Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/426

 410 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTTON OF the clove and nutmeg trees, in perfection, in any land out of the limits of their natural soil. After these preliminary remarks, we shall be prepared to oflPer some observations on the measures which ought to be taken to restore to the people of the Moluccas their just rights, and bring the spice trade back to its natural and wholesome condition. We may begin by admitting, that the existing plan- tations, both of clove and nutmeg trees, however unjustly obtained, are the property of the state. This, of course, applies only to the trees in actual existence. The land, where land is so abundant in proportion to capital and population, is of no value. The existing plantations should therefore be let for a period of years, by the competition of a public sale, to the highest bidder. This would determine, in the most equitable manner, the rent of the plantations. The rights of the proprietors of the nutmeg parks would be secured, by assign- ing to them the highest rate of compensation which an estimate of their existing profits could af- ford. The slaves should, it is hardly necessary to insist, be immediately and completely emancipated. Both the culture and trade in spices should, with these measures, be declared completely free, not only in the islands to which the spices are at pre- sent confined, but wherever, without exception, the inhabitants of the country might find it for their advantage to direct their industry either to grow-