Of all recent visitors to these shores Mr. Bustamente of
Jamaica, Minister of Communications in the Jamaica Government, Mayor of Kingston, and supreme (though not quite perhaps, because of the rivalry of his cousin Mr. Manley) Labour boss, is by long odds the most picturesque. His luxuriant grey hair, his dark skin, his engaging smile, together with a past which can properly be called romantic—at least—make him a personality abundantly worth encountering. But it is as a speaker that he really arrests. There is no art of oratory of which he is not complete master, and his management of his rich and melodious voice, with its remarkable range of modulations, is rather a natural gift than an acquired accomplishment. And there are always glimpses of latent fire that make it easy to imagine how swiftly he could rouse a negro mob to anything. If our relations with Jamaica are to be what we should desire we must secure—or retain—Mr. Bustamente's goodwill. It is to be hoped that his present visit will make for that.
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