James AA Biggart: Undaunted voice of Tobago – 1925-1932
Newsday
Dr Rita Pemberton
THE OUTBREAK of the 1876 Belmanna War in Roxborough was the manifestation of what was feared most by Tobago’s ruling class: black reprisal action unleashed against the island’s planter-dominated administration.
While the imperial authorities sent support fighting forces from Barbados to restore order, they were able to use this explosion to play on the fears of the island’s ruling class to institute their long-desired plan to change the system of administration of the colonies by getting rid of the troublesome assemblies and assuming full control of colonial administration.
As occurred in Jamaica after the outbreak of the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, the outcome was the institution of Crown Colony government in Tobago in 1877. As a result, the terrified Tobago Assembly was stripped of its powers without its usual war of words with the imperial government.
Under imperial rule, the next urgent issue to be determined with respect to Tobago was the major economic problem which the island faced. However, the imperial authorities made it clear they harboured no intention of underwriting the administrative costs of an impoverished island, nor were they prepared to sanction policies which the island’s coffers could not afford.
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Loud was the negative imperial voice to any of the planter-proposed solutions to resuscitate the island’s sugar industry via immigration schemes and/or the institution of a central sugar factory.
Their answer to the inability of the Treasury to meet the costs of the island’s administration was the implementation of drastic cost-cutting measures, which included reduction of the number of officers, duplication of their responsibilities, and reduction of their remuneration. The post of governor was terminated, and the island was administered by a lower-paid officer, the administrator.
The drastic salary cuts and increased responsibilities of officers failed to make a dent on the island’s financial deficit, while the social problems faced by the population surged. The imperial solution was to shift the burden of Tobago onto another colonial unit in the region and finally to unite Tobago with its wealthier neighbour, Trinidad.
In the making of all these decisions there was no input from the island’s residents, neither large nor small landowners, upper nor middle class. Most wounded in this process was the emerging class of politically ambitious landowners who hoped to be able to play a role in the political process by acquiring the land qualifications required for the franchise.
Union with Trinidad did not appease that desire for this island was always a crown colony and its ruling planter elite, which constituted the Legislative Council, did not demonstrate an interest in the affairs of Tobago, leaving the island’s population to exist with festering problems.
Change came with the institution of the Wood constitutional reform in 1922, which gave Tobagonians the right to elect a representative on the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago. The first election was held on February 7, 1925, and James Alpheus Alexander Biggart was elected.
Biggart was a trained druggist who owned the only pharmacy in Windward Tobago, and who demonstrated a commitment to the development of the island. His advocacy reflected a sound knowledge of and sensitivity to the problems faced by the people of Tobago, and a passionate desire to change the trajectory of the island’s development.
During the two terms he served as the representative of Tobago, Biggart was the untiring advocate for the development of Tobago in five main areas:
* Improvement of the quality of life.
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* Provision of adequate educational facilities, primary and secondary.
* Equality of services with those provided in Trinidad.
* Creation of employment opportunities.
* Availability of government services.
High on his list of priorities for the development of Tobago were his plans for education. He was one of the earliest advocates for the provision of a secondary school on the island.
When Bishop’s High School was established by the Anglican Board in 1925, he requested that government fund two scholarships to enable poor children to attend secondary school, as was the case at Queen Royal College in Trinidad. This was not sanctioned by the Board of Education.
Biggart requested additional funding for primary schools in Tobago, for a special member for Tobago on the Board of Education and for a resident Inspector of Schools in Tobago. His requests were denied but the government promised there would be frequent visits of the Inspector of Schools to Tobago.
His advocacy for infrastructural development included improvement of the very irregular sea communication with Trinidad, which was important both as a transshipment point for the produce of Tobago and because Port of Spain was an important market for the produce of Tobago, in addition to which it was the island’s main means of contact with the outside world.
He suggested that a post office be established on the island and improvement be made in the wireless service to and extension within the island.
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Biggart lamented the deplorable state of the roads in Tobago, and pleaded for an increase in the number of roads and bridges. He brought the attention of the particularly poor state of the Northside Road and the narrow Windward Main Road to the attention of the council, and succeeded in getting road improvements, after only a few months in the position, in 1925.
He lobbied for road improvements in Moriah, Mt St George, Bon Accord, Canaan and Plymouth, keeping Tobago’s needs in constant view of the decision-makers.
Biggart sought improvement in the markets of Tobago and asked for one to be constructed in Roxborough, for a lime factory in Tobago, for a police station in Moriah, and for a modern fire station and a savings bank in Scarborough.
He sought to have stamping of scales and weights in Roxborough to prevent people from having to travel to Scarborough to access this service. He advocated the improvement of medical services on the island with an ambulance service and a health centre at Delaford to service Tobago east, and a resident dentist for the island.
He painfully lamented the poor state of geriatric care in Scarborough where the aged poor were to be seen begging on the streets. As a result, approval was given for the remodelling and improvement of the Poor House.
Biggart was a strong advocate for the centralisation of government services on the island to prevent the need for the people of Tobago to travel to Trinidad to obtain basic services, and for the removal of the disparity in the wages paid to government employees between Trinidad and Tobago.
In addition to his prodding of the central administration, he also nudged the Tobago population into activities which he considered important for their development. He gave support to the establishment of libraries in rural communities to encourage reading, and he was a very strong advocate of the importance of Tobago’s history for its development.
He asked the government to collect and preserve documents on the history and literature of the island for the benefit of succeeding generations.
As the island’s representative on the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago, James Biggart represented his people very well. He raised issues that concerned every segment of the population, every district of the island, and every matter that could contribute to making Tobago a better place for its inhabitants.
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He persevered with his advocacy even in the face of negativity and remained the undaunted voice of Tobago during the period he served the island he loved.