The British Government in commiseration of the deplorable state to which the proprietors were reduced, extended to them a loan of £200,000 to enable them to restore their plantations

The Earl of Mulgrave having succeeded to the Government in 1832 again pressed 1832 the Assembly to pass necessary laws to give effect to the resolutions of 1823 of Mr. Canning. But the Assembly resisted as before and declared that while admitting the supremacy of the Sovereign they could not admit "the supremacy of one portion of His Majesty's subjects in the Parent state over another portion of these subjects in Jamaica."

After this the Emancipation Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament, and 1833 was laid before the Jamaica Assembly on 18th October, 1833. They could not but accept the decree, but they entered strong protests against the Act in their Journals.

On the 1st August, 1834, slavery was abolished and the Apprenticeship System 1834 Established. The number of slaves for whom compensation was paid by the British Government was 255,290, the amount of compensation awarded being £5,853,975 Sterling.

The apprenticeship system was subsequently abolished by Act of Parliament 1838 in May 1838, and on the 1st August of that year absolute freedom was conferred on the whole negro population.

The History of the Colony from this time on to the outbreak of 1865, consists of little else beyond a series of political disputes and disagreements between the Executive and the Legislature accompanied with a bitterness which could not fail to have a disastrous result on the well-being of the country. When Sir Charles 1839 Metcalfe was Governor, it is true, much was done to reconcile these differences; he succeeded in restoring the affection for the mother-country which in the case of a large number of Colonists had been alienated by recent events, and he left the 1843 Colony after passing a number of useful Laws, greatly regretted by all.

He was succeeded by Lord Elgin during whose administration much was done to improve the general condition of the Island. Coolie Immigration was commenced, new breeds of cattle were introduced and the Jamaica Railway was opened.

But in 1946 the Imperial Parliament passed an Act to equalize the sugar duties 1846 on British and Foreign productions. The result of this Act would clearly be disastrous to the sugar planters of Jamaica, and the Assembly in November 1846 declared that they would be unable to continue the institutions of the Colony on the present scale or to defray the cost of Coolie Immigration.

Sir Charles Grey arrived as Governor at this time, and throughout his adminis- 1847 tration of 6 years, the "War of Retrenchment" continued. Bill after Bill embodying a scheme of retrenchment was passed by the Legislature and was rejected as often by the Council. The Treasury became bankrupt owing to the failure of the Legislature to re-enact expiring Revenue Bills, and a complete "deadlock" ensued. But Sir Charles Grey's term of office expired and Sir Henry 1853 Barkly was appointed Governor of Jamaica. He had been a planter in Demerara and had been sent to that Colony to settle the Retrenchment Question there, a task which he had successfully accomplished. His appointment to Jamaica was therefore hailed with joy, the retrenchment party seeing in him a sympathiser and a deliverer. The Legislature having been called together, an Act for the better government of the Island was passed, and in consideration of this and the provision of a permanent revenue of £25,000 to provide for salaries of Judges and several other Public Officers, the Imperial Government granted a loan of £500,000 at 4 per cent to pay off the debts of the Colony. Sir Henry Barkly was sworn in as Captain General and Governor in Chief under the new Constitution the character of which is described in another part of this work.*

Sir Henry Barkly was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Sir) C. H. Darling. His 1857 administration is remarkable for the fact that acting on the opinion that it was

*Political Constitution page 80.

the intention of the Legislature to establish in Jamaica the principle that in all important questions of a purely domestic nature the Colony should be governed according to the views of the constituencies as expressed by their Representatives in the Legislature, he appointed three gentlemen to office on the principle of Ministerial Responsibility.

1862 In 1862 the political struggles between the Executive Committee and the Assembly revived in all their intensity and in the following year had gone so far that Mr. Edward John Eyre the Lieutenant Governor, and the Assembly came into direct collision a majority of that body declining "to proceed to any further business with His Excellency."

1864

In 1864 Mr. Eyre, who had been Lieutenant Governor during the absence of Sir Charles Darling on leave, was appointed to succeed him as Governor, the Imperial Government approving of the course he had adopted in the recent conflict with the Assembly.

But meanwhile trouble was brewing in the country. A severe drought had greatly impoverished the people, while the American Civil war and other causes had increased the price of imported bread-stuffs. Agitators availed themselves of the opportunity to unsettle and excite the minds of the ignorant. Public Meetings were got up at which seditious speeches were made calling upon those of African race to assert themselves and to publicly set forth their grievances. 1865 movement had its natural effect. In October, 1865 a rebellion of the black people broke out in the Parish of St. Thomas.

1866

The

On the 11th of that month a crowd of some hundreds armed with cutlasses, bayonets, sticks and muskets entered the square in front of the Court house at Morant Bay and declared for "war." They were all blacks, and their cry was "colour for colour, blood for blood." The Custos and Magistrates of the Parish were butchered while holding their meeting for the transaction of business. The Volunteers who were drawn up in front of the Court house were stoned and although they fired, were overpowered. All the Officers and many members of the force were killed. Martial Law was at once proclaimed, troops were dispatched to the disaffected district, and the outbreak vigorously quelled. The principal agitator, Mr. George William Gordon who was mainly responsible, was arrested, tried by Court Martial and hanged, while a number of the actual ringleaders among the insurgents were similarly dealt with.

On intelligence of the affair reaching England, Sir Henry Knight Storks was sent out to assume the Government and act as President of a Commission of Enquiry of which the other Members were Mr. Russell Gurney the Recorder of London, and Mr. J. B. Maule, the Recorder of Leeds.

The conclusion at which the Commission arrived was, shortly, that the outbreak had been quelled with unnecessary severity. They reported however that "the disturbances had their immediate origin in a planned resistance to lawful authority," and that" a principal object of the disturbers of order was the obtaining of land free of rent."

As a result of this finding, Mr. Eyre was recalled by Her Majesty's Government, and left Jamaica.

The Legislature had previously, at the instance of Governor Eyre, passed a law to abolish the then existing Constitution, and to empower Her Majesty the Queen "to create and constitute a government for this island in such form and with such powers as to Her Majesty may best seem fitting," and the act had received the assent of the Crown. Thus was brought to a close a Representative Institution which had existed for 202 years, and which had exercised powers, in some respects, in excess of those of the British House of Commons itself.

Sir John Peter Grant, K.C.B., arrived as Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Island on the 5th August, 1866. He brought with him an Order in Council dated the 11th June of that year establishing a new form of government. The new Legislature was designated "The Legislative Council of Jamaica" and consisted at first of the Governor and six official and three non-official members.* A Privy Council was also provided for.

See article on Political Constitution in this Publication.

The Legislative Council met for the despatch of business on the 16th October and 1866 at once directed their attention to the re-adjustment of the public finances. There had been a deficit on the 30th September, 1865, of £80,656, and there were obligations arising out of the recent disturbances to be immediately met. With the view of providing for these requirements, without unduly pressing on any particular section of the community, the excise duty on rum was increased, the house tax was extended to all houses under £12 annual rental, a small tax was laid on land and a trade license was imposed on Merchants, Storekeepers, Newspapers Proprietors and other men in business. In the following year additional customs' duties were levied on wines, tobacco and similar articles of luxury and an addition of ten per cent. was in all cases made to the total amount payable on imports. Estates machinery and other articles required for the production of the staples of the colony and the development of its resources were however admitted free. The result of these readjustments was that on the 30th September, 1868, there was a surplus of £5,599; this was the first time for many years that the finances of the colony had shown an excess of revenue over expenditure.* The Government had now begun a series of changes in the political and fiscal affairs of the colony.

A

One of the first measures of reform was the reduction of the number of parishe from twenty-two to fourteen. The parishes were thus nearly equalized in size and population and the annual expenditure for maintenance was greatly reduced. new revenue system was established, whereby the Officers of Customs and the Collectors of Taxes were placed under a Central Head and the collection of the revenue, both internal and external, was regulated by a uniform system. A semi-military Police was organized and placed under an Inspector-General, and a Rural Police was added as an Auxiliary Force for the detection of crime in the remote districts of the country. The Judicial Establishment was re-constituted. District Courts on the model of the English County Courts were introduced; Public Prosecutors were appointed as Assistants to the Attorney-General; the Judges of the Supreme Court were authorised to admit Solicitors of seven years' standing to practise as Advocates in the Supreme Court, and a Commission was appointed to prepare a new and revised edition of the statutes of this island. Grand Juries were abolished and the Attorney-General was charged with the power of preferring indictments against persons accused of crime. The reduction of the number of Judges of the Supreme Court from four to two, as vacancies occurred, was sanctioned. A Medical Department for providing the inhabitants, and especially those in the rural districts, with medical attendance and medicine, was established; and a change in the educational system, under which the annual grants to elementary schools were based on results was inaugurated. As a part of this new education movement provision was made for the training of Schoolmasters at a Government Training College in Spanish Town and at the Mico Institution in Kingston. A Government Savings Bank was opened in Kingston, with branches in the several parishes, in substitution of the old Trustee Banks, which were limited in their operations and but indifferently managed by the local Trustees. The postal rates on letters were reduced and postal communication between Kingston and the interior was extended to three posts per week. A Department of Public Works was organized under an officer designated the Director of Roads and Superintendent of Public Works, and an effective system of road supervision was inaugurated. The public buildings which had for years been falling into decay were repaired and commodious hospitals, police stations and other necessary buildings were constructed on modern principles. In the year 1868 Coolie immigration was resumed (after having been stopped for four years) and Cinchona was first permanently planted at Bellevue, on the Blue Mountain Range, by the Government. In the same year the fruit trade with the United States of America was started at Port Antonio by private enterprize.

The greater part of these improvements involved large additional annual expenditure from the Public Treasury; but notwithstanding this there was an annual surplus during the whole period of Sir John Peter Grant's administration. His Excellency

See article on Political Constitution in this Publication.

1868

1868 in reporting on the finances of the year 1871-72 (the year preceding that in which he left the colony) informed the Secretary of State as follows: "The continuing surplus accrues from no increase of taxation, and is in the face of a large expenditure on public works of utility and importance, of a largely increasing expenditure on such departments as those of education and medicine, and of some increase of expenditure in those administrative and revenue departments which necessarily require development as the population and wealth of the colony became developed.": Among the imposts remitted in consequence of the solvency of the finances were the tonnage dues and tax on breeding stock, working cattle, and sheep, which were inherited from the old Legislature, and the additional import duty which was levied in 1868.

1871 A Census was taken on the 31st July, 1871, which showed that the population which was recorded as 506,154 had increased by 14.7 per cent. in the ten years ending on that day. Within the same period the Established Church in Jamaica was abolished by the expiry of the Clergy Law and the first Synod of the Disestablished Church was held in Kingston under the presidency of Bishop Courtenay. The Law of Charles II., empowering the Governor for the time, with the advice of a Council of War, to declare Marshal Law in times of disturbance, was repealed. Two other noteworthy occurrences took place during the administration of Sir John Peter Grant. The first was the transfer of the Seat of Government from Spanish Town, the ancient capital, to Kingston, the commercial centre. The second is the case of the La Have.

1874

1876

The La Have, with papers showing that Kingston was her destination, and with a cargo of guns and munitions of war, was captured on the high seas by a Spanish man-of-war and towed into Port Royal. The cargo was detained by order of Governor Sir J. P. Grant on the advice of Mr. Attorney-General Heslop, under an Island Statute which declared that munitions of war shipped at a foreign port are forfeited to the Crown if imported into Jamaica. Actions for damages were filed by the owners of the vessel and cargo against Sir J. P. Grant, the amount claimed being £35,000. After the first case had been heard and a verdict had been given against the defendants a compromise was effected by the parties to the suits, the Governor giving his promissory note, payable in six months for £7,920, with interest at 8 per cent. to the date of payment and restoring the arms and munitions. The Legislative Council subsequently passed a vote for redeeming the promissory note, but requested the Governor "to urge the Secretary of State, in as strong a manner as His Excellency might deem fit, the justice of the British Government's refunding the amount to the Colony, the seizure having been made for the purpose of carrying out Imperial Policy and International Law." The amount was refunded.

Sir J. P. Grant left Jamaica on the 25th January, 1874, and Mr. W. A. G. Young, the Acting Colonial Secretary, assumed the Government as President of the Privy Council. Sir William Grey arrived as Governor on the 4th April. During his administration the island was afflicted with a hurricane (November, 1874) by which many of the provision grounds of the peasantry were destroyed, and by a severe drought (1876) followed by heavy and continuous rains, which did unusual damage to the roads throughout the Island. Small-pox also prevailed epidemically in some parts of the Island, especially in Vere and Clarendon, and endemically in other parts. A considerable commercial panic, in consequence of overtrading on fictitious capital, also occurred. Two of the leading firms of Kingston failed for the large sum of £353,844 and these failures caused several other bankruptcies. The reaction which followed upon this general collapse of trade had a very unfavourable effect on the import duties and on the revenue from stamps.

Against these calamities there were the successful exhibition of a collection of Jamaica products at the International Exhibition which was held at Philadelphia in 1876, and the establishing of Street Cars in the City of Kingston through the enterprise of a private company. The Rio Cobre Irregation Works were completed

* Sir John Grant's Report on the Blue Book of 1872.

+ See Articles on Church of England in Jamaica in this Publication.

at a cost of £126,500 and the Dry River Bridge, which had for some years been in construction, was opened for traffic.

Sir William Grey relinquished the Government on the 10th March, 1877, in con- 1877 sequence of ill-health, and Lieutenant-Governor Rushworth, C.M.G., was sworn into office. During his short administration Jamaica was admitted in the Postal Union; Kingston was lighted with Gas, and a Commission was appointed to enquire into the condition of the juvenile population of Jamaica. Mr. Rushworth died of yellow fever on the 10th August, 1877, and the government devolved on Major-General Mann, as President of the Privy Council.

Sir Anthony Musgrave, K.C.M.G., arrived and assumed the government as Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief on the 24th August, 1877. In opening the first session of the Legislative Council after his arrival, His Excellency had to make unfavourable announcements with regard to the public finances. By an arrangement made by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in deference to representations from the sugar planters of the colony, the immigration debt which then stood at £174,923 was transferred to the Public Treasury, together with the annual expenses of hospitals and medical attendance on immigrants. In addition to these assumed liabilities there was a deficit of £4,063 in the general accounts on the 30th Septembe 1877, and an anticipated deficit of £2,683 on the general accounts of the financial year 1877-78. To meet these demands the Legislative Council, on the recommendation of the Governor, re-imposed the poll-tax on breeding stock which was repealed by Law 14 of 1870 and raised a loan of £35,000 under Law 1 of 1878. The only other aids to the general revenue during the year (1877-78) were the trifling export duties on coffee and logwood, which were transferred from the Immigration fund to general revenue, as a set-off against the assumption by the public of the charges in connection with immigration. By a reduction in the expenditure on public works and other economies the finances of the year were closed with a surplus; but the new loan remained as an addition to the public debt.

In the next session Sir Anthony Musgrave announced that "in consequence of 1878 the healthy condition of the finances and the improved prospects of the coming year" he proposed to submit to the decision of the Council "the propriety of some special votes for purposes of public utility and the augmentation of the provisions already made for some objects of importance." Among the measures thus recommended were an annual scholarship granting to the holder the means of prosecuting his studies to completion at any British University; the appointment of a governing body for the management of a high school to promote the higher education of the country; an increase in the number of Pupil Teachers at the Government Training College at Spanish Town and at other similar institutions, and the founding of an institute for the promotion of literature, science and art in Jamaica. He also recommended the construction of a line of Electric Telegraph between Kingston and Montego Bay, with a branch from St. Ann's Bay to Port Antonio; the subsidizing of the West India and Panama Telegraph Company for the purpose of securing telegraphic communication with other countries; the purchase of the Jamaica Railway and its extensions to Porus on the south-side and Ewarton on the north-side; the restoration of the buildings of the saline baths at Milk River and the extension of cinchona cultivation on the Government Plantation in St. Andrew. These recommendations were all agreed to and fully carried out. A system of registration of births, deaths and Marriages, which had previously been sanctioned by the Legislature, was brought into operation on the 1st April, 1878. In the following year a 1879 new Marriage Law, which provided for the appointment of Marriage Officers and for purely civil marriages where the parties desired them, and a Divorce Law, were passed. A series of laws having for their object the improvement of the Judicial System and the consolidation of the superior Courts into one superior Court of Judicature and the appointment of a second Puisne Judge, were also passed. In the same year (1879) there was an extension of the telegraph line so as to complete the circuit of this useful and civilizing undertaking and the establishing of steam communication round the island by means of an annual subsidy.

Early in the following year (March 1880) their Royal Highnesses Prince Albert 1880 Victor and George, sons of the Prince of Wales, arrived in Jamaica in H.M. Ship