Early Migration Chapter1 Author: Fr Lawrence E.Attard On
November 12th 1903 the British governor of Malta, Sir Charles
Mansfield Clarke, addressed the new Legislative Assembly in
Valletta and hinted at a major headache that was troubling the
administration. The particular problem which was troubling the
governor was the expanding population of the Maltese islands
which in 1901 had reached the total of 184,742. The colonial
administration was worried about too many civilians crowding the
restricted space of these small islands which happened to be a
very important base for the British navy. On that particular day
Sir Mansfield Clarke said that the Maltese islands had the
highest population density in the world and that unless new
measures were taken the excessive population of the towns would
pose a very serious problem. More than ninety years before, in
1812, a British Commission of Inquiry had been sent to Malta to
suggest how to govern the island which had not as yet been
formally incorporated into the Empi