colonial secretary, six official and eight elected members, the governor having both a vote and a casting vote. The Combined Court is composed of the Court of Policy plus six more elected members, known as the financial representatives, and deals with the annual budget and all financial affairs. "Thus this nominally two-chamber system is in fact merely a method of dividing the subjects of legislation into two classes (1) non-financial, and (2) financial-in which the elected members possess a majority. No wonder then," the Blue Book adds, that "at no time can this remarkable constitution be said to have worked satisfactorily "; nor that in work-a-day life British Guiana has facetiously, but very truly, been nick-named a "Half-Crown Colony," for, under its existing system, the government has never been able properly to function. Of the 11,000 voters, some 8,000 recorded their votes at the last election, which means that the vast majority of the people of Demerara still remains unrepresented. Nor is this all. The average constituency should work out at about 800 for each member, yet Georgetown, with 4500 registered voters, returns the same number of members as New Amsterdam with 594, as N.W. Essequebo with 675, and as S.E. Essequebo with 533The bribery and treating indulged in during these "popular elections have become a notorious by-word and reproach throughout the colony.

It is, then, by this very unsatisfactory chamber (the Combined Court) that the financial estimates are discussed and passed yearly. The governor and his officials are therefore rendered powerless when they wish and are expected to take a direct and active part in the development of the colony, and in improving the general conditions of its people. No wonder, seeing how and by whom the annual budget is criticised and allocated, the colony finds it difficult to float any loan on the London market, for where there is no reasonable expectation of financial security there can arise no confidence in the investor. Several times in recent years the colony has failed to balance its budget, and yet capital is urgently needed for schemes that will obviously benefit the whole of the community. The old Dutch slave-owners of Guiana did indeed leave us a damnosa hæreditas, when we assumed the ownership of their ancient colony upon their own terms of surrender.

This peculiar constitution is the result of the accident of history and not of logic or of sound theory. . . It constitutes in itself a

potential source of friction, and there is much to be said for merging the functions of the two courts into a single legislative council. And with this verdict of the Commissioners most persons would be inclined to agree.

On the other hand, against this suggested policy of benevolent intervention on the part of the Home Colonial Office, it may be objected that, as British Guiana has its own matured constitution, the colony must be left to itself to grapple with its peculiar problems in its own way, and generally to work out its own salvation. It is really a matter for the people of British Guiana to decide for themselves. Yet, at present, the progress of the colony is undoubtedly hampered by its existing constitution, and it is hard to see how its evident state of stagnation can be faced and overcome unless Imperial help is forthcoming and Imperial advice is accepted in the development of the whole country. British Guiana can hardly afford to prolong its present attitude of splendid isolation, and thus to stand aside from the other Crown colonies of the Empire.

Education in the colony is, in a sense, well recognised, since the £80,000 spent annually by the Education Department shows a higher percentage of the public expenditure than that devoted to the same purpose in Great Britain. Unfortunately, this outlay is largely wasted, as the recent damning report by Mr. WynnWilliams, one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, shows only. too plainly. Mr. Wynn-Williams, at the head of a special commission, went out to Demerara in 1924, and as the result of what he learned and detected out there, he recommended certain rootand-branch reforms, which were evidently not to the taste of the Demerara authorities, since the commissioners of last winter state that none of Mr. Wynn-Williams' recommendations have, so far, been adopted. The dilapidated and insanitary condition of the school buildings, even in the towns; the incompetence of the teachers; the happy-go-lucky methods of educational finance; the absurd and antiquated curriculum imposed on the young generation, which has been largely to blame for the lack of skilled artisans and agriculturalists in the colony-all go to make up a severe indictment against the present denominational system in force, "which combines the least desirable features of both private and State enterprise without any of their merits."

As to the moral and intellectual progress of the coloured

population, it may surprise Englishmen and Scotsmen to learn that, despite the large annual sums voted towards education and the widespread efforts of the various churches and many missionstations, the terrible curse of Voodooism, which is usually associated with the negro republic of Hayti, still lies heavy on the colony after more than a century of British rule. This form of African witchcraft seems to be deeply rooted in Demerara, and it is said to have infected the ignorant East Indian coolies as well as the black population. It is only a very few years ago that the whole community was startled by a shocking outbreak of Voodooism that occurred within a few miles of Georgetown. A large section of the coloured populace was involved in this affair, and one can only hope that the clergy and school teachers fully realize their severe task of combating and eliminating this terrible cult in their midst.

In contrast with its attitude towards educational reform, the colony seems anxious to make rapid progress in sanitation, especially as regards a pure water supply, not only for Georgetown, which was recently described as " floating on sewage," but for the many small townships along the coast. Last December most of the streets of the capital were being tunnelled and prepared for the new drainage scheme; but the question of good drinking water affects the whole population. It is to bad water that much of the prevalent disease throughout the coastal region is primarily due malaria, diarrhea, elephantiasis, and the horrible hookworm, " due to fæcal contamination of the soil." But there are many obstacles in the path of this sanitary campaign: financial, political and prejudiced. The villagers object to any interference with their primitive ways and denounce all official sanitary regulations as oppressive, for the village councils are legally their own masters in all local administration. As one travels mile after mile along the well-populated fringe of sea-board between Georgetown and New Amsterdam, hardly seeing a white face all day, one begins to realize the immense difficulties that must meet the anxious reformer in British Guiana.

Of the natural riches and possibilities of the colony it is hardly necessary to speak. Yet it must be borne in mind that, of its 90,000 square miles, about 77,000 are still covered by virgin forest. In the colonized region, sugar is of course the main product; and at present, as in the past, Demerara seems to flourish or wilt

according to the good or bad state of the sugar market. Yet every tropical plant will thrive abundantly here, and it is of the first importance that fruit, vegetables, coffee, palm nuts and ground nuts should be cultivated on a far wider scale than at present. Rice, for which there ought to exist a ready market in the West Indies, is grown to a fair extent, but its cultivation might and should be largely increased. The delicious tropical fruits that one meets in plenty throughout Brazil, are anything but plentiful in British Guiana. The sloping savannahs or plains that lie behind the coastal belt should provide good pasturage for cattle. But, whenever any of these suggestions for alternate or catch crops, or for new products, are mooted, the old bugbear of colonial finance arises, and until the financial system of the colony can be placed on a sounder basis, it is not easy to see how any real progress can be attained. There remains, of course, the great untouched area of the forests, which are now being slowly explored by the Forestry Department. But vast as is the prospective wealth of these forests, the present position of the colony is not affected thereby. There is just now much talk of building railways into the interior, so as to bring down the valuable greenheart and other heavy timber to the ports for shipment; but again there is the financial difficulty to be overcome with regard to any such project.

As to climate, British Guiana, lying wholly in the tropical zone, is naturally hot. On the other hand, it is not per se unhealthy, and a cool sea-breeze tempers the heat almost the whole year round. Rain falls frequently, and a drought, though not unknown, is rare. Just now the people of Demerara are inclined to resent the marked neglect and avoidance of their colony by the many tourists who annually flock southward in increasing numbers from the United States and Canada, as well as from Europe. British Guiana, they argue, with good reason, is interesting and not unhealthy, and only requires to become better known for more general appreciation. Moreover, Georgetown is less than a day and a-half's sailing from Trinidad, where the great tourist wave from the north may be said to break every winter. But, as one passes from the shallow muddy sea and proceeds up the coffee-coloured stream of the Demerara river, the first impression of Georgetown cannot be called attractive, and its surroundings are flat and monotonous. Yet the city itself is admirably laid out

on the rectangular plan, and its broad thoroughfares are gay with avenues of flowering trees and gardens. A visit to the Botanical Gardens at Vlissingen is both an education and a delight, for here are seen growing in profusion the huge-rimmed circular leaves of the Victoria Regia lily, with its gigantic, odorous, carmine blossoms. And from every bough the visitor is hailed by the Kaskadee, or Demerara shrike, a bird with pale-yellow and brown plumage, whose song, sounding like the pert question, “ Qu'est qu'il dit?" never ceases through the daylight hours, so that the Kaskadee's piping call seems the dominant note of the colony. Everywhere the botanist and naturalist will find endless objects of interest. Outside Georgetown abound snowy egrets, blue herons and gaudy kingfishers, which haunt the many dykes that are gay with water hyacinth, cannas, ginger lilies and coloured nymphæas. And if the tourist will drive as far afield as Parika, on the flat coastal road to the Essequebo estuary, he will see great forest trees swathed in orchids. While everywhere waves the graceful coco-palm, that of itself can impart a peculiar charm to the dullest landscape.

But is Demerara ready as yet to welcome visitors and to obtain its fair share of the shower of gold that the modern tourist traffic scatters in its train? At present, Georgetown alone may be said to offer any sort of accommodation to the seeker after warmth and sunshine, and-to put it gently-the existing Georgetown hotels are far from adequate for the purpose. No doubt in time and with capital this drawback will be remedied, and the desired tourist stream will flow into British Guiana, as it already is flowing into Jamaica and Trinidad. For if the coastal flats may not be deemed sufficiently picturesque, the interior of the colony contains some of the most magnificent scenery in the world. The splendour of the Falls of Kaietuk, the noblest cataract on earth, is gradually becoming known from recent travel books; but at present a visit to the beautiful Potaro Valley, which holds these falls, means a week of hard travelling, much of it in canoes or afoot. The same remarks will apply to the great flattopped mountain-range of Roraima, over 8600 feet above sea level, which stretches along the Venezuelan frontier to the west of the Kaietuk Falls. All this expanse of river, forest, mountain and grassy upland would make an admirable national park, once it were rendered accessible to the ordinary tourist, and it is devoutly to