28 Timehri. 



was held in Georgetown in January, 1856, when resolutions were passed 

 in favour of unrestricted importation of labourers, " by grantng licences 

 to private persons to import labourers from India and China on their own 

 account, under proper Government supervision," and generally to remove 

 restrictions. This, however, brought no result for the tendency of late 

 years was to get more control by the authorities. The immigrant has 

 been too much hampered in his choice of a location or master. 



The problem of keeping up the sugar plantations was solved by East 

 Indian immigration, but after a little progress had been made a check 

 came through low prices of sugar. 



II.— THE PLANTATION SYSTEM. 



In view of the fact that indentured immigration from India has been 

 discontinued it would be well to review the whole system and see how it 

 has helped the colony in the past. As however, the whole must be care- 

 fully studied we cannot ignore the benefit derived from slavery. 



It may perhaps be considered inadvisable to discuss slavery because 

 it has alwaj'S led to much irritation, but as the system is now dead it may 

 be possible to look back upon it as a stage in the development of mankind, 

 which like everything else was "for an age but not for all time." I have 

 not seen any book that dealt with it from this standpoint, and yet every 

 intelligent negro in America must feel that it was good for him that his 

 ancestors were brought from Africa. We may deplore the many faults 

 of the system and yet see that its results were good for the people and 

 the colonies. After all we can only judge of a success when these results 

 are known. 



What then are the results of the old plantations ? First, we have a 

 number of colonies and States partially developed through slavery, 

 and second, a people fairly suited to the new conditions who will probably 

 have even more influence in the future than they have had in the past. 

 Adjoining some of these colonies are wildernesses without inhabitants, or 

 with only a few aborigines ; they have remained undeveloped because no 

 Africans were brought. The most striking example is the great Amazon 

 region, and we may compare Counani and the Orinoco delta with British, 

 Dutch and French Guiana. Even our own North West District is 

 backward because there were no plantations beyond the Pomeroon. 

 The point is that no tropical colony in America could have been developed 

 without the African and that on the number imported largely depends 

 their present position. 



It may be safely stated that no negro now in America would willingly 

 go back to his original country and live like his ancestors. They have 

 advanced a stage and feel as do other races th'at man cannot go backward 

 when he has enjoyed the benefits of civilization. There may have been 



