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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode, 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 CANADA. T^mm i Mm A3 A FIELD FOR EMIGRATION. JL LEOTTJK/E BY Jhomas yVniTB, jfuN.5 psQ. (Special Commissioner of Emigration for the Province of Ontario), DELIVEEED IN THE HALL OP THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTE, PLYMOUTH, MAY 6th, 1870, PRESIDED OVEB BY COLONEL PALMER, R.A, I Plymouth : Pbintsd at the "Western Daily Mercury" Oppicbs. II I iiiii|i iiiwi'raMpipai ONTARIO AS A FIELD FOR EMIGFATION. On Friday evening Mr. T. White, junr., Special Com- missioner of Emigration for the Province of Ontario, delivered an iateresting and valuable lectare on " The Dominion of Canada, with special reference to the Pro- vince of Ontario as a field for Emigration." The chair was occupied by Colonel Palmer, K.A., and the large hall of the Mechanics' Institute was well filled. Amongst those present were Captain Stoll, R.N., Dr. Eccles, Mr. J. B. Wilcocks.Mr. W. T. Weekes, Mr. J. N. Bennett, &c. The Chaibman, in opening the proceedings saM : — Ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure in introdu- cing to you this evening Mr White, who left Canada last February, commissioned by the Government of Canada to lay before the people of this country the great advan- tages of emigrating to the Canadian States. I need not tell you that Mr. White appears here quite unconnected with any land scheme or any party to induce Englishmen to eaigrate. He comes, as I have stated before, with the authority of the Government, and therefore you may feel certain that everything he will tell you this evening will merit your greatest attention. I will not detain you further, but I will call upon Mr. White to make hia state' ment. Mr. White, who was well received, said : Although his object was more particularly with the Province of Ontario, it might not be uninteresting if he made some reference to the Dominion of Canada as a whole. About three years ago the British Parliament passed an act uniting Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, which, to- gether, were called the Dominion of Canada. They con- tained an area of 377,045 square miles. But they were looking forward to a great extension. Already, in the V^rovinces of Newfoundland and Prince Edward's Island, the subject of confederation was exciting interest. Already, the Hudson Bay Territory was, in fact, part of the Dominion cf Canada, because, although some troubles had arisen, he had no doubt that before the present summer was past the sway of the Dominion would be firmly established there— (applause). Then, in the Province of Vancouver's Island the subject was now being discussed, and the last Canadian papers which he had received brought the terms of union as agreed upon by the Legislature for a union between Van- couvers's Island and the Cr.nadian Deminion. When those provinces had been united the Dominion would embrace a total area of 3,389,345 square miles — a little less than the entire Continent of Europe. In point of area, he thought it might fairly be said that the British possessions in America offered homes to all who might be disposed to emigrate from this country at least for the next century. Their present population was a little over four millions. It was somewhat remarkable that the population was the same as that of the United States when they declared and secured their independence about a century ago. Looking at the commerce of the dominion — at least that of On- tario and Quebec, for he took the latter, as the returns were more complete — they found that in 1850 their imports amounted to 17A million dollars. In 1858 they had increased their imports to 29 millions, and in 1868 to 57i million dollars. As to their exports, which in some respects more strongly represented the growth in wealth of the people, in 1850 they amounted to lOJ million dollars ; in 1858, 26i millions ; and in 1808 upwards of 50 million dollars. They started at the present moment with an aggre< fi gate trade in the whole Dominion o£ 23| million pounds sterling, and they must admit that that was a very large trade for such a young country as the Dominion of Canada. There were some figures ccmnected with the trade worth referring to, because they showed the ability of Canada to hold its own, irrespective of the legislation of any other nation. In Ontario, for eleven years they en- joyed the advantages of a Keciprocity Treaty with the United States. It was agreed to in 1855, and it was to last ten years absolutely, and at the end of that time either nation might have it abrogated. While it continued, it gave an absolute freedom of trade in the natural produc- tions of the two countries. But at the end of the ten years, the United States gave notii e that they desired the abrogation of the treaty. The States had just passed through their great war, and they smarted under what they considered the want of sympathy on the part of this country. In 1865, when the treaty was about being abrogated, a convention was held of the leading merchants of the two countries, and one of the repre- sentatives of the States, in accordance with the instructions of Mr Seward, urged the other delegates not to recommend a renewal of the treaty, b«- cause if it were abrogated the trade of Canada would be crippled, and the Canadians would then sue for admis- sion into the Union, But five years had passed since the abrogation of the treaty, and their trade had not been crippled, nor had Canada sued to join the States — (ap- plause). In fact, no consideration of mere pounds, shil- lings, and pence ; nothing, indeed, than the expres.-* statements of public men on this side the Atlantic that they were not wanted, would cauae the people of Canada to swerve from their loyalty to Great Britain. Canada,on its part,still continued the same freedom of trade as it had done under the Reciprocity Treaty ; yet, what was the effect ? In 1858, for instance, Canada imported 10,250 animals ; in 1868, although there was still no tariff, the number was reduced to 94. In 1858, Canada exported 79,168 animals ; in 1868, with an ahaost pro- hibitory tariff, the number had increased to 155,779, showing that in spite of those duties the farmers of Canada were able successfully to compete with those of the States in supplying beef and mutton. There was another feature of their export trade which exhibited the progress of the country. In 1858 they had practically no export of cheese— only 1,716 dols. worth — but in 1868 they exported from Canada, chiefly from Ontario, cheese amounting in value to 617,743 dols— (applause). That enormous growth in a new branch of agricultuial industry was due to two causes. The first was that many of the old farmers were not farmers when they left this country. They were mechanics or navvies, and knew nothing of farming practically, beyond the mere cutting down of the tree and the putting in of the seed. Americans were in the habit of ■iR 6 saying of the eoil of their country that "You have only to tickle it with a hoe and it immediately smiles with luxuriant creps" — (laughter and applause). But there waa a principle in agriculture as in every- thing else ; they could no more take everything from the soil and return nothing to it, than they could take from a man all his brains and muscle without giving him sufiicient support. The farmers did not understand that. In the olden times they cultivated wheat to siich an extent, and did not en- rich the land, that where they once had forty or fffty bushels an aero they could not produce more than ten or twelve. That law operated in Canada as it did everywhere else. Not only wai the land impover- ished, but the crops became infested with destruc- tive insects. They, therefore, turned their lands into pasture fields tnd reared cattle and sheep instead of wheat. The great increase in the trade was also the result of a wonderful development of the co-operative principle. The farmers, uniting together, established cheese factories ; and at the end of the year they got not only the price of the milk, but the profit obtained from the sale of the cheese. As another result of the new system of farming, they had been able to export ten million pov.nds of butter. Although they did not yet consider it necessary to delve into the bowels of the earth for wealth which they could get on its surface, the product of their mines, nevertheless, had in- -•reased during ten years from 514,823 to G25..304 dollars. The product of their forests increased from 9^ in 1848 to 14^ millions in 18G8— the square timber going to Britain and the sawn timber ts the States. The value of animals exported in 1858 was 2^, while in 1868 it was G^ million of dollars ; of agricultural productions in 1858, 8, and in 1868 12J millions; of manufactuied goods (nearly all tweeds), 325,000 dollars iu 1858 ; and 834,000 dollars in 1868. AH these figures showed that so far as the trade of the Dominion of Canada was concerned, that, without much noise or boasting, they were managing to make for themselves a very considerable position as a commercial people. They had a very excellent postal system, the in- crease of which was a good criterion of the progress of the country. The number of post-offices had increased from 2,107 in 1857 to 3.491 in 1807 ; the number of letters in 1857 was lOJ millions, and in 1867 17 J^ millions ; the number between Britain and Canada in 1861 was 374,000, and in 1867 it was over one million — nearly trebled in six years— a correspondense virhich would of itself, if not marred by the bungling oi statesmen,* prevent the possibility of the separation of the two countries —(applause). They like- wise had in Canada a Post Office Savings' Bank, which was established two years af:o. No |)erson, however, could deposit more than £60, and it might be assumed that the sums were the savings of working men alone. Yet, in those two yearsi although in competition with ;jNJi. , other banks of a aimilar nature, about 1^ million dollars bad been deposited in the Post Office Savings' i^ank. The podtaore upon letters from one end of the Dominion to the other was l^d., and on papers only id. — (applause) their desire being to increase the circulation of news- papers, for the Legislature were not afraid of them — (applause). Then they might take the railways as an index of the material pro8i)erity of the country. In 1850 there were only 55 miles of railway open in the four provinces ; now there were 2,501) miles open and in operation. Although in 1852 there was not a single mile of railway in Ontaiio, they now had upwards of 1,500 miles, and 400 miles additional were projected and would be under construction tlii« year. They had 8,098 miles of telegraph wires in operation, and they could send a message from ono end of the Do* minion to the other for Is. Their telegraphs were not managed by the government ; indeed, they thought tho less government had to do with such things the better — (enthusiastic applause). As a maritime country, Canada stood fourth in the world. They had G,l(>5 vessels, representing 859,829 tons, and employing 40,000 seamen ; so that Canada was an important nursery for seamen, and if war broke out, which ne hoped it never would, between two such closely-united nations as Great Britain and the United States, Canada could render great assistance to the former. Their national debt was about 80 million dollars, but it was represented by public works, railways, canals, public buildings, and such like. Their taxation was entirely indirect, and much lighter than that of the States. Their revenue was raised almost entirely from customs and exise duties. Their standard for the former was 15 per cent., and the duties were so proportioned that those who were best able had to pay most — (applause). The average duty upon imports was 14^ per cent. ; in the United States it was 44 per cent. The amount contri- buted by each citizen towards taxation in the United States was 18 dollars and 5 cents. ; in Canada, 3 dollars and 50 cents. In the former there was State taxation, to which there was nothing analogous in Canada. Mr White then referred to the Province of Ontario. There were three things in the province of Ontario of which they were proud, the first being their perfect religious equality ; they had no State Church— (hear, hear, and cheers). He did not pretend to say whether it was better or not. But this he would say, that they had a state church for a considerable number of years, and one of England's kings, no doubt for the best of purposes, set aside one-seventh of the entire land of Ontario for the sup- port of religion, but the etiect of it was not to i)romote religion, but ratLer to promote political discord amongst them, and was an element in bringing about the rebellion cf 1837 ; : et, although they Lad no State church in their province, he ventured to say that in no country in the 8 world were the observances of relif^ion better attended to than in the province of Ontario— (hear, hear). In many hirge cities they had noble Btone buildings erected to the service of the Moat High, and even in the backwoods the missionaries were found labouring abundantly, though only in log huts ; yet he would say with the poet : — *' Thene temples of His flrrace How huautifnl tbty stand : The honour uf our native place. The beauties «f our land." They next prided themselves on their inuni< cipal institutions and their schools. With regard to the former, he might state that they had as perfect a sytitem of local self-government as they would find anywhere. The settled p(»rtion of Ontario v/as divided into 44 counties, and these again were subdivided into several townships, for the purpose of local self-govern- ment ; and this was efTected by city, town, and township councils, elected annually. The direct taxation of the country was levied ^through the medium of these councils, and the taxes were levied for all the ordiiiary purposes of taxation, and this amounted ♦'o only about £2 sterling for every 100 acres of land. Let it be remembered they had no poor-rates, inasmuch as they had no iiaupers, nor had they a poor-house in the whole country— (hear, hear) — and he prayed God that -here would never be. And, in speaking of England, he believed that if they had no peor-houRes thpy would probably have fewer paupers — (hear, hear) — so that that feature of taxation which comes very heavy on this side of the water they were entirely clear of in Ontario. He came next to the qutatim of schools. Now, at the pre- sent time, when the subject of education in this country was creating so much attention, it would not be uninterest- ing were he to tell them what their system was. In the first, J) lace, it was purely voluntary : in fact, they were vohnitary in everything — ( cheers ). Their chief superintendent of schools. Dr. Kyerson, about two years ago made a tour through all the Eurojjean cities and towns, and afterwards presented a most interesting report of the results of his observations as to the existing school systems in the countries visited, and from the ex- perience thus gained, their present school system they felt left them nothing to envy in those countries. Their system was simply this : The province was divided into counties, each county was divided into townships, and each' township into what was called school sections. These sections were so divided that each child could attend from any part of the section without inconvenience. The people met together to elect school trufetees, and the fact of their doing so was always taken as a declaration that there should be a school. The trustees at once began the ere' tion and establishment of the school ; but if the people d( ied not to elect the school trustees, then the school mjxE. 9 section would be without a school. In 18(J8, under the oomiuon school system, there were 4,480 gchwols in onera- tion in Ontario, whir^h gave employment to 4, '.)!>(» teachtra. Attending these achoois were 41!i,8'.M) schoU-jra, or rather over 90 per cent, of the entire school population of the province, taking that imputation at from five years of a|.'e to IG years of age. The people who elected the school trustees might say whether the school should be a free school, supported by voluntary taxation, or whether it should be supported by a fee, the fee in no case being allov/ed to exceed a shilling a month. Out of tho 4,'i.'J0 existing common schools in the province of Ontario, 4,000 were free schools. These free schools were not charity Hchools in any sense of the w»rd, nor was there any stigma of degividatiuu attached to them. There all classes of children learned, on one form and in one class, a ver> important lesson, which was of service to them in after years, which was that they must not depend for their success in life or a position in the world, on the accidents and good fortune of their parents, but solely on their own exertions. They had had their differences about religion, but that difficulty bad been settled, and in this way. Each board of school trustees determined whether the Bible should be read in the common school. If they decided that it should be read, then it was read without note or comment, simply as a text book, and withort any tipecific or dogmatic teaching with it. There was a con- science clavise, which gave the parent the power of saying tliat his child should not be present at the reading of the Bible ; but thon"h that conscience clause was in force in every Hchool,in o, OOof these schools in which the Bible was road, not a single child was ever withdrawn while it was being read. Another feature was, that the school trustees and the teacher might jointly arrange with the minister of any denomination for himtogotothe school for a number ef hours each week, call around iiim the children of the members of his church, and teach them religion. Though that law was on the statue book, it was practically a dead letter, inasmuch as it was never acted upcn. They had a separate school system for lioman Catholics — as in Lower Canada there was a system for Protestants — but, alth. ;h the Roman Catholics numbered about one-sixth O; the population in Ontario, there were but 162 sepi.rate schools at- tended by about 20,000 pupils. They had besides 101 schools of a higher class, in which the classics, mathema- tics, and higher literature were taught, which were the training schools for the Universities. They had 16 colleges, some of which had University powers, and these, with the Universities, brought up the average attendance in the province to over 94 per cent, of the entire population from five to 16 years of age. The lecturer then proceeded to speak of the agricultural development of the district, and by way of illustration instanced the success of their Froviucial Association, tho first exhibition of which was 10 held in Toronto in 1846, when the number of entries was 1,150, and th>3 value of the prizes oflFered 1,600 dels. They had fi[one on to increase from time to time to the present untilat their last exhiMtion in 18G9, the number of entries had iucrea?'fd to 7,500, and the value of the prizes to 14,000 doliiirs. They had also other associations — both county and township, for promoting agricul- ture in the country. He then \. dnt on t« make some comparisons between the products of Ontario and New York, and based his calculations upon the last census taken inl86i, taken on the same day in both places. From the published statistics it appeared that in 1860 Ontario had town 28,000 acres of wheat more than New York, and had reaped 2.000,000 bushels mere ; whilst, as regarded oats, the average production in Ontario was 31 bushels, and in New York, 10 bushels per acre. Then, of the eight leading staples of agriculture common to both countries Ontario produced 55 "95 bushels for each inhabitant, whilst the average for the whole of the United States was only 43 42 bushels. Again, the capital invested in live stock showed in favour of Ontario, which averagad 3813 dollars per head of the pooulation, whilst iu the United States it was but 34 '64 dollars per head. Butter and wool also showed considerably in favour of Ontario ; and these figures were more favourable when it was taken into ac- count that between 1852 and 1861 the population of Ontario had increased 46*65 per cent., whilst iu the United States from 1851 to 1861 the increase had only been at the rate of 35 '58 per cent. During that period Ontario passed four states in its onward career, namely, Indina, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Kentucky. It therefore did seem somewhat strange that, with these facts showing the progress of the country, they should ke called upon to defend the climate of the country. Ke was told everywhere he went that the one standing objection was as to its being so cold in winter and so hot in summer. Now there was no doubt about the truth of that ; for he had seen the thiemometer below zero in Canada,artd he had seen the thermometer 108 degrees in ihe shade city of Hamilton. He might say however, that he felt so warm in Canada in his life as he did last July in London, and, on the other h« nd, he had never felt the weather so cold in Canada ua he had experienced in Fagland dur- ing the last two months, and, moreove>, a peculiar kind of damp atmosphere here that was quite un- known in Oanada, where the atmosphere was clear, healthy and invigorating. This brought him to make a few comparisons ar to the mortality of some diffe- rent places, and he found that the death rate per every 10,000 of the population was at Ontario 71, the whole dominion of Canada 98- the United States 124, Norway 181, and in this much-praised healthy England 211. Of course, there was this one fact to be borne in mind thab in Canada they were cor^stantly receiving largo 11 accessions of population in j^oung and vigorous men and women, and tnat accounts, in one way, for the low- ness of the death-rate, but not altogether. Mr White then referred to the inducements which were oifered by the Government of Ontario to those who might be disposeri to emigrate to that province. They were essentially an aRricultural people, and the leading inducement, therefore, was for those who were disposed to go upon the land. The Government had set apart 41 townships, having an average area of from CO,JOO to 80,000 acres each, as free grants to actual settlers, upon certain conditions. These conditions were — that the settler should, within two months after selecting his lot, which he was permitted to do himself, erect upon it a log house. Now this was not a serious undertaking ; there was no place in the world where that principle of communism which recognises in the interest of each the interest of all, prevailed to so large an extent ac in the backwoods of Canada. There, emphatically, each man's interest was every man's interest, and, therefore, when the new settler went into the teriitory, those already settled in it turned out to assist him in erecting his | house, which, with such assistance, could be put up in a couple of days. The house erected, the settler was required to reside continuously on the land for five years, during which time he had to clear and put under cultivation fifteen acres of land, and when he had done this the land was his own absolutely. It was, moreover, protected to him by a homestead exemption clause, under , which it could not be seized in execution for any debt incurred before the issue of the title deed, nor for twenty years afterwards ; so careful indeed had the legislature been to protect this land to the family of the settler, that it could not even be mortgaged unless the man's wife be- came with him a party to the mortgage— (cheers and laughter). There was a reservation in relation to the pine timber, which was found necessary to protect it against the lumber men, and which was, in reality, in the interest of the settler himself. It only applied, however, to the period when the settlement duties were being performed, and lapsed so soon as the deed issued, the land, with everything upon it, being then the settler's. To take up one 01 those free grants a man should have at least from £40 to £50 in his pocket, after reaching the settlement, to enable him to tide over the first year, and even with that, it would be the wiser plan not to go upon the land at first, but to deposit the money in the savings' bank and take work, with one of the old farmers for a year, during which tinr.d the emigrant would accumulate a stock of capital, in the nature of practical experience, which would be of great value to him . when he went upon the land— (applaiise). Every individual over eighteen years of a^e was entitled to 100 acres, so that a man UAd h\a wife would get a grant of 200 acres for themiielvesi and 300 IT li additional for each member of the family over eighteen years old. Mr White contrasted the advantage of this wood land with prairie land, pointing out the many advantaLjes which the former possessed. It wa8,however, hard work to go in and clear a bush farm, and no man who was afraid of hard work should attempt it. But there was this consolation amid all the toil, that every blow struck was a blow for independence, and brought the emigrant nearer to the realization of his hope of becoming; an owner of the soil in his own right, which he could transmit to his children, a position that he could never hope to attain to here — (applause). There were persons of small means who might desire, instead of going on to the free lands to pnrchase par- tially cleared farms with buildings upon them. There wer«3 always such farms for sale, because frequently Dauadian farmers, with families growing up about them, for whom they were anxious to obtain land, moved into the new districts, where, with the price of the old farmstead, they were able to bring into rapid cultivation a much larger area. The Government had invited information as to such farms for sale, and when emigrants with small capital went out, they could obtain from the agents full information upon the subject, and be brought at once into communication with poople willing to sell. There was no class of persons to whom Canada oflfered a better prospect of success than ouch small capitalists, sa there they could find opportunities of investing their means with safety, such as were seldom offered on this side. Farms, partially cleared, and with suitable build- ings upon them, could be obtained at from £4 to £8 an acre. Then, again, there was a third class, ordinary labourers, agricultural labourers, and mechanics. To secure employment for these on their arrival in the country, the Gcvernmont had issued last year, and again this, a circular to the heads of the various municipalities, of which there were four hundred in the province, inviting itiformation as to the labour wants of their respective dis- tricts. The returns to these circulars were classified for the use of the emigration agents, and as the emigrants reached Canada, they were directed to those parts of the country where employment awaited them. TJnder this system, of the fourteen thousand emigrants who went out last year, and settled in Ontario, at least nine-tenths were at this moment employed and doing well, and were blessing God for the day that brought them to Canada. Some were not doing well, and in all cases there must be a proportion of people who will fail. From hh own personal knowledge, however, he could say that no man who had been willing to accept the conditions of life in a new country — hard work — had failed. He could only say, in concluaion,that if any of the audience contemplated emigrating, he cordially invited them to select Ontario as their future home, and he could promise them the most emuwt sympftCby, on the part of the peopl«,to make their 13 future a happy and a prosperous one ; and any who might wish for further informatien, or to engage their passages, should apply to the agents at Plymouth. Messrs. Wilcocks and Weekes. Mr White resumed his seat amidst loud applause. The Lecturer having announced himself willing to answer any questions, was asked by a person in the bodji» of the Hail, what wages were received by artizans. lu answer to this, the lecturer said he had avoided every- where he had been undertaking to state satisfactorily the wages which were received, for this reason. Wages differed in different parts of the country very much, but the ordinary wages, say of a carpenter, ranged from six shillings to eight shillings per day. There were however, some classes of mechanics, for instance painters, who got a little higher wages ; certain classes of brick- layers and masons, during certain seasons when there was a great rush of work, might get more, but the ordinary wages of mechanics might be stated to be 6$ or 8s per day in Canada. Labouring people would get from 33 6d to about 4s 66l sterling per day. Agricultural labourers would get about £3 per month and their board and lodgings, with the farmers of the country; he meant people who had had some little experience as agricultural labourers. Those who had not had any experience before, as a matter of course, did not get so much. In answer to another question, the Lecturer said there used to be a mode in Canada of people receiving their, wages in trade, but he was very glad to say that that despicable mode had passed away, and every man got paid in money m Saturdays — (hear bear). The Chairman asked what was the price of bread and meat in Canadp> ? The Lecturer said the prices of beef differed in different parts. When he lived in the town of Peterborough his plan used to be to lay in his meat for the winter. He could njanage to get good beef from 2^6. to 3d per lb. Just before he left London en the previous day he saw a letter from an emigrant in Canada, and he gave the prices of beef as from 3d to 'S^u per lb. The prices in Hamilton were about from 4id to 5d, buying it in the market. Muttoia was aomewbat cheaper, sometimes not any cheaper. Pork lately had been rather dear in Canada, that was,dear for them. It had been as high as 4d sterling per lb, and that they considered pretty high. He meant bvying a a small carcase of from 150 to 200 lbs weight, and that was a very nice carcase for a small family — (laughter.) Flour was four dollars, that was IGs per barrel, or ranging from 168 to 203 the barrel of 196 lbs. That was the price of four when ke left Hamilton. It was very best flour, and they could therefore form an idea of what the pric« of bread was'. He oould not tell them, as he never bought any ! it was all made at home. 14 Mr J. N. Bennett was then called upon to move a vote of thanks to the lecturer. He said he should be extremely happy to dose, but before doing so he should take the liberty of putting a question or two more, because the matter of emigration vtras so very interesting penerally to so many families, especially in the town of Plymouth, where there was almost in every street those who had got friends either in Canada or in their other colonies ; therefore he would take the liberty of con- tinuing the discussion. It seemed that there was some objection to Canada, for they found a great number of persons intending bona fide to go to Canada and settle there, turn their backs upon the country aud went into the United States there to settle. Perhaps Mr White would tell them how that happened. He also wished to be further informed respecting the homestead lands, and how it was that settlers running in debt could not have their property taken from them for payment of those debts? The Lectitrer, touching up©n the first pointjsaid he might state in answer to this, that persons who had farmud in Canada and had gone into the United States, thinking to better themselves, were retracing their steps after an experience of four or five years, and were actually going into the free territory and taking up the free lands, 'i'here was this also to be borne in mind Id relation to emigrants. A great many of them had a tendency to stick to the cities. If employment became slack in the cities they would go on to other places, and they would go into the United States as if they were going into another county to find employment. They had men coming from the United States into Canada to seek employment. In the city of Hamilton there were 5,000 Americans working, so it would be seen the people passed forward and backwards wher- ever there were the best prospects of success. It was just one of those things they could not properly account for. "With regard to the homestead principle, until the patent was issued the property was the Government's, and there- fore no writ could be issued against it for debt. It was not until the patent w»s issued and the land became the ihe occupier's own that a writ could be issued against it. It was to discourage fanners from taking credit at all that the Government acted in this manner : if a man trusted these farmers he trustedto his honour. The old law would have enabled the man to take possession of the land, but the present law was to produce thrift amongst the farmers. Mr A. P. Pbowse asked whetLer the lecturer had any criminal statistics? The Legtuber said he had not, but, unfortunately, they had criminals. They had a penitentiary in Kingston, and at the present time there were 900 convicts in it. It should be remembered, however, that that penitentiary T is: 15 was used for over 3.000,000 ol people. The convicta were the gatherings of a great number of years. Fifteen of them K* TLr.rS-'^^T^^'^ 'Trover and asVaS them. The Canadian ga9ls as - rule were not at all very luU; in fact, he did not think their criminal statistics would show at all unfavourable. The expenditure for the administration of justice was a very good test, and that L?ar) "" ^^'^ ^'''' ^ '^ ^^ acres-(he^, ^^Mr Prowsb said he wanted to know as regarded human The Lecturer said it was a very rare thing to hear of murder m Canada. ^ Human life was as thofoughly pro- tected in Canada as in Great Britain -(hear, hear) ^ ^^Mr Prowsb asked whether revolvers were in common The Lecturer said revolvers were not in common use J L Latimer, Printer, Plymouth. MONTREAL OCEAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY. 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