, 1881-09-28

WHICH We IOIluudlcly pUSSeSS, IL lIc SuSdi
manufacture f%ourishes, trade and indus
try Sympathize. and so collateral interests
spring up, and extend themselves, con-
tributing to the wealth and Importance of
the colony and these subsidiary interests
are, from their nature, so capable of
extension, hat they seem almost indie
pendent of the mother interest. But
although this il so, yet it is the Agricultu-
raj Interest which lies at the foundation of
all others, and must always be the gauge
and measure of our prosperity and the
natural, and indeed the inevitable conse-
quence is, that the dominant interest
must always influence most Sensibly the
legislation of the country, whatever the
direction that legislation might take.
Whether it be in the matter Of determining
the general civil polity of the country,
or regulating it's financial operati MS, or
ascertaining the responsibilities and pri-
vileges Of the labouring classes-the
whole arrangement must infallibly be so
adjusted az to conserve primarily, but by
no means exclusively-the Agricultural
Interest, for the reason that all other
interests must stand or fall with it. 1t is not
at all surprising that under any conceiva.
Bile circumstances, the most nervous ankle
ty should have possessed the minds Of
men in this colony forty five years ago,
when they were called upon to deal with
the difficult problem of Emancipation;
and in the peculiar circumstances of our
case, which is one substantially of agricul.
tural success or nothing at all, the nervous
anxiety incidental to the situation was
considerably intensified. But in spite of
all this, there was no such thing as
putting off the solution of the difficulty
and hence the legislation of the period
was not a little infected By the state Of
mind which prevailed. The people Of
Barbados, like those of all other West
Indian ~oi0nies, had DO alternative but to
make the leap though they felt it was a
leap in the dark. Our Politicians were
not sure that the emancipation of the
slaves did not mean ruin. by the lahouring
classes diyorcing themselves some how
from The SOL, and the Planters Thought
thar they must take eyeiy guara tee in
their power to ward off such 4 cat&s trophe.
This colony had advantages on the side Of
the Planters which others had not, in the
shape of large population. TAe colony
Is small; and although its large peaSantry
might get wild over their freedom and
become thoroughly unsettled forSOmetimp,
yet a general eYGdgS 0aS impossible, on
Thieh account among other inca ureS
passed hy the Legislature to pat some
s~alutary restraint upon the la50uring
classes and insure continuous labour on the
Estates, the well known Contract .Act was
passed, and remains to this day upon the
Statute Book. We are not going to deny
in the spirit Of blind partizanShip, that this
Act is a little one-sided but human nature
being what it is, considering the circum-
stances above referred to, in which the
Act was passed, it would be very wonder.
FIJI indeed if it were not open to such criti-
cism. Nor are we going to contend for
one moment that, during the first decade
or two after it came into operation, it was
not worked at any rate in a spirit which
brought out very prominently its inherent
asperities. But every man who has
watched the progress ofevents during the
last ten or twelve years, knows very we'll
that i'll proportion as intelligence has
advanced amongst all classes of the
community, the relations between the
planters and laborers have settled down on
their proper basis, and that, practically,
the Contract Act has become a dead
letter. If it had been morally possible
for B~arbadian Legislators to avoid panic
in '3S, we doubt whether the more objec-
tionable provisions of that Act would have
been adopted, because it would have been
apparent that the inexorabIe law of
supply and demand which governs other
markets, would be sure to control the labor
market. So long as there were police
arrangements to preserve order III the
I. country, and other institutions existed.
suited TO a civilized community, and such