Page:Emancipation in the West Indies.djvu/7

 8 prcnticcslnp, 4 03S 321 cwt., a loss of 8 J -2 per cent. ; in the first six years of frccilom H 120 705 cwt., — a loss of 40 ])er cent.; but in 1847, 4 893 040 ewt.,— a slight gain over the lust years of slavery. In the two last ye.-ir.s ot slavery they ex|X)rteil to Great .Britain 8 471744 cwt; in 1850-7 they ex- ported 8 730 054 cwt ; a gain of 3 per cent. Leaving tJarnaica out of view, and also Mauritius, where the crop ha.s immensely in- creased, by reason of the immigration of Coolies, we tinil that th.c remaining liftccu sugar colonies produced in the three last years of slavery 7 405 84!) cwt, ; in the three years 1855-0-7, 7 427 018 cwt., — a Klight gain. Vvoui 1827 to 1855 the ton- nage of vcH.sels entering at eiglit of these islands — the only ones rarV)adocs, j Guiiuia, and Trinidad, exported, in the l;)st four yi^ars of slavery, an annual average of 187 000 000 pounds of sugar ; from i85 to 181)0, they have annually exported 205- 000 000 pounds, — an ioerense of 41 per cent. For fourteen years heforc emancipa- tion, the same col'jnies im])orted an averiige of $8 840 000; in 185'.>, they imported $14 000 000, — an increase of 05 per cent. It is true that in IJarhadoes and 'I'rinidad, the population has largely inci'eiised, but by no means in tiiis ratio; in (luiana and An- tigua, there are fewer people llian in 1822. Some of the single colonies show results still more astonishing. Take Antigua, for exan"!}ile, — the island where the slaves were iunnediately emanci- pated, b'or the fourteen years before Kman- cipation, the aimuid im])orts averaged ;>00- 000; for 1850, the imports were SI 280- 000, or more than double, while its exports have iiK'reasi'il more th;ui 25 |:ier cent:. In this instan(,'e, free labor has had a fisir field from the start, and all has gone w»ill ; in iJarbadues, (..iriinada, iMaurilius, ;ind, indeed, most III' tluj ttolonies. the same is true, thuugh in a less degree. On the whole, we can say that the t.'vils resulting from the scarcity of labor w(!re never so great as had been feared, and in many islands did tiot exist at all ; they wen> by no means owing wholly to Minani'ipation, and {wy will soon be entirely removed. §Kirnilniri:li Kovicw, Anril, lAV.'. ]^ut WO may be told that the prosperity of Cd)a i.s a ])roof of the advantages of slavery. Nolioily denies that Cuba has made, and is making, great advances in wealth. Her ex- ports liave ri.sen from i?12 OOO 000 in 1828, toS34 000 000 in 1858 ;|| her imports in the same time, from S17 000 000 to $30- 000,000. ller population has increased nearly as fast. In 1828, it was 704 487 ; in 1858, it was at least 1,400,000, of whon'i half were probal>ly slaves. There has been a similar increase in Porto ]vico, the other colony of S})ain ; but there, the jiroportion of slaves to the whole pnjndation, is only about one-eiirhth. .Both these islands, how- ever, are comjiaratively thinly settled ; espe- cially Cuba, w'hose pO]»ulaliun is but 33 to the square mile, or about the same as New llampsliire. Jamaica, on the contrary, has 08, and ]5arbadoes 843, to the square inile. I'he abundance of land, together with the fertility of the soil, its favoi'able ])Osition for conmierce. and the greaterliberalily of kSpain's connnereial policy in recent years, ^Yill ex- plain the rapid growth of Cuba, which, after all, is only a quarter part of the growth of iowA, within the last lifteen years. Jjot us see if there is not some delusion about the woidtli of Cuba ; let us apply a more certain test. I low much value per nnin, for her whole popuhition, will the trade of Cuba show for 1858 V We answer, 852. Now, the trade of the French West Indies, which we are told have been ruined by Emanci])a- tion, as well as the ]>rltish colonies, gives a yearly avera2:e of $08 per man, froni 1852 to 1858"! The imports ot Cu})a for 185S, are §27.85 ]ier head ; those of Antigua, for 1850, are $o.57 per head. In 1857, the whole trade of Great liiitain Avith her West .India colonies, was over $52 OdO 000, giving a greater sum per head than Cuba can show. Where, then, ai-e (he boasted advantages of Slavery V Yet in Cuba, Slavery is .siid to be mild, and the times as great as in the British colonies. We nuiy add that in the fabilous prosperity of 6i. i>onungo, before the Freneh Kevolu- tion, her exports anil imports ai'o set at about I $40 000 000, giving about the same average per head as in Antigua in 18,50. II Cochin— Tmno II.. i-., I'.il. To tlii,» I'lirft'nl FrciK'h writi'i". vi' linvc liriMi iiiiirh in- (IclitotI t'lir st;tistir.<, (•i--iii'iTiiin.ir thr ri'.''iill.« ot" llmaiicijiM • tiiiti. lliul lif thrnwu tli('."'i' iiiiiic iiiti' a !;iluil;ir Ibriii, l),' woulil li;ivi' luiicli iin'rr!i.«iM| tlu' v.-ihic ot" lii.s tiDok. Si'lux'i- cIh'i-'.') Yoliiiuc- iii-.> still ot" irrt'.'U iiutlioritv, tliinij^h pisi'- H.<he(.l filUfii 111' twi.'hty ywir.siiL'O.
 * )roportion of whites to blacks is neai ly four