I use the occasion of the 36th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution to provide some insight into its causes. The following is the text of an address (a shortened version) which I delivered at a dinner held by the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society, at the Rendezvous Hotel, on 30th May 1988.

The Anguilla Revolution is by far the greatest event in the history of the Anguillian people. Its seeds were planted way back in 1825 with the forced legislative union between St Kitts and Anguilla. (That same year the inhabitants of Anguilla petitioned against it because it effectively put an end to the control of their own affairs. They petitioned again in 1872 but without success.)

It was an unholy wedlock and I will describe briefly how this marriage of convenience worked to Anguilla's disadvantage throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Perhaps I should mention that in those early years Anguilla's name did not even appear on the marriage certificate. It was never "St Kitts-Anguilla," but either "St Kitts" or "St Kitts-Nevis". Anguilla therefore had good grounds for divorce. As a matter of fact where there is no love between partners a divorce has to come about at some time.

The first indication during the twentieth century of Anguilla's intention to seek a divorce was contained in a 1907 report by a Committee appointed to advise on means of increasing revenue collections in Anguilla. It noted: "It has been suggested that we should be entirely separated from St Kitts, and that we should impose a duty here on goods already duty paid there . . ." The Committee did not support the suggestion but, throughout the years, Anguillians continued to be unhappy with their union with St Kitts.

In December 1929, following the passage of the Colonial Development Act (1929), the Administrator of the Presidency of St Kitts-Nevis established a local Committee, in Anguilla, to advise him on development projects for funding under the Colonial Development Fund. Apart from its recommendations aimed at improving the island's infrastructure and economy, the Committee raised two matters of political significance. The first concerned the insertion of "Anguilla" in the title of the "Presidency of St Kitts-Nevis." The Committee observed: "We feel at times that we do not form part of the Presidency as our name is seldom or never mentioned, outside the island . . . and we are asking the Government to have the Presidency in future called St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla."
This request had the support of the Administrator who wrote (25th March 1930) to the Governor thus: "I have sympathy with this request. It is natural that the people of Anguilla should feel that the island is the Cinderella of the three sister islands. The local feeling on this subject is indeed bitter."

An official at the Colonial Office took a similar position when he said: "The people of Anguilla are tired of taking a back seat and wish to assert their position as partners in the firm, as it were, instead of merely being 'and company.' Accordingly, they ask that the Presidency should in future, be styled 'St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla'."

He continued: "Apparently the name 'Anguilla' at one time formed part of the designation of the Presidency.....The Governor cannot trace the reason for the omission - possibly the title was considered too cumbrous for ordinary usage . . . 'St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla' is rather a mouthful but not more so than 'Gilbert and Ellice Island Colony' or 'The British Solomon Island Protectorate' . . . "

In spite of official sympathy no action was taken to include "Anguilla" in the title of the Presidency.

The second matter of political significance raised by the Committee concerned Anguilla’s lack of representation on the Councils in St Kitts and the importance of remedying the situation. In the words of the Committee: "We are respectfully appealing to His Honour the Administrator to seriously consider the appointment of a representative of this Island to the Legislative and Executive Councils of the Presidency . . . The progress of the island agriculturally and commercially needs most serious attention, and . . . it is only by having some one immediately interested in, and connected with the island's development, . . . that its wants can be effectively made known and progress achieved."

The appeal was ignored.

With regard to the implementation of some of the development projects put forward by the Committee, progress was exceedingly slow. The Administrator, unhappy with the pace of things, was critical of the attitude of officials in the Colonial Office and wrote "I wish Blackett would remedy past omissions and visit . . . this Presidency. He would see that it is not so easy to put up schemes" in proper form "when we don't know exactly what is wanted . . . ., and are, in the case of Anguilla, dealing with an island which is no more accessible than in Carib times."

With the passing of the St. Christopher-Nevis Constitution Order 1936, under which limited franchise was introduced, Anguilla was again given the right, which it lost in 1883, to send a representative to the Legislative Council in St Kitts. It was during the Council’s meetings that the St Kitts legislators showed displeasure with their association with Anguilla. In the meeting of 20th October 1937, Edgar Challenger asked: "In the interest of the welfare of the Colony why should efforts not be made to place Anguilla and Nevis on a self-supporting basis . . .?"

Challenger was very concerned about the 'Anguilla burden' and did not cease to advocate that the Anguillians paddle their own canoe. Hear him at the Legislative Council meeting on 26th March 1938: "What has been the amount of annual deficit for the past ten years that taxpayers of St Christopher have been called upon to pay for the support of Anguilla?" Another of his questions was: "Will Government consider the advisability of nationalising the salt industry of Anguilla for the benefit of the people . . . of Anguilla?"

In those days economic conditions in Anguilla were indeed harsh and when the Moyne Commission visited the island, in December 1938, a submission by Carter Rey and others stated that "many people lived perilously near the borderline of starvation." The submission noted that a pressing infrastructural need was wireless communication and that, "It has been known for the Governor . . . to arrive in Anguilla before the cable announcing his arrival had reached the island." It went on: "Holidays proclaimed in the Presidency have passed before the day is known in Anguilla, and even the Magistrate's Court has been held on a holiday because the news arrived too late."

Submissions by the Anguilla Teachers' Union and the Civil Service Association advised the Commission about the extreme poverty and continuous unemployment on the island – that "children in this island are for the most part undernourished, hence unable to assimilate the knowledge imparted to them" – and that there was much need for a secondary school.

As regards their findings here, the Moyne Commissioners reported: "We came across a "trash" house (i.e., one constructed of leaves and other vegetation intertwined with rough poles) which covered about 200 sq. ft., divided into two sections by a similar construction. Gaps in these rough walls were filled by iron, the galvanising of which had long since disappeared, and by torn strips of blanket; the floor was earth and light penetrated only by the doorway. Sanitation is unknown in Anguilla; all the water supply is brackish and the nearest well was some miles distant from this house, which, we were told, was occupied by five adults and 15 children."

I should mention that it was on the recommendation of the Moyne Commission that universal adult suffrage was introduced in St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla in 1952. Constitutional advancement was not accompanied by economic. Actually, around that time the Anguillians were still reeling from the effects of a hurricane which struck the island on 31st August 1950. Out of a total of 1185 houses some 411 were either destroyed or severely damaged.

The Government in St Kitts was strongly opposed to spending any of the Presidency's surplus funds on Anguilla`s rehabilitation. Consequently, the Administrator, Hugh Burrowes, advised Kenneth Blackburne (the Governor of the Leeward Islands) in a letter, dated 25th October 1950, as follows: "This Presidency has surplus balances but these are all earmarked for expenditure under the 10 year plan of development. The revenue contribution from Anguilla is negligible and the Presidency has been spending substantial sums of money in that island . . . The economy of the Presidency . . . cannot stand this extraordinary expenditure of $49,200 in Anguilla. The Presidency receives no grant from His Majesty's Government for maintaining the people who live in this island some 70 miles away from St Kitts. I therefore consider it reasonable to seek further assistance from His Majesty's Government . . . "

Blackburne did not support Burrowes' position and in seeking additional aid for Anguilla advised the Secretary of State that, "In view of the financial position of St Kitts-Nevis I consider that the Presidency can reasonably be asked to meet a substantial part of the cost of relief measures." And with assistance from the British Government, 55 new one-room wooden houses, each measuring 9 ft by 13 ft, were built for the poorer families. Some of the houses were occupied by as many as 13 people.

The St Kitts Government’s plans for the "rebuilding" of Anguilla’s hurricane-shattered economy placed much emphasis on the establishment of an aloes industry. When the Administrator addressed the Legislative Council, on 18th February 1953, he informed members that, "The Agricultural Officer in Anguilla visited Aruba to see the conditions under which dried aloes are produced in that island but the prospects of the development of the industry in Anguilla are not promising."

The idea of establishing an aloes industry was in keeping with Government's policy of introducing new plants, which could thrive in desert conditions, in Anguilla. For example, on 15th September 1948, E Berridge advised the Administrator thus: "The Hon. R.L. Bradshaw passed on . . . information to me . . . dealing with the subject of trees that thrive in the desert. He was of the opinion that this matter could be explored with a view towards making an experiment in Anguilla where animals suffer for the lack of food during the long droughts so common in the island's history."
On Berridge's recommendation, the Administrator sought the advice of experts in the Department of Agriculture one of whom advised: "I think that the best stand-by for animals in Anguilla would be the prickly pear and it might be possible to grow plots of this plant in certain areas."
The St Kitts Government’s plans to grow aloes and prickly pear in Anguilla was in keeping with its view that the island had no development potential. In fact, up to the 1950s the economy was stagnant except for peasant farming and fishing. To make matters worse, government-financed infrastructural projects were unable to absorb the mass of surplus labour. The year 1956 was a particularly difficult one in view of the fact that the Public Works Department was virtually dormant. To 'relieve' the situation Governor Blackburne advised the Warden by letter (17th May 1956) to spend some $2,000 on the building of a public latrine at Sandy Ground. His letter read, in part:
"I ascertained today that the Foreman of Works [Anguilla] has no work of any kind in progress at the present time, and that the Minister of Works and Communications has agreed that about $2,000 should be spent from Head 26 Item 8 for the new public latrine at Sandy Ground . . .

"In the light of the above I authorise work to be started on this project forthwith . . ."

A further insight into conditions in Anguilla in the 1950s was provided by some 'notes' which the Warden prepared for the Administrator. The notes revealed that no encouragement was given to the development of a tourism industry. On the subject of health clinics for East End and West End, they said: "[Two] aluminium huts . . . have been sent from St Kitts to be set up as clinics at West End and East End . . . The proposal is to take down half of the wooden structure known as the Quarantine Station to make verandahs for the huts . . ." When the clinics were opened, during the latter part of 1953, the verandahs were in fact sections of the Quarantine Station from Road Point.

Ambulance services were undertaken by the police van: "[The police van] has proved to be very useful. It acts as an ambulance, and runs the mail to and from vessels at the ports."
The lack of development and accompanying high level of unemployment caused Anguillians to feel that Chief Minister Bradshaw's threat (1957) to turn Anguilla into a desert was actually being implemented. The threat contributed significantly to the creation of an unbridgeable gap between Anguilla and St Kitts. And relations got worse after November 1958 when Kenneth Hazell (Anguilla’s representative in the Legislative in St Kitts) sent a petition signed by some two thousand Anguillians to Governor Maxwell requesting him to ". . . bring about the dissolution of the present political and administrative association of Anguilla with St Kitts." The petition was a stinging condemnation of the St Kitts Government and had warned that "a people cannot live without hope for long without erupting socially . . ."
Anguillians were tired of being ruled externally. They were micro-managed by St Kitts. For example, when a decision was taken to provide latrines for the West End Primary School, the Administrator's Office in St Kitts advised the Warden, by telegram (14th March 1950), as follows: ". . . Colour scheme and revised drawings for latrines at West End School have been forwarded direct to Anguilla . . ."
Imagine that! The very colour of latrines had to be decided upon in St Kitts. Now listen to this telegram concerning a few pounds of pigeon peas:

"Administrator
St Kitts
"Pigeon peas for planting now coming in. Please say whether supply still required for Grenada and if so from what Vote to purchase . . .
Warden"

St Kitts' system of domination over Anguilla was thorough. Anguillians were fearful that it would have been strengthened with the coming (in 1967) of Statehood, a status providing the Associated States with full internal self-government.

The months preceding Statehood for St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla saw the resurgence of Anguillian nationalism and a demand for separation from St Kitts. The creation of the Associated State of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla on 27th February 1967 and the inclusion of Anguilla against the wishes of its people lit the fuse of the Anguilla Revolution.
The Revolution was concerned with replacing St Kitts colonialism with direct British colonialism for economic reasons. Anguilla was relatively poor and undeveloped and lacked the basic amenities: no electricity, telephone, proper water supply, proper education, health and port facilities and no paved roads. St Kitts, in comparison, had all those facilities and more. Kittitians joked that the Anguillians called the street lights 'moonlight on sticks'. The disparity between the two islands was so great that Anguillians were humiliated on landing at Basseterre pier (in St Kitts), to be greeted by Kittitians with: "Welcome to New York!"
By 1967, Anguillians had decided that they could take no more. They concluded that rule by St Kitts was not in their best interest and could not exist indefinitely. They were convinced that the unholy wedlock was the reason for Anguilla's late entry into the twentieth century. Its entry was late because the St Kitts Government saw it as being fit only for the growing of aloes and prickly pear. The Government had taken the position that Anguilla would never develop beyond the primitive stage. Those members who did not share that view envisaged development as a remote possibility.
The attitude of officials in St Kitts towards Anguilla is best summed up by a memorandum (28th March 1958), from the Schools Building Officer to the Superintendent of Works. It read in part: "I do not share your doubts that Anguilla is likely to be developed within the foreseeable future . . . but even if it takes as long as three hundred years, a correct start now would be well worthwhile."
In 1958 the St Kitts Government did not envisage the possibility of Anguilla developing within three hundred years. Now, look at Anguilla forty five years later! All praise to the leaders of the Anguilla Revolution and God bless it.

Colville Petty

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