86 
truc, but not of a necessity like 
the present, which was permanent 
and constant, and must continue, 
till measures were taken at hone to 
provide againstit. ‘hat the colo- 
nies required a supply of provi- 
sions and lumber, equal to their 
consumption, was a very plain and 
obvious proposition, nor was it re- 
quisite to hold the office ofa colowial 
governor to be fully aware of its 
truth ; but to ascertain whether a 
sufficient supply of these articles 
could be procured from the united 
kingdom and British colonies in 
North America, or, if an additional 
supply from the United States was 
wanted, to determine whether the 
conveyance of it might be safely en. 
trusted to the British ship owners, 
were points, it is apprehended, of 
which the privy council were more 
competent and more impartial 
judges than the governors of Jamaica 
and Barbadoes ; surrounded as these 
governors must necessarily be by 
persons interested in the trade with 
the United States, and removed as 
they are to a distance from all in- 
tercourse or communication with 
the shipping interest of the mother 
country. Had ,the ship owners 
truly understood their own interest, 
they would have rejoiced at a mea- 
sure, which placed the American 
intercourse under the control of 
persons, more accessible than the 
colonial governors to their com- 
plainis, and more likely to be in. 
fluenced by their remonstrances. 
It was next maintained, that the 
Eritish ship owners were ready to 
undertake’the carrying trade of the 
West India ‘islands, and persons 
wero found to pledge themseives, 
* Sir Francis Baring. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1806. 
that not only were they able to ful- 
fil that engagement, but to supply 
the colonies at an expence of not 
more than two per cent.above what 
it cost them at present. All they 
required {rom parliament was @ 
select committee to inquire into 
facts, and if that was granted, 
they pledged themselves to make 
good their allegations. But, if the 
shipping interest thought this practi- 
cable now, why had they not at- 
tempted it sooner ? Why had their 
sense of interest slunbered so long, 
and how came it to be roused by a 
measure, which made no change 
whatever in their situation 2? What 
circumstance had lately happened 
to lessen the expence of the carrying 
trade to the English, or increase its 
charges to the Americans ? Were the 
ship owners deserving greater credit 
than one of the first and most intel- 
ligent merchants of the city*, who 
declared in the house of commons, 
** that the ship owners of this 
country could not supply the co- 
lonies, and it would be dangerous 
and cruel, as welt as impolitic, to 
trust (o them, at the risk of starving 
thousands, in case they should fail in 
ihe attempt.’ Experience was as 
much in favour of the opinion of 
sir'Francis Baring, as it was con- 
trary to the bold assertions and ex- 
travagant promises of Mr, Rose: 
nor was it any recommendation of 
the ship owners’ plan, that when. 
similar specuJators had, on a for. 
mer occasion, been listened to, the 
lives of 15,000 negroes had been 
sacrificed, before the experiment 
was abandoned. + After all, if these 
assertions were made with any other 
view than to gain time, in order ta 
+. Meé.norial and ene entation of the assembly «f Jamaica, April 20th, 1805. 
postpone 
