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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de rAduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est fllmA A partir de I'engle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en Ims, en prenant le nombre d'Images nAcessalre. Les diagrammes sulvants lilustrent le mAthode. ' errata d to It le pelure, pon A n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 <( BKIEF IIEMAKKS ON THE WASTE LANDS OF THE CROWN IN THE CANADAS, WITH REFERENCE TO HIGBAM Al GOIOMZAH << There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, and there is that with- holdeth more than is meet, and yet tendeth to Poverty.— Proverbs." PRINTED AT THE "MORNING CHRONICLE" OFFICE, BY R. MIDDLETON & C. ST. MICHEL, Mountain Street, QUEBEC. 1848. ■ I i-. BRIEF REMARKS ON THE IK TBS OAITADAS, WITH REFERENCE TO EMIGRATION & COLONIZATION, CHAPTER I. X HE fact that eight hundred square miles chiefly of excellent land, and within two days' journey of Quebec, were a few short years ago a perfect " terra incognita," will, with many I trust, be a sufficient justification for bringing these few remarks before the public. . That I may be instrumental in settling this fine tract is one of the inducements I have in thus appear- ing before the public ; for though I recommend the appointment of Boards and Agencies, there is no situa- tion under Government which I would accept with any view to remuneration ; and I shall feel amply repaid if these remarks tend in any measure to direct the attention of men of all parties in the Mother Country to the paramount importance of the North American Colonies, as furnishing a most extended field for the profitable employment of those countless multitudes in Great Britain and Ireland, who now are suft'ering from famine, and who have \i\Yge and unanswerable demands upon the Rulers of the Empire. Valuable indeed are these Provinces, if they can be made to lessen the misery of the poorer classes at home, and patriotic is that statesman and well de- serving of his country, who, having the power, shall use his energies in establishing a system of Emigra- tion and Colonization on a scale commensurate with their importance. There can be no doubt but that all political parties in England are agreed as to the absolute necessity of providing for the redundant population of the King- dom by moans of Emigration ; but how in the prose- cution of this design to combine method with eco- nomy, seems to be the great question, and such unfortunately is the dread of a minority in the House of Commons, that since Lord Bathurst's time, no Colonial Secretary has taken on himself the respon- sibility of asking a grant to promote Colonization in the Canadas, though the settlements made under the judicious management of that nobleman have been eminently successful. In the late Sir R. W. Horton, the Colonies lost a great advocate for Colonization, and his Pamphlet on Ireland and Canada, is well worthy of perusal. — The following letter from the talented Chief Justice of Upper Canada, in remarking on it, has so much of interest to recommend it, that I feel no apology due for calling public attention to its contents : — " Spring Gardens Hotel, 24th Feby., 1839. « My dear Sir, — Your pamphlet entitled <* Ireland and Canada," has been read by me with attention and with much pleasure. I am happy to lind you returning with such perseverance to the important question of Colonization ; and I hope you may at length be successful in attracting public attention to it, more decidedly than you have been hitherto able to do. " It may very reasonably be stated, I think, that if, adopting your suggestions when they were first submitted to the public, the Government had entered upon the measure on a liberal scale, and thrown a loyal hardy population into the unoccupied parts of Lower Canada, it is most probable that the late re- bellious movements in that province w^oiild never have taken place ; and that, to say nothing of other advantages, an immense military expenditure would have been saved to the empire, greater than would have sufficed to meet the whole charge of settling the emigrants. " I have read Mr. Rubidge's evidence twice, care- fully ; it seems to me to be sensible, and, so far as I can judge, correct. You could not, I believe, have derived your information from a person more worthy of confidence in ever}^ respect. When he speaks of conducting settlers to their lands, locating them on their lots, and supplying them with the necessary comforts, — and when he describes what they will have to encounter, and what they may reasonably expect in their new situation, he speaks of what he thoroughly understands and knows, from experience, and from a long course of observation. I have been acquainted with Mr. Rubidge since he first became a settler in Canada, and I know no one in whose can- dor, integrity, and practical good sense I could place greater confidence. Every one who knows him will tell you the same thing, and it is fortunate that cir- cumstances have thrown him in your way. " If you can gain the favorable attention of the public, after all your labor, and if colonization shall really be undertaken in the spirit and for the purpose ^J I m ^ 6 recommcinled in your pamphlet, I hope that jj^reat care will be taken to prepare beforehand ibr the re- ception of the settlers — that the number to be sent in any year will be known— their place of settlement appointed beforehand, and suitable preparation made for them — and, moreover, that they will be sent over in the proper season of the year. The health, com- fort, and contentment of the settlers, and the econo- my of the measure, will be greatly promoted by observing these points, all of which are adverted to by Mr. Rubidge. " I hope also that the settlers will not be all of one class or country, placed apart from others, but that they will be mixed, so that there will be less chance of unhappy jealousies and distinctions being perpe- tuated. The settlers sent out in 1823 and 1825 were placed upon lots that happened to be vacant, many of them in townships partly settled, so that, by in- termarriage and the general offices of good neigh- bourhood, they have gradually mixed in the mass of society, and are forming one people, which is favor- able to their own happiness, and to the well-being of the colony. i " I trust also that some provision can be made which will ensure their enjoying religious instruction, according to their respective creeds, by ministers of approved character. ^ « " The plan of reserving a portion of the lot to be sold to the settler at the end of a certain time, I have always thought judicious, and I lament that it was not constantly pursued. If the settler had been given a free grant of seventy acres, after he had resided a certain time upon the land; and if the rear thirty acres of the lot had been kept in reserve for him, to be offered at the end often years, at a certain fixed price, the consequences would have been good in every way. On such a plan the settler would get an adequate grant for nothing ; and if, from his idleness, or even from misfortune, he should prove unable to avail himself of the right ol' pre-emption oi'the thirty acres, when the time expired, he would suffer no posi- tive injury ; he would only not attain a possible good. In most cases the purchase would be made by the proper person ; it could be done with certainty and ease by those who were careful and industrious, ex- cept in cases of inevitable misfortune, by sickness or other casualty. To fail in making the purchase from improvidence, would incur the reproach of the neigh- bourhood ; and whenever the thirty acres were dis- posed of, the charge of settling the family, or at least a great portion of it, would be re-imbursed. " You may be assured that you have not expressed yourself too strongly respecting the favourable change in the condition of the poor Irish who were taken to Upper Canada in 1823 and 1825, in consequence of your benevolent exertions. Disposed as you natu- rally are, to believe what has been said on this sub- ject to the full extent, yet I am persuaded, if you could visit some of these persons now living on their farms, you would find that you had in fact not formed an adequate idea of the degree to which they had been raised in the scale of comfort and independence, by their being made the subjects of your experiments in colonization. You would find the former tenant of a wretched hovel, without object in life, and almost without power to do anything but mischief, become the absolute proprietor of a hundred acres of land, equal in quality of soil to the park that surrounds your residence, and probably superior, with the ad- vantage in many cases of a living stream of water, and an abundance of wood of the very best descrip- tion for fuel ; and this he enjoys paying no taxes ; for one bushel of wheat, or at most two, will pay the whole amount of his assessment. " It is true that to the poor settler the first two or three years are years of hardship, but not, perhaps, as compared with his former lot, and certainly not, if ^hat assistance is to be given to liiiu which your plan r, ii proposoH. When thcwe early difficulties are siir- mouiitod, and the settler is master of a well stocked farm, in great part cleared, in a healthy country, un- der a mild and just govenunent, is it not evident that his condition is changed from the most miserable, perhaps, that existed in a civilized country, to one as happy as human lite can oiler? For who is happier than au independent farmer, lord of the soil, and reaping the undiminished fruit of his labour? — And it is not merely the greater comfort that is to be re- garded, the plenty of wholesome food, the fuel, and warm clothing, but it is the moral improvement that must accompany the change of circumstances. The head of a family so situated has something in his power, and soon feels that he has duties to discharge ; he is surrounded by many who, with no greater ad- vantages than he possesses, have risen to affluence. There is in short, much to check him in the indul- gence of degrading vices, and everything to encour- age in him an honest ambition and pride of character. The results which are witnessed in Canada are most satisfactory. So long as the Irish emigrants remain congregated as labourers on canals, or as dependent paupers in the large towns, crimes are too common among them ; and they arc subject to be acted upon by the impulses which it is so easy to give to thought- less, ignorant multitudes under such circumstances. It is when they become owners of property, with their families living on their farms, and their days occupied in labouring for their own immediate bene- fit, that the change in their character takes place ; and though among those who are thus circumstanced crimes are committed, and sometimes of the worst description, yet the same may be said of all com- munities, and, taken as a whole, the resident Irish agricultural population in Upper Canada are a most valuable class of settlers, and have done credit to the comit ry they ca me from. s m i ,.'!;' 'f;' 1 1! are siir- l stocked titry, 1111- Iciit that liscrable, r, to one !j happier soil, and r ?— And to be re- fuel, and aent that ;es. The g in his ischarge ; 3ater ad- iffluence. le indul- cncour- iharacter. are most s remain ependent common !ted upon thought- istances. rty, with heir days ate bene- 3s place; nstanced he worst all corn- lent Irish e a most dit to the ,: .1 a n *' I am glad that it occurred to you to inquire oi'Sir Francis Head what had been the conduct of the Irish settlers during the late unhappy tumults in Upper Canada, for I am sure it must have given liirn sin- cere pleasure to bear testimony in their favour, as he lias done. Their conduct was excellent; and I have often regretted that it did not seem to attract, in this country, such particular notice as it certainly de- served. There was something remarkable, and most honourable, in the whole bearing of the Irish popu- lation throughout these troubles ; and I have no doubt it continues to this hour; when the danger that threatens Upper Canada is of another and more for- midable description. In the winter of 1838-9, the population generally behaved well ; there were nu- merous examples of men of every origin — English, Scotch, and natives of the province, and some who had come from the United States of America — doing everything that could be done by them in defence of the country; but I think it was universally felt throughout the province that the conduct of the Irish, as a body, was pre-eminently good. They seemed not only to acknowledge promptly their obligation to support their government and the laws, but they dis- charged their duty with an eager forwardness, and a fine hearty warmth of feeling, that it was really quite affecting to witness. Hundreds of these poor fellows came at the first summons, from remote settlements, in the depth of winter, half clothed, without other arms than hoes, pitchforks, axes or clubs ; and, in order to reach the seat of government, which they heard was attacked, they had to pass through the rich old settlements of the very persons who, under the influence of a feeling hardly to be credited or ac- counted for, had abandoned thoir homes and taken up arms against their Sovereign. " These people had lived in one of the very finest parts of Upper Canada, and had enjoyed, for thirty years, the protection of good laws and a good govern- I - < f f 3 t< (? meiit; compared with the rugged wilderness these poor Irishmen came from, the land they inhabited is like the Garden of Eden : and to see these faithful emigrants pouring in from the woods to support the government against the wicked attempts of the others, was a spectacle really affecting. It did hon- our to Ireland, and it showed that, whatever may be the vices and errors inherent in the Irish peasantry, hatred of their Sovereign, and ingratitude to their government, are not among the number. " It makes us feel powerfully that they must, in Ireland, owe their misery and their misconduct (when they do act amiss) to some peculiarly unfor- tunate circumstances, springing from the past history of their country, or in some way attributable to their condition there ; and, if their government and their fellow subjects could, by any exertion, rescue them from their present state of destitution, they are wor- thy of the effort it would cost, and would be found grateful. " Pray, in your details, do not be tempted to as- sume too low an estimate of the expense attending the sending out and settling of a family. The good economy of the measure, as one of relief to the coun- try from whence they are to be sent, is so unques- tionable, that it would be a pity to starve the mea- sure, and make the poor people less comfortable, by trying to avoid any necessary expense. " i am, my dear Sir, yours riiost faithfully, J. B. ROBINSON, % Chief Justice of Upper Canada." The Right Hon. Sir R. W. Horton, Bart. 11 . i 'l:J c* «" i^-. CHAPTER II. le coun- The Earl of Durham, late Governor General of these Provinces, &c., &c., in his elaborate and in many respects valuable report, has the following paragraph, which it is to be hoped, will obtain the cordial approbation of every public man in England, as it most assuredly has in these Provinces. " These interests are indeed of great magnitude ; and on the course which your Majesty and your Par- liament may adopt, with respect to the North Ame- rican Colonies, will depend the future destinies, not only of the million and a half of your Majesty's sub- jects, who at present inhabit those provinces, but of that vast population which those ample and fertile territories are fit and destined hereafter to support. No portion of the American Continent possesses greater natural resources for the maintenance of large and flourishing communities. An almost boundless range of the richest soil still remains unsettled, and may be rendered available for the purposes of agri- culture. The wealth of inexhaustible forests of the best timber in America, and of extensive regions of the most valuable minerals have as yet been scarcely touched. Along the whole line of sea-coast, around each island and in every river, are to be found the greatest and richest fisheries in the world. The best fuel and the most abundant water-power are available ri i]\ (F is ill 12 for the coarser manufactures, for Avhich an easy and certain market will be found. Trade with other continents is favoured by the possession of a large number of safe and spacious harbours ; long, deep, and numerous rivers ; and vast inland seas supply the means of easy intercourse ; and the structure of the country generally affords the utmost facility for every species of communication by land. Unbounded materials of agricultural, commercial, and manufac- turing industry are there : it depends upon the pre- sent decision of the Imperial Legislature to deter- mine for whose benefit they are to be rendered avail- able. The country which has founded and main- tained these colonies at a vast expense of blood and treasure, may justly expect its compensation in turning their unappropriated resources to the account of its own redundant population ; they are the rightful patrimony of the English people, the ample appanage which God and nature have set aside in the new world for those whose lot has assigned them but insufficient portions in the old, — Under wise and free institutions these great advan- tages may yet be secured to your Majesty's subjects, and a connection secured by the link of kindred ori- gin, and mutual benefits, may continue to bind to the British empire the ample territories of its Nortli American Provinces ; and the large and flourishing population by which they will assuredly be filled." Would that the whole of this document had been couched in the same spirit ; but wishing in these re- marks to avoid all party feelings, I earnestly invite the attention of the public to this extract, and trust that my Lord Grey will lend a helping hand to the promotion of Emigration on that scale on which alone it can be productive of beneficial results. — The Pro- verb I have adopted as a motto to these brief remarks, embodies the real secret, namely : judicious liberality and " not withholding more than is meet." i ^ I wish to see Government lending itsell to a well organized system, which shall have for its object not so much to get rid of the Emigrant and his family as to convert them at once into a source of wealth to the State, by placing them on their arrival on ..nch land as would ensure to them by industry, a com- fortable independence. Instea,d of making merchandise oi the Lands of the Crown, let us look to them as the property of the Empire, and estimate their value by considering not what they will produce in money, but how many of the working classes they can be made to provide for. This is the more necessary at a time like the present, when the check in trade is throwing thousands out of employment, and where so much suffering exists in the Mother Country. It is very much to be regretted that the same lively interest has not been taken by the House of Com- mons of late years on this subject as was manifested in the years 1826 and 1827 ; and no one can read the able reports made by the Select Committees in those years without deploring that they have not led to what they aimed at, viz. : — an extended, well orga- nised and effective system of Emigration and Colo- nization. I am not going to advocate a large annual grant from the Imperial Treasury, although I am convinced the Parent State is directly a gainer by every emi- grant she sends to her colonies, making them from the moment they arrive consumers of her products. The great object I have now in view, is to shew how a Colonization on a large scale can be carried on at .v> / 14 ' I 11 !1 a comparatively small expenditure, and this 1 pro- pose to do througli the medium of Waste Lands of the Crown in the different Colonies. CHAPTER III. Inthnately connected as Emigration is with Colo- nization, yet they are completely distinct, and en- couragement I hope will be afforded to both. In all the Provinces of British North America there are large tracts of fine land, still the property of the Crown, and my plan is, that in each Province, Boards should be established, having at their disposal, under conditions of settlement, certain tracts which should be granted to all settlers, being British subjects, at a small upset price sufficient to cover the expense in- curred, or on the sole condition of actual occupancy during five years, if the settler required no assis- tance ; and in case of the death of the settler, that his family or heirs should succeed to the property on performing the conditions during the unexpired period of settlement. Let it be generally known in Great Britain and Ireland, that Boards of Colonization are established at St. Johns, New Brunswick; and Quebec, Mon- treal, Bytown, Kingston and Toronto, in Canada; and that 120 acres of good land will be allotted to each family, and we shall soon have coming to us an active population; for independently of individual exertion, Parishes and Landlords would do much towards defraying their passages if they were confi- 15 dent that care would be takeii of the Emigrants on their arrival. Great care and caution, however, should be used in preventing helpless paupers being sent out either by Parishes or Landlords, and the Emigrant Agent, or one acting under him, should be empowered by the Legislature to compel Captains to take them back, or pay a certain sum for their support. Many contend that the capitation tax now levied should be increased, in order to establish and support asylums for the poor and infirm as well as widows and orphans ; and I confess that with the enormous Emigration pressing towards Canada, something towards permanent relief must be devised by our Legislature. The only expense that would be incurred by Gov- ernment would be for the salaries, &c., of the differ- ent agencies in these Colonies ; and were Boards of Colonization established, with paid Secretaries, there are in every one of the large towns, gentlemen who would belong to them as Commissioners, without payor emolument; as there is nothing of greater in- terest to the Colonist than settling the barren wilder- ness ; and it has been with most sincere regret we have seen, year after year, the Emigrant on our wharves, without being able to say, " here is a home prepared for you." An annual grant of £20,000 would suffice for the establishment of seven paid Secretaries at <£300 a- year, in St. Johns, New Brunswick ; Quebec, Mon- treal, Bytown, Kingston and Toronto, and London, with three assistants eacli, at c£l50a-vcar; one of f\\ < ■ r > il! 16 ■ » whom should be resident on the particular tract to be settled, leaving a sum of about £2,000 to each Board to relieve any extreme suffering or other emergency. As I said before, there are large and extensive tracts in the Provinces, still vested in the Crown, and I shall confine myself particularly to one which is now ready for any experiment that may be made by Gov- ernment, and being only within two days' journey of Quebec, would be attended with comparatively trifling expense to the Emigrant ; as the transport of himself, wife and three children, equal to three adults, with 8 cwt. of baggage, would not exceed £2 10s., sterling. I allude to the County of Megantic, in this district, which contains a thriving population; and I have been at some trouble in getting the following return of the Inhabitants in the different Townships, \/hich is as follows: — In Leeds, 1000 ; the majority Irish, and a few French Canadians. In Inverness, 1200; do. do. do. ' In Broughton, 200; principally Canadians. - In Somerset, 1000; do. do. In Halifax, 800 ; Scotch and Irish. r In Ireland, 800 ; do. do. ^ ' These settlements are improving rapidly, and in the neighbouring County of Beauce, chiefly settled by French Canadians, there are some fine farms, and where the English system of agriculture is introduced, the cops are excellent; — Sir R. Routh, who has a very large farm in this county, speaks highly of the soil and llio returns he has had. 17 r'. :jV. ' M i J t , 'v ; ■•;! 1 .> j'7 « ■],»/■.; CHAPTER IV. ' ■■ i : ., si'^.J-v.- jtV i= j >•?■■' Ur ,' , 1 > ■ .i "■ The Eastern Townships of Lower Canada for fer- tility of soil and salubrity of climate, are probably not surpassed by any tract equally extensive ; and the Block of Land the survey of which was completed in 1839, by the Commissioners of the Quebec and Megantic Land Company, is equal to any in these Townships. Lest any one who may read these pages should fancy that they are penned to promote speculation in this particular Block, I shall briefly explain that the attempt which was made to purchase it, has failed, and that it is still the property of the Crown, prepared however, by tlie exertions of the Company to receive Emigration to the extent of 3,000 or 4,000 families. — And that though a barren wilderness in 1839, it now contains from 1,500 to 2,000 inhabitants. During the administration of Lord Aylmer, (and here I may be permitted to mention that the lively interest taken by His Lordship in the Eastern Town- ships will alv/ays be gratefully remembered,) an ar- rangement was entered into between His Lordship and certain gentlemen of Quebec, who offered to pur- chase from Government the Waste Lands of the Crown, in the district of Megantic, for the same price and on the same terms as were given to the British American Land Company, in the acquisition of the adjoining block of Lands, known as the St. Francis 18 I iiii Territory. — Lord Aylnier deeming it but reasonable that the same advantages that were given to a Com- pany, of which almost all the Stockholders and Di- rectors resided in England, should be granted to an Association comprising either natives of, or residents in the Canadas, gave his warm support to the pro- jected Company, and made the sale, subject, how- ever, to the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. — This sanction was withheld however, and the project in a great measure abandoned until Lord Durham assumed the Government, when the Com- missioners of the Company lost no time in placing themselves in communication with His Lordship on the subject, asking for a confirmation of the purchase thus conditionally made, and at the same time vo- lunteering an expenditure of upwards of two thousand pounds for the purpose of surveying the Tract and making roads and bridges, which sum was to be deducted from the purchase money, if the arrange- ment should be completed — if not to be refunded. — To this Lord Durham readily assented, as will be seen by the annexed letter from one of his principal Secretaries : — 5 t^ASTLE OF St. Lewis, Quebec, ' ' 'I - July 30th, 1838. " Sir, — I am directed by His Excellency the Gov- ernor General to acknowledge the receipt of a letter, dated the 16th ultimo, from yourself, and Mr. Price and Mr. Gairdner, as Commissioners of the Megantic Land Company, accompanied by a copy of a condi- tional agreement, entered into between Lord Aylmer as Governor of the Province of Lower Canada, and yourself on behalf of the Megantic Land Company, for the purchase of h block of 225,000 nrro8 of Avild ID laud, the property of the Crown, situate in tlie County of Megantie, and also of papers explaining the posi- tion and objects of the Company at the present time. " I am further desired by His Excellency to ex- press his entire approval of the objects, which the Company was established to advance ; namely, the opening for settlement new and available districts in this Province, and locating thereon a body of indus- trious and orderly settlers of British origin — The pre- sent position of the Province of Lower Canada, in respect of its natural advantap^es for settlement and cultivation, and the circumstances by which, hither- to, these advantages have been rendered to so great an extent unavailing, have already occupied His Excellency's careful attention, and it is his belief, no less than his desire, that means may be devised of removing thf3 obstacles to settlement, now presented by the circumstances to which I have adverted, and of introducing into the Province an emigrant popula- tion, by whom its great natural resources may be developed, and who may contribute to its rapid ad- vance in prosperity and power. " With such feelings and views His Excellency would have felt great pleasure in giving his sanction to any undertaking by which the important objects to which I have just adverted, might be forwarded. But, in the present case, considering that the obsta- cles which now exist in the way of settlement in this Province, appear to have arisen, mainly, if not en- tirely, from the manner in which land the property of the Crown has been disposed of, up to the present time, and that it is the intention of His Excellency to recommend to the Imperial Government a com- prehensive and uniform system for the future disposal of that property, one main feature of which will be, that it is to be subject to no exceptions, on any pre tence whatever, His Excellency has been compelled to come to the conclusion that the grant for which the Commissioners have applied on behalf of the 20 I Company, which must of necessity be exceptional to that system, ought not to be made; and he must therefore decline to sanction the conditional agree- ment entered into with the Company by Lord Aylmer. " The decision is however intended to apply only to the offer of the Commissioners in its present form, under which they propose to purchase the large tract of land in question from the Crown upon different terms from those applicable to purchasers in general ; but, should the Company, after an uniform system shall have beer? established, feel desirous to make a similar purchase upon the terms common to all, I am directed to inform the Commissioner? that His Ex- cellency will in that case feel great pleasure in af- fording them all needful facilities for the conduct of their operations. " 'Vith regard to that part of the letter of the Com- missioners which contains an offer from public motives to cause an internal survey to be made of the tract in question, at the cost of the Company ; upon condition that the expense thereby occasioned should be taken in part payment of the purchase money for the tract surveyed, if the contMtional ar- rangement made between Lord Aylmer and the Com- missioners be proceeded with, or refunded, if the Company should not be sanctioned ; that offer ap- pears to be so advantageous for the public, that His Excellency is of opinion it ought to be accepted. I am therefore further desired to state, that His Excel- lency is willing to agree to such proposal, should the Commissioners after the foregoing statement of his opinion in relation to the Company, be disposed to act upon it, and to allow of the immediate survey of the tract in question by them on the terms mentioned in their letter : provided that it is distinctly under- stood by the Commissioners and the Company that no other liability, on the part of Her Majesty's Gov- ernment, is incurred or implied by this permission, than the repayment to the Company of the expenses 81 of the survey when the tract in question is declared open to settlement; — such expenses not to exceed i; 1,500 in the whole, and the survey to be approved by an officer appointed by His Excellency. In the event of the acceptance of these terms by the Com- Eany, I have to request that the instructions given y them to the Surveyor whom they employ, may be submitted in the first instance, to the Commissioner of enquiry of Crown Lands and Emigration for his approval, in order that he may decide to what extent, and under what limitations, the Company should be permitted to commence the experimental settlement referred to in the letter of the Commissioners. h} »: V 'i-.' 'n' '» «: I have the honour to be. Sir, . ■■.-!:,,. , Your Obedient, ' ' ' Humble Servant, THOMAS E. M. TURTON, Secretary to Government. JAMES BELL FORSYTH, Esq. After much further negociation the Commissioners reluctantly decided on not making the purchase, and the money which had been expended under the im- mediate directions of Mr. Russell, the Surveyor, was refunded them, as they have for two years advanced it on their own individual responsibilities. They think they may safely assert, without arrogating too much to themselves, that few sums of the public money have been laid out more economically or ju- diciously, for which they are mainly indebted to their Surveyor, Mr. Russell. I « w ip u i>. i j t, n i .H i> j (i n iW'i'>i; ,, tr^x? n From this s^^ght sketch it must be evident how easy it will be to form a Settlement, and under the anticipation that Government would not suffer such a fine Block of Land to remain longer a wilderness, the Commissioners of the Company addressed a letter to Sir John Colborne, a copy whereof I insert, to- gether with the reply. Quebec, 11th February, 1839. 'f? 1') >iii. >ni t.;'v Thomas Leigh Goldie, Esq., ,;' &c., &c., &c. ,t, " Sir, — His Excellency the Governor General is doubtless aware of the anxiety felt by the citizens of Quebec generally, for the settlement of the Waste Lands in this district particularly, in the County of Megantic, v/hich led to a negociation with Lord Aylmor for the sale of a large uusurveyed tract to a 25 Company, the Stockholders of which were to be resi- dents in the Canadas, on the same terms and condi- tions as the sale made by the Home Government to the British American Land Company. " His Excellency Lord Aylmer highly approved of the project, and promptly made the sale ; subject, however, to the confirmation of the Secretary of State, which has never been given. " In April last, a prospectus, of which we annex a copy, was issued, which resulted in the fo^'mation of the Quebec and Megantic Land Company, of which were chosen Com missioners at a meeting of the Stock- holders convened for that purpose. " The copies of our correspondence herewith an- nexed, will shew to His Excellency the lively inter- est taken by the Earl of Durham, in any suggestions we offered, and the survey, which is now making, will, we trust, be completed in May, when we will be prepared to render a full account of all our pro- ceedings. " We beg respectfully to call His Excellency's atten- tion to the importance of a Bridge being thrown over the Chaudiere, at such a point as would benefit the road now making, which is traced on the Map here- with marked F. If authorised so to do, we could cause Mr. Russell to report on the spot he would judge most proper, and submit estimates for His Excellen- cy's consideration. " The distance to the fine Territory, belonging to the British American Land Company, would, on this route being completed, be so greatly lessened as to assure us it will ere many years become the high road to the Eastern Townships. In the present state of the Province we are reluc- tantly compelled to state our conviction that the Company will not be able to make the purchase from Government, unless offered at such a price, as we think improbable ; and for the general purposes of settlement, we are willing to resign any preference ! ! 1 j'l 1^ 26 of purchase, to which we would be entitled by Mr* Turton's letter ofthe 30th July, 1838. " His Excellency's intimate knowledge of these Provinces, with the great experience he has had in new Settlements, many of which owe their origin entirely to his influence, will, we are certain, induce him to enter not unwillingly into the detail we are now giving, though matters of greater and more pressing importance may possibly prevent him. ^ » " Viewing the Waste Lands ofthe Crown in these Provinces, as the property of the Empire, we think every encouragement as to price and terms should be given all Emigrants or intending settlers ; pro- vided always they are British subjects ; and we con- ceive were the new Townships now erecting under our superintendance placed in the hands of a Board of Commissioners in Quebec, to act without remu- neration and with the sole desire of convei ting the Forest into fertile fields, and aiding the poor settler, that a very great desideratum would be gained. " The Board to have the power of placing a hun- dred families immediately along the new road, on the condition of their making a certain clearance and keeping the i-oad in repair, on doing which they would after an occupancy of five years, in their own per- sons, or in case of death of their heirs, be entitled to a grant in free and common soccage of their respec- tive lots, which are to contain 120 acres. "To prevent all speculative purchases, weekly or monthly public sales at a reduced upset price and on liberal terms of payment, should be made to ac- tual settlers only. " Perhaps the recommendations now made might be by some construed into disrespect towards the land-granting department ; but nothing is further from our views, having the highest regard for the Commissioners, with whom we are on terms of inti- macy and friendship; but their duties are severe nnd are not concentrated to any one given Tract. ■ mimi i 27 « The Board we recommend must be on a most eco- nomical scale, and would be confined to a Surveyor to reside on the Tract, and a Clerk in Quebec. " The transport of an Emigrant with a large family to Upper Canada, would, at an upset price of 3s. an acre, actually pay for a lot of 120 acres, a great argu- ment, we think, in favor of our soon being able to throw in a dense population on land not surpassed for fertility and soil in Canada, and within 60 or 70 miles of the city of Quebec. We have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servants, J. BELL FORSYTH, WM. PRICE, R. H. GAIRDNER, •'■ ' ' Commissioners." To this we received the following answer : — J Government House, i Montreal, 9th March, 1839. " Gentlemen, — His Excellency the Governor Ge- neral having had under his consideration your letter of the 11th ultimo, relating to the settlement of the Waste Lands in the district of Quebec, particularly in the County of Megantic, and also with reference to the conversation he had with Mr. Forsyth upon the subject, he desires me to acqp^int you that he con- siders the opening the roads through the County of Megantic, from the Chaudi^re to Lake St. Francis and the land owned by the British American Land Company, as marked out in the plan accompanying your communication, would be of great importance to the section of the Country through which it is pro- posed to run; but His Excellency on reference to Lord Durham's correspondence with Her Majesty's Government, relative to Emigration and to the dis- n^ m 28 posal of the Waste Lands of the Crown, does not feel himself authorized to alienate the large tract ol twelve thousand acres without the sanction of the Government. " His Excellency, however, would be glad to meet the views of the Association, and to recommend their plan to the favourable consideration of the Home Government. I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, THOS. LEIGH GOLDIE, • ; Civil Secretary." This application resulted in liberty being granted to settle twenty families, which formed a commence- ment ; and the tract on Lake St. Francis, on which not a soul resided in 1840, numbered between one and two thousand in 1844, and is, I am told, rapidly increasing. '^ » Let us suppose a Board of Colonization had been established in Quebec, and this block as well as the Lands on Lake St. Johns, at the head of the Saguenay , with a road leading thereto from the City, had been placed at their disposal, of what an incalculable ad- vantage would it have been, not only to Quebec, but the whole Province. I make no difference between the Emigrant or the man born in the Country ; let the lands be accessible to all British subjects ; and when it is remembered that with but £2,000 we opened the extent of Country alluded to, besides surveying several new Townships, it must be apparent that had sufficient encourage- ment been given, and had a Board been established 29 in Quebec, in 1840 ; that in place of between one and two thousand, the population on the Borders of Lake St. Francis might now exceed as many thousands. CHAPTER V. Before laying out the new Township, our instruc- tions to the Surveyor, Mr. Russell, were to chalk out a road from Lake St. Francis to the settlements on the Craig's Road, or in altogether a diiferent direction to the old settled Parishes on the River Chaudi^re, wherever he deemed it more advisable for the Country generally : and we are determined on running it to the River Chaudi^re, as the more level route, as also that advantage might be taken of the fine old settled Country from Quebec to St. Joseph's, a determination which met with the hearty concurrence of the Com- missioners. The lands were then surveyed so as to place the greatest possible number of settlers on the road, thus making a large portion immediately available for set- tlement. The Lambton Road is to be continued by the Bri- tish American Land Company, to their settlements at the Salmon River, and must ere long be the main communication to their unsurveyed Block of a mil- lion of acres of really magnificent land, and in the settlement of which they will be assisted in every possible way by the good feeling towards them of all in Quebec and Montreal. i: tir ' IM 30 For all sorts ol'fariiiacious grain the Eastern Town- ships are well adapted, but for a grazing Country, they are more particularly suited, and though the length of winter is certainly some disadvantage, yet it forms by no means one so great as many suppose ; and that this may not seem an assertion at hazard, I refer to the thriving condition of the neighbouring State of Vermont, which is confessedly one of the most flourishing in the Union, possessing a climate similar to that of the Eastern Townships upon which it borders. That these Townships, with as healthy a climate as there is to be found under the sun, with no inter- mittent fevers or agues, so common to the States? especially in the West, should be so neglected, does appear wonderful ; for within a few days' journey of Quebec, not an article of produce can be raised Uiat does not bring a ready money price, and our markets are as follows, taking the average of 4 or 5 years : — 5* d. 5. d. Fine Flour, per barrel 30 a 37 6 Do. do. " cwt 18 o 20 Wheat, " bushel 7 6a 80 Barley, " do 4 a 4 6 Oats, " do 18 a 2 Rye, " do 6 a 6 6 Peas, " do 4 6 a 5 Potatoes, " do 10 a 16 Beef, "1001b 25 a Beef, " lb 5 a e Pork, " cwt 25 a 30 ' ., Pork, " lb 3i a 4i Mutton, " do 4 o 6 Veal, " do 5 a 6 Hams, " do 7i a 10 Butter, " do 9 a 10 Eggs, " dozen, 10 a Oil Fowls, " couple, 2 a 3 Hay, " ton, 35 o 38 6 Wood, " cord, 10 a 12 6 Pork, Mess, " barrel, 100 o Do. Pr. do. « do 86 a 90 31 With no taxes, with excellent roads in winter, where every man can be his own carrier, with lands at 2s. 6d. to 6s. an acre, with labour cheap, what is it but the want of encouraging the settlement of the Waste Lands of the Crown, that has rendered the improvement of this fine portion of the Country, slow and imperceptible. » (-■ i CHAPTER VI. Were a Board of Colonization established in Que- bec as an experiment, the only expense would be for a Secretary in the City, and an Agent at Lambton and Lake St. John, who would personally superintend the actual location of each family. If Government interested itself in any one particular class of Emi- grants, by sending them out at the public cost, it should go a step further and authorise the building of a log hut and the furnishing seed for wheat and pota- toes, which can be done for about £6 ; and clearing two acres of land, which would take as much more. This, however, Avould only be needed in the event of Government taking in hand the settlement of the very poorest class of Emigrants from Ireland or the Highlands. And all aid to each family should re- main as a lien on the land till repaid. Were such a Board established as I recommend, composed of two Commissioners, with a paid Secre- tary and an Agent at Lambton, I feel convinced that a large population could instantly be poured into the Alegantic territory ; the Conmiissioiier.s Jiaving full i ;-i ':{ 32 power to locate any British subject who was willing to become an actual settler. Should any wealthy landlord in Engicmd feel an interest in settling any particular family, i will state the probable expense, furnished from a source on which reliance may be placed. Table of expense of bringing out from Great Britain or Ireland, and settling in the Megantic territory, a family of a man, his wife and three children, equal to three adults: — Currency. Passage and Provisions per Mr. Buchanan's estimate of 1846 £12 0- Transport to the territory with 8 cwt. baprgago 2 15 Grain and potatoes for seed 2 18 9 Building a log hut 3 10 Clearing two acres of land, say 6 Thirty weeks' provisions 22 6 3 H. Currency, £48 10 .f. Equal to about £40 Sterling. , ^' > The only part of the evidence I gave before Lord Durham's Commission that I regret, and on which my opinion is decidedly changed, is where I recom- mend a uniform price of ten shillings an acre for all lands in the Colonies : subsequent reflection convin- ces me that they should be sold very low, under judicious management, to actual settlers, who are British subjects ; and I think one of the best returns the Colonies can make to the Mother Country for her great outlay, is by giving a home to such of her chil- dren as wish to better their situation in life, by com- ing to a land undoubtedly flowing with milk and honey, to all who are hard-working, sober, Indus, trious. This is the poor man's country ; and if only IMP 33 blessed with health, he is sure of providing for him- self and family, even though he may have landed in it perfectly destitute. Whether Government deem it advisable or not to provide for the temporal wants of Emigrants, it is to be hoped that the Boards of Colonization will be enabled to hold out the certainty of regular religious provision to the settlers ; for whether they be Protes- tants or Roman Catholics, it is highly desirable that they should have the means of worshipping the God of their fathers — ^without this, the inducements to dive into the wilderness can never be great. A cou- ple of churches, one a Protestant and one a Roman Catholic, built at Lambton, with ;6100 or .£150 a- year to each Clergyman, would be a boon indeed to the new settlements ; it would be charity of the most exalted kind, which like mercy " Droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed : ^. , It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes : 'Tis mightiest in the mighty," and what more worthy of mighty England, than when settling her sons in the waste, to send before them the enlivening light of the Gospel to cheer them on their way ! The Newfoundland and North American School Society, which has for fourteen years been in suc- cessful operation in Newfoundland, where it has planted fifty schools, having at this moment under tuition upwards of three thousand scholars, is now, I am happy to say, turning its attention to Canada, having within the last f^w months established Ten Schools in the Lower Pro v 'nee at its sole expense. — Their indefatigable Agent, the Rev. Mr. Willoughby, "S a .\ \ m m 34 is now calling on the inhabitants to unite with those in Britain, who have annually subscribed so liberally, and there can be little doubt of his appeal being suc- cessful. Nothing, by the way, can speak more loudly in fa- vor of this Society than the fact, that the House of Assembly of Newfoundland, composed as it is of thir- teen Roman Catholics out of sixteen members, has voted jCSOO per annum for five years towards its sup- port. If some well digested plan were adopted in Eng- land, by which a poor, but healthy man, on the parish could, instead of deriving a scanty pittance for the support of himself and family, obtain commuta- tion for such relief, (being excluded, should he ever return, from all further claim on the poor Fund), a great desideratum would be gained ; at all events there exists 11 'tie doubt, but that the immense funds derived, through the Poor Laws in England, could in some measure be made subsen'ient to the great pur- poses of Emigration and Colonization ; the slow, but certain curf3 for all the differences between Great Britain and her Colonies. , At a time when the Penny Postage is coming into operation in the Mother Country, it is to be hoped that the boon will be extended to the Colonies ; for there is no argument in favour of the measure that has been applied there, but will hold good here with tenfold force ; for what can serve more to induce the parties at home to emigrate, than the frequent op- portunities that would thus be afforded of hearing of the welfare of their friends. 35 ^ To the vacillating of the Ministry in all Colonial matters ever since Lord Bathurst's time, all the evils that have visited these Colonies, are to be attributed ; but of late a party has unfortunately lost no occasion of asserting that it would be beneficial for the Mother Country to give up the Canadas, and such a doctrine does in great measure deter the better class of settlers from coming out. Leaving out of the question the rights we have as British subjects, and which we hold to be as strong and binding on the Empire as if we lived in Britain, I shall merely observe, that the loss of the Canadas would involve that of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the Gulf and Fisheries ; and eventually the West Indies, to say nothing of the fatal blow that would be given to the shipping interest of the Mother Country, a large portion of which is now solely em- ployed in the North American Commerce, and to British supremacy. The great advantages of the Timber Trade to the Mother Country, in affording cheap and frequent means of communication with these Colonies, are seldom taken into consideration, where the advocates of free trade, unmindful of the immense importance and value of the shipping interest, seek to alter the existing duties, an alteration which would throw the carrying trade into the hands of Foreigners, and in- stead of making timber cheaper, would be merely enriching the Baltic merchant. .1 i I . $ ■ » t 'f ■Hi)'- f^'^ 36 CHAPTER VII. It has also been frequently a question with many, what particular classes of persons have the best chance of success in the New World ; undoubtedly, those who have nothing to lose, and every thing to gain, — the working classes. After the man of mere " thews and sinews" come the Mechanic and Tradesman, who in Quebec and Montreal, are at all times certain of the following wages: — s, (i. s, d. Masons, per day 3 a 4 6 Carpenters, " " 3 6 a 4 6 Ship Carpenters, " " 3 a 4 Tailors, « " 4 6.0 50 Blacksmiths, ** " 3 6 a 4 Tinsmiths. ** " 3 a 4 6 Watchmakers, " " 3 6 a 6 Shoemakers, " " 3 6 « 5 6 Sail-makers, " " 3 a 4 Block-makers, " " 3 6 u 4 6 Bakers, " " 2 6 o 3 6 Butchers, " ** 3 a 5 Master Tradesmen, especially Brewers, Bakers and Distillers, with sufficient capital to carry on their business, and with means to support themselves for a year or two, until they become known, are certain of acquiring an independence ; as here they run no risk of that monopoly, which in every branch of trade exists more or less in England. — Here the tradesman of to-day, if he be but civil and punctual, is certain of having a fair share of custom and better prices than he can get in London. !ws" come 37 Another class of Emigrants, to wliom a certain in- ducement may safely be held out, is, gentlemen with some fortune, yet not sufficient to make their families independent; for in Canada, indeed in all North America, every high office in the professions is within the reach of all, and the sons of such persons, if pos- sessed of talent and industry, can look forward with confidence to success, without the dread of aristocra- tic or exclusive influence. I recommend no gentleman to emigrate with a view of settling on lands, for I have seen too much misery attending the gentleman farmer in this coun- try ; and officers of the army and navy, from their habits, their former comfortable mode of living, their tastes and pursuits, are with few exceptions unfitted for the woods, and too often sink their all and die broken-hearted. CHAPTER VIII. The magnificent project of a Railroad to connect the inland Lakes with the Atlantic at Halifax, is now, I am happy to say, occupying much of the attention of the public, both in England and on this continent ; and while it would virtually make all the provinces one, and cement them by the closest ties, it would tend more than any thing that could be devised, to develope their immense resources and to render them flourishing, peaceable and happy. With but one le- gislature and one commercial tariff*, how rapidly would the whole of the North American Colonies in- 38 il '! I ■ -,l !« ir i?: crease in importance, wealth and population ! And when the commercial advantages are considered; when the coal and fish of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick could, in a few days, find their way to Lakes Erie and Ontario — and Halifax, St. Johns and St. Andrew's, be the destination of an immense produce from the West, now sent to New York and Boston, — ^who would not labour for "a consummation so devoutly to be wished" ? Yet, strange infatuation ! with the exception of the Lower Provinces and Que- bec, scarcely a man elsewhere, even thinks of the ^['rojected road ; or if he does, he " damns it with faint praise." Our legislature is too much bent on the straggle for place, to pay attention to such a grand, and I may say, necessary improvement ; but the home govern- ment is alive to its importance, and see, indepen- dently of the reasons now adduced, that with an in- creased emigration, some work of this magnitude is absolutely wanted ; and those gentlemen of Quebec who have so warmly and so zealously advocated the measure, must still be up and doing. In Great Britain and Ireland, and indeed generally on the whole continent of Europe, the increase of population is such, that annually, crowds will leave the Old World for the New : and while choosing be- tween the United States and North American Colo- nies, the emigrant will do well to consider, that in the former, the fearful question of abolition, and the ill-defined power of the executive government, with the daily occurrence of some excess committed by the sovereign people, who are above all law, render his abode there both uncomfortable and uiisatisfac- f* 39 tory ; while, in the colonies, he is certain, by a steady course of industry and sobriety, to prosper and be protected, by the equal laws and justice of glorious England. What the ultimate destiny of these provinces may be, it is net for me to predict ; but there cannot be a doubt that the distress now existing in England, may shortly be the means of doubling our population, and that the sufferings in the Old World may, in the all- wise dispensations of Providence, be made to minis- ter to the prosperity of the New ; — for, in the words of Shakspeare, it behoves us to remember — ** That Heaven has a hand in these events, " To whose high will be bound our calm contents."