, 1874-09-30

~ ~NN NA"~ SO ANAS
bouring B. W. I. and foreign Colonies.
Wealth acquired from this source, is not pro-
duced directly, but indirectly, by the exchange
of one commodity for another. The sugar
crop Of Barbados is consumed in the mother
country, and in the countries Of North America,
and has to be shipped there, creating a large
export trade to these distant ports. In return,
we obtain from the same ports a large quantity
of goods, from England, chiefly manufactures
and clothes, from the States and British Pro-
vinces, breadstuffs, provisions, lumber, and
fish, forming an import trade of even larger
dimensions than the export, as goods are
imported for the supply Of the neighbouring
islands as we'll as for ourselves; which, with
our exports of native produce, chiefly lime
and provisions, form the intercolonial export
trade. But this trade is to a certain extent
limited 10 the wants Of Barbados, that is, to the
amount Of the annual exports and imports,
which in the long run balance each other,
"a large sugar crop for export being followed
generally by a corresponding increase in the
quantity of goods imported, and a short crop
followed by a contraction of the imports. This
necessary connection between the trade Of
the island and the annual sugar crop, shows
the dependence of the one upon the
other, and the evil of anything that happens
TO prevent or check the production of the
crop, or to hamper and restrict the operations
of trade.
These considerations teach US the Importance
of the maintenance and Improvement by every
possible means of our staple produce-sugar,
in order t. stand the competition in the free
market of Great Britain. 1t is an open mar.
ket, and the better the quality of the article
produced, the better chance we have of hold.
ing our own. The production depends upon
two elements, land and labour. Of the former
wa bavn n EDoifnd 0I1onfitv &c tho Io4tov tb,ouo
is more at hand than is wanted. We have
cheap labour to set against cheap land. We
have other advantages, facilities for transport,
and reaping the crop with expedition, and short
distances to the shipping ports. There is room
for improvement in the manufacture of the
produce, as well as In our system of agricul-
turo. Our land can be made more productive,
and the sugar Of a better quality. There is
room for greater economy III the application of
labour, in the treatment Of cattle and mules,
in the raising up of manure, and in other
branches Of estate management. None of these
should be neglected none of them can be ne
elected without putting US to q Disadvantage
in the competition to be encountered in every
country Of The world, for in a short time Lon
don will become the sugar market of the world,
and the price ruling there, will govern every
other market. We must therefore endeavour
to raise sugar at a minimum price, which is the
cost of production. Wherever it is produced
at the least cost, the sugar grower will make
the highest prfot, and those who can't com
pete with him, must give in. 1t is not only the
Iabourer but the manager and overseer also,
TO whom we must look for an improved sys-
TEN of agriculture.
Again, it has been shewn how closely con-
nected the trade of Barbados is with it's agri-
culture that means, the interests of the plan
fer and the trader are the same, and the bust
ness of the latter is actually built upon the pro-
ceeds of the other. If there was no. sugar to
exchange with the foreigner there would be no
merchants in Broad Street or on the Wharf
importing goods from across the Atlantic. The
planter lives by the cultivation of his cane
fields, the merchant by taking his produce in
exchange for foreign goods, without which
the inhabitants of Barbados would neither have
clothes to wear, bread to eat, or houses to
live in. The very casks the planters put their
sugar in are brought from across the water, and
the ships to convey their produce to market.
The merchants are the planters, brokers, and
the exchange of commodities is as necessary
to society, as the production of them. The
distribution of wealth is as important a bust
ness as the production of it. It is carried on
by the trader; and whatever hampers or res
tricts his operations, reacts upon the producer
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