414 



JAMAICA. 



falling off in the estimates occasioned by the 

 partial paralysis of agriculture and trade which 

 followed the disturbances. A tax has been laid 

 upon all houses of an annual rental of $60 

 and upward, and upon trades and professions. 

 Other measures of taxation, affecting more di- 

 rectly the mercantile interest, have also been 

 adopted, and although these have encountered 

 very strong opposition from the parties imme- 

 diately concerned in their operation, yet it is 

 believed that their effect will eventually be 

 very wholesome in destroying the system of 

 false credit upon which business has been very 

 largely carried on in Jamaica, and in placing 

 mercantile transactions generally on a sounder 

 and safer basis. The principal part of the 

 revenue of the island is derived from import 

 duties on articles of food and clothing, under a 

 system which relieves real estate of the burden 

 of contributing to the revenue, and throws by 

 far the heavier part of that burden upon hum- 

 ble industry. The Government is alive to the 

 necessity for a readjustment in this direction, 

 and has indicated its intention of reverting, 

 as far as the altered circumstances of the colony 

 will permit, and at the earliest possible period, 

 to the system of direct taxation which former- 

 ly existed in the colony. Measures have been 

 taken to enforce the payment of all arrears of 

 land-tax. Al! lands held under patent from 

 the crown, upon which the quit-rent shall not 

 have been paid by a certain time, are to be de- 

 clared forfeited to the crown, and all lands 

 upon which the tax of one penny per acre is 

 assessed under an act of the local Legislature, 

 are, under the same conditions, to be taken 

 possession of by the Government, and disposed 

 of in satisfaction of the claims of the public 

 against the proprietors of such lands. Mean- 

 while, the Government has adopted a system 

 of retrenchment and rigid economy. Several 

 public offices created during the existence of 

 slavery, but which had become useless to the 

 public, have been abolished. The number of 

 clergymen receiving their salaries out of the 

 colonial revenues has been reduced ; and the 

 appropriations which used regularly to be made 



. every year for the repairs of church edifices, 

 and for meeting the expenses incident to the 

 celebration of divine service, have been struck 

 out of the estimates altogether, the duty of 

 providing the means for these purposes being 

 thus thrown upon the several congregations. 



' In connection with this point it may be stated 

 that the question of the expediency of main- 

 taining a state establishment in the island is 

 being agitated by the local press, and a feeling 

 appears to be gaining ground in favor of pla- 

 cing all religious denominations on the same 

 footing. 



The revenue for the year amounted to $1,- 

 477,420, showing a deficiency of $281,555. The 

 whole of this deficiency is accounted for by 

 the falling off in the two most important 

 branches of the revenue, the customs, and the' 

 excise ; the former having fallen below the esti- 



mates by $149,115, and the latter by $138,195. 

 The first deficiency is set down by the Finan- 

 cial Secretary to that reaction which invariably 

 follows over-trading, to which over-trading is 

 ascribed the depression which prevailed in 

 commercial matters during the year; and with 

 regard to the other branches of revenue alluded 

 to, namely, the excise, the falling off is attributed 

 to the operations of those parties who, in the 

 previous year, anticipated the action of the 

 Legislature on raising the duty on rum, and 

 took out of bond at the lower rates of duty a 

 large quantity of that article for local consump- 

 tion. On the other hand, the yield from direct 

 taxation exceeded the estimate for the year in 

 every branch. 



As regards the question of popular educa- 

 tion, the year 1867 shows marked progress. 

 The appropriations from the treasury for edu- 

 cational purposes have been very liberal. A 

 system has been adopted providing for a 

 thorough inspection of all schools receiving 

 pecuniary grants from the public, and for in- 

 suring a more efficient discharge of their duties 

 by schoolmasters, and a competent agent has 

 been dispatched to England for the purpose of 

 selecting a number of well-qualified teachers 

 to take charge of schools in different parts of 

 the island. The educational returns show a 

 gratifying increase in the attendance of scholars 

 at the different schools, and on the whole the 

 people seem to be more and more alive to the 

 importance of education, which for many years 

 past has been in a very backward state. 



The mournful chapter of the history of Ja- 

 maica, relating to the outbreak of 1865, and 

 its sequel, has been finally closed, the Jamaica 

 Committee in England having abandoned their 

 intention of taking further proceedings in the 

 criminal courts against ex- Governor Eyre. The 

 committee were induced to adopt this course in 

 consequence of the result of the preliminary 

 magisterial investigation in the case of Gov- 

 ernor Eyre, and also of the proceedings taken 

 against Colonel Nelson and Lieutenantt Brand, 

 the two latter being officers who took a promi- 

 nent part in the proceedings of the courts- 

 matrial immediately after the outbreak. These 

 individuals were charged with murder at the 

 Old Bailey, in the month of April, but the 

 grand jury ignored the bills of indictment, 

 and they escaped. About the same time Gov- 

 ernor Eyre, at the instance of the committee, 

 was arrested in the county of Shropshire, 

 charged with a similar offence, but the bench 

 of magistrates before whom the preliminary 

 examination took place unanimously dismissed 

 the case. One good result was obtained by 

 these proceedings, in eliciting from the Lord 

 Chief Justice of England, Sir Alexander Cock- 

 burn, in his opening address to the grand 

 jury at the Old Bailey, a masterly vindica- 

 tion of the principles of the British Constitu- 

 tion as regards the question of the right 

 alleged to be possessed by the crown of pro- 

 claiming martial law. In dealing with the 



