LABOUR AND COLONISATION. 



By J. Rodway. 



I. THE PROBLEM. 



The labour question in British Guiana is nothing new for it has 

 occurred from time to time ever since the first plantation was started. 

 The colony has land, but without labour it is useless to man though not 

 to the grand realm of nature. From the human standpoint a wilderness is 

 a waste and as we want to have the colony beneficially occupied we must 

 get labour. For want of people hundreds of plantations have been aban- 

 doned at different times, especially on the banks of the rivers, and it 

 should be our aim to prevent degeneration in the future. It is true that 

 in many cases the plantations were given up when better and more fertile 

 places could be got, but what we want is enough people to carry on every- 

 one of them without having to remove entirely and leave the once 

 flourishing estate to become a wilderness. 



The whole colony is not likely to be abandoned now though it is bound 

 to suffer somewhat from the loss of even one plantation. Examples could 

 be quoted such as Belair and the estates of the Colonial Company, but my 

 readers will not require such illustrations. The downfall after the Eman- 

 cipation, entirely due to the great reduction of the labour supply, is a 

 lesson to us for all times and we must straighten our backs and say 

 " Never again ! " In 1851 the roads were almost impassable and it was 

 snggested that the mails for Berbice should be carried on horseback, 

 because wheeled vehicles sunk into quagmires. 



Lord Stanley published in 1851, "A Second Letter " to Mr. W. E 

 Gladstone on the condition of the sugar colonies, in which he gave a 

 lurid picture of what was likely to happen in British Guiana. He tells 

 his readers to figure to themselves the position when English cultivation 

 would be altogether withdrawn. Only half a dozen lay officials, a bishop 

 with a few clergy, a Portuguese huxter and a few log canoes on the other- 

 wise deserted rivers would be left. The roads would be washed away, the 

 jungle be impenetrable and commerce and agriculture come to an end; finally 

 Christianity be superseded by obeahism. The outlook at that time was 

 certainly very dark, but immigration came and the situation was relieved. 

 This relief enabled the Government to keep up the roads and to provide 

 better communication throughout the inhabited portions of the colony. 



We can say that the colony has attained a measure of success, for it 

 is in advance of its Dutch and French neighbours and has not reverted to 

 the position of Counani and the Orinoco Delta. Possibly few appreciate 

 the fact that our colony is in advance of Venezuela and Brazil as far as 

 the tropical portion of the latter is concerned. It is also well populated 

 as far as the area covered by its villages and plantations is concerned 

 though otherwise a wilderness. A measure of success has been gained 



