Mt. Brit. Parliament. House
CourantÍ.
DEBATE
UPON
THE SUGAR DUTIES;
IN THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS,
On MONDAY, 14th of JUNE, 1830.
[Extracted from the MIRROR OF PARLIAMENT.-Part LXI.]
LONDON:
THE PROPRIETORS OF
PRINTED FOR
THE MIRROR OF PARLIAMENT,
52, PARLIAMENT-STREET, WESTMINSTER.
1830.

Latin-Amer hist
Phillyjos
7 • 0 0 -39
20059
HOUSE OF COMMONS,
MONDAY, 14th of JUNE, 1830.
WEST INDIA SUGARS.
On the question that the SPEAKER do leave the
Chair,
THE MARQUESS OF CHANDOS
said,—I am anxious to take this opportunity of call-
ing the attention of the House to the situation of the
West India planters, in consequence of the high rate
of duty which is levied on West India produce.
These, particularly rum and sugar, are so heavily
taxed, that it is not possible for the persons whose
capital is embarked in them to bear up against such a
pressure any longer. They have borne their heavy
burdens for a long time without murmuring, but
they are now reduced to a state in which they are
obliged earnestly to solicit relief from Parliament.
They have had to contend against a heavy war-duty
of 27s. per cwt., and this, with the dull market for
their produce, has brought them to a condition in
which they can obtain no return on their capital, but
on the contrary, they are daily enduring great losses.
When it is considered that out of the price they now
receive for their sugars, the West India planters have
to defray an immense outlay, it will be admitted that
it is impossible they can any longer continue to bear
up against the pressure upon them. This situation is
the more oppressive, as there can be no doubt that a
reduction of the duty would not occasion any dimi-
nution of revenue; for it was seen, that when a re-
duction of duty took place on colonial coffee, the con-
sumption very materially increased. This fact is
proved by the returns before the House. The same
result would no doubt be experienced with respect to
other articles.
B 2
4
As one instance amongst many may be recited of
the distressed condition of the West India planters, I
would mention, that some of them who sent their
children to school were obliged to have them home,
not being able to defray the expense any longer. All
other classes have been relieved to some extent from
the weight of taxation, but the West Indian interest
seem to have been left entirely out of the question;
and, indeed, I may say generally, that a more injured
and oppressed class does not exist among his Ma-
jesty's subjects. With regard to sugar, it appears
that, whenever the duty has been reduced, the quan-
tity consumed has been increased. Let not the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, therefore, be deterred
from affording relief to the West Indian, by a fear of
a falling off in the revenue.
As there are other Members who have motions to
bring forward on this subject, I will not now go into
further detail; but when I recollect how many, here,
have acquired the property to which they owe their
seats in this House, in the West Indies, I cannot but
hope that the resolution I now submit to their con-
sideration will meet with a favourable result. I call
upon them to support me; I call, generally, upon the
agriculturists of the House, many of whom owe their
present landed property to the produce of West Indian
estates. I will not trouble the House further, but
beg to move, as an amendment to the motion, that
"the duty of 27s. per hundred weight, which has for
several years past been annually voted on British co-
lonial sugar, is inconsistent with a due consideration
of the extremely distressed condition of the West
India colonist, and is injurious to the general interests
of the country."
Mr. MARRYAT.
I rise to second the proposition of the Noble Lord,
which he has introduced with so great zeal and ability.
I am convinced that the most effectual relief that can
be given to the West India planters, is by a large
reduction of duty. The distress of the British planter
has been acknowledged by all parties; and his claims
for relief, though admitted by the Right Honourable
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have, nevertheless,
been deferred till a more convenient season. Among
the items of casual revenue accruing to the Crown,
the confiscated estates in Grenada paid into the Trea-
sury, on the average of five years, 900l. per annum.
On the account of last year, instead of paying any re-
venue, the consignees will have to claim a sum of
money from the Treasury; the proceeds of the crops
having fallen short of the expenses of cultivation.
The Honourable Members opposite will, however, be
pleased to hear that these now unproductive estates
have just been granted, by an act of Royal grace and
favour, to the families of the original proprietors; and,
therefore, will not become a charge upon the country.
If estates like these, without incumbrance, cannot
pay the expenses of cultivation, what must be the
situation of those properties, where the proprietors,
in addition to paying the interests of mortgages, have
to maintain themselves and families? The case of
the West India planter is one not of mere distress,
but of absolute annihilation. But, Sir, will it be be-
lieved, that, notwithstanding this distress, taxes in the
shape of restrictions are still exacted from the planter
for the benefit of other interests?
He pays a tax in the monopoly granted to the
fisheries of Newfoundland, from whence he is re-
stricted to receive his fish, the great article of con-
sumption for his negroes. He pays a tax in being
obliged to receive his flour and timber from the
British provinces in North America, instead of cir-
cuitously through the foreign West Indies, or directly
from the United States. He pays a tax in receiving
from Ireland his salt provisions, instead of from
Hamburg or the United States of America. He pays
a tax in receiving from Scotland his Osnaburghs and
clothing for his negroes, instead of from the conti-
nent of Europe. He pays a tax, in the duties of 15
to 30 per cent., levied upon all articles imported from
foreign countries, necessary for the cultivation of his
estates. He pays a tax, in being restricted from
improving his commodity by manufacture, being
obliged, for the benefit of the British refiner, to ship
his produce in the most bulky state. He, in fine,
pays a tax in being compelled to ship the produce for
this country by British vessels.
The taxes which I have thus enumerated, are
nothing less than bounties paid by the planter, and
not by the nation, for the encouragement of the fish-
6
eries of Newfoundland, the British North American
provinces, the agriculturists of Ireland, the manu-
facturers of Scotland and the United Kingdom, and
the British shipowner. The extra expenses of cul-
tivation resulting from these restrictions may be es-
timated at 5s. per cwt., upon the gross crop of the
British planter. The extra freight paid by British
ships may be calculated at 28. more. These indirect
taxes upon his cultivation, which are thus paid by the
West India planter, amount to no less a sum than
1,000,000l. sterling.
The colonies are in this way paying an extrava-
gant price for what are miscalled colonial privileges.
The most important privilege, in return for colonial
restrictions, was the monopoly of the home market,
originally granted to them for their produce, under
an implied compact between the mother-country and
her colonies. This compact, however, was violated
on the part of Great Britain, when she admitted the
produce of the ceded colonies, at the conclusion of
the late war, to a participation of the home market.
It was still more strikingly violated a few years ago,
by the similar admission of the sugars of the Mau-
ritius. The effect of these measures has been to
increase the importation of sugar beyond the con-
sumption, to the extent of 500,000 hogsheads annu-
ally; and this is the real cause of the distress of the
British planter. Nor can it be alleviated, until the
increasing consumption shall have absorbed this
surplus.
I contend, Sir, that as the privileges, in return for
which the present restrictions were imposed upon the
colonies, have, through the measures of the mother-
country, ceased to be of any value, it is but equitable
either to remove these restrictions, or to give in lieu
of them some adequate compensation. Upon the
grounds of justice, then, as well as of expedience,
the West India planter has a strong claim for relief;
and, as I before said, the most effectual and perma-
nent mode is, that of a large reduction upon the
present duty upon sugar, which, by increasing the
consumption, would be the means of gradually ab-
sorbing the present surplus importation. I trust,
therefore, the House will adopt the resolution of the
Noble Lord.
7
The question having then been put,
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
said,-I acknowledge to my Noble Friend that the
class whose interest he advocates are labouring, not
only under the pressure and depreciation which
affect, to a certain extent, the whole empire, but that
they have causes of distress peculiar to themselves.
By calling upon us to discuss the propriety of passing
an abstract resolution with respect to the necessity
of a reduction of the duty on West India sugar, my
Noble Friend has placed me and the House in a situ-
ation of considerable embarrassment, particularly
when we reflect upon the large amount of revenue
annually raised from the article, the impost on which
he proposes to reduce. The House cannot be insen-
sible to the fact, that if a very large reduction be
made on that duty, we must be prepared to supply
the deficiency which such a reduction would inevitably
cause in the revenue. If we were now, for the first
time, called upon to consider what tax we should re-
duce, I admit to my Noble Friend that he would be
justified in proposing that the tax upon sugar should
be one among those upon which a large reduction
should be made. But, at the present moment, we
stand in this situation:-the House has determined
to afford relief in another quarter, in which it has
appeared to it that the pressure was more severe; and
it has, accordingly, proceeded to a reduction of taxes
that reaches the extreme limit of safety-indeed, a
limit which has been thought by some to be beyond
the bounds of prudence. How, under these circum-
stances, can we accede to the motion of my Noble
Friend, which calls upon us to adopt the indefinite
proposition, that it is proper to make a reduction in
the sugar duties-a reduction which the Honourable
Gentleman who seconded him stated could not be
effectual, unless it were very large?
I hope, however, obliged as I am to oppose his
motion, that he will not misinterpret my motives, or
think me insensible to the difficulties under which the
West Indian planters labour, or that I do not wish to
afford them every relief consistent with the safety of
the revenue. As he has moved his resolution in the
shape of an amendment, I have no alternative but
that of adhering to the motion which I have made;
but if my Noble Friend had permitted me, in the first
instance, to go into Committee, he would have been
satisfied with the proposition which it would then
have been my duty to have submitted to the conside-
ration of those who hear me. He would have found,
with respect to those sugar duties, that although I do
not think it consistent with prudence to make so
large a reduction in them as is represented to be es-
sential to the West Indian interests, a proposition of
which I entertain some doubts,—yet that I was about
to submit to the House a plan calculated to give to
that interest great and immediate relief, without
hazarding so large an amount of revenue as would, in
the event of any miscarriage in a part of the scheme,
have the most unfavourable result. As I shall so
soon have to enter into a detailed account of what I
have to propose, I shall now merely state what I hope
will be sufficient to vindicate me from the imputation
thrown out respecting my unwillingness to assist the
West Indians in the peculiar state of embarrassment
in which I admit they are involved.
I intend to propose, that when the average price of
sugar does not exceed 30s., the duty taken off sugar
of the highest quality shall be 1s. per cwt.; and as
the quality of the sugar is deteriorated, so shall the
duty be reduced, until you come to sugar of the low-
est quality, upon which there will be a reduction of
duty of 7s. per cwt. Thus the lowest classes of
sugar, which are grown by those who are in the
greatest distress, will experience the largest reduc-
tion, namely, 7s. per cwt., whilst sugar 1s. above
the average price, will experience a reduction of
1s. 6d. per cwt. of duty;-the intermediate grada-
tions being between the two sums of 1s. 6d. on sugar
of the highest quality, and 7s. on the lowest.
This plan, besides having the advantage of relieving
the most distressed planters, will also accomplish, as
far as possible, the object of extending the consump-
tion, as it will bring the lower class of sugars more
within the reach of the great bulk of the population,
to which its use is now limited. When we get into
the Committee, I shall be prepared to shew that the
loss which will probably be occasioned to the revenue
by the plan I propose will be limited in its nature, and
capable of calculation. I shall also then be prepared
9
to explain how, after making every allowance for the
increased duty which might arise from increased con-
sumption, the defalcation in the revenue that will
remain, is to be supplied. I do not think it neces-
sary, on the present occasion, to say more in reply to
the motion of my Noble Friend, as I trust this gene-
ral outline of my intentions will answer the object for
which it is intended,—namely, to shew that the
Government has not been inattentive to the parti-
cular interest whose case has been brought before
us, but has endeavoured to do all it could for their
relief, consistently with the due maintenance of the
revenue.
Mr. HUME.
I beg to ask the Right Honourable Gentleman,
whether he intends to apply his scale to sugar coming
from the East Indies? If so,
If so, it may be in the power
of that part of our possessions to send us sugars of
a quality which the present high rate of duty bars
the admittance of.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
I will explain my intentions on that head, with the
rest of my plan, in Committee.
Mr. ALEXANDER BARING.
As the proposal which has just been submitted to
us, by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is quite
novel to us, I trust the Noble Lord will withdraw
his motion till we have heard it more fully developed.
in
THE MARQUESS OF CHANDOS.
As I do not think my Right Honourable Friend is
any way prepared to reduce the duty to the extent
I think requisite, I must persevere in pressing my
motion.
Mr. HUSKISSON.
I concur in the propriety of the suggestion of the
Honourable Member for Callington, for it may be
that the Right Honourable Gentleman's plan, when
fully dveloped, will satisfy the Noble Lord himself.
In principle, I think the duty on sugar might be re-
10
duced, without producing any material or permanent
diminution in the revenue; but when a Minister states
that he has a proposal to make, which will embrace
the consideration of this subject, I think it but fair
to wait for the plan which he, on his responsibility,
intends to propose. I should be unwilling to debar
the Noble Lord of the opportunity of proposing his
amendment at a subsequent stage, by now voting
against it; but I must say, that I think it desirable
first to hear what Government has to propose: per-
haps, therefore, it would be best that he should with-
draw his resolution, reserving to himself the right
of proposing it-hereafter-if he should not be con-
tent with the scheme about to be submitted to us,-
or at any rate before coming to any decision. I think
it right that the proposition intended to be made by
my Right Honourable Friend should be printed and
circulated among the members of the West India
body. There is no doubt that the planters are in a
situation requiring, most, urgently, relief; and I wish
I could say that I think any reduction of duties in
the power of Government to make, could remove the
difficulties under which they labour, difficulties,
some of them growing out of the changed state of
society, and the new circumstances of the world;
and others, from the rivalship against which, to a
certain extent, they have to contend.
*
SIR ALEXANDER GRANT.
I cannot refrain from adding my solicitations to
those which have already been made for the with-
drawal of this motion, as it is but fair to wait for the
proposition of the Right Honourable the Chancellor
of the Exchequer. As far as I can yet see, I highly
approve of the principle on which the Chancellor of
the Exchequer intends to proceed, as it will afford
relief to that part of the West Indian interests which
most requires it, as well as to the lower classes in
England, to whom will be thrown more open an ar-
ticle, from the use of which the present high duty
almost precludes them. Whether the relief to the
planter will be sufficient, is another question, which
we shall be better able to discuss when we knew
enough of the details of the plan to enable us to
judge of its practical operation. I entreat, the, my
+
11
Noble Friend to withdraw his motion; for, if not,
although one of that interest, whose cause he advo-
cates, I shall feel myself unable, by voting with him,
to commit myself against the proposal of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. KEITH DOUGLAS.
From the observations which have been made
within the last few minutes, I do not think the pro-
position of my Noble Friend has been rightly under-
stood. It divides itself into two branches-one
declaring, that the present high rate of duty is incon-
sistent with a due regard to the West Indian in-
terest; and the other, that it is inconsistent with
the interest of the public. No that those two pro-
positions are true, there cannot be the least doubt.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, however, says, that
we had better wait till he has brought forward his
plan, for that it is unusual thus to forestall a Minister.
The answer to that is, that the circumstances under
which the present proposition is made are themselves
unusual; and, after the long contest that has been
carried on, without a prospect of relief to the West
Indians, my Right Honourable Friend (Mr. Huskis-
son) admits that his arrangements are not likely to
meet the views of my Noble Friend. Now, knowing
as I do, the representations which have been received
by the latter, and the way in which this question has
been pressed upon him I am persuaded that he could
not properly have discharged his duty to the parties
with whom he is connected, if he had not brought
forward the present motion. Although, therefore, I
am not unwilling to yield to what may appear to be
the general feeling of the House, if my Noble Friend
presses his resolution to a division I shall certainly
support him.
Mr. WATSON TAYLOR.
If my Noble Friend thinks it expedient to with-
draw his resolution, I shall be content with his deci-
sion; but, if he thinks himself bound to press it to a
division, it will undoubtedly be my duty to support
him.
12
Mr. CHARLES GRANT.
I must confess that it appears to me very unusual
and unparliamentary, when a Minister of the Crown
has made such a declaration as we have just heard
from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to meet him
in the manner seemingly intended by the Noble Lord.
The Noble Lord should remember that it will be per-
fectly competent for him to move his resolution here-
after, even if he should withdraw it now, and thus en-
able us to reserve our opinions on it till we have heard
what the Chancellor of the Exchequer has to state.
And I must beg to observe that the proposition of
my Right Honourable Friend, so far as it goes, is the
proposition of the noble Lord, for it admits a great
part of his case.
What the details of my Right Honourable Friend's
proposition may be, I have not the slightest concep-
tion; but I fear that his plan does not go to the ex-
tent I desire, for I observe that he made no allusion
to the introduction of East Indian sugars upon terms
of equality with those from the West Indies; nor has
he stated whether sugar of all kinds is to be admitted
into bond, and thus freed from duty and drawbacks;
but whatever those details may be, I feel bound to
oppose the motion of the Noble Lord till I have
heard them in Committee. After we have so heard
them, I trust he will allow them to be printed for the
general information of the public; and more espe-
cially that part of it immediately interested in this
subject. With respect to my own motion, I shall
certainly postpone it till I have heard the statement
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. MANNING.
I regret that the relief intended by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer should have been so long deferred,
as it has been well known to every individual that the
West India planter has been labouring under the se-
verest distress for the last four or five years; and
every class of his fellow subjects have been relieved
by diminished taxation, while he is continuing to pay
so heavy a duty as 27s. per cwt. on his produce. No
attention has been paid to his situation or difficulties,
and it is to be apprehended that, in many instances,
13
16
the relief would now come too late, as several estates
must be given up from the extreme pressure of the
times. My Right Honourable Friend, the Member
for Liverpool, has adverted, among other causes of
distress, to the introduction of the Mauritius sugar.
I do not wish, with any unkind feeling, to remind my
Right Honourable Friend, that this very prejudicial
measure to the old colonies took place when he
himself was President of the Board of Trade; and
that he stated, at the time, to the West India deputa-
tion, that 'the quantity to be received from the
Mauritius, could never exceed 10 or 12,000 hogs-
heads;" whereas in the last year 25,000 tons were
imported, and in the present year 40,000 hogsheads
may be expected. From the latest information from
that settlement, every acre of ground, it seems, has
been converted to the cultivation of sugar, and they
have ceased even to grow their own provisions, im-
porting from Madagascar both grain and cattle.
The Noble Lord, who has proposed the resolution to
the House, is so eminently entitled to the support of
every person connected with the colonies for the un-
wearied attention his Lordship has paid to their in-
terests, that, if he should think fit to press his resolu-
tion to a division, it will certainly have my support.
The House divided, when there appeared—
For the original question.
Noes
Majority
102
23
79
The Order of the Day was again read, and the
House resolved itself into a Committee of Ways and
Means, SIR ALEXANDER GRANT in the Chair.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
As the House has thought it advisable to permit me
to make a statement, in Committee, of the views which
I have taken upon the subject of the sugar duties; I
shall proceed, without preface, to lay before the Com-
mittee the measure which it is my intention to pro-
pose, and the grounds upon which I recommend it.
It has, indeed, been my misfortune to be opposed to
14
the motion of my Noble Friend who sits near me; but
I beg again to assure him and the House, that I have
not done so from any want of feeling for the difficul-
ties of those whom these sugar duties are supposed
to oppress, although I do not think myself autho-
rized to submit to the House a proposition for the
general reduction of the duties on sugar, or to adopt
any of those proposals on the subject which have
been made on former occasions, and to the prin-
ciple of which I never professed myself adverse. I
am far from maintaining the doctrine that under
favourable circumstances, the question of such gene-
ral reduction would not be a fit one to inquire into.
The question now before the House is one of a
much more limited nature-namely, whether we
shall, on the present occasion, after so great a re-
duction of taxation as has been made, hazard, by
repealing further taxes, the diminution of the re-
venue to the extent it would be hazarded by a
large general reduction of the duties. I know, and
feel, how great an advantage any extensive dimi-
nution of these duties would confer upon the middling
and lower classes of this country; for sugar, which
was formerly a luxury, has now become, in many
respects, a necessary of life; and if I had not
thought that there were other articles, the reduc-
tion of duty on which would give greater relief,
I should willingly have selected for reduction the tax
on this particular article. I am also sensible of the
advantage to be derived from reducing the duty on
that sugar, the consumption of which will be more
especially extended by such reduction; for not only
will sugar be thus brought within the reach, in
greater quantities, of the larger part of the popula-
tion, but it will, to a certain extent, relieve the planter
by the increased quantity of it which he will be able
to sell.
In considering the general question of the West In-
dia interest, it is impossible to conceal from ourselves
that the distress is great precisely in proportion to
the value of the sugar which a planter may raise:
therefore, that the grower of the higher qualities of
sugar suffers but little in comparison with the grower
of those of lower quality, who undoubtedly labour
under difficulties of the most severe description. If
the Committee will permit me to go into detail on this
15
subject, I will read to them a statement drawn up by
an Honourable Friend of mine with respect to the
produce of two estates, having the same number of
negroes, being both cultivated at the same cost, but
one producing sugar of an inferior quality, and the
other sugar of the finest quality. The quantity pro-
duced by each is 150 hogsheads. The sugar of the
higher quality sells in this country for 66s. per cwt.,
and its produce is, therefore, 64357.; the sum pro-
duced as for the rum is 41347.-making a total of
10,5697. as the gross proceeds of the estate. We will
now see what the amount of charge to be deducted
from this sum comes to. The first charge is the
Crown duty, and that, on the sugar, comes to 26307.,
and the same charge on the rum comes to 3340. In
addition to this, we must reckon the insurance, com-
mission, freight, and other charges for its conveyance
to England, at about 11507., which, with the expense
for timber, supplies for cattle, &c., coming to 9007.,
with clothing for the negroes, amounting to 6007.,
makes a total of 8620l.,-leaving a surplus of about
19407. as the income of the proprietor.
Now, although I admit that this is a great falling
off, compared with the income of the same estate in
antecedent periods, yet considering the reduction that
has taken place in the value of all kinds of property,
I do not think that the West Indian planter, in this
situation, can make out a case of such peculiar hard-
ship as to call for the interference of Parliament.
When, however, we look to the proceeds of the other
estate producing the same quantity of sugar at the same
expense, we must admit the severer hardship to which
its owner is subject. The sugars of inferior quality sell
in the market only at 46s. the cwt. instead of 66s.;
and when the House comes to recollect how heavily,
under these circumstances, the present equal duty must
press upon the grower of such sugar, there is reason,
surely, to justify an attempt to alleviate his distress,
if it can be made without sacrificing the general in-
terests of the country. I will not go through the
whole detail of the prices in the case of this estate
producing the sugar of inferior quality, but content
myself with stating as the result, that after the pay-
ment of the duty and other expenses on the 150 hogs-
heads, the proprietor is left with 100%. for income.
These cases, I think, will convince the Committee of
16
the necessity of some measure of relief to the particular
property so circumstanced, like that which I shall pro-
pose. I will now explain the manner in which this re-
lief is to be applied. The Committee is aware that the
duty hitherto imposed upon sugar has been a rated duty
of 27s. per cwt. I do not object to the principle of rated
duties, and am fully aware of the great advantage that
attends their collection in preventing disputes, which
will sometimes unavoidably occur in the case of an
ad valorem impost; and if I am disposed to depart
in this instance from the principle of rated duties, it is
only because I am anxious to adopt, for the present
difficulty, a temporary and experimental remedy, which
will be a guide to our proceedings hereafter, to shew
us more clearly what may be expected from a reduc-
tion on a larger scale.
The Committee is aware that a weekly average
is taken of the price of sugar in the London market,
which is published in the London Gazette. Now, I
propose that the duty on all sugar shall remain, as at
present, as a general duty; but that when the average
price of sugar as advertised in the London Gazette
shall not exceed 30s., there shall be paid upon all
sugar which shall not exceed that average more than
1s.,-or be below it more than 1s.-a duty of 17.5s.6d.
or, in other words, Is. 6d. less than is now paid.
On sugars of less value than the average by 3s.,
there shall be a duty of 17. 48.; on that less than
the average by 4s. a duty of 17. 2s. 6d., and on that
less than the average by 5s., a duty of 17., being a
reduction on sugars of the lowest quality of 7s. per
cwt., and upon those somewhat above or somewhat
below the average of 30s., a reduction of ls. 6d. It
may be said that there are always difficulties in
ascertaining the value of articles on which a duty
is to be levied in this manner, and that under any
system of valuation, the revenue must be always sub-
ject to variation; but with respect to this article of su-
gar, these objections have but very little force; for in the
first place, a false valuation might be guarded against
by taking it at the value set upon it, if supposed
to be under its real value; and in the next,-it would
be effectually prevented by the peculiar mode in which
sales of sugar are effected,—namely, by its not being
taken out of warehouse till a purchaser is actually
found; so that the means of judging of the price are
17
within reach. But I have had conversations with gen-
tlemen conversant with the details of the trade, who
assure me there will be no difficulty in giving effect
to the arrangement I propose.
Before going into the Committee, the Honourable
Member for Aberdeen asked me whether I intended
that my scale should apply to East Indian su-
gars ? I have, now, no hesitation in telling him, that
I do not propose to extend the provisions of the plan
I have submitted to the Committee, to the sugars
coming from the British possessions in India; and my
reason for having so determined, is, that, as it is only
the higher qualities of East and West Indian sugar that
come into competition,-none of the inferior quality
being brought from the East Indies,-it would be very
unfair to lower the duties on sugar coming from
these possessions, whilst the high tax upon that of a
similar quality from the West Indies is continued. I
have already said that I propose this as a temporary
measure, and, in some degree, as an experiment; but
we have been told, when a great reduction of the
sugar duties has been pressed upon us, that although
it appeared to be sacrificing a great amount of reve-
nue, yet the increase of consumption that would
ensue from a reduction of 10s. per cwt., would be so
great, as quite to counterbalance every loss that
might arise from the amount of duty being less.
When, however, we consider that a general re-
duction of the duty, to the amount of 7s. only, would
make a difference to the revenue of no less than
1,300,000l., I cannot think that it would be right to
experiment upon so large a sum. Now, the advantage
of my plan will be this-that by selecting the lower
class of sugars, upon which to make the greatest
reduction, we facilitate the purchase of that article,
the consumption of which is most likely to extend
itself; lay a foundation, if our expectations of in-
creased consumption be realised, more safely to carry
the reduction higher up the scale; and, at the same
time, do not hazard an amount of revenue, exceeding
350,000l. or 400,000l. I do not, however, mean to
say that even this can be risked safely or wisely,
without an attempt on the part of the Government to
make up the loss from other sources; and I think it
will be dealing more fairly with the Committee, at
once to submit to it the mode in which this de-
C
18
ficiency is proposed to be supplied.
In the first
place, I rely upon getting something from an addition
to the consumption, and I do not think I exaggerate
my hopes, when I take about half the amount of the
loss the revenue would otherwise sustain, as what
may be expected from that source. I know that much
will depend upon the productiveness of the crop
shortly to come into the market; but, calculating
upon an average crop, I think I may fairly rely upon
receiving 200,000l. on account of increase in the con-
sumption. The remaining part of the deficiency will,
in my mind, be supplied by some alteration or modi-
fication of the duty I some time back proposed to lay
upon spirits.
The Committee may remember that my proposition
was to augment the duty on spirits in this country by
1s. per gallon, and in Scotland and Ireland by 2d. per
gallon. It was then stated to me, as it has been
since, that the augmentation on Scottish and Irish
spirits was far less than they were able to bear; and
I was reminded by the Honourable Member for Car-
lisle, not now in his place, that by my plan I had held
out a great encouragement to smuggling from Scot-
land and Ireland into this country. There was great
weight in that observation, and I never should have
been induced to submit the proposition I did to the
House, except the consideration that a heavier
duty, on a former occasion, had occasioned, if not a
greater, an equal evil to that which he then mentioned.
Subsequent inquiries, however, have led me to think
that I might impose a higher duty on spirits in Scot-
land and Ireland, without risking a return to that
system which the reduction of the duty heretofore was
intended to put an end to. It is my intention, therefore,
to propose that the additional duty be made 6d. in the
three countries-that is, that the proposed additional
1s. duty on corn-spirits consumed in England should
be reduced to 6d., and that the additional 2d. duty,
which I had intended to levy on spirits in Scotland and
Ireland, should be raised to 6d. ; so that the increased
duty will be equal in the three countries.
I also propose that a duty of 6d. should be levied
on rum, the produce of our West Indian colonies, by
which many of the objections I have heard against the
exemption of our colonial spirits from duty, and their
coming into the market on more favourable terms
19
than those of home manufacture, will be obviated;
whilst, on the other hand, I have no just ground for
supposing that the colonial spirit will be in a worse
situation from being subject to the same increase of
duty as is imposed upon that with which it comes
into competition, than it was before.
This is the general outline of the plan which it is my
intention to adopt in order to effect that reduction of
the sugar duty, which is the object I have now in view.
It may be objected by some, that in limiting this re-
duction to sugars from the West Indies, I am taking a
view of the subject too favourable to those connected
with that particular interest; but I only ask those
who urge this objection to consider the statement I
have made with respect to the condition of the
growers of sugar of inferior quality, and to say whether,
with reference to that particular class, the limited and
temporary relief-limited only because the wants of
the country will not allow it to be greater-proposed
to be given, is not one to which they are fairly enti-
tled, and which will, while it eases the lower classes
in this country, at the same time pave the way, per-
haps, for some more general arrangement. It may,
on the other hand, be objected by those interested in
the West Indian colonies, that this measure does not
go far enough; but I have already stated my reasons
for not going further, and I cannot think I am acting
an unwise or imprudent part in forbearing largely to
diminish the revenue derived from sugar, under the
expectation of its augmentation from increased con-
sumption; and I do think it wise and prudent to pro-
ceed gradually, feeling our way, and seeing the effect
of a comparatively small reduction, before making
one so large as some seem to think essential.
My Right Honourable Friend the Member for
Inverness, in the observations he made respecting
sugar on hand, appeared to consider that the Govern-
ment has altogether neglected that subject; I beg to
assure him that he is mistaken, and when my Right
Honourable Friend the President of the Board of
Trade has the honour of introducing, as he shortly
will, a Bill to extend the operation of the Act respect-
ing the refinement of foreign sugar, he will explain
the intentions of Government with regard to the
further views which my Right Honourable Friend ad-
vocates on that subject.
20
I now beg to move the resolution I have in my
hand, to the effect I have stated.
SIR ALEXANDER GRANT put the question, "That
it is the opinion of this Committee, that towards
raising the supply granted to his Majesty, there shall
be charged the following duties on sugar, that is to
say-
Mr. CHARLES GRANT.—I submit to the
Right Honourable Gentleman, whether, instead of
proposing the resolution for our consideration now,
it would not be better to have it printed, and after it
has been circulated among those interested, to have
it recommitted.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
In the ordinary course it would appear printed in
the votes on the bringing up of the Report. I do
not, as it is a new subject, object to giving time for
its discussion; but my Right Honourable Friend is
aware, from the short time in which the sugar
duties will expire, and the embarrassment arising
from the present state of the business of the House,
of the difficulty of appointing a particular day for
such discussion; but there will be many stages in the
Bill that will be founded upon the resolution,-of
which my Right Honourable Friend may avail himself
to urge his objections-if he has any-to the plan,
or to bring on a debate upon its principle. The best
way, therefore, appears to me, to agree to the resolu-
tions, to report them, and take the discussion at any
subsequent stage, instead of postponing them till a
time which would make it impossible for the Bill to
pass before the 5th of July.
Mr. BERNAL.
I appeal to the fairness of my Right Honourable
Friend to say, whether resolutions of so import-
ant and novel a nature, not only to the West Indian
interest, but to the majority of this House, should
be proceeded with till Honourable Members have
had an opportunity of first examining their probable
tendency? What objection can my Right Honour-
able Friend entertain to postponing their introduc-
21
tion to a future day, having them printed and dis-
tributed in the mean time?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
If the object be merely to have them printed, of
course I cannot object to their being so; but my
only fear is that delays may take place, which would
be dangerous.
Mr. HUSKISSON.
I agree with my Right Honourable Friend (Mr.
Charles Grant), that it is highly inexpedient that re-
solutions, involving so many questions of great im-
portance-so intricate in their details, and so new to
the House-should be proceeded with till they have
been first examined by Honourable Members. Let
my Right Honourable Friend have them printed and
distributed, and again submitted to a Committee this
day week. This delay is the more necessary, as the
resolutions are a departure from the plan laid down
by my Right Honourable Friend when submitting his
financial statement to the House, and involve, I re-
peat, questions of great importance and intricacy.
There will be no real delay in the course I propose;
for even if we were to get through the resolutions
now, but in a subsequent stage should find them ob-
jectionable, we should have the inconvenience of going
back to a Committee of Ways and Means to modify
them; therefore, for despatch, as well as for a due
consideration of the subject, we had better adjourn
the discussion to this day week; by which time we
may, also, have the resolutions of my Right Honour-
able Friend printed. The Right Honourable the
Chancellor of the Exchequer said something about
drawbacks, which is a most important feature in the
question; and he proposed to equalize the additional
đuty intended to be imposed on spirits, which is an
entire departure from the measures opened by him in
the beginning of the Session. These are changes so
important, as to require our most serious attention:
besides, another great question presents itself—namely,
whether it would not be possible to relieve the West
Indians, by lowering the duty on rum consumed in Ire-
land and Scotland; for now, that article is in a manner
prohibited in those countries. My Right Honourable
C 2
22
Friend seems to think that it is the growers of inferior
sugar who most require relief, and for whose benefit
this measure is particularly intended; but he should
remember, the cost of growing the finer sugar, in some
of the islands, is very great; so that his principle,
though good in itself, may, in many instances, inflict
great hardship. I do not state these as conclusive
objections to his plan, but as considerations worthy
of my Right Honourable Friend's attention.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
I have no objection to take the discussion at any
time that may be most convenient to the House, but
I am extremely anxious that it should not be delayed
so long as to make it impossible to get the Bill
through before the present duties expire.
Mr. HUME.
Before going into the Committee, I put a question
to the Right Honourable Gentleman with respect to
East India sugar, and he has now taken notice of it,
but has given no reason why the duty on the East
India sugar should not be reduced. He has told us,
indeed, that this is a temporary measure, but nothing
can be more objectionable than the adoption of such
measures in matters of this kind. On the encourage-
ment now given, the manufacture of coarse sugar will
be increased, but hereafter the grower will be met by a
declaration that it was only an experiment in the con-
tinuance of which he had no right to trust. Would it
not be fitter and more becoming in this House, if we
are to make a change, that it should be upon principle,
and not intended to favour any one interest? But if
being in embarrassment entitles a particular class to
the favour of this House, none can haye greater than
the East Indian interest; for there is the greatest
difficulty possible in obtaining remittances from
India. I hope some of the Honourable Members
who have given notice on this subject will raise the
question, of how far a general reduction of duty on
sugar, would be a detriment to the revenue. All our
experience in the remission of taxes, induces us to
believe, that the result cannot but be advantageous:
and I have no doubt if this system of ad valorem
duty were extended to all sugars, we should find our
account in it. With respect to the proposed altera-
23
1
tions of the duty on spirits, I think that they shew a
disgraceful vacillation on the part of the Govern-
ment. It looks as if they did not know what to do,
but were driven from post to pillar, just as our in-
terest on one set of islands happens to get a party.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
I have no objection to postpone the discussion till
Wednesday, when I will state my intentions with
respect to drawbacks.
Mr. BRIGHT.
I hope that in whatever manner these resolutions
are now disposed of, it will be understood they are
to be re-committed, for I think it necessary to con-
sult my constituents before giving any opinion upon
them.
Mr. CHARLES PALLMER.
The very unsatisfactory conduct of his Majesty's
Ministers,-as I must call it,-in reference to the dis-
tresses of the West Indian planters and proprietors,
induces me to state that I shall submit a proposition
on the subject now under consideration, on which I
shall feel myself compelled to take the sense of this
House. When the subject comes before the House
again, therefore, I beg to give notice, now, that I shall
propose a resolution that will have the effect of reduc-
ing the sugar duties now paid in Ireland, by one-half.
Mr. BRIGHT.
I would recommend the Honourable Gentleman to
have his resolution printed and distributed, contem-
poraneously, with those of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer.
Mr. JOHN WOOD.
There is no interest so much depressed or neg-
lected as that of the sugar refiners of England, for,
under the present system, they are unable to get a
supply of the raw material with which to carry on
their trade. The sugar refiners of this country are as
skilful as any in the world; but, with the silly idea of
protecting the West India interest, we have permitted
this extensive branch of trade to be transferred to fo-
reigners. It is of no use to enter into commercial
24
treaties with foreign powers with respect to refined
sugar, for it is not a market our refiners want-as
that, their own skill and capital would secure them;
but they want a sufficient supply of the raw mate-
rial. As long as the West Indians produce a greater
quantity of sugar than this country can consume, so
long must the price, here, be regulated by the price of
that exported to foreign countries. The quantity of
sugar imported into this country is about 4,000,000
cwts.; the quantity actually consumed is about
3,500,000 cwts.: leaving the rest to be disposed of
abroad. I cannot see how, therefore, it can affect the
West Indian interest that foreign sugars should be in-
troduced into this country for the purpose of refining,
the refiners being ready to enter into any arrangement
by which the low qualities of sugars may be exported.
I merely throw this out, at present, by way of sugges-
tion; but it is my intention on a future day to go more
at length into this subject. I could not, however, per-
mit even this preliminary proceeding to pass without
protesting againt the injustice done to a great branch
of trade in this country.
Mr. KEITH DOUGLAS.
The alteration with respect to the rum, or, rather,
the spirit duties, is made contingent upon another
measure not before us. I hope, therefore, the Right
Honourable Gentleman will agree to the same post-
ponement with regard to the duty on rum, as he has
agreed to, with respect to that on sugar.
Mr. HERRIES.
I do not think the Honourable Member for Preston
can have been in the House when my Right Ho-
nourable Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
stated that it would shortly be my duty to bring
under the consideration of the House a Bill relating
to the introduction of foreign sugars for the purpose
of refining; but when that time arrives, I shall enter
into the question he has raised.
Mr. WARBURTON.
I wish to know when it is the intention of the
Right Honourable Gentleman to bring forward the
Bill of which he has given notice?
25
Mr. HERRIES.
I have hitherto been obliged, from the great
pressure of public business, to postpone the measure
from day to day; but hope, in the course of this
week, or early in the next, to find an opportunity for
bringing it forward.
Mr. WARBURTON.
I hope it will be as soon as possible; for the sche-
dule of the Bill will require time for consideration.
Mr. HUME.
As I think it desirable that every part of our
territory should be put upon the same footing, I beg
to ask the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr.
Herries) whether, in that Bill, he intends to make
any difference between the duties on the same article
exported from the East and West Indies?
Mr. KEITH DOUGLAS.
I have had no reply to my question,-as to whether
the consideration of the sugar duties being post-
poned, the question of those relating to rum is not to
be also?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.
It is.
Mr. HUME.
Again, I must ask the Right Honourable Gentle-
man whether, even to that limited extent, his Bill will
allow that the East Indians are to be relieved? It is
the more necessary that they should be attended to in
this House, as the Court of Directors seem afraid to
interfere in their behalf, and the department particu-
larly appointed for the supervision of their concerns
seems altogether to neglect them.
Mr. HERRIES.
It will be better to put off any discussion on the
question to a future period; but I may say that the
Bill I propose to bring in does not embrace the
26
object the Honourable Gentleman seems to have in
view; namely, an equalization of the sugar duties.
The resolutions were then considered pro formá;
the House resumed; SIR ALEXANDER GRANT re-
ported progress; and leave was given to the Com-
mittee to sit again on Wednesday next.


ON
PROTECTION H
ΤΟ
WEST-INDIA SUGAR.
Cheapness of consumption and increase of production are the two great
"objects of all political economy."
A. SMITH'S WEALTH OF NATIONS, vol. iii. p. 134, 8vo. ed.
SECOND EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED,
AND CONTAINING
AN ANSWER TO A PAMPHLET,
ENTITLED
"A REPLY,"

&c. &c.
BY JOSEPH MARRYAT, ESQ. M.P.
LONDON:
FOR J. M. RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL, OPPOSITE
ROYAL EXCHANGE; AND FOR J. HATCHARD,
PICCADILLY, OPPOSITE THE ALBANY.

1823.
HF
2651
5843
Ea
MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street.
Latin-Amer hest
Phillips
7-20-89
20057
ON
PROTECTION
TO
WEST-INDIA SUGAR.
THE expediency of equalizing the duties on
sugar imported from the East and West Indies
has now been canvassed during two successive
years. We are approaching the session of
Parliament in which an examination of the
question in all its bearings is to be undertaken
by a Committee of the House of Commons, it
is therefore most important that right ideas
upon the subject should be formed, and that it
should not hastily be thrown aside, as a mea-
sure interesting only to East and West India
merchants, and unworthy of the deliberate at-
A 2
4
tention of the legislature. I am no advocate
for conferring a partial benefit either on the
East or West Indians, but I am an advocate
for competition, and for giving equal encourage-
ment to both parties, because I am convinced
that by so doing the true interests of both, as
well as of the empire at large, will be best pro-
moted. In this question are involved the two
following propositions :-
1st. Whether the sound principles of com-
merce which have superseded the erroneous
theories of the old mercantile system (and to
which our government themselves are converts*)
shall be adopted or abandoned, according to
the prevalence of particular interests in parlia-
ment.
2d. Whether this country shall act with jus-
tice to the immense population of the East
Indies, placed by Providence under its pro-
tection, or yield in one essential point-to the
fears and jealousies of the planters and mer-
chants of the West Indies.
* See the recent official publication on the State of the
Nation, January, 1823, p. 150 and 203.
5
1
I hope to be able, in this short exposition of
the subject, to show that, as statesmen and
legislators, it is our best policy, and, as mas-
ters of a great empire, it is our bounden duty
to admit so material a production of India as
sugar into the home-consumption of Great
Britain upon an equal footing with the sugar of
any other British dependency.
It is only since the year 1813 that the real
advantages to be derived from India have be-
come apparent; the incongruous characters of
merchant and sovereign, blended, so unfortu-
nately both for India and Great Britain, in the
East-India Company, had till that time para-
lized the exertions of both countries mutually
to benefit each other. The triumph of just
commercial principles, by the experience of
the free trade since 1813, has been complete.
Many things yet remain to be done, and the
two characters must ultimately be separated.
Much, however, as I appreciate the value of
free trade, little as I indulge any fears for the
safety of the China trade, under an unre-
stricted intercourse, yet I would agree to con-
6
tinue the monopoly of the tea-trade in the Com-
pany if its political existence can be shown to
depend upon it, and if the question lay between
the maintenance of that monopoly and the ex-
tinction of the Company, and the consequent
transfer of its political functions to Govern-
ment; for in our mixed constitution the admi-
nistration of India is too valuable a source of
patronage to be trusted to the executive; and,
with some modifications, that function can
hardly be placed in better hands than those
of the Court of Directors, checked by the
Board of Control, and, under the system of
gradual advancement in the service, which
now so happily prevails. Several improve-
ments, however, before this great question can
be brought forward, on the expiration of the
charter, are yet to be made. The Indian ship-
ping has a right to a general British register :-
policy and justice equally demand the conces-
sion of this point, in spite of the jealousy of
the shipping-interest at home. Again, British
shipping of all classes ought to enjoy without
restriction the whole trade eastward of the
7
Cape, (the direct China trade, until the expi-
ration of the charter, excepted,) and vessels
of all sizes should be admitted freely into
that commerce.
The laws regulating the commerce of the East
should be separated from those relating to the
government of British India, and their provisions
so simplified and consolidated that the mer-
chant may not be impeded by the intricacy of
the present ill-digested system. The basis of
the commercial law should be free trade with
exceptions, not a close trade with permissions.
This is due to the interests of our mercantile
and manufacturing classes at home and in India.
No pains should be spared to correct the errors
of the landed-system of India-to prevent the
impoverishment and degradation of that coun-
try by oppressive taxation:-and dismissing idle
fears of colonization, the Court of Directors
should boldly repair the evils* incident to their
* Evils of no common magnitude, and allowed by Mr.
C. Grant.-See C. Grant on the State and Society among
the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain, 1792, 1797, p. 23,
et passim.
8
connexion with India, and afford every facility
to the development of the great resources of
the country under their charge. If superior
civilization and knowledge and a higher tone
of character have enabled a handful of foreign-
ers to achieve the conquest of India, let these
advantages be diffused over British India;-
allow Englishmen to fix themselves in the coun-
try, and thereby increase the wealth, raise the
character, and enlarge the prosperity of the
natives. Under the superintendence of a vigi-
lant and settled government there is nothing to
apprehend, and without the assistance of Euro-
peans none of the great staples of India can
be brought to perfection. But leaving to others
the consideration of these more general sub-
jects, I shall confine myself to the sugar-ques-
tion, which, in principle, yields to none in im-
portance.
:
The simple fact of the case is as fol-
lows:-
The consumption of sugar in Great Britain is
about three millions of cwt. or nearly 150,000
tons per annum. Of this supply not above
9
6,600 tons have hitherto been brought from
India.*
Now the power of producing sugars in India
to almost any extent is fully proved by the
papers laid before the proprietors of East-India
stock by the Court of Directors, and may be esti-
mated from the following extract of one of the
ablest writers on the husbandry of Bengal, viz.
"From Benares to Rungpur, from the bor-
ders of Assam to those of Catack, there is
scarcely a district in Bengal, or its dependent
provinces, wherein the sugar-cane does not
flourish; it thrives most especially in the pro-
vinces of Benares, Behar, Rungpūr, Berboom,
Berdwan, and Mednipur; it is successfully
cultivated in all, and there seems to be no other
bounds to the possible production of sugar in
Bengal than the limits of the demand and con-
sequent vend for it." Whence, then, does it
* 1822, Total import, 13,000 tons, of which home-con-
sumption is 6,600 tons.
† Colebrooke on the Husbandry of Bengal, p. 127, edi-
tion 1806; and throughout the Report laid before the pro-
10
arise that so small a portion of India sugar
finds its way into the consumption of Great
Britain? The cause may be traced to the pro-
tecting duty.
The duty of 30s. per cwt., reducible accord-
ing to the average gazette-prices to 27s. per cwt.
levied on an article like sugar, varying in qua-
lity, and consequently in value, from 10s. to
50s. per cwt. is a most oppressive burden-an
unwise and impolitic tax, injuring the people
by narrowing the consumption, without be-
nefiting, in proportion, the revenue; but
when, in addition to this heavy impost, which
applies to sugars of every growth, a preference,
to the extent of one-third at least, or 10s. ad-
ditional, per cwt. is given to the West Indians,
the burden to the East Indies becomes intole-
rable; and the question to be considered is—
whether it is just and expedient that this pre-
ference should continue.
prietors of East-India stock, it may be seen, that in the
opinion of some of the ablest commercial servants, the
cultivation of sugar in Bengal affords the most profitable
returns to the agriculturist.
11
Now I am prepared to show that this pre-
ference, crippling the trade with India, and
impeding the natural course of the interchange
of the commodities of the two countries, is
injurious to
the British ship-owner and merchant,
the British refiner,
the British manufacturer,
the British consumer,
J
and is a sacrifice of the rights of our fellow-
subjects in India.
The West Indians assert their claim to such
a preference, however injurious to others. They
appeal to their rights under the Colonial Sys-
tem, sanctioned by successive acts of the le-
gislature.
This claim of right must first be examined,
for, if that stands, honesty being paramount
to all questions of expediency, the pledged
faith of parliament must be supported, until
the existing interests of every person in the
West Indies are satisfied; remove this, and
conflicting views of expediency alone remain
to be considered. The claims of the West
12
Indies, on the head of expediency, may be
ranged, as follows:-
1st. Probable loss on capital invested in the
West Indies.
2d. Probable injury to the slaves.
3d. Importance of the West Indies, as a
means of naval strength and commercial
wealth.
Prescriptive Right of the West Indians under
the Colonial System.
To put the question in the strongest light, let
us suppose the West Indians to contend that
they have planted, cultivated, and invested large
capitals in sugar plantations, under compact
with the legislature that, if they brought all their
produce to the home-market, and purchased all
their supplies from thence, the home-market
should be secured to them.
But where are the records of their title?-
Great Britain was first supplied with sugar
through the Portuguese. The price was exor-
bitant, and encouragement was given, in the
13
nature of a patent, to cultivate the West In-
dies. From 1649 to the present time, the
chief supply has been from the West Indies;
but when the price was high, in 1792, and
again in 1800, cultivation in the East Indies
was called for and encouraged by Parliament
and Government, and importations propor-
tionate to the Company's operations, under an
exclusive monopoly, took place.
The article was not enumerated in the table
of customs, but the question of the duty
(£37: 16: 3 per cent. ad valorem) was agitated
during that period, as will be seen by the reso-
lutions moved and carried in the General Court,
15th March, 1792.
From 1787, the duty remained, ad valorem,
£37:16:3 per cent. until 1797, when an
additional 2s. 6d. per cwt. was imposed, but
applied to the East and West India sugars
alike. In 1803, the system was altered;* the
* 43 Geo. III. cap. 68. So far from the competition of
the East Indies not being contemplated by all parties in
1803, under the new scale of duties, I may refer to the
Report of the House of Assembly in Jamaica, in Nov.
14
ad valorem duty was changed into a rated duty,
and 27s. per cwt. fixed on East-India sugars
of all growths and qualities, as a mean rate be-
tween the duty of 24s. per cwt. on West-India
brown sugars, and 29s. on West-India white
sugars, and, in 1809, the same proportions
were preserved.
East-India of all growths and qualities, 33s.
West-India, brown
West-India, white.
30s.
35s.
Does this look like the peremptory exclusion
of all sugars from the market except those
from the West Indies? Have those who specu-
lated in the West-India plantations, under
these regulations of the legislature, a right to
turn round now, and say-Oh, we trusted to
the supineness of the Company, and we knew
they never would send home any quantity
to affect us in the home-market? Surely this
is private speculation on private judgement,
not on the pledged faith of the legislature.
Surely, the assertion so confidently made of
1804, to prove that this competition was a subject of se-
rious alarm and complaint.
15
East-India sugar never having been intended
by the legislature to enter into competition
with West-India sugar antecedent to the year
1813, cannot now be maintained. *
In 1813, when the free trade was opened, a
protection of 10s. per cwt. was given to the West
Indians against East-India sugars, as follows:
East-India sugars, of all growths and qua-
lities
擀
​West-India, brown or Muscovado ...
West-India, white or clayed
40s.
30s.
35s.
Here the matter rested; but it is curious to
trace the gradual encroachments of the West
Indians and their infractions of their own
bargain.
1st. They re-agitated the question, and at-
tempted to impose an additional duty of 2s. 6d.
per cwt. on brown East-India sugar, and
7s. 6d. on white.
2d. They obtained a separation of growth,
and without any compassion upon those who,
on the faith of Parliament, had invested capital
* See the Amount of Company's Importations, Appen-
dix iv. Co. Rep. page 74.
16
in Java, and in the country trade of India, of
which sugar is the staple growth and chief me-
dium, prohibitory duties were imposed on the
consumption of all sugars from the East Indies,
except such as had a certificate of origin,
proving them to be the production of the
British territories.
4
3d. They obtained a classification of quali-
ties-Because a custom-house distinction ex-
isted in West-India sugars, and the highest duty
of 35s. per cwt. stood against white or clayed
West-India sugars, they proposed and obtained
a similar distinction in East-India sugars, and
an additional protection of 5s. altogether 15s.
per cwt. on sugars from the East Indies, clayed,
or otherwise refined, so as to be equal to clayed,
although there is not in India, as in the West
Indies, a particular class of Sugar called clayed,
and, for want of a definite standard, to de-
termine what India sugars are equal to clayed,
it was almost certain that this additional duty
would (however contrary to the letter and spirit
of the act) be attempted to be levied on Bengal
* See Appendix (3).
*
17
white sugars, inferior to many West-India Mus-
covado sugars in grain, consequently less adap-
ted to the refiners, and selling at lower prices,
and which has proved to be the fact. This mea-
sure (the British West Indies producing no clay-
ed sugars) has actually saddled the finer Bengal
sugars with a prohibitory duty, and thus pro-
tected West-India Muscovado,* under cover of
protecting clayed; and to this deception,
arising from the technical language of the act,
the Board of Trade and the Treasury have,
from the superior influence of West Indians,
most unaccountably lent themselves.
Does this look like keeping to a bargain, or
paying any great deference to an alleged par-
liamentary contract?
And, 4th. Though it was expressly declared
that the protecting duty was in consequence of
the restrictions imposed on the West Indies by
the colonial system, yet in the last session of
parliament the West Indians procured a relax-
* Improved, so as to be superior to many clayed sugars,
and yet literally not within the act.
B
18
ation of this system, without allowing a deduc-
tion of one farthing from the protecting duties.
After this statement can any reasonable man
require the East Indians to be bound by the
alleged compact of 1813, a compact got up
between the West-India Committee and the de-
legates from Liverpool, then soliciting the
open trade to the outports; but to which
neither the East-India Company nor the
East-India Trade, generally, were in any
manner parties? It was first broken by the
West Indians, and its character and opera-
tions were essentially changed, at their in-
stance, and for their benefit.* After this, I
think, the claim under the faith of Parliament
* It is fair to observe here, that this is now denied by
the West Indians; they shift the request to the ship-owners;
but they seem to have accepted the boon, in the true spirit
of nolo episcopari; and few will give credit to the assertion,
that it was forced upon them, without their solicitation.
What view does the official writer take of this point?
"Such," says he, " in a few words, was the BOON of
"Government to the West Indies during the last session.”
-Administration of the Affairs of Great Britain, 1823,
p. 140.
19
cannot be entertained for one moment. I
would here ask, what has been the policy of
the legislature with regard to sugar from the
conquered colonies? If the old British West-
India islands had a right to the exclusion
of East-India sugar from the home-market,
much more had they a right to insist on the
exclusion of sugar from the conquered colo-
nies. But what is the fact? The sugars of the
Dutch West-India conquered colonies* are
* See Mr. Marryat's speech, 1819, in Hansard's Par-
liamentary Debates, vol. xiv. page 82.
"The West-India planters are now, in their turn, con-
tending for the principle, as they call it, of the monopoly
of the home-consumption of Great Britain; but this prin-
ciple has never been recognized to the extent to which
they would push it; for the produce of the conquered
colonies has uniformly been admitted into home-consump-
tion. Even if this principle was acknowledged, it would
be of no use to them in the present state of things, as, I
trust, I shall shortly satisfy the house; and, I must say,
that it is with peculiar ill grace that they attempt to main-
tain prejudices of their own, at the very moment when
they are reaping the most substantial advantages from
having overcome the prejudices of others."
B 2
20
admitted upon the same duties as those from
the old West-India islands. The Mauritius
is the only exception, and, though equally
a sugar colony, is sacrificed to the jealousy of
the West Indians and whilst every motive of
justice and policy should induce our govern-
ment to conciliate the French inhabitants, by
giving them a vent for their only produce, yet,
the high duty is imposed on their sugars,
which are driven from France by a duty to
protect Bourbon sugar, and from England to
protect the British West Indies. The Mauri-
tius sugars are, to the ruin of the trade with
Great Britain, sent to every port in Europe but
those to which they would in the natural course
of trade be attracted..
In 1809, there was, indeed, an Act brought in
to exclude the clayed sugars of Martinique, which
passed, notwithstanding the able and sound
argument of an eminent West-India merchant,
Mr. Marryat, in opposition to the measure.
But, in 1814, upon the restoration of this island
to France, by another legislative provision,
those sugars were admitted to April, 1815, at
21
the same duties as British West-India sugars.
The produce of Demerara is yearly increas-
ing.* It now exceeds the largest supply
hitherto brought from India; and yet Deme-
rara merchants are actually joined with the
West-India planters of the old colonies, and
crying out for protection against the East
Indies.
Let us next see what were the alleged grie-
vances of the colonial system, and to what ex-
tent the British West Indies are, at present,
affected by them:
1st. The obligation imposed on the colonies
of bringing all their produce to the mother-
country, thereby increasing the cost of that por-
tion which was beyond the home-consumption,
by the charges of transit, and preventing its en-
tering into competition, on equal terms, with
* Imports of Demerara and Berbice Sugars :
Cwt.
Cwt.
1796
11,660
1817-18......391,954
1800
51,194
1818-19.
..437,950
1814-15.
244,307
1819-20.
510,900
1815-16..
330,417
1820-21.
574,257
1816-17.
338,751
1821-22..
+
545,403
22
the produce of other sugar-colonies and coun-
tries, shipped direct to the foreign place of con-
sumption.
2d. The obligation under which they were
bound to purchase supplies from the mother-
country, both for the purposes of their cultiva-
tion and the support of the negro-population.
These two main grievances are removed by the
Acts of last session for regulating the trade of the
West Indies with America and other parts of the
world. The produce of the West Indies may
be carried direct to its place of consumption;
for instance, rum to America, and sugar to the
continent of Europe; and the supplies for the
negroes, and lumber and other articles for the
sugar manufacture, may be brought back direct
from the place of production. But this must be
done in direct trade only, and in British ships,
or, as far as the trade with independent America
is concerned, in American ships;-and what
practical grievance is this? what freights are
cheaper?
But the population of the West Indies must be
supplied with British manufactures only; and
23
where again is the practical grievance here?
what manufactures are cheaper than the British ?
do not the British manufacturers undersell all
others in the East and the West? and are they
not excluded from the continent, because they
undersell the foreign manufacturer at his own
door?
If duties are charged in the West Indies
on foreign shipments, so are they charged in
British India; and advantages are given to
shipping on British ships direct to Great Bri-
tain.
:
Let it not be understood that any objection
is here offered to this alteration in the colonial
system; but it is broadly contended that the
remaining restrictions on the West-India trade
do not warrant, in any manner, a continuance
of their monopoly of the home-market for
sugar, upon the grounds of justice or the
pledged faith of the legislature. The terms of
the alleged contract are broken, and the West
Indians no longer bring all their produce to
the mother-country, nor receive all their sup-
plies from thence.
24
I am decidedly of opinion that entire free-
dom should be given to the West Indies :-to
allow the East Indies to enter into competition,
on equal terms, is all that is asked in return.
Having, then, disposed of the first point, viz.
the compact with Parliament, let us next ad-
vert to,
2dly. The expediency of the case. Is it, or
is it not, expedient for the whole community,
that the West Indies should have the exclusive
supply of sugar to the home-market? Let us
first show, in entering into this branch of the
subject, that the monopoly is highly detrimen-
tal to the trade with India, and unjust towards
its numerous population: and then look around
to see whether the positive evil it inflicts on
these important interests is counterbalanced by
any commensurate advantages to the West
Indians, or to any other class of society.
That the only advantageous mode of con-
ducting a profitable commerce between two
countries is by facilitating the cheapest ex-
change of their respective productions, is a
position few will now venture to combat.
25
The tonnage employed in 1821, in the trade
from India to the United Kingdom, amounted
to about 79,000 tons; one-third of that ton-
nage must be dead weight, that is, heavy bulky
articles. Of the productions of India, rice,
saltpetre, and sugar, are known to be the three
articles used for that purpose. Of rice, in
1821, about 4500 tons were imported; it sold
at ruinous prices; and the import thereof must
cease in the present state of abundant supply
of all agricultural produce, and with the duty
of 5s. per cwt. (absolutely more than its prime
cost) to which it is subjected for the protection
of domestic agriculture. Of saltpetre, the im-
portations were 9000 tons; and the consump-
tion must necessarily be limited, during a pe-
riod of general peace. Of the remaining arti-
cle, sugar, about 13,000 tons were imported.
White Benares sugar, in Bengal, might have
been purchased in May, 1822, for Sª· R³ 8. 8.
per Bazaar Maund, which, at the then ex-
change of 2s. 1d. per Sa. Re. (the Company's
present rate of remittance), brings the prime
26
cost to...
..per cwt. £1
4 2
Add charges at Calcutta, 8 per cent.
0
1 11
Add freight, £ 6 per ton..
Ditto insurance, 4 per cent.
1 6 1
..0 6 0
Ditto waste and average damp on prime
cost, say 8 per cent...
Cost in London
.0 1 0
.0 1 11
..£1 15 0
Say, sells at 35s. per cwt. less
charges 8 per cent.
Loss to the importer
1 12 2
.£0 2 10
But supposing the duty of 10s. to be taken off,
then the buyer could afford to give 10s. per
cwt. more, thereby bringing up the price of
East-India to that of the same quality of
West-India sugar; this would leave a profit to
the importer of 7s. 2d. per cwt. and capital
would immediately flow into the sugar import
business: the consequence would be, a reduc-
tion of the 7s. 2d. in the general price of sugar,
to the advantage of the consumer.
27
From this statement we also see how the In-
dian merchant would benefit by saving the 2s.10d.
loss on import, under present circumstances.
The above calculation is taken from the actual
prices and rates in May, 1822; and, considering
the average out-turn of the shipments of sugar
from India, 35s. per cwt. with 8 per cent. waste,
is a high price.
1
If the 15s. duty is levied on this sugar, its
introduction will be prohibited.
Actual out-turn of a parcel of sugar, imported
in October, 1820, per William Money.
Invoice of 1154 bags, Benares
Sugar, weighs Br. Mds. 2941,
cost Sa. Rs. 32,856, at 2s. 4½d..
Nett weight-less 6 per cent. for
deficiency on voyage, cwt. 2073
at 35s. 6d. per cwt..
•£3,901 13
£3679 11 6
Freight
539 4 0
Charges in London ..220 15 6
759 19 6
Nett proceeds
2,919 12
* Loss £ 982 1
See in Appendix-Statement of prime costs of East-
India sugar from 3 to 10 Rs per Maund.
28
1
But which, if not subject to the 10s. duty, would
have made a saving remittance even at the
Exchange of 2s. 41d. I have taken my illus-
tration from the finer qualities of Bengal sugars;
but in proportion to the inferiority of the
sugars imported, the heavier is the loss sus-
tained, and the 10s. per cwt. additional duty is
prohibitory to the import of the strong brown
coarser qualities, selling, with reference to the
supposed price of the finer sorts, at 18s. à 25s.
per cwt.
It has been alleged that, in spite of these
losses, the consumption of India sugar has in-
creased. It is true, and although the observa-
tion gives rise to an important remark,—that
low price effectually forces consumption, the
fact itself does not affect our argument: we
contend, and we are borne out by the concur-
rent testimony of all engaged in the trade, that
the loss on Indian sugars has been so great, as
to preclude the possibility of the continuance
of its import. But in the fluctuating state of
the law, as to duty, during the agitation of the
question, and in a new trade, into which a host
29
of shipping has adventured, it requires some
time to induce parties to return in ballast, when
money is as plentiful as it has recently been in
India to purchase produce; and it requires
many a hard lesson to check the confidence of
the merchant, and to damp his sanguine hopes
of good fortune, and he continues to speculate
in sugar rather than return empty; but to this
there must be a limit. If this reasoning be, as
I trust it is, grounded on fact, and on undenia-
ble data, then, in what a situation does this
exclusion of India sugar place the Indian trade
to Great Britain? Does it not cripple, in every
way, the means of carrying on that trade?
altogether prevent the development of the great
resources of our Indian Empire by British
capital, skill, and industry, and in part tend
to drive the raw materials of our manufac-
tures, cotton, silk, indigo, drugs, to the Con-
tinent, where a better market can be found for
the dead weight sugar?
I contend, that it paralizes a growing trade,
a trade, the eventual extent of which, consider-
ing its increase since the opening in 1813, can
30
scarcely be calculated. Again, is it not unde-
niable that the power of our machinery has
enabled us successfully to export British manu-
factures to the East Indies,* to spread them
through the Persian Gulph and the Eastern
Archipelago, and what will stop our progress?
Is it limited demand? No; the population
to be clothed is immense. Is it the want of
fertility in their soil to give returns? No; read
the account of the productions of Java, Bengal,
and Siam ;t-it can only be retarded by rẻ-
strictive laws and the protecting system. We
refuse to benefit ourselves by the exuberant
* Woollens exported to the East,
5th January, 1815...£1,084,434
1822....
1,421,649
Increase of……..£ 337,215 30 per cent.
Cotton goods from.... £ 109,486
to
£1,120,235
+ See Crawfurd's Eastern Archipelago; Colebrooke's
Husbandry of Bengal; Milburn's Oriental Commerce;
Roxburgh's Essay in the Asiatic Annual Register for 1802.
31
bounty of nature; we no longer act up to the
motives that probably induced the legislature
in former times to encourage the plantations
of the West Indies; and although India pos-
sesses a rich soil, admirably adapted to the
cane, watered by noble rivers, and teeming with
a numerous population, we exclude its staple
production, under the absurd apprehension that
sugar would become too cheap.
Great Britain possesses skill, capital, machi-
nery, and metals; we are advanced beyond all
other nations in our manufacturing skill; we
abound in things coveted by others; but we
check the natural interchange that would take
place, by refusing to receive the natural equi-
valents for our manufactures; forgetting, that
where we will not buy we cannot sell.
Are not duties on articles brought as returns
for our manufactures as injurious as duties on
export? A manufacturer ships to India; he
sells at a handsome profit upon his invoice, but
his rupee, in which he receives his return, has
fallen, from the difficulty of investing it advan-
tageously in produce, from 2s. 6d. à 2s. 1d.-
32
16 à 20 per cent. It is by their cheapness
alone that we have introduced our manufactures;
and if, therefore, by narrowing the channels
through which returns are to be received, we
oblige the seller to increase his sale-price, are
we not artificially destroying the natural cheap-
ness of our manufactures, and impeding our
own career in their diffusion throughout the
East?
Thus the trade suffers in all its branches,
export and import; and the savings of the Com-
pany's servants in India, civil and military,
(who, by rigid economy alone, can now ex-
pect to return to their native country,) par-
take of the same depreciated value of money.
The investment of money in sugar, the great
staple of India, is checked, when, from the
abundance of capital, new channels for its em-
ployment should be opened. The general trade is
impeded, when the limited demand for remit-
tances under the old monopoly is swelled by
that of the free traders, requiring returns for their
British manufactures; and, to crown the whole,
though well aware that on the value of India
33
produce in the home-market the rate of ex-
change and the value of the rupee, compared
with the British sterling, must ultimately depend,
we artificially reduce that value by exorbitant
duties to protect others. Is this a sound
policy? Follow out the consequences to India,
England, and those interested in the two
countries, and see what an extensive mischief
ensues, and how the evil arising from the restric-
tion on sugar, trifling in former times, is increa-
sed by the altered circumstances of India.
The East India Company has to provide for
considerable expenses at home; viz. the interest
of the debt payable in England, the dividends on
the stock and bonds, and certain civil and mi-
litary charges. Having, thus, a constant ne-
cessity for draining India, is it not our obvious
policy, as it is our unquestionable duty, to
give every encouragement to the productions
of India? How else can she satisfy these
political demands?--And is not the burthen
of her tribute aggravated by the restriction
imposed upon her sugars.-The remittance for
the Company's political charges,-the private
C
34
merchant's returns for his British goods,-all
depend on the result of the sale of Indian pro-
duce at home. If produce will not pay, the
remittance must be made in specie,--and this
will reduce the money-value of Indian produce
to the cultivator, whose rent and tax are money
payments, thereby enhancing his real burdens,
and grinding him to the earth, to the impoverish-
ment of India and the deterioration of the
Company's revenue. Within the last two years
we have actually seen a considerable amount of
treasure, remitted from India. And to add to
our injustice, we tax nearly 70 per cent. the
fabrics of India, when imported into this
country; and we insist upon the importation of
British goods into India, at the low duty of 2½
per cent. and even in the recently proposed
intercolonial trade between the East and West
Indies, it was intended to exclude India manu-
factures by heavy duties. We discourage
the manufacturing industry of our East-
Indian subjects, and prevent their repay-
ing themselves by profitably pursuing their
agricultural industry. We deny them the pri-
35
vileges of colonies, and they cannot exercise the
rights of independent states. Why did Parlia-
ment recently refuse to protect the landed inte-
rest against Russian tallow or Dutch butter?
Was it not the fear of finding an equal measure of
taxation dealt out to us on British articles? and
is then our conduct just towards dependent
India? The restriction is therefore injurious to
the trade and unjust to India. Here is positive
evil enough to throw into the scale. But let us
look forward: either the supply from India will
be large or small. If small, are we not sacri-
ficing the India trade to the imaginary fears of
the West-India planters? If the difference of
cost price be inconsiderable, we shall not have
an import much beyond the present, say 13,000
tons, scarcely 7 per cent. on the gross import
from the West Indies,-an important advantage
to the East-India merchant, but no heavy sa-
crifice on the part of the West-India planter.
But if the import be large, what an injury are
we inflicting upon the natives of India and upon
the British consumer? The 10s. added to his
C 2
}
36
present return will enable the British merchant
to import sugar into Great Britain. If his profit be
excessive on his prime cost, the influx of capi-
tal will soon bring his gains down to the proper
level, and, by creating an enlarged demand for
sugars in India, stimulate the native cultivator.
Here then we perceive the extreme injury to the
native of India; but follow out the consequences.
The increased supply from India must be
cheaper than that from the West Indies, or it
would not exist; the cheaper growth will be
substituted for the dearer, and thus add to the
enjoyments of every family in the kingdom.
If the market be brought down to one-half of
the extent of the 10s. is not that a saving of
nearly a million on the annual consumption
of above three millions of cwt. besides the
difference to the revenue in the saving upon the
excess of drawback beyond the duty, which is
now given as a bonus to the West-India planter
to the extent of from 4s. to 5s. per cwt.? For,
as this drawback enables the refiner to give so
much more for his article, and there can be but
37
one price in a market, it actually enhances,
pro tanto, the market-price of the whole quan-
tity consumed.
Such would be the improved state of things
if the duties were equalized; but reverse the
picture, and see the obvious consequences to
which the West Indians are leading the public.
At present, they export one-fifth to one-third
of their importation; and it is this surplus,
above the wants of the home-consumers, that
preserves the price of the article level with that
on the Continent, for it is the price of the sur-
plus that governs that of the whole.* The en-
deavour of the West Indians is to get rid of this
surplus with as little sacrifice to themselves as
possible, and this object is visible in all their
proceedings. They may now carry sugars di-
rect to the Continent, and there meet East-In-
* I have stated this broadly, not to encumber the argu-
ment, but the advantage given by the bounty alluded to
above, certainly keeps the home price of British West-
India sugar higher than that of foreign sugar abroad; the
truth is, the home price moves in a certain proportion to
the continental price, the bounty regulating the proportion.
38
dia sugars, without the burden of the transit
through this country, as heretofore.
Once bring the supply down to the consump-
tion, and exclude other growths, sugar may
be high here and low abroad, and the West-
India planters may then obtain their high
remunerative price. But will not this be to the
sacrifice of the consumer and the refiner?
((
(6
66
It is thus Released from the obligation of
bringing all his sugar to England, the West-
Indian may, if he please, get rid of the whole
"of the surplus quantity in an American or
(6
Foreign European market; and, provided he
can still keep in his hands the monopoly of
"the supply of this country, it will be in his
66
power to exact, from the consumer and refiner
"here, an ample compensating price upon the
"remainder. To the permanent success of this
plan, however, two obstacles, which may
66
66
fairly be considered insurmountable, exist:
"viz. the tyrannical nature of its operation on
"the public, and the magnitude of the surplus
"to be thus artificially got rid of at a reduced
price.
66
39
"Some temporary success might, neverthe-
"less, attend such a scheme destructive to
66
others, and hardly less baneful in the end to
"himself. The diversion even of a small
quantity of sugar, in the present state of the
"British market, would create a sensible scar-
66
66
city; the demand of the last year having
"exceeded the supply, 8000 casks, owing, no
"doubt, to the purchases of the refiners for
"the purposes of exportation. An advance
“in price would, therefore, certainly follow in
"the first instance, and the refiners, thus forced
"either to abandon their houses and occupa-
"tions, or give an undue price for their raw
material, would, probably, yield for a time to
"the demand of an increased price, influenced
"by a vague and certainly delusive expectation
"of a corresponding advance in the prices of
"their refined exportable produce. This state
"of things, however, could not long be sup-
ported. The operation of such sales and
purchases, a few times repeated, would
"transfer into the pockets of the planters, the
(6
66
<<
larger part of the capital of the refiners, who,
40
66
seeing themselves menaced by speedy and
“inevitable ruin, would, undoubtedly, with-
draw from the struggle, and many would carry
"to foreign countries their skill and the remains
"of their capital, leaving the planter exposed
"to the consequences of a tremendous re-
"action, with an unmanageable surplus still on
"his hands, and more embarrassed than ever.
66
Such, in all probability, would be the effect
"of so partial and unjust a measure, which
"would aggravate in the case of the refiner the
injurious effects of the present monopoly,
"while it emancipated the planter from all
"those restrictions to which, in the spirit of
"fair reciprocity, he has hitherto ever been
subjected.
66
Against a really free trade, however, the
"refiners will never offer an objection. They
"will readily consent, that the West Indians
"shall buy and sell where they please, provided
"the same indulgence be granted to them-
"selves. They desire no protecting or prohi-
66
bitory duties of any sort, content to rely
"entirely upon their ability to manufacture as
41
"well and as cheap as the refiners of other
"countries. A free trade is all they desire;
"but against a free trade partially granted
66
(C
they protest, as against the worst and most
oppressive species of monopoly."
""*
The above is the account given by the re-
finers themselves; here they roundly assert
that the quantity of their raw material is
insufficient; they show that their interests,
and those of the West-India planters, run di-
rectly opposite; they are anxious for an excess
of supply in the home-market beyond home-
consumption; the West-India planters are de-
sirous, by every means, of equalizing the home-
supply to the home-consumption; what is then
the prayer of the refiner to the legislature?
give us a free trade, let us buy sugar where we
can get it cheapest, and we pledge ourselves
with our skill, capital, and machinery, success-
fully to compete with all the world; deny us
this and we sink under our foreign rivals.
* Extracted from the Report of the present State of
Sugar Refineries in England, dated April, 1822.
1
42
Nothing can be more satisfactory than this
declaration of the refiners; it shows a confi-
dence, that their own resources are independent
of the artificial restriction of the law, and affords
a hope, that hereafter they may be willing to
have all restraints removed, and to allow the
fullest competition in refined sugar, both with
the East and West Indies. But, if the times are
not ripe for an entire free trade, and if the pre-
sent system of our legislature will not allow fo-
reign sugars to enter into competition with Brit-
ish sugars, let us give, with this reservation, full
scope to the principle, and admit all sugars from
British dependencies on an equal footing; no-
thing else can save the refiners. The folly of the
restrictive system is most admirably exposed by
Mr. Marryat, in his elaborate speech, in 1809, in
favour of the admission of Martinique sugars;
the doctrines are sound; the conclusion irre-
sistible. We quote his words with pleasure.*
* Mr. Marryat's speech, 1809, Hansard's Parliamen-
tary Debates, vol. xiv. page 79.-" It is granted, that
when charters were first given to encourage the settlement
43
Can any one doubt, after this examination,
that, unless the West Indians can show a very
strong case, there are sufficient grounds, on the
score of positive evil, to the
Native of India,
British Merchant,
Ship-owner,
Manufacturer,
Refiner,
of the British Islands, and during the infancy of their
establishment, it was an expedient and necessary encou-
ragement to secure to them the exclusive supply of the Bri-
tish market, by imposing such duties on foreign sugars as
should amount to a prohibition. But now, that their pro-
duce is more than adequate to the consumption of the
mother-country, so that one-third part of it must be re-
exported, and the price it will fetch in foreign markets
must necessarily regulate the price of what is sold here,
it is evident that this restriction can no longer be of use
to them; that not Great Britain alone, but Europe is the
market for sugars the British planter has to look up to,
and that the demand from abroad must increase in propor-
tion to the increased quantity that diverted from their
markets, finds its way to ours, so as to keep up the uni-
versal price at one common level." See also page 83.
44
and last, not least, to the Revenue and People
of Great Britain, to justify the equalization of
the duties?
Let us now hear what can be alleged by the
West Indians.-There are two points on which
their advocates have recently relied, with
much pertinacity. 1st. The sacrifice of capi-
tal, which would be occasioned by a reduction
in the cultivation and manufacture of sugar:
and, 2d. The state of the slave-population,
which they contend would be deteriorated by
such a measure.
All investments of capital are intended for
profit, but subject to the risk of loss. If a
monopoly, sanctioned by the legislature, is
claimed by the West Indians, let them prove
their title; we deny its existence.
Assuming none to exist, wherein do the West
Indians differ from all other sufferers, whose
capital has been lost, and whose hopes have
been disappointed by the introduction of new
and shorter processes in the march of human
improvement?
The admission of East-India competition
45
becomes a particular sacrifice for a general
good. That a cheap supply of sugar is a most
desirable object; that the consequent intro-
duction of so great a comfort, into the do-
mestic consumption of a larger mass of our
people than at present enjoy it, is equally im-
portant, few can question; even if these be-
nefits must be purchased by the reduction of
the profits on West-India property; or even, in
some instances, the total loss of West-India rent.
If compensation be fairly due, let it be paid
by the whole people, not taken exclusively
from the East Indies.*
* On the subject of loss of capital, I cannot refrain
from quoting the following admirable passage from the
well-known pamphlet of Mr. Ricardo, on a subject
strikingly analogous, Protection to Corn," page 60.
"That some capital would be lost cannot be disputed;
but is the possession or preservation of capital the end
"or the means? The means, undoubtedly. What we
"want is an abundance of commodities, and, if it could
"be proved, that by the sacrifice of part of our capital
66
we should augment the annual produce of those objects
"which contribute to our enjoyment and happiness, we
46
Such was the reasoning in the case of the
introduction of new machinery, the formation
of roads, docks, canals, in short, in all the
great improvements which have so peculiarly
marked the last forty years, and elevated this
country to so remarkable a pre-eminence.
I would not have it here supposed that I
think lightly of the situation of the West
Indians, but I contend that their sufferings
are partly to be attributed to themselves and
to their system, and partly to circumstances
altogether unconnected with East-Indian com-
petition-that, whether East-India sugars be
admitted or not, a great portion of these
sufferings must be borne, and that the plan
proposed by the West Indians of artificial
support, will prove a most ineffecient remedy,
independently of its injustice to India and
its oppressive operation on Great Britain.
These sufferings may be traced—
1stly, To the West-India system—non-resi-
"ought not, I should think, to repine at the loss of part
"of our capital."
47
dence-mortgages-forced cultivation to sa-
tisfy creditors on an inferior worn out soil-
slavery-altogether raising the cost of produc-
tion above its level in other sugar countries.
2dly, To the annual increase of the produce
of Demerara and Berbice, and generally of
all the British colonies.
3dly, To the result of these causes, viz. : ex-
cess of quantity at high cost prices, for which
the home-consumers cannot pay, and the foreign
consumers, having the command of cheaper
sugars, will not pay; and,
4thly, To this surplus being thrown upon
the home-market at prices ruinous to the West
Indians.
Now, in my opinion, this result is partly the
fault of the West Indians, and partly the con-
sequence of a change of circumstances, which
does not confer on the West Indian any claim
to national compensation. But the West
Indians are supposed to say that the abolition
of the slave-trade has given their foreign rivals
an advantage over them, and that, being the
victims of the bad faith of others, they are
48
1
entitled to the consideration of Parliament
and the country, and should be allowed, in
addition to the monopoly of the home-market,
such an additional bounty on the export of
refined sugar as will enable them to meet their
rivals abroad.*
*
Let us examine this proposition.
The Brazils, Cuba, and the Dutch and Spa-
nish colonies, undersell the British West In-
dies in the foreign markets. The former are
worked by fresh slaves: but do the West In-
dians then complain of a want of population?
So far from this being the case, it was propo-
sed by Mr. Robley to give up the employ-
ment of hired labourers, and to confine the
cultivation of sugar within the limits of the
powers of the slaves belonging to each estate.
Surely it is allowed on all sides that to breed
is cheaper than to buy. If the West Indians
could purchase new slaves, they could find no
employment for them, but by extending culti-
vation on the fresh lands of Demerara; or, by
* See "East and West India Sugar."
49
forcing the production of sugar, at high cost, from
the inferior or worn-out soils of the old colonies,
and, undoubtedly, the old British West Indies
would not reap any advantage from either of these
measures. If Hayti, from superiority of soil,
yields twofold more than Jamaica; and Cuba
and the Brazils, from their greater extent, afford
more new rich land for the cultivation of sugar,
can we be at a loss to discover the true cause
of their success, in the competition with the
British West Indies? It consists in the superi-
ority of the soil they cultivate, not of the instru-
ments by which they raise sugars. And had
the Slave-Trade never been abolished, would
the situation of the British West Indians have
been improved? They might have bought fresh
slaves, but they could not change their old
soils for fresh land: and supposing Guiana
open to the speculations of the slave-dealers
and planters, in a very few years not an estate
in the old colonies, except of the very finest
quality of soil, would be worth cultivating in
sugar. Far from attributing the ruin of the
West Indians to the abolition, I should rather
D
50
consider that they essentially benefited by that
measure. The Slave-Trade has been stigma-
tized; and in most countries that is become a
clandestine trade which was previously open,
and supported, and encouraged; consequently,
the supercession of the West-India sugars in
the foreign markets has been more gradual
than it otherwise would have been. But, say
the West Indians, we are the victims of the bad
faith of other countries, who promised to abo-
lish the Slave-Trade, and have not done so.
That may partially be true. But can the Bri-
tish parliament or nation control other coun-
tries? will the increase of the bounty be the
means of putting down the foreign Slave-Trade?
and have the West Indians a right to claim a na-
tional compensation--to demand from the Brit-
ish public another direct tax, in the shape of an
additional bounty; and, moreover, to oblige the
British nation not only to pay higher for their
own sugars than other nations, but absolutely to
pay part of the cost price of the sugars con-
sumed by foreigners; and, when the object to
be gained by these sacrifices is clearly contrary
51
to sound commercial policy, to the interests of
our manufacturers and merchants, and a viola-
tion of the just rights of other British depen-
dencies? And, under such an artificial system,
can any rational man look for success in the
race of competition abroad? To put down the
foreign Slave-Trade, there is a much more
obvious course to pursue, viz. to encourage East-
India sugar. But, rejoin the West Indians,
the sugars from the foreign slave countries,
Brazil and Cuba, beat the East-India sugars
also out of the foreign markets.*
Now, to this I answer, give the East Indians
time, and what reason has shown to be true in
theory will be found true in this instance, as
in former ones, in practice. Considering the
state of India and of foreign Europe,—the
period that has elapsed since the general peace,
-the intimate connexion subsisting between
Great Britain and British India, can we be sur-
prised at the trade having been hitherto chiefly
directed to Great Britain? Already one moiety
* See “ East and West India Sugar.”
D 2
52
of the import from India goes abroad, 6500
tons out of 13,000 tons, loaded with expenses
of transit. And we know that, in 1791, a con-
siderable direct trade in sugar was carried on
between Calcutta and the ports in Flanders.
(See Resolutions of the General Court of East-
India Proprietors, March, 1792; and Mil-
burn's Oriental Commerce, vol. ii. p. 271.) And
again, once throw open the home-market to
East-India sugar, and a stimulus would be
given to production, capital would be invested
in sugar; and as the cultivation of sugar is ex-
pensive, and advances to the Ryots are at an
exorbitant interest, this influx of capital would
materially lower the cost of production in India,
increase of supply would follow, and cheap-
ness be the result. At least this is the natural
course to pursue,-these are the natural results
to expect. But, if we should be disappointed,
and slave sugar beat free sugar abroad, is that
any reason why Great Britain should pay an
exorbitant price at home, or be burdened with
another direct tax to promote the export of
West-India sugars to the continent? And if,
•
53
after trying all we can to drive the India trade
to foreign countries, we cannot succeed in this
wise scheme, and India sugars are beaten out of
the foreign markets, are we to continue to close
the home-market also, and deprive our Indian
possessions of the only vent that will then be left
for the most important production of their soil?
Can any proposal be more absurd? If this
bounty scheme and monopoly scheme be aban-
doned, the West Indians have nothing left but
to reduce their quantity; and that reduction
will be a positive sacrifice of the capital em-
barked on the inferior soils. And, after the
sacrifice shall be completed, the consequences
will be-higher prices and a narrowed con-
sumption; whereas, if the same sacrifice fol-
lowed the admission of East-India sugars, the
partial evil would be compensated by a general
benefit, the lowest possible remunerative price
would be forced on the East and West Indians
by competition, and a larger supply brought to
the consumers, and an extensive good con-
ferred on the British manufacturer and
East-Indian agriculturist. And supposing the
54
equalization of duty to produce an annual
increased consumption of East-India sugars
in preference to West-India sugars, the
loss of capital in buildings and sugar-
works, and in the arrangements of the ma-
nufacture in the West Indies, must still be
gradual, and may be made more so, by allowing
a certain time to elapse before the whole of the
protecting duty be repealed. To this, no
friend to the cause of the East Indies can
reasonably object; the immediate recognition
of the principle, that sugars from all British
dependencies should be admitted equally, is
the important point to gain.
The land in the West Indies would remain,
production of other articles would follow, and,
instead of buying abroad provisions at a high
rate, the planters would find it to their interest
to devote a portion of that land to their pro-
duction at home; thereby lessening the cost of
the cultivation on the finer soils.
At present, from the temptation held out by
the monopoly of the home-market, the planter
unnaturally extends his cultivation, and sacri-
55
fices every other growth to increase his sugar.
The evil of this system has been ably pointed
out by one of their own body, Mr. Robley.*
Such have been the fluctuations in West-
India produce from this evil, the inseparable
evil of monopoly, that no property has been
so proverbially unsafe as West India property.
It is notorious that nine estatest out of ten
have changed hands within these few years.
Are the merchants, who have benefited by
these fluctuations, or the capitalists, who hold
mortgages, to claim more than even the landed
gentry of England can obtain, in an analogous
case? Who proposes to exclude the produce of
Ireland from the home-market of England?
Would not such an attempt be universally re-
probated? The East Indians are called upon
* See pamphlet, published by Richardson, in 1808, en-
titled, "A Permanent and effectual Remedy suggested
"for the Evils, under which the British West Indies now
"Labour;" in which the plan for reducing the surplus is
boldly laid down, and a partial change of the cultivation
of the land from sugar to provisions recommended.
+ Jamaica.
56
to give up their rights as British subjects, to
preserve the capitals of speculators in the
newly-opened alluvial land of Demerara, and
of mortgagees of West-India estates. If we
examine the system generated by this mono-
poly, we can easily see how difficult it is to
obtain a remunerative price for West-India
produce. The mortgagee in England insists
upon a certain consignment of sugar; the com-
mission on which is to increase the interest on
his loan. Sugar must be grown, therefore, on
inferior soils; the supplies for the negroes must
come through the London mortgagee, and
the commission and charges still further swell
the cost; then the freight must be procured
for the ships of the London mortgagee; and
here we discover the secret of the extraordi-
nary fact, that the West-India freights have
not been reduced in an equal ratio with those
from India.
The West-India merchant must benefit as
ship-owner, and the charge be thrown on the
sugar, and paid for in the remunerative price
demanded of the home-consumer, in the mo-
57
મ
nopoly of the home-market; and such has
been the obliquity of the reasoning assumed
by our opponents, that this want of assimila-
tion between East and West India freight was
an argument used by the West Indians, in
1821, to justify a still further addition to their
protecting duty.
But the chief capital embarked in the West
Indies is in the negroes. Cannot their labour
be turned to some account, even if the cul-
tivation of sugar, on inferior soil, were to
cease?
As to their comfort and subsistence, which
it has been asserted forms the second ground
on which the West Indians rest their claim to
the preference of the home-market, is it not
certain, that the negroes, on those estates where
a portion of the land is dedicated to growing
provisions, are the most at ease, whilst on
those bound to produce a quantity of sugar
sufficient to pay the London mortgagee, and
where provisions are bought, the fare of the ne-
groes is the scantiest, and their labour the
most severe? The slave-trade is now abolished,
58
the gradual elevation of the slaves from their
present condition to that of peasantry can ne-
ver be accomplished, desirable to humanity as
it is, if the West Indies are to be cultivated as
a garden. Besides, what can be more distress-
ing to the slaves than the alternations of pros-
perity and ruin, to which property depending
on a monopoly is always liable. The money-
value of the slave to the London mortgagee,
his capital in human beings, may be lessened
by the curtailment of the growth of sugar in
the West Indies; but the capital of the state,
the man himself, will still remain, and become
more valuable to the state and to society, as
he gradually loses the character of the slave in
that of the peasant, and when his labour and
not his person bears a price, and when there is
no demand of a remunerative price to pay for
the prime cost of the man. But it has been
asserted, that encouraging sugar in the East
Indies is only employing slaves in the East In-
dies, instead of the slaves in the West. Now, to
this, I give an unqualified negative.-A system
of slavery similar to West-India slavery does
59
not exist in Bengal, or in those provinces in which
sugar is cultivated for export.* It is true, that
in the different stages of society exhibited in
the immense extent of Hindostan, a state of
personal slavery is found to exist in some dis-
tricts; but it is to a very small extent, con-
fined to a very small population; and the
whole stream of the policy and principles of
the East-India Company is adverse to syste-
matic slavery; and when proper inquiries are
made, and the true state of the case accurately
known, I entertain no doubt but that it will be
found the Court of Directors has lent its aid to
put an end to the evil, small as it is, and that
the Indian Government will prepare such mea-
sures as may cure this disease in society, with-
out injury to the slaves themselves.
It has been asserted, the West Indies are a
great mart for our manufactures, and add to
the strength of the empire, by the encourage-
ment of British shipping. Now the export decla-
* See further explanation in the continuation of this
work, p. 190, in reply to Mr. Marryat.
+ See Appendix (2).
60
red value of the British manufactures and pro-
duce, in 1820-21, to China and India, was
£3,713,021, that to the West Indies, £3,831,300,
and in 1821-22 as follows:
Exports to India and China. . £4,087,020
British West Indies 3,985,053*
The latter includes the circuitous supply of
South America, which must cease when a
direct intercourse takes place with those coun-
tries, through Vera Cruz and the Carraccas.
I have before stated the increase of the ex-
port of cotton and woollens to British India.
The report of the Lords and Commons on
foreign trade are full of proofs of the proba-
ble extension of the demand for British manu-
factures in British India and in Java, the East-
ern Archipelago, &c. In short, it is now well-
known, that the demand is limited, not as here-
tofore imagined, by the absence of the want
itself, but by the inability to gratify it, from the
difficulty in obtaining equivalents wherewith to
purchase.
* See Documents in Appendix (8).
61
The alleged insurmountable barrier, op-
posed by the prejudices of the Hindoos, to
the progress of trade, is now known to be illu-
sory. Contrast then the wants of eighty mil-
lions in India, with one million in the West
Indies, and the nature of the two societies:
in India an opulent priesthood, merchants,
nobles, princes, sovereigns; in the West In-
dies 700,000 slaves, and 20,000 agents, plan-
ters, and clerks. The wants of India offer so
unbounded a field for the exertion of British
skill in manufactures, as at once to place at an
immeasurable distance the comparative value
of the commerce of the East over that of the
West Indies. As to shipping, here even the
advocates of the old system, the men opposed
to theory and free trade, must confess that
British shipping has a wider range in the East
than in the West Indies.
In bringing sugar from the East Indies the
voyage is double the length of that from the
West Indies, and British shipping has abso-
lutely superseded the native shipping of India
by its cheapness.
{
62
The free trade is wholly carried on with India
and British registered ships, manned with British
sailors, in the full proportion required in all
other trades.* Lower the price of sugar, you
enlarge its consumption; an increased supply
requires additional shipping. See how deeply
the British ship-owners are interested in this
question; and if the naval strength of Great
Britain depends on the extent of its commer-
cial navy, may we not calculate on the warm
support of all those who wish to strengthen
this right arm of the security of Great Britain.
Contrast the East and West Indies as to the
advantages derived from each by Great Bri-
tain. The patronage of the West Indies in-
creases the power of the crown,-that of the
East Indies; is exercised by an independent
body of men, and diffused over the whole so-
3
* Under the provisions of the India Register Act,
which expressly declares Lascars or Native India sailors
not to be deemed British sailors.-Act 55 George III.
cap. 116.
63
ciety. Not a single colony in the West Indies
supports itself. From India, every year brings
home civil and military servants, or the suc-
cessful commercial adventurer, to add to the
productive powers of the parent state, by the
employment of his capital. If the revenue de-
rived from the West-India sugar be large, it
would be increased rather than diminished by
the introduction of East-India sugar at lower
prices, and the consequent increase of con-
sumption; and as to the revenue derived from
the protecting duty, Government have always
most solemnly declared, that it was never in-
tended as a source of national income, but
solely and entirely as a protection to the West
Indies.
Some persons affect to see nothing but inse-
curity in the tenure by which India is held;
but can they seriously hold this opinion, and
yet entertain no fear for the West Indies, in the
vicinity of Hayti, and the Independent Repub-
lics of North and South America? The tenure
by which India is held, is the state of society
64
of the natives, and the superiority of the British
Government to that of their former rulers. The
slave-population of the West Indies is a source
of insecurity inherent to those dependencies:
and, if we lose the supremacy of India, will
the cultivation of cheap sugar necessarily be
destroyed? Did we lose the cheap produc-
tions of the United States when we lost those
colonies? or did they cease to buy our manu-
factures, when they ceased to be our fellow sub-
jects?
To conclude, I trust I have shown that the
protecting duty is vicious in principle, and in-
jurious in practice, that it affects alike the pros-
perity of the East-India trade,
the Natives of India,
the British Merchant,
the British Ship-Owner,
the British Manufacturer, and
Refiner,
and of the whole community as consumers.
That the maintenance of the protecting duty
cannot be justified, either by the supposed pre-
scriptive rights of the West Indians, under the
{
1
65
alleged faith of the legislature, or by the terms
of the colonial system.
That the pleas advanced by its advocates of
a sacrifice of capital and injury to the slaves,
by an equalization of the duty, are most inade-
quate grounds for its continuance.
That, if the comparative advantages of the
East and West Indies are invidiously brought
into contrast, the balance preponderates in
favour of the former, the natural develop-
ment of the resources of India, offering the
widest field for British manufactures and Bri-
tish shipping, whilst, unlike the West Indies,
instead of consuming, she increases the re-
sources of the parent state. That both are
British dependencies, and possess equal rights,*
* The following were the words of an eminent West-India
merchant, (Mr. Marryat,) in 1809, in the House of Com-
mons, even with regard to the French conquered colony
of Martinique. What must they be, if applied to India.
"But, I would ask, are men influenced by pecuniary
considerations alone? Have they no feelings of any other
description? Even in the most trifling cases, no man is
satisfied to be put on a worse footing than his neighbour..
E
66
!
and that Great Britain is bound, by every tie,
to protect the rights of her subjects in India,
-to foster and encourage their agricultural
and commercial prosperity, and to obtain for
them, not an advantage over another, but even-
If he does not feel a distinction made to his disadvantage
as an injury, he considers it as an insult, and resents it
still more strongly. Can it be expected that the inhabi-
tants of Martinique will contentedly endure that, while the
produce of every other West-India colony, conquered by
Great Britain during the present war, is admitted to her
home-consumption, their produce alone should be ex-
cluded? Will they not ask what they have done, that, like
Cain, they should be branded with a mark of opprobrium,
and treated as a stigmatized race? But, unfortunately, for
the effect this measure may be expected to produce upon
their minds, it so happened, that when the island was cap-
tured, that temporary difference between the price of sugar
for home-consumption and exportation, to which I have
already adverted, did exist; and, therefore, they will con-
sider the distinction not as an imaginary, but as a real
grievance. Besides, they will naturally be led to conclude,
from the strenuous opposition made by the British planters
to the admission of their sugars for home-consumption,
that the object is worth contending for."-See Hansard's
Parliamentary Debates, vol. xiv. p. 88.
67
handed justice,—an open field for exertion, a
right not of exclusion, but of competition; a
power not to narrow the enjoyments and diminish
the wealth of the parent state, but to enlarge
the consumption of an almost necessary of life;
and, at the same time, to increase the commerce
and wealth of the country.
J
E 2
68
SINCE the foregoing observations were writ-
ten, a pamphlet* proceeding directly from the
West Indians has been published. We there get
the substance of their claims; and as they rest
their right to the preference on the compact, and
on general expediency, the two heads so amply
considered in the foregoing pages, I trust I
may safely refer the reader to my remarks on
these leading branches of their argument, with-
out entering into a detailed reply.
Some particular points, however, I shall now
proceed to examine. What is the West Indian
interpretation of the great Charter of the
Colonies, the National Compact? for which
they have picked up the stray oratorical ex-
pression of Mr. Fox,-this "something-more
binding than an Act of Parliament." It is this:
that if the West Indians bring (not their whole
produce) but a surplus beyond home-consump-
tion, they have fulfilled their part of this com-
pact. Now, will they agree to give up this
* Observations on the Claims of the West Indians.
69
compact when they cease to bring a surplus?
I can venture to predict they will not. For all
their efforts are directed to get rid of this sur-
plus; and unless they do, they must sink.
The views of the legislature, in the colonial
system, probably were, that all the produce of
the colonies should be brought to the mother-
country: 1st. to afford a cheap supply for
home-consumption, it being then supposed the
West Indies was the most natural place for the
growth of sugar, and the slave-cultivation the
cheapest method in a tropical climate; and,
2dly, to supply, from the surplus beyond home-
consumption, a raw material for the home re-
finers, so that the mother-country, securing a
cheaper price to herself first, should next fur-
nish the rest of the world with the manufactured
article. To this view, all the regulations of the
sugar-trade were directed.
But in the revolution of circumstances, other
sugars are brought to Europe cheaper than Bri-
tish West-India sugars; and foreign competition,
either in the raw or refined article, is acknow-
ledged to be nearly out of the question, (see
70
page 9). The consequence will be, that (not-
withstanding the bounty-tax) the refiner can-
not continue his trade with a dear raw mate-
rial, and the West Indian, unable to bear the
reduction in price which must follow, from the
surplus being thrown upon the home-market,
will curtail his quantity of produce, so as to
bring the supply nearer upon a level with the
average consumption. We are thus to lose
our refineries in the first instance, and ulti-
mately to be supplied by our friends in the
West Indies at a higher rate, than that at which
all the rest of the world obtain their sugars.
This, I contend, is the consequence to which
the preference given to the West Indians must
inevitably lead; all their endeavours are di-
rected to the reduction of this surplus, then,
and then only, can they command the home
market and remunerative prices. The alterna-
tive lies between narrowing production or pro-
ducing at a loss: can we doubt which will be
adopted? The vent for the surplus is closed
by cheaper sugars. May we not here retort on
the West Indian, if he denies that he wants to
:
71
reduce the surplus, Why, then, cavil at the
East Indian for seeking the home-market;
your surplus levels prices at home with those
on the Continent; therefore, if you wonder why
the East Indian does not go abroad with his
sugar,* he may wonder why you do not allow
him to bring his sugar into the home-market?
For, by your own showing, there is, whilst any
surplus exists, but one price;* and whether the
excess be here or abroad cannot alter the case.
But, say the West Indians, cheapness does not
sufficiently increase consumption, for we see the
surplus still remains on hand, there is therefore
no room for the East-India sugar. Now, my
answer is, that the facts, as stated by the West
Indians themselves, are at variance with their
reasoning. In eight years, from 1814 to 1822,
they state the consumption of sugar has increased
from 1,905,953 to 2,487,982 cwt. (see p. 20), an
* Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to form foreign
connexions, but the Mauritius sugar is sent to all the con-
tinental markets open to it.
+ The fact is, British West-India sugar is dearer than
foreign sugars, owing to the export-bounty, say about 5s.
per cwt. but this does not affect the argument. See p. 37,
72
increase of 30,000 tons on 96,000 tons, nearly
one-third. Allow East-India sugars to be ad-
mitted on equal duties, and (when the surplus
of the West Indies is reduced, as by our previ-
ous reasoning we contend it must) the compe-
tition of the two growths will so operate
as to admit East-India sugars to the extent of
its superior cheapness over the West-India
sugar. If, out of the 10s. duty, the price can
be so arranged as to give 5s. more to the im-
porter, the remaining 5s. will fall to the con-
sumer in a reduction pro tanto of price: assum-
ing then the price of sugar at 35s. à 40s. here
is an immediate admission of between one-
eighth and one-seventh more sugar for the same
amount of money employed in its purchase, or
on 150,000 tons, nearly 20,000 tons, enough
for the dead weight of the India trade. This
argument proceeds on the supposition, that
West-India sugars can keep their ground at 35s.
à 40s. But, continue the West Indians, this
will end in a substitution of East for West India
sugar, and destroy all our hopes of obliging
the home consumers to pay a remunerating
price to their fellow-subjects in the old British
75
West-India colonies.*
If the West Indians
cannot stand the competition, so it will, and so
it ought. The original intentions of the framers
of the supposed compact, or in other words of the
Colonial System, cannot then be accomplished.
It will have fallen to pieces in the revolution of
time. The West Indies will no longer yield to
the mother-country cheap sugar for home-con-
sumption, nor afford the raw material, which the
British manufacturer can work up for profitable
export. Nothing then can save the West Indians
but getting rid of the surplus, and that surplus
is the only check upon the high prices of a mono-
poly; and, I ask, whether the legislature and
the country can tolerate this new version of the
colonial compact? But the West Indians tell
us, (in page 37,)" that the consumer will rue
the day in which he shall have the choice given
him of the two monopolies, and, choosing the
cheapest, shall substitute East for West India
* If this peace price be, in proportion to that stated, in
1808, by Mr. Robley, 65s. 7d. per cwt. exclusive of duty,
I leave the reader to decide upon the justice of this obser-
vation-without apprehension.
74
sugars." Why? “Because the export trader
will gain nothing by a transfer, but rather the
reverse, as the population of the West Indies
`depend wholly for their supply of manufactures
on this country. The East only partially, as
it is open to other sources of supply, and a
large portion of the population are employed
in manufactures, not only for their own con-
sumption, but also for exportation.”
As if, supposing the consumers of sugar to
save one million per annum on its purchase,
they would not have a larger disposable capital
to invest in manufactures: as if, supposing the
manufacturer got one-third or one-sixth more
sugar for his piece of cloth from the East than
from the West Indies, he would not be the
richer for the trade with the former, rather than
with the latter. It is not the mere sale or ex-
change of goods that proves the value of a
trade; it is what the seller gets in return. Sup-
pose the whole home supply of sugar to be
purchased in India, it must be paid for by
British labour, as much as if it came from the
West Indies. But if the same quantity of Bri-
75
tish labour would purchase three pounds of
sugar in the West Indies and four pounds in
the East, can any reasonable man doubt which
trade is most beneficial to British industry?—
So much for the arguments of the trifling saving
of one penny per pound; not less, however, than
one-third of the prime cost of the finest quality
of East-India sugar.
But the West Indians indulge in fearful an-
ticipation of war, and the consequent depriva-
tion of sugar, or its circuitous import through
neutrals, &c. Now, my opinion on this head
is, that it is most dangerous doctrine to pro-
pose to legislate, so as to provide, at the ex-
pense of our comfort in peace, for our compa-
rative exemption from evil in war. To make
wars less popular and, consequently, less fre-
quent, they should bring in their train-high
price, high freights, high insurance, difficulties
of supply, and abundance of evil. Peace
should be considered by every wise statesman,
as the natural and regular course of things
under which we wish to live, to which war is
the exception; but here the West-Indian advo-
76
cate wishes to make war the rule, and peace
the exception.
But I deny the fact assumed by the West
Indians, that our possessions in the West Indies
offer a more secure supply of sugar. I too can
paint, if we must indulge in visions of futurity,
the sugar consumer trembling during another
American war. The superiority of the British
naval force in the West Indies may be doubt-
ful. The United States' fleet may menace our
colonies without, and a discontented mutinous
slave-population may be ready to rise within.
We have during the last war ample proof, that
there is no blockade which the enterprize and
ingenuity of self-interest cannot evade.
The advocates for the admission of East-
India sugars at equal duties are accused
(pages 29-30) of improperly assuming to
be the advocates of 100 millions of people,
for it is asked, can the sugar for the home-
market put more than 300,000 labourers in ac-
tion? Here again let me refer the West Indians,
as before, to one of their own body. Have men no
feelings? are the East Indies to bear the brand
77
of Cain? I substitute the East Indies for Mar-
tinique, and I rest this part of the case on the
eloquent arguments of Mr. Marryat. The truth
is, the admission of sugar is of immense import-
ance to the agriculture and commerce of India,
and, consequently, to the whole population of
India. This I have attempted to explain, and I
appeal to every practical merchant for the accu-
racy of my statement. The finer goods cannot be
brought to Europe without heavy goods; deprive
the East Indians of sugar and they must bring
Ganges' sand with their indigo, cotton, silk,
and drugs, to the home-market; or, what will
more probably take place, they will carry that
sugar, indigo, drugs, &c. to the Continent.
This is the alternative. On the result of the
present discussion hangs the rising prosperity
of this new trade, which opens so wide a field
for the natural interchange of the tropical pro-
ductions of the East with the manufactured
goods of this country.
In page 46, the West Indian goes back to the
olden times of the Company, and observes that
so little was competition expected from the
78
?
1
We
East Indies that, until late years, no provision
was made for the allowance of bounty on
sugars refined from East-India sugars.
agree with him that whilst the energies of India
lay dormant, under the monopoly of the Com-
pany, no rivalry was anticipated; but the ques-
tion now is-Shall this continue if the original
object of obtaining a cheap supply of sugar
from the West Indies can be accomplished
better elsewhere? The term of the patent is
expired: the British West Indies must allow
competition with other British dependencies at
home, having yielded to cheaper growths
abroad. No bolstering up will now avail,-no
scale of duties formed upon average prices will
avail. The question is whether the country
will submit to lose its export for want of a cheap
material, and allow the West Indians to reduce
their supply to the present average of the home-
consumption, and force, by their monopoly, a high
remunerative price from the British consumer?
And another question still remains-Shall we
allow all this to be accomplished, to the pre-
judice of the resources of India, of the pros-
79
:
1
perity and feelings of an immense population
placed under our charge, and to the extreme
detriment of a branch of commerce which pro-
mises to prove of incalculable advantage to the
British empire?
:
}
80
*
AT length a champion of the West Indies
of undoubted prowess has appeared. A reply
has been published to the arguments used by
the advocates for competition between the
East and West Indies, and a justification at-
tempted of the Author's consistency in op-
posing, in 1823, those very principles which he
supported, and so ably illustrated in reference
to the inhabitants of Martinique in 1809. As his
opponents have dealt largely in quotation from
the published speech of this Author (indeed,
one of them has given the whole speech in his
Appendix), the world must decide upon his
claim to consistency. We enjoy the benefits
of his former arguments, and are satisfied. In
making this remark, I am far from underva-
luing the work before me. And as I consider
that it contains nearly all that can be said for
the claims of the West-Indians, I propose
taking the several points in the order in which
they stand in the pamphlet, and examining
* "East and West India Sugar.”
81
briefly their merits and accuracy. And here
let me offer one observation to this Author;
namely, That those who propose new measures
or innovations, as our Author would call them,
are not always the greatest theorists. In fact,
the old systems that he advocates sprung from
the complicated theories of the men of former
times, and partake of their prejudices, whilst
the measures I venture to propose are grounded
on conclusions deduced from general principles,
discovered in a more advanced period of
knowledge, and are plain and simple, and
clear in themselves.
But of all idle theories, that is the most ab-
surd which would keep the man in the leading-
strings of the child-which requires us to ad-
here to the forms of ancient things-when the
reality no longer exists-that adopts a part
and relinquishes a part-leaving the remnant-
a motley and incongruous heap of incon-
sistencies.
Thus the Author of the Reply would relax
the colonial system in favour of the West-In-
F
82
dians, but allow them to preserve the mono-
poly of the home-supply. The system must
be abandoned when the cord presses too tightly
on the West Indies, but he cares little if the
mother-country be bound hand and foot, and
left at the mercy of the colonists.
The Author directs his replies,
1st. To the alleged advantages held out by
the East Indians in an increased con-
sumption of sugar from its increased
cheapness.
2d. To the benefits offered to British manu-
facturers, by an extended sale of their
goods in India
3d. To the supposed advantages to British
shipping and seamen, by the increase
of the trade to India.
4th. The East-India Company and their
monopoly are severely scrutinized, and
the right of the Company to interfere
in the sugar question denied.
5th. The philanthropists are answered, and
slavery declared to be as odious in the
83
East as in the West Indies; and far-
ther, that all our sympathy should be
reserved for the West-Indians.
6th. We have the respective rights of East
and West Indies contrasted. Then
follows an eulogium on the navigation
laws and colonial system, and the ex-
isting restrictions on the West Indies
are brought forward, and the recent
relaxations commented upon; and, after
an ingenious proposal to carry into com-
plete effect the principles of free-trade,
the whole is wound up with a long
quotation from M. de Bourienne, who
appears to advocate, in France, the con-
tinuance of the ancient colonial sys-
tem; under which, it seems, the French
West Indies are suffering equally with
our own colonies.
The first point is the increase of consump-
tion-which the advocates for East-India com-
petition contend would follow cheapness of
supply.
Now the Author of the Reply cannot mean
F 2
84
to contest the principle; all his arguments and
all his jokes can only mean, that the probable
amount of increase is over-stated. But he ad-
mits, that cheapness has produced a difference
of 30,000 tons in the consumption since 1814,
that is to say, that the consumption in
1814 was
1820 was
121,605 tons, and in
151,571
""
1.
and I have elsewhere asserted, that I did not
pretend to say what the result of competition
might be, but in whatever degree superior
cheapness of production in the East Indies ex-
isted, to that extent the country would and
ought to benefit. If it be small, the import
would be trifling, and the opposition of the
West Indians is an absurd jealousy; if large,
then how great the injustice to India and
England. Now the degree was attempted to
be measured by the Liverpool Association by
an illustration drawn from coffee and cotton.
The Author of the Reply is pleased to say,
that if the consumption of coffee increased, it
was accompanied by a reduction in tea, and
dates the substitution of coffee for tea from
85
1807; but the following memorandum will
show, with what accuracy the reply is drawn
up, and how little the assertion is borne out by
the fact:
viz. *1807.... 23,608,569..
Tea delivered.
Exported.
Remainder.
9,509... .23,599,060
73,299.
23,888,033
23,418,596..
203,531......23,251,065
1808. · 23,961,332...
....
1809.
•
1810....24,042,143 · ... 69,576.. ...23,972,567
Of all the articles that could have been brought
forward, tea affords the most unfortunate illus-
tration of our author's assertion, for the con-
sumption of tea, like sugar, "is limited by the
capacity of the human stomach;"† and it has
increased as follows:
Ibs.
In 1785, the Company's sales were 15,081,737,
1786 to 1794,
1821,
averaged
""
16,964,957,
24,483,970,
although the duties have been raised, in the
interim, to 100 per cent. ad valorem.‡
* See Appendix (6).
† Reply, page 7.
The relative consumption of sugar and tea is as 8 to 1,
even in the lowest scale of expenditure. In the Liverpool
workhouse, the allowance to a pauper is half a pound of
sugar, or 8 oz. to 1 oz. of tea, for a week. There is little
doubt of a very great increase of the consumption of both
86
Next comes cotton. Now the increase of cotton
cannot be controverted; but it is said, "that
although consumption in a manufacture may be
indefinite, that the human stomach is finite."*
Is then consumption in the manufacture the only
result? Surely cotton goods are manufactured to
be worn by human beings; and if, because sugar
is to be eaten, the capacity of the stomach is to be
the limit of consumption, surely the consumption
of cotton goods is also limited by the numbers of
the population? and, as to the rule of three about
which the Author of the Reply is so facetious,
in his quotation he forgot to insert a few words
which completely take off the edge of his ri-
dicule, and prove the Liverpool Committee not
to be quite such madment as he would lead us
to imagine. After stating the proposition
of these articles, if a more judicious system of taxation,
and a less restricted commerce, would allow the capacity
of the human stomach to be more the measure of consump-
tion than it is at present.
* Reply, page 7.
+ In Reply, page 9.
Really such extravagant pro-
positions are more like the reveries of madmen, than the
sober calculations of men of business."
87
quoted in page 9. The Committee proceed,
"It does not follow, that arithmetical propor-
tion would be observed."
The same inaccuracy of quotation marks the
observations on the next head-66 alleged
cheapness" (page 11.) That was illustrated
by an example, to show, that 2s. 10d. out of
the 10s. per cwt. protecting duty would satisfy
the East Indians, and 7s. 2d. would be left to
the consumer.
Now, unless the Author of the
Reply means to deny, that competition will re-
duce profits to a level, and to assert, that ca-
pital will not flow into those trades that pay
higher than others, my argument is untouched,
and it is not hope alone that will be left to the
consumer, but a certainty of a reduction in
price as the inevitable consequence to proceed
from an incontrovertible principle.
But, says the Author of the Reply, can sugar
fall lower? It was 75s. 2d. per cwt. average
price in 1814, and was 36s. 3d. in 1820, and
27s. 24d. in 1823.* Now I answer, it is well
known that the West-India planter could not
grow in war at a profit under 65s. Mr. Rob-
* Reply, page 10.
88
ley uses these words, page 22,* “ of what use,
66
therefore, is it to the British planter to grow
sugar for a market which can only afford
“him 32s. for an article for which he ought to
“ obtain 65s. 8d. if he is paid the cost of pro-
ducing and transporting it to the place of
66
66
sale, and expects any adequate return for
“his labour and capital;" but it is not so well
known, whether the East Indian cannot export
with a profit at little more than one-half that
cost price; he wants to try his capability both
for his own sake and that of the public, and
as the consequence of the inadequacy of the
present price to the West Indian necessarily is,
an endeavour on his part to raise the price nearer
to the level of its cost, is not the argument
established, that, ultimately, nothing but East-
India competition can insure cheapness to the
consumer, and, consequently, an increased con-
sumption, to the incalculable benefit of the lower
classes of the community and of the revenue?
The author next attempts to controvert the
assertions of all the East-India advocates,
that sugars are wanted as a return for British
* Permanent and Effectual Remedy.
89
manufactures. An old story about the 3000
tons annually provided for private trade in
1793, and never applied for, is brought out
from the dust in which it had slept, in many
an ingenious pamphlet, written to support the
Company's monopoly. To this novel and inge-
nious observation I shall answer in the follow-
ing words of the
Lords' report,-page 4,
Commons' report,—page 197,
and to the following answers extracted from
the valuable evidence of Mr. Rickards and
the late Mr. F. Mitchell, both of them men
peculiarly fitted, from their talents, and com-
mercial knowledge, and actual experience of
India, to form a correct estimate of the pro-
bable extension of the free trade.
Lords' Report on the Trade with the East
Indies and China.-Page 4.
???
"The Committee cannot dismiss this branch
of the subject without observing that, although
"it is difficult, from the great fluctuation
"which the free trade to the peninsula of
"India has experienced since it has been ad-
1
90
"mitted upon the terms of the renewed Char-
"ter granted to the East-India Company in
"1813, to estimate fairly the precise amount
"of its increase, it must be admitted that
"its progress has been such as to indicate that
"neither a power to purchase nor a disposition
"to use commodities of European manufacture
66
are wanting in the natives of British India;
"whilst the minute knowledge of the wants
"and wishes of the inhabitants, acquired by a
"direct intercourse with this country, would
66
66
naturally lead to a still further augmentation
"of our exports. The great increased con-
sumption cannot be sufficiently accounted
"for by the demand of European residents,
"the number of whom does not materially
66
(6
66
66
vary, and it appears to have been much the
greatest in articles calculated for the general
use of the natives. That of the cotton manu-
factures of this country alone is stated,
"since the first opening of the trade, to have
"been augmented from four to five fold. And
"the taste of the natives for such articles may
"not improbably have been created in some
66
instances, and extended in others, by that
·
91
66
66
very glut in the market, which has doubtless,
by its excess and consequent lowering of
prices, frequently defeated the speculations.
"of private merchants.
"The value of the merchandize exported
"from Great Britain to India, which amount-
"ed in the year 1815 to £870,177, in the
year 1819, increased to £3,052,741; and,
(6
66
although the market appears then to have
"been so far over-stocked as to occasion a
"diminution of nearly one half in the exports
"of the following year, 1820, that diminution
appears to have taken place more in the articles
"intended for the consumption of Europeans
"than of natives, and the trade is now* stated,
by the best informed persons, to be reviving.
66
When the amount of population and the ex-
"tent of country over which the consumption of
"these articles is spread are considered, it is ob-
"vious that every facility which can consistently
"with the interests and security of the Com-
pany's dominions be given to the private
"trader, should be afforded," &c.
(6
Report dated April, 1821.
92
Extract of the Third Report from the Select
Committee, on the Foreign Trade of the
Country.-Commons.-Page 197.
"
66
"Your Committee have thought it their
duty to inquire of various persons who have
engaged in the trade which has been open-
“ed under the acts of 1813, 1814, and 1817,
"to His Majesty's subjects, as well as of
some of the leading men in the direction or
"service of the East-India Company, as to the
“effect of the facilities given to the several
acts, and of the operation of the restrictions,
"which are still preserved.
66
66
66
"It appears certain that the trade with
India, whether of import or export, has
materially increased since 1814, and that
"the increase has been effected by the private
merchants, while the trade of the Company
"has experienced a diminution. The House
"will find it stated in some part of the evi-
"dence, that the taste and demand for
"British manufactures has been gradually
"progressive since the opening of the trade,
"and that those manufactures have found
93
"their way to parts of India and the neigh-
(6
bouring countries, which they had not been
"accustomed to reach."
Examination of Mr. R. Rickards.-Page 209.
"Are you of opinion that the trade on the
"whole has increased, or only that an increase
"has taken place in the private trade?-Our
concerns and experience as agents lead us
"to the conclusion that the trade has, on the
"whole, very considerably increased.
"Can you at all state in what articles the
"increase has taken place, in the use of
"British manufactures? An increase has
"taken place in British staples generally,
"and particularly in the woollen and cotton
manufactures. I received only a few days
ago late letters from Calcutta, in which a
"comparison is drawn between the imports
"of British cotton goods in 1813, I think,
"and the last year of account, 1819-20, from
"which it appears that the import of cotton
66
goods into Calcutta in 1813-14, or before
"the opening of the trade, amounted to about
"90,000 rupees, and that in the year ended
94
"30th April, 1820, the imports amounted to
66
upwards 2,600,000 rupees. The same let-
"ters mention a large import of woollens
" within the years, over and above the usual
supply by the East-India Company."
66
Minutes of Evidence before the Select Com-
mittee on the Foreign Trade of the Country.
-Page 282.-Mr. Forbes Mitchell.
"Do you conceive that very beneficial
"effects can be produced upon the trade with
"India by the opening afforded by the last
" charter of the East-India Company?—I have
66
reason to know that the exports of all
"British manufactures and staple commodities
have been greatly increased since the open-
ing of the trade to India.
66
66
"From whence do you draw that know-
ledge?-From my own personal knowledge
"in the trade, and from the statements, from
"time to time, which are laid before the public.
"In what articles has the export principally
"increased?-In metals, iron, copper, hard-
66
ware, glass-ware, &c.; but principally in
"cotton manufactures and woollens.
95
I
I
66
66
"Has that increase been, in a great mea-
sure, with our own settlements or with Java?
-Speaking of the trade to India, I should
"divide it into two parts:-that which belongs
"to the Company's territories, and that which
66 goes
to Java and the Oriental islands. I think
"the greatest increase has been to the Com-
pany's territories, but there has also been
66
<<
a great increase to Java, and abundant
" means exist of a great increase to the Oriental
❝ islands.
"With respect to the increased trade to
"the British settlements, has that arisen out
"of the demands of the natives for our manu-
"factures ?—Yes, it has; certainly.
66
"Do you think that an increasing demand?
-Most certainly; increasing upon a very
"great scale. I beg to say that I speak from
positive knowledge.
66
"Are you sufficiently acquainted with the
"natives of India to know whether the preju-
"dices which have subsisted against the use
"of foreign manufactures remain in the same
"force that they did, as we have been gene-
"rally taught to believe, in former times?-
96
(6
During my residence in India, I never ob-
"served any prejudices, amongst the natives,
"which would prevent their buying any arti-
"cles with which they could supply them-
"selves to advantage."
Page 334-Mr. R. Rickard's 2d Examination.
66
"In your former examination you gave it as
2
your opinion, that the trade between India
"and Great Britain had materially increased.
"Do you found this opinion on any documents
you have examined, or on your general ex-
66
66
66
perience of the trade?-I believe that the
experience of every merchant in the
City of London, concerned in the East-In-
"dia trade, will lead him to the conclusion
"that the trade has very materially increased
"in quantity and value of goods since the
«Ε
66
opening in 1813. I have no means of re-
ferring to official documents, save such as
" are occasionally printed; but I believe I may
66
safely quote the following:-In the Appen-
"dix, No. 24, to the Fourth Report of the Se-
"lect Committee of the House of Commons,
"on East-India Affairs, in 1812, there is an ac-
97
i
"count given of the actual sales of the East-
66
India Company's and private trade goods
"for seventeen years, or from 1793-4 to 1809–
"10, inclusive, which statement will, I think,
66
give a tolerably accurate view of the extent
“of the India and China trade for the period in
(6
question; the sales on account of the East-
"India Company averaged for that period
" £6,007,564 per annum; the average of pri-
"vate sales, £1,999,485; total, £8,007,049.
"Now, as these sales by the Company are
"certified, in the same report, to have yielded
"a profit of about 25 per cent. over and above
"the actual cost and charges of the goods,
66
66
we may safely conclude that the £8,007,049
"is the utmost annual value of the whole im-
66
port trade for that period. Comparing these
"results, however, with the printed statement
66
of the East-India Company's and of the free
"trade to and from China and India, from
"1814 to 1819, inclusive, lately laid before
"Parliament, I find that the imports by the
"East India Company and the free traders
(given, I presume, at their invoice cost only)
G
98
(6
66
average for that period £12,435,548 per an-
num; showing, therefore, a decided and
"most important increase since the opening of
"the trade.
"In the 25th Appendix to the 4th Report, the
"value of goods from India alone sold by the
"East India Company in the seventeen years
"above mentioned, i. e. the total cost and
66
charges, averaged £2,328,184 per annum;
"add the private trade, as above stated, less
"25 per cent. for the alleged profit on the sales,
"or £1,499,614, and we have £3,827,798 for
"the total invoice value or cost and charges of
"the import trade of that period from India
"alone; but the imports, on account of the
"free and privileged trade alone, in the year
ending 5th January, 1818, are stated at
66
(6
£5,097,748; in 1819, £7,098,650; and in
"1820, £6,297,510. What the amount of the
Company's imports from India has been
66
66
during those three last-mentioned years, I
"have not the means of ascertaining; but,
"with every allowance for a decline in their
"trade, it will probably be thought moderate,
99
"from a review of these results, to state that
"the trade between India and this country
"has doubled, or nearly so, since it has been
66
opened to the energy and enterprise of free
"traders."
Besides, as one great cause of the loss in the
Indian trade has been the difficulty in pro-
curing returns, is it fair in the Author of the
Reply to add to this difficulty by preventing
the export of so important an article, and
then to exclaim that the trade is a losing one?
But our author is not contented with his old
report of the Special Committee of the Court
of Directors in 1802; he repeats the ingenious
remark of his fellow labourer* that the East
Indies does not encourage British manufac-
tures so much as the West Indies, because, for-
sooth, the pots and pans and utensils in the
sugar manufactories in the East cost a few
pounds, whilst those in the West Indies cost
thousands, and must be transported from Eng-
* Observations on the Claims of the West-India Colo-
nists.
પ
G 2
100
$
land. Such a total want of general principles
is really amazing.
It is a novelty in the present advanced state
of knowledge to urge as a merit that the cost of
production is ten times as much in the one
country as in the other. To buy as cheap as
one can is the sound doctrine of the present
day; and the cheaper you buy the more you
have to spend. The argument and the quota-
tion from the report of 1802 are worthy of each
other. But the author soon arrives at what he
thinks a most triumphant part of his case, and
his eloquence warms with the subject:-
"Are tawny lascars," he asks, "to be sub-
"stituted for British seamen, and to these
"wretches, whom the law declares to be nui-
sances, and obliges those who bring them
"here to transport them back to their native
"land, is the honour of maintaining the British
(6
flag, and the power of wielding the British
"naval thunder to be confided? If such plans
"succeed, the sun of British glory must, in-
"deed, set for ever."*
Reply, page 21.
101
Now what is the case?-By the Register
Act of 55 Geo. III. cap. 116, dated June 28,
1815, Lascars are expressly declared not to be
British mariners within the meaning of the
Act of 34 Geo. III. cap. 68; but it is provided,
that seven British seamen shall be taken on-
board every India-registered ship, for every
100 tons register, whatever may be the number
of Lascars, a proportion larger than that re-
quired for a British-registered ship. It even
goes farther, and enacts that if a sufficient num-
ber of British seamen cannot be obtained in
India, upon voyages originating in that coun-
try, and the vessel be from necessity navigated
to England by Lascars, still on the return
voyage, in addition to this Lascar crew, the full
complement of seven British seamen, to 100
tons register, shall be put on board, and it
thereby burdens the India trade with a double
crew. Thus in the India trade is a nursery
provided for British seamen in time of peace,
and in war, as the King's proclamation may
regulate the proportion of British seamen and
Lascars, a large body of British seamen are
102
1
let loose for the royal navy, and the Lascars
may take their place in the commercial ship-
ping. Can the same advantage be derived
from the West-India trade?
Does that trade offer such a nursery of sea-
men in peace, and afford such a supply in
war? I repeat, increase the consumption of
sugar by bringing it from India, and you
increase the number of British sailors.
And is the sarcasm on the tawny Hindoos
justifiable? has the Author of the Reply never
read of the exploits of the tawny Seapoy, asso-
ciated with the British soldier, in maintaining
the honour of the British arms? The British
military glory has been confided to the Seapoy,
and he has honourably acquitted himself of
the trust; and the British sailor, worn out by
the destructive heat of a tropical climate, may
yet benefit by the assistance of the Indian
Lascar.
The question about the Indian shipping is
apparently not understood by the Author of
the Reply. It is simply this: ships built in
British India, upon production of a builder's
103
certificate, were (as are the ships of all other
British colonies and dependencies) entitled to
a full British register: until the India Register
Act was passed, which confined them to the
trade between India and the United Kingdom
and the country trade of India. This limita-
tion was understood to be compensated by the
country trade of India being confined to the
India shipping, and by the British free-trade
ships not being allowed to trade from port to
port in India. But by the inaccuracy of an-
other Act, the whole of the country trade
and port to port trade has been thrown open
to British shipping; and they interfere with the
Indian shipping in their own coasting trade.
Now the object of the advocates for the Indian
shipping is to restore the India-built ships to
their privilege of a general register, as they no
longer possess the equivalent for which it was
surrendered; and they assert that the mainte-
nance of a commercial navy in India, manned
by Indian seamen, is of the highest importance
*The Circuitous Act,
104
to Great Britain as well as to British India;
and that to sacrifice the Indian shipping to the
jealousies of British ship-owners is a surrender
of the just rights of a people placed under
British protection. When these arguments are
controverted, I shall be ready to retract the
expression quoted from this work, by the
Author of the Reply, p. 20. At present I am
not aware of any receipt so excellent for rais-
ing a navy for foreigners, especially for Ame-
rica, as the adoption of that restrictive system,
of which he is the advocate: the sugar of
India, excluded at home, will be loaded on
foreign vessels manned by foreign seamen,
and will be carried to foreign ports.
But our Author, after treating the free-trade
with contempt, as an idle speculation, com-
ments severely on the Company,
"the great
monopolists of tea," stepping forward to assert
free trade. Now, to this I answer-
“the
China trade is admitted by all parties to be a
very delicate and peculiar trade; and Parlia-
ment has vested it exclusively in the Company,
under a solemn charter for national advantage.
29
105
Whether this be expedient and wise or not, is
open to discussion; but so the trade must re-
main until the charter be expired. But the
existence of this monopoly should not preclude
the Court of Proprietors from standing for-
ward in vindication of the rights of India, of
which the administration is placed primarily
under their control. They are urged to take
a part in this discussion, as the constitutional
organ by which India is governed, not as mer-
chants trading under a monopoly to China.
In another part of this work the effect of the
exclusion of sugar on the Indian exchanges
has been fully developed, and will, I trust, ex-
plain to the author of the Reply, what appears
to him to be the inconsistencies of Mr. Prinsep,
but what to those acquainted with the private
trade, and with the nature of the East-India
Company's connection with India, is perfectly
clear and intelligible, and not "a paradox too
"difficult for common understandings.
وو
The Author of the Reply informs me that I
Reply, page 25.
106
have overlooked the great maxim inculcated by
" of a
the expression attributed to Mr. Fox,
፡፡
compact more solemn than an Act of Par-
“liament could create;"* viz. that moral obli-
gations, founded on principles of justice, are
more sacred and binding than human laws.-1
ask, in return, what obligation is more binding
than that of the governor to protect the governed?
When the British nation conquered and as-
sumed the protection of its inhabitants, they
contracted a sacred obligation to do justice to
the natives of India, and, through the East-India
Company, I call upon them to fulfill this sacred
obligation.
The author allows that sugars, by being sent
to England, might, indeed, affect the exchanges
between England and India, and this conces-
sion is of great importance, in as much as the
restriction on so staple an article as sugar, by
its effect on the exchange, proves a serious in-
jury to the native cultivator, the British mer-
chant, the Company in its revenue, and its re-
* Reply, page 61.
107
mittance for home charges, and generally to all
its civil and military servants.
Our author now enters upon the delicate
ground of philanthropy. He comforts those,
who, seeing the manufacturing industry of In-
dia affected by the heavy duties levied on them
in England, and by their gradual supercession
in India by British cotton goods, urge this
country to encourage the agriculture of India,
that the whole is "an unnatural state of the
"market, and will correct itself, and that by-
(6
دو
and-by we shall return to our old course.'
(Page 27.) But at this gloomy prospect the
British manufacturer need not be alarmed;
facts are stubborn things; and we see that
American cotton continues to be grown and
imported at such low prices, as, with the
power given us by superior skill, capital, and
machinery, enables us actually to undersell the
Indian at his own door.
But, aware of this difficulty, our author kindly
offers his advice to the Indian cultivator, and re-
commends not only an extension of the cultiva-
tion of silk and indigo, but the introduction of tea.
108
This is a bold innovation for so cautious a
disciple of the old school; but I fear, if the
support of the Indian population is to rest on
the introduction of a new article, it will starve
in the mean time; and, besides, our author for-
gets that neither tea, indigo, nor silk, will sup-
ply the place of sugar, as a dead weight to the
ships employed in the Indian trade.
But having thus provided for the wants of
the Indian population, and quieted the fears of
the philanthropists, the Author of the Reply
earnestly solicits their protection for the slaves.
Sugar, he tells us, they must grow in the West
Indies, "for their soil is so arid that the
66
66
growth of provisions cannot be depended
upon.”*
Now, we well know that sugar
requires a rich soil and frequent irrigation,
and that where the cane thrives, Indian corn
and provisions will grow. There
There may be lands
in the West Indies fit for neither sugar nor pro-
visions, and they must be abandoned; and to
maintain at a heavy expense a forced cultiva-
* Reply, page 28.
1
109
tion of sugar on such lands, is a system entail-
ing ruin upon the planters and misery upon the
slaves, and the sooner it is given up the better.
The accurate and clear statements in the
pamphlet of East and West India Sugar, com-
pletely settle this part of the question; and it
is there shown what course ought to be pur-
sued, if humanity to the slaves in the West
Indies be the object in view; but, exclaims
the Author of the Reply, (p. 23,) “it may be
"proved, by the most unquestionable authority,
"that slaves are employed in the East, as well
"as in the West Indies;" and then follows a
string of quotations from Dr. Buchanan to sup-
port this assertion, nay, he confidently assures
the "pious friends" of the abolition, as he
calls them, that by extending the cultivation of
sugar, “a new slave-trade will be established
" in the East Indies of infinitely greater mag-
"nitude than that which we have abolished in
"our West-India colonies."
This point is evidently worked up, with
much labour and study, for effect, but, after a
careful examination of all the documents with-
110
in my reach upon the subject of slavery in India,
I contend that I had a right to give an unquali-
fied negative to the charge (which I had often
heard alleged)," that encouraging sugar in the
"East Indies will be only employing slaves in
"the East, instead of slaves in the West." I
never meant to conceal or deny what was no-
torious, that a certain degree of slavery exists
in Hindostan, but those best acquainted with
the real facts all agree that the numbers of the
slaves, compared with the whole population
of India, are insignificant; that, in the sugar
provinces of Bengal, slavery is scarcely, if at
all known; and that, in its character and opera-
tion, it is essentially different from the slavery
in the West Indies.
Slavery is acknowledged by the Hindoo
law, and also by the Mahomedan law; and
the East-India Company, upon succeeding to
the empire of the Mahomedans, having con-
firmed all laws then existing, slavery is per-
mitted under the British government.
In the gradual progress of society from bar-
barism to civilization, slavery has been found
111
in every nation, but more especially in the
East.
In India, from the religious distinctions of
castes, and the contempt, almost abhorrence,
in which the lower classes are held by their su-
periors, a state of subordination, analogous to
slavery, became a part of the great structure
of Indian religion. Its ill effects, however, are
tempered by that very religion, for the law en-
joins kindness to the inferior castes ;* and the
facility of escape from an unkind master,
arising from the extent of India, and the simi-
larity of language and race throughout the
peninsula, renders the situation of the lower
castes entirely different from that of the West-
Indian slaves, and this is decidedly proved by
the value borne by a slave in India, varying
from £2 to £5.
Although the Author of East and West India
Sugar clearly showed that the authority of
Dr. Buchanan extended only to that part of
India recently conquered from the Mahomedan
* Madras Report, dated December, 1819.
112
government of Tippoo Sultaun, from whence
no export of sugar took place; and, although it
is also distinctly stated, in the papers laid before
the Court of Proprietors, that Madras receives
sugar from China, and Bombay from China
and Java; yet the Author of the Reply avails
himself of the Doctor's authority, to establish
his position of the superior degree of slavery
in the East, regardless of these facts, and
consequently of the inapplicability of his argu-
ment to the sugar provinces of Bengal.
Does not this imply an admission that the
author is unable to establish his case of slavery
in Bengal? would so acute a man, who obvi-
ously attaches great importance to this part of
his argument, overload his pages and fatigue
his readers with accounts of slavery on the
Malabar coast, in provinces of recent acquisi-
tion,-a thousand miles from Bengal,-if he
could exhibit a similar picture in the old terri-
tories of the Company, or generally throughout
Hindostan? He does, indeed, quote a passage
from the papers laid before the Proprietors,
(Appendix 3,) but what is the sum total proved?
113
that, whilst "the fact must be admitted that
"slaves may be found in Bengal among the
"labourers in husbandry, yet, in most pro-
vinces, none but freemen are occupied in the
"business of agriculture.
""
In a document* of a more recent date (1817,)
Mr. Colebrook observes, "in the lower pro-
"vinces under this presidency (Bengal,) the
(6
employment of slaves in the labours of hus-
"bandry, is nearly, if not entirely unknown."
From the same work, we learn with pleasure,
that the East-India Company have done their
duty in preventing the growth of that slavery
which they found existing in distant parts of
the immense empire which has devolved upon
them. They have prohibited the introduction
of slaves by sea in Arab vessels, or by land
through Nepaul and Western India. The
Court of Nizamut Aduwlut has been directed
to prepare rules for the conduct of the natives
towards their slaves; a registry is proposed,
and every measure adopted to protect this de-
graded caste, short of an absolute interference
*
Harrington's Analysis, vol. i. p. 745.
H
114
with the existing civil and religious rights
and customs of the natives,-an interference
contrary to those principles of deference to
their prejudices, and of religious toleration,
on which the East-India Company rests
its government. If the West Indians are not
satisfied, let them agree to a committee, and
the real state of slavery in India may be inves-
tigated in detail.
Evidence of the strongest kind, from the
commercial residents of the Company down to
the missionary, who mixes with the lowest
classes in the Indian community, can be brought
forward. The subject is of vast importance;
and no friend to the East Indies shrinks from
the inquiry.
But, at the same time, I beg clearly to be
understood, that I do not hold the West
Indians up to censure as masters of slaves,
far from it, all I complain of is-the West-
Indian system, which resting solely on slavery,
and estimating slaves as capital, forces pro-
duction from their labour, and demands a
remunerative price for interest of capital
employed in their purchase. Nothing of this
115
kind is required for British India, and so
far the cultivation of sugar in the East and
West Indies may be properly said to be the cul-
tivation of free labour as opposed to slavelabour.
The Author of the Reply himself allows,
that labour is so cheap in India as to render
the rights of servitude of no value to the mas-
ter, and the average price of slaves, as quoted
above, establishes the fact. As to the alarm
of the demand for sugar creating a demand for
slaves, and raising their value, it is utterly
groundless; the state of the population in Ben-
gal and the sugar provinces, the proportion
borne by slaves to the mass of the cultivators,
and the maxims on which the Company's Go-
vernment is conducted, forbid our entertaining
such an apprehension for one moment.*
Having shown the real nature of slavery in
the East Indies, let us turn to the next obser-
vation of our author. He inquires, whether
the natives of India are British subjects in
the true sense of the words, and what is their
value as well as their number?†
" If we
* See Appendix (7).
† Reply, page 45,
H 2
116
have appropriated their territories in perpe-
"tuity to ourselves, if we have assumed the
sovereign dominion of them, if we apply a
"large portion of their annual produce to
“the use of Great Britain, if we are avowedly
"resolved to maintain our possession by arms
against all pretensions foreign or local,—if,
66
66
by these measures, as well as by specific de-
"clarations, we show that we regard the inha-
"bitants as exclusively and absolutely our
66
subjects, all the duties of rulers must be in-
"cumbent upon us.
"*
I cannot add to the force of these words.-
We have duties to perform towards the people
of India, and amongst the foremost is that of
relieving their agriculture and commerce from
a heavy burthen, and of enabling them to raise
sugar, a production congenial to their soil.
If British India is not to be considered as an
integral part of the empire, and, therefore,
not entitled to the advantages of that con-
nexion, in what a situation do we place her
* Grant's State of Society among the Asiatic Subjects
of Great Britain, page 24.
117
population? In other states her produce is
taxed because it is British ;-" these considera-
tions" (says the French Minister of Finance,
quoted in the Reply, page 105) "have deter-
"mined us to propose an additional tax upon
"foreign sugars, particularly on those of India."
At home, the West Indians demand their ex-
clusion because they are not colonial. Is this
fulfilling our duties towards a dependency?
"But the West-India planter spends his in-
66
come at home, or draws supplies from the
"Mother Country, which give life and activity
"to her domestic industry!"* As for the plan-
ter, it is to his non-residence his misfortunes are
partly to be attributed; agents manage his
property and swell his cost of production, and
he taxes the Mother Country in the shape of
a bounty, to enable the refiner to work up his
expensive sugar with any prospect of profit in
the foreign market. As for the supplies-
dear enough will England pay for that de-
mand, if she is forced to pay the West Indians
their remunerative price; and as for the con-
tributions of the West Indians to the Mother
Reply, page 47.
118
Country, what a heavy charge will appear in
the debtor side of the account when we ascer-
tain the sums spent during war for their de-
fence, and in peace for their government. If
land-holders in India do not spend their for-
tunes in England, does not the author well
know that few Englishmen, whether in civil,
military, or commercial, situations, make India
their home? Can he pretend ignorance of
the fact, that India is the country to which
Englishmen resort to make fortunes-and Eng-
land is the country where they spend them.
Really, such statements as the following are
scarcely worthy of an answer:-"We hear of
"native princes and native land-holders and
66
cultivators, but they never return to Great
"Britain to spend the fortune they have ac-
"quired; all their profits centre and remain
“in India, and the Mother Country neither
"claims nor receives any part of the produce
"of their labours."* The following was the
remark or Mr. C. Grant in the year 1792, and
from it we may form some slight calculation of
the immense benefits derived by this country
* Reply, page 47.
1
119
from India." It may not, perhaps, be too
"much to say that, in the thirty years following
"the acquisition of the Bengal provinces,
"this nation, by public and private channels,
"derived from them alone, exclusive of its
"other eastern dependencies, or of the profits
"of goods remitted, thirty millions sterling.
But does the Author of the Reply seriously
believe that 700,000 slaves, in the West Indies,
and 20,000 planters can afford such equivalents
for our manufactures as the population of
British India, if its resources were properly
encouraged. He may accumulate lists of ex-
ports and imports, but the common sense of
mankind is against his assertion. As to the
rights of the West Indians to the protecting
duty under a compact, I repeat, "that compact
is broken."
It is useless to go over the old ground. In
the settlement of the duties on sugars, at the
periods of their several enactments, there was
no intention to exclude East-India competition,
such as it then was, up to 1813. In 1813, a
sort of compact was made between an indi-
* C. Grant's State of Society, page 23..
120
vidual, on the one hand and the West-India
Committee on the other, which the West In-
dians have broken, by attempting, in many
points, and by succeeding in some, to alter
its conditions. From 1813, the situation of
India has become inore prominent, her re-
sources have been called forth, and the colonial
system, changed, mutilated as it is, must no
longer be a bar to her produce being brought
fairly into competition with that of the British
West Indies. The report quoted by the Au-
thor of the Reply* is so utterly unsound in
principle, with its alarms about " adding
rupees to the balance of trade against the
"Mother Country;" and with its fears
"about the benefit of India proving the
"destruction of the Mother Country, by the
"immense drain of bullion that must follow
"the encouragement of the export of Indian
(6
sugar," as rather to excite a smile than add
a feather to the weight of the argument. The
attempted analogy between the claims of the
West Indians and of the land-holders at home
to protection is not to be maintained.
* Page 67.
121
I ask is India, a foreign country? and again
I ask, what is the conduct of Great Britain
towards Ireland? is Irish produce excluded?
The analogy is between India and Ireland.
And again, show me the national burdens
under which the West Indians do labour and
the East Indians do not, and I will agree to
give a protecting duty to adjust the balance
with equity, as I would grant the British far-
mer a protecting duty against the foreign grower
of corn to the extent of direct taxes and bur-
dens which the former bears and the latter
does not. Let the West Indians measure
the present amount of their exclusive, bur-
dens: I cannot. The demand of the Au-
thor of the Reply is,* let the East Indians be
placed on the same footing, and the West
Indians will require no protection. I reply,
rather let the legislature adopt a more rational
plan, and place both British dependencies on
the same footing, not by adding a fetter to the
East Indians, but by removing a chain (if there
be any) from the West Indians. And I assert,
this is not (as the Author of the Reply assumes)
* Page 77.
122
asking "that the whole colonial system of
"Great Britain, which is the foundation of her
"maritime power, should be abandoned, in
"order to accommodate the views of the East-
"Indian traders relative to the duties on
sugars.”*
I contend that putting aside the merits of
the colonial system, (about which many wise
men are sceptical,) it is only acting up to the
spirit and intention of that system to admit the
produce of British India into the home-mar-
ket. In fact, it is enlarging the sphere in
which that measure was intended to operate.
Is maritime strength the object? I have
proved that the East-India trade offers a supe-
rior means of raising British seamen in peace,
and of supplying Great Britain with them in war.
Is the enjoyment of cheap commodities from our
own colonies or dependencies the object? Give
the East Indies a fair field to compete with the
West Indies, that the mother country may
benefit by the cheapest. Is it to enable us to
sell British manufactures? Can there be any
comparison in the field opened in India and that
Page 82.
་
123
of the West Indies? Which country can give
the greatest equivalents wherewith to purchase?
Is it to enable our refiners at home to work up
the raw material? I ask whether our present
system, with its cumbrous machinery of draw-
backs and bounties, and with the avowed inten-
tion of the West Indians to reduce the supply
in order to raise the price of sugar to a remu-
nerative price, is more calculated for the attain-
ment of that object than giving encouragement
to the East Indies to yield a larger and cheaper
supply. If the West Indians are not allowed
to refine their own sugars, so neither are the
East Indians. The duty on refined sugars is
prohibitory to both. The West Indians call it a
burden to be obliged to take their manufac-
tures from Great Britain, and ask for a com-
pensation in a restriction on the East Indies;
whilst the East Indians are actually purchasing
these manufactures in preference to their own,
because they are cheaper. Can there be any
real foundation for this complaint of the West
Indians? Whatever America, especially the
United States, takes from us we may conclude
124
she takes because she gets it as cheap as it is
to be had any where else. Now, iron is
shipped in considerable quantities from this
country to the United States of America,
though it there pays more duty than iron from
Russia and Sweden. Cotton bagging goes in
very large quantities to the United States.
British linens are shipped to the United States
and to Cuba; and wines are allowed to be im-
ported direct: " Because, in the West-India
(C
66
trade, two ships that sail out of three from
London, are under the necessity of taking
ballast, from there actually being no article of
"dead weight in demand in the West Indies."*
Is that any just ground for obliging the East-
India ships to sail in ballast from India, when
profitable dead weight in sugar can be had, if
it were not for the protecting duty? This is,
indeed, insisting upon a reciprocity!!
Connected with the shipping part of the
question, I cannot refrain from pointing out a
most erroneous representation of the senti-
ments of the Liverpool Committee, to be found
Reply, page 84.
125
in p. 17, 18 "On this point (says the Author
of the Reply) the Committee of the Liverpool
Association express themselves, in one passage,
with some degree of diffidence; for they admit,
"that this is a question in which the maritime
interests are involved, as respects the quantum
of British shipping and British seamen that
have been employed in the West-India trade."
Now, who could credit the fact, that the fol-
lowing are the words actually used by the
Liverpool Committee, in which neither diffi-
dence nor admission, such as the Author de-
scribes, are to be found, but absolutely the
contrary: indeed, the whole of his remark is
the creation of his own imagination.
"Your
"Committee would have dropped the subject
here, were it not barely possible that they may
"be called upon to notice two other topics
"which have been laid before the public in
(6
some late publications from the West-India
"interest. It has been gravely contended, 1st,
"That this is a question in which the maritime
"interests of the country are involved, as
"respects the quantum of British shipping and
126
"British seamen that have been employed by
"the West-India trade; meaning thereby to
"infer that these would be lessened by with-
(6
drawing the protection which that trade has
"hitherto enjoyed.
"2d. That the revenue which the country
"has derived from the duties on West-India
66
sugar would be lessened, provided the pro-
"tection which the West Indians have hither-
"to enjoyed was withdrawn." These argu-
"ments, if they can be called such, have been
"used merely to catch the unthinking, and are
"almost too frivolous to be noticed."
""*
And another most singular want of appre-
hension is remarkable in the quotation † from
the Report of the Liverpool Committee. t
Those gentlemen observe that, neither the West-
India planters nor government seem to con-
sider any average price of West-India sugar,
below 49s. per cwt. as a remunerating one;
for until the average reaches that rate, the full
duty of 30s. per cwt. is not charged. This
* Liverpool Report, page 28, 29.
+ Reply, p. 84.
| Page 58,
127
price of 498. with the duty of 30s. makes an
aggregate price of 79s. per cwt. or of 8d. per
lb. to the consumer.
Again, by the present system of duties, the
bounty on export being the same, whether the
duty paid be 27s. or 30s. per cwt. a clear, un-
disputed, and acknowledged tax is paid to
force up the prices of sugar above their fair
market price: but if the plan was adopted, of
reducing the rates of duty, as the quantities
increased, it is asserted* that we might in
the end arrive at a point when the East
Indies could supply us with sugar at 2d.
à 3d. per lb. without any reduction of the
aggregate amount of the revenue paid into
the Exchequer.
•
Now, if having the choice of two plans, by
one of which we saddle the country with à
heavy duty, and the consumer with an article
at 8 d. per lb. whilst by the other we may re-
duce the rate of duty, and yet preserve the
same revenue, and moreover obtain the same
article at 2½d. à 3d. per lb. we are required to
choose the former, and to pay the tax and the
* Liverpool Report, p. 48.
128
high price, may we not expect that the next
proposal will be to supersede the introduction
of foreign wines, by raising grapes in hot-
houses, &c.?* This unanswerable statement
so clearly deduced from sound principles is
strangely misunderstood by the Author of the
Reply; and he asks, with inimitable simpli-
city,- How are the people to get sugar at
2 d. per lb. without any diminution of
the revenue, when the duty itself is 2d.
per lb. ?" †
66
This is, however, introduced only to ques-
tion the observation made in the Liverpool
Report, that the West Indians are not content
with the fair market-price; now I venture to
assert again, that they are not content; and on
the Author's own showing, it is impossible
that they can be so.
n
The average price (duty included) for ~
‡
1822, he takes at 54s. 11d. and leaves the
planter 3s. 5d. per cwt. or upon his calcu-
lation of the capital employed, a return of one
* Liverpool Report, p. 58.
† 27s. per cwt.
+ Reply, p. 85,
1
129
per cent.; now he allows that the planter is
working on a capital borrowed at 5 and 6 per
cent. interest. Can any reasonable man be
satisfied under these circumstances? what then
would such a man do? either attempt to raise
his price, so as to pay him interest on his loan,
and a profit, or give up his business. If he
obtains the former, the West Indian must raise
the price to 72s. (with the duty 27s.) or 45s. ex-
duty, to give him 20s. 6d. per cwt. instead of
3s. 5d. to enable him to pay 6 per cent. on a
capital of £20,000, and higher if he seeks
profit, or his capital be £25,000. Now, sup-
posing the East Indian to be able to introduce
his sugars at an average of 40s. ex-duty, or
67s. with equal (27s.) duty, is it fair to ex-
clude him by a protecting duty of 10s. per cwt.
more, thereby bringing the price of East-India
sugar to 77s. per cwt., 5s. higher than West-
India sugar.* Is this, I ask, fair by the East
Indian, and just by the consumer?
And there is really no alternative for the West
Indians but to raise their price, if the country will
Reply, p. 86.
I
t
130
suffer them, or to abandon their business. No re-
duction of duty can, under the present circum-
stances, affect the West Indians, that will only
relieve the consumer, it must be a reduction on
quantity and an enhancement of price. If De-
merara pays the planter at the present prices,
or near them, the old West-Indian colonists,
when the reduction of quantity takes place, by
which alone the price can be raised, will be the
sacrifice, and Demerara will flourish on their
ruin. In the reduction somebody must be sa-
crificed, and it will necessarily be the dearest
grower. What then are the West Indians con-
tending for? is it for the Demerara planter? It
is Demerara, a conquered Dutch colony of
yesterday, that is to be raised at the expense
of India-and for her is the restriction to be
continued!!
The Author of the Reply, entangled by his
former statements in 1809, cannot but acknow-
ledge the correctness of the position that the
surplus* governs the price of the whole, and that
if the British West Indies produce more than
* See the qualification in pages 37 and 71.
131
1
the consumption of Great Britain will take
off, the price here cannot be higher than the
price abroad; but, he says, "in the first
፡፡
66
*
place, the West Indians claim the continu-
ance of the protecting duty, because they
pay a valuable consideration for it, in the
"restrictions to which they are subjected."
·66
''
66
Secondly. They further consider that,
although the preference they have in the
"home market is of little benefit to them while
"the growth of their sugar so much exceeds
"the home-consumption of the mother-country
"as to render them dependent on the European
"market, yet it may be valuable hereafter,
"when their cultivation is reduced, as must
"soon be the case if the present low price of
"sugar continues, for the planter must then
"raise more provisions and less sugar.
وو
Now, what do we find in this passage.
1st. The restrictions. - Measure them and
apportion the duty accordingly, or take
them off; give us a Committee to prove
Page 87.
I 2
132
what they are, and whether it be not
wiser to relieve the West rather than to
burden the East Indies? But no; our
♦
Author opposed, in his place in Parlia-
ment, the reference of the question to a
committee. Is he then afraid of an ex-
amination of his own assertion?
2d.-Have we not here Mr. Robley's plan,
and the plan which I contend a wise
West-Indian planter can alone pursue,
clearly laid down? Namely, to reduce
the quantity and to raise the price; that
is to say, to sacrifice a part of the West
Indies-to burden the Mother-Country
with a tax to support the remainder in
a remunerative price, beyond the real
cost of the article elsewhere, for it must
be beyond the cost elsewhere, or the West
Indians would not fear competition.
3d.-Have we not here a positive concession
that the land in the West Indies may be
turned from sugar into provisions, al-
though, in page 28, we are told "that
"the woods, which formerly attracted
"the clouds and brought down rain,
133
66
having long since been felled, the
"soil is become so arid that the growth
"of provisions cannot be depended
66
66
upon;" and, "if their master cannot
purchase provisions for the subsistence
"of his negroes by the sale of his sugars
they must perish the first dry season.
But, continues our Author,*" In the
"next place, the admission of East-
"India sugars would lead to an in-
"creased cultivation of the commodity,
"from the high expectations that would
"be formed of the advantage likely to
"result from this concession and an in-
"creased importation into Europe, in
"whatever market it might be sold,
"would still further depress the price
"and accelerate the ruin of the British
66
planter." Here he allows, 1st. That
the repeal of the protecting duty would accom-
plish two things, viz. increase the Indian culti-
vation and benefit India-2d. lower the price
* Page 88.
134
وو
" and benefit the consumer. But, ultimately,"
he contends" all this bright prospect would be
"clouded over, prices would be too low, a
glut would ensue, and scarcity follow a glut,
"and prices become extravagantly high; for the
66
ઃઃ
price of a commodity depends not so much
"on the cost of production as in the propor-
"tion that the supply bears to the demand :”*
and he appeals to the landed gentlemen for a
proof that "cost of production does not re-
66
gulate the price." Now, what does, in the
long run, keep prices steady-the power of
drawing supplies from a great extent of pro-
duction. In proportion as the range of pro-
duction is narrowed-alternations of high and
low prices are experienced. The larger the
circle of supply, the steadier the price; but
narrow that circle, and confine the supply to one
spot, (which must involve high cost prices,)
and alternations of high and low prices, to the
ruin of the grower and the injury of the con-
sumer are inevitable. To illustrate this posi-
* Page 89.
1
135
tion, suppose we confined our supply of sugar
to one colony, and that upon average years it
produced enough for our consumption, by work-
ing lands, varying in qualities, some good and
some bad, of course the price is regulated by
the cost on the worst soils-for the worst soils
would not be cultivated unless they yielded a
profit, and the owners of the better soils (how-
ever cheap their production) would benefit by
the demand for the produce of the inferior
soils, and there would be varying returns, and
consequently rents, but only one price.
Now as long as the supply equalled the con-
sumption, and no more, all things would move
smoothly, though the prices, in a country so
restricted in its supply, (if that country be at
all advanced in civilization and population,)
must be higher than the average price abroad,
because the cost of sugar on inferior soils fixes
the price. But, once suppose the supply to
exceed the consumption, and what follows? the
grower is thrown for relief on foreign export, and
the price at home levels with that abroad; his
high cost price cannot be maintained, and he is
136
ruined. Again, suppose the supply reduced be-
low the consumption, and a scarcity ensues, and
we are in want at home, amidst plenty abroad.
But, alter your system, take your supplies from
two colonies instead of one, the average price
is not raised by the high cost price of inferior
soils on one colony, but on both, even when
the supply does no more than equal the con-
sumption; when it exceeds it, in proportion to
that lower range of price is the relief by ex-
port: in a bad season in the West there is a
fair probability of supply from the East,
and vice versa. Thus you have lower and
steadier prices. And what is the actual situa-
tion of the East and West Indies? The present
system of our sugar laws, and of the West-
India planters, forces cultivation on poor soils,
and raises the average remunerative price; and
are they not severely suffering from these alter-
nations? For have we not the authority of the
Author of the Reply, that the average price of
sugar was 75s. 2d. in 1814,* and by the parlia-
* Reply, p. 8.
137
mentary returns it was 31s. 04d. in 1822-3? and
is not the only remedy, to which the West In-
dians can turn, a rise in price? In page 91, the
Author of the Reply kindly informs the con-
sumers that they need not fear that the reduc-
tion of quantity will too greatly enhance the
price; for the Act 59 Geo. III. cap. 52, pro-
vides for the reduction of the protecting duty
on East-India sugar on that contingency.
Now, what is the safeguard against high prices
afforded by that Act? The 15th section pro-
vides, that when the average price of Muscovado
sugar exceeds 60s. per cwt. (mind it was in
1822-23* 31s. 04d. per cwt.) that one shilling
per cut. shall be taken off the protecting duty;
and further, that as the price rises one shilling
per cwt. progressively from that point, in the
same ratio shall the protecting duty be dimi-
nished, until the price shall exceed 69s. per cwt.
when the whole protecting duty ceases. Be-
tween the average price as above, and the
remunerating price contemplated in the Act
* See Parliamentary Return, 26th Feb. 1823. No. 84.
138
quoted, the difference is 30s. per cwt.; and that
simple fact will enable the public to judge
what sort of a guarantee they possess against
high prices. In truth, the point from whence
the reduction of the protecting duty com-
mences, is placed so high, as to render the
whole arrangement a mere delusion.*
Far from the consumers suffering by an ex-
tension of the supply from the East Indies, the
fertility and extent of India would guarantee
to us steady and low prices, and (not the shift-
ing of the monopoly, as it is called by the Author
of the Reply, from the West to the East, but)
* Since this was written, the West-India Petition has
been made public. With reference to the gradual diminu-
tion of the protecting-duty, what does the petition say?
"That the price at which the protecting-duty is liable to
“be diminished, furnishes only a bare remuneration” to
the West-India Planters, and this price, as stated above,
is 60s. per cwt. ex-duty, being full 100 per cent. higher
than the general price of sugar of the same quality all over
the world. From this we may judge of the moderation of
the West-India interest.
+ Page 92.
139
t
the competition of the two would be productive
of vast benefits to East and West Indies, and
to the Mother-Country. Here let me refer to
the papers laid before the Court of Proprietors.*
It† is an axiom in political economy, that
"the supply will be in proportion to the de-
mand, when human industry can attain it.
"The natives of this country (Bengal) are
66
66
66
very industrious, and will naturally apply
"themselves to the raising of that commodity
"in which they have skill, and which will
“afford them a ready and good profit."
The soil and climate of Bengal are highly
“favourable to the produce of sugar. Bengal
"is capable, with fair encouragement, and
66
66
allowing the time necessary for increase of
produce, to export sugar to a great extent.
"The single province of Burdwan contains
"5174 square miles, and almost the whole of
"these are proper for the cane."‡
* Page 106, first Appendix.
+ Report of the Board of Trade, 4th Sept. 1792.
‡ Page 109.
140
For the West Indians themselves the admis-
sion of East-India sugars into competition will
prove a benefit; the sugar grown in the good
soils will still have the advantage of the greater
proximity to the home-market than the East-
India sugar; a general economy will be forced
upon the planter, he will be extricated from
the toils of the mortgagee, he will have
freights on a level with other trades,—supplies
purchased with minute care and economy,-
provisions raised on the spot, and the West-
Indian slaves will not be overworked to satisfy
creditors, but treated with kindness and atten-
tion; their habits improved, and themselves
gradually prepared for emancipation ;* and the
West Indians will have an undoubted right to
the most complete and entire free trade,-to that
freedom possessed by the East Indies in all re-
spects, in theory as well as in practice. The
plantations that must be sacrificed will be those
* See the striking and eloquent Appeal of Mr. Wilber-
force upon Negro-Slavery in the West Indies, just pub-
ished.
141
of inferior soils, that never were fit for sugar
or are worn out; and the planters who will
not economize, must pay the penalty that every
where follows extravagance. But the Author
of the Reply,* observes, if any alteration be
"made in the present system, let us inquire
"whether it may not be effected on a more
"liberal and comprehensive scale, that might
66
produce the most beneficial results to the
general interests of the British Empire.
"Though no good reason can be adduced for
66
(6
66
depriving the West-Indian planters of their
present protecting duty against East-Indian
sugar, many may be offered for admitting
"the sugars of all countries, into which British
66
ships and British manufactures are admitted,
on the footing of the most favoured nations,
"at the same rate of duty as the sugars of
“India.” Then follows an able train of rea-
soning to show the propriety of admitting the
sugars of Cuba and the Brazils.
I shall have no objection to consider this im-
* Page 93.
142
portant question, when it is brought before the
public and the Legislature, with fairness and
liberality. I have stated my own opinion, I
am an advocate for competition, (page 4,) but
I have also said what the author who quotes
the former passages has omitted-" that if the
"times are not ripe for a free trade, and the
Legislature will not allow foreign sugars to
"enter into competition with British sugars,
"let us give, with this reservation, full scope to
"the principle, and admit all the sugars of Brit-
ish dependencies on an equal footing."*
The question, as to foreign sugars, is one
that leads to a general alteration in our policy
that with respect to East-India sugars does
not. If we are to believe the author of the
Reply, India is of less advantage to Britain
than foreign nations; but I deny his assertions
I deny that the trade with India will super-
cede the use of British ships and British sea-
men-I deny that the inhabitants will not con-
sume our manufactures--I deny that their religi-
* On Protection, page 39, 1st Edit,
143
ous prejudices prevent our carrying on a profitable
commerce with them.—I assert that they will use
British manufactures and produce if you will take
their sugars in payment; and I repeat we may
make Great Britain the emporium of Europe for
India goods, if we do not drive the trade to
foreign nations by the restrictions of our duties
on the only article for dead weight of our
Indian ships; for I am aware, as well as the
Author of the Reply, of the central situation of
Great Britain, of the peculiar advantages to be
derived from her temperate climate, of the so-
lidity of her merchants, and of the facilities
of obtaining advances upon produce to any
amount. But I positively deny that the West
Indies are more secure than the East Indies.
66
66
Mr. Hastings, Mr. Rouse, and Mr. Cole-
"brooke, the Select Committee, and Sir
Philip Francis, concur in declaring their
⚫ conviction that from pretended colonization
"or from the increase of European intercourse
"with the Indians, no danger is to be feared.
"Mr. Hastings actually recommended coloni-
"zation by permitting Englishmen to become
144
purchasers of land. Mr. Colebrooke argues
"strongly in its favour; and Marquis Welles-
((
66
ley treats as visionary the apprehensions of
danger from the intercourse of Europeans."
"The Indians are not now for the first time
“made acquainted with strangers—not a single
"instance can be produced of a revolt of the
"Hindoo people against the Mahomedans, a
66
coarse, insolent, and oppressive people, mas-
"ters of India for many centuries."* I have
attempted to show the ground on which these
denials rest, and the public must judge between
me and the Author of the Reply—but—I ask
for a Committee-I court inquiry-Will he
join in the request?
The foundation of our naval power lies in
our insular situation and free government. From
the former proceed our immense coasting-trade
and general commerce; from the latter proceeds
security of person and property unexampled in
the history of nations. These, all united, pro-
duce that wealth, intelligence, and civilization,
* Edinburgh Review, vol. xx.
145
by which Great Britain is distinguished, her high
rank amongst nations determined, and her power
consolidated. She depends neither upon the East
Indies nor upon the West Indies, but it is her in-
terest to extract all the advantage she can from
both; and in the science of politics, as in morals,
the greatest advantage is generally obtained by
doing justice, and acting with strict impartiality.
All that the East Indians implore Great Britain
to give, is-justice. Great Britain is mistress of
India-it is her duty to protect the natives of In-
dia, to increase their prosperity, and to relieve
them from every restriction that impedes their
industry and cripples their commerce.
K
4
APPENDIX.
K 2
148

(1)
SUGAR.
Imports ending
January 5.
A
B
C
D
E
F
British
Conquered
East
Plantation.
Colonies.
Indies.
Foreign
Plantation.
General
Total
G
Gross Quantity charged with
Duty for Home-Consump-
Total.
Exports.
tion.
West.
East.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
18152,859,077
535,110
43,789
Cwt.
597,347 | 4,035,323 | 2,002,110
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
3,030,042
12,916
1816 | 3,050,380
442,678
125,639
366,085 | 3,984,782 | 1,906,712 | 2,941,735
42,707
1817 | 3,070,228
363,758
127,202
199,360 | 3,760,548 | 1,663,618 | 3,220,594
33,130
1818 3,170,599
391,954
125,892
107,105
3,795,550 1,671,741 4,151,238
27,059
1819 3,227,540
437,950
162,394
138,063
3,965,947
1,695,628 | 2,672,226
24,775
1820 3,273,654
510,900
205,528
86,927
4,077,009
1,302,181 3,283,658
99,440
1821 | 3,049,061
574,258
277,228
162,994
4,063,541
1,659,556 | 3,661,730
83,231
1822 | 3,188,888
545,404
269,162
197,402 | 4,200,856
1,579,919 | 3,660,508 | 117,340
1823 | 2,555,410
560,300
228,170
N. B. Under column B, are included for 1815, 16,
and 17, the supplies from Surinam and the Danish
colonies; subsequently the import is confined to Deme-
rara and Berbice.
Column D, includes sugar from Martinique, Cuba,
Brazil, &c.
Under column F, note the export in raw is calculated
at 34 cwt. to 20 cwt. of refined sugar.
The year 1823 is necessarily imperfect, from the ac-
counts not being made up, but they will probably show
a diminished import both of British plantation and
East-India; and a continued large supply from the con-
quered colonies, with a material diminution of export.
It is observed in a respectable Summary published at
the close of 1822, New London Price Current, fo. 18,
that the number of refiners' pans, at present employed
in London, is 170, including 30 new patents; when a few
years ago the number exceeded 300: and that the export
of refined sugar in 1822, has materially fallen off, being
21,000 hhds less than in 1821.
1
149
(2)
Extract of a Minute of the Board of Trade, in Cal-
cutta, dated 7th August, 1792.
"In this country (Bengal) the cultivator is either the
"immediate proprietor of the ground, or he hires it, as
"in Europe, of the proprietor, and uses his discretion in
"cultivating what he thinks best adapted to the nature
"of the soil, or the demand of the market. One field
produces sugar-the next wheat, rice, or cotton. The
"husbandman is nourished and clothed from his own
ground; or, if he thinks it more for his interest to sell
"the whole of his produce, supplies himself and his
<<
(6
66
family with the necessaries of life from his neighbour,
"or the next public market. The Bengal peasant is
"actuated by the ordinary wants and desires of mankind.
"His family assists his labour and sooths his toil, and
"the sharp eye of personal interest guides his judge-
"ment.
66
"In the West Indies, the works are stationary.
The
cane, a heavy material when just cut, must be carried
"from the most distant parts of the plantation,-a very
"laborious business. In Bengal, the mill, boiling vessels,
"and covering-shed, are so extremely light, that they
are easily removed from field to field, as occasion re-
quires, and, consequently, prevent the labour of dis-
"tant carriage of the cane. In the West Indies, the
"whole labour of the ground is performed by hand, with
"the spade or hoe; here, (Bengal,) the ox and plough,
"as in Europe, lessen the labour of man, and facilitate
"the production of the earth.”
150
These are some of the most important parts of this able
minute,—the state of the Bengal peasantry is here de-
scribed by persons on the spot, and devoted to the com-
mercial branch of the Company's administration. The
whole is worthy of an attentive perusal; the contrast
between the slaves in the West Indies and the peasantry
in Bengal, affords the most satisfactory answer to those
who still choose to assert that the former are substantially
as independent as the latter.
It is observed in page 59, that the whole stream of the
Company's policy is adverse to personal slavery ;-in
proof of this may be adduced, the permanent settlement
of the land in Bengal, which, however erroneous in prin-
ciple some may consider it, was unquestionably framed
for the protection of the natives, both Zemindars and
Ryots.
·
151
(3)
The Act 1st and 2d of George IV. cap. 106, regulating
the duties on East-India sugars, imposes 5s. per cwt. ad-
ditional on sugars clayed or refined, so as to be equal to
clayed sugars.
The question at issue between the Customs and Messrs.
Cropper, Benson, and Co. merchants at Liverpool, holders
of sugars per Albion is, whether those sugars are so refined
ás to be equal in quality to clayed sugars. This is the first
case under the new act. Now claying, as practised in the
French West-India islands, is a process unknown in India;
but with respect to West-India sugars, it denotes a certain
stage in the refinement of sugar, and it must be allowed,
that, by the processes used in India, it appears sugar does
undergo various purifying processes, from the raw Goor
to the finest Chenee.
Where, therefore, are we to place the point of equality
with that state of refinement called clayed? It is a matter
of opinion, and Messrs. Cropper, and the officers of the
Customs at Liverpool assert the sugars, per Albion, are not
equal, while the Board in London assert they are equal.
To decide between them, let us understand what the article
called clayed sugar is.
None is brought from the British West Indies; we must,
therefore, seek for it in the foreign West Indies. Now the
term clayed, all parties are agreed, comprehends brown,
yellow, and white; all three differing in appearance and in
exchangeable value. The white Bengal sugars, similar to
those per Albion, are, in appearance, superior to the lowest
brown-clayed in refinement, but inferior to the highest
152
white-clayed. To the use of a white cane in India, and the
peculiarity of soil, the whiteness of the Bengal sugars may
partly be attributed; colour, therefore, cannot alone be the
test of refinement. In grain or strength, the white Ben-
gal are inferior, perhaps, to the lower clayed. With such
an indefinite standard, how is the Indian merchant to act?
What sugars can the London merchant order to be sent
home? Both are subject to the caprice, the whim of Cus-
tom-house officers: what is clayed in London is not clayed
in Liverpool. Are all East-India sugars liable to the addi-
tional 5s. duty that are superior to the lowest clayed? Can
this be the meaning of the Act? If there be no certain de-
finition of clayed, and clayed varies as we contend it
does, must not this be the inevitable consequence, and can
such an absurdity be contemplated? Produce the sample
of West-India clayed, define wherein its quality (resulting
from artificial process, not from natural causes) consists; a
certain degree of colour, a certain degree of purity, a certain
degree of grain, and something defined will be given to the
East Indians; but arbitrarily to say this sugar per Albion
is clayed, is to assume the very thing to be proved; leave
it open and all is chance, and subject to the fluctuating
opinions of Custom-house officers.
The process of claying is not now carried on in the British
West Indies, but by other processes, the West Indians
obtain a sugar superior to the Bengal sugars, and to many
foreign clayed sugars; and yet that sugar comes in at the
low Muscovade duty; witness Jamaica and Barbadoes
White. Extend the same terms that bind the East-India
sugars to the West-India sugars, impose the 35s. per cwt.
on the sugars from the West Indies, "clayed or refined,
so as to be equal in quality to clayed," and we will try if we
cannot also bring within the scope of the high duty the
153
more valuable White Jamaica and Barbadoes sugars.
Then, indeed, there would be some reciprocity.
The imposition of the 5s. per cwt. additional duty, is al-
together a monstrous injustice. The 10s. protection in the
unauthorized compact of 1813, was intended to be a protec-
tion against all East-India sugars, white and brown; not as
is now assumed by the West Indians, to be applied to the
Muscovades only. Had the West Indians proposed a se-
paration of East-India sugar in 1813, the highest protection
of 10s. would have been placed against the highest or most
valuable East-India sugar, and a more moderate duty on
the inferior or Muscovade.
The present attempt is a trick, a deception, and contrary
to the very words of His Majesty's ministers, who positively
declared the additional duty was not to be levied on the
sugars usually called White Bengal sugars, (similar, in fact,
to those per Albion,) but intended as a protection against the
very finest sugar that might, upon an improved process of
refinement, be brought from India, and this is the result.
154

(4)
Statement of the Value of Sugar exported from the Three Presidencies in India, to the under-mentioned Places,
in the following Years. Extracted from the Report of External Commerce, received from Bengal, Fort
St. George, and Bombay.
To the United Kingdom
Continent of Europe.•
Mediterranean
United States of America
To South America
1814-15. 1815-16. 1816-17. 1817-18. 1818-19.
1819-20. 1820-21.
Total.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
1,139,403 1,060,010 1,141,113 1,326,462 1,389,787 2,482,864 2,097,865 10,637,504
181,441| 141,477 150,002 783,081 385,373 286,729 1,928,103
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
12,689 161,419 124,303 32,458
15,861
62,992 393,861
252,697 1,045,989 1,271,300 1,250,736 1,512,893 216,185 5,549,800
64,385 42,483 48,003 34,292 205,024
77,807 197,044 117,426 1,137,644
1,120
1,120
621,671 493,033 1,033,520 963,375 786,992 659,409 4,558,000
>>
"
the Eastward Islands, &c.
China
164,809 231,630 264,946| 83,982
the Arabian & Persian Gulphs
Rupees..
073 2,34
1,320,073 2,347,449 3,099,247 4,091,070 4,631,572 5,446,747 3,474,898 24,411,056
170/4,0
{
155
Price per br.
(5)
SUGAR.
EXCHANGE PER SICCA RUPEE.
REMARKS.
These Rates are calcu-
allowing 8
per cent. on prime cost
for charges in India, £6
per ton for freight, and 8
per cent. on prime cost for
waste and average damp.
Reducing it to the cost in
London per cwt.
lated thus:—
maund of 82lbs.
25.
2s. 1d.
2s. 2d.
2s. 3d. 2s. 4d.
2s. 5d.
2s. 6d.
s. d.
S.
d.
s. d.
S. d.
S. d.
S. d.
S.
d.
3 Rupees
15 10
16
3
16 7
17 1
17 6
17 11
18 5
4
19 0 19
19 9
20 3
20 11
21 4 | 22
22
0
22 5
22 4
23 1
23 10
24 7
25 2
26 1
26 7
6
25 8
26 7
27 4
28 2
29 1
29 9
30 8
7
29 0
30 0
30 11
31 10 321)
33 11
34 9
8
32 5
33
5
34
34 6
35 736 9
37 9
38 11
9
35 6
36 9
38 1
39 4
40 6
41 8
42 11
10
38 10
40 2
41 8
43 0
44 4
45
8
46 11
11
42 2
43 8
45
2
46 8
48 2
49 7 51 2
12
45 6 47 1
48 9
50 4
52 1
53 8
55 4
156
(6)
An Account of the Quanity of TEA delivered, (including
Private Trade and Prize) annually, from 1800 to
1810, inclusive; also of the Quantities exported to
Foreign Europe.
Years.
Tea Delivered.
Deduct Tea ex-
ported to
Foreign Europe.
Remainder.
lbs.
lbs.
Ibs.
1800
24,044,953
68,392
23,976,561
1801
24,868,625
97,127
24,771,498
1802
24,833,519
84,312
24,749,207
1803
25,737,469
35,511
25,701,958
1804
24,099,809
15,997
24,083,812
1805
24,201,443
16,187
24,185,256
1806
23,706,098
21,418
23,684,680
1807
23,608,569
9,509
23,599,060
1808
23,961,332
73,299
23,888,033
1809
23,418,596
203,531
23,251,065
1810
24,042,143
69,576
23,972,567
1810-11 23,548,468
1811-12 21,527,217
Sale Amount of Teas.
21,029,843
1816-17
1817-18 23,401,706
1812-13 23,068,033
1813-14 23,424,832
1814-15 27,820,643
1818-19
26,068,870
1819-20
25,032,484
1820-21
24,483,970
1815-16
26,234,244
Appendix to Lords' Report, page 334–347.
į
157
(7)
To prove the anxiety in British India upon this important
question, the public will soon be in possession of a petition
from the European and native merchants of Calcutta,
praying for an equalization of the duties on East and
West India sugars.
A memorandum of the substance of this petition has
been received-the original is not yet arrived.
Without impropriety, I think I may extract from this
memoranda, transmitted to a friend, the two following
passages,—the first showing the opinion entertained in
Calcutta of the absoluté necessity for sugar as a dead
weight; the other proving that, whatever may be the
opinion of "the Author of the Reply" as to the existence
of slavery in Bengal, the native and European merchants
at Calcutta do not seem to be equally aware of its ex-
tent, nor to entertain any apprehension that encouraging
sugar in the East Indies will be only encouraging slaves
in the East instead of the West.
The merchants state, first, that "their cotton-trade has
suffered a most injurious depression under foreign com-
petition. Their cotton piece-goods are either excluded
from foreign marts, or are displaced by British fabrics in
their own. Their grain is unable to contend against pro-
tecting duties called for by British agriculturists. Salt-
petre will not yield a freight in time of peace, and unless
some indulgence is extended to them in their last impor-
tant staple, sugars,' they will remain without an article
of ballast for their ships, and will lose a principal means
of making returns for the great and increasing value of
'
158
British produce and manufactures consumed in this coun-
try [Bengal], or circulating in the course of trade through
all the neighbouring territories.”
2dly, "The merchants abstain from pressing those
arguments which humanity might dictate in support of the
culture of sugars by free-men as superfluous, in an appeal
to a British legislature, and unnecessary to their cause."
1
159
(8)
Value of the Exports of British and Irish Produce
and Manufactures, from Great Britain to the East
Indies and China, in the five Years, ending 5th
January, 1823.
Exports of British and Irish
Produce and Manufactures
from Great Britain to the
East Indies and China.
Official Value
Declared
Value.
Year, ending 5th January, 1819 £2,683,221 £3,861,454
1820
1,998,601 2,651,569
1821
2,978,451 3,693,168
1822
3,655,005 4,151,677
1823
3,569,325 3,771,961
Value of the Exports of British and Irish Produce
and Manufactures, from Great Britain to the Bri-
tish West Indies, in the five Years, ending 5th
January, 1823.
Exports of British and Irish
Produce and Manufactures
from Great Britain to the
British West Indies.
Official Value.
Declared
Value.
Year, ending 5th January, 1819
£5,516,817 £5,603,359
1820
4,197,976 4,454,982
1821
4,043,693 3,860,260
1822
4,705,035 3,985,053
1823 3,906,730
3,143,928
Custom-House, 17th March, 1823.
***The above official document, extracted from the Returns to
the House of Commons, fully justifies the statement given by me
in page 60; and affords the best answer to the question put by the
Author of the Reply, page 48.
THE END.
!
MARCHANT, PRINTER, INGRAM-COURT, LONDON.
:
A REPLY
ΤΟ
THE ARGUMENTS CONTAINED
IN
VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS,
RECOMMENDING
AN EQUALIZATION OF THE DUTIES
ON
East & West Endian Sugar.
BY
JOSEPH MARRYAT, ESQ. M.P.
When many publications appear on one side, and no arguments are used ou
the other, the minds of men must naturally become biassed: and when once opinions
are formed, even truth finds a difficulty to penetrate.
Third Report of Special Committee of E. I. C. Directors, 1802.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. M. RICHARDSON, CORNHILL, AND
RIDGWAYS, PICCADILLY.
1823.
HUGHES, Printer,
Maiden Lane, Covent Garden
Latin-Amer. hist.
Phells you
7-19-28
20059
ویر
آگ
L
A REPLY,
&c. &c.
Ir is incumbent upon those who propose innova-
tions upon established systems, to prove that
advantages will result from the alterations they
recommend. More particularly ought they who
urge the adoption of a measure that affects
the interests of any other class of their fellow-
subjects, to show, not only that the benefits to
be produced outweigh the evils to be incurred,
but that those benefits may be obtained, con-
sistently with good faith and public justice.
Numerous publications have lately appeared,
in favor of the equalization of the duty on East
and West Indian sugar;* and the vast advan-
* Letters from Mr. Cropper to William Wilberforce, Esq.
Report of Committee of Liverpool East India Association.
Papers on the Culture and Manufacture of Sugar in India.
Suggestions on East India Trade.
On Protection to West India Sugar.
East and West India Sugar.
6
tages held out to the public from the adop-.
tion of this measure, are calculated to give it
great popularity: but on due examination it will
be found that these advantages, as far as British
interests are concerned, are altogether visionary;
and that no case is made out, which calls
upon Parliament to alter our established system
of colonial policy.
The first ground on which this measure is re-
commended, is the vast increase that will take
place in the consumption of sugar, by admitting
it from the East Indies at a reduced rate of duty.
In support of this assertion, the advocates of the
East Indian claims refer to the increase that has
taken place in the consumption of coffee and cot-
ton. In the year 1807, (they say,) the duty on
coffee was reduced from 2s. 2d. to 7d. per pound.
Previously to this taking place, the annual con-
sumption of coffee in Great Britain was only
7537 cwt.; but immediately after the reduction
of duty, the home consumption was increased so
much, that in 1808 it amounted to 57,276 cwt.
These Gentlemen seem to forget, that coffee, in
consequence of the reduction of the duty, was
introduced into more general consumption as a
substitute for tea; so that the revenue, instead
of being increased, as they assert, "by this wise
*
Report of the Committee, p. 38.
7
and beneficial measure," lost on one commodity
what it gained on the other. In fact, this regu-
lation was not adopted to increase the revenue,
but on the policy of encouraging a colonial
in preference to a foreign production, the very
system which the East Indians are now endea-
vouring to overturn.
The consumption of cotton, they tell us,
increased one hundred and twenty fold in the
interval between 1701 and 1820; or in one hun-
dred and twenty years:* but this, they admit, was
not the consequence of a reduction of duty, and,
therefore, in point of fact, has no bearing whatever
upon the question. The improvements in ma-
chinery which enable us to undersell our
foreign competitors in the manufacture of cotton,
have occasioned this amazing increase in the
consumption of that commodity. Sugar, how-
ever, is not only manufactured but eaten; and
although the consumption in a manufacture may
be indefinite, that in the human stomach is
finite; and unless the East Indians can invent
some new machinery, by which mankind may
be induced to eat one hundred and twenty times
as much sugar as they now do, the comparison
* Report of Committee, p. 39.
$
between cotton and sugar cannot be deemed
applicable.
We are desired, however, to believe, that
the annual consumption of sugar in Great Bri-
tain, might be increased from 150,000 to 500,000
tons; and, are told, "it by no means follows
"that this ought to be assigned as the limit of
*
our consumption in sugar;"† and that "all
this might be effected without any loss what-
"ever to the revenue." To what extent the
consumption of sugar will be increased by the
reduction of price, is an experiment that has
already been tried, and the result of which is
actually before us. In 1814, the average price,
of sugar, as published in the Gazette, was
75s. 2d.; in 1820, it was only 36s. Sd.,
being a reduction of 58s. 11d.; and the
effect produced was, that in 1814 the
consumption was 121,605 tons, and in 1820
151,571 tons. These statements are copied from
the Report of the Committee of the Liverpoo
East India Association, § and so far from sup-
porting their assumption, "that they have
66
"s
established as a point beyond controversy, that
provided the price of sugar be reduced to the
Report of Committee, p. 47.
‡ Ibid. p. 49.
↑ Ibid. p. 46.
§ Ibid. p. 42.
9.
consumer, the consumption will be increased
"to an amazing extent," prove, on the contrary,
{
that a greater reduction than can possibly take
place from the present price, instead of increasing.
the consumption, as they calculate, 350,000
tons, increased it not quite 30,000.
In order to show an ample provision against.
any deficiency in the supply of sugar, when their
predicted immense increase of consumption
takes place, the Liverpool Committee put the
following question, in the shape of a sum in the
Rule of Three:-"If a population under one
"million can supply us with 200,000 tons of
sugar, what may one hundred millions produce,
"where there is an extent of territory in propor-
tion, and where the soil and climate are equally
adapted to its production ?" * The answer is,
twenty millions of tons; a greater quantity
than could be consumed by all the inhabit-
ants of the universe, if they did nothing but suck
sugar from morning till night. Really, such
extravagant propositions, are more like the re-
veries of madmen, than the sober calculations
of men of business.
A second recommendation to this measure,
is the cheapness that would follow the great
*
Report of Committee, p. 46.
10
abundance of sugar. The Committee "conceive
"it will be made to appear, that if sugar were
only subject to a moderate taxation, or duty,
"the British manufacturer could, in exchange
"for his goods, procure it in any quantity, so
"as to sell coarse qualities at 2 d. to 3d., and
"refined 5d. to 6d. per pound." * If Go-
vernment would give up the duty, to the extent
that the East Indians propose, leaving only
6s. 8d. per cwt., this might almost be done
under the present system; for the actual price
of sugar for the last year, exclusive of duty,
according to the Gazette average, was less
than Sd. per pound,† the duty being 2d.
*
Report of Committee, p. 45.
† According to the Account laid before the House of
Commons, and ordered to be printed, 18th February, 1823.
An Account of the Average Prices of Sugar in Great Britain,
at the several Periods at which the Rates of Duty may have
been regulated; from the 5th January 1822, to the 5th
January 1823; with the Rates of Duty payable at each of
the said Periods respectively.
Average Price, ex-
clusive of the Duty. Rate of Duty.
s. d.
S.
d.
5th January 1822.
27 7
27
•
5th May
.. 1882
29 91/
27
•
5th September 1822
5th January . 1823
27 14
27
27 21
27
4)111 81
s.27 11
11
7-8ths., or very nearly 3d. more. But if the
present duty be continued, the East Indian must
cultivate sugar for nothing, the ship-owner must
bring it home for nothing, the underwriter must
insure it for nothing, the Dock Company must
warehouse it for nothing, and the merchant and
grocer must sell it for nothing, before these
extravagant calculations of the Committee of
the Liverpool East India Association can be
realized.
-
Would the repeal of the protecting duty on
East India sugar, which the private traders to
that country express such extreme anxiety to
obtain, really benefit the public or themselves?
One of their own body has furnished the
answer to this question. After giving a state-
ment of the sale of a parcel of sugar from
Benares, which left a loss to the importer of
2s. 10d. per cwt., he proceeds thus:-" But sup-
posing the duty of 10s. to be taken off, then
"the buyer could afford to give 10s. per cwt.
"more, thereby bringing up the price of East
“India to that of the same quality of West India
66
66
·
66
sugar; this would leave a profit to the im-
porter of 7s. 2d. per cwt., and capital would
immediately flow into the sugar import busi-
ness; the consequence would be, a reduction
1:2
"of the 7s: 2d. in the general price of sugar, to
"the advantage of the consumer."*
Here is a plain and direct acknowledgment,
that if the duty of 10s. were taken off, the
immediate effect would be, that the buyer could.
afford to give 10s. per cwt. more, and that the
importer would not only save the loss of 2s. 10d.
but make a profit of 7s. 2d.; thus monopolizing
the whole 10s., and leaving the poor consumer
nothing, except, indeed, what remained at the
bottom of Pandora's box-" Hope;" the hope
"of a future reduction of the 7s. 2d. in the gene-
"ral price of sugar to his advantage, from
capital flowing into the sugar import busi-
66 ness."
(1
A lure is held out to the British manufactu-
rers, in the vast demand that they are told would
take place for their goods, in return for East Indian
sugars; and they are assured, "that the demand
"for our productions has exceeded the most.
"sanguine expectations of those who are con-
"tending for an open trade." This is not the
first time that other objects have been pursued
by the private traders to India, under the pre-
* On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 25.
+ Report of Committee, p. 15.
1
13
tence of encouraging the export of British manu-
factures. In the year 1792, a very long memorial
was produced by the private traders, in which they
introduced calculations of a very flattering descrip-
tion. To these suggestions Lord Melville, then
Mr. Dundas, acceded, and the Company yielded,
by appropriating 3000 tons of shipping, annually,
for the service. By the Third Report of the
Special Committee of East India Directors,
printed in 1802, it appeared that the Company
had then, according to the Act of 1793, pro-
vided annually 3000 tons, for the exportation of
British manufactures, which, for nine years,
amounted to 27,000 tons, of which only 1988
had been applied for. The Directors add,
"But in order to shew that the clamour in
"favour of British manufactures, at that time,
"was a cover to other views, the following par-
"ticulars of the goods shipped by one of the
"most considerable houses of agency, may be
"useful." They then give the enumeration of
822 tons of goods, with the following comment:
"We thus perceive 424 tons of metals; but of
"the great staple article of British manufacture,
"woollens, one ton, and no more.”* The
metals, be it observed, were not sent out in a
* Third Report of the Special Committee, p. 15-18.
16
not encourage the export of British manufac
tures in the same degree as that from the West
Indies. The East Indians import no utensils
for the manufacture of sugar, but make them
all, even the bags in which it is shipped. "In
Bengal, no expensive works, nor complicated
"machines, are required; consequently, little or
"no capital is requisite, beyond the support of the
"cultivator. The mill which grinds the sugar
cane, and the earthen pots which boil the juice,
"are every where made upon the spot, at an ex-
pense too trifling to be named. The former
"costs a rupee, (2s. 1d.) the latter, an anna, (less
"than 2d.) a piece; nine of which suffice to boil
"the cane juice which one mill yields. The plough
"and harrow, equally cheap and simple in their
"construction, do not, together, cost in general
"above a rupee; a hoe, eight annas; bullocks,
"four to eight rupees a piece; plants, two rupees
per begah; which, with a shed, and a ryott's
""
46
hut, about four rupees, include all the requisites
"and expense of a sugar plantation in Bengal.
***
In the West Indies, on the contrary, the
cost of a good set of works for a sugar estate is
£5000 sterling. The planters import from the
* Papers respecting the Culture and Manufacture of Sugar
in India, Appendix III. p. 57.
17
mother country, their mills, coppers, iron teaches,
stills and worms, pots and forms, coals, the
hoops and nails used in making their sugar
hogsheads and rum puncheons, their tools of
every description, clothing for themselves and
negroes, the bricks and lime with which their
houses and works are built, their furniture, and
almost every thing that they eat, drink, wear,
or consume; so that the British manufacturers
have nothing to gain, but every thing to lose,
by the transfer of the supply of sugar from the
West to the East Indies.
Another alleged inducement to this pro-
ject, is the great additional employment that
´would be furnished for British ships and British
seamen. The East India Committee say, that
"as the distance from which East India sugar
"has to be conveyed is greater, a greater quan--
"tum of British shipping and British seamen
"will he employed, and the trade will remain
"undiminished. This would be the case if the-
quantity of sugar imported and consumed
"`remained the same; but as the price will be re-
duced, if your labours are successful, a greater
66
66
"C
quantity will be consumed; and thus both these
important interests, instead of being injured,
"will be benefited."* On this point, however, the
*
Report of Committee, p. 29.
B
18
Committee of the Liverpool Association express
themselves, in one passage, with some degree of
diffidence; for they admit "that this is a ques-
"tion in which the maritime interests are
66
66
<<
·
All
involved, as respects the quantum of British
shipping and British seamen that have been
employed in the West India trade."*
discussion upon this subject may be cut short,
by quoting the following resolution of the
General Court of Proprietors of East India
Stock, held the 19th of June last:-"That the
existing limitation as to the size of vessels
.6
66
employed in the East India trade is a part of
"the compact with the East India Company, to
"which the faith of Parliament is pledged."
Another, " "That this Court cannot consent to
"the relinquishment of this part of the compact,
"unless reciprocal concessions are obtained by
"the restoration of East India built ships to the
6
rights of full British registry; and by the
"admission of sugar from British India for
"home consumption, on equal terms with sugar
produced in other dependencies of the British
empire."
<6
.66
From this document it appears,
* Report of Committee, p. 29.
+ Copy of Correspondence between the Commissioners
for the Affairs of India, and the Court of Directors of the
East India Company, ordered by the House of Commons to
be printed, the 5th July, 1822.
19
that the East Indians require, not only that East
Indian sugar should be substituted for West
Indian sugar, but that East Indian ships should
be substituted for British ships; and, indeed, as
ships built in the colonies are entitled to British
registry, if colonial privileges be granted to the
East Indies in one respect, no good reason
could be given why they should be refused in
any other. As the Directors of the East India
Company formerly said, upon this very subject-
"It is thus that the question becomes extensive,
"and embraces the most important interests of the
<< country. The land owner, merchant, manufac-
"turer, the British and Irish ships, seamen, &c.
"all must be sacrificed at the shrine of about fifty
or a hundred Indian merchants and agents.
86
ý
"*
The same parties, however, still maintain
the same pretensions; and Mr. Prinsep, among
others, although he expresses sentiments that
might be expected to produce a different con-
viction. "If it be true," he says, "that her
"rank among nations depends upon her mari-
"time superiority, a position which her friends
"and her enemies seem perfectly agreed upon,
"it is no less true that maritime commerce is
Third Report of Special Committee, page 60.
20
"the basis of that superiority."* Again, " It is
"in the stout hearts and skilful hands of a
seafaring population, that maritime strength
"consists." Nevertheless, he inveighs against
the blind selfishness of the shipping interest of
Great Britain, the prejudices and self-interest of
the landholders, who desire a monopoly of the
growth of timber, for the purposes of naval
architecture, and, in short, all manner of per-
sons who oppose his favourite project. The
author of the pamphlet on Protection to West
India Sugar, asserts the same pretensions in
favour of East India built ships. "The Indian
shipping has a right to a general register;
re
policy and justice equally demand the conces-
"sion of this point, in spite of the jealousy of
"the shipping interest at home." These India
built ships, be it observed, are manned by Las-
cars, a tawny race of beings, whose nerves are
shaken by every blast, whose toes and fingers
are benumbed by every frost, and whom Mr. Prin-
sep himself describes as the "enfeebled native
"sailors of our eastern territories."
These,
* Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 9.
+Ibid. p. 43.
‡ Ibid.
p. 39.
§ Ibid. p. 45.
| On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 6.
¶ Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 44.
f
21
too, are to be substituted for British seamen ;
and to these wretches, whom the law declares to
be nuisances, and obliges those who bring them
here, to transport back to their native land, is
the honour of maintaining the British flag, and
the power of wielding the British naval thunder,
to be confided! If such plans succeed, the sun
of British glory must indeed set for ever.
These extravagant pretensions of the pro-
prietors of East India stock, come with a very ill
grace from that body, who enjoy the most exten-
sive and close monopoly that ever was granted to
any set of men; and who make the public pay an-
nually for their supply of tea, £2,700,000 more
than they would purchase it for, if the trade were
thrown open.*
Nevertheless, these Gentlemen,
1
* The following statement lately appeared in one of the
public papers:
"Effects of the East India Company's monopoly on the
price of Tea.
“We beg leave to call the attention of our readers to the
following statement of the prices of Tea in London and New
York. The prices, in both instances, are exclusive of duty.
The London prices are those for which the teas sold at the
Company's last sale, and lodged in their warehouses, are now
selling; and the New York prices are those of the teas in the
,
entrenched within their chartered privileges, refuse
to make a concession, which, without being pre-
bonded warehouses, and are literally copied from the "Price
Current," published in that city on the 15th November last.
Teas.
London Prices..
Average.
New York Prices.
Average.
Difference:
2s. 5d. perlb. . Os. 11d. : ls. 6d.
Bohea
Congo 3s. 2d.
Souchong. 4s. 4d.
Os. 8d.
2s. 6d.
1s. 6d.
2s. 10d.
Teranhay. 3s. 6d.
not quoted
Hyson, Skein 3s. 4d.
Hyson .. 4s. 8d
1s. 3d.
2s. ld.
28.
8d.
2s. Od.
17s. 11d.
7s. Od.
10s. lld.
“The difference in the average of the five species of tea,
and they are those in general use, quoted in both places, is
just 2s. 2d. per pound: and supposing the difference in the
other species to be in the same proportion, it will follów, in-
asmuch as there are about 25 millions of pounds weight of
téa annually consumed in Great Britain, that the East India
Company's monopoly costs the British public, in the article of
tea only, the enormous sum of £2,708,750! It is impossible
either to controvert or dispute this statement. It is founded
on official documents, whose accuracy neither is nor can be
denied. Neither can it be contended that the price of tea is
naturally higher in London than in New York; on the con-
trary, we have the authority of some of the best informed and
most extensive merchants in the kingdom for saying, that were
the trade thrown open, teas could be imported into England for
20 per cent. less than into America. Here, therefore, we have
a tax of about THREE MILLIONS sterling, imposed on one of
23
judicial to themselves, would be highly advantageous
to British commerce, unless they can obtain what
they are pleased to term reciprocal concessions, but
which in fact involve the ruin of British navigation,
as well as of the British colonies.
Another recommendation of this measure
is the improvement that it would occasion in the
rate of our foreign exchanges. We are told,
that the "large importation of sugar, will ope-
(t.
rate on the continental exchanges, your Com---
"mittee will suppose, to the extent of twenty
<t
per cent.; when their tallow, which now
"cannot be sold in England under 50s., will be
purchased at 40s.: their flax, which could not
"before have been sold in England under 60s.,
<t
6%
might be sold at 48s., and so on. "* All these
advantages may be procured by an increased
importation of East Indian sugar into the Conti-
nent of Europe, and by remitting the proceeds of
the sales to England; but they would be lost by
the prime necessaries of life, for the exclusive advantage of a
company of private merchants. It remains to be seen whether
the public will submit to continue to pay such a sum for such a
purpose. If they do not exert themselves to procure relief
from so scandalous an imposition, with what face can they
seek relief from taxes levied for public objects? So long as
they submit to have their pockets picked by onopolists, they
certainly deserve no favour from the tax-gatherer.
* Report of Committee, page 53.
w
24
these sugars being consumed in England instead
of the Continent, which is the measure the East
Indians are labouring to accomplish. By being sent
to England, they might indeed affect the exchange
between England and India; but they could
only affect the continental exchanges by being
sent to the Continent; for no commodity can
possibly influence the exchange of a country
into which it does not enter.
!
Mr. Prinsep makes such contradictory.
assertions respecting the state of the exchange
between Great Britain and India, that one
would really think he had forgotten the state-
ments contained in the beginning of his
pamphlet, before he came to the conclusion of
it. In one passage he says, "The present state
"of the exchange with India, and the uniform
"complaint of the exporters, as to the difficulty
"and loss in procuring remittances, after the
"sale of their adventures in India, show the
necessity of opening our home consumption.
"to all the raw products of the East."* In
another passage he asserts, that "the difficulty
"of making remittances for the support of the
66
Company's establishment, and the payment of
"the interest of its debt in Europe, was always
* Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 25.
25.
"more imaginary than real. The increased and
increasing amount of the private trade, has
❝removed it altogether."* Mr. Prinsep appears
to have one mode of reasoning for himself and
his brother private traders, and another for the
Company; but how the complaints of the
exporters, as to the difficulty and loss in pro-
curing remittances, can be well founded, while
the same difficulty on the part of the Company
was always more imaginary than real, and is
now removed altogether, is a paradox too diffi-
cult for common understandings to comprehend.
Another argument used in favour of this
measure is, that we are bound to provide em-
ployment for the population of India, who are
thrown out of their usual occupation, by the
increasing export of British manufactures. The
Committee of the Liverpool East India Associa-
tion say," The unrestricted introduction of our
"manufactures into that country, together with
our underselling them in every market in the
66
66
world, must deprive of employment vast num-
"bers of people; and until some substitute be
"found, it must be very severely felt, not only by
"the people, but by the revenue."†
Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 65.
+ Report of Committee, p. 55.
26
.
says,.
(
66
€
Mr. Prinsep confirms this statement, and
"the millions of hands lately engaged
"during a large portion of the year, in the
simple cotton looms of the native weavers, of
“India, are thrown out of employment by the.
competition of British industry, aided by
"machinery."* In another passage he exclaims,
"Surely, this is the very consummation of the
triumph of machinery!" He might have
added, of inhumanity, too; but the philanthropy
of the private traders, instead of arresting their
progress in this competition, so profitable to them-
selves, but so distressing to the native population
of India, does not prevent them from pushing it
to the utmost extent. They merely ask what is to
become of the industry of British India? And
how is that general contentment of its popula-
tion to be secured, on which depends the
constancy of its allegiance?"
The accounts laid before Parliament certainly
show, that an export of British cotton goods to
India took place in the year ending the 1st Janu-'
ary 1822, to the extent of near £800,000: but this
is owing to peculiar circumstances, and therefore
Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 30.
+ Ibid. p. 18.
↑ Ibid. p. 51.
27
1
cannot be expected to continue.. For some time:
the price of cotton was as low in Great Britain
as in India, and the East India Company
have actually shipped it from hence to China,
in preference to ordering it, as usual, from the
places of its growth in India. This unnatural
state of the market must eventually correct itself;
for the invariable effect of a very low price is, to
discourage and diminish the growth of the commo-
dity, till the scarcity restores it to its natural level.
When this takes place, the British manufacturer
will lose the temporary advantage, which, at pre→
sent, enables him to undersell the East Indian ma-
nufacturer in his own market.
ན
·
+
J
At a late General Court of Proprietors,
one of the East India Directors warned
the modern speculators, of the danger to
which they exposed our empire in India, by
driving the native cotton manufacturers to
desperation, at being thrown out of employment,
and superseded in the sale of their goods, by
the introduction of British manufactures; and
the authors of the ruin of these poor creatures
are now endeavouring to find new employment
for them, by starving some hundred thousand
slaves in the West Indies. Such must be the
inevitable consequence of superseding them in
the cultivation of sugar; for in the old islands,
28
the woods which formerly attracted the clouds,
and brought down rain, have long since been
felled; and the soil is become so arid, that the
growth of provisions cannot be depended upon.
If their master cannot purchase provisions for
the subsistence of his negroes, by the sale of
his sugars, they must inevitably perish the first
dry season; and the condition of the master,
who must witness these scenes of distress and
horror, would scarcely be more enviable than
that of his slave. The very low price of sugar,
which has deprived the planters both of their
means of payment and their credit, together
with the partial failure of the late crop, has
already produced this state of things in Antigua;
where the extremity was such, that the Gover-
nor actually drew bills upon the Treasury, as
the only means of procuring provisions to save
the negroes from starving. And if the schemes
of these East India speculators are encouraged,
the same effects will soon be produced in most
of the other West India islands.
Mr. Cropper, although he professes to be ac-
tuated by the philanthropic motive of putting an
end to slavery, avows the ruin of the West Indians
to be his object. "There is evidently,” (he says)
""
a rate of prices necessary to support slave culti-
❝vation, under a system which prevents their in-
+
29
"crease, and may require supply by fresh impor-
"tations. At a lower rate slave cultivation may be
66
continued, but not the importation of slaves.
"There is I believe a point still lower where every
"system of slavery must be given up." This still
lower point he proposes to attain by (what he calls
a fair competition) some reduction, if not an entire
equality in the duty on East and West India sugar.
As has already been stated, in many of the old
islands, if the master cannot maintain his slaves
by the sale of produce, they cannot maintain them-
selves by the growth of provisions, but must inevi-
tably starve; a result not quite so compatible with
the feelings of the disinterested philanthropist, as
with those of the interested merchant, who is " ex-
"tensively engaged in a trade to India, which he
"finds not to be profitable," but which might be
rendered so by the destruction of his West Indian
competitors.
May not the West Indians justly ask, in
the words of Mr. Prinsep, "Where is the justice
"or policy of relieving one class of sufferers, by
"increasing the pressure on the other?" and
retort his own statement upon him, of the con-
sequences that would ensue from equalizing the
*
Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 49.
30
1
duties on East and West Indian sugar? To our
transatlantic possessions, (the West Indian colo-
nies,)" It threatens total destruction; loss of in-
"come to the proprietor, of principal and interest
"to the mortgagee; bankruptcy to the trader and
consignee; and the extinction of an extensive
"branch of commerce and source of revenue, to
"the nation at large. The continent of India,
" though it has most to complain of, has the least
"to apprehend; its injuries cannot extend beyond
"the privation of a lucrative intercourse, it has
only now begun to enjoy or appreciate. Her
population will only be thrown back upon its own
፡፡
66..
resources, compelled still to vegetate in igno-
"rance upon the bare necessaries of life, to which
"it has been heretofore confined."* A dispas-
sionate consideration of the different conse
quences to the different parties interested, cannot
but be decisive of the conduct that ought to
be adopted on the present question.
True policy requires, that the industry of
our colonies and dependencies should be so
directed, as not to interfere with the prosperity
of one another or of the mother country, but to
produce commodities for which we are depend-
ant on foreign powers. If any apprehensions
* Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 52.
31
are entertained, that the imports from India will
not furnish the means of paying for the exports,
the cultivation both of silk and indigo may be
advantageously extended; and that of tea, for
a supply of which we are in a state of humiliating
and precarious dependence upon China, might
be introduced. Probably, the East India Com-
pany may think their monopoly of tea more se-
cure in China, than it would be in India; but
this objection cannot be urged by the advocates
of universal free trade, and might, upon its own
distinct ground, be obviated.
The author of East and West India Sugar
asks, why the claim of the West Indian planters to
a preference in the supply of sugar, has not been
extended to cotton, indigo, and other articles ?*
The answer is, that the supply of the mother coun-
try with these articles, never was given exclusively
to the West Indian colonies; they only shared it in
common with other countries, with the advantage
of a trifling protecting duty; neither was the cul-
tivation of them absolutely necessary to their ex-
istence. But sugar is their staple commodity, and
if they are supplanted in the cultivation of the cane,
they are left without resource. To make what they
have already suffered from East Indian competi-
* East and West India Sugar, p. 22.
32
tion, an argument for extending it to their total
ruin, betrays a want both of justice and of feeling.
A notion has been industriously circulated,
that in the East Indies, sugar is raised by the
labour of free men, and not as in the West Indies
by slaves. Some pious persons, with tender con-
sciences, have been so far duped by these repre-
sentations, as to renounce the use of West India
and to adopt that of East India sugar: but it
may be proved by most unquestionable authority,
that slaves are employed in the one as well as in-
the other. Doctor Buchanan was employed by
the Marquis of Wellesley, after the peace that
followed the defeat, and death of Tippoo Sul-
taun, to make a journey from Madras, through
the Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, for the express
purpose of investigating the state of the British
provinces in his route. He was selected for this
undertaking, as being peculiarly qualified for it
by his various acquirements, and particularly by
his thorough knowledge of the language of the
natives; and he was furnished by the Governor-
General with letters to all the British residents
in the different provinces, directing them to give
him every possible assistance and information.
He acquitted himself of this task with so much
ability, that a copy of his work was deposited in
the library of the East India Company; and
soon afterwards was published, under the autho-
33
rity and patronage of the Board of Directors, to
whom it was dedicated, with their permission.
This publication, which appeared in 1807, not
only proves the existence of slavery, but that
the greater part of the agricultural labour of the
provinces through which he passed, and where
sugar is an important article of cultivation, is
performed by slaves. The Doctor details the
particular mode of cultivating the cane, in that
part of the world; states, that rice and canes
are grown alternately, and usually two crops of
rice for one of sugar, to avoid exhausting the
land. He gives drawings of their mills and other
utensils; and describes the peculiar fineness of
the clayed sugar manufactured by one individual,
who is supposed to have been taught the pro-
cess, which he keeps secret, by Tippoo Sul-
taun himself. The following quotations from
this work prove these assertions respecting
slavery.
"LOWER CARNATIC.
"Their farms they chiefly cultivate by slaves of the
inferior castes, called Sudra and Panchum Bundum."
(Vol. i. p. 19.)
"MALABAR.
"From an enumeration of the inhabitants in one of
the districts of Malabar, given by Mr. Baber, the number
C
$4
of persons in each house is three 6755-10,000 parts.
This would reduce the number of free persons in
Mr. Warden's circle to
Add slaves
Total inhabitants
(Vol. ii. p. 3.)
78,925
16,574
95,499
"By far the greater part of the labour in the field,
is performed by slaves or churmar. These are the abso-
lute property of their devarus or lords; and may be em-
ployed in any work that their masters please. They are
not attached to the soil, but transferred in any manner their
master's think fit; only a husband and a wife cannot be
sold separately, but children may be separated from their
parents, and brothers from their sisters. These are their
modes of transferring the usufruct of slaves."
The author then proceeds at considerable
length, and concludes thus:
"These two tenures are utterly abominable; for
the person who exacts the labour and furnishes the sub-
sistence of the slaves, is directly interested to increase the
former and diminish the latter, as much as possible. In
fact, the slaves are very severely treated; and their dimi-
nutive stature and squalid appearance, show evidently a
want of adequate nourishment. There can be no com-
parison between their condition and that of the slaves in
the West India Islands; except that in Malabar there
are a sufficient number of females, who are allowed to
marry any person of the same caste with themselves, and
whose labour is always exacted by their husband's master;
35
the master of the girl having no authority over her, so long
as she lives with another man's slave. This is a custom
that ought to be recommended to our West India.
planters; and, if adopted, I am persuaded would soon.
induce the negro women to breed, and would give a suf-
ficient supply of inhabitants, without having recourse to our
annual importations from Africa." (Vol. ii. p. 370-372.)
"When a man's stock of cows is large, they are
kept with the labouring cattle, in a house built at some
distance from the abode of free men, in a place where the
slaves are permitted to dwell when the crop is not on the
ground; for these poor creatures are considered as too
impure to be permitted to approach the house of their
devaru or lord." (Vol. iii. p. 380.)
"MANAPURAM.
"At Manapuram a slave when thirty years old, costs
about 100 fanams, or £2 14s. 7d.; with a wife he costs
double; children sell at from 15 to 40 fauams, or from
8s. 21d. to 21s. 10d. A working slave gets daily three-
tenths of a poray of rough rice, or about 363 bushels
a-year. He also gets annually one fanam for oil, and 1½
fanam for cloth, which is just sufficient to wrap round his
waist. If he be active, he gets cloth worth two fanams
and at harvest time from 5 to 6 porays of rough rice.
Old people and children get from one to two-thirds of the
above allowance, according to the work they can per-
form." (Vol. ii. p. 406, 407.)
“KERAKUM-PURAM, KADAKUM-PURAM AND
PORAWAY.
s;
"There are 4765 slaves, making the population in
all 31,097." (Vol. ii. p. 485.)
$6
"NORTH MALABAR.
"The yearly allowance here established for a slave
is, of rough rice, to able-bodied men, 148 cubical inches;
to able-bodied women, 103; to old persons and child-
ren, 741. The average will be 18 4-10ths. bushels, of
which one half is husks." (Vol. ii. p. 491.)
"CURUMBARA NADA.
"In Curumbara Nada, almost all the farmers (cu-
dians) have slaves; there are a very few only that are re-
duced to the necessity of labouring with their own hands.
Male slaves sell at from twenty to sixty old vir-raya fa-
nams, or from 9s. 6d. to 28s. 8d.; women sell at only one
half of this low price. A male slave lets at four fanams
a-year, and a woman at half as much; the persons who
hire them providing for their maintenance." (Vol. ii.
p. 495.)
"CANAMORE AND CHERICAL.
"The number of houses is 10,386, and there are
4600 slaves. The panicars (or hired men) are frequently
flogged; and as their masters are not bound to provide
for them in old age or during famine, they seem to be in
a worse condition than the slaves. They work from
morning till noon, when they are allowed an hour for
breakfast; then they work until evening, and all night
they watch the crop." (Vol. ii. p. 56.)
"TULAVA.
"The cultivation is chiefly carried on by culiaber,
or hired servants; but there are also some maladalu,
bought men or slaves." (Vol. iii. p. 35.)
"Having assembled some of the corar or coraivar,
who, under their chief Hubashica, are said to have once
37
been masters of Tulava; I found that they are now all
slaves, and have lost every tradition of their former power."
(Vol. iii. p. 100.)
"In the northern parts of Tulava, are two castes,
called Bocadaru and Batadaru, both of whom are slaves;
when their master has no occasion for their work, they
get no wages; but hire themselves out as labourers, in
the best manner they can, for they have not the resource
of basket making, nor of the other little arts which the
corars practise. The master is bound, however, to pre-
vent the aged or infirm from perishing of want." (Vol. iii.
p. 106.)
"HAIGA.
"In the farms of the Brahmans, most of the labour
is performed by slaves." (Vol. iii. p. 148.)
"SOONDA.
"Farmers, who are not Brahmans, unless their
farms be large, work the whole with their own families;.
but rich men must hire servants, or keep slaves. Men.
slaves receive yearly an allowance of rice, clothes, and
money, equal to £2. 8s. 73d, the women 8s. 1d." (Vol. iii...
p. 243.)
" BIDDERURU.
"There are very few hired servants, but a good many
slaves, by whom, on the farms of the Brahmans, all the-
ploughing is performed." (Vol. iii. p. 280.)
The contrast between slavery in the East
and West Indies, as above described, is very
striking; and calls for some observations. In
the East, slaves are let out to task-masters, who
feed and work them, in consideration of an an-
38
nual stipend paid to their owners; and, therefore,
the persons who exact the labour and furnish
the subsistence of the slaves, are directly inte-
rested in increasing the former and diminishing
the latter, as much as possible. Such a tenure, as
Doctor Buchanan justly and feelingly observes,
is utterly abominable; nor can it be wondered
at, that their diminutive stature and squalid ap-
pearance should, as he asserts, indicate severe
treatment and want of adequate nourishment.
There is, indeed, the Doctor exclaims, no com-
parison between their condition and that of the
slaves in the West Indies; where their master
is their employer, and interest as well as hu-
manity prompt him to treat them well. In the
West Indies, all the slaves who are not employed
in the house of their master as domestics, have
houses of their own, with gardens and every
domestic comfort around them; but in the East,
they are obliged to herd with the cattle, these
poor creatures being considered as too impure
to be permitted to approach the house of their
lord! How conflicting is this official account
with the declaration, "that their services are so
66
light, and their state so happy, that they ab-
"solutely appear as members of the family in
"which they live, not like slaves." The allow-
ance of provisions given to slaves in the West
Indies, who are past labour, is uniformly the same
as to those who are in the prime of life. This
39:
·
•
regulation is not only custom, but law; and
would be enforced, if necessary, against the mas-
ter; but in the East Indies, Doctor Buchanan
asserts, old people are reduced to half allowance!
As in India, Doctor Buchanan tells us, they fre-
quently flog the freemen who are hired la-
bourers, it cannot reasonably be expected that
they should exercise greater forbearance toward
the slaves. The condition of these freemen is
truly pitiable; for they are described as working
from morning till noon, when they are allowed
an hour for breakfast; they then work till even-
ing, and then one would naturally suppose they
were permitted to retire to rest; but not so,
"all night they watch the crop." So that their
toil is unremitted by night and by day, except-
ing the hour allowed for their meal, and the in- ·
tervals employed in the necessary flagellations,
to keep them up to this inexorable duty. The
East Indians must certainly be acquitted of
trading to the coast of Africa for slaves; for
they have found out a much more easy and econo-
mical mode of supply, by enslaving a whole na-
tion without travelling from home: as in the
instance of the Corar, who were once masters of
Tulava, but whom the Doctor found to be
now all slaves. These quotations amply prove,
that if moral considerations are to be taken into
the estimate, or to be set up as grounds for claim
to public favour, the pretensions of the East
40
Indian planters do not stand higher than those of
the West.
Other writers on India confirm the testimony
of Dr. Buchanan. Pennant, in his view of Hindos-
tan, speaking of the funerals in that part of the
world, says,
"If the person is of rank, the pall
"is covered with cloth and flowers, and a bullock
"is sacrificed, and the head buried with the de-
"ceased. If he happens to be an Upper Hill of
66
66
common rank, the head of one of his slaves is cut
"off and burnt with him. If the Upper Hill
person is of high rank, a large body of his slaves
"rush from the hills, seize an Hindoo and cut off
"his head, and burn it with their chieftain."*
This passage proves not only the existence.
of slavery, but the barbarous ceremonies of
which the slaves are made both the agents and
the victims.
Mills, in his history of India, calls the
lower classes the slaves of slaves; as indeed
they are, for the zemindars, rajahs, and nabobs,
are only slaves of different degrees. The fol-
lowing extract is taken from that work." The
"business of the Sudras is servile labour, and
"their degradation inhuman. Not only is the
66'
Pennant's View of Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 369.
4.1.
"most abject and grovelling submission imposed
upon them as a religious duty, but they are
"driven from their just and equal share in the
"social institution. Even their persons and la-
"bour are not free: a man of the servile caste,
"whether bought or unbought, a Brahman may ·
compel to perform servile duty; he may seize
"without hesitation the goods of his Sudra slave,
"for as that slave can have no property, his
master may take his goods, nor let him give
66
66
spiritual instruction to such a man. He who
"instructs a servile man in the mode of expiating
"sin, sinks with that very man into the hell,
"named Asamvrita."*
The writer of a very recent publication,
mentions one of the classes, the Poliars, as
slaves; † and in another part of his work, relates
a story of a man offering to sell him his own son
as a slave, which his attendant told him was ac-
cording to the custom of the country. ‡
Mr. Cropper asserts," that the opening
"of the East India trade, is the trial of
"a great experiment, that of a free com-
petition of the products of the East by free
men, and those of the West by slaves;" and
"6
((
* Mills's British India, vol. i. p. 167, 168, 169, passim.
+ Fifteen Years in India, p. 183.
‡ Ibid. p. 308.
42
the author of the pamphlet on Protection to
West India Sugar, says, "But it has been as-
"serted that encouraging sugar in the East In-
"dies, is only employing slaves in the East
"Indies, instead of the slaves in the West.
"Now, to this I give an unqualified negative.
"No slavery does exist in Bengal; or the nor-
"thern provinces where sugar is cultivated."*
The author of East and West India Sugar asks,
"But in Bengal is not sugar cultivated by
"slaves? Certainly not."+ In contradiction
to these bold assertions, the existence of slavery
in Bengal is admitted by the East India Direc-´
tors, although the description of it is softened,
in a manner not easily reconcileable with the
accounts already quoted :
"Slavery is not unknown in Bengal. Throughout
some districts, the labours of husbandry are executed
chiefly by bond-servants. In certain provinces, the plough-
men are mostly slaves of the peasants, for whom they la-
bour; but, treated by their masters more like hereditary
servants, or like emancipated hinds, than like purchased
slaves, they labour with cheerful diligence and unforced
zeal. In some places, also, the land-holders have a claim
to the servitude of thousands, among the inhabitants of
their estates. This claim, which is seldom enforced, and
which in many instances is become wholly obsolete, is
founded on some traditional rights acquired many gene-
rations ago, in a state of society different from the pre-
* On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 48.
+ East and West India Sugar, p. 91.
43
sent; and slaves of this description do in fact enjoy every
privilege of a free man except the name; or, at the
worst, they must be considered as villeins attached to the
glebe, rather than as bondsmen labouring for the sole be-
nefit of their owners. Indeed, throughout India, the re-
lation of master and slave appears to impose the duty of
protection and cherishment on the master, as much as
that of fidelity and obedience on the slave; and their mu-
tual conduct is consistent with the sense of such an
obligation, since it is marked with gentleness and indul-
gence on the one side, and with zeal and loyalty on the
other. Though we admit the fact, that slaves may be
found in Bengal, among the labourers in husbandry, yet
in most provinces none but freemen are occupied in the
business of agriculture. The price of their daily labour,
when paid in money, may be justly estimated at little more
than one ana sica, (being less than 2d. sterling.)"*
Labour in India is of so little value, that, pro-
bably, these claims to servitude are not enforced,
because they are not worth enforcing; but let a
new demand for labour be introduced, (in the
increased cultivation of sugar,) which will render
it more valuable, and these land-holders, who
have a claim to the servitude of thousands, will
immediately assert that claim; and thus a new
slave trade be established in the East Indies,
of infinitely greater magnitude than that which
we have abolished in our West Indian colonies.
One very important consideration connected
Papers, &c. Appendix III. p. 80.
44
with the slave trade, will surely have great
weight in leading men to decide on the expe-
diency of admitting East India sugars into the
home consumption of Great Britain. Every
friend to the abolition of the slave trade
must think it more desirable, with a view to
the accomplishment of that great object, that
the East Indians should continue to compete
in the continental markets of Europe, with
the foreign West Indian planters, by whom the
slave trade is still carried on, than be brought
into competition in the home market, with the
British West Indian planters, by whom the slave
trade has been abolished.
*
The preceding remarks on the state of so-
ciety in India, have been called for by the re-
peated denials of the existence of slavery in
that part of the world; and more particularly
by the contents of the pamphlet, entitled East
and West India Sugar, but which might with
more propriety have been entitled Slavery and
the Slave Trade. The great object of this
writer appears to be, to excite such an odium
against the West Indian planters, as will dispose
their fellow-subjects to ruin them without pity
or remorse, and to think that if they spare their
lives and take all that they have, they treat them
with unmerited lenity. The pamphlet consists
of 103 pages, and in the 95th the writer disco-
vers, "It is not necessary to pursue this subject
45
"into all the painful peculiarities of the West
"Indian system, my object in this paper being
"not to expose what I believe to be the many
66
great and crying evils of that system, but to
"examine the arguments advanced for continu-
ing and even increasing the protecting duty
"on East Indian sugars. ""* Though this recol-
lection occurred too late to influence the con-
duct of the writer, it may teach others, not to
lose sight of their professed object; and, there-
fore, the numerous invectives and exaggerations
contained in this pamphlet, will remain un-
noticed.
The advocates for India bring forward
another argument, connected with the po-
pulation of that country. They say, that
"to refuse their request, is to sacrifice the
"interest of one hundred and twenty millions
"of British subjects, to that of less than one
"million." Before we suffer our imaginations
to be dazzled and bewildered by this high-sound-
ing contrast, let us enquire whether the East
Indians really are British subjects, in the true
sense of the words, and let us also consider
their value as well as their numbers. Their
advocates in some degree concede the first
*East and West India Sugar, p. 95.
+ Report of Committee, p. 19.
46.
"*
point; for they pathetically lament, "that it
"has been too much the habit, to consider our
"West Indian territories as an integral part
"of the country, while those of the East have
"been considered in a degree as foreign.'
The distinction is just: for the proclamation
of the 13th Charles the Second runs thus: "We
"do further publish and declare, that all the chil-
"dren of any of our natural born subjects of
England, to be born in Jamaica, shall from their
"respective births be reputed to be, and shall be,
"free denizens of England; and shall have the
same privileges, to all intents and purposes, as
66
(C
our free born subjects of England." Such was
the encouragement held out to British subjects, to
transport themselves and their capital to the West
Indian colonies; but where is the same language
used to the natives of Hindostan, who must be con-
sidered as subjects of the East India Company, and
not of Great Britain, so long as that Company
retain their territorial sovereignty?
The West Indian colonies have been justly
considered as an integral part of the British em-
pire, because under the colonial system, all the
industry of their inhabitants is made subservient
to the interests of the mother country, and all
their prosperity is reflected back upon her. The
1
* Report of Committee, p. 34.
47
revenue of the British West Indian planter is
expended either in the mother country, if he
can afford to reside there; or, if not, in supplies
drawn from her, and which give life and activity
to her domestic industry. But in India, no
British subject is permitted to cultivate the soil,
or even to visit the interior, without a special
permission, liable to be revoked. The Di-
rectors speak of "the fatal consequences,
"which must arise from establishing the first
" and most dangerous principle of colonization,"
and declare, that "the plans of the private
(6
traders, if admitted, must terminate in the
"destruction of the British empire in India."*
We hear of native princes, and native land-
holders and cultivators, but they never return
to Great Britain to spend the fortune they have
acquired; all their profits centre and remain in
India, and the mother country neither claims
nor receives any part of the produce of their
labours. What then is the value of India to
Great Britain, however numerous her popula-
tion? The account of imports and exports
furnishes the answer.
Official value of Imports from India and China.
1819.
Years ending Jan. 5th,
1820.
1821.
£7,337,689 £7,537,563 £7,562,647
* Third Report of the Special Committee, p. 108.
48
Official value of Exports to India and China.
Years ending Jan. 5th.
1819.
·1820.
1821.
Brit. & Irish prod. & manf. £2,683,221 £1,998,601 £2,978,456
For. & Col. merchandize
502,529 374,380
Official value of Imports from the West Indies.
294,360
1819.
Years ending Jan. 5th.
1820.
1821.
£8,347,235 £7,887,668 £8,011,335
Official value of Exports to the West Indies.
Years ending Jan. 5th.
1819.
1820.
1821.*
Brit. & Irish prod. & man. £5,516,816 £4,197,975 £4,038,222
For. & Col. merchandize
267,737 292,033
· British Tonnage to Asia.
Year ending Jan. 5th, 1821. Tons 74,593
Ditto
1822.
74,406
British Tonnage to British West Indies.
Year ending Jan. 5th, 1821. Tons 217,744
Ditto
1822.
230,830
308,820
* The writer of the Pamphlet, entitled "On Protection
to West India Sugar," has stated, that the declared value of
British manufactures (alone) exported in 1820-21, to China
and India, was £3,713,021-that to the West Indies,
£3,831,300—and in 1821-22 as follows:
Export to India and China
British West Indies
£4,087,020
3,985,053
If he is correct, the return to the House of Commons to
an order, dated 22d March, 1822, (from which the above
statements are copied,) is erroneous.
copied,) is erroneous. He is therefore called
upon to correct his statement, or to show from what more
accurate source he has derived his information.
49
These accounts include the trade with
China as well as India, and prove that the less
than one million of inhabitants of the West
Indies, are more valuable to Great Britain, than
the boasted hundred and twenty millions of
East Indians, (or even than the two hundred and
twenty millions, throwing in the hundred mil-
lions of Chinese,) when viewed in the true
point of comparison.
The author of East and West India Sugar,
speaking of the export to the West Indies, says,
"The amount of that export has been extrava-
gantly estimated by some persons, even as high
ແ
66
as seven or eight millions. But, in fact, it has
seldom, if ever exceeded more than half the
"latter sum, and of that three-fourths, at the least,
66 have been exported, not for the consumption of
the West Indies, but of Spanish South America;
66
so that the real export to the West Indies
"for their own consumption has probably not
much exceeded a million annually.”* The
official accounts above given show, that since
the year 1819, the exports to the British West
Indies have diminished a million and a half;
and it appears by a demi-official pamphlet
recently published, that the exports to the
East and West India Sugar, p. 64.
D
50
foreign West Indies and South America have
increased in a greater degree than those to
the British West Indies have diminished. In the
year 1821, the former are stated to have
amounted to £1,257,047, and the latter to
£917,916.* Formerly all the exports to the
Foreign West Indies and South America were
made circuitously, through the medium of the
free ports in our own West Indian colonies, but
as they are now chiefly made direct, the whole
of the present exports to the British colonies,
(with a trifling deduction from those to Jamaica,
for the purpose of exportation to the Spanish
Main and Cuba,) may be considered as the
amount of their own consumption.
The East Indian advocates contend, that
the claims of the West Indians to a monopoly
of the home consumption, or to any extraordinary
protection in the market of Great Britain, have
no just foundation: but in stating this part of
the case, they, as usual, make admissions that
militate against themselves: for they say-
"This vested right, to which the West Indians
"have so confidently adverted, has no other foun-
"dation whatever than the Acts of Parliament, re-
stricting their intercourse to the mother country;"†
66
* Administration of Affairs of Great Britain, p. 153.
+ Report of Committee, p. 21.
51
-and again, "But, say the West Indians, a pro-
digious amount of capital has been invested in
66
(C
""
""*
our West India possessions under the faith of
protection; where that faith is pledged your
"Committee are at a loss to discover, and they
"confidently assert that it has no foundation, but
"in the vague ideas of those who have stated it.
According, therefore, to the opinions of these
Gentlemen, capital invested under the faith of
protection, pledged by Acts of Parliament, is
a vague idea!
Mr. Prinsep maintains the same doctrine.
"The West Indian party has therefore
"been constrained to admit the protecting
duty they have implored and obtained
66
<<
"to be a downright breach of national eco-
nomy, and a violation of the rights and in-
terests of the British nation at large:"+ but
of this, as well as of many other of his state-
ments, he has not condescended to supply his
readers with any proof whatever. He then asks,
ແ what was the monopoly, upon the expectation
"of which the capital embarked in the British
"West Indies was induced to take that direc-
"tion? Assuredly not the exclusion of East
India sugar by a protecting duty: such a
* Report of Committee, p. 22.
+ Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 26.
}
52
never suggested until very
measure was never
is
("
lately."*
Great
The author of the Pamphlet, entitled "On
Protection to West India Sugar," asks,-" But
"where are the records of their title?
"Britain was first supplied with sugar through
"the Portuguese. The price was exorbitant,
"and encouragement was given in the nature
"of a patent to cultivate the West Indies. From
"1649 to the present time, the chief supply has
"been from the West Indies, but when the price
66 was high in 1792 and again in 1800, cultivation
"in the East Indies was called for and encou-
(6
66
raged by Parliament and Government, and
'importations proportioned to the Company's
"operations, under an exclusive monopoly, took
place. The article was not enumerated in the
"table of customs, but the question of the duty
(£37. 16s. Sd. per cent. ad valorem) was
66
((
agitated during that period, as will be seen by
"the resolutions moved and carried in the Ge-
"neral Court, 15th March, 1792." This writer,
therefore, admits, in opposition to Mr. Prinsep,
that the ad valorem duty did operate as a pro-
tecting duty, and was agitated in the year 1792.
*
Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 27.
+ On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 13.
53
All doubts on this subject may be removed,
by referring to the papers recently published by.
the Directors of the East India Company. They
state, that "The object of the meeting of the
"General Court of Proprietors in 1792 was to
"obtain a more favorable consideration for East
"India sugars, in point of home consumption
("
duty; but in this particular, the East India
sugars have not been successful. The Appendix
"exhibits a succinct view of the duties as they.
"have been varied and regulated from time to
"time, upon both West India and East India
sugars; and it will be seen, that from the year
1799, the East India sugar has been regularly
"charged with a larger comparative proportion of
'duty, until at length it has been burthened by the
enactment of the 1st and 2d of his present Ma-
jesty, cap. 106."*
((
"(
66
Here the Directors admit, that a protecting
duty in favour of West India sugars always
existed; and that the attempt made to inter-
fere with it, in the year 1792, was unsuccessful.
They further quote from the proceedings of the
General Court of March 15, 1792, the following.
passage: "Sugar not having ranked among the
Company's imports at the time of establishing
66
*
Papers respecting the Culture and Manufacture o Sugar
in British India-Minutes of General Court, p. 9.
54
"the present tariff, it was not even named;
"and can only now be received under the head
"of manufactured goods non-enumerated, at
“£37 16s. 3d. per cent. ad valorem.”*
Indeed, very cogent arguments, as well as
liberal sentiments, in favour of colonial protec-
tion, may be extracted from this publication. In
1792, the Directors made the following statement.
"It is not your Committee's wish that the Com-
pany should become the hostile opponents or
"avowed rivals of the West India merchants, in
፡፡
any of the markets to which they have been ac-
"customed, or are competent to supply. But as
"in the present critical state of affairs, an opening
"arises for drawing back to this country a large
portion of that foreign trade which it formerly.
66
((
enjoyed, and which, as has been already shewn,
"the French diverted from hence; your Committee
"conceive it would be unpardonable in them to let
66
slip so fair an opportunity of lending their assist-
"ance to effect so great a national object. Under
"the most favourable circumstances France ever
saw, it would have required many years to re-
"store the island of St. Domingo to its former
flourishing state; this is, therefore, the moment
"for exertions, and if they are properly directed,
66
*
Papers, &c. Appendix I. p. 2.
55
"there is well grounded reason to expect Bengal
64
may be benefited by an export of this commodity
"to the amount of more than half a million per
“annum."*
The same feeling is expressed in the fol-
lowing letter to Bengal, dated 11th Sept. 1811.
you
"With respect to sugar, we shall briefly refer to
the resolutions of the General Court of Proprietors, of
the 15th March, 1792, at which it was resolved, that the
then enormous price of that commodity was owing to the
annual importation being very unequal to the increased
consumption in Great Britain, and the demand for expor-
tation; and that the East India Company, having been
called upon by the public to assist them, the General
Court were of opinion that they could speedily and per-
manently supply a considerable quantity of sugar for the
relief of Great Britain; and that, unless the Company
did so, the Indian sugar trade, and the carrying trade
attached to it, must inevitably be driven into the hands of
foreigners, who had sent and were sending ships from
various parts of Europe and America to India, to pur-
chase that article. We have now to observe, that the
reasons which induced the Company to engage in this
trade have ceased; and therefore it is expedient, as well
on general principles, as on account of the loss which has
attended it, that sugar should not continue to form part
of the Company's investment, except for such quantity,
(.
*Papers, &c. Appendix I. p. 22.
56
and that of the finer assortments only, as may be wanted,
in addition to the annual provision of saltpetre, for sup
plying our ships, regular and extra, with the quantity of
dead weight which may have been stipulated for them, by
special order, or by the terms of the respective charter
parties, and conditions of service; to which quantities
the ships must in future be necessarily restricted. Of
sugar, we do not propose that any should be laden for
Europe in 1812."*
From the above extracts it appears that the
sole motive of the Directors, in interfering with
the West Indians in the home market, was, that
after the devastation of St. Domingo, the supply
was not equal to the demand; or, to use their
own words:" Hence the article has already
"risen to so high a price, that many of the lower
"ranks of people in Britain must forego the use
"of it; and the refining, a very considerable.
"branch of business, is much at a stand for.
"want of material." When this deficiency
ceased, the Directors discontinued their imports
of sugar.
The following extract from the Report for
1818, on the external commerce of Bengal, may.
serve as an effectual counterpoise to many of the
*
Papers, &c. Appendix II. p. 18.
+ Ibid. Appendix I. p. 58.
ཁ་
57
declamatory statements of the private traders to
India. "Although the importation of East Indian
""
""
""
sugar into Great Britain has not done much injury,
as yet, to the West Indian planter, it may happen,
"if the price fall much here, that it may interfere
"materially with the West Indian interests; and
"in such case, the latter are certainly entitled to
legislative protection; almost the whole culti-
"vation of the colonies in the West Indies is car-
"ried on by British capital and by British subjects,
"who are obliged to receive their supplies from
"Great Britain, or her North American colonies,
"and who cannot send their produce to any other
"market than that of Great Britain. As long as
"the price of sugar continues so high here, it
66 cannot be a considerable article of trade to
England, even if the duties were equalized; and
"in so doing, the British Government would cause.
a serious injury to the West Indian planter, while
they would not produce an increasing importation
"of sugar from Bengal.
66
""
(6
**
When the British West India colonies
were first settled, their trade was free and unre-
stricted; but in the year 1660, when they began
to rise into importance, it was enacted by the
12th Charles IId. cap. 18,-" That no sugar,
*Papers, &c. Appendix IV. p. 46.
58
"tobacco, cotton wool, ginger, fustic, or other dying
((
"6
66,
(C
woods, of the growth or manufacture of our
"Asian, African, or American colonies, shall be
shipped from the said colonies to any place but to
England, Ireland, or to some other of his Ma-
jesty's said plantations, there to be landed under
"forfeiture. And to make effectual this last clause,
"for the sole benefit of our own navigation and
“people, the owners of the ships shall give bonds,
"at their setting out, for the due performance
"thereof."
This Act was the foundation of our colonial
system, which is one of mutual monopoly,
and bound the inhabitants of the colonies to send
their produce to, and draw their supplies from,
the mother country, giving them her home
consumption, for the sale of their produce, in
return. The preamble to the Act of the 15th
of Charles the Second, cap. 7, following up the
former Act, declares-"That as the plantations'
"beyond the seas are inhabited and peopled by the
"subjects of England, for maintaining a greater
correspondence and kindness between them, and
66
་་
66.
" a firmer dependence upon it, and rendering them
yet more beneficial and advantageous unto it,-
"in the further employment and increase of
66
English shipping and seamen, vent of English
"woollen and other manufactures and commodi-
"ties, rendering the navigation to and from the
59
"same more safe and cheap, and making this king-
"dom a staple, not only of the commodities of
"those plantations, but also of the commodities
“of other countries and places for supplying of
"them; and it being the usage of other nations to
"keep their plantation trade to themselves; be it
“ enacted, &c.”
Here, the principles of our colonial policy
are clearly laid down, and openly avowed; and
have only been relaxed, where they have been
found to press so severely on the interests of the
planters, as to defeat their own object; or, to
use the emphatic words of Mr. Burke, "not
only to tie, but to strangle." Under such cir
cumstances, the sixth of George the Second,
cap. 13, recites-"Whereas the welfare and pros-
"perity of your Majesty's sugar colonies in Ame-
rica, are of the greatest consequence and im-
66
portance to the trade, navigation and strength of
"this kingdom; and, whereas the planters of the
" said sugar colonies have of late years fallen under
"
great discouragement, that they are unable to
"improve and carry on the sugar trade, upon an
"equal footing with the foreign colonies, without
66 some advantage or relief to be given to them by
"Great Britain; for remedy whereof, and for the
"good and welfare of your Majesty's subjects,
" &c. &c.".
60.
No relaxations of this system, on the part
of Great Britain, have been carried farther than
the necessities of the West India planters abso-
lutely required; and the removal of many of the
restraints has been accompanied with burthen-
some restrictions and limitations. The Act passed ·
during the last session of Parliament for renewing
the intercourse between the West India colonies
and the United States of America, subjects the
produce of the United States to heavy duties,
which operate as a bounty on the same articles,
the produce of the British provinces in North
America, and greatly enhance the cost of the sup-
plies to the West Indian planter. Although it
is just that he should contribute towards that
protection to sister colonies, which he himself
receives; yet taxing him, for the benefit of
the Canadians and Nova Scotians, could be
justified on no other principle.
The East Indian advocates make no dis-
tinction between the fluctuations to which all
undertakings are liable, from the superior skill-
or more advantageous circumstances of others,
and the destruction of colonies, in which à vast
capital has been expended, under the sanction
of legislative encouragement and protection, by
a breach of that compact, which has been acted
upon for nearly two centuries; and which Mr.
Fox declared was "a compact more solemn than
J
61
to an Act of Parliament could create." This
strong expression, the author of Protection to
West India Sugar calls an oratorical flourish; over-
looking the great maxim it inculcates, that moral
obligations, founded on principles of justice,
are more sacred and binding than human laws.
Whenever the Legislature thinks it expedient, from
views of general policy, to establish new systems
which affect the property of individuals, and
deprive them of their accustomed means of
support, indemnities are granted. In the case
of the establishment of the Wet Docks in
the Port of London, compensations were made
to the wharfingers, warehouse-keepers, lighter-
men, and various other classes of persons, to the
amount of £1,200,000. How much stronger
would be the claim of the West Indian planters,
if they were deprived of that protection in the
home market, on which they have so long
depended, and for which they have paid so
valuable a consideration, in the restrictions to
which they have been subjected! Especially so,
when it is considered that they have not the
resource which all other individuals possess, of
transferring their capital and industry wherever
they think proper; but that long after their
capital had been invested in the West Indian
colonies, they were prohibited, by a new law,
from removing their negroes out of them.
割
​62
The author of the pamphlet, entitled East
and West India Sugar, admits, that "Indemnity
66 may possibly be said to be due to the West In-
"dians on the present occasion. In that case, let
"it be claimed; let the nature of the ground be
fully and fairly investigated, and let it be met with
"equity and even liberality. To this they are en-
titled, but to nothing more. They have no
"more right to claim the continuance of a pro-
((
66
tecting duty on sugar, to the manifest wrong
"of India and Great Britain, than they had
"before a right to claim the continuance of the
"slave trade, to the manifest wrong of Africa.”*
The same argument might with equal pro-
priety be thrown in the teeth of the landed
interest. They might be told, that they may
have a claim for indemnity, but can have no
right to the continuance of a protecting duty
on foreign corn, to the manifest wrong both of
the people of Great Britain, and of those coun-
tries from which foreign corn is imported. In
both cases it may be urged, that some protection
is due to producers who are fellow subjects,
labouring under common burdens to which rival
producers are not subjected. It is farther to be
considered, that if you left yourselves depen-
dent upon foreigners for your means of sub-
sistence, you would give them the power
1
*East and West India Sugar, p. 29.
?
63
of reducing you to their own terms, by
cutting off your supply; and, in like manner, if
you left yourselves dependent upon foreigners
for your carrying trade, you would lose it all, the
moment you went to war, and with it the
means of maintaining your naval power. These
are paramount objects, and supersede all consi-
derations either of economy or indemnity.
The same writer quotes instances of privi
leges being taken away, without any indemnity
being granted. Among others, he mentions the
abolition of the slave trade, and then says-
"Another marked exemplification of the principle
"here contended for is to be found in the measure
"for putting an end to the exclusive privilege. of
"the East India Company, and throwing open the
"trade of Hindoostan. The plea which the Com-
"
66
pany had to urge for the continuance of their
monopoly was infinitely stronger than any thing
which can now be urged in behalf of the West
"Indian monopoly. They actually enjoyed what
"the West Indians only fancy they enjoy. Their
monopoly was admitted. But he forgets to
state that this was a voluntary act on the part
of the East India Company, whose charter was
granted for a limited time only, and who consented
to give up part of their monopoly, to secure
the remainder for a more extended period.
*East and West India Sugar, p. 29.
64
He gives the following other instances:-"At
"the urgent solicitations of the West Indians them-
ર
แ
selves, the encouragement which for years had
"been given to our North American colonies, has
"heen suddenly withdrawn, and the market of the
"West Indies opened to the produce of the United
States. In like manner, after encouraging the
"timber trade of Canada, in opposition to the
"timber trade of the Baltic, until it had been nou-
"rished up to a trade of immense extent, the policy
“which loaded the Baltic timber with a protecting
σε duty, has been found to be erroneous, because
"detrimental to the interests of the community at
i6 large; and notwithstanding the injury arising
"from its abolition to the individuals who, on the
"faith of Parliament, had embarked in the timber
"trade of Canada, that protecting duty has been re-
pealed.”* Both these statements are incorrect,
in point of fact. The encouragement given to the
British North American colonies was not sud-
denly withdrawn, for duties were imposed upon
the produce of the United States, that operate as
bounties on the productions of those countries.
And the protecting duty on Baltic timber has not
been repealed, but modified; being reduced from
£3. 58. to £2. 5s. per load, whilst it is only 10s.
per load on timber from the British provinces in
66
*East and West India Sugar, p. 31.
65
North America. Thus, in both these cases, the
British Legislature has adhered to the just prin-
ciple, of giving protection to the British colo-
nies.
"They
The East India Committee say
“have discovered facts, which prove, incontro-
"vertibly, that up to the year 1813, the duties
"were imposed for the sake of revenue only;
"and that no such protection as the West
"Indians seek, from a discriminating duty upon
"sugar, the produce of our East Indian posses-
sions, ever has been contemplated by the
CC
Legislature."* The duty on foreign sugar has
always operated as a prohibition, and therefore
could not have been imposed for the sake of
revenue. The import of sugar from our East
Indian dependencies, till of late years, was
never thought of. In the year 1792, when a
temporary high price of sugar was occasioned
by the devastation of St. Domingo, and made it
an object to procure the admission of East
Indian sugar into home consumption, it appeared
that sugar was not included in the tariff of com-
modities to be admitted on payment of duty;
and the only mode in which it could be brought
in was, by entering it as one of the non-enume-
rated manufactured articles, at the ad valorem
*
Report of Committee, p. 24.
E
:
66
duty of £37. 16s. 3d. per cent.* As Muscó-
vado sugar then sold for 100s. per cwt., and:
East Indian sugar, being clayed, is of higher
value, the duty upon it may be estimated at,
about 40s. per cwt., while that on West Indian
sugar was then only 15s. As soon, therefore,
as the high price of sugar subsided, which was
very shortly the case, the entry of East Indian ·
sugar, for home consumption, was discontinued.
Between the years 1792 and 1806, the duty on
British plantation sugar was increased from 14s.
to 27s. per cwt., while no corresponding addi-
tion was made to the ad valorem duty on East
Indian sugar. But neither this circumstance,
nor the alteration of the duty on East Indian
sugar, from an ad valorem to a rated duty, which
took place in the year 1809, and brought the
two duties within about 3s. of each other, ever
excited the alarm of the West India body,
because the East India Directors discouraged
the importation of sugar to Great Britain, as
will appear by the following extract from the
Third Report of the Special Committee: "It is
"found by experience, that private traders cannot
"fill their ships without a large quantity of sugar
"for dead weight; whilst it is also ascertained,
"from experience, that if sugar is charged with the
1
*Papers, &c. Appendix I. p. 56.
67
2
+
"whole of the freight for the voyage, it frequently
"leaves a loss; which loss will probably be in-
"creased, when the rate of freight and charges
"from the West Indies are reduced to their former
level, in consequence of peace.. It may there-
"fore become a question for consideration here-
"after, how far the importation of sugar from the
"East, which leaves a loss to the importer. and
"the first cost of which is paid for by the public
"in silver from hence, shall be encouraged, to the
66
prejudice of the West India sugar, the cost of
"which is either spent by the proprietor in the
"mother country, or paid for by the manufactures.
"and stores exported from home; for silver is
"often received from the islands, but seldom sent:
thither. The balance of trade is, as it always:
"must be in future, in favour of India; it is there--
"fore highly important to probe the question,
"which relates to the cultivation and importation
"of such an article as sugar from the East, to the
"bottom. The value of every rupee invested in
66
sugar, and imported from the East, is an addi-
"tional rupee to the balance of trade against the
"mother country. Some able and well-intentioned
66
persons have made it a question, whether sugar
" may not be supplied from India to an almost
"indefinite amount; but they are not aware that
"the success, or, in other words, the benefit of
"India, in this instance, would prove the destruc-
"tion of the mother country, which cannot exist
>
68
"under the immense drain of bullion that must
"follow. If the East was in the same predicament
"with the West Indies, when the cost of the sugar
was either spent in Great Britain and Ireland, or
66
66
paid for in manufactures and stores, it would be
"consistent with the soundest principles of political.
arithmetic, to encourage the importation by
every possible means. These observations are
offered, because private traders can load very
"few ships without sugar, so that any material in-
crease of the importation of the produce of India
by them, must be in sugar. It is therefore neces-
68
66
66
<<
sary to ascertain, whether the general interests of
"the imperial empire, and the interests of a very
numerous description of persons, West India
"
66
66
planters and merchants, ship-owners, British
"manufacturers, &c. &c. &c. will not suffer to a
greater degree than the East India Company,
"without producing any additional benefit com-
"mensurate to the evil either to the empire of
"India or to the mother country, if the request of
"the Indian agents shall be complied with."*
The author of the pamphlet, entitled East
and West India Sugar, states, that "In the
year 1787, the duties on sugar stood thus: there
"was chargeable on West Indian brown 12s. 4d.
66
* Third Report of Special Committee, p. 40-42.
69
་
66
per cwt., on West Indian white, 29s. per cwt.,
"on East Indian sugar, of whatever quality,
"£37. 16s. 3d. per cent. ad valorem, being the
66
66
66
duty to which all unenumerated articles imported
"from India, (sugar being one of these,) was liable.
"But even then, supposing the average price of
sugar to have been 40s. per cwt., this would have
"afforded little protection to West Indian sugars.
"It would have been a duty of only 15s. 1ď.
per cwt. on East Indian sugars of all qualities.
The reader of this paragraph would natu-
rally take it for granted, that the supposition of
the writer agreed with the facts of the case,
that the average price at which East India
sugar sold was 40s. per cwt., and that conse-
quently, it paid no more than a duty of
15s. 1 d. On the contrary, the East India
Directors state, that the duty paid on the sugar
they imported in the Princess Amelia in 1792,
when their first importations took place, was
41s. 11d. per cwt.; and therefore the price
must have considerably exceeded 100s.+ On
this, as on other occasions, this writer is about
as scrupulous in misleading the public, as in
vilifying the West India planters.
When the trade to India was about to be
* East and West India Sugar, p. 11.
+ East India Papers, Appendix I. p. 56.
70
1
:
opened, and not till then, the West India body,
apprehending that the private traders, would, as
predicted by the Directors, import a large quan-
tity of sugar from India, in opposition to the po-
licy acted upon up to that period, applied to his
Majesty's Ministers for farther protection, by an
additional duty on East Indian sugar: and after se-
veral conferences, in the year 1813, it was agreed,
and an Act of Parliament was passed accordingly,
that the duty on East Indian sugar should be 108.-
more than that on West Indian sugar, to be re
duced 1s. for every shilling that the Gazette
average price of the West Indian should exceed
60s. ;* thus admitting the principle of colonial
protection, without losing sight of the interests
of the British consumer.
Great complaint is made by all the writers
on the East India side of the question, of an
Act passed in the year 1821. The statement
of the Committee is selected as the most con-
cise; they say, "An attempt was made by the
"West India planters and merchants, to lay a
"further duty of 2s. 6d. on all soft sugar from
66
our territories; of 5s. upon all such sugar as
was equal to clayed; and a prohibitory duty upon
"all sugar, not the produce of the British territories.
* 59-Geo. III.
:
71
"That they succeeded so far, as to get an Act
"passed, laying a further duty of 5s. upon clayed,
and the prohibitory duty upon foreign East India
sugar."*
fl
That bill proposed no increase of the duty
-on East Indian sugar, but merely contained
enactments, intended to guard against two
abuses, which were of a nature highly injurious
to the revenue, as well as to the West Indian
planters, and to the British sugar refiners.
The first of these, was the importation of
sugars, the produce of China, Cochin-China,
Manilla, Siam, Java, and other foreign countries,
for the consumption of Great Britain, as if
they were the growth of the British presiden-
cies in India. This was a manifest imposition on
the revenue; as these sugars were thus admitted
into consumption, at little more than half the
duty imposed by law on foreign sugars; and it
was also an injury to the West Indian planters,
whom it deprived of that protection which
Parliament had given them, against the inter-
ference of foreign sugars in the home market.
The other abuse, was the admission of clayed
sugar from India into home consumption,
without the payment of any additional duty.
*Report of Committee, p. 18.
72
Clayed sugar, if imported from the West Indies, is
subject to an additional duty of 5s. per cwt.; and
refined sugar to a duty of £8. 8s. per cwt. The
latter is intended to operate, and does operate,
as a total prohibition; being imposed upon the
principle adopted by Great Britain, of obliging
her colonies to ship all their produce to her mar-
ket in a raw state, as well as take from her
all the manufactures necessary for their con-
sumption. For some time past, sugars have
been imported from India, as white as refined
sugar, at the duty on common Muscovadoes; and
the operation of this new Act goes no farther,
than to subject such sugars to the additional 5's.
imposed upon clayed sugars from the West Indies,
"if clayed, or otherwise refined or prepared, so
"as to be equal to the quality of clayed sugar."
It may be proper to observe, in explanation of
this subject, that clayed sugar, or sugar from
which the molasses are extracted, ought to pay
an additional duty, because, if worked by our
refiners, it gives a larger portion of refined sugar
than can be obtained from Muscovado sugar, in
which the molasses are left, and, consequently,
a greater sum is paid in bounty on the export
of the refined produce, than is received in duty
on the raw commodity. The policy of impos-
ing an additional duty on clayed sugar is jus-
tified on another ground; for by extracting
the molasses, the bulk of the commodity is di
73
•
minished, and less freight given to British ship-
ping. The great object of Great Britain,
in all her colonial regulations, has ever been to
increase her carrying trade, as the foundation of
her naval power; and Parliament would have
disregarded all considerations, both of revenue
and of naval power, had not the payment of an
additional duty on clayed sugar from India been-
enforced.
Great opposition is still made to the payment
of this additional duty, and the importers of sugar
from India contend, that it is neither clayed nor
otherwise refined or prepared so as to be equal in
quality to clayed sugar. The futility of this objec-
tion is established, in the first place, by the evidence
of the Custom-house officers, who examine its
quality, and assess the duty accordingly; and in
the next place, by the following extract from the
Papers respecting the Culture and Manufacture of
Sugar in India, which proves that it goes through
a process similar to that of claying, so clearly as to
render any comment upon it unnecessary.
(C
"The goor goes to the myrah (boiler) and he
purifies it by different processes, according to the
"kind of sugar he wants to produce. The general
process is by boiling the goor. In some places,
"the molasses are first drawn off from the grain,
""
7.4
"and the goor is then boiled, mixed with water, or
"milk and water, and purified; in others, the goor
16 C
is only boiled and purified. Milk, lime, and ley,
"from plantain ashes, are used to cleanse and
granulate the sugar. When boiled sufficiently,
"it is put into earthen pots, and two particular
"sorts of aquatic weeds are used to drain off the
•
syrup, as clay is by the Europe refiners. In
"Rungpore and Dinagepore, clay as well as weeds
"is used to draw off the syrup. The sugar thus
prepared is called cheenee; and in this state is
"the greater part of what is sent to Europe and
“America."*
.46
The following assertion is made by the ad-
vocates for the East Indians: "Though your
“Committee have deemed it necessary thus far
"to discuss the claims of the West Indians,
"founded upon the restrictions under which
they labour; it cannot be necessary to add
66
66
more, as Government have brought a bill into
"Parliament, by which these restrictions will be
" removed, and thus the whole ground upon which
"the West Indians have contended for any pro-
"tecting duty upon East India sugar will be done
* Papers, &c. Appendix I. p. 100.
1
75
Never was greater misrepresenta-
་
" away.
tion than is contained in this statement. The
bill in question, was not solicited by the West
India planters. On the contrary, it was deprecated
'by them, if to be considered as a ground for ad-
mitting East Indian sugars into home consump-
tion on more favourable terms. This bill was
brought in by his Majesty's Ministers, in order
to quiet the apprehensions of the British ship-
owners, who feared that unless they were per-
mitted to bring West India produce to the con-
tinent of Europe direct, without first landing it
in Great Britain, they might, when the vessels
of the United States of America were again ad-
mitted into our West India colonies, be sup-
planted by them in that branch of the carrying
trade. By this bill, therefore, West Indian pro-
duce was put upon the same footing, in that
respect, as East Indian produce had before been,
in order to enable the British ship-owner to com-
pete with the foreign ship-owner.
A reference to our exports will show, that
out of nearly 300,000 hogsheads of sugar an-
nually imported from our West Indian colonies,
not 1000 are exported to the continent of Eu-
* Report of Committee, p. 36, 37.
渗
​1
76
rope in a raw state. The consumption of the
continent, is not of Muscovado, but of clayed
and refined sugar; and, therefore, the permission
to ship sugar there direct, is not likely to be of
any advantage to the West Indian planter. An
Act giving a similar permission to any part of
Europe south of Cape Finisterre, was passed many
years ago; but not a single cargo of sugar has
ever been shipped under it, from that period to
the present moment.
f
Had the fact, however, been otherwise, how
would this bill have done away the whole ground,
upon which the West Indians pretend to any pro-
tective duty? Are they allowed by this bill, to
inanufacture, not only for themselves, but to
come into competition with the manufactures
of the mother country in every part of the
globe? Are they permitted to import their sup-
plies in ships under every flag; and to export in
like manner, without any restrictions and limi-
tations? No; on the contrary, with the ex-
ception of a few articles of the first necessity,
from the United States of America, they are
obliged to receive all their supplies from the
mother country alone, in her ships and in articles
of her growth, produce, and manufacture, and, in
return, to ship all their produce to Europe in British
vessels: and thus their industry is made subser-
vient to the great objects of the mother country,
77
her manufacturing interests, and maritime power;
but the East Indians are exempted from all these
obligations. So long as the immense difference
between the footing on which the East and West
Indians are placed exists, so long will the just
claim of the latter to a protecting duty con-
tinue. Let the East Indians be placed on the
same footing, and the West Indians will require
none; but till then their answer to these preten-
sions is, that they who do not submit to colonial
restrictions, have no right to claim colonial pri-
vileges.
An argument introduced by the writers of
the pamphlets on Protection to West India
Sugar, and of East and West India Sugar, is
founded upon the admission of the sugars of the
conquered West Indian colonies into home con-
sumption, at the same duty as those of the old
British colonies. The former says, "If the old
British West India islands had a right to the ex-
❝clusion of East India sugar from the home market,
"much more had they a right to insist on the exclu-
"sion of sugar from the conquered colonies. But
"what is the fact? The sugars of Dutch West
"India conquered colonies are admitted, upon the
"same duties as those from the old West India
“islands.”* The latter says,
"No sooner was
* On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 19.
78-
"Dutch Guyana conquered by his Majesty's arms,
" in 1796, and the island of Trinidad, in 1797, than.
"the market of Great Britain was thrown open to
"their produce, on the same terms on which the
produce of our own colonies was admitted. No
(6
66
66
66
66
66
opposition whatever appears to have been made
to this measure, on the part of the West Indians..
Why was the right for which they now contend
"waved on that occasion? Were the West Indians
"blind to the consequences of waving it? It is
impossible to suppose it. Or was it because the
"conquered islands, being cultivated by slaves, a
fellow-feeling and sympathy existed between the
parties, which led our old colonists to forego their
just claims to monopoly in favour of their new
associates, though they are to be made good.
against the free labourers of British India? On,
"what ground was it that they admitted the sugars
"of Demerara and Berbice, of Trinidad, and St.
"Croix, to the home market, but that they should:
'
""
66
now exclude from it the sugars of Hindostan ?
"Is this not a partiality of the most monstrous and
unjustifiable description?"*
66
Much of this tirade might have been spared.
The fellow feeling and sympathy in favour of
slavery, so charitably imputed to the West In-
*East and West India Sugar, p. 14, 15.
79
dians, did not induce them to forego their claims.
On the contrary, they used their best endeavours
to prevent the cession of Demerary and Berbice,
but their interests yielded to the views of ge-
neral policy entertained by his Majesty's Minis-
ters. All conquered colonies in the West Indies
are immediately subjected to the same restric-
tions as the old West Indian colonies, and there-
fore have a just claim to the same privileges;
but our East Indian settlements are not sub-
jected to the same restrictions, and there-
fore have no such claim. Both these writers
refer to a speech made in the House of Com-
mons in 1809, on the propriety of admitting the
sugars of Martinique into home consumption,
which had for a time been excluded. The
latter writer stiles it the most able argument he
has seen in favour of the free admission of East:
Indian sugar to the home market; and adds, that
if the reader in going over it will only take the
trouble of substituting British India for the
conquered colonies of France, he will find the
speaker's arguments wonderfully strengthened
by the substitution.* Neither of these writers
notice the important distinction just made be-
tween the West Indian conquered colonies and the
East Indian settlements. Let the latter submit
* East and West India Sugar, p. 13
80
to all the restrictions imposed upon the former,
and the author of that speech will be bound, on
principle, to support the admission of their sugars
into the home consumption of Great Britain on
equal duties; but till then, he is consistent in
maintaining, that they only who are subjected to
colonial restrictions are entitled to colonial
privileges.
-66
The writers of two of the Pamphlets already
referred to, greatly undervalue the restrictions
imposed on the British West Indian planter by
the Navigation Laws. One of them says, "But
"the population of the West Indies must be sup-
plied with British manufactures only, and where
again is the practical grievance here? What
"manufactures are cheaper than the British? Do
"not the British manufacturers undersell all the
"others in the East and the West? and are they
"not excluded from the continent, because they
"undersell the foreign manufacturer at his own
"door?" The other speaks still more positively.
"British freights and British manufactures being
cheaper than the freights or manufactures of
66
.66
any other country, it is no real hardship on the
"West Indian to be confined to them, nor is it of
the slightest benefit to the East Indians to be
·
* On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 22.
81
"relieved from the restriction." That some
British manufactures are cheaper than foreign is
true, but with respect to others the case is
the reverse; and if some British articles are ex-
cluded from the continent because the forcign
manufacturer would otherwise be undersold at
at his own door, so are many foreign articles ex-
cluded from Great Britain, because the British
manufacturer would otherwise be undersold in
like manner. All the following articles can be
imported from foreign countries at much lower
prices than from Great Britain: iron, coarse glass,
cordage, sail-cloth, Osnaburgs, cotton and coffee
bagging, checks, linens of every description,
silks of all sorts, paper-hangings, cheese,
wines, brandy, geneva, and soap. This enu-
meration, which might be greatly length-
ened, is sufficient to prove, that the restric-
tion is a real hardship on the West Indians,...
and that the being relieved from it is an im- .
portant benefit to the East Indians. With re-..
spect to British freights being cheaper than the-
freights of any other country, admitting that to be
the case in time of peace, for the sake of the argu-
ment, will it be contended, that if Great Britain
were to liberate her West Indian colonies from
their present restrictions, neutrals would not carry
their produce to Europe in time of war at less
*East and West India Sugar, p. 10.
F
82
than half the charge both of freight and insurance,
which they now pay under such circumstances?
66
6:
2
But, says the writer of East and West India
Sugar, "If it can be shown that the West Indies
are still subjected to restrictions which are
"attended with any disadvantage whatever, the
proper course, as I have already observed, is to
<: remove them, and to this course no East Indian
"would be disposed to prefer the slightest ob-
..66 jection."* It has been already observed, that if
the East Indians will submit to colonial restric-
tions, they will be entitled to claim colonial
privileges; but it is asking too much to require
that the whole colonial system of Great Britain,
which is the great foundation of her maritime
power, should be abandoned, in order to accom-
modate the views of the East Indian traders,
relative to the duty on sugar.
་
It is stated, by the same author, as a hardship
on the East Indians, that "while our commerce with
"British India is necessarily narrowed by these
"restrictions on the import of her raw produce,
"we refuse to admit a large proportion of her ma-
"nufactured goods to consumption at all in this
"country, and the rest only on paying a duty,
"which is, in fact, prohibitory, and which varies
*East and West India Sugar, p. 10.
88
i
"from £57. 10s. to £67. 10s. per cent. ad valorem.
We, at the same time, import our own rival ma-
"nufactures into India, at a low duty of only 24
per cent. ad valorem."* In this respect, Great
Britain acts upon her general system of policy as
to foreign manufactures; but is this system re-
laxed in favour of the West Indians? On the
contrary, it is enforced with far greater rigour. The
West Indians are allowed to manufacture nothing;
not even to refine their own sugar, but at a duty
which operates as a prohibition. They are com-
pelled, too, by law, to take all their manufactures
from the mother country, while the East Indians
are allowed to import those of every nation in
Europe, and export their own in return. If their
cause of complaint be just, let them seek the pro-
per remedy, in a more favourable arrangement of
duties on their manufactures and those of Great
Britain respectively but nothing can be more
repugnant to justice, than to suffer this grievance to
continue, and seek an indemnity for it, at the ex-
pense of their more than fellow sufferers, the West
Indian planters.
66.
The same writer observes, "The absolute ne-
cessity, to the successful prosecution of our trade'
"with India, of being allowed to bring home sugar
"as dead weight, is now well understood. Without
"it, each ship of 500 tons burthen must carry 200
"tons of ballast, in order to bring home the
* East and West India Sugar, p. 9.] -
84
"If it be said, that the East
sugar,
lighter goods."
"Indian merchant may ballást his ships with
"and afterwards send that sugar to the Continent;
"it is manifest he would do this also at a great
"disadvantage." Two ships out of three that
sail from London to the West Indies, are under the
necessity of taking in ballast, for want of sufficient
freight for the outward voyage. If the ships in
the East Indian trade do the same on the voyage
home, the hardship is no greater in the one case
than in the other. The same observation applies
to the reshipping of sugars from Great Britain to
the Continent. In the same proportion that East
Indian sugar
is brought into home consumption,
must West Indian sugar be turned out, and
subjected to those double charges from which the
East Indian sugar would be relieved.
ເຮົາ
Another complaint against the West Indians
"that they claim the exclusive supply of the
British market, and are not even content with
"a fair market price; but the people of England
"are compelled to submit to a tax to keep it up,
"a clear, undisputed and acknowledged tax, to
"force up the price of an article to 6d. which,
"without any diminution of the revenue, the
""
people could get for 2d. or 3d." The high
duty on sugar, which enhances the price to the
consumer, is certainly no advantage to the West
* East and West India Sugar, p. 98.
Report of Committee, p. 58.
+ Ibid.
85
Indian planter; but on the contrary, is an injury
to him so far as it may diminish the consump-
tion of the commodity. It should be recollected,
however, that a certain revenue must be raised,
to pay the interest of the public debt and the
expense of our national establishments; and that
if the duty on sugar be taken off, some other
duty must be imposed; so that the idea of
any benefit to be derived to the consumer
from the change is altogether fallacious. How
the people are to get sugar at 21d. per lb. with-
out any diminution of the revenue, when the
duty is 23d. per lb., the Liverpool Committee.
have not attempted to explain; and this assertion,
among many others, shows their report to have
been written with more haste than accuracy.
As to the West Indian planter not being
content with a fair market price, the following
statement will show that charge against him to
be wholly unfounded. The average price of
sugar per cwt. for the last year was 54s. 11d.,*
which is thus divided:
Duty
Freight and charges of sale
·
S.
d.
27 0
8 6
Stores and Island expenses, exclusive
16 O
of the rum
Planter
3 5
54 11
* See Note, p. 10.-Gazette average, exclusive of duty,
27s. 11d., and duty, 27s.
$6
3
-
The planter's share of one hundred hogs-
heads of sugar, of 12 cwt. each, amounts to
£210. An estate capable of making that quan-
tity, will have employed a capital of from
£20,000 to £25,000; so that the statement
made in a late resolution of the House of Assem-
bly at Jamaica, that the planter does not make
more than one per cent. of his capital, is fully
confirmed; and if, as is too generally the case,
he is acting in a greater or less degree with bor-
rowed capital, for which he pays an interest of
five or six per cent., it is evident with what
rapid strides his ruin is approaching. Yet,
under these circumstances, he is reproached
with not being content with a fair market
price.
This charge comes rather unexpectedly
from the Liverpool Committee; for only two
years ago, a petition from the Liverpool mer-
chants and agents interested in the trade to the
East Indies, was presented to the House of
Commons, in which it is asserted,-" That the
"6
prohibition of East India sugar for home consump-
"tion would not avail the West India planter; for
66
as this supply exceeds the home consumption,
" and he is obliged to export a large quantity of his
"sugar, he must be met by East India sugar on
"the continent, and the home price of it must be
"regulated by the general market of Europe."
1.87
1
This reasoning is correct; and proves, that
Great Britain is actually supplied with sugar
at as cheap a rate as all the rest of Europe,
the difference of duty only excepted; and while
it shows that the only means of lowering the
price of sugar is by lowering the duty, it also
completely exculpates the West Indian planter
from the charge of not being content with a
fair market price; because it proves, that he
is obliged to accept the same price that is paid
all over Europe.
It may be asked, if this be so, why do the
West Indians oppose the admission of East
Indian sugar into home consumption on the same
duty as their own? Indeed the question is
asked by the author of the pamphlet on Protec-
tion to West India Sugar, in the following
words: "Why then cavil at the East Indian for
"seeking the home market; your surplus levels.
"prices at home with those on the continent;
"therefore, if you wonder why the East Indian
"does not go abroad with his sugar, he may
"wonder why you do not allow him to bring his
sugar into the home market? For by your own
"showing, there is, whilst any surplus exists,
"but one price; and whether the excess be here
"or abroad, cannot alter the case."
66
!
In the first place, the West Indians claim
88
the continuance of the protecting duty, be-
cause they pay a valuable consideration for it,
in the restrictions to which they are subjected.
They further consider, that although the
preference they have in the home market is
of little benefit to them while the growth of
their sugar so much exceeds the home consump-
tion of the mother country, as to render them
dependent on the European market; yet it may
be valuable hereafter, when their cultivation is
reduced, as must soon be the case if the present
low price of sugar continues, for the planter
must then raise more provisions and less sugar.
In the next place, the admission of East
Indian sugar into home consumption on more
favourable terms, would certainly lead to an in-
creased cultivation of the commodity, from the
high expectations that would be formed of the
advantage likely to result from this concession;
and an increased importation into Europe, in
whatever market it might be sold, would still
further depress the price, and accelerate the
ruin of the British planter.
The consumers themselves would ulti-
mately suffer from that extreme reduction
in the value of sugar, to which the East
Indians look forward. If the price of that
commodity were so low as to ruin the plant-
89
ers, the cultivation of it would be dis-
continued, and the glut be followed by a scar-
city; so that the consumers would ultimately
pay at an extravagant rate for the low price at
which they had purchased it during a short
time, and would experience the truth of the
commercial maxims, that one extreme leads to
another, and that low prices lead to high prices.
It has been said, that because the foreign.
planters can grow sugar cheaper than the West
Indian planters, they can sell it cheaper; but the
truth is, that the price of a commodity depends
not so much upon its cost to the cultivator, as
on the proportion that the supply bears to the
demand. It does not therefore follow, that be-
cause the foreign growers of sugar could afford to
sell cheaper than the British West Indian growers,
they would do so. On the contrary, the fact is,
that both sell at the same price, as is admitted
by all parties; and the consequence of the dis-
advantages under which the British planters la-
bour, is, that they are reduced to very great dis-
tress by the competition. For the illustration of
this proposition, an appeal may be made to the
Gentlemen of the landed interest. They find,
to their cost, that the price of corn is not regu-
lated by the cost of its production, but by the
proportion that the supply bears to the demand;
and they, as well as the West Indian planters,
90
are suffering under the effect of this very prin-
ciple of political economy.
The author of the Pamphlet on Protection
to West India Sugar, expresses great apprehen-
sions of the consequences that will ensue, from
the growth of West Indian sugar being reduced
to the level of the home consumption. "At
present," he says,
"the West Indians export one-
"fifth to one-third of their importation; and it is
"this surplus above the wants of the home con-
"sumers, that preserves the level price of the ar-
"ticle with that on the continent: for it is the price
66
of the surplus that governs that of the whole.
"Once bring the supply down to the consumption,
“and exclude other growths, sugar may be high
"here and low abroad, and the West Indian
planters may then obtain their high remunera-
"tive price; but will not this be to the sacrifice
"of the consumer and refiner?" :
"6
??
After all that has been said about the high
price of sugar, here is a direct admission, that
the price in Great Britain is on a level with that
on the continent; and that it must so continue
while a surplus remains for exportation. How
* On. Protection to West India Sugar, p. 34, 35.
1
91
י
then could the British consumers be benefited
by equalizing the duty on East Indian sugar,
while this surplus of West Indian sugar exists?
Any further depression could only be trifling and
momentary: for as soon as the foreign purchaser
could make a profit on exporting it, he would
begin to ship; and continue so to do, till the de-
mand had raised the price to the former level.-
But it is said, bring the supply down to the con-
sumption, and exclude other growths, sugar may
be high here and low abroad. The law, as it
now stands, has provided against this contin-
gency; for the 59th of George the Third en-
acts, that whenever the average price of West
Indian sugar shall reach 60s., the protecting duty
on East Indian sugar shall be diminished, accord-
ing to a regular scale; and be entirely withdrawn
if West Indian sugar rises to 69s. per cwt. All
that the West Indian planters, therefore, can
possibly obtain by reducing their surplus, is
such a remunerating price for their sugar as will
relieve them from the severe distress under
which they are actually labouring; but not a
price that would sacrifice" the consumer and
refiner."
:
One of these writers, after admitting that
while the surplus of West Indian sugar exists,
there is but one price throughout Europe, still
:
92
}
asserts,*´“ that the West Indies no longer yield
"to the mother country cheap sugar for home
consumption," and recommends the admission
of East Indian sugar, on the supposition, that
the consumers will save one million per annum
on its purchase.‡ The fallacy of these con-
tradictions is obvious; but the writer is perfectly
aware, that if the West Indians be once ruined,
and their establishments broken up, the capital
necessary to replace them will never again be
found; and this is the object he is labouring to
accomplish, in order to complete the monopoly
of the East Indians.
The chief arguments that have been urged
in favour of the equalization of the duties on
East and West Indian sugar having been thus dis-
posed of, it now remains to bring forward the ob-
jections to this measure. The first is, that while
its advocates urge it on the principles of free
trade, their object, in point of fact, is only to
participate in an existing limited monopoly. The
East Indians, who have nearly the whole world
open to them for a market, would interfere with
the protection given to the West Indians in the
* On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 59.
+ Ibid. p. 61.
Ibid. p. 62.
93
home consumption of Great Britain, and given
to them for a valuable consideration, from the
payment of which the East Indians are ex-
empted. The sound principle to be maintained,
whether applicable to British ships, British co-
lonies, or British manufactures, is protection
but not monopoly. Absolute prohibitions of
every description are contrary to true commer-
cial policy. The East Indian Gentlemen, in their
great love of free trade, make no complaint of
the prohibitory duty imposed on all foreign
sugars, which is no less than 65s. per cwt.; the
only fault they find is with the additional duty
of 10s. imposed upon East Indian sugars. Is not
this taking a most partial and disingenuous
view of the subject? If any alteration be made
in the present system, let us enquire whether it
may not be effected on a more liberal and com-
prehensive scale, that might produce the most
beneficial results to the general interests of the
British empire. Though no good reason can be
adduced for depriving the West Indian planters of
their present protecting duty against East Indian
sugar, many may be offered for admitting the.
sugars of all countries, into which British ships
and British manufactures are admitted on the
footing of the most favoured nations, at the
same rate of duty as the sugars of India.
The advantages to be derived from this mea
942
*
sure are apparent and deserving of attention. It
recommends itself by being founded on those
liberal principles of free trade, which we are
all so desirous of adopting, as far as they are
consistent with existing interests. Never could
those principles be acted upon more opportunely,
than at the present moment. South America
has thrown off the yoke of Spain; and Cuba,
though not nominally, has really done the same.
The Brazils are become independent of Portugal..
What an opening is here for establishing a bene-
ficial intercourse with all these countries! A.com-
mercial intercourse with them has already been
legalized, by the bills passed last session of Par-
liament; and if that measure be followed up, by
taking off the present total prohibitions of their
produce, and admitting their sugars into our home
consumption on the same footing as those from our
presidencies in India, we shall secure the greatest
part of their trade, and derive from them almost
all the advantages of colonies, without being at
the expense of maintaining their establishments.
The export of British manufactures to the Bra-
zils, already exceeds that to India; * but we de
י
Exports of British manufactures to the
Brazils, 1821
Ditto,
East Indies and China, ditto
} £2,232,000.
2,978,000
The export of British woollens to China, so far back as the
1
95
rive this advantage under our treaty with
Portugal; and now Brazil is independent, we
cannot expect it to continue, unless some
arrangement be made. favourable to the
introduction of her produce. We might also
benefit South America, by giving her ad-
vantages, at the expense of powers whose con-
duct towards us would justify such alterations
in our present system. For instance, Russia
lately adopted a new tariff of duties, which ex-
cluded our crushed lumps from her consumption,
by making a marked distinction, amounting to
a prohibition, between sugar clayed in Europe
and in any other part of the world. Might
we not, in return, impose high duties on tallow
made in Europe, and admit at low duties tallow
made in America? By so doing, we should pro-
bably induce, Russia to withdraw her invidious
tariff, as well as favour South America.
The new situation in which Cuba and the
Brazils are now placed, offers a favourable op→
year 1802, according to the Third Report of the Special Com-
mittee of Directors, p. 18, was £1,101,970; and, in common
with our other exports, has probably since increased. But
deducting only that sum, as the amount of the exports. to
China, those to India will be near £400,000 less than those
to the Brazils. The exports for British manufactures for the
year 1821, are taken from the Administration of the Affairs of
Great Britain, p. 103.
-
96
portunity of inducing those countries to follow the
example of South America, in abolishing the slave
trade; and of making this condition the basis of
an arrangement under which their sugars shall be
admitted into the home consumption of Great
Britain. By availing ourselves with promptitude
and policy of the present state of things, we have
a fair prospect of obtaining the most important
advantages to the cause of humanity, as well as
to the commercial interests of the British empire.
No valid objection can fairly be urged, even
by the East Indians themselves, to the ad-
mission of sugar from these countries. Mr.
Prinsep will assuredly offer none; if we may judge
from the following passage in his pamphlet: "The
"French and Spanish islands, Surinam, Brazil, and
"the newly-emancipated states upon the northern
" and southern continents of America, can produce
cheaper than our own islands, and must all
"come directly or indirectly into competition with
"them. Are all these likewise to remain for ever
"excluded from the supply of the home market,
66
as well as the produce of Eastern Asia?"*—
Nor can the author of the pamphlet on Pro-
tection to West India Sugar; for he says, "I
"am no advocate for conferring a partial benefit
* Suggestions on East India Trade, p. 29.
97
"either on the East or the West Indians, but I
66
"C
am an advocate for competition."* The sugar
refiners will not; for they say, "A free trade is
"all they desire, but against a free trade partially
granted they protest, as against the worst and
"most oppressive species of monopoly."t-
The West Indians can offer none; for provided
their present protecting duty be continued, they
will retain all the advantages they now enjoy. The
price of sugar throughout Europe regulates the
price here; and whether foreign sugars come to
the Continent or to Great Britain, the effect upon
their interests will be precisely the same.
It appears incontrovertible that every country
that admits British ships and British manufactures,
on the footing of the most favoured nations,
gives us all the advantages that we derive from
India, and, in some respects, much greater. Hav-
ing no shipping of their own, they will necessa-
rily employ British ships and British seamen,
while the East Indians are attempting to super-
sede the use of both, by teak-built ships, manned
with lascars. The inhabitants of these countries.
do not manufacture for themselves, and are in
the habit of consuming British manufactures ;
* On Protection to West India Sugar, p. 4.
+ Ibid. p. 38.
G
98
but the East Indians do manufacture for them-
selves, and use their own manufactures. They
are besides an immutable race, fixed by their
castes to remain exactly in the same condition
of life in which they were born; and therefore,
every attempt to change their habits and man-
ners, or to substitute British for Indian manu-
factures among them, except in a very partial
degree, must prove abortive. In the other coun-
tries, the use of British manufactures will only
be bounded by their means of paying for them;
those means, from the value and variety of their
productions, are already great, and will rapidly
increase, now that they have emancipated them-
selves from the state of oppression and subjec-
tion in which they have so long been held.
Various British interests will also be bene-
fited by this measure, particularly the manufac-
tory of sugar refining. The sugar of India is,
in general, soft, and unfit for the use of the
refiners:* and the introduction of it into our
home consumption would be injurious to them,
as it would introduce the practice here, that
prevails upon the continent, of using clayed
instead of refined sugar. The sugars of Cuba
* Papers respecting the Manufacture and Culture of Sugar
in British India. Appendix I. p. 4, 5.
99
and the Brazils, on the contrary, are strong, and
well adapted for the use of the refiners. For
some years past, the number of our refineries
has been gradually diminishing; and those upon
the continent of Europe, where the sugars of the
Brazils and Cuba are admitted into consumption,
have greatly increased. Hamburgh, Bremen,
and Russia, countries without any sugar colonies
of their own, are proofs of this fact; and the
refineries established there by our excluding
these sugars, would be transferred here, if we
admitted them into our home consumption. Al-
though Mr, Prinsep may speak of "the absurd
monopoly of sugar refining, for the advantage
66
<
"of some score or two of Germans domiciled
(6
amongst us," perhaps no manufactory can be
named, which gives encouragement in so great
a degree, to the most valuable interests of the
country, as sugar refining. The consumption of
coals, pottery, lead, iron, copper, and other staple
articles of manufacture, is immense, in propor-
tion to the amount of the capital employed; and
all these branches of our domestic industry
would be increased, by giving additional encou-
ragement to our sugar refiners.
Under the present system of excluding
foreign sugars from our home consumption, they
are naturally shipped to other countries, where
they are admitted on more favourable terms;
100
but if this objection be removed, in the manner
proposed, and a reduction take place in our port
charges, as may be expected after the expi-
ration of the monopolies of our Dock Com-
panies, we shall then obtain a decided preference
over every country in Europe. The central
situation of Great Britain, for shipping goods to
every part of Europe; her ports being open at
every season of the year, while those of our
continental neighbours are for many months.
locked up by frost; the solidity of British mer-
chants, which gives security to property; the
facility of obtaining advances upon produce, to
any amount; the universal resort of foreign
purchasers to this great mart; all these circum-
stances, if we avail ourselves of them by a wise
and liberal policy, combine to make this country
the emporium of Europe; and it may be con-
fidently hoped that his Majesty's Ministers will
secure the unexampled opportunity that now
offers, of encouraging the manufacturing inte-
rests, and at the same time of extending the
navigation, and consequently the naval power,
of Great Britain.
It is of the highest importance to form
a correct estimate of the comparative value
of trade carried on with our own colonies,
and with foreign powers. On the former we
can depend; on the latter, we cannot. The
101
legislatures of our colonies are under the con-
troul of the mother country; and no act of
theirs is valid, till it has received the sanction
of the King of Great Britain. With foreign
powers we have no such security. They may
alter their systems of policy, form new and
different alliances, or combine against that
country which they have contributed to aggran-
dize. All these changes are in the course
of human events; and we have not yet for-
gotten the prohibitory decrees of Buonaparte,
the continental system of Europe, nor the non-
intercourse and non-importation acts of America.
If we trust altogether to foreign trade for the
maintenance of our naval power, we shall be
sure to lose it when we want it most: for
whenever a war takes place, the cheaper rate at
which neutrals can navigate, in point of freight
and insurance, will throw all the carrying trade
into their hands; and our seamen will leave us,
to find employment elsewhere, at the moment
when our greatness, and even our existence as a
nation, may depend upon their services. These
considerations make it imperative upon us to
protect our colonies, as the only sure means of
maintaining our naval supremacy.
Our connexion with India is still less to be
depended upon, than that with any foreign
power. No higher authority, on matters of
102
East Indian policy, can be quoted than the late
Mr. Warren Hastings; and he declared "that
66
we hold our empire there by a thread, which
"the breath of public opinion may break in a
"moment." We have raised and disciplined an
army among them, of one hundred and fifty thou-
sand native troops. We have established naval
arsenals there, and taught them the art of building
ships of war. We have enlightened their minds
by the diffusion of knowledge, and knowledge is
power. After having thus furnished them with
all the materials of independence, would it
not be absurd to suppose that they will never
use them; and that with fifty thousand Euro-
peans we can keep one hundred millions of
people in subjection? Some future Hyder Ally,
or Tippoo Saib, with equal talents and enterprise,
but with better fortune than his predecessors,
will one day assert the independence of his
countrymen, and overthrow that unhallowed
empire, the foundations of which were laid, in
British ambition, perfidy, and rapacity.
Whenever colonies or dependencies become
too great for the mother country, they as natu-
rally and regularly throw off their dependence,
as children do that of their parents, when they
grow up to man's estate; and colonies therefore
ought to be proportioned to the mother country,
both in extent and population. Great Britain
103.
violated this rule in her North American colo-
nies; and she lost them. She has violated it
still more in India, and therefore cannot retain
it long; and the examples of South America
and the Brazils, which are both cases in point,
ought to make her sensible of her danger.
Under these circumstances, to trust to
India for our carrying trade, which is the
foundation of our naval power, would be
infatuation. Were we to do this, instead of
India being a dependency of Great Britain,
Great Britain would become dependent upon
India; for on the possession of India her very
existence would be staked. But she may safely
suffer her carrying trade to depend upon her
West Indian colonies, a cluster of small islands,
easily defended by a naval force, and the popu-
lation of which is too inconsiderable, to admit.
the remotest apprehension of their ever endea--
vouring to render themselves independent.
The very question we are now agitating,
was discussed last year in the French Chamber
of Deputies--Whether they should support
their West Indian colonies, which, like our own,
were in great distress, or leave them to their
fate, and act upon those notions of free trade,
which are the popular doctrines of the day.
The speech of their Minister of Finance on
}
104
that occasion was printed, and contains the
following passages:—
"The advocates for free trade call upon France to
alter her system, in consequence of the change that has
taken place in those vast portions of America, which in-
vite the commerce of all Europe, and bid her relieve both
herself and her colonies, from the yoke of a double mono-
poly, which paralyzes instead of animating their industry.
The same prosperity that free trade has given to the
Havannah, will be extended to Martinique and Guada-
loupe. France will introduce, amongst numerous na-
tions, a taste for her manufactures, but which they never
can purchase, if she shuts out their sugars from her mar-
ket. France must import sugar; let her then purchase it
where it can be procured at the cheapest possible rate.
The advocates for the colonial system insist on the advan-
tage of employing 300 sail of French ships, in bringing
produce which the wants of France require, but which
her soil cannot produce, from French colonies, rather than
from foreign countries. The colonies are paid for them
in French manufactures; or the difference is expended in
France, by planters who reside with their families in the
mother country. That France is secure of these advan-
tages, because she regulates the legislation of her colonies;
but can have no such security in her intercourse with
foreigners.
In commenting upon these opposite doctrines,
the Minister observes, "Laws are certainly not immu-
table; but they should even be modified, and much more
revoked, with great caution. The question here is, whe-
105
ther we shall subvert an existing legislation, as ancient as
our colonies, which has been established by all the mari-
time powers of Europe, and which many yet maintain, to
introduce one of a nature altogether contrary. We are
aware that circumstances may require such innovations ;
but it is the duty of Government, rather to check than to
run before public opinion. The existing system of legis-
lation has the right of possession in its favour; and a
better title must be produced, before that right be taken
away. The advocates for free trade do not wish that
France should renounce her colonies; they know too well,
that commercial profits are not the sole consideration at-
tached to colonial possessions. Will they show us how
our colonies can remain French, if the market of France
is not secured for the sale of their produce? We cannot
believe that giving a free access to foreign sugars, would
lead to a larger exportation of French manufactures, when
we find that the Havannah and the Brazils only take back
one half, and India one fifth of the value of the produce
which we receive from them; so that by encouraging a
larger import of their sugars, we should only have a
larger balance to pay them in dollars. These consider-
ations have determined us to propose an additional tax
upon foreign sugars, particularly on those of India.”
The following are extracts from the speech
of Monsieur de Bourrienne, Minister of State,
on the same subject:
"We will not ask if it is wise to risk the
"loss of what we possess, by giving ourselves up,
"(as is the fashion of the day,) to dangerous
66
innovations and chimerical experiments. If we
106
"ought not to be on our guard against those
"apostles of independence-those speculators on
"the fate of nations, who preach the destruction of
"all that time has consecrated, and the adoption
of theories, suppositions, and dreams-if we
ought to overthrow every thing, because they say
66 all the world is in a state of revolution-if we
ought to sacrifice an established and useful
"commerce to rash essays with unknown and dis-
tant countries; or if we ought to give ourselves
"up to the seducing speculations of modern phi-
lanthropy, without maturely weighing the conse-
"quences of these doctrines? Happily, we are
"relieved from these discussions; we possess
"colonies, and the Chamber has voted the neces-
We have,
sary expense of their maintenance.
(6
"therefore, to consider the relation in which they
"stand to us and we to them, and to see whether,
"under present circumstances, so far from sepa-
"rating our reciprocal interests, we ought not to
“´unite them still more closely. We shall then pro-
"ceed to enquire, whether the colonies stand in
“need of relief; whether we ought to give them
"relief; and in what manner that relief can best
"be given. As to the first point, the Director
"General has declared in his report, that the
"planters actually sustain a loss on every cwt. of
sugar. We are aware that complaints are fre-
66
66
quently accompanied with exaggeration; but the
unanimity of those of the planters, the facts and
107
statements on which they are founded, most of
"which stand uncontradicted, lead us to confide in.
"their correctness. If, as is confirmed, sugar at
<<
70 francs the cwt. only gives the planter three per
"cent. on his capital, the very existence. of the
"colonies is threatened; and we can no longer
"doubt the necessity of giving them relief. When
"the greatest part of every thing they consume is
“taken from us-when every thing they produce
66
is sent to us-can we reject their claims? We
must either renounce our colonies or felieve
"them. They are our countrymen, we owe them
"assistance and protection. If France wishes to
"have colonies, she must wish them to prosper;
"she cannot wish to keep them and devote them
"to ruin. Let us take care not to wait till the
66
patient dies, before we think of administering him
"relief. It is our interest to promote the prospe-
66
rity of our colonies, because their prosperity
"is intimately connected with that of the com-
merce, the manufactures, and the agriculture
"of the mother country." The result of this
discussion was the imposition of such an
additional duty on foreign sugar, as would pre-
vent its coming into competition with colonial
sugar, in the home consumption of France,
whenever the price did not give a fair remu-
neration to the West Indian planter; and, on this
principle, the home consumption duty on sugar
108
from India was increased, from 24 livres 75 cents.
to 49 livres 50 cents. per cwt.
The British colonies have much stronger
claims to the protection of the mother country
than those of France, because their present dis-
tress originates in the measures of Government.
At the close of the late war, Government insisted
upon the cession of several additional West Indian
colonies, and thus occasioned that surplus import
of sugar above the consumption of the mother
country, under the consequences of which the Bri-
tish West Indian planters are now suffering.
Government also by abolishing the slave trade,
without waiting so to do in concert with the other
powers of Europe, gave a stimulus to the foreign
slave trade, and occasioned such an increase in the
cultivation of sugar in the foreign colonies, that the
supply has exceeded the demand, and this excess
has lowered the price all over Europe; for, as has
before been stated, the price in Europe regulates
the price in Great Britain.
The agricultural and manufacturing interests
of Great Britain are both protected. The West
Indian planters contribute to that protection, in the
enhanced prices of the supplies which they are ob-
liged to purchase; and therefore they have a just
claim to protection in their turn. Mr. Prinsep speaks
of the "natural monopoly enjoyed by the West
109
"Indian growers of sugar, in the shorter distance.
"and less hazardous, navigation, in the greater
<6
66
cheapness of freight and insurance, and in the
certainty of quicker returns ;" and contends, it is
upon that, and upon that alone, that the calcula-
"tions of the West Indian were built, and ought,
"in reason and justice, for ever to have rested.”*
Both the British agriculturists and manufacturers
have this natural monopoly, (if it may be so called,)
but have they not obtained other protection, and
would they not be ruined without it? In the pre-
sent distress of the agriculturists, would it be just
to devote them to utter ruin, by taking off all
restrictions on the importation of foreign corn?
Yet this is the counterpart of the measure he pro-
poses towards the West Indians. If this princi-
ple be admitted as between East and West Indian
Sugar, it cannot be disputed as between Foreign
and British corn. Some speculative political eco-
nomists have, indeed, hazarded such doctrines,
but they have met with few supporters. That the
consumer should buy every thing where he can
buy it cheapest, is just and true, as an abstract
position; but not in the artificial state of society
in which we are placed. The principles of free
trade require to be
modified in their exer-
cise, as much as the Navigation Act, which
Suggestions on Fast India Trade, p. 28, 29.
110
Mr. Prinsep is pleased to term, "the stalking
"horse of the commercial system," and "the
imaginary bulwark of our naval power;" but
speaking of which, Adam Smith, the great cham-
pion of free trade, declares, that "although some of
the provisions of this famous Act probably origi-
nated in a spirit of national animosity, yet they are
all as wise as if they had been dictated by the most
deliberate wisdom;" and in a subsequent passage,
that "as defence is of more importance than opu-
lence, the Act of Navigation is perhaps, after all,
the wisest of all the commercial regulations of
England."
Perhaps the utmost perfection to which
Government is capable of attaining, and the most
flourishing state of human society that can possibly
be imagined, is that, in which agriculture is encou-
raged by manufactures, manufactures by commerce,
and commerce by colonies. Great Britain happily
enjoys all these advantages, in a greater degree
than they were ever possessed by any other nation;
and their beneficial results, heightened by that
free constitution which gives full scope to the
exertions of every individual, have furnished her
with those unexampled resources, which have
made her at once the arbitress and the benefactress
of Europe, the terror and the admiration of the
world. Let her then cherish the means by which
these great ends have been accomplished, and not
111
abandon them for new theories and rash speculations.
Let her not, in the present case, countenance a
project, in which the popular cry of free trade is
set up by those, whose real object is to obtain a
share in an existing monopoly: the interests of
the British manufacturers and consumers are made
the pretence for promoting those of the East Indian
traders; philanthropy is used as a plea for in-
volving the population both of the East and
West Indies in misery and distress; and the adop-
tion of which would lay the axe to the root of
that navigation system, which is the basis of the
naval supremacy of Great Britain.
IIUGHES, Printer, Maiden Lane,Covent Garden.
EAST AND WEST INDIA SUGAR,
1
&c. &c.
DURING the last session of parliament, much
discussion arose respecting the propriety of con-
tinuing the duty of 10s. per cwt. which, about
eight years ago, had been granted as a protec-
tion for the sugars of the West Indies, against
those of the East. As the subject is to undergo
a full investigation in the approaching session, it
may be convenient to collect together the various
arguments which have been advanced by West
Indians in favour of this duty, and to consider their
validity. For, as the West Indians require that
other parties should be subjected to injurious
restrictions for their benefit, it is surely incumbent
on them to prove that their claim is well found-
ed. They have attempted to do so; whether
B
2
successfully or not it is my present object to ascer-
tain. They have put upon record, indeed, no
regular defence of this claim; but I have endea-
voured to bring together all the scattered pleas in
its favour, which were advanced either by their ad-
vocates in parliament, or in the course of the news-
paper controversy which the question excited. In
doing this, I have been anxious to omit no argu-
ment on which they themselves seemed to lay the
smallest stress, and, at the same time, to place every
part of their case in the strongest point of view.
Some of the arguments advanced by the West
Indians, against the removal of the protecting
duty, seem only to require to be stated, in order
to show their fallacy. Of this class are the fol-
lowing:
¡
1st. The shipping interests of this country will
suffer severely by any measure which shall
destroy, or materially diminish, the Sugar-
Trade of the West Indies. That Trade is
one of our great nurseries of seamen, from
which, in time of war, we draw the ready
means of manning our navy. What a blow
will be given to our mercantile marine,
and even to our naval power, if this Trade
should be annihilated ! !
2d. The revenue raised on West-Indian Sugar
amounts to the sum of nearly four millions.
3
}
Can the country bear the pressure which must
follow the loss of this productive source of
national income, or even its reduction in any
material degree?
3d. The persons employed in the different labours
and processes connected with the West-Indian
Sugar-Trade would suffer severely from the
change; whilst the large sums which have
been expended in the erection of docks and
warehouses in London and elsewhere, would
all, or nearly all, be lost to the country.
To these statements it is sufficient to reply,
that either sugar is to be obtained on equal or
cheaper terms from the East Indies or it is not.
If it is not, then neither the West-Indian sugar-
trade, nor the various interests connected with
it, will be affected by the removal of the protect-
ing duty. If sugar, however, may be procured
on equal or on cheaper terms from the East Indies
than from the West, it is obvious that, whatever
quantity is brought from the former, it will require,
from the greater length of the voyage, many more
tons of shipping, and many more seamen to trans-
port it. The same quantity of sugar will produce
the same amount of revenue from whatever quar-
ter it comes. It will, also, give employment to
the same number of labourers, and the same ex-
tent of dock and warehouse room, as an equal
B 2
4
quantity brought from the West Indies. Nay, if
it be true, as the West Indians argue, that sugar
may be imported at a much cheaper rate from the
East than from the West Indies, then, as the
consumption of it would, in that case, inevitably
increase, the different branches of national indus-
try, which have been represented as exposed to
ruin by the removal of the protecting duty, would,
on the contrary, be materially benefited by the
measure, whilst the revenue, also, would be pro-
portionably improved.
With respect to the revenue, indeed, it might
be shown, that, instead of gaining by the present
system, it is subjected to considerable loss, in
consequence of the preference given to West-
Indian sugar by the legislature.
If, as the West Indians allege, the additional
duty of 10s. a cwt. is insufficient to protect their
sugars from the competition of British India, then
it is obvious that, on the 150,000 tons of that arti-
cle consumed in this country, from one million to
a million and a half sterling more is directly paid
out of the pockets of the British consumers than
would be paid if East-Indian sugars were freely
admitted. A part of this sum, therefore, if not
the whole, might, without detriment to the com-
munity, be added to the revenue. But, besides
this, on every cwt. of sugar exported in a refined
state, a bounty of 6s. 3d. per cwt. is allowed,
under the name of drawback, to enable the West
5
1
Indians to carry the surplus of their sugars to
foreign markets. The drawback, that is to say,
is so regulated as to amount to 33s. 3d. on each
cwt. of Muscovado sugar that has been refined,
although the duty paid upon it was only 27s.
A further loss, therefore, of 6s. 3d. is incurred
by the revenue on every cwt. of sugar exported in
a refined state.
The great argument, however, which has
hitherto been relied upon to justify the
protection granted to West-Indian sugar,
has been this:-The West Indies are sub-
jected to the restrictions of the colonial sys-
tem, from which the East Indies are free:
the protecting duty is no more than a fair and
just compensation for this disadvantage.
This was the only argument which I can dis-
cover to have been employed by Mr. Vansittart,
when, in November, 1813, he first proposed to
parliament to impose this protecting duty; and
it appears to have been that on which its advocates,
at the time, exclusively relied. Even as late as
the session of 1821, it was stated by Lord Liver-
pool, to a deputation of East-Indian merchants,
that the ground on which he deemed it to be an
act of justice to the West Indies to continue this
protection was, that they were subject to restric-
tions from which India was free.
Now, I am far from denying that, previous to
6
the last session of parliament, there was con-
siderable weight in this argument; and justice
certainly would have required, not, indeed, that
the protecting duty should be continued, but that,
in repealing it, there should be a repeal, at the
same time, of the restrictions under which the
general commerce of the West Indies had been
placed. In point of fact, however, these restric-
tions have been removed during the last session
of parliament; but then they have been removed
without the repeal, nay, without any diminution,
but rather with an extension of the protecting
duty, which had previously been justified mainly,
if not solely, on the ground of these restrictions.
The West Indians, however, deny that all
restrictions have been removed. To this it may
be sufficient to reply, that if any still remain
which tend, in the slightest degree, to place the
trade of the West Indies under disadvantages
from which other parts of His Majesty's domi-
nions are exempt, the just and obvious course
would be to remove the remaining restrictions,
and not to inflict compensatory imposts on other
branches of commerce.
But what are precisely the restrictions which
continue to fetter the trade of the West Indies,
as compared with that of the East Indies?
With respect to shipping, in the first place, the
advantage is on the side of the former. Vessels
built in the West Indies are entitled to all the
privileges of British Registry. Vessels built in
India are denied this privilege.
A free intercourse is now admitted, not only in
British shipping (which term includes West-In-
dian shipping), but in the shipping of the United
States, of the South-American Republics, of
Brazil, and of the different foreign colonies,
French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and Swedish,
in the West Indies, between our own West-Indian
Colonies and the different foreign possessions to
which the ships respectively belong. The ships,
thus freely trading, may import into our West
Indies almost all articles which can be brought
thence with advantage; and they may also
export to those different foreign possessions, all
articles which are either of the growth of our
own colonies, or have been previously imported
into them from any other quarter.
The intercourse is also free and unrestrained,
in British shipping, between the West Indies and
our own North-American Colonies, and between
colony and colony in the West Indies. From
this branch of trade, however, the East Indies
are at present excluded.
British-built ships, including, as has been re-
marked, West-Indian shipping, may, also, trade
freely between the West Indies and all parts of
Europe and Africa, carrying thither colonial
produce, and bringing thence all articles which
do not directly interfere with the staple manufac-
8
tures of Great Britain. Salted provisions seem to
form the single other material exception to the
freedom of import, from these quarters of the
globe, which is allowed to the West Indies.
In the case of the East Indies, this intercourse
may take place, under certain regulations, not
in British ships only, but in ships of all nations ;
the goods, however, which foreign ships import,
being subject to higher duties than if they had
been brought in British vessels.
The intercourse between the East Indies and
Great Britain is liable to restrictions on East-
Indian shipping, to which West-Indian shipping,
from its being entitled to British registry, is not
liable. But the restrictions which operate most
disadvantageously on the East-Indian trade, are
the higher duties imposed on the introduction of
East-Indian produce into this country. West-
Indian coffee, for example, pays an excise-duty
of 1s. per lb. while East-Indian coffee pays a
duty of 1s. 6d. per lb. But the overwhelming
disadvantage, under which East-Indian com-
merce labours, is the protecting duty granted to
West-Indian sugar of 10s. per cwt.-sugar being an
article which, it may be shown, is so essential
to the growth and prosperity, nay, to the very
maintenance of the trade between Great Britain
and India, that if this heavy impost is conti-
nued, that trade must not only be prevented
from increasing, but it must be greatly cramped
9
and diminished. And while our commerce with
British India is necessarily narrowed by these
restrictions on the import of her raw produce,
we refuse to admit a large proportion of her
manufactured goods to consumption at all in this
country, and the rest only on paying a duty,
which is, in fact, prohibitory, and which varies
from £37: 10s. to £67: 10s. per cent. ad valorem.
We, at the same time, import our own rival manu-
factures into India, at a low duty of only 2 per
cent. ad valorem.
British manufactures, I admit, must go direct
from Great Britain to the West Indies; while,
into the East Indies, they may be imported cir-
cuitously, paying, however, double duties when
imported in foreign ships. But it is impossible
to regard this difference as affording any advan-
tage to India. British manufactures must, ne-
cessarily, be supplied cheapest in British ships
and by direct communication; there can, there-
fore, be no temptation to adopt a foreign or a
circuitous conveyance. There is, in fact, no
real nor intended benefit in the permission to do
so. It seems to be the fortuitous effect of the
peculiar circumstances of India, but it can have
no practical results in the way of comparative
advantage to the trade of that country. British
freights and British manufactures being cheaper
than the freights or manufactures of any other
country, it is no real hardship on the West
10
Indians to be confined to them, nor is it of the
slightest benefit to the East Indians to be relieved
from the restriction.
On the whole, it is clear than no argument can
be founded on the comparative advantages of the
East-Indian system of commerce over that of our
West-Indian possessions for continuing the pro-
tecting duty on sugar.
At the same time, if it
can be shown that the West Indies are still sub-
jected to restrictions which are attended with any
disadvantage whatever, the proper course, as I
have already observed, is to remove them, and
to this course no East Indian would be disposed
to prefer the slightest objection.
Another argument employed by the West In-
dians in support of their claim is of this
kind:-A preference, they say, has been
granted for a very great length of time to
West-Indian sugars: they possess, by pre-
scription, an exclusive right to the supply of
the home market, which it would be unjust
to disturb.
It is true that the sugars of our own posses-
sions have generally had a preference given to
them over foreign sugars, but not over those of
British India. The preference given to West-
Indian over East-Indian sugars dates only from the
year 1814, and cannot therefore be considered as
furnishing any very solid foundation for this
11
claim of a prescriptive right. In the year 1787,
the duties on sugar stood thus: there was charge-
able, on West-Indian brown, 12s. 4d. per cwt.; on
West-Indian white, 29s. per cwt.; on East-Indian
sugar, of whatever quality, £37: 16: 3 per cent.
ad valorem, being the duty to which all unenu-
merated articles imported from India (sugar being
one of these) was liable. But even then, sup-
posing the average price of sugar to have been
40s. per cwt. this would have afforded little pro-
tection to West-Indian sugars. It would have
been a duty of only 15s. 1d. per cwt. on East-
Indian sugars of all qualities.
In 1791, West-Indian brown sugar became
chargeable with a duty of 15s. per cwt.; that on
West-Indian white being raised to 31s. 8d.; the
duty on East-Indian sugar continuing as before.
In 1797, the duty on brown West-Indian sugar
was raised to 17s. 6d. and that on white to 34s. 2d.
East-Indian sugars of all qualities continued to be
charged with the ad valorem duty of £37 : 16 : 3
per cent. to which an addition was this year made
of 2s. 6d. per cwt. apparently with the view of
making the duty to correspond to the rise in the
duties on West-Indian sugars.
In 1803, a remarkable change of system took
place, and East-Indian sugar, instead of being
made to pay as before an ad valorem duty, was
subjected to a duty of 22s. per cwt. upon all qua-
lities, whether brown or white. At the same
!
12
time, the duty on the brown sugar of the West
Indies was raised to 20s. per cwt. and that on
the white sugar of the West Indies was reduced to
23s. 4d. per cwt. If any preference, therefore,
was then intended by the legislature to be given
to the West-Indian sugars, it was one of a very
unimportant kind. In point of fact, the arrange-
ment was probably favourable to the sugars of
India, these being chiefly of the finer descriptions.
What makes this arrangement the more remark-
able is, that it was adopted with a clear percep-
tion on the part of the West Indians of its nature
and bearings. A variety of documents may be
adduced to prove this, but particularly a report
of the Assembly of Jamaica, drawn up about
that time, in which the danger to West-Indian
interests of admitting East-Indian sugars to home
consumption is exposed at great length and with
evident anxiety. (See Appendix A.)
But what effect had the alarms and remon-
strances of the West Indians of that day on the
legislature? Did parliament then recognise this
claim of theirs to the exclusive supply of the Bri-
tish sugar-market? Far from it. On the con-
trary, in the year 1809, when the sugar-duties
came again under the consideration of parliament,
what did parliament do? It imposed on West-
Indian brown sugar a duty of 30s. per cwt.; on
West-Indian white a duty of 35s. per cwt.; and on
East-Indian sugar of all qualities a duty of 338.
+
13
per cwt.; an arrangement, like the former, which
was still, upon the whole, probably in favour of
East-Indian sugar.
On the occasion of making this arrangement,
considerable discussion took place, not on the
propriety of granting to West-Indian sugar a
protecting duty against East-Indian sugar, (this
seemed not to be made a question at that time,)
but on the propriety of admitting the sugars
of the French islands, which were then in
possession of Great Britain, to the home mar-
ket, on equal terms with the sugars of our own
colonies. The principal advocate for this mea-
sure was Mr. Marryat. His speech on the oc-
casion is well worthy of consideration. It is given
at full length, evidently under his own revision,
in the Appendix to the fourteenth volume of Cob-
bett's Parliamentary Register, page lxxviii. Mu-
tatis mutandis, it is the most able argument I
have seen in favour of the free admission of East-
Indian sugars to the home market. Indeed, so
perfectly conclusive does it appear to be, and
more especially as a refutation of that very plea
of prescription which we are now considering,
that I shall insert nearly the whole of it, in the
Appendix to the present pamphlet (B). And if the
reader, in going over the speech, will only take
the trouble to substitute British India for the con-
quered colonies of France, he will find the
I
14
speaker's arguments wonderfully strengthened by
the substitution.
And certainly the conduct of the legislature
in other instances fully justified the reasoning of
Mr. Marryat on this occasion.
No sooner was Dutch Guiana conquered by
His Majesty's arms, in 1796, and the island of
Trinidad, in 1797, than the market of Great
Britain was thrown open to their produce, on the
same terms on which the produce of our own
colonies was admitted. No opposition what-
ever appears to have been made to this measure
on the part of the West Indians.
In 1805, when the Dutch colonies in Guiana
were re-occupied by this country, their produce
was again freely admitted on equal terms with
that of the British islands, although they were,
in the strictest sense of the word, foreign colo-
nies. The same course was pursued with re-
spect to the conquered colonies of Denmark.
Now, if a claim to the prescriptive right of
exclusively supplying Great Britain with sugars
could be preferred at all, it could only be pre-
ferred by our own old colonies. But they ap-
pear not to have even thought of such a right,
when the dangerous and ruinous rivalry of Dutch
Guiana and Trinidad commenced. Then was
the time for them to have urged this plea. And,
had they urged it with success, they would un-
15
doubtedly have prevented much of the distress
of which they have since so loudly complained;
and they would have saved the lives of many
thousands of human victims, who have been
sacrificed in converting the swamps of Guiana
and the forests of Trinidad into sugar-planta-
tions.
Why was the right, for which they now con-
tend, waved on that occasion? Were the West
Indians blind to the consequences of waving it?
It is impossible to suppose it. Or was it because,
the conquered colonies being cultivated by slaves,
a fellow feeling and sympathy existed between
the parties, which led our old colonists to
forego their just claims to monopoly in favour
of their new associates, though they are to be
made good against the free labourers of British
India? On what ground was it that they ad-
mitted the sugars of Demerara and Berbice, of
Trinidad and St. Croix, to the home-market,
but that they would now exclude from it the
sugars of Hindostan? Is not this a partiality
of the most monstrous and unjustifiable de-
scription? What then are the titles to this in-
dulgence which Dutch Guiana, for example, had
to prefer, and which have proved so efficacious in
its favour, and which are not, at least, equally pos-
sessed by British India? None, that I know of,
can be pointed out which the latter does not pos-
sess in a still higher degree but this, that the sugar
16
of the former is cultivated by slaves, that of the
latter by freemen.
The first instance we meet with of the asser-
tion of this claim of prescription, was in the case
of the exclusion from the home-market of the su-
gars of the French conquered colonies in 1809.
But even then no attempt was made to impose a
similar restriction on the sugars of British India.
West Indians explain this fact by alleging that,
while the East-India Company had the monopo-
ly of the trade of Asia, they relied on the
supineness of that body to preserve them from
being injured by the competition of East-Indian
sugar; and that on this account, and this ac-
count alone, they had not earlier demanded
protection against it. But why did they not de-
mand protection against Dutch Guiana and Spa-
nish Trinidad, rivals which have proved more de-
trimental to them than India was then likely to
become, but which were finally installed in all the
privileges of British sugar colonies in the same
session of parliament, which imposed an almost
prohibitory duty on the sugars of British India ?
It ought to be observed, however, that this
attempt of the West Indians to explain their con-
duct rests on no ground of authority, certainly
not on any proceeding of the legislature; and it
is contradicted by the Jamaica report already
referred to. But even if it were true that such
was the view which influenced the West-Indian
1
17
1
body, this would not at all invalidate the fact
that, down to the year 1814, the sugars of the
West Indies were not protected, in the market of
Great Britain, against those of the East.
But then, at the close of the year 1813, it is
alleged, the legislature took the whole of this sub-
ject into its deliberate consideration and arranged
it on a footing which was intended to be permanent.
On the renewal of the East-India Company's Char-
ter in that year, the trade with Hindostan being
thrown open, it was deemed a measure of strict
justice to the West Indians to guard them against
the effect of an influx of East-Indian sugar, by
laying on that article a duty of 10s. a cwt. over
and above what was chargeable on West-Indian
sugar.
It may be here desirable to take a brief re-
view of the circumstances under which this pro-
tecting duty was imposed.
་
The act which threw open the trade of Hin-
dostan was passed towards the close of the
session of 1812-1813. During the lengthened
discussions to which that measure gave birth,
not a word appears to have been said on the
subject of East-Indian sugar. The act was allow-
ed to pass without any change in the relative
footing on which the sugars of the East and
West Indies had been placed in 1809. Indeed,
so far was Parliament from then appearing to
entertain any idea of the exclusive right of our
-C
18
own West-India colonies to supply sugar for the
home-market, that, in May, 1813, while the
East-India Bill was still pending, an act passed
for admitting the sugars of Martinique, and
some other islands, to consumption in Great
Britain at an additional duty of only 5s. a cwt,
This measure was acceded to by the West-Indian
body generally. Mr. Marryat alone objected to it.
He proposed that these foreign sugars should be
admitted on equal terms with British plantation
sugars, and strenuously supported that proposi-
tion.
It was not till the following session, that of
1813-1814, that any change was made in the
duties on East-Indian sugar. A correspondence
had passed privately on the subject between Mr.
Charles Ellis, on the part of the West-Indian
body, and the Chairman of the Committee
of Liverpool Petitioners for opening the Trade
to India, in which the latter consented to the
imposition of an additional duty of 10s. a cwt. on
East-Indian sugars. It does not appear how far
either the Liverpool petitioners or the East-Indian
merchants of London were consulted on this occa-
sion. But, it is understood, that the only persons
who took any active part in compromising the in-
terests involved in this question, were themselves
considerable growers of West-Indian sugar. In
consequence of this compromise, a resolution was
moved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on
1
19
the 26th November, 1813, imposing a duty of
10s. a cwt. on East-Indian sugar over and above
what was payable on West-Indian sugar. Mr.
Fawcett alone appears to have made the slightest
objection to the measure. But the only report
of his speech which reached the public was
comprised in the following words: "Mr. Faw-
cett made some remarks, which were not heard."
The only person besides who appears to have
broken the general silence was Mr. Marryat.
He is stated, in the newspapers of the day, to
have said, among other things, that the West
Indians were entitled to a decided preference,
on account of the restrictions under which they
laboured, and to which India was not subject; that
the West Indians had been considerable losers
during the last twenty years, and there were few
estates there which in that time had not been sold
or given up to creditors; that the present was
the only measure favourable to them which
had yet been proposed; and that he trusted it
would not be broken in upon.
The measure passed both Houses without any
farther discussion, and no notice whatever ap-
pears to have been taken of the subject out of
Parliament..
Scarcely had this additional duty been im-
posed on East-Indian sugar, when, in April, 1814,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved, and
Parliament adopted, without any discussion, a
c 2
20
resolution to admit to home consumption the
sugars of all the French colonies then in our
possession, and of St. Eustatia, St. Martin, and
Saba, at the same duties precisely which were
payable on British plantation sugar. Thus, in
the same session, the sugars of foreign slave
colonies were admitted to home consumption on
equal terms with our own, and the sugars grown
by freemen in British India were loaded with im-
posts intended to be prohibitory. I do not pre-
tend to account for measures so strangely capri-
cious and inconsistent. But is there not reason
to apprehend that those whose counsels were
allowed on this occasion to influence the deci-
sions of Government, were not entirely exempt
from a certain sympathy with the growers of
sugar by slave labour, and a corresponding dread
of the competition of sugar the produce of free
labour?
t
But whether this suspicion be well or ill
founded, it will hardly be alleged, after the above
details are duly considered, that, in the proceed-
ings adopted in 1813-1814, there was any such
compact entered into as binds either the Parlia-
ment or the people of England to confirm the
protecting duty on East-Indian sugar. On the
contrary, the whole affair wears much the air of
an unauthorized arrangement, which was suffered
to pass into a law from mere ignorance or inad-
vertence on the part of those who were chiefly
21
interested in opposing it. In no case could such
a transaction be pleaded in bar of the rights of
India and of Great Britain. Still less can it be
available when the only plea on which it even
then rested, the restrictive system of our colo-
nies, has been obviated.
But if it were conceded that a compact meant
to be permanent was then entered into by which
a protecting duty of 10s. on East-Indian sugar
was permanently secured to the West Indians,
the compact should at least be held binding on
both parties, and those in whose favour it had
been made should be the last to violate it. It
was, however, the West Indians by whom the
arrangement was first sought to be disturbed.
They demanded, and, it is rumoured, mean still
to demand, an increase of this protecting duty;
and they have thus thrown the whole question
open for renewed deliberation and discussion.
It is not, however, by any means deemed ne-
cessary that the legislative arrangement of 1813–
1814 should have been first disturbed by the
West Indians, to justify an effort for its repeal.
It is perfectly sufficient, in this and every similar
case, to be in a capacity to show that an existing
law is unjust in its provisions, and injurious in its
tendency to the public interest, in order to induce a
revision of it. That such is the case with respect
to the law which imposes a protecting duty of.
10s. on East-Indian sugars is what, I believe, may
1
22
be satisfactorily established; and, if so, every
principle of sound legislation will call for its
repeal.
But before we quit this part of the subject,
I would ask on what ground it is that this claim
of prescription is to be confined to the produce
of the sugar-cane? Why has it not been ex-
tended to cotton, to indigo, and to other articles,
the growth of tropical climates? The mischie-
vous effects which would have attended such an
extension of it are rendered indeed very plain
and palpable in the cases of cotton and indigo.
No one will deny that the most beneficial results
have been produced, to the interests of the com-
munity at large, by freely admitting these ar-
ticles, whether grown in the West or in the East
Indies, to an equal participation of the home
market. It cannot be doubted that similar ad-
vantages would arise from the free admission of
East-Indian sugar.
I shall make only one remark more under this
head. Had there been the slightest weight in
this plea of prescription, the slave-trade ought
not to have been abolished, nor ought the East-
India Company's monopoly to have been taken
away. The very Acts of Parliament which
favour most strongly the claim of the West In-
dians, are Acts of Parliament giving encourage-
ment to the slave-trade.
23
It is further alleged, that " Great Britain has
encouraged the cultivation of sugar in the
West Indies; that the faith of Parliament has
been pledged for their protection; that the at-
tempt to deprive them of that protection is an
attack on the vested rights of West Indians;
and that, therefore, on the simple ground of
JUSTICE, they are entitled to the continuance
of a protecting duty against East-Indian
sugars.
But here it ought, in the first place, to be
distinctly specified for what part of the Wést
Indies this imposing plea is advanced? Is it in-
tended to comprehend only the colonies we pos-
sessed prior to the seven years' war, namely,
Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Bermudas, Barba-
does, Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, and
the Virgin Islands? Or does it include Grenada,
and the Grenadines, St. Vincent, and Dominica,
ceded to us in 1763? Or does it extend also to
Trinidad, ceded in 1802, and to Tobago, which,
after changing masters several times, was finally
ceded to us in 1814? Again, does it comprehend
Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, colonies
which have been British only since 1814? Let
us at least know the precise limits of the claim,
and the grounds on which it is founded. Does it
rest on length of possession, or is it that slavery
is so desirable an institution in itself, that, wherever
24
it exists, it is entitled to peculiar favour and pro-
tection? At present, at least, no distinctions are
made, or even hinted at, by the claimants. The
old colonies in the West Indies have fraternized
with the new; they have entered into an alliance
for their common defence against the presump-
tuous claims of every British possession which
lies to the east of the Cape of Good Hope;-for
the common defence, as it would seem, (with one
exception, which it is not easy to account for, that
of the Mauritius,) of slave cultivation against free
cultivation. Frenchmen and free men seem the
only objects on which they exercise their right
of exclusion. Or is the Mauritius excluded
from this (we will not call it unholy) league, as
being a kind of advanced post in the way to that
especial object of their hostility, British India?
-
It may, however, be further asked, why this
plea is confined to the sugar-planters?* Is not this
unfair to some of the members of their own
alliance? The Bahamas, for example, cultivated
only cotton. Had they not the same right to
protection with Jamaica? And why should more
deference be paid to the claims of the sugar-
planters in all the islands, who form only about
two-thirds of the whole proprietary, than to
those of the growers of other tropical productions?
* Coffee, though also loaded with a protecting duty, can
hardly, as yet, be said to be a staple production of British India.
25.
The decision of the question in the case of cot-
ton and indigo turned, it is manifest, not on the
reality or groundlessness of any such absurd plea
as is now advanced, but on the general interests
of the community; and on that ground must the
present question also be decided.
But "
encouragement has been given to the
cultivation of the West Indies." Without doubt
it has. Encouragement was also given to the
agriculture of England before its union with
Scotland, and to the agriculture of Great Bri-
tain before its union with Ireland. But was that
deemed a valid reason for making invidious dis-
tinctions between the subjects of the same united
kingdom? On the contrary, has it not been the
just and enlightened policy of the legislature to
approximate as rapidly as possible to an absolute
inter-community of commercial rights and privi-
leges between every part of it?
On the same ground, we presume, it was that
the conquered and ceded sugar colonies, with the
recent and occasional exception of French colo-
nies, were so readily admitted to a free and equal
participation of the British market.
But on
what principle is British India to be excluded
from the operation of the same liberal policy?
She has been British much longer than one half
of our West-Indian colonies:-Bengal, the great
grower of sugar, has been British since 1765.
When the West Indians speak so largely of
26
solemn compacts, of the faith of Parliament
being pledged to them, of the protection pro-
mised to them, of the vested rights they have
acquired to a monopoly of the sugar market, and
of the JUSTICE which is due to them, it is very
difficult to affix any meaning to the terms. In
fact, they are but using up the very weapons
which they wielded, for a time, but too success-
fully, in defence of the slave-trade, but which, I
apprehend, are now too well appreciated to serve
the same purposes of delusion. The very terms
of the former controversy (the result of which,
nevertheless, they affect to praise, though it was
their own defeat) are now servilely copied. The
very same Acts of Parliament will, doubtless,
be again conjured up in formidable array; and,
with slight alterations, the speeches and pam-
phlets of the former period, drawn from the lum-
ber rooms of their publishers, will again be put
into requisition: on the topic now under consi-
deration, they will be found particularly fruitful
of fact and argument.
But to return: when and where, I would ask,
was the faith of Parliament pledged, and the
kind of protection which they claim promised to
them? What are the vested rights of which they
speak, and how have they been acquired, and
where are their muniments deposited? Can
they exhibit proof of a vested right to be paid
by the people of this country, already groaning
27
under their burthens, a million and a half more
for their sugar than it is worth? Or, can they
show a vested right to oblige the people of Great
Britain to sustain, by that and other costly sacri-
fices, in all its rigour and deformity, the system
of colonial bondage, which pollutes the charac-
ter, while it deteriorates the moral feelings of the
community?
Precisely the same plea, which we are here
combating, might have been used with far more
propriety and truth on a variety of occasions on
which, happily for Great Britain, it has been
wholly disregarded and contemned.
I have already alluded to the slave-trade. It had
received the encouragement of innumerable Acts of
Parliament; nay, of many of the very same Acts to
which we shall probably be now referred. It
was considered as worthy of the highest legis-
lative and diplomatic protection. It was held
with so firm a grasp, that when Virginia, in 1773,
represented to Parliament the various evils which
attended the continued importation of Africans
into that state, and implored its prohibition, the
proposal was indignantly rejected as at variance
with our commercial interests.
But, all this notwithstanding, the slave-trade
has been abolished; and it has now become, in
this country at least, the object of universal exe-
cration. Even those who fought its battles, with
the most determined pertinacity for twenty years,
28
<
can now speak of its abolition as a wise and salu-
tary measure. And how was this extraordinary
revolution effected? By examination, inquiry,
evidence. It was narrowly investigated, and
found to be cruel and unjust: it was convicted
of radical and incurable injustice. On that oc-
casion, the West Indians united with the slave-
traders in clamouring against the abolition of
the slave-trade, as an act of the grossest injustice
to them, precisely in the same way in which they
now clamour against the abolition of the protect-
ing duty on sugar. But their clamours proved
ineffectual for any purpose but that of delay.
The good sense of the people of England led
them to see that if it was unjust to tear Africans,
by force or fraud, from their native land, and to
doom them and their posterity for ever to slavery
in the West Indies, it could not possibly be un-
just to prohibit this from being done. They re-
fused to be deluded by the cobweb-sophistries of
the slave-traders and slave-holders, and they
abolished the trade.
Now, does not precisely the same reasoning
apply to the present case? If it can be shown,
as it is proposed to be, in the course of this
inquiry, that the protecting duty is unjust to-
wards the people of India and the people of
England, involving consequences exceedingly in-
jurious to their rights and their interests, then we
may confidently affirm that, even if indemnity
}
29
1
were due, yet no counter-plea of justice can
be truly alleged for its continuance. A general
claim for indemnity, indeed, was advanced, in
the case of the abolition of the slave-trade, but none
was actually given, because it was never shown,
by any individual, that indemnity was due to
him. Indemnity may, possibly, be said to be
due to the West Indians on the present occasion.
In that case, let it be claimed; let the nature and
grounds of the claim be fully and fairly inves-
tigated, and let it be met with equity, and even
liberality. To this they are entitled, but to
nothing more. They have no more right to claim
the continuance of a protecting duty on sugar, to
the manifest wrong of India and of Great Britain,
than they had before a right to claim the continu-
ance of the slave-trade, to the manifest wrong of
Africa.
Another marked exemplification of the princi-
ple here contended for is to be found in the mea-
sure for putting an end to the exclusive privilege
of the East-India Company, and throwing open
the trade of Hindostan. The plea which the
Company had to urge for the continuance of their
monopoly was infinitely stronger than any thing
which can now be urged in behalf of the West-
Indian monopoly. They actually enjoyed what
the West Indians only fancy they enjoy. Their
monopoly was admitted. They displayed, there-
fore, in defence of their claims, and good right
30
they had to do so, the antiquity of their pre-
scription; their vested interests; their oft-renewed
charters; the encouragement derived from legis-
lative enactments; the capital they had invested
in establishments of various kinds at home and
abroad, free from all expense to the parent-state;
their vast contributions to the revenue; their
splendid services and triumphs; the blaze of
glory their achievements had thrown around their
country; the happiness they had communicated
to their Indian subjects; and a thousand other
pleas which form a singular contrast with the
present case. To throw open the trade, they
affirmed, would be gross injustice, whilst it would
lead to irreparable evils of various kinds.
All these pleas were listened to; they were in-
vestigated; they were refuted. The question of
right and justice was found to be against the Com-
pany, and they were deprived of their monopoly.
In that case, the just claims of India and of
Great Britain were admitted to outweigh all that
could be alleged on the other side. The pretence
of countervailing claims of justice, on the part
of the Company, was held to be inadmissible as
a bar to the acknowledged rights of the commu-
nity at large. The Company, indeed, were left
at liberty to make out a case for indemnity, and
we were led to expect that an immense loss would
have been exhibited, on their part, as a founda-
tion for such a claim; but, from the time that the
31
conflict was over, and the irritation of it had subsi-
ded, nothing more has been heard on this subject.
Similar cases might be multiplied. The le-
gislature had prohibited the intercourse of our
West-Indian islands with the United States, for the
express purpose, among others, of giving encou-
ragement to the produce of the British North
American colonies. An enlarged view of the
national interests has led to a complete change of
system in this respect. At the urgent solicitations
of the West Indians themselves, the encourage-
ment which for years had been given to our North
American colonies has been suddenly withdrawn,
and the market of the West Indies opened to the
produce of the United States.—In like manner,
after encouraging the timber-trade of Canada, in
opposition to the timber-trade of the Baltic, until
it had been nourished up to a trade of immense
extent, the policy which loaded the Baltic timber
with a protecting duty has been found to be
erroneous, because detrimental to the interests of
the community at large; and, notwithstanding
the injury arising from its abolition to the indivi-
duals who, on the faith of parliament, had em-
barked in the timber-trade of Canada, that pro-
tecting duty has been repealed.-Nay, our very
navigation-laws, on the faith of which our ship-
builders and dock-owners had embarked their
property, which were deemed to be a part of our
legislative system that was absolutely immutable,
32
and with which our commercial greatness and our
maritime superiority were supposed to be closely
bound up, being proved, in their rigour, to be
inconsistent with the national interests, have been
made to give way. In spite of all the legislative
encouragement, in spite of the faith of parlia-
ment, in spite of the promised protection which
our ship-owners, and ship-builders, and dock-
masters, and all the classes depending upon them,
had to plead, the navigation-laws have been
largely relaxed, and will, probably,
will, probably, undergo
still more extensive relaxations.
A repeal of the protecting duty on East-Indian
sugar would, say the West Indians, be gross in-
justice to them. It is unjust, that is to say, that
twenty millions of men in Great Britain and Ire-
land should have leave to buy sugar where they
can buy it cheapest, and that one hundred mil-
lions of British subjects in India should have leave
to bring their sugar to those twenty millions of
consumers, lest the gains of a few West-Indian
planters should be diminished. Why should these.
one hundred and twenty millions of men be denied
this advantage? For no reason but that the West-
Indian planters may be benefited at their cost.
But this, as has been well observed,* is the plea
"6
* See an admirable paper on this subject in a periodical work
called the Inquirer," (No. ii. p. 251,) printed for Longman.
and Co.
33
1
of all injustice, the object of all oppression.
One man wishes to reap such and such an ad-
vantage at the cost of many others. The few
require to benefit at the expense of the much
greater number.
Thus precisely stands the
Let the West Indians show
wherein their case differs, in principle, from all
the other unjust monopolies and commercial op-
pressions which have ever existed.
present question.
Another argument employed by the West
Indians for perpetuating the protecting-
duty is this: A vast amount of capital
is embarked in the cultivation of the West
Indies, which will be lost if this duty be
withdrawn.
An argument of precisely the same kind, without
any variation, was employed by the West Indians
to prevent the British parliament from abolishing
the slave-trade. It proved, then, a very capti-
vating and imposing argument, and for a time
served its purpose. But in the teeth of it the
slave-trade was abolished, and no West Indian
has since come forward to state a case of dilapi-
dated or ruined capital in consequence of that
measure on the contrary, it may be shown that
the ruin of the West Indies would only have
been accelerated had their plea been attended to.
This circumstance is not a proof that there is
nothing in the present argument. It furnishes,
D
५
34
however, a ground of suspicion that it may have
little real weight. On the occasion of the aboli-
tion of the slave-trade, it is believed that there
was only one, even of the slave-traders, who
preferred a claim for compensation; although,
previous to the abolition, the total ruin was pre-
dicted, with absolute confidence, of all concern-
ed in the traffic in England and in Africa. Espe-
cially was the ruin of Liverpool predicted, in
case" that valuable trade, the main source of
its prosperity," and occupying such a mass of its
capital, should be lost to it.
But is it clear that the proposed measure
would involve any loss of capital, and if any, to
what amount? This is a point for examination.
It must be admitted, that immense sums of
British capital have been sunk in the West Indies.
Into Jamaica alone, since its conquest, when
there were in it about 40,000 slaves, not less than
850,000 Africans have been imported, making a
total of 890,000, exclusive of all the births
which have taken place during that period. And
yet, at the present moment, the slave-population
of the island does not exceed 345,000. What
an immense sacrifice of capital is here! No
fewer than 545,000 slaves, more than now exist
there, have been imported into this single island,
who must have cost a mass of British capital,
equal to at least from 15 to 20 millions; and, at
the price at which slaves are now valued, would
35
amount to more than double that large sum.
For this enormous loss of capital, however, we
presume there is no claim to be preferred. It is
rather for Jamaica to account for so great a waste of
life no less than of property.
Vast sums of capital have, moreover, been ir-
retrievably sacrificed in various other ways,-in
extravagant speculations, bad debts, &c. &c.
No claim, it is also presumed, is intended to be
drawn from these sources of past loss. Nothing
more can be meant by the argument under con-
sideration than that the value of the property
now actually invested in West-Indian sugar-culti-
vation would be deteriorated or lost by East In-
dian competition. But of what does that property
consist? It consists of land, houses, furniture,
implements of husbandry, cattle, and slaves.
If we suppose that the consequence of the pro-
posed measure of removing the protecting duty
would be even to put an entire period to the growth
of sugar in the West Indies, how would these
different items of property be affected by it?
We will assume that two-thirds of the land, as
well as two-thirds of all the other descriptions
of property, including slaves and cattle, are em-
barked in the culture of sugar. The land so
employed would remain, and would be applica-
ble to other purposes: it could be applied to
none, according to the statements of West Indians
themselves, which would yield less profit than sugar
D 2
1
4
36
is now yielding, or has generally yielded: their
own reports for the last thirty years may be
quoted in proof of this: from them it appears
(see Appendix C) that it is absolutely yield-
ing no profit whatever. The same may be said
of the slaves and the cattle. The numerical
amount of the slave-population would not be
diminished merely by a change of employment
from growing sugar, for example, to growing
provisions and other articles. Nay, the proba-
bility is, that the slaves would increase rather than
diminish if their labour were lessened and their
food augmented, as they would be by such a
change.
These three items of capital, the land, the cattle,
and the slaves, may, perhaps, be estimated to com-
prehend seven-eights, or nine-tenths, or even
more of the whole capital of the West-Indian
colonies. Of the remaining eighth or tenth, the
part which would be materially deteriorated in
value would be that which was exclusively ap-
plicable to the manufacture of sugar. The build-
ings and utensils of this description could not,
perhaps, be converted to other uses without con-
siderable loss.
It would only, however, be by the sugar-estates,
which we have assumed to constitute two-thirds
of the whole, that this loss would in any case be
incurred; and it would probably not be incurred
but by a part of these. The necessity which
37
might arise of changing the culture from sugar
to some other articles would attach only to the
inferior soils, and these would share the fate to
which the agriculturists of Great Britain itself
are obliged to submit.
This claim for a continuance of the protecting
duty in favour of West-Indian sugar, on the score
of the capital invested in its cultivation, it is
here, however, to be observed is a claim which
might be urged with equal force in the case of
every improvident speculation. In the year 1813,
as we have seen, it was affirmed, in the House
of Commons, by one who was a very competent
witness, that during the preceding twenty years
there were few estates in the West Indies which
had not changed hands; which had not, that
is to say, been sold, or given up to creditors;
and this testimony is fully confirmed by various
reports of West-Indian assemblies. With respect,
then, to all but a few of the West-Indian sugar
estates, the investment which has been made
of capital in their culture must have taken place
within the last thirty years. They must have
been purchased, or transferred therefore at a va-
lue regulated by the various considerations which
ought to enter, and doubtless did enter, into the
calculation of every prudent purchaser. They
would be estimated at what they could be consi-
dered as really worth at the time of the purchase
or transfer, and not at the amount of money
38
which rash speculators may have advanced upou
them; just as a trader cannot reckon as capital
upon the money he may have lent, or the goods he
may have furnished, to another trader, after he
has been obliged to accept a dividend or a com-
position of 5s. in the pound for his debt: the
other three-fourths of the debt are gone for ever.
The purchaser, therefore, of a West-Indian estate
in 1804, for instance, or the mortgagee who then
entered into possession, was bound to estimate
its value fairly, as it was at that moment, not
according to the amount of his improvident ad-
vances, but according to its real intrinsic worth,
as the same might have been deduced from the
authentic report of the assembly of Jamaica
of that year already referred to; taking into
view, likewise, its capabilities as compared with
other lands employed in the culture of sugar,
the charges to which it was subject, and those
risks of change, from the competition of other
parts of the world, and from the altered policy
of the state, to which it was liable. He had al-
ready seen that all the colonies conquered from
Holland, Spain, &c. had been allowed to bring
their sugars to our home market. There existed
no reason at that time why the conquest of Java
might not have raised up another formidable rival,
nor why the sugars of Bengal should not come
into competition with his. No pledge had been
given to that effect. On the contrary, the possibili-
L
39
ty of such a competition was distinctly foreseen
at the time. To prove this it will be only neces-
sary to refer again to the same elaborate report of
the assembly of Jamaica, in which this very risk
is largely adverted to. Purchasers, therefore,
during the period of which we speak, must have
embarked their capital with this very risk in their
view, and their estimate of the value of West-
Indian property ought, in common prudence, to
have taken this risk also into account.
The great comparative disadvantage of adven-
turing capital in the cultivation of sugar, in our
own West-India Islands, was established by the
most conclusive evidence, before his Majesty's
privy council, in 1789. On referring to the vo-
lume containing that evidence, it appears that
questions were put on the subject to the authori-
ties in the colonies and to their agents at home,
the answers to which are of the most unambiguous
kind. The answer of Jamaica is, that the com-
mon average yielding of an acre of sugar canes,
in St. Domingo, was 38 cwt. and that the average
of the most productive parishes in Jamaica was
only 12 cwt. the average of the whole island being
not more than 8 cwt.; while the mode of culti-
vating the cane and manufacturing the sugar was
much more expensive in the latter than in the
former. In St. Domingo, they state that 300
negroes could produce a million pounds weight of
40
sugar; while, in Jamaica, it required nearly 900
negroes to produce the same quantity on what
was there deemed good land.
The answers of the other islands, though not
so specific, were to the same effect.
-
Was it not to be foreseen that the capital laid
out in the cultivation of lands so disadvan-
tageously situated was laid out at a fearful risk?
Let it only be considered what would have been
the fate of all our old colonies had the British
arms succeeded in conquering St. Domingo
during the revolutionary war. The cultivation of
sugar in those colonies must have ultimately
ceased; they could not by any possibility have
stood the competition with that island. But
though St. Domingo was not conquered, yet
Guiana and Trinidad were conquered, and their
sugars were brought into free competition with
those of our old colonies. Cuba, also, had
begun to grow sugar much more largely, and
the rivalry of Bengal became, at that time, as
we have seen, an object of serious apprehension
to West Indians. For the deterioration, or even
loss of capital embarked under such circum-
stances, the capitalist seems to be excluded
from the right of complaining, except of his own
improvidence.
I might no less confidently refer to the whole
of the proceedings in the parliamentary commit-
tees of 1807 and 1808, on the subject of Sugar
41
and Distillation, as decisive on this point of the
then ruined state of West-Indian property.
But there is another view of the subject which
it will be proper to take. The capital which has
been embarked in West-Indian property during
the last thirty years, the period since which
it is affirmed that almost all the estates in the
West Indies have changed hands, has been chiefly,
if not entirely the capital of English merchants;
and it has been advanced by them strictly as a
mercantile speculation. They perfectly knew all
their risks, risks so great as to have become
notorious and almost proverbial. What was
their inducement for laying out their capital on
West-Indian estates? Was it their opinion of
the permanence of that species of property?
Was it the assurance of a protecting duty?
This will hardly be affirmed. It was simply the
large annual return which their advances were
made to yield to them, and which were consider-
ed by them, justly or not, as equivalent to their
risks. They have no more right, therefore, to
complain in this instance, than Insurance Com-
panies have a right to complain that they are
suddenly called upon to pay a loss, for engaging
to sustain which they had received the stipulated
premium.
An almost entire change of property, it is
affirmed, has taken place in the West Indies
42
since 1793, a period during which the market
for West-Indian sugar has been undergoing very
great fluctuations, and when, therefore, the mer-
chant would naturally examine with much solici-
tude his chances of gain or loss in embarking
his capital on the security of a sugar-estate.
The ordinary advantages accruing to him from
such an advance of capital may be estima-
ted, perhaps, at from 12 to 20 per cent. per
annum; including interest at 6 per cent. com-
missions on the sugar sold and on the supplies
furnished, gain by insurances, freights, &c. If
we suppose him to retain the consignments of
such an estate for from eight to twelve years, his
capital would, in that case, be replaced, and
whatever he might obtain beyond this would be
the bonus, for the sake of which he was content
to encounter the risk of loss.
But is it fair, may it not be asked, that a specu-
lator of this description should come with a claim
either for protection against East-Indian sugar,
to the immense disadvantage both of Great
Britain and India, or for indemnity? If his
speculation has benefited him, the demand is
perfectly monstrous. If it has injured him, what
claim has he to consideration beyond the thou-
sands of unfortunate speculators in underwriting,
or in any other line of business, who have been
hurt by their speculations?
43
It
A very large proportion, however, of the pro-
perty vested in sugar-estates at this moment, it
would appear, has been vested in them by such
speculators as have just been described, who,
we may assume, have been proceeding in their
speculations with a view to their own profit or
security, rather than to the permanent interests
of the proprietor to whom their advances were
made. This seems to be proved by the course
which they have generally bound the proprietors
to pursue in the management of their estates.
would, for example, have been very highly for the
interests of all proprietors, during the last twenty
years, to have diminished their culture of sugar,
and to have applied the labour withdrawn from
it to the culture of other articles, and particularly
of provisions. The evil under which they have
laboured has been the evil of low prices for their
sugars, and high prices for their provisions. Their
obvious policy, therefore, would have been to have
lessened the cultivation of the former, and to
have increased the growth of the latter. They
must, in the end, have greatly benefited them-
selves and their slaves by such a plan steadily pur-
sued. But this, it is obvious, would not have
suited the views of the merchant. His commis-
sions and other gains both on the sugars and the
supplies would have been abridged. Instead of
an interest on his capital of from 12 to 20 per
cent. he must have been content, in this case, with
44
an interest, perhaps, of from 7 to 15 per cent. But
he would naturally be unwilling to consent to a
change of system, which, though beneficial to
the West-Indian planter, must lessen his gains
as consignee. If the quantity of sugar were ma-
terially diminished, the planter might be led to
fear that a foreclosure of his mortgage would
follow. The sugar, therefore, must be pro-
duced at whatever disadvantage to him; and
provisions to feed the slaves, instead of being
grown on the spot, must be imported from
abroad, though at three times the cost, in order
that the speculations of the merchant may be
made to answer. This whole subject will be
found ably illustrated in a letter addressed by a
West-India merchant to a West-India planter,
in 1808, and printed for Richardson. It is
entitled, "A safe and permanent Remedy for
the Distresses of the West-India Planters." The
author's name is said to be Robley.
There are various other ways in, which this
question may be viewed. In every other part of
the tropical world, except the sugar colonies of
the West Indies, population increases rapidly,
because the means of subsistence are easily pro-
curable; and it will not be denied, that an in-
crease of population, in whatever way it may be
regarded, whether as an increase of labourers, or
of a mere saleable commodity, must be consi-
dered as a source of wealth to the proprietor of
45
an estate. But in the sugar colonies of the West
Indies the slaves have not increased. It may,
therefore, be assumed, that there is some radical
vice in the system, which greatly lessens at least
its title to protection or compensation, It is
never to be lost sight of, that the main subjects of
property in the West Indies are sentient beings,
to whom a proprietor stands in a far different
relation from what he does to his ox, or his ass,
to his cask of sugar or coffee, or his bale of
cotton. There are here reciprocal rights and
obligations recognised by laws human as well as
divine, admitted by West-Indian proprietors, em-
bodied in legislative acts framed by themselves,
and assumed in all their apologies for colonial
slavery. They would all readily admit, that
Mr. Hodge, of Tortola, who, by his desperate
cruelties, had reduced in a few years the slaves
on his estate to less than a fourth of their original
number, was not entitled to any compensation for
such loss. But, on the same principle, in whatever
degree, on inquiry, it shall appear that the West-
Indian proprietors have failed in their clear and
acknowledged obligations, as they respect the
well-being, the personal comfort, and the moral
improvement of their dependents; and still more
in whatever degree their exercise of uncontrolled
power over those dependents shall have tended
to their diminution, degradation, and misery, to
the shortening of their lives, and to the abridge-
1
46
ment of the usual sources of increasing popula-
tion, in that degree do they lessen their claim to
indulgence and favour. And here it is not meant
to speak of particular instances of misconduct
and abuse, but of the general system which per-
vades the colonies, and which is manifestly un-
favourable to human life, and, therefore, to hu-
man happiness.
But to take another view of this subject. It
has now become a settled principle in our social
economy, that no man should wilfully neglect
the means of guarding against the contingencies
of life, when it is in his power to do so: if he
suffers from such neglect, he becomes an object,
not so much of pity, as of reprehension. For
example: a person who should be in the enjoy-
ment of a large but precarious income, and who
should neglect the obvious means of securing a
provision for himself in case of its ceasing, or
for his family in the event of his death, and who
should even deride all salutary counsel upon the
point, would justly expose himself to severe
censure, and would greatly weaken his title to
liberal consideration. The man, also, who should
venture his whole fortune in a ship, which he re-
fused or neglected to insure, would be spoken of
as having been the author of his own ruin, and
could prefer no claim to indemnity from the pub-
lic, and least of all from those who had warned
him of the consequences of his folly.
47
Now, if we should concede, merely for the
sake of argument, what in itself is more than
questionable, that the removal of the protecting
duty on sugar would render unproductive more than
it now is the capital embarked in its cultivation, still
the matter would rest on the same principle
which applies to the improvident annuitant, or
the still more extravagantly improvident mer-
chant, to whose cases we have adverted.
But what could the West Indians have done
to insure against such contingencies as go to
affect the value of their property in slaves? They
could have done much, independently of the
more obvious measure of encouraging their
increase. They could have done what they have
been often urged to do, and what the successful
example of other colonies might have taught and
encouraged them to do.
In the colonies of Spain, for example, it has,
from an early period, been the established prac-
tice to encourage the manumission of their slaves,
by means which replaced the capital that had
been originally laid out in their purchase. Sup-
pose the value of a slave to have been £50; the
law provided, that whenever the slave could
repay this entire sum to his master he should be
manumitted: and, to facilitate this object, it
was the usual practice, that whenever the slave
had it in his power to repay even a fifth part of
48
the sum, he should have a proportional part of
his time assigned to him for his own benefit.
:
To make this beneficent and truly provident
plan more infallibly successful, the slave was
allowed the Sabbath as a day of rest and enjoy-
ment, as well as a day for attending to his reli-
gious duties. On that day no labour was exacted
from him, but he was allowed to recruit his
strength for the labour of the other six. One
day in the week was further allowed him, on
which to provide for his sustenance and that of
his family. That object being secured, the slave
was at liberty to turn his own time to the best ad-
vantage, to hire himself to his master or to who-
ever else would employ him, or to occupy him-
self in cultivating such articles, or in rearing
such animals as would command a ready sale
at the next market. As soon as he accumulated
in this way the fifth part of his value, he was
then permitted to redeem with it
days belonging to his master.
portion of time enabled him to accumulate more
rapidly the means of purchasing another day;
and thus matters proceeded, until the whole of
his time was redeemed, and his manumission
was completed. He then, if he had a wife and
children, added his entire exertions to theirs,
until they also were redeemed. The master had
thus his capital replaced without loss. But this
one of the five
This farther
1
:
49
was not his whole advantage; a peasantry was
raised up around him, accustomed to industrious
exertion, to forethought, and to frugality, who.
had experienced the happy effects of regular and
persevering labour, in their deliverance from sla-
very as the reward of it, and in the comforts
which surrounded them. No instance, it is be-
lieved, has occurred, in the Spanish colonies, of
an insurrection on the part of these enfranchised
Africans, or of their attempting to instigate such
as remained slaves to any other means of de-
liverance than those which they themselves had
so successfully pursued. Nor has it been only
the internal peace of the Spanish colonies which
was promoted by this arrangement, but they were
rendered almost secure against foreign aggression.
Trinidad was the only Spanish colony we were
ever able to conquer, and that colony was not
only then in its infancy, but it had been settled
on principles materially varying from the usual
colonial policy of Spain.
Such was the course of things in the Spanish
colonies generally, down to the year 1793. In all
of them, at that time, not excepting Cuba itself,
the number of free blacks equalled or exceeded
the number of slaves. Since that time the an-
nual importations of new negroes into Cuba has
been so large as greatly to alter this proportion,
but still even there the free black population
amounts to from a third to a half of the slave-
E
50
population; whilst in the other colonies of Spain,
the proportion of the free population has gone
on increasing so fast, that the process has been
not only easy but safe to complete emancipation.
In Spanish St. Domingo all are now free. In
Spanish South America, the numbers still in
bondage form but a very small part of the whole
black and coloured population; and measures
have been adopted for the speedy and entire ex-
tinction of slavery even among them. All this
too has been effected, it would seem, without any
derangement of property, without any civil com-
motion, without any complaint on the part of the
masters, nay with their willing and cheerful con-
currence.
Now let this system be compared with that
which prevails in our own colonies. To the
plantation-slaves, generally speaking, the Sab-
bath is neither a day of rest, nor instruction, nor
religious worship. It is the day on which (in
Jamaica especially) they are forced to cultivate
their grounds in order to provide for their sub-
sistence on the other six days, and on which they
must carry their little produce to market to ex-
change for necessaries. In short, the Sunday is
the day allotted them, not for rest and refresh-
ment, or for religious uses, but for sustaining
themselves and families during the week. In
this country the labourer has six days in the
week on which to provide for his own subsist-
51
ence and that of his family. The negro slave
must perform this task chiefly on the day which
everywhere else is a day of bodily repose. The
effect of this incessant occupation, independently
of the loss of all the moral uses intended by the
appointment of the Sabbath, is the wearing down
more rapidly of the human frame, feebleness,
disease, and premature old age.
In addition to the Sunday, the slaves have,
also, on most sugar-plantations a day given them
every fortnight, (except during the four or five
months of the crop, or sugar harvest, when they
are made to work all day and half the night,) on
which to cultivate their provision grounds,
amounting, on the average, to at most sixteen or
seventeen days in the year, instead of the fifty-
two days which the Spanish slaves were allowed.
It is needless to point out what influence the
rest of the Sabbath and the substitution of fifty-
two week-days in the year given to all the
slaves in the West Indies, for their own pur-
poses, would have had on their comfort, and
would have had also in preventing that glut of
sugar in our markets, which has been the more
immediate cause of the distress of the West
Indians. They doubtless thought to enrich them-
selves by this systematic desecration of the
Christian Sabbath; but it was a design which,
as might be expected, Providence has not blessed,
It has proved, evidently, one efficient cause
E 2
52
of their present embarassments, independently of
the injurious effect it must have had on the health,
and strength, and increase of their slaves.
Again, that part of the Spanish system which
had it in view to replace the master's capital by
the redemption of the slave, is not only wholly
neglected in our colonies, but all approach to it
is discouraged, nay, in many cases, actually
rendered almost impossible, by colonial legisla-
tive enactments. Heavy taxes are laid, in some
of the colonies, on manumissions, amounting, in
one instance, to £500 currency on each, and
constituting an effectual prohibition of the prac-
tice; in another to £300 for women, and £200
for men.
In short, not only are no means what-
ever employed for bringing about a gradual and
progressive manumission, which shall, at the
same time, indemnify the master, improve the
slave, and fit him, by previous habits, for using his
freedom for his own benefit and the general ad-
vantage of the community; but the whole cur-
rent of West-Indian legislation, and the entire
tone of West-Indian feeling are decidedly adverse
to such a policy.
In discussing the question of capital, however,
we must not lose sight of the distinction to be
taken between the loss incurred by the indivi-
dual, and the loss to the community. It cannot
be doubted that many changes, in the highest
degree beneficial to the community, may be at-
53
tended by loss to individuals. It cannot be
doubted, for example, that the general interests
of the community would be greatly promoted
by the conversion of a slave population, acted
upon only by the impulse of the lash, and inca-
pable therefore of rising from the level almost of the
brute, into a free population accessible to the force
of all the motives which, in ordinary circumstances,
influence men to exertion. Much light may be
thrown on this problem, not merely by abstract
reasoning, but by experience; by a consideration,
that is to say, of the facts furnished by history,
from the time of the abolition of villainage in
England to the recent abolition of slavery in Cey-
lon and Columbia. And let it be remembered,
that it is possible to arrive at this state of eman-
cipation, as has happened in Spanish America,
in Ceylon, in the Malaccas, and at Bencoolen,
without wading through anarchy and blood, nay,
even with advantage to the masters, provided
they will cordially lend themselves to the intro-
duction of a better system. If they would do
so, no doubt can exist that, in the end, instead
of losing, they would themselves benefit largely
by the change.*
* I would recommend to those who may wish to investi-
gate this curious and important question more fully, Cropper's
Letters to Mr. Wilberforce; A. Hodgson's Letter to Mr. Say;
and Coster on the Amelioration of Negro Slavery, printed in
the 16th Number of the Pamphleteer.
54
But not to dwell longer on this view of the
subject, and supposing things to continue as
they are in our colonies, it might be proved, that
the alarms of ruin to the planter, from the dimi-
nished culture of sugar, are extravagant at least, if
not groundless. This proposition admits of a ready
illustration in the case of Barbadoes, where the
quantity of sugar now grown is very small, as
compared with its population. Much of the
labour, which in neighbouring islands is bestowed
on sugar, is here judiciously applied to other ob-
jects, and principally to the growth of provisions
and various articles of necessity and comfort. And,
although the Barbadians may feel the pressure of
the present times, yet they feel it less than the colo-
nists in general, and their slaves are much better
off, as to food, than they are in the islands around
them; nay, it is, perhaps, the only slave colony
except the Bahamas, where at this moment the
slaves appear to be increasing.
By pursuing the policy, in this respect, of the
Barbadians, there cannot be a doubt that the
other West Indians would be saved from much
of that loss, which they contemplate as the effect
of removing the protecting duty on East-Indian
sugar.
There is one circumstance, however, which
renders it almost hopeless that any rational and
enlightened plan should be adopted, and syste-
matically pursued, for improving the state of the
55
West-Indian sugar-planters, and that is, their
very general non-residence. Besides having to
support an expensive domestic establishment in
Europe, in addition to their establishments
abroad, the conduct of these is left to hired
agents, who have no identity of interest with the
owners, and who, from their very distance, are not
subject to any effective control. If the owners
themselves were to reside upon and to manage their
own estates, they would soon find that it was in
their power to improve their property in a variety
of ways, and they would learn to employ the
labour of their slaves in what might be in reality
the most advantageous mode of employing them;
and there would infallibly follow from such a
course of proceeding an improvement, instead of
a loss, both of capital and of income.
Let it be remembered, that the sugar-planters of
Cuba and the Brazils, of Louisiana and Bengal,
are with few exceptions resident. This circum-
stance alone constitutes an immense difference
in the general results of sugar planting in those
quarters as compared with onr West-Indian
islands. But because our planters choose to be
non-resident, and to enjoy the ease and luxury of
a British domicile, while they place the manage-
ment of their distant estates, as well as the en-
tire power of the lash, in the hands of hired
agents, this is no reason why we, the British
consumers of their sugars, should be made to
56
defray all the cost of this indulgence. If they cannot
administer their estates themselves, and hold the
fearful power of the whip in their own hands,
instead of delegating it to others, they ought, at
least, to sell their estates to persons differently
situated. And if they object, that sales cannot
be effected but at ruinous prices, this is only a far-
ther proof that they place too high a value on their
capital. There can be no doubt, that both here
and in the West Indies property will always
command what, under all the circumstances of
the case, it is really worth.
But the West Indians will probably refuse to
be satisfied with these suggestions, and
will be disposed to dwell on this simple
view of the subject: Sugars have already
sunk to a losing price. If the sugars of
the East Indies are admitted on equal
terms with ours, they will sink still lower;
our present distress will then be turned into
absolute ruin.
Such, however, is the argument, with little
variation, by which the public has been assailed
on every
alteration, in whatever department of our
trade and manufactures, from a bad to a better
system. What would England have now been,
had such an argument availed to prevent the
various beneficial changes which have taken
place of late years? What opening of commerce,
57
what improvement in machinery, what method of
cheapening the cost of production or of carriage,
has not been uniformly and immemorially met by
this sweeping objection? Upon this principle,
we never ought to have made peace after having
been in a state of war for twenty years, a date as
long as that which has been assigned to almost
all the actual proprietors of sugar-plantations
in the West Indies. Society, it might be argued,
had accommodated itself to that state of exis-
tence, and it would be unjust to change it. Ac-
cordingly, the distresses which, during the last
six or seven years, have been experienced in this
country have been attributed, by our statesmen,
to a change from war to peace. It certainly was
impossible not to foresee that this change would
be attended with loss of capital and loss of pro-
fits, with inconvenience and distress, to a num-
ber of persons infinitely exceeding the whole
number of West-Indian sugar planters fifty times
told. But was this consideration allowed, for one
moment, to weigh against the unambiguous duty
of the government, and the clear and palpable
interests of the whole community? The war
ceased; multitudes were in consequence reduced
to comparatively straightened circumstances, and
not a few even to absolute want. It became,
indeed, the duty of the government and the public
to alleviate this distress as much as possible.
But it could never be argued, for one moment,
58
that justice required them to perpetuate the
unnatural and cruel state of war, lest certain
individuals should be injured by its cessation.
As little can it be argued that it is incumbent
upon them to continue an unjust and oppressive
monopoly, lest those who profit by that injustice
and oppression should be subjected to incon-
venience or partial loss.
Would such an argument as this be tolerated
in other cases, even where the claims arising from
past prescription, and the prospects of future dis-
tress, were much less dubious than in that of the
West Indians? What might not the watermen of
the Thames have had to allege against the scheme
of erecting the bridges which adorn that river
and minister so much to the public convenience?
What a strong case of loss of capital and of cer-
tain ruin might not the carriers of goods between
Manchester and London have urged against the
plan of inland navigation? Had parliament lis-
tened to the wharfingers of London not one of
those docks would have been erected which now
afford such facilities and such security to com-
merce. Or had the spinners of cotton and the
knitters of stockings been as powerful in Parlia-
ment, and as influencial with the government, as
the West Indians have shown themselves to be,
their clamours and their arguments (for their case
was infinitely stronger) must have succeeded in
laying the same interdict on the improvement and
1
59
astonishing increase of our cotton and stocking
manufactures, which the West Indians are labour-
ing to impose on the immense capabilities of in-
crease in our trade with India. Nay, the very
art of printing might have been lost to the world
had the loud and ingenious complaints of the
copiers of manuscripts of that day succeeded in
prohibiting the use of the press, or even in obtain-
ing a heavy protecting duty against it.
-
Another argument employed by the West
Indians is of this sort: - The East Indies
is a distant and precarious possession, easily
torn from us by means of foreign aggres-
sion or internal commotion, and endangered
by its very extent; while the West Indies
are secured to us by their proximity, and by
their being broken into small colonies, in
which our naval force affords us the easy
means of quelling insurrection, and no
foreign power which can wrest from us.
It cannot be denied that the East Indies are,
to a certain degree, insecure. In no case of con-
quest, however, which has hitherto occurred,
especially conquest of so distant and so extensive
a kind, have the prospects of security been so
encouraging. The singular and anomalous insti-
tutions which exist in India, and which seem to
owe their existence, like the constitution of Eng-
land, not to design but to a concurrence of for-
60
tuitous circumstances, appear very wonderfully
adapted to preserve that country in peace and
dependence. Our government is felt by the con-
quered as a benefit conferred upon them. Under
its mild and benign influence they enjoy a security
of person and property unknown under the Hindoo
or Mahomedan sway. Justice is purely and im-
partially administered; their prejudices are re-
spected; and their happiness and prosperity are
sedulously cultivated.* The armies also which
defend India are principally native armies, su-
perior by their discipline and the description of
their officers, to any thing which Hindostan, as
now circumstanced, can hope, without some
mighty moral change, to see arrayed; and they
are rendered infinitely superior to any force
which any European power could bring against
them, by their thorough adaptation to
to the
climate, the great enemy with which foreign
armies would have to contend. The means of
recruiting our Indian armies also are almost
without limit.
The West-Indian Colonies, however, possess no
such resources. They have, one and all, protested
against committing any part of their defence tó
* The measure under discussion constitutes, it is admitted,
an important deviation from these principles, and is therefore
calculated to excite discontents in India; and this, unquestion-
ably, is one strong ground of objection against it.
61
native troops, and they insist on being guarded
by Europeans at whatever expense of life and
treasure. Their slaves, outnumbering the white po-
pulation in almost every colony by at least twenty
to one, form the great object of their apprehen-
sions, and it is against them they have to multiply
precautions. Had it been the policy of West
Indians to attach to them the negro and coloured
population, by such a course as has been pursued
in the Spanish colonies, they might, without doubt,
have relied upon it in the hour of danger. But
in what light can it be viewed at present but
as a mass of combustible matter, requiring only
a spark to ignite it and to produce the most tre-
mendous of all explosions? To talk of the security
of possessions where nineteen-twentieths of the
population are bowed down under the yoke of a
personal and degrading servitude is fatuity; es-
pecially while Hayti towers among them in all the
strength and vigour of a liberty newly achieved
by blood and vengeance; and while the continent
of South America has proclaimed the emancipa-
tion of their fellows. Can the security of Jamaica,
for example, almost within view of Hayti, and
to leeward of it; or can that of our colonies in
Guiana, with a boundless continent behind
our plantations, and with a free
a free population
advancing to meet the slaves of those plantations
with offers of liberty and fraternization, be placed
t
62
for one moment in comparison with the security of
our Indian empire? Let it be remembered also
that we have no guarantee against another war
with America. We have shown her the vulnerable
point of our West-Indian possessions. In the
last war we invited her slaves in the South, by
the tempting prospect of liberty, to join our
standard, and take part against their masters.
Suppose, in the case of another war with that
power, a descent made on the Island of Jamaica
by a black American army commissioned to
liberate their brethren. What could the white
population effect against such a force? Regiment
after regiment might come from Europe to their
aid; the climate would sweep them off as fast
as they came. Let it be recollected also what a
mere handful of resolute maroons was able to
effect, about twenty-seven years ago, against the
whole force of the island of Jamaica. Not more
than 200 fighting men kept that whole force at
bay for eight or nine months, until they were
induced, by a promise of complete amnesty,
to lay down their arms. Had that 200 been 5000,
or even 2000, the island would probably have
then been lost to England.
It cannot be denied, however, the West In-
dians argue, that, - The West Indies are
a source of wealth to the mother country,
1
63
that they give extensive employment to our
manufacturers, and that their produce, over
and above what is necessary to pay for the
goods exported thither, is all consumed in
this country, and contributes largely to the
general prosperity of the empire.
A full investigation of this point, it is firmly
believed, would show that the West Indies, in-
stead of being a source of wealth to this country,
are really, as matters are now managed, a dead
weight upon it, a source of enormous expense,
without any adequate return. For, in pursuing
this inquiry, we must take into the account, not
simply the amount of our West-Indian trade, but
the amount of what it costs us to maintain it, and
the amount of what we lose by the preference
we give to them over other parts of the empire.
With respect to the imports of sugar, rum, and
coffee, it cannot be denied that the country is a
loser instead of a gainer, by all we pay for the
produce of our West-Indian colonies, over and
above the price we should pay if the present pre-
ference were not given them. The amount of this
excess of price may be estimated at upwards of a
million and a half annually. The cost of defending
and governing the West Indies may be reckoned to
be, on an average, even without including times of
war, from half a million to a million more. Here,
then, is an absolute outlay of from two to three
millions annually, before we derive the slightest
64
profit from our West-Indian trade, How is this
outlay to be compensated? It will be said by
the produce and manufactures we export for the
consumption of the West Indies. The amount
of that export has been extravagantly estimated
by some persons even as high as seven or eight
millions. But, in fact, it has seldom if ever ex-
ceeded more than half the latter sum, and of
that three-fourths, at the least, have been ex-
ported, not for the consumption of the West
Indies, but of Spanish South America; so that
the real export to the West Indies for their own
consumption has probably not much exceeded a
million annually. But even if the consumption of
the West Indies amounted to twice or thrice that
sum, no reasonable calculation of the profits
upon it could exhibit any compensation for a
tenth-part of the sums annually expended in main-
taining this factitious system.
In fact, the gross amount of our manufactures
consumed in the West Indies does not equal
the direct charge which they bring upon us. But
whatever that amount may be, it would be equally
called for in return for the sugars of any other
part of the empire; and it would in that case be
clear gain to the country. There would be no
charge of two or three millions to turn that gain
into an immense loss.
But if, besides this, a calculation were to be
made of the enormous waste of capital which
65
this West-Indian lottery, for lottery it is, has been
continually causing, and is now causing, to this
country, it would astonish the public. The sugar-
estates of the West Indies have been cultivated
wholly by capital drawn from this country. They
are now cultivated by the same means. Nay, the
West-Indian sugar-planters, speaking generally,
live, not on their own resources, but on the ca-
pital of our merchants. Their plantations, they
admit, and have admitted over and over again,
do not yield them, on the average, any profit.
And there can be no stronger proof of this, than
is afforded by their own statements, which will
be found in the Appendix.
Now compare all this with India. She pours
capital into this country instead of depriving us
of it. We have not first to buy the labourers at
enormous rates before we set them to work. We
are not required to pay upwards of a million and
a half annually, by way of premium, to encou-
rage her cultivation. Her defence and govern-
ment cost us nothing. The expense of every es-
tablishment connected with her at home or abroad
is defrayed from her own resources. The very
savings made in India by the European civil and
military servants of the Company, and transferred
to Great Britain, have amounted to more, pro-
bably, during the last twenty years, than the
whole net revenue derived, during the same pe-
F
66
riod, by the planters of the West Indies from
their sugar-estates.
I purposely forbear from contrasting the moral
influences of the one and of the other system,
and shall content myself with having shown
that the alarms sounded about loss of wealth
from a change of system are utterly groundless.
No loss, I believe, would be incurred, but, on
the contrary, a great gain would be realized to
the community at large, by throwing open the
sugar-trade of this country to the free competition
of India.
But why should it be supposed that the con-
sumption of our manufactures even in the West
Indies will be diminished by a change of system
there. All that the slaves would want to enable
them to procure the clothing and other neces-
saries they require, would be, that instead of the
scanty supply now granted them by their masters
they should have time given them to supply them-
selves. What they receive from their masters is
the minimum required for decency and health.
Their better and gayer clothes are even now pur-
chased by themselves, with the produce of their
labour chiefly on the Sunday. A day given to
them in each week, more than they now have,
would produce a larger consumption among them
of English manufactures than would be produced
by doubling the price of sugar.
67
11
This subject may be illustrated by a reference
to the case of Hayti. Besides a considerable
trade which this island maintains with France
and Germany, and the amount of British manu-
factures which it annually consumes, it carries
on a very extensive commercial intercourse with
the United States. It appears, from official docu-
ments laid before Congress, that in the year end-
ing September, 1821, there had been imported
into the United States from Hayti, produce
amounting in value to 2,246,237 dollars, and
exported from the United States direct to Hayti,
goods amounting in value to 2,270,601 dollars.
The tonnage belonging to the United States em-
ployed in this trade amounted to 50,000 tons,
being double that which was employed in the
whole trade of the Spanish and Portuguese pos-
sessions in America, Cuba excepted. Both its
export and import trade with the United States
was equal to one-half of the trade which the
United States carried on, in the same year, with
all the possessions, in the West Indies and South
America, of Great Britain, France, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden, and Spain, Cuba excepted.
Besides this, many vessels are stated to have
cleared out from the United States for the West
Indies generally, or for St. Bartholomew's and
St. Thomas's, which afterwards proceeded to
Hayti and disposed of their cargoes there. In
addition to all which the anomalous state of the
F 2
68
political relations of Hayti is to be taken into the
account, as preventing the developement of her
resources and faculties. If her independence were
acknowledged, and the fears of invasion obviated,
she might be expected soon to double her com-
merce.
But after all that can be said, what can be more
decisive of the question than this? We have in
the West Indies a costly and diminishing popula-
tion of about seven or eight hundred thousand
consumers, nineteen-twentieths of these in the
lowest state of degradation; and in the East Indies
a population of 100 millions, consisting of all
varieties of ranks, who cost us nothing, to whose
demands for our manufactures an impulse has
been given which, if duly encouraged, and not
cramped by such injudicious restrictions as that
we are now considering, will rise to an extent
infinitely beyond the demand of the West Indies
multiplied twenty fold.
I shall here quote an authority in favour of the
astonishing growth of our export trade to India,
to which the friends of Government, at least, will
not object; that of the official view given of the " ad-
ministration of our affairs at the commencement of
1823." We are there told, page 145, that, in 1815,
we exported only 604,800 yards of printed cotton
to British India; but that, in 1821, we exported
7,602,245 yards, and, in 1822, 9,979,866 yards. In
1815, we exported to India only 213,408 yards of
69
plain cottons; in 1821, the quantity was 6,724,031
yards; and, in 1822, 9,940,736 yards, an increase
in seven years in this last instance amounting to
upwards of forty-five fold; and in the former to
upwards of sixteen fold. And what limit can be
put to the progressive augmentation of this trade,
but the power of obtaining a return for our ex-
ports, a power of which the protecting duty on
East-Indian sugar goes to deprive us?
But there is another class of arguments to
which it will be well to advert. It is said,
The distress of the West Indies has been
caused by the act of the British parliament
abolishing the slave-trade. They have been
deprived of that source of adding to their
population, while it has been enjoyed by the
colonies of other nations. This privation
has proved a serious injury to their interests,
and for this injury, of which they have been
the patient and uncomplaining sufferers,
they ought to be indemnified in some degree
by the monopoly of the home-market.
Now, unless the West Indians are disposed to
maintain and to act upon a principle, which they
have often most indignantly disavowed when it
has been charged upon them by abolitionists,
namely, that it is cheaper to buy slaves than to
breed them; that is to say, that it would have
been better for them not to have reared a single
70
negro during the last twenty years, but to have
gone on working out their gangs and buying new,
as postmasters do their horses in this country:-
unless I say they adopt this principle, in all the
extent of its merciless application, the argument
has no relevancy whatever to their present cir-
cumstances; for every cargo of slaves, added to
their existing stock, would have aggravated their
distress instead of diminishing it. The evil under
which they have laboured has been this, that they
have had too many slaves employed in growing
sugar. The quantity produced has been more
than Great Britain was willing to consume; and
from foreign markets, but for the bounty allowed
them, they would in any case have been excluded
by the circumstance, avowed by themselves, of the
superior fertility of the soil of foreign colonies as
compared with our own, (Guiana, perhaps ex-
cepted,) and the consequently greater cheapness
at which foreign sugars may be supplied. The
question therefore is, not whether they might not
have been better off had the foreign as well as the
British slave-trade been put an end to? possibly
they might but the real question is, would they
not have been worse off had they possessed those
means of increasing their population, and extend-
ing their cultivation of sugar, which the slave-trade
would have afforded them? The infallible conse-
quence must have been, that the great mass of im-
ported slaves would have flowed towards Guiana.
71
Its fertile soil would have tempted speculators.
The quantity of sugar grown there would proba-
bly by this time have swelled to four or five times
what it now is. The sugar of the old islands,
with the exception of a few rich spots, would thus
have been greatly undersold, and its culture in
those islands must, therefore, have been generally
abandoned.
Now let us suppose such a case to have ac-
tually happened, and I would ask, what remedy
it would have been possible to apply to it? We
could not have said, "the fertility of Guiana has
ruined all our old islands, we will therefore give
to the latter a protecting duty against the former."
Had we done this, the planters of Guiana might
well have clamoured about injustice, vested rights,
capital sunk, &c. &c. &c. But wherein does the
present case differ in point of principle? In an-
other part of the British dominions, equally entitled
at least with Guiana to favour and encouragement,
from the fertility of soil and other circumstances,
sugar may be grown so as greatly to undersell the
West Indies, notwithstanding the higher freight
and insurance with which it is loaded. Ought
not things to be left to their natural course in this
case, just as they would of necessity have been
left in the other, or as they must have been left
in the case of our having conquered St. Do-
mingo and annexed it to the British Crown?
Our West-Indian sugar-planters will at least be no
worse off now than they would have been had we
72
succeeded in conquering St. Domingo, or had the
great object of their petitions and remonstrances
for twenty years been attained, in the continuance
of the slave-trade, until Guiana had been com-
pletely peopled. If it be said that we should, in
that case, have had a compensation for the ruin of
the old colonies in the prosperity of St. Domingo
or of Guiana, still the present complainants, the
planters of the old islands, would have been
ruined; and as far as respects the national inte-
rests, it may be safely affirmed, that we have, in
British India, a better and cheaper, as well as a
humane and guiltless compensation for any possi-
ble injury the West Indies may sustain from the
removal of the protecting duty.
But to return: it can, in no way, be shown,
that the state of the West Indians would have
been bettered; on the contrary, it could easily be
shown, that it would have been deteriorated, by
the continuance of the slave-trade, under any
circumstances which would not actually imply
the barbarous and revolting principle of its being
more profitable to work out their slaves by hard
labour, and to supply their place by purchases
from Africa, than to treat them humanely and to
encourage their increase.
So far, indeed, is the present argument of the
colonists from being correct, that it might be de-
monstrated that the West Indies have suffered, not
from the slave-trade having been abolished in 1807,
but from its not having been abolished fifteen
73
years earlier; and that it was not then abolished
was the fault of the West Indians themselves,
who, on every renewal of the question from 1787
downwards, opposed the abolition with the
whole weight of their powerful influence. The
consequence has been that the quantity of sugar
entitled to admission to the home-market has
been increased from nearly two millions of cwts.
in 1787 to nearly four millions in 1821. The
distress, therefore, under which they labour is
their own proper act, the effect of their own blind
and pertinacious. attachment to the slave-trade;
and by the abolition of that trade they have, in
fact, been saved from still greater distress.
In short, the West Indians have suffered, not
from the abolition of the slave-trade by Eng-
land, but from their own obstinacy in resisting
its earlier abolition; from the impolicy of not op-
posing the settlement by British capital, and the
subsequent retention of the Dutch conquered
colonies, the sugars of which have increased ten-
fold since the year 1800, and amount to consider-
ably more than the surplus which oppresses them;
from their extending the cultivation of sugar,
and even substituting it of late years for that of
other articles; from their continuing, in many of
the islands, to proceed on the ruinous system of
not growing their own provisions and other
supplies at home, but importing them from
abroad at a higher rate, that they might have
more labour to bestow on the culture of an ar
74
ticle already grown in excess; and from their
most inhumanly and impoliticly, not to say im-
piously, exacting from their slaves seven days
labour instead of six,
But it is argued that although it would have
been better for the West Indians had they
agreed to abolish the slave-trade at an earlier
period, yet that now, it is of the utmost
importance to check the foreign slave-trade;
and that this can in no way be more surely
effected than by giving encouragement to
our own colonies, securing to them the
market of Great Britain, and opening to
them the market of the world besides.
To this I reply, that the effect of such encou-
ragement, if it produce any effect at all, must be
to raise the price of British plantation sugar.
But in what way is such a rise to operate so as
to produce the proposed result of checking the
foreign slave-trade? It obviously cannot raise
the price of British plantation sugar, without
raising the price of foreign sugar also. But a
rise in the price of foreign sugar must operate,
not as a check but as an encouragement to the
slave-trade. Nay the danger will be, and a
very formidable danger it is, that, through
the temptation of high prices, the slave-trade
will revive in our own colonies. If the cul-
ture of sugar should become much more profit-
able to our planters, the effect will inevitably be,
}
75
that speculation will be excited, and that means
will be found to smuggle slaves from Cuba into.
Jamaica, and from Surinam into Demerara, in
spite of every effort that may be made to pre-
vent it.
The idea of putting a stop to the slave-trade
by artificially raising the price of the produce of
slave-labour seems the most absurd and extra-
vagant which ever entered the mind of any one
pretending to be a statesman. Its true cure is to
admit sugar and other articles, the produce of
free labour, to fair competition in this and every
market, and in a short time it will be found that
neither slavery nor the slave-trade will be wanted
for their growth.
But such a result as this, it is further argued,
only establishes the gross injustice of the
attempt to remove the protecting duty on
sugar: Its effect, it is admitted, will
supersede slavery. But the system of slavery
in the West Indies has been encouraged by
Great Britain, and the planters hold their
slaves on the faith of parliament.
The
very apprehension, therefore, that this sys-
tem may be endangered, by the measure of
removing the protecting duty, is of itself a
sufficient ground for rejecting that measure.
This argument involves the grave question of
the perpetuation of slavery in the British domi-
76
nions.
It involves this frightful consequence,
that not only the slaves now existing there, but
their posterity for ever, shall irretrievably remain
in their present state of bondage. This could
never have been contemplated by the British
legislature, and least of all by the legislature
which abolished the African slave-trade as radi-
cally inhuman and unjust, and which continues,
from year to year, to express its deep-rooted ab-
horrence of that traffic. With what consistency
could parliament, after having solemnly denoun-
ced the original injustice which consigned the
negroes in the West Indies to bondage, intend
that they and their posterity for ever should re-
main in that cruel and hopeless state? The
whole course of the parliamentary discussions
on the subject prove not only that no such in-
tention was ever entertained, but that the aboli-
tion of the slave-trade was regarded as certainly
leading to the amelioration and final extinction
of slavery in the West Indies. Such were the
views of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, of Lords Gren-
ville and Grey, of Mr. Wilberforce and of every
person who took a forward part in the question.
Nay, it will be found that even the late Lord
Melville, then Mr. Dundas, directed his view,
from the very beginning of the controversy, to
the ultimate emancipation of the slaves in the
West Indies. In a speech, which he made in the
House of Commons, as early as the 2d of April,
77
1792, he distinctly avowed this purpose, and a
part of his speech was devoted to reconcile
West Indians to such an eventual result, as
being called for not only by a regard to justice
and consistency, but by the true interests of the
planters themselves. In short, ample notice has
been given to the West Indians that it was the
settled intention of all classes of British states-
men to bring to as early a termination as might
be found safe and practicable this opprobrious
condition of human existence.
But even if we should admit that encourage-
ment had of late been given to slavery in the
West Indies, is that a reason why discourage-
ment should attach to free labour in British India?
Is that a reason why the East should be depres-
sed in order to maintain unmitigated the bondage
of the West? If encouragement must be given
to the institution of slavery, it ought to be given
by other means than by the stern exclusion of so
large a part of the empire from the full benefits
of British rule and protection. Besides, the cir-
cumstance that favour was once shown to a par-
ticular institution, or to a particular set of mo-
nopolists, is no good reason, nor has it ever been
accounted such, for never varying our policy.*
* In Mr. Pitt's memorable speech of the 2d April, 1792, I
find the following passage, which may serve as a decisive
answer not only to the present argument, but to the plea of an
78
Innumerable precedents might be produced to
the contrary; and, certainly, if we are to be at
inviolable compact having been made with the West Indians, in
favour of their monopoly of the sugar-market.
"Does any man think," asks Mr. Pitt, "that the slave-
trade has received any such parliamentary sanction as must
place it more out of the jurisdiction of the legislature, for
ever after, than the other branches of our national commerce?
Is there any one regulation of any part of our commerce,
which, if this argument be valid, may not equally be objected
to, on the ground of its affecting some man's patrimony, some
man's property, or some man's expectations? Let it never be
forgotten that the argument I am canvassing would be just as
strong if the possessions affected were small and the possessors
humble; for, on every principle of justice, the property of
any single individual, or small number of individuals, is as
sacred as that of the great body of West-India Planters. Jus-
tice ought to extend her protection, with rigid impartiality, to
the rich and to the poor, to the powerful and to the humble.
If the laws respecting the slave-trade imply a contract for its
perpetual continuance, I will venture to say, there does not
pass a year without some act equally pledging the faith of par-
liament to the perpetuating of some other branch of commerce.
In short, no new tax can be imposed, nor any prohibitory duty
ever laid on any branch of trade, before regulated by parlia-
ment, if this principle be admitted. Besides this, a contract
for the continuance of the slave-trade must have been void
even from the beginning; for, if this trade is an outrage upon
justice, and only another name for fraud, robbery, and mur-
der, will any man urge that the legislature could possibly, by
any pledge whatever, incur the obligation of being an accessary,
or, I may even say a principal, in the commission of such
enormities, by sanctioning their continuance? As well might
an individual think himself bound by a promise to commit an
79
all guided by the general tone of public feeling,
and of parliamentary discussion, on this point,
we should say, that, for the last thirty years,
slavery had not been encouraged but discouraged
in this country. Even the protection given to
the sugar grown by slaves, has been given to it
in the belief and expectation, which, unhappily
have proved but ill-founded, that the planters
were sedulously employed in improving the con-
dition of their slaves, so as to prepare them
gradually for the enjoyment of their freedom.
The whole of the discussions, I repeat it, on the
subject of the slave-trade itself, from the year
1789 to the year 1822, when an address was
voted to His Majesty, respecting the slave-trade
and slavery at the Cape of Good Hope,* proves
this beyond contradiction.
1
But it has been further argued, even by persons
of high official authority,-Humanity to-
wards the slaves themselves in the West Indies,
still more than consideration for the interests
of the planters, requires that the sugars of
assassination. To proceed on such grounds would infringe all
the principles of law, and subvert the very foundations of mo-
rality." The reader has only to apply this powerful reasoning
to the present case.
* See "Substance of the Proceedings in the House of Com-
mons, 25th July, 1822, on the Occasion of Two Addresses to
His Majesty." Printed for Hatchard.
80
the West Indies should be protected against
The removal of that
East-Indian sugars.
protection would infallibly ruin the planters;
and the consequence would be, that the slaves
must starve.
This argument, however, appears to me to
proceed on an entire ignorance of all the facts of
the case.
66
It would be admitted, with respect to the inha- -
bitants of any other country than the West In-
dies, that the growth of food is the grand means
of preventing the starvation of its inhabitants,
provided the country is capable of producing it.
Take India, for example, and if it were asked,
what is to prevent the starvation of the people of
that country, should we not reply, that it was
the abundance and the cheapness of food?
If any man were to say of India, Discourage
the growth of indigo, and the population will
starve," he would be considered as uttering a
most extravagant proposition. The growers and
manufacturers of indigo might suffer, indeed;
but the only effect on the general state of the
population would be, that rice, if it were want-
ed, would be grown where indigo was grown
before; and that the means of sustentation would
be more, rather than less, abundant. Now, if
this be true, in regard to countries having a
free population, it is much more infallibly true
of countries cultivated by slaves, whose labour
81
the planter may direct at pleasure, and by which
labour it is that he and his family, as well as
the slaves themselves, are to be fed. At
present, in many of the islands, this food is pro-
cured for them from abroad, in a manner the
most disadvantageous. The labour of the
plantation is devoted mainly, if not exclusively,
to the culture of sugar, and it is by provisions
purchased with the proceeds of this sugar, that both
the master and his slaves are supported. Now, if
the proprietor is obstinately bent on cultivating
sugar at all hazards and nothing else, it cannot
be denied that, if its culture yield no profit, he
and his slaves must starve. But we should
hardly venture to attribute such infatuation to
any rational agent, as that he should continue to
expend labour on an article the profits of which
will not even pay the expense of feeding the
labourer, while he possesses the means himself
of raising food in abundance; and if there be any
circumstances in the West-Indian system which
lay him under the necessity of doing so, it is only
another proof that the system is effete, and that
it ought to be abandoned. In every other case, and
why not in the present, this course at least would
be open to the planter, namely, to grow provi-
sions to the full extent of his own wants and that of
his slaves, before he diverted their labour to other
less urgent objects. It is obvious, that if his
slaves are not supplied with food they can yield
G
82
him no labour at all, for any purpose. But, having
the land and the labourers, if he or they starve,
it can only be his own fault. The applica-
tion of an adequate quantity of labour to the
growth of provisions would effectually prevent
this result, would prevent the famine of his slaves,
and at least preserve to him entire his stock of
labourers, who must otherwise perish; and his not
so applying it is the more inexcusable, because the
legislative acts of the colonies, and the evidence
of the colonists concur in showing that sixteen
days in the year, exclusive of Sunday, are suffi-
cient for this purpose.
But it will be said, all this may be true; but
whence is the proprietor to derive the interest on
his capital, the means of supporting his station
in society, of educating his children? These,
however, are quite different questions. We were
supposing a state of things, a state actually affirmed
by the West Indians to exist, in which sugar
yielded no profit, and in which, therefore, a
change to the plan suggested could not deteriorate
the planter's condition, while it would completely
secure the slaves against the threatened evil of
famine. If neither on the one plan nor the other
the planter can meet his engagements, he stands
precisely in the situation of every other indivi-
dual who is bankrupt in his means, and who
must compound with his creditors. But surely,
even in that case, it would be infinitely more for
83
the benefit of his estate to have applied a large
portion of labour to the growth of provisions, in
consequence of which the labourers were all
healthy and robust, and the population progres-
sive, than to have neglected this obvious means
of providing for them, until they began to die of
hunger and emaciation, among the unprofitable
sweets they were forced to cultivate, without bene-
fit, nay, with ruin, as it would seem, both to
themselves and their master.
We will suppose an estate in the island of Ne-
vis, with three hundred acres of cane land, cul-
tivated by two hundred slaves, on one hundred
acres of which the canes are annually replanted.
It yields two hundred hogsheads of sugar, and
the slaves are fed with corn imported from abroad.
The
sugar, however, when sold in England, has
not sufficed even to pay the advances made upon
it for the purchase of the food that had been re-
quired to sustain the slaves during the labours of
the preceding year. The consignee refuses to
make any farther advance for that purpose; the
arrears of last year are unpaid, and the planter
must therefore provide his supplies from some
other quarter. Now, what is there in the nature
of things (what there may be in the West-Indian
system is another question) to prevent the owner
of this estate, instead of replanting one hundred
acres of his land with sugar cane, to plant the
whole, or a part of it, with provisions, which
G 2
84
would yield him their return on the spot, in the
course of three or four months, and render all
advance for the food of the slaves unnecessary? He
would send less sugar, it is true, to market; but he
and his slaves would have been fed without the ne-
cessity of anticipating the proceeds of what he did
send. He would be a richer man by pursuing
this course, and his slaves, instead of being
starved, would be exceedingly benefited. The
consignee (probably also the mortgagee) would
lose, it is true, a part of his usual commissions ;
but, surely, even as his interests are concerned,
he would find more than a compensation for any
such loss in the beneficial effects of the plan now
suggested; a plan to the adoption of which there
can exist no real obstacle, (no obstacle that any
man who has a regard to his character would
dare to avow,) and which plan, if adopted, would
effectually obviate all danger of famine.
*
In the island of Barbadoes, the quantity of
sugar which is grown is very small, in proportion
to its population, as compared with the other
islands. But have the negroes been therefore
starved, or have the proprietors therefore been
visited with greater distress than other West
Indians? On the contrary, a considerable por-
* See, in confirmation of this view of the subject, Mr. Rob-
ley's pamphlet, already alluded to. See also, in further eluci-
dation of the real state of things in this respect, Appendix D.
85
tion of labour is applied to the growth of pro-
visions, and to the raising of all that the island
can produce which may be made available to the
sustentation and comfort of the master and the
slave. Proprietors, at the same time, are more
generally resident than in the other islands, and
they thus save the expense of an establishment in
England, while they are enabled to superintend
their own plantations, and to draw from them, by
the right application of the labour that would
otherwise be comparatively unproductive, abun-
dant means of subsistence for themselves and
their families. And the slaves, how do they fare?
Certainly better than in many of the neighbouring
islands. Instead of a scanty allowance being
grudgingly dealt out to them from the costly
barrel of corn, or rice, or flour, which has been
sent from England or America, damaged, per-
haps, through sea water, or spoiling from mere
age, or swarming with weavils or with maggots,
they have their food without, stint, fresh from the
neighbouring plantain-walk, or field of yams or
Cassada, or Indian or Guinea corn, wholesome,
pleasant, and nutritious. The consequence is,
that, at the present moment, notwithstanding the
peculiar harshness of the Barbadian slave-code,
the slave-population of Barbadoes alone (the Ba-
hamas ought also to be excepted where there is
no sugar culture) seems to exhibit any perceptible
increase; and this doubtless arises not only from
86
the abundance of food which the system on which
Barbadoes has proceeded procures for the slave,
but from the lighter species of labour which it
imposes upon him.
And here let it be known to those who talk of
humanity to the slave, as the motive which impels
them to protect and encourage the growth of
sugar in the West Indies, that they cruelly and
fatally mistake the whole case. Sugar-planting,
as there conducted, is by far the most severe and
harassing of all the occupations in which the slaves
can be employed. It is this particular branch of
labour, from the mode in which it is carried on,
that wears down their strength, and abridges their
lives, and produces the extraordinary phenomenon
of an almost universally-decreasing, or, at the most,
not increasing population, wherever sugar is the
grand article of growth; and that, too, in a coun-
try of such extraordinary fertility that a mere
fraction of the year suffices to raise food for
its inhabitants. Want of food and excessive
labour, extracted by the cart-whip, will indeed
produce the same effects upon population, what-
ever be the article cultivated. But the cultiva-
tion of sugar is necessarily oppressive, even
where food is abundant, and where no peculiar
severity of discipline is employed to obtain labour.
It is most important, therefore, that those who
have any regard to the plea of humanity, and
who do not use it merely for the sake of effect in
87
argument, should know that whatever encourage-
ment is given to the continuance or the increase
of sugar-cultivation, in the West Indies, continues
or increases the wretchedness of the slave in a
degree that would attend no other species of
cultivation which might be substituted for it.
But it may be further asked :-How, if the West-
Indian sugar-planter should have to encounter
the depressing competition of East-Indian
sugars, is he to find the means of purchasing
for his slaves (besides their esculent or fari-
naceous food) the fish, the clothing, the
tools, &c. which they require ?
To this question an answer has, in fact, been al-
ready given; and, I repeat, that all that is neces-
sary for this purpose, is to give the slaves time to
procure these things for themselves. In Jamaica,
for example, at the present moment, the slaves are
obliged to raise the whole of the provisions re-
quired for themselves and their families, with the
exception of a little salt-fish ; and to enable them to
do this, all the time that is allowed them by law, be-
sides the Sunday, is about sixteen days in the year.
This scanty portion of their time is declared, by
the legislature of Jamaica, in an act passed in
1816, to be sufficient to exempt the master from all
obligation to provide food for his slaves. And, in
point of fact, it is the only means the slaves in
that island, generally speaking, have of procuring
88
In
subsistence. Now it will be allowed, that the food
of the slave is by far the heaviest of all the charges
to which a master is liable ou his account.
value it probably exceeds every other charge
twenty times told. But from this heavy charge
the Jamaica proprietor disencumbers himfelf by
giving to his slave sixteen days in the year,
exclusive of Sunday. And this small fragment of
time, as West Indians themselves have often tes-
tified, not only enables the slave to feed himself,
but to buy gay clothing and various comforts.
Is it not then perfectly obvious, that if, instead of
sixteen days in the year, the master were to give
his slaves fifty or sixty days, to be employed in the
cultivation of their provision grounds, or in any
other way for their own benefit in which they might
choose to employ the time, he might not only as now
release himself from the heaviest burden of all,
that of feeding them, but also from the charge of
providing them with salt-fish, clothing, or tools?
Such an arrangement could not fail to prove highly
beneficial, and that in a variety of ways, both
to the master and the slave. It is impossible to
deny that if such a plan be found practicable,
and be in fact universally practised in Jamaica, to
the extent of exempting the master from the charge
of feeding his slaves, no good reason can be given
for its not being carried into effect, to a still greater
extent, in that island; or why the example of
Jamaica should not be imitated by all the other
colonies.
89
There is only one other argument of the West
Indians which I have met with that remains
to be noticed. It is of the following kind:-
If the circumstance that the West Indies are
cultivated by slaves be made an objection to the
preference given to the sugar there produced,
over the sugar of the East Indies, the fact
ought to be known that the sugar of the East
Indies is also cultivated by slaves, the compa-
rative severity of whose treatment, and the
comparative amount of whose labour forcibly
extracted from them, can alone account for
the cheaper rate at which East-Indian sugar
may be procured. The claims of humanity
itself therefore demand, that the present sys-
tem should be maintained in preference to that
which it is proposed to substitute for it.
Is it then the fact that the sugar brought to us
from the East Indies is cultivated by slaves?
This has been strenuously asserted both in par-
liament and out of it, and in support of the alle-
gation Dr. Francis Buchanan's statistical work
on the Mysore has been cited as conclusive.
This work indeed has supplied the only pretence
of a ground for it. But it has done so solely by
means of a complete misrepresentation of his
statements. The work of Dr. Buchanan makes
no allusion to those provinces of British India
from which sugar is brought to this country, nor
90
does it refer in the remotest degree to the state of
society there. It refers exclusively to the pro-
vince of Mysore and the districts ceded to us in
its neighbourhood, where sugar is very little cul-
tivated; where none certainly is cultivated for ex-
portation; but into which, on the contrary, it is
necessary to import sugar, for their consumption,
from Bengal or Siam. This last fact is promi-
nently and distinctly exhibited, by Dr. Buchanan,
in the very chapter from which the extracts have
been drawn which were intended to prove that the
sugar brought hither from the East Indies is cul-
tivated by slaves. It is readily admitted that it
appears, from Dr. Buchanan's work, that, at the
time of our conquest of the Mysore, (for he wrote
immediately after its conquest,) slavery, to a small
extent, existed in some districts of it; and he
describes the condition of the slaves there as
sufficiently wretched. But the rest of the argu-
ment is supplied by the ingenuity of the gentlemen
who brought it forward, and who seem to have
aimed to produce an impression, contrary to
known facts, and in opposition even to Dr.
Buchanan's statements as they respect the My-
sore itself, that this slavery is general throughout
Hindostan ; and also that the sugar brought hither
from India is cultivated by the very slaves whose
state Dr. Buchanan has described. And yet, in the
very chapter where that slavery is spoken of, the
author not only does not assert that sugar is ex-
91
ported from that quarter to Great Britain, but he
actually asserts, on the contrary, that a great part
of the sugar consumed there is imported into it
chiefly from the very province of India, namely,
Bengal, which furnishes to Great Britain her sup-
plies of that article.
But in Bengal is not sugar cultivated by slaves?
Certainly not. In proof of this, I confidently ap-
peal to Mr. Colebrooke, and every other authority
on the subject who is worthy of credit.
Still it is argued, that whether the sugar of
India be the produce of slave or of free labour,
its comparative cheapness proves that the condi-
tion of the labourer must be much worse there
than it is in the West Indies; its cheapness
being only resolvable into two circumstances,
the greater quantity of toil which the labourer is
forced to undergo, or the smaller amount of
the necessaries and comforts of life which he is
allowed for his labour. But are there then no
other material circumstances which influence the
price of produce? Is comparative fertility of soil
nothing? The Assembly of Jamaica, in their
Report of 1788, already alluded to, state that
the average yielding of an acre of sugar-cane in
St. Domingo was 38 cwt. while the average
yielding of the most productive parish of Jamai-
ca was only 12, and of the whole island only 8
cwt. per acre, the same or a still greater quantity
of labour being required to cultivate the latter than
92
the former. If we suppose the land employed in
cultivating sugar in Bengal to be of the same fer-
tility with that in St. Domingo, it is obvious that
the same quantity of labour would there produce
from three to five times the quantity of sugar it
would produce in the West Indies. And sup-
posing the labourer to work only half as hard in
India as in Jamaica, he would produce twice
the quantity, and be able to fare as well, and yet
to sell it at half the price.
Comparative fertility and adaptation of soil
may, therefore, of themselves explain the diffe-
rence.
But there is another principle, no less impor-
tant, which must be taken into the account,
namely, the use of machinery in the culture of
the soil. It must be admitted, indeed, that the
agricultural machinery of the peasant of Bengal
is of a very rude and simple kind: his little
plough, drawn by a horse or a cow, or both to-
gether, may excite the ridicule of our British
agriculturists; but it is an engine of great power
in turning up the soil, when compared with the
manual labour which, aided only by the hoe, is
employed, with few exceptions, to turn up the
soil in the West Indies. The difference in the
cost of cultivation, from this single circumstance,
would be found, all things else being the same,
to be considerable; and, when taken in conjunc-
tion with fertility of soil, is far more than suffi-
1
93
cient to account for the cheapness of the sugars
of Bengal compared with those of the West
Indies.
This, however, is not all. The cart-whip of the
West Indies may, and without doubt gene-
rally does, extract from the slave a greater quan-
tity of labour than would ever be voluntarily
yielded by free men. Suppose that quantity to
be even twice as great, still it would not com-
pensate for the advantages, on the side of the
East Indies, arising from the other causes that
have been mentioned, even if the very intensity
of the labour did not involve a cost of another
kind, the cost of health and life. A West-Indian
cultivator, be it remembered, has first to buy his
labourers. Suppose him to have bought a hundred
labourers, for whom he has paid £10,000. By
means of the cart-whip we will further suppose
him to raise twice the quantity of sugar which,
on soil of the same quality, a hundred Bengal
labourers would raise in the same time. But
can he therefore afford to sell his sugar at half
the price, or even at the same price? Certainly
not. Supposing the sugar he produces to sell
for £2000, while that produced by the Bengal
labourers sells only for £1000; yet half the amount
he receives for it must go to replace a wasting
capital, and from the remainder there are farther
deductions to be made for the cost of superinten-
dence and of driving, and for the various other dis-
94
1
advantages of a system which gives the labourer
an interest opposed to that of his master, and which
interest it therefore requires the most ceaseless
vigilance to counteract.
But even this is not all. There is, in the very
institution of slavery itself, something so radi-
cally vicious that a blight seems, by the appoint-
ment of Providence, to accompany it. Both the
bodily and mental energies of the slave seem to
contract into smaller dimensions. The elasticity
and spring of principle and motive are wholly
wanting. All is cold, and torpid, and stagnant,
except when stimulated by the most debasing of
all impulses, that of the lash. To expect, there-
fore, from a system of slavery, in any circum-
stances, that it can, on the whole, and in the long
run, enter into successful competition with a
system of free-labour is to evince an absolute
ignorance of all the attributes of humanity, no
less than of the very first rudiments of political
science. As was well observed by Mr. Wilmot,
in a late discussion in the House of Commons,
when remarking on the pernicious effects of sla-
very, both on the master and the slave: "It is
the very reverse of mercy, which is twice blessed;
for this institution is twice cursed, cursing him
who inflicts no less than him who bears it."
But it is not necessary to pursue this subject
into all the painful peculiarities of the West-
Indian system, my object in this paper being not
95
to expose what I believe to be the many great and
crying evils of that system, but to examine the
arguments advanced for continuing and even in-
creasing the protecting duty on East-Indian sugar.
I have only, however, as yet viewed one side of
this important question. There remain to be
exhibited the numerous and cogent reasons, of a
direct and positive kind, which may be assigned
for relieving the East-Indian sugar trade from all
restrictions. This, however, has already been so
ably and satisfactorily done by others, that I do
not feel it necessary to swell this paper by en-
larging upon it. It will be sufficient to refer to
the Report of the Committee of the Liverpool
East-Indian Association, of the 9th May, 1822;
to Mr. Cropper's Letters to Mr. Wilberforce; and
to a pamphlet which has just made its appear-
ance, published by Richardson, and evidently
written by one who is a master of the whole sub-
ject. His able and lucid statements cannot fail
to produce a considerable effect on the public
mind. The pamphlet is entitled " On Protection
to West-India Sugar."
Suffice it then to say, that while on the side of
the protecting duty in question are ranged only
the West-Indian sugar-planters and their cre-
ditors, amounting, possibly, on a large estimate,
to 50,000 persons; on the other are placed the
whole population of British India and of Great
96
•
Britain itself, to whom may, moreover, be added
the slaves of our sugar-colonies.
That such a protecting duty is opposed to
sound principles of commercial economy cannot
be questioned: even the author of the " Admi-
nistration of the Affairs of Great Britain" can-
didly admits this (p. 150, &c.) That no sufficient
reasons for imposing it can be advanced by West
Indians has, I trust, been shown. That it is in-
jurious, as well as unjust, towards the people of
India and of Great Britain it would be still less
difficult to establish. I shall content myself, how-
ever, so many abler pens having taken up that
part of the subject, with making a few brief and
detached observations upon it.
I have already adverted to the restrictions on
East-Indian shipping: their effect has been de-
plorable. Although the ships of every petty
British colony in every part of the world are
registered as British, the ships of India are de-
nied this privilege; while, at the same time, Bri-
tish shipping is allowed to engross much of that
Asiatic coasting trade which was formerly and
exclusively theirs. They are, therefore, rotting
in their harbours; their owners have been sub-
jected to iminense losses; and the many thou-
sands of persons who were employed in building,
repairing, and navigating them, have been reduced
to want.
The manufactures of India have also been suf-
97
:
fering under the most cruel discouragements.
While they are either entirely prohibited in this
country, or loaded with duties which are in fact
prohibitory, our manufactures are admitted into
India at a duty of 2 per cent. ad valorem; and,
from the superiority of our machinery, at a rate
which enables us to undersell theirs. We are
gradually superseding the use of their fabrics on
the continent of Asia, in the islands of the
Eastern Archipelago, in the whole of America,
North and South, in Europe, and in Africa.
The distress thus produced among the weavers in
many parts of India has been very great, far
greater, if we examine the statements on the
subject, than any thing which can be alleged in
the case of the West Indians, and far more
entitled, also, to consideration. In their case, it
has been the effect of our own adverse measures
while, in that of the West Indians, we have been
pursuing a system of favour and indulgence op-
pressive to ourselves, though, I admit, of no
adequate benefit to them.
It would have been some compensation for these
evils, of which we are ourselves the authors, had
we freely admitted the raw produce of India to
our markets; but we load a part of that raw
produce with a heavy impost in favour of the
produce of the West-Indian colonies. And this
impost, while it is most injurious to India, brings
a heavy burden on ourselves.
1
H
98
The absolute necessity, to the successful pro-
secution of our trade with India, of being allow-
ed to bring home sugar as dead weight is now
well understood. Without it, each ship of 500
tons burden must carry 200 tons of ballast, in
order to bring home the lighter goods,-the cotton,
and indigo, and silk, and piece-goods, of India:
the freight of all these, therefore, must be in-
creased in the proportion of 5 to 3, a disadvan-
tage which, if continued, would issue in driving
this trade from England to the continent.
If it be said, that the East-Indian merchant
may ballast his ships with sugar, and afterwards
send that sugar to the continent; it is manifest
that he would do this also at a great disadvan-
tage. His sugar loaded with double charges of
freight, insurance, custom-house expenses, &c.
&c. could not possibly enter into competition on
the continent with sugar imported thither directly
from India. He would probably prefer carrying
at once his light goods where he must ultimately
carry his sugar; and the consequence would,
therefore, probably be, that the emporium of East
Indian commerce would be transferred from Lon-
don to Antwerp, or some other continental port.
The injury done to our sugar refiners by this
protecting duty cannot be better shown, than
by referring the reader to the Appendix, marked B.
To our manufacturers, however, the injury is
still more serious. It may be considered as a
Į
99
point established beyond question, that the only
limit at present to the growing demand of India
for our manufactures is the power of obtaining
adequate returns. It is scarcely possible to cal-
culate the effect which may be produced on the
looms and work-shops of this country by an im-
pulse, however small, being given to the demand
for their fabrics by a population of one hundred
millions of our own subjects. And for what is
it that we are called upon to sacrifice this brilliant
prospect, this certainty of a continually growing
demand for the productions of our national
industry? We are called upon to sacrifice it for
the sake of a market limited to much less than a
hundredth part of our East-Indian population, and
the whole amount of whose consumption does
not nearly equal the amount forced out of the
pockets of the people to maintain our West-Indian
establishments, and to enable the planters to go
on extracting from their miserable slaves, by the
power of the cart-whip, the sugar which we have
afterwards to buy at so costly a rate.
The folly of such a system as this might itself
insure its condemnation; but, when viewed in
all its bearings, and especially as it affects the
commercial and manufacturing interests of Great
Britain, the comfort of the East-Indian peasant,
and, still more, that of the West-Indian bonds
man, it stands marked with the strongest features
H 2
100
of impolicy and injustice, and calls loudly upon
the British Parliament for its revision.
We affect to encourage the growing demand
for our manufactures among the population of
British India, by limiting the impost, on their ad-
mission into that quarter of our dominions, to an
ad valorem duty of 21 per cent. But is the ma-
nufacturer of Manchester or Glasgow aware how
effectually this apparent encouragement is coun-
teracted by the protecting duty of 10s. a cwt. on
East-Indian sugar? We shall suppose him to
obtain at Calcutta 1000 cwt. of sugar for 1000
pieces of chintz or muslin, the value of each cwt.
of sugar and of each piece of his goods being
there 20s. When he brings the sugar to England,
however, he has 10s. a cwt. to pay upon it, be-
fore he can have leave for its being admitted to
home consumption on the same terms with West-
Indian sugar. Is not this, in point of fact, the
same thing as imposing a tax of 10s. a piece on
his chintz or his muslin? He can obtain no more
for his sugar, though he pays an additional 10s.
upon it, than the West Indian obtains for his.
To guard himself, therefore, against this heavy
loss, he must demand for his 1000 pieces of goods
1500 cwt. of sugar, instead of 1000; the addi-
tional 500 being in truth neither more nor less.
than an import-duty of 10s. on each piece of bis
goods, which of course must operate greatly in-
>
101
lessening the demand for them in India, and the
production of them in Great Britain. If a direct
tax of 52 per cent. were laid on the importation
of our cotton fabrics into British India, we should
doubtless have the table of the House of Com-
mons loaded with petitions on the subject. A
tax so extravagant and oppressive would excite
universal and vehement complaint and remon-
strance: it could not be maintained, but must of
necessity be abandoned. But wherein does the
present system, with respect to East-Indian
sugar, differ, as to its injurious effect on the
manufacturing interests of Great Britain, from
the direct tax we have supposed? They are, in
fact, identically the same, nor would there be a
single remonstrance, however strong and pointed,
nor a single prayer, however earnest and impor-
tunate, applicable to the case of the direct, which
is not equally applicable to the case of the indi-
rect tax. Disguise the process as we may, the effect,
in diminishing our exports, is the same in both in-
stances; and the result of removing the protect-
ing duty (in the case we have supposed) would
be to add 50 per cent. to the capacity of Indian
sugar growers to buy our manufactures, and to in-
crease in the same ratio our export of them. Are
our statesmen, then, sufficiently aware of the deep
injury they are inflicting on the nation at large
(including the agricultural interests) by the pre-
102
sent policy? Or, are the people of this country
aware of the deep injury they are sustaining from
it? If they were, I am persuaded that that
policy would speedily be abandoned.
And here I must advert, for a moment, to an
argument, in defence of the protecting duty,
which I have heard urged more than once, but
which, whether it be used by a statesman or by
a merchant, is a proof either of his ignorance of
the whole subject, or of his intention to mislead
the public. "What an unreasonable clamour,"
it is said," is made about this protecting duty
on East-Indian sugar! Why, it is only a penny
a pound! What need the people of England
care whether they pay 8d. or 9d. for a pound of
sugar?" I reply, in the first place, that this
penny a pound, of which some persons affect to
speak so lightly, makes a million and a half ster-
ling on the whole consumption of Great Britain.
In the next place, it is equal to a profit of from
50 to 100 per cent. on the cost of the article.
The half of this penny a pound would consti-
tute a profit which the East-India merchant
would think most ample, or a loss which must
be ruinous to him. A penny a pound! It is
well for those to speak with levity of such an
increase who are familiar with the profusion with
which the nation has been in the habit of lavish-
ing upon the West Indies its annual millions.
103
But I am persuaded that the day is past, when
such a tone can any longer serve the purposes
of those who use it.
ance.
Only one word more, and it is an observation
for which I am indebted to the very able pamphlet
on this subject which has just made its appear-
The West Indians, in pleading that the
encouragement which was originally given to the
growth of sugar in the West Indies constituted a
compact of the most binding kind, seem to have
entirely forgotten, that this encouragement was
given expressly for the purpose of our being sup-
plied with sugar cheaper than we could procure
it elsewhere, and not that we might pay a higher
price for it than any of our neighbours.
>
APPENDIX.
!
A.
Extract from a Report of the House of Assembly of
Jamaica, dated 23d November, 1804, and laid on the
Table of the House of Commons, 25th February, 1805.
"ALTHOUGH an abolition be an effectual, it is not the sole,
means by which the West-India islands may be ruined: the
same object may be obtained as completely, although with
somewhat less rapidity by encouraging the cultivation of
sugar in the East Indies, where the fertility of the soil, the
facility of irrigation, the ease with which commodities are
transported by means of an extensive inland navigation, the
abundance of provisions, the cheapness of labour, and the
structure of society give advantages which nature has denied to
these islands, and where the cultivator is exempt from the
restrictions which bear heaviest on our agriculture, and will
operate as a positive and immense bounty to our rivals."
The report then contrasts at considerable length
parative situation of the two countries in respect of their
labourers, and the capital employed in the operation of con-
verting the cane-juice into sugar;" and infers, from the con-
trast, that the arrangement made on the subject of the duties
"the com-
106
on sugar, in 1803, was unjust to the West Indies. "Far from
acknowledging," they say, "the justice of this ratio or admitting
its policy, we are of opinion, and hope to satisfy the House
that had the discrimination proposed by the West-Indian
planters, in their application to His Majesty's ministers of 25
per cent. been acceded to, it never could justly have been
regarded as invidious. Double that advance would in fact
have been an inadequate protection in the home-market, and
insufficient to compensate to us the restrictions and expenses
imposed on us for the benefit of the mother-country." And
again—“ Extending it to 50 per cent. will be found a very
inadequate compensation for the restrictions and expenses
attending on the West-India colonies, from which the eastern
settlements are free."
Then follows a long train of reasoning, to show the impolicy
of encouraging the importation of sugar from India; one brief
specimen of which may suffice to show, how very erroneous
the anticipations of the Jamaica planters were upon the sub-
ject.
"There can be no doubt that the value of the freight of this
sugar, will drain from Great Britain to her Eastern provinces,
on the most moderate computation, three millions sterling
annually. The most hardy advocates for the new system can-
not deny that every shilling of this must be sent in bullion;
for they must acknowledge, that the exportation of British
manufactures will admit of very trifling increase, and that from
physical and moral causes her manufactures will never find a
market among the Hindoos. It is impossible that the kingdom
could support this drain of silver."
107
B.
Extract from the Substance of a Speech delivered by Joseph
Marryat, Esq. in the House of Commons, May 15th, 1809,
upon the second reading of the Martinique Trade Bill.
WHEN this bill was read for the first time, I could not help
expressing my surprise that a measure unsupported by a single
precedent, and as the language of the bill itself admits, contrary
to all the laws, customs, and usages, established in similar
cases by the wisdom of our ancestors, should be recommended
to parliament on the ground of an alleged expediency, without
any attempt whatever to prove that expediency being made,
and without any of the parties whose interests are involved in
this projected innovation, having been previously consulted.
I also stated shortly my reasons for thinking that this measure,
which I was aware had been suggested to His Majesty's mi-
nisters by the Committee of West-India planters and merchants,
could be productive of no possible advantage to them, while it
would be highly injurious to the sugar-refiners, and unjust to
the inhabitants of Martinique.
If the first of these propositions only could be maintained, it
would not be a sufficient ground for rejecting this bill: for I
know of no objection to complying even with the prejudices of
any body of men, provided those prejudices are innocent preju-
dices; but if it can be shown, that complying with those pre-
judices would be injurious to the interests of others, and a
violation of good faith on the part of the British nation, then
I am persuaded that this bill will no longer receive that official
support from His Majesty's ministers, under the sanction of
which it has been presented to this house.
1
108
With respect to the interests of the West-Indian planters, I
contend, that, as in consequence of the capture of the island of
Martinique, the sugars of that colony must find their way to
Europe, all the mischief that can be done to the British
planters by that conquest has been done; that it is now per-
fectly immaterial to them, whether these sugars are brought in
neutral vessels to the foreign ports of the Continent, or in Bri-
tish vessels to the ports of Great Britain; and in the latter
case, that it is equally immaterial whether they are brought
here for exportation or home-consumption.
When I say that all the mischief that can be done to the
British planters has been done, I mean to cast no reflection on
the policy which dictated the capture of Martinique; for, if the
conquest of that colony were desirable, either as extending the
carrying trade; as opening a new market for the manufacturers
of Great Britain; as depriving the enemy of a cruising station,
peculiarly favourable to the annoyance of our commerce by his
privateers, and of the finest harbour in the West Indies, which
had long served as an asylum to his flying squadrons; as giving
us possession of an important colony, on which Bonaparte
probably sets more than common value, either to be retained at
a peace, or restored for some valuable equivalent; as placing
within our power the patrimonial estate of Madame Bonaparte,
with many of her relatives, and perhaps in consequence facili-
tating some arrangement that may put an end to the captivity
of our countrymen so long detained in France; if, I say, from
any of these considerations, or others which may have suggested
themselves to the minds of His Majesty's ministers, they were
induced to undertake this enterprise, I must admit that an
object of such great national advantage ought not to be aban-
doned from a regard to the interests of any particular class of
individuals. But I must also contend, that where the interests
of any class of men are injured by measures adopted for the
109
•
·
general good, that class of men has a strong, nay, an unanswer-'
able claim upon the legislature for relief. Whether the cap-
ture of Martinique, by bringing a new influx of sugars into the
European market, will again plunge the British West-Indian'
planters into that distress from which they are just emerging,'
depends upon political events which it is impossible to foresee.
But, should it produce that effect, I put in my claim to the jus-
tice and liberality of the legislature, and I will not weaken that'
claim by accepting as a boon what is in fact no boon; I will
not sacrifice substantial for imaginary advantages, nor lose the
substance by grasping at the shadow.
+
As in the part which I am about to take on this occasion, I
have the misfortune to differ in opinion with many of the gen-`
tlemen with whom I generally act, I think it right to guard-
against any misconstructions that may be put on my conduct.
No man, who is acquainted with my situation in life, can for a
moment suspect me of harbouring any feelings inimical to the
interests of the British West-Indian planters. On the con-
trary, my interests are bound up in theirs; for the greatest part :
of my property is invested in securities in the British West-
Indian colonies. It is true that I have also connexions both at
Martinique and at Guadaloupe; but, in point of extent, they:
bear no proportion to my other concerns. As far, therefore, as
interest may be supposed to operate on the human mind, the
British planters have an unquestionable pledge of my sincerity
in their cause. It happens fortunately for my consistency, too,
that, so long ago as the year 1792, I published the very same
doctrines that I am about to maintain; in proof of which, I beg
leave to read the following passage from a pamphlet respecting
the sugar-trade, written at that period.
"It is granted that when charters were first given to encou->
rage the settlement of the British islands, and owing to the
infancy of their establishment, it was an expedient and ne-
110
"
""
cessary encouragement to secure to them the exclusive sup-
ply of the British market, by imposing such duties on foreign
sugars as should amount to a prohibition. But now that
"their produce is more than adequate to the consumption of
"the mother-country, so that one-third part of it must be
"re-exported, and the price it will fetch in foreign markets
"must necessarily regulate the price of what is sold here, it
❝is evident that this restriction can no longer be of use to
"them; that not Great Britain alone, but Europe is the
"market for sugars the British planter has to look up to; and
"that the demand from abroad must increase in proportion to
"the increased quantity; that, diverted from their markets,
"finds its way to ours, so as to keep the universal price at one
"common level."
+
The charge of inconsistency, therefore, cannot justly be
brought against me; but how some of my West-Indian friends
will rescue themselves from this imputation I am at a loss to
imagine; for the great mass of evidence given by these very
gentlemen, before the various committees of this house, which
have been appointed to report upon West-India subjects
within these few years past, goes to establish the proposition
for which I contend, and which they now mean to oppose;
namely, that it is the quantity of sugar brought to Europe
that governs the price of the commodity in Great Britain. In
the evidence given before the commercial committee, in 1807,
this truth is laid down as an axiom; and the distress of the
British planters is justly attributed to the quantity of sugar
brought to Europe from the enemy's colonies in neutral ships.
Now we are to be told, that it is not the bringing sugars to
Europe, but the bringing them into the home-consumption of
Great Britain, that is injurious to the interests of the British
planter.
I shall not read the evidence given by any of the gentlemen
111
whom I see in their places, because I am unwilling to put my
friends to the blush; and, therefore, I shall confine myself to
the testimony of a gentleman, not a member of this house,
but who stands high in the estimation of all those who know
him, both for talents and for his application of those talents; a
gentleman who thinks justly and thinks deeply. I mean Mr.
Bosanquet. On being asked, to what causes do you princi-
pally impute the inadequacy of returns since 1801? he gives
the following answer:-" I attribute it to an excess of impor-
"tation beyond the home-consumption, which has rendered
"the sale of the growers produce dependent on exportation,
"not only for the consumption of the quantity, but, also,
"for the price, which I conceive to be formed on a standard
"inadequate to his expenses. I mean the market-price on
"the continent, which market can be and is supplied with
sugar, at a cheaper rate than it can be grown by the British
"planter, and, according to the axiom, that the price of a
66
commodity will entirely depend upon the price at which the
"surplus can be sold, it is obvious that the market-price at
"home has, ever since the importation materially exceeded:
"the home-consumption, been governed by the price on the
"continent.” These opinions, sir, so far from being contro-
verted, are confirmed by the concurrent testimony of every
gentleman connected with the West Indies, who was then
examined to the same point.
The house may naturally wonder how it happens that gentle-
men should think so differently on the same subject, at diffe-
rent periods; I can only observe, that the sentiments they
formerly delivered were not given with a view to any particu-
lar circumstance likely to affect the home-consumption, and
may, therefore, be considered as the genuine unbiassed sen-
timents of their minds. The sentiments they will now deliver
are framed with a view to a particular circumstance, likely to
112
affect the home-consumption, and may, perhaps, have received
a bias from that circumstance.
Perhaps there are few classes of men altogether free from
certain prejudices, on points connected with their own in-
terests. We are all apt to receive opinions into our minds,
without due examination; to take them as it were upon trust,
particularly when they come to us with a sort of hereditary
sanction, and thus it is that prejudices sometimes acquire the
force of principles.
stances.
✓
Men are so sensibly alive to their own interests, that if a
measure is proposed which they know can do them no good,"
and fancy that it may, by any possibility however remote, do
them harm, they will scarcely allow themselves to give it a
fair and impartial discussion. An impression of this sort was
lately very liberally got the better of by the landed interest,
who consented to the substitution of sugar for grain in the
distilleries; though some few gentlemen contended, to the
last, for the principle that the agriculture of the country'
ought never to be interfered with under any possible circum-
This principle, however, as it was termed, could'
not be maintained; for the real principle of all the corn-laws
is founded upon an interference with the agriculture of the'
country, and sanctions the importation of foreign corn, when-
ever the price of British corn exceeds certain limits.
therefore, in strict conformity to that principle, that we re-
sorted to substitution, when the means of importation were no
longer in our power; and, I trust, sir, that in future, when-
ever our own growth of corn is insufficient for our consump-
tion, we shall give our fellow-subjects the preference over
foreigners; and if the situation of the West-Indian planter
requires it, that instead of importing we shall continue to
substitute.
It was,
The West-Indian planters are now, in their turn, contending
113
for the principle, as they call it, of the monopoly of the
home consumption of Great Britain; but this principle has
never been recognised to the extent to which they would push
it; for the produce of the conquered colonies has uniformly
been admitted into home-consumption. Even if this principle
were acknowledged, it would be of no use to them in the
present state of things, as I trust I shall shortly satisfy the
house; and I must say, that it is with a peculiar ill-grace that
they attempt to maintain prejudices of their own, at the very
moment when they are reaping the most substantial advantages
from having overcome the prejudices of others.
The propositions I shall endeavour to establish, are these:
that the exclusion of the produce of Martinique would be of
no benefit whatever to the British planter, that this exclusion
would be highly injurious to the British sugar-refiners; that
it would be unjust to the inhabitants of Martinique, and a
violation of honour and good faith on the part of the British
Government.
I have already granted, sir, that, in the infancy of the
British West-India settlements, the monopoly of the home-
consumption of the mother-country was a most valuable pri-
vilege of the planter; but the advantages of this monopoly
having been felt and acknowledged by our predecessors, we
retain the same ideas of its importance, as were justly impress-
ed
upon their minds, without adverting to the change of cir-
cumstances that has taken place since their days. For many
years past, the cultivation of the British West-India colonies
has been so much extended, that the consumption of the
mother-country has been insufficient to take off their produce;
and a considerable proportion of their sugars has necessarily
been re-exported. In this state of things, it is not Great Britain
alone, but Europe at large, that the British planter must con-
sider as his market. While sugar is dear upon the continent,
I
114
it never can long continue to be cheap in Great Britain, nor
when it is cheap upon the continent can it long be dear in
Great Britain; for the price which the surplus will produce
for exportation, regulates the price of what is sold for home-
consumption. If the British market is depressed below the
standard of the continental markets, the foreign buyer finds
it his interest to purchase, and continues so to do as long as
it will afford him a profit on exportation. When this competi-
tion ceases, as the importation exceeds the home-consumption,
the stock accumulates, and as the value of every commodity
depends on the proportion which the supply bears to the
demand, the price falls, till it becomes the interest of the
foreign buyer to purchase as before. Perhaps the action and
re-action of the British and continental markets on each other,
may be best illustrated by a familiar example. Many gentle-
men who hear me have, doubtless, occasionally been at some of
the watering-places on the coast of Kent or Sussex, and may
have observed, that when the fishing-boats belonging to those
places have a favourable wind for getting up to London, fish
is very scarce and dear, but that when the wind is contrary,
and they cannot get up to London, the fish is cheap and
abundant. The London market is to those places with respect
to fish, just what the continental market is to Great Britain
with respect to sugars. When there is a demand for the conti-
nent, sugar uniformly becomes dear and scarce in Great
Britain; when there is none, it becomes cheap and abundant ;
and all the fluctuations in the price of British plantation-sugar,
sold for home-consumption, are occasioned by the demand or
want of demand for exportation.
I may state, in farther proof of this proposition, that the
value of foreign sugars, brought to Great Britain for expor-
tation, is, generally speaking, precisely the same as that of
British plantation-sugar imported for home-consumption, with
115
the difference of duty only. Within my memory, I have known
but one exception to this general rule; and that is one of
those exceptions which do not weaken, but confirm it. After
the act was passed last year, substituting the use of sugar for
that of corn in the distilleries, British plantation-sugar became
10s. per cwt. dearer than foreign sugar, exclusive of the duty,
for it was then thought, that the distilleries and the home-
consumption would consume all the British plantation-sugar,
and leave the planters independent of the foreign market. But
this expectation has since proved fallacious; more than 40,000
hogsheads still remain in the West-India-docks, now that the
new crop is on the eve of arrival; and the disclosure of this
fact, together with the capture of Martinique, has occasioned
a fall in the price of British plantation-sugar of from 12s. to
14s. per cwt. The value of foreign sugars, on the contrary,
has remained nearly stationary, and the prices of both are.
again restored to their usual equilibrium, now that the depen-
dance of the British planter upon exportation is clearly ascer-
tained. If the arguments I have before adduced fail in con-
vincing those who hear me, this fact establishes the truth of
the proposition for which I contend, beyond all possibility of
contradiction.
I admit, sir, that if His Majesty's ministers, at the com-
mencement of the present war, had adopted the plan of ex-
cluding the produce of all conquered colonies from British
consumption, they would have given a most important advan-
tage to the British planter, because the home-consumption and
the distilleries would, in that case, have rendered him indepen-
dent of the foreign market. But we have captured French
settlements, Dutch settlements, Danish settlements, and have
admitted the whole of the produce to home-consumption, to
an extent that now puts this independence entirely out of the
question, as will appear by adverting to the amount of our
I 2
116
exports. In 1807, we exported 95,000 hogsheads of sugar; in
1808 we exported about 50,000, and had, also, the benefit of the
distilleries; notwithstanding which, a surplus of 40,000 hogs-
heads remains on hand. As, therefore, it is now impossible to
prevent our dependence on the foreign market, and the sugars
of Martinique must, at all events, come to Europe, the ex-
cluding them alone from home-consumption will be of no ad-
vantage whatever to the British planter.
I farther admit that if a total stop could be put to the ex-
portation of sugar, any addition to the quantity imported for
home-consumption would affect the price, and prejudice the
interests of the British planter; and this is the only case that
I can figure to my imagination, in which the admission of the
Martinique sugars in the accustomed mode could be made the
subject of a reasonable objection. But experience has now so
clearly demonstrated the inefficacy of the decrees of Bonaparte,
to prevent our commercial communication with the continent,
that I consider this as an impossible case; and surely the legis-
lature will not think of providing against impossible cases, and
overlooking those which actually exist.
But however fallacious the idea may be, of the British
planter deriving any advantage from the exclusion of the Mar-
tinique sugars from the home-consumption of Great Britain,
there are other parties, too, whose interests have strong claims
to the attention of the legislature, to whom this measure is
pregnant with the most serious injury. I shall mention, in the
first place, the sugar-refiners of Great Britain. An act was
lately passed, permitting the exportation of refined sugar in a
crushed state, so as to imitate the French clayed sugars; and
nearly two-thirds of the whole quantity of refined sugar ex-
ported during the last year has been of that description; but
if the clayed sugars of Martinique are imported for exportation
alone, they will supply the place of those crushed lumps on
1.17
the continent, and the British plantation-sugars, from which
they are now made, will necessarily be left a dead weight upon
the home-market. Now I cannot readily comprehend how the
price of sugar would be more depressed, by bringing these
clayed sugars into the home-market, than by leaving those raw
sugars upon the market, which are now manufactured in imi-
tation of them, and exported.
The clayed sugars of Martinique are peculiarly calculated
for making a certain description of refined sugar, known by
the name of Hambro' loaves, which circulate all over the
continent with the greater facility in the present state of things,
from being made in such moulds as are used at Hambro', and
it being, therefore, impossible to distinguish them from the
goods of the foreign refiners. If then we send away the Mar-
tinique clayed sugars, we send away this branch of the manu-
facture also, from the British refiners to the foreign refiners.
The three principal descriptions of refined sugar now ex-
ported, are the crushed lumps, the Hambro' loaves, and the
double refined loaves; the two former being four-fifths of the
whole quantity. If we export all the Martinique clayed
sugars, they would supersede the demand for the crushed
lumps, as foreigners will prefer the originals to the copies;
and they will also supersede the demand for the Hambro'
loaves, as we shall give the foreign refiners the exclusive right
of using the choicest and best materials from which they can
be manufactured. Thus the export trade of the British sugar-
refiner will be reduced to one-fifth of its actual amount, by
the operation of this bill; and nearly one-third of the refi-
neries, at present at work, in this metropolis, will be thrown
out of employment.
It may be here proper to say a few words on the value and.
importance of the sugar-refinery to this country. The build-
ings and utensils employed in that manufactory occupy a
118
}
capital of about two millions of money, exclusive of a
much larger capital necessary for carrying it on. The annual
expenditure of the sugar refiners amounts to about one million,
and perhaps scarcely any million of money is expended by any
set of men in a manner so beneficial to this country, it being
principally expended in giving value to the produce of our
mines-coals, lead, iron, and copper; and in furnishing em-
ployment to a great number of artificers, manufacturers, and
workmen of various descriptions. Some idea may be formed
of the employment furnished to the potteries by the refiners,
when I state that 80,000 pots and moulds may be found in a
single sugar-house in this metropolis; and that a very large
proportion of the whole quantity in use is annually consumed
by breakage. This manufactory possesses an advantage of
which few can boast; that both the raw material it works up,
and all the articles used in carrying it on, are the growth, pro-
duce, and manufacture, either of Great Britain or her colonies,
so that the whole amount of the exports made by the sugar-
refiners to foreign markets, is a contribution levied upon fo-
reigners by British industry, and an accession to British wealth.
Is it possible that His Majesty's ministers can contemplate
this picture, and seriously resolve to destroy this valuable
manufacture? Can they deem it consistent with sound policy
to drive the refiners to the extremity of transporting them-
selves, their capital, and their industry to foreign countries, as
must be the case, if we deprive them of their accustomed em-
ployment here, by giving that encouragement to the foreign
refineries, which they ought to secure to their own?
With respect to the gentlemen connected with the British
West-India colonies, who urge His Majesty's ministers to this
rash step, men too, in other respects, of intelligent and enlarged
minds, I am really astonished at their contracted notions in this
particular case. They are, I believe, the first set of men who
119
ever devised, as a contrivance for raising the value of a raw
commodity, the ruin of those by whom it is manufactured.
Can any idea more erroneous, I must say, more preposterous,
be possibly conceived? They remind me of the short-sighted
policy of the man in the fable, who killed the goose that laid
the golden eggs.
In another point of view, the exporting the clayed sugars of
Martinique to the continent, instead of refining them here for
exportation, will be a great national loss; for, by refining
those sugars, we add very materially to their value. The ba-
lance of exchange is now so much against Great Britain, that
the guinea is not worth more than 17s. on any part of the con-
tinent; and government feels this depreciation very heavily in
the purchase of every article of naval stores procured from
the Baltic, as well as in the bills necessarily drawn for subsidies
to our foreign allies, and for the maintenance of our armies on
foreign service.
When the alternative is laid before us, either to diminish or
increase this evil, by diminishing or increasing the value of our
exports, can we hesitate how to decide?
The inhabitants of Martinique are also parties to this cause,
and have a right to be considered in this discussion. I am
aware it may be said, that the privilege of having their pro-
duce admitted to the home-consumption of Great Britain can
be an object of no consequence to them, if the price of sugar
be just the same, whether it be sold for exportation or home-
consumption. But, I would ask, are men influenced by pecu-
niary considerations alone? Have they no feelings of any
other description? Even in the most trifling cases, no man is
satisfied to be put on a worse footing than his neighbour. If
he does not feel a distinction made to his disadvantage as an
injury, he considers it as an insult, and resents it still more
strongly. Can it be expected that the inhabitants of Marti-
>
120
nique will contentedly endure, that while the produce of every
other West-India colony conquered by Great Britain during
the present war, is admitted to her home-consumption, their
produce alone should be excluded? Will they not ask what
they have done, that, like Cain, they should be branded with
a mark of opprobrium, and treated as a stigmatised race?
But, unfortunately for the effect that this measure may be ex-
pected to produce on their minds, it so happened, that when
the island was captured, that temporary difference between the
price of sugar for home-consumption and exportation, to which
I have already adverted, did exist, and therefore they will con-
sider the distinction, not as an imaginary but as a real griev-
ance. Besides, they will be naturally led to conclude, from the
strenuous opposition made by the British planters to the ad-
mission of their sugars for home-consumption, that the object
is worth contending for; and therefore this argument cuts
both ways.
The claim of the inhabitants of Martinique to the privilege
of which this bill would deprive them, might safely be rested
on the ground of established law, custom, and usage, all
which are uniformly in their favour; for innovations ought not
to be lightly adopted, and the onus probandi, the proof of the
policy or necessity of such innovations, rests upon those by
whom they are proposed.
121
.
C
THE following is an extract from the Report of a Committee
of the House of Assembly of Jamaica, dated 23d November,
1804; presented to the House of Commons 25th February,
1805.
After speaking, at great length, of "the dangerous and
distressful situation to which the West-Indian colonists are re-
duced," the Report thus proceeds :-
"In showing the impossibility of continuing the cultivation
of sugar, under the present duties on that article and on rum,
we have chosen to appeal to facts, well known and easily
verified in Great Britain, rather than rest our case on the fatal
consequences produced and passing before our eyes here.
Every British merchant, holding securities on real estates, is
filing bills in Chancery to foreclose, although, when he has ob-
tained a decree, he hesitates to enforce it, because he must him-
self become proprietor of the plantation, of which, from fatal
experience, he knows the consequences. No one will advance
money to relieve those whose debts approach half the value of
their property, nor even lend a moderate sum without a judge-
ment in ejectment, and release of errors, that, at a moment's
notice, he may take out a writ of possession, and enter on the
plantation of his unfortunate debtor. Sheriff's officers and
collectors of the internal taxes are every where offering for
sale the property of individuals who have seen better days, and
now must view their effects purchased for half their real value,
and less than half the original costs. Far from having the
reversion expected, the creditor is often not satisfied: all kind
of credit is at an end. If litigation in the courts of common
122
law has diminished, it is not from increased ability to perform
contracts, but from confidence having ceased, and no man
parting with property but for an immediate payment of the con-
sideration. A faithful detail would have the appearance of a
frightful caricature. Unless speedy and efficacious means are
adopted for giving permanent relief by a radical change of
measures, we must suppose that the West-Indian islands are
doomed to perish as useless appendages of the British Empire.
Can the colonies perish alone? and will not the statesman,
whose measures shall complete their ruin, precipitate, into the
same abyss, the manufactures and commerce of the parent
state?"*
I have before me another Report of the same Assembly,
dated the 13th November, 1807, and presented to the House
of Commons on the 13th April, 1808, which is drawn up in a
similar strain.-It states, "the melancholy fact,” that the
"" not
gradual depreciation of sugar had, at last, operated,
only to deprive the planter, generally speaking, of any interest
whatever on his capital, but to oblige him, if he continue the
cultivation of the sugar-cane, to do it at a considerable actual
loss." <<
This, however, is not all: the planter must maintain
himself and his family, and he ought, at least, to pay the in-
terest of his debts." "Instead of being enriched by his la-
bour," the planter is described as actually "considerably im-
poverished by it.”
The Report then goes on to enumerate sixty-five sugar-
estates that had been thrown up, "the proprietors of which
are some of them reduced to ruin, and others subjected to
• And yet the same Report is filled with the most vehement and
angry remonstrances against the attempts then making to abolish
the slave-trade, as grossly unjust; as a violation of the most sacred
rights of West Indians; as destructive of their interests, &c. This is
something like infatuation.
123
<<
very great loss;" thirty-two sugar-estates which have been sold
under decrees from the Court of Chancery; and one hundred
and fifteen more,
respecting which suits are now depending
in the Court of Chancery;" besides many more bills which
they knew were "preparing for the sale of sugar-estates."
"From all these facts," it is added, "the House will be able
to judge to what an alarming extent the distresses of the sugar-
planters have already reached, and with what accelerated
rapidity they are now increasing; for the sugar-estates LATELY
thrown up, brought to sale, and now in the Court of Chancery
in this island and in England, amount to about one-fourth of
the whole number in the colony." The Report then proceeds to
state that, when the average-price of sugar, exclusive of duty, is
45s. per cwt. the planter will have an interest of 23 per cent.
on his capital; when it is 52s. 6d. per cwt. 45 per cent.; when
it is 60s. per cwt. 7 per cent.; and when it is 70s. 3d. per cwt.
he will have 10 per cent. on his capital; and the framers of the
Report give it as their opinion that it ought not in justice to be
less than this last sum; and that to that point measures should
be taken, by the legislature, to raise it. This is the summary
remedy for West-Indian distress !! As compared with the pre-
sent price of sugar, it would inflict a tax of five millions annu-
ally on this country!!
1
124
D.
It would, perhaps, be unfair to withhold from the planter the
benefit of a defence which he prudently forbears to bring for-
ward for himself, but the full consideration of which, in the
body of the pamphlet, would too much interrupt the course
of the argument. The defence is this: He is for the most
part so heavily encumbered with debt, that, however beneficial
a change of system might be to the slaves, and to the perma-
nent interests of the property, it would probably be ruinous to
himself. To reduce his scale of sugar-culture and his crops of
exportable produce would preclude the hope of keeping down
the interest of his incumbrances, and progressively lessening
their amount. The mortgagee, therefore, would foreclose, or
sell his equity of redemption. He is consequently in the pain-
ful dilemma of being obliged, either to stint his slaves in the
food and other necessaries which he is too poor to purchase
in sufficient quantities, or to lose his estate by reducing his
consignments of sugar; and this is the true cause of the evil
in general; and what is, in fact, meant by the poverty of the
planters being a cause of famine to the slaves. But what
effectual remedy would be found for this by raising the price of
produce, through the ruin of our East-Indian trade, or any
other means that could possibly be employed for that purpose?
It is not the positive, but the relative magnitude of a
planter's income that thus affects his slaves. It is its amount
in relation to the interest and other charges that it must an-
nually defray. His ability to sustain his slaves depends not
merely on what he receives, but what he has to pay out of the
proceeds of his sugar; not on the credit side of his account
with the consignees, but on its favourable balance. It is to
125
}
no purpose, therefore, to raise the proceeds of his sugar 50 per
cent. if his incumbrances exceed his improved income in the
same proportion. Now it is a notorious and undeniable truth,
that a large part of the whole number of sugar-estates in the
West Indies are at all times, even when the price of their pro-
duce in the European markets is high, greatly overburthened
with debt; and this, not always from the imprudence of the
proprietors in point of expenditure during their residence in
Europe, but because the estates have descended upon them
subject to heavy incumbrances, or have, from some of the many
vicissitudes to which such property is liable, greatly fallen
off in their productiveness, or, what is a still more common
cause of the evil, have been bought at too high a price, or in
more favourable times, and, as usual, mortgaged to secure to
the sellers a large proportion of the purchase-money. It may
truly be said that in this latter respect high prices of sugar are
commonly, in their future consequences, and that at no distant
period, a severe source of calamity instead of benefit to the
slaves; for they create an appetite for colonial speculations,
and there are always a great number of proprietors who, from
necessity, or from their desire to convert into European invest-
ments property of which they well know the precarious nature,
are ready to avail themselves of such good opportunities of
selling to advantage. Estates, therefore, are often sold in such
times, at prices very far exceeding their value in relation to
their ordinary or average returns; and their new owners set out
under a burthen of debt which they vainly hope the proceeds
will enable them progressively to discharge. Market-prices
soon after fall, expenses increase, the debts accumulate with
rapidity, and when embarrassment and ruin ensue, they are
ascribed to the depreciation of produce instead of the over-
appreciation of the estate, and the rashness of having specu-
lated deeply on what was chiefly a borrowed capital. The
126
1
case is exactly parallel to that of very many landholders in
this country, who gave large prices for land when our wheat-
markets and rents were at the highest, and raised great part of
the purchase-money by mortgage, without any other means for
its repayment than the returns of the land itself. The prices
of sugar, during the seven years that preceded 1801, had risen
to a degree as unprecedented as the prices of corn previous to
1813, and the consequences have been the same in both cases,
except that in England the purchase of land upon credit has
been of a very limited extent compared to the whole extent of
landed property; while in the West Indies a very large pro-
portion of the sugar-estates now in culture have been the sub-
jects of such speculations.
It has been asserted over and over
again, by West Indians themselves, that most of the estates
in the old islands have changed hands in the last thirty years;
and as to the new settlements in Guiana and Trinidad, it is
notorious that they have been chiefly formed by adventurers
whose cupidity high prices had excited. The lands there
indeed were cheap, but the slaves were chiefly bought,
and the buildings erected, by means of commercial credit ob-
tained upon mortgage on high terms.
With the landholders of England the case is entirely new;
but not so with the West-Indian planters. The high prices of the
period referred to gave, indeed, a more than ordinary impulse
to the adventurous spirit by which sugar-estates are purchased
or formed; but at all times the tickets in that lottery have
changed hands with great rapidity, and have always been
bought at an extravagant price when compared with their in-
trinsic value, or average produce. Ruin, consequently, has
at all times been the final, and generally the speedy fate of a
majority of the adventurers. If the latter proposition is
doubted, many testimonies of its truth might be adduced from
the colonists and the assemblies themselves. Some of these
}
127
will be found in the preceding article of the Appendix. I will
only at present cite one other as it is given by Mr. Wilberforce,
in a letter to his constituents, published in 1807, p. 268; being
taken by him from a Parliamentary document, transmitted by the
Assembly of Jamaica. The number of executions in the Marshall's
office of that island in twenty years, from 1760 to 1780, was
no less than 80,000, and their amount £32,500,000 of Jamaica
currency, or £22,500,000 sterling; and during that time
nearly half the estates in the island had changed hands.
Now, what I would infer from these colonial statistics is,
that if the embarrassments of the planters produce distress
or famine among their slaves, it is an evil not to be remedied
by raising the price of sugar; nor is it an evil of the present
day alone, but one of perennial existence, and inherent to the
colonial system. As long as the state of the slaves compels
them to work for any subsistence, adequate or inadequate,
that the master chooses to allow, there is no preventing him,
when a losing gamester, from taking a last throw at the table,
in the attempt to save himself from ruin, by finding a last stake
in what he can possibly save out of the maintenance of his
slaves, by reducing them to short allowance.* Unless you
* In accordance with this view of the subject is the state-
ment of the Jamaica House of Assembly itself, in its report of the
23d November, 1804. "We may here observe," the assembly says,
"that it is to this peculiarity (a peculiarity previously described) of
sugar-cultivation, that much of the augmented production is owing.
Far from being, in all cases, a symptom of prosperity, extending planta-
tions is not unfrequently a paroxysm of despair. Seeing that unless his
estate can be brought up to a certain scale, no profit can be expected;
the planter borrows to the utmost of his credit, attains, at last, the
quantity looked for, but has the mortification to find that a new duty
and increased price place him in the same distressed situation from
which he had made a struggle to emerge." And all this is stated in
the midst of vehement remonstrances against the abolition of the
slave-trade.
128
can save him from this dangerous temptation by preventing his
contracting debts beyond the average value of his estate, it is
to no purpose to augment his income. Let his crops produce
£500 a year more than at present, still, if he adds £10,000
to his mortgages, or sells the estate to a new adventurer at
that advance of price, the case will remain the same as far as
it affects the slaves. Nor has a sinking planter always the
present power of saving those poor dependants from want,
unless by immediately calling on his mortgagees to accept
possession of the estate. His credit in the island may be so
far gone that he cannot obtain flour from the merchants. The
case is so familiar, that the General Legislature of the Lee-
ward Islands, convened in 1798, (a time, be it observed,
of great prosperity, and after years of high prices of sugar
unexampled before,) thought it necessary, in common humanity,
to make a law to provide a remedy for the evil. They enacted
that debts contracted for food or other necessaries for the
slaves, by the party in possession, should be paid out of the
crops of the estate itself, and be a charge upon them. Nothing
could be more equitable and wise; but the law, it seems, has
already become obsolete in the islands it was made for, and
has never been adopted by the assembly of any other colony.
The master's choice, therefore, is not necessary to the starva-
tion of the labourers, while the produce of their labour
goes into the pockets of those mortgagees to whom they
virtually belong.
Nothing but the compulsory effect of low prices of sugar,
which, as I have already shown, will lead to the raising pro-
visions on the estate, can remedy that cruel abuse which
high prices are preposterously supposed entirely to prevent.
THE END.
Marchant, Printer, Ingram-court, Fenchurch street
1
Clarke, Sir Simon Houghton
વર્તુ
SOME CONSIDERATIONS
ON THE
PRESENT DISTRESSED STATE
OF THE
BRITISH WEST INDIA COLONIES,
THEIR CLAIMS
ON THE
GOVERNMENT FOR RELIEF,
AND THE ADVANTAGE TO THE NATION IN SUPPORTING THEM,
PARTICULARLY AGAINST THE
COMPETITION OF EAST INDIA SUGAR.
BY
A WEST INDIAN.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR C. & J. RIVINGTON,
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD;
AND WATERLOO-PLACE, PALL-MALL.
1823.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY R. GILBERT,
ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
Late-American hist
Phillips
7-19-29
20059
SOME CONSIDERATIONS,
&c. &c.
AFTER the discovery of America, in 1492, the com-
mercial nations of Europe were anxious to benefit
by the territories which they had acquired in the
new world, and encouraged the settlement of colo-
nies in it, with whom they might trade upon better
terms than with independent and rival nations.
The principal benefits contemplated were the mu-
tual interchange of commodities, which different
climates and circumstances produce, the consump-
tion of the manufactures of the parent state, the
extension of the navigation, and the consequent
naval power of the nation. In this spirit, surren-
dering a part of the agriculture of the mother
country, the cultivation of tobacco was prohibited
in England and Ireland, where it used to be grown,
by King James, in 1624, because it could be pro-
duced more abundantly, and of a better quality, in
Virginia. In the case of the British Sugar Colo-
nies, though no precise compact, or terms of agree-
ment, upon which they were settled, can be shown,
further than the Proclamations of the Sovereigns,
4 2
4
the letter of the Acts of the British Parliament,
and the practice of the Government, which were
dictated at the will, and altered at the pleasure of
one party, without leaving to the other the power
to approve or dissent; yet, it is reasonable to con-
clude, that the close connection, and relationship,
as it were, of parent and children, between the
mother country and the colonies, was unquestion-
ably intended to be mutually advantageous. The
welfare of the colonies was to be consulted, as well
as the interests of the mother country. If the
parent state act by any other rule, it will give
birth to both tyranny and folly; tyranny, because
she would then conduct herself unfairly towards
the colonies; and folly, because, in a short time,
they would be reduced to ruin, or the necessity of
separation, and the benefits, derived from them
to the parent state herself, destroyed.
Upon such principles British subjects were in-
duced to emigrate to, and settle in the West India
Colonies, and have expended for that purpose up-
wards of 100,000,000l. of capital. They carried
with them all the rights of Englishmen *, and gave
* See the Proclamation of the thirteenth of Charles II.,
which begins thus: "We being fully satisfied that our island
of Jamaica, being a pleasant and most fertile soil, and situ-
ated commodiously for trade and commerce, is likely, through
God's blessing, to be a great benefit and advantage to this,
and other our kingdoms and dominions, have thought fit, for
encouraging our subjects, as well such as are already upon
the said island, as all others that shall transport themselves
5
to the soil the advantage of being an integral part
of the British empire. The entire possession of
the markets of Great Britain, and her dependen-
cies, for their staple commodity, sugar, after the
quantity produced became equal to the supply, has
been indispensable to their welfare, and was a
willing boon on the part of the mother country.
Foreign sugar has, therefore, since the time of
Charles II. been subject to a duty equal to a
prohibition, and if the mother country has now
procured new colonies, conquered by her arms,
and retained by her treaties, which, increasing the
production of sugar to more than Great Britain
and her dependencies can consume, or foreign
markets afford a profitable vent for, to the ruin of
the old colonies, she has done that which is not
consistent with the justice of a parent, and there-
fore ought to consider herself bound to do all that
is practicable, to replace them in the condition in
which they were previous to the experiments,
thither, and reside and plant there, to declare and publish,
that thirty acres of improveable land shall be granted and
allowed to every such person, male or female." The Pro-
clamation goes on to make void the grants, if the lands be
not cultivated, and adds: “We do further publish and de-
clare that all children of any of our natural born subjects of
England, to be born in Jamaica, shall, from their respective
births, be reputed to be, and shall be, free denizens of Eng-
land, and shall have the same privileges, to all intents and
purposes, as our free-born subjects of England."- See Ed-
wards's History of the West Indies, Vol. I. p. 216.
6
which have brought them to the very precipice of
destruction.
The situation of the old British colonies is now
truly lamentable. In a Report of the Commons
House of Parliament, in the year 1807, it is stated,
upon the authority of unquestionable documents,
(see Report on the Commercial State of the West
Indies, ordered to be printed 24th July, 1807,)
that the average expense attendant on the cultiva-
tion of sugar in Jamaica was then 20s. 10d., and
in the other islands 19s. 6d. upon every cwt.,
after deducting the value of the rum. It is to be
recollected that the slave trade then
existed, in
consequence of which labour was to be procured
at half the price for which it is now to be gotten,
and that the value of rum is now much less than it
was then. These two circumstances counteract a
diminution of the outward freight from Great Bri-
tain, and a reduction in price of some of the arti-
cles of supply, which are annually sent from this
country, and occasion the cost of the manufacture
of one cwt. of sugar, above the value of the rum,
to be about the same now that it was at the time
when the Committee of the House of Commons
made its laborious Report. The mercantile
charges of freight, insurance, &c., were then con-
sidered to be 16s. per cwt. They are now become,
in consequence of peace and the low value of
sugar, less, and may be taken at 8s. 6d., which,
added to 20s. 10d. in Jamaica, makes 29s. 4d., and
to the 19s. 6d. in the Windward Islands, gives
7
28s. before one farthing can go into the pockets
either of the planter or his creditors. The average
price of sugar for the week ending on the 22d of
January, 1823, as published in the Gazette of the
succeeding Saturday, was 31s. 5d., leaving the
planters of Jamaica an income of 2s. Id., and
those of the Windward Islands of 3s. Id. for every
cwt. of sugar they send to the markets of Great
Britain, and upon which they are to support them-
selves and families, and to pay the interest of the
money they owe. They are, in fact, very nearly
without income, or interest for their capital.
The causes of this rapidly spreading ruin are
apparently the following. After the insurrection
of the slaves, in the French colony of St. Domingo,
sugar became scarce, and consequently dear all
over Europe, and in Great Britain, as well as
other countries. The West India planters were
called upon by the British public to increase their
cultivation *, and the sentiments of the public
seemed to meet with the countenance of Go-
vernment †. The East India Company was urged
to furnish sugar to Great Britain. (See Milburn's
Oriental Commerce, Vol. II. page 267.) These
things, as long as the price was sufficiently consi-
derable, and the freight of the company's ships
high, did no great harm, but they have occasioned
* Vide Resolutions of the Grocers and Consumers of
Sugar, in 1792.
+ See an Anonymous Letter, which the Privy Council pub-
lished in its First Report upon the Slave Trade.
an increased cultivation in the old colonies, and
now an influx of sugar from the East. In five
years, ending with 1785, the old colonies sent to
Great Britain an average importation of 1,579,537
cwts. (See the Report of the Committee of the
House of Commons on the Distillation of Sugar,
ordered to be printed 13th April, 1808, page 4.)
But in the year ending the 5th of January, 1808,
they sent to Great Britain 3,069,805 cwts., or
nearly double what they did about twenty years
before. This was owing to no extraordinary cir-
cumstances, for in the years preceding and subse-
quent, the produce was about the same. From
1792 to 1808, with the double view of making the
price of sugar moderate to the people of England,
and of benefiting the revenue, frequent attempts
were made, by withholding a portion of the draw-
back, to compel foreigners to pay a part of our
duty, as well as their own. These operated, of
course, very powerfully to encourage the cultiva-
tion of sugar in Cuba and the Brazils, where they
now make four times the quantity they then did,
and led the people of the continent of Europe to
look to those countries for their supply. The
abolition of the slave trade, by making labour dear
in our own colonies, while it continued cheap in
foreign ones, rendered it absolutely impossible for
us,
afterwards, to compete any where with foreign
colonies, where this traffic was not abolished, or
with the sugars of the East Indies, where the price
of labour is extremely low, and their land of very
9
extraordinary fertility. The produce of the old
colonies, in 1807, was more than Great Britain
and her dependencies could consume, yet the
Government caused the cession of Trinidad, De-
merara, Berbice, Tobago, and St. Lucea, which
now make, in addition to the produce of the old co-
lonies, 893,876 cwts., or very nearly 70,000 hhds.
of sugar. (See the Paper No. 218, ordered to be
printed by the House of Commons, 18th April, 1822.)
This additional quantity we know not what to do
with, and is just now the principal cause of the
depressed value of sugar in Great Britain, because
it makes the price here dependant upon the price
of the Continent, and even worse than it, by the
cost of transportation from hence, while the Conti-
nent is more cheaply supplied with foreign sugar
than we can afford to sell ours for. Another evil,
very important now, but more so in prospect, is the
admission of the sugar of the East Indies into the
home consumption of this country, under an insuf-
ficient protecting duty. The sugar of Bengal is
less sweet than the sugar of the West Indies. It
is not used in the refineries, but the sorts of it, that
have undergone a process similar in effect to clay-
ing, are in consequence whiter than West India
sugar which has not been clayed. This description
of it is employed by the grocers to adulterate West
India sugar. To deceive the buyers, who would
not otherwise purchase it, with the exception of a
few persons of peculiar feelings, the mixture, which
is cheaper than West India sugar of the same com-
9
"1
12
only be done by more active and certain remedies,
viz.: 1st. By a higher duty on East India sugar,
so as to keep it out of the home consumption until
the sugar of the West Indies be at a remunerating
price, which cannot be estimated at less, in time
of peace, than 45s. per cwt., exclusive of duty.
2dly. By diminishing the duty as the average price
of sugar diminishes, exacting only what the planter
can afford to pay. The operation of such a mea-
sure would be to encrease the home consumption
when sugar is cheap, and to make the Govern-
ment, as it ought in fairness to be, a partner in the
prosperity or adversity of the planter. 3dly. By
diminishing the duty in Ireland, where the popula-
tion is numerous but poor, and therefore cannot
afford to consume much sugar at the present high
duties. 4thly. By granting, when sugar be too
low, an increase of bounty in proportion to the di-
minution of the average price. This, if the bounty
be sufficient and persevered in for a few years,
would enable the British grower of sugar to un-
dersell the planters of Cuba and the Brazils in the
markets of Europe, and therefore compel them in-
stead of ourselves, to reduce their cultivation. Be-
sides rescuing our own Colonists from ruin, it would
do more towards the effectual abolition of the Fo-
reign Slave Trade, than any other measure which
perhaps it is within our power to employ. These
means of relief are the leading ones that appear
now to be practicable to avert the destruction of
the British West Indies, whose cultivation of sugar
13
must otherwise be reduced to the quantity requisite
for the home market, and if East India sugar be
allowed to occupy it, the cessation of the cultiva-
tion of sugar altogether in them must follow.
As attempts are now making, and hopes have
long been entertained by the private traders to the
East Indies, to supplant the West Indies in fur-
nishing sugar for the consumption of Great Britain,
and very erroneous statements in their support have
lately been advanced in so important a place as the
House of Commons, it is material that a right no-
tion should be entertained of the advantages de-
rived to Great Britain from the Colonies in the
West Indies. It has been there said, that the dif-
ference between the price at which East India sugar
can be imported, and West India sugar sold for, is
so much taken out of the pockets of the people of
England to be put into the pockets of the planters
of the West Indies. Let us join issue upon the
assertion. It is not intended however, as our ad-
versaries do, to form an account with only one side,
but to produce both sides, and to strike the balance
of profit or loss to the Mother Country. East In-
dia sugar it is known can be imported, the inferior
sorts at 20s. per cwt., and the best at 40s. Let us
therefore take the mean for the average, and calcu-
late that East India sugar can be supplied to the
people of Great Britain at 17. 10s. per cwt. East
India sugar however is less sweet than West India
sugar, in the proportion, it is understood, of two to
three. The people of England for the same quan-
16
selling for less than 45s. the income and expendi-
ture of the planter is diminished in proportion to
the difference of price, so is also what is said to be
taken out of the pockets of the people of England,
which at this moment the average price of West
India sugar being very little higher than would
be paid for East India sugar, we may call nothing.
To this sum on the credit side of the account, must
be added the amount of the exports of British ma-
nufactures to the West Indies. They are stated
by Lord Liverpool, in his speech on Lord Lans-
down's motion for a committee on the foreign trade
of the country, on the average of six years from
1814 to 1819 inclusive, to have been 5,434,7161.
The present limited means of the planter and his
dependants, it is probable, will not allow of the
same exportation for their use, but only a small
part of it can be dispensed with. However, as we
cannot say what the defalcation, on an average of
years, will be, it will be safest to take it at what his
Lordship has made it. Add it to the 3,000,0002.
of expenditure of the West Indians, at home, and
you have no less a sum than nearly eight millions
and a half annually put into the pockets of the
people of England by the West Indians in return,
if the statement be still insisted upon, for their pay-
ing a liberal price for West India sugar. Deduct
1,875,000l. from this sum, as the honourable Mem-
ber would probably wish to be done, and the ba-
lance in favour of the people of England, by their
connection with the British West Indies will be
17
found to be no less than 6,500,000l. sterling a year,
an amount, which leaves no rational hope that
Great Britain can ever discover the means of sup-
plying herself with sugar upon more advantageous
terms. But in truth, the whole eight millions and
a half is profit, for considering the difference of
quality, the people of this country would still have
to pay as much for their sugar, if the supply were
to change hands, because they must use more of it.
But the planters of the West Indies, as we have
shewn, have a right to be considered as English-
men, and though their property is situated at a dis-
tance of 4000 miles, they are nevertheless entitled
to the same protection in their persons and for-
tunes, as our brethren in Great Britain and Ireland.
They have been encouraged by the proclamations
of the Sovereigns, and the acts of the Parliament
of England, to possess their estates. From the
time they have owned them, they have paid quit-
rents to the Crown of Great Britain for their lands,
and still continue to do so. They have expended
their fortunes upon them.
And is it now stated as
a just principle of government, that they should be
sacrificed, by the creation of a disadvantageous
competition, to the conquered people of Hindoos-
tan, who exclusively own the soil of India, who
differ from us in colour, and are Gentoos in religion;
entitled, as a conquered nation, to no benefits from
his Majesty, but such as flow spontaneously from
his will? And we humbly hope that none will
ever be granted to them by the King, or the Par-
B
18
liament, to the injury of other subjects, not con-
quered in war, but Englishmen, enticed by his an-
cestors upon the throne, as their proclamations
witness, to emigrate, for the advantage of Great
Britain, and possess what they hold in the West
Indies.
In another most important place, a nobleman of
great talents and amiable character, is supposed to
have stated, in support of one of the petitions of
our adversaries, that there was no limit to the ex-
portation of British manufactures, if we could take
in return the productions of other countries, imply-
ing that we ought to admit sugar from the East
Indies, to encourage the exportation of our manu-
factures to that country. The general proposition
therefore turns upon the capacity of our own coun-
try for the consumption of foreign productions, and
the particular one, upon its consumption of sugar.
We can never expect to supply other nations from
foreign countries. With a very few exceptions
they will supply themselves. To enable us there-
fore to export British manufactures to other coun-
tries to a considerably increased extent, our con-
sumption of their productions must be correspond-
ingly increased. But in truth, there must, in every
country, be limits to consumption. The wants of
man for food are limited by nature. The other
principle, which will govern importation, is the
ability of payment, which must be considered at
home, as well as abroad. When we look at the
situation of the landholder, impoverished by over-
19
production; when we look at the condition of the
merchant, ruined by over-importation; when we
reflect that annuitants, and other persons of fixed
income, cannot increase their expences; when we
view the situation of the shopkeeper, dependant for
his business upon the other three classes of society,
and consider that the labourer, whether agricultu-
ral, or manufacturing, must be satisfied with his
loaf, his cheese, and occasionally his bit of meat,
we cannot reasonably expect a greater consump-
tion of foreign productions than now takes place.
This consideration, in his Lordship's own view of
the question, furnishes to us a belief, that the ex-
portation of British manufactures cannot be en-
creased, except to those countries which give us
bullion, or money, in return for them. As to the
power of consuming sugar, we have shewn that our
own colonies in the West Indies, to which Great
Britain is bound by the ties of prior engagement,
and of parentage, as well as her own interest, long
tried and ascertained, furnish us now with more
sugar by a hundred thousand hogsheads annually,
than can be consumed here. They also receive
our manufactures to a very large extent, are in
greater distress than our merchants, and even our
agriculturalists at home, and like them are entitled
to, and require the protection of the Government
and Parliament.
If, as is proposed to be done, the sugar trade were
transferred from the West Indies to the East Indies,
the inhabitants of the latter country, who cultivate
B 2
20
the sugar of it, would spend no part of their profits
in Great Britain. The whole would unquestion-
ably be employed in providing the low luxuries of
the ryots, or labourers, of Hindoostan, and therefore
the people of those kingdoms would be deprived of
a most important sum, which would otherwise an-
nually go into their pockets. Nor would it, to any
extent, encrease the export of our manufactures to
India. The sugar trade of Bengal bears a very
small proportion to the commerce of the East with
this country. The total imports into Great Britain
are 12,000,000 annually. (see appendix to the
Report of the committee of the Lords on Foreign
Trade, page 463, printed in 1821.) The quan-
tity of East India sugar consumed in this country
is not above 90,000 cwts. which at 21. 2s. per cwt.
the estimated value according to the above quoted
document, is not more than 190,000l. or about one
part in 61 of the total imports from the East. The
export of British manufactures to all parts of Asia,
according to the high authority already mentioned,
Lord Liverpool's speech is 3,031,3711. Of this
about a million goes to China, through the East
India Company. (See Mr. Charles Grant's Evi-
dence before the Committee of the House of Com-
mons on Foreign Trade, page 312.) Of the re-
maining two millions a large part is consumed in
Arabia, Persia, and the Eastern Archipelago. It
is therefore probable, that the consumption of Bri-
tish manufactures in Hindoostan, is not above a mil-
lion and a half annually. They are principally
21
used by the Europeans resident in that country,
whose numbers will not be much augmented,
whether India supply Great Britain with sugar or
not. The manufactures of this country are not
likely to be more consumed there on account of
their sugar trade with Great Britain, and what is
used by the natives must be to the displacement of
their own goods *, and with the moral certainty of
exciting dissatisfaction in India. Sugar is not the
staple of the East Indies, but it is of the West
Indies. The East Indies may flourish as they
have done, without sending this article to Europe,
but if the West Indies be deprived of their sugar
trade, they will be ruined. They have nothing
else to look to.
The ground on which it is understood, that the
private traders to the East Indies assert the pro-
priety of their being allowed to continue the sugar
trade, for the supply of Great Britain, appears to
us to be a peculiarly selfish one. They seem to
wish that a trade with extraordinary advantages
should be created for them, to the injury of others,
as if they were the only British traders, who were
entitled to favour. They want a trade made for
them, which will give them a full cargo out to In-
dia, and a full cargo home. What is the case with
other branches of our commerce? In the trade
with Canada, and the other North American colo-
* See Mr. M'Intyre's Evidence, page 297, of the Third
Report to the House of Commons on Foreign Trade.
22
nies, the largest branch, as to shipping, which we
have, the vessels go out from this country, with a
very few exceptions in ballast. The outward
freight, on the average, does not amount to above
101. per vessel. In the West India trade, the
next largest, the ships do not average an outward
freight of above 350l. In the Baltic trade, ano-
ther very considerable branch of our commerce,
the outward freight is almost nothing, as in the
Canada trade. These statements are given on the
authority of a respectable ship broker. In every
one of them the vessels go out in ballast, or nearly
so, and depend upon the homeward freight for
the profit of the voyage. Why then is the India
trader to expect to be full both out and home?
The dead weight, as it is called, which he requires
at the bottom of his vessel, may consist, as. in
other trades it does, of ballast. Let him fill his
ships out with British manufactures to the utmost
of their capacity for carrying, but he has no right
to bring home an article for consumption in Great
Britain, to the great injury of another part of the
British empire, for the sake of putting a trifle of
freight into his own pocket. The average quan-
tity of tonnage of the season 1819-20 and 1820-
21, licensed by the East India company was
41,197 tons. (See the same 3rd Report on Foreign
Commerce, page 372.) This seems to be the
level, to which the trade to India in private ships,
has settled, the tonnage of preceding years having
been much greater. The sugar of the East con-
23
F
sumed in Great Britain, is about 90,000 cwts. as
has been said. British merchant ships will gene-
rally carry in weight double their measured ton-
nage. The quantity of sugar therefore for use
in Great Britain, may be estimated at little more
than one-twentieth of the capacity of the vessels
for carrying weight. Where, therefore, would be
the injustice of making him take one-twentieth
of his homeward weight in ballast, when vessels
in other trades are obliged to perform one of their
voyages, out or home, nearly in ballast, or entirely
so? Let us see what the freight of the 90,000 cwts.
consumed in Great Britain, amounts to. The
freight of dead weight, viz. salt petre and sugar
from India, was last year 3s. per cwt. It will be
therefore only 13,500l. For this paltry sum, put
into the pockets of the private traders to the East,
is the cultivation of the West Indies, to the same
extent of sugar, with its consequent advantages,
to be sacrificed, and the owners of ships to the
West Indies deprived of 5s. per cwt. which is
what they receive, amounting to nearly double the
freight of sugar for home consumption, paid to the
East India ship owner?
At the time the protecting duty on East India
sugar was established, it was represented to the
West India body, and to government, that the
rate of freight from that country in the ships of
the private traders, would be at least 18s. per
cwt. in time of war, and 12s. in time of peace.
The protecting duty was established upon this cal-
24
culation, but it turns out to be quite a fallacious
one, for the freight of sugar from India is now
only 3s. per cwt. being 9s. short of the protection
contemplated by the government, the parliament,
and the West India body. This error surely calls
for remedy? If it is intended, that the West
shall be sacrificed to the East, let the protecting
duty be taken off altogether, but if the sugar of
the West Indies ought, in consequence of the
engagements of this country with them, and its
own interests, to be protected in the home market,
it should be an efficient, and not a nominal pro-
tection.
It is worthy of the government of a great
nation to consider some other points, as well as
those of mere mercantile profit and loss, when it
estimates the value of her dependencies. It is
indubitable, that the insular British colonies in
the West Indies, promise to be a durable appen-
dage to the crown of Great Britain. They are
too small, and too much separated to pretend to
independence, and if ever severed, it must be by
a foreign naval power, superior to our own. Our
navy, all powerful as it is, at present, upon the
ocean, can give no protection against a continental
invader of India, and can afford no aid to our
people against a revolt of the natives. It is
scarcely possible to conceive that the duration of
the British empire in that part of the world can be
lasting. We are obliged to confide the tranquillity
of India to the hands of the Hindoos themselves.
1
25
We have put arms into them, which they may
employ, either for us, or against us, as they please.
It is not in the nature of things, that irritating
circumstances will not occur to kindle their re-
sentment, and give pretexts to the ambitious for
grasping the power which they may believe is
within their reach. But besides this apprehension,
there is another very strong motive for fear. When
we contemplate the power of the vast empire of
Russia, with its million of excellent soldiers, and
its ambitious monarch, who may be looking upon
India now as his future prey, and consider the
geographical situation of those countries, and our
own, we must consider that it is as natural India
should become dependant upon Russia, at no very
distant day perhaps, as Scotland and Ireland, from
their geographical positions, have become parts
of the English nation. If, therefore, Great Bri-
tain should unadvisedly ruin her West India colo-
nies, for the sake of her possessions in the East,
she is very likely some day to find herself without
either.
There is also another most grave and important
consideration, which every man must desire should
be contemplated, with the seriousness its impor-
tance deserves. We have been subjected, in the
early parts of our history, to foreign rule. The
Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans have been
our masters, and if we do not maintain a powerful
navy, we may again become
nations upon the continent.
subject to the military
There is no trade we
26
possess, which contributes more to support the
strength of our navy, than the West India trade.
Our navy can protect them and us, and they con-
tribute most largely in making it capable of doing
so. Its extent is matter of public notoriety, but
it is not so well known, that the ships of the West
India trade sail and arrive at all times of the year,
and are not absent from home above six or seven
months. The voyages to and from India are re-
gulated by the monsoons, and are of longer dura-
tion. Most of the ships to India, upon their re-
turn, have Lascars and Chinese sailors, as a part
of their crews, who are unfit for our navy. West
India ships are navigated by British seamen.
a war were to break out with a powerful naval
state, and Ireland remain in its present unquiet si-
tuation, that country might be invaded and sepa-
rated from Great Britain, long before the ships in
the East Indies could come home, and give their
sailors to our navy for its protection.
If
The planter claims that the West Indies should
be deemed, and treated as a part of the British em-
pire, and looks with confidence to His Majesty's
government, and to Parliament, for the protection
of his rights, and such relief as can be granted to
him. He trusts that his agriculture will be con-
sidered to be as worthy of their care as the agri-
culture of the Mother Country. That they will
not, because he is weak, and they are strong,
deny him the justice due to him, the measure of
which he willingly submits to their decision. He
27
further relies, that opinions long admitted to be
correct, and acted upon as such, will not now be
abandoned, for new and untried theories, which
those, who have an interest in dispossessing others,
for the benefit of themselves, will never fail to in-
culcate; and if listened to by the nation will verify
the old fable, in which the substance was aban-
doned for the sake of the shadow.
POSTSCRIPT.
THE foregoing pages were written a few months ago,
to which the price of sugar only, in January last, had
been added, for the purpose of stating that fact, and the
calculations dependant upon it, at a recent date. Since
then a volume has been printed, by order of the Direc-
tors of the East India Company, containing all the in-
formation which they have been able to collect concern-
ing the cultivation of the sugar-cane, and manufacture of
sugar in the East. This collection is such, as was to be
expected from the respectable body from which it has
issued, the direction being composed of some of our first.
merchants in London, and, generally speaking, of gen-
tlemen the most distinguished for talent and application
of those who have returned from the East. It contains
a manly account of the subject under consideration,
without any attempt to inlist prejudice in their behalf, to
misrepresent facts, or to practise concealment. The
only thing to be wondered at is, that the East India Com-
pany should join their own enemies against the West
Indians. Who are the people that wish to supplant the
West Indians in the supply of the home market with
sugar? The private traders to the East. Who desire
to deprive the East India Company of their trade, and
have, in a great measure, already succeeded, as to Hin-
dostan? The private traders to that country. And does.
the company imagine, that after having ruined the West
Indies, by the destruction of their monopoly in the sup-
29
plying of Great Britain with their staple article, they
will become more favourable to the preservation of the
company's monopolies than they have hitherto been?
No such thing. They will have even a better chance of
succeeding against them than now. Their arguments
will be strengthened by the precedent they will make,
for the rights of the East India Company are limited in
time, by their charter, after the expiration of which
Parliament can deal with them, without violence of ori-
ginal obligations, as it pleases. But those of the West
Indians are vested rights, unlimited in time, and of
which, without full compensation, they cannot, in jus-
tice, be deprived. It would seem, that it ought to be
the policy of the East India Company and the West
Indians to coalesce, and support their mutual interests
against the private traders to the East Indies, whose in-
tention it unquestionably is, to ruin both, for the benefit
of themselves. The deviation from this obvious line of
conduct can only be accounted for on the supposition,
that some private traders have become members of the
company, who, preferring their own interest to that of
the general body, have had address enough to induce
the company to pursue plans, advantageous indeed to
the traders, but ruinous to the company.
Three other publications have appeared, viz. "Sug-
gestions on East India Trade," by Mr. Princep.
"On
Protection to West India Sugar;" and the third, "On
East and West India Sugar." All these have been
written by men of speculative and singular opinions.
Mr. Princep gives his advice freely to the sovereigns
and their ministers, who have met in congress, in different
places on the Continent, to concert measures for the
continuance of the peace of Europe, and the tranquillity
of their own dominions. These great objects of obvious
and important duty to their subjects, afford to this gen-
5
30
:
tleman no gratification. "What better opportunity,"
says he, in pages 4 and 5, " for the common adjustment
of some of those details, most important for facilitating
the interchange of products between one nation and
another, the establishment, for instance, of an unifor-
mity of weights and measures, and of a common stan-
dard of metallic money, or the assimilation of the laws
affecting trade and traders, and commercial instruments?
These, and such as these, were matters of common im-
port to all, worthy of the grave attention of so august a
conclave. Their settlement would have done more to
promote the peace and welfare of mankind at large, and
to ensure the grateful recollection of posterity, than any
thing that has occupied the joint deliberations of princes
since the era of the Reformation." The sovereigns and
their ministers, I dare say, take leave to differ from Mr.
Princep, and considering themselves as less qualified,
by their studies and habits, to adjust points of this sort,
than a Royal Society of London, or an Institute of Paris,
in one case, or an assemblage of lawyers in the other,
and judging it more for the honour of themselves, and
benefit of their subjects, to confine their attention to po-
litical objects, they have not even given themselves the
trouble to bestow one thought on Mr. Princep's favourite
measures.
The next gentleman begins with his advice to the go-
vernment of this country, and the Directors of the East
India Company, and to them, indeed, he is not sparing
of it. He says, page 5, "It is only since the year 1813,
that the real advantages to be derived from India have
become apparent. The incongruous characters of mer-
chant and sovereign, blended so unfortunately, both for
India and Great Britain, in the East India Company,
had, till that time, paralized the exertions of both coun-
tries, mutually to benefit each other. The triumph of
31
just commercial principles, by the experience of free
trade, since 1813, has been complete. Many things yet
remain to be done, and the two characters must ulti-
mately be separated." He goes on to say, that he would
rather continue the government of India to the company
than trust it with the executive of this country. But
before the extinction of the company, as a trading body,
several improvements are to be made. Indian built ships
are to be entitled to British registry, while British ships,
of all sizes, are freely to navigate the Indian seas. The
laws relating to the commerce of India are to be sepa-
rated from those relating to its political government.
Colonization is to be allowed in India, and the Court of
Directors are called upon, "boldly to repair the evils in-
cident to their connection with India."
<<
The third writer shews that the ground of his animo-
sity to the West Indies is the circumstance of their being
cultivated by slaves. Throughout the pamphlet there
are bitter taunts on this subject, wherever he can make an
opportunity for them, as if it were a crime in the West
Indians to possess slaves, which the mother country, for
her own benefit, not only supplied them with, but forced
upon them. The writer has himself stated one of the
facts that proves this assertion. "The slave-trade,"
says he, page 27, was held with so firm a grasp," by
Great Britain, let it be understood!" that when Virginia,
in 1773, represented to Parliament the various evils
which attended the continued importation of Africans.
into that state, and implored its prohibition, the proposal
was indignantly rejected, as at variance with our com-
mercial interests." The commercial interests of Great
Britain !!! Can it then be imputed as a crime to the
colonists, that they possess slaves, that they cultivate
their lands with them, which in those countries can be
cultivated beneficially to the proprietors, and to the mo-
4
32
ther country, in no other way? The emancipation of
the slaves is held out as a thing that would be desirable
in our own colonies, though wherever the slaves have ob-
tained their freedom, and are in greater numbers than the
whites, the latter have not been able to continue to live.
Witness the present situation of St. Domingo. After the
insurrection of the slaves in the French part of that island,
the whites were obliged to retire, to save their lives. As
soon as they were declared free in the Spanish part,
their masters, and the other white inhabitants, were
under the necessity of abandoning it. There are now.
no white people in St. Domingo, but one English agent,
and about a dozen American agents. And what has
been the advantage to the negroes themselves? They are
in the most wretched state of misery and health, with the
exception of those who possess the government, and the
military, as our British naval officers, who have been
there, and all other persons, who have had an opportu-
nity of seeing their condition, attest. Their numbers
are rapidly diminishing, and their situation cannot rea-
sonably excite exultation in a thinking mind, or justify
the relish which this writer appears to feel for the
achievement of their liberty, by blood and vengeance *.
This author recommends that we should follow in our
own colonies, the example of those of Spain, which give
considerable facilities to the slaves to purchase their own
freedom, and to place themselves in the class of free
people of colour, whose numbers must be considerably
augmented by such laws. Nothing could be so perni-
cious as the taking of this advice. The free people of
colour are much more dangerous to the peace of a co-
Hayti towers among them (the West India islands) in all
the strength and vigour of a liberty newly achieved by blood and
vengeance." See page 61.
33
lony, and its dependence upon the Parent State, than the
slaves. In the Spanish part of South America, as well
as the Portuguese part of that Continent, it is a fact, that
they are now all ranged on the side of Revolution. In
St. Domingo, it was the free people of colour who first
raised the standard of insurrection, and being unequal
themselves to contend with the whites, excited the slaves
to revolt *, and afforded, I believe, the first example in
modern history of a successful insurrection of the slaves.
The Spanish part of that Island, in consequence of prox-
imity and unlimited intercourse, followed the example
with success, but the attempt of the Haytians to revo-
lutionize Porto Rico and Martinique, insular in their
form and more distant from them have failed, and they
ever will prove abortive, where proper precautions are
taken to prevent the fraternal embraces of the Black
Republick.
The condition of the population of St. Domingo has
been mentioned. The export of sugar from thence is
now about 1000 casks a year, instead of 130,000 as be-
fore the Revolution. Its export is nearly confined to
coffee, which is not in quantity above one half what that
Island formerly made. The writer of the pamphlet on
East and West India sugar, has given a pompous ac-
count of the increase of the American trade with Hayti.
It is known that the United States engross, with little
exception, the whole of the commerce of that country.
We have now very little to do with it-the Germans still
less-and wherever the whites are driven from the West
Indies, whether by successful insurrection or by render-
ing their cultivation of no value to the planters, the same
result will follow, as has ensued in St. Domingo. The
whites will retire, the cultivation of sugar will cease, and
* See Edwards's History of the West Indies, Vol. III. page 51.
C
34
the little trade the black population will possess, will be
carried on by the Americans, whose small vessels, articles
of export, and geographical situation, give them great
advantages over the ships and merchants of this country.
The inconsistencies of these writers are not less re-
markable than the singularity of their opinions. The
author of the Pamphlet, entitled, East and West India
Sugar, page 81, says, "Now if the proprietor (of a West
India estate) is obstinately bent on cultivating sugar, at
all hazards, and nothing else, it cannot be denied, that
if its culture yield no profit, he and his slaves must
starve." That it yields no profit, is asserted in many
passages, and it is not recommended to him to cultivate
any thing but provisions for the surplus of which, if it
were general he could have no sale at all, and at the
price he would get for them, if not generally cultivated,
he could neither supply his negroes with clothes, salted
fish, so necessary to the preservation of their health, me-
dical assistance, or have white people to superintend
them, or the means to pay for all the articles of British
manufacture necessary for his plantation, and procure
for himself comforts, and for his family education; yet
in page 74, we are told, "If the culture of sugar should
become much more profitable to our planters, the effect
will inevitably be, that speculation will be excited; and
that means will be found to smuggle slaves from Cuba
into Jamaica, and from Surinam into Demerara," which
in plain language means precisely this. Let him and
his slaves starve, lest he should be liable to the tempta-
tion of acquiring one more slave. This humane recom-
mendation is given by a writer, who wishes you to believe
that the good of mankind is his sole object, and at a time
when it is known by every man, that the smuggling of
slaves into our own colonies, is absolutely impracticable.
In the same pamphlet, page 83, the author says, "Now
35
what is there in the nature of things, (what there may be
in the West Indian system is another question) to pré-
vent the owner of his estate, instead of replanting one
hundred acres of his land with sugar cane, to plant the
whole or a part of it, with provisions, which would yield
him their return on the spot, in the course of three or four
months, and render all advance for the food of the slaves
unnecessary? He would send less sugar, it is true, to
market, but he and his slaves would have been fed, with-
out the necessity of anticipating the proceeds of what he
did send." This Gentleman clearly recommends the re-
duction of our growth of sugar, by the employment of
a part of our labour in the cultivation of provisions, and
so far as may suffice to avoid the purchase of food, we
perfectly agree with him. But the author of the pam-
phlet on Protection to West India sugar, though he also
recommends the growth of provisions, accounts such a
reduction of the cultivation of the sugar cane, as must
be the consequence, a sort of crime in us. All their
endeavours," he says, are directed to the reduction of
this surplus, (the quantity which is obliged to be ex-
ported) then, and then only can they command the
home market, and remunerative prices. The alternative
lies between narrowing production, or producing at a
loss; can we doubt which will be adopted?" One Pam-
phlet (East and West India sugar) page 64, makes the
following assertion. "But if a calculation were to be
made, of the enormous waste of capital which this
West Indian Lottery, for Lottery it is, has been conti-
nually causing, and is now causing, to this country, it
would astonish the public." The other Pamphlet agrees
with it, and yet we are told in page 42, of East and
West India sugar,
"The ordinary advantages accruing
to him, (the British merchant) for such an advance of
capital, is from 12 to 20 per cent. per annum, including
C 2
36
interest at 6 per cent. Now, upon my word, if this ad-
vantage of from 12 to 20 per cent. per annum, has been
going on upwards of a century, it may more fairly be
said, that the West India Colonies have been drained of
their wealth for the benefit of Great Britain than that
Great Britain has wasted her treasure upon them.
That the West Indians cannot stand the competition of
East India sugar, in the home market, without a sufficient
protecting duty, is quite clear. Accounts of its cost and
import charges are given by our adversaries, which fully
substantiate this fact. They admit, that its consumption
in Great Britain is increasing, and they also affirm that
it can be produced in India to an unlimited extent. Of
this last position, before considered perhaps uncertain,
there can be no longer any doubt, since the appearance
of the Volume of the Directors of the East India Com-
pany. In page 108 of the first Appendix, they have
made a calculation of the quantity of land in India, which
would prodnce as much sugar as all the British and
French Colonies, at the time of the insurrection of the
slaves in St. Domingo. The quantity that they now pro-
duce is nearly the same; for although St. Domingo is to
be blotted out of the calculation, the increased cultiva-
vation in our own old colonies, and the ceded ones, make
up the difference. That work computes (page 109) that
649,523 acres, or 1015 British square miles of land will
be sufficient for the purpose; and goes on to say,
"Ben-
gal, Behar, and the Company's part of Orissa, contain
149,217 British square miles. Any body who knows this
country will immediately admit, that after allowing for
the lighter soils, which are not adapted to sugar cane,
as the greater part of Nuddea, the lands regularly in-
undated, the spaces taken up by lakes and rivers, the
woods of Tipperah, the wilds of Ramgur, Palamow,
Choota, Nagpore, and adjacent countries, and those
parts of the Sunderbunds, which are never likely to
37
be cultivated, the additional culture of 1015 square
miles of good arable land in sugar, for exportation,
would not occasion any inconvenience to the inhabitants,
by intruding upon land requisite to raise grain, cattle,
&c." After reading this passage, no man can doubt that
India, from the cheapness of the labour of its inhabitants,
and the extent and fertility of its territory, can supply
the world with sugar, such as it is in quality in regard to
sweetness much cheaper than any other country.
But why should not India occupy these 1015 square
miles of land, in the cultivation of some other object for
exportation to Europe, by which she would be equally
enriched, equally able to pay for the manufactures of this
country, which she consumes, and not ruin the West In-
dians? I beg leave again to quote the Report of the East
India Company, page 99, first Appendix:
It appears
from what has been said, that the cultivation (of sugar) is
expensive, and though the accounts from different quar-
ters shew, that sugar is in Bengal. more profitable than
any other produce, except mulberry, and in Benares more
profitable than any, except cotton, the returns are slow,
and consequently require that the husbandman should be
possessed of a good capital or stock, to enable him to de-
fray the expence, to wait the slowness of returns, and to
pay a heavy interest for loans he may be obliged to take
up, and to be able to bear the loss, in case the crop
should entirely be destroyed by unfavourable seasons, a
risk to which it appears liable." From this it is clear, that
it would be more advantageous to the natives to cultivate
mulberry trees for silk in Bengal, and cotton in Benares,
than sugar. But this would not ruin the Planters in the
West Indies, and therefore would not suit the writers of
the pamphlets I have been remarking upon. Where
would be the disadvantage to India, if it were en-
couraged to produce silk and cotton, for exportation to
38
Europe, instead of sugar? There are also other articles
of cultivation, which they may bestow their labour upon,
much to the advantage of this country and themselves,
Tea, which we are obliged to purchase from the Chinese».
naturally presents itself as one of them. Coffee they
may produce, as well as the inhabitants of Java and Ara-
bia, for consumption on the Continent of Europe. There
are many drugs and dyes which they might cultivate,
much to the advantage of Europe and India, without in-
juring the West Indies. Why not encourage the growth
of such articles instead of sugar? Why will nothing an..
swer the objects of gentlemen who trade with India, but
the production of sugar for exportation to Europe, to the
destruction of the West Indies, colonies that have already
been most cruelly used, and which can only be saved by:
giving the people of Hindostan a direction to the culti-
vation of other objects, as valuable as sugar to themselves,
and less injurious to the West Indies. It is most highly
the interest of Great Britain herself, that this should be
done. Her supply of sugar must come either from the
East or the West. If from the East Indies, the 1015
square miles, which would be required to be cultivated
in the sugar cane for this supply, would be occupied, and
would not be convertible to the growth of mulberry trees,
or any thing else. The sugar estates in the West Indies:
would be abandoned, as their lands are unfit for any other
exportable produce. The West Indies therefore, as to all
useful. purposes, would be annihilated. Great Britain
would have no further trade with them. But if the 1015-
square miles, or more, which can be spared in India,
from the supply of the inhabitants with food, were-culti-
vated in some other production fit for importation to Eu-
rope, the Mother Country would possess the advantages
derived from both, instead of one only. She would con-
tinue to have the benefit of her West India sugar trade,
39
and would possess the advantages attendant on an in-
creased cultivation of other articles in India, which could
not exist with the supply of sugar from that country. In
short, she would possess the trade of two valuable arti-
cles of commerce instead of one. To do otherwise is
wastefully to use her possessions.
1
Our opponents state that there was an agreement, or
compact, between the West Indians and traders to the
East Indies, at the opening of the trade in 1813, that
the protecting duty on all kinds of East India sugar
should be 10s. per cwt. and no more, which they allege
has been broken by the West Indians, in consequence of
their application for a further protection, but one of the
pamphlets admits, that it was not necessary for the West
Indians to move first, to justify them to press for an
equalization of the duties. We know of no compact
with the East Indians to the effect insisted upon. We
claimed of government a protecting duty, to the extent of
a fair remunerating price. Our claim was admitted to
be just, both by the Government and the East Indians
themselves; but in the calculation of what duty would
constitute a protection, it was necessary to take into the
account the probable rate of freight from the East. In
this we were deceived by those who managed on the part
of the East Indians. We were given to understand that
they would pay 18s. per cwt. on sugar in time of war, and
12s. in time of peace. This, experience shews to have
been an erroneous calculation. The freight of sugar is not
now one half of the peace freight expected; and this
circumstance, until the war and peace freights rise to
what has been stated, which is no way probable by many
shillings per cwt., gives the West Indians a well founded
claim to an increased protecting duty, independent of
the higher ground which they take, and feel justified in
taking, that they are entitled to such a protection, let the
40
amount be what it will, as will prevent their being met
in the home market by East India șugar, to the extent of
a remunerating price for their own.
It has always been the policy of Great Britain to en-
courage, both from her colonies and foreign parts, the
importation of every raw article which can be manufac-
tured in this country, either for home use or export, with
the double view of benefiting our manufactures, and in-
creasing the quantity of our shipping; the raw article
always requiring more tonnage than the manufactured
article. Upon this principle she laid a duty of 5s. per
cwt. upon West India clayed sugar, over and above
whatever duty might be payable on brown or Muscovado,
It has certainly had the effect of causing very little sugar
to be clayed in the West Indies, and this is exactly what
the interest of the Mother Country requires. But the
traders to the East Indies, it was discovered, brought
home sugars which had been purified and refined by pro-
cesses similar in effect to claying, and paid upon it the
same duty as upon the raw or Muscovado sugar of the
East. The process is described in page 100, of the first
Appendix to the volume of the Directors of the East In-
dia Company; and the sugar thus purified of its molasses
and dirt, bears in India the distinctive name of Chinee*
as sugars which have been clayed in the West Indies
are called clayed sugars, to distinguish them from Musco-
vado. The process is as follows: "The goor," that is,
the first granulation or muscovado, "goes to the boiler,"
who may be called the refiner, "and he purifies it by
different processes, according to the kind of sugar he
wants to produce. The general process is by boiling the
goor. In some places the molasses are first drawn off
* I presume from the art of purification and refinement having
been first practised in China.
41
from the grain, and the goor is then boiled, mixed with
water, or milk and water, and purified. In others, the
goor is only boiled and purified. Milk lime and ley from
plantain ashes, are used to cleanse and granulate the
sugar. When boiled sufficiently, it is put into earthen
pots, and two particular sorts of aquatic weeds are used
to drain off the syrup, as clay is by the European refin-
ers. In Rungpore, and Dinagepore, clay, as well as
weeds, is used to draw off the syrup. The sugar thus
prepared, is called Chinee, and in this state is the greater
part of what is sent to Europe and America." This is a
perfect process of refining. The milk is an animal pro-
duction containing much mucilage, which assists the co-
lour, and separation of the dirt, as our refiners, for the
same purposes, are in the habit of employing the animal
mucilages of blood and whites of eggs, and the anima
carbon of burnt bones. The aquatic weeds occasion
water to percolate slowly through the sugar, put into pots,
as in Europe, where clay is used. The water has a
greater chemical affinity with molasses than with chrys-
tallized sugar, carries away the former and purifies the
latter. In fact, the sugar from India, called Chinee, is
not only similar to that from the West Indies, styled
clayed sugar, but it is refined sugar, which from the West
Indies is excluded under a prohibitory duty. It is not
indeed in loaves, but in powder, like crushed lumps, from
which it only differs in being a little less boiled, and
displaces in the home consumption the crushed lumps of
our own refiners.
The Chinee from the East Indies ought to be excluded
from consumption in this country, in justice both to our
refiners and the West Indies, from which sugar that had
undergone the same operation, would not be admitted.
It is not sufficient to say, that it is badly refined, because
the Indian process may improve; if admitted, it ought
42
་
to be subject to higher duties than the clayed sugars of
the West Indies, which have only been deprived of their
molasses by the percolation of water, but have never been
melted a second time; and purified and improved in co-
lour by animal mucilage, as the sugar of Bengal has.
Their process is the same substantially as that of our re-
finers in Europe, and the difference of product is only
owing to the difference of dexterity.
Our opponents assert, that it is necessary they should
bring sugar from the East, for home consumption,
to ballast their ships; and they allege, that one third of
the cargo is required to be filled with what they call dead
weight, viz. sugar, saltpetre, or rice. A British vessel
of 400 tons, I understand from ship-brokers, to enable it
to carry cotton and other light freight with safety, will
require about a fourth, or a hundred tons of ballast. A
considerable part of this, if East India sugar were alto-
gether excluded, would still consist of saltpetre and rice.
If she were therefore obliged to take a portion of these
hundred tons of Ganges' sand, as it is stated she would be,
I see no great hardship in the case, considering that all
our ships in other trades are under the necessity of per-
forming one of their voyages, out or home, almost en-
tirely in ballast. The traders to the East ought not to be
better off than our traders to other countries, and cannot
expect, with reason, that the Legislature should sacrifice
the rights of others to their interests.
In their writings, our adversaries insist, 1st. That the
British sugar colonies never had a monopoly of the home
market for their staple articles, and next, that if they
had, the right to such a preference has been done away
with, by the acts of the last Sessions of Parliament. Do
they suppose that all the statesmen and historians who
have spoken and written of the colonial system of Great
Britain, and the double monopoly founded upon it, in
43
J
•
reason and in mutual interest, have for a century and a
half been preaching about a non-entity? This is cer-
tainly asserting a great deal, and is not much in com-
mendation of their modesty. I will refer them to the
acts of parliament which established the navigation laws,
and regulate the trade of the Mother Country and the
Colonies; and to the subsequent recognition of ministers.
These are our muniments. Do they expect a regular
treaty of commerce to be produced between Great Bri-
tain and her Colonies, as between sovereign and inde-
pendent nations? If they do, nobody else will. But
these gentlemen maintain the reverse of what is known
by every clerk, in every custom-house, and are therefore
bound to make out their own case, in disproval of the
existence of the mutual monopoly. The circumstance
of India belonging to Great Britain, does not admit her
into the rights of the Colonies. They are under colonial
regulations: she is not. India may send her produce
where she pleases, in whatever vessels she pleases; may
import what she pleases, from whom she pleases. Her
trade is as unshackled as that of Great Britain. The
Colonies are bound to use British. vessels and British
manufactures. The beef, the pork, the pickled and dried
fish, which they require in large quantities, must come
from Great Britain, or her North American Colonies.
These obligations on the Colonies, and not on India,
constitute an immense difference, and render it impossi
ble that India can have the rights of Colonies without
their restrictions. But, say the traders to the East, we
are willing to release you from your's. The West Indians
are placed by the acts of Great Britain in a peculiar situ-
ation. While we have, by the entire abolition of the
Slave Trade, limited the means of cultivation in our own
old Colonies, the cheap and easy access which tlie foreign
colonies have thereby obtained to the importation of
-
•
44
Negroes, has enormously encreased their production of
sugar. The accession of the conquered colonies, and
their admission to all the rights of colonies, has in the
mean time greatly added to the surplus of our importa-
tion, beyond the British consumption. Add to this the
new rivalry we have to encounter by the encourage-
ment given to the import of sugar from the East,
and the acknowledged fact, that the price at the home
market must be greatly dependant upon the price
we can obtain abroad, for the surplus we export. With
these disadvantages, brought upon us by the govern-
ment, against our own wishes and remonstrances, we
cannot accept the challenge of our adversaries. We
claim the full benefit of the colonial system, to which
India from its distance, its magnitude, and its being
partly possessed by other powers, never can be subjected.
These are our rights. These, as far as we are able to
declare our opinions, we are determined to continue to
possess, or to obtain full and ample compensation for
them. Take from us the home market for our sugar,
and we perish.
"The acts of the last sessions of Parliament," say our
adversaries," have released you, or nearly so, from the
fetters of the colonial system." These new laws had a
twofold object. One was to restore, in American vessels,
because it could be done in no other way, the old inter-
course which existed between the colonies and the United
States of America, with protecting duties in favour of
the lumber and provisions of our own colonies, Canada
and Nova Scotia. To this was added the intercourse
with other countries in America, which had long existed
under the Free Port Act. There was no novelty intro-
duced, and it is true that the act was solicited by the
West Indians, as likely to give some small relief, by re-
storing the market for rum, of which they had been de-
4.5
prived. The other act permitted the produce of the
West Indies to go to Europe, in British ships, and the
importation from thence in British ships also, of certain
enumerated articles, which Great Britain and Ireland
could not furnish. It was not granted at the request of
the West Indians, though they had enjoyed it by the
12th of Geo. II. chap. 30. a law which was repealed by
the 34th Geo. III. chap. 42. when sugar became very
dear in Europe, in consequence of the destruction of
the cultivation of St. Domingo. Now with any appear-
ance of reason, can these measures, which do not lose
sight of the interests of British shipping, as far as it is
practicable to protect it, or British manufactures in the
smallest respect, the substantial parts of the double mo-
nopoly on the side of the Mother Country, be considered
as shaking to its foundation that long established and
useful system? The American Intercourse Act granted
nothing that had not been allowed for years before, and
which had been found by experience no way detrimental
to Great Britain, and the other act was an experiment
suggested by ministers themselves to save the charges on
British plantation sugar, re-exported from this country
to the continent, by sending it there directly from the
West Indies which had been permitted since the time of
George II. These measures, as they guard with par-
ticular strictness, the interests of the manufactures and
shipping of Great Britain, cannot, in any essential de-
gree, be considered as relaxing the system by which this
country and its colonies have so long been bound toge-
ther. But, say our opponents, British manufactures,
and British shipping are cheaper than those of any other
nation. This is not universally true of manufactures.
To give an example: the linens of Germany are cheaper
and better than those of Great Britain and Ireland, and
as to our shipping, though our freights may be now low,
46.
in consequence of the cessation of the calls of
govern.
ment for transports, and the diminution of our carrying
trade, after a war of unexampled length, during which
we possessed the trade of the world, yet the expence
of ship building and repairing in this country, is so con-
siderable that after our present vessels are worn out, it
may be doubted whether we shall be able to navigate as
cheaply as the Americans. They have already beat us
out of the trade with St. Domingo, and Cuba, which
they almost engross; and may become the carriers of
those countries that have no ships of their own, or do
not protect their navigation. If this should occur, what
will become of the naval power of Great Britain, if she
do not adhere to her navigation laws and her colonial
system?
The West Indians by the laws of this country have a
vested interest in the monopoly of the home market, to
the extent of a remunerating price. Time and long pos-
session confirm their title to it, and if it be considered
for the good of the community at large, that it should be
taken away from them, they are entitled from the com-
munity to full and ample compensation. This our adver-
saries do not deny, but they endeavour to shew that our
properties in the West Indies are worth nothing, and
therefore that it will be matter of little violence to deprive
us of any right they possess. We must beg leave to differ
from our opponents as to this last position. If the go-
vernment and parliament have made our properties un-
productive, they are nevertheless bound, not to take ad-
vantage of their own wrong doing, but to pay us for
them at a productive price. To suppose otherwise,
would be an insult to the honour of parliament, whose
integrity, as it is its highest commendation, is the most
sure means of the preservation of its power. But, say
our adversaries, though the original owners of the es-
47
}
tates in the West Indies may be entitled to compensa.
tion, the purchasers from them have no such right.
They have bought under certain chances and are to abide
by them. "Nine out of ten estates in the West Indies
have changed hands, within the last twenty or thirty
years." Where the writer of the pamphlet on Protec-
tion to West India Sugar has derived his authority for
this assertion, I do not know, and I believe none exists.
It is one of those pious frauds which certain men occa-
sionally indulge in, the better to promote the effects of
their arguments. The reverse of the figures I should
believe to be more nearly correct. One in ten I have
no doubt has changed hands in the time mentioned.
Where also did these writers get their notions of justice,
or of law? Any man, who purchases an estate, is en-
titled to all the rights of the original possessor, unless
some of them are expressly retained. If the manor of
Scrivelsby, for example, were sold, the new possessor
would be entitled to be Champion of England, at the
coronation of our kings. The right is inherent in the
estate, not in the man who has disposed of it, and every
owner of an estate in the West Indies, is entitled to the
same compensation that the original proprietor, or his
descendants, would be entitled to. The estate can-
not be bought without its carrying a right to compensa-
tion, if for the public good it is to be sacrificed. In this
country, if a shop is to be pulled down, to make room
for a more ornamental street, whether built or purchased
by the owner, he must be paid, not only for his house,
but for the loss of his trade, and that loss, as well as
the value of his house, must be estimated by a jury of
his country. It is not to be valued by his enemies, or
by the surveyors of the public, but by his equals, whose
situation may become the same, and who therefore have
a strong motive for doing him justice. But the enemies
48
of the West Indians further assert, that the ceded colo-
nies have no right to such compensation, though the old
colonies of Great Britain, perhaps, may. The ceded
colonies, except in point of time, have the same rights
as the very oldest of the others. They have been taken
under the protection of the nation, have been placed
under colonial regulations, and are therefore entitled to
all colonial advantages. They cannot now be severed
from the rest, and subjected to a different measure of
justice. If it had been intended to destroy them without
compensation, they should not have been retained at the
termination of the war.
Much stress, and with great propriety, is laid on the
intentions of the Legislature, in the duties it has affixed,
at various times, to sugar imported from the British co-
lonies in the West Indies, and from our possessions
in the East, and the writer of the pamphlet on Protec-
tion to West India Sugar, insinuates that there never
was any preference given to West India Sugar. He
exclaims: "Have those who speculated in the West
India plantations under these regulations of the Legisla-
ture a right to turn round and say, Oh! we trusted to
the supineness of the company, and we knew they never
would send home any quantity to affect us in the home
market. Surely this is private speculation, on private
judgment, not on the pledged faith of the Legislature." He
therefore seems to admit, as in reason he ought to do, that
if it can be shown parliament had from the origin of the
sugar trade given a decided preference to West India
sugar, over that from the East, the existence of such
laws, under which the West Indies were encouraged to be
settled, were a valid stipulation on the part of the Mo-
ther Country, that the monopoly of the home market
should be continued to them. From our enemies we are
not to expect much candour, for in this instance, as in
49
others, they expose only as much of the evidence as they
jedge will answer their purpose. Their history of the
duties of East and West India sugar, commences at the
year 1787, when they take it for granted that Parliament
meant to enact an ad valorem duty of 371. 16s. 3d. to be
paid on East India sugar. The preceding part of the
history is totally omitted, because the exposure of it would
not suit their views. We are obliged therefore to take
up the subject of the duties at its commencement, and the
facts will show, that East India sugar was always in-
tended to be treated by the Legislature as foreign sugar,
till the year 1798, when sugar became very dear in
Europe, occasioned by the ruin of St. Domingo. It is
no way sufficient for them to say, that very little sugar
came from the East to this country previous to the year
1791. It was known that it could be brought from thence,
and small parcels had been actually imported, the first
of which, according to the records of the Custom-house,
was in 1696, about six years after the Charter of the
Company. It was excluded as an article of commerce,
on account of its being liable to the same duties as fo-
reign sugar, as well as in consequence of the large
freights of the Company's ships. If Parliament had
meant to encourage its importation, the taking it out of
the class of foreign sugar, would have been the obvious
way to effect the purpose, and there can be no doubt
would have been done. The 12th of Charles II. chap. 4.
was the first law, which imposed duties on sugar. Two
distinctions only were made in it, and in all the subse-
quent acts to the year 1798, viz. sugar the growth of the
British Plantations, and sugar not the produce of the
British Plantations. In the latter, of course, the sugars
of the East Indies were included. The duties from the
two places will show the intentions of Parliament.
D
50
9 & 10 Will. III. ch. 23.
2 & 3 Ann, ch. 9......
3 & 4, ch. 5...
s. d.
12 Charles II. ch. 4…….. W. India, 1 52%
s. d.
E. India, 3 912
Ditto..... 3 912
Ditto.... 1 32%
Ditto.... 1 52%
Ditto.... 0 514
Ditto.... 0 0
Ditto.... 2 62%
8
21 George II. ch. 2.... Ditto.... 1 6
32 ch. 10.
19 George III. ch.25.. Ditto.... 0 318
21 ch.16..
Ditto.... 4 0
Ditto.... 1 6
Ditto.... 4 0
Ditto.... 5 1-
Ditto.... 112 4
Ditto.... 5 67%
Per cwt. 11 8
Per cwt. 25 1016
By the 27th of George III. all the duties on sugars were
repealed, and in their stead were imposed on British
Plantation Muscovado, 12s. 4d. per cwt., and on all other
sugar of the same description, 17. 7s. 2d.
By this law, the ad valorem duty of 371. 16s. 3d. on
East India sugar, was considered to be established.
That such was not the intention of the Legislature, but
that it meant to subject East India sugar to the foreign
duty, as it always had done, is plain from several circum-
stances. The 15th section enacts, that all goods
imported by the East India Company from places
within the limits of their charter, the duties on which are
not specified in schedule A. are to be liable to the duties
set forth in table B. Table A, which is entitled a sche-
dule of the net duties payable on the importation into
this kingdom of certain goods, wares, and merchandize,
therein enumerated, contains the duties on sugars, as
under :
£. s. d.
Sugar candy, brown, the cwt.
Ditto, imported by the East India company
215 0
4 19 0
5.1
White sugar candy, the cwt.
Ditto, imported by the East India company
Refined sugar, the cwt.
Brown and Muscovado, not of the British plantations,
the cwt.
White sugar, not of the British plantations
Brown and Muscovado, of the British plantations
White, of the British plantations
From any of the British colonies, or plantations, on
the continent of America, upon the importation
to be warehoused, the cwt.
"
£. s. d
4 2 6
78
7 8 6
4 18 8
1 7 2
2 5 6
0 12 4
19 0
0 0 3
The duties on sugar were therefore specified in table
A. in intelligible language, and the distinction for
Muscovado and white sugar, was, sugar of the British
plantations, and sugar not of the British plantations.
The act therefore appears to have intended to continue the
exclusion of East India sugar, as had always been done,
unless it paid the foreign duty of 11. 7s. 2d. per cwt.
But a very slight, and seemingly unimportant inad-
vertence occurred, in the wording of a newly introduced
provision which the East Indians found very useful,
as soon as it became desirable to them to pervert the
law to their purpose. Table B. is entitled a Table
of the Duties of Customs payable on the Importation
into this Kingdom, and of the Drawbacks to be
allowed on the Exportation from thence, of Goods,
Wares, and Merchandize, being imported by the
united company of Merchants of England trading to
the East Indies, and not being particularly charged
with duty when so imported." About the end of this
table were the following words: "Manufactured goods,
wares and merchandize, not otherwise particularly enu-
merated, or described for every 1007. of the true and
real value thereof, according to the gross price, at which
such goods shall have been sold, at the public sales of
the united company of merchants of England, trading to
D 2
52
the East Indies, 371. 16s. 3d." This provision ought not
to have applied to sugar, because the duties on the different
sorts of it were enumerated in the table A. as already
shown, but it was merely introduced to affix a duty to
such trifling articles from the East Indies as former re-
venue laws may not have noticed, but which it was now
judged ought to pay an ad valorem duty upon importation.
Throughout the act there was no favour shewn to the
East India Company. A variety of articles, when im-
ported by them paid heavier duties than when obtained
from foreigners. For example,
£. s. d.
Amber, 1s. 3d. the lb. If imported by the E. I. Company 0 i 5
Walking Canes, per 1000, £1 18 6 If by E. I. Comp. 2 2
Rattans, per 1000
0 16 6 Ditto...
Elephants' Teeth, the cwt.
1 6 3 Ditto..
Plate, wrought, of gold, 1 10 0 Ditto.
0 19 3
1 10 10
278
0 8 10
079
per ounce
Rice, per cwt...
Salt Petre
074
0 23
Ditto...
Ditto........
Snuff from
British or
0 16 Ditto..
0 3 3
Spanish West Indies..
Every man accustomed to the construction of acts of
parliament, and at all acquainted with our policy, will
allow, that the intention of parliament, in this act, was to
continue to subject East India sugar to the foreign duties,
whatever the strict interpretation of the wording, evi-
dently hastily and unguardedly adopted, may be. It
would not otherwise have enacted a larger duty on East
India sugar candy, than on that from other places, and
would not have imposed a prohibitory duty on refined
sugar from our own colonies, while it was allowed to be
received from the East Indies at an ad valorem duty,
amounting only to about one third of the prohibitory
duty. Both these consequences, absurd as they must
appear to be, would follow from the same interpretation,
that admitted East India sugar on the ad valorem duty.
1
53
The act of the 38th of Geo. III. chap. 76th, recog-
nized its admission, but the 43d of Geo. III. chap. 68th,
is the first law which rated East India sugar specifically.
It was judged proper, at a time of scarcity, to open the
markets of Great Britain to East India sugar, for the
purpose of maintaining moderate and fair prices to the
consumer in this country. When the necessity has ceased,
and the grower of sugar in the West Indies becomes, in
his turn, the sufferer, surely there should be a reasonable
but sufficient recurrence to the principles of the old law
pervading every act of parliament for a century and a
half, which protected the sugars of the West Indies
against those of the East, and all other parts of the world,
and under the faith of the continuance of which the
estates in our old colonies were settled and cultivated.
Some of the arguments in favour of an equalization of
the duty upon sugar, contained in the pamphlet on Pro-
tection to West India Sugar, are derived from the ab-
stract principles of free trade, forgetting that free trade,
as between nation and nation, or the different parts of
the same nation, never did exist, and therefore, as far
as experience goes, we are warranted in believing never
will exist. The least industrious countries will always
protect their own productions, and shipping, against
those of more industrious people than themselves. For
example, the Catholic countries are less industrious than
the Protestant ones, and those in the south of Europe,
are naturally less so than those situated more northerly,
from the difference of climate, and energy of the human
frame. These countries have a right to call upon their
respective governments for protection, who would be in
error, if they were not to give it. Thus the intercourse
between two sovereign nations is always matter of con-
vention, each giving up some points of interest, until
they can agree upon terms, which are upon the whole
54
mutually advantageous. As between different parts of
the same empire, the trade is regulated upon motives of
state policy, of advantage to the whole empire, and the
original engagements of the parent state, to each mem-
ber of it. If two portions of its dominions can produce
the same article, it is just, that the one, which possesses
the supply, should be preferred to that which is only
endeavouring to rival it; and good sense directs that
the latter should apply its industry to some other object.
If one is more precarious in its tenure than another, that
is a ground of preference. If one contributes more than
another to the defence of all parts of the empire, and
particularly the Mother Country, that is a reason for
superior encouragement. But the advantages must be
clear and decided, and the necessity of the rivalship
undeniable, to justify their prevailing against prior
rights. Justice, as well as policy demands, that these
considerations should be attended to, in the regula-
tion of the commerce of the different parts of the
same empire. Do not they prevail in the Corn Laws, so
necessary to the protection of the agriculture of the Mo-
ther Country? Are not every one of our manufactures
upheld by them, as far as the consumption of Great Bri-
tain and her colonies are concerned? Is it only in the
case of the West Indies, that this country is to shut its
eyes to their interests, and say, like a hard-hearted pa-
rent, I will encourage all but you.
Our adversaries assert that the East Indies are more
beneficial to the Mother Country, than her colonies in the
West Indies, whose government and protection cost us
much money, while the East Indies defray their own
expences. That their protection costs us money, is to
a degree true, but then it is so only to a trifling degree.
The domestic government of the colonies, if I may be
allowed the expression, is supported at their own ex-
55
pence, and there are certain contributions towards the
expences of protection, &c. in the different islands.
Jamaica subsists 2000 of His Majesty's troops stationed
there. In the other islands there is the 4 per cent.
duty on their produce, and in the colonies without legis-
latures, the taxes imposed by order of His Majesty in
council. These go a very considerable way to lighten
the burthen of protection. The naval force both in the
East, and West, is supported by the Mother Country.
The total annual expence therefore of the West India
colonies to Great Britain, would be found upon exami-
nation to be very small indeed, and nothing, in compa-
rison to the advantage derived from the manufactures
they consume, and the sum annually expended at Home
by the resident planters. As every thing the poor West
Indians do, must be found fault with, they are blamed
for living in this country at all, though that residence is
attended with benefit to Great Britain, both in the money
they expend here, and in the preservation of that affec-
tion towards the parent state which is so much to be de-
sired, and which will always contribute materially to the
continuance of their loyalty and dependence. I am not
aware of any vast advantages the East has to boast of,
except the manufactures which go direct to the Prece-
dencies, not comprehending those to China, &c. and the
money sent home by successful adventures, but it is also
to be remembered, that there are many adventurers in
the West Indies, who do not invest their money there,
but bring it home, to add, equally with those from the
East, to the capital of this country. The advantage de-
rived by Great Britain from the East Indies, let the
amount be what it may, does not result from its sugar
trade with Europe. She possessed them antecedently to
the year 1791, when sugar was first brought to Europe
in considerable quantity from India, and she will con-
56
tinue to possess them, if the importation of sugar from
that quarter were to cease altogether.
One of our opponents, the writer on protection to West
India sugar, gives an inaccurate statement of the exports
of British manufactures to the East, and the West Indies,
making it most considerable to the former. From the
publication, entitled, Administration of the affairs of
Great Britain, which he seems to deem an official work,
They are stated for the year 1821, as follow. To the
British West Indies, 4,347,0427. To the East Indies.
and China, 3,272,8177. being upwards of a million less.
The Pamphlet on East and West India sugar, predicts
the diminution of this export even to a trifle, to half a
million, when a direct trade shall take place to the Spa-
nish colonies. This direct trade has existed for some
time, and it appears that our exports to them, in the same
year, was 917,9161. The exports to Cuba are included
under the head of Foreign West Indies, which amount
to 1,257,0497. It is not therefore probable that much of
what goes now to our West Indies, is re-exported to
those countries to which it can go direct; although it is
possible, both in the East and the West Indies, that our
manufacturers would confide their goods more readily to
houses long established at Calcutta, or in Jamaica, than
trust them with Malays or Spaniards. But it would be
nearly endless to shew the errors of the predictions of
these Gentlemen, who view every thing in the East
through a telescope of Herschell, and every thing in the
West, with a microscopic and jaundiced eye.
The superior security of our possession of Hindostan
over the West Indies, is endeavoured to be maintained
in a way which sets the doctrine of probabilities at de-
fiance, though they allow that extensive country to be
subject to risks. India is kept in subjection by a large
military force, chiefly of native troops, the officers of
57
which only were born in Great Britain and Ireland.
That government has sometimes been threatened with a
revolt of the military. Revolutions effected by the instru
mentality of an unfaithful soldiery, seem to be among
the prevailing political features of the day, and may
reach to India. The passive character of the natives,
which has been boasted of, is not too much to be relied
on, in this age of experiments, and as they have arms in
their hands, they may use them to assert their indepen-
dence whenever they please. Their being well governed
constitutes no obstacle to the plans of the ambitious.
"The French," says Burke, "rebelled against a hand
holding out favours and immunities to them." But be-
sides this danger, India may be wrested from you by the
arms of a powerful nation, whose soldiery we may not
be able to resist, and to whose success our navy could
oppose no impediment. The idea of invading India for
the purpose either of permanent conquest, or of restor-
ing it to the domination of the ancient Rajahs, is not a
new one. It was entertained by the French cabinet, as
we are informed in the memoirs of the Marquis de Boul-
lie, immediately after the American war. It was again
an object of the French government, during the Revolu-
tionary war. In the conversations O'Meara had with
the Ex-Emperor Buonaparte at St. Helena, page 375,
of the first volume, that personage declares, "that Egypt
once in possession of the French, farewell India to the
English. It was one of the grand projects I aimed at.”
And in another place, page 380, he asserts," that if Paul
had lived, we should have lost India before now.
agreement was made between Paul and myself to invade
it, I furnished the plan." He then went into the particu-
lars of it, and concluded by saying,
"that the first
year of war that you will have with the Russians, they
will take India from you." Buonaparte, it must be al-
An
58
lowed, had his faults; he was ambitious, impatient, and
unjust, but the want of sagacity never was imputed to
him. Those who knew him best, concur in considering
him to have been a good general, and an able politician.
Designs therefore have been formed against India, which
the growing power of Russia, and its want of a sufficient.
revenue, with which the conquest of Hindostan would
furnish it, leave considerable ground to entertain a fear,
that these designs may not have been altogether aban-
doned. But our opponents insist, that if India were in other
hands, than ours, we should still enjoy the commerce
of it, and they ask if we lost the trade of the United
States, after their independence? The question might
be answered by another. Do we now monopolize the
carrying trade of that great country, and have we not a
formidable rival at sea in the independent power, which
possesses it? But there is a wide difference between the
two cases. America was not then a manufacturing coun-
try, and we see that as fast as she can get manufactures
of her own, she protects them by heavy duties upon such
foreign ones as interfere with them. The East Indies is
a manufacturing country, and if lost to Great Britain,
the very first act of the new government would probably
be, to protect her own manufactures, by excluding those
of this country.
But our adversaries endeavour to terrify us with a
most exaggerated statement of the danger of our West
India colonies. They may wish their opinions to be true,
but it is probable, that few other people will be induced
to believe them. There are no designs that we know of,
formed against our insular colonies in the West Indies,
on the part of Powers sufficiently strong to carry them
into execution. The commission which they suppose
will be given on the part of the United States, to black
troops, to emancipate their fellow blacks, is for two rea-
59
sons a matter of mere fancy. In the United States they
have no black troops, and must have a superior navy to
ours, to render the invasion of our colonies practicable.
The example that we are alleged to have set them, was
unauthorised by our Government, and I believe by a de-
cision of the Referee submitted to, we are to pay for the
slaves so withdrawn from their masters. This example
therefore would constitute no justification to the Ame-
ricans to follow it, and as they possess slaves themselves
in greater numbers than we do, they would be apprehen-
sive of retaliation. Hayti presents a more real subject
for apprehension. She has shewn herself to be very
ready to take advantage of the weakness of her neigh-
bours, but wherever ordinary precautions are taken by
the whites, and arms kept out of the hands of the slaves,
any attempts at insurrection, by whomsoever instigated,
must always fail. Of all our islands it is most necessary
in Jamaica, that we should be guarded against Hayti,
and the Legislature of this country has very wisely adopted
laws prohibiting all intercourse with that Republick.
Jamaica is at a considerable distance from Hayti, and
exactly to leeward, which constitutes a great advantage
in those latitudes, where the trade wind, blowing from
east to west, is perpetual through the year. An inva-
sion of Jamaica from Hayti is impracticable, because the
Haytians have no ships, because our navy must meet
them, and defeat their object at sea, and because they
must know, that in the event of a disaster, they could
never get back again. Not a man would be able to re-
turn. There are no risks to be apprehended from other
revolutionized countries in that part of the world, for
their governments must be white, let the condition of the
negroes be what it will. In Mexico, the white popula-
lation is considered to be about four millions. The slaves
were not above ten thousand, who were chiefly employed
+
60
in the cultivation of sugar on the plains of La Vera
Cruz. They are now emancipated, and the cultivation
of sugar instantly disappeared. In Columbia, the white
inhabitants were reported to be two millions and a half,
and the slaves about sixty thousand. Many of these
were purchased and manumitted by the Government, in
consideration of their having borne arms during the Re-
volution, and such as have been born since the æra of the
Republic, are declared free. The Brazils are too dis-
tant to affect the security of our colonies, but there the
whites prevail in numbers, being about three millions,
and the slaves about eight hundred thousand. In Cuba,
a more important place for us to look at with jealousy, the
white population is about four hundred thousand, the free
people of colour, about eighty thousand, and the slaves
about two hundred and fifty thousand. The government
therefore must be white, whether the island continue sub-
ject to Spain, or become independent. From a neigh-
bouring white government no mischief is to be appre-
hended. If it possess slaves, and disturb ours, it would
be liable to retaliation, and if it have no slaves, the zeal
of black emancipation, at the expence of difficulties to
themselves, will never enter into their conception.-
To evince the precarious tenure by which our colonies.
in the West Indies is held, the writer on East and West
India Sugars adduces the difficulty which was formed in
Jamaica, in reducing a few hundreds of revolted Ma-
roons. These people had arms in their hands, furnished
by the government of the island, and got possession of
an inaccessible country. Their limited number was the
cause of their long resistance. If in much greater num-
bers, the want of food would have sooner starved them
into submission. A single company of regular troops, or
militia, would have been sufficient to destroy them in re-
gular battle, but this mode of warfare they carefully
61
avoided, and adopted the more mischievous plan of am-
bush, and concealment in their strong holds. During the
whole of this war, the attachment of the slaves to the
whites was evinced in a manner which no theoretical spe-
culations can contradict. Their behaviour throughout
the island was most orderly and exemplary, and such of
them as were required to attend their masters in the field,
conducted themselves with a fidelity, and even with a
zeal, which could not have been surpassed.
The last arguments that I shall advert to are those on
the shipping engaged in the trade of Great Britain with
the East and West Indies. It is certainly by her com-
merce that the naval power of any nation can be main-
tained. It is not denied that this country will have the
carrying of all the sugar she consumes, whether it comes
from the East or West Indies, or from any other part of
the globe. Our opponents assert that the long and dan-
gerous voyages to the East, as compared with those to
the West Indies, give their sailors an advantage over
those of the latter trade, notwithstanding they will have,
upon their return home, some of what Mr. Princep
calls (page 44,) "the enfeebled native sailors of our
eastern territories." The length of the voyage may
require their ships to sail with a few more men than
our West Indiamen, but greater numbers will perish in
the longer voyage, whose place must be supplied with
Lascars. As I have always understood that our coasting
seamen were the most valuable we possessed, because
they were as excellent in themselves as any others, and
were always at hand when wanted by their country in
time of war, I cannot understand why the longer and
more dangerous voyage to the East Indies, than from
Newcastle to London, can form a nursery of better or
more useful sailors. It may, indeed, form more expert
navigators, but not better seamen; and as those con-
5
62
!
cerned in the navigation of our men of war, are officers
of the navy, they require no assistance from any supposed
superiority of the seamen of ships to India. Other ves-
sels are accustomed to gales of wind as well as they, and
have the same methods of avoiding danger. But this
essential disadvantage attaches to the shipping to the
East. Their voyages are so long, generally from twelve
to eighteen months, in time of peace, that their sailors
are not to be procured by our navy when they are wanted,
either for the purpose of defending our own coasts, or of
preparing expeditions by which our enemies may be an-
noyed. The voyages to the West Indies require from
six to seven months in time of peace, and upon the re-
turn of the ships the seamen are at hand to be removed
to the navy, if wanted for the service of the nation.
The circumstance too of their going and coming at all
times of the year, without the interruption of monsoons,
gives a great advantage to the West India trade in a
political point of view. When France has restored her
navy, and the United States of America have made
theirs formidable, we may suppose many conjunctures to
arise in which Great Britain may suffer both loss of do-
minion and honour, if she is to depend for the manning
of her fleets upon the ships trading to the East Indies.
Thus have I endeavoured to examine briefly the prin-
cipal arguments in the publications of our enemies,
avoiding the topics of slavery and East India shipping,
which are irrelevant to the question at issue. It has
been my aim, and I hope not unsuccessfully, to support
three positions, 1st, That the West Indians are entitled
to a protecting duty on East India sugar, to the extent
of a remunerating price for their own. 2dly, That nei-
ther the manufacturers of Great Britain, nor the natives
of Hindostan, can suffer by giving to the industry of
4
63
Bengal a direction to the cultivation of other objects
than sugar, for European consumption; and, 3dly, That
both justice and policy require, that this country should
uphold her colonies in the West Indies, settled and
owned by Englishmen, instead of sacrificing them to her
possessions in the East, which the want of a sufficient
protecting duty on sugar, the growth of that part of the
world, would completely effect.
THE END.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY R. GILBERT,
ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
EAST AND WEST INDIA SUGAR;
OR, A
REFUTATION
OF THE
CLAIMS
OF THE
WEST INDIA COLONISTS
TO A
Protecting Duty
ON
EAST INDIA SUGAR.
Rezaula, Zachary
Mosa
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LUPTON RELFE,
13, CORNHILL;
AND HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY.
1823.
1
ADVERTISEMENT.
With the exception of the opening paragraph,
and a few brief sentences besides, the following
sheets were written, about three months ago,
chiefly for the information of some friends, in
whose hands they were placed. The author
was first led to the determination of publishing
them by the recent appearance of a pamphlet
entitled, "Observations on the Claims of the
West-India Colonists to a Protecting Duty on
East-India Sugar." That pamphlet, indeed,
he will be frank enough to confess, he did not
consider as requiring a reply, because it has
conveniently furnished its own refutation.
But the aims and intentions which it developes,
on the part of those whose cause it advocates,
and whose means of giving effect to their wishes,
iv
experience has shown to be very formidable,
appeared to him to be so injurious in their ten-
dency, that he felt it to be his duty to attempt
to enlighten the public respecting the real
merits of the question at issue. How far he
has succeeded in his object, he must leave it
to his readers to decide.
London, January 29, 1823.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Examination of the Arguments in Favour of the Protecting
Duty, drawn from the following Considerations, viz.—
Injury to our shipping interests, to our revenue,
and to our docks, labourers, &c.
Restrictions of colonial system
Page
2
5
Prescription
10
Justice, founded on parliamentary compact.
23
Capital embarked
33
56
59
Ruin of West Indies
Comparative security of West Indies..........
Wealth derived to this country from West Indies 63
Injury from abolition of British slave-trade
Desirableness of checking foreign slave-trade
Danger of abolishing colonial slavery
Humanity to the slaves.
Supplies for them
Slavery in India
69
• 74
75
80
87
89
Direct arguments in favour of repealing the protecting
duty....
95
viii
:
APPENDIX.
A. Extract from a Report of the House of Assembly
of Jamaica, on the rivalry of the East Indies,
dated 23d November, 1804
Extract from the substance of a speech delivered
by Joseph Marryat, Esq. in the House of Com-
mons, May 15, 1809, on the second reading of
the Martinique Trade-Bill
B.
Page
105
... 107
C. Extracts from Reports of the House of Assembly
of Jamaica, on West-Indian distress, 23d No-
vember, 1804, and 13th November, 1807 .... 121
D. Further observations on the effect of the encum-
bered state of West-Indian property on the
comfort of the slaves
124
•
{
So pork Sir George
Ka
Late
ON
PROTECTION
ΤΟ
WEST-INDIA SUGAR.
Cheapness of consumption and increase of production are the two great
"objects of all political economy."
A. SMITH'S WEALTH OF NATIONS, vol. iii. p. 134, 8vo. ed.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. M. RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL,
OPPOSITE THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.
1823.
*
:
1
}
W. MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street.
}
ON
PROTECTION
ΤΟ
WEST-INDIA SUGAR.
THE expediency of equalizing the duties on
sugar imported from the East and West Indies
has now been canvassed during two successive
years. We are approaching the session of
Parliament in which an examination of the
question in all its bearings is to be undertaken
by a Committee of the House of Commons, it is
therefore most important that right ideas upon
the subject should be formed, and that it should
not hastily be thrown aside, as a measure inte-
resting only to East and West India merchants,
and unworthy of the deliberate attention of the
supreme legislature. I am no advocate for
A 2
4
conferring a partial benefit either on the East
or West Indians, but I am an advocate for
competition, and for giving equal encourage-
ment to both parties, because I am convinced
that by so doing the true interests of both, as
well as of the empire at large, will be best pro-
moted. In this question are involved the two
following propositions :-
1st. Whether the sound principles of com-
merce which have superseded the erroneous
theories of the old mercantile system (and to
which our government themselves are converts*)
shall be adopted or abandoned, according to
the prevalence of particular interests in parlia-
ment.
2d. Whether this country shall act with jus-
tice to the immense population of the East
Indies, placed by Providence under its pro-
tection, or yield in one essential point-to the
fears and jealousies of the planters and mer-
chants of the West Indies.
* See the recent official publication on the State of the
Nation, January, 1823, p. 150 and 203.
5
I hope to be able, in this short exposition of
the subject, to show that, as statesmen and
legislators, it is our best policy, and, as mas-
ters of a great empire, it is our bounden duty
to admit so material a production of India as
sugar into the home-consumption of Great
Britain upon an equal footing with the sugar of
any other British dependency.
It is only since the year 1813 that the real
advantages to be derived from India have be-
come apparent; the incongruous characters of
merchant and sovereign, blended, so unfortu-
nately both for India and Great Britain, in the
East-India Company, had till that time para-
lized the exertions of both countries mutually
to benefit each other. The triumph of just
commercial principles, by the experience of
the free trade since 1813, has been complete.
Many things yet remain to be done, and the
two characters must ultimately be separated.
Much, however, as I appreciate the value of
free trade, little as I indulge any fears for the
safety of the China trade, under an unres-
tricted intercourse, yet I would agree to con-
6
tinue the monopoly of the tea-trade in the Com-
pany if its political existence can be shown to
depend upon it, and if the question lay between
the maintenance of that monopoly and the ex-
tinction of the Company, and the consequent
transfer of its political functions to Govern-
ment; for in our mixed constitution the admi-
nistration of India is too valuable a source of
patronage to be trusted to the executive; and,
with some modifications, that function can
hardly be intrusted to better hands than those
of the Court of Directors, checked by the
Board of Control, and, under the system of
gradual advancement in the service, which
now so happily prevails. Several improve-
ments, however, before this great question can
be brought forward, on the expiration of the
charter, are yet to be made. The Indian ship-
ping has a right to a general British register:-
policy and justice equally demand the conces-
sion of this point, in spite of the jealousy of
the shipping-interest at home. Again, British
shipping of all classes ought to enjoy without
restriction the whole trade eastward of the
i
7
*
Cape, (the direct China trade, until the expi-
ration of the charter, excepted,) and vessels
of all sizes should be admitted freely into
that commerce.
The laws regulating the commerce of the East
should be separated from those relating to the
government of British India, and their provisions
so simplified and consolidated that the mer-
chant may not be impeded by the intricacy of
the present ill-digested system. The basis of
the commercial law should be free trade with
exceptions, not a close trade with permissions.
This is due to the interests of our mercantile
and manufacturing classes at home and in India.
No pains should be spared to correct the errors
of the landed-system of India-to prevent the
impoverishment and degradation of that coun-
try by oppressive taxation:-and dismissing idle
fears of colonization, the Court of Directors
should boldly repair the evils* incident to their
* Evils of no common magnitude, and allowed by Mr.
C. Grant.-See C. Grant on the State and Society among
the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain, 1792, 1797, p. 23,
et passim.
8
connexion with India, and afford every facility
to the development of the great resources of
the country under their charge. If superior
civilization and knowledge and a higher tone
of character have enabled a handful of foreign-
ers to achieve the conquest of India, let these
advantages be diffused over British India;-
allow Englishmen to fix themselves in the coun-
try, and thereby increase the wealth, raise the
character, and enlarge the prosperity of the
natives. Under the superintendence of a vigi-
lant and settled government there is nothing to
apprehend, and without the assistance of Eu-
ropeans none of the great staples of India can
be brought to perfection. But leaving to others
the consideration of these more general sub-
jects, I shall confine myself to the sugar-ques-
tion, which, in principle, yields to none in im-
portance.
The simple fact of the case is as follows:-
The consumption of sugar in Great Britain is
about three millions of cwt. or nearly 150,000
tons per annum. Of this supply not above
i
9
f
6,600 tons have hitherto been brought from
India.*
Now the power of producing sugars in India
to almost any extent is fully proved by the
papers laid before the proprietors of East-India
stock by the Court of Directors, and may be esti-
mated from the following extract of one of the
ablest writers on the husbandry of Bengal, viz.
"From Benares to Rungpūr, from the bor-
ders of Assam to those of Catack, there is
scarcely a district in Bengal, or its dependent
provinces, wherein the sugar-cane does not
flourish; it thrives most especially in the pro-
vinces of Benares, Behar, Rungpur, Berboom,
Berdwan, and Mednipur; it is successfully
cultivated in all, and there seems to be no other
bounds to the possible production of sugar in
Bengal than the limits of the demand and con-
sequent vend for it." Whence, then, does it
1822, Total import, 13,000 tons, of which home-con-
sumption is 6,600 tons.
+ Colebrooke, on the Husbandry of Bengal, p. 127, edi-
tion 1806.
10
arise that so small a portion of India sugar
finds its way into the consumption of Great
Britain? The cause may be traced to the pro-
tecting duty.
The duty of 30s. per cwt., reducible accord-
ing to the average gazette-prices to 27s. per cwt.
levied on an article like sugar, varying in qua-
lity, and consequently in value, from 10s. to
50s. per cwt. is a most oppressive burden-an
unwise and impolitic tax, injuring the people
by narrowing the consumption, without be-
nefiting, in proportion, the revenue; but
when, in addition to this heavy impost, which
applies to sugars of every growth, a preference,
to the extent of one-third at least, or 10s. ad-
ditional, per cwt. is given to the West Indians,
the burden to the East Indies becomes intole-
rable, and the question to be considered is—
whether it is just and expedient that this pre-
ference should continue.
Now I am prepared to show that this pre-
ference, crippling the trade with India, and
impeding the natural course of the interchange
of the commodities of the two countries, is
injurious to the
11
F
British ship-owner and merchant,
the British refiner,
the British manufacturer,
the British consumer,
and is a sacrifice of the rights of our fellow-
subjects in India.
The West Indians assert their claim to such
a preference, however injurious to others. They
appeal to their rights under the Colonial Sys-
tem, sanctioned by successive acts of the le-
gislature.
This claim of right must first be examined,
for, if that stands, honesty being paramount
to all questions of expediency, the pledged
faith of parliament must be supported, until
the existing interests of every person in the
West Indies are satisfied; remove this,
and conflicting views of expediency alone re-
main to be considered. The claims of the
West Indies, on the head of expediency, may
be ranged, as follows:-
1st. Probable loss on capital invested in the
West Indies.
2d. Probable injury to the slaves.
3d. Importance of the West Indies, as a
12
1
means of naval strength and commercial
wealth.
Prescriptive Right of the West Indians under
the Colonial System.
To put the question in the strongest light, let
us suppose the West Indians to contend that
they have planted, cultivated, and invested large
capitals in sugar plantations, under compact with
the legislature that, if they brought all their pro-
duce to the home-market, and purchased all
their supplies from thence, the home-market
should be secured to them.
But where are the records of their title?-
Great Britain was first supplied with sugar
through the Portuguese. The price was exor-
bitant, and encouragement was given, in the
nature of a patent, to cultivate the West In-
dies. From 1649, to the present time, the
chief supply has been from the West Indies;
but when the price was high, in 1792, and
again in 1800, cultivation in the East Indies
was called for and encouraged by Parliament
13
i
and Government, and importations propor-
tioned to the Company's operations, under an
exclusive monopoly, took place.
The article was not enumerated in the table
of customs, but the question of the duty
(£37:16:3 per cent. ad valorem) was agitated
during that period, as will be seen by the re-
solutions moved and carried in the General
Court, 15th March, 1792.
From 1787, the duty remained, ad valorem,
£37:16:3 per cent.; until 1797, when an addi-
tional 2s. 6d. per cwt. as imposed, but applied to
East and West India sugars alike. In 1803, the
system was altered ;* the ad valorem duty was
changed into a rated duty, and 27s. per cwt.
fixed on East-India sugars of all growths and
qualities, as a mean rate between the duty of 24s.
per cwt. on West-India brown sugars, and 29s.
on West-India white sugars, and, in 1809, the
same proportions were preserved.
East-India of all growths and qualities, 33s.
West-India, brown
30s.
West-India, white...
35s.
Does this look like the peremptory exclusion
* 43 Geo. III. cap. 68.
14
of all sugars from the market except those
from the West Indies? Have those who specu-
lated in the West-India plantations, under
these regulations of the legislature, a right to
turn round now and say-Oh, we trusted to
the supineness of the Company, and we knew
they never would send home any quantity
to affect us in the home-market? Surely this
is private speculation on private judgement,
not on the pledged faith of the legislature.
Surely the assertion so confidently made of East-
India sugar never having been intended by the
legislature to enter into competition with West-
India sugar antecedent to the year 1813 cannot
now be maintained.
In 1813, when the free trade was opened, a
protection of 10s. per cwt. was given to the West
Indians against East-India sugars, as follows:
East-India sugars, of all growths and qua-
lities..
West-India, brown or Muscovado
West-India, white or clayed...
40s.
30s.
35s.
Here the matter rested; but it is curious to
trace the gradual encroachments of the West In-
dians and their infractions of their own bargain.
;
15
声
​1st. They reagitated the question, and attempt-
ed to impose an additional duty of 2s. 6d. per cwt.
on brown East-India sugar, and 7s. 6d. on
white.
2d. They obtained a separation of growth,
and without any compassion upon those who,
on the faith of Parliament, had invested capital
in Java, and in the country trade of India, of
which sugar is the staple growth and chief medi-
um, prohibitory duties were imposed on the con-
sumption of all sugars from the East Indies, ex-
cept such as had a certificate of origin, proving
them to be the growth of the British territo-
ries.
A
3d. They obtained a classification of quali-
ties-Because a custom-house distinction ex-
isted in West-India sugars, and the highest duty
of 35s. per cwt. stood against white or clayed
West-India sugars, they proposed and obtained
a similar distinction in East-India sugars, and
an additional protection of 5s., altogether 15s.
per cwt. on sugars from the East Indies, clayed,
or otherwise refined, so as to be equal to clayed,
although the process of claying is unknown in
India; and, for want of a definite standard,
I
16
it was almost certain that this additional duty
would (however contrary to the letter and spirit
of the act) be attempted to be levied on Bengal
white sugars, inferior to West-India sugars in
grain, consequently less adapted to the refi-
ners, and selling at lower prices, and which
has proved to be the fact. This measure, (the
British West Indies producing no clayed sugars,)
has actually saddled the finer Bengal sugars
with a prohibitory duty, and thus protected
West-India Muscovado,* under cover of pro-
tecting clayed; and to this deception, arising
from the technical language of the act, the
Board of Trade and the Treasury have, from
the superior influence of West Indians, most
unaccountably lent themselves.
Does this look like keeping to a bargain, or
paying any great deference to an alleged par-
liamentary contract?
And, 4th. Though it was expressly declared
that the protecting duty was in consequence of
the restrictions imposed on the West Indies by
* Improved so as to be superior to many clayed sugars,
and yet literally not within the act.
1
17
.
the colonial system, yet in the last session of
parliament the West Indians procured a relax-
ation of this system, without allowing a deduc-
tion of one farthing from the protecting duties.
After this statement can any reasonable man
require the East Indians to be bound by the
alleged compact of 1813, a compact got up
between the West-India Committee and the de-
legates from Liverpool, then soliciting the
the open trade to the outports; but to which
neither the East-India Company nor the
East-India Trade, generally, were in any
manner parties? It was first broken by the
West Indians, and its character and opera-
tions were essentially changed, at their in-
stance, and for their benefit.* After this, I
think, the claim under the faith of Parliament
* It is fair to observe here, that this is now denied by
the West Indians; they shift the request to the ship-owners;
but they seem to have accepted the boon, in the true spirit
of nolo episcopari; and few will give credit to the assertion,
that it was forced upon them, without their solicitation.
What view does this official writer take of this point?
Such," says he, "in a few words, was the BOON of
66
B
18
2
cannot be entertained for one moment. I
would here ask, what has been the policy of
the legislature with regard to sugar from the
conquered colonies? If the old British West-
India islands had a right to the exclusion
of East-India sugar from the home-market,
much more had they a right to insist on the
exclusion of sugar from the conquered colo-
nies. But what is the fact? The sugars of
Dutch West-India conquered colonies
*
are
"Government to the West Indies during the last session.".
Administration of the Affairs of Great Britain, 1823, p. 140.
* See Mr. Marryat's speech, 1819, in Hansard's Par-
liamentary Debates, vol. xiv. page 82.
"The West-India planters are now, in their turn, con-
tending for the principal, as they call it, of the monopoly
of the home-consumption of Great Britain; but this prin-
cipal has never been recognized to the extent to which
they would push it; for the produce of the conquered
colonies has uniformly been admitted into home-consump-
tion. Even if this principle was acknowledged, it would
be of no use to them in the present state of things, as, I
trust, I shall shortly satisfy the house; and, I must say,
that it is with peculiar ill grace that they attempt to main-
tain prejudices of their own, at the very moment when
they are reaping the most substantial advantages from
having overcome the prejudices of others."
1
19
admitted upon the same duties as those from
the old West-India Islands. The Mauritius
is the only exception, and, though equally
a sugar colony, is sacrificed to the jealousy of
the West Indies: and whilst every motive of
justice and policy should induce our govern-
ment to conciliate the French inhabitants, by
giving them a vent for their only produce, yet,
the high duty is imposed on their sugars,
which are driven from France by a duty to
protect Bourbon sugar, and from England to
protect the British West Indies. The Mauri-
tius sugars are, to the ruin of the trade with
Great Britain, sent to every port in Europe but
those to which they would in the natural course
of trade be attracted.
In 1809, there was, indeed, an Act brought in
to exclude the clayed sugars of Martinique,which
passed, notwithstanding the able and sound
argument of an eminent West-India merchant,
Mr. Marryat, in opposition to the measure.
But, in 1814, upon the restoration of this island
to France, by another legislative provision,
those sugars were admitted to April, 1815, at
B 2
20
the same duties as British West-India sugars.
The produce of Demerara is yearly increas-
ing.* It now exceeds the largest supply
hitherto brought from India; and yet Deme-
rara merchants are actually joined with the
West-India planters of the old colonies, and
crying out for protection against the East
Indies.
Let us next see what were the alleged grie-
vances of the colonial system, and to what ex-
tent the British West Indies are, at present,
affected by them:
1st. The obligation imposed on the colonies
of bringing all their produce to the mother-
country, thereby increasing the cost of that por-
tion which was beyond the home-consumption,
by the charges of transit, and preventing its en-
tering into competition, on equal terms, with
the produce of other sugar-colonies and coun-
*
Imports of Demerara and Berbice Sugars :
Cwt.
Cwt.
1796
11,660
1817-18.
.391,954
1800
51,194
1818-19.
437,950
1814-15.
244,307
1819-20.
510,900
1815-16.
330,417
1820-21
•
574,257
1816-17...... 338,751
1821-22...
545,403
21
tries, shipped direct to the foreign place of con-
sumption.
2d. The obligation under which they were
bound, to purchase supplies from the mother-
country, both for the purposes of their cultiva-
tion and the support of the negro-population.
These two main grievances are removed by the
Acts of last session for regulating the trade of the
West Indies with America and other parts of the
world. The produce of the West Indies may
be carried direct to its place of consumption;
for instance, rum to America, and sugar to the
continent of Europe; and the supply for the
negroes and of lumber and other articles for the
sugar manufacture, may be brought back direct
from the place of production. But this must be
done in direct trade only, and in British ships,
or as far as the trade with independent America
is concerned, in American ships;-and what
practical grievance is this? what freights are
cheaper?
But the population of the West Indies must be
supplied with British manufactures only; and
where again is the practical grievance here?
22
what manufactures are cheaper than the British?
do not the British manufacturers undersell all
others in the East and the West? and are they
not excluded from the continent, because they
undersell the foreign manufacturer at his own
door?
If duties are charged in the West Indies
on foreign shipments, so are they charged in
British India; and advantages are given to
shipping on British ships direct to Great Bri-
tain.
Let it not be understood that any objection
is here offered to this alteration in the colonial
system; but it is broadly contended that the
remaining restrictions on the West-India trade
do not warrant, in any manner, a continuance
of their monopoly of the home-market for
sugar, upon the grounds of justice or the
pledged faith of the legislature. The terms of
the alleged contract are broken, and the West
Indians no longer bring all their produce to
the mother-country, nor receive all their sup-
plies from thence.
Having, then, disposed of the first point, viz.
23
the compact with Parliament, let us next ad-
vert to,
Is it, or
2dly. The expediency of the case.
is it not expedient for the whole community,
that the West Indies should have the exclusive
supply of sugar to the home-market? Let us
first show, in entering into this branch of the
subject, that the monopoly is highly detrimen-
tal to the trade with India, and unjust towards
its numerous population: and then look around
to see whether the positive evil it inflicts on
these important interests is counterbalanced by
any commensurate advantages to the West
Indians, or any other class of society. That
the only advantageous mode of conducting a
profitable commerce between two countries is
by facilitating the cheapest exchange of their
respective productions, is a position few will
now venture to combat.
The tonnage employed in 1821, in the trade
from India to the United Kingdom, amounted
to about 79,000 tons; one-third of that ton-
nage must be dead weight, that is, heavy bulky
articles. Of the productions of India, rice,
saltpetre, and sugar, are known to be the three
24
articles used for that purpose.
Of rice, in
1821, about 4500 tons were imported; it sold
at ruinous prices; and the import thereof must
cease in the present state of abundant supply
of all agricultural produce, and with the duty
of 5s. per cwt. (absolutely more than its prime
cost) to which it is subjected for the protection
of domestic agriculture. Of saltpetre, the im-
portations were 9000 tons; and the consump-
tion must necessarily be limited, during a pe-
riod of general peace. Of the remaining arti-
cle, sugar, about 13,000 tons were imported.
White Benares sugar, in Bengal, might have
been purchased in May, 1822, for Sa. Rs. 8. 8.
per Bazaar Maund, which, at the then ex-
change of 2s. 1d. per Sa. Re. (the Company's
present rate of remittances), brings the prime
cost to...
per cwt. £1 4 2
Add charges at Calcutta, 8 per cent. 0
1 11
1 6 1
Add freight, £ 6 per ton..
Ditto insurance, 4 per cent.
...0 6 0
Ditto waste and average damp on prime
cost, say 8 per cent....
.0 1 0
.0 1 11
25
?
Cost in London
..£1 15 0
Say, sells at 35s. per cwt. less
charges 8 per cent.
.
1 12 2
Loss to the importer
...£0 2 10
But supposing the duty of 10s. to be taken off,
then the buyer could afford to give 10s. per
cwt. more, thereby bringing up the price of
East-India to that of the same quality of
West-India sugar; this would leave a profit to
the importer of 7s. 2d. per cwt. and capital
would immediately flow into the sugar import
business: the consequence would be, a reduc-
tion of the 7s. 2d. in the general price of sugar,
to the advantage of the consumer.
From this statement we also see how the
Indian merchant would benefit by saving the
2s. 10d. loss on import, under present circum-
stances.
The calculation is taken from the actual
prices and rates in May, 1822; and, considering
the average out-turn of shipments of sugar from
India, 35s. per cwt. with 8 per cent. waste, is
a high price.
L
26
1
If the 15s. duty is levied on this sugar, its
introduction will be prohibited.
Actual out-turn of a parcel of sugar, imported
in October, 1820, per William Money.
Invoice of 1154 bags, Benares
Sugar, weighs Br. Mds. 2941,
cost Sa. Rs. 32,856, at 2s. 4 d.
Nett weight-less 6 per cent. for
deficiency on voyage, cwt. 2073-
at 35s. 6d. per cwt.
€3,901 13
£3679 11 6
Freight
539 4
0
Charges in London
220 15 6
759 19 6
Nett proceeds
2,919 12
Loss £ 982 1
But which, if not subject to the 10s. duty, would
have made a saving remittance even at the
Exchange of 2s. 44d. I have taken my illus-
tration from the finer qualities of Bengal sugars;
but in proportion to the inferiority of the sugars
imported, the heavier is the loss sustained, and
the 10s. per cwt. additional duty is prohibitory
to the import of the strong brown coarser qua-
27
lities, selling, with reference to supposed price
of the finer sorts, at 18s. à 25s. per cwt.
It has been alleged that, in spite of these losses,
the consumption of India sugar has increased.
It is true, and although the observation gives rise
to an important remark,—that low price effectu-
ally forces consumption, the fact itself does not
affect our argument: we contend, and we are
borne out by the concurrent testimony of all
engaged in the trade, that the loss on Indian
sugars has been so great, as to preclude the
possibility of the continuance of its import.
But in the fluctuating state of the law, as to
duty, during the agitation of the question, and
in a new trade, into which a host of shipping
has adventured, it requires some time to in-
duce parties to return in ballast, when money is
as plentiful as it has recently been in India to
purchase produce; and it requires many a hard
lesson to check the confidence of the merchant,
and to damp his sanguine hopes of good for-
tune, and he continues to speculate in sugar
rather than return empty; but to this there
must be a limit. If this reasoning be, as we
28
trust it is, grounded on fact, and on undeniable
data, then, in what a situation does this ex-
clusion of India sugar place the Indian trade
to Great Britain? Does it not cripple, in every
way, the means of carrying on that trade? alto-
gether prevent the development of the great
resources of our Indian Empire by British
capital, skill, and industry, and in part tend
to drive the raw materials of our manufac-
tures, cotton, silk, indigo, drugs, to the Con-
tinent, where a better market can be found for
the dead weight sugar?
We contend, that it paralizes a growing trade,
a trade, the eventual extent of which, consider-
ing its increase since the opening in 1813, can
scarcely be calculated. Again, is it not unde-
niable that the power of our machinery has
enabled us successfully to export British manu-
factures to the East Indies,* to spread them
* Woollens exported to the East,
5th January, 1815....£1,084,434
1822..
1,421,649
Increase of……….£ 337,215
£ 337,215 30 per cent.
Cotton goods from··
·
to...
£ 109,486
£1,120,235
29
through the Persian Gulph and the Eastern
Archipelago, and what will stop our progress?
Is it limited demand? No; the population
to be clothed is immense. Is it the want of
fertility in their soil to give returns? No; read
the account of the productions of Java, Bengal,
and Siam ;*-it can only be retarded by re-
strictive laws and the protecting system. We
refuse to benefit ourselves by the exuberant
bounty of nature; we no longer act up to the
motives that probably induced the legislature
in former times to encourage the plantations
of the West Indies; and although India pos-
sesses a rich soil, admirably adapted to the
cane, watered by noble rivers, and teeming with
a numerous population, we exclude its staple
production, under the absurd apprehension that
sugar would become too cheap.
Great Britain possesses skill, capital, machi-
nery, and metals; we are advanced beyond all
* See Crawfurd's Eastern Archipelago; Colebrooke's
Husbandry of Bengal; Milburn's Oriental Commerce;
Roxburgh's Essay in the Asiatic Annual Register for 1802.
30
i
other nations in our manufacturing skill; we
abound in things coveted by others; but we
check the natural interchange that would take
place, by refusing to receive the natural equi-
valent of our manufactures; forgetting, that
where we will not buy we cannot sell.
Are not duties on articles brought as returns
for our manufactures as injurious as duties on
export? A manufacturer ships to India; he
sells at a handsome profit upon his invoice, but
his rupee, in which he receives his return, has
fallen, from the difficulty of investing it advan-
tageously in produce, from 2s. 6d. à 2s. 1d.-
16 à 20 per cent. It is by their cheapness
alone that we have introduced our manufactures;
and if, therefore, by narrowing the channels
through which returns are to be received, we
oblige the seller to increase his sale-price, are
we not artificially destroying the natural cheap-
ness of our manufactures, and impeding our
own career in their diffusion throughout the
East?
Thus the trade suffers in all its branches,
export and import; and the savings of the Com-
31
pany's servants in India, civil and military,
(who, by rigid economy alone, can now ex-
pect to return to their native country,) par-
take of the same depreciated value of money.
The employment of money in sugar, the great
staple of India, is checked, when, from the
abundance of capital, new channels for its em-
ployment should be opened. The general trade is
impeded, when the limited demand for remit-
tances under the old monopoly is swelled by
that of the free traders, requiring returns for their
British manufactures; and, to crown the whole,
though well aware that on the value of India
produce in the home-market the rate of ex-
change and the value of the rupee, compared
with the British sterling, must ultimately depend,
we artificially reduce that value by exorbitant
duties to protect others. Is this a sound
policy? Follow out the consequences to India,
England, and those interested in the two
countries, and see what an extensive mischief
ensues, and how the evil arising from the re-
striction on sugar, trifling in former times, is
32
increased by the altered circumstances of
India.
To add to our injustice, we tax, 70 per cent.
the fabrics of India, when imported into this
country; and we insist upon the importation of
British goods into India, at the low duty of 21
per cent. and even in the recent proposed in-
tercolonial trade between the East and West
Indies, it was intended to exclude India manu-
factures by heavy duties. We discourage
the manufacturing industry of our East-
Indian subjects, and prevent their repay-
ing themselves by profitably pursuing their
agricultural industry. We deny them the pri-
vileges of colonies, and they cannot exercise
the rights of independent states. Why did
we recently refuse to protect the landed interest
against Russian tallow or Dutch butter? Was
it not the fear of finding an equal measure of
taxation dealt out to us on British articles? and
is then our conduct just towards dependent
India? The restriction is therefore injurious to
the trade and unjust to India. Here is positive
evil enough to throw into the scale. But let us
33
look forward: either the supply from India will
be large or small. If small, are we not sacri-
ficing the India trade to the imaginary fears of
the West-India planters? If the difference of
cost price be inconsiderable, we shall not have
an import much beyond the present, say 13,000
tons, scarcely 7 per cent. on the gross import
from the West Indies,-an important advantage
to the East-India merchant, but no heavy sa-
crifice on the part of the West-India planter.
But if the import be large, what an injury are
we inflicting upon the natives of India and upon
the British consumer? The 10s. added to his
present return will enable the British merchant
to import sugar into Great Britain. If his profit be
excessive on his prime cost, the influx of capi-
tal will soon bring his gains down to the proper
level, and, by creating an enlarged demand for
sugars in India, stimulate the native cultivator.
Here then we perceive the extreme injury to the
natives of India ; but follow out the consequences.
The increased supply from India must be
cheaper than that from the West Indies, or it
would not exist; the cheaper growth will be
C
34
substituted for the dearer, and thus add to the
enjoyments of every family in the kingdom.
If the market be brought down to one-half of
the extent of the 10s. is not that a saving of
nearly a million on the annual consumption
of above three millions of cwt. besides the
difference to the revenue in the saving upon the
excess of drawback beyond the duty, which is
given now as a bonus to the West-India planter
to the extent of from 4s. to 5s. per cwt.? For, as
this drawback enables the refiner to give so
much more for his article, and there can be but
one price in a market, it actually enhances, pro-
tanto, the market-price of the whole consump-
tion.
Such would be the improved state of things
if the duties were equalized; but reverse the
picture, and see the obvious consequences to
which the West Indians are leading the public.
At present, they export one-fifth to one-third
of their importation; and it is this surplus,
above the wants of the home-consumers, that
preserves the level price of the article with that
on the Continent, for it is the price of surplus
1
35
that governs that of the whole. The endea-
vour of the West Indians is to get rid of this
surplus with as little sacrifice to themselves as
possible, and this object is visible in all their pro-
ceedings. They may now carry sugars direct
to the Continent, and there meet East-India
sugars, without the burthen of the transit through
this country, as heretofore.
Once bring the supply down to the consump-
tion, and exclude other growths, sugar may
be high here and low abroad, and the West-
India planters may then obtain their high
remunerative price. But will not this be to the
sacrifice of the consumer and the refiner?
It is thus-" Released from the obligation of
bringing all his sugar to England, the West
"Indian may, if he please, get rid of the whole
"of the surplus quantity in an American or
foreign European market; and, provided he
"can still keep in his hands the monopoly of
"the supply of this country, it will be in his
power to exact, from the consumer and refiner
66
here, an ample compensating price upon the
"remainder. To the permanent success of this
C 2
36
(C
plan, however, two obstacles, which may
fairly be considered insurmountable, exist:
"viz. the tyrannical nature of its operation on
"the public, and the magnitude of the surplus
"to be thus artificially got rid of at a reduced
price.
66
"Some temporary success might, neverthe-
"less, attend such a scheme destructive to
"others, and hardly less baneful in the end to
“ himself. The diversion even of a small
<C
quantity of sugar, in the present state of the
"British market, would create a sensible scar-
66
city; the demand of the last year having
"exceeded the supply 8000 casks, owing, no
66
doubt, to the purchases of the refiners, for
"the purposes of exportation. An advance
"in price would, therefore, certainly follow in
"the first instance, and the refiners, thus forced,
"either to abandon their houses and occupa-
.66
tions, or give an undue price for their raw
"material, would, probably, yield for a time to
"the demand of an increased price, influenced
by a vague and certainly delusive expectation
"of a corresponding advance in the prices of
66
37
3
$
"their refined exportable produce. This state
"of things, however, could not long be sup-
66
66
ported. The operation of such sales and
purchases, a few times repeated, would
"transfer, into the pockets of the planter, the
larger part of the capital of the refiner, who,
66
66
66
seeing themselves menaced by speedy and in-
evitable ruin, would, undoubtedly, withdraw
"from the struggle, and many would carry to
66
foreign countries their skill and the remains of
"their capital, leaving the planter exposed to
"the consequences of a tremendous re-action,
“with an unmanageable surplus still on his
hands, and more embarrassed than ever.
<<
"Such, in all probability, would be the effect
"of so partial and unjust a measure, which
"would aggravate in the case of the refiner the
66
injurious effects of the present monopoly,
"while it emancipated the planter from all
"those restrictions to which, in the spirit of
"fair reciprocity, he has hitherto ever been
subjected.
66
66
Against a really free trade, however, the
"refiners will never offer an objection. They
38
"will readily consent, that the West Indians
"shall buy and sell where they please, provided
"the same indulgence be granted to them-
"selves. They desire no protecting or prohi-
bitory duties of any sort, content to rely
66
entirely upon their ability to manufacture as
"well and as cheap as the refiners of other
"countries. A free trade is all they desire ;
"but against a free trade partially granted
they protest, as against the worst and most
oppressive species of monopoly."
66
""*
The above is the account given by the re-
finers themselves; here they roundly assert
that the quantity of their raw material is
insufficient; they show that their interest,
and that of the West-India planters, run di-
rectly opposite; they are anxious for an excess
of supply in the home-market beyond home-
consumption; the West-India planters are de-
sirous, by every means, of equalizing the home-
supply to the home-consumption; what is then
* Extracted from the Report of the present State of
Sugar Refineries in England, dated April, 1822.
39
the prayer of the refiner to the legislature?
give us a free trade, let us buy sugar where we
can get it cheapest, and we pledge ourselves
with our skill, capital, and machinery, success-
fully to compete with all the world; deny us
this and we sink under our foreign rivals.
If the times are not ripe for a free trade, and
legislation will not allow foreign sugars to enter
into competition with British sugars, for God's
sake, let us give, with this reservation, full scope
to the principle, and admit all sugars from British
dependencies on an equal footing; nothing else
can save the refiners. The folly of the restric-
tive system is most admirably exposed by Mr.
Marryat, in his elaborate speech, in 1809, in
favour of the admission of Martinique sugars;
the doctrines are sound; the conclusion irre-
sistible. We quote his words with pleasure.*
* Mr. Marryat's speech, 1809, Hansard's Parliamen-
tary Debates, vol. xiv. page 79." It is granted, that
when charters were first given to encourage the settlement
of the British Islands, and during the infancy of their
establishment, it was an expedient and necessary encou-
ragement to secure to them the exclusive supply of the Bri-
40
Can any one doubt, after this examination,
that, unless the West Indians can show a very
strong case, there is sufficient grounds on the
score of positive evil, to the
Native of India,
British Merchant,
Ship-owner,
Manufacturer,
Refiner,
and last, not least, to the Revenue and People
of Great Britain, to justify the equalization of
the duties?
tish market, by imposing such duties on foreign sugars as
should amount to a prohibition. But now, that their pro-
duce is more than adequate to the consumption of the
mother-country, so that one-third part of it must be re-
exported, and the price it will fetch in foreign markets
must necessarily regulate the price of what is sold here,
it is evident that this restriction can no longer be of use
to them; that not Great Britain alone, but Europe is the
market for sugars, the British planter has to look up to,
and that the demand from abroad must increase in propor-
tion to the increased quantity that diverted from their
markets, finds its way to ours, so as to keep up the uni-
versal price at one common level." See also page 83,
41
Let us now hear what can be alleged by the
West Indians.-There are two points on which
their advocates have recently relied, with
much pertinacity. 1st. The sacrifice of capi-
tal, which would be occasioned by a reduction
in the cultivation and manufacture of sugar:
and, 2d. The state of the slave-population,
which they contend would be deteriorated by
such a measure.
All investments of capital are intended for
profit, but subject to the risk of loss. If a
monopoly, sanctioned by the legislature, is
claimed by the West Indians, let them prove
their title; we deny its existence.
Assuming none to exist, wherein do the West
Indians differ from all other sufferers, whose
capital has been lost, and whose hopes have
been disappointed by the introduction of new
and shorter processes in the march of human
improvement?
The admission of East-India competition
becomes a particular sacrifice for a general
good. That a cheap supply of sugar is a most
desirable object; that the consequent intro-
42
duction of so great a comfort, into the do-
mestic consumption of a larger mass of our
people than at present enjoy it, is equally im-
portant, few can question; even if these be-
nefits must be purchased by the reduction of
the profits on West-India property; or even, in
some instances, the total loss of West-India rent.
If compensation be fairly due, let it be paid
by the whole people, not taken exclusively
from the East Indies.*
Such was the reasoning in the case of the
introductory of new machinery, the formation
of roads, docks, canals, in short, in all the
* On the subject of loss of capital, I cannot refrain
from quoting the following admirable passage from the
well-known pamphlet of Mr. Ricardo, on a subject
strikingly analogous, "Protection to Corn," page 60.
"That some capital would be lost cannot be disputed;
but is the possession or preservation of capital the end or
the means? The means, undoubtedly. What we want is
an abundance of commodities, and, if it could be proved,
that by the sacrifice of part of our capital we should
augment the annual produce of those objects which con-
tribute to our enjoyment and happiness, we ought not, I
should think, to repine at the loss of part of our capital.”
43
great improvements which have so peculiarly
marked the last forty years, and elevated this
country to so remarkable a pre-eminence.
Supposing the equalization of duty to pro-
duce an annual increased consumption of East-
India sugars in preference to West-India
sugars, the loss of capital in buildings and
sugar-works, and in the arrangements of the
manufacture in the West Indies, must still be
gradual, and may be made more so, by allowing
a certain time to elapse before the whole of the
protecting duty be repealed. To this, no
friend of the cause of the East Indies can
reasonably object; the immediate recognition
of the principle, that sugars from all British
dependencies should be admitted equally, is
the important point to gain.
The land in the West Indies would remain,
production of other articles would follow, and,
instead of buying abroad provisions at a high
rate, the planters would find it to their interest
to devote a portion of that land to their pro-
duction at home; thereby lessening the cost of
the cultivation on the finer soils.
44
At present, from the temptation held out by
the monopoly of the home-market, the planter
unnaturally extends his cultivation, and sacri-
fices every other growth to increase his sugar.
The evil of this system has been ably pointed
out by one of their own body, Mr. Robley."
*
Such have been the fluctuations in West-
India produce from this evil, the inseparable
evil of monopoly, that no property has been
so proverbially unsafe as West-India property.
It is notorious that nine estatest out of ten
have changed hands within these few years.
Are the merchants, who have benefited by
these fluctuations, or the capitalists, who hold
mortgages, to claim more than even the landed
gentry of England can obtain, in an analogous
case? Who proposes to exclude the produce of
* See pamphlet, published by Richardson, in 1808, en-
titled, "a Permanent and Effectual Remedy suggested
for the Evils, under which the British West Indies now
Labour;" in which the plan for reducing the surplus is
boldly laid down, and a consequent change of the culti-
vation of the land from sugar to provisions recommended.
† Jamaica.
1
45
Ireland from the home-market of England?
Would not such an attempt be universally re-
probated? The East Indians are called upon
to give up their rights as British subjects, to
preserve the capitals of speculators in the
newly opened alluvial land of Demerara, and
of mortgagees of West-India estates. If we
examine the system generated by this mono-
poly, we can easily see how difficult it is to
obtain a remunerative price for West-India
produce. The mortgagee in England insists
upon a certain consignment of sugar; the com-
mission on which is to increase the interest on
his loan. Sugar must be grown, therefore, on
inferior soils; the supplies for the negroes must
come through the London mortgagee, and
the commission and charges still further swell
the cost; then the freight must be procured
for the ships of the London mortgagee; and
here we discover the secret of the extraordi-
nary fact, that the West-India freights have
not been reduced in equal rates with those
from India.
The West-India merchant must benefit as
46
ship-owner, and the charge be thrown on the
sugar, and paid for in the remunerative price
demanded of the home-consumer, in the mo-
nopoly of the home-market; and such has
been the obliquity of the reasoning assumed
by our opponents, that this want of assimila-
tion between East and West India freight was
an argument used by the West Indians, in
1821, to justify a still further addition to their
protecting duty.
But the chief capital embarked in the West
Indies is in the negroes. Cannot their labour
be turned to some account, even if the cul-
tivation of sugar, on inferior soil, were to
cease?
As to their comfort and subsistence, which
it has been asserted forms the second ground
on which the West Indians rest their claim to
the preference of the home-market, is it not
certain that the negroes, on those estates where
a portion of the land is dedicated to growing
provisions, are the most at ease, whilst on
those bound to produce a quantity of sugar
sufficient to pay the London mortgagee, and
!
47
where provisions are bought, the fare of the ne-
groes is the scantiest, and their labour the
most severe? The slave-trade is now abolished,
the gradual elevation of the slaves from their
present condition to that of peasantry can ne-
ver be accomplished, desirable to humanity as
it is, if the West Indies are to be cultivated as
a garden. Besides, what can be more distress-
ing to the slaves than the alternations of pros-
perity and ruin, to which property depending
on a monopoly is always liable. The money-
value of the slave to the London mortgagee,
his capital in human beings, may be lessened
sugar
by the curtailment of the growth of
the West Indies; but the capital of the state,
the man himself, will still remain, and become
more valuable to the state and to society, as
he gradually loses the character of the slave in
that of the peasant, and when his labour and
not his person bears a price, and when there is
no demand of a remunerative price to pay for
the prime cost of the man. But it has been
asserted that encouraging sugar in the East
Indies is only employing slaves in the East In-
in
48
}
dies instead of the slaves in the West. Now, to
this, I give an unqualified negative.-No slavery
does exist in Bengal, or the northern provinces
where the sugar is cultivated. It is true, that,
in the different stages of society exhibited in
the immense extent of Hindostan, a state of
personal slavery is found to exist in some dis-
tricts; but it is to a very small extent, con-
fined to a very small population; and the
whole stream of the policy and principles of
the East-India Company is adverse to syste-
matic slavery; and when proper inquiries are
made, and the true state of the case accurately
known, I entertain no doubt but that it will be
found the Court of Directors has lent its aid to
put an end to the evil, small as it is, and that
the Indian Government will prepare such mea-
sures as may cure this disease in society, with-
out injury to the slaves themselves.
It has been asserted the West Indies are a
great mart for our manufactures, and add to
the strength of the empire, by the encourage-
ment of British shipping. Now the export decla-
red value of the British manufactures, in 1820–21
49
to China and India, was £3,713,021; that to
the West Indies, £3,831,300; and in 1821-22
as follows:
Exports to India and China ..£4,087,020
British West Indies
3,985,053
The latter includes the circuitous supply of
South America, which must cease when a
direct intercourse takes place with those coun-
tries, through Vera Cruz and the Carraccas.
I have before stated the increase of the ex-
port of cotton and woollens to British India.
The report of the Lords and Commons on
foreign trade are full of proofs of the proba-
ble extension of the demand for British manu-
factures in British India and in Java, the East-
ern Archipelago, &c. In short, it is now well-
known, that the demand is limited, not as be-
fore imagined, by the absence of the want it-
self, but by the inability to gratify it, from the
difficulty in obtaining equivalents wherewith to
purchase.
The alleged insurmountable barrier, op-
posed by the prejudices of the Hindoos, to
the progress of trade, is now known to be illu-
D
50
sory. Contrast then the wants of eighty mil-
lions in India, with one million in the West
Indies, and the nature of the two societies:
in India an opulent priesthood, merchants,
nobles, princes, sovereigns; in the West In-
dies 700,000 slaves, and 20,000 agents, plan-
ters, and clerks. The wants of India offer so
unbounded a field for the exertion of British
skill in manufactures, as at once to place at an
immeasurable distance the comparative value
of the commerce of the East over that of the
West Indies. As to shipping, here even the
advocates of the old system, the men opposed
to theory and free trade, must confess that
British shipping has a wider range in the East
than in the West Indies.
In bringing sugar from the East Indies the
voyage is double the length of that from the
West Indies, and British shipping has abso-
lutely superceded the native shipping of India
by its cheapness.
The free trade is wholly carried on with
British built ships, manned with British sailors.
Lower the price of sugar you enlarge its con-
51
sumption; an increased supply requires addi-
tional shipping. See how deeply the British ship-
owners are interested in this question; and if the
naval strength of Great Britain depends on the
extent of its commercial navy, may we not
calculate on the warm support of all those
who wish to strengthen this right arm of the
security of Great Britain. Contrast the East
and West Indies as to the advantages derived
from each by Great Britain. The patronage of
the West Indies increases the power of the
crown, that of the East Indies is exercised
by an independant body of men, and diffused
over the whole society. Not a single colony
in the West Indies supports itself. From In-
dia, every year brings home civil and military
servants, or the successful commercial adven-
turer, to add to the productive powers of the
parent state, by the employment of his ca-
pital.
Some persons affect to see nothing but inse-
curity in the tenure by which India is held ;
but can they seriously hold this opinion, and
yet entertain no fear for the West Indies, in the
D 2
52
vicinity of Hayti, and the Independent Repub-
lics of North and South America? The tenure
by which India is held, is the state of society
of the natives, and the superiority of the British
Government to that of their former rulers. The
slave-population of the West Indies is a source
of insecurity inherent to those dependencies:
and, if we lose the supremacy of India, will
the cultivation of cheap sugar necessarily be
destroyed? Did we lose the cheap produc-
tions of the United States when we lost those
colonies? or did they cease to buy our manu-
factures, when they ceased to be our fellow sub-
jects?
To conclude, I trust I have shown that the
protecting duty, is vicious in principle, and in-
jurious in practice, that it affects alike the pros-
perity of the East-India Trade,
the Natives of India,
the British Merchant,
the British Ship-Owner,
the British Manufacturer, and
Refiner,
and of the whole community as consumers.
}
53
That the maintenance of the protecting duty
cannot be justified, either by the supposed pre-
scriptive rights of the West Indians, under the
alleged faith of the legislature, or by the terms
of the colonial system.
That the pleas advanced by its advocates.
of a sacrifice of capital and injury to the slaves,
by an equalization of the duty, are most inade-
quate grounds for its continuance.
That, if the comparative advantages of the
East and West Indies are invidiously brought
into contrast, the balance preponderates in
favour of the former, the natural develop-
ment of the resources of India, offering the
widest field for British manufactures and Bri-
tish shipping, whilst, unlike the West Indies,
instead of consuming, she increases the re-
sources of the parent state. That both are
British dependencies, and possess equal rights,*
* The following were the words of an eminent West-India
merchant, (Mr. Marryat,) in 1809, in the House of Com-
mons, even with regard to the French conquered colony
of Martinique. What must they be, if applied to India.
"But I would ask, are men influenced by pecuniary
54
and that Great Britain is bound, by every tie,
to protect the rights of her subjects in India,
considerations alone? Have they no feelings of any other
description? Even in the most trifling cases, no man is
satisfied to be put on a worse footing than his neighbour.
If he does not feel a distinction made to his disadvantage
as an injury, he considers it as an insult, and resents it
still more strongly. Can it be expected that the inhabi-
tants of Martinique will contentedly endure, that while the
produce of every other West-India colony, conquered by
Great Britain during the present war, is admitted to her
home-consumption, their produce alone should be ex-
cluded? Will they not ask what they have done, that, like
Cain, they should be branded with a mark of opprobium,
and treated as a stigmatized race? But, unfortunately, for
the effect this measure may be expected to produce upon
their minds, it so happened, that when the island was cap-
tured, that temporary difference between the price of sugar
for home consumption and exportation, to which I have
already adverted, did exist; and, therefore, they will con-
sider the distinction not as an imaginary, but as a real
grievance. Besides, they will naturally be led to conclude,
from the strenuous opposition made by the British planters
to the admission of their sugars for home-consumption,
that the object is worth contending for."-See Hansard's
Parliamentary Debates, vol. xiv. p. 88.
55
-to foster and encourage their agricultural
and commercial prosperity,--and to obtain for
them, not an advantage over another, but even-
handed justice, an open field for exertion, a
right not to exclude, but to compete; not to
narrow the enjoyments and diminish the wealth
of the parent state, but to enlarge the con-
sumption of an almost necessary of life; and,
at the same time, increase the commerce and
wealth of the country.
+
56
SINCE the foregoing observations were writ-
ten, a pamphlet* proceeding directly from the
West Indians has been published. We there get
the substance of their claims; and as they rest
their right to the preference on the compact, and
on general expediency, the two heads so amply
considered in the foregoing pages, I trust I
may safely refer the reader to my remarks on
these leading branches of their argument, with-
out entering into a detailed reply.
Some particular points, however, I shall now
proceed to examine. What is the West Indian
interpretation of the great Charter of the
Colonies, the National Compact? for which
they have picked up the stray oratorical ex-
pression of Mr. Fox,-this "something-more
binding than an act of Parliament." It is this:
that if the West Indians bring (not their whole
produce) but a surplus beyond home-consump-
tion, they have fulfilled their part of this com-
pact. Now, will they agree to give up this
* Observations on the Claims of the West Indians.
57
compact when they cease to bring a surplus?
I can venture to predict they will not. For all
their efforts are directed to get rid of this sur-
plus; and unless they do, they must sink.
The views of the legislature, in the colonial
system, probably were, that all the produce of
the colonies should be brought to the mother-
country: 1st, to afford a cheap supply for
home-consumption, it being then supposed the
West Indies was the most natural place for the
growth of sugar, and the slave-cultivation the
cheapest method in a tropical climate; and,
2dly, to supply, from the surplus beyond home-
consumption, a raw material for the home re-
finers, so that the mother-country, securing a
cheaper price to herself first, should next fur-
nish the rest of the world with the manufactured
article. To this view, all the regulations of the
sugar-trade were directed.
But in the revolution of circumstances, other
sugars are brought to Europe cheaper than Bri-
tish West-India sugars; and foreign competition,
either in the raw or refined article, is acknow-
ledged to be nearly out of the question, (see
58
1
page 9). The consequence will be, that (not-
withstanding the bounty-tax) the refiner can-
not continue his trade with a dear raw mate-
rial, and the West Indian, unable to bear the
reduction in price which must follow, from the
surplus being thrown upon the home-market,
will curtail his quantity of produce, so as to
bring the supply nearer upon a level with the
average consumption. We are thus to lose
our refineries in the first instance, and ulti-
mately to be supplied by our friends in the
West Indies at a higher rate, than that at which
all the rest of the world obtain their sugars.
This, I contend, is the consequence to which
the preference given to the West Indians must
inevitably lead; all their endeavours are di-
rected to the reduction of this surplus, then,
and then only can they command the home
market and remunerative prices. The alterna-
tive lies between narrowing production or pro-
ducing at a loss: can we doubt which will be
adopted? The vent for the surplus is closed
by cheaper sugars. May we not here retort on
the West Indian, if he denies that he wants to
59
*
reduce the surplus, Why, then, cavil at the
East Indian for seeking the home-market;
your surplus levels prices at home with those
on the Continent; therefore, if you wonder why
the East Indian does not go abroad with his
sugar, he may wonder why you do not allow
him to bring his sugar into the home-market?
For, by your own showing, there is, whilst any
surplus exists, but one price; and whether the
excess be here or abroad cannot alter the case.
But, say the West Indians, cheapness does not
increase consumption, for we see the surplus
still remains on hand, there is therefore no
room for the East-India sugar. Now, our
answer is, that the facts, as stated by the West
Indians themselves, are at variance with their
reasoning. In eight years, from 1814 to 1822,
they state the consumption of sugar has increased
from 1,905,953 to 2,487,982 cwt. (see p. 20), an
increase of 30,000 ton son 96,000 tons, nearly
one-third. Allow East-India sugars to be ad-
* Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to form foreign
connexions, but the Mauritius sugar is sent to all the conti-
nental markets open to it.
♥
•
60
mitted on equal duties, and (when the surplus
of the West Indies is reduced, as by our previ-
ous reasoning we contend it must) the compe-
tition of the two growths will so operate
as to admit East-India sugars to the extent of
its superior cheapness over the West-India
sugar. If, out of the 10s. duty, the price can
be so arranged as to give 5s. more to the im-
porter, the remaining 5s. will fall to the con-
sumer in a reduction protanto of price: assum-
ing then the value of sugar at 35s. here is an
immediate admission of one-seventh more sugar
for the same amount of money employed in its
purchase, or on 150,000 tons 20,000 tons,
enough for the dead weight of the India trade.
This argument proceeds on the supposition,
that West-India sugars can keep their ground
at 35s. But, continue the West Indians, this
will end in a substitution of East for West India
sugar, and destroy all our hopes of obliging
the home consumers to pay a remunerating
price to their fellow-subjects in the old British
West-India colonies. If the West Indians
cannot stand the competition, so it will, and so
61
it ought. The original intentions of the framers
of the supposed compact, or in other words of
the Colonial System, cannot be accomplished.
It has fallen to pieces in the revolution of time.
The West Indies no longer yield to the mother-
country cheap sugar for home consumption,
nor afford the raw material, which the British
manufacturer can work up for profitable export.
Nothing can save the West Indians but getting
rid of the surplus, and that surplus is the only
check upon the high prices of a monopoly;
and, I ask, whether the legislature and the
country can tolerate this new version of the
colonial compact? But the West Indians tell
us, (in page 37,) that the consumer will rue
the day in which he shall have the choice given
him of the two monopolies, and, choosing the
cheapest, shall substitute East for West India
sugars. Why? Because the export trader
will gain nothing by a transfer, but rather the
reverse, as the population of the West Indies
depend wholly for their supply of manufactures
on this country. The East only partially, as
it is open to other sources of supply, and a
66
62
large portion of the population are employed
in manufactures, not only for their own con-
sumption, but also for exportation."
As if, supposing the consumers of sugar to
save one million per annum on its purchase,
they would not have a larger disposable capital
to invest in manufactures: as if, supposing the
manufacturer got one-third or one-sixth more
sugar for his piece of cloth from the East than
from the West Indies, he would not be the
richer for the trade with the former, rather than
with the latter. It is not the mere sale or ex-
change of goods that proves the value of a
trade; it is what the seller gets in return. Sup-
pose the whole home supply of sugar to be
purchased in India, it must be paid for by
British labour, as much as if it came from the
West Indies. But if the same quantity of Bri-
tish labour would purchase three pounds of
sugar in the West Indies and four pounds in
the East, can any reasonable man doubt which
trade is most beneficial to British industry?—
So much for the arguments of the trifling saving
of one penny per pound; not less however than
}
63
one-third of the prime cost of the finest quality
of East-India sugar.
But the West Indians indulge in fearful an-
ticipation of war, and the consequent depriva-
tion of sugar, or its circuitous import through
neutrals, &c. Now, my opinion on this head
is, that it is most dangerous doctrine to pro-
pose to legislate, so as to provide, at the ex-
pense of our comfort in peace, for our compa-
rative exemption from evil in war. To make
war less popular and, consequently, less fre-
quent, they should bring in their train-high
price, high freights, high insurance, difficulties
of supply, and abundance of evil. Peace
should be considered by every wise statesman,
as the natural and regular course of things
under which we wish to live, to which war is
the exception; but here the West-Indian advo-
cate wishes to make war the rule, and peace
the exception.
But I deny the fact assumed by the West
Indians, that our possessions in the West Indies
offer a more secure supply of sugar. I too can
paint, if we must indulge in visions of futurity,
64
the sugar consumer trembling during another
American war. The superiority of the British
naval force in the West Indies may be doubt-
ful. The United States' fleet may menace our
colonies without, and a discontented mutinous
slave-population may be ready to rise within.
We have during the last war ample proof, that
there is no blockade which the enterprize and
ingenuity of self-interest cannot evade.
We are accused (pages 29-30) of improperly
assuming to be the advocates of 100 millions of
people, for it is asked, can the sugar for the home-
market put more than 300,000 labourers in ac-
tion? Here again let me refer the West Indians,
as before, to one of their own body. Have men no
feelings? are the East Indies to bear the brand
of Cain? I substitute the East Indies for Mar-
tinique, and I rest this part of the case on the
eloquent arguments of Mr. Marryat. The truth
is, the admission of sugar is of immense import-
ance to the whole trade of India. This I have
attempted to explain, and I appeal to every
practical merchant for the accuracy of my
statement. The finer goods cannot be brought
1
65
to Europe without heavy goods; deprive the
East Indians of sugar and they must bring
Ganges' sand with their indigo, cotton, silk,
and drugs to the home-market; or what will
more probably take place, they will carry that
sugar, indigo, drugs, &c. to the Continent.
This is the alternative. On the result of the
present discussion hangs the rising prosperity
of this new trade, which opens so wide a field
for the interchange of the tropical productions
of the East with the manufactured goods of
this country.
-
We
In page 46, the West Indian goes back to the
olden times of the Company, and observes that
so little was competition expected from the
East Indies that, until late years, no provision
was made for the allowance of bounty on
sugars refined from East-India sugars.
agree with him that whilst the energies of India
lay dormant, under the monopoly of the Com-
pany, no rivalry was anticipated; but the ques-
tion now is-Shall this continue? The original
object of obtaining a cheap supply of sugar
from the West Indies can be accomplished
E
66
better elsewhere.
The term of the patent is
expired:-the British West Indies must allow
competition with other British dependencies at
home, having yielded to cheaper growths
abroad. No bolstering up will now avail,-no
scale of duties formed upon average prices will
avail. The question is whether the country
will submit to lose its export for want of a cheap
material, and allow the West Indians to reduce
their supply to the present average of the home-
consumption, and force, by their monopoly, a
remunerative price from the British consumer?
And another question still remains-Shall we
allow all this to be accomplished, to the pre-
judice of the resources of India, of the pros-
perity and feelings of an immense population
placed under our charge, and to the extreme
detriment of a branch of commerce which pro-
mises to prove of incalculable advantage to the
British empire?
67

SUGAR.
Imports ending
January 5.
A
B
C
D
E
F
British
Conquered
East
Foreign
General
Total
G
Gross Quantity charged with
Duty for Home-Consump-
tion.
Plantation.
Colonies.
Indies.
Plantation.
Total.
Exports.
West.
East.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
1815 | 2,859,077
535,110
43,789
597,347
4,035,323
2,002,110 | 3,030,042
12,916
1816 3,050,380
442,678
125,639
366,085 | 3,984,782
3,984,782 | 1,906,712 | 2,941,735
42,707
1817 | 3,070,228
363,758
127,202
199,360
3,760,548 | 1,663,618 3,220,594
|
33,130
1818 | 3,170,599
391,954
125,892
107,105
3,795,550
1,671,741 4,151,238
27,059
1819 | 3,227,540
437,950
162,394
1820 3,273,654
510,900
205,528
1821 3,049,061
574,258
277,228
1822
3,188,888
545,404
269,162
560,300
228,170
1823 | 2,555,410
|
138,063 3,965,947 1,695,628 | 2,672,226
86,927 4,077,009 | 1,302,181 | 3,283,658
162,994 4,063,541 1,659,556 3,661,730 83,231
197,402 | 4,200,856 1,579,919 3,660,508 117,340
N. B. Under column B, are included for 1815, 16,
and 17, the supplies from Surinam and the Danish
colonies; subsequently the import is confined to Deme-
rara and Berbice.
Column D, includes sugar from Martinique, Cuba,
Brazil, &c.
Under column F, note the export in raw is calculated
at 34 cwt. to 20 cwt. of refined sugar.
The year 1823 is necessarily imperfect, from the ac-
counts not being made up, but they will probably show
a diminished import both of British plantation and
East-India; and a continued large supply from the con-
quered colonies, with a material diminution of export.
It is observed in a respectable Summary published at
the close of 1822, New London Price Current, fo. 18,
that the number of refiners' pans, at present employed
in London, is 170, including 30 new patents; when a few
years ago the number exceeded 300: and that the export
of refined sugar in 1822, has materially fallen off, being
21,000 hhds less than in 1821.
24,775
|
99,440
1
1
MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street
}
ERRATA.
Page 17-line 2 from bottom, for this official--read the official.
42-line 12, for introductory-read introduction.
45-line 3 from bottom, for equal rates—read an equal ratio.
50-line 2 from bottom, for British built—read British or India regis-
tered ships.
APPENDIX.
1
Extract of a Minute of the Board of Trade, in Cal-
cutta, dated 7th August, 1792.
"In this country (Bengal) the cultivator is either the
" immediate proprietor of the ground, or he hires it, as
"in Europe, of the proprietor, and uses his discretion in
cultivating what he thinks best adapted to the nature
"of the soil, or the demand of the market. One field
66
produces sugar-the next wheat, rice, or cotton. The
"husbandman is nourished and clothed from his own
ground; or, if he thinks it more for his interest to sell
"the whole of his produce, supplies himself and his
56
'
family with the necessaries of life from his neighbour,
"or the next public market. The Bengal peasant is
"actuated by the ordinary wants and desires of mankind.
"His family assists his labour and sooths his toil, and
F
70
"the sharp eye of personal interest guides his judge-
"ment.
..
"In the West Indies, the works are stationary. The
cane, a heavy material when just cut, must be carried
"from the most distant parts of the plantation,—a very
"laborious business. In Bengal, the mill, boiling vessels,
"and covering-shed, are so extremely light, that they
(6
are easily removed from field to field, as occasion re-
quires, and, consequently, prevent the labour of dis-
"tant carriage of the cane. In the West Indies, the
"whole labour of the ground is performed by hand, with
"the spade or hoe; here, (Bengal,) the ox and plough,
as in Europe, lessen the labour of man, and facilitate
"the production of the earth.”
The
These are some of the most important parts of this able
minute, the state of the Bengal peasantry is here de-
scribed by persons on the spot, and devoted to the com-
mercial branch of the Company's administration.
whole is worthy of an attentive perusal; the contrast
between the slaves in the West Indies and the peasantry
in Bengal, affords the most satisfactory answer to those
who still choose to assert that the former are substantially
as independent as the latter.
다
​1
71
It is observed in page 48, that the whole stream of the
Company's policy is adverse to personal slavery;—in
proof of this may be adduced, the permanent settlement
of the land in Bengal, which, however erroneous in prin-
ciple some may consider it, was unquestionably framed
for the protection of the natives, both Zemindars and
Ryots.
THE END.
+
}
MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street
RELIEF
FOR
West-Indian Distress,
SHEWING THE
INEFFICIENCY OF PROTECTING DUTIES
ON EAST-INDIA SUGAR,
AND POINTING OUT
OTHER MODES OF CERTAIN RELIEF.
BY JAMES CROPPER.
LONDON:
Printed by Ellerton and Henderson,
Gough Square:
AND SOLD BY HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY;
AND J. & J. ARCH, CORNHILL, LONDON: AND
G. & J. ROBINSON, CASTLE STREET; AND W. GRAPEL,
LORD STREET, LIVERPOOL.
1823.
RELIEF
FOR
WEST-INDIAN DISTRESS.
THE equalization of the duty upon East and
West India Sugar has hitherto been too generally
considered, by those who have not thought much
about it, as a question merely between the East
and West Indians, in which whatever the one
gained the other would lose; but in which, what-
ever the result may be, the country has no interest.
This will be found to be a very erroneous opinion.
It is, indeed, admitted by the West Indians, that the
preference which they have in the home market,
under present circumstances, is "of little benefit to
them,”—and it may be proved, that even the hopes
that it may be so hereafter have no good founda-
tion; whilst, by adhering to the present regulations,
the important benefit to be derived from an unre-
strained trade to India, now become sufficiently
obvious, would be injuriously affected.
•
The protections claimed by the West Indians
are of two distinct kinds.
1st. A bounty on the export of the surplus, by
which the price is raised about 6s. per cwt.
B
2
2d. The monopoly of the home-market with
respect to Foreign sugar, and a high duty on
that from British India.
With respect to the first, and by very far the
most important, the two interests are in no degree
opposed to each other; on the contrary, the East
Indians participate in the advantage, in so far as
it tends to increase the price of fine sugar; but
against them both is directly opposed the interest
of the country at large. This tax on the country
has no support whatever on the ground of right;
nor can it be defended as according with sound
policy or common sense.
Whether a bounty, to encourage the flow of
capital into particular channels, can ever be ad-
vantageous, may be matter of much doubt; but it
can never be justified excepting where it affords
the prospect of repayment in some future ad-
vantage to the country. This bounty, however,
upon the exportation of refined sugar, is one
which stops the progress of improvement, tends to
perpetuate a bad and impolitic system, and must
be a tax on the country so long as it shall con-
tinue. Moreover, whilst the only obstacle to
the unlimited extension of the export of British
manufactures is the difficulty of obtaining returns
which we can consume at home, we are in this
instance giving a bounty to send away the very
returns we want, by raising the price, and thereby
lessening our own consumption, at the same time
lowering the price and increasing the consump-
tion, and thereby extending the commerce, of our
3
neighbours and our rivals. The country has been
paying directly from the revenue, a sum of not
less than 250,000l. per annum, upon the average
of some years past, which has had no other effect
than this. Such a master-piece of impolicy and
folly, when once understood, cannot long be en-
dured; and therefore it will be proper to enter
more at length into an explanation of this point.
As the terms Drawback and Bounty may not
be understood by those who are not familiar with
commercial transactions, it may be proper to
explain, that a Drawback means, as the term
implies, a drawing back, or receiving on the
exportation of any article of foreign growth, the
duty, either in whole or in part, which had been
paid upon it on importation; this is a direct
drawback: sometimes it is given by way of com-.
pensation for direct or indirect taxes imposed on
manufactures; and then, though called a bounty,
it is strictly speaking only a drawback, and is a
judicious provision, inasmuch as, whilst it does ·
not tend to enhance the price of the article to the
English consumer, it enables the manufacturer
more successfully to compete with his foreign
rivals, whose trade may not be so fettered by
taxation. When, however, the amount drawn
back on exportation exceeds either the direct tax
paid on importation, as in the case of refined
sugar, or that which is added to the cost of the
article, by means of direct or indirect taxation, it
becomes a Bounty.
British Plantation sugar, when sold in bond,
B 2
4
***
i
or without payment of duty, is from 5s. to 7s.
per cwt. dearer than Foreign sugar of similar
quality. Under such circumstances, no raw sugar
can be sold for exportation; and as the Foreign
refiner, who can buy either British or Foreign
sugar, has therefore an advantage over the British
refiner for exportation, the latter must have an
indemnity for the higher price which he gives for
his raw material, or he could not carry on the
trade. This indemnity he receives in the bounty
which is paid on the exportation of his goods;
which induces him to give so much more for the
raw sugar, thus raising the price of all British
Plantation sugar.
The following table was the first which I
adopted for shewing the amount of the Bounty
paid upon the exportation of refined sugar.
112 lbs. of Raw Sugar, pays duty on im-
portation
And produces, when refined,
61 lbs. Refined Sugar, which on
exportation receeivs 46s.
per cwt.
25s. d.
6
22 lbs. Bastards, which, if ex-
ported, would receive 30s.
per cwt.
.....
24 lbs. Molasses, which pay on
5s. 10%d.
importation 10s. per cwt... 2s. 1%d.
5 lbs. Waste.
112
Bounty received on exportation, more
than paid on importation
L.1 7 0
1 13 1
06 1
Some objections having been made to this
table, I have been led to a closer investigation of
5
2
the subject. The result is a discovery, that the
bounty, instead of being lower than I had stated,
is higher.
It has been objected, that the molasses are not
exported, nor would there be any bounty on their
exportation. This is wholly immaterial, because
they are allowed to come into consumption with-
out payment of the duty, to which they would be
subject if imported from the West Indies; and
if this argument were worth any thing, why not
extend it to the bastards, which are seldom if ever
exported; though, if they were, they would receive
in drawback and bounty 30s. per cwt.? The reason
is obvious; for if it had been so extended, it would
have appeared that there was not received back
as much as was paid, and thus the fallacy ofthe
whole argument would have been exposed.
The preceding table was formed upon the sup-
position, that, as the law allowed a drawback and
bounty of 30s. per cwt., upon the exportation of
the bastards, they were really exported. They are,
however, on the contrary, almost entirely taken
off by the demand from the home market; and
consequently it must be admitted, that the advan-
tage to the refiner is only the home-consumption
duty of 27s. per cwt. This, upon the principle of
the foregoing table, reduces the bounty there stated
from 6s. 1d. to 5s. 6d. per cwt.
As the bastards and the molasses are returned
again upon the home market, the bounty thus paid
has only lessened the quantity of sugar in the
country,
6
By exportation ...
By Waste in the process
And by converting into Molasses 24 lbs.
which, if value be a fair criterion, we
may say has lessened the quantity
*
61 lbs.
5
12
78 lbs.
From this it appears, that for every 112 lbs.
of sugar which, by the operation of this measure,
the refiner has been enabled to export, the country
has paid 7s. 10d., as will be more clearly illus-
trated by the following statement.
The export of refined sugar reduced to raw,
is stated, by returns to Parliament, to have been,
in the last year, 657,132 cwts. In that statement
one ton of refined sugar is considered to be equal
to thirty-four hundreds weight of raw sugar;
consequently the actual export of refined sugar
was 18,739 tons. The drawback and bounty paid
upon the exportation of common refined sugar, of
which our exports almost entirely consist, is 46s.
per cwt.; consequently there was paid to the
refiner, upon the above quantity of 18,739 tons,
the sum of
L. 861,994
* If the whole quantity of molasses returned upon the
home market was taken, it would make the bounty larger:
but as they do go in part to lessen a demand which must
otherwise be supplied by raw sugar, they ought to be
taken into account in the way which I have stated; the
value of this article being about half that of raw sugar.
7
According to the first table given, it requires
112 lbs. of raw sugar to make 61 lbs. of
refined. The quantity of raw sugar,
therefore, which the refiner would have
to take out of the market, in the first
instance, would be 34,406 tons, on which,
the duty being 27s. per cwt., he would
pay to the Revenue the sum of............ L.928,692
Out of this quantity, the re-
finer brings again into the
home market 22 lbs. of
bastards, for every 112 lbs.
of raw sugar, or 6,758
tons, on which the duty,
-
at 27s. per cwt., would
amount to .....
He further obtains 24 lbs. of
Molasses out of every 112
lbs. of raw sugar, which is
likewise brought into the
home market: this would be
7,372 tons. On this article
the duty, if imported, would
be 10l. per ton or
L. 182,466
73,720
256, 186
L.672,776
Leaving the net duty really paid on this
operation of refining for exportation
It has been shewn above, however, that the
sum which has been received back by the ex-
porter is 861,9941. Consequently the difference,
189,2187., is an excess or bounty; being so much
more received back on exportation, than had been
paid in duty on importation. The whole quantity
-8
of sugar taken out of the market in the first
instance was, as above stated,
Bastards returned upon the
home market……………………………………. 6,758 tons.
Molasses returned upon the
home-market, 7,372 tons,
34,406 tons.
which, if we take value as
a criterion, will be equal
to half the quantity of
raw sugar, or ......
3,686 tons.
10,444 tons.
Leaving the quantity of raw sugar really
taken from the Stock in the home
market
23,962 tons.
It is, therefore, clear, that in the operation of
exporting 23,962 tons of sugar, a bounty amount-
ing to 189,216. has been given, or 7s. 103d. per
cwt., as has been stated above.
But it may be asked, if the refiners actually
received a bounty of 7s. 10d. per cwt. should
they not be able to give so much more than foreign
refiners can afford to give for foreign sugar? By
no means; the sugar, as refined for exportation,
is not made to suit the consumer, but to obtain
the bounty, and has to go through a second
process on the Continent. If it was made to suit
the consumer, the consumer must pay the refiner
a profit; but it is made to suit the bounty; and
out of the bounty, therefore, they must have their
profit. This refining business, as it now stands,
is a forced business, nursed up by bounties. Like
the business of the West-India planters, which
9
is managed by agents and overseers, this business
is in a great measure conducted by German
managers. And what has all this nursing done
for it? Nothing: it is rapidly going to decay.
What other trades in the country are so bad
as those which are fed by bounties and monò-
polies? The agriculturists, it is true, have a
monopoly of the British market; but they have no
export bounty. It might have been supposed
that all thinking men, from seeing the effects,
would have had enough of monopolies and boun-
ties, even if the people were not tired of paying
for them.
کا
If some plan could be adopted for giving to
the British refiner the choice of all kinds of
sugar,
he would have a far greater choice than any
Foreign refiner could have. And why should we
not supply the Continent with refined sugar, to
suit the consumers, as well as with manufac-
tured cotton? A liberty to refine foreign sugar
in bond, and an abolition of the bounty, would
place both the West - India planters and the
refiners on a solid foundation: instead of looking
for bounties and monopolies, they would look to
their own good management of their own concerns.
We should probably soon cease to hear of the
drivers and the cart-whips, the overseers and the
attorneys, of the West Indies, and the German
managers of our refineries; for we may lay it
down as a rule, from which there are few excep-
tions, that no business is in a sound state where
the master does not understand his own business
:
10
at least as well as any of his servants, or where he
does not himself attend to it.
With respect to the second question, the
monopoly of the home market; so long as the
British Colonies produce more than Great Bri-
tain consumes, the price of the exported surplus
will regulate the price of the whole, and will be
itself regulated by the general price of Europe.
It will, therefore, produce little effect on the
prices in England, whether this exported surplus
be 50,000 tons, or whether it be increased to
100,000 tons by 50,000 more being allowed to
be sold in England, instead of going direct to the
Continent. The bounty on the exportation of
the refined goods keeps British Plantation sugar of
the low and middling qualities about 6s. per cwt.
above the price of Foreign sugar; but, as low or
middling East-India sugar would have to pay 10s.
more duty than West-India, and only have an
advantage in the sale of 6s. per cwt. over the
price of Foreign sugar, it is more advantageous
by 4s. per cwt. to export such, than to sell it for
home use of course, none of that quality comes
into the home market. Fine sugar in the British
market is 10s. per cwt., or more, dearer than
Foreign sugar, because the British market is in-
adequately supplied with fine sugar; and as the
law stands, with an extra duty of 10s. per cwt.,
and a bounty which raises the price only 6s. per
cwt., no East-India sugar whatever can come into
the British market, excepting of that kind with
which it may be inadequately supplied.
.
11
East-India sugar does interfere with the price
of fine sugar, and keeps it something lower than it
otherwise would be. This is all that the West-In-
dians can prove to be any injury to them: perhaps
it may reduce the price of one-eighth or one-tenth
part of the whole supply of West-India sugar;
but will any one say that fine sugar is not high
enough? It is the growers of coarse sugar who
are suffering, and what injury do these sustain
from an importation of East-India sugar? nay,
what injury could they sustain, even if admitted on
the same terms of duty?
Though at present none but the fine West-
India sugar is at all affected by the importations
from the East Indies; yet as the consumption of
sugar is on the increase, the time is not far distant,
unless the growth be increased, when the British
market will be inadequately supplied with all de-
scriptions of sugar, as it now is with fine; and
then the two interests would doubtless interfere
with each other. It is to such a period that
the West Indians are looking, or there would be
no interference worth their contending against:
for they say, "that although the preference they
"have in the home market is of little benefit
((
to them, while the growth of their sugar so
"much exceeds the home consumption of the
"mother country, as to render them dependent
66
on the European market; yet it may be valuable
"hereafter, when their cultivation is reduced, as
"must soon be the case, if the present low price
"of sugar continues; for the planter must then
12
เ
+
* 944
raise more provisions and less sugar
"Accord-
ing to this, a great present injury is to be done to
this country and to India, which will be produc-
tive of "little benefit" to the West Indians, in
order that the pursuit of that system may become
valuable to the latter hereafter. We will examine
into the probability of the occurrence of those
circumstances which would make it valuable.
The consumption of sugar,
In 1700, was 15,000 tons.
1730,
42,000
1760, 58,000
1790, 81,000
1820, 150,000
an increase of 280 per cent.
38
40
85
The increase has not been regular, as will be
seen by the above. In 1795 and 1797, it had
fallen off fully 10,000 tons from what it was in
1790. The rate of increase has been going on
less rapidly in the last seven years owing to two
periods of almost unparalleled distress, which even
at this time is operating upon a large portion of
* J. Marryat's Reply, page 38.
† In the year 1822, there appears only to have been
exported 18,739 tons of refined sugar, which, owing to a
short crop in the West Indies, is less this year than the
average of several preceding years. It may also be added,
that the bounty which appears to have been paid on the
exportation of refined sugar is 883,392 l. 7s. 6d. : this dif-
ference may be owing to a small quantity of double refined
being exported, and receiving a higher drawback. If I
were to adopt this amount, the rate of bounty would ap-
pear higher.
13
the country-the agriculturists. The consump
tion, however, during the whole period of 120
years, has increased at an average rate of about
80 per cent. in thirty years, and about 85 per
cent. in the last period. Supposing the quan-
tity produced to remain stationary, and the con-
sumption to go on increasing at its present rate,
the whole of the surplus might be absorbed by
the consumption in about four or five years A
diminished growth from the substitution of pro-
visions for sugar would probably occasion some
reduction in the quantity; but as the larger
colonies already grow most of their provisions,
the extent of such a change could not make any
great difference in the whole supply.
There is another circumstance which at least
ought to operate against this diminution. The
slave population of the United States has increased
at the rate of 125 per cent. in thirty years, and its
exports of produce in a still greater proportion.
If, then, the slaves in our colonies were not worse
treated than they are in the United States, the
increase of the growth would exceed the increase
of consumption at the present prices, and in that
case, the period when the West Indians would
enjoy this prospective advantage would never
arrive; for surely the continuance of the present
oppressions and cruelties, which prevent the
natural increase of the slaves, cannot be con-
templated. A system destructive of the lives and
happiness of the cultivators would be a horrible
refinement on the Dutch system of destroying
14
their spices, in order to keep up the price*. This
monopoly price, which is expected to be obtained
when the supply shall become inadequate for the
home consumption, has never been enjoyed by
the planters we have always exported sugar for
at least 120 years; and they can urge no plea for
monopoly either from precedent, or from invest-
ments made in the expectation of such monopoly
price. They have no grounds for such a claim ;
nor will it ever be submitted to by the people of
this country.
However ridiculous it may be, to look for
remuneration from a price driven up by an in-
adequate supply of the home market, it may be
interesting to know, what has been considered to
be a remunerating price, what it is now said to be,
and to what, upon the same principle and system,
it may hereafter amount.
In Bryan Edwards's time, a net price of 157.
per hhd. of 16 cwt. was estimated to pay the
planter seven per cent. on his capital, whilst at
137. per hhd. of 13 cwt. the Antigua Petition,
recently presented to the House of Commons,
makes an actual loss of 18s. 11d. per cwt., when
only six per cent. interest is charged. Hence, it
appears, that whilst in the former period 18s. 9d.
per cwt. would pay seven per cent, it would at
the present period require 42s. per cwt. to pay
the same rate of interest: and this great differ-
ence has no reference to any expenses after the
* See Appendix A.
15
sugar left the island, both being the net prices,
after freight and all charges in this country had
been deducted. From what can this great differ-
ence arise?
No doubt, in great measure, from a
deterioration of the soil (but of this hereafter),
which requires more land and labour to produce
the same quantity of sugar, and by which the cost
of production is more than doubled in thirty
years. If this were to go on, it would soon reach
an enormous price.
That the Antigua estimate very nearly agrees
with the general estimates, may be seen by the
following facts. J. Marryat says, the present
price only pays 1 per cent. The St. Vincent's
Petition states, that 50s. per cwt. only pays 7
per cent. The full duty of 30s. per cwt. is not
chargeable until the average price reaches 49s. ;
though the full bounty on export continues to be
paid. The protecting duty on East-India sugar
is not diminished until the price reaches 60s. per
cwt., and does not entirely cease until the price
reaches 698. per cwt.
From all the preceding statements it appears,
that 50s. per cwt. is the lowest price that would
be considered a remuneration for the present
system of cultivation in the West Indies; whilst to
give even 27s. 11d., the average price of 1822, we
pay about 6s. per cwt. more than the general price
of Europe. To remunerate the planters, however,
it seems we must give 22s. per cwt. additional,
making altogether 28s. per cwt. more than the
price at which we could have procured our sugar,
16
if the general markets of the world had been open
to us; and this price they will require for their
whole crop, whether consumed at home or ex-
ported. We will suppose it to be 170,000 tons;
this, at 287. per ton, would amount to 4,760,000 7.
per annum, and this sum we are called upon to
sacrifice, to support the system of slave-cultivation
in our colonies-a sacrifice exceeding in amount
the value of all the colonies put together, even
taken at their own extravagant statements; and
therefore, whatever they may have cost, they are,
on this shewing of the proprietors, worth nothing
at all, under their present wretched system of
culture; for their whole income, whatever it may
be, must be taken out of the pockets of the people
of Great Britain without any equivalent.
If it shall have been made clear, that there is
no hope of their obtaining such enormous mono-
poly prices as would be sufficient to support their
present system, I trust I shall be able to make it
equally clear, that there would be no doubt of
their obtaining ample relief from the better
management of their own concerns.
Amongst the many unquestionable proofs of
West-Indian mismanagement, is the fact of the in-
crease of the slave population in the United States
of America, compared with its actual diminution
in the island of Jamaica. It appears, that in that
island alone*, the population is less by 400,000
See my Letter on the injurious Effect of High Prices,
and the beneficial Effect of Low Prices, on the Condition of
Slaves, pp. 15—19.
d
17
slaves than, under proper management, it ought
to be. If the treatment in the other colonies
has produced a similar effect (and we have no
reason to suppose it has been of a better descrip-
tion), the whole loss will be 800,000 slaves.
Speaking of them merely as property, and ești-
mating their price at 507. per head, this treatment
has of itself occasioned a loss in property to the
amazing extent of 40,000,000l. in the short
space of thirty years only. Perhaps it will be
said, that such an increase in the number of the
slaves would diminish the price which they would
bear in the market. Doubtless, it would but on
the other hand, the value of the land would be
enhanced at least as much*. Are the people of
England to be called upon to give an indemnity
for neglect such as this (to give it no harsher term)
in the price of the sugar which they consume?
:
I might enlarge much upon the loss which our
West-Indian colonists have sustained in various
ways, by pertinaciously adhering to the wretched
system of cultivating their estates with "forced
labourers," instead of hiring those labourers to
perform the work for "their own profit." This
subject, however, has been so ably treated in a
recent publication, by Adam Hodgson, entitled,
፡፡
a Letter to M. Jean Baptiste Say, on the
"Comparative Expense of Free and Slave La-
"bour," that I shall only notice one curious fact
*See A. Hodgson's Letter to Jean Baptiste Say, on Free
and Slave Labour, p. 13.
C
18
connected with it, which is stated in the Antigua
Petition, and which is also known to exist in all
our other West - Indian colonies. Bricks are
enumerated amongst the supplies imported from
this country. In deriving his supply of this
article from this source, the proprietor of slaves
pays from 5s. to 7s. 6d. per day to the free
labourer of England for making them; notwith-
standing, the gross amount of the produce raised
by the labour of 140 slaves, even with the benefit
of the bounty, is only 1,427 l., or less than 7d. per
day for the labour of each slave!! As Black
men, when free, are paid the same wages for their
work as White men in the United States of
America, they are of course equally well able to
make bricks; and the Antigua planter has only to
agree with his slaves to make them by task-work,
and then he will obtain this article at half the
price which he pays for it in England.
•
From the Antigua Petition, above referred to,
it appears, that they buy Indian corn (of which
the produce per acre is about double, and the
price generally half that of wheat) at 6s. 9d. per
bushel. What little fresh beef they do buy costs
9d. per 16. Oxen, 35l. per yoke; horses, 50%.;
mules, 25l.; and asses, 107. each. An estate
capable of producing one hundred hogsheads of
sugar, according to Edwards, must contain three
hundred acres, and that of good land, for it must
be good land to produce sugar. Let any agri-
culturist calculate what rent an English farmer
could afford to give for such an estate, where he
19
had to hire the labourer, and then let him say
whether it be not a proof of gross mismanagement,
when it is stated, that no profit is yielded where
such prices as these can be obtained.
We next come to the food of the Negroes.
Where this is not raised by themselves, as in
Antigua, they are allowed nine pints of corn,
weighing about fourteen ounces the pint, and
five herrings each per week; for one barrel will
contain about seven hundred herrings, and this
divided amongst 140 slaves makes five herrings
each. This allowance of corn is as directed by
the Melioration Act; and though some may
give more, yet they are not bound to do it; and
we may judge, from the character of a community
which could pass such an act, and still make the
allowance insufficient, how far its members, in
general, are likely to exceed regulations of their
own making.—The Manumission Society of New
York, speaking of South Carolina, say,-" The
planters allow to each slave per week a peck
(eight quarts) of Indian corn, five pounds of
"bacon, and a pint of molasses, with which they
((
tr
<<
((
are perfectly satisfied: but in the upper coun-
try, where provisions are most abundant, the
"few slaves there fare nearly as well as their
"masters-they are neither tasked in their work,
"nor limited in their provisions." The following
is considered to be a necessary diet in the New-
Bailey House of Correction at Manchester, and
one cause of the non-appearance of infectious
fevers for a long time past:
C 2
20
20 ounces of Bread per day.
1 quart of Oatmeal porridge for Breakfast.
With a Dinner,
Two days of the week
Two days
Two days
One day
lb. Beef, 1 lb. Potatoes.
1 lb. Potatoes.
1 quart Pea Soup.
1 quart Ox-head Stew,
or Soup.
If we compare these three allowances of food,
(the two last materially more than double that
of Antigua,) we shall cease to wonder at the great
cost of cultivation when performed by such half-
starved beings.
The next thing which I shall notice is the
charge, in the Antigua estimate, of about 250/. for
oversight and management of an estate, the amount
of all the produce of which, in the general market
of Europe, and unaided by the English bounty,
is only about 1,0507. sterling*. Let the English
landowner say if he could afford to pay such a
sum for the oversight and management of an
estate of 150 to 200 acres, which, even at the
present prices, would yield as much gross pro-
duce.
Another subject of the utmost importance, and
which imperiously demands investigation and in-
quiry, is the gradual deterioration of the soils in
* The Antigua Petition states the gross produce, of the
whole estate in question, to be 2,854l. currency, or 1,4277.
sterling. If, from this, we deduct 6s. per cwt. from the
sugar produced on the estate, which is raised so much by
the bounty paid in this country, we shall have 1,0377, as
the gross produce.
21
the West India islands: for nothing can be more
certain, than that the system which gradually
destroys the fertility of the soil, is itself on the
high road to destruction. As this is the pecu-
liar characteristic of slavery, it must also be its
destruction, if it is not abolished by the humanity,
good sense, and sound policy of the country.
The deterioration of the soil in our West-India
Colonies, and in America, wherever the slave
system prevails, is so notorious, that it cannot be
necessary to go into this subject at any length to
prove that fact. In the Report from the House of
Assembly of Jamaica, "the gradual deterioration
"of his soil, which when new is fertile, and when
"old is sterile," is urged as a reason why the
planter cannot produce sugar cheaply. The Act,
58 Geo. III, cap. 49, recites, "That there was
"in the Bahama islands, and in certain estates
"in Dominica, a considerable quantity of land
"which, from length of cultivation, had become
"exhausted; and that it had, in consequence,
"become impossible for the proprietor of such
"land to find profitable employment and subsist-
66 ence for his slaves." Some of the petitions.
recently presented to the House of Commons,
from the West-India islands, state the same thing,
and all who have travelled in those parts of the
United States of America, where the land is cul-
tivated by slaves, bear testimony to this fact.
If deterioration of soil was the uniform effect
of long cultivation, and that this was apparent in
the short period that our West-India islands have
22
been cultivated (for they did not produce half the
quantity of sugar fifty years ago), then would the
earth in a very short space of time become unin-
habitable; but the contrary is evidently the fact
in this country, where well-managed lands are
improving.
If it be said that sugar, cotton, and tobacco
are exhausting crops, so may it also be said of
wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes. The fertility
of our soil is kept up by a change to green crops,
and by stocking and manuring with cattle; whilst
the strength of our population is improved by
eating them. An extract from the work of the
Count de Vaublanc, which appeared lately in
the Traveller, after mentioning a variety of in-
stances of the superior productiveness of this
country as compared with France, though the
latter had naturally a superior soil and climate,
adds, "In France, agriculture produces little, and
"occasions tedious labours, because food fails;
"and it fails because there is too little cattle.
"Because the cattle, and food for them, fail, we
"want tallow, wool, leather, hemp, and cotton."
From what has been before stated, two points
would appear to be established; and though I am
not now seeking to advance these as new theories,
but only to bring them forward as objects de-
serving of the fullest investigation, I do not
myself entertain any doubt of their correctness.
These points are, first, That the deterioration of
the soil in our West-Indian colonies is not owing
23
•
to any thing peculiar to the cultivation of the cane,
which would not apply to the cultivation of any
other kind of agricultural produce, if treated in
the same way, but to the system-to the want of
proper management in changing the crops, and in
not having upon the estates a sufficient number of
cattle, from which a sufficient quantity of manure
would be produced to keep up the fertility of the
soil. Secondly, That the physical strength of
the slaves is impaired by the want of a sufficient
quantum of nutriment, to compensate for the
exertions which they are compelled to make.
these countries I may say as the Count de Vau-
blanc has said of France, "Agriculture produces
66 little, and occasions tedious labours, because
"food fails; and it fails because there is too little
"cattle.
Because the cattle, and food for them,
"fail, we want tallow, wool, and leather"- I
would add, beef and mutton.
Of
If these were upon
the estate, we should cease to hear of a deteriora-
tion of the soil: the Negroes would consume them,
or wear their produce; and being well fed, they
would be enabled to perforin that labour which is
now unavailingly attempted to be drawn from them
by the stimulus of the lash. To shew that this is
not merely opinion, I shall add two extracts from
a communication which I have received from an
intelligent correspondent in the United States of
America.
66
On the first point, my correspondent says,-"A
highly respectable Virginia planter informs me,
"that he was induced to turn his attention to the
24
“cultivation of wheat, maize, hay, &c. as princi-
"pal articles; and to make the raising of tobacco
''
only secondary: and from this system he assured
"me he derived the greatest advantages, not only
"in the direct augmentation of his funds, but in-
directly by improving the soil of his farm, the
"offal from the grain enabling him to keep a stock
"of cattle to furnish manure; whereas it is well
66
፡፡
known, that such are the exhausting effects of
"tobacco upon the soil, that after the land has pro-
“duced it for a few years, it becomes so impove-
"rished as not to yield a crop sufficient to defray
"the expense of cultivating and gathering, being,
66
66
as it is termed, thrown out, or killed." On the
second point, my correspondent says,-" A friend
"of unquestionable veracity near the city of
"Washington, stated last year, that a mill-dam
belonging to a wealthy planter in the neighbour-
"hood had been carried away by the ice, and he
was applied to to rebuild it. The owner queried
"with him how long it would require to complete
'it, and was answered, that if my friend was
"allowed to provide for the Negroes, he would
"6
(6
66
66
engage to finish the job in (I think) twenty days ;
to which the owner rejoined, You cannot do it
"in sixty: I am certain my Negroes will not be
"able to do it in less. My friend told him, that
"if they were fed and clothed as common, he himself
"did not believe they would do it in twice sixty;
"but that, if he was allowed to provide for them,
"he thought twenty days would be enough. It
66 was agreed to, and he commenced the work.
25
"(
"He purchased some barrels of good pork and
"beef, and other necessaries of life and suitable.
"clothing for the season, and labour. He fed the
Negroes freely, clad them well, worked with them
"himself, and treated them kindly; and to the
"astonishment of the planter and many of his
neighbours, he completed the work within the
specified time; did it in a masterly manner, and
secured the good will of the Negroes, who
"worked cheerfully and merrily, and throve so
“well under the treatment, that at the expiration
(6
"6
66
""
of the service, they were fatter and finer looking
"men than any on the plantation." Upon these
extracts I have only further to remark, that the
communication was made to me, without any in-
timation on my part that could lead my informant
to give any facts or remarks in illustration of the
particular view of the subject which I have just
been taking.
Having shewn, not only by proofs, but also by
the admission of the West Indians, that the prefer-
ence in the market, and of course, the exclusion of
East-India sugar, is of little or no present benefit
to them;—that they have never, for at least 120
years, enjoyed the power of raising the price, by
reducing the quantity, so as to charge the people of
England a high monopoly price, independent of the
general market of Europe; and that, in the present
state of knowledge, such a thing would not be
tolerated ;-having shewn, that, even if it would,
it seems necessary to the attainment of this object.
that the present system of oppression, which pre-
26
vents the natural increase of the population,
should be continued, which never can be endured;
and that, therefore, the exclusion of East-India
sugar neither is at present, nor ever can be, of any
advantage to the West-Indian planter;-I might
enter at length into the subject, to shew, on the
other hand, that the admission of East-India
sugar at the same duty as West-India will be a
great advantage to the country. But this has
been so well illustrated by the various publications
which have recently appeared on the part of the
advocates of the East-India interest, that it is
unnecessary for me to do more than briefly advert
to it.
If all the people in the British dominions were
in the enjoyment of all that was necessary, or even
desirable to themselves, a proposed extension of
commerce could have no meaning or object. But
if, by such extension, many of the comforts enjoyed
by the higher and middling classes can be afforded
to them at a less price; and also be brought, by
such reduction in price and increase of employ-
ment, more generally within the reach of the poor,
it is a benefit which should not be rejected. If
the plan of the West-Indians was pursued-that of
diminishing, or not increasing, the growth of sugar,
so that they might get a higher price than the pre-
sent, from those who could afford to buy it-any
such benefit would be entirely sacrificed.
The present consumption of sugar, being about
150,000 tons, affords to every individual in the
British dominions rather less than seventeen
27
pounds per annum; and as it is estimated that
one individual may consume without extravagance
fifty-six to eighty-four pounds of sugar, it is clear
that the great bulk of the poor do obtain it in but
very limited quantity; not from any disinclination
to use it, but from the want of power to obtain it.
It may be reasonably estimated, that, if brought
within their reach, a quantity very far beyond the
produce of the West-India colonies would be
consumed. That there would be a demand in
the East Indies for our manufacturing industry, to
an almost unlimited extent, may be inferred from
the fact, that, if there were no duty on sugar, the
native Indian, by raising sugar instead of manu-
facturing cotton cloth, would be able to exchange
his sugar in this country for four or five pieces of
cloth, whilst by his own hands he could only make
one piece. That such would be the effects upon
the comforts of the people of England, and upon
manufacturing interests, is indisputable; and it is
equally indisputable, that through them most
important benefits would be conferred upon the
shipping, the commerce, and the revenue of the
country *.
From some of the preceding statements, and
the almost inconceivable want of management of
the West Indians, it would appear, that they must
have had the same disposition to stifle their own
inquiry into their own concerns, as they now evince
* For a further elucidation of these subjects, I must refer
to the Report of the Liverpool East-India Association.
28
to prevent parliamentary inquiry. If this can
once be overcome, they would soon discover, that,
under improved systems of management, they
need not shrink from any competition, and there
would remain no difficulty in making arrangements
advantageous to them and to the country.
They have never had any advantage from the
monopoly of the home market. They have had
an apparent advantage in the bounty; but I be-
lieve, inasmuch as it has led them to the neglect of
their own concerns, it has done them a real and se-
rious injury. On this account, however their claims
may be without support, on the ground of right, of
sound policy, or of common sense, the protection
should not be withdrawn hastily, or without due
consideration. But, if from its present tendency
to perpetuate a bad system, it can be turned into
that of promoting an improvement; if, instead of
perpetuating slavery, it can be made the price of
gradual redemption; then it will have its foun-
dation in humanity and sound policy, and on that
ground may be expected to continue so long as
the necessity for it exists. If we can substitute a
system which will put more money into the pockets
of the West Indians, whilst it leaves the revenue
unimpaired, and will give to the people of England
their sugar at a reduction of 3s. per cwt., I shall
have made a proposal worthy of consideration.
That this may be done, it is now my object to
shew.
The present system, by holding out encourage-
ment to the growth of sugar only, turns the in-
29
dustry of the planters unprofitably into that parti-
cular channel. According to J. Marryat, the
whole of their profits can only be estimated at
3s. 5d. per cwt., or about one per cent. upon their
capital; and according to the Antigua Petition,
the present price yields nothing. Yet this country
pays them 6s. per cwt. by means of the bounty on
exportation. The sum thus drawn from the
pockets of the people, or a part of it at least, is
thrown away, and uselessly expended, in encou-
raging the planters to raise an article which after
all pays them little or nothing.
The present system forces sugar into the re-
fineries, so long as we have any thing to spare for
exportatation. If, however, the time of this
prospective monopoly advantage should ever ar-
rive, the trade of refining for exportation must be
entirely extinguished; but this system, so long as
it lasts, has been shewn to be peculiarly impolitic,
giving away 250,000l. per annum, not for the
benefit of this country, but for that of foreign
nations. And, whilst a bounty is paid on the
production of an article by Slave cultivation, it
prevents that change from slavery to freedom,
which has always been preceded by a reduced
value of labour; and, of course, is an insuperable
obstacle to the attainment of that degree of pros-
perity and happiness, which has been the glorious
result in every country where the change has been
made.
To remove all these disadvantages, I would
propose,
30
1st. To give up the bounty on the exportation
of refined sugar; and to substitute, for what the
West Indians would lose by this, an absolute direct
bounty of 6s. per cwt. on all sugar imported from
the West-India colonies: this bounty not to be
paid directly to the importer, but to be divided
amongst the West-India proprietors, at the end of
each year, according to the number of slaves now
on the estates, as will appear by the Registry. By
such arrangement, every proprietor would equally
participate in the bounty, whatever change he
might find it advantageous to make in his cultiva-
tion; and thus all that was paid by the country
would go direct and clear into the pockets of the
planters, though they now admit that they get but
little of it ;-
2d. To admit all sugars to entry at the duty of
30s. per cwt., whether the growth of the West
Indies, British India, China, Siam, Java, Cuba,
or the Brazils, attaching to the two latter the con-
dition of the abolition of the Slave Trade ;-
3d. To encourage the refining business, by ad-
mitting all sugars to be refined in bond; charging
the duty on entering for home use, which should
be moderate on the refined, and low, or none at
all, on the molasses. This arrangement would
operate as a bounty on the refining business, and
would be an equitable and beneficial arrangement
to the growers of low sugar, and to the consumers
of molasses, and, being founded on principles of
equity and sound policy, would be likely to be
permanent.
$1
The produce of the revenue would not be
materially affected. It forms no necessary part of
the plan that it should be so at all; but to shew
the effect, I will estimate the present revenue on
150,000 tons, at 271. per ton ......... L. 4,050,000
The Bounty on Export paid in 1822 was
189,2187.; but on an average of years
about
250,000
Net revenue,
L.3,800,000
If from a gradual increase of the con-
sumption now going on, and from a
further increase, which might be ex-
pected from extended commerce and
some reduction in price, we may cal-
culate on 160,000 tons at 30s. per ton.
the revenue would be
Suppose the importation of Sugar from
the British West Indies to be reduced
something below the average produce,
say to 170,000 tons, a bounty of 6s.
per cwt. would be
......
Net revenue,
.... L. 4,800,000
1,020,000
L. 3,780,000
That the bounty on West-India sugar may not
continue after it is no longer required by the
planters, the rate might be reduced 1s. per cwt.
when the growth reached 200,000 tons, and 1s.
per cwt. for every increase of 5,000 tons after-
wards; so that it would entirely cease when the
growth should have reached 225,000 tons; which,
from what we see in the United States from the
32
effects of improved treatment, and from natural
increase of the slaves, might soon be expected.
This arrangment, of giving up the bounty on
exportation, would reduce the price about 6s. per
cwt.; but the duty being raised to 30s. would be
an increase of Ss. ; leaving the price about 3s. per
cwt. lower to the consumer, without either loss
to the revenue or to the planter; thus shewing the
good effects of turning a bounty to our own
benefit, instead of to that of our neighbours.
A bounty thus given, attached to regulations
for the melioration in the condition, and final
emancipation of, the slaves, would be consistent
with sound policy. It would hasten the progress
of the British colonies to that state of improve-
ment, when they would no longer require pecu-
niary support from the mother country; but, with
a prosperity, founded on the adoption of the best
and most economical systems, enjoying their na-
tural advantages, they would successfully contend
with the productions of any other country. Instead
of being under-sold by the colonies of Spain and
Portugal, we should force them to give up the
importation of slaves, and to adopt our improve-
ments, or to be driven out of the markets of the
world.
It now remains with the people of this country
to choose whether they will, without investigation,
submit to the enormous pecuniary sacrifices which,
according to the West-Indian estimates, it will
require to support them in their present system;
whether we will restrain the industry of England,
33
and close up against her the boundless resources
of India; whether we will cramp our own energies,
and submit to enormous pecuniary sacrifices, for
no other purpose than to support the expense of
holding in chains of bondage 800,000 of our
fellow-beings; or whether we will adopt an en-
lightened policy, suited to the times and the age
in which we live.
+
APPENDIX.
A. (see p. 14.)
IN some of the smaller islands, where there is little uncul-
tivated land, the introduction of cattle, and of better diet for
an increased population of slaves, might lessen the produce
of sugar, though in some districts of this country the im-
proved system of culture has increased the produce, not only
of cattle, but of corn also. In the larger islands there is much
land which an increased population would bring into culti-
vation. In some of the colonies, as Demerara, good land is
in almost boundless extent. When, then, a redundant popu-
lation in any of the islands caused the slaves to be set free,
they would be attracted by the employment which the fer-
tile soils of Demerara would always be sure to afford: so
that, upon the whole, it may not be unreasonable to expect,
that the same cause which has produced so large an expor-
tation of cotton from the United States may also produce a
large exportation of sugar from the West-India colonies.
}
B.
SINCE the preceding pages were printed, a pamphlet has
come out, entitled "Claims of the West-India Colonies to a
protecting Duty on East-India Sugar." It is scarcely pos-
sible to conceive that any reader, however inattentive, can
be so far misled as to suppose that the case of the West-
Indians is at all mended by this production; or that the
advocates of free trade have received any injury from it,
unless it were to induce some of them uselessly to occupy
their time in answering its often-refuted arguments and its
glaring absurdities. There is certainly one good feature in
the pamphlet, that the writer studiously avoids making use
of the term slavery, as applied to the West-India colonies.
This looks well: if the West Indians themselves are ashamed
of, and shrink from, the use of the term SLAVE, it is pretty
clear that they are aware of the feelings of the country; and
A
35
3
•
we may be assured that an institution cannot last long when
those connected with it avoid mentioning its name.
In the extracts of the Proclamations which he gives, there
is nothing about the right to hold men in slavery. One of
these speaks of people who transport themselves thither;
another, of persons brought, and to be brought, and their chil-
dren; and all these are to be free. These proclamations are
curious, and deserve investigation, for there is a marked dif-
ference between people being brought and transporting them-
selves. If he shall prove that the laws of England are in
force in the colonies, which it is one of his objects to prove,
he will have made good one step towards proving the colo-
nies an integral part of the British Empire, and entitled to
the same protection as her agriculturists and manufac-
turers; but if he does this, the slaves must all be made free,
and their expensive system changed for a better, in which
case they would need no protection. But when we talk
about protection to our Agriculturists, do we mean that
something is to be done for their benefit to the injury of
others; or is it not rather, that, as they pay taxes in various
ways, direct and indirect, the corn of foreigners (who do not
pay such taxes) is either restricted from interfering with
them, or must pay an equivalent in duty. When the Agri-
culturists were in distress, the cause of it was diligently
inquired into ; and surely the East Indians, or the advocates
of free trade, do not wish to deprive the West Indians of this
participation in the privilege and advantages of the Agri-
culturists, with whom they are so desirous to be classed ;
but let it be remembered, that the result of this investigation,
undertaken on the ground of general good, and not to pro-
mote the advantage of one class at the expense of another,
ended in reducing, and not in raising, the protecting price.
↓
One object of the pamphlet is to avert the grievous injury,
if not total ruin, which will fall upon the West-Indian culti-
vators, if they should be exposed to an open competition with
the cultivators of the East, and yet nearly one half of the
author's labours have been expended in endeavouring to
shew that the production of sugar is more expensive in the
East than in the West!! If the writer believed his own
statement, he might have spared himself this trouble. He
adds one more to the list of those who have, with so much
sagacity, been endeavouring to persuade us that it is for our
advantage to go to the dear market for the articles we con-
sume; because, if we do, the sellers will be able to take a
greater quantity of such of our own goods as we have to
offer in return; forgetting that what we saye in this way, we
shall have the benefit of using ourselves, or of exchanging
36
for some other article which we want. We are here once
more reminded how much the West Indians contribute to
the revenue by the duties on their productions. Yet, so
anxious are they to continue this contribution, that the ob-
ject of this work is to prevent the East Indians from parti-
cipating in the payment. Upon this principle, how disinte-
rested are the planters in Virginia, who, after having contri-
buted to support their own government, are so anxious to
send their tobacco here, which pays such an enormous duty,
for the support of ours!!
This writer revives the exploded notion that a joint stock
company can carry on trade to greater advantage than pri-
vate individuals!!
He lays before us a great mass of what he terms respect-
able evidence, given before the opening of the trade with
India, to shew that that country could not afford a market
for an increased quantity of our manufactures- -for what
purpose, does the reader think?-to disprove a fact as noto-
rious as the sun at noon day, that the increase of the demand
from that quarter has actually been great beyond any former
example!! This can only be compared to a man, who had
been wet to the skin by exposure to heavy rain, being told
that he must be mistaken, for that Moore's Almanack had
long since predicted fair weather on that day.
We are told that East-Indian iron is subject to a duty of
20 per cent. in this country, and we have a long tirade upon
the advantage it would be to this country if it were admitted
free of duty, but that the just claims of the iron-masters for-
bid that. The taking off this duty would give very little
alarm to a body of men who are supplying iron to India it-
self!!—The alarm is again sounded to the ship-owners; who
are told of the loss which they would sustain-from having to
carry an increased quantity of sugar from a greater distance.
Such and so glaring are the absurdities manifest through-
out the whole work, that it would be a waste of time to at-
tempt a serious reply.
Printed by Ellerton and Henderson,
Johnsen's Court and Gough Square, London.
SOME

REMARKS
ON A PAMPHLET ENTITLED,
EAST AND WEST INDIA SUGAR.
BY A WELL-WISHER OF THE WEST INDIANS.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY EFFINGHAM WILSON,
ROYAL EXCHANGE,
1823.
t
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Pamphlet which has occasioned these Re-
marks, has been before the public about a fortnight,
but I had only an opportunity of seeing it a few days
ago. It is hoped, therefore, that if any inaccuracies
appear, allowance will be made for the unavoidable
haste with which these sheets have been written.
:
REMARKS,
&c.
A PAMPHLET has recently appeared, en-
titled, "East and West India Sugar; or, a
Refutation of the Claims of the West India
Colonists, to a Protecting Duty on East India
Sugar."
The Author, in his prefatory advertisement,
informs the public, that," with the exception
of the opening paragraph, and a few brief
sentences besides, the work was intended for
the information of some friends, but that he
was first led to the determination of publish-
ing it, by the appearance of a pamphlet en-
titled, “Observations on the Claims of the West
India Colonists, to a Protecting Duty on East
India Sugar;" which he states, "he does not
consider as requiring a reply, because it has
conveniently furnished its own refutation;
but the aims and intentions which it deve-
lopes, on the part of those whose cause it
advocates, and whose means of giving effect.
3
تاه
6
to their wishes, experience has shown to be
very formidable, appeared to him to be so in-
jurious in their tendency, that he felt it to be
his duty to attempt to enlighten the public
mind," &c. &c. &c.
It is thus, this Author ushers himself into
public notice; clothed in the motley garb of
affected modesty, contempt for the reasoning
of his antagonist, (which, it is evident, he does
not feel,) and a full share of that self-com-
placency which induces him to extend the
sphere of his expected triumph beyond the
limited range of his private friends; and, with
an expanded and a more generous intention,
to attempt the diffusion of light and instruc-
tion over the public mind.
My purpose, is briefly to inquire into the
real value of the obligation thus spontane-
ously conferred, and ostentatiously avowed:
to ascertain whether his arguments proceed
from pure motives, and just views, that might
be expected from a reasoner of such lofty pro-
fessions; or, whether they may be traced to
the scanty source of individual self-interest,
and, as might then be expected, are equally
at variance with the wise policy which should
7
:
actuate the statesman, and with the fair and
liberal spirit of the British merchant.
The simple question for discussion was, as
to the policy or justice of the principle which
enacted a protecting duty on Sugars from
the East Indies, in favour of the West India
colonies. In the progress of this inquiry,
this champion of the rights of the East, this
chivalrous volunteer, clad in oriental armour,
is not satisfied with the exercise of the fair
weapons of controversy, but, either from a
diffidence of his own powers, or a doubt of
the cause he engages in, has recourse, without
remorse, to the envenomed shafts of calumny,
misrepresentation, and illiberal abuse. From
the acknowledged ability which is displayed
throughout the work, it might have been ex-
pected the Author would have been superior
to such arts. The very circumstance of the
weak and declining state of his adversary,
which is dwelt on with such evident exulta-
tion, might have induced a generous enemy
to have refrained from the wanton indulgence
of abuse and insult. But the effort of this
writer is not, perhaps, solely to be attributed to
zeal in the ostensible and avowed purpose of
}
8
1
advocating what he terms "the rights of Bri-
tish India."
Nor should it be viewed, as one insulated
effusion of malignity produced by disappoint-
ment or prejudice, but as a connected link of
that co-operative system, which, under various
disguises, and from different motives, has been
actively at work, and has a progressive ten-
dency to subvert or alienate the colonies from
the mother country: a system, which, in pur-
suance of the attainment of its end, has uni-
formly disregarded the means; and in the fer-
vour of its fanaticism, in favour of the black
population, has invariably disregarded the
rights and safeties of its own countrymen.
The question at issue, formed a part of the
great restrictive principle which pervades our
commercial system, under which the country
has continued to flourish in peace, and triumph
in war. Nor was it necessary, in questioning
its validity as applied to East India sugar,
to revive an angry discussion, on the conse-
quences of the slave trade, or to indulge in
illiberal and unprovoked invective on all
whose lot it may be, to possess West India
property. The Author of the Refutation, by
1
9
.
dwelling on the example of St. Domingo,
seems to invite the adoption of it, in our own
colonies, more particularly with regard to
Jamaica, which, from extent and situation,
he is at pains to assure us, presents peculiar
facilities of execution. In these and other
parts of the Refutation to which these remarks
refer, there are passages so pregnant with the
grossest calumny, that, considering the effect
they were intended to produce, it requires no
slight exercise of forbearance to notice them,
without being betrayed into a warmth of ex-
pression, suited to the feelings of indignation
they are calculated to excite.
66
Speaking of our West India colonies gene-
rally, he states, that Sunday is the day
allotted them, not for rest and refreshment, or
for religious uses, but for sustaining themselves
and families during the week. In this coun-
try, the labourer has six days in the week, on
which to provide for his own subsistence and
that of his family. The Negro slave must
perform this task chiefly on the day which
every where else is a day of bodily repose.
The effect of this incessant occupation, (inde-
pendently of the loss of all moral uses intended
10
>
by the appointment of the Sabbath,) is, the
wearing down more rapidly of the human
frame by feebleness, disease, and premature
old age."
Whether this statement is correct or exag-
gerated as applied to any one particular Co-
lony, I am not at this moment able to judge,
but this I know, that applied generally to the
whole of the colonies, it is full of mistatement.
The truth is, that the negro is lodged, clothed,
and fed at his master's expense. Exclusive
of Sunday (which is invariably allowed him)
numerous other opportunities are given him for
the cultivation of the ground allotted to him,
and not for the purpose of "sustaining him-
self and family during the week," but to
give him the means, if he be industrious, of
securing additional comfort, and, in many
instances, a comparative degree of wealth to
himself and family. So far from Sunday
being "a day of incessant occupation, that
wears down more rapidly the human frame,
by feebleness, disease, and premature old
age," it is one that is left to his own free
enjoyment; usually devoted to the purposes
of cultivating his garden, going to market, or
}
¿
1
1
11
""
in the exchange of friendly intercourse. As
to the "desecration of the Christian Sabbath,'
the observation applies with equal force even
to countries where the Christian religion is
established, and certainly comes with peculiar
sanctity and felicity from an East Indian,
whose recollections as to the opportunities
and practice of public worship, in our eastern
empire, will hardly qualify him to censure the
neglect of it elsewhere. To what motive, but
an intention of degrading and vilifying our
West Indian system, are we to ascribe the
cant as to the neglect of morality; the invi-
dious contrast between the administration of
the Spanish colonies and our own; the utter
misrepresentation of the principle; and, as
regards Jamaica in particular, the ridiculous
exaggeration in the amount of the tax on
manumission; a calumny re-echoed from the
reports of the African Institution, and long
ago exposed and refuted by the clear elucida-
tion of Mr. Marryatt. Now, what judgement
can the reader form from such a writer's can-
dour? or with what pretensions does he
sume to "enlighten the public," who would
endeavour to circulate so counterfeit a repre-
pre-
↓
12
sentation of facts? The whole object of his
invective is to induce a belief, that the system
of colonial labour is excited by avarice, and
maintained by punishment and cruelty.
The author of the Refutation, with such
opportunities of better information, can hardly
be supposed to be ignorant of the unremitting
and anxious attention that is bestowed upon
the wants and comforts of the negro popula-
tion, in every stage of their existence, parti-
cularly in their old age. It is here that a
candid observer will confess, that a system of
ameliorated slavery is not unaccompanied
with some good. The negro labourer, when
past the period of active service, is not sepa-
rated from his family, and consigned to a
poor-house, there to end his days, under the
heart-rending feelings which a severance from
all former ties may be supposed to excite,
but, in the bosom of his family, is allowed
all the comforts and indulgencies his situation
admits of. Nor is it any contradiction to
the general truth of these observations, to
adduce instances of individual cruelty. Our
own country is sufficiently replete with every
description of crime, and human nature is
3
τ'
13
1
E
every where subject to misery and wretched-
ness. Far be it from the writer of these
remarks to affect to be blind to, or presume
to deny, their existence in slavery, or to sup-
press the deep sense of regret, which every
Christian must feel, in reflecting on the con-
sequences that have been entailed on the
world, by the original institution of a system
repugnant to every sentiment of humanity ;-
a system, however, in which this nation has
so largely participated, and in which so many
and such complicated interests are involved.
Nor is the feeling mitigated by the truth of
the antiquity, and almost universal practice
of slavery, recorded in every history, so as
almost to induce a belief, that for some wise,
but inscrutable purpose, the continuance of
it may have been permitted by that Power
which directs all things, and can, in his own
season, extract good out of evil.
But a conviction of the existence of the
evil inherent in the system of slavery, shall
not deter me from asserting, with all the confi-
dence of conscious truth, that the system of
slavery in the West India colonies, is an ame-
liorated system; that every effort has been
14
made, that interest and humanity could sug-
gest, to promote the increase of population;
that in many of the islands numerous instan-
ces could be adduced of a very considerable
increase; and that such has been the success
generally, that all apprehension on this score
seems, with reason, to have subsided. That,
considering the frequent instances in which
the good intentions of the proprietors, have
been arrested in their progress by the propa-
gation of doctrines leading to insurrection,
much has been effected, both as to moral
and religious civilization: and, as a striking
proof of the sincerity of the Jamaica planters
in this instance, let a reference be made to
their application to the Bishop of London,
dated 21st December, 1816, and his Lord-
ship's answer. To those who have no op-
portunity of referring to this letter, it may be
satisfactory to know, that it contains a direct
acknowledgment, on the part of the Bishop,
of the sincere exertions of the planters to
obtain proper means of religious instruction
for the negro population. If, however, the
progress hitherto made has been inadequate
to the wishes of the public and of the planters,
15
1
let it be remembered, that their exertions
have been constantly impeded by the restless
interference, and insidious attempts of those
who, in their pretended zeal for Christianity,
have been instilling the fatal doctrines of in-
subordination and insurrection. While the
planters avow their anxious wish to promote
the doctrines of the Established Church, self-
preservation requires that they should, at all
times, deprecate the admission of those poison-
ous doctrines, which fanaticism has laboured
to inculcate. This has never been considered
as a crime in England, but as rather tending
to support religion than to weaken it.
I have thought it right to make these ob-
servations, not from the erroneous persuasion
which the author of the Refutation seems to
have indulged in, that in discussing the ques-
tion of a protecting duty on sugars, the
merits or demerits of the West India Planter
should be brought in review, but in reply to
the illiberal tone of abuse which he has
thought proper to cast, not upon the West
India proprietors only, but upon the whole
system of our colonial policy.
In fact, it may be assumed from the wide
"
16
:
scope of invective in which this writer in-
dulges, and from his general depreciation of
every thing relating to the West Indies, that
it was no part of his intention to confine his
observations to points connected with the
merits of the question. His ardour in favour
of the cause he advocates urges him to spurn
the narrow bounds of argument necessary for
a fair discussion, and to step out of his way to
vilify and attack the whole restrictive system.
He labours to degrade, in the hope of sub-
verting, our colonial policy; confidently an-
ticipates the example of St Domingo as
spreading to Jamaica; and seems to consider
devastation and ruin to the whole, of the
British West India settlements as a crisis.
neither very distant, nor at all to be regretted.
In the resources of the East, he sees an ample
compensation for all the murder, destruction,
and bankruptcy, both abroad and at home,
which would necessarily accompany such a
convulsion.
Engrossed by one favourite object, he fixes
and limits his vision to that alone. He can
recognize no benefit from the Navigation
Laws, deprecates a continuance of this antient
/
17
bulwark of protection, established by the
patriotic wisdom of our ancestors, and, in his
rage for innovation, would sweep away every
restriction! Thus, he censures the discou-
ragement of India shipping, anxiously looking
forward to the total suppression of British
ships and British seamen, for the substi-
tutes of East India-built ships, manned by
Lascars.
The preservation of our colonies, interwoven
as it is with with the prosperity of the mother
country, may, according to the notions of this
author, be no longer worthy of attention.
The rage for speculative changes may gra-
dually undermine the basis on which our
commercial establishments rest, and involve
the colonies and the mother country in one
common ruin. But this period, it is to be
hoped, is still far distant. We rely on that
spirit of justice, sound policy, and proper
feeling of reciprocal support, which animates
and directs the decisions of those to whom
the affairs of this great empire are confided,
for an adherence to those principles of com-
mercial regulation, and that fostering care of
her colonies, to which this country owes as
B
18
well its prosperity at home, as its naval and
military superiority.
On the direct subject in dispute, namely,
the additional duty of ten shillings per cwt.
on sugars from the East Indies, where is the
injustice? The avowed principle which dic-
tated it, was to shield the West India Colonies
from the absolute ruin they must be involved
in, if an unrestricted competition with the
East Indies in their staple produce was to be
permitted. To this the advocates for the East
reply, that, as the British market can be sup-
plied with sugars at a cheaper rate from the
East than from the West Indies, it is unjust
that the consumers should be subjected to the
higher price; in other words, that the con-
sumer should be allowed to obtain his com-
modity at the cheapest market. The truth
of this, as an abstract position in political
economy, cannot be disputed; but it is neither
true nor safe, when applied generally to this
country, whose vast commercial establish-
ments are supported by regulations directly
opposed to this principle. If, however, it is to
be admitted as between East and West India
sugar, it may be equally so between foreign
A
}
19
and British corn. The rule bears with equal
strength in both cases: yet who, in the artifi-
cial state in which we may be said to stand,
as a nation, will be bold enough to sanction
a principle so dangerous to the agricultural
interests of this country? Some enthusiasts,
indeed, have, in their excursive wanderings
and taste for speculative experiment in politi-
cal economy, ventured to hazard an opinion
in favour of such doctrines, but met with little
encouragement. And it is believed the con-
sequences already felt from the depressed
state of agriculture, have excited apprehen-
sions, that for a time, at least, have induced
them to suspend their reveries.
This country, from its national debt and
consequent taxation, is in a state that may
be termed one universal mortgage; and the
artificial involution of interests arising from
such a state of things, precludes the applica-
tion of many rules which, in a more natural
order of society, would have been readily re-
cognized. Bread would, for a period, be
cheaper, if unrestricted importation of corn
was admitted; but ruin to our landed inte-
rest would be the consequence: our existence,
20
3
5
as a nation, demands that this interest should
Hence, not merely a regard
be protected.
to vested interests, but self-preservation re-
quires we should be satisfied to maintain our
security, by giving a fair preference to the
production of our own soil. If this reasoning
is just as to England, why should it not influ-
ence her counsels in favour of colonies, whose
interests hitherto have been considered inse-
parable from her own? The claims that are
now advanced in favour of the possessions of
the East India Company in Asia, that they
should be considered as standing in the same
degree of relationship to this country as that
in which the West India colonies stand, are
neither warranted by justice nor by truth.
And here it is proper to notice, that this
writer talks of "British India," and " British
subjects in India," in terms calculated to pro-
duce much misconception, without some ex-
planation. In the first place, it should be
observed, that "British India" consists of
those extensive possessions under the domi-
nion or protection of the government of the
East India Company. The trade, which, up
to the period of 1813, was exclusively in the
21
hands of the East India Company, is cer-
tainly thrown open, but the empire which
they have established, is not yet transferred or
wrested from them. "British subjects,"
therefore, as regards the whole population of
Asia, under their sway, and as applied to the
point in discussion, is an affected phrase, as-
sumed for the purpose of arguing, on the
plausible principle of equalization of rights,
but, in truth, is utterly fallacious. With what
pretence can these possessions be considered
British colonies? Exclusive of the military
and civil servants of the government, the Bri-
tish inhabitants consist of a few merchants
settled at the Presidencies, and an inconsi-
derable number of adventurers, scattered
through the provinces, whose residence is,
strictly, on sufferance. Nor is there the
slightest ground for the insinuation, that there
is any portion through the whole of the Indian
empire, that can with propriety be termed a
British colony. No Englishman can hold,
by any proprietary title, one acre of land
throughout this vast empire, beyond the site
of his house and garden. He cannot with-
draw himself from Calcutta, or the other Pre-
22
sidencies, with a view to any commercial
adventure, or for any purpose of settling,
without the express permission of the Gover-
nor, who is a servant of the East India Com-
pany. Such permission is rarely granted, and
subject to sudden and arbitrary recall. No
inconsiderable proportion of the sugar that is
imported from the East Indies, finds its way
to" British India" from remote provinces not
under the sway of the East India Company.
The English speculator has it ready manufac-
tured to his hand; he has no dead capital,
is subject to none of the ordinary casualties
of seasons, or of hurricanes; and yet, with all
these advantages, he expects to be allowed to
import his sugars into the British market,
exactly on the same footing with respect to
duty, as the West India planter does, whose
connection with the mother-country has ex-
isted for ages, whose inheritance in the soil is
complete, who has a population depending on
him for support, interest on a large vested
capital, and all the reverses of season to con-
tend with. And the author of the Refutation
presumes to arraign the wisdom and justice of
a measure, which, by imposing the counter-
1
1
23
poise of an additional duty, barely checks a
competition, which, if unrestricted, would
most certainly lead to the utter ruin of the
West Indies. That such would be the result,
the advocates for the East,
deny, but seem to exult in.
not only do not
Without mean-
ing to put a forced construction on their ar-
guments, I think they may be explained as
follows.-
·
"The East Indies, by the means of one
hundred millions of Asiatics, (Hindoos and
Mahommedans), through the agency of a few
British adventurers, can furnish sugar on
cheaper terms than the West India colonies.”
"There is a greater security of empire in
the East Indies than in the West."
"The faith of Great Britain, pledged for
the support and protection of the West India
colonies, and for the navigation laws, has been
broken, and should be violated again and
again to the utter repeal of these laws, and to
the total confiscation of West India pro-
perty."
"It is desirable that East India built ships,
manned by Asiatic sailors, and freighted with
East India sugars, should be admitted into
24
our ports, without restriction, or preference
from any antiquated notion of good faith, or
policy in favour of a system which has hither-
to been (erroneously) thought the best nur-
sery for our navy, or partiality to our own.
country, or countrymen.'
""
Let us suppose such doctrines to have pre-
vailed, our West India colonies neglected,
forsaken, and left a prey to the havoc and
devastation which the author of the Refuta-
tion anticipates. Abandoned and depopu-
lated they would, one after another, be taken
possession of by America, or some other power,
who, on the principle of disregarding all re-
strictions, might again have recourse to Africa,
and by reviving the slave-trade, recruit the
population.
In the contemplation of such a revolution,
does the prospect arising from the distant and
uncertain possession of our territories in the
East Indies, offer any consolation to the Bri-
tish statesman? Is he not aware, in contra-
diction to the tone of confidence assumed by
the writer of the Refutation, that our empire
in India is liable to be shaken to pieces in a
moment, from its very extent alone? Pro-
25
tected chiefly by Asiatic troops, (Hindoos and
Mahommedans) whose religious prejudices
are inflammable, and would not brook the
slightest interference, the indiscretion of at
commanding officer, or the mere influence of
opinion that some innovation is meditated,
are sufficient to rouse the troops to disaffection
and mutiny.
Neither does the insecurity of our posses-
sions in India, arise from the natiye troops
only*. Nor can it be doubted that provinces
at such a distance from the centre of autho-
rity and control, must ever be liable to the
same risks that, under similar circumstances,
have operated in other countries.
It is probably owing to that strict, but wise
and jealous policy, which has so invariably in-
terdicted every attempt that might lead to
colonization, that hitherto this empire, so sin-
gularly constructed of the most heterogeneous
materials, has been preserved from dividing,
and crumbling to pieces.
* It is a well known fact, that in more instances than one,
there has been an organized disaffection in higher quarters,
which has placed the empire in the utmost hazard.
C
26
1
It is stated, at once as a reproach to the
West India proprietors, and as an argument
of precedent in favour of the rival interest of
the East, that the West Indians were most
supine, or ignorant of their true interests, in
suffering the same privileges to be extended
to the recently conquered West India colonies
that the old enjoyed; and in the spirit of in-
sult which pervades the work, the author con-
cludes, that this forbearance was induced by
a sympathetic feeling in favour of slavery.
It is not necessary, at this time, to review
the policy of the British government, as re-
spects these colonies, which it is to be hoped
will not, in the present contest, render them-
selves liable to the same charge of indolence
or neglect; but that, taking advice from an
enemy, they will unite and call forth all the
influence they still possess, to press upon mi-
nisters their thorough conviction, that if unre-
stricted competition is extended to India, the
cultivation of sugar, on which the existence
of the West India colonies depend, and which
forms at once a principal source of revenue,
and of naval strength to the British empire,
must be abandoned:
27
That under the existing restriction of ten
shillings per cwt. sugars from India will con-
tinue to be imported, so as to keep the prices
to a level that will be admitted by all parties
to be sufficiently low, but not so as to offer
that degree of encouragement which would
lead to the rash investment of British capital,
to an extent that would ultimately involve the
West India colonies in ruin, occasion the dis-
couragement of our seamen, and the eventual
subversion of our navy.
THE END.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY D. S. MAURICE, FENCHURCH STREET.
A
STATEMENT
OF THE CLAIMS OF THE
WEST INDIA COLONIES
TO A PROTECTING DUTY AGAINST
EAST INDIA SUGAR.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY WHITMORE AND FENN,
CHARING-CROSS.
1823.
}
LONDON:
IRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS.
ΤΟ
WILLIAM MANNING, ESQ. M. P.
THIS STATEMENT
OF THE CLAIMS OF THE
WEST INDIA COLONIES
ΤΟ
A PROTECTING DUTY ON SUGAR,
IS DEDICATED
WITH SENTIMENTS OF AFFECTION AND REGARD,
BY THE
AUTHOR.
}
STATEMENT,
&c.
THE writer of a late pamphlet, entitled 'A
Refutation of the Claims of the West India Co-
lonists to a protecting Duty on East India
Sugar,' adverts to the silence of the West India
body on this important question, and reminds
them that they have put on record no regular
defence of these claims.' The observation is, in
some measure, correct, and the colonists are
sensible of having relied too confidently on the
mere justice of their case: they ought, perhaps,
to have anticipated the possible consequences
of that tide of prejudice (to use the words of
the East India Directors on another occasion),
' of popular clamour, of most extravagant ex-
'pectation, and unbounded pretension, which
*have been more industriously than fairly ex-
'cited;' and should, at once, have endeavoured
to expose the nature of the appeals, which
have been lately made to the prejudices of the
B
2
public, and the erroneous statements, by which
many have been misled in the consideration of
the subject.
They have, however, reason to thank the
author for his timely suggestion:-it is not
lost upon them, and it will be seen, upon a com-
parative estimate of these conflicting interests,
that the silence of the West India body has
not proceeded from insufficient grounds of
argument, to establish the priority of their
claims, over those of the East Indian cul-
tivator.
The real fact is, that the colonists have not,
hitherto, felt themselves impelled to enter the
lists of controversy with a few writers, per-
sonally interested in the equalization of the duties
on sugar. They have viewed with an indiffer-
ence, not, perhaps, suited to the times, the ef-
forts of these individuals, whose zeal, quickened
by the hope of turning to their own advan-
tage the ruin of our West India settlements,
would pervert every fact, and reconcile all con-
tradictions in their own favour: they have felt
a confident assurance that erroneous assump-
tions*, and, of late, extensive combinations,
<
* See resolutions adopted at a general court of Pro-
prietors of the East India Company, 5th May, 1812.
Printed papers, p. 158.
❤
3
and unfair canvass,' would defeat the end, for
which they have been so improperly resorted to.
Nor did they regard the stale, and often re-
futed calumnies, by which it has been industri-
ously attempted to pervert the judgment of the
public, with respect to the internal administra-
tion of the colonies: these but served, indeed, to
prove the weakness of their opponents' argu-
ments; when, in the futile hope of convincing us
that we should eat sugar, manufactured by hea-
thenish slaves, in preference to that, from which
the christian negro derives his only means of sub-
sistence and increasing civilization, they were
compelled to have recourse to the vulgar expe-
dients of personal abuse and invective. Their
real motive was too apparent through the veil,
which they endeavoured to throw around it,
and the West India body were justified in the
belief that intelligent and dispassionate rea-
soners would form a correct estimate of these
representations.
The Report, however, of the East India
Company, on the culture and manufacture of
sugar in India, affords the colonists an opportu-
nity of meeting the question on the great con-
stitutional principles, by which, after all, it must
be decided, namely, of justice and policy. It
is a voluminous statement of facts and opinions,
generally free from all offensive matter against
B 2
4
the respectable communities of our West Indian
islands, though it seeks to establish for the
Hindoo cultivator a participation in the privi-
leges they enjoy. Emanating from so respect-
able a quarter, it forcibly demands consideration,
and at the same time that it exposes the weak-
ness of the arguments of East Indians in support
of their pretensions, it affords us this advantage
also, that it will lead to a more mature consider-
ation of the whole principle, on which the rights
of the respective parties are dependent. We do
not venture to anticipate the answer which abler
hands will prepare to that document, but con-
tent ourselves with reverting to the facts and
deductions in the pamphlet, which more im-
mediately engages our attention.
We shall, for the present, abstain from in-
cumbering the subject with any answer to the
abuse, which the writer so liberally deals out
against all the institutions of our West India
settlements: to say the least, it is in very ill
taste, and wholly foreign from the great ob-
ject at which he professes his desire to arrive.
If time or inclination permitted us to expose
his various mistatements respecting the nature
of the colonial system, he would meet us upon
unequal terms in the discussion of the other
points. We are, indeed, willing to hope that
they have been made upon hearsay, or a partial
perusal of the late controversies on that branch
5
of the subject; and we shall descend from the
vantage ground he has given us, in the con-
viction that it will not be difficult to prove the
arguments of the Refutation' as untenable,
as the facts are unfounded.
As our object is to avoid any superfluous'
matter which might embarrass the course of
our reasoning, and to be as concise as the im-
portant nature of the discussion will permit, we
proceed at once to principles.
The propositions we hope to establish are,
1st, That the West India colonists are pos-
sessed of vested rights, in common with every
other class of British subjects, and that, the jus-
tice of the mother country being pledged to the
protection of their property, they are entitled
to the same restrictive duties on foreign pro-
duce, as other British agriculturists and manu-
facturers enjoy, and without which, their se-
curity, and very existence as thriving commu-
nities, must be put at risk.
2nd, That the advantages, accruing to the
mother country from her political and commer-
cial relations with the West Indies, being greater
than those derived from her settlements in the.
East, it is manifestly inexpedient to hazard the
prosperity of the former, upon the speculative.
hope of uncertain and distant advantage.
6
1
3rd, That the hope of benefits to arise to
the public in a cheaper supply of sugar, and an
extended consumption of British manufactures
in India, upon an equalization of duties on
the produce of the East and West, is neither
justified by any experience of the past, or rea-
sonable expectations of the future.
The circumstances, under which the British
West India colonies were originally established,
differ, in many respects, from the colonial settle-
ments of other European nations. The English
colonists did not acquire their possessions by
violently exterminating the native tribes ;-their
rights were neither founded upon aggression,
cruelty, injustice, or fraud:-they were, as British
born subjects, attracted by the proclamation of
the sovereign to transfer themselves and their
property from England, and to settle in his
newly acquired territories: various privileges
were promised and secured to those, who should
accept the invitation; upon the faith of which
many wealthy individuals were induced to risk
the dangers and hardships of a new settlement,
in an unhealthy climate, and to invest their cá-
pital at a distance from all those ties which
sweeten life and animate our exertions.
Such, indeed, was the encouragement held
out by the government to these new settlers,
that it had become fashionable, in the reign
7
King James, for men of high rank and di-
stinction to engage in these adventures, pro-
claiming themselves the patrons of colonization
and foreign commerce. In the list of those
who contributed to the British settlements in
Virginia, New England, the Bermuda Islands,
and other places in the new world, may be
found the names of many of the principal no-
bility and gentry of the kingdom*.
The immunities granted at their establish-
ment have been since extended and ratified, as
circumstances made expedient: the settlers and
their descendants were publicly declared to be
British subjects: their liberties were recognized,
constitutions were granted to them on the model
of that system, which has secured to the mother
country the admiration of the world, and the
prosperity and happiness of her own people; and
their rights have been at all times considered as
those of integral members of the same political
body, varying only in the peculiar advantages and
disadvantages, naturally arising out of the pro-
ducts of their soil, or their more remote position.
Upon these principles, which have been up-
held by all writers on political economy, and by
each successive government for nearly two cen-
turies, the number of our subjects engaged in
colonial agriculture and commerce has progres-
* Edwards's History of the West Indies.
8
sively increased, and, in proportion to the en-
couragement afforded by the parent country,
has British capital been extensively invested;
till, at the present moment, the various and com-
plicated interests, involved in its successful ap-
plication, almost exceed the ordinary means of
estimate.
We should have thought that no one, ac-
quainted with the laws and constitution of
England, could ever have hazarded a doubt as
to the title of our West India colonists to the
protection and preference of natural-born sub-
jects; but since it has been lately called in
question, and that we may not be supposed to
speak without precise authority, we beg to
refer to a few public documents, which, to the
great body of general observers, may serve to
place this preliminary point beyond dispute.
(
King Charles the First having granted a
patent to the Earl of Carlisle for the islands of
Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Dominica, and many
others, dated 2nd June, 1627, his majesty au-
thorises him,
6
6
For the good and happy government of the said
' province, whether for the public security of the said
province or the private utility of every man, with the
consent, assent, and approbation of the free inha-
'bitants of the said province, or the greater part of them
'thereunto to be called, to make such laws as he or
they, in his or their discretion, shall think fit and best.
And these laws must all men, for the time being, that
9
6
do live within the limits of the said province, observe,
'whether they be bound to sea, or thence returning to
England or any other our dominions.-And we will
' also, (it proceeds) of our princely grace, for us, our
'heirs and successors, straightly charge, make, and or-
dain, that the said province be of our allegiance, and
that all and every subject and liege people of us, our
heirs, &c. brought or to be brought, and their children,
whether then born or afterwards to be born, become na-
tives and subjects of us, our heirs, &c. and be ás free as
• they that were born in England, and so their inheritance
6
<
6
' within our kingdom of England or other our dominions,
C
<
<
to seek, receive, hold, buy, and possess, and use, and
enjoy them as their own, and give, sell, alter, and be-
' queath them at their pleasure, and also freely, quietly,
• and peaceably, to have and possess all the liberties, fran-
chises, and privileges of this kingdom, and them to use
• and enjoy as liege people of England, whether born or to
' be born, without impediment, molestation, vexation, in-
'jury, or trouble of us, our heirs and successors, any
'statute, act, ordinance, or proviso to the contrary
' notwithstanding.'
Again, Charles the Second, in 1662, in his
proclamation 'for encouraging of planters in his
Majesty's island of Jamaica in the West Indies,'
recognises the same rights-
We, being fully satisfied that our island of Jamaica
being a pleasant and most fertile soil, and situate com-
'modiously for trade and commerce, is likely, through
'God's blessing, to be a great benefit and advantage
'to this and other our kingdoms and dominions, have
6
thought fit, for encouraging of our subjects as well such
10
as are already upon the said island, as all others that
'shall transport themselves thither, and reside and plant
'there, and declare and publish, &c. And again,-We
'do further publish and declare that all children of our
'natural born subjects of England to be born in Jamaica,
'shall from their respective births be reputed to be, and
'shall be, free denizens of England, and shall have the
same privileges, to all intents and purposes, as our free
'born subjects of England,' &c. &c*.
C
Again, in the 7th article of the treaty be-
tween England and Spain, in June, 1670, it is
provided, that,
"The King of Great Britain, his heirs, and successors,
´shall have, hold, and possess for ever, with full right
' of sovereign dominion, property, and possession, all
lands, countries, islands, colonies, and dominions what-
ever, situated in the West Indies or any part of Ame-
"rica, which the said King of Great Britain and his sub-
'jects do at this present hold and possesst.'
In the subsequent contests between the mi-
nisters of Charles the Second and Jamaica, on the
question of the political rights of the latter, it
was admitted that the English had carried with
them to the island, as their birth-right, the law
of England, as it then stood. And at length, in
1728, the assembly of Jamaica consented to
settle on the Crown, a standing irrevocable re-
venue of 80007.‡ per annum, on certain condi-
* Edwards, Vol. 1. p. 217.
+ Ibid. p. 219.
Ibid. Vol. I. p. 226.
11
tions, to which the crown agreed:-one of
these was,
6
• That the body of their laws should receive the royal
assent, and that all such laws and statutes of England
'as had been at any time esteemed, introduced, used,
'accepted, or received as laws in the island, should be
' and continue laws of Jamaica for ever*'
C
Among other of the Jamaica statutes, one
passed in 1664, declaring the laws of England
in force in this island,' is particularly import-
ant, as a recognition of the principle we are
contending for. It is in these words,-
• Be it declared by the governor, council, and assem-
bly, and by the authority of the same, that all the laws
' and statutes heretofore made in our native country,
'the kingdom of England, for the public weal of the
'same, and all the liberties, privileges, immunities, and
'freedoms, contained therein, have always been of force,
and are belonging to his majesty's liege people within
'this island as their birth-right, and that the same ever
were, now are, and ever shall be deemed good and effectual
' in the law, and that the same shall be accepted, used,
and executed, within this his majesty's island of
'Jamaica, in all points and at all times requisite, ac-
cording to the tenor and true meaning of them†.”
6
We could enumerate various acts of Parlia-
ment, declaratory both of the rights of his ma-
jesty's subjects in the West India settlements
to protection and encouragement, and of their
* Edwards, Vol. 1, p. 224.
+ Chalmers' Opinions, Vol. 1, p. 213.
12
importance to the trade and commerce of these
realms. If it were necessary, we could multiply
authorities to this point, from numerous reports
of law cases, and from solemn declarations of the
legislature; but the preceding are sufficient to
show that the constitution of the West India co-
lonies, with reference to the parent state, is
founded upon unalterable principles, which se-
cure to every British subject, under the charters
of his rights, the possession of his property, and
the parental care of the government. And
even supposing it to have so happened, that the
early proprietors and settlers of these distant
provinces, either from local attachment, or
any other influences, had never. visited the
mother country;-and that the present inha-
bitants were deduced from a line so continuing
in the islands, till, by the natural progress of
time and industry, they had reached their pre-
sent numbers and influence,-yet these rights
would have remained inalienably the same.
The highlander of Scotland, residing on his pa-
ternal property,-whose ancestors, perhaps, for
ages, have never been further from their native
village than the nearest market-town, claims
the same privileges with the noble and wealthy
attendant of the court. His distance from the seat
of government forms no bar to his franchises,
and,possessing the rights of a natural-born subject
13
of England, his life, property and freedom are
as dear, in the sight of the law, as those of any
prince of the blood.
No less so are the immunities of the West
India proprietor, who must of necessity be re-
cognized as a natural-born subject of England;-
nor, because he occupies a distant portion in the
empire, has he less claim to the protection of the
government, which is instituted but for the
common good of all. This very circumstance,
indeed, seems to give him a stronger claim to its
parental care:-the name of a Roman citizen
was a protection to its possessor in the most.
remote corner of the empire; and such ought
to be, and is, the generous watchfulness of our
constitution, that it views with equal jealousy
any wrong committed on the least of its free-
men.
Nay, further let us suppose this highlander
of Scotland, even at this day, to be a zealous
adherent of the Stuart line, whose father,
perhaps, may have fought and bled for the young
Pretender,-who secretly cherishes the tradi-
tionary histories of the Rebellion, and yet lives
in the vain hope of, what he terms, the 'rightful
possession'--and to yield only an unwilling
obedience to the existing laws; yet, so long as
he does obey them, he is in possession of equal
privileges with the descendants of the nobles,
who combined to drive that family from the
14
throne. So the colonist, were he born on the
other side the Atlantic,--bound only in affec-
tion to the interests of Jamaica,-with no com-
mon sentiment of an Englishman, and no di-
stinctive marks of his English origin, but of
feature and language, who should inwardly
complain of the illiberal policy of the mother
country, to which he belongs, and yearn for
the transfer of his allegiance to the United
States of America, or any other maritime na-
tion-yet, if he conformed himself to the
institutions established for his governance, he
would be entitled to all the privileges of his
birthright.
We put this imaginary case, that we may
bring the abstract principle of right to the
test-we are satisfied that Parliament would
not be disposed to waive an iota of this principle,
did it but affect the meanest subject of the land;
for surely a prejudice done to an individual,
is a common wrong to all; and a wound in-
flicted on the least of its members, may be
made a precedent for any future attack on
the whole constitution. It is therefore, that
we have ventured this extreme hypothesis,
by way of illustration:-and can there be a more
extreme case? Can any thing be more directly
the converse of all we have supposed, than the
loyalty and patriotism which have ever di-
stinguished the British West Indies? The
15
examination is deeply important at a moment
when the very existence of their great in-
terests is at stake; when, with a dangerous
spirit of innovation, it is gravely proposed to
hazard all the resources which have so long
contributed to the prosperity of this country;
and which, as we shall hereafter prove, are so
essentially interwoven with its best interests,
that, to deteriorate the one, must be a clear
compromise of the other.
It were an useless task to travel back through
the detailed history of our early establishments
in those colonies:-the fact is indisputable-
that the first settlers were English. The spirit
of enterprise which animated their exertions,
and which is one of the great characteristics
of our nation, soon led to the most favourable
results. These, and the constitutional rights,
secured to them, as we have before explained, by
the repeated declarations of the sovereign and
of Parliament, and inherent in their character
of British-born subjects, induced a rapid suc-
cession of adventurers, till the increasing im-
portance of our colonial relations, in that quarter
of the world, opened the brightest prospects of
national aggrandizement and wealth. Larger
capitals were invested, as that investment be-
came more secure, and the settlers increased
in number, as the difficulties of their establish-
16
ment diminished;—whilst many who had ac-
quired sufficient means of affluence, returned
to England to enjoy their well-earned reward,
and to enrich their native country with the pro-
duce of their industrious exertions.
The planters, who thus succeeded their more
enterprising countrymen, having, themselves,
received their education in Europe, and being
desirous to secure to their children the same ad-
vantage, usually sent them to pass their youth
in England; these, again returning to the co-
lonies, with tastes and habits purely English,
introduced comparative refinement, which in
time became generally prevalent, and had a
most powerful and beneficial influence on the
different West India communities.
In this interchange of society, the sentiment
of devotion to the parent state becomes in-
delibly fixed in the minds of the colonists:-
born or educated in England, they look with
fond regret to those scenes of early happiness,
which no change or circumstance can ob-
literate. The day of their return is the ani-
mating object of all their hopes; and they
limit their absence only to the period, when the
acquisition of adequate fortunes enables them
to live in the country that gave birth to their
ancestors or themselves.
The mutual relations between Great Britain
17
and her West India colonies, in a commercial
point of view, will be more particularly dis-
cussed under the second head of our subject;
but we may here appropriately advert to this
moral and political union, which binds them to
each other, and which, as it promotes their mutual
interests, inspires in both an entire community
of affection.
An eminent political writer,* who has been
ever distinguished as a zealous opponent of the
West India colonies, and pourtrays them in no
very flattering colours, but who, nevertheless,
considers them as integral provinces, possessing
equal claims to protection and encouragement
with the nearer portions of the empire, thus de-
scribes the nature and effect of this union.
'The constant, regular, and extensive intercourse,
⚫ arising from the circulation of inhabitants, tends, more
' than any thing, to preserve the connexion of the dif-
ferent component parts of a great and scattered em-
pire, and to cement the whole mass. It is by no means
⚫ regulated by the respective distances of the parts from
' each other; but depends upon a variety of cir-
'cumstances in their situation. It has always been,
' and is likely to continue, much more rapid and con-
'stant between the West Indian settlements and the
• European states, than between any of the continental
'possessions and their mother country. In like manner
*
Brougham's Colonial Policy, Vol. I. p. 56.
C
18
6
'there can be no doubt that the mutual exchanges of
population between London, Liverpool, and Bristol,
' and the British West Indies, are much more frequent
'than between the same towns and the counties of
'Cornwall and Caithness.'
6
'The natural ties, which tend constantly to maintain
' and strengthen the connexion between the different
parts of the empire, next to the circulation of inha-
bitants, formerly discussed, are, chiefly, the four fol-
lowing: the circulation of capital; the intercourse of
commerce; the weakness of the remoter parts; and
'the relations of a common origin, similarity of customs,
' and identity of language*.'
<
C
Besides the influence of these important cir-
cumstances, in promoting the interchange of inha-
'bitants, the circulation of capital and the relations of
commerce, they have a direct effect in uniting together
the two societies, or parts of the same community, and
' in rendering both equally averse to a civil war. There
' is a sentiment of affection, which may, with the greatest
'propriety, be termed filial, from the colony towards
'the parent state. In ancient times, it formed, with a
'few exceptions, the only link that united them.'
C
The names, by which such a relationship has been
• denoted, are all founded upon ideas of the same en-
dearing and tender connexion. Without any com-
pulsion, colonies have generally followed the fortunes
' of their mother country in those wars which mani-
'festly endangered their own interests+.'
* Brougham's Colonial Policy, Vol. I. p. 192.
+ Ibid. Vol. I. p. 101.
19
This filial attachment has been eminently dis-
played by the British West India colonies through
a long course of eventful times; and no classes
of his majesty's subjects have testified greater
zeal in the common cause, or more largely con-
tributed to the support of the public burthens, by
direct and indirect taxation. We are not called
upon to calculate very minutely the great amount
of British capital embarked in these possessions.
The estimates have varied from seventy to one
hundred millions sterling; and when we here-
after come to show, from official returns, the
produce and revenue derived from this invest-
ment, it will appear that the latter sum is pro-
bably the more correct. If, however, it were
but a tythe of this amount, the principle for
which we contend would still be unaltered; and
at present we only wish to draw this inference
from the preceding account of the nature of
our colonial establishments in the West Indies,
that if the law secures to every individual mem-
ber of the constitution the immemorial rights of
Englishmen, no circumstances can justify the
sacrifice of extensive vested, we might say char-
tered, interests of whole communities; and less
than ever should this sacrifice be made in the
imaginary prospect of distant benefit to some
other class.
However desirous such politicians as the
C 2
20
C
writer of the REFUTATION' may be to consider
our West India colonies, rather in the light of
foreign possessions, than as provinces of the
mother country, and an essential portion of our
extended empire; yet we hope it has been satis-
factorily shown that they are part of the do-
minions of England, provinces of the king's
allegiance; inhabited by his 'subjects and liege
'people of him, his heirs, and successors,' who
have and possess all the liberties, franchises,
⚫ and privileges of this kingdom as liege people
' of England, without impediment, molestation,
' vexation, injury, or trouble, notwithstanding
any statute, act, &c. to the contrary.' Still, it
is said, they are distant provinces, and this di-
stance is a bar to their claim. We ask, in
Where is the
reply, what constitutes distance?
definable limit, on either side of which the
subjects and liege people of this kingdom shall
or shall not possess all the liberties, franchises,
and privileges of our dominions? Are the
farthest provinces of Ireland, where the people
speak a foreign language, profess a different re-
ligion, and often live in open hostility to the con-
stituted authorities, excluded from the privileges.
of the capital? And shall not their franchises
be as sacred as those of the county of York?
Or suppose the territory of England were ex-
tensive as that of Russia, where then should
1
21
be fixed the line of demarcation-at Kams-
chatca-Odessa? or where begin the office
of proscription? Once admit the principle of
distance to qualify the franchises of natural
born subjects, and an endless field of confusion
is presented to us.
If it be urged, as a last resource, that the
distinction lies in the West Indies being trans-
marine possessions, separated from us by the
ocean, the argument again refers to the matter
of distance; for is not Ireland liable to the same
objection? but say, this is an exception ;-what,
then, of the isles of Mull, Anglesea, and nume-
rous others? all at present constituent parts of
our happy and flourishing empire; but whose
inhabitants are neither more undoubted, or
more loyal subjects than those of the West
India colonies, and whose whole territory were
dearly purchased at half a year's taxation
on the produce of Jamaica?
<
But, it is triumphantly asked, where are the
vested rights of the colonist?-where are his
⚫ muniments deposited?' To this it is answered,
as a yeoman of Devon would answer, suffice to
say, I am an Englishman, a liege subject of
'the king; my vested privileges are recorded
' in Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights; and
for my muniments, there are the title deeds
to my estate; I neither know nor want any.
22
' others.' In short, upon whatever principle the
question is discussed, no sophistry can cheat the
colonies of their acknowledged franchise; and
justice demands, that as the capital invested
in them cannot be converted to any other source
of agricultural or commercial profit, their staple
products should have the same protection as
those of other subjects. They are, as Dr. Franklin
said, a kind of political children, and as such
' contribute to the honour, safety and riches of
' their parents, if those parents are not wanting
'to themselves.'
'
6
The REFUTATION' inquires for what part
of the West Indies this plea is advanced?'
We answer, for all, including the whole of the
ceded colonies, down to 1814. They are all
British subjects-have one common interest;
and though the claims of the new settlements
must necessarily be less imperative, on the
ground of long and faithful attachment to the
mother country, and of having borne (as our
ancient colonies have done to a greater degree
than any other class of Englishmen) the heat
and burden of the day of trial, yet the children,
adopted in the eleventh hour, have been ad-
mitted, by the very treaties which secured them
to Great Britain, to the full participation of
colonial rights. Indeed all the circumstances,
under which she took to herself this acquired
23
territory, make strongly for our case; for the
old colonies opposed the introduction of the
new produce on the same terms with their
own; but the Government would not listen to
their remonstrance, and may, therefore, be con-
sidered responsible for the superabundance of
sugar, which is the operative cause of their dis-
tress. And what did Great Britain mean in 1814,
by the acquisition of these possessions, unless it
were that she pledged herself to extend to them
the fostering protection which the peculiar na-
ture of their establishments required? What did
she mean by permitting her own subjects to settle
in, and cultivate them by the investment of im-
mense capital, unless it were that, in her desire
to give greater outlets to the increasing wealth
of Great Britain, and to prevent the rivalship
of other countries in colonial possessions, she
was ready to maintain her acquisitions upon
the recognised principles of her West Indian
policy?
We can understand the jealousy of East India
traders at this accession to our western do-
minions, as it at once evinces the importance
which the nation attaches to the security of
our power in that quarter, mid-way, as it were,
between Great Britain and America, and in-
creases the influence, as it has extensively dis-
tributed the capital, of the colonists.
24
6
<
C
'
'What,' continues the writer of the REFUTA-
TION,'' was their inducement for laying out
(additional) capital on West India estates?
• Was it their opinion of the permanence of that
'species of property? Was it the assurance of
a protecting duty? This will hardly be affirmed."
But it is affirmed, and broadly maintained, that
they have done so upon that sole ground. And
indeed, were they not justified in that con-
fidence of the permanent nature of a property,
which had been secured to their predecessors
by uninterrupted, unquestioned protection for
two centuries? What, if the market for West
Indian sugar has been undergoing very great
' fluctuations for the last thirty years?' so have
the markets for British produce and manu-
factures; and yet, we believe, it will scarcely
be said that, for this reason, the manufacturer,
whose looms have been established within the
last ten years, upon the faith of regulations and
legislative enactments, which have raised that
branch of the national resources to an unpre-
cedented height, and which alone induced him to
make such an investment of his capital, is less
entitled to protection than the older establish-
ments? And who but the shallowest politician
would ground upon the mere uncertainty of the
markets for corn, iron, woollens, cotton, &c.
(than which nothing can have been more fluc-
25
tuating) an argument for making them a worth-
less drug by the introduction of foreign pro-
ducts? Be it rather said, this very sensitiveness of
the market (if we may use the expression) points
the necessity of an increased vigilance on the
part of government, lest any measures should
create an unnatural and ruinous depression.
If, then, the right of the West India colonies.
to all the privileges of British subjects be esta-
blished, what is the plain and natural inference?
Surely it is that they have a just claim to an
equal protection with the manufacturer and
agriculturist of the more central provinces.
The writer of the 'REFUTATION,' however, makes
various attempts at an eloquent, pathetic appeal
to the feelings of the British community, to
rouse them to a sense of the deep injury they
are sustaining by the present policy. Can the
"West Indians,' he asks, exhibit proof of a
'vested right to be paid by the people of this
'country, already'groaning under their burthens,
'a million and a half* more for their sugar
than it is worth'?
"
This is a fertile theme of declamation, on which
all the writers on the side of 'REFUTATION' love
to dwell. Abstractedly it is a weighty argument,
"
* We beg the reader to mark a million and a half,
because we shall have occasion to bring this assertion
to the proof.
26
and comes home to the case of every reader,
whether acquainted with the subject or not,
when he is told that he will
have sugar a
penny a pound cheaper* by the introduction
of East India produce to the supply of the home
market. There are, no doubt, many persons,
who, believing this fact, would think it quite
sufficient ground for a legislative enactment.
Many members of Parliament, who may readily
be supposed unwilling to enter very minutely
into the whole question of East and West India
sugar, but thinking it their duty to protect the
consumer on general principles,—particularly
at the present moment of agricultural depres-
sion, might be led to adopt the equalization of
duties, upon the faith of this assertion, so boldly
advanced. But we hope shortly to prove the
incorrectness of the statement, and the fallacy
of the arguments which are grounded upon it.
Upon the same principle, how eloquently
might we not declaim against the oppressive
monopoly of each branch of our manufactures
-even of our landed interest. The clothiers of
Yorkshire give us broad cloth for 30s. a yard,
the coarser cloths for 15s:-if we were to permit
the importation of foreign wool, duty free, they
could be purchased at 50 per cent. less. What!
*Refutation,' p. 102.
27
(it might be said) the poor shepherd, who is ex-
posed to the inclemency of the weather, as he
tends the very flocks that give the material of
the manufacture,—the labourer, the traveller-
the West Indian negro-the rice-eating Hindoo
slave-the one-hundred millions of heathens
in India!-shall it be said that all these must
be compelled to pay 40s. for their great coat
or their mantle, when the admission of foreign
wool would give it to them for a pound? and all
for the protection of a few great agriculturists?
The lace-makers of Buckinghamshire, the
plate-glass manufacturers, the glovers, the
hatters, and shoe-makers of London, the tan-
ners, the silk weavers, the Irish linen manufac-
turers, the curer of butter, and a hundred
other equally unjust monopolists,' are at this
moment, according to the REFUTATION,' over-
whelming the people of England with intolerable
burthens. Why should we pay millions upon mil-
lions more for their products than they are
worth? We can get beautiful lace from Valen-
ciennes for half the price of English; magnificent
French plate glass for comparatively nothing;
gloves-who does not know the cheapness and
quality of French kid gloves ?-silks, and all the
other et cætera may be had for half price. Are
the agriculturists, the fundholders, and others
' aware how effectually they are counteracted
'by the protecting duties' on all these articles of
6
<
28
C
necessity and luxury*? When these monopolists
talk of the rights they have acquired, and of
the JUSTICE that is due to them, it is very dif-
'ficult to affix any meaning to the terms'—
where are their vested rights?-let them show
their muniments.
Where would all this reasoning lead, but to
the indiscriminate competition of foreigners with
all our productions, and to the consequent
destruction of the British manufacturers? for
we repeat, that they have no greater right to
prohibitory duties than our subjects in the West
India colonies.
And if the East India grower
of sugar be permitted to displace the industry
of the British settlements, surely, by the same
rule, we must admit the Indian muslins and
other piece goods, the shawls, the manufactured
silks, and other articles, against the Scotch and
Manchester weavers, and the silk mills and
artisans throughout the kingdom. If we really
must enrich the population of India at the
expense of our own subjects, let the principle
be consistently followed up, and let the teak-
built ships of that country be admitted to
registry in exclusion of British shipping; in
short, give the full benefit of free denization
to Mahomedan zemindars and ryots, whatever
*Refutation,' p. 26.
29
be the consequence, whatever the detriment to
the subjects of England.
We have hitherto considered the rights of
the West India colonies only in respect of their
constitutional identity with the general interests
of the empire: it seems a natural consequence
to inquire what are the peculiar benefits derived
by the mother country from her accession of
these distant provinces; in what manner they
contribute to her resources, and whether they
adequately repay the care and protection which
she extends to them.
We propose, therefore, to examine the di-
stinct points in which this branch of our subject
is to be viewed; viz. the political advantages,
arising from their peculiar situation and the
nature of their wants, and the commercial
activity and enterprise they inspire by the
encouragement of our trade and manufactures;
in doing which, it will also be our object to con-
trast the value of their possession to England
with the benefits arising from the territories of
the East India Company.
The increasing maritime power of America
necessarily induces us to look with some jealousy
at any acquisition she may make, contributory
to the purposes of her naval aggrandizement.
The importance to her of all insular possessions,
30
which may give employment to her commercial
shipping; of safe and commodious harbours for
her vessels of war; of maritime stations, which
would, in a great measure, give her the com-
mand over some of the most extensive branches
of the trade of Europe; of colonies, from whence
she might draw that species of produce, now
inadequately supplied by her own southern pro-
vinces, and to which she might export her own
manufactures, is so apparent, that it were a
waste of time to do more than allude to it.
The truth, however, is not the less important
because it is obvious; nor are the inferences
to be drawn from it less deserving the attention
of our legislators because they are self-evident.
In this view, it is desirable to consider the
relative position of the West Indies, between
the United States and Great Britain, and be-
tween this latter and the continent of South
America. We need only look at the map to be
convinced that there is scarcely a spot in the
world, where the establishment of an American
power would be more critical to this country
than our colonies in the Atlantic, none whose
possession, with reference to a future war, can
be more essential to the interests of Great
Britain.
If England, inferior in the natural resources
of her soil and the extent of her population to
2
31
many of the continental monarchies, successfully
maintained herself against the most formidable
combination which modern history records, and
still continues to exercise a powerful influence
in the policy of Europe, to what is this to be
attributed but to her maritime ascendancy, which
gave her not only the command over any naval
expeditions of the enemy, and the almost entire
possession of the commerce of the world, but
the extraordinary resources necessary for the
prosecution of the war? This naval power and
supremacy are become so naturally our chief
dependence and our hope, that Englishmen are
apt to associate exclusive commerce, and the
exclusive right of way on the high seas, as their
natural prerogative; but should England sacri-
fice her colonies, on which this so mainly de-
pends, it would not be long before she would
have cause to lament the consequences of her
fatuity and sacrifice them she must, if she is
determined to deprive the inhabitants of all
fruit of their exertions, on the pretence of
aggrandizing the distant Gentoo and Mahom-
medan nations of the East.
But to return: placed, as it were, at almost
equal distances between the two countries, they
may be considered important fortresses, either
of defence against the attack of an enemy, or,
32
on any particular emergency, as a means of
reinforcement of our navy. The comparatively
infant state of America has not, hitherto, placed
her in a situation to meet us on our own seas;
but who does not foresee many contingencies
that might arise to permit this at some future
day?
However this may be, the late war
afforded many instances in proof of the facility,
with which drafts can be made from the ships.
on the West India station, to strengthen the
naval force on the enemy's coast. Their insular
position, the near neighbourhood in which they
are placed to each other, the attachment of the
inhabitants to the mother country, all contri-
bute to her secure possession of them; and so
long as Great Britain continues to cherish this
attachment, by affording them the immunities,
under which they have hitherto flourished, so
long will they remain a natural and impreg-
nable outwork to her defence.
We are far from wishing to depreciate the
value of our East India possessions; but, there
are many circumstances which render them less
effectual to the purposes of defence than the
West Indian islands: their position,-in a di-
stant quarter of the globe, out of the way, as it
were, of those European and American rela-
tions in which our policy is more obviously
33
involved; the extraordinary amount of forces
required for their defence, and the consequent
drain upon our means of raising an army for
our own purposes nearer home; the dispropor-
tionate extent of dominions and population,
when compared with the country that holds
them in subjection, and governed as they are
upon an anomalous system, by a Court of
Directors residing 10,000 miles from the scene
of action; the uncertain tenure, by which we
hold these ancient and powerful monarchies,
whose jealousy and hatred of their conquerors,
though lulled in an apparent tranquillity, are
far from being extinguished, and whose popu-
lation can only be restrained by the presence
of an overwhelming army*.
Let it not be supposed that this danger of
* An official return, dated 22d March, 1819, of all
the military forces serving in India.
Regular King's troops, 22,550
Company's (European) 7,703
Total English troops, 30,253
Native regular troops, 152,585
Ditto irregular,
24,741
Total Native troops, 177,326
207,579
Invalids and pensioners,
5,875
213,454
D
34
•
*
losing India is an imaginary one; we found
our opinion, not only on the convictions, natu-
rally suggested by the distance, extent, and
nature of our institutions there, and on the
experience of past events, which have lost to
England, Spain, and Portugal their great pos-
sessions in the two continents of America,—but
principally on the declarations of persons long
resident in India, of the East India Directors
themselves, and their servants.
Sir John Malcolm, who was thirty-two years
in the Company's service, and was employed in
thirteen distinct missions to the provinces of
India, is of opinion, that
‹ The task of conquering India has been a very light'
one, in comparison with that of preserving that vast
'empire. As foreign danger has been removed, our
'danger from revolt and insurrections, and other
'domestic concerns, has no doubt been proportionably
' increased; this danger has gradually augmented with
'the increase of our territories. Any attempt, or even
'an impression among the inhabitants that such an
attempt would be made, to introduce the Christian
religion, would be attended with the most dangerous
consequences*.'
6
And again, Sir Charles Malet, who was
twenty-eight years in different parts of India,
* Minutes of evidence before the House of Lords on
the East India Company's affairs in 1812, p. 22.
1
35
and one of the Council of Bombay, considers
that
"
The whole of India, that may be commonly called
our empire, is by no means in a state of absolute
government by us; it is in a state of control and
'coercion; it may be called alliance, but it is alliance of
' coercion and ascendancy on our side*.'
Hear also the opinion of the whole Court of
East India proprietors, expressed in a petition
to the Legislature, so late as the year 1813.
C
6
C
'Notwithstanding the ameliorated condition of the
• natives of India under the government of your peti-
tioners, to which they have been accustomed, yet the
tranquillity of the country is not maintained by a
physical force, but chiefly by moral influence, and in
'a great degree over their prejudice; any change would
alarm them, and their submission to British authority
'would be greatly endangered by an unrestrained resort
'of Europeans, in search of wealth, either by commerce
or other means, at distances from the principal seats
' of government, or in such numbers in those seats as
'to be beyond the controul of the governorst,' &c.
6
•
Thus the very advantages, which the advo-
cates of East India sugar hold out, as the cer-
tain result of an equalization of duty, the
'search of wealth, either by commerce or other
means, would greatly endanger' the tranquil-
C
* Ibid. p. 182.
+ Papers printed by order of the Court of East India
Proprietors, p. 263.
D 2
36
lity of the country. So slight, indeed, is the
security of our system there, that Mr. Hastings,
recording his deliberate judgment on 'the state
of Bengal,' says,
'I much fear that it is not understood as it ought to
'be, how near the Company's existence in India has,
on many occasions, vibrated to the edge of perdition,
' and that it has been at all times suspended by a thread,
so fine, that the touch of chance might break, or the
'breath of opinion dissolve it; and instantaneous will
'be its fall whenever it shall happen."
'It is well known' (says a respectable servant of the
Company, who confirms these statements throughout)
'that there is a class of politicians in this country,
* who treat these dangers as phantoms, proper only to
'impose upon the weak and alarm the timid, and who
are so little afraid of innovation, as seriously to recom-
'mend the encouragement of colonization in India,
' instead of preventing its commencement and checking
' its progress.'
.
And he quotes the opinion of Lord Cornwallis,
expressed in a letter to the Government at
home, in 1794, confirmatory of this danger.
'
'I am strongly impressed' (says that venerable noble-
man) that it will be of essential importance to the
'interest of Britain, that Europeans should be dis-
couraged and prevented, as much as possible, from
colonizing and settling in our possessions in India.'
Amongst other points of comparison between
our West India colonies and the East Indies,
one of the most obvious, and, it will scarcely be
37
denied, one of the most important considera-
tions, in the value of distant possessions to a
naval and commercial country, is the encourage-
ment they afford to ships and seamen.
It is in this view, perhaps, over all others,
that our colonial settlements have proved so
essential an object of attention to the mother
country; nay, for this has she shackled them
with restrictive laws, which established her
monopoly, not only over their staple produce,
but on the very means of their sending it to
her, and of receiving the supplies necessary for
their subsistence. Upon a comparison of the
official returns of tonnage engaged in the re-
spective commerce of the East and West,
Average of the last two years, 1821 and 1822.
To India, exclusive of China *.
British West Indies.
Inwards, 228,375
Outwards, 211,559
49,777
59,059
the result is so favourable to our colonial set-
tlements that, we venture to say, no minister of
a maritime nation like this, with such docu-
ments before him, would venture the responsi-
bility of adopting any measures vitally affecting
their nearest interests,-even though the com-
mercial exports and imports preponderated
largely in the other scale.
Independently of the numerical dispropor-
* The China trade is carried on by eighteen ships a
year of about 1200 tons each, equal to 21,600 tons.
38
tion in favour of the West India colonies, the
shipping employed in their trade affords the
additional advantage, that, being always nearer
to home, and making more frequent return
voyages, the mariners are within reach for the
purposes of a sudden war. We have often found
it necessary to equip six or eight sail of the
line at a few weeks' notice; and we might wait,
perhaps, till the war were ended and forgotten,
before we could make one of our seamen in the
East Indies available to the occasion: whereas,
if it should even happen that the greater por-
tion of our West India ships were on the other
side the water, that station, as we have said, is
so nearly in the direct course to America, that
we might send a fleet for reinforcements of sea-
men from the Islands, almost in its way to the
enemy's coast, and with scarcely any loss of time.
But the geographical situation and other cir-
cumstances before referred to as giving such
value to these possessions, together with the
amount of tonnage employed between them
and Great Britain, are by no means the full
measure of the maritime advantages they afford.
We must also take into calculation the trade
they carry on with the British North American
colonies:—this amounted, in 1817, to
Ships.
331
Tonnage.
49,209 inwards,
394
56,689 outwards,
39
which, of itself, an incidental branch, is nearly
equal to the whole tonnage trading with India:
-all British shipping, all British seamen, and
of the most useful class, employed in those seas,
which may probably hereafter be the scene of
events momentous to the fate of England.
This trade with our North American Colonies
opens a new field of inquiry, namely, the exten-
sive benefits arising to the British fisheries from
our possession of the West India settlements.
In the 10th vol. of Parliamentary Reports will
be found a great mass of important and interest-
ing information, with reference to the encou-
ragement afforded to the British fisheries by
the consumption of their produce throughout
all the islands. The committee of the House
of Commons in their first report,
C
Impressed with a just sense of the great national im-
portance of this object, and recommending it to the
'serious notice of the House, think it their duty briefly
'to state the general heads of their inquiry, and the
' result of concurrent testimony, which induces them
'thus particularly to call the attention of the House to
*such parts of the evidence, as elucidate the subject of
' its various branches.
6
'As a fishery and nursery of seamen :
'As a raw material:
'As consuming many articles of British manufactures:
'As connected with the important trade of salt and
' other articles:
40
'As an indispensable article of home consumption:
'As an article of exportation: and
'As collaterally affecting extensive imports to the
‹ Mediterranean, &c.
On the subject of the progressive improvement of
'the Herring fishery, for forty years past, Mr. Irving*
' was examined by the Committee; and the question put
' to him, with the answer, merits particular notice.
"
6
'Have you ever formed any opinion as to the quan-
tity of herrings which the British West Indies would
'take off, provided they could be supplied with fish of
' a good quality, and at a reasonable rate?
Any answer to this question must be founded merely
upon opinion. It is an indisputable fact that the slaves
' of the West Indies prefer British herrings to any
' other species of provisions usually served out to them.
Their chief support is a vegetable diet, such as Indian
'corn, peas, beans, potatoes, yams, &c. Beef and pork,
though occasionally allowed, are too expensive a food.
'I have had frequent conversations with some of the
best informed planters, and others long resident in
'the West Indies, on the subject of feeding the slaves,
' and the general opinion seemed to be that, if good
'sound herrings could be procured, at a reasonable
' price, the demand would at least exceed four times the
' quantity usually exported to the West Indies from this
country and from Ireland. The annual medium ex-
'portation, on an average of the six years preceding
* Inspector General of Exports and Imports, and whose
testimony, from his honourable character, and extensive
information, is particularly valuable.
41
• 1797, from Great Britain, to the British West India
' islands, amounted to 41,035 barrels.
·
'I will take the liberty of concluding my answer to
'this question by an observation, which, though perhaps
foreign to the immediate object of the question, I feel
'myself influenced by humanity to offer. However
'desirous the planters may be to render their slaves
more comfortable by allowing them a plentiful supply
' of fish, their good intentions must be frustrated, whilst
'the state of the herring fisheries of this kingdom is so
' unequal to the demand.'
C
'To the same import is the evidence of Mr. John
• Mackenzie, who says, the most successful year of the
herring fisheries in Scotland, for forty years past, has
never equalled a quarter part of the demand for the
• West Indies.'
We are surely entitled to consider such evi-
dence as this, as powerfully confirming the supe-
rior claims of the West Indies; more particularly
because the exportation here mentioned, of
41,035 barrels, was so early as the year 1798,
since which time there has been a rapid increase
both of the export of herrings from this country
to the West Indies, and of the trade they carry
on with the North American colonies, who, in
1820, exported to that market:
barrels, quintals,
8,288,.. 295,651,
casks,
22,156,
boxes,
1775, of fish;
whilst their whole export to other parts of the
world were,
744,589,.. 11,236, 12,564.
42
Thus the West India colonies, in 1820, con-
sumed one third of the whole produce of the
North American fisheries. In the same year
the official value of fish, which they took from
Great Britain, was 123,6237. 14s. 10d. thus con-
firming the anticipations made twenty years
ago. And if the number of vessels and seamen,
employed in taking the fish, both on the Bri-
tish and North American coasts, were added to
the statement of tonnage before given, we have
little doubt that this single branch of shipping
would be found as far beyond that of the whole
East India trade, in actual amount, as the nature
of the fishing service is more important than
Asiatic voyages, for all the purposes of forming
an active, hardy, and enterprising race of sea-
men.
We know not what the North American
colonies would think and say to the equalization
of East India and West India sugar, which
should deprive the planters of the means of
taking their fish, and other articles of export;
and thus leave them bereft of a market, which
they have hitherto enjoyed, for one third of the
produce of their industry-merely to please
a few Indian traders, of whom they never heard
as customers-who scarcely take from them a
quintal of fish, a cargo of wood, or have ever, di-
rectly or indirectly, employed one of their ves-
43
sels. We know not if they would consider this ei-
ther a wise or a parental act, on the part of Great
Britain, who must be aware that the interests of
her subjects in the North American and West
Indian Colonies are intimately united, and that
an injury done to one is a palpable wrong to the
other. What any other body of men would say
and do, if thus nearly touched in their interests,
may be left to the reader to judge; the manu-
facturing classes, for instance-if any measures
of Government should put at risk twenty out of
sixty millions of our exported goods, or the
agriculturists, if they were told that certain mea-
sures, proposed for the benefit of the Hindoo
casts in India, would deprive them of a market
for one third of their crops, in the speculative
hope that, some twenty years hence, the com-
munity would be great gainers by the increased
consumption of cotton and woollen goods in
Bengal.
In considering the commercial benefits arising
from the two sources of our East and West India
possessions, we shall first direct our attention to
the exports—and here Mr. Marryatt's pamphlet
is just delivered to us, distinguished, as his other
writings are, for clear and forcible reasoning :-
we have only to refer to his enumeration of the
various articles of British produce, consumed by
the Colonies, to show that they depend entirely
44
upon the supplies from home, and that, so long
as they have the means of buying, they offer a
lasting, and, what is equally important, a secure
market for our home manufactures.
The following is the annual official value of
British commodities and products exported in
five years to the
1818,
British West Indies.
East Indies, ex-
clusive of China *.
£6,384,441
1,662,947
1819,
5,516,817
1,883,221
Ending 5th 1820,
4,197,976
1,198,601
January, 1821,
4,043,693
2,178,451
1822,
4,705,035
2,855,005
1823, 3,906,730
2,769,325
Annual average, 4,792,448
2,091,258
Here is evidence that in the last three years
the amount exported to the West Indies has
been materially lessened, that of the
year end-
ing 5th January 1823, being 2,477,7117. less than
that ending 5th January 1818, which is surely
a striking illustration of our argument, since
our manufacturer has been injured in five years
to the extent of 9,551,955l. in consequence
of the extreme depression of the West India
planter, whose dimunition of revenue has not
* There is no official return of the exports to China
for each year of this period, and we, therefore, take
800,000l. as the average; 830,6737. having been the
average of three years, ending 5th January, 1821: we
mention this in order that, if we have made any error,
it may be the more easily discovered.
45
only compelled him to forego many of the
luxuries to which his habits and education had
accustomed him, but, in many cases, has de-
prived him of the ordinary means of expenditure
and rational enjoyment, &c. What stronger
proof can we have that the demand of the Colo-
nies for British products is proportioned to the
means they possess of taking them, and that any
diminution of their profits has a direct tendency
to impede the home market?
It is to be remembered that the West India
colonies have no one rival art or vocation, to
compete with the British manufacturer.—
Throughout the whole extent of their settle-
ments, from Barbadoes to the farthest headland
of Jamaica, not a yard of woollen cloth, of cotton
twist, not a brick or a hat, scarcely even any
sugar, their own staple commodity, in a refined
state, is produced by the labour of their popu-
lation. All their wants are supplied by the
English manufacturer, who finds in the West
Indies a never failing source of profitable in-
vestment; he does not depend upon the low price
of his commodity for the disposal of it, he need
not strive, as in the case of his exports to other
countries, to undersell at all risks, and often at
a ruinous loss, the rival manufacturer who fre-
quents the same market: his trade is regular,
lucrative, and safe :-the population must be
46
clothed, housed, supported,-must be so by him,
and by no other, his returns are quick, and the
same conveyance that gives him payment, brings
him his annual order for a new supply. How
different the case of his exports to India! We
need not stay to inquire into the amount of loss
incurred in this branch of the manufacturer's
trade the fact is admitted that, notwithstanding
the unprecedented low price of the raw article,
which can be but temporary, of low freights,
existing only in peace, of the moderate pre-
miums of insurance, which, within the last
few months have been nearly doubled, on the
mere rumour of war-notwithstanding all this,
there has been a great loss upon the export
to India of British manufactured goods; and
hence we may judge how much reliance is to
be placed on the hope that the distant popu-
lation of India will afford a permanent source
of profitable export.
'The East India Company,' (says the author of' Con-
siderations* on the India Trade')' have been indefa-
' tigable throughout the whole course of their commer-
⚫cial and political history, in their endeavours to intro-
duce and diffuse European commodities amongst the
'natives of India, Persia, and Arabia; and with how
'little success, their records will abundantly attest.
Even the private British merchants, who are already
* Page 137.
47
6
"
engaged in the trade, and possess all the advantage of
' a personal knowledge both of the most respectable
'tradesmen in this country, and of the parties abroad,
through whose hands their shipments are likely to
pass, together with large capitals, enabling them to
buy at the best markets, and to sell upon long credits,
'have already diminished, and, in some instances, en-
'tirely given up, the exportation of goods to India.’
6
The cause of this want of demand is that
the labouring class of the community, almost
' all over India, wear hardly any clothes at all,'
and what they do wear is manufactured on the
spot the price of a woollen garment would,
speaking generally of that class, take the
amount of a man's earnings for several months
to purchase.
:
We shall, by and by, more particularly con-
sider the loss on the export trade; but this
slight reference to the principal heads of the in-
quiry may be sufficient, for the present, to justify
'The experience' (we use the words, which the court
of East India Directors themselves afford us) of all
⚫ the nations of Europe for 300 years, and the testimony
of ancient history, which prove that the British ex-
'porter will always have to contend with the climate,
'the nature, the usages, tastes, prejudices, religions, and
'political institutions of the eastern people.'
There seems to be,' say the Directors,* a general
' and deplorable delusion respecting the practicability
* Printed papers, p. 214.
48
"
•
' of a vast extension of the sale of the manufactures of
'this country in India. But the committee may con-
'fidently say that the company, in a long course of
years, made numerous and costly experiments, in at-
tempting to push the vent of British commodities,
particularly woollens and metals, in the east. The
correspondence of the company with their servants
' abroad at different periods on this interesting concern
• would fill volumes. In the period of near 40 years, the
' endeavours of all Europe and America have made no
discovery of that immense market for European ma-
nufactures, that were said to be offered by the East
• Indies.'
6
With respect to the imports.-The average
for three years to 1821 from the British West
Indies, was,
£8,498,310 30
From India, (independently
of China,)
Annual balance,
in favour of the West Indies.
4,163,485 70
£4,4,824 16 0
The revenue derived by Great Britain from
the West India imports is considerably above
six millions;-that upon the East India im-
ports less than one million. But, say the
advocates of East India produce, the mono-
poly of the sugar trade by the West Indies
is the occasion of this disparity; repeal the
prohibitory duties, and you will soon see
the balance more equally poised. Do, then,
the East Indians admit, at this time of day,
1
49
that their imports so mainly depend upon
the culture of sugar, which, a few years ago, was
scarcely thought of? What has the Company
been about since the first establishment of its
charter, if the vaunted population throughout
the territories of India have been permitted to
live in such listless indolence, that they are:
not able to give us silk, indigo, cotton, hemp,
spices, and the various other rich products of
a fertile soil, to an amount, equal at least to
the single article of sugar produced by our
colonies in the Atlantic? We shall have oc-
casion to answer this question in the course
of our subsequent reasoning, and to show by
analogy that the growth of sugar in India is
not likely to increase in any thing like the ratio,
anticipated by the advocates of an equalized
duty, and that, upon an average of
years, it
cannot be brought from thence at a lower price
than from the West Indies. Let us, however,
grant, at present, for the sake of argument,
that the imports from the East could be brought
to a parity,-nay, double or three-fold the
amount of those from the West Indies,-to
whom would the profits return, and where
be spent? Surely to the native princes, whose
power is already sufficiently formidable; brought,
indeed, under a temporary subjection, but
destined hereafter, to overturn the unnatural
E
50
empire of foreigners, whom they can only re-
gard as the unjust invaders of their ancient do-
minions :-they must circulate to enrich a
population, who have no interests, no feelings,
or affections, in community with ourselves;—
a population, debased by the most barbarous
superstition, yet so tenacious of their habits,
customs, and prejudices, that to attempt con-
version, 'would change in an instant the lowest,
'the most timid, and most servile Indian, into
a ferocious barbarian *;'—a population whose
very religion forbids them to visit the country
now called upon to sacrifice, in their favour, the
property and the undoubted privileges of its
own subjects;-a race of Gentoos, who believe
that they cannot cross the sea that divides them
from Europe without impiously polluting this sa-
cred element†; in whose estimation the shadow
of a Christian, passing by, taints the very food
that is raised to their lipst; who prostrate them-
selves before the gods of their idolatry in the
fanatical belief that, by permitting themselves
* Minutes of Evidence before the House of Lords,
1812.
+ Seventh Report of the Secret Committee in 1773,
p. 334.
+ Evidence before the House of Commons, 1813,
p. 447.
51
to be crushed beneath the wheels of the holy
car*, as it passes in procession, they secure a
certain entrance into paradise!
For such, and no others, are we to enrich the
East, at the expense of our Western establish-
ments; for such are we to adopt a new code of
commercial and colonial law, and a new prin-
ciple of international justice and consistency!
It is a mere abuse of terms to call that justice
or consistency, which is to deprive the liege
subjects of the king of all the immunities and
privileges secured to them by the Constitution
of England, and to transfer them to the peo-
ple whom we have just described. And we
appeal to any rational man, whether the wealth
which circulates in a territory giving birth to
such a race, can weigh in the scale against the
claims of the British colonists, the diffusion of
whose wealth through every ramification of our
system becomes a fertile source of advantage to
the parent state? For is it not undeniable, that
the mass of West India proprietors either return
to England after the acquirement of their for-
tunes, or have always resided in this country,
contributing to the circulation of capital by a
liberal expenditure of their income, and by all
* Evidence, House of Commons, 1813, p. 67 and 77.
E 2
52
those investments, which, however difficult to
analyze in detail, give the most powerful impulse
to national enterprise and wealth?
Mr. Brougham has described, with his usual
ability, the benefits which this country derives
from the return of the planters, enriched in the
colonies, and by the residence of a great num.
ber of West India proprietors, who always live
in England, and
'continually draw from their estates the funds of
'their subsistence, or the stock which they may choose
'to employ in speculations of agriculture, manufacture,
or trade; while the management of their property
gives employment to a succession of their poorer
countrymen, who by degrees accumulate a compe-
tency, and return home, or promote the improvement
' of the colonies.
C
There is not, perhaps, so much as one thousand
pounds per annum drawn by British subjects in rents
from the continent of Europe*. But the rents of
· West Indian proprietors, who have never in their lives
been across the Atlantic, may without any exaggeration,
'be computed by millions.
* For Europe' we may safely read 'Asia,' as there
are no British agriculturists or proprietors of land in
India; indeed any attempt of this nature is contrary to
the rules of the Company, for it appears, that coloniza-
tion there would be dangerous to our empire.
53
C
•
Although this non-residence is certainly hurtful to
the colonies, as the residence of land-holders in the
metropolis is hurtful to the contiguous provinces; yet
'it increases the resources of the empire more imme-
diately, by bringing a large portion of the colonial
'wealth under the immediate power of that government
'which defends the whole, and by nourishing the in-
dustry of that part of the system which, during the
'infancy of the distant settlements, bears the largest
share of the imperial burthens. In order to form a
• distinct notion of the advantages which a state draws
'from the wealth of its colonies, and from the riches
' accumulated by a temporary residence in those parts,
'let us only consider the case of a great West Indian
proprietor residing in Europe. The possessor of an
'estate in Barbadoes, for example, living in London,
'pays taxes for his slaves, houses, &c. to support the
government for the defence of the island. This gross
'produce is then diminished by about a twenty-third
part*, which goes to the imperial treasury. Out of
• the neat produce which he receives, he pays all man-
ner of British taxes, and perhaps forms one of the
monied interest, who support government by loans or
'contributions, in the various emergencies of public
' affairs.'
C
This is a true delineation of the benefits
arising from the diffusion of colonial profits
* The 4 per cent duty levied in the island.-This
tax was granted by the inhabitants to the crown in
1663, and in their present situation, is a grievous bur-
den to those colonies who pay it.
54
in Great Britain; and it is to be hoped, that
whilst the West Indian proprietors contribute, by
direct taxation, four* millions out of about ten
millions, which is the whole amount of Custom-
house duties collected in England, independently
of two millions of excise†; and again, by indi-
rect taxation, to every branch of the revenue,-
both through the medium of the expenditure
just alluded to, and by the consumption of five
millions of manufactures, and the employment
of nearly three hundred thousand tons of British
shipping, all of which are most productive
sources of public income,-it is to be hoped that
the nation will steadily adhere to the obvious
policy of encouraging these possessions, not
merely by the present, but, if necessary, by
additional restrictive duties on their foreign and
more distant rivals. If this is not done, we
* Revenue of customs on West India sugar, imported
into England, 1822,
3,579,412
Ireland, 1821,
572,424
£4,151,836
+ Revenue on West India coffee and rum imported
into England,
Ireland,
1,990,222
26,968
£2,017,190
55
conscientiously believe the West Indies will
cease to flourish under our dominion, and in
time cease altogether to be British.
We had intended further to pursue this in-
quiry of the comparative advantages, derived
from our East and West India settlements by
considering the different effects of employing a
large investment in a foreign or home trade; and
to contrast the greater risk attending the former,
and the participation in its profits by aliens, with
the double advantages of the latter in the mu-
tual reaction of two capitals, both virtually Bri-
tish, one in the colonies, creating a demand for
British products, the other at home creating a
demand for colonial products; but our limits
compel us to leave this point untouched, and
rather hasten to the concluding proposition,
which we were desirous to establish.
If we have, in any degree satisfactorily, proved
the constitutional right, or even an equitable
claim of the West India colonists, to an effectual
protection against East India produce, or have
established the superiority of the advantages
they confer upon the empire, we hope equally to
show that the benefits, anticipated from the new
system of duties, are altogether hypothetical
and imaginary. These benefits may be all com-
prised under two heads-the immense field
56
which, it is said, would be presented to the ma-
nufacturers of Great Britain for the supply of
100 millions of population in India-and such
a reduction in the price of sugar, as would save
to the people, already groaning under their
'burthens, a million and a half in the whole
consumption."
We have already said that the export trade
to India is unprofitable :-to establish this fact
it might be sufficient to revert to the trade car-
ried on by the East India Company previous to
the year 1812. Up to this time they enjoyed
an almost exclusive monopoly of the India
markets; which, if any thing could do so, might
be supposed to secure to them a large profit
from the demand of their extensive dominions.
In the minutes of evidence, however, before
the House of Lords in 1812, we find a table,
furnished by the Company, and showing the
result of their exports for nineteen years, from
1793 to 1811 inclusive. According to which, the
prime cost of their investment in goods to India
amounted to an annual average of 1,322,8771.;
and the average profit upon the sales was
55,634l. or less than 44 per cent. But Mr. Cart-
wright, the Accountant-General, upon whose
authority our figures rest, adds, it is neces-
sary I should inform the Committee that this
is without reckoning interest on the capital
employed;' so that if we calculate interest at 5
<
1
57
per cent., as in all other commercial specula-
tions, we have a loss of per cent. This, how-
ever, is not all:-the Company have an esta-
blished rule of never protecting their shipments,
by insurance; and Mr. Cartwright informs us,
'that the losses by sea upon the India trade, in
the whole period of nineteen years, appear to
be 51. 12s. 1d. per cent. upon the whole in-
vestment;' which, added to the other per
cent. leaves an actual loss upon the whole export
trade of above 61 per cent. This, too, at
a time when the free trade was not opened;
when the Directors, by keeping the supply of
their commodities in just proportion to the
demand, had, as it were, the regulation of the
market, by which they were secured against
any excessive loss, and which, in any other
country than India, would have opened to them
the source of incalculable profit.
Nor can it, in this case, be said, that the trans-
actions of a great trading company are con-
ducted with less scrupulous attention to eco-
nomy, than is exercised by individuals more
immediately interested in the result; because,
so far from this being the case, they have, in the
general management of their commerce, a great
advantage over private adventurers, equal to
15 per cent. in the relative value of their im-
ports, as appears by the evidence of a respect-
able merchant, who lived thirty years in Bengal,
58
given before the Committee of the House of
Commons in 1809,
The Company, from their greater capital, and ge-
'nerally speaking, from the better intelligence and skill
' of their servants, are able to carry on the trade with
'India with more advantage to themselves, and to the
country, than individuals The Company's goods
have a character for excellence, which the goods of
private persons do not attain. This gives the Com-
pany a considerable advantage in the European mar-
ket, &c. When engaged on my own account, in cor-
respondence to this country from Bengal, I considered
'the difference to be equal to 15 per cent. on piece
' goods.'
·
If, with these and other facilities, the Com-
pany incurred so great a loss on the sale of their
commodities, we may naturally conclude that
individuals must also have found the trade an
unprofitable one; and this was satisfactorily
proved to be the case before a Committee of
the House of Lords in 1812; where it was stated
by Mr. Fairlie, Mr. Davies, and other mer-
chants, trading extensively with that country,
that, almost universally, a loss was left upon
the goods imported into India. No wonder,
therefore, that of 3000 tons of shipping, annu-
ally provided by the Company (before their
exclusive privileges were taken away) for the
private trade, according to the Act of Par-
liament, not more than one-fourth part has
'been applied for:'-no wonder that the Com-
'pany's printed notices (circulated generally
59
·
6
.
"
throughout the trading interests of the com-
munity) produced no effect, and that, not-
withstanding such additional stimulus and en-
couragement, experience has proved that the
'India market is trifling in its demand, and
already abundantly supplied, and very fre-
quently to the great loss and serious injury of
those who have engaged in such private ex-
C port trade."
6
Nor will this excite any surprise, when we
consider the charges on sending out an invest-
ment to Bengal (which is considered the best
market), as given in an apparently official cal-
culation of one of the Company's confidential
servants who appears to have unrestricted
access to their records;
Freight, insurance, duties, and land-
'ing, charges in India, short delivery,
' agency on the sales, remittances, &c. 35 per cent.
'Loss on calculating the payments at
2s, 3d, the current rupee, and only
'prime cost on packages and charges,
And if the proceeds are remitted in
'bills for exchange at 2s. 6d. the sicca
rupee, twelve months after sight, or
' eighteen months after date,
3
1/1
£ 45 per cent.
* Papers printed by order of the Court of Directors.
+ Considerations on the India Trade, p. 139.
60
But are these high rates of charge the only
impediments that our manufactures meet in
India? Far from it; they have to compete with
the long established, skilful manufacturers of
the East, where labour is cheap, where the raw
material grows at their door, where they are
burthened with comparatively no taxes, and
where the precise nature of the articles in de-
mand is intimately understood. Indeed the ma-
chinery and arts of Europe, until lately unknown
to them, have begun to be extensively adopted
by the natives, to the exclusion of many of our
commodities.
<
Sir John Malcolm is of opinion,
"That the facility of intercourse with India which has
'followed the repeal of the Company's exclusive privi-
leges, by leading to the establishment in that country
' of a great number of European artisans and mechanics,
'will occasion a diminution of the exports of a great
number of European articles. The manufacture of
leather, lately established in Madras, has already not
only furnished European accoutrements, but all species
⚫ of articles, down to ladies' gloves. Carriages and other
conveyances are made by European artisans at Cal-
all kinds of furniture, all kinds of ribbon work,
' and in short every thing they can*.'
•
•
< cutta ;
This is confirmed by William Fairlie, Esq.
who says,
* Minutes of Evidence, House of Lords, p. 26.
61
There are a great many articles now manufactured
in Calcutta, that supply the place of those formerly
'imported from this country; all kinds of leather, car-
'penters work of every description, furniture, plate,
⚫ and a variety of articles in copper and brass; carriages
are made there, many of them made entirely there;
' others from materials imported from this country, few
carriages that are imported from this country are
'completely finished here.'
•
"
But above all other circumstances, which
oppose the increased consumption of British
commodities in India, are the rooted habits and
customs of the natives. Our readers will see
that we here indulge in no rhetorical descriptions
of the prejudices, the unalterable attachment to
their religion, the unchangeable customs and
habits of the Indian population. We have never
visited that country, and we profess to know
only what is communicated to us in the pu-
blished opinions of those, who have resided there
the greater part of their lives, and had unlimited
means of information: but it is impossible to
read the great mass of respectable and concur-
ring testimony to this point, without being con-
vinced that there is something inherent in the
character of the people, which renders it ex-
tremely probable that the expectation of a rapid
or extensive demand for our manufactures, even
if they could afford to purchase them, will be
greatly disappointed. We do not wish to make
unreasonable deductions in favour of our argu-
62
ment. We are not prepared, nor are we called
upon, to deny the possibility of an increasing
demand in India: under peculiar circumstances,
such as the present, great exports may be made,
at prices so low as to force a temporary con-
sumption, at whatever risk to the speculator;
but it is contrary to all experience, and to all
reasoning, to imagine that any class of men,
whether manufacturers or others, will continue
an unprofitable trade; and as we are desired to
establish a new regulation for the East and West
India commerce, which, it is admitted, will
injure the one party, we are justified in saying
that, unless it will secure a commensurate bene-
fit from the other, both as respects this country
and India, the experiment would be hazardous
to the best interests of the state.
Lord Teignmouth, Governor of Bengal, says
'the general mass of the population of India live
in straw huts; their furniture consists of a few
articles of the country, mats, and a few earthen
'pots for dressing their victuals; their food in
'general is rice; their dress is a very small
'portion of cotton cloth, the produce of the
'country*.'
This opinion is confirmed by the East India
Directors, who
• Call the attention of the manufacturers of woollens,
* Evidence, p. 32.
63
'metals, cotton fabrics, potteries, to the habits of the
'Indian people, the bulk of whom live all their days on
' rice, and go only half covered with a slight cotton cloth;
'the rice and cotton both produced by their own soil.
The earnings of the common labouring classes, and
• consequently their expenses, may be estimated, on an
average, not to exceed 47. 10s. a man per annum, about
2d. a day; (so that the price of a woollen garment
would take several months entire pay.) They are in-
'dolent by nature, frugal by habit, under manifold
'religious restrictions. What demand of the manu-
'factures from Europe is to be expected from these?
• Of the better classes few are rich, unless those con-
'nected with Europeans, and even these, DURING A
COURSE OF NEAR THREE CENTURIES, in which they have
' lived in European settlements, have adopted none of
our tastes or fashions, unless perhaps in a few articles
of jewellery and hardware, looking glasses and car-
C
riages, with the use of a mantle of broad cloth in the
' cold season*.
Lord Teignmouth says, that
'Even in Calcutta, the capital, as it were, of our
'dominions in India, where there is a population of
'800,000 personst, British manufactures are only in
'general use by the Europeans, and possibly some
'of the Portuguese, who have been born in India,
'not by the natives generally; there may be instances.
* Report of the Committee of Correspondence, Feb.
9, 1813; printed papers, p. 234.
+ Sir John Malcolm says he has heard it stated at
from 4 to 600,000; but he knows only by report.
64
•
of a few, say three or four! who may use lustres in
'their houses, but does not recollect any other articles
of European manufacture or produce in general use
by the natives of Calcutta.'
And lastly, that we may not burthen the
reader with authorities, which could be indefi-
nitely multiplied, the Directors assure us that
• The persons who imagine that region to present a
'great field for commerce, have no conception of the
difficulty of carrying goods there from the sea, the
delay, expense, and insecurity that must be experi-
enced when the boundaries of the Company's govern-
'ment are passed; and in finding and bringing back
returns, if the European commodities could be disposed
'of. And that after all the knowledge which succes-
'sive ages have afforded upon this subject, men of
general intelligence and cultivation should, in oppo-
'sition to the usual course of human affairs, adopt the
'fond idea of entering at once into the enjoyment of a
new world of commerce, is a most striking instance of
credulity, and of the power which interest and imagi-
*nation united have, to impose upon the under-
'standing*.'
(
It will scarcely be objected to us that all
these testimonies are accumulated to no pur-
pose, and in support of no essential point in
argument; it is the main point of all-and
calm dispassionate persons, who are biassed
by no particular interest to either side, and
look only to the common advantage of the
*Printed Papers, p. 232, 233.
7
:
65
public, can scarcely imagine the incredible
pains taken by particular individuals, to give a
colouring to this part of the question. The
Directors of the East India Company are too
consistent, and too honourable to lend them-
selves to such a system :-they seek the admis-
sion of East India sugar, upon the ground of
their own advantage, as a trading company; but
they are far above any recourse to delusive state-
ments. We have reason to know that they dis-
claim any expectation of the markets of India
affording an unbounded field for the con-
sumption of British commodities; and we
beg it may be understood, in all our quotations
of their sentiments, which we make with every
feeling of respect for them, both collectively and
individually, that we are far from implying any
inconsistency on their part:-we make use of
their statements, because we cannot have a
higher authority than the opinions of such a
body of gentlemen, intimately acquainted with
the real nature of their own institutions, and the
capability of India both as to production and
consumption. But we must, nevertheless, claim
the advantage to be derived from their declara-
tions; and if we can, upon their own showing,
establish our position that the East India trader's
pretensions to an equalization of duties are un-
tenable; and can prove that such a measure,
F
66
whilst it might deeply injure the West India
planters, could be productive of no advantage
to the British manufacturer, in any degree
commensurate with the loss he would sustain,
and has already sustained, by their diminished
capacity to purchase his commodities, the di-
rectors must forego an advantage, to be ob-
tained only at the expense of more productive
and more important interests than their own.
Though unwilling to charge the author of
the 'REFUTATION' either with ignorance of the
subject on which he writes, or with any inten-
tion of mis-stating his case, yet, when we con-
sider the unprovoked and general abuse of the
character of West India proprietors, which oc-
cupies two thirds of his pamphlet, we might be
justified in regarding it as the united result of
one and the other; for, can it be believed, that
any sensible, well informed, disinterested person
would, in the face of all that has been adduced,
commit himself to such passages as the following?
6
6
The injury done to our manufactures is still more
'serious. It may be considered, as a point established
beyond question, that the only limit at present to the
growing demand of India for our manufactures is the
power of obtaining adequate returns. It is scarcely
' possible to calculate the effect, which may be produced
on the looms and workshops of this country by an
'impulse, however small, being given to the demand for
67
6
'their fabrics, by a population of one hundred millions
' of our own subjects. And for what is it that we are
'called upon to sacrifice this brilliant prospect, this
'certainty of a continually growing demand for the pro-
'ductions of our national industry. We are called upon
'to sacrifice it for the sake of a market limited to much
'less than a hundredth part of our East Indian popu-
lation, and the whole amount of whose consumption does
"not equal the amount forced out of the pockets of the peo-
'ple to maintain our West Indian establishments, and
*
to enable the planters to go on extracting from their
'miserable slaves by the power of the cart-whip, the
sugar which we have afterwards to buy at so costly a
' rate.'
This invective, it is true, scarcely deserves an an-
swer, but unfortunately such writings have their
effect: the times in which we live are fraught
with delusion;-there is a certain hypocritical
cant abroad which even those who despise it
dare not manfully oppose :—it is clothed in the
demure garb of piety, which is as foreign from
the interested motives it would conceal, as the
divine humility, inculcated by our religion, is
opposed to the self righteousness of the worldly;
6
*The value of this 'consumption' is declared in the offi-
cial returns to Parliament to be about four millions; and
this writer has himself stated, that the amount, thus
forced out of the pockets of the people,' is one million
and a half. This inconsistency may serve as a crite-
rion, by which to judge of many other statements in
his pamphlet, equally erroneous.
F 2
68
philanthropy is its watch word-but its purpose
unjust aggression on the property and character
of others. These writings, we say, have their
effect; a powerful effect, not only on the ig-
norant and thoughtless, but on those, who, from
want of leisure or inclination, are unaccustomed
to close analysis and examination of details; and
as comparatively few take sufficient interest in
the question patiently to investigate its merits,
the impression is extensive and forcible in the
exact measure of hardihood and confidence, by
which it is sought to be established. We shall
not, however, permit ourselves to be seduced
from our purpose by the feelings which, we
confess, such aspersions are calculated to ex-
cite;—we are, at present, engaged in a calm
inquiry into facts, the result of figures, and
founded on official documents, and by these
must the truth be established.
It
If our readers are not quite surfeited with de-
tails of exports, we must request their patience
for a few moments longer, whilst we offer yet
other proofs in support of our proposition.
may, perhaps, be answered to the reasoning al-
ready adduced that it is little to the point,
when opposed to the actual increase of the ex-
ports to India; that the Directors, and their ser-
vants, the Governors, the Councils of the
Presidencies, the old residents, are no autho-
69
rity, so long as their opinions are at variance.
with facts; and that if we cannot otherwise ex-
plain the cause, we are bound to confess that
it is occasioned by the growing consumption of
the natives.
We are ready to admit the fact of increase,
but we deny the inference; indeed the very
extent and rapidity of this increase are an ar-
gument to show that it does not arise from the
demand of native consumers, but is occasioned
by the rash speculations of merchants, unac-
quainted with the real nature of the markets in
India: for no one, however sanguine in his ex-
pectations of the future consumption of British
commodities there, will
suppose that any
change in those habits of life, to which the In-
dians have adhered with such singular predi-
lection, can have been so immediate as to call
for this sudden and extraordinary supply. The
ruinous consequences of the present state of the
trade are, even now, severely felt by the adven-
turers; and there can be no doubt, when the re-
turns are made upon the later shipments, which
have occasioned an excessive glut of the
markets throughout India, that they will be
found to have realized little more than half the
original investment.
There is, moreover, one other important con-
sideration, with reference to these exports, which
must also be taken into the account, viz. the ac-
70
cumulated and increasing number of Europeans,
and of the Company's servants, in the different
establishments under their dominion: and we
are justified in the assertion that the greater
part of our manufactures, which have usually
met a profitable market, and which alone can be
considered permanent, has been supplied for
their consumption, and not for the Indian cul-
tivators.
In support of this, we have, amongst many
others, the evidence of Mr. Fairlie, who was
thirty years resident in Bengal, and who in-
forms us
6
• That there is a very small consumption for the na-
tives, they are chiefly for the Europeans in the Com-
'pany's service, in the army and civil service, and others.
‹ that are settled in the country, out of the Company's
'service*, and that the increase in the export of Euro-
'pean articles and manufactures, is chiefly owing to the
' increased number of Europeans, now in the service of
'the Company; the Company's military and civil service
have greatly increased, the King's regiments are greatly
'increased, and the number of Europeans is twenty or
thirty to one as compared to the time he went, thirty
'years agot.'
C
General Kyd, who was thirty-nine years in
the Company's service, and had perhaps better
opportunities of marking the progressive influx
* Evidence, House of Commons, p. 186.
+ Evidence, House of Lords, p. 156.
71
of European population into India than almost
any other person, says
6
The export of European manufactures certainly,
'within these thirty years, has very much increased; but
'this appears to have arisen from the very great increase
' of our army in India. Thirty years ago there were
' only one or two king's regiments in the service, at pre-
'sent there are thirty; our own military establishments
• have at least doubled; the civil service upon the three
' establishments has also nearly doubled. This increase
' of European population appears to me fully to account
'for the increase of the exports, during that time; from
' which I conclude that the exports have principally been
for the use of Europeans*.'
The East India Directors put this fact, and
the obvious reasoning upon it, beyond all possible
question in the following remarkable words:
6
6
To explain the increase in the private trade between
'Europe and India, it is to be remembered, first, that,
6 as already stated, the commanders and officers of the
• Company's ships are, in a manner, obliged to be
'traders, and that they have greatly increased in num-
⚫ber since 1793; they are forced to carry out goods, and
'therefore to bring goods back, because, in general,
'specie would be a losing remittance. Secondly, that
C
6
the number of Europeans in India has been very
greatly increased since 1793. Every class has in-
'creased; the civil, military, and medical servants of the
Company; the King's troops, from a few regiments to
<
* Evidence, House of Lords, p. 46.
72
twenty thousand men; the naval servants of the crown;
C ladies, lawyers, free merchants, free mariners, and the
'mixed race of European descent, now become a great
'multitude, who imitate, as far as they can, the fashions
⚫ of their fathers. For all these descriptions of persons,
every thing required for use or luxury is sent from this
country; thus the exports are necessarily enhanced*.?
6
Lord Teignmouth in 1812 calculated, that, in
the Company's territories, the comparative
number of Europeans was as 1000 to two mil-
lions of natives t: if, therefore, the population
now amounts to 100 millions, we may consider
the European settlers, including the Company's
civil servants, to be about
Add the military establishment of
British and native troops,
And we have
50,000
213,454
263,454
We do not stop to inquire if the European
settlers are not far more than 50,000;--the
present number are quite sufficient for our pur-
pose, and we wish only to make the most fair
and reasonable calculations. What then may be
considered a moderate estimate of British pro-
ducts, consumed by these persons;-the civil,
military, and medical servants, the King's
* Printed Papers, p. 238.
+ Evidence, House of Lords, p. 33.
73
troops, ladies, &c.---in regimentals, muskets,
caps, accoutrements, military stores, furniture,
carriages, books, pictures,-the various articles
of necessary consumption, of dress, and of luxury?
Surely five or six pounds sterling a year for each
person cannot be thought an unreasonable cal-
culation in a luxurious and expensive country?
-we ask no more ;-allow us but five or six
pounds each for their whole expenditure, and
out of the annual consumption of British ar-
ticles, we have 1,500,000 taken by our own
countrymen and dependents, leaving but a com-
paratively small part for the supply of the na-
tives: whether, therefore, we reason by ana-
logy, or on the evidence of those who have
been long resident in India, or on the convic-
tions of common sense, the whole enigma of the
accumulated exports is at once explained; the
fancied outlet for British commodities, among
the hundred millions of natives, suddenly dis-
appears from our vision;-and the most san-
guine advocate of the cause will be compelled to
admit that the increased activity of the Hindoo
cultivators will neither make them Christians,
nor give them Christian habits-that their de-
mand for British manufactures would not be
advanced by any increase in the cultivation
of sugar, opposed, as it would be, to the
whole frame of their society: in short, they
will, in all consistency, be called upon to adopt
74
the conclusion, which the East India Directors
consider to be established by the account of
the trade since 1793, namely;-that
In all the period of nearly twenty years, from that
time to the present, in which, undoubtedly, facilities,
' and enlargements never enjoyed before, have been
'given for private enterprise and adventure, in which
the private trade has considerably increased, and on
'the whole a very ample experiment has been made, not
one new article for the consumption of the natives of
• India has been exported*, and little perceivable differ-
6
6
6
ence in the few articles of metals and woollens, of which
they participated before. This is a very remarkable
' fact, and ought to make a deep impression on all per-
'sons, who, in any way, interest themselves in this subject.
On the whole, then, this may be pronounced a decisive
experiment: a decisive proof that there is no opening,
"nor any material opening to be expected, for the sale of
'European articles for the use of the natives of Indiat.'
6
In considering the advantages held out to the
English consumer from the increased importa-
tion of sugar, and the consequently lower price
at which the Indian trader promises to sup-
ply him, it will be necessary to examine
the statement in the 'REFUTATION,' to which we
* Printed in the Company's Report, in Italics.
+ Printed Papers, 1812, p. 239.
75
C
have already referred, that one million and a
'half is extorted from the pockets of the people
'by the present restrictive duties.' We presume
the writer founds this declaration on the quan-
tity of West India sugar imported into this
country, equal to about 3,300,000 cwt. which
at 10s. per cwt, the difference of duty charge-
able upon East and West India produce, would
in figures be equal to a million and a half!
But the real fact is, that of this importa-
tion, only about 2,500,000 cwt., was consumed
in England, upon which the whole profit of the
West India planter was but 5s. per cwt., as will
appear by the following statement.-The ex-
pense of culture, according to different esti-
mates, varies from 16s. to 20s. per cwt. We take
the lowest, as the least favourable to our argu-
ment: say, then, expenses of cultivation
Freight and other charges
Making together
16s.
8s.
per cwt.
24s.
The average price of sugar last year was within
a fraction of 29s. exclusive of duty; leaving a
profit to the planter of 5s. per cwt. or equal to
£570,000 on the whole quantity consumed in
Great Britain; so that, if it were possible to
allow that every shilling, which goes into the
planter's pocket, by way of interest (and a very
76
inadequate interest it is at all times) upon his
capital, is taken out of the pocket of the con-
sumer, the most perverse reasoner could only
bring it to £ 570,000. But we confidently ask
if this is too much to give, in return for all the
advantages derived by the parent state from her
colonial possessions? And surely it would be a
new and extraordinary principle in political
economy to say, because the British agricul-
turist realizes £3 a load upon his crop of
wheat, after deducting expenses, that this profit
is liable to the obnoxious construction of being
wrung from the consumer's pocket! What rea-
sonable man but admits, that it is only a just com-
pensation for the labour, expense, and risk, in-
curred in producing it, and a fair interest on
the capital he has embarked in his pursuit?
But the proposition that, because 209,964
cwt. (which is the whole import of East India
sugar) is liable to an additional charge of 10s.
per cwt. therefore the whole of the 2,500,000
cwt. of West India produce is afforded to the
consumer at the additional rate of 10s. involves
an absurdity so palpable to common under-
standings, that it were a waste of time to offer
any arguments in contradiction.
We proceed, then, to consider the general
question of supplying this country with sugar
vory
from Asia, and upon what ground the East In-
dians rest their expectation of its inexhaustible
resources to meet the demand of the English
market. The principal topic of their declama-
tion is, that the low price of labour and mode-
rate rent of land, together with the simple and
unexpensive machinery employed by the na-
tives in the manufacture, enable them to pro-
duce sugar at an infinitely lower rate than our
West India colonies. So inconsistent are the
various writers on this side the question, that
whilst some promise a reduction of one penny*
a pound, on the equalization of duties, others
are extravagant enough to anticipate that we
may obtain sugar from India† in any quantity,
'so as to sell the coarse qualities from 24d. to
'3d. a pound:' and others again assert that the
sugar plantations in Bengal could supply even
the West Indies with their own grand staple
•
C
<
of sugar, at half the price it costs the planter
to raise it in those islandst!' If either the one
or the other of these be true, the East India
Directors must surely be guided by such views
of unprecedented munificence and liberality, in
*Refutation,' p. 102.
+ Report of the Liverpool Committee, p. 45.
Third Appendix to the East India Company's Re-
port on the Sugar Trade, p. 56.
78
the encouragement they afford to the manu-
factures and products of their Eastern subjects,
as cannot be paralleled in the history of modern
days-certainly not in the history of their
own government of India. Such munificence,
indeed, as might excite some little jealousy on
the part of the proprietors of East India stock,
and justify their claim, that in any future in-
dulgence to the distant cultivators of India the
amount of their dividend should also be taken
into consideration. If it be true that sugar in
Asia can be manufactured for one half the ex-
pense of West India produce, the company's
commercial affairs must be conducted on very
different principles from those of any other
trading company or individuals:-for it appears
by their return to Parliament, dated less than a
month back, that in thirty years, from 1790
down to 1821 (the latest period to which the
same can be made up'), that they have pur-
chased 1,579,908 cwt. of sugar, for which they
have paid, at prime cost, 1,987,7231., equal to
258. 1 d. per cwt.; now-the highest estimate
of expense in our West India colonies has been,
on an average of Jamaica and other colonies,
20s. per cwt!
Let it not be imagined that this extraordinary
liberality was exercised only in the earlier part
79
of the thirty years referred to, and that the
company has managed better since, or that
the extended cultivation of the sugar cane in
India, and the more successful application of
art and labour to its production (from all which
such rapid improvements have been foretold to
us ever since the year 1794), have, of late years,
created a redundancy of stock, and a con-
sequent reduction in the price: far from all
this we find, in the parliamentary return, that
in the year 1821 the company paid 28s. 74d.
for every cwt. of sugar put on board their ships.
in India! PRIME COST, be it observed,-no India
charges, no duty, no convoy, no insurance, no
freight or mercantile expenses; but the prime
cost of every cwt. of sugar purchased by the
East India company, purchased of their own
subjects,—in their own territory,—almost on
the very spot of its production,-was 28s. 74d.!
A truce, then, to all the high sounding pro-
mises of a cheaper commodity for the English
consumer; and let us not be induced to risk
the prosperity of our West India colonies by
the deceitful prospect of advantages which,
however auspicious at a distance, prove wholly
illusive upon a nearer examination.
If this fact of the company's purchases be
not demonstrative of the high price of sugar in
India, hear what is said by the East India
80
committee in Liverpool. They admit that the
• prime cost' of sugar in Bengal,
<
In May 1822, was
Add charges at Calcutta
S.
d.
24 2
2 1
• Cost in India
26 1
8 11
35 0
Freight, insurance, and wastage
• Cost in London
which is 7s. per cwt. more than the highest
present estimate of the cost of bringing West
India sugar to market.
The committee further state, that the present
loss upon importation of East India sugar is
2s. 10d. per cwt.; but they add, if the 10s.
additional duty were repealed, the Indian
grower would make a profit of 7s. 2d. per cwt.!
It will be shown that the first cost, here stated,
is considerably lower than the general average
paid by such unfortunate traders, as have made
investments in sugar, for the purposes of re-
mittance; and it is a fact, that the greater
number of them have incurred a far more
serious loss than 2s. 10d. per cwt. We do
not, however, lay any stress on the mere question
of the amount of this loss; it must, of course,
vary according to the state of the markets in
both countries, and does not materially affect
the main point at issue: we admit, for the pre-
sent, the figures afforded by the committee, viz.
81
2s. 10d. as the loss now sustained on the im-
portation of East India sugar, and s. 2d.
as the supposed gain upon the repeal of the
10s. duty. We have already shown that about
5s. per cwt. may be considered the profit of
the West India planter; so that, in the event
of an equalization of duty, the whole difference
between the two would, by their own state-
ment, be 2s. 2d. per cwt.; this, however, is
in a period of peace, with freights and in-
surance at an unprecedented low rate; but if
we consider the necessary increase of the former
in a time of war to at least 12s. per cwt., and
of the latter to twelve guineas per cent., it will
not appear too much to say, that the difference
between a commodity brought 10,000 miles,
and one subject to a transit of only 4000, must
preponderate more largely in favour of the
shorter voyage than 2s. 2d. per cwt.
If it should, however, be doubted whether
the prime cost of sugar in India, and the in-
creased war charges on its conveyance to this
country preclude the permanent supply of a
cheaper commodity from the East than from the
West, a reference to the Company's late report
on the sugar trade will be quite conclusive on
this point: we there have a statement of the
expenses on Ganjam sugar in 1796*, viz.
* Second Appendix, p. 22.
G
82
s. d.
Prime cost per cwt.
25 3
Charges in India
11 7
-36 10
Freight
24
5
Insurance (not included)
Charges of merchandize in
England
3 9
65 per cwt.
It
admitted by the Company as the charges against
sugar brought from India in that year.
appears also by an extract from the proceed-
ings of the Madras board of revenue*, given in
the same document, that the prices of Ganjam
sugar were, for the first sort, 30s. 8½d., second
sort, 25s. 7d., third sort, 20s. 54d.; but the
board 'consider these to be high prices, as they
' understand that Bengal, China, Manilla, Ba-
tavia, and even Ganjam sugars, have been pur-
chased in Madras at rates not much higher, and
'sometimes lower; indeed' (they very rationally
add) 'unless they can be reduced, they appre-
hend this sugar will not answer for the Eu-
ropean markets in time of peace.'
6
"
"
፡
The board, too, conclude, unless the freight
can be lowered, that 19s. 84d. per cwt. is the
highest price the trade will bear in the time of
peace; in which case the cost to the Company
in England, when brought to sale, would be.
'as followst:
* First Appendix, p. 250. + Ibid. p. 251.
83
• Prime cost
'India charges on that sent home
amounted to 11s. 7d.; say they can
be reduced to
< Freight
S.
d.
19 8
8 0
24 5
'Charges of merchandize in England 3 9
55 10 per ewt.
* exclusive of interest of money, insurance, and
¿
wastage?
We perfectly agree with the Board, that 'un-
'less the prices in India can be reduced, the
<
C
sugar will not answer for the European mar-
'ket,' and that, unless the freight can be low-
ered, 19s. 8d. is the highest price the trade
'will bear in the time of peace:' but, as the
prices of Ganjam sugar were, on an average,
25s. per cwt. in 1796, so do the accounts of
every private trader, of the Liverpool com-
mittee, of the East India Company, equally
prove that any expectation of purchasing sugar
at 19s. 8 d. prime cost, must be wholly ground-
less. To put this beyond all possible dispute,
and to show that the statement, made by the
Liverpool committee, of the first cost in India,
is below the general standard, the Directors
have favoured us with a table* of the prices of
sugar
in the Calcutta market for ten years, from
* Fourth Appendix, pp. 35 and 36.
G 2
84
1812 to 1821, inclusive; by this it is shown that
they have generally been, for the first sort,
above 30s. per cwt. often as high as 35s. and
sometimes even 37s. and 38s. per cwt. purchased
at the place of shipment, before any of the nu-
merous expenses, attending the transport to
this country begin to operate. We claim
par-
ticular attention to the table at the end of this
pamphlet, and confidently leave it to our readers
to determine, whether, or not, we are justified
in affirming, upon these authorities, and upon
the experience of thirty years, that the West
India planter is able to bring his produce to the
place of shipment at a less expense than the
East India trader.
Granting, however, for the sake of argument,
that all our deductions were fallacious; that,
contrary to all reasonable estimate, East India
produce could be supplied upon equal terms
with that from the West; nay, grant that it
could be brought to us for less-are the East
India traders prepared to say that, in their de-
sire to furnish the British consumer with a
cheap commodity, to save him a penny a pound
in the price of sugar, they would consent to
forego the profit of 7s. 2d. which they say
would arise from the repeal of the 10s. duty?
Mr. Marryatt supplies us with the answer, and
ably exposes the emptiness of their preten-
$5
*
<
sions to a patriotic feeling for the burthens
of the people.' He convicts them, from
their own statements, of their desire to put
this 7s. 2d.—not into the pockets of the com-
munity at large, but into their own*: and
here is the key to the whole question-here
the evidence that they hope to find room
for their own commodity, which is foreign
in every sense of the word, by displacing so
much of the produce of British colonists:-for
they do not attempt to affirm that the home
market is inadequately supplied; they admit,
on the contrary, that neither themselves, nor
the West India proprietors, make an adequate
profit upon their importation; and therefore it
follows, according to the recognised principle
of the relative supply and demand regulat-
ing the profit or loss upon any particular
commodity brought to market, that there is
already a superabundance in the quantity pro-
duced. They even admit that the measure
they advocate must be attended with ruin to
the West India grower; and some speak of the
just claim he might have to a compensation
for the loss of capital, consequent upon its
adoption.
Without inquiring how far this country may
be in a position to compensate the West Indian
* Reply to the Arguments, &c. p. 11 and 12.
}
86
proprietors for the deterioration of from 70 to
100 millions of capital, we may consider it an
undoubted fact, that, upon a recurrence of war,
the importation of East India sugar will be at-
tended with a greater loss than at present; and
that, as an object of commerce, it could never
answer to the East India trader to bring it to
this country, unless to the extent of dead
'weight,' or ballast required for his shipping.
This is by no means an unimportant considera-
tion; because, if it be shown that the expecta-
tion of an unlimited and regular supply of sugar
from India, which is promised to us as the
certain result of the equalization of duty, is
altogether a fallacy, the principal argument on
which the East Indians depend (namely, the
certainty of a cheaper commodity to the British
consumer) falls to the ground: and that it is a
fallacy may be further proved by the result of
the Company's endeavours to extend the culture
of other products in India, which seem to de-
mand less labour, or are, perhaps, less adverse
to the usual habits of the natives.
After all we have heard of the immense
resources which India would afford to us under
the encouragement of the English markets, we
might have expected that some collateral evi-
dence would have been adduced to prove the
fact; that the comparative import of silk, indigo,
hemp, &c. would have been stated in detail,
87
to enable the public to form an estimate of the
general progress of the natives in agricultural
pursuits; and to judge for themselves to what
extent the productive power of labour, un-
shackled by fiscal regulations, unoppressed with
' taxes, cheap beyond all precedent, and directed
' to the cultivation of a fertile soil,' had wrought
these promising effects: but there is a very
sufficient reason why we should hear nothing
of the other staple commodities of the East;
and those who may have followed our general
reasonings will cease to be surprised at the
silence of the advocates of East India sugar
on so obvious and natural a topic, when they
perceive how singular a refutation of their
arguments the result affords.
We are informed by the confidential servant
of the East India Directors, that
In 1779 the Company endeavoured to renew the
❝ cultivation of INDIGO in their Indian territories, and in
'the course of a few years expended about 80,0007. in
the prosecution of that object. Having applied this
'powerful stimulus to its cultivation, the Company not
' only resigned the trade to their own civil servants, and
'to the free merchants, who with their permission had
• settled in India, but supported them under the dif
'ficulties in which they were subsequently involved, by
.
<
C
pecuniary advances, to the extent of near a million
sterling, upon the security of their produce: so that
' under the Company's fostering care, the value of the
88
6
"
indigo disposed of at the home sales has of late years
' (previous to 1813, when this statement was published)
' considerably exceeded a million sterling annually *.'
Yet what is the result of all this fostering
care,' this expenditure of '80,000l.,' this 'power-
ful stimulus to its cultivation,' this pecuniary
• advance of near a million sterling?" Our
readers will no doubt anticipate that in such a
country, where (as we are informed with so
much triumph) no expensive works, nor com-
plicated machinery are required, and where,
consequently, little or no capital is necessary
beyond the support of the cultivator, that the
increase of product might have been limited
only by the demand existing in foreign markets;
but so different is the result from all this, that
the annual import of indigo, which upon an
average of five years, from 1814 to 1818 both
inclusive, was 5,983,277lbs. weight, has rapidly
diminished, and in the last year amounted only
to 2,483,482lbs., or less than one half.
It appears, upon the same authority, that the
Company have made still greater sacrifices for
the encouragement of the production of SILK in
India.
• Previously to the year 1776 the British manufacturers
'drew their supply of raw silk almost entirely from the
'southern countries of Europe. The soil and climate of
Bengal being exceedingly well adapted to the cultiva-
6
* Considerations, p. 155.
89
(
<tion of the mulberry-tree, and to the rearing of the
'silk-worm, the Company have been unceasing in their
'exertions for the last thirty-six years, to render the
• British silk-weavers independent of foreign nations for
a supply of the raw material of their manufacture.
'Although for the ten years, from 1776 to 1785, the
Company sustained a loss of 884,7447. upon their silk
'sales, they steadily persevered under many difficulties
' in continuing and extending this important branch of
The natives of India have been instructed`
in the Italian method of winding the silk, and the peo-
'ple occupied in the throw-mills of this country have
'been employed by the Company in organizing it*.'
commerce.
It appears, however, unfortunately for those
calculators, who picture to themselves an inex-
haustible source of wealth to this country from
the accumulated products of the East, that not-
withstanding the climate and soil of Bengal are
peculiarly well adapted to the cultivation of the
mulberry-tree, and the rearing of the silk-worm,
notwithstanding the Company's exertions for
thirty-six years, and their perseverance under
a loss of 884,7447.,' and although 'the natives of
• India have been instructed in the Italian me-
'thod of winding the silk &c.', and the Govern-
ment of this country have offered a further en-
couragement by remitting 1s. 6d. per lb. of the
duty on importation:-we say it unfortunately
happens-so far from the supply of India silk
<
C
* Considerations, page 156.
90
being correspondent with these facilities and
this encouragement, that of ten years, elapsed
since the renewal of the Charter in 1812, the
average of the last five only exceeded the average
of the five preceding years by 159,294 lbs. whilst
the importation of the year 1822 was consider-
ably lower than the years 1812*, 1814, and 1815,
and less than the years 1820 and 1821 by nearly
200,000 lbs.
So also with regard to HEMP: an expectation
was held out that we should shortly be quite in-
dependent of Russia for our supply of this com-
modity. And what might not be expected from
the productive labour of a hundred millions of
intelligent people, cultivating a fertile soil, un-
der a genial climate? This, indeed, as well as the
production of silk, would have been a legitimate
object of exertion for the population of India ;
to supply us with an article so essential to a
maritime people as hemp, and one so important
to a manufacturing country as raw silk, would
have been worthy of the great objects of civili-
zation, and of the responsible character in which
the Company stand in regard to India.
We must, however, do them the justice to say
that,
* The records of the Custom House for 1813 having
been destroyed by fire, we are unable to state the pro-
duce of that year.
91
(
"If Great Britain still remains to a certain degree de-
'pendent upon foreign Europe for a supply of hemp, it is
'not owing to any remissness on the part of the Company
' to render available one of the most useful productions
' of their Indian territories as a substitute. In the year
1796, they commenced the importation of Sunn hemp,
'which grows in vast abundance in the Island of Salsette
' and in several districts of Bengal. They at first sold
• it without any view to gain, and even gave it away to the
' rope-makers in this country, for the purpose of inducing
' them to make experiments of its strength and durability
' in different sorts of cordage. And in 1803, his Majesty's
• Ministers having urged the Court of Directors to pro-
'mote the cultivation and importation of Sunn, for the
supply of the navy, immediate instructions were de-
'spatched by the Court to the Bengal Government, to
spare neither trouble nor expense in procuring an
'ample supply of an article, from which great public
' benefit was likely to be derived; and hemp-dressers were
at the same time sent out to India to teach the natives the
best method of preparing it. But before the cargoes
'arrived, an unexpected fluctuation in the politics of
Europe had removed the obstruction to the acquisition
of Russia hemp, and the Sunn was disposed of by the
Company at a loss of 45,000l. In 1807 the Directors
'proposed to Government to import for the use of the
'
"
<
navy, and to deliver into His Majesty's storehouses,
'without a profit, as much Sunn as might be required,
' and the offer having been accepted, the importation
' has been continued upon this footing ever since*."
* Considerations, page 157.
92
C
·
'
It is now twelve years since this brilliant pro-
spect' was presented to us; and our readers will
no doubt be prepared to hear, notwithstanding
the inaptitude, or, what is worse, the uncon-
querable aversion of the natives to any new
habits, that the Company's liberality in pur-
chasing their hemp to give it away to the rope-
makers of this country, and to supply our navy
with as much as was required without profit,'
has been richly rewarded in the abundant re-
turns of this valuable commodity: they will ex-
pect to find that the hemp-dressers, sent out
to India, to teach the natives the best means
of preparing it,' have found apt and intelligent
artificers, to profit by their instructions, and
that all these laudable exertions have been per-
manently effectual to secure a beneficial com-
merce to Great Britain, and make her indepen-
dent of her foreign supply of hemp; and, in-
deed, so singularly felicitous has the result
been, that if it were not recorded in the official
returns of the Custom House, we could scarcely
have given credit to the fact, that the importa-
tion, which in 1812 was 5,607 tons, should
amount in 1821 to FOUR tons! and what may
we not expect, when it is stated that in the
subsequent year of 1822, a new impulse' was
given to the exertions of the natives,-and
the Indian population of one hundred millions
93
succeeded in producing TWENTY-SIX tons of
native hemp. However beneficial such a com-
petition with rival nations would be towards the
supply of our navy, it will not, perhaps, be
thought very probable that, in any future emer-
gencies of a maritime war, the East India Com-
pany will have it in their power to deliver
into His Majesty's Storehouses, without a
'profit, as much Sunn as may be required' for
the public service.
C
But, we would ask, are we not justified, upon
such facts, in assuming that the growth of sugar
in India must be equally inadequate to the
consumption of Great Britain?-a product
which it is admitted has, even in a time of peace,
proved so unprofitable to the speculators; and
which, upon a recurrence of war, must be wholly
excluded as an article of merchandize :-a pro-
duct, which the Board of Revenue in Madras
declare to be a comparatively expensive cul-
'tivation, requiring a greater capital than the
• ryotts in general possess,' and which must
always be liable to very heavy charges. It is
in vain for those, who desire us to make the
experiment, at whatever hazard, to ring the
changes upon the immense impulse' to be
given by the population of India, and to hold
out the expectation of incalculable benefits to
the British consumer, whilst their own case
94
affords such repeated testimony of the diffi-
culties that oppose the realization of the pro-
ject.
That we may not, however, appear to put a
forced construction upon this failure of other
products in the East, or to draw an unfair con-
clusion with respect to sugar, we have been in-
duced cursorily to examine the Company's late
Report on this branch of their trade, with a
view to ascertain by what means they hope to
supersede the industry, and to displace the
capital of our West India possessions: whether
by the encouragement of the Hindoo cultivator
simply in affording him the English market for
his crops, or by any other forced and unnatural
means; and we find that, unless British capital is
advanced to give a stimulus to his exertions-not
even the liberal policy' of the Company,
which, we are told, has rendered Bengal one
' of the freest countries in the world from fiscal
impositions,' nor the innumerable advantages
which he is said to possess over the West Indian
planter, can enable the system of the eastern
hemisphere' to rival that of the western.
•
6
One of the documents, which most forcibly
illustrates this position, is the letter of a Bengal
Planter in the third Appendix to the Report on
the Sugar Trade. This gentleman, after de-
tailing the simple requisites, and the moderate
95
expense of a sugar plantation in Bengal, from
which he could even supply the West Indies
' with their own grand staple of sugar at half
'the price it costs the planter to raise it in
'those islands!' affords so satisfactory a refu-
tation of his own theory, that perhaps, no argu-
ments of the West India body could carry with
them equal conviction.
6
6
Nothing,' he says,
seems to oppose an immediate
' and great increase of sugar here, but the disinclination
of the ryotts to speculate upon future contingencies,
which they cannot comprehend, and their individual
❝ poverty, which forbids them to undertake what they can-
not accomplish. These obstacles, I conceive, govern-
ment might remove, with advantage to the prosperity
' of the country, and to the increase of the land revenue,
by making advances, in the nature of tacavy, to every
"
6
<
• ryott inclined to undertake the cultivation of sugar-cane:
'the advances to be proportioned to the extent of each
'ryott's ability to cultivate, which would be ascertained
by the number of his family and dependents, or the
'facility with which labour can be hired in the district;
and to be repaid at his option, either in money or
' produce, at the market price of the day, after the crop
is manufactured, with interest at the rate of 8 per
'cent. per annum. Such a measure would not be at-
'tended with more risk than the advances made by the
' commercial agents of the Company for the provision
of the investment; and independently of every other
' advantage, would, so far as its influence extended, re-
96
'lieve the most useful class of the Company's subjects
'from the excessive impositions to which they are liable
'from their native creditors, who exact returns for
'loans made on the crops, which are almost incre-
'dible.
A mahagen, or shroof, advancing upon a sugar
'crop, receives, in most parts of the country, an in-
'terest of one anna monthly for every rupee advanced,
'which is equal to 75 per cent. per annum, and never
'less than 6 pice, or 37 per cent. A renter, unable to
'make good his kists, is frequently under the necessity
' of borrowing at the enormous interest of one per cent.
per diem, which rate is known generally by the term
' of schootah, and properly so called, although no odium
'attaches itself to the lender *.'
In quoting this singular statement, we
cannot refrain from asking if it be possible to
imagine that, in such a state of society as this,
the native grower of sugar will ever be capable
of a successful competition with our West India
colonies? We are first informed, that the ryotts
cannot cultivate sugar without a greater capital
than they in general possess; next, that the ma-
hagan or shroof, supplying the necessary means
of production, exacts an interest equal to 75 per
cent. per annum; and last, that in the event of a
renter being in arrear for his'kists,' (which we
* Third Appendix to the Report on the Sugar
Trade, page 57.
97
should imagine no very uncommon occurrence)
he is obliged to pay 365 per cent. per annum!
We notice this passage with more particularity,
because such symptoms of manners, which are
occasionally, and, as it were unconsciously, ex-
hibited in the course of inquiry, afford a micro-
scopic view of the inconsistencies by which
theorists endeavour to support their positions;
-they disclose to us the anatomy of the system
that prevails in India, and lead us to wonder
that men's better reason should be so perverted
by motives of self-interest, as to make them
imagine that even the West India planters
themselves might import East India sugar on
much easier terms than they can afford to sell
it in the curing-houses on their own planta-
• tions *.'
C
Thus, after all that has been said of native
labour and intelligence, and of the luxuriance
and fertility of the soil, which, we are told,
are amply competent to supply all Europe,' we
find that the ryotts are disinclined to specu-
late on future contingencies, which they can-
not comprehend, and that their individual
poverty forbids them to undertake what they
'cannot accomplish;' no doubt it does, and
we may venture to add, that even the tacavy
.
*First Appendix to the Company's Report, page 211.
H
98
' advances,' to whatever amount the East
India Company may be disposed to risk them,
would end in the same result that followed
6
their advance of nearly a million sterling'
for the culture of indigo:-nay, more, we be-
lieve, that if the Company's endeavours to en-
courage the growth of sugar were equal to the
exertions which they made to increase the pro-
duction of silk, that the loss they sustained in
that case of 884,744/. would be more than
equalled in the proposed scheme; particularly
if the advances are to be repaid' at the option
of the ryott,' and the Company is to allow him
for his sugar 28s. 7d4. per cwt. the price at
which they purchased in 1821.
This notable plan affords us a direct insight
into the nature of the speculations, by which
the cultivators of the East are to take prece-
dence of the established colonies: it is by these
tacavy advances, and by these only, that such of
the ryotts, as may be inclined to undertake'
the cultivation of the sugar cane, are to dis-
place the capital of the West Indies; indeed we
are favoured in detail with the amount requi-
site to effect this object, namely, 1,240,6561.
sterling annually, which, it appears, is a trifling
sum, in this gentleman's estimation, to risk for
the effectuation of the ruin of the colonies, and
in my humble opinion,' says he, no con-
99
}
6
sideration for West Indian property ought to
'crush this progress of improvement in India.'
But however he may anticipate the removal
of the obstacles which oppose the growth of
sugar in India, by an annual advance of
1,240,6567. the East India Directors do not
appear to entertain the same sanguine expec-
tations of the result; for, in their despatch to
the Government of Bombay, 1795, they say,
6
We are aware how little the natives of India are
disposed to take the lead in any pursuits of enterprise,
' and that if ever any very important change in the state
of the agriculture, arts, manufactures, or commerce of
that country be accomplished, it must be brought about
by the industry and ingenuity of Europeans *.
6
The Bengal planter, too, notwithstanding his
opinion of the natural resources of that pro-
vince, seems to admit, that the Directors have
formed a just estimate of the native population;
for, he says,
6
'It may be objected, that the obstinate adherence to
'old customs, which so peculiarly distinguishes the natives
' of Bengal, would limit the progress of any improve-
⚫ment to the practice of such Europeans as may be per-
'mitted to become sugar planters. Admitting that the
Bengally is, perhaps, the most tenacious and untractable
of his species, the influence of example, combined with
• the conviction that it is his interest to follow it, will,
* Second Appendix to the Report on the Sugar
Trade.
H 2
100
"
though slowly, yet most certainly in time, work every
' good effect that can arise from change, as many recent
'instances, which might be pointed out, will confirm *?
If words have any meaning, or evidence such
as this be not wholly worthless, we know not
what other conclusions can be drawn from them
than, that the expectations, held out to the
manufacturer, of immeasurable benefits in the
demand of the Indian populations, and to the
consumer of sugar of an unbounded supply, at
a lower price than he now pays, are equally un-
founded: That, independent of the inability of
the great bulk of the people (whose individual la-
bour produces, according to the highest esti-
mate, about £6 sterling a year) to purchase Bri-
tish manufacturers, or to make investments of
capital, adequate to the growth of an expensive
product like sugar,—there are other and more
powerful causes, interwoven in the very con-
struction of their society, which are wholly ad-
verse to their becoming either extensive con-
sumers or successful cultivators: That their
singular pertinacity to the costume, manners,
and all the habits of life, which have prevailed
amongst them from the earliest period of their
history; their very prejudices, and the institu-
tions of their religion, the moderation of their
wants, the different nature of their pleasures,
* Third Appendix, page 61.
101
and the objects of ostentation, in which they
would be likely to expend any superfluous
wealth; the preference they naturally feel for
their own cheaper and national manufactures,
'their disinclination to speculate upon fu-
ture contingencies,' their ignorance which
makes them the most tenacious and un-
tractable of their species,'-all operate in
combination against their adoption of European
fashions or laborious pursuits.
<
It may, perhaps, be objected to what we have
endeavoured to establish, that if there be such
impediments to the successful rivalship of the
East with our colonial produce, there is no ne-
cessity for the opposition of the West India
body, to the proposed equalization of duty.
If the proofs adduced of the high price in
India, the greater charges of transport, and the
inaptitude of the people to its extended cultiva-
tion be conclusive, why so strenuous in our
exertions to keep out of the market the present
limited importation? We answer, because this
quantity, small as it is, would have an effect
adverse to the colonial interests:-the whole
supply of sugar brought from the West Indies
is already more than the demand, and as the
price must, in a great measure, be regulated
by the extent of this surplus-the addition of
102
209,964 cwt., or even of a smaller quantity,
would always preclude the hope of a remune-
rating price to the British grower, except under
temporary and particular circumstances.
But the West India body oppose the intro-
duction of Bengal sugar upon a higher prin-
ciple; and whether the injurious effect of it
would be extensive or limited, immediate or
remote, they are immoveable in their resolution
to claim from the government of this country
an unqualified protection, so long as other
classes of British subjects enjoy a decided pre-
ference over the other products of India.
It would be no argument to the English agri-
culturist and manufacturer to tell them that
the introduction of Indian wheat, of piece
goods, silk, &c. could not be extensive enough
to injure them, forming as it would, but a
small amount, in comparison of their own im-
mense production; and that the expenses at-
tending the transit from India being so great
as to secure to them the power of underselling
the Hindoo proprietor in the home market, it
would be but reasonable to admit him to a partici-
pation in any advantage it may afford: the British
grower or weaver would answer; this may or may
not be; you have said so much about the pro-
ductive power of a population of 100 millions, the
103
cheapness of labour, and other advantages of
India, that we are compelled, contrary to our
own convictions, to fear the consequences of
yielding up any part of our privileges ;-but
even if this apprehension be unfounded, upon
what principle do you claim that the na-
tives of the East should be admitted to the
rights of English subjects? That the ancient
laws of English trade and commerce should be
broken down in favour of conquered provinces,
peopled, as they are, by a mixed race, who re-
cognize neither the laws or religion of this
country. It does not lie with us to prove the
extent to which we should be injured by their
admission to equal privileges with ourselves: it
is sufficient to say that the long established re-
gulations, under which we have invested our
capital in the present object of our pursuits,
have essentially promoted the general interests
of Great Britain, whilst they have afforded to
us a moderate, if not a secure return ;-and we
are not disposed to hazard the competition of a
numerous population, who do not participate
with us the burthen of taxation, in support of
the honor and safety of these dominions, nor
contribute, as we do, to the general resources of
the empire by the diffusion of the wealth, ac-
quired in our respective callings.
Such would be the answer of the landed,
commercial and manufacturing interests, to any
104
application in favour of other East Indian com-
modities;-such the answer of our builders to
the ship owners of India, who claim a British
registry; and such is the answer of the West
India body to the growers of Bengal sugar;
nor are they disposed to be the first in admitting
a precedent, which, if once established, would
lead to other and more dangerous innovations
on their vested rights.
The East Indian trader advocates the equali-
zation of the sugar duties upon another ground,
not yet discussed, but which is equally un-
tenable with his other arguments. He con-
tends that it is a great hardship to the English
ship owner to prevent the vessels engaged in
the commerce with India, which bring home
light cargoes of cotton, silk, &c. from securing
to themselves a profitable commodity for the
purposes of dead weight': that the length of
the voyage, the risk, and expense, attending
all speculations to so distant a country, demand
indulgence in this respect; and that it operates
as a great discouragement to British shipping to
impose a heavy tax on East India sugar, which
performs the useful office of ballast.
To this branch of the question, which, it is to
be observed, purely regards the shipping in-
terests, we may be allowed to give a brief con
105
sideration, not only because our opponents lay
much stress upon it, but because we believe the
same argument has been used even by sensible
and dispassionate persons, before they had
viewed it in all its bearings.
None can be more desirous than ourselves,
that every privilege should be granted to so
important a class of men as the British ship-
owners, who afford us not only the means of
carrying on a successful commerce, but con-
tribute so mainly to our national security and
power; but we cannot admit that 60,000 tons of
shipping from the East Indies are entitled to pri-
vileges denied to above 1,500,000 tons* which
are employed in other branches of commerce. If
the ship-owner who brings to us the cotton of
An account of the tonnage of British ships that
entered inwards and cleared outwards, at the several
ports of the United Kingdom, during the last five
years:
Inwards.
Outwards.
Years. Ships.
Tons.
Ships.
Tons.
1818
13,006
1,886,394
11,442
1,715,66
1819
11,974
1,809,128
10,250
1,562,802
1820 11,285
1,668,060
10,102
1,549,508
1821 10,805 1,599,423
9,797
1,488,644
1822 11,087 1,663,627
10,023
1,539,260
Avera. 11,631
1,725,326
10,323
1,571,156
This is exclusive of the intercourse between Great
Britain and Ireland.
106
the Hindoos of India must be allowed to ballast
with sugar, surely he who carries for us the
cotton of South America is entitled to an equal
protection, and should be equally permitted to
ballast his cargo with sugar. It would, in
either case, be an injustice to the British growers
to allow this to enter into competition with
their produce in the home market; but if the
principle be admitted for one, it must be re-
cognized in favour of the other; and so long as
we impose the present high duties on foreign
iron, tallow, &c. with which British ships trading
to the Baltic and other places, are obliged to
ballast their cargoes, it would be an obvious
inconsistency to release East Indian vessels from
similar prohibitions. It is no answer to say,
that the conquered provinces of India being
entitled to greater consideration at our hands
than South America and Russia, the case
does not apply; for, as we have before said,
the argument immediately under discussion
relates purely to the shipping interests; and it
may be confidently affirmed that, in either case,
the British ship-owner, as ship-owner, may claim
an equal privilege.
But to illustrate our position by a still more
analagous case ; —
East Indian iron is now
liable to a duty of 20 per cent. ad valorem :
upon the system of reasoning adopted by the
opponents of the West India colonies, how
107
strong an appeal might be made to the feel-
ings of the public against this prohibitory duty!
It might be taken for granted that there can-
not be a more effectual or convenient ballast
than iron; being ten times heavier than sugar,
it would occupy one tenth the space in the
ship's hold, and leave so much more room for
cotton, hemp, silk, piece goods, and other light
articles. It might be said, that vessels coming
from India are entitled to the favourable con-
sideration of the government; the length of
voyage, the risk, expense, a losing trade, both
in the export of manufactured goods, and in
the import of Indian sugar, indigo, saltpetre,
and the other heavy articles fit for ballast; all
seem to point out the justice and policy of per-
mitting them to import sufficient iron for their
ballast, free of duty. Moreover, what an im-
pulse might be given by such a measure to
our iron foundries, to our Birmingham manu-
factories; think of the beneficial effects of
making steam-engines at half price; of reducing
the expense of iron railways, by which the
interchange of our national products between
one province and another would be so greatly
facilitated; of giving the agriculturist his
ploughs, harrows, and all the implements of his
daily labour, at 50 per cent. under their present
cost; millions might be saved to the country
108
in the expenses of her agriculturists, the price
of corn reduced, and the poor man have his
loaf at a cheaper rate: think, too, of the im-
mense advantage of encouraging an Indian po-
pulation of one hundred millions, whose con-
sumption of British manufactures is limited
only by their means of purchasing; think of
the injustice of depressing the native exer-
tions of the Hindoos, BRITISH SUBJECTS Who
' are entitled to all the pivileges of English-
'men,' by imposing prohibitory duties on so
important an article of their products as iron.
C
C
6
' Are our statesmen aware of the deep injury they are
inflicting on the nation at large (including the agri-
'cultural interests) by the present policy? or are the
'people of this country aware of the deep injury they
are sustaining from it*?'
And, after all, for whom are we called upon to sacri-
'fice this brilliant prospect, this certainty of a continually
'growing demand for the productions of our national
industry?"
Truly for a few aristocratical proprietors of
mines, 'the whole amount of whose consumption
' does not nearly equal the amount forced out
' of the pockets of the people' to maintain their
monopoly of the supply of iron.
All this, and much more to the same purpose,
might be urged for the purpose of exciting a
* 6 Refutation,' p. 102.
109
clamour against the duty on East Indian iron,
so wisely imposed for the protection of our own
miners, and of the British landed interest. The
same declamation, with the mere exchange of
terms, would equally apply to the duty on any
other of the Indian products; and we might,
by a recognition of the principles to which it
points, displace the whole capital and resources
of the empire. But would the proprietors of
our mines, the grower of wool, of corn, or any
other class of British subjects, yield to 60,000
tons of East India shipping the right (which is
denied to the general shipping interest of the
kingdom) of introducing the rival products of
other countries, for the mere purpose of forcing
the industry of the natives of India into compe-
tition with themselves? Certainly not. Then
upon what principle of justice can the West India
proprietors be called upon to make a sacrifice, to
which none others are ready to submit? and to
allow the sugar of Bengal to a participation of
the privileges, which have been so justly and so
permanently secured in favour of their own?
The fact is, that in every branch of com-
merce, some even at a greater distance than
India, and in none more frequently than in the
West India trade, ships are compelled to take
in a large proportion of unproductive ballast:
it is one of those disabilities necessarily attach-
ing to all ship-ownery; and if this country,
110
upon the plea of the necessity of 'dead weight,'
were to permit the indiscriminate admission of
all the various commodities of foreign nations
in rivalry with her own products, her merchant
vessels, instead of being her great mean of
wealth, would become an intolerable burthen
upon all the sources of her prosperity.
The admission of India sugar to home con-
sumption in England is further advocated on
the ground of compensation to that country for
having unjustly displaced her manufactures by
the introduction of our own cotton and woollen
goods.
6
• The manufactures of India,' says the 'REFUTATION,'
• have been suffering under the most cruel discourage-
'ments. While they are either entirely prohibited in
'this country, or loaded with duties, which are, in fact,
prohibitory, our manufactures are admitted into India
at a duty of 21 per cent. ad valorem ; from the su-
periority of our machinery, at a rate which enables
• them to undersell theirs *."
6
C
'
.
Yet so inconsistent is this writer that, not-
withstanding the injustice of this cruel dis-
'couragement,' he urges, in the very next page,
the 'brilliant prospect' held out to the British
artizans in the still larger consumption of their
goods, and the consequent displacement of those
6
* Refutation,' p. 97.
111
of India, as the principal ground for our ad-
mission of Bengal sugar.
.
6
It is scarcely possible to calculate the effect which
may be produced on the looms and workshops of this
country by an impulse, however small, being given to
'the demand for their fabrics by a population of one
• hundred millions of their own subjects*?
6
It may be
'considered,' he says, as a point established beyond
6
C
' question, that the only limit, at present, to the growing
' demand of India for our manufactures, is the power of
obtaining adequate returns.'
In one breath he complains of the injury done
to the native weaver; in the next, he desires this
injury to be redoubled, and proposes, by way
of compensation for his wrongs, to encourage
the native agriculturist;—as if one class in that
society would not (as in our own) protest
against all their means of subsistence being
sacrificed for the benefit of another class; and
as if it were consistent with sound policy to
annihilate the arts, which have so long flourished
in the provinces of India, for the purpose of
forcing their industry into a more expensive and
laborious channel, less suited to the means and
habits of the population, and which, we are told,
cannot be successfully followed up except by
an annual advance of 1,240,6561. sterling! and
Refutation, p. 99.
112
all for what? merely that the West India colo-
nies may be thrown out of cultivation ! although
it is admitted that they afford an adequate supply
of sugar, both for home consumption, and for our
export trade; and although the growth of this
product has, as it were, become so natural to
them, as to be almost their only occupation, and
the capital of which, it is equally admitted, can-
not be converted to any other profitable invest-
ment.
Our limits will scarcely permit us to add
more at present; though, in whatever light the
subject is viewed, many other arguments pre-
sent themselves against the measure which is
proposed for our adoption. But we trust
enough may have been said to show that it
would be fraught with injustice to the British
colonies, and lead to no practical benefits either
to the general interests of India, or Great Britain.
The question is not whether we shall make
an experiment for the introduction of a new
species of merchandize, which, if it should fail,
would only create a loss on the resale of the
commodity; not whether we shall attempt to
establish commercial relations with a distant
country, in which, if we were disappointed, our
national character and resources would not be
compromised; but whether, for an imaginary
benefit to the British consumer, to which
113
all experience is adverse, we shall render the ca-
pital of the British West Indies unproductive,
for the purpose of giving an impulse to the ca-
pital of others;-whether we shall inflict a deep
wound on the prosperity of our ancient colonial
establishments, in which our own success, as a
commercial and maritime nation, is so closely
interwoven, in order to try the productive
power of conquered provinces ;-whether we
shall refuse to the British grower of sugar the
same protection we afford to the British manu-
facturer and agriculturist, against the rival pro-
ducts of other nations;-and whether we shall
admit to the privileged rights of native subjects
of the realm, the Mahomedan and Gentoo
casts of the East, who differ from us in all the
essential characteristics of intellectual man.
For our part we have no fear of the result
of this inquiry;-we do not entertain the
slightest apprehension that the justice, good
sense, and reflection of the country, and of Par-
liament, would so compromise the principles of
jurisprudence and of constitutional right, which
secure to every British subject the possession
and protection of his property, as to admit the
competition of foreigners with our West India
proprietors; so long, at least, as they recognize
the necessity of guarding the other sources of
national wealth against such interference. In-
I
114
dependently, too, of this higher moral conside-
ration of national equity, we believe that the
more generally the question is discussed, the
more evident will be the policy which the in-
terests of Great Britain mark out for her adop-
tion-and that when the advantages she derives
from these settlements come to be more fully
understood and appreciated, the claim of the
West India colonists to all their privileges
and to still further relief, under their pre-
sent difficulties, whether in the shape of an
increased protecting duty against East India
produce, or a "reduction in that, with which
their own is now chargeable, will be generally
admitted.
With these impressions we are not averse to
a parliamentary committee, unless upon the
same principle that the silk, cotton, and
woollen manufacturer in this country, or any
other of the numerous branches of national en-
terprise and wealth, would oppose the East
India merchants, who should demand a com-
mittee of inquiry as to whether Indian silks,
Indian piece goods, woollens, shawls, &c. &c.
should not be admitted to a competition with
them in the home market. Surely their answer
to such a request would be, as is that of the
West India proprietor, they must first make out
their right to an inquiry, before they can demand
115
that Committees of Parliament should sit for a
month to hear evidence, which, if it were all
true, could alter no one principle of political
justice: we are not afraid of inquiry, but we
cannot be called upon unnecessarily to submit
to it, and to risk the possible effect of public pre-
judice, misrepresentation, and more active mea-
sures on their part, and even unfair canvass,
in all which the very confidence we repose in
the justice of our claims would make us less
zealous and persevering than themselves, and so
far give them the advantage.
"
<
This would be the reasoning of the manu-
facturer and the English grower of corn upon
a demand for a Committee of inquiry as to the
capability of India to supply them with their
own staple commodity at half price,'—and it is
equally the reasoning of the British colonist.
But, further, if it should be proved before the
Committee that the great bulk of sugar from
Bengal undergoes a process, which is equal in
effect to that of 'claying,' would the East Indian
trader be content to pay the additional duty of
clayed sugar? It is not our intention to enter
into any details, but there is little doubt that
the result of an inquiry into the nature of the
Bengal manufacture would be, to show that the
greater part of the East India sugar, now con-
sumed in England, as raw or muscovado, has
I 2
116
undergone this process of refinement, and is
consequently liable to the extra duty.
This, however, is not so much to our present
purpose, we have only endeavoured to advo-
cate the leading principles on which the colo-
nists rest their claim to preference; and if, in a
constitutional view, they are entitled to the im-
munities of British subjects-if, in their political
relation to the mother country, they amply
repay her protection, by the naval, commer-
cial, financial, and other benefits she derives
from their possession,-then is she bound in
justice to guard with jealous watchfulness
against every attempt to injure them and if
there be any reasonable ground to doubt either
the power or the disposition of the natives of
India to adopt those habits, which may secure
a great outlet for British commodities, and
afford an adequate, regular, and cheap supply of
sugar,
it would surely be the height of impolicy
to hazard, for so remote and uncertain an ad-
vantage, if not the possession, certainly the
prosperity, of so valuable a branch of national
wealth as our settlements in the West Indies.
117
Calcutta Market price of the best sort of Cheenee
Sugar, calculated in sterling money, at 2s. per
current rupee.
1812.
S.
d.
s. d.
5 January
21 9 to 23
4 per cwt.
5 February
22 2
22 11
1 March
22 2
23 9
6 April
23 9
24 6
17 May
27 8
28 6
1 June
27 8
29 3
4 July
26 1
26 11
2 August
25 4
26 1
6 September
25 4.
26
1
4 October
24 6
25
4
1 November
28 6
29
3
6 December
29 3
30 1
1813.
3 January
26 1
26 11
7 February
30 10
31 8
7 March
30 10
31 8
4 April
2 May
6 June
2288
30
1
30 10
29 3
30 1
6
29 3
4 July
27
8
28 6
1 August
26 1
26 11
5 September
26 11
27.8
10 October
30 10
31 8
14 November
28 6
29 3
5 December
28 6
29 3
118
1814.
2 January
6 February
S.
d. S.
27 8 to 28
2223
d.
6 per cwt.
27 8 28 6
6 March
27 8
28 6
3 April
nil
8 May
30 10
31 8.
5 June
30 1
30 10
3 July
27 8
28 6
7 August
27 8
30 1
4 September
28 6
29 3
2 October
28 6
29
3
6 November
29 3
30:
4 December 26 11
27 8
1815.
1 January
26 1
26 11
5 February
27 8
28 6
5 March
27 8
28 6
2 April
26 1
26 11
21 May
30 1
30 10
11 June
30 10
31 8
2 July
30 10
31 8
6 August
32 5
33 3
3 September
31 8
32 5
1 October
32 5
33 3
5 November 33 3
34 0
3 December
33 3
34 0
1816.
7 January
33 3
34 10
4 February
33 3
34 O
3 March
31 8
33 3
7 April
34 10
35 7
5 May
32 5
33 3
16 June
33 3
34 0
7 July
34 0
34 10
4 August
32 5
33 3
15 September 32 5
33 3
119
1816.
S.
d. S.
d. per cwt.
6 October
32 5 to 33
3
3 November
32 5 33 3
1 December
32 5
33 3
1817.
5 January
31 8
32
5
2 February
32 5
33 3
2 March
34 O
34 10
13 April
34 O
34 10
4 May
35 7
36 5
22 June
35 7
36
5
13 July
33
3
34
O
3 August
33
7 September 32
3 6
3
34
O
5
33
5 October
32 5
33 3
7
2 November
32 5
33
03 03 03
7 December
31 8 32 5
1818.
4 January
30 10
31 8
1 Feburary
34 O
34 10
1 March
34 O
34 10
19 April
37 2
38 0
3 May
37 2
38 0
7 June
34 0
34 16
5 July
32
5
33 3
2 August
32 5
33 3
6 September
30 1
30 10
4 October
30 10
31 8
1 November
30 10
31 8
6 December
32 5
33 3
1819.
3 January
34 0
34 10
7 February
34 0
34 10
7 March
34 0
34 10
4 April
37 2
38 O
2 May
34 0
34 10
120
1819.
6 June
s. d. s. d. per cwt.
32 5 to 33
3
4 July
33
3
34 0
1 August
32 5
33
3
5 September 34
34 10
17 October
34 O
34 10
7 November
34 10
35 7
5 December
38 9
39
7
1820.
2 January
35 7
36 5
6 February
30 10
31 8
5 March
20 10
31 8
2 April
26 1
26 11
7 May
34 O
34 10
4 June
32 5
33 3
2 July
32 5
33 3
6 August
30 10
31
8
3 September
34 O
34 10
1 October
32 5
33 3
5 November
30 10
31 8
3 December
32 5
33 3
1821.
J
7 January
34 O
34 10
4 February
34 0
34 10
4 March
34 O
34 10
1 April
34 0
34 10
6 May
31 8
32 5
3 June
32 5
33
3
1 July
32 5 33 3
5 August
32 5
33
2 September
32
7 October
32
10 5
5 33
3 3
5 33 3
4 November
32 5 33 3
2 December
32 5 33 3
FINIS.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS.