Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-07-15

Jamaica, brlClSn west lnOles
against absentee ownership and it
million and a half persons. Ninet
is Negro; the balance consists CHI
planters, straw bosses and governn
little businesses. The islands oh
sugar; there is an abundance of val
The wealth of the island is O
of Great Britain. The governor of
Agricultural workers comprise
in the island. They receive wage
of as little as 10 cents day for
a 12-hour shift. The more militant
and organized workers get so cents
a day. Unemployment is appall-
ingly high; disease is rampant.
Children are forced into thievery
and prostitution.
The powerful United Fruit Co.
held monopoly on the growth of
bananas for a number of years.
After ravishing the soil SO that the
regular yielding of an abundant
crop was impossible, United Fruit
recently relinquished control of
their holdings to Tate & Lyle, su-
gar monopolists of Great Britain.
Police Terror
Sugar workers by the thousands
trekked to the sugar fields of Tate
& Lyle, in the parish of Westmore-
land, last month, seeking jobs.
There they met with intolerable
conditions. There was no housing
for them; they were forced to sleep
on the ground in burlap bags and
in open cattle sheds. Tate G. Lyle
provided housing for petty bosses
and other officials only.
Faced with worse conditions than
they had ever known, the workers
requested an increase in pay; they
asked for 81 a day wage. Tate
& Lyle retaliated the next day by
announcing reductions in wages.
And so began the present strike.
On May End, the 444th anniver-
sary of the discovery of the island,
workers were killed, 10 wounded
and 400 thrown into Jail. But the
violence of His Majesty's soldiery
and police failed to dampen the
resoluteness of the Negro workers
on strike.
Swiftly, the isolated action de-
veloped into a general strike,
sweeping through the entire island
and involving every category of
workers. British man-o-wars and
cruisers were hurriedly dispatched
to "quell the uprising" Soldiers
parade the streets with fixed bay
onets. At the time of writing, the
strike is still in progress. Official
reports give a total of IL workers
killed, scores injured and over 500
imprisoned.
Leaders Jailed
The general strike in Jamaica
for an improvement in the stand
ard of living is led by Alexander
Bustamente and A. st. William
Grant, Jamaican Negroes. Busta-
mente has had the experience of
wide travel and actual warfare in
defense of democracy. For almost
a year he battled for democracy
on the fields of Spain. The move
ment of the people of Jamaica is
also strengthened by the expert
ences of number Of their coun-
trymen who participated in the
strikes in Cuba in 1884. Under the
reign of the fascist Batista they
were deported back to Jamaica.
Support of the Jamaican people
is being rallied the world over.
Newspapers in England openly lay
the blame upon policies influenced
by Chamberlain; the British Gui-
ana-West Indies Labor Conference
supports them. Protests from va
rious countries has won freedom
for Bustamente and Grant who
were jailed at the beginning of the
strike. The Governor has an
nounced that the government would
embark upon a $780, 900 "back to
the land scheme as step toward
solving the extremely acute mem-