Tobago Assembly prepares for freedom

Rita Pemberton

To mark two important periods in its history, the Tobago Assembly did two significant reviews of the laws passed by the House from 1794-1852.

Some laws were classified as disallowed, and others recommended for imperial approval. These exercises reveal some of the areas to which the island’s administration attached importance with the recommendation that they be retained, and the suggested amendments allowed.

The first review, in November 1834, examined laws passed between 1794 and 1834, and was described as a preparatory step for the functioning of the society with the changes necessitated by the termination of enslavement.

Its purpose was to determine those existing laws which, by amendment, adaptation or consolidation, could be made suitable to facilitating the transformation from a slave society to one in which slavery no longer existed. This suggests there was an accepted need for change after 1834.

Thes review included three areas which posed challenges. Firstly, unlike neighbouring Barbados, Tobago had never attracted a large white resident population. Some purchasers of estates in Tobago also owned properties in other islands and did not intend to live in Tobago. In addition, the white mortality rate was very high and that did not make it an attractive place of residence for white people, despite the numerous advertisements which sought to sell the island as an ideal living space.

It therefore had a significant number of absentee owners, which created problems for staffing administrative bodies, the qualifications for which included being white, British, Anglican, male and landowners.

Secondly, there was a shortage of qualified candidates who could hold and effectively contribute to administrative positions. As a result, incompetence in public office was rife. Merchants and planters with no legal training served as judges, lawyers and magistrates. The majority of plantations were run by attorneys, managers, trustees or executors who were not necessarily qualified in these areas, but who wielded power and influence through their multiple positions.

Thirdly, there was much duplication of officers, who were elected by a small number of voters, and lack of a quorum was a frequent feature of meetings of the assembly and council.

The situation worsened with the decline of the sugar industry and the changing of estate ownership early in the 19th century, after tumultuous encounters with the French which disrupted plantation operations, and the termination of the trade in captive Africans, which increased the cost of labour.

The second review covered the first 15 years of the reign of Queen Victoria, 1837-1852.

The legislature thought it opportune to review the laws passed during the first years of her reign to indicate those of significance to the society for which her support was needed. It was noted that 114 acts were passed during this period, of which 57 were still in force in 1852.

Four matters were included in the laws presented in this cohort.

The first was intended to deal with the problem of absenteeism in the administrative bodies. An act for enforcing regular attendance and service of persons elected as members of the assembly was passed in 1816. It was presented as suitable for imperial approval with the hope that it would stimulate the desired change.

The second law attacked the problem of shortage of coinage. English coins were a rarity;Spanish and Portuguese coins, which had long been in common usage, were the main coins in circulation.

But the imperial government showed no intention of assisting, and payment in kind became part of normal commercial transactions, with sugar, rum and molasses being used as legal tender.

Third was the shortage of suitable people to hold office. This was addressed by the Lessees Qualification Act of September 18, 1838, which sought to qualify lessees of estates to serve as members of the assembly and be eligible to vote in the election of members. To qualify, lessees must have a three-year lease valued at least £100 a year. The law also sought to enforce the attendance of those elected at meetings and providing the other required services.

This was a recognition of the island’s reality. The number of qualified white people was not going to increase, so maximum use must be made of the resident white population, qualified or not. It was important to prevent openings which could result in the elevation of non-whites; therefore competency was sacrificed in the interest of securing the numbers.

The next set of laws reflected the post-emancipation problems the plantation owners faced. Their primary concerns were related to land ownership and the availability of labour to the estates. There was a fear that the increasing quantity of unoccupied land would permit occupation by the freed African population, who would be lured away from plantation labour; hence the act to control the unauthorised occupation of land was passed on May 16, 1839.

Landowning by workers was considered a threat to estate labour. To prevent abandonment of such labour, the act for the suppression of vagrancy and for the punishment of idle and disorderly persons and punishment for trespassing was passed on March 28, 1839.

Also, it was assumed that freed Africans would seek to survive by stealing from the plantations, so the act of February 14, 1848 provided punishment for petty theft. To make it difficult for the freed population to engage in other non-plantation economic activity which could make them independent of the estates, laws were passed to regulate hucksters, pedlars, and hawkers on November 1, 1848.

In the planting community's view, the island’s labour problem was one of shortage which could best be handled by the importation of immigrant labour. The act of March 5, 1850, indicated the quality of treatment meted out to liberated Africans. The underlying hope was that this legislation would make them favoured for additional batches of immigrants and imperial support for other immigration schemes they desired.

The Tobago planters also sought to demonstrate to their imperial superiors their intent to improve the administration. They made reference to the body of laws intended to reorganise and strengthen the court system. Between February 1841 and November 1843, laws which included regulations pertaining to the administration of justice, the appointment of constables and the regulation of the police force were passed, and the Chief Justice was prevented from acting as agent or attorney for absentee owners.

While these provisions may suggest the intent to reform the island’s legal system and convey a good impression to the imperial decision-makers, the real intent was to strengthen the system to be able to deal effectively with the errant members of the workforce and maintain tight control over the island.

Despite the passage of these and a host of other laws, there was no change in the imperial government's attitude to Tobago. Maladministration continued up to the end of the 19th century; the currency problem had not been resolved; worker/ employer conflicts continued unabated to the end of the century; and the imperial authorities remained firm in their decision not to support immigration schemes.

The sugar industry crashed, and the island became enmeshed in economic woes. The Tobago Assembly failed to make adequate preparation for a free society.