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1 2 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
T
FOR
EEPORT
(ly
ON
THE STATE OF TRADE
BETWEEN THE
\
UNITED STATES AND BRITISH POSSESSIONS
EST
IS'ORTH AMERICA,
PREPARED
FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, IN COMPLIANCE WITH A JOINT
RESOLUTIOiN OF CONGRESS,
BIT
J. N. I.ARNED.
• > »
^'^^.
WA8HINGT0K:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFI^IE.
1871.
INDEX OF TOPICS.
Pago.
Natural relations 5
The Dominion of Canada (5
Resources and capabilities 7
Comparative area and population 9
Causes of tardy growth , 9
Present trade with the Dominion 11
Total imi)orts of the Dominion !•*
Imports from United States 12
Imports from Great Britain 13
Total exports of the Dominion 13
Anal j'dis of Canadian foreign commerce 13
" State of commercial belligerency 14
Exhibit for seventeen years 15
Balance against United States 17
What we sell to the provinces 17
What we buy from the provinces 19
Distribution of the trade 20
A commerce of convenience 21
' The reciprocity treaty 21
The fisheries 23
• Is reciprocal free trade practicable 25
A zollverein 26
The transit trade 28
Canadian and American tariff policies 30
Canada as a " cheap country " 31
Wages and the cost of living 31
Comparative tsiblo of wages 32
Comparative table of prices 34
Purchasing value of wages compared 36
The savings of industry 36
Accumulated wealth 37
Banking capital and circulation 38
Public debt 38
Immigration and emigration 39
Partial prosperity in the Dominion , 42
Commercial growth of Montreal 43
Diversion of American grain trade 43
Favoring circumstances ^ 44
Lumber and barley 45
Trade with the non-confec'.erated provinces 45
Newfoundland and Prince Edward's Island 46
Manitoba 46
Conclusion 48
i -v - %
STATE OF TRADE
WITH
THE NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary,
Fehruary 3, 1871.
Sir : I transmit for the information of the House of Representatives,
the report of J. X. Larned, Avho was ai)pointed special agent under a
joint resohition of Congress approved June 23, 1870, to inquire hito the
extent and state of tlie trade between the United States and the several
dependencies of Great Britain in Xorth America.
Verv respectful! V,
GEO. S. BOUTWELL,
Secretary.
Hon. James G. Blaine,
Speaker Hoiise of Representatives.
Buffalo, January 28, 1871.
Sir : You intrusted to me, a few months ago, the task of collecting
information in compliance with the joint resolution of Congress approved
June 23, 1870, which directed that an inquiry should be made relative
to the state of trade between the United States and the British North
American Possessions. The subject is an important one, and I have
endeavored to investigate it with as much thoroughness as the time
allowed me would permit.
Between the United States and the British dependencies that lie ad-
jacent to us upon our northern border, the intercourse of trade ought,
in the natural order of things, to be as intimate and as extensive as the
intercourse that exists within this Union between its States at large and
any corresponding group of them. Indeed, the natural intimacy of con-
nection between the pro\incesof the Dominion of Canada and onr own
Northern, Nortwestern, and Eastern States, is such as exists between
very few of the geographical sections of the Union. Through more than
half the length of tho coterminous line of the two territories, the very
boundary of political separation is itself a great natural high-road of
commercial iutercoramunication — the most majestic and the most useful
> 1
;
6 TRADE WITH URITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
of all the iiviuul wsiter-waya of traffic and tmvol with which nature h.as
l'uniishe<l the Ainericau (lontiiieiit. The lakes on which we border at
the north link us with, rather than <livide ns from, the foreign border
on their opposite shores; while the fact that the great river through
which their waters escape to the sea diverges, at last, into that neigh-
boring domain, only adds to the closeness of the relationship in which
the two countries are placed. The territory of the Canadian peninsula
between the lakes is thrust like a wedge into the territory of the
United States. Across it lies the short-cut of traffic and travel be-
tween our Northwestern and our Eastern States. Geographically,
in the natural structure of that energetic zone of the continent which
lies betw(»en the fortieth and the forty-sixth parallels of latitude,
the province of Ontario occupies, with reference to commercial inter-
changes East and West, what may fairly be described as the key position
of the whole. The lower province of (Quebec, through which the St.
Lawrence passes to the Athincic, is situated with hardly less advantage,
and in some views, which take account of the commercial possibilities of
tlie future, ])erhai)S with even more. On the seaboard theie is no nat-
ural distinction or partition to be found between the maritime provinces
of the Dominion and our New England States. New Urunswick, as has
been remarked, is but an extension of the State of Maine along the
Bay of Fundy, and Nova Scotia is but a peninsula cleft from the side of
New Brunswick. The island provinces that lie north of thosC; within
or beyond the Gulf of St. Liiwrence, are a little removed from the
same intimac^ of geographical and commercial relationship with our own
national territory, and yet, to the extent of all the resources they i)ossess,
their most natural connection of trade is with the United States. As to
the new colonial State into which the British settlements in the North-
west have Just been rudely molded, and the older but thinly -populated
province of British Columbia, on the Pacittc coast, the conditions in which
they are placed, relative to this country, may be considered more prop-
erly hereafter, perhaps.
THE DOMINION OF CANADx\.
The four provinces of Oirtario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova
Scotia, forming at present the confederation known as the Dominion of
Canada, contain a now estimated population cf about 4,283,000, divided
as follows :
Ontario 2, 130, 308
Quebec 1, 422, 540
New Brunswick 327, 800
Nova Scotia , 306, 440
Total 4, 283, 103
TRADE WITH URITI&H NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
tiro liJis
uder at
border
hrouftli
t iici^li-
1 whii'li
'iiiiisiihi
of the
i\ol hi'-
»hicall,v,
t which
atitude,
il inter-
lositioii
the St.
'aiitaj»e,
ilities of
no iiat-
roviiices
c, as has
ong the
B side of
!. within
rom the
our own
l)ossess,
1. As to
) Noith-
>puhited
in which
ire prop-
id Nova
linion of
, divided
, 130, 308
, 422, 540
327, 800
306, 440
, 283, 103
Those osMmatos ar»^ based npon a census taken in 18(11, ten years ago,
and they asstirne for all the provinces the same rate of increase that
was found in the previous decatU*. It is (piite probable chat the result
of the new census, for whicli preparation is now being made, will fall
short of this calculation in every i)roviiu;e, except, perhaps, Ontario, and
four millions, in round numbers, may mon; safely be set down as the
existing p(>pulation of the Domini<m. The two insular provinces,
of Nowfoumlland and Prince Edward Island, whi(!h have thus far
refused to enter the contederation, (iontain populations estimated,
respectively, at 110,000 and 00,000.
RKSOURCES AND CAPABILITIES.
Here, then, arc about four and a (piarter millions of people, not only
living in the utmost nearness of lunghborhood to us, but with such in-
terjections of t(^rritory, and such an interlacing of natural communica-
tions and connections between their country and ours, that the geograph-
ical uriity of the two is a more conspicnous fact than their political sep-
aration. Their numbers exceed by more ihnn half a million thcs people
of the six New Engliiiul iStates, and about Cijual the numbers in the
great State of New York. In the magnitude and value of the industrial
and commercial interchanges that are carried on between the New Eng-
land States and the other parts of this Union, we may And no unfair
measure of the kindred commerce that would have existed, under nat-
ural circumstances, between those i)eople and ourselves. Such equal
conditions, 'ndeed, would undoubtedly have given to the provinces in
(piestion a weight in the commerce of the North America continent con-
siderably exce^^ding the present weight of the New England States.
The average capabilities of their soil and cliniate are not inferior to the
capabilities of the six States with Avhich I compare them, while their
general resources are greater and more varied. Ontario possesses a
fertility with which no part of New England can at all compare, and
that peninsular section of it around which the circle of the great lakes
is swept, forces itself upon the notice of any student of the American
map as one of the favored spots of the whole continent — as one of the
appointed hiving places of industry, where population ought to breed
with almost Belgian fticundity. A large section of Quebec is at least
ecpial, in soil and climate, to its New England neighbors, while it rivals
them in the possession of water power, whi'jli is furnished by every
stream, and while it commands easier and clieaper access to the markets
of the western interior. As for the maritime provinces, their pos-
session of abundant coal gives them one of the prime advantages of in-
dustry over the contiguous States. Along with this parity, to say the
least, in all that is essential to a vigorous development,, the provinces
forming the Dominion — even if we exclude that vast seat of future em-
pire in the basin of Lake Winnipeg, which lies waiting for eivilization
to reach it — occupy a territorial area within which the population of
8
TRADE WITH DRITISll NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
i. s
I i
is I
iir
it J
fit
New KiiKliind or New York nu;?lit bo several times iimltipluMl without
Increase of dt^iisity. The urea of Oiitiirio uiul (Quebec it is impossible to
(leflne with exjietness, for the reason that tlu'y have no boundary on the
north, exeei>t the; limits to civilized settlement which the climate oi' the
North imposrs, where\cr that may be. l*ra(!tically, tin; limits of (>ana-
dian <'iiIti\ation and settienuMit weic maiked, until a very recent i)eriod,
by the Lanrentian ran,i;(' of hills and the bioken si»iirs that are thrown
ott" from it across the head of the western peninsida. This barrcui, rocky
i'u\<<;o follows a line nearly i)arallel with the St. Lawrenc^e on its north-
ern bank, \\\) to the vicinity of ^'ontreal, where it strikes away iu a west-
ern direction, indicateil by the course of the Ottawa I'iver, which is the
conduit of the water-slu'd of the Laurj'utian elevation. A broad off-
shoot, how cNcr, of the same i)rimitive ujtheaval is traced in a belt of
forbidding territory, where swamp ami rock are int' rnnn^led, from the
Ottawa Iliver to Crcorgiau ]?ay.
Ul) to the present time these forbidding? l)arriers have i)raeticall.v
formed, in both provinces, the northern boundary of Canadian cultiva-
tion and settlement, which spread slowly and feebly, without tlio same
iini»etus and momentum that characteri/e the ])ioneer movement in the
United States. Within a few years past, however, it has been discov-
ered, and now it seems to be a well-deternuned fa(!t, that beyond the
Lanrentian belt there are large tracts of productive territory, (capable of
well sustaiinng no very scanty x)oi)ulation, even when stripped of the
timber which constitutes their lirst value. The officially published re-
ports of surveys made (luring late years within those regions, which 1
have exmined with ii good deal of carefulness, show great inequality in
the value of the lands, nniny districts of fertile soil being curiously in-
termixed with se('tions that are actually or almost incapable of cultiva-
tion. Jjut these reports, if at all correct, leave no doubt that on the
ni)per Ottawa, in the basin of Lake Nippissing, along the eastern shores
of (leoigian Bay, and even to some extent on the northern shore of
Lake Superior, there are very e<'nsiderable areas that will ultimately
give supp(n^t to a hardy and enterprising population. Large tracts of
this new domain have been set apart by the provincial authorities as
"free grant lands," to be given to actual settlers on terms very near.y
lijie the terms of the "homestead act" in the United States, and under
the stinudus of that wise policy their settlement has commenced witu
some activity and prondse.
To what extent the mineral resources of the infertile Laurontian b:'lt
render that capable of giving life to industry and sui)port to a jiopula-
tion, it is impossibk to say. Just enough has so far been discovered to
indicate that the miiiCral deposits within and on the flanks of the range
may prove to be quite an important element of the wealth of the Caiui-
das. Both ir' and k ad mines have been opened and worked to some
extent north of Kingston ; very valuable deposits of plumbago have
lately been found and opened ; gold is extensively indicated throughout
TRADE WITH niirTISFI NllRTII AMERICAN PR0VIXCK8. 9
a wide r<'f;i<>ii in Uotli I'loviiiccs, ami, more than pioUaltly, will \v{ be
fbiind in |)i'<)tital>k' quantities; :i Itratitifiil uiarhlc i.salicady bciii;; (jiiar-
licd ; the copper mines on the north .shore of Lake Superior ai'c luuines-
tionahly of {j^reat fi'tiire value, and recent developments ;;o to show that
the same r<'«lon is remarkably rich in silver. Altoi,'ether, it may bo
assumed that the lU'oductixc and liabitaide territory of t!ui (-anadas is
not couiined to their tillabl(> lands.
4
(^OMPAUATIVE AIJEA Am) FOPULATION.
The eonnnouly stated area of the provinee of Ontario is 121,2(i0 s(iuare
miles, and of the provinee of (^uebee L'KMKIO svpian^ miles. The actual
area of habitable and i)roductive territory belon};in<]f to tliem may be
eKtimate(l, I tliink, at about ."iO,^!)^) scjuare miles for each. AVithin that
area in Ontario the eai)abilities of develo[>ment, makin*,^ all due allow-
ance tor whatever inconsiderable difleiences of clinnite exist, would
seem to be fidly cfjual lo the cai)abilities of tlu^ State of New Vork, and
if Ontario had kejjt pace in its <irowth with New Y«)rk, as there seems
to be uo natural reason why it should not have done, (if we e.\(;lude
Kew York City from the c«»mpariso.i,) the population of that province
would now have exceeded four millions instea<l of two. The province
of Quebec nuiy be fairly measured in the same manner with the States
of New Hampshire and Vermont, whose cal>abiliti(^s are no greater,
notwithstanding the somewhat more rigorous winter climate to which j
it is ex[)osed. A poi)idation in Quebec i)roi)orti()iied to that (►f New ;
Ilam[)shire ajid A^'rmont would exceed by not less than half a million
what the province now contaiis; while Nova Scotia and New Bruns- ->
Avick, poj)ulated in the same ratio as Maine, of which they are the coun-
terpart, would contain to-day a million of souls.
CAUSES or TARDY GROWTH.
That the four provinces of the Dominion do not at the present day
exhibit a population of from six to seven millions of people, with cor-
responding wealth and corresponding activities of industry, is the very
X>lain and unmistakable consequem;e of the fa(;t th"' they have not re-
(;eived their natural share of the energies that are a work in the devel-
oi)ment of the Anunncan continent; and that fact is clearly to be traced
to their isolation fiom the free interchange of activities, in a commer-
cial w^ay, which the rest of the Anglo-Saxon communities of America
ha.ve secured by their national (H)nfederation. To the mere political
distinction between the dei)endent liiitish i>rovinces and ourselves, or
rather to such dirt'erc^nce as exists between their form of poi)ular gov-
ernment and our own, I shordd give no weight among the immediate
causes of the slower growth that they exhibit. The political institu-
tions of the ill-named Dominion of Canada are scarcely less republican,
either in operation or in principle, than our own, and cannot reasonably
be charged with exerting, in or of themselves, any disadvantageous iu-
!!H
'!
11 !
II
n-i
10
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
f
tiiience upon the country. Even as concerns the influence of rcpubliccan
asi)iration.s upon immigration from the (»lder world, it may be seriously
doubted whether practical considerations do not .ilmost wholly control
the choice which the immigrant makes of this country rather than of
Caimda. He has been led, and by good reasons, to expe(;t that he will
tind in the United States gieater activities, wider and more numerous
o]>portuniries, and the ^tir of a more vigorous life. The suj)erior igor,
Avhich appears patent to the outside world, is as simply explained as it
is undeniable. From the immense diversity of resources and product-
ive capabilities in the vast territory that we occup^' , with its many zod'^s
of climate, its many variations of soil, its multiform structure, its triple
seaboanl, its inland seas and its great rivers, its prairies and its moun-
tains of every mineral, we der've a certain mutual play of industrial
forces, acting an(" reacting ui)on each other with unrestricted and per-
fect freedom, which is ^^onderfully cumulative and wonderfully stimu-
lating — beyond anything, in fact, that has been known in the experience
of the world before; and the secret of it all is the freedom of the diver-
sified interchange. The effect halts where that freedom of industrial
commerce meets with interference. The custom-houses of the national
frontier paralyze it more than half; and \>e should find, if we could
examine closely enough, tnat it is in just the degree th.at the neighbor-
ing provinces are cut off, by their political isolation, from the nee cir-
ci'latlon of the ])roductive and commercial energies of the continent,
I that they have fallen behind their sister communities of the same ori-
I gin and the same character in material progress.
^^ I have i>laced the subject in this view for the purpose of suggesting
the loss that we sustain, as a nation, from the unfortunate causes which
have stunted the natural, or at least the otherwise possible, develop-
ment of so large and so importantly related a section of the common
domain of Anglo- A^merica. If our loss is vastly less, even proportion-
ately, than that of the provincial people, it is, nevertheless, a very serious
one. It is the deprivation of what raighi: have been ard what might still
be frJly one-eighth addeu to the accunuilating momentum of the indus-
trial energies by which <\e are carried forward. If the same interchange
that exists between the States of the American T'^nion had existed be-
tween those States and the neighboring provinces, we should now impart
to them, it is hue, the activities of forty millions of people, while they
give back to us the responding activities of six or seven millions ; but
that is ail iuecpiality of exchange which we have found, between our
Union at large t nd its several States, to be marvellously profitable.
In the exfraord'iniry impulse of advancement that was given to the
provinces, and ps rticularly to Ontario, (then Upper Canada,) ! y the
operation of the so called treaty of recij.rocity, duririg the eleven years
of its existence, a marked and significant illustration was afforded of
the magnitude of the influence which limitations put upon the freedom
of commercial intercourse between their producers and ours exert on
M
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERI^^AN PROVINCES.
11
iiblican
iriously
control
than of
lie will
merous
r ngor,
ed as it
•roduct-
y zoi»'*/S
cs triple
i monu-
dustrial
lid per-
y^ stiinu-
lerieuce
e diver-
dustrial
national
ve could
eighbor-
nee cir-
nitinout,
;anie oii-
ggesting
OS which
develop-
comiiion
^portion -
y serious
ight still
lie indus-
erchange
asted be-
w impart
hile they
ions ; but
them. Unfortunately , we were not permitted, upon our own side, to learn
as fully, from the experience of that treaty, the value to ourselves of a
state of freedom in the interchanges of the two countries. As I desire
to show i>resently, the adjustment of the partial free trade established
by the treaty negotiated in 18o4 was such as to render its 3i)eration
very far from reciprocal or equitable, for the reason that the schedule
of commodities covered by it, while it embraced on the one hand nearly
everything that the provinces ]nodnce, included, on the other, but a
limited number of the productions of which this country desires to extend
its sale: and for the far greater reason that the commodities made free
were almost wholly of a description for whi(!h the provinces could offer
no market to us commensurate with the markets that th<3 United States
opened to them.
It was simply impossible that an arrnngemeni, of incomplete free
trade so non-recipiocal, so one-sided in its operation, and so provokingly
the result, as the treaty of 1854 was, of a sharply-forced bargain on the
fisheries .piestion, could be allowed to continue beyond the term for
which it was contracted. It was justly abrogated in ]80(] by the act of
this Government, with the very general sanction of puMic opinion in
the country: and yet there are probably few among th<»se v,\\o op-
I)Osed the continuatiok of the reciprocity treaty of 18o4, and who
oppose its renewal in any similar form, who are not fully convinced that
ail intimate, unrestricted commerce with the neighboring communities
would be of great benefit to this country, as it certainly would be an
incalculable stimulant to the growth of those communities. The ques-
tion is one of adjustments. Free trade, or any approa(;h to naturalness
of commercial intercourse between these (piasi-foreign neigl bors and
ourselves, is impossible, unless the outside (ionditions and commercial
relations of the two countries can be brought into harmony with each
other. That is the important, and, m fact, the only point of inquiry
in the matter. If the exterior relations of the two countries were so
adjusted to one another as not to interfere on either side with a natural
circulation of free trade between themselves, probably' not one intelli-
gent voice would be raised against the abolition of every custom house
on our northern frontier.
PRESEXT TRADE WITH THE DOMiyiO:^.
The provinces confederated in the Dominion of Canada are two mil-
lions in population, as I am forced to believe, and several hundred inil-^
lions of dollars in wealth, behind what they would now have exhibited
had they enjoyed from the beginning free intercourse in trade with
these United States. As they stand, however, they form a very import-
ant body of producers and consumers for us to deal with. Last year,
according to their own official statistics of trade, vhey were ])urchasers
iu the markets of the outside world to the amount of $71,23'.>,187, and
they sold in the same markets productions of their own to the amount
! i
iif
111 j
! I
I I
lij
if
. i
iV i
12
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
of $50,081,102, (values in ffold.) Of these transactions the Canadian
statistics show less than 35 per cent, of the foreign purchases of the
Dominion, against 51 per cent, of its foreign sales, to have been made in
the United States. In reality, as ^A'ill ap])ear upon a further examination
of t\u) facts, tlie exports from the Dominion to the United States exceed
tlie imports from the United States into the Domiiiion to the extent of a
ratio even greater than that.
The following tables exhibit the commerce of the four provinces of the
Dominion for the last two fiscal years, as represented in the official
returns compiled by the commissioner of customs at Ottawa :
TOTAL IMPORTS OF THE DOMINION.
Statement of the value of art'iclcH imported into the Dominion of Canada and entered for con-
sumption in the two fweal years ended Jnnc 30, 1809 and 1870.
[From Canartinn official returns.]
18C9.
Qnelx'c
(Jiitiirio
Xovii Scotin
iS'ew Brunswick
Total
From Great
Britiiiii.
ijin, C26, C36
H, 547, 3;W
4, m-i, !I85
U, 587, 510
35, 7()4, 470
1870.
Quebec
Ontiirid
Nov.i Scotia
Kcw BruiiHwick
Total
J'rom United
States.
From all
other coun-
tries.
$6,108,804
14, .5ilO, 177
2, 5ti0, 0!i3
2, 154, 701
25, 473, 705
20, 382, 270
9, 837, 885
4, 3il7, 725
3, 977, 5.53
38, 595, 433
0,011,332
14,031,340
2, 258, 079
1, 823, 320
$3, 749, 737
587, 248
1,180,325
040, 085
0, 103. 995
24, 724, 071
5, 174, 270
(iOl, 232
1, 3.V2, 227
731, 954
Tct^l.
829, 545, 177
23, 724 704
7, 749, 333
0, 382, 890
67, 402, 170
32, 167, 872
24, 530, 457
8. (108, 031
0, 532, 327
7, 919, 683
71, 339, 187
IMPORTS PROM THE UNITED STATES.
II! n
ill
si (
fflll
:
Statement of the valne of (joodx imported into the Dominion of Canada from the United States
and entered for consumption, (excJnsive of coin and bullion,) during the two fiscal years ending
June no, 18C9 and 1870, distinguishing those lehieh paid duty from those entered free of duty,
[From Canadian offlciai returns.]
Dutiable.
1809.
Qnobec i $2,910,004
Ontario I 3,119,109
Nova Scotia 660, 192
Xew llrnnswlck 1, 104. 383
Free.
Total.
Duties col-
leot-fcd.
$.3,141,029 i $0,0.-4,633
7,00H, 849 i 10, 72^0;>3
1,8!I9, 033 I 2, .5.")9. 825
1,0.')0, 318 I 2,154, 101
Total
1870.
il
(Jneboc
Ontario
!\ova Scotia
NewBruuswick.
Total
7. 793,748 j 13,703,429
3, 014. .5.35
3,912,308
703, 840
978, 096
3, 409, 7.50
7, 249, 179
1, 494, £ 13
845, 2i:4
8, 698, 845 , 12, 998, 392
21,497,182
6,4,54,29:
11, 161, .547
2, 258, 079
1,823,320
21, 697, 237
$078, 083
.5.50,618
122, 229
214, 033
1, 565, 563
72?, 497
674, 271
119.768
182, 712
1, 700, 248
TRADE WITH BEITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
13
IMPORTS FROM GRl'AT BRITAIN.
Statement of the value of goods imported into the Dominion of Canada from Great Britain and
entered for consumption, (exclusive of coin and hullion,) duriny the two fiscal years ending
June 3C, 1869 and 1870, distinguishing those which paid duty from those entered free of duty.
[From Conadiau official roturns.]
1869.
Quebec
Ontario ,
Nova Scotia
New Bi'oiiswick
Total ,
1870.
8«ebeo
ntaiio
Nova Scotia
New Bruuswick
Total
Dutiable.
<14, 503, 286
7, 954, 779
3, 281, 836
2, 743, 714
28, 483, 645
14, 563, 737
8, 6!'4, 745
3, 561, 080
3, 203, 386
30, 022, 948
Free.
$4, 855, 644
592, 560
7iil, 149
843, 766
Total.
$19, 358, 930
8, 547, 339
4, 002, 985
3, 587, 510
Duties col-
lected.
7, 0;3, 119 35, 496, 764
4, 760, 195 !
1, 143, 140 I
836, 645 I
774,167
19, 323, 932 i
9,837,885 i
4, 397, 725 i
3, 977, 553 .
7,514,147 I 37,537,095
12, 374, 446
1, 317, 253
593, 958
514, 098
4, 799, 755
2, 362, 209
1, 407, 4,54
643, 444
624, 331
5, 037, 438
TOTAL EXPORTS OF THE DOMINION.
^'t^yy-. :
1678, 663
550,618
122, 229
214, 033
1, 505, 563
72P, 407
674, 271
119. 768
182, 712
1, 700, 248
/Statement of the value of goods, tlv growth, produce, and manufacture of the Dominion of
Canada, exported from the several lyrovinces, {exclusive of coin and bullion,) during the two
fiscal years ended June '60, 1869 and 1870.
[From Canadian official returna.]
To tbe United
States.
To Great
Britain.
Total exports
to all countries.
Quebec
Ontario
Nova Scotia .
1869.
$5, 627, 276
15, 187, 809
1, 831, 054
994, 600
f 16, 344, 825
742, 686
466, 779
2, 931, 548
$23, 546, 054
15, 930, 495
5, 031, 859
New Brunswick
4, 814, 896
1870.
Total
23, 640, 739
20, 4t,5, 838
49, 323, 304
Quebec
6, 880, 446
18,017,212
1, 473, 895
2, 400, 759
18, 538, 842
1, 216, 989
395, 925
1,009,231
27, 421, 676
19, 235, ;}06
Ontario
Nova Scotia
5, 061, 039
New Brunswick
4, 363, 171
Total
28, 772, 312
21, 160, 987
56, 031, 199
ANALYSIS OF CANADIAN FOREIGN COMMERCE.
An analysis of the foregoing tables of imports shows some facts which
it is well to note in passing.
Of the imports of the Dominion, 53 per cent, in the fiscal ;'rear 1869
and 54 per cent in 1870 were from Great Britain ; 38 per ceitt. in 1869
and not qnite 35 per cent, in 1870 were from the United States, and 9
and 11 j)er cent, in the two years, respectively, were the proportions of
importation from all other countries.
14
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
1 I-8
-'■ I I
it* -ir
iill!
!i
11
The (luty-p.ij'ing imports from Great Britain into the Dominion formed
80 per cent, of the entire imports from that nation both in 1809 and
1870, and only 20 per cent, were of commodities admitted free ; while but
3G per (;ent. of the imports from the United States in 18b0 and 40 per
cent, ill 1870 paid duty, and 04 per cent, and 00 per cent, in the two
years, respectively, entered free.
The duties collected on the dutiable imports from the United States
were at the average rate of 20 per cent, on the returned value in 1809,
and 19.5 per cent, in 1870; while the duty collected on the dutiable
imports from Great Britain was at the average rate of 10.8 per cent, in
1809, and 10.7 per cent, in 1870.
In other words, a much smaller proportion of the goods imported from
the United States than of the goods imported from Great Britain were
subjected to dutj', but those among the former which did come under
the Canadian tariff paid at a considerably higher average rate.
The very large proportion, however, of free goods from the United
States that appears in the Canadian imports of 1809, and with a slight
diminution in 1870, no longer exists. A new Canadian tariff went into
effect on the 7th of April last, which imposes the following duties upon
articles previously free, all of them being commodities of leading import-
ance, in the not very extended list of productions that we barter with
our i^rovincial neighbors: flour, 25 cents per barrel; meal, 15 cents per
barrel ; wheat, 4 cents per bushel ; all other grains, 3 cents per bushel ;
coal and coke, 50 cents per ton ; salt, 5 cents per bushel ; hops, 5 cents
per i)ound ; rice, 1 cent per pound. These duties, which leave a now
quite insignilicant free list of commodities, so far as American trade is
concerned, were avowedly levied in retaliation for the protective rigor
of the United States tariff", and, by the act which imposes them, the
governor in council is authorized to suspend or to modify them, by pro-
clamation, together with the duties on fish, meats, butter, cheese, lard,
tallow, vegetables, and several other articles, '' whenever it appears to
his satisfaction that similar articles from Canada may be imported into
the United States of America free of duty, or at a rate of duty not
exceeding that payable on the same under such proclamation when
imported into Canada."
THE STATE OF COMIVIERCIAL BELLIGERENCY.
As the case now stands, the two countries are in what might be de-
scribed as an attitude of commercial belligerency toward one another,
mutually repell r.g and discouraging the intercourse of trade and the
profitable and convenient exchange of industries that are natural to their
intimate neighborhood. Under the treaty of reciprocity there was a
large excess of liberality on the side of the United States in the terms
of trade, and the Canadian tariff grew steadily more illiberal and non-
reciprocal. After the abrogation of the treaty, the conditions were
reversed, and it must be confessed that the gates of trans-frontier traffic
I
I
I
I
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
15
4
stood more open on the Canadian than on the American side from that
period until the adoption of the retaliatory tarifif of hist April. Now.
however, on both sides, the freedom of trade is about evenly interfered
with, and the state of commercial repulsion between the two countries,
whose interests so strongly attract them to intimacy, is as nicelj' adjusted,
perhaps, as it could be. No one, I think, can contemplate this situation
of things without feeling it to be a most unfortunate dislocation, which
verj' seriously impairs the organization and operation of the industrial
energies of the American continent. And a farther investigation of the
statistics of trade will not diminish that feeling.
STATISTICAL EXHIBIT FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS.
I have given the Canadian official statement of imports into the Do-
minion from the United States during the last two fiscal years. That
exhibits one side of the commercial exchanges between the two countries,
the other side of which is to be found in our own official statistics of
imports into the United States from the provinces of the Dominion. It
is proper to remark here that a great many contentious arguments
relative to the trade between the two countries have been vitiated, by
being based upon official returns, in one country or the other, of both
imports and exports, as though the two were equally trustworthy statis-
tics. The well-known fact, however, is that in no country, and certainly
neither in Canada nor the United States, are the statistics of exports,
compiled from the returns of clearances at the Gustv)m-honses, to be
trusted for accuracy ; for the simple reason that thereis neither the same
stringency of law nor the same watchfulness to compel jin exact state-
ment of outgoing shipments that is applied to secure true reports of
the value of foreign commodities coming into the country. Chiefly as
the consequence of this, the statistics of no two countries respecting
their trade with each other will agree at all. The discrepancy between
our own official returns and those of the Canadian government relating
to the same trade is further widened by the mixed values (in currency
and gold) that appear in the export and reexport statements of the former.
According to our own statistics, we bought from the four provinces
of the Dominion, in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1870, commodities to
the value of $39,507,842, (in gold,) and sold them domestic commodities
to the value (in currency) of $10,365,771, and foreign reexports to the
value (in gold) of $3,931,525.
According to Canadian statistics, our purchases from the Dominion,
in the same twelve months, amounted only to $28,772,312, and our total
sales to it, of domestic and foreign goods, were of the value of $21,097,237,
all in gold.
On each side there is strong probability of the near accuracy of the
import returns, and we may safely accept them as representing the
commercial exchanges of the two countries. The following table is
compiled in that view, from the official returns of imports in each
r^
16
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
'!^!
i
lii'
country from the otlior, both representing values in gold. It shows the
yearly amount of trade each way that passed between the United States
and the old Canadian provinces from 1854 to 1807, both inclusive, and
between the United States and the Dominion of Canada, since that con-
federation was organized. The exhibit is rendered faulty to a certain
degree by the fact that the Canadian returns are made for the calendar
year down to 1804, at which time the provincial government adopted
the fiscal year ending June 30, to correspond with our own ; but this
does not attect the general showing of the state of the commercial
exchanges represented :
Imported into the United States from Canada.
Imported into Canada from the United States.
[From United States official returns.]
[From Canadian official ret
nms.t]
OLD CANADA.
Fiscal vear ended .Tiino 30 18.'i4 .
t6, 721, 539
12, 182, 314
17, 488, 197
18, 291, 834
11.581,570
14,208,717
18, 853, 033
18, 645, 457
15, 257, 812
18, 670, 773
32,422,015
30, 547, 267
46. 199, 470
26, 397, 867
25, 064, 858
30, 353, 010
39, 507, 842
OLD CANADA.
Calendar vear 1854
iJ15, 533, 09C
20, 828, 676
22,-704, 508
Fisoal year ended June 30, 1855 *
Fiscal vear ended Jtine 30, 1856
Calendar year 18.55 *
Calendar year 1856
Fiscal year ended .Tune 30, 18.'>7
Fiscal vear ended Jnne 30, 18.58
('alendar year 1857
20, 224, 648
Calendar year 18.58
15, 635, 565
Fiscal "vear ended June 30 18.">9
Calendar vear 1859
17, 592, 916
17, 273, 029
20, 206, 080
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1860
Fiscal year ended J une 30, 1861
Calendar year 1860
Calendar yaar 1861
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1862
Calendar year 1862
23, 642, 860
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1863
(Calendar year 1863
18, 457, 083
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1864, (estimated)..
Fiscal vear ended June 30 1865
I'^irst half of 1864
7, 9.52, 401
Fiscal vear 1864— '65
14 820, 577
Fiscal year ended June 31), 1866 *
Fiscal year 1866 *
1.5, 242, 8.'?4
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1867
Fiscal year 1867
14, 061, 155
17, 600, 273
21, 497, 182
21, 697, 237
DOMIXIOX OF CANADA.
Fiscal year ended Juno 30^1868
DOMINION OF CANADA.
Fiscal year 1868
Fiscal year 1 869
Fiscal year 1870
Fiscal year endetl June 30, 1869
Fiscal year ended June 30, 1870
* First and last years of the reciprocitj' treaty.
t The figures for the earlier years in this column I take from one of the reports of Mr. William J.
Patterson, secretary of the Montreal Board of Trade.
The prominent fact that appears in the above statement is the total
change of current that took place in the trade between the United States
and Canada in 1802. Down to the close of that year, when the derange-
ment of currency, the inflation of prices, and the disturbance of indus-
tries produced by the war of rebellion in this country began to work
their effects, we had been selling to the provinces largely in excess jf
"what we bought from them. The aggregate of their imports from is
during tho nine years ending with 1802 — eight of which were the years
of the reuprocity treaty — was $172,041,372. The aggregate of our
imports frcm them in the same period was 1133,230,473. The balance of
trade in out' favor was $30,410,899. But in 1803 the balance sl.ifted to
the other side, and ever since the preponderance against us has steadily
show, we
are
and rapidly increased, until now, as the above figures
exchanging commodities for little more than one-half that we buy from
the British provinces. Indeed, the exchange of our own productions
covers less than one-half of the amount that we are importing from the
provinces, since the Canadian import statistics cited above include for-
M
ws the
States
e, and
at con-
[•ertaiii
iloiidar
(lopted
lit this
niercial
ted States.
■ns.t]
$15, 533, 090
aO, 8-28, 676
22,-704, 508
20, 224, 648
15, 635, 565
17, 592, 916
17, 273, 029
20, 206, 080
22, 642, 860
18, 457, 683
7, 952, 401
14, 820, 577
15, 242, 834
14, 061, 155
17, 600, 273
21, 497, 182
21,697,237
William J.
he total
d States
lerange-
f indiis-
to work
scess jf
froiii IS
le years
of our
glance of
ifted to
steadily
, we are
)iiy from
ductions
from the
lude for-
TRADI-: WITH HKITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROV sTES. 17
ei{»n eomiiio.lities rei'-xpoiteil from the United States to Canada, niidvinu'
no distinction Ix'tween tliosc innl the doineHtic exports fnun the United
States to Canada. Our own otlit-ial statement of these Jec'Xports shows
the loUowiniH' anionnts j;()in<;' to Canada in tlie last two (is«'al years:
LSI)!), }if2,8'">'^' 782; 1870, -iiCMK; 1,525. Maicin,!-- these dednetions from the
Canadian importation of yoods ont of the United States, the exelian'-e
of donu?stie prodnetions (since we receive very few non-Ciinadian com-
modities tliroiigh Canada) stands as follows for the last two years:
18G0.
From Cana<la to the United States $M0, 353, 010
From the United States to Canada 18, 038, 400
Balanee against the United States. 11, 714, 010
1870.
From Ciinada to the United Stati's $39, 507, 842
From the United States to Canada 17, 705, 712
#
lialance against the United States 21, 742, i;»0
Comment upon the unsatisfiictoriness of tliis state of trade seems to
be (juite unnecessary. The adverse balance is vastly too great to be
analyzed into commercial "profits," as an a])parently adverse balance of
tratle often may be ; and the mode in which it is here arrived at, by
eomi)arisou of the import entries in each country from the other,
excludes, moreover, almost all the elements of such an analysis.
WHAT WE SELL TO THE TROVIMCrH.
To show what commodities are chiefly exchanged between the two
countries, and to exhibit at the same time the relative importance of
each in this commerce, and the course it has taken relative to each dur-
ing a con.'^'iderable period of years i)ast, 1 have compiled a series of
tables, whicli may be examined with interest. The first table here fol-
lowing is a summary and analysis of the import statistics of the Do-
minion of Canada for the last two fiscal years, and shows what we have
chiefly sold to the four provinces of the Dominion, severally and collect-
ively, during those two years.
2 . .•
?:-'»t«'-
18
TRADE WITH HRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
SMcmcnt Hhoirhn/ the rahwa o/tluprhicipa! vommoditicn imi>ovU'(l into the siTcml proviiiccft of
the DnmiHioii of Canada from the Vnilvd Stalen duriiiy the two fincal yearn vndvd Jiiiir 'M),
m\[) and 1M7U.
|('(iiii|iili-il i'loiii Cnnitdiau oflicial lotniiiH.]
IHO!).
(,'iiiu ami bullion.
Siijiar, inolaxws, and niclado.
^iffats. all kiiulM
Cottons :
Hats, caps, &c
(ii iiciiil liiinlwaro
Coal and coUc
Flour
(jiiiiii. all kinds, except Indian corn
Inilian coin
Coriinical ami oatmeal
Flax. lii'Mip, and tow
11 idcK. liovns. and pelts
I'olmcco, iinnianiilactuii'd
■«'ool
"\V(i(dcns
OlaHswarc
jMii-iical instiiiniciitH ,
Books and other jaildication.s
Cotton wo(d
Salt
Quebec.
Machinery
Total, e.xclndins coin and bullion.
All otiier articles
Total imiiorts froi United States, ex-
cept coin and bullion
Pei'centa<{e of artici' - enumerated above,
Percentajie of grain lour, anil meal
1870.
Coin and bullion.
Suirar. tuolasse.s, &c
:McatH
Cottons
Hats, cajis. ite
(ti neral hardware and .stoves.
Coal and coke
riour
drain, all ("xcejit Indian corn .
Indian corn
Corni'ieal and oatmeal
Flax, 'leni]!, and tow
Hides, horns, and pelts
Tobacco, unmanulactured
^Vool...
"Woolen -1
( i la.ssware
iliisicul Mistruments
liooks, <ic
Cotton w )ol
Salt
Enj^nes i nd machinery
Total, excludinti coin and l)ullton
All other articles
Total imports from United States, except
coin ami bullion
iglli 171
«;{.■), 715
IHH, (17
3'Ji). KM
li!0,t?.j,-.
l:i7, 41-4
lf<7, 44:i
417. -iM
i;:J, 44ti
4, 4:«)
i:)7, !)7:t
547, 405
04(1, K43
147, 4(i:{
!!,-. iriii
4-J, (I(i5
50, 773
4H, :5it5
(1(1, o:t7
l.fOl
i'.i7, :w>i
Ontario.
Nova Scot la.
$:i, diy, 154
2H!»,
:);«;.
!»l,
14!»,
!)4,
:i7';,
(i07.
'J17,
:t, o.")4,
1, :m-,',
15,
'jo:t,
154,
y7pi,
Ml,
i;t5,
HI,
i:ii,
•j:t.">,
147,
'J."):t,
1H5
574
4(i7
OOti
7.".H
1(15
!):I4
■xr,
510
j^4t>
0!)4
!I!M)
:i44
1-JO
\:a
105
,■)!)!)
,5<t5
I -J!)
i:!8
$198
0, 351
•J4, 0.55
37, Olio
•JO, 751
2-,', 921
101. i!t:t
•-'1, H47
i,o:(:<, t^iiv!
0, 170
Wl, :i4(!
2:u;, 757
~-i. HOO
;i7, .5H7
0-J, 717
Xew
llrnnswick.
•20, 70!)
IH, 272
f , 28(i
li), or,!
43:)
1,100
57, (;74
«i.57, 080
!I2, 410
(>.5. hlH
140, I7S
22. 7.57
II, 140
30. 105
400, 700
04, .507
.5h, 510
121, III;
32, fll
30, 20rt
14, 1^3!)
IKI
140, 001
20, 570
22, 000
24.015
40,041
2. 0.57
00, 57H
4, 407, ()50
1,,")K5, !(.-^3
8, 340, 042
2, 37fi, Or-l
1,00.5,000
0.53, 805
1,. 50 1,838
(),V3, 803
0, 054, C33 I 10 ',28, 023
74
11
157, 041
83
43
2, 869, 793
2, 5.59, 825 2, 154, 701
74
53
70
30
Pereentaffe of articles ennnierated above.
Percentagi! of grain, Hour, and meal
444, Osl
101, 808
081, 8!)5
141.. 5.52
120, 870
300,221
208. 301
117.843
250, 190
14,427
409
139, 882
004, 40G
474,
131.
, 438
179
.57, 977
41.010
.54, .541
43, (i3(i
85,173
1, 1.59
141, 0.54
404, 593
.33-, 834
178, 875
148, 743
14IC, 300
423, 931
ti(;."i, 139
4 1 , 902
4, 103,020
375, 290
14,528
25, 223
300. 493
247, 904
277. 804
.50, 072
123, 028
99, 230
148, 1.59
208.411
07, 951
2:11,009
4, 249, 877
2,204.414
8. 749. 127
2,412,420
6,454.291 11, 1P1,S47
60
6
78
41
2:t, 42(i
19,311
29, 443
:i3. 451
29, 051
124. .520
1,073
7:10, 201
43, :U)1
1.5,045
220, 740
:J32
51.010
73, 259
59
19,9.50
18,-240
6, 959
2;i, 540
189
1, 005
23, .-08
1. 495, ;i05
702, 774
01,948
00, 072
79. 80:l
45. 092
:5(i. 204
27, ;i48
31, 880
30i,;t:t3
2, 800
10, 227
5;i, 293
21. 7.52
C7, 740
8, 8;i2
4,183
60. 813
22, 344
30, 807
20, 525
05, 271
1,577
81, .545
1,108,001
054, 0,59
2, 258, 079
66
45
1, 823, 320
64
24
Total.
^3, 970, 523
991, :m
0;iti, 405
.524, 151
44:t, :t!io
277 920
758, 005
847, ;i29
2, 009, 274
;», 2;i0, 040
1, 0.54, 1.57
398, 427
2.59, 574
818, 034
.■i78, 519
42(i, 471
:151, 198
210,018
193, 5.57
224, Hi8
344, 040
1.52, 1.50
529, 109
10, 220, :190
5, 270, 792
21,497,182
79
:i4
3, 026, 834
934, 048
520, 085
97:i, 016
309, 438
:i;i,«, 491
87(i, 020
898, 0.59
1,2.57, :199
4, 400, 0.52
420, 989
288. 970
187,189
1, 120, ;<45
804, .523
4i:t, 215
19.5,418
205, 228
191.. 543
241,8()0
419, 044
71, 752
478, 070
1.5. ((02, 970
(i, 034, 207
21, 097, 237
72
29
•h t
TRADK WITH HKITISII NORTH AMERICAN PROVING KS.
19
oniH'cn of
Total.
rJ, 076, 523
901, 331
(i3G, 4fi.'>
524. 151
443, ;«!io
277 020
75H, 005
S47. 320
2, IMi'.l. 274
3, 230, ti4ti
1, ('..Vl, 1.57
3ilf , 427
25i>, 574
81 H, 034
.178, 511)
420,471
351, lOrf
21ti, 018
1'.I3, 557
224, 818
344, 0.40
1,52,150
52il, 10!)
l(i, 220, 3110
5, 270, 7it2
81,497,182
79
34
3, 02('>, 834
934, 048
520, 085
973,010
300, 438
335, 491
870, 020
808, 0,59
1,2.57,399
4, 400, 0.52
420. 080
288. 970
187,189
1, 120, 345
804, .523
413, 215
19.5,418
205, 228
191.. 543
241,800
419,044
f7
15
Bl
59
20
64"
24
71.752
478. 070
l.\ 002, 970
(!, 034, 207
21, 697, 237
73
;;-:-> 29
Ono of the larixcr items (/. (?., tlic item of tea) in the foi'ep,-oiii<>'
li.st of twenty-two coiiniiotlitie.s or classes of eoiiiiiMKlities, wliicli, to-
jLictlier, make up tliice-loiulhs of our exports to tlu' proxinces, is a for-
eij;ii article, simply coincyed tliroii;;li American hands, in bond, to the
provincial consumers. 8om<? i)art of other items in tiie list helonj^s in
the same ca e;L>"ory of foiei^n reexports. >Vheii these are allowed for,
the ranu'e of th(^ Canadian mark-.'t for American ])rodnctions appears to
be lamentably limited and almost contined to the rawest products of
a.u'iienlture, with hardly an appreciable opeiiiiijn- for the benelit of our
skilled labor in any department; and this, too, in the case of the nearest
neighbors that we hav(^ upon the /^lobe.
I have fouinl it imi)ossible to ^'ive, for the provim^es at large, a com-
parative statement like the above, enil)ra<;ing" any such jieriod as is nec-
essary tor an historical exhil)it of the course of trade; but tlie followin<jf
table approximates that exhibit. It shows the value of a few of the
principal arti<;Ies imi)orted into old Canadiv i^v)ntario and (Juebec) dur-
ing the ti.scal year is<14-'()r), the last full year of the reciprocity treaty,
compared with the imports of the same r.rticles in the tiscal years
1808, 1801), and 1870.
Statement of the values of a few pri)icii)(ihii'1ir1(s impnrlctl into '■'old Canada" from the United
islutenfor nectral ijvavx.
^Sititli'.s.
18C4-C5.
Coul i 0544, 511
<Nittoii, wool I 88, 780
Wd\. liciiiii, and tdw, miiiiuiiuf'iu'tiiri'd ' 120, l^97
Flour I 090, 124
Grain, all kimls ' 3, .584, 405
IliilcN. lioniM. and jicUh" ; 20.5, 000
Indian meal aJid (lalnical , 3(i, 022
Jlcat, all kind.s : I 870, 908
Tobaii'o, unniamifactured ' 277, 007
Wool , 174, 071
1807-'«8.
l808-'00.
l,-09-'70.
,«791.008
?705, 377
.?,=04, 500
213, 194
295, ItiO
353. 584
147. -0()
1,53, 903
105. 105
94, 444
0.34, 5!)2
1.59, H)5
3. (10.5, 998
4, 075, 105
4,413.1-25
1,071,999
I'M. 749
1,000. !t89
47, 805
40. 524
14.937
230, 332
519.991
440, 702
450, 288
800, 9()3
722. 432
253, .JG
420, 288
400. <JH3
WHAT ^\Y. \WY FROM TUE PROVINCES.
The return trade, or what we ha\e chietly bon;;ht from the provinces,
can be exhibited more comprehensively, in histi)ry at least, as will be
seen in the table following-, which shows the values of the leading arti-
cles imi)orted into the United States from all the British Possessions in
Xorth Ajnerica during' a series of years. The series cannot be made as
complete as I should \\ ish, for the reason that articles imported under
the reci[)rocity treaty were not discriminated for several years iu the
othcial trade records of this Government.
20
TKADE WITH HUlTISll NORTH AMEKICAN PROVINCES.
^
_»
('oiiii)((r((lirr stall iiiciif for xcvcritl nciiVH hfinr, (hirhii/, and xiiicr lliv rvc'iprovilji Inatii^of llie
idliic (if thv itv'uiniml uvIIcUh iiiiimilcd hilo the i'.iilcil iStulcn from the BriliHh Muitli
A mtriron l'oMM(Hnioiin.
1854.
'W'odil mill niiinufiictiinH til'
\viM)il.i( xri'iit ciiliiiict woimI)'
AiiiiiiiiU,
Wh.iit,
FIoiiv . .
Brrli-y .
IVllIK
OlltH .
K.v
Proitiicts of flnlH'i'lcH
C<ml
l'n)visiiiii.s iiikI tallow. . .
IJiittrr
AVnid. niw iiiid Hccco. . . .
Iliilt's 1111(1 skiiiH
Pi.tiitors
Vur- mill t'lir nkiiis
(i.v|i.imii, uii^iKmuil
I'ijj iron
AkIms
Coin mill liiillioii
r.i,
2, n(i!i,
1, 7i>-J,
r»,
:n,
1,(01.
■i,
1Q6,
lilt,
34,
PH.
i:<,
10)1.
110,
KiO
f'il
0*0
7H!)
:m
lOH
ao'j
■Uif<
774
4111
811
OfiO
7-J!l
40.1
!)-J0
114
840
1M5.
1H0».
142, 0(:2
^820, 0.".!»
42. 120
l,441.:i!l7
l,84!l, 111!)
!I0. H22
111, ((7.j
;t2. tiOl
8:t:t. :mi
24:t, 7H4
4, o;i8
84. 77:1
i:t. h!)o
:i8, r>!ia
12!t. 071!
:>, 077
107, i;)o
100, 882
83. 203. 90(i
l,3.M, 173
l.O.'iO. r(l3
2, 137, (i 10
1,r.24,22l
1,418,723
12, .'»77
730, .^)4i»
7ri7, 004
I. '•.0,782
320, (134
781,807
137, 113
147. 3H)
143. 133
2.'i, 882
18, 445
4()0. 020
C, 536, 478
1863.
91 887, 580
.\.')03, 318
l,(i!M. 010
2. 070, 348
4, 003. 202
2,210,722
72, 000
2, 213, .384
1,223,081
KM, 344
OOH. <I17
1,V27,275
228, ((!)()
" 2ii022
<; 1,430
f(i, 320
41.j, 3!)H
4, 044, 005
1807,
K431,
1,0(12,
3, 2ti2,
1,70,".,
2,012,
2.-17,
14<),
2, (ir.4,
02.'.,
81,
048,
201,
81,
112,
133,
04,
204,
107,
8, 500,
(l.W
!)0(l
h.-|0
2H5
.■.47
085
301
040
447
.'.00
102
(183
f05
238
403
000
345
207
173
1H09.
S7, 17(1,33(1
3, 471,.'>K)
1,073, Ov!!)
440, 003
4, 024, 3-JO
143, l!H)
1.-.7, 731
l,.5()."i, 2!..»
7.".8, .•)8rt
1,420,340
71."., 300
43.-., .-.07
42, 045
2311, 101
133,310
381, 102
4.5, .■)0!>
2, 700, 548
DISTRIBUTION OF THE TRADE.
The fiict tliat in our trade with the provinces the intere«t of the East-
ern and Middle States is ahiiost wliolly that of iniyers, whik' the inter-
est oi" the Western States is almost wholly that of sellers, could hsirdly
escape the notice of any one who examines the fore.s;()in<;' tables. If we
examine by customs districts the retiivis made for the last tiscal year,
of imitoits from and domestic exports and forei*;'!! rei'xports to the Ih'it-
i.sh American provinces, we tind the distribution of the trade to be in
the following' proportions :
IV r cent.
Im])orts in —
Vermont <listiict 27. 1
Oswcf^o district 17. G
Ni..,4ara (Suspension bridge) district !■!. 7
r.uflalo di.strict 8. 7
CMiamplain district G.
IJosttm district 4, G
Alt other New England districts 4. G
Oswe.gatchie (Ogdensburg) 3. 8
All other collection districts 12. y
Domestic exports from —
Chica.i?o 13. 5
Milwaukee 13. 5
Toledo 9. 5
Port Huron 9. 9
Vermont 9. 3
Boston 8. 9
Detroit g. 1
Cleveland 59
All other ports 23. 4
1
c
i (
//»/, of llir
hU yurth
1869.
«:, 17(1, ;nii
u, ni,."tf<o
1, (i-:«, ti-J'.i
.l4(i, *io;<
■1, (iji, ;«>
1 i:t, mo
i.-)7, ■:m
i,r)(iri, -j!..!
17)f', .VH
i,4-^.t,:ini
715,
;«•>!»
4:jr.,
.707
4-2,
045
8:«),
104
lUH
mo
'.Jt*!
llt'i
45
.")(!!•
2, 790
548
•lie Ea.st-
he iuter-
(1 liardly
s. If we
icnl year,
the IJrit-
to be iu
Per cent.
... 17. G
... 14.7
... 8. 7
... CO
. . . . 4.
. . . . 4. (5
. . . . 3. 8
. . • . J.W* Lf
.... 13.5
13. 5
.... 9. 5
.... 9. 9
.... 9. «j
.... 8. 9
.... C.l
.... 5. 9
.... t^Ot 1
if
I
3
^
TRADE WITH 15K1TISH NOIlTIf AMERICAN rROVINCKS. 21
I't^r cent.
Forci^^ii rci'xijort.s IVoni —
New York 51. 9
IN.itlaiMl Ii3. ({
I5(»st<ni i;».
All other ports 10. !»
A CO.n.MEUCE (»E (:(»HVE^'IE^^(•E.
To a reinarkahle extent onr [ncsciit trailc witii the urovinees \h what
ini^ht be ehaj-acteiiziMl jis a ])iiio <M)niiiier<M' of eoiixciiioiiee, ineiih'iit
merely to the eeoiioinieal «listrilnilioii of products which arc coiiiiim»ii to
both countries. Wc exchaii^'c with them almost c(inal qiiaiititi«'s of the
cereals, and iilmost ('((nal (|iiantilies, on an avcra.^c, of tloiir. lOxcept so
fjir as concerns the barley that Wi' liny IVoin tlieiii and the Indian corn that
we sell to thenj, this trade oiijiimites on neither side in any m'cessity,
but is chietly u matter of simple convenience, of ec(»nomy iu carria<;'e, or
of diversitication in the «pialities of jiraiii. Similarly, and for the like
rea.sou, we ex<;hang'e with them almost e(|ual <pumtities of coal. We
sell them a certain quantity of hides ami skins, and buy half that (pian-
tity of the sauu^ articles back from them. On the other hand, they .sell
us ])rovisions and wool, and buy our ])rovisions and wool to half the
amount in ictui'ii. N»)t less than one-third, probably, of the trad«' now
carrieil on between the United iStates and the nei;;liborin<j;' i)roviuc<'s is
of that ehara(;ter, and the fact that it is ke[)t up with .so little diminu-
tion, notwithstandiu}.'' the imposition of duties on both sides of tlu^ fron-
tier, is sigiiiticant of the value of the advantages that are found in it.
THE KECiPlJOCITY TIIEATY.
The imrowness of the i'an;;e of commodities within which the I»ulk of
the trartic between the two countries is now restricted has already been
l)ointed out as the eousi)icuous feature of this commerce in its i)re.sent
state. It ji'oes very little beyond the rawest jnoducts of a^iiculture, (in-
cluding animal food as such,) and out of this fact there follows, as an
inevitable consequence, the inequality which we find in the exchau,t;es —
the heavy excess of our importations from the provinces over what we
export to them ; since the trade, contined to nu interchange of the same
kiml of commoditi<\s, must be i)retty much in the ratio of forty millions
of consumers on one side to four millions on the other. The old treaty
of so-called reciprocity contributed nothing directly, and very little in-
directly, to the rectiflcatiou of this commercial ineipiity, and for that
reason it was a fraud upon the United States. It established free trade
between the United States and the I>riti.sh North Anu'rican provinces
iu the following specitied articles, and in those only :
Grain, Hour, Jiiul broiidstutTs ; •iniiiiaLs of all kiiuls; asluis; tVesli. sii!()l<f'<l, and salted
meats; tiinbor and lundjor of all kir.dw, rounil, hcwi'd, and .sawed and unnianulacturod ;
C(ttt<>:i, wool, seeds and vegetables; nndried iViiits, dried trait ; lish of all kinds; pro-
diict.s of iisli and all tlie creatures living in the water ; poultry ; «'ggs ; hides, furs, skiu.s,
"^t
22
TIUDE WITH IlliiriSII NORTH AMKKICAN I'ROVINCKS.
i>r tnils, iiiiiln'sscd ; nfonc nr iniirlili' in its cnidc or nuwroiiijlif sfntc; Kliifc ; ItiiffiT,
cIiiTsc. tiill'iw ; (in-M (tt'ini'tals of nil liimlH; ('(iiii; iiiiimiiiiiriiilurctl loltiicio ; pifcii, far,
tiir|>ciitiiH' ; liiowoiul ; iilmitH, slinilm, trees ; pelts; wool; lislioil; lietMiinl hrooiii-eoni ;
Itaiks, jivitHUiii, nfoiiiitl iiiul iiii^irouiHl; wntiinlit <>r iiii\vioiijj;lit burr iiiid griiulstoiii-w ;
dyestutl's : lla\, iieiiip, and \i>\\, uniiianiilaetiiied ; ra^s.
With two or tlircc exceptions only, tlicso iiro oonitnodities wliicli both
conntiics in'oducr, i\m\ with n'tcrriicc to which, of conisc, the tVciMhun
of the markets of the I'niti'd States, eontainin;;' tea times their ixtpiihi-
tion, was of vastly more value to the |>rovinees than the IVee<h)m of their
markets eonld possihly be to the rival inodiicers of the United States.
Moreover, the sehednh^ t>f raw commodities covered by the treaty em-
braced, on the one hand, absolutely every product of the provinces for
V hieh they son^^ht a foreij;n market, while it ineliid<'d, oti t)ie other
han<l, the products of but one departnu'iit of the more varied industries
of this country. I low it operated, so far as our trade with the old Cana-
dian provinces is concerned, may lit^ exactly shown by comparing;" the
statistics of free and dutiable intports in each country from the other
during' the period of the existence of the treaty :
Sitifimciif com jiihd f mill the ofjivlal ninvuxln the Vii'ilcd Sldtrn and in C/iiiatht, nhoivhif/ fhe
imparls ofdicli coitiilrii J'roiu lliv oilier, Jhcttiid diiHiildi, dnriiiy llic ijintciitr of Ihv treuhj
of rcciprocilji.
Fnitcil States iiiiimftN from Canmla. \ Fi-diii V. S. j Ciinadlan iniiioitH from the Uiiltoil States, f From
ollici.il ri'liinis.] CaiiiMliiiii ollicial ri'liiriiH. 1 1
FiHcnl year.
If'.'l,''! ,
1K")7 .
lH,")fl .
If,")'.! .
l.-Cd .
]H(il .
18(>;< .
18fi."< .
Totals.
Dutiable.
Hill,
:n:t,
5()4,
4;i4,
227,
4-J.5,
1, 1(11,
V4H,
.T7I4,
81H
Oi)7
nr.2
ncu
240
().".!)
i)81
374
ii4:<
I'roe.
Calendar year.
14, .WC, 175
17,
It,
i:j,
tH,
IH,
IH,
;!i,
2!»,
4 -J,
f^7(),
H47,
2(i7,
7o:i,
41^1,
287.
(130,
24.'),
2(10.
'W,
4.'-.4,
4ilfi I
H22 '
737 I'
(ilH '
74H i
:m ;
217
7.')3
(i38 !
(134
H03
H27
230, 702, 284
18.-1.5
lf-.-.(>
18.')7
IMrt
le.'in
18(i0
18(il
18(12
I8(i3
IrtW, (first half)
M\'\ (tiscal year)
I8(i(), (tiseal year)
Totals
Dutiable.
I4!>, 472
770, 024
Olio, 42H
473, 007
030, 371
.')32, .'»44
34(i, 0H3
128,783
074, 300
177, 003
001,220
302, 107
Free.
$0, 370,
0, 033,
111, 2.-|8,
7, Kil,
8, .'i.'iO,
8, 740,
ll,8.'i0,
l(i, .'iM,
14, 483,
:>, 77.-.,
10, 820,
10, 880,
204
r.81
220
or.H
.'■.4,'>
48.-)
447
077
287
308
007
80, 200, .154 124,372,223
rtimatod Canadian proportion of trade with theliritish North American Possessions, not discrimina-
1 in the retmim for I8(i4.
Tljose litt\ins are taUen from a tahlo compiled by the .secretary of the Tdontreal Board of Trade, Mr.
,r lliain .T. Patterson.
The trade represented in the columns of free goods, on the two sides
of the foregoing table, is, of course, the trade in which the operation of
the reciprocity treaty is to be looked for. AVith the tratlic in duty-pay-
ing commodities, 'vhich was carried on Avholly outside of its provisions,
the treaty had nothing to do, except so far as that independent com-
merce was indirectly stimulated by the activities to which the treaty
gave direct encouragement. The actual treaty trade, therefore, which
occurred between the two countries during the period of the existence
of the conveutiou of 1854, shows au inequality of exclui^ges very nearly
-..A
TRADH WITH HUITI>>n XoltTH AMKIUCAN riiOVIXCKH.
; liiitirr,
itch, tar,
Diii-curn ;
KlHtoiu'Ji ;
eh I)(>th
iVcedom
pnpnlii-
of their
StiitcM.
'iity eni-
iices lor
w oWwv
(In strict
1(1 Ciiuji-
liiijj; tlic
lie other
Khoirhtf) the
fihc treaty
t('8. [ From
Free.
$9, :nit, 204
!•, !i;t;», r.84
10, •>:>!<., -Mi
7, l(ll,iir.rt
H, 55(1, n-iri
8, 740, 485
ll,Hr)!t, 447
K), r)l4, 077
14, if\i, 'iHl
r., 775, ;WH
10, M!l, :i5l
10, 880, (i(i7
I24, 372, 223
ot discriniiiitv-
of TracTo, Mr.
two sides
eratioii of
dnty-pay-
rovisions,
dent com-
the treaty
ne, whieh
existence
ery nearly
in the pi'opoition of two to one. Two hnndred mid thirty nine millions
of dolhirs' worth of (';iniidi;in prodncts foniid a free iniirket in the I'nited
Stati's, iiinU'r the provisions of the treaty, ii;;ninHt »uie hnnilii'd and
twenty four inillionsof Anierienn products for whieh the trenty op«>!ied
a free niiirket in the Cninidiis. Of tin' total Ciiiiiidiiin eoniinodities .sold
iti th<» Hniti'd Htntes dm inj,' the tw«'lve yenrs' ]>eriod, \)i i»er cent, eanio
tre<' iind hnt (► per cent. pai<l dnty, while ."iS percent, oidy of the Amer-
ican commodities sold in Ciiimdii passed free to their mnrket. and IL' per
cent., or iil»ont hidf, paid trihut*' ttt the enstoni-honscs of the provincial
^'overnmeid. Moreover, the entire sales from this eonntry to <"anada —
free f^ooils and dutiable ^jfoods, (h)mestic products and foreign rei'X-
poits — alto;.iether au;ii'e^(at<'<l less for the twelve years by )!<i;<;,(>()(»,(K)0,
than the Jhr f/ooflu whieh Canadian producers were einihled by the
treaty to sell in the Tnited States.
This was certainly \(M'> tar fr(»m beinj>' an arrau^i'ement o\' rvciprocid
free trade, and lu) statistical injucnnity, even takinji' advantaj:'*^ of the
imperfect cxjtoi't showin*;' of ofticial I'eturns in eitlu'i' count r\, could ever
make the treaty ai>i»ear otherwise than a badly <nie-si*U'd barj;ainso far
as its commenual stipulations were conceriHMl. AVhether the fishery
l)rivilejL>'es and the freedom of the navipition of the St. Lawrence, Avhicli
were thrown as make-weij^hts into the scale, a]iproximately constituted
an equivalent for Jie excress of advanta;i,e in trade that was gained by
the proviiK'es, is a (pu'stion jiboui which soiiu' differences of o[)iuion
have existed. It is certain that the privil'^ne of navi<;atin;4' the Si.
LawreiK'(? nMuained an almost nniised iHivde;i;'e durins;' the whi>le term
of the treaty. J low far it mig^lit be made valuable, Iv an enlarinemeut
of the Welland and St. I awrenee canals, I shall not undertake to dis-
cuss.
THE FISHERIES.
So far as concerns th'^ fisheries, there can be no doubt that the greater
freedoui which our iishermen enjoyed under the treaty, in i>ritish waters
and at the provincial ports, was of imi)ortance to thetn. But it may
seriously be doubted whether the worth of all that they gained,' over
and aboVe what justly belonged to them before, and what justly belongs
to them now, under i)rior treatiec, was greater than the worth of the
freedom of the markets of the United States to the peo[)le of the niari-
1^ time provinces .alone. It would seem that a full ecpiivalent for our fish-
ing privile,ges Mas given to those provinces to whom belong whatever
rights of proprietorship there are in the coast-fishing grounds, and
that all the encu'inous unreciprocated trading advantages given to the
Canadas in the bargain were a pure gratuity. Under the operation of
the treaty the ni.iritime provinces increased the sale in our markets of
the products of their own fishing from §l„(K)4,ir)8 in 1854 to $2,213,384
in 1805. Neither their fishing industries nor their fisheries sustained
anj' detriment from tiie admission of American fishermen within the
O,'
24
TRADE WITH llklTISIT NORTH AMrillCAN PROVINCES.
tlireo-inile iiishoro line. Avliile tliov proiitodto no ."=*iiiall extent from tlie
sellin^j; of snpplie.s to tliom. How mncli of actiinl ]H'ofit the ^New ICng-
laiid tisliermen found in the pi'ivih^f»(' of the insliore tislieiies, to offset
tlie aeconipanyin;j; comiK'tition of the provincial fishermen witli tlieni in
their own home markets, it is liard to estimate, since our statistics are
lamentably deficient in facts bearinji n]>on the subject. Apparently,
however, the vahie of the treatj' to them a\ as found more in the relief
that it afforded from th»' annoyance and harassing;' application of pro-
vincial reuuhitions. tl i in the yield of the fishinj;' grounds to Avhi(;h
tlu V wrre admitted bv it. At all events, the records of the enrolled ton-
uage employed in tlu^ mackerel and cod fisheries ^how no stimulation
of the business during' the period of the reciprocity treaty, but unmis-
takably the reverse, as may be seen in +he statement below, taken from
official .sources :
Statement of the enrolled tonnnge eniploijed h> the rod and muclcrel fisheries from 1852 to
1869, inehisire.
Years.
18.52 .
If 53
1854 ,
!-:,:> .
l«(i
1857 .
l.y>8 .
18.50
IHHI .
IsOl .
Coil flsluTy.
Mackpi'til flsli-
ery.
102.
liiil,
]0:>
102,
!'5.
104,
110,
120,
]:«;.
127,
039
227
104
927
8Hi
.572
891)
;577
t;.5:i
;uo
59,
a,".,
21,
29,
2?',
27,
2(1,
54,
546
8.50
041
(i24
880
327
553
0G9
110
295
Tonra.
18C2.
1803 .
1804 .
1805*
1800 .
1807 .
1808.
180''' .
Coil fi.sl)crv.
JllU'
I'ly.
122, 802
117, 289
92, 744
59, 228
42, 790
30, 708
80, .590
51,018
55, 498
41, 208
40, 589
31, 49S
83, 8t0
62, 704
'-Alter 180.5 tlic stilted tisiinimc is citlicr ]);irtly or w'loHy liy "new" ndmcasiireineiit, -wlii"!! proilncos
.sonic .iiiiiMM'Ul iliiiiiutition tint is not real.
It appears from the foreooing statenuMit that an actual and consider-
able decline in the number of American vessels engaged in the mackerel
fisheries occurred during the first six years of the reciprocity treaty, and-
that, with the single exception of the year 18G2, the business never em
i>loyed so much tonimge throughout the whole peiiod of the treaty as
it had employed in the two years before the treaty wa8 negotiated,
". hile the tonnage ])revi()usly ein]>loyed in the cod fisheries was barely
ke]>t engaged until 18(1;}, and after that likewise declined.
The.se facts are certainly very fai' from sustaining the prevalent idea,
particularly prevalent and mu.ch cherished in (Canada, that the conces-
sions added to our lishing rights on the ]]ritish North American coasts by
the recipio(dt.y treaty greatly promoted the Nev.^ England fishing inter-
ests, and were of such weighty value as to counterbalance the nneven
sharing of the commercial i)rivileges negotiated in the same contract.
Tlu importance with reference to these lishcries that came to be attached
to the treaty of isr>4, undcmbf. dly grew out of the welcome experience
of relief from unfriendly laws and harassing otticials which the Ameri-
can fi.shermen enjoyed under it, and the welcome quietus that it gave to
quarrels and (piestions which were constantly giving rise to dangerous
ra
TRADE WITH imiTISII NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
25
kerel flsh-
fiy.
1*0,
590
51,
018
55,
4'.I8
41
•JOf<
41)
5r^'.)
■M
4<tS
piodiK-es
!
national controversies. ]S"ow tliat the treaty lias eeased to exist, it is
tlie recuiTeiice of tljose same annoyances, aiul their consecjnence of ill
l)loo<l, far ihore than the loss of the "inshore lisherics,'' or the <lisi)nte(l
(hlinition of the "inshore lino," that j>ives serionsne-^s and importance
to the fisheries question. That they have been revived in the most
troublesome foxins that can be given to them — as they were nuule
troublesome to the fullest extreme before the treaty of recii)i'ocity was
negotiated — for the i)olitii' pnrpose of heifthtening' the imi)ortance to this
country of some compromise that will end them, theie is little room for
<luestioning-. Nor does it apjx'ar very doubtlul that thii-' policy origi-
nates at the same source from whence pro(;eeded the shrewd dii)lomacy
by which, in the treaty of 1854, th« nijtritime pro>ince8 were made to
furnish the consideration for privileges in trade from which U.e Cami-
dian provinces drew tiie lion's share of profit.
As between the United States and the maritime provinces, which are
chiefiy the parties in interest, the fisheries question could ]>robably be
settled very easily. Those provim^es would gladly exchange the free-
dom of their fishing grounds, and every desired laiubng and harbor
])rivilege, for free access to American markets with taeir fish, their oil,
their coal, their gypsum, their lund)er, their grindstones, and other pro-
ducts, and the best side of the bargain, so far as actual dollars and
cents' worth is concerned, wcmld be theirs at that. Indeed, so api)arent
to the people of the maritime pnninces are the advantages of such an
adJustnuMit of things, that the sentiment in favor of secnriug it by actual
annexation of thenrselves and their fisheries to the I'nited States has
strength enough to be boldly outspoken, and to support at least two
])rominent organs of its public expressi(m in the province of Nova Scotia.
Had an eftbrt been nuide, at the terndnation of the iiie<piitable treaty of
reciprocity, to negotiate a settlenumt of the fisheries (piestion on the
basis of free trade with the ju'evinces to whom the chicHy valuable fish-
eries ])elong — then se[)ara<^e as the since confederated ])rovinces were —
the situation of affairs in Uritish North America nught now have been
considerably different. .'
it
m EECIl'ltOCAL FEEE TEADE PRACTICABLE?
It is made plain tnough by the showing of the facts ])resented in this
rei)ort that abundaid reasons exist for a strong desire on our part, as
well as on theirs, to bring about an adjustment of our commercial re-
lations with all the British colonial states that are in neighbdihood to
us an.d especially with the Canadian i)rovinces, upon a more liberal and
more natural footing. But it is made e«pndly ))lain that the Uiuted
States can ne\er, in Justice to themselves, effect that adjustment upon
anything like the bases of the old treaty of reciprocity. We v.ant a
more free and a nu)re (jxteuded intercourse in trade with the four niil-
lions of people whose territory, in so many respects, is the geograjdiical
complement of our own ; but we want that freedom of intercourse to take
26
TRAbE WITH BRITISH NORril AMERICAN PROVIN'CES.
a range considerably beyond the raw pro(bictions in wliicli the two conn-
tries are mere competitors of cacli other, and witli reference to which
onr markets are necessarily of far greater valne to the piovinces tliau
theirs to us. We want, not merely to exchange breadsturtS; and pro-
visions, and coal, an<l hides and tallow Avith them, but to sell them (mr
cottons, our boots and slioes, our machinery, and oiu* manufactures gen-
erally, in trade for tlieir lund)er, their live Sto(;k, their ashes, their plas-
ter, their fiu's, their minerals, and the general products of their farms.
We want, in fact, such an {idjustment of tlie trade that the provinces
shall not sell what they have to sell in the Unitcel States and buy what
they luive to buy in Great IJritain.
• Is the arrangement of a reciprocal free trade extended to thai range
of connnodities practicable ? Ai)parently it is not, under ])resent con-
ditions. If the free admi -^'ou of American connnodities is suggested
in the ])rovinces, there arises at once the objection that their relations
with Great Britain forbid it; that they cannot discriminate against that
country in tavor of this, and that their reveinie necessities will not per-
mit the renK)ving of duties from the products of both. Nor could we
on this side afford the introduction of a state of free trade between our
territory and the provinces, with the circn.n.stances of the two countries
remaining as they are; with liigh prices and high wages prevailing upon
one side of the line, and low wages and low prices luevailing upon the
other; with th(i industries of the two people toned, if we may so express
it, in \\idely diiferent keys. To obliterate the boundary line, commer-
cially speaking, while these contrasts of circuiustance and the causes
behind them existed to still define it in every industrial respect, would
sinqdy invite the reujovalof a good part of our maiuifacturingestablish-
nuMits a(;r(Kss the frontier, to enjoy the cheap scale in making and the
dear scale in selling their products. Of course, time would tiiially level
all the differences existing at first, but the process would assuredly be
an expensive one to the United ^States.
A ZOLLVEREIX.
It appears, therefore, that an intimate freedom of commerce between
thi.s country and its northern neighbors, which is so desirable for both
nrties, cannot be contemplated except in connection with a material
t'l ange in th.e conditions of the foreign relationship that the i)rovinees sus-
tain towai-d us. It involves, of necessity, an entire identiticatior. of the
material interests of the two countries, by their c(»mmou associatit)n, in
some form or other. If the provinces do not choose to become one w ith
us i)(»litically, they nuist at least become one with us commercially,
before the bsuriers are thrown down which shut them out from an e(pml
particii)ation with us in the energetic working of the mixed activities
of the new world, and which deprive us, in a great measure, of the
rei>nfore«'ment that »hey are capable of bringing to those activities.
The alternative of annexation is the zoUverein, or a customs unic , after
"**?
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
27
COUll-
1 which
iS than
ul pro-
cm oiu*
•OS j^eii-
sir phis-
t'iinns.
oviiices
ly what
11 range
illt coii-
ggcsted
ehitions
nst that
not per-
!onUl we
vean our
ountrios
ng upon
ijKJU the
express
connner-
e causes
, would
stablish-
md the
ly h'vel
redly be
)etvvcen
tor ])oth
laterial
nces vsus-
m of the
ition, in
on(^ with
ercially,
an e(puil
ittivities
y, of the
tivities.
c , after
the plan of that under which the Gernuin states secured free trade
among themselves aiul identity of interest in their commerce with the
outside world.
A majority of the people of the British provinces may not yet be pre-
pared ill feeling (though many of them are) for an arrangen)ent which
lu'obably involves the di >j«)inting of tiieir jHtlitical attachment to (ireat
Britain, and the assumption 'for themselves of a state of jjolitical iiide-
I)endence; but the time cannot be very distant when the persuasion
of their interests will overpower the hardly ex[)lainable sentinu^nt by
which it is opposed. Perpetually made conscious, of late years, that
the parental nation to which they have loyally clung is more Than ready
to dismi'^^ them to an inde[»endent career, with a hearty God-speed, and
that they are far more endangered than i)rotected by their anomalous
Ciuinection with Great Britain, their feeling with reference to that con-
nection has confessedly' undergone a great ciiange. At the present
time the inhabitants of the provinces appear to be in ji doubtful, waver-
ing, transition state of opinion and sentiment, with regard to their future
policy as a i)eople ; much affected, on the one hand, by dissatisfaction
"with their relations to England, and, on the other hand t>y a mistaken
belief that it is the ambitious i)oli(!y and fixed purpose of their Ameri-
can neighbors to coerce them into a surrender of themselves and their
territory to the United States. That it is alike against the political
convictions and against the manifest interest of this nation to covet the
forcible absorption into its body-politic of any unwilling, alien, discon-
tented conunnnity of people, so large as that of the British provinces,
and that their accession to it is only desirable, and only desired, if they
come by free choosing of their own, is a fact whi<5h they will probably
discern when their rellections have Ijecome more deliberate.
There does exist a feeling in the United States with reference to
them which it ought ]U)t to be difticult for the peoi)le of the provinces
to understand. It is the unwillingness of a reasonable Jealousy, and of
a Just, prudential selfishness, to extend the material benefits of member-
ship hi the American Union, witliout its responsibilities and reciprocal
obligati(nis, to comnninities with Miiich the certain relations of an inde-
pendent friendship i-annot be cultivated or maintained; which are con-
trolled by a distant foreign imwer, and whi(.*h are at all times liable to
be placed in an attitude of unfriendliness or hostility to this country by
causes outside of themselves, ov through events in connection with which
they have nothing on their own ])art to do. lietween two eq:ndly
indepen<lent and responsible nationalities, homogeneons in blood and
character, and with every interest in connnon, situaied as the United
States and their northern neighbors are towar<l each other, it would be
as ea'.<y to settle the relaticms of intimate fellowship upon an enduring
basis, as it is made (litlicult to do so in the case of these provinces, by
reasons of their dependent status.
The circumstances which make the common boundary of the two
T*
lattB^^;..ii,M^:.^>.f.^. .,.p^p
^mSSfc^
28
TRADE WITH imiTISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
{.'oiuitries an actual barrier instead olaii iinajiinary line, are under tlieir
control, not ours. It is for them to determine wliicli attects tlieni most
importantly, tlieir political association Mith Great IJritain, or their com-
mercial and industrial association in interest with the United States,
and MJiich shall W yielded to the other, since the two are umiucstionably
in contlict. There is no apparent evasion of the choice that they must
make.
THE TKAXSIT TliADE.
In every commercial respect the dependence of the provinces of the
Dominion of Canada — especially of the old Canadian provinces — upon
the United States, is almost absolute. To say so is not to make an arro-
gant boast, l)ut to state a simple fact, llestricted as the intercourse
between tlie Canadas and this country unhappily is now, they derive
from it almost wholly the life which animates their industry and their
enterpiise. The railroad system which gives them a circulation of en-
ergies, and by which their resources are being developed, is theofispring
of the East and West tratlic of the United States. Its trunk lines are
supported, and were made possible undertakings, by the carrying busi-
ness that they command from point to point of the American frontier,
across intervening Canadian tcrrit<n'y. American commerce instigated
the building of their AVellanu and St. Lawrence Canals, and furnishes
the compensation for the cost of both. Americai: commerce is the insti-
gator to, and the guarantor for, every similar enterprise that is now con-
templated in the provinces.
These are not exaggerated representations. They are borne out by
the returns of the trailic of the chief Canadian railways and canals.
The following is a statrjnent, in tons, of the property transported
through the Welland Canal in I8G9, showing the proportions of Ameri-
can and Canadian commerce employing the canal:
From Airn'ricnii to Airrricaii purts tens..
From Aiiiii i<;iii to ("aniidiiiii jioi'ts .tons. .
From Ciiiiiuliiiii to A Micriiaii jmits tons..
From C'aiiiuliiin to Ciiiiadiaii ports tons..
Up.
Down.
Total.
277,005 I 411,035
5, 843 210, (08
78.480 I 50,455
10,000 I 178,751
088, 700
215, 851
134, 935
195. 417
The following is a statement of the freight traffic of the Great West-
ern Eailway of Canada, f«n' the year ending July .'il, 1870 :
Cattle.
Sheep.
Hogs.
Grain.
Other
freiglit.
Reti'ipts.
ForoifT" traffir, cast wan!..
For«'i<;n tratiic, westward .
Head.
33, 329
Hmd.
129, 784
Tfead.
99, 001
Bushels.
2, .597, 042
Tons.
213, 739
130, L-25
£ s. d.
203, 499 1 1
99,002 9 10
Total lbnij;n traffic. . .
Local traffic, (both wajs). .
33, :m) 1 129, 784
99, 001 2, 597, 042 3.50, 504
303. I(i2 1 4
37, ia5
77, 648
20, 593 2, 330, 555 j 323, 585
194,191 14 2
I have been unable to procure a statement of the traffic of the Grand
Trunk Eailway of Canada, the management of which ai)pears to pursue a
policy of concealment with regard to its business; but very much the
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
29
Total.
cm,
700
•215,
fjl
VM,
<.KJ5
lOo,
417
i;i. u,-i 1 4
1
same state of facts Avoiild niidonbtodly be shown on that road as on the
Great Western. The extent to Avliieh the (irrand Trnnk Kailway shares
in the tionr and ^rain trade of the United States, appears in the foHow-
ing statement of the qnantities of tliose artiek^s whicli were ship[)ed
upon it from its two western frontier termini, Sarnia and Goderich, in
the year 18(51) :
Flour.
Jinrreh.
4;u, HtO
90, U-2
■Wheat.
Joru.
Otber grain.
Prom Fnitpd Stntos to Fnitcil States, iu transit
From Fuitod Statea to Canada
liKxhels.
i-J."), !»()0
l,(i!)-i, i:'3
670, 230
BtixlcU.
l«l, (i4;i
48, B31
The foregoing figures supply their own commentary and fnlly sustain
the remark with which they were introduced, that the n)aiii railways
and canals of Canada owe their existence and their supi)ort to the com-
merce of the United States, in the transportation of which they share.
On the other hand, a large i)ortion of the commerce between the old
Canadian provinces (Ontario and (j>uebec) and foreign countries, other
than our own, is carried on through the United States. This is made
necessary by the winter closing of the St. Lawrence, and by the fact that
no railroad connection between the Canadian interiiU" and the seaports
of the maritime provinces exists, and that one can be formed only by
taking so wide, costly, and inconvenient a circuit that its commercial
usefulness wlien realized Avill be very slight. Acc(U'ding to the "Trade
and Navigation" tables published by the government of the Dominion,
the foreign goods passing through the United States under bond to the
Canadian imi)orter, in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1800, amounted in
value to $0,825,105. This is exclusive of foreign goods purchased in
the United States market, in bond, to the value of $1,701,905.
According to the returns compiled in the Bureau of Statistics at
Washington, the foreign commodities carried through the United States
to Canada in the ti.scal year ended June 30^ 180t), amounted to the vahie
of 811,813,020, (more than double the quantity appeiiring in the Canadian
statistics,) and the Canadian commodities shi[»ped through the United
States to countries abroad aggregated $5,701,107. In the fiscal year
ended June 30, 1870, the goods shipped tlirough the United States to
Canada were of the value of 810,510,037, and from Canada, $0,032,003.
The greater part of this in transitu trade is to and from Portland, ^Nlaine,
over the (Jrand Trunk Railway, as appears in the following statement
of it for 1870, made by districts :
I
Districts.
lippojvod tVom 1 Shijipi'd to
Canada. i Canada.
Portland
13, 273, 773 JIO, 708, 800
3 4.">.'i 740 2, .'5012 614
Vcrmrnit
Dot roit
119,572 i 111 270
Port Hurtm
,59 017 1 7 975
N(!W York
12, 093 2, 861. 150
7, 70 L 7 701
P.iHsaniaiinoflilv, Maino
Mihvauket! ' ,
2,409 .
2, 388 1 2f() 127
15oston ,•
Total
0,932,693 16,519,037
. 'i itew ii i l ii
30
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
No one will question that avo find convenience and advantage in the
nse of Canadian (;hannels I'or the passage of our commerce between the
Eastern and AVestern States, nor tliat we find profit in acting as the
carriers of so large a part of the comnievce of ('anachi with the outside
world. ])Oth these arrangements of tra(h^ are of important value to this
country, ami its interests would sutler materially from any suspension
of either; but the difference in the situation of the two countries with
reference to them is very marked. To the Canadian provinces their
importance is nothing less than vital, since, on the one hand, the very
sustenance of the arterial system of the Canadas is derived from the
American commerc" which circulates through it; wliile, on the other
hand, their own commerc'e witu the world abroad can only be conducted-
at exceeding disadvantage, if at all, for five months of the year, other-
wise than across the territory of the United States, and by the privilege
of the customs regulations of the American Government. The contem-
plation of such a state of facts must make it a very serious question to
the Canadian people whether they can atford to let their relations with
the United States remain in a i)recarious state, subject to disturbance
by causes that are totally foreign to themselves.
CANADIAN AND AMERICAN TAIilFF POLICIES.
The proposed arrangement of a commercial union, or zollverein, with
no tariff between the States and the independent provinces that become
parties to it, and a common tariff for all outside trade — dividing the
common revenue collected from customs duties upon equitable terms — is
an arrangement which would place the provinces in the utmost security
of interested relationship with this country, and which, beyond all ques-
tion, would yield great advantage and profit to both people. There are
obstacles and ai)parent objections, to be sure, in the way of such an
arrangenuMit, but they are less serious in the reality than in the appear-
ance. The ol)jection raised, on the other side, upon the score of the wide
diflerence that has existed of late years between the tariff policy of the
United States and the tariff policy of the Dominion, is an objection which
a few years more seem likely to remove, in any event. AVhile the tend-
ency in this country is toward a moderation of the extreme protection
duties that were caused by the necessities of the war, the tendency in
Ci^nada, with reference to duties, is a steadily advancing one. Opinions
fa^ orable to a pronouiu'cd policy of protection are manifestly gaining
verv decided strength in the Dominion, and some, at least, of the
promineit public men now in office, including the premier of one of the
provinces, are aniong their advocates. Within the last year, the Con-
gress of the United States reducied and abolished duties in the American
tariff, estimated at the sum of $2G,()()0,000 per annum, while the parlia-
ment of the Dominion, at its corresponding session, made considerable
additions to the Canadian tariff. Within the past twelve years the
average rate of the Canadian tariff has at least doubled. In the last
TRADE WITH HRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCP:S.
31
fiscal yenr, tlio duties ('olloctcd in the Dominion ainonntod to 21 por cent,
on the dntiable ('oniinoditi<'s imported. In tlie same year, it is trne, tlie
duties eolleeted in the United States averaged 4(5 i)er cent, on the duti-
able conunodities imported, but tlie current fiscal year will ]»robably
ghow a falling- of the latter rate to less than M) per cent, and an advance
in the former rate to jterliaps 2,'} or 24 jx-r cent. The wicU' ditference by
Avhich the two countries have been a])art in their tarill i)olicy is certainly
destined to disai)pear in no very long time, whatever their relations to
each other may be.
CANADA AS A "CHEAP COUNTRY."
It was renmrked not long- since, by a prominent Canadian gentleman,
that the policy of the Dominion was to nmke a cheap country. Tliat
])olicy has undoubtedly been successful in realizing its object; but
whether "cheapness," as an ultimate end, is a wisely-chosen object of
public policy may be questioned.
•aining
of the
i of the
le Con-
inericau
parlia-
derable
sars the
lie last
AYAGES AND THE CO.ST OF LIVING.
To ascertain how labor staiuls affected by the chea]>ness that prevails
among- our northern neighbors, I have procuu-ed a representative state-
ment of wages and of the prices of articles that enter most into the
cost of living, taken at several points in Ontario, in the two chief towns
of Xew Brunswick, and in the city of Quebec. Tlie mean average be-
tween the four points represented in Ontario is, I think, a fair one for
that province, which is by far the uiost active and prosperous section of
the Dominion; that between the two towns reported from in New
BrunsAvick is, uo doubt, something- abov<^ the gencMal average of wages,
and, possiblj-, ot prices, in the province. How nearly the summer aver-
age of wages in the city of (Quebec represents the sa nu' in the province
of Quebec I am not now jible to saj', though it is certainly indicative of
the prevailing- state of industry.
These figures are placed, below, in comparison Avith similar figures
representing- the mean average of wages and prices in the States of
New York and Maine, the latter of which are derived from the elaborate
tables upon the subject compiled and published within the past year by
the Bureau of Statistics at Washington. The New York and Elaine
report is for the year l.S(>9, while the Canadian statenu'ut presents the
average prices of labor and of commodities that [U'evailed during the
summer of 1870; but, so far as the difference in time affects the accuracy
of the comparison, it is rathei to the advantage of the Canadian side,
since juices in the United States have declined to some extent during-
the year past.
32
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
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TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 33
If we reduce the wa^os paid in tl.e Tlnitecl Stat(^s to their e.,ni valent in
the currency with which (Canadian workmen were paid, l>y cah-ulation of
the <mrrent prenmnn on gold in 18(;o, (whi<,li uveraged about ;JL> per cent.,)
we 8hal find that wa,^e.s ni New York average 25 per cent. morl. in the
gokl value than .v.iges m Ontario, and 80 per cent, n.ore tlian in the
city of Quebec, and that the gold vahie of wages in Maine in tio per cent
greater than m New Brunswick.
But the faii-er comparison of the earnings of labor in the two coun-
tries is to ascertain the purchasing value of each, or their ratio in each
countiy to the cost of living. This we do hi the table subjoined, which
exhibits the prices of the principal articles of connnon consumption,
and the ordinary rates of board and house rent, in the same localities
that are cited in the toregoing table, and for the same periods of time :
8
34
TRADE WITH BRIIISH NOliTII AMERICAN PROVINCES.
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T!IA1)K WITH imiTIHII NORTH AMHRICAN PROVIN(?ES.
I
Acconliii}; to the mciin liitios obtiiiiicd tioin tlic forc^oin^' tuldcs, tlio
>vii;;j('M of the av<'iaj'«' work. nan in Now York arc <»'> per <'(Mit. jjivater
tlian the muw wajxcs in Ontario, whih^ the coMt of his lixiny; is but oS
]M'i(*('nt. jfieator ; h'avinj; a clear excess of 7 per cent, in his favor.
The waf^cs of the avera;^*' workman in Maine are IS pw cent, ^-r^ater
than the same wa;;('s in N<'w IJrnnswick, and the cost of his livin;^' isl)ut
42 per cent, jfreater; h'avin^" a clear excess of ."{(» |mm- cent, in his favor.
Between New York and the city of (^nehec the ditt'erencc is ahnost
incredible: wajjes V,iS \\v\' rvut. hij;her in tlie former, and tlMM^ost of
Ma in^ but 4.'{ per cent, hijjher, hjivinj;' IKl jx-r cent, clear excess of earn-
ings to labor in New York.
It may he doubted, howev«'r, whether a Just ratio of prices is obtained
by calcniatinjjf the mean rate between prices in so miscellaneous a list.
A nunc a(!cnrate calculation may be nnule by another method. Takinj^
on each si<le e(|nal quantities of the various articles quoted, in an esti-
mate ui' the probable consunqdion of an ordinary family, 1 arrive at
the following? results:
That which costsj^KM) in jjfold in Ontario cost $U52 in currency in New
York, or JBUiU 72 in M'<>hl; whilci for every $100 of wa;;es that the aver-
Him' workman re<'eived in Ontario, he was i)aid -^105 in currency in New
I'ork, or $125 in {j;old. Excess of purchasin<;- value in New York wages
over Ontario wages, 2.28 i)er cent., gold nu^asurement.
That whi(;h cost $100 in gold in New Unniswick cost $141 in currency
in Maine, or $100 82 in gold ; while for every $100 of Mages that the aver-
age workman received in New Brunswick, he received $178 currency, or
$134 84 gold in Maine. Excefii of pur<;hasing valne in Maine wages
over New lirunswick wages, rj8 per cent., gold nu'asnremcnt.
That which cost $100 in the city of Quebe<!, cost $152 currency in the
State of New Y\)rk, or $115 15 in gold; while for every $100 of wages
that the average worknum rei^eived in Quebec, he was paid $2.38 curren-
cy, or $180 geld, in New Y'ork. Excess of purchasing value in New
Y'ork wages over wages in the city of (Quebec, 04.85 per cent., gold
measurement.
In other words, by the same labor and . i^li the same living, the av-
erage workman can make and save $2 i.S ( ,old), out of every $100 of
earnings, more in New York than in Onts rio : $28 more in Maine than
in New Brunswick, and $04 85 more in New I'^ork than in the city of
Quebec.
It is certainly plain enough that labor gains nothing, but loses very
seriously, from the state of cheapness prevailing in the Dominion.
THE SAVINGS OF INDUSTRY.
The state of a country with reference to the aceumulating energy of
its productive industries, and the general prosperity of its people, is
indicated with tolerable certainty now-a-days by its savings institutions.
The savings on deposit throughout the Dominion at the close of 1869,
TRADE WITH IlllITISIT \OUTFr AMKIilCAV PROVIXCES. 37
in tliti ]MHt oHUm^ MjiviiijjK bsiiiks, iti tnintofH' snviiijfs biiiiks, in rliait-
oivd biinUs, iiud in tlii' iiiinds oriMiiidin;- sdcit'tit's, was csriinatrd by tlm
compilrrof the ''('aniuliiin Y«'ar Itoolv" at J!»1>,lOS,iri(). Attlu' bcHimiin^'
of the .same year tlie deposits in tlie savin<,'.s banks of the State of New
York, drawn from Mie earnings of bnt a little lar;4er popnlation, were
retnrned at )!«i<!!>,SI).S,(i7,s, (Mpii\ .dent to alumt ><I27,(>0(I,0(»() in ;;(>ld, or
hnirteen times the total sum i»f savinf>;s in the Dominion. The savin/^s
deposited in Massaehusetts at tlie sanu^ i>eriod, by a p«'o|»le nnnd>erin«^
about one-third the population of the Dominion, were )!i<!>.'i,(»(H),U00, rcpiiva-
lent to about $71,(MK),()0U in ;;old ; and the latest pu!>lished returns fr<mi
the savinj-s banks in all the New En;;land States show as follows:
MiisHatlinscttH $112, llU.Olfi
C'diiiKTticiif 47.!»(H,K54
Tfliodti IhIiiikI 27, OCT, 072
Aliiiuo 10, 4U(», IJfiH
Ni-w Ifiiiiijwliirc IH, 7.')!), 4(il
Voniioiit 2. o;57.!>:<4
Total New Kngliiud 218, :17H, (isr>
AC;c;iTMrLi\.TEI) wkaltif.
Statisti(5S from which to cahMdate the sietual w^ealth of the provinces
are not at present attainable. J'jven the assessed valuation of real and
l>ersonal property fen- puriK)ses ol' taxation 1 have been able to procure
oihv for Ontario, and there no later than lH(i7. The com[»aris()n of
I>rv)[»erty, as assessed in Canada and the United States, must be a tol-
erably just one, since tlie undervaluation cannot be far from alike in
both eases. Ontario is by far the wealthiest of all the provinces, both
actually and i)roi)ortionately, and its otlicial statement of the assessed
value of real and personal property for three years is as follows :
Years.
]8(ir).
iKtit! .
1867*
Assessed value
of real ustaU-.
; Assessed vilitc I
of pei'sonal
pioiieity.
^3'->, 7H-J,01fi
2:»)!<, -JO 1, ().")-
ai2, 88e, iXt
Total.
H\ :t">7, ftti!»
2(i, a!l5, 087
23, U(W, 077
ijii.".", i:ill, HJ.5
2(M. VMi, 711
236, S.")l, 512
* Tho fact that the aBsossed valuns (tf i)roperty wi^ru lowered to tlio extent of $38,000,000 tho year fol-
lowing tho abrogatiou of the reciprocity treaty is cortaiuly not without signiflcanco. ■...; 'k
In Massa(;husetts, with notinon; than seventy per cent, of the popula-
tion of Ontario and twenty per cent, of its occupied territory, the
assessed valuation of real and personal i)roperty in the same three
years was as follows :
Assessed valne ^^^,.^,„.,, ,.„i„„
of personal
projMrty.
of real estate.
Total.
1865.
1866.
1867.
■'i-.P-
Wf(i, 079, 955
■m\, •il'i, 298
437, 728, 296
^0."), 7 til, 916
ti.">l,Ot:t, 703
708, 1()5, 117
J99I,841,<«>1
l,08I,:Uti, (Mil
1, 105, 893, 413
tSB-PsmOaim:. i.4i».*«ii,iife«,j-4afa^.
38
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
!i
lii
fii
These of course are valuations in a depreciated currency. In 18G7 the
average premium on gold was thirty-nine per cent. Eeduced by that, the
assessed valuation of property iu Massachusetts was $8.38,772,239 in
gold, or about $055 i)er capita, against $236,851,512, or about $131 per
capita in Ontario.
In Ohio the assest;ed valuation of real and personal property, in 1808,
was $1,143,401,380, or $810,758,132 in gold, equivalent to ab(uit $325
per capita. Taking the Northern States of the Union together, they un-
doubtedly exhibit on the average more than double the value of prop-
erty per capita tliat is shown in Ontario, where the proportionate value
of property must largely exceed that iu (Quebec or iu the maritime
provinces.
BANKING CAPITAL AND CIRCULATION.
The capital employed in banking amounts to but $32,753,242 in
the entire Dominion, of A.hich $30,303,842 is iu Ontario and Quebec,
$2,000,400 in Nova Scotia, and $320,400 in New Brunswick. An active,
vigorous, and enterprising state of business in so large a conuuunity of
people is clearly impossible with that limited sum of cajutal in banking —
a sum e(pial to but about $8 per capita. In the nineteeri States north
of the Potomac and the Ohio and east of the Missouri, with a ])opula-
tion of about 20,000,000 people, there is a capital of $418,000,000 in
national banks alone, or $10 per capita, besides the capital of banks
still doing busMiess under State charters, which amounts to $15,000,000
intheo:ie State of New York. In the New England States the national
bank capital is $37 per capita, and in New York the total capital in
chartered banking is $28 p*^r head.
The currency in circulation, banknotes, and Drminion treasury notes,
has rapidly swelled within the past year, from $15,082,105 on the 1st of
Januajy, 1870, in Ontario and (j)uebec, to $25,514,100 in the same i)rov-
iiires on thi^ 1st of October last. At the lirst-named sum — less than $5
per capita — the money in use (making full allowance for gold and silver
iu circulation) was as nuu;h too restricted for an energetic state of busi-
ness as the intlated volume of currency in the United States is too
stimulating. Tlie process of inflation that has commenced so rapidly in
the Dominion, howe^er, bids fair iu the end to more than remove all
conti'ast in that particular.
PUBLIC DEBT.
On the 30th of April, 1870, according to a statenu'ut from the auditor
general, the public debt of the Dominion, deducting cash and banking
accounts, Mas $90,584,807. Apparently, however, this statement did
not include the outstanding Dominion treasury notes in circulation,
.of which $7,450,.');?4 had been issued in October last. Relatively to
liojmlation, this drht of the Dominion, amounting to about $20 per
cai)ita, appears trilling- iu comparison with the debt of the United States;
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 39
auditor
jiiuUing
cut did
ulatioJi,
ively to
$L'() per
Htates ;
but relatively to the wealth of tlie two countries, their resources, and
energies, it may be questioned, from the indications heretofore ftiven,
whether the disparity of the burden of debt is so great jis many in the
provinces imagine. Whatever the disparity may be, it will certainly
disappear in the accomplishment of the policy of ex^nniditure which the
^ /. government of the Dominion has laid out, with reference to political
necessities that grow wlioUy out of an anomalous situation — such, for
example, as the building of the Intercolonial Railway and the projecled
railway across the continent to British ('Olumbia, parallel with the line
of the Americau Xorthcn-n Pacific, to neither of which undertakings
does the commerce of the continent otter any encouragement.
BrMIGEATION AND EMiailATION.
If no other facts existed to show that the conditions of life in the Do-
minion of Canada, with its cheapness and its lighter taxes, as compared
with the United States, are not conditions to be intelligently i)referred
by those who are free to choose, the facts of immigration and emigrarioii
show it stril'"' igly.
Out of 74,;iG5 foreign immigrants to the New World, who landed at
Canadian ports in 1809, only 18,300 paused to seek homes in the Douiin-
ion, and 57,202 passed on to onr Western States. In 1808 the number
reported as makingasettienuMitin th'^ Dominion was but 12,705, against
58,083 going through to tlie Unite<l States. For the year just closed,
the statistics of immigration into the Dominion at large are not yet at-
tainable. Within a few days, however, the Ontario Commissioner of
Agriculture, who has charge of immigration, has published his report,
from which it appears that the measures adopted in tliat province to
attract settlers from Great Britain, and to assist their removal, have
largely incr;'ased the arrivals in Ontario during the past twelve months.
The commissioner reports the number for the year ending December .'U,
1870, at 25,200. Althougli to a great extent this does not rei)resent a
natural movement of immigration, but is the result of systematic ettbrts
that are being made in England by various societies to deport some of
the more sutt'ering classes of the poor poi)nlation of that country, still,
so far as concerns Ontario, it produces a consideraide change in theta(*ts
heretofore existing. But if Ontario is making some gain of i>opulation
from foreign immigration, tliat ]»rovin('e, in this as in most matters, is a
favored exception. Without much reasonable doubt the other provinces,
and especially (Quebec, are steadily losing nunc by emigration to the
United States than they gain by immigration from abroad.
- I am indebted to Mr. Young, ('hief of the Bureau of Statistics, for the
following shitement, comi)il('d from returns made of immigrants arriving
in the United States from the Briti.sh ?sr(nth Ameiican possessions for
eleven years past : - , - -■ - ,:,...,,,..
40
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
Years.
Number.
1
Years.
Number.
IPGO
4, 51 i
'-, 00!)
;j, -^75
;j, 404
;», o;«i
2I,5HG
■S-l 150
' IPC?
6, OH
10, 8!)l
18(il
1 808
l.-fK
IHO'.t
;}0, 921
40, 411
1803
1870
18(i4
1 Total
]8()5
158. 934
leec
i
m
Biit those are more thiin doubtful st.atistics; nor does it .appear pos-
sible to se(!ure auy trustworthy euuniei atiou of the persons who come
into the TJnitcd States from tlie British provinces with intent to make
this country their home. Tiio figures giveu above are obtained, 1 be-
lieve, from returns made by the officers of customs, in connection with
the entering- of household goods, which are admitted free as "settlers'
effects." If exact to that extent, they wouhl only represent the class of
immigrants who come witli families and household effects, wholly omit-
ting the perhaps larger class of young men from the ])rovinces who
seek their fortunes in the United States, and Avho, as they cross the
frontier, are in. no way to be distinguished from ordinary travelers.
But even for what they purp* .t to exhibit, I fear that our statistics of
provincial emigration are not to be trusted. I have reason to know
that some of the returns of immigratiou from froutier crossiug jioints
are almost entirely, if not wholly, founded upon careless guessing on
the part of railway agents and clerks, as to the number of persons likely
to have aiuiompanied a giveu quantity of " settlers' ettects." Perhaps
these are exceptional cases, but more probably not, since there is noth-
ing to compel the taking of the trouble which accurac,y would require.
It is possible, too, that the aggregate result of such estimating may be
not far from the true fact, but that is a matter of no certainty.
As for the large class of immigrants of whom no account can possil%
be taken niien they cross the frontier, Mr. Young, who has been gath-
ering information on thc3 subject, thiakts they may be safely estimated
at 10,000 for the ])ast year.
All definite statements, however, with regard to this emigration from
the provinces must be made and received with considerable doubt. It
can only be said with certainty (and that no one at all acquainted with
the facts will disj)ute) that the annual movement from the Oanadas and
from the maritime provinces to the United States is very large. The
Dominion suifers in no respect more seriously than in the loss of the en-
terprising young num who are being constantly enticcHl away from it to
seek wider opportunities in the United States than their own country
affords; some of them to return after a time, but the greater part to
establish permanent ties and make permanent homes in " the States."
Such ar(^ to be found everywhere in the Union, and no adopted element
in the American population contributes more to its stock of energy or
is of greater value. During the late war many thousands of Canadian
young men volunteered iu the Union armv and shared our national
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 41
gatll-
t
strng^lo with us, the larger proportion of the survivors of whom are
probably citizens to-tlay under the government for which they fought.
From the province of (Quebec, where the circumstances of the general
population are growing less prosperous rather than improving, emigra-
tion across the line into New Eiighinil and elsewhere has assumed such
proportions within the past two or three years as to become a very
serious subject of discussion in the journals of the province. It is
exceedingly ujifortunate that we have no trustworthy data from which
to calculate its extent. There are two migratory movements from
Quebec, one periodical and temporary, the other permar.ent. Large
numbers of the French Canadian laborers and small farmers leave their
homes on the ai)proach of winter, cross to the United States, lind winter
employment here, son^e even in the Southern States, and return to their
homes again in the spri;ig. How^ this number compares with those who
I)ermanently remove themselves to the United States it is impossible to
say. That the latter have greatly multiplied during late years we
know, from the importance which the French Canadian element is
assuming among the operatives in the New England lactories, and from
what is acknowledged by observers in Quebec. Intelligent French
Canadian gentlemen in that pro\ince estimate that there are already
more of their race in the United States than at home. Said one of the
daily newspapers of Montreal in October last: "Statistics tell us, and
any one who has traveled in the United States will confirm the fact,
that we annually sutler a heavier loss through native persons leaving
the country than the total figure of the immigration returns. There
are, at a low computation, half a million native-born Canadians now
domiciled in the United States. They are established in the republic,
not because they prefer that form of government, but because the s[>irit
of enterprise seemed to have died out on this soil, and there was no
field o])ened to skilled industry.-' The same newspaper, in an article a
few weeks ])revious, had stated the fact that " our farmers realize very
little Mioie for their hay and oats than they did thirty years since, and
the -i'-quences are that farm lands are deelinimj in value in the pro-
vi:H:, '!( ' returns, minus tin- labor, are smaller; the margin of profit
remain; • to the farmer at tin end of the year, jifter ])aying and feeding
his men, is less.'' It was said in a public address by one of the pronu-
uent public men of the province of Quebec a little more than a year ago :
" The emigration of comm )n laborers to the States is something actually
alarming; and it could not be otherwise, for our water-powers are
neglected, our mim!S are closed, and we have no means of furnishing
employment to our people." Within a few weeks past, to cite one more,
an Jiority, the leading newspa|)er of the city of Quebec, the Daily
O.L picle, made the folUvwing statement, which has a two-fohl signifi-
cance: " Unfortunately it is a truism, and requires no demonstration,
that ship-building, forujerly the main industry of Quebec, nas alnioNt
ceascd to exist, and that conse(j[ueutly our laboring population, the very
42
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
bone and sinew of the body politic, were eommencinff ^ seek in the
adjoining" reimblic that employment which was no longer to be fonnd
here. Too manj', indeed, already, we fear, h-ve removed permanently
from our province."
General evidence of the magnitude of the emigration that goes on
from the Dominion to the United States is abundant, though the statistics
to represent it in defined nund)ers, with toierable exactness, are lacking.
What is true of (Quebec is undoubtedly true to not much less extent of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and if Ontario does not lose popula-
tion in equal numbers it loses very considerably from a class whose
young blood is the life force of a countrj*. Against these losses there is
no equal ott'set or exchange. Emigration from the United States to the
provinces is limited, though valuable to the huicr, because chiefly cou-
fine<l to men who go there witli a definite enterprise in view, and gen-
erally with capital, to engage in lumbering, or mining, or salt making,
or oil producing, or general speculation and trade. Under different con-
ditions, the number of these would unquestionably be multiplied to a
very great extent.
PAKTIAL PKOSPEi i" IN THE DOMINION.
I hope I shall not be accused of having labored to make a representa-
tion of circumstances unfavorable to our northern neighbors. I give the
facts as I have found them, in seeking, without preconceived notions, to
ascertain the relative situation of afiairs in the two countries, which be-
came, as I have viewed it, a necessary part of the subject S'lbmitted to
ine for investigation. I group these facts here to show, as I think they
do show, that if that which a])pears to be the only practicable arrange-
ment under which a natural state of trade between the United States
and tlie British provinces can be established, involves a change in the
conditions that prevail within the latter, assimilating them to the con-
ditions existing in the United States, the change cannot be one to the
detriment of the perple of the provinces, and cannot form a forbidding
obstacle to the arrangement.
I know and I do not contradict the claim to ])rosperity that h'
asserted in considerable portions of the Dominion. Prosi)erity, upon tlie
nioderati scale to which everything is adjusted in the provin(.'es, does
exist throughout most of Ontario, in the city of Montreal, and in several
snmll inanulactuiing towns that have grown up in the lower provinces;
a degree of prosperity quite in contrast with the aspect of affairs, gen-
erally speaking, in Quebec, and for tlM^ most part prevailing in the mari-
time provinces. The i)eople of Ontario are very comfortable; many of
the towns show more life than they formerly did, are adding to their
industries, and are slowly growing. One branch of manufactuv », the
woolen manufacture, has obtained quite a root, and has risen to consi»l-
erable inagnitude within a few years ))ast; so nnu'h so as to diminish
the importation of woolens nearly a million of dollars in 18G1) from the
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
43
n the
found
ueiitly
OPS on
tistics
ckiug.
tent of
(opula-
whose
liert^. is
\ to tlie
iy cou-
ld goii-
laking,
'lit foil-
ed to a
•esenta-
>ive the
ions, to
licli he-
ittod to
Ilk they
■range-
States
in the
h(5 con-
to the
ridding-
that i.*
)on tlie
OS, does,
several
)vinces;
rs, gen-
ie mari-
nany of
to their
111 », the
consiu-
Uiiiinish
10 m the
importation of 1808. In railway enterprise there is a noticealile stir of
Ufe, stiinuh'ited in great part by the American transit trade, though
. partly directed toward the development of the "back settlements" of
Ontario.
COiOIEROlAL ftllOWTII OF MONTREAL.
I>ut nowdiere and in nothing else is the display of really energetic
forces equal to that at Montreal. The city of ^Montreal has certainly
made an astonishing advance in commercial importance within the last
few years. The conspicuous feature, and, perhaps, the conspicucus
cause connected with its commercial rise, has been the establishment
and remarkable success of the splendid line of ocean steamers which
a single Canadian firm has placed atloat, connecting Montreal with
both Liverpool and Glasgow by regular direct lines. Commencing
in 1850 with four steamers and a caj)acity of G^t'S^t tons, this great
fleet of the Messrs. Allan & Co. now numbers eighteen steam ves-
sels, among the finest on the seas, with a total capacity exceeding
42,000 tons. The rise of this flourishing Canadian mercantile steam
navy is .i more notable fact by reason of its contrast with the decline of
the ocean steani shipping of the United States.
DIVERSION OF AMERICAN GRAIN TRADE.
Perhaps it is owing chiefly to the organization of operations in com-
merce incident to the effect of the estaldishmeiit of such lines of for-
eign connection, that Montreal began, two years ago, to accomplish a
powerful diversion of the movement of our Western cereals away from
New York. The very extensive sudden transition, iiarticularly in the
movement of wheat, whi(;h occurred in 1860, claims serious attention.
It api)ears in the following statement of Hour and grain passing
through the Welland Canal, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the quan-
tity stated as going "to Canada" being almost wholly destined for
IMontreal :
(iuantities ofjhtir aiid grain immny into Canada from the United Slatei^ ; also quantities in
transit to ports in the United States during four years past.
FLOUll.
WHEAT.
INDIAN COUN.
OTlir.U GKAIN.
Year.
i
e t
.■S'/2
s
H
- a:
t. —
5
= J
Bunhfh.
4, 2,50, 232
.5, 44H, 144
5, OHO, 00(i
7, 024, 835
a
03
O
o
H
= 2
1866
1867
1868
:»869
Barrelg,
8, 1(12
4. 401
03, 54(i
lO."), SKilJ
Barrels.
8(i(!, 314
l,in3, ()^^i
1,4.V). 047
1,300,054
Biuilmh.
14,063
23, 804
87, 223
5, 458, Oi.2
Bu-fitielfi.
5,032,071
5.148,714
7, 151,612
7, !)00, 233
BuHlieU.
488, 401
205, 726
526, 731
1, 180, 947
Bunhels.
20, 168
3. 128
iH, -m
65, 835
Bufhclx.
2(1, 425
223, 710
8(1,5, 020
1,248,470
The statement for the last season I liave not yet been able to procure,
but there is reason to believe that the proportion taken t'> Montreal,
BH
44
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
\ \
compared witli that passing" to Oswoso, Ogdensburg', and Capo Yinrent,
for shipmont by canal and rail tc; Xew York and Boston, has increased
rather than diminished.
]5ut, noticeable as the comniercial progress made by IMontreal dnring
a few years ]>ast may appear, it obvionsly has not placed her, and ftivea
no promise of i)hicinj? her, at the height of importance which initurally
belongs to the chief port of the great St. Lawri^nce ontlet. For Montreal
occiii)ies a position where, nnd(^r conditions of eqnal rivalry with Kew
York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore, there would un(iuestionably
have risen, to-day, a great metropolis of not less than half a niilliini
souls, instead of a thriving city of one hundred and forty or fifty thou-
sand people.
FAVORING CIRCUMSTANCES.
The nio<lerate degree of prosperity that exists in the most favored
section of the Dominion affords evidence, not to be disputed, in proof
that the Canadian people suffered less from the abrogation of the
reciprocity treaty in 180G than they ai)prehended or than others ex-
pected. The expiration of the treaty happened at a most fortunate
time for them, wluin several circumstances combined to break the effect
of the suspension of free trade. The state of business in this country
was just beginning to settle into composure alter the upheaval and dis-
turbance of the civil war. , During the war, and for some tinu^ after it,
the exaggerated and incalculably- tiuctuating premium placed upon gold
by the nuul gambling that was rife, deprived our currency to some ex-
tent of its due i)urchasing power in the Canadian market, and intro-
duced so much daily and hourly uncertainty of exchangeable values
between American and Canadian money, that transactions in the
Canadian markets by American purchasers were made diffu;ult and
hazardous. This had interfered seriously with the selling of Canadian
products to the United States during the last half of the free trade period,
and when, otherwise, the marketing of those ])roducts in the United
States would have been enormously stimulated. At times it had no
doubt formed more of an obstruction to trade from the provinces than
the duties since imposed have formed. . But the one obstruction, of a Huc-
tuating and uncertain purchasing nu'dium, was disa])i)earing, when the
other obstruction, of revived customs duties, arose, and it is clear
enough that the immediate commercial effects of the latter occurrence
were very considerably neutralized by the IVirmer; so that the people ot
the provinces did not feel the sudden loss of free trade with the United
States as they otherwise Avould have done. Moreover, the Southern
States began about the same tinu' to become purchasers again of lumber,
fish, &c., from the provinces, which, for five years before, had had that
part of their .'miiciin trade entirely cut off'. These circumstances
account, I think, for the otherwise singular ai)i)earance of the fact that
our importations from the i)rovinces have rather increase<l, on the
average, tJiau declined since the termination of the reciprocity treaty.
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 45
I
LUMBER AND BARLEY.
Refoning' to tlio coinpaiative table liorotoforo ftivcii, which sliows the
extent of our animal importation of several of tlu^ chief staples of Cana-
dian production, we find tliat the two articles of lumber and barley to-
gether formed one-third of the entire purchases of the United States
from the Dominion in 18C1>, an<^ that these two articles, more than any
others, luuv* exhibited a total il .ilference to the terms upon which they
are admitted to the United Stiites. In both cases the undoubted fact
is, that this country has need of the foreij^n supply. The sources of our
own lumber supply are rapidly receding' from the great markets in which
it is consumed, and are rapidly being exhausted. Every year is nmking
it more a necessity that the Eastern and Middle States should buy lum-
ber and timber from the provinces. Under such circumstances, and in
view of the fact that this country would seem to have more interest in
the conservation of its fast-disappearing forests than in the encourage-
ment of their consumi)tion, it may be well to consider, without reference
to the general (question of reciprocal policy, whether it is not due to
American consumers that the present high duty of 20 percent, on Cana-
dian lumber should be nnxlitied, taking another step in the direction
which was taken at the last session of Congress, when the duties on
saw -logs and ship-timber were removed. Much the same considerations
apply to the article of barlej-, for which the consumers in this country
are, to a considerable extent, dependent upon a countr\ whose climate
and soil are better adapted than most of our own territory to its pro-
duction. .
TRADE WITPI THE NON-CONFEDERATED TROVINCES.
With this imperfect discussion of them, I submit the main facts which
I have collected. Within the time allotted to my inquiry I have been
unable to extend it, except very superficially, bej'ond the provinces em-
braced in the Dominion of Canada.
Our trade with the three provinces of Newfoundland, Prince Edward's
Island, and British Columbia, which remain outside the confederation
of the Dominion, (although Jiritish Columbia seems to be at the i>oint
of becoming joined with it,) is represented for the last two years in the
reports of Commerce and Navigation, compiled in the United States
Bureau of Statistics, as follows :
Imports
Domestic exports.
Foreign reexports
1869.
«1, 737, 304
2, 703, 173
44G. U04
1870.
81, 5p1, 0.53
3, 304, tiOS
347,300
Relatively to its extent, this trade api)ears much more favorable to
the United States than our trade with the Dominion, and relatively to
their population and commerce the non-confederated provinces are far
46
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES.
the better customers of this country. The subject of our relations with
them, moreover, is made the more interesting' and important by reason
of tlie unwillinjifness that tlieir people manifest to attacli tliemselves to
the British colonial confederation, and it claims an examination which
I regret that I have not been able to give to it.
In the United States oflicial statistics of late years, only a distinction be-
tween the "Dominion of Canada" and "all other British possessions in
Korth ximerica" is made, so that our trade transactions with the several
provinces cannot be discrinunated. Attempting to procure returns from
the several customs districts with such a discrimination made, I suc-
ceeded but partially, and with a result too imperfect for use, except in
one or two pi rticulars.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND PRINCE I;D WARD'S ISLAND.
Out of twenty-eight collection districts from which I have been fur-
nished with statistics relating to the last fiscal year, only five report
transactions with Kewfouudlandand Prince Edward's Island, as follows .
Imports in certain dintricts from Xvnifonndland, Ccqxi Breton, and Prince Edward'a Island
during thejincal year ended June 'M, 1870.
Domestic exjmrts from certain districts to yenfonndhind, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward^s
Island during the fiscal i/ear ended June 30, 1870.
From Boston Ut XcnvfoHnflland
Fi'oiii liostoii to I'riiice FiUvfrnl's IsliUid
From Wiliniii^toii, N. C, (lumber to Newfonudlaiid) .
From Is ew York
Total.
?290, 117
lor., ni8
% 200
i,r>GT
408, Hoa
The foregoing returns no doubt reijresent most of the trade carried
on during the past fiscal year with the insular provinces named.
MANITOBA.
Our presenv trade with the great central region of British America,
formerly know n as the lied River country, but now politically organized
and incorporati'd with the Dominion of Canada, under the name of the
province of Manitoba, is imperfectly shown by the following statement,
ns with
' reason
3lvea to
I whicU
L'.tiou be-
5sions in
i several
I'us from
), I 8UC-
xcept in
been I'nr-
re report
5 follows .
mVs Island
3
o
H
$154, 59(i
214, :->ifS
a, 530
•20, 00(>
178 400, 810
ICC Edward^H
«i290, in
ior.,918
2, 200
1, 5G7
408, 802
le carried
d.
America,
organized
me of the
itatemeut,
TRADE WITH BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PKuVINCES. 47
which is furnished to me by the coUector of customs at Pembina, Min-
nesota. It exliibits for the lust two fiscal years the imports entered in
and tlie exports cleared from the customs district of Minnesota, tluonj;li
which the tiade between the United States and the Manitol)a country
necessarily passes :
1800.
IMPORTS.
Imports entered for immediate consumption $00, 402 02
Imports entered warehouse l.jl , «l4r» 22
Total imports i;i2 047 24
EXPORTS.
Export of goods the growth, produce, and manufacture of
the United States ] 74, 013 00
Exports of foreign dutiable gcjods 14, 548 0.~)
Total exports ],S<), 401 05
1870.
niPORTg.
f Imports entered for immediate consum[)tion $34, 190 20
Imports entered warehouse 1 S(). 142 57
Total iniports 220, 341 86
EXPORTS.
Exports of dom«\stic merchandise 152, 596 00
Exports of foreign dutiable goods 20, 133 47
Total exports 172, 729 47
The special deputy collector at Pembina, Mr. N. E. ^Nelson, who fur-
nishes this statement to me, writes that the entire amount of exports to
Manitoba, through Minnesota, is not represented in it, for the reason
that large quantities of domestic goods, such as tt)bacco, sugars, sirups,
gunpowder, matches, liquors, &c., are entered for exportation in bond
at other districts, free of the internal revenue tax, and, simply passing
in transit through the Minnesota district, do not appear in its returns.
The same is true of a large quantity of foreign goods reexported to
Manitoba. The United States imports from that provisice, which con-
sist almost Avholly of raw furs and buftalo robes, are probably all entered
in the Minnesota district, since the large shipments made by way of
Hudson's Bay go abroad.
Our present trade with that vast new region of richly productive ter-
ritory in the basin of Lake Winnipeg, which the pioneer forces of civili-
48
TRADE WITH BUITISH T70RTH AMKRICAN PROVINCES.
V
! ;!
zation Jiro just preparing to invade, is inconsiderable; bnt its futnre
possibilities an* beyond calculation. The time is approaching very near
when it is clearly destined to give a new phase to the (jiiestion of rela-
tions between this country and British North America, and when it will
bring to bear upon that question the pressure of an inexorable geographi-
cal necessity, that will compel it to some solution.
CONCLUSION.
In concluding my report, it is proper tliat I should acknowledge the
extreme courtesy with which I fiave been assisted in ju'ocuring informa-
tion by the mend;ers of the Canadian government, and by all of its offi-
cials, as well as by those of this Goverumoutj to whom I have had occa-
sion to apply.
Kespectfully submitted.
J. N. LARNED.
Hon. Geokge S. Boutwell,
Secretary of the Treasury.
-'Wi''
■ a V- ■■•_:■:■■■■ i y<.
If
8 future
eiy iH'nr
of rehi-
on it will
ographi-
led^e tlio
iiiforina-
f its offi-
lijid occa-
RNED.
If* ■ X
9