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

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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
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J. N. FRANCE ______________________
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© 2015 Published by The National A
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Preface The Working Class struggle
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1 EARLY VISION Where is this countr
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With the passing of time, social an
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This early attempt at workers' orga
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post as a school teacher to succeed
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For several years the pressure was
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and school houses are being used fo
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housing condition arising from the
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3 PREPARING THE GROUND The thought
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That impressive English story told
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they had accumulated £28 with whic
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Commons that since the colony of th
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1922, some of the members of Legisl
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On 30 th August 1932 the Dominica T
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country and I regard British Guiana
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Mr. Marryshow then raised his tone
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Delegates to the West India Confere
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The conference opened its proceedin
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protests can be ignored with impuni
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Closer Union Commission widened to
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He said it was a privilege to him t
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possible, an education that must be
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and suffering, and in such a condit
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The land forming the Hospital compo
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ing able to grant the request of th
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prison sentences for what was commo
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sinned against the Factory. Theirs
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9 FROM PAUPER RELIEF TO PROVIDENT B
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1954 declared the first Monday in M
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it has proposed to interfere will b
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Change When the League came on the
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Children of the working class. 61
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had just dumped out a load of cane
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There was no reply from London. Twe
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president. When the delegation gave
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Under the law of 1937 only a limite
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Workers who would have benefited fr
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Grenada, and will seek to work in a
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Ferguson, Chairman of the Commissio
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Now let me say in the first place t
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We should like to refer to West Ind
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in West Indies there is a considera
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The 1932 Commissioners commented on
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not regard it as essential that the
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official news of its adoption by th
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gravity of the situation to the att
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On 13 th December, 1934 an unusuall
Page 102 and 103: employed by those who demand the ad
Page 104 and 105: concerning the right for the workin
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Page 108 and 109: vance towards the goal of the Feder
Page 110 and 111: members of the Council. Mr. Marrysh
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Page 116 and 117: tional reform movement in this Pres
Page 118 and 119: combine to give the Closer Union Sc
Page 120 and 121: prominent part in marking the close
Page 122 and 123: when the slaves were set free, and
Page 124 and 125: The people in those days took it fo
Page 126 and 127: Sugar Factory workers were “chast
Page 128 and 129: At West Farm the marchers were prev
Page 130 and 131: Some of the men, it was alleged, we
Page 132 and 133: gear was damaged and the employees
Page 134 and 135: Inspector of Police and Magistrate
Page 136 and 137: H.M.S. Leander arrived in the port
Page 138 and 139: satisfied that the action taken by
Page 140 and 141: 16 THE FIRST ELECTION The clash of
Page 142 and 143: opposed to it. The 1936 Constitutio
Page 144 and 145: important matter, I promise the Ele
Page 146 and 147: could have no better representative
Page 148 and 149: whether it was a fact that the St.
Page 150 and 151: existing, it is not considered that
Page 154 and 155: A: Any law-abiding citizen over 16
Page 156 and 157: appeared and presented the case of
Page 158 and 159: 18 A STAKE IN THE COUNTRY Land owne
Page 160 and 161: culture and Commercial Society. The
Page 162 and 163: After this, the land would vest abs
Page 164 and 165: age. In the following month, Januar
Page 166 and 167: 19 MARCUS GARVEY IN ST. KITTS St. K
Page 168 and 169: When he made man he said, ‘By the
Page 170 and 171: oil underneath his feet. Englishmen
Page 172 and 173: is a little four-page newspaper. Yo
Page 174 and 175: provided the major portion of the e
Page 176 and 177: which should be paid for the variou
Page 178 and 179: In April 1969 the Minister of Labou
Page 180 and 181: 21 POWER OF THE PRESS During first
Page 182 and 183: Commission headed by Sir Charles Fe
Page 184 and 185: President wrote, The issues are too
Page 186 and 187: the sea. The effects were terrible
Page 188 and 189: mendous crowd packed the Mutual Imp
Page 190 and 191: territory, the success of the past
Page 192 and 193: the notice, was that employees were
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