Washington sentinel., 1898-04-09

The so-called apathy of the white
Creole population has perhaps more
existence in fact than the other imagin.
ary evil, yet this is a question which
involves many others, and cannot be
lightly stated to exist. 1t must be re-
membered, in the first place, that for
two and half centuries, since Penn and
Venables won for US one ofthe brightest
gems Of the Antilles the Creole whites
have borne the burden, and literally the
heat, OF :he day. Perhaps too careless
and thoughtless in the days of their
prosperity, it i'll becomes those whose
fathers enjoyed their boundless hos
nitality to abuse them. In many estates
in Jamaica things are looking up, and
sugar is not the only commodity besides
spices, exported from the islands. For
example, in 1894, the export of coffee
from Jamaica was about 100000, and
fruit y643o,ooo; as against an export
value Of .624o 600 OF raw sugar, and
SI4S,eoo of rum. The cocoa export of
Trinidad, S5S7, 900, very nearly equalled
that OF sugar, ySSeS, 900; whilst twice as
much land was under cocoa and coffee
as under cane; and Ioo, ,oco tons of as
phalte we're exported. Barbados, il is
true, is Dearly all given over to cane
cultivation, but in this island there is no
difficulty as to labor, the population
being so dense. In ali the other islands,
speaking generally, the culture otsugar
cane is decreasing, and that OF cocoa,
coffee and cotton increasing. So that it
must be allowed that something is being
done to rise from the abyss into which
bounty fee European sugar has driven
the much superior West India article.
1t is not quite realized how difficult it
is, ia Jamaica at all events, to procure
labor. A population Of 6ss,ooo souls
only exists in an island of a, zOo square
miles, whilst the county of Durham, at
home, with an area OF oee square miles.
has population OF 7aI, COO! 1t is this
dearth of working material, and the
great disinclination Of the enfranchised
negro to work, that constitutes the chief
difficulty for the proprietors in the West
Indies. myself could show the spot
where a coffee plantation owner and his
wife and daughters have stood at the
doors and gone into the highways and
byeways in order to entreat workmen
to pick the berry before it fell useless on
the ground. Even then it was almost
an impossibility, by offer OF no matter
what wage in reason, 10 compel them to
come IN. / have known a promising
flower industry where the petals of
Stephanotis, garIenias, tuberoses, &c,
were exported to Grasse, come to grief
from an unexpected cause. The subtle
bouquet a. AIyiqHe, which exudes from
all the sons of Ham, and daughters also,
had passed from the fingers OF the
workers into the petals of the flowers,
or the matter IN which they were
stepped, and had rendered the stuff quite
unit tor working into perfume, Under
the old conditions of slavery, happily
abolished, the work was forthcoming in
any amount at cost which was infini-
tesimal; but when the negro was freed
1t was a very different matter, for
nature is so benifcent, that il he but
tills the ground tor SIX weeks in the
year, it will produce more than he needs
for subsistence. In less grateful cline
he would have TO work for his living, but
here he can exist very well without
work; condition Of affairs which he
infinitely prefers, and which he sees no
reason to find fault with. Indeed, if 1t
were not for the love Of fine clothes,
which obtains in all colored races, and
their desire to shine at least once a
week, IN gaudy coverings and impos-
sible hats and feathers. il is very doubt.
full if the negro. either male or female,
would work at all, and they would
probably relapse in the colonies to
state Of barbarism to which in Haiti
indeed they are even now fast approach.
ing.
In ones rides in and about Jamaica,
1t /; one OF the most melancholy things
possible 20 come across deserted su~ar
estate. In the middle ofthe "busb ,
the luxurisnt vegetation of the island
is always termed, whether it be an al
most virgin forest, or simply a growth
supervening where mans work had
once made ekaiYfS), ,amongstthe waving
banana leaves and dwarf acacia or
mimosa, few old brick walls rear their
grim elevation, Ifone penetrates inside,
one may discover valuable machinery,
red and rusty, which the squatters have
found too difficult to remove or unsuIted
to their wants. Some bird dropped seed
has sprung into a great tree, thrusting
its roots downward and cracking the
masonry In every direction. Round this
tree again, as it shoots up high into the
air, a member Of the fig tribe has wound
its parasitic tendrils, euveloping and
sucking out the sap Of the other plant,
which struggles upwards and upwards
for life, only 10 die in the endeavor, and
fall by degrees into the rubbish below,
Close, again, IS the old "trash" house,
where the fbrous parl of the plant was
slowed. Here, in olden times, hundreds
OF busy workmen titled the juicy cane,
cutting and carrying it in due season.
Here stood the house of the rich pro-
prietor, with its white walls covered
with creepers; its jalousies for keeping
out the sun are even now to be distin-
guished rotting among the other re-
mains; above which still stand upright
the door jambs where the passing trav.
eller never failed to enter.
If the British market could once more
be opened to the West Indies, there