On the Increase of Capital.
93
The emancipated negroes of the West Indies are unwilling to do as much work as when labour was extorted from them. Degraded by their bondage, their wants are few, and easily satisfied; the rich fertility of the tropics supplies them with almost all the food they require, with the exertion of very little labour. Why should they, therefore, constantly toil? They have few tastes to gratify, and few wants to satisfy. No one will labour for labour's sake; the emancipated negroes are well fed almost by the spontaneous bounty of nature, and they are therefore perfectly contented to live a lazy life of repose. Consequences of this deficiency.The consequence of this is that the production of wealth has almost ceased in many parts of the West Indies. The land is as fertile as it was before; English proprietors would only be too glad to supply capital if they could find the labourers; but this labour is not forthcoming; the emancipated negroes are unwilling to work and the climate is unsuited to European labourers; the production of wealth cannot proceed, and estates, which before 1833 were worth 10,000l. a year, are now little more than a useless burden to their owners. It is thus quite evident that it is impossible for the West Indies to become more prosperous without a larger supply of labour. How is such a supply of labour to be obtained? In the first place, labourers may be imported; secondly, the population of the islands may increase, and the people may become more desirous to labour, as their wants become gradually enlarged. Difficulty of supplying it by importing labour.Let us first consider the importation of labour. Labourers may pass from one country to another entirely of their own accord. Large numbers of Chinese have emigrated to Australia because they could earn higher wages in Australia than in China. They have also emigrated in large numbers to the United States. Australia never took any steps to encourage their coming; their presence is, in fact, so much objected to, that an extreme measure has been passed, and a poll-tax of 10l. has been imposed on every Chinaman who lands; and, moreover, in New South Wales and Victoria the owners of vessels are subject to heavy penalties if they bring more than one Chinese to every hundred tons of ship burden. If the Chinese
