October, 1911.] 



Miscellaneous. 



degree to pay for their holdings. In 

 1896 many of these holdings were 

 damaged by floods, to an extent which 

 has made it difficult or impossible for 

 the purchasers to pay the instalments 

 due, whilst much of their cultivation 

 has been swept away. Whether the 

 attempt to settle the population of the 

 Crown lands under such condition ulti- 

 mately proves successful or not, we are 

 convinced that it does not afford any 

 prospect of providing in sufficient time 

 for the bulk of the population likely to 

 be thrown out of employment by the 

 stoppage of the sugar-cane cultivation, 

 and we are doubtful whether it is ex- 

 pedient to reduce largely the area of 

 the central forests ; a reduction which 

 is inevitable if the lands are occupied 

 by settlers. 



377. There are, however, round the sea- 

 coast thousands of acres of fertile land 

 in the hands of private owners uncultiv- 

 ated and likely to remain so. The 

 holders of the lands appear to be unwil- 

 ling to sell them in small lots or at a 

 reasonable price, and are unable to 

 cultivate them. Under the circumstan- 

 ces we have no hesitation in recommend- 

 ing that suitable portions of these lands 

 be acquired by the State and made 

 available for settlement in small plots. 

 If suitable lands cannot be obtained by 

 private agreement with the owners, 

 powers should be taken by the Govern- 

 ment to expropriate them on payment of 

 reasonable compensation. The condition 

 of St. Vincent is so critical as to justify 

 the adoption of prompt and drastic 

 measures of reform. A monopoly of the 

 most accessible and fertile lauds by a 

 few persons who are unable any longer 

 to make a beneficial use of them cannot, 

 in the general interest of the island, be 

 tolerated, and is a source of public 

 danger. 



378. The determination of the parti- 

 cular lands to be acquired by the State, 

 and the detailed arrangements to be 

 made for settling proprietary cultivators 

 on them must be left in the hands of 

 those who possess greater local ex- 

 perience than we can pretend to. The 

 cost of such a measure will be consider- 

 able, but need not be very heavy. We 

 see no likelihood of the Colony of St. 

 Vincent being able to meet it, and we 

 recommend that it be borne by the 

 Imperial Government. 



It will be seen that a very critical state 

 of affairs existed in 1897, which was 

 greatly intensified by -the effects of a 

 disastrous hurricane in the month of 

 September of the following year. 



Acting on the recommendations of 

 the Royal Commission, the Imperial 

 Government made a Grant-in-aid of 

 £15.000 to the local Government, for 

 the purpose of purchasing estates and 

 settling the peasantry on them ; but 

 before the grant could be utilized it was 

 found necessary to pass an Ordinance to 

 authorize the acquisition of estates. 

 This ordinance was known as the Land 

 Settlement Ordinance, 1899. Under it, 

 power was given to the Governor-in- 

 Council to select, purchase, and take 

 possession of lands ; to appoint a Land 

 Commissioner and other officers ; to 

 make regulations for carrying into effect 

 the purpose of the Ordinance ; and for 

 regulating the system of establishing 

 and locating small holders on land 

 acquired under its provisions. 



During the year 1899 several estates 

 in different parts of the island were 

 acquired, namely, Cumberland Valley, 

 1,470 acres ; Linley Valley, 1,571 acres ; 

 Aew Adelphi and Park Hill, 1,101 acres; 

 Richmond Hill, 285 acres ; and Clare 

 Valley-Questelles, 633 acres. The total 

 area of these was 5,060 acres. As soon as 

 possible after the estatss were taken 

 over, the lauds were surveyed and split 

 up into a large number of small holdings. 

 The area of the larger number of 

 holdings averaged 5 acres, There were 

 633 of these, but there were also 82 

 having an area of about one acre each. 

 Reserves were made (a) of half a chain 

 around the sources of important streams, 

 (b) of exposed ridges and such forest as 

 was considered necessary for forest con- 

 servation, (c) of land necessary for public 

 purposes, such as sites for churches, 

 chapels and schools, (c£) of land required 

 for roads and paths, and (e) of land for 

 townships. 



The total cost of acquisition, including 

 legal and survey fees was £14,706. The 

 value of each smallholding was appor- 

 tioned, so that the total valuation should 

 be equal to the total amount of the 

 expenses incurred by the Government in 

 the purchase of the whole area, plus 

 interest at the rate of 3 per cent, for 

 twelve years. Each applicant was re- 

 quired to pay 25 per cent, of the value 

 of a small holding before being allowed 

 to occupy it. The balance of the value 

 of the land was divided up into twelve 

 equal parts ; one had to be paid before 

 the expiration of the fifty year from the 

 date of the provisional permit to occupy 

 the lot, and the remaining parts by 

 annual instalments, so that each small 

 holder was allowed sixteen years to 

 complete the purchase of his land. A 

 steady and industrious applicant, who 

 was not able to pay 25 per cent, of the 



