, 1873-03-15

las De6U S0GWu Dy i lndSI6F, WuU1 LOT luSIduC6
being DESTROYS to get rid Of a labourer's wife,
who, for a longer period, with his permission or
knowledge, has resided with her husband with
out being employed on the estate, turns her off
Immediately after the expiration Of the time,
during which the husband could have given no
tice and thus compels the married couple, dur
ing a whole year, to live separated from each
other. These provisions should rather fern g
separate paragraph Of about the following
tenor
"Whcnover the husband, the wife, or the
"head Of the family, after having given or re-
" ceiyed notice removes from an estate, all the
persons belonging to the household of the
"party removing are entitled likewise to re-
"moye, without giving separate warning.
1.-The same rule is to be followed in the event
"of a person, who, without being employed on
d" the estate, has, with the consent or knowledge
{" of the owner or manager, been residing on the
" estate, receiving notice to quit the estate
The 18th s ought rather to be left out alto
getber, at all events it is proposed that the be-
ginning should runs thus;
"For a days work, on Saturdays, is to be
9" paid-if not otherwise agreed upon between
"the parties,-and so forth"
The prohibition against giving extra provi-
siOns is to be left out. 1t would certainly
be superluous here to repeat what in his APP
pended reports on the later occasions he has
said concerning this matter. To prohibit CIV
ing labOurers something to eat on a day when,
as often happens, they are working far away
from home, and cannot easily in any other way
procure food, seems to be, to say the least of it,
rather a queer provision.
The prohibition against giving rum in pay
mani onI ooo;not li,friL1t;oo Of v,,D, J,:--
working hours, has been taken from the former
legislation which has been considered abroga-
ted by the emancipation it is an old and inve-
tarato evil we have to CONFERENCE.-THE letter
from the P%olicemaster at Frederiksted of the
25th of August 1851 of which a copy is hereto
appended-but the proposed provision will
prove beneficial only through the efforts of a
vigilant and Jealous pOlice-inspectiou.
The sam may be said Of the provision, that
the little children, while The mothers are at
work, shall be fed and taken care of at the ex-
pense of the estate it is copied from ~ Of
the Provisional act, and it now limited to child
rem under three years. This provisions has
never been acted on on estates where the
planter cared for the children, be would have
done so without such a law. The undersigned
has on former occasions stated, that he does
not believe that this enactment can be en-
forced, wherefore it would be better to omit it
in the ordinance and leave the children to the
care of the mothers who in consequence thereof
should be exempted from compulsory work.
OF the separate provisions of the law the I'm
d~ersigned must yet mention that one which
directs that the labourers for the future shall
have free medical attendance. According to
the now existing regulations, the Iabourers are
made to pay the physician without having the
right to choose him themselves. This being
unjust, he has not made any distinct objection
to the change, but cannot omit to observe that
he does not consider it proper, that the labour-
ers, who do not belong to the servants GLASS,
but have their own households, should be &C.
customed to consider themselves exempted
from paying their physician; he would wish the
regulating of this matter postponed the medi-
cal attendance on most of the estates is 50 de-
f%ective, that he believes thatthe Government will
soon have to reopen the whole matter concern
ing the regulating of medical affairs, of which the
2nd discussion in the meeting of the Colonial
Council of the goth Of June 1870 was postponed
until further; not because of the want of a re-
adjustment not being felt, but because the draft
of the ordinance, otherwise based on sound and
correst principles, was hampered with so many
ron-oo4iooI opJ ou1obro,c au0ouJn0oo