Litchfield enquirer., 1867-05-30
years to come, in the government of 2 colo


 nv which his wonderful energy and de c;sion of character had saved to the crown
 But they were soon to be woefuliy de ceiyed: and when t was too late to repai, the error, they discovered. ta their intense modification that they had actually soli themselves while fancying that they were only selling the people. In tLe bill intro duced into Parliament by the Russell Glad stone ministry for the future government O the colony, the planters were completely ignored, and everything was placed in thG hands of the Crown How tlie the author itv with which the Crown vas invested D, the measure would be exercised, was seer ii sha
 NEW GOVERNOR.
 The selection made by the colonial min ister of a pew governor for Jamaica, Sil John Peter Grant, formerly licutenant-gov ernor of the province of Bengal, had dis tinguished himself not more by his admin istrative abilities than by the noble stand ne had taken, while filling that office, in protecting the people of the province from oppression at the hands of their English masters. Infexihly just in lis government he knew no distinction between the poo1 half-caste Hindoo and the lorlly and arro- gant Anglo-Saxon, and he was ever ready to throw the shield of his official power over the helpless native. This was the man se lected by the government to inaugurate the new Tegin2e i'll Jamaica, and to administer the affairs of the colony for a series of years.
 His appointment at once opened the eyes of the planters to their true situation, but ! they found themselves poWerless to offer re- s;stance They could noteve remonstrate: i for the destruction Of the old representa- tive institutions Of the colony had been their own involuntary set, and for very shame they were compelled to accept the situation-grumblne however, that 1t was hard lot to be handed over to the ''Ben- gal tiger, as they called Sir J. P. Grant
 The course pursued by the Governor since his arrival here has justified their worst ap- prehensions. He took the opportunity af- l forded by the first meeting of the new leg 1 islatiye council to declare in his opening speech, that after looking into the laws of Jamaica, and inquiling into their operation, he had come to the conclusion that those laws practically denied justice to the black man. This averlnent fell like bombshcll into the planter camp ; it filled them with consternation and dismay, and the planter newspaper soundly bera- ! ted Sir John for his audaclty. Unmoved i however, by tl.e attacks made upon him, he i set to work vigorously and with a firm will to reform the grievous abuses that had l grown up under the former government and his efforts have, so far, been attended with the most gratifying results.
 NEW MEASURES.
 The old system of taxation has undergone considerable modification The tariff has been revised so as to relieve articles of pri- mary necessity. the food and clothing of the people, from the heavy duties they former ly bore while luXllries, which used to be i taxed very lightly in comparison with nec- essaries, are now made to contribute their 1 fair share towards the revenue of the coun- try, The land tax of which the planters ! had relieved themselves has been reimposed, and they are now compelled to pay rates on 1 their mansions, which some years ago, with ] the most brazen effrontery, they exempted from taxation while compelling the negro to pay duties on his humble cottage. The 1 ecclesiastlcal establishment, which has been an almost intolerable burden to the tax payers, three-fourths of whom belong to the non -conformist churches, and which cost the country no less a sum than two hundred thousand dollars per annum for the support of some ninety clergymen, has also been taken in hand, and considerable reductions have been made in the outlay for it's, maintenance, preparatory to some 1 general measure for etfectually relieving the colony of this terrible incubus.
 ! A law dividing the island into new dis 1 tricts for judicial purposes has been passed and several stipendary justices sent out l from England have been appointed to those | T Lc o+ to may expect that justice which has so long been denied to them. The old parochial vestries, in which the planters had every thing thei1 own way, have been abolished, and new municipal boards substituted, the members of which are all appointed by the Governor, and responsible to him for their official acts.
 In short, we have had a complete Teyolu- ton, quietly effected, and the government under which we are now living Is despo- tism, although mild despotism on the whole, and so far as the blacks are con- cerned, a truly batter lal one. But that there should have been necessity to resort to system like this thirty years after emancl- patton, in order to save the colony from be- ing utterly ruined by the remnant of the old pro-slavery party still surviving, shows what grievous error the British govern ment committed when it neglected to pro- vide for the safety and welfare of the ne- gro, after giving him freedom, by ensuring to him the full enjoyment of those political rights in the exercise of which he would have been able effactually to protect him. self.
 A system like this, as temporary expe- dient under exceptional circumstances, may work very we'll, especially when Jamaica has such a Governor as Sir John Peter Grant but it chafes and lrritates the plan ters and that portion of the people of mix ed blood which sympathizes with them; and I think that in the long run popular opin- ion will compel return to something more consonant with the principles of sef-goy- ernment To make such form of govern ment successful, however, the negroes must be admitted to their full share of political power. J.
 \ Portland Democrat, before that place became city, was once presiding over an old fashioned town meeting. A certain of flee was to be filled, and almost simultane- ously the names of Whig and Democrat were proposed The chairman immediate ly remarked. "Iantlemen, those nOmina-