The Jamaica planter's guide, or, A system for planting and managing a sugar estate,

Front matter

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Preface

Ar any period, but more especially the present, when Jamaica and West India produce is so much depreciated, and the heavy expenses attending the cultivation of the land, and the manufacture of its produce; together with the capital laid out in the establishment of a plantation, and its annual disbursements, is considered, a system of practical cultivation, combined with proper economy, will, it is presumed, be readily adopted by every proprietor. An. attention to. such a plan will doubtless appear necessary in all cases of the nonresidence of the owners, and where the management of estates is intrusted to agents. Many circumstances may concur to render such care indispensable — the failure of crops, the unusual decrease and

Vi PREFACE.

loss of slaves and stock, the exhaustion of — land, inadequate and trifling returns by shipments or sales, a consequent diminution of capital, and the inevitable alternative (after many years of toil and anxious hope) of borrowing money by mortgaging his estate, to sustain his ‘credit. To these contingencies may be added law charges, interest’ of money, and per centage to agents; and at last’ a consignment of the produce to a mortgagee, or putting him in possession of the estate, thus perhaps a ing his prospects for ever.

The author of this work has spent many years ‘in the Island of Jamaica, in the occu- _pation of a planter, and in the management of several estates, principally in the north side of that productive,’ delightful island. His knowledge of the prevailing system of culture has been matured by experience, and he has, he trusts, discovered ‘some. of those errors which have occasioned both expense and failure. He has therefore ventured to arrange such a method of

PREFACE. Vil plantership (especially for the sugar department) as is best adapted, not for Jamaica alone, but for the West India islands in general. He has introduced some use- - ful, comprehensive, and beneficial modifications, which he doubts not will be conducive to the interests of the proprietors. He presumes that sucha plan will meet with the approbation, countenance, and support of the independent, non-resident owners of land, and capitalists, and all who are interested in the welfare of that species of property. He has endeavoured to make it simple and of easy acquisition, particularly so to the beginner; yet, -he trusts, of equal value to the old practitioner. In the work he has also inserted some interesting anecdotes founded on facts, which have either fallen under his own observation, or been received from credible testimony. He trusts that his work will be found by the impartial and unbiassed of general utility, and that it will therefore meet with approbation.

Contents

Page CHAPSk

Of Plantation Attorneys or Agents, = - - 1 CHAP. II.

The treatment of Slaves, - - - =e 60 CHAP. III.

Chap. I. Of Plantation Attorneys Or Agents

In treating of the management and cultivation of a sugar estate in the island of Jamaica, it will be necessary to take into consideration a great variety of subjects, and to reduce them into such a system as will enable the speculator to approve and adopt it, and the practitioner to understand and realise it. ‘The plan here offered to public attention is intended to unite proper economy in every branch, with such requisites as may ensure (under the blessing of Providence) a suitable return from the land, and yield the proprietor a reasonable and adequate compensation for the employ- B ment of his capital. The first and principal object to be contemplated is, the course which is at present followed in the island of Jamaica, with respect to the treatment of slaves and stock, the culture of the land, the manufacture of sugar and rum, and the necessary and unavoidable expenses connected with its produce. An accurate view of these subjects will determine, whether improvement and retrenchment may generally and successfully be attempted. If this should be found the result of the investigation, an increase of the crops, the preservation of the capital, the improvement of the quality and quantity of sugar and rum, may be obtained; the comfort of the slaves, the food and care of the live stock, and the good order of the buildings and manufacturing utensils may be secured; the shipment of the produce in proper condition, with little reduction of value for repacking or ullage, and the disposal of the whole in as speedy a manner as possible, tothe advantage and satisfaction of the proprietor, without diminishing the salary or happiness of the white people resident on the estate, may be expected.

The author of this treatise disclaims all idea of personal reflection, though it is possible that some may invidiously conjecture this to have been his intention. If, indeed, by any recital he has made, it should appear that any abuses are found to exist, the representation is given as growing out of a system of management which has for many years been adopted in Jamaica — a system tenaciously retained by the old planters; patronised by the new; and become so formidable by long use and custom, as scarcely to admit of innovation or improvement. Useful modification too often, therefore, is condemned with sarcasm and ridicule.

The person styled in Jamaica, and the West Indies in general, by the planters, an Attorney, is so important an object in the detail of plantership, that I should be grossly deficient in describing the old customs and

B 2 habits of those islands, if some account was © not given of him. ‘These officers were first appointed there in consequence of the absence of the proprietors. This malady became so epidemical as to affect and carry off from Jamaica seven eighths of the landed interest, substituting in their place, during their absence, some gentleman of their acquaintance, or a person recommended to them, to conduct the business of the plantation. ‘The enjoyments which the mother country affords, its elegancies and refinements, frequently became so alluring, as to induce a protracted continuanceinit. ‘Their affairs in the West Indies were, therefore, necessarily confided to the management of an agent or attorney, resident on or near the estate, who acted according to his own discretion and pleasure. Some gentlemen of this class possessed only a slight knowledge of plantership, and others none at all. But being armed with despotic power, they became the ruling agents in the affairs they were intrusted with; and

~ enjoying an extensive connection with mercantile men in the islands in general, and the parent country, they were looked up to with reverential awe by the overseers and book-keepers. - Sometimes they paid a casual visit to the estates over which they presided, with lordly pomp. This, however, was seldom done oftener than once a-year, and the plantations were governed without being actually inspected. Persons of merit were frequently discharged from their stations without sufficient cause, and others employed instead of them, of whose qualifications they were ignorant. Plans were formed, from the adoption of which, prolific crops were anticipated. But the fairest prospects were sometimes made to vanish by an arbitrary stroke of the pen, so that happy results and promised returns yielded to the destructive consequences of illconcerted schemes. Such conduct was more the effect of malignant caprice, than the solicitous effects of honourable intentions, for promoting the welfare and in-

BS terest of the proprietors. These were the primary causes of the failure of the crops, and the springs from which all the subse-_ quent evils flowed, — “‘ the very head and front of the offending.”? This occasioned the spreading the cane cultivation over an immense tract of land, instead of keeping up the stamina of the old grounds. ‘The cattle and mules were overworked, or suffered to grow too old without being replaced by younger beasts. Hence a great loss was sustained: the introduction of endless jobbing: the eating up of the crops by divers island disbursements, which might have been avoided or diminished: and the immense supplies sent out by home merchants, a great part of which were left to rot, or were buried at the wharf. The sugar and rum were suffered to remain too long on the estate or barquadier without shipping, requiring sometimes one quarter to make up loss by ullage. These gross errors are solely the fault of the resident attorney, arising from his connivance or ignorance. The consequences, however, of this misconduct, and of these improprieties, fall on the owner of the estate, obliging him to borrow money, not only for his own support, but to pay off the debts of his illmanaged and unproductive land. I would not indeed assert, that in the island of Jamaica in particular, no gentlemen are to ‘be found, properly qualified by nature or education, to render, as planting attorneys, the most excellent, durable, and beneficial services to those who employ them. There .

are many who are fully adequate to discharge such a trust. Governed by honourable motives, and assiduously employing their cultivated talents, by persevering industry, they secure the welfare of their constituents; and actuated by humane and. liberal principles, they extend the advantages they obtain, to all who are dependent upon them. The major part, or five sixths of this class of representatives, are men who are engrossed by their own interested speculations, attentive to what. B 4 will promote their own selfish views, making every other object within their grasp subservient to their ambition. Though perhaps they are too ignorant to be planters, they are too ostentatious, proud, and supine, to contribute to the good of their constituents. Nor is it the least of their defects that they clandestinely prefer the interest of a mortgagee or affluent merchant, (who may possibly have some secret design upon the estate) to that of the owner. This is sometimes done, because such a mortgagee or merchant, becoming powerfuily connected in the island, may be the means not only of continuing the attorney in his agency, but of advancing his influence, authority, and wealth, by procuring for him commissions for the management of other estates. By this means, a fruitful West India island is converted into a devastated. mortgage. Sometimes it happens that the attorney, consulting his pleasure, fixes his residence on one of the ‘estates of his constituents, with far greater regard to

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A a le save expense to himself, than his absent employer. He looks about for a healthy eligible situation; a large house well furnished; sensible, clean, handsome slaves as servants; grounds delightful and pleasing to his eye; a flower garden to refresh his

weary senses; a kitchen garden to furnish — his table; but, above all, where small stock are numerous and thriving, that he may have an abundant supply for his own consumption without expense. He cultivates luxuriant grass pieces, and corn for his horses and cattle, without any deduction _ from his per centage on the sale of the | crops. Thus his establishment is secretly, and with mercenary meanness, supported : the proprietor of the estate in this manner contributing to his aggrandisement. The contribution thus levied, is not less, considering all circumstances, than 700/. a year. What, however, is still more surprising, is, that this very person, who thus reposes upon the substance of his constituents, in superabundant plenty, very to. ATTORNEYS OR AGENTS.

often does not know the limits of the estate he is empowered to manage, or even a cane piece within a musket shot of the house he inhabits. He cannot tell whether it is attached to that or any other property. The poor overseer, dependent on his will, is in constant jeopardy, and his mind frequently thereby estranged from the proper duties of his station. If any deficiency is discovered in the supplies required for the house or retinue of the attorney, he is reproved by harsh notes, and suppositious faults are imputed to him. Whether an ample crop has been. taken off, and a promising one is advancing, with little loss of slaves and stock (the true criterion of good management) signifies little. This meri- — torious, industrious servant, is discharged, and his place filled up with perhapa’ an obsequious novice.

Some proprietors of West India estates are so profuse, or rather overcareful of their property, as to suppose that their advantage is not sufficiently attended to, unless they have two guardians on the spot; one termed the planting attorney, the other the commissary, factor, or mercantile attorney. ach of these receives a commission of five per cent. .on all sales or net proceeds. ‘These two persons frequently pursue a separate interest, and clash with each other. ‘They profess to discover blunders or abuses in their different departments, and so greatly confuse the general affairs of the estate, by their mutual variance and opposition, that the ordinary and requisite materials and business of the plantation is neglected. Their personal interest being separate, they conspire to supplant each other, at the risk or even ruin of the proprietor. It often happens that the power of these men is so peculiarly vested, that under particular circumstances they can appoit each other to office: either the planting attorney appointing the factor, or, on the contrary, the factor nominating the planting agent. In such cases, the disease is equally mortal to bb ATTORNEYS OR AGENTS.

the owner. For one of these persons predominating over the other, of course, orders, dictates to, and rules the other. The merchant will enlarge the prospects, and contribute to the interest of the planting agent, from motives of gratitude to his benefactor, the planting agent; he will ship round and consign to the factor, a great part of the produce of the estate, instead of sending it home. In the place of this the superabundant supplies, and a quantity of worthless lumber, and salt provisions, are transmitted back. This abuse of the trust reposed in them is ruinous to the estate. By this means, a great part of the crop becomes as it were sequestered ; destruction is added to defalcation. The property which is disposed of in this manner is converted into bills of exchange. These are sold at a high premium, though they virtually and intrinsically belong to the land owner. By this twofold stratagem, designed to fill the coffers of the agents, a great portion of the produce of

ATTORNEYS OR AGENTSs. 13

Jamaica is sold in Kingston, either by private contract or by auction, in as summary a manner .as possible, to make quick returns to the factor. By these methods he becomes the proprietor of it at a cheap - rate, which is indeed the object he had in view throughout the whole of his transactions. )

Some short-sighted people may, perhaps, indulge the idea that it is contrary to the interest of the acting attorney to be influenced by principles, and to pursue measures contrary and detrimental to his constituent. I will indeed allow that honourable motives, and views characterised by integrity, should predominate with every man so entrusted, and whose connections enable him to promote the welfare of his employer : and that if the agent is ignorant of plantership, he should decline the office ; or if he feels himself competent to the task, he should discharge it with faithful assiduity : but whoever forms this honourable view of the subject has seldom, or possibly never enquired into the cause of the absence of the proprietor, or traced the source from whence the power of the attorney is derived, nor has he properly considered the sordid and selfish views of these agents. When a mortgagee finds an unfortunate proprietor embarrassed and in trammels, he has immediately an interest of his own to secure, and appoints an agent who will be subservient to his purpose. A letter, enigmatically expressed, but well understood by the resident agent, is despatched to him. The list of supplies is augmented; the ordinary expenses are increased to double or treble the former amount; the interest of borrowed money accumulates ; the crops are diminished ; shipments are delayed, by which great loss is sustained, though affectedly deplored; an overseer, indifierent as to events or results, not only suffered to remain on the estate to manage it, but frequently encouraged in his misconduct; the mortgage is foreclosed, or a decree in chancery issued 20 for the sale of the estate, which is disposed of for a trifling consideration to some person employed to purchase it for the mortgagee or attorney. Such circumstances

“account, in part, at least, for the conduct of some of the planting attorneys in not consulting, as they ought, the advantage of those who employ them, and who are originally the owners of the land. Having thus gained the confidence of the mortgagee, by betraying the interest of the proprietor, and rendered the former this service of spoliation, he obtains powers to act for others, and both his celebrity and his fortune are established. In confirmation of this, I shall here relate an instance which occurred some years ago in Jamaica. In the mountainous parts of the parish of Clarendon there was an estate much diversified by hills. Though apparently unpromising, yet by laying out and making roads of easy ascent, at a great expense indeed, the proprietor found he could convert it into a valuable plantation, it being’

es epithe epee ee es of great extent and the quality of the land good. A convenient place was chosen on which to erect a set of works. These were constructed upon a large scale. A numerous gang of effective negroes, and an + adequate quantity of cattle and mules were provided. The estate yielded great crops. Six hundred hogsheads of sugar, of good quality, were obtained from it. _ But it so happened that in the commencement of these operations a sum of money was borrowed to forward the undertaking. Large supplies of heavy articles became necessary ; this, with accumulating interest on the money at first borrowed, soon created embarrassment. The merchant who had furnished the supply of money and goods became impatient for payment, before the crops could be disposed of to reimburse him. He knew there was a large capital that could be laid hold of, and therefore commenced a suit in chancery against the property. This is the mode generally adopted to wrest the possession of land from the

ATTORNEYS OR AGENTS. T7 owners in this island. ‘The- accounts on both sides were obliged to undergo the revision of a Master in Chancery. ‘Large deductions were made from the value of - the estate, by the expenses of the suit in question. Years rolled on in this civil warfare, constantly swelling the account. Every year fresh examinations were made for the Master in Chancery. ‘The decree was at last given in favour of the plaintiff, allowing him all his costs. During the whole of the time a receiver was appointed by the Master in Chancery. In such cases it has happened that the plaintiff was on friendly terms with the Master, in consequence of which the original overseer has been exchanged for one more subservient to the views of the plaintiff The supplies are not diminished, though the estate is declining in its produce. The works are suffered to fall into decay. The negroes assume a poor, weakly appearance. Every thing sinks in value. Preparatory to the sale of the estate in question, an estimate c was made by appraisement of the negroes, the stock, the land, and the works. This. was produced on the day of sale, and the estate was disposed of, with every thing belonging to it, for half or one third of its real price. The amount was just as much as would pay the plaintiff his demand and costs of suit. Thus a final period was put to the fortune and hopes of the unfortunate proprietor. Thus was realized the scheme of the new owner, who was well acquainted with the real value of the estate, and the crisis of its doom. He was desirous of calling it his own, though at the expense of every thing honourable and just. An illicit trafficker from a distant northern climate, he seized with avidity the lucky moment for the enterprize, no one being present who could advance so large a sum as the purchase-money but himself: He had atrusty agent present on the day of sale, to prevent the possibility of losing such a bargain, and to render the purchase for himself certain.

In a short time, however, after this event, io the disposition of every thing on the estate was altered. ‘The negroes, the stock, and works were restored to their former good state and appearance, at a trifling expense; and +a steady annual crop of from five to seven hundred hogsheads of sugar annually, were obtained from the land thus unjustly transferred from its first rightful proprietor, to the oppressing hand of the artful and enterprising mortgagee.

I now come to consider this subject in another point of view. When the proprietor has little or no knowledge of ‘the agent he appoints, further than by recommendation, perhaps seldom or ever visiting’ the island or his estate, he understands little of the resources it possesses, or the culture it requires. He does not know whether the person whom he deputed ever was on the plantation’ or even that part of the island; whether he had either seen or knew how to plant and bring a cane to maturity. But unwilling to risk a voyage at sea, still less to hazard the danger of tropical sickness, he’ rests satis-

G2 fied for some time, that the affairs of his estate are going on well, under the wise, provident care of his planting attorney. The arrival, after the lapse of afew months, or the termination of a crop or two, of the sad unpleasant news, that there is a deficiency of produce, and the formal crop account, announcing a defalcation of one third of what was naturally expected, undeceives him. At the same time, he is informed, in order to make up such defalcation in future, that there is an absolute necessity to put in such a quantity of land, with the aid of a jobber. He must pay such jobber in rum at cash price: other contingencies demand the produce of the rum crop to defray them. Thus commences a train of disbursements, having for their foundation, fabricated evils and false representations, solely for the purpose of shielding from the proprietor’s knowledge the -gross fraud of bad and dilapidating management. Such planting attorneys as these ‘generally have .independent fortunés in the island. Careless of such events, yet © greedy of gain, they continue in power for. a crop or two, satisfied with their being paid their per centage, and regardless whether the estate thrives, which they have thrown back for years as to adequate returns. A new agent is appointed, a new overseer put in charge, fresh plans are adopted; and this independent attorney, after having sown the seeds of destruction, enquires at some future period how such an estate goes on, and being informed of its miserable returns, vaunts, that if it had been left to his care and management, the result would have been otherwise.

Many of these men have a curious satirical vein running through their dispositions. For if their successors, with the persons whom they employ, do their duty, bring the estate from a wretched, ruined condition to prosperous thriving cultivation, regularly and steadily extending its produce, instead of the former pernicious confusion ; if they procure orderly respectful demeanour in the slaves, c 3 instead. of idleness and arrogance; if their appearance is decent. and becoming, exhibiting in their persons comfort and cleanliness, instead of disgusting filthiness, disease and aversion ,to their proper ,occupations; if the cattle is preserved by good feeding, with few sores, or deep, morbid, putrid. distempers ; if the subordinate white people are attentive to their business, steady, sober, and quietly disposed, making the business and welfare of the estate their pleasure, instead of riotously galloping on horseback about the country, imbibing and entailing on themselves. by excess the sure consequences of early distempers, which generally prove fatal; this exhibition of what is right and proper, instead of being treated. with panegyric, is made, through every medium of ridicule, envy, and detraction, . to appear in. an invidious, morose, cruel, coercive, and inhospitable point of view. It would be in vain that such people strove to gain their favour: in. vain would they solicit employment from them:

they would be left contemned and neglected, while the profligate, vicious, abandoned, and worthless, would find employment and support. Such men indulge their desires, lead an idle and dissipated life, and leave the essential business of the estate, to the venal management of head people, whom they satisfy with an extra weekly allowance from the rum and provision store. But what gives such overseers a stronger claim to the patronage of their employer or attorney, is the loan of whatever money they may have saved, either from their salaries or as owners of jobbing gangs. This hides a multitude of faults; this smooths the road to preferment ; this rivets the lasting good opinion of the patron; changes his vices into virtues; prevents every effort for the preservation of the estate; converts the cane and grass pieces into ruined heaps; the well disposed negroes into runaways ; the cattle into carrion; the works and manufacturing houses into Coe

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Q4 ATTORNEYS OR AGENTS.

wretched, unroofed walls, and the proprietor into an insolvent. ;

An attorney of this description will sometimes live in some remote parish in the island, seldom visiting the estate he is commissioned. to manage. ‘This he does indeed when he formally takes possession of it. Every communication is carried on between him and the overseer by letter, or expresses by the negroes, on estate mules ;_ or else the overseer is ordered to ride over to him, perhaps seventy or an hundred miles, to arrange accounts and future plans. This is a pleasurable excursion for the overseer, sometimes, and is made to last a fortnight. The natural inclination of man is alive to pleasure, to aversion of control, to hatred of minute enquiry into particulars which may be pregnant with error or vice, to dislike of restraint or control. Such an employer is therefore much approved of by a majority of people throughout the West India Islands, as giving little trouble or disturbance by his presence, or dictating orders. Whatever is required is granted ; whatever is neglected is overlooked. The overseer becomes absolute and prosperous in his affairs. He employs and discharges his book-keepers at pleasure; gives lucrative jobs to favourite tradesmen, and in a short time acquires the name of a generous, good man — one to be looked up to; in short, he obtains the character of a good planter, although the head driver manages ‘every thing on the estate. I have known one of these overseers, who lived more than six years upon an excellent estate in the parish of St. Mary’s, in Jamaica, who did not understand the boundaries of it; and when the proprietor unexpectedly came, and expressed a wish to see and go over the lines of it, was obliged to declare his total ignorance of its limits, as he never had seen them. These the proprietor himself went to and showed him, although he had been absent near twenty years from the estate. The land had been despoiled of its valuable wood by the neighbours, and great part taken up and cultivated in negro provisions, by the slaves of other plantations, in consequence of the supineness of the acting island agent. |

It may be argued, that scarcely any remedy can be found, or applied, to check this established evil, or root it out; that the disease is too inveterate to admit of cure; that numberless obstacles stand in the way of the completion of so happy, so salutary a design. But it requires no great penetration to discover the true nature and strength of this disease, this cause of injury and ruin. The sources of the malady may not only be easily discovered, but when they are once traced and pointed out, will be found so iniquitous as to shrink from publicity and exposure. With firm reso- - jution, therefore, the bold, the - decisive effort must be made to cut away not merely the branches, but to destroy the stem and root of this poisonous tree, this source of all the evils which exist. Dismiss from their employment these corrupt agents ; let no sycophant advise the land owners to retain them. The estate, with prudent attention, being thus liberated from this baneful. control, will soon assume the appearance of health, animation, and prosperity. Industry, with merit as its attendant, will insure success; simple, yet energetic measures will easily attain whatever is necessary or desirable; and having brought things to this crisis, this sharp, but sure remedy will prove effectual.

I shall now beg leave to point out the system to be acted upon, which, I presume, will fully answer for the preservation and culture.of a sugar estate in the island of Jamaica in particular, and in the West India islands in general ; maintain it in vigorous prosperity to yield gainful returns, and preserve the capital of the proprietor. ;

The first thing, I presume, to be con-. sidered is, in case of the proprietor’s nonresidence in the island, how_to fill up the place of a resident attorney with a person.

of skill, industry, perseverance, and integrity, in discharging not only the duties of a planter, in directing and planning, but to keep fair and equitable accounts of the various transactions of the estate, with respect to its culture and incidental transactions, in as simple a manner as the nature of things will admit of. There should be laid before the proprietor, in plain legible terms, the accounts of the estate to the end of every year; a list of the slaves and stock, with their increase and decrease; the cultivation of the estate, with the returns from plant and ratoon, in curing house hogsheads of sugar; the number of acres in cultivation of canes;