Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria University College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 21, No. 7. June 11, 1958

"Friend of the English, Free From Fear."

"Friend of the English, Free From Fear."

I note with interest that terror stalks the Bahamas. A Politically explosive situation threatens to blow the islands' economy sky-high. Unexplained acts of terrorism and sabotage have shocked the ruling millionaire clique at a time when wealthy free-spending Americans are flocking to this fashionable winter playground. Root cause of the trouble has been the constant rejection by Britain of demands by the 100,000 Negro population who make up 82% of the population for an articulate voice in the government. For years, the Bahamas have been ruled by a white group whose families have lived on the islands for generations. For years they have held a safe majority in the House of Assembly, giving them a firm hold on political and economic power. There is plural voting, and one vote is given to every company registered in the Bahamas; and, moreover, an extra by-election vote is given to anyone owning property in a constituency even if he does not live there. But when what appeared to be a minor squabble about wages touched off a unanimous general strike, Britain adopted its traditional remedy for curing its colonial troubles and flew in a battalion of British troops.