232 Timehri. 
habits (penurious they might be called) and the smallness of his wants, it was not 
long before holdings were transferred and the negro was displaced. As sugar 
growing and manufacture became of necessity, owing to low prices, more scienti- 
fic, the less eager the black man was to work on the estates. The discovery of 
gold and the rush for balata opened a wide field more suited to his tastes ; afew 
months of hardship in the bush was rewarded with the means of a spree at 
home. Hundreds flocked to the bush, many alas to leave their bones there or to 
contract diseases which sapped their strength ; for the new race, although in- 
heriting from their parents a grand physique, had by neglect of ordinary hygienice 
precaution made inroads onit. Thrift was an unknown quantity ; enough for 
the day was their motto ; and when the morrow came it found them literally 
on their beam ends. Insome of the villages in the vicinity of the sugar estates a 
certain amount of property was still held but the youth of these villages left 
for the bush attracted by the successes of a few and the substance was abandoned 
for the shadow. This was not altogether a thing to be surprised at, taking mto 
consideration the character of the negro and his want of adequate training. 
Fond of dress and of amusement, nothing pleased him so much as to dress in 
what he thought was the height of fashion and indulge in festivities whenever 
an opportunity offered. A costly wedding with carriages drawn by white 
horses wasa great attraction, while a funeral with hearse and mourning coaches 
a prospect which eased the dying bed. Education, it is true, made some head- 
way but there is no question that such learning as was taught did little or no 
good. Allit apparently accomplished was a desire to use long words and to ape 
the manners and customs of the “upper circles.’ A better system might 
well be introduced with advantage and one is glad to see the steps Mr. 
Thorne and his supporters are taking to ensure this. Unfortunately an 
imperfect education does not beget a desire to work onthe land. It is the 
same everywhere. In time, possibly learning may teach the people the 
desirability of working in that state of life to which God has called them and 
against which they kick when they have passed the Sixth Standard. 
Amongst the black race of the colonv there are without question men of a 
great amount of ability, but they are frequently very severely handicapped 
by their surroundings and the associations of early life. When a man has 
been to England, where he is made much of, has taken a fairly good degree 
inlaw, medicine or some other profession, he naturally does not like being 
hailed as ‘‘ Buddie”’ by some out-at-elbow old school-fellow who is digging 
in a trench or is driving a donkey cart. It is difficult to get away from these 
old associations. On the one hand if these approaches to familiarity are 
met with coldness the Divine, Medico or Lawyer is at once put down as stuck 
up and is reminded of the time he wasa “shut tail like a-we.” On the other 
hand if he responds he is subjected to all kinds of undue familiarity and is first 
expected by some of the unprincipled ones to do anything and everything for 
his friend or so-called client, no matter how much it is against the etiquette 
of the honourable profession to which he belongs. 
Unfortunately, too, race prejudice is apt to develop, as it has done in the East 
and produce demagogues, who, disappointed in their aspirations, set to work 
to put class against class, utterly indifferent to the fact that by so doing 
Vx—— Ee 
