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BY ALEXANDER MONRO, ESQUIRE, ACTHOB OP A TREATISE ON LAND SUllVEYING ; HISTOKY, GEOGWAPHY, AND PUODUCTIOKS OP NOVA SCOTIA, NEW BRUNSWICK, AND PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND ; HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND STATISTICS OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, &C, &C. &C. SAINT JOHN, N. B. PRINTED BY BARNES AND COMPANY, PRINCE WILLIAM STREKT. J879, .^^'^«<, \ UMlAHlO rs-o-7 4. 1483G3 f^ ON A.c^ f9, ^ -r #■' / >3 i\ CONTENTS. . . Introduction, The Febtilk and Infertile Kegions of North America 1 The United States, "" jo Population of United States and British North America] 16 Lands siirveyed -Lands disposed of, 19 Croi)8 raised on British North America, [ ' . ....*.'. 22 The Valley of the River St. Lawrence,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 25 Area and Population, ' ' ^ 27 The Lowei Provinces, oq " Bale Verte Canal " ^ ^ 02 The Lower Provinces (Continued), 35 Population and other Statistics of the Chief Provinces and States compared, gg Newfoundland, .„ The Gulf Stream '.".'.".".'.".*.".'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.".'.".' 43 The Country between Ottawa and Red River, " '. 44 The Canadian Plains, "' ^g Climate of the Northwest 61 The Grasshopper Plague, 66 Area of the Canadian Prairies, 68 British (.'olumbia, 70 Exaggerations, _ . Canadian Pacific Railroad, g^ Debt and Population of United States and" Canada " " " 03 Trade and Commerce, . . .T: Treaties, '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..". Jor Reciprocity, '...............! 197 Imports and Exports of Coal, m Imports and Exports of Breadstuffs, 1 1 9 Protection '.'.'.'.'.'..". no Exports and Imports of United States and Dominion ' " 118 Gold and Silver Product, ^[° Exports and Imports of Canada to and from United States and Great Britain, ,^2 Merchant Shipping,.. . .^. Railroads, Hz ^»' ■:::::::::;::;;:::::;;;::;;;:;;;;;: j^ Tbade and Commerce (Continued). p^^g Oftlty , -| (ym (.^anal Statistics, joo Postal Affairs j29 Kepresentation, jgj^ Forests jgi Distances jgg Political Unification, . . 143 Independence or Canada, ! ! 159 Canadian Defences, j^2 *2Rbata, .'y^/..////^^'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 192 M .;■» INTRODUCTIOi;. M In the following pages v/c i»ro|)ose to sketcli soaie of the leading toi)ic3 relating to the future of the United States and the Dominion of Canada. We shall trace the outlines of the principal regions of habitable country in North America, and describe those parts of it whicli have fallen to the lot of the Dominion, as well as their relative situation, with regard to each other and to the United States. We shall relate the cliief resources of these two countries ; and also their debt, population and other attributes. We shall recount some of the errors committed by- Great Britain with regard to her North American Colo- nies. We will show that since the close of the rebellion in the United States — since the social and political re-ad- justment of the Republic— the jwlicy of Great Britiiin with regard to these Colonies has been gi-eatly changed ; how that the Dominion of Canada is at full liberty to shape her own future in any way she may please ; that it is the destiny of sm ill and comparatively weak and far scattered communities, like the settlements in the Do- minion, to be incor])oratcd with Great Powers ; that if the fusion of the national communities of England, the union of England and S(jotland in 1707, that of Ireland with Great Britain at the beginning of the present cen- tury, that of the old thirteen colonies in 177C, that of the two Canadas in 1841, and that of the union of the VI Canadiiin and other Provinces in 1 807, were necessary, .'t is equally necessary that the branches of the Anglo Haxon Jind other families in North America, should unite with each other, as })redict(!d by the Right Honorable John Blight: "For one vast Confederation stretching from the frozen north in unbroken line to the glowing south, and from the wild billows of the Atlantic west- ward to the calm waters of the Pacific main. Such a confederation," said Mr. Bright, '* would aflbrd at least some hope that man is not forsak(m of heaven, and that the future of our race may be better than in the past." We shall sliow that the United States and Dominion of Canada belong as it were to eacli otlier — that they are the geographical nnd commercial complement of each other ; that their union has long been an open question, wliich has been frequently discussed in the Provinces and States, and by many leading statesmen in Gieat Britain. How that the ties and interests which bind these Ameri- can nationalities to each other are much stronger than those which link these Provinces to the British Empire. And how that the Provinces are iitterly defenceless in the event of war with the United States. To those who have read the former works of the writer relating to these Provinces, and who may peruse the following pages, a woi'd of apology is due. Having carefully noted the development of the re sources of the country, and also the official and other reports representing vast areas of unoccupied lands, suit- able for settlement in nearly all the Provinces and Terri- tories of British North America, the writer was led to vu believe that this country was capable of being formed into a nalioii— a nation able before now to sustain national obligations ; and was highly plealled to entertain this view of the future. Having, however, collected the most reliable information in relation to the geography and resources of this country, and, having, as a land sur- veyor and otherwise had occasion, .luring the last foi-ty years, to traverse large sections of some of the Provinces, we have learned that but little reliance can be placed on many of the statements made with regard to the re- sources of British North America. It is now obvious that this immense region, with the exception of a few isolated and comparatively limited areas, is not fit for settlement. And, therefore, acting imder the dictates of conviction, we feel it a duty to abandon gi-ound which is no longer tenable. Apart, however, from these views of the future, the work, we hope, will be found to contain much useful in- formation relating to the United States and British North America. We have placed together an account of the chief resources of both countries, and thus enable the reader to compare and draw conclusions which cannot fail ere long to engage the serious attention of their inhabitants. Port Elgin, New Brunswick, February, 1879. A. M, THE FERTILE AND IXFERTILE REGIONS OF NORTH AMERICA. Under this head we purpose, in a brief article, to trace the outlines of the fertile and infertile regions of North America; uiul particularly, those relating to the United States and the Dominion of C^anada. The resources of North America are so vast, and the spirit of progress so broad, that it is not easy, at this early stage of its history, to mark out the future with any degree of preci- sion. Every year agricultural operations are being extended over greater areas of highly fertile lands, and new mines of wealth are being opened; hence commerce is being extended far and wide. There arc many (;ircumstanccs and events which the hand of time carries along that tend to disarrange our calculations. It is only by estimating the probabilities as well as we can, after wo have measured the resources, and marked the progress made, and by taking the balance of probal)ility as a guide, that we may arrive at a reasonable approximation. There is no part of the world where the surface of the country, and the * onditions of climate and production, are so varied as in the habitable pari, of North America. The United States in the centre, is bounded by the Dominion of Canada on the North, and by Mexico on the south ; and each is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the east by the Atlantic. The lands adjoining the Pacific, as well as those bounding on the Atlantic, the high table lands of Mexico, the low lands of its Gulf coast, the great plains of the west, the States and Provinces in the east, and the Arctic Slope of the Dominion, have each conditions of climate and production which differ very much from either of the others. In a word, the drought of the west and humid atmosphere of the east, the heat of the south and the cold of the north, indicate great extremes. The effect of these extremes on the human system are equally marked. The fevers prevalent in the Gulf States, and the pulmonary complaints common in the Eastern States and Proviiices, arc not known in the State of Colorado and other high lands of the V/est. Indeed, the colored race, in their cotton plantations— adjoining the IB Gulf of Mexico— may l)e bappy in the midst of fevers, and under the burning heat of tlic southern Kun. The Icelanders might feci equally at home and equally happy amidr.t the horrors of a Winnipeg winter; and llie Esquimaux prefer remaining in the icy regions of tiie North. But these extremes arc not congenial to the Anglo-Saxon and other progressive races of the hum:m family who prefer the more happy medium which this great region possesses. Hence the more central regions between the Arctic Slope and the Gulf of Mexico, and spreading eastward towards the Atlantic Ocean, and southward over Mexico, will be the home of the great family of mankind in North America. And the differences in climate also indicate difference in the products of the soil. Cotton, rice, sugar and tobacco are peculiar to the South. Indian corn cannot be raised to advantage as far north as the Dominion oi Canada; and wheat, except in the Ontario peninsula, is but a small crop in the Eastern States and Canadian Dominion. The destiny of North America may be said to be deter- mined on the west by the " Great Desert," and on the north by the Laurentide Mountains. These boundai'ies, which are well defined, divide the fertile lands from the great infertile regions of the west and north. As the mountain ranges influence the climate, and limit in a great measure the extent of fertile lauds, a brief descrip- tion of them cannot fail to be intercting. The United States and the Dominion of Canada arc tra- versed in a north and south direction by three ranges of mountains, besides subsidary ranges ; and crosswise, between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the centre of the continent, by the Laurentide Moimtains just referred to. Th'3 eastern range, generally known as the Appalachian or Alleghany Mountains, rise in the Gaspe Peninsuhi, south of the kSt. Lawrence, in the Province of Quebec, and extend In a system of parallel ridges, la a south-westerly direction, and nearly parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,300 miles; passing through the States of Vermont, New York, Peiuisyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia, the two Carolinas and Tennessee, into Alabama. The eununits of this rr.ige are from one thousand to four thousand feet above the sea. The range has various h)cal names: Neai the City of Quebec, it is known as the Notre Dame Moualains; and further south, as the New ^ f d f ITampshire Mountains; in New York, as the Iligb Lands; in Pennsylvania, .-.s the South ^lountains; and in the other States, gt neraily as the Blue Ridge. In Canada, the Gulf and llivcr St. I.iiwrencc separate t!ie range from the Laurcntide ^Mountains. And south-westward, the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, and oth3r Atlantic rivers pass through the chain. It was on the eastern slope of this range, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence southward where the chief part of the curly settlements, north of Mex'co, were formed. It is now inhal>ited by a large population. And, though large areas of the country are unlit for cultivation, yet there arc nume- rous and extensive farm districts yielding largely. Many populous cities and towns, numerous seats of manufacturing indtistry, and vast accumulations of wealth, characterize this section of the American continent. On the opposite side of the continent, near the Pacific ocean, there are two ranges of Slountains, known in Cali- fornia as the Coast and Sierra Nevada ranges. The former hiis its southern terminus at the bay of Siin Francisco, and follows the Pacific coast northward through the States of California and Oregon into Washington Territory, where it unites with the Sierra Nevada range. In California the latter is about one hundred miles east of the coast, and observes a course nearly parallel to it. It is about seventy miles in width, and is known in Oregon, Washington Terri- tory, and in British Columbia, as the Cascade Mountains. The coast range in California is divided into a number of nearly parallel ridges, with an aggr.jgate breadth of about forty miles. Between these ridges there arc extensive valleys of highly fertile lands. Between tlie co«st and Sierra Nevada ranges lie the Sacramento and San Jouquim valleys, extending north and south, one valley being a virtual con- tinuation of the other. It is known as the Great Valley, and is about ^■jO miles in length, by an average v.'idth of about forty miles. These valleys are traversed by numerous streams, which alTord sufbcient water to irrigate large sec- tions of them in the event of droughts. And th'/ Sierra Nevadas compri.-e two parallel ranges, with numerous valleys between. All the valleys near this part of the Pacific coast converge as they extend ncrthward, and idtimately disappear in a sea of mountains. In California, these valleys contain about forty millions of acres of the most fertile lands to bt fouad on this coutiucut. il The summits of the coast ranges are about eight thousand feet, and some of those of the Nevada and Cascade Moun- tains, from ten to fifteen thousand feet above the sea. The dominant range of the continent is the Rocity Moun- tains, It extends from the Gulf of Mexico northward far into the arctic regions, where it unites with all the other ranges on the Pacific side of the continent. The base of this range varies in width from twenty to sixty miles, and its summits arc from eight thousand to sixteen thousand feet above the sea. On the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, this range is about nine hundred miles east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains; in British Columbia, these two ranges are only from one hundred to one hundred and twenty miles apart. Sanford Fleming, the chief engineer of the Ca- nada Pacific Railroad surv»,y, says: "The Rocky Mountain zone observes a general parallelism with the Pacific coast, and in British Columbia is from 300 to 400 miles distant from it. These mountains rise like a colossal wall above the con tinental plain on its eastern side." In British Columbia the coast and cascade ranges being one, "extends along the entire sea-board." It "rises abruptly from the sea level, presenting from the water an extremely bold and defiant aspect.". The ocean front of the mainland of British Colum- bia is penetrated from twenty to sixty miles inland by a great number of cxcellenr, harbors. The b-oadth of the Cascade Mountains from the head of the harbors varies from one hundred to one hundred and twenty miles, and they rise to a height of from five thousand to eight thousand f(!et above the sea. Between the Rock}-^ and Cascade ^lountains there is a vast inter-alpine plateau of a wedge-like form, narrowing as it extends northward. Its height in British Columbia varies from 3,000 to 4,500 feet above the sea. This plateau is tra- versed by minor ranges, known as the Cariboo, Selkirk and Gold Mountains. And Vancouver Island is traversed by mountains in all directions. Indeed, British Columbia is designated as a *' Sea of Mountains." The height of the plateau in the United States is also great. The Salt Lake basin, which is a depression in the great plain, is about 4,300 feet above the sea. This anamalous basin is said to be 350 miles in length l)y an average breadth of 180 miles. It contains the Salt Luke and the Mormon gettlemcuts, But the most important mnge of mountainous country In North America is the Laurcntidc region. Important, l»ccnuse it limits the area of fertile lands to the northward, and in an east and west direction for a distance of about two thousand miles. Beginning at the Labrador coast, it extends along the north bank of the Gulf and up the River St. Lawrence to within twenty m:les of the City of Quebec: it sweeps to the northward of this city, and the City of Montreal, where it is about thirty miles north of the St. Lawrence. "Beyond this," says Sir W. E. Logan, " it extends up the Ottawa on the north side, for about a hundred miles, and sweeps round thence to the Thousand Islands, near Kingston; from which it gains the southern extremity of Ocorgian Bay, and con- tinues along the eastern and northern shores of Lake Huron and Lake Superior." It continues westerly to the Red River valley, a little west of the centre of the continent, and thence turns northward around ihe east shore of Lake Winnipeg, where the range is comparatively low. It terminates in the arctic regions, a distance of 3,500 miles from Labrador. The Laurentides, says Sir William, "occupy by far the larger portion of Canada," that is, the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The range in the Ottawa region is about two hundred miles in width. "The area occupied by the Lau- rcntian series in Canada," he says, " is supposed to be about 200,000 stpuire miles." With the exception of an olT-shoot of this range, which cro8.ses into the State of New York, known there as the Adirondack Mountains, which cover an area of six millions of acres in that State, and some out-lying spurs at the west of Lake Superior, the Laurentian formation is in the Domi- nion of Canada. This arm of the Laurentides leading to the Adirondack Mountains divides the Canadian side of the valley of the St. Lawrence into two nearly equal parts. That between the City of Ottawa and the United States boundary, extending to fifty miles, is a triangular plain, "comprising," says Sir William, "about 10,000 scpiare miles, being nearly level, and of a good agricultural character." And, though the surface of the western peninsula of Ontario, or " \.pper plain, occupying about l!),000 sijuare miles, has a generally smooth surface, it swells into a height which is not inferior in elevation to some of the highest points in the more nigged Laurentian country between Luke Huron and the Ottawa." Though fgr « convenience, we designate this formation as Laurentian, ttey arc known in some places as the Iluronian series of rocks. The Laurentides are said to be the oldest series of chrystal- line rocks in the world. The summits of this region vary in height from 4,000 feet below the City of Quebec, to 1,500, 1,700, and to 2,300 feet above the sea, in the Ottawa and Lake Huron District. In the Lake Superior region they reach a height of about 2,000 feet above sea level. The Saguenay, Ottawa and other tributaries of the River St. Law- rence, penetrate the range for considerable distances. This mountain region between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Red River Valley, forms the water-shed between the St. Law- rence and Hudson's Bay. Within the folds of this elevated plateau there is said to be more than a thousand lakes, some of them of considerable size. Lake Nipissing covers a surface of 294 square miles, and is 639 feet above the sea; Gvand Lac has a surface of 500 square miles, and is 700 feet above the sea; and the Lake of the Woods is 1,042 feet above sea level. Thef are other lakes in this region containing equally large areas, and exten- pivo swamps are numerous. The River valleys in the Laurentian region are generally narrow. The climate, in consequence of the great elevation and northern aspect of the chief part of the country, is unfavorable for agricultural operations, even if the land was suitable. Indeed, the great Laurentian region, except a few isolated spots, will ever remain outside the pale of a habitable and food producing country. Hence, the southerly flank of this region in Can- ada, between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Red River valley of the north-west, a distance of two thousand miles, is the northern boundary of food-producing North America. The unfortunate position of this region of rocks so far south, or in other words, the international boundary being so far north, can hardly be realized at present, especially in regard to the future of the Dominion of Canada. This will more fully appear as we proceed. Having thus briefly traced the chief mountain lineaments of this part of the continent, we shall, in the next place, trace the outlines of the great fertile region of North America. With the exception of two narrow belts of highly fertile country, one adjoining the Atlantic, the other the Pacific, Mexico consists of lofty tropical plateaus, which rise in step- like forms into broad terraces, sloping upwards, each pre- senting the climate and productions of the temperate zone. The highest level is a mountain chain of great elevation. A road from the City of Mexico, the ancient capital of the Montezumas, northward for a thousand miles, would nin over a country hardly varying from an altitude of 7,500 feet above the ocean. Mexico contains a large proportion of highly fertile land. Its mineral and other resources are also very great. But from the day on which Spain set her foot on the soil of ]\Iexico to the present time, the benevolent dispositions of Providence for the happiness of his creatures have been counteracted, first by 'I'pain, and since by her offspring. The history of S;:.iin in Mexico is a terrible one. She has stamped her worthless civilization on one' of the most ge- nerous soils and genial climates in the world. Since 1810, when Mexico no longer able to bear the burdens imposed by her taskmasters, raised the standard of revolt, anarchy and bloodshed has been Mexico's annual contribution to the pages of history. Indeed, she has only exchanged the mis-govern- ment of Spain for hopeless anarchy. In place of having twenty millions of educated and progressive people, the popu- lation of Mexico is only about ten millions, the greater part of whom are but half cizilized. Mexico and Central America are well adapted to sustain a large population by the products of the soil. The habitable and generally fertile region of North Ame- rica, including the regions referred to, is advantageously .situ- ated. On its front it has the Atlantic Ocean as far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On the north it is bounded by the Laurentidc Mountains before described, and on the west by the American desert. The extreme westerly boundary of the fertile lands of the continent, beginning at the Gulf of Mexico, and proceeding northward, follows a line varying in its inflections between the ninety eight and one hundredth meridian as far north as Lake Winnipeg, in the Canadian north-west. The country thiis described is equal to about half the area of the Uniicd States, or about equal to one- fourth the area of tljat part of the continent north of Mexico. Near its northern boundary, the Gulf, River and Lukes of the St, Lawrence afford a passage for vessels to the heart of 8 the continent. Prom the south this region is penetrated by the Mississippi river and its extensive and widespread branches, whicli in aggregate length afford about 20,000 miles of navigation. Though the region east of the one hundredth degree of longitude embraces nearly all the fertile lands climatically adapted for Bcttlement north of Mexico, it also includes large areas of unproductive lands. The Appalachian mountains cover a large area; and the Eastern States and Provinces contains a large proportion of worthless lands. The Gaspo Peninsula, the Adirondack Mountains in the State of New Yorlc, and many smaller tracts of infertile lands, deface the country. But in contradistinction to the country north of the river and northern lakes of the St. Lawrence, and the region between the one hundredth degree of longitude and the Pacific Ocean, there are vast areas of land of the highest fertility. The valley of ihe Mississippi alone is estimal ?.d as capable of producing food sufficient to sustain the population of Europe. According to the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the United States for 1870, the country "between the eastern boundary of the State of Ohio, and the central portions of the States of Kansas and Nebraska, covering the valleys of the Ohio, the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers, and extending from the eightj-^-flrst degree to the ninety-fifth degree of west longitude, is a region well classified as the fertile belt of the continent." As near as we can ascertain from the reports and maps before us, this belt has a breadth of thirteen degrees of longitude ; and a length between the Gulf of Mexico and the Lake Su- perior region of about 1000 miles, and contains upwards of four hundred unC- fifty millions of acres. Fifteen entire States, namely, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wiscon- sin, Kentucky, Tennessee. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, besides partj of other States, lie within its boundaries. Ten of the fertile States lie on the east side of the Mississippi River. If to this region of fertile land we add that in the valley of the River St. Lawrei.ic, and the fertile lands south of the Alleghany Mountains, including the Atlantic Provinces of the Dominion of Canada, the area of productive land in North America is truly immense. Besides, in the old States and Provinces tliere are large areas of second-class soils, which are being filled in from adjacent settlements. In the foregoing enumeration of fertile and productive arca8, we have not included the Canadian region lying west of Red River, and north of the great American Desert. The Report before referred to, says: "In all that section lying between the one hundredth meridian on the east, and the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the west, and, within these limits, from the Mexican line on the south to the International boundary on the north ; " and we add, in all the region north of this bovmdary, " a totally different set of conditions, geographical, physical and clima- tic, is found to exist. Within this vast area agriculture, as understood and pursued in the valley of the Mississippi and to the westward, has no existence." Between the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific, " irrigation is indispensable to production. That there are limited areas within which by its aid crops are and may be secured is true, but the propor- tion of land within the area now treated of, which under the present system of disposals, can by this means be made pro- ductive, is insignificant. Under a system which would justify large expenditures and ensure the utilization for the purposes of irrigation of the whole volume of water reaching the valleys from the mountain streams, but a mere fraction of the whole great area could be made fit for tillage." This infertile region has a breadth of 700 miles on the international boundary, Int. 49® north, and extends northward into the Dominion of Canada, a distance of from 200 to 250 miles. As the Canadian plains situated north of the desert possess a different set of conditions from those of the Mississippi val- ley, we purpo.se, further on, to devote more space to their consideration. The great mountain ranges on the Pacific side of the con- tinent arrest the water-clouds from the west on their way to the interior, and thus prevent precipitation of atmospheric moisture on the plains. In the southern part of the great Californian valley, the rain-fall is so light that two crops in five years is all that m.ay be expected. The yield in fruitful seasons, however, i.^ immense. Some seasons the northern parts of the valleys suffer for want of sufficient rain-fall. Of the great valley, T.CTO.OOO acres are susceptible of easy irriga- tion. In all, 12,000,000 acres might be irrigated, and thus ensure, 10 in all scanons, an immense yield of crops; as the lands are among the best on the continent. Unlike tlie Athintic const tlicre are but few Rivers on tlie Pacilic side; consequently tliere is only here and tbere and far between, a narrow valley fronting the seaboard wlicre agricultural operations can be pursued witb profit. A very large part of the country north of CaHfornia is a consolidated sea of mountains. Tlie most important agricultural region north of California is in the valley of the Columbia River. This river, for a considerable distance from its mouth up- wards, forms the boundary between the State of Oregon and Washington Territory. The wheat product of the Columbia Valley is now considerable. TJie country is l)eing rapidly settled. The climate of this part of tlie coast is excellent. The precipitation of atmospheric moisture accumulates rapidly along the Pacific coast from south to north. At the nortli end of Vancouver Island the rain-fall is said to be very great. The climate as far north as the north end of this Island is highly favorable to agricultural production ; tlie winter is short and not severe, while summer is equable, and the whole season condu- cive to health. But the great want on this coast is sufficient land fit for cultivation. The mineral resources are highly valuable. Indeed the whole region fronting on the coast is a gold field. The moun- tain slopes and river sands are known to contain large quanti- ties of gold, which as time passes will be more fully developeove the general level of the country. In Canada, the St. Lawrence drainft an area cHtimated at two hundred and eleven millions of acres. This immense region with the exception of a narrow strip fronting on the St. Lawrence, is within the Laurentide mountain range. Thus, we have three slopes or valley.s lying within the fer- tile region in this part of the continent; the Mississippi, St, Lawrence and Appalachian. Nowliere on the face of the gloln; is there such a vast expanse of fertile lauds as these valleys contain. Willi the exception of a comparatively limited area of mountainous country, it is one vast coutincn al plain, extending from the Atlantic Ocean westward, lo the one hundredth degree of west longitude, and in a nciih and south direction from the Laiu'entide mountains to Mexico. It is now inhabited by about tifty millions of people, uicluding four millions of Canadians; still there is room for hundreds of millions. Referring to that part of it, in the west, lying south of the Canadian boundary, and which might conveniently adopt navigation by the St. Lawrence as an outlet for the surplus products of the west, John Page, Chief Engineer for the (!ji- nadian IJoard of Works, in his Keport for 1874, saj's: — "The line of settlement is yet a long way from the western boundary of the fertile region, and it is stated on good authority that even in that part of it which furnishes the supply, there are not more than onclifdi of the available lands under cultiva- tion." This food-producing region embraces every variety of climate, from the genial south to the winter cold of Quebec and northern Minnesota. Here the different nationalities of the world may tind both climate and soil to suit them. And when Mexico takes her place among the more civilizxHl and progressive conmumities of this continent, the sea of human life may be indefinitely extended. But the great barrier to western progress is the desert. Professor Henry, a very distinguished man in the United States, says: — "The whole extent of country to the west, between the ninety-eighth meridian and the Ho('ky Mountains, called the great 'American Plains,' is an arid desert, over which the eye way w^andcr to the horizon without seeing anything to relieve u Its monotony. . . . And pprlinps wc sliall siirprlw; the rt'iwk'r by drawing liiM aflfntion to the fact that this Inic, which iH drawn Houtiiward from Laltc Winnipru; to tlic Uulf of Mexico, dividcH the surface of tlie United States info two very nearly e(nial parts. Wlien i)roperly understood, tlii.s Htatement will serve to diH.slpate some of the dream.M, regarded ns realities, alH)Ut the destiny of the western part of the con- tinent of North America; but truth in the end takes prece- dence of praisewortliy patriotic st-nlinient." The treeless desert is estimated by (I. M. Dawson, F. G. 8., to contain Hi.\ hundred thousand s<(uare miles, about one-third of which is in the Canadian NortliAvest. It extends northerly into Canada, a distance of about two hundred and fifty miles, and lies between the fertile lands on the North Saskatchewan and the International line. In his "Sketch of the North West America," in 1871, Bi.shop Tache, who resided in the Canadian Northwest for nearly a quarter of a century, says, page 10: — "Here is a desert — an immense desert. It is certainly not everywhere a i)lain of moving .sand, and quite dried up; but it is (piite vain to think of forming considerable settlements on it. Prairie hay (xynteria dyctahhle») is almost the only plant which is seen growing on its arid soil. A narroAV border of alluvial soil marks its water courses, and these arc dry nearly throughout the year. The prairie hay supplies ]iasturage of the best kind; not only the buffalo delights in it, Init horses and other draught animals are very fond of it. This herb, barely six inches high, of which the plants grow so sparsely ns to leave the sand or gravel on which it grows everywhere visible, preserves its flavour and nourishing power, even in the midst of the rigors of winter, to such an extent that a few days grazing on one of these remarkable pasturages sulHces to restore horses worn ont by work to good condition. " Beyond this advantage, and the game to be f(mnd there, I do not know of anything on this vast plain which could attract the attention of economists. The wearied eye seeks in vain for a .shore to this ocean of short hay. The weakened traveller sighs in vain for a stream or a spring at which to quench his thirst. The heavens, dry as the earth, hardly ever grant tlicir dews and beneficent showers. The dryness of the utmospherc aids tlie aridity of the soil ; some places of which the geological formation would appear to fiivor vegetation, r(Mluc- tive in an agrieultural point of view. This is now known to l)c the ca.se in parts o' Europe and America. In Californift durinj; very dry seasons, artificial means of irrigation have lieen adopted with great effect. Dr. Ilayden, in his Geological Itcport. In 1807, says, with regard to parts of the American desert, that " the settlement of the c(nintry, and the increase of the liinhcr, have already changed for the better, the climate of that porti(m of Nebraska lying along the Missouri, so that within the last twelve or fourteen years, the rain has gradually increased in (plant ity, and is much more epulation of the United States and British North Ar erica for the years named therein : — UNITED STATES. BRITISH N. AMERICA. ' YE.VR. POPULATION. YKAR. POPULATION. 1790. . . 3,926,214 1791.... 270,000 1800. . . . 5,,S08,48;j 1801.... S4M,000 1810. . . 7,230,881 1811.... 479,000 1820. . . . 0,63.3,822 1821.... 790,000 • 1830 . . . 12,866,020 1831... . 1,200,000 1840.... 17,060, 4.'i3 1841.... l,«i56,700 1S50. . . . 2.3,191,876 l.S.'Vl.... 2,487,85.5 1880.... 31, 4 43, .321 1861 3,294,6.54 1870. . . . 38, .558,371 1871 3,730,774 The population of the United States may not exceed 47,000,000 in 1880; and that of the Dominion, 4,100,000 iii 1881. The population in the last table is exclusive of Indians; of whom, in 1877, there were 250,800, in the United States; and 103,000 in the Dominion of Canada in 1871. The amount expended by the United States in 1877, for education of the civilized tribes, was $337,370; of which $309,337 was paid l^y the Central Government. The number who learned to read during the year w.as 1,206; and the total number who can read is 40,397. During Jhe year 1877, some thousands of Indians removed from the United States to the Canadian Northwest. Thus the Indian population of the Dominion is comparatively large. Previous to the present century, the progress of North America was very slow. The long time that elapsed between the occupation of Quebec by Fn^nce, the landing of the Puri- tans, and the conquest of Canada by Great Britain, and the year 1776, when the United States declared its independence, was 17 a comparative blank in the scale of progress. Doctor Frank- lin estimated the population of the "Old Colonies" at 1,200,000 in 1775; n d the remaining Provinces oi Britain contained about 80,000 at that date. The aggregate area of the old thirteen colonies is 218,839,600 acres; and their population in 1870, was 10,438,673. The total area of the United States, including Alaska, purehwcd from Russia, is 3,291,352,320 acres. In his report for 1877, the Commis-sioner of ♦' e General Land Ofllce, estimates the popvdation of {he Union "at 40,000,000." Considering the decrease in immigration, probably forty-five millions woidd l)e the most correct estimate. The Anglo-Saxon population wsis but small in Europe pre- vious to the present century. The population of Scotland in 1707, the date of her union with England, was less than one mUlion; while that of England and Wales was only about six millions. And the population of Ireland in 1800, the date of her union with Great Britain, was about five millions; while that of the latter was ten and a half millions. Hence, the total population of the British Isles, was, at the Ix^ginning of the present ceotury, only fifteen and a half millions. Though emigration fro'.i Great Britain to North America has lieeu very large during the last fifty years, her poi)ulation in 1871 was more than d<)ul)l(! wliat it was at the beginning of the present century, and is increasing rapidly. As she has to depend upon the valley of the Mississippi for a large part of her fiour, it is only ni'tural tiiat the rediuidant population of Britain will continue to remove to the source of supplies, — the valley of the Mississippi, where fertile lands are abundant. Thus, a country, the chief part of which a century ago was the aixxle of a large iMunber of pagan tribes, many of them of the lowest type of savage life, has been changed and elevated into a seat of industry, progress, freedom and Christianity. There is something sublime in the spread of civilized mankind, with his fioeks, arts, commerce, and vari ous customs nnd industries over the wilderness and prairie regions of this va.st continent. The progress of the country in education, agriculture, com- merce, manufactories, ship-building and other pursuits; in the construction of roads, railroads, canals, tcslegraph lines; in the extension of .settlemsnts ; in the erection of towns and cities, and in the development of the resources of the country ? M I \ ! generally, and in the cstablisbracnt of law and order, has becai great indeed, and without a parallel in historj'. There is no subject within the compass of these pages which bears more closely on the future than that which relates to the capabilities of the country to sustain human life. It is estimated that North America is capable of sustaining a popu- lation of about five hundred millions. Tlie area of fertile land climatically adapted for settlement is immense; and if ever as densely peopled as some parts of Europe and Asia are at present, this is far too low an estiinatc. Second only to the agricultural capabilities to sustain hu- man life, arc the various products of the deep. Almost every river, lake and sea-coast teem with useful flah. The annual products from these sources are immense. Tlie commercial resources of North America arc only be- ginning to be developed. Besides the products of the soil and the fisheries, vast areas of the unproductive lands of the country are clothed with forest wood of great value. And many of its mountain chains and hilly regions are richly stored with gold, silver, coal, iron-ore, copper, and other valuable minerals. Indeed, the wliole country, from the fur-produc- ing regions of the north to the genial south, and between ocean and ocean, is capable of contributing, in numerous ways, to the support of a va.st civilization. It may be argued, however, from tlie facts as they ^xist in some parts of the old nations of ll»e world, that a dense popu- lation is not proof that a country is prosperous. In some countries, increjise in population means increase in poverty and crime. In ilie States and Provinces it is otherwise; a large increase in population shows a corresponding increase in production, in wcaltli, and social progress. There is, however, a class of persons, chiefly from Europe, Who prefer residing in cities, and who, during times of com- mercial depression, such as that which has prevailed over a large part of North America, as well as over Europe, for the last four years, have suffered for want of remuneratiyc employment rather than reside in the country, where good had is abundant and labor remunerative. With such exceptions, which are only temporary, there is no part of the world where labor has been better rewarded, population more rapidly augmented, and life more etisily sus- tained, than in these States and Provinces. And in no part 10 of the world does the future present brighter proppcc<«. Indeed, the social future of North America is only beginning to be soived. The comparatively limited areas of cultivable hinds in Europe and Asia do not produce sufficient food to meet the actual wants of their rapidly increasing populations. If their inhabitants increase during the next fifty years as in the last, emigration in future must be large. Some will go to Australia; but far the greater part will look to America for homes. And if peace is maintained, and the taxes of the States and Provinces shall be kept on a low scale, immigra- tion to this section of the continent will be large. Stiitistics of emigration will l)e found in other pages. The following table exhibits the progress of surveys and the disposal of public lands in the United States since 1866 : — FISCAL YEAR NUMBERS OF ACRES. ENDING JUNE 30. SURVEYED. DISPOSED OP. 1867 10,808,314 10,170,656 10,822,812 18,165,278 22,016,607 29,450,939 33,834,178 29,492,110 26,077,531 20,271,506 10,847,082 7.041.114 1R68 6,665,472 7,666,151 8,095,413 10,765,705 11,864,975 13,030.606 9,530,872 7,070,271 6,524,326 3,440,738 1869 1870. 1871 1872 1873. 1874 1875. 1876. 1877. The total area of the United States, exclusive of water, and also of Alaska, is 3,002,848 square miles. Of this area, 731,667,583 acres remained unsurveyed up to June 30, 1877. The greater part of this area is unfit for seUlement. Less than half the land surveyed during the last ten years U di£>po(^ed ojf. ;3d Table showing the quantities of the principal farm pro- ducts raised in the United Stsites in the yearu therein earned : — AKTICTiES. ^yheat, buHlicls. Indian Corn, " Rye, ;' . Bailey, " . IJuck wheat, " Potatoes, " Tobacco, pounds. . Ifay, tons Cotton, bales Rice, i)OundH 1850. 100,485,1 i4 5!)2,071,104 14,188,813 140,584,17!) 5,167,015 8,0.5«>,{)12 104,0<>r>,044 11)9,752,055 13,838,042 2,4«i9,0I)3 215,313,497 1800. 173,104,924 838,7!»2,742 21,101,380 172,643,185 15,825,898 17,571,818 15.3,24.3,893 434,209,461 19,08.3,8% 5,:W,0.52 187,167,032 1870. 287,745,626 760,944,549 16,918,71)5 282,107,157 29,761,.305 9,821,721 ia5,047,297 262,73.5,.341 27,316,048 3,011,996 73,(535,021 1876. 289,.^')6,.500 1,283,827,500 20,374,800 320,884,000 38,710,.500 9,668,800 124,827,000 381,002,000 30,867,100 4,438,000 The products named in the last table for the years 1850, 1800 and 1870, are quoted from the census reports of those years, and those for 1876 are from the Report of the C'ommis- sioner of Agriculture. According to the last Report, the States which produced the largest yield of wheat and Indian corn were : — STATES. WHEAT, BUSHELS. INDIAN COKN, BUSH. California 3i),000,000 23,440,000 9,750,000 1.5,240,000 16,.510,000 21,750,000 20,000,000 18,740,000 1,600,000 Illinois 22.3,000,000 21,000,000 102,. 500,000 New York Missouri Kansas 82,836,000 '' Ohio 11.5,000,000 .' Indiana 99,000,000 I^ennsylvania 42,2.50,000 ■ Indian Corn is largely produced in all the central and southern States, and in the southern part of Minnesota. The corn crop of 1875 amounted to 1,831,000,000 bushels, being the largest known. The oat crop of that year was above an average, being estimated at 854,000,000 bushels. "The swamps of South Carolina, both those which are occasioned by tlu; periodical visits of the tides, and those which are caused by the overflowing of the rivers, are admir- ably adapted to the production of rice. . . .By the introduction of this water-loving cereal, various swamps, which previously had only afforded food to frogs and water-birds, have been changed into the most fruitful fields; so that South Carolina not merely supplied the whole of the United States with all TTTTIMiTBnEtTTl H tho rice they require, but also annually exported more than a hundred thousand large casks to the various markets of Europe." The cotton crop is one of the most valuable crops of the United States. It has increased from 3,193,1)87 bales, at the close of the rebellion, to 4,6(59,288 bales of 4^0 pounds each, in 1870. The average .yield is about one third of a bale of cotton to the acre. The area of country over •which cotton can be produced is very large. There is at least ten of the Southern States of the Union adapted to its production. Tho largest crop, 4,669,410 bales, was produced in 18.')9. The entire ur ja in cotton in 1800 was about thirteen millions of acres. An ordinary crop of cotton is worth about two hun- dred millions of dollars. The crop in 1877 amounted to 4,485,000 bales. Of this, 2,025,000 bales were exported to Great Britain; 1,025,000 to the Continent; and the remainder, 1,435,000 bales, were con- sumed in the United States. la ill J>i I BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. In the final division of North America, Great Britain has been very unfortunate. It is an undeniable fact that the United States includes nearly all the fertile lands climatically adapted for cultivation north of Mexico. The southerly Ibmk of the Laureutide Mountains is the natural boundary northward of food-producing North America; at least for a distance of two thousand miles — from Labrador to the Red River valley. This being nature's limits, we have no right to complain. But with regard to the International boundary, " No Canadian," says Sanford Fleming, C. E., " can reflect, without pain and humiliation, on the sacrifice of British interests in the settlement that was made." The settlement made by. Lord Ashburton, representing Great Britain, and Daniel Webster, the United States Commissioner, "con- verted," he says, "undoubted British territory into foreign soil," and " alienated the allegiance of thousands of British subjects, without their consant, and made a direct connection on our own soil, between Central Canada and the Atlantic an impossibility." In Europe and Asia British diplomacy has always been managed with a just regard to British interests; but in reg-.vrd to North America it seems to have been managed at every point in the interests of a foreign power. " It i" evident," says Mr. Fleming, " from an inspection of ihe map, and from the natural features of the country, that lines of railway might have been projected so as to bring Montreal within 380 miles of St. Andrews, 415 miles of St. John, and 650 miles of Halifax; and that the distance from Quebec to St. Andrews need not have exceeded 350 miles; 67 miles less than to Portland. Fredericton, the seat of Local Government, would have been on the main line to Halifax, and distant from Montreal about 370 miles ; and these lines, moreover, would have been wholly within the limits of the Dominion had the international boundary been traced accord* ing to the *ni*» spirit and intent of the Treaty of 1783. )mnm\ 23 "The distance between Montreal and Halifax might thna have been lessened nearly 200 in lies. St. Andrews won Id have taken the place of Portland as the winter terminus of the Grand Ti-unk Rjiilway, and would have commanded, together with St John, a traffic now cutoif from both places, and cen- tered at a foreign port. The direct route would have brought the Springbill coal fields of Nova Scotia some 200 miles nearer Montreal than by the present line of the Inter- colonial, and would have rendered it possible to transport coal by rail at a comparatively moderate cost. " If, under such circumstances, an Intercolonial line to connect the cities of the Maritime Provinces with those of the St. Lawrence had been constructed, the building of 250 miles of railway, representing an expenditure of $10,000,000, would have been unnccessaryi Great as this saving would have been, the economy in working it and in maintenance would have been more important. The direct line would also have attracted certain branches of traiHc which by the longer route must either be carried at a loss or be repelled. These con- siderutions render the difference in favor of the direct line incalculable, and cause the more regret that the treaty made by Lord Ashburton, which ceded British territory equal in size to two of the smaller States of the Union, rendered such a direct line through British territory forever impossible. Although it is too late to rectify this most fatal error, it is important in a history of the Intercolonial Rjiilway to recount all the steps by which so costl}' a consequence has beeti forced upon the Dominion." New Brunswick lost a breadth of "more than a hundred miles." Below the city of Quebec the international boundary is, for a distance of sixty miles, only from twenty-six to thirty miles from the river St. Lawrence and the Intercolonial Itailroad. Indeed, all the chief cities of New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario are near tlie international line. Well might Daniel Webster say that "an object of great importance had been gained to the United States by the settlement of this part of the international boundary." The Provinces have generally attached blame to the United States authorities with regard to the settlement of this part of the boundary. Mr. Fleming takes a different view: "It is evident," he says, " througliout, thaV the Executive at Washington desired to settle the line of boundary described in the Treaty on a fair and equitable basis. Indeed, it is scarcely possible to suggest a proposal more morked by sagacity and justice than that made by President Jackson." And, "had the offers made by the United Stotes been ac- cepted, the boundary would have been satisfactorily esta- blished." "The fault," he says, "does not lie with the \V ushington Government. It is due to the ignorance of the merits of the case, and to an indifference to the interests at stake, on the part of the Imperial representative, who had been entrusted with the protection of the rights and honor of the Empire." Whatever may have been the views of Great Britain wiUi regard to the future of her remaining possessions on this part of the continent, i* is now obvious that in the settlement of her boundary, and other disputes with the United States, the "manifest destiny" doctrine received a powerful impulse. Numerous boundary and other disputes have been handed down as legacies to these Provinces. It is only very recently, by the Treaty of Washington, that some of the disputes have been settled. Between Lake Superior and the Pacific an im- mense territory, claimed by Great Britain, has been annexed to the United States. And by the award of the Emperor of Germany, the San Juiin Islands, and the chief entrance from the Pacific Ocean to the main land of British Columbia, are ceded to the Union. Consequently, a recent writer very correctly says: "The Dominion of Canada, the legitimate heir to the old French Empire in North America, ... .has come down to us sadly diminished in extent." However, let us take things as they are, let us trace the boundaries of our habitation, let us ascer- tain the nature and extent of our resources, and how they can be developed. A better knowledge of the geographical conditions of the country 1ms enabled us to trace its cultivable parts. We have already said that the southerly flank of the Laurcntian moun- tain region, between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Red liiver valley of the Northwest, a distance of two thousand miles, is the northerly boundary of the cultivable part of this section of North America. By this statement we do not mean to say that there are no places fit for settlement in the Laurcntian mountain region. Isolated settlements already exist, and others may bo formed within this mountain pla- teau. There is a small area of good land near Lake Nipissing which is being rapidly settled. There arc some tracts of second class soils still unsettled in all the Provinces east of Red River valley. IJut the (Hiantity of third and fourth class soils is comparatively very large in all the jld Provinces of the Dominion. Hut we s.iy, with A. J. Russell, C. E., in his W(irk on the " Northwest Territories," in 1800, referring to the unsettled lanpo- site waters interlock, and their tides are only six miles and a half apart. Tlu! St. John is by far the most imporiant river emjitying into the Atlantic east of the United States. It is about 450 miles in length, and is navigable for longstn'tches, thusalTord- ing a navigable outlet from the interior of New Brunswick and the State of Maine. Some of its chief triliutaries irMcrlock with those of the Miramiehi and Bestigouche of the north. With map in hand, we find it no ea.sy task to mark out a country containing so limited an area as Nova Scotia, New na Branswick, and Prince Edward Island, in the aggregate, where the elements of wealth are so valuable; and where the water-courses of commerce are so numerous, capacious and extensive as they are in and adjoining these three Provinces. The only defective link in their water communication is near the line of boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The coimtvy between the navigable waters of the Bay of Fundy and those of the Straits of Northumberland has been thoroughly surveyed with a view to the construction of a canal across this Isthmus Between 1821 and 1874, five different Engineers have explored the coimtry. Although all the sur- veys, except the last, were very imperfect, still the reports pronounced the country practical)le for canal construction. The number of surveys m:ule by the Governments of the coimtry, and the interest taken in the project by many leading public men, by the press, and Boards of Trade in all the Provinces, from time to time, shew that this is a project of more than ordinary importance to North America. The most complete; survey Wiis made in the years 1872 and 1873, by G. F. Balllairge, C. E., under the directum of John Page, Esq., Chief Engiueer of the; Dominion Board of Works. These opposite waters present a strange phenomenon in physical geography. Mr. Page says: " In Cumberland Basin, the tides rise from i'M to 40 feet over ordinary low water line. Tho.sc at the head of Bale Verte range from 5 to 9 feet. At times the water in Cumberland Basin is fully 18i feet over that in Bale Verte; whilst at el)b-tlde the water In Bale Verte is fully 19.J feet higlicr than tliat In Cumberland Ba.sln." The luie recommended by Mr. Page is from An Lac, Cumberland Bay, through the vallcj's of tlie MlKsiciuash and North-west Branch and Main Trunk of the Tidnlsh river. Tlie distance tram shore to shore is 19.25 nules. And tlie total length for a half-tide canal, 8US(;eptlble of being extended to full-tide, is 21.23 miles. Assuming fifty feet Im'Iow the lowest water of Cumberland Basin as datum, the summit on the line recommended is I05.i^ feet, being only nine and a half feet above the highest tides of the Basin. There is but little rock on this line, and at the simunit the surface is soft mud to a (le])th of five feet, so that the clay at the highest part of this valkty is but slightly ele- vated above the highest tides of Cumberland Ba.sin, generally known as Cumberland Bay. 88 " The principal features of the scheme recommended for adoption," says Mr. Page, " are to make the low water level of the canal about the height of Ujc lowest neap tides in Cum- berland Basin, or about 85 feet over datum; bottom to be 69 feet over datum, and to make the high water level about two feet under ordinary spring tides, or 88 feet over datum, so as to leave a range of 3 feet for lockage purposes, etc., during neap tides." The cost of constructing the canal has been variously esti- mated, according to the capacity, number and size of locks, and mode of feeding the canal. Some engineers have recom- mended some miles of river navigation, saving largely in the cost of construction. Francis Hall, C. E., estimated the cost at 1298,000. with six locks of 105 feet by 20i feet, and eight of water on the mitre sills. Thomas Telford, a celebrated English Engineer, examined Mr. Hall's plans, and recom- mended a canal 30 feet at bottom, and 72 feet at water surface, the width at top to increase according to the depth of cuttings. The depth on the sills to be 13 feet, with locks 40 by 150 feet, estimating the cost at $685,952. Capt. Crawley advised 9 feet as the depth. The Canal Commission appointed by the Government re- ported in 1871 in favor of a canal of 15 feet in depth, 100 feet at bottom, with locks 40 by 270 feet, at a cost of $3,250,000. In 1873, Messrs. Reefer and Gzowski recommended a half- tide canal on a different line but of the same dimensions, at a cost of $5,417,000. In 1873, Mr. Baillairge, who made a thorough survey of all the routes, and indeed of the Isthmus at large, and who was therefore every way competent to make a proper estimate of the cost, says that a half-tide canal on the A.u Lac and Tiduish iii.e, bu cd on Mr. Reefer's project for twelve hours naviga- tion, would cost *5,650,000. Believing tliat a half-tide canal would be sufficient to meet the requirements of the commerce, we therefore leave the con- sideration of a full-tide canal at a cost of eight and a half mil- lions of dollars, out of the question. Thus, the Engineers pronounced the project highly feasible, and not costly; and independent public opinion has continued for the last half century to pronounce the construction of a canal across this Isthmus a public necessity. 34 I In 1875, the Central Government appointed Commissi oners, one from each of the original Provinces of the Dominion, " to investigate the nature and extent of the commercial advan- tages to be derived from the construction of the Baie Verto Canal." In the Report, signed by the Chairman, the Hon. John Young, of Montreal, it is said, " The Commissioners have no hesitation in expressing their opinion that it is not in the interest of the Dominion that the proposed canal should be constructed." One of tlie Commissioners, J. "W. Lawrence, Esq., of the City of St. John, made " A Minority lieport," in which he clearly shows that the Baie Verte Canal is a necessity; there- fore, it was not the " opinion" of " the Commissioners" that the canal should not be constructed. However, when we consider the configuration of the habit- able part of tlie Dominion, we need not be surprised at the adverse decision of the majority of the Commissioners. If the Commiasioncrs had been authorised to take evidence at the same time as to the Canadian Pacific railroad, we would be surprised if they found half a dozen persons in favor of constructing it at the public expense. And such is the re- moteness of the Peninsula of Ontario from the Atlantic Pro- vinces, that the latt(!r need hardly expect a favoral)le decision in such matters hy the Upper Provinces. And it is to be ex- pected that Mr. Young would feel a much greater interest in completing the navigation of the river St. Lawrence, and that b3' way of Lake Champlain to New York, than in the con- struction of the Baie Verte canal. In parts of Nova Scotia remote from tliC Bay of Fundy and its prolongations, Chig- necto and Cumberland Bays, some of the inhabitants are oppcsed to the construction of the canal, fearing that some trade might be diverted from their coasts. However, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and a largo population in Nova Scotia, and many in Quebec, are in favor of the con- struction of this work. In the majority report the Commissioners refer generally to the largest sum, over eight millions and a half, as the cost of the canal, and as one of their objections to its construction. In the minority report Mr. Lawrence says: " There are num- bers unfriendly to the work at $8,000,000 who would regard it favorably could a canal be constructed for |o,000,000. . . , >.' 35 With the aid of the hibour saving mnchiiies of the day, not unlike those at work doepening the channel through Lake St. Peter, between Quebec and Montreal, lifting up 250 yards per hour of the bed of the St. Lawrence, a sum greatly less than |;.'5,000,000 should construct a full tide canal, adequate for all the ends of commerce across the Chignecto Isthmus, uniting thereby the waters of the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence." He says, " The canal requires no greater depth than the enlarged St. Lawrence and Wellaiid, viz. : 13 feet on water sills." Both reports, notwithstanding the adverse opinions of the majority, clearly show that the trade which would pass through the canal would be very large. In another part of this work wc have shown that the Dominion Government has been expending immense sums in enlarging the Welland and other canals in the valley of the St. Lawrence, and in the construction of railroads among the mountains and plains of the northwest territories; and still the work of expenditure in those far away regions has hardly commenced. The Lower Provinces contain about one-fifth the popula- tion of the Dominion, and consequently have to pay one-fifth the taxes; it is only fair that they should have a sum equal, at least, to one-fifth the amount to be exnended among the mountains on the main land of British Columbia alone. That sum, say |G,. 500,000, would be more than sufficient to con- struct the Baie Verte Canal. But those who have represented the Lower Provinces in the Dominion Parliament seem, by the course they have pursued, more willing to sink untold millions on the construction of worthless works, thousands of miles away from us, than expend five millions on the con- struction of a highly useful work in our midst. The boundaries of the Lower Provinces arc well defined ; hence their oullines arc easily traced. Exclusive of New- foundland, their aggregate area is 51,153 square miles, being about equal to the area of North Carolina, and less than that of Georgia, and but a little larger than that of New York or Pennsylvania. Still, these three Provinces contained only three quarters of a million inhabitants in 1871, while the latter State contained three millions and a half in 1870. We have no doubt had these Provinces united their destiny with the old thirteen Colonics, their population and material 1 3G progress would be more than double that of to-day. We can- not doubt that the canal referred to would long ago have been constructed, by means of which an immense commerce would be pouring its wealth into these Provinces. It is not for want of natural wealth that these Provinces have not kept pace with Pennsylvania in the scale of progress. Though a;sricultural capabilities are not so great as those of that State, they have natural advantages and valuable resources, the equal of which that State does not possess. Pennsylvania has coal ; so has this cluster of Provinces in great abundance, and much more advantageously situated. Besides, the Pro- vinces have hundreds of vessels to carry their products to market; but, unlike Pennsylvania, they have no market for Hxem. The Provinces contain large bodies of iron ore of the best quality; copper ore, manganese, and other minerals highly useful in commerce, exist in many places. Lime stone, gypsum, and every variety of stor'^ for building, ornamental and other purposes, are ver " abi' And Nova Scotia has extensive veins of gold-berrin^ which annually pro- duce thousands of dollars worth of gold. The area of forest land in these Provinces is suV \vgc, but for the want of a free marketin the States, the pr-jrluc f tl .Lucstparenotof much value. And their waters teem with almost every variety of useful flsh. No country in the world has so large an amount of tonnage afloat according to population; and the facilities for ship- building are very great. These Provinces are large producers of oats, potatoes, hay, butter, beef, cheese, eggs, farm stock, and other agricultural products. And the country is full of saw mills as well as wood. And all these products could be largely increased if there was any encouragement to do so. Bui a surplus is a drug. However, we can use what we re- quire at home, and for the wart of a free market in the States we can sell the remainder at half price. . . - - And our loyalty has also become a drug. It is this thing called loyalty that has kept the Dominion of Canada behind even a single State of the Union in the scale of progress. As to how many inhabitants Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island can sustain by the products of their soils has often been discussed, but with different conclusions. The aggregate area of fertile land in these three Provinces, though much larger in proportion than in the Eastern Statee, V i1 id r lir is small compared to the total area of the country. The writer has traversed the Lower Provinces, except Newfound- land, in all directions, and therefore is enabled to form fair conclusions as to the agricultural capabilities of the country. The area of first class soils is very small ;• that of the second class, on which the chief part of the farming of the country is done, is much larger; but the area of third and fourth class soils is very large indeed, much larger than has been generally estimated. The country through which the Intercolonial railroad passes, between Rivere du Loup and Moncton, is a fair specimen of the soils of a large part of these Provinces. The continuity of settlement is broken in consequence of the frequent occurrence of large areas of worthless lands. •Though New Brunswick is larger by 2,234,240 acres than the aggregate area of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, still it is doubtful if its agricultural capabilities are greater than those of these two Provinces. Prince Edward Island has no coal; and the coal fields of New Brunswick, though large, cannot be relied on for a supply of fossil fuel. And a large part of Nova Scotia is outside of its coal beds. How- ever, the means of conveyance, by shipping and railroad, are now so great, and the cost so light, that as wood becomes scarce coal can be supplied as a substitute. But as large areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, especially of the latter Province, are only useful for the wood they contain, coal for domestic wants will not be generally used for a long time in the future. As a basis on which to rest our estimates, though not a cor- rect one, let us take Professor Johnston's Report on the "Agricultural Capabilities of New Brunswick." He says: If this Province " possesses in its mineral resources an avail- able supply of fossil fuel sufficient for its domestic wants, it might sustain in comfort a population approaching to six millions. On the other hand, if wood is to be grown on accessible and economic places its capabilities sink down to the maintenance of three and a half mill'ons of inhabitants." While we do not apply Wotten's sarcastic definition to Pro- fessor Johnston's report, that a man sent to report on the character of a new country is sent to " lie for the benefit of his Sovereign," still we have reason to believe that his report is largely based on unintentional exaggeration. At the time, 1851, when Professor Johnston wrote his report, but little was Ill « •it.. 8? known of the interior of New Bninswick. The country was not explored us it has been since for railway and other pur- poses. At that time highly exaggerated notions existed us to the capabilities of ihe interior of the Province; and also of its mineral resources, as represented in the reports of Dr. Gesner. And the chief part of the replies to Professor Johnston's ques- tions, asking for information relating to the agricultural capa- bilities of the Province, were made by gentlemen who had settled on the best lands and in the most eligible situations. Hence his estimates were based on partial information. Already, for the want of suitable lands, emigration to these Provinces has almost ceased; and thousands of the inhabi- tants of the country arc cultivating inferior lands. There is no room in the Lower Provinces for more emigrants. All remaining lands fit for cultivation will be filled in by the in- habitants of the adjoining settlements. However, if emigra- tion from the Provinces to the States continues, thousands of immigrants, possessed of from one thousand to two thousand dollars, will always find homes in these Provinces. In the ten years ending in 1861 New Brunswick added 58,000 to her popidation, while in that ending in 1871 it fell to 27,000. In Nova Scotia the increase in these decades was 55,000 and 57,000 respectively. The increase in the first of these decades was largely due to Professor Johnston's flatter- ing report, especially in New Brunswick, and to the fact that the Crown owned large tracts of fertile lands for sale in both Provinces. Considering fairly all the facts at command, it is a question if the agricultural capabilities of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are sufficient to sustain in comfort a population of five millions of inhabitants. And in order to obtain such a result, all the first and second-class soils of these Provinces will have to be brought undei* a very high state of cultivation indeed. Such a state of cultivation as may never take place, unless in commercial union with the United States. I i 89 O i-H C^ a A « 1 00 If) t^ lO > c? (Si •-< t-. irj oi ri r-i to t-i o c; i-t JO 'f* to O ri O « ^. 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CO ift S9 IN t— M 1-t •J5 S5 3D OO ^ O 1^ f ri i-t s^o r-i ■* cc cc iji '25''2'^"a!f53ffj ift « ri •, iM rH iH ■* fH rHiM ;?; ^o" »3' V r-T 1 o" c^f I ■• i-T oi^ 1 o" oi" S i?5 Oi If: «j5 00 rH oo «o « « rHi-T fH iH C^ •s (M l>. ^ O ^ a 0^ 9 !;?; c^- lift r-( ^ O 'O IC OT/ I— ■»»< O "f ?^ CO 1 pa hM e" (M ift 00 Oi «p -^ O lO rHO_l 001 «o -r i~ iM ift 00 oi «p -^ o i(, (M -A ci r- u6 1 - 1- 3 "^ d 2J < IM (."0 O; (Tl lO . r-1 t^ o c^ 'rt ) iC -^ wl "O ■^ OtBrtiJ5(MrH(NC'l i-l <^ o 09 Oi u TS •» i Si g Ph rH t- in cq 05 « «3_i^ CO c Ov" r^ oT r-J" irt' iffT i-T %• ;0 •«♦< f Q •>• CC 'T (N I- « iH I c^eo w 30 8 > ■^c<5 >CI->1' of 3 pq S "rH o •. d 05 Si 1 -^ ?^( op o t~ eo -m' cc «' oo r-T -^ oT CO eo 1-7 i-T O «r »0 «r C^' rH "* IT^ rHrHrH rH •^"3 . J- OS a""^ .B S'-w _r 41 As the oflloinl n^ports omit n'rricultural stntlsticfl for British C'oluml.lii and Mauitolm, we have lierc, in orchr to make rom- pariHonM, omitted the poi>nIati(>n of thene two Provinces, wliicii, in 1H71, did not exceed 2:5, 000. Tlic eolunin luad(d "Ito]. lalion" is exclusive of Indiai>s. Tlie e(»lun\n licaded "liorses" includes all uiuinals of that species. I'nder the heads, cattle, sheep and swine, calves, sprin;^' liind)s»nd suck- iuiX pi^s are not iriven in the United Sliiles Heport fion> which we copy, hut those for the Dominion ure included in the Olhcial Ih'port. Hence the v:due of ti; farm stock in these three cohinuiH for the Dominion is much les.s than the ahove tii^ires represent. The precedin;; tsihle is very su".7':estive. A idmice at it will fully coutirni the opinion held l.y the writer «)f these pa.i^es, that the Dominion of Cnnada is not capal)le of KUslainir.g, by the products of the soil, one quarter of the poi>u!ation which some i)rofess to believe. Thus, after a century's ju'oi^ress, uniler the |)atrona;i;e anc' presiiirc of (Jreat IJritain, llu! ag^re- j?ate population of the five cliief Provinces of Canada is hut a few over that of tlie siniile State of Peimsylvania, and six hun- dred and fifty Ihou.sand less than New York. And there aro several States in the Union, each of which i)rorohal)ly, in ('onsecpiencc of the coldness of the climate, but little cui be done with profit. A variety of u.seful minerals exist. On the south side of St. Gecu'ge's Bay there are seams of coal of workable thick- ness. There is also said to be a vein of coal, about a foot and n half in thickness, near the Grand Pond; and indications of coal have been noticed in other places. (Copper, lead, iron, nickel and other ores, also marble and slate, are aniong the treasure:! of the Island. Large quantities of minerals are an- nually shipped. In 1877 one copper mine on the north-east shore produced 50,000 tons of ore, worth about $3,500,000. Though Newfoundland cannot take rank among the agricul- tural communities of this continent, its mineral and piscatory wealth is very great. These two .sources will continue to 43 ftJTord roniunoratlvc rmjiloymcnt for a Iiiittc iMipulalioii. Hy nu'iins of a larj,'i' iiumbcr of spacious liays, or laMuT ariiiH of the w'rt, flHlicricH exist far inside of tlic jjft'lUTnl short- line Tlic hiiul is literally surrouiuled l»y valnaltle tislieries. And out- side of llie(oast iNlicries lies the (liaiid Hank, :!()() miles in U'n.nth l»y 7.") ill Itnadtli; the (Jreeii Maid;, 2W inih's in leii^r||i by 120 hroad, and the False Hank, and other shoals of less note. Tlu'se jdl aliound in codfish The seal llshcry is also • IKtrtant one. The statistics for 1H7(» sln)W an expert of ... The annual revenue 18 ahout !j;h;53,0()(). A railroad throujrh the island, al)out 51(10 miles in lenijth, would open \ip coal and other valVit tie min- eral resources, and some of its best lands for seKlement, nud afford facilities for procurini;: timber and lumber. In summer the coasts of this Island are throuLred by fisher- men, many of v.honi leave before winter sets in. France; and the United States claim the ri^dit, by treaty, to flsli on the banks of Newfoiindland and dry the fish on the island Avhich they catch on its banks. Newfoundland has not yet cast inh«!r lot politically with the Canadian ('onfedei;r inn, and, considerin;,' tlur present and p-ospective debt of the Dominion, it is doubtful if she could at lea.st for some time in the future, by union. THE GULF STREAM. The followina: extract from Dr. Hart wig's work on "Tlic Polar and Tropical Worlds," is not without interest, especially to tho.se residing on the Atlantic side of Nortli America: — " This great equatorial current, or rather series of currents, is the marvel of physical geography. Let us follow that of the Atlantic in its long career. Starting on the line of the equator, it flow.^ northwestward along the coast of South America, enters the Caribbean vSea and theCulf of Mexico, from which it derives the name of the Gulf Stream It pa.sses out through tlu; Straits of Bemini, between Florida and Cuba, a great river ',i2 miles wide, 2,200 feet deep, flowing at the rate of four miles an hour. Its volume is u thousand times greater than that of the Amazon or the Mississippi, and its banks of cold water are more clearly defined than are those of either of these rivers at flood. So dear is the line of de- marcation betwfcu the warm water of the river and its cool V is"' 1 ; J 44 liquid banks, tijat a ship sailin^^ along may be h.ilf in one and half in the other, and a l)ucket of water dipped from one side will be twenty degrees cooler than one from (he other. Skirl- ing the coast at a distance of about 100 miles, its width is increased and its velocity diminished. Striking the project- ing banks of Newfoundland, its cour.se is deflected almost due cast, until it arrives at mid-ocean. Here it spreads out like a fan, skirting the shores of Spain, France and Great Britain. • It then divides, one branch sweeping around the west coast of Iceland, the other approaching liie shores of Norway; and its temporary intlaence is perceptible in the ameliorated climate of Spitsbergen. " It is owing to this great ocean river that the temperature of the western shores of Europe is so much higher than that of the eastern shore of America in the same latitudes. Maury estimates that the amount of heat which the (Uiif Stream dif- fuses over the Northern Atlantic in a winter day is suflicient to raise the whole atmospliere which covers France and Great Britain from the freezing point to summer heat. The olives of Spain, the vines of Franc e, the wheat fields of England, and the green expan.se of the Emerald Isle, are the gifts of the tropical seas, dispensed through the Gulf Stream." "The stream," he says, " takes eight months to How from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of Europe." And, "In the Gulf Stream the warm current is above, the cold below, while on the coast of Japan a cold current from the Sea of Okhat.sk runs on the surface, giving rise to a fishery n(jt inferior in magnitude to that caused on the banks of Newfoundland by the cold current of Tallin's Bay." THE COUNTRY BETWEEN OTTAWA AND RED RIVER VALLEY. Going M'cst from Ottawa, this region is eleven hundred miles in length and hundreds of miles in breadth. To those who delight in seeing fertile lam's there is not much pleasure to be derived from reading a description of this part of the Dominion ; therefore we purpose to be brief. AVhat is generally known as the Laurentian formation occupies nearly the whole length, and the greater part of the breadth of this vast region. Its clfvatlon varies from 1,500, 1,700 to 2,000 feet above the 45 i-cd lire I he Illy wa. QeologiciiUy considered, this is the oldest scries of rock formation in tlio world. Part of it is known as the Hiironian formation. Within the folds of this mountainous country there are extensive swamp.'<, and hundreds of lakes and lacus- trine streams of every conccivoMe shape and size. Indeed, Lakes Huron and Suj^erior may be said to lie within the Lau- reutide region. Home of the tther lakes are of considerable sixe, especially Nipissing, Nepigan, and the Lake of the Woods. The country adjoining the Laureutide mountains on the north is said to be generally swampy. And "from the Lake of the Woods," says S. J. Dawson, " for a distance of twenty-live or thirty miles westward, swanips of great extent, covered with moss and stunted evergreens, are of frequent occurrence. In other sections considerable areas are occupied by marshes or shallow lakes." And Sanford Fleming, C. E., in his Pacific Railway report, says: "For 80 nules immedi- ately east of Itcd River the general characteristics are a level and, in some jjarts, swampy country, with ridges of sand and gravel more or less thickly covered with tind)er; the next 70 miles are rough, broken and rocky." Agriculturally considered, this i.s on*' of the most worthless regions in America. There are here and there some isolated spots of cultivable land within the folds of the nioxintains. The longest is near Lake Nipissiug, north of Lake Huron; and another in tlie valley of Rainy River, west of Lake Su- perior. The latter is swampy, but it is said it might be drained^. However, in consequence of the northern aspect and great elevation of the ccmntry, but few agri(;ulturists will sink their labor in this region while better lands in more eligible situa- tions can be obtained. The elevation of the country may be estimated from the fact that Lake Su}»erior, the most westerly lake of the St. Law- rence, is GOO feel above the ocean; and the Lake of the Woods, the most westerly lake of note in the Laurentiau region, is 1043 feet above the tide. The hdter di.M'harges by the river Winni- peg into Lake Winnipeg, of the nortiiwcst. At a short dis- tance west of the Lake of tlu' Woods the La»n-entian forma- lion tends northwestward, i)a.^sing around the cast shore of Lake Winnipeg in its course to the Arctic Ocean. The unfortunate position of tlie Laurent ide mountain region, adjoining the St. Lawrence, being so far souih, is a comjdeto barrier to the progress of scltlcnicut uorthwurd, thus limitiujr liic extent of eultivable land in the Dominion between the Gulf of St. Lawrenee and Ued River to a very small area indeed. Viewing this fact in connection with the future of Canada, one must have faith suflicient to remove mountains to believe that a national Dominion can be erected out of such fractions of habitable country as the Dominion comprises. And if we extend our view westward, across the great desert and arctic slope, and across British Columbia, our failli decreases. Those who boast of Canada a.s a "great Dominicn " might siudy its physical geography and resources with profit. They would And that much of their boasting is ])ased on a mere dream. However, there is no country l)ut what is possessed of some advantages. The mineral resources of the Laiu'eutian forma- tion are consideral)le: copper, iron ore, and other \i.seful minerals, have been discovered, and no doubt others exist. Some mines are now being worked to advantage. But the most imj)ortant feature in and adjoining the Lau- rentian formation is the great extent of water communication. The St. Lawrence is navigable for a distance of 2,400 miles, to Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior. The latter point is the terminus eastward of the Northern Pacific railway of the United Slates. The international l)oundary follows near the centre of Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Sujierior, and their connecting channels, to witlun 180 miles of the head of the latter lake. From Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, the boundary follows a broken line of water and land communication Avest- ward into the Lake of the Wo(if the Laurentian region, and near the centre of North America, we enter the great plains. Between the Lake of the Woods and the Rocky Mountains, n distance 4t ury :cst- ilk'l and dis- 'hus turn one tliO ncc of 767 miles, the Intcriiational boundary, the parallel of 49° north, follows nearly in the central water shed of this part of the continent, between two great river systems, and also near the geographical centre between the Oiilf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean. These plains, both nortli and south of the water-shed, arc the most remarkable in the world. The whole com|)rises an immense desert, extensive prairies, lofty moun- tains and hills, hundreds of both frcsli and salt water lakes, and two of the most extensive and wide-spread river systems on the continent. The waters of the Souihcrn slope discharge, by means of the Missi.ssii>pi and its aflluenfs, into a tropical sea, the Gulf of Mexico. This slope, and more than two thirils of the Ked River valley, belong to the United States. The Canadian plains, in whic^h the Province of Manitoba and the District of Keewatin lie, generally known as the north- west, .<ns on this part of the continent an; crowded down the Arctic slope, and hemmed in east and west by interminable mountains. The position of the international boundary in the west, as well as in the east, is far north. In the west the Do- minion has no claim on the southern slope of the continent. 8tep by step, as we go west, the manifest destiny of the country seems to be more and more apparent. The Canadian posscs- sioiw in the nortliwest are all on the Arctic slope. The plains, following the international boiuidary westward, rise by three upward inclined planes or .st(fppes. The lowest is tliat through which the Ked River (lows, and is tlfty-two miles in breadth, and tcrniinatcs at the Pambina mountains, long. 98" west. This steppe, or rather valley, rises east and west from the Red River, its average elevation being 900 feet above the sea. Between the prairie in this valley and the Lake of the Woods, " a comparatively small proportion," says G. M. Daw.son, "appears to be fit for cultivation." The west- erly margin of the Red River valley is defined by a chain of high lands, which extend northerly from the Boundary line a distance of about 350 miles. Tliese highlands are known as file Pembina mountains. Riding mountains (the latter being 1(>H0 fei.'t above the sea), and the Duck and Porcupine moun - tains, and the Basc^ua hills, arc continuations northerly of the m 48 Pembina range. The easterly margin of this range may have been the shore line of an inhmd sea, after the waters had sub- sitled below the next higher steppe on the west. The head of the Kepe extends to the Rocky Mountains, a dis- tance of 4G5 miles, This great desert has an average elevation of 8,000 feet above tlie sea. The base of the Rocky Mountains is 4,000 feet a!)ove sea level. This plain is entirely devoid of timber, and both the latter steppes are untit for cultivation. There is, however, say.s Professor Daw^on, a " fertile belt fringing the eastern side of tlie Kooky Mountains," which, "in the neighliorliood oC the foity-iiinth i>arallel, is twenty- five miles in width. . . .This fertile region, according to Palli- ser, and other explorers, narrows some\vh:it about fifty miles north of the line, but then spreads eastward, while the moun- tains tend to the west, and inchule-i a great area ( f fertile country in the vicinity of the North Saskatchewan." But in conse(|uence of its great elevation, .'3,500 feet above the sea, higli latitude and northern declivity, exposing it to the fliry of the cold waves whicli sweep over the vast treeless deserts lying to the north and east, tliisbelt is not climatically adapted for settlement. Mr. (}rant, in bis work, " Ocean to Ocean," refers to this tract as "abroad belt along the bases of the Rocky Alountains to the south of lidmunton, two hundred miles long by fifty broad." Measured on tlie new map issued by the "Dominion Lands Ofllce, Ottawa," in March last, this belt is sixty miles in width on the inlernutlonal boundary; at fifty miles fartiier north it is 65, and on the parallel of 5t north it is 120 miles in width. North of this parallel it is shown to spread out into the great Peace River region. It is represented on the map as a ' ' superior grain-grow ing coimtry ;" and contains, between the parallels of i{)° and 54°, over twenty- one millions of acres, while it is more than probable it does not contain a moiety of this area. 49 This map rcmiod9 us of what Major Emory, of the United States frontier commission, says of some of the maps of the United States:— " Hypotheticiil geography," he says, " is pushed sufflciently far in the United Btates. In uo other country lias it been carried to such a point, or been fol- lowed by such disastrous consequences." On " ill-founded information, maps of tlie whole continent have been engraved and published in the very best style of art, and sent to receive the approbation of Congress and the praise cf gecgraphical societies here and abroad." As Mr. Dawson was geologist and botanist to the Cana- dian boundary Comnii.ssion, and as Capt. Pulliser vspcut three years in exploring the country', we prefer tlieir reports to the information furnished by this map. Indeed, if this fertile belt cannot be cidtivatcd, the Red River prairie, 4G miles in width, is the only tract of any note lit for cultivation on the international line between Lake Superior and the Strait of Georgia, a distance of about l,t)CO miles. Besides the westerly elevation of the plains, there is a gra- dual dip of this part of the continent nor^wards, immediately east of the Rocky Mountains. At a distance of 850 miles north of the boundary line, the base of the mountains is about 8,100 feet; and at 200 miles farther northward it is not more than 2,000 feet above sea-level The chief rivers and lakes of the Arctic slope arc very ex- tensive, and overspread lari^e areas. The Red River, which is the most important one in consequence of its southern posi- tion, takes its rise in Lake Traverse in the United Slates, and discharges into Lake Winnipeg in the Province of l^Ianitoba. about ninety miles north of the international boundary. The valley of this river is 315 miles in length, 225 of which is in the United States. The fertile part of the valley is 46 miles wide on the international boundary line. South of this line it gradually becomes narrower to an average of about thirty miles. Lake Winnipeg extends northerly from the mouth of Red River about 280 miles. Its greatest breadth is 87 miles; its surface covers an area of about 5,140,000 acres, and discharges by Nelson River, 420 miles in length, into Hudson's Bay. Lake Winnipeg is 710 feet above the sea. Lakes Manitoba and Winnipegos lie from forty to sixty miles to the west of Lake Winnipeg, and arr elevated re- il BO Bpectivcly 42 and 60 feet above it. Each are estimated to con- tain 1,210,000 acres. These and other lakes in this basin cover an aggregate area of 8,890,000 acres. The.e lakes being in a flat country are not navigable except for smail class vessels. The most extensive tributary of the Red River is the Assini- boine. It enters the main river at Fort Garry, in lat. 49° 52' north, and long. 90° 53' west. The Assiniboine takes its rise north of the 52nd parallel, and about 200 miles west of Lake Winuipegos. Its western affluent, the Qu' Appellc, begins in the infertile region, about midway between the Red River and the Rocky Mountains. The lands on each side of the Assini- boine, for a distance of seventy miles from its mouth — to Prairie Portage, are highly fertile. West of the Red River valley this fertile tract is limited by the lake and swampy region on the north and by the arid plains on the south. Above Prairie Portage for full fifty miles the Assiniboine passes through a sandy region. Immediately above this sandy tract there is a large extent of fertile land, the chief part of which is situated north of the parallels of 50° and 51°, and elevated about 1,500 feet above the sea. It lies north of the great desert. In con- sequence of the sand plains above Prairie Portage and the rapids below, the Assiniboine is only navigable for canoes. The sand plains tend to decrease the volume of water. At one mile and a half above the mouth there are four rapids " of a very serious nature. The aggregate fall of them in four miles is 13.24 feet." It would cost about three quarters of a million dollars to construct a passage through the rapids for email class vessels. The chief river of the Canadian plains is the Saskatchewan. Its two great arms, the North and South Saskatchewan, take their rise in the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Their numerous tributaries on this slope spread from the interna- tional boundary to 54° 30* north. The waters of the South Branch and of its most extensive tributary, the Red Deer River, run easterly through the treeless desert for a distance of between five and six degrees of longitiidc, traversing three degrees and a half of latitude. The south branch of the Saskatche- wan is about 820 miles in length. The north branch and its chief affluent, the Battle River, traverse the "Fertile Belt." The North Saskatchewan 18 802 miles in length. The junction of the two great brandies of this river, known as the Forks, is in 53° SO' north latitude. 51 li'rom this point the waters of the main Saskatchewan traverra a distance of 282 miles to Cedar Lake, on their way to Lake Winnipej^, and through the latter lake and Nelson River to Hudson's liny. Between the Forks and Lake Winnipeg, long. 101° 80' west, the Saskatchewan extends to the fifty-fourth parallel of latitude. Hence, from the westerly source of the south branch, this river c nsses five degrees of latitude and fifteen degrees of longitude. The navigation of the Saskatchewan is obstructed in places by rapids. In a letter to the Chief Engineer of the Pacific Ilailway Survey, in 1874, Alfred R. C Selwyn, Director of the Geological Survey, says: '* Between the confluence of the two Saskatchewans there are numerous rai)id3. At the Grand Rapids the water falls forty-three and a half feet in a distance of two and a half miles." There are also others which impede navigation. "Towing flat-boats or barges, as practiced on Red Rivtr, would, I think, be quite injpracticable on the Sas- katchewan, for the reason that in many places the current is too strong, and in others the available channels between the islands and sand bars or shoals are too narrow and tortuous." After a careful examination, Mr. Selwyn concluded that the Saskatchewan might be navigated for a short season by steamers of " moderate length, powerful engines, light draft, and as much strength as possible below the water-line." Such is the uncertainty of navigating this river that he recommends that " proper arrangements for warping boats up these rapids in case of necessity should be made in advance. There is," he says, "another very important matter connected with the Saskatchewan navigation which would require careful con- sideration. I allude to the great scarcity and poor quality, for steam purposes, of the wood." As a substitute he recom- mends coal, which might be obtained from the seams which are said to exist near the eastern slope of the Rocky Moun- tains. However, the very uncertain nature of the Saskatche- wan navigation, and the remotenes-i of the coal seams from the treeless regions below, will always tend to make coal a costly article in the lower steppes of the northwest, either for steamboat or domestic use. And this drawback is a serious one where wood is scarce, the quality poor, and the winters long and terribly cold. Notwithstanding the numerous rapids and shoals which impede the navigation of this river and its branches, there arc u 5;i long stretches cupable of Iwing niivigated by small clasa steam, crs. But the k)wer part of the main river l)eing far north, nearly as far as the southern i)art of Hudson's IJuy, it is not probable that the Saskatchewan will be used as a line of navi- gation. The most important feature in the North Saskatchewan region is that commonly knov.n as the '* Fertile Belt." This belt is said to extend from the jimction of the two Saskatchc- wans up the North Branch for a dLstanee of alx)Ul 'tOO miles direct, to the base of the IltKiky Movintains. It varies in width from seventy to over one hundred miles. This belt, though generally designated a prairie, '^- traversed by hills and moun- tains of considerable magnitude, and by numerous and exten- sive river valleys, which vary in width from half a mile to two miles, and In depth from 200 to 400 feet. This belt lies from 330 to 350 miles north of the United States boundary; also north of the great American desert. Its elevation, though not sohigh as the desert, is from 1,500 to 13,000 feet above the sea. The extent of the treeless region on the international line, according to Captain Palliser, is from long. 100" to 114° west; and the apex of the desert reaches " to the 52nd parallel of latitude." And G. M. Dawson says: " On crossing the Pem- bina River," on the boundary line, about lifty miles west of Red River, " the eastern margin of the great treeless plain is entered on. No woods now appear except those forming narrow uclts along the valleys of streams, and soon even the einallcr bushes become rare," The northerly boundary of the treejess plains observes a course nearly parallel to the general course of the North Sas- katchewan, and at a distance varying from twenty to forty miles to the north of it. This treeless region in Canada is estimated to contain about one hundred and twenty-three millions of acres; of this area the sand plains overspread about seventy-three millions of acres. Hence all the Canadian prairiesj except the comparatively small tracts in the Red River and Lower Assiniboinc valleys, lie north of the desert. The prairies, like the desert, are generally devoid of timber. In consequence of the aridity of the sand plains in suninier, the South Branch of the Saskatchewan is not navigable, ex- cept for boats. In the "approximate classlflcation of the Lands" of the Northwest, «s represented on the Government maft, there to III l! fed u litrgc bell of land udjoiniug the iloHcrt on tlic ciist and north, and extending? from the intt-rniitional liounchtry, near long. lOr to h)ng. tl;r W., and lat. 54' N. This tract is dcMguatcd as"mixcd pralrioand tind)crsoil;{tiarathcr)ight, but produces fair crops, good grazing lands," and contains 530,000,000 of acres. This licit in(;ludcs the chief part of the fertile belt on the North Stwkatchcwan. Adjoining this li'll of *' mixed prairie and timber soil," to the eastwanl, northward and wcrstward, is an immense region, represented on this map as " generally excellent soil, with abiuidance of wood and water," and said to bo "admirably adapted for the growth of cereals, especially wheat." This belt on the international line at Red Kiver has a breadth of over ninety miles on thismnp, while the most reliable authori- ties give the breadth of the fertile part of the Ued Kiver valley at only forty-six miles. N« ••thward of the boundary, for a distance of about 700 miles, to lat. ,14" and long. Ill", this belt has an average width of about 120 miles. North of this astro- nomical point the belt spreads out into the Peace Kiver region, where the land is said to be "of extraordinary fertility." IJut as the Peace Kiver country is elevated from 1,500 to 2,000 feet and upwards above the sea, and lies between 55" and 00" north latitude, we shall leave the question of its adaptation for settlement for t he consideration of hypothetical geographers. One of the great questions in regard tp the future of thy Northwest is the Bcarcity of wood. The country between Ottawa and the Red River valley ia known as the wooded region; and also that l>etween the east- ern base of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean con- tains nuuh forest timber. But the great desert and prairie region, nearly 800 miles in width, and situated l)etween the wooded regions, is almost devoid of useful timljer, or indee:l of timber of any kind. A few years ago the banks of the Red Kiver were generally clothed with timber; but tires and the axes of the settlors have destroyed much of it, and in a few years more the re- mainder will disappear. The largest area of wood land in this vast region lies about twenty miles north of the international line, near the 98th meridian. It is situated JKitween forty and lifty miles to the north of Fort (Jarry. The southerly end of this tract varies from twenty to forty miles in width ; it extends northward beyouU llic liaiitb of the Province of Manitoba. u The Aflslnlboine and its chief tributary, the Qu'Appellc, tra- verse this region. Mr. Fleming .says botli banlcs of these " rivers are densely wooded, but the wood is of no value ex- cept for firing, as it is principally aspen and balsam poplar.'* Some of the mountain slopes are clothed with a similar class of wood. The banks of the lower part of the Assiniboine River, for a distance of about forty miles in a direct line west- erly from Hed Itiver, arc chiefly denuded of timber. Only a few narrow strips of timber lands remain to meet the increa.s- ing wants of the inhabitant.s. The lands in the wooded dis- tricts, except on the banks of some of the streams, arc generally unfit for cultivation. The chief part of the forest lands are situated north of the great desert and prairies adjoining. Mr. Fleming says that " fully one half of the line surveyed from Livingston to Edmunton," .say 200 miles, "passed through woodland. Poplar is almost the only description of wood found." The railway line in the prairie country is be- tween the parallels of 50" and 53° north; and the chief part of the forest region is north of the.se parallels. The lands in the wooded region are generally infertile. As elsewhere shown, the most eligible parts of the Canadian Plains for j^ettlement are the Red River and Lower Assiniboine valleys in Manitoba. "The area of the lowest prairie" in these two valleys, says G. M. Dawson, isibout "6,900 square miles, but of this the whole is not at present suited to agri- culture. Small .swamps are scattered pretty uniformly over its surface, and in some places very large areas of swampy land occur." Mr. Dawson assumes that about one half this area, or about 2,176,000 acres might be taken " as a measure of the possible agricultural capacity of this great valley," And the official report of the surveys of Townships in Mani- toba and adjoining country to the north and west show that one hundred and ten townships, 36 square miles each, or 2,534,400 acres, besides parts of other townships, are unfit for settlement. Of the infertile lands, ninety-five townships lie in the wooded region before described. And north of the townships there are extensive areas of mountainous and swampy regions, and other infertile lands, containing in the aggregate several millions of acres. But, strange to sjiy, nearly the whole of these infertile areas, including the Pro- vince of Manitoba, except about a million acres, is represented 55 on this mftpns " gonertvUy excellent soil, ndmirubly adapted for the growtli of cereals, especially wheat." It is very (lifflcult, indeed almost impossible, to obtain re- liable information with regard to new countries in North America. There is a tendency to exaggeration; and with re- gard to no part of the country has this tendency been so strong as in describing the plains of the West and Northwest. IIowcv..'r careful wo have been not to mislead otliers, we have found it very difticult to avoid being misled ourselves. The treeless area in the valleys of the Red and Assiniboino Rivers is comparatively large. Its length, from the interna- ticmal boundary northward, is about one hundred miles; and its breadth. In an east and west direction, is from sixty to seventy miles, embracing one hundred and ninety townships, or 4,;177,(K)0 acres. With the exception of some narrow strips on the banks of streams, the latter area is devoid of timber. These two valleys are the most eligible for settlement, being farther south and on a much lower elevation than any other part of the Canadian plains. Between the wooded district above referred to and the Rocky Mountains there is an immense region devoid of timber. Bishop Tache saj's: "From the 101st meridian up to the Rocky Mountains, a distance of about 900 miles, there is not wherewith to make a substantial road." Between the con- fluence of the two Saskatchewans and the international boun- dary the open country is about 300 miles in width, and farther west it is nearly 400 miles wide. Bishop Tache, in his " Sketch of the Northwest of America," page 15, says: "One must tiavel in the midst of these vast plains and camp out during entire w^eeks in the midst of these snowy oceans to understand how scarce wood is there, and yet how necessary it i.s." Referring to the second steppe, he says: " 1 have read glowing reports upon the plains; they brought out all the ad- vantages; they particularly described the quantity of wood. Bur, book in hand, I saw the country described, and asked myself, who is the dreamer, the author or the reader. The only woods of any importance on the prairie, that is timber, are the different kinds of poplar, bu* partictdarly aspen, and some birch." Since the publication of Mr. Tache's work, in 1808, much wood has been wasted by extensive tires, kindled accidentally or intentionally. ■■•■ ■-•■ • \ ;>.•. ife ' I ■a m . f M Tho effect of so vast nn area of trocleys conntry on tbc future of IhiH northern ro;pon cannot fail to be Hcrioux; thnt ia, sup- posing the prairies are otherwine nfhipteil for Het lement. At UeoHeH, has already begun to be fell. Near the east- ern l)aHe of the I{ocIelow zero on the morn- ing of the Dth of November, 1871." He says: " The countiy bordering on the North Saskatchewan, and al.so a portion of that adjacent to Manitoba, app<'ars from all accounts to suflFer fully as much. . . .from the occurrence of early frosts ' as that i»^ the vicinity of Lesser Slave Lake, which is 150 miles farther north, where, on the last day of September, he f(mnd "the thcm.ometer standing at seventy-five in the shade," while in the night following there was "a sharp frost." At a short di.stance northward of the Lesser Slave Lake, " the mercury stood at ten degrees below zero" on the 10th November. G. M. Dawson says, p. 303, "The .severity of the winter season is certainly one of the greatest di.sadvantages of the North- west as an area forsettleui^nt." . The extreme of coUl in Minnesota and Montana on the outh slope is very great, but .umparalivcly of short duration, -IL I saw morn- oiintry ion of suffer ns that arther "the lile in short rcury . Q. cason l^orth- «1 The (lllTcrencc between the climate in the northern and south' cm slopes is very remarkable. The mean temperature at Fort Shaw, one hundred miles south of the international boundary, on the nSth meridian, and at an elevation of about 3,000 feet above the sea, compared witlt that at Fort Garry, which is fifty miles north of the boundary, and not a thousand feet above the sea, shows that the climatic conditions of these two slopes are very dilTcrcnt indeed. The following C()mi)arison8 are cited from tlie Report on the Ocology and Resoiirccs of the region in the vicinity of the 49th parallel, from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, by G. M. Dawson, F. G. S., p. 300.— FOUT SHAW. FORT GARRY. November 30.92, 14.58 December 20.75 0.58 January 21.28 2.91 Febniary 30.39 2.99 March ;«5.58 9.00 The mean temperature for the other seven months at Fort 6baw was 58.30; and 53.72 at Fort Garry. Thus the difference between their simimer climates is not much, while thr* of the live winter months is very great, the average for Fort Shaw 1h ing 31.00, and that of Fort Garry is only 0.00. The longcon- tinuancc of so low a degree of temperature in the valley of Red River va not a favorable indication of the climate of the fertile belt, which is farther nortii, and has a general elevation nearly double that at Fort Garry. Ir. a public lectun^ delivered in the city of St. John by Edward Jack, C. E., in 1877, the lecturer showed from the ni"t'jrological journal kept at Fort Garry by the War Depart- ment in 1847 and 1848, tin unu.sually mild winter, "that the thermometer there indicated at times as low as 47' below zero, when the offlccrs made bullets of the frozen (jui* /silver and fired them from their muskets." He .showed thai, by the re- ports of the Dominion of Canada for the years 1874 and 1875, the mean temperature of Winnipeg for January was 25° lower, and for February \rt'' lower than that of Fredericton, New Rmnswick, for the same months. All reports on the chaiaikr of the plains concur in the fact that the clinjale there is very seven; in winter. Kven that very interesting work, "Ocean to Ocean," by Rev. George M. Grant, 1873, acknowledges lUut the nights of summer arc very r X, A I cold, and at times frost^'. lie did not trnvcl there " in wintei*, in faff of tlic biting northern hlastti which sweep the bound- less wa.ste,s of these intenninablc plains with a vigor and severity almost Arctic in their intensity." He passed quickly over them in the mo.'t pleasant time of the year, when vegeta- tion was " in llie full Hush of exuberant verdure;" when the days were hot, and the ni;^!!'^ in Au^^usi "were alwaj'scold," and freipKMiily frosty. Oa the night of the 20th there was a " heavy liojjr frost." In his general olsservniions on the " very narrow strip " of the plains over wliich he travelled, Mr. Grant came to the con- clusion, p. 170, thai "the climate and the soil arc favorable," and asks, " What ;v5)out wafer, fuel, and the summer froft.s, the three points next in importance !" " A large population," he says, " cannot he expected unless there is good water, in the form of rivers, hdics, springs or wells. In many parts of tl>e United States dependence is placed mainly on rain water, collected in cisterns, but such a supply is imwholesome, and to it may be attributed much of their prairie sickness. In connection with this question of water, the existence (^f tlie numerous saline lakes, that has been again and again noted, forces itseif on our attention; the w^onder is that former observers have said so little about them. PaHiser marks them on his ny,\p in two places, but they are really the characteristic feature of the country for luuidredsof miles. In many parts they so completely outnumber the fresh water lakes, that it is ' Water, water everywhere, And nut a drop to drink.' ■Sonio of them are from five to tv.-enty miles long; others only pools. Some arc h.j impregnated with salt that crystals of sulphate of soda are formed on the surface, and a thick white incrustation is {'- posited round the shores. Others arc brack- ish, or with a sa.i taste that is scarcely di.scernible." Referring to the cotintry west of the Assiniboine, near the South Saskatchewan, Professor Sehvyn, in his Geological Re- port, says, " Many of the saline lakes are as nmch as three, four or five miles in length, and occasionally from one to two miles wide." From an eminenre, Lmnp Hill, 400 feet above the plain, Professor Hind counted " seventeen large lakes;" Tind " low r.'.nges of hills can be discerned in several direc- tions. , . .Tht view extends to the border of the wooded lucd; SoBci I mn iiiiwiJ G3 beyond is a treeless prairie. TJie so called wooded land now consists of widely separated groves of small aspens, with willows in the low places. Much of the land on the Lump Hill is sandy and poor." Mr. Stlwyn says: " In the true prairie region there is very lillle v.'atcr. In some parts of it one may travel for days in any direction without meetinga stream. V/ater is much more plentiful in the half woodi-d region. . . .The amount of water which is discharged from the true pniirie region within Cana- (li:in tys, p. 18: " It is likely that a trough or series of more or less isolated basins of lignite and coal-bearing strata follows near the east- ern base of the mountains the whole way to the Arctic Sea." These coal beds extend far south into the United States. From the work " Canada on the Pacific," p. 203, we again cite: "The .scarcity of wood and water are insuperable ob- stacles in the way of successful and permanent settlement. It is true that occasionally small copses of poplar (the trees rarely exceeding eight inches in diameter) are met with; nevertheless, the extent of wooded compared with prairie land is so disproportionate, that the quantity of wood required by a widely scattered community of settlers would sufTiceto clear off all the available timber in a very few j'cars." " On the score of fuel, it might be urged that the coal which underlies a great extent of the Upper Saskatchewan country, may offer a good substitute for wood, and be used to advan- tage. There is no doubt that coal, in (juantity enormous, but in quality perhaps doubtful, is to be found, especially west of Fort Pitt; but those who seek these regions with a view to settlement cannot be expected to turn all their attention, and devote all their energies towards the painful ami laborious extraction from the bowels of the earth of the wherewith to keep body and soul together during the long and severe winter.! which are tiie rule, when the thermometer often sinks to 40° below zero." So far as known, the coal of tliis region is generally of an inferior quality. After discussing the questions of water and fuel, Mr. Grant says: "The remaining difliculty is the recurrence of summer frosts. In many localities these are dreaded more than any- thing else. At one place in June or July; at another in August, sharp frosts have nipped the grain, and sometimes even the potatoes. It is often adduced as proof of the mildness of the climate of the plains that horses live in the open air all winter, ^5 Bishop Tach6 says: "This circumstfrnce, so remarkable to those unaccustomed to this country, instead of proving the mildness of the climate, proves the constancy of cold. Not only does snow not melt in winter, but it does not even soften, thus it does not become icy, nor acquire what is well known in Canada as 'crust,' The horse, by pawing, can easily re- move the covering of the snow from off the grass and feed, ' which would be impossible were the snow to harden The horse, though an animal of a milder climate, nevertheless withstands the lowest temperature. Surprise at seeing horses wintering in the opcr air is nothing more than what Europeans experience on seeing Canadian horses, after long journeys, standing out in the cold for hours together without suffering in the least. The f;'t, then, that horses can live without stabling does not prove the mildness of the climate, but simply the abundance and superiority of the immense pasturages left for their use. This indeed is the unquestionable advantage of the prairie country." Speaking of the horses of the North- west, "Those animals," says Horetzky, "were of all shades of color, and no two were alike in size. They were of the hardy little breed peculiar to the Saskatchewan country, and though not much to look at were possessed of qualities of endurance hardly to be expected from animals of their ap- pearance." O. M. Dawson says: " I am aware that in this region horses and cattle are at present frequently allowed during the winter to feed themselves as best they may. They generally survive, and often do not look much the worse for their hard treatment; but this haphazard plan will not And favor with careful farm- ers. In the Red River country animals to which proper attention is shown require additional food to l»e supplied to them, either in the form of hay or oats, for at least six months in the year." Were it not for the terrible winters, summer frosts, the grasshopper plague, and the difficulty of procuring wood and water, we would advise those In search of homesteads to be guided in their selection by the Rev. Mr. Grant's concluding remarks: " Looking fairly at all the facts, admitting all the difficulties — and what country has not its own drawbacks — it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that we have a great and fertile Northwest, a thousand miles long and from one to four hundred miles broad, capable of containing a population IJ6 of millions. It is a fair land ; rich in furs and flsh, in trea- sures of the forest, the field and the mine; seamed by navi- gable rivers, interlaced by numerous creeks, and beautified with a thousand lakes; broken by swelling uplands, wooded hill-sides, and bold ridges ; and protected on its exposed sides by a great desert or by giant mountains. The air is pure, dry and bracing all the year round, giving promise of health and strength of body and length of days. Here we have a home for our own surplus population and for the stream of emigra* lion that runs from northern and central Europe to America. Let it be opened up to the world by rail and steamboat, and in an incredibly short time the present gap between Manitoba and British Columbia will be filled up, and a continuous line of loyal Provinces extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific." Locusts, or grasshoppers, are the plague of the west and northwest. The great sand plains adjoining the Rocky Mountains is their native place. In the Dominion these plains lie to the westward of the Red River valley, and to the south of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan prairies; hence these prairies are fully exposed to their ravages. Our allotted space will not permit our entering upon this subject at length, though it is one of great importance to the States and Terri- tories adjoining the great desert. It is not easy to obtain reliable information in regard to the effects of the grasshopper plague on the Canadian plains. Some writers simply refer to the subject ; others gloss it over as one of trifling importance. The Rev. Mr. Grant says in regard to Manitoba, they " have proved a plague only two or three times in half a century." And the Hon. James Trow, M. P., in his "Letters " relating to " Manitoba and Northwest Territories," which were republished by the Department of Agriculture of Canada in 1878, says, p. 23: "Manitoba had an immunity of 37 years, from 1820 to 1857; not a single grass- hopper was in the country during that long period. In 1873, 1874 and 1875, crops were partially destroyed, more particu- larly in 1874, but none have since appeared, and in all proba- bility may not again for half a century." Alex. Begg, in his " Guide to Manitoba," p. 48, says: " In 1819 they destroyed the crops, and for three successive years the hopes of the husbandman." On page 103, he says: " For four years," dating from the end of 187)11, " the country has l>een swept by grasshoppers," Liu- 67 Tho following statistics arc gleaned from the Geological report of G. M. Dawson, who has devoted much time to the subject : — In 1818, six years after the foundation of Lord Selkirk's colony, the locusts destroyed nearly everything but the wheat crop, which partly escaped, heing nearly ripe. In the follow- ing spring all the crops were destroyed. In the two following years the crops suffered greatly from their ravages. Mr. Daw- son says: " the next recorded incursion is that of 1807;" but too late in the season to do great damage, "but eggs were deposited, and in 1858 all the young grain was devoured. In 1804 they again appeared, and left their eggs, but neither the adults nor the young of 1865 were sufticiently numerous or wide-spread to do much damage. In 1867 numerous swarms poured in, but did little injury, the crops being too far ad- vanced; their progeny in the ensuing spring, however, devoured everything, causing a famine. They again appeared in 1869, the young in 1870 doing much harm. In 1 872 fresh swarms arrived, but as usual too late to do much damage to wheat. Eggs were left in abundance in the northern part of the Province, and in the following spring the farmers over considerable districts did not sow. In 1874 winged swarms again came in from the west, arriving earlier than usual, and inflicting great injury on the crops in some districts. Eggs were deposited in almost all parts of the Province, and the result has yet to be seen." From other sources of information we learned that great damage was done in 1875. According to the official report for the year ending June, 1876, this little colony of less than thirty thousand people imported flour and grain, nearly all from the United States, to the value of $286,- 878 ; and only exported three barrels of flour. The Canadian Government had to assist the inhabitants of the Northwest repeatedly in consequence of the complete de- struction of the crops by locu.sts. In the correspondence in regard to the transfer of the Northwest to the Dominion, it is stated that "from 12,000 to 15,000 souls were in imminent danger of starvation during the winter " of 1869. An important question arises in connection with the grass- hopper plague. Will their ravages beeomc more frequent as cultivation becomes more continuous? If their native place is the high arid desert it is a (luestion whether human agenry can do anything to destroy or in any w^ay lessen their number, 68 So important indeed is the matter that some of the States which are subject to their ravages have enacted laws with a view to the destruction of the locusts. Their visits seem to have been more frequent and their effects more destnictive at lied River within the last ten or fifteen years tlian formerly. 1! Area of the Canadian Prairies. — The SaHkatchewan and other tributaries of LaL.« Winnipeg are said to drain about 280,000 sqtuire miles, or 179,300,000 acres. This area com- prises immense tracts of desert prairie, mountains, swamps and river beds. It is not easy to arrive at a reliable estimate of the extent of fertile land within these bounds. In no part of tlie world has that kind of patriotism which substitutes fiction for truth been more fully exercised than with regard to the extent of the Canadian prairies, and their adaptation for settlement. There is no doubt, however, that the area offer- tile lands is very groat. Even far north of the fifty-fourth parallel, it is said there are extensive tracts of rich prairie lands. But the groat question is, how much of even the most soutlierly prairies of the Dominion are climatically and other- wise adapted for settlement? Captain Palliscr and Professor Hind estimated the aggre- gate area of prairie lands lyinjr south of the parallel of 64°, at about 41,000,000 of acres, about equal to the area of fertile lands in the State of California. Of this, says A. J. Russell, C. E., in his work on the Northwest: "The one-third of the fertile region estimated by Captain Palliser as being" fit for cultivation, " is a very fair proportion; the other two-thirds, no doubt, are requiring drainage or particular clearing. " "As for the 80,000 square miles," or 51,200,000 acres, "which Captain Palliscr designates as the least valuable part of the prairie country, it will no doubt, as he says, ' be forever com- paratively useless,' with the exception of such tracts as the Cypree Mountains, and others where there is good grass, with WQod and water." Bishop Tache says, p. 13: " It is difficult to give, even approximately, the area of these prairies. I reckon them as being about equal to the desert country, that it 60,000 square miles," or 38,400,000 acres. At page 19 he says : " At the risk of appearing to l>e unreasonably retrograde, I dare positively affirm that not more than on(> half of the area of the prairie within the limits I have ascribed to it, or within U^ region usually called the Fertile ficlt of the £le uniformity, the vr.ilcysin British (volumbia, everywhere uarrow, do not leave much margin between the rivers and the foot of the slopes of tho hills or high plains that bound them, and as the rivers roll onward to the ocean, cutting 'i«H'pcr into the oarth, this margin becomes more and more contracted, till, on entering the foot hills of the Cascade chain, it entirely disappears, except where depressions huvcbecn made by lateral streams, and the valley becomes a mere gorge or trough." From the foregoing quotations the reader might conclude that there is no land fit for tillage on the main land of British Columbia, but Dr. Hector says t}«e mountains " retire along the north shore of Burraru's Inlet to the southeast, so as to ))c ) 78 bixty mllos inland at where the boundary meets them, thus leftving a very heavily ttmliercd tract, which forms the only Ic el country in British Columbia cast of the CiUicade range.'' Lord DufTcrin described the front of Dritinh Columbia as "presenting at every turn an ever shifting' combination of rock, verdure, forest, glacier and snow-capped mounUdu of unrivalled grar.cleur and beauty." The climate of the southern part of Vancouver Island is moderate, and well adapted to agricultural operations. North of the island the climate is remarkably wet. The high moun- tain summits, in all directions, are capped with snow at all times, and in the valleys between, which are remarkably nar- row, snow falls to great depths, aiiJ in places lies the greater part of the year. It is clearly obvious that farming will never Iw of much note on the Pacific coast of the Dominion, nor on the United States side adjoining. There is, however, considerable timber on the mountain slopes, if it could be brought to the sea-board. There is abundance of useful fish in the inner waters; there ic excellent coal on the inner coast of Vancouver Island ; pnil iro'i ore, and more or less gold and other minerals exist in the country. But similar resources exist in great abundance on the United States side of the lK)undary also. Hence it is difficult to find n market, except in far distant Asia. For these reasons British Columbia, though of immense area, is not likely to contain half as many people, or lie worth half as much to the Dominion as that of little Prince Edward Island in the East. 10 f u i a EXAGGERATIONS. In North America tht-rc is a constant tcMtU'ncy to overvalue tie resources (»f the country, wliivh has often h'd to expecti-. tioiis and awakened hftpes wliicli have not been and never can be realized. Countries in Aniei-jca, however, are on n 1ar<,'e scale, and generally possess vast resources; it is, therefore, natural for their pioneers to be proud, or even boastful. Hut fiction should not be substituted for truth. In tluf L'nited Slates this kind of |)atriotisn» bejiau with the nation and increased with its growUi. l{egi.)ns of worthless lands have been sounded abroad as the most valualile. Hence thousands of emiirrants have iK'cn seriously dis-ppointed, while their money has been paid to speculators or other inter- ested parties. In the Dominion of Canada, boasting is a vice of more recent date, and in chiefly confined to a few of the olllcials of the country, who arc able, in this respect, to conipete with their liepublican nci;i:hbor><. They boast of Canada Iteinga "great Dominion," of luiving injmensc regions of fertile lands within the range of climatic adaptation. In previous pages we have shown that a value has been .set on the country for settlement which it does not posses.s. No part of America has sufTered so much bj' means of ex- aggerated statenjents as Ilritish North America. Hundreds of thousands of copies in the aggregate of ))apers, pamphlets and highly colored niaps, se'tiiig forth advantagd* as to cli- nnitc, soil and extent of country fit for .settlement, which the Dominion does not po.ssess, have l>een circulated in the Ibitish Isles. Hence thousands of immi.miints have been disap- l>ointed, and conscfpjenlly removed to tiie United States, after a short residence in this countrv. Millions of dollars, even as high as half a million ... year for some years, 1 avc Iwen spent in ti's way, a large part of which has aided in fllli-ig in the United i'tates. And at mo j)eriod have exaggerations been so rife as d'.ii'ng tlie las? ten years. The most worthI(;.ss regions have been lauded both at home and abroad. The fact of keep- ing agents pleading at the thoroughfares of the Ibitish Lsles y .;^ t5 for pt'ople to emigrate to this country, is ittelf sultieient tft raise doubts ns to the tttness of the country for scttk-ment. If !hc Dominion is what it iu represcntci' to be by inunigra- tion agents and others, its present inhabitant;-; ought to be able to induce friciuls and relatives at home to emigrate to tins country, independent of the present costly system. The following citations, out of many others which might be adduced, will sutlicc to show to what extent exaggerations liave been indulged in. British North Anu'rica, said the lion. Jt).';eph IIowc, con- tains '•4.0(K).()00 scpiare miles. The United States has not so much. All Eiu'ope with its family of nati«>ns is sniidlerby ninety i > thousand stpiare uules." Again he said: " I often HUiilc lien 1 hear some vain-glorious Hepublicau exchiiming ' No pent np XTtica contmctH oar |K)Wcr8, The whole unbouiuled continent ia ouib !' forgetting th tl '' • largest portion does not Ix'long to him at all, but to us. the mrn of the North, whose descendants will control its destinies forever. The whole globe c(mtiuns but thiiiy siven millions scpuire nules. We North Americans, living U'.Mtti !J!e IJritish tlag, have one ninth of the whole, and this oug' ' .,dve ample room for Ihc acconuiiodation and support of a countless populatioji," And in reference to Ui>per and Lower Canada, Mr. IIowc said: " The Province of Canada is as large as Great Britain, France and Austria put together, and will, if ever peopled, sustain a p(>i)ul:ilion of lifly millions." Probably Mr. Howe did not know that less than one sixth part of the area of the two Canadas is fit for settlement. Hut the lion. Mr. .Mackenzie is a full match for Mr. IIowc. We (piote from a ixiok entitled his "Speeches during his recent visit to Scotland." In pag«' 21 he says: "Oiu- prairie land alone, west of the great hik«'s, upon which we liave but just entered, extends for a distance of nearly !>!)<) nules, wilh a width ot at least :{(H) miles, and that there is forest land for many himdrecls of nnles to the north and west. ' Hut the fol- lowing crowns tlipc'.imax: "We have," he .sjiid. "between tl'<' pocky Mountains and I'le Lake of the Woods, ],(NM)nMles territory from east to w<'st, b} ."iOO mile< from south to north, fit for settlenuMit." That Is, .'HK),(HK) scpuue miles or three hui^dred and twenty millions of acres, situated north of lh« nHm % II '■a i i parullcl of 49' and the great f and plains, fit for seUkin^nt As to what reliance can be placed in this statement, we refer tbo reader to our description of the Northwest in previous pages. We might be permitted, however, to ask: Werethenc state- ment.* made before British audiences with ii view of inducing British ciipitalisis to 'end us more money, and the British nation to detend the Dominion of Canada in the event of war with the United States? Whatever may have been the object in making such unwar- rantable statements, we leave the reader to judge. However, by thtis playing on the credulity of his audiences, some were led to believe these statements lo Ik; literally correct. For ex- ample, the Dundee News, in its comnientp on the utterances of Mr. Mackenzie, .said Canada contained a " splendid stretch of prairie i\m\ forest land, on which all the inhabitants of Europe could easily settle;" and that "no one could help thinking what a glorious theatre is here prepared for one of the proudest scenes that has ever been enacted in the woriJ's drama." Europe contains about three hundred millions of inhabitants, all of which, wearetold, "could easily settle "inthe Arctic slope of North America. Thus, in imagination, the then Premier carried his audience far down this slope; indeed, it is not easy to say at what point northward he terminated his measure- ments; in fact, he might have extended tLom much nearer to the Pole Avith eqvud propriety. If the Dundee Ketca had been aware that the boundaries of the Premier's doma'n included hundreds o' millions of acres Bomprising deserts, swamps, mountain regions, and other infertile lands, besides millions of acres covered by water; had the News l)cen informed that Canada adjoining the international boundary, between the Lake of tl»e Woods and the Uocky Mountains, a distance of 300 miles, and for a brendth of at least four degrees of latitude, does not contain twenty millions of acres of land adapted for settlement, nf\ far as regards the soil, and that hundreds of millions of acres of the Canadian Northwest are devoid of wood, that water is scarce over large areas, and that the winter climate is a terrible one. it n»ight have concluded that the population of Eunipe would tlnd but a dreary home on the Canadiai: |dains. " I look ui)on Cunnda." said (lu-lale Premier, "nsncouniry peculiarly favored as to climate, as to ."oil, as to the feeling.s of the people, us being the home of u l^jruve, a generous, and tt n powerful nation, and one yet doHtlned to piny an important part iu Ihc history of the world 1 urn nwiMc that many people emigrate to Canada, luul tliat some return with feeling-s of disappointment. They do not think the river St. Lawrenee is as hig as has been said. Tlicy do not tliink that the Falls of Nia.'^ara quite so large as has been stated. They lo not Miink the lakes are so vast as has been represcntwi to them " This is concealing the truth under :i shower of word.^. He might as well have said that some return with feelings of disappoint- ment because there are no whales in Lake Superior. Iu 1Hssil)ly in the life of my immediate successors, a larger population will inhabit the British portions of North America than now inhabit the Bri- tish Isles." He did n«)t name the precise time when British North America will contain thirty-two millions of jieople. It is probi'.ble that Mr. JIacken/.ie's suecesi ^rs will have passt-d away long before this country will conta, i one-fourth of the present population of the Briti.sh Isles. Thi.s prophecy as to the future copulation of this country reminds us of one of a .similar nature by the Canadian <),()(M) Indians. And in 1887, when the term will cxi)ire, there is no probability that the population ')f British North America will exceeij Ave millions. The fact is, we have been cvtimnting our fiiture millions without an adequate knov.dedge, or with exaggerated nt>tion.s of the resources of llie <(tuntry. Of this nature is Jite asser- tion of the Hon. .Io.se|i|i Howe, that the two Canadas could sustain a i>oj>ulation of fifty millions; and th.d of Sir E. P. Tache, who tiid in iSOo, "That in less than half a century W- I t8 • ('unada." Ibnt is Upper and Lower, Canada, " would embrace a population ecjual to that of the large empires of the old world." Fully one fourth of this time has already expired, yet the populaticm of these two Provinces is only about three miHi(ms and a (juarter. At their present rate of inerease, and wv. have no reason to helieve it will be greater in the future, many half centuries will expire before the aggregate popula- tion of Ontario and Quebec will be equal to half that of one of the small empires of the (>ld world. In 1874 John Boyd, Escj., in a lectm'c in the city of St. John, is reported to have said, in reference to the Dominion, that " Wc are great in territory' — the largest country in the world, excepting Ilussia; we have room and homes for 100,O()0,(X)O population " And in a public lecture in the same city in 1877, by the llev. James Hennct, the lecturer a.ssumed that "at no distant date," the Dominion will contain " ten to twenty times" its present population, lie did not name the exact time when this prophecy shall be fultllled. but he asked: "Would it be too much to say that in the future this Dominion may con- tain 1(M),(HM),(K)() soulsV I am not," he said, "a good actuary to calculate how long it would lake at the present rate of pro- gress, Avhi«h is about 1^ per cent. i)er annum, to reach that figure, but assuming the same rale of progress as the United States during the lirst century, wo — since we have about the same population to begin with which they had — should be 40,(MK),00() d.iring the next eentiuy, and, and in another cen- tury thereafter we should be 1(K),000,00(). Well, we do not calculate to grow tjuite so fast. It may be thought that even 1{X),(HK).()00 during the next 300 years is too much to count upon. " With reference to th(- sec t ions of the Dominion which be considered callable of sustaining many people, he said: " Wc buvc irrefragable testimony 'hat the prairie grounds in our Northwest are more productive than any soils in the United States, with the exception of tho.sc in California." The area of the prairie." be estimali-d a; • 480,(K)0 sipnjri'' mih-s, or ecpud to ten States, each the size of New York." But the most remarkable statement is that " nearly the whole of this territory is as well or better lilted for scttlemmv tiian the best piirts of Ontario, New Hrunswiek or Nova S<'otia, is ready for the plough. pro<(;ttlen»ent, is as large as one of the snudl States of the American Union. The great elevation of the country, and itshigh northern latitude (lu-nce the severity of the climate), to say nothing of the gra.'*shopper plague and the scarcity of wood and water, compel us to di.ssent from Air. Bonnet's ligures. With regard to the aggregate area of the settled provinces, he said: " from a survey of the whole we may conclude that not less than a sixth part of it is capable of suj^porting an agricultural population, and that in the next century we may have in it a population of forty or tifty millions of people." Mr. Bennet's calculations jire marvan)|ihlcts recently puI)liKhcd re- lating to the N<)rlliwe»t, entitled " iManitobaand the (Canadian Nortliwest," 1877. p. 15, it is .said " that the total area of the lamls lake and River, and that adjoining the Lake of tl>e Woods, on the south, is United States jiroperty. The Red River is the oidy stream of note within the habitable part of the arctic slope which flows through alluvial plains for the greater part of its length. Rut he omitted to say that four hundred miles of this river is in the United States, and that of its fertile valley, which is 815 miles in length, two hundred and flfteen miles are in the Republic. The Asslniboine and sonu; of its tributaries flow through an area of good land, as well as sand plains and other infertile lands. The south branch of the Saskatchewan is chiefly in the great desert. The north arm of this river is the only stream in this part of tlu; Dominion which i>asses through any great extent of fertile land. And this tract does not p()s.«css the agricultural capabilities ascril)ed to it. It is far north and is elevated from 1,500 to 3,OoO feet above the sea, and contains largo areas of infertile soil. It Is said there Is a large extent of fertile land in the Peace River valley; and there may be tracts of fertile lands in the valleys of the Arthabaska, Mackenzie and other Arctic rivers of the far north, but the Lord help those who.se lot may be cast for a winter in those icy regions. And as to the Fraser and other rivers of British Columbia, they are in the most worthless region, in an agricultural point of view, to be found qn the Amcricau Qontineut, ^^ 4 Buch Rpcochofl ns Ihnt of Lord DtilTt'rin's at Winnipeg, how- ever well intomled, are n positive injury to a country like tbo Dominion. They only tend to oherinh delusions, and often lead to disnppointments of a serious nature. No country in the Avorld has suffered more from such visionary views than British North America. In its review of the Governor General's speech, the London 7tme« said: " What Lord DulTerin tells us is that we possess" in North America "space and material capabilities for a population many times larger than our own, in a climate not more ungenial than that endured by a large part of these islands. We are proud of our rivers, our few lakes, our scenery, and our many triumphs over nature." lie tells us, gays the Tinier, that " the Canadian Dominion surpasses us in all these points. We have there all that we prize preeminently, that which we seem to prize most of all, whether individually or as a nation — illimitable space. . . .Art having done its work, nature is to resume it.s sway. That might seem impossible, but Lord Dufferin indicates n sense in which even this extra- vagant aspiration may be fulfilled, not hero and there by a party of settlers, but by the whole population of the Britisli Isles a dozen times over." That is, the Dominion is capable of sustaining four hundred millions of people. Probably twelve or fifteen millions would be as many aa the Dominion could sustain by means of its own resources. The London IHnus continues: "We have all been wanting another England, Ireland and Scotland in the air, and there they are, safely landed within our own latitiules, a three weeks voyage off. The succession of enormous distances and strange surprises through which Lord Dufferin takes his hearers reads more like a voyage to a newly discovered satel- lite than one to a region hitherto regarded simply as the fag end of America, and a waste bit of the world." Lord Dufferiu has recently finished his term as Governor General of British North America. His i)residen/'y hsjs been marked by groat statesmanship; and as a citizen of the country, which he truly was, his lofty clo<|ueiicc, lively conceptions, and brilliant imagination, were fully employed in favor of the Dominion of Canada on every befiuing occasion ; consf(|uently he inherited the best fceling.s and highest regard of all classes of the Canadian people, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 ^" IM 2.2 IIM |10 2.0 1.8 U III 1.6 V] (^ /a 'c^l ■<^ A 'V o ^;. / M Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 m i ?v ,s^ ^ V ^ X \? "%^ 1 4j '/jL u *! ^ CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD. During the three years following 1857, Captain Palliser was employed by the British Government in exploring the country between Ottawa ana the Pacific Ocean, with a view of finding a practicable rciite for a railroad between these two points. After making a careful survey of this vast region, he declined to " recommend the Imperial Government to construct, or it may be said, tt) favor a thoroughfare bj' this line of route, either by land or water" "Nor can I," he said, "advise such heavy expenditure as would necessarily attend the construc- tion of any evciuijively British 11 jc of road between Canada and the Red llivrr settlement." He says: "My knowledge of the countrj% en *hc whole, would never lead me to advo- cate a line of corr munication from Canada across the continent to the Pacific cx' lusively through British temtory. The time has now forever gone by for effecting such an object ; and the unfortunate choice of an astronomical boundary line has com- pletely isolated the central American possessions of Great Britain from Canada in the east, and also almost debarred them from any eligible access from the Pacific coast on the west." However, strange to say, in less than ten years after Captain Palliser made his report, and before making additional sur- veys, the Dominion Parliament passed Acts providing for the construction of a railroad through this region, besides branch lines, and the whole to be completed in ten years. In conse- quence of the great diflSculty of finding a suitable route, mor« than five years expired before the work of construction was commenced. Such is the character of the country that after seven years spent by a large number of surveying parties, at a cost of $3,416,895 up to July 1877, the line had not been located up to •the .same month in 1878. The cost of the survey alone will probably amount to four millions, a sum sufllcient to construct one hundred miles of railroad in the Lower Provinces of the Dominion. If the amount of lime and money spent in making the surveys is a fair index to the future, the cost of construct- ing the Canadian Pacific railroad will be enormous. k \ : 85 The length of nn air line between Ottawa and l::irra~cl Inlet, on the east side of the Strait of Georgia, is 2,160 miles; but the shortest route surveyed between these two points is 2,774 miles. The variations in altitude and the amount of curvia- ture of the line, especially in the mountain regions, together with the great extent of tunnelling, point to immense cost of condtruction and maintenance. Add to this the Red River branch, 84 miles, and the Lake Superior branch, both under construction, and we have 2,890 miks of railroad to construct between Ottawa and Burrard Inlet at the Strait of Georgia. And still the western terminus by railroad route is 234 miles, besides thirteen miles by navigation, east of Esquimault, the nearest suitable harbor on that part of the Pacific coast, mak- ing a total of 3,124 miles of railroad, exclusive of bridging the Strait of Georgia. Up to February 1877, the date of the Chief Engineer's last report, all the lines through British Columbia unite in the Yellow Head Pass, in the Rocky Mountains, and vary in length, in the mountain region, from 46-1 to 550 miles. How- ever, in consequence of the great difficulties of an engineering nature, and the proximity of the most favorable route to the United States boundary, every effort has been made to find a more northern route. The terminus at Burrard Inlet is close to the international boundary for a considerable distance at the Pacific end of the line, and against that at Bute Inlet there are serious objections. The cost of the work in British Columbia alone has been estimated at $36,500,000 to Burrard Inlet, or $34,400,000 to Bute Inlet. These are enormous figures, considering the distance. The terminus at Burrard Inlet has been adopted as the only feasible one at the Pacific end of the line. It is now estimated that the remaining part of the line to Esquimault would cost about twenty-seven millions of dollars. It is obvious that the difllculties of obtaining a practicable route through British Columbia, and an ocean terminus on the Pacific coast, are unprecedented. The Strait of Georgia, though chiefly in the Dominion, is almost useless as a path for ships between the main land and the ocean. The British naval authorities on that station say that the navigation of the Straits by the north of Vancouver Island " is decidedly un- favorable," and the approach by the South of Vancouver Island to the Strait of Georgia is through passages more or ^& less intricate. Still, the main passage is capable of accommo* dating large class vessels. But the passages are between, or at no great distance from the San Juan Islands, which belong to the United States. " All the naval authorities admit," says Mr. Fleming, ' ' that vessels on their course " to the inner ter- minus of the Canadian Pacific railroad " would be exposed to the guns of the United States in the event of hostilities." And Rear Admiral A. De Horsey, who made a survey of the approaches in 1877, rejects "all idea of a terminus" for the railroad on the north of Vancouver Island, and says of the south passage that the San Juan and Stuart Islands "form the key of the navigation inside Vancouver Island. In the case of war with the United States that power might readily stop our trade through Haro Strait [San Juan was visited last month, September, 1877, by General Sherman, I believe with a view to its fortification.] The posses- sion of San Juan might enable the United States, in case of war, to cut oil our supply from the coal mines by sea." He therefore recommends the adoption of an outer terminus for the railroad as the only convenient one. But this involves thirteen miles of navigation across the Strait of Georgia, and the construction of 234 miles of additional railroad, 183 of which is on Vancouver Island, making the total length of the Pacific railroad and branches 8,124 miles. It has been pro- posed to bridge Seymour Narrows, a distance, says Admiral Horsey^ " of 2,575 feet, in two spans of respectively 1,200 and 1,350 feet. To execute this work the middle pier has to be erected on a rock said to be eighteen feet under water at low tide, with a velocity of tide over it of from five to eight knots. This," he saj's, " would be a work of vast magnitude and ex- pense, even if it be practicable to place a foundation on the rock ; which I doubt, as there is hardly any slack tide. Nor must it be forgotten that bridging Seymour Narrows would, as regards large ships, obstruct the only practicable channel between Vancouver Island and the main land. This alone should, in my opinion, preclude its attempt." Mr. Fleming says: " The bridging from the main shore to Vancouver would be unprecedented in magnitude, and that its cost would be indeed enormous." Thus, the Pacific end of the Canadian railroad will not have, an ocean terminus, unless a bridge shall be constructed across the Narrows, and the railroad extended to the ocean. In 07 place of a bridge, Admiral Horsey recommends the construc- tion of a pile dock terminus on each side of the Strait of Georgia, and "ferrying a train" from one terminus to the other, a distance, he says, of thirteen miles, being four miles wider than the winter mail route between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Some such means of transit as that named by ihe Admiral may possibly be required towards the end of the next century, but during the remaining part of the present century, at least, the resources of the Dominion will be taxed to their utmost in order to construct the section between Lake Superior and the Strait of Georgia, a length, together with the Red River branch, of 1,000 miles. However, as Mr. Fleming says, as it has " been determined to establish a railway through Canada to the Pacific coast," it is important that we should have some idea of the burdens to be imposed on the tax-payers of the Dominion. The cost has been variously estimated at from $140,000,000 to $100,000,000, and as high as two hundred millions. Indeed, such is the nature of the work it is impossible to estimate the cost at pre- sent. Assuming that the Canadian Pacific railroad and branches can be constructed for the same price per mile as the Intercolonial railroad, say $44,000, one hundred and forty millions oxight to be sufl[icient, exclusive of the cost of the Seymour Narrows ferry. But when we consider that the Intercolonial railroad is in a comparatively level country, thickly settled for considerable distances along the line, and that no part of it is far from the base of supplies, and on the other hand, looking at the remote situation of the Pacific route, the paucity of population, and the almost insurmount- able obstacles of an engineering character in the way, this es- timate is too low by a sum not less than from $18,000 to $20,000 per mile, in British Columbia alone; and when we consider that in this region tlie Coast and Sierra Nevada ranges of the South are united in one sea of Cascade moun- tains, besides the Rocky and numerous subsidiary ranges, Mr. Fleming's estimates may be too low. One line, 493 miles in length, he estimates at $35,000,000; another, 404 miles, at $39,000,000, and a third, 550 miles, is estimated to cost $38,000,000. The cost of tunnelling in the mountain regions through which the Pacific line is run will be immense; and the cost of bridging will have but few parallels. On the plains alone, the aggregate length of the bridjfing is over two 88 and a half miles, and the height of the bridges varies from forty to one hundred and ten feet. The parts under construc- tion are comparatively cheap lines to build. The bridges are being constructed of wood, which in consequence of the scarcity of suitable timber along the line on the plains, cannot fail to be costly. Where suitable timber is plenty and con- venient, bridges constructed of wood only cost hall the price of iron bridges, but, according to Mr. Fleming's view of such works on the Intercolonial railroad, it is "a very grave error lo build the bridges of wood." "The saving effected in the first outlay from the cniployincutof wooden bridges would be very small, not to be mentioned as an c(iuivaleut for Ihc re- duced standard of the railway, or for Uie increased annual charge for repairs and renewals, for tlie risk of accidents by fire, or for the increased danger of life and property." He says: "The average length of life of a wooden bridge has proved to be about twelve 3'ears." And that "it is apparent that one-twelfth, or eight and one-third per cent, of the whole cost is chargeable against it every year for renewals. " Probably there is no part of the world where the danger of destruction of bridges by fire is greater than on these plains. Fires, once started, have an unbounded sweep over the vast plains of the west and northwest. And tlie wilderness regions, east and west of the plains, are largely covered with forest grov.'th. That part between the plains and Ottawa is generally described as a boiled-up sea of crystalline rocks. Between the rocky ranges there are numerous and extensive swamps, and the rocky ridges tower in height far above the swamps and the deep valleys, which in many places intervene. Some of the ranges lie "at nearly right angles to the general course of the railway line, causing gruat variations of altitude, v»ith occasional higli gradients, involv- ing a considerable proportion of heavy work/' including tunnelling. In the absence of an official estimate of the cost of this rail- way, one hundred and sixty millions of dollars may not be too high. We may here observe that the greater part of the pub- lic works in the Provinces have cost more than the original estimate. The Intercolonial railroad, for example, according to Major Ilobinson's report, should have been constructed, from Halifax to Quebec, for about $34,000,000. It cost, including the section constructed by the Grand Trunk 89 Company, and taking Into account the additional distance built, forty-seven miles at least, four millions more than Major Robinson's estimate. The Premier of tJie Dominion, Mr. Mackenzie, in a public speech in Sarnia in 1875, said: "We shall be able to accom- plish the connection of our western with our eastern waters by 1890." That is S.OGO miles of railroad from Lake Superior to Burrard Inlet, including the Red River branch, is to be com- pleted in about fifteen years. The Intercolonial railroad, between Riviere du Loup and Truro, which is not a quarter of this distance, occupied seven years in building. Thus, one hundred millions of dollars, exclusive of the cost of enlarging the St. Lawrence canals, is to be added to the debt of this country by 1890. And when built, this long section will bo almost useless, except to the United States, during half the year, when the navigation of Lake Superior is closed. Th6 cost of working the road from Lake Superior lO the Pacific waters, and the interest on the capital, will be a very heavy charge indeed. If the cost of working the whole road from Ottawa to the Pacific will amount to " not less than $8,000,000 per annum," and the interest on the capital to $8,000,000 more, as stated by the Premier, the Dominion will gain most when her Pacific railroad if not in operation. Against these large sums two millions is set down for revenue. Evidently the inhabitants of the Dominion, especially those of the Atlantic Provinces, have not begun to count the cost of constructing and mamtaining this gigantic work, nor have they generally estimated the end to be accomplished by its construction. When we consider that the main line passes, for one thousand five hundred miles, through mountaiu regions of the most worthless character, and that hundreds of miles of the remaining distance are in swamps and other infertile regions, and looking at the northern aspect of the whole country, the great depth of snow which falls in the mountain regions, it must be obvious to every thoughtful mind, especially to 9,848,461 108,324,1)64 116,008,378 124,551,514 133,208,694 DEBT INCLUDINO ASSETS. $ 93,046,051 11.5,492,682 122,400,179 129,743,432 141,163,551 151,6(53,401 101,204,687 174,675,835 PROSPECTIVE. 1881.... 4,100,000 4,800,000 5,700,000 $170,000,000 250,000,000 300,000,000 1891 .... 1901 .... dd The population of the Provinces has been of slow giowth during the last twenty years, since the fertile lands of Ontario have been disposed of; and it may be expected to be slow in the future in all the old Provinces, where there is but little fertile land remaining unsold. And as to the Northwest it remains to be seen how far set- tlement will extend down the arctic slope. The obstacles in the way are very great indeed, much greater than in the eastern Provinces. The foregoing estimates of population for the present and two following decades are not half as large as those generally made by Canadian authorities, as will be seen by reference to other pages under the head of "Exaggerations." In the foregoing table one hundred thousand mf\y he added to each decade for Indians. As they do not pay taxes, but are themselves a heavy tax on the Dominion, we have not included them in the table. ■; If the Dominion is not progressing rapidly in population, Bhe certainly is progressing in the accumulation of debt, as will appear by reference to the last table. The total debt, including what is due on existing contracts, is about two hun- dred millions of dollars. Against this amount there are assets m shown in the table ; but some of them are not worth much as a means of payment. As, according to the Chief Engineer's Report, it has "been determined to establish a railway through Canada to the Pacific coast," and that the part between Lake Superior and the Pacific is to be built by 1890, as announced by the late Premier, we have based our estimates ui prospective debt on these enunciations. However, it would be well to extend the time when this section shall be finished to the end of the present century. Evidently boasting and borrowing have become standing vices in the Dominion of Canada, and we sometimes boast most about that which is most worthless. And it is now obvious that the population of the United States in 1880 will be more thua ten millions less than that estimated by statisticians of that countiy. This is a^eat dif- ference in ten years. Indeed, the population of the Republic may not exceed fifty-eight millions in 1890, or seventy mil- lions at the end of the present century; that is upwards of thirty millions less than that estimated hy United States i i m loo authorities. Sir Charles W. Dilkc, in his " Greater Britain,'' dated 1869, says: "At the present rate of increase, in sixty years there will be two hundred and fifty millions of Englishmen dwelling in the United States alone." This estimate probably is too large by more than one hundred millions. The United States and the Dominion are so remarkably united by nature, as well as by roads, railroads and other means of communication, and also by commercial intercsls, and the Provinces are so largely dependent on the States, that it is almost impossible for the latter to develop their own resources unless in a commercial union, at least, with the United States. Without a union of interests, the Provinces cannot retain their own population. Nothing less than a market in the States as free as that between State and State will meet the growing wants of the Dominion. And such is the social character of these two nationalities, that the conventional line that divides them is disregarded by their inhabitants except in their commercial relations. There are comparatively few families in the Provinces but what have relatives in the United States. And the laws and institutions of the two countries are so nearly alike that their inhabitants t)av but little resnect to anv distinctions that mav exist. There is a general commingling of the adjoining peop^ s; indeed, in some places it is not easy to make out who belongs to the States and who is Canadian. Some farms are divided by the international boundary. The patriotic convictions of many of the people along the boundary are a matter of mere con- venience or self-interest. And of the immigrants, many enter the States by way of the River St. Lawrence, and others pass through the United States on their way to Canada. By these and many other ways the States and Provinces are gradually becoming one people. And immigrants from the British Islands largely prefer the States to the Provinces as a home; and those coming from other countries to America nearly all go to the United States. In 1870 there were 2,636,241 natives of the British Isles in the United States. Of these 1,855,827 were from Ireland, while in 1871 there were only 485,524 from these Isles in the four original Provinces of the Domiuiou, > fc lol The population of the States and Provinces has beett largely augmented by immigration, as the following figures show : — The number of foreiijners who settled in the United States in the ten years ending in 1840, was 599,125 In the decade ending 1850. 1,71»,251 " 1800. 2,598,214 " " " 1870 2,491,451 In the six years ending 187G 1,896,782 Those of foreign birth residing in the United States in 1870 numbered 5,587,229. Canadian Immigration. — The number of immigrants re- ported, rts having settled in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and liew Brunswick, were: — '. ■ In the decade ending in 1861 232,000 " " " 1871 199 093 In the six years ending 1877. .....'.".*.*.".'.'.'.'.','.'. .'.V. .'.'.'.. 206^098 These last numbers include 7,923 Mcnnonites and Icelanders who settled in Manitoba. The expenditure for the last six years named in the lust table amounted to |1, 515,070. The total number of persons in these four Provinces who were born in other countries, was: ' '.' : In 1861 677,%7 In 1871 583,822 Decrease in ten years 94,145 Thus there were ninety-four thousand less persons in these Provinces in 1871, who were born in other countries, than there were in 1801. while the number of immigrants was only thirty-three thousand less. According to the rate of increase in these four Provinces between 1851 and 1801, there should have been nearly four hundred and forty -eight thousand more people in them in 1871, than there were in 1801. Probably a large number of the immigrants who are reported as settlers afterwards re- moved to the United States, and were recorded there as im- migrants from Europe, tliough many of them may have resided in the Provinces for years. ^ The United States census for 18G0 shows a population of 249,970 British Americans in the Union. In 1870 the number was nearly double, being 493,464. These frtcts show that the annual emigration from the Dominion to the States is f villy as £ lo^ L large as that from Europe to the Dominion. And this is confirmed by the report of the Rev, P. E. Gendreau, who was sent in 1873 to make " enquiry into the emigration which" was then "going on from our country to various points in tlie American Union. The total of 800,000," he said, " may per- haps be admitted as representing the population which has emigrated from Canada to the United Stales, including their descendants born in the latter country." In the six years ending 1876, 204,011 persons removed from the four original Provinces of the Dominion to the United States; Quebec sent the largest quota. Recently a large amount of money has been appropriated, and every effort made by that Province in order to secure the return of Cana- dians from the States. A few have returned. But the exodus from the Provinces is still large. In 1871 there were 64,447 natives of the States residing in the Provinces, Looking at the configuration of the Dominion, the limited areas of fertile lands climatically adapted for settlement, and taking into account the present trade relations between the States and Canada, emigration from the Provinces to the States will be large, especially during periods of great agri- cultural and commercial prosperity in the latter country. And to give more force to this view of our future, the railway system of the old Provinces of Canada is nearly complete, and the lumbering business, except in remote places, is rapidly drawing to a close. Indeed, over large areas there is not more forest wood than is required for local use. The fisheries and mines afford but little employment in winter. Conse- quently employment at home for our young men, especially during our long winters, is becoming less plenty and less re- munerative. And the financial embarrassments of the Local and General Governments, except that of Ontario, afford no hope of aid to more public works of any note for years to come. True, if some fortunate event does not intervene to arrest the construction of the Pacific railroad, a few out of the many may find employment on that work ; but if its construc- tion shall be continued, works that may be useful cannot be constructed by the Government fo/ want of means, hence our young men will have to look to the States for employment. This is BO imaginary picture; we are shut up to facts, and the sooner we know thejpi the better. 103 Were it not for the large sums of money annually expended in promoting immigration, the decennial increase in the popu- lation would be very small indeed. How long the Dominion can stand the present and future strain remains to be seen. After a careful consideration of all the facts at command, we are fully convinced that the Dominion does not possess a moiety of the resources claimed for it by those who are responsible for sinking the country so deeply in debt, and that it cannot redeem itself, unless it shall be allowed free and unrestricted access to the markets of the United States. i 1^ til w 104 i 1 '' W i li ' TRADE AND COMMERCE. There is no part of the world where a double line of Custom House regulations is more vexatious than that between the United States and the iJominion of Canada. And nowhere on the face of the globe is there to be found a more unnatural boundary line than tliat which divides these two countries. A glance at a map of the country shows that the Atlantic between New York and New Brunswick is the ocean front of Ontario and Quebec, and that the United States railroads, and the River St. Lawrence during half the year, are the only con- venient lines of communication between these two Provinces and the ocean. The States in front are their immediate neighbors, and, in the event of free trade, would be their best customers. The lower or most eastern Provinces are all but disconnected from the two upper Provinces. A long narrow range of al- most worthless country, through which the Intercolonial railroad passes, separates. Nova Scotia and the chief settle- ments in Now Brunswick from the settled portion of Qiiebec. The lower i'rovinces have the States on the southwest as their nearest neighbours and natural customers. These Provinces are nearly as far from the Red River of the Northwest, and nearly twice as far from Vancouver Island as America is from Europe. Looking at the isolated position of the habitable parts of the Dominion, and at the nature and situation of its resources, there cannot be a large intercolonial trade. Nearly all the forces and resources of the country will turn naturally towards the south — towards the United States. This broad opening for commerce will clear the way for other and brighter results. Nowhere will commerce prove to such an extent the necessity for imion as between these two nationalities. During half the year the St. Lawrence is frozen, while the communication through the United States will know no interruption. The Canadian products for export must, to a very large extent, enter the United States, either for consumption there, or on the way to other countries. The chief part of the trade of 105 Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia is with the United States, and must, even in the face of an almost prohibitory tariff, as at present, continue to be so. And if the lower Pro- vinces mal(e a grindstone, said the Hon. Joseph Howe, " it floats to the United States." It seems, beyond any human possibility, that scattered communities, like those of the Dominion, fcould secure to tliemselves a free, prosperous, and undisturlied existence, un- less in a commercial union with the United States. This is the only possible, because the only natural course. Trace as we may the boundaries of nations, we cannot find a country so peculiarly situated as Canada is. Indeed, the country is a mere geographical expression. To call it a nation is irony. Though the Provinces have been benefitted in some ways by their political connection with Great Britain, it cannot be de- nied that they have suffered in many ways by that connection. Similar customs regulations to those which caused the old colonies to revolt were imposed by the Imperial Government on the trade of these Provinces. They were for a long time compelled to purchase nearly all their goods in the British Islands. Both Britain and the United States imposed high duties. Hence the trade between the Provinces and the States was but trifling. The States made rapid progress, while the Provinces remained almost stationary. All the Provinces got from the mother country in return was the protection of their timber and lumber in the British markets. But this advant- age did not half meet the loss they sustained under Imperialt customs regulations. In no way, however, have these colonics suffered so much by the connection as by the numerous treaties between the United States and Great Britain. The treaties between these two nations form an important chapter in American history. Beginning with the treaty of peace in 1783; then followed the treaty of Ghent in 1814; the treaty of 1818, by which the fishery grounds were defined; that of 1831 referred the international boundary dispute to the King of Holland; in 1842 the celebrated Ashburton treaty was made, by which " British territory equal in size to two of the smaller States of the Union," was ceded to the United States; the treaty of Washington of 1846; the reciprocity treaty of 1854; a^d finally the Washin^on treaty of May 26, 1871. 14 I; 106 The careful student of this part of American history can hardly fail to see that the United States obtuinrd great advantages l)y means of these treaties. Even by the last treaty, in thtj making of which it was supposed the voice of Canada would have been heard, " territorial riu;lits of great value," said the Canadian Government, were ceded to (lie United States. In this way the motlier country ol)tained a settle- ment of her own disputes with the Union, wJiieh arose out of the Alabama and other troubles. By the Washington treaty it is provided that the United States shall have the use of the Gulf and sea shore tlsherie.sof Quebec and the Lower Provinces, except shell-fl.sh, shad, sal- mon, and the river fisheries, for twelve years. Sinular privileges are allowed to the inhabitants of the Provinces in United States waters. Fish oil and fish of all kinds, exeept fish of the inlan(l lakes, and of the rivers falling into them, and fish preserved in oil, shall be admitted into each country free of duty. It being asserted by the British Commissiouers that the privi- leges thus accorded to the citizens of the United States are of greater value than those accorded to the people of the Provin- ces, it was agreed thiu the difference in value, if any, sJiould be determined by arbitration. After the expiration of six years from the date of the treaty, an award of five and a half nullions of dollars has been made in favor of the Province.'.. But the United States protested again.:it the award as being far too large an amoimt. It has been paid. And such is the conflict- ing nature of the international relations l)etween the.se two countries that new dilliculties will probably arise in relation to the fisheries which may lead to further troulde in relation to this vexatious subject. In the settlement of the Alabama claims it was provided that a majority of the arbitrators were autliorized to make an award; while imder the article relating to the value of the fisheries no such provision is made for the payment of Cana- dian claims. By Article 20 of the Washington Treaty, "The navigation of the .river St. Lawrence, ascending and descending, from the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, where it ceases to form the boundary between the two countries, from, to, and into the sea, shall forever remain free and open for the purposes of commerce to the citizens pf the United States," lot Tlio navigation ol Lalvc Michigan is froo to the ritizens of Canada for twi-lvo yt-ars; and tliat of tl»e otlier gnat hikes is open to tlie citizens of both countries, under certain condi- tions. Also the adjacent canals of hoth countries are free to the citizens of l)oth; and also the transit of goods through both countries free of duty. There are other but minor ad- vantages allowed to the inhabitants of both countries. It will be noted that while the river St. Lawrence i.s free, that of the Hudson from Albany to Ni'W York city is not free to the citizens of Canada. Hence, lho*^iavigation of the Erie Canal will be of but little benefit t.. Canadians. By the treaty the export duty on Lnitcd States lumber pass- ing down the river St. John, amoiui-.mg to about $(jr),000 per annum, ceased to be collected bv I>ew Brunswick. It is now obvious, however, that the dnef disputes as re- gards the fisheries remain unsettled. After 1883, when tho jiresent term of United States occupation of Canadian fishing grounds may ternunate, all the old di-ijMites about headlands and bays may be revived. The disputes over the fines to be paid on the renewal of the leases and licenses will, in all pro- l)abiUty, again recur. Referring to this subject, the London Times said: " Once more we are confronted with the painful truth that the Treaty of Washington fails to provide for the settlement of the dilTlculty it was intended to remove. AH the points in dispute are as much in dispute as ever." After a careful survey of these points, the Itmes said: "We con- fess we see no clear way out of these numerous difficulties." The mo.st important treaty, so far as the interests of British North America were concerned, was that of 1854, known as the "Reciprocity Treaty." During the operation of that, treaty, when international commerce was allowed to follow its natural bent, at least in a measure, the domestic trade between these two countries rose from $20,G!)1,3C0 in 1853, the year before the treaty, to $:]3,4!)l,430in the following year. In Iy(j5, when the treaty was abrogated, the total imports from and exports to the Union anjounted to |71,3T4,816; and in 18(!0, believing tlic treaty would be renewed, the trade between the two countries rose to .tS4,070,U55. But in 1808, when all hope of a new treaty of reciprocity failed, the trade fell to .t5(),2HT,54(), showing a decline of twenty-eight millions in two years. The total trade between these countries in the eleven years previous to 1855 was ?« 1(33, 593, 4;J5, while iu the m followln;; eleven years, when the cllars p(!r annum in 1877. This might appear to be a prolit- able trade, especially when by means of it the exports from Canada to, and imports from, Great Britain are nearly balanced. Besides, it gives employment to thousands of men, and to a large part of the shipping of Canada. But the exports of forest products from the Provinces to Europe must soon be closed, and the sooner the better for Canada. Already Ontario fs stripped of all her accessible timl)er. Nova Scotia and Prince Kdward Island liave none to spare, and the re- iuaining forests of Quebec and New Brunswick are remote. The couMtry to the source of their chief rivers has been stripped of nearly all the most valuable forest wood. And the class of wood products, deals and sfjuare timber, sent to Europe, has had a very destructive eltect on the forests of this country, while ,i?84; of this the value of $13,958,945 was from the United States. Of this large amount the wheat imported was valued at $3,992,793, and Indian corn at $3,230,864. In the three years previous to 1878 the Dominion imported wheat, wheat flour, corn and corn meal, to the value of $36,018,727, or an average of twelve millions of dollars worth per annum ; and exported of bread- stuffs to the value of $34,322,404, or eleven and a half million dollars worth per annum. But a large part of the Canadian exports consisted of barley, oats, peas and beans, valued at 17,428,702. In this year Ontario exported of these and other coarse grains to the value of $5,429,774. Of barley alone, she exported 6,042,032 bushels; and imported of breadstuffs from the States to the value of $2,228,505 more than she exported. The large importations of wIicKv and corn from the Stales, free of duty, afforded profitable employment to the Canadian millers and cheap bread for the Canadian people. A large part of the corn imported was used as feed for farm stock. Consequently Ontario and Q\iebec were enabled to increase their exports to Britain and other places in consequence of importations of breadstuffs from the United States. Such are tlie requirements of the Dominion — such is the rela- tive position of its habitable parts, and such are its conflicting interests, that a duty on coal would be a burden to Ontario, Manitoba, and a large part of Quebec; while a duty on bread- stuffs would be equally burdensome to the Maritime Provin- ces, Britisli Columbia and Quebec; and would deprive Ontario of the profits arising from her importations of wheat and corn. The United States, with a view of promoting material industry, imposed a high scale of duties on such mauufactiires and productions of foreign countries as compete with like productions in the Union. How far this policy has been conducive to the interests of the Republic, is a question .auch 113 laterittl iictures th like been .aucU more easily asked than answered. The Dominion has not yet adopted protection as it is understood in the United States; nor, with her comparatively limited resources, could she do so without injuring her trade. In a recent speech in Toronto, the late Premier of the Dominion, said, we should "keep our policy in harmony with that of the Mother Country iu trade and in everything else where it is possible for us to act in unity with her." There are but few things indeed, in which the Dominion can act in harmony with the British Isles. The simple fact is, Canada is building up the industries of the United States. Canadian imports from the latter country have kept grad- ually increasing, while her exports to the States has been falling off rapidly. In Canada, the United States have a free and convenient market for coul, grain, flour, and many other products; and it never can be otherwise. Canada cannot protect her own chief industries against the United States, unless at the expense of both her own and the British people. The United States coal-flelds are immense; much larger, it is said, than those of all the world put together. A well- informed, writer says: "There are two hundred thousand square miles of coal lands in the country, ten times as much as in all the remaining world." Between the Atlantic and the Rocky Mountains, her coal fields ere scattered here and there in all directions; and near the Pacific coast she has abundance of coal. And the means of transit by rivers, lakes, canals, and railroads, are so wide-spread, that both the States and the Dominion can be reivdily supplied. Ontario has to depend upon the Union for all her coal ; and the Cleve land and Erie railroads have brought Montreal and other parts of Canada into near connection with the anthracite coal fields of the United States. And the agricultural products of the Union are so varied, and the quantities produced so immense, that any products of a like kind the Dominion may have to spare would add but little to the volume of the United States products ; and consequently would make but little diflterence, if any, in the price of such products in the markets of the Union. In 1868, the United States exported agricultural products to the value of $319,000,000; and in 1878, to the value of $592,475,813; being nearly thirty tbnes as much agricultural wealth as the Dominion exported in th« same year, including imports from the United States. ■ Canada is in a very different position, in her trade relations, from those of either the United States or Great Britain. The latter has acquired a commercial prestige throughout the world. Before, and since she adopted free trade. Great Britain continued to manufacture largely for the world, and thereby accumulated immense wealth. The Canadian set- tlements are isolated, and confronted by the almost prohibi- tory barriers of the United States commercial system; so much so, that Canada's independent action, and even exist- ence, as a separate nation, is almost, if not quite, impossible. However, a system of trade which would work well in an old country like Great Britain might be a total failure in the United States, where forty-seven States and Territories, each the size of Spain, and containing an average of about one million inhabitants, have free and unfettered trade with each other. In no other part of the world is there such a magnifi- cent trade area; such a shapely consolidation of States; such a variety of climate and productions, and such vast resources. When in Scotland, in 1875, the late Premier confirmed this view, when he said the United States "is a great country ; its resources are enormous, its riches are almost incalculable." And in Sarnia, in the same year, he said: " We have a bor- der of thousands of miles alongside the United States. The same boundary extends so far that it is impossible that any policy adopted by the United States Government can do otherwise than affect us either prejudicially or favorably." Consequently, how the Dominion can keep her policy in harmony with that of the Mother Country In trade or in anything else we are unable to understand. It must be obvious to those who have carefully studied the resources of the Dominion, and the geographical position and relations of its habitable parts, that these provinces are not dependent upon each other, nor on Great Britain for profitable trade; but they are depending upon the United States. The chief settlements of the Dominion are too far scattered to be of any great benefit to each other in the way of trade. Mr. Richard Cobden took the correct view of this subject when he said: "That nature has d led thai Canada and the United States must become one for all purposes of inter-com- munication. Whether they also shall be united in the same federal government must depend upon the two parties to the union." AndSirCbirlesW.Dilke, Inhis Greater Britain, Xbi^x- ii5 ring to the trade between Great Britain and her colonies, says, p. 383,383, that " the retention of colonies at almost any cost has been defended — so far as it has been supported by argu- ment at all — on the ground that the conntfiiou conduces to trade, to whicli argument it is sufHcient to answer that no one has ever succeeded in shewing what effect upon trade the connection can have, and that as excellent examples to the contrary we have the fact that our trade with the Ionian Islands has greatly increased since their annexation to the kingdom of Greece, and a much more striking fact than even this — namely, that while the trade with England of the Cana- dian Confederation is only four-elevenths of its total external trade, or little more than one-third, the English trade of the United States was in 1860 (before the war), nearly two-thirds, and in 1866 (first year after the war), again four-sevenths of its total trade. Common institutions, common freedom, and common tongue have evidently far more to do with trade than union has; and for purposes of commerce and civilization America is a truer colony of Britain than is Canada." " It would not be dilT- , ;lt, were it necessary, to multiply examples whereby to prove that trade with a country does not appear to be affected by union with it or separation from it." It is now obvious that without much less restricted trade relations with the Union than those of the present, Canada cannot develop her own resources. Even in the event of an unfavorable grain crop in Ontario, as was the case in 1876, the other provinces would have to depend entirely on the United States for flour. The feeling in all the provinces is strongly in favor of closer free trade relations with the States. It has been asser' A by some in the latter country, and by Canadians generally, that the present fiscal system of the Union has been ruinous to the nation, and that it tends to restrict trade .nnd commercial iritcrcouisc between the United States and other countries to a very great extent. Viewed from a Canadian stand-point it is unquestionably ruinous to tlie Canadian Provinces. And there never was a time in the history of the latter when reciprocity with the United States was more iirgently required than at present. Since the union of the Provinces in 1867, there is a balance of trade, amounting to ^229,696,336, against the Dominion; during the same time its public debt has bcea I, r doubled ; and the taxes, on account of the general goverii- mcnt, rose from $13,486,032 to $34,488,372. The interest on the public debt is about seven millions of dollars per annum. And the state of the finances is such that additional taxes ■will have to be imposed in a short time. The taxes imposed by the general government arc customs and excise. The amounts raised from these two sources ranged from $19,920,- 095 in the fiscal year 1874, down to $17,488,885 in the year 1877. The whole revenue for the year 1874 was $24,205,092; and in 1877 it was 832,059,374; being about one twelfth that of the United States. The exports of the Dominion for the latter year was about one-ninth that of the Union. Puring the operation of the Reciprocity Treaty, the United States collected only about three-quarters of a million dollars on dutiable goods from the Provinces ; while since the abro- gation of the treaty the Dominion has paid from five to seven millions of dollars in gold annually, on the excess of imports from the States, into the United States treasury. Generally speaking, the duties are paid by the consumers. It is con- tended, however, by many in the United Stales that the quantities of her domestic products are so enormous, that the comparatively small amount of imports of like products from Canada have no effect in raising the price of such pro- ducts in the markets of the Union. It has been proposed in the Canadian Parliament to adopt a "National Policy," or in other words, a reciprocity of tariffs, as a means of compelling the United States to adopt a reciprocity of trade with Canada. There may be good policy in retaliations when two powers are about equally balanced in regard to extent and variety of available resources ; but as regards the Dominion, such a policy could hardly fail to be ruinous to her own interests. Her sectional interests are so conflicting that she cannot adopt a system of protection which would be equally just to all the Provinces. Besides, a system of protection in Canada, similar to that in the United States, would retard reciprocity between these two countries for an indefinite period. Encouraged by the government, as in the States, C4ipitalists would invest large amounts in certain industries, which could not fail to build up a powerful in- terest in opposition to reciprocity, as it has done in the Union.7 Men who have incurred vast expense on the faith of protective legislation, wil^ justly claim that the government hi bas no right to sacrifice tlieir interests by a sudden change ci policy. There appears but little desire to renew the treaty of recip- rocity on the part of the United States. Geographically con- sidered, the States remote from the Dominion are opposed to reciprocity on account of their remoteness. Some of the border States are also opposed to closer trade relations with Canada. The agricultural, lumbering and coal interests are opposed to a renewal of the treat^^ Indeed, all outside of strictly commercial localities, are united against it. The eastern States fronting on the Atlantic are most in favor. To the latter, at least, reciprocity could not fail to be highly beneficial. In his address to Congress, in 1870, the President said: " No citizen of the United States would be benefitted by re- ciprocity. . . . The advantages of such a treaty are wholly in favor of the British Provinces." However, in 1874, at the request of Canada, the draft of a new treaty of recip- rocity was prepared; but Congress refused to sanction it. Since that time but little effort has been made in favor of re- ciprocity. It is a question, however, whether reciprocity and union shall not mean the same thing in the near future. Whatever may be said for or against the present commer- cial policy of the Union, the people of that country nmy con- gratulate themselves that their debt is being rapidly paid off, and hopes are entertained that it may be altogether extin- guished before the close of the present century, notwithstand- ing the sad effects of their civil war and of the great depres- sion in trade which folloAved. Wliat would paralyze an old and densely populated nation of Europe has had but little effect on the United States, from the fact of its having enor- mous resources that cannot be exhausted. Tlio present depression in trade in the United States is largely due to over- production in her workshops. Indeed, Britain and other countries have suffered greatly from the same cause — over- production of manufactured goods. Having no cohmies. or eastern empire to defend, and separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean, the United States does not require either a large army or a navy. A nation numbering forty-five millions of inhabitants having a standing army of only 25,000 men, and whose navy requires only about 10,000 men and officers, is certainly not burdened ^■| I I I in paying for their national defences. Under its present sys- tems, the United States can meet all its expenditure and have a large surplus for paying off the national debt. While Great Britain spends about one hundred and fifty millions on her army and navy, it costs the United States less than sixty mil- lions of dollars a year. . ■ ^h In old nations like Great Britain, which depends on other countries for the main part of its corn, population is apt to outgrow the means of subsistence, but in the United States, though the population doubles itself in half the time it does in Britain, the valley of the Mississippi alone could maintain the whole population of Europe. And what is called the "balance of trade " is largely in favor of the United States. The following table shows the value of the exports and imports of the United Stales and the Dominion of Canada for the years named : — STATE. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. UNITED STATES. 605,574,853 553,906,153 596,890,973 476,677,871 658,637,457 492,097,540 ' Total Exports, gold value $ Total Imports, gold value . .^ 694,884,200 437,0.51,.533 Balance in favor of U. States 51,068,700 120,213,102 166,539,917 257,a3;i,667 DOMINION OF CANADA 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. Total Exports,.... $ Total Imports,.... $ 73,164,748 117,322,425 75,774,941 87,076,194 70,907,303 94,487,130 Bal. against Canada $34,157,677 $11,301,253 $23,580,827 Thus, in four years the United States had a total excess of exports over imports to the value of five hundred and ninety- six millions of dollars. The increase in 1878 over the pre- vious year was very large. This is so much gold to aid the nation in resuming specie payments at the first of January, 1879, the time fixed by law. The aggregate exports and im- ports of the United States increased from $613,000,000 in 1868, to 11,132,000,000 for the year ending 30th June, 1878. Previous to the civil war, the revenue derived from customs, in the United States, was very small. In 1840, it was only 119 Ml thirteen and a half millions of dollars, being a little over half that of the Dominion in 1878; while tlie population was ten times greater than that of the latter is at present. In 1850, the Union collected |39,G68,086; and in 1860, $03,187,511. But in 1870, in consequence of the civil war, it rose to |194,- 538,374; and in 1872, to $216,370,280. From the latter date, it gradually fell, until in 1877, the total amount from customs was only one hundred and thirty-si.x millions of dollars. The net revenue of the United States for 1877, was $209,000,580; and expenditure, $238,000,008; leaving a surplus of $30,340,- 577. The surplus of the previous year was $31,022,242. The gold and silver products of the United States are enor- mous. In the " Report of the Commissioners of the General Land Office for the year 1876," the total gold product of the Union is estimated at $1,040,000,000, and silver product at f 100,000,000. It is not easy to ascertain the gold product of a country. There is always more or less of which no account is given. The amount for 1866 was set down at $57,000,000; in 1807, at 70,000,000, and in 1878 to $47,226,107. Allowing, however, fifty millions a year as the gold product of the United States for the last ten years, then five liundred millions of dollars worth of gold has been added to the wealth of the country since 1868. In 1877, the gold and silver products amounted to $80,533,064, of which $48,787,778 was gold; and in 1878, to $103,952,421, of which $47,226,107 was gold. Of the gold, California produced last year $15,260,679; Neradn, $19,546,513; Montana, $2,260,511; Colorado, $3,366,404; Da- kota, $3,000,000; Idaho, $1,500,000; Oregon, $1,000,000; and small amounts were produced in eight other sections. The total gold and silver product of the Union in 1878 and three pre- vious years, was $331,000,000. Of the silver product, Nevada produced $28,130,350; Utah, $5,208,000; Montana, $1,969,635; Colorado, $5,304,940; Arizona, $3,000,000; California, $2,373,- 389; and small amounts were produced in six other localities. The Director of the Mint estimated the value of gold, silver and bullion in tlie United States at the first of October 1878, at three hundred and fifty-eight and a half millions of dollars. The total amount of banking capital of the United States in November 1875, was $719,101,966, and total deposits $2,036,296,106. I : 1 l!. ■ ■ In the Dominion of CanadA, the revenue derived from cus- toms was i3t8,819,481 in 1868; |11.843.6.')5 in 1871; |15.361,- .882 in 1875; and $12,548,451 in 1877. Tlie latter amount is about equal to that of the United States for the same year, Jiccording to population. Referring to the last table, it will be noticed, th.it the Dominion imports are comparatively large according to popu- lation, being one-fifth that of the United States, while her exports are only about one-ninth that of the latter country. Hence, what is called the balance of trade is lar^,2ly against the Dominion. In the three years named in the table, the excess of imports amounted to sixty-nine millions of dollars. The trade problem is not at all times and in all countries nn easy one to solve. There arc ways in which a country may sjivc itself from actual loss when the balance of trade is largely against it. Although Great Britain imports nearly one half the food of her people, her work shops supply the world with an immense amount of manufactured products, from which large profits are derived; and thus, in this way, as well as in many other ways, she is able to keep the finances of the nation fully recuperated, notwithstanding the balance of trade is against her. The Dominion is differently situated. It has no variety of climate, except from cold to colder, and consequently no diversity of productions. Her chief settlements are scattered here and there, and far apart, along an east and west front, four thousand miles in extent. The interior of the country is shut out from the world by the United States in front. Hence, trade between the outer world and the interior and far west of the Dominion will always be a costly affair, unless with free and unrestricted trade with, the United States. No two parts of the world have such excellent facilities for an interchange of commodities as these States and Provinces; and but few parts of the world have less commercial inter- course, owing to their relative positions, than these two countries. The Dominion has but few articles to export to Europe, but she has many that her own continent requires. Even her ships are shut out of the United States market; and her lumber, coal, salt, and other chief articles of export are subject to a high protective duty in the United States; hence the Dominion is obliged to send her chief exports to Britain {vt a small profit, if not, frequently, at a loss. 121 ly no Ltered ront, itry ront. r and ink'ss No |or an inces; lintcr- two »rt to ires. ; ai> I'nitod States. do. other countriei' *<;"), 0()3,HS2 ;i(i,244..ai 8,t().S,73r> 1 .f40,0;{2,lK»2 *40,72:{,477 2'.>211,!IH:< ;{1,!W.{,4.".!> 7,'.»42,01»4 8,;MI,4!K> .'!!41,.^i ),8().''>,H2() 4(i,(»7(>,o:<:'» 8,4rM,77n| 7,!t2H,'.t2r. 1877. |t.W,r)72.2.3!> .^d,:{l2,CMii» .5.415,57:-) Statement sliowinu; the excess of imports over exports l)y the DomiiHon, from (}re;it Ihitiiiii and the United States, for the ve:irs named llicrein: — COUNTRY. From U. Britain ... " V. States 1871. iS18,u/2..55-. 18.0;{S 70! is Sji). *20,:n4,l(55 •Jt,.-ti>.S.M27 l.S7<>. 1.H77. $0,083 *.Sl,0O.f>,230 14. .)■•!(•.. .-'' 2.'>,.537.424 *ln the year 1877. the value of the e\i)orts from ('anida to Groat Britain exceeded tlie imports from the latter country hy nearly two millions of dollars. This aros(> chielly from the increased export of the products of the forest, a.s the fid- low in": tahle shews: — 1870. Products of tlie Mine " " Fisheries " " Forest Animals and their Products, A;'ricultural Proilucts (■ « 202,880 087,312 14,031,-501 8,7!«),0tM> 13,548,041 1.S77. » 1,00.S,572 1875. !P3,1S7.'.K;8 l,r.ll,,H28 0,()'.»l,71<» 5.000,102 8,022.548 187«. $3,201 .588 1,475,3:M> 4,073,35 4 4,838,112 11,741.715 1877. »2.147.84 1 1.317,017 4,780,504 4,018,177 8,0.57,!»05 Table show ini; the value of duliahlf and fr('ejj:ood.s imported into Canada and entered for eonsumplion from (Jreat liritaiu and the United Slates, for tiie years 187.">, 1H7() and 1«77:— KlioM tiUKAT ItlUTAIN. 1875. 1870. §32,385,482 8,348,778 « 40,731,200 1877. Dntiahk' Free «:40,230,110 11,107,048 i?<50,317,0<57 *32,010,770 (),055.4<},3 Total !S30,.572,230 FKOMTHK IN ITKI) STATES. Dutiable Free .*22,023,()05 28,782,155 50,805,820 ISS21, 331,013 21,735,420 10 070,033 !ii23,510,810 27,801,823 51,312,(kjy Total In IKTt] Canada imported free goods from Ureal Britain to the value of twenty-one millions of dollars, while in iy77 less than one third of this amount suflieed. The total value of the fn^e goods imi)orted from the United States into Canada for the five years ending with 1877 was ifl45,r).')5,087, being about twenty-nine millions a year. These ligures clearly .show tliat the United States is Canada's natural market to buy and sell in. In the evidence obtained by the Bale Verte Canal Commissioners in 1875, about tifty of the gentlemen who gave evidence were very decldeil in favor of reciprocity with the United States. What one said many others in substance said, that "the United States must inevi- tably be the great market for our suri)lus coal, plaster, free- stone, grindstone, potatoes, oats, anil various kinds of our lumbci." Statement showing the value of the imports from and ex- ports to Great Britain and the United States, from aud to tho !' r 1" ill 124 Provinces therein named for the year 1877, designating the value of free goods imported: — OREAT BRITAIN. UNITED STATES. Ontario E.tport8 $2,980,433 11,724,328 801,484 $14,579,244 28,193 329 " I;uj)orts " Free (Joods 16,483,481 Quebec Exports $;n,556,708 18,52<>,026 4,323,525 $3,340,259 " Irapoi^s 13,530,427 7,486,145 " Free Goods Nova Scotia Exports $1,226,321 4,030,274 770,203 $1,710,472 3.689,.597 " " Imijorts II II Free Giwds 1,952,630 New Brunswick Exports " " Imports » " Free Goods $3,982,054 3,305,371 572,356 $1,344,758 3,301,989 1,267,873 ■ The exports from Quebec and New Brunswick to Great Britain were chiefly products of the forest. Of free goods, only $0,477,568 worth were from Britain; while free goods to the value of |37,190,134 were from the States. MERCHANT SHlPriNG. Si;itcm3at showing the number and tonnage of vessels built; also, the total number and tonnage of sailing vessels, canal boats, and barges, owned by the United States and Canada in the years therein given: — UNITED STATES. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. No. of Vessels built Ton n ajje 2,147 432,725 1,301 297,638 1,112 203,585 25,934 4,279,458 ' 1,029 176,591 Total No. of Vessels owned. 25,386 Total Tonnatre owned 4,242,599 DOMINION OF CANADA. 1874. 49<) 190,7.56 6,930 1,158,;«)3 1875. 1876. 1877. No. of Vessels built Tonnaj?e 480 151,012 6,952 1,205,565 420 l.'W),901 ■^,192 I,2^i0j893 432 127,297 Total No. of Vessels owned. Total Tonnage owned 7,3<52 1,310,468 Thus, these two countries, in the last year named in the table, owned 32,730 vessels, measuring 5,634,470 tons. Of the United States tonnage, sailing vessels and steam ves- sels measured 3,751,585 tons. Of the States, New York is the largest owner— having 1,280,037 tons; Maine, 522,948; Mas- sachusetts, 485,408; and Pennsylvania, 380,330 tons, i2o Of tlie Provinces, Nova Scolia owned 541,579 tons; NeW Brunswick, 820,457; Quebec. 218.399; Ontario, 131.761; Prince Edward Island, 55,547; Britisli Columbia and Ma- nitoba, 3,725 tons. When compared with the leading maritime nations of Europe, these comparatively young countries ojcupy an im- portant position in regard to merchant shipping, as the fol- lowing statistics show: — In 1877, the tonnage of Great Britain, including her colo- nies, was 7,677,034; Norway. 1,391,877; Italy, 1.360,425; Ger- many, 1,053,339; and France, 870,225 tons. These figures do not include the inland tonnage of the sailing vessels of these nations, or of steamers under one hundred tons regi.3ter, or barges. The United States take rank as the second ; and we feel safe in placing Canada as fifth amongst the ship-owning countries of the world. Though Canada has no navy, still she is far ahead, in the tonnage of her merchant sliipping, of the United States and of some of tlie great powers of Europe, in proportion to popu- lation. And her means of shipbuilding are still very great. However, the increasing demand for iron ships, and the large number being built in Great Britain and other parts of Europe, may before long lessen the demand for wooden ships. i RAILROADS. L877. 432 27,2^)7 r,3«>2 310,468 in the Railway construction was commenced in the United States in 1828. At the close of 1608, the system extended over an aggregate length of 42,255 miles. In 1876, the total length of the system was 74,005 miles. In the Provinces, the first railway opened was in Canada proper, in 1847. In 1801. British North America had 2,163 miles constructed. And in 1876. the aggregate nuniber of miles of railroad owned by the Dominion of Canada, was 5,491, exclusive of double track. Comparing railway construction in tliese two countries with that in the great nations of Europe, the United States and Canada may well feel proud. From the Economiatc Fminsaiie we learn that the Genaan Empire at the end of 1876, had only 17,181 miles of rai!»-^oadj the Brilisb iHlands, 10,704; Friuicc, 1:3,403; Russia, 11,555; Austria, 10,853; and Italy, 4,815; l)einga total of 74,080 miles of railroad, or only about six hundred miles more than the Uu:t !d States. And tlie Dominion of Canada has nearly as great a railway mileage as the kingdom of Italy, and nearly half that of either Austria or Ilussia. • COAL. The carboniferous area in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is comparatively large. With the exception of the Albcrtite, a highly valuable species of coal in Albert County, tlie coal of New Brunswick is not known to j^ossess a bigh commercial value. In Nova Scotia there is a surface of about 050 square miles, under which there are large deposits of e::ccllent coal. The chief coal mines of this province are situated con- veniently to places of shipment and railway transit. Here is a source of wealth convenient to a great market. But the best juarket is all Imt closed. In 1855, wben the elTects of the reciprocity treaty were beginning to be felt, Nova Scotia exported coal to the United States to the value of $155,075, and in 1804, to the value of $084,043. From this date there was a decrease of shipments to the United States, arising out of the abrogation of the reciprocity treaty. The great demand for coal during the rebellion, and the depres- sing clTects of that war upon productive industry in the United Slates, however, gave a great impulse to the coal trade; and in view of the abrogation of the treaty, efforts were made to force as much coal as possible into the markets of the Union before; a duty slioidd be imposed upon it. The exports fell from 540,744 tons in 1805, to 00,073 tons over imports in 1870; and to 01,037 tons over imports in 1877. This is a petty trade in coal between Nova Scotia and tha United States. Had the reciprocity treaty continued in opera- tion, the annual exports of coal from Nova Scotia to the States, would now, in all probability, be wortli two millions of dullard. tat OS, The epres- u the coul ■fforts iirkcts The over 127 RALT. This product, like that of coal, exists in numerous places in Nouth America. In some places rock salt exists in solid masses near the surface ; but most generally salt is produced by evaporation from brine springs, or from "wcUs. The quantities annually produced are very large. . The United Stiites in 1850 produced 9,763,840 bushels, Valued at $2,222,745 In 1800, it produced 12,717,200 Valued at §2,289,504 . In 1870, it produced 17,606,105 " Valued at $4,818,229 In the Dominion of Canada, the salt basin of Ontario is the only place where salt is produced to advantage. The quan- tify manufactured in 1873, was 451,570 barrels. Allowing a bushel to weigh 50 pounds and a barrel to contain five bushels, the product of that year was 2,357,880 bushels, nearly half of which Avas exported' to the Unitod States. In 1870, Ontario exported 870,437 busliels of salt to the United States. In 1877 the quantity exported was 785,973 bushels, valued at ^.81,443. Of the remainder very little was shipped to Cana- dian ports. In his Gecdogioal Report for 1874-5, 1?. C. Selwyn, Esq.. says: " Tlu' dit1icu]ties(ariBing from restricted markets) which beset salt-making in Canada, have not only prevented the boring of many more wells, but have checked pioductital on New York Canals. 1,302,613 l,a50,198 1,767,598 1,064,293 1,498,984 Total on Wel- land Canal , . . 503,860 668,076 622 558 455,022 406,567 Total on N, Y. Central and Erie Railways, 1,087,809,2,205,589 2,791,517 2,875,80S 2,493,683 Quantity cleared at Buffalo and Tonawanda by Erie Canal 786,436 1,315,693 1,157,509 783,331 1,223,100 Quantity cleared at Oswego Y y Canal 207,815 297,424 243,325 99,975 126,899 Quantity cleared through the Welland Canal i in transit be- 1 tween ports in 1 thelJ. S 337,530 384,.585 290,114 181,885 169,836 ^ 129 1 .1 of dolliira, will be worth half the expenditure. In 1809, ac- cording to the previous table, more than half was conveyed by canal; while in 1877, a million tons inorf; vegetable food was conveyed by the; railwaj's than l)y the oiiiials of New York. And by the last table, it will be ob.served the Central and Erie liailways succeeded in increasing very largely the proportion carried by them; not withstanding that, in 1873, the tariff on wheat, barley, rice, anthracite coal antl iron ore was reduced one-half; on corn and oats two-fifths; and on railway iron, domestic coal, and bituminous coal, one-third, vid the New York canals. Though canal transit was generally considered the most favoral)le n)eaus of conveying heavy goods, siich as iron, salt, and coal, siill the quantities conveyed by tliis means does not seem to increa.se. The report says: " The quantities of vege- table food passed through the Welhind Canal (Canadian) in transit between ports in the United States has largely de- creased, . . . and the decrease in 1877 is greater as com- pared with 1809 than in any preceding year. There has also been a decrease in the quantities of heavy goods." That the great network of railways, constructed and yet to be constructed on this continent, will be the principal lin(s of transit for nearly all kinds of goods, there is now but little doubt. The age is a fast one; transit by lakes, rivers and canals is too slow to meet its requirenieiUs. roSTAL AFFAIRS. There is no department of the public service of so great importance to society as that of the postal alTairs of the coun- try. This will more fully appear by reference to the follow- ing statistics for 1877:— UNITED STATES. The number of ordinary Stamps issued was 08!), .WO, 070 Newsi)aper and Periodical Stamps 1,888,700 Stamped Envelopes, plain 84!28r)!70() Stami)e(l Envelopes, recjuest 04 o74 r>00 Newspaper Wrappers 21 [oOlis^O Postal nirds. . . msmxm Otticial Postage Stamps 13,8()7 H.*} Oftlcial stamped envelopes and wrappers 14,75o!445 Aggregating '.....1,000,253,919 IS 130 Number of Post Offices 37,345 Length of Mail Route, miles 292.830 Number of miles travelled 147,353,251 Including No. of miles by railroad 74,546 Steamboat Routes, miles 17,085 Number of Money Order Offices 4,144 No, of Domestic Money Orders 4,925,931 Payments by Domestic Money Orders $72,908,475 Revenue |34,544,885 Expenditure 33,480,322 In favor of the Department. ..$1,05S,533 DOMINION OF CANADA. Number of Letters 41,510.000 Postcards 5,450,000 Registered Letters 1,842,000 Newspapers and Periodicals 39,000,000 " l5ooks and Miscellaneous Articles 4,038,000 ' ils 90,000 Aggregating 93.626.000 NumlK V ,f Post OiUce.'- 5,161 Miles of Mail <>uU 38.526 Includin.ij; distaiice b^ J? lUn.id 4,576 Number of miles travelled 15,126,676 Number of Money Orders. 758 Amount of Money Orders $6,856,837 Revenue $1,501,134 Expenditure 2,075,618 Against the Department $574,484 lil Articles of agreemeat have been concluded between the United States and British North America, providing that all money orders mailed at the exchange offices in each country and addressed to payees shall be transmissible in the mails free of postage. The Official Report of the United States for the flscal year ending Juutj 30, 1877, says: " The number of orders Icsued in the United States, payable in the Dominion, was 10.768, amounting to $227,216, and the number of Canadian orders paid in the United States was 16,231, amounting to $297,838. The amount of Canadian Orders issued in the United States and afterwards repaid was $1,107." The Canadian Official Report for the same year, says: " JhQ exchange of money orders with the United States during IL m ?68. lera ^38. lates rms I \ 131 the year has been rs follows: Amount issued, $277,060; and the amount paid, $208,133." The United States Report says, that "a comparison of this husincss with that of the previous year shows an increase of ?40,220.48, or 21. ni per- cent, in the amount of orders issued ; of $6.5,221.43, or 28.03 per cent, in the amount of orders paid." REPRESENTATION. It must be obvious to every student of Canadian history that the P/ritish North America Act was framed under cir- cumstances highly adverse m many respects to the true inte- rests of the Dominion of Canada. During the discussion of the Confederation platform, a strong opposition to the Union prevailed in all the Provin- ces, and especially in Canada East and the Lower Provinces. Hence, in order to reward the leading advocates for union, as well as the prominent opponents of confederation, offices of endowment were multiplied; titles of honour were conferred by the Queen on half a dozen Canadians; and indeed, places were provided both in and out of parliament for a legion of office-holders. Had the constitution been framed irrespective of monarchical predilections, and with a due regard to the in- terests of American society and the resources of the country, such a costly system of government would not have been imposed upon this young community. We look in vain to find its counterpart. Let the honours conferred go for what they are worth, and that is not much in American society. But here we have a Central Parliament, clothed with all the senseless trappings of royalty, and seven local legislatures, making laws for a population about etiual to that of the single State of Pennsylvania ; ;ind this we have to pay for at a great price. Economy was no part of the purposes of the delegates who framed this Act. The United States framed their constitu- tion in their own country, irrespective of monarchical extrava- gance. Though the Canadian delegates knew that the salary of the President of the United States was only twenty-flvo thousand dollars per annum for presiding over thirty-six mil- lions of people, they agreed to i^ive forty-eight thousand seven hundred dollars a year, as a salary to one of Great Britain's lords to preside over three and a half millions of Cauadiaus, h ■Hi iS -Ml 1 il I ! I. ; 132 It was not until 1874, when the United States contained about forty-tlirec millions of inhabitants, that that nation gave its chief magistrate a salary of fifty thousand dollars a year. Thus, during seven years, the Dominion paid its Governor-General $1(50,000 more than the President of the United Slutt^s received in hat time. Besides the travelling charges and contingencies of oflice of the Governor-General are nearly double that of the President of the United States. And the good-natured tax payers of the Dominion paj' it, but not without a murmur. Some years ago the Central Parliament took steps to reduce the Governor-General's salary to thirty-two thousand dollars R year; l)ut the Imperial Government vetoed the measure. Evidently in this and other ways, the Dominion is paying the full price for British connection. Canada may boast of having the most prodigal system of government in the world. Tlie old thirteen colonies, with a population at the time of the revolt about equal to that of the Dominion in 1878, began with only twenty-six senators. The Dominion has 70, and 200 members in the House of Commons. At present the United States Congress is composed of 77 senators, 291 representatives, and a delegate from each, of the eight territories — in all 870; while the Dominion can boast of 283, besides 891 in IIk; local legislatures; that is, 073 men making laws for about a.s many people as there is in Ireland. Though each state of the Union is largely represented in the local legislature, the number is not so great nor the cost so large, according to population, as in the Provinces. At the rate of increase established by law, if ever the Do- minion contains one-fifth as many people as now inhabit the United States — say nine millions — the House of Commons of Canada will contain upwards of 450 members; and on the same principle, the House of Representatives in the United States would now number about 2,800 members. But the Union started on a different principle, and certainl}' has no need to regret it. And what is still more to be regretted with regard to the Dominion, the people have no power iji the matter without appealing to a power residing three thousand miles from Iheir eUores, m Ireland bus only 105 members In tbe British Parliament, and Scotland (iO. And tbese numbers liuvc remanied the same, or nearly so, for more than a life time. Tbe State of Pennsylvania has two senators and t'venly-seven representa- tives in Congress, and New York, containing 050, 0(K) more inbabitants than tbe wbole Dominion, has only two senators and tbirty-tbree representatives in Congress. The following stalement will be found useful for com- parison : — Britiwh House of Commons Italy Pru8h.ia Austria Himgary Spain. Belt^um United States Canada MEMBEKS. POPULATION. 658 33, .500.000 503 27,000,000 431 26,000,000 353 21,000,000 351 16,000,000 3:i(> 17,000,000 120 5,r)00,ooo 291 45,000.000 206 4,000,000 Except tbe United States and Canada, tbe above countries have eacli onl\' one legislative body, composed of two branches. But in no part of tbe machinery of Government is the Do- minion more extravagant thiln in regard to the Executive. In framing tbe Constitution, knowing that each local Legislature bad an Executive Coimcil, it might, in all rea.son, have .suf- ficed to have limited tbe Governor General's ministry to eight members, the nuinber of the President's Cabinet in the United States. But in Canada no less than thirteen ministers are drawing $91,000 annually from its revenues, besides sujjport- ing a vast amount of costly machinery attached to each de- partment. At first each minister received $5,000; it was after- wards increa.sed to $7,000 per annum. Shortly after tbe union of tbe Provinces. the lion. Alexander Jlackenzie said: "The Uinted States, a country with 40,000,000 of people, is governed by seven ministers, while we, with 4,000,000 of people, re(iuire thirteen. It is absurd and monstrcms. There tbe Secretary of tbe Treasury' attends to all the financial business. Here tbe Finance Department is divided up between the Finance Minister, the lleceiver General, the Minister of Customs, and the Minister of Inland Revenue, four of them.'' He adds: " The .system is extravagant in the extreme;" and he might with justice have said that the whole system of central legis- 134 la' ion and government in Canada is a gross imposition on A generous-hearted people. The chapter of costs connected with this Parliament is a remarkable one for extravagance, especially when compared to the infancy of the country, to the numbers governed, and to the central legislature of the United States. But as we stand there is no hope for retrenchment. FOEESTS. North America is losing her forests rapidly, and conse- quently is likely to suffer greatly in many of her industries. Public attention has been officially called to the subject on both sides of the international line. In his report for 1B70, the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the United States says, p. 7, that "a national calamity is being rapidly and surely brought upon the country by the useless destruc- tion of the forests. Much of this destruction arises from the abuses of the beneficent laws for giving land to the land- less." But the diflicult task is to recommend what ought to be done to preserve the forests from waste, and for future use. In his report for the following year he says: " All past history shows only two successful methods of preserving timber in densely populated countries; the one by the Government re- taining the title to the land and exercising a watchful super- vision over the sale and disposition of the timber, as in Ger- many, where large revenues are annually derived from this source; the other through law of ent^vil, as in England, by means of which a landed aristocracy holds the soil, and has the aid of the strong and well executed laws in securing the preservation of the timber. " And the President, in his last message, has earnestly drawn the attention of Congress to the subject. And in his last annual report the Secretary of the Interior says: "The rapidity with which this country is stripped of its forests must alarm every thinking man. It has been estimated by good authority that if we go on at the pre- sent rate the supply of timber in the United States will, in less than twenty years, fall considerably short of the home neces- sities. It is the highest time that we should turn our earnest attention to this subject, which so seriously concerns our national prosperity." 135 -# And the Commissioner of Agriculture, in bis Report for 1875, has devoted 115 pages of that work to the considcrntion of the subject. He says: " Forestry has excited much atten- tion in tlie United States in recent years, in conseciuence of the rapid deforesting of large areas, and the expression of fears of a tinil)er famine at no distant day. That the great white pine forests are being rapidly despoiled of their original growth, and that inroads are being made upon the heavy timber of the si rra slopes and deep valleys, there can be no question ; and yet there is much that is sensational and extra- vagant in the views of alarmists on this subject." lie says: " The western slopes of the sii^rras are prolific of new growths in place of the old, and, except in the vicinity of the Central Pacific road, are almost untoudied by the woodman'saxe, as also are the immense forests of Wasliington Territory and Oregon. More than half the entire area of the south is woodland." IIo estimated the total forest area of the United States and Terri- tories at twenty-five per cent, of the total area of the Union. This is far below that of Norway, Sweden and Russia, which the German writer, Reutzch, says is respectively 00.00 and 30.90. Germany comes next at 20.58; France, 10.79; and so on downwards to Britain, 5, and Portugal, 4.40 per cent. And in an oflicial report for 1878 it is clearly shown, that in the short space of the last two or three years the destruction of United States forests has been immense; indeed, much greater than in the comparative past. It is only necessary to ipiote the exports of wood of ail kinds, which does not exceed the value of fourteen millions of dollars per annum, to show how scarce \iseful wood is becoming in the Union. And in the Dominion of Canada a similar alarm has been sounded. In his report for 1875, the Surveyor Ccner.ii of New Brunswick says that " the public are as yet hardly aware how fast our good timber lands, available for revenue purposes, are decreasing in extent — decrease caused more by fire than by the axe of the lumber operator; both, however, fast de- stroying the great wealth of the Province." Referring to some of the principal lumbering regions of the Province. Ii3 says: " Many rivers emptying into the Bay of Fundy, ■vv Sii'^'i formerly j^ieldcd great quantities of spi-uce lumber, now pro- diice none. The Grand Lake country, from which for j-ears more than sixty millions of spruce and pine logs were brought to market, did cot last year, nor will it during the coming 130 1 "i '[ year, yield nnuh over ten millions." lie names half a dozen other large distrij'tH which " have dwindled (U)wn to prohahly U'HH than one tenth of their forjner i)roduct." II. (}. Joly, Ks(|., in the last Ueport of llie Minister of Agrl- eidture, Hays: "Thinking men have hegun to sonnd the note of alarm." He calls our " attention to the pine and spruce, as they form nearly all our export to Europe, and are really the produce of our forests; while the liard.vood we export, es- peeially the fine oak, nearly all comes, at present, from the Lake regionsof the United Htates, as we have very little of our own left." " For some time past the idea 1ms heen gaining ground among men who take an interest In the future of the country, that our great piiu. dini spruce forests are getting rajjidly ex- hausted, and that, before long, a trade w liicb enables us to export aniMially over twenty millions of dollars worth ol tind)er (nearly twenty-seven millions worth in 1874, twenty- five millions in 1875, and twenty uullions three hundred thon.sand in 187(5), will shrink down to wofully n^duced pro- portions." After naming the chief lund)ering regions in Canada proper and in New lirunswick, where o])erat ions have heen carried on for a long time, and after showing that these regions are denuded of a large part of their best fo.'cst wood, especially pine, the report says with regard to " that huge tract of lumber country between the Ottawa and the St. Maurice, that separated (or rather appeared to separate) the lumbermen working on these two rivers by what seemed an inexhaustil)le and endless forest, that huge tract is lapped through and tlirough, and the Ottawa lumberman has met the St. Maurice lumberman on the ^'hores of Lake Manooran. A glance at the map will show what that means. Those who think that there will never be an end to our timber may say: ' We can still go north.' " To this he replies: " Not very far north." The distance is too great, " and the country is gener- ally poor and Ijarren." " In a very short time, since the beginning of this century, we have overrun our forests, picked out the finest pine, and we have impoverished them to a serious extent, and what makes it worse, impoverished the country too, for, owing to the force of circumstances which we shall cousider later, our timber export trade has not given Canada such a return as she had a right to expect. There still remains to us a great deal 1' 137 of spruco niul sccond-rfttc pine, which for goneralious tocomo ■will ho in excoss of our Uu-iil wants if we are careful; hut the ri'dlly fne pine riMjuircd to kct')) up our )?n!Ht liuihrr export trjidf to its pri'Hciit standiird i.s /getting very scarce and inac- ccHsiliic, ai)(l 1 fear tliat we must prepare for a Hudden and c()UHid('iiil»U't'alliii.<,'()ir." And tliesoil j)f the great pine regions of iVorlii Anicrit !i is not generally favcjrahlc to agriculture. Of the Allaiitic Provinces New IJruii.-wic k is Ihe oidy hcc- tif)n whi«'h can furnish any con^.iderahle quantity of lund)er; and the (plant ity is heing rapidly diminished. Nova tScotia has hut litlU' to spare, luid Prince Edward Island has not cnougii for domestic wants. Tliereisatractof good timher land in the interior of Newfoiuid'.i.. id, hut unless it tihall heconnected with the sea-hoard hy railroad it cannot he made availahle. And in the I'rovince of Quehec "the old settlement.'^ are painfully hare; of trees." The report .says : '• You can some- times go miles without seeing any tree worth looking at, and the pa.ssing stranger fancies him.self in a country more de- luided of trees than the oldest parts of Europe. There is a large district of very goo(! agricultural land south of Mon- treal, where! the scarcity of tirewood, which is a matter of life and death in our climate, has compelled many a farmer to sacritice a line farm and leave tlie coimtry. There are many other spots iu the Proviuee nearly as had, and unfortunately the process of destruction is going on even now in more places than one." And large sections of the Province of Ontario arc denuded of forest wood; conse(|uently this Province is a large importer of coal from the United States. " We can cope," says Mr. Joly, " with waste and pillage in our forests; they are hut the work of men, l)ut we are terrihly h(;lpless against (ire. ... It is cstinnited hy those who are luost comi)etent to form an opinion on the suhject, that more fine timhcr has heen destroyed l)y fire than has heeu cut down and taken out hy the lumherman." Against the destruction of our forests hy fires set hy lum- hermen, hunters, Indians, and others, the laws are powerles.s. And the fires of settlers have frequently made great ravages. The area of country laid waste l)y fire in the Provinces and States is truly immense. " We have not," says the report, " heen spending the income or annutil profit of our forests, hut the forests themselves — not the interest hut the capital." lb i 138 ^ The difficulty, however, is to find a practicable remedy. In his last report, the United Slates Commissioner recom- mended, " that Congress be requested to enact such laws as may be necessary for tlie appraisement and sale of such tim- ber lauds as it may deem best to sell ; also to provide for specific legislation for flues and punishment for trespass on the timber on all public lands." Mr. Joly " recommended limiting the lumberman to a max- imum cut of so many thousand feet per square mile of his limits." However, it is not only the scarcity of wood and the de- struction of a great source of revenue that are to be deprecated, but the "disastrous climatic elTect residting from the removal of forests." It is generally allowed that one-third the area of a country should be in a forest state. Forest culture is largely encouraged in m^niy of the old States of Europe. And on the western plains of North America forests are being planted. Though our limited space forbid further amplification, we are unwilling to dismiss this important subject without special reference to the Dominion. The reader, in comparing the i)roductions of the Provinces with those of the States cannot fail to realize the necessity on the part of Canada, to i)rotoct and economise every source of revenue she possesses. The Dominion is not an agricnltural countrj', but she has immense forests from whieh large re- venues have been derived. Destroy the l\;rests, and the grer.t staple of the country will soon be among the things of the past. Already the exports of pine and hardwood are matters of Ijistory. Spruce is the only forest wood on which the Dominion can rely, at least to any great extent. And it has the advantage of reproducing ilseu at a rapid rate. Rut the destructive agencies at work point to a near future when this source of revenue will fail also, unless forcible measures shall be immediately adopted to prevent it. The i)rcceding extracts from reliable authorities point to this fact. During the last fcnMy years the writer of those pages has had many opportunities of noting the agencies by which large sections of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have been divested of their most valuable timber. As a land surveyor, during that time he has traversed the country in various directions; besides having read most all the available reports of public surveys for railroads and other purposes. From the t' 130 tural gc re- jroRt ' the attcrs the it has ut the when us i; res eding facts adduced, we are led to hclieve that the destraction of the forests of tliis country is much greater than has hecn generally estimated. And what is true of these two Pro- vinces is, no doubt, equally true of large sections of the other Provinces. Looking at the extent of our f orciSt land the casual observer might conclude that we still possess inexhaustible forest re- sources. But such is not the case. Large regions of the forest lands in all the Provinces and in the adjoining States, are utterly worthless either for settlement or for timber. Still we possess vast areas of forest lands which are continually reproducing large quantities of useful timber. However, in place of wasting so much wood in the manu- facture of deals and square timber, as we are doing; in place of selling the products of our forests in the markets of Eng- land for less than half the real value, we should limit the annual production to less than half that of the present. Norway and Sweden, which have continued to supply the markets of Europe with immense quantities of forest pro- ducts for the last hundred and fifty years, have long ago taken steps to Tirevent the destruction of their forests; besides, they economise by manufacturing all kinds and sizes of wood, and making it ready for the various uses for which it is intended in the markets. They do not leave a large part of every tree, as is done in this country, to rot in the wilderness; they do not waste one-third of their pine by manufacturing a part of each tree and leaving the remainder of the trunk as fuel for the flames. :. DISTANCES. The following table of distances, compiled chiefly from oflicial sources, will be found useful : — Miles. Halifax to Liverpool 2,482 " I'ernambuco, Brazil '3,3^1 " St. Thomaa 1,G30 " Esquimault, Pacific Ocean, V>y nearest land route in Dominion 3,98G '* Moncton, by Intercolonial Railroatl 188 - " Re8tigoiiche " " 3.% " Riviere du Loup " " 5fi2 "V " Quebec, by Intercolonial Railroad «582 " Montreal, " " 849 ftU f: i; 1 r 140 Miles. Halifax to Toronto, by Intercolonial Railroad 1,180 " St. John, N. B., " " 276 " Bangor, by railroad 478 " Danville Junction nSS *• Montreal, via Danville 8r>8 " Bofiton, by railroad 723 " do. by water 3(34 " New York, by railroad n.5C '• do. by water .540 " Windsor, by railroad 171 «' Pictou, " 113 " Cape Race 403 " Ran Francisco, via Quebec 4,021 " Victoria, Pacific, via City of Ottawa 3,870 St. John to Liver]>ool 2,083 " St. Thomas 1,(>S0 " Pictou, Ijy water 480 Montreal," 1,180 Cape Race 7ir. " Charlottetown 4U8 " Toronto, by Intercolonial Railroad 1,084 ' ' Boston, by railroad 447 " New York, " OHO " Montreal, via Bangor -Wi *' do. via Intercolonial 740 Montreal to Quebec City, by water 100 " West Light, Anticosti 545 " Straits of Belle Isle UMO " Cape Race 9% " St. Thomas 2,145 " Pemanibiico, Brazil 3,U.50 Havamia 2,.5J»8 " St. Thomas 2,4.39 " Rio Janeiro 5,;W0 " New York 1,459 Boston 1,279 " Liverpool, by Cape Race 2,!M>'.) " do. via Belle Isle 2,082 " City of Ottawa, by water 110 " Kingston, " 178 " Port Dalhousie, " 348 " Duluth, Lake Superior, by water 1,398 " Ohici^o, " 1,201 " Portland, by railroad 2tt7 " Boston " 334 " New York, " 404 •* Chicago, " 847 " Omaha, " 1,249 " San Francisco, » 3,181 QuelKJC to Portland 317 Toronto to Quebec, by railroacL 555 " Halifax, " 1,2;{7 *» Boston, " 522 *' New York, by railroad 540 ** yort Garry, via Chicajjo 1,537 141 317 555 522 • / Miles. Toronto by railroad to Winnipeg, v'.a Detroit and I'liicago. ... l,58l> Pictou to Montreal, by water 8(10 " do. by railroad 83'.) " Toninto, by railroad 1,227 " Bo.ston, by water GOO Prince I'jdward Island llailroad 198 City of Ottawa to P>uto Inlet, Pacific, via Canadian Pacific IJailruad line 2,774 Head of Pute lnl';t to Pacific; Ocean 100 Ottawa liiver to Red Kiver, via north shore of Lakes Huron and Superior 1,200 Lake Suporim- to Ked Kiver, ( 'anadian P. R. Line 410 Buirard Inlet, Pacific 1,973 Victoria, Vancouver Island, to Sidney 0,S05 to Anioor 3,'.>00 " to Shanghai 5,220 to Canton 5,<1H0 " to Mdljourne 0,940 Diduth to Fort ( lairy, via United States 455 Port < Jariy to IMiniuiton, by water 1,150 Sorel River, St. Lawrence, via Lake Ch.iniplain, by water to Albany, New York 4U Albany, to IJvifi'alo, via ICiic Canal 350 New York to Iaver])ool 3,013 ' ' to .Taniaica 1 ,5;}0 " to St. Thomas 1,420 " to Parbadoes 1,800 ** to ]\'rnand>uco, Prazil 3,;3()4 " to ( 'a]ie Race. Newfoundland 1,010 " to Charlottetown 780 '* to Chicago via Erie Canal and Iiakes Erie and Miciiigan 1 ,504 ** to l^ueenstown 2,773 " to Philadelphia, by railroad '.K) •♦ to Chicago, " 913 " to Omaha, " 1,405 " to ( 'heyenna, " 1,932 " to Ogd'eii, " 2,435 " to San Francisco, " 3,317 Chicago to Liverpool, via Missi.H8i])i>i Rivor 0,000 " to " via l-'.rie ( 'anal and New York 4,000 " to " via Welland Canal and St. Lawrence. . 4,100 '• to RulTalo, by water 910 " to Quebec, " 1,421 New Orleans to Jamaica 1,095 to 15arl)ailoes 2,120 to St. Thomas l.O.'W toHavanna 590 MiHsissii>pi River and Branches is navigable for 20,00o Length of Mississipiii 3,100 to head of Mis.souri Branch 4,491 Ohio River, navigabh! for 1,175 or, 2,(RK) miles from (rulf of Me.vico. Cai)e Knee, Newfouudlaud, to Cape Clear, Ireland 1,040 Miles. Montreal to CoUingwood by railroad 421 From CoUingwood, by water, through the Georgian Bay, Lakes Huron and Superior to Duluth 780 Do. , by the latter route and Duluth railway, to Winnipeg 1,235 Red River to Yellow Head Pass 1.063 Yellow Head Pass to Pacific, about 700 Red River to Eastern boundary of British Columbia 1,040 CoUingwood, via the Lakes and Canada Pacific Railroad route, to Winnipeg 1,040 LAKES. Lake Ontario is 180 mileslong ; mean breadth, 65 miles ; mean depth, 500 feet ; 202 feet above the sea ; and area, 7,000 square miles. It is 7oG miles from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Lake Erie is 240 miles in length, and 80 in breadth ; 84 feet mean depth ; 5.55 feet above the sea ; and area 10,000 square miles. Lake St. ( 'lair is 20 miles l of the East was again changed. Great ])owers were made greater and feeble States were enfeebled. Russia, which is the unification of a group of Slavic and other Slates, eontiiuu's to march on 1)y large stridcM. Turkey, l)y the eommon consent of the Berlin ("on- grtss, was jiartitioned; and Russia gains the portion of Bes- saral)ia which she lost l>y the treaty of 185(;, and thus once nu)r(! extends Iier frontier to the Pruth and the Danube. The area of tliis accession is ujjwards of o,oU() s(piare miles. And on the Asiatic frontier, at the eastern end of the Black Sea, Russia ol)tained an accession of territory containing about nine thousand s(iuar(' miles. These two areas contain alxHit 78,000,000 acres. And Batouin also is annexed to Rus- sia, with the understanding that no fortiticatious shall be nuiintained on it. 145 Bosnia and a part of Montenegro were ceded to Austria. The town and valley of Kotur, which lie to the east of Lake Van, are restored to Persia. Servia, Roiimania, and the remaining part of Montenegro are independent, and Bulgaria is practically so. All these with Greece are feeble States; and Turkey is so weakened by war, together with the loss of about 71,500 srpiarc miles of her domain, that she is powerless except for murderous oppression. Thus the troubles in the East, and they are many and com- plicated, have been settled, for the present by the Treaty of Berlin. Never did peace speak with a more feeble voice. It ,this Congress had annexed all the feeble states to great powers, some hope might be entertained of a more lasting peace among the Eastern Nations. But as matters stand, if Russia, Austria, and other great powers aim at a reconstruc- tion of their frontiers — if they aim at extending their boun- daries, the way is open for the annexation of feeble states. This may not be effected without bloodshed, as in the pa-^^t, unless the great powers convene another Congress for the pur- pose of annexing them. Evidently the destiny of feeble nations is absorption by great powers. " Small powers will have hard work to live at all." Poland, Hungary and Bohemia were dismembered. Alliances may save weak nations for a time. The Nether- lands and the seven Provinces of Holland, Norway and Swe- den have their unions. Spain, before the middle of the eleventh century, was divided among a number of independent sovereigns, whose history became less important in proportion to the increase of the number of kingdoms. Ultimately the small states of the Spanish Peninsula united, and Spain became a great power, whose dominion extended over Gibraltar, the Netherlands, the Two Sicilies, and an immense empire in America. Her Iwast was that "when Spain moves the whole world trembles." Through a conjuncture of events, however, she lost nearly all her distant possessions. The few feeble nations that remain seem to be mere reservations until the great powers are ready to change their political destiny. The effect of the consolidation of the world into great powers can hardly fail to be salutary. The number of dispu- tants, and consequently the number of national disputes are 1» uo decreasing. Those nations long at war with the aspirations of freedom are greatly changcul, and higher aspirations, mo- tives and ideas — a higher standard of moral and intellectual progress more hecoming the manhood of nations, is assumed. The dissolution of church and state and the gradual adapta- tion of national constitutions to the wants of society are talcing place among the great powers. Greater freedom of con- science, of discussion, and of the press, is leading to a more peaceful development of the resources of each nation than existed among the small nations of the past. Consequently we arc enahled with much les.i diflicully than formerly to assign the positions, and outline the future of nations. No limit lias l)ecn set to the extent of empire, number of people, and variety of interests whicli may he governed by one execu- tive head. The world has long had the experience of govern- ment by .'ibsolute and despotic monarchs -whose will had the force of law. Such were the governments of China, Russia, Austria, Spain, Turkey, France, and other nations. At the time of the discovery of America by Columbus, and long after, the moral tone and intellectual character of the most enlightened nations of Europe were at a low el)b. Even in the Briti.sh I.siands civilization was low, and liberty of conscience was looking abroad for a safe resting ))lace. " The liberties of our country," says Macaiday, " were in the greatest peril. The opponents of the government l)egan to despair of the destiny of their country, and many looked to the American wilderness a« tlie only as3ium in which they could enjoy civil and spiritual freedom. There a few reso- lute Puritans who, in the cau.se of their religion, feared nei- ther the rage of the ocean nor the hardsliips of uncivilized life, neither of savage beasts nor the tomahawks of more savage man, had built amidst the primeval forests villages which are now great and oimlent cities, but which have, through change, retained some trace of the character derived from their founders. The government regarded these inf-uit colonies with aversion, but could not prevent the population of New England from being largely recruited by stout-hearted and God-fearing men from every part of the old England." The great powers of that age were unstable and the small nations were very numerous, and both small and great were almost continually at war, I4t ,tion3 1, mo- id ual imed. ilaptii- lakiiig f c'on- 1 move n than ^vicntly c'lly to 18. No peoplo, 3 execu- govevu- had the Russui, has, and r of the ow ebb. d liberty no; ph\ce. pre in the K'gan to loolced to lich they ow reso- oared nei- ncivili/.ed of more Is villages lich have, cv derived lose inf'iut popuhition ml -hearted England." il the small trreat were The doctrine we purposed to estahlish is, that "the future is one of great empires." (Ireat Britain, France, Pru.ssia, Russia, Au.stria and Italy, on the oilier side of tlic ocean, and the United Htates in America may be said to control the des- tinies of the other nation.s. And never was the doctrine here propounded that small and weak nations arc powerless, n:iorc fully veritied than by the issues of tlie Berlin Congress of 1878. The small powers were not allowed a voice in its deliheration.s. Koumania, Servia, Montenegro and Greece were viewed by the great powers as mere geographical expressions, and Turkey has enough to do to live. In a word, the feeble nations must sub- mit to the decrees of the great powers. The most successful power in Europe in the art of government is Britain. The head of this ancient land of mary nations governs upwards of thirty millions of people at home; fifty colonies scattered over the world, and about ninety sovereigns in India, who themselves rule about one hundred and eighty millions of people. From this lirief review of the political consolidations of some of the old states of the world, we purpose to glance at the past and present state of America. - The discovery of America in 1493 marks one of the most important eras in history. By that discovery a vast conti- nent was made known to the old world. Though peopled by millions — though organized and comparatively enlightened nations existed in Mexico, Peru, and other places near the centre of the continent, but little is known of the primitive history of America. And much of its history during the first century after its discovery by Columbus is obscure. Still, enough is known of that period to stamp on America and Europe some of the darkest deeds in their history. As soon as it was known in Europe that this continent wis rich in the production of wheat, corn, rice, tobacco, and other precious fruits; that its forests were immense and contained timber of the most valuable kinds; that its water teemed with all kinds of useful fish; that indigo, chocolate, coffee, (piinia, sugar, tar and pitch, were abundant; that the hides of its innumerable Avild cattle were, valuable; but more espe- cially when it was known that there was gold in ^lexico, silver in Peru, diamonds in Brazil, and rich furs in the north, then America became a battle field on which Europeans and tlie natives of the country became the sanguinary actors. li 148 • The continent north nnd south, erst and west, was inha- bited by pagan tribes. In Mexico, Peru, and other places near the centre, the native population numbered many mil- lions, and they possessed numerous monuments of civiliza- tion; magnificent palaces and temples, highly cultivated fields, gold and silver utensils of the richest kinils, and many other marks of civilization. Mexico and Peru could each look bjick to a long line of eniperors. But all this was doomed to change. In the division of the American conti- nent Great Britain, France, Portugal and Spain Itecame the chief proprietors. Spain, however, claimed the largest and most wealthy sections. In 1521, the whole Mexican nation was compelled to s\ib- mit to the arms of Spain, and in 1533 the last of the emperors of Peru was cruelly murdered in the name of Spain, and his subjects were enslaved. Indeed, the early history of Spain and Portugal in America mast forever stand out pre-eminent in the records of human wickedness. They dragged the natives from home and kindred to serve in the mines. It is recorded that eight millions of them perished in the mines of Peru alone. James A. French, A. M., says: "It is the re- finement of the Spaniard's cruelty in the settled and con- quered provinces excused by no danger, and provoked by no resistance, the details of which witness to the infernal cool- ness with which it was perpetrated, and the great bearing of the Indians themselves under an oppression which they de- spaired of resisting, raises the whole history to the rank of a world-wide tragedy, in which the] nobler but weaker nature was crushed under a malignant force which was stronger and yet meaner than itself. Gold hunting and lust were the two passions for which the Spaniards cared, and the fate of the Indianwomen was only more dreadful than that of the men, who were ganged and chained to a labour in the mines which was only to cease with their lives, in a land where but a little before they had lived a free contented people, more innocent of crime than perhaps any people on earth." Thus did Spain continue for three centuries to sacrifice and degrade the nature of millions of the inhabitants of these regions, in order to replenish her coffers at home with gold, silver and diamonds. The following extract from a letter from Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand, bears the stamp of the age and country to which the writer belonged, 146 " Gold i8 a thing so much the more necessary to your Mnjcsty, because in order to fulfil the ancient prediction, Jerusalem is to be rebuilt by a prince of tl»e Spanish monarcliy. Gold is the mc : excellent of metals. Wiiat becomes of those pre- cious stones which are sought for at the extremities of tho globe? They are sold and finally converted into gold. With gold we not only do whatsoever we please in this world, but we can even employ it to snatch souls from purgatory and people Paradise." Siiortly after the date of her actpiisitions in America, Spain began to decline. The vast stores of wealth obtained from her American possessions had been the means of corrupting all ranks of her people and enervating the .spirit of the nation. After a time this .source of wealth failed. The chief part of her colonies revolted, and established nationalities for them- selves. 31exico, Peru, and other sections became independent ; Louisiana and Florida she lost by treaty, and the chief part of her West India Islands 1)y contpiest. Out of all her vast pos- sessions in America, Spain holds only Cuba and some adjacent islands, and that by a feeble tenure. Both Spain and Cuba have recently been in the throes of bloody revolutions. In the Imperial State two parties fought for the crown; and Cuba has been fighting to be free from the Spanish yoke. Thus the political power of Spain ceased on the American main, but not so with regard to her vices. Wherever the kindred tongues of Spain and Portugal prevail, as in Mexico, South America and Cuba, revolutions and vice in their worst forms prevail also. Spain has entailed a dark blot on Mexi- can civilization. The dregs of Spanish rule, Spanish ignor- ance and vice continue to curse that country. JSIexico for half a century has had no repose from .sanguinary revolutions. There .seems to be but little hope at present for moral reform. And looking at the vast resources of the country, extent and fertility of domain, mineral wealth, and the genial character of its climate, this is the more to be regretted. And Spain has been repeating her ^lexican hi.story in Cuba. This beautiful and fertile island, situate in a fine climate, and ju.stly naiucd the Queen of the Antilles, contains an area of 48,4;J9 square miles, equal to the aggicgate area of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In 1870 it contained a million and a half inhabitants, half of whom are white. Of the colored race about four hundred thousand are slaves. The li II Cubans liav(! boon i)r)Worles8 in llie civil matters of the Island. They arc iicavily taxed in order to enrieli tlie parent State. Tlie revenue is larj^er than that of the Dominion of Canada. How mucli Ioniser Spain will be al)le to govern, or ratiier mis- govern Cuba, it is iin|)()SMiljle to foresee. After spending the hist five or six years in tlie most l)loody and cruel war, the Cul'iinshav(! failed to free themselves fron» Spanish domination. I'pain and Portugal only saw in their colonial revoluti(m.s the los»i of vast revenues; and, says Humboldt, "llu! loss of their slaves, the .spoliation of the clergy, and the introduction of religious toleration, which they lu-lieve to be incompatible with the purity of the established worship." Portugal held pos.sessions in America second in value only to those of Spain. In \H:i2 the great Ih'a/ilian Empire revolted against Portugal, proclaimed its indepiiidence, and conferred th(! Imperial (;rown on Dom Pedro, the son of .[ohn VI. of Portugal. Thus a monarchy was established on the American continent. Hra/.il contains an area of three million sipiare nules. It is nearly fourd <'u times larger thnn France. The whole of iJritain's Indian Empire would not cover its surface. The soil of Brazil is of unrivalled fertility, and its produce of the soil, mine and sea is varied and rich. Its mountains and val- leys are clothed with rich forests. The face of the country is not distigured by deserts of any great e.\tent. Her rivers, in- cluding the great Amjizon and La Plata, are large enough to irrigate a continent. Her sealmard, six thousand miles in length, affords great scope for commerce; and, together with her river system, has an anielioruling inllucncc on the colder regions of the cbiuitry. Though " discovered by chance," says Southey, "and long left to chance," lirazil is destined to hold an important place in the family of great powers. Governed since her inde- pendence by judicious laws, administered by odightened statesmen, Brazil has far eclipsed Portugal in real progress. This American nation is cai)able of sustaining hundi'cds of millit)ns of the human family. Brazil is the only nation in America whoso chief nv and his descendants may claim the "right divine gn. "Whether that right may be considered indefeasii m the future remains to be seen. In North America the ).eopl'' generally believe that the blood of the humblest peasant 151 j,n. the 'opl' santfc who do jn.sllc'f. lovo merry, nnd walk hiimhly with Qotl, \n ns royul ns that which has coursed the veins of royalty for ai^es. The present ruler of Brazil is one of the most enlightened and progressive monarehs of the ai^c; and whetiier a lil)eral and limited monarchy, like that of the present, will he con- tinued in I'ni/.il. or whether a republican form of govern- ment will take the ))lace of the present, or wlicther a irreat nxmarehical jtower will prevail in the south, and a great repub- lican power, the United States, in the north, remains for the future to direct. And France, out of all her vast possessions in North America — embracing the Dominion of Canada and the region lying west of the Mississippi Hivcr, now only claims St. Pierre and Mirpielon, two insigiutlcant and rocky islands, situate lu-ar Newfoundland, and some unimportant islands in the West India group. French government in America was mild and conciliatory compared to either that of Spain or Portugal. The best ox- ample of the progress of French colonization was to be found on the l)anks of the St. Lawrence. Still, in .some respcct.s it was not a fair test. The country near the city of (^uei)ec. where the chief settlements were formed, is far north, and comprised in a narrow valley between the Laurentian and Alleghany mountains. Although this cf)lony was under France for 220 years, and the fertile valley of Ontario was unoccupied, French .settlement did not extend. The French pef)p]e were satisfied to remain Avhere and as they were. In l;mgu;ige, customs, religion, and church and stale com- binations, (.^iiebec is a tj'pe of old France of a centur}" ago. Though adjoining Ontario and New England — though imder TJrilisli rule for more than a century, the progress of a.«slmi- lalion lias Iteen remarkably slow. France and (Jreat Britain fought long and hard with each other in order to obtain and hold jjosscssions in North America. The human life and treasure wasted by these two nations must have been immense. Pro])al)ly France in the end gained largely by the loss of her American colonies. Franct! is a great power with but few colonies to protect. Great Britain is the only European nation w liich has per- petuated its i)ower with any degree of success on the Amer- iptiu continent. By conquest and otherwise, Britain clainicd 162 I f the whole Atlantic frontier from the Oulf of St. Luwrence to Florida, including Newfoundland and some West India Islands, and also the French possessions in the north — in all an immense empire. But there is a tide in the affairs of nations. The colonies of lirituln, like those of Spain and Portugal, complained of heing misgoverned by the parent state. The Iini)erial government refused redress — a refusal which caused thirteen of her colonies to revolt and erect tliemselves into a nation. Fran(;e. pleased to .see Great Britain humbled thnnigh her own impolicy in America, at once acknowledged the independence of the new Republic as one in the family of nations. Britain, after a series of sanguinary confllcta ■with the young nation, in which the former was generally the lo.scr, alsf) acknowleilged the independence of the United States. Tlius Britain lost three hundred and forty thousand scjuare miles of the riciiest part of her American pos.session.s. TIic question might here be a.sked, why the other British pos.sessions adjoining did not revolt also? Though a century has pas.sed since the old colonies a8.sumed their independence, the reasons why Quebec did not join the Kepublic are not without interest to the student of American history. This subject recalls events during which two nationalities were established on this part of the continent; and also the natuni of the forces then employed to prevent Canada from becoming a part of the Anglo-American nation, then being established on her .southern tiorder. When the two hoiises of the British Parliament pas.se(l an net, declaring that "the King and Parliament ha lies, and His Majesty's subjects in them, in all cases what.soever;" when stamp duties were impose.. But naving fought long and hard, and endured privations of the most .serious nature, in order to secure their possesfussed an and of ake laws and His r;" when es in the lome, the nd other Is of Que- ind hard, I order to was only o remain ch other, 'hey ever preserved in their hearts that hatred for the British race, wherever born or looated, which they had contracted dnring lonffwars; they thus made no distinction in their minds be- tween those of it mingled with themselves, in Canada, and men of kindred blood dwelling beyond, viewing both alike as one body of turbulent and ambitious oppressors." As time passed their indifference to the sanguinary struggle raging on their soutiiern border gradually subsided, and they strongly sympathized with the other colonists in their opposi- tion to the Imperial demands. Tiie new republic, however, in its declaration of the rights of man. gave great offence to the Homan Catholic clergy of Quebec. In the declaration Britain was blamed for setting " up civil and spiritual tyranny in Canatla, to the great danger of the neighboring Provinces." Notwitlistanding this strong declaration against the civil and religious institutions of Quebec, the sympathy of the French laity continued with the other colonists, and when France acknowledged the independence of the republic their sympathies became still stronger in favor of the New England States. At the conquest. Great Britain .secured to the French colony on the St. Lawrence their religion, language, laws, customs and other institutions. These were held .sacred, especially by their clerg}', who. when solicited to join the Republic, replied ; " The British government has left us nothing to wish for. All our monasteries are now in full possession of their own; our missions are in a floiu'ishing state," and " the mili- tary authoritie.-i are ordered to do honor to our religi(ms out- door ceremonies." Believing that their peciUiar institutions wojild be protected and better respected by Britain than by the republic, "the Bishop of Quebec addressed an encyclical letter to his Hock, exhorting the faithful to be true to British allegiance, and to repel the American invaders. He strove to l)r(»ve at the time that their religion would not be respected liy Puritans and independents if these obtjiined the mastery in the struggle going on, and that it wouhl be folly to join them." " The.se .sentiments." continiies Garneau, " were more widely developed by him afterwards In a lengthy pastoral letter, i)ublished next year. Meantime neither the proclama- tion nor the encj'clical were able to move the Canadians from their state of apathy." Notwithstuuding the sympathies of *^0 * f Hi 154 sci^nors re* the laity with the revolutionists, the " clergy and solved to resist every assault of the Anglo-Americans, and re- tain their country for monarchical Britain, 3,000 miles distant, a patroness all the less likely for that remoteness to hecome perilously inimical to Canadian institutions." However, through the influence of the clergy, the Canadian people he- came "gradually cooling in their repuhlicau tendencies, and continuously influenced by the calming and eflicacious advice of the clergy and burgesses — the latter of monarchic senti- ment," the laity changed their policy and fouglit against the republic; and, says the historian, "it may be fairly assumed, then, that to the clergy of Canada at this juncture was Britain indebted for the conservation of the ilependeucy." Thus Canada was to remain monarchical, and the French people a cold abstraction. Had Quebec joined the United States in 1775, Canada would have obtained the rights and liberties Avhlch she rebelled in order to obtain in 1837; and Great Britain would have been preserved from American complications, which have caused her uuich trouble, and from wars and war debts of immense magnitude In the political division of North America, Great Brilian has been singularly unfortuiKite. Out of the wreck of her valuable colonies oidy a few isolated patches of habitable country remained to her lot, ar-d even what remained has not all been retained. It W()\dd Iransecnd our limits to give a full historical retrospect of the boundary and other di.sputes ■which have ari.si'ii between Britain and the Uniti-d States; suftice it to saj', that the territory wliich history has cast to the lot of the Dominion of (/'anada is not the old French empire unimpaired. Many millions of acres of lands claimed by the Provinces, besides other valuable ri'sources, have been given by (Jreat Britain to the United Stales against the pro- tests of the Provinces. The residue is totally unlike any other country in the worhl. After the revolt of the "Old Cohmies," Great Britain made no effort to extend or sfrenglhen the southern frontier of her possessions; but on the contrary, in her boundary dis- putes she gave piecje after piece to the Republic, tunounting !»: the whole to forty or flfty millions of acres. Indeed, see- ing il?e inferior characti'r of her ren\aining pos.se.ssion8 in North A»nerica, it is doul)tful if her leading statesju'jn felt a strong desire to retain them. 1 lit inn )!' hor itabic not ve !i )Utes \tcs; St to iinu'd hc't'ii pro- any ritain ontier •y dis- iiitin^ .seo- Mis in felt tt l55 Great Britain allowed the ,^reat empire of Louisiana, on hei* southern border, to be ceded aiui receded down to the begin- ning of tlie present century without making an effort to claim any part of it, France claimed this region by right of dis- covery in lOlH. It was ceded to Spain, and receded in 1800, and sold by France to the United States in 180.'), for (he in- significant sum of fifteen millions of dollars. Out of this region the Kepublic has erected Arkansas, Missoiu'i, Wiscon- sin, lov.a, and the territories lying west of these States. The United States continued to add largely to her national domain. In 1810, in the settlement of her dispiites with Spain, the latter ceded Florida to the Republic. About the middle of the present century she obtained by conquest and purchase from Mexico, the present States of Texas, Nevada, California, and the Utah, New Mexico and Arizona territo- ries; and in 1807 she purchased Alaska from Kussia for about seven millions of dollars. Thus the Republic comprises a great cluster of States, tlic greater part of which is inaccessible to a menacing and de- structive invasion. If such growing power existed in Europe it would be viewed with great suspicion by neighboring nation'^, but being in America no nation interferes. The otdy recent instanl)lit('ratc the unnatural boundary which divides the Prov- inces from the States -remove the custom houses from the boundary line, and give these two countries free and unfet- fcred trade with each other; give the Dominion unrestricted trade with the forty-five millions of progressive people on the front, and Itoth countries would soon have proof positive as to where th'.'ir (rue interests li(!. The kindred and geographi- cal ties, and the commercial relations which bind tlie British Islands so closely togciher to-day, are not more binding than those which nature has established between these American branches of the same family. Indeed, no one has yet been able to show how cither Canada, Britain or the States can be benefited by the political separation of these American nationalities. There may be some whose monarchical predi- lections lead them to see in vision the rise of a monarchy among the mountains of Canada, under the tegis of which they may hope to be the recipients of greater honors and emoluments of offlce than under republican institutions. Having viewed titc position and relations of these adjoin- ing nationalities with all the care and impartiality yvo arc able to command, we are unable to see how it is possible, under existing circumstances, for the Dominion to develop its own resources unless in a commercial union with the United States. And how, in the event of war, the Dominion can be defended against the United States in force is more than we can divine. It is however to be hoped that before war come, able advocates of the union of tho.sc two coun- tries will rise to the dignity and importance of the subject, and show throughout the length and breadth of these States and Provinces, that the union of the whole is a necessity. Then the dangers which confront the Dominion will vanish, and the happiness of leaving to our children the heritage of an honorable citizenship in a united and prosperous nation will be a great reward. 159 ■ct, itC'S ity. ish, of tiou INDEPENDENCE OF CANADA. Tlierc is much in the early liistory of America which re- minds us of what the historian llobertson mys of the begin- ning of most all commonwealths: — " Nations as well as men !'.rrive at maturity by degrees, and the events which happened during tlieir infancy or early youth cannot be recollected and deserve not to be remembered." It is only as lights, casting their shadows upon the future, that many of the events in the history of this country deserve to be remembered. The nations of Europe holding colonies on this continent claimed to have a divine and indefeasible right to exercise regal power over them. And the power was generally used with a strong arm. " The doctrine," said Lord Macaulay, " that the parent State lias supreme power over the colonies is not only borne out by authority and precedent, but will appear when examined to be in entire accordance with justice and with policy. During tlie feeble infancy of colonics, independence would ])e pcrniciotis or rather fatal to them. . . . .There cannot really be more than one supreme power in a society There ought to be complete incorporation, if hi- corporation be possible. If not, there ought to be complete separation. Very few propositions in politics can be so per- fectly demonstrated as this, that jiarlianuMitary government cannot be carried on 1)}' two really eipud and independent parliaments in one empire." After the revolt of the "old thirteen c(»lonies," one of the most perplexing questions of a colonial nature Circat Britain had was, how to govern and protect the fragments of habitable country that remained to her lot in North America. During the early history of this countrj' Gitut Britain held a monopoly of the trade of her colonies, and this monopoly, says Adam Smith in his Wealth of Antions, was " tlie i)rincipal, or more properly perhaps the sole end and iMirpo.se of the dominion which Great Britain assumed over her colonies." At the same time the colonies had the privilege of under- selling foreign countries ia the British markets at home, ■HP! II 100 Long ngo this w.fs changed. By degrees Great Britain has relaxed her control of the legislation of the colonies. The latter buy and sell where they please. And the commercial relations between liritainand her colonies is on a par with that between cither of them and foreign countries, except that the trade system between the colonies and foreign countri(!s is subject to changing legislation, while that between the parent state and foreign nations is generally based on treaty obliga- tions, (onseciuenjiy ]>riiaiir.>* roiniiiercial advantage!; ari.HJug out of the colonial relations are but few. When the mono- poly cea.sed her colonial policy may be .said to have changed, and her control of the colonies became more and more relaxed, ospeciallj- with regard to British North America. Iler avowcul policy is to let the Dominion of Canada shape her own desti- nies as she may think best. It cannot be doubted that the power and jiolicy of the United States had niuch to do in giving force to the present colonial policy of Great Britain. Iler almost ceaseless troubles with that power, arising out of her political connection with these Provinces, has given rise to a strong feeling in the Briti.sh isles to get rid of these Provinces altogether. In the last centuryand early part of the present. Great Britain was engaged in many of the wars which devastated large sect ionsof the world. She made vast territorial acquisitions, which were then con- sidered conducive to the power and prestige of the nation. The colonies now make their own hnvs, and trade where they plea.se without giving the mother country any preference.'. Hence, the chief voice in the liritish isles is in favor of a sepa- ration of the colonies, or the greater part of them, from Great Britain. It is a.sserted that the colonies yield no tribute to the support of the nation; they cost much, give great trouble, and in the event of a general war, they would be mere hos- tages to the cn(!my. There is another and not less important point connected with the colonial question. That is, as the number of great powers increase in Europe, the necessity increases for each power to concentrate its forces at home. France, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Turkey and Italy have but few, aud some of them no distant possessions. Each of these nations keep im- mense forces within the home donniin, and are always ready for war, and always watching each other; and Great Britain lias enough to do in watching them all, and keeping the road 161 [nnccted )f f^reat for each Prussia, I some of Leep iiii- \s ready Britain Ihc road open to India, without being burdened with the Qovernmunt and protection of colonics which render no service to the empire, but are a source of danger in the event of war. Hence in the Crimean and Abyssinian wars Great Britain made no territorial acquisitions; and she ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece, and Canada to the Canadians. Indeed, any territorial acquisitions she has recently made have been caused more by the exigencies of the occasion than from any apparent desire to r4Cquire more colonics. In pursuance of her colonial policy Great Britain has, stop by step, made these Provinces more free, and now virtually independent. In 1867 the chief Provinces of British North America framed a Constitution for themselves; they fixed the limits of their own jurisdiction, which the British Commons, Lords and Queen with great pleasure stamped with the force of law. Hence Canada has started with a written constitution, under which she has assumed national responsibilities. This consti- tution is not legislative like that which binds the British Islands politically together; but as a preparatory step to Canada's manifest destiny. We live under a Federal constitu- tion, framed, as near as monarchical principles admit, after that of the United States. There was, however, a two-fold interest involved in the union question. Great Britain urged the unification of tlie Provinces as the only feasible means of relieving her from further liabilities in regard to their defence; and the two Canadas urged the union as the only means of securing the adjustment of their sectional and party differences — differences which had for many years made government almost impos- sible. However, in uniting the Provinces adopted the course which impels weak communities throughout the world to ptirsue. Nearly all the feeble States whose integrity Great Britain guaranteed have disappeared as such from the map of Europe, and are now incorporated with great powers. Indeed it is almost impossible to secure respect for the frontiers of weak and isolated communities, especially when such communities are contiguous to a great power. How long the Dominion may remain a safe resting place for the Canadian people we cannot predict. Certainly it is not a convenient one. The only political tie which connects Canada !?1 m It 162 with the Empire is the Governor-General, nnd that tic, in con- sequence of its viceregal pageantry, which renders it unsnit- able for American society, and its great cost to the Canadian people, is being v^reakencd and may soon he severed. Since the union of the Provinces nearly all the old ties which con- nected each Province with the Empire have been dissolved. In fact a radical change has passed over the whole system of colonial government in North America. Canadians may well ask, what about the future of the Dominion? The following citations and deductions from the public speeches of leading British and Colonial statesmen, and from the leading press of the British Lsles show that Britain's colonial policy, especially as regards British North America, has been undergoing remarkable changes. As far back as 1828 Mr. Iluskisson, then Colonial Secretary, said: "He thought the time had come for the separation of Canada from the mother country, and her assumption of an independent state." And in the debate on the ordnance estimates he said: " If he could be positive that tlie amount of the present vote was to be expended with the positive cer- tainty that in fifty years to come the Canadas were to be free and independent, he would not hesitate, but woidd as heartily give his vote under such circumstances as he would give it now." The flfly years arc now expired, and Canada is virtually free. On the same occasion Lord Ilowick said: " There could be no doubt that in time all our foreign colonies would become independent of the mother country. Such an event was cer- tain, and we ought in time to prepare for the separation, not by fortifying the Canadas, but by preparing them to become independent." Twenty years after this policy was announced Mr. Richard Cobden, in a letter to Mr. Sumner of the United States, said : " I can assure you that there will be no repetition of the policy of 1776 on our part to prevent our North American colonies from pursuing their interests in their own way." The Earl of EUenborough, in 1854, said in the House of Lords: " He hoped the Government would communicate with the North American colonies with the view to separation." On the latter occasion Lord Brougham said: "He was one of those who desired a separation of Canada from the mother country. The idea," he said, "was not novel; it had been entertained and- I6d J^resscd by many cminont men, It was an opinion shared In by Lord Asbburton and Lord St. Vincent." A member in the House of CommonH on a recent occjvsion declared " that tlic relation between Canada and Britain was rotten and mutually deceptive;" while another, a Cabinet Minister, mud: "lie looked forward without apprehension and without regret to the separation of Canada from England." In 1804 Lord Derby, a former leader of the great Conservative parly in England, said: " In British North America there is a strong movement in progress in favor of federation, or rather union of some shape We know that these countries must before long bo independent States." And nearer to the present time we find the foregoing policy fully confirmed by many of the leading statesmen of the day. Mr. W. E. Gladstone, one of England's great statesmen — one, too, whose influence was fully exerted, and indeed was power- ful in saving the British nation in 1877 and 1878 from being involved in a war with Russia — when leader of the British Government in 1870, in advocating the separation of these colonies from the Empire, said that " the present Government do not claim the credit of adopting or introducing any new policy, pcrsonsof authority of every shade of politics have adopted Jt. When," as he said, "we see a country like the United States, that sign of immense human energy, extending itself continuously over that vast continent," Mr. Gladstone was no doubt convinced that the tie whiel connects these colonies to the Empire is but feeble. And during the discus- • sion in Parliament on the Imperial guarantee in aid of the construction of the Intercolonial railroad, said he "should find it impossible to justify " the guarantee, "except on the conditions that England would be free from responsibilities as to the defence of Canada. . . .It cannot be too distinctly stated that the defence of the British North American colonies is a very heavy charge indeed, and it is our duty in every way to get rid of it. . . .It is in this view that we look upon the plan of uniting them." And again, in the debate on the bill guaraU' teeing a Canadian loan of five and a half millions of dollars in aid of the erection of fortresses in the Dominion, he said: " This guarantee was part of the price England paid for being relieved of the obligation to protect Canada by military force. England had now arrived at the state of things in which Canada was to undertake almost entirely its own defence;. , , , m m I in which Englnnd wuuld be relieved from all demandH iipoD her exchc(iuer on account of Ciinailn." Mr. Lowe, in a recent 8peecli in Parliament, said we Hhould rcprcHent to Canada "that it is perfectly open to her to CHtabliHh herself as an independent republic; it in our duty, too, to represent to her tliat if after well-weighed conuidera- tion she tliinks it more to her intereHt to join the great Ameri- ( iin republic itself, it is the duty of Canada to deliberate fur her own interests ami happiness. As soon as the chief Provinces united Qroat Britain with- drew her troops and military stores from the Dominion of Canada. This is the first time in her history of abnegating her right to occupy and hold fortifications which she had con- structed at great cost. But times have changed ; that ' ' sign of immense human energy" has extended itself continuously across the American continent, and consequently the British I)coplo at home have concluded to let Canada shape her own destiny. On the withdrawal of the troops Earl Granville said: '' I quite admit that the general tendency of our policy is to leave to a country like Canada the duty of self-defence." It would require supcihuman bravery indeed for four mil- lions of people, scattered hero and there along thousands of miles of a defenceless frontier, to defend themselves against more than ten times that number. " The practical effect would be," as Earl Carnarvon said, " that the North American colonics Avould be left to the mercy of any set of privateers in the cose of a war breaking out with the United States." In the Housu of Lords in 1870 Lord Grey said that "the principles laid down by successive Colonial Secretaries must necessarily lead to a dissolution of our Colonial Empire." In the same debate Lord Northbrook pointed out " the necessity of a greater concentration of troops at homo for the security of the Empire." ' Lord Rqssell, who had a strong desire to sec a closer union of the colonics with the Empire, frequently expressed doubt as to the future of Canada. lie said: "If it should ever bo their wish to separate from this country, we may be ready to listen to their requests and to concede to their wishes in any way they may choose." Or "if the North American Colonies felt themselves able to stand alone, and showed their anxiety either to form themselves into an independent country, or even to amalgamate with the United States, ho did not think it iii-.j. m would bo wise to resist that desire." Lord Normnnby Raid: " England dcHircd no pecuniary licueflts from tho colonies." The Hon. Josepli Howe, wbeu iu Kngland, during tbe dis- cussion on tbc tiiiion of tbe Provinces, miid bo beard a noblo Marquis my tbut "tbosc llritisb Americans may go and set up for tbemselvcs wben tbey please;" and furtber, " tbat we miglit annex ourHclves to tbe United States if wo pleased, and no power would be used to prevent us." lie said: "Tbe Marquis made tbc statement, and not a man rose to contradict blm. " But few, bowever, bad greater opporlunitics tban Lord Monck of knowing tbe position, resources and defences of Canada. He was Qovornor General of Britisb Nortb America during tbe protracted discussion on tbc union of tbe Pro- vinces, and was tbe first Governor General of tbc Dominion of Canada. After bis return to bis place in tbe House of Lords bo said: "It is in tbc interests of tbe motber country tbat" tbcso Provinces " sbould bo taugbt to look forward to independence He believed tbc policy of Government tended towards sucb independence, and it was on tbat account bo gavo tbe Government bis support." He alleged tbat tbe tie wbich connects Canada witb Britain was a mere sentimental one, tbat tbc connection bad ceased its uses, and tbat tbc colonial relations to Britain were dissolved wben Confedera- tion was consummated, and tbat tbe true mission of Canada was to proclaim its independence. And Sir George Campbell, formerly Governor General of India, said: " Canada bos grown to maturity I would let it go free witbout more delay, and woulvi relieve tbis country of tbc many embarrassments to wbicb the connection may give rise. Canada I believe to be, under present arrange- ments, a burden and a risk to us." In bis work. Greater Britain, p. 379-380, Sir C. W. Dilkc says: Canada "draws from us somi tbree millions (sterling) annually for ber defence; sbe makes no contrilmtion towi rd the cost, sbe relies mainly on us to defend a frontier of t,GOO< miles, and she excludes our goods by prohibitive duties at bi>,r ports. In short, colonial expenses wbich, rightly or wronglj , our fathers bore (and tbat not ungrudgingly) wlicn tbe> enjoyed a monopoly of colonial trade, jirc borne by us in the face of colonial prohibition. What the true cost to us of Canada may be is unfortunately an open question, and tbe ' im. \ i , •' • loss hy weakening of our home forces we hnve no menus of computing. ...Wo cannot but admit that we pay at least three millions a year for the Imtred that the Canadians profess to bear toward the United Stales." Since the union of the Provinces England's cost for their defence Is comparatively small, but in the event of war with the United States would 'o Immense. Among the advocates of a cl jser union of the colonics with the mother country the Rlj?ht Honorable W. E. Forster is foremost. In a public speoch in 1875 ho expressed u hope that some practlcal)le plan miglrt be devised, but could not then name a plan, lie said "that the common belief was that the colonies must some day become independc. . and this tonunon idea would, he feared, become one of those which reali/.a themselves." After combating the argtiments of separationists, he sairl the arguments from the diftlculties of colonial connection in time of war, however, he regarded as much more important and less easy to meet. It applied only, however, to Canada. Her disputes with the United States might, he admitted, involve Britain in war, and her border line would evidently be a source of great weakness during hostilities with the great Hcpiiblic. " Many plans," said Lord Derby in 1870, " have been proposed for connecting Australia and Canada more closely with this country, but never yet one that looked as if it would work." Lord Russell at one time prt)posed that the Rritish Parliament should guarantee the security of the colonies, and that the latter should buy Rritish protection by contributing three or four millions sterling to tlie army and navy estimates of Rri- tain, and undertake not to charge more than ten per cent, ad taUmm on l'iit!sh produce. Evidently the colonial system has passed ihe stage of growth to which such a scheme would have been appropriate. And the scheme of colonial repre.sei!- tation "n the Imperial Parliament was pn.nounced by Mr. Gladstone as "altogether visionary. We cannot," he said, "overlook the countless miles of ocean rolling between (hem nnd us." And the press has fretiuently reiterated the same views as to tlu' future of the.sc Provinces. The [iOnilon Thncs, the great exponent of public opinion in the Rritish Islands, has repeatedly called on Canada to assume her Independence or join the United States. In a review of Itord Konck's speech made at the opening of the first Parliament 167 of the Dominion of Canada, in 1867, the Time» said: " Empire never spoke with so small and still a voice os when England humbly suggested and greatly aided the idea of a Canadian Confederation. She could say little for it, except that there the colonies were, they had a common origin and allegiance, they had common dangers, and inasmuch as they had diversity of conditions and interests, they had matters to settle. There was a sort of moral unity; it hud better bo made political LordMonck trusts and believes that the new nationality will extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but political faith overreaches itself in a conception so vast and so loose, in frontiers so extensive, and in conditions so intinitely various*. It supposes a nationality able to command the two oceans it touches, and to raise a barrier of law and moral force extending near three thousand miles between itself and tlio most powerful and aggressive state in the new world. Wo look in vain for tlie body, the vital organs, the circulation, and the muscular force that arc to give adequate power to those wide-Hpread limbs. .. .Ilowevor, there it is; and, as wo say both at the first and at tlie last scene of human existence, where tliere is life there is h>een deliberately and ofTlclally warned that the daj's of British connection are num- bered, and that she must determine on anew state of existence." And the Kdinbvrgh Review said, that the separation of Canada from the Empire " is not a thing of yestcniay, and is not duo entirely to theactionof the Mini-sters of the day ;" and describes Canadians as "retainers who will neither give nor accep'» notice to quit." And in Canada we find the leading statesmen and press pre- paring the public mind for the inevitable crisis which is step by step closing on the Dominion. Mr. Mackenzie. »lie late premier of Canada, in a public speech in Samia in 1875, said: " We have long ago passed the bounds of an onlinary colony of (Ireat Britain; wc have assumwi the proportions of a nation." In regard to treaties, he said: "I li'\ve no idea that any British statesman will think after this of interfering. . . .to pro- cure treaties with the United States or any otiier power we iiro dealing with when a treaty is to be made purely in Canadian interests, . , .The rcsponsibliity of doing it wdl be technically 169 with the Imperial Oovernmcnt, but with the Canadian Oo> vbrament will rest the responRlbility to the people of Canada, and the manag< nent of such affairs throng Lnpenal officers." Thus it appears British Ministers at foreign courts are slmpljr agents of the Domhiion when Canadian interests are the question. Mr. Mackenzie, with whom faith indeed is the evidence of things unseen, further says, that " it is decreed as ineritable that there shall be at least two systems of political government upon this continent." And Lord Dtifferln saw in vision the rise of a Canadian nationality. 'When in England in 1875, he asserted that Canada believes she "is destined to move witiuin her own separate and individual orbit;" that Canadians "have exube- rant confidence in their ability to shape their own destinies to their ap)H)inted issues;" and that " they desire to claim thetr part in the future fortunes of the Britisii Empire, andtosattaiii all the obligationo such a position may imply." The Hon. Mr. Blake, a member of the last Dominion Go- vernment, in a public speech in 1877, made some pointed remarks with regard to Canada's present and future rdatlont with the Empire. Believing that the Dominium "^f Canada is "quite competent to determine wliat laws should regulate ovr maritime cotfrcms, and to interpret and administer the laws we make, without resorting to the British Parliament for legislation," and b«Y- lieving that the Governor General's commission and instruc- tions from the Imperial Giovemment "are no longer suited to our circumstances," Mr. Blake was charged to discuss these and other subjects, and if possible obtain a " fuller measure of self-government. " The British Government readily seceded to his wishes. It appears tliat a special code of maritime laws hes prevailed for many years on the United States side of the great lakes, l)y which that power ewild take " a lien on the ship in re- spect of certain closse-j of wrongs and contracts." Canada haa since inaugurated a system of maritime laws with regftrd to the lakes, and probably will before long extend her " legisla- tion to the maritime concerns of the sea-board." The Governor General's commission and in:utaining the Empire. To one who has carefully studied the conditions and rela- tions of the Dominion, it must require a wonderful stretch of imagination to see in the future of Canada a national founda- tion. In no part of the world claiming national existence are there to be f.)und so many anomalous conditions unitwl in one country. Here is a confederation stretching from ocean to ocean at the widest part of the continent, without the least • possibility of having a territorial consolidation of settlements. The settlements in the Dominion are scattered here and there, and farapart, along &Ide of one of the most powerful and ag- gressive nations in the world. And to rest our hopes of protection on a power which is 8,000 miles from our shores, even stippose such guarantee could be obtained and maintained against the United States, ' which in a short time will possess double the population of the British Kles and Canada together, shows a marvellous amount of faith. It is obvious tluvt '^anadi is at liberty to raise an anny, build a navy, and erect fortifications, borrow money, or unite with the States, or do none of these things. Whatever shape the future of the Dominion may assume, it will be American and not European in its tendencies. The inhabitants of the States and Provinces are drawing closer and closer to each other in all that pertains to the .social relations of life. Their educational, currency and postal sys- tems, have been assimilated. Even the railroad gauge of the Dominion has been changed to .suit that of the States; and their legislative systems have been assimilated in many re- spects. Each country is a confederation, the one of States, the other of Provinces. Still, so long as there is an inlernationiil boundary between these two countries, criminals will cross i* i».id escape justice; debtors will cross it, and creditors will suffet ; and the revenues of both countries will suffer by illicit trade, notwith-standing in " two costly lines of custom houses. Indeed the ways oi'e many in which annoyances arise. lu fact the disfiguration of the Canadian Dominion will always give rise to trouJ)le between these nationalities in North America. There is no political division in the world where a unior is so absolutely necessary as between these two countries. Though unions are the order of the age, the union of the Provinces, arising out. of the peculiar situation of the country, has been of comparatively little service to the Domiuion. Since the union the Dominion has been building upon a false capital. A l»*lance of trade amounting to two hundred and tliirty millions of dollars has been incurrv fair way to be doubled gain before long; and the public revenue has been on the decline for some years. At the time of ihe union many in the Provinces preferred a union with the United States, but the time was unfavorable. The Republic had just came out of great tribulation. Her commerce was prostrate, and her political machinery out of joint. In a word, a great crisis had transpired, dur- ing which thi United States incurred an immense debt, and a large public 'ebt at that time was viewed l)y the Provinces as a great calamity. Hence the feeling in tlie Provinces in favor of union with the States wtus not half as strong as it would have been under more favorable circumstimces. The last ten years, however, have produced great changes. The United States is now a great consolidated power, shivery is abolished, peace restored, and the public debt greatly ri'duced. That a higher destiny awaits the Canadian Dominion than that of being a petty nation, without a possibl*! consolidation, without national adviuitages, we do not (h»ubt. That the union of these two countries wouh place both on the high road to a mighty destiny, which wo ild far eclipse that of tuiy other country iu the world, js obvio is. i: j) I! I 1 1 3' |!J j Ij; . Ill I i m CANADIAN DEFENCES. The defence of these Provinces has long been a subject of deep interest to Great Britain as well as to the Provinces themselves. And in recent years as time passed the interest felt became more intense. The Provinces began, as it were, to see how one Province looked in the light of another; and in what relations they stood to the mother country and the United States. And after the close of the rebellion in the States, when the latter beeame consolidated. Great Britain urged the Provinces to unite ; and when united, she withdrew her military forces, guns and stores. Previous to the union Great Britain maintained stnmg gar- ri^ius ttt Quebec, Halifax and Kingston; and small forces at each of the other chief cities of the Provinces; at what cost we have no m^eans of knowing. It must have been great. Previous to that date, the despatches from England urging these colonies to prepare for war would fill a respectable volume. The latter declined, or did not feel able to do more than organize a few battalions of militia. Indeed, their chief dependence for protection was upon Great Britain. The withdrawal of the troops, together with the ce8satif war. while Canada has dono but little to strengthen her position ' ' ' And the Canadian plains, known as the Northwest terri-' torics, in which the Province of Manitoba and the district of A — 176 Keewatin lie, are, if possible, still more exposed to United States forces than the eastern Provinces. These territories are an extension northward of the great desert and prairie regions of the United States. In Canada they lie nearly in the form of a semicircle, having the international boundary line, the parallel of 40°, for a length of eight hundred miies, as their cord. On the east the Canadian plains are separated from Ottawa by a thousand miles of laurcntian mountain region, and on the west a " sea of mountains " five hundred miles- in breadth lie between them and the Pacific. In another part of this work we have more fully described those three sections of the Dominion, through which Canada purposes oonstmct- ing a railroad. Thus a door is open 800 miles wide, through which the armies of the Mississippi and Missouri valleys could freely pass to the Canadian settlements in the plains. There are no natural barriers between the prairie settlements in the States and those of Canada to prevent the ingress of United States troops ; nor are there any rallying points on the plains where troops could take refuge. For a distance of 8,000 miles from the Atlantic westward the international boundary is close to the laurentian region. The chief part of the great lakes is in the United States. The latter owns Lake Michigan, t wo-th irds of Lake Superior, and half of Lakes Huron. Erie and Ontario, and their connecting rivers; and by the Washington treaty the free navigation of the River St. Lawrence to the ocean is ceded to that power forever. Hence the main line of railroad from Halifax westward, through the Provinces, is in many places close to the intw,.'national boundary; and the Canadian Pacific railroad, if ever built, will be of but little benefit to the Dominion in the event of war. In the region of the great lakes it will in places l)c close to the frontier. In the Red River valley and great plains generally it will be peculiarly exposed to destruction. Indeed, the chief lines of Canadian railroad are liable to be destroyed in many places in a few days or even hours after a declaration of war. And by the San Juan award the United States may prevent Canadhin shipping entering the Strait of (Georgia. Tbas sub- ject has recently engaged tlie serious attention of the Cana- dian Government and the Chief Engineer of the Pacific rail- road. Application was made t« the British naval officers who had b«en stationed at this part of the Paeifie coast for Ji- ••«« m lian few snt Jb- ia- til- ers for infonnatlon ah to the clmractcr of tho Iiarboura in a nautical point of view, and also in regard Lo def uncc. " From the naval testimony furniiibod, taken in conjunction with the admiralty charts, the following arc some of the deductions drawn by Mr, Fleming in his report of 1877:— " That as far as known, Burrard Inlet, an arm of the Strait of Georgia, is the best harbour and the easiest of approach from the ocean. " That the Strait of Georgia is separated from the ocean by two archipelngoH, one to the north, the other to the south of Vancouver iHland. " That the approach ))y the north of Vancouver Island to the Strait of Georgia is hazardous and objectionable. " Tliat the approach by the south of Vancouver Island is through pasMigca more or less intricate, between or at no great distanci} from inlands known as the San Juan group. ' ' That the most important islands of the San Juan group are in the territory of a foreign power, and that from their posi- tion they hold the power of assuming a threatening attitude towards passing commerce," Tliis group, known as San Jiuin, Stuart, Patos, Lopez, Fidalgo, and other isiandH, lie between Vancouver Island and the main land on the south. " All the naval authorities," says Mr. Fleming, " admit that vessels on their course to Burrard Inlet, Howe Sound, or Bute Inlet, would bo exposed to the guns of tlic United States in the event of hostilities, and tliat the navigation of the channel would greatly depend on the force of the United States in the locality." In a subsecjuent report, Ilear Admiral A. De Horsey, who made a nautical survey of the approaches to the inner termi- nus of the Canadian Paciflc railroad, says that the San Juan and Stuart islands " form the key of the navigation insido Vancouver Island. In case of war witli the United States that power might readily stop our trade through Ilaro Strait. " He says San Juan was visited in September, 1877 by General Sherman, of the United States, with a view to its fortification, and further remarks that " the possession of San Juan might enable that country in case of war to cut off our supply from the coal mines by sea. " And the Victoria Coloimt says that * ' a single battery erected on Lopez Island would command Rosaro Straits, and a speedy end would be put to Canadian commerce on the Paciflc should hostilities between Groat Briti^inaud the United States ever occur," ^ k IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 WIIIIIM 112^ itt 1112,2 IIM 114 2.0 1.4 III 1.6 '/a st llourishinuj districts from beinj; the battle-tield of the war. ' And "sinc(! tlic war of 1812 the United States have covered their country with a network of railroads, and that .seven of these lines run directly in upon the Canadian frontier, while othe s traverse! or reach the shores of the ureat lakes com- mandin.!;- the chief entrepots of Canadian commerce, and others airaiii extend to the sea-board cities directly fronting the Province of Nova Scotia, or throuiih the State of Maine, to within eijilily nules of the borders of iS'ew Brunswick. . . . By the aid of these railroads it is obvious that tlie United States could at any time within a week concentrate tipon their termini a hundred thousand men or more." Since thedateof these dispatchesthepo]ndation of the United States has increased in a ratio about fourteen times as great as that of the Dominion. And in no country are the means of transit more ellicient than in the Slates, Theextent of interior naviu;ation has no parallel anj'where; the country is traversed ])y seventy-four thousand miles of railroad; telegraph lines are in all directions. Twenty lines of railroad connect with the Provinces, and others are being constructed. All the chief .'settlements of the Dominion are contiguous to United States settlements. The former has no country out of which she can erect another tier of Provinces north of the present, and her chief settlements are di.sconnected l)y immense regions of uninhabitable country. Ilenci! the facili- ties for sending United States troops into all parts of the Pro- vinces are complete, while the geographical ties connecting the chief settlements in the Dominion might be severed in u few days after a declaration of war. In the event of war the Dominion would have to depend upon Britain's army, navy and money. In return for British protection the Dominion might be willing to provide a regi- ment for service abroad, as on a former occasion. But as the cost, transport and armament of the regiment raised in Canada for service in the Crimea "was borne," says the Edinburgh Revim, "by the mother country, it turned out in the end to be the most costly regiment in the service." yt; 1 i--~ 188 j 1 !: BrItttiu'H cost in sending? troops to tliesc colonics wna very hcHvy. And the cost of tnuisit and inu'ntonunco of u siiffl- cicnt force to defend ('unadu against the United Htatcs would be cnorinouH. The article of food alone would be a costly one. (Jreat Britain dcpeudH for a large part of iior food at home upon the Western Htates. Ontario is the only Province in British North America which produces more tnan suflicient food for its own inhabitants. Manitoba may at times produce more than enough for its own people, ("onsecjuently the Provinces are large iiurchasers of brcadstiiffs from the United States. Hence no war would entail more sulfei ing, especially in these Provinces, than a war witli the Republic. The Dominion is the only country in America which offers to send troops to fight in Europe. In view of the Unittsd Htatcs policy of non-interference in the wars and political complications in Europe, n question might arise whether Canada's course in sending troops to light in Europe might not give rise to comiilicatious in Americii. With two countries situated like the United States and Canada, it is the easiest thing in the world to raise disputes, to revive international c(uarrels, especially while old grievances are not forgotten, while disputes remain unsettled, and new ones are continually arising. Indeed, it might not be dillicult at almjst any time to find a plea for war fully as strong as France had against Prussia in 1870, or Kuasiu had against Turkey in 1877. We may be told that Canadians will not do any act. or utter a word that will tend to disturb the present peace; that the United States is large enough already; that it is "decreed" that Canada shall be one of the nationalities in North America, and that if war come Great Britain will defend the Dominion. Those who take this view of the future of Canada do so regardless of the teachings of history. Such is the state of Europe that no nation on that conti- nent could fight against the United States without weakening- its power and influence in Europe. America is a good country for European nations to trade with, but, as in the past, it is not a safe one for any of them to tight in. Great Britain is the most powerful nation in the world, yet if she had been at war with the United States in 1878 when Russia was set- tling her war account with Turkey, she might have been the weakest. Indeed, the signs of the times point to Europe and m 189 !8 wft8 very ) of afluffl- Intcs would bo a txwtly jcr food at iy Province ,11 fiuflipient K-a produce juently the the United ;, especially r'hich offers the Unitiid :d political se whether rope might States and ie disputcH, I grievances [1, and new be dimcult strong n8 id against let. or utter ; that the decreed" America, )ominion. id a do so that conti- weakening od country past, it is Britain is had been a was set- been the urope and not to America as the future theatre on which Kuropeaii nations will do the most fighting. It is in India, and not in Canada, where BritHin's true interests lie. This conclusion was for(!shadowed by (ireat Britain's recent policy with regard to liussia and the East. It is dinicidt to avoid the conclusion that the recent money guarantees, the union of the Provinces, the withdrawal of her troops and ml)"':iry stores, and her ceasing to fortify these Provinces, fully show the chief end of Great liritaiii's C.'anaolicy of the future. They show, too, that the Dominion is independent and free to shape its own destiny. It is no part of Britain's policy to hold a country she intends to protect in an utterly defenceless stat*^ until the actual occur- rence of war, especially a country situatci! ■ ' Canada is with regard to the United States. Great Britain is fully awaro that the Dominion cannot possibly defend it,' elf. Then if she intends to defend it why delay the cr' ; 'ion ( f fortiti' ..tions. In her recent schemes for defence sjie seems i' ignore all T'sponsibility for the defence of the Domw ion. And the Dominion itself has done comparatively nothing for its own defence; consequently if defence be attcmjitcd, when war breaks out it must be done in the presence of the enemy, with endless perjdexity and confusion. From all the facts at command we might fairly premise that Great Britain will not destroy her vast commerce with the United States, she will not clo.'^e her great flour market on this side of the ocean by sending her forces to defend a(kUcncele8S frontier in the heart of North America, especially when no gain would result to her arms. In whatever light we view the position and relations of the Dominion the future is not reassuring. Britain has not the teeming millions and vast resources here such as she has in the east to fight for. Her fighting for Canada Avould be a forlorn hope indeed. If Canada does not wish to follow the cxftmplc of the feeble nations of Europe whose close geographical contiguity to great powers has caused the most of them to be incorporated with the latter, it is absolutely necessary that she maintain friendly relations with the United StatesMnstead of appealing to Britain to protect her against that power. This is the only way to secure the integrity of the Dominion of Canada. The ques- tion is, in the face of many conflicting interests, how is friend- ship to be maintained? ^"lW_?if *> t I 190 As a step in the right direction, both countries might follow the ex simple of the British isles, which have ceased boasting of viciories over an alien people on the plains of Abraham and of Waterloo. The United States and Canada might cease boasting of victories over each other in the long past — cease wasting their resources in preparing t( shed each other's blood in the future ; and thus pave the way for a miited destiny — a -future in ropose and prosperity, without mingling in the complications and politics of other countries. That a union of these two countries on fair and equitable terms should be consummated is, no doubt, the desire of millions on this con- tinent, and especially the prayer of hundreds of thousands in the States and Provinces who are united l)y the dearest ties of kindred. It is possible that the present peace may continue l)cyond the province of all reasonable predictions. But peace may be environed with many of the attributes of war. If Canada shall be compelled to maintain an army, as her ^Ilnister of !Militia recently said, if she has to build fortitications and maintain a navy, if a system f)f hostile tariffs is to be con- tinued, and also two chief Legislatures, one at Washington and the other at Ottawa, each crippling the functions of the other, it is diflicult to foresee how peace can be maintained. In order to exist as a nation Canada must expend the chitf part of her revenue in preparations for defence, Avhich, in view of her large and increasing debt, she cannot do She must have powerful alliances which can be relied upon in time of need. In a word, if Canada cannot meet national responsibilities she may as Avell leave all preparations for war out of her calculations altogether; since in this age of steam, electricity, iron and money, the only safety is a constant and powerful preparedness for war. In his recent report on the State of the militia of the Dominion, Lieutenant General Smythe says: "The broad experience of the Avorld's history. . . has never failed to prove that military protection is an iiulispensable though it may be costly insurance for the safety and independence of every nation." That "if anyone thinks that good rule alone will restrain the hands of either foreign or domestic foes, or tmaided make a nation n-spected in its sway, he has not advanced far in the stud}' of human nature." No doubt "public opinion" in the Dominion, as General I es might follow ceased boasting >R of Al)raham Ilia might ceaso ng past— cease h oUicr's blood i'ed destiny— a iigling in the That a union rms should be IS on this con- of thousands ho dearest ties 191 Smythe says, declares tliat "the militia vote is that most eixsiy reduced." Indeed, appropriations for defence by the Harliaraent of Canada are generally viewed by the inhabitants of this country as money wasted, especially in the face of iiard times " and a large and increasing public debt We act on the principle that our weakness is our greatest stren-th and adhere to the vaiu delusion that nobody will interfere with us. ifinuc beyond peace may be '• If Canada r Minister of ifications and is to be con- Washington ctions of the ' maintained, ■nd the chief e, which, in lot do She led upon in it'et national ions for war ?e of steam, ;onstant and litia of the ' The broad led to prove li it may be ce of every e alone will tic foes, or lie has not as General 193 1 1 y Page 11, 2nd 73, 3rd 95, 2nd 90, 18th 90, 23rd 101, 33rd 140, 30th 144, 148, 155, 3Cth 150, 35th << <( ERRATA. line from top, for "coast," read "east." for "east," read "west." for "78,680,750," read "75,728,641, for "last year," read " in 1877." for "last two fiscal years," read " en< ingiul877." for " 1801," read " the latter yeai-." omit "St. Thomas.... 2,145." for " 78,000,000," read " 7,870,C00." for " French," read "Froude." for " states," read " slaves." omit " two." ," read "east." 'read "weat." 16,756," read "75,728,641." frear," read " in 1877." two fiscal years," read " end- 1877." " read " the latter yeai-." Thomaa.... 2,145." 0,000," reatl"7,870,COO." ch,"read"rroude." H," read " slaves." J