It is nothing.
Indifference has bred indifference in turn as a necessary consequence.
Something must be wrong when among 30,000 of our fellow-subjects not one
could be found to lift a hand for us if the island were invaded, when a
boat's crew from Martinique might take possession of it without a show
of resistance.

If I am asked the question, What use is Dominica to us? I decline to
measure it by present or possible marketable value; I answer simply that
it is part of the dominions of the Queen. If we pinch a finger, the
smart is felt in the brain. If we neglect a wound in the least important
part of our persons, it may poison the system. Unless the blood of an
organised body circulates freely through the extremities, the
extremities mortify and drop off, and the dropping off of any colony of
ours will not be to our honour and may be to our shame. Dominica seems
but a small thing, but our larger colonies are observing us, and the
world is observing us, and what we do or fail to do works beyond the
limits of its immediate operation. The mode of management which produces
the state of things which I have described cannot possibly be a right
one. We have thought it wise, with a perfectly honest intention, to
leave our dependencies generally to work out their own salvation. We
have excepted India, for with India we dare not run the risk. But we
have refused to consider that others among our possessions may be in a
condition analogous to India, and we have allowed them to drift on as
they could. It was certainly excusable, and it may have been prudent, to
try popular methods first, but we have no right to persist in the face
of a failure so complete. We are obliged to keep these islands, for it
seems that no one will relieve us of them; and if they are to remain
ours, we are bound so to govern them that our name shall be respected
and our sovereignty shall not be a mockery. Am I asked what shall be
done? I have answered already. Among the silent thousands whose quiet
work keeps the Empire alive, find a Rajah Brooke if you can, or a Mr.
Smith of Scilly. If none of these are attainable, even a Sancho Panza
would do. Send him out with no more instructions than the knight of La
Mancha gave Sancho--to fear God and do his duty. Put him on his mettle.
Promise him the respect and praise of all good men if he does well; and
if he calls to his help intelligent persons who understand the
cultivation of soils and the management of men,