93 
and inquire on the spot into the conditions of the sugar industry, with 
a view to ascertaining whether any effective measures can be devised 
for its development and relief, is one which can hardly fail to arouse 
both sympathy and interest. 
* It would be in every sense undesirable, on the eve of such an inquiry 
as is now about to be held, to take conclusions for granted on the man 
voutio iod points with which the subject bristles. There is no 
necessity to assume, on the one hand, that the industry is the altogether 
hapless victim of cireumstances which are beyond the range of possible 
control, or, on the other, that with proper exertion on the part of those 
who are most largely interested the evils complained of might in spite 
of circumstances have been surmouuted. An unbiassed statement of 
posen itself, whatever the causes mbination of causes by which such 
situatio may h ave been produced, will iiid the urgency of according 
full vitüiderei éd to the question 
“Tt has to be borne in mind that the sd Ap colonies are 
principally agricultural - their resources. the exception of 
British Guiana, where the development of the zold industry is now 
confidently expected, they have so ie given little indication of mineral 
wealth. Their position and the nature of their labouring population 
preclude the idea of manufacturing Tevel pisni on any important scale. 
A1iaongst their agricultural produeti ons sugar has hitherto held the 
principal position. In British Guiana, which is the largest sugar- 
producer of the group, the sugar industry, notwithstanding the promise 
of other developments in the near future, is still spoken of as practically 
contributed the principal reven It is also, it should be added, the 
industry in whose in ts the incidence of M od 3d colony has 
eid principally adjusted. It is worth statin ssible 
the cultivation of sugar has hitherto m olcied this very prominent 
position in the agricultural production of British Guiana, there is no 
natural dearth of other tropical products which might in favourable 
circumstances be brought into commercial cultivation, In Jamaica the 
laie years diminished, and the prosperity of the colony stands on a 
wider basis. Bananas and other tropical fruits, cacao, coffee, cocoa tog 
cinchona bark, &e., form a considerable item in the trade of Jamai 
The development giv en to the fruit trade and the fibre industry in the 
Bahama Islands proves the value of products which have hitherto been 
regard ees only minor importance in the possible resources 
of tropical and sub-tr ical agriculture. In relation to these as yet 
scarcely developed possibilities, it has been pointed out that we hàve 
‘in British Guiana alone an area of country equal to two Ceylons quite 
untouched ; in British Honduras we have more than the area o = 
Fiji Islands ; to Trinidad we could add the wealth of the Strai 
Settlements, and with the resources of the unwo orked soil of siis 
we might emulate the prosperity of at least four chat: of the size of 
Mauriti tius.’ 
“ Acknowledging to the full all that there may be to urge in fayour 
. of further development of other agrieultural resources, we must, however, 
recognise that sugar is at present and has been for many years past the 
principal mainstay of West Indian production. In British Guiana 
