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

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)
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