, 1875-12-15

theorists would allure us. 1t becomes
therefore the duty Of us practical men Of
the good old system, under which we
have thriven, and would for ever continue
to thrive so we'll, if left alone, to defend
ourselves and our blessed system against
the injudicious meddfing, which would
engulf us and all that we hold dear. l
hope and trust therefore, that there may
be found others, who with the same good
will and ability will follow in the steps
of your correspondent:
Approaching to their full value the
many precious items of information, for
which the writer deserves the hearty
gratitude of the country, and with perfect
approval of his views in general, I am
sorry to say, that | am compelled to
make an exception concerning one single
point, on which, unless from a defective
judgment | have misconstrued his real
meaning, cannot but suppose, there is
somewhere or other an error. What | al
Jude to is the sentence about those people
l." that are subject to the system said to be
SO much akin to slavery, of whom three
fourths are British subjects, who could
not brook the idea of anything approach
ing to slavery" Considering and reconsider
ing with all the patience due to a compost
ton, OF which | entertain so high and
favourable an opinion, it has been
utterly out of my power, to extract
any other meaning from that passage,
than that three-fourths of our ~labouring
population consist of British subjects, that
is people not natives of the island. I am,
as already stated, one of the good old
school, attending quietly to my little bust
ness, and have neither time nor inclination
for studying statistics, but l had no idea,
that we had such q number of labourers
OF foreign birth, and your correspondents
statement caused me therefore a greater
degree of p~erplexity and uneasiness of
mind, than was to be expected from "a man
of my disposition and habits. That there
IL a not inconsiderable number of such
labourers. in the island, / was aware,
and | had also heard from persons, whom
| know to be trustworthy, that many, both
OF them and of our w people, after having
absented themselves for a while, had re-
turned after o shorter or longer period,
thus proving by their own acts, that they
found themselves better pleased here,
than in the places they had gone to.
But mree5ourths! That puzzled me, and
to this moment l am b~ewildered. On
the one side there is myself, who, it
is TRUE, had never cared to trouble
myself with figures, facts and other stub
born things, but still after all had never
dreamed myself so utterly ignorant of
what was going on around me, if that
wonderful thing about the three-fourths
were true.
On the other side l found myself face to
face with ain author of so much superior
knowledge and intelligence, aud who,
besides, throughout the whole of his letter,
gives such unmistakable evidence of
strict and faithful adherence to the truth,
such conscientious care to make himself
perfectly sure of the accuracy of his facts,
before advancing them-notice f. in. the
admirable fidelity with which he renders
the words spoken by the Vice Governor at
the meeting on the 29th ult., and what be
tells US of Governor Birch's voyage at the
expense ofHs Colonial TYieasmy-that, turn
1t and twist it as Z would, l could not
make up my III dfwhom to believe, my
self or so elevated an authority. In fact /
found myself, my dear Mr.. Editor, pretty
much in the position of a certain other
wise undeniably practical, but for once,
and alas that once fatally, as impractical
n hnTn~ o. -