Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-15
JAMAICA AND BARBADOS
Islands With Which Closer Trade Relations
Are Probable.
Extent of the Countries, Size of POpu-
IatiOn and Character of the
Products.

| The details of the commerce of those
! portions of the British West Indies with
| which reciprocity treaties are under con-
sideration are discussed somewhat in de-
tail by the Monthly Summary of Commerce
IND Finance, just issued by the treasury
| bureau of statistics. The imports of ia
! maica and Barbardoes amount to nearly
! s15, 900 600 annually.
Jamaica, the largest of the British West
India islands, lies 90 miles south of Cuba
and 100 miles west of Haiti; has an area
of 400 square miles and q population of
$4,000. The total number of acres under
cultivation and care in 1897 was 663, $50, of
which 49S,J16 was under pasture %, I64
acres was devoted to sugar cane, 22,3SI to
! coffee, 10, 80 to bananas, 10, 799 to cocoa
nuts, 1911 TO cocoa, 962 to pimento, 21O to
| corn and SO, $50 to ground provisions
The ullable soil of Jamaica has, since the
| abolition of slavery, passed to q great ex-
| tent from the hands of large holders to
| those of small owners and the productions
| have at the same time been greatly diversi-
fed coffee, bananas, cocoanuts and cocoa
having, in many cases, occupied the area
! formerly devoted TO sugar cane. Business
facilities include colonial bank with q
circulation of 81 ,9S5, 097, and assets of S11,-
1913 644 The government Savings Bank has
3O,6GO depositors, with deposits amounting
to 46S, 1913 pounds sterling. The local cur
rency is that of Great Britain, but various
American coins are also current The
registered shipping of Jamaica consists of
| IA sailing vessels of 1854 tons, and one
| steamer of 453 tons. There are in operation
! 1so miles of railway and 93l miles of tele
| graph.
The products of Jamaica are, besides trop-
! teal fruits already mentioned, dyewoods,
| cabinet woods, spices and other valuable
tropical products. The coffee raised in GER
tain districts of the Blue mountains brings,
it is said, the highest price paid for coffee
in the London market
The exports from Jamaica in the year
! 1s9I-9S included s5,410 cwt of coffee H.
S6G pounds sterling Of bananas, II ,5s3 726
cccoanuts, SSGl3091 oranges, 1,40S 166
pounds of ginger, 1,379,27S gallons of rum,
logwood and 3SS2S cwt of pimento The
total value of the exports of 1S97-9S was
1,44S,443 pounds sterling and of the i'm
ports 1,GD667 pounds sterling The i'm
pcrts included 81, $50 cwt. of bread and bis
cult, 1888 cwt. of butter and compounds
o6,62s tons of coal and coke, 800, 49l bushels
OF corn, 37,0S3 barrels of meal, 20S,317
pounds sterling of cotton manufactures
1852 cwt. Of dried or salted fish, 147 6lS
barrels of flour, 2S,424 pounds sterling of
hardware and cutlery, 81, 775 pounds sterl-
ing OF linen manufactures, millinery and
haberdaShery, 9,5OoOOO feet of lumber, s.
100000 pounds of rice, and 2,4O3 12O pounds
OF soap. OF the 1866, 667 pounds sterling
value OF importations in 1898, 776,SS9 pounds
in value was from the united kingdom, 49,
I6S from the United States, 11SS9S from
British North America, while of the 144S-
4i3 pounds sterling value of exports in 1898
5l3,S5S pounds went to the united kingdom
and 9U2, 932 to the United States
Jamaica was discovered by Columbus
May 3, 1894 taken possession of by the
Spaniards in 1900, but taken in 1868 by d
British expedition sent out by Cromwell
which, after an unsuccessful attempt to
capture the Island of San Domingo seized
Jamaica, which has since been held by the
British government, having been ceded to
England in 1910.
The Island of Barbadoes.
The Island Of Barbados, with whose
government a reciprocity treaty has al
ready been signed, lies on the east of a
chain of islands which stretches south
wardly from Porto Rico to the coast of
South America, and which geographers d.
vide into "Windward' and "Leeward"
groups. Its population is, according to the
Statesmen's Year Book of 1899 about 1907
coo; its area about 100 square miles, and
the area under cultivation about 1O6,470
acres The staple product of the island is
sugar, about 10000 acres being annually
planted with sugar cane, which yielded in
1897 $500 hogsheads of sugar, as against
80 AL in 1895 and 40 800 in 1896. There are
AL sugar works, and nine rum distilleries.
Sugar is the chief export, though $50 tons
of "manjak or glance pitch'-a btu
minous petroleum for fuel-were exported
in 1897.
In the exports of that year were 1897
hogsheads of raw sugar, valued at S205S,-
All; :, BOB hogsheads of other sugar, valued
at s12D. 426; 81, 432 puncheons of molasses,
valued at $4lS,9T6; Al, 40 quintals Of dried
fish, valued al 500, J02, and considerable
quantities of coal, corn, flour and manufac-
tured articles, much of which was appar-
emily imported into Barbados and distrib-
uted thence to others of the West India
group. The imports included 3,97, I61
pounds of bread and biscuit, TO $50 pounds
of butter and compounds, 1919 tons of
coal and coke 3o4 9T3 bushels of corn and
other grain, 46,6SS barrels of Indian corn
meal, 55,0S9 barrels of flour, So 453 quntals
Of dried fish, SOL 500 value of hardware
goods, 9,5l6,2S1 feet of lumber, 2,s91, 430
pounds of sailed or picked meat, 4,5Si ,S;5S
pounds of oil meal and oil cake, 92I1 1855
pounds of rice, 1,649,96S slaves and shocks
the total value of the years importations
being A90s.S33, of which $500 81 came
from the United Kingdom, 1929, 645 from
North America, 1856. 564 from the United
States and the remainder from British In
Ola. British West Indies British and Dutch
Guiana and Peru. OF the years exports
which amounted to 81, 5S2, 537 in value, 81
Vs.. $50 came from the United States.
Facilities for satisfactory transaction of
business include a colonial bank, with q
paid-up capital of 100000 pounds sterI n.y.
having a circulation of $1,9s5,0 9T. fhe
cnief city, Bridgetown, has a population of
LOGO, with three daily. two weekly two
bi-Weekiy and two monthly newspapers
The registered shipping of 1897 consisted of
Iorty-eight sailing vessels and two steam
ers; total tonnage, I, 1o5 tons net There
4'o miles of wagon road "a miles of teIe-
graph line, 35 miles of police telephone
lille and coo miles of private telephone
line, which supplies 406 services Barba-
does Is a station of the West Indian and
Panama Telegraph Company Its dis
tance from New York is $40 miles: from
Porto Rico, 40, and from Liverpool, 3,T05
miles.