The West Indies The labour troubles in the West Indies
have served their purpose. In an admirable speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Malcolm Mac- Donald, announced the immediate appointment of a Royal Commission to investigate social and economic conditions in the West Indies. It may be doubted whether yet another enquiry on this scale is necessary. The relevant information is already available, further delay may cause further trouble, and speed is of the essence of the problem when conditions have become intolerable. But if the new Commission works fast, assimilates existing information, and concentrates on making concrete proposals, it can perform a useful service. The main problems are to effect an improvement in housing and wages, a land reform, and an increase in the market for West Indian sugar. To solve these problems will impose new burdens on the Exchequer ; and the cost will once more emphasise the folly committed in encouraging the British sugar-beet industry. The British taxpayer has for years paid, and is still paying, millions in subsidies to a wholly superfluous and uneconomic industry ; he will now pay some millions more to repair the damage done to a colony ruined by the contraction of the market for sugar.
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