INTRODUCTION. 



11 



tion in the value of sugar caused by equalization of duties, 

 by reducing the cost of production in the same ratio, and 

 increasing the value of the product by improved methods 

 of manufacture.* 



It cannot be denied, however, that the Planters have 

 not in general availed themselves of such improvements as 

 were within then reach. Some spirited and intelligent 

 individuals, in almost every Colony, have seen the necessity 

 of reforming the old systems of Cultivation and Manufac- 

 ture, and their efforts have, in most instances, been as 

 successful as coidd be expected, under the circumstances of 

 their struggling, for the most part, single-handed, unsup- 

 ported by adequate means, and having to contend against 

 deeply-rooted and widely-diffused prejudices. And I have 

 no doubt, that had there been more combination in the 

 march of improvement, and more attention paid generally 

 to the adaptation of the means they actually possess, dark 

 as are the prospects of the West Indians, they would not 



* An aggravation of the injury complained of by the Colonists, is its 

 sudden and unexpected operation. Had any warning of such intention 

 been given at the time of slave emancipation, measures might have been 

 taken, and preparations made, to meet the difficulty when it arrived. 

 And as the only chance of competition with the productions of slave- 

 labour consisted in a complete change of the whole system of Culti- 

 vation and Manufacture which had hitherto been practised, and 

 with which the persons engaged in it were alone conversant : and when 

 it is known how extremely difficult it is to effect such changes in routine 

 systems, even where the urgent necessity is evident, the glaring 

 injustice of such aggravated wrong is so apparent as to require no 

 comment. 



