Stewart's Past and Present State of Jamaica* 



6og 



that, and of confining them fo llie 

 nianaKenicut of (heir estates only. They 

 lieciune sensible that it was safer to give 

 a fixed salary than a per centage on tiie 

 crops; for in the latter case there was a 

 motive for making great crops, at what- 

 ever expense of slaves or stock, which 

 fell solely on Ihi- proprietor. Formerly, 

 when slaves conid he easily replaced, 

 nuicii oppression and a great waste of 

 life was occasioned by what was called 

 the pushing system — that is, extracting 

 from the soil as mnch as possiide by an 

 overworking of the slaves. The j)ro- 

 j)ric(ors also begin to see that the 

 attorney, who has more than six or eight 

 I>lanlations to manage, (cannot possibly 

 do justice to the whole by his personal 

 attentions ; many therefore restrict them 

 lo a certain num!)er, and watch over 

 their proceedings by the minutest in(|ui- 

 rics, and by the instructions they occa- 

 sionally forward. But there is still a 

 great latitude for abuses in (he manage- 

 ment of estates in chancery, and there 

 are generally iio( a few in that unfortu- 

 nate predicament. The chancellor 

 appoints the receiver— perhaps a man he 

 never saw, and knows nothing about, — 

 and the property committed to liis 

 charge is faithfully and honesdy ma- 

 h^iged, or odierwise, according (o the 

 charac(er of tlic man. Sworn accounts 

 of (he crops, and the disposal of (hem,- 

 &c. are regularly rendered in to the 

 chancellor ; but there are other impor- 

 tant matters of which he has no odicial 

 information. Tiie capabilities of the 

 estate, and (he economy and judicious- 

 ness of its management, are not inquired 

 in(o; and accordingly there have been 

 ins(ances of es(a(es so managed by an 

 adroit receiver, that, instead of imj)roving 

 80 as to pay off (he demands against 

 fliem, (li'-y have been involved deeper in 

 debt, until at length they have been 

 brought (o the h:inimer, and the receiver, 

 who had become a j)iinci|>al (^editor, 

 became (he purchaser. 



At (he present day (here arc only a few 

 of what are cillcd gicat attorneys in (he 

 island — (ha( is, having tVoin littecn (o 

 (uenty estates under (heir (diarKe(ei(her 

 as receivers or attorneys), producing a 

 revenue of from ei;i;ht tci (en thousand 

 pounds, vvitlion( risk or ileilne(ion — an 

 ine<nne far Ix^xond (lia( of (he generality 

 (d'thr proprietors. 'I'ln-se men will not 

 condescend lo lake charge of a properly 

 (III any oilier (erins (han (ho.se they have 

 been aecii::(oiiied lo ; but men who have 

 ye( (heir lortmiex to make ai(! coiifeiiled 

 lo reeeive a moderate salary, not cx- 

 WoNTHLY Mag. No. JHl. 



cceding the half which tiieir agency 

 would produce if they were allowed the 

 customary commissions. 



MEDICAL MEN. 



On the plantations there arc in gene- 

 ral very good hospitals, or, as they are 

 here preposterously called, hot-houses, 

 for the sick slaves. Tiie surgeon is 

 cither em|)loyed by a proprietor of two, 

 three, or more estates, to attend the hos- 

 pitals of these alone — in which case he 

 usinlly resides on one of them, and visits 

 the hospitals every day; or, (which is the 

 most common vvay) he practises for a 

 number of estates belonging to different 

 persons, besides tiie smaller settlements 

 in the neighbourhood. A medical man, 

 « ith only one assistant, has sometimes 

 the practice of fifteen or more estates, 

 which, with the smaller properties, may 

 contain a poj)ulation of about four 

 thousand — by far too extensive a prac- 

 tice for only two medical attendants ; so 

 (hat the hospitals, instead of being at- 

 tended daily, are not visited oltener 

 than twice or (hrice a-weck, especially 

 on (he remoter |)ropcrtics. At a sickly 

 poiiod, therefore, strict medical attention 

 to all the patients must become utterly 

 impraclicable, and the loss of many 

 valuable slaves tnay ensue. The obvious 

 remedy for this evil is the limiting or 

 ])ropor(i"niiig (he extent of practice to 

 the numb(>r of the practitioners, and, if 

 necessary, increasing their tmoluments 

 accordingly. Besides this extensive 

 plantation-practice, a surgeon has his 

 white practice, which is generally more 

 lucrative than the black. For iiis 

 attendance on the slaves he is allowed 

 Gs. 8d. per head for every slave, sick or 

 well, and the proprietor furnishes the 

 medicines. J'or every visit (o a whi(e 

 patient (he charge is 1/. 6s. 8cl; this is 

 reasonable enough, but the charge for 

 medicines is enormous, being about 

 2000 per cent, on the prime cost ! 



.Some of those who sot up as medical 

 men in .lainaica are not the mo.st 

 competent (hat could be desired. — Di.s- 

 [lensing wi(h (he customary formalities 

 ol college lectures, hospi(al at(en(lanee, 

 and diplomas, (hey set up us healeis of 

 tlisoiders, widi no odier |ire(ensions (han 

 having s<!rved a few years' apprentice- 

 ship (o an apodiecary, or performed one 

 or two vo3ages on-board of an African 

 trader as assis(an( siirf>eoii. Tlii're are 

 a( preseii(, however, many able; |)rac(i- 

 (ioners in the island, though very fevv 

 of (hem are regulaily-bred physicians. 

 A praclilioner here unites the functions 

 of physician, surgeon, and apothecary; 

 4 I ho 



