The above is extracted from the "West Indies in 1837," an English work by Messrs. Sturge and Harvey, page 86, Appendix.
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We insert the following tabular view of the crops in Jamaica for a series of years preceding 1837.--As the table and "Remarks" appended were first published in the St. Jago Gazette, a decided "pro-slavery" paper, we insert, in connection with them, the remarks of the Jamaica Watchman, published at Kingston, and an article on the present condition of slavery, from the Telegraph, published at Spanishtown, the seat of the colonial government.
A GENERAL RETURN OF EXPORTS From the island of Jamaica, for 53 years, ending 31st December, 1836--copied from the Journals of the House.
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e | SUGAR | RUM |LAS| GINGER |
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E | e | e | l | e | e | | l | | | |
| h | c | e | h | h | s | e | s | s | |
r | s | r | r | c | s | k | r | k | k | s |
a | g | e | r | n | g | s | r | s | s | g |
e | o | i | a | u | o | a | a | a | a | a |
Y | H | T | B | P | H | C | B | C | C | B |
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1772| 69,451| 9,936| 270| | | | | | | |
1773| 72,996|11,453| 849| | | | | | | |
1774| 69,579| 9,250| 278| | | | | | | |
1775| 75,291| 9,090| 425| | | | | | | |
1776| | | | | | | | | | |
1788| 83,036| 9,256|1,063| | | | | | | |
1789| 84,167|10,078|1,077| | | | | | | |
1790| 84,741| 9,284|1,599| | | | | | | |
1791| 85,447| 8,037|1,718| | | | | | | |
1792| | | | | | | | | | |
1793| 77,575| 6,722| 642|34,755| 879| | | | 62| 8,605|
1794| 89,532|11,158|1,224|39,843|1,570| | | | 121|10,305|
1795| 88,851| 9,537|1,225|37,684|1,475| | | | 426|14,861|
1796| 89,219|10,700| 858|40,810|1,364| | | | 690|20,275|
1797| 78,373| 9,963| 753|28,014|1,463| | | | 259|29,098|
1798| 87,896|11,725|1,163|40,823|2,234| | | | 119|18,454|
1799|101,457|13,538|1,321|37,022|1,981| | | | 221|10,358|
1800| 96,347|13,549|1,631|37,166|1,350| | | | 444| 3,586|
1801|123,251|18,704|2,692|48,879|1,514| | | | 12| 239|
1802|129,544|15,403|2,403|45,632|2,073| 473| 205|366| 23| 2,079|
1803|107,387|11,825|1,797|43,298|1,416| | |461| 51| 3,287|
1804|103,352|12,802|2,207|42,207| 913| | |429|1,094| 1,854|
1805|137,906|17,977|3,689|53,211|1,328| 133| 167|471| 315| 2,128|
1806|133,996|18,237|3,579|58,191|1,178| | |499| 485| 1,818|
1807|123,175|17,344|3,716|51,812|1,998| | |699| 512| 1,411|
1808|121,444|15,836|2,625|52,409|2,196| | |379| 436| 1,470|
1809|104,457|14,596|3,534|43,492|2,717| | |230|2,321| 572|
1810|108,703| 4,560|3,719|42,353|1,964| | |293| 520| 1,881|
1811|127,751|15,235|3,046|54,093|2,011| | |446|1,110| 2,072|
1812|105,283|11,357|2,558|43,346|1,531| | |151| 804| 1,235|
1813| 97,548|10,029|2,304|44,618|1,345| 382| 874|208| 816| 1,428|
1814|101,846|10,485|2,575|43,486|1,551| 202|1,146|145| 884| 1,668|
1815|118,767|12,224|2,817|52,996|1,465| 574|1,398|242|1,493| 1,667|
1816| 93,881| 9,332|2,236|35,736| 769| 281| 903|166|2,354| 1,118|
1817|116,012|11,094|2,868|47,949|1,094| 203| 916|254|3,361| 1,195|
1818|113,818|11,388|2,786|50,195|1,108| 121| 191|407|2,526| 1,067|
1819|108,305|11,450|3,244|43,946|1,695| 602|1,558|253|1,714| 718|
1820|115,065|11,322|2,474|45,361|1,783| 106| 460|252|1,159| 316|
1821|111,512|11,703|1,972|46,802|1,793| 153| 534|167| 984| 274|
1822| 88,551| 8,705|1,292|28,728|1,124| 9| 442|144| 891| 72|
1823| 94,905| 9,179|1,947|35,242|1,935| 20| 118|614|1,041| 60|
1824| 99,225| 9,651|2,791|37,121|3,261| 5| 64|910|2,230| 52|
1825| 73,813| 7,380|2,858|27,630|2,077| 101| 215|894|3,947| 348|
1826| 99,978| 9,514|3,126|35,610|3,098|1,852| |549|5,724| 517|
1827| 82,096| 7,435|2,770|31,840|2,672|1,573| |204|4,871| 240|
1828| 94,912| 9,428|3,024|36,585|2,793|1,013| |189|5,382| 279|
1829| 91,364| 9,193|3,204|36,285|2,009| 563| | 66|4,101| 168|
1830| 93,882| 8,739|3,645|33,355|2,657|1,367| |154|3,494| 15|
1831| 88,409| 9,053|3,492|34,743|2,846| 982| |230|3,224| 22|
1832| 91,453| 9,987|4,600|32,060|2,570|1,362| |799|4,702| 38|
1833| 78,375| 9,325|4,074|33,215|3,034| 977| |755|4,818| 23|
1834| 77,801| 9,860|3,055|30,495|2,588|1,288| |486|5,925| 116|
1835| 71,017| 8,840|8,455|26,433|1,820| 747| |300|3,985| 486|
1836| 61,644| 7,707|2,497|19,938| 874| 646| |182|5,224| 69|
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e | PIMENTO | COFFEE |
t | | |
r |_____________|__________|
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p | | | |
x | | | | REMARKS
E | | | s |
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r | k | s | n |
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e | a | a | o |
Y | C | B | P |
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1772| | | 841,558|
1773| | | 779,303|
1774| | | 739,039|
1775| | | 493,981|
1776| | | |
1788| | | 1,035,368|
1789| | | 1,493,282|
1790| | | 1,783,740|
1791| | | 2,299,874| August--Destruction of
1792| | | | Santo Domingo.
1793| 420| 9,108| 3,983,576|
1794| 554|22,153| 4,911,549|
1795| 957|20,451| 6,318,812|
1796| 136| 9,820| 7,203,539|
1797| 328| 2,935| 7,869,133|
1798| 1,181| 8,961| 7,894,306|
1799| 1,766|28,273|11,745,425| Bourbon cane introduced.
1800| 610|12,759|11,116,474|
1801| 648|14,084|13,401,468|
1802| 591| 7,793|17,961,923|
1803| 867|14,875|15,866,291|
1804| 1,417|19,572|22,063,980|
1805| 288| 7,157|21,137,393| Largest sugar crop.
1806| 1,094|19,534|29,298,036|
1807| 525|19,224|26,761,188| March 25th, abolition of
1808| 225| 6,529|29,528,273| African slave trade.
1809|21,022| 1,177|25,586,668|
1810| 4,276|21,163|25,885,285|
1811| 638|22,074|17,460,068|
1812| 598| 7,778|18,481,986|
1813| 1,124|14,361|24,623,572| Storm in October, 1812
1814| 394|10,711|34,045,585| Largest coffee crop.
1815| 844|27,386|27,362,742|
1816| 851|28,047|17,289,393| Storm in October, 1815
1817| 946|15,817|14,793,706|
1818| 941|21,071|25,329,456|
1819| 882|24,500|14,091,983|
1820| 673|12,880|22,127,444|
1821| 1,224|24,827|16,819,761|
1822| 699|18,672|19,773,912| Extreme drought.
1823| 1,894|21,481|20,326,445| Mr. Canning's resolutions
1824| 599|33,306|27,667,239| relative to slavery.
1825| 537|20,979|21,254,656|
1826| 522|16,433|20,352,886| Severe drought in 1824, the previous year.
1827| 3,236|26,691|25,741,520|
1828| 4,003|25,352|22,216,780|
1829| 3,733|48,933|22,234,640|
1830| 5,609|37,925|22,256,950|
1831| 2,844|22,170|14,055,350|
1832| 3,736|27,936|19,815,010|
1833| 7,741|58,581| 9,866,060| Emancipation act passed.
1834| 496|29,301|17,725,731| Seasons favorable.
1835| 1,115|59,033|10,593,018| do.
1836| 227|46,779|13,446,053| do.
The following are the remarks of the editor of the Jamaica Watchman, on the foregoing, in his paper of April 8, 1837:--
A general return of exports from the island for fifty-three years, ending the 31st December last, and purporting to be extracted from the journals of the assembly, has been published, and as usual, the decrease in the crops of the respective years has been attributed to the resolutions passed by the British House of Commons in 1823, and the abolition of slavery in 1833. It is remarkable that in preparing this table, a manifest disposition is evinced to account for the falling off of the crops in certain years anterior, and subsequent to the passing of Mr. Canning's memorable resolution, whilst opposite to the years 1834 and 1835, is written "seasons favorable." In 1813, the sugar crop fell off 8,000 hhds. compared with the previous year, and we are told in reference to this circumstance, that there was a storm in October, 1812. This remark is evidently made to account for the decrease, and perhaps the storm at the close of the previous year was the cause of it. But it is astonishing, and the circumstance is worthy of notice, that whilst the sugar crop fell off nearly 8,000 hhds. the coffee crop increased nearly six millions of pounds. We should have supposed that the coffee trees would have suffered more from the effects of a storm, than the canes. However, the effect was as we have stated it, whatever might have been the cause. In 1814, the largest coffee crop was made. Again, in 1816, there was a decrease in the sugar crop compared with the year immediately preceding it of nearly 25,000 hhds. And here we have the storm of October, 1815, assigned as a reason. The coffee crop in this instance also fell off nearly ten millions of pounds. In 1822, the sugar crop was reduced 23,000 hhds., and the coffee crop increased three millions of pounds. The reason now assigned is an "extreme drought." The celebrated resolutions relative to slavery now appear to begin to exercise their baneful influence on the seasons and the soil of our island. In the year in which they were passed, 1823, 94,900 hogsheads of sugar were made, and twenty millions of pounds of coffee gathered. 1824 came, and the crop, instead of being reduced, was increased from nearly 95,000 hogsheads to upwards of 99,000 hogsheads. The coffee crop was also greater by seven millions of pounds. In 1825, they fall off to 73,860 hogsheads and twenty-one millions. In 1826, the sugar crop rather exceeded that of 1824, but the coffee crop was seven millions less. In 1827, from causes not known to us, for none were assigned, there was a difference of 16,000 hhds. of sugar, and an increase of five millions of pounds of coffee. 1828, 29, and 30, were pretty nearly alike in sugar and coffee crops, and about equal to 1823. The crops of 1831 fell off from 93 to 88,000 hogsheads of sugar, and from 22 to 14 millions of pounds of coffee. No reason is assigned for this reduction. It was during the continuance of the driving system, and therefore no blame can attach to the managers. In 1832, the crop rose to 91,000 hogsheads of sugar, and nearly twenty millions of pounds of coffee. But 1833 comes, and, with it, fresh troubles for the planters. In that ill-fated year, there was a decrease of 13,000 hogsheads sugar, and of ten millions of pounds of coffee. Its sugar crop was the smallest made, with the exception of that of 1825, since 1793, and its coffee crop since that of 1798. But if this determination be alarming, what must be that of the succeeding years. Can we be blamed, if, in a strain truly lachrymal, we allude to the deductions which have annually been made from the miserable return which 1833 gave to the unfortunate proprietors of estates? What boots it to tell us that we have fingered thousands of pounds sterling, in the shape of compensation: and what consolation is it to know, that a hogshead of sugar will now bring thirty pounds, which, a short time ago, was only worth twelve. Let any unprejudiced individual look at the return now before us, and say whether our prospects are not deplorably dull and obscure. If we take the four years immediately preceding the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say 1819, 20, 21, and 22; we will find the average to be 105,858 hogsheads, and if from this we even deduct one fourth for the time now lost, there will be an average crop of 79,394 hhds., being 7,185 hogsheads mere than the average of 1833, 34, 35, and 36; and no one will deny that this falling off of one tenth, (supposing that the hogsheads made during the last four years are not larger than those of 1819 to 1822) is nearly, if not quite equal to the increase of price, from twelve to thirty pounds, or one hundred and fifty per cent.
It is true some persons may be disposed to take the four years subsequent to the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say 1823, 4, 5, and 6, and compare them with the four years ending 31st December last. Should this be done, it will be found that the average crop of the previous four years is 91,980 hhds., and if from it is deducted one fourth, there will remain 68,985 hhds., whilst the average of the other four years is 72,200 hhds. Such a mode of comparison must, however, be obviously incorrect; because, in the first place, Mr. Canning's resolutions had reduced the crops of those years considerably below the average of the years immediately preceding them, and next, because it would show the advantage to be on the side of freedom in the ratio of seventy-two to sixty-nine, which cannot be correct. Besides, in 1824, there was a severe drought, whereas in 1834 and 35 the seasons are reported as being favorable. Again, it is necessary, in instituting such an inquiry, to go back more than fourteen years; nor is it a valid objection to this to say, that even during that period a number of estates have been thrown out of cultivation, in consequence of being worn out and unprofitable. "Deplorable," however, as is the "falling off in the yearly amounts of our staple productions, which have decreased," gentle reader, according to the despatch, "in an accelerated ratio within the last few years, till in the year 1836, when they do not average one half the returns of former years preceding that of 1823, the year that Mr. Canning's resolutions for the ultimate abolition of slavery in the British colonies passed the House of Commons," still it is a matter of sincere gratification to know, that the sugar planters are better off now than they have been for the last fourteen or fifteen years. With the compensation money a great many of them have been enabled to pay off their English debts, and the remainder very considerably to reduce them, whilst the reduction in the quantity of sugar produced, has occasioned such a rise in the price of that article as will place the former in easy circumstances, and enable the latter entirely to free themselves from the trammels of English mortgagees, and the tender mercies of English mortgagees before the 1st August, 1840, arrives. And ought these parties not to be thankful? Unquestionably they ought. Ingratitude, we are told, is as the sin of witchcraft, and although the table of exports exhibits our fair island as hastening to a state of ruin, and the despatch tells us that "by the united influence of mock philanthropy, religious cant, and humbug," a reformed parliament was forced "to precipitate the slavery spoliation act under the specious pretext of promoting the industry and improving the condition of the manumitted slaves," still we maintain, and the reasonable will agree with us, that we are much better off now than we have been for a long time, and that Jamaica's brightest and happiest days have not yet dawned. Let the croakers remember the remarkable words of the Tory Lord, Belmore, the planter's friend, and be silent--"The resources of this fine island will never be fully developed until slavery ceases." The happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants of Jamaica are not contingent, nor need they be, upon the number of hogsheads of sugar annually exported from her shores.
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