Tobago avoids cost burdens during apprenticeship

Dr Rita Pemberton

BECAUSE OF the anticipated unwelcome increases in labour costs during the apprenticeship period, in addition to concerns about labour and the sustainability of Tobago’s sugar industry in the era of emancipation, high on the agenda of the administration was the need to ensure that no unnecessary additional cost burdens were placed on the island’s treasury.

This desire stimulated the framing and implementation of laws to control activity in areas which could have financial implications, but which were not considered the island’s responsibility.

In 1834 the administration of Tobago found it necessary to impose increased controls over the ships which entered its ports to do business, and provide greater scrutiny of their crews, passengers and cargoes.

Hence the Tobago Council and Assembly formulated a new law to prevent the island becoming a depository for distressed or ill seamen or passengers and abandoned ships. The law which was passed in 1834 to take effect from January 1,1835, dealt with three issues which surfaced in the normal course of the activities of trading ships in the region.

Firstly, it was the norm for both enslaved and free black men who turned up at every port to seek freedom and better opportunities by taking jobs on ships, and captains were willing to employ such men, offering the lowest of wages and poorest working conditions.

One common problem at the port was the number of disgruntled seamen who encountered problems with their employers and were often dissatisfied with their working conditions and wages. They would protest by airing their grievances and abandoning the ship at the port.

For the administration, this problem was larger than simply a wage dispute, because it meant the island would house a group of free black people over whom it could exercise no control.

Secondly, population control was considered essential to maintain the type of social order favoured by the plantation owners who resisted emancipation, wanting to maintain pre-emancipation working arrangements. For them, control of the black population was mandatory to manage their plantations in the traditional manner and prevent the development of a population of liberated black workers.

In addition, what was least welcome was a group of people whose issues could be used to inflame the population into protest action against the ruling class, who, from the start of the apprenticeship system, inflicted restrictive measures against the apprentices. To the planting community this free element would pose serious social problems.

The new law sought to provide a facility for recovering the wages of seamen who resorted to the island to seek redress. Arriving mariners were required to sign an oath and put up a bond for £100 before entering Customs House in Scarborough. The ship’s captain or owner was required to state the number of crew, passengers, both male and female, brought to the island. The required clearance was mandatory for all ships. No ship or vessel was to be allowed in if information about the numbers on board was not provided.

It was also necessary for the captain to satisfy the authorities that all the specified crew and passengers were accounted for on the outward journey, to ensure that all were taken away when the ship left the island.

At the same time, this requirement let the administration ensure there was no attrition of the Tobago work force through the trade ships.

The captains were required to pay three shillings for the certification. The colonial secretary, who was in charge of this ship registration process, was required to lay charges against those who flouted the law, or he would be charged with neglect or refusal to perform his duties.

If it became necessary for any captain to leave a sick seaman or passenger on the island, he was required to report to the nearest justice of the peace within 24 hours after the illness was detected so that the necessary arrangements could be made. The penalty for noncompliance was £10.

The law also included the establishment of a system to aid in conflict resolution between ship workers and their employers. Complaints from sailors and other workers on the ship about nonpayment of wages and related matters were to be mediated by a justice of the peace, who would summon the parties and seek to work out a resolution. If the ship’s master was found guilty, he would be fined or, failing his ability to comply, items from the vessel would be sold to raise the money to pay the workers.

The law also sought to control the behaviour of the resident population with respect to the aggrieved seafarers. Anyone found guilty of harbouring a seaman or passenger from any ship without the captain's knowledge was charged up to £5 or faced up to 30 days in prison. The authorities searched for the absconding seamen and if any was found on anyone's premises the JP would keep them until the sum had been paid. The penalty for harbouring absconding seamen without the permission of the owner of the property was up to 30 days in prison with hard labour.

If, as was customary, seamen and crew deserted hours before departure, they would be held in jail until they could be sent away from the island.

If the ship’s captain or master found it necessary to leave behind members of the crew for any reason, it was required that the matter should be reported so that arrangements could be made to facilitate them.

If any sick or disabled seaman in need of care was found onshore two months after the departure of the ship, the master of the ship would be contacted and required to provide for his support until he could be moved from the island. Should he refuse, a magistrate or JP could enforce the terms of the bond that he signed on entry into Tobago.

If for any reason a trading ship was sold in Tobago, the shipmaster/owner had to ensure all members of the crew were taken off the island, or would be liable to penalties. Alternatively, the purchaser would be liable for all costs related to the stranded crew.

At the start of the apprenticeship period, Tobago’s planter-supportive administration sought to maintain an extension of the slavery system. This was a cost-cutting measure to reduce the cost of labour. While the measures regarding trading ships were also intended to avoid cost overload, they were also used to prevent opportunities for the apprentices to leave Tobago.