38 
Chapter 5 -
British
Dominion
39
Fighting inflation
Throughout this period Kane also
devoted much time to improving the economic and social life of Minorcans,
tackling the problem of inflation, which arose from the immense amount
of money pouring into the island to maintain and feed the garrison.
He based his measures on an accurate
study of the population and their assets, conducting a detailed census
in 1723. In addition to the numbers of men and women, he counted men of
military age, estates, wells, rents, even livestock. The population then
numbered 16,082. Turning farmer, he imported cattle and sheep for breeding,
as well as food, together with poultry and eggs from France, Italy and
Barbary, which he distributed to farmers. He also introduced the deep red
vetch ('sulla') from Italy as fodder, that one still sees growing waist-high
on Minorcan hillsides. Sometimes he had disasters, as in 1732 when the
island lost 16,000 livestock through lack of fodder caused by drought.
But in spite of this and the extra
mouths to feed, Minorcans enjoyed a prosperity they had never known. Production
of wine, vegetables and fowls increased by 500 per cent in the first forty
years of the new dominion's life, and by 1752 Minorca had 7,000 cattle,
60,000 sheep, 2,000 goats and 4,000 swine. Kane's stewardship extended
to instructions as to the correct manner of reaping crops, and he checked
on his measures for control of the prices of food by daily visits to the
Mahon market. Standardised weights and measures from England prevented
short measure.
Like Richard Gibson in a humbler
post fifty years earlier, Kane's stamina and industry in an often enervating
climate fills one with admiration, but his work was not made easier by
two flaws which began to show in the British jewel. These were the growing
indiscipline of British troops and a clerical revolt which encouraged terrorist
acts by Minorcans against them.
The clerical revolt
This revolt was inevitable, for
Minorca like Spain was Catholic, while Britain after centuries of religious
strife was aggressively Protestant. Before the British occupation in 1708
Minorcan priests came under the jurisdiction of their superiors in Majorca,
and the latter resented Kane's usurping their authority. Kane made his
wishes known by executive orders, in which the sanctuary of felons in churches
and the practice of the Inquisition were forbidden. But perhaps the Catholic
clergy found it most difficult to obey the command: 'all the clergy shall
pray for His Britannic Majesty'.
Many of the clergy, encouraged by
the Bishop of Majorca, encouraged disaffection. Soldiers found alone
were attacked with knives, or even stoned to death. Kane dealt sternly
with these outbreaks, giving orders that persons with prohibited arms or
guilty of stoning 'be flogged in the middle of the square by the hangman's
hand'. The carrying of pointed knives was forbidden, and possession of
arms could lead to three months' imprisonment. Parents were asked
to discourage their children from stone-throwing.
There was a grim reminder of sterner
penalties in another order: 'if gallows are knocked down or broken, or
if the body of the malefactor be taken down from it', the citizens had
to deliver up the culprit or suffer a collective fine.
During this period Kane continued
his social policy. Minorcan children were given free education at English
schools should this be desired by their parents, and the clergy were warned
that if they discouraged or prevented it they would be expelled from the
island. It is clear from documents at this time that Britain had no intention
of relinquishing Minorca as a dominion, but planned to colonise it with
British families and even hoped it would ultimately become Protestant.
Kane received from his absentee superior in England, Lord Carpenter, a
document entitled 'Proposals for securing a Protestant Interest on His
Majesty's Island of Minorca', according to which troops and officers could
settle on the land, but would continue to receive their army pay. Loans
and grants would be given for stock, and they would only be recalled to
military duty in an emergency. Minorcans got to hear of the scheme, and
feared they would be dispossessed. Nothing came of it.
In 1720 a certain Don Jean de Bayerre
petitioned the British government on behalf of the islanders against Kane's
rule, and the alleged excesses of British troops. Kane was exonerated.
Details are given in a pamphlet published in 1720 entitled ‘A Vindication
of Colonel Kane, Lieut Governor of Minorca, against complaints by the Inhabitants
of the Island’.
A glance at one of the twenty-eight
complaints and answers in
the pamphlet adds to the picture
of life in Minorca at this time…
One Saint's day, the congregation
worshipping in the church of Santa Maria in Mahon had some unusual excitement.
A thief escaping from his pursuers sought illegal sanctuary in the dimly
lit church. A British officer of the Guard, seeing him enter, followed
him inside accompanied by a sergeant, in order to seize him.
Uproar followed, the priests leaving
the altar, attempting to protect him. Although the officer and sergeant
did not retaliate with force, 'at the same time a Spanish gentleman, a
stranger that had served in the army in Spain, being in the church, attempted
to draw his sword against the British officer: but he being seized was
sent in arrest to St Philip's Castle'. The clergy complained that a member
of the congregation had been molested, to which Kane gave the cutting reply
'that the officer had done his duty, and that if he had not been a very
young officer, he would have run his sword through the Gentleman'.
Nothing is known of Kane's personal
life. It appears unlikely that he married. He died in Minorca at the age
of seventy-six, on 19 December 1736, and was buried at his request in Fort
St Philip. Owing to later demolitions, the location of his grave is not
now known. His only biography is a slim Spanish volume published in 1924
by Antonio Victory. It covers only the Minorcan part of his career. Minorcans
still remember Kane as a good governor, who had their interests at heart.
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