At moments one can fancy that the
world is an enchanted place after all, but then comes generally an
absurd awakening. On the first night of my arrival, before we went
to bed, there came an invitation to me to attend a political meeting
which was to be held in a few days on the Savannah.
[56] "Trinidad is a purely Crown colony, and has escaped hitherto the
introduction of the election virus. The newspapers and certain busy
gentlemen in Port of Spain had discovered that they were living under
a 'degrading tyranny,' and they demanded a constitution. They did
not complain that their affairs had been ill-managed. On the
contrary, they insisted that they were the most prosperous of the
West Indian colonies, and alone had a surplus in their treasury. If
this was so, it seemed to me that they had better let well alone.
The population, all told, was but 170,000, less by thirty thousand
than that of Barbados. They were a mixed and motley assemblage of
all races and colours, busy each with their own affairs, and never
hitherto troubling themselves about politics. But it had pleased the
Home Government to set up the beginning of a constitution again in
Jamaica; no one knew why, but so it was; and Trinidad did not choose
to be behindhand.
Pages:
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64