The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-12 00:00:00

PROSPERITY TO THE MAURITIUS.

The publication of the annual reports on the state
of her Majesty's colonial possessions fully accounts
for the strong desire that every now and then bursts
forth in the French press to exchange the French
possessions on the continent of India for the old
French inland of Mauritius. In such an exchange
the material, and as we think also the political, gill'
would be all on their side.
.Governor .Higgiuson's last report on that co'onY
exhibits a state of prosperity 'which it is pleaqint to
record. Although during the five years-1851-55
—taxes to the amount of 55,8001. a year were re-
pealed, the revenue has gone on steadily increasing;
in the year 1855 it amounted on this small Volcano,
island in the Indian Ocean; which cannot raise fod
enough for its own population, to 348,452/. ; and
in those five years its taxes produced the large sae.
Of 1,667,3151. The expenditure, too, though large
(in 1855 it reached 317,8391.), has been kept steadily
below the receipts ; and at the date of this repot
the Mauritius was not only free from debt, but hid
in hand a considerable reserve fund to meet Wl'
foreseen contingencies. So gati,factory indeed are
the island finances that the popular tendency lone
more to prodigality than to economy, and the pres-
sure on the Government is for the reverse of a fro- .
gal management of its pecuniary means.
In 1854 the value of the imports was 1,492,7881:
In 1855 it fell off to 1,356,300/. ; but in 1855 the
value of the exports exceeded that of 1854 bar
601,6891., and was no less than 1,848,0901. ;and
the balance of trade in 1855 was 491,7891. in WO'
of the colony. -Gradually the Mauritius is beeore.
ing a depot for a large and increasing conanale,s
with toe magnificent island of Madagascar.
trade with that island re-opened in 1854, avid 'n
the course of the next year trebled that of any Pre-
lions year in exports alone. A steamer is now re"
gularly engaged in the transport of c tttle to the
Mauritius, and the supplies from Madagascar hale.
brought down the price of beef one half—au The
mense boon to 'the peasantry of the islatn).
trade with the Australian colonies is also rap
iu'r
augmenting, and in 1855 the island sent thither
262, cwts. of sugar.
Sugar production is the basis of this prosperiV.!
and Mauritius is now fairly in the van of the sugar
producing possessions of the British Crown, as the
following progressive increaser of its productia
shows

Crop of 1851
„ 1852 BO,OOO „
„ 1853 lOO,OOO „
„ 1854 98,000 „
~ 1855
And if m 1856 the expectation of Governor
ginson be fulfilled that the crop would Yite
120,000 tons, we shall have the production of the
island doubled in five years. Neither is that tb
limit assignable to Mauritius production, erli
e,
under the present system of culture and mane?,
ture. For there are large tracts of land still .13n.11:
unreclaimed, and quite as capable of producl%
sugar. All that they want is labour. With tb,ai,
it is, says Mr. Higginson, "hardly possible to es'
mate the producing power attainable within 31)0,
ther five years."
The consequence of this augmented product' t$
and of the highly remunerative prices of late Ye%
has been that gradually the proprietary has he.;
getting out of debt ; less borrowed capital i 3 eig
ployed in the culture of estates • a more solvelto
proving a more skilful race of ctiltivaters ; at he'd
they inspire greater confidence ; and the credito
Mauritius planters now stands very high in
markets of England.
The sheet-anchor of its prosperity is of course jail;
migration; and of the proximity of Mauritius to In
full advantage hasbeeu taken. The stream of
gration maintains a steady and perpetual Ott
On Dec. 31, 1855, there were in the island 100,,
male Indian coolies and 28,245 females, and tiro
wards of one-half the former were under contraero
re
of service. Notwithstanding this number wages.°l„loi
rising, and the demand on the immigration de
increasing. Still the average wages were not lilt,
being only 13s. a month; but in 1855 that sure to
tracted 13,000 men and women from the contilleo
of India. The tendency, too, on the part of ther
immigrants to settle permanently in the island' 10
creases ; the women from Indii very seldom tertian
to their own country, and there is growing 11134,6
Indo-Creole race, Mauritius-born, bound to ',lO,
island Ly all those ties which beget love of c°_,,,to
try. The per-tentage of the Indian immigr',a,
was, according to the returns of 1855, 43 per o'o
of the whole population, that of the emancillbe
Africans being only 30 per cent. at that date. a
latter race is, indeed, decreasing in numbers;
not only does it suffer much more from the aOctval
of epidemic diseases, but in it there is an ally for
excess of deaths over births. Hitherto Indialle
migration has been entirely a Government trap
tion ; but a law has been lately passed to e 113041
persons to obtain at their own expense iminigra
' from India.
f big
It was a wise remark of Lord Grey, in one ° • al
circular despatches to the governors of our troPleii
possessions, that no class of proprietors are so deep
and directly interested in the education and elvAt
improvement of their labourers as the planters• to
last the Mauritius Government is making effort
overcome the peculiar impediments opposed
colony to educational progress. The principal lots
pediment lies in the difference of language OP° „r
by the two different races of labourers, which f4/0
gests the institution of separate schools for 0304
dians and the Creoles. On this point the Gove%,,.
and his council have, it seems, differed ; the (i;le
vernor recommending that teachers and suite 61
books in the vernacular dialects should be obtal::/ig
from India for the Coolies ; the council insis'll3a
that children of both races should be taught 'of
same school, through the medium of the Crewed
patois of the island. There is, however, an selib-Do
grant of 8,7881. for common schools, and a
institution called the Royal College is maintint4
at an annual charge of 7,0001. Two of its nelj4
te
are yearly sent over to this country to conlPll
their education, and, of those so sent, three 31°0,4
men of colour have recently competed with sec°
for honours in the British universities. titlf
What a contrast does this picture of Mallri
afford to the state of a majority of our West Inal3a
islands. No doubt the West Indian colonies ha
of late been sorely tried by the assaults of choleo;
no doubt they are less" favourably situated for to
acquisition of labour. But it is impossible 11°t irit
see that their proprietary, as a rule, want theSei
of enterprise which so pre-eminently clistingei:ritli
the proprietary of the Mauritius. To wrangle '
their governors, and ascribe all their misfortllfl i
to the Colonial-office and the Imperial LegislePolf
is a poor substitute for self-exertion—the gods °OB
aid those who aid themselves. Then, agaie,,,alt
Mauritius is not cursed to the same extent T"
re'
non-resident proprietors as the West Indies a
00
Cultivation and production are costly processes 10t
estates encumbered with debt. If the proprie be
be resident, he is poor and spiritless ; if head
absent, he has the cost and loss of overseers to s
to.the expense of production. 01/
The prosperity of the Mauritius ought to fetio
the West Indies a great and useful lesson.
Mauritius society is in a purer, simpler, more Efoll
reliant condition ; it is, consequently, more hoc!rislt
energetic, and independent. It doesjnot fret' of
its labcurera, with its government, with the nlovol,
country ; but it attends to its own affairs, liod
keeping them steadily in view, it prospers. tile
so also will the West Indies, when they take Act,
same means—when- the Encumbered Estates ,08
passed several years ago, shall be allowed to 1101
property in a sound condition, when the csPced
applied to cultivation shall be free from char
which set all profit at defiance, and when the rePiles
neration of labour shall be such as to indite!
negro to give " a good day's work for a fair 01
wage."—Daily News.