Read Ebook: Report of the naval committee to the House of Representatives August 1850 in favor of the establishment of a line of mail steamships to the western coast of Africa and thence via the Mediterranean to London; designed to promote the emigration of free perso by American Colonization Society Contributor United States Congress House Committee On Naval Affairs

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 206 lines and 28829 words, and 5 pages

Report of the Naval Committee to the House of Representatives August, 1850

REPORT OF THE NAVAL COMMITTEE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August, 1850, IN FAVOR OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A LINE OF MAIL STEAMSHIPS TO THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA, AND THENCE VIA THE MEDITERRANEAN TO LONDON; DESIGNED TO PROMOTE THE EMIGRATION OF FREE PERSONS OF COLOR FROM THE UNITED STATES TO LIBERIA: ALSO TO INCREASE THE STEAM NAVY, AND TO EXTEND THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.

WASHINGTON: PRINTED BY GIDEON AND CO. 1850.

The memorial of Judge Bryan was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, composed of Representatives from the following States:

Fred. P. Stanton, Tenn. Thos. S. Bocock, Va. Robert C. Schenck, Ohio. Emile La Sere, La. Hugh White, N. Y. Elbridge Gerry, Me. E. Carrington Cabell, Fla. John McQueen, S. C. Lewis C. Levin, Pa.

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memorial of Joseph Bryan, of Alabama, for himself and his associates, George Nicholas Sanders and others, praying the establishment of a line of steamers from the United States to the coast of Africa, designed to promote the colonization of free persons of color, to suppress the African slave trade, to carry the mails, and to extend the commerce of the United States, beg leave to submit the following Report:

The proposition of the memorial involves an extension of that system, recently commenced by Congress, which has for its object the creation of a powerful steam navy, to be used in time of peace in carrying the mails, and in effecting great public objects, not to be attained by private enterprise without the aid of Congress. How far it may be desirable to extend this system will depend upon the double consideration of the present condition of our naval force, and the importance and feasibility of the ends to be accomplished by the measure. As to the first of these, the committee will present a brief statement of the facts material to a correct understanding of the comparative extent of our present steam navy.

In the report of Mr. Secretary Bancroft, made to the Senate on the 2d March, 1846, the total effective steam navy of Great Britain was stated, at that time, to consist of one hundred and ninety-nine vessels, of all classes; that of France numbered fifty-four; that of Russia, without the Caspian fleet, thirty-two; while the steam navy of the United States could boast of but six small vessels, and one in process of building; and of these one was for harbor defence, and another a steam-tug.

Since that time, however, Congress has provided for the building of four war steamers, and for the establishment of several lines of steamships engaged in carrying the mails, consisting of seventeen large vessels, suitable for war purposes, and at all times liable to be taken for the public service. Of these latter, nine will run between New York and European ports; five between New York and Chagres; and three between Panama and San Francisco.

Notwithstanding this increase in our force, it has by no means kept pace with that of other great commercial nations. The American Almanac for the present year estimates the steam navy of France at sixty-four steam vessels of war, besides a reserved force of ten steam frigates now ready, and six corvettes and six small vessels nearly ready. The French Government has also resolved to follow the example of England in establishing lines of steamers, built so as to be easily converted into ships of war, to be employed in commerce and for carrying mails, but being at all times subject to the requisition of the Government.

England, also, has added largely to her steam navy, and has increased her lines of mail steamers, giving evidence that she, at least, considers this the best and cheapest mode of providing in time of peace for the exigences of war. On this subject the committee refer to the following facts, for which they are indebted to the remarks of the Hon. T. Butler King, of Georgia, made in the House of Representatives, February 19, 1848.

In 1846, the Government enlarged the contract with Mr. Cunard and his associates, by adding four ships to run from Liverpool to New York, and increased the compensation to ?145,000, or about 5,000 per annum.

In the year 1840, a contract was made by the Admiralty with the Royal Mail Steamship Company, at ?240,000 sterling, or ,200,000 per annum, for fourteen steamers to carry the mails from Southampton to the West Indies, the ports of Mexico on the Gulf, and to New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, and Charleston. These ships are of the first class, and are to conform in all respects, concerning size and adaptation to the purposes of war, to the conditions prescribed in the Cunard contracts. They are to make twenty-four voyages a year, leaving and returning to Southampton semi-monthly. Another contract has lately been entered into for two ships to run between Bermuda and New York. These lines employ twenty-five steamers of the largest and most efficient description.

In addition to the above, a contract was made, 1st January, 1845, with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for a line of similar steamers, seven in number, from England to the East Indies and China, at ?160,000 sterling, or 0,000 per annum. This line passes from Southampton, via Gibraltar and Malta, to Alexandria, in Egypt; thence the route continues overland to Suez, at the head of the Red Sea, from whence the steamers again start, touching at Aden, Bombay, and at Point de Galle, in the island of Ceylon, from whence they proceed to Singapore and Hong Kong. There is a branch line connecting with this, from Point de Galle to Calcutta, touching at Madras.

A contract was made, 1st July, 1846, for a Pacific line of British steamers, four in number, running from Valparaiso to Panama, touching at intermediate ports. This line connects overland, from Panama to Chagres, with the West India line.

Besides these, there were, in 1848, twelve more lines of Government steamers running between Great Britain and the continent of Europe; making a grand aggregate of one hundred and fifteen ocean steamships fitted for war purposes. Very recently the British Parliament has resolved to extend the mail steamship system to Australia.

The committee are of opinion that it is highly desirable to have ready for the public service some very large steamships of the description proposed by the memorialist. They would have great advantages over small ships, in their capacity to carry fuel sufficient for long voyages, and to transport large bodies of troops, and place them rapidly, in a fresh and vigorous condition, at any point where they might be required.

But it is chiefly for the great and beneficent objects of removing the free persons of color from this country to the coast of Africa, and of suppressing the slave trade, that the committee are disposed to recommend the adoption of the proposed measure. The latter of these has been the subject of treaties by our Government with other nations, with whom we have engaged to maintain a large naval force on the coast of Africa to assist in suppressing the inhuman traffic; while the emigration of the free blacks has long been an object of great interest in all parts of the country, and especially in the slaveholding States, where they are looked upon by the whites with aversion and distrust. The policy of all or most of these States has been to discourage manumission, except on condition of the removal of the liberated slave. In no part of the Union do the free blacks enjoy an equality of political and social privileges; and in all the States their presence is neither agreeable to the whites, nor is their condition advantageous to themselves. In some of the slave States stringent prohibitions have been adopted, and unpleasant controversies with free States have been thereby engendered. The emigration of this entire population beyond the limits of our country is the only effectual mode of curing these evils, and of removing one cause of dangerous irritation between the different sections of the Union.

The committee believe it is expedient to aid private enterprize in the colonization of the western coast of Africa, because it is the most effectual, if not the only mode, of extirpating the slave trade. The success of this measure will doubtless render the African squadron wholly unnecessary, thus reimbursing a large portion of the expense attending it, and at the same time better accomplishing the object for which that squadron is maintained. It may be expedient for some one of the great naval powers to keep a small force on the coast of Africa to protect Liberia, for a limited time, against the slave traders. But the attempt to suppress this unlawful traffic by blockading the coast has so signally failed that it will probably soon be abandoned by the great European powers. While the influence of the Republic of Liberia has been shown in the complete suppression of the trade along a coast of several hundred miles in length, the combined squadrons of Europe and America have not been so successful on other portions of that unhappy shore. In 1847 no less than 84,356 slaves were exported from Africa to Cuba and Brazil. In the opinion of the committee, it is highly important to prevent the further Africanizing of the American continents. An opposite movement, so far as the free blacks are concerned, is far more in accordance with the spirit of the age, and with the best interests of all American Governments. The people of the United States have shown their strong aversion to the slave trade by the provision in their Constitution against it, and by their unremitting and vigorous efforts to suppress it. The success which has already crowned the infancy of Liberia, indicates the true mode of making those exertions effectual, while it opens up the way for restoring the free blacks to the native land of their fathers.

The committee beg leave here to present some interesting facts which satisfy them that the territory of Liberia is eminently adapted to colored emigrants from the United States; that the establishment of this line of steamships by the Government will be a powerful stimulus to the cause of colonization, and will be the means of securing the emigration of great numbers of free blacks; that the slave trade will be substituted by a peaceful, legitimate, and valuable commerce, opening new sources of enterprize and wealth to our people; and that the civilization and christianization of the whole continent of Africa may be expected eventually to follow. The facts presented are collected chiefly from the publications of the Colonization Society.

That portion of the western coast of Africa, called Liberia, embraces a tract of country included between the parallels of 4? 21? and 7? north latitude, extending about 400 miles along the coast. The first settlement was made by free negroes from the United States, under the auspices of the American Colonization Society, in the year 1820. The objects of that society were--

"1st. To rescue the free colored people of the United States from their political and social disadvantages.

"2d. To place them in a country where they may enjoy the benefits of free government, with all the blessings which it brings in its train.

"3d. To spread civilization, sound morals, and true religion throughout the continent of Africa.

"4th. To arrest and destroy the slave trade.

"5th. To afford slave owners, who wish, or are willing, to liberate their slaves, an asylum for their reception."

The funds of this society have seldom exceeded ,000 per year, but they have purchased territory, enabled nearly 7,000 free people of color to emigrate to Liberia, and have made provision, for such of them as required it, for 6 months after their arrival. In July, 1847, an independent Government was formed, which has been recognised by France, England, and Prussia. Upwards of 80,000 of the natives have become civilized, and enrolled themselves as citizens of the Republic. The Liberians have a flourishing commerce. They have not only succeeded in suppressing the slave trade along their own coast, but have also made treaties with several tribes, numbering over 200,000 souls, for the discontinuance of the traffic. They have purchased their territory from time to time of the natives, and are gradually extending themselves up to the British settlement of Sierra Leone and down to the Gold Coast.

The interior settlements of the purchased tracts usually extend from about 10 to 30 miles from the coast, and can easily be enlarged by purchase in that direction at a moderate amount. In no instance have the natives from whom the land was purchased been required to remove their residences. The land in the immediate vicinity of the ocean in Liberia is generally low, and in some places marshy; but there are some elevated spots. The land generally becomes more elevated towards the interior; and in some places, within 50 miles of the coast, it is quite mountainous. It is desirable for the colony to become possessed of this back country as it is much healthier than the coast, and when the emigration from the United States becomes extensive, the mountain region will soon be occupied. The natives are a fine, healthy, athletic race; and even the emigrants to the lands on the coast have enjoyed better health than the emigrants to some of our western States in the first few years of settlement.

Liberia is on the "grain coast," and is protected from the scorching winds of the north and east by ranges of mountains. The soil is fertile, and produces an abundance of Indian corn, yams, plantains, coffee, arrow-root, indigo, dyewoods, &c.

Every emigrant is welcomed to the colony, and receives a grant of 5 acres of land, besides which he can purchase as much more as he pleases at 1 dollar per acre.

The climate is not suited to the whites. The president and all the officials are colored men. There are flourishing towns, churches, schools, and printing presses. According to the statement of the Rev. R. R. Gurley, who has recently visited the colony, the people are highly moral, well conducted, and prosperous, and the value of the exports of the Republic is at present 500,000 dollars per annum, and is increasing at the rate of 50 per cent. annually.

Not only will the slave trade be abolished by the establishment of colonies of free colored people on the coast of Africa, but, as already intimated, these colonies will be the means, at no distant period, of disseminating civilization and Christianity throughout the whole of that continent. Already, a great many of the natives have placed themselves under the protection of the Liberians, whose knowledge of agriculture and the arts inspires confidence and respect.

As a missionary enterprise, therefore, the colonization of Africa by the descendants of Africans on this continent, deserves, and no doubt will receive, the countenance and support of the whole Christian world.

Two points are now regarded, both in Europe and in this country, as settled truths, viz: 1st. That the planting and building up of Christian colonies on the coast of Africa, is the only practical remedy for the slave trade. 2d. That colored men only can with safety settle upon the African coast.

That the free negroes of the U. S. will be induced to go in large numbers to Liberia, if a quick and pleasant passage by steam vessels be provided, and suitable preparation be made for them on their arrival, by the Colonization Society, cannot admit of any doubt.

The funds of that society, augmented probably twenty fold, will then be available, almost exclusively, for the comfortable establishment of the emigrants in their new homes--the expense of transportation chargeable to the society being merely nominal.

It is estimated that there are no less than 500,000 free colored people in the several States, and that the annual increase therein of the black race is 70,000 per annum. With respect to slaves, who may hereafter be manumitted, no doubt such manumission will, almost in every instance, be upon the condition that the parties shall avail themselves of the opportunity of emigrating to Liberia.

The committee do not propose that the emigrants should be landed in Liberia and then left to their own resources. Liberia is at present incapable of receiving and providing shelter, subsistence, and employment for any great number of emigrants who may land there in a state of destitution. It has been the practice, heretofore, for the Colonization Society to provide for the colonists, whom they have sent out, for 6 months after their arrival, and the cost of such provision has averaged per head, in addition to the cost of transportation.

A large amount of money will be required to settle the colonists in the first instance comfortably in their new homes. But there is no doubt, that if the Government establish the proposed line of steam ships, the people of the different States, and the State Legislatures, will at once turn their attention to the subject of colonization, and that large appropriations will be voted, and liberal collections made, in aid of that object. The State of Maryland has already appropriated and laid out 0,000 in this work, and the Legislature of Virginia has lately appropriated ,000 per year for the same purpose. But these sums are insignificant in comparison to what may be expected, if the Government shall give its high sanction to the colonization of Africa, and provide the means of transportation by a line of steam ships. In that event, the whole mass of the people, north and south, who for the most part do not appreciate the rapid progress, and the high capabilities of Liberia, will quickly discover the vast importance of colonization, and will urge their representatives to adopt measures adequate to the exigency of the case and the magnitude of the enterprise.

There is good reason to anticipate, that important assistance will be rendered to the emigrants, not only by the missionary societies of Europe, but also by those governments which have taken an interest in the suppression of the slave trade, and which are desirous of opening channels for their commerce, and marts for their manufactures, on the western coast of Africa.

As the colony increases in population, and the interior of the country becomes settled, any number of emigrants that may be sent out will be readily absorbed, as there will be a demand for all kinds of laborers, mechanics, and domestic servants, and it will be unnecessary to make that provision for them which is now indispensable.

The Colonization Society will, as heretofore, so regulate the emigration as to send out only suitable persons, and keep up a due proportion between the two sexes.

The establishment of prosperous colonies on the western coast of Africa will, doubtless, tend greatly, in the course of time, to the augmentation of the commerce of this country. It appears that British commerce with Africa amounts to no less than 5 millions sterling, or about ,000,000 per annum. The belief is now confidently entertained in Great Britain, that an immense commerce may be opened up with that continent, by putting an end to the slave trade, and stimulating the natives to the arts of peace.

The commerce of Africa is certainly capable of great extension, and it is worthy of observation, that the proposed steamers will open entirely new sources of trade.

On this subject, the committee beg leave to submit the following particulars, from which the future resources of this vast undeveloped region may be, to some extent, anticipated.

Palm oil is produced by the nut of the Palm tree, which grows in the greatest abundance throughout Western Africa. The demand for it, both in Europe and America, is daily increasing. The average import into Liverpool of palm oil for some years past has been at least 15,000 tons, valued at ?400,000 sterling.

Gold is found at various points of the coast. It is obtained by the natives by washing the sand which is brought down by the rivers from the mountains. An exploration of the mountains will probably result in the discovery of large quantities of the metal. It is calculated that England has received, altogether, 0,000,000 of gold from Africa. Liberia is adjacent to the "Gold Coast."

Ivory is procurable at all points, and constitutes an important staple of commerce.

Coffee, of a quality superior to the best Java or Mocha, is raised in Liberia, and can be cultivated with great ease to any extent. The coffee tree bears fruit from thirty to forty years, and yields an average of ten pounds to the shrub yearly.

Cam wood and other dye woods are found in great quantities in many parts of the country. About thirty miles east of Bassa Cove is the commencement of a region of unknown extent, where scarcely any tree is seen except the cam wood.

Gums of different kinds enter largely into commercial transactions.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet