First Election

On March 25 The West Indies will take an important step on the road to self-government. The federation of the onetime British colonies of Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and seven other main islands--8,000 sq. mi. of land and 3,000,000 people sprawled over 1,500 miles of Caribbean Sea--will hold its first election, choose the first West Indies Parliament, which will be opened April 22 with Princess Margaret representing Queen Elizabeth.

Probable winner of the election: the mildly socialist West Indies Federal Labor Party, which should win at least 26 of the 45 seats and organize the government. Probable Prime Minister: Oxford-educated Lawyer Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, 59, one of the pioneer federationists and founders of the F.L.P., now Premier of Barbados.

As the islands went into the final week of the campaign, a growing awareness of the realities confronting the new state--too many people and too little income (e.g., 1,382 people per sq. mi. in Barbados have a per-capita income of $239 a year)--dampened fiery nationalist expectations of years past. Observers predicted only a 40-60% turnout of eligible voters, and the Jamaica Times called the campaign "dreary." Admitted Probable Prime Minister Adams: "The federal government is going to be weak with a chicken-feed budget of $9,000,000."

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