The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1906-04-05
Mrs, Wards Letters.
Where King Edwards Sugar Comes From.
Vast Plantations in British Guiana. So
cial and Political Life in Demerara.

the vicinity of Georgetown. Most of
them have fancy names in Dutch or
French, such as "Goedverwagting"
Good expectation of hope; "Malgre
Tout, In spite of alD; LA Bonnie In
tention", etc. Each estate is little
village in itself, with doctor, a drug
gist, chaplain, carpenters, black
smiths, engineers. police, besides the
manager, his several overseers and
book keepers, and the usual mighty
force of male and female laborers, with
a lawyer and agents in Georgetown,
not to mention those in the Mother
Country. Two thousand acres of grow
ing cane is considered a moderate es-
tate; and on this perhaps 1900 men and
women are constantly employed, the
yearly output of sugar approximating
| 5000 tons.
All trace of the old "Demerara" that
we used to read about in days gone by,
with its wild rough life, of which the
chief advertisement seemed to be the
torture of the slaves, by such playful
| processes for example, as driving small
| wedges under the nails of each finger
and toe, or suspending the fellow in
mid air by strong hook thrust under
couple of ribs, or the burylng OF
another up to the neck and smearing
his head with molasses. leaving the
| 10 do nd %
occasional rising up Of the masses to
massacre their masters, have entirely
disappeared
In its stead is clean. handsome, or
derby and highly conservative city,
Astounding in evidences of wealth and
culture, where you may enjoy all the
elegances Of any other metropolis in
Guiding refined and even fashionable
society.
| But there is no "back country to
speak of, and only one other town of
consequence, Berbice; everything i'll
the line of luxury being massed at the
, Capital.
The Colonial government is queer
mixture of English ideas engrafted
upon those of Guianas' original Dutch
possessers-hard to comprehend and
harder to explain. The chief executive
officer is the Governor, appointed by
the British crown for a term of seven
years. He is assisted by Court of
Policy, four of whose members are also
appointed by the crown; the other five
nominated by a kind Of electoral college
appointed by the Court.
The elected members are known as
keiZerS and the nine, in conjunction
with the Governor, attend to all public
administration except finance and tax
alton. These latter important matters
require the additional services of six
financial representatives, in what is
called the combined court, which meets
once year with the Court of Policy to
discuss finances and pass the annual
tax ordinance All other local laws
and ordinances are passed by the Court
of Policy, and each is subject to confir-
nation by King Edward. The civil
list is renewed every seven years, but
the keizers are elected for life-Some
thing as are the Judges of our supreme
Court. British Guiana is divided into
! five electoral districts, and each district
elects one or two of the seven keizers,
according to population, besides one or
two financial representatives. When
ever a vacancy occurs in the Court OF
| Policy. the seven keiZers sit in solemn
council and nominate two persons, one
of whom is afterwards chosen by the
Court | is considered a great thing
to be keizer In an interview with
one of those pompous dignitaries |
found myself ludicrously harrassed by
the wide-of- the- mark speculation as to
whether that slangy old song, which
kept ringing in my head ''Keizer, don't
you want to buy dog?') originated
here.
The government house, where the
Governor and his family reside, is a
very plain, three STORED structure,
with few stained glass windows and
a porte cochere, not unlike the British
Legation. 1t is surrounded by extern
sive lawns, with ornamental shrubs
and beds Of flowers, its gate guarded by
soldiers in zouave uniform. The Gov
ernor manages to keep the wolf from
the door on salary of S25,u00 year;
and besides numberless other perquis-
ties has $4,000 yearly additional for
contingencies" which are no more
clearly defined than the United States
Congressmen's stationery fund.
The finest public building in George
town is the new Law Courts-a very
large, two-story, L-shaped building, oc-
cupying a whole square. 1t is in the
Queen Ann style, the lower half of
brick. stucco and iron, with cement
floors and iron doors, window frames
and stair cases. The rooms above are
beautifully finished and furnished in
native hard woods, in a sort of Dutch
Renaissance style.
Close by the Law Courts is the City
ri