, 1873-11-01

Chinese, whose direct and indirect cOntTl-
buttons to the revenue, by he payment OF
the Iand-tax and the consumption Of duty
paid articles, and supplemented and com
pleted by their assiduity in rearing stock,
and their ingenuity in the raising of crops
which have hitherto been strangers to this
island. With time, this beneficial and
eminentIy civiIiSin action goes on progress.
ing and extending, aud at no very distant
day a large population Of independent and
industrious freehoIders will spring from,
and be recruited by, our system OF immi-
grafton. It rests with us to hurry on or
to DELAY so desirable a cOnsUmmation, aC-
cordiug as we shall starve or feed immigra-
ton. The fewer immigrants we introduce,
the smaller viii be the number Of those
who annually retire from the estates to
settle on thei own account. The larger
our annual importations OF immigrants, the
more the area of cultivation on the estates
is extended, the greater and more fertile
becomes that nursery OF ali independent
peascntrv, which is SO great and g@rleyOUs a
want in the social and industrial Organisa-
ton of the West Indies. If these things be
well considered, we shall hardly be accused
OF an undue leaning towards the planting
interest if we advocate a revision OF the
apportjOument of the immigration charges.
We claim that revision, not on behalf OF
the planters, but ON behalf of the country.
We consider the immigration system as a
powerful lever, whose working may incl
dentalIy benefit the landowners, but whose
real and lasting benefits, present and pro-
spectiye, are reserved tor the people at
large. So far from considering the present
contribution from the general revenue a
hardship or injustice to the taxpayers, we
hold that the real hardship lies in that
mistaken view OF political economy, which,
Judging of tbs country according to the
standard of the o~verpopuIated countries OF
the Old word, clogs our nat ouaI progress
by grudging to a class benefits which,
through that class, fall to the share OF
every man, woman, and child IN the CO.
lony. The portion which the general re-
venue contributes to the immigration
Fund amounted last year to 10 00OL, and
in tile same year, irrespective OF the direct
taxation paid by the estates, the revenue
extracted q sum equal at to least 35,000L.
from the excisable and taxable articles con-
sumed by the indentured immigrant pOpu-
of the island. On the one side the EXche-
ouet made a ptoft of 35,000l from the
immigrants, on the other it contributed
10000 towards the maintenance of so
rich a source of revenue. This is s%atistac-
tory, but is it a reason for extending or
restricting so very advantageous a system?
The planters are first interested in immi-
grafton, but theirs is not the only, nor is
it the largest or most permanent interest.
The extension OF immigration has a direct
and powerful bearing upon the prosperity
and the progress of the country, and the
a-pportionment of a larger share of its cost
to the general revenue is the safest and
most lucrative investment which it is pos
sible for Trinidad to make"
In the last West Indian in London
reference was made to Natal as an Island,
a piece of geographical information which
possibly might be startling to some read
ers. The mistake, although an obvious
one, managed to escape correction In the
hurry of revision proofs, but it is nothing
compared to a really good blunder OF the
Times the other day, which, in reporting
the Archbishop of Yorh,S sermon before
the British Association at Bradford, trans
formed the " Poet Laureate" into Postal
Telegraphs"