The East Indians in British Guiana. 59 



and farms owned and managed by East Indians, and are powerful object 

 lessons of what can be accomplished in the way of Colonial development 

 if facilities of drainage and irrigation are afforded the settlers and advances 

 made by means of small loans. 



The Commissioners already referred to, who have reported on the 

 conditions of the Indian immigrants in the colonies, made the following 

 recommendation which are deserving of special consideration at the 

 present time : — 



" We strongly recommend that the irrigation and drainage of the 

 land as agricultural land be maintained by the Government. The 

 system of taking a small occupancy price and letting the settlers, 

 with or without the aid of any Board, make the best of their 

 bargain, does not tend to steady and make for successful colonization. 

 The immigrants want to occupy land and all that is needed is to 

 adopt the conditions of occupation to their requirements. The Crown 

 Lands Department seems to need a settlement branch. If colonization 

 and settlement operations are relegated to local bodies which are re- 

 garded by the settlers as tax collecting agencies with meddlesome un- 

 derlings it is doubtful if the demands for land will be adequately met. 

 We recommend that the Government should have ready for assignment 

 from 1,000 to 1,500 acres yearly. The land need not be cleared for cul- 

 tivation and if the occupant cannot obtain a normal yield for a year or 

 two the recovery of full rent might be postponed in the interval." 



To the East Indian the Earth is the bountiful mother ever ready 

 to yield her rich stores of treasures to those who approach her in the 

 right spirit. 



As an agricultural labourer the East Indian is to the manner born. J 



His natural instincts lead him to the soil and it is not to be won- 

 dered at then, that»as_ soon as h is te rm of indenture h as expi red and he 

 once more breathes the air of freedom, he turns with glad heart to mother 

 earth to wrest some of the treasures from her beneficent keeping. 



To the Indian Immigrant we owe the development of the rice indus- 

 try of the Colony, and who can decry the importance of this industry 

 which from comparatively insignificant beginnings through many vicissi- 

 tudes of failure and success, of ebb and flow, has now attained the 

 position of a staple industry. 



Recent figures show that there are at the present time 60,000 acres 

 of land under rice cultivation, in which nearly 60,000 persons, mostly 

 East Indians, are engaged and the value of the produce exported in the 

 last ten years is estimated at SI, 182, 497. 



The possibility of the expansion of this industry is still very great. 

 There is the tendency of its assuming abnormal proportions if the present 

 rate of increase is maintained. 



