Some Home Truths. 189 



distress ; he it is that keeps alive the very merchants and tradesmen that 

 abuse him, and he is the main support of the Christian churches in the 

 colony. 



And he is no fool — far from it. Often enough we are told he refuses 

 to plant this or that crop, to cultivate this or that area. Frequently he 

 knows that other pursuits pay him better, often he has learnt from bitter 

 experience what it is to lose his crops from drought or flood, not to 

 mention praedial larceny. 



Strong and active, he slips through life goodnaturedly, aided by a 

 philosophy all hi? own — a philosophy which has given us a wealth of 

 Creole proverbs which can hardly be sm-passed. 



Is it not possible to correct the faults of these people and make them 

 yet a class of thriving peasant-proprietors, forming the backbone of the 

 colony ? We believe it is quite practical. 



Our East Indians have been the salvation of all of us. With an eye 

 always on the main chance, always ready to save, with his love for cattle 

 and small stock, his resurrection of the rice industry — he holds to-day a 

 position second to none in the colony. 



Like the Portuguese and Chinese he is an excellent shop-keeper, and 

 this spirit has grown with such strides that many rank as merchants of 

 importance, and like the negro he is fast filling the professional ranks of 

 the colony. 



It may be noted that we have a number of negro clergymen, lawyers 

 and doctors who by their ability and integrity command and obtain the 

 deepest respect. 



We have two East Indian clergymen of the Church of England, 

 several East Indian lawyers and doctors, who are ornaments to their 

 professions ; we have Chinese Doctors and lawyers ; while Portuguese 

 doctors and lawyers to-day rank with the highest of other European 

 nations. Not on the whole a bad record for a system of introduction which 

 had little or nothing to commend it. 



Can we not then, if we establish a well-thought-out Colonisation 

 scheme, look forward to stupendous results ? 



When one remembers the severe handicap we have all suffered, to us 

 it is little short of miraculous that we have made the progress that we 

 have. 



Take our Health Conditions and Sanitation generally. It is 

 true that the Sugar Estate authorities have spared neither pains 

 nor expense to provide health conditions for their people, but they sutler 

 the most serious handicap of being continually re-infected by the adjacent 

 villages, where no sanitation exists at all — and frequently these are 

 villages under the Local Government Board. 



