1s. 6d. per pound. In fact, the West Indies will receive something like £100,000 for the cotton grown there, and this encouragement must be the effect of turning attention to this means of making money. To help in this direction we undertook for some time to carry cotton freight free. Old-fashioned ways, like obsolete machinery, must be cast aside before satisfactory results can be secured, and indolence, which is named as one of the greatest curses of the beautiful and fruitful Antillian Islands, must be overcome before any real and lasting progress can be made.
On my visit to Jamaica I saw, in the few days I spent there, the enormous possibilities of the country: the soil seems to be capable of producing anything with very little attention, and if science and labour were but applied to the ground, no complaints such as we have heard in the past would be again made. I also witnessed the lethargic attitude of the people, much of that of the blacks being inborn laziness, and, in the case of the whites, it appears to be a quite natural effect of the climate. It is, of course, ridiculous to expect the same amount of energy in people subjected for long periods to the hot, enervating climate of the low-lying parts of Jamaica as is to be found in Britain; but I am convinced that far more is possible than is now attempted. There appears to be a too great dependence upon the Imperial Government, for, while I recognise the duty of the Government to take the initiative and display a practical interest in the wellbeing of the Colonies, giving such as need it financial help and sound, useful counsel, I nevertheless believe such assistance can be harmful, and not only check individual effort, but defeat its own purpose. Mr. Chamberlain, in his schemes for the advancement of the Colonies and the amelioration of conditions in those that might be considered below par, seemed to understand this fully, and exercised wonderful discretion in his dealings with Britain's dependencies and the solution of their problems.
The encouragement of the banana trade by the ex-
