JAMAICA. 



413 





MII "Cow-Pox and Small- 



On Spotted l-Yvcr,"and "On Spasmodic, 

 in the "Transactions t' the 



Medical SMcicty ;" "S.\l!abus of 



:siii; untl -Text Book f Led 



,',>! tilt.' Use nl' till- lll'-dical <: 



"A M moir nl' Ins son, -lames Jackson, .Jr.," 

 who died iii IS:;!, with extracts from hi-: ],(- 

 ,!id medical oases, 1885; "Letters to o 

 Young I'livMeian," 1855. Of tins lost, a num- 

 ber of edition,, have been printed. Dr. -lack 

 SMII wa- aUo a very frequent contributor to the 

 ' <tn<l Surgical Journal^ and to 

 other ineilical periodicals, and always wrote 

 ivat clearness and force. 



JAMAICA, an i-laml in the Caribbean Sea, 

 belonging to KiiLrland. Its extreme length is 

 160 miles, and it lias a mean breadth of about 

 80 miles. It is divided into three counties, 

 Middlesex, Surrey, and Cornwall, and these 

 are subdivided into parishes, of which there 

 are no'v sixteen in all, the number, which was 

 formerly twenty-two, having been recently re- 

 duced by the union of smaller parishes with 

 larger ones. According to the last cunsus, taken 

 in the year 1861, the population of the isl- 

 and was l-n,2ii-t-, of which 13,816 were whites, 

 81,074 of mixed blood, and 346,374 blacks. 

 From the year 1844, when a census was taken, 

 to 1861, the increase of population was 63,831. 

 The principal exports of the island are sugar, 

 rum, coffee, pimento, ginger, and dyewoods. 

 Since the abolition of representative institu- 

 tions by the vote of the old Legislature, the 

 colony is governed as a crown colony, the 

 administration being carried on by the Gov- 

 ernor with the assistance of three executive 

 officers, receiving their appointments from 

 England. There is besides a Legislative Coun- 

 cil, consisting of thirteen members, inclusive of 

 the Governor, who is president thereof. Of 

 the other twelve, six are official and six unoffi- 

 cial, but all are nominated by the crown, and 

 are subject to removal at the will of the crown. 



The year 1867 will be memorable in the an- 

 nals of the island for the comprehensive meas- 

 ure of law reform which the Governor of the 

 colony, Sir J. P. Grant, succeeded in carrying 

 through the Legislature. From the testimony 

 of those most competent, from their experience 

 of public affairs, to give evidence .as to the 

 condition of the colony, it appears that, under 

 the state of things existing prior to the out- 

 break of the blacks in 1865, the administration 

 of the law was sadly defective, and its machin- 

 ery so cumbersome as practically to oppose al- 

 most insurmountable difficulties to men of low- 

 ly position and humble means in their efforts 

 to obtain justice. Sir J. P. Grant, upon as- 

 suming the government of the colony, satisfied 

 himself by inquiry that there was good ground 

 for the numerous complaints which were made 

 of the failure of justice, and he determined to 

 apply a remedy by remodelling the judicial in- 

 stitutions of the colony. Accordingly, in the 

 early part of the year, measures were intro- 



duced by the Government into the Legislative 

 Council for establishing nil over th- i-laiid a 

 number of district court-, to In- pi 

 by judges to I'c -elected from the liar of the 

 mother country, and appointed by the borne 

 Government. Such a change would ha. 

 doiili'.e ctlect of making the courts for the 

 trials of civil cau-e- mmv ea-ih aer, ~il,]c to 

 the poorer classes than under the old arrange- 

 ment, and of di-peiising in a great meav.ire 

 with the necessity for the holding of petty 

 courts by local magistrates. The (iovornor'g 

 measure- met with warm opposition from two 

 classes of the Coloni-ts the lawyers and the 

 planters. The first opposed them from motives 

 of pecuniary int< .vs contem- 



plated, among other matters of detail, a ma- 

 terial reduction in the scale of lawyers' fees as 

 fixed by legal enactment. The opposition of 

 the planters arose from a very natural unwill- 

 ingness to part with power. 



While the measures were before the Legis- 

 lative Council, meetings of the magistrates 

 were held in some of the parishes, at which 

 resolutions protesting against the course of 

 the Government in the premises were passed, 

 and in one of the largest and most influential 

 parishes on the north side of the island, the 

 resignation of the magistrates in a body was 

 threatened. But the Government could not be 

 moved, and after an ample discussion in the 

 Legislative Council of the proposed scheme of 

 judicial reform, the several bills for giving it 

 effect were duly passed, and subsequently re- 

 ceived the sanction of the home Government. 

 The wisdom of Sir J. P. Grant's policy in this 

 matter has been amply justified by the good 

 effects which have already followed the adop- 

 tion of his measures, especially in allaying the 

 animosities which sprang out of the old state 

 of tilings. The people, on their own admis- 

 sion, feel now a confidence in the courts which 

 they never had before, and the scenes which 

 used to disgrace the temples of justice in days 

 gone by no longer present themselves. 



The subject of taxation has had a large share 

 of the attention of the Government, with 

 the twofold object of providing sufficient 

 means for meeting the heavy demands upon 

 the treasury for the support of the expensive 

 institutions of the colony, and of adjusting 

 the burdens of the tax-payers on equitable 

 principles. The public debt of Jamaica 

 amounts at present, to nearly one million 

 pounds sterling, the greater part of which 

 bears interest at the rate of six per cent. 

 per annum. The policy of previous govern- 

 ments has been to meet deficiency of revenue 

 by contracting fresh loans ; but, as with the 

 present limited resources of the colony, and its 

 rather doubtful prospects, the Governor regards 

 it as highly impolitic to pursue such a oonr.-u 

 any longer, resort has been had to fresh taxa- 

 tion for obtaining the means of paying off the 

 expenses incurred by the Government during 

 the late disturbances, and of making good the 



