SLAVERY. 289 



soul and body together, the free black becomes independent, and 

 prefers to sit on his heels, and smoke, and talk, or sleep. There 

 is a vast difference between the pure negro and those of mixed 

 blood. From what I have seen I should consider it almost a 

 miracle, under existing circumstances and surroundings, for the 

 negro to have any proper spirit in him ; but with those who have 

 an infusion of white blood it is otherwise, their intellectual powers 

 appear much greater, and they have some ambition to get on in 

 the world. 



The new Cabinet, who accepted the portfolios on June 6, 

 1884, lost no time in dealing with the slavery question. On 

 June 25, a Cabinet Council was held, the Premier, Senhor Souza 

 Dantas, presiding. The points under consideration may be 

 summed up under five heads : — i. The localization of slave 

 trading. 2. The increase of the Emancipation Fund. 3. Classifi- 

 cation and arbitration of value. 4. Liberation of old slaves. 

 5. The work of freed slaves. 



On the isth of July, Senhor Souza Dantas presented his bill to 

 the Chambers. The bill was divided under five heads. The first 

 item dealt with old slaves, proposing that " the slave of sixty 

 years of age, attained before or after this law, should acquire ipso 

 facto his liberty." The second item dealt with registration, re- 

 quiring " declaration of name, colour, age, condition, nature, 

 filiation, capability of work, profession, and value," allowing a 

 year for such registration, " such slaves as are not registered in 

 that term being considered free." The third item dealt with the 

 Fund of Emancipation, a value of eight hundred milreis being 

 allowed for slaves of less than thirty years of age, seven hundred 

 milreis from thirty to thirty-nine, six hundred milreis from forty 

 to forty-nine, and four hundred milreis for quinquagenarians. This 

 item provided also for the tax to be paid by legatees who obtained 

 slaves, ranging from ten per cent, to direct heirs, and twenty per 

 cent, to brothers, up to fifty per cent, to strangers, half these taxes 

 being charged on transactions effected while the owners were 

 alive. The fourth item dealt with the localization of slaves, de- 

 claring that the slave should not be removed from the province 

 *here he resides, or he would gain liberty. The fifth item 

 dealt with terms of contract for the labour of free blacks. 



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