the name of on of the late apprentices did not even appear on the calendar. We ask i the most sanguine promoters of emancipation could, a priori, have indulgel in the hopes of so surprising a result of their benevolent labours ? The court, which, owing to the neglect of the clerk of the peace, who had summoned it to meet on the Ist of January, a holiday, was an al journed session, and was held later than usual, and immediately after the Christmas holidays, when occasions and temptations to breaches of the peace, and other crimes, are more frequent than ordinary, during the simple but rather noisy diversions of the lower classes at this season. The jury were composed chiefly of the middle orders of the inhabitants of this town, who assembled willingly, although the process law, compelling attendance, was no longer in existence. The planters, both overseers and book-keepers, seemed to have kept away by consent. There were only two of this class on the grand jury, and not one we believe on fhe petty jury. The registers and books of the gaol, according to the provisions of the Prisons Bill, which has worked in perfection, were submitted to his Honour the Custos, and received his signature. The list of cases adjudicated during the quarter by the justices in petty sessions was also produced and read over, and in like manner received the signature of the Custos. There cannot be a doubt but that the daily sittings of the stipendiary magistrates at the post-office, by which breaches of the peace and minor offences ate promptly repressed, have had the happy effect of keeping so large a popl- lation, lately released from the fetters of slavery, in so signal a state of good order, tranquillity, and submission to the laws. The late court of quarter sessions has also effected a needful reform ant reduction of the exorbitant rate of fees demanded in the office of the clerk of the peace. The scale was last fixed during the apprenticeship, when the great body of the people, in the greater part of their social relations, were amenable only to the jurisdiction of a special and peculiar magistracy, ata time when complaints at the peace-oflice were comparatively unfrequetl, and where the parties, being rarely of the lowest grade of the community, these heavy costs were not felt so oppressively as they are now by the new freedmen, who, for an angry word, or for some other venal fault, which the magistrate perhaps considers it sufficient to animadvert on by reproof, or t0 punish by a fine of a few shillings, have to undergo the degradation and disgrace of imprisonment in the house of correction, because with weekly wages amounting to 3s. sterling they cannot afford to pay on conviction the enormous charge of 1/. 15s. for costs. We annex a scale of the late ant present rate of fees. His Lordship the Secretary for the Colonies will pat ceive that in some instances we have reduced them three-fourths, and evel five-sixths. It is to be hoped that the other parishes will follow our 6 ample, and diminish the costs of court to a sum within the means of the parties most liable to incur them, for at the present rates they fall with i- tolerable oppression on the poorer classes. The prisoners in the house of correction, often during the apprenticeship amounting in number to thirty, and even forty, are now reduced to six, 0 of whom are soldiers of the 37th Regiment, deserters from Her Majesty’ service. We have been under the necessity, owing to the number of misel- able objects abandoned altogether by their late owners, and left in astalé of advanced disease, or of helpless decrepitude, to perish in the streets, 0 converting a part of the female wards into a temporary hospital, where the () Entering plea. : . J) Original subpoena é ° . ) For distress-warrant on ditto . ‘ Prison Regulations, &c. a7 sick sent in are, by order of the parochial authorities, provided with suit- able medicine and nourishment. The deaths among these poor creatures, mostly sent in when past the hope of recovery, we regret to say have been frequent. We have also, from certain small fines to which the magistrates are en- titled by law, but which hitherto it has not been the custom to exact, esta- blished a poor-box in the peace-office; and we have thus been enabled to afford relief to many objects deserving of charity. We trust that our humble but sincere efforts to assist the progress of civilization, to protect the persons and rights, and to ameliorate the con- dition of the lately freed, will meet the ‘approbation of your Excellency, and of Her Majesty’s Government; which, with the reflection that we have faithfully and fearlessly performed our duty, will more than compen- sate us for the obloquy and persecution to which we are still subjected by the ignorance, prejudice, and hostility of a disappointed party. We have, &c., (Signed) WituiaM Ramsay, Stipendiary Justice. E. D. Baynes, Stipendiary Justice. J. H. Ker, Stipendiary Justice. His Excellency T. W. Jackson. Lieut.-General Sir L. Smith, Bart., &e. &c. &c. Scae of Fees of the Peace-Officers in Spanish Town. A RARE DARIEN HIS NERS St ORE BAS TIES DIED TE SATIS AINA DA EP PRE TE AEE TSA I FA SSNS RS Ie Former Scale. New Seale. For every affidavit . . For every warrant . . } Indictment, quarter sessions . F Por every recognizance : : | For every conviction, quarter sessions | For every compromise, quarter sessions Bench warrant, quarter sessions . RerOorooh Sapa ee COWWWWOoD & Entering traverse, each traverser Se eae — Wwaw«Ts w Owooonkocnange 5S 5 rm © & | Copy of ditto ( : 3 , - | Search-warrant, and affidavit to ground iesame. .. ' : : : | Warrant to destrain for rent . f P i) In a matter of servant’s wages, for citation, | copy, and affidavit . ° : i) For attending trial at ditto. : _ eA SS SS. — =m) qr i=) bead j=) i) Preparing proceedings for certiorari, &c. ) Poreverysummons : : | For every distress under 50s. d | For every distress above 50s. : ConsTABLE’s FrEs. Service of summons or other notice : Apprehension fee F : . . Ditto, within one mile from the church For every extra mile : ° —_ Or Gree @-Or or cr SS SNS CW woo wo ot bo te AB a) me oro Jamaica. Jamaica. 498 Prison Regulations, &c. Carenpar for St. Catherine Court of Quarter Sessions, January, 1839, Continued Indictments. No. 1.—The Queen v. Charles March; for assault on Ann Bonne Butler, ' This case is from St. Dorothy’s, and is an assault committed by a per son of free condition, before 1st August, on another, ulso free, Mrs. Butler is the wife of R. B. Butler, a baker in Old Harbour Market.—Bench war rant prayed for, and issued. No. 2.—The Queen v. Thomas Scott; for an aggravated assault m Mary Yeo. The complainant is the wife of the serjeant of police in Spanish Tow, the defendant a private of police. —Prosecutrix did not appear; struck ott. No. 3.—The Queen v. Samuel Clarke; for an assault on Chas. Jackson, The defendant is a tavern-keeper in Spanish Town, the complainanta law-student, his nephew.—Tried, and fined 71d. New Indictments. No. 1.—The Queen v. William Lynch, Richard Lewin, Thomas Tracey James Wilson; for larceny of sugar and rum. Indictment bad, exception taken thereto, and prisoners acquitted i con sequence.—Not guilty. No. 2.—The Queen v. Richard Russel ; for an assault on Tobias Hat. Tobias Hart is a prisoner in Spanish Town; Russel, a servant—li versed, No. 3.—The Queen v. James Anderson ; for larceny of a hog. A case from St. Dorothy’s.—Bill ignored by grand jury. No. 4.—The Queen v, Mary A. Benjamin; for an assault om Francés Jones. Persons of free condition before 1st August.—Traversed. No. 5.—The Queen v. Alexander Barham, alias Alexander Abrahams; for an assault on David Soares. The complainant is a cabinet-maker, and the defendant a clerk m Spar nish Town.—A_ bench-warrant moved for and granted. No. 6.—The Queen v. Edward Saa, Robert Marshall, Charles Grignol ; for ariot and assault. The result of a masquerading frolic; all-the parties youths of free cole dition before the Ist August.—Not guilty. No. 7.—The Queen v. Richard Clarke; for an assault on Robert Mar shall. Cross-indictment to foregoing.— Withdrawn. No. 8.—The Queen v. James Newell; for obtaining money under false pretences. The prisoner is a labourer in the parish of St. Catherine; the only late apprenticed labourer convicted.—Guilty ; one month’s imprisonment. No. 9.—The Queen v. Thomas Needham; for larceny of money ant goods. Dismissed for want of evidence to send the case before the grand juy: Prison Regulations, &c. 499 The Marquis of Normanby to Sir Iionel Smith, 27th March, 1839. | Jamaica. I wave to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 30, of the 23rd January, enclosing a report from the stipendiary magis- trates at St. Catherine’s, on the state of crime, as brought before the late quarter sessions. . IT have read, with much gratification, the account of the decrease of crime in this precinct, and of the benefits derived from the Prison Bill, and from the reduction of the magistrates’ fees. I have likewise to express my concurrence in your opinion, that great merit is to be ascribed to the stipendiary magistrates, who have furnished the report. Extracts from the Reports of Stipendiary Magistrates. As regards the house of correction in this parish, I can say but little; it 1. (5), p. 92. has not, fortunately, been much required hitherto and persons committed Daly, for trial in the higher courts are sent to the Kingston gaol; but those who ee aa ee are sent to the St. Andrew house of correction scale the wall when they pa please, and it is a perfect mockery of punishment to attempt to confine de- linquents in a place so totally insecure ; indeed, one person lately escaped by scaling the wall, at a time when there were only two prisoners in the Institution; and yet at the very time there were three officers employed to Superintend it. I have repeatedly examined the food supplied the pri- soners; I find it consists of corn-flour boiled, and ground provisions, with salt herrings. There has been no complaint on this head, except that the ground provisions were not given in the same ratio as the corn, which, how- ever, has been remedied by the superintendent. The house of correction is discreditable to this parish; there are no I. (5), p. 106. means of classifying the prisoners, nor of enforcing the various beneficial] Mahon, Measures directed by the rules and regulations of the Governor and Council Meee and the Act which passed the island legislature on the 24th July, 1834. 6 X Tam happy, however, to be able to say, that there is not one person now confined in that institution ; and as there were very few brought up for trial at the quarter sessions in January, and not one indictment sent before the grand jury at the session which was held last week, it has become a subject of general conversation, and, I may add, almost universally acknowledged, that a house of correction has become an expensive and useless burthen upon the parish funds. It is with much pain I have still to record the hostile feeling on the part I. (1840), of the most influential members of the corporation of this city against the P- 12.° provisions of the Imperial Prison Bill, which was, in a meeting of the Moresby, ; : a (Kingston.) Common Council a short time back, declared not be the law of the land; July 2 1839. and the corporation have, in accordance with the above declaration, placed the house of correction in such a position as to render it totally inapplicable for the purposes of a prison. pies es 2K 2 Jamaica. I. (1840), (p. 19. Daly, (St. Andrew.) July 17, 1839. I. (1840), p- 18. Baynes, | (Spanish Town.) July 18, 1839, I.’ (1840), p- 25. Cocking, (Hanover.) Aug. 5, 1839, I. (1840.) Dp. Lo. Sept. 1. T. (1840), D. uo. 500 Prison Regulations, §c. Of the house of correction here I can only reiterate my former state. ment, that, from the insecurity of the place, the prisoners frequently escape, in which case the ends of justice are completely frustrated, and an inducement offers for the commision of an offence which is punished byno less a penalty than three year’s hard labour; the magistrates in quartet sessions having no discretionary power under the Act by which this offence is triable. Fortunately there are not many persons at any time, as his Excellency would observe by the returns, confined in this institution, OI their general treatment there I cannot complain. A temporary asylum has been lately established in some spare apat ments within the walls of the house of correction, but of this I can spenk with as little approbation as I have of the other institution. Three poot women have lately come in, but there is no room or accommodation t0 afford anything in the shape of comfort; it may be considered, certainly, refuge for the most destitute. ——. The want of funds has hitherto been an insuperable obstacle to the enforcing the humane and necessary provisions of the Imperial Act for the government and regulation of prisons. Great good has, however, resulted from the appointment of inspectors, but the duties press very hardly onthe stipendiary magistracy in this precinct, whose labours for some time pist have been nearly doubled in consequence. The unjust clamour raise against that body in this island seems to have somewhat subsided; indeel the charge brought against them, that those who did their duty wete hated, and those who did not were not to be trusted, was too palpably absurd to have much effect. It would be rather difficult, in the selee tion of those functionaries, to hit exactly on the expedient medium 1 quired by such reasoners, between a faithful discharge and a corrupt dete liction of their sworn duty. I beg leave to enclose the gaol and house of correction returns up 10 the 31st ultimo. Both the house of correction and gaol are very insedilit, and require some repairs. As the vestry will meet next Wednesday, I intend to represent the matter to that board, and I make no doubt It will meet with due attention. Lord John Russell to Sir C. T. Metcalfe, 10th September, 1$39, Tue determination evinced by the corporation of Kingston to resist the operation of the Parliamentary Prisons’ Act, and the wail of funds to effect the objects of that Act, are subjects which # claim your early attention, and I request you to give me spoilt information upon these points. Sir L. Smith to the Marquis of Normanby, 27th July, 1839, pel he [ nave the honour to inclose herewith a report from the st diary magistrates for the precinct of St. Catherine’s, representllg state of the Prison and House of Correction in Spanish Tow? y which it appears 10 prisoners lately escaped from the Gaol, a Prison Regulations, §c. 501 25 from the House of Correction, between the 15th March and the 16th July. The officers of the institution and the parish constables are repre sented to be in arrears of salary. Nothing has been done, or is likely to be done, to improve the Prisons or Houses of Correction ; nor does the Imperial Prison Bill enable the governor to incur any expense towards their security or repair. In slavery, prisoners being always chained, little attention was paid to the security of the places of confinement ; and I believe there is little difficulty, now that prisoners cannot be kept fettered, 4 OB escaping when they wish from almost any prison in the island. Sir, Spanish Town, 19th July, 1839. Wz have the honour to report, for the information of his Excellency, the escape of ten prisoners from the county gaol in this town, in the night of the 11th instant. On investigating, during the two following days, into the circumstances, we found that they had removed the brick-work of their respective cells beneath the windows, which was done without diffi- culty, the masonry being only a brick and a half thick. They next forced the room in which the framework of the gallows is deposited for security, took out a part of the machinery, and, applying it to the outer wall, got over it and effected their object. There appears to have been neglect on the part of the tumnkeys, whose duty it is, according to the new regulations, to keep watch during the night. It seems that they did not do so after midnight. Two escapes also took place two nights previously from the House of Correction. We have already so often reported the total unfitness of these buildings and enclosures for the purposes to which they are appro- priated, that itis superfluous to revert again to the subject. The parochial authorities are most reluctant to provide the funds required to put the premises into a condition to answer the ends for which they were intended as a place of punishment and restraint. The grand jury of the late court of quarter-sessions made a presentment to the bench on this subject, to which we called the attention of the vestry at its last meeting ; but we fear that there is little prospect of our representations producing a beneficial result. We beg to annex a copy of the presentment. « The officers of this institution, as well as the parish constables, are now six months in atrear with their salaries, without any prospect of early payment. It is scarcely to be wondered at if, under such circumstances, their duties should be negligently performed, or even altogether neglected. We subjoin a list of the prisoners who have escaped from the County Gaol, as reported above, and of the escapes from the House of Correction since the 15th day of March in the present year. We have, &c. Wixtutam Ramsay, Stipendiary Magistrate, and Inspector of Prisons ; Captain Darling, E. D. Baynes, ditto; Ke, &e. . &c. J. H. Brut, ditto. cara Ce Jamaica, iE p- Jamaica. (1840), 22. 502 Prison Regulations, &c. Copy of Presentment of Grand Jury. To the Worshipful William Ramsay, Esq., and his Associates in Quarta Sessions assembled. May it please your Worships, We, the grand jury of the court of quarter sessions for the precinctol Saint Catherine, to whom was referred the insecure state of the Housedl Correction in this parish, beg to report,— That in accordance with your suggestion, we have inspected the Hote of Correction, which we found quite insecure for the imprisonment of pil- soners, part of the boundary-walls being in a dilapidated state, and gene rally too low and-of insufficient thickness, thereby rendering escape easf, either by scaling or breaking through them, which the supervisor stales has been effected frequently in both ways, Another insecurity arises from the out-offices being contiguous to the boundary-walls, rendering escape still more practicable. We also take leave to represent that the situation of the prisoners sentenced to hard labour, which sentence the supervisor states cannot be carried into effect for want of materials to employ them. We take leave respectfully to present nuisances that exist, and which have come under our immediate observation :— Firstly, the riot and confusion caused by persons of dissolute habits, who prowl about the streets at all hours of the night, indulging in language the most obscene, outraging decency and decorum, and very much to tle disturbance of the peace of the inhabitants of the town. We are lit formed, and verily believe, that various complaints, calculated to correst this nuisance, have been made to your worships. We therefore request the interference of your worships to correct the same. Secondly, the number of hogs and goats which are let loose, endangetig the safety of persons riding and driving through the streets, (also foot pa sengers,) ought to be prevented; and we also request that your worships will give instructions accordingly to abate this nuisance, (Signed) Arex. Grant, Foreman, Dated this 3rd of July, 1839. Lord John Russell to Sir C. T. Metcalfe, 24th September, 1839: I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Lionel Smith’s despatch No. 145, of the 27th J uly, with a report from the stipendiary ma- gistrates for the precinct of St. Catherine’s, representing the state 5 > 7 ° . ‘ . Z of the Prison and House of Correction in Spanish Town ; which it appears that 10 prisoners lately escaped from the Gaol and 25 from the House of Correction, between the 15th March and the 16th July. Fi It is a subject of just reproach to Jamaica that she should exhibit such a determination to keep the prisons of the colony in a stale ® insecurity, and to refuse to maintain either prisoners or officers, learn from your predecessor’s despatches of the 25th of Decembé and the 5th of last January to have been the case in the parishes0 Hanover and St. Catherie’s. Notwithstanding such conduct, if the from Prison Regulations, §c. 503 House of Assembly should proceed to business, I wish you to take the earliest opportunity of calling upon them to pass such measures as may be required, no less for their own interest and their own character, than for giving effect to the views of Parliament and of Her Majesty’s Government to improve, maintain, and repair the prisons of the island. You will use every courtesy and consideration in the manner of making this communication. Jamaica. British Guiana. I. p. 309. Prison Regulations, &. BRITISH GUIANA. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 13th November, 1838, Durine the new session of the Court of Policy, I had the regi: lations of the prison in George Town, framed by the high shen, and approved by the judges, printed and given to the membersof the Court of Policy. Certain alterations were made in these regulations at its first sittings after the 6th instant. I have the honour of forwarding to your Lordship the regulations as agreed on by the Court and my- self; they will be published this evening, with the Act of Parlia- ment for the Regulation of Prisons, by proclamation. I shall take the earliest opportunity of furnishing your Lordship with planso! the different prisons in the colony, in accordance with your Lord: ship’s instructions. | I have named as inspectors of the gaol of George Town the tio stipendiary magistrates of the town and immediate neighbourhood; and for the district prisons the stipendiary magistrates of the dis- tricts. I have framed my instructions to them on the Act of Pav liament. A copy of my instructions I have the honour to forvard The gaol of George Town is on a scale fitting such a colonyas this ; everything is on a liberal scale; it is airy and commodious, and presents facilities for classification. The old regulations for this gaol were framed in a spirit of moderation ; the new ones go further. To enable your Lordship to compare the two, I have thought it right to send you a copy of those originally framed. —— Enclosure 1 Instructions to the Inspectors of Prisons. 1, Their visits to the prisons must be at uncertain periods, and without notice of their previous intentions. 2. The gaol regulations prescribe certain quantities of food; the inspect ors will from time to time ascertain its quality and weight. 3. The inspectors may, if necessary, examine prisoners separately, and without witnesses. 4, They will inform themselves of the condition of all the prisoners, and be satisfied that the gaol regulations are observed. 5. They will inspect the different wards and cells, and report whatevé neglect of gaol regulations may exist. 6. The mspectors of prisons will report whether, from the insecumity 0 the prisons, prisoners are subjected to unnecessary restraint in order to prevent escape, or whether the cells are so constructed as to be injurious 10 health, or to inflict unnecessary pain. 7. ‘The inspectors will obtain plans of the different prisons from the pi per authorities, which plans must be drawn upon a scale of not Jess than one-sixteenth of an inch to a foot, and forward the same to the governor. 8. The inspectors are authorised to examine all persons holding office, receiving any salary or emolument in the prisons within the limits of them Prison Regulations, &c. 505 appoimtments ; to call for and inspect all books and papers relating thereto, and to inquire into all matters touching such prisons. 9. They will report the condition of the prisoners in hospital, and state of hospital. 10. They. will examine into the state of the classification of ‘prisoners, sick, convalescent, or in health. 11. They will each send in a monthly report to the Governor, in which shall be inserted days of inspection ; and under each day, according toa prescribed form, the result of their inspection ; the return, ending the 31st December, shall include a general return of the whole year. (Signed) Henry Lieut. Public Buildings, British Guiana, 13th November, 1838. Enclosure 2. PROCLAMATION, &€¢. Whereas Her Majesty’s Government have been pleased to transmit to me an Act of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland, inti- tuled, ‘* An Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” and to direct that I shall proclaim and publish the same: Now, therefore, I do hereby publish, proclaim, and declare the said Act of Parliament to be in the words, letters, and figures following, that is to say :— (Here follows the Act 1 & 2 Vict., c. 67.) Given under my hand and seal of office, at the Guiana Public Buildings, in George Town, this 15th day of November, 1838, and in the second year of Her Majesty’s reign. God save the Queen ! By his Excellency’s command, W. B. Wousetey, Assist. Gov. Sec. Enclosure 3. Oxtp Reeuxations for the Gaols in British Guiana. Article 1. The keeper of each gaol shall reside within the gaol, if pos- sible, and shall not absent himself from duty without leave. 2. Journals shall be kept in the respective gaols, in which the keeper, or some person duly authorised by him, shall enter the name of each prisoner, the date of committal, the crime, the date of trial, before whom the sentence was passed, and the time of release. 3. Daily and monthly reports shall be made by the said keepers in George Town to the Governor, the chief justice, and the high sheriff; and in New Amsterdam, to the resident judge and. sheriff of Berbice, agreeably to the form annexed. ‘The accounts of receipts and expenditure shall be kept by the said keepers, and made out and submitted to the Court of Policy, at their quarterly meeting, each item of account being previously checked at the office of the high sheriff or sheriff of Berbice, as the case may be. 4. The table of dieting shall be established as annexed. The provisions to be served out to be sound, geod, and of wholesome quality. Prisoners sentenced for misdemeanor may, by permission of a sheriff, diet themselves. 5. Each keeper, under the directions of a committee to be appointed by the Court of Policy, shall duly provide for the subistence and accommoda- tion of the prisoners .and prison establishment ; but he shall not be allowed to sell or derive any benefit from the sale of articles to prisoners, either directly or indirectly, or have any interest in any contract for the supplying the prison with provisions, or otherwise. British Guiana. British Guiana, 506 Prison Regulations, &c. 6. The chaplains, to be appointed by the Governor to the respective gaol, shall perform Divine service at least once a week in the gaol, and shall visi the prisoners as occasion may require. If any prisoner be of a religious persuasion differing from that of the chaplain, a minister of such persuasion may be allowed to visit him. 7. The surgeons, to be appointed by the Governor to the respective ga0l establishments, shall visit the gaol under his charge every day, and attend whenever required. 8. All sick persons shall, upon the report of the surgeon, be placed in the gaol hospital. 9. The respective committees appointed by the Court of Policy, for the superintendence of public buildings in Demerara and in Berbice, ‘shall in- spect the respective gaols from time to time, and report to the next sessions of the Court of Policy such repairs as are wanting. 10. No person to be received into the gaol without an order in writing, or commitment signed by the Governor, one of the judges, a sheriff, or a special or other justice of the peace. 11. Noprisoner to be discharged from the gaol, except by order of a com petent authority, or on expiration of a sentence. 12. The sheriffs respectively shall be authorised to employ any prisoier sentenced to hard labour, either on the tread-mill or in the breaking of stones, or in any other manual labour as they may deeni proper. 13. A prison dress shall be provided, and be used as the clothing of the prisoners during work. 14. Prisoners performing the work of cleaning, cooking, &c., for the other prisoners shall be selected for these duties, from time to time, asthe keeper may think fit. 15. The classification of prisoners, and the separation of males ant females, shall be strictly observed. Male and female prisoners to be separated, as well during the working hours by day as in confinementit night, so as to prevent them from holding any intercourse with each othet; and the prisoners shall be, as far as is practicable, classed according their offences. 16. Silence shall be rigidly enforced amongst the prisoners at all times they may not be permitted to converse or to speak with each other, or with any person, unless by special permission; and no officer shall be allowed to speak with any of them, except for the purpose of giving orders, whichis 1 be done calmly and firmly, without ill language, and in as few words i can be used. 17. All persons employed in the respective gaols shall deport themselves with the strictest regularity in their duties. No swearing or levity of ot duct to be permitted amongst them. 18. The outer gates of the prison shall be constantly locked, and all prisoners shall be locked up in their respective wards and cells at sunset and all wards and cells opened at daylight for cleanliness and ventilation: all filth is to be removed before or by sunrise. 1 19. The respective keepers shall, at least once every day, visit the different wards and cells for the purpose of security and cleanliness. 20. The utmost attention shall be paid to cleanliness, as well in all wanls and cells, by frequently scouring, whitewashing, &c., as in the perso of the prisoners, by having their clothes and persons washed, and, if need | their hair cut short. The gaol yards are to be swept every day, and ata times kept perfectly clean. 21. Irons, fetters, or stocks shall not be permitted, except for the ie of prisoners in special cases, and as a temporary punishment ; every su¢ Prison Regulations, &c. 507 ‘ case shall be reported to the high sheriff or sheriff of the district, as the case may be, for consideration. 22. Lights shall not be allowed in the gaol after sunset, except in the hospital, or in cases of occasional indulgence, and then not later than eight o'clock. 23. The respective keepers are held responsible for the safe custody of all prisoners. 24. No money shall be issued to (criminal) prisoners in lieu of provisions, under any pretence whatsoever. 25. The friends and relations of prisoners (criminal) may be allowed access at reasonable times, on application to the high sheriff in George Town, or to the sheriff of Berbice, in New Amsterdam. The friends and relations of civil prisoners may be admitted to visit them between the hours of ten and three every day, Sundays excepted. 26. No gambling shall be permitted, no spirits or liquors of any quality whatever shall be introduced, except by a sherifi’s order, or by order of the gaol surgeon. 27. All prisoners shall be provided with necessary bedding. 28. The time for the inflicting of punishments in the gaol shall be tegulated by the high sheriff, or sheriff of the district, as the case may be, according to circumstances, and the cat for punishment shall be strictly conformable to the model kept in the gaol at George Town. 29. Upon the death of any prisoner a report shall be made to the sheriff of the district, and an inquest shall be held on the body of the deceased. 30. The judges and any member of the Court of Policy may visit and inspect the gaol at such times as they may think fit. 31. The foregoing regulations shall not be altered or deviated from, Without the sanction of the judges, and a copy of these rules, and of such alterations as may hereafter be made, shall be signed by the sheriffs, and be hung up in each gaol in the colony. Diet Table for the Gaols of British Guiana. Per diem to each adult prisoner, $ lb. of salt fish, 15 large plantains, or 1 Ibs. of rice, cornmeal, or other farinaceous food. Two-thirds of the above to prisoners not adults. Prisoners sentenced to solitary confinement may be furnished with salt, in lieu of salt fish. One pound of fresh meat may be allowed twice in each week, in lieu of Salt fish, to such prisoners as the gaol surgeon in his discretion may think Tequire such indulgence, and all prisoners who are admitted into the hospital shall receive, in lieu of the gaol allowance, such diet as the surgeon shall prescribe. Suggestions. Under this head the high sheriff thinks it right to call the attention of their honours the judges to the fact, that all prisoners in the gaol hospital of George Town are furnished with diet and medicine, by order, and at the expense of the gaol surgeon, who is allowed f. 1.5. per. diem for each prisoner in hospital, by the Court of Policy. This appears, as far as diet goes, to be an objectionable arrangement. Although, from the liberality displayed by the present surgeon, the high Sheriff is not aware of any practical mischief hitherto, ha as a general principle, thinks the diet should be furnished by the keeper, under the British Guiana. Eritish Guiana. 508 Prison Regulations, &c. directions of the surgeon, and charged as all other supplies in his quarterly accounts. To effect this, it is respectfully submitted, that the sanction of the Cont of Policy should be obtained as far as the disbursements are concerned, ant a certain fixed allowance might be made to the surgeon, in lieu of the present allowance of f. 1. 5. for each prisoner in hospital, for supplying the hospital with medicine. (A true copy.) CuarLes Wixpay, Registrar, Enclosure 4, New Reevtations for the Gaols in British Guiana. ArticLE 1. The keeper of each gaol shall reside within the gaol, if por sible, and shall not absent himself from duty without leave. 2. Journals shall be kept in the respective gaols, in which the keeper, or some person duly authorised by him, shall enter the name of each prisoner, the date of coming in, the date of committal, the crime, the dated trial, before whom the sentence was passed, and the time of release. 3. Daily reports shall be made by the said keepers, in George Town, to the Governor and the high sheriff; in New Amsterdam, to the sheriffdl Berbice ; and in Essequibo, to the sheriff of that county; and monthly reports shall be made by the said keepers to the Governor and sherifl agreeably to the form annexed. The accounts of receipts and expenditure shall be kept by the said keepers, and made out and submitted to the Cout of Policy at their. quarterly meeting, with the vouchers in support thereof, each item of account being previously checked at the office of the high sheriff, sheriff of Berbice, or sheriff of Essequibo, as the case may be, 4. The table of dieting shall be established as annexed. ‘The provisions to be served out to be sound, good, and of wholesome quality. 5. Each keeper, under the directions of a committee to be appointed by the Court of Policy, shall duly distribute the subsistence and accommolir tion of the prisoners and prison establishment, but he shall not be allowed to sell or derive any benefit from the sale of articles to prisoners, either directly or indirectly, or have any interest in any contract for the supplymg the prisons with provisions, or otherwise. 6. The chaplains, to be appointed by the Governor to the respective gaols, shall perform Divine service at least once a week in the gadl, and shall visit the prisoners as occasion may require. If any prisoner be of a religious persuasion differing from that of the chaplain, a minister of such persuasion shall be allowed to visit him. _ J, The surgeons, to be appointed by the Governor to the respective gaol establishments, shall visit the gaol under his charge every day, and attend whenever occasion may require. 8. Sick prisoners shall be placed in the gaol hospital when directed by tne surgeon. 9. The respective committees appomted by the Court of Policy, for the superintendence of public buildings in British Guiane, shall inspect respective gaols from time to time, and report to the next sessions of Me Court of Policy such repairs as are wanting. ‘ - 10. No person to be received into the gaol without an order in writing or commitment signed by the Governor, one of the judges, a sherifl, a stipendiary or othe justice of the peace. Prison Regulations, Sc. 509 11. No prisoner to be discharged from the gaol except by order of a ompetent authority, or on expiration of a sentence. 12. The sheriffs respectively shall be authorised to employ any prisoners sentenced to hard labour, either on the tread-mill or in the breaking of stones, or in any other hard labour for the public service as they may deem proper. 13. Prison dresses shall be provided and be used as the clothing of the prisoners during work, when sentenced to hard labour. 14. Prisoners required to perform the work of cleaning, cooking, &c., for the other prisoners, shall be selected for these duties from time to time, as the keeper may think fit. 15. The classification of prisoners, as well in hospital as in gaol, and the Separation of males and females, shall be strictly observed. Male and female prisoners to be separated, as well during the working-hours by day as in confinement at night, so as to prevent them from holding any inter- course with each other; and the prisoners shall be, as far as is practicable, classed according to their offences. 16. Silence shall be rigidly enforced amongst the prisoners; when at work, they shall not be permitted to converse or to speak with each other, or with any person, unless by special permission ; and no officer shall be allowed to speak with any of them, except for the purpose of giving orders, Which is to be done calmly and firmly without ill language, and in as few words as can be used. 17. All persons employed in the respective gaols shall deport themselves with the strictest regularity in their duties. No swearing or levity of conduct to be permitted amongst them. 18. The outer gates of the prison shall be constantly locked, and all prisoners shall be locked up in their respective wards and cells at sunset, and all wards and cells opened at daylight for cleanliness and ventilation ; all filth is to be removed before or by sunrise. 19. The respective keepers shall, at least once every day, visit the dif- ferent wards and cells for the purpose of security and cleanliness. 20. The utmost attention shall be paid to cleanliness, as well in all wards and cells, by frequently scouring, whitewashing, &c., as in the persons of the prisoners, by having their clothes and persons washed, and if need be, their hair cut. The gaol yards are to be swept every day, and at all times kept perfectly clean. 21. Irons, fetters or stocks shall not be permitted, except for the security of prisoners in special cases, and as a temporary punishment; every such Case shall be reported to the high sheriff or sheriff of the county, as the case may be, for consideration. 22. Lights shall not be allowed in the gaol, except in the hospital. 23. The respective keepers are held responsible for the safe custody of all prisoners. 24. No money shall be issued to prisoners in lieu of provisions, under any pretence whatsoever. 25. The friends and relations of prisoners may be allowed access at teasonable times, on application to the sheriff of the county, or to the Keeper under his general authority. 26. No gambling shall be permitted; no spirits or liquors of any quality whatever shall be introduced, except by permission of the gaol surgeon. 27. All prisoners shall be provided with necessary bedding. 28. The time for the inflicting of punishments in the gaol shall be regulated by the sheriff of each county. British Guiana. od 510 Prison Regulations, &c. British 29. Upon the death of any prisoner, a report shall be made to the shenf Guiana. the county. egg 30. The judges, and any member of the Court of Policy, may visit aul inspect the gaols, at such times as they may think fit. 31. Nothing in these regulations shall be construed to extend to debtors, or prisoners confined for misdemeanor, unless sentenced to hard labour or solitary confinement. 32. The foregoing regulations shall not be altered or deviated frum without the sanction of the Governor and Court of Policy; and a copyal these rules, and of such alterations as may hereafter be made, shall he signed by the sheriffs, and be hung up in each gaol in the colony. Diet Table for the Gaols of British Guiana. To each adult prisoner, 3 Ib. of salt fish, 15 full grown plantains, or Iblis of rice, cornmeal, or other farinaceous food, per diem. Two-thirds of the above to prisoners not adults. Prisoners sentenced to solitary confinement shall be furnished with sil in lieu of salt fish, if so sentenced: fresh meat may be allowed in liewo salt fish to such prisoners as the gaol surgeon thinks require it. Prison Regulations, &c. BARBADOES. Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 8th September, 1838. Rutes and Regulations for the government of the rural station prisons, prepared by the Venerable Archdeacon Parry and the other gaol commissioners, and approved by me, are inserted for your Lordship’s information. | Ruxes and Reeutations for the Government of the Rural Station Prisons. Duties of the Keeper and Matron. 1. The keeper and matron shall reside at all times within the limits of the building ; he shall not be engaged in any manual occupation or trade ; he shall not contract for feeding the prisoners, nor shall he or she sell or traffic, or derive any benefit or advantage, directly or indirectly, from the Contract or agreement for the supply of-any article to any prisoner. 2. The keeper of the prison is never to leave it, for the shortest time, Without leave from the inspector of rural police, who shall appoint some proper person (not a policeman) te act in his stead (provided that no keeper shall be allowed leave for any time longer than twenty-four hours, except with the sanction of the commissioners of gaol), and the person so acting for the keeper shall be subject to the same penalties and punish- ments for a dereliction of duty as the keeper is himself. 3. The keeper is bound to examine every male prisoner that is brought tothe station (and to cause the same to be done by the matron} to the fe- Males), and to take from their persons all knives, razors, files, and other instruments which may be considered likely to facilitate escape or destroy life; also all money, snuff, tobacco, cards, and other implements for gambling, giving to the prisoner a receipt for whatever is taken away, which shall be restored on quitting the prison, with the exception of im- plements for gaming, which are forfeited, and to be immediately destroyed. 4. The keeper shall enjoin silence at all times, and warn the prisoners of the punishment attached to the infringements of the rules and regu- lations. 5. The keeper shall not, on any pretence whatever, enter the prisons and cells occupied by the female prisoners, without the presence of the ma- tron, and in her unavoidable absence, in the presence of some female pri- soner. 6. On the death of a prisoner the keeper shall immediately give notice to the coroner of the parish,.the inspector of rural police, and, ‘ if practi- cable,’’ to the relatives of the deceased. 1. The keeper shall not allow any spirits, wine, or fermented liquor to enter the prison, except by the special order of the medical practitioner, ) who has the power to order wine or liquors for any prisoner whose health requires it. 8. It is the duty of the keeper to see that the prisons and prisoners are at all times kept clean, having the floors of the prisons and cells scoured twice a week, and the walls lime-washed once a month; also to see that the prisoners be supplied with soap and water, for the purpose of washing themselves, in some convenient part of the prison to be set apart for that purpose. ; ,; Barbadoes Tip 928 Barbadoes, 512 Prison Regulations, &c. 9. On no account whatever is the keeper himself to employ any prisoney, or to allow the matron, police officer, or contractor for food, to employ one for any purpose. 10. The keeper shall keep a daily journal of the food supplied each pri soner by the contractor, according to the annexed form marked (A); to see that the food be of good quality, well dressed, and of suficieit weight ; and to return the journal, certified on oath, to the clerk of the board, for his inspection and report, three days before the monthly meetings take place. 11. The keeper shall indent to the inspector for all tools and materi necessary for working the prisoners, who will (if he thinks the articles ne. cessary) certify the same to the commissioners, who will supply them. 12. A journal, uf the form marked (B), to be kept in a book, shall be kept by the keeper, of all persons committed, and the punishments awarlel them, and a certified extract of the same be laid before the commissions at their monthly meetings. The inspector of rural police, and any police officer acting under his orders, to have at all times access and reference ta the keeper’s journal. Classification of Prisoners. 13. Male and female prisoners to be confined in different parts of the prison, and not to have any communication with each other. 14, The prisoners to be divided into three classes: class the first to com sist of all able-bodied males sentenced to hard labour, and employed on the roads and public works ; class the second to consist of all female prisoners who are ordered to hard labour, and to be worked in the prison-yards in breaking stones, or any other work that may be required of them; class the third to consist of prisoners sentenced to imprisonment without hard labour, and all prisoners sentenced to hard labour, who, from indispositio or other cause, are unable to perform hard labour. Time and Description of Labour, &c. 15. The hours of work shall be from six a.m. until nine, and from tel A.M. to four, and the time of going to and coming from work shall be deducted from the time of their labour, at the rate of three miles pet hour. 16. No prisoner shall be sent to hard labour if he complain of sickness until he is seen by the medical practitioner, to whom it will be the kept’ duty immediately to cause application to be made. Punishment for Breach af Discipline, &e. 17. All contumaceous or disorderly conduct of prisoners, refusing or Ne glecting to perform their work, or escaping from the prisons or gailgs, to be punished with solitary confinement, for any time not exceeding six days, to prolongation of imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any Hime not exceeding ten days, for any one offence, on complaint of the keepet any two of the visitors of the station. : 18. That two magistrates, to be appointed by his Excellency the Go vernor, and the rector or officiating minister of the parish in each district, be and are appointed visitors of the different rural prisons. Dietary, &c. 19. Every convicted prisoner shall be allowed a sufficient quantily of plain and wholesome food, consisting of one pound and a half pound : bread, on five pounds of yams, plantains, eddoes, or sweet potatoes, or 0” Prison Regulations, §c. 513 pint and a half pint of Guinea corn, or two pints of Indian corn, daily, to be divided into two meals—one to be delivered at nine o’clock in the morn- ing, and the other at four o’clock in the afternoon; together with two ounces of salt fish for every prisoner in the prison and those at hard labour within the walls, and a quarter of a pound for those prisoners on the roads and public works. The same food shall not be given more than two days mM succession. 20. Whenever the medical officer sees fit, he shall order any proper hourishment he deems necessary for the prisoners. 21. If the prisoners on the roads are working within a mile of the station, they shall go for their breakfasts ; when farther, it shal! be sent for them. 22. Prisoners confined before trial shall be allowed to receive, at proper hours, any food, bedding, or clothing, subject to the strict examination of the keeper, and under such restrictions as to prevent luxury and extra- Vagance. Dress, &c. 23. Every convicted prisoner shall be furnished with a suit of clothing made of oznaburgs, and a blanket, during the time they are in confinement. * Medical Attendance. 24. The medical officer to visit the station at least three times a week, or oftener, if his services are required. 25. The respective medical officers are to make a monthly report to the Commissioners of the state of health of the prisoners. (Signed) Tuomas Parry. Ce Grex: Joun Bove.u. R. Henpy. “ E. H. Moore. Approved and confirmed this 21st August, 1838. (Signed) K. J. M. MacGrecor, Governor, Sir E. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, October 21st, 1838. Barbadoes, Previousty to the receipt of your Lordship’s circular It p- 92. despatch of the 13th of August, and its accompaniments, my attention was directed, in concert with the Gaol Commissioners, presided over, in the Lord Bishop’s absence, by the Venerable the Archdeacon of Barbadoes, to the completion of arrangements respecting the rural places of confinement, committed, in addition to their former duties, to the superintendence of that Board by the Island Act of the 30th of J uly last. On the 25th ultimo, the above-mentioned circular despatch, and the Imperial Act «for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” were laid before the Privy Council, and a Committee was appointed to “ deliberate and report thereon, and to communicate with the Solicitor-General;” and the report of 2 » 514 Prison Regulations, &c. Barbadoes, Which Committee was adopted on the 9th instant by the other Members present. Enclosure C contains a communication to Messrs. Cuppage Tinling, and Garraway,—their appointment as inspectors of prisons; the Proclamation of the Imperial Act, as taking effed in this island from the 15th instant, together with a letter fom the Special Justices in reply ; and, on their re-assembling, afie their present adjournment, the subject will be brought under the consideration of the Legislative Houses. In the meantime, in reference to the observations of the Prity Council and of the Inspectors, Captain Pringle’s Report upm Prisons in Jamaica not being found here available, I have the honour to solicit the earliest convenient access to that officers Report upon the Prisons of Barbadoes, in order that, through the medium of that publication, whatever suggestions are “likelf to prove beneficial to this colony may be obtained,” as requesiel from himself by me on the 9th of November, 1837, “in ordét that I may be enabled to concert with the local authorities the best means of endeavouring to carry them into effect.” Revort of Committee of Privy Council. The Council, in conformity with your Excellency’s desire, as & pressed on four distinct points in reference to the Imperial Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies, beg most respectfully to observe, in the first place, that on a patient review of the whole suljet introduced to the Board in so comprehensive, distinct, and digested a form by your Excellency’s communication, they are unanimously of opimion that the interference of the Imperial Parliament as regards the arrangemetl and control of prisons within this colony, is a measure as unnecessaly 10 the attainment of its objects as it appears harsh and distrustful towards the Legislature of the colony, which in all its recent enactments connecte with the improvement of its civil government, has, with the utmost : cerity, endeavoured to adapt its laws to those of Great Britain, as far as the state of society and its circumstances would permit; confiding m your Excellency’s strict integrity to execute their provisions with that firmness of purpose, rectitude of principle, and benevolence, which so peculiatly characterise your Excellency’s government. ; The Colonial Prisons’ Act furnishes the most striking proof of this assertion ; effectual control of the evils and abuses which might at ™Y time exist within their precincts is left to the correction of your Excellenty® active vigilance; and, as far as the Council are informed, the i ' prisons (Captain Pringle) had expressed himself most favourably as to the condition as well as their discipline. ne Any improyements which might have been suggested on the ci that inspection, the Council are confident would have received the eat a attention of the legislative bodies of this island, through the interven your Excellency. Prison Regulations, &c. 515 With an anxious desire of the Barbadoes Legislature to improve the civil government of the colony, it cannot but be painful to the feelings of its Members to observe with what an ungracious spirit, and, in the absence of any specific charge of defective or contumacious conduct, the most sweeping enactment has been passed by the Imperial Parliament, super- seding the colonial law, and paralysing the efforts of the colonial legis- lature. Such proceedings, the Council cannot but remark, are ill calculated to induce a cordiality of feeling with, and an inclination to attend to the sug= gestions of Her Majesty’s Government, on the part of this Legislature. __ If those colonial legislatures, which are desirous to promote the operation of salutary laws, are to be treated with continual disregard, taunted with unreserved expressions of deep suspicion, and unfairly mixed up with such as exhibit a contumacious resistance to improvement, there ceases to exist any merit in an honest and generous line of policy. With these preparatory remarks, the Council beg to advise on the first point submitted to them, that your Excellency’s transmittal of Lord Gle- nelg’s despatch to the House of Assembly, embraces all that is immediately necessary, by placing it in the possession of his Lordship’s views. 2ndly. That the rules and regulations now in force respecting the go- vernment of prisons, do not appear to need any revision until your Excel- lency receives Captain Pringle’s report. 3rdly. That a copy of these rules and regulations be furnished to Messrs. Cuppage, Garraway, and Tinling, with instructions from your Excellency to report on their due observance. 4thly. That the period of promulgating the Imperial Act be left entirely to your Excellency’s direction. The Governor stated, that having now received the report of the Com- mittee, and the decision of Her Majesty’s Privy Council, his Excellency would embrace the earliest opportunity of bringing the “ Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,”’ under the cognizance of the Legislative Council and Assembly, of proclaiming the said Act in this island, and of nominating Adam Cuppage, Isaac John Tinling, and Joseph Garraway, Esquires, Special Justices of the Peace, to be Inspectors of the Prisons of Barbadoes, pursuant to the commands of Her Majesty’s Prin- Cipal Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, in the room of the gentlemen of the colony, whom, in communication with the Board of Goal Commissioners, his Excellency had previously nominated to the duty of Visiting the rural places of confinement. Mr. Bedingfield to Messrs. Cuppage, Tinling, and Garraway, October 15th, 1838. Rererrine to an Act of the Imperial Parliament for the better government of prisons in the West Indies, this day proclaimed by his Excellency the Governor in the Island of Barbadoes, and to your appoint- Ment to be inspector of prisons in this colony, I have the honour to fansmit herewith, for your information, the copy of a circular despatch from the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonial De- 219 Barbadoes. Barbadoes. 516 Prison Regulations, &c. partment, commanding the Governor to appoint “ one or more of the special justices to this office ;” pursuant to which injunction, his Excellency is happy to avail himself of your able services in the execution of a trust of so much importance. The Reports of Captain Pringle on Prisons in Jamaica, and plans therein referred to, are likewise inclosed for your inspection. The Local Acts providing for the management of prisons are, first, “An Act for the better regulating the Common Gaol of this Island” passed on the 9th of December, 1835, and, secondly, * An Act to pro vide for the Government of the severa) Houses of Correction in this Island,” passed on the 30th of July, 1838. Printed rules and regula tions for the rural station prisons are herewith forwarded ; and those in force with regard to the gaol of Bridge Town will be added for your us when procured from the Board of Commissioners, at which Archdeacon Parry presides, in the absence of the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Barbadoes. The Governor requests that you will be pleased to take the requisite steps for preparing the Reports required by the Act of the state of every prison visited by you on or before the 31st of December next; but util the receipt of Captain Pringle’s Report upon the prisons of this island, his Excellency considers it unnecessary, and, indeed, inexpedient, to address to you any more specific instructions than that of desiring that you will have the goodness to communicate, either to me in writing ot personally to himself from time to time, such observations as the improve ment of prisons or of prison discipline in this colony may, in your opiniot, demand. Messrs, Cuppage, Tinling, and Garraway, to Mr. Bedingfeld, October 20th, 1838. We have the honour to acknowledge your letter of the 15th instatt, enclosing copy of a circular despatch from the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, under date the 13th of August, 1838, the Report of Captain Pringle on Prisons in Jamaita, together with printed Rules and Regulations for the Rural Station Prisons, and conveying, at the same time, our appointinent, by his Excel- lency the Governor, to be inspectors of prisons in this colony, under the Imperial Act, “ for the better government of prisons in the West Indies, printed copies of which we also beg to acknowledge. We have to request that you will represent to the Governor how sensibly we feel the responsibility of the important trust with the exec tion of which his Excellency has been pleased to honour us, and to add, that our earnest endeavours will be employed to discharge the duty cole fided to our hands with zeal and assiduity. In returning the Report of Captain Pringle on Prisons in Jamaica, which his Excellency was obliging enough to enclose for our inspectials we take the opportunity of respectfully remarking, for his Excellency® information, that, after a careful perusal of the same, prior to entering upon our tour of inspection, we are of opinion (from our local experlenté of the houses of correction, previously gained while presiding in the MS districts as special justices of the peace) that the general system of prisol Prison Regulations, §c. 517 discipline noted by Captain Pringle as prevalent in Jamaica, will be found inapplicable to the prison regulations in force at present in this colony. Under this impression, we await with some anxiety the appear- ance of Captain Pringle’s Report upon the prisons in this island, from the details of which our humble co-operation may be advantageously exerted in rectifying, through his Excellency’s interposition, those apparent defi- ciencies of gaol discipline which may have been therein exposed. In obedience, however, to his Excellency’s wishes, we will have the honour to communicate, from time to time, such observations relative to the town gaol and the rural houses of correction in this island as may suggest themselves during our occasional visits, and we will be duly pre- pared to transmit the annual report of our inspection at the period pre- scribed by the Act. Barbadoes. Sur HE. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 8th December, 1838. Wiru reference to my despatch of the 21st of October last, Bar- Il. p. 110. badoes, No. 281, I do myself the honour of submitting to your Lordship copies of messages addressed by me to the Honourable the Council and Assembly of Barbadoes, and of an Act, together with its summary and the Crown law-officer’s opinion thereon, in- tituled, « An Act to associate the Inspectors of Prisons with the Commissioners of Gaol Superintendence.” The practical effect of this Act will tend materially to facilitate the measures of the Governor, in concert with Her Majesty's Privy Council, for the improvement of prisons and of prison discipline in this island, and I beg leave therefore earnestly to request that your Lordship will be pleased to recommend that it may be left to its operation or confirmed. Enclosure 1, Mis Excellency the Governor to his Honour the President, and Council. Copies of a despatch from Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, together with the proclamation of an Act of Par- lament, intituled, ““ An Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” and a public notice of the appointment of three inspectors of AUS: 13; 1836. them in Barbadoes, are transmitted by the Governor for the information of Oct. 15, 1838 tle Council. Oct. 15, 1838. Captain Pringle’s report on prisons in Jamaica, and the plans therewith connected, are deposited with the clerk of the Honourable Board. The communication of these important documents has been delayed, Owing to the necessity of their previous reference by the Executive in Her Majesty’s Privy Council, and the subsequent adjournment of the House of Assembly. (Signed) E. J. Murray MacGrecor, Government House, Barbadoes, Governor. 16th October, 1838. A similar Message to the Assembly. Barbadoes. Inspectors of Prisons ap- pointed by hisExcellency, under the au- thority of the Act of Parlia- ment here re- cited, are to associate with the Commis- sioners of Su- perintendence for the Gaol and Houses of Correction, and to have the same 518 Prison Regulations, 8c. Enclosure 2. Hits Excellency the Governor to His Honour the President, and Couns Referring to a previous Message of this date relative to prisons, the Go vernor recommends to the Honourable the Council, as a measure calculated to facilitate arrangements connected with that department, that the Execi- tive should be empowered by law to add the three inspectors of prisons to the Board of Superintendence created and recognised by the Acts of this island of the 9th December, 1835, and 30th July, 1838. (Signed) E. J. Murray MacGrecor, Government House, Barbadoes, Governor, 16th October, 1838. A similar Message to the Assembly. Enclosure 3. No. 682. Barsavdors :—An Act to associate the Inspectors of Prisons with the Com missioners of Gaol Superintendence. Whereas by the Act of this island, intituled, “‘ An Act for the better regt- lation of the Common Gaol of this Island,” passed the 9th day of Decem- ber, 1835, certain Commissioners are appointed a Board of Superintendent? for carrying the said Act into effect: and whereas by a certain other Act of this island, intituled “ An Act to provide for the Government of the severil Houses of Correction in this Island,”’ passed the 23rd day of July last, the several houses of correction in this island are placed under the governmenl of the said Commissioners appointed by the said first-mentioned Act. Ant whereas by a recent Act, passed by the Imperial Parliament, intituled “Am Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,”’ the Governot is empowered to authorise, in writing, any person or persons to visit and inspect any prison within the limits of his government. And whereas its deemed expedient to associate the said inspectors of prisons with the said Commissioners of Superintendence for the gaol and houses of correction m this island. Clause 1.—Be it therefore enacted by his Excellency Major-General 5! Evan John Murray MacGregor, Baronet, Governor and Commander” Chief of this island, the Honourable the Members of Her Majesty’s Countll and the General Assembly of this island, and by the authority of the same, that the inspectors of prisons appointed and from time to time to be ir pointed by the Governor or Commander-in-Chief, under the authority oft ¢ said Act, intituled ‘ An Act for the better Government of Prisons m the West Indies,” shall be, and they are hereby associated with the said e, missioners of Superintendence for the gaol and houses of correction He island, and they have hereby given and granted to them all and every te powers and authorities appertaining to the said Board of Superintendent? for the said gaol and houses of correction, anything in the Acts alorestl or either of them to the contrary thereof notwithstanding. Read three times, and passed the Council unanimously, the 27th day of powers as are November, 1838. granted to such Commis- sioners, (Signed) C. T. CunnincHaM, Clerk of the Council. Prison Regulations, Sc. 519 Read three times, and passed the General Assembly, nemine contradi- Barbadoes. _ cente, this 21th day of November, 1838. (Signed) JoHn Mayers, Clerk of the General Assembly. Government House, Barbadoes, KE. J. M. MacGreeor, 28th November, 1838. Governor: Enclosure 4. Aw Act to associate the Inspectors of Prisons with the Commissioners of Gaol Superintendence. This Act was passed to authorise the inspectors of prisons appointed by his Excellency the Governor, under the authority of the Act of Parliament, for the better government of prisons in the West Indies, to associate with the Commissioners of Superintendence for the gaol and houses of correction in this island, and to have and exercise the same powers as are granted to such commissioners. (Signed) Wm. Kine, Acting Col. Secretary. Enclosure 5. OPINION. In order to carry into effect the provisions of the recent Act of the Im- perial Parliament, 1 Vic. c. 67, intituled, “ An Act for the better govern- ment of Prisons in the West Indies,”’ his Excellency the Governor, imme- diately on its receipt, appointed the three special justices (whom he had retained in this colony, and nominated supervising justices or judges of the new Court of Appeal) inspectors of prisons under that law. Deeming, how- ever, that the intention of Parliament in passing that Act.would be more completely fulfilled by associating these inspectors with the very efficient board for administering the common gaol, and thus extending their powers and utility, his Excellency, by message to the Assembly, recommended the passing of this Bill, and the Legislature have readily adopted his advice. The effect of this addition to the Board of Commissioners will be very bene- ficial ; it will give to the inspectors a voice in the interior management and discipline of the prisons, while it can in no way interfere with their duties as inspectors under the British Act. (Signed) R. BoucHer CLARKE, Barbadoes, 6th December, 1838. Solicitor-General. Str E, J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 14 March, 1839. I wave the honour to transmit, for your Lordship’s information, two reports from the stipendiary magistrates appointed to act as inspectors of prisons in this island, one completed to the 3lst of December last, and another, supplementary to the former, following the order of detail adopted by Captain Pringle, together with plans of the Bridge Town gaol and of three places of confinement in the rural districts, A. C. and E. Barbadoes. Prison Regulations, §&c. Enclosures (A.) Barbadoes, 1 February, 1839. Sir, We have the honour herewith to transmit for his Excellency’s inform: tion our report as inspectors of prisons in this island, completed tothe 31st of December last, in conformity with the provisions of the Impetil Act for the “ better government of prisons in the West Indies.” Having received our appointment at the close of the last year, viz. on the 15th of October, 1838, we have necessarily had but a limited period at our command to institute those full and minute enquiries, relating (0 the prisons in this colony, which we could otherwise have been enable to detail, and the absence of Captain Pringle’s report on the Barbados gaol establishment has deprived us of access to the valuable rematy which may have been suggested by that commissioner. We have, how ever, endeavoured to execute this duty with assiduity, and, we trust, will satisfaction to his Excellency the Governor. We beg to add that the delay caused in the transmission of our anvil report has been attributable to the unavoidable absence, until the presetl date, of the new plans of the common gaol, and of the respective rurdl houses of correction, which were directed to be drawn up by the board of gaol superintendence ; and, being anxious to forward the diagrams, 80% to exhibit the rural prisons as they will appear eventually, when thee tensive improvements, now rapidly in execution, shall have been com pleted, we deemed it advisable to detain our report until we should be enabled, at the same time, to transmit the plans, as required by the Im perial Act. We have, &c. (Signed) A. CupPaGE, S.J. I. J. Tinuing, s. J. ua of Prisons, Jos. GARRAWAY, S. J. The Acting Private Secretary, &e. &e. &e, Government House. Report. Barbadoes, 31 December, 1838. Tux prison establishment in this colony consisted, at the commence: ment of the apprenticeship system, of one common gaol situate in Bridge Town, six houses of correction in the rural districts, under the supetill tendence of the special magistrates, and two temporary places of confine ment at Speights Town and Hole Town, for the reception of prisoners fo be brought up for examination on the following day, or on the day usually fixed for adjudicating complaints before the ordinary and special justices, as the prisoners might happen to be free or apprentice. Since that period, however, the common gaol of Bridge Town, as well as the ru house of correction, have undergone extensive improvements and various important alterations, and under the new circumstances of society, My abandonment of three of the latter description of prisons has beet foun requisite, owing to the very reduced number of commitments to the mt Stations since the enfranchisement of the apprentices; and, at present the prisons in this colony are restricted to the town gaol and three mul Prison Regulations, &c. 521 houses of correction, centrally situated at three extreme points of the island, of which one, at a short distance from the town, may be considered as supplementary to the gaol itself. The superintendence of the whole is now vested in the board of gaol commissioners, presided over by the Lord Bishop of the diocese, and consisting of the President of the Council, the Speaker of the Assembly, the three police magistrates of Bridge Town, two members of the Council, and two members of the Assembly, five of whom are competent to forma board; to which board the three inspectors of prisons have been lately added, on a recommendation to that effect made by his Excellency the Governor to the two branches of the legislature. The alterations which have of late been gradually in progress for the improvement of the gaol are now almost completed, but those affecting the future condition of the rural prisons, although in a state of great for- wardness, are not sufficiently advanced to adinit of a more particular account than that which would be gained by a reference to the plans herewith transmitted, representing the appearance they will assume on the completion of their present repair. A large portion of the interior of the gaol was formerly appropriated to the use of the House of Assembly, the council board, and the courts of grand sessions, at their respective sittings. With a view, however, of en- larging the accommodation of the prison, the legislature, in September, 1837, provided elsewhere for the reception of these public bodies, and the spacious rooms, so abandoned, were converted, as soon as practicable, into debtors’ apartments and a commodious chapel, thus affording greater opportunity for a more particular classification of the several descriptions of offenders within the walls. These important alterations were com- menced and nearly completed under the superintendence of Lieutenant Leicester Smith, of the Royal Engineers, in communication with his Ex- cellency the Governor. The gaol itself is erected upon a healthy site, and is in the centre of various yards set apart for the use of the prisoners, and the whole enclosed by a wall ranging from ten and a half to eleven feet, which, from its long standing, has in some parts become rather de- eayed. Itis, however, understood that a proposition to erect a new court- house for the accommodation of the Legislative Houses, &c. within the present enclosure (according to a plan designed by Lieutenant Leicester Smith, the engineer officer above alluded to) will speedily be introduced to the notice of tne House of Assembly, and on that occasion, if not sooner, all defects in the boundary walls of this prison will be carefully remedied. No regular patrol is kept outwards at present, and the officers of the establishment are sufficiently occupied in discharging their usual avocations to admit of their acting in this capacity. We are, however, informed that the new Police Bill (about to be brought under legislative consideration) will provide for the attendance of a certain number of police officers to be on duty at the gaol day and night, pursuant to a re- commendation from his Excellency the Governor. The annexed plan (A.) exhibits the gaol under its present improved form; one of the most important alterations consists in the conversion of the tread-mill house into a general hospital for the gaol (an arrange- ment by which rooms heretofore used as hospital wards within the body of the prison will be made available to other useful purposes). Hight so- litary cells, at two different points of the basement story, have also been changed into two well-ventilated and roomy apartments, by taking down the partitions which divided the cells, and raising the floor two feet above Barbadoes. [Plan (A)] Barbadoes. 522 Prison Regulations, §c. its original level. In its present enlarged condition, the gaol may be calculated to receive 300; it is divided into two distinct wings, the one appropriated to males, the other to females; and the classification of offenders has been considerably enlarged owing to the use of the additional rooms above alluded to, by which debtors, peace breakers, those cot mitted for trial charged with misdemeanors, convicted misdemeanon committed for trial charged with felony, subdivided into separate class for the capital offences and for thefts, and juvenile offenders, are all s parately accommodated. On the 31st December the gaol books exhibited a total numberof 6 prisoners, of whom 59 were males and 7 females; and the average monthly number during the year may be taken at 8 males, ? females, white, and 30 males, 20 females, black, forming a total monthly average of 60 prisoners; there is no distinction observed between the white and black prisoners. The prison diet allowed, as will be seen by the last rules and regi tions framed by the commissioners, and approved of by his Excellency the Governor, a copy of which (B.) is appended, consists daily ofa pout and a half of bread or five pounds of yams, plantains, eddoes or sweet potatoes, or a pint and a half of Guinea corn or two pints of Indian com, divided into two meals, together with two ounces of salt fish, for all pie soners employed within the walls, and an additional two ounces (or one quarter of a pound) to those prisoners engaged on the roads and publie works. Each prisoner in gaol is also allowed half a pint of tea, and the prisoners in the penal gangs receive half a pint of a mixture of rum, m0 lasses, and hot water. It is incumbent on the contractor so to vary the above diet that the same food shall not be given more than two days i succession, but prisoners under the care of the surgeon are allowed such diet as he may direct. Distinguishing dresses are provided for prisoners of the first penal gang, who are ordered to be clothed in a parti-coloured suit; those of the second penal gang are furnished with a suit of Osnaburg; and @ prison dress of the same material is alse provided for the use of all pi soners after conviction ; but should the appearance of any prisoner de mand it before conviction, a suit of the usual prison dress is forthwith supplied. There are three pumps and bathing places for the use of the prisonets; two appropriated to males, the other to females. On Wednesday alld Sunday all the prisoners are required to wash and bathe themselves; bul by the gaoler’s evidence, it would seem that the majority voluntarily per form their ablutions every morning. Soap, if applied for, is given 10f their personal use as well as for that of washing their clothes. The flools of the rooms are scoured twice per week (every Wednesday and Saturday) and the inside walls are whitewashed monthly. The tread-mill has been inoperative since March, 1837, at which period its use was, at the suggestion of the Governor, abandoned, and the boat of commissioners are about to advertise the materials for sale. The re- moval, however, of the mill from the interior of the house in which it was originally erected will take place without delay, in order that the requisite repairs and alterations consequent on the conversion of the building to the purposes of a gaol hospital may be immediately carried 1nl0 operation. Fl Hammocks are provided for each male prisoner, and blankets ordere for the females. The space allowed for slinging the former is two feet, Prison Regulations, &c. | 523 Eighteen iron bedsteads have been supplied for the hospital wards; the palliasses and pillows to which are in a state of preparation, so as to render them available for the use of the new hospital, if not before, at least at the period of its completion. All prisoners sentenced to hard labour commence work at half-past six A.m., until half-past nine a.m.; recommence at eleven A.M., and continue until four p.m. There are two penal gangs, all able-bodied men, sent every day without the precincts of the prison} the first consisting of pri- soners sentenced by courts of grand sessions; the other, under magis- trates? sentences for minor offences; a third gang, comprising the infirm, young, and females, are employed within the walls, but the sexes are sepa- yated, and are worked in distinct rooms or yards. The occupation of the Jast-mentioned gang consists in breaking stone for road-making, or pick- ing oakum, while the two first are engaged in road-making and other public works within oné mile of Bridge Town. All chain fetters have been entirely abolished, and irons are not resorted to, except upon extreme occasions for the preservation of prison discipline. The officers of the prison are as follows :— ss. a Salary. How appointed. £. Provost marshal .« : : 2 fees | by letters patent. Gaoler, currency « ° ° : 150 |. . by provost marshal, subject to the approval of the board. Two turnkeys, each : i : 50 se ditto ene aLttoe Superintendent within walls . é Evi St) KCLEO er yh 2h ae EEO. One matron . : . ° é 50. | & ditto. 5 s+ ditto: Two superintendents of penal gangs. 100 | by commissioners. One ditto. e ° ° : 75 ditto: A chaplain . ° ° ° : 75 | by Governor. Asurgeon . . : ; . 75 |. ditto. a EY With reference to the small salaries attached to the offices of the two turnkeys, the marshal remarked, that he experienced considerable difficulty in procuring respectable characters to undertake this duty. The gaoler’s ‘authority is specified in the Act; the other male subordinate officers are under his orders, and have no authority of themselves. ‘The matron acts Under the authority of the marshal and the board of superintendence. With regard to the marshal’s salary, it was stated that he received no emoluments whatever from his office as governor of the gaol; he was, however, in the receipt of fees accruing to him as marshal of the courts of common pleas; the average annual amount of these fees, for the last three years, was found to be 1,230/. currency, gross, subject to the average “yearly sum of 470/. currency, for expenses connected with his office. The prison records appear to be carefully made up, and consist of :— 1. A registry of all prisoners, stating the time of commitment, descrip- tion, offence, how committed and when released, with general remarks. 2. A diet book. 3. Gaoler’s nightly closing books. 4, Orders to the gaoler. Barbadoes: Barbadoes. 524 Prison Regulations, &c. 5 & 6. Surgeon’s reports and prescriptions. 7. Chaplain’s reports. 8. Names of visitors. Benjamin Wairond, Esq., provost marshal, was examined, and statel, that he does not consider the boundary walls of the prison inclosure sale —they are too low, and a hole might be made through them with great facility ; they were built soon after the hurricane of 1780; in consequence of the apprehension of escape arising from the low height of the walls,it has been necessary to restrict the day liberty of peace-breakers, debion, and others under minor offences, which would otherwise .be granted were the possibility of escape by the walls more remote ; this remark does to apply to the deprivation of air and regular exercise taken daily by the prisoners in the respective yards, who, on such occasions, are undertle supervision of an officer of the establishment ; the separation of the sexe has been invariably attended to since he has held the situation of marshal; with regard to classification, the means heretofore have been rather tit cumscribed, but the late additions and alterations have amply remediel this defect; the administration of the gaol is vested in a board of super intendence ; has only to account for the safe custody of the prisoners; the discipline of the gaol is intrusted to the board; all committing magistrates and justices of the peace generally have the power of visiting the gadl cannot call to mind any particular instance in which this power has been exercised by justices; the penal gangs leave the prison at half-pastsit o’clock in the morning (Wednesdays excepted, when they are detained 10 attend divine service), and return at four o’clock in the afternoon; one hour and a-half is allowed for rest during the day, generally from halt past nine until eleven o’clock, and in very hot weather an additional hour is permitted: attempts at escape, refusing to work, riotous and disorderly conduct and breach of prison discipline, are reported to the police magis: trates, and punished by their order with solitary confinement, and, it extreme cases, with irons ; these punishments relate entirely to male pt soners, who are transferred to the rural house of correction attached 0 the gaol in District A., for solitary punishment when the same is awarded records are kept and laid before the board of superintendence at thelt general meetings, and are subject to inspection at any time by his Excel lency the Governor and any member of the board; the prison is alwajs open to the inspection of all persons authorised by the Governor, to the gaol commissioners, amongst whom are included the inspectors of pris0ls and the police magistrates of Bridge Town, and twice a year to the grand Juries of the court of sessions; prisoners are never restricted or prevented from making representations to official visitors; has never refused t0 convey petitions or complaints when asked ; always warns the prisonels of approaching trials at the sessions, and assists them in summoning KF nesses and retaining counsel when about to be tried; a registry is kepto all commitments, description of prisoners, offences, by what authority com: mitted or released, punishments inflicted, cases of sickness and death, al all occurrences not considered as ordinary ; presumes that a good effect ; produced in the neighbouring population, inasmuch as the residents abot the vicinity of the prison rarely become its inmates; the neighbourhoys K peaceable and orderly; it may perhaps be attributed to the moral elle caused by the proximity of the gaol; commitments of late have sensi decreased; re-commitments are particularly confined to vagrants ant vagabonds; the re-commitments for crime are unfrequent; the improve Prison Regulations, §c. 525 discipline of the gaol may have contributed to produce this result, but, in his opinion, the formation of the penal gangs has operated most materially in checking crime among the population. The Rev. Mr. Harte, Chaplain, examined. Prayers are read twice per week (Wednesdays and Fridays), and on Sunday, prayers with a lecture; further than this no particular system of instruction obtains; recommended, some time back, that a daily school should be formed for the purpose of affording catechetical and preceptive instruction to such as were unable to read ; as yet it has not been carried into effect, but has every hope that this system will soon come into opera- tion ; is assisted in his duties by the Rev. Mr. Rowe; bibles and prayer- books have always been within the reach of those prisoners competent to read who have expressed a desire for these books; is of opinion that the establishment of a school is the most important point of practical utility which remains to be realised. The time employed in religious exercises is about one hour on the week-days, and one and a half hour on the Sab- bath; the service is performed strictly according to the Liturgy of the Church of England, by the chaplain. There is no restriction with respect to the admission of dissenting or catholic ministers to such prisoners as may be desirous of receiving the religious offices of their persuasion; par- ticularises two late cases, the individuals of which were both catholics ; testifies to the outward moral good conduct of the prisoners while inmates of the gaol; cannot speak with certainty as to the actual reformation effected on the parties after leaving the prison ; has officiated as chaplain since July 1832, until about six months ago, when ill health compelled him to have recourse to an assistant; during that period the re-commit- ments have been generally found among the peace-breakers. Inspectors of Prisons. Jos. GARRAWAY, S. J. 4 February, 1839. 2ule.—That convicts belonging to the penal gangs, whose desperate character and refractory conduct render the restraint of fetters necessary - for their safe keeping, while employed on public works without the prison walls, shall be secured by such or similar chains as are used for convicts in England. Approved by the Governor in Council, 5th February, 1839. (Signed) KE. J. Murray MacGregor, Governor. 25 February, 1839. Rule.—Ordered that in future, the gaoler shall cause every male pri- soner to wash his person every morning, and to furnish him with a suffi- Barbadoes. ee 536 Prison Regulations, §c. Barbadoes, cient quantity of soap for that purpose, and that the matron shall causethe female prisoners to do the same, furnishing them in like manner withile soap. Approved by the Governor in Council, 12th March, 1839. (Signed) E. J. Murray MacGracor, Governor. 25 February, 1839. Rule.—Ordered that a competent officer of the establishment shall under the superintendence of the chaplain, keep a Sunday-school for the male prisoners, and also an evening-school for the same, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, from five until seven o’clock. Approved by the Governor in Council, 12th March, 1839. (Signed) E, J. Murray MacGrecor, , Governor. 4 March, 1839, Rule.— Whenever a prisoner is sent into the common gaol or house of correction for imprisonment, who has an infant child or children, an shall object to be parted from them, they shall be taken care of bythe matron and supplied with rations of food by the contractor at the expense of the island. Approved by the Governor in Council, 12th March, 1839. (Signed) K. J. Murray MacGreaor, Governor. A March, 1839. Rule.—That all prisoners for trial under charge of felony, and those convicted of felony, or those sentenced to hard labour, shall be prohibited from the use of newspapers in gaol; but that this indulgence shall be ek tended to debtors and the other classes of prisoners, should they s0 desire it, provided that no abuse of this privilege is discovered, especially thato! conveying their newspapers to those interdicted by this rule from their perusal, in which case the provost-marshal shall be authorised to prohibit the offending party from the further receipt of newspapers, and shall duly report the same to the board at its next ensuing general meeting. Approved by the Governor in Council, 12th March, 1839. (Signed) E. J. Murray MacGreaor. Governol: The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 12 July, 1839. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 32, of the 14th of March, with the reports therein contained from the i spectors of prisons at Barbadoes. Prison Regulations, &c. 537 Having referred these reports for the opinion of the inspectors of prisons in this country, I have now to transmit to you a copy of the report which I have received from them in reply, and which appears to me to contain some valuable observations and suggestions on several points connected with the subject. I would, therefore, refer the memorandum which they have enclosed to your serious attention. _ Enclosure. Raymond Buildings, 22 June, 1839. Sir, We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 18th ultimo, transmitting, by direction of Lord John Russell, for our report aud observations thereon, two reports from the stipendiary magistrates appointed to act as inspectors of prisons at Barbadoes, together with plans of the Bridge-Town gaol, and of three places of confinement in the rural districts of that island. In return, we beg to state that we have examined, in conjunction with Captain Jebb, the plans for the alteration of the Bridge- Town gaol. We find, however, that prior to their being transmitted, the alterations had Been proceeded with too far to annie’ of any suggestions for their im- provement being carried into effect. We regret this circumstance as it would have been in our power to have “proposed several material amendments. Having so recently, in our observations in the reports, addressed his Lordship on the inexpediency of employing prisoners, in public, in penal gangs, we consider it unnecessary to repeat our opinion on this subject. We euclose a few remarks on the reports of the inspectors. We return the enclosures of your letter. We are, &c. (Signed) W. Crawrorp, W. RussEwu, Inspectors of Prisons. S. M. Phillipps, Esq., &e. &e. &e. MrmoranpuM. We observe that prayers are read on Wednesdays and Fridays only, in addition to the service performed on Sundays. We suggest whether prayers should not be read daily, and whether the chaplain should not visit the prisoners during the week for the purpose of affording them in- struction and admonition. Much ¢ good has resulted from the interviews of the chaplain with a prisoner, apart from all others. In the classifleation prescribed for the gaol at Bridge-Town, there is no rule which requires that the untried shall be separated from the convicted. This remark also applies to the classification of the rural station prisons. It is stated, in the inspector’s letter of the 12th March last, that solitary confinement has been tried as a punishment without effect, and corporal punishment is therefore recommended. We apprehend that the cells which have been used for this purpose are not strictly solitary. Expe- Barbadoes. Barbadoes. 538 Prison Regulations, &c. rience has shown in the prisons of this country, as well as those of tk United States, that strict solitude without labour is of all punishments the most severe and effective. By the regulation dated the 4th March last, we observe that newspa- pers are prohibited in the case pr prise ners for trial, prisoners under chang v3 Hlony, prisoners convicted of Any, and prisoners sentenced to bar abour; but that this eee may be extended to debtors and th oe classes of prisoners, sho d they desire it. We are of opinion that newspapers shor he strictly . ohibited to all classes of prisoners. } We observe that the penal gangs are allowed a portion of rum in their ordinary diet. We: are of opinion that spirits should never form part ft prison diet, but si iid be given in cases of sickness only, by order, it writing, of the sur W. Crawrorp, W.. RusseE.t, Home-Inspectors of Prisons. London, 22 June, 1839. Prison Regulations, §c. 539 ST. VINCENT. St. Vincent. Sir E. J. Murray MacGregor to the Marquis of Normanby, hea DP Pee QE Mirra Q20 5) 3th May, 1839. No. 19, with I nave the honour of transmitting, for your Lordsbip's,infor- Enclosures) mation, copies of letters (and of my rep ly) fi from his Excellency Reply, April the Lieutenant-Governor of St. Vinee nt, and Mr. arpa sree 27, 1839, Magistrate Sutherland, accompanied by the Report of the latter, No. 274. as inspector of prisons in that island. Enclosure 1. Government House, St. Vincent, SIR, 10th April, 1839. In transmitting to your Excellency duplicate copies of the Report made by Mr. Stipendiary Magistrate Sutherland, and his letter as inspector of prisons, together with a copy of the rules and regulations for the govern- ment of the prisons in this colony, made under the provisions ~ of the imperial “ Act for the Better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” Ido myself the honour of informing your Excelleney that the delay in forwarding these documents has arisen from the impossibility of my being able to procure a plan of each prison, as the Act required should accom- pany the Report; I hope, however, in a short time to be able to forward them to your Excellency. I have not failed, from the time when I received the Report from the inspector, to correct as far as was in my power the evils and inconveniences described as prevailing in the gaol and other prisons. I have, &c. (Signed) Groree Tyier, Lieut.-Governor. His Excellency, Sir E. J. Murray MacGregor, Bart. &e. &e. &e. Enclosure 2. Sir, St. Vincent, Kingston, 31st Dec., 1838. I had the honour to receive your Excellency’s despatch, dated 15th December, 1838; in obedience thereto, and in accordance with the third Clause of an Act passed by the Imperial Parliament, intituled, “ An Act for the Better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” I now forward a Report of the state of the prisons in the island of St. Vincent. The short period which has elapsed since your Excellency honoured me with the appointment of inspector of prisons, will I trust excuse the limited Information acquired. I abstain from any comment on the state in which I found the prisons and prisoners generally, knowing the most effectual Manner of correcting abuses to be, bringing them under your Excellency’s observation. I have, &e. (Signed) RoBerT SUTHERLAND, Inspector of Prisons. His Excellency Sir George T yler, K.H., Lieut.-Governor, &c. &c. &ce. (True copies.) Signed) JosepH GARRAWAY, Actg. Priv. Sec. St. Vincent. nd Prison Regulations, &c. Enclosure 3. Ruxes and Reaurations for the Gaol, Houses of Correction, and olhty Prisons in the Island of St. Vincent and its Dependencies, 1. The keeper of every gaol, house of correction, or other place for imprisonment, shall be at least 25 years of age; he shall reside within tle limits or close adjoining to the building; he shall not be engaged in any manual occupation or trade whatsoever; he shall not sell or traffic, um derive any benefit or advantage directly or indirectly from the sale, eon | tract, or agreement for the supply of any article whatever to any prisoner, 2. When matrons shall be appointed to the prison, or houses of come tion, it shall be their duty to superintend the female prisoners. 3. ‘The keeper shall visit every ward, and see every prisoner, and insped every cell once at least in every 24 hours; and when he shall visit tle female prisoners he shall be accompanied by the matron, or some ollet female officer of the prison. 4. Every keeper of a prison, or other place of confinement, shall keepa journal, in which he shall daily enter the hours at which he has visited aul inspected the cells; the date of entry, and discharge ; the cause of com mitment of each prisoner, and any general remarks which may be requ site; which journal shall be open to the inspector of prisons at all times, and be laid before the court of sessions at each half-yearly meeting oft court. 5. No intercourse shall be permitted between the male and female prisoners; and the prisoners of each sex shall be divided into distin classes, care being taken that the following classes do not intermlk, as {it as can be practicable: debtors, and persons confined for contempt 0 court, or for want of sureties; prisoners convicted of felony; personscol victed of misdemeanors; prisoners committed on charge or suspicion 0 any crimes; vagrants. 6. The keeper of every prison shall be authorised to employ any prisonet in the performance of any menial office within the prison, with his co sent. 7. It shall be lawful for the keeper of any prison, where prisoners ae refractory, or disobedient, to confine such prisoner with any other class description of prisoners, or in any other part of the prison, until he cil receive the instructions of the provost-marshal general, or person having authority over the place of confinement, to whom he shall apply with’ little delay as possible. 8. Female prisoners shall in all cases be attended by female offices 2. When a chaplain shall be appointed for the gaol, he shull read prayers every Sunday, and visit the sick whenever required. 10. All keepers of prisons shall admit Dissenting ministers or Cathal priests to visit such persons as are not members of the Chureh of Eng land, 11. Prisoners under the care of the surgeons or physicians shall be allowed such diet as may be directed in writing for them. 12. Prisoners not receiving public allowance, whether confined for deb or before trial for any alleged crime or offence, shall be allowed to prot’ for themselves, and to receive at proper hours, any food, bedding, clotmilss or other necessaries, subject to a strict examination, in order that ext gauce and luxury within the walls of the prisons may be prevented; alt when means are provided, every prisoner shall be furnished with sullave bedding and clothing. Prison Regulations, §c. 541 13. No prisoner confined under the sentence of any court, or in pur- suance of any conviction before any justice, shall receive any food or clothing other than the gaol allowance, except it be under special circum- stances, to be judged of by the provost-marshul, or person having authority over the place of confinement. 14. The gates of all prisons are to be opened at six in the morning, and are not to be kept open after six p.m., except in cases of the most urgent necessity, at which hours all persons employed therein must be within the Walls 15. No person to be admitted for the purpose of communicating with prisoners before nine in the morning, nor after four in the afternoon, unless permitted by an order from the provost-marshal, or person having autho- tity over the place of confinement. 16..The wards and ceilings of the wards, cells, rooms, and passages of every prison, shall be white-washed at least every three months, and oftener when requisite. The cells, gutters, and privies shall be cleared out daily. 17. No spiritous liquors to be sold or admitted for the use of prisoners, unless by an order from the surgeon or physician in writing, specifying the quantity, and for whose use. 18. No gaming shall on any account be permitted, and the keeper or other officer shall seize and destroy all dice, cards, or other instruments of gaming. No smoking shall be allowed. 19. The medical attendant shall visit the prison three times in every week, and oftener if necessary, and shall keep a journal, in which the mames of the patients under his care, and the prescriptions ordered by him, shall be entered, and any observations that he may deem requisite ; which journal shall be kept in the gaol, and signed by him, and produced to the person having authority over the place of confinement, whenever it Shall be required. (Certified.) (Signed) Joun Beresrorp, Clerk of Council. Enclosure 4. Report on Prisons, by Ropert Sutueruanp, Inspector. Report. The population of the island of St. Vincent, and that of the Grenadines, is estimated at about 30,000. The government consists of four districts: three in the island of St. Vincent; the Grenadines, or adjacent islands, constituting the fourth. A police magistrate is appointed to each, and invested with the general direction and superintendence of the constabulary force. There is a house of correction in the first; also in the third dis- trict. A gaol and house of correction in the sécond, to which culprits from the fourth district are likewise committed, there being in the latter no legal- ised place of imprisonment. The following Return gives the number of prisoners in the houses of correction and gaol, when T visited in December, 1838 : St. Vincent. St. Vincent. 542 Prison Regulations, §c. le RL EERIE Tay ee ear ee ACL REE PERE. SOS TORS SRST EIEE CE EE i TRIED. UNTRIED, 8 +r e 2 i Houses of Correction, Witars situated. or Gaol. | Males. | Females.| Males. | Females ' a } i ist Dis strict, # Parish of Charlotte: | House of Correction .| Colonaire . . . a 2nd. District, Parish of St. George: i House of Correction Kangston’ Mee. 80 5 — Gaolist Bir. aa DD tbs tS PaatE ee 5 5 i 5 = 3rd Misteick Parish of St. trick House of Correction .] Barronallie Town . 5 2 — 15 2 5 - ‘ SEE SO SBA LEE AS OG AS EEE = oa eT eas Ce he gaol is under appoints the gaolor. court of grand sessions. cells ; no other cle enforced ; provided. kept at the gaol ; and has paid fees. The which a account fo1 to the g@aoler for the s T annex a copy of said they were in the | M Having found great difficulty in ene any satisfactory informatio relative to these instit the second district, whi * An Act for buil dine Kingstown, 22nd Sept em gang shall be Rrepet, of th cetabhiehaaeut and reg" 1827; clause 5, of Kingstown, res PG town-wardens of Ki ingstow! Ns; al shall superintend the therec and he Bel paid by the treas ae. nic \ he The houses of correc soap is re nee Divine ser at the r of commitment ‘and discha punishment awarded ; marshal charges of each prisoner ; but out 12th January, under the direction of t! rer seriods of labour, & Gaol. the control of It is inspected twice annually by the jurors after the site: sexes are locked up in different rooms 0! Le a ssification observ Vice ree; name it is also stated of this r the epancy supply of foo a. gaol regulations ; dc nan anas diser Houses of Correction. utions, I comme 1 7] ch has been the a eee ; e} 1821,” ulation of a Ge A i ery & res Nae nd punishment r eceive a salary of 15 ee: su e ‘tion in the first the negro apprenticeship, and exclusive no pris not Lo aba bogs shal’s office I was shown one, containing dale against the public, 3s. cur ren for the daily keep this sum the gaoler’s salary is defrayed, isd of a printer. 0 and for es tablishing a Police in the town ie said cage, &c. fet Treadmill in K ingstown, 7th Dect for the regu wiation of the Treadmill 1 enact, the provost-marshal-general, who ed. Personal cleanliness is nol son dress, bedding, nor coverillg No books of any description ' and age of prisoner; offence and whether the party can read or Not, betwixt the charge and allowance none there when I visited; it was se of correction in ce with the hous Clause 2, of Moseeet established. enacts, that “the overseer of the challl- Clause 4, of “ An Act for the i} shall be pe hat the treadmill s d the es of the island, am magist rat iit, the keeper of the cage, or his ‘assist of the prisoners sentenced t 0 Jabour e sae per annum, | (ob Ol vide medica PULe bseq uent clauses pro ae third districts were built a ly for the punishment of delinquent Prison Regulations, §c. 543 apprentices. The Acts legalising them, provided that the treadmill should be worked subject to all rules regulating the treadmill in Kingstown. They were during the above period under the direction of the stipendiary justice of the district. On 3lst July, 1838, an Act to declare the police settlements of the windward and leeward divisions of his island places of general confinement, was passed. The police magistrates disclaiming any responsibility, I can- not ascertain that those institutions are now under any control, save that Of the keeper or police constable in immediate charge. The very short period, viz. 19 days, since I had the honour to be ap- Pointed inspector of prisons, and the immediate necessity under the third dause of “ An Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” of forwarding this Report to your Excellency, preclude the possi- bility of obtaining further information. Tsubjoin a description of the state of each prison on the days on which Iyisited, likewise the information I received from the officers in charge, and prisoners confined therein. First District, Charlotte Parish, House of Correction, Colonarie, 24th December, 1838 Site, &c.—It is situated in the country, immediately on the sea coast, driver runs hard by ;, the site is very healthy, the nearest habitation about halfa mile distant. This building is 60 feet long; there are two stories ; the lower divided into 12 arched cells, each 8 feet by 3 feet 6 inches: an ‘ached passage in front of the cells 4 feet wide; at each end there is a Plivy, very dirty, and at present not used for want of tubs. The cells are dark, are ventilated by a zig-zag slit in the back wall, nearly from top to hottom, one end opening outwards, the other inwards. ‘The upper story isdivided into three rooms; first, in which police magistrate transacts Dusiness, is 26 feet 3 inches by 13 feet 4 inches; second, occupied by Police sergeant, who has charge of the buildings, 16 feet 3 inches by 13 feet 4 inches; third, occupied by three police constables, 13- feet Vinches’ by 13 feet 4 inches. The north wing is divided into a ward for female prisoners, 19 feet by 12 feet, and a room 18 feet by 12 feet, in which the treadmill is erected. The south wing into a ward 19 feet by 12 feet, for male prisoners; a Pantry and kitchen. The wings have an arched roof; a wall in front, Y feet S inches high, connects the one with the other, Court-yard is common to all prisoners, and is 42 feet by 27 feet. a I cannot too strongly describe the dilapidated state of this building, though but three years erected. ‘The main roof admits rain into the room used by the magistrate, and those occupied by the sergeant and policemen. The floor is of plaster, is rugged, broken, unavoidably dirty, and is stated t0 abound with vermin. Many of the window-shutters and jalousies are without hinges. ‘The gutters to carry off the rain are choked up; in Consequence, the cells are said to be flooded in wet weather. Two cell doors without hinges. A Officers:—W. Ei. Rothwell, in charge of prison, examinec thtrency, for the’ release of each prisoner; no duties out of aS sergeant of police, 200/. currency. v4 Escapes.—One, an insane persen 5 he was permitted to go outside the Buildings ; he walked off some days ago. Fetters.—None. Chains,—None. ; has 2s. 6d. gaol; salary St. Vincent, St. Vincent. 544 Prison Regulations, &c. Washing.—Prisoners are obliged to go to the river and wash {her persons every morning ; females also, a policeman keeping them in sigh Classification.—None, beyond the males being placed in one war, females in another; tried and untried prisoners all together ; this canuol be avoided. Work.—None ; prisoners sweep the wards and yard. Offences in Prison.—None, since he has been in office, about months. Diet and Cost, or Charge made.—Yams, plantains, tannias, or faring and some fish, or meat if he has any; no regulation observed; does nol know what quantity each person gets; cost, 1s. currency daily ; each his enough to eat, and frequently leaves some. Watch, Night or Day.—None ; the policemen sleep within the wall, three in the room upstairs; three obliged to sleep in the cells, Prisoners.—None at present. Clothing.—None allowed. Soap.—None. Books.—Two ; first shows date of commitment, name and residence of prisoner, name of committing magistrate, offence, punishment, and dale of discharge : second, shows the prescriptions of medical attendant, The local magistrates have discontinued their petty sessions for some montis past. A record of their proceedings was kept, viz. the complaints pie ferred and decisions of the Bench. Visitors.—Any person admitted who brings provisions to a prisoner, ot who is his relation, except an order to the contrary is given by commilting magistrate, the gaoler or policeman always present. Divine Service.—Never performed. fules.—None, since termination of apprenticeship.’ Mairon.—None: attend sick persons myself; no other to do 80; sill confined with others. Hospital—N one. Treadmill.—ts badly constructed ; is out of order; to regulate its rate ; they do not answer the purpose. Bilboes.—Bilboes extending the whole length of the bed in the ward for male and female prisoners ; not used. Tried and Untried.—Are all together. Bedding.—None provided. Liquors.—No liquors admitted. Oficial Visitors—None; the police magistrate transacts business here on three days of each week, or oftener. j Solitary Confinement.—No person in solitary confinement since Is August last. : Blankets.:—One dozen, for the use of prisoners sentenced to labout 0” treadmill. / Provistons.— Prisoners’ food never inspected; prepared by gaolers servant. a lever and weights 5 ; 3 ‘ : 1 -work The site of this prison being on the windward sea coast, irou immediately corrodes ; hence the dilapidated state of the building. a from the yard is easily practicable. The cells and wards might be se rendered more airy and comfortable, and much require it; access ae latter to the privies particularly desirable, and would supersede i, wholesome practice of using tubs. Water, at a small expense, sis 1 brought into the prison by canal or pipe. The treadmill constructe the island, as at preseut, is an unsafe mode of punishment. Prison Regulations, &:c. 545 Second District, Parish of St. George, House of Correction, Kingstown, 20th December, 1838. House of Correction, Kingstown, Site and Deseripiion.—Is situated within the precincts, at the back, and nearly opposite the centre of Kings- town; is overlooked from the neighbouring houses; appears sufficiently airy. The building is 61 feet long, and consists of a room 26 feet by 19 feet 6 inches, in which is the treadmill; and two other rooms, each 17 feet by 13 feet; the one appropriated to the use of male, the other, female prisoners. ‘The two latter have an arched roof. In front of this building 12 cells for solitary confinement have been erected; each cell 7 feet by 3 feet 8 inches; they are connected with the main building by a wall at each end, varying from 7 feet to 9 feet high. Courtyard is 54 feet by 30 feet, for the use of prisoners. The cells seem sufficiently ventilated ; they are quite dark. The women’s ward sufficiently airy ; that in which the men are confined, not so. This is greatly, if not alto- gether, occasioned by the recent erection of a kitchen within the walls» and against the south side of this ward, which has closed up the aperture intended for ventilation. Officers. —-Andrew Pavie examined :—In charge of the house of correc- tion since 1825. Salary 150 pounds currency; is also overseer of the town, and superintends wuter-tanks, pipes, and streets, for which he teceives a salary of 200 pounds currency ; generally speaking, is employed in the latter service the whole day, except when persons are worked on ireadmill, viz. four or six times, 15 minutes each spell; during the negro apprenticeship, had a police constable to assist; at his own expense employs an assistant since lst August, 1838, who resides in the house of correction, receives prisoners night or day in his absence, and has no duty to perform except tending prisoners. Escapes.—Ywo within the last 12 months; it is quite easy to get over the walls. Books—T'wo. The first shows the name of every prisoner lodged in the house of correction, and the number of days there confined. ‘The amount charged against the publie for keep, is determined by this book, Which is inspected quarterly by the committee of public accounts. ‘The second shows date of commitment and discharge, name of prisoner and tesidence, committing magistrate, offence, and punishment awarded. Chains and Fetters —None. Offences in Prison.—Prisoners, if riotous, are placed in the bilboes ; forgiven if penitent next day; otherwise taken before the police magis- trate ; should any further punishment be awarded, it is stated in writing. Food.—One pint and half of corn, meal, or farine, or a quantity of yams equal in value daily; also one herring, or half a shad, or two and a half pounds of salt fish for seven days, and in that proportion for a less period ; tharee against the public one shilling currency (5d. sterling) daily, which he ought to receive at the end of each quarter : some times not paid for Months after ; last account nearly a month over due. Divine Service.—None. Treadmill.—Constructed in England ; leneth 10 feet, diameter 3 feet Tinches, depth of tread 5 inches, requires some repairs; machinery to sind corn or oats attached ; straps on the bar for the wrists. Watch, Day or Night.—Mr. Young, the person he employs, resides Within the house of correction; no accommodation whatever; sleeps in the treadmill room on a bench. Clothing.— None. 2N St. Vincent. 546 Prison Regulations, &c. St. Vincent, | Cleanliness—Formerly he had one or two constables to take changed es the prisoners, when they went to wash, at least twice a week; now har noné ; if there are many prisoners, he is afraid to let them go to the rive those who carry out the tubs every morning, wash if they like; neve more than two sent, so the day on which they next wash must depend i the number in custody. Soap.—None allowed. Bilboes.— Bilboes in each ward the whole length of the bed or platfom on which prisoners sleep. Separation.—None beyond keeping the males and females in separale wards ; tried and untried prisoners together, except sentenced to solilaty confinement. Work.—They break stones within the walls, used on ihe streets ot roads. No stated quantity daily; no account kept of the quantity del- vered. Medical Practitioner.—Attends when sent. for ; was here the day before yesterday: prescribed for a man who had fever; has not seeu him sili, visits without being sent for, perhaps once or twice a-week ; is very allel tive. Matron.—None. In cases of serious illness, gets a certificate from the medical practitioner, and takes it to his Excellency the Lieutenant-Govertit, who orders the release of the prisoner ; has done so many times; sick all well in same ward. Visitors.— No admission, except in case of serious illness of a prisoner Rules.—None since abrogation of apprenticeship ; strictly abides by the magistrate’s orders, 7.e. places a prisoner on treadmill as offen 4 desired in the committal; and when not so employed, he or she breaks stones, One hour for breakfast, nine to ten o’clock ; as for dinner, five six o’clock ; the doors are then locked up till half-past five or six o'clock next morning, when the rooms are swept out, tubs carried away, afte which work on the mill, or stone breaking, commences; this every day, Sundays and holidays excepted. Bedding.—N one. Food or Liquors.—Neither admitted, except soup, if sent by a friend to a sick prisoner. Official Visitors.—The house of correction is inspected twice annually by the jurors after the court of grand sessions; during the negro applélt ticeship, the stipendiary justice of the district visited weekly or oftenet. Blanket.—Six, for the use of prisoners on treadmill ; authorised to pull chase more if required. Food.—Never inspected ; sees it himself, it is wholesome; pureldsts it as required; not supplied by contract ; is cooked by a prisoner. Prisoners on 20th December, 1838. SSS ssn nnn pS Names. Offences. When Tried or Sentences. Committed. Untried, oa Michael Paul killing a goat .| Dec. 1, 1838 | tried .| one month hard labour. Richard Fabler .| stealing yams .| Dec. 5, ditto ditto. George Prince stealing plants .] Dec. 6, ditto ditto. Martin | ¢ 1% assault . . .| Dec. 6, ditto ditto. i Daniel) <0)\./, stealing canes .| Dec. 17, ditto seven days’ hard labour. Prison Regulations, &c. 547 Prisoners Examined on 29th December. Michael Paul has been in gaol before; finds the ward too hot; pro- visions good ;_ no complaint. Martin has been sick since last week; was visited by the doctor the day before yesterday; got physic yesterday; is still much pained; scarce knows what he says. _ George Prince gets a quart of farine daily, and salt fish; could eat more ; ward too hot; cannot sleep. Richard Fabler has been in gaol before; gets enough to eat; does not find the ward always too hot, it is so sometimes at night. Daniel finds the ward too hot during the night, not during the day, as the door is generally open ; gets fish and farine ; could eat more; has uo other complaint. I visited the House of Correction several times, and always found it dirty; there is a privy off each ward; the smell was very offensive ; escape from the court-yard over the wall is easily practicable, and at present the more so, as there are casks and a hen-coop placed against it. On the 29th December saw the tread-wheel at work; its motion was regular, it revolved four times in a minute. Mr. Parie stated he paid to Mr. Young, his assistant, one dollar. or 4s. 2d. sterling weekly, and gives clothes occasionally; as there is no accommodation whatever, it seems impossible a trustworthy person would accept the office. No record kept at House of Correction by medical practitioner. Gaol. Parish of St. George Gaol, Kingstown.—The gaol is situated in the immediate vicinity of the last described House of Correction. It has two stories ; four airy rooms in the upper, each 20 feet by 14 feet 6 inches, With a gallery in front the whole length of the building, and eight feet Wide; these rooms are reserved for debtors; but if not so occupied, in case of serious illness, a prisoner is removed upstairs from the cells or lower story. Site and Description.—The lower story is divided into four cells, each 12 feet by 18 feet, and 10 feet high, with a gallery in front, as above; in these criminals, tried and untried, are placed. Cell No.1, tried prisoners ; No. 2, females ; No. 3, under sentence of death; No. 4, untried prisoners. The building is surrounded by a wall 14 feet high, topped with broken bottles and glass. Officers —John Bates examined ; has been gaoler for a year or more ; Was appointed by the Jate provost-marshal, salary 100 pounds currency ; has no paid assistant ; his family lives within the walls; he makes his Nephew assist occasionally in locking up the prisoners, but for this he Teceives no remuneration. The gaol is almost daily visited by the provost- Marshal, and sometimes at night. It has not been officially visited since his appointment, except by members of the committee of public buildings, and solely to inspect the buildings, and twice by the jurors after the court of grand session; has no duty out of gaol. Escapes.—One escape since his appointment; was at that time living alone ; was sick, required the aid of a prisoner, who not being locked up, took a board from his bed, placed it against the wall, and escaped; was apprehended next day. Classification.—Only to the extent of locking up the sexes in different Ttooms. ‘The yard is common to all classes, convicted and untried, males, females, and debtors. 2n2 St. Vincent. eee St. Vincent. 548 Prison Regulations, &c. Cleanliness.—All prisoners are obliged to wash their clothes and pe sons on Friday of each week, and may oftener if they like; a reservoi immediately behind the gaol, within the walls, for the purpose; common to all, supplied with water from a well within the walls also, Soap.—None allowed. Prison Dress.—None. Bedding.—None. Food.—Allowed 1s. daily (currency), for each criminal, by the provost’ marshal, and supplies each with 1}1b. of bread or yams, ora quartl farine and $]b. of fish; daily quantum of food always the same; but from Jate provost-marshal received 1s. 6d. currency for each; has been promised 1s. 3d. currency for this month, and after; debtors provide themselves, of are provided by creditor, at the rate of 2s. currency. N.B.—On the 20th December the above statement was corrected by provost-marshal, and 1s, 3d. currency admitted to have been received by the gaoler for each criminal daily, except during one month whentle prisoners were numerous. Prisoners.—Yen prisoners now in gaol; they are sometimes employed in breaking stones for the repair of roads; not so at present, ashe, tle gaoler, is sick, and cannot superintend ; they are not regularly supplied, and sometimes unemployed for months. Corrected by provost-marshal on 20th; no hard labour within the gaol. Rules.—Never saw any written or printed regulations for his guidante; was verbally instructed, and practised as follows : when a prisoner is coll mitted, until tried, one leg is placed every night in the bilboe irons, fixed at the foot of his bed; never deviates from this except in cases of sitk ness, or order of the provost-marshal, which is generally given after a month if the party is orderly; after conviction abides by the sentente passed. In case of misconduct, places the party in the bilboes, and reports the same to the provost-marshal the same or next day; general period 48 hours; never exceeded three days, and that about two months ago, @ notorious character, second consecutive year in confinement, Neve inflicted any other punishment ; locks up all criminals at five o’clock, Pals; doors unlocked at six o'clock next morning. From six to ten o’clock em ployed in cleaning their persons, cells, and getting breakfast; ten to fout o clock breaking stones, if supplied, otherwise locked up; four tone o’clock released for dinner, which is in the meantime prepared by a Pi soner, and at that hour locked up till six o’clock next morning. The above relates to all prisoners, tried or untried, not debtors, 0! sentenced to labour on tread-mill. Medical Practitioner.—Visits frequently, and always when sent fo" last visit a week ago. Divine Service.—Pray ers read every Sunday morning by one of ut Mico charity schoolmasters, by permission of the provost-marshal, No provision made. Books.—Is not in possession of gaol books of any description. No record of medical treatment kept in gaol. Matron.—None. Prison Regulations, 8c. 549 PRISONERS in Gaol 20th December, 1838. Offence. When Tried or Names. Committed. Untried. Pagotiam °'.;/.\ ditto! ii!) Ub Ot. IOL's, Githon ils ditto. Davy.) fet of GLO 4 %6 je! a) Oety) 123):,, ditto ditto. mill. bour. BRIAN) ole |) oy fh CibEOMe. aus). apy DeCun Satres auuae insane. Prisoners examined on 29th December, 1838, Noel.—Examined ; is on tread-mill, some days four, others six times, “depends on the weather, or Mr. Parie having something else to do; occupies cell No. 1; does not find it too cold; gets enough to eat; was well attended when sick; in wet weather, if the wind is high, it blows the water into the gutter or privy, on the bed, at the end next the gutter. George Drewitt.—Is on tread-mill sometimes four, at others five times a day; spells 20 minutes, at other times not so long; Mr. Parie is always present ; when they grind India corn, spell is most severe, and rate not regular; when in gaol, breaks stones ; is locked up from 6 p.m. to 6 o'clock a.m, never during the day; does not find cell No. 1 wet or cold; gets 14 1b. of bread or yams daily, and fish ; complains of mill, sometimes it goes as fast as a man can step, never had so easy a spell as this morn- ing when I was present, and believes it also the shortest ; can give no reason why the mill should be allowed to go so, except to clear the stones: of the corn; has not been sick. William Montgomery.—Is on tread-mill four or five times a day, believes for 17 or 18 minutes each time; commences at 6 o’clock a.m., works on the mill for 17 minutes, rests as long, works again 17 minutes, returns to gaol and sits idle, or breaks stones, as may be ; gets breakfast at 9 o’clock, is taken back to the house of correction at 10, and has some- times two spells as above, sometimes one, and one in the evening; the mill never went so slow as to-day, or for so short a period ; in wet weather, the wind, if high, blows the water out of the gutter or privy, on the bed in cell No. 1; prefers cell No. 1, because it is ventilated by two grated windows; the others are only ventilated by the grated door; gets enough _ to eat. Ben.—Breaks stones sometimes; is chiefly employed in cleaning the yard ; no complaint. Abraham.—is sometimes locked up al! day, at others breaking stones ; St. Vincent. Remarks and Sentences. Ben . . « «| bestiality, . .| Sept.13, 1837 | tried . .| tobe executed ; commuted to hard Jabour for life. Noel. . « «| felony « .~ «| Feb. 13, 1833 | ditto . .| twelve months’ imprison- ment, and three times whipped. Davy. . » «| ditto. .« . «| Feb. 13, ,, dittopresians ditto. Oe) 6s ee} Cutting and | Sept. 15, ,, untried .| to be tried at ensuing ses- maiming. sions, February next. William. < «| felony: . |. . F 0 For advancing cash, for diet, six per cent. Prison Regulations, §c. Form (A.) Rerurn of Prisoners in the Gaol at from 183 By whom committed. When admitted charged, 183 | tence, and date. When dis- | Under what sen- | Einclosure 4. Prenat Gane REGULATIONS. Wuereas by an Act of the Legislature of this Island, passed on or about the 6th day of June, in this present year, intituled “An Act to au- thorize the employment at Labour of Convicts under the Sentence of Death, but reprieved, or under Sentence of Transportation,” it is enacted, that the Governor or Commander-in-Chief, for the time being, may by any order or orders in Council, direct that any such offender or offenders shall be worked or employed upon the streets, or any other public works in the town of Searborough, or in the neighbourhood of such other place of con- finement, during the usual hours of labour, under the management of a superintendent or overseer; and also an Act, intituled, “ An Act for establishing certain Rules and Regulations respecting Persons sentenced. to Hard Labour,’’ passed on or about the 9th day of October, in the pre- Sent year. The sub-committee of the Privy Council, to whom it was referred to frame rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of the said Acts, submit the following for the approval of his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor : Rule I.—All persons confined in gaol under sentence of death, but reprieved, or under sentence of transportation, but whose sentences have been commuted to hard labour, and all persons sentenced to hard labour, by any one or more justices, shall be divided into the following classes, that is to say: First class—Shall consist of all able-bodied male felon convicts whose sentences have been commuted, who shall, when employed on public works without the prison walls, be clothed in a shirt, made of red and blue baize, striped longitudinally, with the word “ Felon,’’ in white let- ters, on the back, with trousers of the same, one ieg to be made of red, and the other of blue baize; a cap of yellow canvas, with the word “Felon,” in black letters, in front, and secured by similar fetters as are used for convicts in Great Britain, to prevent their escape oe the super- O Tobago. 562 Prison Regulations, Gc. tendent; always provided that the said fetters shall not exceed six pounts weight. Second class—Shall consist of all female felon convicts (and such age and infirm male convicts as shall be certified by the medical officer of the gaol to be incapable to work in the first class), and shall be employed at hard labour, within the walls of the gaol, in breaking of stones, or ail other useful employment, and shall be dressed in a regular and uniform gaol dress ; viz., the females in red baize petticoats and blue cotton shifts and the males to be dressed in the same manner as the first class. Third class—Shall consist of all prisoners sentenced to hard labour by any justice or justices of the peace, and to be worked upon the public streets or roads in the town of Scarborough, or the vicinity of the placed! their confinement, separately and apart from the first class, undera si perintendent, and shall be dressed in a regular and uniform gaol dress; viz., the males in green baize shirts and red baize trowsers, and canvas cap, and the females in red baize petticoats and blue cotton shifts, Rule II.—Previous to the first and third classes being turned out io work, their names shall always be called over by the keeper of the gadl in the presence of the superintendent or overseers, who shall, during the hours of labour, be responsible for the safe custody of all who are put under his or their charge; and on their return to gaol, the said superii- tendents shall in like manner call over their names in the presence of the said keeper of the gaol, and deliver them over to his custody, who shall be responsible for their safe keeping until again turned out to work. Ant in case of any contumacious or disorderly conduct on the part of any male felon convict, while under the direction of either the superintendent ot keeper of the gaol, he shall, on complaint before any one magistrate, be punished by solitary confinement for a period not exceeding 10 days, hatt Jabour on the treadmill not exceeding tive days, or corporal punishment not exceeding 30 stripes, at the discretion of the magistrate before whom the complaint is made. Rule III.—The respective classes shall be turned out under charge 0! their respective superintendents, at six o’clock in the morning, and coll tinue to labour until eight o’clock, when they shall be allowed one hours cessation from labour for breakfast, and at nine o’clock they will recom mence their labour, and work till twelve o’clock, when they shall be allowed until two o'clock in the afternoon for dinner; at which hour they wil resume their labour, and work until six o’clock in the evening, when they will be conveyed back into the custody of the keeper of the gaol, in tems of the second rule. Rule [V.—For any disorderly or contumacious conduct on the patl af the second class of prisoners, they shall be liable to punishment, a M discretion of any one magistrate, on complaint to him made, by solitary confinement for a period not exceeding 10 days, or hard labour of ine treadmill for a period not exceeding five days. Rule V.—Disorderly conduct on the part of any prisoner belonging 0 the third class shall be punished, if a male, by solitary confinement, - period not exceeding five days, or corporal punishment not exceeding ‘ stripes; and if a female, by solitary confinement for a period not i ing five days, at the discretion of any one justice. And in asta escape of any of the said prisoners, while at labour, under charge 0 superintendent, he or she shall be liable, when taken, to be ordered by ay Prison Regulations, §c. 563 one magistrate to labour in the first or second class, according to sex, Tobago, during the remaining term of their imprisonment. Rule VI —Such implements as may from time to time be required shall be supplied at the expense of the colony, on application of the superintend- ent to the provost-marshal, if in Scarborough, or to the nearest magistrate of any other gaol or place of confinement throughout the island. ti Rule VII.—Prisoners at hard labour, within the walls of the gaol, shall be entitled to the following daily allowances; that is to say, one and a i half pound of bread, or five pounds of yams, plaintains, sweet potatoes, or i other ground provisions, with a quarter of a pound weight of good salt \ fish; and those at labour within the walls of the gaol shall receive one and a quarter pound weight of bread, or four pounds of yams, or other ground provisions, together with a quarter of a pound of salt fish. And when the respective gangs are at work at a distance of more than a mile from the gaol or place of confinement, their meals shall be sent to them at the hours before mentioned, and when under that distance, the prisoners shall return to the prison for their breakfast and dinners. _ The superintendents of the respective gangs shall receive orders as to the work in which they are to be employed, through the keeper of the gaol, who will be instructed therein by the visiting magistrate or provost- marshal. Submitted. (Signed) D. M‘Keiniar, Chairman. Approved Ist Nov. 1838. Henry C. Dariine, Lieut.-Governor, Sw EL. J. Murray MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 19th Feb. 1839. Opn . p- ° WirH reference to your Lordship’s circular despatch of the 13th Jan. 25, 1839. of August last, I have the honour of herewith transmitting a despatch __N°- from his Excellency the Lieutenant-governor of Tobago, accom- panied by the Report of Mr. Kaye Dowland, inspector of prisons in the middle and leeward district of that island, from the gaols of Scarborough and Plymouth. Enclosure. Government-House, Tobago, Sir, 25th January, 1839. Wits reference to my Lord Glenelg’s circular despatch of 13th August, Jan. 1, 1839, 1838, transmitted to me by your Excellency on the 15th September, I have ————_—_ the honour to forward the report of Mr. Kaye Dowland, inspector of pri- sons in the middle and leeward districts of the island, for the gaols of Scarborough and Plymouth. A delay, consistent with the usual practice in this country, has prevented the gaol to windward from being yet completed. I had hoped that it would have been in operation some months past; but I am happy to say there has not been much occasion for it. The gaol in Scarborough has been more than equal to all our wants, notwithstand- 2a2 564 Prison Regulations, §c. ing that Mr. Dowland reports so many prisoners as 47 on the 12h September. This is, however, a very unusual number, the greatest that has em been in the gaol at any one time; and it will be seen that 26 of these wer petty offences, transient prisoners, most of whom were committed unde the Contract (or Wages) Act, and were probably released in a few days, As this fruitful source of complaint becomes better understood, commit ments under that Act become more rare, and I hope never again to sees many prisoners, in all the gaols collectively, at any one period. Mr. Dowland, who performs his duty with great zeal, and scrupulois attention to the promotion of the important object confided to him, his reported with such minuteness, that there is little for me to add. He represents many deficiencies in the establishment at Scarborough; such as want of a proper room for keeping the books of the prison, recell* ing persons on business, &c. &. &c. Yet it will be seen that it is rather the want of conveniences of which he complains than essentials; these, too, arising from the circumscribed extent of the gaol premises, which will scarcely admit of additional buildings. Mr. Dowland adverts to an advantage derivable in this particular, from the discontinuance of the treadmill, which I am most anxious to abolish We should thereby gain additional accommodation, and be relieved from a system of punishment which I have not found very effectual. I only hesitate in carrying this very desirable measure into effect untl ‘I hear whether the regulations lately established for working the penal [gongs are approved of, which I most earnestly hope will be the case. They have been framed with the utmost care to prevent any unneces sary pain, or restriction in the use of the limbs in the formation of the fetters, which, I have ascertained by persoval inspection, do not weigh quite six pounds. The irons round the ankle are covered with shreds a cloth, and the whole fastened round the waist by a leather strap. The clothing is, moreover, so constructed as to admit of its being opened, or taken off, without difficulty, for.any purpose. So that it will be seen the system is contrived more for the sake of warning and example, than with a view to inflicting any great punishment on the idividuals. I have explained to the parties that the length of time they may We the fetters will depend upon their own conduct, particularly those whose offences have been of the less serious nature. Much benefit has already been derived from this institution, which, when perfected by regulations (now under consideration) for turning the labour of the convict to pl? I able account, in which he may be allowed to participate in a small degre, will form, in my humble opinion, the least objectionable commulalG the more serious punishment that may be awarded by the criminal coul's for offences of the higher class. F, I feel it my duty, and it is one that affords me great pleasure, to Sa)» that the conduct of the gaol establishment in Scarborough has at all ptt claimed my approbation; and now, with the powers conferred by the " perial Act “ for Regulating Prisons,” I hope in a very short time fo na the gaols in this island as perfect in system and discipline as thel! extent and the means allotted for their support, will admit of. +1 how With respect to the gaol at Plymouth, Mr. Dowland’s Report will s the very limited use that is made of it.. It appears to be liable to ac serious objections which may render any further outlay on it inp I shall cause a particular inspection of it to be made by a bench 0 i gistrates, and a medical officer ; and if, by their report, its present 0 im tions and defects appear irremediable, I shall not hesitate to condem’™ Prison Regulations, §c. 565 though reluctant to put the colony to the loss of the money that has been so injudiciously expended in its erection. I have, &c., (Signed) Henry C. Darina. His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor. Major-General Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, Bart. Sir, Tobago, Ist January, 1839. In obedience to your Excellency’s letter of the 13th November, 1838, appointing me inspector of prisons in the middle and leeward districts of this island, and calling upon me to report upon the gaols of Scarborough and Plymouth, on the 1st of January, 1839, I beg to state that I have visited the different places of confinement, and have complied in every respect with the duties required of me by the Imperial Act, and with those expressed in your Excellency’s letter of instructions. This being my first Report, I shall take the liberty to proceed in detail with my observations as follows :— Scarsporouau GAOL. Site and Description of Scarborough Gaol.—The building is situated at the western end of the town of Scarborough, near the Bay Beach, at the foot of a hill, which, in a great degree, shelters it from the wind. The situation, consequently, is close, and hot at certain seasons, but to the Negro not objectionable or unhealthy, notwithstanding a small river passes close before it, which sometimes emits a disagreeable smell. The gaol has a basement and an upper story, and stands within a yard surrounded by a substantial stone-built wall, averaging from 10 to 11 feet in height, glazed with broken bottles at the top. The size of the gaol yard is 127 feet by 78. The basement portion of the prison comprises three well-ventilated rooms, four solitary cells, and passages. 1. Right room . . 13 ft. 7 in. by 13 ft. 0 in., and 12 ft. 0 in. in height. 2 Auett ditto: ive td, 3 10 0 ie. @ 3. Back ditto . 2 131) 4 100" 8 12).).0 i Solitary cell; ) 0G aaa 10. +6 2. i aA eal 6 6 12 0 3. ‘A Salt 2 a saan FOTO 4, + of hoe G ea, 1000 Passage up the centre of the gaol, between the rooms 21 ft.6in. by 8 ft. The upper story is comprised of four airy rooms, one of which is set apart for debtors, the other three for persons convicted of misdemeanors, and prisoners confined for trial; the passage is 21 ft. by 8 ft. 6 in., and is generally used as the chapel. The two front rooms are 13 ft. 8 in. by 10 ft. 5 in. wide, and 10 ft. high, The back rooms are. .13 °° 8 MOR HT ‘10 33 The windows up stairs are all glazed; the window-sills in a state of great dilapidation, being much destroyed by dry-rot. The flooring of all Tobago. 566 Prison Regulations, GC. the rooms is of board; there are also inclined deal benches for the pri soners to rest upon; the walls are good, but the roof in every part oft gaol requires immediate repair, and the iron-work is corroding for wait of paint. In the yard there is a good cooking-house, recently erected, measuring 14 feet by 10 feet, and 10 feet in height, the only objection to which is, shingled roof instead of tile. There is also a well of pure water, whic never fails yielding a sufficient supply for the use of the prison. The gaoler’s apartments are inconveniently small, being only 12 feet 1 inches by 11 feet, at the entrance or passage-room to the prison, and 10 | feet 11 inches by 8 feet, for the gaoler and his wife’s bed-room, 1, There is not a proper room for keeping the books of the prison, aul for receiving persons on business, &c. 2. There is not sufficient room for necessary stores. 3. There is no separate room for a hospital. 4. There is no convenient place for the prisoner’s ablution. 5. There is no strong room apart from the gaol for persons who have committed petty offences, and not yet carried before a magistrate. 6. There is no shed or convenient place for depositing the barrows all tools of the labourers, &c., nor for working under in rainy weather. To carry these improvements into effect would require a sum of pror bably not less than 200/., but it appears to me the gaol is too confined in its limits to admit of the required accommodation ; if the treadmill, how- ever, were to be removed, (and if the present desirable system of labour be continued, I do not see any urgent reason why it may not be dispensel with), I should consider that important improvements may be made will out considerable outlay, and without any inconvenient encroachment the gaol yard. The prison is kept very clean, and is capable of containing 54 prisoners, provided there were no debtors. The number in the gaol at any one time never exceeded 47 (this was on the 12th September last); out of thal number there was only one debtor. Maledebtor 3 2 to... 2 Se Male CONVIEL Ne wis a. te elec > ee Males for trial in Q. B. ih ie hi pis ge Females ditto Reel ee Te ht tong iat i Se ar 19 Males for petty offences . . . . «© IS Females MIG ee at 5 kn af Toran. 7, ¢aaee The gaoler informs me that the apartments were then much crow and that the prisoners complained of want of room at night. fi room they do not find fault with, but at that date, to keep up the ie ‘ and strict classification of persons, the gaoler was compelled to place 1 teen in one room. Prison Regulations, §c. 567 Number of Prisoners in Gaol 31st December, 1838.—There now re- mains in gaol this 31st, 1838 :— Male debtors? 3°" 2) VOOR re Semis oma yg 1 Male convicts . Pn WMP kas Gh Pa 14 Pemalerditte Ve oo. So Py ey 4 — 18 Males for trial, in QO: Be.) gc aa es 2 Males for petty offences . 5 « 2 » « 6 Females ditto Pamir wet ini nic tatty il — 7 TOTAL *. e120 Treadmil].—Since the coming into operation of the Hard Labour Act on the 5th of December last, the treadmill has been entirely disused, the system of labour on the roads not only being of greater public service, but a more healthy occupation. Formerly prisoners, after working their period of ten minutes, used to descend from the mill, copiously exuding at every pore; in this state, which, in the case of the negro, is generally offensive, they were returned to their respective rooms. Now the rooms are, for certain periods in the day, left empty, admitting of their proper cleaning and ventilation. The diameter of the tread-wheel LD GAEL BURL SAO LD The breadth of tread La MPR ae Mie by ne omar mer Te OMG The rise ofditto . s .». « abba Ripe es aay ue Cet Ge The length of the mill iond-aaanda . i AO 8 The Aaber of tread boards in the oianinfotence 23 0 The circumference . . é Piette Ik L teen) The length of the mill shed, 28 by pL: dnd - « 12 Oinheight. The rate of revolution is regulated by a lever, under the guidance of the turnkey. The mill moves easily; the maximum of the prisoners’ work upon it is 90 minutes in a day, or ten minutes in every working hour; only five are admitted on at a time (dividing the sexes). They are strapped by the wrists to the bar, if very awkward or obstinate, to prevent injury to themselves. Six rounds in one minute is the general rate. Classification of Prisoners.—Males and females are worked separately. Convicts are separated from prisoners sentenced for petty offences. Debtors are separated from the other prisoners. The gaoler and turnkey lock and unlock all the rooms and solitary cells, and at sundown the keys are deposited with the gaoler, who is a married man, and who lives within the gaol. Diet.— At Scarborough the general diet is five pounds of yams, plan- tains, or sweet potatoes, and a Y quarter of a pound of salt fish per diem. Sometimes 4d. worth of rice, 3d. worth of bread, and a quarter of a pound of salt fish. In solitary confinement prisoners have 8d. worth of bread. No money is allowed to the prisoners in lieu of provisions. Invalids Diet.—The sick get bread and teaat morning, either beef or chicken soup, with rice, at nogn, or whatsoever may es ordered by the medical attendant. Tobago, Tobago. 568 Prison Regulations, §c. Washing.—There are large tubs prepared for complete personal ablutiq every Wednesday and Sunday mornings at half-past 5 o’clock; theme are in charge of the turnkey, the women in charge of the most trusty female prisoner. They also wash themselves every morning: soap is allowed, and they are not restricted to water, obtained from the well in tle gaol yard. Clothing and Bedding.—Female prisoners, and those whose station ot condition require it, are found in Osnaburg palliasses stuffed with hay, al in blankets. Medical Attendance.—A surgeon attends when called upon, and makes his charge to the colony, but there is no regular attendant appointed to the gaol. Matron.—The gaoler’s wife attends the females when ill, and cooks for the sick prisoners when required, but not anything is charged or paid fit the office. Gaolers and Officers. James Mullo, gaoler, a married man, aged 35, salary 501. Thomas Wardsdale, turnkey, a married man, aged 35, salary 25/. Charles J. Le Plastrier, esq., provost-marshal. James H. Keens, esq., visiting magistrate. Kaye Dowland, esq., inspector of prisons. Rey. John Vincent, rector, visiting minister. No surgeon nor no matron is appointed to the gaol. Charles Deleyre, superintendent of convict gang, salary 601. Henry Simpson. assistant superintendent, salary 35/. Penal Gang.—The penal gang comprises three classes -— First Class.—The first class are male felons whose sentences have been commuted from sentence of death and transportation to hard labour 0 the public roads; they are fettered at the lees with chains not exceeding six pounds in weight, and are clothed in red and blue baize at the expense of the colony. They are on the public roads, if the weather permits, every day for nine working hours, with the exception of Sundays and Wednesdays ; on the latter day they do not turn out after breakfast, am are attended by the Rev. Mr. Vincent, the rector, who affords them tell gious instruction. Second Class.—The second class consists of female felon convicts (ant aged and infirm male convicts), whose work is confined within the ga0 walls in cleaning the prison, washing clothes, baking bread, and in break ing stones when not otherwise employed. They are clothed in red and blue by the colony. Third Class.—The third class are persons committed to hard labour ol the roads for petty theft and misdemeanors ; this class is not clothed in gaol dresses, and is kept separate from the convicts. Silence is enjoined when at work, and no stranger permitted to convers? with them. No superintendent to resort to in bad language, nor to strike a prisoner, but to appeal to a magistrate. If it be proved that a male felon convict has misbehaved himself, he may be sentenced to solitary confinemen, hard labour, or corporal punishment, as limited by the gaol regulations. Dress, hours of labour, diet, &e., see printed Penal Gang Regulations annexed. Prison Regulations, §c. 569 The duties imposed upon the hard-labour gang have been satisfactorily performed, and the superintendent’s conduct has merited approbation. Implements used.—The implements used by the penal gang are hoes, shovels, pickaxes, cutlasses, hammers, trays; and wheelbarrows. c colour; 4, occupation; 5, how many times committed before during the present year ; 6, who can read and who cannot; 7, when admitted; 8, by whom committed; 9, crime; 10,sentence; 11,date when discharged ; 12, official visits and remarks. Books kept.—Record book: gives the name of prisoner; 2, sex; 3, 2.—Hard labour order book ; contains visiting magistrate’s orders. 3.—First class penal gang labour book, gives the number daily at work, their conduct, &c. 4.—Second class penal gang labour book, gives the number daily at work, their conduct, &c. 5.—Third class penal gang labour book, gives the number daily at work, their conduct, &c. 6.—Diet book, gives the number fed daily, and what food has been given. 7.—Medical journal, contains notice of visits, prescriptions, &c. 8.—List of rural constables of the island. The gaol regulations are affixed in a conspicuous place in the prison. Gaol Fees——Gaol entrance and delivery inallcases . . . 4s. Od. Diet per Cie, ire ve sa. a dt ebhis aiid ia ae en nan Ce For advancing cash for diet, six per cent. There are no other fees whatever. Complaints.—The prisoners have no complaints to make; they have conducted themselves collectively in gaol, and in the penal gang, hitherto so well that no complaint can be made against them. General Nature of Crime.—The general nature of crime during the last quarter may be classed as follows :— Ist. Idle and disorderly conduct, assaults, &e. 2d. Breaches of the Contract Act. 3d. Petty thetts. Ath. There have been two male prisoners lodged in gaol for trial before the courts, both for felony, not of an aggravated cha- racter, Cat-o’-nine-tatls.—The cat-o’-nine-tails has only been used once since the Ist of October, and then in my presence, upon a convict who had se- riously injured another by cutting his face open with a stone. PLymoutrH GAOL. Site and Description of Plymouth Gaol.—The building is situated at the western extremity of the town of Plymouth, almost immediately over the entrance to the Great Courland River; there are no dwelling-houses within 100 yards, or thereabouts. The gaol has only a basement-story, and stands within a yard sur- rounded by a stone-built wall, averaging about eight feet in height, glazed with broken bottles. It consists of two rooms, with two windows each, not glazed, with boarded floors, each measuring 15 feet 4 inches by 14 feet, and 10 feet in height, | Tobago. Tobago. 570 Prison Regulations, &c. Passage between the front rooms, 15 feet 5 inches by 6 feet; brik floor. Six solitary cells, with loop-holes to each; boarded floors; 8 feet} inches by 5 feet, and 10 feet in height. Passage, adjoining solitary cells, 34 feet 10 inches by 8 feet 3 inches, In the yard there is a kitchen, 10 feet 10 inches by 8 feet, and 1 feet 3 inches high. Two rooms under the same roof with the kitchen; the first, 15 feet 2 inches by 8 feet, and 7 feet high; the second, which forms a passage into the gaol-yard from without, is 15 feet 2 inches by 10 feet, and 7 feet high, Another separate building, occupied by the gaoler, containing two rooms, and a passage into the gaol-yard from without, viz.:— Bed-room, 15 feet 2 inches by 8 feet, and in height 7 feet, Sitting-room, 15 feet 2 inches by 10 feet 2 inches, and in height 7 feet. Passage between, 15 feet by 15 feet 2 inches, and in height 7 feet. The flooring is all of board, and in good order; at present there are no inclined boards for prisoners to rest upon, nor proper utensils for the pr soners; the roof leaks, and is approaching a state of serious dilapidation on the south, or river side; it is much infested by wood-ants. The iron work requires painting. Of the convenience of position to the public of this prison, or of the healthiness of its site, I do not profess to be a judge; but I feel that itis necessary to apprise your Excellency that the gaoler has complained (0 me that his own health, his brother’s, his housekeeper’s, and that of some of the few prisoners who have been confined in it, have complained of . fever and ague, and affections of the bowels. I must inform your Excellency that this gaol is built of a marine line: stone, or coral rock, which, from its porous nature and saline qualities, imbibes the rain or damp atmosphere in the wet seasons, so much %, that the walls within side exude with moisture. Its contiguity to the entrance of the Great Courland River, where Is frequently a conflux of mud, sand, brackish and stagnant water, which's said to cause an effluvia, and which reaches the gaol, may either create 0! conduce to disease. : The gaoler complains of a cold, damp, and disagreeable vapour walling across the gaol-yard from the Courland River and its neighbourhood, from five o’clock in the evening to nearly seven o’clock in the morning. He attributes this damp exhalation not only to the river and its embank ments, but to the large tract of swamp or morass, covered with reeds and bush, which lies to windward of the gaol. Another likely cause of damp and cold affecting this building, particu larly the solitary cells, is every room being on the ground-floor. The gaoler informs me that the only water he can procure is about @ quarter of a mile distant; it is brackish and disagreeable, not having@ drip-stone to filter it; the river water, he informs me, 1s worse. I When the rains are heavy, the water settles much in the gaol-yard:_ would be very desirable to have a trench or gutter round the foundation of the prison, for the purpose of keeping the solitary cells as free from damp as possible. I would also recommend that narrow trenches be & cavated in different parts of the yard, sloping towards the river. The first prisoner admitted into Plymouth gaol was on the 10th 0 August, 1838, Prison Regulations, §c. 571 The number of persons committed for petty offences in Aumisah (8 UKE § OC © in Mealeg) ta Females 5 — 9 September sou 6 ae Ce ep Males 2 6 Females 6 — 12 Oatabew ? the visiting magistrates. Prison Regulations, &c. JT have, &e., (Signed) Kaye Dowtanp, Inspector of Gaols for the Middle and His Excellency Maj-Gen. Darling, Leeward Districts of Tobago. (WC UCe. Vale. Sir H. J. Murray MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 20th March, 183%, WitH reference to my despatch of the 19th ultimo, No. 5, | have the honour of transmitting, for your Lordship’s information, coples of a letter from his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of Tobago, accompanied by an additional rule relative to the prisoners in gaol under sentence of hard labour in that colony, in lieu of transporté: tion. Enclosure 1. Government House, Tobago, 11th March, 1839. Wiru reference to my despatch, 25th January, No. 8, I beg leave l@ inclose the copy of a Minute of a sub-committee of Her Majesty’s Coun cil, whom I requested to take into consideration the subject referred tom the report relative to the prisoners in gaol under sentence of hard Jabour, in lieu of transportation. 5 [ have much satisfaction in acquainting you, for my Lord Glenelg’s information, that I have ordered the fetters to be removed, and a molt cleanly and serviceable dress to be substituted for the one at first adopted, which was found, upon a little wear, to be subject to many objections: The Council were not of opinion that a system of management by which a part of the convict’s earnings might be appropriated to his ow use, was called for in the present state of the colony, on the erounds that the reasons for the practice which exists in England, do not apply to the la- bouring classes in this community and climate ; it being unfortunately # fact, that an able-bodied man, on being dismissed from gaol, may instal pass into lucrative employment, if he be disposed ; his necessities agai Sir, Prison Regulations, §c. 573 the climate, in the way of clothing (as a labourer) being very little thought of. I have not yet caused the intended inspection of the gaol at Plymouth to be made, it being very seldom occupied, and it bemeg considered de- sirable that experience should be obtained of the effect of the present dry weather in removing the general dampness which has been complained of. I apprehend that the evil will be found in the quality of the material, and the, remedy not easy. Ihave, &c. His Excellency (Signed) Henry Daring, Sir EK. J. M. MacGregor, Bart. Lieutenant-Governor. &e. &e. &e. Enclosure 2. AopitionaLt Rute.—29th January, 1839. _- Wuenrzas from the difficulty experienced in procuring dresses according to the foregoing rules, it is hereby declared, that in lieu of them, the males of the Ist class shall be furnished with trowsers and shirts of Osnaburgh or coarse duck, with the word “ felon,” in blue letters, on the back of the shirt, the cap to continue as at present. The males of the 3rd class to be furnished with the same dress, without the word “ felon ”’ on the shirt or cap. The females of both classes to have a shift and petticoat of the same cloth. Each prisoner to have two suits, for the same of comfort and cleanli- ness; and in addition to be provided, the males with a jacket, and the females with a wrapper of good blue Pennistone, as a protection in wet weather. The sub-committee recommend to his Excellency in Council, the pro- priety of releasing the male felons from their chains, in consequence of their good and peaceable conduct since they have been at labour, subject to be re-fettered in case of the contravention of any of the rules, by order of any two magistrates. The sub-committee also recommend, that the gaoler or superintendent keep a regular journal of the labour of all the prisoners ernployed at hard labour, for the purpose of laying the same before the Legislature every six months, with the view of exhibiting the value of their labour, as a set- off against the expenses incurred on their account, and beg to submit the following scale of wages for the different classes, confident from their own observation, that if properly looked after, they are not taken at too high a rate. Able-bodied males of the first and third classes. ls. 4d. per diem; fe- males of third class, ls. per diem; females of second class, employed in gaol, 1s. per diem. (Signed) D M‘Keuzar, Chairman. (True copy.) (Signed) BK. L. Darina. (True copy.) (Signed) E. J. Murray MacGrecor, Governor. Tobago. al \ ite i } ii Ft 4 i Tobago. Act, No. 320. Preamble. 574 Prison Regulations, §c. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. Murray MacGiego, 12th July, 1839. I uave to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No, 9,0! the 20th of March last, with a communication from the Lieutenant Governor of Tobago, enclosing a rule made by a sub-committee d the Council of that island in regard to prisoners in gaol whose sen tences had been commuted from transportation to hard labour, Having examined the documents which you have transmitted, | consider that the regulation in question is fit and proper, an opinion in which the inspectors of prisons whom I have consulted on the subject concur. Sir H. J. Murray MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 21st March, 183%, Witx reference to your Lordship’s despatch of the 21st of January last, Tobago, No. 53, I have the honour of transmitting to your Lordship “ An Act for establishing certain Rules and Regulations respecting Persons sentenced to Punishment by Hard Labout.” Enclosure 1. Extract of a Letter from Lieutenant-Governor Daruine to Govemor Sir E. J. Murray Macarzeor, dated Tobago, 11th March, 1839, I sHoutp with the utmost reluctance announce any fatal objection 10 the Bill (“ An Act for establishing Rules and Regulations respecting Persons sentenced to Punishment by Hard Labour’), from the operation of which the very best results have been experienced. The effect on the minds of the licentious has been beyond my most sanguine expectation, inso much that I should regard the dissolution of the system, by the rejection of the Bill, as a very great misfortune to this community. No convicts under similar offences can have less to complain of. They have in-fact no complaint to make, while the example has proved highly beneficial in deterring from the commission of crimes of the graver de- scription. We have now but three prisoners for trial at the criminal court in Apt, and these for comparatively minor offences. I therefore most earnestly hope this Bill will pass into law. (No. 320.) An Act for establishing certain Rules and Regulations respecting Persous sentenced to Punishment by Hard Labour. Wuereas it is expedient that certain Rules and Regulations should be established respecting Persons sentenced to Punishment by Hard Labout, we therefore, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, his Excel- lency Major-general Henry Charles Darling, Lieutenant-governor al Commander-in-Chief in and over the said Island of Tobago and its de- pendencies, the Council, and General Assembly of the same, do humbly pray Your most Excellent Majesty that it may be enacted, Enclosure 2. | Prison Regulations, §c. 579 And be it and it is hereby enacted, by the said Henry Charles Darling, Tobago. by and with the advice and cousent of the said Council and General Assembly in session assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the treadmill E be now erected in the gaol in the town of Scarborough shall continue to be Scarbounne | kept under the care of the provost-marshal of the said island, or his lawful under the care deputy, who is hereby required and directed to employ a fit and proper of the provost- person to be keeper of and superintend the same in person; and when and ™arshal, who as soon as a treadmill shall be erected in the windward quarter of this mee island, it shall be lawful for his Excellency the Lieutenant-governor or pematoudean Commander-in-Chief of the said island, to appoint a proper person to be Lieutenant-go- keeper and superintend the samein person ; and the said provost-marshal, vernor to ap- or his lawful deputy, and the said superintendent so to be appointed as ea aforesaid, shall be respectively entitled to receive for the same, out of the winaward public treasury of this island, a salary at and after the rate of 50/. sterling treadmill,when money per annum, and the provost-marshal, or his lawful deputy, and the erected. said superintendent ‘shall respectively keep and observe as well the rules ssa and regulations which the Court of King’s Bench may hereafter establish co Pe ; respecting persons sentenced to hard labour, as well as the rules and regu- Rules and re- lations hereby established ; and the superintendent shall be the keeper of gulations to be any house of correction or place of coufinement that may be established observed by su- in the said Windward District. -pennhengean And be it and it is hereby enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that Clause 2. Whenever any person shall be convicted of any misdemeanour or felony, ree whereof the consequence shall not be death, it shall and may be lawful for pereons guile the court before whom any such offender may be convicted, or which by law of misdemea- is authorized to pass sentence upon any such offender, to award and order nor or felony (if such court should think fit) sentence of imprisonment with hard labour, pa ea j either upon the treadmill or in such other way as the court may direct, in any olen fee lieu of any other punishment which may be inflicted on any such offender pishment by any laws in force before the passing of this Act; and every such offender which may be shall thereupon suffer such sentence, in such place and in such time as ee such court shall think fit to direct. passing off And be it and it is hereby enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that all Act. persons who shall or may be sentenced to labour at and upon either of the Nas 3. said treadmills shall labour thereon daily (Sundays excepted) from six 5") 0 aL o'clock in the morning to six o’clock in the evening, allowing one hour for mil, breakfast and two hours for dinner, and that the spell shall not exceed ten Spell not to Minutes in each working hour, the duration of which spell shail be deter- exceed ten mi-” mined by the court or magistrate by whom the person is committed to hea eek labour thereon; and the provost-marshal, or his lawful deputy in Scar= puration of borough, and the superintendent of the said treadmill to windward, are spell to be de- hereby respectively directed and required to furnish, at the public expense termined by blankets for such persons as may be sentenced to labour on the said tread- as ea mills, for the purpose of wrapping up such persons when relieved from Bice ihe their spells thereon ; and shall also respectively provide, at the public ex- furnished by pense, and cause to be kept a book wherein they shall respectively enter the provost- the names of every person sentenced to work on such treadmill of which mere pes they are the superintendent, the date of their commitment, and the time i ae oe for which they may be sentenced and committed to hard labour respec- Record-book lively thereon. of commitment And be it and it is hereby enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that in ees Case any person or persons who shall be sentenced and adjudged to labour Clause at and upon either of the said treadmills, shall complain to the superin- peysons com- tendent thereof, that he, she, or they, is or are unable through sickness, plaining of 576 Prison Regulations, §c. weakness, or otherwise, to undergo such punishment, the said superin: tendent in Scarborough is hereby strictly required and enjoined, imme. inability to diately to report such complaint to the medical practitioner that may labour on hereafter be appointed to attend the gaol, but if no one isso appointed, ioe then tothe next nearest medical practitioner; and the said superintendent nearest medi- to windward shall in like manner report to the next nearest medical prac. cal practitioner titioner, and if the opinion of such medical practitioner be that such person by superin- or persons is or are unable safely to undergo such punishment at and Upon Anon ay the said treadmill, then the superintendent is hereby required not to com ported by me- pel such person or persons complaining to undergo such punishment ull dical practi. the opinion of the medical practitioner be afterwards obtained, that such tioner inca- person or persons may safely undergo the same; but if the opinion of such pable of work- medical practitioner be that the person or persons so alleging himsell Pan: re. herself, or themselves, to be unable to undergo such punishment, is orate ported able to able to undergo and perform such labour as and upon the treadmill t0 undergo and which he, she, or they shall be sentenced or adjudged, it shall and may perform labour be lawful for the said superintendent, and he is hereby required to compel Seto), isch person or persons to undergo and perform the same, by solitary con superintendent |. to compel the Hnement. same by soli- And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that whenever any ea person shall be adjudged and condemned by any justice or justices to im Clause 5 prisonment with hard labour, it shall and may be lawful for such justice Persons com. @! justices to order and direct, if he or they shall think proper, that the mitted for mis- hard labour which such person so condemned and adjudged (unless he ot demeanors she be a felon convict) shall perform, shall be performed upon the roads, may be worked hihways, and streets, of the town or parish in which the gaol wherelo ee: Oa such person has been committed is situate, and in repairing, mending, ant highways. clearing the same; and for the purpose aforesaid, all persons so condemned and adjudged shall be formed into a penal gang, to work at such times and So a ee such manner, and under such regulations and restrictions, and subject tions in Coun. tO Such superintendence and control as the Governor, Lieutenant-govern0, cil. or other officer administering the government in council shall direct and appoint: provided always that such persons so condemned shall not be a an employed or worked with felons; and if any person so adjudged and cot t dicate d demned shall escape or fly from the custody of the superintendent aps with felons, pointed to superintend his or her labour on the penal gang in which stich Escape how person is worked or employed, such persons shall be liable to the same punishable. penalties to which he or she would be liable for an escape from clos? prison, Passed the House of General Assembly, this 25th day of Septet ber, 1838. Tobago. Governor to (Signed) H. R. Hamiron, Speaker of the House of General Assembly: (Signed) James NICHOLSON, Clerk of the Assembly. Passed the Board of Legislative Council, this 5th day of October, 1838, (Signed) Joun Tuornton, (Signed) Jos, Scory, President: Clerk of the Council. T assent to this Bill, (Signed) Hen. C. Dartine, Lieutenant-govern! Tobago, 9 October, 1838. Duly proclaimed this 9th day of October, b (Signed) C. J. Le Prasrrisr, Provost-Marshal Genel Prison Regulations, §C. Ott The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. Murray MacGregor, Tobago. 23rd August, 1839. Havine referred to the Inspectors of Prisons for England:and mn, (2.) p. 234, Wales your Despatch, No. 10, of the 2nd March, enclosing an Act passed by the Legislature of the Island of Tobago, for establishing rules and regulations respecting persons sentenced to punishment by hard labour, I have now the honour of enclosing to you the Report of those functionaries, and to desire that you will instruct the Lieu- tenant-Governor to recommend to the local legislature an amend- ment of that part of the law which authorises the employment of prisoners in penal gangs on the public streets. Although the enact- ment is, as the inspectors have observed, sanctioned by the Order in Council, yet I feel convinced that the Council and Assembly will concur with me in thinking that a clause introduced into that Order, without due consideration, ought not to be drawn into a precedent after the inadvertency has been pointed out, an inadvertency which, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, I have no hesitation in acknowledging. Sir, Whitehall, 15 August, 1829. I am directed by Lord John Russell to transmit to you, to be laid before the Marquis of Normanby, with reference to your letter of the 17th ult., the inclosed Report of the Inspectors of Prisons, upon the Act passed by the legislature of the Island of Tobago, for establishing rules and regula- tions respecting persons sentenced to punishment by hard labour. The Act is also herewith returned to you. Iam, &c., James Stephen, Esq., (Signed) S. M. Pai.uipprs. Sir, Raymond Buildings, 13th August, 1839. WE beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 18th ultimo, transmitting for our consideration and report, by direction of Lord John Russell, a letter from Mr. Stephen, with an Act passed by the legis- lature of the Island of Tobago, for establishing rules and regulations respecting persons sentenced to punishment by hard labour. It is the object of this Act to prescribe two descriptions of hard labour, viz., the tread-wheel, and the working in penal gangs in the public streets. In regard to the enactment of tread-wheel labour, we beg to observe that his Excellency Sir William Colebrooke, who has given great attention to the subject of prison discipline, strongly objects to the use of the tread- wheel in the colonies under his government, and has uniformly urged its abolition. We are not, however, in possession of the ground of his ob- jection; and as our acquaintance with the local circumstances of the colonial prisons, and with the effects of the climate upon prisoners who work on the treadwheel, is very limited, we do not feel ourselves justified in suggesting any alteration in those parts of the Act which authorise this description of labour. With reference to the employment of prisoners in penal gangs, we cannot too earnestly repeat the objections which we have already 9) Pp Honduras. 578 Prison Regulations, §c. urged against it, from a firm persuasion that no beneficial discipline cm be adopted while prisoners are exposed to a punishment so degrading We believe that this clause of the Act is founded upon an Order in Cou cil, dated the 7th September last, for the suppression of vagrancy in tle colony, and in which the working in penal gangs is specifically authorised, We, therefore, have considerable difficulty in suggesting the abolition ofa system which has so recently received the sanction of Her Majesty’s Go vernment. We feel, however, the importance of the subject so strongly, that we cannot refrain from requesting that Lord John Russell would submit to the Marquis of Normanby our opinion of the inexpediency of confirming this part of the enactment. We herewith return Mr. Stephen’s letter, together with the Tobago Act, We are, &c. (Signed) Wma. Crawrorp, Wm. RussEL1, LInspectors of Prisons, S. M. Phillipps, Esq. &e. &e, &c. Bae Prison Regulations, Sec. 579 LEEWARD ISLANDS. Stir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 28th March, 1839. Leeward Islands. I wave the honour to forward to your Lordship the prison UI. p. 64. regulations which have been framed in Dominica, Montserrat, St. Christopher, Nevis, and the Virgin Islands, under the Act of Parliament I and 2 Vict., c. 67, and copies of my correspondence on the subject with the Officers administering the Governments in those islands. From these papers your Lordship will perceive that consider- able delays have occurred, and that the regulations are still in several instances imperfect, on which account I am unprepared to recommend their confirmation. , In circulating the regulations which I had passed in Council for the prisons in Antigua, I had in view to assimilate those of the other islands, as far as local circumstances would permit, and which, in a considerable degree, has been accomplished; but it will be apparent to your Lordship, from the correspondence, that a difficulty has arisen in obtaining the means of carrying the new regulations into effect, either from an alleged deficiency of re- sources, or from the indisposition of the assemblies to apply them ; and on this subject I am bound to observe, that the assembly of Antigua has failed with the others to render the assistance re- quired, although in accordance with the recommendation of a joint committee of the Council and Assembly before the act of Parlia- ment was in force. In reference to the observationsof the Commissioners of Prison Discipline, enclosed with your Lordship’s despatch, No. 97, dated. Downing-street, the 14th Dec. 1838, I request your attention to the observations contained in my circular letter of the 28th instant, especially in regard to out-door labour for male adults. The prisons at present afford such imperfect means of classifi- cation and even of séparation, that to employ the men within the walls, even if practicable, would-be attended with injurious con- sequences to the other prisoners; but I am further of opinion, for reasons to which I have before adverted, that their employ- ment without the walls is unattended with the objections applying to itin England. But whatever view may ultimately be taken of the subject, the prisons must undergo material alteration, and means of in-door employment must be provided in them before this practice will admit of being altered. On a consideration of the difficulties which are likely to prevail against the full accomplishment of the intentions of Her Majesty’s Government and of Parliament, and the consequences of sub- jecting prisoners to the rigours of a system comprehending certain provisions for their benefit which are withheld, I have not over- looked the authority conferred on the Governor by the 9th clause of the Act of Parliament; but as the enforcement of this clause, ae 2 Leeward Islands. 580 Prison Regulations, &c. in consequence of the failure of the local Assemblies to apply the necessary funds, would probably lead to resolutions that the im: provements were unnecessary, the Governor might still beef without means of carrying out the intentions of Parliament, as mn the case of the judicial reforms ; and if the suggestions contamel in my despatch, No. 11, general, 8th February, should be ap- proved by your Lordship, it may merit consideration whether provision for the colonial prisons should not be made under any Act which may provide for the judicial establishments, whereby disputes with the local Assemblies would be altogether avoided. It would assuredly be more constitutional that such provision should be made by the Assemblies, or, if a general revenue should be applied, that it should be raised by a general Legislature; but as I have on former occasions stated my views upon this pomt1t is only necessary in this place to express my conviction that these necessary reforms cannot be much longer delayed without serious injury to the inhabitants of these colonies. Enclosure. (Circular.) Antigua, 18th March, 1839, I forward, for your information and guidance, in conjunction with the Council at —, copy of a despach from Lord Glenelg, enclosing the observations of the Inspectors of Prison Discipline in England and Wales on the regulations for the government of prisons in Antigua; and I recom mended the adoption of the suggestions of the Commissioners, by passill supplementary regulations in conformity thereto, should the original regi lation for prisons in —— have already been forwarded. The only exception I propose is in regard to the 18th clause, it appear ing to me that there is an essential difference in the effect of out-door labout for male adults in the tropical colonies and in England. The defective means of separation in the colonial prisons, and the difli culty of providing suitable in-door employment for male adults, are gent rally experienced ; and if they are properly classed, and silence duly pre- served by competent overseers, the objection applying in England to such employment for convicts in these islands will be, in a great measillt superseded. As the offences committed in these colonies are so rarely of a grave chee racter, and as there is a constant and effective demand for labour, it cannot occur that a man discharged from prison can fail to obtain immediate employment. The discipline of hard labour on roads and in quarries is the best oF rective for slothful habits, which are a fertile source of vagrancy and the petty offences which are most prevalent, and, by punishing refractory Gol ° duct with solitary confinement and low diet, labour and adequate subsist ence become associated in their minds. The general disposition and habits of the enfranchised peasantry ® fae vourable to the application of these views, which experience has shown 10 be effectual in the suppression of crime. It would undoubtedly be obec tionable that persons committed for breach of contract should be worked in gangs with criminal offenders; and this should be prohibited by the regulations. To the Officer administering the Government of -———. Prison Regulations, &c. ANTIGUA. Reecutations for the Government of the Prisons in Antigua. Antigua. — Tue Act of Parliament (1 & 2 Vict., c. 67) having provided that rules III. p. 73. for the government of the prisons in Her Majesty’s colonies in the West Indies should be made by the Governor in Council of each colony, the fol- lowing are hereby declared to be the rules which have been approved by the Governor in Council for the prisons of this island, and are to be observed by all persons concerned :— 1. The gaol and house of correction, and also any other establishments which may be formed within the definition of the Act of Parliament, are to be under the superintendence of a board of six magistrates, to be appointed by the governor, of whom the chief justice and the attorney-general shall be two. 2. The board to meet the first Monday in every month; three to be a quorum : and to report to the governor on the state of the establishments, the condition of the prisoners, and to recommend any alterations or im- provements which may be required to give effect to the rules, and espe- cially such as may require expense to be incurred. 3. The immediate charge of the two establishments, and the enforcement of the rules, to be entrusted to the provost-marshal. 4. To each establishment there shall be appointed by the governor a gaoler or keeper, and a matron (the wife of the keeper to be preferred, if deemed competent), also one purveyor for both establishments. 5. The gaolers or keepers not to be under 25 years of age, nor exceeding 50 years; to reside respectively within the buildings; not to engage in any trade or occupation, or derive any benefit directly or indirectly from the supply of the prisoners, nor take any fee or perquisite from them ; nor per- mit any wine, spirits, or fermented liquors to be brought to the prison with- out permission from the surgeon, for the use of the sick. 6. It will bethe duty of the keepers and matrons to examine all prisoners on entrance, taking from them all knives and other instruments; to enjoin all prisoners to observe strict silence, and warn them of the punishment for any infringement of the prison rules, and to visit every ward and cell at least twice in each day. 7. The goalers or keepers are to keep journals for record of all occur- rences, to be open to examination of visiting justices. 8. Infringement of prison rules to be punished on authority of the keeper, who is to hear and determine all complaints: viz.— 1. Disobedience of the rules of silence and cleanliness, both of which to be strictly enforced. 2. Assaults by the prisoners on each other, or on any officer of the establishment. 3. Abusive and profane language. 4, Idleness or neglect of work, or wilful destruction of tools or implements. 9. The keeper may inquire into complaints under the foregoing heads, and order any offender into close confinement in the solitary cells on bread and water ; or in case of males, may put them into the stocks, reporting the case to the provost-marshal within two hours; who may order such punishment for any term not exceeding three days; and in any flagrant case of violent or refractory conduct, the board of justicés may sentence the Antigua. 582 Prison Regulations, &c. prisoners to such punishment for seven days, in addition to any previon sentence. 10. The keepers to assist any prisoners desirous of presenting a peiilitt to any authority. 11. The keepers to see that the walls of the rooms, cells, and passages shall be scraped and lime-washed at least once in every month, and the rooms and cells washed and cleaned once in each |week, or oftener, if requisite ; and convenient places assigned for the prisoners to wash them selves, with allowance of soap and towels. N.B.—When employment for the women in deficient, this work my be repeated more frequently. 5 all dice, cards, &c., to be destroyed. 13. Prisoners may be selected for employment in menial offices, withm the walls by consent of the Board. 14. The Board to meét monthly at the prison, and the keepers to bring forward all prisoners at the meeting for inspection ; when they may prelet any complaint or make any communication to the members. 15. Prisoners not in solitary confinement, but kept within the walls, to be allowed air and exercise for the preservation of health, and due classi cation to be observed in the yard. Those in solitary confinement to he allowed this indulgence with advice of the surgeon. 12. No smoking to be allowed in the prison, nor gaming to be permittel; Reports and Returns. 16. Record books to be kept by the keepers, in which entry to be male (in the form subjoined) of the prisoners’ names and descriptions, thet offences, and the dates of admission and discharge. These books to be open to the board of justices, and to the inspectors appointed by the governor; entry to be made of their visits, and a weekly return to be made out for the governor: a monthly return for the board of justices, and a quarterly return to be prepared for the court of session the first day of the session, and for communication to the grand jwy. Classtfication. 17. The male and female prisoners to be confined in separate partsol the gaol and house of correction, so as to prevent them from seeing, oir versing, or holding any intercourse, and the prisoners of each sex tole divided into distinct classes, as follows: Class 1. Convicted felons, including those whose capital sentences have been commuted. A 2. Men convicted for minor offences, petty thefts, malicious ijuly to property, &c. Men committed for vagrancy, breach of contract, &. . Women committed for felonies. Women committed for minor offences, &e. . Boys under 16 years of age. . Girls under 16 years of age. Untried prisoners and debtors to be separately accommodated, and jl venile offenders entirely apart from adults. Description and Time of Labour, &e. 18. Prisoners sentenced to hard labour to be employed as follows‘— Men of the first, second, and third classes to be employed with- out the walls, in quarrying stone, breaking up and repairing 102 8 Prison Regulations, §c. 583 near the town. These gangs to be worked apart, each under a se- parate overseer, and the hardest labour to be assigned to the first and second classes. Women of the fourth, fifth, and seventh classes to be worked within the walls in breaking stones, carrying water, weeding, and cleaning the yards and premises; also mm washing and needle- work in the establishment, and in grinding corn, and picking oakum: these several employments to be duly apportioned to the classes. 19. The hours of working to be from sunrise to sunset, allowing half an hour for breakfast, and an hour for dinner. Meals to be cooked within the walls, and sent prepared to the male gangs outside. The female gangs to be worked in separate yards in the day-time, and withdrawn, when the men return from labour, to a yard set apart for them. Prisoners unable to work from sickness, to be examined by the surgeon. No labour to be performed on the Queen’s birth-day, the Ist of August, or on any other day appointed for public thanksgiving, in addition to the days named in the Act. 20. A list of tools, implements, and materials, required for working pri- soners, to be prepared, and, on approval by the board, to be purchased by the provost-marshal. 21. An account to be kept of the proceeds of labour and industry, when sold; and, in all cases where gangs are employed in contract-labour, an account of the number employed daily in each description of work to be also kept. 22. The surgeon to visit the prison and house of correction once a day, and oftener if necessary; and to report monthly to the board, and for in- formation of the governor, the state of the establisments and of the prison- ers. A book to be kept in each establishment for entry of the surgeon’s prescriptions and diet of the sick, to be signed by him daily. 23. Every prisoner to be inspected by the surgeon on the day of his entering the prison or house of correction, and no prisoner to be discharged if labouring under any disorder, nor until the surgeon may certify that it is” safe, unless the prisoner may desire to be released. All deaths to be immediately reported by the keepers. Dietary. The prison and house of correction to be supplied by a purveyor, to be appointed for both establishments, at a salary of /. per annum, who shall obtain supplies of good quality, in the manner most economical for the public. Each male prisoner, while at hard labour, to be supplied daily with one and a half pound of bread, or one quart of corn, and an allowance of half a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the provost- marshal. Each female prisoner to be allowed one pound of bread, or one quart of unground corn, and one quarter of a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the provost-marshal. Each prisoner in solitary confinement to have three quarters of a pound of bread, or three quarters of a quart of unground corn daily. Untried prisoners to have the allowance granted to the working prisoners. The diet of sick prisoners to be regulated by the surgeon. Antigua. a Antigua. oe 584 Prison Regulations, &c. The keepers to inspect the provisions daily ; and to report to the provost marshal or visiting magistrate if insufficient, or of bad quality, and to infum the purveyor. Scales and weights to be provided and kept in the gaol. The keepers to be responsible that no convicted prisoner receives aly food beyond the prison allowance, except in the case of the sick, and on a proval of the surgeon. Clothing and Bedding. Every prisoner, on entry, to be provided with a plain prison dress, if his or her clothes are improper or insufficient to ensure cleanliness, or required to be preserved for the ends of justice. Each convicted prisoner to wear a distinguishing dress ; that of malesof the first, and females of the fourth class, to be particoloured, by which the class may be distinguished. Their own clothes to be washed and put by, to be redelivered to them on their discharge. Each prisoner to be provided with suitable bedding, Religious Instruction. The chaplain to perform Divine service in the chapel to the assembled prisoners, and to visit the wards and cells of the prisoners during the week. Entry to be made by him of his visits in the keeper's journals. Other ministers and religious teachers to have free admission to afford religious instruction to the prisoners. All prisoners to attend Divine service if not prevented by sickness. When the number of prisoners in either establishment is such as t0 pre: vent due classification in the yards, or separation at night, or the cells for solitary confinement are full, the justices may authorise the removal of prisoners from one to the other, and the yards of both establishments to be used by the male and female classes as most convenient, Airy rooms to be set apart for the use of the sick, and until a separate establishment be formed for juvenile offenders, arrangements to be male to prevent any intercourse between them and the other prisoners : they are to be worked within the walls, and due provision made for their instruc tion. By command of his Excellency the Governor in Council, Tuomas Lang, Secretaty. Form (A.) Return of Prisoners in the Gaol and House of Correction, 183 . Date of Con- demnation, charged. 183 mitted, 183 When dis- Lakourer. When ad- 1S. | Sentence. | | Prison Regulations, &c. 585 Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. Gt. Colebrooke, 14th Dec., 1838. I wave received your despatch (No. 231) of 15th October, con- taining the regulations for the government of prisons in Antigua ; and having thought it expedient to refer them for the opinion of the Inspectors of Prison Discipline in England and Wales, I transmit to you herewith a copy of their report, and request that you will recommend to the Council that they should give effect to the suggestions therein contained. a Sir, Raymond-buildings, 7th Dec., 1838. We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 5th instant, transmitting, by direction of Lord John Russell, the regulations which have been made by the Governor of Antigua, in conjunction with his council, for the government of the prisons of that island, and requesting us to take the same into consideration, and report our opinion thereon, for his Lord- ship’s information. In return, we beg to state that we see nothing in the proposed rules contrary to the laws for the government of prisons in this country; and we therefore suggest that, with certain alterations in the rules relating to the following subjects, the regulations should be approved as temporary and provisional :— Rule 5.—No wine, spirits, or fermented liquors should be brought into the prison without an authority in writing from the surgeon. Rule 6.—The discipline of strict silence should be enforced on convicted prisoners only. Rule 13.—The employment of prisoners in menial services is highly objectionable ; but where the practice is permitted, care should be taken to limit it to the service of the prison, and that it should not be extended to that of the officers. Rule 17.—It is most desirable that an additional rule should be framed to provide that all female prisoners should be exclusively under the manage- ment of female officers; and that no male officer should be allowed. to visit the female department of the prison unaccompanied by a female officer. Rule 18.—The employment of prisoners at hard labour outside the prison-walls is in a moral point of view, extremely objectionable, as well for its effect on those who witness the punishment as on the prisoners themselves. We beg to recommend that the periods for the performance of Divine service be defined in the Regulations; that those periods be twice on the Sundays, Good Friday, and Christmas; and that prayers be read daily. Weare, &c. S. M. Phillipps, Esq. Wma. CrawForp, &c. &c. & Wau. RussEx. \ Inspectors of Prisons. Antigua. Montserrat. Ill. p. 141. Prison Regulations, &c. MONTSERRAT. Minute of the Board of Privy Council, 4th December, 1838. Tats Board, having had before them the Governor's commut cation, remarking upon the rules adopted by the President in Council of this colony, and being desirous of meeting his Exe lency’s views as far as local and pecuniary circumstances would admit, resolved at once to set aside their own rules, and to adopt those of his Excellency and Council for the Island of Antigua, with the exception, however, of some few alterations, the most material of which relate to the classification and dietary, according to the ability of this colony to carry them into effect; and the substiti- tion of a contractor for a purveyor, under proper restrictions, has appeared to this Board as the most advisable of the two courses, and more especially as the number of prisoners is in general vey limited. (Signed) Henry Lovine, Clerk of Council. Rutes for the Government of Prisons in this Island. The Act of Parliament 1 and 2 Vict., c. 67, having provided that rule for the government of the prisons in Her Majesty’s colonies in the West Indies should be made by the Governor in Council of each colony, the fol. lowing are hereby declared to be the rules which have been approved by the President in Council for the prisons of this island, and are to be ob served by all persons concerned :— 1. The gaol and house of correction, and any other establishments which may be formed within the definition of the Act of Parliament, are to be under the superintendence of a board of five magistrates, to be appointed by the officer administering the government of the said island, of whom the chief justice and the first law officer of the crown shall be two. 2. The board to meet the first Monday in every month; three to bea quorum, and to report to the officer administering the government 00 the state of the establishments, the condition of the prisoners, and to recomment any alterations or improvements which may be required to give effect fo the rules, and especially such as may require expense to be incurred. 3. The immediate charge of the establishments, and the enforcement of the rules, to be intrusted to the provost marshal. — 4. To every establishment there shall be appointed by the officer admr nistering the government, a gaoler or keeper, and a matron, The gaoler ot keeper shall not be under 25 years of age, nor exceeding 50 years, and @ married man shall be preferred. The matron shall be a discreet pers middle-aged if possible, but in any case not above 50 years. And in order to secure, as much as can he, the faithful performance of the duties of each, the matron shall not be the wife of the gaoler or keeper. Both of these officers are to reside within the buildings; not to engage in any trade of occupation, or derive any benefit, directly or indirectly, from the supply 0 the prisoners; nor take any fee or perquisite from them; nor permit ee Wine, spirits, or fermented liquors, to be brought to the prison, without permission from the surgeon, for the use of the sick. Lad Prison Regulations, &c. 587 5. It will be the duty of the keepers and matrons to examine all prisoners on entrance, taking from them all knives and other instruments ; to inform all prisoners to observe strict silence, and warn them of the punishment for any infringement of the prison rules; and to visit every ward and cell at least twice in each day. 6. The gaolers or keepers are to keep journals for record of all occur- rences, to be open to examination of visiting justices. 4. Infringement of prison rules to be punished on authority of the keeper, who is to hear and determine all complaints, viz. :— 1. Disobedience of the rules of silence and cleanliness, both of which to be strictly enforced. 2. Assaults by the prisoners on each other, or on any officer of the establishment. 3. Abusive and profane language. 4, Idleness or neglect of work, or wilful destruction of tools or implements. 8. The keeper may inquire into complaints under the foregoing heads, and order any offender into close confinement in the solitary cells, on bread and water; and, in case of males, may put them into the stocks, reporting the case to the provost marshal, within two hours, who may order such punishment for any term not exceeding three days; and in any flagrant case of violent or refractory conduct, the board of justices may sentence the prisoners to such punishment for seven days, in addition to any previous sentence. 9. The keepers to assist any prisoners desirous of presenting a petition to any authority. 10. The keepers to see that the walls of the rooms, cells, and passages, shall be scraped and lime-washed at least once in every month, and the rooms and cells washed and cleaned once in each week, or oftener, if requi- site, and convenient places assigned for the prisoners to wash themselves, with allowance of soap and towels. 11. No smoking, tobacco-chewing, nor snuff-taking to be allowed in the prison, nor gaming to be permitted ; all dice, cards, &c. to be destroyed. 12. Prisoners may be selected for employment in menial offices within the walls, by consent of the board. 13. The board to meet monthly at the prison, and the keepers to bring forward all prisoners at the meeting for inspection, when they may prefer any complaint, or make any communication to the members. 14. Prisoners not in solitary confinement, but kept within the walls, to be allowed air and exercise for the preservation of health, and due classifi- cation to be observed in the yard. Those in solitary confinement to be allowed this indulgence, with the advice of the surgeon. Reports and Returns. 15. Record books to be kept by the keepers, in which entry to be made (in the form subjoined) of the prisoners’ names and descriptions, their offences, and the dates of admission and discharge. These hooks to be open to the board of justices, and to the inspectors appointed by the officer administering the government. Entry to be made of their visits, and a weekly return to be made out for the officer administering the government ; a monthly return for the board of justices, and a quarterly return to. be pre- pared for the Court of Queen’s Bench and Common Pleas, on the first day of the session, and likewise for the Court of Oyer and Terminer, General Gaol Delivery and Grand Sessions of the Peace, and for communication to the grand juries empanelled at either of those courts. Montserrat. —— Montserrat. eee 588 Prison Regulations, &c. Classification. 16. The male and female prisoners to be confined in separate parts of the establishments, so as to prevent them from seeing, conversing, or holt ing any intercourse; and should it at any time hereafter be practicable ti provide for the due classification of prisoners by the extension of the exit Ing prison, or by the erection of an additional one, that then, and in such case only, there shall be a division into distinct classes, as follows:— 1. Convicted felons, including those, whose capital sentences have been commuted. _ 2. Men convicted of minor offences, petty thefts, malicious inuy to property, &c. 3. Men committed for vagrancy, breach of contract, &e. 4, Women committed for felonies. 5. Women committed for minor offences, &c. 6. Boys under 16 years of age. 7. Girls under 16 years of age. Untried prisoners and debtors to be separately accommodated, aut juvenile offenders entirely apart from adults. 17. Prisoners sentenced to hard labour to be employed as follows:— Men of the first, second, and third classes, to be employed without the walls, in quarrying or collecting stones, breaking up and repairing roals near the town, and cleaning the streets when requisite ; the hardest labour to be assigned to the first and second classes. The classes to be workel apart, but under one overseer, whose attention will be quite sufficient fot any number of prisoners likely to be sent to hard labour in this colony. Female adults, and male and female juvenile offenders, to be worked m separate classes within the walls; the labour assigned them to be equal to their ability respectively to perform it, and shall be as follows: grindmgo shelling corn, breaking stones, drawing and carrying water, weeding and cleaning the prison yard and premises, washing, picking oakum and cotton, needle-work, straw-plaiting, or the like. 18. The hours of working to be from sun-rise to sun-set, allowing half _an hour for breakfast, and one hour and a half for dinner ; but, nevertheless the prisoners working at a distance without the walls must be brought back to the prison in time to permit them cleansing themselves before the period of locking their doors. Prisoners unable to work from sickness, to be examined by the surged! No labour to. be performed on the Queen’s birthday, the Ist of August, any other day appointed for public thanksgiving, in addition to the days named in the Act. 19. A list of tools, implements, and materials required for working prisoners, to be prepared, and, on approval by the board of magistrates, be purchased by them at the expense of the colony. . 20. An account to be kept of the proceeds of labour and industry, if sold; and in all cases where gangs are employed in any contract labour, an & count of the number employed daily in each description of work to be also kept. The earnings of the prisoners to be applied to the public usés of the colony. 21. The surgeon to visit the prisons once a day, and oftener if necessil); and to report monthly to the board, and, for information of the President administermg the government, the state of the establishments and of the prisoners. A book to be kept in the establishments for entry of the sul geon’s prescriptions and diet of the sick, to be signed by him daily. Prison Regulations, §¢. 589 22. Every prisoner to be inspected by the surgeon on the day of his entering the prison, and no prisoner to be discharged if labouring under any disorder, nor until the surgeon may certify that it is safe, unless the prisoner may desire to be released. All deaths to be immediately reported by the keepers. Dietary. The prisoners shall be supplied with food by a contractor, to be approved of by the board of justices. The food shall be of good quality, and inspected daily at the prison by the keeper; and in case it shall appear to him that either the quality or the cooking, or both, render it unfit for use, he shall report the same immediately to the provost-marshal, who will, without delay, purchase the necessary quantity of wholesome food, at the expense of the contractor; and whenever the marshal may happen to be absent, the keeper shall perform this duty, in order that the prisoners may not be delayed in getting their meal. The contractor will be bound in such penalty as may seem expedient to the board of magistrates. The food shall be cooked at his expense, and, after inspection at the prison, such portion as is intended for the prisoners working without the walls shall be conveyed at his cost, and delivered to the overseer on the spot. The provost-marshal shall regulate the description of food daily, to pre- vent the contractor from furnishing the cheapest and less wholesome at his own discretion. A record shall be made daily of all particulars relating to the food, for the information of the visiting magistrates. The quantity and description of food to be as follows :— Each male prisoner, while at hard labour, to be supplied daily with one pound and a quarter of bread, or two cakes of cassada, or one quart of corn meal, or six pounds of potatoes, plantains, or bananas, with one quarter of a pound of meat or fish. Each female prisoner, and male and female juvenile offender, three-fourths of the foregoing allowance while at hard labour. Each prisoner in solitary confinement to have one half of the allowance of bread granted to males at hard labour. Untried prisoners to have the allowance granted to the working prisoners. The diet of sick prisoners to be regulated by the surgeon. Scales and weights to be provided and kept in the prison. The keepers to be responsible that no convicted prisoner receives any food beyond the prison allowance, except in the case of the sick, and on approval of the surgeon. Clothing and Bedding. Every prisoner on entry to be provided with a plain prison dress, if his or her clothes are improper or insufficient to ensure cleanliness, or required to be preserved for the ends of justice. That of the males of the first, and females of the fourth class, to be party-coloured, by which the class may be distinguished. Their own clothes to be washed and put by, to be re-delivered to them on their discharge. Each prisoner to be provided with suitable bedding. Religious Instruction. The chaplain to perform divine service in the chapel (or, where there is no chapel, in a convenient room) to the assembled prisoners, and to visit he wards and cells of the prisoners during the week. Montserrat. ———— Montserrat. ee 590 Prison Regulations, &. Entry to be made by him of his visits in the keepers’ journals. Other ministers and religious teachers to have free admission to afta religious instruction to the prisoners. All prisoners to attend divine servis, if not prevented by sickness. When the number of prisoners in any establishment is such as to prevent due classification in the yard, or separation at night, or the cells for solitary confinement are full, the justices may authorise the removal of prisoners from one establishment to another, where there may be another prison; and the yards of both establishments to be used by the male and female classes, as most convenient. Airy rooms to be set apart for the sick, where it is practicable to dos; and, until a separate establishment be formed for juvenile offenders, arrange: ments to be made to prevent, as much as possible, any intercourse between them and the other prisoners. They are to be worked within the wall, Due provision to be made for their instruction. By command of his Honour the President in Council, at the town of Plymouth, in the island of Montserrat, this 4th day of De cember, 1838. (Signed) Henry Lovine, Clerk of Council, ® Return of Prisoners in the Gaol (or Gaol and House of Correction, as the case may be.) 188 SE AE CRE SP SE SEE NT SR RE Date of Con- demnation, | Ife When dis. charged, 183 - Domestic. When ad- | mitted, 183 . | Labourer. Seaman | Sentence. | Sir, Antigua, 8th March, 1839, I have had under consideration the minute of the council, and the amended rules passed by them for the prisons in Montserrat. I request you will communicate to the board my acknowledgments for the disposition they evince to give effect to the intentions of Her Majesty’s Government and of Parliament. on I enclose to you some further remarks, which I request you will bing under their consideration. a In regard to the important points of the dietary and classification of prisoners, you will be pleased to impress on them that, where persons are submitted to the rigours of imprisonment and of coercive discipline, it 8 not just that considerations of public economy should be allowed to limt the resources or accommodation that may be proper for them. As the reform ation of prisoners is the object of the system to be established, it cannot be lost sight of by the executive authorities, who are responsible for these establishments. . I feel confident that the assembly will be prepared to co-operate 1 zs effect to the regulations; but the duty of the executive is prescribed m™ a Prison Regulations, §c. 591 ninth clause of the Act of Parliament, which declares it to be unlawful to yfonigerrat. imprison any person in a prison which should be duly certified to be unfit. I have, &c. (Signed) W. M. G. Correzsroox. P.S.—You will understand, from the tenor of this correspondence, that my object is to preserve, as far as possible, a principle of uniformity in the prison rules of these islands, under the Act of Parliament, The Officer administering the Government of Montserrat. Observations on Prison Rules, &c. Clause 4 requires that the matron shall not be the wife of the keeper. Antigua rules give the preference to the wife of keeper, if competent, and for obvious reasons, Clause 16. Antigua rule requires certain classification of prisoners. Montserrat rules only require this: “ if it should be practicable hereafter to provide for the due classification of prisoners by the extension of existing prisons,” &c., “ that then, and in that case only,” a division into distinct classes should be made. Should such privision not be deemed practicable, the chief object of the rules will be defeated, as the only separation required is that of males and females ; and the 9th clause of the Act of Parliament must be resorted to as the remedy. Clause 17 authorises employment of first, second, and third class prisoners in cleaning streets. Gangs to be worked apart, but under one overseer. The classes should be separate; and it is doubtful whether one overseer can efficiently superintend their separate working. Some trifling variation exists with regard to labour of adult and juvenile female prisoners. Clause 18. Female gangs not required to be worked in separate yards by day, nor withdrawn to a yard set apart for them on return of men. This is necessary. Clause 20. Earnings of the prisoners to be applied to public uses of the colony. No reservation as regards debtors. Dietary. Male prisoners at hard labour to receive only one pound and a quarter of bread, or two cakes of cassada, or a quart of corn meal, &c., and only a quarter of a pound of meat or fish; females, three-fourths of the above. The whole dietary scale is lower than by Antigua regulations, the object of which has been to give full subsistence to those who labour, and to render those who are shut up on reduced diet more sensible of the privation. It is right that subsistence should be ample where labour is exacted, as it tends to reform habits, and a full return is made for it, 592 Prison Regulations, &c. Montserrat. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 20th May, 1839. IIL. p. 150. I HEREWITH transmit a copy of a letter from the President Montserrat, with amended rules for the prisons of the island, Sir, Montserrat, 6th May, 1839, I forward a plan of the gaol, and the minutes of a privy council, with a resolution passed by the board. This resolution has no reference to the erection of the cells and kitchen recommended by your Excellency, which I have every reason to suppox will be adopted by them, say the legislature, at their next meeting. I have, &c. (Signed) Henry Hamitron, President, His Excellency Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, Governor. SuppLemntary Rutes for the Government of Prisons in this Island. 1. No wine, spirits or fermented liquors to be brought into the prism, without the authority in writing from the surgeon. 2. ‘The discipline of strict silence to be enforced on convicted prisoners only. 3. Prisoners permitted to act as menials, to be so employed only in the service of the said officers of said prison. 4. Female prisoners to be exclusively under the management of femilé officers, and no male officer to visit the female department of the priso unaccompanied by a female officer. 5. Divine service to be performed once on the Sabbath, Good Friday and Christmas-day. 6. The prison returns to be made out agreeably to the under-mentiontl form; viz: SSS SS SSS oss SN LAS LABOURER. SEAMAN. DOMESTIC. Sat AES oS DS RSs ccc ee ee ee Oe ee Ee ee, By command of his Honour the President in Council at the town of Plymouth, in the island of Montserrat, this 3rd day of Apri, 1833) (Signed) Henry Lovine, Clerk of the Council. At a meeting of Her Majesty’s Privy Council on Friday, the 31d df May, 1839, Present : His Honour Henry Hamilton. The Honourable John Dobridge. 3 Michael Furlonge. + Francis Polhill. 9» Thomas H. Percy. ” Henry Dyett. Prison Regulations, &c. 593 His Honour laid before the board the plan of the gaol, taken by a sur- veyor employed for the purpose, together with the report of the inspector of prisons in this island, addressed to his Houour, under date the Ist in- stant, from which the following paragraph is extracted, viz. : ** The plan of the gaol, to which I referred in my last report, was soon after completed ; but what steps have been taken, with a view to establish a system to facilitate classification, I am ignorant of.” The opinion of the board being taken upon this subject, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :— Resolved, That by a clause of an Act of the Imperial Parliament, passed in the last session, for the government of prisons in the colonies, it is therein provided that no prison shall be built, nor alterations made, to any existing prison, unless a plan of the same shall have been first submitted for the approval of Her Majesty’s Government; and that, therefore, a plan of the present gaol has been taken at the public expense, with a view of showing whether the rooms are sufficiently large to be partitioned, so as to afford proper ventilation on the one hand, and such an extension cf classi- fication on the other, as have been, or may be, recommended by the in- spector. Resolved, That even if that enactment had not presented an insuperable obstable to an immediate outlay of money for enlarging or amending the gaol, this board would most respectfully impress upon his Excellency the Governor the utter inability of this colony to defray the expense of any additional buildings to the present gaol, though there could be no objection to making such amendments or alterations to the existing rooms as might render them of more general utility. And, moreover, this board are parti- cularly desirous of referring to the rapid decrease of crime in this colony since the year 1836, whereby it would appear that there were not more than nine prisoners in confinement at the time of the imspector’s last report. Resolved, therefore, That it does seem to this board, under the latter circumstance, that sufficient facilities are afforded at this moment in the gaol for a proper classification of the limited number of prisoners now com- mitted, or which are likely to be committed under the improving moral character of the great mass of the subordinate classes of society. Resolved that a copy of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted by his Honour the President, for the information of his Excellency the Governor. By command, Henry Lovine, Clerk of the Council. (we) r2) Montserrat. ramen St. Christopher. Ill. p. 240. Prison Regulations, &c. St. CHRISTOPHER. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 28th March, 1839, I wave the honour to forward to your Lordship the prison regu lations which have been framed in St. Christopher, under the Ad of Parliament 1 and 2 Victoria, c. 67, and copies of my correspont: ence on the subject with the officer administering the government o fthe island. St. Christopher, Government House, Sir, 2nd February, 1839. In compliance with the instructions contained in Lord Glenelg’s citet- lar, dated 13th August last, I have the honour to transmit the mulesant regulations formed in Council for the government of prisons. The ailj gaol in this island is situated in Basseterre, and although requiring cons derable alteration to render it capable of fully following out these regula tions as to complete classification, yet much may be done. The only other places of confinement in this island are the police stations, used only tem porarily, in the several districts, and are comfortable and well calculated for the purpose. A sum of money has already been voted by the Legislature. towards the improvement of the gaol, which is now in progress ; and although bya recent resolution of the Assembly funds are refused, which prevents my carrying some part of the regulation into full force, yet I am not without hopes that in a short time this difficulty will be got over. In the mean time I beg to assure the Right Honourable the Secretary! State that every attention shall be paid towards the due care and supetiir tendence of the prisoners, and to the efficiency of the prison establishmat I have, &c. His Excellency the Governor of the (Signed) H. Mactxzop. Leeward Islands. Reeuxations for the Government of the Prisons and Houses of Correcction in St. Christopher. The Act of Parliament (1 & 2 Victoria, c. 67), having provided that rules for the government of the prisons in Her Majesty’s colonies in the West Indies should be made by the Governor and Council of each colony, the following are hereby declared to be the rules which have been approvel by the Governor in Council for the prisons of this island, and are to be observed by all persons concerned. 1. The gaol and houses of correction, and also any other establishments which may be formed within the definition of the Act of Parliament, a@ to be under the superintendence of a board of six magistrates, to be ap pointed by the Governor, of whom the chief justice and the attorney solicitor-general, or other chief law adviser, shall be two. 2. The board to meet the first Monday in every month, three to be a quorum, and to report to the Governor on the state of the establishments, the condition of the prisoners, and to recommend any alterations or mr provements which may be required to give effect to the rules, and especially such as may require expense to be incurred. 3. The immediate charge of the two establishments, and the enforcement of the rules to be entrusted to the provost-marshal. Prison Regulations, &c. 595 4. To each establishment there shall be appointed by the Governor a St. gaoler or keeper, and a matron (the wife of the keeper to be preferred, if Christopher competent). 5. The gaolers or keepers not to be under 25 years of age, nor exceeding 50 years, to reside respectively within the buildings, not to engage in any trade or occupation, or derive any benefit, directly or indirectly, from the supply of the prisoners, nor take any fee or perquisite from them, nor per- mit any wine, spirits, or fermented liquors to be brought to the prison, without permission from the surgeon, for the use of the sick. 6. It will be the duty of the keepers and matrons to examine all prison- . ers on entrance, taking from them all knives and other instruments, to enjoin all prisoners to observe strict silence, and warn them of the punish- ment for any infringement of the prison rules, and to visit every ward and cell at least twice in each day. 7. The gaolers or keepers are to keep journals for record of all occur- rences, to be open to examination of visiting justices. 8. Infrmgement of prison rules to be punished, on authority of the keeper, who is to hear and determine all complaints; viz. 1. Disobedience of the rules of silence and cleanliness, both of which to be strictly enforced. 2. Assaults of prisoners on each other, or on any officer of the esta- blishment. 3. Abusive and profane language. 4. Idleness or neglect of work, or wilful destruction of tools or im- plements. 9. The keeper may inquire into complaints under the foregoing heads, and order any offender into close confinement in the solitary cells, on bread and water; or, in case of males, may put them into the stocks, reporting the case to the provost-marshal within two hours, who may order such pu- nishment for any term not exceeding three days ; and in any flagrant case of violent or refractory conduct, the board of justices may sentence the prisoners to such punishment, and, in their discretion, to labour on the tread-mill, for any period not exceeding seven days, in addition to any pre- vious sentence. 10. The keepers to assist any prisoners desirous of presenting a petition to any authority. 11. The keepers to see that the walls of the rooms, cells, and passages shall be scraped and lime-washed at least once in every month, and the rooms and cells washed and cleaned once in each week, or oftener if requisite. When employment for the women is deficient, this work may be repeated more frequently. 12. No smoking to be allowed in the prison, nor gaming to be permitted. All ecards, dice, &c., to be destroyed. 13. Prisoners may be selected for employment in menial offices, within the walls, by consent of the board. 14. The board to visit the prison on the day of monthly meeting, and the keepers to bring forward all prisoners at the meeting for inspection, when they may prefer any complaints, or make any communication to the members. 15. Prisoners not in solitary confinement, but kept within the walls, t be allowed air and exercise for the preservation of health, and due classifi- cation to be observed in the yard. ‘Those in solitary confinement to be allowed this indulgence, with advice of the surgeon. 2Q2 a St. Christopher. 596 Prison Regulations, §c. Reports and Returns. 16. Record books to be kept by the keepers, in which entry to be male Gin the form now used) of the prisoners’ names and descriptions, their offences, and the dates of admission and discharge. These books to be open to the board of justices, and to the inspectors appointed by the Governor ; entry to be made of their visits, and a weelly return to be made out for the Governor, a monthly return for the board of justices, and a return to be prepared for the Court of Queen’s Bench or Court of Sessions on the day of meeting, and for communication to fhe grand jury. Classification. 17. The male and female prisoners to be confined in separate parts of the gaol and houses of correction, so as to prevent them from seeing, cot- versing, or holding any intercourse; and the prisoners of each sex to he divided into distinct classes, as follows: Class 1. Convicted felons, including those whose capital sentences have been commuted. 2. Men convicted of minor offences, petty thefts, malicious injuyt property, &c. 3. Men committed for vagrancy, breach of contracts, &c. 4. Women committed for felonies. 5. Women committed for minor offences, &c. 6. Boys under 16 years of age. 7. Girls under 16 years of age. Untried prisoners and debtors to be separately accommodated, and juve: nile offenders entirely apart from adults. These rules in the case of debtors may be relaxed at the discretion of the board. Description of Time of Labour, §c. 18. Prisoners sentenced to hard labour, otherwise than on the tread- mill, to be employed as follows: Men of the first, second, and third classes to be employed without the walls in quarrying stones, breaking up and repairing roads near the tow or in any other public work, under the direction of an overseer. ‘Tle hardest labour to be assigned to the first and second classes. a Females of the fourth, fifth, and seventh classes to be worked within the walls in breaking stones, carrying water, weeding, and cleansing the yards and premises ; also in washing and needlework in the establishment, and in grinding corn and picking oakum. These several employments 10 be duly appointed to the classes. 19. The hours of working to be from sunrise to sunset, allowing halt an hour for breakfast, an an hour for dinner. Meals to be cooked within the walls, and sent prepared to the male gangs outside. The female gangs to be worked separately in the day-time, and with drawn when the men return from labour to a separate part of the yard: Prisoners unable to work from sickness to be examined by the surged! No labour to be performed on the Queen’s birth-day, or any day pointed for public thanksgiving, in addition to the days named in the Act. 20. A list of tools, implements, and materials required for wort soners to be prepared ; and, on approval by the board, to be purchased ¥) the provost-marshal. Prison Regulations, §¢. 597 21. An account to be kept of the proceeds of labour and industry when St. sold; and in all cases where gangs are employed in any contract labour, Christopher an account of the number employed daily in each description of work to ions be also kept. 22. The surgeon to visit the prison and house of correction once a day and oftener, if necessary, and to report monthly to the board, and for in- formation of the Governor, the state of the establishments and of the prisons. A book to be kept in each establishment for entry of the sur- geon’s prescriptions and diet of the sick, to be signed by him daily. 23, Every prisoner to be inspected by the surgeon on the day of his entering the prison or house of correction, and no prisoner to be discharged if labouring under any disorder, nor until the surgeon may certify that it is safe, unless the prisoner may desire to be released. All deaths to be immediately reported by the keepers. Dietary. The prison and house of correction to be supplied by contract with the marshal, to be submitted monthly to the board to be appointed for both establishments, who shall obtain supplies of good quality in the manner most economical for the public. Each male prisoner, while at hard labour, to be supplied daily with one and a half pound of bread or meal, or one quart of corn, or meal in pro- portion, and an allowance of half a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the provost-marshal. Each female prisoner to be allowed one pound of bread, or one quart of unground corn or meal, and one quarter of a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the provost-marshal. Each prisoner in solitary confinement to have three quarters of a pound of bread, or three quarters of a quart of unground corn, or meal in pro- portion, daily. Untried prisoners to have the allowance granted to the working prison- ers. The diet of such prisoners to be regulated by the surgeon. The keepers to inspect the provisions daily, and to report to the pro- vost-marshal or visiting magistrate if insufficient or of bad quality. Scales and weights to be provided and kept at the gaol. The keepers to be responsible that no convicted prisoner receives any food beyond the prison allowance, except in the case of the sick, or on approval of the surgeon. Clothing and Bedding. Every person on entry to be provided with a plain prison dress, if his or her clothes are improper or insufficient to ensure cleanliness, or required to be preserved for the ends of justice. Each convicted prisoner to wear a distinguishing dress. That of males of the first, and females of the fourth class, to be parti-coloured, by which the class may be distinguished. Their own clothes to be washed and put by, to be delivered to them on their discharge. Each prisoner to be provided with suitable bedding. Religious Instruction. The chaplain to perform Divine service in the chapel to the assembled prisoners, and to visit the wards and cells of the prisoners during the week. St. Christopher. ——— 598 Prison Regulations, §c. Entry to be made by him of his visits in the keepers’ journals, Other ministers and religious teachers to have free admission to afforl religious instruction to the prisoners. All prisoners to attend Divine se vice, ifnot prevented by sickness. When the number of prisoners in either establishment is such as to pres vent due classification in the yards or separation at night, or the cells fi solitary confinement are full, the justices may authorise the removal of prisoners from one to the other, and the yards of both establishments to be used by the male and female classes, as most convenient. Airy rooms to be set apart for the use of the sick; and untila separate establishment be formed for juvenile offenders, arrangements to be male (o prevent any intercourse between them and the other prisoners; they are to be worked within the walls, and due provision made for their instru: tion. (Extract.) Sir, Government House, Antigua, 7th March, 1939, I have received your letter of the 2nd February, No. 8, enclosing the prison rules for St. Christopher, and in forwarding them to Lord Glenelg i will be my duty to draw his Lordship’s attention to the satisfactory mame in which his instructions have been carried into effect by yourself and the Council. I am glad to learn from your letter that a fund had been voted by the Assembly for the’ improvement of the gaol, and I join in the hope you entertain that the means of fully carrying out the regulations will ultimately be afforded to you. I enclose to you some observations upon the rules to enable you to effect in Council such further amendments as may be desirable. I have, &c. (Signed) W. M. G. Coxzsrooxs. P.S.— You will comprehend from the tenor of this correspondence that my object is to preserve, as far as possible, a principle of uniformity im the prison rules of these islands, under the Act of Parliament, St. CuristopHer.—Observations on Prison Rules, and Notes of deviations from Antigua Rules. 9. Treadmill labour for any period not exceeding seven days permitted, Tt is desirable, asin Antigua, to discontinue the use of the treadmill. 11. ‘* Convenient places assigned for the prisoners to wash themselves with allowance of soap and towels.” This par. omitted in St. Kitt’s rules, 17. “ These rules in the case of debtors may be enlarged at the diserte tion of the board.’ This par. inserted. It is desirable that some fixed rule should be observed in the case of debtors. 18. Recognizes traedmill labour. Antigua rules limit employment of Ist, 2nd, and 3rd classes of prisonels to quarrying stone and repairing roads near town. Also requires these gangs to be worked apart, and each under a separate overseer. St Kitts rules admit their employment in any other public works, and does ndb require their separation under separate overseers, which is desirable. Antigua rules require the female gangs to be worked apart im separate yards in the day-time, and withdrawn to a separate yard when the men return, St. Kitt’s rules require their being worked separately, and with- Prison Regulations, §c. 599 drawn to a separate part of the yard when the men return; better that they should be witdrawn altogether. The Ist August not specifically named as a day on which no work can be required from prisoners. It would seem proper that this day should be specifically appointed as a day for public thanksgiving. Dietary.—St. Kitt’s rules authorise the provost-marshal to contract for supply of provisions, which is quite objectionable, and it is his duty te control the contractors, and report if the supplies are not good and suf- ficient. Meal may be substituted for corn in proportion to quantity; the pro- portion to be specified. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the Marquis of Normanby, 20th May, 1839. I nEREWITH transmit copy of a letter from the President of St. Christopher, with amended rules for the prisons of the island. Enclosure 1. . Government House, 7th May, 1839. In reply to your Excellency’s instructions relating to the alterations of the rules for prison discipline in this island, I have the honour to enclose copy of a minute of the Privy Council; and on receiving your Excel- lency’s approval, will lay the amended rules before the Council and Assem- bly, and forward duplicate copies to you. I have, &c. (Signed) Wma. GREATHEED CROOKE, President administering the Government. His Excellency the Governor of the Leeward Islands, &c. &e. &e. St. Christopher.—At a meeting of the Privy Council, held at Government House on Saturday the 4th day of May, 1839, present, his Honour Wm. Greatheed Crooke, Esq., President administering the Govern- ment, the Hon. W. W. Rawlins, Esq., the Hon. Thos, Swanston, Esq., M.D., the Hon. Robert Claxton, Esq., the Hon. Joseph K. Wattley, Esq. A letter was read from his Excellency Sir Wm. Colebrooke, inclosing “Observations on St. Christopher prison rules, and notes of deviations from rule for prisons in Antigua.” The Board proceeded to take the said observ tions into consideration in the respective order in which they there appear. 9. Tread-mill labour for any The Board consider it desirable period not exceeding seven days. to preserve the power of punish- It is desirable, as in Antigua, to ment by labour on the tread-mill, as discontinue the use of the tread-mill. provided by this rule, for the present, there being as yet no solitary cells, particularly as it is prescribed for flagrant cases only, and cannot be inflicted but by the authority of the board of magistrates. St. Christopher. St. 600 11. Convenient places assigned Christopher. for the prisoners to wash themselves, ———— with allowance of soap and towels. This par. omitted. 17. These rules in the case of debtors may be enlarged at the dis- cretion of the Board. This par. added. 18. Recognises tread-mill labour. Antigua regulations limit employ- ment of Ist, 2nd, and 8rd class prisoners to quarrying stone and repairing roads near town; also requires the gangs to be worked apart, and each under a separate overseer. St. Kitt’s rules admit their employment in any other public work, and does not require their separation under separate overseers, which is desirable. 19. Antigua regulations require the female gangs to be worked in separate yards in the day time, and withdrawn to a separate yard when the men return. St. Kitt’s rules require them being worked sepa- rately, and withdrawn to a separate part of the yard when the men re- turn. Better that they should be withdrawn altogether. The Ist August not specifically named as a day on which no work can be required from prisoners. It would seem proper that this day should be specifically appointed as a day of public thanksgiving. Prison Regulations, §c. If this paragraph was omitted the copy sent to his Excellency the Governor, it must have been an a: cidental omission, as the rule adoptel by the Board is the same as the Antigua rule. This paragraph the Board think it expedient to retain; but thewal “enlarged” is not in the rule a adopted by the Board. It should he ‘“ relaxed.”” The error must have been made by the copyist. The Board concur in amending this rule by the introduction of the words (after the words “ under the direction of an overseer”) “andof Separate overseers, when im the opinion of the board of magistrates the number of prisoners shall justify Te These suggestions shall beattent- ed to when the wall now building to enclose the gaol yard shall be finished. The Board do not concur inthe expediency of making specific pit vision with respect to that day. It is provided that no labour shall be performed on any day appointed for a public thanksgiving. If the Ist of August should be so appointed, no labour will be performed on that day. DIETARY, St. Kitt’s rules authorise provost- marshal to contract for supply of prisoners, which is quite objection- able, as it is his duty to control the contractor, and report if the supplies are good and sufficient. Meal may be substituted for corn in proportionate quantity ; the pro- portion to be specified The Board concur in altering this rule, by requiring the contract t0 be made with the Board of Magi trates. The Board also concur in this suggestion, and have fixed the pro portion of meal at one quart. Prison Regulations, §. 60] Another letter from his Excellency Sir William Colebrooke was also read, enclosing copy of a despatch from Lord Glenelg, enclosing the obser- vations of the Inspector of Prison Discipline in England and Wales on the regulations for the government of prisons in Antigua, and recommend ing the adoption of the suggestions of the Commissioners. The Board proceeded to take the said suggestions into consideration. 5. No wine, spirits, or fermented. liquors should be brought into the prison without the authority, in writing, from the surgeon. 6. The discipline of strict silence should be enforced on convicted prisoners only. 13. The employment of prisoners in menial services is highly objec- tionable ; but where the practice is permitted, care should be taken to limit it to the service of the pri- soners only, and that it should not be extended to that of the officers. 17. It is most desirable that an additional rule should be framed, to provide that all female prisoners should be exclusively under the management of female officers, and that no male officer should be allowed to visit the female department of the prison unaccompanied by a female officer. The employment of prisoners at hard labour outside the walls is, in a moral point of view, extremely objectionable, as well for its effect on those who witness the punish- ment, as on the prisoners them- selves. We beg to recommend that the periods for the performance of Di- vine service be defined in the regu- lations ; that those periods be twice on Sunday, Good Friday, and Christ- mas-day, and that prayers be read daily. The Board concur in this sug- gestion, and have altered the rule accordingly. The Board concur also in this suggestion, and have altered the rule. The Board concur also in this suggestion, and have altered the rule. When the contemplated alteration in the gaol shall have been com- pleted, the Board will give their attention to this suggestion. The Board consider that there would be decidedly a difficulty in finding employment for the prisoners at hard labour within the walls. The Board concur with the Com- missioners in this recommendation, but the Board cannot carry the ob- ject of it mto effect at present, the rector of St. George having no curate; whenever the bishop shall be able to give the rector that assis- tance, the Board will advise the Executive to bring under the con- sideration of the Legislature the pro- priety of voting a remuneration for such services. (A true copy.) (Signed) Tuomas Harper, Cl. Cl. et St. Christopher. errs St. Christopher. 602 Prison Regulations, c. Enclosure 2. Sir, Antigua, 20th May, 183), Referring to your letter of the 7th instant, enclosing amended ml for the prisons in St. Christopher, I have to convey to you my confirm. tion of them. I consider that tread-mill labour js at variance with the system of prison discipline which has been established, and that untila chaplain may be appointed it will be desirable to communicate with the rector of Basseterre, with a view to his occasionally visiting the gaol, at cording to the practice of the rector of St. John’s in this island. I have, &c. (Signed) W. M. G, Coxzsrooxs, The President of St. Christopher, &. &. &c. Prison Regwations, &c. 603 NEVIS Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 21st November, 1838. I uAve the honour to enclose to your Lordsdip the copy of a letter from the President of Nevis, reporting that the Act for the better government of prisons in the West Indies came into opera- tion in that Island on the 26th of September, and that Charles Kenny, Esq., stipendiary magistrate, had been appointed under its provisions inspector of the gaol and house of correction. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Gilenelg, 28th March, 1839. I wave the honour to forward to your Lordship the prison regulations which have been framed in Nevis, under the Act of Parliament 1 & 2 Vict., c. 67, and copies of my correspondence on the subject with the officer administering the government of the island. Str, Antigua, Ith March, 1839. I have had under consideration the rules for government of prisons in Nevis, which have been passed by you in Council, and I request you to communicate to the members of Council my acknowledgments for the desire they have evinced to give effect to the intentions of Her Majesty’s Govern- ment and of Parliament, and I enclose afew observations, with a view to their further amendment. ; I am aware of the ample accommodation afforded in the prison at Nevis, and I rely on the disposition of the Assembly to support you where it may be necessary, and particularly in the arrangements required to enable you to form a separate establishment for juvenile offenders. I have, &c., (Signed) W. M. G. CoLEeBrooxs. The Officer administering the Government at Nevis. Oxsservations on Prison Rules, and Notes of Deviation from Antigua Rules. 1. Superintendence to be under a Board of four inspectors only, of whom Chief Justice to be one. Antigua rules require six magistrates inspectors, of whom Chief Justice and senior Crown Officer shall be two. 19, Only half an hour allowed for dinner, which is insufficient. Dietary. Provost-marshal authorised to contract for supply of prisoners. Corn-meal may be substituted for corn in a proportionate quantity; the poportion not specified ; at discretion of provost-martial. No rule for party-coloured dress for males of Ist, and females of 6th class. ay Nevis. Ill. p. 282. 11th Oct. III. p. 296. Prison Regulations, §c. Reeuations for the Government of Prisons in Nevis. The Act of Parliament (1 & 2 Vict., c. 67) having provided that rulestor the government of the prisons in her Majesty’s Colonies in the West Indic should be made by the Governor in Council of each colony, the following are hereby declared to be the rules which have been approved by the Go- vernor in Council for the prisons of this island, and are to be observed by all persons concerned :— 1. The gaol and house of correction, and also any other establishment which may be formed within the definition of the Act of Parliament, areto be under the superintendence of a board of four inspectors, to be appointed by the Governor, of whom the Chief Justice shall be one. 2. The Board to meet on the first Saturday of every month; three to be a quorum ; and to report to the Governor on the state of the establishments the condition of the prisoners, and to recommend any alterations or im provements which may be required to give effect to the rules, and especially such as may repuire expense to be incurred. 3. The immediate charge of the two establishments, and the enforcement of the rules, to be entrusted to the provost-marshal. 4. 'To each establishment there shall be appointed by the provost-martial, subject to the approbation of the Governor, a gaoler or keeper, and a mi tron; the wife of the keeper to be preferred if competent. 5. The gaolers or keepers not to be under years of age, nor exceet: ing years, to reside respectively within the buildings; not to engage any trade or occupaton, or derive any benefit directly or indirectly from the supply of the prisoners, nor take any fee or perquisite from them, nor permit any wine, spirits, or fermented liquors to be brought to the pi son, without permission from the surgeon for the use of the sick. 6. It will be the duty of the keepers and matrons to examine all prisoners on entrance, taking from them all knives and other instruments; to enjoil all prisoners to observe strict silence, and warn them of the punishment for any infringement of the prison rules, and to visit every ward and cell at least twice in each day, 1. The gaolers or keepers are to keep journals for record of all occurrences, to be open to examination of visiting justices. 8. Infringement of prison rules to be punished on authority of the keeper, who is to hear and determine all complaints, viz.— 1. Disobedience of the rules of silence and cleanliness, both of which to be strictly enforced. 2. Assaults by the prisoners on each other, or on any officer of the establishment. 3. Abusive and profane language. 4. Idleness or neglect of work, or wilful destruction of tools or implements, 9. The keeper may inquire into complaints under the foregoing heads, and order any offender into close confinement in the solitary cells on bread and water, or in case of males, may put them in the stocks, reporting the case to the provost-marshal within two hours, who may order such punish- ment for any term not exceeding three days; and in any flagrant case 0 violent or refractory conduct, the Board of Inspectors may sentence the prisoners to such punishment for seven days, in addition to any previous sentence ; the provost-marshal shall in case of urgent and absolute neces sity only confine any prisoner in chains, and then not without the expres Prison Regulations, §c. 605 sanction of a Governor on report made to him, who shall order the duration of such confinement as in his discretion he shall deem necessary. 10. The keepers to assist any prisoners desirous of presenting a petition to any authority. 11. The keepers to see that the walls of the rooms, cells, and passages shall be scraped and lime-washed at least once in every month, and the rooms and cells washed and cleaned once in each week, or oftener if requi- site; and convenient places assigned for the prisoners to wash themselves, with allowance of soap and towels. 12. No smoking to be allowed in the prison, nor gaming to be permitted ; all dice, cards, &c., to be destroyed. 13. Prisoners may he selected for employment in menial offices within the walls by consent of the Board. 14. The Board to meet monthly at the prison, and the keepers to bring forward all prisoners at the meeting for inspection, when they may prefer any complaint or make any communication to the members. 15. Prisoners not in solitary confinement, but kept within the walls, to be allowed air and exercise for the preservation of health, and due classifi- cation to be observed in the yard. Those in solitary confinement to be allowed this indulgence with advice of the surgeon. Reports and Returns. 16. Record-books to be kept by the keepers, in which entry to be made (in the form subjoined) of the prisoners’ names and descriptions, their of- fences, and the dates of their admission and discharge. These books to be opened to the Board of Justices, and to the Inspectors appointed by the Governor ; entry to be made of their visits, and a weekly return to be made out for the Governor, a monthly return for the Board of Justices, and a quarterly return to be prepared for the Court of Session on the first day of the session, and for communication to the grand jury. Classification. 17. The male and female prisoners to be confined in separate parts of the gaol and house of correction, so as to prevent them from seeing, con- versing, or holding any intercourse, and the prisoners of each sex to be divided into distinct classes, as follows :— Class 1. Convicted felons, including those whose capital sentences have been commuted. 2. Men convicted of minor offences, petty thefts, malicious injury ' to property, &c. . Men committed for vagrancy, breach of contract, &c. . Women committed for felonies. . Women committed for minor offences, &c. . Boys under 16 years of age. . Girls under 16 years of age. Untried prisoners and debtors to be separately accommodated, and juvenile offenders entirely apart from adults. IQ ob Description and Time of Labour. 18. Prisoners sentenced to hard labour to be employed as follows :— Men of the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd classes to be employed in quarrying stone, breaking up and repairing roads near the town, under the direction of an overseer ; the hardest labour to be assigned to the Ist and 2nd classes, Nevis. a 606 Prison Regulations, §c. Women of the 4th, 5th, and 7th classes to be worked within the walls i breaking stones, carrying water, weeding, and cleaning the yards and pre mises ; also in washing and needlework in the establishment, and in grind. ing corn and picking cakum ; these several employments to be duly appor tioned to the classes. 19. The hours of working to be from sunrise to sunset, allowing half a hour for breakfast and half an hour for dinner, Meals to be cooked within the walls, and sent prepared to the male gangs outside. The female gangs to be worked in separate yards in the day-time, and withdrawn when fle men return from labour to a yard set apart for them. Prisoners unable to work from sickness to be examined by the surgeon. No labour to be per: formed on the Queen’s birth-day, the 1st of August, or any other day appointed for public thanksgiving, in addition to the days named in the Act. 20. A list of tools, implements, and materials required for working pri soners, to be prepared, and, on approval by the Board, to be purchased by the provost-marshal. 21. An account to be kept of the proceeds of labour and industry when sold, and in all cases where gangs are employed in any contract labour, an account of the number employed daily in each description of work to be alto kept. 22. ‘The surgeon to visit the prison and house of correction whenevertt- quired by the provost-marshal or keeper respectively in charge, and as often as he shall consider necessary, and to report monthly to the Board, and for information of the Governor, the state of the establishments and of the pt- soners. A book to be kept in each establishment for the entry of the sur- geon’s-prescriptions and diet of the sick, to be signed by him. 23. Every prisoner to be inspected by the surgeon on the day of his entering the prison or house of correction, and no prisoner to be discharged if labouring under any disorder, nor until the surgeon may certify that its safe, unless the prisoner may desire to be released. All deaths to be immediately reported by the keepers. Dietary. The provost-marshal shall be authorised to advertise for tenders for sup- plying the prisoners with provisions for not less than six months, with sect rity for the due performance 3 the lowest tender, if satisfactory, to be pre: ferred and taken by the Board of Inspectors ; care to be taken that such provisons be of good quality. By. Each male prisoner, while at hard labour, to be supplied daily with one one pound and a half of bread, or one quart of corn or meal in proportion, aud an allowance of halfa pound of meat or fish, or vegetables, at the dis: cretion of the provost-marshal. i Each prisoner in solitary confinement to have three quarters of a poun of bread, or three quarters of a quart of meal daily. ; Each female prisoner to be allowed one pound of bread, or one quart 0 meal, and one quarter of a pound of meat or fish, or vegetables, at the dis- cretion of the provost-marshal. a Untried prisoners to have the allowance granted to the working pl soners. — PF The diet of sick persons to be regulated by the surgeon. The keepers inspect the provisions daily, and to report to the provost-marshal or visiting | Prison Regulations, §c. 607 magistrate if insufficient or of bad quality, and to inform the person tender- —_Neyis, ing. Scales and weights to be provided. The keepers to be responsible that no convicted prisoner receives any food beyond the prison allowance, except in the case of the sick, and on the approval of the surgeon. Clothing and Bedding. Every prisoner, on entering, to be provided with a plain prison-dress, if his or her clothes are improper or insufficient to ensure cleanliness, or required to be preserved for the ends of justice. Kach convicted prisoner to wear a distinguishing dress, by which the class may be distinguished. Their own clothes to be washed and put by, to be re-delivered to them on their discharge. Each prisoner to be provided with suitable bedding. Religious Instruction. The chaplain to perform Divine service, in a room set apart for that pur- pose, to the assembled prisoners, and visit the wards and cells of the prisoners during the week. Entry to be made by him of his visits in the keepers’ journals. Other ministers and religious teachers to have free admission to afford religious instruction to the prisoners. All prisoners to attend Divine service, if not prevented by sickness. When the number of prisoners in either establishment is such as to prevent due classification in the yards or separation at night, or the cells for solitary confinement are full, the justices may authorise the removal of pri- soners from one to another, and the yards of both establishments to be used by the male and female prisoners as most convenient. Airy rooms to be set apart for the use of the sick, and, until a separate establishment be formed for juvenile offenders, arrangements to be made to prevent any intercourse between them and the other prisoners; they are to be worked within the walls, and provision made for their instruction. Return of Prisoners in the Gaol and House of Correction. i a eel peed es ed ! Sex. aie poe - 2a s y 4 Pa 5} a) oe) Bi teicsant fracas * oc pay o} oO Set ° cS) Sr ° ss) =| a — rs) on ct ro qo o ° a ~ r5) cS S a a fe o foto) =] oO (=) o wv o = ~ Bi ea . = = 1s} o a | a3 2 eS ef Ses ° 3 3 ae Rs P= S i= & & 5 2] oles Zi Z a | me |< S a Ss oO Ar Min | es Virgin Islands. Ill. p. 339, Prison Regulations, §c. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 28th March, 1833. T wave the honour to forward to your Lordship the prison regulations which have been framed in the Virgin Islands under the Act of Parliament 1 and 2 Vict., c. 67, and copies of my cor respondence on the subject with the officer administering the government of those islands. ee Sir, Tortola, 10th December, 1838, I have the honour to transmit herewith the rules for the prisons of these islands, for the examination of your Excellency, previous to my sanction being given thereto. The Bill for the supply of the gaol being passed, will form a necessary appendage to these rules. Some alterations have been made in the rules, deviating from the Antigua rules. These were necessary, in consequence of the local circum stances of the colony, No purveyor has been appointed, as the supply of food, &., is by con tract, under the control of the marshal and keeper. The surgeon is not compelled to visit the prisons every day, unless par ticularly required. The few number of prisoners, and there being only one medical man in the colony, is understood to be the reason for nd complying strictly with the Antigua regulations. If your Excellency approves the rules, I will forward the names of tlt gentlemen I propose to be members of the board of superintendence. A copy of the letter from the clerk of the crown is also enclosed, dalel 28th November. I have, &c. (Signed) R. M. Tuomas. His Excellency Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, &e. &e. &e. Sir, Government House, Antigua, 31st December, 1838. I have received your letter of the 11th instant, and the prison rules of the Virgin Islands. I request you will intimate to the Council the sense I entertain of the desire they have shown to give effect to the intentions of Her Majesty Government and of Parliament, and you will communicate to them the following observations on those rules. | In the classification of the prisoners it would appear that those of ff second and third classes are assigned to the same apartments, which wou be objectionable. - The priviso to the fifth class is also objectionable, from the (a given to the keeper to blend the classes. Where it is necessary to ve a prisoner from his or her class, it would be proper to make immeaia reference to the provost-marshal. Aboot In the dietary, it would be better to specify that the bread shoul the previous day’s baking. d for In regard to the 19th clause, it is stated that prisoners confine | Prison Regulations, §c. 609 militia warrants, pecuniary fines, &c., for want of security, and debtors, virgin Islands. are only to be subsisted upon certain terms, set forth in clauses 36 and 37, which require that such prisoners, if they do not subsist themselves, should be worked for their subsistence. I consider these clauses to be altogether objectionable, and that all prisoners ought to be subsisted; debtors at the expense of their creditors, if unable to support themselves, and criminal prisoners at the expense of the public; and I recommend that these clauses be expunged from the rules. The 62nd clause authorises the keeper to put and keep certain prisoners in irons,—a measure which ought not to be adopted, except under the authority of the provost-marshal, and the approval of the executive. The 26th clause provides for the employment of the prisoners of the first class in menial offices in the prison. Such employment should be assigned to minor offenders. The hiring out of the penal gang is open to serious objection, and ought not to be sanctioned. With these alterations, you are authorised to pass the rules, which I request may be sent to me in duplicate for transmission to England. I have, &c. (Signed) W.M. G. CoLesrooke. The President of the Virgin Islands. Sir, Tortola, 5th February, 1839. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency’s letter, requesting me to intimate to the Council of the Virgin Islands the sense which your Excellency entertains of the desire they have shown to give effect to the intentions of Her Majesty’s Government and of Parliament, &c. &c. T have laid before the Council your Excellency’s letter, and the altera- tions suggested by your Excellency in the prison rules have been adopted, with the exception of that regarding the confinement of prisoners of the second and third classes—the confined accommodation of the gaol render- ing their separate confinement impracticable. I have, therefore, published the rules, a copy of which, in duplicate, I now transmit to your Excellency. I have, &e. (Signed) R. M. Tuomas. His Excellency Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, Governor-General. Rutes for the Prison of the Virgin Islands. The Act of Parliament (1 and 2 Victoria, c. 67) having provided that rules for the government of the prisons in Her Majesty’s colonies in the West Indies should be made by the Governor and Council of each colony, the following are hereby declared to be the rules which have been approved by the Governor and Council for the prisons of these islands, and are to be observed by all persons concerned. 1. The gaol, and also any other establishments which may be formed within the definition of the Act of Parliament, are to be under the super- intendence of a board of six magistrates, to be appointed by the Governor or officer administering the government, of whom the Chief Justice and the senior crown officer shall be two, which magistrates shall alternately act as visiting magistrates for the week. 2R Virgin Islands. 610 Prison Regulations, §c. 2. The board to meet the first Monday in every month, three to bea quorum, aud to report to the officer administering the government onthe state of the establishments, the condition of the prisoners, and to recom: mend any alterations or improvements which may be required to gite effect to the rules, and especially such as may require expense to be incurred, The board to meet monthly at the prison, and the keepers to bring for ward all prisoners at the meeting for inspection, when they may prefer any complaint, or make any communication to the members. 3. The visiting justice for the week to visit the prison twice a-week, or oftener, if requisite. 4. All returns made to the board are to be laid before the Governorin- Chief, or officer administering the government; and a quarterly retum t be prepared therefrom, for the Court of Queen’s Bench and Grand Sessions, on the first day of each quarter session, and for communication to the grand jury. 5. ‘The immediate charge of the establishments and the enforcement of the rules to be intrusted to the provost-marshal. 6. To the prison there shall be appointed by the Governor or office administering the government, a gaoler or keeper, two turnkeys, and a matron (the wife of the keeper or a turnkey to be preferred, if deemed competent). There shall also be appointed a chaplain and surgeon. 7. The gaoler or keeper and turnkeys not to be under 25 years of age, nor exceed 50 years. The keeper shall execute his office in person. He shall reside within the prison, and shall not absent himself for 24 hours ora night, except om reasonable or urgent occasions, and then not without permission of the provost-marshal, entering in his journal, before his departure, the cause of his absence, and the place whither he is going. He shall take care thal his turnkeys constantly lodge within the prison, and shall not permit ay person to sleep in the prison, except the prisoners, himself, his wife, children and servant, matron, and turnkeys. 8. The keeper, turnkeys, or matron, shall not be concerned in any 0t- cupation or trade whatsoever, neither shall either of them sell, nor shall any person in trust for such keeper, turnkey, or matron, or employed by him, her, or them, sell or have any benefit or advantage from the sale ot any article to any prisoner, nor shall he, she, or they, directly or indirectly, have any interest in any contract or agreement for the supply of the prisoners, nor take any fees or perquisites from them. 9. The matron shall reside in the prison, and it shall be the duty of the matron constantly to superintend the female prisoners, and such female prisoners shall, in all cases, be attended by female officers. 10. Every prisoner shall be examined on entrance—if a female, 0 he examined by the matron; and if any article prohibited to be used in the gaol, or improper to remain in their possession whilst in custody, shall be found, the same must be delivered into the possession of the keeper dunig the period of confinement. The surgeon shall also examine each prisoner on entrance, or as 8000 after as possible, 11. The keeper shall keep, or cause to be kept, an account of evely Prison Regulations, &c. 611 article taken from a prisoner on his or her admission, which shall be care- Virgin Islands, fully preserved, and returned to him or her, on his or her discharge. ees Classification. 12. The keeper shall be exact in classing and separating the prisoners, according to the directions hereinafter mentioned, taking care that the male and female prisoners shall be confined in separate parts of the prison, so as to prevent them from seeing, conversing, or holding any intercourse with each other; and the prisoners of each sex shall be divided into dis- tinct classes in the following manner :— Class 1. Male and female prisoners convicted of felony, including those whose capital sentences have been commuted, shall be confined in the lower rooms in the gaol—the males in the right-hand room, and the females in the left-hand room. Class 2. Male and female prisoners convicted for minor offences, petty thefts, malicious injury to property, &c., shall be confined in the second-floor rooms—the males in the right-hand room, and the females in the left-hand room. Class 3. Male and female prisoners convicted for trifling misde- meanors, or being idle and disorderly persons, rogues and vagabonds, shall be confined in the second-floor rooms—the males in the right- hand room, and the females in the left-hand room. Class 4. Prisoners for trial or as witnesses, or for pecuniary fines, militia warrants, or for want of surety, and debtors, shall be confined in the upper rooms—the males in the right-hand, and the females in the left-hand room. Class 5. Prisoners convicted of any felony for which death, trans- portation, or solitary confinement may be awarded, to be confined in solitary cells, as also those for which solitary confinement may be awarded. Provided that if the keeper shall at any time deem it improper or inexpedient for a prisoner to be placed with the other prisoners of the class to which he or she may belong, it shall be lawful for him, the sanction of the provost-marshal being first obtained, to confine such prisoner with any other class or description of prisoners, or in any other part of the prison, until he can receive the directions of a visit- ing justice thereon, to whom he shall apply with as little delay as possible. 13. When the number of prisoners is such as to prevent due classifica- tion in the yards or rooms, or separation at night, or the cells for solitary confinement are full, the board may authorise the removal of prisoners from one to the other, and the yards to be used by the male and female classes, as most convenient; and an airy room, whefi practicable, to be set apart for the use of the sick. Dietary. 14. Every prisoner who is confined under the sentence of any court, and every prisoner confined in pursuance of any conviction before a justice or justices, shall not receive any food or necessaries other than the prison allowance (except under special circumstances, to be judged of by the board, or by direction of the surgeon, as after mentioned.) Such prison allowance to be as follows :-— Each male prisoner kept and maintained at the expense of the country, and put to hard labour, shall be allowed one pound and a half of good ZR 2 612 Prison Regulations, &c. Virgin Islands, Wheaten household bread, of the previous day’s baking, or one quart o — corn, and half a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the board. Each female prisoner put to work, and male prisoners not put to labour, to be allowed one pound of bread of the previous day’s baking, and of same quality as above, or one quart of corn, and one quarter of a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the board. Each female prisoner not at work to be allowed three quarters of a pound of bread, the previous day’s baking, and of like quality as above, or three quarters of a quart of corn, and one quarter of a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the board. Each prisoner in solitary confinement to have three quarters of a pound of bread, of the previous day’s baking, or three quarters of a quart of com daily. ; Untried prisoners, witnesses, and others, for want of surety, only to have the allowance granted to the working prisoners. Debtors, when unable to support themselves, prisoners under militia warrants, and also prisoners for pecuniary fines, &c., when unemployed, to have the allowance granted to male prisoners not put to labour. 15. Prisoners receiving the prison allowance shall not be permitted to receive from his or her friends any description of food. But all prisonets before trial, who shall not be willing to receive the prison allowance, shall be allowed to provide for themselves half a pound of butcher’s meat or fish, one pound and a half of bread, one quart of milk, and one pound of vege: tables, and no more. 16. The provost-marshal shall give notice each previous.day to the con tractor for supplying the prison of the quantity and quality of provision of other matters required for the prisoners for the ensuing day, and also of any supplies required for the sick at any time. 17. The daily allowance to the prisoners shall be delivered at two periods of the day. Prisoners at labour without the prison shall have their meals cooked within the walls, and sent prepared to them. 18. The keeper shall take care thatneither the prisoners nor the country be defrauded, and shall see that all the provisions supplied by contract 10 the prisoners be of proper quality, and weighed by the scales and legal weights and measures provided for that purpose, which scales and legal weights and measures provided for that purpose, shall be kept within the gaol, and shall be open to the use of any prisoner. And if such provisions be insufficient, or of improper or bad quality, he shall report the same to the provost-marshal or visiting justice. Clothing and Bedding. 19. Every prisoner on entry to be provided with a plain prison dress of oznaburgs, if his or her clothes are improper or insuflicient to ensue cleanliness, or required to be preserved for the ends of justice. Thett own clothes to be washed and put by, to be delivered to them on thelt discharge. 20. Prisoners convicted of felony shall-be clothed in and shall weat® distinguishing dress, which shall be, for the first class, for the men, & shirt and trousers, made of blue linen or cotton and oznaburgs joined, one-half of each garment of each material; and for the females, a gow! or frock, made in the same way, of the same materials. Prison Regulations, 8c. 613 21. The prisoners shall be provided with mattresses, madeof duck or Virgin Islands. oznaburgs, stuffed with dry banana leaves, or grass; and fresh leaves or grass shall be provided for all the beds in the prison, if necessary, at least once in six months. Each cell shall be provided with bedding, and a chamber-pot, or other convenience, mop, broom, bucket, wash-bowl, soap and towel. Cleanliness. 22. Every morning the day-rooms, passages, sleeping-rooms, and yards, shall be swept, the pans or chamber utensils emptied, and the dirt, ashes, and filth, collected in any part of the prison, shall be removed to the place appropriated for the same. The floors of the day-rooms, sleep- ing rooms, and passages, shall be washed once a-week, or oftener if re- quired, and such work shall be performed by the prisoners, without any allowance for the same. The doors of all the rooms, and the windows, when the weather will permit, shall, during the day, be opened, the bedding be sufficiently aired, and the clothing washed, mended, or made, when required. 23. The interior of the prison shall be scraped and lime-washed once in every month, and the exterior walls of the prison once in every three months, and one or more prisoners shall be appointed to perform the said duty. 24. The keeper, turnkeys and matron, in their respective departments, shall see that the prisoners wash their hands and faces before any food is delivered to them for the day, and shall encourage and promote cleanli- ness by every possible means. Every person shall be provided with two clean suits of clothes weekly, and the men shaved once a week. Description and Time of Labour. 25. Prisoners in the first class shall be put to hard labour, either within the prison or in the yards thereof (females excepted), or be worked on the public streets or highways, in their prison dresses, and distinct from the second and third classes. 26. Prisoners of the second and third classes shall perform the menial offices of the prison, in such manner and under such restrictions as the board shall from time to time direct; and the males of such classes shall be worked in the precincts of the prison, or, if required, on the roads of the island of Tortola. Prisoners to be always returned to the gaol at night. 27. Women to be worked within the walls in breaking stones, carrying water, weeding and cleaning the yards and premises ; also in washing and needle-work in the establishment, and in grinding corn and pick- ing oakum; these several employments to be duly apportioned to the classes. 28. The female gangs to be worked in separate yards in the day-time, and withdrawn when the men return from labour, to a yard set vpart for them. 29. Prisoners unable to work, from sickness, to be examined by the surgeon, 30. One of the turnkeys alternately to attend the hard labour of the male prisoners of the first class, and the other turnkey to attend the male prisoners of the second and third classes. The matron to attend the working of the female prisoners in the gaol. 31. The hours of work to be from sunrise to sunset, allowing half an hour for breakfast, and an hour for dinner. 614 Prison Regulations, &c. Virgin Islands, _ No labour to be performed on Sundays, Christmas Day and Gool —oene Friday, the Queen’s birthday, the Ist of August in each year, andon days appointed by public authority for fasting or thanksgiving. At breaking off work an account shall be daily taken of the work done, 32. The turnkeys shall also have charge of the tools, &c., of their re- spective party, giving them out to the prisoners in the morning, and receiving them from them in the evening, at the close of the work, and faking care to put them in a secure place during the night. 33. It shall be the turnkeys’ and matron’s duty to enforce the laboiit of prisoners sentenced to it, and to preserve regularity and order among them when at work. 34. The turnkeys and matron shall keep a list of the prisoners at work under their respective charges, and how employed ; and the keeper shall purchase such materials and tools as are required for the different kinds of labour to be performed. The keeper shail likewise superintend the work of the prisoners in the gaol, keep an account of all the work done, balancing the outlay for raw materials, tools, &c., against the articles manufactured, and selling the manufactured goods, keeping an account of the whole in such manner that the general profit and loss may be seen, and of the work of each person apart, so far as the same can be done. 35. Prisoners for debt, pecuniary fines, or militia warrants, or want of security, working to the best of their ability, may exchange their share of profits for the prison allowance, or they shall be at liberty to procure food for themselves, and to take the whole profits thereof. General Rules. 36. All persons residing in the gaol to be within such gaol by nine oclock in the evening, at which time the keeper shall shut and lock the outer gate of the prison, and retain the keys in his own custody till the proper time for opening the gates in the morning ; and the said keeper is on no account whatsoever, to open the gates after nine o’clock in the evening, except for the purpose of obtaining medical aid for any person within the gaol, who shall be seized with sudden illness, or any other emergency; or for the purpose of receiving any person committed by lawful authority, or for the purpose of admitting the inspector of prisons, or the provost-marshal or visiting justices, who are to be admitted at all times in the performance of their respective duties, without let, hindrance, or denial. 37. Allarticles of food, clothing and bedding, and every parcel intended for the use of the prisoners, shall be examined by the keeper, or, in his necessary absence, by the {matron or turnkey, in order that it may be ascertained that such articles are not likely to communicate infee- tion, facilitate escape, or contain anything prohibited to be used in the prison. The keeper is also authorised to examine letters, &c., and to search visitors, if judged necessary. 35. No parcel or letter shall be delivered to, or sent by, any prisoner ur til it has been inspected by the keeper ; and in case any improper commull: cation be attempted to be made to or by any prisoner, the keeper shall withhold such parcel or letter until he have the direction of a visiting jus tice thereon, who may dispose of the same as he may think right. i 39. All written intercourse between the prisoners and their friends sha be subject to the inspection of the keeper, who shall communicate all or Prison Regulations, &c. 615 any part of the contents of the same to the ‘prisoners, or withhold the Virgin Islands same at his discretion; and the prisoners, with permission of a visiting —_— justice, shall be allowed to write to their friends, their letters being under the inspection of the keeper. 40. No books, newspapers or pamphlets shall be admitted into the gaol, except such as the board shall deem proper for the religious and moral instruction of the prisoners. 41. The foregoing rules as to books and papers, and examination of letters, not to apply to debtors; but such debtors may be allowed to receive books, papers, and letters, and to take exercise within the precincts of the gaol, if not at variance with the safe keeping and discipline of other prisoners. 42. No prisoner confined under sentence of any court shall be permitted to have any personal communication with any person from without the prison, unless by an order in writing signed by one visiting justice, and then only between the hours of ten and one in the day, once a week ; that is to say, the male prisoners on every Tuesday, and the female prisoners on every Wednesday, and then only in the presence of the keeper or ma- tron. Prisoners of the fourth class shall be allowed to see their friends between the hours of twelve and one every day, except Sunday. 43. Visitors shall not be permitted to see any prisoner on Sunday, or visit any prisoner confined in a solitary cell. AA, Provided that nothing in the foregoing rules shall be construed to extend to prevent prosecutors and others from having necessary commu- nication with prisoners, intended to be examined on any prosecution on behalf of the Crown, at other times than those before mentioned, under an order in writing signed by one visiting justice. 45. Any attorney or solicitor, or his articled clerk, may have access to, or private conference with, any debtor or prisoner for trial, on making re- quest to the keeper. 46. Provided also that any two members of the board may, in case they should see any special occasion, depart from the said rules, and authorise the admission of any person or persons to visit any of the prisoners upon any day in the week. It shall also be lawful for any minister of religion, and for religious teachers, when he or they shall think fit, from time to time, at seasonable hours, to visit and commune with the prisoners confined in the gaol, for the purpose of religious instruction and consolation, either in presence of the keeper or otherwise. 47. If the gaoler refuse admittance, the said board may examine each particular case, and give special order for admittance, if they think fit. A8. If the keeper, or such person as may be appointed to attend the visiting room, shall observe any improper communication between the pri- soners and those who visit them, the latter shall be dismissed immediately, or proceeded against as the case may require. 49. The twelve hours of daylight to be distributed for exercise in the western yard every day among the prisoners sentenced to solitary confine- ment, provided such period of exercise does not exceed two hours per day to each prisoner. 50. Prisoners not in solitary confinement, but kept within the walls, to be allowed air and exercise for the preservation of health: but the due classification to be observed in the yard. 51. No prisoner shall sell or dispose of his victuals to any other prisoner, nor shall he part with”any of his clothes. 616 Prison Regulations, &e, VirginIslands. | 52. No wine, spirituous nor fermented liquors shall be admitted inh —— the prison, nor in any case be allowed to be used by any prisoner, wnless by a written order of the surgeon, specifying the quantity. and for whow use, and upon his entering an order for that purpose in his journal, 53. Nor shall snuff or tobacco in any shape be used in the gaol, 54. No gaming or playing of games shall be permitted within the a0) or yards thereof, and the keeper is authorised to seize and destroy all dice cards, or other instruments of gaming or playing of games, 55. Strict silence shall be observed by the prisoners at all times through. out the prison, particularly during the hours of labour and meals, and the prisoners shall be confined in their respective wards or cells on Sunday, 56. No prisoner shall be permitted on any account, or under any pre- tence, to speak to or to hold any communication with any other prisoner, without special leave for that purpose first obtained from the keeper, This rule of absolute silence not to apply to persons rated in thefouth class. Punishment for Infringement of Prison Rules. 57. Infringement of prison rules to be punished on authority of the keeper, who is to hear and determine al] complaints; viz., 1. Disobedience of the rules of silence and cleanliness, both of which to be strictly enforced. 2. Assaults by the prisoners on each other, or on any officer of the establishment. 3. Abusive and profane language. 4. Idleness or neglect of work, or wilful destruction of tools or im- plements. 58. ‘The keeper may inquire into complaints under the foregoing heads, and order any offender into close confinement jn the solitary cells on bread and water: or, in case of males, may put them in the stocks, re porting the case to the proyost-marshal within two hours, who may order such punishment for any term not exceeding three days; and in any flagrant case of violent or refractory conduct, the board of justices may sentence the prisoners to such punishment for seven days, in addition to any previous sentence. 59. Prisoners under sentence of death or transportation may be put and kept in irons, and the gaoler, with the sanction of the provost-marshal first had and obtained, is permitted, when necessary, to use fetters for prisoners committed for capital offences, or such as have been before con victed of felony or have attempted to escape, and for no others, unless they shall behave in a refractory manner or show a disposition to break out of prison; provided that the officer administering the government of these islands shall approve thereof; and the provost-marshal is hereby required, without loss of time, to report every such case for such approval. Stocks, irons, and fetters to be submitted to and approved of by the board, Keeper’s Duty. 60. The keeper to assist any prisoners desirous of presenting a peti- tion to any authority. 61. The keeper and matron shall visit every ward, and see every pir soner, and inspect every cell twice at least in every twenty-four hours, af inspect minutely the state of security of the prison, and notice the behaviour of the prisoners in the journal. 62. When the keeper or any other male officer shall visit the female Prison Regulations, &c. 617 prisoners, he shall be accompanied by the matron, or, in case of her un- Virgin Islands avoidable absence, by some female. 63, The keeper shall restrain himself, and strictly require all persons acting under him to refrain from all violent and angry expressions, and by no means to use oaths or curses under any provocation whatever. 64, The keeper shall keep a journal of all occurrences in the prison in which he shall record the visits of the justices, inspector, chaplain, and sur- geon, and also all punishments inflicted by his authority, or by that of the marshal or board, and the days when such punishments shall have taken place; which journal shall be laid before the board each month, and shall be signed by the board, in proof of the same having been produced. 65. He shall also keep a book with the following descriptive particulars of all the prisoners under his charge—viz., number, name, sex, age, de- scription of person, place from whence brought, date of commitment, and by whom committed, when received, crime charged, sentence, expiration of imprisonment, and when discharged ; lastly, observations, such as whe- ther confined in the prison before, how often, for what offences, and con- duct in prison; which book shall be laid before the board each month, and shall be signed by the board in proof of having been produced. 66. All books and other documents belonging to the gaol shall be laid before the visiting justices whenever required. 67. The keeper’s book or books of account shall at all times be open to the inspection of the visiting justices, and a copy thereof shall, with the vouchers, be delivered over to the board every month, and such books shall be signed by the board in proof of having been produced, Surgeon. 68. The surgeon to visit the prison twice a week, and oftener if neces- sary, and to report monthly to the board the sanatory state of the prison and of the prisoners. A book to be kept in the prison for entry of the surgeon’s prescriptions, and diet of the sick to be signed by him each visit. 69. Prisoners when sick shall be attended by the surgeon, and allowed such food as he shall direct, and their friends informed of their situation, No prisoner to be discharged if labouring under any disorder, nor until the surgeon may certify that it is safe so to do, unless the prisoner may desire to be released. 70. Upon the death of any prisoner, notice thereof shall be given by the keeper forthwith to the provost-marshal and to the inspector of prisons, as well as to one of the coroners, and the nearest relative of the deceased, when practicable. 71. And in case an inquest be held on the body, no officer nor any of the prisoners confined in the prison shall be a juror on such inquest. Chaplain. 72. The chaplain shall, at least once a week, perform divine sereice in the gaol to-the assembled prisoners, all of whom are to attend, if not pre- vented by sickness, He shall visit the wards and cells of the prisoners whenever he shall see fit. Entry to be made of his visits in the keeper’s journal. 73. The provost-marshal is hereby required, from time to time, to cause copies of so much of the rules of the prison as relates to the treatment and conduct of the prisoners confined therein, to be written in legible charac= 618 Prison Regulations, &c. Virgin Islands, ters, and to be fixed up in conspicuous parts of the prison, so that the pri: —— soners may have access thereto. A copy of all gaol rules to be always kept in the gaol by the keeper, Re-adopted, with certain amendments proposed by his Excellency the Governor-General, by his Honour the President in Council, the 19th day of January, 1839. By command, Joun Isaacs, Clk. Council. SIR, Government House, Antigua, 7th March, 1839, Wits reference to your letter of the 5th February, enclosing the amended prison rules which have recently been passed in Council for the Virgin Islands, T request that you will communicate to the members of the Council my acknowledgments for the readiness with which they have made the alterations suggested in my letter of the 31st December. I enclose you some further remarks upon the rules, to which I request their attention; and in regard to the separate confinement of prisoners of the second and third classes, you will be pleased to call the attention of the Council to the ninth clause of the Act of Parliament, 1 and 2 Viet., ¢.67, under which it is declared to be unlawful to imprison any person where the Governor may be obliged to certify the unfitness of the prison, and that the impracticability of effecting a due separation of the classes, leading to contamination, is a ground on which it will be incumbent on him soto certify, at least in respect to females, juvenile offenders and prisoners who are not criminals, I have, &c. (Signed) W. M. G. Coteprooxe, P.S.—You will comprehend, from the tenor of this correspondence, that my object is to preserve, as far as possible, a principle of uniformity in the prison rules of these islands, under the Act of Parliament. (Signed) W. M. G,C. The officer administering the government of the Virgin Islands. Oxsservations on Prison Rucus, anp Notes or Davrations #nolt Rutzs ror AnTIGUA Prisons. 9. Prisoners convicted of felony, for which death, transportation, or soll- tary confinement may be awarded, to be confined in solitary cells, This restriction is not desirable. No provision for separate yards ; and an alty room for the sick to be set apart only when practicable; this is indispen sable, Dietary. Prisoners before trial are allowed to provide themselves with half a pound of meat, half a pound of bread, one quart of milk, and one pound of vegetables, and no more. Prisoners ought to be supplied with the 1 eulated allowance. Description and Time of Labour. Great variation exists in this part of the rules from the Antigua. Regulations. 28. This clause can only be enforced if provision be made for separate yards in the gaol. Prison Regulations, Sc. 619 30. This clause gives to the turnkeys, in addition to their ordinary Virgin Islands. duties, the duties which, by Antigua rules, devolve on one or more over- — seers, and which can scarcely be adequately performed by these turnkeys, with due security, for the custody of the prisoners. 59. Prisoners under sentence of death or transportation should not be put in irons, save only when a part of their sentence. 71. With respect to this clause, the coroner must act according to law, which cannot be interfered with by a prison rule, Permission should be given to ministers, and other religious teachers, besides the chaplain, to visit the prison; and the chaplain should be re- quired to visit the wards and cells of the prison during the week. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to the Marquis of Normanby, 20th May, 1839. I nerewir transmit copy of a letter from the President of II. p. 34. the Virgin Islands, with amended rules for the prisons of those islands. Sir, Road Town, Tortola, 23rd March, 1839. Your Excellency’s despatch, with your further observations on the prison rules, was brought under the consideration of the Council this day, and the board have readily agreed to the amendments proposed. The chief justice, with the senior Queen’s counsel, have been requested to make the necessary alterations, which, when completed, will be forwarded to your Excellency. I have to remark that, in the event of the gaol becoming crowded with prisoners of the different classes, it would be impossible to effect a due separation, without a considerable alteration and enlargement of the prison ; however, since the Ist of August up to the present time, no inconvenience has arisen from thiscause. During that period the average number of prisoners has never exceeded five, and three have been confined to the first and second classes; nor do I see any present prospect of an increase, as at this time the only prisoner in gaol is a man under punish- ment for a crime committed previous to the lst of August. The principal difficulty we have now to contend with, is in feeding the prisoners, no one having tendered to contract for the supply of food and necessaries. ‘This has arisen from two causes : first, the miserable credit of the colony ; and, secondly, the small amount of the food and necessaries required for the gaol does not offer asufficient profit to induce any person to undertake the contract. ‘The first cause will, however, cease as soon as your Excellency becomes enabled to approve of the Tax Bill, as under that Bill the goal and poor have the first appropriation. In the meantime, I will re-urge upon the House of Assembly the necessity of placing at the disposal of the gaol committee the means required for the proper maintenance of the prisoners, agreeably to the prison rules, which, if not eranted, will, I apprehend, be a sufficient cause for me to certify the unfitness of the prison. I have, &e. (Signed) W. Gorvon, President, His Excellency Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, &e. &e. &e. &e, &e. &e. 620 Prison Regulations, &c. Virgin Islands. Sir, Road Town, Tortola, 2nd May, 1839, ay REFERRING to your Excellency’s despatches, severally dated the tll and 18th of March, the former containing your observations on te } amended prison rules, the latter forwarding the observations of the ip spectors of prison discipline in England and Wales, on the regulation for the government of prisons in Antigua, I have now the honour to forward, in duplicate, supplementary rules for the government of the prisons in the Virgin Islands, in which the deviations from the Antigua rules, noted by your Excellency, have been obviated as far as our gaol accom- modation renders it practicable, However, when the new Tax Act comes into operation, we shall have the means of dividing the yard, and of making alterations in the interior of the prison, which will add considerably to the means of separate confinement. At the same time I have to remark, that from the Ist of August last up to the present period, the numberof prisoners confined in the gaol has been so limited, there has been no difficulty in effecting a due separation of the classes, By the 46th rule, ministers of every denomination are permitted to visit the gaol, at seasonable hours, when they think fit, for the purpose of affording religious instruction and consolation. The observations of the inspectors of prison discipline in England and Wales do not apply to our prison rules, with the exception of the 18th, and the regulations for the performance of the chaplain’s duties; but as the rector of the parish is the only clergyman of the established church in this colony, he has to perform divine service every Sunday and holiday, both at the yarish church and at King’s Town, which makes it impracticable to have divine service performed in the prison oftener than once on those days. In consequence of the Act which grants a salary to the chaplain of the gaol not being in operatien, no appointment to that office has yet taken place. I have, &c. (Signed) W. Gornon, President, His Excellency Sir W. M. G. Colebrook, &e. &e. &e. &e. &e. eC. SUPPLEMENTAL Rutes for the Government of the Common Gaol. 1. Wuerzas it is considered improper that prisoners before trial should be allowed to provide for themselves food; it is therefore necessary . annul so much of the 15th rule as allows prisoners, before trial, so to do; so much therefore of the said rule is thereby annulled. 2. Whereas it is necessary to abrogate so much of the 59th rule as relates to placing prisoners under sentence of death or transportation m irons; the same is therefore, so far as it directs prisoners under sentence of death or transportation to be kept in irons, annulled. hat 3. Whereas it is necessary to annul the 71st rule, which declares tha no officer of the prison, nor any of the prisoners, shall be a juror on ally inquest held in gaol; the same is therefore hereby repealed. 4. Whereas by the 72nd rule the chaplain of the gaol is required only to perform divine service in the gaol once a week, and to visit the wards and cells thereof whenever he shall see fit, and it is considered neces that he should perform divine service more frequently, and visit the wards and cells at least once a week; so much therefore of the said rule 18 hereby repealed ; and the chaplain is hereby required to perform a service to the assembled prisoners at least once every Sunday, 600 Prison Regulations, &c. 621 Friday and Christmas-Day, and to read prayers daily to the said prisoners, Virgin Islands. and to visit once at least every week the wards and cells of the gaol. 5. No prisoner committed for a breach of any contract shall be worked or employed in any way in company with criminal offenders. 6. Whereas by the 13th rule an airy room is, when practicable, to be set apart for the use of the sick; and whereas it is indispensable that a room should be set apart for the sick; the words, therefore, “ when practicable,” in the said 13th rule, are hereby rescinded. 7. The following shall be the form of return to be made by gaoler: VirGin Isuanps. Return of Prisoners in the Gaol this Sse BASES res rays ap wa ’ EUs a A oY) 8 “a ° 1 on } re AS m2 ie) 5 Ss oO a ® x | a ok a aie} 6 | 0 | Ms & ‘ = le (o>) oO a ad oO od a a ct 2 5 § = =| cs) 3 & rs s os iB o § a pe oF és) 2 ls l|El S| ¢8 |) 8.) 8 leq| 2 |eee ate |e Z Z Span lad J w aa = Ss o) Ate la ta | eee Adopted by his Honour the President administering the Government, in Council, the 20th day of April, 1839. By command. (Signed) Jno. C. Isaacs, Clk. Council. Dominica, a eee Prison Regulations, &c. DOMINICA. Si W. MM. G, Colebrooke to the Marquis of Normanby. 12th April, 1839, I wave the honour to enclose the Prison Regulations, which have been passed in Council at Dominica, together with Copies of my Correspondence with the Officer administering the Govem: ment, from which your Lordship will perceive that these Regula tions are still incomplete. | The alterations required in the buildings are under the cons: deration of the Legislature, and I hope soon to be enabled f report to your Lordship that a due classification of the prisoner has been effected. Enclosure 1. Sir, Dominica, 22nd March, 1839. I nave the honour to forward to your Excellency a copy of the Gal Regulations, read and passed this day in Council. I shall on Tuesday the 26th instant send transcripts of the same, with messages to the Legislature, calling on them to grant the necessary supplies for carrying the said regula tions into full effect. I have, &c., (Signed) T. Manny, Major, His Excellency Administering the Government, Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, K.H., Governor-General, Antigua. Recutations for the Government of Prisons in Dominica. Tue Act of Parliament (1 & 2 Vic., c. 67) having provided that rules for the government of the prisons in Her M ajesty’s colonies in the West Indies should be made by the Governor in Council of each colony, the following ae hereby declared to be the Rules which have been approved by the Governor in Council for prisons in this island, and are to be observed by all persons concerned :— 1. The gaol, treadmill, and also any other establishments which may be formed within the definition of the Act of Parliament, are to be under the superintendence of a board of six magistrates, to be appointed by the Go- vernor, of whom the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General shall be two, 2. The Board to meet the first Monday in every month, three to bea quorum, and to report to the Governor on the state of the establishments, the condition of the prisoners, and to recommend any alterations or improve- ment which may be required to give effect to the rules, and especially such as may require expense to be incurred. 3. ‘The immediate charge of the establishments within the limits of the town of Roseau, and the enforcement of the rules, to be intrusted to the provost-martial, who shall appoint gaolers or keepers, and a matron, fot whose conduct he shall be responsible; such appointments to be subjet! to the approval of the officer administering the government; such matron to have charge of the female prisoners, and to act as a sick-nurse whe necessary. Prison Regulations, &c. 623 4, The gaolers, or keepers, and matrons, not to be under 25 years of age, nor exceeding 56 years; to reside, respectively, within the building ; not to engage in any trade or occupation or benefit, directly or indirectly, from the supply of the prisoners; nor take any fee or perquisite from them ; nor per- mit any wine, spirits, or fermented liquors to be brought to the prison, except with permission of the surgeon, for the use of the sick. 5. It will be the duty of the keepers to examine all prisoners on entrance, taking from them all knives and other imstruments; to enjoin all prisoners to observe strict silence, and warn them of the punishment for any in- fringment of the prison rules; and to visit every ward and cell at least twice in each day. 6. The gaolers or keepers are to keep journals for record of all occur- rences, to be open to examination of visiting justices; to make all reports to the marshal in writing, and not to absent themselves from the prison without his leave. |. Infringement of prison rules to be punished on authority of the keeper, who is to hear and determine all complaints, viz. :— 1. Disobedience of the rules of silence and cleanliness, both of which to be strictly enforced. 2. Assaults by the prisoners on each other, or on any officer of the establishment. 3. Abusive and profane language. 4, Idleness or neglect of work, or wilful destruction of tools or implements, and all other articles in use. 8. The keepers may inquire into complaints under the foregoing heads, and order any offender into close confinement in the solitary cells, on bread and water; or in case of males, may put them into the stocks, reporting the case to the provost-marshal within two hours, who may order such punish- ment for any term not exceeding three days; and in any flagrant case of violent or refractory conduct, the Board of Justices may sentence the prisoners to such punishment for seven days, in addition to any previous sentence. The keepers to assist any prisoners desirous of presenting a petition to any authority. 10. The marshal to see that the walls of the rooms, cells, and passages shall be scraped and lime-washed at least once in every two months, and the rooms and cells washed and cleaned once in each week, or oftener if requisite; such work to be done by the prisoners, and convenient places assigned for the prisoners to wash themselves; for which purpose there ghall be provided washing-tubs, soap, and towels, 11. No smoking to be allowed in the prison, nor gaming to be permitted; all dice, cards, &c., to be destroyed. 12. Prisoners may be selected for employment, by order of the marshal, in menial offices, within the walls, by consent of the Board. 13. The Board to meet monthly, at the prison, and the keepers to bring forward all prisoners at the meeting, for mspection, when they may prefer any complaint, or make any communication to the members. 14. Prisoners not in solitary confinement, but kept within the walls, to be allowed air and exercise for the preservation of health; and due classifica- tion to be observed in the yard. Those in solitary confinement to be allowed this indulgence, with the advice of the surgeon. 15. The classification of all prisoners to be regulated by order of the Board of Superintendence, and altered by the same authority, as may from Dominica. —— Dominica, 624 Prison Regulations, &c. time to time become necessary by any alterations made in the prisons bit subject to the approval of the officer administering the government. 16. All ministers of religion to have free admission to afford religious instruction to the prisoners. 17. Record-books to be kept by the marshal, in which entry to be mate (in the form subjoined) of the prisoners’ names and descriptions, their of fences, and the dates of admission and discharge. 18. These books to be open to the Board of Justices and to the Inspec: tors appointed by the Governor; entry to be made of their visits, and weekly return to be made out for the Governor; a monthly return for the Board of Justices, and a quarterly return to be prepared for the Court of Sessions on the first day of the sessions, for communication to the Graul Jury. Dietary. 19. The prison establishment to be supplied by a contractor, otherwise unconnected with the prisons, who shall supply daily such allowance of good and wholesome food as shall from time to time be required for the use of the prisoners; the daily allowance for a prisoner of each class to be fixed and determined by the Board of Magistrates, without reference to the market or contract price, but subject to the approval of the officer administering the government; and in a case of any complaint, as to either quantity or quality, the marshal to inquire into and decide thereon, The diet of sick prisoners to be regulated by the surgeon; the keepers to inspect the provisions daily, and to report to the provost-marshal ot visiting magistrate, if insufficient or of bad quality, and to inform the pur veyor. Scales and weights to be provided, and kept in the gaol; the keepers to be responsible that no convicted prisoner receives any food beyond the prison allowance, except in cases of sickness, and on approval of the surgeon. Fuel and cooking utensils to be supplied for the use ol the prisoners. 21. Male prisoners sentenced to hard labour, to be worked without the walls, when practicable. 22. Females sentenced to hard labour to be worked within the walls. 23. 'The hours fur working to be from sunrise to sunset, allowing hull an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner ; meals to be cooked within the walls and sent prepared to the male eangs outside, when so employet 24. Prisoners unable to work from sickness to be examined by the surgeon. 25. No labour to be performed on the Queen’s birthday, or other days appointed for public thanksgiving. 26. A list of tools, implements, and materials required for working prisoners, to be prepared, and on approval by the Board, to be purchased by the provost-marshal. 27. An account to be kept of the proceeds of labour and industry, and in all cases where gangs are employed in any contract labour, an accoulll of the number employed daily in each description of work to be also kept. 28. The surgeon to visit the prison once a week, or oftener if necessaty; and to report monthly to the Board, and for the information of the Governor, the state of the establishment and prisoners ; a book to i kept in each establishment for entry of the surgeon’s prescriptions al diet of the sick. 29, Every prisoner to be inspected by the surgeon, if required, on the ~ Prison Regulations, §c. 625 day of his entering the prison or other similar establishment, and no Dominica. prisoner to be discharged, if labouring under any disorder, nor until the — surgeon may certify that it is safe, unless the prisoner may desire to be released; all deaths to be immediately reported by the keepers. 30. Every prisoner on entry to be provided with a plain prison dress, if his or her clothes are improper or insufficient to ensure cleanliness, or required to be preserved for the ends of justice. 31. Each convicted prisoner to wear a distinguishing dress. 32. Their own clothes to be washed, and re-delivered to them on their discharge. 33. Each prisoner to be provided with suitable bedding. By command of his Excellency in Council. (Signed) J. Frinuay, Acting Secretary and Clerk to the Council. 22nd March, 1839. RETuRN of Prisoners in the Gaol of Rosean. When ad- mitted Date of Con- demnation. Sentence When dis- charged Loma . Oo 5) oa Si an Ho EO | Offence. ! Enclosure 2. Sir, Dominica, 28th March, 1839. In reference to your Excellency’s letter of the 18th inst., enclosing the opinion of the Inspectors of Prisons in England and Wales, relative to prison regulations, I have the honour to state, that the introduction of wine, spirits, &c., is prohibited by No. 4 of the Dominica regulations, That the female prisoners are in charge of the matron, by No. 3; that silence is to be enforced only in case of conviction, by No. 5. On reading over No. 5 carefully, I find that there has been a clerical error, enjoining all prisoners to observe strict silence; it should have been, convicted prisoners, and is such in the transcript for the Assembly. The employment of prisoners in menial offices is provided for by No. 12, and the intention is, that they should be so employed only for the other prisoners in cooking, &c. It is impossible that regular periods can be defined for the performance of Divine service, there being only one clergyman of the Established Church in the island, and he is garrison chaplain, as well as rector. I have, &c. (Signed) T. Mannin, Major, His Excellency Administering the Government. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, K.C.H., Governor-General, Antigua. 2s Dominica. 626 Prison Regulations, &c. Sir, Dominica, 4th April, 1839, In reference to your Excellency’s letter of the 28th March, enclosing remarks on the rules for the regulation of prisoners in this island, I have the honour to state, That there is a Bill before the House, doing away with the treadmill labour. That the matron, being named to act as sick-nurse, is chiefly for the purpose of receiving instructions from the surgeon, relative to the met cines, &c. &c., for the sick : her age, as well as that of all keepers, shall be limited to 50, instead of 56 years. That the 1st of August shall be. specified as one of the holidays. That the classification, &c., and dietary, are for the present, left to the gaol inspectors on trial, until such time as the necessary alterations are made in both the gaol and yard, for carrying into full effect revised rules on these two heads. That the impracticability of defined rules for religious instruction have been explained in my letter of the 28th March, No. 97. I forward two of the printed prison regulations. In reference to No. 17, I shall direct the marshal to add the thie extra columns—for, labourers, seamen, domestic, to the form kept in his record books. I have, &c. (Signed) T. Mannin, Major, His Excellency Administering the Government, Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, K.H. Sew. Xe Enclosure 1. Sir, Dominica, 29th Apri, 1899. I'sue leave to inform your Excellency that, in compliance with the instructions conveyed in your Excellency’s despatch to Major Mannin, 28th March, I convened the Privy Council, and called their attention to the Var rious points therein adverted to. Iam happy to state that the classification and dietary were immediately adopted. With regard to the objections urged on some heads, I beg leave to say that the Council were averse to any alteration respecting the Ist of August, conceiving it would keep up excitement; that religious Instruction could not otherwise be afforded than by the 16th clause, there being neither chapel nor minister for the performance of the duties. ea I am of opinion that any further reference to the Council on this subjet! would be unnecessary ; but if your Excellency conceives that any further approximation to the Antigua rules be called for, I am ready, as far as my authority goes, to make them. I have, &c., (Signed) Joun Macpuat, Lt.-Governor. His Excellency Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, &c. &e. &e. Government House, 24th Apml, 1839. Art a Meeting of Her Majesty’s Privy Council: Present, His Excl Major John Macphail, Hon. W. Blanc, Hon. D. S. Laidlaw, Hon. F. 4: Garraway, Hon. H. J. Glanville, Hon. J. Corlet: His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor requested the attention of a Board to the necessity of avoiding further delay in giving effect m Prison Regulations, &c. 627 island to the Act of Parliament “ For the better government of Prisons in the West Indies;’’ and with a view of obtaininng the adoption of such amendments to the present regulations for the prisons in Dominica as have been suggested by His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, he submits to the Council the above Act of the Imperial Parliament, 1 & 2 Victoria; the re- gulations for the government of prisons in Antigua; printed copy of a despatch, dated 29 November, 1838, containing the observations and sug- gestions of His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, with reference to prison regulations of Dominica; together with a despatch and circular, dated 28th March, 1839, from His Excellency, of the same tenor; as also the existing regulations for the government of prisons in Dominica. The above docu- ments having been read, the Board proceeded to the consideration of the amendments suggested by the Governor-in-Chief, and were of opinion, that a Bill being now in progress through the Legislature, the question as to the continuance of a treadmill, as a means of punishment, should depend en- tirely upon the result of that Bill. The Board were of opinion, that, owing to the general paucity of female prisoners, one person is quite sufficient to discharge the duties of matron and sick nurse. 50 substituted for 56. The Board adopted the classification of labour, &c. &c., and the dietary scales according to the Antigua Regulations, as follows :— Classification. The male and female prisoners to be confined in separate parts of the gaol, so as to prevent them from seeing, conversing, or holding any inter- course, and the prisoners of each sex to be divided into distinct classes, as follows :— Class 1.—Convicted felons, including those whose capital sentences have been commuted. Class 2.—Men convicted for minor offences, petty thefts, malicious in- jury to property, &c. Class 3.—Men convicted of vagrancy, breach of contract, &c. Class 4.—Women committed for felonies. Class 5.—Women committed for minor offences. Class 6.—Boys under 16 years of age. Class 7.—Girls under 16 years of age. Untried prisoners and debtors to be separately accommodated, and ju- venile offenders entirelry apart from adults. Prisoners sentenced to hard jabour to be employed as follows :— Men of the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd classes, to be employed without the walls, when practicable, in quarrying stone, breaking up and repairing roads near the town; these gangs to be worked apart, each under a separate overseer, and the hardest labour to be assigned to the Ist and 2nd classes. Women of the 4th, 5th, and 7th classes to be worked within the walls, in breaking stones, carrying water, weeding and cleaning the yards and premises, also in washing and needle-work in the establishment, and in grinding corn, &c., to be duly apportioned to the classes. The female gangs to be worked in separate yards in the day-time, and withdrawn when the men return from labour to a yard set apart for them. Dietary. Each male prisoner, while at hard labour, to be supplied daily with one and a half pound of bread, or one pound of corn, and an allowance of half 23 2 Dominica. Dominica. eens 628 Prison Regulations, &c. a pound of meat, or fish, or vegetables, at the discretion of the provost-mar shal. Each female prisoner to be allowed one pound of bread, or one quit of unground corn, and one quarter of a pound of meat, or fish, or vege tables, at the discretion of the provost-marshal. Each prisoner in solitary confinement to have three quarters of a pounl of bread, or three quarters of a quart of unground corn daily. Untried pri soners to have the allowance granted to the working prisoners. The Board were of opinion that it is quite unnecessary to include the lst of August in each year as one of the holidays. With regard to the provisions enumerated in the Antigua Regulations, under the head “ Religious Instruction,’? the Board were of opinion that they cannot be considered as applicable to this island, there being no prison chaplain, and a very large majority of the prisoners being of the Roman Catholic persuasion. The Board are further of opinion that No. 16 of the Dominica Regulations amply provides for religious instruction to prisoners of every persuasion. The Honourable H. J. Glanville dissentient. The Board adhere to the form of the return of prisoners appended to the Dominica Regulations, as they do not consider that proposed by the Governor-in-Chief sufficiently comprehensive. (True copy.) (Signed) James LAIDLAW, Sec. and Clerk of Council. Enclosure 2. Sir, Government House, Antigua, 11th May, 1839. Wirth reference to your letter of the 28th of April, No. 14, reporting the amendment of the prison rules of Dominica, I request that, to enable me to make out the general returns required for the Secretary of State, the form which I have furnished may be adhered to in the returns made to me. I think it important that provision should be made for the chaplainey of the gaol, and until other arrangements may be made, I request you to consult with the Rev. Mr. Clarke, rector of Roseau, in regard to periodical visits to the gaol, as in St. John’s, where the rector occasionally attends. I have, &e. (Signed) W. M. G. CoLeprooxe. His Excellency Major Macphail, &c. &. &c. Dominica. Prison Regulations, §c. HONDURAS. Colonel A. Macdonald to Lord Glenelg, 17h November, 1838. I wap the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s circular despatch of the 13th of August last, transmitting copy of an Act of Parliament for the better government of prisons in the West Indies, and a copy of a Report of Captain Pringle respecting the prisons which he had visited. This Act of Parliament I have proclaimed in the usual manner. The bench of magistrates, called “ the board,” forms a board of gaol superintendence. ‘To this body I have added the two stipen- diary raagistrates, and I have every reason to know that, together, they form a committee of inspection of the most efficient description. A plan of the gaol of Belize I transmitted to your Lordship on the 16th October, 1837. The security of this prison is now enhanced by the restoration of the military guard mentioned in my despatch, No. 35, 27th Sep- tember, 1838, and is perfectly adequate, as regards health and space, for any requisite purpose. Honduras. a SECTION VI. LAWS, &c., RELATING TO IMMIGRATION AND DEPORTATION FROM ONE COLONY TO ANOTHER, Copy of a Circular Despatch addressed by Lord Glenelg to the Governors of the West India Colonies (except British Guana and Trinidad, ) 30th July, 1838. Tur attention of Her Majesty’s Government has recently been directed to the practice, which appears to have arisen on the part of agents or speculators, of engaging the services of emancipated negroes in several parts of the West Indies, under contracts for labour to be performed in British Guiana and Trinidad, the object of such persons being to assign the contracts, on the arrival of the negroes at their destination, to other parties, at a profit to them- selves. Such a practice is obviously open to serious objection, owing to the inexperience of the great body of the negroes just emerging from a state of restraint, which peculiarly exposes them to the frauds of persons of the description to which I have referred, and who have an interest in entrapping them into unfair and im- provident agreements. In order to apply a remedy to this evil, and to afford protection to the recently emancipated population of the West Indian colo- nies against imposition of this nature, without at the same time imposing any undue restriction on their right voluntarily to carry their labour to the best market within their reach, Her Majesty has been advised to pass an Order in Council, of which I transmit you a copy, declaring invalid in the Crown colonies all contracts ‘or labour, if entered into without the limits of the colony in which the labour is to be performed. You will take the necessary measures for giving publicity to these regulations, and you will especially endeavour to give the emancipated negroes a clear apprehension of the object and pur- port of the Order in Council. I have further to call your attention to the expediency of recom- mending the adoption of similar enactments by the legislature of the colony under your government. Enclosure. At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 30th day of July, 1838.—Pre- sent, the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas, in pursuance of the laws in force in the colonies of British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Mauritius, con- tracts for service in agriculture, or in the manufacture of colonial produce, to be performed within the said colonies respectively, have been and may be General. General, ———+ 632 Immigration and Deportation. made with persons not being, at the time of entering into such contracts, within the limits of the colony within which such service is to be performed; and it is expedient that the law of the said colonies, respectively, should ly amended in that behalf: it is therefore ordered by the Queen’s Most Exe. lent Majesty, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, that from and after the arrival of this present Order within any of the said colonies, all contracts which may at any time thereafter be made for the performance within the same of any service or labour in agriculture, or in or about the manufacture of any colonial produce, shall within such colony be and le taken by all courts, judges, justices, magistrates, and others therein, toh null and void, and of no effect, unless the person or persons thereby con- tracting to perform any such service or work shall, at the time of entering into any such contract, have been within the limits and upon the land of the colony within which such service or labour is to be performed by him, her. or them. And whereas it may be necessary hereafter to make and establish regi: lations for and in respect of contracts to be made within the limits of the said respective colonies, for the performance of such service or labouras aforesaid; it is therefore hereby ordered and declared, that any such con tracts as shall hereafter be made for that purpose within the said respective colonies, shall be subject to all such rules and conditions as shall hereafter be imposed by law upon the parties entering into the same. And for the prevention of all doubt as to the time of the arrival within the said colonies respectively of this present Order, the respective governors ot officers for the time being administering the government thereof respect ively, shall, and they are hereby respectively required to issue proclama- tions reciting at length this present Order, and stating the days of the months and years respectively in which the same was received by them respectively ; and upon and from the day so stated in each such proclama — tion respectively, this present Order shall have the force and effect of law within the said respective colonies. And the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg, one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly. (Signed ) C. C; Greviniz. Copy of a Circular Despatch, addressed by Lord Glenelg to the Governors of Crown Colonies, viz., British Guiana, Trimdad, St. Lucia, Cape, and Mauritius, 31st July, 1838. In obedience to Her Majesty’s commands, I herewith transmit to you an Order made by Her Majesty in Council, the effect of which is to render invalid any contract for service to be performed within the colony under your government, in agriculture or in ma- nufactures, unless the contract be made within the limits of the colony itself. The Order further provides, that all contracts of that nature, which may hereafter be made within the colony, shall be liable to be regulated by such laws as may hereafter be made on the subject. Bi You will take immediate measures for giving publicity to this Order in Council, in the usual and most authentic manner. ia) Immigration and Deportation. 633 Copy of a Circular Despatch addressed by Lord Glenelg to the General. Governors of the Windward and Leeward Islands, and the Ineu- tenant-Governor of the Bahamas, 19th December, 1838. I transmit to you the enclosed copy of a despatch which I have See p. 8. addressed to the Governor of British Guiana, with reference to a proposed scheme of immigration into that colony from other parts of the West Indies, in order that you may be aware of the condi- tions which Her Majesty’s Government consider indispensable to the adoption of any plan of this nature, under the sanction of the Government. I shall hereafter transmit to you the regulations which are to be framed for insuring the health and safety of the emigrants on their passage ; and, in the meantime, I have to desire that you will adopt such precautions as are within your power, in order to pre- vent any fraud or abuse in this respect. In the event of any agent for emigration being appointed within your government, you will furnish him with the requisite instructions for the discharge of his duty, in conformity with the views which I have expressed in my despatch to Governor Light, as to the nature and object of such an appointment. I shall also be happy to receive from you any suggestion which may occur to you, with a view to provide more efficient checks against any possible abuse, without at the same time imposing unnecessary or undue restrictions on the freedom of the labouring population of the respective colonies in the ehoice of a market for their labour. BRITISH GUIANA. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 1st October, 1838. In my despatch, No. 46, date 4th September, I had the honour of giving your Lordship the substance of a communication I had received from the secretary of the British Guiana Bank on the subject of emigration: I was not at that time aware that it would be brought forward in the Court of Policy. Being convinced that all lawful and unobjectionable means to secure uninterrupted labour, by the influx of agricultural labourers unfettered by any restrictions, wo uld not be disapproved of by your Lordship, I thought it my duty to encourage at once the proposals made; anda series of resolutions was framed and agreed to, appear- ing to combine advantages to the colony and to the emigrant which could not have been contemplated, and cannot fail, if approved by your Lordship, to secure to British Guiana undimi- nished production, without affecting the interests, to any great extent, of any of the other West Indian colonies. The resolutions, of which I have the honour to forward a copy, set forth the necessity of affording means of securing agricultural labour ; a free passage is therefore offered to every agricultural labourer who willcome here. He is to be bound by no indenture, will be free to choose his employer, and be subject only to the same laws of general hiring as the new freemen: a month's notice British Guiana, ee British Guiana. 634 Immigration and Deportation. on either side, employer or employed, breaks the contract, The wages, allowances, and indulgences, the same as all labourers in the colony. I am authorised to appoint agents at Demerara and Berbicy and in those quarters of the West Indies where there may appear a surplus population. The agents for this colony will be paid to keep a registry of emigrants, to receive the names of applicants for labourers, to give the latter information as to the choice of masters and locations, and to prevent all attempts at imposition, The regulations are left to my discretion. I have appointed the assistant government secretary, Mr. Wolseley, to be chief agent here, in whose hands it is impossible to anticipate the slightest deviation from the rules I have framed, which are ap- pended to the proclamation I have ordered to be issued {o ove effect to the resolutions of the Court of Policy. Your Lordship will observe, that in advertising for an agent at the Bahamas and at Barbadoes I have made his appointment subject to the approba- tion of the Governors of those colonies, to whom I shall write on the subject. The terms on which emigrants will be received prove that there is no wish to hold out false representations. We say that if perons are disposed to emigrate, a passage shall be granted them free of expense; but they must produce certificates of having fulfilled the forms of the colony whence they come, s0 that security is given that no clandestine removal can take place, The new impulse which will be given by steam communication from this place with Barbadoes and the islands, will enable many labourers to come to British Guiana after the island crops are reaped, and assist in agricultural labour here, at high wages, and if they like, return to the islands in the beginning of the year. In this colony a temporary supply of labourers will always be ac- ceptable, as there is a constant succession of crops all the year round. I most respectfully submit to your Lordship, that the offers made to pay the passage of emigrant labourers from other colonies will have a beneficial effect upon the population here, some of whom have been buoyed up with the idea that Her Majestys Government will prevent emigration, and are therefore assuming to themselves a right to demand higher wages. The planters have seen the impolicy of imposing restrictions. The knowledge of the resources of this colony excites the energies of every indi vidual connected with it. The field js immense ; capital abounds, or is to be obtained : all that is wanted is labour. To encourage its advance on fair and open terms by the support I have given to the representatives of the colony will not, I trust, be considered by your Lordship as exceeding my authority. We have been suddenly thrown into a new state of society, which, however, as yet has produced little to excite fears for the future, for, with few exceptions, there is no disposition to abate fieldlabour. It is right to be prepared for a greater number 0 exceptions. My proclamation is the death-blow to any private speculation and unfair indenture; it places the colony above Immigration and Deportation. 635 suspicion of seeking personal gain at the expense of justice; it will tend to promote kinder treatment to the labourers in the islands, if any are disposed to withhold it from those employed for fear of losing their services, and it holds out competition to the new free race, if disposed to improve their condition by emi- gration. | Under these impressions, I earnestly and respectfully hope your Lordship will not disallow nor blame what I have done. PROCLAMATION. Wuerzas, at a meeting of the honourable the Court of Policy, held in the Guiana Public Buildings, on the 21st day of September instant, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :— Ist, Resolved, That a great lack of agricultural labourers exists in this colony, to carry on and keep up the cultivation already established, and that, in consequence thereof, if immediate measures be not adopted to supply this want, the prosperity of the colony must be seriously injured. 2nd. Resolved, That it is therefore necessary and expedient to afford every facility to agricultural labourers inured to a tropical climate, to emi- grate to this colony. 3rd. Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be now requested and authorised to appoint emigration agents in such places as he may think advisable, and to give a premium to such agents of 10s. sterling per head for every effective field labourer of good character that may be engaged by them, and sent to a proper officer, to be appointed by his Excellency in this colony ; and that the passage money for such emigrants be paid out of the public treasury, at a rate, according to distance, not exceeding 30 dollars per head from the Bahamas, upon the order of his Excellency the Governor, to be given upon the declaration of the said officer, stating the names, ages, description, and character of such emigrants arriving here, and that they have been duly reported, and have complied with all the rules and regula- tions which may be laid down for their guidance. Such rules and regula- tions, however, must not affect their free choice of employers, nor in any- way restrain them in hiring their services to the best advantage, upon the same terms and conditions as may be sanctioned under a general or special hiring, by the laws and usages of the colony, at the time of their arrival or engagement here. Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to order and direct a proper registration and designation of all such emigrants so arriving in this colony, to be kept at the office of the emigration agent, for the in- formation of all parties concerned; and that such registration be open for general inspection during office hours; and that all hirings of such labourers be effected through such office, subject to such rules and regula- tions as may be prescribed by his Excellency for the time being. These rules and regulations, however, to be afterwards submitted for the appro- bation of this court, at its next ordinary meeting after they may be put in practice. Resolved, That his Excellency be requested to issue a proclamation, embracing the spirit of these resolutions. I do, therefore, hereby publish and declare the same, for the information and guidance of all concerned. Given under my hand and seal of office, at the Guiana Public Buildings, Georgetown, Demerara, this 29th September 1838, and in the second year of Her Majesty’s reign. God save the Queen ! British Guiana, British Guiana. 636 Immagration and Deportation. GovERNMENT Noricz. His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint W. 8, Wolseley, Esq., to be Agent for Emigrants for the colony of British Guiana, (By command.) (Signed) W. B. Wotsztey, Guiana Public Buildings, Assistant Government Secretary, Ist October, 1838. Emigration A gency-Office, George Town, Demerara, 2nd October, 1838. Novice. Tuis office having been estabished, under the immediate sanction of his Excellency the Governor and the Colonial Legislature, for the purpose of encouraging emigration from the over-populated islands of the West Indies, and for the protection immigrants upon their arrival, agricultural labour- ers and mechanics disposed to emigrate to British Guiana may depend that every attention will be paid to secure for them comfortable situations and liberal wages. They will have the advantage of being made acquainted, upon their arrival, from the books of this office, with the locality, rate of wages, de- scription of work, and other particulars of every estate for which labourers are required, and, at the same time, be fully at liberty to choose for themselves, and, at their own option, to make either monthly or yearly engagements. Agricultural labourers will have their passage paid by the colony; but it has not been considered necessary to extend this indulgence to me chanics, though an advance of wages sufficient to defray the expense of their voyage can be obtained through the intervention of the agents in British Guiana, on arrival, by any who provide themselves with a certificate of good character from a justice of the peace, or a clergyman of the parish from whence they come. Labourers and others in those islands where no agent may be established, who may be desirous of obtaining information upon any points whatsoever, previous to embarkation, may depend upon an immediate answer to all post paid letters addressed to this office. The present average rate of wages in the colony may be stated to be eight dollars per month, with house, garden-ground, and medical attend: ance; a day’s labour is generally computed at seven and a half hours, though the work required by tariff can readily be performed in six, and an industrious labourer can, with ease, make two dollars per month for extra labour. Every facility will be afforded to labourers having children, or aged parents, by whom they would wish to be accompanied ; but im such cases, all particulars must, in the first instance, be addressed to this office. Passports to leave the colony will be granted gratis to any agricultural emigrants, if the climate does not, upon trial, agree with them ; but for this there must be a certificate from the medical practitioner who has been in the habit of attending them. WanTED, a resident agent at Barbadoes and at the Bahamas, to be ap- proved of by the governors of those colonies, whose business it will be,— Ist. 'To give the utmost publicity to the liberal terms upon which the labourers are invited to emigrate to British Guiana. Immigration and Deportation. 637 Qndly. To inform all emigrants applying for a passage, that they must comply with the formalities required by law, and to obtain passports be- fore they canbe permitted to embark, it being understood that no passage- money will be paid, if these are not produced. i- 8rdly. To satisfy himself that all persons describing themselves to be agricultural labourers properly come under that denomination, and are not labouring under bodily infirmity or disease at the time of embarkation. 4thly. To see that too many passengers are not embarked on board one vessel, and that a sufficiency of water and provisions has been shipped be- fore she leaves the port. The agent’s commission will be remitted immediately upon the arrival of the emigrants in British Guiana. No person under this agency allowed to receive any fee other than that quoted in the above proclamation. A branch of this office has been established at New Amsterdam, for the convenience of the residents in the county of Berbice. (By command.) (Signed) W. B. WotseLey, Agent for Emigrants. Governor Light to Lord Glenelg, 15th October, 1838. I nave the honour to forward to your Lordship the Form of Application I have established for emigrants, from proprietors and others. This is nearly a transcript of that drawn up by the late Sir Carmichael Smyth, when it was supposed liberated Afri- cans could be procured from the Havannah. Emigration AGENCY-OFFICE. Demerara, 11th October, 1838. Tux following Form of Application having been approved by his Excel- lency the Governor, 1s published for general information, ViZ.:— | The undersigned wishing to obtain a proportion of such agricultural labourers as may arrive in the colony, under the resolutions of the Honour- able the Court of Policy of the 23rd September, begs to state, for the in- formation of the agent— 1. That said labourers are to be located on plantation 2, That the property belongs to , and is represented by 3, That the cultivation is : 4, That there are at present labourers employed on the pro- perty. 5: That bee is disposable accommodation for an additional number of persons. 6. That the nearest place of worship is distant miles. 4, That there is a school upon or within miles of the estate. 8. That their wages and privileges will in every respect be the same as those at present allowed to the labourers on the estate. Signature. Date. It is proposed as a rule for the distribution of the people on their arrival, that each applicant, according to priority of application, should have ten, British Guiana. British Guiana. 638 Immigration and Deportation. and that no person should be entitled to any additional nnmber, until all were supplied. This arrangement, however, being optional with the lh bourers, the agent can do no more than advise the choice of such localities as to him may appear to offer the best prospect of comfort and contentment to themselves. As the resolutions of the Honourable the Court of Policy apply solely to agricultural labourers, no wood-cutters or others, not having their estates in actual cultivation, need make application. Gentlemen representing several estates, provided they belong to dif ferent proprietors, will be entitled to apply in the name of each of their constituents. (Signed) W. B. Wotsztey, Agent for Emigrants, Lord Glenelg to Governor Light, December 19th, 1838. Turret seems no reason to doubt that a well-conducted plan of immigration would be advantageous to the colony; and you are right in assuming that no objection would be entertained by Her Majesty's Government to lawful and unexceptionable means to secure this end. Your first despatches on this subject were written in unavoid- able ignorance of the provisions of the recent Order in Council for regulating contracts for labour ; and as your subsequent des- patch of the 19th of September, written after your receipt of that Order in Council, removes all ground for apprehension that, in the case of any future immigrants, its provisions would not be strictly adhered to, I shall content myself with observing that Her Majesty’s Government would feel’ it impossible to sanction any measures inconsistent either with the spirit or the letter of that Order. To the general object and purport of the resolutions of the Court of Policy, transmitted in your despatch of the Ist October, it does not appear to me that any just exception can be taken. Some important modifications, however, of the proposed scheme appear to me to be requisite, in order to secure the emigrants against fraud and oppression. It is undoubtedly desirable that proper means should be adopted for accurately informing labour- ers in other colonies of the rate of wages which they may expect to receive, and of the advantages which would be offered them in Guiana. The payment of the passages of willing emigrants from other places, under proper regulations, seems also to be a legitimate object for the appropriation of a moderate portion ol the colonial revenue. The appointment of emigration agents im colonies from which emigrants may be expected to proceed, as well as in British Guiana itself, to superintend their transit and location, is moreover calculated, if placed on a proper footing, to check abuse and to prevent fraud. The principle, however, on which the remuneration of such agents is proposed to be granted appears to me objectionable, Immigration and Deportation. 639 The remuneration is made to depend on the number of emigrants engaged by the agents. But this gives them a direct interest in increasing that number to the utmost, and thus diminishes the inducement to vigilance in securing the emigrants against impo- sition. It is true that the first motive.of the measure in question, and its ultimate object, is to supply labourers to a colony which is in want of them; but independently of higher considerations, the best mode, in the long run, of securing a regular supply, is by taking effectual care that there is no fraud or deception in the process of obtaining it, and that the labourers are not only willing to emigrate, but perfectly apprised of all the facts and circum- stances connected with or bearing on the emigration. ‘The agent, therefore, though paid by the colonists, must be appointed on behalf of the emigrants. He is to be their guardian and pro- tector. His duty is to preserve the emigrants from the disap- pointment, dissatisfaction, and misfortune to which ignorance and inexperience might expose them; to explain to them in the clearest manner the real nature of the inducements to emigrate which can fairly be held out to them; to caution them against extravagant or unwarranted expectations, and to protect them from the hardship and danger to which they might be liable from the misconduct of the*owners or masters of vessels employed in their conveyance. Experience has proved the necessity of strict precaution against such misconduct. It is therefore indispensable to any plan of emigration sanctioned by the Government that the seaworthiness of the ships should be ascertained, that the number of emigrants to be embarked in each ship, and the amount of provisions and water for their passage, should be regu- lated in a manner calculated to secure the health and safety of the passengers. It is also indispensable that every emigrant prior to emigration should be made completely to understand the nature and pros- pects of the proposed service, the distance of the place, and the difficulties of return; and also that the emigrants knowledge of all these particulars, and entire willingness to enter on the specu- lation, should be proved to the satisfaction of the agent by per- sonal communication with the emigrant, and that the health of the emigrant should be attested by a medical man, selected for that purpose by the agent, and acting under his inspection. In order to carry these purposes into effect, it will be necessary that proper regulations should be carefully framed; and that a strict observance of them should be made a positive condition of the payment from the public revenue of any sum for the passage of emigrants to Guiana. The best mode of enforcing this will be, to allow the proposed payment of the passages of emigrants only in those cases in which the master of the vessel in which they arrive shall have received a certificate from the emigration agent, or other Government officer appointed for this purpose, in the colony from whence they arrive; the certificate to be signed British Guiana. British Guiana, and 6 Will. TVecc253. 640 LInmugration and Deportation. by such agent or Government officer, and countersigned by the governor of such colony, and to certify that the regulations for ensuring the health and safety of the passengers have in every respect been complied with; the truth of which certificate must be verified, as far as possible, by personal inspection of the ship and emigrants on their arrival in Guiana by the resident agent, It will further be desirable that masters of ships arriving in Br tish Guiana with emigrants should be subjected to penalties in the colony, in the event of their not having conformed to such regulations as shall have been formed on this subject. In order to assist you in passing such regulations, I transmit to you a copy of the English Passengers’ Act, which, although of course requiring considerable modifications in order to render it appli- cable to the West Indies, may serve as a useful guide. I have to request that you will transmit for my consideration these regu- lations when framed, I observe that it is expressly stipulated in the third resolution of the Court of Policy, that the rules and regulations laid down for the guidance of emigrants applying for a free passage to Guiana, shall not affect their free choice of employers, nor in any way restrain them from hiring their services to the best advan tage. I consider the fair and bond Jide application of this prin- ciple essential to the proposed measures,’ and indispensable to any plan for procuring additional labour in the colony. In order to remove all doubt on this point, some alteration js required in the notice transmitted in your despatch of the 15th of October. The rule proposed for the distribution of the emigrants prescribes that each applicant, according to priority of application, should have ten, and that no person should be entitled to any additional number until all are supplied. Such a rule, if enforced with w- qualified rigour, would lead to many evils; but waiving other objections, I remark on it here, as appearing at least to militate against the entire freedom of the emigrants, in making their own agreements with the parties anxious to obtain their labour. It is indeed added that this arrangement is optional with the labourers; but the terms of it, nevertheless, more than imply an interference on the part of the Government agent in the distt- bution of labour; yet such interference ought not for a moment to be admitted. The labourers on their arrival should be at liberty to enter into any engagements sanctioned by the existing law of the colony with any parties who are willing to engage them, and the business of the resident agent, as it respects them, should be strictly confined to the giving them such information as he may consider useful for their guidance, and the protecting them against any unfair dealing, I have to request that, after considering these observations, you will bring the subject again under the notice of the Court of Policy, with a view to revise the proposed arrangements in the several points to which I have adverted, and that at your earliest convenience you will inform me of the result. Immigration and Deportation. 641 BARBADOES. Barbadves. Lord Glenelg to Sir E. M. MacGregor, February 2nd, 1839. Ir has been represented to me that the Barbadoes Act tr. p. 112. (No. 597), to regulate the emigration of labourers from that island, operates as an undue restriction on the right of the free labourer to seek employment wherever he can find the best market for his labour. Some legislative regulations may possibiy be necessary to protect the labouring population from becoming the victims of interested speculation and illusory statements, or may be sanctioned by the reasonable claims of society to protec- tion from burdens not properly belonging to it; but on no other principle can any restraints be justly placed on the free move- ments of the emancipated population. To such an extent, however, as legislative enactments may be requisite for the purposes above stated, it is desirable that uni- ; formity of legislation should be established in the various West India colonies, in order that a fair and equal protection may be afforded to the respective communities, and that no undue advan- tages may be obtained by some at the expense of others. I have to request that you will give this subject your consider- ation, and report to me the result. » ST. VINCENT. St. Vincent. Lord Glenelg to Sir EB. J. M. MacGregor, 2nd February, 1839. Wirn reference to my despatch of this date (No. 138, Barbadoes), 11. p. 164. it has been stated to me that a law has been passed by the legisla- ture of St. Vincent’s, for regulating the emigration of labourers from that island, containing provisions similar to those of the Barbadoes Act. I cannot discover that any St. Vincent’s Act answering this description has been received at this department. I request, therefore, that you will report to me whether I have been rightly informed in this respect ; and if so, that you will trans- mit to me, without loss of time, a copy of the Act in question, toge- ther with an explanation of the causes which may have led to the apparent delay in the transmission of it tome for Her Majesty’s con- sideration. In the meantime, I have already stated to you the views of Her Majesty’s Government on the subject of enactments of this nature, in my despatch before referred to. Sir E. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, \1th January, 1839. I wave the honour of submitting to your Lordship copies of a. 11. (2), p. 167. despatch from the Lieutenant-Governor, of an address, &c., from 27 St. Vincent. II. (2), p. 169. II. (2), p. 197, 642 Immigration and Deportation. the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of St. Vincent, te spectfully claiming his Excellency’s « strong recommendation to He Majesty’s Government against so extraordinary a traffic” as that ate verted to in the communication to Mr. Brown from the agent-general of emigrants in Trinidad, where the President and Speaker of the above-mentioned Legislative Houses state, that “ a considerable sum from the public resources of that colony appears to be in the counse of appropriation for the avowed purpose of affording every induce: ment to the effective labouring population in the sister colonies to abandon their families and other connexions, under the fallacious hope of more advantageous employment in that colony.” The Marqms of Normanby to Sir E. J. MacGregor, 30th Marel, 183¢ I nave had the honour to receive your despatch, No. |, of the llth J anuary, enclosing copies of a despatch from the Lieutenant Governor of St. Vincent, and of a joint address presented to him by the legislative bodies in reference to the proceedings adopted by the government of ‘Crinidad for encouraging the emigration to that island of labourers from St. Vincent, and other colonies in the West Indies. My predecessor’s circular despatch of the 19th of December, et closing the copy of a despatch which he had addressed to the Go- vernor of British Guiana, with reference to a scheme of immigratiol into that colony, will have apprised you, ere this, of the views enter: tained by Her Majesty’s Government as to the proceedings of colo- nies desiring the introduction of emigrants. Consistently with those views, it would not be possible for me'o interfere, as proposed in the address, with the government of Trl dad, for the prevention of emigration from St. Vincent, except under circumstances of fraud or abuse having been practised upon the emt grants; and I have to add that, provided the required amendments are made in the ordinance passed at Trinidad on this subject, Het Majesty will be advised to signify Her allowance of it. I have the honour of enclosing herewith, for the information of the Lieutenant-Governor of St. Vincent, a copy of Lord Glenelg’s des- patch to the Lieutenant-Governor of ‘Trinidad, respecting this ordi nance, The Marquis of Normanby to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, 27th August, 1839. a I nave received your despatch, No. 9, of the 6th April, enclosing the transcript of an Act passed by the Legislature of St. Vincent the month of November, 1838, intituled, « An Act to amend all Act, intituled, « An Act to regulate the Emigration of Labourers 99 from the Island and its Dependencies.’ F The Act of 1837, in amendment of which the present Act 1s passed, imposed on emigrants about to quit St. Vincent's a series of resttit- Immigration and Deportation. 643 tions of much severity. Her Majesty’s Government do not, how- ever, appear to have regarded them as constituting a serious objection to the law. At that time the inconvenience of such legislation was, perhaps, less distinctly foreseen than at a later period. The Act was consequently left to its operation. The Act which you have now transmitted materially enhances the restraints of the law of April, 1837. It subjects the masters of vessels to heavy penalties in the absence of a certificate from the justices of the peace. ‘The certi- ficate can, however, be obtained only on taking an oath, which many a man quitting the colony on his lawful occasions might be unable to take, and on the proof of a negative, which, even when most strictly true, it may often be impossible to establish by evidence. Theeffect of that evidence is also to be determined without appeal, by any two of the ordinary justices of the peace of the island. Neither is the fact of which proof is thus required the proper condition on which the departure of the emigrants should depend. A labourer may have ancestors in the first or second degree, or children dependent on him for their support, and who may by his absence become des- titute, and yet it may be unreasonable to detain him on that account. By absenting himself for a while in some adjacent colony where the rate of wages is higher, such a man might become better able to fulfil those filial or parental duties. J am not, indeed, aware that the law in St. Vincent’s renders a man responsible for the mainte- nance of his parents or of his grand-parents. This Act is further objectionable in its effect on the trade and navigation of theisland. It requires the master of every ship, within six hours of his arrival, to pay a fee of 10s., and to find two sureties against his breach of the rules respecting emigrants. Regulations of this nature are regarded with strong and reasonable discontent by commercial men, and the multiplication of them cannot be justified except by a very clear motive of public policy. I perceive no such motive in the present instance. ‘The whole navigation of the colony would be subjected to this inconvenience, although the ships em- ployed in the removal of emigrants would be comparatively few, and their voyages infrequent. For these reasons Her Majesty in Council has been advised to dis- allow this Act, and I enclose an Order in Council for that purpose. TOBAGO. Lord Glenelg to Sx E. J. MacGregor, 21st January, 1839. St, Vincent. Tobago. Tnz Act, No. 313, for preventing the clandestine removal of yz, p.208, labourers from the island, is open to very serious objections. No labourer who, on mature reflection, has resolved to quit the colony, may quit even the parish in which he dwells, until he shall have gone before a justice of the peace, who, within three days is to associate with himself another justice, and the two are to inquire whether the Pe os Tobago. II. (2), p.239. 644 Immigration and Deportation. labourer has any aged or infirm grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, or child under the age of 14, who may or ought to be | dependent on him for support, and who, on his departure, will be come destitute of support. If it shall be proved to the justices that the labourer has no such kindred or claim on him, and that he is no bound by any contract for service with any person in Tobago, the Justices are to give to the labourer a certificate to the colonial secre tary; but failing such proof, they are to refuse the certificate which the law requires as indispensable, before any labourer can be per mitted to quit theisland. An appeal to the Governor in Counalis given to any person aggrieved by any intentional, improper, or ut necessary obstruction on the part of the justices. The Act denounces penalties of great severity against any person removing any labourer, or enticing, or aiding him to remove from the island, without the certificate ; and before the labourer can remove, even with the ceri ficate, his intention to do so must be published for fourteen days by the colonial secretary. Practically this law would render the departure from the colony of the agricultural labourers almost impossible. It could never take place until after a process of seventeen days continuance at the least, which the magistrates, without any vexatious design, will often very greatly prolong. The proposed emigrant must prove certain nega tives, which are scarcely susceptible of proof. The liability to sup- port ancestors, both in the first and second degree, is assumed as a matter of course; but, so far as I can perceive, without any suflicient reason. It is not required that the relatives remaining in the island should have been previously dependent on the person proposing to emigrate, or that proof should be afforded of his being the only per- son standing in the same degree of relationship to them, or from whom they may have a right to support. The restrictions imposed by this Act appear to me to be unites cessarily severe, and I have therefore felt it my duty to advise its disallowance. Lieut.-Gov. Darling to Sir E. J. M. Mac Gregor, 21st March, 1839. Wirn reference to your Excellency’s despatch of the 7th of Fe bruary, No. 281, with an enclosure from Her Majesty’s Secretary 0 State of the 19th December, 1838, transmitting regulations to be observed with respect to labourers emigrating from any of Her Ma- jesty’s West India colonies to British Guiana, I beg to state that I have given the subject my best attention, and have not anything f0 offer in addition to the scheme detailed in the papers accompanying the despatch. : The rights of the labourer are so thoroughly protected in i regulations, and such pains are taken to secure him against frauc and injustice, that I am not aware that any amendment can be re- quired, hee As far as regards this island, I am glad to say that no disposition Immigration and Deportation. 645 has shown itself amongst the labourers to emigrate to any other Tobago. colony. Should such an inclination spring up to any extent, the See ruin of the island would become inevitable. TRINIDAD. Trinidad, nt Sir G. F. Hill to Lord Glenelg, \1th December, 1838, Tue experience of the planters in this colony having indisputably 1. @), p..253 ascertained that a sufficient force of Jabour was not to be expected from the negroes to take off the ensuing crop, notwithstanding the nigh rate of wages paid to them (which was not on any estate less than three bitts a-day, with salt fish, houses, grounds, and medical attendance), the Council of Government, therefore, took this strait- ened situation of the planters into consideration on the 9th of last month, with a view to supply, if possible, a remedy ; accordingly, on the 10th of November, the following resolutions were passed :— Ist. That it is the opinion of the board that in this colony the quantity of labour available for the purpose of raising and manufac- turing the staple articles of produce is not sufficient to maintain the cultivation already established, and to give employment to the fixed capital already invested in buildings and machinery, and that there- fore, unless effective measures for procuring an addition to our agri- cultural population are immediately adopted and promptly executed, a large amount of existing capital will be lost, and the prosperity of the colony materially and permanently injured. 2nd. That it is, therefore, necessary and expedient to provide, at the public expense, such means of giving facility to immigration as may secure to the colony a sufficient number of labourers accus- tomed to agriculture, and inured to labour in a tropical climate. 3rd. That for this purpose his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor be requested and authorised to establish, m such places as he ma think fit, proper persons as agents, for the purpose of facilitating the immigration of agricultural labourers to this colony, and to grant to all such agents an allowance, in lieu of salary, of 12s. sterling for each effective field labourer of good character as may be sent by them to this colony; and that such agents be authorised to make arrangements and contracts for the passage of such emigrants to this colony at reasonable rates, to be defrayed in conjunction with the agent's allowance, at the public expense, on their arrival. 4th, That an emigration-office be established in this colony under the charge of an officer to be appointed by his Excellency the Lieu- tenant-Governor; and it shall bethe duty of such officer to receive all such emigrants on their arrival, to provide for their immediate subsistence and comfort, and for their ultimate location, under such rules and regulations as may be established by the Governor in Council for that purpose, provided that no such regulations shall in any manner affect the free choice of such immigrants as to the per- Trinidad. en, 646 Immigration and Deportation. son by whom, and the places where, they are to be employed, nori any manner restrain them from hiring their services to the best advantage. ) oth., That an ordinance be forthwith prepared for the purpose of carrying the measures recommended in these resolutions into imme. diate operation, and that his Excellency be requested to instruct th Attorney-General to introduce such ordinance. Pursuant thereto, Mr. J ackson, the acting Attorney-General, in- troduced an ordinance on the 19th November, of which I enclosea copy, that underwent material alteration, as your Lordship will per: celve, when compared with the enactments of the ordinance which was finally passed, of which I enclose two copies. The provisions of the first proposed ordinance were considered by myself and some members of the Council too restrictive, if not coercive, of the free choice of the immigrant where or with whom he should work, or, in fact, in what manner he should employ himself; with the exception, therefore, of providing a passage for him, free of expense, into this colony, the measure has been finally adopted with- out any obligation whatsoever imposed upon the immigrant, It might suffice to have thus given your Lordship a brief detail of the origin and final adoption of this measure ; yet it is fit I should state that a similar provision having been made in Demerara (se Governor Light’s proclamation annexed), for the purpose of po: curing labourers, had considerable influence in inducing the Counall to have recourse to similar means for that purpose here ; besides, it was strongly urged that the preservation of the amount of oll revenue could not be secured without recourse to some such plan; and it was further argued, that if an additional number of labourers could be induced to come here, and that those who already are here could be persuaded to work as before the month of August last, the cultivation of sugar would materially increase, and of course oul revenue. I very much, however, regret to say, this is not in either case by any means likely to. ensue, for already I am obliged, after diligent and minute inquiry, to state my opinion to be that there is not at pte sent more than half the force willing to be employed on the sugat estates that was in operation previous to the first of August last; and this, I admit, varies from the expectation | had formed and had the honour of communicating to your Lordship. There is a mischievous agency at work, which from time to time imposes belief upon the suspicious character of the negroes that thet! freedom is not perfectly secured, and causes them to be unsettled m their minds and dispositions; and when two days’ wages will mai tain one of these labourers for a week, they give way to their natural disposition of sloth and repose. The introduction of labourers from other places would evidently assist towards curing this disinclination to work ; but the severe pro- ceedings, rigidly executed in the other colonies, to prevent the tree locomotion of their population, renders relief on this subject for the present hopeless; and if those harsh means, so executed, shou ai Lo Immigration and Deportation. 647 receive sanction from the colonial department, relief cannot be Gana expected. — I take the liberty of enclosing two affidavits, handed to me a few days ago, describing a proceeding taken at Montserrat on the arrival of a vessel there from this colony, for the purpose of obtaining agricul- tural labourers; I am told this occurrence is intended to be the subject of representation to your Lordship. The ordinances passed by many of the old colonies to chain the negroes, as it were, to those islands, render the idea of the negro population having obtained perfect freedom quite absurd, and. has left a persuasion with the Council of Government here that your Lordship will not sanction the exercise of such unjustifiable power. The Council are further of opinion that your Lordship’s despatch, on the subject of bounty to be given to female immigrants, approves the principle which they have adopted in the ordinance which I have the honour to transmit with this despatch; and, with respect to the admissibility of charging the expense to the public treasury, it seems justified by the provision of law, that the immigrant arrives here unfettered by any restriction, therefore private individuals could not be expected to incur, the expense of bringing agricultural labourers into the colony, who might, after arrival, refuse to be employed for those who had supplied their maintenance and passage money. The Marquis of Normanby to Sir G. F. Hill, 21st February, 1839. Gus © Y Y I HAVE received your despatch, No. 120, of the 11th of December, HU. (2), p. 260 in which you communicate the resolutions of the Council of Govern- ment, in reference to the immigration of labourers into Trinidad, and enclose an ordinance (No. 17) which was enacted by yourself, with the advice and consent of the Council, to give effect to a scheme of that description. As you are already apprised of the measures taken by the govern- ment of British Guiana for increasing the amount of the labouring population in that colony, and as the ordinance passed in Trinidad so nearly resembles the Guiana measure, both in its details and object, I conceive that I cannot pursue a more convenient course than to supply you with a copy of the despatch which my predecessor addressed to Governor Light, in reply to his communications on the subject. You will find in that document a full exposition of the conditions which Her Majesty’s Government consider indispensable to the adoption of any plan of immigration, together with the objec- tions which have been raised to some parts of the plan proposed at Guiana. One of those objections applies with equal force to the ordinance now before me. I refer to the mode in which the remu- neration is proposed to be granted to the agents. This remuneration being made to depend on the number of emigrants whom they engage, gives them a direct interest in increasing that number, and diminishes the inducement to vigilance in securing the emigrants against imposition. Trinidad. 1I.(2) , p. 287. 648 Immigration and Deportation. Therefore, before I can advise Her Majesty to allow the ordinany passed at Trinidad, it is essential that the second clause of it, whic) | relates to the remuneration of agents, should be rendered confom able to the views of Her Majesty’s Government. The condition that the payment from the public revenue of the expense of the passage of emigrants should be allowed in those cass only in which the master of the vessel shall have received a certificate from the emigration agent in the colony from whence they come, | hold to be equally indispensable in the case of Trinidad as of Guiana: and also that masters of ships arriving with emigrants should he subjected to penalties in 'T: rinidad, in the event of their not having satisfactorily provided for the health and safety of the passengers, The ordinance is, otherwise, not open to objection, Colonel Mein to the Marquis of Normanby, 11th April, 1839, I nave the honour to acknowledge your Lordship’s despatch to the late Sir George Hill, of the 21st February, 1839, No.1, respect: ing an ordinance passed in this colony on the 24th November, 1838, No. 17, to facilitate the immigration into this colony of labourers inured to a tropital climate. Your Lordship encloses a copy of a despatch sent to Governor Light on the same subject, dated 19th December, 1838, in which reference is made to certain conditions which are required by Her Majesty’s Government, previous to the adoption of the plan of immigration proposed ; also referring to the manner of granting the remuneration to the agents, which require certain regulations to be made, under the impression that they will be likely to secure the immigrants against imposition, and which your Lordship justly remarks will apply to ‘Trinidad as well as Guiana. Your Lordship then observes that, previous to advising Her Majesty to allow the ordinance passed at Trinidad, it will be essential that the clause relating to the remuneration of the agents should be rendered conformable to the views of Her Majesty's Government, as shown in the document above alluded to; also that a certificate from the emigration agent in the colony from whence the immigrants come is indispensable ; also that masters of vessels arriy- ing with emigrants should be subject to penalties, should due pre- cautions not have been taken for the health and safety of the passengers. I beg leave to inform your Lordship, in reply, that the above suggestions of your Lordship will be laid before the Council of the island, that the ordinance may be amended to meet the wishes of Her Majesty’s Government. Immigration and Deportation. 649 LEEWARD ISLANDS. Leeward Islands. Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 2nd February, 1839. Comprarnts have been addressed to me respecting the Emi- U1. p. 80. eration Acts in force in some of the West India colonies; it has been represented that these laws are framed not on the principle of protecting the ignorant and unsuspecting labourers against the frauds which might be practised on them by interested indi- viduals, but on the principle of protecting the interests of the proprietors in the old and comparatively impoverished colonies, from which the labouring classes might be tempted to emigrate — in search of higher wages and superior comforts. You will recollect that I recently objected to the St. Kitt’s Act, “for preventing the Clandestine Deportation of Labourers,” on grounds similar to those above stated. An Antigua Act, however, on this subject, numbered 597, is in force in that colony. It would be difficult, without a more perfect knowledge than I possess of many local particulars, to form a decided opinion whether this law is justly hable to such objections; and I request that you will give the subject your consideration, and report to me the result. To such an extent as laws of this nature may be requisite to protect the agricultural population of the West Indies from the attempts of speculators to effect their removal from one colony to another by interested representations and on fallacious grounds, it is greatly to be desired that uniformity of legislation should be established in the various colonies, in order that the interests of the respective communities may be equally and fairly protected ; and in order that no unnecessary restriction may anywhere be placed on the right of the free Jabourer to seek employment wherever he can obtain the best return for his labour. ST. CHRISTOPHER. St. Christopher. ——ae From Sir Hl. M‘Leods Speech to the Council and Assembly, 21st June, 1838. Tur Act to prevent the clandestine deportation has been II. p. 160. matter of much consideration; I trust the labouring classes are already aware of the delusive hopes held out to them to emigrate, yet 1 am not prepared to say some such law as this may not be advisable at the first moment of the forthcoming change. In its present state it could not be again entertained by the Legisla- ture, and I have felt that, in rejecting it, much imconvenience . might ensue, | shall therefore pass it; but I must at the same time announce that it will not be recommended to Her Majesty’s St. Christopher. III. p. 166. IIf. p. 162. 650 Immigration and Deportation. Government, being too exclusively restrictive on a very large and particular class of the community, rendering them alone subject to liabilities that ought to be common to all. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Sir H. M'Leod, 25th July, 1838. I Bue leave to congratulate you on the passing of the Act for terminating the apprenticeship in August next, and also to ox press to you my approval of the terms in which you have de- clared your assent to the Deportation Act, which, for the reasons contained in your speech to the Council and Assembly, I am unable to recommend for confirmation by Her Majesty in Council. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Sir H. M'Leod, 6th August, 1838. Tse experience of this island has shown that the attempt to detain the labourers as a class by restrictive regulations has been ineffectual, and that these have rather tended to encourage clandestine emigration ; an effect which would not probably have ensued if such regulations had been impartial in their applica- tion, and if the labourers were not for the most part employed under general hirings. Sir W. M. Gt. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 6th August, 1838. Being aware that an apprehension prevailed throughout these .slands that, on the discharge of the apprenticed labourers on the Ist of August, an effort would be made to allure them to the southern colonies; and, being desirous of guarding against the defects which had rendered the Deportation Act of Antigua an unpopular measure, I circulated to the different islands the heads of a Bill, herewith enclosed, which in its application could not he regarded as imposing a restriction on certain classes from which others were exempted. A Bill having been passed by the Council and Assembly at St. Kitt’s, founded on the Antigua Act, was sent up to me for approval by Sir H. M‘Leod; and as it was improbable that a revision of this Bill could be effected previous to the Ist of August, I assented to it, with the understanding that I could not recommend it for confirmation by the Queen in Council, without such amendments as would remove the objections which I consi- dered to apply to it. Immigration and Deportation. 651 Lord Glenelg to Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke, 15th October, 1838. Tun Act No. 283, for preventing the Clandestine Deportation of Labourers, relates to a subject of which I acknowledge the importance and the difficulty. L am, however, compelled to add that those difficulties do not appear to me to have been success- fully encountered by the Legislature of St. Christopher. The freedom which has been granted to the emancipated class of Her Majesty’s subjects throughout the West Indies involves an admission of their right to resort to any part of the Queen's dominions, which they may have the power and the will to visit, or to select as the place of their permanent abode. But, in the exercise of that right, there are restrictions which the general interest of society requires and justifies. No man should be per- mitted with impunity to resort to fraudulent misstatements, or to fraudulent suppressions of truth, in order to entice ignorant per- sons to quit the colonies in which they are settled. No man should be permitted to place himself beyond the reach of the tribunals of a colony in which he has committed any crime or contracted any debt, without such a public notice of his intended departure as may afford the state an opportunity to prosecute him for his offence, or the creditor an opportunity to sue him for the debt. Nor should any man be permitted to quit, without such notice, any colony in which he would leave behind him, un- provided for, kindred, for whose maintenance the law renders him responsible, and who must by his absence be thrown on the public at large for support. Any person in that situation may reasonably be required to give security, though not for a very long time in advance, against any such burthen being thrown on parochial or public funds. Had the present Act advanced no further than to give effect to these general principles, I should not have regarded it as objectionable : but such, I regret to say, is not the case. The Act, if I correctly understand it (although the construc- tion may in this respect be doubtful), forbids the labourer to quit, not merely the island, but even the parish in which he resides, until he shall have obtained the certificate of the jus- tices. The moral obligation of maintaining aged or infirm parents ought not to be enforced by positive law in cases where the pa- rents have grown old in slavery or apprenticeship, under an ex- press condition that in old age the burthen of their maintenance would devolve on their owners or employers ; and the terms of the law point not merely to kindred who are actually dependent on the emigrant, but to those who may or ought to be dependent on him—terms which apparently exceed the real intention of the Legislature. The emigrant is required to prove a negative which is scarcely susceptible of proof ;—namely, that he has none of the kindred, St. Christopher. IIL. p. 178. St. Christopher, oe Nevis. eee III. p. 280. II, Pp 281. 652 Immagration and Deportation. and that he is bound by none of the contracts to which the Act refers, The appeal given to the Governor and Council would mor fitly have been given to the Governor alone; because the exec. tive authority appears to be unnecessarily fettered by requiring the concurrence of the Council, and because the Governor aets under an effective responsibility from which they are exempt. The notice for departure from the island must be published for 80 days; an arrangement which must operate as an ins: perable restraint in many cases in which restriction of any kind 1s unnecessary. If, as I understand, fees are payable on the advertisements and licenses, they will constitute an additional and heavy bu then on the labourer. The master of the ship may be entirely ignorant of the con- tracts into which the emigrants may have entered; yet he is made responsible for removing persons subject to such contracts. For these reasons J regard this Act as unfit to be recom mended to the Queen in Council for Hey Majesty’s sanction in its present form ; and, unless you shall be able to report to me by an early period that the objections to which I refer have been obviated by an additional enactment, -Her Majesty’s Govern: ment will be under the necessity of advising the Queen in Council to disallow this Act. LSA NEVIS. Extracts from the Reports of Mr. Kenney, Stip. Mag. Ist September, 1838. I rake the liberty of communicating to your Honour thata large schooner from British Guiana is now here; that the super- cargo of which, a person by the name of (formerly residing in this island), is attempting to inveigle and entice away the male population, under the promise of very high wages and allowances ; that he has succeeded to a great extent; and that! have every reason to believe that the said person does not intend to act fairly and honestly by them, forasmuch as he has refused to sign a written contract. It has been stated to me, that several about to emigrate will leave behind their illegitimate children, without the means of support. 1st October, 1838. From €0 to 70 have been enticed away from their homes, families, and connexions, during this month, to British Guiana, by two persons named — and —. The presence in the colony of such speculators tends much to unsettle the minds of Immigration and Deportation. 653 the peasantry, and make them dissatisfied with their present — Nevis. employers and wages. 2nd November, 1838. No emigration has taken place during the month, from the II. p. 289. absence of speculators in that traffic. Virgin VIRGIN ISLANDS. Islands. From the Report of Mr. Gordon, Stip. Maq., 5th September, 1833. T uz labourers manifest no disposition to emigrate. From the same, 5th December, 1838. I nave learned that about 50 people from this country are now III. p.331. employed as mechanics and porters at Crabb Island. ‘These people were inhabitants of town, who have been thrown out of employment since Ist August. From the Report of Mr. Gordon, Stip. Mag., 5th January, 1839. Twr.veE labourers have emigrated to Demerara this month; II. p. 339. they were all either mechanics or domestics—classes which have considerable difficulty in getting employment in the colony. From the Report of Mr. Dyett, St. Mag., 30th April, 1839. SevERAL emissaries of the Demerara planters have been ac- IIL. p. 350. tively engaged in endeavouring to seduce them to emigrate to that colony, but have not, as far as 1 can learn, been successful. SECTION VII. PROCEEDINGS OF THE LOCAL LEGISLATURES. JAMAICA. Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 1st November, 1838. I nave the honour to report to your Lordship, that the legis- ture of this island assembled on the 30th ultimo, on which occa- sion I addressed to them a speech, of which the enclosed is a copy, together with a copy of the reply from Her Majesty’s Council. The House of Assembly last night adopted certain Resolutions, the object of which is, I understand, to suspend all business, ex- cept such as may be necessary to maintain the public credit, in consequence of Parliament having lately passed the West India Prisons Bill, which in Jamaica is considered a breach of their chartered privileges, and of the British Act 12 Geo. III., c. 12. It is with pleasure I assure your Lordship of the orderly con- duct of the peasantry, and of my perfect confidence in being able to preserve the tranquillity of the island. (Enclosure I.) Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, Tus most important event in the annals of colonial history has taken place since I last had the pleasure of meeting the legislature of this island ; and I am happy in being able to declare, that the conduct of the labouring population, who were then-the objects of your liberal and enlightened po- licy, entitles them to the highest praise, and amply proves how well they have deserved the boon of freedom. It was not to be expected that the total extinction of the apprenticeship laws would be followed by an instantaneous return to active labour; but feeling, as I do, the deepest interest in the successful result of the great measure now in progress, I sincerely congratulate you and the country at large on the improvement which is daily taking place in the resumption of industrious habits; and I trust there is every prospect of agricultural prosperity. Many important subjects, consequent upon the altered condition of society, will, I hope, receive your early and serious consideration. Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, In calling upon you to provide for the usual public exigencies, I make no doubt you will support the credit of the island, with due regard to the interests of your constituents. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, I shall lose no time in laying before you various Despatches from Her Majesty’s Government. I beg to assure you of my cordial ‘co-operation in all measures which Jamaica, Jamaica, 56 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. may tend to improve the laws, to give security to property, to protect the Just rights of the peasantry, and ensure peace and happiness to all classes of Her Majesty’s subjects. (Enclosure 2.) (Jamaica, ss.) To His Excellency Sir Lionz Situ, Bart., &c. &. &e, The humble Address of the Council. May it please you Excellency, * We, the Council of Jamaica, beg to offer to your Excellency our thanks for your speech at the opening of the present session. We are much gratified by your Excellency’s assurance that the conduct of the labouring population of this colony has been such as to entitle them to the highest praise, and amply to prove how well they did deserve the boon of freedom. We concur with your Excellency in the opinion that it would indeel have been unreasonable to have expected that the sudden extinction of those laws relating to the late system of apprenticeship should have been followed by an instantaneous adoption of voluntary labour. We feel assured of the deep interest which your Excellency takes in the the successful result of the great measure now in progress; and earnestly hope that your Excellency’s anticipations of agricultural prosperity may be fully realized. Your Excellency may rest assured that our most mature consideration will be cheerfully given to all those important subjects consequent upon the altered condition of society in this colony. And when the various Despatches from Her Majesty’s Government, to which your Excellency has been pleased to allude, shall have been laid before us, your Excellency may rely on their receiving our best attention, Convinced, as we are, that the peace, prosperity, and happiness of all classes of Her Majesty's subject in this island depend on the improvemeltt of the laws, giving Security to property, and protection to the just rights of the peasantry, we will diligently apply ourselves to the consideration and adoption of such measures as may be conducive to those ends ; and gratefully acknowledge your Excellency’s promised cordial co-operation. Passed the Council this 31st day of October, 1838. (Signed) W.G. Stewart, Clerk to the Council. (True copy.) Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith, 13th December, 1838. I HAVE received your Despatch, No. 188, of the Ist November, transmitting me a copy of the speech which you addressed to the legislature of Jamaica, at the opening of the session on the 30th October, together with a copy of the answer to it from the Council. As I have not yet received a copy of the Resolutions to which you advert as having been passed by the Assembly, it would be premature to address to you instructions founded on what, at the date of your Despatch, you understood to be their object. It, however, gives me sincere pleasure to be assured of the continued orderly conduct of the peasantry, and of your confi dence in the preservation of the tranquillity of the island. eo eee Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 657 Sir Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 12th November, 1838. Tur enclosed printed Minutes of the House of Assembly will show your Lordship the whole proceedings of that body, from the day they met, on the 30th ultimo, to the 3rd of this month, when I dissolved the legislature, I have now to explain to your Lordship the motives and ob- jects which influenced me to this policy. Having patiently and temperately urged upon the House of Assembly the duty of their carrying through the business of the country, your Lordship will see, by their 4th Resolution, and subsequently in their reply to my speech, that they declared they would abstain from the exercise of any legislative functions, ex- cepting such as they deemed necessary to preserve inviolate the faith of the island with the public creditor, until Her Majesty’s pleasure was made known. It was impossible for me to allow of such a condition, because it was dangerous in precedent, and defining what they would or would not receive from the Crown as subjects of their deli- beration. On the 2nd November, therefore, I prorogued the House to the following day, in a speech to be found at page 12 of the Minutes. And on that day I addressed a speech (page 1) which, as I hoped, by affording a clearer insight into the many img portant subjects I had to submit to them, immediately affecting their own interests as planters, might induce the House to change their resolution of not doing general business: but I was disappointed; and, after receiving their reply, in which they persisted in their refusal to do business, I dissolved the House. I weighed well all the inconveniences and disadvantages against this measure, and acknowledged the many serious objec- tions opposed to any probable good, as far as the chances went, of any election of more intelligent members; but it was to be considered the House of Assembly stood alone. The Council were ready and unanimous in support of Government; and be- fore Her Majesty's Ministers could adopt any precautionary or corrective measures against the obstinate course which the Assembly maintained, it was necessary for the Governor to show your Lordship that he had resorted to all the constitutional means in his power to prevent the colony being placed in the extraordinary position of a House of Assembly, suspended in all their functions by their own act. An appeal, therefore, to the constituency was the only course left me. The new House will be assembled on the 18th, De- cember, time enough to pass the annual bills, if so disposed. If they refuse business, J shall have done my duty, and must be content to keep the House in prorogation until your Lordship instructs me how I am to carry on the government. Had I granted a long prorogation, as their policy designed, it would have appeared as if I hesitated between their cause and 2U Jamaica. eee Jamaica, 658 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. my duty to my Sovereign; and after gaining time for their oy ends, and Her Majesty’s Ministers unltimately found it necessary to go to Parliament, my measures might have been considered defective, because I had not gone to the last resort—an appeal to the people, by a dissolution. I beg to assure your Lordship, that in my late strugeles Her Majesty’s Council unanimously supported me, and perfectly ap- proved of the dissolution. I shall take all the precautions in my power against agitation; but, as none of the lately emancipated population have had time to become voters, I do ‘not apprehend they will take any part in the elections. House of Assembly, 31st October, 1838. Resolved, 1st, That the Act of the British Parliament, ‘intitulated “ An Act for the better Government of Prisons in the West Indies,” is a Vio lation of our inherent rights as British subjects, as recognised by the con- stitution of this island, and by the Act of Parliament 18 Geo. IIL, ¢. 12; that the same has not and ought not to have the force of law in this island, and that the authorities will not be justified in acting on it. A motion was made, That the House do disagree to the said Resolution, A debate thereon arising, and the question being put; The House divided : yea ne Noes . . 24. It passed in the negative. Then the first Resolution, being again read, was agreed unto by the House. Resolved, 2nd, That the violation of our rights by the Parliament of Great Britain, in which we are not represented, is the less excusable, mas- much as the House was prepared to enter into the consideration of prison discipline as soon as the report of, Her Majesty’s Commissioner was offi cially before them. A motion was made, That the House do disagree to the said Resolution. A debate thereon arising, and the question being put ; The House divided: as elated sf INGGS (2 cae! It passed in the negative. Then the second Resolution, being again read, was agreed unto by the House. Resolved, 3rd, That the House have witnessed, with the deepest regret, the unmerited censures passed upon the inhabitants of this island, the exe tent to which the public mind in Great Britain has been poisoned against them, the absence of all confidence in the legislature, the reckless manner in which the laws passed by it have been disallowed, and the system of legislation for the colonies which has been determined on, whereby the power of the House has been fettered, and that body has ceased to exist for any purpose useful to the people whom they represent. A motion was made to amend the said report, by leaving out all the words after the word “ fettered ” in the said Resolution. A debate thereon arising, and the question being put on the said amendment ; It passed in the negative. OF PACK Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 659 And another motion being made, That the House do disagree to the said Resolution ; A debate thereon arising, and the question being put ; The House divided: PVE ORIN eR Noes se. 6 « 25. It passed in the negative. Then the third Resolution, as reported from the Committee, being again read, was agreed unto by the House. Resolved, 4th, Therefore, that, in the opinion of this House, they will best consult their own honour, the rights of their constituents, and the peace and well-being of the colony, by abstaining from the exercise of any egislative function, excepting such as may be necessary to preserve invio- late the faith of the island with the public creditor, until Her most gracious Majesty’s pleasure shall be made known, whether Her subjects of Jamaica, now happily all in a state of freedom, are henceforth to be treated as sub- jects with the power of making laws, as hitherto, for their own govern- ment, or whether they are to be treated as a conquered colony, and governed by Parliamentary legislation, Orders in Council, or, as in the case of the late amended Abolition Act, by investing the Governor of the island with the arbitrary power of issuing proclamations having the force of law over the lives and properties of the people. A motion was made, That the House do disagree to the said Resolution. A debate thereon arising, and the question being put; The House divided : Ayes ore ohh Noes’... « 24. It passed in the negative. Then the fourth Resolution, being again read, was agreed unto by the House. Resolved, 5th, That it be recommended to the House to appoint a com-~ mittee to prepare an humble Address to his Excellency the Governor for his speech at the opening of the session. House of Assembly, 2nd November, 1838. To His Excellency Sir Lionex Smitu, Bart., &c. &c. &. The humble Address of the Assembly. May it please your Excellency, We, Her Majesty’s dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of Jamaica, thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of the session. The House join your Excellency in bearing testimony to the peaceable manner in which the labouring population have conducted themselves in a state of freedom. It certainly was not to be expected that so great a change in the con- dition of the people would be followed by an immediate return to active labour. The House, however, are willing to believe that some degree of improvement is taking place; and they sincerely jom in the hope ex- pressed by your Excellency, that the. agricultural interests of the island. may ultimately prosper, by a resumption of industrious habits on the part of our peasantry in their new condition. The House would have been ready now, as they ever have been, to give their consideration to every matter submitted to them for promoting the public welfare of the colony ; but, having taken into their mature consi- deration the aggressions which the British Parliament continue to make on the rights of the people of this colony, and the confusion and mischief 2u2 Jamaica. Jamaica, —_—— 660 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. which must result from the present anomalous system of government, they have come to the determination that they will best consult their own honour, the rights of their constituents, and the peace and well-being of the colony, by abstaining from the exercise of any legislative function, ex- cept such as may be necessary to preserve inviolate the faith of the island with the public creditor, until they shall be left to the free exercise of their inherent rights as British subjects. Resolved, That the said Address do pass. Ordered, That the following message be sent to his Excellency the Governor: May it please your Excellency, We are ordered by the House to wait on your Excellency, and to acquaint you that, having an humble Address to present, they desire to know when you will please to be attended. GovERNor’s Repty. Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, RECEIVE with deep regret your reply to the speech with which I opened the present session of the legislature. Governor’s Appress, Proroaurne. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, Tux determination expressed to me by the House of Assembly to con- fine the exercise of their legislative functions to business of a particular nature, appears to me so totally at variance with that course which is best calculated to promote the interests of the country at the present juncture, that I cannot admit of the continuance of this session. Anxious, however, to resort to every measure calculated to avert the injurious consequences which I cannot but foresee will result from this determination, I have resolved on affording to the House, by a short pro- rogation, another opportunity of proceeding with the many important matters which demand the immediate attention of the legislature. And I do therefore prorogue this General Assembly to Saturday, the 3rd day of November instant, and it is hereby prorogued accordingly. House of Assembly, 8th November, 1838, GovERNor’s AppREss. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, On considering the many important measures called for by the present circumstances of the colony, which the premature termination of your last session has left unprovided for, I have felt myself compelled, in the para- mount discharge of my duty, to assemble you again for the dispatch of public business. Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, I earnestly recommend to your attention the state in which the country will be placed on the expiration of the laws establishing a police, regulat- ing the collection of the taxes, and embracing many other objects deeply affecting the public welfare, Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, It will be my duty to lay before you various communications from her Majesty’s government, explanatory of the grounds upon which her Ma Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 661 jesty, in the exercise of Her prerogative, has been pleased to disallow cer- tain laws of the island, and conveying Her Majesty’s recommendation, that provision should be made by the Colonial Legislature for the imtroduction of seyeral measures of vital interest to all classes of Her Majesty’s subjects in Jamaica, amongst which are included those having for their objects the prevention of vagrancy, the better regulating the relative rights and duties of masters and servants in husbandry or other kind of handicraft, the determining the qualification of electors, the regulation of a militia, and the preventing the unauthorized occupation of lands belonging either to the Crown or private individuals. In all these, and in every other measure calculated to promote the true interests of the colony, you will now, as ever, find me ready to afford my zealous co-operation. To His Excellency Sir Lionen Situ, Bart., &c. &. &c. The humble Address of the Assembly. May it please your Excellency. We thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of the session. We feel, in common with your Excellency, the emergency in which the country may be placed by the expiration of the annual laws, and we also are well aware of the necessity which, in our present state of society, exists, that laws for the provention of vagrancy, for resulating the relative rights and duties of masters and servants, for determining the qualification of electors, for the regulation of the militia, and for preventing the un- authorized occupation of land, should be enacted; but we are keenly alive to the fact, that our legislative rights have been violated; and so long as these rights continue to be invaded, we feel ourselves compelled to adhere to our resolutions of last Session. A motion was made, That the said Address do pass. A debate thereon arising, and the question being put ; The House divided: The Noes went forth. Woes’. 2 wore Bee a alee als Tur GoverNnor’s REPpLy. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, Ir is with unfeigned regret I have to inform. you, that, although the House of Assembly have acknowledged the emergency in which the country may be placed by the expiration of the annual laws, and have expressed themselves aware of the necessity which, in the present state of society, exists for the enactment of laws providing for those important objects | which I pressed on your attention at the opening of this session, that body still adheres to the determination which compelled me to bring the last session to a close. So little can I reconcile this determination with the true interests of the colony, and hopeless as I am of any change in the sentiments of the pre- sent representatives of the people, I have reluctantly resolved on taking the sense of the constituency ; and therefore in the exercise of the proroga- tive vested in me, I do now, in Her Majesty’s name, dissolve this General Assembly ; and it is hereby dissolved accordingly. Jamaica, a Jamaica. 662 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. Lord Glenelg to Sir Lionel Smith, 28th December, 1838. I wave received your Despatch (No. 193) of the 12th Novem. ber, transmitting the printed Minutes of the proceedings of the House of Assembly, from the 30th October to the 3rd November, when you dissolved the Legislature. Her Majesty’s Government have learnt with much regret, that at a period of such great importance to the future interests of Jamaica, the Assembly should have come to the resolution of abstaining from the exercise of their legislative functions, and that this resolution should have been adhered to, notwithstanding your intimation that you were about to lay before them various communications from Her Majesty’s Government, explanatory of the grounds on which Her Majesty had been pleased to disallow certain laws of the island, and conveying Her Majesty’s recom- mendation that provision should be made by the legislature for the introduction of several ineasures of vital interest to all classes of Her Majesty’s subjects in Jamaica. Having had the honour to lay your Despatch before the Queen, I am commanded to convey to you Her M ajesty’s entire approval of the course which, under these circumstances, you have adopted. I am further to express to you the satisfaction with which Her Majesty has received your assurance of the unanimous support afforded you by the members of the Council. I trust that the new Assembly will have taken a different view of the course which ought to be adopted by the colonial legislature, and will thus obviate the necessity of considering by what means the interests of Her Majesty’s subjects in Jamaica may be pro- vided for, in the absence of those legislative measures which you will have recommended to their consideration. Should this, however, unfortunately not be the case, it will undoubtedly be the duty of Her Majesty’s Government to apply to Parliament for the necessary authority for this purpose. Sw Lionel Smith to Lord Glenelg, 24th December, 1838. REFERRING your Lordship to my letter of the 12th ultimo, reporting my reasons for having dissolved the then House of Assembly, I have now the honour to inform your Lordship, that the new House assembled on the 18th instant, when I addressed them in a speeeh. It was responded to by the House on the 2Ist instant, and I rejoined on the same day, when I also prorogued the House to the 5th of February next. These Addresses and replies are herewith enclosed. My late Despatches will have prepared your Lordship for the event which the new House of Assembly brought about,—a con- firmation of the Resolutions of the last House,—to do no business; in consequence of the interference of Parliament in passing the Prison Bill. Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 663 All my endeavours to induce the House to proceed in their duties having failed, the country is placed in great confusion from the absence of the annual laws, on which the public creditor depends, and the public departments are regulated. About seventeen of these laws will expire at the end of this month, and, among others, the Police Bill, which force I must consequently discharge. I may, probably, on the authority of your Lordship in former exigencies, have occasion to entertain a small constabulary force in lieu of the armed police, on which I shall report hereafter. The proceedings of the House of Assembly, of course, created considerable excitement both here and in Kingston; but I do not consider it likely that they will occasion any commotion, though the fact of a large body of militia being principally com- manded by violent planters, is always a source of disquietude on occasions of popular excitement. Your Lordship will be fully satisfied, from this last appeal to the electoral body, that no House of Assembly can now be found that will acknowledge the authority of the Queen, Lords and Commons, to enact laws for Jamaica, or that will be hkely to pass just and prudent laws for that large portion of the negro population lately brought into freedom; and your Lordship will be perfectly aware I have no power, as the Governor, to remedy the evils arising from the House of Assembly having refused. to perform its functions. Thus a constituency, which may be computed at about 1500 or 1600 voters for the whole island, have returned, and will continue to return, the same members, who deny the authority of the mother country, while upwards of 300,000 of Her Majesty’s free and loyal subjects are totally unrepresented ; and my appeal to obtain for them common laws of protection as labourers, has, your Lordship will find, been totally disregarded. In my Address to the House, I carefully abstained from any opinions on their dispute with Her Majesty's Government, because I was aware it would only irritate; and it was not until after they departed from the usual style of a reply, and made it a reproach that the “ physical strength” of the country was with the Govern- ment, and that I was myself unjustly influenced in my duties, that I repelled their language with the indignation it provoked. I shall have prepared for your Lordship, by the next packet, information on all those sources of revenue, on which I can depend to carry on the Government, in lieu of those taxes withheld by the Assembly ; and having reason to fear the commissioners of aceounts would seize upon all the public funds in the hands of the receiver-general, I have directed that officer not to pay any monies beyond what may be due on permanent Acts, P.S.—I have unintentionally omitted to enclose the Address of the Council, and my rejoinder, which I now beg to transmit. Jamaica. el No, 2. Jamaica. ——e Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. Enclosure 1. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, I very much regret having been compelled to convene this new general Assembly at a season when absence from your homes may be attended with personal inconvenience ; but a sense of the difficulties likely to ensue from the want of those important laws, now about to expire, would not permit me to forego the earliest opportunity of appealing to you for their renewal, and I feel assured your zeal for the public service will supersede all other considerations. Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, In providing for the financial exigencies of ths Island, I hope you will be able to meet the claims of the public creditor with a due regard to the interests of your constituents, Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, Many important measures, necessary on the recent change in our social system, demand your calm and dispassionate consideration. I beg to express to you my sincere anxiety and readiness to aid in all measures which may promote the general good, particularly in the enact- ment of such laws as may tend to establish the relations of employer and agricultural servant, upon a basis calculated to afford effectual protection to their mutual interests. With these sentiments, and relying on your loyal attachment to our gracious Sovereign, I shall look to the result of your deliberations with every confidence in your solicitude to uphold the public welfare at this important period. (Jamaica ss.) To His Excellency Sir Lioner Smita, Baronet, Knight-Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Order, a Lieutenant-General in Her Majesty’s Land Forces, and Colonel of the 40th Regiment of Foot, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief and Commander of the Forces in and over this Her Majesty’s Island of Jamaica, and other the Territories thereon depending in America, Chancellor and Vice- Admiral of the same. The humble Address of the Assembly. May it please your Excellency, We thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of the session. Regardless of any personal inconvenience in leaving our homes at this season, we should most readily have proceeded to give our consideration to the expiring laws, and to the other measures necessary on the recent great change in the condition of our labou ring population, but we are compelled to adhere to the determination which was come to by the late House of Assembly, the result of our own mature deliberation, corroborated by the full and cordial sanction of the constituency of the island. We beg sincerely to assure your Excellency that in deciding upon this course, we have done so with extreme reluctance. We see the incon- venience that must result from it. We are more than sensible of the many existing evils which loudly call for laws to remedy them; but we are at the same time equally sensible that the power is no longer left in our hands to apply the remedy. Our legislative rights have been directly invaded by Parliament, enacting a law to regulate our gaols, a measure of internal and Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 665 municipal regulation, clearly and palpably within our province. Even in our ordinary legislative proceedings, instead of being left to the exercise of our own deliberative judgment, we are fettered by an over-ruling authority, and our best exertions often defeated. Nor can we conceal from ourselves the fact that even such of our laws as have received the sanction of the Crown are rendered in a great measure inoperative from an influence, not only biassing the decisions of the stipendiary justices, but which would seem to over-rule the executive authority itself. For ourselves, and our constituents, we can only have in view the peace and prosperity of the colony, and, by a liberal and judicious policy, to pro- mote the welfare of all classes; but so long as the present state of things exists, so long as Her Majesty’s Government continues to throw its weight into the already preponderating scale of physical strength and natural repugnance to labour, we see no prospect, that by any exertions of ours, the culture of the plantations can be conducted with advantage to the pro- prietary, upon which alone the well-being of the labourers themselves and the prosperity of the colony depend. Passed the Assembly this 20th day of December, 1838. Ricup. Barrett, Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, Tur tone of your Address is a source of extreme regret to me. I have the satisfaction, however, of reflecting, that my conduct has not provoked it. I have ever been governed by a desire to cultivate the best understand- ing with both branches of the legislature, and have only been frustrated in that object by the policy you have thought proper to pursue this session. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, I return the Council my grateful acknowledgements for the desire ex- pressed by them to proceed with the public business, thereby endeavouring to secure the best interests of the colony: and I have to congratulate them that no proceeding of theirs has tended to bring this session to so unsatis- factory a conclusion. Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, The authority of the Imperial Parliament to legislate for the colonies having been gratuitously denied by the late House of Assembly, in their reckless declaration that laws passed by the Lords and Commons of the Empire, and sanctioned by the Sovereign, ought to have no power or effect in this colony, I did my duty in appealing to the sense of the electoral body, and I remark with regret that the majority of you, gentlemen, of this House of Assembly, in pursuing the same destructive course, consider such conduct “ corroborated by the full and cordial sanction of the con- stituency of the island.” Although I am fully sensible of the dangers and difficulties to which your resolution exposes your country and my administration, I shall be found firm at my post ; and, without resorting to that ‘ physical strength” alluded to by you, I am confident I shall be able to defend the weak, to punish oppression, and to uphold the majesty of the laws. Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, I do now, in Her Majesty’s name, prorogue this general Assembly to Tuesday, the 5th day of February next, and it is hereby prorogued ac- cordingly. Jamaica, Seed Jamaica, Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. Enclosure 2. (Jamaica ss.) To His Excellency Sir Lionex Smitu, Bart., Knight-Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Order, a Lieutenant-General in’Her Majesty’s Land Forces, and Colonel of the 40th Regiment of Foot, Captain-General, Governor-in-Chief, and Commander of the Forces in and over this. Her Majesty’s Island of Jamaica, and other the Territories thereon depending in America, Chancellor and Vice- Admiral of the same. The humble Address of the Council. May it please your Excellency, We, the Council of Jamaica, thank your Excellency for the speech with which you have been pleased to open the first Session of this new Assembly, and fully appreciating the motives which have induced you at this late period of the year to call the legislature together, we beg to assure your Excellency that our anxiety for the public service will supersede all other considerations. All measures which the recent change in our social system may render necessary, Will receive our calm and dispassionate consideration, and parti- cularly those which may tend to establish the relations of employer and agricultural servant, upon a basis calculated to afford effectual protection to their mutual interests. Passed the Council this 19th day of December, 1838. (Signed) W. G. Stewart, Clerk to the Council. Gentlemen of the Council, I thank you for this Address, and I feel confident that your solicitude for the public welfare will ensure to all those measures of unexampled importance your calm and dispassionate consideration, Lord John Russell to Sir Lionel Smith, 15th February, 1839. Her Majesty's Government have received with much concern the intelligence contained in your Despatch, No. 206, of the 24th of December, that the new Assembly had persisted in the resolu- tion adopted by the previous one, not to proceed to the despatch of business. Her Majesty's Government took into their immediate consider- ation the measures which would be necessary to supply the con- sequent defect of legislation, and to provide for the well-being of Her Majesty's subjects in Jamaica. Although circumstances will prevent your receiving, by the present mail, full information as to the course which they have determined to adopt, 1 am enabled to acquaint you, that a measure will be very shortly pro- posed to Parliament with a view of applying an effectual remedy to the state of affairs which has unfortunately arisen in Jamaica. On looking over the Acts which have expired on the 31st De- cember, 1838, I find none, except the Police Act, the want of which may occasion: immediate danger; and I trust that this will have been obviated by the measure which you proposed to adopt, of substituting a constabulary force on a small scale, in lieu of the Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 667 former police; but should you find it absolutely necessary, for the preservation of the peace of the Colony, to keep in pay an addi- tional force not exceeding the entire police force mentioned by the expired Law, Her Majesty’s Government do not hesitate to autho- rize you to instruct the officers of the Commissariat to draw bills on the Lords’ Commissioners of the Treasury, for such proportion of the funds requisite for its payment and expenses, at the rate authorized by the expired Act, as the sources of revenue locally available for carrying on the Government may be insufficient to defray. Her Majesty’s Government would, of course, demand the repayment of such advances from the Colonial Treasury, when the adequate legislative authority shall be established in the Island. Jamaica. 668 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. RETURN OF ELECTION IN JAMAICA FOR 1838. With the Number of late Slave-Proprietors, the Number of Plantations and Settlements, and late Slaves in each District, together with the Number of Acres on which Taxes are payable. Names Parish, as per } NAMES Names nsation Money. , formerly Slaves, | dition, present and y was paid, lst Au- | of of Members som pe x as per Vestry givings in. COUNTIES returned to the Pens, Plantations, and Settle- ; Whites, Total Number of Per- | ments in each Parish, olour and Ge Unsuccessful ack Population and House ompensation Mone Vestry givings in. Candidates, a 4 on which C PARISHES. of Assembly. Number of Voters polled by each Member: Number of Votes polled by each. Average Total Number of Voters in each Parish. s of mixed C absent, who received the (¢ gust, 1834, Number of Acres of Land in each Number of Estates, Browns, Blacks, and Total Number of B] Middlesex : j St. Catherine ....) Mr. March ...... | Mr. Brown ....| Mr. Savguinetti., Mr. Ramsay ...| DrvStamp sss .- : | St. John.........| Dr. Whittaker ... : Mr. Hart. ( Mr. Hamilton .. ‘ ate et j Vere ....+...+...| Mr. Garrigues ... Mr. Forbes... Mr. Townshend... a sis St. Thomas-in- Mr. Hamilton....} 4! Mr. Lowndes .. H -| Dr. Ewart 55 ae SteeMAry Biss vciscs Mr. Fairweather .| 48 | Mr. Harker.... F MTS Batty: css csi 3 ee oe St. Ann .........| Mr. H. Brown.., Mr. Harker.... ' Dr. Karnett...... Mr. Barry... St. Dorothy ......] Mr. Hylton ...... D Mr. M'Cook &...| 26 oe f Manchester......! Mr. Berr ¢ ate Ss Mr. 38055 as ate Clarendon,......| Mr. Collman...., Bs se Mr. Thompson... lea) fo) 61, 498 | 243,451 ON ey YY YF Sn YY OS SO OO 7,105 | 185,891 | 99,992 | h Surrey : | Kingston........] Mr. Mitchel .....] 3 ING adartraretet ccs Mr. Jordan ...... g Mr, Davies ..., Mr. Lawrence ... ‘ ar Se Port Royal ......| Mr. Dallas ......] 4 Mr. Hill 33.0% Mr. Taylor....<..; | Mr. Hyslop ... q Captain Darling., 54° | Mr. M‘Dowall.. f Portland ........| Mr. Anderson..., Mirs'Jones'. cs ¢. Dr. Clachar j St. Andrew..,...] Mr. J. Gordon....| h Mr. Osborne St. George.. Mr. Grosett...... Mr. E. T. Guy.... j St. Thomas, East | Mr. Barclay | Mr. Panton i St. David ..... Mr. Leslie : Mic Wight! i.e NN BY Sm Se Snr 7,758 | 83, 804 | 132,628 | 45,000 | { Cornwall: | Trelawney.......] Mr. Frater.......| 172 | Mr. ITill ...... é Mr. S. Barrett... e as f St. Elizabeth ....} Mr. Watt........ 42 | Mr. Cuff ...... y Mr. Farquharson | 39 | .- a j Westmoreland....| Mr. Lake ....... Mr- Brown..... i Mr. Whitelock ...| i St. James........| Mr. R. Barrett (Speaker).....| Mr. Manderson ,.| Hanover,....++..| Mr. Campbell....| Mr. Allwood..,.. 169,521 | 207,274 | NO OS nr Br 174,738 | 91,904} 207 | 113,470 20,552 113,470 310,378 | : 2,104,686 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 669 ST. VINCENT. Lieutenant-Governor Tyler to Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, St. Vincent. 14th January, 1839. I nave the honour of transmitting to your Excellency the copy 1. (2),p. 169. of a communication from the House of Assembly, in answer to Dec. 5, 1838. extracts of a despatch from the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg to your Excellency, dated 31st August, 1838 (St. Vincent, No. 44), and forwarded by your Excellency’s despatch of the 4th October, No. 214, relating to the Act passed by the legislature of this colony, __No. 368. abrogating the apprenticeship of the preedial labourers. There are statements set forth by the House of Assembly in their reply which are apparently so contrary to the official reports made to me by the police magistrates, that it is impossible to reconcile the conclusions come to by that body with the facts contained in those reports: so far as the second and third districts are concerned, the impressions of the House as to the ‘ comparative failure in the success of the great measure of freedom,’ I have every reason to believe is erroneous. The absence of contracts between the labourers and employers in the first district at which the House expresses its “* surprise and dis- appointment,” can only be attributed to the want of unanimity amongst the proprietors themselves, who rejected the interference of a police magistrate, a measure solicited and most successfully carried See p. out in each of the other districts, with the full concurrence of both parties. Copies of the reports alluded to are herewith enclosed for the information of your Excellency, which I trust will satisfactorily corroborate the justice of my observations, and convince your Excel- lency that the general impression which prevails in the House of Assembly is not entirely founded upon a correct estimate, or an unprejudiced view of the present working of the free system in this colony. Sir, House of Assembly, 5th December, 1838. The House of Assembly has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency’s message of the 23rd of November, euciosing an extract trom the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg’s despatch to Sir Evan MacGregor, Bart., dated 3lst August, 1938, inviting the attention of the Legislature to certain observations contained therein, with a view to the amendment of the Act, passed in the month of May last, to abrogate the apprenticeship of praedial labourers in this island. ‘The House of Assembly is gratified that the spirit of liberality which declared that statute has called forth the approbation of Her Majesty. The Secretary of State for the Colonies has only done the Legislature justice in acknowledging its policy and humanity in providing against the too sudden ejectment of the labourers from the “ habitations or tenements”’ which they personally occupied in a state of apprenticeship. . This humane provision was enacted with a view to enable St. Vincent, if not to command, at least to deserve success in the great experiment now in operation. St. Vincent. 670 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. The condition on which the apprenticed labourer is to retain his habita- tion or tenement, is precisely such ‘as is described in the extract from the despatch, and the period of occupancy, under such condition, was made to extend in this colony to the Ist day of August, 1839, from a conviction that no other than an annual agreement could be beneficial to either the proprietor of the soil or the agricultural labourer ; and it was contemplated that voluntary arrangements would be early and readily entered into by the emancipated population, so as to secure to themselves the great advan- tages and the boon held out under the Act, and to enable their late masters, who had remitted two years of their servitude, to take off the present crop on the grounds. If the terms of the statute do seem to imply a power on the part of the employer, of assigning to the labourer any amount of work, ‘* however unreasonable,” yet they have been innocuous, as it is within the kriowledge of this House that, not only have fair and reasonable wages been offered to the people of this colony, and every inducement held out for the promo- tion of industrious habits, bnt that the Government scale of labour has been made the standard by which to regulate the daily rate of wages; and it is a fact worthy here of record, and which ought never to be forgotten by Her Majesty’s Government, or the people of England, that the quantum of work considered under that scale as a day’s labour, is now found easy of performance in half that ti me, and when more is performed, additional wages for the same are invariably given. It is therefore matter of surprise and disappointment that, with excep- tions, throughout the most extensive and populous parish in the colony, no contracts have been yet entered into by the people, and that those which have been ratified in the other districts, with very few exceptions, have been effected only through the agency of the police magistrates, armed with the powers of the Abrogation Act. This hitherto comparative failure in the success of the great measure of freedom may, however, in the judgment of this House, be attributed, in some degree, to various misinterpretations of, and erroneous conclusions drawn from the Act in question, at the commencement of the new system, whereby the negro for some time considered that law powerless for the purposes of eviction, and thought himself entitled to the unconditional enjoyment of his former house and grounds; and also to the peremptory disallowance by Her Majesty’s Government of the Vagrant and Contract Acts, which left the island without any provision on those important points, and with what perhaps is worse, the opposed legal opinions of lawyers and magistrates as to the question whether the Acts of the Impe- rial Parliament are in the interim applicable to this colony or not, thereby preventing the adoption of one uniform rule of conduct in the districts, which would have been more conducive to the satisfaction and interests of all parties. Under these circumstances, it is the sense of this House that it would be highly inexpedient and unjust further to interfere by legislative enact- ment with the rights of private property ; and indeed that the time has now arrived when for the benefit of the people themselves, the idle and the dissolute should be taught they had forfeited the protection and the advantages held out under the Act. With regard to the propriety of framing some general enactment to provide for the aged and infirm, this House, mindful of the responsibility attendant on any introduction of a system of poor laws, requires time for consideration. : The best reply to the concluding paragraph of the extract is afforded in Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 671 a statement of the fact that your Excellency, in the exercise of a judg- St. Vincent. ment founded on local knowledge and experience, deemed it prudent, with sie a view to the safe and satisfactory working of the new system, to entrust the summary jurisdiction created by the Act to three gentlemen of the colony. Her Majesty’s Government may be convinced of the necessity to con- fide such jurisdiction in matters between employers and their servants to stipendiary magistrates, as was the case during the system of apprentice- ship; but this House cannot yield to your Excellency’s solicitation to esta- blish a court of appeal from the decisions of the justices of the peace of the colony, which much necessarily be peculiar in its character and con- stitution, and thus appear to lend itself, as it were, to sanction the delu- sion of the day, that the West Indian magistracy cannot or will not admi- nister substantial justice to all classes of Her Majesty’s subjects. I have, &c. (Signed) N. Srruru, Speaker. TOBAGO. Tobago. Sir BE. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 21st December, 1838. fas) Oo 9 I nave the honour of inclosing, for your Lordship’s information, IJ. (2), p. 221. copies of a despatch from the Lieutenant-Governor of Tobago, and Dec. 21. and of messages addressed by his Excellency to the Council and Assembly of that island, relative to the Orders in Council, received with your Lordship’s circular letter of the 7th of September last, which are stated to have “ occasioned great offence, particularly in the former body.” From the Lieutenant-Governor’s Report there does not appear any immediate prospect of obtaining from the local Legislature a grant for the remuneration of a professional judge to be provision- ally appointed; and I am consequently, for the present, precluded from complying with your Lordship’s suggestions upon that head. Enclosure. Enclosure Government House, in No. 110. Sir, Tobago, 11th December, 1838. With reference to your Excellency’s despatch of 20th November, No. 212, requesting to be informed whether any, and what remuneration would be granted by the local legislature, in acknowledgment of the services of a professional judge, who might receive a provisional appointment, I am sorry to acquaint your Excellency, that on the attention of the House of Assembly, at’ their meeting of 4th instant, being called to the contents of the Secretary of State’s despatch of 15th September, 1838, they immedi- ately adjourned till after Christmas, in which I regret to think they had an example set by Her Majesty's Council, who had previously determined on an adjournment for a long period. The question of salary for the contemplated appointment was not taken into consideration ; nor, as far as | am informed, was any reason assigned for the abrupt adjournment of either branch of the legislature. The reason, however, is not doubtful, and may be found in the communication 672 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. of the Orders in Council lately received from home, which’ have occa sioned great offence, particularly to the council, where, however, the vote for doing no more business was by no means unanimous. I therefore trust, that by allowing a little time for the evaporation of the present feel- ing, I shall be able to bring them to resume their duties, with a disposi- tion to conform to the wishes of Her Majesty’s Government. I beg to inclose copies of my two messages to the legislature, of 30th October, and 4th December, 1838. I have, &e. (Signed) Henry C, Darina, His Excellency, Lieut.-Governor, Major-Gen. Sir E. J. M. MacGregor, Bart. (No. 1.) Message to the Honourable the Council, and House of General Assembly. The Lieutenant-Governor has the honour to transmit to the honourable the the following printed documents received from Her Ma- jesty’s Secretary of State by the last mail, viz.— The will understand by the circular letter of Her Majesty's Secretary of State of 15th September (copy herewith enclosed), that the three first-mentioned Orders in Council, addressed to the Crown colonies, of Her Majesty, are transmitted with a view to the provisions therein contained being introduced into the laws of the legislative colonies, The Lieutenant-Governor recommends these important documents to the immediate consideration of the legislature of this island, in order that the existing laws on the several subjects may be adapted to meet the views of her Majesty’s Government; and that where no laws at present exist, the attention of the legislature may be forthwith given to the propriety of their immediate enactment. (Signed) Hern. C. Daruine, Government House, Lieutenant-Governor. 30th October, 1838. (No. 2.) Message to the Honourable House of General Assembly. Tue Lieutenant-Governor begs leave to call the attention of the Honourable House of Assembly to the message which he had the honour to address to that body on 30th October, 1838, when he transmitted for their information copies of certain Orders in Council, which have been recently received from Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, and were recommended by the Lieutenant-Governor to the attention of the Legislature of this island, “in order that the existing laws on the several subjects may be adapted to meet the views of Her Majesty s Government, and that where uo laws at present exist, the attention of the Legislature may be forthwith given to the propriety of their immediate enactment.” The Honourable House will perceive by the concluding paragraph of the Secretary of State’s despatch of the 15th of September, already in their possession, that his Lordship desires to be informed of the result of this recommendation before the commencement of the next session of Parliament. Having received no intimation of the intentions of the Honourable House Proceedings of the-Local Legislatures. 673 on this subject, the Lieutenant-Governor requests he may be so honoured, in time to report accordingly by the next mail. (Signed) Hen. C. Dartiine, Government House, 4th Dec., 1838. Lieut.-Governor. Sir E. J. M. MacGregor to Lord Glenelg, 10th Jan., 1839. REFERRING to my despatch of the 21st of December last (Tobago, No. 347), I have the honour to transmit for your Lordship’s in- formation copies of a despatch from the Lieutenant Governor, and of an address to his Excellency from the Legislative Council, inti- mating that the Board “ will not pledge themselves to take into any consideration the late Orders in Council, until such time as they learn the fate of several Bills passed by the Board during the present session.” Lieut.-Governor Darling's Speech to the Legislative Houses, 12th March, 1839. I cannot refrain from the expression of an earnest hope that, on resuming your legislative duties, I shall have the satisfaction of finding you impressed with a desire to apply yourselves to the public business with that zeal and diligence which the interests of the colony require at your hands. I trust that you will be disposed to admit the inutility of oppos- ing those views of Her Majesty’s Government, which I submitted to you during the last session, without, however, producing any cor- responding legislative measures on your part at the time. The right of the Imperial Parliament to legislate for the colonies, in matters of general import, cannot be questioned; and as the Orders in Council to which I have alluded are of this description (their object being to establish a uniform system throughout the colonies, on the points to which they relate), I am persuaded that you will be inclined, upon reflection, to anticipate the Imperial Parliament, by the ready enactment of those laws that are considered necessary towards the accomplishment of this very desirable object. Reply of the Assembly, 14th March, 1889. We, the Speaker and Members of the House of General Assem- bly, beg to thank your Excellency for the speech which you were pleased to make at the opening of the present session of the Legis- lature; and the House beg to state, that they will take into their early consideration the expediency of framing Bills of the nature suggested by your Excellency. The House, however, have not come to this determination from a conviction of the right of the Imperial Parliament to legislate for 2x Tobago. II. (2), p. 223. II. (2), p. 236. II. (2),p. 238, Tobago. II. (2), p.241. 674 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. the colonies, but in consequence of their inability to resist measures which the House regard as an infringement of the charter of this island. Reply of the Council, 18th March, 1839. ‘nus Board has much pleasure in again meeting your Excellency at the appointed half yearly session of the Legislature, and renew the assurance that they will apply themselves with no less diligence and zeal than heretofore to public business, always anxious for what they consider the best interests of the colony. That although this Board is by no means disposed to question the right of the Imperial Parliament to legislate for the colonies in matters of general import, they would respectfully protest against interference with their internal legislation, unless on subjects affect- ing equally all Her Majesty’s possessions in the West Indies. Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 675 LEEWARD ISLANDS. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 29th Dec., 1838. ‘ Wrruovut any disposition to encroach on the privileges of the local Assemblies, your Lordship is aware that I have long con- sidered them incompetent to the task of general legislation at this eventful crisis, and that some more comprehensive arrange- ment will necessarily be resorted to in order that the interests and feelings ofthe people of these colonies may be more fully and fairly represented. — By this means alone will those ameliorations be effected which are not less earnestly desired by Her Majesty’s Government, on behalf of the enfranchised classes, than by many leading and intel- ligent members of the proprietary body. In the present state of the West India colonies, it appears to me of the utmost consequence to remove the impression that the interests of the several classes composing these communities are opposed to each other. In every island will be found some influ- ential men who take an enlightened view of the general interests, and who are prepared to co-operate in their advancement, and as they are known and appreciated by the people, it is to regretted that their influence is lost in the conflict of local and party inte- rests and feelings. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 21st May, 1839. Leeward Islands. ey III. p. 191, In the legislation of these colonies, at so important a period as ILI. p. 102. the present it is a serious disadvantage that there exist no means of extending throughout them the benefit of any ex- perience that may be required, and thus of leading to the adoption of comprehensive views ; and that, in islands within sight of each other, there is so little communication upon subjects of common interest, that the most erroneous impressions are confi- dently retained. On the termination of the apprentice system last year, the ge- neral Council and Assembly having been dissolved, I recom- mended the Antigua Acts, with some amendments, to the consi- deration of the other Local Legislatures, and subsequently the models which were successively sent out by Lord Glenelg. A protracted correspondence ensued, and although in some of the islands neither contract or vagrant laws are in force, the ob- stacles to their adoption have not been yet surmounted. Mr. Lloyd, the Attorney-general of Dominica, previous to his departure from the Virgin Islands, brought in a series of bills which passed the Council and Assemby, and which, with some modifications, I have. since approved. In Nevis but little progress has been made. In St. Kitt’s, the 2x2 SARE Leeward Islands. St. Christopher. III. p. 196. 676 Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. -Council and Assembly have formally declined to legislate upon the principle recommended to them ; and in Montserrat and Domi- nica, bills passed by the Assemblies have been stopped by the objections raised in the Councils. Deportation Acts have been passed, with amendments, in the other islands. In the various recommendations I have from time to time made to the Council and Assembly of Antigua, for the amendment of the laws, I have been precluded from referring to these discus- sions; but as allusion has now been made to the supposed effects in the other islands, from the failure to adopt the Antigua laws, I am enabled to apprise them of the amendments they have un- dergone. As the Council and Assembly in their address have not entered into any consideration of the objections urged by Lord Glenelg to the « Vagrant,” “ Contract,’ and « Deportation” laws, it is not necessary to enter on this question; the clauses excluded from the Police Bill in its renewal, and which are referred to m my despatch, No. 7, dated 18th J anuary, were so unjust in prin- ciple that their re-enactment would have been inadmissible, and the argument that the previous Acts had received the royal assent would go to the extent of precluding all amendment of colonial laws, because at other times, and under other circumstances, they had been sanctioned in England. St. CHRISTOPHER. Sir H. MacLeod to Sir W. M. Gt. Colebrooke, 21st Dec., 1838. I rorwarp a document which I have been requested by the House of Assembly to transmit to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies. It is of considerable length, and seems to be grounded on a question of privilege, viz., whether the responsible Minister of the Crown has the right to recommend certain Acts as models on which the Colonial Legislatures should frame laws to meet the late eventful changes in West India society; quotes instances where commendations have been passed on the Acts of this island; and proceeds to declare their intention not to act in their legisla- tive capacity. This determination is of considerable importance at the present moment, for it is not to be supposed that the Imperial Parliament will permit the large mass of people whom the British nation has so nobly rescued, at such an enormous sacrifice of money, to remain unprotected by wholesome laws, and properly admi- MISHOTEMe 646i) sel js I regret the style of language adopted, both towards the re- sponsible Minister of the Crown, and to that large, honest and conscientious body who have been such steady and unflinching friends of the West Indian population. Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. 677 I regret it the more as I have found the Legislature inclined to co-operate with me in some useful measures; but, however willing to bear testimony in their favour when possible, the enclosed do- cument so outrages every feeling of decorum towards the Govern- ment, and others, that no attempt at palliation can be made; nor do I see the slightest hope of arriving at a better order of things, for in the present state of representation any appeal to the con- stituency is hopeless, as but one part of the community is at all represented. Sir W. M. G. Colebrooke to Lord Glenelg, 29th Dec., 1838. I recreT, with the Lieutenant-governor, the tenor of this ad- dress, and I entirely concur with him in opinion that it is neces- sary to secure the enactment of wholesome laws for the protection of Her Majesty’s subjects in these islands. St. Christopher. IIL. p. 191. Bahamas. Proceedings of the Local Legislatures. BAHAMAS. Lieut.-Governor Cockburn to Lord Glenelg, 1st Nov., 1888. THE necessary measures are in progress for carrying into effect the directions contained in your Lordship’s circular of the 15th September, consequent on the new valuation established by Her Majesty in Council, for doubloons and dollars. . The Colonial Legislature will assemble here on Tuesday the 20th November; and I directed the Attorney-General here to prepare three separate Bills in conformity with the three Orders of the Queen in Council, dated on the 7th September, and accompanying your Lordship’s circular of the 15th September, and which three Bills no time shall be lost in bringing forward. I must, however, state my apprehensions, that with the present members of the House of Assembly, objections will, in many instances, be raised and carried against a full compliance with the views of Her Majesty’s Govern- ment. From Lieut.-Governor Cockburn’s Speech on 20th Nov. 1888. - Iw addition to the usual matters which are periodically submitted to your consideration, there are some communications of importance which I have received from Her Majesty’s Government, and which, in compliance with directions so to do, I shall lose no time jn laying before you. One part of these communications refers to enactments which it js considered necessary should be made, with a view to meeting the new state of society, consequent on the termination of the apprentice system. The three Orders of the Queen in Council, of the 7th of Septem- ber, to which you will have reference, and which you will perceive have already been sent to the Crown Colonies, there at once to have the force of law, will point out to you the nature and extent of the new enactments proposed : and, as these are recommended to your adoption by our most gracious and beloved Sovereign, I feel every confidence that you will take the necessary measures for forthwith placing them on your statute books. I shall also direct returns to be laid before you, showing, as far as practicable, the extent to which relief has been afforded to aged and infirm emancipated apprentices under the Colonial Act of the 2nd Vict. c. 1; and which returns will specify the age and infirmities of those for whom this expense has been incurred, and the names of the owners to whom they formerly belonged: Any further measures that you may deem expedient in this respect I would recommend to be of a permanent nature, and as detailed as possible. opening the Session, ERS ORTON, TAG GAYLORD PRINTEDINU.S A. (03438 WILLIAMS COLLECTION 103438 GT. BRIT. Parliament,1839. Extracts from papers ...relative to the West Indies. F2016 F ertutams GT. BRIT. 2016 go.nECTION G61 Bapst Library Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167