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the part of the Germans an impossibility. Had the Armistice not been concluded a great debdcle would have been the result.

Preparations had been made to extend the attack on Nov. 14 to include the Lorraine front E. of Metz, an attack which the German army was as little prepared to meet as it was to resist the advance of the whole Allied line to the north. But this proved unnecessary to secure the Allied war aims. (A. L. C.)

WESTER WEMYSS, ROSSLYN ERSKINE WEMYSS, 1ST BARON (1864- ), British admiral, was born in London April 12 1864, the 3rd and posthumous son of James Hay Erskine Wem- yss of Wemyss Castle, Fife. He entered the navy in 1877, was promoted lieutenant 1887, commander 1898, captain 1901, rear-admiral of 2nd Battle Squadron 1912-3, and of the 3rd fleet 1914, vice-admiral 1916 and admiral of the fleet 1919. He commanded a squadron during the landing of the British troops in Gallipoli (1913), was commander-in-chief in the East Indies and Egypt (1916-7), Second, and shortly afterward First Sea Lord of the Admiralty (1917-9), and member of the War Cabinet (1918). He was created K.C.B. (1916), G.C.B. (1918), and raised to the peerage (1919).

WEST INDIES, BRITISH (see 4.607* and separate articles on the various islands). For administrative purposes, British Guiana and British Honduras are usually regarded as an integral part of the British West Indies, with which they have much in com- mon. These two colonies are, therefore, included here. The area of the group remained unchanged in 1921, no new posses- sions having been acquired by Great Britain in the Caribbean and no territory alienated. The total pop., according to the latest estimates available in 1921, was: Bahamas, 59,049; Barbados, 200,368; Jamaica, 891,040; Turks and Caicos Is., 5,615; Cayman Is., 5,564; Antigua, 32,865; St. Kitts, 22,415; Nevis, 11,596; Anguilla, 4,230; Dominica, 40,315; Montserrat, 10,182; Virgin Is., 5,557; Trinidad and Tobago, 386,707; Gre- nada, 74,490; St. Vincent, 53,210; St. Lucia, 51,505; British Guiana, 305,991; British Honduras, 43,586.

The Supply of Labour .Though Barbados has a redundant population, the labour supply in the rest of the West Indies was insufficient for agricultural requirements, and the position had been aggravated by the emigration of British West Indians to Cuba, to which island they were tempted by the promise of higher wages, which did not, however, always materialize. Toward the end of 1919 this form of emigration began to as- sume serious proportions, no fewer than 21,573 labourers leav- ing Jamaica for Cuba, whilst only 6,457 returned. Recruiting for Cuba was also actively carried on in Barbados. With the slump in prices in 1921, however, the tide set in to some extent in the opposite direction, many labourers returning to their homes. In the British West Indies it was beginning to be real- ized that it is only by the payment of suitable wages, improved housing conditions and the offer of other amenities, that labour- ers can be induced to remain in their island homes. In British Guiana the shortage of labour was particularly acute, and with a population averaging only 3-3 to the square mile, no develop- ment of the hinterland on a large scale was possible.

In 1913, Mr. James McNeil and Mr. Chimman Lall visited the British West Indies to report on the system of indentured immigration prevailing in British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad, and though their report was favourable, Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy of India, announced in the Indian Legislative Council in April 1916 the determination of the Government to abolish the indenture system. It was at first proposed to termi- nate the system gradually in order that the colonies might have time to adjust themselves to the change; but in practice emi- gration from India was completely suspended in the same year. In 1919, the need for labour having become acute in British Guiana, a deputation comprising representatives of all classes of the agricultural and commercial communities visited England to urge upon the India Office and leaders of Indian public orjjnion, who were then in London, the desirability of the re- sumption of Indian immigration on a free colonization basis. Representatives of the deputation and of the West India Com- mittee subsequently visited India, where they interviewed prom-

1005

inent leaders and the members of the Government, who agreed to send a commission to British Guiana to report on the suita- bility of that country for receiving immigrants. The appoint- ment of this commission was, however, delayed, it being felt desirable to await the views of the public in India regarding the proposals for dealing with the Indian question in Kenya Colony before proceeding further with the matter. In July 1921 an offer of the Indian Government to send a deputation to British Guiana was under consideration.

Government and Administration. The question of political federation of these scattered colonies, which was discussed periodically, had failed up to 1921 to awaken any marked degree of enthusiasm in the several communities. Indications were not wanting, however, to 'show that a better understanding was being gradually brought about, in spite of the continued difficul- ties of communication. This was no doubt attributable to the work of a series of intercolonial conferences from 1899 to 1921, the main object of which had been to bring about a greater degree of uniformity in all matters of common interest concern- ing the British West Indies. All proved eminently successful, the Customs Conference in 1919, for example, having resulted in the adoption of uniformity of definition and arrangement of the West Indian tariffs, whilst the conference on law in 1916 was followed by the establishment of a West Indian court of appeal for the colonies lying to windward of the Caribbean. A further step in the direction of closer union has been the formation of an Associated West Indian Chamber of Commerce, which held conferences in Trinidad in 1917 and Barbados in 1920. In 1920-1 Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent individ- ually petitioned the King for the substitution of representa- tive government for the crown colony system. In the case of Grenada, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to whom the matter was referred, consented to advise the King to approve of the introduction of the elective system into the constitution, the council to consist of the governor, as president, six official, three nominated unofficial and four elected unofficial members, the electives to be chosen by the people on the basis of the sys- tem of elected representation, already operative throughout the island in municipal affairs in the case of the district boards. The petitions of St. Lucia and St. Vincent, on the other hand, were rejected on the grounds that the signatories were not sufficiently representative in character.

In 1920 the Prince of Wales made Barbados his first port of call in his empire tour in H.M.S. " Renown," and visited in succession Trinidad, British Guiana, Grenada, St. Lucia, Do- minica, Montserrat, Antigua and Bermuda on his homeward voyage. His Royal Highness, who was received with manifest- ations of the greatest loyalty wherever he went, took the oppor- tunity of refuting the suggestion that Great Britain might be willing to dispose of her West Indian possessions to a foreign country in part settlement of her debt.

The World War. The British West Indies contributed gen- erously in men, money and produce toward the prosecution of the World War. Many hundreds of West Indians came over to England independently to enlist, and a contingent compris- ing 15,601 officers and men was recruited voluntarily for active service. The numbers of men recruited in the various islands, British Guiana and British Honduras, were:

Officers

Men

Barbados . Bahamas . British Guiana British Honduras Jamaica . Trinidad and Tobago Grenada . St. Lucia . St. Vincent

20 2 H 5 303 40

4

5

4

811

439 686 528 9,977 1,438 441

354 305 225

307

15,204

The men were embodied in the British West Indies Regt., which served with distinction in France and Flanders, and also

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