, 1885-02-25

III NhO 4o'Oo S'FoA
it seemed to him that there is as good a
guarantee as possible. The trade as now
Droposed would rather be a source of trOu-
Bile to planters than otherwise, and they
wOnld feel no desire whatever to extend 1t
outside the lawful limits, since the planter
would scarcely be able, from want Of
time, to attend to a business on a larger
scale. The Majority of the Commission
has therefore found that there could be no
great damage by its proposal to the ira
ders in. town.; but he (Wassard) had as a
Minority proposed that the sale from the
proposed shops should be re>tticted to the
labourers on the estates, III order more ful
" to protect the trade III OWLS. But 1t
must be remembered that sales OF proVl-
siOns are now carried on to a great eX-
tent. not legally but clandeStineIy, and
hence he cannot deny that it IS not likely
that traders in town will feel any great
Inconvenience if the Majority's proposal
were to become law. That the proposal OF
the Majority is only legalising the present
condition of things is an additional &rSu-
ment in favour of the Maj0rlty'S proposal
compared with the Governments Draft,
which will only be trying Il new experiment.
With regard to the question OF only pay
ing half fees when the estate owner him
self keeps the shop OH the estate, he would
say that this proposal from the CommlS-
sion is simply in conformity with the rule
in S 3 of the Ordinance Of 1853, where it is
said that when a 6urgher brief Is extended
to another line, one half OF the ordinary
fees shall be paid; but it was necessary TO
make a remark in the Report III that re-
spect, because it is proposed that a planter
shall not be required to lake out a special
burgher brief, but that merely an announce
,,arf 10 M ha DOlIn tn tina POlIoAnASt pr.
In the discussions last meeting it was re-
marked hy the honorable LIST Crown Mem
Der (Quiu) as an argument against the Ma
jOrity'S proposal. that labOurerS might be
placed in a state OF dependence on the EN-
blowers; but he (WaSSarG) did not think
there is any reason to fear that abnSeS III
that respect could take place; our lao Iur-
ing population is so restricted III number,
that employers would take care not to lose
their labourers by any steps in the dIrec-
ton alluded to; at all events that would
be prevented by the existing laws, as only
n part of wages can legally be retained IN
paympnt Of debt due to employers. he
had one more remark, namely III regard 10
the privileges for labourerS on estates ac-
c~Ortiing to s 3 of The Ordinances OF 1898;
this privilege the Majority meant should
be maintained and even extended to include
other common articles of daily s~uStenance,
beyond those mentioned i'll the paragraph,
aud the same as could be sold i'll the pro
posed shops. According to the Govern
mcut's Draft that privilege is not extended
to include those articles just referred to
this practically amounts to d restriction, u
restriction for which there appears 10 be
no warrant. The Draft befOre the Council
is framed in accordance or conformity With
q plan, Of which the outlines were given
by the Government in the letter to the
Commission. With the exception Of one
member this plan had rot found the APP
prevail of the Commission. However, 1t is
not to be wondered at that the Government
would prefer its own plan; but in case the
views of the Majority of the Comm sSion
should be adopted by the Council, he
would beg to express the hope that Govern
ment would then agree to have this Draft
altered in conformity with the proposal of
the said Majority.
End Member for Frederiksted Brorn
said he believed that the Draft would be
sent to a Committee; still it might not
be any harm if he to day make a few re-
marks on the matter, ami if he should
happen to r~eiterate any thing stated IN the
foregoing meeting, it might be excused, as
few Members were then present. The first
question to be asked is: what is the in
tention of the Draft To meet the wants
OF the labouring classes on estates, to en-