, 1875-07-14
THE WEST INDIAN IN LONDON.

The arrival in England of Mr.. Burke, the
Grown Solicitor Of Jamaica, is opportune now
that the question of railway extension is occu-
plying such a large amount Of attention at
home. 1t is understood to be a subject in
which Mr., Burke, who by his ability and
energy has raised himself to a high position in
his native country, takes a great interest, and
his advice as to the best means of carrying out
the project, together with his active assistance,
would therefore be very acceptable. The
present attitude of the Jamaica Government,
however, in regard to this question, is much
to be regretted.
From the Parliamentary paper just pub
lished on Cuban slave trade, it does not appear
that the question eff abolition made much pro-
gress during the time that Senior Castelar, was
in office at Madrid, unless the attempted Io. ma
tion of a company in Cuba, under the sug-
gestive title of" the great Cattle and CoIouisa-
ton Company" the object of which was to
introduce free Africans into the island, may be
taken as q healthy sign Acting Cousul-Gcne-
raj Crawford reported in September 1878 that
there were then supposed to be 100000
Chinese coolies in Cuba.
Reference has been already made to GER
tain poid1S in the report of the Immigration
Agent-General Of Trinidad for the year 1871.
The opportunity now presents Itself to mention
one or two OTTER features of the document.
Of coErse the ultimate object of all immigra-
,tion is colonisa,ion. The labour is not required
for a merely temporary purpose. 1t IS intend
ed to become naturally connected with the soil,
and the service under iudeuture IS but the pre-
Jude to the acquisition of a proprietary inter
est in the land itself How many years would
it take before an English agricultural labourer
all oIo;~0 - az, 80, r.,Cv, C,Ik 3 H..
acres he had worked upon from his childhood ?
Bat England is an cid country, with a com
plex clash Of interests. In Trinidad t is differ
ant. There the virgin soil awaits ,hesmall propri-
etor who has been taught the value Of steady
industry during his service on the great plan
tatioDs. Without assuming that the system of
small proprietaries can be expanded to an in
definite extent, there is room in Trinidad for
many more Industrious coolies. The number
Of Indian Immigrants who had committed their
back passage for ten-acre grants If land to Sep
tember 1874 was 739 1872 had received FIVE
acres in land and 81. in moncy. 1t is not an
circumstance for a coolie to raise
the value of his land by cultivation, and then
sell it at q considerable prof.. These Indian
settlements, instead Of Withdrawing labour from
the large estates, should rather be a means of
supplying it, but DR.. Mitchel's opinion that a
number Of small settlers contribute more to the
stability Of a tropical country than the large
estates, cannot be accepted for a moment DR..
Mitchell gives particulars Of the money taken
bach %. India by return coolies, but similar
statistics have so often appeared in this column
that the figures need not be reproduced. But
DR.. Mitchell seems to think, and no one will
conUoyert his opinion, that the coolies from
Trinidad carry back to their native country
something more valuable than the muskets that
won't go off, aud the hatchets that won't cut,
which the FIJI immigrants carry away with
them from Queensland. 4 certain sum was
subscribed towards the Indian famine relief
fund by the coolies in Trinidad, but DR.. Nit
chell truly says, ''the practical contribution to
the famine fund by this colony was the char
tering of an extra ship in September, which
sailed in November with 633 souls, which i'm
piled not merely the direct outlay Of S000l.,
but the removal of 633 mouth5 from a land
of temporary want, to a colony where their pres
ence was as desirable to others as advantage
GUS to themselves" And this conclusive ar
gument in favour of coolie immigration may
fairly last, both in theory and practice, till the
.Agent-Geseral issues his report next year.
The speech of Governor Robinson at the
propagation of the Bahamas Legislature has
been received. It will be remembered that the
affairs of this colony were discussed at some