JAMAICA 207 



Good schools are everywhere provided, and attendance 

 is compulsory. There were nine hundred and twenty-four 

 government schools in 1896, having an enrolled atten- 

 dance of one hundred thousand children. There are nine 

 hundred and twelve public free schools throughout the 

 island. The figures in the last report of the superinten- 

 dent inspector of schools show an unprecedented advance 

 in attendance, due to the abolition of school fees by the 

 legislature in the spring of 1892. The effect of this has 

 been shown in the rapid decrease of illiteracy. There is 

 a government training-college for female teachers, under 

 the charge of educated Englishwomen. Sixty male stu- 

 dents are also being trained at a local educational insti- 

 tution in Kingston at government expense. There are also 

 a number of free schools, denominational schools, high 

 schools, and industrial schools. In addition to the local 

 educational institutions, scholarships are provided where- 

 by residents of the island can obtain higher education in 

 England. The island is one of the centers for the local 

 examinations held by the University of Cambridge. 



While the majority of the Jamaicans belong to the 

 Church of England, the latter was disestablished and dis- 

 endowed as the official religion of the island in 1870. This 

 church has about one hundred and fifty parishes through- 

 out the island. The Scotch Kirk, the Catholics, the Bap- 

 tists, the Presbyterians, the Congregational Union, the 

 W esleyans, the United Methodists, the Christians, Mora- 

 vians, and Hebrews are all numerously represented. The 

 Jamaicans, as a rule, are remarkably punctilious in their 

 church attendance, and on Sundays the country roads arc 

 lined with the people going to and from the numerous neat 

 ehapels everywhere to be found. 



The general revenue for the year 1895-96 amounted to 

 $o,069,000. Of this sum more than one half was raised by 

 import duties, in accordance with the principle of indireel 

 taxation which prevails in all the British colonies. The 

 remainder was raised by excise duties, principally on rum 

 manufacture. The total expenditure for the same year 



