The Washington herald., 1908-07-30

Great RriIains West Indian colonies. une
island OF Jamaica shows The effect OF
British rule Wise staIesmanship has
given its attention 70 the building Of
good roads. and the result is that there
IS as fne a system Of macada-nized roads
IN the island as there viii be found any
where. The Jamaican roads are far ahead
OF those OF Virginia. the Oldest Of the
American colonies. and rank wiki those
OF Massachusetts and New Jersey Thls
feature has made the island q veritable
paradise for American tourists. and they
come here by the thousands. with auto
mobile parties numbered by the hun
dreds- The poor people Of Kingston,
especially the small boys, think every
tourist 2 millionaire. who wants 10 scat
ter his money broadcast. and they want
10 DO all sorts OF things for him
As one walks through the streets Of
the city he VIII find dozen little negroes
at his heels, each one OF them wanting
20 guide him about The city or 20 take
him out through the suburbs on the su-
bUrban troIleys- They are the hardest
crowd Of boys 10 get nd OF one ever
ran into. II is one % the Few disagree
able experiences on this BritOn-rUled
island II you take the picture OF a III
lie jamaica aegro he is ready 10 charge
you sixPeuse for posing. When a ship
ties up az the dock the negro boys spend
hours in the water begging the pas
sengers 10 toss coin out into the harbor
and see them dive fer IL They never fail
10 get the coin before II reaches bottom
England allows the people OF Jamaica
q small amount OF seif-government, but
in the main the government IS in the
hands Of the crown. The people vested
with power hold their Offices from crown
appointments. and their tenure IS sub
5ect 10 its pleasure. As has been stated
before. there are about S10.0J0 negroes on
the island 10 15.019 white people Yet II is
a white mans government There are
some negroes who vote. but they are
comparatively few There were only
S.617 voters on the registration lists at
the last general election The English
point with pride TO the relation which ex-
ists between The negroes and the white
people. and offer their plan as a solution
Of the problems which confront the peO-
pie The usual crime Is an almost
unknown one on the island 50 far as the
two races are concerned. There Is 70
friction worth speaking OF. between The
races. There are two things which bring
about this desirable end IN the first
place the white people Of the island are
in absolute control The negro IS taught
that 50 long as be goes about his busi-
ness in the right way he VIII have no
trouble, but that stern and Implying
English law viii indeed make his way
hard as rranEressOr II he does not.
Then, having no vote. the demagogue IS
a1 rf-rr-
and infiaming his passions He ike q
child in q weIl-OrdeTed household, and on
The whole he manages 90 get q comfort
able existence with little or no friction
IN Jamaica one sees a government
owned railroad u has "a monopoly OF
the business OF the island. and is
administered as a government de-
parrment- Everything runs along
smoothly. but the freight and passenger
rates. as wen as TIE accommodatious-
are no better than the average road Of
Its kind operated by private corporations.
This road has a great deal Of American
capital sunk in f. For several decades
a private corporation owned and operated
q little eIeveu-miIe road which Il had
built The English government bought
this in 1S79 and operated IL until 1S51.
building several extensions IN the mean
time Then they sold the whole line
10 an American syndicate for S4155l003.
the syndicate agreeing 70 build two lines
across The island. and 20 forfeit the road
10 the government in default Of payment
Of interest on the mortgage bonds on
which the capital was raised Payments
Of interest were defauIted. and the prop
erty reverted 10 the government Il is
operated at a deficit Of nearly Sz50.0o1 2
year.
There is a crown lands department on
the island. and It Is very Jealous OF its
lands IN recent years more than l.5l0
sgUatters have been dispossessed OF their
places Much land is also forfeited for
taxes Every acre IS being Investigated
Until recently. $4,000 acres had been in
vestigated- and of this 22S.651 acres were
forfeited 10 the crown The same ratio
IS expected 20 continue Until ali the land
Of the island has been Investigated. The
forfeited land IS chiefly located in the In
terior Of the island. and much Of il Is
adVancage0usly located and suitable for
new settlement embracing some Of the
finest coffee lands Of the island These
lands are sold 10 small farmers on the
most reasonable terms. Not more than
fifty acres can be bought by one person
He can pay 0ne-ffth down and the rest
n ten equal annual instaIments- II
within ten years the purchaser gets one
NTH OF his land under cultivation ne is
remitted Cre-dfth OF The purchase money
ne government now owns about 10000
such farms. which il viii sell in this
way II IS said that the stir created by
The government in dispossessinC squatters
has resulted in similar activities on the
part OF individual landowners and that
they have dispossessed some 200 SQUAT
tiers since the government instituted the
crusade.
The government savings banks have
proved themselves 70 be one Of the most
important economic features Of the island
Notwithstanding the fact that most Of
the inhabitants Of the island are extreme
y poor, there are some s. 5j5 depositors.
and the amount Of deposits is nearly
Sl.o00.009. Besides these they have the
penny savings banks. conducted BY min
isters Of the gospel and by teachers. 10
encourage thrift among the poor. They
have 1900 depositors-
The general penitentiary OF the island
IS located at Kingston, and there are
eleven acres OF ground within its walls.
the outer ones Of which are twentv-tvvo
feet high. five feet six inches through at
the base and eighteen inches at the TOD.
They have an Oid-fashiOued treadnliu 10
furnish motive power for the machinery
IN the peltitenfiaTy- II was here that
rautiny was threatened during the earth
quake and IRE To Quell this Admiral