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very few exceptions, in the island produce muscovado or raw sugar, the impression being that the machinery for producing crystals would not be remunerative, as compared with the prices realised for the fine, rich brown sugar for which Barbados has so long been celebrated. Altogether about 50,000 tons of sugar are, on the average, exported from Barbados annually, which means, if the figures given in the Royal Commissioners' Report of 1897 are correct, a low yield of under a ton of sugar per acre.

It has been said that, owing to the low price of sugar, estates in Barbados might to some extent be abandoned, especially those in less-favoured districts. This would, of course, be an important matter as regards the labouring population. It is quite true that the crisis might be staved off by the offer of the Imperial Government to advance £120,000 for the establishment of central factories, the said money being either a gift to the sugar industry, or recoverable in course of time, under the security of a lien on the land and buildings. This measure would be a great help to Barbados, for one reason, that it would introduce an amount of capital which would have to be expended in wages for the labouring population. If only on this account, the grant should be accepted, and the necessary enterprise undertaken by the planters in certain districts where factories could be established with a fair prospect of success. The money ought to be sufficient for two or three factory centres, the growers of canes relying upon a definite (however moderate) return for their weight of canes. Individual planters, growing their own canes and extracting really a very poor return from them in low-priced sugar, should face the situation, and join heartily in this movement, founded upon the Government grant. Their sugar at present is exported mainly for refining purposes, and if, with the assistance of the Government, they can refine it them

selves, it ought to be an undoubted benefit to them. They alone are not interested. The first aim of the Imperial Government must be to secure the advantage of the large industrial population, for if that population is thrown back upon the hands of the Imperial Government, no one could tell what the results may be in view of the wageless and practically starving people. Relief works would be merely a temporary expedient, and settlement on abandoned lands would be the only This would of course mean the ruin of all the institutions of government, the loss of a part of the public revenue, the political mastery of a black proletarianism, under which the island would make a new and disastrous start. The future of the island is in the hands of the present planters, not merely through their House of Assembly, but acting unitedly on their own behalf, and taking the bull by the horns. If they do not accept this view, the "bull" may soon be too much for them.

resource.

Now this system of central factories might have an appreciable influence upon the small holders of allotments, who belong to the more respectable classes of the black population. A man, with a house such as might be found among the more respectable of the peasantry, with several acres at his disposal, and with wife and children accustomed to gardening, might grow sugar-canes, and sell them to the factory on a percentage basis of juice or sugar. This system of small cane-farming has been tried with fair success in Trinidad. It has been started to a limited extent in British Guiana. It bears a recognisable relation to the Metayer system in Tobago, although that system has not been very satisfactory in recent years. The Metayer system in Java is perhaps a better case in point. Now this question of cane-farming is undoubtedly one in which a large number of the peasant proprietors of Barbados are interested. But still the question re

mains, whether the sixpence, eightpence, or tenpence a day on the sugar-fields is a sufficient inducement for the peasant's labour. Are there no other industries in which the country labourer can take part? Must Barbados remain always a sugar-field? Apparently it must, and Addison's words must remain true, wherein he refers to the fruits of Portugal being corrected by the products of Barbados, and the infusion of a China plant sweetened by the pith of an Indian cane. So long as there is a growing demand for sugar in the world, Barbados is justified in making all she can.

At present the cost of making sugar in Barbados is almost entirely labour, engaged in planting (shovel work), weeding, crushing by the mill directed by windpower, treatment of juice, packing, transport, &c. All labour, it might be said. The net cost of producing a ton of muscovado sugar in Barbados is from £8, 10s. to £9 per ton, and as the selling price has recently been below this, it follows that the industry has sustained a loss. There is no doubt, however, that by a better system of crushing a larger amount of sugar could be obtained. The crushed canes are full of sweetness, which is lost in the furnaces, to which the megass," or crushed canes, are consigned as fuel. If it is true that it takes 13.6 tons of cane to make one ton of sugar, whereas with improved machinery it would only take 9.5 tons of cane to produce that ton of sugar, it will be seen how much sugar is lost, perhaps 25 per cent. of the total quantity in the cane. It must not be supposed that this loss of sugar is confined to Barbados, because other colonies show a loss, though not to the saine extent. Barbados is a collection of small sugar estates, quite unable individually to bear the cost of, or supply the material for, any improvements in machinery. Hence the proposals for the establishment of central factories, requiring the supply of cane from a number of contiguous estates and farms

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at a given percentage of profit, after working up the

canes.

That there are lights and shadows in the present condition of Barbados is sufficiently shown in the above sketch. That the patriotism, energy, and good sense of the people will bring the island out of its present troubles, is the earnest wish of all who are acquainted with its striking history, its beautiful climate, and the rich resources of its soil. There is room for the employment of English capital, no doubt, especially in the introduction of new machinery, but the small size of the island-the fact that its resources. are utilised practically to their full extent-render it difficult to give any advice as to the prospects of proposed white settlers with an idea of cultivation.

Barbados, as above stated, is now a colony by itself, with its own governor and administration. The Windward Islands, associated under a general government, are those islands lying in the order named from north to south-St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada-the governor usually residing at St. George's, Grenada. The total area of the combined colony is 524 square miles, about twice the size of Middlesex. The population is about 146,000. The total value of imports averages £450,000, and its exports not quite so much, say £420,000. Grenada, the most southerly of the Windward group, is about 21 miles in length and 12 miles in its greatest breadth, containing about 133 square miles. It is a healthy island, affording excellent sea-bathing. The sugar industry in this island has practically died out, and it is producing cocoa in increasing quantities. It is the best example of what has been called the cultivation of the minor industries. Nutmeg and other spices are largely cultivated, and it grows the finest tropical fruits for export to other parts of the West Indies. It affords the most conspicuous and successful illustration of a West

Indian island replacing its sugar by a variety of other productions, and fairly paying its way. Its history begins with the visit of Columbus in August 1498, being then inhabited by Caribs. In 1674 it was possessed by France. In 1763 Great Britain took possession of it by treaty. In 1779 it was again occupied by the French, but again became a British possession in 1783 under the Versailles Treaty of Peace. Still later in the century there was a rebellion against British rule, instigated and assisted by the French, causing much bloodshed and general distress and disaster. The rebellion was suppressed by Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1796.

St. Lucia with its famous Pitons, two great rocks rising 3000 feet sheer out of the sea, is another island discovered by Columbus in his fourth voyage. It is 24 miles in length and 12 in its greatest breadth. Its capital is Castries, looking upon a harbour said to be the best in the West Indies. From its position it has lately acquired some importance, having been selected as a coaling station by her Majesty's Government, and residence for a portion of the troops in the West India command. The Caribs in this island were perhaps more aggressive than in any other part of the West Indies, attacking and murdering the English colonists. The island has been several times-sometimes for considerable periods-in the hands of the French, and has been subjected on various occasions to the operation of important European treaties. In 1782 the great fight took place between Rodney and De Grasse. That British victory had far-reaching consequences, both in the West Indies and in Europe. When matters came to be settled in 1784, the island, containing many French inhabitants, was again given up to France. The French revolutionary excitement extended to St. Lucia; the English had to fight for their existence against the Republican troops. There was long fighting, until at

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