, 1874-09-23
WEST INDIAN IN LONDON.
Continued.

ba looked for with much interest, as we'll
~ tbo rasnlt of the premium which will
be offered. A better course could scarce
" be devised, and it is worth the consi-
Iteration of our own colonies whether a SINH
lar step could not be taken. Why should not
Demerara, Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica
unite in subscribing to a fund, say OF ten or
twelve thousand pounds, for the purpose OF
Offering prizes that would be sufficiently large
20 obtain the best scientific skill 1t is quite
evident that the extraction and manufacture of
sugar cannot remain in its present stage.
Events are passing rapidly, and the lnanu-
facture, which was satisfactory a few years
ago, will soon be out of date. Practical &C
ton on the part of the colonies may avert q
good deal of distress, and perhaps form the
starting point of a new prosperity. A great
deal has undoubtedly been done of late years
to improve the manufacture, but there IS still
much to do. An additional twenty per cent.
of Juice from the cane would have a great m
huence upon The fortunes of the colonies. ln-
stead of the present dependency and gloom
there would be the cheerfulucss that comes of
prosperity. Fresh vigour would he infused into
the industry, additional capital would be
brought to bear upon it, all classes OF p0pu-
lation in the colonies would be benefited, and
colonial institutions would be strengthened.
Tho letters Of Mr.. Edmund Field to the
Demerara papers are always read with inter-
est at home, and his views as a practical plan
ter are entitled to considerable weight. In
the letter published in the Col0n3St of August
6 the utter inadcquacy OF tue immigration
Ordinance of the colony to secure ths proper
fulflment of the contracts by labourers is tOrcl-
bly, pointed out Before the passing OF the
Ordinance the labour rendered by the coolio
was little enough, but since that period it
has grown smaller by degrees, but certain
Nv not beautifully less. The Ordinance, which
was the outcome Of The wisdom OF the Royal
Commissioner of Inquiry, was expressly in
tended to mako the people more industrious,
but its provisions, and the manner in which
they have been applied by the immigration
Department and the magistrates, have not
been calculated to promote this end. Indeed,
the Ordinance can best be described as a law
TO encourage idleuess aud foster discomfort.
1t seems to have been drawn, too, in a par
ticularly confusing way, for nobody seems
10 be able to agree as TO the meaning OF its
principal clauses, aud it has offered, as might
have been expected, a rare field for the cxer-
else of Mr.. Crosby's wonderfully active pow
ers. To do Sir George Young justice, he en-
deavoured, as he thought, to make the law as
simple in its wording, aod rs easily understand
able as possible but he little drcamt OF the
astute mind which would be brought to bear
upon IT, ana WHICH ms DtCl uColluCu ~ HE-
cover, beneath the seemingly plain and sim
pie meaning of the clauses. all sorts of tech,
meal complexities wherewith to vex the soul
of EMPLOYERS, who have been made t. appear
in the Magistrates Courts upon all kinds of
pretexts, aud occasionally with no shadow of
reason whatever, technical or otherwise. The
immigration Department is never happy ex-
cept when engaged IN litigation. If 1t is re-
ported that a manager has refused to endorse
the certificate of an immigrant, who claims
to have served out his contract, the depart
ment at once takes action, without waiting to
ascertain whether the certificate had ever been
presented for endorsation. When it is proved
before the magistrate that it had not been pre-
scented, and the manager mad therefore had no
opportunity of refusing to endorse it, the De-
partment Of course looks a little ridiculous,
but it is as impervious to ridicule as it is blind
to common sense and fairness. The only eff
feet of this petty litigation is to waste time and
temper, and generally to hinder that proper
working of the immigrant system which the
Ordinance itself was intended to promote. Mr..
Field gives sufficient instances to prove that
under the administration of the present law
ths people work very much less than they did
formerly, whilst of course their maintenance
on the estates is as expensive as eyer--indeed'