TOBAGO.

2. The destruction of the weeds prior to planting, or at least within two months after planting, instead of the old plan of deferring weeding till the plant has appeared above ground.

3. Manuring prior to planting.

4. Wide planting, so as to give sufficient soil to each plant, and, what is no less requisite, sufficient air.

5. The substitution of implements drawn by oxen or horses for the hand hoe in weeding.

The experiments made this season have been so far satisfactory as to leave no doubt in my mind of my being able to carry out all these objects, and to induce me to determine to adopt the new method on both Mount Irvine and Buccoo estates, except in certain situations where the swampy nature of the ground, or the excessive steepness of the hills, may render it impossible or unprofitable to work with ploughs and other implements drawn by horses or oxen.

Only two difficulties present themselves in carrying out these improvements on estates in this island: 1st, the want of sufficient well-trained stock; 2d, the want of intelligent superintendence, that is, the superintendence of men practically acquainted with agriculture as pursued in more advanced countries. The former want I hope to supply by the introduction of horses; the latter I have already supplied on Mount Irvine by placing agricultural superintendence of the estate in the hands of an intelligent farming man from Scotland.

Sub-Enclosure 12.

In the Complaint Court of Tobago, 10th October 1853.

Lindsay, Plaintiff, against Dalling, Defendant.

Abbott, Q.C., for Plaintiff.-Van Buren, Solicitor General, for Defendant.

This was an action of trespass for breaking and entering the plaintiff's close, and cutting down his sugar canes.

The acts complained of were admitted, and the plaintiff and defendant agreed to take the judgment of the court upon the following

CASE.

The plaintiff being in December 1851 general labourer on the Shirvan estate, became a metayer of the close mentioned in the pleadings, part of that estate.

The defendant is manager of the proprietor of that estate.

By the general metairie agreement the metayer agrees to cultivate a portion of land in a husbanlike manner, at his own expense, under the direction and inspection of the proprietor of the land, such proprietor furnishing the plants; to crop the land, to carry such crop to the works, and to have the same manufactured into sugar, at his own expense, but always under the direction and inspection of such proprietor, the latter furnishing the necessary carts and stock, and allowing the use of the works of the estate free from any charge or expense to the metayer for the same, beyond the care and feeding of the mules during the time they are employed by the metayer.

The metayer is to have one half of the sugar after it is cured, and the proprietor gets the other half, together with the skimmings and molasses. The portion belonging to the metayer, after being cured, and packed in casks of his own furnishing, is carted on carts or trucks to the shipping bay or town nearest to the estate, the metayer furnishing the cartmen.

In fact the proprietor furnishes the land, the works, the carts, and the stock, and receives for it half the sugar, and all the skimmings and molasses; and, on the other hand, the metayer furnishes all the labour required for the proper cultivation of such land, for the proper manufacture of the crop into sugar, and the proper care and employment of such works, carts, and stock, but subject always to the direction and inspection of the proprietor.

Before and at the time mentioned in the pleadings the plaintiff had ceased to be a general labourer on the Shirvan estate.

For the plaintiff it was contended that he had a sufficient interest in the land to support an action for trespass.

For the defendant the case was argued at great length by the solicitor-general, who contended that the metayer had not possession of the land, that the dominion and the use were in the owner of the soil, who parted with nothing more than to an ordinary job labourer for hire, and that the agreement was a contract for work and labour, and not for the use of the land.

On a subsequent day the court, having taken time to consider the case, the chief justice delivered an elaborate judgment, by which he decided that the relation between the owner of the estate and the metayer was that of landlord and tenant.

Judgment for plaintiff.

In the Complaint Court of Tobago, 8th June 1857.

Trim Morrison, Plaintiff, against William Haynes, Defendant.
Abbott, Q.C. for Plaintiff.

Trespass, for breaking and entering the plaintiff's close, and destroying his sugar canes by driving cattle thereinto, and depasturing them thereupon.

The plaintiff commenced to plant canes as a metayer in the month of June 1856. In the ensuing month of October the defendant took possession of the estate, and gave the plaintiff notice that he was not to open any more land; and the defendant then went to Barbadoes. In December the defendant returned, and finding that the plaintiff had disregarded that notice, and had opened and planted more land, directed the stock-keeper to drive the cattle through the canes, and destroy them, which the stock-keeper did.

The chief justice, referring to the case of Lindsay against Dalling, in which the court held that the relation between a landlord and a metayer under a common metairie agreement is that of landlord and tenant, decided that the tenancy of a metayer who has planted a spring plant of canes, that is to say, canes planted between the first day of January and the first day of August in the same year, is a tenancy until the first day of July in the ensuing year, and thence from year to year; and that the tenancy of a metayer who has planted a fall plant of canes, that is to say, canes planted between the first day of August and the first day of January then next following, is a tenancy until the first day of July in the second year after such canes shall have been planted, and thence from year to year; and that in either case such tenancy is determinable at any time by the consent of both parties, or by either party on the thirtieth day of June, at the expiration of such first term or on the thirtieth day of June in any subsequent year, if such party shall have given to the other party six months' previous notice of his intention to put an end to such tenancy on such thirtieth day of June.

The court held, also, that a person who breaks land not allowed to him, or who, having some land in cultivation, opens more, after notice from the landlord that he is not to do so, cannot enforce the metairie agreement against the landlord for not allowing him the use of the works, &c. for the canes grown on such unallotted or additional land, nor maintain trespass against him for destroying or damaging the cultivation of such unallotted or additional land, such person or metayer being in respect thereof a mere trespasser, unless the landlord, after discovering such trespass, expressly or by tacit acquiescence, permit the trespasser to cultivate such land.

Held, also, that the court will give vindictive damages when a growing crop is wantonly or maliciously destroyed, but not without regard to the age of the canes, and the prospect of realizing the crop. Judgment for plaintiff.

estate in the said island of the one
agrees to permit and
and take care of in a proper

planter-like and regular manner, a piece of land marked in the plan of the said estate, No. and containing

matured, the said

by the said

acres or thereabouts, and when the canes arising from such cultivation are
agrees to cut the same in a proper manner, to be carried to the mill
and when the same are so carried

the said

agrees and undertakes to grind the same, and to do and perform all the work usually done by the
mill gang, and when so ground the said
agrees and engages to boil and manufacture
the same into sugar, and when so manufactured he the said
engages to assist and see
the same potted, and in consideration of such labour to be done and performed by the said
he shall be entitled to have and receive one
of the sugar so manufactured
and removed at liberty after being properly cured, and for the use of the said land, the stock, carts,
utensils, and buildings, stores, and other expenses incurred by the said
shall have and
receive the other
of the said sugar, and all the skimming, melasses, and sweets arising
therefrom, and in order that the cane cultivation, the cutting, grinding, and manufacturing such
canes, may be carried on in a regular and planter-like manner, the said
sufficient stock and machinery, and agrees to lend to the said

said

agrees to find stock and carts to take

proportion of the sugar to the bay for sale or shipment as he may desire, the
being bound to load such carts, take care of the stock, and be answerable for the
same when so lent to
for such purpose, and in like manner when lent to carry out manure,
or for any other purpose, and when so used, to feed, rub down, and put the same in the pen.
And it is hereby expressly agreed by and between the parties hereto that the land cultivated in
canes under this agreement, and the sugar made therefrom, shall be cultivated and manufactured for
the best advantage of all parties, under the immediate superintendence and direction of the manager
or other person in charge of the said estate, and at his discretion and judgment; and, lastly,
It is hereby expressly agreed by and between the parties hereto, that if the said
shall at any time fail or neglect to cultivate the canes on the said land in a proper and planter-like
manner, or break or infringe any part of this agreement, or shall, without the consent in writing of
the manager or other person in charge, part with or assign over the said land or any part of it to
any other person, this agreement shall cease and be void from the beginning, and the proprietor
shall and lawfully may, without any previous demand, enter upon the said land so neglected or
assigned, and re-possess the same, and carry on the ultivation thereof, or re-let the same to any other
person, without any right of emblements, or any allowance to be made to the said
for any labour

may have spent in the cultivation of the said land; but nevertheless if the said
shall die pending the existence of this agreement, it shall and may be lawful for
or family of the said
to keep and cultivate the said land in
theretofore held and enjoyed

the
the same manner under this agreement as the said

the same. day of

In witness whereof the said parties hereto have hereunto set their hands, this
one thousand eight hundred and

This agreement being first read over to the within-named

by the said presence of

and fully explained by the said
and apparently well understood
being explained in the

TOBAGO.

Sub-Enclosure 13.

RETURN of CHURCHES and CHAPELS in TOBAGO, with the average attendance, &c., in each of the years 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857.

NUMBER OF SCHOOLS of various DENOMINATIONS and SCHOLARS in each of the years 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857.

COPY of a DESPATCH from GOVERNOR HINCKS to the SECRETARY of STATE for the

COLONIES.

Windward Islands, Barbadoes,
April 12, 1858.
(Received May 18, 1858.)

MY LORD,
I HAVE the honour to transmit to your Lordship a Despatch from the Lieutenant-
Governor of St. Vincent, together with the Blue Book for the year 1857, and the usual
abstract returns.

TOBAGO.

ST. VINCENT.

No. 16.

Enclosure in No. 16.

Encl, in No. 16.

Government House, St. Vincent,
March 20 1858.

SIR,

IN my Blue Book Report (No. 45) of last year, and in my Financial Despatch No. 46, of the 9th March 1857, I had the great gratification of reporting, just before I quitted St. Vincent on a temporary visit to England, that the colony generally was in a most satisfactory state; that ample provision had been made for clearing off the public debt (incurred for liabilities prior to my assuming the administration); that there was a clear balance of about two thousand pounds in the public treasury, without any claims whatever against it; that the revenue and expenditure were fairly balanced for the future; that agricultural operations had been largely extended; and that, in short, although the returns for the Blue Book of 1856 might not disclose any very marked advance upon those of 1855, the foundation had been laid for a great and progressive improvement which would tell most favourably in coming years.

2. Upon my return to St. Vincent in the beginning of the present year, I was happy to find that the colony was in the same satisfactory state as that in which I left it; that my anticipations of its continued progress and prosperity had been fully realised; and that, in consequence, many necessary and important services had been provided for, which it was impossible to undertake whilst the finances were in an embarrassed state.

There is every prospect of this progress and prosperity being continued, and already it is found practicable in the present year to include additional services of utility and importance in the current expenditure.

3. I have now the honour to transmit the Blue Book for the year 1857, accompanied by explanatory observations upon such parts of it as appear to require notice.

The revenue of 1837 was 19,7677. 14s. 10d.; that of 1856 was 16,9427. 3s. 84d. (after deducting the loan raised to pay off liabilities incurred prior to 1855.)

There has consequently been an increase of revenue to the extent of 2,8257. 11s. ltd. in

1857.

This augmentation is due chiefly to an increase in the receipts for duties upon imports, an extended cultivation having created a demand for additional supplies; to an increase in the receipts from tonnage duties arising from the presence of a larger amount of shipping; to an increase in the receipts under the Rum Act; to an alteration of the Income Tax Act, which made it more productive; and to the imposition of an additional tax upon exports.

1

At the same time the amount of revenue derived from Great Britain has been reduced from 2,770% in 1856 to 1,8707. in 1857, owing to the demise of stipendiary magistrates, whose duties are now provided for by the colony.

Expenditure.

The expenditure of 1857 was 20,2471. 4s. 5 d., that of 1856 was 17,0361. 17s. 4 d., but in each of these years large sums are included which were in liquidation of liabilities incurred prior to 1855; namely,

Deducting these amounts from the gross expenditure of the respective years will leave the actual expenditure on account of 1857 at 16,4767. 6s. 114d., and on account of 1856 at 14,8951. 7s. 5d., showing that the real increase in the expenditure in 1857 has been 1,5807. 19s. 6d.

This additional outlay arises from considerable sums having been spent in repairing various churches, in repairing the gaol, and in establishing the volunteer corps, and from a larger expenditure having been incurred in connexion with the public roads.

On the other hand, taking the judicial, civil, legislative, revenue, ecclesiastical, prison and police establishments, there has been a decrease of cost to the amount of 4721. 8s. 74d., as compared with

1856.

Public Debt.

The original sum borrowed at the close of 1856 to satisfy liabilities incurred prior to 1855 was 4,4507.

Of this amount, 1,9357. 10s. 9d. (besides interest on the whole sum) was paid off during 1857; the sum of 2,5147. 9s. 3d. therefore still remains unpaid.

Of this, all but about 3007. will certainly be met during the current year by the special provision made at the time the loan was obtained, and the small balance of about 3007. can readily be paid out of the general revenue. I see no reason to doubt, therefore, but that at the close of the present year the entire debt will be cleared off.

Militia.

No militia has been enrolled, but a volunteer corps of about seventy men, under a captain and two lieutenants, has been embodied, chiefly as a means of aiding the police, all the volunteers being sworn in also as special constables.

The corps has been established about six months, and already, on several occasions, has proved of considerable service in preserving the public peace, and in bringing offenders to justice.

Legislation.

Twenty Acts have been passed during the year, some of which are of considerable importance. The principal ones are, first, an Act reducing the duty of ten per cent. upon ad valorem goods to five per cent. The higher duty had been fixed in 1852, a time of great financial difficulty, when there was a general stagnation of trade, and all the West Indian interests were in a most depressed state, but it was always considered as very oppressive, and as holding out encouragment to fraudulent entries of value; a change, therefore, was only delayed until the colony had retrieved its financial position, and become so far revived in its general prospects as to hold out the hope that a reduction in the ad valorem duty from ten to five per cent. would not materially affect the revenue. The new law making this reduction has now been in operation nearly nine months, and in its results, so far, has fully borne out that hope.

Secondly, Acts for the enrolment of volunteers, and for the appointment of special constables, arrangements to which I have already adverted.

Thirdly, a series of laws for improving the administration of justice, by creating a court of appeal to the judges of the supreme court from convictions or orders of the magistrates, by providing for a circuit court of appeal to be established by Her Majesty for the Windward government from the decisions of the judges of the supreme courts of the respective islands of which that government is composed, and by constituting the chief justice of the colony vice-chancellor, having the same equity jurisdiction as the chancellor, and thus affording to suitors in that court the advantage of having their causes heard before a professionally educated judge.