108 Timehri. 



Forces), James Gordon, William Smith, James Stephen, and William 

 Wilberforce, with Mr. Zachary Macaulay, Secretary. 



Berbice with considerable satisfaction saw itself relieved of the cost 

 and worry of running these establishments. Among private planters 

 there was some curiosity, not unmixed with anxiety, as to what the 

 " different system " and " other and milder means" might be which tho 

 Commissioners would adopt in their management of the Crown Estates 

 and the Winkel Department. Two of the Berbice Commissioners at 

 least — (Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Stephen) — with their Secretary, Mr. 

 Macaulay, were stalwarts of the African Institution, a body which, 

 formed in 1807 with the object of bettering the condition of the Negro 

 (which wanted it) too often thought that this object might be best secured 

 by worsening the condition of the planter. So long as the African Insti- 

 tution merely preached its projects for reform — " quixotic " as the planter 

 called them — and printed them in an occasional pamphlet — no matter how 

 mischievous such pamphlets might be when discussed openly in the West 

 Indies — no grave harm might ensue. But it would be another story if the 

 Directors of the African Institution, as members of the Berbice Commis- 

 sion, tried to put those projects into actual and visible operation in 

 Berbice. 



The Commissioners' first Agent in Berbice was Colonel McAlister, 

 who, however, died within six weeks. He was succeeded by his assistant, 

 Mr. A. A. De la Cgurt. In December, 1814, Mr. De la Court was super- 

 seded by Mr. James Walker. Mr. Walker finds a place in local literature 

 as the author of " Letters on the West Iudies " (London: 181s).* An 

 appendix to this book contains a reply to criticisms of the management of 

 the Berbice Commissioners. It is unlikely that any public body of men 

 were ever more raked — in Parliament and in the Press — than were the 

 Berbice Commissioners during these five brief years — 1811 to 1816 — of 

 their existence. Mr. Joseph Marryat. M.P., prepared, and published "An 

 Examination of the Report of the Berbice Commissioners " issued in 1814 

 Time itself has not withdrawn the sting from this document. It keeps 

 hot wonderfully. Had the Crown estates and the Winkel Department 

 been run at a profit? asked Marryat. No. Formerly so extensive and 

 fertile had been the provision-grounds on the estates that a good 

 revenue wes derived from the sale of surplus plantains to the cotton 

 properties on the coast. Now, not only did the grounds furnish no pro- 

 visions for sale but they were inadequate to supply their own Negroes. 

 Had the mortality in the gangs been reduced ? No. From 1803 to 1811 

 (when the Crown estates and the Winkel Department were managed by 

 the Berbice Government) the net mortality on the Estates had been 90 

 and the Winkel Department 11. From 1812 to 1814 (when managed by 

 the Berbice Commissioners) the net mortality on the estates had been 62 

 and in the Winkel Department 22, or considerably more than double the 

 an nual average deficiency that took place under their predecessors. Mr. 

 Wilberforce, as a Director of the African Institution, had protested against 



* Macaulay s lines say : — "Mr. Walker was sent to Bel greatest of Statesmen 



and Earls, he went to bring back yellow boys, but he only brought back yellow girls-" — J.R. 



