Friday, March 08, 2024

Mitchell's West Indian Bibliography, 12th Edition

https://iandonmitch.wixsite.com/booksai

In about the year 1978, while on a visit to London, I purchased my first antiquarian West Indian book. I no longer recall its title or its cost. Acquiring antique books about the Caribbean became my hobby that lasted for two decades. Well, perhaps it was an obsession.

By the time the passion dimmed, I had acquired over two thousand books and pamphlets.

My only rules were that the books must be in the English language, concern the West Indies, and be non-fiction. There were hundreds of travelogues, studies on geology and geography, politics, economics and sociology, biography and autobiography, and ethnographic studies. History and travel predominated, but included were volumes of Parliamentary Papers concerning the colonial administration of the West Indies, and items on both sides of the slavery abolition controversy.

In the early days one was required to visit antiquarian bookshops and conduct physical searches to find a book, but gradually bookstores began to issue catalogues which one could request by mail. Additionally, one could subscribe to publishers of West Indian books and scour their annual catalogues. These proved useful for adding to the collection and to the list I had begun to keep. Published bibliographies on a number of relevant topics proved invaluable for developing the booklist. Later, when the catalogues of the British Library and the Library of Congress became searchable online, the number of West Indian books published over the previous 500 years grew exponentially. A visit to the ILAB and ABAA websites proved invaluable as a source of inexpensive second-hand items for the collection.

On a bus tour through South Island at the 1990 Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in Aukland, New Zealand, I found a book that was on my must-get list. I saw the price and realised I could get it for less than half the price I had previously seen it listed elsewhere. I purchased it immediately. When I got home, I found I was adding it to two other copies that I had forgotten I had. This happened several times.

I realised I had to do something to stop accidentally purchasing unneeded duplicate copies. The solution was to make a list of the books in my collection noting the author, the title, the edition number, and whether it was a hard-back or a paper-back. Thereafter, I travelled with the list everywhere so I could consult it before purchasing anything. Eventually, I added to the list the titles that I would like to see in the collection but had not yet collected. I noted the editions of each item that I had, noting every other edition that existed. If I had the first edition, and came across a third, I did not hesitate to buy it, even though it might be counted as a duplicate.

At first, the list was on paper. By 1984, when I last printed it out, it was over 500 pages long in Ariel .9 font, and too cumbersome to carry with me on my visits to bookstores. I decided to abandon paper and use only an electronic version.

My definition of the West Indies for the purposes of my collection was a personal one and not a conventional one. It was any English-speaking Island or Country in or bordering the Caribbean Sea, excluding the United States. The list of Islands and Countries of the West Indies was eventually to become quite long: https://iandonmitch.wixsite.com/booksai/islands-and-countries.

As the collection grew over the years, the problem of housing them also grew. I was not happy keeping them in my law chambers in the Valley in Anguilla on exposed shelves. I worried about silver fish, termites, and other tropical vermin doing damage. I was concerned about the possibility of damage from ultraviolet radiation from daylight coming through the windows and from fluorescent bulbs. Published studies on archival documents recommended they be stored on bookshelves closed by glass fronted panes. A windowpane filters out as much ultraviolet light as several feet of water. There was the risk of damage from passersby handling them with oily fingers. Then, there was the danger of theft from leaving them lying on exposed shelving. With the help of Anguilla’s renowned furniture maker brothers, Arthur and Albertus Richardson of Richardson’s Furniture Makers on the Waterswamp road, I had eight-foot high, glass-fronted, mahogany bookcases made to house them. Each of the bookcases was kept locked in my law chambers. The number of bookcases grew over the years, until there were ten of them. I stored the books in alphabetical order by name of the author or editor.

By the time I turned the books and pamphlets over to the Anguilla National Trust (ANT) in about 1999, as I was temporarily leaving Anguilla to take up a judgeship in St Vincent, the numbers had increased to over two thousand. I decided it was time to donate them to the Anguilla National Trust. Because the ANT did not at the time have room to house the collection, it was temporarily placed for safekeeping in the national library in a locked room normally used by the chief librarian where it is to be found today. A visiting librarian from the University of the West Indies complimented me by describing the collection as one of the best in private hands he had ever seen.

Some of the items were quite old, others were recently published. Two of my proudest acquisitions were:

The 1666 History of the Caribby-Islands by Charles de Rochefort…Rendered into English by John Eden of Kidwelly;

Aucher Warner – Sir Thomas Warner, Pioneer of the West Indies...(A limited edition of 500 copies most of which were lost during WW II)

Ken Evoy, a Canadian computer expert resident in Anguilla and the publisher of one of the first on-line travel websites about Anguilla, first published the booklist for me on the web. We called it books.ai. He, and subsequently his daughter Nori, kept the publication up for several years until unknown to me it was abandoned, and I lost it. I recently found a somewhat distorted version of the Eleventh Edition on Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20160113224400/http://www.books.ai/. It took another twenty years for me to find a young and talented website designer, Carlton Smith of East End, to help me publish online a revised edition. He used the Wix platform. The result is the Twelfth Edition which went live in February 2024: https://iandonmitch.wixsite.com/booksai.

Some of the antiquarian bookstores I visited on my travels included sections of antique maps, including maps of the West Indies. I began collecting them and shipping them home to Anguilla. I had no specialisation, the only requirement being that it must generally be a map of Anguilla or of the West Indies, preferably showing a mention of Anguilla. Some of my prouder acquisitions included:

Benedetto Bordone – Isolaria, (first published in 1528, of which I had two copies of his map of the West Indies from later sixteenth century editions);

John Alder Burdon – The Presidency of St Kitts-Nevis (Printed in 1921, the first work to contain a map of Anguilla correctly shaped. Carter Rey was credited with having done the survey. Previous maps tended to show Anguilla as tadpole shaped).

I kept the map collection in large, hardcover portfolios in no particular order. Each map was stored in archival quality, transparent envelopes for protection from light and from handling. I included this collection in my 1999 donation to the ANT. The portfolios are stored laying flat on the tops of the bookcases.

I have reminded ANT’s executive director and the Chief Librarian of the danger of damage or theft. No visitor to the library, local or foreign should be left alone with the collections. Some of the illustrations and plates are on sale internationally for substantial sums of money and can be easily removed with a razor blade. Some of the more valuable books and maps would fetch thousands of pounds today. For the collection to be kept safe and intact, it is best to assume that any foreign visitor asking to see the collection, is, especially if he is a collector or a dealer, intent on stealing what he can. The keys to the cabinets should be kept secured, accessible only to a very few senior staff.

I am happy to have been relieved of the responsibility of keeping the collections safe in my possession. My hope is that if they are preserved well into the future, they will prove useful to future generations of Anguillian scholars needing to refer to them for research purposes. The box of white cotton gloves I provided with the collection will help to ensure the paper is not damaged by handling, if use of the gloves is insisted on.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Anguilla's Autonomy in Question?

 

A friend emailed me an article recently and asked for my comments. It claims to be written by one Ebenezer Mensah. He is hardly a known expert on Anguilla. Indeed, there is every indication that he is an AI bot.

A Google search reveals Mr Mensah self-described variously as a “distinguished correspondent with a fervor for journalism that sparks transformation”, whatever that means, and as a “seasoned Process Engineer In Training with a robust background in carbon capture process unit operations”, whatever that means: https://bnnbreaking.com/author/ebenezer-mensah. There is nothing else you can find out about him online. It is fair to conclude that he does not exist.

The article is published on the “BNN Network”. This was founded by a Mr Gurbaksh Chalal, an Indian/American tech entrepreneur with a suspect past: https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-bans-bnn-accounts-founded-by-former-tech-ceo-gurbaksh-chahal-2022-6. BNN Network appears to be no more than a form of elementary aggregator that uses AI to trawl the internet and write articles on any subject Mr Chalal poses to it. The original article is here: https://bnnbreaking.com/politics/anguillas-autonomy-in-question-elected-officials-growing-dependence-on-ukg.

Nothing you can find online inspires confidence in any of Mr Mensah, Mr Chalal, or BNN’s articles. But I admit I may be mistaken in my conclusions. So, if you are Anguillian, you give them the benefit of the doubt and you read the article. It reads in its entirety as follows:

“Anguilla's Autonomy in Question: Elected Officials' Growing Dependence on UKG

Delve into the shifting landscape of Anguilla's autonomy debate as elected officials increasingly rely on the UK Government for key fiscal decisions. What does this mean for the future of national governance in Anguilla?

The enduring debate over Anguilla's autonomy has taken a new turn as current developments reveal a growing reliance of elected officials on the United Kingdom Government (UKG) for key fiscal decisions, marking a significant shift from the island's historical stance on self-governance. This evolving dynamic raises critical questions about the future of Anguilla's autonomy and its implications for national governance.

Historical Context and Present Concerns

Historically, Anguilla enjoyed a reputation for self-governance, with elected representatives operating with a sense of autonomy from the UKG. However, recent actions and statements from government officials indicate a departure from this tradition. The frequent invocation of the need for UKG approval for financial decisions, despite Anguilla's significant revenue collection, underscores a changing relationship between Anguilla and its colonial overseer. This shift is not merely administrative but symbolic, reflecting a broader change in the perception of Anguilla's governance capabilities.

Impact on National Interest and Governance

National interests, traditionally the purview of local governance, are increasingly being deferred to the Governor's authority, particularly in areas of security and social security. The repositioning of the Anguilla Commercial Registry under the Governor-controlled Financial Services Commission exemplifies this trend, further blurring the lines of autonomy. The implications of this shift are profound, touching on aspects of national identity, governance, and the future direction of Anguilla's political landscape.

Reevaluating Anguilla's Path Forward

The current trajectory raises important considerations for Anguilla's approach to governance and its relationship with the UKG. The distinction between past and present governance styles highlights an urgent need for a reevaluation of how elected officials engage with external authorities. The essence of self-governance lies not only in the capacity to make independent decisions but also in the ability to assert and maintain autonomy in the face of external influences. As Anguilla navigates this complex terrain, the choices made today will undoubtedly shape its governance model for years to come.”

I would dispute the claim that there is growing dependence of Anguilla on UKG. As Anguilla’s fiscal landscape has improved significantly over the past 12 months, since the introduction of GST, and as the sale of “.ai” domain names begins to produce significant unexpected revenue, Anguilla in practice has a decreasing dependence on the UKG.

Anguilla’s financial dependence on the UK is constitutionally total since Anguilla is a “British Overseas Territory”. Anguilla was until recently officially described as a “British Dependent Territory”. This was true but embarrassing to everybody, and so the designation was changed. The fact is that Anguilla is a colony of the UK and has and never had any autonomy of significance. Because of our very recent, and increasing locally generated revenue, our practical dependence on the UK Treasury will significantly reduce in the future.

At the United Nations, it is an embarrassment for the UK to admit that it holds colonies. Purely for cosmetic reasons, therefore, the UK has in recent decades begun to insist that it has no colonies. Some years ago, first the Colonial Office was abolished, and its staff and functions merged into the Commonwealth Office, becoming the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). When Montserrat officials and businesspersons conspired with officers of the London based Department of International Development (DfID) to criminally divert volcano-relief funds into their own pockets, the British abolished the Department and merged its function with the FCO, which became the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

However, because Britain remains contingently liable for any damage we may do internationally, she has always insisted on retaining ultimate control of our affairs. When a colonial government becomes totally corrupt, as happened in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2009, the Constitution could by a simple executive order of the Privy Council, known as an “Order in Council”, be suspended, amended, or revoked. Similarly, in the Virgin Islands recently where the administration was overwhelmed by corruption, the British appeared on the verge of suspending the Constitution. But a new administration is resisting such a development. As is well-known, the BVI Premier is in prison in Miami convicted for money laundering and drugs trafficking offences.

There is a lot of history that the apparently AI-generated article is unaware of. In the late 1970s, the Royal Bank of Abu Dhabi (Anguilla) Ltd was used by a gang of Pakistani fraudsters at the Playboy Casino in London to launder a forged cheque for a large sum of money. The infamous BCCI was incorporated in Anguilla, (among other Overseas Territories). So were some several hundred other paper banks and tens of thousands of shell companies some of which seemed to serve no purpose other than the commission of fraud of one kind or another. And, so, at the height of the BCCI scandal in the early 1980s, the international financial services industry, or as it was called at the time, the “Offshore Banking Industry”, was taken away from the local Minister of Finance and placed under the direct control of a London-appointed regulator.

By 1984, offshore banking in Anguilla was dead. Rodney Gallagher was sent in to shut down the offshore banks. This he did swiftly and efficiently. According to the late Fitzroy Bryant, Gallagher was an MI5 operative provided with cover as a chartered accountant by Coopers and Lybrand’s branch in Barbados. (Gallagher was such a senior intelligence officer that, as Fitzroy Briant, one time Minister of Education of St Kitts, joked at the height of Gallagher’s slaughter of offshore banks, if he were a KGB agent instead of MI5, he would already have been a Field Marshal. When he issued an order to jump to a governor of a colony, the only possible question was how high?)

The FSC was not created until 2004 some 20 years later. The FSC is the technical arm of the Governor in the oversight of the island’s international financial services. In Anguilla, there is no income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax. Anguilla is thus a convenient location for some international businesspersons to headquarter their trusts and companies. These, and their local agents, are now regulated by the FSC.

Since at least 2017 the EU has included Anguilla on its blacklist of tax havens. The FSC strives to have Anguilla removed from this and other similar lists. Anguillians hope the FSC will succeed. This can only happen if the service is not brought under local political control. Elected Anguillian government officials have cousins, ex-schoolmates, and friends in every corner of the island. They all have needs that must be satisfied if one is to be re-elected.

There is no increasing reliance on the UK government for key fiscal decisions as claimed. Anyone familiar with Anguilla’s recent political history knows that in the recent past (ie, within the last 40 years) Anguilla has persisted in living beyond her means. Anguillians are traditionally averse to paying taxes, and governments are averse for political reasons to collecting existing taxes by enforcing the law. Until property tax was abolished for households earlier in 2024, only some forty percent of Anguillians paid it. None of the evaders was ever prosecuted.

Anguillians are opposed to any kind of regulation, whether by local administrators or by the British. That is why there is no effective Planning Code or Building Code. A combination of recent violent Hurricanes and international financial crises has conspired (for reasons of political survival) to force different administrations to spend more than the Anguillian Treasury could afford. Britain was (for her own protection) obliged reluctantly to insist on enforcing more of its reserve power over the colony to take steps to bring Anguilla’s public spending into balance with income. This effort largely failed until within the past 12 months revenue began to grow exponentially from a combination of unpopular new taxes and the sale of international services.

Anguilla in 2024 is now less reliant on the UK government for key fiscal decisions than it has ever been. It has merely become politically useful for out-of-power, local, would-be politicians to claim that Anguilla is being oppressed. The opposite is the truth. In the five years since Hurricane Irma devastated the local economy and infrastructure, the UK sank several hundred million pounds sterling (that it could hardly afford) into rebuilding this tiny Overseas Territory with a population of under 15,000 souls. That the UK wishes to have its own accountants and administrators positioned in Anguilla to oversee how these funds are being spent is hardly an unreasonable imposition. As the funds are exhausted, the need for such oversight will go and they can be expected to be called home.

Anguillians will have no “autonomy” until they are ready for it. The British are not standing in the way of our independence. Their officials regularly remind us that they are anxious for us to get off their backs. It has been said that we can apply for independence by email. We have no need to fight for it. We have only to demonstrate that independence is the wish of the majority of the people, and we will get it.

The problem for the politicians who are lobbying for Anguillian independence from Britain now is that the people, for good reason, do not trust them with their lives or property. Two recent administrations have blocked constitutional reforms demanded by the people. Anguillians have long called for the introduction of institutions of good governance such as an Ombudsman and an Integrity Commission. These pleadings have fallen on the deaf ears of our leaders. By contrast, the British are too far away from Anguilla to do us much harm.

Contrary to the position taken by the likely AI-authored article, there is widespread opposition to independence for Anguilla now. This will no doubt change in the coming years, but it is the present position of most Anguillians. We are not stupid. We can see through our would-be leaders’ claims of being concerned only for our welfare when they call for us to go into independence now. They want to be free of what little oversight the presence of British officials brings to restrain their self-serving dealing. That is what independence means to them.