858 



WEST INDIES. 



British West Indian islands is also consumed in 

 the United States. These British colonies have 

 suffered more than any others from the depres- 

 sion in the price of sugar, especially those that 

 are not adapted by Nature for the production of 

 other crops, such as Barbadoes, Antigua, St. Kitt's, 

 and Nevis, and the lowlands of British Guiana. 

 Except in British Guiana and Trinidad, the prod- 

 uct is the coarse muscovado, obtained by anti- 

 quated processes. The development of improved 

 varieties by selection and cross fertilization is 

 only in its infancy, and yet a variety has been 

 obtained in Barbadoes that contains 25 per cent, 

 more saccharine matter than ordinary cane. 



British Colonies. The British West Indian 

 possessions, including British Guiana and British 

 Honduras, consist of 8 colonies, each adminis- 

 tered by a Governor, assisted by a legislative 

 body, which in some of the colonies is nominated 

 by the Crown, in others elected by the people. 

 The largest of the British West India islands is 

 Jamaica, which has an area of 4,424 square miles, 

 inclusive of Turk's and Caicos islands, the Cay- 

 mans, and the Morant and Pedro keys. Jamaica 

 itself has an area of 4,193 square miles, with a 

 population estimated at 706,304. The white popu- 

 lation was only 14,692 in 1891, and has dwindled 

 since, while the negro and colored population has 

 grown at the rate of 1.6 per cent, a year. There 

 were 14,118 East Indians in 1896, of whom 1,562 

 were indentured to planters. The area cultivated 

 in 1897 was 663,560 acres, of which 164,644 acres 

 were tilled lands, while 498,916 acres were pas- 

 ture. The area under sugar cane was 28,764 acres ; 

 under coffee, 22,387 acres; under bananas, I'.i.Tiin 

 acres; under cocoanut palm, 10,799 acres; under 

 ground provisions, 80,656 acres. The imports de- 

 clined from 2,288,946 in 1895 to 1,660,667 in 

 1897; exports from 1,873,105 to 1,448,443. 

 The imports of cotton goods were 208,318; fish, 

 116,240; flour, 162,378; rice, 40,432. The 

 exports of sugar were valued at 120,959; of 

 rum, 92,053; of coffee, 105.494. Tin- imports 

 in 1898 were 1,674,381 and exports 1,448,443 

 in total value. Of the imports 43 per cent, were 

 from the United States and 47.2 per cent, from 

 Great Britain; of the exports 62.3 per cent, went 

 to the United States and 22.6 per cent, to Great 

 Britain. The aggregate tonnage of vessels en- 

 tered and cleared in the foreign trade during 1897 

 was 1,560,944 tons. The shipping belonging to 

 the colony comprised 124 sailing vessels, of 6,694 

 tons, and 1 steamer, of 459 tons. There are 9 

 railroad lines, having a total length of 185 miles. 

 The receipts in 1898 were 102,170; expenses, 

 74,592. The number of passengers carried was 

 356,949. The number of letters and postal cards 

 sent through the post office in 1897 was 4,955,712. 

 The telegraphs have a length of 937 miles; tele- 

 phones, 831 miles. The number of telegrams in 

 1898 was 87,545; receipts were 5,086, and ex- 

 penses 7,686. The military force is mainly 

 composed of colored troops, numbering 1,790 of 

 all ranks on Jan. 1, 1898. The revenue of the 

 colony in 1897 was 677,064, having declined 

 from 818,687 in 1895; expenditure, 766,534. 

 Of the revenue 283,042 came from customs. The 

 public debt amounted to 1,994,184. The chief 

 expenditures were 112,651 for debt, 62,410 for 

 police, and 40,982 for public works. In 1898 

 the revenue fell to 540,509, while the expendi- 

 ture was 627,422. The decrease in revenue was 

 due to a decline in imports and in the consump- 

 tion of rum, caused by the general business de- 

 pression. The total debt at the end of 1898 was 

 1,998,284, most of it paying 4 per cent. On 

 March 31, 1899, there was a deficit of 154,784, 



the expenditure having for several years exceeded 

 the revenue. To cover it the Imperial Parliament 

 authorized a guaranteed loan of 150,000. The 

 Jamaica Railroad Company has failed to meet its 

 obligations, and its line will have to be taken o\er 

 by the Government, which was authorized to hoi- 

 row 88,000 to settle arrears of interest, and 

 110^000 to complete and equip the railroad. 

 Another loan of 40,000 has been raised to com- 

 plete the waterworks and irrigation service, and 

 one of 65,000 for sewerage and street pay- 

 ments in Kingston. The economic prospect- ,,f 

 Jamaica are more hopeful than those of tin- 

 islands that are still entirely dependent on sugar. 

 In 1882 sugar formed 77 per cent, of the total 

 exports, in 1898 15 per cent. The other articles 

 are coffee, logwood, bananas, oranges, pimento, 

 ginger, cacao, cocoanuts, and tobacco. The cof- 

 fee grown on the Blue mountains at elevations 

 of 3,000 to 5,000 feet commands the highest price 

 in the London market, and that grown in planta- 

 tions on the lower levels is of good quality. l>nt 

 the Liberian coffee raised by negro settlers do<-s 

 not sell well hccau-c it is badly cured. Logwood 

 and pimento grow wild. The low price- ot coffee 

 and logwood and a poor yield of pimento cau-ed 

 a serious falling off in the value of these exports 

 in 1898. Cacao is grown in combination \\ith 

 bananas, which -hade the young trees until they 

 come into bearing, (iingcr i- a product for \\ hicn 

 Jamaica i- famous, but the cult ivat ion i- rapidly 

 diminishing. Tobacco of good quality ha- l>een 

 grown of late years by immigrants from Cuba, 

 and the export of cigars inciva-ed from L'lM'Jti in 

 1887 to i:USJ In 1898. The further expansion 

 of this trade is likely to be retarded by an export 

 tax that the ( Government now levies on cigars and 

 cigarette-. 8il David Harbour, who as a special 

 commi--ioiier examined into the finances of .la- 

 maiea. attributed tin- eiCl ssive expenditure to the 

 di\i-ion of ie-p..n-ibiliiy between t lie Government 



and the elected members of the Legislative ( oini- 



eil. and thought the Governor should have greater 

 power by always keeping up the full number of 

 nominated member-. The elected member-, in a 

 memorial to the < 'olonial Office, complained of 

 the desire of the Imperial (Government to protect 

 I'.iiti-h manufacture-, which had thu- far -food 

 in the way of reciprocity with the United States; 

 complained of the high salaries paid to Kngli-h 

 official- when capable coloni-t- would work for 

 less; charged the colonial executive with incom- 

 petence and neglect; and laid all the blame for the 

 di -ordered finances upon the Government, which 

 had increased the expenditure de-pile their pro- 

 le-is. Mr. Chamberlain, in reply, placed the re- 

 sponsibility for the deplorable financial po-ition 

 of the island at their door, saying thai they had 

 failed to exerci-e the power- of control with which 

 they had been invested. The salaries of the higher 

 officials he considered none too high, as it \\as 

 necessary to maintain 'a scale of salarie- for the 

 highest posts that will attract competent men, 

 but in the lower ranks of the public -ervice there 

 might be superfluous office- thai should be abol- 

 i-lied. When the Legislative Council opened, on 

 March 14, Sir .\iigu-lus Hemming, the (Governor. 

 announced a new tariff bill, a change in the land 

 tax and minor revenue measures. The elf-ted 

 members refu-ed to pass the tariff measure. They 

 demanded retrenchment, not increased tariff 

 duties that would aggravate the trade depre--ion. 

 The provisions of "the 'new taritl applied -pccially 

 to such import > as came from the United Slates. 

 P.v Mr. Chamberlain's directions, the (Governor 

 added 4 nominated members. This made the peo- 

 ple very indignant, but the 4 new member.- 



