188 Timehri. 



thought as to the proportion of sexes seems to have been uppermost — with 

 the result that dismal failure appears to have marked our efforts in this 

 direction. The Hon. Cecil Clementi, M.A. (Oxon), the Officer now adminis- 

 tering the Government, in his recent ' Keport ' on the colony has made 

 the figures accessible to every one. 



Without immigration, bad though the methods employed have been, 

 it is a fact that admits of no dispute we should not have existed as a 

 colony at all. 



Mr. Clementi tells us that we imported in 1835 to 1882, 30,809 

 Portugese from Madeira and the Azores, and that to-day some 9,000 odd 

 are in the Colony. 



In 1853 to 1879 some 14,000 Chinese were brought to these shores — 

 to-day only 2,874 Chinese are in the colony. Finally in 1838 came our 

 first batch of East Indian immigrants, and altogether we have introduced 

 238,979 East Indian souls, of which there remain to us at the present 

 time only about 134,000. At the end of 1917 there were said to be 

 118,398 persons forming the negro population. 



Of these races, the Portuguese, as a whole, have been eminently 

 successful, the few that remain are amongst our wealthiest and most 

 respected citizens. The same may be said of the Chinese. 



Of the negroes, the enormous strides that have been made by the 

 race, as a whole, have possibly led many to forget how young the race 

 actually is. 



Probably because the negro is extremely fond of pleasure, and in 

 many instances does not look kindly to an agricultural life, people have 

 jumped to the very erroneous conclusion that he is lazy. This is entirely 

 a mistake. Show the negro that he can make " good " money at certain 

 kinds of work and no other race in the colony can outstrip him in activity 

 and share hard work. 



Those of us who have had experience in the gold bush and balata 

 fields know that for downright hard work he can hardly be beaten. 



What the negro does not appreciate is persistent daily work of a 

 light nature. 



He likes quick and large returns, attention to details disgusts him. 

 Unfortunately the lack of " character " is not altogether unmarked, and 

 descended from various tribes of West Africa, as the people of this colony 

 are, the glaring faults of a few are often enough taken as representative 

 of the whole. 



Anything of a pettifogging nature is repulsive to him. Hence he is 

 no use as a small shopkeeper. His very want of thrift often enough is 

 the result of his largeheartedness. There is very little about him that is 

 mean or " stingy." He spends largely, has an open purse for those in 



