The governor, whose authority is very extensive, is appointed by the British queen. He is assisted in his administration by a council of nine persons, called the Court of Policy, four of whom are high executive officers appointed by the Crown. The other five are chosen by the inhabitants. No law made by the Court of Policy can remain in force unless it be approved in England by the queen in council.
Justice is administered by a Supreme Court consisting of three Judges, who are always lawyers of high standing, sent out from Great Britain. In the criminal trials which come before this court, the judges are assisted by three assessors, who answer to our jurymen, being persons chosen by lot from among the inhabitants,—who have an equal vote with the judges. No prisoner can be found guilty, except by at least four votes out of the six.
The colony is divided into three counties, Demarara, Berbice and Essequebo. Each of these counties is again divided into parishes, and the parishes are subdivided into judicial districts, each under the superintendence of a Stipendiary Magistrate, appointed and paid by the Crown. These stipendiary magistrates are persons of education and character, sent out from Great Britain, and who, having no interest or connections in the colony, and being frequently removed from one district to another, may be expected to be impartial, and not likely to be warped in their judgment by personal considerations. These magistrates are under the sole control of the Governor, by whom they can be suspended from office. They have exclusive jurisdiction, as will presently appear, of all controversies, as to contracts and labor, arising between employers and laborers. The whole population of the three counties may be estimated at one hundred thousand, of whom six or eight thousand are white, and all the remainder, colored. The English language is now spoken by all, and is the only language used in the colony.
Those distinctions which prevail to so great a degree in the United States, between the free colored and the white population, and which render the position of the colored man in the United States so mortifying and uncomfortable, are wholly unknown in British Guiana. In this respect all are equal: colonial offices and dignities are held without distinction by white and colored. Colored men are indiscriminately drawn to sit as assessors on the bench of the Supreme Court. The colored classes in British Guiana are wealthy, influential, and highly respectable. Many of them are magistrates, proprietors, merchants with large establishments, and managers of estates receiving liberal salaries. The collector of customs at one of the principal ports, is a person of color, and many others hold public stations. It is evident from these facts that color is no obstacle to advancement or distinction. It is difficult and almost impossible for a citizen of the United States, educated in the midst of distinctions and prejudices, to realize the state of things so entirely different which prevails in British Guiana.
III. SPECIAL LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LABORERS AND EMIGRANTS.
The greater part of the laboring population of British Guiana were formerly slaves. They have been lately set free by the justice and bounty of the British government, which is very jealous of their rights, and which has enacted many special laws for their protection.
A leading measure of this kind is, the appointment of the Stipendiary Magistrates above described. These stipendiary magistrates have exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies between employers and laborers touching wages and contracts. It is provided by the fourth chapter of the Orders in Council of Sept. 7th, 1838, which are the supreme law in British Guiana, that any laborer, on complaint preferred, and proof made before any stipendiary magistrate, that his employer has not paid his wages, or delivered him the articles agreed upon between them as a part of his wages, or that the articles delivered were not of the quality or quantity agreed upon, or that through the negligence of the master the contract has not been properly performed, or that the laborer has been ill used,—upon complaint preferred for any of these reasons, and proof made, the stipendiary magistrate may, by summary process, order the payment of the wages, the delivering of the stipulated articles, or compensation to be made for any negligence or ill usage on the part of the employer; and if the order be not complied with, the magistrate has power to issue his warrant for the seizure and sale of the goods of the employer, or so much as may be necessary; or if no goods are to be found, the magistrate may commit the employer to prison for any time not exceeding one month, unless compensation be sooner made; and the magistrate may dissolve the contract if he see fit.
To prevent contracts being made with emigrants, disadvantageous to them or unfair in any respect, previous to their arrival in the colony, it is provided in the same Orders in Council, chapter third, that no contract of service made out of the colony shall be of any force or effect in it; that no contract of labor shall remain in force for more than four weeks, unless it be reduced to writing; and that no written contract of service shall be binding, unless signed by the name or mark of the persons contracting in the presence of a stipendiary magistrate; nor unless the magistrate shall certify that it was made voluntarily, and with a full understanding of its meaning and effect; nor can any written contract of service remain in force for more than one year.