Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 42

38. C. S. Salmon, Depression in the West Indies. Freed Trade the Only Remedy (London: Cassell & Co., 1884). (31 p.)

Economic essay promoting the abolishment of government subsidies and the reinstatement of free trade as the best means for reviving a flagging economy in the British West Indies. Much the essay deals with the competition between former slaves who have lived on the islands for generations and “coolies” imported by the British from India, who are willing to work for very low wages. The author argues that African labor will be productive if wages are allowed to find their natural level, which means ending the importation of subsidized workers from India.