456 TRINIDAD. 



to say it was fortunate that Lord Harris was called to govern 

 during that critical time. The high position he held, as a peer 

 of the realm, afforded him opportunities, which a man in a less 

 exalted position could not have, of serving the interests of the 

 colony. Lord Harris, in his despatches to Lord Grey, appears as 

 an independent character and an unprejudiced man, always 

 ready to plead the cause of the much-abused colonists ; he 

 resolutely and candidly exposed the difficulties resulting, not 

 only from the depressed condition of the market and the poverty 

 of the people, but mainly from the wandering dispositions of the 

 emancipated class. 



Lord Harris clearly perceived the dangers of the situation, 

 but knew where to look for a remedy ; that remedy he found 

 in Asiatic immigration, which to all unprejudiced minds appeared 

 as the only means of relieving the colony. He unhesitatingly 

 set to work, and did not rest satisfied till, by dint of perseverance, 

 he succeeded in removing all objections, and in conciliating the 

 Colonial Office to our system of immigration. The first essays 

 were not very encouraging, not through his fault surely, since 

 he perseveringly insisted on the necessity of a serious control 

 and the adoption of stringent regulations. " My desire/' said 

 Lord Harris, "has been impartially to study the interests of 

 both parties, at the same time never to lose sight of the fact 

 that the Coolies are placed here under peculiar circumstances, as 

 utter strangers in a foreign land, and therefore requiring the 

 zealous and increasing care of the Government ; that they are 

 also far from being the best class of the Indian labouring 

 population ; are naturally dissolute and depraved in their habits 

 if left to themselves, and much inclined to fall into habits of 

 drinking and of wandering idle about the country, and therefore 

 require also the close supervision of Government. " The Governor 

 deserved to succeed, and he did succeed. I should not be just 

 and fair if I did not recognise the effective assistance given to 

 the Governor by Mr. Ch. Warner, the then Attorney- General ; 

 he may be said to have been the indefatigable, clever, and 

 felicitous collaborator of Lord Harris in this question of immi- 

 gration. To both the colony owes a debt of gratitude. 



Lord Harris had undertaken the government of Trinidad 

 eight years after emancipation had been proclaimed. 



During those eight years things had been allowed to continue 



