^ ^ "S^^ ;>^. ^^V', v% \v "^ ^"^ \\ Js .> ■> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 ut Itt 12.2 :^ US 110 IL25 III 1.4 iU4 6" FhotogrsfM] ^Sciences Corporation ^ 3>^ \ c\ "V as WIIT MAIN tTMIT WIUTIR.N.Y. MSIO O^ CBHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Inttituta for Historical IMicroraproduotiont / Inatitut Canadian da microraproductions liiatoriquat Tachnical and Biblioflraphic NotM/Not«s tachniquas at bibliographiquat Tha Inatituta haa anamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliographicaHy uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may aignificantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara ctiaekad balow. □ Colourad covara/ Couvartura da coulaur pn Covara damagad/ D Couvartura andommag4a Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raatauria at/ou palllcuMa □ Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua □ Colourad mapa/ Cartaa gAographiquaa 1% eoulaur D Colourad ink (i.a. othar than blua or black)/ Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noirai □ Colourad plataa and/or illuatrationa/ Planchaa at/ou illuatrationa 1% coulaur □ Bound with otiiar matarial/ RailA avac d'autraa doeumanta D D D Tight binding may oauaa ahadowa or diatortion along intarior margin/ Laraliura tarrAa paut cauaar da I'ombra ou da la diatoraion la long da la marga intiriaura Blank laavaa addad during raatoration may appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar poaalbia, thMa hava baan omittad from filming/ II aa paut qua cartainaa pagaa blanchaa aJoutAaa lora d'una raatauration apparaiaaant dana la taxta. mala, loraqua oala *tait poaalbia, caa pagaa n'ont paa At* film^aa. Additional eommanta:/ Commantairaa tupplAmantairaa; L'Inatitut a microfilm* la maillaur axamplaira qu'il lui a At* poaalbia da aa procurer. Laa dAtaila da cat axamplaira qui sont paut-Atra uniquaa du point da vua bibliographiqua, qui pauvant modif far una imaga raproduita, ou qui pauvant axigar una modification dana la mAthoda normala da filmaga aont indiquAa cidaaaoua. Th to Th po of fill Or ba thi sic ot fir sic or Th sh TH w» M« dif an ba rig rec mi 10X 14X 1IX 22X 2SX SOX • 12X itx »x MX 2IX 32X Th« copy 1ilm«d hare hat b—h raproducad thank* to tha ganaroaity of: Nova Seotia PuMie ArehivM L'axamplaira film* f ut raproduit grica k la giniroait6 da: Nova Sootia Publie Arehivtt Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha baat quaiity poaaibia conaidaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filnrting contract apacificatlona. Laa imagaa auivantaa ont Ati raproduitaa avae la plua grand aoin, compta tenu da la condition at da la nattat* da l'axamplaira film*, at 9n conformity avac laa conditiona du contrat da filmaga. Original copiaa in printad papar covara ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or llluatratad impraa- aion, or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tha firat paga with a printad or llluatratad impraa- aion. and anding on tha laat papa with a printad or llluatratad impraaaion. Laa axemplairaa originaux dont la couvartura an papiar aat ImprimAa aont film** an commandant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant aoit par la darnidra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatration. aoit par la aacond plat, aalon la caa. Toua la* autraa axamplairaa originaux aont filmfo an commandant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatratior. at an tarminant par la darniira paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Tha laat raeordad frama on aach microficha ahail contain tha aymbol — ^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha aymbol V (moaning "END"), whiehavar appliaa. Un daa aymbolaa auivanta apparattra aur la darniira imaga da chaqua microficha, aalon la caa: la aymbola — ^ aignifia "A SUIVRE", la aymbola ▼ aignifia "FIN". Mapa. plataa, charta. ate, may ba filmad at diff arant raduction ratio*. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraly ineludad in ona axpoaura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar, laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagram* illu*trata tha mathod: Laa cartaa, planchaa. tablaaux, ate, pauvant 4tra filmia A daa taux da reduction diffiranta. Loraqua la doeumant aat trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un aaul clichA, il aat fllmi i partir da I'angla aupAriaur gaucha. da gaucha A droita, at da haut an baa, an pranant la nombra d'imagaa nicaa*aira. Laa diagramma* auivanta illuatrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 m w I A BRIEF SKETCH or TUB •# j^resent .State or THE PROVINCE OF iNOVA-SCOTIA, WITH A PROJECT OFFERED FOtl ITS RELIEF, '^m' M. r. ron uarri^oton. m . H 75 KALI FAX, N. S. 1834 o; V lublic Aidiives of Nova SooHf HAUFAX, N, & TO JOHN MORTON, E»«. M. P. FOR CORMWALLIS. Sir, Having always felt a deep interest in the welfare of this our native country — and being under the firm conviction that its agricultural interests have been too much neglected, especially the growing of bread corn ; and that a fatal dependance on other countries for that essential article would eventually draw from us all our monies, and bring the whole province to a state of penury, a melancholy event which every day's experience teaches us has now arrived. And being, with you, placed in a situation where it becomes our duty both to think and act, on any important subject which interests our country, 1 have de- termined not to remain an idle spectator and brood over our mis- fortunes, but have presumed to write my idea on the subject, and to offer a scheme for our relief, which 1 have taken the liberty to inscribe to you, though I confess it is written in a very bad stylo of composition ; this may be attributed to the want of an academical education, and I must beg those who feel a disposition to criticise my work, to be a little charitable, and to take into consideration that 1 was born more than half a century ago, here among the woods, when we had neither •ohoois, roads, horses nor carts, which must plead my excuie for inaccuracies in writing. Our population was then about (\ve hundred, which ii now increased to three thouiand, and IV. being by their suffrages appointed to represent them in the General Assembly, perhaps a too ardent zeal for their in- terest and future welfaro, as well as the future prosperity of the whole people of the province, may havo caused me to write rather presumptuously. Nearly eight years have elapsed since I first met you at the House of Assembly, where I always found you a warm friend to the agricultural interest, and on that subject we have acted in concert. It may be by some supposed a little singular, as my constituents are mostly engaged in the fisheries, that I should take an active pait in behalf of agricultural pursuits. But I think every representative o.iglit to take into consideration the well established maxim, that he is both interested with the interest of his constituents, and the general interest of his coun- try ; and where they clash, the local interest must give way to the general good. And feeling an anxiety to become instru- mental in prevailing o.. he country, to adopt some well digested system, for the encouragement of growing our own bread, and thus reclaim ourselves from a state of depentlance ; I com- menced writing on the present state of the province, and intend- ed only a short epistle exphinatory of my views; but as I pro- ceeded I found so many ditferent interests — causes and effects, to enquire into — that I could only give an abridged statement, and left the subject sufBciently prolific, to furnish both matter and importance, on which more able pens may write volumes. I am, Sir, with the highest esteem and consideration, Your most obedient and very humble servant, JOHN HOMER. BfRRiNOTON, 2oth Oct. 1£84. - S thei tjr amc rass A who tribi the mon tradi wild prov theii Li larly busir and my, I tunc! W and I taker parti; unfai cially from SKETCH, &c% Sir, Since the settlement of this province- by the British, perhaps there never was a period when complaints of hard times, scarci- ty of money, stagnation of trade, bankruptcies, loss of confidence among merchants, and all the evils attendant on a general embar* rassment, were so prevalent and universal as the present. A melancholy gloom seems to pervade and hang over the whole country. The origin of these difficulties is by many at- tributed to Banking, and over-trading, by whom it is alledged that the Halifax Bank having been liberal in their issues of paper money, induced young men with littio or no property to enter into trade, live extravagantly, pay high rents, and make extensive and wild speculation's on their bank credit, which in many instances proved unsuccessfiil, whereby they were not able to make good their payments, and consequently ended in ruin. Likewise those who were concerned in foreign trade, particu- larly that to the West Indies, may have been led to extend their business upon u larger scale than they otherwise would have done ; and we see those who were managing with the strictest econo- my, and apparently doing well, could not withstand their misfor- tunes, and were obliged to surrender. Where there is commerce, bankruptcies will occasionally occur, and i>erhaps the unprecedented number of failures which have taken place nt Halifax within the last twelve months, may be partly attributed to the before mentioned causes, partly to the unfavourable state of the West India trade. But more cspeci- cially to the want of a market for the home cargoes, originating from the groat scarcity of money, or inability of the people to pay hm for those necessary articles which heretofore made part of their family expendittire,'and which taken collectirely, was the great consumption of West India^produce, purchased with fish cargoes, the product of the industry of this Province. When the outward cargoes had apparently sold well, and were invested in produce — say sugar, molasses, coffee, cocoa, and rum ; in consequence of the progressive and increasing scarcity of money, the country consumption gradually dwindled away — and the demand, so very limited, that the homeward cargoes were otlen attended with heavy loss. Merchants entangled in trade often meet with partial and some- times severe losses, having their property floating in different directions, still cherishing a hope that some of their speculations may prove fortunate and extricate them from their present diffi- culties, until they get so far involved, any severe check will cause them to give up to their creditors. Hence those merchants whose interests were so firmly inter- ^woven with the general interests of the country, and whose mis- fortunes have in a great measure proceeded from the same cause of prevailing distress, ought by every charitable and reflecting mind to be viewed with sympathy Jind commisscration, rather than censure. It is not only the merchants and those engaged in trade ^'^'^ are embarrassed by the present state of afiairs ; all classL len, the farmer, the fisherman, the mechanic, the commor i. jurer, are all severely distressed by the deplorable state of the times ; likewise landed property within five years has fallen in value perhaps nearly one half, and the tonnage belonging ^ to the country, either merchant or fishery vessels, will sell for but little more than one half of their first cost. lam aware of its being a thankless office to depict the poverty and necessities of our country ; but before applying a specific remedy, we ought to probe the ulcer to the bottom. We have also a prevailing spe- cies of idle extravagance, which operates very much against the prosperity of the yeomanry of this province; fathers have been too fond of making gentlemen of their sons, and those sons in return have been too apt to dot'pise the vocation of their fathers ; engage in trafTic or some other business which they suppose less laborious and more respectublc, but with which perhaps they are unacquainted ; and not po.ssessing capital, any bad speculation or untoward event involves them in dif- ficulties, which perhaps terminate in their ruin, when all their golden dreams arc turned into mortification ; and when too late, sincerely regret they had thought so lightly of the humble though honest and honorable pursuits of their fathers. Banking, over trading, pride and extravagance, are partial evils which will work their own cure. But from the most demonstrative evidence I am firmly con- I viiiced. and gire it as my solemn opinion, that the first, great- est, and most galling evil, and grand cause of all our distress, arises from the unfortunate circumstance of having so long al- ; lowed ourselves to remain dependant on other countries for most of the bread we consume ; to elucidate this fact I must go back to the first settlement of the country. While Nova-Scotia re- mained in possession of the French, the Acadians raised their own bread corn ; in the interval of time which elapsed between the year seventeen hundred and forty nine, and the commence- ment of the American Revolution, while the now United States were then under the British government, and consequently a fine trade existed without duties or exactions of any description be- tween this province and all parts of that cour^try ; the bread then consumed here was purchased with the prodixtions of the pro- vince, such as dry and pickled fish, oil, furs &.c. There are I here some of the oldest inhabitants, who well .emember when it • was a common practice for the fishing vess jIs of this place to ' load cargoes of dry and pickled fish, and go in the winter sea- son up the rivers of Carolina and Virginia, there retail it in bar- ter for indian corn, hams, pork, hog's lard, and other provisions the produce of that country, and return in the spring. The first English settlers on the north coast of this province,' gave great attention to the growth of bread corn ; they sowed their wheat in confidence, and their hopes were realized by plen- tiful crops ; but the several circumstances which have hereto- fore operated against the culture of that most essential article, with the great competition it met with from the free introduction of the bread stuffs of the United States, has gradually had a ten- dency to dissuade the decendants of those first settlers from > raising grain, until the thing is by some so far forgotten that they begin to doubt the capability of their lands to grow wheat. At Yarmouth, on the western extremity of tht? province, formany years wheat grew exceedingly well and seldom failed of a good crop ; I have been told by some of the the old Acadians at Eel Brook, in the township of Argyle, that on a dyke which they made there about filly years ago, they raised forty bushels per acre for several successive years ; when the land became ex- hausted, the crop fell short until they were obliged to relinquish the pursuit altogether. During the American revolution the peoplelin some parts of this province were at times much distres- sed forlbread ; at the termination of that war the great number of loyalists and disbanded soldiers who came to this country ad- ded much to its wealth and population, and put into circulation a great deal of money ; hardly had they got themselves snugly settled when they found the province lamentably destitute of re- Bources,? and that they were dependant on the very country they had left for the bread they consumed ; many of those loyalists were ineri entirely unacquainted with a new country, coine wen* to the West Indies, others to Canada, and others returned to the United States. The disbanded soldiers mostly remained^ and their decendants are novir incorporated with the respectable yeomanry of the country ; during tiie peace which existed be- tween the American and French revolution, the American g two, I was myself master of one or other of those regular tra- j ders; at first I sailed in vessels belonging to this province, until i Sept. eighteen hundred and eighteen, when our vessels were no longer admitted to an entry in their ports. I then went in vessels belonging to Boston, ostensibly as pilot, but in reality as master. I mention this circumstance i.o show that I have some data to be governed by, and that the extensive shipment of dol- lars from hence to Boston to pay for flour is not mere imagina- tion ; during the time before mentioned I made between forty-! five or fifly voyages, and carried each time from three to thirty- thousand dollars, averaging about six thousand ; when at the same time there were several other regular traders, one of 3 which carried more money thah myself ; indeed every Ves- sel that went to the States carried more or less hard dollars. I am confident that I do not overrate thet thing when I say the ^ merchants of Halifax shipped by me to Boston, two hundred and seventy thousand dollars in five years ; and judging from my own knowledge and observation, there was carried in the same time by other vessels, much more than double that sum, amounting alto- ^ gether, to alwut nine hundred thousand dollars ; and this to Bos- ton alone, exclusive of those shipped to other parts of that coun- try. These regular traders were continued with spirit for several • succeeding years ; at length when money became scarce they gradually dwindled away, and the last three years one vessel is all the trade will support. In the year eighteen hundred and twenty six the Imperial Parliament passed the famous free port bill, which extended the commerce of the colonies, by making one or more free ports, "^ and closing foreign commerce to all the other ports of each Colonial possession ; they likewise made a new tariff, which, among other alterations, imposed a duty of five shillings sterling })er barrel on all foreign flour imported into the colonies. This free port bill, as it concerned Nova-Scotia, was for several years j confined to the port of Halifax,and proved very unequal and un- ) just in its operation ; as all foreign flour legally imported must come through Halifax, which subjected the people of the out- tiorts and country generally not only to pay the five shillings duty, but to double freight with the profits, commissions, storage, wharfage, truckage, &c. on nearly all the bread stufi" we con- sumed ; and often the floury whi<*.h in Baltimore, Alexandria, Richmond, and other sea-ports of the middle States, was pur- chased for five and six dollars per barrel, was sold to the con- sumer in the outports of this province for nearly double the first ' cost. This caused a general discontent and murmurihg, and acted as a direct bounty on illicit trade ; many sober reflecting men, who would otherwise have scorned to have any thing to do f with smuggling, on viewing the monopoly granted to Halifax I at the expense of the country, felt a degree of indignation, and determined to get their bread the cheapest way they could ; others, who were less scrupulous, took advantage of this feel- ing, and made a merit of importing floor in a clandes^.ine man- ner ; when the thing became so popular and general in the out- ports, that almost every man was ready to assist m evading the vigi- lance of the ofiicers of the Customs; and I am told that in some parts of the province this business was carried on with the most barefaced impunity ; consequently much of the flour consumed in the different ports around the coast of Nova-Scotia paid no duty, and the measure that seemingly was intended to benefit the me- tropolis at the expense of the out ports, had theeflTect of causing / the good people of Halifax and its vicinity to pay the five shil- lings sterling duty per barrel on their legally imported flour, while the people of the out ports eat much of their bread duty free. Whether the parliament of Great Britain intended to grant a boon to the capital of Nova-Scotia, by causing all the foreign bread stuff imported into the province to be entered there, thus taxing the people of the whole country to benefit the metropolis ; or whether, when adopting the general colonial system, it was merely accidental, is a matter of conjecture ; I am inclined to believe the latter is the fact. Nova-Scotia, however, in a comroereial point of view, is dif- ferently situated from any other British colony ; She has a number of flourishing out-ports, fast increasing in population, which carry on a great proportion of the commerce of the coun- try ; and bear a great resemblance to Great Britain herself, in- deed she may be called Great Britain in minature. Then what would the people of England say, supposing they were depend- ant on foreign countries for bread, if their parliament were to confine all foreign trade to the metropolis, and allow no import- ed bread stuff to go to Portsmouth, Plymouth, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester or Birmingham ; and the other great commercial and manufacturing sea-ports, and in inland towns and cities,, without first passing through the warehouse of London. The cash we are necessarily compelled to pay for bread is not the , only drain on our country for money ; we are necessitated to ^ make extensive imports of staple articles wanted for the fisheries and other purposes; but the large amount of fancy goods annu- ally imported into this province is a solemn proof of our pride, extravagance and folly, and one of the principal causes of the great disparity between our exports and imports, which leaves a'^ vacuum, that in time of war is filled up by the expenditure of the navy and army ; bills of exchange being ranked as exports. But in time of peace this expenditure becomes quite limited, the different restoratives to wealth which are occasioned by war having been withdrawn. So long as we can pay for the American flour, or the gaudy ril )ons, a continual tide of money is ebbing from the country, ani< notwithstanding the great accumulation of wealth in time of war, the continual demand requisite to pay the i annual balance stand iing against our expor^ during a series of years, has at length brought us into a state of penury, from which to extricate ourselves, requires the collective wisdom, firm- ness and perseverance of the whole province. I am not ac- quainted with any correct method of ascertaining the difference between the annual amount of our imports and exports ; but on examining the returns on the journals of the House of Assembly, •—I find that between the first day of October 1630 and the 3Ist 8 of December 1831. The amount of dutiable goods imported in the five quarters was 403,248 Being in year ending the Slst Jan. 1831 Goods imported duty free for the fishery Then I will suppose the product of the ) different fisheries of Nova-Scotia ) Timber boards, deals, and all other lumber Gypsum or plaister paris 50,00 tons at 4s. Grind Stones, &.c. Beef, pork, butter and cheese Ballance of imports 236,707 14 This perhaps may be wide from the truth, but I think it rather over than underates the export of our domestic productions ; I like- wise find, on the journals of the House of Assembly, the custom house returns dated the second of March, 1830, signed by the collector and comptroller of his majesty's customs, stating that the importation! of bread stuff during the year ending 5tn Jan. 1831, were as follows. From the United States 71,866 bbls.— and 2250 half bbls; flour. Canada and 5,564 bbls. 3 half do. do. New-Brunswick Total 77,430 bbls. 2253 half bbls. flour, and during the same period there was duly paid on 29,209 bbls. wheat flour. Duty 8012 9 6 14,461 bbls. rye flour. 1989 15 3 4,051 bbls. Indian meal 665 3 323,199 8 4,588 6 I ^3^7,787 14 ■ ret 65,000 ■ 12,000 10,000 2,000 2,000 ■ ha ■ tr^ I ■ je91,000 I ■ 47,^21 10,357 6 The probable cost of this flour when landed in Nova-Scotia : 29,209 bbls. wheat flour at 30s. 43,813 14,401 bbls. rye flour at 25s. 18,026 4,051 bbls. corn meal at 15s. 3,038 47,721 15,000 bbls. illegally imported 6,000 do. rye, 3,000 bags Indian and rye, corn and meal and if 1 add beef, pork, boots, shoes and leather which this province ought to produce. .£64,877 32,500 6,250 350 .£93,977 6023 10(»,0U0 9 Thus it appears we pay to other countries the enormous sum of one ^ hundred thousand pounds annually for bread stuff, beef, shoes, boots, leather, d6c. all of which, under wise and prudent managi - ment, could be produced in our own country by our own industry. Having arrived up to the present period of gloom and dismay, a deplorable scene presents itself, which every thinking mind who retains a wish to serve himself, his posterity or his cohntry,' ought seriously to reflect on ; then, after mature deliberation, let us by a slight retrospect of the past endeavour to benefit the fu- ture, and by guarding against those errors And illusions which had insensibly led the inhabitants of this promising young coun- try into a mad career of extravagance and folly, heedlessly neg- lecting the first and most important duties which self preserva- tion imposes on a free people. In twenty years of peace we have paid mostly to the middle and slave holding states of Ame- \ rica, nearly twomillions of pounds sterling, for bread and other articles which ought to have been pruduced here by our own industry ; meanwhile this government exact from us on every article the production of this province (gypsum or plaister of paris excepted), duties which amount to a prohibition ; not even •the potatoe is exempted ; nothing will serve them but our hard dollars, until they have them all, and completely drain the coun- try of money. Then let us make this solemn enquiry, will the lands of Nova Scotia, with judicious management and persevering industry, produce a sufficiency of bread corn to sus- tain the population ; 1 answer in the affirmative, we have the , roost demonstrative and convincing proof of the capability of our soil to grow bread corn in abundance. On the southwest and southeast sections of the province the land is better adapted to the growth of barley, oats, rye, and the coarser kind of grain ; the north and north east sections, are more congenial to the growth of wheat. From the expulsion of the unfortunate Acadians to the present day, the farmers in many places raise wheat sufficient for themselves, and could produce any quantity were the y sure gf a mark et that would pay them equivalent to their laUbur. It appears^By the statistical re- turn of the province of Nova-Scotia, not including Cape Breton, for the year ending 3tst Dec. 1837, the wheat raised that year in the different counties amounted to one hundred and fiily- two thousand eight hundred and sixty three bushels, and the other grain to four hundred and forty nine thousand six hundred and twenty-six bushels ; allowing this return may a little over- rate the real produce of the country, though I can see no cause to doubt its correctness, we have the most positive proof that the soil of Nova Scotia will grow bread corn in abundance and per- fection, and it is a libel on the country to assert to the contrary. In this township of Barrington, where the male population are n 10 ^i mostly fishermen, and until latterly have given but little atten- tion to agricultural pursuits, wheat has generally been found to do well ; at Clyde river, in the time of the embargo, non inter- course and war with the United States, when flour was very high, the people raised very good wheat ; three years ago several persons here joined and purchased two or three shaker boxes, containing a variety of seeds, among which were some wheat, which was found by those who tried it to grow exceedingly well ; and having been continued by small spots sowed by different persons, it is found to have grown well, and much improved from the first seed ; indeed the old lands here are well adapted for grain, and will grow as great a crop of barley or oats as any lands whatever. In the year eighteen hundred and thirty one, in my immediate neighbourhood, one hundred and seventy-eight bushels of oats of a very superior quality were raised on two and a half acres of land. Although there are many here who raise a small quantity of oats and barley, but not having any mills or kilns to convert it into meal, it is ooly used as food for cattle, hogs and horses. Formerly most of the bread consumed here was of the coarser kind, and was supposed to be cheaper and more wholesome than that made from superfine flour ; from the scarcity of grist mills, as is plways the case in a new thinly inhabited country, many of the people must necessarily be settled a long distance from mill, it was found here that the time and expense required in getting Indian and rye corn made into meal, caused it to come higher to the consumer than superfine flour ; consequently the present generation, having from their infancy known hardly any other bread, but that made from the best superfine flour, such as the slaveholdiag wheat growers of Virginia seldom afford them-*- selves, and it is but rarely seen on their tables, yet such is the force of habit contracted by peculiar circumstances, that the poorest fisherman on the shores of Nova-Scotia consumes none but the best superfine flour of the United States ; what I have stated respecting the district of Shclburne, will fairly apply to any other part of the south coast of the province. I have taken some pains to inform myself on the capability of this country to grow Its own bread corn, und made frequent inquiries of the several members of the House of Assembly who reside in the different sections of the province ; on that subject all agree that the country is fully capable, under ju«Vc. for these there is no other market but Halifax ; which, being often overstocked, it frequently happens to cargoes of country produce shipped from Annapolis, King's or Hants counties to Halifax, that when arrived there they \Vill not sell for ienough to pay the freight ; markets so dangerous often prove ruin- ous, and are at all times discouraging to the farmer ; when, from the same cause, the absence of that legislative protection which ought at all times to ensure to the wheat grower a due market for his grain, he is under the necessity of carrying or shipping it to Halifax ; if after it is made into Hour, and perhaps put int.i sacks or bags, when it is liable to be damaged and become stale after all his expense and trouble, he is compelled to compete with the superfine flour of Virginia, which obliges the grower of Nova-Scotia bread corn to sell his domestic flour for a much lower price then he can afford ; under these disheartening cir-! cumstances, many men who own farms which, if properly encou- raged by a steady and firm market, would find profitable employ by giving their whole attention to raising bread corn, have des- paired of gaining a comfortable livelihood by the cultivation of the soil ; sold their farms, purchased vessels, and entered into the ' more precarious business of carrying plaister of paris from the Bason of Minas to the lines, or perhaps to Boston or New-York, \ by which the trade is so overdone, that commonly when in one season it has borne a fair price, so much is.carried to those mar- kets, they become overstocked, and two or three years must elapse before it will again bear a price which will pay a fair freight ; witness in the year eighteen hundred and thirty- three the transportation of plaister of paris to the States became brisk, which caused many to build and purchase vessels with a view of entering more extensively into the business, when in eighteen hundred and thirty-four the trade is not worth following. A master of a vessel recently arrived from carrying a load from Windsor to Boston informed me, that his plaister cost him three shillings and sold for seven and sixpence, which caused him to come home and give up the business for this season. Sixthly, — The facility with which the people of the southern 3 14 ishores of this province obtain the Americ&n superfine flour, isauses them to reject the coarser kind of bread stuff, consequent- ^ ly there are but very few grist mills, and these are intended only for rye and indian corn ; no such thing as aii oat mill is to be found ih this part of the province, yet there are many here who, decended from Scotch and Irish parents, still retain that fbndness foroat and biirley mestl so peculiar to the country from whence they originated ; b&t the prevalent want of mills to con- vert oats and batley into meal having continued many years, meanwhile the American superfine, with all its seductive quali- ties, being substituted in its place, the use of oat and barley meal was admbst entirely forgottoh. The American flour, however, liaving'takeh away all the people's money even to the last shilling, knd how havitig nothihg left, either to purchase superfine, or erect oat mills ; we look back oh our pa^t folly with melancholy sensations, and regret that we had not provided those mills, and 1' in some measure secured bur independance while it was yet in our power. Seventhly, — The necessity of experienced agriculturalists, who understand the Waiits of the soil — the nature and quality of manure requisite to invigorate and give it strength to bear a 'wholesome crop, with the many important improvements known to the practical wheat growers df Great Britain, and which from the alinost total neglect of growing grain in this Province, can be but intiperfectly uhderstbod by our farmers. Likewise, in a new country, where every mtfn holds the fee simple of the land, they cultivate, ahd commonly own, much more than they can im- prove with advantage ; those farmers aiid their sons are apt to shrink back and condemn any improvement which requires ad- ditional labour ; such as that of gathering and making manure in the proper season ; consequently by this neglect, and for want of nourishment, the soil becomes debilitated, and affords only a sickly crop of grain, when it is too often attribited to the incapa- bility of the lands — severity of the climate — shortness of the season— or to some unavoidable cause, rather than their neg- lect. Eighthly, — The most respectable part of the loyalists who ) came to this Province at the close of the American Revolution, were men that had been always resident in large cities, and be- longing to the commercial class, who knew nothing of cultivat- ing the land ; and others, who were mostly sons of wealthy farm- ers in the most fertile parts of the now United States, whose lands were cultivated by their black slaves. Many of these young gentlemen entered the British Army in quest of military fame, whose lofty aspiring minds were ill-adapted for cultivators and improvers of the lands. On landing upon the southern shore of this Province, which was then, in reality, a dreary wil- 15 derness in a state of nature, witliout roads or indications o£<^ul>- tivation, and doubtless wore a mpst forbidding appearance ; not understanding the method of proceedii^g in new countries, or possessing the indefatigable pierseverence requisite to ei|sure success, many of them began to despond, and imbibed » deep^ rooted prejudice against the fertility of Nova Scotia; Thus con- 1 demning the soil they had never condescended to culti- vate, as barren and .ungrateful, and tmite incapable of yielding to the husbandman a hit remuneration for his labour. And as these loyalists left the country they circulated these erroneous opinions, which were very generally believed, both here and elsewhere, and have been,one of the causes which helped to dis- courage the growth of bread com in this Province. It has also been supposed. that mercantile policy has hereto- fore, had. a tendency to dissuade the people of the south from im- proving and cultivating their lands ; but this I think to be an unfounded accusation. It is, undoubtedly, the interest of the mercantile body to eqcourage our fisheries, as the grand staple of our commerce, and they pught to be commended for their laud- able zeal in^promoting t^at branch of industry, which serves most to improve the revenue. Neither do I believe there has ever been in this Province any combination of mercantile policy to discou- i^ rage the fishermen from cultivating the lands. Indeed there is nq occasion for any jealousy of that kind. We havoi plenty of men to answer both purposes. The object is t(> find ptofitable employ for the whole male population, which must be done by encou- raging both Agriculture and the Fisheries in such a manner that they may be of mutual .advaqtiage to each other. There may be, perhaps, other causes which operate against growing our own bread com, and I think it requires no explanation to show oi* argument to prove> that the greatest obstacles we hbve to sur- mount are our proximity to the United States, and to secure to I / the agriculturalist of Nova Scotia, a sure and steady market for I ^^ his grain. Were we situated two or three thousand miles from ' the United States, or any other bread country, we would then find the soil of Nova Scotia capable of affording Bread Corn suf- ficient to sustain a large population, and our object would be accomplished without any other exertion ; but these are impos- sibilities, and we must be far removed from the United States, ^ ^)£. A harrier of wise and prudent laws, to take place and be en- forced at such times and pefiodilas the future circuipstances of the country may require, or as the wisdom of posterity may dic- tate. Then, which arc the most effectual and feasible me- thods we possibly can adopt to bring about such a reformation in rural affairs, as will cause the sons of Nova Scotia to grow their own Bread Corn, and thus become independent of other coun- tries ? This subject requires wiser heads and abler pens than (• jmme.. But, in the absence of all other projecti to rehere the «oantry, with the utnaost diffidence, I will take the liberty to ad- vance a theoiy, which, perhaps, others may improve upon, and bring it to that perfection which may eventually relieve us from our present state of humiliation and disgrace. On taking a view of the map of Nova Scotia, it will be seen, that to draw a line from the northern extremity of Yarmouth, to the northeastern extremity of Sydney, it will divide the Pro< yince into nearly two equal parts, both as to territory and popu- lation, and may be called the northern and southern sections of the Province. I find by the census of Eighteen Hundred and Twenty-seven, the Counties of the north exceed those of the south, thirteen hui^red and sixty ; but for the sake of brevity I will call them equal ; and as the population of the whole Province ^ now about one hundred and seventy thousand, consequently, we have on the south shore of Nova Scotia eighty-five thou- sand people, who get at least nine-tenths of their bread from the United States ; most of which is paid for in hard cash, besides that purchased with Plaister Paris and carried to the northern sections of the country;_ and also, a large amount of flour pur- chased m New Brunswick with country produce. I would advise, in the first instance, say in the session of Eighteen Hundred and Thirty-five, that a large sum be granted ^ for the erection of efficient mills — with all the apparatus for hull- ing, fanning, grinding, kiln drying, &.c. oat, barley, and buck- wheat, with the o|her coarse kind of bread corn, and as it is well known the people have no money, and can only pay their pro- portions in labour ; and that the real intention of the expendi- ture is to cause them to adopt oat-raeal and other kinds of bread stuff which they can grow themselves, in lieu of the American ^ superfine fioitr ; the paltry sum of twenty pounds cash will go but a very little way towards building a mill that will answer all the purposes required ; and paltry mills, which only make inferior meal, would serve to create a general disgust against the sys- tem, and defeat the intended object, while the more efficient mills that would manufacture the oats, barley, buck-wheat and rye, into meal of a superior quality would tend to create a spirit of emulation among the people, to raise their own bread corn, — when they would soon, learn to eat the bread of independence. But to carry this laudable purpose into full effect — will require a large sum of money, more, perhaps, than common prudence would admit of granting as a free gift. I wil) then suggest the ^ propriety of loaning for a term of years, sums in aid of erecting such efficient mills, as will answer the intended purpose, i e the Province to advance the cash equal to one half the cost of each mill, and to have security thereon, payable at Fomc future pe- riod; and. as the oat, barley and rye meal, were brought mor^ IT into common use, the mills will increase in value, and at all times sell for much more than the first cost. The people not possess- ing any money would then subscribe and do their part in labor, when, by receiving payment in toll until they had received the amount of their subscription, it would be a gi^at convenience as well as general benefit to the country. I am confident, were a mill of this description erected here, it would in two years do away with more than one half the present consumption of Ame* rican superfine flour, and, ns before stated, I consider this part of the coast a fair sample of the whole of the Nova Scotia South shore. Therefore, if we could i^ord to erect a sufficient num- ber of those mills, it would save to the industry of the pet^le on the soutii.cTn section of the province alone, about forty thousand pounds currency annually, which yrould remain and form part of i^irculating medium. In the Session of eighteen hundred and thirty three, I had it in contemplation to4ry to obtain .an act of the legislature, to re- gulate by law, the putting up and manufacturing the flour made on the northern sections of this country, to be put in barrels, made here of a diflerent size from the American flour barrel, but equally portable ; to pass a rigid inspection and be branded ac-. cording to quality, when it would become a merchantable arti- cle ; then, after a strict compliaiice with all the rules and regula- tions, such flour, so branded and sold at the town of Halifax, should be entitled to a blank sum per barrel l)ouiity ; hoping the bounty on the flour of this province, and the duty of five shillings sterling per barrel imposed by the Imperial Parliament, on foreign flour, would be a sufficient protection to the domestic flour. But, on conversing with gentlemen interested in mills, thcj informed me that much of the flour, made from domestic wheats would not keep well, and was apt to get stale when put into bar- rels ; I am told h} others that it is not attributed to any defect in the wheat, but by neglect in manufacturing the article ; and taking into view the importance of adoping a general and effici- ent system for the protection of our long neglected agricultural interest, when to patch it up by piece meals, would perhaps prove injurious to the cause without helping to remedy the evil, con- quently I r'^linguished the design until a more favourable June-, ture. The next weighty considerations are ' these, what measure/ shall we embrace, or what principle shall we act on, to securel to the farmers in the northern section of the country a steady and safe market for their wheat ; likewise to ensure to the peo*. pie of the south, a fair supply without paying extortionate prices^ — or indeed paying any higher for our superfine flour, then we heretofore paid to the United States ? with the most mature deli-, beration^ cautiously weighing in my mind the different interests \\ will affect, and the many obstacles we have to encounter ; X 18 '^^ i ^havecome to this conclusion, that individual efibrt can be but of little avail, nor ever can obtain the desired object (even if taken collectively) without the cordial assistance and volunta- ry guardianship of the legislature, to whom the country must look up, both for those wholesome judicious enactments, or other wise code of protecting bread laws, and liberal pecuniary \ aid, when we must adopt something like a gjtanary system, by j forming an establishment in the town of Halifax at the expence and under the protection of the province ; by erecting granaries and mills, with all the apparatus requisite for manufacturing flour ■4 which flour must be put into barrels made in Nova-Scotia, pass a rigid inspection as before mentioned, and be branded accord- ingly.' It will likewise require a Store-keeper, millers, labourers, and every thing equivalent to manage all the ramifications of such an establishment with suceess ; the storekeeper to be au- thorized to purchase domestic wheat, have it manufactured into flour, and issued out at stated periods, as may be directed by the Legislature : likewise a committee of the Legislature to an- nually inspect his accounts, and investigate the whole proceed- ing of the establishment for each preceding year, and to make a full and explanatory report thereon ; when, if it were found a- buses of any description prevail, it would become the duty of the Legislature to order a strict and rigid scrutiny into the offence, and to bring such offenders to such punishment as the nature of the crime may require. The next protective enactments required, will be something similar to the Corn Laws of England ; not to admit any K foreign bread stuff until scarcity, short crop, or some other unforeseen circumstance, cause domestic bread corn to rise to a limitted price, when a supply t)f foreign bread stuff can always be aumitted by order of the Governor and Council ; such a law would be aided by the present bonding system. The day having arrived when our country can furubh part of our own bread, we ma^ then be guided by circumstances ; but I think if a wise policy is pursued, the foreign bread stuff imported here, should be purchased with tho productions of No- va-Scolia and the British West Indies. Taking into view our relation with the Canadas, that much of our West India produce ' is carried thither for a market, and the hard terms on which the United States deal with us, I think it best policy for Nova- i Scotia to cultivate a commercial fViendship with the Canadians. We will suppose a liberal grant in aid of nlills made in the session of eighteen hundred and -thirty-five ; and likewise the > flour inspection and granary system, to go into operation at the same time ; much cannot be expected the first year, but if the system recommended were fully acted on, in eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, the then living patriots of Nova-Scotia, maj^ f9 expect to have the happiiiera of seeing some demonstrations of the emancipation of our country, and in a few years it would cause the growing of bread corn to be the principal employment of the yeomanry of the province, and so develope our resources, and establish the capability of our lands to grow bread, when the granary system may be gradually withdrawu,and the corn trade between the northern and southern sections be carried on by individuals in its natural channel. The happy announcement of that day having arrived, when we are amply supplied from our own soil, and no longer dependant on foreign countries for the staff of life ; the specie heretofore paid ^r bread will then be retained, and become a circulating medium — when the Pro- vince will again become surcharged with pipney, hnd enjoy its wonted prosperity. By the lesson taught uSKia eighteen hun-> dred and thirty fotir, our descendants may be warned of the dan- ger of leaving the growth of their own bread unprotected from foreign competition, and can pass from time to time such pro- tecting bread laws, as the wisdom of future ages may dictate. I would likewise recommend that liberal encouragement be offered to the middUing..iUass of farmers from Great Britain to settle in this Province ; whose experience in agricultural pur- suits, and practical acquaintance with all the different branches belonging to the growing of bread corn — likewise their perse- verence and knowledge of manure, change of crops, and the ge- neral prb^.tical information these men possess, would, when put into practic.'f, fairly try the test, as to the capability of our lands to afford wheat, which I trust will be established in the affirma- tive, and forever silence the opposition of croakers. The Agricultural Societies, formed in eighteen hundred and eighteen, by the efforts of John Young, Esq. Secretary to the Provincial Agricultural Society, would be of great advantage in. facilitating the growth of bread corn and all other agricultural pursuits, in this country, and I view the re-establishment of them and others, as part and parcel of my theory. These, Sir, are the projects which I take the liberty to offer to the public, for the purpose of relieving this our native country from its present state of penury and dependence. But however feasable it may appear to us, or beneficial the result if acted on and put into operation, we shall find many objections made by croakers and oppositionists, some of which I think I can clear- ly foresee. These questions will naturally occur — where is the money to come from ? what is to defray the expenditure of this undertaking? Why give to Halifax the preference of holding the granary of the Province, and of manufacturing flour for the consumers on the southern section of the country 1 Why grant to the metropolis another monopoly after that conferred on it by the free port bill 1 Why establish the Agricultural Societies, which have so long lain dormant ? Public Archives of Nova Scotia HALIFAX, N. S. 20 To the first I answer, that according to the present state of our commerce our revenue must be limited, and the treasury cannot afford any very large expenditure, without borrowing, which we are told can be done at 3 per cent. Then taking into view the unhappy consequences resulting from a heretofore to^ tal neglect of our agricultural interest ; the magnitude of the proposed undertaking, with the numerous circumstances which seem to dictate and persuade us that now is the proper juncture for carrying this important business into operation ; and trusting in Heaven for the success of the enterprise — for this, and this \ only, without any violation of principle, we may be justified in borrowing a large amount of money, on the credit of succeeding generations ; when, by affording due protection to the growing of bread corn in this province, we secure to the people one hun- " dred thousand pounds annually, which was heretofore paid to the United States — which will naturally have a tendancy to in- crease the value of all kinds of property, and place our posterity in an attitude to pay the debt without any inconvenience. In answer to the metropolis being made the depot for grana- ries, &,c. the intention of the project being to encourage the peo- ple of the south to consume the wheat grown by the farmers of the north, and thereby create a steady and safe market ; as be- fore stated, the population of the Province being nearly equally divided, one half on the northern the other half on the southern section of the country ; besides the facilities conferred on such an establishment, by being placed among commercial men, and in the centre of business. These indisputable facts may be of- fered in favour of the town of Halifax. Any person of the least penetration, who will take a view of the map of this Province, may see that its local situation makes it the natural depot, for the trade between the north and south sections of the country. Halifax, the metropolis of Nova-Scotia, is situated in the very Centre of the Province. The roads which lead from it expand in every direction, and extend to the remotest village. Being the mart of commerce, the vessels and small crail of every des- cription, from every harbour, bay and creek, along the shores of the Provmce, are ccntinually sailing to and from, bringing in their products and carrying away their supplies ; and while wo contemplate on its many peculiar advantages, in aid of the pro- posed scheme, it seems to convince us that the all wise Creator of the universe, in his infinite wisdom, had ordained the har- bour of Halifax to bo destined for the grand thoroughfare of in- tercourse between the people of the northern and southern sec- tions of the country. The distance from the capital to the further extremities of the Province, is not, perhaps, half so far, as much of the wheat nf the middle States is brought in waggons, before it can be IH shipped, and being a peninsula, with a free safe navigation all around the sea-coast, much of the wheat brought to market, es- pecidly that from Annapolis and Pictou, would come by water / carriage ; indeed to carry this theory into successful operation, there must be a focus somewhere, and happily for us, none possess equal advantages, can be more desirable, and give more general satisfaction to those who are not too much warped by focal prejudices, than our metropolis. The Roads of this province are now in a forward state ; very few new countries possess better ; had ou revenues held out so that the same annual amount paid to that service these last seven years, could be applied for the seven succeeding years, y> both our great roads thoughout the country, and the cross roads in the different townships, would be so far completed, that the statute labour ought to kr.ep them in repair ; when greater at^ tention could be directed (and more monies applied) to the roads of the interior and new settlements ; however, I an not one of those who think, that expending the whole of the public money on the road service, is the best possible purpose to which it can be applied. It is said that nearly five hundred thousand ' pounds have been expended on the road service within thirty ' eight years ; supposing part of this money, say sixty or one hun- dred thousand, had been twenty years ago, judiciously applied | to encourage the growth of bread corn, would it not in all proba^ bility have answered a nobler purpose ? Give the free yeomanry cash for their wheat, and they will both raise it, and find a way to brin^ it to market ; where there is no road, but only a foot path, they will take in bags a few bushels at a time, sling them ovet the backs of their horses, and cheerfully trot off to the mill, the country store on the great, post road, o^ to the nearest town or village ; where they can dispose of their grain, and purchase with the proceeds, their sugar, molasses, coffee, or any other little necessaries. Indeed, wheat, always commanding cash, will i^ f self become part of a circulating medium. I know of no coun- try on earth, in its natural state, which has less obstruction to contend with ; there are only a few gentle risings of hills and valleys ; what we call mountains are mere morehills, and our great roads are sufficiently level to admit of carrying produce to market with the greatest facility, especially an article so easily made portable as that of bread corn. Contrast Nova-Scotia with the mountains in the West India Islands, particularly Jamaica ; there we see a number of yoke of oxen, tackled to a sled with runners, the same as we have to draw on snow, heavy laden with sugar or rum, attended by a gang of negroes, at one time rising up steep hills, or the sides of mountains, requiring all the power and strenffth of the oxen and slaves, then plunging into valleys and foundering in the clay mud, where they must unload, or re- 4 m c? liefe the vehicle by digging it clear ; yet by dint ol perseverahcd they get their produce to the sea shore ; and in most mountain- ous countries, particularly in Spain, all the produce is brought out of the country on the backs of beasts, such as jackasses^ mules and horses. But it must be acknowledged that the farm- ing class, both as it regards rural and political economy, are far behind our neighbors in the New England States ; although a very large proportion of our people descended from them, and are evidently the same class of men, yet there appears to be some- thing wanting. Although the farming class have given much attention to grazing and fatting cattle, we see but little beef for exportation. The peculiar kind of heavy strong fisherman's boots, made in Massachusetts, are always much preferred by our fishermen ; and although we have a great number of men employed in the fishery who cannot well do without them, and will have them if possible, yet, though we make good leather, we never see a pair made in this Province to equal or imitate them. Consequently that article, amounting to many hundred pounds annually, our fishisrmen are necessitated to obtain-nei- ther legally imported or otherwise. The provinc*; likewise produces the very richest and most nutritive kind of patatoes in great abundance, as well as other food requisite for fatting pork, yet we seldom see a fat hog brought to market, and although the duty, freight, commission, profits, &c. on American clear pork, amounts to five and six dollars per barrel, it comes cheaper to the fishermen here, than the pork of this province ; indeed our Labrador fishermen have to pay higher here for the thin pork of this country, which to them is almost entirely useless, than the American fishermen pay in Boston for their clear share ; rural economy has per- haps one meaning and political economy another ; the way I de- fine them in the business of making pork, is that rural econo- my is that close attention and frugal husbondry, so requisite in raising the proper food 'n the proper season, and attending generally to the comforts of the swine while fattening. Politi- cal economy, are those wholesome Legislative enactments, or in- spection laws, so essential to esta))Iish !he value of pork or any other commodity, which are intended for a merchantable article, either for home consumption or exportation ; both the essen- tials are much wanting here, and call it energy, cntorprize, in- dustry, perseverance or what you may, there IS evidently some- thing wanting, which I ascribe to nearly the same causes, want of frugality and industry in time of war, want of money which palsies all our energy in time of peace, and likewise v;ant of those wholesome Legislative enactments, to guard against fo- reign competition at all times. Our fisneriei have always been, and will probably long conti- t 93 nue, a great source of wealth to this country ; but those who have made it their principal vocation, have had many obstacles to contend with, and without the aid of what they get from the land, but few men can support their families ; forty years ago, cod-fishing was the calling by which nearly every man along >L this coast expected to gain his livelihood, they then vied with each other in exertions ; he that could catch the greatest share of fish, was viewed as a man of superior merit ; and to be mas- ter of a fishing,' schooner, was thought to be a berth of importance ; agricultural pursuits were hardly known and but little attended to, except keeping a few cattle ; lands were considered as of no vvlue, nnd a smart fisherman felt himself degraded to be seen y*-J 94 ,v lit^t duty imposed on them by an act of the Legislature in the ^last session. The abolition of slavery in all the British domi- nions, although an act of benevolence and humanity, which will forever redound to the honor and magnanimity of the British nation, yet there hardly can be a doubt that it will eventually lessen the demand for our fish in the British West Indies. Likewise the happy effects arising from the late establishment and existence of the temperate Societies, in suppressing the free use of ardent spirit, and^ thereby discouraging the importation of rum, which I have always viewed as the poison extracted from the sweat which dropped from the brow of the unhappy negro slave. And when we contemplate on the happiness conferred on the human race, by relieving one part of mankind from sla- very, who were goaded on to hard labour by the lash of the whip, and employed making material for brutalizing their fel- low men, we may rejoice that we live in an age of philanthropy, and cheerfully dispense with a market for a few cargoes of cod fish. However, should my theory or any other which gave a fair security to the agriculturalists of this Province, and cause them to grow bread for the whole population, be adopted and put into practice, the money retained here would become a circulatmg medium. The whole country both north and south would parti- cipate in the blessings arising from such a measure ; it would have a tendancy to recruit and supply our treasury, and become a source of much happiness. Yet it is evident that the people of the north will be more benefited by the change than those of the south, and when that happy day arrives, it is hoped the in- terests of the fisheries will not be forgotten ; but may be so far encouraged and protected by bounties or otherwise, that we may at least compete with the Americans on our own coast, and no longer remain under the degrading and humiliating afllliction of seeing ourselves hoodwinked with both our agricultural and fish- i ing interest, extorted from us, and monopolized by the people of another nation. The coals of Nova-Scotia and Cape-Breton I have not taken into consideration, as part of our natural resources ; they being, under present circumstances, rather a foreign monopoly thnnof any real advantage to this Province. But I have ofien felt cha- grined and mortified, to hear gentlemen of superior abilities, when conversing on the resources of this country, say that Nova Scotia abounds with minerals and coals to that extent which makes it the most valuable spot on earth, and that nature had destined it shortly to become a mining and manufacturing coun- try. These conjectures and assertions are very easily made, but let us look into the improbability of these ever being veri- fied, at least within the lapse of two or three centuries ; certain- ly not while wo continue a colony of Great-Britain. Suppoio 25 ■AW one half of the whole Province were a bed of coals, and the other half minerals and ores, say iron, lead, copper, tin, slates, silver and gold, and were in every point of view adapted for a mining and manufacturing country ; who will work those mines, and establish those factories ? surely not the present inhabitants of the province and our descendants, for we have no money, nor never can have any, until we raise our own bread corn ; but those mines and factories must be established and worked with British capital. Then has the British nation so far lost sight of K their own interest, as to advance capital to create manufactories and open mines which would rival themselves, and put many of their own people out of employ, to build up a little colony in North America ? I think not ; supposing those gentlemen's hopes were realized, and Nova>Scotia were found to contain a solid bed of coals and minerals, and mining were found to be so lucra- tive a business, that many mines of different descriptions were immediately opened, and worked to advantage, with a ready demand for all the products ; yet the people were dependant on * other countries for fheir bread, what would be the fate of the descendants of the present inhabitants ? a fate which heaven for- bid ; probably in the course of twenty-five or thirty years, those of the descendants of our now free yeomanry, who had not left the country, must all become labourers in the mines, and gain their livelihood by toiling day and night covered with dirt and filth, obscured from the light of heaven ; deprived of almost eve- ry earthly blessing, they must linger through a miserable exis- tence without a hope of bettering their condition, until they by degrees become so far brutalized and incorporated with their companions in misery, which will consist of other miners, brought from the mines in Great Britain, that it will be entire- ly forgotten from whom they descended, or that their ancestors were once the free land holders of the country. It would then in fact become a country of lordlings and slaves, or rather pet* > ty tyrants and slaves, because the capitalists who owned or for whom those mines were worked, would probably reside and spend their wealth in Great Britain, France or Italy, while their agents here were acting the tyrant over the unfortunate des- , cendnnts of the once free Nova-Scotians. Then let us turn from the disgusting picture, and pray heaven to avert so deplorable a calamity, as that which must befall our posterity, were this pro- vince ever to become a mining and manufacturing country. Let our descendants have the privilege of cultivating and decorating the surface of our mother earth, and enjoy its productions, during the lapse of two or three hundreds of years ; it will then he time enough to bury themselves in its bowels in search of wealth. The well defined principle, that agriculture is the basis of all public prosperity, is too well known to admit of a doubt— tho 20 Ml most profound writers on political economy, lay it down as a sound and well established maxim, that on this noble art we de- pend, for almost every thing which inakea life agreeable. The raising of bread corn is likewise acknowledged to be the first and most important branch of agricultural pursuits ; and in every country possessing a well regulated constitution, it be- comes imperative on the government, to adopt such wholesome regulations, as will secure thegrowth of a sufficiency to feed the population. Butln this province, possessing all the natural advantages requisite for raising corn in abundance, these wholesome bread protecting regulations have not been attends ed to ; on the evil consequences resulting from this fatal neg- lect, the present deplorable state of Nova-Scotia speaks vo-* lumes, which plainly tells us, and makes it doubly conspicuous, that while benign providence had bestowed on us a healthy climate, and a country abounding with fertile soil, inhabited by a robust population of hardy yeomanry, possessing all the nerve and intellect requisite to cause it to yield bread corn in great profusion, as well as most of the other necessaries of life ; we shamefully neglected those bounties of nature, and purchased of strangers, bread stuff amounting to nearly one hundred thousand pounds annually, until we have parted with our last shilling. We have now arrived at a crisis, when one of two things * must be done ; we must adopt some efficient method to en- courage the agriculturalists to turn their attention to the raising of bread corn, and thus find employment and support for the rapidly increasing population, or they must abandon the coun- try ; where are we to get one Hundred Thousand Pounds the ensuing year, to pay for our bread, and shall we go on ad infinitum, and pay ^t the rate of a million sterling the next ten years 1 no we have not, and cannot obtain the money, and we have no other alternative, but to grow the greater part of our bread, or leave the country ; therefore I am firmly persuaded that this is the time when we ought to make the most steni^ous efforts to accomplish one relief Th^ laudable efforts of Joiin Young, Esq. in eighteen hun- dred and eighteen, under the signiture ofAgricola, and after- wards as Secretary of the Provincial Agricultural Society, did much towards removing the then existing prejudices against ru'"' pursuits ; and it is a great satisfaction to any friend of this piovmce to read his letters, which have since been compiled into one volume; he wrote however at an unseasonable period, i|mmediately on the termination of war, while money was yet plenty, when every man could purchase his barrel of superfrne flour without inconvenience ; our Treasury was yet over-flow- ing, but insanity had taken place in the minds of men, andcooli !27 iiobeir reason had fled from the country ; a few only, could ett far demean themselves as to think, much less to act, in behalf of so vulgar a pursuit as that of growing bread corn ; nothing ' would serve their high minded ideas, but the most splendid gi- gantic enterprize, or magnificent undertaking ; agricultural pur- ) suits were deemed unworthy of consideration, the growing of bread corn received a death blow, from which it has never yet recovered, croakers, and oppositionists having there glutted their vengeance ; it remains, now to be seen what a state of penu- ry will bring forth. We have a few wealthy men yet in this province, but it must be acknowledgied that the great mass of the people are in very needy circumstances; any reflecting mind, who takes the least notice of passing events, must be con- vinced that our poverty is is in a great measure owing to a neg- lect, which requires the most profound consideration. Doctor Morse, in hi& American Geography, published in eighteetl hundred andfiVe : says, it is computed, that three out of four of the whole male population of the United States are en- gaged in Agricultural pursuits. It appears in Nicholson's Bri- tish Encyclopedia, that in the year eighteen hundred and one the population of Great Britain, exclusive of Ireland, were nearly eleven millions, and the then annikal amount of wheat grown in that country exclusive of other grain, was computed to the amount of twenty millions of pounds sterling; thus we see the great number of men employed in, and the weighty importance attached to, the providing of bread in the countries from whence we originated. In Englaftd, agriculture is viewed as a proud science, which the fir t nobleman of the kingdom feels honored to improve ; and their wise protective Corn Laws, although disputed by in- terested oppositionists, have stood the test of experience, and proved to be one of the greatest safe guards of the nation ; there we see that agricultural pursuits, especially the growing of bread corn, is considered to be of the very first importance, and held in the highest estimation. In their Parliament, the most eloquent Statesmen the world aflfords, do hot think it beneath their dignity to take a decided part, and exert their splendid talents, in behalf of those protective Bread Laws, which have proved a source of happiness and comfort to that people. Then can it be degrading to the Legislature of a little colony, to take into consideration that which in our mother country is always act- ed on, as a subject of vital importance ; atid with their noble and patriotic example before us, shall we shrink back from our duty, and pursue only those pusilanimous measures, which have not sufficient feasibility to amuse the agricultural interest with A hope. There appears to be a very general disposition to find fault BnH SB with the proceedings of the Legislature ; the newspapers conti' nually teeming with observations ; some find fault with one mea- sure, some with another, some are for petitioning the Governor t dissolve the House, others for triennial parliament, and others for they know not what themselves, but all for that invisible something ; much is expected, and much more is said of relieve ing the country from its increasing embarrassments ; many are ready to tell us, we have done the things we ought not to do, but none come forward to tell us what we are to do, or to recom- mend any general system. It may perhaps be thought very im- proper and indecorous, for one who is a member of the Legis- lature, to publicly make, during the recess of the House, any comments on the business to be transacted while in Session. But convinced as I am, that the future prosperity of our common country depends on some effectual Legislative measure, to protect the agricultural interest and encourage the growth of our bread ; likewise having offered what I think to be the most practicable theory, for the consideration of the public, I must beg pardon of whom I may unintentionally offend ; and without further hesitation do hereby invite all the good people of the different towns and villages of Nova-Scotia, who may read this work and think favourably of my project, or of any other method or methods to encourage and protect the growing of bread corn, and thus save our country from impending ruin, to forward their petitions to the Legislature, in the next Ses- sion, when there cannot be a doubt of finding a very large ma- jority, ready to second the view of the country. The object of relieving our country is a most solemn consideration, which we ought not to shrink from ; let it no longer be said, that Nova- Scotia can only prosper while the mother country is involved in all the miseries of war, and fattens only while the sailors and soldiers ofGreat Britain, are fighting the battles of their country among scenes of blood and carnage ; nor neither will tho money earned in time of war wear well in peace, of which we have ample proof Twenty years ago the people of Nova-Scotia were compari- tively rich, as I have before stated, every man had cash in his pocket ; it was much easier at that period to raise one hundred pounds in money by subscription for any public purpose, than it would be now raise as many pence for the same object. Our mo- ther country had long been engaged in war, which caused an un- natural tide of wealth to flow into this province ; at length a gene- ral peace took place, and the avenues of wealth were closed, the current of prosperity turned, and continued to run in a contrary direction, until the eventful year of eighteen hundred and thirty four, when the low ebb of adversity, exposed the needy state of our finances, and brought us back to depend on 4 29 I / our own resources. The poorer class of people in the country, first felt the effect of a growing scarcity of money ; the country retailing stores were next cramped, and obliged to deny crediting their old customers ; until eighteen hundred and twenty seven, many of the country retailers, could vend from one to three thousand pounds worth of groceries and dry goods annually, and make their payments punctual, to those importing mer- chants who had supplied them ; but subsequently they found it impossible to sell for cash, and if they let their goods go on credit, it was equally difficult to get their pay ; when this class of traders were in a great measure obliged to relinquish their business, which had a serious effect on the ii^porting merchants — who naturally depend on the vendors Of their goods for a market. During the last seven years, the only circulating medi- K^ urn was the monies paid from the Treasury to the Road ser- vice ; that and all the other monies, which could be earned by hook or by crook, must be paid away for American flour. Much of the province paper applied to the road service, was annually sent by the men who laboured on the roads to Passama quaddy to purchase bread, were it was shaved of five per cent, and paid back to those who bring plaister paris, and to our young men who go fishing in the vessels of Eastport during the spring and summer and are returning in the winter. The small Traders in the metropolis, assisted by a fictitious capital, were enabled to hold out a few years longer, when the general scarcity of money caused many to yield to the pressure of the times, others to give up up their business, and perhaps remove to the United States ; the five years preceding eigh- teenhundredand thirty-four, money had nearly vanished from all! patrs of theprovince, except Halifax, where commerce assisted f by the aid of Banking, seemed to flourish ; likewise the erection: of public works employed many labourers, which helped to bring cash into circulation ; country produce as at all times plentiful, and oflen the market overstocked, insomuch that it sold at the most disheartening prices for the farmer ; our fishermen oflen sell their fish at Halifax for cash, but very little of their money ever comes here. It is all immediately paid away for flour and other supplies, no one can pay his debts in cash, how- ever small they may be, for it does not exist among us. Any stagnation of business in the metropolis is severely felt by the fishing class, and those who sail coastwise ; nor never was it more conspicuous, or a greater proof how nearly the interest of the merchants of Halifax and those engaged in the fishe- ries here are allied (than at the present moment, September, eighteen hundred and thirty four) when, afler mucli mercan- tile distress and embarrassment had prevailed, that dreadful pestilence the cholera raging in the capital, which seemed to V* 30 m f- dishearten every one; onr vessels could find no^employ, and ma- ny of them came home, and hauled up as if it were the dead of winter ; every countenance appeared gloomy, and touched with sympathy for the suffering people of the metropolis. With a solemn conviction that many of those who may read this little work, will agree with me in opinion, that our pecu- niary distress proceeds from our dependance on other coun- tries for the staff of life, and that nothing can give lasting and permanent relief, but s{>me well regulated system, both to grow our bread, and to ensure the agriculturalists a sure and safe market for their grain; to obtain this let every patriot write a petition, and every friend to his country heave in his mite, by placing his name thereon. Then let us turn from the gloomy picture of the present melancholy state of this pro- vince ;and suppose wc adopt the theory which I have here offer- ed for the consideration of the public, and in a few years prove to the world, that the inhabitants of Nova-rfcotia can, with but little exertion, grow bread sufficient for a dense popu- tion, and become completely independant of other countries for that indispensible article ; what would be the happy effects, I which would arise from such a '* consummation so devoutly to be wished" by every patriot and friend to the country ? It would 'make a profitable employment for more than one third of the whole male inhabitants of the province, and retain our increas- ing population in the country, where they may cultivate their own native soil, ami enjoy the benefits derived from the in- dustry of their ancestors ; instead of migrating to foreign climes ill qjestofalivelihoo(l,and settling in a land of strangers — melan- choly forebodings, which always accompany a state of idleness ani indigence. It would cause the inhabitants of Nova-Scotia to become a happy and thriving people ; and by the agricul- turalists growing a stifficiency of bread, and finding a ready cish market, they would be enabled to hire and pay such wages as the business would afford, to those unfortunate^ emigrants, wlionot knowing where to find employment, stay m Halifax daring the winter, and then starve, beg and steal; with their little ones around them crying for bread, when it is not in the pavvor of thR parents to afford relief. I ask the sons of Nova-Scotia to seriously ponder over the matter here laid before them, and to consider whiit must be the fite of our country, if wo longer continue thus neglectful of our best interests ; shall this fertile province forever remain under the stigma of boin? a cold barren sterile soil, incapable of grow- ing bread corn, or fairly remunerating the husbandmen for their labour. It would cause all descriptions of real estate to raise mircthan treble its present value and much enhance the value 1 ot'tonnago bjth of merchant and fishing vessels. 31 It would add to the respectability of our free yeomanry, whose wilderness lands are now supposed to be of but little worth ; which would, by their industry, soon be converted into fields of wheat or other grain, and become valuable and per- manent property ; and induce young men who now live in a state of celibacy, fearful of taking a partner for life, and on the wing of migrating to some foreign country in search of lands j from which they may gain a livelihood, to remain at home, j marry and settle on the uncultivated lands in the neighbourhood j of their fathers, clear and till the soil with the most sanguine expectation, that with a few years industry and good economy, j they may be enabled to rear up a numerous family, with com- | fort and respectability. Tt would give a general spring to indus- try, gladdens the heart of both the young and old, do away with those despond ingthoughts. It would, by retaining the money in the country, create a circulating medium ; when we should again see something like the good old times, when every indus- trious man could have money in his pocket to pay his preacher, school master, county and town tax, take a newspaper, purchase j his ten, sugar, molasses, coffee, and all other little necessaries, live comfortably, and have a few pounds to the good, at the termination of the year. It would give life and activity to Commerce, which will re- plenish and support our Treasury, enable us to grant liberal bounties for the encouragement of our fisheries ; apply monies to the road service, to the support of schools, and to many other purposes, which may be required for the improvement of the country. It will cause a large proportion of the business of the province to centre at Halifax, when, by furnishing domestic flour, in place of foreign flour, it will do away with the mono- poly, granted by the operation of the free port bill, and silence that pretext for the nefarious business of smuggling. Then, with the assistance of divine providence, we ought to make use of all the energy, frugality, industry and perseverance, in our power, to obtain the grand object, which will decide the fate of our country, and confer countless blessings on many generations got unborn. It will make an equal division of property among o if free yeomanry, and give a competency to an industrious and virtuous people; it will likewise make Nova-Scotia the most i desirable country hi North America. All these and much more can be attained, by adopting some well digested system, and by adhering strictly to its principles. Then we shall have no more occasion to feed on American superfine flour, nor shall they be any longer enriched with our hard dollars; but we will take for our watch word, the motto of the Immortal Hereof Tra- falgar, — England expkcts every man to do nis duty. Public Archives of Nova Scotia HALIFAX^ N. a.