Excerpt from The British West Indies and the Sugar IndustryIt is impossible, however, to read the evidence published along with the Report without feeling that the latter has but touched the fringe of a very wide as well as very urgent question. For this perhaps the Commissioners are not directly to blame, as they were compelled to keep within the terms of their instructions. These appeared wide enough, the actual wording being, To make full and diligent enquiry into the condition and prospects of our colonies in the West Indies in which sugar is produced, and to suggest such measures as appear to you best calcu lated to restore and maintain the prosperity of these colonies and of their inhabitants. But this was unfortunately greatly curtailed by a covering letter from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who interpreted the Commission into an enquiry merely as to the causes of depression of the sugar industry, what effect its abandonment would have, what indus tries could take its place, and what subventions are likely to be necessary.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.