St. Paul Recorder

Adams, Negro, First West Indian Premier Faces Huge Task

Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad (ANP)—Sir Grantley Adams, who four years ago became the first native prime minister in the West Indies, this week was sworn in as premier of the newly-born West Indies Federation. The 60-year-old barrister took the oath of office five days before Britain's Princess Margaret, representing Queen Elizabeth, officially opened the Federation's legislature.

As prime minister of the Federation, Adams, who is a Socialist and considered moderate in his politics, will have the primary responsibility of welding together a group of 10 island territories with a combined population of 3,000,000 people into a solid block.

He is supported by his Federal Labor Party, which has a one-vote margin in the 45-member House of Representatives of the Federation.

Adams, Federation Face Challenge

The task will be a difficult one, but Sir Grantley, a shrewd leader of men and an astute diplomat, is considered equal to the task. His popularity is not restricted to the islands, and in America he made a favorable impression in Washington during his round of conferences with government officials and legislators, notably Sen. Herbert Lehman of New York.

The most pressing problem facing Sir Grantley, a Negro, and the Federation, is where the money will come from to finance the Federation. The most immediate source would be a loan from England, which herself is undergoing a period of austerity. However, West Indian leaders are reportedly to have encountered difficulty in that respect and the combined Federation revenue, based on exports, total only 112,621 pounds (about $316,006,938.80).

With assessments from each island, the Federation must administer the government of the territory, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts-Nevis, Grenada, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Montserrat.

Federation First Step Towards Total Independence

Federation Is the first step toward eventual independence within the British Commonwealth for the West Indies. As presently constituted, the Federation, presided over by a Governor General appointed by Britain, consists of a Senate (appointive) and a House (elective). The Senate consists of 19 members. The body also has a 10-member advisory council presided over by Lord Hailes, the Governor General, and Sir Grantley.

Sir Grantley is the son of a Barbados school teacher. He was educated at Oxford, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. A member of the Barbados legislature since 1934, he became the West Indies first Prime Minister when ministerial government was inaugurated in the West Indies in 1954.