produce of an estate, usually consented to make advances on the returns, and, in course of time, to lend large sums of money on the security of the property. In many cases, he undertook the mercantile management, expressly on the condition of taking up the debts of the proprietor, and becoming a mortgagee, for sums which the estate might have possibly sold at that period, but which now, in a vast number of instances, would hardly fetch the interest, for ten years, on the capital lent.

It is not to be supposed that a merchant will lend large sums of money on a precarious property, without advantages commensurate with the risk he encounters. It is very evident that the mere legal interest of five per cent. would not be a sufficient advantage for the hazard of such advances. I by no means desire to be understood to say, that any undue advantage was taken of the proprietor. The mere commission on the salesthe interest on the loan, were not adequate to the risk and inconvenience of the lender; therefore the merchant was justified in monopolising all those advantages which could be obtained from the purchase of supplies, the freighting of his own ships, the underwriting of the same; and it could not be expected that he would beat down his own prices, where there was no bargaining to reduce them. The attorney sent home the list of the supplies; the merchant sent it, perhaps, by his

clerk to the house that the articles were usually procured from. They may be purchased at twelve months' credit. It may be customary for the proprietor to pay at six months. Here is five per cent. between interest and commission. But suppose cash is paid down for the supplies, the further advantage would accrue of five, perhaps ten per cent. discount on the invoice. The freight during the war was at one period so high as 12s. The merchants, in many instances, became ship-owners; and it was not to be supposed that the merchant, who freighted his own ship, would do more than inquire the current freight of the day, for the regulation of his own charges; but it is not to be expected he would hunt the docks for the lowest that could be found.

One merchant, I am informed, in eight or nine years, cleared £40,000 by a ship under 400 tons, which might have cost about £6000. At that period the West India merchants were the leading underwriters at Lloyd's: the premium of insurance was extremely high; and it was not the merchant's interest to reduce either the freight or the insurance. But had not the proprietor the option of going to any other house he might consider more advantageous to him? His merchant, however, might say to him, and perhaps with a great deal of truth, "I am very willing to give up your business, provided

any other house will take up the debt of £20,000 or £30,000, for which I hold your mortgage."

Had the proprietor the power of transacting his own business, he unquestionably might have effected a very considerable saving in its management—a saving that might be estimated, perhaps, at very nearly the amount of his present income. The following are the present charges on his produce, from its shipment to its sale:

The following queries respecting West Indian produce and supplies, I addressed to a gentleman who is largely connected with the trade to the West Indies; and, being fully assured of his accuracy and intelligence, I send you his replies.

1st Query-What may be the total amount of the supplies, clothing, herrings, medicines, and all contingencies necessary for the negroes on an estate where there are three hundred apprentices ? Answer-About two thousand pounds.

2nd Query-What is your opinion of the comparative advantage to the proprietor of finding the negro as he is at present found in all things essential to his maintenance; or of the substitution of wages,-say a maccaroni, or one shilling sterling a day, and allowing the negro to find himself, taking into account, that when he gets wages he will be called upon to pay rent for his house and grounds, either in work or money?

Answer-No doubt, if the negroes would continue to work as they did previously to the abolition of slavery, it would prove more beneficial to the master, and much more to their own comfort and advantage: instead of the compulsory measures heretofore adopted by the master, he would have the labour of men stimulated by reward, and would have it in his power to part with those who misconducted themselves; and by the same rule, the negro would have the power of quitting a master for mal-treatment. But the negroes would not be disposed to do the same work, or take an interest in the cultivation of a property, if they had no home or grounds upon it to give them an interest in it, and cause them to appreciate the sweets of a home for which they would be indebted to their own industry.

3rd Query-What may be the annual amount and value of herrings exported to the West Indies

and required on each estate having 300 negroes on it?

Answer-From sixty to seventy thousand barrels are exported annually for the use of the negroes, nearly all for Jamaica, a few only being sent to St. Kitts. The price per barrel, containing 220 lbs. of fish, exclusive of salt and pickle, averages 22s. For each estate of 300 negroes, about 100 barrels, value £110, are required.

4th Query-Do you consider herrings a nutritious article of food? Are they superior to the shads that are procured from America?

Answer-Herrings are decidedly the most nutritious and wholesome of all descriptions of cured fish. The annual quantity cured is about four hundred thousand barrels, of which more than one-half is consumed in Great Britain.

5th Query-Would the reduction of duty on colonial produce benefit the West Indian planter or the British public?

Answer-The planter unquestionably would derive the benefit from any adequate reduction. The reduction is due to the planter; the tax was imposed as a war duty.

6th Query-Has excessive taxation had a worse influence on West India prosperity than the system of management hitherto pursued, or the general effect of the evils attending slavery?