The New York Herald Newspaper, June 28, 1854, Page 2

SLAVERY IN CUBA. DECREES SIGNED BY Ten CUBEN OF SPAIN, ON THE 22D OF MARCH, 1854, RESPECTING SLAVERY IN THE ISLAND OF CUBA, DESPATOH FROM LORD HOWDEN, HER MAJESTY's MINISYBR AT MADRID, TRANSMITT'NG COPIES OF THE DEORERS SIGNED BY THE QUEEN OF SPAIN ‘OX THE 22p MaROH, 1854, PROVIDING FOR THE RESTRICTION OF SLAV% LABOR TO AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES, THE PROTECTION OF FREE LABORERS, AND THE REGISTRATION OF SLAVES, IN THE ISLAND OF OUBA. Lord Howden to the Earl of Clarendon, (Extract.) Maver, April 13, 1954. I have the honor to transmit to your lordship by this messenger a copy and translation of a most im- portant document relating to slavery in the Island of Cuba, which was published in the Gazette of thi is morning. The chief points are the following:— A determination, publicly expressed, to put down a Hare, trade, and to keep faith with Great An endeavor to force the whole slave population of the island into works of agriculture, establishing high taxes on those retained for household pur- poses. The organization of a system of colonization for 8 , Yucatenese, and Chine «-, detining their ions and rights. And finally, the compulsory registering of all the slaves in the island at this mome:t, so that al negro (excepting those subsequently born) who hercafter unregistered, and who dvés not carry on him acopy of the register, will be considered as anduly introduced, and declare ipso facto free. Your lordship will see at once two things—the great advantage of such a measure, if properly car- Tied out, and the great (iffirnity to which it will give rise at the moment 0) vey. tering, with regard to negroes who will be claiuod a ‘egal property, and who yet have been iraudulently introduced since the conclusion of treaties with Spain. (TRANSLATION.) Exposition to Her Majesty. Senora--One of the most urgent necessities which ‘at present presses upon the Island of Cuba is the scarcity of laborers; agricu'ture is already affected by it; its effects begin to be noticed in commercial transactions, and, if it be not opportunely remedied, | the rich treasures which that fertile island contains will soon be diminished, if not exhausted. The government have carefully studied the causes of the evil, and, in order to remove them, they offer to your Majesty a system of measures which they con- | sider cfticacious, if, as is to be expected, there be, on the part of the local authorities, zeal and per- severance in carrying them into execution. It is not hidden from the high genetration of your Majesty, that the origin of the scarcity which is de- | plored lies partly in the exi-tence and necessity of | slavery, and partly in the treaties in force for the suppression of the slave trade. The Antilles seem condemned by Providence not to give proofs of their fertility unless with the aid of that institution, and at the cost of the race upon whom it weighs. There results hence for the Island of Cuba a social and economical situation, which, although exceptional and anomalous it is necessary to maintain, with all its inconveniences, because there would arise from ‘the design of regulating it by the type of European nations greater detriments for the State, and even for the very race disinherited of civil liberty. From the necessity of maintaining slavery io those regions was naturally inferred the advantage of permitting, in certain cases, the introduction of new slaves; fut as the international treaties and the Spanish laws probibit und punish it with rigor, | this efficient means of preservation has been want: | ing to slavery, while the developement and encour-- | agement of agriculture have rendered it every day More necessary. Whatever may be, nevertheless, the qualification which these treaties merit, the | ernment ought to fulfil them asthe honor and Sienit of the nation :equire, considering that | though they be in part the cause of the injury which is lamented at this moment, it is not in the power | of the governmeut to remove it, nor would it be morally possible to abolish slavery. _ ie Leaving out of view, therefore, as irremediable, these two primary and fundamental causes of the actual scarcity, the government have maturely ex- amined the immediate causes, and believe they have found them:— : 1, Inthe practice of dedicating to domestic ser- | vice and other occupations, in which the labor of whites and free men might be employed, the slaves which are wanting to agriculture and the employ- ments in which the labor of natives and Europeans cannot compete with that of the Africans. 2. Inthe proprietors not having taken care, 80 much as they ought to huve done, of the reproduc- tion of the slave race, with the hope that the clan- destine production of Bozal negroes would supply their neglect. 3. In the scarcity of white laborers and artizans capable of dedicating themselves to 4 multitude of meobanical offices, for which the negroes are unne- cessary. 4. In the right of slaves not i sraprapesd he indispensable guarantees and securities, in consequence of the questions which the understanding and application of the treaties in force for the suppreasion of the slave trade are daily raising with a erful nation. The slaves who now exist in the Island of Cuba ‘would suffice for all the wants of agriculture, not- withstanding the losses which Shey by recent diseases, if a considerable namber of them property over the legitimate had not been destined in towns to services which | free laborers could perform as well or.better. This circumstance makes evident the advantage of re- moving the slave ations of agriculture. In order to effect this your lajesty decreed, in 1844, the imposition of a capita- tion tax upon the slaves destined for domestic service; but this measure has not produced the desired effect, firet, because all the slaves who dedicate themselves to occupations in which free men might be employed, being excinded from the- tax, its influence is limited to a very reduced num- ber of persons, and precisely to those who, from the nature of their occupations, it must be most difficult to attract towards agriculture; and, secoudly, be- cause the capitation not exceeding a dollar, ora litle more, for each ae it hag not been a suffi. cient stimulus for the Cubsus to abandon the in- | Poin custom of having themselves seived by ves. In order to attain the desired end, therefore, it will be n to extend the ‘amto all the slaves | ‘who are not habitually employed in agriculture; | that is, to those who have not their permanent resi- | dence in the estates or rural establishments, and to | ‘increase the said tax gradually, in proportion to the | wealth of each proprie‘or, adopting, as the measure thereof, the number o: slaves whom he has in his ! service, and fixing, nevertheless, a prudent limit to ‘the proportional increase, in order not to confound br caprices of luxury with the true wants of in- ‘Your Majesty may still offer another more effica- | cious stimulant to the proprietors of slaves. There | is now paid on the sale of them a duty of slcabala, | which consists of. six per cent of the stipulated price. Exempt from this duty the slaves who are fold or transferred for service in the agricultural patates or establishments, and exact double from those who, having their residences in the said estab- lishments, may be transferred for service in the | towns, and no industry will obtain with more abund- | ance and advantage than agricuitare the labor | ne for its preservation and encouragement. | If these measures shali not suffice to attract the | slave ponulation towards the fields, it would be diffi to adopt other indirect means which | should promise better results. But even | though agriculture and industry should go on increasing and developing them- | selves in the Island of Cuba in the same proportion as hitherto, the government believe, nevertheless, that the slaves now existing would snfiice for all the services in which aay cannot be readily replaced by free laborers, if thelr reprodaction shall be cared for and favored. The measures which your Majesty may adopt with such an object are also indirect, and of no imme- diate result, but saiak eee succeed. They con- bipewig ie pi letors to promote mar- among hele slaved: and so to benefit them- the reproduction of this indispensable order to effect this, the entire produce of tation tax before mentioned, ought to be to the adjadication of three annual pre- : one in favor of the Hk sinaaed whose slaves have had the greatest number of legitimate or children; another in favor of him who number of female slaves in then; and another for him who take most care, and with the best result, of the heelth preservation of hia slaves. Female | exempted from the capitation ir children under twelve years of | slaves who have a ce: nom- z g & sales of alaves which take place , and alao the sales of the | ey are removed for the first oft the owner in whose pos- | rementa, and the conviction Sea! nesroes, wince the fatous | , since a ina thera will at least be di | only will the farmers and manufac. | urers tal ce Spoke the reproduction of their | giaves, but capital will be doveted especially to tiat | qbject, as happens in other © untries where the proper to exempt from al! alca- | y | at once suc! haveexperienced | ulation from the cities and | towns, and dedicating it in the Cae the occu- | i e 4 Ev measures which bave for their object to jee within the towns the rreplacement slave lavorers by free ones, and in order to remedy immediately, | a8 far as possible, the actual scarcity of labor, it is indispensable to authorize the immigration of white colonists, §} the free and laboring class which is wanting may be ‘oTThe experiments made up to this time show that men’ le uy show this remedy will m be efficacious; but in order to pro- of the ish or foreign, with whose assistance + second to the ay aga peace ry fpnotags ag ig? slaves the ae, ‘itor, may have roportionally fewer epee cise es e r who, @ great | ey pemgees weal eopertng scenic, ma in ion ag) mi t of feb saves belonging ts him. VII. These premiums shall be adjudicated on the | 19th November of each year, by Junta presided over by the Governor Ca) neral, and which shall be composed of the nt of the Audiencia, Prealdent of the Tril of Commerce of pry its due developement, it is indispensable to Havana, of two proprietors elected by the corpora e the conditions on which tho introduction of colonists is to be permitted, and to fix the rela- tions between them and their masters with regard pe public interest and the powers of the govern- men: The Governor Captain-General of Cuba, zealous for your Majesty’s service, and belieVing the want of labor to be most urgent, published an ordinance au- thorizing for two years the free importation of colon- ists from Spain, China, or Yucatan, and making regu- lations for that purpese, as also for determining the reciprocal righte of the colonists and of their mas- ters. But the government, ject are the import- ance and hb le, in ible J those dispositions, to sub- mit them in the form of a decree to your Hales sanction. {ts prindcs objects are—to facilitate the introduction of colomsts, in orier that competition may increase the supply, and thus lower the price of labor; to prevent the colonists from betng im- d upon by avaricious speculators; to em p peolvedt By to impose special conditions with the same object on the importers, according to the nationality, number, and circumstances of the colo- particular conditions of the contracts with the oolo- nists, in order that these contrasts may be so drawn up a8 not to give rise, by ambiguity or obscurity, to questions of difficult solution; to establish a protec- torate confided to the political authority, which may decide, ex @guo et bono, all the questions that may be raised between the colonists and the mas- ters, and may be susceptible of this Brogpedingy to determine the most essential civil rights the colonists and of their families, so that those rights may be respected in the contracts; to empower the colonists and their masters to rescind these con- tracts at fixed periods, either on account of mar riage or by previous compensation, in order that the condition of the colonists may not degenerate into | slavery in some cases, or may not be worse in others than that of the slaves themselves; to enact mea- sures protective of the health and life of the colo- nists, in order to prevent the avarice of any master from putting the one or the otherin danger; to rant a disciplinary jurisdiction to the same mas- Core for the correction of such slight offences as may not be cognizable by the tribuals. In all these dis- sitions, nevertheless, the government have care- ; fan abstained from opposing the smallest obstacle to | the free agreements of individuals; and if they have | fixed between the colonists and their masters some | reciprocal obligations and rights independent of the contracts, these have not gone beyond what | concerns gtd religion, or the State. In order, finally, to ensure all the rights acquired by the owners of slaves, and to puta stop to the ille- | timate hopes which have so much contributed to | the diminution of the slave race, itis indispensable | j to put an end, by efficacious measures, to the eternal | question of the slave trade. The government are resolyed to cause the solemn treaties which ult stipulated with England to be fulfilled, but they wil nef propose to your Majesty any measure which nd ic | relax in the slightest the severity of discipline whi is the guarantee and forced Cacypt foray of slavery. Although the fear of measures of this kind being adopted in contravention of the Penal law of 1845, | which prohibits investigations to be made within | the estates in order to ascertain the origin of the slaves existing in them, may have the good effect of , keeping back many from the illicit commerce of Bo- | zal negroes, nevertheless it has the evil effect of creating among the legitimate proprietors a feeling of iia and disquietude. In order to prevent fears and dangers, it is requisite tostop the complamts and demands of the government of it by treaties, watches strictly over their fulfilment; and this will not be attained without radically ex- tinguiehing the slave trade. The means which the government propose to your Majesty for effecting this, have, in their opinion, all the advantages that can be desired, since their effi- cacy keing unquestionable, and their execution most easy, they ensure and guarantee all the existing ri his relative to slavery. By opening in each capi- tal or lieutenancy of government a register, where ail the slaves who now exist in the island may be in- scribed and filiated; by closing cee this re- gister for any new inscription as soon as the neces- sary time haa arrived, in order that no proprietor may fail voluntarily to inscribe his slaves; and by Cel | manumitted and free all men of color who in future do not appear inscribed aad filiated, making at the same time exceptions in favor of infants and of fugitive and absent slaves during the time for the inscription, and of those whose condact is disputed before the tribunals, there will not be in future more slaves than those now in the island and their descendants; there will be an exterior, visible, and unquestionable mark to distinguish them from the free men; and if some Bozal negroes should be Laeg sendin py seep had it would be impossible tomake use of them as slaves without exposure to the serious risk of Le them the first time they might be met with without having the proof of their inscription in the civil register. This danger | will necesgarily remove the temptation of profit, which has hitherto maintained that illicit tratiic in spite of prosecution. The negroes fraudulently introduced are worth now as much as legitimate slaves, for as soon a3 estates, neither the one nor the other can be the ob- ject of legat search, because it is always easy to frus- trate any investigation respecting them. But when the register is once established and closed, the tenure of the real slaves will be as secure, as will be ephemeral and uncertain that which it is sought to exercise over those which are not 80. This will at least produce a very considerable differ- ence between the value of the respective classes; and the consequence of all this slave traders, not finding the risk they run suffi- ciently compensated by the profit they obtain, will abandon forever so unworthy a traffic. The obligation which 1s imposed on the owners, of causing and contracts which affect the condition of the slaves, or the rights which are exercised over them, will also contribute, in a great degree, to secure the property over them, and to prevent the frauds which are committed in the transactions concerning them. When the fulfilment of this obligation shail be se- cured by a declaration that the acts and contracts which are not so registered shall have no effect in regard to third parties, who may not have inter- vened in the same, no one will be able to alicnata the slaves of another, or to sell as free from all lien the partially redeemed slaves (coartados), or | | to commit any other fraud of the same kind. But the inscriptions and annotations made in the PY Syed being of such consequence, it is indispen- sable to secure, by all possible means, the responsi- | bility of the functionaries who are to have the | charge of them, and the exactness, clearness, and | legitimacy of the statements. - With this object, some rules of organization and procedure are sub- mitted to your Majeaty, which will require to be completed by such regulations as the first authority of the island may adopt. Theee, Madam, are the fundamental principles of the three projects of decrees which the President of your Council of Ministers has the honor of submitting 0 your royal approbation. If your Majesty deigus to approve them, this will bestow upon your people of the Antilles some improvements and reforms of great importance for their preservation, prosperity and encouragement. Madam, at the royal feet of your } (Signed) ‘Tue Count or Madrid, March 22, 1854. ’ NS Loig. ROYAL DECREES. Having considered the hy go of my President of the Council of Ministers, and in accordance with the opinion of the same Council, I hereby decree the following: — Article I. All the slaves resident in the island of Cuba who have not their permanent domicile in the agricultural estates or establishments, ahall, with cerlain exceptions, pay a capitation tax. II. The owners of slaves subject to ben oe shall pey annually, instead of the tax established by the royal order of July 29, 1844, the following:—For the first slave, $2; for the second, $3; for the third, $4; and g0 on for each additional slave, $1 more. The holder of fifteen slaves, after paying the amount cur- nding to hc ogee Fe to hang re- ceding pai ph, shall pa: only for each slave that he Tay bere beyond. fitveen. lJ. No capitation tax shall be exacted for female slaves, nor for their children under twelve years of age. IV. Married slaves, while they live with their wives, and have living children by them, shall only py, $2 annually, whatever be the number of slaves that the owner may have, and shall not be included in the assessment the same owner. for the other slaves belonging to lf the number of the children amounts to four above twelve years of age, the slave their iather shail be exempt from all capitation, even though he may be a ridower. V. ‘The capitation tax shall be exacted from the proprietors in quarterly payments, and a qnarter of a year in advance, the {fy irter to bo payabie at the expiration of the fivst term wher the similar t8X supppresed by the precent decree we. to hecome die wity of the subject, have judged it in- | nists to be introduced in each expedition; to give | facilities within the limits of the law for fixing the | they are disembarked and divided amongst the | be, that the | be noted in the register all the acts | tion of the same capital, and of two merchants selected by the said Tribunal of Commerce from per- sona not belonging thereto. | VIL The ‘al of the island, making use of the powers which belong to him as civil gover- nor and superintendent of finance in commission, shall make, subject to my royal approbation, the Fy gud Hed gaa for the collection, assessment, an ae levying of this tax. 1X. The Junta de Fomento sha§transmit to the political secretary all the informatiga and documents which it may have relating to thefeuppressed capi- tation, and deliver over y royal treasury the produce of the same, which May not have been pa over on aia of the present decree the Jeland of Cuba. | _X. No alcabala shall be paid for the slaves who, after the eaid publication, may be sold or transfer- red, in order to eerve or reside in agricultural es tates or establishments, the rietor who may ac- quire them with that it. pininbe it knowr at the office charged with the collection of that tax. | XI. The Captsin-General of the island shall make | the proper arrangements‘for recording the ‘ma- | nent residence of the slaves transterred under the exemption from alcabala to agricultural estates and | eetublishments, in order that the said slaves may | Dever change their domicile to towns without the | owners first paying the said duty. | XI. Double alcabala shal! be paid for slaves who, | having their residence in cultural estates or es- | tablishments, may be ferred to serve or reside in the towns. XUI. Ap Oaths committing fraud for the | purpose of eluding the payment of alcabala in cases | in which he is not exempt from it according to this @ecree, shall pay double, without praiiee to the penal or civil responsiblity which he may incur by ; the same act. | XIV. Only half the alcabala shall be exacted for | the transfer of slaves under fourteen years of age. XV. No alcabala shall be exacted :— | _.1. For sales of slaves which may take place on ac- count of marriages under article XXX. of the regu- lations of the year 1842, provided the marriage L be proved. : 2. For the ogi mete and legitimised children of slaves who may be born after the publication of this decree in the island, when they leave for the first time the ownership under which they were born. Given at the Palace, March 22, 1854. Signed by the royal hand. The President of the Council of Ministers. (Signed.) Luts Joss Sartorius. Having considered the report of the President of | my Council of Ministers, and in accordence with the opinion of the the following regulations for the importation and management of colonists in the island of Cuba:— Cuarrzr I. Of the Importation of Colonists. Art. I. Private persons who wish to introduce on their account into the island of Cuba, Spanish, Chinese, or Yucatan colonists, shall be able to do so from this day, and for the space of two years, sub- jecting themselves to the conditions established in these regulations. IJ. The importer of the said colonists must pre- viously obtain permission from the government, and must, for that purpose, present a certificate or | document showing that the vessel in which they are to be conveyed is fit for the voyage. If the vessel should be in a foreign port, this certificate or docu- ment shall be issued by the ne Consul there, oe us in a Spanish port by the proper naval au- thority. i nd de: n a Ill. Neither of the said permissions shall be con. | Great Britain,which, in the use of the right givento | ceded unless the person in whose favor it is issued | obliges himself to import the number of women | which the government may determine, on taking | into consideration the number of the men who are to be imported in each expedition, their nationality, , and other circumstances. No tonnage duties shall | be pee by the importers for women. , IV. The government, on conceding the permis- sion of which the previous articles treat, may exact from the importers any other conditions which it may think fit with regard to the number, nationality and cther circumstances of the colonists who are | to be imported. V. The contracts between the importers and the colonists shall be written in the language of the lat- | ter, and shall be viséd by her Majesty's Consul if | mode abroad, or by the Governor of the province if | made it Bpanish territory. | VI. These contracts must set forth the following | particulars:— | 1. The age,sex, and place of birth of the colonist. | i 2. The time for which his contract is to be in | force, | . 3. The wages, and the kind, quantity and quali- | ty of the food and clothing which he is to receive. | _ 4, The obligation to afford him medical assistance | during illness. | 6. Whether the wages are to be stopped when the colonist falls ill from any cause not connected with his work, or independent of the will of the master. 6. The number of hours during which the colomist obliges himself to work each day, it being declared whether the master is to have the power of increas- | ing that number on some days, provided this in- crease shall be ely 2 aed by a proportionate diminution on other days. 7. The obligation of the colonist to indemnify the master for the hours of labor lost to him by the colo- ni:t’s fault. 8. The obligation of the same colonist to subject himself to the eels of the estate, workshop, or establishment in which he may have to labor. } 9, A clause drawn up in these terms: “I, N. N., assent to the rate of wages above stipulated, al- though I know that what the free laborers and | slaves of the Island of Cuba get is much greater, be- cause I consider this difference to be compensated by the other ppc which my master has to af- ford to me, as stated in this contract.” 10. The si; of the colonist, if he can write, | and that of the contractor. VII. The celoniet shall receive, and keep in his | poe acopy of the contract signed by the con- tractor. | VIII. If the colonists should be Spaniards and | under age, they shall not be permitted to contract | with the importers without the consent of their pa- | rents or guardians. If they should be fereigners and | under fourteen years of age, the person on whom | they depend must be a party te the contract. | . 1X. The importers of colonista shall not embark in any veseel more than one person for each ton of measurement on a voyage from the ports of the pen- insula; one person for each ton and a half on voya- ' ges made from the ports of China, and in the like proportion for the shorter voyage from Yucatan. ¥ The importers shall also be bound :— 1. To provide the vessels with water and whole- some food fully sufficient for the number of persons conveyed, ard for the length of the voyage. 2. To adopt the necessary precautions in order to maintain in the said vessels the cleanliness and ven- tilation indispensable for the health of the pas- songere. 2 To carry a physician and medicine chest on | board when the nomber of persons embarked is above a hundred. 4. To subject themselves, on their arrival at any yort of Cuba, to the sanatory and police regulations in force there. XI. In order to ensure the observance of these regulations the colonists must only be imported at the’ port of Havana, except in case of shipwreck or otber inevitable accident, which may render the ar- ~_ and landing at some other port a matter of ne- cessity. ‘ | _ XII. Within twenty-four hours after the arrival of the versel, or after its admission to free pratique, | the importer shall present a list of the colonists em- \ barked by him, accompanied by their contracts, and | bya return showing the number of those who ~ have died during the passage, and the causes of th | deaths. The Governor Captain-General, after seein ese documents, an r taking al ps whic! these a ti d after taking all the ste hi he may deem necessary to prevent fraud, will permit the disembarkation. XiIll. The importers of colonists may transfer them to other employers, or to planters or individu- als, on such terms as they may thiak fit, the latter always caneing themselves to fulfil the contracts entered into with the said colonists and to conform to there regulations. The persons receiving such transfers of colonists may re-assign them to other parties on the same conditions, and if on a transfer of colonists the terms of the original con- tract should be altered without the consent of the colonists, such transfer shall be null and void, XIV. Both the importers and receivers of colo- nists shall give an account tothe government of the number of the latter transferred or received within twenty-four hours after the conclusion of the con- tract, stating the num.ver, sex, and age of said colo- nists, the vessel in which they arrived, the condi- tions of the contract made with them, the nature of the labor in which they are to be employed, and the place where they are going to reside, The government will then deliver to the receiver the contracts received from the importer relative to the ecded colonists, after entering their contents in the hooks which shall be kept for that purpose in | the c/lee of the Political Secretary. XY. ‘The residence of the colonists may not be same Council, I hereby approve | island to another the government. traneferre d from one of the without a prey ious to XVI. The Governor of the Island of Cuba shall be the official protector of the eolo- nists, and shall execute this trust in the districts through his delegates, the respective Governors or Lieutenant-Governors, who in their tura shall be assisted therein, and without necessity of previous delegation, by the district captains. These func- tionaries roceed in every case, under the di- rection and orders of the Governors and Licutenant- Governors. XVII. In Jegal matters, and when the masters of the colonists do not 2p the corporations, or their substitutes in the mnnici- ai juntas, shall be the defenders of the colonists in the inferior courts, and in the superior courts her oy fiecal officers. XVI I. The delegated protectors shall attend ‘to the proper treatment of the colonists and the fulfil- ment of their contracta; they shall He prinac to the official protector the measures which they consider requisite for their welfare and encouragement, and settle Cage 2 and without form of law the questions which may arise between the colonists and their masters. If these questions should involve any point of law, the protector shall decide them sumi ly, taking viva voce evidence, and hearing the opinion or the subject eh ld be of ter legal import f the an! ou! great legal Je ance, it shall be decided by the properauthority and according to theestablished forms of law. x1x. f is understood that the colonists in sign- ing or accepting their cor tracts with the Sopa tera, renounce the exercice of all civil rights which may be incompatible with the fulfilment of the obliga- tions which they incur, unless some right is treated of which is expressly declared by these re tions. XX. The colonists may contract with the conset of their masters. If a colenist who is of age should wish to marry,and bis master ehould oppose it, he may redeem himself from bis master under the conditions prescribed in Article XVJJI, or he may seck another master, who may receive him with the same conditions. XXI. The colonists shall exercise over their chil- dren sll the rights of Pitas power, and over their wives ell the rights of marital power, in as far as those rights are compatible with the legal condition of the said children and wives. XXII. The children of the colonists shall follow the condition of their mothers all the tume that the contract of the latter lasts ,if born during the same; but on completing eighteen years of age they shall be entirely eee though their mothers should con- tinue under contract. The children under age whom the women have at the time ot hiring shall follow the condition which the women may stipulate with the contractors. nothing should be stipulated they shall be entirely free, but they shall have a right to be fed, lodged and clothed by the masters of thelr mothers, under the conditions established for those under twelve years old. XXIII. The children of the colonists born under the power of the masters of their mothers shall have the same right while they follow the condition of the latter, but with the obligation to render in the meantime to the said masters the services of which jets are sapere according to their age. ‘XIV. The married colonists may not be trans ferred to any person who does not at the same time take both husband and wife and their children | under twelve years of age. The masters may not oblige the husbands to live habitually separated from their wives, nor the latter from their children under twelve years of age. provert * y XXYV. The colonists may acquire and | dispose of what may belong to them valid title, | provided the contracts which they may niake do mo | involve any express or tacit condition, the fulfilment | of which may be incompatible with their contracts with the masters. XXVI. The colonists may also take legal proceed- ings against their masters, being represented in the | manner prescribed in Article XVII, and against other persons being represented by their own mas- masters, if the latter should be willing to undertake their defence. = If the masters should decline to do so, or if in a | the master’s in- | suit between bim and a third Barty | : is colonists, the , terest should be opposed to that o: latter must be represented by the Syndic in the in- ferior courts, and by her Mayesty’s Fiscal in the superior. | | XXVII. The colonists who may bave made con- tracts when under twenty years of age, shall have the right of rescinding them when they are twenty- | five years of age. Those who ma; | tracts when above twenty years old, shall have the same right after six years’ contract. The masters | | shall likewise have the power to rescind them at the same periods at which the colonists have this right. ‘The colonist shall in no case be able to make use of the right recognized in this article unless he indem- nifies his master, either by or in some other mode, for what he may owe him. XXVIII. Every colonist shall be able to redeem lin.self at any time from the power of his master, provided he pays him in cash: 1. The amount which he may have paid for his acquisition. . That which the same colonist may owe him as compeneation for labor or on any other account. 8. The increased value which, in the judgment of men of skill, the services of the colonist may have EES since he entered the master’s employ- ment. | , 4 The amount of the loas which the master may | incur from the difficulty of replacing the colonist by | another. | _ The colonist shall not be able to make use of this right in time of “ zafra,” or during any other of the poe employments permitted on holidays. ly, oF aball fal to Tulll hia eogagementa towards ly, or 8 fal engagements towai him, the colonist may apply to the es eee TO- tector, and if the latter, on mye both parties, should be convinced of the justice of the complaint, | he will allow the contract to be annulled. | This anulment may be granted without compen- | sation to the master for what he may have een for the acquisition of the colonist, and without bar- ring any civil or criminal actionon the part of either arty. ‘ XXX, 1n the days and hours of rest the colonists | may work on their own account within the estab- | lishment or estate where they reside; and if they | should wish towork out of it, they must previously | Obtain the permission of the master. | : In a same days and hours they may also ind in suc! Bee of the establishment or estate. . The colonists shall ah peed of the roduce of their property and of their work done in | the days and hours of rest, but they shall not be allowed to establish any retail trade against the will of their master. XXXII. Whenever the colonist wishes to sell his furniture or moveables, he shall inform his master, | ae shall be preferred pro tanto to any other pur- chaser. nist any lot of land for cultivation during the days tire produce unless bis master may have stipulated otherwise with him. XXXIV. The colonists shall not be able to leave the estate or establishment in which they serve without the written permission of their master or his delegate, and any colonists found unprovided with such a permit shall be a 1 al by the authori- ties, and taken home at the master’s expense. XXXV. When it may have been stipulated in the contracts that the colonists shall have any particu- lar kind of food, or clothes of a icular make or sort, and if circumstances shoul ena the mas- ter from providing the same, the kind, quality, or make of either may be altered, but not the quan- tity. i the colonists should not be content with this change they shall apply to their protector, who will settle the matter fairly between the parties, with due regard to the essential right of the colonist. VI, Whatever stipulations may have been ma the contracts as to medical assistance for the colonists, it shall com , Not only the attend- ance of the Maes etd ut also such medicines and food as the physicians may prescribe during ill- ness and convalescence. XXXVII. The colonists shall work for their mas- ters, on every day that is not a holiday, during the number of hours agreed upon in the contract. It is understood that days which are not holidays, for the purposes of this article, are all those on which the precept of the church does not prohibit labor, and thore which, notwithstanding the festival celebrated thereon, shall be authorized by the ec- clesiastical authorities as working days. XXXVIII. fibro | any stipulation to the contrary, the masters shall have no right to ex- act from their colonists more than twelve hours’ daily labor on an average. ‘XIX. If a con’ shall contain a stipulation 2s to the i ot of the master to arrange in the man- ner most advantageous for his interests the hours of labor ot syee with the colonist, as prescribed in No. 6 of article VI.,thatright shall be understood as limited, so that the colonist can never be obli; to work more than fifteen hours in one day, and so that he shall always have at least six consecutive hours of rest Ly night or by pay If the said right should not have been stipulated in the contract, the master shall not have power to exact from the colonist more hours of work in each bs than those upon. XL. The colonist must render to his master all lawful services that he may require, unless it shall have been agreed in the contract that the colonist is to be employed exclusively in certain labors, In euch case the colonist may resist being em- ployed in Jabors different from taore stipulated. The master may let ont ton third person the ser- vices of his colonist, for employment in auch work as is stipulated in the contract, and to which no con- | dition of the contract is opposed. pear for them, the syndics of | have made con- | XXXII. When the master concedes to his colo- | ana i the offence be only a slight one, he ehall him: and hours of rest, the colonist shall acquire the en- | *lf impose a fine not exceeding $100. | XLII. masters shall pay their colonists stipulated wages in the form and manner agreed upon in the contract. XLIII. The colonists shall receive the whole of any cause ndent on the will of master. If the illness should proceed from other causes, the colonist will not have the eame right, unless it may have been stipulated in the contract. XLIV. The colonist who, scocating to his con- traot, is entitled to receive bis w: luring illness arising from whatever cause, shall ave no right to | demand his wages if his illness arises from any wil- | fal act of his own. XLY. For all the pur of the two previous articles and of Article VI, the diseases of the colonists shali be reported upon by the medical men | of the estate or establishment in which the colonists are employed, and in default of them, by two physi- | ciaps named by the monaiet If the colonist should demur to their opinion, he may apply to the delegated tor, in order that by his direction the colonist may be re-examined by two practitioners: one to be named by him, and another by the master, by whose decision both par- ties shall abide without further appeal. If the phy- sicians named by the master and the colonist disa- gree,the delegated protector shall name ¢ third, whoee decision shall be final. XLVI. The colonists shall compensate their mas- ters for the days and hours during which they may bave Heglects to work through their own fault, and for purpose their engagement shall be ex- tended for the nenceara time. The colonist shall it receive any wages for the days of labor lost by fault, unless the contrary be expressly stipulated in the contract. The regulations of this article shall hold good without barring the other penalties which the colo- nist aay incur ee offence in question. XLVII. In ful it of the regulations contained in the first p: yh of the previous Article, the owners or su) itendents of the estates or estab- lishmentsin which the colonists work shall keep books containing an account of the daily labor of the colonists and of the payments made to them, so that the account of what is owed by or due to any one, may be made out at any time, and in the for- mer cate it may be known for what period the res- pective contracts ought to be prolonged. XLVIII. At the end of each month the account corresponding to the labor and ent of each colonist shall be closed, and he shi informed of the result, in order that if he have mark to make he may do so at once, or apply to the protector if he should not concur ta 6 master’s statement of the account. , XLIX. The clause which, with reference to Ar- ticle VI, paragraph 8, every contract ought to con- tain, as to the colonist rt sets teens to the dis- cipline of the estate or estal ent in which he has to work, and any other stipulations which ob- liges him to obey his master’s orders, shall be al- wate underst with the proviso that the rules or orders prescribed to the colonist shall not be con- toother conditions of the same contract, nor to the tenor of these re; jions. L. When any colonist deserts from the estate or establishment in which he is serving, the master shall inform the local authority, in order that the neceseary steps may be taken for his pursuit. The master shall pay at once the expenses occa- sioned by his capture and restitution, but shall have a sent to indemnify himself for them by deduct- ing m the fugitive colonist half the wages due to im. LI. If a master should have in his service non- Catholic colonists, he shall provide for their instruc- tion in the doctrines and morality of the true reli- gion, but without employ other means for this purpose than persuasion and conviction; and if any one shall expreséa wish to conform to the Catholic faith, the master shall inform the parish priest. LIU. When a colonist shall suffer in his person or interests a wrong or injury, not amoun' toa crime, from a free man, or from a colonist of an- other ownership, the master shall take cognizance of the fact, and if he think the complaint just, shall demand from the offender or his master, by friendl or extra-judicial means, the fepargoon due; and if thege means be not sufficient, he seek redress before, the competent authority, or state the fact to the Stee in order that he may do so, If the complaint of the colonist should be thought unfounded, he shall be informed accordingly, and | advised to abandon his complaint; but if the colonist should refuse to do 80, he may apply to the Syndic to make the proper claim. en the complaint is directed against another colonist belonging to the same master, the latter, or his delegate, shall de- cide the question in the manner that he thinks just. Kitber of the parties raay sppeal against this deci- sion to the protector or his delegate, who shall take cognizance of the matter in the form prescribed in Article XVIII. LIII. The importers of colonists, and the masters who may fail to comply with any of the obligations or formalities Merges in this and the previous chapter, shall incur a fine proportionate to the gravity of the case, which shall be sum- moan? without prejudice to the penal or civil re- sponsibility to which they may subject, and which the authority will have to exact from them in the prone: form. ae ee clei _ou pot Pe eared to claim atany time, eir master, the government, or the importers, the earment of the expenses of their porurn ragage to country, unless their con- tracts contain an expreas stipulation to that effect. LY. On the expiration of the contract, the colo- nists wey have a a Ma ao agen to them respectively, according as Spaniards or foreigners, without any difference between them and those who may never have been colonists. Cuarrer III. a the Disciplinary Jurisdiction of the Masters. LVI. The masters sball exercise a et jurisdiction over their colonists, and in virtue of it shall be able to im the following punishments: 1, Confinement one te ten aay Be 2. Stoppage of 8 during that ‘The first of these punishments may be inflicted without the second, but the latter may never be applied without the former. LVI. Whenever the master inflicts on his colo- nist either of the penalties mentioned in the pre- vious Article, he shall give information within the next twenty-four hours to the proper protector, in order that be may investigate, if he proper, the offence committed, and may alter the sentence harmless amusements as may not disturb the | Of the master if it should appear unjust. Any master ser | to pire the said notice within the time specil be subject to a sum- fine of $25 to $100. LVIII. The colonists may in every case complain to the protector of any wrong done them by thelr masters, whether by punishing them without cause, by imposing penalties which are not within their Fe nda or by otherwise improperly treating em. If the protector find the master guilty of any of- fence, he shall denounce him to the proper tribunal; LIX. In order to ensure the iment of the regu- lations of the two preceding Articles, the protectors shall have the power to visit, when they think pro- per, the estates or establishments where there are colonists, either Poa, or by means of other functionaries, and to examine the colonists as they may think fit. LX. The delegates of the master in the estate or establishment in which the colonists work, may also exercise disciplinary jurisdiction, but under the pe- cuniary responsibility of the same master, and with- cut prejudice to the penal responsibility which they may incur. LXI. The following offences shall be punished as bove (disciplinarmente):— 1. Insubordinatton to the master, to the superin- tendents, or to any other delegate of the master. 2. Refusal to work, or want of punctuality in any particular piece of work. - 3. Injuries which do not oblige the party injured to suspend work. 4. Desertion, 5. Drunkenness. 6.. Infraction of the rules of discipline established by the master. 7. Offences against good manners, not constituting crimes, which cannot be proseeuted unless at the instance of the parties, or which constituting a crime of this kind, are not prosecuted by the party offended. 8 Any other act done with malice, and from which or or damago accrues to # third person, and which nevertheless does not constitute an of- fence subject to legal prosecution. LXII. The disciplinary jurisdiction shall be exer- cised by the masters without Wabash to the right of injured parties to require that the offending colo- nist chall be punished by the tribunals if there be just cause. LXII. The ae tribunals, to which the colo- hiets shall present themselves, represented in the form prescribed in Article XXVI, shall have cog- nizance in all cases of penal or civil responsibility in which the masters are not competent judges ac- bis a ae the regulation in Article LXI. LXIV. When the punishments pointed out in Article LVI. are not sufficient to prevent the colonist from repeating the same or committing other offen- ces, the master shall apply to the protector, who, if the act constitutes an offence according to the lawa, shall decide that the guilty colonist may be punish- ed by them; and if not, by additional disciplinary punishment. LXV. If the colonists of an estate should mutiny, or resist by force and collectively the orders of their superiors, the master Bey Reo eee by force to bring them to order; and he shall give immediate infor mation to the delegated protector, in order that if the gravity of the case require it, he may take mea- eures for loving the goilty colonists punished at once in the presence of the other colonista, sand Yoontan colonists are hereby abre- The jtain-General of the island eh vif take the proper measures inorder that year, by the month of January, lista of the may be made out or corrected; the liste shall state their names, sex, x whether they are married Or single, thelr trades, the ‘perioa of toctr coutreas, and the name, profession and domicile of their res- pective masters. The se. 2 authorit the esid registers, stating the colonists e registers, s! number of: each nation, classified by sexes ; by ages, ir ears, from 15 to 50, and from that age y condition, es unmarried, married or by occupation, whether ¢ LXVI. Pe hitherto in force relative gated. idowe: agricultural, industrial domestic; by the districts in which they reaide; by the time of duration of their contracts, according as they may be under five years, from five to tem yesre, from ten to fifteen years, and from fifteem years upwards, Given at the Palace, March 22, 1854. Signed by the Royal Hand. The President of the Council of Ministers, (Signed) Luis Josz Saxvorius. Taking into consideration the reasons stated te me by my President of the Council of Ministers, and in conformity with the opinion of the aame Counail, I bave determined to approve the following regula tions, which are to be observed in the istand of Ou- ba for preparing lists anda civil register of slaves: Respecting Lists and First Iscrigtion. of Slaves specting Lists ai irst tpt tn Ann. L 0 oh dats an te Gaptaie ‘ ‘ iT. I, On suc! as the General ma fix, the municipal officers of the towns (; y accompanied by such functionaries or viduals as the respective Governors or Lieutenant- Governors may appoint, will proceed to the prepar . ration of the lists of slaves throughout the island. Ii. These lists shall state, with due clearness and exactitude, the names of the slaves, thelr sex, the nation to which they belong, and their age, if it be known, and if not known, what their age pear to be; also the names of their Paani Me bSectal Tarde LL ge occupation, their , persons jon, an tly, the name, profes- ea, and domicile 4 et owner. * oe le municipal of Sore Sd. the Galegiear ae companying them will sign all the lists of their dis- trict, andthe owners of slaves will sign their owa lists, both being responsible to the Governor or te Oe Sihanals & Cay ing to ces Lares Atom case, for any mistake or an; exactitu 0" ay fraudulent intention. x _ IV. Any owner of slaves who shall cause to be on- tered in the lists a greater number of slaves than he really possesses, shall pay a fine of from $200 to $500 for every additional slave so entered. V. The same penalty shall be inflicted on the owner who shall enter any of his slaves with a false deecnption, showing a fraudulent intention. VI. The “peddneo” and delegates who may be convicted of connivance in an; of the frauds alluded to in the two preceding Articles, shall be tried and punished as forgers of public documenta. VII. After the iration of the term fixed for the formation of the lists, the “‘pedaneos” will send them in original to the Governor or Lieutenant-Go- vernor of the respective diotricts, keeping a certified copy of the same. III. In every chief town of a district a civil re- gister of slaves shall be established, which shall comprise all those slaves who may have their habi- tual residence within the same district, and which Ny Abe entrusted to a public functionary appointed y fant Ix. Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, on receiving the lista m the “ jAneos,” will transmit them, with hi certificate, to the keeper of the register, for the inscription in the latter of all the slaves comprised in the lists, without omitting any of the marks or circumstances noted therein. . After the expiration of the time fixed for the formation of the lists, and when the civil repeeee > in the districts shall be opened, the Captain-General will fix a further short period, not to be extended, during which the owners of slaves who, for any reason whatever, may have omitted to enter any of , their slaves, may present themselves to the “ neo,” togeu er With the omitted slaves in question, fs em entered. Lieutenant-Governor the lists which they may have drawn up during this second Reread in the manner reacribed in Articles Il, III, VI, and VII, and then e registers for all first inscriptions shall be irrevo- cably closed, excentng the inscription of ay born children, orthat which may be ordered to made by the proper authorities after due examina- tion of the circumstances of the case, XI. The registers being closed, the Captain- General will fix a further period, within which the owners of slaves sball receive, through the Boece two certified copies of the inscription of each slave, which will call egistro” (register tickets). \ III. The register tickets shall state briefly the description and circumstances of each slave, accord- ing to the tenor of the inscription, and they will be issued by the keeper of the register, and connter- signed by the respective Govenors or Lieutenant- Governors. XIV. The Governors or Lieutenant-Governors will cause new regtster tickets to be issued when- ever they may be requested to doso by the owners of slaves, in Coe ed of the ori ones having e keepers of re, Will also issue been lost; and such tickets by Fone Ri Persea whenever may make any ion ‘original inscription, Shy slaves procesding frean other deer apy slaves iz registered in the same according laid down in the next chapter. The issuing of the ticket shall alwa; in the register book, and if it shoul duplicate, reagon for so doing will XV. The registers being once closed, who may not have been inscribed therein owners shall be considered ag manumitted ral d 5 lown. XVI. After the expiration of the term in which the owners of slaves are to recieve from allowed to freely in the country: Toads wittiont carrying with ext one of the copies of their ticket. Any slave who may be found without this doca- ment will be treated as a ; and after his ar- - ticket shall not be presented, the slave fail be ae clared free, and the proper him his letter of freedom. XVII. After the register has been closed, only the following slaves will be inscribed in it for the first: ei 1, Slaves born subsequently to the closing of the ‘er. . Those who may be declared slaves by sentence , of the courts of justice, and after due proof of their legitimate origin. Those whom the Captain-General or his dele- ee the Governors, or Lieutenant-Governors, may , irect to be entered as legitimately imported into the island, or as not having been in the possession of their owners during the period fixed for their in- scription. . XVII. The newly born slaves shall be entered by * their owners within one month, to be re:koned from the day of their birth, in the form prescribed in Article II. ms XIX. The men of color whose state of freedom or * of slavery may be in question before the courts of justice, shall be entered with a note of this circum- stance; but the sentence whereby they are declared slaves will have no force whatsoever, so long as it has not been registered in the form hei de-, scribed. XX. Any person legitimately importing any slave ind of Cuba, shall present him, within “ into the i eight days after his arrival, to the superior political authority of the port in which he has been Innded in order that that Hicetenie a € after having daly , ascertained the legitimacy of his origin, may direct “ him to be registered in the town where he is to re- ie. If the slaves so im} should be obliged to com-, tinue their journey, in company with their owners, within the eight days, the owners shall cause them to be includea in their own passports until they arm a at the. place where they are to fix their resi- + lence. y If the order for entering a slave is to be carried: into effect out of the district of the authority by whom it bas been given such order will only serve’s a8 @ pass, in order t the alaye may present him- self to (he Governor or the Licutenant-Governor of the district where he {s to reside, and that the owner. may apply to the aforesaid fanctionaries to have the” slave registered, after the necessary inquiries. In no case shall the passin question be valid be- yord Can Ayn from its date. > XXI. The Governors of establishments will cause the slaves who may be under their to in the register of each slave, points, the cause of his ims prisonment, the period of his sentence, and how mL Those “slaves: wh hat |. Those slaves who ma; run during the timo fixed for the 0 , and whe, may subsequently be found, shail be registoredA, after they have been presented by their owners te the Governor or the Lieutenant Governor of the district, and after these functionaries shall have duly ascertained the fact of the slave having ran away. Packie rt aprer II, Vearty Revision of Lists, and Ins-riptic Titles’ Restative to ‘on oe XXIII. Every year in the month of Janaary, and