Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-07
NO COLOR QUESTION IN JAMAICA.
An Object Lesson in Negro Manage
meut Worthy of Southern Study.

william Thorp in the Worlds Work.
In Jamaica there is no "color question
&C Il is understood In the United States, al
though the blacks outnumber the whites by
at least 20 to /. Good feeling exists be-
tween the races. Lynching and the out
RACES which usually cause it are both un-
known Serious crime of any kind is rare
throughout Jamaica. Only one crime
stealing crops-is common. Why are the
blacks so easily managed in Jamaica? why
do the two races live side by side so peace
ably and happy? There are two main rea-
sons: % The wise, just and firm system OF
government; (2) the friendly and helpful
attitude of the whites toward the blacks.
Before the law there is no distinction be-
tween the races The excellent police and
judicial systems penetrate to every corner
of the sparsely settled country. The resi-
dent magistrates. who come closely INTO
contact with the negroes are trained OFF,
Gals appointed by and responsible to the
British government. judicial scandals arts
ing out of racial favoritism are practically
unknown.
In essence, though not in name. the gov
eminent is benevolent despotiSm. The
idea is to give the natives, by slow de-
grees, as large a share in the government
of their country as they are capable of
wisely exercising, but always under strict
white supervision and only after careful
tests of their capacity Every man who
pays $3.50 in taxes has a vote, and the
machinery of representative government
includes legislative council and numer-
Gus local authorities called parochial
boards, elected by the people. But the
British governor and his lieutenants, sent
out from England, have, nevertheless,
practically supreme power over legisla-
ton, and even over the smallest details
of administration. The blacks seldom
vote; in one holly contested election only
II out of 354 voted. Nor do they seek Of
fees The elections conducted
racial lines. which shows the good feeling
between the races. The blacks and col
ored people have very large share in
the administration of the country in the
civil service, but always under white con-
troll. Civil service clerkships and other
positions are open to all classes by COM
retitive examination. and colored man
can rise high in the government service.
For many years the government has sold
large tracts of crown lands in small plots
to the peasantry at cheaper rate than
similar plot could be rented elsewhere and
roads are constructed to enable the small
settlers, as they are called, to convey their
produce quickly to the markets and sea-
ports. To encourage permanent tenure,
the government returns one-fifth of the
purchase money to any settler who. within
ten years. makes one-ffth of his acreage
productive with permanent crops, such as
kola coffee and oranges 1t is estimated
that there are nearly $4,000 colored peas
ant proprietors in the island-about one in
ten of the population. Education has pro-
crossed remarkably. L lie nuiHbeI Vi peo-
Pile able to read and write has increased
by so per cent in ten years Education is
not compulsory. The number of children
enrolled at the schools increased from
1900 in 1881 to 5000 in 1902, and the
average attendance from $4,000 to "20OO
The teachers, who number more than
10 600 are colored.
Social equality is undreamed of by either
race in the British West Indies, as gem
eral thing. While the great mass of the
blacks and mulattoeS are completely sub
ordinate to the whites. many colored men
of exceptional ability, character and public
position are socially recognized. But this
does not imply a general social equality OF
the races. In Jamaica the blacks do not
trXsto obtrude themselves in white society.
The negroes ar not segregated In street
cars theaters, churches. saloons or other
places; neither are they refused admission
to any public resort on account of their
color. Many of the best doctors and law
yers in the colony are colored men, and
they enjoy good practice among the whites
as we'll the blacks. The majority OF
the whites in Jamaica are strongly opposed
to intermarriage between the races, hold
ing the same views the Southerners in
the United States. Nevertheless, the white
man in the West Indies does sometimes
many people there who hardly know
whether they are white or colored. They
are called white by law" in Jamaico-that
is they are allowed to return themselves
as white on the census papers.
The great lesson which Jamaica seems to
teach is that 1t actually pays the white
man to rule the black man justly, give him
a fair chance, and help him on. Aided by
a wise government and by the large major
ity of the unofficial whites, the advance of
the colored race in Jamaica and other West
Indian islands has been remarkable.