WEST INDIES. 



795 



Michael Hodgson. The Legislative Council has 

 9 nominated members, the House of Assembly 24 

 members elected by the people for each annual ses- 

 sion. Bridgetown, the capital, has about 30,000 

 inhabitants. The Government schools had 14,- 

 D78 pupils in attendance in 1899. The garrison in 

 1900 consisted of 32 officers and 815 men. Nearly 

 the entire surface of the island is cultivated, one- 

 third being planted to sugar, the yield of which 

 has decreased from 66,262 hogsheads in 1894 to 

 43,907 in 1899. The annual produce of the fish- 

 eries is about 17,000. There were 42 sailing 

 vessels and 3 steamers, having a total tonnage 

 of 8,680 tons in 1899. There are 24 miles of rail- 

 road. The export of glance pitch in 1899 was 

 350 tons, valued at 3,500. The revenue collected 

 in 1899 was 176,022, of which 95,687 came 

 from customs; expenditure, 207,884, of which 

 22,800 were for police, 11,225 for debt, and 

 2,360 for public works. The total imports were 

 998,007; import of cotton goods, 133,424; of 

 flour, 64,759; of rice, 45,450; of fish, 52,535. 

 The total exports were 845,590; export of sugar, 

 474,009; of molasses, 109,252. In 1900 the 

 revenue amounted to 185,474, and expenditure 

 to 182,865. The imports amounted to 1,045,- 

 251, of which half came from Great Britain, and 

 exports were 919,011, of which 694,038 repre- 

 sent products of the island. All the muscovado 

 sugar, valued at 485,736, went to the United 

 States. The imperial Department of Agriculture 

 has continued the experiments with seedling 

 sugar-cane in Barbados. One variety which has 

 been cultivated seven years yields 27.5 tons of 

 cane and 3.31 tons of sugar per acre, and seems 

 to withstand disease. Another variety from 

 British Guiana produces in Antigua 25.6 tons of 

 cane and 3.5 tons of available sugar. Dr. Morris, 

 the imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, in an 

 agricultural conference held at Barbodos in 

 January, 1901, said that there was reasonable 

 hope of obtaining cane that would yield 40 or 

 50 per cent, more cane than at present and be 

 proof against the attacks of parasites and fungi. 

 An improvement of 30 per cent, would place West 

 Indian sugars on an equality with European beet- 

 sugar in the English market. The experiments of 

 Mr. Bovell, chief of the botanic station in Bar- 

 bados, have, according to results obtained by 

 Prof. D'Albuquerque, the head of the chemical 

 department, already exhibited a yield 40 per cent, 

 better than that of the favorite cane in general 

 cultivation. The establishment of central fac- 

 tories is desired by the planters of the West In- 

 dies, and the British Government has considered 

 the advisability of giving assistance by way of a 

 guarantee or a subsidy. The experiments at the 

 agricultural station have included trials of many 

 kinds of manure and of leguminous crops for 

 soiling with hopeful indications. So long as the 

 present United States tariff remains in force the 

 West Indian planters feel sure of a market for 

 their sugar in the United States. Uncertainty as 

 to the future commercial policy of the United 

 States causes alarm. They are anxious, too, 

 about the Canadian market, which is open now 

 to muscovado sugar, but which may in the fu- 

 ture receive refined sugar. The assistance which 

 the British Imperial Government gave to the 

 West India Islands in five years on the recom- 

 mendation of the Royal Commission amounted to 

 320,000, not including the grants of 40,000 to 

 Barbados, 25,000 to the Windward Islands, and 

 17,000 to the Leeward Islands to relieve distress 

 caused by hurricanes. 



Trinidad has an area of 1,754 square miles. 

 The population in 1899 was estimated at 260,517. 



The number of marriage 

 of births, 8,922; of cleat: 



w:is 1,243 in that year; 

 i, 6,129. 'J'lic Governor is 



Sir Cornelius Alfred Maloney, who is assisted by 

 an Executive Council of 7 members and a Legis- 

 lative Council of 9 official and 11 nominated mem- 

 bers. There were 24,866 pupils in 204 schools in 

 1899. The island contains 1,120,000 acres, of 

 which 432,000 acres have passed into private 

 ownership. There are 58,500 acres planted with 

 sugar-cane, 149,800 acres with cacao, 3,980 acres 

 with coffee, 33,100 acres with ground provisions, 

 and 11,000 acres with coconut-trees. The quan- 

 tity of asphalt exported in 1899 was 136,575 tons. 

 There are 80 miles of railroad and 690 miles of 

 telegraph. The revenue in 1899 was 651,135, in- 

 cluding, receipts in Tobago; expenditure, 650,- 

 750; debt, 923,416; imports of Trinidad and 

 Tobago, 2,535,965; exports, 2,572,891; ton- 

 nage entered and cleared, 1,262,298 tons. The im- 

 port of textiles was 350,453; of flour, 149,727; 

 of rice, 104,453; export of cacao, 898,384; of 

 sugar, 714,562; of molasses, 33,420. Tobago, 

 now administratively incorporated in Trinidad, 

 has an area of 114 square miles and 21,400 inhab- 

 itants. Cacao, cotton, and tobacco are culti- 

 vated, and the sugar plantations have decreased. 



French Colonies. The colony of Guadeloupe 

 consists of two islands separated by a narrow 

 channel and the dependencies of Marie Galante,Le5 

 Saintes, Desirade, St. Barthelemy, and St. Martin, 

 the whole having an area of 688 square miles and 

 193,800 inhabitants, including about 15,000 East 

 Indian coolies. The Governor is D. Moracchini. 

 The Legislative Council is elected by the people, 

 who are represented by a Senator and two Depu- 

 ties in the French Chambers. The garrison con- 

 sists of 170 French soldiers. There are 117 ele- 

 mentary schools, with 321 teachers and 10,979 

 pupils. The local revenue in 1900 was 4,968,324 

 francs. The expenditure of France in 1901 was 

 1,583,213 francs. The debt is 1,200,000 francs. 

 The yield of sugar in 1898 was 44,840 tons; that 

 of cacao in 1899 was 915,530 pounds, and of coffee 

 1,742,240 pounds. Bananas, yams, manioc, to- 

 bacco, and corn are raised for local consumption. 

 The total value of imports in. 1899 was 18,451,000 

 francs, and of exports 18,251,000 francs. Of the 

 imports 13,286,000 francs came from France, and 

 of the exports France took 11,032,000 francs. The 

 number of vessels entered in 1899 was 438, of 221,- 

 303 tons. 



The island of Martinique is represented by a 

 Senator and 2 Deputies in the French Chambers 

 and is administered by a Governor, G. Gabrie, 

 with a Council-General to make local laws. The 

 area is 381 square miles, and the fixed population 

 in 1895 was 187,692, comprising 90,373 males and 

 97,319 females. There was a floating population 

 of 1,907. Of the resident inhabitants 1,307 were 

 born in France, 4,665 were East Indians, 5,371 

 were immigrants from Africa, and 432 were Chi- 

 nese. The French garrison was 1,360 in number. 

 There were 152 elementary schools in 1899, with 

 13,371 pupils. Sugar, coffee, cacao, tobacco, and 

 cotton are grown for export. The value of the 

 imports in 1899 wa's 27,004,526 francs, of which 

 13,230,726 francs came from France, and the value 

 of the exports was 26,603,147 francs, of which 

 24,212,270 francs went to France. The tonnage 

 entered was 315,509; cleared, 313,840 tons. The 

 revenue collected on the island in 1900 was 5,729,- 

 793 francs ; expenditure of France, 2,270,758 francs 

 in 1901. The debt consists of an annuity of 95,- 

 000 francs and a loan of 1,460,000 francs. 



Danish Colonies. The islands of Santa Cruz, 

 or St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John constitute 

 the Danish Antilles. Their area is 138 square 



