There is a contest of some interest going on in
l3arbadoes be- tween the planters and the Governor. Lord Carnarvon, in a de- spatch of January 28, 1876, directed Mr. Hennessy to bring forward Lord Kimberley's plan of federating the Windward Isles, stating that he accepted his predecessor's views, and though "he had no desire to press the project on the reluctant consideration of the various colonies," he had a "clear opinion" in its favour, as tend- ing directly to the material advantage of the islands. Lord Car narvon added, that although he thought the Barbadian Constitu- tion defective, he had "no desire to abrogate a form of government which, from long usage, had become popular," and he thought federation might go forward without alteration in local arrange- ments. Mr. Hennessy of course obeyed orders, and probably fancying federation a favourite idea in Downing Street, threw a will into his work, and warned the people how federation would assist them in securing continuous employment, that is, doubtless, by internal migration within the federated islands. He may have mid something imprudent, though there is no proof of it, but the planters are under the impression that he is a negrophile, because he denounces with just severity the cruel discipline of the island, where negroes sent to prison are, as appears from the official return, flogged twenty times as frequently as in Jamaica. They therefore denounce the Governor as an enemy to the Con- stitution and the island, and accuse him of fomenting rebellion in order to get rid of the Assembly, a course which the Governor, if specially anxious to stand well at home, is not very likely to have pursued.
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