, 1875-12-11
To THE EDITOR OF THE ST. CRo1x AVIS
Dear Sir.

To H EDITOR OF H 5 I. CROIX AVIS"
Dear Sir,
Would you kindly allow space in your
valued paper for the following
| notice in your issue of Saturday an
address delivered by His Excellency the
Vice Governor at a meeting of Planters and
others interested in the Central Factory
scheme. After having explained the pre-
sent stage of that project he goes on to
speak of the low state of the finances aid
ultimate cessation of Bureau Advances,
which he says will drive a certain num-
Der of Estates into the Dealing and from
that to abandonment, and consequently
will cause an increased taxation to fall
upon those remaining, so as to sustain the
revenue.
Now, what has brought things to such
q crisis as is here described | think is
very evident to any person who has watch
ed the course Of events here for the past
10 years. 1t may be attributed to three
primary causes, first, a succession Of dry
and |untayourable years, secondly, misera-
bly, low prices, aud last though not least,
fundamentally high taxation. The TWO
first no human being could aver, but a
grave responsibility as to the latter rests
with the Colonial Government TO make
a substantial reduction in the taxation
and not persist in keeping up an Admins
tratiOn which the Island is totally unable
to support. In the event of a certain mum
Der OF Estates being abandoned, as His
Excellency premises, ard the deficit in the
revenue a~ccruing therefrom to be made
up by those remaining, who feel them
selves already too heavily burdenod, what
will be the probable resuIt2 Why, the
whole Island will be turned out, like our
neighbour St. Johns.
The necessity of a reform in this respect
has frequently been advocated siuce the
Colonial Law came in force, and Governor
Birch gave the Council to understand
that such would be the case, and to this
end went home, at the Colonial Treasury's
expense, to confer with the Ministry and
urge the matter, but siuce his demise
nothing has been heard of reducing the
Establishment or taxation in fact, Gov
ernor Billie had the GOODNESS to tell us we
were not overtaXed, a sentiment which
His Excellency Governor Garde seems to
Indorse. The inference from all this is
shat, as far as the Government is concern
ed, they intend keeping up the present sys-
tenn of taxation until they find themselves
in the position the jamaica Government
did, a few years ago, when they imposed
taxes, but could not collect them.
With regard to the Bureau Advances,
/ can't say it is such a great compliment
after all. The money is advanced on good
security, and in a fair crop will be paid back
with s per cent interest, (Which includes
the fees to certain officials, stamp pa
per &c.)
His Excellency says, if the Provisional
Act was abolished, the Governor has no
responsibility as to the consequences the
inhabitants may starve or die as far as they
are concerned well, to say the least of it,
such language, in my opinion, is simply
preposterouS that any Christian Gov
ernment should PROFOUND such ideas in the
enlightened nineteenth century !; look at
what other Governments did under similar
circumstances; take Tor Instance the Bri-
fish Government in India, they distributed
five millions sterling in aid of the sufferers,
and gave 30 years to pay it back, the
greater part of this amount bearing inter
est only at the rate of 81 per cent per an
mum and none over 4 per cent.
Antigua raised a loan in the Mother
Country, the year before last, of ten thou