WASTE OF LABOR, 



1*3 



foreign immigration. Among the communications to which 

 the controversy has given rise, is the following, addressed 

 by Mr. Anderson, the gentleman last quoted, to the Colo- 

 nial Standard, in explanation of some remarks he had then 

 recently made at a public meeting in Kingston. As local 

 evidence in confirmation of the views I have taken, it has 

 seemed to be entitled to a place in these pages. 



" Dear Sir :— 



" Let me reply to your observation on the opinions I 

 expressed at the late Cotton meeting about the alleged 

 want of labor, which you say is general throughout the 

 island. I still complain of that statement, and agree with 

 Sir Joshua Rowe* in designating the frequent reiteration of 

 it as absolutely * suicidal.' It discourages all approach to us 

 of capitalists, and puts a seal on the permanency of depres- 

 sion. I do not say that there is no ground for much com- 

 plaint ; but I say that the extent of the evil, the causes of 

 it, and the remedies for the cure are neither correctly nor 



* As Sir Joshua Rowe is Chief Justice of Jamaica, and withal a man whose 

 opinion is deservedly respected here, I will give the remarks to which Mr Ander- 

 son refers, as I find them reported in the Colonial Standard : — " Sir Joshua Rowe 

 said that as no other gentlemen present appeared desirous of addressing the meet- 

 ing, he would, with their permission, make a few observations on the question 

 which they had met to discuss. He agreed with Mr. Wemyss Anderson in the re- 

 marks he had made with respect to the quantity of available labor. He had heard 

 a great deal, and read a great deal, about the scarcity of labor, but from all his 

 experience he was inclined, with Mr. Anderson, to the belief that the scarcity was 

 purely local He believed also that the amount of labor varied very materially, 

 even in the same district, and was dependant in a great measure on the manager, 

 for he had found frequently that while one estate was provided with abundant 

 labor, a neighboring estate could not procure a single one. Thnt, however, was 

 not the question they had to consider." &c, &c. 



