The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-28

rious has the evil of stealing become on the island of Jamaica that the au- thorities. after consultation with the English government itself, decided to reverse one of the very earliest and most adhered to principles of Eng innocent until he is proved guilty. They have decided down here, when a man is accused of stealing. to assume that he Is guilty until he proves him. self innocent. There are s00,000 ne- groes on this little island and only 15.oo0 white people. The negroes are, as rule, iiliterate. and the command ment that prohibits stealing lies very lightly on them. They are so poor that it is little wonder they steal, a negro laborer getting only twenty-five cents day But their thieving has reached point where only the stern est repressive measures will secure respect for movable property.
 Sir Sidney Oliver. the present Gov ernor of the island, Is responsible for the new order of things. He went to England and laid the matter before the Colonial Of1ces which approved it. After the new law goes into effect pos session of property proved to have been stolen will be considered prima facie proof of guilt unless the defendant can prove that he secured
 
 this he will have to discover the party who did steal it. or at least start the chain of evidence which will finally reach the right fellow. It has been proposed to mark every proven thief on the island, and some of the lead ing members of the Jamaican Agricul- tural Society are pressing the propo- sition but this step will hardly be taken.
 Sir Sidney Oliver is advocating the wiping out of Che racial lines on the island. While he has never declared point blank for the amalgamation of the races he advocates the gradual obliteration of racial distinction, and believes that social standing should be a matter of merit rather than color. This view of his is not shared by great many people. yet on every hand one sees the color line much less taut- ly drawn than in the United States. The average Jamaican negro does not care about it one way or the other. He Is almost as completely deprived of the right to vote as the American negro is in the most ultra-Southern State. Having never been entitled to vote he does not object to not having the right to-day. so he Is a very easy-going, indifferent. and satisfied individual where matters political are concerned.
 The digging of the Panama Canal has been a great boon to the Jamaican negro. There he clears about sixty cents day. Here at home he has to be satisfied with twenty-five cents or, if he is an exceptional hand, thirty one cents day, out of which he must pay for his living. Tn other words, he makes about three times as much at Panama as he gets at home. There are many thousands of them on the Tsthmus. and new ones are con- stantly going. Those who have been there awhile come home, build little shacks for themselves. and become plutocrats in their small way The steamship companies have no end of trouble with stowaways to Colon The fare is five dollars, deck passage. but many a<Jamaican negro cannot raise even this small amount, and so he slows away One ship recently had over two hundred stowaways from Jamaica when she landed at Colon.
 The Jamaican negro is not as eco- nomical as the Barbadian. The island of Jamaica is densely populated, but not nearly so much so at Barbadoes. There they have a population of near ly 100000, while the island is only fif- teen miles wide and twenty-one long. They have to save everything Even the leaves that fall from the scattered trees are gathered Every little scrap of wood. every little twig, and every piece of paper is carried home. The Jamaican Is under no such necessity. and is therefore not so thrifty. This shows in the reports of the director of posts for the Canal Zone. Although there are almost two Jamaicans to ey- cry Barbadian on the Zone, records of money orders show that the latter send home a great deal more of their earn ings that the Jamaicans do.
 There is an intense feeling between the Jamaicans and the BarbadIans. Sometime ago an English ship called at Kingston with a crowd of Barbadian deckers aboard. No sooner had the ship come long side the dock than there was one of the finest pitched bat ties that you ever saw. Every sort of missile to be found on the dock. from Jumps of coal to cocoanuts. was shied back and forth with a fury worthy of a better cause. It took the ships crew and the police a long time to quell the disturbance.
 The Jamaican negro, with all his ig- norance and superstition. Is something of a philosopher. and he has a stock of proverbs which are pretty wise. even If they are homely. These are fair examples: When negro lief, him lief half ibt: but when buckra lief him lief de whole estate" When cock-roach give dance him nebber in- vite fowl" When yo cross de rib, Der nebba call alligator long mouf till you pass him" Hog, him run foh he life: dog him run foh he reptation."
 The worship of Obi Is a species of heathanism which is afording the gov ernment no little trouble. All sorts of crimes are committed in its name. though stringent laws have heen en- acted to check 1t. When a man has the spell of Obeah upon him. he Is a doomed man: if he does not die from sheer fright, a way is generally found to put some ground glass in his food. In the remoter districts of the island , one hears a constant beating on tom toms. and if he inquires whit 1t means he will be told that 1t Is negroes at Obi worship. The Witch of Endor is called in the Hebrew anguage. Obi. and Obi has come to Jamaica via Africa. Obeah-men. They are upon all occa- sions looked upon as oracles. They are able to heal diseases. and to discover crime For the bribe of gold they will through risk and danger, find means to satisfy the applicants wild est desire for revenge. The uglier, the dirtier, and the more forbidding in as- pect the Obeah man, the better one he is taken to be. He practices all sorts of lurid. wierd. horror giving incanta- tions calculated to deceive the gullibIe inquirer.
 When Obi is "set" for a negro, his is a horrible existence. Poison is not often necessary to bring him to the grave. The effect of the superstition upon his mind Is wonderful. If a gar-