352 TRINIDAD. 



the Territorial or Warden Ordinance. But, as the working 01 

 that ordinance has hitherto greatly affected, and must continue 

 greatly to affect the general welfare of this community, I wish to 

 enter fully into the merits and demerits of its importance, as a 

 law of the land. Continue the operation of the ordinance with 

 its manifold defects, and the rural population must continue to 

 feel its unequal pressure, and as a consequence, to murmur and 

 be discontented. On the other hand, with judicious amendments, 

 not according to preconceived theories, nor in a spirit of reckless 

 indifference as to its operation on the general body of tax-payers, 

 but with a well-conceived design of insuring its legitimate and 

 beneficial working, legislators and rulers will be certain of securing 

 the confidence and ready concurrence of those it affects. Under 

 all circumstances, however, upon the executive officers of that 

 law must essentially depend whether it shall prove a blessing or a 

 curse to the community. 



I regard the Territorial Ordinance as the most important of 

 our laws, in so far as it contains the elements of municipal insti- 

 tutions, affects the well-being of the rural population, and involves 

 the agricultural, and consequently, t,he vital interests of this 

 community. Moreover, it brings the government into almost 

 daily contact with the administres. I therefore propose to examine 

 the Territorial Ordinance under the following points of view, viz., 

 the principle of direct taxation, that of local rates for local pur- 

 poses, the spirit of the ordinance as manifested in some of its 

 clauses, together with the method of its operation. 



Direct, has always been regarded as more oppressive, than in- 

 direct taxation ; not only because its action is direct, but inasmuch, 

 also, as the tax is paid in full, at certain definite periods, and, 

 generally, bears unequally on the taxpayers. The more ignorant 

 the people, therefore, the greater must be the inconveniences of 

 this mode of taxation ; the burden of indirect taxation, on 

 the other hand, is not felt; it is paid only when the taxed 

 commodity is required, and forms part of the purchase- 

 disbursement : it is also, to a certain extent, voluntary 

 since no one is actually compelled to buy the taxed articles. 

 And yet the principle of direct taxation is just and whole- 

 some : It is just, because people ought to pay for the protec- 

 tion they receive from social institutions, in proportion to the 

 amount of protection afforded, and security enjoyed. It is whole- 



