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 UNITED STATES oii CANADA? ^ ^ 
 
 /■^' 
 
 POINTS 
 
 FOR THK 
 
 T. 
 
 
 CONSIDERATION OP ALL WHO ARE HESITATING 
 WHETHER TO DIRECT THEIR VIEWS 
 
 
 *• 
 
 ^l- 
 
 * 
 
 TO THE 
 
 IINITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 OR *# 
 
 * 
 
 «THE CANADAS: 
 
 
 W 
 
 #• 
 
 AS OFFERING THE MOST ELIGIBLE AND ADVANTAGEOUS FIELD 
 FOR THE INDUSTRY AND EJgTERPRISE OF EMIGRANTS. 
 TAKING A'VIEW OF TH^ PRESENT CONDITION 
 AND RELATIVE BURDENS OF, BOTH COUN- ^ 
 tRIES, AND ALSO THE FUTURE M 
 
 y - ^jlOSPECTS OF EACH. 
 
 ^ ■ ^O WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 SOME OBSERVATIONS 
 
 f 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE MODERATE CAPITALIST AND GENTLEMAN OF 
 LIMITED FORTUNE AND LARGE FAMILY. 
 
 % 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 ■' GEQRGE MANN, 39, CORNHILL, AND THOMAS GRIFFITHS, 
 13, WELLINGTON-STREET, STRAND. 
 
 ' . .MDCCCXXXm. 
 
 
 
 
 ,.-/?■ ■- •', ■-;"■,■¥-,- r' 
 
¥' 
 
 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by William Clowks, 
 
 Stumford-stieet. 
 
 .4 
 
 J^ 
 
 ■A6 
 
 i 
 
 'ii 
 
 W- 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 f 
 
 To all who feel the bitterness of being unable to place the future 
 prospects of themselves and their children on any rational ground 
 of hopeful expectation, and who have sufficient courage to look 
 stedfastly and unmoved at some few difficulties they will assuredly 
 have to encounter in the attainment of the object of their just 
 and commenaaole anxiety by emigration, these pages are dedi- 
 cated, with a sincere desire that the information contained therein 
 may be found useful in directing them to select the spot most 
 favourable to the true interests both of themselves and of their 
 posterity. 
 
 r 
 
 S^. 
 
 /' 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 London, -©ct?:. 1833. 
 

UNITED STATES or CANADA? 
 
 POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION, 
 
 &c. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 'I 
 
 J? 
 
 On the question of the good or bad policy of a government 
 encouraging emigration, much has been said and written, and 
 will continue to be said and written. Perhaps if the arguments 
 on the negative side of this question are examined much below 
 their surface, they will be found rather specious than solid. 
 However, the following pages are not written to prove either one 
 or the other ; nor to canvass the reasons why such a state of 
 things exists, as to call upon multitudes seriously to reflect upon 
 emigration as the best means of escaping from dire embarrassment 
 and distress ; or to suggest what may be the best or probable 
 way to restore prosperity. 
 
 Perhaps the most rational view that an individual can take of 
 the matter is, that as the misgovernment and corruption of many 
 years has brought us into this state, so it will require the honest 
 and laborious exertion of many years to retrieve our affairs, and 
 place them on that eminence Avhich the capital and enterprise of 
 England cannot fail of attaining, under anything like proper 
 management. 
 
 It is sufficient to advert to the fact that thousands of our 
 labouring population are without employ, and in great distress ; 
 that great numbers of agriculturists and traders have, for many 
 years, witnessed the gradual wasting of their property and re- 
 sources from causes not within their control ; nor can they dismiss 
 from their minds the fear that the same causes will continue to 
 operate till they have lost the remnant they yet possess ; and that 
 these and numerous others, who, viewing with dismay the ill 
 success attending the exertions of many around them, are led to 
 determine on seekiny; a new field of exertion, in which to 
 
 their capital or talents. 
 
 iploy 
 
6 
 
 IJnitod States or Can<i<hi ? 
 
 No one will, for n moment, dispute the right of any individual 
 to fix upon emigration Jis the best means within his reach of 
 escaping from the evils he feels or fears ; nnd the opponents of 
 the measure have no remedy to offer that does not recjuire time 
 to bring it iiito operation. Now, the hereafter is all very well 
 for a communiUj, but it is the present which is most applicable to 
 the case of the individual, and especially if it is connected with - 
 as flattering an hereafter as that contemj)lated by delay. 
 
 It must doubtless be conceded that a country is most benefited 
 by the transmission of its po[)ulation and capital to its colonies ; 
 but this consideration is perhaps not binding on the individual, 
 except it can be shown that all the advantages he can find else- 
 where can be found in a colony, which, after all, is as much a part 
 of an empire as that portion which a river only divides from the 
 rest, the difference being, that in the first case ships must be em- 
 ployed to effect a communication, and in the last a bridge will 
 answer the purpose. 
 
 Of our own colonies, those which are now occupying the atten- 
 tion, are New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Swan River, and 
 the Canadas. As respects the three first named, it may be worth 
 while io give some attention to the following points. The voyage 
 is seldom or ever shorter than four months, frequently five, or 
 even longer. The expense is consequently great, both for pas- 
 sage and stores ; and there is a chance that such a long voyage, 
 with subsistence upon salt provisions, will set the emigrant on 
 shore in no very good plight for active exertion. The expense 
 and trouble of returning, should the country not answer the ex- 
 pectations formed, or from any other cause, is as great or greater 
 than it is out. What is the state of society, especially in the two 
 first named ? And other reflections may possibly occur as 
 the following pages are perused ; not that it is for a moment in- 
 tended to assert that many have not done well in these colonies, 
 or that they may not present some peculiar opportunities of enter- 
 prise which do not exist in Canada ; but strong conviction com- 
 j)els the assertion, that in British America a field for enterprise is 
 open to an almost boundless extent, suited to all classes of per- 
 sons likely to thrive by their industry, and possessing advantages 
 from assimilation of climate to that of England, advanced state 
 of society, short distance from Europe, and governments as 
 popular and perfect as a reformed House of Commons will make 
 that of England, which far outweigh the advantages offered by 
 any other colonies of Great Britain. 
 
 It would, perhaps, be no very hard task to prove that the true 
 interests of England are intimately interwoven with the prosperity 
 of this portion of her vast and extended empire, both as a gra- 
 nary from which to draw supplies for her manufacturing pojju- 
 
 v ■ 
 
 'i- 
 
United Stati'.i or Camida ? 7 
 
 liitinn, and us a chamn'l through which not a small portion of the 
 llnitfd States will, under any circumstances, be supplied with 
 manufactured goods and West Indian produce; while it could 
 wiih as little diiriculty be shown that the advantages accruing to 
 Canada, by her close connexion with Kngland, are so great, that 
 any idea of u serious interruption of the present good understand- 
 ing is not to be entertained, especially as the narrow colonial 
 policy of the last century has passed away never to return. 
 
 Some reflections might also be od'ered on the inlluence which 
 cliuuile apjjcars to exercise in the destinies of the human race. 
 Will it not strike the attention, on looking over a map of the 
 world, that all those parts possessed of a climate usually termed 
 most delightful (which, in fact, means only that summer, or some- 
 thing like it, is present all the year), and which at any time past 
 liave ix'en the abode of arts and civilization, have in succession 
 fallen before the energies of uien proceeding from a climate not 
 so favoured with the influence of the sun, but perhaps more 
 favourable to the develo[)mt!nt of those energies ; because the 
 vicissitudes of the seasons compel the exercise of vigilance, and 
 prevent the approach of that apathy which is sure to make 
 advances on all who are removed beyond the necessity of 
 exertion ? 
 
 The latitude of Canada corresponds with that of the most 
 fruitful regions of Europe and Asia. At present it is subject to 
 a degree of cold not felt in those regions ; but we know by expe- 
 rience that the climate is becoming milder as the country is 
 cleared and the forests disappear ; and it would be difficult to give 
 any solid reason why the climate of Canada should not gradually 
 assume something like the mildness of the old parts under the 
 same parallel of latitude. 
 
 Some speculations might also be made as to the probabilities 
 of the same causes which are effecting a change in the climate 
 of Canada operating in the [same ratio on the climate of those 
 countries of America south of the 40th or 45th degree, and so 
 reduce them ultimately to the same insignificance that we find all 
 countries in the old world south of the first parallel are reduced 
 to, notwithstanding their former power and grandeur. This, it is 
 confessed, is a remote contingency, but perhaps it may be allowed 
 en passant. 
 
 Few quit the shores of England without leaving behind them 
 some relative or friend from whom the separation is attended with 
 regret. But this feeling is softened considerably by the reflection 
 that an intercourse may still be maintained by letters. The affairs 
 of England also constitute not a small part of the solicitude of 
 those who contemplate returning ; and even those who do not are 
 scarce less anxious. In these respects Canada possesses a great 
 
6 
 
 Uitlffd Sfiitcs or C'nniuhi '' 
 
 mlvantnjre over niiy other cDlotiy ; for a k'llcrnm he sent from the 
 most rcriiote part to l''.n^hiii<l and iiti ntiswcr received in four 
 iiioiitlis at farthest, and at ntiy season of the year. 
 
 Here it may he ohserved lliat an I'inifhshnian scarcely knows 
 that he possesses that love oi" country which he will find he does 
 when ho is out of it, and which, perhaps, proceeds from his 
 hid)itual rejection of that sort of e^iotistical sf'iitiinenlality in(lid;;e(l 
 in hy some Huropean nations, and which same article is t;ettiti}^ 
 into extensive use on the western side of the Atlantic, from the 
 JJrilish houndaries to the };ulf of Mexico, 
 
 The British possessions in America occupy not a smidl portion 
 of the notice of the people of the United Stales, althoui^h iti 
 Jinj;land few, except thos • -Mnediately en^iafjed in the trade of 
 those parts, know much ahoni them or their extent; an ignorance 
 which is much to he lamented. 
 
 From the western shore of Newfoundland, to Lake Huron, is a 
 distance of little less than 200t) miles, with n navigahle commu- 
 tiication availahle for ships of 400 tons for the first 000 miles, 
 and the remainder hy the aid of two canals, which will shortly he 
 finished, for schooners of NO to 200 tons. 
 
 Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New iJrunswick, and the eastern 
 ])art of Lower Canada are suhject to long and severe winters, and 
 are only partially interesting to the agriculturist ; hut from their 
 productive fisheries, mines, and local advantages, present an 
 extended field lor the man of enterprise. The western section of 
 the British possessions comprehends Upper Canada, the soil of 
 which is acknowledged on all hands to be inferior to no tract of 
 equal extent on the continent of North America, and a climate in 
 which maize, tohacco, peaches, melons, and other fruits and pro- 
 ductions arrive at a perfection far surpassing that which they 
 could attain in the most favoured part of England, and much 
 more congenial to the health of Englishmen than anv part of the 
 western or southern sections of the United States. The laws are 
 for the most part the same as in England, and no taxes can he 
 levied without the consent of their own Legislatures, nor for any 
 purpose not connected with their own [)roper revenue and expen- 
 diture. The elective franchise is still more extended than that 
 of England under the Reform Bill, and no civilized community 
 on the face of the earth are so lightly taxed. 
 
 Within the last few years these colonies have taken a start in 
 the race of |)rosperity, which is hringing them into notice, and 
 developing their resources, and the means they possess of heing 
 made, under a liberal and enlightened system, a source of the 
 most extensive benefit to England and to themselves. 
 
 As no testimony is so valuable as that elicited upon cross- 
 examination, so the admissions of a rival may he taken without 
 
 I 
 
Uiitnl Stafi'S or Cunmht } 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 sciiipio, and nre [)fihii|)s, of nil species of evi(l»'iict', tlic most 
 (•oiicliisi\c', cs|K'ciiilly to |)r('jti(lict'(l iminircrs. 
 
 In ptTiisiii^ the lollowinj; |>i;ies, those who may htive formed a 
 pre(hl('Ction in fsivoiir of (he linite<l States may, perhaps, he 
 iiichtied to eharjie the author with u want of can<lour : to such he 
 will only say, that, three years aj;o, his predilections in their 
 ("ii\onr were prohahly as stron<; as anitnates any of them, and if 
 he has clmn;fed his o|)inion, it is hi'cause he has seen and expe- 
 rienced, in his own proper person, that there is a wide difl'erence 
 hetween theory and practice ; and, hesides, niost of his con- 
 clnsions will he home out by the extracts he has made from 
 public documents; the rest are founded on his own observations 
 and the experience of others as far as they agreed with his own. 
 To this extent lie thinks he has an undoubted rij^ht to jfo, in 
 ollerinj; some points for the consideration of a class of persons 
 who have already witnessed the departure of a trreat portion of 
 their property, and with whom, consecpiently, it is an object of 
 paramount iuiporUinc(^ to avoid |)lacing the remainder in needless 
 jeopardy ; and, moreover, it is (piite certain that, in America, not 
 the slij^hlest delicacy is exercised in canvassing the character of 
 the Knglish, whatever may he thouj;ht to the contrary here ; and 
 thou;^h the Americans are possessed of a sensitiveness above any 
 people that now do, or ever did exist, as to all their concerns, yet 
 this is no argument against the propriety of every fair investi- 
 gation into the character of the peo[)le and institutions among 
 whom the remainder of the life of the iufpiirer is probably to be 
 spent, and to whose care he proposes to leave his descendants. 
 If they will bear the test of examination they will come out the 
 brighter for it, if not ' let the galled jade wince :' but in the name 
 of common sense, let not any feeling of overstrained <Ielicacy 
 come in aid of a partiality founded generally U[)on abstract theory 
 (as the anilior freely confesses his was) in an alTair of such itn- 
 |)ortance as the selection of a country with whose destinies the 
 emigrant and his posterity are to be identified. When he left 
 England for New York, he had no more idea of visiting Canada 
 than he now has of going to Siberia ; but a residence of some 
 months in the city of New York effected a wonderful change in 
 his views and opinions, and he found that he had pitched his 
 admiration of American freedom from tithes, and taxes, and con- 
 sequent happiness and prosperity, much too high ; and that, 
 in fact, the taxes and rates are by no means so inconsider- 
 able (relatively) as we are led to believe. Nor is it the absence 
 of taxes, or even abundance of food, that will make a people 
 happy ; lor the Americans are, to all mortal scrutiny, a most 
 nnhappy race, although, certainly, it would be hard to point out 
 any of their institutions or circumstances that of nccessili/ obli«re 
 
T 
 
 10 
 
 Unit. (I Stiifcs or Canadii ? 
 
 them to be so ; but so it is : they appear as if they chose to be 
 unhappy, and perhaps the effect follows its cause as certainly 
 as fire generates heat : but it requires long investigation to dis- 
 cover, and the business of the intending emigrant is rather to 
 inquire into the existence of the feeling, than trouble himself about 
 its cause. 
 
 The United States of America are spoken of and considered, 
 as France or Spain, or any other independent l.-ngdom or coun- 
 try is spoken or thought of; but the error fallen into by so con- 
 sidering, is of no small im[)ort. 
 
 The Union is composed of twenty-four states and two districts. 
 Each of them has its own laws, as res{)ects property, and every 
 other affair of individual importance ; and has a governor and 
 legislature, with a civil establishment, and taxes for their sup- 
 port; all which are ovei- and above the revenues raised hy the 
 Customs, Post-officcy Sfc, which go to the maintenance of the 
 navy and army, and the support of the general government at 
 Washington. 
 
 The laws of these States may, and do, essentially differ from 
 each other. If the citizens of two States have a suit, either party 
 may appeal to the United States Court at Washington. Now, 
 let it be remembered, that business, to any extent, cannot ba 
 carried on without embracing several States, and that the knave 
 can always avail himself of tFiis plan to defeat his adversary ; for 
 the expense attending an appeal is so great, that none but affairs 
 of importance will justify the risk. This evil, among other evils 
 of the courts, is alluded to in the following extract from the address 
 of the ' Mechanics of New York,' (a class of no small weight 
 in the Re{)ublic,) ' to their fellow-citizens, dated December 29th, 
 1829:'— 
 
 * In the formation of our courts of justice, we believe the 
 influence of wealth has been more or less exercised ; else, why do 
 we see the poor man frequently lose a small just demand, rather 
 than enter into contention, in our courts, against a rich mono[)0- 
 list or dishonest litigant, where, if he succeeds, his costs fre- 
 quently exceed his demand P' 
 
 Now, although the laws of any one State may be changed, it is 
 quite plain that the right of appeal by the citizens of two States 
 cannot possibly be anhulled; nor is it easy to conceive how the 
 poor man can be protected while that right remains. 
 
 Thus it appears there is a very serious imputation resting on a 
 matter of considerable importance to every individual havmg 
 either property or character to lose, and from a party who are 
 not likely to circulate a charge of such a grave nature without 
 foundation ; and, moreover, the frequent impeachment of the 
 judges before the Congress at Washington, i";o< i not go far to 
 
United States or Canada 
 
 11 
 
 r 
 
 prove a very impartial administration of the laws, such as they 
 are ; nor will it take much from the argument to say that the 
 judges are generally acquitted. — 
 
 • Caesar's wife should be above suspicion.' 
 
 On the subject of the laws, the forementioned Address also 
 contains the following: — 
 
 * Were we to enter into a minute examniation of our State and 
 City laws, you could not but be astonished at the manifest unjust- 
 ness and inequality of many of them ; and of the immense bur- 
 dens they, by direct and indirect means, impose upon the pro- 
 ducing classes. We will ask you to examine carefully all our 
 market and street laws and regulations, and then determine 
 whether justice was the governing principle in the formation of 
 all our laws.' 
 
 These extracts will show that considerable dissatisfaction exists 
 on the subject of the laws, Ijoth general and local, and of the 
 burdens they impose ; though not a few in England suppose that, 
 as the Americans govern themselves, they have most things to 
 their liking : this, however, is certainly not the case. How far 
 the accusations are founded in fact, need not be here inquired 
 into : there can be no doubt that the persons promulgating that 
 Address, conceived they had sufficient grounds for their asser- 
 tions. 
 
 Another of the subjects considered and advocated in the above 
 Address, was the abolition of imprisonment for debt, which, at 
 that time, could be enforced for the smallest sum. A law has 
 been since passed, and is now in operation, abolishing imprison- 
 ment in the state of New York for debt, excepting ni case of 
 fraud, which, however, is easily got'rid of by the aforesaid power 
 of appeal. The same law exists in some of the other States. 
 
 VVithout entering into the discussion whether such law is 
 founded in good or bad policy, (and were our opinion asked, we 
 should rather say good than bad,) yet, as it is quite impossible to 
 do the most moderate business without credit, in a country where 
 almost the entire circulation is paper, and even that not sufficient 
 to carry on all their transactions, the embar.assment which such 
 a law must occasion to a stranger, whether he seeks to advance 
 his interest by giving or receiving credit, must at once be acknow- 
 ledged, when (he necessity it imposes on every creditor to know 
 something of the circumstances of his debtor is considered. 
 
 After the laws of a country, the monetary system, perhaps, 
 touches the interest of individuals most closely. 
 
 The United States have a Mint at Philadelphia, where they 
 coin gold, silver, and copper. By the official accounts, it appears 
 

 12 
 
 f'liihd Slates or Cdntuhi? 
 
 ■ I 
 
 It! - 
 
 that the whole amount of gold coined, from the establishment of 
 the Mint, in 171)3 to 1830, which is thirty-eight years, falls short 
 of 2,000,000/. sterling ; and the annual coinage of gold, silver, 
 and copper, for the last ten years, averaged about 370,000/. 
 sterling. This, it will be recollected, is a coinage for the whole 
 twenty-six States. The whole amount coined, of every descrip- 
 tion, in the thirty-eight years, is scarcely twice the amount of the 
 fictitious credit, from one single source — namely, the Custom- 
 house bonds, constantly afloat, for many years past, in the city of 
 New York alctCj as will presently be shown by a quotation from 
 the • Mechanics' Address.' See page 13. 
 
 Besides the coinage of the United States, Spanish do'lars cir- 
 culate legally. The amount cannot be exactly ascertained, but 
 it bears a lamentably insignificant proportion to the paper dollars, 
 as may be gathered from the evidence given before a Committee 
 of Congress, by the president of the United States Bank. See 
 page 14. 
 
 In the single state of New York there are upwards of seventy 
 banks, whose notes, of one dollar and upwards, are received in all 
 parts of that State at par, or a discount of from a half to two per 
 cent. A list is published at the city of New York every week, 
 stating the discount at which they circulate ; and at the bottom 
 of that list is a note, — ' the value of broken bank bills is not 
 stated, it being very uncertain.' "^I'his alludes to banks that have 
 stopped payment, and whose paper is taken at a price supposed 
 to be equivalent to the dividend they will pay ; sometimes not 
 more than a few cents for a dollar bill *. Nearly all the banks 
 are connected with some mercantile speculation — canals, rail- 
 roads, &c. ; in fact, all the large operations of America are 
 carried on by companies, and every company has a bank and an 
 issue of paper. 
 
 Before proceeding to state the opinions which some of the 
 Americans themselves entertain of their banking system, it may 
 be as well to state something of the system of collecting the 
 revenue arising from imports. When a ship arrives in port, the 
 merchant takes the invoice of the goods he has on board to the 
 Custom House, and the inspector [)roceeds, as he is directed by 
 Act of Congress, to inspect the goods and compute the duties. 
 A bond is then made out for the amount, payable by instalments, 
 at three and six months. On the execution of the bond by the 
 merchant, and another whom he procures to reci|)rocate favours 
 with him, the goods are instantly released, and received into his 
 warehouse, or sent to the auctioneers ; and, j)erhaps, in a fortnight 
 
 * The windows of many of the shops, in all the principal streets of New 
 York (eily), exhibit placards, '* Broken bank bills taken here." 
 
Vnih'd States or Cnnndii ? 
 
 13 
 
 from the arrival of the ship in port, the p;oo<Is are sold, and the 
 merchant is in possession of negotiable paper to the amount of 
 from 25 to 80 or more per cent, beyond the legitimate claim he 
 has upon the goods. 
 
 Now let us look at the proportion which the fictitious, or Jlash 
 capital, as we should call it, raised from this single source, bears 
 to the real capital. By the official statements, published in the 
 Almanacs and other publications, it appears that the united capi- 
 tal of the seventeen banks, located in the city of New York, is 
 18,000,000 dollars. The following quotation from the Ad<lress 
 before mentioned, discloses the amount of the fictitious capital, 
 and alludes to other matters in point : — 
 
 ' Resolved, — That the credit system on duties, at our Custom 
 
 " House, which furnishes the auctioneers and importers with an 
 
 additional capital of 15,000,000 of ('ollars, at all times afloat in 
 
 1^ this city, — the greater part of which is drawn from the producing 
 
 classes, they being the consumers, — is an evil of immense mag- 
 
 ^ nitude, and demands our immediate attention.' 
 
 ^ ' Th{<t it be earnestly recommended to our representatives in 
 
 f Congi^ess, to^ use their efforts to cause the duties to be paid in 
 
 ■ I cash.' 
 
 ' That the banks under the administration of their present 
 ^ • directors and officers, and by the concert of auctioneers and im- 
 
 porters, aided by the Custom Hovise credits, form a monopoly 
 that is hostile to the equal rights of the American merchant, ma- 
 nufacturer, mechanic, and labouring man ; and that the renewal 
 by the Legislature of the Bank Charters prayed for, will confirm 
 and perpetuate an aristocracy, which eventually may shake the 
 foundations of our liberty, and entail slavery on our posterity.'* 
 
 An Englishman must be some time in America before he could 
 be brought to view the matter in the same light in which it ap- 
 pears by this last resolution the mechanics of New York do. 
 I'here are other and more immediate consequences proceeding 
 from such a system which would engage his attention, and to 
 which it is quite unnecessary to allude. 
 
 Some further light may be thrown on the American bank- 
 ing system, by the following extract from the Report of the 
 Committee of Finance and Currency, laid before the Senate of 
 the United States, March 29th, 1830 : — It may be proper to state 
 that the • United States Bank ' is in no way connected with the 
 government; but it is a Company with a stock of about 
 
 * The new TatifFBill, which goes into operation in March, 1833, provides 
 that the duties on wool and woollen goods are to be paid in cash ; and also 
 that, when the duty on an importation of other goods shall not amount to 
 2(>0 dollars, it shall be paid instanter. This last clause is calculated to in- 
 crease rather than allay these alarming prognostications. 
 
14 
 
 Unih'd S fates or Canadd f 
 
 \i : 
 
 7,2()0,0(K\'. sterling (neiirly one-third of which, according to 
 the President Jackson's late message, is owned by English capi- 
 talists), raised in shares of 100 dollars. From the following 
 questions, with the answers of the President of the Bank, it may 
 be gathered that one of the principal ends of its establishment 
 was to keep something like a salutary control over the numerous 
 and unlimited number of banks in the various States. 
 
 Q. ' Has the bank at any time oppressed any of the State 
 Baidis?' — A. ' Never. There are very few banks that might not 
 have been destroyed by an exertion of the power of the bank. 
 JNone have ever been injured ; many have been saved ; and more 
 have been and are constantly relieved, when it is found that they 
 are solvent, but are suffering under temporary difficulty.' 
 
 Q. ' When a State Bank becomes indebted to your l)ank to an 
 important extent, what course do you pursue. Do you let them 
 go beyond a certain amount; and what is that amount?' — A. 
 * The great object is to keep the State Banks within proper limits ; 
 to make them shape their business according to their means. For 
 this purpose they are called upon to settle ; never forced to pay 
 in specie if it can be avoided, but payment is taken in their bills 
 of exchange, or suffered to lie occasionally until they can turn 
 round ; no amount of debt is fixed, because the principle we wish 
 to establish is, that every bank should be able to provide for its 
 notes.' 
 
 The above speaks for itself, and requires no comment. 
 
 Notwithstanding the forbearance and assistance exercised and 
 afforded to the numerous State Banks by the United Stales Bank, 
 it has long been looked upon as a pest, and its ruin determined 
 on ; and, accordingly, last July, the President of the United 
 States refused his sanction to the Bill renewing their charter, 
 although it had passed both Houses ; nor can«i^ it be supposed 
 that he did so without well knowing the feeling of the multitude on 
 the question, being on the eve of appearing before them for his 
 re-election, or rejection, as President for the next four years. 
 
 It may now be worth while to see what other evidence exists 
 as to the undue multiplication of banks, and the need of some 
 control over them beyond that of the State Legislatures only. 
 
 The address before quoted, although it deprecates the renewal 
 of the bank charters, says, * the ruin consequent on a refusal was 
 depictured last winter on the floors of the Senate and House of 
 Assembly, in terms calculated to alarm the stoutest hearts.' 
 
 ' The Morning Courier and Enquirer ' (the * Times ' of New 
 York), in announcing, on the 16th of March, 1831, the passing 
 of six bank charters, says, ' We observe the Assembly are passing 
 by almost a unanimous vote all the banks applied for. When 
 our friend Mr. Crolius was speaker in 1S25, there was no less 
 
Vnitvd Statin or Canada '' 
 
 l;-) 
 
 i 
 
 than sixty-nine Acts of incorporations passed ; about one-third 
 of which never went into operation, and of those which did a con- 
 siderable number failed in less than a year. This multiplication 
 of incorporations, and legislation for individuals, costs the State 
 of New York, annually, about 40,000 dollars, and the people 
 about half a million by faillrks.' 
 
 The question of the superiority or inferiority of the form of 
 government in the United States, compared with that of England, 
 or of the British American Colonies, is far too wide for discussion 
 here. But inasmuch as instability and fluctuation is universally 
 allowed to be destructive of individual prosperity, let us see what 
 evidence exists of fluctuation and instability in the United States. 
 The cause thereof, and the probability, nay, certainty, of the con- 
 tinuance of those causes operating in the same way, as long as 
 the United States are a federal republic, is not a question of diffi- 
 cult solution with any who have seen the wur/ciny o( a democratic 
 form of government, whichever way those may decide it who 
 argue /rom theory. 
 
 The quotations which follow are from a * Report of the Com- 
 mittee of Commerce and Navigation, read and referred to the 
 Committee of the whole on the state of the Union, in the House 
 of the Representatives of the United States,' February 8th, 1830. 
 
 It must be recollected that this Report emanates from a body 
 representing the whole Union of twenty-six States, and from their 
 opinion the adverse interests of the several States may be pretty 
 clearly imagined, and which have, in fact, been, and must ever 
 be, the cause of incessant change of policy. After taking a rapid 
 view of their situation up to 1816, it proceeds : — *The Tariff of 
 1816 laid the foundation of all our subsequent errors. We have 
 been steadily sacrificing the commerce, navigation, and capital of 
 Kew England, merely to bring forward new competitors in manu- 
 facturing, to embarrass our old and skilful artizans, and to ruin 
 themselves. We have, from Session to Session, kept trade in 
 such agitation and uncertainty, that the value of property could 
 never be ascertained till the adjournment of Congress.' After 
 taking a view of the utter hopelessness of America for centuries 
 being a*^'e to compete with England in manufactures, under the 
 protection of any duties, however high, taking the nature of their 
 institutions and territory into consideration ; it proceeds : — ' Our 
 jciiit-stock companies and our mercantile manufactures, with all 
 our short-lived legislative creations, must, imder our artificial sys- 
 tem, inevitably perish with every re-action in trade, as they have 
 done for twelve years past. The millions invested under Ihe Act 
 of 1816 were swe[)t away in 1818 and 1819 ; those under the Act 
 of 1824 by the revulsion of 1825 and 1826 ; and the investnieuls 
 
16 
 
 Uiiital Shtfos or Candda? 
 
 under the Act of 182H, by the tremendous shock of IS >{).'* It 
 then takes a view of the enormous duties on articles of the first 
 necessity, as they press particularly on the southern and western 
 Slates; and continues :-' I'lie protecting system, as we have 
 lately enforced it, is utterly incompatil)le with our confederated 
 form of government : this objection will become more and more 
 percei)tible as we approach the period for the redemption of the 
 public debt. When ten or twelve millions of revenue will be suf- 
 iicient for the annual ex|)enses of our federal government, it will 
 be neither [)rudcnt nor patriotic to treat with indifference the re- 
 monstrances of a minority of States, against the inequality and 
 injustice of our modern system of taxation. When we attem{)t to 
 render by legislative control the ca|)ital and industry of one State 
 subservient to the ill-judged cupidity of the cnpiialists of another, 
 we shall discover one of llw, mlierent injlrmifics of every federal 
 (jovernment.' 'We shall learn how utterly impracticable it is to 
 execute the revenue laws of a Confederacy, when the peo[)le of a 
 whole section array themselves, under the discipline and direction 
 of their State Governments, against our decrees.' 
 
 These quotations, it is presumed, are sufficient to show that a 
 violent and ruinous contention of interests has existed for many 
 years ; nor are the causes from which this contention arises less 
 obvious. The New England and Middle States, from their com- 
 parative density of population and unproductiveness of their soil, 
 have long been turning their attention to the establishment of 
 manufactories; and, consequently, sought the only means by 
 which competition with England could be maintained, in high 
 protecting duties ; and thus oblige the cotton and rice grower of 
 the south, and the wheat grower of the west, to pay enormously 
 for every article of manufacture ; and, in fact, to give a bounty 
 on their productions, under the name of a duty on foreign goods. 
 For some years the South and West States have seen clearly the 
 operation of the system : besides, they have been greatly aug- 
 menting their importance in the Union, and it begins to be pretty 
 broadly hinted that it will not be prudent to treat their remon- 
 strances ivith indifference. But then a reduction of the duties 
 will annihilate nearly every loom and forge ; and the struggle 
 will probably be perpetuated tdl the weaker interest finds itself 
 strong enough to subsist alone, and separates from the other. 
 Many more passages might be extracted to the same effect, but 
 it is perhaps needless. The Report concludes this section of the 
 argument thus : — 
 
 * To go on with such measuresis impossible, without ruining 
 
 * And the new Tariff of 1833 will tend further to destroy the investment 
 under that ofl 828. 
 
 « 
 
Uiiih-il SIdlis 01 ('iiiiitilii .■' 
 
 17 
 
 high 
 
 our industry und disgrnciiig our Union. We hiive wjintonly 
 sacrificeil the comprehensive luid permtment interests of the State, 
 to the particular and separate views of the counties or districts in 
 which we reside.' 
 
 It is with hesitation that we venture to point out some of the 
 prominent features in the character of the Americans, because 
 they do not admit of the pecies of proof before presented, and 
 are, therefore, open to the charge of prejudice. However, the 
 business of selecting a country for self and posterity is a serious 
 one, and the following observations are submitted with diflidence, 
 to be rejected or received, as they may appear reasonable, or the 
 contrary : the facts alluded to are abundantly confirmed by 
 almost every writer on America. 
 
 In no respect do the people of America differ so much from 
 the inhabitants of Europe, and particularly England, as in their 
 total indifference of establishing themselves in or near the place 
 of their birth, and of maintaining an intercourse with their early 
 connexions. No doubt, reasons may be found for this difference, 
 in the extent of their territory, the laws and institutions, &c. ; 
 but that is not the subject under consideration : the question is, 
 does this feature, which is as notoriously a characteristic of the 
 American, as chewing opium is of a Turk, influence, in any con- 
 siderable degree, the actions of common life ; and if it does, 
 whether an Englishman, who has imbibed his rules of action 
 from so different a source, is not constantly liable to be placed in 
 a disadvantageous position in such a society. The first effect of 
 this disposition is, that in all towns, the vast majority of the 
 inhabitants have no fixed residence, but lodge and board in 
 houses that accommodate from ten to thirty or more, who take all 
 their meals at the common table, and have a sitting-room which 
 is open to all. Married people, of course, have their own cham- 
 ber; but others usually sleep three or four in a room, except in 
 the first-rate houses. The same feature is discovered in the cir- 
 cumstances attending household property. Leases are scarcely 
 ever heard of, but the houses are taken from year to year, and it 
 is, perhaps, quite within the bounds of moderation to say, that on 
 every 1st day of May (the general moving-day), at least one- 
 third of the houses in the city of New York change their inhabit- 
 ants and contents. 
 
 The next consequence of this disposition is, that as the greatest 
 part j)Ossess no fixed property, or attachment to any particular 
 spot, it is a matter of comparative indifference whether they move 
 from one part to another of a town, or to a distant part of the 
 State or the Union ; and hence the attraction of any new object 
 or situation, for speculation or trade, exceeds all prudential 
 bounds. A canal, rail-road, or coalmine, is 
 
 obji 
 
 dy of 
 
 u 
 
18 
 
 United Siafvit or Canadi 
 
 speculation as respects the shares therein, but towns are hiid out 
 and raised on their hncs, and soon filled with adventurers. In a 
 short time it is found that the [)rospects were Ibrnied on much 
 too high a scale ; and the next scheme announced, draws the 
 disappointed speculators to try their fortune on some new theatre, 
 to be again the dupes of unreasonable expectations *. 
 
 This, it is true, covers the land with habitations, and the 
 appearance of prosperity ; and those who have been from their 
 birth accustomed to such things, do not feel so sharply the sting 
 of disappointment. Added to which, but few Americans survive 
 the period of active life long enough to lament the state to which 
 old age would reduce them, by the inability of following up such 
 a course. 
 
 Perhaps it may be said that these matters have not any bear- 
 ing on the question of the eligibility of the United States as a 
 field for the exertions of an emigrant, as it will be his own 
 fault if he joins in the visionary habits of the people. This, 
 however, to say the least, would be a contracted view of the mat- 
 ter; for, although the emigrant himself might not be seduced by 
 these El dorado speculations, he can hardly expect that his chil- 
 dren would escape the contagion ; and perhaps he may see, by a 
 little scrutiny, that his immediate interests are not secured from 
 invasion by this spirit. 
 
 By this migratory system, cJiaracler becomes of secondary 
 importance, Secause it cannot possibly exert its just influence: a 
 direct road is opened for the fraudulent to escape, after having 
 tricked the unwary ; and facilities are presented of concealment 
 and impunity, which a laxity of principle is scarce able to resist. 
 
 Some reflections have already been made on the abolition of 
 imprisonment for debt, and which, perhaps, deserve reconsidera- 
 tion, in connexion with the above observations. 
 
 It would be no very difficult task to pourtray the loose hold 
 which the bonds of society, as constituted in England, have upon 
 the Americans, and which are to be traced chiefly to the leading 
 feature before alluded to ; but it is perhaps quite needless, as 
 
 ■S7 
 
 M 
 
 !r^ 
 
 * Tn the 'Mechanic's Magazine,' for October 6, 1832, is an extract from 
 No. 36 of the 'Kailroad Journal,' published at Baltimore, in which lines of 
 railroads, now in progress, and to be completed in a few years, are described. 
 The aggregate length of these various roads, after making the most moderate 
 allowance for the mountains, swamps, and other obstacles, cannot be stated 
 at less than ten thousand miles. If the construction of about fifty or sixty 
 miles of railroad (the Liverpool and Manchester and the cross-roads) has 
 been thought an achievement for a country with such a population and 
 capital as England, and with the materials on the spot, think how childishly 
 ridiculous for the Americans to imagine that their utmost resources can 
 enable them to complete even the tithe of the above line during the lives of 
 the youngest among them. 
 
T 
 
 United States or CuiKidn 
 
 W) 
 
 they follow nfttiirally, niid can easily he imagined. JJetween indi- 
 viduals, it is productive of a cold indillerenco and taciturnity, and 
 apparently a feverish anxiety, lest a word or look should esca[)o, 
 by which their next move should be discovered, and advantage 
 be 'aken of it. 
 
 These are points which, it is submitted, have a positive bearinpf 
 on the question of the eligibility of the United States, as the 
 country best calculated to secure the hap[)iness and prosperity of 
 the emigrant and his. descendar-ts, and, as such, are deserving the 
 serious attention and reflection of all who are contemplating the 
 transfer of their talents, capital, and destinies, from the land of 
 their nativiiy. 
 
 In considering some of the prominent advantages of the 
 Canadas, the Report, before so often quoted, will be again 
 resorted to, in order to show what is the opinion of some of the 
 most enlightened men among the Americans, of the British-Ame- 
 rican provinces, and their present prosperity and prospects ; and 
 it is presumed there can be little scruple in admitting evidence 
 drawn from such a source. 
 
 After taking a review of the ruinous operation of the different 
 tariffs, from 181G, it observes, ' But what exhibits in the clearest 
 light the dangerous tendency of our late measures, is the extraor- 
 dinary increase of the tonnage of Great Britain in the trade with 
 her North American Colonies. The present condition of those 
 Colonies resembles ours, when we enjoyed foreign trade with very 
 moderate imposts ; their duties being, on the whole, rather below 
 our rates in 1789. The population of these provinces, in 1825, 
 was 873,453 ; and of this country, at the same time, about 
 11,000,000. While the whole foreign trade of the United States, 
 with every part of the world, has remained stationary for fifteen 
 years, the navigation of those colonies, with the mother-country 
 alone, has increased from 88,247 tons to 400,841 tons. But 
 this is not the extent of their comparative prosperity ; had we 
 the return of all the tonnage of these possessions, the disparity 
 would be still more unfavourable for us. We have, however, the 
 whole tonnage of Nova Scotia for 1828, by which it will be seen 
 that the trade with Great Britain employs but a small part of the 
 navigation trading with that province in that year. 
 
 ' In her trade with Great Britain she had employed . 
 „ with the West Indies 
 
 ,. with the United States 
 
 „ with Brazil (first opened in 182G) 
 
 „ with foreign Europe (first opened in I82f.) 
 
 .» Coasting tonnage 
 
 Total 
 
 TONS. 
 27,162 
 27,714 
 16,058 
 1,549 
 1,638 
 58,924 
 
 133,058 
 B 2 
 
20 
 
 J'nUi'd Sttih's or Ctinmln .' 
 
 ' Such is ihi' (>ros|)LMOii.s contlitioii of iho tontmgc; of lliis smiill 
 island with u populntion of Jihout l^fj.OOO iiihahilants. Hut (his 
 is not the cxlciit of (nidc which we: havi^ Iraiisfcrietl to onr 
 iiorlhcni tici^hhoiirs, hy our own hhn<l and vohintary n-strictions 
 on onr intercoursr wilh forcij^n nations. '\'\w. navi^^ation cnj- 
 ploycd in the coninierce hotween Nova Scotia and Great Britain, 
 is httle more than one-fiflh of the whole. If the tonnage of the 
 other provinces hear anytliinj; like the same proportion, the 
 forei;^n naxij^ation of these colonies must actually be more than 
 equal to the whole foreij^n tonnaj^e of the United States. These 
 colonies are now enjoying; all the advantages of free trade, and 
 
 ARE FLOURISHING, AS OUR COUNTftY DID UNDER THE SAME SYS- 
 TEM FROM 1781) TO 1807*. Their navigation is, in like maimer, 
 advancing with astonishing rapidity. While our exports and im- 
 ports in J 828 are in amount little, if anything, above the value in 
 180() or 1807, the exports of the colonies have been almost (juad- 
 rupled in amount, and the imports augmented from four to ten 
 millions of dollars. The popidation of New England increased 
 in nineteen years about 27 per cent. The British Colonies, in 
 the same period, about 113 per cent. The prosperity of these 
 colonies prove not oidy that we have aided Great Britain in en- 
 larging her commercial marine, but that, by the extraordinary 
 folly of our own laws, we have assisted her in opening a new and 
 indirect channel for the illicit introduction of her manufactures to 
 the consumption of North America. By the Acts of 1825, the 
 British Parliament granted to the Canadas, Nova Scotia, and 
 New IJrunswick, substantially, all the commercial |)rivileges of an 
 independent nation ; and they not only imposed more moderate 
 
 DUTIES THAN ARE CHARGED UPON THE CONSUMPTION OF ANY 
 
 COUNTRY, but they placed the revenue at the discretion of their 
 local legislatures for the use of the colonies. These colonies con- 
 sume the produce and manufactures of Great Britain and her 
 dominions almost free of duty ; they enjoy the commerce of the 
 Kast India Company, of Europe, and of North and South Ame- 
 rica, charged with duties averaging not more than 10 per cent. : 
 Avhile the voluntary taxes of the United States, on the primary 
 necessaries of life, average 100 per cent, arf valorem.' 
 
 Such is the testimony borne to the actual i)ros{)erity of the 
 British American Colonies in 1828, by those who may, with the 
 strictest pro])riety, be called unwilling witnesses of that j)rosperity. 
 But at the time the Report quote(l was drawn up, the grand 
 measure of admitting corn and other produce into all the northern 
 
 ''i 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 * To wliich period the Report had previously alluded in these ter 
 ' From 1789 to 1807, our country presented a spectacle of prosperity, 
 had never been surpassed by any nation hi any age.' 
 
 ms : — 
 whith 
 
Viiiled S'itifcs or Cum k la !' 
 
 2L 
 
 f!;rjin(I 
 
 colDiiii's free of duty had iu)t lu'cn resolved upon. 'I'lie said Ru- 
 [lorl eoiitcniphitcs the |)0.s.sil)iIily of such nu achnission in sudici- 
 enlly (hsniul terms: — * Jiet Cjreat IJritaiii admit the pro(hice of 
 (he United Slates free of duly throujih all her possessions, nortli- 
 ern and southern. J>et her levy u discriminaliii}; duly when im- 
 port(!d direct ecjual to the freight, and we shall soon see how 
 eompletely we have placed the resources of our counlry in the 
 -.< i)owcr of the ministers of that rival nation, whose measures we 
 
 J are pretending to countervail. There /.y, indei'dy littk' cunsolalion 
 
 ill the prosjhct before us.' 
 
 The measure alluded to is calculated, ahove all others, to ad- 
 '% vance the flourishinj^ condition of all the North American Colonies, 
 and operate most heneficially in an inhnite variety of ways on the 
 |)rosperity of LLiij^land. And, accordingly, although it did not go 
 into operation till the latter end of the year JiSJU, and this year 
 the cholera has unfortuimtely been a sad obstruction to business 
 in Canada, yet the increase of trade, since the American lle[)ort 
 was com[)ile(J, would have thrown a still blacker shade over the 
 coinparati\e prosperity of the United States as measined with 
 the colonies; for, in the single article of corn, the export from 
 Canada in IH28 was 2iKvU4 bushels, and in 1H31 it was 
 I,7.'i0,0()0 bushels (see the ' British Farmer's Magazine,' for May, 
 iS.'J'i, No. 213), and this year it will greatly exceed the amount of 
 lb*)U ; and other branches of commerce have advanced in some- 
 thing like the same proportion, and in the other colonies us well 
 as Canada.* 
 
 If the evidence produced to prove the present pros{)erous state 
 of Canada, and the other British North American Colonies iails 
 to convince, it is hardly to be expected that any testimony liable 
 to the suspicion of proceeding from interested motives will be 
 more successful, and, therefore, it would be a waste of lime both 
 to the author and the reader to produce it. 
 
 We will now proceed to consider the probability, if not cer- 
 tainty, of this state of prosperity contimiing and increasing. The 
 Report, in reviewing the intercourse of the United States with 
 
 V * By the official return of tlie tonnasie entering the United States, in the 
 
 years 1830 ami 1831, it appears that, in the former year, there entered from 
 the Hiitisli Nortli American Colonies 4002 tons, and in the latter 82,557 
 tons, beinsr an increase of 78,555 tons ; while the American tonnaire em- 
 ])luyed in tiie same tratle for those periods shows a decrease of 22,273 tons. 
 Tlie oflKcial n turns of ihe tonna^je of the whole United States engaged in 
 ft)reign trade, from 178!) to 1807 (Ihe golden age of the United States, see 
 note page 20), sliows an annual increase of only 50,657 tons. The Btitish 
 American Colonies, Ihereforc, show an increase, in their tonnage trading 
 with the Uiiilod States ulo/ie, of more than 50 per cent, over the mcrease of 
 their trade wiili the whole world, during their greatest jn'osperity. 
 
 ()fisen\', (iho, that, /his great increase doe.s jiot comprchaid more than 
 six months oj the ojjcndi^m of the 1st Will. IV. chup. xxiv. 
 
I 
 
 n 
 
 Unilvd States or Canada * 
 
 •'; 
 
 the nations of Europe, stiys, ♦ Our commerce with Great Rritjiin 
 and her depemlencies is far more important to us than that with 
 any other country.' Now, if this is the case, and seeing that the 
 productions of Canada are the same as the United States, with the 
 exception of cotton and rice, — seeing moreover that the trade of 
 Canada must be carried on by British 8hip|)ing, and therefore it 
 wouhl be little short of madness not to give lier pro<hice a prefer- 
 ence in the British market, over that of a State whose first object 
 is to increase her marine and diminish ours, — can there be the 
 least hesitation in admitting that Canada has, and must always 
 have, the advantage of the United States in the important affair 
 of a market. 
 
 It has already been shown by the admission of the Americans 
 themselvej, that the duties charged on the Canadians bears a very 
 trifling proportion to the duties paid on all articles of necessity in 
 the United States (see also a comparative Table, p. 31) ; but this 
 disparity, great as it is, does not by any means show, in truth, the 
 relative burdens of the two countries. The revenue raised by the 
 enormously high duties on imports into the United States, toge- 
 ther with the post-office revenues, and that from the sale of waste 
 lands, is all absorbed by the expenses of the general government 
 at Washington, the maintenance of the navy and army, the pay- 
 ing and equipj)ing ministers at foreign courts, &c., not one item of 
 which is to be found in the expenditure of the Canadas, nor will 
 ever be required as long as they are connected with England. 
 Besides the expenditure of the general government provided for 
 in the manner above alluded to, each of the States composing the 
 Union, has to pay and maintain its own Governor, two Houses of 
 Legislature, Judges, Militia, &c. &c. These last are the only 
 expenses now pressing on the Canadas, and the duties collected at 
 the port of Quebec of 2^ per cent, en all goods from England, 
 hnd a trifle more on wines and spirits, together with the money 
 raised by the sale of waste lands, are more than sufficient to pay 
 all the expenses of government, and to appropriate large sums in 
 aid of hospitals, &c., and the erection of bridges and other [)ublic 
 works. But even these expenses, moderate as they are, do not 
 fall entirely on the shoulders of the Canadians, but are actually 
 divided between them and the United States ; for, by the returns 
 of duties collected at Quebec, it is shown that every man, 
 woman, and child in Canada consume, annually, the amount of 
 40 dollars, or 10/. in Canadian money, in the fabrics of England. 
 This, if literally true, would, indeed, be a splendid proof of the 
 flourishing state of the people, as less than half that average 
 would give a very comfortable supply, especially taking into con- 
 biileration that the Lower Canadians, except in the towns, in- 
 variably make great part of their own clothing, and are not dis- 
 
 I 
 
 
Uitili'il Stnti'fi or Ctmatla * 
 
 2:1 
 
 4 
 
 I)Os»mI to exprnd tlieir dollars in nnynnicU* of necossilyor luxury, 
 if tliey can do without it by nny shift or contrivnnco. But the 
 fact is, that a considcruhle projiortion of tht? ^oods entered at 
 Uuehec, afterwards (ind their way into the United States, and 
 thus the Canadians manage to shift a portion of their U<;ht taxa- 
 tion on to the citizens of the HepubHc. On the prohabihty of the 
 Americans not bein^ al)le to rechice their taxation to anything like 
 the Canadian standard, and thus escaping the condition of parti- 
 cipators in their burdens, we will see what the Report before- 
 mentioned says on the subject of a minimum rate of duty ; and 
 afterwards show by the same document the existence of a contra- 
 bund trade, and the utter hopelessness of j)rcventing it while there 
 is any inecpuility of duties o|)erating to make it profitable. 
 
 ' In adjusting a permanent rate of duty, it is necessary to attend 
 to the probable amount of revenue that may be annually required 
 for the uses of go\ernment in time of peace. There can be no 
 douI)t that a tarilf of duties, not higher than 30 per cent., would 
 yield a greater revenue than if that rate was exceeded.' It then 
 glances at the probability of the consumption being so increased 
 in time, that It) per cent, might be sudicient for the ' legitimate 
 political necessities of the Union:' but again refers to 30 [)er 
 cent, as the maximimi for the peace expenditure, and which rate, 
 they admit, is required to protect their manufactures. 
 
 Here, then, we have a dilTerenceof 27^ per cent., or even say 
 17^ per cent, the average, which is quite sufRcient to perpetuate 
 .he present convenient mode of lightening the burden of taxation 
 )ressing on the Canadians. On the point of contraband trade it 
 emarks, ' We have not yet realized the fatal consequences that 
 ire to result from the operation of two such tariffs on the North 
 American Continent.* The illicit trade actually existing, how- 
 ever extensive it may be, is nothing, when compared with that 
 which is to come, should we unwisely persist in enforcing our 
 present high duties.' After many observations of the same cha- 
 racter, it continues, — ' Our laws already give to all who detect 
 smuggled goods a large share of the libelled and condemned mer- 
 chandize. When a provision like this, which enlists the whole 
 community, and virtually constitutes every citizen a Cuslom- 
 House officer, — when the powerful incentive of self-interest fails 
 as an instrument to enforce your revenue laws, — it is idle to 
 attempt any other means.' 
 
 We have thus taken a glance at the advantages possessed by 
 the British American Colonies over the United States of America, 
 and we will now advert to the advantages possessed by Canada in 
 particular; and first, as to Upper Canada, there is before the 
 
 See comparative Table, p. 'A I . 
 
I" 
 
 ^ 
 
 24 
 
 Untied Slates or Canada f 
 
 public such n mass of unquestionable evidence as to the excel- 
 lence of (he soil JinJ climate, that it would be quite useless to 
 attempt here to convince any who are tiot disposed to admit the 
 evidence alluded to, and no more will be said on that subject, 
 except to ask if it is not an outrage on common sense to suppose 
 that a country, asdestitute of natural advantages as some represent 
 Upper Canada to be, could, in the short space of half a century, 
 become the possessor of a population of near 300,000 souls, and 
 that in the immediate neighbourhood of a territory whose soil and 
 climate these very same persons describe as beautiful, and to 
 which any part of that population could remove with perfect ease. 
 Nay, a very conside '^le part of the population of Upper Canada 
 is composed of America s, who have left the United States and 
 become British subjects, and more are constantly coming in. 
 
 An examination of the map of North America must at once 
 bring conviction to the mind of every intelligent inquirer, of the 
 happy position of Canada in respect to internal navigation, not 
 only as regards her own proper territory, but the immense com- 
 mercial advantages which are superadded in consequence of up- 
 wards of 600 miles of the outlet of those frejh-water seas being 
 entirely her own, and, consequently, under anything like a liberal 
 and judicious system, she must always have a great share of the 
 trade of all those parts of the United States bordering on the 
 lakes and the northern portion of the western States, who have no 
 outlet to the ocean, but by the lakes and the St. Lawrence, or 
 down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 The observations thus far submitted bear equally upon agri- 
 culture and trade ; there are, however, some points which have a 
 bearing on the eligibility of the Canadas as a field of enter- 
 prise for the trader of capital. The rapid increase of the 
 population and increasing wealth must occasion a correspond- 
 ing increase in the consumption of all articles of commerce, 
 while the productions of the country constantly increasing in 
 quantity and variety, cannot fail of continually presenting favour- 
 able opportunities for the employment of capital. 
 
 One of the most obvious means of employing capital is in the 
 erection of flouring-mills, for which water-power to a houndless 
 extent is distributed all over the provinces of l!p{)er and Lower 
 Canada, and the recent judicious alteration of colonial policy in 
 admitting the produce of the United States of America freely 
 into the Canadas, and the flour manufactured in Canada of 
 United States wheat into Great Britain as the produce of the 
 colonies, ought, and in fact will, transfer to Canada a great part 
 of the flouring-trade of the State of New York, the western 
 
 tion of which State accounts this as t 
 
 porti 
 
 sta|) 
 
 commerce. 
 
f 
 
 United States or Canada f 
 
 25 
 
 The writer of an article on the corn-trade of Canada, in the 
 • British Farmer's Quarterly Magazine, for May, 1832,' says, * to 
 my knowledge, American enterprise and capital were only waiting 
 the decision of the 13oard of Trade on the question whether the 
 flour manufactured in Canada out of United States wheat woidd 
 hi- considered as Canadian produce, to establish extensive mills in 
 Upper Canada ;' and we can testify to the same effect. The spot 
 to which their attention will most probably be directed is the 
 district of Niagara, the most populous and best cultivated of any 
 in Canada. Here the VVelland Canal, joining the Laiies Erie and 
 Ontario, by which the Falls of Niagara are surmounted, gives a 
 water power, along a line of forty miles, perfectly incalculable, 
 and in a position as favourable as it is well possible to conceive. 
 From its proximity to the State of New York, plenty of American 
 engineers and contractors are to be found will i.g to undertake the 
 erection and completion of mills, should British skill and labour 
 be wanting. In the Lower Province the Chambly Canal, effecting 
 a schooner navigation from Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence, 
 will shortly be completed, and will open the State of Vermont 
 and the north-east part of the State of New York, in which vast 
 quantities of potash, &c. are made, to Canadian enterprise. 
 The only communication Lake Champlain at present has with the 
 ocean is by a small canal, about sixty miles long, which joins the 
 Erie Canal near Albany, on the Hudson ; by which route goods 
 have to be twice or thrice removed before they reach their desti- 
 nation, whereas by the Chambly Canal the same schooners which 
 navigate the lake can take in from or deliver goods to the ship in 
 the St. Lawrence at the town of William Henry (Sorel in the old 
 maps), at the mouth of the canal. 
 
 So far has a kind of matter-of-fact view been taken of the 
 prominent advantages of the Canadas over the United States as r 
 field for ihe capital or enterprise of British subjects ; and no 
 .small part of the affirmative of this question has, it is presumed, 
 been proved by the quotations from a document not certainly 
 0])en to a charge of partiality to the Canadas or British interests. 
 
 Perhaps it may now be allowed to say something on a subject 
 which may possibly enter mto the calculation of a considerate 
 person before he decides whither to direct his course ; and that 
 subject is, how would Canada stand in the event of a war between 
 England and the United States ? The Report already quoted is 
 not yet exhausted, but may throw some light on this subject als). 
 
 It is A well-known fact to all acquainted with American politirs 
 that the wresting the Canadas from Great Britain has long been 
 the subject of most anxious speculation with *heir statesmen ; and 
 the last war, although undertaken ostensibly for another purpose, 
 had, in fact, this as the prime object : and the army which had 
 
T 
 
 
 28 
 
 Unitt'd Stales or Canada '* 
 
 been collecting; at a distance on the pretext of a war with the 
 Indians, was Car advanced towards Canada before the declarution 
 of war was issued. 
 
 The fearful struggle in which England was then engaged with 
 all Europe, appeared almost to have exhausted her, and there 
 were not 4000 British troops in the two provinces, so that it 
 seemed likely that they must fall an easy prey ; added to which, 
 an idea prevailed at Washington that the people were very dissa- 
 tisfied with their government, and would receive the Americans 
 as friends. These remarks are even the most charitable that can 
 be made on the following expose. 
 
 * Wi are often reminded of our want of supplies, and the 
 sufferings of our army during our late war. In accounting for 
 this we overlook the immediate cause ; we forget even what is 
 notorious, that our war was commenced without money, and 
 without means of any kind ; that our federal concerns were im- 
 providently administered, our public credit annihilated, and our 
 army without supplies. It is manifest that, before the close of 
 that contest, our country would have been overrun and dismem- 
 bered by the enemy, but for the patriotism and energy of the State 
 Governments, and the undaunted valor of our countrymen. Our 
 army suffered severely, not only for the want of .voollens, arms, 
 and gunpowder, but of everything necessary to the convenience 
 or comfort of man, for the palpable reason that our Government 
 wanted money.' What but a strong conviction that neither guns 
 nor gunpowder would be required, could possibly have drawn a 
 country so ill provided into a squabble ? But it is quite unneces- 
 sary to comment on such a hum'Uating statement ; it is enough 
 to state that Upper Canada at that tiiae (1813) possessed a 
 population of 90,000, with which she drove every American from 
 her soil, and pursued them on to their own, and took some of 
 their forts, and retained them to the close of the war. Now she 
 has a population of 300,000, and the means of receiving heavy 
 guns and munitions of war by the Rideau Canal, without liability 
 of interruption, to which she was greatly exposed in the last war. 
 If her feeble means were sufficient for her {)rotection then, what 
 chance is there of serious damage now, or hereafter, from a people 
 whose reminiscences, after a lapse of fifteen years, are of so 
 dismal a character as set forth in the last quotation i:* Besides, 
 it must be recollected that, for the purposes of war, they must be 
 United States; and some calculations may be made on that head 
 from the quotations already made to other points. 
 
 It may now, perl ips, be permitted to allude to the description 
 of persons to whom emigration appears to offer advantages not to 
 be obtained in England ; and, first, the labouring man is certain 
 to obtain, either in Canada or the United States, abundance of 
 
 n 
 
United Stiites or Canada ? 
 
 27 
 
 (bod for himself and family in exchange for his labour, 6m/ not 
 without. The chances of his reaping the advantage of any pro- 
 perty which his industry and perseverance may enable him to 
 accumulate, are presumed to be much greater in Canada than 
 elsewhere. He must recollect, however, that, go where he will, 
 he will find the first year a trying one, and he will have no parish 
 to fall back upon ; but the man who has not spirit enough to 
 encounier a few months of difficulties (which are not likely to kill 
 him) to procure a life of indeper "snce and plenty, is only fit to 
 be the inmate of a workhouse, and there let him remain. 
 
 The next class of persons who are looking to emigration to 
 emancipate them from the difficulties which they feel now pressing 
 around their path, is composed of the mechanic, tradesman, and 
 agriculturist, who may have yet sufficient of the wreck of their 
 property left to take them across the Atlantic, and with prudent 
 managenent to mitigate the difficulties which so great a change 
 seldom fails to present, in some shape or other, at first. Mechanics, 
 especially those connected with the {)roduction and supply of any of 
 the ordinary necessaries and comforts of life, are sure of doing well 
 in Canada, and rapidly increasing in wealth, if guided by sobriety 
 and industry. Mere tradesmen will find greater difficulties ; but 
 if they content themselves with small operations and strict eco- 
 nomy till they have become acquainted with the country and 
 customs, they also may do well. The inveterate speculator had 
 better go at once to the United States, that being a field on which 
 he can move with far greater ease and facility than in the pro- 
 vinces of Canada. It is quite impossible that the agriculturist 
 can go wrong with common prudence and the exercise of intelli- 
 gence in the selection of his land, to which end he is recom- 
 mended to make himself well acquainted with the map, and pay 
 particular attention to the canals and navigable rivers ; and remem- 
 ber that the further he is removed from the chief ma., t for his 
 produce, the less that produce is worth, and the greater will be 
 the cost of all he consumes beyond his own produce. 
 
 The opening there is in Canada to the enterprising capitalist, 
 by the erection of flouring-mills and commerce with the Ameri- 
 cans in produce, has been already alluded to ; but, besides this, 
 there are innumerable other channels for the profitable employ- 
 ment of capital, in the construction of steam-boats and manufac- 
 turing all the parts thereof, and machinery in general applicable 
 to agriculture and the common purposes of life, in ship-building, 
 working mines of lead and copper which are known to exist in 
 various parts of the lower province, and, in fact, in a variety of 
 ways yet unthought of. The astonishingly rapid increase of the 
 population calls for a corresponding increase in the trading esta- 
 blishments of the country. The Governor of Upper Canada, in 
 
w 
 
 >■■ 
 
 2S 
 
 United Slates or Canada ? 
 
 \\ 
 
 1 1 '■ 
 
 11: 
 
 his speech nt the close of the Session 1831, thus alhides to the 
 trade of (he province: — 'The exports of the staple products of 
 the province last season amounted to a third more than those of 
 the j)receding year, and the sales of imported articles have heen 
 doul)led in three years.' 
 
 Of all the individuals who are directing their thoughts to emi- 
 gration, perhaps to none do the Canadas present a [)ros{)ect so 
 cloudless as to those who are familiar, or at least not wholly unac- 
 quainted with agricultural pursuits ; and who, seeing the hopeless- 
 ness of the struggle to maintain their standing in society and 
 establish their children on anything like a secure foundation, have 
 strength of mind to determine, while yet a moderate share of 
 their property is untouched, to transplant themselves to a spot 
 where competition cannot follow so closely upon the heels as 
 to make the heart of untiring industry sink within her. Such 
 persons are, by the concurrent testimony of all acquainted with 
 the Canadas, an<l the habits, feelings, and recollections of the 
 class here alluded to, advised to prefer settling on land at no great 
 distance from the larger towns, and at least partially cleared, and 
 possessing a comfortable house, &c. Plenty of opportunities of 
 j)urc!iasing such are to be found by a little search ; and, ?ifter 
 the first few months, the change will be found by no means so 
 great as is generally anticipated, while the brightness of the future 
 prospect will compensate for most of the pleasing recollections 
 of the past. 
 
 But there is still another class of individuals to whom the 
 Canadas present an opening to escape from the perplexing diffi- 
 culties by which they are surrounded : these are gentlemen of 
 small fortune and large families. How to provide for the perma- 
 nent welfare of three or four sons and as many daughters out of 
 a fortune of 5000^. or 10,000/., is no very pleasant employment 
 for the thoughts, constituted as things are at present in England, 
 with the over-crowded state of the professions, the uncertainty 
 and hazard of employing any portion of it in trade, and the low 
 rate of legitimate interest. 
 
 Now, what are the inducements presented by Canada to such 
 })ersons ? The legal interest of the province is six per cent. ; all 
 the necessaries of life are as cheap, even near the large towns, as 
 they are in England in the remote counties ; and many of the 
 luxuries, as wine, spirits, &c., are scarcely a third of the price. 
 Taxes lire a mere nothing: about 2.9. 6c?. for a four-wheeled 
 carriage, and 8fi. for a horse. The Upper Province is undoubt- 
 edly to be preferred, on many accounts, by those who possess the 
 means of gratifying their wishes, regardless of sundry consider- 
 ations which prudence requires the great mass not to neglect. 
 The laws are there the same as in England, consequently an indi- 
 
 ^ 
 
United Stall's or Cnn aid 
 
 2\) 
 
 vicinal is fully able to jii(l«^e of the vali<li(y of any act of his 
 own, or oi another with whom he may have any transaction ; 
 
 f 
 
 and thus one of the chief (lilFicullies attending a removal from 
 one's native country is disposed of. If he is not inclined to 
 beconne a cultivator, or a dealer in produce, he cannot fail of 
 meeting with opportunities of investment for a part, or the whole, 
 of his proj)erty, in secnritie > constunfly increasing in value, at 
 nearly double the interest that can be obtained here, with equally 
 good security ; and the circumstance of the whole of the Upper 
 Province being subject to registry, gives an assurance of safety 
 in transactions of this nature which is very desirable; besides the 
 opportunity of investing capital in the public works, with govern- 
 ment security. 
 
 The means of liberal education for his sons are provided in the 
 College at York, the professors of which are graduates of Oxford 
 and Cambridge, and the education to be obtained, as good as at 
 any of the great chartered schools in England. An University 
 has also been chartered and endowed, but has not been yet acted 
 upon. 
 
 For the accomplished education of his daughters, the same 
 facilities do not j)resent themselves ; but it is to be remembered 
 that it is not so absolutely required, to advance their progress in 
 life as here, and therefore the loss is not so severely lamented. 
 But, no doubt, this matter will be speedily rectified ; or a governess 
 might be taken from England. The society in and near York 
 and Kingston, &c., is of a description far superior to the ideas 
 entertained on that subject here, and comprehends men of exten- 
 sive acquaintance with the world and liberal sentiments, including 
 many officers, whose half-pay could not be made to square with 
 the demands of an increasing family in England, and who form, 
 with the functionaries of government, and the principal merchants 
 and professionals, a society not very dissimilar to that of the 
 iarijer inland towns of England. 
 
 At York is a news-room, furnished with the principal London 
 papers, magazines, and other literary productions of the day, and 
 aljO the New York and Canada papers. All the principal towns 
 in the province ha\e public balls and assemblies; nor is there 
 wanting the opportunity of tlirowing olF any duliiess, contracted 
 in the constant intercouso w ith the same societv, however agree- 
 able, by mixing with others of, perhaps, a less amiable caste, but, 
 by the charm of novelty, calculated to amuse for a time, and, 
 probably, furnish some reasons for being more satisfied wi.h home. 
 
 The Falls of Niagara are easily reached from any {)art of Lake 
 Ontario. From York, a steam-boat runs to the town of Niagara 
 and back, every day in the summer. From thence to the Falls 
 is fourteen miles, through a very delightful country, with excel- 
 
T 
 
 "•Vi- 
 
 \ 
 
 30 
 
 United States or Canada ^ 
 
 (I 
 
 'I 
 
 i 
 
 II 
 
 lent roads. Dur:ii«; the three summer months the concourse of 
 visitors at the Falls is far greater than may be supposed. At 
 the princi()al of the two inns, on the Canadian side, the number 
 who daily sit down to dinner in the large room, is between one 
 and two hundred : there are also two or more inns on the Ame- 
 rican side, which accommodate large numbers. Amon^ this 
 concourse may be discovered persons from all parts of the United 
 States ; and the dilference between the comparatively aristocratic 
 citizen of the slave states of the South, and the democratic cit of 
 the North or East, who nevertheless sinks, in some measure, for 
 the time being, the acme of his republican admiration — equality, 
 will amuse the close observer of men and manners. 
 
 The Spas of JJalston and Saratoga, — the one thirty-two, and 
 the other twenty-six miles north of Albany, in the state of New 
 York, — are the resort of all in the northern section of the Union, 
 who wish to be ranked fashionable, — and that is no small num- 
 ber. They are abundantly enlivened by balls, concerts, and 
 many of the other amusements of similar places in England. 
 They may be reached from Upper Canada by crossing Lake 
 Ontario to Oswego, from whence they are distant about 180 miles, 
 and the journey is performed, partly by coach and partly by 
 canal, at a very easy expense, and with little fatigue. 
 
 This account may go some way to prove ihat the chance of 
 dying of ennui is not so great as some may have su[)posed : and 
 if these sources of amusement are not sufficient, the journey to 
 the city of New York is neither so ex|)ensive nor fatiguing as to 
 preclude the hope of reaching it as a dernier resort. 
 
 But the grand consideration with many persons, if not most, is to 
 fix their children in a station in society, at least, equal to their own ; 
 and how small are the chances of a gentleman of moderate fortune 
 being able to do this in England, if his family is large. In Canada, 
 the professions of law and physic present the means of fixing one 
 or more of his sons in a rank equal with his own, and where 
 there can be no doubt of steady advancement, aided by a very 
 small assistance compared to what is required here to maintain 
 a young man till he gets into practice. The easy acquirement of 
 farms under cultivation, by purchase of those who are willing to 
 sell their old lands and clear and cultivate new, or from sundry 
 other causes, offers an eligible mode of securing the welfare of 
 other branches ; and various pursuits, bearing the stamp and im- 
 press of comparative certainty and durability, in which money 
 and talent may be em[)loyed, are to be discovered by a little 
 search, and must continue to multiply, as the population and 
 cultivation of the country increases. 
 
 It is, perhaps, not an unfair assumption, to take the increasing 
 number of emigrants, directing their course to Quebec, rather 
 
 #■ 
 
United Stairs or Camulti ? 
 
 :u 
 
 than Now York, ns n proof of the satisfjidion of the emigrants of 
 former years; many of whom, it is kiio^vn, hold correspondence 
 with those districts and [)ersons in EngUmd who are disposed to 
 emigrate. The number of emigrants entering Canada from Great 
 Britain, in the last four years, is as follows : — 
 
 1828 12.000 
 
 18'J9 15,945 
 
 1830 28,075 
 
 1831 49,/ G2 
 
 And it is supposed that the emigrants who have landed at Que- 
 bec in 18IJ2 have not been less than 70,000; besides great num- 
 bers that are known to have come into Canada from New York, 
 but which there are no correct means of enumerating. 
 
 The points here submitted to the candid and serious consider- 
 ation of any who may be hesitating whether to direct their course 
 to the United States of America or to Canada, it is presumed, 
 have a present and prospective bearing on the question of their 
 respective advantages, and as such deserve consideration and re- 
 consideration ; and if they should, by their convincing character, 
 be the means of directing the transfer of British industry, capital, 
 and talent to the field on which they may be employed to the 
 greatest advantage, rather than to a land where the British flag 
 has ceased to wave, and British feelings have ceased to animate 
 the heart, it will be to the author a source of satisfaction, and 
 accord with his honest conviction, that in so doing they consult 
 the best interests both of themselves and of their posterity. 
 
 -4'- 
 
 Comparative view of the Duties payable on Articles of European Manu- 
 facture consumed in the United States and in the British North Ameri- 
 can Colonies. — (Adjusted to the new Tariff of 1833.) 
 
 BRITISH AMERICA. 
 
 Ad Va. 
 
 Woollen Goods . . (p r cent) 2i 
 
 Cotton Goods 2i 
 
 Silk Goods '.'I 
 
 Linen Goods 2^ 
 
 Leather Goods 2^ 
 
 Earthenware and Cliina ... 2^ 
 
 Hardware 24 
 
 Iron and Steel Manufactures . 24 
 
 Iron in bars or sheets, Cables, i 21 
 
 Anchors, &c j * 
 
 Salt free 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 Ad Va. 
 
 
 10 to 75 
 
 (per cent) 
 
 25 to 125 
 
 >« 
 
 5 to 40 
 
 It 
 
 25 
 
 »• 
 
 30 to 100 
 
 t* 
 
 20 to 30 
 
 »i 
 
 25 to 30 
 
 )» 
 
 10 to 125 
 
 i» 
 
 100 to 200 
 
 »» 
 
 \ 5rf. per bushel, besides a State ex- 
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