Full text of "Land use and population in St. Vincent, 1763-1960."

LAND USE AND POPULATION IN ST. VINCENT, 1763-1960

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE

STUDY OF THE PATTERNS OF ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE

IN A SMALL WEST INDIAN ISLAND

By
Joseph Spinelli

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE
COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1973

@ 1974

JOSEPH SPINELLI

To the Memory of My Father and My Mother

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the course of this study, I have incurred innumerable
debts to persons and Institutions who have assisted me in one
way or another. I can never repay Professor David L. Niddrie
for his faithful guidance, sharing of experiences, sage advice,
constructive criticisms, and patience throughout the preparation
of this work. It was, Indeed, Professor Niddrie who first sug-
gested to me a study in the former British Caribbean, particular-
ly in St. Vincent. His knowledge of the Vest Indies opened many
doors for me and smoothed the path for my initial reconnaissance
of the area and, later, for a more extensive stay in the island.
For this impetus and understanding, I remain forever in his debt.
I wish, in addition, to acknowledge the valuable help and
encouragement I received from the past and present members of the
Department of Geography at the University of Florida.

It is impossible to thank personally the many people in
St. Vincent and elsewhere in the West Indies who aided me during
my three visits to the area. Several individuals and institu-
tions, however, deserve mention for their welcomed contributions
to my work. Dr. I. A. E. Kirby, Chief Veterinary Office, St.
Vincent, his wife, Monica, and their two children took me into
their family life and introduced me to the non-academic side
of Vincentian society. They made my stay in Kingstown an

unforgettable experience. In addition, "Doc" Kirby helped me to
see and understand the physical environment of St. Vincent to an
extent uncommon even among many native Vincentlans. For this , I
am ever grateful.

Among the others who rendered valuable service, advice, and
experience, I wish to thank: Miss Grace Malcolm of the Save the
Children Foundation in Kingstown; Mr. Clifford Williams, formerly
Acting Chief Surveyor of St. Vincent, and his ever-eager staff in
the Department of Lands and Surveys; Mr. O'Neil Barrow, Clerk
of the Legislative Council, St. Vincent; Mr. Ernest Laborde,
Labor Commissioner, St. Vincent; Christian I. Martin, formerly
Economist in the St. Vincent Planning Unit; the personnel of the
Department of Agriculture, the Department of Statistics, the
Central Housing Authority, the Office of the Registrar-General,
and the St. Vincent Banana Grower's Association.

Mr. Joe Brown, who captained the yacht Stella Vega , has
my gratitude for his kindly allowing me twice to accompany him
on trips through the Grenadine dependencies.

For services rendered outside of St. Vincent, I wish to
thank the staff of the Central Statistical Office in Port-of-
Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; the members of the United Nations
Eastern Caribbean Physical Planning Project in St. Ann's Court,
Barbados; and the Chief Librarian of the Population Research
Center at the University of Texas at Austin who provided a copy
of the elusive 1911 census of population for St. Vincent.

I also wish to thank the Director of the Center for Latin
American Studies at the University of Florida for a grant-in-aid
to cover the costs of transportation and housing for the initial
reconnaissance and later field work in St. Vincent.

My gratitude to the many Vincentians who freely offered
information and hospitality during my many trips through the
countryside will be repaid by my memory of their kindnesses.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgments
List of Tables
List of Figures
Abstract

Chapter I

Chapter II

xli

xiv

xvili

Introduction

The Problem

The Working Hypothesis

Definitions of Terms and Limita-

tions in the Study

A Review of the Literature

Studies of St. Vincent

Studies of Other British West

Indian Societies

General Studies of the West

Indian Economy and Population

Summary of the Economic and

Population Literature

The Organization of the Study

Notes to Chapter I

The Physical Environment

The Physical Landscape

The Climate

The Natural Vegetation

Soils

Agricultural Land Capability in

St. Vincent

Summary

Notes to Chapter II

PART I THE EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMY

OF ST. VINCENT 48

Chapter III The Sugar Industry of St. Vincent,

1763 to 1838 49

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

Early Settlements in St. Vincent,

Pre-1763 49
The Advent of the Sugar Industry, 1764

to 1800 52
The Zenith of the Sugar Industry,

1800 to 1828 63
The Waning of the Sugar Industry Before

Slave Emancipation 68

Summary 76

Notes to Chapter III 77

Chapter IV The Sugar Industry cf St. Vincent, 1839

to 1902 83

Post-Emancipation Labor Shortages 83

Free Villages 87

Land Purchase 89

Squatting 90

Labor Supply Problems 91

Alien Labor Immigration, 1845 to 1880 95

Portuguese Madeiran Immigration 95

"Liberated" African Immigrants 96

East Indian Immigration 99

The West Indian Encumbered Estates

Act in St. Vincent 104
The Sale of Encumbered Estates in St.

Vincent, 1856 to 1888 106
The Number of Working Estates in St.

Vincent, 1854 to 1902 113

The Demise of the Vincentian Sugar

Economy, 1854 to 1902 115

The Sugar Cane Industry 116

Beet Sugar Competition 120

Natural Disasters 124

Epilogue 126

Summary 128

Notes to Chapter IV 129

Chapter V Kajor and Minor Economic Crops in the

Vincentian Economy 141

The Arrowroot Starch Industry 141
Nineteenth-Century Birth of the

Industry 142

Market Gluts in the United Kingdom 146

The Competition of Other Local Crops 147
The Emergence of the United States

Market 149
The Supply Difficulties and Distress

in the Arrowroot Industry 154

The Cotton Industry 156
The Cotton Trade in the Late 18th

Century 157
The Cotton Trade in Decline,

1800 to 1850 163

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

The Cotton Industry in the Second

Half of the 19th Century 164

The Introduction of Sea Island

Cotton of St. Vincent 167

The Early Years of Development

and the First World War 170

The Cotton Boom and Slump, 1919 to

1928 174

The Great Depression and the

Second World War, 1929 to 1945 177
The Demise of the Sea Island
Cotton Industry in St. Vincent 180
The Banana Industry 183

The Early Banana History in

St. Vincent 183

The Development of the Modern

Banana Industry of St. Vincent 187

The Minor Agricultural Industries of

St. Vincent 190

The Cocoa Industry 191

The Copra Industry 194

A Review of the Agricultural Economy 197

The Balance of Trade 200

Summary 203

Notes to Chapter V 204

PART II THE POPULATION OF ST. VINCENT 221

Chapter VI Population Change in St. Vincent,

1763 to 1960 222

An Evaluation of Historical
Population Data 222

The Periods of Population Change

in St. Vincent 224

Pre-Censal Estimates: The Era of
Slavery and Apprenticeship 225

The Era of Alien Labor Immigration,

1844 to 1881 232

The Era of Emigration, 1881 to 1931 236

The Era of Rapid Population Growth,

1931 to 1960 241

Population Distribution and Density 252

Population Distribution in St. Vincent 252

Population Density in St. Vincent 254

Percentage Distribution of

Population 265

Summary 273

Notes to Chapter VI 275

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

Chapter VII The Composition of Population in St.

Vincent 284

The Age Structure 285

The Age Composition of St. Vincent 286
The Age Structure, by Sex, for

St. Vincent 290
Intra-Island Variations in Age and

Sex Structure 299

Variations in St. Vincent's Burden

of Dependency 314

The Sex Composition 317

The Sex Ratio for St. Vincent 317

Intra-Island Variations in the

Sex Ratio 322

The Sex Ratio by Age Group 325

The Racial Composition 330
The Historical Racial Composition

of St. Vincent 333
Intra-Island Variations in Racial

Composition 334

Racial Variations by Age and Sex 335

The Rural-Urban Composition 337
The Number and Size of Settlements

in St. Vincent 338

The Sex Ratio of Principal

Settlements 340

The Occupational Status 346

The Composition of the Labor Force 346

Summary 355

Notes to Chapter VII 358

Chapter VIII Summary and Conclusions 369

Problem and Hypothesis 369

Summary of the Export Economy 370

The Sugar Industry 370

The Arrowroot Starch Industry 372

The Sea Island Cotton Industry 373

The Banana Industry 375

Minor Cash Crops 377

Summary of Population Change 379

Pre-Censal Estimates 379

The Era of Alien Labor Immigration,

1844 to 1881 380

The Era of Emigration, 1881 to 1931 380
The Era of Rapid Population Growth,

1931 to 1960 381
The Spatial Distribution and

Density of Population 382

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

Summary of the Composition of
Population

The Age Structure
The Sex Composition
The Racial Composition
Rural-Urban Residence
Occupational Status

Conclusions

Appendix I
Appendix II
Bibliography
Biographical Sketch

382
383
384
384
385
386
387

391

393

395

427

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Land Capability Class, St. Vincent

Table 2 Number of Slaves, by Parish, St.
Vincent, 1819 and 1833

Table 3 Number of Slaves, by Parish,
St. Vincent, 1819-1852

Table 4 Number of Portuguese Madeiran, Liberated
African, and East Indian Immigrants, by
Year, St. Vincent, 1844-1880

Table 5 Estates Sold Through the West Indian
Encumbered Estates Act, St. Vincent,
1858-1888

Table 6 Arrowroot Exports to Principal Markets
by Volume and Per Cent, 1922-1932

Table 7 Estimated Percentage Peasant and Estate

Arrowroot Production, by Crop and Season,
St. Vincent, 1940-1945.

Table 8 Average Price per Pound of Arrowroot,
Decennially, St. Vincent, 1910-1960

Table 9 Area of Banana Cultivation, St. Vincent,
1934-1940

Table 10 Area of Banana Cultivation, St. Vincent,
1956-1960

Table 11 Banana Exports as a Percentage of Total
Exports, St. Vincent, 1950-1960

Table 12 Components of Population Change,
St. Vincent, 1735 to 1960

Table 13 Child-Woman Ratio, St. Vincent 1911-1960

Table 14 Vital Rates, St. Vincent, 1947-1959

Page

190

228
246
249

LIST OF TABLES (continued)

Table 15 Population Density, Selected Caribbean

Countries, 1844-1960 260

Table 16 Population Densitv, St. Vincent,

1844-1960 262

Table 17 Area of St. Vincent 263

Table 18 Percentage Distribution of Population,

by Enumeration District, St. Vincent,
1844-1861 268

Table 19 Total Age Profile, Kale and Ferrule Coo-

bined, by 10-year Age Groups, St.
Vincent, 1S61-1960 288

Table 20 Dependency Ratio, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1911-1960 316

Table 21 Racial Composition, by Major Census

District, St. Vincent, 1787-1960 331

Table 22 Sex Ratio of Principal Towns and

Villages, St. Vincent, 1844-1960 345

Table 23 Sex Ratio of Economically Active

Population, by Major Industrial
Group, St. Vincent, 1861-1960 348

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1 Windward Islands 29

Figure 2 Physical Features of St. Vincent 31

Figure 3 Geomorphology of St. Vincent 33

Figure 4 Natural Vegetation of St. Vincent 37

Figure 5 Soils of St. Vincent 40

Figure 6 Plan of St. Vincent, 1764-1807 54

Figure 7 Sugar Production of St. Vincent, 1815-

1937 57

Figure 8 Volume of Vincentian Cocoa and Coffee

Exports to Great Britain, for Selected
Years, 1765-1833 59

Figure 9 London Price of Sugar, 1760-1937 61

Figure 10 "Carib Country" Estates of St. Vincent 66

Figure 11 Average Number of Slaves, by Parish,

St. Vincent, 1819-1852 84

Figure 12 Distribution of East Indians, by Estate,

St. Vincent, 1861-1880 102

Figure 13 Estates Sold In the Encumbered Estates

Act Court, St. Vincent, 1858-1888 112

Figure 14 Number of Sugar Estates, St. Vincent,

1854-1903 114

Figure 15 Index Numbers of London Sugar Price and

Volume and Value of Vincentian Sugar
Exports, 1854-1886 119

Figure 16 Beet Sugar Exports from France and

Germany, 1826-1895 121

LIST OF FIGURES (continued)

Page

Figure 17 Value of Sugar and Arrovroot Starch

Exports, St. Vincent, 1850-1920 125

Figure 18 Extent of Ash Deposits fron Eruption of

Soufriere Volcano, St. Vincent, 1902 127

Figure 19 Value and Volume of Arrovroot Exports,

St. Vincent, 1830-1960 144

Figure 20 Annual Value of Chief Exports, as Per-
centage of Total Exports, St. Vincent,
1850-1960 145

Figure 21 Value and Volume of Cotton Exports,

St. Vincent, 1765-1960 158

Figure 22 Percentage Distribution of Cotton Imports
to Great Britain from Kajor Suppliers,
1786-1883 159

Figure 23 Volume of British West Indian and United
States Cotton Exports to Great Britain,
1780-1815 160

Figure 24 Average Price of Cotton Imports to Great

Britain, 1811-1884 161

Figure 25 Grenadine Dependencies of St. Vincent 165

Figure 26 Value of Chief Exports, St. Vincent,

1850-1900 168

Figure 27 Acreage and Yield of Cotton, St. Vincent,

1905-1960 171

Figure 28 Average Annual Prices for Selected Cotton

Varieties, Liverpool, 1S99-1929 173

Figure 29 Value of Chief Exports, St. Vincent,

1900-1960 175

Figure 30 Total Cotton Acreage and Average Size of
Farm Unit for Estates and Small Growers,
St. Vincent, 1920/21-1954/55 178

Figure 31 Volume of Sea Island Cotton Lint Exports,

1904/05-1960/61 181

Figure 32 Value and Volume of Banana Exports, St.

Vincent, 1932-1960 185

LIST OF FIGURES (continued)

Figure 33 Volume of Exports of Cocoa Beans and

Copra (Coconuts), St. Vincent, 1893-1960

Figure 34 Value of Cocoa and Copra Exports, St.

Vincent, 1858-1960

Figure 35 Percentage Distribution of Chief Exports,

St. Vincent, Decennially, 1850-1960

Figure 36 Value of Exports, Imports, and Balance

of Trade, St. Vincent, 1850-1960

Figure 37 Distribution of Slaves or Laborers, by

Estate, St. Vincent, 1833 and 1839

Figure 38 Population Distribution, St. Vincent,

1960

Figure 39 Population Density St. Vincent, 1844-1960

Figure 40 Major Population Enumeration Districts,

St. Vincent, 1844-1960

Figure 41 Age Profile by 10-Year Age Groups, St.

Vincent, for Selected Census Dates,
1861-1960

Figure 42 Index Numbers of Age-Sex Profiles, St.

Vincent, 1861-1960 (1861 - 100)

Figure 43 Age-Sex Profile, by 5-Year Age Groups,

St. Vincent, 1911-1960

Figure 44 Age-Sex Profile, St. Vincent, 1946

and 1960

Figure 45 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District

St. Vincent, 1871

Figure 46 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1871

Figure 47 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1881

Figure 48 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1891

Figure 49 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1911

Page

193
195

253

257

264

266

289
291
294
297
300
301
302
303
304

LIST OF FIGURES (continued)

Figure 50 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1921 305

Figure 51 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1931 306

Figure 52 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1946 307

Figure 53 Age-Sex Profile, by Census District,

St. Vincent, 1960 308

Figure 54 Sex Ratio, by Major Census District, St.

Vincent, for the Censuses 1844-1871 319

Figure 55 Sex Ratio, by Major Census District, St.

Vincent, for the Censuses 1911-1960 320

Figure 56 Age-Sex Profile of East Indian Immigrants,

St. Vincent, 1861-1880 321

Figure 57 Sex Ratio, by Broad Age Groups, St.

Vincent, 1891-1960 326

Figure 58 Sex Ratio, by 5-Year Age Groups, St.

Vincent, for the Census Years 1911-1960 327

Figure 59 Racial Composition, by Census Year, St.

Vincent, 1946-1960 336

Figure 60 Age-Sex Profile for Selected Racial Groups,

St. Vincent, 1946-1960 339

Figure 61 Number of Settlements, by Size, St.

Vincent, 1861-1891 341

Figure 62 Size of Principal Towns and Villages,

St. Vincent, 1844-1960 342

Figure 63 Location of Principal Settlements,

St. Vincent, 1960 343

Figure 64 Percentage Distribution of Labor Force, by
Age, Sex, and Major Industrial Group, St.
Vincent, 1946 352

Figure 65 Percentage Distribution of Labor Force, by
Age, Sex, and Major Industrial Group, St.
Vincent, 1960 353

Figure 66 Major Industrial Groups as a Percentage of

Total Labor Force, St. Vincent, 1861-1960 354

xvii

Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the

Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

LAND USE AND POPULATION IN ST. VINCENT, 1763-1960

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE

STUDY OF THE PATTERNS OF ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE

IN A SMALL WEST INDIAN ISLAND

Joseph Spinelli

June 1973

Chairman: Professor David L. Niddrie
Major Department: Geography

The purpose of this study of St. Vincent is to recon-
struct the historical economic and population geography of a small
West Indian island. It was observed that many of the 20th-century
problems encountered in St. Vincent were linked directly to past
conditions in the former British West Indies. The time spec-
trum for this study extends from 1763 (when Britain acquired the
Island) to 1960, the date of the latest published census.

A subsidiary goal of this study is the presentation in a
single source of a considerable amount of historical data
gleaned from numerous and sometimes hitherto untapped references,
many of which may soon pass out of existence from disuse or
deterioration.

The problem of concern in this investigation is the rela-
tionship between fluctuations in the export economy and changes
in the population. An analysis of the economically "dependent"

status of the island and the major population changes over nearly
200 years revealed a pattern suggesting the paramount role of the
export economy in affecting the rate of population growth and
changes in the components of demographic composition.

It was, therefore, hypothesized that the size, distribu-
tion, and characteristics of St. Vincent's population have been
affected by variations in the national export economy. A compre-
hensive analysis of the economy and population between 1763 and
1960 supports this hypothesis.

Part I of this study involves a reconstruction of the
overlapping periods of monocultural cash crop production, be-
ginning with the sugar industry in the late 18th century. It was
primarily during the 19th century, however, that sugar production
was developed and expanded, at first with slave labor, then, after
emancipation in 1838, by the use of indentured alien laborers-
Portuguese Madeirans, "liberated" African slaves, and East Indian

"coolies." The demise of the inefficient muscovado sugar in-
dustry in St. Vincent followed the entry of subsidized European
beet sugar into the British market after 1880 and was hastened
by the twin natural disasters of a hurricane in 1898 and an
eruption of the Soufriere volcano in 1902.

It was in the 20th century that St. Vincent experienced
monocultural production of Sea Island cotton, arrowroot starch,
and bananas as primary economic activities. Each of these
activities overlapped its predecessor as it rose quickly to a

xix

■ i i Yim - i [ ri Miimiiii --'tiiii^li - -f " f'-T i-r rn -|- ■ ' - - ■

position of supreme importance before waning in the face of exo-
genous market forces.

Part II traces the demographic changes that reflected
local and international fluctuations in the primary producing
industries. With the abolition of the slave trade in 1808, the
population of St. Vincent grew very slowly, as the effects of
natural increase were reduced by the mass emigrations of Vincen-
tians between 1880 and 1931. Thereafter, St. Vincent's popula-
tion grew rapidly as mortality declined and emigration was
stifled by international restrictions.

By 1960, St. Vincent still showed the results of past
emigrations of males and the more recent high rates of natural
increase--a low sex ratio and a heavy burden of economic depend-
ency, concentrated among children under 15 years of age.
Partly as a consequence of monetary remittances from relatives
working abroad and the changing attitudes of both sexes toward
agricultural employment, the labor force shows a low level of
female participation and a growing proportion of workers enter-
ing the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy.

The results of this economic and population analysis
demonstrate the lasting effects of shifting patterns of economic
activity on the rate of population growth and composition. Any

attempt to improve the demographic situation of St. Vincent must
take into account the disruptions attendant upon unpredictable
and sometimes violent fluctuations in the fortunes of cash crop
export production.

INTRODUCTION

The days of laissez falre are at an end for most nations of
the world. Instead, a degree of planning, prediction, and action,
based on viable data has become the prime consideration. In the
last quarter of a century, all West Indian governments and
institutions have tried to gain an understanding of their
political, economic, social, and demographic problems before
going ahead with their individual island plans. Preliminary
discussions after the Second World War dealt, for example, with
the concept of a federation of the British West Indian colonies
and produced numerous analytical statements about the difficulties
inherent in such a step. It was not long before both scholars
and politicians realized that inventories of individual problems
would be required for adequate planning.

The colonies in the Caribbean area differed in many ways
each from the other. The larger and more important territories,
such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and British Guiana [now
Guyana], overshadowed the smaller islands of the Lesser Antilles
in t">t attention paid to domestic problems. Yet there was no way
to mold these countries into a unitary political, economic, and
social framework without talcing into account individual charac-
teristics. If the colonies were to become one entity, what effect
1

vould this have, for example, on population movements from the
less developed British Caribbean islands to the sore developed
ones? Would black immigrants be welcomed into nixed societies
facing their own employment difficulties? Who would speak for
the needs of the smaller colonies? Would the "rich" grow richer
in the West Indies at the expense of the politically and
economically impotent?

These unanswered questions, together with the rapid growth
of national self-awareness and self-consciousness, resulted in
attempts to appraise the contemporary scene, which, however, had
roots in the past; to understand the present, it was, therefore,
also necessary to understand the historical sequence of changes
in the political, economic, social, and demographic variables.

National economies and population growth quickly became
popular topics for investigation. It was only natural that the
larger and more important colonies (those, it was thought, which
would form the foundation for an intra-Caribbean political
federation) were most often studied. Attention was directed to
Jamaica, at the western end of the British Caribbean, to Trinidad
and Tobago, and to British Guiana, well over a thousand miles
apart. Considerably less attention, if any, was devoted to the
smaller Islands between the "giants." That the projected West
Indian Federation came into being in 1958 and was dissolved by
1962 Is, in part, a disfunction of these disparate units. The
larger islands and continental territories went their own
particular ways leaving a major problem yet to be solved — how

vere the "Little Eight" to evolve a form of government, a
rational socio-economic plan, without re-submitting themselves
to neo-colonlalism and international beggary?

The present study is an attempt to add to the store of
information available describing the patterns of change in
St. Vincent's economy and the resulting changes in population
variables. Emphasis has been placed on historical trends, of
paramount importance if the present problems are to be under-
stood. The fields of economic and population geography are
thus both served by the historical nature of the investigation.
As Zelinsky states: "... population geography is, ipso facto ,
historical geography"; the same also applies to economic
geography. The population geographer becomes, by virtue of
the type of data sought and utilized, an historical geographer.

St. Vincent in the Windward Islands of the West Indies
was selected because it was one of the smaller, "forgotten"
islands. Little has been written about this island and what
exists has been either of very early or very late date. The
broad interval from the end of slavery (1838) until the post-
World War II era is devoid of any substantive information con-
cerning the economy, particularly the cash crop export economy,
or the changes in population. The present study fills in the
gap and provides a narrative of the economic fluctuations of
aonocultural production for export and the geography of popula-
tion change and composition, for two centuries, from 1763 to
1960. Since few of the studies concerning the former British
colonial empire In the West Indies trace both the economic and

demographic changes, it was felc Chat an analysis of St. Vincent's
past would contribute to the meager fund of historical informa-
tion available for students of the contemporary scene.

The Problem

The problea of concern in this study is the relationship
betveen fluctuations in the export economy of St. Vincent and
changes in the factors of population growth and composition.
Throughout its history, St. Vincent has been a "dependent"
country— dependent in terns of its main source of revenue and
the economic burden which its working-age population has had
to bear. At no tine since St. Vincent becaae a British
possession, in 1763, has the island been in a commanding or
influential economic position. Most of its history, at least
up to 1891, has been one of sugar cane production and export.

The island was settled and developed as a "sugar island,"
a place where huge profits were to be made by large estate owners.
Population growth and composition in the 18th and 19th centuries
were directly linked to the export economy. Labor requirements
for sugar estates were met by African slave quotas until 1807;
thereafter, the increase in population and the racial, sex, and
age composition varied with the fortunes of the leading export
commodity— sugar. To maintain sufficient workers in the fields
at low cost, after Emancipation, laws were passed permitting
foreign laborers to enter under paid work-contracts which bound
the contractees to work in the sugar industry for specified
time periods.

Competing sources of sugar for the European market
gradually rendered sugar cane production in St. Vincent less
profitable after the middle of the 19th century. By 1880,
foreign indentured workers were no longer Imported, as the
sugar industry in St. Vincent faced a situation where profit-
ability was restricted to modernized large-scale estates found
in the larger and less traditional British tropical possessions
around the world. High rates of absentee-ownership in
St. Vincent meant that diversification of the economy was slow
in being established. Sugar production continued to decline
after the 1870s, so that by 1891, another cash crop— arrowroot
starch— became the mainstay of the economy.

What followed in the 20th century were attempts to
Support the working population by emphasizing several different
cash crops (arrowroot, Sea Island cotton, and bananas) which
competed at various times for both labor and land. The true
"monoculture" of the 18th and 19th centuries was replaced in
the 20th century by the production of different crops, although
the importance of the leading two or three commodities over-
shadowed all of the other economic activities. In a sense, the
20th century has been characterized more by "overlapping"
nonocultural activities than by sharply divided epochs.

The effects of frequent shifts in emphasis from one type
of cash crop regime to another affected the size, rate of growth,
and composition of St. Vincent's population. The author was
struck by the coincidence of population changes attendant upon
major shifts in the export economy. The problem was one of

reconciling the broad demographic fluctuations with the
history of economic fluctuations in the island . Were they
Independent of each other? Did they occur simultaneously or
did one precede the other?

Before describing and explaining the changes in the
population of the island, it was necessary to reconstruct from
numerous official and unofficial documents, both published and
unpublished, the complete economic historical geography of
St. Vincent. By observing the variations in the population,
as revealed by the periodic censuses, and the fluctuations in
the export economy, the author determined that population
changes were more or less dependent upon the economy. Because
of St. Vincent's relatively insignificant size and production
of cash crops, it seemed unlikely that the population could
dictate what economic activity should be pursued. The massive
force of the international markets, through the demand for
particular products has usually influenced the economic
activities that could be profitably undertaken in St. Vincent.
It has been the Inability or unwillingness of Vincentian
growers to change with shifts in demand that seemed to cause
employment difficulties. Responding to the low wages and the
lack of sufficiently satisfying Job opportunities in St. Vincent,
large numbers of Vincentian laborers have emigrated — some
permanently, others only seasonally — to destinations in the
circua-Caribbean region, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

The Working Hypothesis

The theme of this Investigation is the relation between
the nature and operation of the Vincentian economy and the
changing demographic variables. Accordingly, the implied
hypothesis throughout the following chapters is that the sire,
distribution, and characteristics of St. Vincent's population
have been affected by the variations in the national export
economy. A quantitative testing of the hypothesis cannot be
predicated, owing to the nature and scope of the historical
data. If there is to be a quantitative testing of the hypoth-
esis then the historical statistics must be valid and reliable.
There is no way to test data gathered as far back as 1763 and,
in fact, population data assembled before 1946 are probably
subject to considerable discount.

The author's intention is to present the broad, general
patterns of economic and demographic fluctuations, and it is
assumed that errors in the data, although they may be substantial,
do not preclude the reconstruction of past events. It matters
less that the statistics found in historical documents are
totally reliable and valid than that they permit the researcher
to observe periods of prosperity and depression in the economy
and intervals of population change which correspond to the
economic variations.

A subsidiary goal of this study is the presentation of
historical data and facts that may soon be lost to posterity.
It is felt that future students of West Indian problems should
not have to undergo the laborious and sometimes disheartening

task of scouring government archives (which are on the point
of extinction because minor government officials are uncon-
cerned with the past) to reconstruct the economic and demo-
graphic history of St. Vincent. The archives are fruitful
stores of information and need to be closely examined; the
present study offers a partial restoration of historical events
in St. Vincent's past and leaves other students to present
their efforts at salvaging the history of the island. The
author feels that a contribution to an understanding of the
West Indies lies in the presentation of hitherto unavailable
or widely scattered historical data.

Definitions of Terms and Limitations in the Study
In the substantive chapters which follow, the author has
restricted his analysis to the island called St. Vincent,
located in the West Indies. During the time period under

investigation (1763 to 1960), St. Vincent was a crown colony

2
of Great Britian. Wherever the name "St. Vincent appears, it

refers to the main island and its dependencies In the Grenadine

Islands stretching southward toward Grenada. If there is a

need to differentiate between the component parts of the colony,

the terms "main island" and "Grenadine dependencies" (or

"Grenadine Islands" and "Grenadines") will be used; therefore,

unless otherwise indicated, the name St. Vincent always denotes

the entire colony.

The subject of this study is the export segment of the

island's economy; the statistics used are the foreign trade

statistics which measure the chief source of the colony's revenue.

In a reconstruction of the past, the date of Britain's
acquisition of St. Vincent (1763) is regarded as the one end
of the spectrum and the date of the last completed census as
the other (1960) . Although a population census was taken in
1970, it has not been published, and, therefore, the decade
of the 1960s has unfortunately been excluded from the analysis.
The omission precludes a study of the major changes that have
occurred with the rapid growth of the banana industry in the
1960s, although the effects of the first flush of success
from the banana trade, up to 1960, are discussed. Unfortunately,
most of the trade data for the 1960s is still unavailable.
Long delays in publishing statistics in St. Vincent are not
uncommon, as was indicated for the 1960 census. These con-
siderations influenced the author in his decision to limit the
analysis to 1960.

Finally, throughout this study, the term "the West Indies"
appears: unless otherwise qualified, the expression refers to
the former British West Indies (or British Caribbean) and
includes British Guiana [now Guyana] on the South American
continent.

A Review of the Literature
A review of the literature pertaining to the historical
economic and population geography of St. Vincent must, of
necessity, be interdisciplinary because non-geographers have
contributed most of the research on the British West Indies.
To understand the evolution of St. Vincent's economic and
population problems, it is vitally necessary to become acquainted

with studies of other individual countries in the British
Caribbean which may serve as models for comparison. A survey
of the literature reveals a dearth of research aimed at St.
Vincent and, hence, includes an accounting of related general
and specific works, with both a contemporary and an historical
time perspective. 3

Studies of St. Vincent

The literature that refers specifically to St. Vincent's
economic and demographic situation, both in the recent and
distant past, is almost non-existent. The only comprehensive
study of St. Vincent's population is Byrne's narrowly demo-
graphic analysis, which describes trends since 1851, but
emphasizes changing vital rates in the 20th century and their
consequences for the future. She makes no attempt to
correlate major economic and demographic phases except in the
most general sense. Needless to say, population geographers
have yet to draw much of their attention to the West Indies;
most students of West Indian population have been demographers.

The economic geography of St. Vincent has been analyzed
in several articles, all confined to the years after 1920;
none go back to the 18th or 19th centuries. The articles are
time series pictures of the past and are static in perspective. '
No attempt has been made to join the major events of the last
two centuries into a continuous pattern. Population in St.
Vincent has been the target solely of scholars of West Indian
demography and sociology, while the economy has been the focus
of a few geographers, although both economic and population studies
of the island are relatively rare.

Among the available historical references concerned with
early social, cultural, and economic life in the British West
Indies, two treat the conditions in St. Vincent at length.
Mrs. Carnichael's books describe daily social and cultural
life in St. Vincent under slavery, while Shepard's book is
valuable for its statistical appendices, which document the
economic history of the island up to 1829.

Other valuable sources of general historical information
are contained in books and articles that have a wider scope,
and include St. Vincent, among other British colonial posses-
sions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of these are cited
in the chapters that follow, but important examples include
Niddrie's study of the 18th century settlement of the "Ceded
Islands" (Dominica, St. Vincent, Grenada, and Tobago);
Walters's biography of Valentine Morris (governor of the Island

when the French seized it in 1779) which provides insight into

the first two decades of the colony s existence.

Social conditions in St. Vincent are also described in

an article by Michael G. Smith, a social anthropologist, who

9
leans heavily on Mrs. Carmichael's work. Two books covering

the period between 1837 and 1859 provide sketches of post-

Emancipation social conditions among the ex-slave population.

A statistical work by the noted West Indian demographer, G. W.

Roberts, provides an invaluable fund of information concerning

the number of immigrants, their race, the year of their arrival,

and their destination in the British West Indies, from 1834 to

1918. Earlier, Roberts published a detailed analysis of the

causes and size of the "liberated" African immigration to the
British Caribbean following Emancipation, in which important
facts are given concerning St. Vincent's share in this labor

< n 12

migration.

Studies of Other British West Indian Societies

Other countries in the British Caribbean have been more
carefully studied. Jamaica, because of its relatively greater
sire and economic stature in British colonial history, together
with the existence of a corpus of scholars in the Institute of
Social and Economic Studies, has been the subject of consid-
erable attention. The most comprehensive population analysis
of any West Indian territory is found in Roberts's book, The
Population of Jamaica , which serves as a model for the compar-
ison of demographic variables of other countries in the
Caribbean. Much of Jamaica's past resembles St. Vincent's,
as both suffered from the ill effects of a declining sugar
industry in the 19th century and lost population through
emigration, although St. Vincent experienced a much greater
rate of emigration. The attention given to Jamaica's prob-
lems, however, is directed more toward the 20th century,
especially to the post-World War II years, and focuses on the
disruptions to the economy caused by rapid growth, rural-to-
urban migration, and the emigration to the United Kingdom in
the 1950s. Consideration has also been given to the purely

demographic aspects of population change. Economists, rather
than geographers have dominated the field of economic analysis

In Jamaica and have concerned themselves with the 20th century.

Trinidad and Tobago, as one of the other major island
countries in the British Caribbean, has had relatively greater

attention given to its racial problems than to its other

demographic and economic characteristics. Niddrie has con-
tributed a substantive geographical study of Tobago, which takes
account of the physical environment, the historical and present-
day patterns of land use, and distribution of population, while

Kingsbury's monograph is a straightforward description of the

economic geography of Trinidad and Tobago.

Those who have studied the economy and the population of
Barbados have, with few exceptions, limited their analysis to
the mid-20th century and have not considered the historical

geographic aspects of fluctuations in the national economy and

20
changes in population size, growth, and composition.

Studies of the other former British West Indian colonies

have a greater representation among geographers, who have

examined the historical and cultural aspects of settlement and

21 22

cultural landscapes, the population in the 20th century,

and the geography of trade and commerce. Economists,

sociologists, and demographers have usually considered the

contemporary situation, with only a few providing an historical

..* 25

perspective.

General Studies of the West Indian Economy and Population

Among the economic and social studies of general
application to all parts of the British Caribbean region,
several are valuable for their descriptions and statistics

relating to the period of slavery. Ragatz's works documenting

26
the decline of plantation slavery and William's interpreta-
tion of the role of slavery in the development of English

27
Industrialization are noteworthy sources. Deerr's volumes

provide detailed production and price data covering the world's

sugar Industry, and Beachey's book supplies an excellent

account of the fortune of the British West Indian sugar
industry in the last half of the 19th century, including a

valuable discussion of the West Indian Encumbered Estates

29
Act. Other references offer interesting insights into the

production of sugar cane in the West Indies and the social

and economic problems which characterized the post-slavery

30
era, but nearly all their authors are historians.

The majority of studies that describe economic conditions

focus primarily on the post-World War II years, when the

British colonies were assessing their economic development.

31
Some were of a general nature, although most were concerned

with the contemporary situation of the various primary products

that formed the foundation of so many West Indian countries.

32
The banana trade has been a major subject for analysis, owing

to its relatively recent establishment in the Eastern Caribbean,

and it is followed by studies of the other traditional commodity

become increasingly important in the Caribbean, especially
after the Cuban revolution and the dissolution of the West
Indian Federation. The smaller islands have come to consider

tourism as a source of income mainly because of their inherent

34
natural beauty.

The general studies of West Indian population Include
those that analyze the cost of slaves, the importations of
East Indians into the Eastern Caribbean, and the contemporary
race and color problems which evolved from the hierarchical
societies of slavery and post-slavery years.

Roberts, and other scholars, have continued to provide
a steady stream of articles providing general surveys of the
demographic problems In the West Indies. In an attempt to
provide answers to the problems of improving the social con-
ditions among West Indians, Erickson has examined theories

that purport to explain population growth in one of the few

37
book-length studies of West Indian population.

Another major center of attention for researchers of
West Indian problems has been migration. Proudfoot's mono-
graph on intra-Caribbean movement is one of the earliest to
deal with this phenomenon. In one of the few geographic
studies of West Indian demographic problems, Lowenthal analyzes

the migration streams from the point of origin to show the

39
effects on the non-migrating population. A more recent

type of emigration found in the late 1960s — that of the move-
ment of young females to Canada as domestic servants — is

examined by Henry.

The mass movement of West Indians to the United Kingdom
following the Second World War, in response to a labor shortage
in the mother country, and later the collapse of the West
Indian Federation, bringing to an end the much vaunted dream
of intra-Federation labor migration, drew attention to the

"push" and "pull" forces of International migration and the
problems that developed in Britain with the entrance of
"colored" workers.

Lastly, there are the demographic statistical studies
that are basic to any analysis of West Indian populations in
the 20th century. Kuczynski produced a detailed survey of pop-
ulation data, from 1921 to 1946, that encompasses all of the

former British West Indian colonies and includes a discussion

, 42

of each territory s census administration. The Census

Research Programme, established at the University of West

Indies in Jamaica, has provided abridged life tables for the

British West Indies for 1946 and 1951 and complete life tables

for 1960. In addition, the same organization has estimated

the age, sex, and migration balance for the years between

1946 and I960. 43

Summary of the Economic and Population Literature

In general, there have been relatively few geographers
who have studied the former British West Indies, especially
from an historical economic and population viewpoint. The
bulk of the work on the region's problems has been contributed
by economists, demographers, sociologists, and historians,
who have been more concerned with conditions after the Second
World War than with those of the past few centuries, although
the roots of many of today's problems lie in the past. The
tendency has been toward a regional view when a long time
perspective is used. An obvious gap in the literature needed

filling, so that this study is an attempt to describe as fully
as possible the factors that have shaped and guided the fortunes
of the export economy and the subsequent variations in
population sixe, growth, and composition.

The Organization of the Study

Preceding the main body of the study, there is a brief
survey of the physical setting. The main text is divided into
two parts. In Part I, the economy of St. Vincent is recon-
structed and described according to the principal export
commodities. Chapters III and IV describe the establishment,
growth, and eventual failure of St. Vincent's sugar industry,
from 1763 to 1902. In Chapter V, the major and minor cash-
crop Industries that subsequently replaced sugar cane exports
are examined, starting with the 19th-century expansion of the
arrowroot starch Industry and ending with the more recent
success of banana production In the 1950s.

Part II is concerned with the changing demographic
situation in St. Vincent. In Chapter VI, there is a discussion
of the changing size and rate of growth of the population,
from 1763 to 1960, with the emphasis on the migration that
has affected the island in the last century and a half. Chapter
VII examines the composition of the Vincentian population,
stressing variations in age, sex, race, rural-urban composition,
and occupational status of the population. Most of this
analysis is confined to the years included in the censal
history of the island, from about the middle of the 19th
century to 1960.

The final chapter Is devoted to a recapitulation of
the major economic and population changes in St. Vincent and
the connections that bind them.

NOTES TO CHAPTER I

Wilbur Zelinsky, A Prologue to Population Geography
(Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966), p. 27.

In 1969, St. Vincent passed from Crown Colony status to
that of an Associated State in the British Commonwealth. The
Government of St. Vincent is autonomous, with the exception of
foreign affairs and defense.

3 See Bibliography at the end of this study for particular
sources.

*Joycelin Byrne, "Population Growth in St. Vincent," Social
and Economic Studies , XVIII, No. 2 (June, 1969), pp. 152-188.

'George Wright, "Economic Conditions in St. Vincent, B. W. I.,"
Economic Geography , V. No. 3 (July, 1929), pp. 236-259; and Frederick
Walker, "Economic Progress of St. Vincent, B. W. I. , Since 1927,"
Economic Geography , XIII, No. 3 (July, 1937), pp. 217-234. Also Arlin
D. Fentem, Commercial Geography of St. Vincent (Bloomington, Ind.:
Department of Geography, Indiana University, 1961); Robert C.
Kingsbury, Commercial Geography of the Grenadines (Bloomington, Ind.:
Department of Geography, Indiana University, 1960); John E. Adams,
"Conch Fishing Industry of Union Island, Grenadines, West Indies,"
Tropical Science , XII, No. 4 (1970), pp. 279-288.

Tlrs. [A. C.J Carmichael, Domestic Hanners and Social
Conditions of the White, Coloured, and Negro Population of the West
Indies (2 vols.; London: Whittaker, Treacher, and Co., 1833);
Charles Shephard, An Historical Account of the Island of St. Vincent
(London: W. Nichol, 1831).

'David L. Niddrie, "Eighteenth-Century Settlement In the
British Caribbean," Transactions and Papers, The Institute of
British Geographers , Publication No. 40 (1966), pp. 67-80; and
ibid . , "Land Use and Settlement in the Caribbean: A Contribution
to the Hi storical and Social Geography of the Lesser Antilles with
Special Reference to the Ceded Islands and in Particular to Tobago,"
(Ph. D. dissertation, Manchester University, 1965).

"Ivor Walters, The Unfortunate Valentine Morris (Newport,
England: R. H. Johns, Ltd., 1964).

•' - - 'I- i- v ii -i iini —ri'jfii t Mill—-- -1 ,._^ —

Tlichael G. Smith, "Some Aspects of Social Structure in the -
British Caribbean About 1820," Social and Economi c Studies, I, No.
4 (August, 1953), pp. 55-79. "" ~

Joseph Sturge and Thomas Harvey, The West Indies in 1837
(London: Hamilton, Adams and Co., 1838); William G. Sevell, Ordlal
of Free Labour in the B ritish West Indies (2d ed.; London: Sampson
Low, Son, & Co., 1862).

1 C. V. Roberts and Joycelin Byrne, "Summary Statistics on
Indenture and Associated Migration Affecting the West Indies,
1834-1918," Population Studies . XX, No. 1 (July, 1966), pp. 125-134.

^•„ W - Roberts, "Immigration of Africans into the British
Caribbean, Population Studies, VII, No. 3 (March, 1954), pp. 253-262.

13 G. W. Roberts, The Population of Jamaica: An Analysis of
Its Structure and Growth fC* m hriH pP| England: •",., Conservation '
Foundation at the University Press, 1957).

G. E. Cumper, "Labor Demand and Supply in the Jamaican
Sugar Industry, 1830-1950, "Social and Economic Studies, II, No 4
(March, 1954), pp. 37-86; ibid., "Population Movements in Jamaica,
1830-1950 Social and Economic Studies . V, No. 3 (September, 1956)
PP. 261-280; also H. D. Huggins, "Seasonal Variations and Employment
in Jamaica. ' Social and Economic Studies . I, No. 2 (June 1953)
pp. 85-115. '

^avid Lowenthal, "Population and Production in Jamaica "
Geographic al Reviev , XLV7.II, No. 4 (October, 1958), pp. 568-571; G. E.
Cumper, "Preliminary Analysis of Population Growth and Social
Characteristics in Jamaica, 1943-1960," Social and Economic Studie s
XII, No. 4 (December, 1963), pp. 393-431; Jack Harewood, "Overpopulation
and Underemployment in the West Indies," International Labor Rev iew
LXXXII, No. 2 (August, 1960), pp. 103-137; Colin G. Clarke, "Population
Pressure In Kingston, Jamaica: A Study of Unemployment and Over-
crowding," Tr ansactions and Papers, The Institute of British Geo graphers.

Publication No. 38 (1966), pp. 165-182; G. W. Roberts, "Provisional

Assessment of Growth of the Kingston-St. Andrew Area, 1960-1970,"
Social an d Economic Studies . XII, No. 4 (December, 1963), pp. 432-
441; ibid., "Demographic Aspects of Rural Development," Social and
Economic Studies. XVII, No. 3 (September, 1968), pp. 276-282; also
G. W. Roberts and D. 0. Mills, "Study of External Migration Affect-
ing Jamaica, 1953-55," Social and Economic Studies . Supplement to
VII, No. 2 (June, 1958), p. 126; G. Edward Ebanks, "Differential
Internal Migration in Jamaica, 1943-60," Social and Economic Stu dies
XVII, No. 2 (June, 1968), pp. 197-214; R. N. S. Harris and E. S. Steer,
Demographic-Resource Push in Rural Migration: A Jamaican Case Study,"
Social and Economic Studies, XVII, No. 4 (December, 1968), pp. 398-
406; Nassua A. Adams, "Internal Migration in Jamaica: An Economic
Analysis," Social and Economic Studies . XVIII, No. 2 (June, 1969)
pp. 137-151; W. F. Maunder, "The New Jamaican Emigration, "'social

^^fci— iiii, i ,■-.■-,!.. -

and Economic Studies, IV, No. 1 (March, 1955), pp. 38-63; Clarence
Senior and Douglas Kanley, A Report on Jamaican Migration to Great
Britain (Kingston, Jamaica: Government Printer, 1955); and Gene
Tidrick, "Some Aspects of Jamaican Emigration to the United Kingdom,
1953-1962," Social and Economic Studies , XV, No. 1 (March, 1966),
pp. 22-39.

G. J. Kruijer, "Family Size and Family Planning: A Pilot
Survey Among Jamaican Mothers," West-Indische Gids , XXXVIII, Nos.
3-4 (1959), pp. 144-150; and G. E. Cumper, "The Fertility of Common-
law Onions In Jamaica," Socia l and Economic Studies, XV, No. 3
(September, 1966), pp. 189-202.

G. E. Cuatper, "Estimates of Jamaican Commodity Trade," Social
and Economic Studies , VI, No. 3 (September, 1957), pp. 425-431;
Donald Q. Innis, "The Economic Geography of Jamaica," Revue Canadlenne
de Ggographie , XVII, Nos. 1-2 (1963), pp. 26-30; Carleen O'Loughlin,

"Long-Term Growth of the Economy of Jamaica," Social and Economic
Studies , XII, No. 3 (September, 1963), pp. 246-282; Eric Armstrong,

Long-Term Growth of the Economy of Jamaica," Social and Economic
Studies , XII, No. 3 (September, 1963), pp. 283-306; Clive Y. Thomas,
"Coffee Production in Jamaica," Social and Economic Studies , XIII,
No. 1 (March, 1964), pp. 188-217; B. S. Young, "Jamaica's Bauxite
and Alumina Industries," Annals of the Association of American
Geographers , LV, No. 3 (September, 1965), pp. 449-464; Vernon C.
Mulchansingh, Trends in the Industrialization of Jamaica (Kingston,
Jamaica: Department of Geography, University of the West Indies
Occasional Paper No. 6, 1970); Nassua A. Adams, "Import Structure
and Economic Growth in Jamaica. 1954-1967," Social and Economic
Studies , XX, No. 3 (September, 1971). pp. 235-266.

Jack Harewood, "Population Growth of Trinidad and Tobago in

the Twentieth Century," Research Papers, Central Statistical Office
of Trinidad and Tobago , No. 4 (December, 1967), pp. 69-92; M. B.
Naidoo, "The East Indian in Trinidad: A Study of an Immigrant
Community," The Journal of Geography , LIX, No. 4 (April, 1960), pp.
175-181; John P. Augelli and Harry W. Taylor, "Race and Population
Patterns in Trinidad," Annals of the Association of American
Geographers , L, No. 2 (June, 1960), pp. 123-138; Judith Ann Weller,
The East Indian Indenture in Trinidad (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico:
Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, 1968);
Colin G. Clarke, "Residential Segregation and Intermarriage in San
Fernando, Trinidad," The Geographical Review , LXI, No. 2 (April, 1971),
pp. 198-218; Jack Reynolds, "Family Planning Dropouts in Trinidad
and Tobago," Social and Economic Studies , XX, No. 2 (June, 1971),
pp. 176-187; J. S. Campbell and H. J. Gooding, "Recent Developments
in the Production of Food Crops in Trinidad," Tropical Agriculture .
XXXIX, No. 4 (October, 1962), pp. 261t270; Frank Rampersad, Growth
and Structural Change in the Economy of Trinidad and Tobago, 1951-
1961 (Mona, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research,
University of the West Indies, 1964); Clive Y. Thomas, "Projections
of Cocoa Output in Grenada, Trinidad, and Jamaica, 1960-75," Social
and Economic Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March, 1964), pp. 94-117.

David L. Niddrie, Land Use and Population In Tobago , The

World Land Use Survey, Monograph 3: Tobago (Bude: Geographical
Publications Lioited, 1961); and Robert C. Kingsbury, Course re ial
Geography of Trinidad and Tobago (Bloomington, Ind.: Department
of Geography, Indiana University, 1960).

Jerome S. Handler, "Slave Population of Barbados in the

Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries," Caribbean Studies , VIII,

No. 4 (January, 1969), pp. 3S-64; David Lowenthal, "The Population of

Barbados," Social and Economic Studies . VI, No. 4 (December, 1957),

pp. 445-501; G. W. Roberts, "Emigration from the Island of Barbados,"

Social and Economic Studies . IV, No. 2 (June, 1955), pp. 245-288;

Janet D. Henshall, "The Demographic Factor in the Structure of

Agriculture in Barbados," Transactions and Papers. The Institute of

British Geographers . Publication No. 38 (1966), pp. 183-195; G. T.

M. Commins, et al., "Population Control on Barbados," American Journal

of Public Health . LV, No. 10 (1965), pp. 1600-1608; Joycelin Byrne,

"A Fertility Survey in Barbados," Social and Economic Studies . XV,

No. 4 (December, 1966), pp. 368-378; ibid .. "A Note on the 1970

Population Census in Barbados," Social and Economic Studies , XX,

No. 4 (December, 1971), pp. 431-440; G. Edward Ebanks, "Social

and Demographic Characteristics of Family Planning Clients in

Barbados," Social and Economic Studies . XVIII, No. 4 (December, 1969),

pp. 391-401; Moni Nag, "The Pattern of Mating Behavior, Emigration,

and Contraceptives as Factors Affecting Human Fertility in Barbados,"

Social and Economic Studies . XX, No. 2 (June, 1971), pp. 111-133;

G. E. Cumper, "Employment in Barbados," Social and Economic Studies .

VIII, No. 2 (June, 1959), pp. 105-146; Otis P. Starkey, Commercial

Geography of Barbados (Bloomington, Ind.: Department of Geography,

Indiana University, 1961); David Vatts, "Man's Influence on the

Vegetation of Barbados, 1627 to 1800," Occasional Papers in Geography .

University of Hull, No. 4 (Hull, England: University of Hull, 1966);

ibid . . "Origins of Barbadian Cane-Hole Agriculture," British Museum

and Historical Society Journal . XXXII (1968), pp. 143-151; ibid ..

"Persistence and Change in the Vegetation of Oceanic Islands: An

Example from Barbados, West Indies," The Canadian Geographer . XIV,

No. 2 (Summer, 1970), pp. 91-109.

David L. Niddrie, "An Attempt at Planned Settlement in St.
Kitts in the Early Eighteenth Century," Caribbean Studies , V, No. 4
(January, 1966), pp. 3-11; and Raymond E. Crist, "Static and
Emerging Cultural Landscapes on the Islands of St. Kitts and Nevis,
B. W. I.," Economic Geography. XV, No. 2 (April, 1949), pp. 134-145.

David Lowenthal, "Population Contrasts in the Guianas,"
Geographical Review . L, No. 1 (January, 1960), pp. 41-58; Earl B.
Shaw, "Population Adjustments in Our Virgin Islands," Economic
Geography , XI, No. 3 (July, 1935), pp. 267-279; and Barbara Welch,
"Population Density and Emigration in Dominica," Geographical Journal .
CXXXIV, No. 2 (1968), pp. 227-235.

Earl B. Shaw, "St. Croix: A Marginal Sugar^Producing
Island," The Geographical Review , XXIII, No. 3 (July, 1933), pp.
414-422; Robert C. Kingsbury, Commercial Geography of the British
Virgin Islands (Bloomington, Ind.: Department of Geography, Indiana
University, 1960); ibid., Commercial Geography of Grenada
(Bloomington, Ind.: Department of Geography, Indiana University,
1960) ; Arlin D. Fentem, Commercial Geography of Dominica
(Bloomington, Ind.: Department of Geography, Indiana University,
1960); ibid . . Commercial Geography of Antigua (Bloomington, Ind.:
Department of Geography, Indiana University, 1961); Otis P.
Starkey, Commercial Geography of Hontserrat (Bloomington, Ind.:
Department of Geography, Indiana Univeristy, 1960); ibid.. ,
Commercial Geography of St. Kltts-Nevis [and Anguilla ] (Bloomington,
Ind.: Department of Geography, Indiana University, 1961); and
ibid . . Commercial Geography of St. Lucia (Bloomington, Ind.:
Department of Geography, Indiana University, 1961).

Jack Harewood, Population Growth in Grenada In the

Twentieth Century," Social and Economic St udies, XV, No. 2

(June, 1966), pp. 61-84; ibid . , "Employment In Grenada In 1960,"

Social and Economic Studies , XV, No. 3 (September, 1966), pp.

203-238; Carleen O'Loughlin, A Survey of Economic Potential, Fiscal

Structure and Capital Requirements of the British Virgin Islands

(Mona, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University

of the West Indies, 1962); ibid., "The Economy of Antigua," Social

and Economic Studies , VIII, No. 3 (September, 1959), pp. 229-264;

ibid . , "Problems in the Economic Development of Antigua," Social

and Economic Studies , X, No. 3 (September,' 1961) , pp. 237-277;

ibid . , "The Economy of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla," Social and

Economic Studies , VIII, No. 4 (December, 1959), pp. 377-402; ibid. ,

"The Economy of Montserrat," Social and Economic Studies , VIII, No.

2 (June, 1959), pp. 105-146; ibid . , "Economic Problems of the

Smaller West Indian Islands," Social and Economic Studies , XI, No.

1 (March, 1962), pp. 44-56; H. W. O'Neale, "The Economy of St.

Lucia," Social and Economic Studies , XIII, No. 4 (December, 1964),

pp. 440-470; A. Kundu, "Rice in the British Caribbean Islands and

British Guiana, 1950-1975," Social and Economic Studies, XIII,

No. 2 (June, 1964), pp. 243-281; and ibid., "The Economy of British

Guiana, 1960-1975," Social and Economic Studies , XII, No. 3

(September, 1963), pp. 307-380

G. W. Roberts, "A Life Table for a West Indian Slave

Population," Population Studies , V, No. 3 (1951), pp. 238-243;
Ripley P. Bullen, "The First English Settlement on St. Lucia,"
Caribbean Quarterly , XII, No. 2 (June, 1966), pp. 29-35; and
Jay R. Mandle, "Population and Economic Change: The Emergence of
the Rice Industry in Guyana, 1895-1915," The Journal of Economic
History, XXX, No. 4 (December, 1970), pp. 785-801.

24
26

* 4.. u ^ ° eph **«"«. The Fall of thg Planter Class in the

British Caribbean . 1763-1833 (New York- n~~l "" UMa ln ESS

— ____-^ . : wujjlojj (.New York. D. Appleton-Century Co.,

Books l!2? SJiJ"?' -^i^H^^lLSlaverx (New York: Capricorn
J««: 2S). "Plight by The University of North Carolina

& Hall^S) 066 "' ^^i^DLoLSugar (2 vols,; London: Chapman

f— in u*o W " Beachev ' IJ^BjltishJ^tlndies Sugar Industry in the
Late 19th Century (Oxford, ET^dT-la^H^kwe^lJ^^

SewnfA W " d B f ""• "Caribbean Sugar-Production Standards in the
S bv Joh r \ Ei8 ^ enth Centuries," m Merchants and Scholar .
Press" 1965) R B ( Sb :r U ^, Minn - : "^^^TUnl^o^ ,
Sri!'., r' \ Sherldan « The West India Sugar Crisis and

SlsSrt XXT 6 N man . Cl ^ l0n ' 1830 - 18 33," The^Journal of Economic

S,n" "'.VT"' 1961) ' pp - 539-551; Woodvllle

1838 11"]' rt r ^ Economic Problems in the Windward Islands,
1838-65, in The C aribbean in Transition , ed. by F M Andic and

Lo-fo^th" 8 ! <"? TI ^r^^^^ University^ ^uerto^
Rico for the Institute of Caribbean Studies, 1965), pp. 234-257-

Slands ^sILs""^ *?"< ^^ ° f the Brltlsh Wlndw " d

P P 28-« ™ "p The ^aica n Historical Review . V (May. 1965),

?8« " c 5 % i ^ d --! Peasant ^velopment in the WeTTlndies Since

PP 252 §6v 1 s an R d E f"7 l£-^les, XVII, No. 3 (September, 1968),

MOO-Sl* "\ll \ <' ^ rUiSh WeSt IndleS in DeP^ssion:
r v cv \ Inter-American Economic Affairs . XII (1958), pp. 3-25-

blinds " P Tro d ; JTT AgriCulture in th e Leeward and Windward
islands. Tropical Agriculture. XXIV, Part I, Nos. 4-6 (1947)

"•, ' ! "" d ° tis P - Stark ey, "Declining Sugar Prices and Land

^m^^oTn? Lesser AntUles -" E — * c ca^

Car^K G T 8e L \ F * Beckford « "Agriculture and Economic Development."
| aribbean quarterly . XI. Nos. 1-2 (March-June. 1965). pp. 50-63;

IZiTs %^L 2 a n G ^ltU " Caribbean Trad * Patters." Caribbean

Studies VI. No 2 (July, 1966). pp. 46-55; Lewis Campbell,

Production Methods In West Indies Agriculture," Caribbean
ajarte^lv. VIII, No. 2 (June, 1962), pp. 94-104; GTETcSTper.
"£•• T ^e Economy of the West^ndies (Kingston, Jamaica: Institute
fi 1^/?™'° Research, University of the West Indies,

lQfim- n=^.j t x,,u, ' — m_ -*""» »»*««»n.)f ui cne west lnd
1960) David L. Nlddrie, "The Caribbean Islands Today " xh e
Journal of the Institute of Bankers . (June, 1963), pp. l=n

1-11; Nora

M. Sif fleet, "National Income and National Accounts," Social and
Economic Studies , I, No. 3 (July, 1953), pp. 92-104; and Otis
P. Starkey, Commercial Geography of the Eastern British Caribbean
(Blooming ton, Ind.: Department of Geography, Indiana University,
(1961) .

32 N. W. Simmonds, "The Growth of the Post-War West Indian
Banana Trades," Tropical Agriculture , XXXVII, No. 2 (April, 1960),
pp. 79-85; D. E. Kay and E. H. G. Smith, "A Review of the Market
and World Trade in Bananas," Tropical Science , II, No. 3 (1960),
pp. 154-165; Derek Townsend, "Green Gold: West Indian Bananas for
British Tables," Canadian Geographical Journal , LXVII, No. 5 (1963),
pp. 172-177; Dennis McFarlane, "The Future of the West Indian Banana
Industry," Social and Economic Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March, 1964),
pp. 38-93; Melba Kershaw, "The Banana Industry in the Windward Islands,
Tropical Science , VIII, No. 3 (1966), pp. 115-127; and George L.
F. Beckford, "Long-Term Trends in Banana Exports: Further Evidence of
Secular Fluctuations in Tropical Agricultural Trade," Economic
Development and Cultural Change , XV, No. 3 (April, 1967), pp. 323-330.

Peter Runge, "The West Indian Sugar Industry," Journal of
the Royal Society of Arts , CIX, No. 5-54 (January, 1961), pp.
91-104; George C. Abbott, "The West Indian Sugar Industry, with
Some Long-Term Projections of Supply to 19 75," Social an d
Economic Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March, 1964), pp. 1-37; ibid . ,
"The Collapse of the Sea Island Cotton Industry in the West
Indies," Social and Economic Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March, 1964),
pp. 157-187; and Dennis McFarlane, "The Foundations for Future
Production and Export of West Indian Citrus," Social and Economic
Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March, 1964), pp. 118-156.

3 T1. J. Pollard, "The West Indian Tourist Industry: Panacea
for Small Island Development?" Swansea Geog rapher, VIII(August, 1970),
pp. 15-21; H. Zinder and Associates, Inc., The Future of Tourism
in the Eastern Caribbean (Washington, D. C: 1969).

35 Douglas Hall, "Slaves and Slavery in the British West Indies,"
Social and Economic Studies , XI, No. 4 (December, 1962), pp.
305-318; I. M. Cumpston, "Survey of Indian Migration to British
Tropical Colonies to 1910," Population Studies , X, No. 2 (1956),
pp. 158-165; David Lowenthal, "Race and Color in the West Indies,"
Daedalus (Spring, 1967), pp. 580-626; arid ibid. , "The Range and
Variation of Caribbean Societies," Annals of the New York Academy
of Sciences , LXXXIII, Art. 5 (January, 1960), pp. 786-795.

G. W. Roberts, "The Caribbean Islands," Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science , CCCXVI (1958),
pp. 127-136; ibid., "Notes on Population and Growth," Social
and Economic Studies , VII, No. 3 (September, 1958), pp. 24-32;
ibid;, "Prospects for Population Growth in the West Indies," Social

and Economic Studies , XI, No. 4 (December, 1962), pp. 333-349;
George C. Abbott, "Estimates of the Growth of the Population
of the West Indies to 1975," So cial and Economic Studies , XII, No.
3 (September, 1963), pp. 236-245; Clarence Senior, "Demography
and Economic Development," Social an d Economic Studies , VII, No.
3 (September, 1958), pp. 9-23; Edmund H. Dale, "The Demographic
Problem of the British West Indies," Scottish Geographical
Magazine , LXXIX, No. 1. (April, 1963), pp. 23-31; and Harold L.
Gelsert, The Caribbean: Population and Resources (Washington,
D. C. : The George Washington University Press, 1960).

E. Cordon Ericksen, The West Indian Population Problem :

Dimensions for Action (Lawrence, Kans.: University of Kansas
Publications, Social Science Studies, 1962).

Tialcolm J. Proudfoot, Population Movements In the
Caribbean (Port-of-Spaln, Trinidad: Kent House for the Caribbean
Commission, Central Secretariat, 1950).

David Lowenthal and Lambros Comitas, Emigration and

Depopulation: Some Neglected Aspects of Population Geography,"
Ceographlcal Review , LII (1962), pp. 195-210.

Frances Henry, The West Indian Domestic Scheme in Canada,

Social and Economic Studies , XVII, No. 1 (March, 1968), pp.

83-91.

Anthony H. Richmond, Immigration as a Social Process:

The Case of Coloured Colonials in the United Kingdom," Social
and Economic Studies , V, No. 2 (June, 1956), pp. 185-201; R. B.
Davison, West Indian Migrants: Social and Economic Facts of
Migration from the West Ind ies (London: Oxford University Press,
1962); E. R. Braithwaite, "The 'Colored Immigrant' in Britain,"
Daedalus (Spring, 1967), pp. 496-511; G. C. K. Peach, "Factors
Affecting the Distribution of West Indians in Great Britain,"
Transactions and Papers, The Institute of Bri t ish Geographers ,
Publication No. 38 (1966), pp. 151-163; and Ibid ., "West Indians
as a Replacement Population in England and Wales," Social and
Economic Studies , XVI, No. 3 (September, 1967), pp. 289-294.

R. R. A. Kuczynski, Demogr a phic Survey of the British

Colonial Empire , Vol. Ill: The West Indian and American Territories
(London: Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of
International Affairs, 1953).

Census Research Programme, Life Tables for West Indian

Populations, 1945-47 and 1950-52 , Census Research Programme Publication
No. 14 (Kingston, Jamaica: Census Research Programme, University of
the West Indies, 1966); ibid., Life Table for British Caribbean
Countries 1959-1961 , Census Research Programme Publication No. 9
(Port-of-Spain: Central Statistical Office Printing Unit, 1966);

and Ibid. , Estimates of Intercensal Population by Age and Sex ,
and Revised Rates for British Caribbean Countries , 1946-1960,
Census Research Programme Publication No. 8 (Port-of-Spain: Central
Statistical Office Printing Unit, 1964).

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The setting for this study is the small West Indian
island of St. Vincent, located in the southern Lesser Antilles
at latitude 13*N. and longitude 61°\l. (See Figure 1.) Roughly
elliptical in outline, the "main" island's greatest length is
18 miles north to south and 11 miles west to east at its
widest point. Encompassing an area of 133 square miles
(excluding its Grenadine dependencies), St. Vincent is,

therefore, the third largest island in the former British

Windward Islands. This chapter will briefly survey the major

features of the physical environment of St. Vincent.

The Physical Landscape
St. Vincent belongs to a geologically young group of

volcanic islands constituting the southern arc of the Lesser

2
Antilles. This volcanic arc stretches from Saba Island

(17°N.) at the northern end of the Lesser Antilles to Grenada

(12*N.) at the southern extreme, skirting the eastern margin

of the Caribbean Sea. (See Figure 1.) The "main" island of

St. Vincent is separated from its Grenadine dependencies to

the south by an ocean trough 3,700 feet deep and from St. Lucia

to the north by an another channel varying between 1,800 and

3,100 feet in depth. 3

IS^ 7

DOMINICA

• o£>

ST. LUCIA

ST. VINCENT

<? a-

'i^GRENi

FIGURE I

WINDWARD ISLANDS

j ' -

The "main" Island of St. Vincent is composed of the
exposed surface of a series of submerged volcanoes which have
developed on a tectonic arc and have been built up from about
5,000 feet below sea level. The St. Vincent Grenadines
represent a group of exposed erosional remnants of older
volcanic formations which have developed on a narrow bank
now submerged in 100 to 200 feet of ocean. The Grenadines
are low-lying islets with their highest elevations less than
1,000 feet above sea level.

The structure of the "main" island is composed of a
north-south chain of volcanoes, with the oldest extinct
remnants situated in the southern half of the island. Today,
only the Soufriere mountain, which encompasses the northern
third of the island, remains as an active volcano. It has
erupted four times in recorded history — in 1718, 1812, 1902,
and, most recently, in 1971. Although lava is found in
St. Vincent, it is confined mostly to the older southern half
of the island, as the more recent Soufriere eruptions appear

to have been of the explosive variety, discharing scoriae, ash,

and boiling mud.

Numerous peaks are found dotting the "main" island's
central range of mountains, evidencing the volcanic structure
of the island. From north to south, the main peaks are: the
Soufriere (4,048 feet); Richmond Peak (3,528 feet); Mt. Brisbane
(3,058 feet); Grand Bonhomme (3,193 feet); Petit Bonhomme
(2,481 feet); and Mt. St. Andrew (2,413 feet). (See Figure 2.)

FIGURE 2

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ST. VINCENT

To the observer, the Soufriere volcano presents the
classic profile of a young volcano — cone-shaped, with steep
slopes incised by streams forming knife-edged ridges and deep
narrow valleys. There is abundant evidence of the recent
violent activity of the Soufriere. Covering the slopes and
surrounding coasts is a mantle of ash, scoriae, and large
ejecta discharged by the 1902 eruption, which, in some places,
is only lightly hidden by regenerated vegetation.

The "main" island is heavily dissected and is composed
of many steep-sided transverse valleys that broaden as they
approach the coast. In its geologic history, St. Vincent has
experienced both uplift and submergence. Four epochs of
eustatic changes in sea level have been discerned, with a
maximum uplift of 600 feet and a maximum submergence of 700
feet from present sea level. (See Figure 3.) The island's
coast, in effect, has fluctuated 1,300 feet in elevation.

An east-west profile of the "main" island shows a
Leeward (west) coast much steeper and narrower than the
Windward (east) coast. Along the Leeward side of the island,
the topography is characterized primarily by highly dissected
ridges and valleys extending down to the water's edge, making
land transportation very difficult on the island's present
road system. On the Windward coast, however, the relief is
more gently rolling and land transportation is more easily
facilitated as steeply sloping roads are absent.

The Windward coast receives a continuous erosional
pounding from waves set up by the steady Northeast Trade winds

y^^L^s.

Sourer J.P Watson »t ol. . Soil and Lond-Uit Sar»«yi, No V SI. Vinc«nt ,p,7,

FIGURE 3
GEOMORPHOLOGY OF ST. VINCENT

and, therefore, the headlands and bays have been smoothed off,
Affording poor harbor protection from heavy winds and seas.
By contrast, the Leeward coast is scalloped with numerous
deep embayments sheltered from wind and waves. It was on the
west and southwest coasts, with their many safe harbors for
sailing ships, as nearly everywhere in the Caribbean, that
the earliest European settlements were established.

The Climate
St. Vincent's climate is tropical, with neither
oppressively hot days nor uncomfortably cool nights. Despite
its tropical location (13 degrees north of the Equator), the
island's weather is influenced by the surrounding marine
environment which acts to modify daily temperatures. The

average annual temperature is about 80"F., with average

monthly maxima of 85°F. and average minima of 71 F. The

highest daily temperatures, near 90°F., are usually reached in
the early afternoons during the "wet" season (or "summer"),
from June to December. Such temperatures, however, are
ameliorated by the Northeast Trade winds, especially on
promontories along the Windward coast. In the upper reaches
of the Leeward valleys, the high temperature and humidity,
coupled with the lack of breezes, result in oppressive
conditions for the traveler.

Variations in rainfall more than in temperature mark the
change in seasons; "summer" and "winter" correspond to the
"wet" and "dry" periods, respectively. The average total "wet"

season rainfall (June through December) is about 67 inches,
while the "dry" season rainfall amounts to 32 inches. The
average total annual precipitation for the "main" island is
approximately 100 inches.

Precipitation totals vary spatially from an annual
average of 60 inches along a one-half mile coastal zone
around the "main" island to over 150 inches in the mountainous
interior. In the general zone of cultivation, which field-
work showed to be below 1,000 feet in elevation, rainfall

annually averages between 80 and 100 inches.

Owing to their small size and low elevation, rainfall
is precarious in the St. Vincent Grenadine Islands, and cer-
tain months may record no precipitation. The island
dependencies for which data are available generally measure
about one-half of the rainfall of the "main" island. The
annual average rainfall for the Grenadines with meteorological
stations (Bequia, Canouan, and Union Islands) is about 49
inches. The driest months (February, March, and April)
average slightly more than 1 inch of precipitation each,

while the wettest months (June through November) average about

13
6 inches each. The low rainfall regime of these islets was

an important reason why sugar cane was never extensively

cultivated, making cotton the favored crop because of the

dry harvesting season. The 'Vet" season on the "main" island

caused damage to the ripening cotton bolls, and therefore

cotton was relegated to the drier Grenadines during most of

the 19th century.

The Natural Vegetation

Very little undisturbed climax vegetation is found in

St. Vincent today. What exists today is located at varying

elevations above 1,000 feet, well out of the zone of human
activity. The concentric zonation of rainfall (with the
heaviest amounts falling in the central highlands) also co-
incides with the general zonation of vegetation, the only
exception being the area surrounding the Soufriere volcano.
(See Figure 4) Most of the land area below the 1,000-foot
contour has been affected by cultivation and settlement.
Above that elevation, the natural vegetation is found to be
in various stages of regeneration and approaching climax stage
where it has been previously disturbed by natural forces
(volcanic eruptions and high winds).

The zones of vegetation are affected, in most places, by
cltnate, but in some locations, soil and exposure to winds
are the dominant forces affecting the type of natural plant
life. Climax forest vegetation is located at elevations above
2,200 feet, along the central ridge, south of the Soufriere,
and is referred to as elfin woodland . Low, gnarled, moss-
covered trees predominate near the extinct volcanic peaks in
the center of the "main" island. They range in height from 6
to 33 feet, depending upon the degree of exposure to winds.
(See Figure 4.)

Below the elfin woodland, at elevations between 1,600
and 2,200 feet, hurricane forest (also called palm brake )
vegetation is found. (See Figure 4.) The trees, typically of

L/.n^j^.--- ..- .*.u,*x*lMiu~

I RAIN FOREST
^ ] EVERSREEN SEASONAL FOREST
W////X SEMI-EVERCREEN SEASONAL FOREST

J OtCIOUOUS SEASONAL FOREST
j | EtFIN WOODLAND
E&Sl SECONDARY FOREST
PSSgj RALM BRAKE
X//X SCANT VE6ETATION

(clbii community*)

kxjici j.r itiiiMi

, t«ll »«< UiJUm l.... t .".l '"I-imI,,.!

FIGURE 4
NATURAL VEGETATION OF ST. VINCENT

. - . — Wi l .. l i««imwMiriiir*iiiift l i J

the palm Prestoea montana variety, form a closed single canopy
40 feet above the ground. This type of forest seems to be
a disturbed climax vegetation, resulting from the effects of
strong winds which topple the larger trees before climax is
reached. The location of the hurricane forest in St. Vincent
is on loose, shallow soils on steep slopes, with resultant ease
of tree uprooting.

In the next lower vegetation zone, between about 1,000
and 1,600 feet in elevation, another area of climax vegetation
is encountered — the lower rcontane rainforest . (See Figure 4.)
The altitude of this type of rainforest is low enough to avoid
destruction from high winds and high enough to be out of the

range of permanent cultivation, although scattered garden

18
plots and charcoal -burning pits are sometimes located here.

Trees form two strata at heights of from 10 to 50 feet and 65

to 100 feet and are associated with a shrub layer and a ground

19
layer of ferns, mosses, and tree seedlings.

In the lower montane rainforest, nearly all of the trees
are evergreen. Toward the lower margins, however, semi-ever-
green begin to appear as the weak dry season is experienced at
this elevation.

The wet and dry seasonal changes in St. Vincent become
sore influential toward the coastline. Near the coasts,
especially on the Leeward mountain spurs, which are too steep
for cultivation, deciduous trees are found. (See Figure 4.)

All of the vegetation on the Soufriere volcano is secondary
growth, having regenerated from the total destruction of the

- -_.. -_.. ..: . ^._^ _.,... ,

1902 eruption, when incandescent avalanches burned and buried

20
all plant life. Regenerated secondary rainforest is found

above 1,200 feet, on the steep slopes above permanent culti-
vation. Trees range in heights froo 50 to 90 feet and decrease
in size with increasing elevation. At the 2,000-foot level,
trees are only 10 to 13 feet high and are gnarled by wind on
exposed ridges.

Above the 2,400-foot contour on the Soufriere volcano,
trees are replaced by stunted ferns and grasses (which are
valued by some Kingstown giftshop owners as tourist items).
From the 3,000-foot elevation to the highest levels of the

volcano, distinct alpine and tundra vegetation grow and are

characterized mainly by lichens.

Soils
According to Hardy, Robinson, and Rodrigues, the soils
of St. Vincent can be classified into four major groups:

a) Yellow Earths; b) Recent Volcanic Ash Soils; c) Shoal Soils;

and d) Alluvial Soils. (See Figure 5.) The most extensive

24
soil type is the zonal Yellow Earths. These are found on

the older land in the southern half of the "main" island and

are deeply weathered, highly leached, acidic, lacking in

phosphate, and of medium- low fertility.

Climate is the primary determinant ii the development of
the Yellow Earths, and the concentric climatic zonation of the
"main" island, to a large extent, describes the location of the
soil group.

~ « ■•rf . >, , ■ r , i wwimaiii , <■ < ,,<...,^,^, w,..»,-a".. .,.■,.-„.... _- ..,„,... ^_

So«rc« : J.P. Wation it ol .. Soil ond Land-U»t Surnyt, No 3- St Vinc«nt, p. 1 1.

FIGURE 5
SOILS OF ST. VINCENT

Two phases of Yellow Earths exist in St. Vincent. The
first, termed High Level Yellow Earths, is found above the
600-foot contour level and has been formed by the higher rain-
fall at this elevation and a longer exposure to sub-aerial
weathering. When the island was formerly submerged, the land

above the 600-foot contour remained exposed to weathering,

26 _
whereas the area below this level was under water. The

effect was to create a "younger" and more friable soil below

the present 600-foot level when the island was subsequently

uplifted. This younger phase of soil is called Low Level

27
Yellow Earths.

A second major soil group has been classified as Recent

Volcanic Ash and is confined mainly to the slopes of the

Soufriere volcano. (See Figure 5.) The azonal soils (lacking

apparent profile layers) in this group have developed over the

ash deposits of the volcano, especially the ash of the 1902

eruption and are coarse and cindery in texture, well drained,

28
acidic, and of medium fertility. The heavy rainfall and

steep slopes of the Soufriere result in rapid erosion of the
Recent Volcanic Ash Soils.

Another recognized soil group is called the Shoal Soils,
which are identified with the Hydromorphic soils formed over
extinct volcanic cones in the southern and southeastern parts
of the "main" island. 29 (See Figure 5.) This soil group is con-
sidered intrazonal , owing to excessive moisture caused by
locally impeded drainage and becomes sticky in the wet season
and cracked in the dry season.

The remaining major soil group includes Alluvial Soils
and is found most commonly along the valley floors of the
southern coastal area. Such soils are absent in the northern
third of the island, near the Soufriere. (See Figure 5.)
They have developed on parent material deposited by streams
flowing out of the interior and on local erosional material
from the adjacent hillsides. Fertility varies according to
the types of parent material from which the alluvial deposits
were derived.

Several minor soils occur but are uncultivable owing to
their infertility or remote location. These have been
classified as Aeolian Soils (formed on wind-blown material
mixed with Yellow Earths), Beach Deposits (mostly black

volcanic sand without a developed profile), and Skeletal Soils

> 30
(unproductive soils of hard rock fragments on steep slopes).

Agricultural Land Capability in St. Vincent
The St. Vincent soil survey undertaken in 1957 and 1958
included a land capability classification, in which the soils
in the surveyed area were grouped into seven types of capability
classes for the production of commercial crops, forage plants,
and forest trees. 31 An indication of the difficulty of
recommended cultivation in St. Vincent is evidenced by the
small amount of Class I land. Such land can be farmed without
limitations, that is, it is relatively level, with deep fertile
soil, and possesses good physical properties. The degree of
slope in the "main" island was considered as the main factor in
assessing land capability, and this factor alone reduces

St. Vincent's Class I land area to 2,000 acres or slightly

32
■ore than 3 per cent of the surveyed area. (See Table 1.)

By farming land up to 20* of slope (Classes I, II, and

III land), no more than about one-quarter of the surveyed

land area is available, and this entails using Class III land

which suffers greatly from the twin adversities of erosion

and boulders scattered in the fields. (See Table 1.) In

general, nearly 75 per cent of St. Vincent's area has been

33
classified as marginal for "optimum" land use. Practical

considerations, however, such as agricultural population

density and commercial cash crop forces, have necessitated

the use of much land that otherwise should have remained

uncultivated.

Summary
This chapter has described the physical environment of
St. Vincent. Owing to the extremely rugged topography in the
"main" island, a great variety of climatic subtypes, soil groups,
and classes of natural vegetation are found over relatively
short distances. Cultivation is restricted, in part, by soil
fertility and degree of slope of the land and is generally
confined to the area below 1,000 feet in elevation. Despite
the spatial differences in land capability, cultivation has
historically been found at nearly all locations below the
1,000-foot contour. Foreign demand for particular export
products has had more of an influence than the suitability of
the land in determining the specific mix of cash crops produced
by St. Vincent's agricultural laborers.

TABLE 1
LAND CAPABILITY CLASS, ST. VINCENT

Land Capability Class

Most Suitable Use

Acreage

I. Slope limits 0-5°

II. Slope limits mainly
5-20° and some level
land of less favor-
able soils

III. Slope limits 5-20°
IV. Slope limits 20-30°

V. No slope limit but
mainly very steeply
sloping land (over
30°)

VI. No slope limit; shal-
low soil over hard
rock

VII. No slope limit

Suitable for cultivation

with almost no limitations 2,000

Suitable for cultivation
with moderate limitations

Marginal for cultivation
due to erosion risk but
suited to tree crops,
pasture, and forest

Severe limitations for tree
crops, pasture, and forest

12,000

2,000

10,000

Suitable with only slight
limitations for tree crops,
pasture, and forest and
unsuitable for cultivation 20,000

6,000

Dnsuitable for agriculture;
should be left under natural
vegetation 6,000

Source: J. P. Watson, J. Spector, and T. A. Jones, Soil and
Land-Use Surveys , No. 3: St. Vincent (Part of Spain,
Trinidad: The Regional Research Centre of the British
Caribbean at The Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture,
1958), Table 12, p. 43 and p. 34.

NOTES TO CHAPTER II

St. Vincent consists of the "main" island (133 square
miles) and a string of islet dependencies, the Grenadine
Islands (17 square miles). The other islands in the former
British Windward Islands are, in order of decreasing size:
Dominica (305 square miles); St. Lucia (238 square miles); and
Grenada, with its Grenadine dependency, Carriacou (133 square
niles).

The northern series of islands in the Lesser Antilles are
geologically older, low-lying, and formed on submerged inactive
volcanoes, capped with limestone. See: Charles Schuchert,
Historical Geology of the Antillean-Caribbean Region (New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1935), p. 746. For a more recent dis-
cussion of Caribbean geology (particularly the Greater Antilles
and the northern Lesser Antilles), see: K. M. Khudoley and
A. A. Meyerhoff, Palcop,eography and Geological History of
Greater Antilles (Boulder, Colo.: Geological Society of America,
1971).

Schuchert, Historical Geology , p. 747.
*Ibid.

5 F. R. C. Reed, The GeoloRy of the British Empire (2nd
ed.; London: Edward Arnold & Co., 1949), p. 253.

' ibid . Although the last violent eruption was in 1902,
there were gas emissions in 1945 and more recently, in late
1971, there was an extrusion of molten rock in the crater lake,
resulting in the formation of an island over 200 feet high. The
last time an island was found in the Soufriere's crater lake
was prior to the 1812 eruption. In the explosive eruption of
that year, the crater island completely disappeared. For a
description of the 1971 eruption, see: Harold M. Schmeck,
"Volcano Worries West Indian Isle," New York Tines , December 20,
1971; and "Caribbean Volcano is Studied," Tne Times of the
Americas, December 8, 1971.

Reed, Geology of the British Empire , p. 253.

9„

Government of St. Vincent, Report on the Department of
Agriculture for the Years 1962-1964 (Kingstown: Government
Printing Office, 1968), Appendix II, pp. 78-80.

Ibid .. Table I, p. 1.

Janet D. Momsen, Report on a Banana Acreage Survey of
the Wlndvard Islands (London: Ministry of Overseas Development,
1969), p. 31. The maximum rainfall in the interior central high-
lands is unknovn, owing to the absence of meteorological stations.

J. S. Beard, The Progress of Plant Succession on the

Soufriere of St. Vincent," Journal of Ecology . XXXIII, No. 1
(October, 1945), p. 1.

Report of the Department of Agriculture, 1962-1964,
Appendix II, pp. 78-80.

Climax vegetation refers to the last stage in the process
of plant succession within a stabilized clicatic area. See:
Vernor C. Finch, et al . , Physical Elecionts of Geography (4th ed.;
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1957), p. 410.

^eard, "Plant Succession," p. 5. J. P. Watson et al..
Soil and Land-Use Surveys. No. 3 : St. Vincent (Port-of-Spain,
Trinidad: The Regional Research Centre of the British Caribbean
at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, 1958), p. 8;
and J. S. Beard, "The Classification of Tropical American Vegetation-
Types," Ecology, XXXVI, No. 1 (January, 1955), p. 94.

About 75 per cent of the hurricane rainforest is made up
of the palm Prestoea montana . See Beard, "Plant Succession,"
P. A.

"ibid.

Ibid., pp. 3-4; also Beard, "Tropical American Vegetation-
Types," p. 94.

^•'Beard, "Plant Succession," pp. 3-4.

2 lb id. , p. 6.

In addition, several minor azonal soils were recognized:

Aeolian Soils, Beach Deposits, and Skeletal Soils. See: F.
Hardy, C. E. Robinson, and G. Rodrigues, Agricultural Soils of
St. Vincent . Studies in West Indian Soils", No. 8 (Port-of-Spain,
Trinidad: Government Printer, 1934), pp. 1-4.

The tern tonal refers to soils whose characteristics are
determined mainly by the climate in which they developed. See:
Harry 0. Buckoan and Nyle C. Brady, The Nature and Properties of
Soil (6th ed.; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1966), p. 298.

Watson, Spector, and Jones, Soil Survey, St. Vincent ,

pp. 20 and 22-24.

26 Ibid., p. 21.

Ibid ., p. 20.

Ibid ., p. 27.
29 Ibid., pp. 20-21 and 27.
3 Ibld ., p. 21.

3 1 Ibid ., p. 34.

There were 58,000 acres of land surveyed out of

approximately 85,000 acres in the "main" island.

The specialists who classified St. Vincent s soils in

1958 distinguished between "optimum" and "practical" land use
classes. "Optimum" land use recommendations were derived to
preserve from further destruction the island's soils. "Practical"
land uses could not be recommended because such considerations
were economic and sociological rather than "of the land." See:
Watson, Spector, and Jones, Soil Survey, St. Vincent , p. 37.

PART I. THE EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMY
OF ST. VINCENT

CHAPTER III

THE SUGAR INDUSTRY OF ST. VINCENT, 1763 TO 1838

For nearly two centuries, the economy of St. Vincent has
folloved a classic path of monoculture, or dependence upon a
single export crop. Although the island was noted for the variety
of crops it produced during the earliest era of European occupa-
tion, the formal acquisition of St. Vincent by Great Britain saw
a rapid change in the land tenure arrangements and pattern of
cultivation. Sugar early became the mainstay of the colony and
laid an indelible imprint on the socio-economic structure which
persists even to the present day. To understand the economic
geography of St. Vincent is to understand the early history of
sugar cane cultivation. What follows is an historical account
of the settlement of St. Vincent, tracing the succession of
events leading to the rise of the sugar cane industry and the
emancipation of slaves.

Early Settlements In St. Vincent, Fre-1763
The earliest kncwn inhabitants of St. Vincent were the
Amerindian Arawaks and Caribs. By the time of Columbus' dis-
covery of the West Indies, the peaceful Arawaks had been driven
out of the Lesser Antilles by the more aggressive Caribs. The
latter, although more adept at fishing and seamanship than the
49

agricultural Aravaks, nonetheless engaged In a similar type
of subsistence economy, with cassava as the staple food crop.

Among the aboriginals in St. Vincent at the advent of
early European attempts to settle the island were the so-called
"Red" and "Black" Caribs. The Red Caribs were apparently the
Amerindian people who had moved northwards through the Lesser
Antilles from their cultural hearth in the western part of the
Amazon basin. Some of St. Vincent's Red Caribs had mated with
the survivors of an African slave ship from Guinea, forming
the numerically dominant race of Black Caribs found when
Europeans first began visiting the island.

Before Great Britain obtained control of St. Vincent,
French priests and, later on, a few French planters were known
to have landed along the Leeward (or western) coast, thus
beginning the first recorded European settlements. These hardy
individuals came from Martinique and Guadeloupe with the aim of

escaping the conventions of metropolitan rule, a phenomenon

2
repeated many times during the 16th and 17th centuries. A French

military expedition, allied with the Red Caribs, tried to subdue

the Black Caribs of St. Vincent in 1719, and although it failed,

its members were, nonetheless, invited by the victorious Black

Caribs to remain. 3 These Frenchmen established their small farms

along the sheltered west coast near the Red Car lb settlements. The

Black Caribs, found along the southern and Windward (or Eastern)

coasts, were more familiar with the British than the French, as

they had encountered woodcutters from British Barbados who
periodically came to St. Vincent and St. Lucia to collect timber.

The recorded history of settlements in St. Vincent is
sparse for the period between 1719 and 1748, when the Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle was signed, concluding the War of Jenkins' Ear.
Among the provisions of the 1748 treaty was one confirming the
neutral status of Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and its
Grenadine possessions, and Tobago. European nations were to be
withdrawn from these islands, leaving them in the possession of
the Caribs. Naturally this provision was difficult to enforce,
and interpreting the population data estimated by the head of
the British commission for the sale of lands in St. Vincent at the
end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, it was largely disregarded
by the French.

The Seven Years' War (1756 to 1762) formalized the contin-
uous rivalries in the West Indies, especially between France and
Britain. By the Treaty of Paris (1763), the contestants once
again revised ownership of the Lesser Antillean islands. The
older, established British sugar islands exerted their power to
have Guadeloupe and Martinique, captured by the English during
the war, returned to France, in exchange for French Canada.
That such a transaction should be suggested indicates the
political and economic value placed upon the Caribbean sugar
islands at this historical moment. The English planters had no
wish to see their monopoly of the home sugar market weakened by

the introduction of sugar grovn more economically from the
occupied French islands. This could only lead to lower prices for
the produce of the more exhausted soils in the older British
islands. Of the neutral islands of 1748, Britain took possession
of Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago, now
called the "Ceded Islands," as its share of the war spoils.

The Advent of the Sugar Industry. 1764 to 1800
Immediately after the accession of St. Vincent by the Treaty
of Paris, Britain declared all land in the island to be Crown
property and embarked upon a land survey in early 1764. Cognizant
of the excesses of poor land management in the older British
islands, the terms of sale of property in St. Vincent and the
other Ceded Islands were such as would foster a yeomen class of
farmers. Large estates were to be avoided and speculation checked.

Land was to be alienated by sale, in fee-simple, to British
subjects only. The French who numbered about 1,300, along with

their 2,700 slaves, were permitted to remain on their property

9
for a maximum of 40 years but had only leasehold rights.

As a means of discouraging large estates, the maximum

acreage limit of a parcel of land was set at 500 acres. The

conditions of sale were as follows: (1) 20 per cent of the price

in down payment, (2) 10 per cent each year for the next 2 years,

and (3) 20 per cent a year for the subsequent 3 years. Each year

5 per cent of the original size allotment had to be cleared until

a total of 50 per cent of the area was ready for cultivation. As

a means of checking speculation, fines were imposed for delays
in clearing the land according to schedule. In addition, 1 vhite
man or 2 white women were required for each 100 acres of cleared
land and, likewise, fines were levied for failure to maintain
this man-land ratio. In lieu of services from the owners, an
annual quitrent of 6d per acre was required. 10 As an inducement
for poor white settlers to take up farming on the island, 800
acres in each parish were to be allotted to this immigrant class.
Land for poor settlers ranged in size from 10 to 30 acres and
was inalienable for at least the first 7 years. 11

Land parcels were surveyed in 1764 by a very able surveyor,
John Byres, and were auctioned in England. One very large parcel
was omitted from the initial auction because of a prior grant. A
hero of the late Seven Years' War, General Robert Monckton who
captured St. Vincent and Martinique, was given 4,000 acres on the
south Windward coast between what is today Biabou Village on the
north and Stubbs Village on the south, extending inland to the
headwaters of the rivers flowing down the Mesopotamia Valley.
(See Figure 6.) Monckton never settled his land but sold it
instead for £30,000. The auction of land earned for the British
Treasury £162,854 on the sale of 20,538 acres, an average of
£7. 16s Od per acre. 12

As a result of the first sales, no parcels exceeded 500
acres as a single unit, except the specified land grant which
was eventually resold . Some buyers bought more than 1 parcel

Tree* - . e-s r --"*4 ** 6« R*tar« Mwdiw

• ir««

Trad (S>— CtfWMkM te*4 »- i'trr ; . i - •* a
I7t4. < ce**>** «M^ Ctf.b tw * 1775

l7«4. e »*-»* tq J*** Kwm»4] «
■ 7»0
G»L Et%«r*f*«f'* *»4 p«w 4«t*4 1771

FIGURE 6

PLAN OF ST. VINCENT

1764-1807

but the largest single land unit sold by the Crown was 471 acres.
This was purchased by a man named Byres, possibly the chief sur-
veyor of St. Vincent. While most of the parcels were under 200
acres each, there were 19 out of a total of 171 allotments
surveyed for outright sale that were larger than 200 acres in
extent. J Only 3 of the 114 French leasehold properties were in

parcels larger than 100 acres, the largest surveyed allotment

14
being 135 acres.

The alienation of St. Vincent's land was accomplished, as

nearly as possible, according to design. As soon as immigration

began, however, the trend was toward the agglomeration of land

into large estates. The more affluent and core successful sugar

planters began to acquire property from the snail farmers. Xany

of the early settlers came from the older English islands and

brought with them a knowledge and determination to reestablish

themselves as sugar cane growers on virgin soil.

The early French settlers had planted their lands with a

variety of commercial and subsistence crops — coffee, cocoa, cotton,

tobacco, indigo, and ground (food) provisions — but had little

interest in large-scale sugar cane monoculture in St. Vincent.

This tendency nay be partly explained by the small-size land parcels

which the French were accustomed to cultivating in the island. If

the land were to be cultivated in small fara units, there would

be much less expense for the new settler than if a large sugar

cane enterprise were to be undertaken, necessitating costly

equipment, buildings, and many laborers, in this case, slaves.

One of the best known historians of the sugar industry,
Boel Deerr, gives some indication of how rapidly St. Vincent's
sugar production rose by citing a mere 35 tons of sugar in 1766
and 1,930 tons in 1770. (See Figure 7.) Throughout the 1770s,
the total production of St. Vincent fluctuated between 3,130 tons
in 1774 and 2,049 tons in 1779. Until 1771, all sugar cane culti-
vation was restricted to the European-held parts of the island.
The Black Carib reserve lands along the south coast and southern
Windward coast were, of course, tempting areas for ambitious
planters who wanted to bring these soils under sugar cane. English
cultivation before the First Carib War (1772 to 1773) had been south
of the Yambou River, which divided Monckton's Quarter, the land
grant unused at this time. (See Figure 6.) This was according
to the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1763. An 18th century
historian, Coke, noted that British resident planters wanted to
enlarge the area of sugar cane northward beyond the Yambou River,
even obtaining rights to land grants in formerly Carib regions. 17
To ensure that the white settlers honored the Carib reserves,
however, survey lines were laid out along the boundaries, which
required a road to be constructed into the reserve itself. *"
Predictably, misunderstandings led to fighting between the English
and the Caribs over the survey road, compelling the use of 2 British
regiments from the North American colonies to defeat the Caribs in
a series of campaigns beginning in 1772 and ending with a peace
treaty in February, 1773.

The Treaty of 1773 with the Caribs legalized the land
seizures beyond the Yambou River. A new reserve for the Amerindians

■^J— .— . - ,..»-^.-.-,. — ^ . Jm. ■ J ..,., ..-. , .. .. .... .

I! ! !

! !

•

'■

■

| 1

\ 1

1 j

> j i

■

<v 1 l

fr- 1

■

r i

*-j

V I

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;

V 1

' 1

/ »

<-J .

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vas thereafter established approximately 5 miles further north.
The new boundaries for Carib land Cor the "Carib Country") became
the Byera River on the Windward coast and a line running from the
headwaters of the Byera northwest to the upper reaches of the
Wallibou River on the north Leeward coast. Except for the rela-
tively level valley lands along much of the Windward coast, the
greater part of the Carib Country lands encompassed inaccessible
or mountainous land in the interior, unfit for commercial culti-
vation. (See Figure 6.) This action silenced the Caribs by
locating them in the distant reaches of the island, well away
from the settled estates for the most part.

In the late 1770s, the lieutenant-governor of St. Vincent,
Valentine Morris, advocated the free entry of French immigrants
because of their ability to cultivate a variety of crops, especi-
ally coffee, successfully on a single holding. Such action was
an official expression of the intent to encourage small-scale
farming. Unfortunately, the exhaustion of the old French coffee
lands in the Leeward valleys, together with the prohibition of
sales of fresh land to them, forced many discouraged Frenchmen
to leave the island and seek refuge nearby on the islands of
St. Lucia, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. 19 As the French departed
and more land was turned to sugar cane in response to a rise in
the price of sugar in the London market, the exports of coffee
and cocoa fell. (See Figure 8.)

Between 1776 and 1779, the Government further disposed of
2,156 acres of new land, most grants being less than 100 acres
in size. 20 Disregarding the new Carib boundaries set down in

Ul
111

o t

g":S

o m —
LU °h«
■*■ <u<

ID -ecu
CD z^
— uoQ

*. I-
5 wo

U.CC-1
OOUi

UJX

_J
o

Ll o I

1773, the governor also gave a large tract of land on the
northwest coast to a Royal American officer to command the
British garrison guarding St. Vincent against French attack.

Before the impact of the new sugar lands could be felt in
St. Vincent's export trade, the American Revolution broke out,
causing considerable consternation among British merchant
shippers and affecting the exports of all the British West
Indian islands. After declaring war on Britain in 1778, France
seized several British islands, including St. Vincent, in 1779.
From 1779 to 1783, the island was under French governorship
during which time land transactions were still carried out as
though there had been no change of metropolitan control. 22

Commercial cash crop production during the 1780s is
obscured by the lack of data, but it can be assumed that the
troubled times adversely affected production for export (not
necessarily for local consumption) as did a destructive hurricane
in 1780. The high price of sugar in London in 1781 was useless
to Vincentian cane growers under French rule, as their sugar
could not reach the English market. Local administrative insti-
tutions, however, remained intact under the governorship of
France. By 1784, when St. Vincent had returned to British rule,
the raw sugar price in London had dropped by 50 per cent from
the 1781 level, reflecting the entrance of stock-piled British West
Indian sugar into the home market. (See Figure 9.)

?SS ? 2

UJ 3

q; to

=) u.

o o

(900 o

The effects of the French Revolution (1789 to 1795)
directly and indirectly assisted the Vincentian sugar economy.
The French in the Lesser Antilles began propagandizing among
the Caribs in the British islands, including St. Vincent, assis-
ting them with arms and officers in their depredations on isolated
sugar estates. Burning of cane fields and mill works began in
St. Vincent in 1789 and culminated in a full-scale war in 1795
between British regular and militia troops and the Caribs. The
Amerindians with their French leaders succeeded in destroying

many of the estate mill works on both the east and west coasts

of St. Vincent before they were finally defeated in 1797.

There is no doubt that conflict would, in any case, have erupted
eventually over the planters' desire to use the fertile soils
of the Windward coast in the Carib Country reserve established
in 1773.

Turmoil in the British and French West Indies during the
1790s led to record prices for raw sugar in London, especially
as Saint Domingue's (now Haiti) sugar was withdrawn from the
European market. (See Figure 9.) The successful black rebellion

in Saint Domingue ruined that island's sugar industry but stimu-

24
lated the British sugar industry. This served as an indirect

support to St. Vincent's sugar economy — a guarantee of renewed
profits to be made from slave-grown sugar. The direct and major
factor which brought the Vincentian sugar economy to maturity
was the confiscation of all Carib lands, particularly the well-
suited Windward coastal region, along with the physical expulsion

of uost of the Black Caribs froa the island. The few Indians
permitted to remain in the colony were relegated to an isolated
reserve of 239 acres in the Horse Ronde area north of the
Sallibou River. 25 (See Figure 6.) Thus, by the end of the
18th century, St. Vincent had opened up for settlement and
cultivation all available fertile land. Crown lands, generally
those above 1,000 feet in elevation, remained unalienated. The
next phase of St. Vincent's economic history, therefore, began
with the official disposition of the Carib lands in the northern
part of the island.

The Zenith of the Sugar Industry. 1S00 to 1828
From the end of the Second Carib Var in 1797, debate
ensued amo ng the colonists as to the future use of the valuable
Carib Country lands. The traditional viewpoint expressed the
by Governor William Bentinck in 1798 encompassed the sale, not
the free grant, of these lands to small holders as a hedge
against the development of large estates. This was envisioned
as an effective way of populating an empty region rapidly, for
otherwise the great estates would exclude the many small white
settlers whom the Government wished to attract in order to estab-
lish a loyal British community ready to serve in the island's
defense. 2 ^ Some voices on the other hand opted for the free
distribution of these lands to the sufferers and veterans (or
their widows) of the late Indian war.

It was only after the arrival of a new governor, Henry
Bentinck,^ 7 In 1802, that disposition of the Carib lands began.

Ben tine k conveyed the right to "use" — not "own" — 5,262 acres of

28
the Windward coast Carib Country to war veterans. The total

accessible area of the Windward district, later to become most

of Charlotte Parish, was approximately 16,640 acres. Large

land allotments were given to prominent planters at "His
Majesty's Pleasure" after an act in 1804 stripped the Indians of

all rights to their forcer reserves as a consequence of their

hostilities. The Crown took possession of, but did not sell,

the land rights. The 5,262 acres disposed of by 1807 caused a
domestic crisis when it was learned that an American Royalist
from Georgia, Colonel Thonas Browne, had been granted 6,000 acres
of Carib Country lands, stretching from the Byera River in the
south to the Cayo River in the north, including the area of 7
large, recently established estates. (See Figure 6.) The
hapless planters, despite the Government's proclamations to the

contrary, had hoped to purchase their land outright after

31
clearing and cultivating It, but instead were faced with eviction.

Negotiations between the parties involved and the local Crown

representatives resulted in Browne receiving only 1,600 acres

plus an indemnity of £25,000, part of the Treasury's earnings

from the eventual sale of the occupied lands to their occupiers

at an average price of £22. 10s Od per acre. The disputed land

included some of the best sugar cane soil in the island and

comprised the estates of Tourama (or Turama) , Orange Hill,
Waterloo, Lot No. 14, Rabacca, Langley Park, Mount Bentinck,
and Grand Sable (the estate of Colonel Browne and the largest
single estate on the mainland of St. Vincent.) (See Figure 10.)

Kearly all the land grants In Charlotte Parish were of
considerable size, despite the official preference for small
allotments. By 1819, the average size of the 26 estates in the

former Carib reserves was 499 acres, ranging from Grand Sable's

33
1,600 acres to Cummacrabou s 200 acres. The area below 1,000

feet in elevation open to cultivation on the island was thus

Increased by about 52 per cent, from 31,834 acres to 48,474 acres.

Not all of this land was equal in value, fertility, slope, and

accessibility, but the additions permitted large-scale sugar

manufacturing to begin at a time when the smaller estates

elsewhere on the island were suffering from the economic costs

incurred in the prolonged struggle of the 1790s with the Caribs.

Those who could continue shipping their sugar during the late

1790s found a very favorable market in London; the rest of the

planters had to absorb their current losses in addition to trying

to meet the perennial expenses of trusts and annuities set up in

the early years of the growth of the Vincentian sugar industry.

The sugar economy, at the point of revitalization after

the dispersal of new lands in 1802, was faced a few years later

with the problem of losing its cheap slave labor. In March,

1807, the English Parliament passed a bill abolishing the slave

FIGURE 10

'CARIB COUNTRY" ESTATES OF
ST. VINCENT

trade between Africa and the British West Indies. This immed-
iately increased the cost of producing slave-grown sugar by
forcing the estate proprietors to look to the welfare of their
chattel slaves, as only the children of these people could serve
to replace or enlarge the existing work force. The cost of
caring for the young dependents until working age was reached
and the care of adult health required more working capital.

St. Vincent, nevertheless, sustained its sugar industry

despite the abolition of the slave trade, although not without

complaints about the declining profits of muscovado sugar

in the home market and the rising costs of production attendant
upon the renewed war with France in 1803. Sugar production

reached 11,200 tons in 1807, fell to 8,014 in 1809 and was

again up to 11,270 in 1814 after Britain's 2-year war with the

United States. These large exports were made possible by the

contributions of the Carib Country estates.

From 1814 to 1828, sugar exports were relatively stabilized,
fluctuating between 10,834 tons in 1820 and 14,403 tons in 1828,
the peak year of St. Vincent's sugar history. (See Figure 7.)
Although sugar was by far the most extensively cultivated cash
crop, there were at the same time smaller farms or parts of
large estates, mostly in the valleys of the Leeward coast,
devoted to coffee and cocoa production. J *

Coffee, the competing beverage drink in Britain with tea,
was usually burdened by high import duties in the home market

and in Germany (the principal continental market) where the market
crashed in 1773, causing an extremely low price for coffee.
The low coffee price and the defection of many of the French
farmers led to the reduction of coffee exports from St. Vincent
after the American Revolutionary War.

Cocoa, never an extensive commercial crop in St. Vincent
because of the island's shallow soil and dryness, followed the
coffee industry in its decline. Both coffee and cocoa were more
or less restricted to the sheltered Leeward valleys, the domain
of the early French settlers. The amalgamation of estates through-
out the island relegated the position of these tree crops to that
of a minor industry after 1800.

Cotton, another minor cash crop in the late 18th and 19th
centuries, was grown in the colony but was confined to the smaller
Grenadine Islands, a string of low-lying, dry islands to the south
of the "main" island St. Vincent. Bequia and Kustique islands raised
sugar and cotton, while Canouan, Union, Mayreau, and Petit St.
Vincent produced only cotton. (Vide infra Chapter V for a discus-
sion of cash crops raised in St. Vincent.)

The Waning of the Sugar Industry Before Slave Emancipation

The abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain, effective
in 1808, presaged darker days for the proprietors in St. Vincent
and the other British sugar islands as popular forces in Great
Britain turned their efforts to the total eradication of forced
servitude in the colonies. From the time of Adam Smith's

Wealth of Nations , the previously unchallenged lobbying influence
of the West India Committee and its sympathizers began to wane.
Mercantilism as an economic philosophy was gradually being
supplanted by the ideas of free trade. British industrial

capitalism grew as mechanical inventions were developed and

43
installed in the burgeoning factory system.

After the turn of the 19th century, many British West Indian
sugar planters began facing a period of increasingly diminished
profits. In fact, as early as 1807, a Government study reported
that the average British West Indian sugar planter was unable to
make a profit on his shipments to the home market. Several
reasons accounted for this situation: (a) imprudent management
characterized by mounting indebtedness, absentee ownership, and
the lack of technical innovation; (b) an oversupplied sugar
market in London and consequent low prices; and (c) the demise of
the slave trade and the cost of maintaining an adequate work force
on the estates.

Absentee ownership, a plague on the proper administration
of estates and the efficient governing of the colonies, became
common practice after fortunes were made. Those owners who were
in no position, physically or financially, to take direct control
over their estates, very often abandoned them or were forced into
chancery courts by creditors where receivers were appointed to
administer what profits (if any) were left. Absenteeism resulted
in the delegation of administrative responsibility to resident

attorneys (often called "planting attorneys") or managers, who
feathered their own nests. Costs and encumbrances weighed
heavily on the inefficiently producing enterprises so charac-
teristic of most of the small island economies in the British
Caribbean. 46

In the Windward Islands (Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent,
and Grenada) , few Inventions or technical innovations were
applied on the estates. The cost was often too high and the
topography of the islands too rugged to permit large-scale
agricultural practices— a prerequisite for the economic moderni-
zation of sugar manufacturing. Very few steam engines were
introduced into St. Vincent to crush the canes, although they
were available and were being bought and installed on the more
progressive estates in some British and Spanish colonies of the
Caribbean. Even the use of the horse-drawn plow was a rarity
throughout St. Vincent during the 19th century. The short-handled
hoe employed by field gangs was as advanced as the Vincentian
planters could or would go toward agricultural improvements.
Such conservatism was understandable, however, in a society laden
with the tradition of ancestrally-owned sugar estates.

After the Napoleonic wars, a flood of cheaper and more
refined sugar began arriving in the British home market. By the
Treaty of Amiens in 1802, Spain had ceded Trinidad to Great Britain
and by the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the Dutch had turned over
their South American possessions of Demerara, Essiquibo, and
Berbice to the British. These colonies developed into wealthy and

efficient producers of sugar, adding to the mounting supplies
•hipped to the London market. Additionally, the island of
Mauritius in the Indian Ocean became a large producer of sugar
after duty on its produce was equalized with that of the British
West Indies in 1825. These suppliers of refined sugar caused
the price of sugar in London to collapse, from a war-induced
peak in 1814 of 97s per hundredweight down to 24s in 1830, a loss
in value of 76 per cent in 16 years.

Another factor which diminished the profitability of slave-
grown sugar in the British West Indies was the abolition of the
slave trade in 1807. The cessation of the slave trade had increased
the expenses of running a successful estate, while plantations in
Cuba and Brazil could still rely on replenishment of their work
gangs from slave imports. The cost of providing for a slave

child to the age of 14 years, when adult tasks could be expected

49
of him, was £135 for the British Caribbean as a whole. In the

1780s, a male slave could have been purchased for about £50

sterling; the average value of a Vincentian slave, from 1822 to

1830, was £58. 6s 8d sterling. 50 Prices were higher for male

field slaves than for females, or house servants, but It reveals

the economic advantage to be gained from importing adult workers,

ready for the fields. Those sugar producing areas which could

replenish their slave gangs with fresh slaves were, naturally,

bound to have this cost factor in their favor.

To placate the demands of the anti-slavery movement in

Britain following the abolition of the slave trade, the home

Government, betveen 1823 and 1826, forced most of the British
colonies to pass amelioration lavs for the benefit of the slaves
remaining on the estates. Religious instruction, legalization of
slave marriages, and the prohibition of cruel and capricious
punishment, among other measures, were enacted into law by
unwilling colonial legislatures as a sop to the anti-slavery
advocates in England. The amelioration legislation in St.
Vincent, encompassed as the Slave Act of December 16, 1825,
forbade the use of the slave driver's whip, encouraged slave
marriages, and admitted testimony from slaves in capital cases.
The ramifications of such laws, however, were obvious to
the planters. Complete emancipation of the slaves was only a
few years away. The record for St. Vincent shows that the total
number of black, slaves steadily declined from 24,920 in 1812 to
18,794 in 1833, the last full year of slavery. 53 The attrition
in numbers of slaves was the result of the higher mortality of an
aging, predominantly male population without sufficient reproduc-
tion to compensate for deaths and the periodic manumission of the
elderly and Infirm from the slave registers. 5 It is evident
from St. Vincent's court records of manumissions that the estate
owners anticipated freedom for the black population and hastened
the transition by releasing their less productive charges.
Returns from 1819 to 1833 show the change In numbers of slaves
in the parishes of St. Vincent and the largest dependency in the
Grenadines, Bequia Island. (See Table 2.) Despite the loss of

labor from 1819 to 1833—10 per cent for the "main" Island— sugar
production remained relatively stable until after the peak year of
1828, when It declined 32 per cent in 5 years. (See Figure 7.)

TABLE 2

NUMBER OF SLAVES, BY PARISH,
SX VINCENT, 1819 AND 1833

Parish

1819

1833

Per Cent
Change

Charlotte

7,068

6,729

- 5

St. George

5,616

4,994

- 11

St. Andrew

1,663

1,538

- 8

St. Patrick

2,144

1,654

- 23

St. David

1,828

1,519

- 17

Bequia Island

1,123

2,360

+110

Total

19,442

18,794

- 3

The 5 Parishes

18,319

16,434

- 10

Source: Estates

Book, p. 235.

The final blow to St. Vincent and the other sugar colonies
came on August 28, 1833, when an act of the British Parliament
abolishing slavery in the colonial empire was passed into law.
Commencing on August 1, 1834, all forms of forced servitude were
to cease. The import of this act was that it put a seal on the
future of sugar production in the smaller British West Indian
colonies. It was only the wake of wars in Europe and the

Caribbean, from the time of the black revolt In Saint Domingue
in 1791, that had sustained British estate agriculture beyond the
reckoning day. Cane sugar could be produced in many areas of the
vorld, not only in the Caribbean region, and the continuation of
slavery in the Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Western
Hemisphere, particularly in Cuba, allowed cheaper sugar to be
shipped to the European markets to undersell British colonial
sugar re-exported from England.

With hand labor a vital requirement for the estates, St.
Vincent's planters could only look with trepidation on the freeing
of the slaves. In order to soften the blow, a period of
"apprenticeship" was instituted so that slaves could bridge the gap
between bondage and freedom. To help the planters adjust to the
new social and economic order, all adult slaves were, therefore,
bound by force of law to remain on the property and to furnish
labor, as directed by a representative of the estate, for 45
hours a week during a 6-day work week. All work beyond the nor-
mal schedule of hours was to be compensated for by wages. The
apprenticeship of ex-slaves was initially set for a 6-year
duration for praedial hands and 4 years for others, beginning in
1834. Children under 6 years of age were exempt from these
regulations at the outset of apprenticeship. During the transi-
tion period, the workers were to be furnished with lodging,
clothing, a food allowance, and the use of a provisions ground.
At any tine before the expiration of the apprenticeship period,

a worker could purchase his freedom if he possessed enough money
to pay for his estimated value to the planter. 56

St. Vincent finally ended its apprenticeship after 4 years,
on August 1, 1838. It was decided that all laborers, praedial or
otherwise, were declared to be free after that date. To compensate
British planters for the loss of their most valued "property," a
proposed loan of £15,000,000 was eventually negotiated into a
grant of £20,000,000 to be given to the slave owners in the
colonies. West Indian planters received £16,639,967 of the total
indemnity in payment for 673,953 slaves; the average payment was
approximately £25 per slave, well below the declared value of
£56 per slave for all West Indian slaves.

St. Vincent had 22,997 slaves at the last registration in
1832, valued by the owners at £1,341,492, or approximately £58
per slave. The compensation to the Vincentian proprietors was
£592,509, an average of £26 per slave or only 45 per cent of the
declared worth. Another author presents an analysis of St.
Vincent's slave population by classes prior to apprenticeship.
In 1832, 69 per cent were "field slaves" with a compensated
value of £31 per slave; "non-field slaves" accounted for 13 per
cent and were worth £30 each; 13 per cent were "children under
6 years" and were valued at £11; lastly, 5 per cent of the total
were "aged and infirm," valued at 13 each. 59

There were 112 estates functioning in St. Vincent and its
Grenadine dependencies in 1833, with an average number of slaves
per estate of 205. This ranged from as many as 693 slaves on

the faaous Grand Sable estate in Charlotte Parish to as low as
15 slaves on Madame Laroux's cotton estate on Petit St. Vincent
island at the southern extreme of the Grenadine Islands of St.
Vincent.

Summary
This chapter details the rise of the sugar industry in St.
Vincent from the date of Britain's acquisition of the island to
the end of slavery. It records the struggle of the last third
of the 18th century as St. Vincent experienced 2 wars with its
aboriginal population. Only after the successful campaigns
against the Caribs was the colony able to concentrate on the
monocultural production of sugar. Only 3 years after the official
amelioration of the life of Vincentian slaves was accomplished
in 1825, the colony reached its zenith as a sugar producing island
and began waning. Apprenticeship and emancipation are the last
major socio-economic events considered in this chapter.

NOTES TO CHAPTER III

A French missionary, Pere Labat, recorded meeting another
French priest in St. Vincent in 1700. See: R. P. Labat, Voyages
aux Isles de L'Aaerique (Antilles), 1693-1705 , Collection Laque
Orange Aventures et Voyages (2 vols.; Paris: Edition Ducharte,
1931), p. 168.

Sir Alan Burns, History of the British West Indies (rev. 2d

ed.; London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1965), pp. 350 and 371.

3
Thomas Coke, A History of the Vest Indies, Containing the
Natural, Civil, and Ecclesiastical History of Each Island: With
an Account of the Missions (3 vols.; London: A. Paris, 1810),
II, p. 184.

4
Burns, History of the British West Indies , p. 484.

See Chapter VI for a further discussion of the early
population history of St. Vincent.

Burns, History of the British West Indies , p. 489.

Lovell Joseph Ragatz, The Fall of the Planter Class in the
British Caribbean. 1763-1833 (New York: D. Appleton-Century ,
1928), p. 113.

o
Ivor Walters, The Unfortunate Valentine Morris (Newport,
Eng.: R. H. Johns, Ltd., 1964), p. 35.

Ragatr, Fall of the Planter Class , pp. 113-114.

1 Ibid . , p. 113. Note: Throughout this study, except where
noted otherwise, the monetary units used are the English pound (£) ,
shilling (s) , and pence (d) . When all three denominations are
used, they will be given as follows: £2. 2s 2d, read as 2 pounds,
2 shillings, and 2 pence. At times, only one of the denominations
may be used. There are 12 pence in 1 shilling and 20 shillings in
1 pound. All monetary totals are given as unadjusted values.

Ragatz, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 113.

12
Walters, Valentine Morris , p. 30

Charles Shephard, An Historical Account of the Island of

St. Vincent (London: W. Nlchol, 1831), Appendix, Table No. XX,
pp. lix-lxvii.

Ibid., pp. lxiv-lxvii. One Frenchman, Heude, had several

scattered parcels which, added together, gave him an estate of
153 acres.

T)avid L. Niddrie, "Eighteenth-Century Settlement in the
British Caribbean," Transactions and Papers, The Institute of
British Geographers . Publication No. 40 (1960), p. 78.

Ibid. , pp. 78-79.

Coke, History of the West Indies, p. 186.

Burns, History of the British West Indies , p. 505.

Walters, Valentine Morris , p. 35.

^ °Ibld . , pp. 57-58. Governor Morris disposed of this new
land in 64 grants to 56 persons. French settlers received a
total of 18 grants. Of these new grants, 37 were under 50 acres
in size. Only Morris's own grants to himself were larger than
100 acres in size. He reserved for himself 3 land parcels of
350, 360, and 500 acres, located in the newly opened Carib lands
north of the Yambou River.

This officer was Lieutenant-Colonel George Etherington,
whose wooded estate was located north of and bounded on the south
by the Walllbou River on the north Leeward coast. (See Figure 6.)
It was while using garrison troops to clear his land that
Etherington allowed a French force to capture St. Vincent in
1779 without firing a shot.

A woman with the rank of TJame d honneur in the French

Palace, Mrs. Martha Swinburne, was granted 20,000 acres of
unoccupied land. The exact location of this land is not known.
See: Shephard, An Historical Account of St. Vincent , pp. 48-49.
The deeds pertaining to the period of French occupation
are located in the vault of the Registrar-General's office in
Kingstown, St. Vincent but are not available for public use owing
to their fragile condition.

Shepard, An Historical Account of St. Vincent , pp. 48-49.
Also see: Ebenezer Duncan, A Brief History of St. Vincent
(4th ed., rev.; Kingstown: Reliance Printer-/, 1967). Much of
this small monograph has been culled from Shephard's early history.

Noel Deerr, A History of Sugar (2 vols.; London: Chapman
& Hall, Ltd., 1950), I, p. 240. Production in Saint Domingue
dropped from 78,696 tons in 1791 to 8,937 tons in 1801, never to
recover again until more than a century later.

This was near Lieutenant-Colonel Etherington 8 estate.

See n. 21.

Ragatz, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 223.

Henry Bentinck, like many governors, succeeded his father,

William Bentinck.

Ragatz, Fall of the Planter Class, p. 224.

Charlotte Parish included about 16,640 acres of land below 1,000
feet in elevation — the area below the Crown land reserves. This
is based on an approximation of the area between the Galway River
(near Blabou Village on the south Windward coast) and West Point
on the north tip of the island. Today, the area of Charlotte
Parish below 1,000 feet is approximately 19,360 acres according
to the author's planimetric calculations. This encompasses the
additional land between the Galway River and the Yambou River
south of it.

Shepard, An Historical Account of St. Vincent, p . 178.

Ttagatz, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 224.

3 2 Ibid ., p. 225.

Shephard, An Historical Account of St. Vincent, Appendix,

Table No. VI, pp. vi-x. Another valuable reference to the early
estates is a partially destroyed book with the title page and the
first 159 pages missing. It contains a listing of the estates in
each parish, the number of acres and slaves on each estate, and

the production of each from 1819 to 1824. From 1825 to 1852
(and In some cases, to 1854), additions are written in by hand.
The book is in the private possession of Dr. I. A. E. Kirby,
Chief Veterinary Officer, Department of Agriculture, Kingstown,
St. Vincent, West Indies. Hereafter this work is cited as
Estates Book .

William Law Mathieson, British Slavery and Its Abolition ,
1823-1838 (London: Longmans, Green and Company, Ltd., 1926),
p. 60.

Muscovado (or "dirty") sugar is sugar which retains a
greater or lesser amount of molasses. The inefficiency of 19th
century sugar technology in St. Vincent and the other smaller
British West Indian colonies resulted in hot and continuous
boiling of sugar syrup to evaporate the water and concentrate
the sucrose. Such a technique often led to an "inversion,"
producing glucose (molasses). The cooled sugar crystals had to
drain long enough to remove much of the molasses, but too often
in the rush of making sugar when the canes were ready for har-
vesting, sugar was packed in hogsheads while still warm and not
thoroughly drained. Throughout the ocean voyage to the London
market, molasses would drain out of the casks, causing losses
of 5 to 16 per cent in the individual shipments. This method of
production was the cause of the bad name which much of the sugar
produced in the smaller islands earned. See: R. W. Beachey,
The British West Indies Sugar Industry in the Late 19th Century
(Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1957), Chapter III, pp. 61-80, passim .
For an account of the method of making sugar employed on a
Vincentian sugar estate, see: Mrs. [A. C] Carmichael, Domestic
Manners and Social Condition of the White. Coloured, and Negro
Population of the West Indies (2 vols.; London: Whittaker,
Treacher, and Co., 1833), I, pp. 106-110.

Ragatz, Fall of the Planter Class, p. 327.

Deerr, History of Sugar . I, p. 200.

J. P. Watson, J. Spector, and T. A. Jones, Soil and Land-
Use Surveys. No. 3: St. Vincent (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad: The
Regional Research Centre of the Imperial College of Tropical
Agriculture, 1958), p. 6.

The coffee and cocoa estates were located primarily in the
upper reaches of the Cumberland and Wallilabou River valleys, in
St. David and St. Patrick Parishes. From the earliest estate
records available, the Estates Book, it is known that the

•ubsequent owners of these coffee and cocoa areas were British,
with no French owners listed, at least as early as 1819.

J. H. Parry and P. M. Sherlock, A Short History of the
West Indies (3ed.; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1971), p. 134.

Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies,

Reports on the Botanic Station. Agricultural School, and Land
Settlement Schene. St. Vincent. 1906-07 (Bridgetown, Barbados:
Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, 1907),
p. 33; and Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies,
Report on the Agricultural Department. St. Vincent, for the Year
1920 (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad: Imperial Commissioner of Agricul-
ture for the West Indies, 1921), p. 18.

L. C. A. Knowles, The Economic Development of the British

Overseas Empire . Studies in Economics and Political Science,

London School of Economics and Political Science, Monograph So.

76 (3 vols.; New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1925), I, pp. 27-28.

Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (New York: Capricorn
Books, 1966; original copyright by the University of North Carolina
Press, 1944), pp. 126-134.

Ibid ., p. 15.

Joseph Sturge and Thomas Harvey, The West Indies in 1837

(London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 183S), p. 160.

Edmund Sturge, West India: Compensation to the Owners
of Slaves (Gloucester, England: John Bellows, 1893), pp. 5-6.

F. R. Augier et al . , The Making of the West Indies
(London: Longmans, Green and Company, Ltd., 1960), p. 131. Also
see: International Sugar Council, The World Sugar Economy :
Structure and Policies (2 vols.; London: International Sugar
Council, 1963), II, p. 19.

Deerr, History of Sugar , II, pp. 530-531.

Ragatz, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 337. In Jamaica,

after the abolition of the slave trace, the cost of raising a
slave child was £120 sterling.

"Inter-Colonial Apportionment," unnumbered manuscript page
at the end of the Estates Book.

5 ^t

ithieson, British Slavery , pp. 163-164.

Shepherd,' An Historical Account of St. Vincent , Appendix,

Table No. XVIII, pp. xlv-xlvlii, pas sin .

West Indian Census , 1946, Part H: Census of Population

of the Windward Islands . Table G, p. xiv. Also see: Estates
Book , p. 241. The total number of slaves was 16,500 in 1S05 and
24,920 in 1812. There are no records to show what the total was
in 1808 when the slave trade was abolished. It seems unlikely
that the peak year for slavery would have been 4 years after
the importation of such workers was prohibited.

According to the "Slave Act of July 13, 1767," anyone
manumitting a slave was to pay into the Public Treasury the sum
of £100 currency or £4. 6s 8d sterling. See: The Colony of St .
Vincent, Blue Book. 1853 , pp. 212-213.

Williams, Capitalism and Slavery , p. 149.

Ragatr, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 455.

"Inter-Colonial Apportionment," in Estates Book .

Ibid . Also see: Burns, History of the British Vest
Indies, p. 629, and Augier et al . , Making of the West Indies .
p. 183. The total number of slaves and the compensation paid
differs slightly among these three sources. Burns and Augier
et al . show 22,266 and 22,265 slaves, respectively, for St.
Vincent. The Estates Book is taken as the correct reference
because the numbers coincide elsewhere in its pages with those
in Charles Shephard's historical treatise on St. Vincent published
in 1831. Most tables In the Estates Book are hand-written with
great care and exhibit a familiarization with local condition.

Augier et al . . Making of the West Indies , p. 183.

CHAPTER IV

THE SUGAR IKDHSTRY OF ST. VINCENT, 1839 TO 1902

The period from 1639 to 1902 narks the demise of St.
Vincent's sugar economy, resulting froa labor supply problems
and the aounting financial crises among the estates, coupled with
adverse changes in the world sugar market. What follows is a
review of the forces resposibile for the failure of the sugar
cane industry. First, there is an account of the labor situation
consequent upon emancipation. Secondly, there is a discussion
of the various Immigrant labor schemes undertaken to alleviate
the labor situation existing after emancipation. Thirdly, the
effects in St. Vincent of the West Indian Encumbered Estates Act
of 1S54 are outlined. Finally, the ultimate ruin of the
Vincentian sugar cane manufacture is documented.

Post-Emancipation Labor Shortages
As the day of slave emancipation in St. Vincent approached,
there was a slow but steady attrition in the number of workers
attached to the sugar estates, much as the planters had forecast.
Frota a total of 14,441 estate laborers (slaves) in 1834, the
number declined to 11,772 in 1838, a loss of 18 per cent during
the apprenticeship period. (See Figure 11 and Table 3.)
83

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TABLE 3

NUMBER OF SLAVES, BY PARISH,
ST. VINCENT, 1819-1852

Tear Charlotte St. St. St. St. Total
George Andrew Patrick David

1819

7,068

5,616

1,663

2,144

1,828

18,319

1820

6,983

5,551

1,622

2,082

1,847

18,085

1821

6,973

5,477

1,588

2,026

1,853

17,917

1822

7,074

5,394

1,670

1,939

1,857

17,934

1823

6,958

5,286

1,601

1,961

1,813

17,619

1824

6,985

5,478

1,611

1,972

1,825

17,871

1825

6,958

5,438

1,634

1,899

1,824

17,753

1826

6,870

5,397

1,612

1,890

1,801

17,570

1827

6,975

5,396

1,604

1,881

1,771

17,617

1828

6,989

5,439

1,580

1,807

1,680

17,495

1829

6,917

5,345

1,572

1,763

1,655

17,252

1830

6,859

5,284

1,558

1,747

1,562

17,010

1831

6,749

5,197

1,560

1,714

1,598

16,818

1832

6,691

5,166

1,541

1,673

1,558

16,629

1833

6,729

4,994

1,538

1,654

1,519

16,434

1834

5,863

4,466

1,297

1,486

1,329

14,441

1835

5,664

4,300

1,195

1,465

1,274

13,898

1836

5,389

4,057

1,234

1,432

1,230

13,342

1837

5,260

3,865

1,130

1,429

1,202

12,886

1838

3,968

3,626

960

1.294

1,098

10,946

TABLE 3 CONTINUED

Year

Charlotte

St.

Total

George

Andrew

Patrick

David

1839

2,979

2,562

934

815

837

8,127

1840

n.a.

1841

2,906

2,555

880

756

880

7,977

1842

2,436

2,119

839

752

749

6,895

1843

2,499

2,217

789

554

673

6,732

1844

2,378

2,223

637

664

717

6,619

1845

2,083

1,969

679

620

712

6,063

1846

2,769

1,882

695

832

630

6,808

1847

2,722

2,093

700

604

654

6,773

1848

2,605

1,728

701

516

529

6,079

1849

2,079

1,792

575

507

757

5,710

1850

2,428

1,747

694

550

751

6,170

1851

2,434

1,318

567

476

961

5,756

1852

2,702

1,147

639

527

753

5,768

After 1833, the freed slaves were referred to as "laborers.

This does not include the Grenadine dependencies for which
complete data were lacking.

Source: Estates Book , "General Return of the Number of
Slaves, on the Several Estates in the Island of
Saint Vincent and its Dependencies, from 1819 to
1824, both Inclusive [with additions through
1852]," p. 235.

The decrease in the potential work force that existed at the end
of the apprenticeship period was due to the release In 1834 of
all children under the age of 6 years, the old and Infirm, the
natural mortality of the estate residents during the 4-year
transitional period, and manumissions. Regardless of the diminu-
tion of the estate working population during apprenticeship, the
output of sugar remained relatively stable, fluctuating between
9,700 tons and 10,500 from 1833 to 1838. (See Figure 7.) The
most significant change in the size of the estate labor force and
the production of sugar, however, appeared immediately after
emancipation as the freed slaves opted to sever their ties with
the barracks life of the Vincentian estates and to seek, hopefully,
a more independent mode of existence. Where and when possible,
many ex-slaves sought to establish residence in "free villages,"
towns, and small settlements, purchasing provision grounds when
available and, occasionally, squatting when land could not be
bought.

Free Villages

The laborers who elected to leave estate service generally
took up residence along the margins of their former estates or
in nearby towns. It was the creation of new settlements, called
"free villages," that occupied so many workers after emancipation.
During the first complete year of freedom (1839) , the number of
workers who abandoned their estate lodgings was 2,819, a reduc-
tion in estate residents of 27 per cent from the year 1838 and

of 44 per cent from 1834. (See Table 3.) Such a downwardly
fluctuating labor supply persisted through 1849 after which
there was a recovery.

It is Impossible to ascertain the exact number of people
who settled In the "free villages," but it can be assumed that
many of those abandoning the estates did so. This move, of
course, did not necessarily free the workers from giving wage
service to the estates, except for the female ex-slave who
generally chose less demanding enterprises. By 1844, only
24 per cent of the island's population was classed as estate
laborers, that is, resident workers, down from 95 per cent in
1831. This means that by the time of the first official census
of St. Vincent in 1844, there were 20,629 Vincentians living,
if not always working, off of the sugar estates. It should be
noted, however, that not all of these people resided in free
villages.

The first mention of "free villages" in the St. Vincent
Blue Books was in 1854, when 7,466 people were reported as living
in villages built since mancipation; the following year this
figure had increased to 7,965. By 1859, the free villagers
totalled 8,209 and later, in 1861, there were 12,833. It
seems unlikely that the free villagers ever surpassed these
figures before the 1850s. Those not in the new villages were
In all likelihood in established pre-emancipation towns and
settlements.

Land Purchases

With such a considerable proportion of cultivators living
outside of the estate system, the sugar industry could easily have
been ruined within a few years. What saved the planters at this
time was the inability of the ex-slaves to purchase sufficient
land to occupy themselves full-time once they abandoned estate
service. Many farmers had been able to buy marginal plantation
lands or land the proprietors were financially unable to cultivate, ?

but as Niddrie points out, such land was often offered at

it ii 8

exorbitant prices. Although some small cultivators bought

land from recently defunct estates whenever possible to gain a
measure of economic independence, most of St. Vincent's cultivable

and accessible land was alienated long before emancipation. In
1854, for example, only 22 persons became registered freeholders
and this at a time when much land lay abandoned owing to the
disastrous effect of the Sugar Duties Acts of 1846 and 1848.
According to the 1861 Census of Population, there were only
2,287 freeholders of land, out of a population of 31,755 — slightly
more than 7 per cent of the total population. In view of the fact
that there were 2,347 whites and 6,553 "colored" at that time, it
seems unlikely that the black population, which comprised most of
the labor force, possessed much land. In fact, the proportion
of Vincentians classed as estate residents had increased from 24
per cent of the population in 1844 to 33 per cent in 1861. Even
by combining the categories of "freeholders," "leaseholders," and
"tenants-at-will" it is possible to account for a mere 14 per cent

of the 1861 population. Thus, it appears that St. Vincent lost
«uch less of its permanent estate labor force than did many of the
other colonies in the British Caribbean. 11

Squatting

A constant hindrance to planters' efforts to secure cheap,
abundant, and dependable labor force throughout the British
Caribbean after emancipation was the practice of "squatting" on
unused or marginal estate lands and land held by the colonial
Government. Whenever a small cultivator was unable to buy a
parcel of land, he had the option to cultivate illegally land
which was unused. This was more common in the larger or less
densely settled colonies, such as Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominica, and
Tobago, with great areas of unclaimed land in the interior. 12
Illegal squatting on Government land (Crown land) in St.
Vincent, although an acknowledged evil in neighboring colonies,
was not generally practiced. 13 Only occasional instances of
squatting on Crown lands for the raising of provisions were
known. The only systematic encroachment on St. Vincent's
Government lands for the unlicensed purpose of charcoal burning. 14
In the Grenadine dependencies, however, there was a constant
complaint of cultivators squatting on abandoned or unused estate
lands, but the number of laborers resident in these small islands
reduced its significance to the colony as a whole. 15

notwithstanding the 84,595 acres of land area in St. Vincent,
only 43 per cent of it is deemed accessible or alienable (non-
Crown land), that is, lies below 1,000 feet in elevation. Most

of this accessible land was already la private hands before the
small cultivators had an opportunity to buy it or to squat on it.
The extremely rugged topography would make even provision grounds
difficult to reach and cultivate if they were located high up in
the valleys or were on top of the ridge lines. Few farmers, today
or in the past, have in fact cultivated land above the 1,000-foot
contour level.

Labor Supply Problems

After a brief sojourn away from compulsory work on the
estates (required during slavery and apprenticeship), many ex-
slaves began to drift back to their former occupations. Those who,
in one way or another, had obtained a piece of land, devoted their
energies to its cultivation, raising arrowroot, sugar cane, cocoa,

spices, citrus, and, especially in the Grenadines, cotton.
Generally, however, the Vincentian cultivators had to rely
periodically upon estate service for supplemental income. The
most obvious effects of the return to estate labor are revealed in
the sugar production figures.

Tunned lately following emancipation, production of sugar
declined from 9,707 tons in 1838 to 7,595 tons in 1839 and, finally,
to 5,051 tens in 1840, a record minimum for the first 40 years of
the 19th century. (See Figure 7.) From 1840 to 1852, sugar
production gradually increased, rising from 5,051 tons to 8,829
tons, respectively, a growth of 75 per cent. It is interesting to
note that an increase of this magnitude was accomplished at a time
when sugar prices fell by 73 per cent in the same 12-year interval.

(See Figure 9.) The resurgence of sugar manufacture demonstrates
that many former field hands were still willing to return to the
estates, not necessarily to reside, but because of their straitened
circumstances and the scarcity of good, purchasable land at
reasonable prices.

Although the planters had lost their slaves by emancipation,
they did not fully relinquish their powers to legislate in the
defense of their labor needs, as all the elected members of the
St. Vincent House of Assembly were also required to be property

owners. Vhere possible, they sought ways of forcing the freed

19
slaves to depend upon estate service for their livelihood.

In the immediate post-emancipation years, however, the

home Government in Britain was able to override the intentions of

the planters for a more "captive" labor supply by enacting

"Master and Servant" acts to establish the rights of both parties

to labor contracts. Companion statutes to the 1833 emancipation

law were passed in order to guarantee that planters did not

abuse the right of hiring help. 20 This naturally hindered the

planters in their recruiting efforts. As an inducement for the

ex-slaves to commit their labor to the estates, the planters had

to continue providing lodging, rent-free provision grounds, and

food allowances (the perquisite formerly given to slaves) in

return for a daily wage less than the market rate for contract

21
employment of non-resident cultivators. Contracts were signed on

a monthly basis and payment was sometimes delayed for months,

aggravating the labor situation. A maneuver adopted by Vincentian

proprietors to obtain more work for a given wage was the setting
of a "task" rate in place of a daily wage rate, but worker
dissatisfaction caused this practice to be abandoned. ^

Arranging a job for estate work posed a dilemma for both
contracting parties— employer and employee. When laborers were
urgently required on the estates — in croptime — they were sometimes
elsewhere since those who had access to provision grounds were
busy with their own planting. Likewise, when the small cultivators
sought extra work out of croptime, they discovered that the estates
were not hiring. Under the slave system, the dead season — or
tlempo muerte of all sugar crop areas— after the frantic harvesting
and grinding of the cane, was taken up with repairs and "make-work"
odd jobs. Following emancipation, when the estate owners were
no longer guaranteed the free labor of field hands, they tried to
reduce their expenses by refusing to hire unneeded help during the
period between harvesting and planting. ^3

In order to maintain the monocultural system of sugar cane
cultivation, an abundant, dependable, and cheap labor force was
paramount over all other requirements. Warnings were voiced for
many years before about the need to diversify commercial agricul-
ture; nevertheless, the proprietors persistently avoided changing
either their source of income (sugar cane) or the methods they
used to manufacture the raw muscovado sugar product. ^ Thus the
aftermath of emancipation saw the crisis deepen for many already
mortgaged and indebted planters, resident and absentee alike.

The commitment to sugar cane cultivation with antiquated
technology and equipment bound the planters symbiotically to their
ex-slaves. The "never" colonies in the British Caribbean, Trinidad
and the former Dutch colonies of Berbice, Denier ara, and Esslquibo
(the last 3 constituted as British Guiana in 1831) had had to face
emancipation, yet afterwards they attempted to build a modern
industry around sugar cane by introducing technical innovations. 25

The perennial outcry throughout the British West Indies
about the scarcity of willing laborers was not so much a reflection
of the revulsion the freed slaves had against agricultural work as
it was a reaction to the extremely low wages offered for such
employment. Nevertheless, most ex-slaves continued to work
intermittently in estate agriculture, seeking the greatest
remuneration for their efforts.

If a planter in St. Vincent were to survive, however, he had
somehow to reduce his expenses in order to maintain a given level
of profit as the price of sugar in the London market fell through-
out the 1840s. (See Figure 9.) In the absence of alien workers,
whenever the labor demands of the planters exceeded the immediate
local supply of willing help, it was impossible for the proprietors
to reduce wages arbitrarily. Such action would run the risk of
losing what help existed at croptime. As a result, one frequently
proposed remedy for the dearth of low-wage laborers was that of
introducing immigrants in sufficient numbers to help hold down
wage demands by compelling the small cultivators to compete for
work. With this thought in mind, the planter-dominated legislature
of St. Vincent began a series of moves to import alien workers.

Allen Labor Immigration. 1845 to 1880
It has been shown that sugar production declined sharply
In St. Vincent from 1838 to 1840. The subsequent recovery
coincided with the return of many ex-slaves to estate service and
the first Importations of alien indentured cultivators. Through-
out most of the 40 years after 1840, St. Vincent was, in fact,
able to sustain Its sugar production with the aid of the foreign
workers who served on the sugar estates during their indenture
periods.

Portuguese Hadeiran Immigration

When the St. Vincent Government sought to obtain an outside
supply of estate laborers after 1840, it faced a restricted choice
of labor pools. East Indian immigration into the West Indies was
suspended from 1839 to 1844, during which time the supply of
"liberated" African workers ( vide Infra ) was being sent to the
larger British Caribbean colonies of Jamaica, British Guiana, and
Trinidad. The only remaining source of potential large-scale
emigration at this time was Portuguese Madeira, which had agreed

in 1845 to renew emigration of its citizens after suspending such

28
action in 1835. Consequently, the St. Vincent legislature

enacted a law providing for the acquisition of indentured

Portuguese Madeirans. '

In 1845, the first shipload of immigrant laborers, 254

Portuguese Hadeirans, arrived in the island to begin their

Indentured service period. The bulk of the Madeiran immigration

to St. Vincent occurred between 1846 and 1850, when 1,848 immi-
grants debarked in Kingstown, making a total of 2,102 indentees,
including the arrival of the first group in 1845. (See Table 4.)
An important factor accounting for the large-scale emigration
from the island of Madeira in this period was a famine in 1846.
Many went to other colonies in the British West Indies, to
British Guiana in particular, and to the small islands of Antigua,
St. Kitts, and Nevis. After 1850, there were no Madeirans
indentured until the last small group of 8 arrived in 1864.
Although they were cultivators in Madeira, many of the immigrants
who remained after the expiration of their service contracts left
the fields to embark on commercial ventures as shopkeepers.^ 1

"Liberated" African Immigrants

Because many of the Madeirans proved unwilling to re-inden-
ture themselves for agricultural work, the old labor shortages
recurred, exacerbated even further by the seasonal emigration of
Vincentian cultivators to the higher-wage areas of Trinidad and
British Guiana. In addition, island-wide labor riots for higher
wages broke out in 1847 and 1848. The St. Vincent Government,
therefore, had little option but to open the door to the importa-
tion of more workers of African origin, highly prized and much

sought-after.

An alternate source of contract laborers for the sugar
estates of St. Vincent was the growing reservoir of interned
Africans confiscated from slave ships bound for the Spanish and
Portuguese colonies in the Americas. From 1839 to 1859, the

TABLE 4

NUMBER OF PORTUGUESE MADEIRAN, LIBERATED AFRICAN, AND

EAST INDIAN IMMIGRANTS, BY YEAR, ST. VINCENT

1844-1880

Portuguese
Madeiran a

Liberated

East
Indian

1844

254

1846-1850

1,848

1860

1861

1862

1864

8 d

1866

1867

1869

1871

1875

1880

2,110

809
94

119
14

1,036

259
283

207

477
335
324
332
212

2,429 e

a G. W. Roberts and J. Byrne, "Summary Statistics on Indenture
and Associated Migration affecting the West Indies, 1834-1918,
Population Studies , XX, No. 1 (July, 1966), Table 3, p. 129.

Immigration Office, "Register of Immigrants— Africans, "a
manuscript record of the arrival of liberated Africans, deposited
in the safety vault of the St. Vincent Registrar-General's office
in Kingstown.

c Immigration Office, "Register of Immigrants— No. 1, Indians
[1861-1880]," a manuscript record deposited in the safety vault of
the St. Vincent Registrar-General's office in Kingstown.

Ibid., an unnumbered page following the listing of East
Indian immigrants .

C Roberts and Byrne, "Summary statistics," Table 2, p. 129,
shows a discrepancy in this total. Their figures amount to 2,472.
The author has used the official count registered in Kingstown
upon arrival of the East Indian indentees.

British Royal Navy maintained a cruiser patrol in the sea lanes
and along the shoreline of the West coast of Africa in an attempt
to suppress the slave trade, interning captured slave ships at
Vice-Admiralty or Mixed Commission courts located at Havana,
Rio de Janeiro, Luanda, Sierra Leone, and St. Helena. Once their
seizure was declared legal at the nearest appointed court, the
captured (or "liberated") Africans were impounded for a few months

at Government expense in the "King's Yard," usually in Sierra

33
Leone or St. Helena.

In the decade after slavery, the expressed need for more

labor in the British West Indian colonies accorded with the home

Government's wish to ease the burden of caring for these liberated

slaves; therefore, as early as 1840, Britain consented to the

removal — by private interests — of the internees, at their own

request, to the West Indies under indenture contracts. This

proved to be unsuccessful, and after 1841, the British Government

began official supervision and regulation of the movement of

"liberated Africans. Most of them were assigned to the 3

largest British West Indian colonies — Jamaica, British Guiana,
and Trinidad — under the Government approved traffic, but in 1848,
the smaller British Caribbean colonies requested a share of
indentured Africans. In order to assist the colonies, suffering
as they were from a depressed sugar market after the enactment of
Sugar Duties Acts of 1846 and 1848, Britain agreed in 1849 to
underwrite the cost of transporting the liberated Africans to the
West Indies. Two ships dispatched from Sierra Leone to St. Vincent,

bringing 234 indentured Africans in 1849 and another 575 in 1850. 36
There were no further consignments of Africans brought to St.
Vincent for another decade. Finally, in I860, 1851, and 1862,
3 shiploads totalling 227 internees from St. Helena were landed at
Kingstown. (See Table 4.) These last indentees were all "2nd
class" immigrants , that is, under the age of 15 years. ^

East Indian Immigration

The policy of liberated African Immigration could, at best,
be but a temporary palliative, in view of the powerful influences
operating in the Atlantic Ocean to destroy the slave traffic at
its source. For example, the abolition of the slave trade to
Brazil in 1852 reduced the supply of captured slaves landed at the
Vice-Admiralty courts to a mere trickle. In any case, the dis-
patching authorities gave a low priority to St. Vincent's labor
requests, granting the larger British West Indian colonies,
throughout, the lion's share of willing indentees. These factors
forced the colonial Government to seek an alternate source of
indentured workers.

Such a pool was already being effectively exploited by
many sugar growing regions, such as Mauritius and Natal. Certain
areas of the Indian subcontinent with people to spare were
yielding up willing, efficient tillers of land eager to be
indentured overseas. Preparation for the importation of East
Indian indentured laborers into St. Vincent did not, however,
begin until 1857, some 7 years after the last shipload of adult
workers from Africa had debarked in the colony.

100

From 1834 to 1844, and again from 1848 to 1851, the Governor-
General of India had curtailed emigration to the British Vest
Indies because of mistreatment of the East Indians on the estates
and irregularities in recruiting practices within India. J Such
interruptions in the supply of East Indians compelled the West
Indian planters to depend upon African laborers until regulations
in British Guiana and Trinidad were revised in 1851, permitting
the Indian Government to agree to a renewal of emigration to the
British Caribbean.

In view of t

as the supply of liberated Africans declined, St. Vincent had to
enact laws which would satisfy the Indian Government before
immigration of the East Indians could begin. Accordingly, several
acts were passed in 1857, great care being given to formulating
terms and conditions of contract service for the "coolies."

According to the terms of indenture, the East Indian indentee
had to work in the island on an estate for at least 8 years, after
which time he was given a "certificate of industrial residence"
indicating the fulfillment of his obligation. He could then ask
for return passage to his original point of embarkation in India.
The planters wanted the "coolies" attached as long as possible,
within the legal indenture term of 8 years, to estate agriculture;
therefore, Inducements were given for the indentees to serve out
their terms in the estate fields, rather than have then pay a

commutation fee to exclude themselves from the final 3-year

commitment. To prevent the disillusionment of coolies

101

assigned to poorly run estates, each lndentee could change his
estate after the first 5 years of service. It was only after
the initial 5-year term on an estate that an lndentee had the
option either to remain in field agriculture or to pay for the
cosmutation of his last 3 years, thus freeing himself from all
further contract obligations.

As an inducement for the East Indians to remain In estate
service after the termination of their indenture, especially as
they were "seasoned" and experienced by then, the planter-dominated
legislature in St. Vincent enacted a law In 1874 that provided for
a £10 bounty to be given to any East Indian who would relinquish
his right to a return passage to India and re-indenture himself

for another 5 years.

The first shipload of "coolies" arrived in St. Vincent
in 1861, bringing 259 East Indians from the port of Madras;
there were 8 additional shiploads between 1861 and 1880, all
originating from Calcutta. The total number of Indians landed
in the colony was 2,429 men, women, and children. (See Table 4.)
Host of the "coolies" were requested by and assigned to the larger
sugar estates along the Windward coast, including many of the
Carib Country estates. (See Figure 12 and Appendix I.)

With the aid of "coolie" labor for the fields and the
benefits to the colony derived by the enactment of the West

Indian Encumbered Estates Act in 1856 ( vide infra) , there was a

renewal of activity in St. Vincent's sugar industry. Although

the "coolies" were beneficial to the estates, conditions in the

CAST INDIANS

Sourc0 : Government GozetTa ,
1861-1880 .

FIGURE 12
DISTRIBUTION OF EAST INDIANS, BY ESTATE,
ST. VINCENT, 1861-1880

103

International sugar market after 1874 made muscovado sugar produc-
tion on Vincentian estates less profitable, resulting in a
reduced number of East Indians who were willing to re-indenture
themselves after the expiration of their first contracts. The
need to keep the "coolies" on the estates was a reaction to

increasing emigration of native Vincentian and ex-coolie laborers

to Trinidad in response to higher wages. A warning was issued

about the scarcity of willing and available estate workers, and
in order to induce workers in the colony to remain in estate
agriculture, the Government proposed making unalienated Crown lands
or waste lands of the plantations available to satisfy what it
considered to be the cultivators' desire to own property. In
this way, the Government hoped to maintain the supply of steady
field workers.

Having decided to pay the £10 bounty to any "coolie" who
would give up his right to return passage and re-indenture himself
for 5 years, the Government, in 1875, persuaded over 400 East
Indians to accept the bounty and to re- Indenture. Although
most Indians chose to remain in St. Vincent, approximately 30
per cent of those arriving since 1861 had emigrated to other
Caribbean areas by 1875, especially to Trinidad. Only 3 1/2
per cent of the indentees returned to India, thus, expressing
their preference for agricultural service in the West Indies to

serfdom as low-caste or untouchable members of their communities

in India. Many of these Indians were able to save enough money

to buy land, once their indentures were completed and to work

104

•s casual labor on estates much as the native Vlncentlan
population had been doing since the end of slavery.

Nevertheless, the impending depression in the sugar industry
after the elimination of all sugar duties in 1874 and the general
scarcity of land which might have afforded an alternative
livelihood was manifested in a continuing emigration of agricultural
laborers, including ex-coolies, to higher-paying permanent and
seasonal employment in Trinidad. Between 1874 and 1878, the
average annual number of indentured "coolies" remaining on
Vincentian sugar estates was 1,454, while from 1879 to 1882, the
average annual employment declined to 837, a decrease of 42 per
cent. To forestall any large-scale loss of East Indians from
the island after the completion of their service contracts, a

law was passed in 1879 aimed specifically at prohibiting the

52
Indians from being enticed to other colonies. After 1880, no

more "coolies" were imported Into St. Vincent because the

Government was unable to provide sufficient funds for such labor,

and in any event, the disastrous decline in sugar prices in 1882

affected the income of the planters so severely that the scheme

became redundant.

The West Indian Encumbered Estates Act
in St. Vincent

Prolonged depression in the British West Indies, especially

after the turn of the 19th century, had reduced sugar Industry

profits, driving many estates into debt and bankruptcy. The

encumbrances of estates from jointures, legacies, and annuities

105

established In more prosperous times had compromised otherwise
valuable properties. These legal demands on annual net income
too often left the owners short of working capital, obliging
them to seek advance loans at interest rates of 5 to 6 per cent
or more, under consignment of their future crops. Crop consign-
ment also carried commission charges of 2 1/2 per cent. Purchases

of goods by the planters or their managers on credit cost another

54
5 per cent. These charges, together with Interest payments,

often exceeded the earning power of estates which ordinarily with-
out these burdens would have been solvent under unencumbered
conditions.

An aggravating factor during the lean years after emancipation
was the departure of many proprietors from St. Vincent to the
United Kingdom. One historian of the sugar industry suggests
that this was not as much of a catastrophe as it seems because
most estate income was usually spent outside of the individual
colonies, thus, permanent withdrawal of the owners had little
direct effect on the supply of capital available for estate
modernization. The significance of their absence, however,
must be viewed in the light of the attitudes of the resident
managers, overseers, or "planting attorneys" who were left to
operate the enterprises. Naturally, they were more concerned
with receiving their annual salaries and were less devoted to the
long-run success of the estates. This created another charge on
net income. The extent of the depletion of resident owners was
evident in 1854, when 70 out of 87 of St. Vincent's estates were

106

absentee-owned, with 6 resident attorneys managing 64 of them.
Hanagement of the sugar mills and fields progressively deteriorated
until many plantations ceased to function, leaving their laborers
without Jobs. Others continued production, allowing debts to
mount and seeking multiple mortgages on the property whenever a
lender (without knowing how many prior liens existed) could be
induced to risk accepting an unguaranteed lien.

The Sale of Encumbered Estates in St. Vincent. 1856 to 1888
Abandonment of property was generally the only feasible
choice for an indebted owner, since few people would offer to
buy West Indian estates without a clear title. To clear the
titles of West Indian properties and expedite their sale and

eventual return to cultivation, the British Parliament passed

the Encumbered Estates Act of 1854. Acceptance of the act

into the West Indian legal system was on a voluntary basis. The
first British West Indian legislature to enact its own similar
law was that of St. Vincent, which passed the Encumbered Estates

Act in 1856. Such prompt action demonstrated the serious
straits of estate cultivation in that island.

An indication of the degree of property abandonment is
presented in the Blue Book of St. Vincent for the years 1854
through 1857. There were 82 estates listed by name for these
years (excluding 5 in the Grenadines) , but only 75 were being
worked in 1854; 69 were worked in 1855; 62 were worked in 1856;
and 63 were cultivated in 1857. In 1854, Kingstown District

107

(Including St. George Parish, part of St. Andrew Parish and the
Grenadine dependencies) was acknowledged to have 8 estates
"formerly cultivated in Sugar, now abandoned," constituting about
1,500 acres. On his visit to St. Vincent in 1859, William

number was almost half of what it was in 1819, when 104 estates
were in production.

In order to restore abandoned estates and those heavily
encumbered with debt to sugar cultivation, in compliance with
the provisions of the Encumbered Estates Act, local commissioners
were chosen to adjudicate differences over title, ownership, and
the priority of liens. All court actions were given final uniform
decisions by a central court in London. To initiate legal action
for the sale of an encumbered estate, the owner or any creditor
could petition the Encumbered Estates Court in St. Vincent or
London. If no objections were raised within a 6-month waiting
period to hinder the sale, an order for sale was issued. All
creditors with liens on the property had to file their cases with
the court's secretary and were put on a priority list for the
distribution of the proceeds of sale in the order of the filing
of their claims.

A disputed legal point in the system of sale of insolvent
estates was the "consignee's lien." The cyclical nature of
prosperity in sugar production often forced the proprietors to
seek advance loans with interest from their merchant agents in
England. The merchants stipulated that for the duration of the

108

loan all plantation produce had to be consigned to them with
a commission fee and transported in their ships. Legal precedence
gave the consignee's lien first priority on the assets of an
estate. As it happened under the Encumbered Estates Act,
merchant agents would file for the sale of an insolvent estate,
assured that their claims would be the first met. The depression
in St. Vincent's sugar industry, in addition to the deteriorated
conditions of abandoned or mismanaged plantations, reduced the
■ale value of estates to a fraction of their unencumbered working
value. Very often, with the support of the consignee's lien,
merchant agents or their attorneys petitioned the courts for the
sale of estates and succeeded in buying them for nominal sums. A
finalized sale guaranteed the purchaser undisputed parliamentary
title to his property. Disputed titles were thus cleared up, but
the concentration of ownership in a few hands was intensified,
a problem left unsolved by the Encumbered Estates Act of 1856 in
St. Vincent. For example, the firm of D. K. Porter and Company
in England (and its local representative in the colony, James
Graham) eventually controlled 20 estates in St. Vincent, most of
them purchased through the court.

Once the Encumbered Estates Act was passed in St. Vincent
and the first sale of an estate under its provisions was completed
in 1858, it remained in force until 1888 when the last estate was
sold in the court. Beachey states that there were 30 sales in
St. Vincent over the 30-year life of the court (with only 3 sales

109

through the local court In Kingstown) , while the St. Vincent

62
Registrar-General s office records only 21 separate sales.

Some involved more than a single estate by the sane owner, while

2 sales involved "moieties" or half shares of an estate. In all,

63 .
23 estates were brought to sale in whole or in part. (See

Table 5 and Figure 13.)

The first estate sold, Arnos Vale, vas one of the most
profitable before debt forced its owner to abandon cultivation
in 1854 and place it in chancery. At the peak of its prosperity
in 1828, the 454-acre estate produced 341 tons of muscovado sugar
and employed 307 slaves. It provided an annual income in excess
of £10,000 at that time. When it was brought to the Encumbered
Estates Court in 1858, however, it had an accumulated debt of
£30,000. The sale on November 1, 1858, was for the sum of
£10,050, the highest price paid for an estate sold under the
provisions of the court in St. Vincent or in the rest of the
British West Indies. The sale price was double that of other
Vlncentian estates sold over the next 30 years. Kost of the
estates handled by the court were sold during the 1860s when
there was a desire to restore abandoned or unproductive estates
to cultivation with a more dependable labor supply in the form
of East Indian indentured immigrants. The final petitions for
sale of encumbered estates were filed in 1888, and by the
following year, the St. Vincent legislature had passed orders
abolishing the West Indian Encumbered Estates Act upon recommen-
dation of a Royal Commission sent to investigate conditions

3 -

=B <

■-! <-l W

r^ o rH

f-i r- cm

I i

a u c

a 5

a in o ^

a -h .e u

aj a

4J >,

c o

u to u

O CO u
JC iH <

•O -O h U

112

FIGURE 13

ESTATES SOLD IN THE ENCUMBERED ESTATES ACT

COURT, ST. VINCENT, 1858-1888

113

surrounding Immigration practices and abuses under the Encumbered
Estates Act.

The Number of Working Estates in St. Vincent, 1854 to 1902
In 1854, the year when the duty on all sugar shipped to
British was finally equalized, the number of working estates in
St. Vincent (excluding the Grenadines) was 77, down from the
100-odd estates functioning at the end of the Napoleonic wars.
Within 5 years, this total further decreased to 58 as a result
of abandonment of unprofitable and indebted plantations occasioned
by the steady decline in sugar prices in London since 1840. (See
Figure 9.) As soon as the West Indian Encumbered Estates Act
was enacted in St. Vincent, the trend of abandonment of property
was reversed. By 1862, the number of working estates had
increased to 82, but there still existed 39 plantations abandoned
from earlier days, or about 1 derelict estate for every 2 in
operation.

As the East Indian "coolies" augmented the island's labor
force after 1861 and more estates changed hands through the
Encumbered Estates Act Court, there was a final resurgence in the
sugar industry. The number of working estates expanded to a
maximum of 97 between 1867 and 1875, marking the high-tide of
post-emancipation sugar production. (See Figure 14.)

All duties on sugar imported into Britain were eliminated
in 1874, resulting in a 34 per cent decrease in the number of
operating estates within the short space of 3 years. Sugar

114

Number

FIGURE 14

NUMBER OF SUGAR ESTATES,
ST. VINCENT, 1854 - 1903

115

production was relatively unaffected between 1874 and 1884;
therefore, It may be postulated that the withdrawal from sugar
cane cultivation was limited primarily to those marginally-run
estates which could contribute little to the productivity of the
Vincentian sugar economy.

A further deterioration in sugar cultivation occurred after
1880, when beet sugar flooded the English market, driving prices
downward and causing a shift in demand from the lower quality
muscovado sugar of the smaller British West Indian colonies to
a more refined product. The number of working sugar estates
thus declined from 63 in 1880 to 33 in 1902, during which time

a disastrous hurricane and an eruption of the Soufriere volcano

68
destroyed most of the sugar mill works.

The Demise of the Vincentian Sugar Economy ,
1854 to 1902

The last half of the 19th century witnessed first the

faltering and finally the dissolution of St. Vincent's sugar

economy, a scenario duplicated at that time throughout the

Windward Islands, especially in the neighboring island of

Grenada. There was obviously no future for the muscovado sugar

produced in St. Vincent after 1854, as modernization of the

West Indian sugar cane industry became mandatory for survival.

With the appearance of beet sugar in the world markets, the

irreversible decline began.

116

The Sugar Cane Industry

The scramble among the British West Indian colonies for an
abundant and dependable labor supply following emancipation
reflected the new, more liberal trade policy patterns in the
United Kingdom. Nowhere was this made more evident than in the
rapid decline in political influence of the West Indian
"establishment," which had to endure radical changes affecting
colonial sugar production. Between 1836 and 1854, these changes
served to remove the preferential treatment which British West
Indian sugar had enjoyed in the home market.

The effect of all United Kingdom actions was to drive out
the inefficient, heavily indebted planters in the British
Caribbean and induce those who still ccmanded sources of
working capital to rationalize their production.

The effect of the Sugar Duties Acts of 1846 and 1848 was
most evident in St. Vincent. The sugar cane crop in 1855 was
at its lowest level for over half a century. Furthermore, the
average price of sugar in London in 1854 was at its lowest since
the acquisition of St. Vincent in 1763. (See Figure 9.) From
the crest of the last price wave in 1840, when sugar brought
49 shillings per hundredweight, a new mininum was reached of
20 shillings, a decline of 59 per cent in 14 years.

St. Vincent's production, however, fell from a 5-year
average of 6,900 tons in 1840 to 6,100 tons In 1855, a loss of
only 12 per cent in volume. '* This decrease in production is
not as revealing as the decline from the last production peak

117

In 1852 to the low point in 1855. This showed a decline from
8,829 tons to 4,906 tons, or 44 per cent — a more meaningful
demonstration of the impact of the equalization of duties on
sugar exported to the United Kingdom.

Before the East Indian indentured workers began arriving
in the colony, the sugar industry in St. Vincent was reported to
be recovering from the depressed conditions resulting from the
total equalization of sugar duties in 1854. The 15 years after
1840 had been disastrous, but the intercession of the West
Indian Encumbered Estates Act Court in the late 1850s restored
hope to the planters. In 1858, the Blue Book report on agri-
culture reported that there were no special improvements in
agriculture but that cultivation "is pursued energetically and
the aspect of the country as compared with recent years is very
satisfactory."^ Yet nothing much had changed in the all-important

sugar technology.

The reasons for such conservatism are plain to see. The
old fashioned, open pan method of producing raw muscovado sugar
was utilized simply because the scale of duties in England after
1854 favored the cheaper muscovado product, with its high
molasses content. The more efficiently an estate could refine

its sugar, the higher its value in the home market, and, hence,

74 e

the higher the import duty it had to bear. St. Vincent s

sugar estates were not large enough to bear the cost of introducing

the modern equipment and associated technology required for high

quality refined sugar. Its interests were better served by

118

reliance upon the differential sugar duties for protection from
the more efficient estates in Trinidad and British Guiana. As
the East Indian "coolies" began working in the fields, a few of the
■ore favorably located estates did, in fact, introduce the plow
and horse harrow but nothing more sophisticated was ever envisaged.

Froo 1864 onwards, production increased through the year
1866, leveled out from 1867 through 1869, then reached a zenith
In 1871 that was last duplicated in 1837. (See Figure 7.) After
the new peak was reached, sugar exports declined, faltering
cyclically until the death knell for muscovado sugar was sounded
in the 1880s when subsidized beet sugar drove the price of
cane sugar down disastrously low. The value of Vincentian sugar
exports, always sensitive to price fluctuations, declined more
quickly and definitely than did the quantity . (See Figures 7,
9, and 15.)

When all sugar duties were eliminated in 1874, there was
no hope for the inefficient producers in St. Vincent and else-
where in the British Caribbean. The confectioners in Britain
preferred the cheaper semi-refined European continental beet

sugar or cane sugar from tropical areas outside of the British

. . 75
Empire.

With the international sugar market experiencing steady

price declines, it would have been to St. Vincent's benefit to

make a major switch from sugar to another cash commodity, such

as arrowroot, which had shown a growing importance since 1840.

( Vida infra Chapter V.) Unfortunately, the extreme concentration

119

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120

of estate ownership by absentee firms and the unwillingness
of these owners to invest in technical innovations left no
choice except to continue cultivating sugar cane on the
estates. This went on until the turn of the century, when
curtailment of production in the island became unavoidable.
The effects of an economic depression in England in 1894, a
hurricane in the island in 1898, and a volcanic eruption in
1902, literally and figuratively, demolished the industry.

Beet Sugar Competition

The most important factor leading to the crippling of
St. Vincent's sugar industry and all those which in the West
Indies had failed to keep up with the times, was the rapidly
growing competition of continental beet sugar during the second
half of the 19th century. 77 (See Figure 16.) A singular
motive lay behind the nationalistic European sugar race after
1850 — the desire to capture an increasing share of the sugar

market in Britain, the largest sugar consuming market in the

78
world at that time.

Huscovado sugar production in the smaller West Indian

colonies, such as St. Vincent, although precariously unstable,

was guaranteed so long as the duties in the United Kingdom

on foreign-grown sugar favored British colonial Imports. The

periodic lessening of protection, beginning with the Sugar

Duties Act of 1846, jolted Vincentian sugar producers but still

left a margin of profit, which was, in essence, the difference

121

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122

between the cost of producing and selling 1 ton of muscovado

79
sugar."

Production costs were little altered during the period

80
of East Indian immigration in St. Vincent. As European

beet sugar appeared in the British market place, especially

after the total equalization of duties in 1854, the long-run

trend was downward. Once the duties were eliminated in 1874,

the door was open for beet sugar to drive cane sugar from the

United Kingdom. The complicated arrangements made by the major

beet sugar producing governments for drawbacks on excise duties

in their respective countries subsidized, in effect, the

abnormally low selling price of beet sugar for export.

Refiners in England using muscovado sugar before 1874 were happy
to receive the flood of cheaper beet sugar after that date.
From 1872 to 1875, the price of sugar in London dropped 23 per
cent, from 26 shillings per hundredweight to 20 shillings.
Five-year average prices ranged from 23 shillings per hundred-
weight in 1873, to 21 shillings in 1877, and to 19 shillings
in 1882. (See Figure 9.) With relatively constant production
costs, the planters' profit margin could only decline during
the years of beet sugar competition.

The impressive growth rates for France, Germany, and
Austria-Hungary contrasted with the relatively stable growth
rates of West Indian production. Bounty-assisted beet sugar
Imports into Britain increased by 281 per cent from 1865 to 1878,
while British West Indian sugar imports increased by only 9 per

123

cent, indicative of the stagnation In the Caribbean sugar
colonies. St. Vincent was slightly above average, showing a
15 per cent growth In production over the same period, from
1865 to 1878— the resurgent period of the Vincentian sugar
industry. The replacement of colonial cane sugar by beet
sugar in Britain necesitated a shift in trading patterns for
the West Indian colonies, so that the United States gradually
came to be the chief destination of sugar from the British
Caribbean. 82

After 1876, German and Austrian-Hungarian beet sugar
exports to the United Kingdom expanded by the simple expedient
of altering their export duty from a given weight of the raw
sugar itself to a given weight of beet roots before extraction
of the sucrose had taken place. This prompted the German
and Austrian-Hungarian growers to cultivate beet roots with
a high sucrose content and the refiners to improve the process
of extracting the additional sucrose from the crushed beet root. 83
The effect was to force France to reciprocate by further
subsidizing its sugar exports to meet this competition. From
1880, Germany became the leading exporter of beet sugar to
Britain, coupled with the other European producers who competed
for the same market. (See Figure 16.) "Dumping" of beet sugar
began in 1880 and by 1888, there was an increase of 62 per cent
in imports to the United Kingdom. When the dumping first
began, British West Indian cane sugar accounted for only 19 per
cent of the home country's sugar imports.

124

The price of sugar in London plummetted from 21 shillings
per hundredweight in 1880 to 12 shillings in 1887. (See Figure 9.)
In 1883, St. Vincent went into an irrecoverable decline which
devastated the Industry, and, apart from a short-lived recovery
in the 1880s, forever eliminated sugar from the paramount position
it had held in the economy since 1764. (See Figure 7.) With
the London price of sugar at or below the cost of production,
the Vincentian muscovado industry had, therefore, to seek
another outlet to cushion this depression. By 1887, over 80
per cent of St. Vincent's sugar exports went to the United
States, where countervailing duties had so far barred imports
of European beet sugar. 85 Yet by 1892, arrowroot had superseded
sugar as the main export commodity in the colony. (See Figure
17.) For the next 60 years, Vincentian sugar production was,
in fact, subsidized by the British Government, with output
fluctuating according to the demand for St. Vincent's other
primary products— arrowroot, cotton, and bananas.

Natural Disasters

Two monumental natural disasters within the space of
4 years destroyed not only estate works but put the final
seal on St. Vincent's sugar production as a major export
enterprise. On September 11, 1898, a hurricane swept over the
island, killing 288 persons, rendering 30,000 homeless, and
destroying £225,000 (1898 value) worth of property. 87 Most of
the sugar and arrowroot works were ruined by the hurricane,

125

126

reducing the number of functioning sugar mills from 54 In 1896
to 30 in 1898 and the number of estate arrowroot works from
50 to 35. 88

On Hay 7, 1902, the day before Mt. Pelee erupted in
Martinique, killing 40,000 persons, the Soufriere volcano on
the north end of St. Vincent exploded, killing between 1,300
and 2,000 people, mainly estate laborers along the Windward
coast. Much of the fertile land in the northern section of
the island was covered by volcanic debris and rendered infertile.
In addition, many of the remaining sugar mills left standing
after the 1898 hurricane were destroyed. (See Figure 18.)
These natural calamities marked the tragic end of an
era. The economic and social forces which had debilitated
the Vincentian sugar industry since the end of slavery were
reinforced by the violent forces of nature. The way was cleared
for monocultural commodities other than sugar to shape the
economic livelihood of the island.

Epilogue

The sugar industry of St. Vincent, buffeted as it was
by natural disasters and competition from more efficient
producers, managed to survive into the 20th century, although
on a greatly diminished scale. Muscovado sugar production in

the colony continued throughout the First World War, owing to

89
the stimulation of a short-lived price increase.

From 1926 to 1962, St. Vincent's sugar cane industry was

• - •.. — .- - „ ~ ^...Mruud. -

FIGURE 18

EXTENT OF ASH DEPOSITS FROM ERUPTION OF

SOUFRIERE VOLCANO, ST. VINCENT, 1902

128

divided between the manufacture of semi-refined sugar ("dark
crystals") by a single, modern factory (Mt. Bentinck) and the
production of molasses syrup by small growers using primitive
equipment. All of the colony's semi-refined sugar exports
to the United Kingdom were regulated, after 1932, by annual
export quotas.

In spite of improvements made in the industry after the
Second World War, the island's sugar factory opted to discontinue
production in 1962, following a long and politically-oriented
labor strike. The lingering interest in Vincentian sugar
production in the 20th century was, in effect," a nostalgic
indulgence. The limited area of the island plus the lack
of sufficient investment capital to provide a large-scale
enterprise meant that sugar production could never return to
its early-19th-century status.

Summary
This chapter reviews the plight of the Vincentian sugar
industry after the emancipation of slaves. It discusses the
labor problems subsequent to emancipation and the waves of
alien labor immigration that developed to meet this situation.
In addition, the effects in St. Vincent of the West Indian
Encumbered Estates Act are considered. Finally, there is an
examination of the economic factors leading to the demise of
the sugar industry, including the elimination of sugar duties
and the emergence of European beet sugar competition.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IV

1
Estates Book , a table entitled: "An Account showing the total
number of Slaves annually employed, and quantity of Produce raised
in the island of St. Vincent and its Dependencies, from 1819 to
1824, both inclusive" [with annual additions entered through the
year 1851], p. 241. Another table in the Estates Book entitled:
"Inter-Colonial Apportionment" shows that St. Vincent was reimbursed
for 22,997 slaves, while the above-mentioned table shows 18,794
slaves in 1834. The author attributes the discrepancy to the
differentiation between agricultural field hands and those employed
in the towns or as artisans, not directly involved in the production
of sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton.

TJIlliam G. Sewell, The Ordeal of Free Labor in the British
West Indies (2d ed.; London: Sampson Low, Son,& Co., 1862), p. 79.

For these calculations, the author used the estate labor
force figures for 1844 (6,619) given in Table 3 and the population
estimate for 1844 (27,248) given in The Colony of St. Vincent .
Blue Book. 1850 . pp. 134-135. [Hereafter, this reference will be
referred to simply as Blue Book , with the appropriate year given.]
For the earliest comparable year before 1844, the estate labor
force for 1831 was chosen from Table 4 (16,818) and the population
estimate for the colony for the same year (25,954) from R. R.
Madden, A Twelvemonth's Residence in the West Indies ( London:
James Cochrane & Co., 1835), pp. 53-54.

This figure includes all ages. Using the percentage male
in the total 1844 population, 46 per cent, the author calculates
that the number of possible male workers out of the 20,629 people
living off of the estates must have been less than 9,500. This
includes male children whose numbers cannot be calculated but
nust be omitted from the possible "outside" labor force.

Blue Book, 1854 , p. 155; Blue Book, 1855 , p. 150.

6
Sewell, Ordeal of Free Labor , p. 79; Blue Book. 1861 .

pp. 162-163.

J. W. Root, The British Vest Indies and the Sugar Industry
(London: Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ltd., 1899), p. 7.

130

David L. Niddrie, "Eighteenth-Century Settlement in the

British Caribbean," Transaction and Papers, The Institute of
British Geographers . Publication No. 40 (1960), p. 79.

Three historians of the West Indies mistakenly place St.
Vincent among the "underdeveloped" islands following emancipation,
that is, those islands with plenty of tracts of fertile land still
not under cultivation when the slaves were freed. As will be
shown, the interior of St. Vincent was uncultivated because it
was too rugged and inaccessible. Little good land remained
unalienated after 1838. See: E. H. Carter et_al . , History of
the West Indian Peoples (4 vols., 2d rev. ed.; London: Thomas
Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1965), IV, pp. 108-115.

Saint Vincent. Census, 1861 , [Tables] 11 through 16, n.p.

David L. Niddrie, Land Use and Population in Tobago , The
World Land Use Survey, Monograph 3: Tobago (Bude, Eng.: Geographi-
cal Publications Limited, 1961), p. 18; M. G. Smith, Kinship and
Community In Carriacou (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962),
pp. 26-27; Sewell, Ordeal of Free Labor , passim .

Niddrie, Land Use and Population in Tobago , pp. 25-27;
Carter et al . , West Indian Peoples , IV, pp. 108-116; Henry H.
Breen, St. Lucia: Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive
(London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1970; original publica-
tion by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1844), p. 309;
Judith Ann Weller, The East Indian Indenture in Trinidad ,
Caribbean Monograph Series No. 4 (Rio Piedras, P. R. : Institute
of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, 1968), p. xix;
W. K. Marshall, "Social and Economic Problems in the Windward
Islands, 1838-65," in The Caribbean in Transition , ed. by F. M.
Andic and T. G. Mathews (Rio Piedras, P. R. : University of
Puerto Rico for the Institute of Caribbean Studies, 1965),
pp. 246-252.

Tlie earliest discussion of "squatting" in the agricultural
returns of St. Vincent by the Stipendiary Magistrate authorized
to investigate this practice states:

"There is no squatting, if by the term, may be understood
the occupation and cultivation of Crown land. It is
Impossible to say whether some of the [estate] Mountain
lands hired, or cultivated by the labourers [ sic ] in lieu
of higher wages in accordance with the system of hiring
which obtain in the Colony, be Crown or private property,
but there is no such thing as Systematic Squatting. The
peasantry have no inducement to seek a more independent
mode of existence and the Colony is too small to admit

131

of concealment were such a thing attempted."

See: Blue Book, 1855 . p. 212. For similar reports, see: Blue
Book, 1858 , p. 249; Blue Book. 1859 , p. 256; Blue Book, 1861 ,
p. 264; Blue Book, 1863 , p. 268.

Blue Book. 1855 , p. 212.

1 5 Blue Book. 1865 , p. 264.

One reason given for the absence of systematic squatting
was that

". . . all the available lands in the Colony have been
granted or settled and the proprietors are sufficiently
alive to their own interests to prevent any unauthorized
occupation. . . . The fertility of Crown Lands is great
but the inaccessibility and the primeval forest cover
needed to be cleared makes the risk too great to chance
losing all if one is evicted."

See: Blue Book, 1863 , p. 268.

The higher reaches of the interior have generally been
recognized as Crown lands, but it was not until 1912 that all
lands situated 1,000 feet or more above sea level were officially
reserved by ordinance as Crown lands. The St. Vincent Government
Gazette, 1912 , p. 249. [Hereafter this reference will be cited
as Government Gazette , with the appropriate year following it.]

All of these crops are discussed in Chapter V.

Marshall, "Problems in the Windward Islands," pp. 247-254.

One such act passed in St. Vincent in 1838 was entitled

"An Act to Render null and void all contracts for the
performance in this Colony of any service or labour
[ sic ] in Agriculture or in or about the manufacture of
Colonial Produce which may be entered into in any of the
other of Her Majesty's possessions in the West Indies."

See: Acts of St. Vincent, 1855-1860 , p. 168. This refers to an
act passed on November 16, 1838.

132

William Law Mathieson, British Slavery and Its Abolition ,

1823-1838 (London: Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1926), p. 304.
The daily wage rate (with cottage and provision grounds) in St.
Vincent during the 1840s was 8 pence. See: F. R. Augier et al. ,
The Making of the West Indies (London: Longmans, Green and Co.,
Ltd., 1960), p. 189.

In 1850, the monthly wage for praedial labor was 12
shillings, 6 pence, with cottage and provision grounds. See:
Blue Book, 1850 . p. 180. The 1865 praedial wage rate was 10
pence per day. See: Blue Book, 1865 , p. 251.

In 1839, the comparable daily wage rates in the neighboring
colonies were: Barbados, 10 pence; Tobago, 8 pence; Dominica,
4 1/2 pence. All of these included cottage and provision grounds.
See: The Colonial Magazine , III (September-December, 1840), p. 57.

A worker in the United States (occupation unspecified) in
1859 received $1.00 per day. See: Sewell, Ordeal of Free Labor ,
p. 288. The average agricultural worker in England in 1850-1851
earned 9 shillings, 6 pence per week. See: James Caird, English
Agriculture in 1850-51 (2d ed. ; London: 1852), p. 512.

Carter ^t al. , West Indian Peoples , TV, p. 115. By

paying a task wage, the proprietor could effectively reduce his
labor costs by one-half or more because many jobs on the estate
required more than one day to complete. Thus a laborer digging
cane holes, if his task took 3 days, was paid 8 pence when his
assignment was completed, not 8 pence per day for the 3 days.

23 Augier et al. , Making of the West Indies , pp. 191-192.

24 Marshall, "Problems in the Windward Islands," pp. 236-237.

International Sugar Council, The World Sugar Economy :

Structure and Policies (2 vols.; London: International Sugar
Council, 1963), II, p. 17. A few of the modern innovations
were steam-driven crushing mills, vacuum pans for low-temperature
boiling of the sugar syrup, and centrifuges for molasses extraction.

St. Vincent's planters introduced very few innovations
because they felt that such additions to the system did not pay
for the expense involved in modernization. See: Blue Book, 1854 ,
p. 203.

See n. 21 for a discussion of wage rates.

G. W. Roberts, "Immigration of Africans into the British
Caribbean," Population Studies . VII, No. 3 (March, 1954), p. 238.

133

Carter, £t_fll. , West Indian Peoples , IV, p. 128.

On July 9, 1845, the St. Vincent Board of Council and
House of Assembly passed a law entitled:

"An Act to appropriate the sum of Money . . . mentioned,
in payment of Bounty on the Importation of certain
Agricultural labourers [ sic ] into this Island from the
Island of Madeira." " ' '

This act provided for 1-year indenture contracts, a bounty of
£4 for each adult worker, and a fund of £2,000 to pay the
expenses of importation. In 1847, the term of indenture was
raised to 3 years and the fund was expanded to £4,000.

G. W. Roberts and J. Byrne, "Summary Statistics on
Indenture and Associated Migration Affecting the West Indies,
1834-1918," Population Studies . XX, No. 1 (July, 1966), Table
3, p. 129. This article is also reprinted by: Central
Statistical Office, Trinidad and Tobago, Research Papers , No, 4
(December, 1967), pp. 59-68.

Another source indicated that the first shipload arrived
in 1844, but this is unlikely, as the law governing such
Immigration was not passed until 1845. See: Robert M. Anderson,
ed., The Saint Vincent Handbook (5th ed.; Kingstown: Office of
the Vincentian , 1938), p. 35.

Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (New York: Capricorn
Books, 1966; original copyright by the University of North
Carolina Press, 1944), p. 27; Carter, et al . , West Indian Peoples .
IV, p. 128; and Augier, et al ., Making of the West Indies , p. 197.
Many of the original Madeiran immigrants to St. Vincent became
naturalized British subjects following the enactment of "The Aliens
Naturalization Act of 1866;" today it is possible to trace some
of these families among the existing merchant class in Kingstown.

The Council and Assembly of St. Vincent passed an act in
1849 entitled: "An Act to regulate and make provision for the
treatment of Liberated African Immigrants." See: Acts of St .
Vincent, 1855-1860 , p. 222. This law was cited in a later act
of October 16, 1857, which revised the contract laws for immigrants.

Roberts, "Immigrations of Africans," p. 237. Also: Johnson
U. J. Asiegbu, Slavery and the Politics of Liberation. 1787-1861 :

134

A Study of Liberated African Emigration and British Anti-Slavery
Policy (New York: Africans Publishing Corporation, 1969), pp. 23-
33.

Ibid., p. 43.

As early as September, 1840, the St. Vincent Legislative

Council made inquiries through its London agent to see if the
home government had given authority for emigration to the West
Indies from Sierra Leone. A request was made "for the present"
for 300 laborers and £4,500 was promised for this purpose. No
Africans were brought to St. Vincent, however, until 1849. The
Colonial Magazine , IV (January-April, 1841), p. 132.

Roberts, "Immigration of Africans," Appendix, Table 1,
p. 259

By an act passed on October 16, 1857, entitled: An Act

to alter the Law of Contracts with regard to immigrants and for
the encouragement of Immigration and for the General Regulation
of Immigrants," all liberated Africans under the age of 15 years
who were landed in St. Vincent were to be automatically Indentured
until they reached the age of 18 years. Blue Book. 1857 , pp. 75-
76.

Weller, East Indian Indenture in Trinidad , pp. xxi and 2-3.

Ibid., p. 123, footnote. The tern coolie was the British

expression designating any low caste East Indian. In time, it

was used to refer to all Indians except the highest castes.

Acts of St. Vincent. 1855-1S60. p. 168. On October 16,
1857, four important laws were passed in the St. Vincent
legislature: (1) an act to alter the law of contracts with
regard to immigrants; (2) an act to levy a tax on exports of
sugar, rum, molasses, arrowroot, cocoa, and cotton to help
defray the cost of importing "coolies;" (3) an act to authorize
the raising of loans to help promote alien workers in the
island; and (4) an act to appropriate part of the General
Revenue of the colony for immigration purposes.

The Immigration Law of 1857 set a minimum indenture term

of 10 years for East Indians (5 years for other nationalities) ,
but this was reduced to 8 years in 1859.

135

Blue Book, 1857 , pp. 75-76. If an East Indian served
his entire required term under indenture to estates, he was
given free passage to India. If, however, he paid for the
commutation of the last 3 years of indenture or worked outside
of estate agriculture, he had to pay the Immigration Agent
of St. Vincent £7,5,10 for back passage.

Government Gazette, 1874 , p. 183. If a coolie received
his "certificate of industrial residence" but chose to
re-indenture himself for only 3 more years, he was denied the
£10 bounty and the free passage to India.

The percentage distribution of all East Indians indentured

to estates between 1861 and 1880, hy parish, is as follows:
Charlotte, 51 per cent; St. George, 29 per cent; St. Andrew, 7
per cent; St. Patrick, 10 per cent; St. David, 3 per cent.
Government Gazette for the years 1861 through 1880, passim .

The benefits from a sustained work force of East Indian

field laborers was first indicated in the 1865 agriculture
report, by which time 560 indentees had arrived in St. Vincent:

"There is improvement in more perfect tillage and field
work. This is more conspicuous where the proprietors of
Estates command regular labor. The Asiatic Immigrants
have generally materially assisted this progressive
movement."

See: Blue Book. 1865 , p. 255.

46 T

In 1874, Great Britain finally eliminated all duties
on sugar imported into the home market; thus, as the price of
sugar dropped, users began substituting the more refined
vacuum-pan sugar for the lower grade muscovado. See: R. W.
Beachey, The British West indies Sugar Industry in the Late
19th Century (Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell, 1957), p. 46.

The first official indication of a problem of emigrating
labor was in the minutes of the Legislative Assembly in 1873
when the Lieutenant-Governor complained of a net loss of 399
native Vincentian laborers and "coolies" in that year. See:
Government Gazette. 1874, p. 30.

136

Government Gazette, 1875 , p. 55.

Government Garette. 1376 , p. 69. The author's calculations

are taken from a table entitled: "Return of the No. of Coolies

and of the Money expended cm Immigration for this Island during

the 15 years since the origination of the Immigration Fund."

The author's calculations were taken from the Blue Books
for the years 1874 through 1S32, passim .

This was Law No. 12, of April 21, 1879, entitled: "An
Ordinance to prevent the unauthorized enlistment and abduction
of Immigrant Laborers for Foreign parts." Penalties were imposed
on unauthorized persons "who nay be found enticing Asiatic kai-
grants, or their descendemts, to leave the Colony for service
beyond its limits . . . ." See: Blue Book. 1S79 , p. 57.

As late as 1885, tie Government was forced to sell
debentures in order to pay off an outstanding debt of £5,000
in the Immigration Fund. See: Government Gazette. 1SS5 . p. 435.

Root, British West Indies and the Sugar Industry , pp. 10-11.

5 5 Ibid ., p. 9.

^lar shall, "Problems in the Windward Islands," pp. 239-

The following discussion of the means available for
disposing of encumbered estates, unless otherwise noted, is
taken from: Beachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry ,
Chapter I, pp. 1-39, passia .

Before the Encumbered Estates Act was passed, a mortgagee
creditor with overdue interest could move onto a defaulting
estate, but the burden of re— establishing or maintaining
cultivation then rested with him as the nominal owner. In
addition, he was responsible for the existing liens on the
property, which he had no legal right to sell. If a sale was
forced upon the legal owner, the proceeds generally did not
satisfy even part of the accumulated claims. A creditor could
secure a judgment against the personal belongings and goods of
the mortgagor, but top often there was little against which to levy.

137

A "foreclosure bill in Chancery" by a morgagee was a way to
bring a defaulting estate under a court-appointed "receivor" who
worked the plantation, if possible, and paid off creditors as far
as the operating income would provide. After a 12-month receivor-
shlp and court appraisal of its value, an estate could be offered
for sale and the proceeds distributed according to a priority
list of liens; however, receivorship and legal expenses retained
first priority. Unless a property was extrenely valuable, the
benefit to creditors from its forced sale under receivorship was
minimal. See: Beachey, British West Indies Susar Industry .
Chapter I.

The St. Vincent Encumbered Estates Act was passed on May 27,
1856, and was transmitted to England for Royal assent on June 5,
1856. Amendments and clarifications of the original Parliacentary
act of 1854 In England delayed official proceedings until 1858 when
it went into effect in St. Vincent.

Blue Book, 1855 , p. 196. All the other parishes suffered
similarly in the depths of the sugar industry's depression.

TJeachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , p. 23. The
present author's investigations uncovered a book of minutes
entitled: Encumbered Estates, 1858-1882 [with additions to 18SS],
which included a table entitled: "A Return of the Estates sold
under 'The Encumbered Estates Act' since they came into force in
the Island of Saint Vincent, in the year 1856." This table gives
the date of sale of each estate, the name of the estate, the
total acreage, the owner before the sale, the petitioner for sale,
the purchaser, the price paid, and miscellaneous remarks concerning
the sale.

This is according to the records in the minutes filed in
the Registrar-General's office in Kingstown, St. Vincent.
(See n. 62.)

Beachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , p. 5.

138

If the present parish boundaries in St. Vincent are used,
the following is a breakdown of the number of estates sold:

ENCUMBERED ESTATES SOLD, 1858-1882

Parish Number of Estates

Charlotte 9 4,586

St. George 5 1,340

St. Andrew 2 933

St. Patrick ■!■ 28

St. David 6 1.569

Source: incumbered Estates, 1858-1882", a
table entitled: "A Return of the
Estates," n.p. (See n. 62 above.)

TJeachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , pp. 27 and 33.

Blue Book, 1862 , p. 248.

Blue Book, 1893 , p. 176; also: Blue Book, 1902 , p. 176.

International Sugar Council, World Sugar Economy , II, p. 16.

All of the Windward Islands had suffered production declines

immediately after the emancipation of slaves, but all regained
part of their lost position between 1840 and 1884.

"The 5-year average for production was centered on 1840 and
1855, Including the production 2 years before and after each
base year.

^lue Book, 1858, p. 240.

nThe Kingstown Police District's agricultural report for
1859 Indicated, for example, that few innovations in sugar
manufacture had been utilized and that

"... planters have generally gone back to old ways of
making sugar with open pans, etc., which give more profitable
returns. Tubular Steam Boilers are getting into use (where
Steam is used), but Steam is not the chief power in this
district."

139

See: Blue Book, 1859 . p. 245; also see Appendix II in this study
for a map showing the type of power employed by the sugar mills
in 1854.

R. W. Beachey, "The Period of Prosperity in the British
West Indian Sugar Industry and the Continental Bounty System,
1865-1884," Caribbean Historical Review , II (December, 1951),
pp. 82-83.

75 Beachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , pp. 45-60,
passin .

St. Vincent was forced to suffer from adverse price
movements in the sugar market, but, naturally, the slight
contribution of Vincentian plantations had no effect on the
overall price structure in England. The response of Vincentian
sugar producers usually lagged about 2 years behind the London
price. This was probably due to the 18-to 24-month growing
season for the sugar cane.

^International Sugar Council, World Sugar Economy , II, p. 12.
The origin of sugar extraction from the temperate climate beet
root goes back to the experiments of Andreas Sigismund Markgraf
in 1747 in Germany. All of the major European powers of the 19th
century encouraged sugar beet cultivation, but it was in France
where the earliest large-scale production was stimulated by
Napoleon in 1811 as a maneuver to free the country from dependence
upon outside colonial sugar imports. France led Germany and
Austria-Hungary in beet sugar production and exports until the
early 1850s when Germany matched France's output. The rate of
growth of production in Austria-Hungary was similar to that of
France and Germany after 1860, surpassing the former after 1880.

Beachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , p. 60.

From 1871 to 1872, the price of sugar in London was 25 1/2
shillings per hundredweight, or about £25,10,0 per ton. As long
as production costs remained less than £25 per ton, a profit
(on paper, at least) could be made.

Beachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , p. 53.

81 Ibid. , Chapter II, 40-60, passim . Also: Beachey, "The
Period of Prosperity," pp. 79-99, passim . These two references
discuss in greater detail the complexities of the sugar beet
bounties and drawbacks.

140

^eachey, British West Indies Sugar Industry , p. 57.

8 3 Ibid .. pp. 50-51.

Ibid ., p. 54.

Report on the Blue Book for 1887. No. 25. St. Vincent
(London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1888), p. 5.

Between 1883 and 1892, sugar production declined 58 per
cent. In 1902, sugar production was down to 262 tons, a decline
of 97 per cent in the 19 years since beet sugar had flooded the
British home market.

Government Gazette. 1898 . p. 333. Also: Report on the
Blue Book for 1898, No. 281, St. Vincent (London: Eyre and
Spottiswoode, 1899), p. 16.

Blue Book. 1901 . p. X-l.

Caribbean Commission, T he Sugar Industry of the Caribbean .
Crop Inquiry Series No. 6 (Washington, D.C.: Caribbean Research
Council, 1947), p. 189.

Under the British Preference Tariff of 1932, 200 tons of
sugar could be exported each year to the United Kingdom. In 1933,
this was increased to 400 tons, and after 1939, the quota was
500 tons. See: Report on the Agricultural Department, St .
Vincent. 1932 . p. 20; and Report on the Agricultural Department .
St. Vincent. 1939 . p. 12. By 1962, the annual export quota was
1,500 tons.

-.--■■■ t_---., -■ — ^— >■—.-,. .. i ... >» u;. --. » . - in <»,. »in- «.- r ir , K .

CHAPTER V

MAJOR AND MINOR ECONOMIC CROPS IN
THE VINCENTIAN ECONOMY

As the Vincentian sugar industry faced the distress of more
cheaply produced beet sugar competition in the last half of the
19th century, minor agricultural industries grew in prominence,
first through the efforts of the small farmers and later, the
efforts of the econmically depressed estate owners. From the
time of slave emancipation until the present day, arrowroot,
cotton, and banana cultivation ebbed and flowed according to the
varying demand for the leading commercial crops. This chapter
will document the main factors influencing each of the major and
minor cash crops which have appeared during and after the rise
of the sugar cane industry. In addition, there will be an
examination of the balance of trade over the last 100 years.

The Arrowroot Starch Industry
Arrowroot had been raised in many British West Indian islands
in the past, but, more than any other single crop, it has been more
closely identified with St. Vincent than with any other area of the
world. St. Vincent shared the vagaries of sugar cane production
with all of the British Caribbean territories, but it was unique
in its dependence upon arrowroot starch for much of its economic
livelihood throughout most of the 20th century.
141

142

Nineteenth-Century Birth of the Industry

With the abolition of slavery, the production of cash crops,
other than sugar cane, gradually took on increasing importance.
Estate owners committed to sugar cane cultivation devoted little
of their land to arrowroot if sugar cane could be raised. Only
on land considered unsuited to sugar cane was arrowroot sometimes
planted. The small farmers of the island, however, began cul-
tivating arrowroot for commercial purposes soon after emancipation.

Some of the earlier statistical returns of St. Vincent
produce indicate an abrupt increase in the production of arrowroot
starch during the apprenticeship period (1834 to 1838). Between
1831 and 1833, the average annual production of arrowroot starch
had reached 3,200 pounds. Yet by the end of 1834, production
increased to 25,600 pounds; the average annual production for the
years of apprenticeship was over 37,000 pounds.

The first few years of freedom were dislocating for both
ex-slaves and estate owners, and when both settled down to more
normal working relationships, arrowroot production increased even
more rapidly. From 1843 through 1851, production averaged 315,000
pounds a year.

After a visit to St. Vincent in 1859, an historian of the
period remarked how sugar monoculture was being challenged by
arrowroot, the product of the small proprietors. Although both
the small cultivators and the estate proprietors contributed to the
arrowroot harvest, it was the former, less restricted by tradition,
who were apparently willing to engage in alternative cash crop
production. Without access to sugar processing facilities, the

143

small farmers had to grow a crop that could be sold without any
need of elaborate and expensive preparation. For this reason,
arrowroot (in addition to cotton, cocoa, coconuts, and spices) was
a favorable option open to the Vincent ian fanners. Unfortunately,
economic diversification was not followed extensively by the large
planters whose major shift out of sugar production occurred only
near the end of the 19th century, when little rational choice
remained.

Throughout the 1850s arrowroot production increased, although
it faced periodic gluts in the British market. The starch produced
was primarily utilized in the English cocoa and silk industries
(the latter using it as a stiffening agent). After the equal-
ization of duties on sugar in 1854, more attention was focused on
arrowroot until the revival of sugar production following the
enactment in St. Vincent of the West Indian Encumbered Estates Act
in 1856 and the era of indentured East Indian immigrant labor. The
removal of all sugar duties in 1874 and the subsequent large-scale
competition of European beet sugar inevitably led to greater con-
centration in St. Vincent on arrowroot. (See Figure 19.)

By 1877, starch exports accounted for 23 per cent of the total
exports, decreasing slightly during the next few years, but definitely
reflecting a trend away from sugar manufacture after the dumping of
beet sugar in the British market by Germany in 1882. From 31 per cent
of the export earnings in 1886 and 1887, arrowroot starch provided
52 per cent in 1892, the first occasion when sugar cane exports
were superseded In value since the British acquired St. Vincent.
(See Figure 20.)

144

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146

Market Gluta in the United Kingdom

The arrowroot market in the United Kingdom was never large
enough to absorb all of the starch produced by growers in St.
Vincent. That which was sold had a reputation for poor quality,
reflecting, in part, the inefficient manufacturing process of the
small cultivators. The end-result was a low selling price.

The 1898 hurricane and the 1902 volcanic eruption sealed the
fate of large-scale sugar production by destroying its manufacturing
equipment. Arrowroot, an immediately available catch-crop, filled
the production gap after these disasters, accelerating the trend toward
arrowroot manufacture, following the economic panic in Europe in the
early 1890s. Prior to the hurricane in 1898, there were nearly as
many estate arrowroot mills as there were sugar mills. In 1892,
for example, estates operated 61 sugar mills and only 33 starch
mills; there were 54 sugar mills and 50 arrowroot mills by 1896.

Arrowroot was unquestionably the foremost export after 1892,
but local growers were dissatisfied because the weak market in
Britain led to depressed prices when large shipments were sent.
Low prices usually discouraged the planting of the arrowroot
rhizomes which, in turn, would result in a decreased supply after
a few years. Later, prices would increase slightly, precipitating
another round of planting, exporting, market gluts, low prices,
and curtailed production. Furthermore, with many small growers
competing with the estate producers, the marketing of the annual
output of starch was made more difficult because of the absence of
standardized grades. Peasant-produced starch was usually of a low
quality, while the estates extracted a higher grade product. 9

147

The problem of selling many non-standardized grades of
prepared starch vas additionally compounded by the use of
separate merchant agents in London who dealt with individual
exporters in St. Vincent. The small growers, who brought their
arrowroot rhizomes to the larger estate mills for processing
had to pay a fee for such services — a point of considerable
dissatisfaction and contention in itself — and could choose either
to sell their share to the estate or attempt to market it in
England themselves through the merchant agent system. Lack of
large-scale organized efforts before 1910 perpetuated the un-
stable market conditions in Britain because many individual
sellers were competing for a limited market, depressing the

average price for the arrowroot starch below what the estate

10
growers thought was remunerative.

The Competition of Other Local Crops

It was with considerable relief that the Imperial Department
of Agriculture for the West Indies (established in 1898) was able
to report yet another crop to displace arrowroot. The Sea Island
cotton industry, which had started from scratch in 1903, was
a boon to the arrowroot growers, for cotton cultivation could
easily be introduced on to land formerly planted in arrowroot.
This program ameliorated somewhat the problem of continuous
overproduction of starch. 11 Nevertheless, the annual exports
of arrowroot starch to the United Kingdom averaged approxi-
mately 5,000,000 pounds a year 12 (See Figure 19.) Because of

148

relatively stringent soil and moisture requirements, Sea
Island cotton planting was restricted to lower level coastal

locations while arrowroot could be, and was, grown extensively

throughout the island. Such unrestricted edaphic conditions

could only augment the annual harvest and aggravate the surplus
burden.

During the 1909-10 crop season, the first efforts at
organized marketing occurred when the St. Vincent Arrowroot
Growers' and Exporters' Association was established. Its purpose
was to set a minimum price below which it would not sell
arrowroot starch in the European, Canadian, and United States
markets. Such a decision was bound to prove a sensible maneuver
in the short-run, but Its impact was weakened by the unstandardized
grades of starch produced by the Association. In 1913, for
example, the Association set a limit of 3d per pound for good
quality arrowroot starch, which promptly led the many un-
organized small growers to flood the market in Britain with
their characteristically low-grade commodity, thus adversely
affecting the prices for all grades of starch.

The outbreak of the First World War caused an immediate
rise in food prices, especially for sugar, as the continental
European beet sugar industry was disrupted. This prompted
growers in St. Vincent to reduce acreage planted in arrowroot
and cotton and to increase the area planted in sugar cane and
cassava (the latter a substitute for wheat flour in the West
Indian diet). It Is remarkable what little stimulation was

needed to kindle the hopes for a return to large-scale sugar
production in St. Vincent. After a record value of £95,828 in
1918, arrowroot exports declined in value and Importance as a
glutted market and low prices, combined with an unprecedented
speculative rise In cotton prices at the close of the war,
induced starch manufacturers to opt for Sea Island cotton cul-
tivation. (See Figures 19 and 20.)

Accumulated stocks of starch in Britain following the
end of the war caused the value of arrowroot exports to drop to
£21,216 in 1921, a decline of 81 per cent in only 13 years.
At this time, other markets were therefore sought as an outlet
for Vincentian stocks. From 50 per cent to 70 per cent only
of the annual arrowroot output was consigned to the English
market in the early 1920s, while the remainder went mainly
to North American customers.

The Emergence of the United States Market

Failure to sell the entire annual British consignment
of arrowroot starch was a direct blow to the Vincentian
economy because so many farmers were personally affected.
Unsold stocks in England acted as an inhibitor of further
arrowroot plantings in St. Vincent, and without alternate
customers, the island would have to abandon its principal crop.

Good fortune intervened in 1924 when the United States
submitted its first large order for starch. As late as 1923,
only 62,852 pounds of arrowroot starch had been exported to the

150

states; the following year, In 1924, 376,843 pounds or 13 per cent
of the total annual supply of starch vas shipped to the United
States — a 500 per cent increase in 1 year, (See Table 6.) By 1927,
the United Kingdom and the United States shared the market almost
equally.

TABLE 6

ARROWROOT EXPORTS TO PRINCIPAL MARKETS,
BY VOLUME AND PER CENT, 1922-1932

Year

Total

United States

United Kingdom

Exports
(pounds)

Pound 6

Per Cent

Pounds Per Cent

1922

3,627,401

55,088

1,727,152

1923

2,177,182

62,852

1,577,372

1924

2,952,535

376,843

1,952,830

1925

3,189,740

649,977

2,017,723

1926

3,291,553

914,379

1,739,054

1927

3,195,478

1,147,096

1,346,885

1928

3,870,420

1,408,672

1,933,436

1929

3,573

1,078,093

1,529,599

1930

3,590,348

1,084,536

1,496,300

1931

3,532,327

1,980,809

1,017,193

1932

3,704,833

2,036,728

1,122,621

Source: Report

on the Agricultural Dep

artment, 1932

p. 20.

151

The expanding market for arrovroot was sustained and strength-
ened In 1930 by the Government's creation of a statutory body for
the cooperative marketing of the starch. On December 23, 1930,
the St. Vincent Arrowroot Growers' Association was established to

provide for the rational disposal of the supply of starch. All

arrowroot was to be sold only through this organization.

An immediate effect of the Government executive decision was
that of offering to prospective customers, particularly those in
the United States, a reduced number of quality grades of starch.
Prior to the establishment of the Arrowroot Grower's Association,
26 different grades of starch had been sold. Under the control
of the Association, this number was reduced to 5. Because of the
guaranteed standardization of quality, therefore, the United
States placed an order in 1931 for nearly 2,000,000 pounds, an
increase of 83 per cent over its purchase of the year before.
(See Table 6.) In 1931, the United Kingdom lost its primary
position as the leading importer of St. Vincent arrowroot starch
to be replaced by the United States. The growth of the new American
market had been rapid — from 13 per cent of the total annual export
in 1924, its share grew to 30 per cent in 1930 and to 54 per cent
in 1931.

Unlike its English counterpart, the American market did not
face price depressing gluts; instead, it took an increasing pro-
portion of the output at a growing price. Arrowroot starch pro-
duction was, essentially, a world monopoly for St. Vincent

permitting the Arrowroot Growers' Association to quote higher
prices as demand pressed upon supply and costs of production
increased.

When the world economic depression started in 1929, its
effects were evident in St. Vincent as the value of total exports
fell 39 per cent from 1928 through 1932. Arrowroot exports suf-
fered, as did all of the colony's raw material exports, but the
rate of decline in the starch sector was less than the rate of
decline for the colony as a whole. Arrowroot starch exports de-
clined by 30 per cent from 1928 through 1932, while cotton, for
example, fell 67 per cent in value. In fact, the quantity of
arrowroot exported declined by only 9 per cent from 1928 to the
low year of 1931. The volume contraction was cushioned by the
United States' demand which expanded greatly after 1930. (See
Figure 19.)

The slow post-depression recovery of the Sea Island cotton
industry caused many small cotton growers to shift to arrowroot
production, an industry, if judged by quantity of output of starch,
which was essentially an estate enterprise. In 1939, the highest
recorded export of arrowroot took place, as 11,759,849 pounds
were sold. The small producers supplied only 29 per cent while
the large estate growers supplied 71 per cent. A strong
American demand in the late 1930s compensated for the diminished
English order resulting from the declaration of war in Europe.

After the United States' entry into the Second World War, its
demand for arrowroot slackened. In addition, St. Vincent faced

133

deteriorating production conditions through its inability to
secure adequate wartime shipping space and the high freight
rates. Labor emigration to Trinidad and the Netherlands

Antilles severely hampered arrowroot cultivation, as did the

18
rising costs of domestic transportation. Arrowroot exports

declined 56 per cent in volume from 1941 to 1945.

With wartime conditions in effect throughout the British

West Indies, the prices of food soared to the extent that many

Vincentian farmers switched from cotton and arrowroot to food

crop cultivation, especially to cassava and sweet potatoes,

which found ready markets in the intercolonial trade of the

19
Caribbean. The corresponding share of arrowroot production by

small cultivators declined throughout the war, indicating the

attention given to growing food provisions. (See Table 7.)

TABLE 7

ESTIMATED PERCENTAGE PEASANT AND ESTATE ARROWROOT
PRODUCTION, BY CROP SEASON, ST. VINCENT, 1940-1945

Crop Year Peasant E»tate

(percent) (per cent)

1940-41 . .

1941-42 . .

1942-43 . .

1943-44 . .

1944-45 . .

71
73

80
80
81

Source: Report on the Agricultural Department, 1945 , p. 3.

154

Supply Difficulties and Distress in the Arrowroot Industry

After the conclusion of the Second World War, the American
demand for arrowroot starch was rekindled and proved to be ex-
ceedingly strong. Operating with virtual monopoly powers, the
governing board of the St. Vincent Arrowroot Growers' Association
was able to raise the unit price of starch with impunity. Through-
out the late 1940s and the 1950s, the average price increased
substantially. (See Table 8.)

TABLE 8

AVERAGE PRICE PER POUND OF ARROWROOT,
DECENNIALLY, ST. VINCENT, 1910-1960

Year

Value of

Exports 3

(£000)

Quantity of
Exports 3
(000 lbs.)

Average Price
(pence per lb.)

1910

4,797

1.80

1920

3,169

3.56

1930

3,654

3.61

1940

117

9,723

2.89

1950

238

7,604

7.51

1960

318

7,421

10.28

a This is a 5-year average figure, centered on the given year.

Source: Author's calculations taken from totals given in the
annual reports of the Agricultural Department of
St. Vincent.

155

Nevertheless, the Governaeat and the Association desired
a greater output to meet the demand in the existing seller's
market. During the first 2 post-war crop seasons, small farmers
were offered 50 per cent of the value of material needed by them
to extend arrowroot cultivation in an attempt to meet the demand. '
After the second year of this program, the inducement was
curtailed as cultivators began making a voluntary switch to
arrowroot production following a post-war drop in the price of
ground provisions in the inter-colonial trade area. By 1947,
approximately 3,500 acres of arrowroot rhizomes were being
planted. Overall production, however, was still accounted for
primarily by the more efficient large estates. From 79 per cent
of the total output in 1946, estate-processed arrowroot increased
to 87 per cent in 1953.

Arrowroot's share of total exports increased from 32 per
cent in 1945 to a zenith of 52 per cent in 1951. (See Figure 7.)
The United States market, which absorbed approximately three-
quarters of the annual production of Vincentian arrowroot starch,
began facing mounting difficulties of supply satisfaction. Small
farmer production diminished in importance after 1953, as banana
cultivation made its appearance. The spectacular popularity of
banana cultivation among the multitude of small growers severely
hampered the Arrowroot Growers' Association's efforts to maintain
a satisfactory supply. In the remarkably short time from 1954
(when the St. Vincent Banana Growers' Association was formed) to
1957, arrowroot lost its primary position in the export econcay.

156

Thereafter, the single large customer in the United States complained
of Insufficient supplies and constantly rising prices. As late as
1960 (the terminal date for this study of St. Vincent), the supply

of arrowroot starch lagged behind a strong demand. By this time,

the starch industry was on the way to passing out of prominence.

The Cotton Industry
Cotton cultivation in St. Vincent has been a persistent
economic activity throughout most of the recorded history of the
island. The first French settlers along the Leeward coast and
those who abided in many of the Grenadine islets to the south
raised cotton as one of the mixed crops in their agricultural
schemes. It was not until after Britain's acquisition of St.
Vincent in 1763 that cotton cultivation waned on the "main"
island, although it continued for nearly 2 centuries throughout
the Grenadine dependencies, which were physically ill-adapted to
sugar cane, coffee, and cocoa. The history of the cotton industry
revolves around the production of 2 basic types of cotton plants —
the Marie Galante variety found in the Grenadines and the famous

Sea Island cotton introduced into the "main" island after the

22
beginning of the 20th centyr. Marie Galante cotton never be-
came a prominent cash crop in the colony's export trade, however,
it has remained the basic variety of cotton on the dry Grenadine
islands until the present day. Sea Island cotton became the
mainstay of the cotton industry within a remarkably short time
after its introduction and was identified in the 20th century

157

with St. Vincent in such the same way that arrovroot had been.
St. Vincent maintained a monopoly not only on arrowroot but
also on the world's finest long staple (fiber) luxury cotton.

The Cotton Trade in the Late 18th Century

It is common knowledge that the Fremch settlers in the Lesser
Antilles raised cotton as only one of a variety of cash crops on
their small farms, but there are no records available to indicate
how much was actually raised in St. Vincent before the British
obtained the colony folloving the Seven Years* War. Tvo years
after the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, 13,000 pounds of
cotton were shipped from St. Vincent to England. This was the

product of the French leasehold settlers on the Leeward coast of
the mainland, as the produce from the Grenadines was generally
shipped out via Grenada in the early years after British admin-
istration began. 24 By 1770, St. Vincent's cotton exports had
increased to 64,714 pounds. 25 Production continued to increase
because of the rapidly expanding demand for cotton in England,
induced by the cotton machinery inventions and improvements in the
1760s and 1770s. 26

General disruptions of shipping between the West Indies and
Britain during the American War of Independence caused a backlog
of cotton stocks in the British Caribbean colonies in the early
1780s. This was followed by a flood of exports after the war,
resulting in a record shipment from St. Vincent in 1787 of 761,880
pounds, the zenith in the colony's cotton trade. 2 ^ (See Figure 21.)
This coincided with the burgeoning cotton exports throughout the
British West Indies that were eagerly demaoied in the home market.

158

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FIGURE 22

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF COTTON IMPORTS

TO GREAT BRITAIN FROM MAJOR SUPPLIERS,

1786-1883

160

161

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162

During the period from 1786 to 1790, the British Caribbean supplied
71 per cent of Great Britain's cotton imports. (See Figure 22.)
Naturally, the English cotton spinners wanted a guaranteed source
of the raw fiber and looked to their West Indian territories, but

this became increasingly less possible as sugar monoculture came

28
into prominence in the newer Ceded Islands, and displaced cotton.

The black revolt in Saint Domingue in 1791 drastically reduced
shipments of French sugar and cotton to the European continent,
forcing an increase in the prices of both commodities. Although
favorable profits existed in both industries, sugar cultivation
proved to be more remunerative. Sugar cultivation in St. Vincent,
although temporarily hampered by the Second Carib War (1795 to
1797), regained its momentum when peace was restored. The in-
satiable demand for cotton to feed the textile factories in England
was being met by United States cotton growers who had multiplied
their cotton plantings along the Sea Islands of South Carolina,

Georgia, and northern Florida and had obtained higher yields by

29
Improving methods of cultivation. The American cotton trade,

which had started in 1784 with only 8 bales of low quality cotton

sent to England, reached nearly 500,000 pounds by 1793. In that

important year, Eli Whitney patented his cotton gin, allowing

American growers to expand their area of planting greatly beyond

the narrow strip of land bordering the Sea Islands, for they were

able to plant and clean the more easily grown Upland variety of

cotton ( Gossypium hirsutun ) over a much wider geographical area.

The output from the newly cultivated inland coastal plain along the

Atlantic seaboard yielded so well that the American cotton trade

seriously rivalled that of the British West Indies by the end of

163

the 18th century. It was impossible for the exhausted soils of

the older West Indian colonies to continue supporting a cotton

regimen. In addition, the newer colonies, such as St. Vincent

and the other Ceded Islands, had invested extensively in sugar

manufacturing equipment which they were unwilling to abandon,

31
especially at a time when sugar cultivation was so profitable.

There was, in fact, no comparison between the potential for

expansion in the American South and the small West Indian islands.

The Cotton Trade in Decline, 1800 to 1850

After 1800, the British Caribbean cotton trade declined

steadily as it faced overwhelming competition from the more

abundant and more cheaply produced cotton of the United States.

(See Figures 22 and 23.) By 1802, the United States had become

32
the largest supplier of raw cotton to the English textile mills.

Meanwhile, St. Vincent diminished its exports of Marie Galante

cotton from the highwater mark of over 700,000 pounds in 1787 to

205,613 pounds at the outbreak of the war between the United

States and Great Britain in 1812. (See Figure 21.) By the end

of the first 2 decades of the 19th century, the British

Caribbean represented a mere 7 percent of Britain's cotton

imports. (See Figure 22.)

As the American South expanded its production, prices

steadily trended downward, from 29 l/2d per pound in 1814 (the

last year of war between Britain and America) to slightly less

than 6d per pound In 1829. (See Figure 24.) St. Vincent's exports

followed a similarly declining curve from 205,613 pounds in 1814

164

Co only 86,688 pounds in 1829, a loss of 58 per cent In volume.
The colony was thus, more than ever, a "sugar island" during
the 19th century.

With the coming of slave apprenticeship and emancipation in
the 1830s, St. Vincent's cotton industry, confined entirely to the
Grenadine dependencies of Eequia, Hot a Quatre, Hustique, Canouan,

Mayreau, Union, and Petit St. Vincent (see Figure 25), quickly

33
passed from an estate enterprise to a snail cultivator activity.

Wide fluctuations in cotton production continued after

emancipation; however, the trend was downward. It is evident from

the available records of the period, that the nadir of St. Vincent's

cotton trade (in terms of quantities exported) was reached in 1850,

when a mere 1,560 pounds of Marie Calante cotton were produced.

(See Figure 21.) It is not improbable that this decline was the

result of the extremely low prices of cotton in the Liverpool market,

the center of cotton buying in England. The price for American

Upland cotton (the standard against which other varieties were

judged) in 1845 and 1848 reached slightly more than 4d per pound.

(See Figure 24.)

The Cotton Industry in the Second Half of the 19th Century-

Throughout the remaining 50 years of the 19th century,
St. Vincent's cotton industry was confined to the Grenadine islands
of Hustique, Canouan, Mayreau, and Union. Bequia, Hot a Quatre,
and Petit St. Vincent had abandoned such cultivation by the time of

165

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FIGURE 25

GRENADINE DEPENDENCIES

OF ST. VINCENT

166
Exports of Marie Galante cotton lint followed a trend in
line with cotton prices in Liverpool. Froa a nadir in exports
in 1850, St. Vincent gradually expanded its cotton trade in
the 1850s and, particularly, in the 1860s and 1870s, a direct
response to the demand created in England during the American
Civil Var. (See Figures 21 and 24.) Federal blockades of
southern cotton-shipping ports reduced the stocks of raw cotton
in England, resulting in the famous Lancashire "cotton famines"
of the 1860s. Prices sky-rocketed as the English buyers sought
to obtain cotton from alternate sources, such as India, Egypt,
and Brazil. 36 The British West Indies made its meager con-
tribution, but the Caribbean colonies provided less than 0.5
per cent of Great Britain's imports during the years of high
prices throughout and after the Civil War in the United States.

St. Vincent was not unduly disturbed by the vagaries of
the cotton trade, for it experienced a resurgence of its sugar
industry in the 20 years following the arrival of the first
indentured East Indian "coolies" in 1861. Their role in cotton
cultivation was nil, since all the indentured immigrant laborers
were assigned to the large sugar estates on the "main" island.
Marie Galante cotton in the Grenadines was cultivated primarily
on the shares cropping system (metayage, metayer, or metairie)
by individual small cultivators and was generally of low
quality and yield, as most of it was inter-cropped with
ground provisions. 38 Despite a slight improvement in the
Vincentian cotton industry between 1860 and 1880, the value of
cotton exports was relatively insignificant in the balance of trade.

{ft

During the best years of the cotton trade in the 1870s, cotton

exports did not exceed 4 per cent of the total value of St. Vin-

cent's exports. (See Figure 26.)

The malaise and severe depression in the sugar industry
following the elimination of sugar duties in 1874 and the com-
petition from bounty-assisted beet sugar after 1880 (vide supra
Chapter IV.) adversely affected the general health of St. Vin-
cent's export crops, including cotton. Coincidental with the
growing depression in the sugar industry, St. Vincent's economy
suffered the ill effects of the British trade depression between
1875 and 1878. 40

The remaining 2 decades of the 19th century were years of
insignificant productivity for St. Vincent's cotton industry.
The annual value of Marie Galante cotton exports was nominal.
From £1,260 in 1880, cotton exports declined in value to £279
in 1900. (See Figure 26.) A destructive hurricane in 1898
could do little more damage to the industry than had already
been inflicted a few years earlier by the Lancashire cotton
milliners' decision to spin finer quality yarns from longer
staple cotton, unavailable in the British Caribbean before the

41
20th century.

The Introduction of Sea Island Cotton to St. Vincent

The depressed economic conditions in the British West Indies
resulting from temperate beet sugar competition in the 1880s lasted
throughout the 1890s. Great Britain's response was the dis-
patching of a commission of inquiry, the West Indian Royal Com-
mission of 1897, to the Caribbean colonies in order to investigate

168

I-'

c:
o

169

their Individual economies and to make suggestions concerning
possible alternative economic crops. The need to provide jobs
for agricultural laborers was paramount at this time, as many
small farmers had already left their homes to seek employment in

other higher-paying British colonies in the Rest Indies and in

42
several Latin American countries.

An important outcome of the Royal Commission's recommenda-
tions was the establishment of the Imperial Department of Agri-
culture for the West Indies as a research and advisory agency.
. This organization began its work immediately, and one of its
earliest proposals was for the experimental planting of cotton
in the various islands. It had been generally agreed that un-
less the sugar industries of the West Indies could be rational-
ized and centralized (an unlikely event), the economic burden
would have to fall on another commodity. Cotton seemed ex-
tremely opportune at that time for several reasons: (1) English
spinners were producing finer yarns which required high quality
cotton fibers; (2) since 1898, the United States had been con-
suming more of its own cotton, thus reducing the supply avail-
able to Britain; (3) the soil and climate in the West Indies
had proven favorable to cotton more than 2 centuries earlier;
(4) there were large parcels of abandoned sugar cane land, cleared
and ready for use; (5) the labor force, if sufficient numbers
could be obtained, would be lower paid than in the United States;
(6) the highest quality of cotton — Sea Island — could be easily
grown in the West Indies; (7) the system of cotton cultivation
appealed to the large planters because the regimen fitted into

170

the estate system; and (8) the estate growers and small cul-
tivators could engage in an Industry vhich would not neces-
sitate large capital outlays for equipment and buildings and

43
could provide an export within 6 to 8 months after planting.

In 1900, the first experimental planting of Sea Island

cotton in the West Indies was undertaken in St. Lucia, while

experimental cotton was introduced into St. Vincent in the

1902-03 cotton season. At that time, about 300 acres of land

in St. Vincent and Bequia Island were seeded with new varieties

of Marie Galante, American Upland, and a small amount of Sea

Island cotton. 45 The Sea Island plots proved better in every

way than the Marie Galante and Upland varieties. In the

1904-05 season, acreage increased by more than 100 per cent,

46
with all the new area being planted in Sea Island cotton.

(See Figure 27.) Within 8 years, the acreage of Sea Island had

mushroomed to 5,068 acres, placing the cotton industry in a

dominant position in the economy. 7 To organize the marketing

of cotton in the United Kingdom, the Government of St. Vincent

formed the St. Vincent Cotton Growers* Association in 1905, an

indication of the Importance of this new crop.

The Early Years of Development and the First World War

Prior to the First World War, St. Vincent's Sea Island
industry relied upon English fears that stocks of cotton for
the textile Industry would diminish, owing to the growing threat
from the boll weevil in the United States, the decision of
American growers to sell more to their own spinners, and the

171

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172

the increasing demand for long-stapled cotton In the auto-
nobile tire industry. Prices before the war therefore favored
Sea Island, although competition from its closest competitor,
Egyptian cotton, tended to keep prices from rising too high.
(See Figure 28.)

An unfortunate effect arising out of expanded cotton
acreages in St. Vincent before the First World War was the
tendency for cotton yields to decline, especially as the small
growers took up the crop. High prices, such as existed before
the war, were more often as not used to provide a greater profit
at the expense of greater yields per acre. (See Figure 27.)
This was particularly true after 1910 as greater numbers of small
cultivators entered the cotton industry.

At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, the prices of
most commodities in foreign trade declined. Until that time,
Sea Island was not expected to maintain its high price, but
the strategic importance of cotton in the airplane construction
industry was reflected in a rapid increase in its price.
(See Figure 28.)

St. Vincent suffered from a poor growing season in 1914
and high wartime freight charges; therefore, its first wartime
crop sold badly. Cotton prices throughout the war rose to
unexpectedly high levels, but they did not match the correspond-
ing increase in the price of sugar (including the muscovado
sugar of the West Indies) . A rapid change-over to sugar

cane cultivation in St. Vincent caused land formerly under

52
cotton to be planted in sugar cane. The marked decline in

173

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174

the volume of Sea Island exports in 1916-17 resulted from
the decision of the estate growers to opt for sugar cane. Since
they grew 60 per cent of the colony's cotton, their decision
to abandon cotton temporarily adversely affected the industry's
earnings. (See Figure 29.) Gradually, however, areas under
cotton increased once again as prices increased throughout the
war, owing to the disastrous fall in American Sea Island
production as the boll weevil continued to spread through the
Atlantic coast Sea Islands.

The Cotton Boom and Slump. 1919 to 1928

After the Armistice in Europe in 1918, a short-lived
slump in the price of all cottons occurred. Sugar production
in St. Vincent returned to its pre-war level of low profit-
ability, but the price slump kept Sea Island acreage from ex-
panding in 1919. This hesitation together with a poor growing
season and the ravages of the boll weevil in the United States
caused yet another speculative fear of short supplies in Britain
the following year, driving prices up so high that Vincentian
estate growers and small farmers brought 6,453 acres under Sea
Island cotton, the largest cotton acreage ever recorded in the
colony. 53 (See Figure 27.) At the same time, the value of

the colony's exports reached £178,951, accounting for 60 per

54
cent of the total exports for the boom year of 1920. (See

Figure 29.)

The deflationary slump following the boom of 1920 caused
Vincentian growers to reduce their cotton plantings by 54 per

175

176
cent In a single year. (See Figure 27.) Once again, however,
the collapse of the American Sea Island cotton industry, caused
by the boll veevil in the Sea Islands of South Carolina, Georgia,
and the northern coast of Florida as far south as the St.
Johns River, stimulated an island-wide return to cotton cul-
tivation until the mid-1920s. 55 This gave the British West

Indies a virtual monopoly of the world's finest long staple

56
cotton. Such a monopoly, however, had value only if there

was a sustained demand for the product.

Demand for Sea Island cotton, especially the extra-long

staple variety found only in St. Vincent (and used in the

fine lace trade) had been diminishing since 1920. The "fine

spinners" in England had to seek larger, more dependable

sources of long staple cotton after the American Sea Island

trade collapsed during the First World War, and therefore

began substituting Egyptian cotton (Sakel) for the more costly

West Indian Sea Island variety. Price, above all else, was

the main determinant in the decision to shift to the Egyptian

varieties among the users of long staple cotton. 57

The slump In the cotton trade after the 1920 boom had

adversely affected the fashion industry, especially the lace

users, and indirectly hurt the Vincentian cotton trade, for the

bulk of St. Vincent's "super-fine" Sea Island cotton depended

very much on the lace makers in England for sales. It was

reported that as the fashion industry recovered in the late

1920s, It did so in the sections of the trade which could use

the cheaper Egyptian Sakel as a substitue. 58 Compounding the

177

situation in St. Vincent's Sea Island industry after the boom
of 1920 was the growing competition from artificial silk and
the budding rayon industries. Once again, convenience and

price were the determining factors in the swlth to sub-

59
stitute fibers.

The gradual price deterioration throughout most of the
1920s was matched by the general decline in the number and
area of estates growing cotton in St. Vincent. (See Figure
30.) Between 1926-27 and 1929-30, the area sown by the large
estates and the small growers regained constant. The smallest
difference in these years lay in the average size of the small
farmers' parcels of land, which fluctuated between 1.2 and
1.5 acres per farmer. The movement out of cotton by estates
and small growers alike was a response to improvements in the
arrowroot industry, as the United States began buying more
Vincentian arrowroot starch after 1924.

The Great Depression and the Second World War, 1929 to 1945

Before the "crash" of October, 1929, the St. Vincent
Cotton Growers' Association had to make a drastic change in the
cotton planting season to overcome mountin losses from insect
and rain damage to ripening bolls of the Sea Island cotton.
The new "late-planting" period, instituted in 1929, resulted
in a short-lived reduction in cotton plantings as the small
farmers feared risking their crops under such an innovative
program. 61 The success of the new planting season did, however,
lead to a 1-year revival of the industry before the beginning
of the world trade depression in 1929.

178

179

When the effects of the economic depression reached St.
Vincent, both arrowroot and cotton, the chief export crops, de-
clined in acreage and value in 1931, but in the following year, the
value of arrowroot exports, assisted by large American purchases,
recovered and Improved rapidly throughout the depression years,
reaching a peak In 1939. The Sea Island cotton industry, however,
entered its worst slump since its beginnings in 1903 and remained
in a depressed condition until a belated recovery emerged in 1935.
(See Figure 29.) The long delay between slump and recovery
caused many estates to switch to arrowroot cultivation, much in
demand in the United States as a source of starch. (See Figures
27 and 30.)

Throughout the world trade depression, the Sea Island cot-
ton industry was unable to meet the continuing competition from
Egyptian cotton and artificial silk. To alleviate some of the
industry's problems, therefore, the West Indian Sea Island Cotton
Association (W.I.S.I.C.A.) was established in 1933, with the aim
of restricting output and reducing the unsold stocks accumulating
in the Liverpool market. 3 Revitalization of the industry after
1935 was stimulated not only by W.I.S.C.A.'s organized efforts
both in the West Indies and in Liverpool but, even more important,
by the gradual rearmament of Great Britain in the late 1930s.

Much as in the First World War, Sea Island cotton became
a strategic commodity for the war effort. 64 As soon as Britain
entered the war, the Ministry of Supply (Cotton Control) negotiated
contracts with the West Indian growers to purchase their entire
crops each year at guaranteed prices. St. Vincent's "super-fine"

180
variety of cotton commanded the highest price and sold readily.
Yet in spite of a guaranteed price and market for their cotton,
Vincentian growers, large and small alike, withdrew land from
cotton as the war progressed. Three factors caused the reduction
in cotton acreage: (1) the guaranteed price failed to keep up
with the mounting costs of production; (2) the unexpectedly high
prices for food provisions in the inter-colonial trade in the
southern Caribbean area; 66 and (3) the labor shortages in St.
Vincent after 1941.

From a total of 5,486 acres of Sea Island in 1939-40, the
area decreased to 2,312 acres in 1944-45, a decline of 58 per
cent in 5 years. (See Figure 27.) Estates threw land out of
cotton more readily than the small farmers, so that by the end
of the war, cotton cultivation in St. Vincent was essentially a
small cultivator activity. (See Figure 30.)

The Demise of the Sea Island Cotton Industry in St. Vincent

Following the war, a slump in prices in 1946 caused a further
reduction in cotton plantings in the island by nearly 50 per cent.
The improvement in prices between 1948 and 1952, however, re-
sulted from a new method of disposing of the cotton in the United
Kingdom and the stockpiling of cotton during the Korean War.
The period from 1949 to 1952 marked the last prosperous era for
St. Vincent's Sea Island industry. (See Figures 29 and 31.)
Although the quantity of cotton lint exported in this 4-year
period averaged 387,000 pounds a year, it was well below the
average of 534,000 pounds a year between 1935 and 1940

181

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FIGURE 31

i ISLAND COTTON L
904/05-1960/61

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182

Conditions in the English cotton market and events in St.
Vincent served to lessen interest in the cotton industry following
the Korean War. First, the absence of a "futures" market in Sea
Island cotton made cultivation precarious, as the growers had no
indication before planting what the price would be. This was not
a recent phenomenon but had been characteristic of the industry
since the beginning of the century. Secondly, in 1959, the
"fine spinners" in England refused even to make forward purchases
of Sea Island cotton, but decided, instead, to purchase their
supplies as they needed them and at whatever price existed at the
time. 71

Thirdly, the extraordinary development of the St. Vincent
banana industry after its inception in 1953 quickly captured the
economic interests of the small growers. Within 3 years after the
first banana shipments, the value of banana exports exceeded that
of Sea Island cotton.'' Fourthly, cotton cultivation by the small
growers was generally less profitable than that of the other major
export crops. The most attractive crop has usually been the one
that provided the largest cash sum as quickly as possible after
harvesting. Bananas fit this requirement better than any other crop
in St. Vincent, so that by the late 1950s, more and more small
growers as well as estates had turned to banana cultivation.

Finally, the Government's Central Cotton Ginnery was com-
pletely destroyed by fire in 1959. The failure to repair it
doomed cotton cultivation in the island, as only a lower-value
seed cotton could be exported. Reaction among cotton growers was
immediate. Between the 1958-59 and 1960-61 cotton seasons, the

183

acreage of cotton in the Island dropped by 90 per cent, from
2,100 acres to 220 acres. All estates gave up cotton cultivation

after the fire. (See Figure 27.) By 1960, the industry was no

74
longer a major economic enterprise in St. Vincent.

The Banana Industry
In the contemporary export economy of St. Vincent, bananas
are paramount. The rapid development of this late-comer to the
economic situation in the colony parallels the history of Sea
Island cotton. From an insignificant beginning, the banana
industry supplanted its rival industries — arrowroot and cotton —
in a remarkably short tine. Such success, however, helps to
conceal several earlier abortive attempts to cultivate bananas
for export.

The Early Banana History in St. Vincent

Banana cultivation was first mentioned as a possible com-
mercial venture in 1898 as one of the recommendations of the West
Indian Royal Commission of 1897. Five years later, the first
experimental banana exports were shipped to the United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, this meager undertaking was a commercial failure.

No further Interest was expressed in commercial fruit
cultivation until the world trade depression of the early 1930s
reached St. Vincent. In 1932, after a lapse of 30 years, bananas
were again planted for a trade market, as St. Vincent and Canada
signed reciprocal trade agreements. At about the same time, the
Canadian National steaaships replaced the former transport agents

184

operating in the southern Caribbean region. Exports froa the
new Vincentian plantings averaged a mere 430 stems between 1932
and 1934. (See Figure 32.)

In 1934, the Government of St. Vincent agreed to the for-
mation of the St. Vincent Co-operative Banana Association to act
as the local control and marketing body for bananas produced
for sale outside of the colony. The Banana Association entered
into a contract with the Canadian Banana Company (a subsidiary
of the United Fruit Company) to supply all the Vincentian bananas
available from 1936 to 1940 (later extended through 1942). 79

Banana cultivation, however, developed very slowly. By

the end of 1934, only 230 acres of 'Gros Michel' bananas had been

80
planted. Several problems quickly appeared to reduce grower

interest: (1) the unfamiliarity of the small growers with the
methods of banana cultivation, hence, a hesitation to plant aany
of the fruit trees; (2) a scarcity of planting material; (3)
poor transportation facilities between growers and the shipper,
which resulted in much bruising of the fruit; and, most in-
portantly, (4) the appearance of Panama disease in the 'Gros
Hichel' banana stands, especially in the interior valleys of the
southeastern Windward coast.

The area planted to bananas and the quantity of fruit ex-
ported continued to increase slightly in the following years,
reaching a maximum of 1,100 acres in 1937 and 1938. (See Table
9 and Figure 32.) With the outbreak of the Second World War
in Europe and the diversion of shipping from the Caribbean,

185

III

(.0

186
St. Vincent's banana industry immediately reflected the change
through a decline in banana area from 1,100 acres to 500 acres
by the end of 1939. After the peak year of exports in 1937,
the value and quantity of fruit shipped to Canada declined,
slowly at first, then more rapidly as the war and its attendant
disruptions continued throughout the Caribbean.

TABLE 9

AREA OF BANANA CULTIVATION,
ST. VINCENT, 1934-1940

Year Acres of Bananas Year Acres of Bananas

1934 230 1938 1,100

1935 550 1939 500

1936 1,000 1940 300

1937 1,100

Source: Report on the Agricultural Department , for the
years 1934 through 1940.

After completing its contract term in 1942, the Canadian
Banana Company ceased buying Vincentian bananas and, thus put an
end to St. Vincent's second unsuccessful attempt to maintain a
banana industry. (See Figure 32.) In spite of the war-induced
transportation difficulties, it is unlikely that the banana
industry would have had any greater success, given the very
profitable arrowroot production before and after the Second
World War, the high profits to be made during the war in inter-
island food trade (mainly with Trinidad) , and the spread of

82
Panama disease.

187

The Development of the Modern Banana Industry of St. Vincent

Between 1942 and 1947, there were no banana exports from
St. Vincent, owing to the external disruptions caused by the war

and the internal problems of transportation, labor shortages,

and the spread of Panama disease. In 1947, modest banana

exports began again, marking the infancy of today's well-
established fruit industry. It is likely that the banana trade

between 1947 and 1953 was via St. Lucia A and consisted of

85
both 'Gros Michel 1 and 'Lacatan' varieties of bananas.

As interest was generated in the planting of banana

"suckers," it became feasible to provide enough fruit to induce

a Dutch-owned fruit shipper to transport Vincentian bananas to

market. The company, Geest Industries Limited, agreed, in 1954,

to purchase the total available export supply in the island,

guaranteeing, as It were, a market in the United Kingdom for

the local fruit. One of the contractual provisions, however,

stated that there had to be a central organization within St.

Vincent that would carry on negotiations with the transporting

company. This resulted In the formation of the St. Vincent

Banana Growers' Association. It was only one of several such

organizations established throughout the Windward Islands

(Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada), all represented

jointly by membership in a parent body, the Windward Islands

Banana Growers' Association (WINBAN) .

In addition to the new trading arrangement, there was a

switch to a more favorable variety of banana — the 'Robusta'

strain. 88 "Suckers" (young banana shoots) for new plantings

188

In St. Vincent were Imported from St. Lucia and dispersed
throughout the island, as it was considered more economical to

begin the new trade with a plant more resistant to Pa nam a

89
disease (banana wilt) .

In the 1950s, large numbers of small farmers experiencing

a growing stagnation in the Sea Island cotton industry became

eager converts to bananas. Income derived from an acre of

bananas was higher than from all other crops and, more significant,

the fruit could be harvested the year around, thus affording the

90
small growers a steady supply of money. The larger estates

were similarly attracted to this new cash crop.

The rapid increase in banana acreage attests to the im-
portance of the industry in the late 1950s. (See Table 10.)
Production of banana stems for export proceeded at nearly an ex-
ponential rate through 1957, only 3 years after the Geest trade
began. 91 (See Figure 32.)

TABLE 10

AREA OF BANANA CULTIVATION,
ST. VINCENT, 1956-1960 3

Year

Acr

es in Bananas

Year

Acres in Bananas

1956

4,600

1959

6,300

1957

5,000

1960

6,300

1958

5,500

a In 1961 and 1962, there were 6,000 acres and 5,500 acres
respectively. A period of stagnation had developed and low
prices prevailed.

189

Source: St. Vincent Banana Growers' Association,
"Banana Production: Cost and Profit,"
Kingstown, St. Vincent, 1962. (Mimeographed.)

Small growers were characteristic of the banana industry
as it expanded. In 1958, 85 per cent of all banana growers farmed
less than 5 acres of land each. Their holdings accounted for
only 36 per cent of the acreage of bananas and 33 per cent of
the total production. 92 By 1961, approximately 80 per cent of
the banana holdings were less than 5 acres in size. The small

farmers occupied 41 per cent of the banana lands and produced

93
only 35 per cent of the fruit. It was therefore obvious that

the small growers were considerably less productive than the
larger growers.

After the initial 4-year surge in production, the banana
industry reduced Its rate of expansion. (See Table 11.) The
heady venture into bananas inevitably brought ill-equipped
farmers into the industry. Many farmers had gone into debt
to start their fruit fields, so that when falling prices hit
them between 1958 and 1961, the more inefficient were unable to
survive. The period between 1958 and 1961 was a time of re-
trenchment for the industry, as the St. Vincent Banana Growers'

Association attempted to Improve production by eliminating

94
the unproductive and unresponsive growers.

IABLE 11

BANANA EXPORTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL
EXPORTS, ST. VINCENT, 1950-1960

Per Cent of Total Exports

1950 0.4

1951 (nominal)

1952 (nominal)

1953 0.3

1954 1.3

1955 5.6

1956 14.5

1957 41.5

1958 41.5

1959 48.3

1960 47.2

Source: Author's calculations from data in the
annual Blue Book reports and The Annual
Trade Report for the Year 1967 .

The attention focused on the banana industry in the late
1950s was indicative of the need to supplement the income and
to provide core employment opportunities for the Vincentian
work force. The rapid succession of economic reverses which
developed after 1958 in St. Vincent placed the burden of sup-
porting the export economy on the banana industry, in much the

saae vay as the sugar, arrowroot, and cotton Industries had

95
done in their more prosperous days.

The Minor Agricultural Industries of St. Vincent
Among the many crops which can be raised in St. Vincent,
only 4 — sugar cane, Sea Island cotton, arrowroot, and bananas —
have ever figured prominently in the export economy. Many other

191

crops have been produced for export, but they have never chal-
lenged the primary Importance of the 4 chief exports. Examples
of minor cash crops vhich, in the past, vere given considerable
attention by the Agricultural Department are cocoa (cacao)
and copra (sun-dried or kiln-dried coconut "meat") . Cocoa bean
production has always been a small farmer enterprise, while
copra has been supplied primarily by the estate system.

The Cocoa Industry

Cocoa was originally a second-story tree of the tropical
rain forests in the upper Amazon basin. It spread to Central
America where it was used by the Mayas before the Spanish ar-
rived in the New World. The cocoa tree was subsequently dom-

esticated and diffused throughout the Caribbean during the 16th

97
century. Owing to the time period between planting and the

first substantial yields (5 to 7 years), the tree had to be

cultivated by a settled agricultural cocmunity. In all likelihood,

the French Introduced cocoa into St. Vincent about 1700, when

the first permanent settlements were started in the deep valleys

along the Leeward coast.

In 1765, the first exports of cocoa beans to the United
Kingdom totalled 30,600 pounds. By 1769, cocoa exports had
reached 220,100 pounds, a record for more than a century to
come. Kith the gradual elimination of the small farmers,
however, particularly the French lease-holders, the cocoa crop
diminished to insignificance. (See Figure 8.)

It was not until the sugar industry of St. Vincent began
its precipitous decline after 1880 that other minor crops

192

Increased in economic importance. Even before the West Indian
Royal Commission of 1897 subaitted its recommendations concerning
alternative cash crops, cocoa production had returned to the level
prevailing in 1769. Because of the straitened circumstances of
the economy in the 1880s, a gradual, more widespread landowning
class evolved, as non-producing estates and unalienated Crown
lands were sold in small parcels to laborers after they had been
surveyed." Many of these new parcels and a few of the older
estates no longer engaged in sugar cane or arrowroot production

100
were planted in cocoa.

Between 1893 and 1915, the annual potential production of
cocoa beans was estimated to have been between 200,000 and
300,000 pounds. Unfortunately, the twin disasters of the hur-
ricane of 1898 and the eruption of the Soufriere volcano in
1902 destroyed many trees, thus lowering production below
200,000 pounds a year from 1898 to 1907. (See Figure 33.) A
considerable number of destroyed cocoa trees were on land allot-
ments that were sold by the Land Settlement Scheme (an outgrowth
of a recommendation of the West Indian Royal Commission of
1897). Cocoa was one of the chief agricultural crops required for
planting on the new allotments by the conditions of sale.

Before the expiration of the 16-year payment period for land
allotments purchased from the Scheme, the agricultural officers in
St. Vincent stressed the planting of cocoa, along with cotton,
coffee, nutmeg, and cinnamon. In 1907, total production of cocoa
beans for export again exceeded the 200,000 pound level and in-
creased to a new record of 285,969 pounds. (See Figure 33.) The
highest value of cocoa exports, however, was in 1915, when £6,962

193

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194

of beans were sold. This amounted to approximately 7 per cent of
the total exports for that year. Cocoa's percentage share of
total exports never exceeded this level, and, In fact, was usually
less than 1 per cent each year. (See Figure 34.)

With rapid expansion of cocoaplantings in West Africa in the

20th century, the price of cocoa declined steadily until the

102
Second World War, when a slight improvement occurred. St.

Vincent's production in the 20th century, of course, had ab-
solutely no infuence on the world price. The quantity produced
in the island was insignificant in a world context, and the
quality of the cocoa bean had an extremely poor reputation in the
United Kingdom before the First World War. J

The decline of the cocoa industry in St. Vincent began in
1921, when a hurricane destroyed many trees. The world trade

depression in the early 1930s caused many cocoa trees to be aban-

104
doned because of the low profitability in Vincentian production.

Between the depression year of 1930 and 1960, cocoa bean exports

have never exceeded 0.5 per cent of the value of total exports,

indicating the nominal position of the industry in the island

economy .

The Copra Industry

Copra production in St. Vincent, although an important
minor industry, has less direct effect on the employment and income
situation of most Vincentian laborers than any other industry.
Throughout its 20th-century history, the copra industry has been
overwhelmingly an estate enterprise, with most of the annual
production accounted for by the output of a single large

195

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coconut plantation encompassing much of the northeast Windward
coastal area. Coconut trees are found throughout the main island,
often as windbreaks, but the most important and extensive stands
are concentrated in a few large estates, most of them located on
the Windward coast.

The earliest commercial plantings of coconut trees began

in 1911, when a few small areas were planted with nuts imported

105

from Dominica and St. Lucia. Within 3 years, there were over

1,000 acres of new stands, totalling more than 2,000 acres throughout
the entire colony. By 1922, there were 2,500 acres, with over
50 per cent of than located in the "Carib Country" of the north-
east. Owing to the favorable price of copra before the trade
depression of the early 1930s, plantings grew rapidly to some
5,300 acres. 106

Some years had to elapse before the coconut palm could yield
a measurable crop. Consequently, it was not until after the
First World War that the copra industry made its first important
contribution to the economy. (See Figures 33 and 34.) In 1920,
22,644 pounds of copra were exported, valued at £430. Exports
increased rapidly as more trees came into bearing, so that by
1932, over 2,000,000 pounds of copra were sold at a value of
£11,426 — and this occurred in a depression year.

Exporting dried coconut meat proved less profitable than
the exporting of whole nuts, so that from 1935 onward, copra
exports declined while whole nut sales increased. In that year
alone, 75 per cent of exports were in the form of whole nuts.
Once the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, a world-
wide shortage of fats caused copra prices to increase. By 1944,

197
nearly all of the 10,000,000 nuts produced were used for copra.
The Industry's greatest contribution to St. Vincent's economy
was recorded during the war years, when approximately 20 per
cent of the value of all exports were accounted for by copra
sales. 108

Copra production remained relatively stable for over a
decade following the end of the war. About 10,000,000 nuts were
gathered each year from 5,000 acres, 90 per cent of the area being
under estate cultivation. In 1960, copra exports accounted for
14 per cent of the value of total exports and were declining
slightly as the banana industry expanded.

A Review of the Agricultural Economy
In the preceding chapters, the agricultural economy of St.
Vincent has been examined from the first year of British admin-
istration, in 1763, to 1960. The 200-year analysis revealed the
fluctuating demand for St. Vincent's chief exports. Each of the
major exports — sugar, arrowroot starch, Sea Island cotton, and
bananas — developed in a characteristic manner. With the possible
exception of arrowroot, which was raised on a small scale during
most of the 19th century, the other major cash crops evidenced a
remarkably rapid rise to primary status. Usually, a geometric
rate of increase in exports was maintained for the first 5 to 10
years after an industry was started, catapulting the particular
industry to first place in the economy. Thereafter, the rate of
increase slowed down and fluctuated with demand. (See Figure 35.)

Economic forces in the world markets have, in effect,
governed the level of prosperity in St. Vincent. The scarcity

198

1850 I860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 I960
Sourer Compiled and calculate by tht author from data list* in iht annuo) Blue Book, and trad, r.port..

COTTON
ARROWROOT
I SUGAR

OTHER
COPRA
BANANAS

FIGURE 35

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF CHIEF

EXPORTS, ST VINCENT, DECENNIALLY,

1850-1960

199

of cultivable land In the small island colony, a consequence of
the rugged topography of the interior of the "main" island and
the dryness of the Grenadine possessions, has circumscribed St.
Vincent's contributions to world trade. The inability to
increase production of the chief exports rapidly when the market
was favorable has plagued the economy for 200 years.

Vincentian sugar planters fared well as long as the West
Indies maintained its position as the world's leading source of
sugar. Even if the traditionally conservative planters had
modernized their estates in the 19th century, it would have been
impossible for the island's production to have had any effect
on world trade in sugar. Growers remained captive producers
of sugar well beyond its economic justification. It was only
after the depression in the sugar industry, following the elimin-
ation of sugar duties in 1874 and the large-scale competition
from beet sugar In the 1880s, that the arrowroot starch industry
was revitalized.

In addition to the halting contribution of arrowroot ex-
ports in the early 20th century, there developed a budding Sea
Island cotton industry to help buoy up the economy. These 2
industries superseded the sugar industry in the 20th century.
Unlike sugar, arrowroot starch and extra-long-staple Sea Island
cotton were identified specifically with St. Vincent in the world
markets.

The limited area of production for these crops contributed
to the eventual demise of both industries. The high unit prices

200

for arrowroot and Sea Island cotton, caused by the failure to
Increase significantly the yields of the crops, resulted In
buyers switching to cheaper and more abundant substitutes.

Fortunately for the Vincentian laborers, favorable economic
conditions for a banana industry existed in the mid-1950s.
The new industry served to bolster the lagging economy at a time
when the arrowToot and Sea Island industries began declining.

In retrospect, it is obvious that St. Vincent and the other
small West Indian islands have had to follow in the economic
wake of the major producers of the world. The struggle to pro-
vide improved levels of living by means of increasing exports of
favorably priced commodities depends upon so many extraneous
factors over which the island has little control. In all
likelihood, the Vincentian economy will always be confronted
with serious disruptions in its development, if cash crops
remain the primary means of production. Flexibility in decision-
making and action-taking remains the key to economic and
social stability.

The Balance of Trade
The consequences of fluctuations in the external trade

sector of the Vincentian economy are best revealed by analyzing

109
the balance of trade in a time series. (See Figure 36.)

Before 1879, the muscovado sugar industry provided enough ex-
ports to maintain a favorable balance of trade, with only a few
years of adverse trade balances. The positive balance of trade
between 1861 and 1878 resulted from several factors: (1) the

201

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202

revitalization of abandoned and indebted sugar estates through
the operation of the West Indian Encumbered Estates Court; (2)
the periodic arrival of indentured East Indian "coolie" workers
for the sugar estates; and (3) the disruption of trade with the
United States during the American Civil War, resulting in a
shortage of Imports.

With the beet sugar competition in the last quarter of the
19th century came a reduction in the level of exports and, con-
sequently, imports. For most of the time after 1880, the balance
of trade was positive but showed a definite diminishing trend.
With the hurricane in 1898 came the first large-scale deficit
in the trade balance, as most growing crops were destroyed that
year. (See Figure 36.) The volcanic eruption in 1902 further
reduced the level of exports in the first few years of the 20th
century.

The establishment and growth of the Sea Island cotton
industry brought a slim measure of recovery until after the cot-
ton boom in 1920. From 1921 to 1960, the annual Vincentian trade
sector showed a relatively large negative balance. The only years
with a favorable trade balance were those shortly before and
after the beginning of the Second World War. The monetary level
of exports and imports rose after the war, as prices of most of
the world's manufactured goods increased in response to higher
standards of living and higher costs of production, especially
in the industrially advanced nations. (See Figure 36.) Like
most primary producing countries, St. Vincent has had to face

203

an Increase in the cost of imports greater than the price of
exports, that is, the teras-of-trade have been deteriorating

110

Summary
This chapter has examined the major and minor cash crops
in the Vincentian economy, particularly in the 20th century. The
development of the arrowroot, Sea Island cotton, and banana
industries has been analyzed in order to show how they fluctuated
in response to outside economic forces. Two minor industries —
cocoa and copra — were briefly discussed and shown to exhibit
the same rapid early growth stages as the major industries.
The concluding section, devoted to a review of St. Vincent's
balance of trade from 1849 to 1960, showed that, in general,
St. Vincent enjoyed a favorable balance of trade during the
19th century and an unfavorable balance during the 20th.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V

The Colony of St. Vincent, Blue Book, 1855 , p. 196.
[Hereafter this reference will be cited as simply Blue Book , with
the appropriate year given.] The variety of arrowroot rhizome
grown in St. Vincent is Maranta arundinacea L.

2 Blue Book , 1856, p. 235.

Estates Book , p. 241. The author has averaged the annual
totals given in a table entitled: "An Account showing the total
number of Slaves annually employed, and quantity of Produce raised
in the Island of St. Vincent and its Dependencies, from 1819
to 1824, both inclusive," [with annual additions entered through
1851.] The first listing of arrowroot production in this refer-
ence was in 1830.

Ibid. The absolute quantity of starch produced ranged from
147,000 pounds in 1843 to 491,000 pounds in 1851.

William G. Sewell, The Ordeal of Free Labor in the British
West Indies (2d ed.; London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1862),
pp. 80-81. Also: Blue Book, 1855 , p. 196. A footnote to the
"Return of Produce" in the Blue Book states: "Arrowroot is cul-
tivated by the Peasantry extensively from whom no returns can
be made."

Sj. K. Marshall, "Social and Economic Problems in the Wind-
ward Islands, 1838-65," in The Caribbean in Transition , ed. by
F. M. Andic and T. G. Mathews (Rio Piedras, P. R.: University of
Puerto Rico for the Institute of Caribbean Studies, 1965), p. 238.

7 Bermuda arrowroot starch was preferred over the Vincentian
product and received 2 to 3 times the price per pound, a situation
under consideration by the exporters in St. Vincent as early as
1891. See: The St. Vincent Government Gazette , 1891, p. 11.
[Hereafter this reference will be cited simply as Government Gazette,
with the appropriate year given.]

204

205

See the Blue Book agricultural returns for the years

1892 and 1896.

*The quality "grade" of arrowroot starch is largely
dependent upon the whiteness of the finished starch. The
high quality starches have usually been produced on the large
estates with such advantages as clean water and efficient
manufacturing processes. See: G. Wright, "St. Vincent
Arrowroot," Tropical Agriculture , V, No. 7 (July, 1928), p. 165.
For a detailed description of the grading of arrowroot starch,
see: W. D. Raymond and J. Squires, "Sources of Starch in
Colonial Territories, II: Arrowroot ( Maranta arundinacea Linn),'
Tropical Science , I (1959), pp. 186-187.

In general, the situation of the arrowroot industry
before 1910 was considered unsatisfactory, although it was
better than the nearly defunct sugar industry. See: Raymond
and Squires, "Sources of Starch," p. 162.

Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies,
Reports on the Botanic Station. Agricultural School, and Land
Settlement Scheme, St. Vincent. 1906-07 (Bridgetown, Barbados:
Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, 1907),
p. 6. [Herafter this series of reports will be referred to as
Reports on the Botanic Station , with the appropriate year given.]

1 Reports on the Botanic Station. 1908-09 , p. 12.

Reports on the Botanic Station , 1912-13, p.
15.

20.

The three primary objectives of this body were:

1. To acquire and market all St. Vincent arrowroot starch
intended for export.

2. To grade, pack, and warehouse arrowroot and make advance
payments on all starch delivered to the Association's
warehouses.

3. To market, by means of voluntary control, the crop more

• economically than could be done by existing systems and,
thus, reduce the cost to the consumer.

See: Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies,
Report on the Agricultural Department. St. Vin cent, for the
Tear 1931 (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad: Imperial Commissioner of

206

Agriculture for the West Indies, 1932), p. 22. [Hereafter this
series will be cited simply as the Report on the Agricultural
Department , with the appropriate year given.]

16
The Association was expected to devote time and resources

to research into the production and uses of arrowroot starch,

but this duty was never accomplished to the extent it was for

sugar cane and Sea Island cotton. Additionally, the Association

depended upon only a few customers, the largest one located in

the United States. See: Christian I. Martin, "The Role of

Government in the Agricultural Development of St. Vincent"

(Master's thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the West

Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, 1967), pp. 82-83.

^Report on the Agricultural Department, 1939 , p. 1.

Report on the Agricultural Department, 1944 , p. 2.

1 9 Ibld .„ p. 1.

Report on the Agricultural Department, 1946 , p. 3.

A post-script to this study reveals the critical propor-
tions reached in the arrowroot industry in the early 1960s. In
1964, the largest American buyer curtailed purchases of arrowroot
from St. Vincent. Substitute products— potato and corn starch-
more readily available in the United States were used. It has been
said that three factors must be considered in selecting starch:
(1) price, (2) availability, and (3) stability and dependability
of supply. See: Martin, "Government in the Agricultural
Development of St. Vincent," p. 82.

The St. Vincent arrowroot industry failed in all three
ways to satisfy its customers. The unfortunate circumstances
that led to reliance on one large buyer proved disastrous when
that buyer withdrew his orders. Alternative markets were missing,
causing the Arrowroot Growers 's Association to continue buying
and stockpiling unsold quantities of the starch. In this
instance, the monopoly in arrowroot production forced the
Vincentian economy to suffer from an equally strong reverse
leverage. Considerable unemployment and distress, partly a
result of the depression in the arrowroot industry, has plagued
the island throughout the 1960s.

Gossypium hlrsutum , variety marie-galante cotton was the

most common species of indigenous, perennial cotton found in
the drier Lesser Antilles. It was the most favored commercial

207

variety of the 18th and 19th centuries in the French and, later,
the British West Indies. It was the forerunner of American
"Upland" cotton planted throughout the American South in the 19th
century. Gossypium barbadense was the ancestor of the famous
Sea Island cotton, also indigenous to the Lesser Antilles.
See: J. B. Hutchinson and S. G. Stephens, "Note on the 'French'
or 'Small-Seeded' Cotton Grown in the West Indies in the 18th
Century." Tropical Agriculture , XXI, No. 7 (July, 1944), p. 123;
also see: Walter H. Evans, "The Origin and Distribution of Sea
Island Cotton." West Indian Bulletin , IV, No. 1 (1904), pp. 199-
200. "~ '

Lowell Joseph Ragatz, The Fall of the Planter Class in the
British Caribbean , 1763-1833 (New York: D. Appleton-Century,
1928), p. 114.

Ibid . In 1765, Grenada reported exporting 368,032 pounds
of cotton, but most of this was the product of Carriacou, its
largest possession in the Grenadines. The southern dependencies
of St. Vincent— Union, Mayreau, and Canouan Islands— may well
have shipped their cotton through dealers in Grenada.

Ibid . Grendada's exports had increased to 1,026,296 pounds,
which included mostly Carriacou' s output and possibly that of the
southern Grenadines of St. Vincent.

Thomas Ellison, The Cotton Trade of Great Britain , Cass
Library of Industrial Classics, No. 11 (London: Frank Cass and
Company, Ltd., 1968; 1st ed. was in 1886), pp. 17-21. Hargreaves
patented his "spinning jenny" in 1770; Arkwright patented his
"water-frame" in 1769 and his carding machine in 1775. These
are the more notable early inventions which opened the English
market for a great influx of raw cotton.

S. G. Stephens, "Cotton Growing In the West Indies During
the 18th and 19th Centuries," Tropical Agriculture , XXI, No. 2
(February, 1944), p. 25. There are no available statistics to
indicate what the cotton exports of St. Vincent were between
1780 and 1786 or between 1788 and 1811. Thus, it is assumed
that 1787 was the highwater mark for the volume of cotton
exported from the colony.

An exception to the change-over to sugar production in
the early years after the Seven Years' War occurred in Tobago
in 1776 when a plague of ants devastated the sugar crop but left
the cotton unharmed. As a result, cotton temporarily replaced

208

sugar as the staple crop. See: David L. Niddrie, Land Use and
Population In Tobago , The World Land Use Survey, Monograph 3:
Tobago (Bude, England: Geographical Publications Limited, 1961),
p. 17.

Michael M. Edwards, The Growth of the British Cotton Trade ,

1780-1815 (New York: Augustus M. Kelly, 1967), p. 90. In 1794,
a new "ridge" system of planting seeds more thickly was introduced.
Yields in Sea Island cotton (the principal type grown up to 1794)
went from 100 pounds per acre to 340 pounds per acre, a marked
advantage over the production on the exhausted soils of the Lesser
Antilles.

M. B. Hammond, The Cotton Industry: An Essay in American
Economic History , Part I: The Cotton Culture and the Cotton
Trade (New York: The Macmillan Company for the Americam Economic
Association, 1897), pp. 235-237.

Edwards, Growth of the British Cotton Trade , p. 79.

T'igure 23 shows the United States surpassing the British
West Indies in cotton exported to Great Britain in 1799.
According to Ellison, Cotton Trade of Great Britain , Appendix,
Table No. 3, this did not occur until 1802. Most other authorities
agree with Ellison.

In the Estates Book , many of the cotton plantations were

recorded as having been abandoned, particularly in the smaller
Grenadine islands, a few years before Apprenticeship of the slaves
began.

At the same time, sugar prices ranged from 26d to 33d per
pound. The sugar industry was also in economic difficulties,
but sugar cultivation still remained more remunerative.

W. N. Sands, "Results of Experiments in the Cultivation of
Cotton in the West Indies: St. Vincent," West Indian Bulletin ,
VI (1906), p. 115.

L. C. A. Knowles, The Economic Development of the British
Overseas Empire , Studies in Economics and Political Science,
London School of Economics and Political Science, Monograph No. 76
(3 vols.; New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1925), I, p. 131. The
Lancashire "cotton famines" pushed the rapid development of the
inland railway system in India as the government sought to connect
the cotton areas of Central India with the seaports.

209

Ellison, Cotton Trade of Great Britain , p. 86.

Blue Book, 1862, p. 248.

See the Blue Book for the years 1870, 1872, and 1876.
These prosperous years for the British cotton trade resulted
partly from the effects of business interruptions in Europe
during the Franco-Prussian War (1870 to 1871), when an abnormal
demand developed for English cotton textiles. See: Ellison,
Cotton Trade of Great Britain , pp. 106-107.

Ibid ., p. 108.

TCnowles, Economic Development of the British Overseas
Empire , I, p. 132.

As early as 1873, the Government of St. Vincent issued
notice of the problem of emigrating labor. Workers were moving
as far north as Puerto Rico and as far south as Trinidad and
British Guiana [now Guyana]. With the French attempt to build
a canal across Panama (1878 to 1889) came an outflow of Vincentians
to that country. As work came to a halt on the French canal,
Vincentians began migrating to Costa Rica nearby to assist in
railroad construction for the infant banana industry. After the
turn of the century, another stream of migrants moved back to
Panama as the United States began its canal construction.

4 ^d. Morris, "Cotton Growing in the West Indies," West
Indian Bulletin , IV, No. 1 (1904), pp. 29-31. For a brief
description of the origin and early spread of Sea Island
cotton, see: Evans, "Origin and Distribution of Sea Island
Cotton," pp. 199-201.

as the crop

is planted in one and harvested early the following year, thus,
the hyphenated season designation.

Reports on the Botanic Station. 1903-04 , p. 10. This
report states that there were 400 acres planted, while the
following year's report states that only 300 acres had been
planted. It was also in 1903-04 that a large 3-story cotton
factory was built on the outskirts of Kingstown (on Richmond
Hill Estate) and was said to be the most modern of its kind
in the British West Indies at that time. This indicates the
great expectations for the success of the cotton industry.

210

The Sea Island seed vas specially selected by the Imperial

Department of Agriculture from supplies in James Island, South

Carolina, where the finest Sea Island cotton vas grown. See:

Sands, "Experiments in the Cultivation of Cotton," p. 116. In

addition to the seed, expert growers from South Carolina were

hired to demonstrate to the growers in St. Vincent how to produce

and prepare the long-staple cotton for market. See: William R.^

Meadows, "Economic Conditions In the Sea Island Cotton Industry,"

Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture , No. 146 (September,

1914), p. 5.

* 7 Although the value of cotton exports never greatly exceeded
that of arrowroot before 1927 (except for the boom years in cotton
in 1920), the phenomenal growth of cotton cultivation caught the
Imagination of the growers and the Imperial Department of Agriculture.
From 1908-09 to 1932-33, the cotton industry rated first place in
the annual reports of the Agricultural Department of St. Vincent.

48 For a comparison of Sea Island cotton and its nearest com-
petitor, Egyptian Sakel (Sakellaridis) , see: N. W. Barritt,
"The Determination of Egyptian Cotton and Its Relation to Quality,"
The Empire Cotton Growing Review , VII, No. 1 (January, 1930),
pp. 19-29.

49 When acreage was expanded in the years of early cotton
cultivation, great amounts of poor or indifferent land were included.
In years of reduced plantings, the poorer lands were usually thrown
out of cultivation, raising the average yield. See: K. A. Ballou,
"St. Vincent Cotton," Tropical Agriculture , VI, No. 10 (October,
1929), p. 293.

5 °In January, 1910, the St. Vincent Government initiated a
"profit-sharing" plan, whereby the small growers sold their seed
cotton to the Government's Central Cotton Ginnery for a stated
price and received an immediate payment of 80 per cent of the
sale price. Later, when the cotton was finally sold in the United
Kingdom, the growers received their remaining 20 per cent plus any
bonuses due them. See: Knovles, Economic Development of the Bri tish
Overs eas Empire , I, p. 132. The first census of small growers in
1910-11 revealed that there were 824 farmers, 66 per cent of whom
raised Sea Island cotton. The average size of the small farms
vas 1.1 acres. See: Report on the Botanic Station. 1910-11, p. 13.
In the following year, the number of small farmers growing Sea
Island cotton increased to 1,570, while the average farm size
remained at 1.1 acres. See: Report on t he Botanic Station,
1911-12, p. 14.

211

John A. Todd, "Twenty-Five Years of Cotton Prices, The
Bapire Cotton Growing Revlev , XV, No. 4 (October, 1938), p. 279.

stood and could be repaired. Orange Hill Estate, on the northeast
Windward coast (in the old "Carib Country"), made the most ex-
tensive return to sugar during the brief war years. See: Report
on the Agricultural Department, 1916-17 , p. 22.

^In 1920-21, there were 2,965 small cotton growers, each
averaging 0.9 acres per grower. Fifty-two estates cultivated
3,373 acres. See: Report on the Agricultural Department, 1920 ,
p. 14. "

The total quantity of cotton lint exported in the 1920-21
season was 502,308 pounds, an amount unsurpassed until 1937-38.
The yield was only 95 pounds per acre, down from the initial cotton
yields in St. Vincent of 174 pounds. This indicates the consequences
of rapid expansion in acreage using marginal land and poor methods
of cultivation. See: Report on the Agricultural Department, 1920 ,
p. 14.

For a description of the early American Sea Island cotton
industry, see: Meadows, "Economic Conditions in the Sea Island
Cotton Industry," pp. 1-18; and Works Progress Administration,
comp., The Story of Sea Island Cotton , State of Florida, Department
of Florida, Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 113 (1941),
pp. 1-59.

John A. Todd, "Sea Island Cotton," Tropical Agriculture, VII,
No. 7 (July, 1930), p. 190. " —

"Value," in the 1920s and 1930s, was secondary to price in
selecting the cotton for the "fine spinners" of England. For St.
Vincent and other British Vest Indian islands to maintain their
position in the fine lace trade, they had to keep their prices not
much more expensive than the finest Egyptian cotton. See: Todd,
"Sea Island Cotton," pp. 190-191; also John A. Todd, "Classification
of the World's Cotton Crops," The Empire Cotton Growing Review , IX,
No. 1 (January, 1932), pp. 46 and 52.

Todd, "Sea Island Cotton," pp. 190-191.

For a discussion of the growing importance of rayon in the
English textile industry, see: A. J. Turner, "Cotton and Rayon,"
The Empire Cotton Growing Review , XII, No. 3 (July, 1935), pp. 199-
207.

212

Since the end of the First World War, the tendency had been
for the snail cultivators, who had received plots of approximately
5 acres under the Land Settlement Scheme of 1898 (a recommendation
of the West Indian Royal Commission of 1897), to turn more of their
relatively poor land over to cotton cultivation. The initial
supervision of the many small holders in the valieys of the north
Leevard coast had centered around cash crops such as cocoa, coffee,
nutmeg, and cinnamon. As long as the landholdings were not paid
off, the Government had the right to enforce its regulations con-
cerning the use of the land. However, when the plots were paid
off, about the time of the First World War, the farmers began the
monoculture of cotton, which led to serious erosion on the steep
slopes of the Leeward valley holdings and reduced yields. The switch
to cotton monoculture was inevitable at that time, owing to the
lack of processing facilities for arrowroot and sugar manufacture.
See: Report on the Agricultural Department, 1938 , p. 37; also
see: J. P. Watson, J. Spector, and T. A. Jones, Soil and Land-
Use Surveys, No. 3: St. Vincent (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad: The
Regional Research Centre of the Imperial College of Tropical
Agriculture, 1958), p. 10.

The "closed season" was lengthened in 1929, that is,
planting was delayed from June until September. It was thought
that by planting cotton late in the year, the damage to the devel-
oping bolls from the heavier mid-year rains (particularly among the
north Leevard coast) and insects could be reduced. See: Report
on the Agricultural Department , 1929, p. 12.

6 2 Report on the Agricultural Department , 1931, p. 14.

For a discussion of the West Indian Sea Island Cotton
Association, see: C. C. Skeete, "The West Indian Sea Island Cotton
Association: Its Formation and Work," The Empire Cotton Growing
Review , XIII, No. 3 (July, 1936), pp. 178-185. The Association
was a direct outgrowth of regional British West Indian discus-
sions in 1932 into the difficulties of reducing unsold cotton
stocks in England. It was generally acknowledged at the time
that the Sea Island problem was one of "under-consunption"
not "over-production." Cotton spinners were interested in price,
not value. St. Vincent's cotton was the world's finest, yet it
had difficulty in selling In England. It became necessary,
therefore, to reduce stocks in the United Kingdom and at the
same time prevent another build-up. The Association recommended
acreage restrictions, but it possessed no authority to enforce
its recommendations. In the late 1930s, however, most of the
Sea Island-growing islands (St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Nevis, An-
guilla, Antigua, Barbados, and St. Lucia) obeyed the Association s
requests to limit production. The only exception was Mont-
serrat which felt it had to exceed its quota, owing to the
primacy of the cotton industry in its economy.

213

Sea Island cotton in Great Britain during the rearmament
va8 used in the manufacture of barrage balloon fabric and,
thus, sold very easily from 1936 to 1939. See: West India
Committee, "West Indian Cotton Industry, 1938-39," The Empire
Cotton Croving Review , XVII, No. 1 (January, 1940), p. 17.

During the Second World War, 93.5 per cent of St. Vincent's
Sea Island crop was purchased by the Ministry of Supply at a
guaranteed price of 25d per pound. The more inferior variety
of Sea Island, the Montserrat strain (M. S. I.), received
22 1/2 d per pound. See: West Indian Sea Island Cotton Associ-
ation, "Sea Island Cotton Industry," Tropical Agriculture ,
XVIII, No. 5 (May, 1941), p. 85. By 1939, St. Vincent had
perfected its strain of "superfine" Sea Island cotton, called
V.135, and always received a premium price for it. No other
cotton-growing island in the West Indies grew this variety,
owing to its selected adaptation to St. Vincent's climate and
soils. Barbados grew a similar variety (B. S. I.), but its
production was nominal during the war. See: J. B. Hutchinson,
"Agricultural Problems of the West Indian Cotton Industry,"
Tropical Agriculture , XXI, No. 7 (July, 1944), p. 121.

United States military bases in Antigua, St. Lucia, and
Trinidad created a strong demand for additional food crops, and
owing to the emigration of many agricultural workers to these
construction sites, food supplies throughout the British West
Indies became dearer. Arrowroot and cotton land was, therefore,
thrown over to ground provisions. See: Report on the Agricul-
tural Department, 1942 , p. 2.

Beginning in 1942, many young Vincentians emigrated to the
high-wage construction and industrial sites in the southern
Caribbean area. Vincentians from the Grenadines continued their
perennial migrations to Trinidad, while workers from the "main"
island went to Aruba and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles
to work for the petroleum refineries. See: Report on the Agri-
cultural Department, 1943 , p. 2. Their absence put a strain on
cultivation in St. Vincent, for cotton cultivation, in particular,
requires an abundance of cheap hand labor for weeding and thinning
after the crop has been planted. Harvesting, too, demands a
steady supply of pickers. Unlike most other types of cotton,
Sea Island cotton bolls ripen at different times and, therefore,
the fields must be picked over several times. See: Cathy Sparling,
"West Indian Sea Island Cotton," Caribbean Farming , II, No. 3
(July-September, 1970), p. 16.

214

Small growers accounted for approximately 63 per cent of
the cotton crop In the 1945-46 season. This vas the reverse of
conditions during the First World War. In much the same way as
arrowroot had become less attractive during the Second World War
to estate growers, cotton cultivation among the planters dwindled.
This is evident from the cotton yields of both classes of growers.
In the 1942-43 season, for example, the average yield of cotton
lint from estate cultivations in St. Vincent was 142 pounds per
acre, while from the small growers (farms less than 20 acres in
size), the yield was only 62 pounds per acre. This demonstrates
that the competition from artificial fibers and Egyptian cotton
could only be profitably met by increasing the per-acre yield.
High prices alone could not safeguard the Sea Island industry.
See: Hutchinson, "Problems of the West Indian Cotton Industry,"
p. 122.

Until 1946, the Ministry of Supply's Cotton Control was
obligated to purchase 93.5 per cent of St. Vincent's crop at a
price which remained fairly fixed during the war. Most Vincentian
growers considered this price to be too low in view of the high
cost of labor. See: J. V. Lochrie, "The Empire Cotton Growing
Corporation In the British West Indies," The Eapire Cotton Growing
Review , XXXI, No. 1 (January, 1954), p. 28. From 1948 to 1952,
all cotton sold in the United Kingdom had to be sold to the new
Raw Cotton Commission in Britain. The Commission graded the
cottpn it purchased and paid according to quality. St. Vincent's
V.135 "superfine" variety of Sea Island cotton received the
highest quotation. Even with the other West Indian cotton pro-
ducers, however, St. Vincent's trade was insignificant in the
world picture. Sea Island prices moved sympathetically with the'
prices of competing long staple cotton supplied in large volume
from Egypt and the Sudan. During the Korean War, therefore, the
stockpiling of Egyptian cotton in the United Kingdom caused the
prices of all high quality cotton to increase. See: George C.
Abbott, "The Collapse of the Sea Island Cotton Industry in the
West Indies," Social and Economic Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March,
1964), pp. 180-183.

Ibid., p. 185.

Owing to the high percentage of cotton acreage under small-
grower control (83 per cent by 1954-55) , the switch to bananas
had a marked effect on the cotton industry, as land in cotton
was thrown over to bananas. See: Report on the Agricultural
Department, 1955 , p . 3 .

215

Using 1954 prices, it has been shown that one acre of land

under various crops yields a gross income as follows: (1)
bananas, £92; (2) arrowroot, £63; (3) sugar cane, £54; (4) cotton,
£40; and (5) coconuts (copra), £40. When net profit is considered,
however, the order of profitability is as follows (excluding
bananas): (1) cotton, £20; (2) coconuts, £20; (3) arrowroot,
£15; and (4) sugar cane £10. See: Abbott, "Collapse of the Sea
Island Cotton Industry," Table 14, p. 180; also: Martin, "Govern-
ment in the Agricultural Development of St. Vincent," pp. 58-59.
The order of Importance must be according to the gross income
per acre, rather than profit per acre, because most of the small
growers do not price their labor or that of the members of their
family. They are concerned with the largest lump cash payment
at the time of sale. See: Abbott, "Collapse of the Sea Island
Cotton Industry," p. 170.

As late as 1970, the same problems facing the Sea Island

cotton industry before 1960 were still being discussed. The
existing problems today are: (1) competition from Egyptian and
Sudanese cotton; (2) competition from synthetic fibers, especially
wash-and-wear fabrics; (3) the unfavorably low prices which have
persisted since the 1950s; and (4) the lack of labor for hand-
picking of the Sea Island cotton bolls. See: Sparling, "West
Indian Sea Island Cotton," p. 16.

In June, 1898, W. C. Cradwick, the Superintendent of the
Hope Gardens in Jamaica, visited St. Vincent as a consequence of
the West Indian Royal Commission of 1897. One of the major
recommendations of the Commission was the immediate enactment of
a "land settlement scheme" to supply freehold land plots to the
unemployed and underemployed Vincentians. Cradwick was responsible
for visiting all of the estates in the island and evaluating
them for possible Government acquisition into the settlement
6cheme. In his evaluation of the economic potential of the
estates, Cradwick stated that several large ones on the Leeward
coast (Queensbury, Retreat, Penniston's, Hope, Pembroke, and
Cane Grove) should not be purchased for the small cultivators to
use as banana lands, owing to the inability of "primitive" farmers
to manure and cultivate properly this crop. Estates along the
less rugged southeast Windward coast (Argyle, Calder, Carapan,
and Rivulet) were said to be too windy for bananas, while those
on the more exposed south coast (Villa, Rathomill, Prospect, and
Belvidere) were too dry. The only favorable banana lands he saw
were those estates located in the flat, inland valleys along the
south coast (Belair, Cane Hall, Fountain, and Arnos Vale). See:
"Report by Mr. Cradwick on a Visit to St. Vincent," proof of a
report concerning the economic potential of St. Vincent's estates,
June, 1898. Located in the folder archives of the Office of the
Clerk of the Legislative Council, Kingstown, St. Vincent, W.I.

216

In 1903, an experimental shipment of 5 crates of bananas
was sent to the United Kingdom. The venture was unsuccessful
because of the unavoidably excessive handling that preceded
packing in the island and, especially, the long distance involved
in transporting the fruit to the home market. See: Reports on
the Botanic Station. 1903-04 , p. 9.

77 The Canadian Ottawa Trade Agreements of 1932 were recipro-
city agreements signed with the British Caribbean colonies to
stimulate trade between the signatories. See: Sir Alan Burns,
History of the British West Indies (rev. 2d ed.; London: George
Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1965), p. 709. In 1933, the Canadian
National steamships replaced the Leyland line which served Dom-
inica and St. Lucia and Elders and Fyffes, serving Trinidad.
The Canadian service made fortnightly stops at Trinidad,
Grenada, St. Vincent, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
See: E. R. Leonard, "The Banana Trade from the West Indies to
Canada." Tropical Agriculture , XVIII, No. 12 (December, 1941),
p. 244.

The reports from the Agricultural Department and the annual

Blue Book reports give no indication whether or not the 1932 and
1933 exports were carried from St. Vincent or, perhaps, trans-
shipped to St. Lucia for final export.

7 9 Report on the Agricultural Department, 1934 , pp. 29-30.

^°Nearly all of the commercial bananas grown in the Carib-
bean at that time were of the type Musa saplentum L. (Gros Michel).
See: D. E. Kay and E. H. G. Smith, "A Review of the Market and
World Trade in Bananas," Tropical Science , II (1960), p. 154.
An alternative scientific classification of this type of banana
Is as follows: Musa (AAA Group) 'Gros Michel.' See: N. W.
Simmonds, Bananas (2d ed.; London: Longmans, Green and Company,
Ltd., 1966), p. 52. Experts agree that Simmonds 's nomenclature
is botanically more accurate. See: C. W. Wardlaw, Banana
Diseases (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1961), pp. 1-2.
For a discussion of the cultivation of 'Gros Michel' bananas in
the West Indies in the 1930s, see: Wilson Popenoe, "Banana
Culture Around the Caribbean," Tropical Agriculture , XVIII,
No. 1 (January, 1941), pp. 8-12. This article was originally
written in Spanish and published in 1936.

^'h'anama disease or banana wilt (Fusarium oxysporum ) f.
cubense ) is one of the major drawbacks to the 'Gros Michel'
banana. See: Simmonds, Bananas , pp. 366-378; Wardlaw, Banana
Diseases, p. 194.

217

Banana cultivation and the export trade in the fruit,
difficult as it was in the 1930s, vas not impossible. The
■ost noteworthy statement about bananas to come out of the St.
Vincent Agricultural Department in the 1930s, in light of what
happened in the late 1950s, was as follows:

"It is now quite clear that banana growing will not be a
sajor industry in St. Vincent and further that conditions
are such that it can only be successful in small, well-
sheltered 'pockets' of land in humid valleys."

See: Report on the Agricultural Department. 1938 . p. 13.

N. W. Simmonds, "The Growth of Post-war West Indian
Banana Trades," Tropical Agriculture . XXXVII, No. 2 (April, 1960),
P. 79-

In 1953, bananas from St. Vincent were shipped by Messers.

Antilles Products via St. Lucia. There is no indication whether

this was a renewal of the Canandian Trade or whether it was a new

channel of trade with the United Kingdom. In addition, there

Is no way of ascertaining where the banana exports from 1947

through 1952 went. It must be presumed that these exports also

went into the world market after transshipment to St. Lucia.

See: Report on the Agricultural Department , 1953, p. 12.

■The clonal designation of the 'Lacatan' banana raised in
St. Vincent before 1954 is Musa (AAA Group, Cavendish Subgroup)
'Pisang casak hljau. ' The name 'Lacatan, used initially in
Jamaica, is actually a misnomer and should only be used to refer
to the true 'Lacatan' of the Philippine Islands. See: Siaaonds,
Bananas , pp. 52 and 82.

86„

George Beckford, The West Indian Banana Industry . Studies

in Regional Economic Integration, II, No. 3 (Mona, Jamaica:
Institute of Social and Economic Research of the University of
the West Indies, 1967), p. 11.

Melba Kershaw, "The Banana Industry in the Windward

Islands," Tropical Science , VIII (1966), p. 119. The individual
growers mist register with the St. Vincent Banana Growers
Association in order to sell their output and must pay a small
cess for each pound of bananas sold. The Association will collect
the fruit at its buying stations, pack it, transport it to the
loading shed in Kingstown, and sell it to Geest. In addition,
the growers's fields are sprayed against disease, fertilizer is
offered at reasonable prices, and advice is extended to the growers.

218

One designation of this variety is: Robusta (Musa
cavendishii L.). See: K*y and Smith, "Review of the Market,"
p. 154'. Simmonds uses a sore specific classification: Musa
(AAA Group, Cavendish Subgroup) 'Robusta.' See: Simmonds,
Bananas , pp. 52 and 82.

The antecedent variety in St. Vincent— 'Gros Michel — vas

especially susceptible to Panama disease, whereas, the 'Robusta'
variety of Cavendish banana was more resistent ot the banana
wilt but suffered more froa Leaf Spot (sigatoka) disease and
bruised more easily. 'Gros Michel' was more easily transported,
that is, it "travelled' veil. See: Kay and Smith, "Review of
the Market," p. 154.

For a comparison of the relative profitability of different

types of cultivation in St. Vincent, see n. 73.

^Simmonds, in his analysis of the growth of the different
banana trades in the Windward Islands, states: "St. Vincent
shows a reasonably close approximation to geometric increase in
the early years" [1954 through 1958]. See: Simmonds, "Growth
of the Post-war West Indian Banana Trades," p. 81.

'tennis McFarlane, "The Future of the West Indian Banana
Industry," Social and Economic Studies , XIII, No. 1 (March, 1964),
p. 55. Part of these statistics are estimates for 1958.

93 West Indian Census of Agriculture, 1961: Report on the
Eastern Caribbean, Inciting the Territories of Antigua. Barbados ,
Dominica. Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. St. Lucia. St. Vincent ,
and the British Virgin Islands (Bridgetown, Barbados: British
Development Division in the Caribbean, 1968), Tables 5 and 6,
pp. 215-216.

Report on the Agricultural Department , 1960, p. 3.

The reverses suffered by the Vincentian economy were:

(1) the destruction by fire in 1959 of the Central Cotton Ginnery
and the subsequent collapse of the Sea Island cotton industry;

(2) a labor strike at the only functioning sugar mill (Mount
Bentinck), its subsequent closing in 1962 and the ruin of the
small sugar cane industry; (3) the loss of one of the major buyers
of arrowroot starch in the early 1960s; and (4) the emigration of
many laborers to Trinidad during the brief existence of the West
Indian Federation (1958 to 1962).

219

The cocoa referred to is of the genus Theobroma cacao L.

There is no indication in the literature of the type of T. cacao L.

raised in St. Vincent. It seems likely that the more recent

cocoa (from the 1890s) vas the "Trinitario" variety from Trinidad.

D. H. Orquhart, Cocoa (2d ed.; London: Longmans, Green

and Company, Ltd., 1961), p. 1

Ttagatr, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 119

Blue Book. 1SS7 , p. X-l. In 1SS7, an ordinance was enacted

that provided for the definition of boundaries between Crown lands
and private holdings by surveys. This was in anticipation of the
sale of unused land in the colony.

100

Blue Book. ISS3 . p. X-l. Between 1887 and 1896, there
were 494 parcels of land totalling 2, 744 acres either sold
outright or secured by annual installment payments. The average
size of the parcels was 5.9 acres, however, several of the
purchases were over 100 acres in size, thus, the landholdings
for the small faraers were considerably less than 5 acres each.

101

The Cacao Industry in the West Indies, West Indian

Bulletin , V (1905), pp. 176-177.

102

Organization for European Economic Co-operation, The

Wain Products of the Overseas Territories: Cocoa (Paris:
The Organization for European Economic Co-operation, 1956),
pp. 15 and 17.

103

The low quality cocoa bean was the result of lack of

uniformity of processing. See: Reports on the Botanic Station ,
1908-09 , p. 13. "~ '

104

St. Vincent s soil, unlike Grenada s, is very light and

offers easy passage of water. This leads to an atmospheric humid-
ity much less than the rainfall figures would indicate. The
relatively short dry season (January to March) causes the
roots of the cocoa tree to suffer from lack of sufficient moist-
ure, a condition intensified by the constant trade winds. See:
Report on the Agricultural Department, 1915-16 , pp. 25-26.

TLeport on the Agricultural Department, 1911-12 , p. 14.

220

Report oa the Agricultural Department, 1935 , p. 8. Most
of the pure coconut stands were located tn the "Carlb Country"
along the lower slopes of the Soufrlere volcano.

Report on the Agricultural Department, 1944 , p. 6.
Three coconuts yield approximately 1 pound of copra.

108

In 1943, a record of 24 per cent of total exports was set.
For the duration of the war, all copra was sold in the West
Indies, most of it going to Barbados. See: Report on the Agri-
cultural Department, 1943 , p . 5 .

109

The data for a comparison of imports and exports are

available only after 1848. The annual Blue Book reports from
1849 to 1960 are utilized as references for the annual trade
statistics. All monecary trade statistics are given as un-
adjusted values.

St. Vincent, St. Vincent, Development Plan. 1966-1970
(Kingstown: Government Printery, 1966), pp. 9-10.

PART II. THE POPULATION OF ST. VINCENT

CHAPTER VI

POPULATION CHANGE IN ST. VINCENT,
1763 TO 1960

In analyzing the historical development of St. Vincent,
it is necessary to understand the demographic changes that have
occurred since the island was first acquired by Great Britian.
Throughout its past, the population of St. Vincent has fluctu-
ated widely. Migration was the main determinant of population
change in the 18th and 19th centuries, rather than the natural
processes of population growth and decline. Between 1763 and
1960, the rate of net migration was determined, essentially, by
exogenous, mainly economic, forces. As the local employment
situation varied, so did the rate of migration, reflecting
closely St. Vincent's fortunes in foreign commerce already out-
lined in Chapters III, IV, and V. Population changes which
resulted from the succession of economic specializations between
1763 and 1960 are the main theme of this chapter.

An Evaluation of Historical Population Data
For the purposes of this study, the population figures
utilized are those published in the general censuses, in the
vital registers, and in various printed historical sources
dealing with St. Vincent and the British West Indies. The
reliability of the data, especially before 1946, is questionable,
222

223

but given the dearth of demographic studies concerning the
smaller Caribbean societies, it is only possible to rely on
what is available.

Before the Slave Registration Act of 1817, which was
authorized by the British Government, the population estimates
of the number of slaves, free "coloureds" [sic], free blacks,
and whites were, at best, informed guesses. From the time of
the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, until the first organized census
of St. Vincent, in 1844, contemporary historians used the
population "statistics" of colonial governors, of vestry books
in the parish churches, and estate poll tax registers, all of
which were, at best, partial rather than comprehensive. For
example, vital events (births, deaths, and marriages) unsanctioned
by the clergy were not recorded. It was not until 1864, a
century after St. Vincent was acquired by Great Britian that an
act to provide for the total civil registration of all vital
events was passed. Even this improvement, however, has proved
faulty in execution up to the present day.

During the intermediate phase of Apprenticeship (1834 to
1838), while the slaves were becoming accustomed to their new-
found freedom, there was no Immediate urgency for population
enumerations in the island. Following the complete emancipation
of all slaves, however, a new interest was manifested in
ascertaining what human resources existed for estate work, for
labor shortages soon appeared. Among the earliest reactions of
the local authorities was an amendment to contract work laws
providing for the importation of indentured laborers from out-
side the Caribbean area for periods of service varying from 1 year
initially up to 10 years.*

224

In reponse to the growing awareness of a general labor
shortage throughout the British West Indies, the Secretary of
State for the Colonies ordered a census to be taken on June 3,
1844. 5 This enumeration included the first organized island
census for St. Vincent. Others followed decennially from 1851
through 1931, with the exception of 1901, when the island was
still experiencing the ravages and dislocations of the hurricane
of 1898. The last two reliable and completed censuses were
those taken in 1946 and 1960; the 1970 enumeration has yet to
be published as an official document.

Although the censuses of the 20th century are more detailed,
they have sometimes suffered from faulty compilation. The 20-
year lapse between the census of 1891 and that of 1911, with
the intervening hurricane of 1898 and the Soufriere volcanic
devastation of 1902, leaves a critical period of time without
an accurate estimate of population trends. A.s late as 1931, the
accuracy of census enumeration could be questioned. It is
apparent that all census information before 1946 is subject to
some degree of error, nevertheless, the gross figures are used
with this understanding. The censuses of 1946 and 1960 were
■ore accurate than any before and more detailed in their content.

The Periods of Population Change in St. Vincent
St. Vincent has experienced widely fluctuating rates of
growth since the tice when French settlers from Martinique and
Guadeloupe came ashore in 1719. 8 These early white farmers and
their slaves engaged primarily in the mixed cultivation of
tobacco, cotton, coffee, and indigo. The declared neutrality

225

of St. Vincent under the Treaty of Aix- la-Chape lie, in 1748, did
not precipitate an exodus of Frenchmen, but probably stabilized
their numbers until the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. In
1764, the survey, sale, and settlement of land parcels in
St. Vincent was initiated for the purpose of establishing an
English yeoman class in the island. As the sugar industry
burgeoned into a monocultural economic activity, however, the
small parcels of land were quickly agglomerated by individuals
into large estates, thus initiating a rapid expansion of the
population through the introduction of large numbers of African
slaves. 10 This marks the beginning of numerous references to
St. Vincent's population, which will be discussed in chrono-
logical sequence.

The periods of population change may be conveniently
divided into the following: (1) pre-censal estimates: the era
of slavery and Apprenticeship; (2) the era of alien labor im-
migration, 1844 to 1881; (3) the era of emigration, 1881 to
1931; and (4) the era of rapid population growth, 1931 to 1960.

Pre-Censal Estimates: The Era of Slavery
and Apprenticeship

This period includes all population references from the

earliest in 1735 up to the first official census in 1844. Of

all the population data analyzed in this study, those before

1844 are, in all likelihood, the least reliable. The state of

the art of population enumeration at that time was such that

little faith can be placed in the estimates as true indicators

of demographic change. For example, as mentioned above, the

226

early registrations of vital processes did not count all births,
deaths, and marriages unless they were sanctioned by the church.
In effect, what the late 18th-century registers contained were
counts of Christian baptisms, burials, and marriages. The
vital data of unbaptized slaves could have very easily been
omitted or misrepresented.

References to population size before Britain's acquisition
of the colony in 1763 were based on the crudest approximations
or guesses, as no systematic method existed for accounting for
the change in numbers of people in the island. The earliest
official attempt at systematic counting of people was the
triennial registration of slaves beginning in 1817 and contin-
uing until 1832. Even these labor enumerations varied in the
published sources according to who took the count and its
purpose. Data before 1817 are presented in this study merely
to provide an unbroken record of estimated population size from
1735 onward, with emphasis on the period of British occupation
of St. Vincent.

The Early Population Estimates . — The earliest published

reference to population size in St. Vincent was for 1735 and

varied between 3,800 and 10,000, depending upon the reference.

The former estimate included no reference to the indigenous
Carib Indians; the latter omitted the count of whites. Both
are probably wrong, as Caribs existed in large numbers up to
1797 when 5,000 were deported to the Bay of Honduras, and white
French settlers were known to have inhabited St. Vincent as
early as 1719.

227

Population Estimates After British Acquisition . — The
population estimate for 1763, the year Great Britain obtained
possession of St. Vincent, was 7,100. (See Table 12.) The
following year, the number of Inhabitants was estimated to be
9,518, an increase of nearly 30 per cent in a single year, a
reasonable growth considering the immediate movement of British
planters and their slaves from the more exhausted estates in
Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, and Barbados to the newly opened
virgin soils of St. Vincent.

Slave importations into the West Indies increased greatly
in number after the Ceded Islands (Dominica, St. Vincent,
Grenada, and Tobago) were settled In 1764, constituting the
major component of population increase during the era of
slavery. There was a steady stream of ships landing African
slaves in the new British islands until the abolition of such
trade in 1807.

Slaves in St. Vincent increased by 122 per cent during the

14 ,

interval from 1764 to 1805, nearly all of which was accounted

for by regular importations rather than by natural increase

since the fertility of slaves was extremely low, owing to the

high sex ratios and high mortality rates. It was only after

the West Indian slave trade was abolished in 1807 (and enforced

In the British West Indies in 1808) that plantation owners

were forced to give consideration to the health of their chattel

workers because new labor for the sugar estates could now only

be replaced by children born to black slaves resident on their

plantations.

•::

I M 1 1 1 1 ii.

i i 1 1 i ii ii.

I I > I I I I I ijssssss

I I I I II I I Is3333!

I I I I I I I II * "-'-I

I I I I I I I I

I I I I • I ' II „v»*».v

^^....a. iUlil n-*H-|- M n il 1i l " l «" ll , ~** g "— "■"'" ■«■»■■—■ ■'« ■ - . ..rriMT..

2i~

c^i-i-.-— -,-

229

is;

230

Despite conflicting reports of the total population of
St. Vincent after the slave trade was curtailed in 1807, it is
probable that the island's demographic growth slackened
considerably. The population estimates for 1805 and 1812,
which straddle the date of abolition of slave trading to
St. Vincent, show an absolute increase in the 7-year period of
8,905, an annual rate of growth of 5.53 per cent, the highest
on record after the initial colonization in 1764. (See Table 12.)
With the understanding that the data are questionable, it is
possible, nonetheless, to theorize that most of this growth
resulted from slave imports before 1807.

The St. Vincent legislature was aware of the agitation
in Britain to end slave trading and sensed its imminent demise.
This anxiety must have been acute after the "Carib Country'
lands on the Windward coast were forfeited to the Crown and
opened to settlement in 1802, requiring the use of many slaves
to work the new sugar estates. Between 1764 and 1812, the
average number of African slaves landed in St. Vincent each
year was 365, while it is recorded that during the first year
after the opening of the Carib Country lands, 1,540 slaves were

18
disembarked in Kingstown.

After abolition of the slave trade, the annual rate of

growth of the total population of St. Vincent fell to a nere

0.13 per cent between 1812 and 1825. (See Table 12.) Since

the slave population accounted for almost nine-tenths of the

population in 1812, it is evident that between 1819 and 1833,

the annual rate of population change was -0.68 per cent. This

231

tends to reinforce the idea that slaves were unable to increase
their numbers by reproduction alone.

The rapid decrease in the number of ex-slaves between
1834 and 1844 — a decline of 9,102 or an annual rate of change
of -8.29 per cent — may be deceptive for two reasons. First, as
emancipation approached, slave owners apparently began freeing
unneeded workers. When the Apprenticeship period (1834 to 1838)
began, persons formerly called "slaves" were termed "labourers"
[sic ]. The sharp dip in the number of "labourers" was the
result of immediate freedom granted to children under 6 years
of age and to the unproductive elderly and infirm. After 1838,
not all blacks remained on the estates as laborers; therefore,

the population estimates included only those few thousands who

19
opted to live on the estate lands for wages.

Secondly, a factor affecting the decrease in blacks

before the onset of Apprenticeship was the age composition of

slaves. Those who were African-born, if they survived into the

period of slave registration (1817 to 1832), tended to concentrate

in the older age groups, adversely affecting the mortality rate,

at the saae time contributing little to the fertility of their

population group. A positive rate of growth among the black

population must be assumed to have appeared around the 1830s,

as native Vincentian blacks, born after the curtailment of the

slave trade in 1807, were able to affect the reproduction

perfoCTBnce of the total population.

232

The Era of Allen Labor Immisation, 1844 to 1881

After Apprenticeship had failed to convert ex-slaves to
the Joys of plantation labor, there occurred in St. Vincent a
period of population change which was sarked by the introduction
of foreigners — a direct response to the unwillingness of the
newly freed slaves to move Immediately to paid estate work in
the sugar fields. The intransigence of the plantation owners
on the issues of wages and perquisites for hired workers and
their determination to continue the nonocultural production of
muscovado sugar in the face of growing competition from the
■tore modern enterprises operating in the West Indies led them
to seek an abundant and inexpensive supply of foreign inden-

, , , 21

tured immigrants.

Between 1844 and 1880, St. Vincent's population grew from
27,248 to 40,548. During the same 37 years, some 5,575 inden-
tured aliens were introduced, so that they and their offspring
were an integral part of the island's Increase. (See Table 4.)
The overall rate of population growth in this period was 1.06
per cent a year, which Bogue defines as a "moderate" rate of

change. At this rate, the population could be capable of

doubling in 65 years.

Three groups of immigrant workers were brought to
St. Vincent in two separate waves. Between 1844 and 1862, the
bulk of Portuguese Madeirans and "liberated" Africans arrived,
totalling 3,138. (See Table 4.) The East Indian indentured
workers began arriving from time to tine between 1861 and 1880,
finally reaching a total of 2,429 over the 20-year span. (For
details concerning immigrant groups, vide supra Chapter IV.)

233

1844 to 1851 . — The introduction of the Portuguese
Madeirans and Africans occurred mostly before the census of
1851. The inter-censal rate of population growth between the
first two official population censuses (1844 and 1851) was
1.43 per cent a year. (See Table 12.) According to Bogue,

such a rate of growth would be considered "rapid" and would

24
double a population in little over 48 years. On an inter-
censal basis, this was the fastest annual rate of increase
experienced in St. Vincent before 1946.

The 2,108 Hadeirans and 809 Africans brought to the
colony between 1844 and 1851 exceeded the absolute increase in
population by 37; therefore, it must be assumed that a large,

undertermined number of native Vincentians left the island to

25
seek work elsewhere, especially in Trinidad and Tobago. It

follows that the addition of these 2,917 immigrant workers

(amounting to 10.71 per cent of the 1844 population) boosted

the rate of growth to its high level. Comparable rapid rates

of growth were found in other Eastern Caribbean colonies at the

same time. The average annual rates of growth for Barbados,

St. Lucia, and Grenada were 1.52 per cent, 2.09 per cent, and

1.74 per cent, respectively.

1851 to 1861 . — In this inter-censal period, population
grew from 30,128 to 31,755, an absolute increase of only 1,627,
or at an average annual rate of 0.53 per cent. (See Table 12.)
Several reasons may account for this marked decrease in popula-
tion growth. First, this was a time of crisis in the sugar

23*

industry as duties on sugar imported into the metropolitan
market were gradually equalized, a process fully accomplished
by 1854. 27 The results of increased competition from other
producers had dire results on Vincentian sugar.

Secondly, the number of indentured laborers landed in
Kingstown was sharply reduced. Portuguese Madeiran immigration
had ceased after 1850, while a mere 213 Africans were brought
in, all of them in 1860 and 1861. (See Table 4.) The number
of East Indians landed amounted to a single shipload of 259.
In all, there was a reduction of 84 per cent in the amount of
alien labor imported — from 2,917 to 472.

Thirdly, a severe cholera epidemic swept the Eastern
Caribbean Islands in 1854, causing at least 600 deaths in
St. Vincent. 28 Finally, there was continued emigration of
Vincentian men to Trinidad and other islands in the Lesser
Antilles in search of higher paying jobs. Although much of
the data is estimated information, the combination of reduced
immigration of foreign indentured workers, increased mortality
from epidemics, and the loss of local workers through emigration
provides a logical explanation for the slow growth of population
during these years.

1861 to 1871 .— It was during this decade that major
attempts were made to revitalize the distressed sugar economy
in St. Vincent. The West Indian Encumbered Estates Act had
beea passed in the legislature in 1857, Initiating the sale of
abandoned and indebted estates. (Vide supra Chapter IV.) Over
half of the sales, however, took place during the years 1861

235

29
to 1871. The demand for field hands grew with the renewed

sugar production on the plantations, hence, it was in this 10-
year period that the bulk, of the East Indian indentured workers
came to the colony.

From 1861 to 1871, the number of births are estimated to
be 13,520 and deaths 8,240, resulting in a natural increase of
5,280. (See Table 12.) Despite the immigration of 1,302 East
Indian "coolies," the net migration for St. Vincent amounted to

a loss of 1,347 people, most of whom were in either temporary

or permanent residence in Trinidad. An average annual birth

rate of 40.09 per thousand, a death rate of 24.44 per thousand,
and a rate of net migration of -3.99 per thousand resulted in
an inter-censal rate of population change of 1.17 per cent,
more than double the previous rate.

1871 to 1881 . — In the last decade of the era of alien
labor immigration, the population of St. Vincent grew from
35,688 to 40,548, or at an annual rate of 1.28 per cent, slightly
higher than ii the previous decade. All the vital rates — birth,
death, and net emigration — increased, although most of the
growth can be accounted for by an increase in the birth rate,
from 40.09 per thousand to 42.81. The absolute number of
estimated births went from 13,520 to 16,320 over a 10-year period.

Immigration of East Indians continued, but at a reduced
pace, as the total number disembarked in Kingstown was less than
in the previous inter-censal period (1861 to 1871) . Only 868
"coolies" were shipped to St. Vincent — or a reduction of 67 per
cent. (See Table 4.) In addition, there was a steady ebb and

236

flow of seasonal workers between St. Vincent and the neighboring

31
colonies, especially Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, and St. Lucia.

The Era of Emigration. 1881 to 1931

The last twenty years of the 19th century and the first
thirty of the 20th century encompass some of the worst economic
and natural disasters encountered in St. Vincent. The local
estate owners found profits in sugar manufacturing greatly
reduced as a consequence of the higher competitive abilities of
the European beet sugar producers. By 1900, it, therefore,
became imperative that other cash crops would have to be produced
if these estates were to survive. Both Sea Island cotton and
arrowroot starch quickly became the staple export cash crops
during this period.

In contrast to the preceding 40-year period when foreign
laborers were the dominant element of economic activity, the
next decades saw so sharp an economic decline that even native
Vincentians saw fit to depart their island, while East Indians,
whose last indentures had expired by 1885, quickly moved to
more promising areas. Laborers had, of course, been emigrating
sporadically after emancipation, but as economic survival became
more uncertain, the movement accelerated.

Population increased from 40,548 to 47,961, an absolute
growth of only 7,413 in 50 years. The average annual rate of
change was 0.34 per cent, compared to 1.06 per cent for the
period 1844 to 1881. The estimated natural increase was 40,420,
yet the change in total population was only 7,413, indicating

237

the extent of emigration. Given the economic and social dis-
asters of this time interval, it is not surprising that so
■any people left the island. The small change in total
population, resulting as it did from the high rates of emigra-
tion, occurred in spite of marked reductions in mortality for
the island.

1881 to 1891 . — It was during this inter-censal decade
that the domestic sugar industry sustained irreparable damage.
After 1880, European beet sugar producers began "dumping" their
subsidized exports in the English market, forcing producers in
St. Vincent to shut down or abandon their mill works. Economic
depression in the early 1880s caused widespread unemployment in
an already troubled economy. The only alternative left for many
Vincentian men was to seek employment outside of the colony.

In the period 1881 to 1891, natural increase in
St. Vincent was 6,450, while the absolute change was a mere 506.
(See Table 12.) The annual rate of growth had declined from
1.28 per cent in the previous decade to 0.12 per cent. No
records exist to indicate how many people left the island or
how many times they may have gone and returned in this inter-
censal period, but it is estimated that net migration (a
residual number) was -5,955, undoubtedly a figure much smaller
than the total movement over the 10 years. (See Table 12.)

1891 to 1911 . — This period marks the demise of sugar as
the leading cash crop and the emergence of Sea Island cotton as
its dominant replacement. The transition from production of
one crop to the other, however, was insufficient to stem the

238

flow of emigrants. With the disastrous hurricane in 1898 which
caused 288 deaths and the Soufriere eruption which caused the
deaths of between 1,300 and 2,000 persons, many unemployed
laborers were forced to emigrate immediately in order to find
jobs for the support of their families. Indicative of the

distress in St. Vincent is the fact that over 60 per cent of

32
the working population were unemployed during the 1890s.

Between 1891 and 1911, there was an absolute increase of
only 823 persons. Natural increase amounted to 16,490, an
annual rate of change of 19.88 per thousand. Net migration is
estimated at -15,667, or at an annual rate of -18.89 per
thousand, the highest ever recorded by the official censuses.
(See Table 12.) The result of the continued high emigration was
an overall annual rate of growth for the colony of 0.10 per cent,
the least registered since 1844. It is evident that St. Vincent
was barely able to replace losses from emigration over the years
1881 to 1911, when the burden of economic transition and ad-
justment was heaviest.

19 11 to 1921 . — It was during this inter-censal decade that
the Sea Island cotton industry became firmly established after
it had been introduced in 1903. Arrowroot starch production
vied with cotton as one of the top export commodities in this
period. Both industries, however, were eclipsed very briefly
by the resurgence of sugar manufacturing induced by the First
World War, during which labor was more in demand in St. Vincent
as estates tried to supply the Allies with tropical cash crops.

239

Total population in the island increased between 1911 and
1921 by 6 per cent, from 41,877 to 44,447. The average annual
rate of growth was 0.60 per cent, a moderate improvement over
the 0.10 per cent registered over the previous inter-censal decade.
(See Table 12.) A natural increase of 8,160 (16,520 births and
8,360 deaths) was neutralized by a net outflow of 5,590 persons,
indicating that even with an improved economic situation,
Vincentians were still seeking better-paying jobs elsewhere.

Migration continued as a significant factor in population
change. Throughout the decade of the 1910s, there were numerous
government notices in the St. Vincent Government Gazette warning
intending emigrants about the problems they would face when
proceeding to foreign countries in the Caribbean area and Latin
America. These were published at a time when Vincentians
experienced growing immigration barriers and poor worlc conditions
in the receiving countries. Emigrants from the island were
moving not only to Trinidad, but also to banana plantations in
Nicaragua, to sugar estates in Martinique, to railroad construc-
tion sites in Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Brazil. Panama con-
tinued to attract — by reputation and not by real job opportunities-
many migrants from St. Vincent. After 1914, most of the canal
construction was completed, and the little labor that was needed
was recruited only by special agents assigned to this task.

Indeed, most West Indians remaining in the construction zones

had to be repatriated or had to seek employment in other countries.

1921 to 1931 . — During this Inter-censal decade, St. Vincent's
economy was sustained by arrowroot starch production (primarily

240

aa estate crop) and Sea Island cotton (grown both by estates
and soall farmers). The arrowroot Industry suffered more than
the cotton Industry in the early 1920s as starch glutted the
English market, causing prices to fall. Cotton production, and
its attendent demand for field laborers, did not escape un-
affected as the speculative price rise at the end of World War I

35
reversed itself in the early 1920s. Emigration, however,

still continued, although it maintained approximately the same

rate as that registered between 1911 and 1921.

Noteworthy of the period 1921 to 1931 was the added
significance of reduced mortality as a factor in the population
change in the colony. The absolute number of births registered
increased over the preceding decade from 16,520 to 17,660,
while the average annual crude birth rate remained fairly stable,
dropping from 38.27 per thousand to 38.22. (See Table 12.) The
inter-censal number of deaths, however, fell from 8,360 to 8,340,
even as the total population increased, thus the crude death
rate declined from 19.37 per thousand to 18.05. The difference
between the birth rate and death rate (or the rate of natural
increase) was 20.17 per thousand, up from 18.90 per thousand
during the 1910s. Net migration maintained approximately the
saae level (-12.57 per thousand) compared to the preceding
decade (-12.95 per thousand).

Migration from St. Vincent to other destinations in the
Hestern Hemisphere occurred in the 1920s at the same time as a
labor shortage was reported to exist in the island. Workers
emigrated to Trinidad, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, and

241

Cuba, most In search of employment in the cane fields or in the
towns as domestic servants, for by now females were moving in
large numbers to the neighboring British Caribbean colonies.
It mist be pointed out that the migration stream of Vincentians
was two-way; that is, a large migration stream in one direction
(usually outward from St. Vincent) was matched by another large
stream flowing inward. This was especially true because of the
seasonal nature of Vincentian migration. The residual effect
was most often a negative migration balance.

The absolute change in population between 1921 and 1931
was 3,514, growing from 44,447 in 1921 to 47,961 in 1931. The
average annual rate of growth was 0.76 per cent, continuing the
upturn in population expansion begun in 1921. (See Table 12.)
While a marked diminution in the incidence of emigration
accounted for most of the population increase in the 1910s, a
reduction in the mortality rate accounted for most of the
growth during the 1920s. St. Vincent, along with much of the
underdeveloped world at that time, shared in the world-wide
improvement in disease prevention that was evident after 1920.

The Era of Rapid Population Growth, 1931 to 1960

The years between 1931 and 1960 may be considered the most
Important demographic period of the 20th century for St. Vincent.
In the 29 years after the census of 1931, St. Vincent experienced
its most rapid rate of growth since the first official census
had been taken in 1844. The average annual rate of growth was

1.72 per cent, considered to be "very rapid growth" (capable of

39
doubling the population in a little over 35 years) . This

242

noticeable increase in the rate of growth resulted from the
combined effects of births, deaths, and net migration, each
contributing an important share in the expansion of total
population.

1931 to 1946 . — Two noteworthy events affected the rate of
population growth in this period. First, the worldwide trade
depression of the 1930s reduced drastically the value of exports
of Vincentian arrowroot starch and Sea Island cotton. Because
all of the Caribbean colonies were suffering economic crises of
their own, many of the governments enacted strict immigration

laws to prevent foreign workers from competing with domestic

40
laborers for the few available jobs. The effect was to

reduce greatly, but not eliminate completely, the emigration

from St. Vincent.

In most studies of international migration, it is generally

axiomatic that the "volume of migration flow Is very markedly

„41
influenced by economic conditions in the receiving country.

Similarly, net migration is affected by conditions in the

sending country. During the 1930s, St. Vincent experienced an

adverse employment situation that tended to "push" people into

migration streams, but when all possible destinations were

undergoing the same economic misfortune, the effect was

neutralized. When emigrants are unemployed, as they were

during the Great Depression of the 1930s, they often rttempt to

return to their places of origin, on the grounds that it is

42
better to be unemployed or underemployed at home than abroad.

In fact, St. Vincent passed The Emigrant Protection Ordinance

243

Act of 1924 , which required a deposit of £5 from each prospective
emigrant before departure, for the specific purpose of repatri-
ating destitute and unemployed Vincentians who wanted to return

to the island.

The second major event of the period between 1931 and 1946
was World War II. Although arrowroot starch and Sea Island
cotton production suffered from reduced demand and prices during
the trade depression of the early 1930s, the arrowroot industry
was better situated vis-a-vis its market in the United States
than was the cotton industry with its English market, especially
as the war started in Europe. Both industries, nevertheless,
were forced to reduce production as shipping space became scarce
and labor shortages quickly developed, a consequence of the re-
newed emigration to other Caribbean colonies. Laborers who
owned or had access to farmland began planting food crops to

meet the demand in the Eastern Caribbean colonies, particularly

in Trinidad.

The establishment of an American military base in Trinidad
and the increase in petroleum production there and in the
Netherlands Antilles created many higher paying jobs for
immigrants, including Vincentians. Their absence from
St. Vincent and the concomitant loss of small farmers who found
it profitable to grow food crops for export created the labor

shortage that was acknowledged throughout the war years, but

45
particularly up through 1943.

Ear conditions precluded the taking of a census in

St. Vincent until after the war; therefore, the inter-censal

period was increased to 15 years. Total population increased

244

by 13,686, from 47,961 In 1931 to 61,647 in 1946. The average
a nn ua l rate of change was 1.67 per cent for the 15-year period,
sore than double the rate for the previous lnter-censal period.
(See Table 12.)

Most of the growth was accounted for by a continuing
decline In the crude death rate and a sharp reduction in net
emigration (from -12.57 per thousand in 1931 to -7.06 per
thousand in 1946). The total number of migrants, however, was
greater than the result measured by the 1946 census, for the
inter-censal migration figure only measures the net difference
between two censuses after births and deaths have been accounted
for. Absolute net migration for the period 1931 to 1946 is
estimated to be -5,804. (See Table 12.) In two years alone,
1941 and 1942, there was an absolute net migration of -3,570,

which surely did not measure the total number of people who

moved. Beginning In 1943, the emigrants in Aruba and Curaga

in the Netherlands Antilles began returning to St. Vincent in

large numbers as the need for their services became less acute.

The crude death rate fell from 18.05 per thousand In
1931 to 16.24 per thousand in 1946, as a consequence of improved
sanitation and public health operations that were Instituted by
the recommendations of the West Indian Royal Commission of
1938-39. The crude birth rate increased from 38.22 per
thousand in 1931 to 39.95 in 1946, equalling the estimated
birth rate of the 1860s and 1870s. (See Table 12.) Another
Indicator of fertility, The Child-Woman Ratio, confirms the
upturn in child-bearing that occurred In the 1930s and the
1940s. From a 20th-century low in 1931 of 245 children (under

245

5 years of age) per one thousand women of child-bearing age
(15 through 49 years), the ratio increased to 303 by 1946, a
19 per cent change in 15 years. (See Table 13.)

1946 to 1960 . — This last inter-censal period of population
analysis was the most dramatic over the 116 years of St. Vincent'!
censal history. The result of rapidly rising fertility rates
and continuously declining mortality rates was to cause the
rate of natural increase to expand enormously. Had it not been
for the ameliorating effects of periodic large-scale emigration,
the total population of St. Vincent would have been much greater
than it was at the time of the 1960 census.

The causes of the population changes evidenced during
these years appear to be closely linked with the economic
conditions in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom (which acted
as a magnet for West Indians as immigration to non-Commonwealth
areas became more uncertain). St. Vincent underwent changes as
its small-farmer-based Sea Island cotton industry suffered from
uncertain market demand and prices in Britain, the chief buyer
of the cotton. As a consequence, many farmers began to reject
cotton for bananas, the staple cash crop which appeared in the
island in 1953. Destruction of the only cotton gin in
St. Vincent by fire in 1959 effectively eliminated this
economic activity as a source of employment and income.

Estate arrowroot production, the mainstay of the economy
in the early years after World War II, levelled off after 1951
despite the strong demand in the United States for starch.
Increasingly, supply in the industry became a major drawback,

246

TABLE 13

CHILD-WOMAN RATIO, ST. VINCENT
1911-1960

Census
Year

Number of Chil-
dren, 0-4 years
of age

Number of Fe-
males, 15-49
years of age

Child-
Woman
Ratio 3

1911

3,091

12,297

251

1921

3,302

12,740

259

1931

3,349

13,694

245

1946

4,705

15,522

303

1960

8,010

22,121

362

Source: Author's calculations from vital statistics given in
. Table 12.

The Child-Woman Ratio represents the number of surviving
births during exactly the 5-year period preceding a census for
each one thousand females of child-bearing age (15 through 49
years). The formula used is:

Child-Woman Ratio - P„ ,

°" 4 . 1,000

f
15-49
P
where: 0-4 represents the number of children, male and female
under 5 years of age; f 15-49 represents the number of females
between the ages of 15 and 49, inclusively.

247

even with monopoly prices and concerted government action after
the war aimed at Inducing more small farmers to plant arrowroot
rhizomes. By 1960, there was little prospect for expanding the
supply of arrowroot starch, thus, the largest buyer In the
United States decided to use substitute starches more readily
available in America. Once again another source of employment
in a rapidly growing population was removed.

One bright event in the period 1946 to 1960 was the timely
appearance and astonishing growth of banana cultivation in
St. Vincent. This quick and effective means of earning a
livelihood was introduced in 1953, at a very propitious time.
Yet even with the opportunities available in the banana industry,
Vlncentians followed a familiar path — young adults emigrated in
search of higher-paying or more satisfactory jobs.

While the economy of St. Vincent was undergoing radical
shifts, the population continued to grow very rapidly. Popula-
tion, which numbered 61,647 in 1946, increased to 79,948 by 1960,
an absolute increase of 18,301. The average annual rate of
growth was a record high of 1.85 per cent. (See Table 12) The
annual rate of growth, however, was considerably less than the
rate of natural increase over the period 1946 to 1960, which
averaged 2.97 per cent a year. It was large-scale emigration
which aided the colony in its attempts to provide sufficient
satisfactory jobs by reducing the number of job seekers. How
the economy of St. Vincent could have survived the 20th century
without the escape valve of emigration is a matter for conjecture.

248

An examination of the annual rates of change of the
components of population growth between 1946 and 1960 reveals
that demographic pressure was mounting. (See Table 14.) The
steady rise in the crude birth rate after 1946 was capped by a
record high of 54.44 per thousand in 1957. At the same time,
mortality rates declined relatively slowly until 1956 when there
was an appreciable drop, followed by a marked upturn 2 years
later.

The rate of net migration evidenced a rather erratic
pattern in the years between 1946 and 1960. Between 1947 and
1959, every year was characterized by a negative rate of migra-
tion, with the exception of 1951 and 1954. (See Table 14.) Net
emigration, however, fluctuated from a low of -3.44 per thousand
in 1953 to a high of -30.28 per thousand in 1958. The late
1940s and early 1950s were years when many wartime emigrants to
Trinidad and the Netherlands Antilles returned. So many did
so, in fact, that in 1951, the rate of net migration was positive
(14.88 per thousand). Negative net migration occurred for the
two following years, but again, in 1954, net migration became
positive as 170 more persons arrived in St. Vincent than departed.
After 1954, the rate of net emigration continued at a rapidly
accelerating pace, especially during the years that encompassed
the historic but abortive attempt at federation among the British
West Indian governments. 52 In 1958 and 1959, there was a net
imaigration of over 10,000 West Indians into Trinidad as
restrictions to labor movements were eased or lightly enforced
by the Trinidad Government in anticipation of the establishment

249

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251

of the Federation of the West Indies and the location of its
capital in Trinidad. Nearly all of this immigration was accounted

j 53

for by migrants from St. Vincent and Grenada.

The extent of emigration from St. Vincent is clearly
indicated by comparing the natural increase in the colony with
the net migration . Considering the years for which complete
data are available in this period (1947 through 1959), it is
evident that the total natural increase amounted to 28,000
(41,760 births and 13,760 deaths), while net migration was
-11,220. (See Table 14.) This means that 40 per cent of the

natural increase in this time interval was neutralized by an

54
emigration of Vinceutian workers, both male and female. It is

obvious that emigration had reduced the rate of growth of the
population from unprecedentedly high levels to lower but still
extremely rapid rates. An analysis of the data for 1957, for
example, when St. Vincent experienced its record high rate of
natural increase (4.18 per cent a year), shows that the esti-
mated total population of that year (78,255) would have doubled
in approximately 17 years if there had been a zero rate of net
migration. The actual rate of population growth for 1957,
however, was reduced to 2.20 per cent by the exodus of young
adults. Using 2.20 per cent as the rate of growth, the total
population size in 1957 could have doubled in 32 years. Unfor-
tunately, both contingencies are considered "explosive" growth
55

252

Population Distribution and Density
In order to gain a better understanding of St. Vincent's
population geography, it is necessary to look at the spatial
components of demographic change. Population distribution as
shown by a dot (or point) nap is one way to visualize the
spread of population over the surface of an area. In addition
to this non-quantitative approach, there is a quantitative
measure used to supplement the description of population con-
centration — the population density or the number of persons per
square unit of area. This section will utilize both methods
to show, as far as possible, the change in the spatial distri-
bution and concentration of population in St. Vincent.

Population Distribution in St. Vincent

One constant in the many changing aspects of St. Vincent's
demographic history has been the spatial distribution of the
population. Once the aboriginal Carib Indians were effectively
removed from their former settlements along the Vindward coast,
mostly by their forced deportation to the Bay of Honduras after
the Second Carib War in 1797, the coastal lowlands and interior
valleys were quickly turned to sugar production. The only way
of ascertaining the precise distribution of the population in
the pre-censal years (before 18W) is to map the slave population
by sugar estates. (See Figure 37.)

The use of the slave population as the main indicator of
the spatial distribution of the total population is valid and
relatively accurate, given the nature of demographic records of
the 19th and early 20th centuries. The crude estimates of

253

254

population for 1825 (the only year in this period in which the
racial components of the total population were given) show that

the slave segments of society accounted for approximately 85 per

59
cent of the people. The few thousand whites were located in

Kingstown or on the sugar estates as owners or managers. Most

of the "free coloured" [sic ] people were probably situated in

small villages or in Kingstown as petty merchants. The

apportionment of slaves in 1833, therefore, is assumed to show

where most of the black and white population resided.

As far back as 1833, and perhaps a quarter of a century
earlier, the bulk of St. Vincent's population was distributed
along the coastal lowlands over most of the island and up the
interior valleys of the southern and western sides. (See
Figure 37.) The ruggedness of the Leeward (western) side of
St. Vincent necessitated the locating of sugar estate mill works
(around which the slave quarters were built) far into the
interior of this part of the island, often with three or more
small mills in tandem along the same stream. Each one used stone
and masonry dams to collect water for propelling the cane
crushers, and within 40 yards of the crushers the slave barracks
were usually situated.

Along the Windward (eastern) coast, the estates were

generally larger and more widely spaced as a consequence of a

60 _
later start in settlement and sugar production. They came

into existence after the turn of the 19th century, following
the expulsion of the former Carib residents. The average num-
ber of slaves per estate on the eastern coast (made up mostly by

255

Charlotte Parish) was 236, while the average number along the
Leeward coast (comprised of St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and
St. David Parishes) was only 120. St. George Parish, which
encompasses the capital of Kingstown and the southern end of
the island, averaged 158 slaves on each estate.

The extremely dissected interior of St. Vincent, the area
above 1,000 feet in elevation, was never settled and only in a
few instances was it ever traversed, and then only for the
illegal cutting of timber in order to make charcoal.
Permanent paths did not exist in the interior and only a few
were used along the slopes of the Soufriere volcano in the
north, mostly by persons from Chateaubelair on the Leeward side
who sold their fish in Georgetown on the Windward side.

The pattern of settlement and population distribution
between 1833 and 1839 has remained the same as late as 1960.
An Imaginary latitudinal line across the island bisecting the
crater lake of the Soufriere serves to delimit the settled from
the unsettled portions of St. Vincent. On the western, north-
western, and northern slopes of the volcano, down to sea level,
are found regions that have had little or no permanent settle-
ments since the island became a British possession. Only a
single, isloated estate was established in the northern reaches-
Fancy Estate, located at the northern tip of St. Vincent. (See
Figure 37.)

Although the slaves were emancipated in St. Vincent in
1838, many were forced by necessity and lack of available
accessible land near their former estates to remain where they
were. Even those who squatted on estate mountain Lands or Crown

256

Lands still lived in "free" villages established around the old
estates. Cultivators usually walked to their plots in the
higher fields, returning in the evening to their village hones
in the lower valleys. Permanent settlement, therefore, has not
varied appreciably since emancipation except in St. George
Parish, where many small farmers began establishing themselves
in the broad Karriaqua Valley in the last quarter of the 19th

century.

The distribution of population according to the 1960
population enumeration reveals a pattern of dispersion similar
to the slave distributions of 1833 and 1839. (See Figures 37
and 38.) Most obvious in the 1960 distribution is the vast
interior area completely devoid of permanent habitation after
nearly two centuries. The slopes of the Soufriere, covered by
ash from the 1902 eruption, and the steeply dissected sides of
the old volcanic spine of St. Vincent still remain uninhabited.
The inaccessibility of these regions, especially around the
Soufriere, is attested to by the absence of an all-weather
highway along the north coast between Chateaubelair and
Georgetown. A dirt road connects Georgetown with Fancy Estate
(a present-day land settlement area) but is subject to flooding
in the rainy season. Between Fancy Estate and a point just
north of Chateaubelair (Richmond Beach), there exists a footpath
over the lower Soufriere slopes that extends down to the sea,
leaving little in the way of a coastal beach. Sheltered
harbors are absent along the northern half of the island, which
most likely accounts for the historical dearth of estate

257

•AM OU ALU I

•co*«creir*

FIGURE 38

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, ST VINCENT, i960

25S

activity and population settlements in this part of St. Vincent.
Most of the sugar exported to Britain in the 19th century was
first ooved by lighters to Kingstown for later transshipment on
aerchant vessels.

The main concentrations of population have been along
the coasts and the lower reaches of the interior valleys, south
of Chateaubelair and Georgetown, increasing in density towards
Kingstown. A rough correlation exists between the 1,000-foot
contour line and the upper reaches of habitation. (See Fig-
ure 38.) It was not until 1912 that the Government of
St. Vincent delimited its Crown Lands as that area above 1,000
feet in elevation, formally eliminating these lands from
possible cultivation, with only an occasional sale to small
farmers. The purpose of this action was to set aside forest
reserves as a means of protecting the watershed, and was, in
effect, formal recognition of the precariousness of farming
far into the interior at high elevations.

Population Density in St. Vincent

To obtain a quantitative measure of concentration of
population, it is possible to determine the "density of popu-
lation,™ the ratio of persons to unit area. The visual effect
o( a dot distribution map shows the relative degree of crowding,
while a density map provides a numerical scale for spatial
comparisons. The advantage of a numerical representation of
concentration, however, is dependent upon the size of the unit
areas used. The smaller the unit area used, the more realistic
the density figure will be. For St. Vincent, most of the 19th-
century population data were given only for large administrative

259
units such as the parisbes. The smaller enumeration districts
and sub-districts of the census of 1946 and 1960 do not coincide
directly with the census units of the 1800s, thus temporal com-
parisons are restricted to the censuses that used the same pop-
ulation districts. Only short-run comparisons are possible.
An examination of population densities in the Windward
Islands and Barbados shows that St. Vincent fell midway between
the faster and the slower growing colonies. (See Table 15.)
The population density used in this inter-island comparison is
a straight "arithmetical density," that is to say, the area
used is the total area of each island. 67 The relative position
of St. Vincent in this array of densities is unaffected by the
use of total area as the denominator. Both Grenada and Barbados
started with higher population densities in 1844 and exceeded
St. Vincent up to 1960. Dominica and St. Lucia, although they
started with lower densities and remained less crowded than St.
Vincent, grew fairly rapidly. All Windward Islands grew in
density, but St. Lucia achieved the greatest increase, in that
density was 311 per cent higher in 1960 than it had been in 1844.
Grenada and St. Vincent were second and third, with increases
over the 116-year period of 207 per cent and 194 per cent,
respectively. Dominica ranked fourth in increased density
(165 per cent), while Barbados recorded only an 82 per cent
gain. (See Table 15.)

The degree of crowding in St. Vincent increased from
182 persons per square mile in 1844 to 535 by 1960. The
larger islands in 1960, Jamaica and Trinidad, had arithmetical

260

TABLE 15

POPULATION DENSITY, SELECTED CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES,
1844-1960

Number of

Persons Per

Square Mile

Year

Dominica

St. Lucia

St. Vincent

Grenada

Barbados

1844

182

217

736

1851

104

202

246

819

1861

114

212

240

920

1871

136

239

283

976

1881

165

271

319

1,035

1891

181

275

400

1,102

1911

111

209

280

502

1,038

1921

122

221

297

499

944

1931

321

1946

156

301

412

544

1,161

1960

196

370

535

667

1,340

Per Cent
Increase

165 Z

311 Z

194 Z

207 Z

82 Z

1844-1960

Source: Author's calculations.

261

68
densities of only 236 and 260 per square mile, respectively.

Barbados is often cited as an ezaaple of one of the world's
aost crowded places, yet a more refined density figure shows
that the island's population concentration is not as far ahead
as the simple "arithmetical density" indicates.

In St. Vincent, for example, by excluding the area that
is uninhabitable, under present and past conditions, the
density increases markedly. (See Table 16.) In 1844,
St. Vincent's "arithnetical density" was 182 persons per
square mile, or 25 per cent of the density of Barbados. By
1960, this had increased to 535 per square mile or 40 per cent
of that of Barbados. (See Table 15.) The recalculated
densities for the "main" island of St. Vincent, using as the
base area only the land below 1,000 feet in elevation , show
that the "real" density of St. Vincent in 1844 was 339 per
square mile or 46 per cent of the level of Barbados. By 1960,
population concentration had increased to a record high of
1,002 per square mile — 75 per cent as great as that of
Barbados. (See Table 17 and Figure 39.) The "real" density
determined above is ouch more realistic in terms of overcrowding.
When the problem of overpopulation is considered in the Eastern
Caribbean, St. Vincent must be included as an example of a very
densely populated island. The "arithmetical density" of
Barbados is more realistic than that of St. Vincent because a
greater proportion of the former is accessible for cultivation
and habitation, and thus its "real" density will not signifi-
cantly change its status.

262

TABLE 16
POPULATION DENSITY, ST. VINCENT, 1844-1960

Number of Persons Per Square Mile

Census Total To ' al Colon ? ,,Maln " Island Grenadine
Year rZtZZ Below 1,000' Below 1,000' orenadlne

Population Colony In Elevation In Elevation De Pendencies

1844

27,248

182

296

339

112

1851

30,128

202

327

377

112

1861

31,755

212

345

394

132

1871

35,688

239

388

447

134

1881

40,548

271

441

507

156

1891

41,054

275

446

508

178

1911

41,877

280

455

513

203

1921

44,447

297

483

540

238

1931

47,961

321

521

592

213

1946

61,647

412

670

765

259

1960

79,948

535

869

1,002

294

Source: Author's calculations

263

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264

POPULATION PER SQUARE MILE

1,100

1844 1651 1861 1871 1881 1891 1911 1921 1931 1946 I960
YEAR

— DENSITY OF MAIN ISLAND BELOW 1,000 FEET IN ELEVATION
DENSITY OF MAIN ISLAND AND GRENADINES

— — - OENSITY OF GRENADINES

FIGURE 39

POPULATION DENSITY, ST. VINCENT,
1844-1960

265

The Grenadine dependencies in St. Vincent have increased
in population concentration more slowly than the "main" island.
Population on the 17.30 square miles of small islands increased
in density from 112 per square mile to 294 over the period
1844 to 1960. (See Table 16 and Figure 39.)

The "real" density of St. Vincent reflected the periods
of population growth. (See Figure 39.) A steady increase was
evidenced from 1844 to 1881, followed by a marked slow growth
between 1881 and 1921 as the large-scale emigration during
these years siphoned off "surplus" population. The growth in
fertility after 1921 and the reduction in mortality and
morbidity acted as stimulants to greater population size and
density. Only the Grenadines experienced an absolute decrease
in density over the 116-year period under examination.

Percentage Distribution of Population

The inter-censal changes in the areas of population
enumeration districts in the "main" island of St. Vincent have
precluded a simple comparison of historical densities which
could reveal the numerical and spatial variation in population
concentration. Only a general picture is made possible by
the judicious agglomeration of census reporting units from one
census to another. (See Figure 40.) The percentage distribution
of population in the various census enumeration districts is
used to show the relative internal concentration of population
in the colony.

266

267

1844 to 1861 .— For this period, the political administrative
parish boundaries were used as census reporting districts,
thus the census dates 1844, 1851, and 1861 can be compared only
with each other. (See Figure 40.) The percentage distribution
of population by parish is the smallest census unit available
and affords a very general picture. The assumption still holds
that throughout its historical past the population of St. Vin-
cent has resided below the 1,000-foot contour line. It is
apparent that there was relatively little inter-parish change
in the proportion of population located in the "main" island
between 1844 and 1861 as there was no more than a 1 per cent
change between the Individual enumerations.

The more accessible Windward side of the island
(Charlotte Parish) contained an average of 28 per cent of the
total population on 40 per cent of the area of the "main"
island. (See Tables 17 and 18.) In addition, Charlotte
Parish had approximately 40 per cent of its total area below
1,000 feet in elevation. The southern end of the "main"
island (St. George Parish) contained an average of 40 per cent
of the population on 15 per cent of the land area. Eighty-
eight per cent of this southern parish was below 1,000 feet,
accounting for its high average density of 725 persons per
square mile compared to 279 per square mile In Charlotte
Parish. 73

The three parishes along the Leeward side of the main
island (Stc Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David) have In
historical terms been more difficult to access and more

263

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271

formidable in topography with their characteristic razor-back
ridges, thus their share of population each averaged 8 to 9
per cent. Population density declined with increasing distance
from Kingstown along the Leeward coast, averaging 335 persons
per square mile for St. Andrew, 279 for St. Patrick, and 206
for St. David. The Leeward parishes together accounted for
45 per cent of the "main" island's land areas and had between
36 per cent and 63 per cent of their area below 1,000 feet,
the proportion decreasing with increasing distance from
Kingstown.

In the Grenadines, population concentration remained
remarkably stable, varying from 6 per cent of the total
population in 1844 to 7 per cent in 1946 and 1960. (See Table
17.)

1871 to 1891 . — The change in the percentage distribution
of population between 1871 and 1881 was negligible for the
Windward and Calliaqua police districts (the census reporting
units), as each contained about one-quarter of the colony's
population. (See Figure 17.) The only measurable changes
occurred in the Kingstown and Leeward police districts. (See
Table 18.) The East Indian immigration and the later beginning
of labor emigration were events of these years, both of which
could explain some of the demographic changes in these districts.
Between 1861 and 1880, there were 497 East Indians who were
assigned to estates in the Leeward police district, while only
111 were sent to estates in the Kingstown district. Emigration
which began around 1880 could have siphoned off the population

272

In the area surrounding the capital, as this was the main
shipping port of the island. In the Grenadine dependencies,
the proportion of people remained at 7 per cent of the colony's
total population.

Those who organized the census of 1891 rearranged the
census districts in such a way that neaningful comparisons
today are sketchy at best. The Windward district still con-
tained about one-quarter of the population and the southern
area, encompassing St. George and part of Charlotte Parishes,
registered 44 per cent of the people. One-fifth of the popu-
lation was located In the Leeward district. The Grenadines
still maintained their share of people — a slight increase from
7 per cent to 8 per cent as a consequence of the large-scale
migration that affected the "main" island. (See Table 18.)
Whenever Vincentians emigrated to Trinidad, they usually
passed by way of the Grenadine Islands and Grenada, then on
to Port-of-Spain, hence, some attrition in numbers of emigrants
leaving the "main" island might be expected as they stopped

temporarily or permanently in the islands along the passage

► 74
route .

1911 to 1960 . — The 20th-century censuses revealed few

major changes in the percentage distribution of population.

The censuses between 1911 and 1931 (when comparable enumeration

districts were used) showed no more than a one per cent inter-

censal variation for the districts. (See Table 18 and Figure

40.) In the Grenadines, there remained the usual 8 per cent.

Although the population districts in the "main" island each

273

contained between 21 and 26 per cent of the people, their
re-drawn boundaries must be taken into consideration, for none
of them coincided totally with the parish boundaries used in
the 19th century. Likewise, the enumeration districts drawn
for the census reports of 1946 and 1960 sub-divided the
parishes. A valid generalization for the 20th century is that
the parishes contained approximately the same proportion of
people as existed throughout the censal periods of the 19th
century. (See Table 18.) In essence, no major shifts In
population concentration have developed in the island, despite
the ebb and flow of migrants. A more precise long-term
description is impossible, owing to the variations in the size
of census districts.

Summary

There is no question that St. Vincent's population grew
very rapidly after the British acquired the island in 1763.
Most of this early growth could be attributed to the expansion
of the slave population as the lucrative sugar industry
developed before the cessation of slave trading. According to the
crude pre-censal population estimates, St. Vincent's population
grew at a high rate of 2.76 per cent a year between 1763 and
1812— a rate that doubled the population every 25 years.

During the era of census taking (1844 to 1960), population
growth fluctuated from a record average annual high of 1.85
per cent between 1946 and 1960 to a mere 0.10 per cent between
1891 and 1911. At the rate of growth experienced during the

274

1950s, the island's population could double In about 37 years
(from 79,948 to 159,896). More remarkable, however, is the
potential Increase In population that might have resulted had
emigration not been a constant outlet for population pressure
on available jobs after the mid-19th century. The rate of
natural increase fluctuated from an estimated average annual
low of 0.37 per cent during the 1850s to a high of 2.97 per
cent during the period 1946 to 1960. At the rate of natural
increase experienced during the 1850s (assuming a zero rate of
migration), the doubling time for the population was 187 years,
whereas, at the rate between 1946 and 1960, the doubling time
was reduced to 23 years.

It is apparent that the variations in the dynamic
components of population change (births, deaths, and migration)
have been closely tied to economic and social conditions
inside and outside of St. Vincent. Disruptions in the cash
crop regime have been matched by large-scale emigrations to
areas where better employment opportunities were expected but
not always found. Even when labor shortages occurred in
St. Vincent (as for example, during the Second World War),
Vincentians still left the island for higher paying jobs
elsewhere. The continued high rate of natural increase made
long-run labor shortages unlikely. A reduced level of fertility,
extended over a generation, could probably check the flow of
emigrants by forcing labor wages high enough to compete with
the perceived opportunities in the neighboring islands.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI

G. V. Roberts, The Population of Jamaica (Cambridge,
England: The Conservation Foundation at the University Press,
1957), p. 2.

XL. R. A. Kuczynski, Demographic Survey of the British
Colonial Empire , Vol. Ill: The Uest Indian and American
Territories (London: Oxford University Press for the Royal
Institute of International Affairs, 1953), pp. 438-439.

3
Ibid . , p. 443. This was confirmed by field work in
St. Vincent in 1967, 1968, and 1970 when the problems of
incomplete vital statistics registration was encountered. A
discussion with a visiting United Nations demographic statistical
officer confirmed the author's observations.

Registrar-

General's vault.) n.p.

Roberts, Jamaica , p. 6.

The Compiler of Census for this enumeration acknowledged
the carelessness of the reporters in the performance of their
duties. See: Report on the Census of Saint Vincent, 1931
(Kingstown: Government Printing Office, 1931), p. 2. An
inspection of age-sex distributions for 1911, 1921, and 1931
shows that the age group 5 through 9 years is unaccountably
low for all three censuses. The same error in age reporting
must have been carried over for all of these censuses.

Although great care and organization went into the
preparation and execution of the census of 1946, errors have
appeared. By visual Inspection of the 1946 age-sex pyramid,
the author observed the common tendency of persons to mis-
represent their ages. There was a noticeable concentration of
people who reported their ages in numbers ending in (20, 30,
40, etc.) and 5 (25, 35, 45, etc.). T. Lynn Smith's "age
accuracy index" was calculated for the 1946 census and the
resulting index numbers were 92.85 for males, 93.08 for females,
and 93 for both sexes combined. A score of 100 indicates per-
fect age reporting; therefore, the 1946 index numbers reveal
a considerable error in age reports. For a discussion of this
index, see: T. Lynn Smith and Paul E. Zopf, Jr., Demography :

-275

276

Principles and Methods (Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1970),
pp. 154-155. An additional concern In this study of St. Vincent's
population is the unfortunate fact that it has taken more than
10 years for the final reports of the census of 1960 to be
published and distributed. For an analysis of the accuracy of
age reporting in the 1960 census, see Chapter VII. The census
reports prior to 1946 did not include an age breakdown by
single years, thus the accuracy of the age groups cannot be
tested, but must be assumed to be less reliable than those in
1946 and 1960.

Thomas Coke, A History of the West Indies, Containing
the Natural, Civil, and Ecclesiastical History of Each Island :
With an Account of the Missions (3 vols.; London: A. Paris,
1810), II, p. 184.

9
David L. Niddrie, Eighteenth-Century Settlement in the

British Caribbean," Transactions and Papers, The Institute of

British Geographers , Publication No. 40 (1966), p. 78.

Lowell Joseph Ragatz, The Fall of the Planter Class in
the British Caribbean , 1763-1833 (New York: D. Appleton-Century
Company, 1928), p. 113.

In one comprehensive reference, conflicting reports of
the number of slaves were listed in adjacent tables. For the
year 1820, for example, one table listed 24,282 slaves, while
the next table listed 20,582, a difference of nearly 18 per
cent. No explanation was given for the variations. See:
Charles Shephard, An Historical Account of the Island of
St. Vincent (London, 1831), Appendix, Nos. IV and V, pp. iv-v.

For the various sources of these population estimates,

see: Coke, History of the West Indies , p. 184; and Shephard,
Account of St. Vincent , p. iv.

TJiddrie, "Eighteenth-Century Settlement," pp. 77-78.

Shephard, Account of St. Vincent , Appendix, No. IV, p. iv.

37.

It should be noted that the population estimates listed
by the author exclude the Carib Indians In the total population
size because their contributions to the functioning of the
island's economy were usually insignificant, especially after
the mass deportation of 5,000 Caribs in 1797 cleared St. Vincent
of all but a few hundred.

Ragatz, Fall of the Planter Class , p. 223.

277

The average annual Importation of slaves was derived froa

the figures given by Shephard, Account of St. Vincent , Appendix,

No. IV, p. iv, and those published in West Indian Census, 1946 ;

Part H: "Census of the Windward Islands, 9th April, 1946"

(Kingston, Jamaica: The Government Printer, 1950), Table F,

p. xiii. Noel Deerr, The History of Sugar (2 vols., London:

Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1949), II, p. 279, records 1,540

slaves disembarked in St. Vincent in the year 1802-1803.

W. K. Marshall, Social and Economic Problems in the

Windward Islands, 1838-65," in The Caribbean in Transition ,
F. M. Andic and T. G. Mathews, (eds.), Second Caribbean Scholars
Conference, Mona, Jamaica, April 14-19, 1964 (Rio Piedras, P. R. :
University of Puerto Rico for the Institute of Caribbean Studies,
1965), p. 251.

Roberts, Jamaica , p. 41.

ror a discussion of the early post-emancipation labor
shortages, see Chapter IV in this study.

uonald J. Bogue, Principles of Demography (New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1969), Table 2-2, p. 36.

23 Ibid,

2 W

2 5 The Colony of St. Vincent, Blue Book, 1854 , pp. 150-151.
[Hereafter this source will be cited as Blue Book , followed by
the appropriate year.]

Author's calculations made from population totals in

Roberts, Jamaica , Appendix I, pp. 330-331.

R. W. Beachey, The British West Indies Sugar Industry

in the Late 19th Century (Oxford: Basil, Blackwell, 1957),
p. 44.

The number of consecrated burials for 1854 was between

975 and 1,116. The record of burials may have included a
double counting of burials listed by religious denomination,
giving the larger number. As many victims were buried quickly
without the benefit of clergy, the exact toll of the disease
cannot be determined. See: Blue Book , 1854, pp. 150-151. It
has also been reported that a yellow fever epidemic occurred
in 1852, but no indication was given in the blue book reports

278

for that year. See: Joycelin Byrne, "Population Growth in
St. Vincent," Social and Economic Studies . XVIII, No. 2 (June,
1969), p. 152.

Of the 23 estates sold under the West Indian Encumbered
Estates Act, 14 were sold in this inter-censal period. For a
further discussion of this Act, see Chapter IV in this study.

The St. Vincent Gove rnment Gazette. 1871 , p. 214.

[Hereafter this reference will be cited as Government Gazette ,
with the appropriate year following it.]

This was determined from the Harbor Master's reports
published briefly between 1874 and 1879 in the Government
Gazettes for those years.

Martin, "The Role of Government in the
Agricultural Development of St. Vincent" (Master's thesis,
Faculty of Agriculture, University of the West Indies,
Trinidad, 1967), p. 117.

Undoubtedly, the havoc of the hurricane of 1898 so depleted

governmental funds that there was little money or inclination
to undertake a census enumeration.

Government Gazette, 1917 . p. 149, and Government

Gazette, 1921 , p. 291.

For a detailed analysis of these two industries, see

Chapter V in this study.

-"Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies,
Report on the Agricultural Department, St. Vincent, for the
Year 1925 (Port-of -Spain, Trinidad: Imperial Commissioner of
Agriculture for the West Indies, 1926), p. 20 [Hereafter this
reference will be cited as Report on the Agricultural Department ,
with the appropriate year designated.]

see: Report of the Registrar-General on the Vital Statistics
of the Colony for the Year 1925 (Kingstown: Government
Printing Office, 1926), Table II, p. 12.

"Malaria in St. Vincent, for example, declined from 26
reported cases in 1905 to 10 in 1925, then to in 1955. See:
Report of the Registrar-General on the Vital Statistics of the
Colony for the Year 1904-05 (Kingstown: Government Printing
Office, 1905), Table 5, n.p.; Ibid ., 1925, Table 8, p. 8; and
Ibid ., 1955, Table 7, p. 9.

U<*» „-..i.l^_. _„

279

Bogue, Principles of Demography , Table 2-2, p. 36.

There are cany references In the Government Gazettes
during the 1930s Indicating how countries such as Cuba, British
Guiana, and the Dominican Republic opposed the immigration of
alien workers by requiring head taxes or deposits to be paid
upon entrance. This not only deterred many potential migrants
from entering these countries but also served to pay for the
repatriation of a migrant who could find no work or became
destitute.

Bogue, Principles of Demography , p. 808.

Ttonald J. Bogue, "Internal Migration," in The Study of
Population: An Inventory and Appraisal , ed. by Philip M.
Hauser and Otis Dudley Duncan (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1959), p. 502.

Govermsent Gazette , 1927, p. 7.

For dlsucssion of the wartime effects on the Vincentian
economy, see Chapter V in this study.

Report on the Agricultural Department, 1942 , p. 2. It
was reported that the main destinations for Vincentians were
Trinidad and Aruba and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles.
See: Report on the Agricultural Department, 1943 , p. 2.

46 Kuczynski, Deaographic Survey , unuunbered table, p. 2.

* 7 Report on the Agricultural Department , 1944, p. 3.

^est India Royal Commission Report [for 1938-1939 ],
Salter Edward, Baron Moyne, Chairman (London: His Majesty's
Stationery Office, 1945), pp. 434-436.

actual births, but deals only with the survivors born in the
previous 5-year period. Its value is as a relative , not an
absolute, measure of fertility. See: George W. Barclay,
Techniques of Population Analysis (New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 1958), p. 172.

50 Edwin P. Reubens, Migration and Development in the
West Indies , Studies in Federal Economics, No. 3 (Mona, Jamaica:
Institute of Social and Economic Research, University College
of the West Indies [1961]), Table 11-14, p. 38. A survey of
400 Vincentian emigrants, between June, 1959 and September,

280

I960, revealed that 55 per cent were 15 to 30 years of age.

The vital statistics reports for these years were not
available in St. Vincent. Therefore, the pattern of migration
for these years must be interpolated by other means. It is
known that considerable migration to Trinidad occurred at the
beginning and the end of the censal period 1946 to 1960, and
St. Vincent was an important contributor to this movement.
See: Jack Harewood, "Population Growth of Trinidad and Tobago
In the Twentieth Century," Research Papers, Trinidad and
Tobago Central Statistical Office , No. 4 (December, 1967), p. 72.

The first Federation elections were held in April, 1958,

and the referendum in Jamaica resulting in that country's with-
drawal from the Federation of the West Indies occurred in
September, 1961.

Reubens, Migration and Development , p. 3. Migration to
Trinidad slackened considerably after the Government of
Trinidad tightened its immigration policy governing the
employment of foreign workers. See: Ibid . , p. 32.

Female migration became more evident as the rate of net

emigration Increased. In 1946, the sex ratio of registered

emigrants from St. Vincent was 152 males per 100 females, and

by 1955, the ratio had decreased to 134. In the same years,

the sex ratio of registered immigrants to St. Vincent declined

from 171 to 143. See: Registrar-General's Report, St. Vincent ,

1955 (Kingstown: Government Printing Office, 1957), Table 15,

p. 16.

Bogue, Principles of Demography , Table 2-2, p. 36.

Glenn T. Trewartha, A Geography of Population: World
Patterns (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1969), pp. 72-74.

The population data showing the number of slaves and
apprentices in St. Vincent are taken from a partially destroyed
book discovered by and now in the personal possession of
Dr. I. A. E. Kirby, Chief Veterinary Officer in the St. Vincent
Department of Agriculture. This book Is hereafter referred to
as Estates Book . The precise location of the sugar estates,
many of which were nearly lost to history before Dr. Kirby
meticulously and painstakingly sought out each estate listed
in various historical references concerning St. Vincent, were
taken from the master sugar estate map (scale, 1:25,000) com-
piled by Kirby.

281

^Ihere are no surviving census naps before 1946, thus
the only feasible way to determine population distribution is
by using sugar estate slave distributions. Population enumer-
ation districts before 19A6 were too gross to allow a precise
examination of the spread of population — most enumeration
districts were on a parish basis or police district basis,
both of which result in overly generalized patterns.

59 For 1825, one reference listed a total of 1,301 whites
and 2,824 "coloured" [sic]. See: Sb.epb.ard, Account of
St. Vincent , Appendix, No. IV, p. iv. This total combined
with the 20,102 slaves listed in the Estates Book results In
a total population of 24,277 in 1825 of which 83 per cent were
slaves. See: Estates Book, p. 241. According to the estimates
for 1825 given in the census of 1946, there were 23,780 slaves
out of a total population of 27,905, which amounts to 85 per
cent of the colony's population. See: West India n Census,
1946, Part H: "Census of the Windward Islands, 9th April,
1946"|" Table F, p. xiii. In either case, the population
estimates must be considered approximate, thus it is assumed
that an overwhelming proportion of St. Vincent's population
before emancipation was composed of black slaves.

60 For example, the two largest estates on the Windward
coast, in 1833, were Grand Sable (693 slaves) and Union (560
slaves). The two largest estates on the Leeward coast, north
of St. George Parish, were Richmond (326 slaves) and Rutland
Vale (227 slaves). See: Estates Book , passim .

6 W

62 Ibid. The largest single estate in St. George Parish
was Arnos Vale (east of Kingstown and now the site of the
island's airport), with 283 slaves.

^The illegal encroachment upon Crown Lands (generally
considered to be the interior of the island) was confined to
charcoal burning and the temporary cultivation of provision
grounds in the mountain lands of St. George Parish. See:
Blue Book 1856 , p. 249.

M Hany of the island's East Indian descendents became
small farmers after their Indentures expired. They purchased
land from the many small estates in the Karriaqua Valley and
near the town of Calliaqua. See Figure 12 for a map showing
the distribution of East Indian immigrants between 1861 and
1880.

ntttftm- i mrfftT'-ii'-i i ir^.y t« i »- .wm» „ -- r ■ ■■ , . ^- ■ ll -. jaje ^^a CJ — -,...., .■.. -,-■'- ■■ .■•■T-i.-n-.fn-iifi-vM-

282

Government Gazette . 1912, p. 249.

66™

The census statistics for the years 1814, 1851, and

1861 were given on a parish basis. For 1871, the population
enumeration districts were re-drawn in such a way as to preclude
the comparison of earlier censuses, as the 5 parishes in the main
island were divided into 4 census districts with a separate unit
added for the Grenadines. The census of 1881 used the same census
districts as those in 1871, but set aside the town of Kingstown
as a separate unit. In 1891, the census districts coincided with
"police districts" and were collapsed into 4 major units. For
the censuses of 1911, 1921, and 1931, census districts were re-
drawn so that there were 6 districts (5 in 1911 as the Grenadines
were added to that of the town of Kingstown). The census of
1946 used the same major enumeration districts but changed their
names. There were, in addition, 13 sub-districts created. The
1960 census followed the districts and sub-districts of 1946, with
only slight variations in boundaries. (See Figure 40.)

"'Trewartha, Geography of Population , p. 72.

TJnited Nations, Demographic Yearbook , 1968 (New York: '
United Nations, 1969), Table 2, pp. 89-90.

One of the leading demographic statisticians of the
West Indies has commented on the high densities found in
Barbados and the accompanying employment problems. See:
Jack Harewood, "Overpopulation and Underemployment in the
West Indies," International Labour Review , LXXXII, No. 2
(August, 1960), p. 110.

"\fhen the Grenadine dependencies are included in the area
below 1,000 feet, the population density for St. Vincent increases
from 40 per cent of Barbados' s density in 1844 to 65 per cent of
the density in 1960.

The "real" density of population calculated by the
author corresponds closely with the "nutritional density" or
"physiological density," that is, the more meaningful ratio of
total population to arable land. See: Trewartha, Geography
of Population , p. 74. The main island of St. Vincent has
approximately 48,886 acres of land considered arable. See:
J. P. Watson, J. Spector, and T. A. Jones, Soil and Land-Use
Surveys, No. 3, St. Vincent (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad: The
Regional Research Centre, The Imperial College of Tropical
Agriculture, 1958), p. 10. The author's measurements show
that 47,834 acres (74.74 square miles) in the "main" island

283'

of St. Vincent are below 1,000 feet in elevation. One
conclusion is, therefore, that the land below the 1,000-foot
contour line has been the reservoir of arable land in the colony.
The "real" density determined by the author is, in effect, the
same as the "nutritional" or "physiological" density described
by Trewartha. The revised density figures for St. Vincent
would have been even greater had the area below 1,000 feet in
the northern part of St. David Parish been eliminated. For the
sake of internal consistency, however, the area considered
inhabitable was confined to all land below 1,000 feet in
elevation.

Barbados is a relatively flat, low- lying limestone
island with its highest point only 1,100 feet above sea level.
Its suitability for cultivation, especially for sugar cane,
is evidenced by the fact that about 85 per cent of the total
area of the island is under cultivation. See: Preston E.
James, Latin America (4th ed.; New York: The Odyssey Press,
1969), p. 320. On the other hand, about 57 per cent of the
total area of St. Vincent's main island is cultivable. See:
Watson, Spector, and Jones, Soil and Land-Use Surveys , p. 10.

Population densities have been calculated for 1844, 1851,

and 1861 as these were the only years when parishes were used
as census districts.

As early as 1874, it was reported that periodic large

emigration to Trinidad occurred, with migrants moving south-
ward on uncounted sloops for the Grenadines. See: Government
Gazette , 1874, p. 30.

CHAPTER VII
THE COMPOSITION OF POPULATION IN ST. VINCENT

After the past economic cycles In St. Vincent and the cor-
responding eras of change in the dynamic components of population
growth have been recognized, it is possible to analyze the com-
position of the population in order to determine how demographic
characteristics have been affected by fluctuations in births,
deaths, and migration. Changes in fertility have had their effect
on the youthful cohorts of the population while mortality fluctua-
tions have affected all ages. The most obvious thread in the
population pattern, however, has been the considerable impact of
migration into and out of St. Vincent. The island's strong
dependence upon a monocultural cash crop regime has forced the
economy to adapt itself to exogenous economic impulses, which,
In turn, has led to the creation of large migration streams that
have left their mark on the population structure.

It is possible to perceive in some measure the economic and
social past of the island by observing, for example, the age, sex,
and racial composition of the population at different times over
the past 200 years. By sequential analysis, an insight is pro-
vided into the probable effects of the frequent and violent
economic wrenchings that have plagued St. Vincent for nearly two
centuries .

285

This chapter will describe and analyze the basic character-
istics of the population structure as they have varied over space
and time. Limitations in the data preclude a complete and com-
prehensive description between 1763 and 1960, necessitating a
focus on the censal period beginning in 1861. The ideal of de-
tailed and cross-classified censuses is found, unfortunately, only
with the enumerations taken in 1946 and 1960. Intra-island com-
parisons of population data are possible from 1861 to 1960 for but
a few demographic variables, but they tend to be generalized and
oftentimes speculative as to meanings and definitions. In fact,
most 19th century censuses failed to publish useful detailed
census reports or administrative procedures.

The primary characteristics examined in this chapter will be
the "ascribed" or biological characteristics: (1) age; (2) sex;
and (3) race. In addition, there will be a discussion of the
rural-urban continuum as applied to St. Vincent. Finally, there
will be an analysis of the changes observed in the occupational
status of the population. The purpose of this chapter is thus
the demonstration of the effects of two centuries of population
change; the effects are obvious but the causes must be sought out
through an understanding of historical geography.

The Age Structure
The age structure (composition) of a country is a basic
demographic component in the analysis of population change. Its
socio-economic structure is reflected in the distribution of
persons by age groups. The youthfulness of St. Vincent's population

286

ia readily apparent from an Inspection of a proportional array
of age groups.

The validity of the historical complaint by estate owners of
labor shortages is confirmed by the "abnormal" under-representation
of the working age population revealed by age statistics. As will
be shown below, a definite pattern of age structure emerges from
a study of the past population profiles. This age structure
pattern, which economically developed countries such as the United
States might consider "abnormal" or "unrepresentative," has been
the "normal" situation for St. Vincent.

The Age Composition of St. Vincent

Satisfactory analysis of St. Vincent's changing age structure

is restricted by the nature of the early statistics. Published

population data for the slave era and the first quarter of a

century following the emancipation of the slaves did not include

a breakdown of population by age. It was only with the census of

1861 that age was first reported and cross-classified by sex and

census district. Age statistics were reported by broad age

groups which make an accurate assessment of reliability and

2
validity difficult for the years before 1946. Nevertheless it

is possible to observe some of the factors that have influenced

the age composition of St. Vincent's population.

A comparison of age structure from 1861 to 1960 reveals the

impact of both migration and fertility over the century. By

1861, the island had fully absorbed the Portuguese Madeiran

imoigrations of the preceding 20 years and was just beginning to

receive the inflow of East Indians. Between 1861 and 1881, the

287

age groups under 20 years maintained about the saae percentage
distribution. (See Table 19.) A noticeable difference occurred
in the age group 20-29 years in 1881, when the numbers declined
3 per cent, and in 1891, when there was a further decline of 2
per cent. These census years marked the end of foreign labor
immigration and the beginning of steady native emigration as the
sugar industry suffered the depression brought on by competition
from European beet sugar. By 1921, there was a decline in the
percentage of population aged 30-49 years, which included those
who were near the upper age limit for migration.

The steady increase in the proportion of population aged
0-9 years from 1871 to 1891 indicated the impact of the with-
drawal of persons of potential migration age (15 through 35 or
40 years). The unexpectedly low concentrations of children under
10 years of age between 1911 and 1931 is probably the result of
misstatements of age by respondents or census enumerators. (See
Figure 41.) None of the archives in St. Vincent allude to any
historical events that could possible have reduced the number of

children; in fact, the opposite should be expected, as fertility

was incipient during the 1920s. The subsequent rapid expansion

in fertility is evidenced by the large size of the cohort of
children in 1946 and 1960. Emigration during the Second World
War and the late 1950s accounted for the decrease in the age
group 20-29 years. (See Table 19 and Figure 41.)

It is axiomatic in demographic analysis that approximately
35 per cent of any population falls in the interval 20 to 44

TABLE 19

TOTAL AGE PROFILE, MALE AND FEMALE COMBINED,

BY 10-YEAR AGE GROUPS, ST. VINCENT,

1861-1960

288

Age 1861 1871 1881 1891 1911 1921 1931 1946 1960
Group (X) <Z) CO (H tt) (» <*> «> (Z >

0-9

10-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60+

Total

100

Source: Author's calculations.

289

PER CENT
40

I 5

CENSUS DATE
1861

^—••—1931

- \jf

: S^:

y<£~

0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

AGE GROUP

FIGURE 41

AGE PROFILE, BY 10-YEAR AGE GROUPS,

ST. VINCENT, FOR SELECTED CENSUS

DATES, 1861-1960

290

years of age regardless of the proportion of the population at
the extremes of the life cycle. For St. Vincent, a comparable
interval of 20 to 49 years of age (the only age interval that can
be traced back as far as 1861) reveals a change in proportion
from a maximum of 40 per cent in 1861 to a minimum of 30 per cent
in 1960, the result of the heavy emigration during the Second
World War and the years encompassing the abortive move toward
federation in the British West Indies in the late 1950s.

The Age Structure, By Sex, for St. Vincent

A more effective approach to assessing the impact on the
structure of population by the vital events and migration is a
comparison of age groups by sex , by which the age and sex groups
most affected by fluctuations in the demographic variables can be
readily observed. For a long-term analysis, the age and sex
structures have been gTaphed by 10-year age intervals for the
period 1861 to I960. 5 (See Figure 42.) The most striking con-
clusion to be derived from these distributions (converted to
index numbers based on the population profile in 1861) is the
importance of migration, especially during the 20th century. The
growing emigration of Vincentian males between 1871 and 1891 is
reflected in lower index values for the prime migration ages
(20 through 39 years) . The withdrawal of these people from the
total population boosted the proportional representation of
children (0-9 years) and the elderly (60 years and older).

As emigration increased after the demise of the Vincentian
sugar industry, the age selectivity of migration became more

291

NUMBER (■•(■•100)

INDEX number (ubi-iooi

200 t

<»>

1671

1881

— I6tl

^/^^^y

j-»'~k,> ^4<^-

I , , , r—

-, — f

NOEX NUMBER 11861*100)

INDEX NUMBER (I86MOO)

FIGURE 42

INDEX NUMBERS OF AGE-SEX PROFILES,

ST. VINCENT, 1861-1960 (1861 = 100)

292
apparent. Distortions of the age distribution increased after
1891, particularly between 1911 and 1921. The latter census
year recorded the greatest deviation from the age and sex profile
of 1861, which was most obvious at the age group 30-39 years. In
part, this indicates the normal aging of early cohorts of emigrants
whose absence in 1921 is measured by an index number one-half of
Its corresponding value in 1861. (See Figure 42a and 42c.) The
fluctuations of index numbers for the age group 0-9 years should

be cautiously interpreted, for these data, at least for the first

7
30 years of the 20th century, are very likely inaccurate.

The ages for male emigrants were between 20 and 49 years,
although those who left usually did so at the lower end of this
age span. Their continued absence, for there were those who
opted to stay away permanently, reduced the proportion of their
age group in the total population at later censuses. The greatest
deviation from the base year profile in 1861 was for those aged
60 years and older in 1911. (See Figure 42c.)

Female Vincentians figured much less prominently in emi-
gration streams during the 19th and early part of the 20 centuries.
(See Figure 42b and 42d.) There was only a slight deviation from
the 1861 base year profile during the late 1800s for the female
age groups. The heavy male losses after 1891, however, expanded
female representation at all age groups above the age of 9 years
during the first 30 years of the 20th century. A pattern of
female emigration emerged as a result of the Second World War,
especially for women aged 20-29 years. (See Figure 42d.) In
response to the previous high male exodus (which left a preponderance

293

of females In St. Vincent), and the greater willingness of women
to seek their fortune outside of the Island, the number of female
migrants Increased rapidly during the late 1950s. Many migrated
to Trinidad and Tobago at the time of the Federation of the West
Indies (1958) and later to the United Kingdom (when the Federation

collapsed in 1962) in hopes of locating, joining their mates, or

q
finding employment.

As already indicated (vide supra page 3) , the "abnormal"
was the norm for St. Vincent's population structure over most of
the century after 1861. The high losses of males from emigration
established a pattern of abnormally low representations of men in
the prime ages for work and reproduction. Notwithstanding such
large male migration streams, Vincentian women managed, however,
to reproduce at a record rate after 1931. By 1960, St. Vincent
ranked 14th in the world in its general fertility rate (the
number of births occurring in a year per 1,000 women of child-
bearing age). This phenomenon lends support to the idea that the
"abnormal" was institutionalized as the normal in much of the
country's demographic history. Similarly, two sister islands

in the British West Indies -St. Kitts and Dominica also

ranked in the top 15 of the world in level of general fertility

10
rate .

A closer examination of the age and sex pyramids (by
5-year age groups) for St. Vincent's population for the censal
years 1911 through 1960 indicates how characteristically narrow
the age groups were above the age of 15 years. 11 (See Figure 43.)

294

295

The indentation at the 5-9 year age group for the censuses of 1911
through 1931 points up an unaccountable error, for no extraordinary
events occurred in these years that would affect this age group
alone. Had there been disrupting events, the effect would have
been carried through at succeeding censuses, which was not so.

Above the youth category (0-14 years of age), there was a
noticeable constriction of the age groups, especially among
working-age males. (See Figure 43.) Between 30 and 60 years of
age, the population pyramids for 1911 and 1921 show a nearly

vertical face dramatic proof of the consequences of past emigration

by males. For these two censuses, the female cohorts show the more
commonly expected stair-step decrease with advancing age. By the
end of the first quarter of the 20th century, female emigration had
not been as depleting as that of male departures.

The incipient growth in fertility, the decline in mortality,
and the restrictions to free movement in the Caribbean region after
1921 are revealed by the age and sex profile for 1931. A broadening
of the age groups above 20 years of age occurred and increased
throughout the 1930s. (See Figure 43.) The disruptions occasioned
by the Second World War are partially hidden because of the omission
of a census in 1941, which might have recorded the changes subse-
quent to the United Kingdom's entry into the European war. By 1946,
the effect of the increased fertility of the late 1930s was visible.
The pyramidal shape is more pronounced, although the male cohorts
at the adult age groups are still smaller than the corresponding
female age groups.

296

The 1960 age and sex profile reveals how much fertility
had increased. St. Vincent had assumed a more classical pyramidal
shape characteristic of economically and socially underdeveloped

countries an extremely broad base, relatively balanced by sex

under the age of 15 years . (See Figure 43.) For the ages 15 years
and older, however, past migrations left more females than males.

In order to obtain a more precise picture of the age dis-
tribution after the Second World War, a profile of the population
broken down by single years has been constructed for the censuses
of 1946 and 1960 only, since previous censuses failed to provide
the valuable details inherent in such age distribution collations.
A noticeable trait in both the 1946 and 1960 single-year population
pyramids is the unevenness of age reporting. (See Figure 44.) The
most preferred digit for reporting age in 1946 was for both sexes;
that is, most of the error in the age statistics was centered in
the ages 10, 20, 30, and so forth. For males, the second most-
commonly-preferred digit was 5_ (15, 25, 35, and so forth), while
for females, it was S, followed by _5. In 1960, males preferred

and 2 as the digits representing their ages, while females re-

13
ported their ages by years ending in 0_ and 8.

As a result of emigration during the middle years of the

Second World War, the 1946 age and sex pyramid showed an expected

decrease in the proportion of the population aged 2 years and 3

years old. (See Figure 44.) According to this pyramid, the

world economic depression of the 1930s had relatively little

effect on fertility in St. Vincent. Most western nations which

suffered economic distress in the 1930s had concomitant decreases

l^Umi"- .^r— -■..^,

f^— . . — .^^.^>- ■■- .,^..^.^^,->_^„.^-'»«Aft^iAMiBfftata^ib

297

■ •HnWWriMMrMVi-i*-! ■«..-— ~— ^ ,

298
In fertility that appeared in population profiles as distortions
in the form of contractions of the infant age groups. St. Vincent
reveals few, if any, such effects, as its fertility was in fact
increasing after 1931.

The single-year population profile for 1960 reveals the
effects of rapidly expanded reproduction after 1946. The base of
the pyramid reached its maximum extent in 1960, as the number of
births, combined with the heavy emigration in the late 1950s, in-
flated the proportion of age groups under 15 years. (See Figure
44.) It is clear that the population of St. Vincent was heavily
weighted toward females at all ages above the youth category.

According to the abridged life table for St. Vincent (1950

to 1952), males should have theoretically exceeded the number of

14
females at all 5-year age groups through the age of 50 years.

Above 50 years, females should have been in the majority as their

mortality was increasingly more favorable. The 1946 age and sex

profile, however, shows fewer males than females at all ages above

15 years. From the life table constructed for the years 1959 to

1961, it is evident that males should have exceeded females through

the age of 56 years, but the 1960 population pyramid likewise shows

a female majority for all ages past 15 years.

For the island as a whole, it has been demonstrated by

inspection of the population profiles between 1861 and 1960 that

heavy emigration of males, especially after 1891, reduced the sex

ratio at all adult ages and more or less maintained this imbalance

up to the 1960 census.

299

Intra-Island Variations In Age and Sex Structure

A treatment of comprehensive island-wide statistics fails
to indicate whether there are marked differences between one part
of St. Vincent and another. By agglomerating ages into 10-year
groups, it is possible to analyze a century of age and sex pro-
files for different parts of St. Vincent, starting with the first
comprehensive census in 1861. (See Figures 45 through 53.) It
should be understood, however, that the resultant patterns of
variations are general because of the broad age groups that must
be used. Nevertheless, it is instructive to fit the known facts
of the time to the observed variations. The time-series comparisons
are best reduced to broad time periods, encompassing events peculiar
to the individual census dates.

1861 to 1881- 1 The censuses of 1861 through 1881 recorded

the effects of the bulk of St. Vincent's post-emancipation immi-
gration, which included the importation of indentured Portuguese
Madeirans, "liberated" Africans, and East Indian "coolies." Most
of the alien laborers served out their indentures on Windward
coast sugar estates in Charlotte Parish, especially in the "Carib
Country." 17 The population pyramids for the entire colony over
these years show relatively little change, but variety among the
census districts Is apparent, particularly for the town of Kings-
town and the Grenadine dependencies. (See Figures 45 through 47.)
In the Kingstown Census District , the age and sex profile,
even at this early date (1861), revealed the consequences of
internal migration. Being the only major shipping port and the
capital of the colony, it attracted young adults, usually female.

300

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309
The age and sex selectivity of internal migration in St. Vincent
followed an expected pattern, that is, young adults apparently
coved more readily than older persons, and females dominated the
migration within the "main" island to Kingstown. It has been
generally accepted in the migration literature that "females tend

to travel short distances, whereas males tend to constitute a

18
disproportionately large part of the total long-distance migrants."

The result of internal movement in St. Vincent can be inferred from

the "bulging" of the young adult age groups, especially among the

female population. Such a pattern is obvious in the population

profiles for the censuses between 1861 and 1881. (See Figures

45 through 47.)

The preponderance of females in Kingstown may also be

attributed to the losses of young males who left the island in

international migration streams. The opposite characteristic

among internal migrants should show up among International migrants

who cross national boundaries in their movements males should

predominate as distance from the point of origin (St. Vincent)

increases. Emigration, which started slowly during the 1860s,

increased as the domestic sugar industry experienced reduced.

demand for its product in Europe in the 1870s and 1880s. As the

capital was also the chief shipping point and hub of sea-borne

transportation, it seems very likely that men who left St. Vincent

probably lived in or near Kingstown prior to their departure,

therefore, their subsequent absence would so act as to deflate the

sex ratio among the working-age population.

310
Another noticeable feature of the Kingstown age and sex
structure Is the small proportion of children under 10 years of
age, compared with the average profile for the colony. (See
Figures 45 through 47.) The general concept concerning age com-
position in "urban" areas is that the rapid rural-to-urban mi-
gration of young adults, in combination with their relatively

lower fertility, results in a population that has a "deficit" of

19
children and a "surplus" of people of working age.

In the Grenadines Census District to the south, the popula-
tion profile changed very little from 1861 to the present day. In
the period between 1861 and 1881, however, its age and sex dis-
tribution was the most affected of the island's census districts
by emigration of males. (See Figures 45 through 47.) Between
the ages of 10 and 49 years, there was a constant loss of men,
revealed by the vertical age grouping of males. The typical age
and sex profile should show a decreasing proportion of people at
succeeding higher ages unless extraordinary events cause distortions
to appear in the profile. The near equality of the percentage of
■ales between the ages of 30 and 59 years in 1871 and 20 to 39
years in 1881 indicates heavy emigration that was highly selective
of people in the working ages in the Grenadines. (See Figures 46
and 47.) Vincentians in the dependencies were usually very tran-
sitory in their working habits, especially in the cane harvesting
season when they moved to Trinidad to cut cane. Many remained
in Trinidad, consequently there was a low sex ratio in their
home islands.

311

In the Windward Census District of the "main" Island
(encompassing most of Charlotte Parish), the age and sex composi-
tion shows a slight male predominance in the age group 30-39 years,
for 1871. In the succeeding census, the male predominance had
shifted to the next older age group, 40-49 years, as might be
expected. This probably indicates the infusion of the East
Indians during the period 1861 to 1880, and their concentration
on the Windward sugar estates.

1891 to 1931 . The censuses from 1891 to 1931 encom-
passed one of the most critical periods in St. Vincent's history.
This time interval spanned the years of massive emigration
attendant upon the total collapse of the sugar industry, the des-
tructive hurricane in 1898, and the eruption of the Soufriere
volcano in 1902.

The population distribution by age and sex in 1891 clearly
shows, for the first time, the heavy male losses from emigration.
A very noticeable contraction of the male age groups between 20
and 49 years of age appeared in the colony's total profile. (See
Figure 48.) Whereas in the previous censuses (before 1891), the
enumeration districts farthest from Kingstown showed the least
deformation in their profiles, by 1891, all parts of the colony
evidenced losses of adult males. The indenture contracts had
expired and without the influx of fresh labor, the adult male
population diminshed proportionately in size as native Vincentians
and foreign-born East Indians, who had fulfilled their contracts
and had opted for cash bounties in lieu of free passage to India,
began shifting southward to Trinidad and British Guiana [now Guyana],

21
some even moving to Venezuela in the early 1890s.

t-~r-Hrt. a u: .- - >v „ .«.fi . n.V m Ja- i g --J»- - , ^ ^»~:-j- .,. r- fli' — iT — f in tl I ' ■ ■.. ~- . a~*- _ » ■■ ,i ~ .- — --.■■ ■■> -:■ -— - ■ -■■■■■■* — ■ — -"■ ■*■> .--< ia.-me,^«f »

312

The capital (the Kingstown Census District ) continued to be
a nodal point for both internal migrants (mainly females) and pro-
spective international migrants (mainly males). The town's age
and sex pyramid maintained a relatively narrow base, indicating
the lower fertility of town life and the absence of male partners.
(See Figure 48.) Females continued to outnumber males above the
age of 10 years.

The Grenadines Census District , consistent in its transitory
life style, retained a grossly unbalanced age and sex profile above
the age of 20 years. (See Figure 48.)

Inspection of the age and sex pyramids for the censuses
1911 through 1931 shows that the average profile for St. Vincent
has been affected by the misrepresentations of ages among children
under 10 years. (See Figures 49 through 51.) No doubt the massive
emigration between 1891 and 1911 affected fertility somewhat, but
an unaccountably small number of both sexes was recorded at the
age group 5-9 years. This error seems to have been confined to
the southern census districts that included Kingstown, the sur-
rounding environs, and most of St. George Parish to the east of
the capital (called the Calliaqua Census District ). (See Figure 49.)

If the age group 0-9 years is disregarded, then the con-
traction of male proportions for all of the census districts may
be observed. More than ever, St. Vincent became a predominantly
female society in the years between 1911 and 1921, when the female
majority was at its peak . (See Figures 49 and 50.) By 1931, there
was a gradual diminution in the obvious effects from emigration.
The age and sex distribution for the colony became more "normal"

-..-^^—I-- -,'^- . . ■ . . .^. — _

313

In its appearance. Females were still In the majority but this
phenomenon was less noticeable than in 1911 and 1921. (See Figure

51.)

1946 to 1960 . Most of the distortions in the age and

sex distributions between 1891 and 1931 were ameliorated by 1946.
The population pyramids for 1946 and 1960 show more balance, that
is, the bases widened as a result of the higher fertility after
1931. (See Figures 52 and 53.)

The enumeration districts for the Leeward, Windward, and
southern regions in 1946 (Western , Eastern , and Southern Census
Districts , respectively) showed profiles very similar to the
average for the colony, while those of the Kingstown and the
Grenadines Census Districts evidenced the greatest deviation
from the colony's average. (See Figure 53.)

Each census district in the 1960 census was named for a
major town or village, although these places were not "urban"
enough in life style to influence the distribution of population
in that direction. Only in the town of Kingstown did the abundance
of females and the relative dearth of children under 10 years of
age follow the expected pattern of an "urban" environment. This
confirms the idea that Kingstown has been the only place that
could be called "urban." The other towns and villages have been
merely crossroad communities, nodal points on the island's main
highway. The inhabitants in these places exhibit more "rural"
than "urban" life styles, as many of them work their fields
during the day and return to their village homes in the evening.

*f*m«Tf firm-.

314
Variations In St. Vincent's Burden of Dependency

After a consideration of the broad fluctuations in St.
Vincent's age and sex composition, it is logical to proceed to
an understanding of the variations in the "working-age" segment
of society. People who are "economically active" are usually
the aain providers for those who are either too young or too
old to engage in full-time employment; therefore, as the pro-
portion of one group changes so does the relative burden of
economic dependence.

The conventional statistical measure used to determine the
"burden of dependency" is the dependency ratio , which is a ratio
of the population outside of the working ages to that inside the
working ages. The "working ages" are set by universally accepted
definitions, and for this study they are assumed to include the
ages 15 through 64 years. The population younger than 15 years

and older than 64 years of age is, by definition, called the

22
"youth" and old age segments, respectively. Owing to the

nature of the age reporting in the censuses before 1911, it is

23
not possible to calculate dependency ratios before then. Com-
parisons are therefore limited to the census dates 1911 through
1960.

Since 1911, there has been an upward trend in the burden of
dependency for St. Vincent, with a slight decline registered in
1931. From a minimum in the 20th century of 72 "dependents"
for each 100 persons of "working age" in 1911, the ratio increased
to a record high of 115 by 1960. (See Table 20.) Youths accounted

315
for 86 per cent of the total dependency ratio in 1911, and vith
the upward surge of reproductive performance after 1931, this
increased to 91 per cent by 1960. At the same time, old age
dependency declined from 14 per cent of the total burden to 9
per cent. It is apparent that the increase in fertility has
been most responsible for the added economic load borne by the
working segment of society.

Intra-Island Variations in Dependency * Differences in the

burden of dependency within the island are socially and economically
important to those having to provide a variety of public services to
the population. Of the 5 major census regions in St. Vincent, those
that encompass the southern part of the island (most of St. George
Parish, including Kingstown) have shown the greatest relative in-
crease in the level of dependency. The "Southern" Census District
(east of Kingstown, extending to the border with Charlotte Parish)
recorded a 91 per cent expansion in its dependency load, going
from 66 in 1911 to a record high in the 20th century of 132 by
1960. Of the total dependency burden for this region, the
youth component grew by 103 per cent. (See Table 20.)

The second fastest growing region in the level of dependency
was Kingstown and its suburban area. This region increased its
dependency load from 55 to 102 dependents per 100 working-age
people, between 1911 and 1960. Within the limits of the capital
itself, dependency expanded from 49 to 80. (See Table 20.)

Throughout the Windward Census District , dependency increased

by 56 per cent over the half-century after 1911 from 78 to 122.

Natural increase was apparently slower in the Leeward Census District ,

uTrnffMi 'TMitmriJi fWr'nrtnrnT -

316

TABLE 20

DEPENDENCY RATIO, BY CENSUS DISTRICT,
ST. VINCENT, 1911-1960

Census District

Census Year
1921 1931 1946

1960

Colony of St. Vincent
Total Dependency Ratio
Youth Dependency Ratio
Old Age Dependency Ratio

Total
Youth
Old Age

Kingstown
Total
Youth
Old Age

Leeward
Total
Youth
Old Age

Total
Youth
Old Age

Town of Kingstown
Total
Youth
Old Age

115

105

122

113

100

132

120

102

108

121

112

106

116

104

Source: Author's calculations.

317

as total dependency Increased by only 41 per cent — from 86 In
1911 to 121 in I960. The slowest relative expansion in the burden
of dependency occurred in the Grenadines Census District , where
the ratio increased from 90 in 1911 to 116 in 1960. (See Table 20.)

In general, the proportion of dependent persons increased
most rapidly in the areas closest to Kingstown. The outlying
districts, although growing at a fast rate (on an international
scale) , increased their dependency burdens more slowly than the
areas along the south coast, where heavy population concentrations
developed.

The Sex Composition
A review of age and sex structures demonstrates that the
population of St. Vincent remained a relatively "young" population
over most of its history. In accounting for the rapid population
growth after 1931, mainly the outcome of high fertility, the
author has commented on the age distribution of those persons of
reproductive age, with occasional references to the sex balance
of age groups. This section will be concerned more specifically
with the ratio of males to females (the sex ratio ) in an attempt
to explain how factors such as emigration have altered the

25
working-age and old-age population.

The Sex Ratio for St. Vincent

For the "main" island and Grenadine possessions, the sex
ratio has been in a steady decline, at least since the end of
the slave trade. Given the preponderance of males in the
slave trade, it is assumed that St. Vincent's sex ratio before

318

eman cipation was probably greater than 100 males for every 100
females. With the end of slave trading and the aging of African-
born ex-slaves, the sex ratio probably declined as mortality rates

27
favored the female population in the older age groups. The

findings in the first official census in 1844 showed that at that
time, 36 years after the cessation of slave trading in the British
West Indies, the Vincentian sex ratio had been reduced to 86 males
per 100 females. (See Figure 54.) By the Infusion into the pop-
ulation of indentured alien laborers after 1844, the sex ratio
began to increase, reaching a peak of 90 in the census years of
1861 and 1871. This was the highest sex ratio ever measured in
St. Vincent and was not approached again until 1960, when the
ratio was 89. (See Figure 55.)

Little information is available which would permit the
determination of the sex composition of the Portuguese Madeirans

and the "liberated" Africans who disembarked in St. Vincent in

28
the quarter-century following Emancipation. Records of the

East Indian "coolie" immigration show that the sex ratio of the

2,237 indentured workers was 206. 29 The bulk of the East Indians

were between the ages of 20 and 29 years, and a considerable

percentage of males were older than 30 years. (See Figure 56.)

The cessation of alien labor immigration after 1880, coupled

with incipient emigration of native Vincentlans after the sugar

industry faltered in the late 1870s, acted to depress the sex

ratio after 1871. From 89 in 1881, the sex ratio fell rapidly to

84 in 1891, indicating the start of massive out-migration from

St. Vincent. So many men left the colony that the number of males

319

CENSUS DISTRICT

CHARLOTTE PARISH
ST GEORGE PARISH*
TOWN OF KINGSTOWN
ST. ANDREW PARISH
ST. PATRICK PARISH
ST DAVID PARISH
GRENADINES

ST. VINCENT

FIGURE 54

SEX RATIO, BY MAJOR CENSUS DISTRICT, ST. VINCENT,

FOR THE CENSUSES 1844-1871

320

gmsua "'strict'

WINDWARD- "E"

CALLIAQUA (or
SOUTHERN)- "D"

KINGSTOWN and
SUBURBS-"A" "B"

TOWN OF KINGSTOWN

LEEWARD (or
WESTERN)-"C"

GRENADINES-"A" "F"

ST. VINCENT

FIGURE 55

SEX RATIO, BY MAJOR CENSUS DISTRICT, ST. VINCENT,

FOR THE CENSUSES 191 1-1960

321

2 CD

322

per 100 females reached a record low of 76 in 1921. (See Figure
55.) Thereafter, the sex ratio reversed itself and began to in-
crease rapidly as emigrants found the job opportunities overseas
reduced or non-existent and began encountering stiff immigration
restrictions at their destinations.

The world economic depression in the 1930s, which led many
emigrants to return to St. Vincent, and the increase in fertility
caused the sex ratio to rise to 83 in 1946. Fourteen years later,
the sex ratio had reached 89— a ratio only slightly under that of
a century earlier. (See Figures 54 and 55.)

Intra-Island Variations in the Sex Ratio

It is possible, from the sex categorization of the population

as far back as 1844, to observe the general patterns of spatial

30
variations in sex composition for St. Vincent. For the purposes

of this study, these variations are divided into two sections— the

19th century and 20th century fluctuations.

The 19th Century .— In the latter half of the 1800s, St.

Vincent experienced a considerable amount of internal variation

in sex composition. In general, all of the Leeward parishes

(St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David) and Charlotte Parish

along the Windward coast had sex ratios that were more masculine

than the colony's average. (See Figure 54.) The highest sex ratios

were found in the outlying parishes— Charlotte and St. David. The

latter parish, in fact, registered more males than females in 1851

and 1861. (See Figure 55.) There is no ready explanation for

this phenomenon, as few of the indentured immigrants were sent

323

to estates in St. David Parish and the unlikelihood that fertility

,31
was appreciably higher than elsewhere in the island. The

Leeward parishes of St. Andrew and St. Patrick usually registered
sex ratios above the colony's average, except in 1851 for St.
Andrew and in 1871 for St. Patrick. (See Figure 54.) At no time
after 1861 was there a sex ratio at or above equality (100) in any
part of St. Vincent.

In St. George Parish (at the southern end of the island) and
in the Grenadine possessions, there were so many more females than
■ales that the sex ratios for these areas were well below the
colony's average. As expected, St. George Parish and Kingstown
had relatively low sex ratios.

Kingstown never had more than 73 males per 100 females in
the censal period of the 19th century, and it was not until 1946
that this level was exceeded. Town life is commonly known to
attract migrants, and in St. Vincent, those who left the island
for overseas employment were usually men, while those who were,
by definition, internal migrants were females moving short dis-
tances. The age and sex discussion in this chapter revealed that
■uch of Kingstown's population was composed of young adults, with
females in the majority at all ages above childhood.

The more densely populated area of numerous villages and
settlements in St. George Parish, east of Kingstown, was probably
the receiving zone for young females who left their homes and
headed toward Kingstown, the island's primary center of social
and commercial activity.

324

Throughout the Grenadine Islands, fishing and sailing were

the dominant economic pursuits, even as small estates vere

abandoned following emancipation. In 1851, the number of males

per 100 females exceeded the national average for the first and
only time between 1844 and 1960. Most of the time, the absence
of the male population, either temporary or permanent, depressed
the sex ratio to levels considerably under the colony's average.
This still remains a characteristic of the dependencies.

The 20th Century . — The censuses taken in this century reveal
spatial variations similar to those of the previous century. An

above-average sex ratio for the outlying districts, those com-

33
prised of the Windward and Leeward parishes may be observed.

The essentially estate-oriented economy of the Windward area

accounts for the above-average sex ratios found there, although

the ratio between the sexes has been weighted toward the female

population.

The Leeward region, lacking towns and villages sufficiently
large to affect its rural character, might be expected to have a
higher-than-average sex ratio. Rural life is often conducive to
out-migration by young females who are faced with an agricultural
environment and a dearth of males of similar age.

Reflecting a 19th century pattern, the census districts en-
closing the southern end of the island tend to have markedly below-
average sex ratios. This feature had been accentuated in the
capital, where extremely low sex ratios have been recorded. Before
1946, the number of males per 100 females remained relatively con-
stant, fluctuating between 65 and 69. (See Figure 55.)

325
In keeping with Its traditional life style, characterized by
a transitory male population, the Grenadine dependencies registered
extremely low sex ratios for places lacking large urban settlements.
The lowest level recorded in the dependencies was 71 in 1911 and
1921 (the peak periods of emigration). (See Figure 55.)

A generalization for the 20th century population of St. Vin-
cent is that the pace of rising sex ratios quickened after 1921.
The end of massive emigration, induced by the barriers to inter-
national movements and the growing Importance of arrowroot and
Sea Island cotton production, combined with a burgeoning fertility
rate, caused the sex ratio to shift toward the male population.

There is little hope that the country can equalize its sex
ratio throughout the Island, given the economic and social forces
that have "pushed" men to seek overseas employment (even in the
face of increasing immigration restrictions abroad) and have

pulled" women into the more attractive "urban" areas, especially
to Kingstown and the southern coastal communities that have be-
come tourist havens.

The Sex Ratio By Age Group

The final analysis of the sex composition of St. Vincent's
population is a presentation of sex ratios by age groups to deter-
mine which ages have been affected the most by emigration. (See
Figures 57 and 58.) Age groups for the censuses between 1891 and
1960 have been agglomerated to include the significant cycles of
life that people pass through from childhood to old age. For
the purposes of this study, the population under 15 years of age
was considered to be economically Inactive; the population between

326

SEX RATIO

ctusm

Illl

ol —

15-39 40-59

FIGURE 57

SEX RATIO, BY BROAD AGE GROUPS,
ST. VINCENT, 1891-1960

327

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128
15 and 39 years was assumed to be the most migration-prone, those
between 40 and 59 years of age were considered to be out of the
■ain ages for migration and reproduction; and the population 60
years and older was considered to be economically dependent. 34

Assuming that age statistics before 1946 were imperfect, it
is true that the estimated long-term trend for sex ratios for the
"youth" of St. Vincent has been essentially correct. From a
"perfect" sex ratio of 100 in 1891, the ratio for youths became
higher at succeeding censuses, to be expected when fertility in-
creases added large numbers of children to the population, given
the high sex ratio at birth. (See Figure 57.)

Between 1891 and 1921. the sex ratio for the migration-
prone population decreased as large numbers of males continued
to emigrate as they became of employment age. The end of massive
emigration by 1921 and the rising fertility rates thereafter are
revealed by higher ratios of males to females at each succeeding
census after 1921. (See Figure 57.)

A close inspection of the age groups over time shows the ex-
tremely low sex ratios for young adults at all of the census dates
in the 20th century. By 1921, there were only 63 males for every
100 females. As already indicated (page 15), the sex ratio should
not be expected to fall below 100 until after the age of 50 years
is reached— unless forces other than fertility and mortality are
at work. In St. Vincent, the extraneous force has been emigration .
The higher fertility after 1931 and the end of the desperate mi-
gration streams of the first quarter of the 20th century thus

_ias auuu.

329

boosted the sex ratio of the ages 15 through 39 years to 83 males
per 100 females.

The ages 40 through 59 years have been affected the most by
earlier migrations. In 1891, the sex ratio for this broad group
was 83; it later fell to 55 in 1931 as old age favored the sur-
vival of females. The repatriation of emigrants during the 1930s
and the early post-World War II years caused an increase in the
sex ratio for this age group, reaching 75 by 1960. (See Figure 57.)

Losses from early 20th century emigrations is the probable
reason for the sharp decline in the age group 60 years and older
after 1931. From a sex ratio of 68 in 1921, the sex ratio dropped
to 51 in 1960. (See Figure 57.)

In general, the most significant factor reducing the mas-
culinity of those age groups above childhood has been the depleting
effect of out-migration between 1891 and 1921. As the various
adult age groups matured, losses from movement out of the country
and the natural disadvantage faced by men vis-a-vis women in
mortality at advanced ages acted to shift the sex ratio heavily
in favor of the female population.

An understanding of St. Vincent's sex composition since 1911
is revealed by the study of 5-year age group sex ratios. (See
Figure 58.) In all age groups from 15 years and older, there have
been greatly reduced sex ratios. This is vivid proof of the
"feminization" of St. Vincent's population and may help to explain
why females began emigrating in increasing proportions to Trinidad
and Tobago and the United Kingdom after 1946 and more recently
to Canada after 1960.

330

The Racial Composition
One of the many distinguishing characteristics of any pop-
ulation is its racial or ethnic composition. In St. Vincent,
Importance has always been attached to the "race," "complexion,"
and "place of birth" of the people. Throughout most of the island's
18th and 19th century history, this variable was considered a
valuable indicator of the potential availability of estate laborers,
as most of the agricultural workers were non-white. Population
estimates and censal enumerations usually contained a categorization
of the people by "race" or some other equivalent description. In-
formation describing the precise census meaning of "race," however,
is wanting in the enumerations before 1946. In most instances,
"color" [also "colour"] or "complexion" was the determining vari-
able. The inconsistency in racial classification makes long-
term comparisons impossible and only by agglomerating several

racial or ethnic groups is it possible to sketch the broadly

. , 36

changing patterns.

Given the inconsistency of racial classification, the author
has chosen to divide the population into 4 groups: (1) black;
(2) white; (3) mixed; and (4) other. (See Table 21.) The pop-
ulation recorded as black, Negro, African, or slave (before 1834)
has been categorized as "black" by the author; those returned in
the censuses as white or European were assumed to be "white."
For the progeny of miscegenation — the so-called "coloured" [ sic ]
population — the term "mixed" was retained. All of the other
people were entered under the class titled "other," and included
East Indians, other Asians, and Carib Indians.

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333

The Historical Racial Composition of St. Vincent

As early as 1787, the Island's population was estimated to
be 13,603, of which 87 per cent were black slaves, 11 per cent
were white, and the remainder were of nixed parentage, mostly
offspring of black and white unions. (See Table 21.) By 1805,
the racial proportions had changed only slightly, with a decrease
in the white population and a small increase in the black and
mixed categories. The cessation of the slave trade had little
effect on the reported proportions of slaves, but there was a
reversal of position between the white and mixed segments, with
the latter moving into second place in numbers. (See Table 21.)
The end of slavery brought an expansion in the proportion
of mixed and white groups, although the latter have always embraced
only a small fraction of the total population— never more than
10 per cent and usually considerably less. The increase in the
mixed population was at the expense of the black, as revealed by
the census of 1861. The growth of the white population was the
result primarily of the influx of some 2,100 Portuguese Madeirans
between 1844 and 1850.

As East Indian indentured laborers arrived in the colony
after 1861, they and their subsequent offspring boosted the
percentage of the "other" population. The Carib Indians formed
such a small group that their numbers affected the "other"
category very little.

There is a 65-year gap in the racia.1 statistics between
1881 and 1946, when race was crudely ascertained by a general

334

category captioned "complexion." The 1946 and 1960 censuses

revealed that the vhite population had declined to a nominal 2

to 3 per cent, while the black, and mixed populations increased as

a consequence of high fertility. (See Table 21 and Figure 59.)

It is difficult to say whether the mixed population grew entirely

by natural increase or by "definition," that is, more people may

have classed themselves as "mixed" in order to enhance their social

... 38
status.

Intra-Island Variations in Racial Composition

The meagerness of valid racial data for St. Vincent precludes
an extensive description of internal variations in this charac-
teristic. Typically, the pattern has been one of above-average
proportions of whites in the capital, Kingstown, the chief center for
government, commerce, and services. The same generalization
pertains to the mixed population, reflecting an 18th and 19th
century feature that has been carried over to the 20th century.

In the last half of the 1800s, the Windward region, with its
heavy concentrations of indentured Portuguese Madeirans and East
Indians, had an above-average percentage of people in the "other"
category, which was mostly accounted for by the East Indians and
their descendants. On the Leeward coast of St. Vincent and along
the southern coast, east of Kingstown's suburban area, there have
been greater-than-average proportions of blacks. Conversely, the
Leeward coast has usually been under-represented by "whites."

Very few East Indians or their offspring have chosen to
settle in the Grenadine Islands; these dependencies have been

335

populated predominantly by the black and mixed population, with
only a token white representation at any one time. (See Table 21.)

Racial Variations by Age and Sex

Only brief mention need be made about the age and sex
composition of the important racial groups owing to the absence
of such cross-classifications before 1946. It was not until the
1946 census that the racial categories were reported both by age
and sex.

In 1946 and 1960, the essential feature of the non-vhite
races was their relative youthfulness. The white population, in
contrast, contained 34 per cent of its total under the age of
15 years in 1946 and 37 per cent by 1960, considered by Smith
and Zopf to be in their category of "medium youthfulness." The
other major racial groups were characterized as having "high

youthfulness," with more than 40 per cent of their population

40
concentrated among children less than 15 years old. (See Figure

60.)

St. Vincent's non-white population resembles that usually
found in most economically and socially underdeveloped countries
where high fertility results in an overwhelmingly large proportion
of the population in the economically inactive group under 15
years of age. In 1946, for example, the mixed, East Indian, and
black racial groups contained 48, 47, and 43 per cent, respectively,
of their population under 15 years of age. (See Figure 59.)
The same groups, in 1960, contained 56, 49, and 47 per cent,
respectively, of their population in the youth category. Given

336

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337

the precarious economic cash crop history of the colony and
the heavy burden of dependency, it is easy to understand why
economic and social advancement may be a long time in arriving.

Contrasting patterns of "old age" among the various racial
and ethnic groups of St. Vincent can be discerned in recent
censuses. Using the categories adopted by Smith and Zopf, who
divided the world's populations into high , medium , and low old-
age proportions, using the percentage of population 65 years and
older as the measure, it is possible to comment on modern 20th
century trends. 41 The Vincentian white population was of medium
old age in 1946 (7.7 per cent) and high old age in 1960 (slightly
above 8 per cent). (See Figure 59.)

The non-white races were characterized by low old-age
populations in 1946 and 1960, with none recording an old-age
proportion above 4.1 per cent in either year. Very likely, this
resulted from high fertility and the consequent enlargement of
the younger age groups.

The Rural-Urban Composition
Among the major demographic characteristics which describe
a population (age, sex, race, and place of residence), the rural-
urban location is important because of the differences noted in
the dynamic factors of population change and population composi-
tion between rural and urban people. Ideally, it should be
possible to cross-classify the changes in vital events and
population composition by place of residence, but each country

338

must face the problem of specifying the criteria that delimit
"urban" and "rural" areas. Such criteria are not universally
transferable owing to international differences in the size of
populations and social and economic conditions.*-'

St. Vincent did not face up to the problem of rural-urban
differences until the 1946 census, when a flexible definition
was agreed upon. The complexities of applying specific limits
to urban places is much the same as trying to define
civilization . Accordingly, the categories of "urban" and
"rural" were not adopted; instead "small towns" were set apart
from their rural environs if they possessed "certain institutions
and facilities" (which were, unfortunately, not all indicated in
the census's administrative report) and had a minimum of 2,000
inhabitants. 5

The Number and Size of Settlements in St. Vincent

The average number of settlements of all sizes can only
be determined for the census years 1861 through 1891. Over
this 30-year period, the average number of settlements was 263
(at each census date) and included towns, villages, estates,
and isolated house sites. 47 (See Figure 61.) Most of the
settlements had 50 or less inhabitants, the bulk being micro-
settlements of less than 10 persons.

Among larger places with over 500 persons, the trend was
toward more of these settlements after 1861, during the East
Indian immigrations. With incipient emigration after 1881, there
was a slight decline in the number of places with more than

339

HC «0U

1946

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FIGURE 60

AGE-SEX PROFILE FOR SELECTED RACIAL

GROUPS, ST. VINCENT, 1946-1960

340

500 persons. (See Figure 60.) From a total of 6 places with
more than 500 persons in 1861, the number increased to 16 in
1881, then fell to 11 in 1891.

There were very few places with populations greater than
1,000 in the period between 1861 and 1891. Those that existed
were: in 1861, Kingstown (5,105); in 1871, Kingstown (5,394)
and Barrouallie (1,219); in 1881, Kingstown (5,593), Barrouallie
(1,252), and Georgetown (1,021); and in 1891, Kingstown (4,547)
and Barrouallie (1,109). (See Figures 61, 62, and 63.)

The growth of St. Vincent's principal towns and villages
(Kingstown, Barrouallie, Chateaubelair, Calliaqua, and Georgetown)
has been erratic, according to the census statistics— a
phenomenon more indicative of changes in what was considered
the effective town limits rather than changes in internal
migration and natural increase. (See Figure 62.)

Kingstown, the island's primate city, has decreased in
population size as the surrounding hillsides facing Kingstown
Bay (outside the town's defined boundaries) have absorbed
increasing numbers of internal migrants, repatriated emigrants,
and civil servant families (who benefited from the Government's
planned efforts to house them on the outskirts of Kingstown). As
the town has declined in population, so has the "suburban" area
grown.

The Sex Ratio of Principal Settlements

The only ascribed characteristic that is cross-classified
in the censuses by principal settlement is the sex ratio. Owing

341

NUM8ER OF
SETTLEMENTS

120

!P^

■

o-~— — -

n i

0- 1- j-

o-- L j-

1 !•

1 1 1 1 1 1 r

I- 51- 101- 151- 201- 251- 301- 351- 401- 451- 50H
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

SIZE Or SETTLEMENT

S<*rL* Carv*S St A* (

FIGURE 61

NUMBER OF SETTLEMENTS, BY SIZE,
ST VINCENT, 1861-1891

342

■uauR
■opoo

• poo-

tfioa-

1.000
• 00

or persons (io«irin»ic k*m)

I I I 1 I t_

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(,000

iooH 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 : 1 —

IK4 last laci i*7i tasi i«»i isn iszi u-v im« isto

CtDSUS YEHBS
t— f«= iltlt Boo*. 1851 and cittus afc«fracH.

FIGURE 62

SIZE OF PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
ST. VINCENT, 1844-1960

SANDY BAY

GEORGETOWN

COLONAIRIE
BRIDGETOWN

KINGSTOWN

FIGURE 63

LOCATION OF PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENTS,
ST. VINCENT, I960

344

to the small size of most of the population settlements In St.
Vincent, their sex ratios have shown considerable fluctuations,
for the change of a small number of either sex can unbalance the
overall sex ratio. (See Table 22.)

Typically, the sex ratios of the larger towns have been
well below the island's average. Only in the years following
the Second World War has Kingstown's sex ratio approached the
island average. Most of the other principal towns evidenced
contrasting trends in sex ratios, that is, during periods of
emigration, the sex ratio has increased in some communities
while in others it has declined. The small towns and villages
might also be expected to be affected similarly by economic and
social forces, but, because some of the communities are more
"rural" than "urban," the trend of sex ratios for these communities
diverged from that of the more "urban" places.

A generalization about the spatial variation of sex ratios
is that the towns in the outlying parishes along the Leeward
coast (Chateaubelair and Barrouallie) and the Windward coast
(Georgetown) have experienced higher proportions of males to
females than those closer to (and including) Kingstown. Sandy
Bay village, for example, one of the more remote settlements in
the island, located on the lower northeastern slopes of the
Soufriere volcano, has recorded the highest sex ratios— 132 in
1871, 111 in 1881, 116 in 1946, and 100 in 1960. (See Table 22.)
These are abnormally high sex ratios in any country and cannot be

345

TABLE 22

SEX RATIO OF PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES,
ST. VINCENT, 1844-1960

Place 8

Sex Ratio

1844 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1911 1921 1931 1946 1960

Kingstown

Calliaqua

Barrouallle

Chateaubelair

Georgetown

Port Elizabeth,
Bequia

Sandy Bay

Colonarie

Bridgetown

Marriaqua

Layou

66 65 65 73 71 67 69 65 67 75 85

78 71 78 65 65 82 59 53 63 74

75 80 75 75 79 94 78 82 73 82

85 91 81 94 79 75 77 75 84 75

95 87 84 79 65 85 81 84 84

89 74 68 74

87 132 111 87

64 76 107 106

73 85 99 69

80 93 84

94 87 97 88

69 72

- 116 100

- - - 78 77

83 97

76 106

76 73 77 82 75

ST. VINCENT

86 86 90 90 89 86 78 76 79 83

a The settlements listed in this table are those considered
"small towns" by the 1960 census administrators, yet many were
relatively unimportant during most of St. Vincent's history.

. 346

readily explained from the available date. As it happens, the
village is the site of the last remaining Carib Indians and
depends upon agricultural field labor for subsistence. This
«ay explain why many men are found there, but it does not account
for the absence of women.

The Occupational Status
In studying the past, present, and future of a population,
besides the biological or "ascribed" characteristics (age, sex,
and race), those variables that are influenced by personal choice,
for example, occupational, educational, and marital status should
also be included. For the pruposes of this study, only "occupation"
will be examined, as this characteristic follows closely the
fluctuations in the economy and indicates how Vincentians have
earned their living. It has already been demonstrated how the
age, sex, race, and, to a lesser extent, place of residence, have
changed over time and space in St. Vincent. The final section of
this chapter is, therefore, concerned with the examination of the
changing occupational status of the labor force, reflecting the
traumatic reversals experienced in 200 years by the domestic
economy.

The Composition of the Labor Force

A common problem encountered in working with West Indian

census information is the difficulty of classifying occupations

48
that have changed in function if not in name. In this study,

the "occupations" or "professions" listed in the censuses have

347

been grouped Into several broad industrial classifications in
order to reduce the error that might result from an overly-precise
cataloguing of job types which may have changed considerably
between 1861 and 1960. All of the occupations in the censuses
have been assigned to one of three industrial groups: (1) primary
activities; (2) secondary activities; and (3) tertiary activities.

The years before 1861 are not included in this analysis
owing to the absence of occupational data. It is well known,
however, that during slavery, the West Indian labor forces were
comprised primarily of African chattel workers who, by authority
rather than by choice, were forced to provide the needed labor.
The proportion of slaves in the total population of each slave-
holding country was, in essence, the "labor force." In St.
Vincent, for example, it can be assumed that approximately 85

to 90 per cent of the pre-emancipation population were

„51

economically active.

Between 1861 and 1960, the labor force in St. Vincent
declined steadily in proportion to the total population. (See
Table 23.) The end of slavery saw ex-slaves, especially women
and young children, removed from the economically active
population, once attendance at field labor was no longer
compulsory. By 1861, 20,421 persons or 64 per cent of the
total population were considered gainfully employed. In
addition, each census after 1861 saw a drop in the proportion of
people in the labor force so that by 1960, only 29 per cent of

348

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350

the population was economically active in St. Vincent. The ex-
planation for the decline in the percentage of people working rests
on the high fertility rates after 1931, as veil as the cumulative
effects of heavy emigration from 18S1 to 1921 and again during the
Second World War and the lare 1950s. As some persons were added
to the population by increased reproduction and others were with-
drawn through emigration, the size of the laboring population
fell in relation to the total population, which was growing
"younger."

While the total population of St. Vincent increased by 152
per cent, from 1861 to 1960, the absolute size of the labor force
grew by only 14 per cent. These statistics clearly point out
the impact of losses from emigration, but the changing role of
the female worker in St. Vincent should not be neglected as a
significant element in this trend.

The Age and Sex Structure of the Labor Force . — Between 1911
and 1960 (the only years when the sex of workers was recorded),
the number of gainfully employed males increased by 58 per cent,

while that of females declined by 22 per cent (See Table 23.)

Such a trend is characteristic of other West Indian societies.

The sex ration of the labor force, from 1911 to 1960, evidenced
the withdrawal of women from active employment. From 78 males
per 100 females in 1911, the balance shifted in favor of men, so
that by 1960, the sex ratio stood at 157. 53 (See Table 23.)
This occurred, it should be noted, despite the predominance of
females in the total population.

35X

In general, the proportions of each age group In the
economically active population (for both sexes) declined between

1946 and 1960. (See Figures 64 and 65.) Youths entered the work-

lng population at later ages In 1960 than they did In 1946.

For males In the age group 15 to 19 years, 66 per cent were in
the labor force in 1946, while only 52 per cent were in the labor
force in 1960. The percentage of econoaically active females in
the same age group fell from 48 per cent to 34 per cent. (See
Figures 64 and 65.) The most economically active age group for
females was 20-24 years in 1946, when 57 per cent were in the
labor force, and 35-44 years in 1960, when 47 per cent were
employed. Typically, males have been much more active in the
labor force than females, at all ages, despite their numerical
inferiority.

The Occupational-Industrial Status . — St. Vincent has alvays
been a monocultural economy, with most of its work force engaged
in the primary sector, mainly as agricultural laborers. (See
Figure 66.) The percentage of the labor force engaged in the
primary activities remained relatively constant between 1861
and 1931. The slight increase in primary employment registered
in 1871 coincided with the introduction of East Indians, while
the small decline recorded between 1891 and 1911 was associated
with emigration. Not surprisingly, the cajority of workers in the
primary sector have been agricultural workers. Between 1911 and
1921, females were in the majority among agricultural laborers
owing to the departure overseas of large numbers of males during
the previous decades.

352

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355

Those vomers Involved in secondary and tertiary occupations
-aintained their proportional representation in the labor force
until 1931. Thereafter their representation increased, following
. shift out of faming by the younger population. Historically,
carpenters and cabinet makers made up the largest single occupational
group in the secondary sector (manufacturing and construction).
The most common occupations found in the tertiary sector (services)
were those of domestic servants, cooks, and laundresses. These
were always female occupations.

An inspection of the data for the age and sex composition of
the various major industrial categories reveals that the older
population groups of both sexes have been nore involved in the
primary sector (mainly agriculture) than in manufacturing and
construction or the service sector.56 In recent decades> ^ ^
worker in St. Vincent has apparently been nore likely to seek
employment in the secondary or tertiary sectors than in farming.
(See Figures 64 and 65.)

If economic diversification is intensified in St. Vincent,
as has been evident by governmental plans after 1960, more service
and manufacturing and construction jobs will be created. Those who
opt to remain in agriculture will likely be the older population.

Summary
St. Vincent's population has been and continues to be a
"young" population. High fertility rates throughout most of its
history, combined with heavy emigration, have served to reduce
the average age of the population. Record fertility levels since

356

the 1930s have added thousands of children to the population,
Increasing the burden of economic dependency, owing to the absence
of much of the Island's working-age population. Economically
active adults, who have remained at home together with those who
have returned, disillusioned, to St. Vincent, partly as a result
of immigration restrictions abroad, have been forced to supply a
rapidly expanding proportion of children and elderly persons, by
their own efforts — clearly insufficient to ensure a rising standard
of living for the entire population, without funds-in-aid from the
United Kingdom.

In addition to being "young," St. Vincent's total population
is "feminine," that is, the sex ratio is low. The selectivity of
•migration over most of the past century has depleted the male
population above 15 years of age. Men had left to 6eek jobs over-
seas when the foundation of the 19th-century economy — the sugar cane
industry — fell on hard times. Women who had removed themselves
from the labor force after emancipation were forced to return to
paid employment before the turn of the 20th century.

Soon after St. Vincent was settled, the periodic importations
of black African slaves made the island a predominantly black society.
Emancipation removed compulsory labor from the economy and saw a
steadily increasing proportion of offspring from black and white
population dimished absolutely and proportionately as the mixed
racial population expanded, aided by the addition of thousands of
indentured foreign laborers after emancipation.

Following living habits established by estate work during
slavery, the emancipated population continued to reside in

357

nucleated settlements near the estates. Urban growth as understood
In the advanced Industrial nations was never present in St. Vincent,
with the possible exception of Kingstown, which has retained its
dominant position as the island's primate city. Rural life has
strongly permeated the villages and towns spotted along the major
highways.

A reflection of the rural life style so apparent in St. Vin-
cent has been the paramount position held by agricultural employment
as the main occupation. Fluctuating cash crop regimes have all
depended upon abundant field labor, with resort to female workers
when males were in short supply.

By 1960, St. Vincent was facing an uncertain future, as mass
emigration — the release-valve for population pressure — became less
feasible. Attention has had to be refocused internally in an
attempt to cope with a rapid population growth, a precarious
economy, and a growing dissatisfaction among young adults with
traditional employment outlets. All events in the succeeding
decade have been directed to solving a problem shared by the entire
Third World. It is not, however, the purpose of this study to do
other than describe and explain the events leading up to the
threshold of 1960.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VII

^Jrban" centers as commonly understood in the economically
developed nations were lacking in St. Vincent. The problem of the
rural-urban continuum will be discussed later in this chapter.

Age was given in 10-year age groups and cross-classified by
sex. Without early vital statistics records and life tables for the
19th century, the accuracy of the age reporting cannot be tested.

It was in 1911 that 5-year age groups were reported and not
until 1946 that single-year distributions were available. The first
modern, comprehensive West Indian census was taken in Jamaica, in
1943. With the census of the Windward Islands, in 1946, and the
vital statistics records of the early 1950s, the first life table
for St. Vincent was prepared, using population estimates for 1951
and the mortality rates for 1950 to 1952. See: University of the
West Indies, Life Tables for British Caribbean Countries, 1959-61 ,
Census Research Programme, Publication No. 9 (Kingston, Jamaica:
University of the West Indies, 1966), p.l.

As indicated in Chapter VI of the present study, there was
a degree of error present in the 1946 and the 1960 censuses. The
author used several tests for determining age accuracy for 1946
and 1960 and found that, surprisingly, the 1946 census was more
accurate than the 1960 enumeration. Whipple's "index of concen-
tration" to determine the heaping of reported ages was 114.2 for
the total population in 1946 (115.3 for males and 113.5 for females).
According to the 5 categories of accuracy established by Whipple
in the United Nation's Demographic Yearbook, 1955 , St. Vincent's
1946 age statistics are classed as "approximate data" (110 to
124.9 are the outside limits set by Whipple). The index for the
Windward Islands as a group was 136.7 ("rough data"). For 1960,
St. Vincent's age statistics are classed as "approximate data"
but were less accurate than in 1946. The index was 116.9 for the
colony, 115.2 for males, and 118.2 for females.

Another test used to test the tendency for reporting ages
at particular years was "Myer's Blended Method," which derives an
"index of preference" to show the degree of age heaping. See:
Robert J. Myers, "Errors and Bias in the Reporting of Ages in
Census Data," Transactions of the Actuarial Society , XLI, Part 2,
No. 104 (October, 1940), pp. 395-415. The index of preference
is the sum of the absolute deviations from 10 per cent for each
digit (0,1,2, ... 9). A zero Index indicates perfect age
reporting. In 1946, St. Vincent measured 6.38 for males and 7.38
for females. This was one of the lowest indices for the West

358

359

Indies in that year. In 1960, the indices were 13.50 for males
and 10.68 for females, indicating a deterioration in reporting
ages accurately. See: Oniversity of the West Indies, Life
Tables, 1959-61 , pp. 2-4.

Age-sex pyramids vith 5-year groupings for 1911 through
1931 reveal a consistent pattern of apparent under-enumeration or
misrepresentation of ages for the population 5-9 years of age. If
there had been an event that reduced this age group in 1911, it
should have been reflected in the age group 15-19 years in the
1921 census and the 25-29 year age group in 1931. This was not
visible at the succeeding censuses. Whatever error occured was
consistently present for the 1921 and 1931 censuses. Migration
would not have affected this age group of children, therefore, it
must be assumed that the error was in the reporting.

Donald J. Bogue, Principles of Demography (New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1969), p. 149.

SThe use of the less precise 10-year age grouping is necessary
if change over the longest time span possible is to be reviewed. The
fact that the 1861 census recorded ages only in broad 10-year inter-
vals forces the investigator to use this approach for a general view
of the demographic changes in St. Vincent.

^Part of the increase In the level of the index numbers for
the age groups 0-9 years and 60 years and older might be due to mis-
statements of age, as the extremes of the age profile are most
characterized by this error. The tendency for misstatement of age
is particularly acute in areas of low economic and social develop-
ment. See: T. Lynn Smith and Paul E. Zopf, Jr., Demography: Prin-
ciples and Methods (Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, 1970), p. 152; George
W. Barclay, Techniques of Population Analysis (New York: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 1958), p. 66.

7 The age group 5-9 years for 1911 through 1931 is clearly
under-represented. This was recognized elsewhere but no explanation^
was given. See: Joycelin Byrne, "Population Growth in St. Vincent,"
Social and Economic Studies , XVIII, No. 2 (June, 1969), p. 157.

8 A crude measure of the mass emigration that occurred after
1891 can be seen from the published estimate of population as of
April 7, 1901, which was presented in lieu of an official census
for that year. It was reported that in the intervening censal
decade, 31,345 departures from St. Vincent and 29,528 arrivals
were officially registered. This probably included a double count-
ing of workers who may have come and gone several times in response
to the annual sugar cane harvesting season in Trinidad and Tobago.
See: The St. Vincent Government Gazette, 1901 , p. 216. [Hereafter
this reference will be cited as Government Gazette , with the year
given.]

360

A sample of 400 emigrants from St. Vincent to other Vest
Indian countries between June, 1959, and September, 1960, revealed
the following information regarding migration: (a) 81 per cent of
the emigrants went to Trinidad and Tobago; (b) 60 per cent were
females; (c) 50 per cent of all emigrants were female "domestic
servants," "seamstresses," and "school teachers;" (d) 55 per cent
were between the ages of 15 and 30 years; (e) 29 per cent were
"urban" inhabitants (a hasty definition that included people who
lived in the towns or environs of Kingstown, Georgetown, and
Bridgetown). See: Edwin P. Reubens, Migration and Develop-aent
in the West Indies , Studies in Federal Economics, No. 3 (Kingston,
Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University
College of the West Indies, [I960]), Tables 11-13 through U-17,
p. 38.

Between 1957 and 1960, there were 2,540 Vincentians who em-
barked for Britain specifically to seek employment; by 1966, there
were 7,060 who left for the same reason. See: Annual Report of
the Saint Vincent Police Force , for the years 1957 through 19C6.
An indication of the sex selectivity of the migration streaos to
Britain, which offers a possible insight into St. Vincent's pattern,
is that in 1955, only 15 per cent of Dominica's emigrants were
females, whereas, by 1958, 47 per cent were women. By 1960, this
had fallen to 41 per cent. See: R. B. Davison, West Indian
Migrants (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), Table 9, p. 15.

Bogue, Principles of Demography , p. 669.

Comparisons using 5-year age intervals are possible for
the censal enumerations from 1911 to 1960. The 1891 census had
5-year age groups for the population under 20 years of age, but
not above it.

12 Unlversity of the West Indies, Life Tables, 1959-61 , pp. 3-4.

13 Ibid. , pp. 3-4.

University of the West Indies, Life Tables for West Indian
Populations, 1945-47 and 1950-52 , Census Research Prograrse, Publi-
cation No. 14 (Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies,
1966), Table 19, pp. 20-21.

15 University of the West Indies, Life Tables, 1959-61 , Table
13, pp. 56-59.

The century-long time series analysis of age and sex dis-
tribution by 10-year age groups is dictated by the age reports in
the 1861 census. At that time, ages were grouped in 10-year seg-
ments (0-9, 10-19, ... 60 years and older). Census data after
1891 have been re-grouped by the author similarly to allow com-
parisons over time and space.

361

17 By 1861, there were 786 persons reported as being born in
the Madeira Islands, out of a total of some 2,100 who disembarked
in St. Vincent between 1844 and 1850. Of the foreign-born Hadeirans,
48 per cent resided in Charlotte Parish, 36 per cent lived in St.
George Parish (14 per cent in Kingstown), while only 16 per cent
were scattered along the Leeward coast. Of the 907 blacks born in
Africa, 39 per cent were in Charlotte Parish, 26 per cent in St.
George Parish, and the remaining 35 per cent were living in the
Leeward parishes (especially in St. Andrew and St. Patrick Parishes)
and in the Grenadine Islands. See: Saint Vince nt. Census, 1861,
Table No. 8, n.p.

The census In 1871 showed that of 1,260 persons born in
India, 44 per cent resided in the Windward Census District (most
of St. George Parish), 15 per cent were found in the environs of
Kingstown, and 14 per cent were located in the 3 Leeward parishes.
See: Government Gazatte, 1871 , Table No. 5, p. 214.

Bogue, Principles of Demography , p. 764.

19 Ibid., p. 472.

20 Few of the Grenadine Islands have been studied as well as
the island of Carriacou, a dependency of Grenada and the largest
of the string of islets stretching over the 60 miles between St.
Vincent's "main" island and Grenada. Carriacou's history, which
nay be indicative of the work habits of most Grenadine islanders,
shows that a high percentage of the male population is engaged in ■
fishing, sailing, and overseas work and is often absent at any one
time from their home islands. Most of the men who seek overseas
work do so in Trinidad and Tobago, the favorite destination for
emigrants from the southern Windward Islands, both legally and
illegally. See: M. G. Smith, "The Transformation of Land Rights
by Transmission in Carriacou," Social and Economic Studies, V,
No. 2 (June, 1956), p. 104; and ibid ., Kingship a nd Community in
Carriacou (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962).

2 1 Govemment Gazette. 1896 , p. 390.

22 Although the dependency ratio has universal acceptance
in concept, there is a variation at the lower end of the "working^
ages." Bogue prefers 20 years as the first year of "working age,
while Barclay and Smith and Zopf use 15 years as the age of employ-
Bent potential. See, respectively: Bogue, Principles of Demo-
graphy , pp. 154-155; Barclay, Techniques of Population Analy sis,
pp. 266-267; and Smith and Zopf, Demography , pp. 166-169. In
the United States and other economically and socially developed
countries, 20 years may be reasonable as the beginning of working
life but in an underdeveloped agriculturally-oriented economy,

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362

such as St. Vincent, 15 years seems eore logical. The dependency
ratio is determined by dividing the sua of the dependent age
groups ("youth" and "old age") by the "vorking age" population
and multiplying the result by a constant (100) to express the
burden of dependency as so many dependents per 100 persons of
vorking age. This is the total dependency ratio, which is com-
prised of the "youth" and "old age" dependency ratios.

2*1

From 1861 to 1881, age data were presented in 10-year age
groups. To use 10 years as the mlnlnra working age and 60 years
as the maximum age is inadequate. Unfortunately, all of the people
60 years and older were lumped together in one age group.

^*To gain an idea of the relative burden of dependency in
other countries, the author calculated the total dependency ratio
for several nations. In 1965, Sweden (a demographically "old"
population) had a ratio of 51. The United States had a ratio of
64 in 1968, and Costa Rica (one of the fastest growing countries
in Latin America) had a ratio of 107 in 1963. The data used for
these calculations are found in United Nations, Demographic Year-
book, 1968 (New York: United Nations, 1969), Table 5, pp. 134-156.

The sex ratio , the most comaon measure of the relative

balance between the sexes in a given population is determined by
dividing the number of males by the number of females in a given
population and multiplying the result by a constant, usually 100
or 1,000. In this study, the constant is 100. The sex ratio num-
ber refers to the number of males per 100 females.

The earliest published breakdown of St. Vincent's popula-
tion by sex appeared in the census of 1844. Another early crude
estimate of population was reported by Valentine Morris, who was
governor of St. Vincent in 1776. He listed the white population,
in March, 1777, as 911 men, 126 women, and 1,810 children. The
sex ratio of the adult white population was, therefore, 723, ex-
tremely high for a long-time settled area but not out of reason
for a frontier area. St. Vincent had passed into British possession
a mere 13 years earlier. See: Ivor Walters, The Unfortunate
Valentine Morris (Newport, Eng. : R. H. Johns, Ltd., 1964), p. 39.

Roberts notes that the sex ratio for Jamaican slaves was

100.3 in 1817 and 96.4 in 1829. By 1844, it had declined further
to 92.8. See: G. W. Roberts, The Population of Jamaica (Cambridge,
Eng.: The Conservation Foundation at the University Press, 1957),
p. 71.

There were 1,036 "liberated" Africans brought to St. Vin-
cent between 1850 and 1862, but age and sex information is not
available for these immigrants. Such information is available,

miiiiiMrftrnHii j^,-»w-^iii - .vr -n~tm*M±.

363

however, for 213 out of 227 Africans disembarked between July 9,
I860, and April 11, 1862. The sex ratio for these laborers was
238. All of the Africans were under 15 years of age. See: Immi-
gration Office, "Register of Immigrants — African," a manuscript
record of the arrival of liberated Africans, deposited in the
safety vault of the St. Vincent Registrar-General's office in
Kingstown. One source indicated that by 1844, 996 Portuguese
Hadeiran males and 1,069 females had been imported into the colony;
therefore, the sex ratio was 93. See: The Colony of St. Vincent ,
Blue Book, 1850 , pp. 134-135. [Hereafter this source will be re-
ferred to as Blue Book , with the appropriate year added.]

Immigration Office, "Register of Immigrants — No. 1, Indians

[1861-1880]," a manuscript record of the arrival of East Indians,
deposited in the safety vault of the Registrar-General's office in
Kingstown.

Figure 54 omits the census districts for 1881 and 1891

because the census reports for these years did not list the age

and sex composition of the population by parish , as did the previous

censuses. The enumeration districts for 1881 and 1891 were not

comparable with the parish boundaries of the earlier censuses.

A high birth rate tends to inflate the sex ratio because
all sex ratios at birth are greater than 100, although the negro
sex ratio is generally accepted as being less than that of the
white population. The white sex ratio at birth in the 20th century
is about 105 or 106, while that of the American negro is about 103.
It has yet to be proved whether the low negro sex ratio at birth
is due to the biological or social conditions of the mother. See:
Bogue, Principles of Demography , p. 166.

In 1819, there were 38 cotton and sugar estates in the

Grenadine Islands of St. Vincent, employing some 2,500 slaves. By
1844, only 7 estates were functioning with a total of 282 estate
workers. See: Estates Book , pp. 214-234. Most of the ex-slaves
were apparently occupied in non-agricultural employment, despite
their habit of squatting on abandoned estate lands. See: Blue
Book , 1858, p. 249.

Some confusion attends a comparison of census districts in
the 20th century, as there was no consistency in naming these dis-
tricts. For the censuses of 1911 through 1931, districts were
designated by letter ( District A , District B , and so forth), while
the 1946 census grouped village-centered districts into major
divisions that were named by the cardinal points ( Western District ,
Eastern District , and so forth). In 1960, major census districts
were composed of agglomerations of numerous sub-districts and

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364

were named according to the major town or village in each major dis-
trict. The author has re-named the major districts according to
the more commonly used designations of the past century in order to
eliminate a multiplicity of names that refer to almost identical
areas .

The age groupings used are limited by the amount of d^.ail
provided in the census reports, particularly in the enumeration of
1891. At that time, there was no breakdown of ages above 60 years,
therefore, 60 years was, by necessity, chosen as the lower limit
of old age dependence in the comparison of sex ratios. Before 1891,
age data by 5-year age groups for the population under 15 years was
lacking. The author chose to eliminate the previous censuses from
the comparison.

Nearly every country has had to face this problem, as no
hard and fast rules exist that can be applied uniformly to the cate-
gorization of people by "racial" groups. The usual method for
grouping people by race or ethnic background has been to select
nationally recognized "racial" groups bearing generally accepted
social distinctions. This practice, unfortunately, makes inter-
national comparisons over time difficult. See: Bogue, Principles
of Demography , p. 173. In the United States, for example, people
of apparently pure "Negro" or mixed Negro and white percentage are
considered to be "Negro" for census purposes. In St. Vincent,
there has always been a separation between "African" (Negro, black)
and mixed or "coloured [sic]." This is usually determined by color,
reported by a respondent to a census or assigned by the census
enumerator. See: Population Census, 1960 , Eastern Caribbean Region ,
Volume I, Part A: "Administrative Report" (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
and Tobago: Central Statistical Office, 1967), p. 19.

In the published pre-censal population estimates, it can
be taken that the caption "slaves" (or laborers after emancipation)
referred to blacks. The "mixed" or "coloured [sic]" population
referred to the progeny of white and black sexual unions. The
Carib Indians have been treated inconsistently, both as "coloured"
and "black" and were most likely dependent upon the census enumera-
tor's personal judgment of color or social class. After alien
laborers entered the population in the post-emancipation years up
to 1880, racial determination became more complicated, for many
East Indians were black in complexion and, therefore, categories
were added to distinguish "race," "complexion," and place ot birth."
The Portuguese Madeirans were included in the "white" or "European"^
population and black and Madeiran miscegenation added to the "mixed"
segment. The census of 1891 classified the population by "com-
plexion" and "place of birth" but not by "race," as had been done
between 1861 and 1881. The early 20th century censuses (1911
through 1931) omitted entirely "race" and "complexion" and recorded

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365

only "place of birth." In the 19th century, "place of birth" could
have been used to help determine race, for many residents were
foreign-born (the labor Immigrants). This was useless in the 20th
century because none of the offspring of the East Indians, Portu-
guese Madeirans, or Africans had been born in their parent's home-
land. It was not until the 1946 and 1960 censuses that inter-
nationally accepted racial classes were used:

While there has been an appreciable degree of miscegenation,
the racial groups doubtless retain sufficient identity to
Justify conformity to international requirements on this
aspect of the census and therefore a simple racial or ethnic
classification has been recognized.

See: Population Census, I960, Eastern Caribbean Region , "Adminis-
trative Report," p. 19.

There is no way to distinguish between the East Indians
who were sometimes grouped with blacks and other times returned
with the mixed population. The Carib population was similarly
treated.

Most West Indian countries, including St. Vincent, have a

recognizable social class hierarchy based on color, with whites at
the top and blacks at the bottom, although many exceptions can be
found. Until recent times, lighter skin color was considered by
many to be more desirable. See: David Lowenthal, West Indian
Societies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), pp. 81-84;
ibid., "Race and Color in the West Indies," Daedalus (Spring,
1967), pp. 580-626; also Lloyd Braithwaite, "Social Stratification
in Trinidad: A Preliminary Analysis," Social and Economic Studies , .
II, Nos. 2-3 (1953), pp. 5-175.

It will be interesting to examine the 1970 census tabulations
on race to see if the American "Black Power" philosophy of the late
1960s has had any effect on respondents' self-categorization of
their race.

The census of 1891 was the first to record racial groups

by sex; however, the inconsistency of racial categorization between
1911 and 1931 renders a long-term analysis impossible. Age and
sex, by race group, appeared for the first time in the 1946 census.

Smith and Zopf developed a scale to describe the percentage
of a total population under 15 years of age based on the percentage
distribution of 62 countries. A country with less than 32 per cent
of its population among its youth was characterized as being of low
youthfulness; between 32 and 39.9 per cent, it was of medium youth-
fulness; and 40 per cent or more was high youthfulness. See: Smith
and Zopf, Demography , pp. 168-169.

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366

Old-age populations are characterized as low if less than

5 per cent of the total population is 65 years old or older; medium

if the proportion is 5 to 7.9 per cent; and high if 8 per cent or

more are above 65 years of age. See: Ibid., pp. 168-169.

4 2 Ibld ., p. 73.

Bogue, Principles of Demography , p. 465.

I don't know. I can't define it
in abstract terms — yet. But I think I can recognize it when I see
it; . . . " See: Kenneth Clark, Civilisation: A Personal View
(New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1969), p.l.

The minimum population size of 2,000 was waived if other
principal criteria applied, for example, "the quality of roads, the
presence or absence of electric power and adequate water supply."
Other criteria that helped to define "small towns" were the presence
of Government offices, court houses, police stations, and cinemas.
Many times settlements were considered "small towns" at the ex-
pressed request of the St. Vincent Government. In most cases,
small town boundaries were arbitrarily delimited as most had no
legal status. See: Population Census, Eastern Caribbean Region ,
"Administrative Report," pp. 10-11.

Before 1861, the published census reports did not list
the size of all settlements. Beginning in 1861 and extending
through 1891, every population settlement, regardless of size, was
listed in the census. It was the practice at that tine to assign
each inhabitant to a named place, which meant that many times the
named settlement had only 1 or 2 persons. The settlements included
towns, villages, estates, and "small settlements."

47 In 1861, there were 251 towns, villages, estates, and small
settlements; in 1871, there were 268; in 1881, there were 249; and
in 1891, there were 282. Occasionally neighboring estates or small
settlements were combined for one census, but not for another. The
censal totals refer to the absolute number of individual population
sizes listed in each census report.

48 Roberts states the case for Jamaica, although it is applic-
able to all West Indian censuses:

Changing concepts of the working population, changing de-
finitions of its major classes, and the persistent attempts
to fit the essentially simple occupational patterns of the
Island [Jamaica] into elaborate classifications, more suitable
to countries on the road to full industrialization, impose

367

severe limitations on the available data ... It Is probable
that not all the occupational categories listed in the Jamaica
censuses, particularly those of the nineteenth century, cover
persons continuously engaged in the production of marketable
goods and services, . . .

See: Roberts, Jamaica , pp. 85-86.

The "primary" industrial group includes occupations in agri-
culture, forestry, hunting, fishing, mining and quarrying. "Secondary"
industrial occupations include all those relating to manufacturing and
construction. The remaining occupations — those relating to services
and commerce — make up the "tertiary" industrial group. In order to
compare data in 1861 with information in 1960, it has been necessary
to set up this three-fold industrial classification.

Hereafter the terms "labor force" (used in the United States),
"economically active population" (used by the United Nations and the
1960 West Indian censuses), and "gainfully employed" (used in the
1946 West Indian censuses) will be used interchangeably.

As a comparison, 82 per cent of the Jamaican population
were working at one job or another in 1834. See: Roberts, Jamaica ,
p. 85.

Ibid ., p. 86.

With the absence of many men from St. Vincent during the
Second World War, most of whom were in Trinidad and Tobago and the
Netherlands Antilles, one might expect more women to be engaged in
gainful employment; however, the high wages earned outside of the
colony were remitted to families in St. Vincent who opted to buy
food rather than raise it. See: Report on the Agricultural De-
partment, 1944 , p. 7.

Between 1921 and 1960, the proportion of school age pop-
ulation (5 through 14 years of age) recorded as not attending school
declined from 29 per cent to 1 per cent. See: Byrne, "Population
Growth in St. Vincent," p. 162.

The marked decline in agricultural laborers returned by
the 1931 census was acknowledged to be an error on the part of the
census enumerators who were not thorough enough in their attempts
to help "the uninformed householder" fill out the schedules. See:
Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1931 , p. 6.

368

In recent decades, the younger worker In St. Vincent has
apparently been more likely to seek employment in the secondary or
tertiary sectors of the economy rather than in farming. This was
abundantly clear from the author's personal observations while on
field trips throughout the length and breadth of St. Vincent. Most
of the farmers encountered in "the bush" were old, many apparently
past 60 years of age. Their constant complaint was that the young
disdained manual work in the fields. It was pointed out to the
author several times by various officials, for example, those in
the banana industry, that their clerks in the Kingstown headquarters
could earn more money in farming than in office work, but "white
collar" jobs had more social appeal and allowed the young workers
to live in or near Kingstown where social life was more varied.
For exactly the sase observation, see: David L. Niddrie, Land Use
and Population in Tobapo , The World Land Use Survey, Regional
Monograph No. 3 (Bude, Eng.: Geographical Publications, 1961),
pp. 48-49.

CHAPTER VIII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of this study of St. Vincent is the reconstruction
of the historical economic and population geography of a small West
Indian island. During the initial fieldwork and data gathering
period, it became evident that many of the 20th-century problems
were linked directly to 19th- and even 18th-century conditions in
St. Vincent and the British Vest Indies. It was decided, therefore,
to review as much of St. Vincent's past as possible in order to
trace the patterns of economic and demographic change.

The time spectrum for this study extends from 1763, the date
of Great Britain's acquisition of St. Vincent, to the latest pub-
lished census, in 1960. Because of the delay in publishing the
final results of the 1970 population census and the incomplete
economic statistics for the 1960s, it was necessary to limit the
investigation to 1960.

Problem and Hypothesis
The problem of concern in this study is the relationship
between fluctuations in the export economy and changes in the
variables of population growth and composition of St. Vincent.
An examination of the economically "dependent" status of the
island and the major demographic changes over nearly 200 years
369

370

reveals a pattern that suggests the paramount role of the export
economy in affecting the rate of population growth and changes in
the variables of demographic composition.

It was hypothesized that the size, distribution, and charac-
teristics of St. Vincent's population have been affected by varia-
tions in the national export economy from the initial British
exploitation of the island in 1763 up to 1960. The comprehensive
examination of the econoay and population in the preceding chapters
supports this hypothesis.

Summary of the Export Economy
In Part I of this study, the foundation of St. Vincent's
export economy— the sugar industry — is traced from its beginning
in 1763 to its demise after the turn of the 19th century. The
arrowroot starch, Sea Island cotton, and banana industries are
then discussed.

The Sugar Industry

It was only after the Carib Vars in the last quarter of the
18th century that St. Vincent's sugar economy could expand to its
potential. Despite the abolition of the slave trade in 1808,
St. Vincent succeeded in reaching its highest production in 1828,
shortly before the apprenticeship and emancipation of slaves
occurred.

When the legal institution of slavery ended in 1838, the
sugar planters were faced with periodic labor shortages, as the
ex-slaves initially shunned estate work. To meet this problem,

371

the St. Vincent legislature approved and funded the direct importa-
tion of alien agricultural laborers. In the late 1840s, Portuguese
Madeirans were brought in, along with "liberated" Africans taken
from slave ships and interned at Crown expense in Sierra Leone
and St. Helena.

The burden of maintaining unprofitable or heavily indebted
sugar estates in St. Vincent resulted in many plantations being
abandoned after the end of slavery. Even the influx of foreign
immigrant workers for two decades after emancipation did not cause
a major recovery In sugar production. This was due in part to the
equalization of sugar duties in Britain in 1854. The spark, that
did lead to a resurgence in sugar manufacture in St. Vincent was
the enactment in 1857 by the St. Vincent legislature of the West
Indian Encumbered Estates Act. Its purpose was to give a clear
land title to purchasers of abandoned or bankrupt estates in the
island.

Through the actions of the West Indian Encumbered Estates
Act Court and the recommencement of large-scale immigration in
1861, this time of indentured East Indian "coolies," the Vincentian
sugar industry experienced a recovery that lasted until about 1880.
In 1874, Britain completely eliminated sugar duties on foreign-
grown sugar, and soon afterwards European beet sugar producers
began flooding the English market. The brief resurgence of St.
Vincent's historically inefficient sugar industry was over by 1880.
Thereafter, sugar exports declined until, by 1892, arrowroot starch
exports superseded sugar as the primary export.

372

The disastrous hurricane In 1898 destroyed many of the re-
maining sugar mills and was followed In 1902 by the devastating
eruption of the Soufriere volcano. For all practical purposes,
it can be said that St. Vincent's sugar industry ended in 1902.
Although there was a brief flurry of sugar production during the
First World War, the industry subsisted with only one major mill
as late as 1960. For many years after 1918, production was often
only sufficient to fill local demand.

The Arrowroot Starch Industry

Arrowroot starch has been produced in St. Vincent throughout
most of its history. Initially, it was a small-scale slave enter-
prise until emancipation; thereafter, many ex-slaves began culti-
vating the arrowroot rhizomes. It remained essentially a small
cultivator product throughout the 19th century, producing a low-
quality starch that faced periodic gluts in Britain.

With the demise of the sugar industry, more estates began
producing arrowroot, increasing both the quantity and quality
available for export. Unfortunately, the English market was
usually saturated, which resulted in frequent price declines.

In the early 1920s, the United States emerged as a large
importer of arrowroot and continued to buy increasingly more
starch until it superseded Britain as the chief consumer of arrow-
root in 1931. The world depression in the 1930s affected all
exports froa St. Vincent, but the arrowroot industry, by then

373

mostly an estate-grown commodity, suffered the least and recovered
the most quickly.

Although arrowroot production declined during the Second
World War, as large and small growers alike turned to the pro-
fitable food trade in the Caribbean, it recovered soon after the
end of hostilities. The labor competition of banana cultivation
in the mid-1950s, together with a strong United States demand and
a faltering Vincentian supply of arrowroot starch, caused the
American buyers to seek substitute starches in the early 1960s
that provided a more reliable supply at more favorable prices in
the United States. Throughout most of the 1960s, the period beyond
the scope of this study, St. Vincent has had to maintain a store
of several years' supply of arrowroot starch, with the hope of
eventually selling it and trying to retrieve the lost market.

The Sea Island Cotton Industry

St. Vincent's cotton industry has functioned since the earliest
years of British settlement in the island. Most of the pre-20th
century activity, however, was restricted to the growing of the
lower quality Marie Galante variety, usually in the drier Grenadine
dependencies. The 19th-century sugar era in St. Vincent success-
fully excluded cotton production from the "main" island, and it
was not until sugar manufacture declined after 1880 that St. Vin-
cent's cotton industry was revitalized.

Depressed conditions in the island in the 1890s led to an
examination of possible alternative export commodity production

374

through the offices of the West Indian Royal Commission of 1897.
Experimental Sea Island cotton was planted in St. Vincent in the
1902-03 season and was immediately found to be successful. With
the United States retaining increasingly larger amounts of cotton
for its own cotton industry, along with the demand in Great
Britain for high-quality long-staple cotton, a ready market was
open for Vincentian Sea Island cotton exports. By 1910, Sea
Island cotton exports had replaced both sugar and arrowroot starch
production in the island.

Despite the war-induced high prices for cotton between 1914
and 1918, sugar production proved to be temporarily even more pro-
fitable as shortages in Europe caused many Vincentian estates to
replant their arrowroot and cotton lands in sugar cane. By 1920,
however, the ravages of the boll weevil in the Sea Islands of
Southeastern United States had led to speculative price Increases
in the world cotton trade. The boom in prices and production of
Sea Island cotton in St. Vincent was quickly followed by a slump
in prices and concomitant reduction in Vincentian planting.

St. Vincent's industry was sustained somewhat in the early
1920s as the boll weevil continued to destroy much of the United
States' crop. At the same time, however, Egyptian cotton and
artificial fibers (silk and rayon) began competing with the
extra-long-staple Sea Island variety in the English lace trade.

With uncertain market conditions in Britain, many Vincentian
growers, both large and small alike, increased their arrowroot
acreages in place of cotton, especially after the emergence of

375

the United States as a major buyer of arrovroot starch In the mid-
19208. The world economic depression of the 1930s severely affected
St. Vincent's cotton industry, which suffered a longer period of
depressed prices and demand than did arrowroot.

Britain's entry into the Second World War created favorable
conditions for Sea Island cotton as both the demand and price were
guaranteed by the British Government. Production and labor costs
in St. Vincent, however, soon made cotton cultivation precarious
at the same time as prices for ground provisions increased through-
out the Caribbean area. Estate growers and small cultivators once
again withdrew land from the traditional export crops and planted
food crops for the intra-Caribbean market.

After the war, cotton production never fully returned to
pre-war levels, as trading arrangements in Britain were usually
uncertain and lacked a "futures" market. In addition, the rapid
growth of banana cultivation in St. Vincent after 1953 caused
competition for land and labor. Within 3 years, the value of
banana exports exceeded those of Sea Island cotton. A final blow
was dealt to St. Vincent's cotton industry by the total destruction
by fire of the island's only cotton gin, in 1959. Between 1958-
59 and 1960-61, cotton acreage fell by 90 per cent; thereafter,
the industry faded as a major economic enterprise.

The Banana Industry

Banana production for export has been confined mostly to the
20th century. Two early attempts to establish this industry failed
before the end of the Second World War. As a result of the

376

recommendations of the West Indian Royal Commission of 1897, bananas
were planted in 1898, and the first meager shipment to Britain oc-
curred in 1903. Handling and refrigeration problems caused the
venture to fail.

Later, during the years of the world economic depression in
the early 1930s, banana cultivation was started again, this time
under contract with a Canadian subsidiary of the United Fruit Com-
pany. A cooperative banana marketing board was established to
facilitate the gathering, packing, and shipping of the banana stems
for the Canadian market. The production contract was to be in
force from 1936 to 1940 (later extended to 1942) , with the Canadian
company taking all of the bananas grown in St. Vincent.

Unforeseen problems, such as the small grower's unfamiliarity
with banana cultivation, in St. Vincent, a shortage of planting
material, poor transportation and handling facilities, and especially
the immediate appearance of "Panama disease" in the 'Gros Michel'
banana stands soon caused production to decline. In addition, the
advent of the Second World War caused disruptions in Caribbean
shipping, and thus banana cultivation faced an uncertain future.
Although the Canadian company took bananas from St. Vincent up to
1942, all banana shipments ceased after that year.

Following the two previous unsuccessful ventures, banana
cultivation was .gain re-established on a small scale in 1947, with
most of the fruit transshipped to St. Lucia for re-export to market.
In 1964, a Dutch-owned fruit shipping company, Geest Industries
Limited, signed a contract providing for the export of all Vincen-
tian bananas to Britain. With a guaranteed market, and a new

377

strain of banana ('Robusta') planted, the banana Industry succeeded
In providing a quick, profitable cash crop for the small growers
and, later, for the estates. In 1956, the value of banana exports
exceeded that of any other single export commodity and continued
to increase. Price declines between 1958 and 1961, however, forced
a rationalization of banana production in St. Vincent, so that
many inefficient small growers who had hastily engaged in banana
cultivation between 1954 and 1958 were forced out.

In the post-1960 period, bananas provided the mainstay of
St. Vincent's export economy. Numerically, there were more small
growers (farming less than 5 acres each) than large estate growers
of bananas in the 1960s, but the estates were more efficient and
accounted for the largest percentage of banana exports to Britain.

Minor Cash Crops

Among the many minor cash crops raised in St. Vincent, two
stand out— cocoa and coconuts. Cocoa was one of the earliest crops
in St. Vincent and was grown in the Leeward valleys by the French
settlers who preceded the British. With the establishment of
British sugar production in St. Vincent after 1763, and the gradual
elimination of small farmers, especially the French leaseholders,
cocoa bean exports diminished to insignificance in the late 18th
century and throughout most of the 19th century.

As sugar production declined after 1880, cocoa production
(among other alternative cash crops) increased. The attempts to
enlarge the landowning class in St. Vincent in the 1880s resulted
in a slight resurgence of cocoa tree plantings, particularly on

^.- -,-i, ,.

378

the small Leeward land parcels. Through the efforts of the West
Indian Royal Commission of 1897, a Land Settlement Scheme was
established in St. Vincent to increase further the number of small
landholders on whose parcels cocoa was a mandatory crop. The
hurricane in 1898 and the Soufriere volcanic eruption in 1902, led
however, to the destruction or abandonment of many cocoa trees in
the affected areas. Nevertheless, replanting followed quickly, so
that the largest quantity of cocoa bean exports occurred in 1907,
although the highest value of exports was reached in 1915. In the
latter year, 7 per cent of St. Vincent's export value was accounted
for by cocoa, a level that steadily declined thereafter.

Several factors led to the decline of the Vincentian cocoa
industry after the First World War— a damaging hurricane in 1921,
the rapid expansion of West African cocoa plantings after 1920
(resulting in declining prices) , and the world trade depression
in the 1930s. Between 1930 and 1960, the value of cocoa bean ex-
ports never exceeded 0.5 per cent of the total value of Vincentian
exports.

Copra (sun- or kiln-dried coconut meat) is essentially a
20th century cash crop in St. Vincent. The first large-scale
commercial coconut plantings in the island took place in 1911 and
were expanded in the 1920s and 1930s. Throughout its history,
copra (and coconut) production has been over-whelmlngly an estate-
grown product, with the largest acreages found along the Windward
coast, particularly in the old "Carib Country" in the northeastern
part of the island.

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379

Most of the coconut products exported from St. Vincent be-
tveen 1935 and 1960 have not been in the form of copra but rather
as whole nuts. A shortage of fats during the Second World War
increased the value of exports to the point where 20 per cent of
the total value of Vincentian exports was accounted for by coconuts.
As estates began cultivating more bananas in the 1950s, coconut
exports declined, so that by 1960, only 14 per cent of St. Vincent's
total exports were derived from this source.

Suraaary of Population Change
In Part II of this study, the change in the rate of population
growth and the factors of population composition in St. Vincent are
traced from 1763 to 1960. Emphasis is placed upon the changes re-
corded during the censal era, beginning with the first official
census taken in 1844 and ending with the latest published census
of 1960. The growth of St. Vincent's population is divided into
4 eras: (1) pre-censal estimates: the era of slavery and apprentice-
ship; (2) the era of alien labor immigration, 1844 to 1881; (3) the
era of emigration, 1881 to 1931; and (4) the era of rapid population
growth, 1931 to, 1960.

Pre-Censal Estimates

The earliest population estimate for St. Vincent was for the
year 1735, when the total was thought to be between 3,800 to 10,000.
The inhabitants were French farmers and their slaves; the native
Carib Indians were usually not counted. At the time of Britain's
acquisition of St. Vincent in 1763, the population was estimated
to be 7,100. Between 1764 and 1805 (the last estimate before the

380

abolition of the slave trade, in 1808), the population grew by
about 122 per cent, from 9,518 to 18,550, most of which was accounted
for by the importation of African slaves. By 1825, the last estimate
before slavery ended, the population had grown to 27,905.

The Era of Alien Labor Immigration, 1844 to 1881

With the end of slavery in 1838, the planters in St. Vincent
became concerned with obtaining an abundant and cheap labor supply,
as many ex-slaves opted to withdraw temporarily or permanently from
estate work. As a result of these concerns, the first official
census was taken in 1844 to ascertain the number of people in the
colony; the size of the population was estimated to be 27,248.

The St. Vincent legislature sought to increase the pool of
laborers by importing indentured agricultural workers. Between
1844 and 1880, in the order of their arrival, 5,575 indentured
Portuguese Madeirans, "liberated" Africans, and East Indian "coolies"
migrated to St. Vincent. There were 3,138 Portuguese Madeirans and
"liberated" Africans landed between 1844 and 1862 and 2,429 East
Indians between 1861 and 1880. It was during the latter time
interval that St. Vincent's sugar industry was partially restored
by the actions of the West Indian Encumbered Estates Act of 1857.
The census of 1881 revealed a population of 40,548.

The Era of Emigration, 1881 to 1931

The years between 1881 and 1931 encompass some of the worst
economic and natural disasters in St. Vincent's history. The in-
creasingly unprofitable monoculture of sugar in the last 25 years

381

of the 19th century resulted In a steady emigration of Vincentians
to other more remunerative destinations In the clrcum-Carlbbean
region, especially to Trinidad and Tobago. The effect of the
hurricane In 1898 and the Soufriere eruption in 1902 caused heavy
emigration; the annual rate of net migration between 1891 and 1911
was -18.89 per thousand, the highest ever recorded by the official
censuses. The population losses from emigration were so great
that population Increased at an average annual rate of only 0.34
per cent over the years 1881 and 1931, growing from 40,548 to
47,961. Natural increase was estimated to be 40,420, yet the
change in the total population in this broad interval was only
7.413.

The Era of Rapid Population Growth, 1931 to 1960

In the interval between 1931 and 1960, St. Vincent's pop-
ulation experienced its most rapid annual rate of growth in its
censal history. The rate of growth was 1.72 per cent per year
over the 29-year period. A combination of the effects of high
fertility and declining mortality (despite periodic emigration)
accounted for the "explosive" growth rates after 1931. From
47,961 persons in 1931, the population grew to 79,948 in 1960.
This would have been considerably larger had laborers not
emigrated during the Second World War or during the brief exis-
tence of the West Indian Federation. For example, between 1947
and 1959, natural increase amounted to 28,000, while net migration
amounted to -11,220. This means that 40 per cent of the natural
Increase was "neutralized" by emigration. Had St. Vincent

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382

experienced no emigration and had it grown at the annual rate of
natural increase for the year 1957 (4.18 per cent), the population
would have doubled in 17 years.

The Spatial Distribution and Density of Population

One of the variables that has changed very little since the
early 19th century is the spatial distribution of the population.
Most of the population has been and still is concentrated below
the 1,000-foot level. The ruggedness of the topography above
1,000 feet has effectively eliminated these lands from continuous
exploitation. The main concentrations of population have been
along the coasts and the lower reaches of the interior valleys,
south of Chateaubelair on the Leeward coast and Georgetown on the
Windward coast, increasing in density towards Kingstown.

The usual calculation of population density (total population
divided by total area) results in a population density of 182
persons per square mile in 1844 and 535 per square mile in 1960.
However, by including only the accessible portions of the "main"
island of St. Vincent (the area below the 1,000-foot elevation)
the effective density of population increases from 339 persons
per square mile in 1844 to 1,002 per square mile in 1960 — a much
more realistic measurement of crowding in the island.

Summary of the Composition Of Population
The variables of population composition analyzed in this
study are: (1) age; (2) sex; (3) race; (4) rural-urban residence;
and (5) occupational status. These variables are studied censally
from 1861 through 1960.

333

Age Structure

In general, the age structure of St. Vincent has been charac-
terized by Its youthf ulness. Under the age of 20 years, there has
been relatively little change between 1861 and 1960. In 1861, 51
per cent of the population was under 20 years of age and In 1960,
this had Increased to 58 per cent.

Most of the change in age composition has been confined to
the younger working-age groups, 20 through 39 years. These are
the ages most selective of emigrants. Above 40 years of age,
there has been little fluctuation over the last century.

When age and sex are taken together, a picture is revealed
of predominantly young male adults entering the mass emigration
streams between 1881 and 1931. It was only after the Second World
War, especially In the late 1950s, that young female adults began
emigrating, first to Trinidad and Tobago and later, in the early
1960s, to Great Britain.

It is safe to say that St. Vincent has been an extremely
"young" population, the result of both heavy emigration of young
adults and the high fertility experienced after the 1930s. Con-
sequently, the economic burden of dependency has been high in the
island throughout the post-slavery era. From a minimum of 72
"dependents" (those under 15 and over 64 years of age) per 100
working-age persons (15 through 64 years of age) in 1911, the
dependency ratio increased to a maximum of 115 in 1960, with 91
per cent of the 1960 dependency ratio made up of children under
15 years of age.

384

The Sex Composition

Throughout its demographic history, St. Vincent has been ex-
periencing a declining sex ratio (the number of males per 100
females). This is the result of the very high sex ratios during
slave days that were reduced after the Importation of slaves was
abolished in 1808. Thereafter, the higher mortality of the aging
ex-slaves plus the low fertility rate among the predominantly
black population caused the sex ratio to fall so that by 1844,
there were only 86 males per 100 females.

The period of alien labor Immigration reversed this trend
briefly, raising the sex ratio to a maximum of 90 in the census
years of 1861 and 1871. After 1871, the heavy emigration ex-
perienced for the next half-century once again lowered the sex
ratio to a minimum of 76 in 1921. The high fertility rates after
1931 and the world-wide restrictions on migration caused St.
Vincent's sex ratio to increase from 83 in 1946 to 89 in 1960.
St. Vincent is, thus, still characterized by its extreme youth-
fulness and its female sex dominance.

When the sex ratio by age groups is examined, the effects
of past sex selective emigrations can be seen. The lowest sex
ratios registered in the island have been of young adults in 1911
and 1921.

The Racial Composition

Over the 200 years Included in this study, the overwhelming
majority of St. Vincent's population has remained black (African

385

or Negro). This was clearly the result of the period of slavery
vhen only a relatively few "whites" and "mixed" were found operating
the sugar estates or working as free men in the towns and villages.

From a maximum of 90 per cent black population in 1812, this
proportion declined slowly but steadily as the "mixed" (or "colored")
segment increased. In 1861, when the East Indians began arriving,
the black component of the population accounted for 71 per cent of
the total, while the "mixed" group (which included the East Indians)
accounted for 20 per cent of the population. Thereafter, as late
as 1960, these percentages varied only a few percentage points at
each census.

The "white" (or "European") population decreased from a max-
imum of 11 per cent in 1787 to a minimum of slightly more than 2
per cent in 1960.

Rural-Urban Residence

None of the censuses taken in St. Vincent have satisfactorily
taken account of the sizes of settlement. The terms "urban" and
"rural" have never been used; instead, in the 1946 and 1960 cen-
suses, "small towns" were set aside from their rural environs.
Although this practice was more satisfactory than any previously
adopted, it still failed to distinguish genuine urban and rural
characteristics. If settlements possessed "certain institutions
or facilities" and had 2,000 inhabitants or more, they were
designated as "small towns" for census purpor.es.

St. Vincent, in effect, is a "rural" island. The only
settlement that can be judged "urban" is Kingstown, the capital

386

and primate city. Other "small towns" are still agriculturally
oriented as many residents journey to their fields during the day
and return to their village homes in the evening. Life in most
villages is distinctly rural in character.

Occupational Status

The analysis of occupational status in St. Vincent describes
how succeeding generations of laborers have earned their living
over the past 200 years. From the occupations listed in the
censuses from 1861 to 1960, it was helpful to group them into 3
broad industrial categories: (1) primary activities; (2) secondary
activities; and (3) tertiary activities.

Although the size of the labor force has increased absolutely
over the last century, it has decreased proportionately, from 64
per cent of the total population in 1861 to 29 per cent in 1960.
Since the end of large-scale emigrations in the first quarter of
the 20th century, the sex ratio of all the industrial groups has
shown an increase. The greatest increase was evident in secondary
occupations (small-scale manufacturing, carpentry, and construction);
between 1911 and 1960, the sex ratio of this group increased from
86 to 256, while that of the primary group (agriculture) increased
from 86 to 177. Although the sex ratio also increased for tertiary
(service) activities, it was much lower — from 50 in 1911 to 99 in
1960. Typically, males have been much more active in the labor
force than females, at all ages, despite their numerical inferiority.

Between 1861 and 1931, the percentage of the labor force en-
gaged in the primary sector remained relatively constant; thereafter,

387

it declined as more workers entered the secondary and tertiary
sectors of the economy. Much of this recent change is the result
of younger workers shifting out of farming.

Conclusions

The reconstruction of 200 years of change in St. Vincent's
population and export economy reveals a close interaction between
these dynamic forces. Owing to its small geographic size, St.
Vincent has rarely been in a commanding position to direct the
course of its economic development. Although a wide variety of
tropical cash crops can be produced in the island, the exogenous
influences of world market demand have historically been most
important in determining the regimen of export commodities.

Initially, colonized as a "sugar island," St. Vincent was
forced in the late 19th century to seek alternative cash crops as
competition from European beet sugar producers and more efficient
tropical sugar cane producers rendered "muscovado" sugar manufacture
in the island less profitable. Of the succeeding overlapping mono-
cultural activities undertaken in St. Vincent (arrowroot starch,
Sea Island cotton, and bananas), only 2 have been closely identified
with St. Vincent — arrowroot starch and Sea Island cotton. The
latter, however, was grown in other islands in the Lesser Antilles
and in the Sea Islands of the United States. Although it was St.
Vincent's product that became the world's standard for high quality
cotton, it, nevertheless, faced price competition from Egyptian
cotton, reducing the effect of its uniqueness.

388

Only arrovroot starch vas known vorld-vide as a Vlncentian
product that offered the island a measure of monopoly control over
price. This enviable position, however, vas lost, as supply vas
usually inadequate to neet demand after the Second World War,
forcing arrovroot buyers to seek substitute products, thus causing
severe economic disruptions in the Vlncentian economy.

Bananas production, the contemporary mainstay of the export
exonomy, provides an insecure future because nearly all former
British West Indian colonies, as veil as certain African countries,
are competitors in this enterprise. So long as a market is
guaranteed for St. Vincent's bananas, this monocultural activity
vill provide a livelihood for the island's agricultural labor
force. If economic distress is encountered in banana production,
St. Vincent vill be forced to seek a nev cash crop very quickly,
given the lov level of non-primary economic activities established
in the island.

The hypothesis tested in this study stated that the size,
distribution, and characteristics of St. Vincent's population have
been affected by variations in the national export economy. From
the analysis in this study of the population and economy, all
results suggest that the hypothesis is valid.

The early British colonial decision to settle St. Vincent
as a sugar island resulted in a rapid transformation of the pop-
ulation to an agriculturally-oriented, predo minan tly black
society. With the emancipation of slaves in 1838, the Immigration
of alien indentured laborers betveen 1844 and 1880, the seasonal

389

and permanent emigrations of Vincentlans between 1880 and 1931,
and the rapid rate of natural increase after 1931, St. Vincent's
population has developed its distinctive demographic profile.

Today, the island is racially black, with a growing
proportion of mixed offspring and a declining proportion of whites.
The effects of emigration, following the demise of the sugar
industry at the turn of the last century, can be observed in the
age and sex structure. Sex selective emigration has reduced the
sex ratio to an abnormally low level, while continued high
fertility and declining mortality has resulted in a so-called
"population explosion" over the last 30 to 40 years. As a result
of high rates of natural increase and the effects of past emigra-
tion losses, the burden of dependency has also "exploded."

Any further development of St. Vincent must surely take
into account the large fraction of the population under 15 years
of age. Most of these are consumers but not yet producers. The
growing attitude among new entrants into the labor force is that
agricultural work is less desirable than any other type of
economic activity. Such a point of view will affect all the
island's attempts to improve the standard and level of living,
given past dependence upon monocultural agricultural cash crops
for export.

Arrowroot, until recently a Cinderalla status, takes on
new importance, now that it is to be used in the manufacture of
"non-carbon" paper for computers. Arrowroot, therefore has
unlimited possibilities for younger Vincentian farmers. Will they
be found in the fields cultivating this lucrative crop? Therein

390

lies a peculiar dilemma which torments our under-developed world,
of which St. Vincent is but a nicrocosm!

APPENDIX I

ALLOTMENT OF EAST INDIANS, BY ESTATE,
ST. VINCENT, 1861-1880

392

ESTATE

1861 1862 1866 1867 1869 1871 1875 1880 To-

Adelphl
Bellevue
Colonarie Vale
Grand Sable
Langley Park
Lot 14

Mt. Bentinck
Mt. Grennan
Orange Hill
Rabacca
Sans Souci
Tourama
Union
Yambou Vale

— 29

12 —

23 —

22
30
18
23

22 —

109

103

108

146

101

138

140

Argyle

Amos Vale

Belair

Calder

Cane Hall

Carapan

Glen

Montrose

Mt. Pleasant

Rivulet

12
20
26
15
25
41
10

11
21

48
23
24
20

12 —
23 19

213
43
75

148
25

102
10
43
81
21

Cane Grove
Pembroke
Queste lie's

16 23 33 72

29 14 18 — — 61

7 — — — — 7

Mt. Wynne
Peter's Hope
Rutland Vale
Vallilabou

— — 30

20 — ~

4 — 32

1
11
26

149

Richmond
Rose Bank

259 301 209 462 294 325 322 211 2,383 a

Annual Total

Source: Government Gazette , 1861 through 1880 passim .

*The total number of East Indians landed in St. Vincent is 2,429, as
listed in the Immigration Office's "Register of Immigrants - No. 1, Indians' 1
The difference may be accounted for by death, hospitalization, missing, and
otherwise engaged in activity out of the estate system.

APPENDIX II

394

APPENDIX H

TYPE OF SUGAR MILL POWER,

ST. VINCENT, 1854

aMMMBBMihiilii nun r-t^ct.^ _. .t^^, _ _^, — ■ . ., .-■■- — -^^i,,,,,.

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Theses and Dissertations

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Contribution to the Historical and Social Geography of the
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chester University, Manchester, England, 1965.

toTntf-Hnwnr-iri i - tw » .. -*, , . — -,■. ■- ■ .,,,.,, .- .- „^^.^-. ,^_»..:jo^w_ ,_-. - „ ^,-i—- r - , ,-i

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Joseph Spinelli was born March 12, 1939, In Springfield,
Ohio. In June, 1957, he was graduated from Springfield Senior
High School. In June, 1963, he received the degree of Bachelor
of Science In Business Administration (cum laude ) with a major In
International Trade from The Ohio State University. Ffom 1963
until 1966, he was enrolled in the Graduate School at The Ohio
State University in the Department of Geography. He served his
first two years of graduate studies as a Mershon Fellow in
National Security Policy and his third year as a graduate assist-
ant in the Department of Geography. In September, 1966, he re-
ceived his degree of Master of Arts with a major in Geography.
From September, 1966, until September, 1969, he was enrolled
full-time in the Graduate School of the University of Florida in
the Department of Geography. He served as research assistant in
the 1966-67 year and as a National Defense Education Act (Title
VI) Fellow in Latin American Studies in the 1967-68 and 1968-69
years. Twice during this period he was engaged in foreign field
doctoral research in the West Indies. Since September, 1969, he
has pursued his work toward the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
while serving as Instructor In the Department of Geography at
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.

427

i I a -■-.« — ^-JfU-T. — .-.-v* -, ..f,^«jrf -J>-^. i^ij , rV i fif i ifTHI M TrttrfWr-WUf l T t-* i . ...v « r r. ^ii-, -r ,* min i - tri. --- ■— "■ - -n — ■

Joseph Splnelll is a member of Gamma Theta Dpsiloa
(National Geography Honorary), the Association of American
Geographers (Southeastern Division and East Lakes Division),
the American Geographical Society, and the Mid-West Association
of Latin American Studies.

r'tii. lifl i n.-i . ., -

..i,.«.n>. . i it' -i-'-rt^u. -.- -Hteift. ■mriifUVi V flwiii.

k&GM -j-^jJM^ar^g

I certify that I have read this study and that, in my
opinion, it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly pres-
entation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a dis-
sertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

fcfawi d- v«if

Vie.

David L. Niddrie, Chairman
Professor of Geography

i&4-

Crist
fessor of Geography

Clark I. Cross

Associate Professor of Geography

Jojtn Van Dyke Saunders
Professor of Sociology

This dissertation was submitted to the Department of
Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences and to the Graduate
Council, and was accepted as partial fulfillment of the require-
ments for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

June, 1973

VMi&'Il JH°mA

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