Labour and Colonisation — The Problem. 23 



but the possibilities of development are enormous. Man-power is 

 wanted and if this can be brought we shall have the real magnificent 

 province. 



It may be asked whether we have done our best for the labouring man 

 of the colony ? There have been grumblers from the time when the liber- 

 ated slave was allowed to work or idle as he pleased. At first it appeared 

 as if the freed men would work to get cottages aad land, which they 

 obtained by purchasing many of the plantations that would otherwise 

 have been abandoned. It appears as if they had not yet got away from 

 the habit of working, and therefore money was earned and saved for 

 particular objects. Once, however, these objects were attained there were 

 no more inducements to labour, for most of them had no aspirations for 

 comfort and convenience. It was generally admitted that they worked 

 for as many days as would feed them for the week and then "rested." 

 The higher the wages the less they laboured, for if one or two days 

 wages filled their pots for the week there was no need for working any 

 more until replenishing became necessary. The planter wanted at least 

 five days work every week but the labourer could not be induced to do 

 more than was really necessary as far as he was concerned. He struck for 

 higher wages but he worked less when he got them, it followed therefore 

 that attempts to get the work done in that way simply caused a greater 

 loss of labour. There was also the difficulty so well known to-day of 

 supplying the mill with canes and consequent losses through stopping the 

 engines and damage to what had been cut and left in the field. 



People outside the colony may say, as many have said, that our plan- 

 ters did not do their best with the available labour supply. When we 

 can get a peep into the conditions existent after the Emancipation we see 

 that strenuous efforts were made to prevent ruin. The conditions were 

 new and unprecedented, therefore mistakes were made which had to be 

 rectified later. Money was wasted in high wages and in the introduction 

 of unsuitable labourers. It appears as if " catching at straws " was the rule, 

 for a little more forethought would have prevented some of the mistakes. 

 Probably the greatest error was in forgetting that new-comers must 

 be acclimatised and that they could not be sent into the field immediately 

 on their arrival. This " seasoning," as it was called, was well understood 

 by the old planter, who fostered the new Africans for a whole year. 

 If this was necessary for tropical races it would be more so for Europeans 

 such as the Madeira Portuguese. It seems, however, that as there had been 

 no foreign labourers for thirty years the later generation of planters 

 made no provisions for " seasoning," hence the heavy sickness which fell 

 upon the new immigrants. We might suppose that seasoning would not 

 be necessary for Africans and East Indians, but it may safely be affirmed 

 that every new arrival must accommodate himself to the changed condi- 

 tions. This was learnt afterwards, but much trouble came through the 

 sickness due to blundering in the first ten years. 



In 1844 the Anti-Slavery Society sent out a list of " queries rela- 

 tive to the results of emancipation " to which we have a set of the repiles 



