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VAHD, TUMl'I.i; liAK. ■^ \ iN reply to the very erroneous observations and assertions which certain ignorant, inte- rested, or prejudiced persons have published, on the facts and statements contained in this pamphlet, I have had reprinted, as an Ap- pendix to this edition, some of the Addresses and Petitions that have been voted to His Majesty, and to the Commons House of Par- liament, by the Legislatures of the North American Provinces, and other public bodies, setting forth the ruin which would be inflicted upon vested capital, commercial industry, navi- gation, the settlement and improvement of the colonies, the demand for, and price of labour, the condition and prospects of the emigrants' and, above all, the great political evils that must result from any change in the comparative duties on British colonial and Foreign Timber,* * Lest it should be supposed that the documents printed in the Appendix, are copies of official papers adchessed confidenti- ally to me as Governor of New Jirunsvvick, I think it ri-^ht to declare that they are all extracted from the provincial news- papers, or otlK-r public sources, of the dates and titles noted on ( IV ) 1( wjis not i'.\])cck'(l tliiit iv[)rc'sc'iitiit!()ns woiikl so soon be jvceivcd fVoiii tlic Colonics ; l)iit, it appears that, IVuni the opinions which sonic nicnibc*'s of His Ivlajcsty's present ii'overn- nicnt arc known to entertain on the theory of trade, it was feared tliat some alteration in the Tind)er duties might be intended ; and in anti- cipation of this, the following strong and urgent remonstrances have, it ap])cars, been trans- mitted to His Majesty's j^overnment. Intimately acquainted, by personal observa- tion, with the condition, circumstances, and in- terests of all the North-American Provinces and Islands, and with the state of public o[)inion and feeling in all those colonies — estimating, I trust justly and correctly, their immense value, and how it may be improved, extended, and secured, 1 felt myself called upon, by the situa- tion I held — by my presence here — and particu- larly by the circumstance of not having' been their respective margins. Exclusive of these, a joint Adihess of the Council and House of Assembly of Upper Canada has been voted tinanimously, remonstrating against the late mea- sure j and Petitions to the House of ('onnnons from the coun- ties of Kent and Northumberland, in the Province of New Brunswick, to the same effect : but not having seen these in the newspapers, I have not inserted those representations. These Addresses aiul Petitions were voted on apinxhciinion of the measure. — It remains in be seen what the provinces will sav wlien they know it was in progress. ( V ) been aH'ordcd ;ui oppoitimity (A' (lischari»ini; my coiiscKMice am] duty u|)()n tlie iiitcndcd mea- sure until tlic tiuance minister liad brought il Ibrward, and deelared it to be his intention to persist, to lay before the government and the [)ubH(_*, some considerations which might tend to avert those evils, which remonstrances from the colonies might be too late to prevent, and against which my own character, consistency, and conviction recpiired uncc^m promising re[)re- sentatioii. IJad addresses and j)etitions such as the following, been delayed imtil the decla- ration of the late measure should have reached North America, it might be surmised that they had been got up on the perusal of my pamphlet. — v\s it is, there can be no such suspicion. [n drawing up my little work, I endeavoured to advocate the interests of the colonies, as J knew they would themselves represent their case, when they should have time to s])eak. The A])pendix fully shows with what truth and justice 1 have done this, and how remarkably all my arguments, facts, and views are corrobo- rated. I confidently a^ peal, then, to the fol- lowing important documents, to put down the wretched cavilling with which my devotion to the colonial interests, and to the true colonial policy of the British emj)ire, has been assailed. ^ ( VI ) ^1 ll these crt'usioiis have niiulc any impression, I would intrcat such persons as may have been misled by them, to compare what I have ad- vanced, with what the colonies have now, s[)on- taneously, said for themselves. Those, on the contrary, who lutve placed reliance on my views and oi)inions, and on the experience upon which they have been formed in a happy and success- ful administration, devoted, mainly, to the agri- cultural improvement of the country, as well as to the development and protection of its other interests, wHl find in the Appendix, ample proof that I have not led them into error ; that they have protected the real interests of those most important possessions and of the empire, and have complied, in fact, with the unanimous prayers of a loyal and dutiful people, who, anticipating what has been attempted, had already sent forth their complaints. I have no doubt, too, that the consideration which His Majesty, and His Majesty's government are bound to show to petitions which so strongly speak, in a constitutional sense, for all classes of persons, remonstrating by petition against an obnoxious measure, will be satisfied that the government have been rescued, by the wisdom and independence of the House of Commons, from the difficulty of carrying the measure s r: ( vii ) proposed l)y the finance minister into effect , in the lace of remonstrances from the legislatures of all the colonies. 1 refer to the Appendix to show that all the statements, contained in this pamphlet, are rather under than over the truth. The popula- tion of the British Provinces, which I rated at 1,00(),()()(), is now not under 1,2()(),()()0. The value of British t^oods im})()rtcd into the North-American Colonies was in 1830 at least £2,000,000, as 1 stated.* The amount of tonnai>*e to all the Jiritish North American provinces within the last year was beyond what I have rcjiresented. The amount of shippini2f is usually reckoned by ton- nage, and not by the number of vessels; but, taking it in terms of ships, it appears that the number employed in the whole British North American trade is about 2000, navigated by * I refer the reader to a very able and important pamphlet, on the Timber Trade, by Mr. Bliss, just published, for every detail coiniected with the annals and circumstances of the trade. These, and what is stated in the Appendix to this edi- tion, will l)e found to establish the fact, that the population of our North American Provinces furnishes a demand (steadily in- crcasiufi;), per person, for British goods, nearly (juadruple ot that fnrnished by the population, per person, of ilie United States (which latter unist diminish), and •-wc than fifty times as great as the demand, per person, of the population of Northern Europe. i ( viii ) ;il)()iit 12/3,000 sonnion.* As this stjitcmcnl was iiiU'iulcd to exhibit tlie value and importance \S the North American provinces se, not only the ton- i)ai»"e employed in \\\v transport ol" timber, bnt our rif^ht of trading with those provinees upon our own terms. I intreat those who doubt that a eontinuanee of our protective policy is essential to maintain the colonial connection, to look at some of the late liritish North American newspapers. 'V\\v. theorists who object to the policy of protectini;' the colonial trade, either cairy their theory too far, or not far enou<»h. It must be admitted that to reduce, ecpiitably, the systtMii of protect- ing- duties, the arrangement must be rvciprocal. It will not l)e pretended that there should be freedom of trade on the one part, and prohibi- tion on the other. To reduce (})ili) the j)rotective duties on the exports of the colonies to the parent country, leaving the imports ot' British manufactured <;(>ods 'uito the colonies protected by heavy duties, imposed by the British ])arlia- nient, on the manufactured goods of other coun- tries, would manifestly be an act of such injus- tice as would occasion obvious results. We must either consider, and treat, the colonial trade as a home trade, or as a foreign trade; and accordingly as we may act in this respect, the colonists will either remain our fellow-sub- jects, or at no remote day resolve themselves i. ) into a foreign people; for commercial inde- pendence is, in effect, and soon would become in reality, political independence. If the late measure had not been rejected, the British parliament would now be conflicting with the legislatures of all the North American colo- nies! — Can any one doubt to what issue that would tend ? ■I f J al inde- . become the late British with the an colo- ssiie that THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. J There are two signs under which the States- I man may estimate the vahie and importance of :' the British North American Colonies. The one is positive, the other relative. The positive, or absolute value, consists in the shipping they ; employ, the seamen they form, the manufac- ' tures they consume, the supplies which they furnish for the British market and our West India Colonies, and the maslings and spars which they ensure for our navy in the day of need. The relative importance of these pro- vinces may je considered, by the effects which would be produced if all these elements of statistical greatness were placed in the oppo- site scale of the beam, by which the statesman should carefully weigh the effects of measures which, though treated as fiscal or finance ques- tions, reach, in flict, into matters of the very highest order of policy. B 2 M r •■ V I >\ i I ( 2 ) The [jermanency of the colonial connection between Great Britain and the North American Provinces, rests entirely on the manner in which their interests are dealt with by the British Parliament; it is therefore of the i^reatest importance to consider what effects are likely to be produced upon the interests of those colonies, by the proposed alteration in the duties on foreign and North American timbers. Some of the passages now reprinted in these pages, appeared in a periodical work of last year, for the purpose of showing the value and importance of the British North American Provinces, not only to the commerce, manufac- tures and navigation of the parent state, but to the maritime greatness and security of the British empire; but, finding that, though those passages appeared in a work of the highest cha- racter and the greatest circulation, they may again be used with some advantage to invite attention to those facts, which it is necessary to bring to a full and deliberate consideration of the many theories by which it is proposed to divest ourselves of those colonies, or at least to shake the interests which bind them to Britain, I embody those passages with other matter in this pamphlet, intreating the indulgence of the public for the hasty manner in which it is composed. $ ?■ nection , merican mer in by the v of tlic effects nterests ation in merican in these ,' of last * due and t merican 5? lanufac- :;| ;ate, but y of the ^h those est cha- .»: ey may o invite ?ssary to ation of )osed to least to Britain, matter ^ence of hich it ► 1 ^} M -■■A i. -i ) Had I been aware that it was the intention of the Finance Minister to pro})ose any altera- tion in the timber duties, I should have con- sidered it incumbent upon me, as entrusted with tlie affairs of a province whose interests are deeply at stake, to represent forcibly to the (xovernment, in a timely manner, that no altera- tion could be made in the ratio of duties, whe- ther by raising those on British timber, or by lowering" those on the foreign article, or in any way destroying the present scale, without in- juring, or totally ruining the British Nortli American timber trade; but as such an inten- tion was not suffered to transpire, it would have been unnecessary, and indeed out of place, to renew the representations which I for- merly made to the Colonial Department on this important matter. The measure being now, however, brought forward for discussion, there is no alternative, short of my neglecting to advocate those interests, but to submit, for- cibly, in this sha|)e, whether any financial or fiscal measures can be considered paramount to the great objects, in national policy, whicli we should pursue, by a continued protection of the Colonial Trade. It will occasion me infinite regret should any member of His Majesty's (jovernment, and particularly the Noble Secretary in whose department 1 was serving, consider that this ( 4 ) iii II! step has thrown any unwarrantable impedi- jnent in the paths of its financial arrange- ments. I trust it will not be considered that, because I held an official situation con- nected with the colonies, I should be restrained from coming forward at this time, to make pub- lic the information which I have acquired in the provinces so deeply concerned, and from submitting the impressions which, as a British subject, I am under, as to the effects of the ])roposed measure, on the interests of the British empire. Being on the spot, it was impossible for me to avoid expressing, in some w^ay or other, these convictions; and the course I have taken is the only open and manly line of con- duct I could have adopted — namely, to lay the following "considerations" before the pub- lic. If the facts which 1 represent, and the de- ductions which have been made from them, are not considered such as ought to occasion any deviation from the proposed measure, they will be over-ruled (they cannot be disputed) by those ulterior designs, for greater objects, (if there be any greater,) which the government may have in view; and I shall have the satisfac- tion of reflecting, that I have done my duty in representing the injurious effects which I appre- hend, from any change, upon particular pro- vincial interests, which, in common with those ( 5 ) impedi- iirange- isidered on con- strained ke ])ub- lired in id from British ; of the British possible way or ; I have of con- to lav le pub- he de- em, are on any ev will ed) by cts, (if nraent tisfac- uty in appre- pro- those of all liritish North America, I firmly believe to be of paramount importance to the British empire. The population of the British North Ameri- can Provinces was in the year 1828 about l,()()0,0()0, and increasing in a higher ratio than that of the adjoining Mew England States ; and the British Colonies consume in corresponding augmentations the manufac- tures and goods of Great Britain and Ireland, and take increasing quantities of West India produce, upon which the United States have laid heavy duties, to encoiirage the production of their own sugars. In 1828 the amount of British manufactures consumed in British North America, was about £2,000,000 value, so that those Provinces take about AOs. each person per annum of British goods. The amount of British manufactures im- ported into the United States from the United Kingdom in 182(), (see Watterston's Statistics,) was 2G, 18 1,800 dollars, which at As. ikl. is £5,870,975; the population of the United States for that year being 12,000,000, it follows that the people of the United State do not take, per person, one-fourth so much of British goods as the people of the British Colonies; and this market must diminish under the iiiHuence ( c ) B '.* :t.!;. llil !li I !i;ll iM i It iJil of the American system, by whJeii the United States are manufacturing very extensively for themselves, and actually beginning to lival us in many articles in foreign markets. Nor is there any probability that the state and jiro- spects of our trade with the United States will become more favourable ; for it has very lately been recommended by a committee ol Congress that no change in the provisions of the tariff be entertained, lest it spread alarm amongst the great interests concerned, and shake confi- dence in the faith of government by injuring, or destroying, the well-founded hope which had induced v?.st numbers of persons to make investments in those branches of industry which the government had encouraged. The whole British tonnage trading to British North America before the Revolution, namely, in the year 1772, was only 80,745 tons. The British tonnage trading to the British North American provinces in the year 1828 was 400,841 tons, navigated by at least 25,000 sea- men, which is nearly ont'-Jlfth of the whole foreign trade of the country; and this prodigiously in- creased, and still active trade, should be consi- dered a home trade. There is no doubt that the foreign trade should not be preferred to the home trade; but that position which, in argument or in fiscal arrangement, would consider the colo- ■I ) United ,ely for ival us Nor is lid pro- tes will y lately longres3 tarift' be \gst the I confi- njuring, 3 which to make y which British amely, The North t28 was lOO sea- \foreign Lisly in- consi- ;hat the e home nent or e colo- nial trade not to be a home trade, brinf^s the colonial interest vinder a wronu: denomination. — Classed as it ought to be, the measure in ques- tion would appear in the ])roper light. Whilst such has been, in point of fact, the happy effect of our colonial policy in that quarter of the world, to the manufacturing, commercial and shipping interests of Great Britain, let as see in what way this matter is viewed, and the possessions which aliment that trade are estimated, by our great com- mercial rivals ; and what effect their attempts to countervail its eminent successes, have produced u])on themselves. It appears* that the population of the British Provinces in- creased, between the years 180G and 1825, more than 113 per cent,, whilst that of New England increased only 27 per cent. : that the imports of the British Colonies have been almost quadrupled in amount, and the exports considerably more than doubled in that time;t while the exports and imports of the United States in 1 828 were about the same in amount as they were in 1807: that while the whole foreign trade of the United States, with every part of the world, has remained stationary * Report on the Commerce and Navigation of the United Slates, by Mr. Carnbrcleng, p. 28. t Report, p. 2%. ! :t ■ . 'li ( ) li r fifteen years, the navit>ation of the JJritish C'oloiiies, with the mother-country alone, has increased as the Report states, from !S{J,247 to 400,841 tons,* or about one half of all the American tonnaj^e employed in its foreign trade, which in 1828 was only 824,781 tons, being an increase of only 253,528 tons, or a frac- tion less than 3 per cent, on what it was in 1820; wliile the increase of the foreign navi- gation of Great Britain from 1815 to 1827 was 741,840 tons, or nearly equal to the whole foreign tonnage of the United States in 1828! Again, t the whole tonnage of the United States with the Biitish empire, had, in 1828, declined by 32,000 tons since 1815; whil t British ton- nage employed in the direct trade between the United States and Great Britain, had in 1828, increa^.ed 38 per cent! Having stated these, and many other remark- able facts, which bear, most ijrcibly, upon this subject, the Report proceeds to state, '* that whilst the British Provinces are making this signal and immense progress, the commerce and navigation of the United States have fallen far in the rear of their rivals for national power and naval ascendency — that the rise or de- cline of navigation is the index of national prosperity and power — that the great object * Report, p. 27. f p. 26. i V i Rritisli »iu', lias 8U,247 all the 'w trade, , beinj^ a frac- was in jn navi- 827 was e whole in 1S2H! d States [Icclined ish ton- een the n 1828, remark- i^on this , " that ng* this liimerce |e fallen power or de- ational object of a statesman, in a maritime nation, shonld l)e to lay the ibimdations of a great naval power in a hardy and extensive commercial marine; aiul that to prepare for war, it is palpably in- consistent for a maritime nation, to attempt to accom|)lish tliat ( bject by a policy destrnctive of its connnercial marine, the most efficient in- struir.ont of war, whether offensive or defensive." Thus htiS our ))olicy been eulogised, and the effects show with what justice, " as one of a lofty, wise ambition, which never sacrifices the power of a nation to the meaner considerations of speculative wealth;" as never permitting any conflicting interest to interfere with the steady growth of our commercial marine; and that the paramount motive, in all our colonial and com- mercial regulations, has been the enlargement and encouragement of our navigation. Shall we continue to deserve this praise, and to per- petuate the effects which our colonial policy has produced? What it has accomplished are facts, what it may further do, is assured. Is there nothing speculative, nothing uncertain, in the notions and principles of change, \vl;ich arc proposed? Having soundly laid down these principles, the Report avows that the Northern British Colonies stand in a jieculiar and dangerous relation to the United States, from the immen:ie I ( 10 ) ))n),L!;rTss those colonics are niiiking; and whilst sonic persons are treatinfj^ of throwing them off", or /. ' h/n- thcni independent, or not properly prote*- . g their interests as British Colonists, by ]>ersevering' in that line of policy which has prodnced these happy and most im[)ortant re- sults, the following will show in what way, and with what views, these possessions are viewed by the United States: — ** It is very desirable that the people of the ' United States and of the British Provinces ' should become better accpiainted and be led to ' take a more lively interest in each other. Their * fathers were united by the bond of a common * country ; and it needs no spirit of ])rophecy to ' foresee, that the time must come, when, in the * natural course of events, the English colonies ' on our borders will ])e peaceably dissevered ' from the remote mother-country, and the * whole continent, from the Gulf of Mexico to ' the coast of Labrador, present the unbroken ' outline of one compact empire of friendly con- ' federated States/'— North Amoican Review. One should have thought that the sage doc- trine of " Letting welt alonc^' would have been observed, with respect to a course of policy which has produced positive and relative effects such as these, upon Britain's *' best bulwarks," and upon Britain's maritime greatness. But it \d whilsl tlu'iu ort", |)n)|)erly A)lonists, ^hich lias rt'tiiit re- way, and e viewed c of the Provinces be led to n\ Their eoninioii phecy to ;ii, ill the colonies ssevered and the exieo to nbroken ly con- Icvieio. ge doc- ile been policy effects warks," But it ( 11 ) lias ol' late become a l'avourit(; doctrine aiiioiiusl [)olitical economists, that colonies are of no use; that the productions of any country may be procured at a cheaper rate, in commercial dearmi»s with tiiat country, as an independent state, than in a colonial connection, which forces, by |)rotectin«»' duties, the sale of its produce, on the parent state, at eidianced prices; and, ajiplyiiif]^ this doctrine to our North Ame- rican l^rovinccs, it is asserted, that, inasmuch as the public is made to pay more for timber, than would be the case if the protection given to those colonies were taken off, so this protect- ing policy should be abandoned, for the pur- pose of lowering ))rice. That protecting duties occasion higher ])rices to the consumer, is a truism, which applies to all • ubjects of taxation. But by what rule should we be justitied in sacrificing or injuring national interests to mere considerations of price to the consnmer? If the interests of the North American Colonies be not steadily protected, they may become dis- ])osed to seek a change of condition in the federal family of those, who, as I have shown, know better how to estimate them, from a tho- rough conviction of their immense value to us, and a deep sense of the vast importance which the acquisition of those provinces would pro- duce to the American union and system. It i ( 1-^ never was iiiteiuUd that the trade ot'tlii' colonies should he free. It was at least the intention of Mr. Iluskisson that the importation of forein'ii jj^oods into the colonies should be made subject to duties sutfieient to protect the productions of British industry, and that the etec- lilure in t rid, in iwise to y ^^\m> timbers. le colo- vvhich them, tliem. policy, es iilto- jm our- , about itry. i nance double r, and f this ■3 corn- is pos- sible for the North American Provinces to com pete with the northern Euro[)ean countries. According to this proposition, there will still remain a nominal ditfercnce in tlu^ amoui>t of duties, and this the l-'inancct Minister says will still be suttieient to favour the North American timber trade. So it would, if the voyages were of the same length. Nor would our shipping interests be injuriously affected, or other na- tional interests interfered with, if the transac- tions were, in all other respects, similar. Hut the comparative duration of voyage, and other essentially ditferent circumstances, are such, that the North American timber trade, instead of being favoured, would be utterly annihilated, if this measure be carried into etfect. To e(|uali/A> the duties would be to favour decid- edly, und at enormous sacrifices to the nation, the Ihiltic rnnhcr\v\u\ ) timber trade with the mother country, but on a substantial and permanent protection of those interests which were created in the North American provinces by a course of policy, which threw the West Indies upon their sister colonies in the north, for supplies. It is unnecessary to say anything as to the stages through which the West India inter- course question has passed. But the mea- sure of reopening the ports was adopted, con- ditionally, proposing that it should be ac- companied by a scale of duties, which should substantially protect the interests which had been created in the British North American provinces, and still make it worth their while to continue the supply trade with their sister colo- nies in the West Indies. The continuance of this trade is, therefore, also a matter of policy of very high order, and cannot safely be lowered to any consideration of a mere mercantile na- ture, as affording supplies to the West India merchant a shade lower in price. This is so important a matter to the North American Provinces, that I must say a few words upon the subject. The very active trade which has been carried on, since 1826 in par- ticular, between British North America and the West India colonies, is evidently calculated to cultivate, in the best manner, the internal indus- ( 2C ) try of the former, and ultimately to be pro- ductive of great advantage to the latter, and to the British emj)ire; })ut if the interests so created are not protected, the late abandon- ment of that commercial policy imder which the British l^rovinces have so signally flou- rished will operate with ruinous i''^acti'jn uj)on extensive enterprises, wiiich commenced with the fairest prospects of success, and will ])e at- tended with commensurate loss of confidence in any measure of policy which may be adopted, upon however fair and apparently permanent a basis. The real question now to be deter- mined, with respect to the timber trade, and in fixing a scale of duties on productions im- ported into the West India colonies from the United States, is not that of a mercantile character, as to the extent of relief which the late alteration in the course of trade is, either now, or piospectively, to afford to the West India interests, or to reduce the price of timber in the British market, but whether it is, or is not to be, the policy of the government to foster, and long retain, the North American colonies. There is not at present any such difference of price in the supplies received in the West Indies from the British Provinces, compared with those formerly received from the United States, as should be admitted to be any con- C 27 ) sideration to the Government, or to the West India pioprietors, against the measure of pro- tecting the North American Colonies in tliat trade. As a commercial measure, all that the West India interests ought to seek is — perma- nency as to the places of supply to which they are to look. They all see, and many have as- certained personally, the capabilities of the British Provinces to supply their wants, and the great advantage to them, as well as to the empire, of protecting the course of trade be- tween these two sets of British Colonies. Price has not risen much since the measures of 1826 in the British West Indies; nor is price significant, when compared with the nature of the trade which has since been so beneficial: perhaps, too, the amount of West India pro- duce taken off by the United States in return for their supplies, is by no means so great as is generally supposed; and wliatever that amount may have been, it certainly cannot but dimi- nish under the influence of the heavy duties levied in their ports on molasses (10 cents, per gallon), on foreign spirits (from 57 to 85 cents, per gallon,) and on sugars (from 3 to 12 cents, per pound,) and from the increas- ing production of sugars in Louisiana, which, though subject to some checks, already pro- duces a verv larire nrooortion of the sugars ry propori i ( 28 ) consumed in the United States. From all this it is clear, that however desirous the Americans may be of selling their productions to us, they are using every exertion not to be buyers, par- ticularly of our sugars; and this is surely a very sufficient reason for cultivating those sources which we possess in our North Ame- rican Provinces for the supply of the West Indies with lumber, and for the consumption of their sugars in return ; and I am well per- suaded that the West India merchants, and proprietors, would best consult their own per- manent interests, by giving all their influence to a protecting course of policy, which would undoubtedly, if steadily adhered to, enable the British Provinces to supply more plen- tifully the wants of the British West Indies, in fish, lumber, and grain; whilst the prosecution of this great course of policy is encouraging and promoting a mutual interchange between all the colonies, by which each will be contri- buting to the wants of the other, and the whole minister to the wealth and power of the em- pire. The Welland Canal, constructed in Upper Canada, to connect Lake Erie with Lake On- tario, will be signally successful in transport- ing the produce of the vast regions bordering on the lakes, with convenience and at a mode- ( 2!J ) rate rate, down the St. Lawrence to the ports of Montreal and Quebec for export. But these ports being locked up in ice for at least five months in the year, it becomes a matter of some importance to connect, by a canal, the waters of the Bay of Fundy with the Gulf of St. Lawrence, so that when the Schubennacadie Cenal shall be finished, the ports of Halifax, St. John and St. Andrew's, may become entrepots, in which the grains and productions of the Ca- nadas may be warehoused, before the winter sets in; and reduced to flour with the abundant water power which the country possesses, be shipped off for consumption in the West Indies, with assorted cargoes, as required for use. There can be nothing more advantageous to the colonies, and to the empire, than this course of trade; whilst on the other hand it is needless to repeat, that the North American Provinces must all suffer the greatest distress, if they are not insured a market for their surplus produc- tions. The lands and waters of British North Ame- rica contain inexhaustible supplies, just such as our West India colonies require, and for which they would become entirely depend- ent on foreign states, if we did not retain pos- session of our Northern Provinces. Giving up the one set of colonies woula therefore incur ( 30 ) the risk of losing both; it would at least oblige us to submit to whatever might be exacted as to the rates of supply, when we should no longer possess the means of competition. The fisheries in the British waters of America are the most productive in the world. If they were not ours, whose would they be ? What would be the effect of the total abandonment, and transfer to another power, of this branch of in- dustry, upon our commercial marine, and con- sequently upon our maritime ascendancy? Can we be assured that we shall never again be shut out from the Baltic, by a northern coali- tion, and so have occasion to depend entirely upon our North Amodcan Provinces for the necessary supplies of masts and spars to enable Great Britain to maintain her naval superiority? This question cannot be lowered to the ccr- sideration of anything of a financial nature; and it is not therefore my object to investigate whether the financial proposition would be very productive or not. This may certainly be doubted : but are the effects in policy correctly estimated, by which the abandonment of a pro- tecting policy in our colonial trade, must be followed? There is no element of greatness, power, and influence, that would not be con- ceded, and made to minister to others, should we trifle with the interests of the North Ame- ( 'i1 ) rrcan Colonies, or show any disposition to un- dervalue them, far less to divest ourselves of them. In those very regions, which policy, such as that which the new school professes, would assuredly be the means of severing from Great Britain, there are, besides many other valuable and inexhaustible resources, vast and boundless stores of the very article in which the manufacturing and chief shipping states of the American Union are most deficient, and the acquisition of which would be to strengthen that Union more than the addition of half a continent of mere agricultural soil, and enable them to proceed with vast advantages in their avowed ambition to contend with us for com- mercial ascendancy and naval empire. The British Colonies contain coal of the first qua- lity, and in immense abundance; and no more need be said to satisfy persons who look beyond the mere surface of things, that upon this ac- count alone they are inestimable; that this precious ingredient of their value may be made to bring them nearer to us, and cement them firmly with us; and that to surrender such a boon to a rival nation, for that must be ''the consequence of our throwing them off, would be an act of political suicide. It is useless to deny, that we have something to apprehend from the maritime pursuits and 1) ( 32 ) ambitions of the United States; and it is our duty to countervail these by a fair and honour- able course of policy, to protect the colonial trade, which, by their own showing", has flou- rished so signally. Nor is it in a colonial sense only that the statesman should estimate the importance of our North American Provinces; for over and above their value as colonies, under the heads of skipping employed, stamen trained, ina)iufac- tures consumed, emigrants estabUshed, and all the other advantages which might be enumerated, and exclusively, too, of the tremendous effects of putting all these elements of additional wealth, and power, and convenience, out of our reach, and into the opposite scale — beyond these, there are considerations of a higher order still, which the statesman should view with forecast — the influence which Great Britain may continue to exercise, but which, by losing her possessions there, she would for ever aban- don, in the aftairs of the Western World ; — re- taining those possessions, Great Britain may indefinitely improve her influence; but if she neglect this, she must submit to be successfully rivalled, and perhaps in the end overpowered. The experience of all nations — the lessons of all history, teach the value and importance of colonies. America has been planted, peopled, ( *1 ) and enriched, but not by such schemes as those of the new school. The United States make no such experiments on themst ' es: nor will they meet any such propositions from others. If the duties protecting the colonial timber trade are lowered, and those on colonial timber raised, the North American Colonies would be- come, p'o tanto, valueless. We might buy timber cheaper, but the greater part would be brought in foreign vessels, and paid for chiefly in money; and if, together with this, the course of trad(> were unprotected, which is rapidly forming a very beneficial intercourse between the West Indi'a Colonies and the North American Provinces, the latter vvoidd be entirely ruined in almost every expectation of advantage to which they can look, as dependencies of Great Bri- tain. It is well for us, then, that the restric- tions, which have hitherto protected the colo- nial and intercolonial trade, are not taken off. If that should ever happen, their industry, as colonists, would be ruinously injured; and the immediate consequences would not only be, a " turning of the'';* skill, industry and capital, to other pursuits," but a disposition to think seri- ously of turnings of another description. The economists assume, that if we were now to divest ourselves of our N^orth American Pro- vinces, we might nuike them an indc|)endent I-. 2 \li1 ( :i4 ) state, and that, in intercourse with them as such, we should have every commercial advan- tage, which we are now su|)posed to possess. First, we cannot make them an imlcpcnilciit state; nor, if we could, should we dispose them to be one friendly to us, by the act of throwing them i)jX prematiireli/, for ,sc//ish and narrou) rea- sons. We may train them to become such; but this must be by a mode of treatment very different from that which certain economists inculcate. There is no higher object of policy thari to raise up, in that quarter, a powerful and finally independent state, as there is no doubt we may do, provided we continue to act on old-fashioned principles, which appear, how- ever, to have been rejected by the political economists. It is even asserted that if we had no colonies, we should be able to purchase from them, as independent states, at a lower price to the con- sumer, the articles which we now get from them as colonists. Treating this as a inercan tile, and not a political consideration, is it not perceived that, by divesting ourselves of our colonies, we should render ourselves entirely dependent, for what we now get from them, on foreign states, aux', consequently, be obliged to deal with foreign traders on their own terms? So long as we possess sources from which to ( 3;> ) procure wliat raw materials we require, we can retaliate and compete; but without these, we must submit to take what we must have, u})on such terms as it may please the seller to dictate. It is undoubtedly a great deal cheaper to descend to be a feeble, and to submit to be an inferior power, than to be rich and powerful; and if perpetual peace could only be esta- blished, and we could persuade all other na- tions to adopt practically the new notions of commercial policy, the wisdom of retainin^r our foreign possessions might be doubtful. But how, without these, could Great Britain have gone through the late struggle against all Eu- rope? ^The very sources of her industry, the raw materials of her manufactures, half the ele- ments of her greatness, might have been cut off by such a combination as has been already wit- nessed among foreign nations — a combination which nothing but the colonial power of Great Britain could prevent their renewing, or enable her again to defy. But why should the doctrinaires halt at the conclusion, that the niunber of colonies should be redaced? If this theory be true in principle, it is true universally, and would prove that no colonies can be so beneficial to the parent, as the same countries would be in the character of ( 30 ) independent states. Accordinj^ to this the wlwlc shouhl be dechired independent; trade made perfectly free; ships and troops recalled and paid off. Ireland, by the same rule, should be given up to Mr. O'Connell; and then, at last, a general prosperity, a commercial millenium might be expected! But, even if this reasoning were unanswer- able, is it safe for this country to act upon the theory, before others are equally convinced of its soundness, and adopt it accordingly? The old prejudices, that mankind are benefited by associations for the exchange of labour, under mutual compacts of a protective nature; and that it is impossible to apply pure and original theories, however true, to artificial sta- tistical conditions, and to the infinite and pecu- liar varieties which may exist in productions and pursuits — these prejudices (as the econo- mists take them to be) are still so inveterate, that there is danger, if we discard our colonies, of their forming a new confederacy, either with some rival power, or with each other, for the express purpose of adhering to the former sys- tem, to keep up the same kind of monopoly, as it is termed; and even if it could be show^n that we gain nothing by having the colonial mono- [)oly in our favour, it must be admitted that we ( 37 ) liave something* to lose in the case of one bein^ formed a ) seriously deprcrate, tlian a weakening of their ties to that country, whicli they, and their fathers before tlieni, have so steadfastly adhered to throughout every change of fortune, prosperous or adverse. We forbear to enlarge upon the effects which a change of the existing policy, with regard to the colo- nial wood trade, would have upon the general interests of the empire in its bearing upon the shipping interests, and as a nujsery for IJritish seamen; these are topics upon which your Majesty's ministers must have fir more extended means of information than are within our reach. But there is one most important considera- tion connected with this trade, which we cannot refrain from distinctly bringing to notice, and that is, the facility which it affords for the emigration to these colonies of the surplus population of the Inited King- dom, and the means of employment which it lays open to the emigrant after his arrival in the colony; circum- stances which we do not hesitate to declare, are both of them absolutelv essential to the continuance of that tide of emigration which now so fortunately, botii for the mother country and the colonies, is directing its course to these British American shores. If the colo- nial wood trade cease, there will be neither ships to bring out the emigrants, nor business in the colonies to give them wages for their labour until they can clear and cultivate their lands, nor a market for the ])roduce of the soil, after their cultivation of it has rendered it productive. The Council and Assembly, therefore, most humbly implore your Majesty to take the foregoing circum- stances Into your most gracious consideration, and ear- nestly pray, that your Majesty's government may not be induced to alter the present system of protection to the Colonial Wood Trade, which is so vitally important to the interests of these North American provinces, as constituent parts of the British empire. And as in duty bound will ever pray, &c. rSiiiiied as usual i)v tlic Presidoiit oftln; tJouncil and tlir SpoaKcr (it'tlu; Coinmnii^. I F ;.' ( \(i ) APPENDIX No. II. Copy of a Despatch from Lord Aylmer to Lord Viscount GoDERicii, Sfc. Sfc. S^'c. [From I'apers ordered to be Printed by the House of Commons, 10 March, 1831.] Castle of Saint Lewis, Quebec, 8th January, 1831. My Lord, The circumstances stated in the accompany- ing copy of a Letter or Memorial which I have just re- ceived from gentlemen engaged in the Lumber Trade in this Province, requiring immediate attention; I lose no time in forwarding it to your Lordsliip via New York, by the post for that place, which will leave Que- bec in less than an hour, a circumstance which, I trust, will serve as my excuse with your Lordship for any in- accuracy or want of order which may be found to exist in this despatch. It would be highly presumptuous on my part to in- trude on your Lordship's notice any observations of my own regarding the policy of the measure to which the inclosed Memorial adverts; but it becomes my duty, as Governor of this Province, and consequently the peculiar advocate of its interests, respectfully, and at the same time m.ost earnestly, to solicit your Lord- ship to exert your influence in protecting the Interests of the Memorialists on the occasion alluded to by them, in so far as this advantage may be afforded consistently with your Lordship's view of the general interests of the empire. I am well assured that the interests engaged in the Lumber Trade in Canada, are by no means confined to the gentlemen who are parties to the inclosed Me- morial, bat that the great mass of the Inhabitants of the extensive and important possessions of Mis Majesty are, all of them, more or less interested in the result of ,f ( 47 ) the measLiie whicli appears to have caused the alarm, or ratlier the panic (for such it may truly he called) which has heen excited in the minds of the Memo- rialists, on becoming acquainted, by the recent arrivals from England, with the announcement by Mr. Stanley in the House of Commons, of his proposed measure regarding the Lumber Trade. I have, ^c. (signed) Aylmkk. (Enclosure.) Letter from Mr. William Price to Lord Avlmer, SfC. Sfc. S(c. Quebec, 8 January, 1831. My Loud, I am directed by the Committee of Trade, earnestly to entreat your Lordship that you will have the kindness to address a Despatch to His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, to represent the extreme anxiety and consternation which exists in these provinces, in consequence of its having been proposed in the Imperial Parliament to make alteration in the Duties on Lumber, to the prejudice of the North Ame- rican Trade; that any such change will be attended with the most disastrous consequences to the Colonies; but more particularly I am directed to implore that your Lordship will warn His Majesty's Government, in the strongest terms, of the overwhelming Ruin and Misery, which an immediate and sudden change would spread, far and wide, throughout the country; and to entreat, that if the Imperial Parliament in its wisdom should consider the proposed change necessary for the general welfare of the empire, that it will, in its mercy, grant a continuation of the protection which the trade at present enjoys, for a term of five, or at least of three years, that those, who, relying on the existing laws, have invested their capital in lumber es- tablishments, in saw-mills, in stocks for spring ship- ment, and in preparations for new supplies, may be ( 48 ) enabled to realize some portion of their property, so fcailessly embarked, which, in the (amidus alone, can- not anionnt to less than Xl,25(),()0() at the present mo- ment, and which a sudden or immediate change would render almost a total sacrifice. Your lordship must feel how dreadful would be the consequences to this young Colony of such a visitation and loss of capital; and the Committee rely with con- fidence on your Excellency's representations and inter- cession in their behalf, and in the justice and mercy of His Majesty's Govennnent. I have, ivc. (signed) William Prick, Acting Chairman. APPENDIX No. III. ^'opu of a Dt'sjiulcUfroiH Sir P. Maitland, K.C.H. to Lord Viscount Godkricii, S^c. ^c. t^'C. [From Piipeis oiduied to be I'linied liy tlio House of Commons, 10 Mdicli, (jovernment Ifouse, Halifax, 17th January, 1831. My Loud, At the request of His Majesty's Council and the House of Assembly, I have the honour, herewith, to transmit to your Lordship, and to recommer.d to His Majesty's favourable consideration, their humble Address to the King, praying, that the protection which has hitherto been afforded to the Timber Trade of these Colonies, by the discriminating Duties on Fo- reign 'J'imber imported into Great IJritain, may not be withdrawn. J have the honour to be, &c. iVC. ivc. (signed; 1*. Maitland. / ( 4J) ) To THE King's Most Excellent Majesty. May it please your Majesty, We, your Majesty's Council and House of Assembly, now convened in General Assembly, of your loyal Province of Nova Scotia^ humbly ap|)Voacli the Throne, to state to Your Majesty the alarm and un- easiness which has been excited among Your Majesty's Subjects in this Province, by the rej)ort that it is the intention of the Imperial Parliament to withdraw the ])rotection upon our Timber Trade, which it has hitherto received from the duty upon foreign timber. We beg leave to call to Yoiu' Majesty's recollection, that after years of unsuccessful solicitation on the part of the Colonies, this protection was at length afforded, and fully realized the expectations of its most sanguine advocates. That it not only accelerated the internal im- provement of British North America, but increased its trade with the mother country, and caused the Colo- nists to consume a much greater (juantity of liritish Manufactures than they could have done if they had not been enabled to pay for them vvith timber. That the amount of Imports from Great Britain into this Province has, coiisecjuently, been augmented in a great degree, and now annually exceeds the sum of o£'500,000. Should the policy of the Parent State lead to a reduction of the present duties on foreign timber and deals, a diminution in the consumption of British Manufactures to a great extent must inevitably take place, as the export of timber constitutes one of our main sources of payment for those manufactures. That not only the Export of timber from the colo- nies, and the consumption of British goods would be affected by the adoption of such a measure, but the fisheries also would become greatly injured thereby, as the supply of salt, and other articles for the fisheries, is principally obtained from Great Britain in return for the timber exported thither, and is brought to British North America in ships which would otherwise be un- employed. That the very existence of trade in these Northern Colonies, depends upon the prosperity of the fisheries, ( 50 ) which are the principal support of the trade to the West Indies. We could not supply the Islands with timber, and numerous other articles, it' our fisheries failed, as that staple article affects directly or indirectly every other branch of commerce from these Atlantic colonies. That the recent measure of the British Government, whereby the Ports in the British West Indies have been opened to the vessels of the United States, has caused the most serious injury to our Merchants, many of whom have been extensively engaged in the trans- portation of flour and other American products to the southern colonies. In consequence of a firm reliance that no concession of such a nature would have been maile by our CJovernment, these persons have made large investments in warehouses, wharves and shipping, the value of which will now be grcatlv diminished in consequence of this sudden and unlooked-for change in this branch of our trade. The protection hitherto afforded to Colonial Timber and Deals in the British market, is therefore more imperiously called for at this time, in consequence of the loss of a great portion of our carrying trade to the West Indies. That the amount of capital vested in British Shipping in the mother country and the Colonies, has been progres- sively inceasing under the fostering aid of those pro- tective duties, which, if now withdrawn, must be pro- ductive of the most ruinous consequences, in the depreciation of the value of Shipping, and the various other important interests connected therewith. That the capacity of the North American Colonies to supply the mother country with timber to an almost unbounded extent, will, it is presumed, be fully ad- mitted by all who are acquainted with them, and with the annual imports of the various descriptions of wood from thence into Great Britain. That the sound and enlightened Policy which has heretofore encouraged the importation and consimip- tion of British productions, in preference to those of foreign countries, having been recognized as the great bulwark of British prosperity, and adhered to at the present day in all the leading commercial arrangements ( rA ) with other nations; — wc therefore confidently rely upon the justice and parental regard of His Majesty's (io- vernment to continue to Your loyal Suhjects in these Colonics, that favour and protection which lias liitherto been afforded by the discriminating Duties on Foreign Timber imported into Great Britain. 11 January, 18.'jl. 11 January, 1831. These passed in the House These passed in Council. of Assembly. (signed) S. Blowkrs, (signed) V.W. AiicmnALi), President. Speaker. APPENDIX IV. Cop?/ of a Memorldl to the Board of Trade hy the Merchants of Quebec, respecting the Timber Trade. [From Papers ordered to be printed bv tlie House of C'oiiinioiis, Marcb 14, laJlij The Memorial of the undersigned I'roprietors of Lumber Establishments and Saw Mills in the Neighbourhood of Quebec, Humbly Siioweth, That your Memorialists have heard with the greatest anxiety and consternation that it has been proposed in the Imperial Parliament to make an altera- tion in the Duties on Timber and Deals, prejucMcial to the North American Colonies : That your Memorialists, and a vast number of the inhabitants of the Canadas, have made large outlays of capital in saw-mills, and the various establislnnents indispensably recjuisite for carrying on the trade, on the faith of existing laws : That the winter-establishments for preparing the ( 52 ) m^w supplies of lumber for shipment next season have now been established throughout the country for more than three months, and i eked at a heavy expense: That many of your "jmorialists provided in the autumn at (Quebec, large stocks of lumi)er for the load- ing of their early spring ships, an essential and usual precaution to ensure the accomplishment of two voyages during the season : That these undertakings have been entered into unsuspicious of any change, and that the capital so invested, amounts at the present moment to at least i'l,;r>(),000: That any immediate alteration in the duties unfa- vourable to the North American trade would render these investments a total sacrifice: That such loss of capital, and sudden withdrawal of employment from so many persons, would be a dreadful visitation to this young Colony, and spread overwhelm- ing ruin and misery far and wide throughout the country : That the trade having risen up under the protective system adopted in the first instance by the British go- vernment from motives of policy, for the purpose of opening channels for the supply of timber independent of foreign countries, ought not, your Memorialists re- sj)ectfully represent, in justice, to be abandoned without ample notice, that those who have been encouraged thereby to embark their capital in the trade may have time to withdraw a portion of it ; such, your jNIemorial- ists believe, has always been the just system of his Majesty's paternal government, as in the cases of the bounty to the i.inen Trade, and on Barilla ; any other system would be but calling forth the energies of his Majesty's subjects to involve them in ruin : That a continuation of the present protection to the trade would be requisite for a term of at least five years, to withdraw a portion of the capital embarked in it, and three years to realize the stocks of lumber on hand, and now preparing. ( 5.{ ) APPENDIX V. Memorial of Merchants of QkcIicc. [rruiii I'apdit urdiTC'd to be piiiited by the lluurif ul Cuiiiiiioiis, Marclil4, 1031.] To the lliglit Honourable Loim Auckland, Prcsidcitt, and tlu; Ltjvds Connnissioncrs of His Majesty's Privy Council for Tratlc and I'lanlations ; The Memorial of the Conunittoe of Trade of (Quebec, re])resenting tbo Merchants thereof, IIUMbLY ShoWETII, That your Memorialists have learned with the greatest alarm, that it has been proposed in the Impe- rial Parliament to take into consideration during the j)resent session, the existing scale of duties on lumber, with a view to an alteration prejudicial to the North American trade : That the duties as they stand at present, afford but a bare protection to the trade, and that any such change nuist put an end to it : That the lumber-trade is the most valuable and ex- tensive trade enjoyed by the North American Colonies, and that the loss of it will be attended with the most disastrous consequences to the iidiabitants generally, and bring upon many utter ruin : That capital to a very considerable amount has been invested in the trade, both by merchants in (Quebec, and by inhabitants throughout every part of the country, to form the establishments indispensably recjuisite for carrying it on. In Quebec for the security of the lumber, and of the ships while loading in the strong tideway of the river St. Lawrence, and throughout the country in erecting saw-mills, forming log-ponds, and in building craft for the transport of deals ; most of which works are of great cost, many forming the only hope and dependence of their proprietors, and all use- less for other piiH)ose.s : That the lumber trade ib of tiie utmofcl cousctiuence ( .VI ) ll I to the pooivr inluibitaiits of tlio country, t'urnisliing to u very large niiinber their only nieuns of support during the severity of our long winter, piirtieuUirly after seasons of bad crops, (which in the lower province is of fretjuent occurrence,) and to the young men, and the new set- tlers, the most ready way of enabling them to establish themselves o!i lands : That emigration from the mother country to the Canadas has been increasing annually: That in the year 18f3J) it amounted to 1. 5,94 5 persons, And in the year 1 8;{() ti8,l()(). And that should the present state of extreme distress of the labouring classes of Great Britain and Ireland unhappily continue, emigration must go on increasing to a very considerable extent, offering as it does the most immediate and effectual means of relief: That on this score the lumber-trade is all important to the mother country, to the emigrants, and to the j)rovinces, as affording prompt means of employment on their arrival to the poor emigrants for their innne- diate support, and enabling those who are frugal and industrious, in a short time to establish themselves on lands : It is important to the inhabitants of the provinces, as relieving them from the severe pressure of a constant flow of needy strangers by the work so afforded them. And most important and consolatory to his Majesty's government in their paternal care, and to the gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, in sending forth their ])oor countrymen to find an asylum in the Canadas, that such ready means exist of obtaining employment for them, and that it is in their power to maintain this desirable state of things. Every part of the country, but most especially, the new settlements in the neigh- bourhood of Quebec, and the liiver Ottawa, afford abundant proofs of the benefits which have been derived from the lumber-trade. That thus it is the means of r^-taining as settlers in the Canadas a vast body of emigrants, who would otherwise be driven for immediate occupation to the United States : ( rtr, ) That moroovor t\w. oxtciisivc amount of toiuia^io om- ployod in the trade* afl'onls tlic means of elieap trans- port to emigrants, nor have they far to travel from thi? liomes they leave to find a (;oiiveyan(;e, as vessels are eonstantly departing during the summer season for Mortli America from almost every port in the Lnited Kingdom: And these your Memorialists call to the attention of your Lordships as most material considerations; it being evident, that without sueli means the expense of innnigration would be beyond the reach of thousands who now innuigrate here : That the amount of the importations into Lower Canada by sea during the season of 1 8^1) was ,11 jiiT.'jjOOO sterling; that the returns of IS.JO arc not yet made up, but that the amount is considerably larger, almost en- tirely from the United Kingdom and its dependencies, and in British shipping. The amount of foreign ton- nage being only ilU) tons out of ii'iC)/)]',] tons entered : 'I'hat the Canadas being thus consumers of Ihitish manufactures, and liritish West India produce to so large an amount, merit the consideration of his Majesty's government in the protection of the produce they have to otter in return, more especially as the trade is carried on Ijy British native subjects, Jiritish capital, and in British ships: That there were cleared out from the ports of Lower Canada for all places beyond the limits of the province in British shipping, In the year 1 8L'9— 2 10,880 tons, navigated bv 1 0,7 12 men. Intheyearl8;]0— 225,08;i ' 10,0;J0 — and that a still larger number of British ships are em- ployed in the timber-trade from the other ports of North America: I'hat your Lordships having a perfect knowledge of the value and importance to the mother country of a trade whicli employs so large an amount of British shipping, and forms so extensive and excellent a nursery for British seamen, as well as affording an opening and employment for so large a number of the members of our family (in these distressful times more than ever ( ,")(; ) roqiiisito), yom iVromorialists need niako no comment on tlu! subject. It would however l)o grievous to your Memorialists, to reflect that as these advantages will be sacrificed with the destruction of the North American Timber Trade, so will be increased the employment of foreign shipping, the nurseries of foreign seamen, and the employment and prosperity of foreign subjects : That by the return of imports into the United King- dom, it appears that foreigners inider the present scale of duties enjoy a very considerable share of the lumber- trade with (ireat Britain ; that in this regard the com- petition of Colonial Tindjer o])erates most serviceably in keeping down the price of foreign Timber, for it cannot be supposed that the Baltic proprietors and mercluints will neglect to take advantage of the addi- tional deUiand which \\ill be made in their markets for ()()(),()(){) tons of timber, the necessary consequence of any change of duties in their favour. Inasmuch as the liritish North American Timber will be thrown out of the market altogether, and thus British interests further sacrificed to emicli foreigners: That the scale of duties adopted in the session of 18'31 was determined on alter a very losig and laborious inquiry of a Connnittee of the [louse of Conunons, and after weighing maturely the conHicting interests of the various parties who appeared before them ; and it was considered a very nice and delicate adjustment, enabling competitors from all quarters to meet on equal tei.ns in the British markets: 'I'hat under this impression, and on the faith of the permanency of this scale of duties, many of your IMe- morialisls, and of the inhabitants of these provinces, made their outlay for carrying on the I. umber-trade, which will become a total loss to them on any further change in favour of the Baltic trade : That it having been said by opponents to the trade that it has a demoralizing effect in the population en- gaged in it, and tends to divert their attention from the cultivation of lands : \ our Memorialists beg leave to state, though owing to ])eculiar circumstances it formerly was attended by such effects, that it is now no longer the case; on the ( r,i ) contrary most conducive to forwarding the settlement of lands: It bad naturally the effect complained of when, during the late war, the United Kingdom, cut oft' from her usual sources for the supply of timber (then most wanted) the trade newly introduced into the North American Colonies became suddenly forced to a con- siderable extent, on a limited agricultural population, high prices, and high wages, with dissipation in their train, could not but be the natural consequences. IJut the trade having now been long established in the country, and the labouring part of the ])opulation sur- prisingly increased by immigration, prices and wages are moderate, and emigrants and young men find the lumber-establishments the means of enabhng them, by saving their wages for two or three years, to establish themselves on lands, which otherwise it would be out of their power to accomplish : ^ our Memorialists can state this as a fact, coming within their own knowledge ; and that in establish- ments where upwards of tiOO labourers are employed there is the most perfect sobriety, and no o})portunity of obtaining ardent spirits to excess; nor are they used but when given out by the foreman in moderation, after exposure to hardships : That your Memorialists have heard with concern, that an unfou.nded prejudice has gone abroad respect- ing the (juality of the Fir Timber imported from British North America: On tnis subject they feel themselves entitled to state with confidence, as respects Fir Timber, that the lied Pine is ecpial in quality to any brought from the North of Europe, either for ship-building or domestic pur- poses. Tiiat the Yellow Pine limber aftbrds masts for the Royal Navy, not obtainable elsewhere, and when sawn into deals, an article nnecpialled by any other for the hiterior or joiner's work of houses ; and that the white spruce-deals, afforded at a low rate, are (juite equal to any, and superior to some from the lialtic, and can only be said to yield in (piality to those from Christiana in Norway : Your Memorialists therefore most humbly pray that ( r>s ) your liordships, taking the premises into your favour- able consideration, may be pleased to recommend to the Imperial Parliament to maintain the present scale of Duties on Timber and Deals, as established in the session of 18!31, relying on the permanency of which, your Memorialists, and many thousands of h; s Majesty's faithful subjects, have embarked their capital and labour, and in which any alteration prejudicial to them will involve them and their families in utter ruin : And your Memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray. (s« .led) Jrrf.miaii Leaycraft, Chairman. H. Le Mesuiuer. G. Pemberton and Others. Quebec, 'ISth January, 18ol. APPENDIX VI. [Extracted from the New Brunsivicl- Courier, St. John, iSaturd(uj, Februanj .5, 1831.] To the Right Honourable the Lords of his Majesty's Privy Council for Trade and Plantations. The Memorial of the Chamber of Commerce of the City of St. John, Province of New Brunswick, Humbly Showeth, That your Memorialists have learnt with much sur- prise and alarm, that it is in the contemplation of his Majesty's Ministers to recommend an alteration of the present duties on Foreign and British Colonial Timber and Deals, and such an alteration as, if adopted, will be productive of much immediate embarrassment, and ulti- mately will prove most injurious to the mother country and to these Colonies. ( 09 ) Vour Lordships must be well aware of'tlu' strict and growing connexion which exists between Great Hritani and her American Colonies; and your Memorialists strongly urge the policy of fostering, in place of inter- rupting, that connexion, which the proposed measures, it appears to your jNleujorialists, are calculated directly to loosen. Should the foreign nations, bordering on the 1 Baltic and North Sea, have the privilege of importing tiniher and deals into Great Britain, at less than the present duty, there can exist no competition between them ^V and the American Colonies, arising from the greater length of the Vi';7h rate of wages, which operates so injuriously j: ■ jnsi the Canadian timber, the recent regulation, Which in; t ^es a duty of one penny per foot on timber cut from the waste lands of the crown in this province, is not the least of many discouragements which fetter and blight the efforts of those who prosecute this inter- esting trade. Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty in pursuance of the foregoing resolutions. Mr. llagerman thought this a cjuestion of great im- portance, and his hon. friend from Lanark [My. Morris) was entitled to the highest credit for bringing it for- ward. The trade of the Colony required protection — we enjoyed already great advantages from the home government in this resjjcct, but it was necessary to ex- tend and continue such advantages, and nothing tended more to continue our connection with the mother country. The Colony had improved more imder the fostering hand of Great Britain, within the last ten years, than could have been anticipated. The North of Europe was certainly nearer the mother country, and the Canadian timber could not meet it on a common footing — therefore, an additional duty has been hitherto imposed upon it, but it was now said the liritish Minis- try were about to relax, and admit European timber at a less duty. Jf so, it would be ruinous to the timber trade of Upper Canada. In the districts of Niagara and London, there were immense forests of white oak and black walnut, which could be readily transported to the Atlantic, when the Welland Canal came into full opera- I / ( (jr. ) tlon, togctlun* witli lumber from the I iiitcd States, wliicli lie would julmit tree, and tiiis would iucrease the shi))])ini;' at (Quebec; but if a reduction of duty on tlu; lialtic trade take place, it will put a sto]) to ail tiiis, and deprive thousands of profitable employment, who are now and would be engaged in the hunber trade of 'his country. 'I'his measure concerns not only the per >ns engaged in this trade, but many others ; a vast numbc r of vessels employed in it brought out to our shores, at a low rate from Great Britain and Ireland, thousands of active, industrious and loyal settlers, to strengthen and improve the country, by whom agriculturists and others would be equally benefited. lie therefore considered it the duty of this House to show to the British govern- ment the absolute ruin, that a reduction of the duty on the Baltic timber would brir'"' upon the trade of this Colony. The Resolutions were p"t ar .. carried unanimously. aim>e: Dix A'lir. {^Extracted from the St. Andrew a Herat d of Tues- day^ February 8, 1831.] To the Bight Honourable and Honourable, the Com- mons* Mouse of Parliament, in Parliament assem- bled. The Petition of the Chamber of Commerce, at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Humbly Siiowetii, That your Petitioners have reason to fear that the views of his Majesty's Ministers are directed to a reduction of duties on Baltic and other Foreign Timber, on importation into (heat iiritain, which, if carried into effect, will eventually ruin the trade of the North American Colonies in that article. Your Petitioners respectfully beg leave to state to your Honourable House, their reasons for giving this ( (i(i ) decided opinion, u liicli uill at once appear, by reference to tli(! proximity of tiie Continental ports in the IJaltic to (ireat iUitain, in comparison with these Colonies, which enables foreign shipping of cheap construction, and navigated at a trifling cost, to carry iheir produc- tions at one third the freight recjuired for the protec- tion of the trade to these provinces. Your Petitioners beg leav(> to remind your Honour- able House, that the consumers of wood are chiefly the respectable and wealthy class of the conuniuiity, and it not being, like exciseableconnnodities, indispensable for the daily comfort and support of the ])oor. And that the carrying trade from hence is entirely in the hands of British subjects, employing fully one fourth of the tonnage of the empire. That the mercantile body in these provinces have lately been kept in a continual state of agitation and alarm from the ready attention paid to the applications of foreigners, for any alteration in the Colonial trade, without being desired by any class of British subjects. Your Petitioners further wish to draw the attention of your Honourable House to the fact, that the trade of these Colonies, as respects the imports in manufactured goods, is virtually confined to Great Britain, by exces- sive duties imposed on the manufactured goods of other countries by Acts of Parliament : And that, to reduce the protective duties on their principal article of ex- port to the parent country, whilst they labour under such restriction, would be a manifest act of injustice. Your Petitioners, with all due deference for what they are given to understand are the views of Govern- ment on the principles of free trade, consider such wholly subversive of the true interests of these Colonies and the Parent State. They draw this conclusion from I)ractical experience and the evidence of facts ; and they beg your Honourable House will confirm a per- manent commercial system of Colonial Policy, to give stability to credit, and to restore that confidence so essentially necessary to the true interests of trade, and to the security of the affections of his Majesty's sub- jects in these provinces. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that your ( (57 ) Iloiiourable House will not sanction any rlian ) protection, fh'sl ^^ranted for tlu' express purpose of reiideriii;^ the luotlier ci)uiitr> iiidepeiulciit of t'orcij^ii states lor a supply of tiiiihcr. It may well be doubted if the state of I''.iiro|)e was such when these proteetiii;^' duties were first imposed as to lead his iSlajetity's jfovernmeut, in (Consideration of the uncertainty of a supply obtained from foreigners, to make su( h protecting; enactments, whether its present situation tloes not imperatively call for the cunliiuiation of such precautions. N\ hilst it is admitted that the timi)er trade of the liritish Colonies cannot exist without the assistance? Jutherto granted, it should be also taken into consi- tleration, that our liability to compete with furnishers of the same articles from the north of I'.urope is, in a great measure, occasioned by the heavy freights from this country. lint these freights are paid to ship- liolders, and our goods are conveyed in vessels maimed by IJritish seamen. The trade, from the first stroke of the axe in the forest, to the delivery of the goods at their destined port, is conducted by, and yields a profit to numerous classes of liritish subjects, the wliole re- solvini; itself into the waives of labour. In the trade with the North of JCuvope a great portion oi the out- lay is shared by foreigners, and encourages a foreigtr navy ill preference to our own. In estimating the true value of this trnde, tl:?'-e cir- cumstances must not be overlooked ; nor must it be forgotten that the trade of Canada alone, during the past season, employed 8.jS vessels, the aggregate of whose tonnage was J^2,248 tons, and which were manned by between 10 and 11,000 seamen. The lower ports of this province, with those of Mew Brunswick and Nova Scotia, have freighted a larger number, and it is not an overstrained calculation to iix the total at i^,ts and other documents therewith connected, which, I am happy to actpiaint you, will be found highly gratifying; the revenue of last year being more productive than had been anticipated, and largely exceeding that cf the former. It would not, however, be prudent to calculate on the permanence of this pros- perous degree of the provincial income; for, without apprehendin<; the adoption of any other m^'asures atiecting th j trad*, of the northern colonies, the com- mercial ar/angement recently concluded with the go- vernmeiVi, of the I'nited States, must have an immediate tendency greatly to lessen the amount of revenue to be collected in this province under the acts of parliament." \In the Debate that followed, an Ilonourahle ilfeinher said,] " he hoped his Honour was mistaken in his view of the colonial system of t]\e mother country, lie hoped the conduct of the mother country has been dif- ferent from what is feared, and that, under the wise management of the Ministers at home, the colonial trade would contimie to be prosperously carried on." Another Hon. ^Fembcr "added a few words in agreement with the last speaker, and antlci})ated •• de- crease of the reveiuie, in consecpience of the ujeasuii's ( '^^ ) ;ulopte(l by Ministers, which tended to injure the trade of tlie province." A tliird Hon. Member *' always supposed tliat; tlic o))enino- the West India ports to the Americans would injure the N j;rth American Colonies. lUit the mother country had certaiidy done great injustice to these Co- lonies. The Colonies had no right to suppose that, as the Americans were already excluded from those ])orts, the mother country would, \\ ithout any notice to the Co- lonies on the subject, reopen those ports to the Ameri- cans.* It was, therefore, high time that the Colonies should speak out. If they did not speak out, it would be highly injurious to them, because no time had been given them to ])repare for the change, and they uuist therefore take the calamitous consequences. There was every reason to believe, that if the Colonies were not careful and urgent, much more injurious measures would be adopted by the mother country. The duties would |)robably he lessened on foreign timber, and in- creased on colonial timber; which would amount almost to an abandonment of the Colonies. If it was left to the present Ministers to decide whether the duties on timber should be altered, fl/c Colonies icoulil he ruined. This Colony, with no revenue, unable to export its staple commodity, would be a mise)al)le country. There would be no article of ex])ort in the country for fifty years to come; nothing with which to pay for British manu- factures. There could be no means of producing exports." * In cscinding tlie order in council of 1826, for closinj: tlie West Tndin ports against the v(;ssels of the I iiitcd Slates, it was conditionally pro- posed by the late governor, that a scale of duties should he adopted, siit- fi<'ieti ito protect, iii'nnuiic»ll'j, the iaierests tliat liave hecn eri'ated in the British "North American J'rovinces, i)y the shutting of the West India ports, in consequence of the refusal of the United States to meet the provisions of the Briti>h Acts of KViti, and suflirient likiuise to enable the J'ritish North American Provinces to ( onlin\ie tlie supply trade with profit and advantage. If this be doiie, a great national pur)ose will be obtained, and the I'ldvinccs will have no reason to complain on tiii> j)oint. lftlie;calc and duration of duties be not sullicient, there will be inueli discontent. I, () \ I) I) \ ; riMi'ii II \ I!, he tratlo that tlie IS woukl 3 mother liesc Co- that, as ise ports, 3 tlie Co- 2 Ameri- Coionies it vvonhl lad l)ecn :iey must There lies were measures lie cUitics ■, and in- 11 1 ahnost eft to the m timber d. This its staple H'C would r years to >li manu- »roducing - West Tiiilin lioiiiilly \m>- (loj)tOll, sut- ivatptl in the it India ports, lie provisions e iho Jjritihh ,th profit iind )btaint'il, and 11 tin; jcaic content.