62 
evidence of the Commissioner (the Hon, W. Low) it is Lgl “one 
“ factory could be placed to windward, and one to leeward.” He 
is of opinion that “a factory would pay, even if Satoiin bounties 
“be maintained.” 
182. The rates of wages are 8d. to 10d. per day. The practice o 
paying wages either in “kind or at such long intervals as one to tw 
months is said to be prevalent. The labouring classes are doseribed 
as “fond of sugar cultivation, and reluctant to give it up.” If the 
cultivation of sugar were revived, it is stated that the considerable 
ve 
ould be ‘ 
would probably prove excellent cane farmers. The conditions in 
Tobago as Sagi soil and climate are so similar to Barbados that 
a large portion of the surplus dah of the latter island might 
bs settled i families at a small cost in Tobago. The two islands 
are only about 24 hours distant. 
183. “The cost of producing a hogshead of sugar (2,000 lbs. 
Wty sa ae the metayer system is about 7/.” nite is equiva- . 
lent to 7/. 16s. 9d. per ton. The decline of the ar industry 
ae ae last 25 years is shown in the following deh a giving the 
average annual value of the collective exports (sugar, rum, and 
molasses) for the periods named -— 
Periods Average Annual 
Value. 
: £ 
1875-1879 Efe on 71,000 
1880-1884 ... ia =i 49,000 
1885-1889 .... fee gus 18,000 
1890-1894 ... Ea sic 10,000 
The value for the year 1896 was 5,1097. Formerly the bulk of 
the Tobago sugar was shipped to the United Kingdom. At 
present, tier: of it is sent thither, as, according to the evidence, 
“ Tobago sugar is practically excluded from the British market 
a the economic condition of the island, and left a 
siderable number of labourers or metayers, without the means 
wp support. The estates were sold at almost nominal prices, and 
many were broken up. ‘The people took to the cultivation of 
ground provisions to supply themselves with food, while many 
emigrated to Trinidad. hose that remained paruazled on for 
some time scarcely earning the means of existen 
e present condition of Tobago, in spite of its fertile 
185. The 
soil, healthy climate, and an ao ES labouring population, is a 
striki ing instance of what may happen to other portions of the 
