l6S TlMEHRI. 
machinery lest it reduced wages and caused over-produc- 
tion ! But we of to-day cannot cast a stone at these 
misguided people of a hundred years ago. Have we not 
at home, now, combinations of workmen, who striving to 
keep down production and to unduly raise wages and 
shorten hours of labour, are driving much of the manu- 
factures of England into the hands of foreigners. 
In addition to those works which are designed to con- 
tribute to the well-being of mankind, excellence in 
mechanical skill has been employed in the perfection of 
instruments devised for the better killing of our fellow- 
creatures. The amount of talent and patient industry 
expended in making a torpedo for instance, or even a 
quick firing gun is something wonderful. It may be that 
we are progressing towards such perfect power of des- 
truction that wars will cease merely because they will be 
so terrible ; but it does seem a matter for regret that so 
much time, money and ingenuity should be spent on 
weapons and projectiles as if they were means of con- 
veying the greatest happiness to the greatest number, 
instead of consigning the greatest number to the greatest 
misery in the least possible time. 
To come now more immediately to our colony and our- 
selves. 
Besides those advantages which modern science has 
given to the world generally, we in British Guiana must 
acknowledge the debt which we in particular owe to it in 
connection with our staple product. Chemistry has 
enabled planters to appreciate the quality of the soil they 
till, and learning in what materials it is deficient to 
obtain these requisites in compact and concentrated 
form. It has been brought to bear upon the purification 
