[Footnote E:  Cochin’s L’Abolition de l’Esclavage.]

The moral condition of the island seems most favorable.  In a population of 30,000, there are no paupers, and 8,000 is the average church-attendance, while the average school-attendance is 2,000.  The criminal records show a remarkable obedience to law; there being only seven convictions in 1857 for assault, six for felony, and 162 for minor offences.  The proportion under slavery was far greater.

Grenada presented clear evidences of decline long before emancipation.  The slave-population decreased as follows:—­

1779,      35,000  slaves.
1827,      24,442    "
1837,      23,641    "

this last number being that for which compensation was made.  The total value of all the exports in 1776 was about $3,000,000; in 1823, less than $2,000,000; in 1831, a little over $1,000,000.

The sugar export declined from 24,000,000 pounds in 1776 to 19,000,000 pounds in 1831:  or more exactly, under slavery, (1831-34,) it was 193,156 cwt.; during apprenticeship, 161,308 cwt.; under free labor, (1839-45,) 87,161 cwt.; in 1846, 76,931 cwt.; in 1847, 104,952 cwt.:  showing in the last year a considerable increase.

The policy of the Grenadian planters in offering low wages—­the rate being from 5s. to 5s. 6d. a week—­has driven the negroes to their own little properties, and has caused a diminution in the production of sugar on the large organized estates.  Yet the production of other smaller articles has greatly increased, and the general well-being of the people is much advanced.

Before 1830 there were no small freeholders; now there are over 2,000.  Nearly 7,000 persons live in villages, built since emancipation, and 4,573 pay direct taxes.

Last year there were only 60 paupers on the island, and those were aged and sick persons; only 18 were convicted of felony, 6 of theft, and 2 of other offences.  There is an average church-attendance of 8,000, and a school-attendance of 1,600.  In 1857, out of 80,000 acres, 43,800 were in a state of cultivation, and 3,800 acres were added to the cultivation of the previous year.

The sugar export of 1857 was only half that of 1831, while the aggregate value of all the exports had risen from L153,175 to L218,352.  The imports had risen in the same time from L77,000 to L109,000.[F]

    [Footnote F:  Sewell’s Ordeal of Free Labor, etc.]

Tobago also showed a gradual decline before emancipation; and since that event, the production of sugar has fallen off as follows:  In 1831-34 it was 99,579 cwt.; 1835-38, 89,332 cwt.; 1839-1845, 52,962 cwt.; 1846, 38,882 cwt.; 1847, 69,240 cwt.  One great cause of this decline is the drawing off of capital from the old, worn-out lands to the fresh, rich, and profitable culture of Trinidad, where land is very cheap.  Moreover, the climate of Tobago is not entirely favorable to sugar.