Laboior and Colonisation — The Plantatation System. 31 



Some 'will perhaps say that sugar in Demerara can no longer com- 

 pete with that from other countries, but even were the plantations to go 

 down there would still be room for their buildings as central factories. 

 If the peasantry would grow canes as some are growing rice and rent the 

 land on easy terms the wages difficulty would be got over. Of course 

 there will be some difficulties but everyone of them could be overcome 

 by forethought. It seems a great pity that any sugar factory should be 

 dismantled when it could be kept up for grinding farmers' canes. 

 Possibly some would yet be found willing to cultivate lots if they 

 could get loans on prospective returns. This a central factory might 

 undertake because it would be helping to keep the mill going. Some 

 effort should be made to this end before abandoning a plantation. 



Several efforts were made after the emancipation to introduce the 

 metairie system uuder which labourers would grow the canes and get 

 half the sugar or its value, other attempts were made at different times to 

 induce labourers to work in harmony, but co-operation appears to be im- 

 posible on account of envy and jealousy. It is very difficult to get 

 negroes to work under the superintendence of people of their own race. 

 They appear to be always afraid that someone will take advantage of 

 them and some even admire what they call " flooring " an employer. 

 Unless we can get confidence in each other we cannot succeed in any work 

 that requires combination for mutual benefit. 



We can say that everything is justified by results. But this does not 

 mean immediate consequences but what comes after a fairly long time. 

 Immigration from India has lasted about eighty years and the results can 

 be seen. We may perhaps say that progress might have been more or less 

 without the East Indians, but we need not go into the possibilities and 

 probabilities, but take things as they are. We have an object lesson in 

 Surinam, where fewer immigrants have been imported, with the result 

 that most of the old plantations have gone. The natural deduction is that 

 the plantations depend upon regular labour and that this is abhorrent to 

 the negroes. Without immigrants no sugar plantation can continue and 

 there must be some way found to get regular labour. A possible way of 

 avoiding some of the difficulties would be agreements for one year with 

 the privileges enjoyed by East Indians. There should be as far as possi- 

 ble avoidance of magistrates, for when a man is sent to jail 

 for not working there must naturally be some resentment. Possibly the 

 agreement could provide for arbitration on every plantation. At present 

 we have such arbitration by Immigration officers and something could 

 be done on similar lines. Only in very extreme cases should the 

 police be called in and if both parties adhere to their contract no trouble 

 need be feared. Probably a law would be necessary to make such con- 

 tracts possible but there should be no real difficulty. 



It can be easily seen that no colony could bring immigrants, even in 

 other climes, without providing employment on arrival. In the tropics 

 owever, something more is required. One who is quite new to the 



