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diff --git a/58749-0.txt b/58749-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d6d34f --- /dev/null +++ b/58749-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,761 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58749 *** + + + + + + + + + +INDUCEMENTS TO THE +COLORED PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES +TO EMIGRATE TO BRITISH GUIANA, + +Compiled from Statements and Documents furnished by Mr. Edward Carbery, +Agent of the "Immigration Society of British Guiana," and +a Proprietor in that Colony. + +BY A FRIEND TO THE COLORED PEOPLE. + +BOSTON: +PRINTED FOR DISTRIBUTION. +KIDDER AND WRIGHT, CONGRESS STREET. +1840. + + + + +INDUCEMENTS. + + + + +I. SITUATION, EXTENT, GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES, CLIMATE, SOIL AND +PRODUCTIONS OF BRITISH GUIANA. + + +Guiana is a vast tract of territory situated on the north-east coast +of South America, between the mouths of those celebrated rivers, the +Oronoco and the Amazons. + +British Guiana includes a portion of this coast, extending some two +hundred miles from east to west, bounded on the east by the river +Corentyn which separates it from Dutch Guiana, or Surinam, and on the +west by the Morocco creek, or the tract of country adjacent to it, +belonging to the republic of Venezuela. British Guiana extends inland +from the coast some two hundred miles, in a southerly direction, to a +chain of high mountains, by which it is bounded on the south, and which +separates it from Brazil. It thus includes an area of upwards of forty +thousand square miles, being about equal in extent to the State of New +York. + +The whole country slopes gradually down from the mountains to the sea. +The back country is hilly and much diversified in surface; the land +along the sea-coast is flat, level, and extremely fertile. The colony +is watered by three large rivers, the Essequebo, the Demarara, and the +Berbice. These rivers descend from the mountains, and run parallel +to each other at nearly equal distances. They are navigable for many +miles, and together with numerous smaller rivers and creeks, they not +only afford great facilities for internal navigation, but also for +irrigating the land, a thing of great importance in that climate. + +British Guiana never suffers from those violent storms and hurricanes +with which other tropical regions are visited. Along the whole coast, +vessels can ride at anchor in perfect safety, at all seasons of the +year. The whole shore is a bed of deep soft mud, and can be approached +by vessels without danger. + +The latitude of the coast, along which the settlements are situated, is +about seven degrees, north. The longitude of Georgetown, the capital, +is about fifty-seven degrees west from Greenwich. Its direction from +the city of New York is considerably east of south. The distance is +about two thousand miles, or twenty days' sail, very nearly the same +distance as New Orleans. + +Situated under the tropic, Guiana enjoys a perpetual summer. The +thermometer generally ranges from 78° to 84°. The trade winds, which +blow constantly from the coast, render the climate comfortable and +salubrious. The year is divided into four seasons, two rainy and two +dry. The short rainy season usually commences about December, and lasts +four weeks: the long rainy season begins in June, and lasts till the +middle of August. But as regards these seasons there is a good deal +of variation. In the rainy season, the rain falls violently during the +forenoon, but the afternoons are clear and pleasant. During the dry +season occasional showers occur. + +The only portion of this fertile country which has yet been settled and +cultivated, is a narrow strip extending along the coast, and a little +distance up the mouths of the principal rivers, together with some +islands at the entrance of the Essequebo. The plantations are generally +about half a mile wide, fronting on the sea, and extending back two, +three, four or five miles. This series of adjoining plantations forms +the only cultivated part of the country, which thus resembles a long +string of villages half a mile apart. + +The soil of the plantations, which is very deep and rich, is divided by +canals into separate fields. The same fields are cultivated in constant +succession, and no manure is ever used. The canals not only serve to +drain and irrigate the land, but also to convey the canes, when cut, +to the sugar-house. Sugar and coffee are principally cultivated. There +are a few cotton plantations, and some devoted to the cultivation of +the plantain, which, with a rich variety of other vegetables, such as +the sweet potato, the banana, yams, the casava, &c., furnish a large +part of the food of the inhabitants. There are also large cattle farms. +Cattle are abundant, and beef is cheap. + +The uncultivated tracts abound with a vast variety of useful plants and +trees. Many of the trees furnish excellent timber. There are in the +colony several steam mills employed in the manufacture of lumber. + + + + +II. FORM OF GOVERNMENT, ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, CIVIL DIVISIONS, +POPULATION, SOCIAL EQUALITY. + + +British Guiana is a colony, conquered some forty years since from the +Dutch, belonging to Great Britain. It is what is called a crown colony, +and all its laws are made, or revised in England. + +The governor, whose authority is very extensive, is appointed by the +British queen. He is assisted in his administration by a council +of nine persons, called the Court of Policy, four of whom are high +executive officers appointed by the Crown. The other five are chosen by +the inhabitants. No law made by the Court of Policy can remain in force +unless it be approved in England by the queen in council. + +Justice is administered by a Supreme Court consisting of three Judges, +who are always lawyers of high standing, sent out from Great Britain. +In the criminal trials which come before this court, the judges are +assisted by three assessors, who answer to our jurymen, being persons +chosen by lot from among the inhabitants,--who have an equal vote with +the judges. No prisoner can be found guilty, except by at least four +votes out of the six. + +The colony is divided into three counties, Demarara, Berbice and +Essequebo. Each of these counties is again divided into parishes, and +the parishes are subdivided into judicial districts, each under the +superintendence of a Stipendiary Magistrate, appointed and paid by +the Crown. These stipendiary magistrates are persons of education and +character, sent out from Great Britain, and who, having no interest +or connections in the colony, and being frequently removed from one +district to another, may be expected to be impartial, and not likely +to be warped in their judgment by personal considerations. These +magistrates are under the sole control of the Governor, by whom they +can be suspended from office. They have exclusive jurisdiction, as will +presently appear, of all controversies, as to contracts and labor, +arising between employers and laborers. The whole population of the +three counties may be estimated at one hundred thousand, of whom six or +eight thousand are white, and all the remainder, colored. The English +language is now spoken by all, and is the only language used in the +colony. + +Those distinctions which prevail to so great a degree in the United +States, between the free colored and the white population, and which +render the position of the colored man in the United States so +mortifying and uncomfortable, are wholly unknown in British Guiana. +In this respect all are equal: colonial offices and dignities are +held without distinction by white and colored. Colored men are +indiscriminately drawn to sit as assessors on the bench of the Supreme +Court. The colored classes in British Guiana are wealthy, influential, +and highly respectable. Many of them are magistrates, proprietors, +merchants with large establishments, and managers of estates receiving +liberal salaries. The collector of customs at one of the principal +ports, is a person of color, and many others hold public stations. It +is evident from these facts that color is no obstacle to advancement or +distinction. It is difficult and almost impossible for a citizen of the +United States, educated in the midst of distinctions and prejudices, +to realize the state of things so entirely different which prevails in +British Guiana. + + + + +III. SPECIAL LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LABORERS AND EMIGRANTS. + + +The greater part of the laboring population of British Guiana were +formerly slaves. They have been lately set free by the justice and +bounty of the British government, which is very jealous of their +rights, and which has enacted many special laws for their protection. + +A leading measure of this kind is, the appointment of the Stipendiary +Magistrates above described. These stipendiary magistrates have +exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies between employers and +laborers touching wages and contracts. It is provided by the fourth +chapter of the Orders in Council of Sept. 7th, 1838, which are +the supreme law in British Guiana, that any laborer, on complaint +preferred, and proof made before any stipendiary magistrate, that +his employer has not paid his wages, or delivered him the articles +agreed upon between them as a part of his wages, or that the articles +delivered were not of the quality or quantity agreed upon, or that +through the negligence of the master the contract has not been properly +performed, or that the laborer has been ill used,--upon complaint +preferred for any of these reasons, and proof made, the stipendiary +magistrate may, by summary process, order the payment of the wages, +the delivering of the stipulated articles, or compensation to be made +for any negligence or ill usage on the part of the employer; and if +the order be not complied with, the magistrate has power to issue +his warrant for the seizure and sale of the goods of the employer, +or so much as may be necessary; or if no goods are to be found, +the magistrate may commit the employer to prison for any time not +exceeding one month, unless compensation be sooner made; and the +magistrate may dissolve the contract if he see fit. + +To prevent contracts being made with emigrants, disadvantageous to them +or unfair in any respect, previous to their arrival in the colony, +it is provided in the same Orders in Council, chapter third, that no +contract of service made out of the colony shall be of any force or +effect in it; that no contract of labor shall remain in force for more +than four weeks, unless it be reduced to writing; and that no written +contract of service shall be binding, unless signed by the name or mark +of the persons contracting in the presence of a stipendiary magistrate; +nor unless the magistrate shall certify that it was made voluntarily, +and with a full understanding of its meaning and effect; nor can any +written contract of service remain in force for more than one year. + +It is evident from these statements with what careful safeguards +against fraud and oppression the benevolence of British law has +surrounded the laborer and the emigrant. + +There is an Emigration Agent in British Guiana, who is a stipendiary +magistrate, and whose duty it is to furnish emigrants, arriving in the +colony, with every information, and to prevent any imposition from +being practiced upon them. It will appear, from an examination of the +above provisions, that all those colored persons from the United States +who may emigrate to Guiana, will go out perfectly free and unshackled. +On their arrival in the colony, they will be perfectly their own +masters, at full liberty to choose any kind of employment which the +colony offers; and should they be dissatisfied, or disappointed, no +obstacle will exist to their return. + + + + +IV. TAXES, MILITARY DUTY, RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION, EDUCATION. + + +The revenue of British Guiana is chiefly derived from a tax on the +produce raised in the colony, and duties levied on the imposts. Parish +taxes are unknown, and the laborer is exempt from every species of +taxation, unless his income amount to five hundred dollars. The militia +laws were abrogated, and the colonial militia disbanded soon after +the emancipation took place, so that the poor man is not compelled to +contribute any portion of his time to the public service. + +There are Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Catholic church establishments +supported at an expense to the colony of upwards of $113,000 per annum, +as will appear by reference to the Royal Gazette of May 7th, 1839, +published in Georgetown, containing an official estimate of the taxes +to be raised for that year. There are beside numerous Methodist and +other dissenting religious teachers, supported in part by charitable +societies in England, and in part by voluntary contributions in the +colony. The laboring population of Georgetown and its vicinity have +erected several handsome chapels at their own expense. + +There are numerous Sunday, infant and day schools, for the gratuitous +diffusion of knowledge and moral education among the people. On most +of the principal estates a school-house is erected, and a teacher +provided, where the children of the laborers are entitled to receive +instruction free of expense. Great attention is paid throughout the +colony to the education of the rising generation. + + + + +V. DEMAND FOR LABOR, KINDS OF LABOR, WAGES. + + +British Guiana possesses a superabundance of the most fertile land. +The planters are wealthy, and well provided with the most complete +machinery for the manufacture of sugar. The only deficiency is a lack +of labor. The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. For +example,--on a coffee plantation, called _Dankbaarheid_, in the county +of Berbice, belonging to Mr. Carbery, it was estimated by the owner and +other competent persons in September last, that the crop of coffee on +the trees exceeded one hundred thousand pounds weight. Of this crop, +through deficiency of labor, only forty thousand pounds weight were +gathered. Sixty thousand pounds of coffee on that single plantation, +worth, in the British market, sixty thousand sterling shillings, +or about fifteen thousand dollars, perished for lack of hands to +gather it. It is the same to a greater or less extent, on every other +plantation. Indeed this deficiency of labor is more peculiarly felt +on the sugar estates, upon many of which it is not uncommon for ripe +canes, which if manufactured would have produced the value of several +thousand pounds sterling, to perish in the field for want of hands to +gather it. + +There is indeed a great opening for industry of every kind. All sorts +of mechanics are sure of steady employment at wages from one to two +dollars per day, according to their skill. Seamstresses and domestics +are much needed and will find full employment. Any emigrant who can +command a small capital, can open a shop, or set up various kinds of +business to good advantage. Georgetown, the capital, situated at the +mouth of the river Demarara, is a place of about twelve thousand +inhabitants, and furnishes abundant employment in all those branches +of business usually carried on in a commercial town. New Amsterdam, +at the mouth of the Berbice, has about four thousand inhabitants, and +there are besides several villages, containing each some hundreds of +inhabitants. + +The greatest demand however for labor is, on the plantations. +Agricultural laborers are always sure of abundant employment and +high wages. The labor of agriculture is of various kinds, and may be +performed by any man accustomed to work, with little or no previous +instruction. It consists principally in cutting up weeds with the hoe, +cutting down sugar-cane, and throwing it into boats on the canals, to +be transported to the sugar-house; tending the sugar boiling; packing +away the sugar; boating it to market; picking and curing coffee, which +is very light work; tending cattle; cutting timber; and a great variety +of other labor, almost all of the simplest kind. + +Every laborer on a plantation has a comfortable house, with a plot +of ground annexed, capable of raising a much greater quantity of +provisions and poultry than the laborer can consume. For this he pays +nothing. He is also provided with medical attendance, medicine, and +a support at the expense of the estate, gratis, whenever he is sick. +Fuel is abundant, and close at hand. It is needed only for cooking, +and the laborer has but to help himself. Clothing, which in that +climate is very light, may be amply provided, at one-third the expense +incurred for that article in the United States. So many of the wants +of the laborer are thus supplied, free of expense to him, or at a very +trifling rate, that if he choose to do so, he can lay by a great part +of his wages. + +The labor on a plantation is divided into tasks which a laborer of +any activity can easily perform in four hours. The lowest rate of +wages ever paid, is thirty-three and a third cents a task, and very +frequently, much more is given. For cutting cane, attending in the +boiling house, boating sugar, and several other kinds of labor, higher +wages are always paid. The people employed in making sugar, in addition +to their wages, are supplied with food at the expense of the estate. +This is in addition to the laborer's house, provision ground, fuel, +medical attendance, gratuitous schooling for his children, and a +variety of other perquisites. The wages are paid weekly in cash. + +I have now before me an original journal, for the month of October, +1839, of the plantation _Thomas_, adjoining Georgetown, owned by Mr. +Carbery. This journal is a printed form, with blanks filled up in +writing, containing an account for each day of the month, of the number +of laborers on the estate; the number actively employed, and in what +way; the number, sick, absent, or otherwise prevented from working; the +work done each day; with all the articles bought, sold or shipped, and +all the money paid on account of the plantation during each day in the +month,--in fact a complete history of all the business of the estate +for that time. Similar journals are kept on every estate by the head +manager, and are transmitted monthly to the proprietor. This excellent +custom was derived from the early Dutch settlers. + +On the plantation, _Thomas_, there are three hundred and twenty-five +acres of canes in cultivation. It appears by the journal above referred +to, that during the month of October, the number of persons employed +on the estate, varied from 163 to 176, of which latter number 89 were +men, 68 women, 14 boys, and 5 girls. Of these, however, only 106, on an +average, were daily at work on the estate. To these laborers there was +paid during the month of October, in weekly payments, $1229 16, or an +average of $11 60, to each laborer, exclusive of house rent, provision +grounds, fuel, medical attendance, and many gratuities beside. It is +to be considered that this average amount of wages was earned by men, +women, boys and girls, including many old people and invalids, who did +but very little, and whose pay was therefore small. It therefore must +be obvious that the more active and industrious of the laborers, earned +from fifteen to twenty dollars, a month. + +This single case, which is taken at random, will serve to show how +abundantly the laborer is rewarded. The laborers in this case did not +probably work on an average more than five hours per day. They were +employed in weeding and cutting cane, and making sugar, and a portion +of them as boatmen, watchmen, and mechanics. Though they are all +included under the class of agricultural laborers, only about sixty +out of the hundred and six were actually at work in the fields. Many +more are classed in the journal, "as jobbing and at work about the +buildings," that is, engaged in making sugar, and in a great variety of +other work necessary on such an estate. + +To show with what rapidity the laborers grow rich and rise in the +world, I give the following extract from the _Berbice Advertiser_ +of Nov. 1839. "ASTONISHING FACT. Some negroes on the east +coast, not a dozen in all, have bought _Northbroke_ (a plantation) +for $10,000, of which they paid down $8,000 last week, the remaining +$2,000, is to be paid this week." "What happiness," the editor justly +observes, "could our colony disseminate through the human species, did +but fresh importations of labor render the cultivation of the great +staples compatible with the formation of black villages and towns." It +ought to be mentioned that the people who clubbed together to buy this +estate had only been free since August, 1838. It may be well to observe +here that land in the colony is abundant and cheap; and every laborer +who is industrious, and will lay by his wages, has it in his power to +become a proprietor within a short period. + +That there is no danger of overstocking British Guiana with emigrants +will appear by the following extract from an address of Mr. John +Scoble, delivered at Albany Tuesday evening, Aug. 1st, 1839. He spoke +of "British Guiana, a colony on the coast of South America, and one +which some think will ere long rival in its wealth and population the +State of New York. It is capable of sustaining a population of _forty +millions_, though the actual number of the inhabitants is now only one +hundred thousand." + + + + +VI. OFFERS MADE TO SUCH FREE COLORED PERSONS OF THE UNITED STATES, AS +MAY CHOOSE TO EMIGRATE TO BRITISH GUIANA. + + +Mr. Carbery arrived at Baltimore in September last. He came to the +United States partly for pleasure, and partly for the benefits of a +change of climate. He had been but a few days at Baltimore, when his +attention was attracted by the large number of free colored persons in +that city; the difficulty they seemed to have in gaining a livelihood; +and the discomforts of various kinds to which they are subjected. + +Knowing the great want of laborers in British Guiana, and the strong +disposition, existing there, to encourage immigration, it immediately +occurred to him, that by the transfer of a certain portion of the free +colored people of the United States to Guiana, not only might a great +benefit be done to that colony, but what all must regard as of still +greater importance, a boon of vast value might be conferred upon the +free colored people themselves. + +Much impressed by these considerations, Mr. Carbery procured a meeting +of several of the free colored people of Baltimore, at which he +proposed to them to select two of their own number, in whom they had +confidence, whom he would send to British Guiana, free of expense, in +order to give them an opportunity to examine the country, to judge for +themselves, and to report to their brethren, what the prospects for +immigrants really are. + +The free colored people of Baltimore, upon this suggestion and offer, +organized a Committee of Emigration, of which Mr. Green was appointed +chairman, and selected Messrs Peck and Price, two of their number, as +delegates to visit Guiana. These delegates sailed, free of expense, +in the barque Don Juan, from Boston, on the 21st of December last. +The result of their mission is not yet known, the agents not having +returned,--nor indeed has Mr. Carbery yet heard of their arrival in +the colony. The news however of their arrival and reception is daily +expected. + +In the mean time certain letters which Mr. Carbery had previously +written to his friends in Guiana, giving an account of the numbers +and the condition of the free colored people in the United States, had +excited great attention and sympathy there. A public meeting was held +in Georgetown the capital; an "Immigration Society" was established, +and a very large sum of money was at once subscribed to form a fund for +paying the expenses of all such immigrants as may choose to go to that +colony. Of this sum, a considerable amount has been already remitted +to Mr. Carbery, who is appointed Agent of the Society for the United +States, to be applied towards the outfit of emigrants,--the Society +undertaking to pay the charter or passage money on the arrival of the +vessels, and to make all necessary arrangements for the entertainment +and comfort of the immigrants, until such time, as they may select some +regular employment. Mr. Carbery is assured that should the colored +people of the United States or any part of them, be induced to accept +the offer he now makes, any amount necessary to carry his proposals +into effect, will be furnished as it may be needed. + +As the agent of the above society Mr. Carbery offers to transport, +from the United States to British Guiana, free of any expense to +themselves, together with their baggage, all such sober and industrious +free colored people as shall see fit to embrace this opportunity, +so rare and extraordinary, of at once relieving themselves from the +great disabilities and disadvantages under which they now labor, and +of securing not only a comfortable subsistence, and perhaps wealth, +but what is of far greater importance, both for themselves and their +children,--a full participation in all the rights, privileges and +immunities of freemen, and a standing and consideration in society, +which at present is wholly beyond their reach. + +_Mr. Carbery is also authorized by the society to guarantee to all +emigrants, who may accept his offers, maintenance at the colonial +expense, and comfortable and commodious lodgings, until they shall +succeed in obtaining such employment as they may prefer._ + +Transferred to a country which opens a vast field to labor, and to +all sorts of enterprise, relieved from a weight of prejudice which +now rests so heavily upon them, the free colored people of the +United States would have an opportunity which they do not now enjoy, +of proving, that when allowed to share the same moral and social +advantages, they are able successfully to compete with the white man. +It is indeed difficult to realize the effect often produced upon a +man's conduct and character, when he is removed from the withering +effect of the distinction of caste, and raised to an equality of +political and social privileges. Persons, who if they remain in the +United States, will be confined all their lives to menial and obscure +stations, by emigrating to British Guiana, which they may do in twenty +days, and without spending a cent, will alter the whole course and +prospect of their lives. With industry, application, and sobriety, +they will have a moral certainty of rising to a comfortable competency +if not to wealth, and of filling with pleasure to themselves and +benefit to the community, a respectable station in society. Surely +these considerations ought to have great weight with all,--but more +especially with the young, who are just coming forward, and with those +fathers and mothers who have families of children growing up about them. + +There is now opened to the free colored people of the United States, +a city of refuge in Guiana, of which it is to be hoped they will not +fail to avail themselves; and Mr. Carbery has reason to anticipate, +should the free colored people of the United States, and those persons +upon whose advice and opinions they most confidently rely, be led to +take the same view of the matter which he does, that his visit to +the United States may result in great good to a large body of his +fellow men, who at present are cut off from many of the chief benefits +of society, and by the unfortunate operation of circumstances over +which they have no control, are subjected to influences which crush +their energies, break their spirits, and prevent them from rising +to affluence or consideration. Relieved from these impediments, +transferred to a country where they will be secured in the enjoyment of +equal social and political rights, they will become new creatures, and +many of them will display talents and capacity of which they are not +now suspected. + +Mr. Carbery, however, has no desire to induce any colored person, to +emigrate to Guiana, who is not well satisfied, and whose friends are +not also satisfied, that it will be for his benefit to go. Deeply +impressed as he is with the manifold advantages which the free colored +people of the United States may derive from closing with his proposals, +he submits them to the candid consideration of those concerned, +expressly desiring that before being adopted by any body, they may be +subjected to the closest scrutiny, and most rigorous investigation. + + + + +VII. DIRECTIONS TO PERSONS WISHING TO EMIGRATE. + + +Mr. Carbery is now in Boston, but intends to proceed immediately to +New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, for the purpose of establishing +Committees of Emigration in each of those cities, whence persons +desirous of emigrating may obtain all necessary information. The +address of those Committees will be published in the principal +newspapers, and due notice will be given of the intended sailing of +vessels with emigrants. Persons with families desiring to emigrate will +meet with particular encouragement, but no person of good character +will be refused a free passage. + +BOSTON, Feb. 1st, 1840. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +No. I. + +COPY OF A LETTER FROM MR. EDWARD CARBERY, TO MR. GREENE, CHAIRMAN OF +THE BALTIMORE COMMITTEE OF EMIGRATION. + +_Tremont House, Boston, Dec. 11, 1839._ + +Dear Sir, Being fully aware that you take a great interest in any +subject connected with the welfare of the class to which you belong, +I venture to trouble you with this communication the object of which +is to bring to your notice the proceedings at a public meeting of the +Inhabitants of British Guiana, which took place in Georgetown, on +the tenth of October last, and a full report of which is contained +in the Guiana Chronicle of the following day. I regret it is not in +my power to forward you the paper containing the report, as I only +borrowed it from a gentleman in this city who received it a few days +ago. The Extracts in question, go far to corroborate the statements +I made to you and your friends relative to the advantages which the +free-colored people of this country would derive from emigration to +British Guiana, and they will at least prove that these statements were +not exaggerated. The respectability of the parties in question, no less +than the publicity of the whole proceedings entitle their statements to +the fullest confidence. + +The High Sheriff having taken the Chair, said,--"I cannot better open +the proceedings on this occasion at which you have done me the honor +to call me to the chair, than by referring to the requisition on which +I judged it proper and necessary to convene this public meeting, +and thus directing your attention to the object for which we are +assembled,--to wit: In the words of the requisition 'for the purpose of +giving expression to the general feeling in favor of immediate measures +being taken for the promotion of Immigration to this Colony, and for +taking into consideration by what means this important object can most +speedily be carried into effect.'" + +The Hon. Peter Rose, a member of the Colonial Legislature, and +Proprietor of a Sugar Plantation called _Lima_, moved the first +resolution, which was as follows. + +"That a consideration of the present state of the colony, with its +limited number of agricultural laborers, leads this meeting to the +irresistible conclusion that unless immediate immigration on a large +scale takes place, the exportable produce of the Colony already +diminished to an alarming extent, will yet further decrease." + +Mr. Rose then proceeded to address the meeting, and in the course of +his speech, when alluding to the causes of the decreased production of +British Guiana and the rate of wages, he observed-- + +"Eight or nine dollars per month, is the common rate, but it is the +custom to estimate the day's labor by the old tariff, 7 1-2 hours, +and it is well known that an industrious man can in that time perform +considerably more than double the quantity of labor laid down by that +tariff. I have myself paid to a man cutting canes, 1 1-2 dollars for +work that did not occupy him more than eight hours. When we take it +into consideration that the laborer is provided with a house and +medical attendance, it is clear that he can support himself for a week +by one day's labor, and with this in our knowledge, can we wonder that +his labor and industry are unsteady?" Mr. Rose, in another part of his +speech, speaking of the decrease that had taken place in the number +of laborers on most estates since the Emancipation, observed, "of +those who have left estates, some have purchased land, paying for it +sometimes as much as £200 sterling." + +The Hon. D. C. Cameron, also a member of the Colonial Legislature and +proprietor of several estates, moved the second resolution which was +of similar import to the first, and the following is an extract from +the able and temperate address he delivered. "But I have pleasure in +bearing my humble testimony that the cause of decrease in our crops has +not proceeded from that which was most dreaded, the insubordination of +the freemen of 1838, but from causes which operate in every country +where the soil is rich and the laborers few. Many of our peasantry +have already amassed funds which have enabled them to purchase land of +their own, and are industriously improving it for their own benefit. +They are no longer hired servants; they are owners of houses and lands +which yield them sufficient to supply their wants, and as yet their +ambition extends no further. But the misfortune is, that although +they maintain themselves and families by their industry in this way, +they are unprofitable to the colony. They produce no taxable articles +either for this or the home market. I for one do not complain of this +system;--but on the contrary, believe it will be beneficial to society +in the end, and wait its progress. Hence the necessity for immigration +to fill up the blank occasioned by the independence and comfort of our +former servants. In this colony, sir, every laboring man of ordinary +capacity may, in a few years, become proprietor of land sufficient to +supply all his wants, by laboring upon it for thirty hours in the week. +I am persuaded that it is only necessary to make the capabilities of +our magnificent colony known, to insure us a large influx of emigrants." + +Many other speeches were also made declaratory of the anxiety of the +proprietory body to encourage Immigration. But as this communication +has already exceeded the ordinary limits of a letter, I will not +trespass longer on your patience, nor will I detain you by making any +observations on the foregoing extracts. I offer them to you and your +friends as evidence in support of the declaration I publicly made at +Baltimore, that the free colored people of America will derive great +and substantial advantages by emigrating to British Guiana. I am, dear +sir, your most obedient servant, + +EDWARD CARBERY. + +MR. GREENE, CHAIRMAN, &c. _Baltimore._ + + +No. II. + +On the fourteenth page of the preceding pamphlet is an extract from the +_Birbice Advertiser_, giving an account of the purchase of _Northbroke_ +by a number of emancipated laborers. The _Guiana Chronicle_ of Monday, +Dec. 9th, just received, contains additional particulars of that +purchase, which appears to have been made not by a dozen persons as +stated in the _Birbice_ paper, but by about _seventy_. + +The following are extracts from an address presented by the purchasers +to the Governor of the Colony. + + + _To His Excellency_ HENRY LIGHT, _Esquire, Governor and + Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of British Guiana_. + +MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY, + +SIR,-- * * * * * * + +On the 7th day of this month we jointly purchased, from the Executors +of the late Hugh Rogers, Esquire, for the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars, +his Plantation called "Northbroke," containing about 500 acres of land; +and as we have been enabled to pay the purchase money principally from +out of our savings since we obtained our freedom, we cannot refrain +from expressing how thankful, how grateful we are, how indebted we +ever shall be, to all those noble-minded individuals who were mainly +instrumental in procuring and giving us that freedom. + + * * * * * * * + +We know that to the individual act of her Majesty, we owe the +happiness of having you here, as our Ruler and Governor, in her name. +Your Excellency is too exalted in station to listen to praise and +commendation, and _we_ too humble to offer them; but we may be allowed +to state, with thankfulness, that every act of your Excellency's +administration, with reference to us, and to the body to which we +belong, has been marked with kindness, benevolence, liberality and +justice. And we humbly pray The Almighty Ruler of all Men, that your +Excellency may be long spared to us, to afford us your protection. + + * * * * * * * + +We know the blessings of Freedom, and we endeavor to deserve them. We +are peaceable in disposition--industrious by habit--loyal and faithful +by nature--gratitude to our Sovereign, and to your Excellency, will +make us doubly vigilant and circumspect. + +We further respectfully represent to your Excellency, that it is not +our intention to settle down upon our Plantation, and lead a life of +Idleness. Our views and wishes are to have the Land divided into equal +portions among us. Individually rent our cottages upon our respective +plots of ground, and thereon, in our leisure hours, cultivate our +Vegetables and Provisions; but our firm determination, as a body, is to +continue to labor daily, as now, upon the several Plantations where we +are employed. + + * * * * * * * + +We further respectfully represent to your Excellency, that it is our +intention to establish upon our Plantation, a School-House and Church, +(and there is a new, large Building on the Estate, well adapted to +these purposes); in the former, our Children will be taught to read +their Bible, and learn their several duties to Society at large, whilst +in the latter, as each revolving Sabbath appears, we shall assemble +together, and there offer up to the Almighty, our humble thanks for the +great and wonderful benefits which, under Divine Providence, have been +conferred upon us. + +Praying your Excellency's favorable consideration and Patronage, + +We have the honor to be, sir, + +Your Excellency's most obedient humble servants. + +(Signed) John Sertima, William Lewis, Thomas Badlie, James M'Crae, +Frank Baillie, Samuel Burton, Romeo Isaac, Daniell Isaac, Thomas Colin, +Martin, Martin Menarmy, Simon Hanover, Simon Scott, Thomas Hercules, +John Lewis, Wm. Gamell Reaves, Jas. Handy, John Wheeler, Vollove +Robert, John Mileel, Michael James, Simson Tate, Sampson Cooper, Isaac +Chapman, Primus Samuel, Cupidore Hopkinson, Quashie Porter, Cornwall +Porter, Cæsar Solomon, Hall Porter, Quammie Adam, Hamlet Cato, Simon +Spencer, Melville Porter, Quashie Bard, Quacco Hamilton, Medlin +Hamilton, John Lion, Cross Sumner, Marlborough Sam, Pollodore Bentick, +Ceciro Hercules, Jillis Cumming, Gambry James, Moses Hopkinson, Bill +Williams, Blackwell Lancaster, Scipio Samuel, Pat Murphy, Ned Mackay, +William Negaeley, Alexand Porter, William Smart, Catherine Loud, +Kenneth Jarrich, Hannah Porter, Sammy Knight, Hannah Porter, Adam +Grant, Maria Grant, Collin M'Crea, John Tiddell, Simon King, Bellender +Hopkinson. + +Signed in my presence, this 30th day of November, 1839. + +(Signed) C. H. STRUTT, Stip. Magistrate. + +Witness to the several signatures, + +(Signed) MARY STRUTT. + +TRUE COPY, + +C. R. WHINFIELD, Act. Gov. Secretary. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Inducements to the Colored People of +the United States to Emigrate to British Guiana, by Richard Hildreth and Edward Carbery + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58749 *** |