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Conduct of the Highland
Society. Emigrant Regulation Bill.
If, from all these circumstances, individual
proprietors so far mistake their own interest, it will not be surprising
that the same mistakes should pervade and influence a public body. The
respectable names which appear on the list of the Highland Society, and
the benevolence which marks their proceedings in general, leave no reason
to doubt of their conduct respecting emigration having been founded on the
purest motives. Nevertheless they have lent the sanction of their name to
representations of the most partial nature, and have recommended measures
inconsistent with every principle of justice.
As this Society claim (and I believe without
any competition) the merit of the bill passed in 1803, for regulating the
transportation of emigrants, the consideration of that bill cannot easily
be separated from a discussion of the arguments and statements upon which
they recommended the measure. They transmitted for the consideration of
Government, and of several members of the Legislature, three Reports, on
the emigrations from the Highlands, in which many topics connected with
the improvement of that district are treated with great judgement, and on
the most liberal principles of political economy. Intermixed, however,
with these discussions, we find some of a very different description.
[These Reports have never been published, but are noticed in the
Introduction to Vol. ii. Prize, Essays and Transactions of the Highland
Society. The first was presented to the Society in January, 1802 - the
second in June following - the third in March, 1803 - Some extracts have
been printed as an Appendix to a "Report of a Committee of the House of
Commons on the Survey of the Coasts, &c. of Scotland, relating to
Emigration" - ordered to be printed June 9th, 1803. The quotations I have
occasion to make, refer to the copies engrossed in the Records of the
Society, with which they have been collated.]
1. Such an increase of population as the
country, in its present situation, and with a total want of openings for
the exertion of industry, cannot support.
2. The removal of many of the tenants from
their farms, in consequence of a conviction on the part of the
proprietors, that they will be better cultivated and managed, and pay
better rents, when let in larger divisions; and more particularly, in
consequence of the preference now very generally given to a sheep stock,
of which the management does not, like that of a black-cattle pasture,
admit of minute partition of the farm, nor require nearly so many hands.
3. The active circulation of seductive
accounts of the immense advantages to be derived from going to settle in
America. The two
first of these so candidly stated, and furnish so plain and rational an
account of the fact, that it must excite surprise in the reader to find
the last-mentioned reason insisted upon as the principal and the most
extensive in its effects.
The Reporter indeed assumes the fact, that
the condition of a labourer in America
is not so advantageous as in Britain's; and, taking for granted, that the
flattering accounts which have reached the people as to America are all
false, has to explain how in course of so long an intercourse as has been
kept up between different districts of Scotland and different settlements
in America, no contradiction of these falsehoods should have appeared.
Here he does not think it beneath the dignity of the Society to repeat the
threadbare arid ridiculous story of Uncle James, and to assert, that all
letters, not of a particular tendency, are detained; as if every letter
had to pass a scrutiny, and as if there was no post-office establishment
in America. Had some inquiry been made before such an assertion was
hazarded, the Society might have learnt, that throughout all British
America at least, the posts are under the same regulations as at home, and
that (under the authority o the Postmasters-General of England) letters
may be conveyed from almost every part of the colonies, more tediously
indeed, but (sea-risk excepted) with as much safety as within Great
Britain itself.
It is truly surprising ,
that gentlemen of respectable abilities and information, should give
credit to fables of so little apparent probability. To repeat such stories
without examination, can be productive of no good. On the contrary, there
are so many of the people in the Highlands who have information of the
situation of their friends in America on indubitable authority, confirmed
by concurring testimonies, that it is in vain to think of concealing from
them the true state of the fact; and the attempt to impose on their
understanding can only tend to confirm the jealous suspicions, which they
entertain against their superiors.
In another Report we find
details of the emigrations going on, and representations of a spirit, from
which the immediate and total devastation of the country is predicted. The
discussion contained in the preceding parts of these remarks render it
unnecessary to enter into any particular refutation of this assertion. It
must, however, be observed that this representation (as well as the
particulars that are given of the artifices of individuals to delude the
people) appears to have been transmitted from the Island of Benbecula, one
of the prime stations of the kelp manufacture. No reference is given in
the Report, to the authority on which the facts are stated; and the tenor
of the accompanying remarks may at least give room to doubt the coolness
and moderation of the narrator, a circumstance of no less importance than
his veracity for ascertaining the credibility of his information.
The facts related are not
indeed in themselves improbable: the grounds of that irritation which is
felt by the common people have already been explained; and it will not be
thought extraordinary, that those individuals who have determined on
emigration, should speak out their sentiments with little reserve, and
make use of the prevailing temper of the country, to induce others to join
in their schemes.
Independently of any
question as to the policy of retaining against their will, a population
infected with a spirit of discontent, it seems very doubtful whether their
superiors are following the best methods to allay the ferment. If there
exist among the Highlanders any such wanton discontent and restlessness as
the Society allege, nothing seems so likely to keep alive and extend this
spirit, as any attempt to repress it by individual persecution. Every
manly heart will revolt at such means employed to restrain the exercise of
an acknowledged natural right, and the indignation which every act of
oppression must excite, may actually impel those to emigration who would
never have thought of it.
Should an unreasonable and
unnecessary disposition to emigration be any where observed, those who
wish to obviate it, may perhaps profit by an example, which occurred in
the Island of Barra in 1802. A number of people were preparing to
emigrate. The proprietor, without allowing any hint to escape of his
regret at the circumstance, told his tenants , that since such was their
determination, he wished to see them well accommodated, and would assist
them to negotiate for a ship to convey them to America. The frankness of
this procedure laid every murmur to rest, and no more was heard of the
emigration. Nor is this the only instance that might be quoted, where a
rising spirit of this kind has been allayed by the temper and moderation
of a proprietor.
Though the machinations of
the leaders of emigration, as described in the Reports, are nothing more
than might reasonably be expected from men of that stamp in a country
where a general tendency to irritation prevails; yet the Society consider
these artifices as the prime source of all the discontent they observe,
and assign as their ultimate motive, the unjust and tempting gains
accruing to the traders in emigration. No explanation however is given of
the mode in which these extraordinary gains arise, and therefore it may
not be superfluous to state a few of the details which are passed over.
Whenever the circumstances
of any part of the country induced the people to think of emigration; the
usual procedure has generally been, that the leading individuals have
circulated a subscription-paper, to which all those, who agreed to join in
chartering a ship for the purpose, subscribed their names; and whenever
they had thereby ascertained their number, they called together all those
who had declared their intention to emigrate.
If previous information had
been obtained of the price at which shipping could be procured, it was
usual for some person of the most respectable situation and property among
the associates to make proposals to transact the business for
them at a certain rate for each
passenger; if his offer was accepted, one half of
the price agreed upon was deposited by each in his hands. With the money
so collected, he proceeded: to some of the great commercial
ports, to make the best bargain he could with
a ship-owner, contracting for such provisions and accommodation as were
customary, and giving security that the rest of the passage— money should
be paid previous to embarkation. When no individual was prepared to
undertake the business in this manner, some one in whom the rest of the
associates had confidence, was usually deputed to negotiate in the name of
the others, and to procure them the best terms he could. In either
case, however, the price to be paid by
the individual emigrants, was always well understood
to be rather higher than the price bargained for with the ship-owner. A
difference of from 10 to 20s. on each passenger, was not considered as
unreasonable, to compensate the trouble, expenses, and risks, to which the
intermediate contractor was subject. The ship-owner seldom made more by
the voyage than a mere freight; and the ordinary gains of the contractor,
who was usually himself one of the emigrants, do not seems entitled to the
epithet of unjust and tempting, or to be assigned as the motive for
deceits and impositions so artful and so extensive as to be captable of
diffusing the spirit of emigration all over the Highlands.
It may be readily believed,
that in the course of such a transaction as has been described, carried on
among men of low rank and little education, (the contractor being
sometimes but a few steps above the rest of the associated,) much haggling
would take place, sometimes deceit and imposition, and almost always a
great deal of petty artifice and vulgar intrigue. It does not appear how
the regulations proposed by the Society can operate to remedy any of he
inconveniences arising from these
circumstances, or to obviate the deceit and imposition which may
occasionally have been practised by contractors. In this, as in other
trades, competition must be the best check to abuse. The emigrants
understand the accornmodation for which they stipulate, and competition
alone can prevent them from paying too much for
it. All that can be necessary therefore, to
put an end to the unjust and tempting gains, of which the Society
complain, is to enforce, on the part of the ship-owner and
contractor, a fair performance of their bargain; leaving it to every one
to make the best terms he can for himself. It is surely an extravagant
allegation, that the ignorance of the people as to the nature of the
voyage, puts them on a footing with men who have no will of their own, and
renders it equally necessary to regulate their accommodation as that of
the negro slaves.
The necessity of regulation
is however inferred from the hardships to which the emigrants were subject
on their passage from this country, which, it is said, were ascertained
beyond the possibility of doubt by authentic documents. It is rather
singular, however, that to find an instance in point, the Society go back
as far as year 1173. There is indeed one other instance quoted, in 1191,
and from the details that are given, it is evident that the ship referred
to was too much crowded to be comfortable. As to the actual result,
however, all we can learn is, that being put back after twelve days
boisterous weather, the passengers were tired, especially the women and
children, and did not choose to proceed:—a consequence very likely among
people who for the first time in their lives were heartily sea-sick!
In speaking of the emigrations of
1801, the Society admit that minute particulars have not come to their
knowledge: they state, however, upon hearsay,
" that 53 of the passengers died on
board one of the vessels before reaching America."—A committee of the
House of Commons receiving this intelligence from so respectable a quarter
deemed it worthy of being quoted among the grounds
for a Legislative Enactment. They could not indeed suppose that the
Highland Society would lend the sanction of their name to a mere vague
report: but surely the Society, being informed of a fact so shocking to
humanity, and giving such entire credit to it, ought to have followed out
the inquiry, and brought the accusation home to those whose criminal
negligence or avarice had occasioned the disaster. This however they have
never yet thought proper to do, and have never even named the vessel to
which they refer.
In calling for a remedy against the abuses, they
allege, the Society disclaim any view of restraining the constitutional
freedom of the Highlanders, and declare that their only object is, to
regulate the transportation of emigrants in such a way, that no undue
profit may arise from its being conducted in a manner destructive to the
passengers. It cannot be denied, that this is a liberal profession; and if
the legislative provisions adopted on their suggestion correspond
to this profession, the Society are entitled to the gratitude of
the emigrants, as well as of the rest of the public. Let us see then how
far this can be traced, and whether the regulations laid down are
absolutely necessary for the preservation of the health and lives of the
emigrants.’
The most important clauses of the bill are those which
regulate the number of persons which any ship is permitted to carry, and
the provisions which are to be laid in and allowed to them. As to
provisions, the customary food of the people to be conveyed cannot be
objected to, as an inadequate criterion of what is absolutely necessary. A
passenger at sea, with little or no opportunity of exercise, cannot well
be supposed to require more food than when engaged in a laborious life at
home.
A bill of fare is laid down for the passengers, with no
part of which they are themselves at liberty
to dispense; and in this there is an allowance of farinaceous food,
more than equal to the entire consumption of country labourers in any part
of Scotland that I am acquainted with. Over and above this, each person is
obliged to take 3lb. of beef or pork, weekly. The Highland Society
indeed recommended 7lb. "as absolutely necessary for a passenger*. Was it
from their intimate knowledge of the domestic economy of the peasantry of
the Highlands, that the Society were led to judge such an allowance of
animal food indispensable,—even for an infant as the breast! This seems to
have escaped the notice of the gentlemen employed by the Board of
Agriculture to examine the Highlands; for we find in one of these Surveys,
that animal food is rarely tasted by the lower order of tenantry, and in
another, that among the farmers there is not 5lb of meat consumed
in the family throughout the year!.
In the regulation which they recommended as to the
numbers which any ship should be allowed to carry, the Society surely did
not mean a censure on His Majesty’s Government: yet the allowance of room
which they lay down (as absolutely necessary for the health of the
passengers) is nearly double of that of the Transport service. The
disproportion does nor indeed appear quite so great at first sight; for
the bill requires 2 ton for every passenger, while in the transports 1+
ton. is the usual allowance; but that is for full-aged men: the bill
requires the same accommodation for the youngest child, as for any other
person; and will it be contended, that an infant requires as large a bed
as a grown man?
The regulations upon this head which were customary
among the emigrant passage ships, deserve attention, They were the result
of experience; and the scale of proportion by which children of different
ages were rated, both as to the payment of passage money, and the
allowances of provisions, and birth-room, appears to be founded on pretty
accurate principles. In their mode of reckoning, the passengers of all
ages (when they consisted of entire families, with the usual proportion of
young and old) were seldom equivalent to more than two thirds of their
number of grown up persons. According to this
calculation, two tons for every individual is as great an allowance as
three tons for a grown man, which is not far from the proportion that the
tonnage of a man of war bears to her crew alone.
These regulations are so far from being absolutely
necessary, that it is difficult to see what object they can serve,
except to enhance the expense of passage. This object, indeed, is not
entirely disavowed by the Society; and in the history of their
Transactions the regulations are spoken of as having the effect of a
certain necessary but then on the voyages of emigrants. It is rather an
unfortunate coincidence, that an object of so very different a nature
should be combined with the regard which is professed for the comfort and
safety of the emigrants. Some persons may be inclined to doubt whether
humanity was the leading motive of the Society.
Whatever may have been their views, it has certainly
been the subject of exuIcation to many individuals, that the bill, by
rendering the passage too expensive for the pecuniary means of the
tenantry, must leave them at the mercy of their superiors: but I
apprehend, that however oppressive its consequences may be, the bill can
produce this effect only in a very inconsiderable degree.
Every one who is acquainted with the characteristic
obstinacy of the Highlanders, must be sensible how much the attempt to
keep them at home by force, will rivet their determination to take the
first opportunity of leaving the country. The circumstances of the times
may protract the execution of this intention; but few will be prevented by
all the difference of expense. It has been observed, that the tenants in
general have been hitherto enabled, by the sale of their farming stock,
not only to defray the expense of their passage, but to carry some money
along with them. The Highland Society estimate the average amount which is
carried in this way, by the emigrants, at 10/-. each family of the poorest
passengers and by some a great deal more: they instance one ship, in which
they give reason to suppose, that the whole party carried with them
1500/-. The enhanced expense of passage
arising from the regulations, will encroach upon this reserve of cash,
and, in some cases, may totally exhaust it. Should this happen, it will
not deter the emigrant from trying his fate. Few of the Highlanders are so
ignorant of America, as not to know that a persevering exertion of
personal industry will supply the want of every other resource; that, if
they should have to land there without a shilling, they may be thereby
exposed to temporary hardships, and retarded for a few years in their
progress; but the independence, which is their great object, will still be
within their reach.
What is to be thought, however, of the superabundant
humanity of the Highland Society, of which this is all the result - which,
to save the emigrants from the miserable consequences of being as much
crowded on ship-board as the King’s troops themselves, and of living there
on the same fare as at home, reduces them to land in the colonies in the
state of beggars, instead of having a
comfortable provision before-hand?
Humanity apart, can such waste be considered as a
matter of indifference in a national view? The money which the emigrants
carry with them serves as capitals by means of which the forests of the
colonies are brought into a productive state, the markets of Great Britain
supplied with various articles of value, and the consumption of her
manufactures extended. Is it consistent with any rational policy, that
individuals should be compelled to waste this capital in expenses
absolutely futile and useless? The framers of the bill, indeed, can
perceive no distinction between the money expended by the emigrants for
their passage and that which they carry with them to the colonies; they
set it all down alike—as lost to the kingdom for ever.
It cannot, for a moment, be supposed, that these
considerations can have occurred to the Highland Society, or that they
would have recommended the measure in question, if they had been aware of
all its consequences. It would not, perhaps, be just to. blame them for
not having considered the subject with perfect impartiality, or extended,
their views to the general interests of the empire. The peculiar objects
of their institution lead them to pay an exclusive attention to the local
interests of one district. They have given their opinion not in the
character of a judge, but as a party in the cause, as representing one
class of men, for whom they appear as advocates at the bar of the public.
It has fallen to my share to plead a too long neglected
cause, in opposition to these powerful adversaries: I have treated their
arguments with the freedom which belongs to fair discussion, but, I trust,
without any sentiment inconsistent with that respect to which they are so
justly entitled, from the general tenor of their patriotic labours.
[In the Highland Society, and I presume
in every other that's equally extensive, the whole business is managed by
a very small proportion of the members nine-tenths of them, perhaps,
scarcely hear of the proceedings that are carried on in the name of the
whole. Having the honour to be upon their list myself, I should certainly
be very sorry to think that every member of the Society is held
responsible for all their proceedings.] |
