358 TRINIDAD. 



that of cacao, coffee, and provision lands has certainly not increased 

 during the same period. 



The distinction drawn between cultivated and uncultivated 

 lands shows, at once, that forest lands which are so very valuable in 

 Europe, are considered here as of very little worth. The truth is, 

 that our forest lands, as such, are valueless ; and any land, to 

 possess a realisable value, must combine the advantages of fertility, 

 proximity to a market, and to a settled district. Now from the 

 plan adopted certain consequences follow, which at once prove its 

 unsoundness and impolicy. 



The assessment on lands and houses is made on or before the 

 thirtieth day of September, every third year, by a commissioner 

 appointed by the governor : returns are also sent to the wardens 

 every year, in the month of January. The assessment is made on 

 the declaration of the occupiers of the land, so that a true and 

 faithful return entirely depends upon the declaration of such occu- 

 pant. Upon this clause of the Ordinance depends the equality of 

 its operation, and the certainty of the revenue it purports to raise ; 

 yet, no check is provided by which correct returns can be obtained 

 of the actual extent of cultivations on an estate. The occupier 

 makes his declaration : it may be true, it may be false. Should 

 the commissioner doubt its accuracy, what authority does the law 

 confer upon him for verifying or correcting it ? The XXXVII 

 clause provides that the cultivation may be surveyed ; but should the 

 declaration of the occupier be found correct, then the ward must 

 pay the expenses. The commissioner, therefore, may apply to the 

 warden, but the warden shifts the responsibility, and the declara- 

 tion is invariably adopted. But, even without being dishonest, 

 the occupier can evade the law by making a true declaration to 

 the commissioner, and immediately after, placing under cultiva- 

 tion twenty or thirty acres of land, upon which he will continue to 

 pay, during the term of three years, the tax at the rate of unculti- 

 vated land so that the equality in the operation of the law is 

 defeated, and a direct premium extended to bad faith and dis- 

 honesty. The only parties who cannot wholly evade the law, are 

 the cacao planters, and those who might plant fruit, and*such other 

 trees as begin to yield only after four, six, or seven years. It is, 

 therefore, perfectly clear that the present system opens the door 

 to many abuses, and what is more deplorable perhaps accus- 

 toms the population to what I do not hestitate to te.rm immoral 



