"The general statement regarding the danger of depending on a single industry applies with very special force to the dependence of the West Indian Colonies upon the sugar industry, for the cultivation of sugar collects together a larger number of people upon the land than can be employed or supported in the same area by any other form of cultivation. In addition to this it also unfits the people, or at any rate gives them no training, for the management or cultivation of the soil for any other purpose than that of growing sugar-cane. The failure, therefore, of a sugar estate not only leaves destitute a larger number of labourers than can be supported upon the land in other ways, but leaves them also without either the knowledge, skill, or habits requisite for making a good use of the land. In those colonies where the sugar industry cannot be carried on without imported coolie labour the position of dependence upon this one industry is still more dangerous. In these cases not only is there a yearly charge upon the public revenue to meet the cost of immigration, but a liability for back passages is incurred, which a failure of the industry would leave the colony without funds to meet. Whilst, therefore, the vital importance of the sugar industry to the present prosperity of nearly all the colonies is beyond dispute, we wish to observe that so long as they remain dependent upon sugar their position can never be sound or secure. It has become a commonplace of criticism to remark upon the perpetual recurrence of crises in the West Indian Colonies, and we submit that the repeated recurrence of such crises, as well as the fact that the present crisis is more ominous than any of the previous ones, illustrates the danger to which we have referred, and adds much force to our recommendations for the adoption of special measures to facilitate the introduction of other industries." The special remedies recommended were as follows: "1. The settlement of the labouring population on small plots of land as peasant proprietors. "2. The establishment of minor agricultural industries, and the improvement of the system of cultivation, especially in the case of small proprietors. "3. The improvement of the means of communication between the different islands. "4. The encouragement of a trade in fruit with New York, and, possibly, at a future time, with London. "5. The grant of a loan from the Imperial Exchequer for the establishment of central factories in Barbadoes. "The subject of emigration from the distressed tracts also requires the careful attention of the various governments, though we do not find ourselves at the present time in a position to make recommendations in detail."