IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ^M |i|M H^ 11112.2 %u U4 « lis IIIIIM 1.8 L25 iiillU IIIIII.6 V] <^ ^ /a Si,"' ^ >v ,%''^ / y ,\ ,v ^> 40^ :\ \ '^^^ «>. ' O ;\ # > CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadi. n Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. a D G2 Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographir4ues en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqu6es Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure) L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. 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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Bibliotheque du Parler^nt Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul clichd sont filmdes d partir de Tangle supdrieure gauche, de gaurhe d droite et de haut an bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m6thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 his an CANADIAN PUBLIC LANDS. SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS -BY- MR. J. B. PLUMB, M.P., . ■ ON — MONDAY, 0th APRIL, 1880. (From the Official Report of the Debaitt.) Mr. PLUMB: Mr. Speaker, I ex- pected, Avlien my lion, friend the member for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton) rose, that we would have a temperate, clear and dispassionate discussion of the great question involved in the terms of his resolutions. My hon. t'riend has an aptitude for collating statistics and presenting them in a clear and effect- ive manner. But my hon. friend has one jjcculiarity, which I think, has been exhibited in all the important speeches lie has made in this House. It will not be Parliamentary for me to say, the hon. gentleman has not the sincerity of his convictions, but it is quite certain, that when he begins with an argu ment upon one side of a ques- tion, he usually manages before he concludes, to introduce arguments upon the opposite side from that upon which he started that entirely do away with the force of his original proposition. My hon. friend began by questioning the land policy of the Government. I acknow- ledge that there may be great room for differencesof opinion upongravequestions, iich as that of the policy to be adopted for peopling a wild country like ourNorth- West, and the building of a Trans-Con- tinental railway. Difl'erences of that kind we must expect will be earnestly ad- vocated and supported by arguments Btrenuously urged in this House. We must expect that such arguments from gentle- men on the other side of the House, will be tinged with party spirit. I do not object to that — and I hope we shall hear in the course of this discussion, for our information and examination, from gen- tlemen on both sides, every I'easonable view which can be taken of the subject. But I did not expect to hear f rom^^the hon. centleman on the one hand, that the Government liad granted for the building of the Pacific Railway an in- ordinate quantity of land — a grant so large that it was simply reckless, extravagant, and improvident. I did not expect, on the other hand, to hear him assert that that quantity of land would be inadequate for the building of the road. Nor did I ex- pect to hear from him that there had been gmnts of one-fourth the quantity, not so good as ours, to important railways in the U nited States, on the proceeds of which their lines had been constructed. These statements do not tally. I will not follow the hon. gentleman in hi.s argument, but I must say that I cannot conceive that in the great North-West there is not land enough for all kinds of bargains and arrangements which if may seem politic to the country to make. There is ample provision made for the settler. There is ample provision made for him in the first place by giving him 180 acres as a homestead, and in the second place i Si 2 ft pi'eemption of anothor 100 acros i sliirt, and .sqnirrol-slcin cap, witli his pow- vvhicli lie can take if lie likes. It cl('i--liorn at liis side and his riiio on hU is very unfair for the hon. gentleman sliouhlei', standing' rc-idy to take tliesn to att(!in})t to persuade this House that the accessories of civilization into our CJreiit land laws of the LTnited States are more Lone Jj'uid. But the hon. geutloman favorable to the settler than ours. 1 liappen assures us tliat the fastidious person he to have before ine the regulations of the j described will not vouchsafe to give us United States (lOvciMimeut, in res])ect to , the inestimable benefit of his coop- preemption and homesteads, which regtda- jeration, unless we legislate here for tious sliow that, until recent modilications | his especial and exclusive benefit. Now, took place, a sc^l.tler could get for a home- [ the hon. gentleman should know that lii» stead ouly eighty acres of land, and could ^ pioneer has ceased to exist ; that he is ;i acqviire but eighty acres more by pre- i creature of an age t!iat has gone by ; that emption. The prices of the latter wei'e he is as utterly extinct as the Mastudoii fixed, according to location, either at $1.25 or $2.50 per acre, and yet the hon. gentleman boasts of this system, which in reality is not nearly so liberal as our own. In 1879, mule;'" pressure of representatives in Congress, who were hostile to the holders of the large land-grants for rail- way purpo.ses, or who wished to strengthen themselves in const.' tuencies, where such grants are restrictive and monopolising, there was a modilication of the land statutes, and o.il Act was passed b/ which tlie homestead -grant was extei dei to 160 acres and the preemption i)iivileges to 160 acres a'so ; but, the nnnimum and maximum prices, $1.25 and .'52.5(), remain tin; same. This is all I have to say, in reply to the hon. gentleman, in that I'egard. When the lion, gentleman says that our regulations are calculated to obstruct thesettlemeut of the North- West. I entirely disagree with him. Does he sui)poso that this Government are in a league to defeat their own objects — that they are going deliberately to work — understanding the regulations of the United States — to commit political suicide and destroy the opportunity presented to them, of parrying out the great engage- ments laid upon them, — engagements I may say, in passing, laid upon tlnmi by the lion, gentleman op[)Osite and his leaders, for the original policy was changed by the late Government. The hon. gentle- man goes on to say, that in order to open up our great North-West, it must be left free to the typical pioneer ; and the hon. gentleman, vitli a line poetic fancy, j)ictures that fn'an<-co?f?'jcr of settlements, after having finished his work in what wa i once once called the Far- West, having no more wilderness to conquer in the The Jioii. gentleman has also said, that there is a great objection to opening the land in the Far-West to the siieculator. I say that if any one wishes to buy this land within the restrictions placed uj)Oii it by the Governnumt, he should be al- lowed and encouraged to do so. I say that I want to see the capitalist go there, take an active interest in the settlement of that country, and become an emigrant agent, endeavouring to get setilers there ; and if, as lias be(;n hinted, he finds iiini- self uncomfortably taxed, he will be the more anxious to get settlers u2)on his darkandbloody ground wherehe flourish;'d j lands tosharehisburfchens,and theiewill he fifty years ago in his buckskin hunting j no liu.'in done ; there is ample room and of Big-ljoiK! Lick, wlio dL;-iaj)pearod a few- ages earlier. His mission was to defend himself with his rille from the hostile red-man, to kc(!p his scalp intact and wi: n his axe to fell the vast dreary forests which frowned along the shores of the Ohio and tlit; Mississippi. If a stray individual of lii.'j race still survives, Sir, he would find on the Ited river or t\v Saskatchewan, no'ie of the difHculties witli which he had tr giaj)ple in his old home. There are no grim foes to meet except occasional blizrMrds, no forests on which the lal>our of half a lifetime must ho spent before they can be conquered. The virgin soil is ready for the plough, a .single summer will yield a prolific harvest on the first breaking up : nature has prejiared an easy patli for Iiim with the aji])lication of the vast improvements that labour-saving implements supply. The country we are ofiering has already passed the bounds which the pioneer reacluKl when his work was done. The hon. gentleman has sketched a poetic picture, romantic enough, but one which will not; stand the strong, clear light of common sense, 3 ■■ Tei'j^o enongli for tlie emigrant and the capitalist : 1 liave been looking over the ivjjort of the English tenant farmers who yisited Manitoba last year, which shows that large tracts have been taken nji by men of property going from Ontario, men who have sold their improved lands here and who have had means to acquire land enough for themselves and their sons in the North-West. What possible olijeoti(m can there be to giving such men the privilege of acquiring ten times the (|iiautity named as a liomestcad if they liesire it ? It would hardly be expected that we could adopt any policy that would meet with approval of lion, gentlemen on the other side, and* I anticipated nothing l(!ss than the attack made l)y the lion, membcir for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton) but I have been very much ilisap])ointed in its force. All the possi.le mischief which it was intended to inflict 1ms been done away with, most effectually, by the lion. Premier in his able and eloquent rej)ly. I do not hesitate to say, Mr. Speaker, that every utteranc3 of lion, gentlemen opposite since the open- ing of this Session, has been made with a view to damage the interests of this country ; and it has been painful to the community at large as well as to all dis- passionate men in tliis House, to notice the attempts of the minority to thwart and obstruct that progress toward a re- storation of confidence and a return of prosperity, which would come naturally but for the conduct which I am com- pelled to charactei'ise, as anything but patriotic in the Opposition. Since they sat on the Opposition Benches they have attacked and worried every interest of the country and that, gentleman among tlieni who was able to make the stronstest statement in illustration of the 'country's ruin waa the one they most loudly cheered It was not, however, altogether with tlie intention of answering the hon. member for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton) or the Hon. member for (Gloucester (Mr. Anglin), that I rose to address the Hou.se to-night. I do not see any argu- ment of the latter that demands reply. The hon. gentleman's statements are merely hypothetical and cannot be made the basis of any mathematical pro2iosition or logicah refutation ; it is therefore not v orth while to talk about them. In the State of Iowa, where I became interested in lands in 1S57, wiien the population was under .300,000, and whicli contains now a population nearly five times that num- ber — a state comjiaratively free from debt and burthensome taxatial railway com])anies in the United States, up to 187G. I think it fair to take it up to that time, higher prices have since been obtained, but the condition of settlement then cnine more nearly to that of the North-West now. The Topeka and Santa Fe, $5 an acre ; the St. Pciul and Minnesota, $G.20; the Northern Pacific, $4.74 ; Lake Superior andMississippi-^7.50 ; the Pere Marquette, $8 ; the Central Pacific, .|5. 29 ; the Union Pacific, $4.32, on a grant of 13,000,000 acres ; the Kansas Pacific on a grant ot 0,000,000 acres, |2.72, the last report of that roail being in 1873; the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, $7.91 ; the Chicago, Burlington and Quincey, $12.25. It therefore does not seem very rash and reckless to make tho calculations given by my right hon. friend, the First Minis- ter., of the value of our lands and the probability of .sales. It was not for the ])urpose, however, of addressing the House on this question, as I have just stated, or ui)on Mr. Charl- ton'sresolutionsalone,that I rose to-night; and p(!rhaps I may be ]>ardoned, if I take a different range, in order to bring for- ward some statistics on matters of im- portance to this House and thq country. My principal object in now adtlressing the House, was to call attention to tlie English labour and food question, and to couple them with the probable settlement of the great North- West. My object was to show that my I'ight hon. friend Sir John A. Macdonald, had no chimerical idea, wlien he looked upon our great fertile belt in that country, as l)eiiig the future home of a great com- munity, loyal to the British Crown, and forming perhaps the most important por- tion of the British Colonial Empire. J have endeavoured to bring important statistics bearing upon the food and labour question together, in such a way, as to l^resent them concisely to the House. 1 Avish to state first, from the data that I shall be able to give, that the culture of wheat, is constantly declining in the United Kingdom, the acreagesown having fallen from 3,831,054 acres in 1871, to 3,381,791 acres in 1878 ; and to 3,085,428 acres, it is estimated, in 1879. This enormoMs diminution is caused by large areas of new lands under wheat cidture in other parts of the world, coming in successful competition with Bi'itain wheat- growing. The acreage thus taken from wheat cnlture does not produce any other cropgivingthesameamountofllesh-lorming constituents as that of wheat, 4801b. of which is equal to 5501b. of meat, and 4,8001b. of potatof.'s. Of course, as long as coal or iron will buy, or will produce what will buy wheat, just so long C4in the population of Britain be fed. But she is in a ])eculiar position. She requires not only to import food la/gely, but she must import great quantities of raw material for her manufactures — more, per- haps, than any other manufacturing country. She imports hemp, jute, silk, cotton, leather, wool, and wood lor building purposes, and those imports have to be paid for by exports of manufactures. At a period not very remote, a surplus of food supplies was raised in the kingdom, and large quantities of careals were ex- ported; but it is now absolutely necessary for England to face the food question as well as the question whether her imports can be increased in prof)ortion to the wants of that class of the population which depend entirely upon manu- facturing as distinguished fi*om agri- cultural pursuits. I shall be able to show figures to sustain what I have said. In 1H71 the population of the British Isles w^as 31,484,061. It is now esti- mated at 35,000,000. Theacreage of wheat in 1871, was 3,831,054; yield 53,020,000 cwts., or 100,024,000 bushels. Wlicat imported in 1871, 43,310,000 cuts. or 80,850,000 bushels ; consump- tion, 97,000,000 cwts., or 180,87^,000 bushels. Acreragf. of whout in 1878, 3,381,701 ; yield 55,350,000 cwts. or 103,420,000 bvshels; wheat im- Ijorted in 1878, 58,700,000 cwts. or 109,090,000 bushels; consumption 114,110,000 cwts. or213,110,000husliek Acreage of wheat in 1879 3,050,428 acres half a crop estimated ; wheat ini])o: icd in the first ten months of 1879 57,000,000 cwts. or 100,400,000 bushels. JNlr. Caiid states the yearly present consumptiou of wheat to be 110,000,000 cwts. or 205,340,000 bushels, of which 55,OO0,0(i0 or 102,670,000 bushels is importod, Other cereals imported probably supply the place of wheat used for others f)in'- poses than human food. Of meat the home product in 1878 was 25,000,000 cwts. ; of butter and cheese 3,000,000 ' cwts.; of milk, 0,000,000, cwts., making an aggregate of homo raised animal food of 34,000,000 cwts. Imported meat in 1878 6.000,000, cwts. ; imported buttor and c: -. 4,580,000 cwts.. Total coa- sumption of animal food, 44,580,001) j cwts. Potatoes, home grown in 1878, 100,000,000 cwts. ; jjotatoes imported, 850,000 cwts. All these foods vary in life j sxistaining power in proportion to their richness in flesh-forming constituents, j It is calculated that the nutriment con- tained in 4801b. of wheat is the average- j quantity required for each individual of the population; and that 48Ulb| of wheat is equal to 5501b. of meat and 4,8001b. of potatoes. Reduced to a| common flesh forming standard and ex- lessed as wheat the consumption of food! in 1878 was as follows : Jdomegi'own. cwts. Wheat 55,350,000 Meat equal to. . .21,820,000 Dairy food 8,00),000 Potatoes 10,000 000 Imported, cwts, 58,7()0,000j t:5,740,000| 3,7'^l*,l 870,0(»1 95,170.000 69,09i),l The calculation shows that in 1878 tli^ consumption of wheat Avas 48^ per ceiitj homo grown, 51 1 per cent, imported. Of meat reduced to wheat standard, 7y|',;i y\ cent home grown, 20,'J2, per cent. importeJJ Of dairy food 68,^;^ percent home; 31,;wP«^ quesi cond open oani cent, iiiiportod ami of potatoes, 92 porcent. lioiiKS iiULl 8 per cent, imported. In all, ^(S per cent, of the total .ooil consumed was produced at lioino, and 12 per oent. Wiis inijiortcd in 1H78. The total consumption in 1878 was 104,000,000 cwts. ; in 1871, 11. •5,000,000 cwts.: and in 18G2, l;5.'>,()()0,00() cwts. Divid'd among tli« population at those ])eriods they iimke, in wheat ecpuvalents, the coiisumptiou ]if'i' CO pita in 18(51, .^2Jlh. ; in 1871 51211).; in 1878 53811). allowing f) per cent, for exi)ort the i-e- niainder comes voiy near the calculation of 48011). of wheat, or its e([nivalent, for oaoli period. Besides these main articles of food there arc minor ones of little com- parative inj[)ortance, namely; eggs, vege- tables other than potatoes, fruits, home raised and foreign, and Leverages. The value of the totiil consumption of food in 1878 was estimate(iat £107,000,000 ster- ling, made uji as the following : Animal food £.39,980,000 Cereals (iO.llO.OOO Sugar, fruit, &o 29, 1.50,(X)0 Alcoholic beverages 7,840,000 Othor bereragoa 12,080,000 Miscellaueous 17,840,000 • Total.... £167,000, 000 Allowances arc made in the estimate of alcoholic and other beverages for the grain used in their manufacture ; its enhanced value in the shape of the bever- age in merely given. According to the careful estimate of the great English statistician, Mr. Caird, Britain now de- rives half it.s bread and one-fourth of its dairy produce from abroad. Mr. Samuel BourRe, from whose valuable tables I have largely quoted and shall largely quoto, estimates that of the 35,000,000 of population which the next census will show in the United Kingdom, at least 17,000,000 miist be fed by imported food. A great and deplorable waste of food is its conversion into alcoholic drink. During the twenty years ending in 1870, nearly 30,000,000 hundred weights — 55,000,000 bushels— were converted into beer and spirits ; enough food was thus absolut^'ly destroyed to support a twelfth part of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom, say 3,000,000 of persons. The question arises whether any changes in tlie conditions under which the agricultural operations of Great Britain are carried on oau increase the food- supply of the Islands. It do(^s not follow that a change in land tenure and a larger investment of capital in agriculture; woidil insure the sustaining of a larger niunber of peo[)le by increased home production. Much would dei)end on the kind of i)roduce of which tho quantity raised would be increased. The potato feeds th*' greatest innnberper acre, but it is deficient in giving nnisele and capacity for work — in strengthening power. There is but little likelihooil that the h'jnmps, although admiral)ly adapted for sustaining life, and giving healthy rigour and tone to tin; system, will como hirgely into use, or that anything will iakc the place of wheat, or depose it from its supremacy as the staff of life in the British Isles ; whether because of the weight which each aci'e will produce as com[ ared with other descriptions of food, or of its titness for n)an's consunq)tion. Xow, it is certain that wheat is just the kind of crop which is most likely uf all to be displaced in Britain, by the introduc- tion into the market of that countiy, ol; wheat of foreign growth. We have seen, as I have previously stated, the effect of a cheaper foreign supply in x-educing the wheat acreage from 3,821,054 in 1871, to 3,050,428 in 1870, which, allowing an average crop of tifteen bushels an acre, would be equal to a decrea.ie in the ci'op of eleven millions of bushels. Throwing land out of wheat culture into that of any other description of food, however profitable it may bo for the cultivatoi*, les.sens the number per acre wl ich the land will feed. In changing it from arable to grazing purposes, eight acres of pasture will only yield as much food as one of wheat. Fruit and vegetables will not contribute anything like the same degree of sus- tenance, that would be afforded by the wheat, of which they may take the place. Increased population and thriving trade also absorb more land for erection of l)uildings and means of transit, and for open spaces for recreation. These demands, it is not desirable to limit. Reclamations of waste land may oidy servo to supply the deficiency thus caused. High farming and inqiroved machinery will not be able to hold ground against the opening up of new areas of wheat culture in other countries, and will be probably applied to those foods which need the lai'gest acreage. On the whole, it is held r that it cannot bo expected that the life- Bustaining power of the soil of Jhitaiu irill be increased, unless ocntinued adversity drives its people to the nse ot simpler food. There is every reason for believing that every year will diminish the power to support increasing numbers upon the food raised in the British Isles. They must also resort largely to the pro- duce of other countries to supply raw material for manufactures, for it has been' often said that, except in iron and coal, no manufacturing country is more deficient in such material. Cotton, silk and jiite are wholly of foreign growth, and flax, leather and wool are largely imported. An avei'age of twelve years shows the value of these articles imported yearly m follows : — Home con- Home pro- Cotton . Flax... Jute . . . Silk . . . Wool... £ 42,230,000 5,160,000 2,470,000 15,180,000 Biuiiption. £ 9,720,000 3,302,000 2,190,000 12,4C0,000 duction. £ 2,000,000 15,550,000 5,060,000 8,500,000 Total... £80,500,000 £32,390,000 £10,000,000 For erectioiiof buildings and manufacture of furniture we iise foreign woods. From these data it will be found that it will be necessary for British statesmen, gravely and speedily to consider the condition of their country, where the manufacturing population is largely increas- ing, and where the increase of the agricul- tural population is almost at a stand still. The manufacturing class must be fed by the export of the manufactures they produce. And we have seen that not only these, but that one-half of the population alto- gether, now depends on imported food, to pay for which manufacturers must find an export market. At the Census of 1871, out of the 31,484,000 persons who were enumerated, 2,989,154 are classified as agricultural; 6, 425, 137 as industrial; these numbers include workers' wives and children. Probably the next Census will showau industrial population of 8,000,000, and that of the following decade might give 10,000,000 or 12,000,000. This calculation, and the probabilities of an augmentation in the ratio of increase of population, are justified by a late report of Dr. Farr, the Registrar General, who states that in the most healthy districts of England, during the ton years ending 1870, the mor tality was seventeen in the thou- sand, and the whole number through- out the country was twenty-two deaths in the thousai' 1. He argues that tlitt death rate will decrease, and that conse- (juently there will be a much more rapid increa.se in population in the future, owing to better hygienic and .sanitary regulations. To feed the i)opulation thus increasing, at the end of the next decade, will require the export trade to bo doubled or tripled, and every branch of manufacturing industry extended 50 per cent. The exports of the Kingdom arrived at their maximum in 1872, but the imports did not do so until 1877. iShice 1878 both have been decreasing. It is claimed that what is called the balanc* of trade is entirely fictitious. The gross sums r(iturned as the amounts of exports and imports it is said, and truly said, do not truly represent their values, and that the amount paid for imports is less than their valuation by the jirofit on freight, commissions, etc., and that in the same w'ay, more is received for exports than their en- tered cost on departure. The following tables show the official values of imports and exports for twelve years, with a re- vision, taking into account the added or diminished values just alluded to : — 1 a 1 8 a II t 8 1867. . 230 181 59 205 188 17 1868. . 247 180 67 220 187 33 1869. . 248 190 58 221 196 25 1870. .259 199 60 231 207 24 1871.. .271 223 58 240 230 10 1872. . 296 256 40 263 266 .. 3 1873. . 315 255 60 281 267 14 1874. , 312 240 72 278 251 27 1875. . 31G 223 93 281 233 48 1876. . 319 201 118 284 209 75 1877.. ,341 199 142 304 208 96 1873. .316 193 123 281 202 79 1879. . 288 188 100 1,050 256 197 59 £507 3 504 The foregoing figures represent millions sterling, and show an apparent balance of £1,050,000,000 of imports over ex- ports since 1867, which the revised figures in the last columns reduce to £504,000,000, of which it will be ob- served that£390,000,000 has accrued 8inc» (Icprfssiou of convince any 1873. It was contenchxl by the extreme scliool of jiolitical economists which our opponents bliiully foHow, that tin; imports, however mucli ii; excess, nuist In) really pjiid for by the exports, and, therefore, tli.tt the balunoe only shows the protitthat acrnies f roin tlie exchange. !Some of our ultra-B'ree traders liave gone so far as to o;iv; tliat tlie more a country buys the rii'lier she grows. Tlie events of the last few years, however, and the extreme trachi, must surely but the nio.st ob- stinate theorists of the fallacy of thi.s contention. It is now generally admitted, iho member for Jjothwt^l and his co7t- t'reres, to the contrary notwithstand- ing, that England has been liquidating lier balances by the sale of the bor.ds and securities acciuired during pros{'eroua years, and in lact tliat the English people are paying out their lioarded savings. Tlie recent rise in tlie Bank rate is due to the af)prehension that the United States which, owmg to the ])rotective system, hay little or nothing from England, will demand gold for the food they are called upon to supply, having regained possession of the bonds ami securities Avhich they formei-ly sold to England. In 1867 the aggregate exports of England exceeded her importations of food by £80,000,000; last year the excess was but £26,000,000, a sum quite insufficient to jiay for the raw material of foreign pro- duction worked up into the manu- factures exported. In short, the whole product of British labour and capital em- ployed in industries for exportation fail to realise enough to pay for the food she imports for home consumption. Let the figures be examined, and their import scrutinised in whatever way you will, and the conclusion is still irresistable that, at the present moment England is unal)le to provide food for her own people cither from the produce of her own soil, or by the exchange of her manufactures and produce. It will be argued that these times :,. 3 not a fair criterion, that there will be again a flood of prosperity, that the savings of the past will tide her over the ebb, and that the depression is universal. In other countries trading and manufac- turing compaiiies ar3 the minority, in England the majority. England, essen- tially a productive ai^d commercial nation, has been the manufactory of the world. but is every day becoming le.ss exclusively so, since other nations hav(( discovercMl that they pos.sess the same sources of mineral wealth. It is perfectly evident also from the hgures under consideration, that the profits of previous years have been expended for the purchase of raw material, and of the f'otKl necessary to feed the English pojndation. Tiicn comes the question as to whetiier the ivvival of trade will restore England's position. It may be said that Eugland is really a nation of producers, a nation of workers, a nation of manufacturers. Fiom her vast stores of coal and iron, and owing the rapid development of other countries, who purchased largely from her, she had great stiuudus given to her industries, but it is not believed that that prosperity can permanently return, and it is not posl sible that she can double or treble her export trade in order to provide food tor her increased population. Other countries liave discovered that they have the resources which made England rich and strong, and have adopt(!d protective measures for the encouragement of their own manufactures and the exclusion of hers. Some scheme of disposing of the rapidly increasing surplus po[»ulatiou must, if it has not already done so, im- pose itself upon English stat(;smen, and the necessity of the hour in the next decade will be to consider how that population shall be provided for. Thoughtful men are studying these facts and conclusions, and are asking whether it is desirable that the kingdom shall be converted into a vast and overcrowded workshop, v/ith all the evils which now are attendant upon den.sely populated centres, enormously increased. Siiall the British people be ])ent up within narrow limits which shall be hot-beds of discontent, where ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-disciplined, ill- taught masses shall be ripe for the harvest of the demagogue — a constantly inci'eas- ing mob, who can scarcely be blamed it they cannot be kept within the restraints of law and order during the periodical revulsions of trade that nuist occur — that can scarcely l)e blamed if they listen to the persuasions of the Communist or the Nihilist in a country where the contrast between wealth and misery is ever before them. In such seething masses the in- stincts of self-preservation will survive all other impulses except perhaps the appeal 8 of starving wives and cliildrcn. Is it true j»liiIiintliroj)y, or tnio policy, or true stalesuiiuisliij) to wait till such ii statt^ of tilings has grown to proportions so appal- ling that they rcfuso to 1)0 dealt with. WJiat tlicn sliall ho the manifest duty of the governing classes I Let us see. Sir, I hiival, would spring up like Aladdii'.'s palace, like a dream, or an exhalation of t]\r. morning, but not like them to fade suddenly away. Vet, such a continent is prac- tically what is offered to England to-day by tlu; great North -\Vef;t, which has iieen, as it were, discovered but yesterday --a country which now oU'er-s the solution of the dilliculty in v. hicli England is soon to Itc [ilaced. 'J'hat great couiury which wrs unknown live years ago, except to (he ILudson's Jiay employes, or the Indian tmpper, or tlus pioneer who >entured at the hazard of his life across the illimitaiile prairies, is now, as one may say, a continent risen up beside the Green Isle which needs it to redeem its staiving millions. Tliat country is prac- tically as near to England today, by tho great improvements in navigation, by the telegrai)h cable v/hich flashes news beneath the Atlantic, as L:uids End was to Inver- ness thirty years ago ; as near, almost, as London was to Edinburgh foi'ty years ago. It is ott'ereil to Englaml. She will, within a few years, need to choose whether she will allow her festering masses to live on in sciualid poverty in her great numufacturing centres, or to say to them, I will give you homes in our own territory, under our own meteor Hag, whei-e you can be safe beneath its ])rotecting segis. Let me read, Sir, the eloquent words of Mr. Bourne, to whom I am largely indebted for the statements I have now made, which were listened to with apjiroval and applause, at a late meeting of the lloyal Colonial Institute, presided over by the Eight Hon. W. E. Forster, in the absence of the chairman, tho Duke of Manchester, and attended by a very large number of distinguishetl persons : "One other motive which should induce the Mother t'ouutry to foster the fuittier colonisatioii of her dop'^ndencies remains to be noticed-"it is the sense of resp( nsiliility arising from the relatioiisliip ia which she standi ! towards them. It is tot only that her own soilfai'.s to provide sutficient tor the wants of lit r growing populat'on ; that there t-eenis little likeliliodd of greater or improved cultiva- tion increasing her produce to the necessary extent ; that our manufacturiui; and trading ojierations which have hitherto procured sup- plies from ahioad, now fail to keep pace with the growth of tUoso whom they have to support, and our producing power appears to be over- taking the demands of our customers. These are urgent reasons why we should send forth a large muiil)( 1- of our pioplo. It is ni)t only .'rat tliu coiKlitioiu of existence which liavc grown up anuingnt us, the modes of life fositored alternately by inliatdl prosperity ami si;a.s(»ns of depression, rcnuire the l>reaking up (if many connections, the chanting of 'iny iiahits, the infufion of new life into the s. jral classes of society ; tliefe oflcr many inducements to place our poi'ple in alteretl circumstaneos, and to surround tiiem with new intluences. Neither is it solely heeatife hy tiie diU'uhion of our pcoiilf, tl)e fresh start t!iey may make, and the development of multiplied life, there is nuich wealth to ho gained. These are encourage- ments to the oeeupatiou of new lands ami tlie enlargement of our inteici.urtie with the natives occupying many of our pi sscssions. above all these, there shouhl he the It it that, conviction that wo have solemn duties to perform aud sacred trusis to execute^ " If we trace the variou;^ means hy which England has become lord of the vast terri- tories w hich already own our Sovereign's sway, and those which it seems wo cannot avoid ac- quiring -at one time by right of discovery, and another by that of eoncpiest ; at others for the purpose of restoring ■ rder or perscrving peace ; at one period in piir-uaneo of seltlrjli policy dictated by tlie greed of gain ; at another from motives of the purest pailanthropy and the most earnest desire to benelit these ■whom wo have brought under control — we cannot fail to see tliat it is neither by accident nor for useless ends tiiat we have thus been led to appropriate so vast a portion of tlie earth's sxirfaco. Whatever our past policy may have been, we cannot ignore our prtseiit obligations, nor refuse to admit our responsibilities in the future. Whether for good or evii the burden rests upon us, and we cannot ca^t it off. The destinies of.many nations are in our keeping and the peopling of many countries at our disposal. If we have been enabled to settle our own free- dom on a firm foundation, we have to secure the same liberty and give the same relief t > those who are as yet unable to claim, or unfit to ex- ercise the full privileges of lit itish subjects. If M'e have drawn to our shore the wealth created in our Colonies, or obtained by trade from other nations, we have to employ our capital in foster- ing commerce and manufactures for their benefit. If we have arrived at so great a kno.v- ledge of, and obtained so great a mastery over the powers by which the earth's products may be utilised, wo have to impart thpse gifts to those who. are yet in ignorance, and therefore in poverty. If we have joined the ends of the earth together for our own ivonienco we have to unite the whole of our posaepsions together, and to ourselves, by yet closer links and more enduring ties. It we are in the enjoyment of all the comfoets and benefits which a high state of civilization confers, we hav3 to train our dependent? to secure the same advantages. If the principles and the prac- tico.i of morality are to prevail, we must intro- duce them where they ara unknown, and fill ouv lands witli those who will aid in their pro- pagation. If we ourselves are blessed with the light of religious truth, we must strive to cast the reflection of that light over the dark places of the earth, and seek to raise up a seed to serve Ilim by whom it his been bestowed. These are solemn duties we dare not decline ; glorious privileges we would not lose. » ♦ » » I have spoken of tl.e necessity imposed upon the M(jtlier Country, that slie idnndd extend and perfect the colonisation of her nunn roua possessions, but is it not eiiually a necessity to those possci-Mi(Uis that they slioulil be fully eolonised '! Sin; has more than an abundance ; they, with few exceptions, a paucity (if popu- liiliou. .She is \inable to la so her own t'l od ; thi^y can raise mo:e thru they can con- sume. Nhe has a plethora of wealth which hteks en)i)loym(!nt in foreign lands ; tiiey have need of more than she can give to develop their unt *^i to obtain these iu- valuuble posse.saiitn." o years that are to come. The ueocssii. iiutunl ; let both be gainers by its i;eing ' , ai.d sup[ilieil. 'Hicie are coi s deratiors wnich can no longer be negltct'.'(l or evaded. They force themselves upon us in our homes ami i^ir otlices, in solitudo and soc etv, in the palace and the bwvel ; they will tax out- intellects and should lie i.< ar our hearts. When these sentiments prevail, and— presum[itui.iis though it may be in me to say so -not till tnen. vill there be any solid re- turn of national prosperity. Whensoever they are lieM by the leaders of public opinion, ami resj oueled to alike by tho voice of the)se at homo ami those in our colonies, tho work will t e rei-eived as the most important that can oc- cuiiy public attention, and all together will ji in in its performance — then the most impor- tant ai'd iiilluential member will not \)~i tho Minister, who sits in the Home Otlice not the one who presides over war — nor even he who rules the Kxcheijuer, Init the honoured indivi- dual into whose hands Her most Gracious Majesty commits the affairs of the Colonial Office." That, Sir, is the line of argument pur.sued and accepted by iTpresentativc nuu in England, and T claim that it hears directly upon tlu! ([uestion of the settlement of tho great North-West. That is largely a solution of the epiestion that must press itself upon the attention of parties in England, no matter whicli may be in [)Ower. Notwithstanding there has been a change in tho (jJovernment, to the re- gret of many, the same obligation to deal with this question rests upon the new Administi'ation whatever statesmen may be at the helm. Tlie day is far dis- tant when that narrow and selfish policy will again prevail which ruleel prior to 1865 and 1866. Tho colonies and ap- panages of Great Britain are now con- sidei'ed antong the true Kouroes of her greatness. Every dispassionate man in the House anil country believes that no greater and truer source of power lies i^ 10 the fifrasp of England to-day, tlian the settlement of the great North-West npon the i)rinciiiles to whicli I have re- ferred. It was no dream of the present Dominion Government that the Pacific llailway conld l^o consti-ucted out of the proceeds of our own lands ; no dream when the lion, the Pi'emier rend those statistics, which were received with incredulity, almost with f:corn, by the Jion. gentlemen in Opposition. The cal- culations of the Government are justi- fied by the statistics and facts I have given. I lielieve that, under the proA i- dence of (Jod, the great North-West is destined to play a a most important part in the history of civilization, and in the destinies of the I'ritish Empire. Nothing, I repeat, could more conduce to the great- ness of England than to send us her yeomen — an advance guard of the best, strongest, and most intelli- gent of her population. When the strong come here they will provide homes for the weak — for those who cannot come as pioneers, and . that the sti-ong will come, anyone who reads the report of the | delegation of the English tenant-farmers' may be perfectly certain. Those reports, made without ]);irtiality or pre- judice, made by men who are not the hired tonters for land companies or railway men, who came here to see the country for themselves, who went where they liked and drew their own conclu- sioTiS. cannot be read c heard in Britain without producing great effect upon the people whom they addressed. My hon. friend (Mr. Charlton) has suggested that it would be imprudent and improper to permit large capitalists to go into the North-West and there acquire extensive tracts of lands — even though they will settle upon and, perhaps, cultivate those lands. There can be no better policy than to encoui'age such settlers. They will give employment in the meantime to men who may not be able to purchase or settle, who will take up land afterwards and establish comfortal)le homes for them- selves. Many of the English tenant farmers purchased lands when in the North-West, and have unanimously ro- conmipnded it as a most favourable country for enterprising men, not afraid of work ; and to men of capital they say, there is no place where a better investment can be made. Those indisposed to face tiie hard- ships of a new country, T^ay find in On- tai-io or the Eastern Townships tint they can buy the fee simjile of excellent farms fur a sum per acre not exceeding two or three years' rental in the United Kingdom. There has been a studied attempt. Sir, on the part of the Opposition, which cannot be too em[)hatically and sevonily charac- terised, to decry t'leralue and availability of the vast territory in arithmetical inaccurai'y, if assured of a general acceptance of the opinion with which the article of the I'loiu'cr I're.is concludes, namely, that ' in the Hudson Bay Territory, outside of the old I'rovinccs, 200,000 000 acres are adapted to wheat raising.' That admission is more than enougii to justify a railioad policy, which will pMis!,, xv itbin ten ycar.s, the locomotive from Winnipeg fully 1,'200 miles beyond its present bourne on lied Kiver." Now, Sir, let us Ijear what was said by Mr. Jaiiu's Biggar, a delegate of the tenant farmers from the Stewarfcry of Kircudbright, Scotland, upon his return from Canada, at a meeting in the Town Hal', Castle Douglas, on the 22nd December last : ' , " As a field fi r wheat raising I would much prefer Manitoba to Dakota. Tlie first cost of land is less ; the soil is deeper and will stand more cropping ; the sample of wheat is better, and the produce five to ten bushels per acre more, all of which is profit ; and as soon as the new railway is opened the cost of deli^'ering it at the seaboard will be the same or less. The average crop of the United States is surprisingly low, the returns for a good many states being as low as twelve to fourteen bushels per acre ; this evidently does not pay the grower, and many ( are thtrefore giving up wheat, and going in more for other branches of farming. Much of the wheat producing land in the east being thus, for a time at least, exhausted, supplies will have to come from the virgin soils of tl e west ; and as these are rapidly undergoing the same process, the farmers of the United States will, before very many years, be very much on a level with the farmers of this country. The virgin soils of Canada are, however, nmch more extensive, and will probably be able to send us wheat when the United States have ceased to be an exporting country. We saw land whi«h had been in wheat fron) thirty-five to fifty years, and took samples of the wheat soil and subsoil. VVe also saw some first-rate turnips. Wo did not see any signs of manuro being ap- l)lied, thougli we saw maHure heaps, the accunuilation of twenty ycai's. As there is no decrease of crops the natives do not think it necessary to use manure yet. On the whole, I was favourably impressed with Manitoba, and the other delegates whom 1 met exprcaeed the same opinion. No one who sees the immense extent of fertile soil and the excellence of its products can doubt for a moment that there is a great future before that country." ]\Ir. Biggar states that wlieat in Jranitoba was selling at 70c. a bushel, leaving good jn-ol^t to the grower, and, at that price, would cost, delivered in England, about 4s. Gd. a busliel, a price which woidd not pay the English farmer for raising wheat at home. " As a field for money-making and enterprise wo consider the ><'orth- West decidi dly tlie liest part of the Dominion ; and those who are will- ing to face the ditiiculties and dii-advantages of piot;efr life — difficulties and disadvantages which will be rapiiily overcome, and which are nothing to those which the early settlers in On- tario had to contend with — liavc every pro- spect of success and independence. It would be a great mistake to suppose that I recommend Manitoba to all who think of emigrating. The propriety of goiiig them to do so ; as I am satisfied i from what I saw, that men with moderate capi- I tal could do better than at home ; and that for , several reasons. In the first place, you can buy ' and s^^ock a farm for little more than it takes to stock one at home ; then there is no rent to pay, and taxes are very light ; they do not ex- ceed from -Id. to lOd. ^ler acre, according to the value of the property." Mr, George Hutchinson, of Penrith, .says : "The great wealth of the Dominion of Canada undoubtedly i« in her soil. Although only a new country as compared with others, she is already well-known as a great meat and corn producingcountry. There is not, I believe, a more contented rnan in the world than the owner of this soil ; he may not have connnand of as nmch capital as some English farmers, nor does he keep his land in such a high state of cultivation, yet the land he works is his own, his taxes are light, and as a rule he is a happy and independent man. * * * To the labourer or farm servant *ho may think of going to Canada with little spare cash after his passage is i)aid I will say, you will find plenty of employment in Ontario or the Eastern Provinces at about tlie same wages as at home, if employed by the year, and in fllani- toba at a little more, with the jiror jiect before you of free education for your cliildren and the probability of becoming by industry and per- severance your own proprietor even of a farm. As wiil be reen by ti.-pokeu on the land policy of the Government to-day. It has been made difficult by the constant t'udeavours of my lion. frienJs on the other side to belittle and deride tlie resources of the country. It has been made dillicult by the jiersistent etforts of the Opposition to prevent the duedevelop- incnt of the prosperity of this country ; to obstruct the policy of the country by their threats that, if tlusy unfortunately succeed to power they will reverse that ))olicy. Caj)ital is sensitive, and business men who are jnsi nov lising from tho commercial de})ression are met at tliis iUoment by representations that ttie coun- try is in a state of ruin, that the policy we have adopted is a disastrous one, and that tho hon. gentlemen on the other side are ])ledgetl to reverse it. They inay take that ]iosition and we will take ours. I believe they will be perfectly powerless to prevent the prosperity which is coming upon the couati-y. Nobody pretended it was to come in a day. It is childish to talk about a great public policy being adopted at night an I showing its results tho next morning. I am surprised that those gentlemen are so fatuous as to conmit themselves to that position, for I assure them we will hold them to it to the veiy letter. I desire to say also, that there is nothing specu- lative or exaji^xerated in the statements that have been made as to the power of the great North-West to enable us to con- struct the Pacific Railway. The land in that country, if it is properly utilised, and if we can have anything like fair play from the hon. gentlemen on tho op- posite side, will enable us to biing to a .suc- cessful completion f,Iie work which they have left upon our hands. The hon. gen- tlemen changed the whole character of our obligaiions. They were not bound by them, the_, need not have gone on with this work, but they chose to assume it as a Government work. It is not long ago since I had an op})ortunity of showing to this House the manner in which my lion, friend the late Minister of Public Works, now leading the Opposition (Mr. Mackenzie) had done his part of the work in respect to the con- tracts between Kaministi(|ua and Red River. We have his burthensome legacy on our hands, and I believe we shall be able to sustain it. I was clad to Jiear to-night the encouraging words uttered by the right lion, the Premier (Sir John A. Macdonald.) The whole House on our side — the; great majority 16 responded to him as one man, and will sustain him as one man. My hon. friends have reckoned without tlieir liost, if they suppose that they can bring for- ward any resolution which will deter our hon. friends on the Treasury Benches, from carrying out the scheme which they have taken upon themselves; my hon. friends are mistaken if they sup- posed they will find any weakening on this side of the House in respect to that policy. They will find the Conservative party a unit on that question, and the day is far distant I trust, when any disturbance can be made in its ranks, either in this House or the country, by the resolutions now brought forward, or any other resolution which is promised to us, no matter how it may be intended to catch the car or effect the judgment of gentlemen who are working with us. We know where we stand, and I believe we shall be able to show the hon. gentle- man how egregiously they have been mis- taken in the disposition of the country and of this House, to sustain my right hon. friend and his colleagues )a the liberal and enlightened policy they have adopted for the development of the North-West, and the construction of the Pacitic Railway in the best and truest interests of this Dominion, and of the fair land beyond the sea, to which she owes and yields the truest and most unchanging fealty. iidecl to leut of itli lis. believe gentle- jeii inis- coimtry r\ right 5n the ey have of the n of the I truest of the ja, to Is the fealty.