The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-07

makes itself felt more or less in every walk OF
nIe, IN every institution OF society, the purifying
and elevating influences peculiar to Christian
civilization are actively and successfulvat work
sensibly ameliorating the condition of the whole
people.
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
Industry in the West Indies is bv no means so
mutiform it is in most other narts Of the
civilized world, being devoted principally TO the
production of a few staple articles of commerce
VI these sugar takes the precedence next comes
coffee, then rum, and lastly tobacco. The
Spanish colonies stand first in the nrodnction of
sugar, Hayi in coffee, the British colonies espe-
cially Jamaica, in rum, and Cuba i'm tobncco
Besides these staples the West Indies export
large quantities OF molasses of dve-
woods and cabinet woods and nnmber' nj
minor articles, such as pimento, ginger arrow
root, cocoa beeswax, and honey Previous 10
the emancipation of the slaves, in 1888. the
British colonies were far in advance of all the
others in the raising of both supar and coffee.
but that event led to the abandonment of n large
number of plantations, their proprietors not
having sufficient capital to work them prohtablv
under the new system of labor inaupurated by
freedom, and emancipation being followed in
less than eight years by the triumph of the free
trade policy in England whereby the differen
tial duties that had heretofore operated
as protection to the British
colonial producer against his foreign
competitor were abolished, Cubo and Porto
Rico, their labor force largely recruited every
year by means of the Transatlantic African slave
trade, SnOJ aneau OF Jner old rivals, especially in
the production of sugar, thereby reversing the
former relative position of affairs Fifty wears
ago for example, Cuba exported 1OOO0OOOO
pounds ofsugar, and Jamaica nearly double that
quantlty to-day the latter exports only 60 900
pounds year, while the former ships annually
over 4O0,OOO,OOO pounds During the half-cen-
tury the sugar production of Jamaica has fallen
off full two-thirds while that of Cuba has been
more than quadrupled. 1t must not be supposed
however, that the free islands are retrograding
industrially, or that there is truth i'm the Oft
repeated statement, maliciously circulated by
men of pro-savery sentiments, that the emanci-
pated negroes cannot be induced to work The
great bulk of the people work for themselves on
their own holdings-work hard and steadily too;
and if exports have fallen off. productions for
domestic consumption have largely increased to
the improved comfort and the greater happiness
of the masses. As consequence of the altered
state of things in the British Antillean posses
sions brought about by emancipation, and of the
creation of a peasant proprietary, wealth is more
generally diftused now than was the case in the
days of slavery
The products of the British colonies are nearly
all exported to England; those of the French
colonies to Frances those of the Spanish colonies
principally to Spain, the United States, and
England; and those of Hayti to the United
States, France, and Germany. The West Indies
have no manufactures of fabrics or hardware
being dependent for these upon European coun-
tries, and to some extent, especially as regards
agricultural implements, upon the United States,
ties of -four butter, lard, cheese, pork beef
candles, and lumber. The import trade of the
British Islands with the States has been steadily
increasing for several years past, keeping regu-
lar pace with the improving condition, with re-
spect to material wealth. of the emancipated
class, a large proportion of the products of whose
independent industry finds its way to this coun-
try While nearly all the sugar and rum
uroduced in these colonies ON the large
plantations by hired labor is sent to England,
most of the coffee raised by the small settlers
for themselves is shipped to the United States
The exports from Cuba to the United States
consisting principally of sugar, moasses, and
manufactured tobacco, are immense, statistical
returns showing that from the three principal
ports of shipment, viz, Cardenas, Matanzas,
and Trinidad dc Cuba, they amount in value to
about ST., 100000 year: but the imports from
the States are insignificant in comparison with
the exports hither, n result which is owing to
the restrictive commercial policy of Spain
toward that island, which is compelled to take
articles from the mother country which she
might obtain elsewhere at cheaper rates and of
better quality, and this not to protect the in
dustry of the island, but simply to benefit the
royal treasury. The duty in Cuba on United
States flour, for example, is so high-$4 per
barrel-as to be in fact prohibitory These re-
marks apply to Porto Rico likewise.
THB PAST AND THE FUTURE.
As there is no fairer region on the face of Gods
earth than the West Indies so no part of the
world has been more terribly cursed by the vii
W
versal was the reign of injustice, tyranny, and
cruelty in the Caribbean, and so complete and
revolving the Generalization of society in all
the colonies, that the words of the poet might
have been appropriately applied:-
Here every prospect pleases,
The great bane of the Antilles has been negro
slavery. In some of them however, an antidote
has been applied, whose effects have been so far
of the most satisfactory character; and in those
parts where the poison still actively works there
is ground for hope that curative agencies will
soon be in full operation. With slavery over
thrown in Cuba and Porto Rico, the West In
dies, thereby completely delivered from the
terrible curse which followed in the wake OF the
first slave ship that crossed the Atlantic more
than three centuries ago, will at once enter upon
a new career. What is likely to be their destiny?
Cuba, the most important island of them ALL
cannot if delivered from the Spanish yoke
stand alone. Confederation will be forced
upon her by the necessities of her new position;
and independence will thus become the step
ping-stone to incorporation with the United
States the only power to which she can iooA
for genuine sympathy and practical ana IN
establishing a governm ent that shall be at
once free, orderly, and progressive. Hayti,
weak in her isolation, and n prey 10 internal
dissensions and civil war, is already feeling
her way towards annexation TO this country
as the only means OF saving That republican
form of government which her people love so
well. but which they have been unable to work
out successfully for themselves, MS well as OF
developing her immense resources. Win CUBA
and Hayti integral parts of the American Union
the people of the other islands Will soon perceive
it TO be their interest to exchange the dependent
condition of cOlonists for citizenship in good
commonwealth; and that point once reached
nothing short of annexation will satisfy their
aspirations. The ''signs of the times clearly
indicate that the age OF colonies Is drawing TO
close As far as the Western Hemisphere Is
ooncarnpd thrOu0h the WTetcled management