THE WEST INDIES

Grey River Argus, 29 August 1939, Page 5

THE WEST INDIES

j THE LAND AND THE PEOF’LE [■ GENERAL NEWS SERVICE. J, For the purposes of this survey w( ’ shall limit ourselves to the West Indian islands under the control ol Great Britain. These islands, thougl perhaps the most numerous arc among the smallest of the Caribbean 1 group. ‘The three largest .islands, iCuba Haiti (with San Domingo), Puierto Rico were once under Spanish lor French ride; the first two now I comprise three independent republics, (the last is an American Colony. Great Britain controls Jamaica, Trinidad, I Barbados, the Leeward and Windward Islands and the Bahamas. The French retain Guadeloups, Martinicjue and certain smaller islands; the Dutch with St. Eustatius and Saba and Dutch Guiana on the. mainland of South America, are the only other European power in the Caribbean area, the Danes having sold their islands to America during the course of the century. I

1 The strands which go to make the pattern of West Indian history form a most interesting study, particularly from the point of view of the varied racial elements juxtaposed or blencied in the making of this history. The population of the West Indies to-day is predominantly of African origin. The Caribs, the original from whom the area takes its name, were destroyed by the European settlers, with the exception of a small reserve of some four hundred, still to be found in the Leeward Islands. The Africans came as labourers on the plantations of various European nations; in the British islands chiefly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. With the final abolition of slavery in 1838 indentured labour from India was introduced chiefly into Trinidad and British Guiana. |

The eighteenth century conflicts between England, Spain and France led to a constant interchange of ownership in the islands, resulting in the final establishment of British rule in Trinidad, St. Lucia and Dominica, Grenada and other islands formerly Spanish or French. Chabitation between blacks and whites produced an intermediate class generally known as mulattoes. '

Until 1938, the European planter In the British colony was absolute lord of all he surveyed. He took over the political and social institutions of his country of origin and with some measure of success transplanted them into his small and esoteric community. The ' African separated from his own institutions and deprived of access to those [obtaining in his new environment, adI apted himself as best he could. The policy deliberately followed of mixing Africans together from different parts of Africa, so as to offset rebellion,' rendered impossible the survival of any African language; and instruction in any European language was denied. Hence sprang up the dialects and patois current in the West Indies.

ORIGIN OF SOCIAL FORMS NOW Extant.

During the eighteenth century absenteeism prevailed. Families like the Beckfords, Miles, Codringtons and others left their estate to the management of attorneys and spent the substantial fortunes derived therefrom on the enrichment and beautifying of England. The Lascelles now linked with the blood royal followed the same procedure. A frequent result. of absenteeism was the gradual decay of plantations in the interests of the attorney into whose hands they tended to pass. Drawn from the lowest strata of English society and out to improve their condition, these men invariably settled in the islands sending their children to England to learn to be gentlemen. The coarser extravagances of the 18th century nabob are to be traced to this source. j

Institution of learning in the islands were few; most numerous in Barbados, they were the result of private benefactions such as that of Christopher Codrington, Fellow of Alt Souls, and of the line of Codrington of Navarius, who founded Codrington College by the same Will under which he gave £6OOO to All Souls library in 1710. Knowledge took the same trend as in England; the middle orders and lhe artisans learnt the elements of grammar and the three r’s in dame schools; the lower orders were completely uninstructed. The poorer I whites were the tradesmen and the artisans. In Barbados there was also

a considerable class composed of exindentured white servants who after their live years of service were by law supplied with a free house and small holding by their master. This class constituted a militia of a sort. The mulattoes were also given certain privileges to ensure their allegiance to the European as against the African. In Jamaica they could inherit property up to £2OOO. In many instances they were sent for instruction to the English Universities and as a general rule they were exempt from service in the fields. Trial by jury in some instances and the opportunity of serving in the militia completed the severance of this class from the Africans. That cleavage remains to this day. Nominally Christian the planters never took religion seriously. Devout worshipers they posted on their church doors notices saying "Negroes and Dogs not allowed.” It was felt that Christian instruction would make it impossible to hold a coreligionist in slavery and in any case it would make the African contumacious. When the dissenters tried to proselytize they were hounded out with the full approval of the establishment. Ir the French and Spanish islands late to be conquered the Roman zeal for souls ran to baptism and consequently christianisation including the inculcation of true Christian humility. It was only under the influence of the volcanic unheaval of the blacks in Haiti and the fear of a similar rising in their islands that British statesmen awoke to -the soporific value of Christian teaching. Two dioceses were established in 1824 in Jamaica and Barbados, the cost being defrayed by the Imperial Treasury. The clergy hitherto excessively 18th century in their habits, were called to order and strenuous efforts made to instruct the blacks in their duty towards God and their duty towards their neighbour—particularly how to love him as themselves, above all how to love their enemies. To teach this they had to teach the three R’s. Such was the beginning of elementary education in the West Indies. In all the islands the church still retains great influence on education, being in many islands still

directly responsible. The parson it the West Indies, indeed has restored t< him a standing he has lost in more advanced countries of the world. He is still the parson of his district whose good word means much to the labourer. RESOURCES OF THE ISLANDS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. In 1838 the small handful of landlords absent, or resident of the West Indies owned the islands. The other yOO.OOO inhabitants had just, stopped being owned themselves. In coi'%. ■n.-.a-tion for loss of valuable property tinplanters received £20,000,000 from the British Exchequer. Most of that *money remained in England. 'The negroes wore free —to sell their labolti ' power or starve. The chief resource ol Ihe islands upj to now had been sugar. From roun.t| about 1840 onwards, sugar in the Bri-’ tish West Indies has met severe com- ' petition from other sugar countries! with increasingly up to Late mot hods | of production, yet Ihe West Indie" ! remain wedded to the cultivation oil sugar, which is still the main product I

lof tile islands with the exception ol Jamaica. Trinidad with its oil industry is the one island not entirely up.m agriculture for its revenue. In 1838 in certain islands where unoccupied land was to be had, the negroes began to develop their own holdings anc. formed a peasant class. The growth of this class and its refusal to work for the pittance offered by the planter in wages. led to the introduction of Indian labour above mentioned. In certain islands such as Barbados and Antigu all the land being pheady occupied, there was no scope for the emergence of a peasantry. Other islands such as Trinidad saw ;■ more rapid growth of this class, Ihe hulk of the land however still remains in the hands of the planters. In Jamaica a recent computation has shown that of 2,500,000 acres available for cultivation. more than half is held by about 800 people. A further 153,000 people occupy holdings of 2i acres and 49,000 people hold plots of under acre. The oil industry in Trinidad is entirely in the hands of companies capitalised from outside the island. With the control of the means of production goes political control of the country.

i POLITICAL CONTROL. The planters in the several islands enjoyed in the 17th and 18th centuries certain political privileges patterned on those of England Under these each island was governed by a house of assembly elected on a property franchise. The assemblies initiated bills! and controlled finance. Above the leg-, islatures were legislative councils appointed by the governor (not neces- 1 sarily from members of the House) and having powers comparable to .those exercised by the Lords in England before 1911. The Governor in Executive Committee carried out pot-1 icy, lhe Governor having the power of veto on all measures, in 183 s this system still prevailed. The West Indians had stubbornly resisted the imposition from above of the emancipation bill. They were not disposed to] treat with any respect the negroi population now free, but excluded by; the property qualification from any I exercise of political rights. The Home] Government began to be disturbed at rumours of the arbitrary exercise of power by the planters to coerce lab-| ourers to work. Something had to he done. And here it must be mentioned that to the supporters of emancipa-| ] lion the whole question had been a struggle for free labour as against slave as a means of breaking the West ;

Indian monopoly of the British market. There had been no intention of setting up self governing communities with the black playing their part with the white in the common interest. Under these circumstances it followed that the obvious step strengthening the political, power of lhe negro a-; the best means of securing his position was never dreamt of. Benevolent autocracy to protect the negro abrogated the privileges of lhe planter except in places like Barbados. Bermuda.! and the Bahamas where his powerwas assured. Crown Colony Govern meat introduced first in 1865 in Jamaica was gradually extended over the l whole Caribbean area until British; Guiana succumbed in 1928. The West I Indies became a model for the Afri-I can colonies and others later acquired.! That was the only warning Great Bri-| tain ever took from the West Indies. 1 Crown Colony Government assures the existence of a permanent majority, on the side of the Executive. The ! planter has captured the Executive. '

TAXATION, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES. Taxation is a good indication of the seat of power. Who pays? Of most countries it is true that the many pay and the few enjoy. This is particularly true of the West Indies, where the bulk of the revenue is derived 'from indirect taxation. Income tax is negligible. In Barbados for instance income tax of 3d in the pound is paid on incomes up to £500; thence a graduated tax ranging to maximum of 3s on incomes of £7,500 and over. The same island recently introduced an old age pensioners bill under which Is 6d per week is given to indigent persons of 70 years and over. The state of the social services is seen by the 40 per cent illiteracy which still prevails in most islands, by the incidence of hook, worm (81 per cent and often as high as 90 per cent of the population in some areas being infected), malaria, typhoid and ether diseases still endemic in these islands. Nobody ever took over the responsibility of housing in the islands; the words of the Foster Commission to Trinidad are destined to become classic in this connection because they are so apt. This commission found the workers huts indescribable in the lack of the elementary needs of decency. The same power which keeps or seeks to keep the labourer at animal level, seeks to keep him from combination to end this state of affairs. Trade Unions until recently were discouraged or not recognised, freedom of speech is bounded by stringent, sedition bills. Labour legislation is mediaeval. that is to say non-existent. In islands where compensation bills are found, they deliberately' exclude the bulk of the labourers—the agricultural workers.

THE PEOPLE’S REACTION. Conditions such as these lead finally to one of two things:.the gradual demoralisation and extinction of a people, or an explosion to save themselves from brute degration. The West Indians refused to be driven to the

I level of brutes. The whole Caribbean 'area has been simmering with disconi tent for the past decade. Here and there spasmodic outbreaks have given I vent to this discontent —most'recently j in Trinidad and Barbados in 1937, in Jamaica in 1938. Nothing effective has been done or is being done to remove the causes of this discontent, though every attempt has been made to prevent its expression. The people’s leaders are imprisoned and the people themselves when they demonstrate are met with rifle fire. The continued growth of the workers movement in every island gives lhe lie to the official theory that it is the work of individual, agitators. The imprisonment of Butler for 2 years in Trinidad, and of Grant for 10 years in Barbados, in no way detracted from the forward movement. Gunshot cannot fill hungry bellies. The people want food; they must be able to feed themselves.

’OFFICIALDOM AND THE PEOPLE OF THE WEST INDIES. Downing) Street sent out. a Royal Commission in 1938 to investigate further conditions of which they were already fully aware. Much play is made in official circles with the doctrine "of trusteeship. These trustees steal everything not excluding time. Royal Commissions come go and leave reports. Nothing will ever be done to change matters until the people in the islands are in a position to insist that it be done. they realise, and realise further that they must have the political power to ensure the fulfilment of their wishes. The upsuge of bodies like the People’s National Party of Jamaica, is proof of this. The absence of the most elementary civic rights at present hamstring the West Indian populace. Without these the vicious conditions which prevail will continue to prevail. The right to vote, the elective principle in the legislature, the removal of the property qualification for legislators, responsibility of the executive to the legislature, these are commonplaces in Europe to-day. They are with-held from the inhabitants of the West Indies as they are from the people of j other colonial countries under the rule of Great Britain. The struggle of these peoples to obtain these simple elementary rights is dubbed revolution and disorder in official quarters. The attainment of these rights can be accelerated by the support of the progressive forces in Great Britain. The inhabitants of the West Indies regard this support as axiomatic in the best, interests of the people of Great Britain themselves.