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lUR' I

A FEW REASONS
AGAINST ANY CHANGE

IN THE SYSTEM

OF OUR

COLONIAL LUMBER TRADE,

t.i\

An attempt to alter the policy which Great
Britain has so wisely adopted towards her North
American Colonies, is an attack upon their very
vitals. I cannot see the propriety of a system, tho'
adorned with the title of " bona fide free trade,"
which would shut up a mother country from favor-
ing an infant colony, in the only way in which it
can be brought forward, and made most rapidly of
value and importance — that would force her to
withdraw the fostering hand which has raised it to
its present prosperous height, and oblige her to re-
move those props by which the colony is supported.
The Imperial Parliament should have weighed (as I
have no donbt it did) the cost and the consequences,
before it gave a preference to timber from Canada,
which has led so many to embark in the trade, and
also to the formation of saw mill establishments in
various parts of both provinces, which in extent and
perfection are equal, if not superior to any in Europe.
Gov rumcnt must have foreseen that if the prefer-

■!:■

( 2 )

ence vfus once given and acted upon, it could never
be withdrawn with any degree of safety to the
Colony.

This is not a mere question between two commer-
cial bodies, whose interests may be balanced by the
weight of their respective political friends. It is a
struggle for the well being — I may say, for the ex-
istence of a country containing nearly one million of
inhabitants, and in whose prosperity Great Britain
is intimately concerned. It has been stated that the
measures which have been followed, were incon-
sistent with the principles of a free system, ** and
'' went to force a trade at a great public loss, in a
*' colony which had no natural advantages for sus-
" taining it."* A round and confident assertion
sometimes checks or prevents investigation. I cannot
conceive what other advantages are necessary for the
trade, than abundance of stock, and the greatest
facility of conveyance to the market. It may be
very easily shown that the stock of pine timber in
Canada, is, in all probability, inexhaustible, and it
surely requires no proof to establish that she excels
every other country in the convenience of internal
water communication. The numerous lakes and
navigable rivers, with which she is intersected in
every direction, are skirted chiefly with the very
article in question.

The inferior quality of the timber from this coun-
try has been much insisted on — but I have not been
so long in the world without feeling in my own
experience, and observing in others, the mighty
power of prejudice, and I should doubt much the
opinion of even a carpenter, of the quality of Ca-
nada timber, who had been in the habit of working

• Mr. Warburton in <hc House of Commons on the 18 h November.

^^BF

(3 )

only on that from the Baltic in the early, or for the
greatest part of his life. My line of business gave
me an intimate knowledge of every species of timber
from the northern countries of Europe. Since I
came to this country I have had every sufficient op-
portunty of examining the timber produced in it,
and I have no hesitation in believing that when
prejudice wears away, it will stand as high in public
opinion as that from the Baltic. Ail other produc-
tions of Canada are equal to those of the same climate
in Europe, and why should timber be the only ex-
ception ? The white or yellow pine, which is spread
very generally over the upper parts of Canada, is
far superior to any thing of the kind that can be
found in the Baltic, both as to size and quality, and
can be purchased at the low price of 3d. to 4d. per
foot. From the great length of time in which the
business has been carried on in the Baltic, the work- '
men seem to have acquired more expertness, and
their timber is better dressed — it is also more care-
fully assorted into different qualities than in Canada.
A cargo, therefore, of first quality, or what is called
crown red pine from Riga or Memel may appear
more uniform than a cargo from Quebec. This,
however, is no proof that the general growth is
better.

But the formidable objection to the colonial tim-
ber is the heavy loss supposed to be sustained by the
preference given to it in the scale of duties, and it
seems so difficult to get quit of the idea that Great
Britain has made a '• sacrifice" by thus encouraging
the trade, that I must admit it, for a moment, for the
sake of argument. If she has then given up a certain
amount in pounds, shillings and pence, it is for ad-
vantages, both to herself and to her Colonies, which
cannot be so easily calculated. She has, in so doing,

1..

( 4 )

rendered lieraelf independent of other Powers for a
supply of timber, and by taking from the Colonies
in a liberal manner, their first available articles, she
increases their means, and in thus helping their
prosperity, lays the foundation of an extensive
market for her own manufactures. Our lumber
trade employs a great quantity of shipping, which
not only enlarges the nursery for seamen, but affords
great facility to emigrants, thirty thousand of whom
have this season found easy access to this country
by means of the vessels which have crossed the
Atlantic for timber. Thus it may be said, a bridge
has been constructed at the easiest possible expense
from that part of the empire which is over crowded,
to another in which there is still sufficient room.
These are a few of the beneficial consequences,
which have arisen from the " sacrifice" which our
mother country has made. But has she really made
it? Is there in fact a public annual loss of one
million and a half? or were she to give up all the
advantages I have attempted io enumerate, and
instead of the present ideal sacrifice, make, in
reality, an oblation of the Colonies themselves,
would the consumers of timber in England be sup<p
plied one farthing cheaper?

The merchants in the Baltic, it may be presumed,
understand as well as others the effect of increased
demand for their articles, and it may be also sup-
posed, are as much inclined to take advantage of it.
I leave it, therefore, with our free trade economists
io calculate the result of an additional demand in
the Baltic market for nearly one million of tons of
timber. Before the colonial timber got so freely into
the English market, Memel timber could not be ship-
ped under one shilling per foot, and it cannot be
improbable, that the prices will soon be again at or

- uM lM Wmi Mll

( 5)

above that rate^ if tlie competition from this country
be done away. The prices in Quebec last season
were not on an average above 7d. per foot for red
pine, and 3d. for white or yellow pine. The market
was no doubt rather lower than usual, owing to the
large quantity brought into it, but the improve-
ments going on, and in contemplation to reduce the
expense of the conveyance of the timber down the
rivers, will soon, if the trade be continued, enable
the lumberers to sell at these prices with sufficient
profit. It is needless to enter more particularly into
the subject, nor does it require any calculation to
shew that the additional expense, on the freight
from Canada, of about 6d. per foot, may very soon
be balanced by a rise of the price in the Baltic ports.
The same loss, as it is called, or expenditure, would,
therefore, not only be still on the business, but it
would get into a most unfavorable channel for the
interests of Great Britain. Instead of being given
as freight to our own shipping, as it now is, it would
go into the pockets of the merchants in the Baltic.
So that the saving held out to the consumers in
England, by going again for their supplies to the
Baltic, is altogether fallacious.

Thus would Great Britain shut herself out from
her own Colonies, place herself again at the mercy
of the Baltic traders, and add still more to the
riches and strength of the Northern Powers^ without
any compensation whatever for the ruin of this im-
portant part of her own dominions !

I believe there are some well wishers to Canada
who do not strenuously oppose the present attempt
from an idea that the lumber trade is not favorable
to what they think her best interests. They view it
as a hinderance to agriculture. But they do pot con-
sidier that in adding to the means of employ/nen^, it

■'^Mk\

( 6)

increases the demand for produce, and it provides,
what is of great consequence in this climate, winter
work for a numerous and hardy class of our popu-
lation.

The timber is giving way in many districts to
cultivation, and where it i» spread too extensively
to be exhausted, as is the case on the Ottawa, it is
evidently encouraging it. — The farmer and the lum-
berer are ranging more distinctly into diffevent
classes, and there are already a number of farms far
beyond the surveyed and regularly settled part of
the country, which are cultivated for the purpose of
raising provisions for the people employed in the
woods on the timber. When the townships are ex-
tended in that quarter and the obstacles in the
Ottawa removed, there is no doubt but that the
land on the upper part of the river, will, on account
of its vicinity t(y the lumbering operations, be chosen
for settlement in preference to other situations.

I shall here give an extract from my son's report
of the journey he undertook in the autumn of 1829,
to ascertain the practicability of a water communi-
cation from the Ottawa to Lake Huron, which
report was laid before Government, and is also in-
serted in the 2d vol. of the transactions of the Lite-
rary and Historical Society of Quebec, under the
title of Topogiaphical notices of that part of the
country.

He corroborates what I have said of the influence
of the lumber trade in promoting cultivation, and
states the inexhaustible extent of the Pine forests.
•* It is now only four years since the procuring of
lumber from the Crown lands along the Ottawa
has been rendered a legal occupation. This
branch of the timber trade has increased rapidly,
fnd now forms a principal support of the Canada

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shipping. The stock of red pine in the upper
Ottawa countries is probably inexhaustible ; it
begins to be common growth about the head of
the Chats Lake^ and the region favorable to its
production, by all accounts, extends some hun-
dred miles northward. The fine river which
traverses this region, with its numerous tribu-
taries, promises to afford the means of obtaining
the pine for market from an almost indefinite
extend of country, and in which we may expect
the growth of the timber to be more than sufficient
to keep pace with the annual cutting,
" In all likelihood, a great proportion of these
northern pine lands will be found unfit for settle-
ment ; but, considering the great support and
encouragement which the timber trade of the
Ottawa must afford, both to the agricultural and
mercantile interests of the Colony, the existence
of this accessible red pine region is, unquestion-
ably, a most favorable feature in the country ;
more so perhaps than if its place were occupied
with the most fertile hard wood lands.
" The passage of the timber down the various
rapids and fall^ does not form the chief obstacle
in prosecuting this business. In such a flow of
water as the Ottawa, there is always to be found
some method of passing it, either in cribs or in
single pieces,i|iyvithout much damage or extraor-
dinary delay. The grand obstacle consists in the
difficulty and expense of providing provisions,
grain, &c. necessary for the winter's operations,
at a distance beyoitid the settlements, and with the
interrupted channel of the Ottawa alone as a
means of conveyance. The survey and settlement
of what eligible lands may be found along the
river, is one evident means of assisting (he trade

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III I

(8)

'' in this important particular. Indeed, the unusual
*' rmlue of every species of produce in the 7ieie^hbour'
'* hood of the lumbering establishments has induced
** a number of people, at every risk to occuptf and
*' clear lands at various places above the present
" surveys, which extend no higher than the Chats
*' Lakes. In no view are the advantages of a navi-
*' gation between Lake Huron and the Ottawa more
*' evident than with regard to the lumber trade.
By such a communication the winter supplies of
the timber cutters would be obtained from the
fertile countries south and west of that great lake
" at one third of the cost now incurred in procuring
them from Montreal, and the certain result would
be an ample and steady supply rf timber below the
present prices. If, therefore, tHe.-e were no other
object in view but that of insuring a regular sup-
ply of necessaries at the cheapest rale for work-
ing the great pine fields of the Ottawa, it is
'' highly interesting to ascertain what natural faci-
" '.'ties may exist for a communication between
'■ Lake Huron and the upper waters of that river."

This testimony from an eye-witness ought to have
some weight. But indeed the case for the Colonies
is so strong that it requires very little proof or argu-
ment.

It cannot be possible that ministry will look upon
us with any degree of that apathy which some of
the Houorabie Members of the House of Commons
seem to possess,* or that they can forget for a mo-

♦ On the 7th December last, Mr. Warbnrion' consiaerln^; our fate aa
sealed, coittemplates our ruin with most philosophical coolness and with-
out expressing; thri least sense of compunction, for the hand he may have
had in it, states that when the new regulations with respect to trade
are put in tbrcu, the Rideau Canal must become " totally useless," and
the great expenditure on it must, qf course, be a total loss. " He protested
" against any further expenditure on the Rideau Canal, as the regulatioos

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(9 )

meat that those Colonies form no small part of that
Commoo wealth whose general welfare is committed
to their care.

The ship-owners are also deeply interested in this
matter. Their two thousand sail which have en-
joyed our trade without a rival, must, if any unfa-
vorable alteration be made for the Colonies, go to
meet competitors in the Baltic, and formidable ones
too^ as it is well known that foreign vessels, from
lower wages, and many other causes are able to carry
at cheaper rates than British merchantmen.

So far as I can understand tiie doctrine of free
trade, it is an attempt to reduce to one simple prin-
ciple, that variety of system which has hitherto been
found necessary for the various cases and situations
of mercantile nations. If Dr. Sangrado had suc-
ceededf he would have reduced the science of medi-
cine to the most beautiful simplicity, but it was found
upon trial, that one mode of treatment, simple as it
was, would not exactly suit every case-;— no doubt
the Doctor, like many other projectors, would not
admit, that the disastrous consequences which fol-
lowed, were attributable to any fault in his system,
bnt to deficiency^ in its application Universal
equality is also a very simple principle, but if put
in practice might act very differently on different
individuals — some it would raise — others it would
depress. Is there no danger of universal free tradt
operating in a similar manner ?

" with repect to trade would render it totally uieleas for the purpoMs
*' which ytete originally contemplated, no commodities such a« the
" Canal waa intended to convey would now be required Trom Canada 1 1"
Mr. Warburton is a very honest politician. When pleadinff a bad cause,
be does not attempt to gloss it. In this instance he not only admits, kut
describes in plain language, the pernicious effects, which would k« pr**
duced, by the Tery measure he is stririog to carry.

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I' :.

^^;.

( 10 )

Great Britain and the Northrrii Powers move \m
very diiF^ront spheres. She has an intercourse and
interest with her rnloniea and other distant poss^^-
pjons ill Nvhidj fbreigii nations cannot participate.
She Joes not stand on eq^al terms with those Powej:i
who have no posscgsions beyond their own territorieik
They may profit by a free trade, jw they wo-uld
certainiy do in the present iustartce, while Great
Britain and her Colonics would suffer sevendy. The
Colonial relation may be compared to that which
subsists betweeji parent and child, which has sanc-
tioned in all ages for mutual protection, a partial
or an exclusive reciprocity, containing a principle,
and producing a practice by no means in conforiuity
with this new system of univ-ersal conununity.

1 1

CHARLES SHIRREFF.

Quebec, 15th January, 183/^. /

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