The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-15

ing. IL not a competency better assured.
All classes are prosperous.
Sugar planters. including the cane farm
| ers, are looking forward hopefully to the
| operation Nof' the abolition of the sugar
! duties though some with whom [ have
talked do not share the sanguine view that
! relief Will be permanent. They anticipate
| that before the abolition of bountieS comes
into force the continental beet root grow
ers will flood the market with supplies
that will place it for an appreciable term
under their thumb They will use the
opportunity to give the last fatal turn Of
the screw, the operation of which through
Gus sugar estates. When beet sugar has
finally destroyed the cane industry they
vii! make the. British consumer repay
| with Compound interest the advantage
! hitherto, enjoyed through the operation of
bounties These pessipists are in mi
nefity. Most persons concerned IN the
! West Indian sugar trade are looking for q
pronounced and prolonged impetus to an
almost shattered trade. However that be,
Trinidad. 1t will be seen, thanks to the
! 'pfescience@ of its government and the en-
ergy and enterprise of it's ~colonists, can
confidently face the future.
Trinidad has an area of 100000 acres,
, of which 100000 are cultivable. Accord
ing to the census taken two years ago,
the population is -253, coo the odd SO 900
I representing the increase during the last
| decade. 1t is mainly Christian, the Rom
an Catholic church claiming the largest
| proportion. There-afe $4,000 East Indians
who remain faithful to their native creed
III lle Llol lllel II -P:sttts VI lIle ISldIu IIle
vulgar language ais g strange French
s testified byspzs p the Spanish h tongds,
being generally. met with behind the eoun-
! ter of the miscellaneous store.
| When the slave trade was abolished
geld hands. The manumitted slave came
| to the conclusion that he and his for
/ bears had worked hard enough for one
+ family With aasnndanee yielded as the
! living on very littlet he found he could
himself for a 9eel. Why then labor
| did not and the planters were faced by
| the prospect OF their cane remaining I'M
cut lThereupon was established a system
called upon to redress the balance ere
ated by the new state of affairs In the
West
The coolies came here under indenture
to serve at fair wage for five years:
AT the end of ten years they may, If
they please, demand a free return pas
sage home 1 am told there is not more
than one In five who avails himself of this
! privilege Unlike the negro, who. care
less Of mankind, eats and drinks as long
! as he has cash, and when it is expended
| turns to for a brief spell of work, the
coolie is of frugal mind He works his
| six days week and saves up the bal
expenditure on the necessaries' of life.
| At the end of his term of servitude he
claims an allotment of crown land and
sets up in business for himself either as
sugar planter or q cocoa. grower. A
watchful and wise government. alive to
the value of this custom. do all they can
to foster it. The owners of large estates
| look askance upon 1t. Its Inevitable effect
is to reduce the supply ard send up the
! price of labor Even with steady flood
of immigration a difficulty is found in
mastering sufficient hands. With a steady
leakage at the other end this difficulty is
chronic More disinterested persons see
in the creation Of a race of peasant, pro
dad. but of all the other islands. The
royal commission which visited the West
Indies in 1897 placed at the head of their
recommendations the settling of the la,
| The cow is scarce in Trinidad. But of
allotment of three acres and more there
is illimitable possibility. Last year the
are called. sent to3lthe mill over 1000
tons of cane.