The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus Part 75

Not one species of crime which can be considered of an heinous nature, has yet been discovered; and I proudly venture to declare my opinion, that in no part of his Majesty's dominions, has a population of thirty thousand conducted themselves with more strict propriety, at this annual festivity, or been more peaceably obedient to the laws of their country."

_Signed, &c._

In connection with the above quotation from the monthly reports, we present an extract of a letter from the superintendent of the police, addressed to us.

_St. John's, 9th February, 1837._

"MY DEAR SIRS--In compliance with your request, I have not any hesitation in affording you any information on the subject of the free system adopted in this island, which my public situation has naturally provided me with.

The opinion which I have formed has been, and yet remains, in favor of the emanc.i.p.ation; and I feel very confident that the system has and continues to work well, in almost all instances. The laborers have conducted themselves generally in a highly satisfactory manner to all the authorities, and strikingly so when we reflect that the greater portion of the population of the island were at once removed from a state of long existing slavery, to one of unrestricted freedom. Unacquainted as they are with the laws newly enacted for their future government and guidance, and having been led in their ignorance to expect incalculable wonders and benefits arising from freedom, I cannot but reflect with amazement on the peace and good order which have been so fortunately maintained throughout the island population of thirty thousand subjects.

Some trifling difficulties sprang up on the commencement of the new system among the laborers, but even these, on strict investigation, proved to originate more from _an ignorance of their actual position_, than from any bad feeling, or improper motives, and consequently _were of short duration_. In general the laborers are peaceable orderly, and civil, not only to those who move in higher spheres of life than themselves, but also to each other.

The crimes they are generally guilty of, are petty thefts, and other minor offences against the local acts; but crimes of an heinous nature are very rare among them; and I may venture to say, that petty thefts, _breaking sugar-canes to eat_, and offences of the like description, _princ.i.p.ally_ swell the calendars of our quarterly courts of sessions. _Murder_ has been a stranger to this island for many years; no execution has occurred among the island population for a very long period; the only two instances were two _Irish_ soldiers.

The lower cla.s.s having become more acquainted with their governing laws, have also become infinitely more obedient to them, and I have observed _that particular care is taken among most of them to explain to each other the nature of the laws_, and to point out in their usual style the ill consequences attending any violation of them. ==> _A due fear of, and a prompt obedience to, the authority of the magistrates, is a prominent feature of the lower orders_, and to this I mainly attribute the successful maintenance of rural tranquillity.

Since emanc.i.p.ation, the agricultural laborer has had to contend with two of the most obstinate droughts experienced for many years in the island, which has decreased the supply of his accustomed vegetables and ground provisions, and consequently subjected him and family to very great privations; but this even, I think, has been submitted to with becoming resignation.

To judge of the past and present state of society throughout the island, I presume that _the lives and properties of all cla.s.ses are as secure in this, as in any other portion of his Majesty's dominions_; and I sincerely hope that the future behavior of all, will more clearly manifest the correctness of my views of this highly important subject.

I remain, dear sirs, yours faithfully, RICHARD S. WICKHAM, _Superintendent of police_."

This testimony is pointed and emphatic; and it comes from one whose _official business it is to know_ the things whereof he here affirms. We have presented not merely the opinions of Mr. W., relative to the subordination of the emanc.i.p.ated negroes in Antigua, but likewise the _facts_ upon which be founded his opinion.

On a point of such paramount importance we cannot be too explicit. We therefore add the testimony of planters as to the actual state of crime compared with that previous to emanc.i.p.ation.

Said J. Howell, Esq., of T. Jarvis's estate, "I do not think that aggressions on property, and crime in general, have increased since emanc.i.p.ation, but rather decreased. They _appear_ to be more frequent, because they are made _more public_. During slavery, all petty thefts, insubordination, insolence, neglect of work, and so forth, were punished summarily on the estate, by order of the manager, and not even so much as the rumor of them ever reached beyond the confines of the property.

Now all offences, whether great or trifling, are to be taken cognizance of by the magistrate or jury, and hence they become notorious. Formerly each planter knew only of those crimes which occurred on his own property; now every one knows something about the crimes committed on every other estate, as well as his own."

It will be remembered that Mr. H. is a man of thorough and long experience in the condition of the island, having lived in it since the year 1800, and being most of that time engaged directly is the management of estates.

"Aggression on private property, such as breaking into houses, cutting canes, &c., are decidedly fewer than formerly. It is true that crime is made more _public_ now, than during slavery, when the master was his own magistrate."--_Dr. Daniell_.

"I am of the opinion that crime in the island has diminished rather than increased since the abolition of slavery. There is an _apparent_ increase of crime, because every misdemeanor, however petty, floats to the surface."--_Hon. N. Nugent_.

We might multiply testimony on this point; but suffice it to say that with very few exceptions, the planters, many of whom are also civil magistrates, concur in these two statements; that the amount of crime is actually less than it was during slavery; and that it _appears_ to _be greater_ because of the publicity which is necessarily given by legal processes to offences which were formerly punished and forgotten on the spot where they occurred.

Some of the prominent points established by the foregoing evidence are,

1st. That most of the crimes committed are petty misdemeanors such as turning out to work late in the morning, cutting canes to eat, &c. _High penal offences_ are exceedingly rare.

2d. That where offences of a serious nature do occur, or any open insubordination takes place, they are founded in ignorance or misapprehension of the law, and are seldom repeated a second time, if the law be properly explained and fully understood.

3d. That the above statements apply to no particular part of the island, where the negroes are peculiarly favored with intelligence and religion, but are made with reference to tire island generally. Now it happens that in one quarter of the island the negro population are remarkably ignorant and degraded. We were credibly informed by various missionaries, who had labored in Antigua and in a number of the other English islands, that they had not found in any colony so much debas.e.m.e.nt among the people, as prevailed in the part of Antigua just alluded to. Yet they testified that the negroes in that quarter were as peaceable, orderly, and obedient to law, as in any other part of the colony. We make this statement here particularly for the purpose of remarking that in the testimony of the planters, and in the police reports; there is not a single allusion to this portion of the island as forming an exception to the prevailing state of order and subordination.

After the foregoing facts and evidences, we ask, what becomes of the dogma, that slaves cannot be immediately placed under the government of _equitable laws_ with safety to themselves and the community?

Twelfth proposition.--The emanc.i.p.ated negroes have shown _no disposition to roam from place to place._ A tendency to rove about, is thought by many to be a characteristic of the negro; he is not allowed even an ordinary share of local attachment, but must leave the chain and staple of slavery to hold him amidst the graves of his fathers and the society of his children. The experiment in Antigua shows that such sentiments are groundless prejudices. There a large body of slaves were "_turned loose_;" they had full liberty to leave their old homes and settle on other properties--or if they preferred a continuous course of roving, they might change employers every six weeks, and pa.s.s from one estate to another until they had accomplished the circuit of the island. But, what are the facts? "The negroes are not disposed to leave the estates on which they have formerly lived, unless they are forced away by bad treatment. I have witnessed many facts which ill.u.s.trate this remark. Not unfrequently one of the laborers will get dissatisfied about something, and in the excitement of the moment will notify me that he intends to leave my employ at the end of a month. But in nine cases out of ten such persons, before the month has expired, beg to be allowed to remain on the estate. The strength of their _local attachment_ soon overcomes their resentment and even drives them to make the most humiliating confessions in order to be restored to the favor of their employer, and thus be permitted to remain in their old homes."--_H. Armstrong, Esq._

"Nothing but bad treatment on the part of the planters has ever caused the negroes to leave the estates on which they were accustomed to live, and in such cases a _change of management_ has almost uniformly been sufficient to induce them to return. We have known several instances of this kind."--_S. Bourne, Esq., of Millar's, and Mr. Watkins, of Donavan's_.

"The negroes are remarkably attached to their homes. In the year 1828, forty-three slaves were sold from the estate under my management, and removed to another estate ten miles distant. After emanc.i.p.ation, the whole of these came back, and plead with me to employ them, that they might live in their former houses."--_James Howell, Esq._

"Very few of my people have left me. The negroes are peculiar for their attachment to their homes."--_Samuel Barnard, Esq., of Green Castle_.

"Love of home is very remarkable in the negroes. It is a pa.s.sion with them. On one of the estates of which I am attorney, a part of the laborers were hired from other proprietors. They had been for a great many years living on the estate, and they became so strongly attached to it, that they all continued to work on it after emanc.i.p.ation, and they still remain on the same property. The negroes are loth to leave their homes, and they very seldom do so unless forced away by ill treatment."--_Dr. Daniell_.

On a certain occasion we were in the company of four planters, and among other topics this subject was much spoken of. They all accorded perfectly in the sentiment that the negroes were peculiarly sensible to the influence of local attachments. One of the gentlemen observed that it was a very common saying with them--"_Me nebber leave my bornin'

ground_,"--i.e., birth-place.

An aged gentleman in St. John's, who was formerly a planter, remarked, "The negroes have very strong local attachments. They love their little hut, where the calabash tree, planted at the birth of a son, waves over the bones of their parents. They will endure almost any hards.h.i.+p and suffer repeated wrongs before they will desert that spot."

Such are the sentiments of West India planters; expressed, in the majority of cases, spontaneously, and mostly in ill.u.s.tration of other statements. We did not hear a word that implied an opposite sentiment.

It is true, much was said about the emigration to Demerara, but the facts in this case only serve to confirm the testimony already quoted.

In the first place, nothing but the inducement of very high wages[A]

could influence any to go, and in the next place, after they got there they sighed to return, (but were not permitted,) and sent back word to their relatives and friends not to leave Antigua.

[Footnote A: From fifty cents to a dollar per day.]

Facts clearly prove, that the negroes, instead of being indifferent to local attachments, are peculiarly alive to them. That nothing short of cruelty can drive them from their homes--that they will endure even that, as long as it can be borne, rather than leave; and that as soon as the instrument of cruelty is removed, they will hasten back to their "_bornin' ground._"

THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION.--"The gift of unrestricted freedom, though so suddenly bestowed, has not made the negroes more insolent than they were while slaves, but has rendered them _less so_."--_Dr. Daniell_.

Said James Howell, Esq.--"A short time after emanc.i.p.ation, the negroes showed some disposition to a.s.sume airs and affect a degree of independence; but this soon disappeared, and they are now respectful and civil. There has been a mutual improvement in this particular. The planters treat the laborers more like fellow men, and this leads the latter to be respectful in their turn."

R.B. Eldridge, Esq., asked us if we had not observed the civility of the lower cla.s.ses as we pa.s.sed them on the streets, both in town and in the country. He said it was their uniform custom to bow or touch their hat when they pa.s.sed a white person. They did so during slavery, and he had not discovered any change in this respect since emanc.i.p.ation.

Said Mr. Bourne--"The negroes are decidedly less insolent now than they were during slavery."

Said Mr. Watkins, of Donovan's--"The negroes are now all _cap in hand_; as they know that it is for their interest to be respectful to their employers."

Said Dr. Nugent--"Emanc.i.p.ation has not produced insolence among the negroes."

During our stay in Antigua, we saw no indications whatsoever of insolence. We spoke in a former part of this work of the uncommon civility manifested in a variety of ways on the road-sides.

A trifling incident occurred one day in St. John's, which at first seemed to be no small rudeness. As one of us was standing in the verandah of our lodging house, in the dusk of the evening, a brawny negro man who was walking down the middle of the street, stopped opposite us, and squaring himself, called out. "Heigh! What for you stand dare wid your arms so?" placing his arms akimbo, in imitation of ours. Seeing we made no answer, he repeated the question, still standing in the same posture. We took no notice of him, seeing that his supposed insolence was at most good-humored and innocent. Our hostess, a colored lady, happened to step out at the moment, and told us that the man had mistaken us for her son, with whom he was well acquainted, at the same time calling to the man, and telling him of his mistake. The negro instantly dropped his arms, took off his hat, begged pardon, and walked away apparently quite ashamed.

FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION.--Emanc.i.p.ation in Antigua has demonstrated that GRAt.i.tUDE _is a prominent trait of the negro character_. The conduct of the negroes on the first of August, 1834, is ample proof of this; and their uniform conduct since that event manifests an _habitual_ feeling of grat.i.tude. Said one, "The liberty we received from the king, we can never sufficiently thank G.o.d for; whenever we think of it, our hearts go out in grat.i.tude to G.o.d." Similar expressions we heard repeatedly from the negroes.--We observed that the slightest allusion to the first of August in a company of freed persons, would awaken powerful emotions, accompanied with exclamations of "tank de good Lord," "bless de Savior,"

"praise de blessed Savior," and such like.

It was the remark of Mr. James Howell, manager of Thibou Jarvis's--"That the negroes evinced very little grat.i.tude to their _masters_ for freedom. Their grat.i.tude all flowed toward G.o.d and the king, whom they regarded as the sole authors of their liberty."

Mr. Watkins observed that "the negroes' motto was G.o.d and the king. This feeling existed particularly at the time of emanc.i.p.ation, and shortly after it. They have since become more attached to their former masters."