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Those too lerge to be entirely Included In one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent dtre filmAs A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, 11 est film* i partir da Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ntcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la methods. 1 2 3 2 3 4 5 6 FACTS versus LORD DURHAM. REMARKS UPON THAT PORTION OF THE EARL OF DURHAM'S REPORT, RELATING TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, SHEWING THE FALLACY O" THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED THEREIN. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A TABULAR VIEW OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES IN NORTH AMERICA, SHEWING THEIR TERRITORIAL EXTENT, THE ACRES UNDER CULTIVATION, AND THEIR COMPARATIVE POPULATION. By a proprietor. Every man carries a wallet, or two bags, the one hanging before and the other behind him; in that before he puts the faults of others, in that behind, his own.— Mason. LONDON: JAMES MADDEN & Co. (late PARBURY & Co.) 8, LEADENHALL STREET. 1839. 'r' ^ V r I REMARKS UPON THAT PORTION OF THE EARL 0F\PURHAMS REPORT t REUXTINO TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, Lord Durham's Report is now before the Public, and is, therefore, open to pubKc approval or censure, as it may be found to merit. Many of his Lordship's opinions are startling ; but had his Lordship confined himself to the expression of his opinions, no one could have a right to complain. When, however, we find statements not founded in truth, tending to injure the interests and characters of Noblemen and Gentlemen equally entitled to respect with his Lord- ship; and when we find also, that such statements are advanced to the Public, as of undoubted facts, the affair becomes different ; and every person who either feels unjustly injured by such statements, or is able satisfactorily to refute them, is bound in duty to himself and to the Pubhc at large, to step forward v/ith a plain narrative of the truth, without suffering resentment at unmerited injury to betray him into violent or unbecoming expressions. We ought not. m certainly, in such case, to allow any fear of offending even so great a personage as the ex-Dictator of Canada, to prevent our vindicating ourselves from those aspersions which, in the plenitude of his auto- cracy he may have thought fit to cast upon us ; re- minding him, by way of commencement, that how- ever fine a thing it may be to feel or fancy one's own lear self in the possession of a giant's strength, " 'tis tyrannous to use it like a giant." The writer, feeling himself in the situation of a party aggrieved in the manner above-described, has divided that por- tion of his Lordship's Report which relates to Prince Edward Island into paragraphs, and has subjoined ex- planatory notes, showing by evidence which is both producible and unimpeachable, that such portion, at least, is unworthy of the high station of the noble au- thor. Perhaps, however, it is hardly fair to suppose that his Lordship could of himself put forth statements, which a little enquiry would have proved to be untrue. Some actor behind the scenes has, very probably, composed those parts of the Report, which, without any investigation, his Lordship may have admitted to the sanction of his name : the evil, however, to the injured parties, is not the less on that account. His Lordship's statements as to Prince Edward Island, commence as follows :— 1. ** The Political History of Prince Edward Island is contained in the system pursued with regard to its settlement, and the appro- priation of its lands, and is fully detailed in the subsequent view of that department of Government in the North American Colonies ; and its past and present disorders are but the sad result of that fatal error which stifled its prosperity in the very cradle of its existence, by giving up the whole Island to a handful of distant Proprietors." : — Report, page 70. ^\'^ * 4 ^ T \ The Earl of Durham's knowledge of the political history of Prince Edward Island, notwithstanding the confident tone in which his opinions are ex- pressed, appears to be of a very limited nature, if we may judge of it from that part of his Lordship's Report which relates to the majority of the Proprie- tors of land in the island ; all his Lordship's observa- tions on this point, being founded upon ex parte statements and misrepresentations of facts, which a little enquiry might have enabled his Lordship to have corrected. The charges against the Proprietors are illiberal, unjust, and unfounded. His Lordship, or those who prepared that part of his Report, seem to have taken for granted (without any enquiry) what- ever was related by those whose interests and objects were to calumniate and injure the Proprietors; not one person being consulted who possessed any landed property in the Colony. The present disturbed state of the island, can easily be traced to causes differing widely from those stated by his Lordship ; except, indeed, in one instance, which is that of its being a separate government ; from which cause many of its present evils have originated. Had the Colony never been separated from Nova Scotia, there is little rea- ^\'% son to doubt that it would have been in a much more flourishing condition than it is at present. 2. " Against this system, this small and powerless community has in vain been struggling for some years ; a few active and influential Proprietors in London have been able to drown the remonstrances and defeat the efforts of a distant and petty Province." — Report, page 70. It is not very complimentary to the late and former ft ] >■ Colonial Ministers, to affirm, that their decisions have '^..^^ been swayed by influence. The insinuation here conveyed is repudiated in the strongest and most dis- tinct terms. No improper influence has been used or attempted by the Proprietors ; but surely my Lord Durham would not have the doors of the Colonial Office shut against the representations of any of Her Majesty's subjects, owners of land in Prince Edward Island, who might feel themselves aggrieved. How the Proprietors have succeeded in their efforts " to drown the remonstrances and defeat the efforts of a distant and petty province," or in opposing the efforts made in the island to injure them, may be ascer- tained by referring to various obnoxious acts framed expressly for that purpose, which they (the Proprie- tors) have been unable to prevent passing ; especially the late act for most heavily and unjustly taxing wil- derness land. 3. " For the ordinary evils of distance are, in the instance of Prince Edward Island, aggravated by the scantiness of its popula- tion, and the confined extent of its territory." — Report, page 70. A scanty population and a confined territory, are circumstances which can hardly at one and the same time produce evil ; the truth is, that comparatively speaking, the population is far from scanty. It can easily be proved from official documents, that Prince Edward Island has a greater population, in propor- tion to its extent, than any other British Colony in North America, as may be seen by referring to Porter's Tables ; and, further, that its population has increased in a more rapid ratio, than even that of the United States of America, of v/hich his Lordship boasts so much. At the close of the America^i War, ' i^ ^K-j^ I I r ih in 1783, the population of the United States was estimated at 2,500,000 persons; in 1833 at 14,000,000 persons, including the slaves ; but say 15,000,000 per- sons, or six times the number in 1 783. In 1783, the po- pulation of Prince Edward Island was reduced to 1,500 persons; all those who were enabled to do so, having left the island during the continuance of the Ameri- can War. In 1833, when the last census was taken, the population was 32,292 persons, being above twenty-one times the number of persons in the island in 1783 ; the increase in Prince Edward Island is therefore as 21 to 6, compared with the increase in the United States during the same period ; and Major Head estimates the present population at 40,000 persons. There is no just ground, therefore, for complaining of the scantiness of the population. The evil of a con- fined territory might best be removed, by annexing the island to Nova Scotia; and to such a measure, it is believed but few, if any, of the Proprietors would object. 4. " This Island, most advantageously situated for the supply of the surrounding Colonies, and of all the fisheries, possesses a soil peculiarly adapted to the production of grain, and from its insular position, is blessed with a climate far more genial than a great part of the Continent which lies to the southward." — Report, page 70. The facts here stated may have assisted, but could not solely have led, without the assistance of the Proprietors, to the result asserted in the preceding remark : viz. that the population of the island, when compared with that of the neighbouring colonies, is far from being " scanty." His Lordship states,* that in the eastern provinces there is " only one inhabit- * Report, page 71. ant lor every eighty acres," and that in New Bruns- wick, " there is not one inhabitant for every hundred acres of cultivable land." In Prince Edward Island, however, one of these provinces, and represented by his Lordship as having been so much retarded in its settlement by the Proprietors, there is one inhabitant for every thirty-four acres, according to Lord Dur- ham's own showing; and when the necessary deductions are made for swamps, barrens, roads, land to supply timber for fuel, and for other purposes, there will not be twenty-eight acres of cultivable land to each inha- bitant. 5. " Had its natural advantages been turned to proper account, it might at this time have been the granary of the British Colonies." — Report, page 70. This is a vague and loose assertion, made inconsi- derately, above seventy years ago, and, like other stock notes, often since repeated, but will not bear the test of investigation. Major Head, however, like other plagiarists, appears to have copied it into his note-book, without acknowledging to whom he was indebted for the phrase. €. "And instead of barely supporting a poor and unenterprising population of 40,000, its mere agricultural resources would accord- ing to Major Head, have maintained in abundance, a population of at least ten times that number. Of nearly 1,400,000 acres contained in this Island, only 10,000 are said to be unfit for the plough." — Report, page 70. It is difficult to imagine how any person of the least reflection could have fallen into the absurdity evinced in the above paragraph, or be made to believe, that a., island so situated as Prince Edward Island, surrounded as it is with so many millions of acres of V,«/' >.,.•>■ » t • # productive land in the adjacent colonies, from which it is only separated by a strait, in parts not ten miles across, could be all cultivated like a garden, whilst the lands in the neighbouring colonies continued in a state of wilderness ; and iniless the Island were so cultivated, how is it possible that it could, with all its advantages, " at this time have been the granary of the British Colonies ?" or how could it, by " its mere agricultural resources," have maintained in abundance a population of 4()(),()00 persons ? As a mere agricultural country, this amount of population must be excessive, being one person to about three acres, in a climate where the soil is incrusted with frost and snow nearly half the year. Major Head, in this instance, appears to have been imposed upon, and to have made more use of his pencil and note- book than of his judgment, and to have put down whatever he was told by the discontented, however improbable and absurd ; and Lord Durham seems to have taken the same for granted. It is really asto- nishing how such statements continue to be circu- lated, after having been repeatedly refuted, and shows that when a statement is once put into circu- lation, with what facility it will pass current ; not be- cause it is true, but because it is less irksome for a person to sit down and listen to, or read a sentence, than to reflect and enquire carefully into the facts of a case, or into the probability of the statements made, the adsurdity of which a little reflection might have rendered evident. To take another instance. The island, according to the Map made in 1765 by the then Surveyor-ge- i2»jral, and the Map published by Lawrie, of No. 53, Fleet Street, of which the Earl of Durham had co- B ! 10 v.^-> pies, contains 1,366,000 acres, (and not 1,400,000 acres, as stated in his Lordship's Report,) one tenth of which may be safely said to consist of water, swamps, barrens, roads, &c. By this computation there will be 136,600 acres unfit for the plough, in- stead of 10,000 as stated in Lord Durham's Report, (though it is true the plough may be drawn over, and even through, land that will not pay for cultiva- tion,) and leave 1,229,400 acres fit for cultivation. But of this last quantity, one tenth, or 122,940 acres, at the least, will be required to be left to supply the inhabitants with timber for building purposes, for fences, and for fuel. To Major Head, who was in the island for only a few days or weeks, must be left the task to explain how the remaining quantity, after making the above deductions, namely 1,106,460 acres, (supposing every acre to be cleared) could be made, " at this time, to maintain in abundance, 400,000 persons" — not three acres to each person, by " its mere agricultural re- sources," or be made " the Granary of the British Colonies." Yet all this is to be effected in a period of seventy years, according to this gentleman's incon- siderate calculations, in an island covered with snow about five months in the year.* ! I • The Island contains 1,366,000 acres ; but according to Lord Durham's Report, 1 ,400,000 ; and for the sake of even numbers, we will take it at that. Now it is generally admitted, that it will require an: expert and able workman, at constant work, to clear 20 acres of woodland in one year, without grubbing up the roots of the trees ; or, 10 acres if the roots be grubbed up. At this rate, it would take one man 70,000 years, or, 1,000 men 70 years, to clear the land, without grubbing up the roots, and 2,000 men fur the same period, if the roots were grubbed up : yet, unless the roots were grubbed up, how could the Island by " its mere agricuUurDii resources, maintain in abundance, a population of 400,000 persons. In the year 1769, when the grants were made, nearly the whole Island was covered with -»L i 11 7 " Only 100,000 are now under cultivation." — Report, page 70. According to Mr. Bouchette, nearly 200,000 acres were under cultivation in the year 1831, when he published his account of the British Colonies in North America ; and, according to a census taken in the year 1833, one third of the whole island was actually occupied by persons holding trom thirty acres to a thousand acres each, and residing upon them ; many as proprietors, but part of them as tenants.* 8. "No one can mistake the cause of this lamentable waste of the means of national wealth. It is the posscssioii of almost the whole soil of the Island by absentee Proprietors, who would neither pro- mote nor permit its cultivation, combined with the defective Govern- ment which first caused and has since perpetuated the evil." — Re- port, page 79. His Lordship will find it difficult to adduce a sin- gle instance of "absentee Proprietors who would neither promote nor permit its cultivation." Many of them, resident and absent, have spent fortunes, and several have ruined themselves by endeavouring to settle their lands in the Island. Much of the land remains in its wilderness state, for the best of all reasons, namely, that people could not be found to occupy it ; there being abundance of land always in the market, either to rent or purchase, on easy terms; and his Lordship ought to know, that every new country must be content to suffer a few years to elapse, in addition to those which have passed since the Deluge, before the whole of its soil can be turned to profitable account. Why Lord Durham, trees. To believe that all the land could have been cleared of trees "at this time" in an Island so situated, might be supposed to be too much for the credulity of most men. * The whole of the Island is in the possession of Proprietors, Agents, or Tenants. ¥ 12 f ii if if or his assistants in preparing his Report, should have made such an unfounded charge against the proprie- tors, it is not easy to conceive ; since their object and intention could neither have been to make the settlers dissatisfied with their station in society, nor to raise a prejudice against the Proprietors, nor to cast unmerited censure on Government, — three ef- fects which such a charge, made in such a manner, is certainly calculated to produce. His Lordship states,* " that Major Head de- scribes his journey through a great part of Nova Scotia, as exhibiting the melancholy spectacle of half the tenements abandoned, and lands every where falling into decay ;" and the lands, he tells us, " that were purchased 30 or 40 years ago, at 5s. an acre, are now offered for sale at 3*." " The people of Prince Edward Island, are," he says, " permitting Americans to take out of their hands all their valua- ble fisheries, from sheer want of capital to employ their own population in them." Might it not have occurred to his Lordship, that some few thousands may have abandoned their lands in Prince Edward Island as well as in Nova Scotia, even after they had been encouraged and assisted to settle there by the Proprietors of the soil 1 — ^but that would not suit his Lordship's argument. My Lord Durham has still much to learn, as to the difficulties to be encountered in settling wilderness land in British North America. "With regard to the Fisheries, the great facility of obtaining land by the labouring classes in the island and other Colonies, has strongly operated upon many of the most industrious and prosperous inhabitants, * Report, page 71. * f 13 as well as upon many Irish, once fishermen in New- foundland, and has prevented their again resuming that avocation. Few men will engage in the laborious and hazardous employment of fishing, when they can easily secure a much more comfortable aad good live- lihood by the cultivation of the soil. The natural difficulties and obstructions to a more rapid and ex- tensive settlement, have been aggravated by the party spirit incident to a small community, ard especially by the agitation of a few demagogues whom Lord Durham has encouraged in their avowed attacks upon property acquired by purchase and inheritance, and held upon as valid a legal title as that upon which his Lordship holds his estates in England. 9. " The simple legislative remedy for all this mischief having been suggested by three successive Secretaries of State, has been embodied in an act of the local Legislature, which was reserved for the Royal assent ; and the influence of the Proprietors in London was such, that that assent was for a long time withheld." — Report, page 71. The remedy here referred to, was not " suggested by three successive Secretaries of State." It was an act for the imposition of an exclusive tax upon wil- derness land, equally imprecedented and unjust, and very different from what had been suggested by the Secretaries of State. The Proprietors endeavoured to oppose it, by showing its unjust and partial ten- dency, in fair argument, which was never contro- verted, and could not be controverted, though the point was given against them. 10. " The Question was referred to me during my stay in Canada; and, I believe, I may have the satisfaction of attributing to the re- w !i 1i 14 commendation which I gave, in accordance with the earnest repre- sentations of the Lieutenant Governor, Sir Charles Fitzroy, the adoption at last of a measure intended to remove the abuse that has so long retarded the prosperity of this Colony." — Report, page 71. Among many things to surprise us. Lord Durham states — that in consequence of his recommendation the measure was passed. Had his Lordship ever seen or perused the reasons urged by the Proprietors against passing the Act referred to, or was his Lord- ship aware of the proposed appropriation, now ef- fected, of the money to be raised by the Act ? Was his Lordship aware, that though the tax was to be levied exclusively upon wilderness land, yet instead of its being applied to develope the resources of the Colony, by opening roads, building bridges, and forming wharves, it was to be expended in jobs for decorating Charlotte Town ? This expenditure can- not benefit the Colony in general, though it may bring fees to, and gratify the vanity of, the officials and others about Charlotte Town, the seat of Government. 11. " One of the most remarkable instances of evils resulting from profuse grants of land is to be found in Prince Edward Island. Nearly the whole of the Island (about 1,400,000 acres) was alienat- ed in one day, in very large grants, chiefly to absentees, and upon conditions which have been wholly disregarded." — Report, page 86. The Land was originally granted upon conditions which were not "wholly disregarded^* but were found to be impracticable, and were subsequently modified by the British Government. After the Conquest from the French, of all their possessions in North America, and the conclusion of the war, grants were made, about the year 1769, to officers of the army f liiE ■9 f J « 15 and navy, who had gallantly assisted at the capture of the French Colonies, and to other meritorious public servants, who had claims on government. Such grants were, in most instances, very inade- quate rewards for the actual services performed, considering the impracticable conditions of settlement, and the trifling value of land in any of the Colonies at that time. Many of the Grantees, however, made great efforts to settle their Lands, even at that early period, and continued to do so, until the revolution- ary war broke out in 1775 : — that event put a stop to all attempts to settle the lands. From the Revolution in 1775, until 1783, when the United States were de- clared independent, it was doubtful whether Great Britain would be able to retain the Colony. From the year 1775 until 1780, it had only the shadow of a government ; there was no Governor on the Island, and few other Officers. The British fleet there, was driven off" the Coast, by a superior French force, and the Americans actually landed and carried away some of the public officers. In the year 1780, Governor Patterson returned to the Island, and commenced a system of unexampled extortion upon the Proprietors, by demanding immedi- ate payment of the quit rents. He caused two thirds of all the lands in the Island to be put up to sale for the nonpayment of quit rents, and several of the townships were purchased for himself, by his Secre- tary Mr. M' Nutt, and by other officers of govern- ment; whilst many of the proprietors were fighting the battles of their king and country on the Conti- nent of America. These proceedings threw the Island into utter confusion, from the evil effects of WW -.'/ :tM; ^ I 'I' I ! I i < 16 which it has never recovered. They prevented any attempts for some time being made at settling the lands, owing to the doubts thrown upon the titles. Those who had purchased such unjustly sequestrated lands, being apprehensive that the sales might be de- clared void, did nothing towards setthng them ; and the original grantees could of course do nothing; their efforts being directed to set aside the sales, and to recover the property so iniquitously wrested from them. These disputes, which continued until the breaking out of the French war in 1793, greatly re- tarded the settlement of the Colony. It is well known, that from the commencement of the war with France in 1793, until its final termination in the year 1815, there was such demand for both soldiers and sailors, as to induce the British Government to throw every impediment, short of actual prohibition, in the way of emigrants leaving the Country ; But Lord Durham seems either not to have known, or to have "wholly disregarded " those facts. 1 2. " The extreme improvidence which dictated these grants is obvious ; the neglect of the Government as to enforcing the condi- tions of the grants, in spite of the constant eiForts of the people and the Legislature to force upon its attention the evils under which they laboured, is not less so." — Report, page 86. . To many men, perhaps as wise as Lord Durham, it would seem a cheap and not improvident way of re- compensing public servants, to give them grants of wilderness lands, without rental, and it would s em harsh to enforce conditions, after having made it im- possible to fulfil them. It is not very modest in Lord Durham to condemn in such a dictatorial tone. ssn < « 17 the policy pursued by those in authority when the grants were made ; whose motives are not now dis- tinctly apparent, and who may have been as wise and high/ninded as any great men of the present day. But grar'^ing, for the sake of argument, that the Go- vernment of 1769 had acted upon a mistaken policy, would that justify the imposition of an unjust, be- cause a partial and exclusive, tax upon one descrip- tion of property, or the confiscation of the estates of the present proprietors ? 13. " The great bulk of the Island is still possessed by absentees, who hold it as a sort of reversionary interest, which requires no present attention, but may become valuable some day or other through the growing wants of the inhabitants." — Report, page 86. The interest of most of the absentees, may cer- tainly be said t > be reversionary, or perhaps resulting, or distant, is rather meant in the text ; but at present, many of the tenants hold the land virtually rent free, for many do not pay their rents, and they are not ejected ; and in no case would Government let land to tenants, nor dispose of small tracks on such easy con- ditions as the Proprietors : but the insinuations of the future interest of the Proprietors being in view, seems intended to cast an imputation which is as absurd as it is unmerited. Has not the value of Lord Durham's estates been enhanced " through the growing wants of the inhabitants 1" 14. " But in the mean time the inhabitants are subjected to the greatest inconveniences, nay, to the most serious injury, from the state of property in land. The absent Proprietors neither improve the land, nor will let others improve it. They retain the land, and keep it in a state of wilderness. I have in another place adverted to the remedy proposed, and the causes which have long retarded its adoption." — Report, page 86. c ,;i!l! \h\ I 111" I . n. ■ % '"t '^ 18 The inconvenience and injuries here complained of, are incident to all new countries ; but certainly less in Prince Edward Island than in any of the adjoin- ing Colonies, from the extensive water fronts and facilities of road making ; and the very existence of such inconvenience, permits emigrants to obtain land at lower rates in Colonies, than in long-estabUshed and thickly-settled countries. The fact so confidently asserted, of the Proprietors wantonly or wilfully hold- ing land in a wilderness state, is most imfounded, and might be easily controverted by the perpetual adver- tisements in the local newspapers, by their agents, and the efforts of the Proprietors in this country to obtain emigrants. Indeed, the assertion is too ridi- culous to require refiitation. His Lordship, if so dis- posed, may purchase large tracts of wilderness land at five shillings per acre, and even at much less. 15. " The feelings of the Colonists on the subject are iiilly ex- pressed in the evidence of Mr. Lelacheur, Mr. Solicitor General Hodgson, and the Governor, Sir Charles Fitzroy. I may add that their testimony was confirmed by that of the delegates from the island who visited me at Quebec." — Report, page 86. " The feelings of the Colonists on the subject, are fully expressed in the evidence of Mr. Lelacheur,** much in the same way that the feelings of the people of England would be expressed by taking the evidence of Mr. Feargus O'Connor and other agitators. Mr. Lelacheur has for years past, with other associates, been an avowed advocate for general escheat, and has been agitating the deluded Colonists by holding out to them a prospect that they can, by agitation, get all the lands in the Island escheated to the Crown ; and J t « ',' 19 ., that when this shall be effected, they will all have free lands. If the same temptations were held out to the tenantry and colliers upon my Lord Durham's estates, namely, that by agitation they could succeed in de- priving his Lordship of Lambton Castle and other property, and when that was accomplished, that the whole of the Lambton estates would be divided amongst themselves, there is little doubt that many of them would eagerly listen to any demagogue that would hold out such a prospect. The Proprietors hold their lands by the King's grant, which they con- sider as valid a title as his Lordship can produce to his estates. Among other surprising things, we find the names of the Governor and the Solicitor-general (Attorney-general) joined with that of Mr. Lelacheur, whose conduct as a Member of the House of Assem- bly, had been publicly condemned by that Governor and Crown officer. This Mr. Lelacheur voted for placing Papineau's well known seditious Circular on the Journals of the Prince Edward Island House of Assembly. For a more fiiU account of Mr. Lela- cheur*s conduct, we refer to the proceedings of the Prince Edward Island House of Assembly, and to the recollection of his Excellency Sir John Harvey, the late Lieutenant-governor of the Island. Considering the authority, deputing Mr. Lelacheur to Lord Durham, it seems strange that the delegates from the Council and Assembly had associated, or even appeared with him.* The point at issue between Mr. * The Statements made by Mr. Lelacheur after his return from his visit to Lord Durham, were publicly and directly contradicted by Mr. Hodgson, the Attorney>general, at a meetinj^ held at Charlotte Town. T :t| .I'll! I'lC. & 20 Lelacheur and his associates on the one sideband the Pro- prietors on the other, is simply this : — The Proprietors wish to dispose of their lands at something hke their value, whilst Mr. Lelacheiu* and those with whom he acts, are using every effort to obtain the land for nothing, and to deprive the Proprietors of their land without any compensation. 16. " With respect to the two smaller Colonies of Prince Ed- ward Island and Newfoundland, I am of opinion that not only would most of the reasons which I have given for an union of the others, apply to them, but that their smallness makes it necessary, as the only means of securing any proper attention to their interests, and investing them with that consideration, the deficiency of which they have so much reason to lament in all the disputes which yearly oc- cur between them and the Citizens of the United States with regard to the encroachments made by the latter on their Coasts and Fish- eries." — Report, page 114. The absentee Proprietors of land in Prince Edward Island, might concur with his Lordship in recommend- ing the annexation of the island to the province of Nova Scotia ; and many of them are decidedly of opinion that such a measure would benefit every one connected with the colony, by putting an end to, or at least diminishing, the influence of the demagogues and agitators, who, for their own selfish purposes, divert the attention of the settlers from farming, and from their other occupations, to schemes for a general spoliation of property. However good Lord Durham's intentions may have been, and here they are not impugned, yet it is sub- mitted, that sufficient has been stated in these Re- marks to satisfy any impartial mind, that if the rest of his Lordship's Report be founded upon data not more // 21 correct than is that portion which relates to Prince Edward Island, it can be of little value, but may, on the contrary, do great and incalculable mischief, by misleading persons not conversant with the state of parties and affairs in those Colonies to which the Re- port refers. Still further to corroborate what has here been ad- vanced, we subjoin a Tabular View of the British Provinces in North America, compiled from those safe and satisfactory authorities which are open to the in- spection of every one. Fully to investigate, and not to prejudge without enqmry, is all that is here asked, either of Lord Durham or the Reader; and the first problem we would suggest for solution, is the follow- ing : " Given a province A. in which the number of inhabitants to a square mile are, when compared with the Census of the next most populous province B. as fifteen to seven and three-fourths : to prove that the population of A. is peculiarly and comparatively scanty, and that its cultivation has neither been per- mitted nor promoted, by those most interested in its prosperity." .a & 4 ji si a-"?! „ 8 -'I'm- bX » • §04 Oi 00 9) i-« eo 00 00 o J* CO t •^ eo to Oi o §C0 « eo Ok M3 (O 00 o 04 00 I* CO i3 eo 04 (O (O o Hi 04 l-H to CO "©' 04 eo m 04 CO o 04 2 § 00 00 § o 04 o o •ft aft o o 00 o 00 Ui •ft M •« O <0 O) 00 •ft o 00 «o •k •ft «* 04 «-• CO o 04 CO •ft 00 •ft e>4 o •ft t^ eo ■ft JO. o o 04 •ft 04 to '^^.-l. I \ ,^ ; \