WEST INDIES. 



859 



not enough to turn the scale, and so a deadlock 

 resulted. On March 24 the Council was adjourned 

 for a month. The elected members were unani- 

 mous in their opposition to the Governor's bill, 

 and the Constitution provides that their unani- 

 mous vote shall be conclusive on financial ques- 

 tions. Another clause in the Constitution gives 

 the Government power to override the vote of 

 the Council in matters of paramount importance. 

 Declaring this to be such, Sir Augustus Hem- 

 ming announced the intention to promulgate the 

 tariff act without the concurrence of the Council. 

 Public meetings called for the removal of the 

 Governor, and passed resolutions in favor of an- 

 nexation to the United States. The Governor 

 thereupon surrendered and allowed the elected 

 members the free use of their constitutional privi- 

 lege. The bill was finally passed by the Legisla- 

 ture in May, Mr. Chamberlain having agreed to 

 reopen negotiations for reciprocity with the 

 United States. 



Turk's Island, which is attached to Jamaica 

 administratively, though belonging geographical- 

 ly to the Bahamas, raised a revenue of 9,477 in 

 in 1897 and expended 8,384. The imports of 

 Turk's and Caicos islands were valued at 33,- 

 239 ; exports, 43,303. On these keys the best of 

 salt is produced, about 2,000,000 bushels being 

 raked and shipped annually to the United States, 

 Newfoundland, and Canada. From the Caymans 

 turtles and cocoanuts are exported. The tonnage 

 entered and cleared at Turk's island in 1897 was 

 328,374 tons. 



The Bahamas have an area of 4,465 square 

 miles, and a population of 43,521 in 1891, of whom 

 11,000 were whites. In 1897 it was estimated at 

 more than 52,000. The number of births was 

 2,141; of deaths, 1,178. The population of Nas- 

 sau, the capital, is about 6,000. The sea products 

 are especially valuable, as sponges of the value of 

 90,111 in 1897, shells, pearls, and ambergris. 

 The cultivation of sisal has been very profitable. 

 The raising of fruits for American cities and for 

 preserving is likewise a growing industry. The 

 pineapples exported in 1897 were valued at 24,- 

 581; oranges at 3,398. The total value of im- 

 ports was 186,010 in 1897; of imports, 149,- 

 085. The revenue of the colony was 62,754; 

 expenditure, 63,405. The chief expenses were 

 18,218 for salaries, 7,219 for public works, 

 5,549 for police, and 8,385 for debt. The 

 amount of the public debt is 119,026. The cus- 

 toms receipts were 53,456. 



The Leeward Islands comprise Antigua, with 

 Barbuda and Redonda; St. Kitt's, Nevis, and An- 



fuilla; Dominica, Montserrat, and the Virgin 

 slands. They have a total area of 701 square 

 miles, with a population in 1891 of 127,723, of 

 whom 5,070 were white, 23,320 colored, and 99,- 

 333 pure negroes. Antigua, which is the seat of 

 government, produces sugar and pineapples; 

 Montserrat, bottled lime juice from groves cov- 

 ering 1,000 acres, also sugar, coffee, cacao, and 

 arrowroot; St. Kitt's and Nevis, sugar and rum; 

 Anguilla, vegetables and salt; the Virgin Islands, 

 sugar and cotton on small plots owned by the 

 negro cultivators; Dominica, coffee of the Libe- 

 rian variety, fruits, cacao, limes, and sugar; also 

 phosphate of lime from the island of Sombrero. 

 The total value of imports of Antigua for 1897 was 

 110,188, having declined from 144,864 in 1895, 

 and of exports 117,202, having increased from 

 87,125; imports of St. Kitt's and Nevis 135,- 

 921, having declined from 172,281, and exports 

 149,204, having increased from 140,542; im- 

 ports of Montserrat 22.269, and exports 22,- 

 063, having increased from 17,189; imports of 



Dominica 54,074, having declined from 69,789, 

 and exports 47,410, having increased from 39,- 

 471; imports of the Virgin Islands 3,301, and 

 exports 4,033. The total exports of sugar from 

 the Leeward Islands were 23(5,200 in value. The 

 imports of cotton goods were ,42,828; of flour, 

 17,756. The revenue of Antigua for 1897 was 

 46,329, of which .23,800 came from customs; 

 expenditure, 53,417; amount of public debt, 

 150,671. The revenue of St. Kitt's, Nevis, and 

 Anguilla was 45,247, of which 24,720 came 

 from customs; expenditure, 51,795; debt, 89,- 

 450. The revenue of Dominica, 23,610, of which 

 10,652 came from customs; expenditure 24- 

 061 ; debt, 70,900. The revenue of Montserrat was 

 7,906; expenditure, 9,895; debt, 24,000. The 

 revenue of the Virgin Islands was 1,675; ex- 

 penditure, 1,776. Barbuda, although 62 square 

 miles in extent, has been kept for three centuries 

 as a game preserve. Besides the European fallow 

 deer, goats, horses, and cattle run wild over the 

 island, and the African guinea fowl is abundant. 

 A settlement of interloping negroes is there also, 

 and they have reverted to African conditions, 

 with a resultant improvement in physique. 



The sugar crisis has affected some of the islands 

 of the Leeward and Windward groups more seri- 

 ously than any other part of the West Indies. 

 The members of the Legislature and citizens 

 of St. Kitt's petitioned the British Government 

 in March to transfer their island to the United 

 States, failing the abolition of the sugar 

 bounties. On Aug. 7 the Leeward Islands were 

 swept by a hurricane as destructive as the one 

 that devastated the Windward Islands and Bar- 

 badoes in August, 1898. Not a house nor a church 

 in Montserrat or Nevis escaped destruction or 

 serious damage. Three quarters of the popula- 

 tion of Montserrat were left homeless, and the 

 valuable lime tree orchards were demolished, as 

 well as all the sugar cane and the growing crops 

 of all kinds. On this island 84 persons were killed 

 and 1,250 wounded. In Nevis 2,000 persons were 

 left without shelter; 27 were killed. Antigua and 

 St. Kitt's also sustained much damage. The 

 storm afterward passed over Santa Cruz and 

 Porto Rico. 



The Windward Islands are Grenada, St. Vin- 

 cent, the Grenadines, and St. Lucia. In Grenada, 

 the seat of Government, which has an area of 133 

 square miles and a population in 1897 of 61,229, 

 cacao is the chief product, occupying 11,115 acres 

 of the total of 20,418. Spices are cultivated on 

 an increasing scale, 'supplanting the sugar cane. 

 The total value of imports in 1897 was 164,356, 

 having decreased from 175,712 in 1895; exports, 

 154,439, of which 132,642 represent cacao and 

 13,503 spices. In St. Vincent the cultivated 

 lands, 13,000 acres, belong to 3 firms. Sugar an,d 

 rum, cacao, spices, and arrowroot are the chief 

 products. Valuable timber is obtained from the 

 forests. The revenue in 1897 was 25,396; ex- 

 penditure, 26,520; debt, 19,100. The area of 

 St. Vincent is 132 square miles; population, 41,- 

 054, of whom 2,445 were white, 554 colored, and 

 31,005 black. St. Lucia exports sugar and rum, 

 cacao, and logwood. The area is 233 square miles, 

 and the population in 1897 was 47,332. The 

 value of imports was 245,253, having increased 

 from 154,945 in 1895; of exports, 154,267. 

 The revenue was 60,639 ; expenditure, 56,743 ; 

 debt, 191,980. To enable the planters of St. 

 Vincent to repair the damages caused to their 

 estates and buildings by the hurricane of 1898 the 

 British Government raised a loan of 50,000 and 

 advanced the money to the colonial government, 

 to be advanced in turn to the planters. The 



