When the Dutch were driven from Brazil by the Portuguese in 1655 many of them settled in Jamaica, Barbados and other West Indian islands. They brought their slaves with them, and, besides, they had a good knowledge of sugar and the necessary capital, so that the industry entered a new phase of development after their arrival. The keenest competitors of the British islands were the French sugar producers of Saint Dominique, Guadeloupe and Martinique, as they were more skilled in manufacturing methods and made sugar at a lower cost. A heavy export tax affected the sugar trade of Jamaica and her sister colonies adversely. The refining of sugar was prohibited and heavy import duties placed upon sugar and syrup entering British North American possessions closed that market to the Jamaican product. Notwithstanding these drawbacks the industry continued to grow and in 1791 the destruction of the plantations of Saint Dominique removed a formidable rival. Since the passage of the emancipation act in 1834 and the granting of £16,500,000 as partial indemnity to the planters for the loss of their slaves, there has been persistent agitation by the planters, both in Parliament and outside of it. It became very loud when the protection afforded West Indian sugars as against sugars raised in slave-owning countries was lessened and finally withdrawn. It subsided somewhat with the abolition of slavery in the colonies of other European nations, and it was renewed with added vigor when the competition of bounty-nourished beet-root sugar manufactured on the continent of Europe made itself felt. As has been shown, bounties and cartels enabled the European beet-sugar manufacturers to sell their product in foreign markets below actual cost, while realizing a handsome profit in the quantity sold for home consumption. Jamaica and the other cane-producing colonies which had no domestic trade to fall back upon found themselves in a grievous plight. By 1895 matters had reached such a pass that a royal commission was appointed to make a thorough investigation of conditions and report to the home government. The main features of the remedial measures adopted as a result of the work of this body were: First: The establishing of the farmers as owners of land, that is to say, parcels of land were sold to small farmers, who were assisted by money advances in the cultivation of their crops, with the understanding that they were to grow cane at their own risk and sell it to the mills. Second: Planters were encouraged to raise crops other than sugar. Third: Agricultural experiment stations were built and equipped in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica with sub-stations in a number of the smaller islands. Fourth: A direct steamship service to Canada was established. The service between Jamaica and England was improved and regular steamer communication between the islands was provided.