CO885-(18-19) — Page 117

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.885

18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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would go far to ruin the sugar industry in this Colony on which the trade and commerce of the Colony is so dependent. The sugar industry represents about 70 per cent, of the trade of the Colony, and the amount expended in wages is said to be over $3,000,000 per annum, and the capital invested over $10,000,000.

2. In sending you the text of this resolution I was directed respectfully to ask that His Excellency the Governor will be pleased to send a copy of same to the Secretary of State for the Colonics by the outgoing mail.

The Honourable J. Hampden King,

11753

Acting Government Secretary.

No. 25.

I have, &c.,

JULES PAIRAUDEAU,

Secretary.

THE IMPERIAL COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES to COLONIAL OFFICE.

SIR,

(No. 1034.)

(Received April 2, 1907.)

Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies,

Barbados, March 18, 1907. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, No. 3624/1907, of February 22nd last,* in which you inform me that Lord Elgin desires to have an early opportunity for perusing the report of the Committee of Planters appointed at the recent Agricultural Conference to report on the actual facts as to the effect of the International Sugar Convention in the West Indies, the effect of the present uncertainty as to the continuance of the Convention, and as to the probable effect of its continuance.

2. In reply, I would mention that as the earthquake at Jamaica brought the proceedings of the Agricultural Conference to an abrupt conclusion on the first day, no meeting of the Committee of Planters could be arranged for and no report is now likely to be received from that body.

3. In regard to the number of the West Indian Bulletin" which it is pro- posed to publish containing some of the papers that were to have been read at the Agricultural Conference, I would mention that the preparation of this "Bulletin "is now in hand. I am unable, however, to fix the date when the "Bulletin" is likely to be issued, owing to the fact that for some time there has been a strike amongst the compositors in the printing offices at Barbados, thus impeding the progress of this and other publications in hand by this department.

4. I am fully sensible of the desirability of issuing the forthcoming number of the "Bulletin" as early as possible, and nothing will be wanting on my part to meet the desire expressed by Lord Elgin in the matter.

11703

(No. 39.)

MY LORD,

I have, &c.,

D. MORRIS, Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies.

No. 26.

BARBADOS.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(Received April 2, 1907.)

[Answered by No. 49.]

Government House, Barbados, March 20, 1907. I HAVE the honour to transmit a petition from the Legislature of this Colony

• No. 19.

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to the King praying that His Majesty will be pleased to influence His Majesty's Government to take such measures as will lead to the continuance of the Brussels Convention.

Enclosure in No. 26.

To the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

I have, &c.,

G. T. CARTER,

Governor.

The Humble Petition of the Legislature of Your Majesty's ancient and loyal Island of Barbados.

Respectfully Sheweth:-

1. That the Island of Barbados is one of the oldest Colonies of the British Empire, and contains nearly 200,000 inhabitants, by far the greater proportion of which consists of the agricultural class who are descendants of natives of Africa brought under the laws of England and settled upon the sugar plantations.

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2. That in spite of the cultivation of cotton which has of late been success- fully revived as a subsidiary agricultural industry in those parts of the Island suit- able for its growth, the entire population still depend for subsistence upon the sugar industry.

3. That the Royal Commission of 1897 in their report on the condition and prospects of Barbados, recognized that the sugar industry was the only industry capable of supporting its dense population, and declared that if nothing was done to help that industry, there was certainty of great distress and considerable expendi- ture to relieve it.

4. That for many years prior to 1903, the year in which the Brussels Conven- tion was signed, the sugar industry had been struggling against the competition of the beet sugar produced upon the Continent of Europe under the system of bounties and cartels.

5. That prior to the Convention all British Governments for forty years had desired to abolish sugar bounties, and it was only the assured hope that justice would be done that encouraged the continued cultivation of sugar plantations in this Island.

6. That Your Majesty's Petitioners are aware that Your Majesty fully realized the injustice of the Continental bounties and cartels, when reference was made by Your Majesty in the Speech from the Throne at the opening of Parliament in 1902, to the fact that Your Majesty's subjects in the West Indian Colonies had been too long unfairly weighed in the past."

7. That the Convention has not caused a rise in the price of sugar in England, but its effect has been gradually to restore freedom of trade in the markets of the world.

8. That although the results of the Convention are more apparent in some other of Your Majesty's West Indian possessions where large amounts of capital have during the last three years been invested in the sugar industry, than in Barbados, yet Your Majesty's Petitioners see clearly the beneficial effects of the Convention to themselves, in the renewal of confidence in the one industry on which the entire people of this Island mainly depend.

9. That since the Convention has come into operation, the beneficial effects of the stability of the industry, insomuch as it is now based on the principles of supply and demand instead of being at the mercy of foreign caprice, are shown by the purchases of estates at improved prices, not only by local buyers, but by investors from England and North and South America, by the efforts of proprietors to make a higher and better class of sugar than formerly involving the introduction of new and improved machinery, and, generally, by the active interest taken in all experiments incident to the cultivation of the sugar cane.

10. That in the event of Your Majesty's Government deciding to withdraw from the Brussels Convention, although it may be unlikely that the Continental bounties will be restored, yet the high protective duties which render cartels possible and effective would undoubtedly begin anew, and the sugar industry cannot compete with Continental sugar thus artificially cheapened.