The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-01-23

4
! have died of suffoCation had they not been
craciouslv permitted by their chiefs 10 take
! down the mating ut night, and thus let some
fresh air into the darkencd cells IN which
they were condemned to live
Tbe object Of the council in making this
extraordinary rule was To secure good mar
kct for their palm oil, by making it neccssa
rv that it should be burnt all through the
dav. II they had heard as much about free
trade as we have in England, they would have
been able to prove most eftectualiy That to
exclude the light of the sun from Srlmate
dwellings was simply protect native indus
try The council owned the palm trees;
nalm oil was made, by their rules about the
windows, a first necessity of life. Two,thirds
or the Srimats found their constant occupa-
ton in tending the trees and preparing the
Ioil. In return for the oil which they ncces
sarily consumed, the SrimatS gave to their
chiefs the best of everything that they pos
sessed The oil sometimes ran short; lhen
what connection and strife there was among
the different families of the tribe to see which
i could give the most costly presents to the
chiefs In exchange for the sacred oil
CAPTAIN Adam soon found that the question
of the oil stood in the way Of his beng able
TO effect his object of setting up communi
cation tor the exchange Of merchandise ana
agricultural produce between the Srlmats
and the rest of the world One OF the ola
chiefs, to whom no broached the subject
pointed out, with much gravity, thai ms pro-
! iect was lmpraCtiCablc. "lwothlrus OF our
peoplep he said, "arc occupied in our most
! important industry, the making OF palm OIL ;
the other Third work hard to provide enough
! food and raiment for us all. We can only
| lust produce enough to maintain the tribe in
Idecency and comfort; We have no surplus
that we could exchange tor the products OF
other lands"
Your soil must be very tetilc,' replied
/ Captain Adam, land your people very indus.
irious and skilltul Workmcn If onethlrd OF
the tribe is able to produce all that is rcqulr
ed by the whole SrImaG population.
/ "IeS, yes; it IS true" said the old man
we have much y be thankful for And he
gazed upwards to the bad.smelling pam-oil
| lamp, the emblem TO him Of all that was
sacred.
Il have been thinking" said the Captain
chat YOU have much more to be thankful for
! than YOU know o. Two-thirdS OF your pco
pie spend their lives in manufacturing this
oil, Give me leave to put out all the lamps
and let my men knock holes in the walls OF
every house III the place; and you will have
twothirdS Of your people free to turn to the
cultivation of spices, rice, and coffee which
you could send away and receive in return
agricultural implements, English cutlery,
calico, and other things which you never
will be able TO make, but which We IN Eng
land can make aay quantity Of
The old chief frowncd, and said very stern
! ~, "Knock holes in the walls Of our houses /,
Allow the sun to food our market with his
! hight, Our island would be ruined; our
most important industry would be destroyed
! In a day. We should have four hundred poo
gle, who now work in the palm plantations
/ ard in the oil presses, reduced to bcggary at
! one blow
! But consider for one moment urged
! Captain Adam; these four hundred people
work hard all their lives to produce light
! very interior to that which you could all
! get for nothing il You only would have win
dows.'
| The government is entrusted TO Owners of
| the palm plantations said the chief. Put
! yourself in our place and tell me If you
would throw four hundred men out of EN-.
! plOyment for the sake Of sentimental pre-.
! terence tor the light of the sun over the light
| of the oil lamps. Gail our people together
! Describe yCUr scheme OF knocking holes in
| their walls and abandoning the plantations,
and they would tear You tC pieces, gentle as
| they are. 1t Is easy for you to come here
! and advise Us to rum our industry; if we
/ were 50 foolish as to take your advice we
should have to bear the punishment of our
folly, while yoH, when you saw the misery
and dcsOation You had caused, would be
able TO hoist sail and leave us
/ Captain Adam saw that the old man was
too angry TO listen to him any more, so he
went away, first having obtained leave to
hnpl. in az ,,, Nh dove n
scheme which he said would prevent all the
disasters which the chief had predicted as
sure to follow the abandonment Of the palm
plantations
Captain Adam set TO work TO Get this plan
into shape; the main feature of it was not to
abandon the plantations suddenly, but gradu.
ally to transfer the labor they now absorbed
to more profitable occupations. In two years
he calculated that the whole four hundred
people now employed in the palm plantations
might be growing specs and coffee enough
to torn 4 valuable export trade, and that at
no time during The progress of transition
shOald any OF the laborers be ont of employ
mcnt They were ia be removed from the
palm plantations in companies of fifty At
once an eighth OF the entire population WAS
AT the same time to be permitted the privilege
OF having Window; and il return for this ia.
NbI llt hbhbiI growers were 10 pTOVlue Tue
cX-oii growers "lh necessary food and cloth
ing ill the first crops Of coffee and spices
could be sold, when the eN-oil growers would
bc Qnitc independents ut the help Of their
seIGhbOrS. Captain Adam was very pleased
with his scheme; II was As clear as daylight;
he thought that il would make everybody in
the island better off, and that owing to the
great fertility Of the land the transition from
the palm to the coffee plantations could be
carried out with very little difficulty.
\ time was appointed for him 10 explain
his plan 20 the council Of the chiefs. They
listened to him patiently till he came to the
part where he tried to make it clear that in
two years the PAIN plantations might be en-
tirely abandoned; and then they rose in great
wrath, and shouted him down. \ compara-
tive calm followed N few minutes, when
the old chief, to whom nc had first preached
the subject, rose and said: Your scheme
would ruin us; the palm plantations are our
own property; you propose to lis that they
.hnI,lb lac Abandoned and a. II WE ShDull