Transcriber's Note:
A Table of Contents has been added.
Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.
THE
RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY,
PROVED BY
EMANCIPATION IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES,
AND ELSEWHERE.
BY L. MARIA CHILD.
"The world is beginning to understand, that injuring one class, forthe immediate benefit of another, is ultimately injurious to that other;and that to secure prosperity to a community, all interests must be consulted."—Dr. Davy.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE AT 5 BEEKMAN STREET.
1862.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | THE WEST INDIES BEFORE THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. | 3 |
| II. | ANTIGUA, AFTER IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL EMANCIPATION. | 12 |
| III. | THE WINDWARD ISLANDS, DURING THE APPRENTICESHIP—TESTIMONY OF PLANTERS IN BARBADOES, IN 1837. | 29 |
| IV. | TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE WEST INDIES, FROM 1840 TO 1859. | 38 |
| V. | JAMAICA. | 54 |
| VI. | EMANCIPATION SAFE IN EVERY INSTANCE. | 86 |
| VII. | CONCLUDING REMARKS. | 94 |
| APPENDIX. | IN WHICH STATEMENTS ARE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE CLOSE OF 1860. | 97 |
CHAPTER I. THE WEST INDIES BEFORE THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.
It is a common idea that the British West Indies were a mine of wealthbefore the abolition of slavery, and since that event have been sinkinginto ruin. To correct those erroneous impressions, I have carefullycollected the following facts from authentic sources:—
Official Reports, returned to the British Parliament, prove that theoutcry about ruin in the West Indies began long before the abolitionof slavery, and even before the abolition of the slave trade; and weought, moreover, never to forget that this outcry related solely to theruin of the masters; nobody expended a thought upon the ruin of their800,000 laborers.
As early as 1792, a Report to Parliament stated that, in the course ofthe preceding twenty years, one hundred and seventy-seven estates inJamaica had been sold for the payment of debts; the cultivation offifty-five had been abandoned; ninety-two were in the hands ofcreditors; and 80,021 executions, amounting to £22,500,000 sterling($109,012,500), had been lodged in the provost marshal's office. In1805, the Reports described the condition of the West India planters asone of "increasing embarrassment, and impending ruin." The Reports i