Sixty years of adult suffrage

In SVG today, politics rules the day and touches every aspect of our lives, even ones we consider personal and private.{{more}} There is consequently much political talk at the rum shops, bars, radio talk shows, mini vans, just about everywhere politics is the favourite topic of conversation. This is perhaps not surprising for we are a tiny society in which just about everything depends on the government, even the private sector, as we saw recently with the saga over the two car parks. It was just sixty years ago, 1951, that working people were allowed to vote. Before this the franchise was limited to those who satisfied the land and income qualifications. October 15, 1951, a Monday, became the dawn of a new political day as 27, 409 persons were registered to vote and 69.7 percent actually voted. Kenneth John had made the point sometime ago that because the man on the street had been denied the right to vote for so long, he began “to believe that politics held the key to all problems and offered the panacea for every ill.” This view of politics still prevails and the politicians themselves have done everything to reinforce this view, as they attempt to control every aspect of the lives of the people of the country.

This right to vote through Universal Adult Suffrage was not readily accepted by everyone. In fact, when it had been suggested that a literacy test be attached as a condition, the Vincentian newspaper accepted it. Others did likewise. George McIntosh, opposed it strongly. Decades later Cecil McIntosh, that eccentric character from Bequia, suggested that since the ordinary man had the right to vote he should be given six votes. Recently, however, this took an interesting turn for when persons expressed the view that a number of voters at the last General Election voted based on handouts following hurricane Tomas, one person opined sadly that this is how Adult Suffrage was playing itself out. The argument is that persons who are poor and under-privileged will always be vulnerable to bribes handed out by those in authority. What is wrong with this is that many, whom we consider not dependent on this kind of handout and patronage, are equally guilty, if that is how we want to look at it.

We really need to do an evaluation of politics since Adult Suffrage to see what strides we have made and to determine how our people regard that right today. Is it that we now take it so much for granted that it has lost its meaning to us? Do most of us really understand its significance and deal with it in that manner? In 1935, when the working people were faced with the reality of new taxes being imposed on them in what were rather difficult times, they stood outside the Legislative Council and protested. The news about the new taxes drew them to the yard of the Court House and some of them were beginning to recognise for the first time the significance of what went on in that building. When they started rioting, the Governor became acutely aware or was reminded of the fact that the persons on the streets and in the Court Yard were not represented in their revered chambers. The riots were part of disturbances that affected most of the English speaking Caribbean colonies in the 1930s. After this the message was clear, the concerns of the working people needed to be put high on the agenda and they had to be represented by people of their choosing.

The Moyne Commission which investigated the disturbances in the region recognised that any attempt at improving social conditions was only going to be successful if accompanied by constitutional changes leading to Adult Suffrage. Adult Suffrage was the ultimate goal, but the Commission itself was not at one on its timing. Some constitutional changes followed, but what was of significance to the working people was a notice in the St.Vincent Gazette on April 6, 1949, to the effect that Adult Suffrage was to be introduced at the next election. The existing Legislative Council which should have gone out of existence by September 30, 1949, had its life extended. A new phase in the political life of the colony was about to begin. It started even before the elections of October 15 that gave life to the new constitutional arrangements. Ordinances were passed in 1949 providing for Town Boards and Village Councils. A number of clubs, community and literary organisations rose to the demands of the occasion and assisted with the development of political consciousness. The Grammar School Old Boys Association sponsored a discussion on the forthcoming general elections and had the Supervisor of Elections, R. N. Jack, as its featured speaker. The Barrouallie Literary Organisation and the Edinboro Community Circle also got into the act. Letters appeared in the newspapers appealing to the new voters and suggesting the kinds of persons that should be elected.

By 1950 the Labour Party of George McIntosh had launched its slate of candidates, with every expectation that it would continue its dominance of the Legislative Council. A few persons announced their candidacy as independents, among them ex-teacher B.R James. By October 20, 1950, at a public meeting, dentist Dr. Frank Ellis announced the formation of a new political party that would also have involved Robert Milton Cato. Nothing more was heard of this, but later Ellis entered the political race as an independent candidate. The country, however, erupted with political excitement on May Day 1951 when the United Workers Peasants and Rate Payers Union of George Charles was launched at a rally that attracted thousands. The Vincentian newspaper’s headlines captured the moment: “United Workers Union Celebrate May Day: Two thousand Marched from King George V Playing Field to Victoria Park!” The excitement was not so much about the formation of a new union but about the news that it intended to contest the first elections under Adult Suffrage. George Charles had been associated with the Buttler Union in Trinidad and had actually won a seat on the County Council in Diego Martin. Ebenezer Joshua came back to the country on May 18th, reputedly for a short visit. He addressed a meeting of the Union on May 22 and spoke for over one hour, a speech which the Vincentian newspaper described as “a sample of the good old rabble rousing oratory”. The rest is what we are celebrating this year. (To be continued).

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian.