WEST INDIES. 





jnory escaped, with a small remnant, to a ret n-at in 

 the inoiintains, where he was captured on Sept. 29. 



WEST INDIES. With the exception of Hayti- 

 Santo Domingo, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, all the 

 West Indian islands are dependencies of European 

 powers. In speaking of the West Indian colonies 

 it is usual to include British Guiana, French Gui- 

 ana, and Dutch Guiana, on the mainland of South 

 America, and also British Honduras in Central 

 America. 



The most striking occurrence in the West Indies 

 during 1898 was the hurricane that swept over the 

 islands Sept. 11, 12. The islands that suffered nn>.-j 

 severely were Barbadoes, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and 

 Jamaica. Great loss of life through land-slides and 

 floods occurred, and many towns and villages were 

 destroyed. Prompt measures were taken by the 

 British Government to relieve the distress. 



In Mr. Chamberlain's dispatches to the colonial 

 governors during 1898 are foreshadowed important 

 political changes in the British West Indian colo- 

 nies in the near future. The colonies are nearly all 

 in a very unsatisfactory financial condition ; and 

 although" this is due in a large degree to the effects 

 of the continental beet-sugar bounty system, an 

 effort is to be made, by combining some of the 

 smaller colonies, to reduce expenditure within the 

 limits of the local revenue. In 1898 a Department 

 of Agriculture for the West Indies was established, 

 following the suggestions in the report of the West 

 India Royal Commission of 1897. At the head of 

 this department is Dr. Morris, assistant director of 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Early in Sep- 

 tember, 1898, a conference of scientific men, sugar 

 experts, and planters of the British West Indies 

 was held in Barbadoes. The following resolution, 

 which sums up the situation in a few words, was 

 unanimously carried : " This meeting of delegates 

 from British Guiana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbadoes, 

 and Antigua, while fully recognizing the efforts of 

 the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colo- 

 nies to afford relief to the West Indian colonies, 

 suffering from the serious depression of the sugar 

 industry, regrets that, so far, the attempts to ar- 

 range reciprocal relations between the United States 

 and the West Indies, as well as to obtain the aboli- 

 tion of the bounty system, have met with no success. 

 This meeting would strongly urge upon the British 

 Government that nothing short of the speedy re- 

 habilitation of the sugar industry can restore pros- 

 perity to the West Indies and British Guiana; and 

 they respectfully demand, as British subjects, the 

 right to compete in the home markets at the natural 

 cost of production with sugar imported from foreign 

 countries; and urgently call upon her Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment, as the only effective remedy, to take such 

 steps as will either prevent the importation of all 

 sugar on which export bounties are given or annul 

 by countervailing duty all the advantages derived 

 from such export bounties." 



British Colonies. The British West Indian 

 possessions, including British Guiana and British 

 Honduras, have a total area of 128.802 square miles, 

 and a total population of 1,576,811. They are di- 

 vided into eight distinct colonies. Each colony is 

 administered by a Governor assisted by a legislat ive 

 body which in some of the colonies is nominated by 

 the Crown, in others elected by the people. The 

 revenue of the British West Indian colonies in 1897 

 was 2,346,923, and the expenditure 2,509,503. 

 The total public debt was 5,299,361. The total 

 tonnage of vessels entered and cleared was 10,154,- 

 357, of which 7,801,818 was British. The total im- 

 ports in 1897 were valued at 7,443,276, of which 

 3,368,419 came from England and 2,000,000 from 

 the United States. The exports were valued at 

 7,166,893, of which 2,436,628 went to the United 

 VOL. xxxvni. 53 A 



Kingdom an.l 2,800,000 to the United State*. The 

 principal articles of export were sugar, molame*, 

 rum, fruit, cocoa, and coffee. The chief articles of 

 import were cotton goods, foodstuffs, and wearing 

 apparel. 



'/'//'- Hahamnx have an area of 4,465 square mile*. 

 and had a population in 1807 of a lr -han 



52,000. The death rate of the eol,,r.y wa> 24.7. and 

 the birth rate 45 per 1,000 in 1897. The revenue in 

 1897 was 62,754, and the expenditure 63,40o. >t 

 this latter sum l>.384 was exp-n<e '.n a- -count of 

 public debt, and 6,644 for public works. Tin- 

 public debt in 1897 was 119,026. The value of 

 imports and exports in 1896 was 194.744 and 

 139,000 res^ctively. In 1897 the value of the 

 imports was 186,010, of which 131.000 worth 

 came from the United States and only 46,000 worth 

 from the United Kingdom. The e'xports in 1897 

 were valued at 149,000, the United States taking 

 114,000 worth and the United Kingdom 13,600 

 worth. The principal articles of export were sponges, 

 oranges, salt, sisal fiber, grape fruit, pineapples, 

 turtle shell, and timber. Owing to the low price of 

 sisal fiber in the American and English mar 

 the whole sisal industry of the islands was in da 

 of complete collapse; but an improvement in price 

 toward the end of the year served to avert the dis- 

 aster. The mean temperature for 1897 was 79.4", 

 the rainfall 62.27 inches. The Governor of the col- 

 ony is Sir Gilbert T. Carter. 



Jamaica has an area of 4,193 square miles and a 

 population estimated in 1897 at 70*'..::'.4. Th. 

 ,eral revenue for the colony's financial year 181'> 

 was 591,864, and the general expenditure 629,764. 

 showing a deficit of 38,000, which was covered by a 

 surplus from the previous year's revenue of i'?H.l 17. 

 Some of the principal items of expenditure were : 

 Charges on debt, 82,417; education, 67.540: 

 public works, 78,516. The public debt of the 

 colony in 1897 was 1,787,479. The exports of tin- 

 colony in 1896 were valued at 1,873,105, and the 

 imports at 2,288,946. In 1897 the imj 

 valued at 1,856,378, of which 730,891 or 39.4 per 

 cent, came from the United States; the exports at 

 1,470,241, of which 832,189 went to the United 

 States. The great decrease in the trade of the 

 island in 1897 amounting to 21.51 percent, in tin- 

 exports and 18.9 per cent, in the imjtorts was at- 

 tributable to a severe drought and the low price of 

 the colony's products in the English and American 

 markets. The principal articles of export are 

 sugar, rum, fruit, coffee, and dvewoods. In 1897 

 they showed relatively to the value of the total ex- 

 ports thus: Fruit, 34.3 per cent.; coffee, 14.4 per 

 cent.; dyewoods, 11.6 per cent.; sugar, 10.1 per 

 cent. ; rum, 8.4 per cent. The vital statistics show 

 15,535 deaths, or a rate of 22.1 per 1.000, and 27,064 

 births, or a rate of 38.5 per 1,000. Of the total 

 deaths 46.7 per cent, were of Children under five 

 years. Of tne births, 16,563 were illegitimate, a 

 rate of 61.1 per 100. The criminal statist ii-s show 

 a daily average of 1,159 persons in jail. The total 

 convictions for all offenses in 1S97 numbered 16.- 

 665. There were 1 murder and 5 eses of man- 

 slaughter. There were 162 post offices in the island 

 in 1897, and (IT telegraph stations. The number of 

 letters and iM cards passing through the post was 

 4,375,374. The number of pa- trried on 



the Jamaica railway in ISii? was ::*4.>1 1. In 1896 

 1,167 East Indian indentured Immigrant! wen' im- 

 ported as laborers. There are about 12.000 I 

 Indians in Jamaica, and they constitute a most im- 

 portant factor in the productive efficiency of the 

 colony. The Governor of the island in 1898 was 

 Sir Augustus Hemming, who ra ~-ir Henry 



Blako, one of the most popular governors in the 

 island's history. Early in September. 1898, a hurri- 



