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EMIGRATION.

Letters on Canada.

A PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN,

Lately returned from that Country.

^ ^ /^^r .^e^

BELFAST
1874-

LETTERS ON CANADA.

To the Editor of the Northern Whig.

Sir, — Although the columns of the Belfast Press have lately
been well supplied with letters on emigration to the British
Provinces in North America, perhaps you will kindly grant
me space for a few words bea'ing upon the issues raised by the
correspondents. Nothing short of a sense of duty could induce
me to write a single line in the public prints on any conceivable
subject ; and, therefore, in the present case I would not dream
of obtruding myself upon the notice of your readers did I not feel
morally bound to publish what I know, in justice to Canada and
its enterprising Government and people, to thousands of ill-paid,
ill-fed, and ill-clad Irislimen at home ; and also to Mr. Charles
Foy, our energetic emigration agent in Belfast. Permit me to
make two or three prefatory statements, in order to show ray
authority for attempting to write upon a subject regarding which
great diversity of opinion prevails. I have just returned from a
thirteen months' tour through Canada and the United States.
Nearly one-half of that period I spent in the former country, not
in one continuous vi.ut, but in two separate visits embracing all
the seasons of the year; indeed, it is barely six weeks since I left
the city of Toronto. During the six months spent in Canada my
travels by rail, boat, waggon, ari sleigh. North, South, East, and
West, extended over a distance of 1,500 miles. I never remained
for a longer period than three weeks in any city, town, or district,
and consequently was afforded abundant opportunity of becoming
acquainted vath the condition of the countiy. Moreover, instead
cf being corlined to the isolation of hotel life, I generally lived
with the people — professional gentlemen, merchants, farmers,
labnaiers, and mechanics — ate 8t their tables, mingled in their
gatherings, and slept in their houses. For a very considerable
portion of the time T was buried in the heart of rural scenes —
rusticating with the hospitable farmers, accompanying them to the
markets and agricultural fairs (same as our " shows"), walking with
them over their spacious fields; watching the reapers, the ploughmen,
the wood-choppers, &c. ; closely questioning every man whom I met

about his ad vantages and disadvantages, comforts, and hardships, and
always concluding my interviews with Irish settlers by putting the
question," Would youlike to settledown in Ireland iov the remainder
of your life ]" And, Mr. Editor, I am not giving an exaggerated
estimate when I assert that fully 99 per cent, of the answers
returned to that question by farmers and labourers were expressed
by an ironical laugh, a vigorous shake of the head, and the follow-
ing words, " No, Sir; I couldn't live in that country now, and I
advise you on leaving Canada to purchase a return ticket." Befoi'e
concluding this correspondence I hope to be able to show more
than one satisfactory reason for the answer. Again, I shall only
state facts that came under my own personal observation, and
offer opinions which, to my mind, spring spontaneously and
irresistibly from those facts. And, whilst doing so, I have no
desire to become involved in a controversy with any of your
correspondents; I shall simply tell "a plain, unvarnished tale,"
stating Avhat I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own
ears, and drawing legitimate conclusions therefrom. And I ho|)e
that no person will charge me with egotism when I respectfully
submit that, under all these circumstances, any testimony which 1
can furnish (always assuming that my veracity is not impugned)
should have more weight with the public than second-hand
evidence adduced in support of some pet theory in political
economy, or statements published by correspondents who have not
visited Canada for a considerable term of years. To reason about
the present condition of a new and rapidly develoj.ing country
' from the facts known regarding it fifteen or twenty years ago is as
illogical and fallacious as to discuss the present condition of
medical theory and practice in the light of the limited scientific
facts and discoveries known to our grandfathers. Finally, I have
no personal interest to serve in this matter. I have not even the
pleasure of being acquainted with Mr. Foy, and therefore do not
come forward for the purpose of doing a service to a friend.
Believing, Mr. Editor, tha:; this letter has already grown too large
for an introduction, and thanking you for inserting it, I shall feel
obliged to you for admitting two or three others from me on the
following subjects, which ha^^e been touched in the recent cor-
respondence : — " Farmers and Labourers," *' Climate," " Society,"
" Politics," " Religion and Morals."

Yours, &c.,

JOHN R. M'CLEERY,

Cootohill, Jun« 26, 1874.

Presbyterian Minister.

To the J'Jditor of the Acrt/iern Whig,

Sir, — Finding that you havo inserted my introductory letter on
Canada, 1 now proceed in continuation of the subject.

The condition of farnhu-s and labourers : — Inasmuch as this
question is one of great public interest at the present time, not only
in Ireland, but also in the sister island, I shall devote a whole
letter to the consideration of it. The condition of the Canadian
farmers and agricultural labourers is widely diflerent from that of
the corresponding classes in Ireland, the difference being decidedly
to the advantage of the former. In these days of Land Acts and
Tenant-right Associations I need scarcely remind your readers that
the Irish farmers do not own the land upon which they and their
children toil and sweat, and ex})end the energies of many precious
years. The situation may be pretty, or even romantic, the house
commodious and comfortable, the fields large and fertile, and the
fences trim and regular ; but the man by whose taste, money, and
industry the whole i)lace has been cultivated and adorned cannot
stand on his door-step, and, looking around on the pleasing seem;,
exclaim — " All this is my own pn-perty, and no man dare attempt
to deprive me of it." Such an assertion falling from hisli])s would
be looked upon by the landlord as unpardonable treason, ar\d dealt
with accordingly. Yet that is precisely tha enviable position
occupied by tiiu Canadian farmers. They are not only the husband-
men, the tillers, the workers of the soil, but also the huuUords of
the country in which tliey live, perfectly independent, and not
afraid to resent any interference with their rights and privileges.
What a contrast to the dependence of the Irish farmers — a
dependence which in many instances is scarcely one degree less
humiliating and galling than the degradation of Russian serfdom !
And is there, a single spirited, unselfish, and magnanimous man
attached to either political party at home Avho will hesitate to
affirm that an absolutely independent proprietorship in Canada is
infinitely preferable to a humiliating tenancy -at-will in Ireland
— a tenancy which is held at the discretion of a class, some of whom
are undoubtedly kind and conscientious, but many of whom are
exceedingly arbitrary and iniscrupulous, and even tyrannical 1
About 100 miles north-east of Toronto I visited an aged Hercules
from one of the poorest districts in County Cavan. When I saw
him he was very sick, and his friends were expecting that he would
die in the course of a few days. Listen to his story, told to me i
by himself as he lay on his sick bed : — " I had a very small farm in ]
the County Cavan about forty years ago, from the proceeds of
which I found it impossible to pay a high rent and sui)port my 4>
youn- family. I resolved to emigrate to Canada. Accordingly I ?

went to my landlortl, and reouestcd him to give me a few poundH
for my farm and let me go. lie; replied that he would not let me
have so much as a sixpence, and that I might go where I liked.
I left everything in his possession, without receiving any compen-
sation ; came to Canada; settled down in the heart of the bush,
on the very spot where I am now dying. Other settlers came and
took up lands all around me. My sons and I have worked hard,
no doubt ; but, sii*, you can look around and judge for yourself."
I did so; and what did I see? One of the finest districts in the
world ; well settled and well cleared. That old man, his three fine
sons, and two or three sons-in-law, were living in fine houses, on
farms from 150 to 200 acres each, faring as well as the esquires do
at home, and ever ready to entertain any strangers who might pass
their way. How different their history would have been, in all
l)robability, if the aged sire had remained in the County Cavan !
And yet, Mr. Editor, this case is only a sample of many settlers
from Scotland and the North of Ireland, whose history I could
narrate, if space permitted. Is there not more depth of mea.iing
than we at first discover in the words which I quoted in my last
letter — " No, sir; I couldn't live in that country now." What do
thev mean ? Simply this — '* After enjoying independence and
plenty so long in this good country of Canada, I have no intention
of parting with them by resuming the miserable life of a small
farmer in Ireland. I could not now submit to the dependence,
humiliation, and poverty of my early life, when I was a poor
tenant-at-will, crouching to the landlord or his agent, uncovering
myself in his presence, and afraid to speak to him least he might
order his bailiff to thrust me out of the office." I freely admit that
many of the Ulster farmers are men of independent spirit, who,
even at the risk of incurring the landloi'd's displeasure and being
ejected from their homes, nobly assert their manhood and maintain
their self-respect. But the same manly and elevated position is
assumed by every Canadian farmer without exposing himself to any
risk of the kind. In short, he is the sole proprietor of the land on
wliich he spends his strength — free to build or pull down iiouses,
cut trees, make roads, drains, fences, <kc., at his own discretion,
without being compelled to crave permission from any overweening
aristocrat.

Surely what I have just written is worthy of serious and
impartial consideration, esj)ecially from our small farmers, who are
hopelessly struggling to support large families upon miserable little
patches of land, which by a stretcli of charity and an abuse of
language we call " farms. " "Within a few miles of the Northern
shore of Lake Eric I met a sturdy Highlander, under whose
hospitable roof I spent Christmas Eve. During an interesting

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conversation with him on this subject, he said — " I loved mv native
land, and love it still, as fondly as any Scotchman loves it. But
when I came to consider that my interest in that land only
amounted to live or six acres, and that even that little patch -vas
not my own property, but held by me at the will of the landlord,
I immediately decided on emigrating to Canada, where I would still
be under good British rule." That man now occupies a position
similar to the one attained by the settler from County Cavan, whose
case I have related. He is perfectly independent, tho owner of
200 acres of fine land, and able to give his children opportunities
and advantages whicli they never would have enjoyed had their
father remained on the miserable patch of rented land in Scotland.
No wonder that such men could not now bring themselves down
to the low level of hardship, poverty, and humiliatioix occupied by
thousands of the Irish farmers.

I find, sir, that the subject grows upon me as I proceed. There-
fore, I shall I'eserve some additional facts beai-mg on this part of it
for my next letter.

Yours, &c.,

Cootchill, 1st July, 1874.

JOHN K. M'CLEERY",

Presbyterian Minister.

To the Editor of the Northern Whig.

Sir, — The fact to which I gave special prominence in my last
letter was the independence that is soon attained by farmers who
emigrate to Canada, in illustration of whicli I quoted the ca«t s of
two men — one Scotch and the other Scotch-Irish — who formerly
belonged to the class of " small farmers." Before proceeding allow
me to add that the districts in which these men resided (about 200
miles distant from each other) are occupied almost exclusively by
emigrants from the Highlands of Scotland and the province of
Ulster. I visited many of them in their own houses, and met
many more at church, market, public meetings, and social gather-
ings; and yet I can scarcely recall a single instance in which
anything approaching an expression of dissatisfaction was uttered.
On the contrary, all appeared to be prosperous, happy, and con-
sented, quite in raptures with their adopted country (although still
attached to the " old sod"), and greatly amazed that so many of
their struggling friends on this side of the Atlantic are s) blind to

their own comfort as to prefer poverty at home to plenty in
Canjida. I freely ncknowletlge that there are some men in the
Dominion who hav<! not improved their circumstanet's by emigra-
tion. Notwithstanding all the advantages aflordiid by a new,
fertile, and well-governed country, they are not one whit more
comfortably situated than ttiey wen? in tlie days of .small farms,
high rents, bad houses, and bad diet. But, whilst admitting that
this is true of a few steady and industrious settlers, whose luck of
prosperity, instead of being charged against the country in which
they live, should simply be pronounced unaccountabh?, I unhesi-
tatingly atlirm that it is chiefly applicable to men of a slnggisli and
thriftless nature, who are always " getting behind," no matter how
favourable the circumstances may be in which their lot is cast.
And then, in order to palliate their own indolence or prodigality,
they send whining letteis across the Atlantic in which they pour
f(uth pitiful complaints about the death-like loneliness of bush life,
the indescribable toils and pains of chopping wood, the intolerable
severity of the heat in Summer, and the cold in Winter, (fee, &c.
I respectl'ully caution your readers not to be so indiscreet as to
form their opinions of Canada from the dismal growls of such
malcontents.

" Oh ! that was very fine talk in your last letter about jjoasant
pro])rietorship, independence, and self-respect," replies some one of
yotir readers, "but you must admit that the difficulties and
hardships encountered by the Canadian farmers are terrible, and
more than counterbalance any advantnges which they enjoy in
other respects." Now, Mr. Editor, permit me to say that this part
of the subject has been grossly misrepresented and exaggerated
(undesignedly, I believe) in some letters that recently ajipeared in
IJelfast ])apers. Postponing for the present the question of climate,
which will come under discussion in due time, and contemplating
the entire subject in its broadest light, I cannot but express my
deep conviction that the trials experienced by the majority of Irish
farmers are even greater than those undergone by their brethren in
Canada. Let us for a moment place the two side beside with each
other, and then we shall discover on which side the advantage lies.
What is the history of the average farmer at home 1 It may be
told briefly as follows : — A large purchase-money for t1 e bare
Tenant-right (in many cases no small portion of the price jwnst be
borrowed at high interest) — a heavy annual rent (from 30, to oOs
per aci'e for good land), which like a crushing burden oppresses
him for the remainder of his life — high taxes — frequent wet
harvests — stubbing out old hedges, and enlarging and draining
fields — preparing iarmyard and purchasing artificial manures —
weeding land — breaking lumps — paying high prices for fi^i, meat,

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*to., not to lucutioii th«? paying of infcereHt on money tliat nmy have
hoen borrowed to assist in putting him into the farm — running to
tlio bank for bills to pay the; rent — selling off crops at low rates to
meet urgent demMiids — und nuiny other dilliculties that will sugircst
themselves to the minds of your readers. And then, should ho be
80 fortunate as not to fall into arrears and e8Crti)e eviction, ho
leaves his children behind him to fight like cats and dogs over the
" ])roporty," when the " olHco" promptly steps in and summarily
puts an end to the squabble by packing them all oif to America,
with the exception of one favourite son, who receives the " ticket,"
and is thereby gazetted as the hero of the figlit and the lord of the
disputed possessions. And so he tries his hand at the wheel of
fortune, only to re{)eat in his own life the scenes of hopeless
drudgery through which his poor father dragged himself in his day.
Suppose that the same man emigrates to Canada, what is his
history] He purchases— that is, he "buys out" — one hundred
acres of splendid, deep, loose, and rich land, with good houses on
it, for less money than he would ])ay for the mere Tenant-right of
a thirty-acre farm in Down, Deny, or Antrim. He never pays a
cent of rent. His tuxes amount to £3, including school tax ; in
other words, by jiaying a3 annually in one tax he dischargos all his
pecuniary obligations to the Goveinment and gets his children
educated free. He does not incur the trouble and expense oi pre-
panng, buyiii, carting, and sja-eading manures, because they are
not required. I ate as good potatoes, parsni})S, «ikc., raised without
manure on farms twenty years under cultivation as are now pro-
duced in the richest gai'dens in Ireland. There is as much wood
on his own land as Avill supply fuel for iinmy years, which he c .
cut at his own pleasure without begging permission from any
person. In Winter ho lives, like the bees, upon his store of honey,
having nothing to do but to attend to his cattle and chop a little
wood. He lives well — kills his own beef, mutton, and pork, takes
his own wheat to the mill and get? -*• ground into the best of flour
— has a handy little cooking-stove, in which his wife, always pro-
vided she is a good one, roasts orbous meat and fowls to perfection,
and bakes magnificent plain loaves, cakes, pies, &,c. Or suppose
that he has not sufflcient money to purchase a cleared farm, and is
compelled to settle down on the free land, to shoulder his axe, and
ply it hard during three or four months of Winter, when the air is
dry and bracing. Has he not something to work for '( Having
no rent to pay and merely a nominal sum for taxes, he is always
certain of having plenty to eat and drink, and then in a few years
he will have a fine ftirm of 160 aci-es, all his own property. He
is perfectly independent from the first day of occupation, and rea-
lizes at last that he is a man free to think and act in his private

business, ard ia the affairs of the country, according tc trie light
that is in him, without fear of unpleasant consequences. Yes, a
man amongst men, and not a "fellow" amongst " their honours"
and " their lordships," to be de&pised and kept at a distance as an
inferior creature, and treated as a mere machine for repairing old
houses, and tl-aining wet fields, and improving and beautifying im-
poverished land with his own money and the sweat of his own
brow — land that belongs to another man, whose pockpts he
annuUly fills with his hard-won earnings, to be spent, not for the
good of his country, but in the luxuries of a metropolitan or Con-
tinental residence. " The Canadian farmers have hnrd work," you
say. Gi-anted that they have, ajud for the sake of argument I am.
prepared to admit that they experience more hardships than the
Irish farmers in the prosecution of their avocations. But how
different are the results ! No honest man will shrink from hard
work, not even the hardest, that will eventually raise him above
the low level of an obsequious retainer, and establish hiniself and
his childly., in a position of honourable independence and in-
violable security. It is admitted by all parties who are competent
to give an opinion on the subject that no people in the world are
more independent than the Canadian farmers. Can the same
words be used of the Irish fiirmers ? No ; and yet they work
like slaves.

Yours, &c.,

Cootehill, July 2nd, 1874.

JOHN E. M'CLEERY,

Presbyterian Minister.

7i.&

To the Editor of the Northern Whin

Sir, — My attention has just been directed to some letters on
emigration which appeared in Thuisdi.y's issue of another Belfast
paper. I would not trouble you to insert a line respecting them
were it not that they are replete with utterly untrae and most
misciiievous assertions, which, if allowed to pftss unchallenged,
might prove extremely prejudicial to very important interests.
How any men under the control of an enlightened conscience, and
at the same time repudiating all interested motives, and also claim-
ing to be conversant witii Canadian affairs, could de^'berately sit
down and pen such epistles for the perusal of intelligent people in
Ireland is most amazing and unaccountable. Let us give them
the benefit of the doiibt, and adjudge that they wrote in ignorance,
and not from any preconceived desii. to pervert ^the truth ; and

although I do. not wish to be regarded as a Relf-oondtitiitcd cham-
pion for Mr. Foy, let me here remark that it is roally intolerable
that ue and other agents, when faithfully discharging their duties,
should be branded before the public gaze as " man-catchers" and
" traders in humanity," and charged with the most selfish, sordid,
and criminal motives by anonymous and irresponsible correspon-
dents. Such abusive language may be considered perfectly in
order in the so-called " Land of Liberty" from which it emanates;
but in Ireland and Canada, whe .e better manners prevail, it is not
current in the ranks of respeci/able society. Besides, it ill becomes
any man hailing from the United States, which was iintil quito
recently the dungeon of nearly 6,000,000 slaves, to turn round
towards honest Irishmen and tell them that he " detests man-
catchers — traders in humanity." I regret that, owing to an extra-
ordinary pressure of pastoral work consequent on my return after
a long absence, J have not been able to read all Mr. Foy's letters
on emigration to Canada; but love of the truth, and a desire to see
fair play, impel me to avow that I can honestly endorse and defend
almost all the statements made by him in the letters and emigra-
tion bills which have come under my notice. Without resorting to
exaggeration or falsehood, Mr. Foy or any competent agent should
not experience any difficulty in exhibiting Canada most attractively
before the eyes of small farmers and labovirers in Ireland.

One of the correspondents alluded to betrays his utter ignorance
of the whole subject, and his utter incompetence to express a re-
liable opinion upon it, when he groups Canada and the United
States together as one country under the common but misleading
name — " America." Having introduced this new term into the
argument, he disingenuously p^akes a number of indiscriminate
statements as applicable to both countries, although he must surely
be aware of the fact that on all the points on which he touches
there is as much dilference between Canada and the United States
as there is between a plain, quiet, inexpensive place like Cootehill
and a fast and fashionable metropolis like London or Paris. lu
short, there runs through the whole letter the common fallacy of
predicating of the whole that which is predicable of only one of the
parts. " Canada and the United Slates are America. Now, in
America (meaning the United States) a labouring man pays 140
dollars (1) for two poor suits of clothes ; therefore, every emigrant
sent out by Mr. Foy lo America (meaning Canada this time), and
receiving 200 dollars a year, must pay 140 of them for two suits of
clothes." That is pi-ecisely the method in which he writes from
the beginning to the end of his letter. There is about as much of
truth and common-sense in the whole i-ning as there is in the fol-
lowiMg : — " Vjrreyhounds and poodles are dogs ; greyhounds run

faster than hares ; therefore, poodles I'uii faster thai) hares, because
poodles are dogs j" or, " London and Cootehill are in the British
Isles ; in the British Isles (meaning London and other fashionable
places) a man pays i;10 for a suit of clothes ; therefore, he will pay
the same sum in Cootehill, because it is in the British Isles."
Comment on such reasoning is unnecessary.

Now, Mr. Editor, it is an incontrovertible fact that in the
matter of the cost of living there is no comparison whatever, but,
on the contrary, a most remarkable contrast between the Dominion
and the States ; and it looks exceedingly like a cleA'-er attempt at
imposition for the author of a public letter to take into his hand the
labourer's account-book, and, under the head of income, to enter
Canadian wages, whilst under the head of expenditure he coolly
})utK down a list of articles, not at Canadian prices, bxit at the
enormous sums charged and paid for them in the United States.
Let us examine the following extract : — " Any man knows that
the American tannage is not oue-tench as good as the Irish, and
where two pairs of farm shoes or boots would suit in Ireland, six
pairs would scarcely suit here." If a"^ intended that we should
construe the words "American" and "here" as meaning the
United States, then I would say that there is some truth in what
he says, although the facts are greatly exaggerated. But it is quite
obvious from the context of the letter that he includes Canada in
the statement, because he is from beginning to end writing against
the ;^ 40 a-year offered by the Canadian agent as an inducement to
Irish labourers to emigrate. And, if applied to Canada, the state-
ment is simply untrue. Having made it my business to inquire
into all such matters during my tour through the Dominion, I am
in a position to certify that boots and shoes are equally as good and
cheap as they are in those parts of Ireland where the best wages
are earned. We all knovv the quality of boots to be had in Belfast
f c 12s a pair. The same money will buy as good an article in
Toronto or Montreal. Immense quantities of boots and shoes are
manufactured in the latter city and other parts of the province of
Quebtc, where labour is comparatively cheap, owing to the market
being generally well supplied with French Canadians. The manu-
factured article is then scattered over the whole country, and no
matter where you go you will find no difficulty in getting a pair of
good, dui'able boots or shoes at old-country price. As for other
articles of clothing, such as are tisnally worn by labouring men in
Canada, they can be purchased for veiy little more than they cost
in Ireland ; and the idea of a Canadian labourer expending 140
dollers annually on dress is wild and ridiculous in the extreme. I
venture to affirm that not one gentleman out of every fifty in
Toronto reaches so high a figure in the purchase of the finer and

more fashionably-made garments which he wears. The corres-
pondent of whose assertions I am now writing appears to be entirely
ignorant of the fact that all sorts of wearing appi),rel are from 35
to 40 per cent, cheaper in Canada than in the U uited States. I
know a clergyman in New York who, in company with his two
sons, undertakes an annual pilgrimage to Toronto for the })Ui-pose
of purchasing clothes, and therebysaving money. From his remarks
on the value of '200 dollars (^40) in currency, the same correspon-
dent also seems to be ignorant of the fact that Canadian paper
money is equal to United States gold — tiiat is, the dollar bills
current in Canada, and received by the labouring man as compen-
sation for his work, are 10 per cent, more valuable than the
" greenbacks" circulated by the "Great Republic." In January
last I sold the Canadian dollar bill in the States at gold price —
110 cents. And yet the correspondent writes of what he calls
the " American curi-ency," and makes deductions, as if he were
entirely ignorant of the fact that paper currency is at par in Canada,
but considerably below it in the United States. Let me state one
or two facts regarding diet and wages before I conclude this letter.
In the rural districts of Canada master and man sit at the same
table, and partake of the same food. Meat is largely used — plenty
of beef, mutton, and good pork. With wages at Gs, per day for 7
months, and 3s. per day at least, for the remaining 5 months of the
3'ear, and beef and mutton selling at from 2d to 5d per lb., and
geese and tuvkeys at 2s and 2s Gd a-piece, surely the Cajiadian
labourers can afibrd to live well, and they do live well. If any
man is idle for three months of the year, it is sim2)ly because he is
an idler, and therc^fore should bear the consequences of his sloth in
silence. How often do the Irish labourers eat beef and mutton ]
On rare occasions, indeed, such as mariiages and "christenings,"
and perhaps on Christmas Day. It is reserved for them (poor
fellows), and not for their brethren in Canada, to enjoy the constant
luxury of the delicious " fat pork" which the United States people
are so glad to have " cleared out" of their country. With oaiy 7s
per week for wages, and rent to pay, and fuel to buy, and meat at
lOd per lb., can the Irish labourer and his family be said to live at
all 1 F6r such men to remain in Ireland may serve the interest^'
of the people who ride in splendid coaches and fare sumptuously
every day, but it is only subjecting themselves and their children
to hopeless penury and a life-long starvation. I never met a single
industrious man in Canada who was " living from hand to mouth,"
and it is nothing less than a gross libel upon the kind-hearted and
hospitable people of that country to publish to the world that they
would allow any stranger from Ireland, England, or Scotland to
perish in their u 'dst like a dog.

Thanking you for inserting my previous letters, I now
conclude, although I have not by any means exhausted the
subject.

Yours, &c.,

Cootebill, July 4, 1874.

JOHN R. M'CLEERY,

Presbyterian Minister.

1^'

To the Editor of the Northern Whig.

Sir. — 1 must apologise to you, and your readers for occupying
so much of your valuable space. Having voluntarily proposed to
treat of several specified subjects, accurate information on which is
of vital importance in the settlement of the emigration question, I
wish to carry out my proposal by exhausting the series.

The Climate of Canada. — As I have not been examining the
statistics of public health at home or abroad, I am not pre2:)ared to
express an opinion arithmetically on the rate of mortality in the
Dominion. However, I can testify that during my sojourn within
its borders I met a large number of very old people who did not
appear in the least degree more shrivelled and decrepit than persons
of the same advanced age in Ireland. In fict, when travelling
tlirough their country and mixing freely with all classes and ages,
I did not observe any peculiar feature in the physical appearance
of the Canadians ; they seemed to be exceedingly like the people
whom I had just left behind me in Ireland — a ruddy, robust, and
hardy race — and exceedingly unlike the pale faces and lanky figures
wliich, like " spectral bands" and "ghostly visions," crowd the towns
and cities of the United States. The children of Irish settlers —
stalwart lads and rosy lasses — looked quite as strong and healthy
as many of their cousins reared in tlie " Green Island," with whom
I have the pleasure of being acquainted. Were some of the anti-
emigrationists in Cootehill, I could show them the photographs of
two hundred Canadian friends, whose forms and faces they would
immediately pronounce to be almost, if not altogether, as good-
looking as the forms and faces of those with whom they daily
associate at home. I happened to be in Canada during the time of
annual drill, when I had a si:)lendid o])portunity of seeing the youth
ot the country ; and I am confident that impartial witnesses will
bear me out in the statement that, witli the exception of the Royal
Irish Constabulary (picked men), and some chosen regiuients of the

to
ti is

Q.I

i-fc

line, there is no finer looking body of men in the British dominions
than the Canadian Volunteers. They are certainly much superior
to the Irish Militia in physique.

Now, Mr. Editor, surely aome of the credit of this must be given
to the climate. How could the inhabitants be so strong and ruddy
if their country were unhealthy, as represented by som.e correspon-
dents ? Moreover, it is a fact, of which I have also personal
knowledge, that the vast majority ot Irishmen who have resided in
Canada for a number of years prefer its climate to th'dt of Ireland.
The heat of summer and cold of winter may look terrible when
contemplated from a distance, especially if viewed through the
magnifying medium of some anti-emigration letters ; but if you
were only out in Canada, and became acclimatised and got some
experience of the advantages of dry harvests — during which grain
is easily saved — and of dry bracing winters, when yea may roll
about in the snow without fear of getting wet and contracting cold,
you would soon begin to wonder how you agreed so well with the
rainy weather in Ireland. No doubt in some parts of Canada the
heat is great in summer, and in otlier parts the cold is very intense
in winter ; but the former is not so oppressive as in the United
States, and the latter is decidedly healthy, for it makes the ground,
the houses, and the atmosphere perfectly dry. A gentleman who
had resided for many years in the city of Toronto, and is pt present
paying a visit to his friends at Cootehill, has just informed me that
he found the heat quite as oppressive in London about three weeks
ago as ever he felt it to be in Toronto.

I observe that whilst great prominence has been given to the
disadvantages of the Canadian climate, not the least notice has been
taken of the cold and rainy seasons which have been of frequent
occurrence in Ireland during the last ten or fifteen years. Do not
the farmers tremble now as the month of August ap})roaches, and
the recollections of incessant floods and perishing cro])s rush upon
their minds 1 And what about the health and general condition
of our labourers and small farmers who spend night as well as day
in miserable houses, through the roofs of which the notorious
" drops" keep pushing themselves all the winter through 1 Let
me here introduce anotiier fact, that speaks volumes. I was
particularly struck by the almost total absence of coughing in the
Canadian churches during the winter season, so much so that I
frequently drew attention to it in private conversation. Every
clergyman in Ireland knows too well how difficult it is to speak in
his church during the wet slojjpy weather of winter, when fully one-
half of his audience seem to have conspired to " bark" the sermon
down. How can it be otherwise 1 If the cold is intense in Canada,
the air is dry, and the people are comfortably clothed and housed.

; .,.16 .

But with a damp atinosphero, bad houses, and very insufficient
clothing, no wonder that the children of onr small farmers and
labourers are shivering and coughing during the greater part of the
•winter. Let me ask — What sort of things do they wear on their
feet for the purpose of keeping out both rain and mud 1 Dare we
call them either boots or shoes ?

In writing thus I must not be understood as holding the opinion
that the climate of Canada is more salubrious than our ov/n. I
simply infer from iacts known to me that it is healthy, ])erbaps
only one degree less so than the climate of Ireland. And I must
add that some of the diseases which are prevalent in the United
States arc practically unknown in Canada.

Yours, &.C.,

JOHN R. M'CLEERY,

Presbyterian Minister.

Cootehill, July 7tli. 1ST4.