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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. ^ ■■■; -^ •:'>.:4 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^ II i SECOND PRIZE ESSAY. NEW BRUNSWICK, AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS : WITH THE BEST MEANS OF PROMOTING IMMIGRATION, AND DEVELOPING THE RESOURCES OF THE PROVINCE. BT JAMES EDGAR. SAINT JOHN, N. B. PRINTED BY BARNES AND COMPANY, PRINCE WILLIAM STREKT. 1860. ■m SECOND PEIZE ESSAY. NEW BRUNSWICK, AS A HOME FOK EMIGEANTS : WITH THE BEST MEANS OF PROMOTING IMMIGRATION, AND DEVELOPING THE RESOURCES OF THE PROVINCE. BV JAJHES EDGAR. RADhT JOim, K E. PRINTED BY BARNES AND COMPANY, PRIXCR W^ILLIAM OTREHT. 1860. r PREFACE. s In December last, the President and Directors of the Saint John Mechanics^ Institute proposed two prizes of Fifteen Guineas and Tea Guineas, respectively, for the best Essays upon the subject : *^ New Brunswick as a Home for Emigrants : with the best means of promoting Immigration^ and developing the resources of the Province^ Tlie Essays were to be delivered on or before the fii-st day of March last ; and no less than eighteen were sent in as competitors for the prizes. It was determined that a committee of three gentlemen, uncon- nected with the management of the Institute, should be appointed to act as examiners of these Essays, and judges of their merits. William Wright, Esq., L.L. D., Advocate General, the Hon. John W. Weldon, and the Rev. William Scovil, A. M., acceptetl the Board's invitation to act as such Committee. On the 19th April they submitted their report, in which they speak in flattering terms of all the Essays, and recommend that three of them, besides the two to which they had awarded the prizes, sh'>uld be published. The following is the Essay which gained the second prize. Being convinced of the necessity of diffusing as widely as pos- sible the valuable information contained in these Essays, the Direc- tors of the Institute communicated with the Provincial Government upon the subject of their publication, and distribution throughout the Provinces and in tho United Kingdom. In the most liberal manner, the Government assumed the cost of printing several riiEFACE. thousand copies of each of the five Essays, on the solo condition that a certain number sliould bo placed at the disposal of the Executive Council ; and they arc now published under that ai'rangenient. The President and Directors of the Institute beg to express their sincere thanks to the gentlemen who undertook so readily, and discharged so faithfully, the laborious task of examining the Essays, and their entire satisfaction with the course adopted by the Government in aiding and encouraging the Institute's effort to make our country and its resources more widely known and more fully appreciated. They sincerely trust that their endeavours to effect this desirable object may not be unproductive of good rcBults. Saint JohUj June 1860. T ♦ il 31 ^^ NEW BRUNSWICK AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS : J WITH THE BEST MEANS OF PROMOTING IMMIGRATION, AND DEVELOPING TIJE RESOURCES OF THE PROVINCE. Our greatest want is the want (^f men and women. 1 In stepping outside its wonted boundaries of operation, and offering prizes for Essays r.pon this national subject, the Mechanics' Institute of our commercial metropolis has add- ed to those already given, another and a striking evidence of the direction in which the public mind of !New Bruns- wick is turned. We have always, of course, had before us in this Province the subject of Immigration ; it has always been a topic upon which politicians were wont to wax elo- quent, and journalists to grow warm. We have had no end of schemes, suggestions, plans and proposals ; of Crown Land regulations, and rules and orders of all kinds ; of eulogies of our country ; of reports, and of collections of statistics. Plans and regulations have been prepared — suf- ficient, if put into efficient operation, to have drawn to our shores a hundred thousand emigrants, and to have provided every family of them with a comfortable homestead in the backwoods, and an independence. If mere words had sufficed, New Brunswick had been, ere this, a populated country. But this matter of the pro- motion of immigration, is just one of those in which mere words are valueless, and action is essential. Unfortunately but little attention has been paid to this fact. People seemed to think that all that was necessary was to draw uj), on three or four sheets of foolscap, a fine scheme ; and that then, from the mere virtue of the scheme itself, immigrants B 6 FEW BRUNSWICK, I wonld be drawn in in crowds. But while we have been makina^ paper schemes, those interested in the promotion of cinigration to other countries have been viorldng. The consequence is, that wliile we have nothinp* but the schemes, they have tJie men and women. Therefore, it has come, that all our hopes of this kind liave been disappointed, and all our expectations have been nipped in the bud. 80 great has been our failure that not a few men among us of very considerable shrewdness, and of long and wide experience, have arrived at the conclusion that all eiibrts to induce immi<^ration to our Province are, and will ever be, in vain. " Av e cannot," say they, " com- pete with other new countries — with Western Canada, or the Western States, or Australia ; we have no inducements to oiier which can compare with those held ou"^ by these countries; and we can never hope to divert to our own shores any considerable portion of the stream of emigration which has set towards these countries. Wo have always failed hitherto ; and the money which the Province has, from year to year, set apart for this object, has been a clear loss. It is useless, therefore, to struggle against our fate, and to vote further sums, with the result of filling the pockets of jobbers and party dependents." If I believed these vaticinations to be as correct as they are gloomy, I should not have thought of preparing this essay. But I conceive that they are founded upon a partial, and not a complete, view of the matter. Those who indulge in them take it for granted that all has been done that could have been done ; that every means has been used and every resource tried. Were it so, hope would indeed be at an end. But I conceive that it has been precisely because the proper means have not been used that we have hitherto had nothing but failure ; or, I should rather say, it is because there has been no actual organized, consistent and sustained elibrt, worthy of the name. There has been much talk- ing, and much writing, and much plannirig ; but there has been comparatively no action. What efforts have l^een made have been of a nature too desultory, temporary, and fitful to effect much good. We want steady, persistent, and enlightened action. That the public are with jne in believing that it is yet possible to promote immigration to New Brunswick is proved been ion of The ernes, J kind 5 been it not s, and 111 si on e are, ' com- ia, or sments ' these r own [^ration always e has, a clear r fate, ng the they ig this Dartial, ndulge ,t could . every at an use the rto had lecause stained h talk- re has e been J 1^ and 'sistent, is yet (proved I AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. i by tlic interest which they s'ill take in the question. Dis- appointment exists, but not despair. The subject of immi- gration is never lost sight of; it comes up at every turn ; you meet it at every stop. 1 verily believe that tlie ques- tion, How can we promote Immigration ? is scarcely for a day absent from the inind of any public man, or any man of thought. People cling, despite numerous and mor- tifying disappointments, to the belief that something can be done. Kvery year it affords matter of discussion for the Legislature ; and scarcelj^ a week passes that it is not venti- lated in one or other of the Provincial newspapers. It haunts the public mind. It seems to have over us the same strange power that the Ancient Mariner had over the wed- ding guest : *'The wedding-guest, he beat, his breast, Yet he cannot choose but hear." We cannot avoid considering and pondering upon the sub- ject ; it has a power of fascination from which it is vain for us to attempt to escape. And it is not strange that it should be so. It would be very strange were it not. There is in the public mind in anv nation an insatiable lono^iniij to become o-ieat, rich and powerful ; and to become still greater, richer and more pow- erful. This feeling is especially strong in new and weak Btates. In Is'ew Brunswick it is very observable, a' .d gives rise to a sentiment of discontent. We feel tha^" we have here all the materials for a great and nob^^ state. We iiave space, soil, minerals, fisheries, forests, rivers, climate, institutions, and geographical position. Mature has poured out upon our Province with a lavish hand those nature 1 resources and products which the genius and hands of mt < can convert into the means of power, comfort, and progress. In some particulars one country, and in other particulars another, may possess greater natural advantaocs tlian ours. We cannot boast of the gold of California or Australia, of the almost inexhaustible soil of the prairies of the West, of the sunny climes of more southern regions. But for a com- bination of those qualities and advantages wliich historv shows to be most conducive to substantial and permanent greatness, our country has but few^ equals. One thing only do we lack — men and women. But w^ithout them we have pv 8 NEW BEUNSWICK y n m comparatively nothing. Shrewd and active minds, stout hearts and sinewy hands, are the preliminaries to greatness. We feel this ; and we feel, also, that in asking onr brothers and sisters in Europe to join us in our noble work, we are asking them to make no sacrifice to our vanity ; for we have here for them, as for ourselves, the means of comfort, wealth and happiness. We do not ask them to build up our coun- try at their own expense ; we ask them to build it up through their own success and their own prosperity. With these feelings and these convictions, it is no matter for wonder that the great immigration problem should haunt the publ'c mind. This offer of the 8aint John Me- chanics' Institute of prizes for the best Essays upon the subject, is but an additional manifestation of the bent of the public thoughts and longings. That the problem is capable of solution, I, for one, have never doubted. This essay is offered as an humble suggestion towards that solution. The proposed subject is divisible into three branches. I shall first proceed to consider what New Brunswick has to offer emigrants. I shall then make a few suggestions as to the best means of promoting immigration ; and shall con- clude wi., ome general observations upon the third branch of the subject, the development of the resources of the Province. We have first, then, to consider Xew Brunswick as a Home for the Emigrant. There are, I think, two classes of considerations which we may suppose to influence the emigrant in the choice of his future liome The first class are consideratioi-s of im- mediate expense, convenience and comfort ; the second class are considerations of permanent advantage and ulti- mate success. Casting his eyes around for a new home, the emigrant first naturally thinks of its distance from his fatherland, and the time, expense, and means of reaching it, and of the chances of immediate and profitable employ- ment, without trouble or loss of time. Other things being equal, he will, of course, prefer the nearest available coun- try, and the country in which his old habits, associations and modes of thought will require the least change. ^n proximity to Great Britain, length and comfort ot voyage, and expense, New Brunswick has a decided advan- tage. The voyage to Australia may be reckoned at 88 days; I stout tness. )thers ! are have wealth coun- it up natter should Me- )n the of the apable 5say is \. les. I has to s as to 11 con- branch of the ck as a which loice of of im- second id ulti- home, om his caching smploy- s being d coun- ciations nfort ot advan- 18 days; I AS A HOME FOB EMIGBAKTS. V the voyage to New Brunswick at 26. Then the fare to Melbourne for steerage passengers is about £19, while the fare to New Brunswick may be .reckoned at £4 10s. But the steerage passenger has to find himself with a certain proportion of provisions in both voyages, and the length of the voyage to New Brunswick being less than one-third the other the expense is proportionately less. If we reckon the cost for a single passenger at ten pence a day on both routes, we shall have an addition to make to the passengers expenses to Melbourne of £3 13s. 4d., and to New Bruns- wick of £1 Is. 8d. This makes the advantage on the part of the New Brunswick route still greater — £5 lis. 8d., against £22 13s. 4d., or less than one quarter. The cost of the voyage to Quebec and to New York is not greater than to jSew Brunswick. But there is this difference to the emigrant: when he lands at New York or Boston he is yet very far from the settliiig lands of the United States ; if he is bound for the Far West he has still before him one thousand miles of inland travel, over a route which is swarming with pickpockets, knaves and swindlers of all kinds, whose occupation it is to make a living out of the verdant traveller, and who especially mark the unsophisticated and helpless emigrant for their prey. If he lands at Quebec, with the intention of settling m Western Canada, he has neither so far to travel nor is he beset with so many difficulties ; but he is, nevertliuless, far from his promised home, and not in the most enviable position. The emigrant to New Brunswick has no such difficulties to encounter. At St. John he is within two hundred miles of the very centre of the Province, and a pound will carry him up the St. John into the very heart of the country in which he is about to settle, there is scarcely the slightest fear of his being swindled out of his r eans. He will find within a few hundred yards of the spot at which he lands an Emigration Office, in which full and reliable intelligence respecting the country, the routes of communication, and the cost of travel, can be had. He may land with nothing but the clothes which cover him, and earn his dinner before he wants it, and his supper and lodging before the approach of his first night in New Brunswick. Once arrived in tliis Province, the first business of the 10 NEW BKUNSWIGK, i emigrant is to find either employment as a labourer, or a farm upon which to settle. Clearly it would be to his ad- vantage, in almost every instance, to find employment as a labourer or mechanic until he becomes accustomed to the ways of the country, and possessed of the information ne- cessary to guide him in cnoosing a permanent occupation, and selecting a locality for his future home. In this matter he can be at no loss. Labour, skilled and unskilled, always finds ready employment and good wages. Any steady and industrious man can, in his first year's residence, get occu- pation which will furnish him with board, lodging and clothes, and save enough to purchase one hundred acres of Crown Land. At the end of that period, if he has kept his eyes open, he will have learned enough of the backwood lore to set him up as a settler ; and if he has brought with him into the country any considerable means, it will, per- haps, be advisable for him at once to commence hewing out his farm from the forest. If, on the contrary, he has come into the country penniless, he will have to spend a few years in the accumulation of a small capital, with which to commence his labours as a settler. The greater number of emigrants will prefer not to extend their period of servi- tude to a greater length than is absolutely necessary. A very laudable pride will induce them to commence, at the very earliest possible moment, working on their own ac- count, and for themselves. They will not bear to give their labour to another one moment longer than circumstances render necessary ; feeling that unless working on their own account they cannot reap the full fruits of their own industry. The choice of land upon which to settle will be a matter requiring much consideration and judgment. If the immi- oraut prefers a ready made farm, he can have one in any locality, of any size, of any required quality, and at any price. The immigrant of means will prefer a farm made to his hand, in proximity to some market, and in a popu- lated district. The immigrant of small means will go fur- ther into the country, and will find farms of fifty, of one hundred, of one hundred and fifty, or of two hundred acres, with small clearings, and with buildings, humble, perhaps, but sufficient for his immediate purposes, at a very mode- rate price. The prices vary, of course, with the location, IS i AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. 11 er, or a his ad- iiit as a to the ion iie- ipatioD, matter , always ady and t occu- Ing and acres of kept his ckwood ht with ill, per- hewing he has jpend a [i which number )f servi- iry. A , at the )wn ac- ve their istanees leir own ir own matter e immi- in any at any n made i popu- go fur- of one i acres, erhaps, mode- >cation, situation, soil, amo^mt of clearing, and value of buildings. They can be had as low as fifty or seventy>five pounds, and so on, up to hundreds. He who can purchase one of these, place upon it a small stock of cattle, and support himself until his first year's crop is available, may consider himself already in an independent position. If, from either choice or necessity, the immigrant deter- mines to go into the primeval forest and hew out for him- self a home, his first step is to pitch upon a location . To accomplish this, every aid is given him. The Crown Land authorities are ready to furnish him the fullest and most explicit information concerning all the ungranted lands in the market, their locality, distances from central points, nature, and price, tlie means by which they can be procur- ed, and the terms and conditions of sale. The Deputy Surveyors in the several Counties are equally ready to fur- nish all the information in their power, and to render aid in the selection and purchase of lands. From their experience as practical land surveyors, they are often in possession of information as to the actual and comparative value, eligibi- lity, and accessibility of most of the ungranted lands in their respective Counties ; and they are thus in a position to render the intending settler services of the highest value, and to shorten much his inquiries and researches. Plans of all Crown Lands can be had from the Crown Land Oflice, and from the Deputy Surveyors, at a trifling cost. Thus every possible aid is given to the land hunter in his search after a desirable location. Having fixed upon the seat of his future home, the set- tler's next object is to procure the land and get a title to it. Here, again, he finds every convenience and every aid. If he desires to purchase for cash, he makes a written applica- tion, in a prescribed form, to the Governor, and transmits it to the Surveyor General of the Province. If the land be not already surveyed, a survey will be immediately made by the authorities, at the expense of the applicant. When the survey is made, the land is advertised for public sale at the regular monthly sale which is held on the first Tuesday in each month by the local Deputy Surveyor for the County in which the land is situated, at his office. At this sale all the lands thus advertised for the month are put up at public auction, and sold to the highest bidders. If there 12 KEW BRUNSWICK, !l^ is no other bidder on his lot, the applicant gets it at the upset price, three shillings currency, or two sliillings and live pence sterling, an acre ; one quarter of which he is re- quired to pay down, and the remainder in three equal annual instalments, with interest at six per cent, fronti and after the date at which such instalment becomes due. If lie pays the whole purchase money down, a discount is made of twenty per cent. Thus, under the latter arrangement, he finds himself in possession of one hundred acres of land for twelve pounds currency. By the instalment arrange- ment he pays three pounds fifteen shillings down, and three pounds fifteen shillings annually for three years. But the actual settler can procure his land upon even more easy and advantageous terms than these. He can make his application for the land for purposes of actual set- tlement ; and he then has the opportunity of paying for it in the same number and kind of instalments, not in cash, but in labour on the roads in his own clistriGt. The only conditions exacted by the Government are that he shall be an actual settler on the land, and shall within five years after the approval of his application, prove to the satisfac- tion of the Government that he has paid the full amount of his purchase, in labor, is then, and lias been for the pre- vious twelve months, residing on the lot, and has cleared and cultivated not less than five acres of the land. More favourable terms than these it would be scarcely possible to ofier. In effect the settler pays his three pounds fifteen shillings a year for four years, in labour near his own house, and has that labour immediately expended in making public roads to and across his own property. Every penny which he pays he pays in the easiest manner, in his own labour, and has it immediately returned to him in the most valuable form, improving his property, making it more accessible, and providing better facilities for communication with his neighbours, and with the markets in which he sells and buys. I doubt that there ever entered the mind of a public man in our country a more wise and happy expe- dient than this. Our immigrant has now chosen his location, and is pre- pared to enter upon it. He casts off his old character, and bec<^me8 a " settler." The most favourable time for him to commence operation-;; upon his land is, perhaps, in the spring T i i AS A HOME FOE EMIGRANTS. 13 t at the igs and ae is re- se equal •cm and due. If is made gement, of land irran ge- ld three on even He can tual set- g for it n cash, be only shall be e years satisfac- amount the p re- cleared carcely pounds his own making J penny lis own le most t more lication he sells id of a ' expe- is pre- er, and him to spring; *»>, or beginning of summer. lie has then the whole season before him for cutting down the trees on his first clearing, and preparing for putting in a crop the next spring. He worlds at this until the frost and snow in the fall stop his operations. When he first goes on the land he builds him- self a temporary " camp." Of course he has to lay in, from time to time, a sufficient stock of provisions to last him until winter. During the season which elapses before the winter, he spares time enough from the work of clearing the land to build himself a log house. A log house, with a shingle roof, will be the cheapest, most conveniently con- structed, and in many respects the best, for him. Three men for two days, with a horse or yoke of oxen one day, at a cost of about a pound currency, will prepare the logs, and put up the walls of a house twenty feet by sixteen. Then a small quantity of boards and shingles will be need- ed. The boards he must purchase at the nearest saw mill, and there is scarcely any settlement without one ; but if he is at all ready and mechanical in his turn he can make, during spare hours, shingles for himself, and amuse himself, and further his education for a pioneer, at the same time. Yery few backwood Bluenoses but can turn out a respectable shingle, and the tools required to make them are few, simple and inexpensive. He will require some nails, glass, a chim- ney, or cooking stove, with pipe and fiue, carpenter work, cooking utensils, and furniture. The cost of the first supply of household furniture and cooking utensils need be but very light ; it is astonishing with how little fitting up of this description, simple and hardy people can manage very comfortably in the backwoods. There are few places in which you will find more cheerfulness, contentment, health and rude comfort, than in a JS^ew Brunswick lumber camp ; and yet the furniture, if indeed it deserves the name, is almost laughably simple and rud^, being probably the work of a man or two, for half a day, with an axe, draw knife, and auger. With an axe and jack-knife the pioneer can provide himself with almost every mechanical contrivance needed to supply his temporary wants. Add to the axe and knife, an auger, a draw-knife, a grindstone of course, a tin kettle, i? tin cup, a plate or two, a frying pan, and a few blankets, and he is set up comfortably in house-keeping. K he is luxurious in his tastes, or has means sufiicient to u NEW BRUNSWICK, I justify indulgence in luxuries, or has a wife or children for whom to provide, he may add slightly to this outfit ; but scarcely any addition can be regarded as a necessity. Nor must it be supposed that the pioneer with this apparently slender stock does not live comfortably and enjoy life. It possesses the best of all qualities — it is fitted to his circum- stances, xle is commencing life as a settler ; for a year or two he has neither time nor attention to give to anything but the simple object before him, the demolition of the forest. He is in the rudiments of his new life, and he wants nothing around him but what is rudimentary, lie wants nothing, handles nothing, knows nothing, wishes for noth- ing, and, I might say, thinks of nothing, but his axe and his hoe. After a season or two, when he has got a small clearing made, and a few buildings put up, and tlie proceeds of the surplus of a crop or two in his pocket, he takes breath. lie looks up and around ; sees new wants ; thinks new thoughts ; is seized with new desires. As his situation changes, so change to some extent his objects and his mode of life. The stern necessity which at first crushed out every thought from his mind but that of war on his enemy the forest, has gradually departed ; and as the weight is removed there spring gradually up all the desires and incli- nations of the civilized man. I might, without much difficulty, sum up the actual ex- penditure necessary for the first season, that is, from the time of his first commencing work to the approach of win- ter, and show how exceedingly small it is. The most con- siderable expense would be for provisions. His axe and a few other tools, grindstone, half a dozen culinary utensils, and blankets, are permanent investments. Most of the work upon his log house he would do himself, and only that for which he has to pay others need be counted. And even a portion of this need not be a money outlay ; for if he has gone into the wilderness in company with other settlers, he can exchange with them the few days' work which he needs. The actual outlay will then be reduced to a very low sum. After he gets a " burn" upon his fal- low, and is engaged in clearing up the land — rolling the logs into piles, piling up the brush, and burning the whole — he needs the assistance of a team. But one team, sav a yoke of oxen, costing from twenty to twenty eight AS A HOME FOR EMIGBANTS. 15 Idren for tfit ; but ty. Nor ^parentlv life. It s circum- a year or anything on of the L he wants lo wants _ for noth- I axe and t a small J proceeds , he takes ts; thinks 5 situation I his mode iished out his enemv weight is and incli- ^ actual ex- , from the 3h of win- most con- axe and a Y utensils, )st of tlie ', and only ted. And lay; for if fvith other ays' work e reduced on his fal- oUing the le whole- am, say a nty eight pounds, will do all the work of several settlers : so that one settler can either buy in company with others, or hire a team for the work which he has to do. His first instalment on the purchase money of his lot he pays in labouring on the road. Thus his actual money outlay for the first season — say from the first of June to the first of November, five months — is very small. If he manages with economy and prudence it will, probably, not be more than from fifteen to twenty pounds. The approach of winter causes a temporary suspension in his operations ; but that suspension is no loss to him, for he can hire out during the winter, to go into the lumber woods, or to some other species of employment, and thus procure a fresh supply of money for the next season's operations. If he hires at the middle of November, and returns to his lot by the first of April, he will have four and a half months' wages coming which we may reckon at, as an average for the w^iole Province, three pounds ten shillings a month. Thus he will have earned nearly sixteen pounds; as much as he has spent in the preceding summer. Conse- quently he is in almost as good a position, financially, as when he first pitched his tent upon his land, and has all his previous summer's operations as a clear gain. Early in the spring our settler is a^ain on his lot. In the five months of the previous year, and in the portion of his time during the spring in which he is not engaged in put- ting in seeu, he clears up say six acres of land. He pays five or six pounds for seed, and gets the six acres into crop. To do this he should have the use of a horse or yoke of oxen for a portion of the spring ; but here, as in the opera- tions of the preceding season, he can form a partnership with some of his fellow settlers, as one good team will do easily the work for several of them. Not that even a team is indispensable ; for hundreds upon hundreds of pioneers, who have since attained to comfort and an independence, and to whose children there is open the highway to wealth and honour, have commenced backwood farming without such assistance — clearing ofi* the brush and sticks from be- tween the large trees with which their fallows were strewn, and hacking in their seed amongst these logs with a hoe. We have a notable instance in a gentleman now high in the councils of his country, who many years ago commenced ^» 16 NEW BRUNSWICK J life in Now Brunswick, a ])Oor immigrant, on a soil by no means the best in the Province, by hoeing in his seed among the logs and stumps, and— very much worse than either — stones, of his new land farm. There is, I verily be- lieve, no country under heaven, in which a labouring man can commence life with fairer prospects and fewer artificial appliances than New Brunswick. After the settler has committed to the bosom of kind \ mother earth the seed of his first crop, he will do well to provide himself with a small barn, and procure the small beginnings of a stock, with some farming utensils. He can »^ commence very well with one cow and two pigs; and he should have a sled, a cart, if he can afford it, and other things. He can do the first year with very few farming implements, and do very well too. As new land crops re- quire no weeding, and admit of very little culture, he has tlie whole time which elapses before harvest to prepare these things and cut down a new fallow, in order to increase ' the size of his clearing. When the harvest season arrives he gathers in his crops ; and then sets again about his work of clearing. And now, having got our immigrant settler fairly launch- ed upon his new life, let us leave him for a little, and endea- vour to ascertain what is the character of this Province ;? what are its capabilities, its resources, the nature and qua- lity of its soil ; what its agricultural productions, climate, material condition, political and commercial state, its social condition. Let us endeavour to ascertain whether it is really a country to which we should invite men and women who wish to exchange their homes in the Old World for a better and happier one in the New. Dees our country in good truth present to the emigrant the condition's of success and prosperity ? To this question I shall endeavor, in all honesty, to pro- vide from the materials at hand, an answer which shall con- tain the truth, without prevarication or extenuation. New Brunswick lies between forty five degrees and five minutes, and forty-eight degrees and twenty minutes o: North latitude, and between sixty three degrees fifty mi- nutes, and sixty eight degrees of West longitude. It bor- ders on Canada, Nova Scotia, and the State of Maine. It contains about 18,000,000 acr^s, of which there are, b)' T the abl are tier the acr tiv( Ist ( 2nd 3(1 4th 5th mo ing wit du( larj ofi of tha tig St. au' of Fo N( th( N( mc to nei Pr tie m; th A so ce AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. 17 )il by no his seed orse than verily be- ring man artificial n of kind j o well to the small . He can | 9 ; and he j and other ' V farming crops re- re, he has prepare to increase • ^ on arrives it his work rly launch- and endea- Province 'y Q and qua- s, climate, 1 e, its social I ither it is \ md women ; ^orld for a country in ?. IS of success sty, to pro- li shall con- ion. 2s and five minutes o: ;s fifty mi- e. It bor- Maine. It re are, b)' n it t( li u «( (( (( n the computation of Professor Johnston, 13,000,000 avail- able for cultivation, while under actual cultivation there are not much above 700,000 acres. The same gen- tleman divides the soil into five descriptions, and calculates their productiveness in tons of hay and bushels of oats per acre. We present his estimate of the amount and produc- tiveness of each class of soil in a tabular form : — 1st quality, 50,000 acres, will produce 2^ tons hay, or 50 bush, oats, per acre. 2nd " 1,000,000 " " 2 tons hay, or 40 3d " 6,950,000 " *' H tons hay, or 30 4th " 5,000,000 *' " 1 ton hay, or 20 5th " 5,000,000 " The first quality of soil in the above calculation consists mostly of intervales and marshes. These lands are exceed- ingly productive ; intervales along the St. John river have, with no more than average cultivation, been made to pro- duce eighty bushels of Indian corn to the acre. A very large portion of the available lands consist of the uplands of the second and third quality. The Professor's estimate of the capability of these soils is certainly rather below than above the mark. The uplands in the counties of Res- tigouche, Victoria and Carleton, on both sides of the river, St. John, are truly magnificent. They are deep, mellow, and productive in a high degree. I have seen sixty bushels of oats taken oft' an acre, as a second crop, on new land. Fortunately for those who have still to become settlers in New Brunswick, the great ungranted tract in the centre of the Province, including portions of the Counties of York, Northumberland, Carleton, Victoria, and Restigouche, is mostly composed of those very lands which are second only to the intervales and marshes in fertility and productive- ness. This district is destined to become the granary of the Province. For the number and variety of its agricultural produc- tions New Brunswick may vie with any Colony of the Em- pire. I do not pretend to give a complete list ; but the hasty glance which is all that space allows me to give this matter, will show of what our country is capable. First in the list is the wheat, which grows well and produces well. A temporary disease, the wheat weevil, has interfered to some extent, in the last few years, with the raising of this cereal ; it has been grown with great success in almost every T? NEW BRUNSWICK, portion of the Province. Oats are one of our staple crops ; the oat seems well suited to our soil and climate. Barley is also a staple crop ; it grows with great luxuriance. Kye yields very heavily. Indian corn yields well on uplands, while on the intervales it is one of the most profitable crops that can be grown. Buckwheat is grown in vast quantities. Peas and beans are highly productive. For potatoes, it is doubtful if our Province can be surpassed. Iloot crops of all kinds grow well, and yield largely ; our soil seems pecu- liarly well adapted to them. Premium crops of turnips, even in localities in which farming is yet in ittj infancy, run up to 800 or OoO bushels to the acre ; and carrots exceed this. The mangold wurtzel and the parsnip grow well ; as do most kinds of other vegetables, particularly cabbages. I need not extend the list further. To arrive at a comparative estimate of the produce of New Brunswick and other parts of North America, I shall compile from Professoi' Johnston's Report. He compares the aveiage produce per acre of certain crops in New Brun- swick, obtained with as much accuracy as was possible, with the average produce per acre of the State of New York, as given in the Transactions of the New York State Agricul- tural Society for 1854 ; the average produce per acre of the State of Ohio, from the lleport of the Ohio Board of Agri- culture for 1848 ; and the average produce per acre of Upper or Western Canada, given in the lirst Heport of the Board of Registration and Statistics of Canada, published in 1849. It is well known that these three districts stand very high among the grain growing regions of the New World. How does New Brunswick compare with them ? Let us see. he Hi Canada West Ohio in New York New Brunswicl in 1848. 1848. in 1845. in 1849. Bushtlsper acre. Mis. per acre. Jius. per acre. £i(s. per acre. Wheat, 12f loi 14 171 Kye, IH 16i H 18 Barley, m 24 16 27 Oats,* 24f 33f 26 33 Maize, 21f 4H 25 36i liuckwheat , lOi 20i 14 28 Potatoes, 84 69 90 204 Turnips, 88 389 Hay, — 1 1 tons. If tons )le crops ; Barley ce. Kye uplands, ble crops u an titles, toes, it is crops of !ms pecn- tnrnips, mcy, run 5 exceed well ; as abbag€s. 'oduce of a, I shall jompares 2w Brun- ble, with York, as Agricul- ;re of the of Agri- 01 upper lie Board . in 1849. ery high d. How s see. Brunswick 1849. '«. fcr acre. 171 18 27 33 36i 28 204 389 If tons. I AS A nOME FOB El^IIORANTS. TT With respect to this gratifying comparison, T cannot do better than to quote the remarks of the same disinterested writer, Professor Johnston. At page 77 of his Eeport on the Agricultural Capabilities of the Province of New Brunswick, he says : " On the whole, therefore, I think the result of this com- parison of the actual productiveness of the soil of New Brunswick with that of the other parts of North America, ought to be very satisfactory to the inhabitants of this Pro- vince, and is deserving of their serious consideration. So far as my knowledge of the intermediate country goes, I am induced to believe that the soil of New York is at least equal to any of those of the North Eastern States. If New Brun- swick exceed New York in productiveness, it ought also to exceed all the States of New England. " And if it will in this respect bear a favorable compa- rison with Ohio and with Upper Canada, it becomes doubt- ful how far, on the whole, the other Western States are su- perior to it. At all events there appears to me to be suffi- cient reason, until more satisfactory information is obtained, for the agricultural population of New Brunswick to remain content with the capabilities of the soil which they possess, and to give themselves up strenuously to the development of its latent resources, rather than to forsake it for either Northern or Western America, which a]3pear incapable of yielding larger crops than they can easily reap at home." And as the weight per bushel of crops is a point of the first importance with agriculturists, we give the result of the Professor's inquiries on that matter, with his own remarks thereupon : — " The general average weights for the whole Province are, for i( n Wheat, CO 11-13 lbs. Buckwlieat, 48 8-11 lbs, Barley, 50 " Indian Corn, 59i Oats,' 38 " Potatoes, 03 Rye, 52i " Turnips, 66 Carrots, 03 lbs. ^* These average weights over a whole Province, where the land is new, and manured only in rare instances, or at long intervals, indicate a capacity in the soil and climate 20 NEW BRUNSWICK, to produce grain for human food of a very superior quality.'' Prices, again, are a very important element in the calcu- lation of the comparative advantages of countries as homes for the emigrant. Upon this point it is difficult to get entire- ly reliable data. Professor Johnston collected information upon tliis point by the same means that he collected it upon the other points to which his attention was directed — by sending circulars to persons in every quarter of the Pro- vince. His general averages for the Province may be too high, but as they are the only calculation npoi> the matter with which I am acquainted, I give them h^fre : — Wheat, 7s. 6d. per bushel ; Barley, 4s. Si^d. ; Oats, 2s. ; Rye, 4s. lOd. ; Buckwheat, 3s. 9d. ; Maize, 4s. 8d. ; Potatoes, Is. 4d. ; Turnips, Is. 2d. ; Carrots, 2s. 5d. ; Mangel Wurtzel, 2s. id. ; Hay, 49s. per ton. Buckwheat, I should suppose, is put too high ; the others are probably not far from the mark. Professor Johnston makes various comparisons of these prices with prices in other places. With those of the averages of the London Corn Exchange for the six months ending the 31st of November of the year in which he wrote, 1849, they compare thus : — Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, New Brunswick. London. 48s. 6d. per quarter. 41s. 6d. per quarter. 27s. 3d. " 28s. 7d. " 13s. 9d. " 16s. lOd. " 30s. lid. " 22s. 9d. " I shall quote from Johnston one more table, showing the average value of an acre of each crop in the State of Ohio, Canada West, and New Brunswick, from the best authorities to which we can refer. s tate of Ohio. Canada West. New Brunawick Wheat, £2 19 £2 4 7 £6 13 Barley, 2 4 1 19 4^ 5 13 7i Oats, 1 13 9 1 11 6 3 6 Rye, 1 12 4 1 6 lOi 4 7 Buckwheat, 1 16 3 3 6 6 6 Indian Corn, 2 15 2 14 4i 8 10 4 Potatoes, 6 9 4| 6 6 19 11 The seasons of New Brunswick differ from those of Great Britain. Our winter is much longer and more AS. A HOME FOR PZMIGRANTS. 2t superior le cal cu- ts homes et entire- ormation d it upon 3ted — bv the Pro- ly be too e matter -Wheat, Rye, 48. atoes. Is. Wiirtzel, suppose, from the irisons of 3se of the X months he wrote. r. )wing the State of the best unawick. 3 3 n 3 6 1 6 4 1 those of id more severe ; our smiiiner is consequently shorter, and the time for farm work corrcspondiiifrly less. But tbe winter is by no means such a serious drawback as many suppose. The nature of our husbandry differs fioin that of the British Isles. The circumstances of our country are M'idcly different from those of an old and thickly populated country. Tlie severe frosts of our winters pulverize the soil, and tlius do the work of mauy of those repeated ploughmgs which arc essential in Briti;sli agriculture. Any one who has seen the " frost coming out of the ground," as it is termcil, in a Kew Brunswick Spring, cannt)t but be struck with the heaving of the earth, and the consequent mechanical separation and pulverization of the soil, produced by the alternate freezing and thawing process which is going on. Tlion the winter affords to the settler means for the transportation of his prtv duce to market much superior to those available in summer : for speed and draft there is no road equal to the snow road. It also gives opportunity for the getting out of fencin., while the river is at a sutlicient height, boats run. regiilarly from St. John to Tobicpie, over two h'.mdi'ed inik'S. 1 bus bv this siui'-le river there is a rei>;iilcn' ir-'csim- boiit cotnmunicaiion tliroH.'i:]i fully one half i lie lent-th oj the riovju'c. JSext k>i tlu; St. Cvv'is or Schoodic, which is na- Ti<.(a! lo for large vessels to St. Stephen, seventeen miles, 'fill,-; 1 ivcr foi'ms f »r a coiisideialde distance the boundary betv.i en llie Province and the State of ]\Taine, and pene- trates tiiO countiy to the west of the Valley of the St. I AH 4 UOSiE FOR EMIGRANTS. promo- , strong rike the 've tliat inter, it Itlioiigh is onlv ine, and tlie pre- 5 severe weeks. 3erience is not ieconsin is very inter is 'A wliich mpejate or two enrly so k Nvirh " Juis to ■a.-t i in- fill' I*ro- I>riiiis- vigable extent, t. John erieton. Falls at piesent suiinner )ars Jim iimdi'ed ■ t-U'snn- li (»i the 1) is na- 1 miles. )iin(]ary i() p'jne- tlie {St. John. The Peticodiac runs into th^^ Bay of Fiindy, we»t ot- the St, John, and is navigable for vessels «>f one liuadred tons, tliirty miles from its mouth. The Saint John river penetrates the Province in a line- frotn southeast to northwest, and opens up a ^reat highway through it tor nearly three hundred miles. Then we liave- a series of rivers, which, starting from the Gulf of St. Law'- i^'uce, over the northeast of the Provincey penetrate it in a southwesterly diiection, their head waters making towards, the St. John, and thoixiughly penetrating and opening up. the district lying east of that river. Of these, tla« liichi- bucto is navigable twenty miles from its laiuuth. JN'ext is the Miiamichi, which is t^econd but to the St. Jokn in the Province. Its soutliwest branch runsdiieetlv at a rioht angle to the St. John, and almost meets eome of its tribu. taries,* wiiile the nortliwest branch turns off at a right angle frosn the southwest. The Mii-ainichi is ravii^able tor laiiro vessels for twenty miles, to the junction ol'its l>rane}ies. At the extfenie ixirlh of the Provittcc, we have tlie Pay oi:* 0ha!eu»8 aii '. the Pestigouclie Kivei". This Bay exte.uli: into tlic Province wchterly one hundred uniles, Jiiid vai ies in width from tw( n^y to forty nilles. At Its head it receives the waters ol the Uestigouclie, the sevei-al bniMclies of whicli pencti'ate this district of country m every diiection. An examination of the Ma[) of JS'ew lhuuswick,\vith the inf'cniiUion respecting its Kivers wliieli is given in several popular Vv'orks, one a trrbntary of the St John, above soveitty miles, until it nears the wa- ters ol" the Restig.»wche. running in the oj)j)osile dii'oction. They ;i'ait (d' the Provinfc in which he mav tix his haljitation. Jle can scarcelv erect his 24 NEW BRUNSWICK 5 cabin upon a spot at which a tow boat or battean cannot reach him. The facilities thus given for tlie progress of set- tlement can scarcely be overrated ; in every quarter of the Province you will find the settlements strung along the rivers and streams, as though threaded on them. Tbegreit portion of tlie ungranted lands, lying in the interior, ou the east of the St. John, are thns rendered accessible. The upper waters of the Tobique. Restigouche and Miramichi, open up a magnificent agricultural district, covered with a forest wliich bears unmistakable testimony to the quality and the strength of the soil which sustains it. Upon our Koads much attention has always been be- stowed by our Government. No new country, with the population of New Brunswick scattered over its extent of territorv, has done more for these means of accommodation than ours. The Great lloads, and lines of postal communi- cation are under the direct management and supervision of the Executive, and claim a largo share of tlie annual reve- nue. And the Bve Road service has ever been considered, as it naturally should be, an interest of the first importance. There is not, I verily believe, a settlement in New Bruns- wick, however remote or obscure, which has not had Go- vernment aid in the construction and repair of the roads by which its inhabitants communicate with and reach the markets of the world outside. The present system of sur- veying tracts of Crown Lands for settlement is, in the first place to survey through them, from end to end, the location for a good and easy road, one which will not merely look well upon a plan, but be really practicable for men and for teams ; and then to lay ofi* the lots on both sides of this road, and fronting upon it. "Whenever a settlement is com- menced, the settlers can claim their share of the annual Bye Koad ixrnnt fur the Countv, and have their claim alloA\'ed. And besides this, they can pay for the land upon which they settle by work upon the roads crossing them ; so that the very purchase money of their homesteads is expended in constructino; their own hio-hwavs, and affordinix them communication with tlioir neighbours. The general excel- lence of our roads attracted the notice of Professor John- ston, who makes some complimentary remarks upon the attention which is devoted to them. In this respect we have nothing to fear in comparison with any other country as new and sparsely populated as our own. I M ^ AS A HOME FOR EMIGEANT9. 25 cannot 3 of set- • of the r>ng the le greit , oii the 3. The ainichi, with a quality een be- ith the ;tent of Lodation miiiiini- nsion of al re ve- sicle red, ortance, Briina- ad Go- oads by xch the of SUV- he first location ly look annscs are lie great the in- aval de- of our ucational Dads, and the Pro- le scliool- which he sm is ex- aud cor- 3hool the ry, up to vernnient Bv the ind a sys- l of peri- lectors, of teach i no*. or School lation and 1 County ^hool, to- iwance of Province by Gov- /ersity, as provision sd accord- the cities moderate- 8, four of nthly, and grillage has 1 its Mechanics' Institute, Library Societ}', or something of the port. The postal arrangements are good and extensive. Between all important places there are daily or tri-weekly mails, while there is scarcely a settlement in the Province that lias not its post office and weekly mail. kSocially New Brunswick labours under the disadvantages which attend all new and sparsely populated countries. But it lias also very great advantages. Peace, law, order, jus- tice and good feeling reign supreme. There is no war of sects and classes, no proscription, no sectional contests. The extremes of poverty are ahnost unknown, except with those who from some cause or other are incapacitated for work ; and they are cared for by the parochial authorities. Great crimes are very nnfrequent : and in the rural districts are almost unknown. The settler goes to bed with his win- dows unfastened and his door nnlocked, without the slight- est fear of the midnight thief Except in the cities, and a few places of lesser size, robbery is comparatively unknown. Tiie h'gliwaysto wealth, to office, and to honour are open to all. There are no class privileges or denominational privileges. Industry, perseverance and ability are the sure means of success Tiiere is nothing to prevent the hum- blest and poorest immigrant that lands on our shores rising to the highest positions in the land — to the Legislature, to the departments of state, and the Council of the Lieutenant Governor — if he possesses the necessary mental qualifica- tions. We have at this day men in our Legislature, and men who either have administered or are at present admi- nistering the Executive Government, who came to this country from the British Isles, with scarcely a shilling in their pockets, and whose first experiences of New Bruns wick were gained axe or hoe in hand. Such, then, is the country in which, some pages back, we left our immigrant settler with his first crop housed. We have got him fairly and successfully launched on his set- tlers life. He has a home of his own and a farm of his own ; and his crop is amply sufficient to support him, and to give a foothold for new and wider exertions. If he has been industrious' and provident, he is clear of debt. He is his own lord and master ; has neither rent nor fealty to pay, and very few taxes. Quarter day, and a rise in rent, and notice to quit, are terms not found in his vocabulary. 82 NEW BRUNSWICK, If his clearing is yet small, ho has nothing to do but go on fr if he levelling the forest under his lacks many of those appliances which oil the wlicel of life, he learns to do without them until in due course of time constantly increasing prosperity puts them within his reach, lie has years ot hard labour, doubtless, to face, and not a few privations ; but he ha^ also before him, under the blessing of divine Providence, the means of independence and rural comfort, lie knows that every step which he takes — every day's toil — every blow of his axe — every hack of his hoe — removes him further and further from the grind- ing grasp of want and hardship. He feels that he is no longer a hireling and a servant of others, but a freeman and a master of the soil ; that hir- labour is no longer given for the advantage of strangers, but for the benefit of himself and his wife and children. The land upon which he treads, the house in which he lives, — all that he surveys around him, are his and his alone. The state reposes in his hands the sacred trust of the franchise. As years pass on his little clearing becomes a noble farm; his log cabin gives place to a trim cottage ; his barns and stables grow in number and in size ; his fields are covered with flocks ; all the sim- ple comforts, and not a few of the luxuries, of rural life, pour in around him. His children grow up, some to be- come, like himself, tillers and lords of the soil, and some, who possess a capacity and an ambition above the majority of their fellows, to go into the higher callings and walks of life, and become honoured and useful leaders and teachers in the state. For again and again do I say, there is no ob- struction in their way — no barrier across their path. They have but to work and to win. Who will say that this is not all true — true to the letter ? Who that has seen and studied the life of the New Bruns- wick settler does not know that it is true ? And shall we then be told that New Brunswick has no inducements to offer ? that she can hold forth nothing to bring emigrants to her shores ? that the endeavour to promote immigration is hopeless and should be abandoned ? I believe that as there is every motive to exertion in this great work, so tliere is every ground for hope from enlightened and persistent effort. And this brings me to the second branch of the subject-- The best means of promoting Immigration. A sliov indi not othe We to hi mise wide show ■ its a( mad' [ not, whic expe com] limit of oil wori the c W fess t of th lie s(- spiri plan I t!iat I vain ed a pour ^ boss: ^ed a v/lia iioiij the Or, .ve^ir encc of \^ the: serv ^fuid I AS A UOME FOR EMIGRANTS. 33 but go on xe ; if be b1 of life, ?e of time his reach, md not a inder the pendence which he ^^ery hack the grind- lie is no einan and given for )f hirnsrlf he treads, ys around liis hands n his little vcs place a number [1 the siin- rural life, ►me to be- and some, e majority I walks of d teachers 3 is no ob- Lth. They the letter ? 3W Bruns- i shall W0 jements to nigrants to igration is lat as there 30 there ig persistent ,nch of the ion. And let rae say, at the commencement, that too much should not be expected in the way of immigration. The inducements which we liave to offer are substantial, but do not bear the glare and glitter of those held out by some other regions to which the tide of emigration is sotting. We have not the auriferons sands of Australia or California to hold forth their fascinating, but too often delusive, pro- mise. We can never liope to gain for our soil the great and wide-spread reputation of that of the Far West. We cannot show fortunes maJe in a month or a dav. Our countrv and its advantages can never, with a proper rciijard for truth, be made so glitteringly attractive as some others ; and we can- not, therefore, hope for it the lioods of immigiation for which the nineteenth century has been so famous. Our expectations and desires nmst be confined to a narrower com[)ass. It is best for us to form a correct notion of tlie limits beyond which, in all human probability, the results of our labours will not go; for we shall then be able to work intelligently, and with an adaptation of the means to the end. I With regard to the means to be employed, I do not pro- fess to suggest any 7iew scheme. In the introductory part of this essay I have stated that the cause of failure did not lie 80 much in the lack of a scheme or plan as in the lack of spirit, energy and perseverance in carrying out any one iphm. Tiie exertions which have been made have been of I that fitiVil and intermittent character which destroys the lvalue of all exertion. The Legislature has one year grant- led a sum of three hundred, five hundred, or one thousand i pounds for the promotion of Immigration, and at its next I Session, twelve months thereafter, has clamorouslv demand- fed an account of the result; and if tliey have been precisely v;luit might have been expected after twelve months' exer- tions— nothino; at all — have railed ar>'ainst tlie Government, tlie country, the scheme, and everything connected with it. Or, a scheme has been proposed, but before it has been a ,year in operation a new administration has come into exist- ence ; and as its members while in opposition, in discharge iof what they supposed to be their duty, abused and vililied the scheme, when they come into power they are, to pre- serve their reputation for consistency, bound to repeal it |fUKl frame a new one, in some slight degree dijBPerent. Thus 34 NEW BRUNSWICK, the problem, wliich perhaps was in a fair way for solution, gets a new hiteh ; and tlierc arc more gruniblinfj, more tault-iinding, nriore assertions of the utter inij)ossibi!ity of doing anytliing towards promoting Immigration. A bad scheme, perseveringly and energetically carried out, is better than six good schemes, succeeding and upsetting eacli other within six years. 1 have dwelt upon this be- cause I consider that here is the cause of our faihire — that here is the rock ui)on which we have split; and that we cannot hope for success until we carry out a uniform and consistent policy. If we have warcis to sell, we must do precisely what a tradesman does — we must advertise them. I believe that tlie sijcret of inducing inunigration, is to advertise our ccnmtry. Tell those who are prc])ai'ing to emigrate what we have here for them : tell tliem tlu; trutli, nothing more, notliing Icfjs ; hwt tdlif to then t. Don't aUow tlicm to re- main in ignorance. Don't allow tlum to set out i'or (;lher countries without knowing that there exists such a i)lace as .N^cw Ih'unswick; that it has advantages to otlcr them. Advertise New Drunswick — thoroughly, unceasingly, spi- ritedly, elfectively. S[)acc forbids that I should dwell upon particulars. ]>.it I mav Hay that everv means of oonnnunicaiini:' with thc])oo- pie of the rural districts of Great Britain should be sought and used. Information concerning New Ih'unswick sliould be convoyed through the public ])rints of (xroat IJritaiii — by the distribution of pamj)]llots — by circulnrs — by maps— by handbills. Late and early — summer and vv inter — in season and out of season — we sliould be instant at the work. We should gain the entry to ])apers of res])ectability, having a wide circulation : we should make a missionary of every New IJrunswicker who sets foot, even for a week, in the IJrilish Isles. We sliould get immigrants to correspond with their relatives and friends in the old country upon the su'ujet^t. Xo better plan could ho devised oi' spi-oa'-ling in- formiition res[)ecting New Ih'unswick, umoiK<>: iho^c wlmm It would !)e most desirahle to aiu-ft, than by getting their friends in New Ih'unswick to send It to them in the sha}>c of pa!n')hlets, or any other printed or written matter. Tiion tirises the (|ucstion — how is all this to he accom- plished'^ How is the machinery to be put in motion, and ;f' ai(, tion cou |WOl i con Wll( Th wo son Wo T AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. 35 solution, ifj, more j\\\\y of A bad out, is ipsctting this bo- re — tbat tbut we oriii and what a eve tbat 7'i'if<<; our itc what niji; iiKjre, '111 to IHJ- ior (jlLc:r I placu as cr tliciii. igly, spi- Ill'S. J^.it li the ])L'()- )C S(Hli>'llt :',k hIiouUI Britain — y maps — iiitiM- — ill ibe work. ,y, having of over}" k, in the ;)rrcs})oiid ii])t)ii tiie .'ad ill,:;' in- OKC ^v!l<)ll:l :ing thoir th(j b]t:ii)0 ttO!'. e acconi- jtioii, and I kept in motion ? Tliis brings mc to a suggestion of aomo degreo of novelty, and, as 1 eonccive, of very great im- portance. 1 pro])08e that the matter of Immigration sliall be brought down from its cot bed in the attic, and put into the cradlo of the 8tate. 1 propose tliat tliere sliall be a department of Immigration, just as there is a department of Public Works. It is not ne(;esKary that a separate establiftliment and de])artment should be created ; put tlie business o*' tho ]>romotion of Immigration just where it naturally should be ; make the Surveyor (ieneral chief of the department of Crown Lands and Jmrirl (/ration. Don't do it merely in name ; rlo it in reality. Estahlish a Ik)ard of Immigiation, with the Surveyor (general as its President, alter tlie niodo of the new Council for India in (ireat Pritain. The Poard might be (*oni]>os('d ot one member from each County in the Province, and two or three members of the Executive, besides the Surveyor General. The functions of the Poard would 1)(? not to legislate but to advise. It would be a body which the President could consult, and would bo bound to consult. Its members, coming from every quarter of the Province, would rej)rcsent the feelings, the wants, and the ideas of every (juai'ter. They could bi'ing to tho aid of the President the result of tlie iiupiiries avj] reflec- tions of every thinking man from St. John to Lake Temis- eouata, from Pathurst to the Schoodic. Pesides this, they would be of servicie in searching out, and bringing into communication with the Poard, every one in the Province who could inform or iniliienceany one in the Pritish Isles. Thus a thousand channels of infoj'inatiou and sucii-estion ; would be oiiened u]) ; and the President of the Poard would soon learn how and when the (Muigrants of Great Hritain could be a]>proaclied and influenced ; what their wishes and intentions were ; what they wished to know, what tliey a(;tuallv knew, and what they did not know. Py takino* advantu.'je (^f these means, and by the direct channels which would 1)0 o})encd, a ])ovv'(^rful influence would be excited upon the emigiaiits of Great Pritain ; and we might ica- sonably liope to see the realization of those wishes in wliich we 1l() generally and ardently indulge. I can scarcely say that there is no other department with with which the Immigration Oliiee could as naturally and 36 NEW BRUNSWICK, properly bo amalgamated as that of the Crown Lands. Tlie two liave a connexion wliieli none can dispute. Nor shall I argue upon the question of exi^ensjo. Xo one denies that all that we need in New Brunswick are men and women — that these are our f-'reat want — tliat our u'rcat natural re- sources are useless to us without the minds and the hands of a large ])(>])uhition to work at their development. It does, tlien, strike me that there is no interest in the state superior to that of Immigration ; and that there are few that equal it. If this be granted, I contend that it should not be sliut up in a pett} office in St. John, of which the great l>ody of the people know as little as they do of the domicile of thogentlenuin who is ])opuhu'ly supposed to re- side in the moon, but should take its |>hice beside the other rn'eat interests, in the Exeeuti^'e, and on the iioor of tho Assend)lv. It is not desiraldc that I should lengthen tlus essay in an elaboration of this proposition for a slate department of Iirimigi'ation. I ])roeeed to oifer a few remarks upon the thii'd and last branch of the subject — The development of our resources. I need scarcely say that this is a matter for which Go- vernments and societies can do little directly. Ca])ital and labour will do the work; and tliey alone. Still, it is in the ])0\v'er of the (lovi'mment to assist in turning the attention of ca])ita!lsts tovrards our Province. A geological survey and exploration is highly desirable ; it would bring to liglit many facts of importance, and might settlenot afew vexed questions. Tlien the ]>rom(>tion of Itaih,vays is aiu)ther means of drawing the attention of capitjilists to om* bor- ders. It is highly desirable, too, that our newspaper jU'ess should turn its attention mdre to tlu' material resources and iiitei'csts of the Province. Then the, o])cningu]) the centre of the Province by running a Kidh'oad through the wilder- ]iess laud on the east side of the St. dohn is a matter reqvdr- ing consideration. AVhatever may be the varyuig opinions respecting trading lines, and lines for the purpose of con- necting and convcniencing cei'tain localities, no one who has studied the maj) of ^Scw Ijrr.n nvick can deny that tli'' national line, tlie New Brunswick llailroad, must run di- rectly through the cent)'e of X\w. Province, penetrating and rendei'ing accessible the vjist extent of ungranted lands .1 i AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. ids. TllG Tor shall nics tlipc ^^omer — ural re- ic liand:^ lent. It he state are few t slionld hich the o of the sed to re- the other jr 01 tho say in an tment of upon the pinciit of liich Go- i])ital and t is in tlie attention al survey n^ to lif^ht few vexed 5 another ovir bor- jxn* ]n"ess iirees and he centre le wihler- er reqnir- ^ o])iiiions (^ of eon- one avIk) i tliat tlie st run di- atiuc: and ted lands which stretch north from Fredericton, past the heads of the I Nashwaalv, the Miramichi, the Beckaguimic, the Monquart, the Tohique, the Nipisiguit, the Upsalquitch, and the Kesti- gouche, away to the Canadian boundary. It is of vast \ importance that this great country should be opened by a ; railroad and by common roads ; and that here, and in other I parts of the Province, the utmost care should be taken to i l)revent the buying up of tracts of land for mere purposes I of speculation. ■■ (xeographically. New Brunswick occupies a happy posi- tion. She occupies the most southern portion of tne sea I coast of British North America ; and her harbours being open throughout the Avinter, she is the natural outlet for the trade of that great region. That the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada will find its way to the ocean through !New Brunswick, if our Government and people take the means within their reach to secure it, there cannot be a doubt. When that is accomplished, Kew Brunswick will gradually become the thoroughfare for a vast and constantly increasing trade, the extent of which it would be pre- sumptuous in any man to fi:.. I believe this railway con- nexion to be a matter of more importance in its bearing upon the development of New Brunswick than any other wuiich has ever presented itself to our people. Connect f New Brunswick with Canada and the Far West in this manner, and you place her on the highway between the Old World and the New, and you draw upon her the attention of both. Whatever advantages she may possess will then become known and appreciated ; population and capital will pour in upon her ; her lands will find ready purchasers — her forests will take an increased value — her mineral wealth will be brought to light — her fisheries will come to occupy the attention which they merit — her unsur- passed water power will be turned to good account ; and we shall see our country rise to that condition of wealth, prosperity, and refinement, and take that place in the rank of nations, which Providence has fitted her to occupy. ir