and delicate a subject. We are not so bold, on the strength of our brief experience of local conditions in British Guiana, as to suppose that we can provide it with a brand new constitution which will stand the test of time. Nevertheless, as some alteration is in any case necessary, it appears to us that the opportunity might well be taken by the local Commission, suggested in the preceding paragraph, to consider very carefully certain other points in which the present political system is obviously open to criticism.

The first of these points is the division of the legislative power between the Court of Policy and the Combined Court. This peculiar constitution is the result of the accident of history and not of logic or sound theory. There seems nothing to be gained by the existence of two classes of elected members, one of which is precluded from dealing with all matters not relating to taxation and expenditure. The mere existence of this distinction constitutes in itself a potential source of friction and there is much to be said for merging the functions of the two bodies into a single Legislative Council.

A more serious cause of friction is the absence of any link between the executive and the elected members. In the absence of such a link it is easy to imagine that decisions may be taken by the Government of which the elected members, if consulted in advance, might have given notice of their disapproval and that in consequence measures may be rejected without adequate consideration or full knowledge of the facts. Instances of both these cases were brought to our attention, and the suggestion was made that they might be avoided by admitting an elected element to the Executive Council. This body was set up in 1891 to take over from the Court of Policy its executive duties, which included the preparation of the annual estimates. It is constituted by Letters Patent to advise the Governor, who is bound to consult with it in the execution of the powers and authorities granted him by the Crown, except where the matter is too urgent or unimportant or where the King's Service would thereby sustain material prejudice. With the exception of two ex officio members, the Colonial Secretary and the Attorney-General, it consists of such persons as may be appointed by the King or provisionally appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation or disallowance. In the past this body has contained representatives of the elected members, but for some years this has not been the case and the present Council consists of five officials and three unofficials, none of the latter being a member of the Legislature, with the result that on the one hand the Executive Council includes no exponent of popular opinion and on the other that the Legislature contains no unofficial exponent of the Government point of view. With a view to promoting greater mutual confidence and co-operation, and on the general principle that responsibility is in itself a good thing, we are in favour of admitting to the Executive Council one or more of such elected

members as the Governor may see fit to recommend, for appointment, for the usual period of five years, to His Majesty the King.

It is also for consideration whether the time has not come for considering on its merits the question of importing a nominated element into the Legislature. It is a general phenomenon in tropical colonies that the extension of the electorate and the greater frequency of contests makes it extremely and increasingly difficult for anyone who is not able and prepared to embark more or less whole time on the career of a politician to enter the Legislature by the avenue of the constituencies. The result is the loss to public life of no inconsiderable proportion of those who are best qualified for it, or, in other words, of the small but extremely important European class which still controls. the principal agricultural and commercial activities of the Colony. This is especially regrettable in British Guiana, where all parties unite in desiring to encourage by every means the advent of the capital and business enterprise which is essential to development. It is also regrettable that agriculture should be markedly underrepresented in the Legislature of a colony which still depends almost entirely on that industry for its economic existence. In these circumstances we are of opinion that the Colony would be wise to consider whether the time has not come for providing by means of a nominated element for the representation on the Legislature of classes and interests inadequately represented by the process of direct election.

The question of replacing the Court of Policy and the Combined Court by a Legislative Council containing an official, an elected, and a nominated element raises the question of the number of the Council and of its various ingredients. On this we are not prepared to express an opinion, but fourteen members for a registered electorate of some 11,000 means an average constituency of less than 800, and this low figure is exaggerated by the great differences between the strength of the electorates of the various constituencies. For example, Georgetown, with 4,584 registered voters, returned at the last election the same number of members as New Amsterdam, North-West Essequebo, and South-East Essequebo, with 594, 675 and 538 voters respectively. Clearly some readjustment of the electoral districts is desirable, and at the same time it might be considered whether the representation of the Colony might not be adequately secured by a reduced number of elected members.

A further point which requires attention is the enforcement of the provision that elected members must possess certain qualifications. In the case of the Court of Policy these involve, inter alia, the possession of a certain amount of real property. Since the last general election no less than five out of eight members returned to the Court of Policy have had their election declared void by the Law Courts for failure to possess the requisite qualifications. Steps should be taken to avoid a repetition of this scandalous and unnecessary waste of public time and

money by providing for a preliminary statutory declaration by the candidate that to the best of his belief he possesses the requisite qualifications, and for the deposit of a sum of money which would be forfeited if it were proved that his declaration was unfounded.

Finally we are compelled to refer to the malpractices which appear to be a general and an increasing feature of the elections. Not only in private but in public it is generally stated that bribery and treating are now indulged in on an extensive scale. This demoralising and degrading practice is favoured by the small size of the present constituencies, which reduces the expenditure to manageable proportions, by the actual method of voting, and by the fact that as both the victorious and the defeated sides are equally involved no steps can be taken by the latter to enforce the law on the subject. We need not express reprobation of an evil which strikes at the root of representative government and which all parties unite in deploring. If it is to cease, measures must be taken to strengthen and enforce the law. Steps should be taken to ensure the secrecy of the ballot. It sould be considered whether arrangements could be made to provide more polling booths, to hold all elections on the same day, and to close all liquor shops on that day. Provision might also be made for requiring the candidates to make a declaration of their election expenses, as in this country. A re-arrangement of the constituencies, so as to eliminate some of the present small and easily managed electorates, would also tend to diminish the prevalence of these malpractices. Far from regarding this state of affairs as a reason for raising the franchise qualifications, as was sometimes suggested to us, we consider that it is in no small part due to the indifference and apathy in regard to public affairs shown by the fact that, in spite of the very low qualification, only 11,000 registered and only 8,000 voted at the last general election out of over 86,000 adult males. One of the best safeguards of the purity of elections is the number of the electors, and for this reason alone we would urge that every effort should be made to bring within the pale of the constitution those sections of the population which at present, though otherwise qualified, do not take sufficient interest in politics to have their names registered.

CHAPTER VIII.

Education.

Education in British Guiana presents in some ways a comparatively simple problem. Its fundamental importance is as generally recognised there, in theory at any rate, as everywhere else, and the local system has been lately thoroughly overhauled by a strong and representative Commission which enjoyed the assistance of Mr. Wynn-Williams, one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, whose services were specially lent for this purpose by the English Board of Education in 1924. This Commission presented a report which consisted of a scathing and admittedly justified condemnation of the existing system and of a comprehensive programme of root-and-branch reform, on the urgent necessity of which they insisted in the strongest possible terms. Since then two years have passed, during which not a single one of their main recommendations has been carried into effect. This, shortly stated, is the problem of education in British Guiana.

The basis of the Colony's primary education is, and always has been, denominational. To quote from the Commission's report, "the task of building primary schools has been left entirely to religious denominations. These religious bodies have been the pioneers, and they continue to be the mainstay of education. For this excellent work they deserve full credit." We entirely agree. But, as time has gone on, and in particular since the advent of compulsory, though extensively evaded, education, the zeal of the denominations, to quote the same document again, " is confronted by the inexorable and chastening demands of finance." Broadly, it is now true to say that the whole of the salaries and the greater part of the cost of maintaining and equipping these church schools are defrayed from State grants-in-aid administered, if such a term can be used in this connection, by a Board of Education on which the representatives of the churches themselves form not only the largest group but practically a permanent majority. These grants, together with the cost of a small Education Department under a Commissioner of Education (of whose powers it is impossible to say more than that they are both restricted and ill-defined), of a State secondary school in Georgetown, of a Board of Industrial Training, and of a quasi-penal institution, none of which is under the control of the Education Department, and of various other contributions towards secondary education, make up a total annual expenditure of over £80,000, representing a higher percentage of the public expenditure than that devoted to the same purpose in Great Britain.

It would be hard to conceive of a more deplorable state of affairs than that revealed by the Commission. "Dilapidated, dirty and insanitary schools," they found, "are the rule rather than the exception." In the most populous centres "it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find even one school which is properly staffed and equipped and in a thoroughly satisfactory condition in respect of water supply." "Unless immediate and drastic action be taken, a large proportion of children of the Colony will continue to be educated among surroundings of the worst kind," surroundings described by Mr. Wynn-Williams as a disgrace to any civilised country, and by the Commissioner of Education, in his report for 1924, as worse than barracks, hospitals and prisons. The position is not improved by the rivalry of the churches, which has led to the creation of large numbers of schools which are redundant to local requirements and which they cannot afford to maintain in a decent condition. On this the Commission record the opinion that "the dissipation of educational energy over a large number of small, insanitary and ill-equipped and inadequately-staffed schools will continue in a greater or less degree so long as the State relies upon competing denominations to provide schools for the people."

The unnecessary increase in overhead charges involved in this accumulation of uneconomic units means that a great deal of public expenditure on education is serving no useful purpose whatever. There are 256 schools in receipt of grants from which, as already stated, the whole cost of salaries and most of that of maintenance and equipment is defrayed. As these schools have an average attendance of 100 pupils, and as the per caput cost of education in a school of this size is approximately twice that of education which could be more efficiently given in a school for 500, a very considerable and unnecessary burden is thereby thrown upon the State. The financial results of this competition will press more heavily on the State every year, as the law providing for compulsory attendance is more effectively enforced. The opportunities for waste of the public money have not been diminished by the fact that the majority of these schools have not kept any satisfactory accounts, that until very recently their accounts have not been audited and that in the absence of an efficient Inspectorate there is no adequate provision for verifying the claims on which the grants are paid. From this point of view the present system combines the least desirable features of both private and State enterprise without any of their merits.

The teaching in these schools would be ludicrously if it were not so tragically unsuitable. It approximates, in ideal at all events, to that supplied in similar institutions in England during the latter part of the reign of Queen Victoria. In the majority of schools little or no attention is paid to physical exercises, personal hygiene, the training of the mind through the hand and the eye, or the different requirements of the two sexes.