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1880. 
 
 -•••- 
 
 BRITAIN'S 
 
 FUTURE CORN SUI>PLY: 
 
 FOREIGN OR CANADIAN? 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBKBT WILKES, 
 
 {LATK MEMBFAi OF THE DOMIXION PARLIAMEST.) 
 
 Jrom the (!^»nadi»u Pouthlg nnd |(ation»l |(evieu'. 
 
 Coronlo : 
 
 HUNTER, ROSE & COMPANY. | 
 
 AGKNTS : I 
 
 TORONTO NEWS COMPANY. MONTREAL NEWS COMPANY. 1 
 
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 1880. 
 
 BKITAIN'S 
 
 FUTURE CORN SUPPLY: 
 
 FOREIGN OR CANADIAN? 
 
 BY 
 
 EGBERT WILKES, 
 
 {LATE MfJilBER OF THE DOMISIOS PARLIAMENT.) 
 
 4xm tlif ^uuartinu Puuthly \m\ 'gwWamX Icvieii'. 
 
 Toronto : 
 
 HUNTER, ROSE & COMPANY, 
 
 AGENTS : 
 TORONTO NEWS COMPANY. MONTREAL NEWS COMPANY. 
 

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 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 -♦-••^— ♦- 
 
 ("^ RE AT BRITAIN'S adverse balance of trade has long been 
 JT a special subject of discussion, some regarding it as of no 
 serious importance, while others recognise in it symptoms of com- 
 mercial decline. The steady increase of this unfavourable balance 
 not only in volume, but in its proportion to exports and to the in- 
 crease of population, is specially deserving of attention. Twenty 
 years ago, the total exports of one hundred and fifty-six millions 
 sterling were eighty-seven per cent, of the amount of the imports, 
 while in 1877 the exports were but sixty-four per cent, of the 
 amount of the imports. Taking two decaded periods, 1859-68, and 
 1868-77, the average of the first period was, imports, two hundred and 
 fifty millions, exports, one hundred and ninety-six millions, or seven- 
 ty-eight and one-third per cent.; and of the second period, imports, three 
 hundred and forty-six millions, exports, two hundred and seventy 
 millions, or seventy-eight and one-third per cent., being a slight gain, 
 but comparing with 1876 or 1877, greatly to the disadvantage of the 
 latter part of the period. When viewed in relation to population, the 
 first period shows imports per capita, of eight pounds, eight shillings, 
 exports, five pounds, four shillings, or sixty-two ^^er cent.; and 
 in the latter period, imports, ten pounds, sixteen shillings, and 
 sixpence, exports, six pounds, fifteen shillings and eightpence,or sixty- 
 three per cent — a gain of one per cent. On the last two years of 
 the period (1876-77) the exports only average fifty-three per cent, 
 of the amount of the imports per capita. 
 
 These large and increasing imports consist chiefly of two classes. 
 Food Staple\ and the Raw Materials of Manufactures. During the 
 
4 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 second decadal period referred to, the former class of imports were 
 as follows : — 
 
 Wheat, Corn and Flour — annual average . . . £4f> ,000,000 
 
 Tea 11,000,000 
 
 Sugar 20,000,000 
 
 Annual average total £77,000,000, 
 
 or about twenty-two and one quarter per cent, of the total importa- 
 tions. The latter class during the period was 
 
 Cotton, annual average £57,000,000 
 
 Wool, " '• 20,000,000 
 
 Silk, " " 9,000,000 
 
 Total annual average , £80,000,000 
 
 These three raw textile staples amount to twenty-five per cent, of 
 the total average import. If to the above be added timber, averag- 
 ing say, twenty million pounds per annum, the results in all amount 
 to over fifty- three per cent, of the total imports. To the Food Imports 
 has now to be added, meat from America, live and dead, which will 
 bring the total for these classes to about sixty per cent, of the aver- 
 age imports. 
 
 I propose for the present to consider chiefly the item of " corn " 
 supply and its principal sources, and whether there be no alternative 
 for the United Kingdom, but to continue to pay gold to strangers for 
 her bread-stuffs, in excess of her immense exports of manufactured 
 articles. Protectionist writers on the American side often attribute 
 the unfavourable b lance of British trade to the supposed decline of 
 English supremac in manufactures ; whereas it actually results 
 from the enormously increasing consumption of food and raw mate- 
 rial of foreign growth. 
 
 During a period of years, the supply of corn has come chiefly from 
 Russir, and the United States. As far back as 1854, the latter country 
 sent almost one-fourth out of a total of eight millions of quarters.. 
 
 I 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORK SUPPLY. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 In 1859, Russia supplied about one-fourth of a total of ten millions 
 of fjuarters. But since then the proportions have been remarkably 
 reversed. During the five years, 1873-77, the total "corn" imports 
 averaged a value of fifty-four millions sterling. Of this Russia sent a 
 little over four millions, or7f per cent., while the United States fur- 
 nished nearly twenty-one millions sterling, or 33^ per cent.,per annum. 
 During the first nine months of 1879, the United States is reported 
 to have sent the enormous proportion of about sixty per cent, of an 
 unprecedentedly large importation. 
 
 In 1877, the total imports from the United States were seventy- 
 eight millions, and the exports to the United States, sixteen millions, 
 or about 20 per cent.; showing a balance of trade against the United 
 Kingdom with the United States of over three hundred millions of 
 ■dollars. The total excess in the United States of exports over imports 
 in 1878, is returned at two hundred and sixty-five millions of dollars 
 — so that more than their total excess is with Great Britain. 
 
 Russia, in 1877, sold Great Britain to the value of twenty-two 
 millions sterling, while she bought of strictly British produce, only a 
 little over four millions, or about 18 per cent, of the value of her ex- 
 ports to Great Britain. Few will dispute the maxim that, in so far 
 as it can possibly be guarded against, no nation should be dependent 
 for her vital supplies on either hostile or rival nations. 
 
 In ships and the material of war, Britain constantly supplies her 
 rivals; she herself never depends for these upon foreign assistance. 
 Indeed, she does not depend upon private domestic sources ; the 
 nation maintains vast establishments for the manufacture of her own 
 armaments of war. 
 
 However numerous the enemies of Britain may be, her danger of 
 armed invasion is not imminent. Her defences by sea and land are her 
 security. Britain's danger rather consists in being compelled to buy 
 her food and raw material from rival nations, and to pay for them 
 in gold, while these nations not only exclude her manufactures from 
 their markets, but compete with her in countries where they could 
 not sell their raw materials. 
 
 While England thus pays vast sums to strangers for natural pro- 
 ducts, the wages to produce which in no way benefit her own people. 
 
6 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORK SUPPLY. 
 
 she has, on the one hand, an immense home population, insufficiently 
 employed, and, on the other hand, accessible territories, won by the 
 bravery and enterprise of her sons, and still held by the Crown, suit- 
 able for the production of all the food and raw materials that she can 
 possibly consume. 
 
 The problem for British statesmen to-day is, how to utilise those 
 resources, so as to benefit the nation and make the empire absolutely 
 independent of foreign countries for its vital supplies, in peace no 
 less than in war. 
 
 Hitherto, the great colonies have been peopled through the neces- 
 sities of the individual emigrant. Badness of trade, failure of crops, 
 or personal misfortune of various kinds, have induced persons in the 
 mother country to emigrate. They brave the ocean passage, and the 
 greater risk of obtaining employment or finding a settlement under 
 new and often uncongenial circumstances. During a visit to Mani- 
 toba, last summer, when nearly a hundred miles west of Red River, 
 I met a ribbon weaver from Coventry. He had toiled with his little 
 effects in ox-carts, for five days over the wet prairie from Winnipeg 
 — and had yet several days further to travel before settling his 
 family on a free " homestead." Emigrants such as this endure great 
 privations, but they ultimately succeed ; yet I could not but feel 
 that as a representative of the class of voluntary immigrants by 
 whom the great North-West is destined to be peopled, the Coventry 
 weaver was suffering disadvantages, to a large extent, due to the 
 system. 
 
 Mr. Froude, in the Edinburgh Review, some time since, urged as- 
 '^isted Imperial emigration to the Colonies, instancing the result of 
 the opposite policy in the case of the Irish exodus to America. But 
 no Government has hitherto been found prepared to favour such a 
 scheme; nor has it been influentially advocated by the press or in 
 Parliament. Emicjration hitherto has been individual, not National 
 or Imperial. It is, therefore, very unlikely that the British taxpayer 
 will consent to an outlay in which he has no direct advantage, 
 merely to relieve the home labour market, to benefit the unsuccess- 
 ful surplus population, or to people colonies, that in return may ex- 
 clude his manufactures by protective tariffs. 
 
itly 
 thQ 
 uit- 
 can 
 
 no 
 
 his 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 7 
 
 To gain the consent of the British people to an expenditure for 
 emigration, it must be shown that the outlay will be beneficial to 
 the home population ; and that while the Colonies are being de- 
 veloped, increased trade and greater independence of foreign nations 
 will result to Great Britain. 
 
 The imports of foreign and colonial cereals have now reached the 
 enoi-mous value of over sixty millions sterling, per annum. The 
 growth of this vast product has furnished no employment to the 
 British people, nor has the profit upon it, in any way, benefited the 
 British taxpayer. It has, indeed, been landed at the ports, chiefly 
 in British bottoms, and so has yielded employment to Great Britain's 
 unrivalled commercial fleet, but there the commercial benefit has ended, 
 for the price has to be paid in gold. 
 
 Instead of thus paying strangers and rivals for her breadstuff's, 
 why should not Britain produce them herself from lands of the 
 Crown ? If the manufacture of their own ships and war material by 
 the British Government can be justified on sound principles of poli- 
 tical economy, is it unreasonable to produce the food of the people ? 
 The alternative is no longer avoidable, Britain must continue to en- 
 rich rival nations from which she purchases her corn, or she must pro- 
 duce it for herself as a National enterprise. In the history of nations, 
 the opportunity seldom arises to utilize vast tracts of fertile Crown 
 Lands, within easy access to the mother country. Britain enjoys 
 this rare opportunity to-day in the Dominion of Canada! 
 
 Within fifteen days of Liverpool there is an unlimited area of 
 fertile prairie land, as yet uncultivated, belonging nominally to " The 
 Crown." In less than five years this territory could supply the 
 whole British market with grain of a quality unsurpassed in the 
 world. All reports by competent judges concur in the opinion that 
 the great fertile belt of British North America — stretching westward 
 a thousand miles from Red River — will in time become the wheat- 
 field of the world. In a few years it will have railway communi- 
 cation with the seaboard, as well as unequalled water highways. It 
 therefore only requires labour and capital for its development, and 
 for placing the entire British people who are its inheritors in com- 
 plete independence of all foreign food supply. 
 
BRITAIN S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY 
 
 :i- 
 
 Individual colonization must naturally be slow, and as such set- 
 tlors cannot be expected to have Imperial objects in view — no mat- 
 ter how great may be the tide which flows towards this " illimitable 
 wilderness" — it cannot result in such timely develo{)ment as to over- 
 take the demands of the B.iitish markets, and so to outstrip foreign 
 competitors. 
 
 Instead of such fitful and tardy settlement, I pro])ose that the 
 Imperial Government re-acquire extensive tracts of land in Mani- 
 toba and the North- West territories, and that such lan<ls be culti- 
 vated exclusively foi" the giowth of corn and cattle directly by 
 the Crown. By arrangement with the Canadian Parliament, the 
 lands — some of which are held as railway reserves — could readily 
 be acquired at a fair valuation. British labourers could be sent 
 under labour contracts to cultivate them, and the entire sur- 
 plus product could be profitably sold in Britain on Government 
 account. 
 
 These lands are now held at prices, varying from one dollar (48.) per 
 acre to five dollars (20s.) per acre, the latter being for the belts nearest 
 to the Canada Pacific Railway, now under contract from Winnipeg- 
 westward. The reserved belts might be left to unassisted settle- 
 ment ; for there are thousands of square miles within reasonable reach 
 of outlets that are fertile beyond conception, and that could be ac- 
 (^uired for the maximum price of one dollar per acre. 
 
 The descriptions which have been published concerning the re- 
 sources of this northern territory, have naturally been received in 
 Britain with considerable incredulity. Preconceptions of a country 
 only known as the former domain of a vast fur-trading company 
 could not naturally be favourable, and actual observation, on ajiy 
 extensive scale, has been so recent that the British public may well 
 be excused if they have thought of it not as a fertile, but as a fro- 
 zen wilderness. I may, therefore, quote some remarks here con- 
 cerning it, from sources exceptionally well informed, or not likely 
 to be unduly prejudiced in its favour. The Pioneer Press, a paper 
 published at St. Paul, Minnesota, makes the following statement: — 
 
 *' Within the isothermal lines that inclose the wheat zone west and north-west 
 of Minnesota, which is being, or is to be, opened to cultivation, lies a vast area 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 9 
 
 of fertile lands, from which might easily be cut out a dozen States of the size of 
 New York." 
 
 The lands referred to are all within the British American North- 
 West. Mr. Wheelock, the official statistician for the State of 
 Minnesota, remarks concerning the wheat area of the United States 
 that — 
 
 " The wheat-producing district of the United States is confined to about ten 
 degrees of latitude and six degrees of longitude, terminating on the west at the 
 98th parallel. But the zone of its profitable culture occupies a comparatively 
 narrow belt along the cool borders of the district defined for inland positicms by 
 the mean temperature of fifty-five degrees on the north, and seventy-one degrees 
 on the south, for the two months of July and August. This definition ex- 
 cludes all the country south of latitude forty degrees, except Western Virginia, 
 and north of that it excludes the southern districts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
 Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, while it includes the northern parts of these States, 
 Canada, Now York, Western Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Red 
 River and Saskatchewan Valleys. In general terms it may be stated that 
 the belt of maximum wheat production lies immediately north of the district 
 where the maximum of Indian corn is attained." 
 
 « 
 
 And he remarks further : — 
 
 " 1. That physical and economical causes restrict the limits of wheat culture 
 to the seats of its maximum production, in less than one-third of the States of 
 the Union, within a climatic belt having an estimated gross area of only 250,000 
 square miles, from which nine-tenths of the American supply of bread and a 
 large and constantly increasing amoimt of foreign food must be drawn. 
 
 ' ' 2. That within tliis zone the same climatic and other causes tend to concen- 
 trate the growth of wheat in the upper belt of the North- Western States, always 
 preferring the best wheat districts. 
 
 " 3. That Minnesota and the country nortlv-xced of It is the best of these wheat 
 districts, having the largest average yield, the most certain crops, and the best 
 and healthiest ijrains." 
 
 The whole wheat-growing area of the United States is thus esti- 
 mated at two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) square miles, 
 whereas the fertile belt of British America embraces an area of 
 four hundred and fifty thousand (450,000) square miles, estimating 
 nothing higher than 55° north latitude. On the far western plains 
 
'7 
 
 si 
 
 10 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 the isothermal line of wheat culture undoubtedly reaches consider- 
 ably north of this limit. It can therefore readily be seen that 
 the most extensive wheat fields of America are on the British 
 Canadian side of the line. 
 
 Professor Macoun, during the past season, made an official inspec- 
 tion of a very extensive portion of the North- West. His opinions 
 concerning the soil and climate are therefore not only the most 
 recent, but they are undoubtedly the most reliable, yet published. 
 He is reported to have spoke in a recent lecture as follows : — 
 
 "From the 102nd meridian, he had journeyed due west over 13.1 degrees of 
 longitude, the course embracintr a little more than two degrees of latitude ; in 
 other words, he had travelled G50 miles west from Fort Ellice, on a line extend- 
 ing 150 miles from north to south. Within these limits were included 100,000 
 square miles — a territory of vast extent. 
 
 ** In the country lying to the south of the Assiniboine, south of the Qu'Ap- 
 pelle and east of the 103rd meridian, there are 800,000,000 acres of land, scarcely 
 any of which is second-class, nearly all being of the highest excellence. Never- 
 theless, being destitute of wood, all this land would remain unsettled for years 
 to come, were it not for the abundant supply of coal. There will, without 
 doubt, very soon be a rapid immigration from Rock Lake. 
 
 " North of the Qu'Appelle River, and extending westward as far as the 105th 
 meridian, lies a region containing not less than from 0,000,000 to 10,000,000 
 acres, which can with certainty be pronounced of excellent quality. There is 
 not a finer region in the North- West than that extending along the southern 
 base of the File Hils and the Touchwood Hills. 
 
 " The facts concerning the rainfall are these: — As the heat in the spring 
 increases, the rains increase ; then, shortly after the nummer solstice, they 
 decline, and by the last of August, or earlier, they cease altogether. After that 
 a period of six months commences, during which there is very little fall of rain 
 or snow ; and, with this period, the year ends. The operations of the season of 
 vegetation nre as follows : — As soon as the warm weather of the spring com- 
 mences the snow melts. Then, when the frost is out of the ground to the depth 
 of five or six inches, the farmer sows his seed. During this time there i» 
 scarcely any vain, but the frost underneath keeps melting by degrees. The 
 roots of the young plants keep following down, after the frost, and increasing in 
 size, till the latter part of May. In June and July, both the air and the earth 
 are warm, and everything rushes to quick maturity. Next comes the dry fall, 
 when the grain can be harvested without injury. These general characteristics 
 apply to the climate of the whole of the North-West, and the same results are 
 everywhere observable over tracts embracing 300,000 square miles. One impor- 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 11 
 
 tant result is that hardness of the grain which cornea largely from the dryness 
 of the autumn. Another important result is the adaptation of our immense 
 plains to the raising of cattle. The whole of the south-western plains, which 
 formerly yielded food for the buffalo, will, in our day, become covered with 
 cattle. Many persons have said that the vast plains to the south of Battleford 
 are too exposed for the raising of stock ; but God tempers the wind to the shorn 
 lamb. The admirable adaptation of the climate renders the successful raising of 
 cattle practicable where, under other circumstances, it would be impossible." 
 
 The special adaptation of the soil and climate of this vast terri- 
 tory to supply the food requirements of Great Britain cannot be 
 disputed. All that is necessary to attain this result are Capital. 
 and Labour, and these Britain commands without limit, 
 
 I will assume, what is certainly within the mark, that, for an 
 outlaj^ of twenty millions sterling, a territory larger than England, 
 Ireland and Scotland, could be secured. Out of one hundred millions 
 of acres, tracts adapted for cultivation could be acquired equal to the 
 full area of the whole United Kingdom, which contains about seventy- 
 seven millions (77,000,000) of acres — a large percentage of which, 
 especially in Ireland and Scotland, is not under cultivation. 
 
 Important drainage works, and the building of rail and tramways, 
 might cost two millions more. The conveyance, shelter and first main- 
 tenance of an army of contract labourers from Britain, and the 
 necessary implements for their work, would probably bring the whole 
 capital outlay to twenty-five millions siierling. This at three per 
 cent, would entail a charge upon the Consolidated Fund of six hun- 
 dred thousand pounds per annum. 
 
 For this outlay the Crown would hold in fee, through a Royal 
 Commission, a veritable " New Britain " in the heart of the conti- 
 nent. All the appliances for agriculture on the most extensive 
 scale, entrusted to a male and female labouring population of over 
 half a million, which with such soil and aj^pliances^ would show 
 results that would astonish the world. 
 
 In ten years, lands brought under such cultivation could be sold» 
 if need were, for from two to five pounds per acre, to the very persons 
 sent out to cultivate them, if to no others. The investment would,, 
 therefore, undoubtedly yield a profit on a large scale whenever it 
 
 I 
 
12 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 fi 
 
 was considered prudent, on the part of the Crown, to relinquish tlie 
 enterprise, and this profit would he a direct gain to the Home tax- 
 payer. 
 
 As the result of actual oncpiry upon the spot during the past sum- 
 mer, I estimate the cost of wheat to the individual producer in 
 Manitoba to be about thirty-five cents per bushel — equal to Is. oAfl 
 To make full allowance for outlay on a large scale, I would estimate 
 wheat grown as proposed to cost sixty ccnt« per bushel — one dollar 
 (4*'. 2d.) per cental — or say one half-penny per pound. Such wheat is 
 grown, and can be grow^n, yielding forty bushels to the acre. As 
 soon as railways now under construction are completed, the average 
 cost for carriage from any central point to Liverpool via Montreal and 
 Quebec, would be about from sixty to seventy-five cents (2s. Gd. to 
 3.5. "Zd.) per cental, making the cost at Liverpool 6s. 8(?. to 7s. 4ci. per 
 cental — equal to 28s. 9c?. to 34s. Gd. per quarter. If to this calcu- 
 lation five per cent, for commissions and charges be added, it would 
 still leave the cost of wheat in British ports from 30s. to 3Gs. Gd. per 
 quarter. The enterprise would thus almost from the first be self- 
 sustaining, yet if ten years' interest were added to the capital outlay 
 the profit would still be large. 
 
 If it be said that the delivery of wheat so produced would bo ruin- 
 ous to the British farmer, it may be answered that it would be sold 
 only at the market price, as now, but with this important difference 
 between it and foreign wheat, that it was grown by British labour 
 on British soil, and that the profits on its sale would accrue to the 
 British taxpayer. There can be no question but that the immense 
 imports of American wheat into British ports of recent years, coupled 
 with deficient harvests, have greatly discouraged British agricul- 
 turists. They feel that land, stimulated by artificial manures, and 
 costing an annual rental of from 30 to 40 shillings ner acre, cannot 
 compete with virgin soil costing in fee simple but a nominal sum. It 
 is true that the yield per acre of wheat lands in England is greater 
 than in any other part of Europe, averaging about 26 bushels per 
 acre, which is greatly in excess of the average yield of North Ame- 
 rican lands ; still, in the face of increasing imports, the average wheat 
 ^cultivation in England of three millions of acres is likely to decline. 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 IS 
 
 This docs not neceasarily imply a permanent reduction in the vahie 
 of English lands, but merely a change of products. In the colonial 
 times, over a hundred years ago, wheat was extensively grown in the 
 valley of the CWnecticut River, in New England ; and less than 50 
 years ngo the Genesee Valley, in the State of New York, was cele- 
 brated for its wheat. Now its cultivation is almost abandoned in 
 these districts, for they cannot compete with the western prairies. 
 Still the lands are more valuable than ever , for tobacco, fruit, an<l 
 other products are now profitably cultivated on the former wheat 
 fiehls. In England similar changes must occur with the growth of 
 population. She is likely to become a (javdening rather than a farm- 
 ing or stock-raising country. Thus the decline of wheat culture is 
 more likely to increase the value of British lands rather than to 
 lessen it. 
 
 Some discussion has taken ])lace concerning the adaptation of the 
 North-West for stock-raising; it is claimed by many that cattle may 
 be wintered in the shelter of the wooded streams in tl)-^ severest 
 weather, and that, like the Indian pony, they will scrape the dry 
 snow from the grass. I think that no reliance can be placed on 
 such statements as applied to cattle-raising on any important scale. 
 In all the northern and eastern sections of the territory, cattle would 
 require winter housing ; yet, as during the winter months farming 
 operations proper are suspended, abundant labour would be availa- 
 ble for profitable employment in attending to stock. The true test 
 is the cost of food. At present hay can be obtained from the 
 natural meadows without limit. I have heard the value of the saving 
 estimated at two dollars (88.) per ton, but I consider this too low. It 
 can, however, be safely estimated at not more than four dollars (16.s'.) 
 per ton, delivered at reasonable distances from where it is cut. 
 Root crops are grown in great perfection, avera;^ing, it is said a thou- 
 sand bushels to the acre. Coarse grain can also be grown, produc- 
 ing the highest yield. There is, therefore, no room for doubt that fat 
 cattle could be raised at a low expenditure on the very territory 
 chiefly devoted to wheat growing. 
 
 Beyond this, however, the plains of the South-West are specially 
 
14 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 adaptcnl for grnzing. Concerning a very largo 'district, Professor 
 Macoun is reported as saying : — 
 
 " The suitability of the Bow River country for stock-raising is attributable 
 in a great measure, to the Chinook winds, which, coming from the south-west, 
 from Arizona, Wyoming, etc., greatly tend to modify the climate, sometimes 
 raising the temperature (50 degrees in two hours. The diy atmosphere is regarded 
 as a cause of the low temperature not interfering with vegetation." 
 
 These western plains could he stocked with young cattle from the 
 Texas herds, and a cross could soon be obtained which would yield 
 cattle better adapted for the British markets than any now raised in 
 the American teritories. 
 
 Under competent overseers, no better herdsmen could be found 
 than the native Plain Indians. The buffalo is fast disappearing 
 before their indiscriminate slaughter by the white man and the In- 
 dian. The only salvation for the Indian is to employ him as 
 a herdsman of cattle, and thus ensure him maintenance. The Indian 
 tribes on British territories have generally been peaceable and always 
 loyal. If kindly treated and wisely employed they will remain 
 faithful. The attempt to convert these nomads of the Plains into 
 farmers is an unreasonable one. After a long period some, no doubt, 
 may be induced to cultivate the soil ; but the true and profitable em- 
 ployment for the Prairie Indians is cattle raising. Concerning them 
 the writer above quoted says : 
 
 " The Blackfeet and the Sioux were the finest men, physically, in the North- 
 West. The Sioux at Prince Albert ask for work that they may earn something 
 to purchase food. When men talk about danger from Indians, they do it for 
 place or for plunder ; for, wherever there is an Indian war or scare there is 
 place, and, when supplies are scarce, there is plunder." 
 
 Professor Macoun mentions instances of actual starvation havincj 
 happened among the Indians by the failure of the buffalo, while the 
 crops of settlers in the neighbomliood were left undisturbed. The 
 Indians on both sides of the line respect Englishmen and Canadians 
 both of whom in the west they call "King George Man." The British 
 people owe it therefore to these faithful tribes, whose titles have 
 
 m '■ 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 15 
 
 In- 
 
 been ceded as far as the Rocky Mountains, to furnish them with a 
 means of livelihood, by the investment of capital in stock-raising, 
 from wliich it is certain that the return will be tenfold. 
 
 Of the nnllions who have emigrated from Great Britain and Ire- 
 land, many have carried, rightly or wrongly, a memory of by-pnst 
 wrongs; others a consciousness of neglect, and of disadvantages and 
 privation, suffered in the struggle for existence. In the peopling of 
 this, the last fertile region, within reach of the Celtic and Anglo- 
 Saxon races, it is of great importance to reverse the former feeling. 
 Men conveyed by the nation to distant fields, assured of employ- 
 ment, and a bright future opened for themselves and their children, 
 would certainly entertain for the mother country not only the feel- 
 ings of loyalty, for which all colonists arc distinguished, but a warm 
 sense of gratitude which would bear practical fruits in later years. 
 
 The vast North-West offers a free area for all peoples — for the 
 Icelanders, for the Russian Mennonites, for the Norwegian, the Swede, 
 the Dane, and the German ; but above all, it offers a home for the 
 British people. To them it afford;} an unequalled opportunity of de- 
 veloping British Institutions on a grand scale, believing as they do, 
 that, under such institutions, there is enjoyed civil liberty and social 
 order, unequalled by that of any other system on the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 In the settlement of the older Provinces of the Dominion, from the 
 Atlantic to the Great Lakes, the lands being chiefly wooded, an un- 
 natural system was adopted. The townships were surveyed and laid 
 out in farms of two hundred acres, on each of which, one or two soli- 
 tary families settled, to hew a home for themselves out of the forest. 
 The early settlers were absolutely isolated, and were thus partly de- 
 prived of social, educational and religious advantages which might 
 have been otherwise enjoyed. To this day, even in the well settled 
 districts this isolation prevails, and has the injurious effect of tempt- 
 ing a large percentage of the youth to forsake the farms for the 
 towns. The unparalleled town growth of America can largely be 
 accounted for in this way. There is no excuse for the repetition of 
 this error in the settlement of the prairie lands of the west. Never- 
 theless, such is still being attempted, both in the Western States of 
 
r 
 
 111 
 
 IG 
 
 niUTAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 4 
 
 the Union, nn«l in Canada. The travollcrby rail or \vat<'r may s^ny- 
 whore (ioscry on tlu; liori/oii tlio .solitary dwelling of tlic pioneer Rot- 
 tlcr, prohaMy separated liy n.ilen from liis nearest nei^dihour. Tlu^ 
 inteivenin«^' tiiU't niay bo lield as a railway reservn^ at a fancy price 
 oi" ])y Hpciculators for a lise in value. 
 
 The rational Miode of settlement is tlie horf system of Europe, 
 only on a "^^randtir scale. The; sites of aj^ricultural towns should l»e 
 selected by <;omp(.'ient enj^ineers, located not only with nifen^nco 
 to tlie tract to i^e cultivated, but also with reference to the facility 
 for draiiui^'c, the adjacency of c<ml or wood, and the general adapta- 
 tion for healthful occupation. In this way many of the sites cho.sen 
 would become populous (nties durin;^ the present {generation, and 
 would, in contrast with the accidental locatiomi of the great centres 
 of poj)ulation, be abs(dute sanatoriums. The construction of cheap 
 sectional rail or tramways r)ver the prairie would meet all thercipiire- 
 inents of tran.sit to labour and the removal of crops; but even with- 
 out thos(^ theie is no natural road in the world to compare with the 
 piairie in the harvest season. 
 
 It may be supi)osed by some that th(; Canadian (Government and 
 people would view with jealousy such a vast Jnjperial establishment 
 (tarried on in <lirect competition with th<;irhomo a<.(ricultural industry.. 
 At first, no doubt, such obj(!ctions might arise, but they would be 
 l)a.sed neither on justice nor on expediency. All piibiic lands in the 
 Empire are calN-d "Crown Lands," i.e. — held by the Crown intrust 
 for the peo'fde. " The People" surely UKsans more than the resident.s 
 of any particular colony — the emigrants of yestenhiy. It nnist be 
 held to mean t/ic. whole Bfifi.sli'iu'ople, by whose enterprise and valour 
 these lands acro.ss the si.-as were won. 
 
 " Tlwy, too, weri> civiitffl laiiiH of Uio earth and claim itH dlviHion." 
 
 The British emigrant of yesterday has, therefore, no exclusive rightn 
 as against the liritish Immigrant of to-day, they have each claims 
 upon the lands of the Crown, an<l tin; Crown has a claim on their 
 services for the furtlu^rance of Imperial interests. But the (Cana- 
 dian people have more than reasons based uj)on right and ecjuity 
 to cause tliem to acrpdcsce in a scheme of Imperial colonization. 
 
 I 
 
mil TAIN'S FlJTUniC (JOHN HIIPPLV. 
 
 17 
 
 They arc uhsoluUily conmiiUcid to tlio vast undeitakin^^ of a railway 
 across tliecontiiuint horn tin; (iioaf, Lakes to the INuMJicr. Tlio interest 
 on tliiH outlay nmst he p.-iid liy tli<- colonial taxi)ay(!r,s, or (\\sit tlir 
 land roHOives mnst bf .sold. No system of individual settlement 
 can occupy tliese lailvvny lands in twenty-live years; the "free 
 grants" will atti-act -ictual settlers, even t(j places remote from 
 railways, so that no larg<i sales will be spcjedily made. 
 
 The advertising of the lands by a |)ublic comjjany of contractors or 
 otherwise would, no doubt, assist their settlement ; but the <-ontineid, 
 .has already had enough of "company" mono[)oly to lead to sucli 
 a system being regarded with favour; and to inclini! ( -anadians 
 to prefer any wcill consideied ImjHtrial scheme to one; of grasping 
 manipulation of the fair lands now held in fee simple for the whoh; 
 British |)eople. The conveyance of large tificts to the Imperial 
 (lovernment would, tlKsrefortr, })e at once a solution of the railway 
 prol)lem, ami would also (insure a develojwnent of the comdry in ten 
 years such ascouhl not otherwise be obtained in lifty. All this woidd 
 be immens(dy advantageous to Cnnadsi, at tli<; very tinu; that it se- 
 cured tlie highest interests of the Motlusr (Jountiy. 
 
 Po'imlaiioii is the great nc^ed of the Dominion of (vauiida. Th(i 
 outflow of British emigration during the past fifty yc^ars has maiidy 
 benefited the Great Repuldic. The future tide of unassisted innid- 
 gj-ation will tend to follow in the wake of its predecessor. Nothing, 
 therefore, can so rapidly [Xiople the Canadian N<jrth-West as an 
 lm[)erial scheme, mainly based upon lm])erial objects. 
 
 A large majority of tlie (Canadian I'arlianumtary constituencieH, 
 (although a small one of the (Jana<iian people), has, in 1878, declared 
 in favour of a protective tariff. Such a policy to be successfid, 
 above all, recjuires consumers; these wouhl b«( furnisluid by the 
 proposed scheme. All tin; implements of husbandry wouhl find an 
 immensely increased denuind, and in such the Canadian makers arc; 
 not surpassed in tin; woild. Domestic woollen and cotton ch)thing, 
 blankets, boots and shoes, and nuniijrous other staple su[)plies are 
 ahnost exclusively produced in the (Jolony for local use, am' the 
 trade in tlxsse would nec(!ssarily be benefite<l. Tin; liake and Mari- 
 tjyuitj Provinces would in this way become to the North- West what the 
 
 2 
 
m 
 
 n 
 
 
 18 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 New England States aro to the Western States, and the stimulus 
 would, produce an unprecedented development in all the Provinces. 
 The products of the Imperial colony would not be offered in the local 
 markets, and could not therefore depress them. Tho fruit of this 
 new industry would of course meet the colonial exporter at all British 
 ports ; but he would then have only to compete with Imperial wheat, 
 as he now does with American and Russian grain; while on every 
 cental of the former his country would make an indirect profit, and 
 the Empire to which it is his pride to belong would become indepen- 
 dent of the foreign wheat fields of the world. 
 
 The Canadian Liberal press and its leaders predict an early reversal 
 of the protective policy. This is not likely to be realized. Follow- 
 ing the precedent of the United States, the manufacturing interests 
 will acquire increased political influence; and the agricultural majority 
 are, for the most part, indifferent to questions of this nature while 
 they themselves enjoy moderate prosperity. If the Imperial colon- 
 ization scheme were carried out, the dominant province would soon 
 be neither Ontario nor Quebec, but Manitoba, or provinces to the 
 west of it. These would be largely peopled by men of British 
 training, and of British trade ideas ; colonial manufacturers would 
 therefore soon have to compete with British goods without regard to 
 tariff, for the wheat and cattle growers of the West would never 
 consent to the artificial exclusion of the better value products of the 
 mother country by a protective tariff". 
 
 This view might tend to prejudice the present dominant Canadian 
 party against the scheme ; but their necessities, and probably their 
 patriotism, would assure their concurrence. 
 
 Beyond all mere questions of trade policy, I advocate the speedy 
 settlement of British America with a people loyal to the British 
 constitutional system, as a countei-poise to the Republicanism of the 
 United States. 
 
 One hundred years ago the population of the revolted American 
 colonies numbered about four millions. North of the lakes and the 
 St. Lawrence was almost unbroken forest ; the population, including 
 the French colonists, hardly numbered five per cent, of the success- 
 ful revolutionists. To-day, after the lapse of a centu ry, during which 
 
 f 
 
 *■' 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 19 
 
 the peoples of the world have been thrown into the hip of the Repub- 
 lic, the then Canadian wilderness numbers a loyal people, about equal 
 in number to those lost by George III., that is, about ten per cent., 
 instead of five, of the present population of the Great Republic- 
 These have built cities, established factories, created canals and rail- 
 ways, raised cattle and develoi)ed agriculture, in a ratio which com- 
 pares most favourably per capita with the Republic. They main- 
 tain a commercial navy not only beyond that of the States, but fourth 
 in rank among the nations of the world. A country showing such 
 results under many disadvantages deserves to receive a trial on an 
 ' ample scale. It may then demonstrate to the world that material 
 prosperity can be obtained under the well tried British system, equal 
 to that which is witnessed under a republic, if not even greater ; the 
 system of government often erroneously receiving the praise which 
 rightfully belongs to a virgin soil and unexampled vai'iety of natural 
 resources. 
 
 Great Britain possesses in Canada the chief element that she lacks 
 at home, an unlimited fruitful soil. Its most southern boundary is 
 the forty-second parallel, and more westwardly the forty-ninth. In 
 Europe this latitude would place Niagara Falls and Toronto on the 
 southern boundary of France, and Winnipeg in the position of Dieppe. 
 Nor are these localities actually belied by the summer heat, or the 
 perfection of thiir fruits and cereals. The peaches ripened on the 
 Niagara River and on the south shore of Lake Ontario are not easily 
 surpassed in France; and the wheat of the Red River district is 
 certainly not excelled in Normandy. During the past summer I 
 experienced heat in August on the Assiniboine River, a hundred 
 miles west of Winnipeg, that I never knew exceeded in Paris. The 
 vastness of the American Continent, stretching far towards the 
 North Pole, does indeed give a far colder average winter than that 
 experienced in the same latitude of northern Europe, but this severity, 
 does not retard, but rather increases the fertility of the soil. 
 
 The immense territory from the Red River to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains has a northern slope. The Nelson River, which empties into 
 the Hudson Bay, from Lake Winnipeg, drains the valleys of the 
 North '^and South Sascatchewan rising in Hhe Rocky Mountains ; 
 

 ■4 
 
 20 
 
 BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 the Assin'boine rising in the Touchwood Hills, 52 degrees north 
 and 7 west of Fort Garry ; and tlui Red River, which rises to the 
 south, in the American territories. This area is almost one-fourth the 
 size of Europe. In the far west the Peace River flows east, through 
 a canyon of the Rocky Mountains, watering an immense upland on 
 which wheat is said to ripen admirably. The Peace River is a tri- 
 butary to the G/eat Mackenzie River, through Lake Arthabasca and 
 the Great Slave Lake, also draining the Great Bear Lake, and empty- 
 ing into the Arctic Ocean, carrying the waters north of 55°, from a 
 vast area of which but little is known, but admitting of immense pos- 
 sibilities in the liands of a hardy pioneer race. While the elevated 
 regions to the south of the line are saline deserts these northern ter- 
 ritories, owing to the lowness of level, are well watered, covered 
 with deep vegetable mould, and abundantly fertile. There is, there- 
 fore, a British territory half as large as Europe, within the wheat 
 growing isothermal lines, that is capable of producing in abundance, 
 the products of the temperate zone. This country only awaits the 
 occupation of it by a hardy population to be able to supj)ly all the 
 corn and cattle required by the mother country, and to develo]>e 
 Biitish institutions on a scale beyond all previous possibilities. 
 
 " I hear the tread of pioneers of nations yet to be ; 
 The first low wash of waves, where yet shall roll a human sea." 
 
 In the histoiy of the world there is no parallel instance where a 
 race and a system of Government have thus enjoyed a second oppor- 
 tunity such as is now within the reach of the British people. Amer- 
 ica, with its broad, free acres, is apparently the chosen field for the 
 development of the Saxon and Celtic races, as the British Islands 
 clouded by the sea fogs, and washed by the northern ocean, were their 
 cradle. 
 
 Through false conceptions of the lights of the colonists, and the 
 lack of appreciation of their importance to the Emi)ire, the original 
 thirteen colonies, with their flourishing western oflfspring were lost to 
 the Crown. Stretching from Massachusetts Bay to the Gulf of 
 Florida, what fairer field could be desired for the growth of the tree 
 
BRITAIN'S FUTURE CORN SUPPLY. 
 
 21 
 
 # 
 
 of liberty ; a plant which flourished in its island home diu'ing ages 
 when it was lost to other nations ? 
 
 The colonists of those days, rather than struggle longer to right a 
 temporary injustice, flung away the constitutional system which was 
 their priceless birthright. 
 
 Thoughtful men alike of the North and of the South now admit 
 that there are fearful risks to the ark of liberty tossed upon the 
 stormy ocean of a Republic of manhood suffrage, and guided only by 
 the helm of a parchment scroll. 
 
 On the northern, but larger half of the continent, ther-e is yet a 
 splendid field for the development of the British system, administered 
 by a British people, who will be the yeomen proprietors of the soil. 
 Municipal government is already established ; Provincial and Federal 
 organizations exist that admit of unlimited application, and a system 
 of national education is founded, that will compare favourably with 
 any in the world. 
 
 Here, then, is a great opportunity for English statesmen. By a 
 moderate investment they can inaugurate a system that will furnish 
 desirable employment to a large section of their own peoi)le ; and 
 that, in a few years, will produce from British soil, breadstuff's, pro- 
 visions and cattle enough to support Britain's utmost necessities, and 
 make her mistress of the food markets of the world. 
 
 Britain can thus rebeve herself from dependence, either in time of 
 war or peace, on hostile or rival nations. She can witness in one 
 generation the unprecedented growth of a prosperous and loyal 
 people sprung from her own loins, and enjoying the legitimate de- 
 velopment of her own institutions. She can thus span the American 
 Continent, and afterwards girdle the earth with a chain of British 
 peoples, speaking her language, enjoying her literature, her institu- 
 tions of civil and religious liberty, and, in spite of her faults and the 
 calumnies of her detractors, become more than any other nation a 
 blessing to her own race and to all the peoples of the world.