The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus

by American Anti-Slavery Society

The negroes of this and of all the British W.I. colonies have been 'emancipated.' Cuba on the other hand is still a slave country. (Let not our readers imagine for one moment that we advocate the continuance of slavery," &c.)

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When public men have endeavored to be faithful and upright, they have uniformly been abused, and even persecuted, by the planters. The following facts will show that the latter have not scrupled to resort to the most dishonest and unmanly intrigues to effect the removal or to circumvent the influence of such men. Neglect, ridicule, vulgar abuse, slander, threats, intimidation, misrepresentation, and legal prosecutions, have been the mildest weapons employed against those who in the discharge of their sworn duties dared to befriend the oppressed.

The shameful treatment of the late governor, Lord Sligo, illustrates this. His Lordship was appointed to the government about the period of abolition. Being himself a proprietor of estates in the island, and formerly chairman of the West India Body, he was received at first with the greatest cordiality; but it was soon perceived that he was disposed to secure justice to the apprentices. From the accounts we received, we have been led to entertain an exalted opinion of his integrity and friendship for the poor. It was his custom (unprecedented in the West Indies,) to give a patient hearing to the poorest negro who might carry his grievances to the government-house. After hearing the complaint, he would despatch an order to the special magistrate of the district in which the complainant lived, directing him to inquire into the case. By this means he kept the magistrates employed, and secured redress to the apprentices to many cases where they would otherwise have bean neglected.

The governor soon rendered himself exceedingly obnoxious to the planters, and they began to manoeuvre for his removal, which, in a short time, was effected by a most flagitious procedure. The home government, disposed to humor their unruly colony, sent them a governor in whom they are not likely to find any fault. The present governor, Sir Lionel Smith, is the antipode of his predecessor in every worthy respect. When the apprentices come to him with their complaints, he sends them back unheard, with curses on their heads. A distinguished gentleman in the colony remarked of him that he was a heartless military chieftain, who ruled without regard to mercy. Of course the planters are full of his praise. His late tour of the island was a triumphal procession, amid the sycophantic greetings of oppressors.

Several special magistrates have been suspended because of the faithful discharge of their duties. Among these was Dr. Palmer, an independent and courageous man. Repeated complaints were urged against him by the planters, until finally Sir Lionel Smith appointed a commission to inquire into the grounds of the difficulty.

"This commission consisted of two local magistrates, both of them planters or managers of estates, and two stipendiary magistrates, the bias of one of whom, at least, was believed to be against Dr. Palmer. At the conclusion of their inquiry they summed up their report by saying that Dr. Palmer had administered the abolition law in the spirit of the English abolition act, and in his administration of the law he had adapted it more to the comprehension of freemen than to the understandings of apprenticed laborers. Not only did Sir Lionel Smith suspend Dr. Palmer on this report, but the colonial office at home have dismissed him from his situation."

The following facts respecting the persecution of Special Justice Bourne, illustrate the same thing.

"A book-keeper of the name of Maclean, on the estate of the Rev. M. Hamilton, an Irish clergyman, committed a brutal assault upon an old African. The attorney on the property refused to hear the complaint of the negro, who went to Stephen Bourne, a special magistrate. When Maclean was brought before him, he did not deny the fact; but said as the old man was not a Christian, his oath could not be taken! The magistrate not being able to ascertain the amount of injury inflicted upon the negro (whose head was dreadfully cut,) but feeling that it was a case which required a greater penalty than three pounds sterling, the amount of punishment to which he was limited by the local acts, detained Maclean, and afterwards committed him to jail, and wrote the next day to the chief justice upon the subject. He was discharged as soon as a doctor's certificate was procured of the state of the wounded man, and bail was given for his appearance at the assizes. Maclean's trial came on at the assizes, and he was found guilty by a Jamaica Jury; he was severely reprimanded for his inhuman conduct and fined thirty pounds. The poor apprentice however got no remuneration for the severe injury inflicted upon him, and the special justice was prosecuted for false imprisonment, dragged from court to court, represented as an oppressor and a tyrant, subjected to four hundred pounds expenses in defending himself, and actually had judgment given against him for one hundred and fifty pounds damages.