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Page 25
BY SIR ARTHUR HELPS[1]
The outline of Las Casas'[2] scheme was as follows: The King was to
give to every laborer willing to emigrate to Espa�ola his living
during the journey from his place of abode to Seville, at the rate of
half a real a day throughout the journey, for great and small, child
and parent. At Seville the emigrants were to be lodged in the Casa de
la Contratacion (the India House), and were to have from eleven to
thirteen maravedis a day. From thence they were to have a free passage
to Epa�ola, and to be provided with food for a year. And if the
climate "should try them so much" that at the expiration of this year
they should not be able to work for themselves, the King was to
continue to maintain them; but this extra maintenance was to be put
down to the account of the emigrants, as a loan which they were to
repay. The King was to give them lands--his own lands--furnish them
with plowshares and spades, and provide medicines for them. Lastly,
whatever rights and profits accrued from their holdings were to become
hereditary. This was certainly a most liberal plan of emigration. And,
in addition, there were other privileges held out as inducements to
these laborers.
In connection with the above scheme, Las Casas, unfortunately for his
reputation in after-ages, added another provision, namely, that each
Spanish resident in the island should have license to import a dozen
negro slaves. The origin of this suggestion was, as he informs us,
that the colonists had told him that, if license were given them to
import a dozen negro slaves each, they, the colonists, would then set
free the Indians. And so, recollecting that statement of the
colonists, he added this provision. Las Casas, writing his history in
his old age, thus frankly owns his error:
"This advice, that license should be given to bring negro slaves to
these lands, the _cleriqo_ Casas first gave, not considering the
injustice with which the Portuguese take them and make them slaves;
which advice, after he had apprehended the nature of the thing, he
would not have given for all he had in the world. For he always held
that they had been made slaves unjustly and tyrannically; for the
same reason holds good of them as of the Indians."
The above confession is delicately and truthfully worded--"not
considering"; he does not say, not being aware of; but though it was a
matter known to him, his moral sense was not watchful, as it were,
about it. We must be careful not to press the admissions of a generous
mind too far, or to exaggerate the importance of the suggestion of Las
Casas. It would be quite erroneous to look upon this suggestion as
being the introduction of negro slavery. From the earliest times of
the discovery of America, negroes had been sent there. But what is of
more significance, and what it is strange that Las Casas was not aware
of, or did not mention, the Hieronymite Fathers had also come to the
conclusion that negroes must be introduced into the West Indies.
Writing in January, 1518, when the fathers could not have known what
was passing in Spain in relation to this subject, they recommended
licenses to be given to the inhabitants of Espa�ola, or to other
persons, to bring negroes there. From the tenor of their letter it
appears that they had before recommended the same thing. Zuazo, the
judge of residencia, and the legal colleague of Las Casas, wrote to
the same effect. He, however, suggested that the negroes should be
placed in settlements and married. Fray. Bernardino de Manzanedo, the
Hieronymite father, sent over to counteract Las Casas, gave the same
advice as his brethren about the introduction of negroes. He added a
proviso, which does not appear in their letter--perhaps it did exist
in one of the earlier ones--that there should be as many women as men
sent over, or more.
The suggestion of Las Casas was approved of by the Chancellor; and,
indeed, it is probable there was hardly a man of that time who would
have seen further than the excellent clerigo did. Las Casas was asked
what number of negroes would suffice? He replied that he did not know;
upon which a letter was sent to the officers of the India House at
Seville to ascertain the fit number in their opinion. They said that
four thousand at present would suffice, being one thousand for each of
the islands, Espa�ola, Porto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica. Somebody now
suggested to the Governor, De Bresa, a Fleming of much influence and a
member of the council, that he should ask for this license to be given
to him. De Bresa accordingly asked the King for it, who granted his
request; and the Fleming sold this license to certain Genoese
merchants for twenty-five thousand ducats, having obtained from the
King a pledge that for eight years he should give no other license of
this kind.
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