Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-01
JAMAICA'S DESTINY
Must Become More Closely Allied
With This Country.
EVERY REASON WHY This is SO
She Has Everything to Gain and
Little to Lose.
A CENTURY OLD PROPHECY
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
Love, the cynic says, is mere matter of
propinquity- Almost any man can love al
most any woman. provided the two can be
thrown together often enough: and vice
versa. This. in word. is the reason that
Jamaica prefers Jonathan to John Bull
because he is nearer. And being nearer
he is a more available and desirable parti.
There are other reasons, but all depend
ent upon contiguity. Jonathan is younger.
to be sure, more virile and consequently
attractive, in the eyes of a charming
maiden of a few hundred summers like
Jamaica. And John Bull has so often turn
ed the cold shoulder to her that at last
Jamaica has decided to throw him over
provided she can do so gracefully. Pru-
dent and worldly wise. she will not let go
of one until she is convinced she can get
grip on the other
Political considerations have held her
against geographical conditions. If Crom-
well had not sent out that expedition
under Penn and Nenables about the mid
die of the seventeenth century, as the out
come of which Jamaica passed from Span
sh into English hands might now be
claiming proprietorship there. well as in
Porto Rico and Cuba; then We should be
Jamuica's Recent Behavior.
Without pausing to discuss the desirable
ity of this prospective acquisition Though,
in parenthesis. it may be said that much
may be argued in its favor let inquire
into the motive for Jamaica's recent be-
havior. In the first place contiguity, n
distance between of but LOO miles, as
against 5000; five days Voyaging as OPP
posed to sixteen, and first-class passage
of $50, rather than $50. Then, again, even
despite the distance that separates them,
the English have not taken their due pro-
portion of Jamafcas products. We are her
chief customers. taking all Of 60 per cent
of her sugar, rum, bananas, etc. while the
united kingdom takes less than 81 per cent.
Ungrateful Jamaica. however, instead OF
recprocatipg, allows her political senu-
n ents to outweigh commercial obligations,
ard buys more than half her manufactured
goods of merchants in the mother conn
try" She also supports a long list of Off
Gals at salaries ranging from t6,uU allow
cd the governor, to beggarly 1000. given
to the registrar general. 1t Is evident.
then. why British officiadom Is loath to let
go: though not so evident why Jamaica sun
clings to the paternal hand.
The fact is, if the matter were left en-
tirely to the agricultural and commercial
classes, Jamaica would drop into our arms
before we could say Jack Robinson" That
is if We would allow her to do so. Thus
far tGe advantages are all with u.s. Tor
while we can live Without her, she cannot
exist without us. This may seem uugal-
liant, but she will tell you so.
Canada Sought Her Trade.
A few years ago, while the Jamaica eX-
position was in progress, Canada rIade
heroic efforts to capture her trade by send
ing down 10 the island "A special commits
sioner and making all sorts of promises.
But she had only to ask what Canada had
to offer to shut her up completely. Canada
could of to send out lloIr, salt fish, lum-
ber provisions, &c, in sufficient quantities
to swamp the island: but she could not
pr omise to take Jamaica'S products in re-
turn. She declared her willingness to es-
tablish and subsidize a line Of steamers,
but could not guarantee that her ports
would be open and flee from ice through
out the winter months.
So Canadian endeavors to unite the two
British possessions, commercially IS well as
politically. fell through completely. She
would gladly have acted as an intermediary
or middle-woman between Great Britain
and Jamaica, but the latter was coy. And
now, Disseminated against in The matter Of
sugar bounties, virtually left to shift for
herself, Jamaica sends to us for relief. 1t
is a pity that such beautiful Island, fer
tile, with almost eXhaustless resources,
kissed by the sun and embraced by the
wave should be shouldered out of the COM
mercial community as though thing of
little value.
oDstdcIeS the why.
We have the testimony of no less au-
thority than Mr.. Robert P. Porter that she
would be valuable acquisition, per Sc.
But there arises the specter of her popu-
lation, overwhelmingly black and of Afri-
can origin. The white man which am in
de midst is an insignificant factor in her
future development, though hitherto, with
Englands assistance, he has controlled the
government of the island.
Take that assistance AWAY. Withdraw
British soldiers from the land, and Britain's
warships from the waters, and where would
the white man be? Still more hopelessly in
the minority, and absolutely unable to cope
with the African deluge.
If perchance some means shall be devised
to govern the masses without an appeal to
the franchise, there is no question what
ever of JamaicaS great value to us. AT
present it is problematical, to say the least;
that is, as political dependency.
May Yet Bear Fruit.
More than a year ago, two weeks after
Admiral Dewey's victory which gave us
control in the Philippines, the writer put
forth in The Star a tentative proposition
for swap" That was probably the first
suggestion of an exchange of the Philip
pines for the British West Indies. Since
that time, however the proposition has
been made in all seriousness, and ii Is not
unlikely that what was intended as sug-
gestion merely may crystalline into an ac-
and recent events seem to have accentuat-
ed its desirability. Speaking in a general
way, it is an undeniable fact that the OILY
ultimate outlet for our energies and capital
is toward the tropics The waves OF An
glo-Sayon energy that for so many years
have dashed themselves against the cold
and frozen north will soon become ref1uent
and inundate the tropical regions. Reason
ing from more than twenty years of obser-
walton generally directed in the direction of
our American tropics, see no reason why
we should not eventually overcome all OBJ
stacles there, we'll as in our own coun-
try, where climatic conditions are more rig
orous and less hospitable. We have the
evidence of many tropical travellers that life
there is more agreeable than in the north,
sustained with less expenditure of energy,
and capable of being prolonged, with due
care to environment. Without going fur
Their. we may cite the recent utterances
of Alfred Russell Wallace. the great au-
thority on tropical countries the contem-
porary and friendly rival of Darwin.
A Remarkable Prophecy.
Not to wander too far from the subject.
however, and to come around to the origi-