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P E E VC H / m ow !!: MR, WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN, M.P., ■J- i'i.i ON MOTINO RESOLUTIONS RELATIVE TO EMIGRATION, H IN TBS !lottfi;e of Commond^ '''"t;: . ii''ki -.?- ■ On Tuesday, the 2d op June, 1840. LONDON: PBINTBD BT PBBME88ION OV THB PROPRIETORS OF THE « MIRROR OF PARLIAMENT.' 1840. . '%. j£.- :;;■■■ -^r. •./•,".< 1 1 "V /; »l it I LORDOV Printed by A Spo-niswoooii New-Street.Squ«re. ■•-r i portan( indeed, belong! never f Mem be cannot of the ] pire po nioDs i questioi anxious whethei colonisa at once ;>opuIati the san: and pro colonial can infli able en this qu There i; tional p viewing many na destined, wisdom j founded the imp» of self-! our tini< ^^ colonisat I of succoi bread to the natioi ourselves turn. I shall myself, h dwell at tages of present .p^'-, • M> EMIGRATION. '"^fti Mr. WILLIAM S. O'BRIEN. — In bringing forward the motion of whicii I have given notice, I feel that I can ad- vance no claim to the attention of the House, founded upon my own ability to do adequate justice to the subject which I have undertaken to submit for its con- sideration, but I confidently ask for that attention, on account of the intrinsic im- portance of the s"bject itself. It wants, indeed, the stimulating excitement which belongs to party questions, and which never fails to produce a full attendance of Members in this House ; but there surely cannot be presented for the deliberation of the representative assembly ',f an em- pire possessing such vast colonial domi- nions as belong to Great Britain, any question more worthy to engage its most anxious consideration than the inquiry whether, by a well-regulated system of colonisation, it may not be in our power at once to relieve the necessities of the population of the mother country, and, at the same time, to extend the resources and promote the aggrandisement of our colonial empire. Every motive which can influence the human mind to honour- able endeavour impels us to entertain this question with earnest solicitude. There is no more legitimate kind of na- tional pride than tnsA which exults in viewing our country as the parent of many nations, whose future greatness is destined, hereafter, to bear witness to the wisdom and the energy of the people who founded them. And, whether we consult the imptilses of humanity or the dictates of self-iuterest, we cannot better occupy our time than in considering whether colonisation does nbt afford us the means l' of succouring the distressed, and giving bread to the hungry, by an application of the national resources which promises to ourselves a constantly accumulating re- turn. I shall not, upon this occasion, allow myself, however inviting be the theme, to dwell at large upon those general advan- tages of colonisation which obviously present themselves to every reflecting mind. It needs no argument, on my pari, to prove that, to a country whose pro- sperity depends mainly upon commerce, and the motto of whose trading interests is *' ships — colonies — commerce," colo- nisation offers the surest means of r.ccuring that prosperity ; that, in planting colonies, we employ our shipping, — open markets for the produce of our industry, in which we are met by no jealous rivalry, by no exclusive tariffs, — and are enabled to bring back, from every quarter of the globe, the productions which belong to each peculiar clime. It is sufficient to adduce one fact alone, in illus*;ration of the benefits which result to commerce from colonisation. In 1838, the whole amount of our exports to the ^jreat em- pire of Russia, peopled by a population of between fifty and sixty millions of souls, was only 1,663,243/., whilst, in the same year, the exports of the United Kingdom to our Australian settlements, containing a population not exceeding 150,000 per- sons, amounted, in value, to 1,336,662/. Viewing this subject in reference to an- other consideration of the utmost import- ance to the well-being of society, it is necessary for me to do no more than simply to advert to the obvious reflection, — that, inasmuch as popular discontents have, at all times, and among all nations, originated, for the most part, in the phy- sical privations of the mass of the popula- tion ; in so far as we are enabled, by colonisation, to diminish and mitigate those privations, to such an extent do we obtain a new guarantee for the preserva- tion of peace and order in the community. I cannot, however, refuse myself the satisfaction of contrasting the policy which we, the friends of colonisation, ad- vocate, with that which has too often found acceptance among, the rulers of mankind. It is an undoubted fact, at- tested by history, that statesmen have frequently plunged nations into war solely for the purpose of engaging, in external strife, the active and restless spirits which are to be found in every population, under the fear that. '♦' not thus employed, their A 2 ill ■ wfmwmmmm energy would be exercised in exciting intestine commotions. We, on the con- trary, tell you, that these very men, super- abounding in ardour and energy, become the most hardy adventurers in all colonial enterprise and, instead of encouraging them to inibrue their hands in the blood of their fellow-creatures, we bid them go forth to subdue the forest and the wilder- ness, and to render the gifts of nature tributary to the use of man. I would invite you, also, to contrast our doctrines with the anti-population mania which, for several years, usurped possession of the public mind in this country ; — that philoso- phical dogma which has sought to annul the mandate of Heaven, — " Be fruitful and multiply," — given to the early fathers of mankind. We do not ask whetKerTas a matter of abstract theory, the position laid down by Mr. Malthus and his fol- lowers, be or be not true, — "that, whilst population increases in a geometrical ratio, the means of subsistence increase only in an arithmetical ratio," — but we say. that whilst the unpeopled territories which acknowledge the sway of Great Britain are capable of sustaining twenty- fold the population of the United Kingdom, it is unnecessary to forbid marriage to the young, and, by a cold and often pro- fligate prudence, to defeat the benign in- tentions of Nature. Passing from these general observations, I now proceed to the proof of the first position which I have undertaken to establish ; namely, — " That, in Great Britain and Ireland, the working classes are frequently exposed to extreme pri- vation, from inability to procure employ- ment." Now, with respect to England, I am disposed rather to leave it to English Members to state their views with respect to the effect produced upon the condition of the working classes by an excessive supply of labour, as compared with the demand for it, than to dwell upon this part of the case myself, with a view to prove the existence of a redundancy of population in England. My own impres- sion is, that it caimot, with propriety, be said that there is, in England, any very considerable or universal excess of popu- lation surpassing the means of employ- ment ; but that such excess should rather be characterised as partial, local, and temporary. As an instance of undeni- able surplus of labour, in particular em- ployments, I need only refer to the case of the hand-loom weavers, whose destitu- tion has so often attracted the notice and the sympathy of this House. As an ex- ample of low wages, occasioned by a redundancy of the labouring population in particular districts, I would remind th< House of the statements which have beei repeatedly made, with respectj to the re muneration of labour in the counties o Wiltshire and Devonshire, the Member for which coimties have been compelIe« to acknowledge that, in many instances the labourer does not receive more thai six or seven shillings a-week as his hire Of the sufferings occasioned to the work ing classes in England by occasional wan of employment during particular seasons the manufacturing districts of EnglaU' afford too frequent illustration ; and it i only necessary to mention the towns, c Nottingham, Manchester, Bolton, an . others, to recal to memory the complaint which we have heard, within a very recen period, respecting the privations of th manufacturing population of Englanc The simplest mode, however, of viewin , this question, in regard to England, is perhaps, to look at the amount expende i on the relief of the poor ; Jind when w find that, even after all the reduction < which have been effected under the open tion of the Poor Law Amendment Ac the poor rate amounted, in 1838, i England and Wales, to not less tha 4,400,907/., we are compelled to concluri that the privations of the working classe must have been, in the aggregate, d fearful extent ; since it has been fouu' necessary to raise, by compulsory taxatioi , so large a sum for their relief. I ma . here also observe, that, as a considerabl • proportion of this amount was expende i in the relief of the able-bodied poo . whatever portion was so employed may li. regarded as a fund which might have beet applied to assist the persons so relieved t.V emigrate, without imposing upon the cont- munity any burden beyond that which U has actually sustained in maintaining the* in a state of idleness at home. As, howevc . I wish to avoid the appearance of exaggi rating the distresses of the poor, in ord to make out a case in favour of emigratio I am contented to rest my argument, wi ' • regard to England, upon the simple prc' - position, — that the labouring classes wi ' not voluntarily abandon their homes, ui<- less, by doing so, they can materially in prove their condition ; and if, by eir > gration, they can escape the penury whi« ■• creates the desire to leave tneir countr and can obtain comfort and independen ■•. in the colonies, we are bound, by evd ' consideration of humanity, to enable the i so to improve their condition. With respect to Scotland, and partic i- larly with respect to the Highland distric ■ there is, unhappily, no ground for, in ai.y degree, qualifying the statement that tiie As it is late furtl cannot be and am ( ful duty picture o classes in Here, a gerate. which is mination represents their best gration, tl populatior to those f duce the I jects, in i which the exertions kind; nor sen 86 of j you that ai -Ofv, ,-.„ J*'..;. EMIGRATION. nd th< e beei he re ties ember npellei tances •e thai lis hire J work al wan leasons inglanj ind it i awns c >n, an nplaint y recen 1 of th Snglanc viewin , land, is ixpende i when w )ductior . ne open ent Ac 1838, i ,es3 tha concluri ig clas9€ egate, <> en fount taxatioi . . I ma. isiderabl - expendc i ed poo id may l^ javebe€> [elieved 1 .> the con;- which U ingthe'. howevc . |f exagg< in ord igratio lent, wi ' pie pr* - lasses wi'' imes, uii |vially in by eiT' iry whi« ■ countt ipenden • by ever ibletbt J" »artic I- istric -«. )r, in a). V that tli-' population of those districts greatlv ex- ceeds the number for whom profitable occupation can be provided. In 1837, the inhabitants of the Western Highlands appear to have been reduced almost to the extremities of famine, from which they were relieved only by the charitable inter- ference of external aid ; and from all the most recent accounts which have been brought under my notice, I am induced to believe that they are now exposed to a recurrence of the same calamity. So strong, indeed, are the apprehensions entertained upon this subject, both by the landed proprietors and by the population at large, that there have been several recent meetings for the purpose of urging the Government to promote an extensive system of emigration from the Highlands, as the onlv resource which can save them from the most appalling destitution. Several petitions of a similar character have also been addressed to this House, from one of which 1 shall quote a short extract, as descriptive of the present con- dition of the Highlands, and of the feelings by which that condition is accompanied, in reference to the question of emigration. It proceeds from the town of Portree, in the island of Skye, was presented in April of the present year, ana bears G88 signa- tures. It states, — That the appalling state of want to which many thousands of the inliabitants of the High- lands and islands of Scotland were reduced in the year 1837, and the misery that has existed in some of the Higlilaud districts since that period, now loudly dumand the adoption of an ex- tensive and systematic plan of emigration, as the only means of preventing a recurrence, year after year, of the same degree of frightful dis- tress and suffering. As it is unnecessary for me to accumu- late further evidence upon a point which cannot be disputed, I now turn to Ireland, and am compelled to undertake the pain- ful duty of presenting to the House a picture of the condition of the labouring classes in my own country. Here, at least, it is impossible to exag- gerate. Ireland is, in truth, the country which is chiefly interested in your deter- mination to-night. Now, in asking the representatives of Great Britain to apply their best endeavour to relieve, by emi- gration, the superabundant and destitute population of Ireland, I will not appeal to those feelings of humanity which in- duce the English people to seek out ob- jects, in every quarter of the globe, to which they may direct their benevolent exertions for the improvement of man- kind ; nor will I claim anything from that sense of justice which ought to remind you that almost all the evils under which Ireland still suffers have been, either re- motely or immediately, occasioned by En- glish misgovernment ; but I apply myself to the more ignoble motive of self-in- terest, and suggest the obvious reflection, that unless the condition of tlie labouring classes in Ireland be elevated to that standard of comfort which is the right of every human being, it will follow, as an unavoidable consequence, that the work- ing population of England must be re- duced to the same level of misery and indigence as theirs. It is contrary to every law which regulates the social sys- tem to suppose that, in two countries so closely united, there can permanently exist two separate scales by which English and Irish labour shall be differently remune- rated. Evidence respecting the destitution of thp working classes in Ireland is scarcely needed. It is to be found in every au- thentic document which describes the condition of that country. Three years have scarcely elapsed since a parlia- mentary Commission of Inquiry reported to this House that it might be computed that about 2,3»3,000 persons, connected with the labouring population, are in dis- tress for thirty weeks in the year, from the want of employment. In the same Re- port, the Commissioners uf Poor Inquiry estimate that, in England, 1,055,98-2 agri- cultural labourers create agricultural pro- duce to the value of 150,000,000/. per annum, whilst, in Ireland, 1,131,715 pro- duce to the value of only 36,000,000/. They also calculate that, as the cultivated land in England may be estimated at 34,2.50,000 acres, whilst the cultivated land of Ireland is 14,600,000 acres, there are five labourers in Ireland for every two labourers in England engaged in the cul- tivation of any given quantity of land. If, therefore, there were the same pro- portion of labourers to land in Ireland as in England, then about 450,000 labourers would be required for its cultivation, whereas, in 1831, there were 1,131,715. These results are so startling, that, I own, I view them with some distrust. But the rate of wages affords an infallible test by which we may measure the redundancy of the population, as compared with the means of employment. Mow, I state, with confidence, to the House, as well from my own personal observation as from innumerable sources which cannot be questioned, that the average wages of the Irish labourer, throughout the greater part of that kingdom, do net amount, throughout the year, to 3s. per week, — I ought, perhaps, rather to say, to 2s. Gd. My assertion cannot be contested, when I A 8 i!l| HOUSE OF COMMONS. state that the industrious labourer, often as estimable in all the moral relations of life as any of his superiors, is frequently compelled to live, with his family, upon a diet of potatoes, without milk, unprovided with such clothing as decency requires, and sheltered in a hovel wholly unfit for the residence of man. If the crop of po- tatoes which he has sown upon his morsel of conacre ground should fail in any de- gree, ho is reduced to that absolute ex- tremity of want which may be properly designated as starvation. I may state, also, that the unmarried farm servant, whose situation ought to present the most favour- able condition of the labourer, living in a farmer's family, receives only one guinea u- quarter, besides his board and lodging. Out of this pittance, he has to provide his clothing. Let me remark, here, that this is about one seventh of the wages which the same individual would receive, with superior accommodation and maintenance, as a farm servant, in Canada. We know, also, that, of late years, a very extensive system of ejectment has prevailed in Ire- land, — not for the purpose of securing the payment of rent, which is, of course, an incident essential to the maintenance of the right of property, but — in order to effect the consolidation of farms, for the general improvement of the estates. In the great majority of cases, I fear that such ejectment has been wholly unaccom- panied by any concurrent provision for the ejected cottier, Nothing can be con- ceived more truly deplorable than the condition of a person so ejected. From having been the occupier of a few acres of land, for which he has often paid his rent with the utmost punctuality, he now becomes a forlorn outcast, unable even to procure employment, still less to regain the occupation of land. Is it surprising that a population in such a state should occasionally be tempted to commit acts of violence ? What sympathy can they feel with the possessors of property ? What, to them, are the advantages of law and order ? Accordingly, we find that they are too often stimulated to do wrong by despair. Hence we hear of land being turned up, in order to induce the farmers to let out a larger quantity of conacre for the growth of provision for the labourer ; and we find that an extensive ejectment rarely takes place without the accompani- ment of outrage. Let it not be supposed that I plead any excuse in this, or justifica- tion, foracts of violence; but whilst I can- not withhold my admiration from the pa- tient resignation which renders crime and outrjige the exception in Ireland, and re- strains tlie Irish poor, under unparalleled privations, within the limits of the law, I feel bound to assign the true cause to which occasional disturbances may be traced. Whilst I witness this suiTering among the population who surround me, I take up, year after year, the official Reports wtiich ere transmitted from the colonies, and laid before this House, and I find that, at the same moment that our industrioui fellow countrymen are starving, at home, from inability to procure employment, a universal complaint pervades our colo- nies that the bounty of^nature is renderec unavailing, from the want of hands t( gather the gifts which she there so lavishlv bestows. Under these circumstances, ' have felt it a solemn duty to call upoi' Parliament and upon the Governmont tt confer a mutual benefit upon our colonie and upon the mother country, by thi transfer of labour, unrewarded at home, ti those parts of the empire in which, bein( so intensely needed, it obtains a mor adeqtiate remuneration, in advoratin] emigration, we seek to befriend, not onI\ those who leave their country, but those also, who remain ; for, in proportion a the excess of labour, which at presen^ prevails at home, is removed, will be th* tendency of wages to rise, until the reach that standard below which the ought never to sink. It is difficult t calculate what number must be enable to emigrate before any sensible effect ca be produced upon wages ; but I ara in clinel to believe that the removal of aboi 100,000 labourers, with their familiei, from Irelanu, would bring up wages to tb- level of an average payment of Is. pi day throughout the year, — in itself a ver moderate pittance, but still a considerabl ■ advance upon the present remuneratio of labour in Ireland. In addressing myself to those who rf)-' connected with Ireland, if there be an who are insensible to the consideratiot of humanity involved in this question, would remind them that, from motives i self-interest alone, they ought to suppo '.. the system of emigration, which is no\ jironosed as a partial remedy for the di;- tresses of the poor. In a very short tim the Irish Poor Law will be in operatioi The able-bodied, when unable to procu-o employment, will present themselves ' the workhouses, and demand relief. The' v claim, grounded upon undisputed desti- tution, will be irresistible; and, until tl . workhouse is full, they must be admitte'! Compare, then, the average cost of maii< taining a poor person, in the workhous during even an inconsiderable perioi with the expense necessary to enable hlfv IS be e who tf)*' e be an; ideratioi iestion, uotives < • o suppo t ih is no\ r the dis lort tim operatioi . o procu -0 iselves ' ef. The ed desti- until tlv: admitte'i of mail! lorkhous e periov Inable hi;!> to remove to Canada, and it will be found that, even as a matter of economy, the balance greatly preponderates in favour of emigration. But whether a destitute labourer be sustained in the workhouse or not, this argument leads to the same result. If unemployed, his maintenance imposes a burden upon the community ; and, for the most part, upon that portion of the community which is least able to bear it. If, through the want of employment, 500,000 persons are, upon an average, supported, throughout the year, at the expense of others, the lowest amount at which their maintenance can be calculated is 1,500,000/. per annum. !Now, I am persuaded that half this sum applied an- nually to emigration would, withiin a few years, almost wholly extinguish pauperism amongst the labouring population of Ire- land. In connection with this view of the subject, it will be remembered by the House that, at the time when the Irish Poor Law was under discussion, all the leading advocates of that measure — all the successive Committees and Commis- sions which investigated the condition of the Irish poor — recommended that a well-regulated and extensive emigration should he coupled with whatever measures were to be adopted for their relief, as an essential accompaniment. I now call upon the Noble Lord to fulfil the engagement which was then held out, that emigration should be concurrent with and subsidiary to the imposition of a poor rate on Ire- land. Having now, Sir, established, bevond controversy, that a large portion of the industrious population of the United Kingdom are unable to procure adequate employment at home, and that they are frequently exposed thereby to the most cruel privations, I have next to convince the House that, in many of the British colonies, an intense demand exists for an additional supply of labour. I shall, upon this occasion, exclude from consideration those colonies in which the climate pre- cludes Europeans from undertaking con- tinuous labour. The House is aware, in- deed, that, in British Guiana, in Trinidad, in Mauritius, and in Jamaica, a very ur- gent demand for labour has arisen since the abolition of negro slavery ; and, in my opinion, it is essential to the prosperity of these colonies, that a supply of free black labourers should be encouraged to immi- grate, under such regulations as shall ef- fectually guarantee their liberty, and the improvement of their condition. With- out, however, entering, at large, into this subject, I may be permitted to mention an interesting fact which has been brought under my notice. It seems tlwit the mountainous parts of the Island uf Ja- maica are not unsuited to the European constitution ; and I am intbrmod that, during the last year, the mcrcuntile house of Mitchell took out from Ireland 141 emigrants, to be employed upon their mountain property in that ixlund. It has been stated to' me that, hitherto, the ex- periment promises to be equally advan- tageous to the emigrants and to their employers ; but,' though this is a circum- stance deserving of notice, on such an oc- casion as the present, I do not feel that suf- ficient time has yet elapsed to have tested the success of the experiniont, and there- fore I am not inclined to found upon it any argument in favour of labour emi- gration from Great Britain to the West indies. I therefore apply myself solely to those colonies which, beyond all doubt, open a promising field to the eniigrant labourers of the United Kingdom. In beginning with New South Wales, I have experienced no other difficulty than in making a selection from the mass of evi- dence of unvarying tenor, which is con- tained in papers laid before this House, tending to prove the intensity of the de- mand for labour in that coloiiy. I refer, now, to the Emigration Reports laid upon the table during the years 1838, 1839, and 1840. I ought, perhaps, to mention that, during the last three or four years, a Special Committee of the Legislative Council has been appointed to make in- quiries with respect to the best mode of conducting immigration into the colony of New South Wales. Their inquiries have been particularly directed to ascer- tain the additional supply of labour re- quired in different parts of the colony. The extracts which I am now about to quote are taken from the evidence ap- pended to their Report of the year 1838. John Coghill, J. P., says, — During the last two years, I liavt found it impossible to procure sufficient ':V,.:ur in any shape. 1 was. offering 7«. and 8s. a-day for common labourers to no purpose ; and, the year before, 1 was compelled to leave forty or fifty tons of hay on the ground, to spoil, for want of labourers to bring it in. G. M. Slade, commissioner for the as- signment of convicts, in order to show the demand for labour, states, — 1 have, at this moment, before mc, from ICCOO to 12,000 applications, which, from dearth of means, I have not been able to comply with. I may here observe, that, as the system of assigning convicts to individuals has been very properly abolished since this Report was sent over, the diminution thus arising in the supply of convicts must A 4 T tnjuacnji KjKjaiaiuao. -^prwmmmmrr I' have created a still more active demand for free labourers. W. H. Dutton, J. P., says, — I am at present compelled, from sheer neces- sity, to place from 1000 to 1200 sheep under the charge of one man ; 500 beins the very utmost that a man can properly attena to. T. Walker says, — The losses that arc at present sustained in every department of business in which labourers are employed, but especially in sheep farming, by actual dea'hs of sheep, are enormous ; and the amount of them, if saved, would cover the expense of wages to this additional number of persons. A circular letter was sent by the Immi- gration Committee to eighty-four of the principal employers of labour in different parts of the celony, with the view of as- certaining the demand for labour in the several districts. It is dated August 23. 1838. The first query was, — Is there still an urgent demand for male and female domestic servants, mechanics, shi>]>herds, and agricultural labourers, in your neighbour- hood? The answer from every one of the per- sons so addressed, without exception, is, " there is such a demand." The Com- mittee observe, hereupon, in their Re- port, — It appears that, among the entire number con- sulted, there is not a dissentient voice as to the want of additional labourers in every depavt- ment; and the imperative necessity of intro- ducing an immediate and copious supplj", if we would avert the most serious evils, has been urged most forcibly upon the attention of your Committee. . . . The appropriation to this pur- pose of the entire surplus of the produce arising from the sales and leases of Crown lands, after certain recognised charges have been defrayed, is the object upon which the first degree of solicitude is felt and expressed by the public. In the subsequent year, Mr. Pinnock, the emigrant agent in New South Wales, writes to the following eifect, in a letter, dated February 28. 1839 : — It will be evident that there cannot be a stronger proof of the great demand for labour which exists in this colony, than the fact, that all the emigrants who arrived, during the past year, notwithstanding the numerous disadvan- tages before adverted to, which they had to con- tend with, are now comfortably settled, and at high wages, throughout the colony. The latest official Report which has been laid before the House is that of Mr. El- liot, the agent general for emigration, presented during the present Session, in which he states that, — At the date of the latest accounts, abundance of rain had fallen, ant' he crops were looking well. The wages of mei Report has appeared in the public jour- nals, from the Committee on Immigratioi in New South Wales, confirming the pre vious statements as to the increasing de mand for labour, and suggesting that i loan should b-^ raised, upon the security o the land fund, for the purpose of pro curing the additional supply required. With regard to the flourishing colon; of South Australia, I shall leave to m' Honourable Friend the Member for Hull who has the honour of having mainl; contributed to its foundation, tlie satis faction of describing the condition of th labourer in that colony, and the prospect which it holds out to the industrious emi grant. In reference to Western Australia, shall confine myself to a quotation whic I have extracted from tne Emigratioi Report, presented to Parliament in th month of August, 1839. It contains memoir, submitted by Sir James Stirling the Governor, to the Council of Wester Australia, in which he says, — In the present state of the colony, there such & deficiency of labour as to impede its ai vancement. 'Inc prudent portion of the wor) men have saved means, and are now in a cot dition to extend their business and to hii assistance, if they could procure it ; but the cannot venture to undertake works in the exis' ing scarcity of workmen, and the consetjuei high rate of wages. In their resolution upon this memoi) the Council state, — That the Council is unanimously of opinio that there is an urgent and immediate necedsil for procuring a supply of labour. I may add that the very latest account from Western Australia which hav reached this country declare that an ad ditional supply of labour is essential! required to promote the advancement ( that settlement. For my own part, I can perceive n • reason to expect any check to the pre sperity of our Australian colonies (an l the same observation applies, also, to th ' Cape of Good Hope) until they suppl very nearly the whole amount of wo4" which is imported into this country. Now I find that, during the year 1839, th amount of wool imported into Gret Britain, from all parts of the world, wa 57,395,941 lbs., of which quantity ther was received from the Australian settle ments 10, 128,874 lbs. If we may judg of the future by the past, it is not to > sanguine an expectation to believe tho' our colonies will be able to give us th • there jeive n • the pre ies (an I 0, to th suppl. of woi' y. Now J39, th ) Gre£ rid, wa ,y ther settle y judg not to > ive tha' us th' whole supply required; for we find that the production of wool in Australia has increased with incredible rapidity within a very short period. The wool imported during the year 1824, from New South Wales, amounted to only 275,560 lbs. ; whereas, in 1889, it wn^ not less than 6,621,291 lbs. In proportion to the in- creased growth of wool, must be the in- creased demand for labour; and one gentleman who was examined, in New ISouth Wales, computes that the present increase of the*floclis and herds of that colony requires an additional supply, yearly, of not less than 3500 shepherds alone. Passing to the Cape of Good Hope, we find that, though there has been much mismanagement m that colony, there is yet a growing demand for labour, there. As I prefer, as much as possible, to rest my argument rather upon ofRcial documents than upon newspaper state- ments, I shall confine my quotations, with respect to the demand for labour at the Cape, to an extract from a paper which was presented to Parliament a few days since. It is a Report from the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope respecting the treatment of the apprentices sent out by the •' Children's Friend Society." Major Longmore, one of the commissioners ap- pointed to inquire into their treatment, says, in speaking of the demand for labour in the colony, — . The demand for domestic and farm servants, mechanics, and even common labourers, being very great and urgent in the colony (more espe- cially since the emancipation of the negro ap- prentices), and likely to continue so for many years, this scarcity presents a certain prospect to the apprentices and working classes of every description, whether artisan or labourer, of being able to obtain a comfortable livelihood and maintenance, where good character exists, and ordinary exertion and prudence accompany that good conduct. . . . The average rate of wages for domestic servants is from 1/. to 2l. 5s. per month ; that of farm servants, from Is. 6d. to Ss. 6d. per day ; whilst skilful artisans may and do earn from Ss, to 5s. per day ; and, from the circumstance of the supply of labour being far less than the demand, the facilities to Europeans, of industrious and temperate habits, of improving their condition, are very great. British America next claims our atten- tion. Here we find that emigration has been much checked, during the last three years, by the Canadian insurrection. The alarm, however, which deterred emigrants from proceeding to America, has now sub- sided ; and though Government has, as yet, done nothing to encourage emigration to Canada, nowhere is its value more sensibly felt. I uiight quote the speeches and despatches of successive Governors — of Sir John Colborne, Sir Fruncis Head, Sir George Arthur, and Lord Durham — to show how strongly they have felt the vital importance of emigration, to the improvement and safety of the Canadus. During the last session of the Legislaturn of Upper Canada, the House of Assembly agreed to a joecial address to the Crown upon the suDJect of emigration, which dwells at large upon the advantages which would arise from its encouragement. As this address is too long to allow of my reading it to the House, I shall content myself with selecting, as evidence of the interest with which this Question is viewed by the Legislature of Upper Canada, an extract from the very last address adopted by the House of Assembly previous to its final dissolution : — We would respectfully suggest to your Ma- jesty the paramount subject of emigration from the British Isles, which we consider the best calculated to render the united province British in fact as well a^ in name. No time, in our humble opinion, should be lost, in the esta- blishment and vigorous prosecution of a well- organised system of emigration, calculated to afford every possible facility to the settlement of that extensive domain, the proceeds of which have been proposed to be surrendered to the control of the provincial Legislature, upon cer- tain terms and conditions, which, in Upper and liower Canada, is, at present, in right of tlie Crown, at your Majesty s disposal. I cannot present to the House a more satisfactory illustration of the improve- ment which has taken place in the con- dition of the labouring classes who have emip^rated to Upper Canada than by stating the general recapitulation of a statistical return, with respect to the con- dition of certain settlers in Upper Canada, which has been placed in my hands by the governor of the Canada Company. This company allows the purchasers of its lands to pay for them by five instalments, and, with a view to ascertain the solvency of those whose instalments are in arrear, they directed their agents to send home a statement of the exact condition of each of these settlers. I hold in my hand the return relating to the district of Guelph. The name of each settler is given, as well as all the particulars respecting his con- dition. The general summary which this return presents is as follows :— Out of 156 settlers, to whom the report relates, it appears that 129 had no capital what- ever upon their arrival in Canada, beyond the labour of their arms and the clothing which they carried with them. These 129 families consist of 436 parsons. They are now in possession of 100 houses ; they have cleared 2820 acres ; they possess 488 head of cattle, 41 sheep, 9 horses, and the aggregate value of their property- was found, in the spring of 1840, to tie A 5 ill III 10 HOUSE 22,638/., giving an average of little short of 200/. to each family. Now, it is to be remembered -that this report presents the least favourable view of Canadian emigra- tion, because no account has been taken of the property of those who have regu- larly paid their instalments to the com- pany ; and it may therefore be inferred that if such be the condition of those who are in arrear, much more satisfactory must be the state of tho53 settlers who have been able regularly to discharge their liabilities to the company. In reply to an inquiry addressed by me to the secretary of the Canada Company, with respect to the number of labourers who would find employment on the company's lands during the present year, the secre- tary writes to the following effect : — I feci some difficulty in stating the precise num- ber of emigrants who might probably And em- ployment in the company s lands, in the Huron tract, or in other parts ot the province, this sea- son. I feel confident that many ^housands might readily And such employment. The opinion I have heard from Upper Canada is, that nothing is so much required to promote the prosperity of that country as an abundant supply of labour. Illi He adds, — The current wages in the company's lands vary from 3i. 6d. to 7*. 6d. per day, and fre- quently board and lodging in addition. The most recent instance of emigration to Upper Canada of which we have an official account, fully confirms these state- ments. Colonel Wyndham sent out, from the county of Clare, during the last sum- mer, 181 emigrants. They were placed under the superintendence of Lieutenant Rubridge, — a gentleman of much expe- rience in Canadian colonisation, — who accompanied them as far as Cobourg, in Upper Canada. They had not been there more than three days when the whole party were engaged, — the men at 21. iOs. per month, with board and lodging, the women at U. The official account states, that there were applications, in that dis- trict alone, for lour times the number actually carried out. I have, now, only to detain the House with one more quotation respecting the demand for labour ir British America. It is from Sir John Harvey's address to the Legislature of New Bruns- wick, upon opening the last session in that province. Speaking in reference to some proposals wnich had been made to the Government by a land company, he says, — I'lie high price of labour, owing to the in- sufficiency or its labouring population, which prevails throughout the province, is confessedly cramping the enterprise and exertions, and other- wise operating,' most injuriously upon its com- mercial and agricultural interests ; and this con- sideration would, alone, appear to me to ofifer sufficient inducement for entertaining a pro- position which I understand to go to the extent of insuring a regular and adequate supply of that valuable class of our fellow-subjects to whom encouragement and assistance is proposed to be given, to enable them, whensoever inclined, to settle upon lands of good quality. Having now shown that the labouring population of the United Kingdom are frequently exposed to extreme privations, from inability to procure employment, and that the prosperity of many of our colonies is, at the same time, much re- tarded by the want of an adequate supply of labour, for which they are able to oner a much more satisfactory remuneration than the labourer can obtain in this country, — I am entitled to assume that my case is established ; for it appears to roe an irresistible inference, that, under such circumstances, it is tlio duty of the State to come to the aid of the necessities of b»th the mother country and of the co- lonies, by supplying the deficiency in the labour market of the one by removing the excess which prevails in the other, and thus converting the involuntary idler into an active and prosperous colonist. For- tunately, we have no longer to contend with those prejudices against emigration which formerly prevailed, — prejudices not a little aggravated by the system of trans- ?ortation which is soon about to cease, cannot allude to this subject without offering the humble meed of my thanks to the Honourable Baronet the Member for Leeds, and to the Archbishop of Dublin, for the exertions which they have made to remove from our rising colonies in Australia the contamination which has been inflicted upon them by the system of transportation, and which has tended to deter from settlement In them all who value the morality of the social circle by which they are surrounded. The best proof I can give of the disposition which prevails amongst the population of the United Kingdom to emigrate is, to remind the House that, in one year (1832), above 100,000 persons emigrated from the United Kingdom ; and, during the last fourteen years, not less than 790,398 per- sons have left this country in quest of a new home; of whom 348, 1 17 have gone tc the United States. Without mingling with the remark a single particle o) jealousy towards the United States, I maj observe, that the greater portion of this large band of emigrants would hav( directed t^'^ir steps to our own coloniet rather thsk. l ; the United States, if dm measure hau been taken to direct tc them the stream of British colonisation We shall, probably, be told, in reference to this statement, that this immense amount of voluntary and unaided emi- gration clearly shows that it is unneces- sary for the State to intervene with any assistance. The answer is obvious : those by whom emigration is most needed arc now unable to carry their labour to our colonies without the assistiince of the State. To convey an Irish labourer to Canada, with his wife and two children, would cost about i5i., exclusive of pro- visions ; and it is needless to remark, that a man who scarcely possesses enough to procure for him his daily food finds it impossible to command such a sum. It is said, also, that if emigration were un- dertaken by the Government, voluntary emigration would be thereby checked and impeded. This appears to me to be a pure assumption, wholly unfounded in reason. There is no doubt that many would, under such circumstances, endea- vour to procure a free passage, who are able to pay for it ; but if they were to fail in obtaming such a free passage (and I presume that proper precautions would be taken to defeat such endeavours), I cannot perceive how either the disposition or the ability to emigrate, by which they would have been otherwise animated, can be thereby diminished. Others, again, complain tbat an extensive system of colo- nisation carries away the capital and labour of the mother country, which might be more beneficially employed at home. Now, with respect to the transfer of capital, it is to be observed that the amount of capital required to carry on colonisation is very inconsiderable, and that the greater part of it is expended in giving employment to our shipping, — a department of our mercantile industry which it ought always to be the especial policy of Great Britain to cherish and support. Wealth is produced in the colonies, not by large investments of ca- pital removed irom employments at home, but by the labour of the emi^ant upon the virgin soil of a fruitful territory. But, even if it were true that national colonisa- tion would absorb a large portion of the surplus capital of the mother country, it does not necessarily follow that any in- jury would b: thereby occasioned, because we know that is impossible to retain caoi- tal at home if it can obtain more pront- able investment abroad ; and it is surely better that it should be employed in add- ing to the stntngth and prosperity of the empire, by the creation of new depend- encies, than in hazardous loans to foreign countries. The President of the United Sta' -"s, in his last opening address to Con- gress, estimates the amount due by the different states of the Union to foreign creditors, for which the public faith is pledged, at not less than 200,000,000 dol- lars, or above 40,000,000/. sterling. A large portion of this debt is due to English creditors ; and I am entitled to contend that this portion of the surplus capital of Great Britain might have been at least as advantageously employed in giving birth to new settlements within the limits of our own empire. As to the objection, frequently urged in Ireland, that the labour ot her population might be much more usefully employed at home, — that our waste lands should be reclaimed,— that public works, on a large scale, should be undertaken, — and that tne Ian'', already under cultivation should be improved by an increased application of labour, before emigration should be encouraged by the State, — I can only say, that no one feels more strongly than I do the advantage which would arise from directing to these objects the industry of our unemployed population. I have frequently solicited the Government to give every encourage- ment within the scope of legislation to the reclamation of our waste lands, and even to undertake their cultivation, to a certain extent, by way of experiment and example. If earnest entreaties could have induced Parliament to establish a general system of railways, and to promote other useful public works in Ireland, they would now be in progress. But even if these things were done, still vast numbers of our teeming population would remain inadequately provided for. As for the application of private capital to the im- provement of land, I admit that it is most desirable, and that it would be attended with equal profit to the capitalist and ad- vantage to the labourer ; but to wait for it whilst the people are starving, is to stand like the rustic, gazing on the river, — Expectat dum defluit amnis, at ille , Labitur et labetur in omne volubiUs sevum. Another objection with which we have to contend is, that the vacuum created by emigration would be immediately filled by the natural increase of population. Now, without dwelling upon the observation, that there is no reason why the stream of colonisation should not be continuous, it is to be remarked that my argument in favour of emigration has assumed that thee is, at present, an excess of popu- lation in the United Kingdom; and to remove an excess is not the same thing as to create a vacuum. But it is not, even theoretically, true, that the vacuum created by the annual removal of a given number ' 1 -) .^Ot. 11 : w IT IIUUJIJ U^^WmWWWBF of the population would, of necessity, be speedily filled. The correctness of this position depends entirely upon the age of the persons who emigrate. The present annual increase of the population of Great Britain and Ireland is about 870,000 individuals. Now, if this number of new-born infants were annually re- moved, the population, ccBteris paribus, would remain stationary. But, inasmuch as only 2iiO, 000 persons, of each sex, arrive, annually, at the age of eighteen, it is obvious that, if, out of the 500,000 persons thus annually arriving at the marriage- able age, so large a number as 370,000 were to be annually removed to the colo- nies, the mother country would be speedily depopulated ; because the remaining por- tion of those who arrive at maturity would not be sufficient to keep up the present number of the population. These are, I believe, the prmcipal objections which are usually urged against the principle of colonisation ; and those who employ them generally conclude by a touching appeal to the patriotism of the poor, forbidding them to violate, by emigrating, the at- tachment which they owe to their country. Assuredly, there is no sentiment of the human breast more truly estimable than the love of one's country ; but when we find that the wealthier classes of society, to which those who speak this language be- long, willingly consign their own children to an exile of thirty years' duration in India, — if, by doing so, they can make a satisfactory provision for them, — it srems almost as if we were mocking the sensi- bilities of the poor when we tell them that they ought rather to perish in wretched indigence at home than to live in comfort and independence in the colonies. No, Sir, instead of circumscribing their pa- triotism within the limits of a parish or a province, we ought rather to teach them to indulge the more expansive nationality of regarding every portion of the British empire as the home of the enterprising and the free. Assuming, now, that I have convinced the House that colonisation ought to be undertaken by the State on a scale commensurate with the wants of our colonies, as well as of our own labour- ing population, I next proceed briefly to review what has been already ac- complished towards the advancement of this object, and to point out what still remains to be done. The question of emigration was, in our times, first brought prominently forward by Sir Robert Wil- mot Horton, who deserves much credit for having forced it into consideration at ft time when the public fecl'M;? was de- cidedly adverse to its discussion. At his instance, the parliamentary Committees of 1827 and 1828 were appointed. They recommended, in their Report, th-^t an advance should be made, by way ot loan, on annuity, for the purpose of settling a portion of the surplus labourers of the United Kingdom upon the unpeopled lands of Canada. Under the system re- commended by these Committees, the labourer would have been placed in occu- pation of a house and of a hundred acres of land, and would have been expected to repay all the expenses attending his lo- cation, by an annuity which was to con- tinue payable for sixty years. Through- out all his publications, as well as in these Reports, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton refers, with great pride, to the success of the Irish emigrants who were located in Ca- nada, at the public expense, during the years 1823 and 1825. As this experiment IS of much importance in its bearings upon the general question of emigration, I may be allowed to mention its details. In 1823, 568 emigrants, of the poorest class, were sent out from Ireland, and lo- cated in Upper Canada at an expense of 12,593/. ; and, in 1825, 2024 persons were in like manner sent out and located, at an expense of 43,145/. It will be perceived that the expense amounted to about 22/. per head ; but, in the case of these set- tlers, no repayment whatever has been required. I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of quoting an extract from a published letter from Chief Justice Robin- son to Sir Robert Wilmot Horton, de- scriptive of their present condition. It was written during the year 1839 : — You may be assured that you have net ex- pressed yourself too strongly respecting the favourable change in the condition of the poor Irish who were taken to Upper Canada in 1823 and 1825, in consequence of your benevolent exertions. . . . You would find the former tenant of a wretched hovel, without object in life, and almost without power to do anything but mischief, become the absolute proprietor m a hundred acres of land, paying no rent, and, it may almost be said, wuh truth, paying no taxes. There is much more to the same effect, enlarging upon the happy change which has taken place in their condition, and the gratitude which they feel towards the British Government for having enabled them to obtain it. Sir R. W. Horton has recently promulgated the .same views as those embodied in the Reports of the parliamentary Committees over which he presided. He now recommends that one million of persons should be removed fVom Ireland and located in Canada, at an ex- pense of 12,000,000/., or CO/, for etich mrnmm 19 fkmily . He proposes that this sum should be raised, on an annuity of 537,400/., con- tinuing for forty years ; that, during the first seven years, the annuity, which would be 2/. XSa. 9d. for each 60/., should be paid by the landlords from whose estates these poor persons are removed, and, during the remaining thirty.y acres of land in Upper Canada, of which he has cleared thirty, now pays, in local taxation (assigning its proper value to the statute labour to which he is liable), not less than 1/. 5s. Id.; whilst the great pro- prietor pays for the same extent of land, in an unreclaimed state, an annual charge of only Is. 4\d. It has been estimated :i ''I Iff TF^ "TRTWI^V^^yVHHII^H iMi Ml that a tax of only twopence per acn upon wild landSfin British America would pro- duce a net revenue of upwards of 150,000/. per annum. Here, then, is a fund suscep • tible of constant augmentation, upon which advances might be made by the Treasury, by way of loan, repayable by instalment, in the same manner as advances are now made upon the security of rates and tolls, to the extent of several millions, by the Exchequer Bill Commissioners and by the Irish Board of Public Works, to the counties and local trustees of England and Ireland. There is no subject with respect to which the feeling of the British population in America is so unanimous as with regard to the urgent necessity of undertaking public works on an extended scale ; and, inasmuch as, in those colonies where almost every man is in possession of land belonging to himself, public works cannot be extensively undertaken without obtaining a supply of labour from external sources, there can be no doubt that the inhabitants of the Canadas would willhigly consent to the application of a portion of the funds raised upon the security of the wild land tax, to the acquisition of such a supply, by emigration from this country. It is possible, indeed, that, as has been the case m Australia, they may be found un- willing to pay the expense of conveying to the colony the children and aged per- sons belonging to the families of the youthful labourers whose industry they require; and, in such case, it is not un« reasonable that, either by way of local contribution, or by assistance on tbe part of the State, or by the combined action of both these means, the young and the aged of our unemployed population should be enabled to accompany the more vigo- rous portion of their families to their new destination. There is one objection to the encou- ragement of emigration to British America at the expense of the State, which de- serves to be considered, because it un- doubtedly possesses some validity. This is the apprehension that the emigrants carried out at the public expense will pass over to the United States ; so that the cost of their conveyance will fall upon Great Britain, whilst the benefit of their industry would be obtained by another nation. It seems to me that this danger has been overrated. If the number who have gone from our colonies to the United States had been as great as is supposed by some writers, the population of the Canadas could not have reached its present amount. Under a well-regulated system of emigration, there is little reason to apprehend that such removal would take place to any considerable extent. The climate of Canada is better than that of the United States, its soil as good, taxation is lighter, and the British emi- grant enjoys, there, the advantage of living under those institutions to which he is accustomed and attached. If the same British capital which now finds invest- ment in public works in the United States, were encouraged to seek employ- ment in Canada, the remuneration of labour would be higher in our own colony than at the other side of the border ; and if the emigrant labourer, instead of being thrown unaided and forlorn into the sea-ports of Lower Canada, frotn which he is frequently allured by misrepresentation into the United States, were conducted to those parts of British America where he would find certain and immediate employ- ment, he would seldom be disposed to exchange the certain advantage thus se- cured to him for the chances of an adven- ture into the United States. Much might be done, also, to prevent such a result, by an improved administration of the land department of the colonies. There is abundant evidence to show that many per- sons who have gone out with the intention of settling in the Canadas, have been driven to the United States by the delay arising from the imperfection of surveys, and the difficulty of acquiring titles in the land department of our colonies. This source of injury may be easily obviated by freater energy in the local administration, lany, too, have been driven away by finding that the interposition of large blocks of wild land, as " clergy reserves," between the different settlements, has pre- vented those improvements from taking place which would have rendered all pro- perty in the neighbourhood more valuable. It is true, indeed, that, to the extent of one fourth of their whole amount, legisla- tive permission was obtained, in 1827, to sell tnese clergy reserves ; but, in Lower Canada, — rather more than one fourth having been already disposed of, — all further sale is now arrested. It is neces- sary, therefore, in order to remove this source of complaint, that power should be given to bring the remainder of thes^ reserves into the market whenever ths interest of any district requires their sale. In reference to the systematic conduct of* emigration to British America, it is of great importance that a local agency should be established, for the purpose of ascertaining, during the winter season, the supply of labourers that will be required by each district; so that emigrants, when they arrive, in the summer, may be directed to those localities in which they will be sure of obtaining employment. Official Reports relative to tho probable demand lan that 8 good, sh emi- jf living ;h he is 10 same invest- United employ- ition of n colony ler; and stead of into the whicli he sentation iucted to where he ! employ- iposed to thus ae- in adven- ich might result, by the land There is nany per- intention ccn driven ay arising s, and the the land his source viated by nistration. away by of large reserves," 8, haspre- jm taking ed all pro- e valuable, extent of It, legisla- in 1827, to in Lower )ne fourth of, — all t is neces- move this should be of theai* inever ths their sale, conduct of a, it is of al agency nirpose of season, the . required uints, when be directed ley will be t. OfBcial Ic demand for labour in each district, in the different pi ovinces of British America, ought to be sent over and circulated in this country aa early as possible in the spring, so that if anything should have occurred to dimi- nisli the demand fur labour in any parti- cular quarter, it might bo made known in time to prevent the disappointmeiit of false hopes, on the part of the emigrant. In closing this statement, I have only to advert to one additional point, to which I am disposed to attach considerable im- portance. We hear so much of the spi- ritual destitution which prevails in our co- lonies, that it becomes a matter of public concern, io founding a system of colonisa- tion under the auspices of the State, to make provision for the religious instruc- tion of those who emigrate. It seems to me, therefore, that wherever a considerable body of persons belonging to any particu- lar religious persuasion emigrate to any colony, a sufficient number of clergymen of the same persuasio.i should be encou- raged to accompany them, by the grant of a free passage, and by the assignment to them ot a small permanent endowment in the colony. I have reason to think that the Roman Catholic clergy of Ireland would view emigration witli much more favour than they do at present, if some such arrangement were made for the reli- gious superintendence of the numerous emigrants belunginr^ to that persuasion ; and, indeed, it is a feeling which must be shared by every conscientious minister of every persuasion. I have now gone through, at more length than I could have desired, the various topics to which I have thought it my duty to allude, in connection with the subject which I have undertaken to submit to the consideration of the House. It will be perceived that I have proposed no now scheme, — that I have suggested no untried experiment, — but that I have limited myself to an earnest solicitation, that plans proposed by others, and par- tially adopted, may, without delay, be carried into full and practical effect. I rest my appeal to the House upon the simple consideration that it is our duty, as guardians of the happiness of the people, not to allow our population to famish at home, whilst such abundant resources lie open to our command in other portions of the empire. I need not add, that I have brought forward this motion with no unfriendly feeling towards the Go- vernment, whom I believe to be not so much, themselves, disinclined to promote colonisation, as timid in regard to the re- ception of any proposal which they might be disposed to submit to the country for its extension. One of the objects, there- fore, whiclf I have in view, in proposing the present resolutions, is, to give this House an opportunity of declaring that it will cheerfully afford its support to such a proposal, if made by the Government. I appeal, too, with some confidence, to the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies, because I know that he possesses a mind to comprehend, and energy to execute, whatever is calculated to conduce to the Sublic advantage. He has done much for is country, and for mankind ; but I feci persuaded that he can couple his name with no act of greater utility, or to which he will look back with greater satisfac- tion, than to a measure which would cause the cry of hunger to be no more heard throughout the land. Nor can he acquire any prouder title to fame, than to have realised for his country and for his Sove- reign the prediction which was addressed by our great poet to a former monarch of these realms : Wtierever the bridit sun of heaven shall shine, Her honour and (he greatness of her name shall be, And make new nations. For myself, I advance no higher claim than to have been, in regard to this matter, the humble follower of abler men ; and as it has always been a source of satisfaction to me to have been among the earliest supporters of that system of emigration which has already indicated the mighty results to which it may here- after lead, so, also, do I now rejoice in the indulgence of an assured expectation, that, at no distant period, we shall witness the full accomplishment of a measure which will alike conduce to the aggrandisement of the empire, and the individual happiness of its population, — the establishment of a well-regulated system of national colonisa- tion. I beg, now, to move the following resolutions : — That, in Great Britain and Ireland, the working classes are frequently exposed to extreme privation, from inability to pro- cure employment : That, in several of the British colonies, the demand for labour is urgent, continu- ous, and increasing, and its remunera- tion is comparatively ample, whilst the prosperity of these colonies is much re- tarded by its inadequate supply : That, under these circumstances, it is expedient that a free passage to those colonics which offer the greatest rewards to industry should be provided by the State for such of the labouring classes as are disposed to emigrate thither. III I i =:xsssPiWilHI , : v-v,: / ■■/■ ". London : - Printe<1 by A. SpomswooDB, New.Stieet-Sauare. ' .c- i '-- -; , . ,'1-.' *« *■, -5 % ' '• '}