- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 22/Jun 06:08

Resistance in Windward Tobago

DR RITA PEMBERTON While this was a major resistance movement which was an expression of the intolerance of the labouring population of the windward district with the unsatisfactory working and living conditions on that part of the island, it was not the only resistance expression of intolerance by the over-exploited labourers of Windward Tobago for, later in that month, it was followed by another expression of the dissatisfaction of the labourers with the unsatisfactory conditions which did not change after the Belmanna explosion. In his speech to the September session of the Legislative Council on Friday, November 10, 1876, Lieutenant Governor Harley made reference to “events of grave importance” which occurred in the windward district. He described the events as an unexpected outbreak of “serious riots” which threatened life and property but to which swift action controlled and put down the revolt before it could spread to other parts of the island. He promptly sent for one of Her Majesty’s ships, the HMS Argus, which he said, saved the colony from "a great and imminent danger” and used the law to punish the resistors. Although the lieutenant governor did not give any details of either the cause and/or course of the revolt, it is noteworthy to record that post-emancipation conditions in Windward Tobago reflected little change from the era of enslavement. This is the hilliest part of the island which was not well served by road access and although it housed some of the largest plantations on the island and planters were able to exert more control over their workers, the estates were not profitable entities. Planter control was demonstrated by the low rate of development of free villages in the windward district after emancipation. In 1852 there were no free villages in the windward district but there were some scattered houses which were built on land which was rented from the estate and by December 1852 there were only 20 freeholds in the entire district. The majority of the remaining population were tenants and tenancy in the district was based on unjust principles with tenants having neither security nor certainty of possession. [caption id="attachment_1162151" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An abandoned building that once housed the District Revenue Office and the Office of the Windward Youth Council in Roxborough, Tobago. - Photo by Jeff K Mayers[/caption] Wages were the lowest on the island and there were very few alternative means of employment to estate labour. Despite having the lowest density of population and the largest acreage of abandoned land, the windward district experienced heavy population loss by migration to the Scarborough and the leeward district. As a result, after emancipation there were consistent planter complaints of a scarcity of labour in the windward district. In their bid to force the population to remain as estate labourers, the planters adopted a strategy to protect their labour force by preventing labourers from owning land. The planter strategy was preventative occupation by which system they justified their illegal occupation of unoccupied land to prevent occupation by labourers. In the windward district, the 700 acre Pulteney Hill estate was appropriated by Richmond and other estates while the owners of Charlotteville estate had long appropriated unoccupied poor settlers lots on Pirates Bay which brought planters and villagers in the community into conflict. After the hurricane of 1847, the Tobago planting fraternity undertook a determined struggle to reduce wages across the island which was strongly resisted by the labourers, causing strikes in some parts of the island. In the windward district wages were reduced from the paltry 83/4 pence (roughly17 cents) per day to seven pence (14 cents) per day but although there was no strike action in that part of the island, frustration bubbled at sub-surface level with increasing intensity. However, the workers continued to be plagued by irregular wages, rising prices of imported goods, some of the highest on the island, which led to increased migration from the windward district where opportunities to purchase land were most limited. The continual planters lament about their problem of labour shortage resonated with the island’s sympathetic administration leading its members to pass the stringent Suppression of Vagrancy Act to prevent emigration from rural parishes, but it was disallowed by the imperial government. However, migration from the windward district continued to increase. When the metayage system was implemented, George Le Plastrier was critical of the abuses imposed on the labourers in the windward district by unwritten contracts and asked, in vain, for legislation to protect the meteyers. Failing to obtain any intervention to provide relief from their difficulties, the labourers organised a strike and protest action across the district. Equipped with sticks and stones, they challenged the authorities and created chaos in the district, taking the plantation owners by surprise. [caption id="attachment_1160808" align="aligncenter" width="255"] Dr Rita Pemberton -[/caption] The lieutenant governor, in accordance with the wishes of the planting fraternity, stated that what was needed was a strengthening of the power of the executive. The island’s council proposed: An act to alter and amend the political constitution of the island, which was awaiting assent from the British government. This law was intended to bring Tobago’s systems closer to the administrative and judicial system in the Windward Islands. A bill to augment the police force by 10 privates and an act to bring the total of all ranks to 50 to be constituted as follows: The force will be armed to maintain order, a volunteer corps of two companies one each for Scarborough and the windward district will be established. In their reply to the address of the lieutenant governor, members of the Legislative Assembly urged the imperial authorities to provide expedited response to the law which aimed to change the constitution and augment and reorganise the police force was awaiting their response. The emphasis of the [planters reflected their refusal to shift from the mode of enslavers while they continued to use brutal laws to enforce compliance with their wishes. For the planters, the need to squeeze profits out of a moribund sugar industry was their main goal. They refused to accept the freedom of the workers and their desires for a better life than the pressured living under planter control. Prevention and prosecution were the watchwords that guided planter action. Meanwhile, attention was given to the other major matter of planter concern – the economic state of the sugar industry. Since they were unable to exert any influence on prices on the sugar market, they devoted their attention to reducing labour costs and raising revenue by taxation which would have a doubly beneficial. First, revenue would hopefully be increased but the law would also have a punitive effect. It would also prevent workers from being able to afford land and so reduce the attrition of the plantation work force. The assembly passed a bill to increase the rate and taxes on all land, and buildings on the island an act to grant Her Majesty certain rates and taxes to raise revenue. Taxes were to be due on July 1 and 30 days later a list of defaulters would be submitted to the marshal with a warrant to levy on the premises to recover outstanding rates and taxes. The island’s police force was strengthened to prevent further challenges, taxation was increased, persons who were arrested during the strike action were imprisoned, the estates in the windward division did not improve financially and the problems of workers were not resolved: their land hunger persisted and migration to other parts of the island provided their route to a better life.   The post Resistance in Windward Tobago appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.