CENTRAL MILLS . 



HI 



ordinary sagacity for the large planters to sell or lease their 

 lands, build central mills, and become buyers of cane and 

 manufacturers of sugar and coffee, and such other pro« 

 ducts of the island as might be turned to best account* 



At present, perhaps, the facilities for transportation are not 

 such as would admit of supplying central mills from a very 

 great distance, but it is enough for my argument to have 

 shown, that one set of sUgar Works will manufacture the 

 produce of 3,000 acres of sugar land, and not run nights ; 

 and if Mr. Stanley's superior " practical knowledge of West 

 Indian habits 7 ' has led him to the conclusion which he 

 lias adopted, that the culture and the manufacture of sugar 

 cannot be carried on separately, then I have less reason to 

 regret rriy more limited opportunities for observation, than 

 I had imagined. 



The fact is, that if the circulation of capital, and the 

 alienability of land had been unrestricted, if the non-resi- 

 dence of the landlords and the parliamentary protection 

 given to their peculiar interests, had not contentrated the 

 whole reclaimed territory of the island, into the hands of a 

 few whose interests were not identified with those of the 

 Jamaicans, central mills would have been in general use 

 here, long since, and the agriculture of the island would 

 now have been as independent of its manufacturing, as of 

 its commercial industry. 



That separation is destined to take place soon. Already, 



