JNF-The-Working-Class-Struggle-of-Half-a-Century

J. N.
FRANCE
_________________________
The
Working Class
Struggle
of Half a Century

The
Working Class
Struggle
of Half a Century
J. N. France
Edited by
Victoria Borg O’Flaherty
A National Archives Publication

© 2015
Published by
The National Archives
Government Headquarters
Church Street
Basseterre
St. Kitts
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without the permission of the publisher

CONTENTS
1. Early Vision 1
2. The Housing Problem 10
3. Preparing the Ground 15
4. The Workers League 22
5. First West Indian Conference 32
6. Captain Cipriani in St. Kitts 38
7. Comfort of the Sick 42
8. A Question of Wages 48
9. From Pauper relief to Provident Benefit 53
10. When Injury and Death meant nothing 62
11. Bombardment from the Caribbean 72
12. A Question of Representation 80
13. Leadership-Statesmanship 98
14. One hundred years after Slavery 110
15. The Riots of 1935 116
16. The First Election 131
17. The 1938 Royal Commission 143
18. A Stake in the Country 149
19. Marcus Garvey in St. Kitts 157
20. The Move for Minimum Wages 164
21. Power of the Press 171
22. World War Two and Labour 176

Preface
The Working Class struggle of Half a Century was first published as a series of
articles in the Labour Spokesman from 1968 to 1970. This publication was
originally the work of J. N. France, then General Secretary of the St. Kitts-
Nevis Trades and Labour Union and Minister of Education, Health and Welfare.
A quiet unassuming man, France was part of the Labour Movement from
its inception which meant that he was either a witness or was a close associate
to persons who had been involved in the events he described in his series. Unfortunately
the series ended abruptly. The last article carried in The Labour
Spokesman was not meant to be the last but a search through later issues produced
no follow up. The reason for this remains a mystery. However it was
felt that the information in the articles that were actually published was valuable
enough to warrant the publication of a book.
France’s style of writing is very simple. He was presenting his case to the man
in the street and wanted to make sure that it was easily understood. In today’s
media, his terminology would be considered propaganda. His writing expresses
the relationship between the employee and employer in terms of a struggle as
between David and Goliath, and between right and wrong. Yet for his generation
and even later ones, France’s appeal lay in his clear message often triggered
by rhetorical questions that he sought to answer as his writing progressed.
It gave his work a directness and focus which also manifested itself in
his public speeches.
The newspapers that carried the series have not all survived and the collection
comes to us through J. E. Fidel O’Flaherty. Although there was a forty-five
year age difference between the two men, they were comrades who passionately
involved in the Union and who enjoyed a bond of friendship and mutual
respect. When Fidel went to Ruskin College, Oxford to read Development
Studies, he relied on Mr. France to supply him with the information he needed
to make his studies relevant to St. Kitts. It was for this reason that France allowed
Eileen Tyrell to type the whole collection and send it to him in England.
Even when his studies were completed, Fidel continued to make reference to
the articles in his lectures and when mentoring students who were researching
material on St. Kitts. When I told him that I thought it would be a good idea to
publish the articles as a book, he insisted that he should write the introduction.
Unfortunately he died before he could do so.
The preparation of these articles for publication has taken a long time mainly
because of the question of how to handle the articles themselves. From an academic
point of view the articles tended to be rather simplistic, and the choice of
words was dated. My first reaction was to try and make the language more
time-appropriate but as I worked my way through them, I realized that J. N.

France was disappearing from their authorship. This was not what I had wanted
to achieve. So I went back to the original and tried to present them as the
series had been printed in the Labour Spokesman giving rise to a number of
technical difficulties. Because the articles were interspersed over a period of
three years, there was quite a bit of repetition. In a book, this was going to be
both costly and tedious so some of these passages had to be cut. It was then
decided that the articles that ran off each other should be merged. These changes
may sound drastic but they do not effect the actual content and have been
merely designed to improve the flow of the book. Illustrations were used to
enhance the publication. I strongly feel that where history has a face it becomes
more meaningful and interesting to the reader.
There was one drastic cut that had to be made for legal reasons. Following a
description of events that celebrated the hundred years of Emancipation,
France decided to write on enslavement. These articles ended up being quotes
from several chapters in Elsa Goveia’s book Slave Society in the British Leeward
Islands at the end of the Eighteenth Century which had been published in
1965 only three years prior to the publication of the articles. His reproduction
of several pages of this book, with acknowledgements, shows that France
found it to be invaluable. It still is the most comprehensive study of enslavement
in the Leewards. However, the book is still in copyright and we do not
have permission to reproduce such large portions of it. A copy of it is in the
reference library at the National Archives.
The writing of contemporaries is rare in St. Kitts. J.N. France was an exception
in his desire to share with the upcoming generations, his thoughts, reading
and experiences. He used the newspaper as his medium because it was one
with which he was very familiar having worked first as printer of the Union
Messenger under the guidance of J. Matthew Sebastian. It was also one that
was readily available to him as General Secretary of the St. Kitts-Nevis trades
and Labour Union which owned the Spokesman. . I believe that the presentation
of his articles, in book format, will provide the readers of today with an
insider’s view of the mission and role of the Labour Movement in creating a
more equitable society in St. Kitts.
I am deeply grateful to Mavis Vaughan and Jermain Hendrickson, who prepared
the manuscript for editing.
Victoria Borg O’Flaherty
7 June 2007

1 EARLY VISION
Where is this country heading? Different persons ask this question for
different reasons, but whatever the motive is, every citizen can find the
answer. He has only to examine the past, watch the happenings of the
present and study the trends as the future unfolds itself.
In the year 1918, the atmosphere was charged with uneasiness,
contrast, endeavour. The main issue was centered around the destiny of
the working class. Some working men were marched from the village
of St. Paul’s fifty years ago to serve sentences in the Basseterre prison
because they did not turn out for their jobs. A breach of the law was
then commonly known as the "bridge of contract". That piece of legislation
was a nightmare to workers on estates all over the island. The
sting of it was constantly felt. Fifty years later the sound of it still
aroused a feeling of horror and resentment in the older estate workers
who remember the specter that it was. The men of St. Paul's were making
history for their village. The penalty was harsh when they failed to
turn out to work or when they left one employer and took a job with
another. Such was the estate system in those days. The workers were
regarded part of the estate.
Those stout-hearted men were thinking differently. No doubt
they had seen visions of social reform and industrial changes that were
to come in the next generation. They felt that something was wrong
with the social system in which they were born. The control over their
working life was repressive and should no longer exist. They were facing
a dramatic situation. Together they showed resistance by refusing
to seek compromise. Bravely they set out on the long journey to serve
their prison sentence.
Extent of Domination
Have you any idea of the size of the task that confronted the ordinary
people of this country when they started to think of improving their
working life? Let us look at the picture as it was half a century ago. In
that period business was thriving. The volume of business done and
1

the methods of doing it were different from what they are today but
the country held its place in the spheres of industry and trade. The
picture was pretty from the employers’ viewpoint but the workers’ lot
was a sad story. Social conditions among the working class were deplorable.
There was no labour organization to protect the masses from
industrial exploitation. There was no political group to advocate laws
for securing elementary benefits of twentieth century civilization. The
economic system of that day produced the policy of pressing young
people to work at a tender age and upheld the practice of discouraging
education.
The background to that mode of life emerged from the slave
society which had existed earlier. The English author, Algernon Aspinall,
gave a glimpse of that background in his book The British West
Indies when he wrote: It must be remembered that even in England at
this period the masses were to a great extent uneducated. It must, however
be admitted that it was not in the interest of the owners, that their
slaves should be taught at all. In too many cases the slaves merely
ranked with the livestock on the estate, though there were notable exceptions.
The Basseterre Sugar Factory was build in 1912 just in time to take advantage
of the favourable economic situation during the first World War (postcard by
A. Moure Losada)
2

With the passing of time, social and economic conditions
changed slowly. At the turn of the century, the working masses were
still subject to great disabilities. They were looked upon merely as the
labour force to produce the wealth of the islands. St. Kitts had been
numbered among the islands best suited for the production of sugar.
Over the years, the fortune of the industry rose and fell. However, at
that particular point in time, the outlook was bright.
In the report of the West India Commission, 1938, the position
was recorded as follows: During the war of 1914-18, with the British
market cut off from its chief sources of beet-sugar supply, the West Indian
sugar industry experienced a boom, and made large profits, reminiscent
of the spacious days of the eighteenth century. The sugar estates
therefore deemed it essential to maintain an adequate labour force to
make the most of the restoration of pros-perity. As the bulk of the
workers were landless, they were in the clutches of the employers. In
the country districts most workers lived in houses or villages belonging
to estates. A great many lived in trash houses, the only kind of dwelling
that they could own for themselves. No worker dared displease his employer
lest the well-being of his whole family would be in danger.
Blacklisting
It was common at that time for workers to be blacklisted. If one was
dismissed from his job on an estate, he would not only lose the privilege
of living on estate premises, but invariably he would also find that his
name had been sent on to managers of other estates who were told not
to employ him if he came there seeking work.
An incident involving a school boy was narrated by a teacher
who served at Estridge School. A worker went to an estate manager
and told him that the wage he had received on the last pay day was not
correct. The manager flew into a rage and questioned the worker as to
how he had come by that knowledge. The worker replied that his son
had checked the money and found it out. For some time the manager
continued fuming and finally threatened to turn the man off the estate.
Another example of the land owners' grip on the masses was
seen on a neighboring estate. A worker was told seriously by his man-
3

ager, "I see that your boy will soon be leaving school. I am looking out
for him in the small gang." The worker felt uncomfortable. He had
planned a different type of future for his son. He told the manager that
he wanted to send the boy to learn "his trade". The manager, it was
said, was highly offended and gave the labourer the choice of sending
the lad to work in the small gang or of leaving the estate. The small
gang in those days provided cheap child labour at the sacrifice of the
dignity of the human being. It has left its stamp on many of our people
who were deprived of the opportunity to learn to read and write.
These cases help to show the extent to which the lives of the
workers were dominated by the economic system of the period.
Efforts to Organise
The land owner's chief aim was to make as much money as they could
out of the estates. In fact that was their only business. On the other
hand workers were beginning to raise vague hopes of a decent standard
of living. They had been hearing about the idea of getting together. It
was something new in this part of the world. The deplorable conditions
under which the ordinary people lived made them eager to try anything
that promised an escape from social and economic thralldom. Word
went around St. Kitts that an organization for working people was being
formed and that it would be headed by men from humble walks of life -
Frederick (Freddie) Solomon, an undertaker, Joseph A. Nathan, a small
retail business man, George Wilkes, a barber.
Nathan was probably the moving spirit. He was born in this island
and travelled to the United States where he gained knowledge of
working class organizations. In New York he saw trade unions in action.
He saw the numerous important benefits gained for American
workers as a result of the foundation laid during the previous century by
Samuel Gompers, the eminent leader of the American Federation of
Labour. Gompers became the AFL's first president in 1886 when it replaced
the Federation of Organized Trade and Labour Unions of the
United States and Canada. Having returned to his native island, Nathan
threw in his lot with other pro-gressive minded persons to spread
the doctrine of working class unity.
4

This early attempt at workers' organization gave the signal for a
clash of interests. The land owners regarded any move to organize the
working masses as a challenge to the economic power which they had
inherited. To them it was a primary duty to preserve their position. On
the other hand the pioneers, of what was quickly becoming a brotherhood
of workers, set out in earnest on their venture, braced up by strong
unselfish motives. They had no pattern from which they could copy, no
rules which they might follow, no model which they could use as a
guide. Their first job was to go to the people, call them forth, speak to
them singly or in groups, persuade them to organise, sell them the idea
that the interests of one should be the concern of all.
Trouble lurked in their pathway, particularly in the country districts.
They were threatened with prosecution for trespassing when they
went to speak to the people in the villages. As practically all of the villages
stood on estate lands, it was difficult for the speakers to address a
gathering and still keep clear of the public road without encroaching on
the private property of the estates. The hurdles were not easy to get
over.
The leaders of the day, nevertheless, continued their mission,
to maintaining contact with the people as best they could. However
another unexpected blow was to come. The men wanted to form a
workers' union, but the laws of the land at the time did not permit such
a thing. In the Leeward Islands Colony of which St. Kitts and Nevis
were then part, there was no Trade Union Act to provide for the organisation
and registration of a trade union.
Evidently the land owners were resorting to the use of the machinery
of government to crush the attempt to set up a workers' organization.
The Legislature then consisted mostly of planters, merchants
and government officials nominated by the Administrator of the Presidency
(as St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla was then called). This meant that
the country fell firmly under the control of the wealthy class. If the
leaders persisted in organising the workers and on acting as a union, it
was obvious that the severe hand of the law would have lashed down on
them.
5

In order to avoid such an eventuality they were forced to abandon
the idea of forming a trade union and instead turned the body into a
friendly society, that is a society which would mainly provide assistance
during sickness and for the burial of its members, but could not deal
with such matters as wages and conditions of work as a trade union
could. The society was named The St. Kitts Universal Benevolent Association
and was registered under the Friendly Societies Act of the
Leeward Islands. F. Solomon was its first president, while J. A. Nathan
and G. Wilkes filled the posts of secretary and treasurer respectively.
After the death of Solomon, the office of President was filled by J.
Matthew Sebastian who started a newspaper, The Union Messenger in
1921.
New Light on Old Problems
For the first time the power of the pen was employed in the battle
against bad living conditions, poor heath and low wages in this country.
It was 1921 when The Messenger’s came on the scene. Its position was
declared in a policy statement which it prominently displayed: Dedicated
to the service of the people that no good cause shall lack a
champion and that wrong shall not thrive unopposed.
J. Matthew Sebastian
The Union Messenger was published by the St. Kitts Benevolent
Association. Its editor, J. Matthew Sebastian had given up his
6

post as a school teacher to succeed Solomon as president of the Association.
Sebastian had been a teacher at what was then known as the
Basseterre Girls' School which came into being in 1915. In that year
the Leeward Islands Government took over the elementary schools that
had previously been in the hands of the churches.
The paper soon found itself up against the deeply entrenched
social and economic system. The situation was a veritable test of the
influence of the pen pitted against the might of the economic sword.
Published first as a monthly magazine, the new publication burst on the
stage in a gleam of popularity. It was a novelty - a local literary production
featuring current events and airing views on local topics. Nothing
exactly like it was in the run as a rival. Reader interest grew rapidly.
Although the general standard of education on the island at that time
left much to be desired, The Messenger became a must for an increasing
number of people. Its sphere of influence widened and it was later published
as a weekly and then as a daily.
As The Messenger reported local happenings and publicly examined
them in the light of its declared policy, new lines of thought
were thrown into circulation and began to permeate the stream of public
thinking. Reports of cases heard in court turned the spotlight on ignorance
and crime. The Messenger strongly advocated a drive towards
the education of the masses in an effort to remedy social ills. The fields
of sports, recreation, and church activities,. were all given their places
in the general course but the paper laid special emphasis on the problems
that tended to perpetuate the pangs of the underprivileged people.
The notorious "small gangs" came invariably under fire from the editor's
pen. He said they robbed the children of the opportunity of getting
an education and sapped the manhood and womanhood of our people.
Attention was focused on the low standard of health. Malnutrition was
then widespread. In town and country under-nourished bodies were a
common sight. Living conditions were bad. Sanitation was poor. The
death rate was high.
The West India Royal Commission made a comparison of the
death rate in the islands covering the period 1928-1937. St. Kitts had
the highest. In 1928 the death rate per 1000 of the population in St.
7

Kitts was 39.8. This was more that twice the rate of some of the other
islands in that year and was also higher than the rate in the countries of
Europe. The infant mortality rate per 1000 live births for the same period
was 308.3 in St. Kitts, which was second in the West Indies only to
Barbados where it was 331.0.
The searchlight of publicity was also turned on low wages.
Some men with families were receiving one shilling per day. Field
workers in particular were badly squeezed. Some young people working
on the estates were receiving sixpence per day. All of these
hardships and many other problems of the time were kept in the public
eye. The constant dripping of water erodes the hardest stone. General
indifference to these deplorable defects of society began to dissolve.
The problems were not new but they assumed new form and meaning as
they were then seen in the strong light of constructive newspaper discourse.
The Messenger was forceful in its criticism. It suggested effective
remedies designed to bring the greatest good to the greatest number.
It was not the wealthy class that constitute the greatest number and
this was the root of the trouble.
The criticism of human exploitation gained support from many
quarters. Openly expressed admiration gave added strength and courage
to the champion of the workers cause. Each such supporter was himself
a champion in his sphere. On the other hand this swell of public consciousness
which had been aroused by the press caused uneasiness
among the privileged classes. They saw the rolling wave as a challenge
to their position and they dashed to the defensive.
Boycott
With silent concerted action they launched a boycott on The Union
Messenger. A goodly number discontinued subscriptions. Most of the
local advertisers withdrew their advertisements. The income of the
printing plant came chiefly from job work. This was promptly cut. .
The government of the day clasped hands with the antagonists in the
covert attack and imposed a systematic squeeze on The Progressive
Printery by joining the boycott.
8

For several years the pressure was maintained but it did not
break the spirit behind the pen that had awakened the bulk of the people
and proceeded to develop an enlightened public opinion. Rather this
stroke of adversity reinforced the leaders and supporters of the move for
broad measures of reform. The Messenger strengthened the agitation
for a new social order. It clamoured for improvement in the industrial
and economic spheres. It pressed for political reform. This was part of
the early contribution of a section of the press to the workers' uphill
climb - a display of courage, sincerity and sacrifice.
9

2 THE HOUSING PROBLEM
Ask anybody about what it takes to build a house and the answer is
likely to be "land and money". However less than two generations ago
three factors prevented ordinary people from enjoying good homes of
their own and these were lack of money, lack of available land and lack
of efforts by any public or private agency to improve housing conditions
for the working population. During that period the common man
could not help himself in the situation. He had no means of having his
wants and needs adequately considered by the people who were in a
position to better his lot. The St. Kitts Workers League had not yet
come on the scene. At this time the only advocate to plead the cause of
the working man was The Union Messenger.
The disastrous hurricane of 1924 threw the housing problem into
bold relief. At that time the idea of giving names to hurricanes had
not yet come into vogue and it would not have mattered if it had. The
hardest hit victims of these storms were the working people. Under
prevailing conditions it could not be otherwise. In the violent winds
that swept the islands on August 28 th and 29 th of that year, tearing
down fences, trees, and growing crops, a large number of small houses
were destroyed and others were badly damaged. The terrific downpour
of rain was the heaviest in forty-four years. The great volume of water
flowing down the ghauts and ravines particularly in Basseterre, Old
Road and Gingerland, Nevis was exceeded only by the terrible flood of
1880.
Many people had to leave their homes to seek refuge as the
flow of water and mud swept through their houses. Fortunately there
were no deaths in St. Kitts, but according to an account of the disaster
in The Union Messenger: Nevis reports four persons killed, three by
falling housing and one by drowning, eleven injured, ten of whom are in
hospital and 315 dwelling houses destroyed. Police stations, churches
10

and school houses are being used for refugees. The Messenger further
reported: The sloop Edith Amy of Anguilla sank after drifting to sea
with the loss of five of its crew of eight. Nothing has been heard of the
Good Hope by the Anguilla mail which has just arrived in port and the
Cedar Branch, also belonging to Anguilla, is reported lost four men,
the captain alone who was ashore, being saved.
Loss in 1928 Hurricane
Four years later our islands were overtaken by another visitation. On
the 12 th and 13 th September 1928 a devastating hurricane struck in
which ten persons in St. Kitts and 14 in Nevis were killed. In Basseterre,
particularly in New Town, McKnight and Irish Town there was
considerable damage to small houses, some by falling trees. Pond Pasture
was virtually a lake with an average depth of about five feet, the
sea having been driven in from the south east end.
At St. Peter's Parish villagers took refuge in the school room.
The walls caved in. Six were killed outright and four were injured. In
all other villages destruction of workers' houses, livestock and estate
huts was heavy. Scores of people were homeless. At Mansion village a
father, Romeo Bass was removing his two children to a place of safety
when one of them, a three year old, was blown away by the heavy
winds. The youngster was found, almost unconscious in an adjoining
cane field, by a search party that went out the following morning.
Much of the housing in Saddlers was in the form of trash houses, most
of which was blown down. St. Paul's village was badly hit by the wind
and falling trees. Fig Tree suffered severely and the pier at Pump Bay
was destroyed. One death occurred from the collapse of a house at
Palmetto Point, and another from the wreck of the schoolroom, while a
child who had been injured during the storm subsequently died.
The Union Messenger of 19 th September 1928 reported:
Throughout the villages and on some of the estates, the loss of small
stock has been very great. Several cows, horses, donkeys, pigs and
even poultry perished as a result of undue exposure. These losses
largely represent the saving of the labouring people and will have considerable
effect on their ability to recuperate and on our milk and meat
supplies.
11

Comparing the effects of losses by workers with the effect on
other classes, The Messenger continued, The burden of the damage and
loss has fallen heavily on the labouring population. In many instances
they have lost their huts, which to them mean as much as, or maybe
more than, the larger properties to the better off people.
The suffering in Nevis was also heavy both in lives and property.
A man named Dasant at Cox Village went out to bar his house, but
was found dead in a nearby cane field. The pier at Charlestown disappeared.
According to reports, the storm took a heavier toll in the larger
two islands than in Anguilla
Owning House Plots
The lesson of the two hurricanes stood out clear as crystal. The workers
got the worst. And it would be so every time afterwards unless the
housing problem was tackled at the root. The Union Messenger continued
its drive in that direction. It said on the 26 th September 1928,
Very closely associated with the housing problem is the question of land
ownership. The ownership of the house lot has so great an influence on
the type of house built, that a careful observer is able to find out the
instances in which the house was built on land which belongs to another.
A more general statement will make clearer the truth we seek to
establish.
The owner of the house lot in building his house, invariably
builds on a concrete foundation, whereas the tenant to the land builds
on the less substantial wood or "nog" foundation. And the reason for
this is not very far to see: he is merely a tenant on land which may be
required at very short notice and hence he naturally saves himself
trouble and expense by building on the cheaper foundation: at the
same time avoiding legal complications which may arise in breaking
down and removing the more substantial concrete or stone foundation.
The Messenger went on to lay more stress on the point: If a
careful survey is made of the houses blown down by the recent hurricane
it will be found that the great majority of them were built on the
unreliable "nog" foundation. Consequently the present crisis in the
12

housing condition arising from the number of "houses" destroyed by
storm is clearly a condition closely related to the ownership of land.
From postcard by A. Moure Losada
.
Emphasizing the need to encourage the building of a better type
of house The Messenger expressed the view that the. Adminis-trator T.
R. St. Johnston should take the lead, using Government land at La Guerite
estate which was then used for growing cotton. The paper said: We
think it therefore opportune that we point this out as an avenue along
which His Honour can do a splendid work to lay the foundations by
which those who are ambitious may help themselves to better living
conditions and by which generations unborn will bless the name St.
Johnston. The Messenger felt sure that this would go a long, long way
to help make a responsible, independent, more reliable, and selfrespecting
labouring class.
13

The persistence of the newspaper was not fruitless. The creation
of St. Johnston Village and the building of several dozen concrete
model cottages in the adjoining Haynes Smith and Russell Villages
stand today in evidence of the good results. These cottages, together
with others built at Sandy Point, were given out on hire-purchase terms.
Building laws to regulate the size of house lots and the type of buildings
that could be built on them were passed in 1943. Soon there were to be
seen everywhere the bright signs of success in the battle for better housing.
Model house at St. Johnston Village (c.1928)
14

3 PREPARING THE GROUND
The thought is father of the act. There could be no better example
of this than in the drive that was buttressed by a man who
wanted his fellow men to take the initiative and shape their destiny.
In order to do this, he realized that they had to have power
at their command. Knowledge is power and a vast amount of
knowledge lies within the covers of books as well as on other
printed papers. It was this source of power that he wanted his
people to tap. This patriot always felt that he had an important mission
in life. He began his career in 1896 at the age of 16 years as a store
boy in Charlestown where he was employed at the Nevis Branch of the
mercantile firm of S.L. Horsfords. In October 1900 after the business of
the branch was acquired by R.B. Parmenter, the young man was sent to
the Dieppe Bay branch of the firm as a clerical assistant. A year later
he was promoted to the position of clerk-in-charge.
The spirit of adventure lured him to the Dominican Republic in
1904. He returned to his native island, Nevis in 1911 and eventually
started a small business selling cards and stationery. Two years later,
he moved his business to St. Kitts. His place, at the south west corner
of Fort and Central Street., became an attraction The sale of war pictures
and reading material about the fighting when the First World War
(1914-18) was raging drew crowds to his depot. Part of the profit from
such sales was contributed regularly to the local unit of the War Effort.
In 1920 Halbert was employed as clerk for shipping agents at
the Government Warehouse in Basseterre. But it was his business as a
book seller that created an impact. He covered the two islands completely
encouraging people to cultivate the reading habit and fill their
store house of knowledge in an inexpensive way. By reading widely he
had become aware of the historical struggles which the workers of other
countries had to put up against capitalist domination. He found that
they had to unite and depend on their own collective strength. He was
15

convinced that his fellow workers here would have to do the same.
Books, pamphlets and leaflets spreading the doctrine of British socialism
were placed in the hands and in the homes of working men. Soon
the story of the sorrows and successes of the British working
Charles Halbert who later came to be revered as the
“Father of Labour”
class was slowly but securely permeating our islands. Thus another
source of strength was added to the workers’ fight. It may well be said
that Sebastian played his part through the power of the pen; Halbert
through the benefit of books.
16

That impressive English story told of the hardships suffered by
the British working class during earlier periods and the misery they endured.
It told of deplorable conditions under which women and young
children in particular had to work, of the great political disabilities of
the day, of how workers developed the socialist idea as the remedy for
the national evils that had befallen their country. Of this idea, John Parker,
the English author of Labour Marches On said, Put shortly, Socialism
means the ownership or control of the main resources of the
community. This carries with it some form of democratic Government,
of equal opportunity and of certain essential equal rights and duties for
all citizens, irrespective of sex, race or creed. In other words, Socialists
believe that political equality alone is not enough but needs supplementing
by a large measure of economic equality if a happy community
is to be created.
Throwing more light on the subject, the author continued, Socialist
ideas have been put forward at various periods throughout British
history from the time of John Bull during the Peasants’ Revolt
(1381) to that of the Levellers at the time of the Puritan Revolution
(1617). The father of modern British Socialism however, was Robert
Owen (1771-1856), the successful cotton manufacturer whose fertile
brain so widely influenced factory welfare, and the education and care
of children and community planning. Few men did more to stimulate
the growth of the trade union movement and spread the ideas which
made possible the founding of the co-operative movement It was in
England, the author added, that the German refugee, Karl Marx, wrote
his major works, basing his political theories upon the economic conditions
that existed there at the time.
The socialist idea was not really put on the map in England until
the foundation of the Fabian Society in 1884. The author pointed out
an important point, Shaw and the Webbs, the Fabian leaders, however
always realized at the back of their minds that really fundamental
changes could not be made save through a party which wholeheartedly
accepted socialist ideas.
17

Trade Unionism
The early trade unionists in England had their share of trouble. In the
eighteenth century, the workers formed combinations or trade clubs.
Sometimes the members met to enjoy a social evening, to make payments
into a sickness or burial fund, to seek to keep up and improve the
level of their wages and to enforce existing trade customs. However the
authorities and the employers regarded these clubs as dangerous. A
publication of the British Central Office of Information said, The reaction
of authority was to turn the law against these infant bodies. By
1800 nearly forty separate measures prohibited individual combinations,
and in that year, through a Combination Act, the ban became
general. The aim of this Act was to ensure the freedom of employers to
regulate wages and working conditions without and reference to their
employees. Workpeople who joined combinations could be prosecuted
and savagely punished as many were.
Other set-backs cropped up. Robert Owen made a scheme to
organize a large national union, but the plan failed because of lack of
experience. Within a year Owen’s union had crashed in ruins and the
authorities, still bitterly hostile to the idea of trade unionism, stepped in
to try to wipe out the remnants of the combination. In this drive their
most famous victims were the Tolpuddle Martyrs, six farm labourers
from the West Country of Dorset, who were transported to Australia as
a punishment for taking an oath on joining a trade union.
However a ray of light broke through after a dark period. For
more than a decade after 1834, trade unions went into decline though a
few combinations kept going and with the development of better communications
by rail and road, they began to link together to concentrate
their bargaining strength.
Co-operatives
The history of the Co-operative Movement in Britain also showed how
the ordinary people got together to work out their economic salvation.
Over a century ago, 28 Englishmen, chiefly cotton weavers by trade
started without any money to establish a co-operative shop. Edward
Topham and J.A. Hough co-authors of the book The Cooperative
Movement in Britain, stated that they Collected a few pence weekly until
18

they had accumulated £28 with which capital they rented for £10 per
year a tiny shop in a slum quarter of Rochdale known as Toad Lane.
With a store of goods consisting of 50 lbs butter, 56 lbs sugar, 6 cwt
flour, 1 cwt oatmeal and two dozen candles, the shop opened just before
Christmas 1844 with one of their number as salesman on two evenings
per week. Slowly, year by year, they added to their membership and
stock until by 1851, the store was opened all day with a full-time shopman.
They accumulated capital.
There had been other co-operative societies before the Rochdale
venture. Some collapsed. Other pioneers drew useful lessons from
such failures. A. V. Alexander, a former British Minsiter of Defence,
wrote: Originally only a few essential items of groceries and provisions
were sold by co-operative societies but now the movement is concerned
with all the needs of the consumer from the cradle to the grave. It is
concerned with the production, importation, manufacture and distribution
of food and other essential items and the importance of the part it
plays in the economic organization of Great Britain is immense. Moreover
the co-operative movement is responsible for one of the largest
banks in the United Kingdom and also controls a very important insurance
organisation
Indeed knowledge is power. The distribution of British Socialist
literature in St. Kitts fertilized the field for the creation and growth of
the Workers’ Organization which was soon to be established..
W. R. Davis
Another ardent advocate of the cause of the ordinary people also embarked
on a campaign to gather recruits. He was W. R. “Robin” Davis,
an electrician who had spent several years in New York. On his return
to St. Kitts he lost no opportunity for urging the masses to organise. He
spoke to people of all classes. The ordinary people where quick to respond
but the privileged classes regarded him with disdain and silent
fear. Some of them referred to him as a tireless talker filled with ‘Merican’
ideas. Undismayed, he won for the cause many persons in the
middle income bracket and the sympathy of prominent persons who
19

subscribed to the principle of the Brotherhood of Man. This included
Thomas Manchester.
At the time the contrast between the immediate aims of the
workers and the determination of those who controlled the wealth of the
country to preserve their position became more striking. The people
who held economic power were already organised. Thus the St. Kitts
Agricultural and Commercial Society was poised for any necessary action.
Under the Society’s banner planters, merchants and professional
men pooled their efforts, their ideas and their moral strength to fight
against the move for sweeping reform.
Colonialism and Depression
The Crown Colony system of Government was another oppressive element.
The country was ruled by an English Governor and a Legislature
consisting of persons all chosen by himself. Those selected were usually
planters, merchants and officials at the head of Government Departments.
The colonial system faced its greatest challenges when the serious
financial depression struck the entire world like a thunder bolt in
the year 1931. Britain was forced to abandon the gold standard - a
course she had found necessary to take again 36 years later. A cable
report from London on 21 st September 1931 said: Parliament today
approved the suspension of the gold standard and the royal assent was
given by commission to the Enabling Bill. It was a case of high speed in
the emergency, the legislation passing all stages of both the House of
Commons and House of Lords in a single day. In the Commons both
the Government and the Opposition front benchers were at one on the
needs for the united action.
Britain was also feeling the strain of giving financial aid to her
Caribbean colonies so she thought of linking our three islands with others
in the region. In a speech to the Federal Legislative Council of the
Leeward Islands on 28 th April 1931, Governor T.R. St. Johnson said:
The necessity for the grants-in-aid, unfortunately coming at a time when
the mother country was also severely feeling the general depression,
caused suggestions to be made by certain members of the House of
20

Commons that since the colony of the Leeward Islands appeared not to
be able to pay its way, it was time to consider the question of absorption,
together with the Windward Islands, into a combination governed
from Trinidad.
The announcement from Britain triggered off a feeling of strong
resentment in the Eastern Caribbean, Here were colonies without any
voice in their own affairs. Here were people who had to produce public
revenue, but could not say how the money must be spent. Here were
heavier burdens to be borne because of the serious world depression,
while the man in the street was left to conclude that he had but to “do or
die”. The Colonial Office was serious. A Commission under the chairmanship
of Sir Charles Ferguson was sent out from London in 1932 in
connection with the linking up of the colonies.
21

4 THE WORKERS’ LEAGUE
Before the Closer Union Commission, Sir Sidney Armitage-Smith was
sent to the West Indies. Britain was financially hard-pressed; so in
April 1931, this financial expert was sent out from London to investigate
the finances of the Leeward Islands and St. Lucia. The West India
Committee Circular stated: He will also closely examine the possibility
of improving the financial position of the colonies in question, and of
there- by reducing the calls which are now being made by them on imperial
funds, mainly as a result of the depression in the sugar industry.
Sir Sidney submitted his report six months later, at the end of October
1931. His main recommendation was to increase income tax. The Leeward
Islands sent up a howl of protest.
By November 27 th , the St. Kitts-Nevis Taxpayers Association
which had been moribund for some time, was brought back to active
life. The Association had been formed in 1922 on the introduction of
income tax legislation. It claimed credit for some useful work in its day
and its views on various pieces of legislation were put before the authorities.
In actual practice the Association was not principally a medium
for the airing of the political, social and economic disabilities under
which the bulk of underprivileged people existed. Its membership did
not include the common man. The need for an agency to work for reform
was obvious; but that need could not be supplied by friendly societies
or other organisations of that time.
Representation
The secretary of the St. Kitts-Nevis Universal Benevolent Association,
Joseph Nathan wrote to the Governor of the Leeward Islands in 1931
making a suggestion that a Labour member be appointed “ to represent
the labouring classes on the Legislative Council.” The reply took the
usual official slant. The matter was referred to the Administrator for his
observations. The life of the Council ended on 9 th May, 1932 when in
accordance with the recommendations of the Wood Commission of
22

1922, some of the members of Legislative Council retired. On the unofficial
side those retiring were one professional man and two planters. A
new Council was constituted five days later but nobody to represent
labourers was appointed on it. The suggestion of the Universal Benevolent
Association went by the board.
In January 1932 the start of reaping the sugar cane crop was
held up for a day or two in some districts on account of dissatisfaction
on the part of the workers. It was stated that the estates were offering
8d. per ton for cutting. The workers were not inclined to accept it but
after the short hold-up they ultimately had to be content with that rate.
Commenting on the incident, The Union Messenger of 9 th February
1932 said: In the first place, the labourers did not really know whether
the price offered them, 8d. per ton, is a good rate in keeping with the
price paid for the canes. The paper further pointed, No scattered group
of labourers without the aid of organisation leaders, can take up and
discuss advantageously with employers the delicate and intricate question
of wages.
The proposed combination of the Caribbean Colonies would
necessarily be of major concern to the working population but there was
no established forum from which they could speak for themselves. On
30 th April, 1931, the Leeward Islands Federal Legislative Council
passed a resolution supporting the suggested union of Trinidad and Tobago
with the Windwards and Leeward Islands As a first step towards
the economic and political federation of the British West Indies and
British Guiana, but the resolution emphasised that The unofficial members
are opposed to any union which will result in any of the Islands of
the Leeward Island Colony becoming dependencies of the colony of
Trinidad and Tobago or any other colony.
The great need of the day might therefore be summed up as a
need for some effective, earnest and lasting agency for the promotion of
the interest of the country as a whole and the working class in particular.
No sooner was the St. Kitts Workers League formed, than it
threw itself into the battle for political liberation. It was the only thing
23

that could cope with the situation. The Ferguson Commission was on its
way from London to investigate the possibility of linking up the Leeward
and Windward Islands with Trinidad. Throughout the Eastern
Caribbean the alarm had been sounded that the Commission would be
concerned only with the amalgamation of the islands and not with any
question of the people having a voice in their own affairs.
Dominica took the lead. She was then part of the Leeward Islands
and was the only island in the Leewards which had the right to
elect a limited number of representatives to her Legislative Council.
Other islands possessing this right were Grenada, St. Lucia, and St.
Vincent. This measure of Representative Government had been granted
to them on the recommendation of the Wood Commission of 1921-22,
but no such recommendation had been made for St. Kitts, Nevis and
Anguilla, where the request for a representative form of government
met with strong opposition. The antagonism was recorded in The Union
Messenger which stated: When, in 1922, the Wood Commission on
giving people of separate colonies a moiety of representation, visited
this presidency, there was an obstructionist element through whose influence
even that much was denied the people of St. Kitts -Nevis .... The
people of this presidency have been left in the political backyard of the
West Indies...
Action speaks louder than words. Dominica used both. She had
been warming up for some time. In June 1932 two nominated unofficial
members of the Dominica Legislative Council resigned their seats.
They forwarded their reason in a memorial to the Secretary of State for
the Colonies. The document stated that their advice tendered was repeatedly
ignored On the grounds of that the recommendations of Sir
Sidney Armitage-Smith must be implemented, notwithstanding any representations
to the contrary submitted by the Unofficial Members of the
Council. The following month four elected members also resigned.
The Dominica Tribune said: The whole community stands foursquared
behind the Electives in this matter... The elections which will
follow the resignation of the dissenting Electives must be completely
boycotted....We appeal to our sister islands in their own interest to join
us in the fight for political liberty.
24

On 30 th August 1932 the Dominica Taxpayers Reform Association
sent a clarion call throughout the islands down to what was then
British Guiana. By press, letters and cable, Caribbean leaders were
summoned to Dominica for a West Indies conference at which they
would form a united front to meet the Closer Union Commission. The
Barbados Herald said: However and whatever happens, the people of
Barbados, we feel sure, will rally round the islands in their struggles.
St. Vincent’s Investigator showed great enthusiasm. The Voice
of St. Lucia expressed pleasure at the steps taken and added: But it appears
that the issue of Dominion Status, or even the lesser one of more
power to the representatives of the people, will not form part of the
Commission’s investigation. Therefore boycott of the Commission is
certain from such advanced leaders of West Indian thought as Captain
Arthur Cipriani of Trinidad and Mr. Marryshow of Grenada... Now is
the time for action. There must be no hesitation or we shall be lost.
The Commission was scheduled to reach the Leeward Islands in
December, the Windward Islands in January and Trinidad in February.
The leaders moved swiftly. The St. Kitts Workers League was in the
vanguard. Plans had to be made for contact with the Commission. A
single line of thought and action with singleness of purpose had to be
followed throughout the islands.
Attendance at the Conference
A question mark stood ominously over St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla
when the date for the West Indies Conference was fixed. Who would
represent this territory in Dominica? Those who opposed social and
political reform felt strongly that nobody should go. Urging positive
action, The Union Messenger of the 8 th September 1932 said: The opportunity
is hereby presented to St. Kitts-Nevis to join hands with the
rest of the West Indies at this important conference. The unofficial
members of the Legislative Council should look to their responsibility to
the people. They should convene a meeting, form a definite programme,
and select one or two of their number to represent their views at the
conference.
25

The official side was lukewarm. Administrator D.R. Stewart
who had presided over a meeting of the Legislative Council on the 4 th
September made no reference to the Closer Union Commission which
was to arrive here in December. In replying to the President’s speech,
an unofficial member drew attention to the omission. The Administrator
answered that he was not in a position to give any information on
the subject, as he had no official information about it.
The opposing element resorted to the tactics which had been
used on the occasion of the Wood Commission ten years earlier, and
which had resulted in the denial of Representative Government to St.
Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla. An appeal was made in The Union Messenger
for the setting aside of class differences And if we consider rightly,
this difficulty has dominated our public life to its detriment and has
been the principal stock-in-trade upon which the divide-and-rule policy
has flourished. The existence of this difficulty has cursed the Presidency
for generations.… It seems necessary that we address this inquiry to
the people - is this folly to prevent the Presidency from being represented
at the Dominica conference and from having a representative delegation
to present the St.Kitts -Nevis case to the commission?
Greetings from Grenada
The first visit of Mr. T. Albert Marryshow to St. Kitts drew a gigantic
crowd to The Apollo on the evening of 9 th September, 1932. He was
on his way to the Colonial Office, in London and was also to attend a
labour conference in Germany. Mr. Marryshow was editor of The
West Indian of the Grenada Working Men’s Association and an elected
member of the Grenada Legislative Council. He was invited to give
an address here by the St. Kitts Workers’ League which had been
formed at the beginning of that year. After expressing his pleasure for
the opportunity to speak, he said: Now in a sense, I am not a stranger
to Saint Kitts. Some years ago, I visited British Guiana, and just as I
was about to go there, an editor, an Englishman, by the name of
Mr........ he wrote a series of editorials, suggesting to the Government
that I should not be permitted to land. He thought, rightly or wrongly,
that my presence would agitate the people. Unfortunately, however,
wise counsel prevailed, and I landed in grand style. “British Guiana,”
I said, “was my home. I look upon the whole West Indies as my
26

country and I regard British Guiana as the British Guiana division of
my home.” Men like Mr. Manchester, Mr. Malone and Mr. Sebastian, I
regard spiritually as being brothers in this common work. It was John
Wesley who said, “the world is my parish’ and I say the West Indies is
my country.
Mr. Marryshow then told of the structure and strength of the
Grenada Workingmen’s Association whose motto was One for all,
and all for one. He gave vivid examples of benefits gained by the people
of Grenada by being organised. He continued with a word about his
trip, We are passing through in our way to England via New York to
claim for the people of Grenada and the West Indies what is their right.
We shall go in a very bold way and strike for our liberties of the people
of these Islands who should have a voice in their own Government.
Now then, that is the mission on which we are going, and I hope that, as
a result of my visit, and that of Mr. Edwards there will come an incentive
to join hands with the association, a feeling of political consciousness,
the true spirit of brotherhood, over this fair Island. We know very
well that we cannot succeed unless we show one united front. You know
the old saying “No chain is stronger than its weakest link.”
Our heritage
I want you all, the sons and daughters of the slaves who bore the lash, I
want you to realise that these Islands are ours. You who are working,
bend your energies to build up the West Indies, the West Indies belongs
to you... It is not too late to save yourselves. It is up to you to think politically
and to better conditions for prosperity that shall come after
you. We are indeed the trustees of prosperity; we must hand down these
Islands freer and dearer, more beautiful and more secure to those
who will come after us... Any time I pass a school house, or I see a
child playing in the street, I say to myself ‘There is a future Member of
the Council, or there goes our future Treasurer. You do not know. There
is the plastic material, all they want is a chance to develop... Sometimes
I am very hard on the Anglo- Saxon, but I am not so blind as not
to see his virtues. We imitate their vices and ignore their virtues.
These Islands built up Great Britain; there was a time when the
greatest business of England centered in these Islands. The wealth of
27

the Indies is famed in song and story. Time there was when little Saint
Lucia was considered of greater value than Canada, and there was
great questioning at the end of one of the wars, when a treaty was to be
signed, whether Saint Lucia should be ceded or not. Great Britain owes
a great debt to the people of these Islands, and I think that this new imperialism
is a very serious consideration.
I charge you people of Saint Kitts, all of you within sound of my
voice, all of you who have the intelligence to understand what I say,
believe me that we are entering into a very serious epoch of West Indian
history, an epoch when only team-work and togetherness of purpose
will save us, because it is letters of fire: “We must unite or perish!”
Those of you here tonight are hearing my voice for the first
time, and it may be I tell you, for the last time: and I speak of a dying
man. The day of pettiness is past. I feel that we have to unite as one
people, sound one common authentic note for progress ... Then we must
organise - Booker T. Washington once said – “We have to hang together
or we will hang separately.” A conference is going to be held at
Roseau. Dominica (October 28 th ) and the Dominicans have sent out a
call to the representatives of all the West Indian Islands to meet there. I
know what it will mean, within the short time, for you to send a representative,
but I tell you this, and I make this appeal very conscientiously,
do what you can; it will help you, and it will help us all. Our only
hope lies in working together, and so I have dedicated myself to this
work, to try and draw us together, so that we can all feel the common
heartbeat.
Are you striving to develop your gifts? We need the gift of organisation,
gift of leadership, and what is just as important, the gift of
followship, not fellowship - followship because we want good followers.
You young men of St . Kitts are you PREPARING yourselves for
this great work? I know it is not a thankful work - but you will have the
satisfaction of knowing that you will be helping to leave the world better
than you found it, and you will have worked your way into the consciousness
of your people.
28

Mr. Marryshow then raised his tone to rally the people of this
country against the detested Crown Colony System of Government - in
this stirring speech, another gem of Caribbean classics. He concluded, I
want you to resolve questions like these in your minds. What am I doing
to make St. Kitts and the West Indies a safer place for the children of
the future?... Those of us who are carrying the heavy load are almost
crushed by his weight. Bestir yourselves. If you have debating society,
get your young friends to join them and to take part. Ask yourselves:
What am I doing to make Saint Kitts and the West Indies safe for posterity?
And in degrees as you think of these things the will to do will
come, and Almighty God will inject into your minds a wholesome discontent
with the present state of things, and you will become the true
missionaries of the future, determined to do great work for those who
are to come.
Representation
The St. Kitts Workers League invited the inhabitants of the territory a
public meeting at the Apollo Theatre on October 5 th to discuss the issue.
The theatre was packed and crowds were standing outside as well. A
newspaper report said: All classes of the population were fully represented,
including members of the civil service, and the agricultural,
mercantile, business, professional and labouring interest.
Among those present were four out of five of the Kittitian unofficial
members of the Legislative Council. The unofficial members of the
Executive Council were also represented. On the platform were persons
of varying shades of opinion who spoke freely on the two resolutions
that were before the meeting.
The first resolution read: Be it resolved that this meeting is not
in favour of the proposed Federation of the Leeward and Windward
Islands Colonies and the Colony of Trinidad and Tobago under the present
system of Crown Colony Government; And be it further resolved
that unless and until some from of Representative Government is
granted to the people of this Presidency, any proposal to federate these
Islands be opposed. Officials of the Workers League and well wishers
spoke in support. They saw that this would have been a mandate given
by the people. A spokesman of the wealthy class opposed the resolu-
29

tion. He said that Representative Government would not ensure the
best interest of all classes of the inhabitants. The resolution was put to
the vote and carried by an overwhelming majority. Only three persons
voted against it.
Another resolution was placed before the meeting. Its terms
were concise and conclusive: Be it resolved that a delegate or delegates
be sent from this Presidency to attend the Conference to be held
at Roseau, Dominica, on or about 28 th October, 1932, and that the St.
Kitts Workers League be and it is hereby authorised to appoint a suitable
person or persons as delegates to this Conference, and to make all
necessary arrangements. This was carried by a larger majority, for only
one person voted against it. The delegates appointed were Thomas
Manchester, President of the Workers League, and W.A.H. Seaton, its
Secretary.
30

Delegates to the West India Conference Held in Dominica in 1932
Left to Right - Back: J.S Sainsbury (Barbados), H. D. Shillingford (Dominica), R.M. Anderson (St. Vincent), Capt. G. F.
Ashpitel (Dominica), E. Duncan (St. Vincent), H. Wilson (Antigua), J. B. Charles (Dominica), T. Manchester (St.
Kitts), R. H. Lochart(Dominica), W. Wyllis J. R. R. Casimir (Secretaries) Front: Miss Josephine Roberts (Stenographer),
Hon. C. L. Elder (Barbados),C. E. A. Rawle, Chairman (Dominica), Hon. J. Fleming (Grenada), Capt,
Hon. A. A. Cipriani, G. S. E. Gordon (St. Lucia),W. A. Seaton (St. Kitts), S. Osborne (Montserrat).
31

5 FIRST WEST INDIAN
CONFERENCE
People throughout the British Caribbean turned their attention towards a
single island when the Dominica Conference was called in 1932. In the
west, the Jamaican Critic affirmed that the Leewards and Windwards
were over ripe for political reform: They have suffered so long that the
disease has now become quite chronic and will require powerful and
prompt remedy if the fever of discontent prompted by the incessant irritation
of malady is to be allayed. When small colonies such as these and
celebrated for their loyalty, are driven to such a pitch as to be in the
open defiance of the Government, the time has come to act.
Jamaica’s Daily Gleaner added: United action is desirable in
this phase of West Indian political life. Looking in the distance, the
Critic also pointed out: Jamaica and British Guiana stand to gain in
this respect, that the granting of advanced systems of Governments to
the smaller islands must necessarily lead to greater political privileges
in the larger colonies.
The means of communications among the islands was then
mainly by surface ships. The Lady Boats operated by the Canadian National
Steamship Service were popular. The journey to Dominica was
pleasant but long-drawn-out. A redeeming feature, however was facilities
by C.N.S. boats with an eye, even at that time, to capture part of the
tourist traffic. Nevis was then a port of call. As the boats touched at
island after island, the scenery of beautiful cloud-capped mountains
ringed by colourful tropical foliage doubtless gave additional inspiration
to the great men going to perform a great task.
The West Indian Conference opened on 28 th October 1932. At
the time T. Albert Marryshow, President of the Grenada Workingmen’s
Association and the elected member of the Grenada Legislative Council,
was in England where he was leading a delegation to the Secretary
of State for the Colonies seeking the abolition of the Crown Colony
System of Government in Grenada.
32

The conference opened its proceedings at the Union Club,
Roseau, Dominica. C. E. A. Rawle was elected chairman. On that Friday
the West Indies saw its first array of statesmen from its own soil,
determined to put their homeland on the map as a nation for all time. In
the evening the first public meeting was held at the St. Gerald’s Hall,
which was filled to capacity. People flocked into the building to see
and hear the stalwarts who spearheaded the fight for self-determination.
The meeting was opened with a prayer by one of the delegates. Proposing
a resolution of loyalty, chairman Rawle said: It is fitting that as the
first official act of the Conference we give a manifestation of our loyalty
and devotion to the Crown, I shall therefore put a resolution to this
meeting and ask you to adopt it unanimously, by all standing. The resolution
was adopted.
Caribbean Classics
It is not out of order to claim that great thoughts of great West Indians
should have a proper place among the world’s wealth of fine literature.
Lofty ideas and strong feelings alike command the vehicle of forceful
language. Such expressions of a dynamic personality should in every
case be treasured and preserved to provide inspiration for the generations
of the future.
The evidence of patriotic fervour was abundant in the speeches
made at the first West Indian Conference in 1932. The first address was
delivered by the chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, today Friday, October
28 th , marks the opening of a new chapter of West Indian history - a
chapter which we all fervently hope will record the emancipation of the
West Indian peoples from their political and economic serfdom. We are
fortunate indeed to be present at the opening of this epoch-making conference.
It is one that will lay the foundation stones of West Indian nationality.
It is one that we and our children will look back to, we hope,
with the pride that comes from solid achievement.
For myself I deem it a double honour to have the privilege of
welcoming to Dominica on behalf of the people, the delegates who have
gathered here tonight from all parts of the Eastern Caribbean. They
have come to this conference to assist in a common cause with a com-
33

mon purpose namely, to make an end, once and for all, of the anachronism
of Crown Colony Rule, and to build upon sure and certain foundations
a new West Indian Nationhood. Their presence is evidence of
what I may term a new West India Solidarity.. It is evidence that the old
prejudices of insularity are dying, prejudice that have kept us West Indians
a people of common interest, of common stock, upbringing, tradition
and ideas apart to our mutual detriment. The cancer of insular
prejudice is disappearing before the awakening realisation of the common
benefits of combination.
Rawle then referred specifically to the delegates of the respective
colonies. You will have noticed that I have left one name for the
last, that of Capt. Cipriani. It is said on high authority that a prophet is
not without honour save in his own country. May I say to and of Capt.
Cipriani that if he regards his own country as not being merely Trinidad
but the West Indies, then there is no honour too great for him in his
own country. That is the view of every patriotic West Indian. My reason
for saying this and the reason for his popularity out of Trinidad - a
popularity of which he may be unconscious - is that we feel that he has
given his life to the cause of the West Indian Nationalism and to the
work of uplifting the lower classes in the West Indies.
He continued: To the delegates one and all we offer a sincere
welcome as to brothers. They are our kinsmen, they are our fellow West
Indians, and although they will speak tonight to a Dominican audience,
I am sure that they will realise that the audience looks on them not as
Trinidadian, Barbadians or Grenadians, etc. but merely as West Indians,
and we wish them to feel that in Dominica they are in a part of
their own homeland.
Crown Colony Challenged
Rawle then moved on to the main issue: Gentlemen, it may be
asked why has it been left to a small island like Dominica to take the
initiative in an issue of this magnitude? Dominica has suffered most
from the excessive and extravagance of Crown Colony rule. It is impossible
for some of the delegates to conceive what the Crown Colony system
is capable of in a small community where public opinion and public
34

protests can be ignored with impunity... The system has, on the whole,
been characterised by fraud, arrogance, injustice, recklessness in the
expenditure and indifference to the general welfare of the people...
The legislative machinery of Crown Colony rule - legislation by officials
voting to order, aided and abetted by ostensible representation of the
taxpayers selected and nominated by the Government - is itself a deception.
Rawle then presented abundant evidence to support his attack
point by point. With sustained vehemence he proceeded to establish the
proof. He declared, I accused the Crown Colony system of Government
of injustice because it withholds equality of opportunity to its subjects
in every section of the West Indies... Witness the hovels and
squalid conditions in which the labouring classes live. The want of any
serious efforts to ameliorate such conditions is the measure of the interest
shown in the welfare of the West Indian peoples by Crown Colony
Government. It is our duty to bring that system of Government to an
end.
I cannot presume to anticipate any decisions of the conference,
but I say that if this conference does not make it clear to all the world
that the West Indian declines any longer to be political untouchables of
the empire, it will have failed.
The Dominican concluded: We are going to seek to remedy the
grievances we complain of not by the method of the assassin, not by
arson nor by other acts of violence of any kind, but by constitutional
methods, relying on the righteousness of our cause, and if the people of
the West Indies are united and determined, if they do not get frightened
at the mere term ‘self Government’ and they should not be too timid in
this respect seeing that little Malta and Newfoundland enjoy self-
Government, and that we cannot by accident or design make a greater
mess of things than the Crown Colony system has done, if we stand together
and march forward boldly demanding our rights as British citizens,
refusing to be regarded any longer as political out-casts, our
cause must conquer in the end, and the full status of British citizenship
with all its privileges and obligations, cannot be denied us
35

Decisions of the Conference
The burning question that the Conference had to deal with the Closer
Union Commission which was to arrive in the Caribbean in December.
The Commission’s purpose was to find out how Britain could be relieved
of some of the financial burdens which she was bearing in the
course of aiding the colonies through grants. Increased taxation in the
islands had already been recommended in the Armitage-Smith report.
However the issue which had kindled the fire that burned
fiercely in the breast of the patriots at Dominica was their mission to
improve conditions for the bulk of the West Indian population. Taking
the bull by its horns, the five day conference of 1932 came swiftly to its
major decision. The text of the resolution was dispatched by cable to the
Secretary of the State for the Colonies in London, Sir Phillip Cunliffe-
Lister. It read, This West Indian conference learns with regret that the
terms of reference to the Closer Union Commission appointed by you
do not include self-government and strongly urges that the said terms of
reference be widened so as to include self-government.
At that time T.A. Marryshow and G.E Edwards, a delegation
from Grenada, were in England seeking improvement of the system of
Government in that colony. They sent a telegram to Dominica wishing
the conference success and stating that they had arranged for an interview
with the Secretary of State on 4 th November. The conference sent
back and authorised the Grenada delegation to urge on the Colonial Office
the pressing need for constitutional advance towards selfgovernment
in the West Indies.
An official note of the proceedings at the interview with the
Grenada delegation was recorded in London. It read: The Secretary of
State regretted that they had approached him personally on the eve of
the departure of the Closer Union Commission whose mission it was to
investigate the question of federation and the whole machinery of Government.
Mr. Edwards explained that they did not expect a decision at
the present time, but that they would like the terms of reference of the
36

Closer Union Commission widened to include the consideration of the
question of unofficial control of purely local matters. The Secretary of
State declined to alter the terms of reference of the Commission. He
pointed out that if the Commissioners decided to recommend some form
of closer union it was also within their power to make recommendations
as to what form the Government should take...
Positive Actions
There was no assurance that the Commission would take into account
the explosive question of constitutional reform. After serious deliberation
the West Indian Conference decided. It was agreed that provided
that the terms of reference of the Closer Union Commission were extended
so as to include a constitutional advance towards selfgovernment,
a delegation, representative of the Conference, should
meet the Commission at each Island to urge that the recommendations
of the Conference be implemented; but that unless the terms of reference
be widened to include this subject no Conference delegation
should meet the Commission.
There were also other major decisions relating to the formation
of a regional political organisation, a plan for federating all the Islands -
26 years before this actually came into being - and the annual observance
of a national day in the West Indies.
37

6 CAPTAIN CIPRIANI IN
ST. KITTS
How many of us are familiar with the life and work of the illustrious
labour leader and West Indian statesman Captain Arthur Cipriani?
Many persons here had no idea of his forceful character until he visited
St. Kitts on 6 th November, 1932. However his fame had been spreading
up and down the islands among those who kept abreast of time. So
outstanding has been his contribution to the development of national
life and to the elevation of the bare-footed man in the British Caribbean,
that the Government and people of his native Trinidad are paying neverending
tribute to his memory. A large monument with the image of
Captain Cipriani has been erected in the city of Port of Spain to preserve
the memory of the man and his deeds. A picture of this monument
is displayed on one of the postage stamps of Trinidad and Tobago.
An educational institution The Cipriani Labour College has
been established in Trinidad to perpetuate his name. This provides facilities
to equip the working masses to promote their interest and to help
guide the destiny of their country.
From Dominica
Captain Cipriani landed here with the two delegates of the St. Kitts
Workers League (now the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla Labour Party) on
their return from the West Indian Conference held in Dominica in October,
1932. At the invitation of the League, he addressed a mammoth
crowd at the Apollo on the following evening.
The Captain was a veteran of the First World War (1914-18);
an elected member of the Trinidad Legislative Council; Mayor of Port
of Spain; President of Trinidad Workingmen Association; and at one
time the editor of the Labour Leader, official organ of the Association.
At the conference in Dominica, he was the representative for Trinidad
and Tobago.
38

He said it was a privilege to him to be asked to address the
people of St. Kitts. He went on: to the Workers League of this community,
I wish to extend the fraternal greetings of the bigger sisters across
the ocean in a clasp of co-operation and good fellowship. Captain
Cipriani related the hard task which the Trinidad Workingmen Association
encountered with the British Government in seeking political, social
and economic reform from as far back as the nineteen twenties.
He read passages from official documents which he said had never
reached these colonies and were never likely to reach them. He further
made reference to discussions in London, Brussels, Geneva and elsewhere
to amplify his points. Touching the main issues of the moment,
his voice rang out: Friends and comrades, if the people of the West Indies
would only think it out, and make themselves Judge and Jury
of the situation, I am quite sure that they will come to the reasonable
and intelligent conclusion that we have arrived at, that the time is ripe
for the West Indies to use every means in their power, all the constitutional
force that God and Man have given them to claim their freedom
and their liberty, and to strike a blow now, and to overthrow that bastard
form of rule known as Crown Colony - nothing but a cog in a
wheel of the progress of these people.
What We Want
And right here, friends, I want to say this: The Trinidad Working-men’s
Association - and our membership is seventy thousand - has made it
clear again, that we want no Federation without Self-Government , and
no Self-Government without adult franchise, and if the Colonial Office
is going to send a commission here to discuss Federation , and Federation
alone, we shall give them such a cold shoulder as will freeze the
marrow in their bones...
There are certain words in English language for which I have a
certain amount of horror; while there are others, which I almost worship,
and the word “boycott” is one of these. For I do not think that any
other word in the English language expresses its meaning so well as the
word “boycott”...
39

Whenever one talks of being a SOCIALIST, some people looked
on with curiosity, others with dread, others with fear. And again other
parties confuse the Socialist with the Communist. Now here is the difference.
The Socialist seeks to hold and administer the Government of
his country, constitutionally, and according to the law of the land. The
Communist seeks to hold and control the Government of his country
regardless of to law of the land.
The method of the Socialists is evolution by constitutional
methods: the methods of the Communist are revolution and force. The
fundamentals, therefore, are as far apart as two poles.
Strong Union
The only thing that can help you here is a strong, well-managed Labour
Union. Some of us are unwilling to join a union, for we say to ourselves,
‘I don’t want to associate with the barefooted man.’ Well, the
sooner we realise that we all are workers, whether with our brain, the
better it will be for these Islands.
This doctrine of Organised Labour that I am preaching is not
of my own making; it has been taught me by the British Labour Party.
Mr. MacDonald (British Prime Minister) told me: ‘Organise all the
barefooted men in your Island, but teach them to work constitutionally,
by teaching them that violence never did help anybody, never did convince
anybody, and generally recoils on its own head.’
Now most of these Islands are sugar growing countries. This is
one. But as it stands, you are the biggest partner and drawing the
smallest benefits. As a people, you have little influence; wealth you
have less; but you have what no one can take from you - weight of numbers,
and therefore I want you to organise and co-operate under your
leaders, and form a Labour Union in this Island.”
Before I close let me leave you three words that I left the people
of Dominica:- “AGITATE, EDUCATE, CONFEDERATE.” You have a
perfect right to agitate constitutionally; to educate is another privilege
which is yours; and I want you to get down to the issue and use every
effort at your command to see that your children get the best education
40

possible, an education that must be gained not from text books only.
The subject of federation is one of which you will hear much. Confederate!
The old regime and all that it stands for must go, and a Government
run and controlled by the sons and daughters of these colonies
stand in its place.
Nation Builder
The name Cipriani will never be forgotten in these parts. The Captain
gave inspiration to the people of St Kitts and the West Indies at a time
when the battle against British colonialism was severe and outside support
was slender. He opened a new vista before the under privileged
masses and drew them into the front line of the forward march.
Federation came and went. But the torch lit by the Captain
Cipriani shall continue to shine for the edification of generations to
come. Even the glamour of Trinidad’s climb to independence pales
against the luster of the ideological oneness as the Caribbean people as
a whole. From its pedestal in Port of Spain, the statue of Captain Cipriani
looks pensively across his West Indian motherland as if with the
silent satisfaction of having laid a corner-stone of an aspiring nation .
41

7 COMFORT FOR THE SICK
While the St. Kitts Workers League was engaged in the Caribbean wide
battle for political reform there were lots of other problems which had
to be tackled at the same time.
The health service was crying out for attention from the standpoint
of the under-privileged masses. Distressing reports were recounted
at each general meeting of the League. The services at the hospital
in Basseterre, a public institution, were constantly brought under the
spotlight. Serious illness in any part of the island ought to have received
quick attention. Victims of accidents in particular ought to have found
instant aid. As to people who lived in the country, time and distance
were against them; the smaller the income, the more difficult the situation.
The Workers League was stimulated by its motto: “For the
good that we can do.” It set up committees to check on reports. Later a
delegation was appointed to make representations to the Administrator
and the Governor of the Leeward Islands regarding some aspects of the
medical service and other questions of public concerns. In an open
statement on 22 nd November, 1932, the League’s President, T. Manchester,
made an announcement of the League’s immediate programme.
The following was one of the items: In urging upon Government the
need of a motor ambulance for conveying maternity and emergency
cases from the out laying districts to the hospitals, and placing the organisation
of the League at the disposal of Government (if it is desired)
for assistance in devising ways and means for putting in effect such a
service.
Ambulance
Poor social and economic conditions had been maintained for a very
long time, in this country, and had been carrying the stamp of an accepted
way of life for workers of this country. The Union Messenger
recorded the situation thus: We can feel the agony of an individual, sick
42

and suffering, and in such a condition through circumstances over
which he has little or no control, having to travel five, six or ten miles in
the quest of hospital attention, and doing so in an open wooden cart,
drawn by horse, mule or donkey, a rough vehicle without springs, and
in many instances the sick is without protection from the elements, save
that offered by a tattering umbrella.
Among the well-to-do classes the routine of conventional life
was carried on in a pleasant atmosphere, which they saw no need to upset
with consideration as to what was happening to the man at the lowest
level the Messenger continued: The picture is certainly not overdrawn
and in these days when industry and science have combined to
make comfort and travel almost synonymous, the omission of such a
necessity is certainly an unpleasant reflection upon our community
pride and, on the other hand, the effort to remove a public stigma becomes
an object worthy of our humanity.
In the course of events, a creditable community effort emerged .
A hospital ambulance fund was launched. Public spirited persons got
together and organised functions to raise money for the cause. The first
was a variety concert at the Apollo in January 1933. Several prominent
person gave active and generous support. In some circles, the ice of
indifference was breaking. There were tangible signs that the long and
strong agitation for arousing social consciousness in the community and
for bettering the lot of working masses had begun to bear fruit. Early in
November the “Ambulance Committee” published a statement showing
that the result of their efforts so far had netted $1346.15 of which
$956.04 were private subscriptions and collections. The estimated cost
of the ambulance was $1560.00, the target of the fund raising. The moving
spirit in the drive was the Medical Superintendent of the Cunningham
Hospital, Dr. J. S. Cramer.
On 27 th September, 1934, the first ambulance for the territory
was landed here from the steamship Haiti. It was a Chevrolet Master
model, made to order, with a portable and a folding stretcher as well as
a side seat for the nurse - attendant and a first aid cabinet. The Union
Messenger commented : The name of Dr. Cramer and those of his
band of co-workers will always be associated with a service designed to
43

ing the best in comfort and relief to our sick and at the same time to
transport them to the place where medical and surgical aid can be administered
under the best conditions.
The First Ambulance on St. Kitts
A Plea for the Pogson
Like a bolt from the blue, a report struck Sandy Point and the rest of the
territory in the latter part of 1932 that the Pogson Hospital was to be
closed in January of the next year. As the ill effects of such a thing
would have fallen heaviest on the working masses, the St. Kitts Workers
League stepped forward at once to safeguard the best interest of the
people. The issue was one of the first engagements of the League after
its formation in 1932. A report had been in circulation that it was the
intention of the Government of that time to close down the hospital on
the ground of economy. It was also hinted that the Government had
planned to maintain one or two beds after the closure for sake of establishing
an appearance to conform with the conditions under which the
land had been given to the Government some forty-seven years before.
44

The land forming the Hospital compound was a gift to the Government
made by the manager and owner of Bourkes Estate, Mr. Edward
Pogson. According to reliable information, Mr. Pogson had been
moved with sympathy one day while riding through his fields when he
came across the suffering of a woman who was in labour delivering a
child. He decided to do something in a concrete way to improve such
appalling conditions. So he gave a plot of land on which a hospital was
to be built, under the conditions that the hospital must always have a
functioning maternity ward; failing this, the land must be returned to the
previous owner or his heirs. In the year 1887 the hospital was opened
and named the Pogson Hospital. At first it consisted of three buildings;
the main one had two storeys- the second storey being taken off by a
hurricane some years latter.
But four decades after its establishment, the fate of the Pogson
was at the crossroads. The Workers League took positive action. The
League President, Mr Thomas Manchester, communicated with the
authorities, pointing out that the hospital had proved its usefulness as a
public institution and that the amount of money to be saved by closing it
down would be very small and out of proportion with the public service
of the hospital to the people of that district of the island.
The Union Messenger gave its support. On 14 th September
1932 it commented in caustic terms, It is quite evident that our second
town, with all its historic association, is to be ‘destroyed!’ As a port of
entry for ships it is already closed; the sub Treasury there is also
closed, and the excuse is economy. We hear nothing more of the Pump
Bay Pier being replaced. The Administration’s ‘bug’ of destruction is
operating harshly to reduce Sandy Point to Zero status. We begin to
wonder what is the particular sin of the people of this district why they
are being stripped of their public conveniences which have been provided
for them for years, and certainly not without good reason.... Not
only is the proposal to close the Pogson Hospital an injustice directed
against the people of the district, but it is sure to result in placing considerable
hardship upon them, especially in the face of the fact that to
the present, the Government has not provided a suitable public conven-
45

ience to convey a sick person, who is unable to provide his own, to the
Pogson, or any other hospital in the Presidency....
Reply
The Administrator’s reply to the League’s President made on 4 th October
1932 was as short as it was subtle. It said, there has been no proposal
made to or by the Government for the closing down of the Pogson
Hospital. The question of the number of beds that should
Pogson Hospital - Sandy Point
Postcard by A.M. Losada
adequately be maintained is receiving consideration in the light of reasonable
requirements. But the Government did not end the matter
there. Neither did the League. Changes were made at the hospital at the
beginning of 1935. The League communicated with the Governor on
11 th January, stating, With the unprecedented reduction of the nursing
staff at the institution from the beginning of this month clearly indicating
the intention of Government to reduce the working of the Hospital
to uselessness (if not closing the institution as a hospital)... we therefore,
Sir, on behalf of the people of the districts concerned submit their
resolution for your Excellency’ consideration pitifully praying that the
Government will continue the institution in the status maintained up to
and until the end of 1932. We ask that if it is beyond the scope of your
authority to grant the request … that you will recommend the same to
the Secretary of State for the Colonies; as failing Your Excellency be-
46

ing able to grant the request of the people in the matter, we intend putting
our requestto the Colonial Office with the signatures of the petitioners
attached praying for the continuance of the Pogson Hospital.
The Governor replied on the 3 rd of February 1933 saying that he
would discuss the matter with the Administrator on his next visit to St.
Kitts. The existence of an enlarged Pogson Hospital in Sandy Point
today, of the Pump Bay Pier, the re-appearance of the sub-treasury (before
it was mysteriously burnt down in 1967) all highlighted the interesting
tale. Public ownership of Bourkes Estate in1969 has gracefully
crowned the narrative.
47

8 A QUESTION OF WAGES
In Antigua, representatives of sugar estates and factory interests met on
the 8 th May, 1929, to discuss the outlook of the sugar industry in that
Island. The meeting decided that owing to drought, a short crop and low
prices, the British Government should be asked to give financial aid by
way of loan at low rate of interest.
In the St. Kitts, conditions were somewhat similar. Some people
wondered what the local sugar barons would do in the situation. A
newspaper correspondent Cane Supplier wrote: I am of the opinion that
as far as St. Kitts is concerned, an appeal to the home Government for a
loan, grant will not place sugar cane growing in St. Kitts on a sound
basis apart from the fact that the Colonial Office is not likely to recommend
aid until we are able to give some convincing figures and facts to
prove that we are in urgent need of help, a matter which looks extremely
difficult in view of annual reports of the working of the St. Kitts
(Basseterre) Sugar Factory Ltd. for the past five years, showing comparatively
good profits and declaring substantial dividends. The writer
continued: There is also the important fact that owing to the terms between
the cane suppliers and the Basseterre Sugar Factory being so
disadvantageous to the former, Imperial aid, to my mind will be only
palliative and therefore unsound.
Wage Cut
In 1930 the London Office of the Sugar Factory issued instructions to
reduce the wages of the workers at the factory. As a result of the announcement
the men refused to commence their week at the reduced
rate of pay, and staged a walk-out on Friday, 11 th April, 1930. To them,
the matter had reached boiling point. It was a case where those who
controlled capital were bent on fortifying their positions, but the workers
could not subscribe to a doctrine which permitted the rich to get
richer and the poor to get poorer. By walking off the job on that Friday,
the workers were impelled by motives similar to those which had
moved the martyrs of St. Paul’s Village twelve years earlier to submit to
48

prison sentences for what was commonly called “breaking the bridge of
contract.”
Commenting on the issue, The Union Messenger said: We regard
the affairs as summary action taken by the owners of the factory,
and the reply of the labourers as indicative of the fact that a cut in wages
will be making an already difficult position to balance the cost of
living, more difficult. We understand that the manager had notice posted
to the effect that the weekly bonus would be discontinued and in addition,
a cut of one penny in the shilling would be made. As we understand
it, the weekly bonus is a conditional payment of an extra day’s
pay per week whenever the week’s return is 800 or more tons of sugar,
and according to information received the bonus has been earned regularly
week by week. The bonus represents a reduction of 16 b per cent
of the penny in the shilling a further reduction of 8a per cent, in making
a total cut in wages of 25 per cent.
Turning to the social implications, The Messenger stated, A
cut in wages is not an affair for the unfortunate labourers alone. Today
it has become a community affair because wage reduction means a decrease
in purchasing power of the masses. At the sitting of the Oliver
Commission at St. Kitts, all parties who gave evidence to the members
thereof, were agreed and so stated it that the labourers’ wages had
reached the irreducible minimum in this presidency and that no further
reduction could be borne by them.
In spite of the prevailing market price, the manufacture of sugar
at the Factory was said to be still a paying business but the way profits
were distributed was unbalanced. The Messenger went on: From this
viewpoint, we hardly think that the Factory can justify their action to
reduce the wages of their labourers when by so doing the shareholders
profits will be further increased. It must also be borne in mind that
when during the War years huge profits were being made, the labourers
did not enjoy their proportion in higher wages.
If the factory was in a bad financial position; if wages were at
that time relatively high; if the worker were given a promise that they
would share the profits when better days came; then it would have been
49

a very different matter. Rather, there was fear that the malady would
spread. Speculation was afloat as to whether the estates would follow
the example of the factory in cutting the wages of the estate workers
Estate Workers (postcard by A. Moure Losada)
Chastisement by Scorpions
In April 1930, the workers returned to the job. They probably saw no
other alternative. Next to the workmen themselves, who were victims
of industrial and economic conditions - no one was more intensely hurt
than the agency which was urging the workers to organise so as to foster
their individual welfare and their collective protection. This was The
Union Messenger. The events of the week had embittered The Messenger.
It felt that an outrage had been committed on the workers. Here is
the narrative along with impressions it related on the 23 rd April 1930
under the heading “Cracking the Whip.”
This week we place on record the fact that the labourers have
returned to their work. The story has a tail. Like every sin whether of
commission or omission, this one was not to go unpunished... They have
50

sinned against the Factory. Theirs was not to reason why. Their audacity
in inconveniencing the Factory, the mighty god of this Island; their
rudeness in doing anything but accept the terms and conditions of labour
prescribed by their absentee employers in London must be visited
with chastisement, not with whips but with scorpions…. The decree
went forth that the terms and conditions of reinstatement are that the
deduction of one penny in the shilling shall be increased to two pennies
in the shilling...
If now we represent the total reduction in wages in percent we
will place it at 33 and one-thirds, a reduction that amounts to exactly
one-third of their already very meager wages. But what was their sin,
that they have been so punished? Their actions interpreted, they told
their employers that there was no reduction in the price of bread, flour,
meal, rice, fish, clothing, house rent. They told them that last year the
factory profits amounted to over £50 000; that it was by the sweat of
their brow they should eat bread and that although they gave and were
giving already obedience to this Divine decree, by sweating and more
sweating, they were still underfed and partly naked and otherwise living
(no, not living, but existing) under conditions that were hellish, and so
were their innocent wives and children; that they desired the opportunity
to live like human beings...
The owners of the factory did not lose even a screw, a bolt or a
washer from their plant. There was no disorder. Police were at hand
to take care of the King’s Peace… All will be well that ends well. The
strikers have been reinstated and at a promise of reduction, because
they have sinned in asking to be allowed to work for bread. O, that
bread be so dear, and flesh and blood so cheap!
The Union Messenger could have dealt with the episode in no
other way. Its fondest hope had been shattered for the moment. Nor
could the situation be otherwise, for there was not yet any industrial
organisation for unfortunate workers to look towards, no facilities for
collective bargaining; no protective labour laws.
A Changing Scene
51

The cut in wages was restored to factory workers on 2 nd December,
1932. The general outlook for sugar was by then brighter than in previous
years. Gradually the industrial and economic atmosphere in the
island began to change. In the course of time the workers began to get
together. The sugar interests had already been organised and had as
their forum the St. Kitts Agricultural Society. The workers turned their
attention towards the St Kitts Workers League. Today the picture has
changed in many respects. Forty eight years have made a great difference.
Organised labour now has the means to regulate relationships and
negotiate the price at which the workman sells his strength and skills.
Indeed the workers of this country should realise that they have a tremendous
lot to cherish and preserve when they recall what the fate of
the masses was like just four decades ago.
52

9 FROM PAUPER RELIEF TO PROVIDENT
BENEFIT.
Can the poor provide help for the poor? This is the riddle that faced the
St. Kitts Workers League, as it started to unite the working masses in
1932. The League inherited a legacy of poverty, destitution, bad housing
conditions, poor health and education which were wide spread in
the country. Along with these, there was ample evidence of indifference
and some amount of hostility on part of the Government of the day
towards the interests of the underprivileged class but it is to the Administration
that people turn to for help.
Many persons on the list for poor relief received one shilling
(24 cents) per week. Some orphans were allowed (12 cents) per week.
At the rate of one penny per day, the orphan’s allowance could not last
for the week. At that time the law regarding poor relief allowed not
more than one shilling and six pence per week for any poor and destitute
person.
The Worker’s League realised that there was a great deal to be
done if the under privileged were to be helped. Neglected children were
seen everywhere. But the League’s membership was made up of men
and women without money. How could they help the needy when they
themselves were in need of help? Often, it is under severe stress that
the finest qualities of character reveal themselves. The creative power
set to work, impelling people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Charity Day
With in three months of The League’s formation, the leaders started to
discuss ways and means of aiding the needy cases. They decided to
establish a fund to be devoted to charity and to have a special day set
apart every year to be observed as “Charity Day.” The idea was as inspiring
as it was new. It attracted voluntary workers. Cheerily the ladies
in particular came along and procured rosettes or tags to be sold for
raising money for the Charity Funds. The enterprise was another ex-
53

ample to prove that the public conscience could be aroused in the interest
of a worthy cause.
It would be wrong to believe that everything went along as
smooth as velvet. Some persons were slow to respond to the need for
community service. At one time a prominent person was asked to buy a
Charity Day tag. He paused.
“What is the purpose of the Fund?” he asked.
“To help take care of waifs and strays,” was the answer.
He declined to buy the tag, snapping back. “You can talk about
that in big places like England; but there are no waifs and strays in St.
Kitts.”
Nevertheless, the sale of Charity Day tags went on year after
year. It became part of the programme for the annual observance of the
West Indian Day. It had been one of the decisions of the Dominica
Conference in 1932 that the opening date of the conference be marked
annually as the national day throughout the West Indies. Indeed the
yearly celebrations began quite lustily in all of the Islands. In our territory
the programme included a parade and a thanks-giving service,
speeches by leaders of organised labour and a feature of popular
amusement. It also embodied the sale of tags in connection with Charity
Day which became merged with West Indian Day.
With the passing of years the zeal for the annual celebrations
began to diminish in other islands, though the national spirit everywhere
grew stronger. Our territory was the only exception at that stage. The
yearly observance continued here until the end of the forties when The
Workers League anticipated that the “pre-federal” conferences, which
were then being held, would review the question of a national holiday
when a West Indies Federation was established.
As the concept of nationhood developed, its growth was revealed
in many different ways at different times. There was however, a
common desire to settle on some special date, with political significance,
to symbolise the national identity along with other ideals of the
country. In our own sphere the observance of Labour Day with an exciting
programme took the field. A Leeward Island Act passed in August
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1954 declared the first Monday in May to be an annual public holiday.
Later on, the 23 rd of February was established as Federation Day to
mark the beginning of the short-lived West Indian Federation (1956-
1962) in which West Indians had pledges to “dwell together in Unity.”
Now, Statehood Day, 27 th February, has crowned the lot for celebrating
the attainment of a major par of our highest aspirations.
Under all of these important anniversaries runs a golden thread
which connects the common aims of the bulk of the people. It had some
relevance to the basic objectives of the Workers’ League when it
mapped out its huge programme and launched its Charity Day appeal so
many years ago. The organisation also created a Death Benefit Department
in October, 1935, to assist its members in the time of bereavement.
Then in 1937, it started a Saving Department with the motto,
“provide for a rainy day” to encourage the exercise of thrift. In 1940
a Co-operative Department was formed. This enabled consumers of
foodstuffs to share the profit on their purchases.
When we look back over the stretch of time and the general
chance of conditions, the contrast is amazing. The orphan of a penniless
worker will, very probably, not have to depend on a tiny allowance of
twelve cents from a Poor Law Board for his weekly subsistence. Indeed,
an orphan or others dependants of a worker will be provided for
by the newly established National Provident Fund if any parent is a contributor
to the fund. A worker reaching retirement will not, in the future,
find himself living in fear of knocking about, once he is covered
by the Provident Fund. Nobody in the world is happier that such a
measure of social security has been introduced into the St. Kitts-Nevis-
Anguilla than the leaders of the Labour Movement which started its
“Charity Day” effort thirty six years ago and have made a sound farsighted
measure the law of the land.
Traps along the way
When the workers of this country made their early start to get together,
the ruling people laid subtle traps to ensnare them. One of these traps
took the form of a bill which was to considered by the general legislative
council of the Leeward Islands on the 28 th April,1931. At that time
the workers were eager to organise so as to improve the conditions un-
55

der which they lived. They wanted their employers to give attention to
the fact that their strength and skill was a necessary part business in the
Islands. In short, the cultivation of cane and cotton ; the manufacture of
sugar, rum, and molasses ; the loading and discharging of ships; the carrying
on of the building trade and other forms of industry - all depended
chiefly on the labour of the thousands of men and women as well as
children who, in turn, looked to their jobs for their livelihood.
Trade unions had been in existence in Britain for over one
hundred years. The laws made in Britain were known to the Government
of the Leeward Islands but this was not reflected in local legislation.
The new law was called a Bill to legalise the Status of Trade
Unions. A section of the bill provided that every trade union should be
registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies. The Union Messenger
saw the deception: So far as we understand the Friendly Societies
Act, its provision do not admit of anything but a society or societies
formed for benevolence in providing relief in sickness and a fund to
help defray the burial expenses of members.
A trade union registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies
as it were a friendly society under the Friendly Societies Act, 1928
would accordingly lose its status as an organisation to foster better
wages and conditions, to regulate to the advantage of the community
the relations between employers and employed , and generally to look
out for the welfare of the labouring men, as such.
That this piece of legislation is the very best proposal which
the central administration can advance in the interest of the working
man is at once disheartening to persons who appreciate the worth of
trade unions in the colony, and the contributions which they have
made and will continue to make, towards the prosperity of all classes
of the inhabitants...
We regard the bill as designed to handicap or make it
impossible for trade unions to exist in this colony.It appears to
us that the present administration has not the moral courage to
go to the roots of the matter, and the shallow gesture with which
56

it has proposed to interfere will be nothing short of placing a
gang upon the necessity of the labouring people to unite to protect
and improve their welfare as an entity, and the most important
one, at that, in the industrial structure of the colony’s
like.
We hope that saner judgement will prevail at the Council meeting
and this save the present Administration from going on record as
the enemy of the labouring people of the islands, who now, more than
ever, need protection and encouragement.
In accordance with the tone of this attack upon the Bill, the
Council amended the measure to the effect that the trade unions should
be registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies, but that the provision
of the Friendly Societies Act did not apply. Even with the amendment,
the law was far from the requirements of the time.
Hostility to trade unions
Showing what was behind the scene and how the hostile attitude was
maintained down the years, the staunch observer stated: In 1917 at the
formation of what is now St .Kitts-Nevis Universal Benevolent Association
Ltd., a tremendous organization in the community having its origin
among planters and those who represented estate interests, because
this association had as its object to “Unionise” labourers so as to place
them in the position whereby they would be able to protect themselves
as such.
The opposition grew to alarming proportions, until the Acting
Governor, Mr. Thomas Alexander Vans Best, visited the Presidency
and passed the famous bill prohibiting the formation of anything even
the appearance of a Trades and Labour union. Planters and Government
officials alike felt that the formation of an association with such
an object meant that their names were ticked off in some Doomsday
book conjured up by their imagination, and that the days of their very
existence were numbered. With this urge all sorts of ‘subterfuges’ were
adopted to malign the movement and to falsify the good intentions of the
organisers.
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In 1933 efforts were made which resulted in the formation of
the St. Kitts Workers League, the object of which is contained in the
expression “For the good that we can do.” One highly placed public
official, when informed of its existence dubbed the league a ‘dark
horse’..
We know of several other associations that have been formed
here, associations that have been formed to provide means to give relief
to its [sic] members during sickness and disability, and to maintain a
fund to defray their funeral expenses. In not one solitary instance do we
find a feeling or opposition against the formation of these friendly societies
as they are known. To the contrary among these very two elements
of our inhabitants these friendly societies are welcomed and even encouraged.
The contrast is at once apparent to those who are prepared to,
and do, think for themselves; and every rational West Indian cannot
avoid the question. “Why?” Why is it that associations formed for the
purpose of teaching and encouraging the masses to live as human beings,
and to instill an interest in the temporal and spiritual necessity of
obtaining their due share of this worlds’ goods - why is it that the formation
of such association creates a feeling of opposition, whereas associations
whose primary objects is to provide their members a decent
burial, are welcomed and encouraged?
It is difficult to say precisely but it seems to us to be clearly indicated
that the answer to the question we ask is to be found in the psychological
sentiment that the dominant and domineering elements of
our inhabitants have fully made up their minds that the aspirations of
the labouring people must be bounded east, west, north and south, by a
miserable existence having for its climax a coffin. It seems the great
ambition of planters and Government officials alike is to keep the labouring
masses, body, mind and soul, forever in chains, and to teach
them the virtue of providing themselves a coffin , at the exclusion of
everything else, and when they have done so, to sing rejoicing, “We are
going home!”
58

Change
When the League came on the scene in 1932, one of its first tasks was
to seek the introduction of a proper Trade Union law. After seven years
of political and industrial struggles blackened with injury and death to
some of the workers - The Trade Union Act of 1939 was established in
the Leeward Islands. From this time the right to organise was established.
This event opened a new chapter of our history in which representatives
of labour and capital meet as equals for the promotion of collective
bargaining, greater production, better quality of service and general
improvement in the working lives of the masses, all leading towards
a progressive future for every one.
Challenging the system
What would you do if you are traveling by car and suddenly meet a
roadblock? Some people would stop completely and turn back. Others
might pause and do some quick thinking. A glance at the past, shows
that the obstacles placed in the way of the workers in earlier times were
clearly to discourage organization. These obstacles took various forms
and they appeared in various quarters.
The distressing industrial system of the day was challenged by an estate
worker when she took her employer to court. This was a farmer named
Margaret Pemberton who summoned the manager of Douglas’ estate to
the Magistrate’s Court on 17 th march, 1930 for detention of her wages.
Reporting the case, The Union Messenger said: From the evidence given
to the court we gather that the complaints was one of four farmers
who were employed to weed a field at the rate of one shilling and three
pence (1/3) or thirty cents (30 cents) per acre.
On Saturday, the estate pay day, when they applied for their
wages, the overlooker stated that the fields had not been weeded and
the work was not finished. The complainant and her partners insisted
that the work had been done, and in an effort to verify the statement,
invited the manager and overseer to accompany them to the field to inspect
it.
This they refused to do beyond the glance at it on their way to
Basseterre on other business. After considering the evidence, the mag-
59

istrate came to the conclusion that the complainant had not finished her
work and did not deserve the payment of her wages and also ordered
her to pay twenty one shillings (21s.) costs. It was easy to see that in
the prevailing atmosphere it was the order of the day to keep the working
people circumscribed.
Education Policy
Education of the masses was commonly acknowledged to be a vital
need of the country. Social and economic conditions had long been at
very poor. It was the responsibility of the Government of the day to
take the initiative in the spreading of popular education but this was far
from being the case. At a meeting of the Federal Legislative Council on
24 th April, 1928, the Governor of the Leeward Islands, Sir Eustace
Fiennes, declared his policy on education in the course of an address.
He said, I do not believe in over-educating the working class. It is the
greatest mistake to educate them out of their station. It simply fills their
minds with inflated ideas.
The contrast between the policy of 1928 and that of 1968 is
striking. Presently our state is spending nearly one and a half million
dollars on education out of its total revenue of nine million dollars. The
road block to education which was put down by way of an official policy
forty years earlier has now been destroyed. We have entered an avenue
leading to wide, free and fuller education of the masses. Other obstacles
were numerous but these have been securely swept aside in the
militant march of progress.
60

Children of the working class.
61

10 WHEN INJURY AND DEATH
MEANT NOTHING
Can you imagine how a mother would feel when the head of the family
is laid up by injury and on pay day there is no money coming in?
Worse it would be if the injury results in death. The grief would be
severe enough at the outset: but when a family faces a blank future
through the disablement or sudden loss of the bread winner, this is
bound to be the cause for sore distress. Worst of all - in the setting of
a few decades ago- a family thus meeting misfortune could not hope
for anything by way of benefits under the law. Such was the fate of
workers who suffered from accidents arising from their work; such
were the disabilities of the social and industrial system at that time.
The employers had nothing to worry about. “Men gone; men
here.” The situation was cynically summed up in that way. The injury
of a worker or the loss of his life meant little or nothing to the boss. As
a matter of fact the chief concern of the employers was to make profits
from their business. There was then no law for workmen’s compensation.
There was nothing beyond meager pauper relief to be offered to a
limited number of destitute people. There was not even the dim shape of
a Labour Government at that time.
William Duggins
A long list of cases can be brought up to prove the facts, but a single
one would be sufficient. On 20 th April, 1933, a cart man on Buck-leys
estate, William Duggins was killed outright when a factory locomotive
collided with the mule cart he was driving. It was said that when the
news was reported to the estate manager, the first question he asked was
if anything had happened to the mules.
At the coroner’s inquiry which was held on the following day,
one of the witnesses was James Duggins, the son of the unfortunate
man. James said he was a cart man working as assistant to his father on
a four wheel cart drawn by four mules. That Thursday afternoon, they
62

had just dumped out a load of cane at Buckleys siding and were returning
from the siding across the rail track towards the estate yard. He continued,
I was standing inside of the cart on the right hand. My father
was standing on the front axle and he had the reins and the whip in his
hands. We were coming at a hard canter pace, were trotting coming
down. I looked to the east and I saw the engine coming . It was then
about twenty yards from them. I called out to the deceased “The Engine!”
and I jumped out to run to the leaders or front mules
I found I could not catch the leaders and drew back and stood
on the north side of the line. I saw my father give the shaft mule one
lash, I saw the engine strike the body of the cart, just in front of the rear
wheel. I saw my father pitch off the lock and fall on the top of the cane
bank, roll down, and the crank shaft of the engine struck him while the
engine and the cart were going. After the engine struck the cart, it
pushed it for about five yards and went on for another six yards.
I went to my father I turned his head up and noticed blood
gushing through his mouth. I was there when Doctor Jones came. I
saw him over my father ... Nothing at all happened to the animals. They
tore from the cart and I saw them going towards the estate yard.
Verdict
The jurors’ verdict was that William Duggins came to his death through
misadventure. Commenting on the matter, The Union Messenger made
reference to a statement given in evidence at the coroner’s inquest by
the manager of the sugar factory. He stated that for several years the
factory had been endeavoring to get estate owners and managers to improve
the visibility at estate crossings to lessen the possibility of accidents...
At the Buckleys siding there was a barricade of growing trees
about five to six feet above the railway.
The Messenger said: The statement furnishes indisputable evidence
that neglect or failure to cooperate with the management of the
factory in what ought to be regarded an essential in the interest of all
parties concerned ...cannot but be interpreted as disinterestedness in
safety of these labourers. All the greater the pity it is that the labouring
people on such estates are not in a position to demand, as condition of
63

labour, the protection to their lives which these circumstances dictate ...
Maybe it is because employers of labour do not incur any liability in
these matters that these precautions are not taken. But if the authorities
of this Government are fully aware, as they must be of these disadvantages
under which our labourers work, does it not occur to them
that they owe some obligation to the labourers?
O, that a mule could excite so much concern, and morals so little!
Crusade for Compensation Laws
Who would take up the task of getting aid for workmen and their families
in case of injuries or death? Who would step out and challenge the
system under which accidents constantly brought financial distress to
our workers in the past? The burdens fell in one direction. The upper
classes showed no interest in the matter. Persons in the middle income
bracket were not usually exposed to risks arising out of their employment.
The Government was indifferent to the issue. It was the working
masses that were feeling the harsh effects of the iniquitous system.
Therefore the drive to bring about social and industrial reform had to be
launched by them through their organization, the St. Kitts Workers’
League.
The first thrust was made on 9 th December, 1932, when the
league sent a letter through the Administrator to the Secretary of State
for the Colonies in London asking that the Governor of the Leeward
Islands be instructed to introduce a bill in the legislature dealing with
workmen’s compensation for injuries received during the course of their
employment. The letter added: Legislation of the type referred to was
promised by Mr. Ramsay MacDonald when Prime Minister of the Labour
Government, and is long overdue and we are unable to understand
why there has been delay in introducing it. The colony of Trinidad and
Tobago has a Workman’s Compensation law which seems to be operated
without difficulty, and it appears to us that His Majesty’s loyal subjects
in the presidency should not be deprived of privileges which are
accorded to others in the West Indies and the United Kingdom.
64

There was no reply from London. Twenty two months later the
League forwarded a petition. It was dated 8 th October, 1934, and pointed
out that the letter of 9 th December, 1932, was unanswered. The petition
continued: Receipt of this letter was acknowledged by His Honour
the Administrator of this presidency. As no further reply was received,
Your Petitioners wrote to His Honour the Administrator on the 30 th
January,1934, referring to their letter of the 9 th December,1932. His
Honour replied on the 6 th February, 1934, stating that no reply had
been received to our letter on the 9 th February, 1932, but that the matter
was still the subject of correspondence with the Secretary of State.
Eight months have elapsed since the last letter was received
and as your petitioners regard this matter as being of greatest importance
to them they feel that the time has come when a petition should
be addressed to you.
Your petitioners have noted that since the promise referred to
above, legislation dealing with workmen’s compensation has been enacted
in the colony of Trinidad and Tobago, in the colony of Mauritius
and in other British colonies, and your petitioners feel that the promise
made should be fulfilled also in this colony...
The conditions under which laborers are employed at St.Kitts
(Basseterre) Sugar Factory where there is always the danger of being
injured by heavy machinery which must necessarily be used in such a
factory, calls for some measures of protection for those employed. This
is true not only with regard to workers in the factory, but with regard to
all who are engaged in manual labour in the Island.
Having regard to the foregoing facts Your Petitioners therefore
humbly pray that you will be pleased to give direction that a Workmen’s
Compensation law be enacted in the presidency on similar basis to the
Workmen’s Compensation Law now enforced in the United Kingdom.
On 15 th February,1935, the League was officially informed
in connection with the petition that the Secretary of State
had directed the Governor to defer the introduction of proposed
65

legislation pending consideration of variance between several
similar bills submitted to him by West Indian colonies and between
those bills and the model ordinance. The Workers’ League
had thus gained much ground; but there was a good deal more to cover.
Steadfastly the League re-inforced the drive to organise the workers,
and galvanised them to press for industrial reform.
The force of newspaper publicity formed part of the campaign.
The League featured a weekly column of its own in the Messenger to
rally the reading public in support of the workers’ cause. The Messenger
itself was an ally in the crusade. So there it was. The model for the
first compensation law had been sent out from London; but before it
reached the legislative body, the Secretary of State was taking another
look at it... Fair enough so far.
The Secretary of State took time to consider the differences between
several drafts of compensation laws submitted to him by the
West Indian colonies. Finally a model ordinance prepared in London
was decided upon and sent out as a guide. It was considered and passed
into law in the Leeward Islands on 24 th November.1937. The first fruit
of the League’s work in this field had materialized. Both the employers
and the Government now started to pay more regards to human suffering
and set a value to human life. It was a notable achievement to get
the law enacted. However, it was later discovered that certain parts
needed improvement, even at this early stage. In fact, there is nothing
under the sun that cannot be improved.
1938 Commission
The Workers’ League spared no effort in bringing these weak spots of
the law under the spot light. In 1938 a Royal commission was sent to
the West Indies to investigate social and economic condi-tions. The
League’s delegation presented a memorandum. Among ills of the country
which were brought to the Commission’s attention were some of the
disadvantages falling on the workers in the event of injuries and death
arising out of their employment. The employers were free of liability.
The chairman of the Commission was Lord Moyne. The League’s delegation
consisted of its principal officers led by Mr. T. Manchester, the
66

president. When the delegation gave evidence on 22 nd December 1928,
a member of the commission asked:
With regard to workmen’s compensation I gathered from your memorandum
that you want people now exempted by law to be brought
within its ambit?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Have you any idea why domestic servants were cut out
of the law and therefore not entitled to compensation?
Answer: I cannot answer that; it beats me.
Question: Was the question ever discussed in this Island before
this act of November 1937 was passed?
Answer: Yes, it was discussed quite frequently.
Question: Was no exception taken to the exclusion of domestic
servants, for example?
Answer: Yes, the Workers’ League, as an organisation, felt that
the Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance should apply to all workers,
not necessarily only to those engaged in manual work connected with
machinery.
Question: You heard yesterday, if you were in the room, the
statement on behalf of the Sugar Investigation Committee that they saw
no reason why agricultural workers should not be brought within this
Act. Would you agree or disagree with this?
Answer: I would agree with that.
Question: What would be the next stage to have this Act widened
to bring these categories?
Answer: To have it amended.
Question: Where would the initiative come from - here in the Island?
Answer: No. It would have to come from the Colonial Office...
In connection with the matters of Workmen’s Compensation, this organisation
has made efforts since 1932, by petitions to the Secretary of
State for the colonies, and by petitions to the local authorities, and it
has only recently been introduced. Here is the correspondence, which
may be of interest to you.
Question: I shall be very glad to have it for the records of the commission.
Report
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The Commission presented its report in June 1945. Among other things
the report mentioned that legislation providing for Workmen’s compensation
had been in force in some West Indian colonies, but its effect in
practice was still limited. The report continued: Large numbers of
workers are excluded from its operation and an unusually long term is
prescribed as the period during which an accident must deprive a
worker of employment before he is eligible for compensation.
In almost all of the West Indian colonies the following persons,
amongst others, are not covered by this legislation - persons employed
in the agriculture (unless employed in connection with machinery), domestic
servants, clerical workers, shop assistants and drivers of motor
vehicles.
The effects of these exclusions in colonies which are predominantly
agricultural, and where many thousands are engaged in domestic
service, may easily be imagined, and it was not surprising to find
that, in some of the territories, approximately four-fifths of the total
working population was ineligible for compensation.
We see no valid reason why the laws on this subject should not
be made of general application; in particular we regard the inclusion of
agriculture within the scope of legislation, with proper facilities for insurance,
as a primary and necessary reform.
Workmen’s Compensation – Yesterday and Today
Every worker was happy in 1937 when the agitation of the St. Kitts
Workers League brought about the introduction of first Workmen’s
Compensation Law in the Leeward Islands. The right of the workers to
receive payment for injuries and loss of life was established. Further
agitation was necessary to widen the range of benefits provided by law.
The League kept steadfastly at the job. Through the instrumentality of
the League the law was amended several times. The last occasion was
in August, 1955 when the Legislature of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla enacted
its own law which replaced the former Leeward Island Act.
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Under the law of 1937 only a limited number of workmen were
eligible to receive compensation for injuries. By far the greater portion
of workers was not covered. The law named the following groups who
were among persons not entitled to receive compensation:-
(a) Persons employed in agriculture except in so far as such employment
is in connection with any engine or machine worked by mechanical
power.
(b) Domestic servants.
(c) Persons employed exclusively as clerical workers or shop assistants.
Today all of these fall within the provisions of law. The restrictive
clauses have been removed. The Act of 1937 stipulated that a workman
should not receive compensation unless he was disabled for more than
ten days. Under the present law he is entitled to compensation if he is
disabled for three days or more.
Death and Other Cases
When death results from the injury the amount of compensation payable
to dependants as set out in the Act of 1937 was a sum equal to thirty
months’ wages or two hundred and fifty pounds ($1200), whichever is
less. With regards to permanent total disablement resulting from the
injury in the case of an adult - the 1937 Act fixed the sum equal to forty
two months wages or three hundred and fifty pounds ($1680), whichever
is less. Under the existing law it is a sum equal to one hundred and
eight months’ wages or six thousand dollars, which ever is less. For the
same kind of disablement in the case of a minor the amount provided in
the 1937 Act was a sum equal of eighty four months’ wages of three
hundred and fifty pounds ($1680), which is less. But under the existing
law its is a sum equal to one hundred and eight months’ wages or six
thousand dollars, whichever is less. With regard to temporary disablement
the old law provided half pay for the workman which he would
receive every week, but now he is entitled to a weekly payment amounting
a much bigger proportion of wages than he would have received in
1937 and up to 1955.
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In cases where the workman is not totally disabled, but has completely
lost the capacity to earn wages as he did before he became entitled to
receive payment for the loss of any limb or other member of the body.
Once again, through the present law there have been substantial increases
on the amounts payable for such losses
More Aid
Under the present legislation the workman is entitled to further compensation
in several cases.
• Where, in the opinion of the doctor, the disablement is such that
the workman requires the constant assistance of another person
during his illness, he shall receive additional compensation.
• A male workman is also entitled to an extra weekly allowance
in respect of his wife and each child under the age of fifteen
years.
• Where the user of artificial limbs or other artificial members
and apparatus will improve the earning capacity of an injured
workman, such limbs etc. shall be provided at expense of the
employer.
• In cases where artificial members and apparatus are damaged in
an accident, the employer may be required to replace or repair
them.
• The employer is also liable to supply dental appliances and artificial
eyes to the workmen.
70

Workers who would have benefited from the social reform initiated by
the Workers’ League
71

11 BOMBARDMENT FROM THE CARIB-
BEAN
In 1931 Britain was hard pressed financially and still had to aid most of
the Caribbean colonies. Her chief aim was to relieve herself to this burden
by linking up of the Leeward and Windward Islands with Trinidad
and Tobago. But West Indians realised that the time had come to strike
put for the introduction of broad reforms. The 1932 conference at
Dominica set the stage. From the conference table the first attack was
launched. This took the form of a resolution passed on 28 th October and
telegraphed to the Secretary of State in London in the following terms:
The West Indian Conference learns with regret that the terms of reference
of the Closer Union Commission appointed by you do not include
self -government, and strongly urges that the said terms of reference be
widened so as to include self-government.
A Grenada delegation consisting of Mr. T. Marryshow and Mr.
G. Edwards was in London at the same time to interview the Secretary
of State on matters mainly affecting Grenada. The conference had
made a quick contact and vested the delegation with the authority to
urge on the Secretary of State the gravity of the demand for constitutional
advance in the Caribbean.
The West Indian patriots, assembled in Dominica, were determined
to make the most of this broad thrust at British colonialism. To
ensure success, the Conference decided to set up a network of active
units attached to a central organization to carry out the campaign, beginning
with the fight at the frontier. The conference report started: It
was decided that a political organisation be formed to carry on the
work of the Conference, to defend the liberties and promote the political
interest of the people of the British West Indies, and to secure common
political actions in matters of common interest. This organisation, to be
called ‘West Indian National League’, will have its headquarters at
72

Grenada, and will seek to work in association with existing progressive
political institutions through out the West Indies.
Indeed this was the first national organization in the British
Caribbean. It was designed to weld the interests of all the islands together
and to provide a machinery for collective action. The West Indian
National League incorporated all of the forward-looking elements in
the region with nationhood as the goal. The Labour organisation in various
Islands became branches of the West Indian National League. The
St .Kitts Workers League was the local branch. The Workingmens Association
of Antigua, Grenada, Trinidad and St. Vincent, as well as the
taxpayers reform association of Dominica and Montserrat, along with
other territorial Labour units, were all organised into the broad-based
West Indian National league.
A united Caribbean voice called for the widening of the scope
of the Closer Union Commission to include the question of selfdetermination.
Requests for effective control over public affairs had
gone forward many times and the response of the British Colonial office
had been disappointing. The leaders prepared for any eventuality before
they rose from the conference table in Dominica. They finalised
the plan of action with regard to the Closer Union Commission which
was to be sent from London in 1932 to deal with the amalgamation of
the Leewards, Windwards and Trinidad. Part of the strategy was to
prepare every island for the arrival of the Commission so that pressure
on the London team could be applied in every way from the outset.
The chief weapon was to be the boycott. The line to be taken
was set down in the Conference report: It was agreed that provided
that the terms of reference of the Closer Union Commission were extended
so as to include a constitutional advance towards selfgovernment,
a delegation, representative of the conference, should meet
the commission at each Island to urge that the recommendations of the
conference be implemented; but that unless the terms of the conference
be widened to include this subject, no conference delegation should
meet the Commission.
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The framing itself of that resolution reflected the earnestness
and great skill of the draftsmen. The opening was mild, but the sting
was put in the tail. Unless the wishes of the people prevailed, the commission
would be ignored. That was that. The weight of the situation
now hung entirely on the nature of the Commission’s terms of reference.
The influential West India Committee of London was asked to
ascertain the true position. This was done through its secretary, Mr. A.
Aspinall. The reply was a repetition of the statement that - the Secretary
of State was not prepared to alter the terms of reference of the
Closer Union Commission, but the Commissioners would not wish to
curtail unreasonably the range of evidence which would be submitted to
them. The statement was vague. West Indian leaders remained cautious.
They knew that they were dealing with top-ranking officials of a nation,
which distinguished itself as the greatest coloniser on the globe so they
took care to avoid being caught in the web of British diplomacy.
Outward bound
The commission sailed from England in November. Each day of the
portentous voyage found the Caribbean stalwarts feeling more uneasy.
On this side of the Atlantic the southwards stretch of the journey was
made on S.S. Lady Drake.
The terms of reference were still the big question. The lips of
London’s officials were still sealed. On the 19 th November the chairman
of the West Indian Conference issued a directive by cable from
Dominica to all branches of the West Indian National League. It read,
Exhibit conspicuous posters on the arrival of the Commissioners, namely
(1) No taxation without representation; (2) No federation without
self-government; (3) Crown colony rule must go.
Arrival
St .Kitts, the first Caribbean island colonised by Britain, was also the
first one at which the Closer Union Commission called. No sooner had
the ship entered the port on 23 rd November on its way to Antigua, then a
letter was sent on board and placed into the hands of General Charles
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Ferguson, Chairman of the Commission. It was from the President of
the St .Kitts Workers League, Mr. T .Manchester, and it said, I have
receive a telegram from the Dominica Taxpayers Reform Association
requesting me to ascertain definitely from you on behalf of the West
Indian Conference whether the terms of reference of your Commission
include constitutional advance towards self-government .
I shall be very grateful if you will give me the information asked for
above in order that I may communicate it to Dominica today.
Sir Charles replied promptly. And without the loss of a moment the
information was accordingly wired to Dominica. The cable read: The
terms of reference are to consider on the spot the possibilities of closer
union between the Leeward , the Windwards and Trinidad or some of
them. The Commissioner will gladly receive any views and representations
which have a bearing on this subject.
Hedging
The Chairman of the Commission was still beating about the bush.
Greater doubts arose from this systematic hedging. The Dominica leader,
Mr. C . Rawle, cabled the Commission himself, pressing for a clearer
statement of the position. The message ran: West Indian Conference
prays for an unambiguous answer whether the Commission is authorised
to deal with constitutional advance towards federal or local selfgovernment.
He received this reply: The Commission interprets their terms of reference
widely and that whilst local government is not strictly within reference
they will certainly hear your views to enable them to understand
the problem in all its hearings.
So the tension eased . The mist began to clear away in the light of assurance
that the case for political reform in the West Indies would be
heard.
They came, They Saw They reported
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The three-men commission first set foot on St. Kitts on 23 rd November
1932 on their way to Antigua, the seat of Government of the Leeward
Islands. They motored around the St. Kitts and met Executive Councilors
at Government House. Five days later their opening meeting was
held in Antigua. Governor T. R. St. Johnston introduced the members.
General Sir Charles Ferguson, Chairman of the Commission, commanded
the Fifth Division and subsequently the 17 th Army Corps during
the First World War (1914-18). After the armistice he was made
Governor of the occupied German territories and later Governor-
General of New Zealand where he gained personal experience in civil
administration. Mr. Mc Neil Campbell, the Secretary, was an official in
the West Indian Department of the Colonial Service.
Back Ground
In welcoming the Commission, the Governor mentioned the events
which had led up to it. He cited the world wide financial depression of
1931; the prolonged drought in the Caribbean and low crop prices; the
strain on British finances to supply grants in aid to assist administrations
and to relieve distress in the Islands; the need for effecting economies
by linking up the Leewards, the Windwards and Trinidad.
The Governor recalled that in 1670 the Leewards were formed
into a separate colony which excluded Dominica. In 1832 after a brief
period when St. Kitts and the Virgin Islands were split off, it was reformed
with the addition of Dominica, and in 1871, exactly 200 years
after its first formation the Leeward Islands were made, in definite form
a “Federated colony.”
At St. Kitts
The first meeting in St. Kitts was held at the Court House on December
5 th . Among other things the Chairman of the Commission said, The
object of this meeting is merely to give us an opportunity of explaining
to you the terms of reference under which we are to act, and also of outlining
the sense in which we regard those terms of reference. I hope
that it is needless to say that in my remarks there will be nothing
whatever of a controversial character - absolutely nothing; and it is for
that reason that I suggest that any further speeches would be undesirable
and indeed really out of the question ...
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Now let me say in the first place that we have not come out here
with any cut-and-dried scheme in our minds or even any half formulated
scheme which we would put before you as a remedy, a remedy for
difficulties and deficiencies and everything else that is troubling you at
the present time...
It may, in the first place, only be possible to effect closer cooperation
in matters of common interest and mutual concern, economic
than political... We invite expressions of opinion from every section of
the community...
.
8 Days
During the eight days spent here the Commission had the opportunity of
seeing various aspects of public life at close range for themselves. Four
deputations of an official character spoke to the Commission. These
represented the Workers League, the Agricultural and Com-mercial Society,
the St. Kitts merchants and the Universal Benevolent Association.
In addition the Commission was also addressed by several prominent
individuals.
On the event of their departure, the Messenger commented,
From what we have been able to gather, it appears that the Commissioners
have, throughout, given an unprejudiced hearing in each case,
and have been absolutely non-committal in any comment they offered or
even non suggestive in any question they have asked.
Quite throughly they have digested their terms of reference, and
by their very wide and sensible interpretation of them, have not merely
disarmed distrust, but have encouraged public confidence, and so far as
this Presidency is concerned, have admirably succeeded in obtaining a
frank expression of views on a variety of subjects, in some way or the
other, related to the main issue of Representative Government and
Closer Union.
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The Commission made its report eight months later. It was released
simultaneously in the United Kingdom and the West Indies on
18 th August 1933.
Opposition by Vested Interests
On the first day that the Closer Union Commission arrived in St. Kitts,
the St. Kitts Agricultural and Commercial Society held a meeting to
consider what stand they should take before the Commission. Eighteen
members were present at the meeting, sixteen of whom were estate proprietors
and managers, one was an exclusive merchant and one a steam
agent. The society decided to stick to its views as expressed six weeks
earlier when it opposed the sending of a delegation from St. Kitts to the
first West Indian Conference in Dominica. The society was against the
move for political reform and claimed that Representative Government
would not ensure the best interest of all classes of the inhabitants. This
Society sent a deputation to present its views to the Commission. But
no stone was left unturned by the Workers League and the Universal
Benevolent Association in placing before the Commission the case for
broad reform in the territory.
Recommendations
The report of Closer Union Commission filled a fat volume. Its summary
of recommendations were submitted in all sincerity. The following
extract from the summary gives a general overview: The Islands at
present forming the colonies of the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands
should be united into one colony under a Governor with Headquarters
at St. Lucia.
The three Islands of the Windward group should similarly remain
autonomous as now...
We desire to make it clear that our proposals do not pretend to
be more than a first step- and that a tentative one - towards a real federation,
not only of the islands with which we are dealing but of the
other units in the West Indies which may eventually be found willing to
join …
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We should like to refer to West Indies Conference inaugurated
in 1925 at which delegates from all over the islands meet periodically
to discuss matters of common interest. Meetings of this Conference at
regular intervals will, we trust, be continued, and by this means the idea
of a wider West Indian Federation will be kept in sight, and, it is to be
hoped in course of time, be attained.
Our endeavor has been to lay a sound foundation for a structure
designed eventually to grow, if the communities concerned desire,
into a West Indian Federation, taking its proper place in that intricate
mosaic which constitutes the British Empire.
Trinidad and Tobago
The conditions in this colony are entirely dissimilar from those in the
smaller Islands to the north... It was clear to us that no proposal of the
northern Islands would receive support at the present juncture, and that
it would be useless to discuss the matter further.
Getting to the Root
The Commission felt that the 1926 Conference was a good start, but
undoubtedly realised that this early conference was a discussion entirely
among the officials of Crown Colonies and other supporters of the system
of government under which the affairs of the West Indies were controlled
from London. The first conference which was named a West
Indian Conference by sons of the West Indies who themselves were
chosen by the people to lead the British Caribbean to a goal of nationhood
was really the conference held at Roseau, Dominica, in October,
1932.
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12 A QUESTION OF
REPRESENTATION
Where do we go from here? Looking around today we see the gradual
unfolding of a new scheme of things in the British Caribbean. It is a
new dash forward in a setting of world-wide conflicts and keen competition.
But what lies ahead? Trade missions are going through the Islands,
promoting ideas for the closer welding of our common interests.
Economists are preaching the doctrine of pushing ahead with industry
and commerce. The Caribbean free trade agreement, the Eastern Caribbean
Common Market and the Regional Development Bank are all designed
to create a necessary climate for vigorous strides in the march of
progress. But how much have we got by way of the essential factors to
ensure success? How much are we prepared to learn from a study of
the past? How much shall we profit from it?
When the Closer Union Commission of 1932 made the recommendations
which would move St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla one step
up the political ladder, what followed was a sort of hotchpotch. In the
Leeward Islands we were then all starting from scratch. The Commission
was cautious. Its report made special mention of the kind of opposition
to self-government which it had found. Several persons had admitted
to the Commission that the desirable changes in these Islands
could only be attained in stages. The report said, Other witnesses expressed
themselves strongly opposed to any form of Self-Government,
though in favour of increased control in local affairs. It is worth recording
that many of the witnesses in this and other Islands most strongly
opposed to any form of self-government at this stage were coloured , or
of direct African descent. This must have appeared odd to the Commission
since by far the greater part of the population were people of African
origin whose ancestors had been brought across the Atlantic as
chatel slaves in the profitable business of colonial exploitation.
However, the Commission took care to set out what it considered
to be best guide lines. In its report it quoted the words of the Wood
(Later Lord Irving) Commission of 1922. It must be borne in mind that
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in West Indies there is a considerable population of mixed stock, who
while coloured in appearance, possess a large infusion of European
blood. Those of the mixed race throw up not a few individuals of somewhat
exceptional capacity and intelligence, who play a prominent part
in the public life of their communities. We shall be wise if, with these
facts before us, we take steps to build upon the foundations of the remarkable
loyalty to the throne by which these peoples are inspired, and
to avoid the mistakes of endeavoring to withhold a concession ultimately
inevitable until it has been robbed by delay of most of its uselessness
and all of its grace.
Parade near the Treasury Building (postcard by A. M. Losada)
The Governor was the Government
The system of handling public affairs, in the past, placed the ruling
power virtually in the hands of one man. This meant that a man from
thousands of miles away who invariably had never seen these Islands
until he was sent to govern them had the responsibility of running their
administration. Britain was responsible for the good government of the
territory. She was taking care to see that public order was maintained
and that the right of everyone was preserved. The Closer Union Commission
of 1932 described the situation in detail.
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At that time, the control of public affairs was entrusted to the
Executive and Legislative Councils. All of the members of these councils
were chosen by the Governor who usually secured the approval of
the Secretary of his principals in London. In their report, the Commissioners
said, The Executive Council in each island consists, generally
speaking, of the Governor, his principal officials, and two or more officials
nominated by the governor and appointed by the crown...
As regards the Legislative Councils, each consists of an equal
number of officials and unofficials, the Governor having a casting as
well as an original vote...
The Governor has the power with certain reservations in the
last resort to carry any measure even if the whole of the unofficials are
unanimously opposed to it...
In short the justification of a reserve power rests on the proposition,
which is also a platitude, that under any political system it is desirable
that the Government should be able to govern...
The Right to Vote
When the domination of the country by the privileged classes was made
secure by the supreme authority of the Governor, it was no easy task to
challenge the political system and make progress towards reform. The
early champions of Labour were resolved that the new foundation must
be laid which would alter the very structure of society. They argued
that the Legislature should contain representatives chosen by the people
themselves, and that the common man should handle the power of the
vote. However in 1922, the wealthy and professional classes, led by
the St. Kitts Agricultural and Commercial Society, fought against the
idea of granting the people the right to vote. SKACS succeeded in the
fight. So did the privileged classes in Antigua and Montserrat (The British
Virgin Islands had no Legislature at that time.) The result was that
these Islands were left out in the cold when all of our neighbours were
granted the privilege of Representative Government.
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The 1932 Commissioners commented on the position, taking
care to suggest what they regarded as a safe and simple start along the
road . They held that further progress should depend upon improvement
in the standard of education. The report said, With the introduction of
the elective principle into the constitution of the Leeward and its expansion
in the Windward Islands, the question of qualifications for Membership
of the Council and the exercise of the franchise have to be considered...
With regards to the former, the only Island in the Leeward
group which enjoys electoral privilege is Dominica...
As regards voting qualifications, there is great divergence of
opinion and it was one of the points on which no agreement was
reached at the Dominica Conference. We are definitely opposed to
grant of universal adult suffrage until the present standard of education
in the Island has greatly advanced ...
Hold and Contend
The recommendations of the Commissioner did not produce all that the
leaders wanted, but they decided to make good use of what was offered
and to keep up the struggle for wider measures of reform. The main
recommendation centered around constitutional changes. These included
qualifications for membership of the Legislative Council and for the
registration of voters. Based on these, for a person to be qualified to
stand for elections to the Legislative Council he must possess, among
other things (1) an income of £200 per year or (2) real property valued
at least £500 or (3) he must occupy land of rental value of at least £50
per year. For a person to be entitled to register as a voter he must possess
(1) an income of £30 per year or (2) land of his own value £100 or
(3) he must pay rent of £12 per year on a real property or (4) pay direct
taxes in previous years of at least 15 shillings and (5) reside in the territory
12 months previously as well as (6) be able to read and write.
The commissioners found that in some of the colonies women
were debarred from registration as voters while in others the age at
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which women became entitled to use the vote differed from that prescribed
for men. The conditions were not regarded as desirable.
Up to this point, the strenuous effort to gain a measure of selfgovernment
for the country were showing progress. But nobody even
dreamt at that time that there was still to come a bigger battle in St.
Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla for the right to use the ballot.
Despatch No. 394
The British Colonial Office made its position on reform clear when the
Secretary of State sent out a Despatch No.394, dated 21 st September,1934.
In it he informed the Governors of the Leewards and Windwards
that he had concluded his examination of the reaction of the Legislative
Councils to the proposal for adopting the recommendations of
the Closer Union Commission. In part, he said, I observe that a considerable
divergence of opinion exists on the desirability of adopting the
Commission’s proposal as they stand more particularly on grounds of
the additional expense as indicated in the estimates which were placed
before the legislatures. In all the circumstances, I have reached the
conclusion, that it is not practicable now to proceed with a scheme of
the closer union. It follows that the two groups of Islands will remain
separate as at present and that the existing federation of the Leeward
Islands will remain unaltered...
The Commissioners also recommended the introduction of the
elective principle into the constitution of Antigua, St. Kitts-Nevis and
Montserrat : in the constitution of Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and
Dominica this already exists...
I have been impressed with the recommendations made by the
Commissioners on these matters, and I feel that the time has now arrived
when some further measures of constitutional progress consistent
with requirements of proper administration can usefully be considered.
I have decided therefore that public opinion in the Windward
Islands and the Leeward Islands should be given the opportunity of expressing
its views through the Legislative Council as to the adoption of
the particular recommendations in the Commission’s report... I should
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not regard it as essential that there should be uniformity throughout the
Windward and Leeward Islands in regard to the form of constitution for
each Island or Presidency; it may be that some legislatures will wish to
adopt the motion set above (relating to the composition of the legislative
council and the power of the Governor) while others will prefer not
to do so, and in that the event, I see no wishes of each should not be
met...
I should be glad if you would arrange for this despatch to be
placed before the various Legislatures concerned and for the motion set
out above to be made the subject of debate at an early date...
I may add that, as in the case, of the previous debates on the
report of the Closer Union Commission, official members of Legislative
Council should be free to take part in the debate and to express their
views, but should refrain from voting on the motion.
League in the lead
The St. Kitts Workers League (renamed the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla
Labour party) had jumped to the front more than twelve months before
and gave detailed information to the public regarding the Commission’s
report. In August of the previous year, shortly after the report was released,
the League held a mass meeting at Warner Park for that purpose
in addition to disseminating the special news by other means.
At the park the people were reminded of the earlier start of the
uphill climb. This dated from the formation of the Representative Government
Association here in 1918. A set back to the cause had come
three years later (1922) when the local vested interest urged the Wood
Commission not to recommend political advancement for this territory.
The park meeting on 27 th August 1933 became then a night of jubilation.
It passed a resolution accepting the Closer Union Commission recommendations
as a first step up the ladder to higher political attainments.
But the terms of despatch No.394 made an opening for the forces
of wealth and power in St. Kitts to launch a disastrous attack on the
popular desires to enjoy the advances proposed by the Closer Union
Commission
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When the Secretary of State gave directions in his Despatch No.
394 that the Legislature should debate the proposal for introducing the
right to vote, he was aware of what had happened here earlier in the
year. In March 1934, the Administrators laid the report of the Closer
Union Commission before the Legislative Council. He invited the
Council to express their views as to how far the recommendations of the
Commissioners would be acceptable to the people of the territory. In
order for this time to be ascertained, the Administrator appointed a
committee consisting of seven unofficial members of the Council.
At that time the Legislative Council was composed of seven
unofficial members, seven official members and the Administrator as
President. All of the members were chosen by the Administrator with
the approval of the Secretary of State. In dealing with the Closer Union
Commission report, an opportunity was provided to facilitate all persons
who desired to interview the committee of unofficial members.
The following notice was published on 9 th April, The committee of the
Legislative Council appointed for the purpose of examining the report
of the Closer Union Commission will be glad to hear the view of any
member of the public who makes an appointment for the purpose before
Friday 13 th, instant with the Secretary of the Committee.
The Committee sat; received representation; carried out discussions;
and submitted its findings. After hearing the views of individuals
and representatives of the public bodies, the Committee made its
decision which was put forward as follows; Those portions of the report
which recommended the introduction of the principle into the constitution
of the presidency are acceptable in themselves, apart from the other
recommendations in the report, and should be implemented.
The findings of the Committee were submitted to the Legislative
Council at a meeting held on 1 st June. The meeting unanimously
adopted the Committee’s report. At this point the President of the
Council commented that the people of the territory were about to assume
serious responsibilities, and he hoped they would discharge those
responsibilities, faithfully and well. The report of the Committee and
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official news of its adoption by the Council were sent on to the Secretary
of State.
Changes
Then came some changes in the membership of the Legislative Council.
What really mattered, however, were alternations on the unofficial side
of the council. For the Secretary of the State in his despatch had given
directions that only unofficial members of the Council should vote on
the issue. After the meeting of June 1, one of the unofficial members
accepted an appointment to act as Crown of the Presidency and had to
retire temporarily as an unofficial member of the Legislative Council.
Another person was accordingly appointed as a substitute on the unofficial
side. Then another unofficial member of the Council went on leave,
therefore a further appointment had to be made for a second substitute
on the unofficial side.
Since the Legislature was in favour of introducing the right to
vote in the territory, the Secretary of State now wanted to know what
were the wishes of the people themselves in the matter. He therefore
directed that the proposal be debated and public opinion be sounded
out. The 25 th October 1934 was the date fixed for the meeting of the
Legislative Council to deal with the matter. In presenting the Secretary
of State’s Despatch No. 394, the Administrator stated that it was not
proposed to discuss the subject at that meeting, but within the next few
weeks the question would be considered by the committee consisting of
the whole council.
Far and wide
Instantly the Workers League became active again and canvassed our
three Island from end to end. Voluntary workers gave their service in
spreading the information that evidence of public opinion was wanted
as to whether Representative Government should be introduced here.
Pleas and petitions sprang up and moved into circulation. They were
expressions of what the people thought; how they felt; why they agitated;
what they seriously wished for.
Volunteers in Nevis and Anguilla worked swiftly and with great
zeal, getting the signatures of other supporters. The response was highly
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gratifying. Feelings in St. Kitts ran high and support for positive action
was massive. Tokens of expressions streamed in to the Committee of
Unofficial Members from every section of the people and from the
press. A memorandum signed by some 150 persons was forwarded as
representing shopkeepers, business men, clerks, merchants, professionals,
house wives, tradesmen, etc. who gave the proposal their backing.
A petition was also forwarded by the St. Kitts Workers League. Another
petition from the people of the territory was submitted through the
Workers League and signed by 2447 persons representing all classes of
the inhabitants.
In November unofficial members of the Council in St. Kitts met
to hear the views of private individuals and representatives of public
bodies. The two unofficial members in Nevis did not attend as they had
already made up their minds to support the proposal and thought it unnecessary
to hear further views on the subject.
Opposition
But the opposers of the right to vote were not silent. They had also been
busy marshalling their forces to defeat the crusade for the Representative
Government. These antagonists explored every avenue which
seemed to offer an opportunity for the pursuit of their steadfast aims.
One of their charges against reform was that of an alleged lack of interest
in the political matters among the people. The adversaries also
raised objections to the over riding power which was to be conferred on
the Governor as a safe guard under the proposed new constitution.
They ran an all-out campaign to strengthen their stand against political
reform. As a part of the drive they presented a petition to the committee
of unofficial members signed by about 200 persons representing estates
owners, managers, overseers, a section of merchants, etc. praying that
there should be no change in the crown colony system of government.
As the day of decision drew near, the champions of the right to
vote intensified their efforts to gain this democratic privilege. The Legislative
Council was to make its fourth and final declaration of its position
on the burning territorial question of political reform. There was an
obvious necessity to keep the spotlight on the subject and to bring the
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gravity of the situation to the attention of the men in whose hands lay
the power to decide the issue. Those men were unofficial members of
the Legislative Council.
At this juncture, a glance at our background would indicate the
direction in which the events were moving. In 1871 the Leeward Islands
colony was constituted by an act of the Imperial Parliament. The island
of Nevis formed a separate unit of the Leeward Islands colony until
1882 when it was constituted a part of the Presidency of St. Kitts and
Nevis composed of the three Islands of St.Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla. In
1878 Crown Colony system of government was introduced.
In 1934 (fifty-six years later) the first firm steps towards Representative
Government in a new setting were about to be taken. In a
charge to Members of the Council, the Councillors were reminded that
the Closer Union Commission had conducted 19 interviews, including
five in Nevis; that the Commissioners had come to the conclusion that
the people should enjoy a measure of self-determination for which West
Indian leaders were clamoring; that the Secretary of State had recommended
the introduction of the elective principles into the constitution
of the territory; that the Committee of unofficial members had received
several petitions and memoranda on the subject and had heard views on
both sides of the question from representatives of various sections of the
people; that in March of that year the Legislative Council had received
the report of the Closer Union Commission and that in June, it had
unanimously approved the proposal for introducing the elective principle;
that in October the Legislative Council considered a despatch from
the Secretary of State giving directions to provide an opportunity for
public opinion in the matter to be expressed through the Legislative
Council; that this opportunity would come at the meeting to be held in
December. The Councillors were further urged to examine the peculiar
position in which they found themselves as representatives appointed to
look after the interest of the people.
Public opinion
Now the Secretary of State wanted to get the views of the people and
intended the Legislative Council to be the medium through which public
opinion would be expressed. He was aware that all of the members
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of the Council had been chosen by the Governor and submitted for his
approval. He had given directions that they all were free to take part in
the debate on the vital issue, but the voting to decide the question must
be done by unofficial members alone.
This placed no small amount of weight on the shoulders of the
Unofficials, for they had been chosen to represent the varied interest of
the community including, of course, the under-privileged classes. None
of the individuals so chosen had been selected from the ranks of the
working masses. The social system did not permit it. However, such
Councilors were bound to undertake the task of reflecting the weight of
public opinion on the proposal. A sharp contrast stood out between the
atmosphere of wealth and social affluence (from which quarters the
Councilors had been selected) and the humble station of the handicapped
masses whose future was in the balance.
The situation posed a bold challenge to the moral strength of
the well-to-do people of the territory. It was also pointed out to Councilors
that according to the terms of the Secretary of State’s despatch,
their own individual opinion - except where that coincided with the
weight of public opinion - should not unduly colour the considerations
which they were called upon to weigh.
Unofficial members were shown that the proposed change in
the political system would not affect the whole of their side of Council.
Their interest would still be represented. The Governor would continue
to have power to fill a number of unofficial seats by nomination. At
that time nearly all of those seats were occupied by planters. The high
probability was pointed out that when the number of nominated unofficial
seats was reduced, they would then be filled by the appointment of
planters or persons representing the agricultural interest of the territory.
From that stand-point there should be nothing for them to fear.
It was true that the elements of resistance to broad reform had
never relented, but there was a cherished hope for wide co-operation in
the territory on so important a matter as the struggle to win for every
man and woman the highly-treasured right to vote.
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On 13 th December, 1934 an unusually large crowd consisting of
all classes of people filled the Council chamber. The air was charged
with volumes of arguments for and against the proposal to establish the
right to vote. The unofficial members of the Council had before them
evidence from both sides. Expressions had come from estates owners,
property owners, business men, planters, merchants, clerks, house
wives, artisans and labourers
In the support of the proposals there was (a) the Workers
League petition, (b) a merchants memorandum signed by a about 150
persons, (c) the People’s Petition through the Workers League and
signed by 2447 persons of all classes. On the other hand there was the
Planters’ petition signed by about 200 persons who opposed the recommendation.
The President of the Legislative Council now introduced the
resolution proposing the adoption of the elective principle. He then appointed
a committee of the whole council with the acting Crown Attorney
as chairman to consider the matter. After that he retired from the
meeting.
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Meeting place of the Legislative Council (postcard by A. Moure Losada)
Debate
All of the unofficial members took part in the debate. Three officials
also expressed their views; at least one of these strongly supported the
proposal. One unofficial member endeavoured to enlighten the Council,
which was in committee stage, on the report of the Closer Union
Commission with special reference to recommendations made to settle
conflicting claims with the Executive Council, but the contention was
not relevant to the issue. Another unofficial compared the relation or
the argument of his colleague to the subject before the house with a
railway train which ran off the tract. The mover and seconder of the
resolution argued for the right to vote forcefully and with brilliance.
Three other members spoke against the resolution. One said his
reason was that the present was not the time for the introducing any
change in the constitution and that of the Government was working satisfactorily.
The second member did not contribute much to the debate.
The address of the third was as follows; Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen.
You have listened to speakers who support the resolution and I am now
going to say a few words against its adoption. When the matter was first
considered by the Honourable Members of Council we were unaware of
the strong opposition to its adoption that existed.
Today, however, there is evidence that a great number of people
are opposed to the introduction of the elective principle at this time.
It has been our duty to examine the status of those who urge adoption of
the resolution in favour of the elective principle and also those who
asked for its rejection.
Are those who clamour for an elective system men of substance
with a stake in the community or are they men of straw? With some notable
exceptions they belong to the latter category. And who are those
responsible for its rejection? Many are the descendants of those who
themselves are primarily responsible for the unique position of prosperity
in which this Island find itself Today. It is true that they do not disturb
the quiet of the countryside by the beating of the drums, but they
love the people of the Island nevertheless. If the methods that have been
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employed by those who demand the adoption of resolution is an indication
of the methods that are to be used in the future, it cannot be long
before the worst element of Haitian politics are introduced into St.
Kitts.
At the end of the debate, the resolution was put to the vote. Only
unofficial members were allowed to vote. Three unofficial voted in
the favour of the resolution; four voted against it. The motion was lost.
A dead silence fell upon the large crowd in the Council Chamber. The
hope for establishing the right to elect representatives in the Government
was crushed.
Political Somersault
The Legislative Council resumed its sitting and the following report
was made; The Committee of this assembled Council beg to report that
after full discussion of the Secretary of State’s despatch and Your Honour’s
message that a resolution to adopt the recommendations in the
Secretary of State’s despatch was rejected by a majority of the committee
(4 to 3). Then the resolution for the adoption of the elective principle
was moved and seconded.
Instantly another unofficial member rose and moved the following
counter-resolution which was seconded; WHEREAS a committee of
this Council has considered the Secretary of State’s despatch No.394 of
21 st September 1934 and His Honour the Administrator’s message relating
to proposals for a change in the constitution of the Presidency;
AND WHEREAS an resolution adopting the proposals for a
change in the said constitution was defeated by the majority of votes of
the unofficial members of the Committee in the proportion of 4 voted to
3 votes.
AND WHEREAS the Committee has reported accordingly;
BE IT RESOLVED that the report of the Committee be adopted
by this Council;
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AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no change be made in
the constitution of the presidency.
The counter- motion was put to the vote and carried , 4 for 3 against.
Then the original motion (for the proposal) was put to the vote and lost.
Thus it went on the records that the cause for political reform suffered a
set-back.
But that was not the end of the issue. One of the unofficials
from Nevis gave notice of his intention to forward a protest to the Secretary
of the State.
Onward!
Two days after the meeting, a petition from taxpayers and others in the
territory was rushed to London. In it, stress was laid on some important
facts. The Council had disregarded the expressed views of the large
majority of the people and accepted the views of the minority.
It was submitted that the decision of the Council rejecting the
proposal was open to objection from a legal point of view. The following
was cited, In June 1934 the Council unanimously adopted a resolution
accepting the introduction of the elective principle into the constitution
of the Presidency. Without even having rescinded that decision
the said session of the Legislature, on 13 th December makes another
decision, opposite in effect, on self-same subject. The novel position is
thus created of the Council having on record two decisions on the same
question, both for all practical purposes being in effect. In our view this
procedure is irregular.
The somersault of the unofficial members was beyond the understanding
of many. Once again anxious eyes cast towards London.
The shock galvanized the stalwarts of the Labour Movement to press on
for political reform. Rightly, the Secretary of State was regarded as a
“Court of Appeal.” He functioned as a safety valve in the British Colonial
System. It was known that contacts made with London officials
were some times not without value. Eighteen years earlier it was necessary
to make quick contacts with London on another issue. This was
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concerning the right for the working people to get together for their own
benefit.
In 1916 the labouring people made an effort, dictated by necessity,
to organise a trades and labour union. A wide, frantic move was
made to break the back bone of the effort and this climaxed in the arrival
in St. Kitts of the then acting Governor of the Leeward Island, Vans
Best, to preside over a meeting of the Legislative Council. At that
meeting the Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the formation of a
trades and labour union. The matter did not end there. Copies of the
law were slipped through to Mr. Arthur Henderson, then Secretary of
the British Labour Party in London, through the medium of Mr. Samuel
Gompers who was, at that time, President of the American Federation
of Labour. Then as a result of a question asked in the House of Commons,
the hostile attitude of the local Legislature was exposed. Further
legislative pressure on the working class was evidently prevented for
the moment.
London again
Another crisis 18 years afterward necessitated aid from London to
check oppression of the masses in this country. The leaders of Labour
appealed to the Secretary of State against the decision of the Legislative
Council to deny the people the right to handle the ballot. The petition to
London was followed by a letter to the Governor urging that the decision
should be set aside. In the letter several major points were submitted.
It was put forward that the decision of the Council was contrary to
the facts and circumstances that had been placed before the body and
that it was not in keeping with the weight of evidence presented to the
Council. The members of the Council, with one exception, were the
same as those who had made investigations six months before with regards
to introducing elective principle, and had reported favourably to
the Council. These Councilors had given no reason for the complete
change of mind to the people whose views they were appointed to represent.
The letter to the Governor ended with the suggestion that if he
was in any doubt as to the weight of public opinion on the question, he
could take the opportunity to obtain the correct position by ordering the
holding of a referendum on the issue. The Labour advocates also re-
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quested that the matter be referred to the Secretary of State if the Governor
was not prepared to deal with it.
It therefore fell to the British Colonial Office, which was often
given a bad name by colonials for keeping non-self-governing territories
under the same authority, to enable the people of St. Kitts-Nevis-
Anguilla to escape the political strangle-hold of the privileged classes.
The behaviour of the local Legislature in December 1934 had caused
astonishment. It shocked the Leeward Islands. The entire British Caribbean
showed concern. Antigua and Montserrat had welcomed the offer
of the privilege for the people to elect their representatives in the Government.
But to this, the powers-that-be in our territory said “No” - just
as they had done in 1922.
Reversal
It was at this junction that the Colonial Office policy proved a useful
device. Both the people’s cause and the wishes of the Secretary of State
were well served by the over-riding authority of the Colonial Office.
The exercise of this power was a relatively rare experience. It was rendered
more novel by the discreditable fact that the territory was stubbornly
out of step with all others in the Caribbean.
But the power was exercised. Its use reversed the anomalous
position created by the local legislature. On 15 th July 1935 the following
message from the Governor was published: It gives me much pleasure
to announce I have received a telegram from the Secretary of State
agreeing that elective principle should be adopted in Antigua, St. Kitts-
Nevis and Montserrat with the franchise qualifications on the lines of
those of Dominica and that there should be in St. Kitts and Nevis three
nominated unofficial and five elected unofficial members and three official
members including the administrator who only will have the casting
vote. Early meetings of the Legislative Councils will be held in all
presidencies probably simultaneously on August 8 th to place these proposals
before the Legislative Councils.
The prayer of the majority of the people had been granted. The
progressive section of the press commented, The news brought a wel-
96

come relief to a grateful people and their inner souls responded to the
note of joyous praise as the report traveled the circuit of the community.
Not only do we rejoice and are glad of heart, but we have felt a
corresponding weight of the responsibility as a political unit we are
about to assume.
We express the hope that all of the inhabitants of the Presidency
will co-operate to discharge successfully those responsibilities which
the new political status will lay upon us.
We sincerely hope that even those who opposed the measure
will rise supremely above themselves by burying their feelings of opposition
and thereby help to make it practicable for the machinery to function
with the least possible friction.
If all of us would pause for a moment to take the manly spirit of
the affair, and we would only give the community interest its premier
position in the new order of things, it would be a comparatively easy
matter for our personal, individual and selfish interest to fade away
from the picture.
So after three years of concentrated battle, the St. Kitts Workers
League.(now the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla Labour Party) won the right
to vote for the people of the territory. It was the first important milestone
along the road to self-government. The next task was to instruct
the masses in the use and power of the ballot together with the responsibility
that went on with it.
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13 LEADERSHIP-STATESMANSHIP
The news of the measure of political reform which was won in the Eastern
Caribbean in 1935 brought rejoicing to the Leeward Islands in particular.
For our own part, the working masses were happy that the fruit
of united efforts were now in full view. The St. Kitts Workers League
was satisfied that it had successfully surmounted a major obstacle, but
now realised that the future might hold in store even bigger issues.
The League kept steadfastly on the straight road which it had
mapped out. Its President, M. T. Manchester, had sounded a significant
note at a public meeting at Warner Park on 28 th October 1933 on the
occasion of the annual observance of the West India National Day in
St. Kitts. A newspaper report of his address described the speech as a
soul stirring and impressive appeal to the gathering for public cooperation
of all classes of the inhabitants of the presidency in order to
keep the political snow ball in action, as the most effective means of
diffusing political consciousness and developing political growth.
Rawle’s Message
The Chairman of the West India Conference of 1932, Mr. C. Rawle of
Dominica, sent abroad a message after the release of the Closer Union
Commission Report which recommended constitutional advances for
the Islands. The message ran, Fellow West Indians: Through the persistent
and unselfish efforts of all classes of West Indians, the front line
trenches of the Crown Colony rule in the Caribbean have at last crumbled.
Let us halt for a while and consolidate the position we have won.
The concession of an unofficial majority on the local legislatures
entailed the ultimate paramountcy of the will of the people and
ensures that Government must in future concern itself primarily with
the welfare of the Governed.
Our present duty is to prove ourselves worthy of the limited opportunity
to manage our own affairs which somewhat grudgingly is being
granted to us; and to plan with renewed confidence, a further ad-
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vance towards the goal of the Federation with Responsible Government.
But the road to political maturity in the British Caribbean was
not without self-made obstacles . The nature of the Commission‘s recommendations
was the ground of controversy among some of the West
Indian leaders. This brought no pleasure to the rank and file. At that
particular time the West Indian leaders could ill afford to be divided. It
was imperative that the leaders should rise magnificently to the occasion
and carry their people onward and upwards into a new sphere of
political, economic and social existence.
The Root of the Problem
West Indians leaders clamoured for self-government and this was
placed within the reach by the Closer Union Commission Report of
1932. However the report did not produce everything that the individual
islands wanted.
In August 1933 Captain A. Cipriani, President of Trinidad
Working Men Association, and at that time thrice mayor of Port-of-
Spain, declined to express an opinion on the report. When asked, he
replied, “I am not saying one word presently.” However his attitude
changed on 19 th September at a meeting of association. Present at this
meeting was Mr. T. A. Marryshow, President of the Grenada Working
Men Association and a member of his island’s legislature, who had arrived
in Trinidad on the previous day to confer with Cipriani on the report.
Captain Cipriani said, I never had the misfortune to read a
more unsatisfactory, specious , unstatesmanlike, absolutely worthless
document than the Federation Report...
I am struck at Dominica’s attitude, but I am not out to criticise
those who are willing to accept the Commission’s recommendations.
But I will say for the working man that we still stand where we were: no
Federation without Self-Government no Self-Government without adult
franchise….
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Grenada -Trinidad Federation
The southern colonies along with Dominica had already been enjoying
a measure of Representative Government. They were in a class by
themselves. The Leeward Islands were the backward lot. As up to that
point the people of Antigua, Montserrat and St. Kitts-Nevis (as this territory
was then called) had not been granted the right to vote. They had
not yet tasted the privilege of electing some of its members of their legislatures.
The Leeward Islands got a greater measure of political liberty
from the Commission’s report, because they were farthest back in the
line. The Report also proposed yet further advances for the units of
the south, but not complete self-government. This did not satisfy them.
They decided to launch out for a Federation of Grenada and Trinidad. In
other words, these two proposed to go it alone. Mr. Marryshow hammered
home the idea as he spoke at the meeting of the Trinidad Working
Men Association. Here he examined the report of the Closer Union
Commission. “The report is contemptible!” he struck out. “So far as
Grenada is concerned we are not accepting it.” Emotions ran high.
“Hold Fast!” he charged the audience. “Remember you have a sister
organisation in Grenada supporting the same principles...”
The eyes of our southern brethren were focused more strongly
on the particular goal which they wanted to reach than on the new
strides which the struggling islands in the north were just beginning to
make. When the “Guns of Grenada” boomed at the Apollo theater on
the evening of September 9 th 1932, they shook the people of St. Kitts,
Nevis and Anguilla into towards a new state of political consciousness
giving tremendous stimulus to the move towards self determination. T.
Albert Marryshow and G. Elmore Edwards of Grenada, made no mean
contribution to the cause of West Indian nationhood. But the power of
Grenada two years later was pitted against the common cause.
Marryshow’s Position
The Secretary of the State’s “Closer Union” despatch was debated in
the Grenada Legislative Council in November of that year. Mr. Marryshow
moved an amendment to the effect that the final ruling authority
for the colony should lie in the Colonial Office in London. On that day
he placed on record another example of West Indian oratory during the
course of the debate, and received the full support of all the elected
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members of the Council. Mr. Marryshow said, We in Grenada, not only
the elected representatives of the people, but we who are conscious,
forward looking, progressive Grenada citizens, know what we want,
know what we ask for, and will ask for it in as respectful a manner as
possible, but firmly, and whether we achieve what we deserve in this
generation or not, we shall not cease our wholesome, consistent, legitimate
agitation until we shall have taken our rightful place as respected
members of the British empire.
You should see what we are driving at. What we want is the
Secretary of State be the final ruling authority and not that an Administrator
or Governor should initiate or rule, on everything at his own
whim or caprice. It is not because we may get an unofficial majority on
paper that we are going to grasp eagerly at it. Majority or no majority,
what we want is some constitutional machinery through which we
should have our legitimate desires actualized, step by step as time goes
on.
We have toiled in the sun and under the midnight stars for
years and years and we have found our aims not inconsistent with British
ideas of justice... We the people of the West Indies and of Grenada
in particular, are out to share to the utmost in running our country, and
there can be no real peace and quiet in these lands until we, like other
British citizens, are able to rejoice in the civilized conviction that it is
up to us to mold and shape our own destiny...
I see nothing of value in this resolution before me. The Closer
Union Commission in their report contained these identical recommendations.
We rejected that report on two grounds: first, that financially it
was monstrously unsound; second that it presaged no constitutional
advances... I congratulate the Secretary of State on the manner in
which he has dealt with the report, seeing nothing progressive in it.
That Antigua and St. Kitts are to be given the privilege of having
elected members, it is of some value to them; and probably St. Vincent,
St. Lucia and Dominica may find quite a lot to their liking in getting
an unofficial majority. But Grenada is entitled to more than that. I
say, without any boast, what is known very far afield, that when it
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comes to political consciousness Grenada is paramount in the West Indies...
I have nailed my colours to the mask and I cannot do any pulling
down now. What we want in Grenada, to put it in plain clear English,
is a governing voice in the control of our own affairs; and I make
no apology when I say we want self-government for the West Indies,
that is to say , to be masters in our very own house, while being sons in
the larger imperial household...
We will not accept without reservations, what is offered in Governments
resolution and sing the Doxology over it…
We have not come here to wreck this resolution, but in the absence
of any word from Your Honour, of the Secretary of State, that
there is going to an effective advance in the constitutional framework of
this Island of Grenada, we are not going to accept this measure...
I want it written legibly so that it can leap to the eye, that our
views will be respected. I am taking nothing nebulous for granted.
Apart from that I will use all the power that I possess to urge my colleagues
not to accept the resolution unless it is framed in a way consistent
with our self-respect as a conscious people in the British Empire.”
If by any reason, however, the Secretary of State does not see it
fit to accept our amendment, we will go along gladly with what we
have, and with faith in the ultimate triumph of our cause. We will allow
our constitution to remain as it is for the time being, but the Secretary
of State will know that there will be no abatement of our agitation here
until we get a constitution in keeping with our status and in keeping in
with the march of time.
The British constitution is flexible enough and British genius is
elastic enough to give Grenada something more in keeping with the
standing and progress of the people. The Secretary of State seems to
feel that Grenada, far in the van, should be given the kind of constitution
she deserves, something in advance of most of the other Islands. I
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see no reason why we should be given something from a common castiron
mold. Major Wood found that some Islands were ahead of others,
and acted accordingly, we claim the right to go a little further now that
it is contemplated to give them what we have already outgrown...”
The amendment I have offered suggests a reasonably middle
course which, while being in tune with our self respect and our manly
pride, cannot derogate from the dignity of the Crown. If however indeed
a “take it or leave it” offer is what is made and there is no room
for reason and counsel so that most of the best interest of both sides can
be met, Grenada, sir, we will rather leave it than take it. The tides of
time are running in our favor, and we are not in the least impatient.
Grenada can wait...
Leewards on the Defensive
The Leeward Islanders were strongly convinced that the recommendations
should be accepted as a stepping stone to greater constitutional
changes. The Dominica branch of the West Indian National League
endeavored to achieve united action throughout the region on the report
but the result was disappointing. The colonies of the north were therefore
thrown on their own resources and were united in their choice of
the course that was to be taken.
Mr. Cecil E. A. Rawle spoke for the Leewards. As chairman of
1932 West Indian conference and the head of the Dominica branch of
the National League, he made an open statement on the issue on 11 th
October, 1933. In his forceful style, he attacked the “demagogic vehemence”
which had labeled the new concessions “as empty, worthless,
insincere and dishonest.” He continued:
In 1922 the bare recognition of the elective principle was
hailed as glorious triumph for Grenada and her political leaders who
then, as now, where in the forefront of the fight for constitutional freedom.
By what process of reasoning does the extension to other West
Indian territories of what was gained for Grenada in 1922, coupled
with the complete disappearance of the official bloc in all the islands
concerned, become a “step backwards”?
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The Northern Islands are an integral part of any BWI Federation.
Their political backwardness has hitherto retarded the progress of
the whole group. The Closer Union Commission has in any event assisted
the birth of political consciousness in Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis
and Montserrat and it has freed all the Leeward Islands from the
nightmare of a forced union in which executive decisions were usually
made by a small quorum of the Federal Executive, consisting of members
permanently resident at headquarters who were as a rule completely
out of touch with public opinion in the neighboring presidencies,
and preoccupied with the requirements of Antigua and the interests of
their classes. Is that a negligible achievement?
But the waves of controversy heat most fiercely around the reservation
of powers of veto and certification and it is in this connection
that some commentators have shown themselves lamentably unfamiliar
with British constitutional history and practice...
The Grenada Resolution to the effect that ‘no power is to be reserved
to the people, that they may exercise the right and duty of the
levying of taxes and the expending thereof, in matters of domestic routine
as apart from legitimate questions of how high imperial policy’ and
that ‘the report denies to the people of the West Indies as a whole some
opportunity to begin their education in self-government’ is based on a
palpable misconstruction of the report.
Electives will now have an opportunity for the display of
statesmanship and must in the future regard themselves as instruments
of Government, rather than as obstacles to Government, since the responsibility
for executive decisions and for the framing of the policy will
rest largely on the shoulders of the unofficial members of the Executive
Council.
For this reason I am sanguine that the unreasonable exercise of
the power of certification is highly improbable. It cannot be too often
repeated that the interests of Government and governed are fundamentally
identical; and that no sane administration will want only to seek to
create dissatisfaction among the people. And in the event of any conflict
arising between the officer administering the government and the
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Unofficial Majority on the Legislature, have we so little confidence in
ourselves as to doubt that will of the people will ultimately prevail?
The vitriolic and uninformed attacks on the Closer Union
Commission report which had appeared in certain sections of the West
Indian press provoke the painful query: Is destructive criticism the alpha
and omega of West Indian politics? Is the West Indian politician
capable of constructive thoughts and action, or must he be definitely
discounted as a specialist in froth blowing and fruitlessness?
It is superlatively clear that very important reforms have been
suggested by the Closer Union Commission; and I venture to predict the
Commissioners’ confidence that they have helped to lay “a sound foundation
for a structure designed eventually to grow, if the communities
so desire, into a West Indian Federation” will prove to be well grounded.
The report is by no means a perfect instrument; it is full of blanks,
and in certain respects it is indefinite. In at least one paragraph its
choice of words is most unhappy; but any unbiased observer will readily
concede its sincerity of purpose, and its sympathy towards the political
aspirations of the people of the British West Indies.
The report is a cautious and conservative document aiming at
orderly progress; it provides for a substantial constitutional advance,
but it seeks to test the ground for a firm foothold for each step to be taken.
With a typical English dislike of cast-iron constitutions it leaves the
uncertainties to be settled by practical experimentation in which the
personality of the Governor and the character and calibre of the elected
representatives of the people will play decisive parts. It is a grain of
mustard seed that is destined to grow to pleasing proportions unless
choked by clumsy handling.
The most unsatisfactory features of the report are (a) its failure
to make special provision for the constitutional advancement of
Trinidad; (b) its hesitancy with regard to the unification of services;
and (c) its upholding of the irrational principle of sectional representation
by nomination. The reluctance of Trinidad to shoulder any potential
financial obligations, real or imaginary towards the smaller Island
led her to exclusion from the picture; nevertheless, a denial to Trinidad
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of the concession granted to her sister colonies is inconceivable. Rugged
insularity will moreover sooner or later be tampered by a growing
community of interests which will eventually compel a centrality acceptable
to all constituent sectors of future West Indian Federation...
Strong Man of the Leewards
Rawle stormed, The varied brands of non-sense that have been circulated
concerning the Closer Union Commission Report include allegations
that the original communique sent out by Dominica announcing
acceptance of the report by Dominica was unauthorized: that it
amounted to a “climb down” from the decisions of the Dominica Conference;
and that it was tactless to proclaim acquiescence before consulting
the other Islands concerned.
What are the facts? The Dominica Conference set the objective
to be attained, viz, a self-governing Federation consisting of Trinidad,
Barbados, the Windward and Leeward Islands, with Jamaica and British
Guiana to be included at option. It was well understood by every
member of the conference that this summit could be reached by progressive
stages.
In the words of the courageous champion of the poor and the
oppressed, the Trinidad delegate, Captain A. A. Cipriani, our duty at
the Conference was to “map out the path for the boys and girls of today
who will be men and women of tomorrow and who must carry on; to
pave their way and ask them to follow, and not flinch or turn back if the
way be long or the road be weary.”
The Conference envisaged no shortcut to Dominion Status. It
demanded and has obtained an early beginning of the education of the
people for greater responsibilities. There has been no statistical deviation
of the march towards the ultimate destination. The acceptance decision
was made by and the original and subsequent broadcast were
sent out at the instance of the Executive Committee of the Dominica
branch of the West Indian National League to whom authority to take
the necessary action on the Report had been delegated by the rank and
file of our Association. The most influential supporters of the constitu-
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tional reform movement in this Presidency were consulted, and were
found to be in agreement with the Report in its main outlines.
Hour of Decision
The 1932 Commission’s Report had brought the Leeward Islands to the
crossroads. On the one hand there was pressure from the crusaders of
reform in the South Caribbean. On the other hand there was the temptation
to use the weapons of the boycott and to employ all other means
to shatter the clutches of colonialism. But the latter course had its dangers.
Rawle told the story of what went on behind, in his public statement
made on 11 th October 1934. He said, Prior to the publications of
the report I wrote that certain of the more prominent conferences
should be held preferably at Grenada, which had been selected as the
headquarters of the West Indian National League, the instrument
through which the Conference hoped to continue the work it had commenced,
for the purpose of arriving at a collective decision regarding
the Closer Union Report when issued. I also wrote the Hon. T. A. Marryshow
of Grenada to this effect although he was not a conference delegate,
because he had promised, when passing through Dominica on
his way from London to Grenada that he would do his utmost to organise
the League’s headquarters on a proper basis.
With two exceptions, I did not receive the courtesy of a reply.
The responsible Headquarters of the League remained peculiarly silent.
No actios was taken there or elsewhere on my proposal, and the Dominica
Branch of the League was left to its own resources, and was consequently
compelled to act on its own initiative.
The alternatives to acceptance of the report were fully and
frankly examined. Passive resistance to the Crown Colony Rule
throughout the West Indies including a mass refusal to pay taxes, and
an absolute boycott of Governmental institutions, appeared to be the
only weapon by which a larger measure of autonomy could be immediately
enforced. To invite the risk of such an explosion would in any
case be a grave responsibility. To do so without reasonable cause and
without hope of success would be criminal folly. Surveying the situa-
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tion candidly, it was obvious that outside of Dominica no such step
could be taken or effectively maintained.
Trinidad was hopelessly divided politically; Grenada could not
be relied on, Mr. Marryshow having advised us - when he conferred
with our committee - that he and his fellow unofficials could not
strengthen the common cause by following the Dominica example of
resignation en block from the Executive and Legislative Councils, as the
case might be, and boycotting any elections held under the existing constitution.
Public opinion in St. Lucia and St. Vincent would certainly
not sanction any flirting with un-constitutionalism. And the Northern
Islands were lukewarm, having at no time evinced any strong desire for
a constitutional change, notwithstanding the almost super-human efforts
of the stalwart Wilson in Antigua to teach his people - in the face
of overwhelming odds - the meaning of the true citizenship.
In Dominica itself the deadlock between Government and People
was acute, the prospect of serious trouble was not remote; yet the
dominant need was as it now is, for political tranquility and economic
reconstruction, which calls for active co-operation between rulers and
ruled. Our committee was not oblivious of the fact that with very few
exceptions the politically minded West Indian is unwilling to face prison
or poverty for the sake of an ideal, and that a sense of discipline is
not yet highly developed in the Caribbean. In these circumstances Non-
Cooperation was ruled out as impracticable and impolitic.
It must be reminded that, despite Dominica’s reputation for political
turbulence, the movement for constitutional reform has never
assumed a sectional or racial character here. The appeal has been to
an all-embracing West Indian Nationalism, and strenuous efforts have
been made to induce, the English element to descend from its pedestal
of aloofness and to pull its full weight in the local affairs for the common
good. The result of this policy of opportunity for all minorities -
and in my view the term minorities include the inarticulate masses who
enjoy a minimum of educational and vocational facilities - has been that
every section of the community has made a substantial sacrifice towards
the common end. Those sacrifices will not be in vain if the West
Indians of moderation and goodwill of all classes and complexions
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combine to give the Closer Union Scheme a fair trial, using it as a stepping
stone to assist their country to take its proper place in the intricate
mosaic which constitutes the British Empire.
Growing Pains
The clash between West Indian Leaders in 1933 did not effect the solidarity
of the people. It rather broadened their vision, enabling them to
see the common objectives in clearer light. Commenting on the disagreement
on the Commission’s Report, a section of local press said in
October 1933: To us, it is a sign, an evidence of the health of the baby
of the Empire, a stir which indicates that the question of political emancipation
for the people of these Islands has been injected with the element
of very serious discussion and approach from different point of
views. Members of the body politic need not be unduly shaken up, because
there is, in our humble view, no unbridgeable cleavage of opinion
among these leaders... And what is really of the supreme interest three
leaders have laboured too much, have become too seriously attached,
by their devotion during the pre-natal period, to desire honestly to neglect
the infant; and to say the least, no one contending for the premier
position as head nurse, although there are some differences of opinion
as to the treatment best calculated to encourage the healthy, sturdy,
stalwart growth of their infant charge. We admit, however, that there
seems to be a mistake, and that is, that before any public expressions of
opinion was circulated another conference, even of the prominent leaders,
should have been convened to decide the treatment to be accorded
the Commission’s report.
Closed Chapter
Here ended a chapter in the books of Caribbean History. The demand of
the nineteen thirties was the leadership, cool-headedness, statesmanship.
Cipriani, Marryshow and Rawle were conscious of this. These
odd bits were part of our experiences, however unsavoury they might
have been, and the people took them for what they were worth - nothing
more. So far as popular thinking was concerned, the whole episode was
somewhat of a storm in a tea cup. The people loved the three heroes,
whatever their temporary differences.
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14 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER
SLAVERY
The year 1934 was a time when West Indians, particularly the working
class, paused to examine the foundation on which they had built; made
an evaluation of the present; and pledged to continue to build for the
future. Some people said at that time that the first day of August - one
hundred years after slavery was abolished - should not be an occasion
for much ado, because emancipation was nothing peculiar to Negroes in
the British Caribbean. The critics stated that every race on the globe
experienced, at some time or another, the agony of being enslaved by
another race of people. The St. Kitts Workers League took a different
view. The people of our three Islands had just been awakened to the
necessity for pursuing social and industrial reform by united efforts.
The working population had begun only two years earlier to organise
themselves for the big move forward under the this new leadership.
The Workers’ League simply could not miss such a unique opportunity
to advance the education of the working class on the most important
part of their history. The celebration of the centenary was a significant
milestone along the pathway of human events in the Western
world.
The chain of events may be restricted to the period commencing
with the first discovery of land in the west by Christopher Columbus
in 1492. Next would be the colonisation of St. Kitts by the English
in 1623. Then followed the incident of the slave trade which became
the basic element of the West Indian economy. In the last quarter of the
eighteenth century the slave trade was an indispensable source of labour
supply in the British Islands, and British traders were supplying slaves
to French, Spanish, Dutch and Danish territories as well. While the
trade was a flourishing business for the Lords of Commerce, it reduced
human beings from the West African coast to the level of the beasts. So
the abolition of slavery in1834 brought the end of an era of misery to
the ancestors of Negroes in the British Caribbean. It was therefore a
duty resting on organised labour in St. Kitts in the year 1934 to take a
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prominent part in marking the close of the first century after emancipation
and the beginning of a second period as a forward moving people.
The League declared its position in a public statement issued on
August 1, 1934 in which it advocated “industrial reforms as remedy to
economic slavery.” The statement read, At this juncture, the centenary
of the abolition of chattel slavery, we feel it opportune to clear the
grounds and lay the foundations by the establishment of an organisation
such as the St .Kitts Workers League Ltd. for guarding and protecting
the common rights and for the protection of West Indian in general
and the people of St. Kitts-Nevis in particular in the social, political
and economic context and which we pray, by the aid of God, will
continue its uplifting work and be passed on to posterity as an indestructible
bulwark and monument established for the purpose of ‘service’
and when its founders have passed on to the Commonwealth of the
Great Beyond it may continue to perform in a greater measure than at
present the great and noble work embodied in the words of the motto,
“For the good that we can do.”
Centenary Celebrations
Wednesday, the first day of August 1934 was declared a bank holiday
through out the colony of the Leeward Islands by proclamation dated at
Government House, Antigua, on 27 th June of that year. In each of the
Islands a celebration programme was carried out consisting of thanksgiving
services, parades, public meetings, sports exercises, art and craft
exhibitions, outings, etc. To all of these the working class turned out in
large numbers, showing recognition of their common origin and their
zeal in moving forward together into the opening of the second century
as a freed people.
That afternoon all roads in St. Kitts led to Ponds Pasture. Thousands of
persons assembled there to take part in the great industrial display organised
by the St. Kitts Worker League. In the long procession, the
various groups were distinguished by banners and placards denoting
their occupation. These included all classes of employment, from the
professional ranks to the ordinary labourers. There were some twenty
four groups. To the music of two brass bands the parade moved off at
about 3:30 p.m. marching on to Church Street then upwards to Warner
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Park where the mammoth gathering was addressed by leaders of the
labour movement and other prominent persons.
An official of the Workers League told the gathering, We can
boast that progress has been made . We have entered upon a new era in
which there is much to be done, we have therefore the Past as an encouragement
to us. Let us make the Past a lever to help us forward.
When the discouragements of the future press us down, let us use the
Past to spur us onwards.
Let us try to live down our failures. Let us be guided by right
principles. Let us take more interest in the matter of education. Education
is the fulcrum that will lift us above our present position. It has
helped us in the past, and it will help us in the future...
A total of 831,000 slaves were freed in 1834 under the Emancipation
Act passed by the Imperial Government on 28 th August 1833. Of
these 715,000 were in the West Indies. In St .Kitts there were 19,310; in
Nevis 6,660; in Anguilla 2,388. The place releasing the largest number
was Jamaica with 323,000, and that releasing the smallest was Honduras
with 2,100. The British parliament voted twenty million pounds to
be paid as compensation to the slave owners.
Life in Two Worlds
When the first hundred years after the abolition of slavery in the British
Caribbean was commemorated in 1934, there were still alive former
slaves who had experienced the horrors of slave life and lived to witness
the centenary celebrations. One of these was William Sandall of
Godwin Ghaut. He was in good health. Although bent with age, he was
able to walk without special effort and his faculties appeared to be intact.
He said he was born in Guinea, Africa, and told an interesting story
of being taken with about three hundred others off a privateer by a
British war ship, being given food, water and clothing, and finally landed
at Pump Bay, St. Kitts, where he was sold as a slave to Cranstoun
estate.
He was a young man then, but was unable to tell us how old he
was. His age was estimated at 118 or 119 years. He said Mr. Padmore
was his slave master, and remembered the day one hundred years back,
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when the slaves were set free, and how “All the slaves from Cranstoun,
Dieppe Bay and all over traveled to town.” He mentioned that “massa”
gave them “dance”, plenty of food and a good time. Sendall outlived
his twelve children.
Another survivor of the first century was Eliza Bradshaw, formerly
Eliza Rouse, who lived at St. Paul’s Village in 1934. On being
interviewed, she said she was “in the time of count Bryan.” She lived
and worked at Willet’s Estate and later moved to Belmont. Her age
was given as nine years at the time of Emancipation. She lived to see
her fifth generation.
A Bit of Background
Candidly and with deep feelings, Mr. Clement Malone (later Sir Clement)
delivered a moving address at commemorative service held at the
Basseterre Moravian church to mark the centenary of Emancipation. In
the course of his speech he gave the mammoth gathering a few glimpses
of the background of the anniversary. He said, In 1729 Lord Talbot,
then Attorney General of England , gave it as his considered opinion
“that a slave coming from the West Indies to Great Britain did not become
free.” But in 1765 a serious campaign against slavery was initiated
by Granville Sharpe and in 1772 came the decision in what is
know in constitutional law as the Somerset case. The case decided that
slaves setting foot in England cannot be sent out of the country by any
process of law to be there executed . The facts of that case were these:-
what is now the State of Virginia was at that time a British colony, and
a gentleman from Virginia brought one of his slaves across to England.
That slave left his master when he reached England. The master seized
him on board the ship for a purpose of sending him abroad to be sold as
a slave . Through the influence of Granville Sharpe and others, a writ of
habeas corpus was issued and the question came before Lord Mansfield
to decide if the slave could lawfully and seized and sent abroad.
Lord Mansfield who was Lord Chief Justice of England, put the
case off for two or three terms, trying to effect a settlement. He could
not act rashly, it was an important decision that he was called upon to
make. Seeing that no compromise could be effected, Lord Mansfield -
be it said to his lasting credit - gave as his decision that the state of
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slavery was so odious that nothing could be suffered to support it put
positive law, and there upon ordered that the slave should be set at liberty.
The effect of that decision was that any man, whether Negro or
other wise, who set foot in England at once became free.
A case which brought to light the appalling conditions under
which the traffic in slaves was conducted was the case of the slave ship
Zong. In the year 1781 four hundred and forty slaves were shipped
from West Africa on the Zong destined for Jamaica. In the courses of
the voyage those slaves suffered terribly. Food ran so short that some
of them were thrown overboard; in fact the captain threw over board
more than one hundred as slaves. By the time they reached their destination
those slaves were reduced to almost one half of the original
number . The owners of the slaves brought at action against the under
writers seeking repayment for their slaves. These owners did not have
in mind the cause of freedom, but the cause of freedom was certainly
assisted. In the course of the trial the evidence produced, disclosed all
the horrors of the treatment those slaves received on the voyage from
West Africa to Jamaica 1 . Public feeling was aroused and many pamphlets
were written on the subject of Slavery on the conditions under
which slaves existed. At that time there was in St. Kitts a gentleman , the
Rev. Mr. James Ramsay , and it was largely due to his writings based
on his first hand knowledge of the conditions in these Islands, that in
1787 the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed.
Among the persons instrumental in forming the society were
Sharpe, Wilberforce and Clarkson. In 1807 Earl Petty, afterwards
Duke of Northumberland, introduced in Parliament a measure designed
to give freedom to the children of the slaves, but the Government of the
day was not interested in this measure and it fell through...
I look back on the pre-emancipation days with no feeling of bitterness,
without anything of the spirit of ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.’ I look back to them rather with a feeling of compassion.
1 The slaves on the Zong were thrown overboard in mid-ocean after many of
them had died at sea. The owners realized that if the remaineder were landed
they would not realies a profit but if all were lost they could claim insurance.
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The people in those days took it for granted that slavery was the correct
thing ... slavery was sentenced by the Law, by the Church and by Society
generally...
Again there was Mr. Thomas John Cottle, a planter in Nevis
who built a church of solid stone so that his slaves could have a place to
worship, it is at Round Hill, an Anglican church known as St. Mark’s
church. There was Christopher Codrington, the founder of Codrington
College in Barbados; there was Joseph Sturge of the Society of Friends
whose descendants have done so much for the Island of Montserrat;
and many others whose names many of you are familiar with. The realisation
that every thing was not quite right, was being conceived...
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15 THE RIOTS OF 1935
Guns blazed, voices shrieked and bullets tore into human flesh at St.
Johnston Avenue in the late afternoon of Tuesday, 29 January, 1935.
St. Kitts had opened a new chapter in the industrial history of the British
Caribbean. “The Mother Colony of the West Indies” had become the
starting point of a chain of distasteful events that spread and ultimately
ringed the Caribbean. This was part of the industrial evolution which
trailed a natural course down from the evil of the social and economic
system of two hundred years ago. The background of the stark drama
was a closely woven network of conflicting interests - those of the
working masses on the one hand and those of the owners of capital on
the other hand. After the abolition of slavery in 1834, the workers were
free from certain disabilities, but had to fend for them selves in the
broader sphere of civil life.
There was no guide, no help, no encouragement from any influential
quarter to urge the workers to organise for the promotion of their
common interests. There were no longer any masters or slave owners
who were obliged to provide food and shelter for the tillers of the land
and the others whose daily toil was the upkeep of the country. There
was no Trade Union to champion their cause. Rather, the effects of the
hard fist of Governor Vane Best was still felt in St. Kitts up to the nineteen
thirties - long after he had come here from Antigua in 1917 and
passed a bill prohibiting the formation of Trade Unions.
All through the years there had been a gradual build-up of a
sense of frustration and resentment among the masses against the general
conditions of their working lives. Swells of subdued emotions
pushed themselves up to the surface tima and again. The six martyrs of
St. Paul’s Village gave vent to the heat of that impulse in 1918 when
they submitted to the punishment of a prison sentence rather than take a
less humiliating course to satisfy their employer against whom they had
committed an offence. And what was the offence? They did not turn
out to their jobs. Only that!
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Sugar Factory workers were “chastised with scorpions” when
they staged a walk-out on 11 th April, 1930 after instructions had come
from the London office of the Factory that their wages must be reduced.
They were upbraided and punished for having walked off the job. Then
the reduction of one penny in the shilling was further carried down to
another penny in the shilling.
Estate labourers felt the pinch of capitalist domination when
they held up work at the start of the 1932 crop through dissatisfaction
with the low cutting rate of 6 pence (16 cents) per ton, but were forced
to go on working for that figure under pressures of many kinds. (The
rate in 1969 was $1.58 per ton when cutting for mechanical loaders -
nearly ten times as much as the 1932 rate).
The years 1933 and 1934 brought no relief to what had become
traditional “Hard Life”. The wolf was always at the door of the working
man. Low wages, poor standard of health, limited education facilities,
etc, were still keeping workers in social and economic bondage.
The blessings of labour unions were growing freely all over the
United States of America, throughout Great Britain and other progressive
countries; but in St. Kitts the formation of Trade Unions was forbidden
by law. So the horrors of 1935 descended on the “Fertile Isle”
like a bolt from the blue. The situation erupted.
1935 Crop
The reaping of the 1935 sugar crop was to start on Monday, January 28.
The spirit of the St Paul’s Village martyrs lived again. It was seventeen
years since they had made the historic sacrifice, and the necessity for
positive action had again arisen. Estate workers knew that the efforts of
one man, or a single gang, or even an entire estate unit could do nothing
to bring about the desired end. They realised that only unity of thought,
action and purpose would help their cause.
Wages were low. For years, they had been so. The cutters were
the leading men in the estate work force. Others looked to them. They
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looked to the boldest within the ranks. These stalwarts, in turn looked
around for their fellow-workers and gave them inspiration to challenge
the forces that held them collectively in economic bondage. They issued
a call to take up the common burden.
Monday, 28 January, was not only the beginning of a working
week and the commencement of another crop, it was also the dawn of a
new concept to the labouring class - of a duty to preserve their existence.
At that moment low wages formed the main source of discontent.
The highest rate (8d.per ton) was paid for cutting. It was difficult to get
the proverbial ends meet. In the case of other classes of workers down
the line, the hardships were no less. Courageous men were moved to
action, and were urged onward by a simple yet deep devotion to a
common cause.
The first sign of commotion was at the western fringe of Basseterre.
Buckley’s estate was the central point. The labour force on the
estate consisted mainly of people from neighboring villages along with
those living in the estate yard. The combined action of all estate workers
in the island was needed. How could it be obtained? Since there
was no law under which the workers could seek a rise in pay; since the
situation, as they saw it, called for instant action on a wide front; and
since there was no easy means of communicating quickly with the other
labourers, the only course that the stalwarts saw open to them was to
travel on foot from estate to estate throughout the island, passing on the
idea to other workers that reaping should not be started at the low cutting
rate of eight pence per ton.
On the March
The opening episode was recorded in a newspaper report as follows:-
On Buckleys Estate Monday morning,(28th January, 1935) a strike was
made by the labourers for higher wages. Word was passed to the other
estate, the labourers on which readily joined in the refusal to start reaping
the sugar cane crop at the low cutting rate of eight pence per ton.
On Tuesday morning the strikers marched westward from Buckleys advising
workers as they went along to suspend work until the rate of
wages had been satisfactorily decided.
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At West Farm the marchers were prevented by armed policemen
sent from Basseterre from entering the yard of the estate. A part of
the crowd, however, made their way through the fields and satisfied
themselves that the West Farm labourers did not intend to continue
working after they had learnt that workmen on several other estates had
struck
.
The crowd grew larger as it moved along. News reached
Basseterre that the situation was taking alarming proportions. A number
of influential men including Rev. Mansfield Williams, the Honorable
Clement Malone, His Worship Mr. E.P.S. Bell, Magistrate, District
“D”, and Major O. St. A Duke, Inspector of Police, overtook the crowd
in the neighboring Lamberts Estate and tried to persuade them to refrain
from any act which may tend to create public disorder.
The strikers gave their promise to maintain due regard for the
King’s peace. The march continued to Stonefort, Middle Island, Lamberts
and Godwin at which places an additional number of persons
joined in the demonstration. At Sandy Point the strikers received a report
that the labourers on Buckleys estate had turned to work. The
crowd divided, one half continuing the march to the eastern district of
the island and the other turning back towards Buckleys. Fresh men had
been recruited in the morning on the estate to carry on the work but
were soon after urged to cease. Having reaching Buckley’s estate, the
strikers met a man on a cart in the estate yard and advised him to
abandon the cart. The man readily did so.
It is alleged that Mr. Dobridge, manager, and Mr. Pond overseer
on the estate, appeared with loaded shotguns on the scene and ordered
the crowd out of the yard. A firearm was discharged in the crowd
and, as a result four persons suffered minor wounds.
Report of the Chief Justice
St. Kitts had become a battle field on which estate workers in 1935
were struggling for a living wage. The method they used was criticised
but they could see no other course to take. Their request for a rise of
pay led to a stoppage of work; the “strike” led to an island wide call on
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workers to unite; the march led to a riot which ended in physical injury
and death. There was no planned strategy. This can be seen from a
report of the Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands which was submitted
to the Governor in Antigua on 8 th May, 1935. The report said, It appeared
from the evidence adduced before the court that the ringleaders
started from Haynes Smith Village, which is to the immediate west of
the plantation known as “Shadwell” situate to the immediate north of
the outskirts of Basseterre. Here the crowd, which had gathered, in
numbers as they went along, met the laboures at work on this estate and
at an adjoining estate known as “Stapleton” and demanded that they
should desist from work. The cane cutters were ordered to put up their
bills and to ‘fall in’ with the crowd.
The crowd continued their journey in a northerly direction to
Monkey Hill. While there the Inspector of Police, Major Duke, the Magistrate,
Mr. Bell, and several non-commissioned officers of the police
went up to the crowd and urged them to disperse. Demands were being
made for higher wages. At this time most of the crowd was armed with
sticks of more or less lethal sizes. The crowd then went on to Douglas
Estate and forced the labourers at work to desist. The same procedure
was followed at Needmust Estate. The crowd continued to grow in size,
and continued their course around the north-eastern bend of the island’s
main road, stopping at estates and compelling the labourers at
work to put down their implements and to stop work.
(photograph courtesy of the St. Christopher Heritage Society)
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Some of the men, it was alleged, were ordered to ‘fall-in’ with
the crowd. About noon, the crowd arrived at the estate known as
Brighton. The manager....met the crowd as they advance in large numbers
into his estate yard. He ordered them out, telling that they were on
private property. The crowd, still armed with sticks, and numbering by
estimation 300 and 400, surrounded the manager (Mr Yearwood) in a
threatening manner by raising their sticks over his head. He again
spoke to them. No personal violence was done to him. His estate labourers
were ordered to stop work. Mules and cattle, which were harnessed
in their carts were taken out and the working gear cut up in order
to prevent any immediate use being made of the carts.
The manager and his employees were put in fear by the action
of the crowd. His principal cutter was forcibly ordered to join the
crowd and a stick was placed in his hands. The crowd, still further
augmented in numbers from the neighboring village, proceeded to the
next estate known as Lodge...
The Chief Justice’s Report on the situation continued: They entered
the estate yard. As they did so, the owner and manager, Mr.
Todd, advance towards them with his hands above his head, saying:
“You must not come in here. You must go back . You are trespassing
and this is private property”. Four men came forward from the crowd
and commenced hitting Mr. Todd with their sticks. The latter was unarmed.
Upon seeing the violence of these men, he called to his maid
servant to bring his shotgun.
It was fetched and handed to Mr. Todd, but as he grasped it, he
was struck on the hand and forced to drop the gun. The gun was not
loaded. Upon its falling to the ground it was seized by one of Mr.
Todd’s assailants and broken in two… A few stones were also thrown,
two of which struck his house servants. Mr. Todd and his servants were
forced to retreat into his homestead. The crowd then proceeded to other
estates, unharnessing all cattle carts and damaging the working
gear…
Another estate known as Willetts was visited. The overseer was
seized and a bill demanded of him for the purpose of destroying the
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working gear of the carts which were then unharnessed in the estate
yard. The bills had been previously stored away. The leaders seized
the overseer and marched him up to the manager’s house and the chief
and principal rioter ordered the crowd to remain 100 feet from the
manager’s house, and went forward to the house with the overseer. The
manager, a native of St. Kitts, told the overseer to come inside the
house. The leader and also members of the mob, used threats of violence
but did not take any further action.
Meanwhile the police under the command of Major Duke, arrived
and met the crowd at Estridge Estate. The police were eight in
number and were armed with rifles. Arrests were made. It does not appear
from the evidence that any attack was made on the police. This
brings the movement and actions of the crowd, which by estimation had
decreased to between 200 and 300 up to approximately 5 o’clock p.m.
The crowd moved onwards but was not followed by the police who were
12 to 13 miles from headquarters and with hostile villages in their
rear...
Why This?
Why did all of this happen? How else could the necessary interest be
aroused to produce due consideration of the plight of the labouring
class in St. Kitts at that period? By what means were their wages and
working conditions to be improved? A first step forward had to be
made; though this move in 1935 was regarded as a crude one. The situation
taught some important lessons - to the workers themselves, to the
government of that day and to the community as a whole.
The Second Day
A day of industrial unrest in St. Kitts had ended, but it left a spirited
awakening among workers on sugar estates. The night passed somewhat
quietly. Subsequent happenings were described in the Chief Justice’s
report. It stated: The following morning (29th January 1935) a smaller
band of rioters went around the western limits of the island, visiting
estates and demanding of the labourers that they should ‘fall in’ with
them. In coming along the main road, which encircles the island, two
carts, belonging to sugar-cane estates, were met. These were hauled out
(unharnessed) and the cattle set at large among the cane fields. The
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gear was damaged and the employees threatened if they did not ‘fall in’
with the crowd.
At Saddlers Village the crowd came to a standstill outside of a
local rum and grocer’s shop. A labourer belonging to one of the neighboring
estates was ordered to join the crowd. He refused and was
struck over the head with a piece of iron piping by a man of powerful
built and fell to the ground....
Buckleys
About 3 p.m. a large crowd, estimated at 200 or 300 armed with sticks
entered the estate yard of Buckleys Estate. The overseer was in the
yard and he made a report to the manager’s house and called Mr. Dobridge,
the manager... The crowd proceeded to haul out an estate cart
which was in the yard. Mr. Dobridge, accompanied by his foreman
overseer, went out into the yard in front of his dwelling house, both being
armed with a shotgun loaded with No.1 shot. Mr. Dobridge ordered
the crowd out of the estate yard.
Immediately threats of violence were made and stones thrown
at the two of them… Mr. Dobridge, fearing an attack upon his life discharged
one barrel of his gun at the crowd, aiming low. He swore that
he aimed at the feet ........Three person received shot wounds... The
wounds were of a superficial nature. Mr. Dobridge and his overseer
retreated into his dwelling house and stood at a window on the veranda
facing the crowd who by this time had retreated to the main road in
front of his dwelling house and the estate yard. It could be seen from
the street that both Mr. Dobridge and his overseer were armed. Mr.
Dobridge admits having a rifle as well as two revolvers on his premises
besides the two shotguns.
An armed police contingent of eleven men, under the command
of Major Duke, accompanied by the Magistrate Bell, both also armed
with rifles, arrived about 3.45 p.m. The police were lined up in the estate
yard facing the crowd at about ten yards distant from them. The
Magistrate and Major Duke went amongst the crowd urging them to
separate and depart to their homes, but with absolutely no response…
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The Report of the Chief Justice continued the story: On their way to
Buckley’s Estate, and near to its environs, some of the crowd approached
the Magistrate and Major Duke, and demanded the arrest of
Mr. Dobridge and his overseer, Mr. Pond, some alleging that Mr. Pond
had shot some of the crowd, others that it was Mr. Dobridge. Thereupon
Major Duke left and interviewed Mr. Dobridge at his house. On
his return, he spoke to the parties who had made the complaint, and
told the that if they would disperse and some of them would come to the
police station with him along with the injured parties, he would take
down their statements and fully inquire into the matter and see that justice
was done. This did not please the crowd and they remained shouting
out at intervals: “We want Dobridge. We want Pond, he don’t belong
here and has no right to shoot anybody. (Mr. Pond was a native of
Montserrat)...
At or about 5 p.m. Major Duke and Mr. Bell left the force alternately
with the object of making reports, the former to arrange for the
assistance of the local Defence Force and the Defence Reserve Force.
Mr. Bell brought back with him Rev. Williams, Moravian Minister, Mr.
Manchester, President of the Workers League, and Mr. John, a prominent
merchant in the town of Basseterre, in order that they might speak
to the people and get them to disperse. The Honorable Clement
Malone, a member of the Executive Council and a leading and influential
member of the Bar, spoke to the crowd, urging them to disperse
and telling them of their error in attempting to use force for the purpose
of getting increased wages.
The crowd listened only to the urging of Mr. Manchester and a
large number left with him, but apparently none of those immediately in
front of Mr. Dobridge’s house. The other speakers do not appear to
have had any effect on the crowd. Indeed, the Rev. Williams, who is
well known and who has a large congregation, was jeered at, and told
that this was no church and no place for services.
The other armed forces arrived shortly before 6 p.m. At this
time the crowd, which at a low estimate was given at 400 to 500 men,
women and children, was getting more and more hostile and was shouting
out threats of violence towards Mr. Dobridge and Mr. Pond. The
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Inspector of Police and Magistrate conferred, shortly after 6 p.m. the
Magistrate, Mr. Bell, read the Riot Act and again urged the crowd to
disperse...
Riot Act Proclamation
The following is the text of the Proclamation made under the Riot Act
(Cap. 47) of the Leeward Islands: Our Sovereign Lord the King charges
and commands all persons having assembled immediately to disperse
themselves and peaceable to depart to their own habitations or to their
lawful business upon pains contained in the Riot Act. GOD SAVE THE
KING!
Even this had no effect on the excited crowd at Buckley’s gate on that
Tuesday afternoon, the 29 th January 1935. Their feelings had got a new
prick from the firing of a shot gun by an estate official, injuring three
workers. Night was coming on. The situation was tense. The Report of
the Chief Justice recorded the next stage: There being so much noise
after an interval, which varied according to the evidence, four to fifteen
or twenty minutes, the Riot Act was read a second time. The crowd
would not listen, and immediately after the second reading of the Riot
Act they commenced cannonading the forces with stones; some of the
police were struck, but not seriously injured.
Major Duke then ordered the police to move forwards with
arms at the port, in order to press the crowd backward towards the villages
of Haynes Smith and St Johnson and away from Mr Dobridge’s
quarters, the Defence Forces being ordered to stand by in support at
the rear. Meanwhile the police and Defence Forces were being subject
to a continuous fusillade of stones of dangerous size. Several of the
men were hit as was also the Magistrate. The crowd were warned that
if they did not desist their stone throwing they would be fired on by the
Forces.
This had no effect and orders were given to the forces to fire on
persistent stone-throwers on the flanks, which was done. There were
women and children in the main body of the rioters.... There were five
rounds of ammunition issued to the Forces. Fifty five shots were fired;
three men were killed and eight wounded. As far as the police evidence
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was concerned, the person killed were on the street in St. Johnston Village
near the entrance to it from Basseterre side....
Reporting the grim climax, a newspaper said; After the reading
of the Riot Act, fire was opened. The deadly pallets sang and whistled
their fatal notes far and wide through the villages of Haynes Smith and
St. Johnston. The bullets tore their way through fences, the sides of
houses and buildings, through electric lighting post, through household
furniture, through concrete structures, and last, but by no means least,
through the live human flesh of both the guilty and the innocent alike.
Blood spilled in the air and ran profusely on the ground.
League’s Message
The division of the crowd previously taken away by officers of the St.
Kitts Workers League, was led to the Bay Front where, by these men,
they were seriously advised to refrain from any action which might create
public disorder. The opportunity was also taken by the Workers
League to distribute a printed message to the people. It said: The St.
Kitts Workers League, in the interest and the general welfare of the various
sections of the people of the island, solemnly and seriously advises
each and every individual of the community to refrain from any act
which may tend to create disorder and a breach of the King’s peace,
and especially at this juncture of labour unrest. The League views the
present situation with deep concern and in solemn terms declares that
everything should be avoided which may end disastrously to the community
in general.
Who paid the price?
After the pleading, marching, rioting and shooting of January 1935,
there was more to come before the close of the industrial episode. The
victims of the blazing guns were John Allen, James Archibald, both
labourers, and Joseph Samuel,a factory watch man. The following persons
were injured by bullets and taken to the hospital:- Alfred Rogers of
Old Botanic Gardens; Cyril Tyson of Mc Knight, William Fowler of St
Johnston Village; Samuel Woodley of Wattley Gate; Ellsworth
Selkridge of Trafalgar Range; Charles Moving of Market Street; Olive
Allen of St Johnston Village; Virginia Greaux of The Infirmary; Joseph
Williams of Russel Village. On the following night a British warship.
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H.M.S. Leander arrived in the port and landed a party of marines to ensure
that the situation was under control.
However badly the workers were suffering from the hardship of
low wages, however grievous was the prohibition of Trade Unions in
St. Kitts, the law of the land had to be respected. Revolt against social
and economic conditions was the root cause of the riots. But the people
in high places who allowed those conditions to exist were not the ones
to answer for the disorder in the country. The law however took its
course. Several persons were arrested on riot charges. News of the
disturbance swiftly spread far and wide. Contact was made with Kittitians
abroad. They were deeply moved. A good many of them living
in New York were urged to take quick action. They felt themselves
bound to those at home by double ties - that of motherland and that of
common working class destiny.
In New York the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Defence Committee
was formed. Its primary task was to raise funds to provide legal assistance
for those who were held for court trial in St. Kitts. The committee
tackled the job with great zeal and it efforts were highly successful. At
the St. Kitts base, the Workers League had kept a watch over the whole
affair and gave all the help it could. The hands of the League and the
entire working population were tied to a great extent by the law which
kept the salvation of the Trade Unionism out of the country at that time.
When the fermenting situation exploded, the leaders of the
Workers League had to perform a multiple role. The three-year-old organisation
was fully occupied in the struggle for social and political
reforms in the territory. The 1935 eruption in the industrial sphere added
to the tremendous task. Only one member of the League was implicated
in the riot trials. He had joined the League just a week before the
disturbance and was charge with unlawful assembly.
The Circuit Court trials began on March 21 and ended on April
18. Thirty nine persons were charge. Six were convicted and sentenced
to imprisonment with hard labour. They were
John Palmer 5 years
Simeon Prince 5 years
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Albert Sutton 3 years
James Liburd 3 years
Thomas Fergus 2 years 6 months
Thomas Saddler 2 years
The sugar industry in St. Kitts had been build and blissfully flourished
on a foundation of slave labour. Now descendants of the slaves were
seeking a better deal from the fruit of their toil but were confronted with
the misfortunes of disappointment, distress and death.
Echoes of the Riots
After the riots and shooting of January 1935, the St. Kitts-Nevis Workers
League urged that there should be a investigation into the cause of
the industrial upheaval and into the operation of the sugar industry in St.
Kitts. The Union Messenger pressed home the necessity for the Colonial
Secretary, Sir Phillip Cunliffe-Lister, in London to start an enquiry
in to the disturbance. Referring to the Governor’s report on the event as
mere “twaddle,” the paper said that the report was humiliating to the
territory and that the Colonial Secretary’s despatch, in reply to the report,
added to the humiliation. The Union Messenger went on: We believe
that such an enquiry would bring to light much of the filth and dirt
of existing condition which it seems to us, the Governor’s dispatch, misleading
in statements and illogical in interferences, has in fact covered.
Labour conditions in the sugar industry of the Presidency as yet seem a
vast unexplored unknown which nothing at all so far, not even a riot
which ended in the death, by shooting, of three persons, the wounding
of several others, and hurried call to one of His Majesty’s ships of war,
can discover... It seems to us, and we are left with the impression, that
a blanket has been placed somewhere on the affair, and this appearance
should be presented as one of the grounds why a real enquiry, not
a formal one as intended by Sir Phillip, be instituted.
But all of these considerations were brushed aside by the British
Colonial Secretary. The affairs of the territory did not carry the same
weight in London. Our working-class struggle was no major issue in
the United Kingdom. The end of the chapter was declared in the despatch
of the Secretary of State who said: I have considered the question
of a formal enquiry into the disturbance being instituted; but I am
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satisfied that the action taken by the Government was justified, and I
decided that no useful purpose would be served by such an enquiry.
The March Continues
The
1935 revolt against low wages and bad living condition was not confined
to St. Kitts. Gravely the distressing event echoed throughout the
British Caribbean. The underlying causes granted emotional heat and it
took but little to start off labour disturbance elsewhere. In St. Vincent
rioting broke out on the 21 st October, 1935, nine months after the Buckley’s
riots. During the unrest in St. Vincent four persons were killed,
twenty-two injured and fifty-six arrested. The next eruption was in
Trinidad. In June 1937 all industry in that country was paralyzed by
strikes involving thousands of workers in oilfields, sugar estates and
factories, public works, the waterfront, cocoa estates, passengers buses
and more. The casualties were fourteen dead and fifty wounded. In
June also strikes for higher wages broke out in British Guiana (now
Guyana). Armed police moved swiftly after telephone lines were cut
and cane fields fired. There were clashes. Police and civilians sustained
injuries. Hundred of people were summoned for disorderly behavior.
Court fines were imposed on some. Disturbances again flared up in August
and September. Barbados followed. Serious disorder broke out in
July 1937 and spread to several parishes. Six persons were reported
dead and twenty-one injured. The malady struck the Bahamas in August.
Riots caused widespread destruction to property and one life was
lost.
Jamaica was the hardest hit. During the first week in January
1938 cane cutters there went on strike against the low rate of 10½d. (21
cents) per ton. (Three years earlier the cutting rate which set off the
Buckley’s riots in St Kitts was 8d (16 cent) per ton). Strike action in
Jamaica was followed with picketing and agitation by labourers armed
with machetes, sticks and stones. Seventy strikers were jailed, but the
situation subsided when the cutting rate was raised to a shilling (24
cents) per ton. By April Jamaica was again seething with industrial unrest.
Workers on several sugar estates struck for higher wages. Strikers
blocked roads, burnt cane fields and damaged property. Police with
loaded rifles and fixed bayonets rushed to the hot spots and had to resort
to gun fire. In three days the casualty list was four dead and seventeen
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injured. Over one hundred persons were tried for rioting, intimidation
and malicious destruction of property.
Towards the end of May 1938, bedlam broke loose again in
Jamaica. Thousands of strikers paraded the streets of Kingston, stopping
every form of work. Bread vans were seized, the drivers torn from their
seats and bread distributed to the mob. City streets were littered with
refuse. Rubbish containers on pavements were smashed and refuse was
piled in the middle of the roadway. Railway and bus services were at a
standstill. The waterfront was tied up. Two British warships came on
the scene. Kingston had become an armed camp with police, volunteers,
British soldiers and special constables in charge. There were several
clashes. The rounds of death, injured and arrests were repeated again
and again. Alexander Bustamante and another leader, Mr. Grant, were
arrested and held without bail. During this time Bustamante’s cousin,
Norman Manley, addressed dock strikers and other crowds and carried
out negotiations with employers on behalf of the workers. Manley
spared no pains in giving assistance in various ways during this dark
hour for the Jamaica working classes. Bustamante and Grant were released
on June 15 1938.
These outbursts gave vent to deep-seated dissatisfaction with
condition under which the workers lived and commanded serious attention
from the British Parliament and led to the appointment of the 1938
West Indian Royal Commission, under the Chairmanship of Lord
Moyne, to investigate social and economic conditions in the British
Caribbean.
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16 THE FIRST ELECTION
The clash of political forces rattled through our three islands in 1937
when they prepared for the first general election.
Thomas Manchester
President of the Workers League
The President of the Workers League, Mr. Thomas Manchester, made a
wide appeal in October 1933, stressing the need for public co-operation
of all classes of the inhabitants in order to keep the political consciousness
and developing political growth. The progressive section of the
press, commenting on the introduction of the elective principle into the
constitution, said, We sincerely hope that even those who opposed the
measure will rise supremely above themselves by burying their feelings
of opposition and thereby help to make it practicable for the machinery
to function with the least possible friction.
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Under the banner of the St. Kitts Agricultural and Commercial
Society, the forces of opposition placed candidates in the field for the
first general election. Having lost the battle over the right to vote, they
were desperate to defeat the purpose of the representative form of Government.
Their uneasiness was augmented by the fact that an end had
been put to the unbridled ruling power which they had enjoyed from the
year 1878 when the territory was brought under the Crown Colony System
of Government.
The picture had changed. The ancestors of the bulk of voters had been
the personal property of the early planters and other privileged classes,
and had been socially despised and subject to distressing human degradation.
In 1937 descendants of these chattel slaves were to be voters
taking part in choosing the Government of the country with relatively
equal weight to the former master. This was too much for the privileged
classes to accept. The authority they wielded freely for fifty-nine
years was to challenged. They were determined that political power
must not split from their hands.
The Voice of the People
Why did the power of the ballot strike terror in the adversaries of the
working masses in 1937? What prompted a planter and Legislative
Council member to associate Representative Government with the introduction
of “ the worst elements of Haitian politics” in St. Kitts?
The answers suggest themselves when we look at the composition
of the Legislative Council at that time. The Council was comprised
of the Administrator and fourteen other members, all chosen by him in
consultation with the Governor and with the approval of the Secretary
of State for the Colonies in London. Seven of these fourteen were Officials
- Heads of Government Departments and the other seven were
Unofficials who were usually planters and merchants. No one was appointed
to represent the vast majority of the population.
The Governor actually selected persons who would support his
policy. On this point the Closer Union Commission of the 1932 said in
its report, The Governor has the power with certain reservations in the
last resort to carry any measure even if the whole of the Unofficials are
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opposed to it. The 1936 Constitution Ordinance provided that the
Council should be composed of the Administrator, two Officials, three
Nominated Unofficials and five elected officials, a total of eleven persons.
This meant that at least nine persons of privilege were dropped
from what had become traditional position on the Legislative Council.
The old order had began to topple. The change was swift and certain. It
was no wonder that one reactionary likened it to the worst elements of
Haitian politics. There were also to be changes in the Governor’s policy
of selecting members for the Executive Council.
Everyone was looking out for Election Day 1937 - the first time
that persons of African decent in this territory handle the ballot. Registration
of voters had taken place during the twenty one days which finished
on the 7 th January 1937. The exercise was entirely new to most
people. Some were curious; some were cautious for fear that there
might be a “catch” somewhere; others wanted to know what it was all
about.
The entire island of St. Kitts formed one Electoral District at
that time. In this, three members of Legislative Council would be elected.
The island of Nevis formed another Electoral District. In this also
one member would be elected. The Island of Anguilla formed the other
Electoral District. In this also one member would be elected.
At the stage the qualifications for voters were (a) possession of
an income of at least $144 per year or (b) ownership of real property
valued at, at least $480 or (c) payment of rent of at least $57.60 per year
on real property or (d) payment of direct taxes in the previous year of at
lest $3.60 and (e) residence in the territory twelve months prior to the
election. Under such restrictions a large proportion of the adult population
was not entitled to be registered as voters. Low wages and the lack
of real property was the chief set-back in this matter. The first preliminary
list of voters showed the number of claims registered in Anguilla
to be 133, 328 in Nevis and in St. Kitts 1168, a total of 1629 out of a
population of about 36,000.
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The Campaign
Nomination of candidates for the 1937 election took place at the end of
May and the date of polling was three weeks later. The President and
Vice President of the Workers League, Mr. T. Manchester and Mr. E
Challenger, were nominated as candidates for St. Kitts. The organisation
gave its unqualified backing to Mr. Clement Malone, a Barrister-at-
Law and labour supporter, who ran as a independent candidate for St.
Kitts.
The League made the opening of its electioneering campaign at
the Apollo on the night of 21 st April. The theater was packed. The
presentation of the “blueprint of a new order” was received with a tremendous
ovation. The Leaders of Labour left no stone unturned in
bringing home to the people the necessity of breaking with the past and
building for the future. In his speech at the theater. Manchester said,
We are now on the verge of the beginning of a new era, the birth of a
new day. The passing of Crown Colony rule will mean the closing of a
chapter in the history of the Presidency; and the coming into being of
the Elective Principle will be the opening paragraph of the new chapter,
the ushering in of the era .. which we hope and believe will mean
greater opportunity and greater prosperity for us all. All the speakers
of the evening played their part in giving a clear-cut picture on the
broad aims of the Labour Movement, the background of the upward
surge, the goals that must be reached and the obstacles to be surmounted.
The manifesto touched on social and educational, industrial and
economic, civic and political matters and covered every aspect of national
life. A prominent declaration within it was, To work for periodical
revisions of the qualification of voters, with the ultimate introduction
of manhood suffrage. Another one read, To labour in the direction
of establishing a system under which the resources of the Presidency
will be so developed and distributed as to secure therefrom the maximum
well being of all section of the inhabitants of the St. Kitts, Nevis
and Anguilla.
In stressing this point, the League’s President referred to the
operation of the sugar industry. He said, I have prayed and hoped for
the day that I would be able to put forward my views on this all-
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important matter, I promise the Electorate, and this is no rash promise,
that if elected, I will work unceasingly to obtain a comprehensive inquiry
to the sugar industry of the Presidency... There was supposed to
be an inquiry some time ago, but in my view it was no inquiry at all.
For such an inquiry to be effective, Labour must be represented, and
the whole matter must be gone into from the base. The old system of
production for profit for a small owning class on the basis of wage
slavery for the producing classes should be superseded by a system of
full co-operation in which all classes will share their fair portion. This
is the issue in St. Kitts today…
In conclusion, Mr. Manchester said, I have worked - I speak
with sense of pride- for the better part of my life for what is now being
brought about, that is, the introduction of the Elective Principle; and I
did it with my eyes wide open... Whether we realize it or not, the fact
remains that the turning point in the political development of these islands
started when the Closer Union Commission communicated
through the St. Kitts Workers League. Up to the time the Commission
arrived in St. Kitts, there was no definite commitment that their terms of
reference would include consideration of constitutional advance towards
self-government. In time to come a glorious tale will be recorded
in connection with the activities of this organization when the political
history of the West Indies is being written.
The opposition team presented themselves to the electorate, as
independents. The voters knew where Mr. Clement Malone stood in
respect to the interests in Labour. But the other two candidates (a planter
and a merchant) who shared the same platform with him during the
electioneering campaign, showed up as a sort of Chinese puzzle to most
people, because they were prominent members of the St. Kitts Agricultural
and Commercial Society. The Society had fought against political
reform. Its adherents stood firmly against the right to vote yet they had
the audacity to ask the voters to use their new right to elect them. The
adventurers dared to face the electorate! They were perhaps confident
that they were masters of the situation, and still masters of the people in
the sense of the supremacy which that class held in the past generations.
Commenting on the puzzle, the Union Messenger of 23 rd April
1937 said, In our view the candidates have rightly regarded the Agri-
135

cultural and Commercial Society, in its role of politics as a sinking
ship, and preferring not to commit the folly of the boy who stood on the
burning deck, have jumped overboard, with greater faith in their individual
strength to save themselves politically. The candidates who were
opposing Labour gave in their manifesto a list of things they stood for.
Among these were the remodeling of the education system, peasant land
settlement and better housing for agricultural workers. They also listed
some other topics of the day which would easily attract current interest.
But the electorate was aware of the record of the Agricultural and
Commercial Society. They looked at the ties between the candidates
and this society. They saw the effects of domination of the country by
vested interests and realised that the future depended upon their votes at
the polls. The rest was left to them
Nevis and Anguilla
What was the reaction of Nevis to the impact of the first election in the
1937 constitutional setting? Why was the position there vastly different
from the political struggle in St. Kitts? The foundation of Nevis’ domestic
economy was based on a sturdy peasantry; while in St. Kitts the
spheres of the trade, industry and public life were dominated by large
land owners and the powerful sugar interests. The average Nevisian
had a stake in his country but in St. Kitts the ordinary man found it hard
to “make ends meet”. In Nevis, the right to vote strengthened the people’s
feelings of pride and self-reliance in the land of their birth; while
its effects in St. Kitts was rather to free the spirit of the masses from the
agency of social and political bondage.
It was no wonder that in 1934 the St. Kitts Workers League had to rely
on the Nevis members of the Legislative Council, Mr. H.B. Henville
and Mr. W.B. De Grasse, for their aid in the League’s final assault upon
the bastions of Crown Colony. These two public-spirited men supported
the move for political reform at every turn. Even when the Council
turned around like a weather-cock, in December 1934 and rejected what
it had agreed to concerning the elective principle at a meeting held six
months earlier, the two men gallantly held their grounds.
When Mr. Henville therefore offered himself as a candidate for
election in the Electoral District of Nevis, it was widely felt that island
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could have no better representative in the Government than a man who
had done so much in the battle for the right to vote. His manifesto
opened with the following declaration, I shall always consider it my
duty to co-operate with the Government and all members of Council on
all matters of benefit to the Presidency.
No one was more aware than Mr. Henville of the needs of the moment.
He had a record of public service in which he functioned in many important
offices including membership in the Legislative and Executive
Council as well as in the General Legislature of the Leeward Islands
with headquarters at St. John’s Antigua. He looked forward to parting
company with the old regime and embracing the popular benefits of the
new. Commenting on Mr. Henville’s candidature, the Union Messenger
said, The time has come when the people of the Presidency must
look away from the glamour and glare of campaign promises to the
merits of tried men, those men whose policy justifies the support they
seek and to those who are in the business of politics for what they can
put into it. On polling day, 22 nd June, he was elected to the seat for
Nevis. The opposing candidate was Mr. T.M.W. Deane, owner of Cane
Garden Estate.
Only one candidate was nominated for the seat for Anguilla,
Mr. Albert E. Owen. The Returning Officer of May, 31 st thereupon declared
him duly elected for the Electoral District which included all the
adjacent small British Islands.
The New Legisature
Political fireworks in St. Kitts ceased on 24 th June 1937. The four polling
stations at Basseterre, Sandy Point, Dieppe Bay and Cayon were
open at 10 a.m and closed at 4 p.m. Voters turned up for business during
early hours. Everything went quietly and with clock-like precision.
Commenting of the affair, The Union Messenger of 25 th June 1937 said,
When it is considered that this was the first experience for so many of
us, we are of the opinion that we have done marvelously well, and for
this, we are indebted largely to the labours of St. Kitts Workers League,
apart entirely from the electioneering campaigns, in educating the people.
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The three St. Kitts seats were won by Mr. T. Manchester, Mr.
E. Challenger - The League candidates- and Mr. C. Malone whom the
League supported. The opposing candidates were Mr. W. E. L. Walwyn,
a planter, and Mr. P. E. Ryan, a merchant. The natural sequel to
the winning of the right to vote in the territory was the placing of Labour
stalwarts to guard the right. Likewise the men who spoke out
against low wages, poor health, limited education, bad housing, were
the most fit to remedy those conditions.
But with this recognition and sacred trust came an additional
weight on the shoulders of leaders of the Labour Movement. The press
again commented, The Elected Members of Council must especially
appreciate the weight of the public responsibility that has fallen on their
shoulders and a sensible understanding of the public confidence reposed
in them. The results overwhelmingly indicate that the public confidence
placed in them a sacred trust up to which it will be their duty to
live.
The first meeting of the new Legislative Council took place in
August. The Administrator D.R. Stewart was President of the Council.
In addition to the five elected members, the following were appointed to
serve on the Council as Nominated members:- The Crown Attorney,
Mr. A. Ridehalgh; the acting Treasurer, Mr. S. E. Moin; Mr. W. B. De
Grasse, Mr. G. P. Boon and Mr. B. B Davis. At the opening session on
17 August 1937 the gallery surrounding the Council Chambers was
filled to capacity with eager spectators.
The Governor, Sir Gordon Lethem, sent a message to the
Council in which, among other things, he welcome the new members
and greeted those who had served previously as Councillors. In his address
to the Council, the Administrator too, expressed cordiality to the
first Council under the new constitution and looked forward to close cooperation.
Suitable replies were tendered on behalf of the Unofficials
through Mr. Clement Malone the senior elected member.
Wage Rates, Trade Unions, etc
After the usual formalities and the normal proceedings at the first part
of the meeting, the time for “Questions” came. Mr. Manchester asked
138

whether it was a fact that the St. Kitts Sugar Industry had been generously
assisted by preferential tariff for many years. He then went on: If
the reply to Question one is in the affirmative, is it a fact that the annual
cash value of the preference enjoyed by St. Kitts Sugar Industry substantially
exceeds the cost of administration and expenditure in this
Presidency, to what extent?
The answer came at the next meeting held on October 20. It
stated that the colonial sugar industry as a whole and had been given the
benefit of a preferential duty in the United Kingdom and Canada for
many years. The reply went on give the tonnage of sugar exported for 5
years beginning 1932, and other relevant figures. In that year 19 327
tons were exported. Calculating the figure at five pounds per ton preference,
the industry enjoyed the value of $463 848, while Government
expenditure for that year was $404 400. The preference thus exceeded
the cost of administration and expenditure by $59 448. In 1934 when
27 615 tons of sugar were exported, the preference exceeded Government
expenditure by $217 075. It was made clear that the preference
obtained by the industry was the difference between the duty imposed
in the United Kingdom and in Canada on sugar imported from Dominions
and Colonies, and the duty on sugar imported from foreign countries.
On the heels of this reply, Mr. Manchester followed with another
question. It read: Is Government aware of the fact the rates of
wage paid to agricultural labourers connected with the sugar industry
have remained the same during the past six years and that wages paid
today are the same as those paid in 1931, the pre-preferential period?
The Head of the Government must have felt uneasy. The conscience of
the captains of industry and the moral sense of ruling authorities, as it
were, found themselves in the iron jaws of the powerful vice. The answer
sounded hollow. It pointed to the hand of the factory with the lion
share of the profits but could not say that the workers were not badly
squeezed. The official reply was as follows, The Government is aware
that the rates of wages paid to agricultural labourers have not been
increased generally during the past six years. During the last three
years, however, estates, have paid to their labourers a bonus amounting
approximately to one-third of the deferred payment made by the Sugar
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Factory St. Kitts (Basseterre) for canes delivered. It is necessary to emphasis
the fact that for the past six years the price paid to planters for
cane supplied to the Factory has remained at fourteen shillings per ton.
Mr. Manchester, followed up his earlier questions with a mild
query as to the existence of machinery dealing with matters between
employers and workmen. The answer, of course, was that there was no
such machinery in existence. The Government was unconcerned. He
forced the Government on the defensive in his fifth question, which ran,
Iis the government ready to consider the advisability of setting up machinery
in the Presidency for establishing liaison between employers
and employees with a view to avoiding clashes and securing cooperation?
The Government was feeble, defenceless, exposed. Even in the
face of abundant evidence in the country of Labour unrest arising from
wages, even on the heels of loss of life and long-term imprisonment to
struggling workers, the Government was still saying that these things
were not “shown” to the authorities. Could Government have honestly
felt that there was nothing existing in the sick society that needed some
attention, some inquiry, some cure? Did the rulers of the land know
nothing of the chastisement of the factory workers in 1930 when they
went on strike after their pay was reduced by instruction from London?
Had the authorities no knowledge of various injuries and deaths caused
to workers by accident on the job without the employers being required
by law to pay anything on the occasion of such injuries or death? Had
they not heard of the case of the cartman at Buckley’s estate (William
Duggins) who was killed by a factory locomotive in April 1933, when
the employers first question on the hearing the news whether anything
happened to the mules that were drawing the cart?
The Government’s answer to Mr. Manchester was as lame as it
was ludicrous. It was given at the next meeting as follows, The necessity
for the establishment of a means of liaison between employers and
employees has not been revealed to Government. If that necessity were
to be shown to exist and Government intervention were to become necessary,
the question of establishing a ‘go-between’ would be taken into
immediate consideration. For the present, and in the relationship now
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existing, it is not considered that any form of intervention in that matter
of direct dealing as between employer and employee is called for.”
In True Colours
The first head-on clash in the Legislature between Labour and the vested
interests came at the second meeting of new Council on 20 th October
1937. At that meeting the Crown Attorney presented eleven Bills,
among them being two which sought to authorize the General Legislature
of the Leeward Islands to enact measures for dealing with workmen’s
compensation and minimum wages. These measures were among
many others which the St. Kitts Workers League had advocated from its
very beginning in 1932, just as it had agitated successfully for constitutional
reform which now made it possible for such Bills and other Labour
Laws to be considered with elected representatives of the working
masses around the Council table.
But the very thought of this change stirred up resentment from another
side of the table, the old guards of power and privilege refused to yield
up an inch of ground without a struggle. Defenders of the vested interests
launched an attack on the Crown Attorney’s motion for the first
reading of the bills in question. These keen opponents pushed forward
another motion requesting that the particular Bills be read this day six
months hence. It was defeated as the eight other members voted in favor
of the first reading of the Bills.,
According to the minutes of the meeting, the Crown Attorney
moved the suspension of the Standing Rules and Orders to allow the
Bills for Workmen’s Compensation (General Legislature Competency)
and Minimum Wage for Labour (General Legislature Competency) to
pass all stages at that sitting of the Council. The treasurer seconded the
motion but another member opposed all Competency Bills. A division
was called. On being put to the vote, the opposing motion was lost by
nine votes to one, and the Bills were read a second time.
The resistance did not end there. The Council then resolved itself
into a committee to consider these Bills, A member moved that
clause 2 should be amended by the insertion of the word not so that the
clause would read as follows, ...it shall not be within the competency of
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the General Legislature to make laws in respect of the Presidency... A
division was called in each case, and the opposing motion was lost by
nine votes to one. Clause 2 as it stood was approved. The Council resumed.
Finally both Bills were read a third time and declared passed.
Since 1937, Workmen’s compensation and minimum wages
have become part of the common heritage of our people, though many
may not be fully aware of the difficulties encountered in paving the
way. The introduction of the representative form of Government provided
the country with the machinery to start the establishment of a new
order of things, but judging from the performance at early meetings of
the new Legislative Council, the way was not going to be smooth.
142

17 THE 1938 ROYAL COMMISSION
The 1938 Commission had been sent by London as a result of the great
wave of industrial upheavals accompanied by destruction of life and
property throughout the Caribbean. This started in St. Kitts in 1935 and
spread right down to Guyana in the south and the Bahamas in the north.
It was a rough awakening but it could hardly have been be avoided.
The suffering of the masses under the social and economic system of
the earlier years was too great to be relieved by anything of a mild nature.
The Commission consisted of eleven members headed by Lord
Moyne. Its terms of reference were to investigate social and economic
conditions in the British Caribbean and matters connected therewith,
and to make recommendations.
The St. Kitts Workers League seized the opportunity to press
further the case for broad reforms in the territory and general advancement
in the West Indies as a whole. In a ten-page memorandum the
League set out the numerous problems facing the country and suggestions
for their solution. Emphasis was laid on the need for federating
the territories and nationalizing the manufacturing end of the sugar industry.
On the lack of industrial machinery, the memorandum said,
The necessity has long been felt for legislation to establish Trade and
Labour Unions in the Presidency, and for their recognition as a mean
of collective bargaining in matters of wages and improvement of the
conditions under which the masses labour. We are of the opinion that
the establishment of Trade and Labour Unions in the islands of this
group will fill a much needed role in the local economic and social order
of things.
The Royal Commission found that the League gave a vivid picture
of community life. Reporting on conditions in St. Kitts, the Commission
said, The average daily wage for a unskilled labourer was one
shilling and two pence (28 cents) a day at the time our visit... Elsewhere
in report it stated, While agricultural employers have effective
143

organizations, the workers are either completely unorganized or at best
partly organized. Collective bargained has thus been virtually impossible
and wage rates have in effect followed standards laid down by the
employers alone. (Note: In 1970 the standard day’s pay of an estate
worker is $3.57)
Estate workers in the field
About the League
Indeed the Commission wanted to know something about the League
itself. At its sitting on 22 nd December 1938 the Commission took evidence
from the League’s four-man delegation. Lord Moyne opened the
session:
QUESTION: Perhaps Mr. Manchester, you would tell us who the St.
Kitts Workers League represents or how it is constituted?
ANSWER: The St. Kitts Workers League is an organization formed primarily
for defending the liberties and promoting the interests and welfare
of the people of the West Indies, and particularly the people of this
presidency.
Q: Is everybody eligible?
144

A: Any law-abiding citizen over 16 years of age.
Q: Have you many members?
A: The membership of the organization at present is 2 500.
Q: And you are political rather than social welfare?
A: Not necessarily. Up to the present, we have taken an active part in
both sections of community life.
Sir Walter Citrine, a member of the Commission and General Secretary
of the British Trade Union Congress, took a turn in questioning Mr.
Manchester, the League’s President:
QUESTION: You have told the chairman that you accept into memebership
any law abiding citizen. Would you take a banker?
ANSWER: Yes.
Q: Have you any people who are bankers?
A: No.
Q: Would you take estate owners?
A: If they cared to come?
Q: Have you any estate owners?
A: No.
Q: Do you take doctors?
A: Yes.
Q: Will you tell me why you call yourselves a workers’ league?
A: Because we interpret the meaning of the word worker to include
all work, whether by hand or by brain.
Q: Yes, but within that definition everybody, from the King downwards,
would be included and usually when we speak of workers
we have some sort of division in our minds
(Mr. Assheton) I dissent from that.
Q: Mr. Assheton dissents from my definition, but I think if we talk
about the working class, in England that Mr. Assheton would
not regard himself as strictly within that category – but he will
speak for himself. I am trying ti find out really what your organization
represents. Would you say the labourers, as such,
are members of it?
A: The great majority of the membership is made up of labourers.
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Q: Will you tell us as how you started this orgnaisation? How did
the idea grew that you should have such a body?
A: We felt it was necessary in the interests and general welfare of
the community to have an organization of the kind for protecting
the interests of the people as a whole, and in particular the
people of the working class – that is, the manual working class.
Q: And would you say that your organization is substantially composed
of them?
A: Substantially – 95 per cent.
Q: You do not exclude other people, but the organisation does in
fact consist of people who are mainly of the agricultural labouring
class?
A: Yes.
Q: What had you at the back of your mind in forming this association?
Did you want it to pursue some sort of political purpose?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you formed any sort of programme other than that which
you have put before us today?
A: Yes.
Q: Perhaps you could supply us with a copy of that programme so
that we may know just what you are aiming at? Is it part of
your desire to see workers here properly protected as to conditions
of employment?
A: Exactly
Trade Unions
The Commissioners wanted to know what kind of machinery existed in
this territory for looking after the interests of the workers. Perhaps they
had heard of the notorious law passed here in 1917 when the legislature
headed by Governor Vane Best, passed a bill prohibiting the formation
of trade unions. The Commissioners, no doubt were aware of the
awakening of the underprivileged masses to the necessity for organizing
to promote their general welfare; while on the other hand, the natural
reaction of the well-to-do classes was to strive to preserve their position
of affluence and economic power. The investigators had before them
several delegations representing sugar interests, the Chamber of Commerce
and other bodies. When the delegates of the Workers League
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appeared and presented the case of the working masses certain aspects
of the enquiry were seen in a new light.
A change of position regarding Trade Unions had taken place on the
employers’ front. Mr. Manchester was made aware of this change
while he was giving evidence:
QUESTION: You are aware, I suppose, that the Imperial Government
is desirous of trade unions being extended through out the colonies
generally?
ANSWER: Yes.
Q: Have you known of anything that has been done here, by the
Government for example, to bring that fact to the attention of
the people of this island?
A: No.
Q: You have never heard anybody mention, for instance, that the
Government would like to see trade unions established?
A: No; on the contrary.
Q: That is important. Will you kindly develop that last point?
A: There is a feeling in this island – restricted to no section of the
community, in my opinion – of discouragement to the formation
of trade and labour unions, and employers as a rule bring economic
pressure on those who associate themselves with any
movement for the advancement of the cause of labour.
Q: You heard yesterday the evidence that was given by the Sugar
Investigation Committee who represent large employing interests
here?
A: Yes.
Q: Their evidence does not substantiate what you have just said.
They, in evidence said they would welcome the formation of
trade unions, with whom they could bargain and negotiate.
A: In fact my statement is correct, and I can substantiate that.
Q: What do you really mean, that they are telling us this as a matter
of public statement and doing something different in fact?
A: I will not accuse them of having given you wrong information,
but it might be that they did not clearly follow just exactly what
the question was.
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In the rest of the League’s evidence on that day, the Commissioners
learnt much more about the resistance which the working people here
were up against. Reference was made to the Buckleys Riots of 1935.
The industrial atmosphere before the disturbance was not the same after.
The riot had had a marked effect on the attitude of both the employers
and the government of the day. Had there been proper means of
collective bargaining and the settlement of workers grievances, the
Buckleys Riots might have been avoided. Realising this three years later
and faced with the Royal Commission, the employers underwent a
change of heart. At the same time the impact of the labour victory in
the first general elections, of the previous year, was still resounding
throughout the land.
148

18 A STAKE IN THE COUNTRY
Land ownership was a major issue in St. Kitts. This was because the
greater portion of the land was in the hands of a small number of people
leaving the vast majority with few options as to how to make a living.
In 1896, the Commission chaired by Sir Henry Norman expressed great
concern at the general poverty of the labouring classes. In its report,
which was released in 1897, it stated, The black population of these
colonies was originally placed in them by force as slaves; the race was
kept up and increased under artificial conditions maintained by the authority
of the British Government… The special remedies or measures
of relief which we unanimously recommend are: (1)the settlement of
the labouring classes on small plots of land as peasant proprietors; (2)
the establishment of minor agricultural industries and the improvement
of the system of cultivation, especially in the case of small proprietors.
The settlement of labourers on the land was not, as a rule, viewed with
favour in the past by persons interested in sugar estates. What suited
them best was a large supply of labouers, entirely dependent on being
able to find work on the large estates and consequently subject to their
control and willing to work at low rates of wages. But it seems to us
that no reform offers so good a prospect for permanent welfare in the
future of the West Indies…
Another Commission, under the cahimanship of Lord Olivier,
came in 1929 and arrived at the same conclusion. In its report on landlessness,
the Olivier Commission very emphatically stressed the need of
the development of a proper system of peasant farming in St. Kitts
based on peasant ownership of land. Whilst facilities were given to estate
labourers to cultivate garden crops, little or no progress had been
made towards the settlement of a stable peasant community. Consequently,
the population of the island had decreased by 40 % since 1897
and the estates were having difficulties in obtaining adequate labour.
This unfortunate situation could result in very serious distress among
the labouring classes in the event of failure of the sugar crop or continued
depression in the industry. The Commission stressed the need to
remedy the position. But the recommendations of two commissions fell
149

of deaf ears so far as this territory was concerned. Nine years later another
commission came, the Lord Moyne Commission (1938). It was
the St. Kitts Workers League that took the field and wages a relentless
battle for land settlement in St. Kitts.
Labour’s Land Policy
The clash of interests between the large land owners and the working
masses was an obstacle to the introduction of land settlement in the island.
In its role as champion of the under-privileged, the St Kitts Workers
League launched a campaign in 1935 to help the great body of landless
people to gain a stake in their country. Its representatives made
representations to Sir John Maffey, Permanent Under the Secretary of
State for the Colonies, on his visit here in February 1936. In its memorandum
the League stated, It is our firm conviction that a Land Settlement
Scheme for this island whereby the growth of a sturdy peasantry
will be encouraged, will prove the means of bringing a measure of
economic independence to the Presidency, and of removing the masses
of our population who are the producing class of a community which is
essentially agricultural, from the existing condition almost amounting
to economic and industrial slavery. As far back as 1897, a Land Settlement
Scheme for this island was recommended by the Sir Henry
Norman Commission which visited the West Indies in that year... In
1929 similar recommendations were made by the Lord Oliver Commission.
Contrary to the views that may be held in some local quarters,
and even in the spite of them, we very strongly urge the view, for your
consideration, that no lasting solution of our economic, industrial, social
and even spiritual problems can be found unless the creation of a
class of peasant proprietors becomes the dominant feature of our program
for future development of the resources of the Presidency and island.
To give our working people a sense of property, values, and associated
as that sense is sure to be, by deeper one of civic responsibility,
will form a sure foundation upon which the future citizenship and
stability of our islands can be built.
But these worthy aims met stiff opposition. The large land
owners marshalled their forces under the umbrella of the St. Kitts Agri-
150

culture and Commercial Society. They argued that the principle of land
settlement was bad and was unsuited to St. Kitts. In the case of Nevis
they felt that land settlement could be experimented on over there. At
the same time a Peasant Settlement Scheme, tried out in Antigua, was
showing good results. Antigua’s 1937 sugar crop (33,000 tons) saw the
yield of 266,000 tons of cane, of which one quarter was produce by
peasants. (In that year the St. Kitts output of sugar was 34,000 tons).
The subject was brought forcefully before the public in the League’s
manifesto and electioneering campaign of 1937. This was the advent of
the first general election in St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla in this century after
the right to vote had been won by the Labour Movement for the people
of these islands.
Relief of the Landless
Sugar estate in St. Kitts came up for sale from time to time during the
nineteen thirties; but the government of that period showed little or no
interest in buying them so as to help the landless masses to get a stake
in their country. An opportunity came for the Labour Movement to
make another bid for the introduction of land settlement when the West
India Royal Commission was sent out from London in 1938 to investigate
social and economic conditions in the Caribbean.
The Workers League presented to the Commission a comprehensive
memorandum in which it stated, It is with considerable reluctance
that we come to the conclusion that there has been some sinister
influence at work by which this proposal has been shelved for a period
of nearly half century... Under this head our proposal affects St. Kitts
only, in as much as a Land Settlement Scheme is already in operation in
Nevis, and in Anguilla there is a considerable number of peasant settlers......
There appears no sound economic reason why this island, the
largest of the group, should remain peculiar with respect to land settlement
... The figures of imported foodstuffs are sufficient to answer
the query that the island, although dominantly agricultural, does not
produce what should ordinarily be its quota of vegetables, small stock,
poultry, milk and eggs, as a result of which the question of under-
151

nourishment among the masses, with all its related ills, is a social evil
now at a chronic stage...
In support of the League’s memorandum, its officers gave evidence
before the Moyne Commission on 22 nd December 1938. The
Commission spent nine days in the territory and heard evidence from
various other organisation and individuals. After fifteen months of investigations
both in London and throughout the West Indies, the Commission
submitted its report in December 1939 and this was presented
to the British Parliament in July 1945. It advocated an orderly plan for
settling considerable numbers of people on the land as small holders
and providing them with certain forms of assistance. Mixed farming
was strongly urged. The Commission also advised caution with regard
to the system of land-holding as well as to other factors on which the
success of land settlement depended. The recommendation were
(a) That the order of procedure should be, first, the improvement
of husbandry of existing small holders … then the improvement of
existing land settlements and the establishment of new settlements;
(b) That Government should not regard themselves as committed
to the grant of freehold tenures, but should experiment with free-hold
and lease hold tenures. The grant of freehold rights should be subject
to appropriate conditions to prevent fragmentation of the land and to
suitable safeguards of good husbandry including the prevention of erosion
and the maintenance of soil fertility.
(c) That Government should take powers for the compulsory acquisition
of agricultural land needed for land settlement and similar
purposes;
(d) That it should be firmly impressed on settlers and others that,
while credit facilities will generally be required in the early stages of
any scheme of land settlement, their success depends in the last resort
on their own exertions and that Government cannot continue to provide
financial support indefinitely.”.
Still another Hurdle
Despite these recommendations, there was yet more trouble ahead. In
that year the Leeward Islands Legislature enacted laws regarding the
acquisition of land for public purposes. The law provided that the authorities
may declare that any land was required for a public purpose.
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After this, the land would vest absolutely in the Crown and the Authorised
Officer and his agents, assistants and workmen could enter and
take possession of the land. Lands could also be acquired by private
treaty. If difficulties arose over the payment or apportionment of compensation,
a Broad of Assessment would be appointed to settle the matter.
The Land Settlement Act provided specifically for the declaration
of any area of Crown Land to be a Land Settlement area as well as for
the establishment of small holdings on such land. However all of this
did not generate any great movement toward the desired goal; the government
of the day continued to drag its feet. Estate after estate came
on the market and was bought, while the Government did but little to
secure for the landless.
Lamberts Episode
In October 1940 the Workers League forwarded to the authorities a resolution
urging the purchase of Lamberts Estate (538 acres), which was
then on the market. However the estate was later sold by public auction
to a private individual at a price which exceeded the Government’s bid
by about $5,000. Early in November, the joint Advisory Committee of
Labour (comprised of the Directors of the Workers League and the Executive
of the then newly formed St. Kitts Nevis Trades and Labour
Union) submitted a resolution expressing very deep disappointment at
the Government’s failure to purchase Lamberts; and requesting an explanation.
Administrator J.D. Harford responded in December 1940 that
he had obtained the approval of the Governor and the Secretary of State
for the purchase of the estate for a price not exceeding a certain amount;
this was the maximum sum which, in the opinion of the government and
its advisers, it was reasonable to pay. Thus this estate had slipped
through the fingers of the Government. It was clear that the enactment
of land acquisition measures was merely the passing of one hurdle; but
the carrying out of the letter and spirit of the law for the benefit of the
working masses was quite another thing.
Estates continued to change hands. On 9 th December 1941 another
joint resolution of Labour’s Joint Advisory Committee was forwarded
to the authorities. It (a) deplored the fact that the Government
153

had lost so many opportunities of acquiring lands for peasant settlement;
(b) urged upon Government the necessity of obtaining, in advance,
the authority of the Colonial Office to undertake the expenditure
for acquiring lands for small holdings; and (c) recommended the appointment
of a purchasing agent to keep Government informed of such
opportunities and to make such purchases. Another year of government’s
foot dragging confirmed what leaders of the people had seen all
along that the administration had no genuine desire to push land settlement
in St. Kitts beyond the taking over of Fahies and Saddlers Estates.
Public ownership of these two estates broke the grip of land monopoly
in the west and north of the island, but there was no relief in the southern
area. Similar ownership of Lamberts would have eased the situation
in that quarter.
So on 5 th December 1942 the leaders pressed further for acquisition
of Lamberts estate, even at that late stage, and proposed that the
land be given out to peasants afterwards at a rate which would fully
cover the cost. They also requested that contact by telegraph be made
with the Secretary of State at their expense, to seek approval for acquisition
of Lamberts Estate. In addition they recommended that measures
be introduced to ensure that proprietors of estates in St. Kitts would inform
Government of any intention to dispose of such estates - a condition
which would have placed government in the position of having the
first option to purchase.
The reply came in a letter from the administrator on 30 th December
1942. It said, The Governor has now replied to my telegram conveying
the request contained in your letter. His Excellency does not consider
that any useful purpose can be served by transmitted the telegram, regarding
the Lamberts Estate, from the Workers League, to the Secretary
of State. The Administrator’s letter also said that the correct procedure
in such a matter was for application in the first instance to be made to
the Agricultural Department which would investigate and advise the
Administrator.
There were further discussions in official circles on the Lamberts
episode, but these never brought the estate any nearer to the establishment
of peasant holdings. However, the leaders did not lose cour-
154

age. In the following month, January 1943 a Labour delegation interviewed
Sir Cosmo Parkinson, Permanent Under Secretary of State for
the Colonies, who paid a short visit to the island, and discussed several
problems facing the territory. The delegation presented a memorandum
which stated, it is our considered opinion that the solution of the economic
and social problems of the Presidency lies more and more in the
direction of the gradual and steady extension of the present program of
land settlement for St. Kitts, begun with the purchase of Fahies and
Saddlers estates... We find ourselves at war with the present large estate
system since it breeds nothing short of economical and social slavery,
in the nature of cause and effect for the masses of the people; and
one of the permanent disabilities of this system is the fear that it is very
largely in the hands of absentee proprietors.
To remedy the damage of three centuries of slave society in
these parts could be no small task. The bad housing and other deplorable
conditions peculiar to the landless population have come down all
through the years. On its formation in 1932, the Workers League attempted
to find solutions for the housing problem. Since this was an
agricultural community, it was essential that the masses be associated
with ownership and control of land and made their contribution to national
production as a class, and in their own rights. Laws were enacted
in 1948 to deal with slum clearances as well as with town and country
planning. Housing projects and various schemes were created to help
crystalise the workers’ dreams of a stake in their country. Scores of
working class families have been assisted in getting their own homes.
Pursuing its land policy, the Government has brought under
public ownership 23 of about 90 estates in the territory till 1969. This is
a bold step forward. However, the goals of making the fullest use of
these estates and getting the greatest returns from them must be steadfastly
followed up by government and people alike. Success of the enterprise
will be achieved to the extent that a serious program of crop
cultivation and stock raising is carried out by conscientious persons
supported with scientific guidance and modern implements.
Caution
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The 1938 Royal Commission recommended that Government should be
cautious with scheme for small holdings, and suggested that the system
should have proper safeguards to ensure a good standard of cultivation
and for preventing fragmentation of the holdings. Already Government
has had some bad experiences with a number of peasant holders who
neglected their lands and distressed other cultivators. But this should
not cause general dismay. The Commission’s recommendations help to
take care of such problems. The doctrine of working together, as spread
by the world-wide co-operative movement, can be a driving power toward
successful handling of land as a profitable business. Co-operatives
of several kinds have been formed in the state and are making progress.
A pooling of ideas for cultivation, stock rasing, etc. should not
prove beyond the ability of workers who want to seize the opportunities
of the day. The prospects of tourism and the hotel industry are beckoning
those who could produce fresh vegetables, meat and milk. The demand
for these will grow with the advance of further development in
the state. If new blood enters the field of cultivating cane, courage can
be taken from the fact that the market for this commodity will long be
in existence in St. Kitts. Moreover, it is claimed that the wise cultivation
of certain vegetables can yield more cash per acre in a year than sugar
cane. The challenge to cope with the winds of change must be accepted..
156

19 MARCUS GARVEY IN ST. KITTS
St. Kitts went wild with excitement when Mr. Marcus Garvey landed
here on 2 nd November 1937. Anxious crowds flocked to catch a glimpse
of the first Black man who had shaken the walls of white supremacy in
the 20 th Century. Everyone wanted to see and hear the man whose fame
had spread around the world; the man who had awakened people of African
decent to race consciousness.
Garvey was born in Jamaica on 17 th August, 1887. His father
was a mason. He started life as painter; he read widely and had an intense
love for People who looked like him, particularly those who made
up the vast army of working men and women. In 1907 he founded the
Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica and made much
use of the press. He traveled through Central America then went to England,
but it was in the United States in 1917 that he reached the peak of
his illustrious career. In that year he established a branch of the
U.N.I.A. in New York and built Liberty Hall with a seating capacity for
6,000 persons. His outstanding oratory and the power of his pen proved
a mighty force in the achievements of his life’s mission.
Misfortune
He also started a fleet of merchant ships, The Black Star Line to operate
a freight and passenger service, but this was later beset by misfortune.
Garvey’s enemies were many, some being people of his own race.
He bore many sacrifices during a large part of his life. After his death
in England in June 1940 his remains were brought to Jamaica where he
has been exalted as a national hero. A monument has erected in his
memory in Kingston. Another country followed the lead. The Federal
Republic of Cameroons (West Africa) has honoured Marcus Garvey in
an issue of commemorative stamps in 1969. On these stamps is a picture
of the leader of the “Back to Africa” movement.
The “Black Moses”, as one writer called him, visited St. Kitts
during a tour of the Caribbean and British Guiana in 1937, and addressed
a mammoth crowd at the Mutual Improvement Society Hall in
157

Basseterre. The short, dark, thick-set man expressed himself in simple
terms and with great depth of reeling. He was bound to his listeners by
common ties, his “straight-from-the-shoulder” and hitting humour will
long be remembered.
Message of Hope
The crowded hall of the Mutual Improvement Society in Market Street,
broke into thunderous cheers on the morning of 2 nd November, 1937, as
Marcus Garvey arrived there to address the gathering. His appearance
had been heralded by the throng outside the building who could not get
room inside. Another round of applause burst forth when the worldfamous
Negro rose to speak. After expressing pleasure to be in St.
Kitts, he said, The chairman struck the key-note when he said the purpose
of my visit was to help. This is not only the purpose of my visit, but
the purpose for my life - to help my fellow men. I am doubly glad to see
the make-up of the audience. At a glance I can see it represents all classes
of the community. But there is a special class that I am specially
interested in and that is the more unfortunate class. I feel that I have a
massage for them, a message of hope and self-confidence...
It is God’s purpose for man in the creation plan, that he should
be happy. I don’t like to see misery. It is hellish, devilish and ungodly.
God never made misery. It is the result of the mistakes of man. But if
you can get men to go right, they will lessen their own misery. I want to
set man right, so I am going to talk to you in that strain....
The poorest people you find in any town or country are those
who pay more attention to their stomachs than to their brains.... I like
people who look like me. Everywhere you turn you find them. They
seem to live in spite of the hell that surrounds them. But it is not always
going to be so, for we are approaching the scientific age when oranges
that were once sour are now made sweet, and sour oranges have no
market.......
It is useless for man to approach God as though it was possible
to change him. God in making the earth, made it with laws more rigid
that those of the Medes and Persians. The stars and sun and rain etc.
never change, everything remains the same irrespective of our desires.
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When he made man he said, ‘By the sweat of your brow ye all eat.’ from
that time man has been on his own responsibility - on his own legs. If he
does not think out his own way of life, he will fail, and who do you think
is to shed a tear for him, when by his own ignorance he has reduced
him self to disgrace? It is not necessary to envy the other man because
whatever he has done, you can do, if you go about it in the right way.
Those who stoop to envy, steal and kill and commit crimes, breaking the
civil law and the law of nature are upsetting everything. But that is not
the way to get things. You must and get things for yourself…
A Man among Men
The black man who threw a bombshell into the white domination of the
Negro during the first quarter of the 20 th Century gave his own life as an
example when he addressed his fellow men in St. Kitts in November
1937. His newspaper The Negro World was banned in Trinidad, in
parts of Africa and in several other parts of the world. He was not permitted
to enter certain countries, as he was considered a public danger.
But Marcus Garvey was not in the least deterred. In his speech at the
M.I.S. Hall he said, When we cringe and commit crimes we bring down
God. We must live up to the dignity and Honour of His intelligence by
possessing our souls and using our minds. It is no excuse to say you are
too poor and down-trodden.
I put myself before you as an example. I refuse to be in rags. I
am determined to be a man among men. I was born fifty years ago in
the West Indian Country town of Jamaica where black men have no
special advantages but disadvantages; where you are slated to be a
cowherd or labourer, a blacksmith or shoemaker, etc. I looked at the
system that man fixed up for me and I said it did not suit me. If you have
not the ability to fix yourself up, the other man is going to fix you up -
and some of you are darned well fixed up right now. (Prolonged laughter
and cheers.) And you will stay fixed up until you change your minds.
God has given every man a mind with possibilities for development.
It does not matter what your father and mother were before you.
You can retrieve yourself and be a man although your parents may have
been criminals. God has not made you with a criminal mind. Don’t
allow anybody to use your mind. I do not mean, by that, that you must
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not have leaders. But when it comes to your individual lives “fix up
yourselves’, or somebody may want to make monkeys out of you....
Whatever you want in the world go after getting it yourself. No man
will get something for you, that he will want for himself. Any man who
tells you he loves you better than he loves himself, watch him. Get a
club and give him a crack, for he means no good.
A lot of people today are suffering from their own faults. If you
know the world you would know that the greatest men had humble beginnings.
But before they started life they found out what use they could
be. You have men like Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Lipton, etc., starting
from the lowest walks of life and gradually growing. When they
died, they left the world thinking. Wealth is not all. It is the intelligence
of man that counts.
An intelligent man can always find the way out. But I have never
seen a successful fool. Somebody always takes it away from him. It is
a fool who is always in rage; a fool is always complaining; always telling
you somebody is against him; always going to the obeah man to
give him luck. But let me tell you that there is nothing outside of you as
strong as what is inside of you. The power inside of you is the strongest.
If you don’t understand it, then you are only a bit of flesh and other men
will trample you... It is your thoughts that make you beautiful or otherwise;
they are reflected in your life... Look at George Washington,
Caesar, etc. God has given you the potentiality to be like anyone of
them. One of the greatest men the world has ever seen was born in Nevis.
That shows that genius has no special spot...
St. Kitts – Garden of Eden
Garvey’s dynamic mission in life awakened the world to the tremendous
force which the unity of the Negro race could produce to influence
the course of human progress. Continuing the speech, he said, As I
came off the ship I could see your condition on the water front. Man
views you from without, which is an indication of what you are within.
Make your life so beautiful within that it will reflect. Make St. Kitts
your Garden of Eden. .. if you don’t do it then other men will do it for
you… The North American Indian lived on top of goodness and did not
know it. While he was riding around with his scalping knife there was
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oil underneath his feet. Englishmen came across the sea and knocked
him down. Their Henry Ford and others inherited the wealth. Watch
your steps. If there is natural wealth around, somebody is coming after
it. Mussolini was searching for oil and coal and copper, and when he
found it in Abyssinia, Haile Selassie had to run.
Your country can be no greater than yourselves. It is not God
that makes the cities and towns. God gives you the land, but you build
the cities. Your St. Kitts will be no greater than your minds. If I come
back here in ten years and you have made no progress, it will be because
of your minds. When Rome ruled the world she was not the greatest
or biggest city, but the greatest thinkers were in Rome. A scientific
mind can bring the world to its feet.
My friends, I do not claim to be a genius, but today men are
looking at me; men will know that I have registered here in St. Kitts. It
is a jelly fish that comes into the world and passes off without anybody
knowing it was here. Why come here like jack fish or sprat that nobody
remembers after it is fried? Some of you cannot even remember who
your grandfather was. Why? Because he never did anything. Alexander
Hamilton’s grand, grand, grand, grand children will know him because
the man did something. What are you going to do? I am going to advise
you in closing. First of all, find out who you are. Then ask yourself,
“what can I do?” Most of you never investigate yourself. You know all
about your neighbour, but you do not know a thing about yourself.... It
is your neighbour who has to tell you. And how does your neighbour
know? By your behaviour. And your behaviour reflects your mind. You
cannot do anything until you first think it out…
The world was waiting on Edison and he came, on Marconi and
he came, on Napoleon and he came, on Henry Ford and he came, on
Mussolini and he came, on Hitler and he came. The world is waiting on
you, when will you come? My friends, answer that for yourselves and
let us hear about you. Men who are born in St. Kitts, God has endowed
you. I cannot talk to you more emphatically. It is for you to understand
what I am driving at. It is for me to know that I have stuck the keynote...
This is my job, to set men right. I have dedicated myself to this work -
helping people who look like me.
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Three hundred years ago we were brought from Africa to these
parts; We have suffered because we knew no better. We must make it
right. I refuse to swallow any theory that does not agree with the system
of social life in which I find myself. We must do something to get
out of it. That system was inclined to sew me up in a bag, but I ripped
the bag and got out, and no man shall sew me up again. It is a question
of mind over matter. Men can do things to my body, but never to my
mind. I shall leave the influence of my mind after I am dead. You can
read the mind like any book - like Shakespeare’s Othello or the Gospel
of John...”
A Challenge to the Race
Garvey delivered a charge to the Negroes of the world. Not only did he
stress the principles of self-reliance and self- respect, but he cut deeply
into the consciousness of the people of his race. Concluding his speech,
he said, You must postulate a philosophy of your own... God blesses
those who help themselves. Once on the field of battle Napoleon was
asked by a soldier on which side was God, and he replied: ‘God is on
the side of the strongest battalion.’ What Napoleon meant was that God
was on the side of intelligence. When Mussolini went to Ethiopia with
aer-planes and mustard gas and guns, the Emperor was in a Coptic
Church with a prayer book in his hand. On whose side was God in the
Abyssinian War? The answer is Mussolini. There are four hundred million
men and women of my race in the world today. I want to charge
them so that they can hold their own. But you cannot do it foolishly.
Don’t think you are something when you are as blind as a bat.
Never keep the company of a fool. Try to find out all you can
about life. The average West Indian spends all of his days of learning in
the elementary school. After that, he is finished, expect in bad words.
He coins his own language and that completes his education. But they
do not use that language in the University. In the world today, if you
have no knowledge, then you are a misfit. Why should a man confine
himself to his backyard where his bad words are law? The energy that
most of you put behind your bad words if used in the proper channel
would make you Alexander Hamilton. But if you don’t read, how can
you know? In an island like this with some 20,000 person, all you have
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is a little four-page newspaper. You go among civilised people and they
have new edition every five minutes. Why? Because the people want to
know what is going on and read to find out. My friends, you have to
buck up and make your civilisation what it ought to be. Read, read,
read; never stop until you discover the knowledge of the Universe.
If you don’t understand the compass of your own world, how
can you navigate properly? Christ himself paid tribute to intelligence.
He made it clear in the parable of the talents... Spend a little less on
food and a little more on your brain. Eat less and think more. Read
more literature. Today it is a struggle of wit against wit, brains against
brains...
Your island is a Garden of Eden - viewed from the Waterfront it
looks like a paradise. I have not come here to steal away everything;
what I would like to steal away is ignorance, so that when I cross the
Caribbean I can dump it into the deep Atlantic. I like the country very,
very much, and the people too. You are very hospitable here. Everywhere
I went, I was received with open arms... Try to make your little
country the best spot in the world. Get hold of the land and don’t let it
get away from you. The men who own the land make the laws. Own
your own house and own the land, then you will be a respectable citizen
and God will approve of you and the blessing of God Almighty will be
upon you.
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20 THE MOVE FOR MINIMUM
WAGES
On the 1 st January 1970 the “Labour (Minimum Wage) (Domestic Servant)
Order, 1969, came into effect. Earlier workers was paid whatever
wage rate their employer chose to pay. Long after the emancipation of
the slaves in 1834, workers were still at the mercy of their former masters
where payment was concerned.
Closely related to low wages were the handicaps of poor health,
crime and lack of educational facilities. These social ailments made life
miserable for the masses and were rendered more stubborn because of
the prevailing doctrine that the industry must thrive on cheap labour.
Child labour was used extensively by the estates. There was practically
no limit to the exploitation of the young generation. These were taken
on to work and grouped into what were called “Small Gangs”. The
advantages of this source of cheap labour to the estate made the planters
put up strong resistance to anything designed to provide regulations for
the fixing of minimum wages.
The Workers League used every means at its disposal to expose
this notorious state of affairs and to lay the groundwork for legislation
to regulate wages. In February 1936, when Sir John Maffey, Permanent
Under Secretary of the State for the Colonies, visited St. Kitts, the
League made the case for social, political and industrial reforms, including
a call to halt exploitation of our young people. In its memorandum
the League stated, Child Labour takes the form of the employment
of “Small Gangs” of children of school age and this has been the principal
source from which our criminals are drawn, and is an over present
dead weight upon the morale of the communities of the Presidency...
In December 1937 Minimum Wage laws were enacted by the
General Legislative Council of the Leeward Islands in Antigua.
First Wage Fixing
It was the accepted philosophy in business that industry and commence
must thrive on cheap labour and other lines of employment in the country
took the cue. Prominent in the picture was the sugar industry which
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provided the major portion of the employment in St. Kitts. As late as
the nineteen thirties the rate paid to some sugar factory workers was one
shilling per twelve-hour day - one penny per hour. The rate paid to estate
workers was invariable one half of that - six pence per day - one
cent per hour. There was nothing known as overtime pay for work done
beyond normal working hours.
So the lot fell to organised Labour under the leadership of the
Workers League to seek the means of throwing off the yoke of exploitation.
In the struggle, the League got the support of other progressive
groups in neighboring islands. The first fruit came forth in December
1937 when the Labour (Minimum Wage) Act was passed in the Leeward
Island. This law provided that whenever the Government finds it necessary
steps should be taken to regulate the wages paid in any occupation
in the territory. Conditions of employment would have be investigated
with a view to fixing minimum wages which should be payable. The
investigation was to be done by an advisory committee which was to
include representative of employers and workers.
After considering the committee’s recommendations, the Government
would make an order setting out the lowest (minimum) rates of
wages payable. These could be in the form of time-rates, piece-rates or
overtime rates. There was nothing within the law to prevent an employer
paying more than the minimum rate to a worker. Often an employer,
when pleased with the quality of service given, rewarded the
worker with a ”merit increase” of pay as a token of appreciation. This
also encouraged the worker to improve his or her standard of service
where possible.
However it became an offence for an employer to pay less than
the minimum rate fixed by regulation. Every such employer was required
to keep records of wages paid to show that the law was complied
with. The burden was on him to prove that he had not paid less than the
minimum rate. The Act provided for the appointment of officers to investigate
complaints and otherwise to see that the law was carried out.
These officers were empowered to enter premises, inspect and examine
wages sheet or other records. Penalties were prescribed for any person
who hindered or molested such officers in the performance of their duty
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or any person who made any false wages sheet or false record of payments.
Although the law was established in 1937, it was put into motion for the
first time in 1944 when the operation of the sugar industry was brought
to a complete standstill by a dispute between the St. Kitts Trade and
Labour Union and the St. Christopher Sugar Producers’ Association.
Enabling Trade Unions
For the Minimum Wage Act to be successfully implemented, the formation
of Trade Unions to negotiate on behalf of workers had to come
into force. The League’s struggle was successful and the Trade Union
Law was enacted in 1939. Through the instrumentality of the Workers
League, the St. Kitts-Nevis Trade and Labour Union was organised and
registered in 1940. The working masses were now awakened to a new
concept of life, a new outlook and a fresh evaluation of their individual
and collective interests in relation to the social and economic well-being
of the country. The worker’s desire to improve living condition was
stimulated by the presence of the Union.
A living wage for the working man - this was one of the first
targets of the Union. War conditions in 1943 had increased the pressure
on wage earners to “make the proverbial ends meet.” The Second
World War was at its height. Cost of living had been steadily mounting
since the outbreak of the hostilities in Europe in September 1939.
Against this background, during the latter part of 1943, the Union and
the Sugar Producers’ Association opened their negotiations for wages
and conditions of employment for workers in the sugar industry in respect
of the forthcoming year. Over the period of several weeks, letters
were exchanged and joint discussions were held but the rates of pay for
estate workers for 1944 brought negotiations to a dead end.
In January 1944 the acting Administrator informed the Union
that the Association had reported the break-down of negotiations and
that he would seek authority from the governor to set up an advisory
committee - Wages Board - to investigate the conditions of employment
of agricultural labourers in St. Kitts engaged in the harvesting of sugar
cane and to make recommendations as to the minimum rates of wages
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which should be paid for the various kinds of labour employed on such
work during 1944.
The Board was soon after appointed. A retired Judge of the Supreme
Court (Sir James Rae) was chairman. Two representatives of the
Association constituted the other members of the board. The Union
supported its case before the Board during days of deliberations, and
went further by drawing up and presenting a minimum suitable scale of
living expenses for an average labourer including rent and other necessities
for one week. The Association argued that they were not in a position
to pay the rates of wages requested by the Union. The Board ultimately
recommended an increase of three cents in the shilling on the
basic rates of wages paid in 1943.
On 10 th February 1944 the Governor with the advice of the Executive
Council made the St. Kitts Minimum Wage (Harvesting of Sugar
Cane) Order, 1944, to give effect to the recommendations of the
advisory committee. This Order fixed the minimum rate of wages for
cane cutters (per ton) at 33 cents, brake boys 4 cent, truck drivers 8
cent, packers 22 cents and so on. The Order commenced on the 16 th
February and expired on 31 st December 1944.
Shop Assistants
When minimum wages for shop assistants and domestic servants were
recently fixed by the Government, the background story different. In
1944 the field workers were united in their thought and action and
spoke out with one voice through the Union, but twenty years later,
store and grocery clerks as well as other similar employees were still
slow in organising themselves. They claimed that they were finding it
difficult to cope with the cost of living. The wages of some were five
dollars per week. Those who lived outside Basseterre had to pay bus
fares daily to travel to and from their jobs. Yet they made no speed to
unionise. This might be attributed partly to a hang-over of the social
code of past generations when persons working in towns and private
homes in the country were given a “higher status” than those toiling in
the fields. .
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Nevertheless, what remained of the “superiority complex” on
the part of workers who were not employed in the fields received a shattering
blow in the nineteen forties. As a result of the initiative taken by
the Union, some women employed on estates were earning more than
the average store and grocery clerk. In the late nineteen fifties women
who were hired in weeding gangs of high estates in St. Kitts were getting
six dollars and ten cents per week of five days, while in Basseterre
some clerks were getting five dollars per week of six days. As economic
pressure increased and shop assistants became more keenly aware of
the weakness of their position, they began to find their way into what
was then the “Allied Workers Section” of the Union. Here their difficulties
were aired and discussed. To start the ball rolling, a special call
was sounded to clerical workers to unionise. That was the first step.
The second step was the job of the Union. The case concerning
wages for shop assistants was accordingly tackled. The matter was taken
up with the authorities. In 1963 the Minister appointed a committee
to advise on the level of wages upon which minimum wages legislation
covering shop assistants may be based. The committee consisted of
the Labour Commissioner as Chairman, one member representing the
St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union, one representing other merchants,
one representing the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, with
an official from the Department of Labour as secretary. After obtaining
information, the committee submitted its report, in which it recommended
a minimum scale of wages for the workers concerned. To give
effect to the recommendations, the Labour (Minimum Wage) (Shop
Assistants) Order, 1965 was made and came into effect on 1 st August of
that year.
The minimum wages were fixed as follows: (a) Cashiers $15 per
week, (b) Counter Clerks $12 per week (c) Store boys/Messengers
$7.50 per week (d) Probationary Clerks 75 % of the minimum weekly
wage of Counter Clerk for the first four months in the case of persons
without previous experience. Four years later another wage order was
made relating to the employment of domestic servants.
House Servants and Hotel Staff
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In April 1969 the Minister of Labour set up a committee to consider
and recommend minimum weekly, fortnightly and monthly wages for
domestic servants and catering service workers. The committee considered
details relating to local conditions as well as particulars from
neighboring territories. With regard to workers in hotels, it was felt that
these should be set out, each in respective groups, such as receptionists,
supervisors, waiters, bartenders, gardeners, cooks, maids, watchmen
yard boys, etc. The Government finalised consideration of
the committee’s recommendations regarding domestic servants. The
relative Wage Order was made in December 1969 and took effect from
1 st January 1970. The minimum wage to be paid to domestic servants
according to the Order was as follows, (a) Up to 30 hours per week, $
12.00 per week without meals; $9.00 per week with meals; (b) Up to
36 hours per week, $ 16.00 per week without meals; $13.00 per week
with meals; (c) Up to 42 hours per week, $ 19.00 per week without
meals; $13.00 per week with meals. Hours worked between categories
(a) and (b) and between categories (b) and (c) were to be paid at the rate
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of time and a half. The wages of the hotel staff is undergoing further
study.
By now it is more than clear that the working population should
be fully organized for the furtherance of both their individual and collective
interest. From this standpoint, it would be preferable that scales
of wages should be fixed by collective bargaining, rather that by legislation.
It is the primary business of the Trade Union to operate in direct
contact with the employers all of the time but in some circumstances it
became necessary for a Government which is committed to the protection
of workers against exploitation and has pledged to press for higher
living standards for the masses, to enact laws that would produce such
support.
In April 1969 the Minister of Labour set up a committee to consider
and recommend minimum weekly, fortnightly and monthly wages for
domestic servants and catering service workers. The committee considered
details relating to local conditions as well as particulars from
neighboring territories. With regard to workers in hotels, it was felt that
these should be set out, each in respective groups, such as receptionists,
supervisors, waiters, bartenders, gardeners, cooks, maids, watchmen
yard boys, etc. The Government finalised consideration of
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21 POWER OF THE PRESS
During first half of the 20 th century, the press was active on every occasion
when the destiny of the ordinary people hung in the balance. It is a
peculiar instrument with extensive reach. It is a popular medium for the
spread of information of all sorts, and can present this information, analyze
it and colour it in any way it wishes, so as to produce particular
effects on the public mind. The Press figured prominently as an agency
moulding public opinion in 1922 when the Wood Commission was sent
out from London to see if the colonies of the Caribbean were ripe for
self-government. At no time afterward was the press absent from the
struggle for political, economic and social advancement.
The power of the press was heightened by the spread of education
- even as it was at that time- and the universal quest for knowledge.
As the early visions of change became clearer to the masses and the
eventual decline of the old regime was foreseen by the privileged classes,
the local press went into action, not as a unified force, but as a
complex battle ground on which the champions of conflicting interests
fought with all their might.
Contrast
The point at issue in 1922 was the inquiry of the Wood Commission.
Was our territory ripe for receiving a measure of self-government at that
time? The vested interests said No. The newspaper which expressed the
wishes of this group of people and reflected their fears, came out with a
reprint of a composition which ridiculed the idea of giving liberty to
descendants of Africans. The stroke was a subtle one, but it did the
damage. Organised capital and the ruling class then combined to defeat
the ends of political reform.. Accordingly, the policy and shade of opinion
reflected in the columns of their medium of communication was
tailored to the interests of people who were out to preserve their tradition
position.
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At that time the workers had no similar facilities to influence
public opinion. The newspaper which advocated the cause of labour
was just starting out. The contending sides were not equally matched.
The final result was that the Wood Commission made no recommendation
for the introduction of Representative Government into this territory.
At the same time the privilege was granted to Grenada, St Vincent
and St Lucia.
Ten years later The Union Messenger challenged the existing
order of things. In 1921, it had dedicated its services to the welfare of
the country and upliftment of the working class in particular. Under its
motto, For the general good, the paper launched a fierce attack on the
industrial, social and political systems. The effects of low wages, poor
health, bad housing, limited education, the notorious “small gang”, the
evils of crown colony rule etc. never escaped the searchlight of publicity.
Single-handedly the paper bore the brunt of the confrontation with
the plantocracy until the Workers League came into being in 1932. It
suffered the scars of battle including a boycott by the business community
but the wounds were only a spur to harder fighting. The 1932 the
call to West Indian Patriots throughout the Caribbean for a meeting to
make plans for the political emancipation of the masses aroused fear
and anger in the privileged classes. When our own territory was invited
to select delegates for the conference, the opposition press stepped out
on the war path.
Press and People
Newspaper reading at that time was not a popular pursuit of the average
worker. His school life was short. It was common to find adults who
could not write their names. But whatever was in the newspapers always
got around somehow. The ordinary man made his own interpretation
of what he heard or read. In his daily struggle for existence he
knew where the shoe was pinching. He sensed what could bring balm
to his mind and was suspicious of what might multiply his misery.
The labour press hailed the advent of the 1932 conference and
commended the public invitation to a meeting at the Apollo on 5 th October
1932 to select delegates to represent the territory at Dominica. At
that meeting plans were to be made for dealing with the Closer Union
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Commission headed by Sir Charles Fergusson. True to its doctrine, the
opposing press struck out against the move for reform. The main object
of the West Indian leaders was to obtain political advancement in the
whole Caribbean, but the press resistance which built up in St. Kitts
was aimed at putting back the hands of the clock.
The critics claimed, There is a large body of responsible opinion
opposed to any change in the constitution. When they were put to
flight by the might of a forceful pen, they resorted to the false assertion
that the labour press was endeavoring to create a feeling of hostility
between the different races in the island. The controversy filled several
newspaper columns daily. Opposers of Representative Government
were joyous at the tirades which were let off against the crusade; but the
common people in particular began to pay more attention to what came
out in the newspapers. At times what papers said was less important
than what they concealed.
The “Buckleys Riot” caused press confrontation in 1935 when
the revolt against low wages, and poor living conditions darkened the
industrial horizon. The situation resulted in heavy casualties. Three
workers lost their lives, ten suffered injuries and six were imprisoned
for terms ranging from two to five years. Leaders of Labour called for
an inquiry into the cause of the disturbance. At once support was given
by a section of the press, which said We believe that such an inquiry
will bring to light much of the filth and dirt of existing conditions under
which the masses Labour endured. The paper further commented: Labour
conditions in the sugar industry of the Presidency as yet seem a
vast unexplored unknown which nothing at all so far, not even a riot....
can discover. But the other section of the press lashed back with fury.
It had jumped on the defensive.
The mouthpiece of the landed interests blamed the riot on “agitators.”
It said some of these were people from other islands who traveled
seasonally to Santo Domingo for employment; they sometimes
hung around or settled here. In a despatch to London on the riot, the
Governor made reference to expressions in both sections of the press.
He reproduced from the planters mouthpiece the following statement
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which was contradicted completely by the events of 1935, At no time
has the labourer been more satisfied with the treatment accorded to him
than last year, and there is every confidence that he will receive the
same terms or even better, this year without coersion.
So once again the reading public had the opportunity to see the press at
work. People became aware of the meaning of the adage to read, mark,
learn and inwardly digest.
Reporting on the Commission
When the Royal Commission came out in 1938 to investigate social and
economic conditions in the West Indies, the event triggered off another
confrontation between the two sections of the local press. The reading
public saw much more than a quarrel between two sections of the local
press. As the Commission’s task was largely concerned with the deplorable
state to which the working masses had long been reduced by
capitalist exploitation, the mouth piece of the vested interests went into
action with zeal, loyalty and devotion to the ruling class.
The ground covered in the Caribbean during the entire tour of
the Commission can be seen from the following extract from the report
which was submitted on the 21 st December 1939. Formal evidence was
heard in 26 centres from 370 witnesses or groups of witnesses including
many large delegations, most of whose members took a part in the proceedings.
We had further to consider 789 memoranda of evidence, several
of which rival this report in bulk; and in addition we received some
300 communications relating to individual grievances or other matters
which we could not treat as falling within our terms of reference.
The Commission reached this territory in December 1938. The
delegation of the Workers League gave evidence on the 22 nd . At this
juncture, the newspaper that spoke for the landed interests and ruling
class came out with reports of the proceedings of the investigations of
the Royal Commission. The reports of the evidence provided by the
Workers League was so distorted by that section of the press that the
leaders hastened to summon the aid of the other section of the press to
correct the false impression by publishing a full transcript of the evidence
given by the League. In requesting this publication, the League’s
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President wrote, The issues are too grave and there is too much at stake
for the community’s welfare for us to allow any misrepresentation of the
particulars of that evidence.
From the Labour section of the press, that paper was described
A wolf in sheep’s clothing. The labour paper commented, The behaviour
of our contemporary almost took our breath away and we are
ashamed of its connection as a section of the Presidency’s Press.
After it was run to earth, the wolf discontinued its misleading coverage
of the League’s interview. It was in a tight corner. The next day it
made the following excuse for stopping the report, In the first place it
(the Report) is much too long and in the second place very little information
of value was elicited from the questions asked. But the reading
public was not long confused nor indeed discouraged. The play and
counter-play revealed in the hodge-podge of words gave fresh stimulus
to a careful analysis of the material one read in the newspapers. The
power of the press increased as individual and public issues were
brought into sharp conflict; as policies were attacked and defended; and
as people got a clearer picture of the bold steps and sacrifices necessary
for the advancement of the national interests. In the local sphere the
press warfare of past years was waged between the St. Kitts-Nevis Daily
Bulletin which ran from 1914 to 1967 and the labour paper The Union
Messenger which was published during the period 1921 to 1961.
The Royal Commission in their report included guidelines
which hold good for all times, it is clear that the influence of the press
is an important potential factor for good or evil in any community and
that therefore a heavy responsibility falls upon the editors of various
newspapers.. It is all the more important therefore that the value of restraint
and moderation should be fully appreciated by those responsible
for the conduct of the Press in all these territories, both large and small
alike.
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22 WORLD WAR TWO AND
LABOUR
When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, no one knew how it
would effect the workers in this territory. The air was charged with
sudden excitement when Nazi Germany overran Czechoslovakia and
invaded Poland. The German leader, Adolph Hitler, was geared for a
“lightening war” or blitzkrieg. Britain and France had warned that if
things came to a showdown, they would be fighting on the side of Poland.
It was the second time during a single generation that the German
war machine upset the peace of the world, The scars of the 1914-1918
confrontation were not yet healed.
In the early hours of Sunday, 3 rd September 1939, Britain officially
declared war on Germany in keeping with her pledge to assist
Poland against foreign aggression. The British nation directed its efforts
towards winning the war. Labour circles in Britain often referred
to the army in popular terms as working men in uniforms. Their counterparts
were found everywhere. In our corner of the Commonwealth,
we also made our contribution. On September 3 rd , the Workers
League, speaking on behalf of the workers of the territory, passed a resolution
for transmission to the Secretary of State in London, supporting
the Imperial Government in its stand against the use of force as and instrument
for deciding a question of international relations.
The sacrifices of war time were borne by the masses from the
beginning. Defence Regulations were imposed under the Emergency
Powers Act. Import and export of goods was restricted. Prices were
regulated. Industry was controlled. Censorship was imposed on letters
and telegrams as well as on newspapers and other publications.
On the 14 th September, the local Legislative Council passed a
National Service Ordinance making all men between eighteen and fifty
five liable for national service to be performed in this territory. Realities
of the war bit deeper and deeper into the routine of community life.
Enemy submarines were steadily sending food ships to the bottom of
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the sea. The effects were terrible in St. Kitts where more than threequarters
of the food stuff consumed was imported. The country had to
fall back on the products of the labourer’s food grounds. A campaign to
grow more food was launched by the government with the force of the
Colonial Defence Regulations behind it, but the large land owners paid
no serious regard to the national call for planting vegetables to sustain
life. At one time the Agricultural Department threatened to prosecute
large land holders for their failure without significant results. With scarcity
of supplies, prices started to rise. Controlled prices were largely
ignored and black market prices were as disturbing to the citizens as the
complete black-out which was enforced on public and private buildings
at night. Workers founds that wages could not cope with the actual cost
of sustaining life.
When a Canadian ship was torpedoed in the port of Castries, St.
Lucia, the grimness of the war was brought near, but it came closer to
home when two strange men who were believed to have landed from an
enemy submarine questioned some fishermen near Brown Hill, Nevis
about the movement of steamers around our shores. Radio reports from
Germany told of a fire at Willets Estate, St. Kitts shortly after it happened.
These incidents showed us that the European conflagration was
at our door step.
Trade Union Act
What would happen if the Trade Union Act had not come into existence
in 1939? Would the squeeze of low wages and the new jump in cost of
living have resulted in violent labour unrest as was the case four years
before? Another ugly situation might have developed if legislation had
not been passed in December to enable the workers to exercise the right
of collective bargaining. The position formed a sharp contrast to what
had happened during the First World War when trade unions were prohibited
by law. In the second World War, when Labour had gained a
voice in the management of public affairs, the Legislature of 1939 enacted
measures to make the workers’ position secure.
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It was clear that if the embargo against trade unionism was still in force
during the distressing war years, nothing might have saved the country
from another outburst like the 1935 riot. The Workers League publicly
advocated the only thing which could avert another industrial catastrophe.
It saw that the workers needed a medium through which to plead
their cause; an agency for bargaining, an instrument to accomplish general
improvement in their working lives and a weapon to be used when
necessary for the protection of their individual and collective interests.
The passing of the Trade Union Act in December was probably the
most momentous event in the course of working class evolution after
emancipation of the slaves in 1834.
The Trade Union Act however was not passed without a struggle.
At the meeting of the Leeward Islands General Legislative Council
held in Antigua, towards the end of 1939, the debate on the Bill showed
up the hands of a circle of die-hards as they staunchly defended the old
order. A newspaper report of the debate said, most of the unofficial
members desired amendment of the provisions dealing with peaceful
picketing and it was also suggested that a proviso should be included
to the effect that a strike or lock-out of which no notice had been given
be declared illegal. This proposed amendment to the Bill was subsequently
withdrawn.
Birth of the Union
In an island-wide campaign, the League enlightened the people to the
necessity of moving as a single unified body into a new eventful era.
Vividly it emphasized the workers’ rights and responsibilities as important
pillars in the community structure. The drive was supported by
a supply of British socialist and trade union literature which reflected
the uphill climb of labour in advanced countries, and inspired the ordinary
man and woman in our midst to join the forward march. The big
move in St. Kitts was further assisted by the British Trade Union Congress
in the form of valuable information which served as a guide to us
along the first stretch of the road.
On the 30 th November 1939, at the conclusion of a series of lecture
tours, the League sponsored a mass meeting of people employed in
the various branches of labour on the island. On that occasion the tre-
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mendous crowd packed the Mutual Improvement Society Hall and
thronged the street outside from Liverpool Row upward to Central
Street. The speakers expressed themselves freely and with great enthusiasm
reflecting on the heroic efforts of the past and lending colour to
the new dynamism that animated them. The meeting passed a resolution
that the formation of a trades and labour union in this territory was
desirable.
At the next meeting, the rules of the Union were to be drafted
and presented for consideration. Officers were to be elected. Other
executives were to be chosen for governing the organization and leaders
were to be found, who had the capacity to handle the business of the
Union in the stormy period of World War Two. The rules of the Union
were to follow patterns from Unions in Britain and elsewhere in the
Caribbean – but who would the leaders be? It was natural to expect.
Edgar Challenger
First President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union
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that the wave of sound statesmanship and patriotic zeal which swept the
Caribbean eight years earlier should now also provide some source
from which the trade union leadership would be drawn.
The second mass meeting was held on 8 th February 1940. The
draft rules were presented, discussed and finally adopted. Election of
the first officers and executive committee was carried out. The choice
of trade union leaders could be no problem, no mystery, no surprise.
Could there be any better selection for the guidance and protection of
the new organization than from the people who had been instrumental
in bringing it into existence? In high spirits, the huge gathering elected
the leaders of the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union from
among the armour bearers of the St. Kitts Workers League. The first
Union President was Mr. Edgar Challenger who was Vice-President of
the League.
A strong sense of loyalty to the common cause had directed the
masses in 1937 to return the League’s candidates in the first general
election. This abiding faith had moved the working population in 1932
to choose their political vanguard from stalwarts who were true and
tried by tests of economic severity. Before that the people had been
looking and longing for leadership from unselfish, dedicated men and
women.
The same cannot be said of neighboring islands in the Caribbean.
The delegates at the Dominica Conference of 1932 and other early
political leaders in the West Indies had a serious task before them. This
mainly involved the wrestling of political concessions from the hands of
the British Colonial Office. They did the job well but that very fact later
produced a demand for trade union leadership – a demand which
they did not completely fulfill. Many of the earlier political organizations
which paved the way had declined with the passage to time. Their
captains were not seen at the helm of militant trade unions at the time
when the movement most needed the force of courage and experience
from the inside. Even the once powerful Workingmen’s Organisations
of Grenada and Trinidad, led respectively by the illustrious T. Albert
Marryshow and the veteran Captain Arthur Cipriani, did not merge their
dynamic power with the Trade Unions of their countrymen. In our own
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territory, the success of the past blends admirably with higher aspirations
towards greater achievements in the future.
The First Strike
From the day the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union was formed
in 1940, it became a positive force for transforming the disabilities of
the past into a new and exciting approach to the future. Workers and
employers began to see the boundaries of their respective provinces
more clearly. For effective handling of the Union’s business, the members
were grouped into six complete sections. The sugar factory workers
took the lead. In this group were some keen, wide-awake stalwarts
who were fired with zeal for labour unity and were actuated by the spirit
of the times. Ringing slogans were flung out and fell on responsive ears
as the workers went about their jobs inside and outside the factory
buildings.
While the guns of fighting forces boomed in Europe, the distress
of World War Two reached out to this outpost of empire. Goods
were scarce, prices were high and wages low. At the same time the financial
position of the factory was not at all bad. The British Food
Ministry took over the purchases of sugar from these islands. The Directors’
report said that the 1939 crop of 37 336 tons of sugar was the
largest taken off St. Kitts so far, and that after charging revenue of $36
000 for the sinking fund, there remained a surplus of $502 300 to be
allocated to shareholders, to the payment of staff bonuses and to contractors’
share of surplus. The net amount recommended to be paid as
dividends to the “A” shareholders was $105 652 in that year. The
workers had the elements of a good case for demanding an increase in
wages.
The Union was still in its formative stage. The value of being
organized was being learnt. However, the events that followed took
the shape of a whirlwind which rushed in without warning and paralysed
the sugar industry for seven weeks. This was the lightening strike
of 1940. That year crop started on February 5 th . Weeks passed and
everything seemed to be running smoothly on the surface. No one
claimed to have previous knowledge of any plan to cease work. The
Union leaders had no hint. Management had no warning, the bulk of
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the workers concerned were as much taken by surprise as the rest of the
island’s population. The mystery was only afterwards unraveled bit by
bit.
War Bonus
Some of the factory workers, it was said, approached the manager of the
factory for a wage increase in the early days of February. Employees of
the factory were given a ‘war bonus’ of 10% of their wages but living
costs had risen so steeply that the bonus did not allow them to cope with
the situation. They made further representation to management and
were given to understand that an additional increase of pay would be
considered, and that in a few weeks time they would receive a management’s
reply on the matter. Time passed and there was no word from
management. Anxiety grew. On Saturday March 30 th , some of the
workers went to inquire what the decision was. The answer was not
given that day. It came the following Monday morning, 1 st April, ‘All
fools day’. The reply took the form of a strongly worded notice posted
prominently in the factory building. It read, Many employees at the St.
Kitts (Basseterre) Sugar Factory Ltd., have stressed the difficulty they
are now facing due to the increase in the cost of living. In February,
the cost of living had gone up by 15 percent. The factory gave a war
bonus of 10 per cent to assist their employees to meet this increased
cost of living. The management is not at present prepared to make any
alteration of increase in the existing rates of payment and when the increased
cost of foodstuff and necessities rises to 20 per cent an increase
in the war bonus will be made.
The reply not only proclaimed the stand of the factory management,
but also revealed the attitude of the large employers of labour.
From their point of view, the workers had dared to attack the domain of
the lords of industry. Labour questioned their supremacy.
But let us take another glance at the notice. It did not say that
the employers realized that the effect of the war was pinching the workers
hard. No hint was given that the factory had made profits from
which over a hundred thousand dollars were paid as dividends to
shareholders just the year before. No account was taken that wages in
the lower brackets were below subsistence level. What was stated in
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the notice, was that employees were forced to come forward and stress
their hardship. While living costs went up by fifteen percent, they had
been given ten percent more wages to cope with the rise and the matter
was sealed there, as far as management was concerned. If the increased
cost of daily necessities did not rise afterwards from fifteen to twenty
percent completely, the level of wages was not to be moved. There was
nothing like ‘negotiation’ in existence as a means of giving the workers’
side a hearing. In face of such a state of affairs, the walk-out by the
workers was a natural consequence.
Wounds of Battle
On the first day of the strike, the workmen all came together at their
meeting hall to evaluate the situation and map out a course of action.
They aired their grievances freely and frankly. Then they chose two
leaders to make representations on their behalf. At the same time they
were advised to refrain from any action which might bring discredit to
the ranks. Special committees were set up to handle various aspects of
the situation. A ‘games committee’ was put into action to organize
cricket and football at Warner Park. These and other forms of recreation
helped to keep the men together and greatly strengthened the prevailing
courageous spirit. The ‘food front’ was an important factor in
the strategy of industrial battle. Voluntary gifts of foodstuffs and money
were donated in support of the workers’ cause. A food distribution
centre was opened at Fort Thomas Road near Westbourne Street at the
beginning of the second week. Sympathisers in large numbers rallied to
the call for relief. Many of these were by no means wealthy. They
were moved by strong human motives to aid their fellow men in distress.
The special committee which spearheaded the effort made frequent
contact with management’s representatives and reported back to
the mass labour meeting which was held nearly every day. The factory
management received the workers’ delegations with promptness and
much courtesy but behind this frontage, the firm resolve to crush the
spirit of the workers could not be concealed. At the end of one of the
meetings with management, touching the position of the men on strike,
the workers’ delegates were calmly told, they will come back.
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This special committee also made contact with the government
of the day and brought back depressing reports. The administrator condemned
the strike in the strongest terms and on the 16 th May 1940, a
resolution denouncing the strike was passed in the Legislative Council
by majority vote. Speaking on the resolution, the Administrator said, it
is now crystal clear that the selfish aims of a few irresponsible people
are the direct cause of the unreasonable stand taken by the strikers; a
stand damaging in the extreme to their real interests.
1970
Today in 1970, thirty years after the first big fight between capital and
labour in this country, it is for the people to assess what damage was
done. It is for the younger generation in particular to make comparisons
of various kinds with their fellow workers of the 1940s whose days
work brought them one shilling and three pence for twelve hours toil,
just over two cents and hour. Nevertheless, a part of the price of progress
was paid by the victimization both inside and outside the factory
after the strike.
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185

Joseph
Nathaniel
France
was born at Mount Lily, Nevis in 1907. At thirteen he became the office
boy with the St. Kitts-Nevis Universal Benevolent Association He continued
his education through the Union’s night school classes and supplemented
his tiny income by grinding the organ to accompany silent films at
the Apollo Theatre .
In 1921, the UBA started publishing the newspaper The Union Messenger
under the editorial direction of J. M. Sebastian. France was employed as
his printer. He contributed to its daily editions as a reporter, columnist,
and short story writer. After Sebastian’s death in 1944, France became the
editor of The Messenger. He also edited of the Workers’ Weekly from
1942 to 1956 and was a member of the Editorial Board of The Labour
Spokesman. His political interests matured during the 1930s. In 1937 he
was among those campaigning for the right to vote and promoting the
election of Challenger and Manchester to the Legislative Council. In 1940,
the League launched the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union and J.N.
France became its first General Secretary, a position he held till his death
in 1997.
In 1946 France was elected to the Legislature. He served as Member for
Social Services from 1952, and from 1956 as Minister for Social Services.
In 1967, the new hospital was named after him, in honour of the invaluable
services he rendered in this field.
186
France successfully contested nine general elections between 1946 and
1984