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life and that the negro is naturally indolent.^[1] The decrease in the export of sugar from the island of Jamaica is cited in proof of the allegation. Let those who believe this statement to be conclusive, examine a little, and they will find, 1st, that the decrease began and rapidly continued for thirty years before the emancipation of the slaves. 2d, That with the decrease of export, the import of food has decreased, although the population has increased. 3d, That the aggregate value of the exports of all the British West Indies is now nearly as great as it was in the palmiest days of slavery.^[2] 4th, That the cultivation and preparation of sugar requires a very large capital, expensive machinery, and, under the slave system, the most arduous and exhaustive labor, continued day and night during the grinding season,—so hard and

↑ Cost of labor upon cultivation of sugar, from Sewall's " Ordeal of Free Labor in the British West Indies." Cuba, Slave, 3 cents per pound. Jamaica, " 4 37-100 " " Jamaica, Free, 2 " " Trinidad, " 1 72-100 " " Barbadoes, " 1 40-100 " "
↑ The inland of Jamaica is constantly cited in illustration of the injury done by emancipation, and to prove a falling off in the export of sugar is considered conclusive evidence of the injury. The following paragraph from Sewall's Ordeal will show the force of the argument. "This magnificent country, wanting nothing but capital and labor for its complete restoration to a prosperity far greater than it ever yet attained, is now sparsely settled by small negro cultivators, who have been able to purchase their plots of land at £2 to £3 an acre. With a month's work on their own land they can earn as much as a year's labor on a sugar estate will yield them. They are superior, pecuniarily speaking, to servitude, and by a law of nature that cannot be gainsaid, they prefer independence to labor for hire. Why should they be blamed?" It appears to be generally forgotten that there were other British West Indies and Colonies than Jamaica, and that more than one half the emancipatedslaves

[1] Cost of labor upon cultivation of sugar, from Sewall's " Ordeal of Free Labor in the British West Indies." Cuba, Slave, 3 cents per pound. Jamaica, " 4 37-100 " " Jamaica, Free, 2 " " Trinidad, " 1 72-100 " " Barbadoes, " 1 40-100 " "

[2] The inland of Jamaica is constantly cited in illustration of the injury done by emancipation, and to prove a falling off in the export of sugar is considered conclusive evidence of the injury. The following paragraph from Sewall's Ordeal will show the force of the argument. "This magnificent country, wanting nothing but capital and labor for its complete restoration to a prosperity far greater than it ever yet attained, is now sparsely settled by small negro cultivators, who have been able to purchase their plots of land at £2 to £3 an acre. With a month's work on their own land they can earn as much as a year's labor on a sugar estate will yield them. They are superior, pecuniarily speaking, to servitude, and by a law of nature that cannot be gainsaid, they prefer independence to labor for hire. Why should they be blamed?" It appears to be generally forgotten that there were other British West Indies and Colonies than Jamaica, and that more than one half the emancipatedslaves

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