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PUBLIC ARCHIVES
NOVA SCOTIA

Presented by:

Mrs, K. L. Dawson,
Halifax, N.3.

1^0.

■■spi^..,. 'l..U.,«„,^_^„^ MJ_

#|;lji5 Jittif(j«i«((ii,ti( <i{ 4fm^

A LECTURE

/ DELIVERED BY

THE REV. M. HARVEY,

ON BEHALF OF THE ST. JOHN'S ATHEN.EUM,

Jtehruari/ ^ft, 1878.

ST. JOHN'S, N. F.:

V. W. BOWDEN, PitlNTER,
1878.

.^^

■ - at nm fc ^-^M

PEEFACE.

Regarding the following Lecture, I have merely to say
that it was prepared without any viott to publication ; and
that it is now published in deference to tho strongly expressed
wishes of many of those who heard it. I have not attempted
to revise it ; so that it is now printed almost exactly as it was
delivered. I have not even eliminated the little pleasantries
which were introduced to enliven tho spoken address. They
can harm no one, and may help to enliven the perusal of
the printed page.

It is my most earnest wish that this little production may
help some to think more highly and hopefnlly of " Tni^

NEWFOUXDLA.XD OF OURS."

M. H.

THIS NEWFOUNDLAND OF OURS.

- ^ K ^S CtK ^^'-^ —

I have underfcakon to spoak to you, for a little, this
ovcniug, regarding '• Tuis Newfoundland of Ours." Tho
8abject, at all events comes home to our own bosoms, and is
thoroughly practical in its bearings. Tho land we live in —
with nearly all of us, either tho land of our birth or of our
adoption — can never cease to be an object of paramount inter-
est. It may not bo very lovely or picturesque in its scenery ;
it may not possess a soil so fertile that it has "only to bo
tickled to laugh into a harvest ;" great prosperity may not
have crowned tho labours of its people ; and their placo among
tho nations may not be very exalted, but still it is ours — tho
spot of earth on which Ood has placed us and said " go
work," and we lovt it as fondly as if it wore a part of classic
GreoGQ or Italy, or held within its bosom the vale of Cash-
mere, " with its rases the brightest that earth ever gave." I
cau tjuito understand how mxuy who hoar ma regard this
Newfou.vdla.N"d of Ours with something of tho same tou-
darness that all good children feel towards the mother who
bore them, and " looked on their childhood." Hero they
drew the first breath of life; here, perhaps, "love's young
dream" first cast its halos around their youthful imagiuations.
With its scenes, all that is brightest and best in their lives is
entwined. Toils, sorrows, joys, gains,, losses — all have en-
deared to them this spot of earth ; and its rugged rocks, to
them are encircled with a glory manifold. They have learned
to love its very storms and ice-fields, its frost and snows which
give vigour to the frame, and send tho healthful blood tingling
through the veins; and a mystic beauty, born of the best in-
stincts of the heart, spreads over its valleys, and lights up the
very waves that leap around their own sea-girt isle. Such a
feeling is to be honoured ; it is one of the deepest and purest
in our nature ; and he who has never experienced one throb
of love for his country — poor though it may be, — is unworthy
of the name of man. lb is the same feeling which, in its
highest form, has nerved the patriot's arm in freedom's battle»

Tilts XEWFOUNDLAND OF OirRH.

and struck tho loftiost notes from tlio poet's lyre, and givou
pathos anil power to tlio orator who has corninandoil tho ap-
p\auso of listoninj; senates, and swaj'od tho hearts of myriads.
Wliy sltoujd not t!io love of cotnitry boat as strcn<;ly in the
heart of a Xi^wfoiindlandcr as in that of an ancient (ireek or
a modern Briton or American ? Ho too has a country and
though he cannot say

" One Imlf its soil Imn walked the rest ,

111 poetH, beroQB, nmrtyra. sa{,'eH."

Yet it is not unworthy of his lovo. It may not bo able to
boast of refinement, wealth and all tho culture that wealth
brings with it. No anciont institutions, hoary with ago, arc
here ; but here is a new land, with a bright and limitless futnro
before it, on whose soil life will take fresh developments, and
genius and entcrpriso now forms, starting with all tlie
experience of tho past to guide them, and all tftio mighty
discoveries of modern science at command, and with natural
resources which I hope to show you before I have dene, aro
all that could bo desired for securing a great and prosper-
ous career.

I think we noi?d not blush to own Tins Newfoundland of
Ours. It is a goodly heritage — ono wo can bequeath, with
the confident hope of future greatness, to those who are to
come after us. To say nothing of its splendid geographical
position, anchored near the shores of the New World, and
reaching farther than any other American land towards tho
Oid World, destined thus, as I believe, to furnish the short-
est and safest route between both ; to say nothing of its being
already tho great telegraphic station whence stretch the
nerves which unito both liomispheres ; not to dwell on the
command of the Galf of St. Lawrence which its situation se-
cures, and putting out of view for a little its fisheries, agricul-
tural capabilities and minerals— of all which you will hear
presently — look for a moment at its present population as the
nucleus from which may be developed an energetic, indus-
trious, intelligent race, wi*^^h plenty of iron in thoir blood, and
able 10 shoulder their way in the struggles of the coming
time, and bear an honourable part in the physical and intel-
lectual conapotitions of future years. There is a great deal in
race, in ancestry, in good blood. I, for one, believe in the

THI8 MCWFOUNDLAND OF OURS.

iiiipovtiinco of cominti of a good Btock. You uro tlio epitomo
of a loug liuo of aucuhtry ; tUo coucoutratod uasouce of tbeiu
nil ; tht! Biuniuin;^ up of wLolo jjBUoratioiis whosci laboars uud
moral and iutolloctual attaiumonts havo oulminatod in you,
aud inado you what you aio. Now It .,cems tomu tlio people of
N'cv;toundlund aio conu! of a good Htock ; and luoroovor, that
the blood has b«eu Ijopt puro, aud the race, so fur, developed
uudor favourable couditious. We justly boau;t that this is the
most ancient of all the Culouios over which (Jroat IJritaiu sways
iier set'ptre ; that this is the lirst portion of tho westera world
ou which tho Auj^lo-Saxou set bis foot ; that hero the nation
which was ilcstinod to discovci." tho North West Passapjo, and
tho «uurcos of tho Nile, and to plant American, Indian and
Australian empires, first raised its Hag ami tiled its firet ex-
porimout in colonization. Aud tho first oolouis,' . who settled
Jicro were not men who were forced to "loavo their country
for their conutry'a good." Some of t' ^ a wcio u)er* born
in the hi^roic days of P^ngland, m."n bravo, cuterprising,
true oa-kiuys who could fearlessly lay their hand on
occau's uiane ; many of them Devonshire Uion, the county
that produced Sir Walter KaleigU and Lis haU-brotber Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, and Drake and Hawkins and many ano-
ther old English worthy. To this was added, at a later date,
some of Ireland's beat blood; for tho men who wore brought
out here by Lord Baltimore, Viscount Falkland and Sir David
Kirke, from Ireland, were of the right stamp for colonists. 1
may state that a small dash of Scotch blood was added latoi
still, to "make tho mixtaro slab and good." Thus, on the
soil of Newfoundland, tho strong enduring Sax<m, and the
more lively, imaginative, versatile Colt have met, aud the
result is a wholesome amalgamation of races whence have
sprung the stal^'art men aud comely matrons and maid:-, now
around our shores, and there certainly seems to be no fear of
the race dj'ing out, judging by tho rata at which marryings
and givings-in-marriage are going on. The race has taken
kindly to the soil and thriven. Breathing au invigoiating
atmosphere, engaged largely in opsn air occupations, a hardy
energetic race has grown up, in whom the red cor2)usclcs of
the blood preponderate, aud who are well fitted for the
world's rough work. Tho great naturalist, Agabsiz, held that

THIS NEWFOUNDLAND OF OURS.

a fish diet is most favourable for intellectual development, — '
a theory on which we can perhaps account for the success of
Newfoundlanders abroad, in intellectual contests. And when
education has done its work, who can toll how many of the
descendants of our fishermen, with their strong brains, and
iron muscles which will enable them to " toil terribly," will
be found among the successful statfesmen, lawyers, preachers,
bankers, merchants, engineers and tradesmen, in the great
cities of the coming ago. The feebler denizens of the smoke-
coVored city will go down before these fish-eating Newfound-
landers, whose fathers buffetted the billows, and fought the
crashing ice-floes, and drank in the health-giving sea breezes.
According to Samson's riddle, " out of the eater came forth
meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." At all
events, we have this advantage over our continental neigh-
bours,— that our isolation has kept the stock pure from unde-
sirable admixtures. We have here the intermingling of varieties
of race, not of ti/pes, and that is very important. In the
United States we see going on a commingling of types of
mankind, of all nationalities, white men, black men, yellow
men, red men, producing an amalgam which awakens some
anxiety regarding the future of that great country. Here,
however, the principle of "natural selection" and the "sur-
vival of the fittest" has been operating on a pure race, reared
in one of the healthiest climates in the world ; and I think
that with due culture and the spread of education, a superior
specimen of the genus homo ought to grow up here. If you
tell me that our soil is barren, I reply, even granting that for
a moment, which I am prepared to dispute, what is witheld
from the land is put into the men. The best races the world
has ever seen were those who grew up on a poor and rugged
soil, who had to struggle with difficulties, and to whom
nature was a stern nurse ; but in the struggle, they gained
energy, courage, self-reliance, all that constitutes true man-
hood. Take the noblest nations of the earth, past and
present, they were not nurtured amid th^ flowers of the
south, but in the cold and stern north, where they had to
smite down the forest, and diain the swamp, and transform,
by sweat of brow, the barren wilderness into the waving
cornfield. From the hardy, much- enduring sac© that have

THIS NEvrFnL'yi)r.AXD of ouus.

len

tbe

and

will

lers,

;reat

oke-

und-

b the

jezes.

forth

kt all

aeigh-

unde-

xrieties

In the

rpea of

yellow

8 some
Here,
" sar-
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: think

iuperior
If you
that for
■witheld
world
I rugged
whom
y gained
•ue man-
last and
irs of the
had to
ransform,
te waving
ihat have

f^rown up here, ligbtiii<^ cold uml liuu^er often, dniviUf^ their
scanty subsistence niaiuly from tbo boisterous iJCMs urouml
those shores, feiirlessly pursiitug their fivocations amid storms
and icefields, will spiing a people from which great things may
bo expected. They have conquered the sea, now they buvo
to conquer tbo land, and set to work himboving, gruhbing,
plougliiug, sowing, draining, extracting the precious minerals
with which thesa old rocks arc charged, — seaming the
country with railroads and common roads, and making
smooth the rugged face of uaturo in an island, one sixth larger
than Ireland, and possessing many a:lvantages which aro
denied to the Green Isle. All that could bo asked for, as tho
elements of national greatness, are here in i)rofusion ; and if
this country docs not rise into iirosi^erity, iu coming years, it
must bo either from tho people proving untrue to themselves,
or from some combination of unfavourable conditions of which
we do not yet see the slightest foreshadowing.

Perhaps you will tell mo that I am givuig a loose rein to
tho imagination and indulging in speculations which are

" Sncli stull as elreairs are made of,
And their little life rounded with slecp'-^ .

I do not think so, and I shall presently give you very
substantial reasons for all I am advancing*; but, in any
case, building castles in the air is better than rearing
dungeons in the smiling azure overhead. To desyjair of
of the land wo live in ; to think meanly or contemptuously of
it ; to hold that it is incapable of progiess, is, I think, not
only unwarranted by facts, but the worst kind of infidelity,
leading to stagnation and death. If wo nmy net believe all
things about Tuis Newfouxdland of Ours, we may bfc per-
mitted at least to hope all things ; and let us remember that iu
matters temporal as well as spiritual, " wo aro saved by
hope." Possibly I may be a little prejudiced and over-
sanguine. Having spent a quarter of a century here — tho
best working part of my life — I am next door to being a native.
I have learned to like this land of fog and codfish, with all its
drawbacks. I have grown to love its grim palaeozoic rocks,
its storms and its sunshine ; its grand battlements that frown
defiance at tho wild Atlantic ; its niaguiliceut bays stretching
their arms far iulaud ; its hcaltL-giviug brcezos audits kiudly

THIS NEWFOUXDLAN'D OF OURS.

people. Nay, as years advance, I fmd a sort of siicakiuf^
attachment growin;^ up in my brea^st towards tho very goats
that perambulate the streets of tho Capital without asking
leave, to whom wo have generously accorded the " freedom of
the city." I notice that, as j'cars roll past, 0';t. city goats are
becoming more and more literary — devouring whole acres of
wall-literature ; so that, in tho course of time, they may bo
applying tor admission to tho membership of the Athenaeum,
on the ground of thsir attainments in letters. Byron says
" Dear is the helpless creature we defend a;^aiust the world."
For years and years, as most of you know, I have been doing
my little best to defend Tins Newfoundland of Ours against
a hostile vt'orld, and trying to make it known and respected
abroad ; for as you are all aware we are something worse
than unknown, wo are mis-known sadly. While engaged
in these efforts, i)ossibly I have formed an exaggerated esti-
mate of our country ; but if an error, it is on the right side :
and I must now go on to give you some reasons tor the faith
that is in mo regarding the future of Tms Newfoundland
OF Ours.

I have said enough regarding the people, and now I turn
to the country itself. Things are on a largo scale on this side
the Atlantic ; and Newfoundland is no exception, being the
tenth largest island in the world, t According to an excellent
littlo manual of the Geography of Newfoundland, published
lately by Mr. James Howley, Assistant Geological Surveyor,
and which every one should possess who wants to know what
the country is. This Newfoundland of Ours is 817 miles in
length, 316 miles in breadth, with an area of 42,000 square
miles of land. So far as size goes, therefore, we have a very
considerable estate ; and, in the long run, size tells immensely,
and becomes a measure of political power. Our island is one
third larger than New Brunswick ; more than twice the size of
Nova Scotia ; contains 10,000 square miles more than Ireland ;
12,000 square miles more than Scotland ; is throe times as
large as Holland, and twice as large as Denmark. As to
Prince Edward Island, if it were cut up, we could drown it iu
three of our largest lakes. Oar Grand Lake has an area of
102 square miles ; the cclebrateil lake of Como, in Italy, has
only 90 squares miles ; and the rexiowned Killarnoy only 8

Tins NF.\VrOTNIit.ANI) 01" OUIiS.

oats

iing
m o£
s are
cs o£
ly be
oeum,
I says
orld."

doing
.gainst
pected

worse
ngaged
)d esti-
it side :
be faith

NDLAND

7 I turn
this side
eing the
ixcellent
Lblished
urveyor,
iw what
miles in
lo square
e a very
menselyj
id is one
|be size of
Ireland ;
times as
As to
•own it in
area of
|ltaly, has
sy only 8

square miles. As far us si/o goes, Gaudcr Lake, of winch
we know uotbing almost till our ablo Goolo^^dcal Surveyor,
Mr. Murray, explored it, would make more than five Killar-
lieys, though I fear it will be a good while till it attracts as
many visitors as tho K<5rry lake, haunted by the niemoricH
of the lovely Kate Kearney. Gander Lake has an area of 41
square miles, aiid Rod Indian Lake, 09 square miles. In tho
whole world there is not an equal area of laud with such an
extent of cpast-liue as Newfoundland, which, I thinlc, cannot
bo leas than 2,000 miles in length. This is owing to the fact
that the shores are indented with so many bays, arms and
inlets of the soa, thus furnishing the most splendid facilities
for commercial intercourse, and, at tho same time, carrying
the finny tribes far inland, within roach of tho fisherman's
hook and net. We have harbours innumerablo, many of thcni
ranking among tho finest in tho world. Whalj a time nature
must have taken in chiseling out our magnificent bays, some
of them forty and fifty milos in depth, and having scenery
which cannot be surpassed ; and in scooping out those count-
loss lakes and lakelets which cover about a third of the
surface of the island, giving us enough and to spare of water.
Vast processes of denudation, as tho geologists call it,
must have been going on for doubtless ages, shaping our
valleys and bays, sculpturing our coast-Hne, and the contour
of our hiUs and mountain ranges^ The final touch was
given, no doubt, during tho glacial period, when Newfound-
land was in the condition in which Greenland now is, —
covered with an enormous mass of ice, many thousands of feet
in thickness, with huge glaciers at work, grinding its rocks into
soil, shaping its river-beds and valleys, tearing down its hills
and scattering the fragments far and wide, and scooping out
its lakes. Do you ask me how do I know that our island was
ever under this mass of thick-ribbed ice ? You can see the
evidence with your own eyes by taking a walkiu any direction
into the country and observing the boulders, or big stones,
Avhich cover the surface wherever the land has not been
cleared -some small, some of great size — but all rent from the
parent rock by glacial action, carried considerable distances
and flung about in. promiscuous confusion. Only those old
ice-rivers which we call glaciers, could leave such mementoes

.1:

THIS XF.WFOUXDf.AND OF OURS.

balilud tlioin. I£ you ask mo how lou^; this ylacial Jiction wout
on, I refer you to the geologist; but if I might indulge in a
guoss, I shouLl say perhaps :]50,000 years. If you ask again
how long is it since the ice rlisappcired ? I reply I don't know,
and never hope to know in this life. But this much I do
know, that there must have been "hard times" while it lasted
— "a good deal of cold out," and fine opportunities for skating.
During this " cold suaj)" of a quarter of a million of years, I
I'ather think there were no AthontEum lectures, — no general
elections — no water rates or duns — no Supreme Court or
lawyers. Bruis, the great triumph of Newfoundland cookery,
had not been discovered, and the game of five-and-forty was
still iu the womb of time. When nature set her glaciers to
work to hurl blocks of stone over the country, she was nob
thinking of the farmers who would have to clear the ground;
but kindly grinding the hard rocks, she gave us splendid
materials for road making. We are inclined to think she
might have left as a little more of the carboniferous formation,
instead of planeing it all away, except the strips on the western
shore; for it often yields coal and gives a deep and fertile soil ;
but then she has " engineered " our noble bays, and brought
up the sea to every one's door, and taken great pains with our
harbours and coves, and given us codfish and seals and part-
ridges and deer and an unlimited supply of huriz, and 42,000
square miles of land — so that we must not complain. She
has, too, thrown in a liberal deposit of Silurian recks, kindly
allov.ang us an immense share of tlie Quebec group, contain-
ing, I have no doubt, enough copper ore and other minerals
to keep us prospecting and mining for centuries to come.
Add to all this, our forest and agricultural lands, of which
more anon ; our encompassing seas with their inexhaustible
treasures — these ocean farms of ours requiring no ploughing
or sowing, only the reaping ; — the materials tor shipbuilding
which have beeu prepared — the fxcililies for the construction
of railroads and common roads which nature has furnished
in the absence of any lofty range of mountains. Consider all
this and say, shall we not pronunce " This Newfoundland
OF Ours " a goodly land — one to be cherished and raised to a
high place among the young communities around us, now
taking organic form, and as Milton said of England, " like an
eagle mewing their mighty youth."

THIS NKWFOUN-DL.Wn OF OURS.

The course of Newfouudlaud history may bo divitlod into
three periods— first the chaotic or anarchic period ; second,
the transitional, and third the period of maturity. I think wo
aio still in the transitional period, though I trust approaching
its last stage ; and I doubt not that many whom I now address
of the younger generation, will live to see their country come
of ago and enter on its mature condition. Long and weary
was the chaotic period of Newfoundland history, extending
from 15S3, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert landed at St. John's"^
and took possession of the country in the name of Queen Eliza-
beth, to 1728, when the first Governor, Captain Henry Osborne,
wag appointed, and Newfoundland was raised to the rank of
a British colony. I call this long period of 145 years chaotic or
anarchic, because it was marked largely by misrule and op-
pression among the resident population, and by an xmhappy
policy on the part of England, which aimed at making the
island merely a stage for curing fish, and steadily prohibited
the occupation of the country by a settled population. " lb
weoms to us, at this distance of time, almost incredible that
laws should have been enacted and maintained for more than
a century which prohibited the occupation of land, or the
erection of houses, except such as were absolutely neces-
sary for carrying on a summer fishery. Ships and fishing
crows came out here early in the summer ; the fish caught
were salted and dried ashore ; and when winter approached
the fishermen were compelled by law to re-embark for England,
carrying with them the products of their labour. ° The
English shipow::ers and traders wished to retain the harbours
and fishing coves for tho use of their servants in curing the
fish ; and they regarded all settlers on the land as interlopers,
hostile to their pursuits.\Unhappily the British Government
of the day fell in with their selfish views ; and regarding the
Newfouudland fisheries as a nursery for seamen, tljcy secured
the enactment of laws prohibiting settlement. Justice was
administered by the notable Fishing Admirals, perhaps the
most remarkable machinery for administering law adopted
in any age or country. It was solemnly eujicted that the
master of the first ship entering a harbour was to b3 admiral
therein for the fishing season, and bo empowered to decide all
complaints. '^AVe can fjmcy one of these rougii, old skippers,

nils NKWIOUNDLAM) <)F OLUS.

with a ruiirli'jcj-.spiku iu oue hand, a pipe iu the otlior, ami o,
botcio of ruiu at his elbow, prcsuliu<^ in Lis court of justice.
It is not surpi'isiijg to find, as tlio result of inquiries after-
wards instituted, that tlio most frightful abuses were perpe-
trated, and thc! most tyrannical practices universal under such
a system. It speaks volumes, too, for the pluck and energy
of the people of those days, that in the teeth of those unjust
opprcssivulaws, a resident population steadily increased, and
obtained foot by foot, a firm hold upon the soil, and finally
got the obnoxious laws rajjealod, (ho Fishin;; Admirals
" sponged off the slate," and secured the administration of
justice iu regular courts of law. But the battle was loug and
severe. It Avas not till 1728 that the first germ of local self-
government wa3 obtained by the appointment of a Governor ;
and it is but eighty-six years since the Supreme Court of
Judicature foi- tho inland was instituted ; and it is but sixty-
seven years since thc crcotiou of houses, without a special
license Ivom tho (lovenior and the cultivatiou of land were
Icgalisocl. Only fifty-two years have elapsed since tho first
roads were laid dawn. What Newfoandlaud would be to-day,
had settlement been encouraged, aud civilization fostered, as
iu tl:e other provinces, instead of being thwarted and tram-
pled down, it is vain now to conjecture. ' .But let it be remem-
bered that uo living 7'uan cau bo held accountable for tho
wrongs and cruelties of the past ; and if I refer to them, it is
not to stir up reseutiueuts, but to point to them as warning
beacons for tho futurj ; aud as a ground of hope, now that
their pressure is removed, for steady progress in the time to
come. To mc tLic wonder is that matters are now as favour-
able as wc see them to bo. Among those early settlers w^ho
fought and won tlie battle, under such disadvantages, there
must have been many good and true men, of great vigour of
character, aud st»lid worth. Let us honour the memory of
our conscript brothers who for us bore the burden aud heat of
the day.

So'tie of the transactions iu those anarchic times look to
US suliicio'itiy ludicrous, though serious enough to those who
went througli tliom. Out of the wreck of the past has been
preserved a petition bearing the date of 1770, — or about a
century ago — fi-om the " IMerehants, Boatkcepers and Priuci-

THIS NKWFOUXDLAND OF OURS.

ami a
ustice.
after -
perpc-
3r such
eucrf^y
unjust
ed, and
finally
^drairals
ition of
3ag and
cal self-
ivernor ;
jourt of
ut sixty-
i special
i,nd were
the first
le to-day,
itered, as
nd tram-
?, rcmem-
e for the
liem, it is
warning
now tbat
le time to
IS favour-
tiers who
^Gs, thero
vigour of
aeraory of
ud boat of

OS look to
those who
has been
or about a
nd Princi-

pal Inliabitanis of St. John's, Potty Harbour and Torbay,"
and addressed to " The Hon. the Commons of Grrat Britain
in Parliament assembled." This petition contains some
curious items showing how things were looked at in those
days. The petitioners prayed for an increase of bounty to
the extent of six .shillings a ton on all vessels engaged iu tbo
fisheries — a very desirable arrangement for them, no doubt.
Also they ask for admission of tlieir oil. seal sldnsand blubber
into Britain free of duty — wbich was only reasonable. Fur-
ther,— they plead tbat " if a master or iiprson acting under
him should at any time see it necessary to correct any sei'vant
under them, with moderation, for not doing his duty in a
proper manner," tbat tlie said servant be not allowed to
summon his master before a justice of the peace, '* which in
the height of the fishery has been found very detrimenttJ."
In other words, these honcf«t men wanted the Commons bf
England to give thfm the power of thrashing their servants
as thoy thought proper, without being made answerable in
any v/ay. They also asked Parliament to send off all shop-
keepers fi;om the country at si:, months' notice, or else
compel them to keep fishing vessels ; as thoy were interfer-
iug with their own profits in supplying their own servants.
This was rather rough on the shopkeepers of a hundi'od years
ago, and shows that the principle of buying iu the cheapest
market v/as not then recognized. The petition winds up by
reipiesting tliat no more ground be enclosed for farms, as the
gardens of the officers ptatioueu hero " obstructed the public
pathways to the woods." What a curious picture this gives
us of tho .state of matters in St. John's a hundred years ago
— merchants and planters eudgclliug their servants — charging
them whau tliey pleased for supplies, and askmg Parliament
to rcraovo all shopkeepers. A letter from Governor Milbank,
dated October 1700, or 88 years ago, acldressod to Goorgo
HutchiuK, Esq., is also extant, in whicli tho Governor orders
the house of '^a certain Alexander Long to be pulled down
because '"it had a complete chimney in it, if nut iwo,t\.n(\
lodging for at least six or eight dieters," and so had been
orectod contrary to law ; and tho sturdy old Governor further
says that he will not ?llow possession of any land except such
as is employed hi the fisheries. But I have still a worse case

IfJ

THIS NEWroUNDLANI) 01' OUHS.

to tell yon of — a certain Major, Lieut. Governor Elford, about
tho year 1783, sent a despatch to the British Parliament re-
oommondinf; strongly that " all the women located on tho
islantl shoukl be removed, and that in future no women should
be allowed to land." Only fancy our present highly-esteemed
and pojiular Governor, issuinj^ such an inhuman order for
the removal of all the ladies in tho colony. I am sure ho
never would do so unless he meant to accompany them. But
how came women to be in Newfoundland at all, in such
rough times ? This is the first mention of them in our history.
How did they get here ? Blessings on them, they had
come to take care of the unfortunate men. " Where the
carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."
Wherever man is, woman is suio to venture. She knows wo
require to be looked after, and that alone, man is as useless
as one side of a pair of scissors. I feel satisfied that this
ill-natured Governor, who must have been an old bachelor,
did not succeed in driving out the women, and preventing all
ilew arrivals. I should like to see the Governor or the laws
that could accomplish that. As Horace said long ago, if you
drive out nature with a fork she will return on .you. Tho
tender passion is not to be eliminated from human nature by
any forcible measures. Tho Italians tell a story of a noble-
man ^\ho grew sick of the worlil, and especially of the better
half of it — woman-kind ; and so he retired with his son, then
an infant, to a castle in the mountains where no girl
or woman was ever allowed to come ; f.,nd there the child
grew up to be a young man without ever having looked into
the face of woman. At last his father ventured down with
him to a great public festival that was to be held in the
valley ; and there among other wonders he saw for the first
timo young girls ; and with wide-open eyes ho whispered to
his father, " What arc they" ? " They are devils my son,"
the father answered, "don't look at them, -or think about
them." Ho thought, no doubt, he had made all safe. But as
they were about to go homo he said, "My son what is thero
in the fair you would like, and I wil' get it for yon ?" Now
tho poor 5'outli had seen a lassie of the hills, with a blush on
her cheek like the Alpine rose, and eyes as blue as Italian
ibkies or Juliets dark liquid orbs ; and she had shot a glance

THIH NLWFOUNM-ANP OF OURH.

(1, about
ucut re-
1 ou tho
a should
jsteomed
rder for
I sure ho
sin. But

in such.
i: history,
they had
'hero tho
vogcthcr."
knovvs "SVG
3,8 useless

that this

bachelor,

cnting all

r tho laws

igo, if you

you. The

nature by

: a noble -

the better

1 son, then

no girl

tho child
ookod into
lovvu with
icld in the
3r the first
hispered to

my son,"
hiuk about
fo. But as

at is thero
u ?" Now

a blush on

as Italian
lot a glance

ttt him and wickedly elttin him ; and so ho said, with a frronjt
Rulp, " father, I should like bo much to have that yoim^
]>evil to take home with me." If tho story is not true in fact,
it is as tiuo as lieaven and earth can make it of this human
nature of ours. Y©u may bo quite suro tlie women did not
leave this island, on the rough hint of tho Governor ; and if
they had a one so, fresh importations would have been soon
called for.

Chaos ended, I have said, and Cosmos began in 1728,
when our first Crovernor was appointed, and wo were ra'sed
to the rank of a colony, —

" The mills of the gods fjrind slowly
But tbey griud exceoding small."

They ground up at last the old Fishing Admirals and th«ir
marline-spikes ; and after thoni tjio " Surrogates" of blessed
memory, and all the stupid selfish laws which prohibitctl
local industry but authorised religious intolerance ; and I
thiidc, that these same " mills of tho gods" will one day
grind up those ancient treaties which have shut us out from
tho best half of our island, and most seriously impeded the
lirogrcss ot tho colony. Still Cosmos came with" slow foot-
steps, lu 1805 tho country made a big leap forward and got
a post office ; and in the same year the Royal Gazette, tha
first newspaper was printed. The transitioi: may be consi-
dered to have been fairly established in 1882, when tho colony
obtained the boon of Eepresentative Government, which in
1855 was followed by Responsible Government, its natural
and necessary sequel. Almost every one will now admit tl^at
great and beneficial results have followed the introduction of
local self-governmont, which is simply the application of the
principles of the British Constitution to the subjects of Queen
Viotoria in Newfoundland. We are now as free as any people
under the sun. I should like to know what greater degree of
liberty any man could reasonably ajsk for than that enjoyed
here. We elect our representatives, having a household suf-
frage ; make our own laws ; select our ©wn Government ;
pay them to govern us, and then we have the privilege and
happiness of governitig them. Think how closely we watch
our Government at every turn and abuse them when they go
contrary to oar wishes. Think of the generous, disinterested.

Tni9 NKWFOUNDl.AND OF OUIW.

watchrul ciir(> of tlioOppositiou t« kwc'p tlieiu rit;lit ; uud liow
our faithful I'rosn pours «nt tho viiils of it« wrath at tiiiios ou
tho dovott'd hoadu of the Cloverimwnt, and suy are we not
Builiciently froo '} Kvcn tho rcpresontativo of royalty him-
scll, wlicii lio iirrivoH hero, finds huiiMi'lf, a vory liuiitod iiiou-
jirch indued. With Rosi»oiisibli! Oovoi-uoiruj then our trausi-
tion was fully iuunguriited, aTid wo are jogginy ou now fairly
towards tho stage of our maturity, ua an organized uud
civilized community.

Do you ask mc when the period of our maturity will
bcgui ? I answer, without lu.'sitation, when oui- island in
j)ierc(5d by a grand trunk railway, with branches radiating to
all tho prijicipal districts— then and not till then, will our
majority have arrived. Permit me for a moment to state my
honest convictions ou this Hiibject. Kight (>• wrong, you will
J hopo give mo credit for sincerity, for I havo no " axe to
grind,' and I am uuinlluencod by any political bias. And my
conviction is this — that Newfoundland has reached that
stage in which a railroad has become an absolute necessity,
if she is to make further progress ; and that wo ought to strain
every nerve, and submit to almost any sacrifice in order to
obtain this grand necessity of modern civilization. Wo havo
all that could bo wished for, at present, as regards ocean and
local steam communication. Wo have tho splendid steamers
of the Allan Line calling hero weekly ; and they havo given
to the world a practical demonstration of the magnificence
of our geographical position. In ten minuterf after leaving
the broad Atlantic they are moored at the wharf, in one of
tho safest harbors in tho wotld. Their prows are turned
eastward, and ten minutes after clearing the wharf they aro
again, in the Atlantic, with net a rock or shoal between them
and Queenstown, which they reach in six days almost as
regularly as a railway train. People understand now tho
superiority and safety of this route, and are getting to havo
faith in St. John's, as a port of arrival and departure. Now
suppose we had a railway built, and conld whisk passengers
across the island to St. George's Bay in nine hours, and put
them across the Gulf in tiftoeu more, and that then they
could take rail for all parta of tho Contincut, do you not
think we should have Hao bulk of passengers who cross tho

'litis NKWl'OT'NUr.AM) Ol' otnis.

n»

UUll I low
tiuios ou
we not
ilty bim-
itod mou-
nt trail si -
ow fairly
i/tid uud

urity will

island in

di!itiu<» to

will our

state my

, you will

'• axe to

And my

bed tbat

necessity,

t to sfcraiu

crdov to

Wo have

)coan and

steamers

avo given

guitieence

r leaving

in one of

:e turned

' they are

een them

ilmost an

now the

g to have

re. Now

lassongers

, and put

;hen they

3 you not

cross the

AtlaiiLic Inking this swift route, and that wo should have tho
grciitci' )t;irt of tlio mails tnuisiuitted hy th*; HaUK; track, whou
London would thu^J bo biou;^ht witiiui soven days of \ow
York. This is no dream. One of Llur mtjst emiuont of living
enginecTs — .Mr. Siindford FIciniug — has pronounced it tjuito
a pr!ictieabl(! aehi(!venieut thus to establish eouuuunieation
beiAvcen the two ht-uii-phures. When wo can lurnish ut once
the bafest and quiekosb route btlrwweu the Old and Now
Worlds, our cbiims are sure one day to be recognized- l>uL
sotting this aside fur u moment, let us look at our internal
condition, as suggesting tho necessity for a railroad. What are
we going to do with this huge territory of 12,01)0 square miles '.'
Are we going to' leave the mteriur for ever to tho wolves and
the deer',' Are the line agricultural districts to remain soli-
tudes, when our own people and tho people of other counlrius,
who aro in need of bread, would occupy them if they were
made acc(>ssil)lc, and transform them into smiling farms, and
niako them the haj)j)y hom<'S of men '.* Must our noble forests
be left to rot and biu'n '.' — our coal beds and mineral deposits
sleep for over where bountiful nature has stored thorn ? Shall
our people eliug for ever to the rocky shores, and content
tiiemselves with a precarious subsistence derived from tho
stormy deep / HhaRio on us if wo do not rise to a nobler con-
ception of our destiny as a people, and utilize the gifts of a
bountiful Trovidence. To me it seems that the present gene-
ration are brought face to face with the task of constructing a
railroad across the island, and that tboy will prove untrue to
their duty if they do not lay aside all party considerations
anct unitedly and valiantly gird themselvoB for the work.
Tiiink for a moment winit the construction of such a railroad
means to us ! It means the opening up ®f this great island —
the union of its eastern and western shores — the working of
its lanils, forests iMid minerals — its connection by a rapid
means of communication with tho neighbouring continent.
It means tho increase of its population by a stream of
immigratioii — it means the conversion oi the country into a
hive of industry, and the commencement of a material pros-
perity to which we can set no limits. It means employment
at good wages to cur population— many of whom alas ! aie
now very scantily supplied with the poorest nocessuries of

rnifl NT.wFOTTVi)r,A\» OF onus.

life — "Too littl(5 to live on and to much to dio on." To St.
Joliii'fl itsuif a rdilroud menus u vast iucruaso of biisitisss uf
uU kinds, — uow houses goiny np— mtofuuura arriviuy and do-
purting ovory day — roal ostato iiicroiisud in valuo fourfold; ami
tin end to all grumbling luuoug our traders about bad dubts
and h«uvy stocks ou hand at tho closo of tho soason. lb
means openings of all kinds for tho talents and energy of tho
young tjoneration. But wanting a railroad, nono of thoso
beiiulils will u jmu, and we shall be simply at a stand-still and
all our ruBMuruos must roiuain undovelopuil.

But thou it is askod how is a poor colony liko this to
build a railroad ? We can't afford it. I reply you can't afford
to do without it. Your poverty is your strongest argument
for going at it, in order to transform tliat poverty into woalth.
It seems to mo that a railroad is peifoctly within our reach
by a very little sacrifice. Tho first stop has been taken by
securing a survey of tho lino ; and, in my humblo judgment,
never was public money hotter spent than in that instance,
for it has lodged tho idea of a railroad iu the public mind, and
that will not be eradicated till it is translated into a fact.
Moreover — it has shown that there aro no serious difficulties
ill the construction of auch a road. This is one of tho easiest
countries iu the world to piorco with a railroad. I have high
authority for saying that a subsidy of j£30,000 per annum, for
a limited number of years, with a liberal grant of unoccupied
land along the line, would secure this grand desideratum.
What is wanted is that tho people should arouse themselves
to the necessity of getting a railroad, and tell their representa-
tives that it must be done ; and that if there are diflicultios,
they aro sent te the halls of legislation to overcome difficul-
ties, and lead tho way in the path of progress. If I wero
Prime Minister I should, in Yankee phrase, " freeze to" this
railroad. I would plot and scheme and scrape and pare, and
reriso tho tariff, and do everything short of stealing, till I got
money enough for the railroad. I think I would take that
million or million and a quarter of dollars which we have had
the good fortune to obtain by the award of tho Fishery Com-
mission— thanks to the goodness of our case, and the ability
and zeal of our reprosculative, Mr. Whiteway; — and I would
permanently invest it, and thus obtain jeiO,000 per aunu-m, or

Tins VRWFOUNDI.AM) OF t)lJRS,

this

a third <»f all that is wantntl for our railroad. I vroiild keep
at it, Hlod^o-bumtueri'i)^, kuucking dowu all oppouentn, conh<
dont thut 1 Hhuuld win, in tho lung run, aud that a gratoful
posterity would ouo day blo.sa my memory, aud that my
Htutuu would stand over tho groat luteruatioual Railway
Stiitiou that HhiiU yot adoru St. Johu's. Oucu it is built, ail
thiut^s uro pobsiblo. Hail to tho gr«ut Horcuftor, whon Now-
fouudhiuderki will bomakm^ excuTHious by rail, ou their public
holiduyH, to witness a regatta ou Gaudur Lake, or lied ludiau
[jiiko ; whon pic-nicH will bu hold at Sorpeutiuo Mouutaius or
I'owilor-hor'i Hill, and daucos at the foot of the Blow-mo-dowu
Kaugo ; vrhou Sunday school childrou will bo takon in happy
batches inoxcursiou trains, to gather hurtx and play gatuos ou
the tableland of tho interior ; whon day schools will bo whisked
off tu spend a churming day in visiting the mines aud great-
copper Ri*'<ilting works of tho north, or in wandering along tho
bunks (. ' the Humbor — when visitors from the United
States and Canada will be crowding the Imperial Hotel at
Long Pond, where cold and hot salt water baths can then ba
hull and oxcollont livery stables are kept ; and when return
tickets for Japan and China, viu tho Canadian Pacific Kaiiway
will be issued at a cheap rate ; and such will ba the facilities
for travellmg that we shall seldom live at homo. Don't toll
nie that, with all these glowing prospects before us, we cannot
uft\jrd to build a railway. With an annual revenue of
$8^3,000 and yet not ablo to construct 850 mile* of railway t
Then might we ask

" Ihuiu- civilizatiou a failure,
Or is tlie Cixucussiau played out ? "

Let US abjure such faithless ideas.

''Lay down your rails, ye uatious, uearandfar, —

Yoke your full trains to steam's triuuiiilial car;

Liuk towu to town ; unite iu iron band:^

The long-ustrauged auil oft-embattled lands.

Peace, mild-eyed Seraph — knowledge, light divine,,

Shall send their messengers by erery line.

Blessings on science and her hand-maid steam I

Tliey make Utopia only half a dream ;

Aud show the iervont, of capacious souls,

Who watch tho ball of Progress as it rolls,

That all as yet completed or began,

Is but the dawuiyg that piecedea the mu.'

±1

THIS NEWFOUNDLAND OF OURS.

i
I.

I f":

J must now draw this rather leiif^thj' address to a close ;
aud I shall do so by ciulcavoriu<^ to show you that this conu-
try has made such real and, I might say, wonderful progress
during the last forty or fifty years, aud more especially during
the last fifteen or twenty years, that we are warranted in pre-
dicting great things of it in the near future. I begiu with its
progress in road-making which has boon very considerable,
thongli much remains to be done, lloads are types of civili-
7ution. Where there arc no roads the people are savages ;
where roads are few and bad, law is weak and society semi-
l)arbarons. If you want to know whether a peoijlois stagnant
or progressive look at their roads. Wherever there is mental
activity, enterprise and a liberalizing spirit of any kind you
will see their manifestations in the building of roads for travel
and intercourse. All the great epochs of civilization in the
world's history were ages of roads. Nothing marked the
splendid cm of the Roman Empire so strikingly as the magni-
ficent system of roads which radiated from the forum of Rome
to the furthest oxtremitieos of the most distant provinces.
This is emi)hatically the age of roads, not only of stone but of
iron, along which rushes the iron horse, with heart of tire and
muscles of steel and breath of steam. Then we make roads
over the ocean by our steamship ; and roads for thought by
the telegraph wire ; and the day is not distant when the world
will l7e one vast scasoriuin, with nerves of communication to
the very ends of the earth. In tlie Highlands of Scotland, in
what was ouco a very wild district, but which is now well fur-
nished with excellent roads, there stands a stone bearing chis
inscription, which reads rather like an Irish bull but is really a
High land one :—

" If you liad seen tbese roads before they were made.
Vou wunM lift tip yoiu' liauds and bless (General Wade."

Now in like manner I might say if you had seen the excellent
roads that now radiate from St. John's " before they were
intwle," you v oukl bless, first of all, the memory of Sir Thomas
C'ychrane, one of our GovorHors, wlio in 1H2.') made the first
road to Portagal Cove, aud also the road between Harbour
Giace and Carbunear. Like our present Governor, he was
not afraid of the ])Ogs and bushes, aud travelled far and
wide to iuform himself le^^irliu^ thu couutry aud poople. He

THIS NKWFOUXDLAND OF OURS.

were

U)1UIS

lirst

"bour

was

and

iuitiatod road-making, and othors have followed it up. Still
the labour of road budding went on slowly, Whou Mr.
Jukes, the geologist, was heroin 184U, he tells us that when
making an excursion to Topsail, ho found the first fiye miles
of the road from St. Jolin's " in a condition good enough for
a horse to trot along it" ; the rest was merely marked oat,
not gravelled, and cut through woods " leaving the stumi^s
and roots of the trees." When this was the case around the
Capital so lately as 37 years ago, it may bo imagined what
was the condition of the rest of the country in regard to
roads. You will agree with mo thon that, daring those 37
years, groat progress has l)eou made in road-building ; bub
still an enormous amount of work remains to be done before
our population shall bo provided as they ought, with roads —
the indispensable elements ot civilized existence. At tho
I)reseut date we can reckon up 7"27 miles of postal roads —
1,730 miles of district roads. The Groat Northern Mail Huute
when completed will bo 137 miles in length and 1,200 miles
are in process of making.

I must now very rapidly sum up other indications of
progress. In 1840 the first steamer ever st'on in Xewfound-
land made her oppearance ; in 1840, or 38 years ago, wo got
our first mail steamer ; a small one that ran te Halifax.
Now what a contrast ! Wc have ocean steamers calling
weekly ; wo have three local steamers ; and a fleet of some
2(5 steamcriij will be starting next month from •ur harbours
for the icefields. We ar« now able to spend :?121,420 per
annum on stnani communication. I call that genuine [)ro-
grcss ; and is is the work of tho last few years. It is au
uumistakal)le index of the growing wealth, enter])risc and
intellij.onca of the colony. Some dozen years ago it was
wdiispered that copper oro bad been found in the north of tho
island, but hardly any one gave any attention to the rumour
or expected anj^'thing out of it. Now what is the state of the
case '. From Botts Cove Mine alone •15,00() t >us «f ore Avoro
shipped last year, re(iuiriag a small fleet for its conveyance ;
and 1.200 men fouiid remunerative employment in that single
mine. It is well known that Tilt Cove is no losii valuable.
The whole region around these mines is covered with mining
Uconses ; 8i)eculatiou is rife and no \/ deposits of or« are con-

J ,!i

THIS NEWFOUNDLAND OF OURS.

tinually discovered. The geologieal map of Newfoar.dlanJ
shews that the Serpentine rocks, with which the ore is asso-
ciated, have a spreai of 5,000 square miles — enough to furnish
scope for any amount of mining enterprise in the fatiire.
It is now put beyond a doubt that our island is destined to
become one of the world's great mining regions. Here then
is another great stride in advance. Mining means employ-
ment for our peoplo, — the improvement of our revenue— the
extension of our trade and the increaste of our population.
Even in agriculture we are advancing. The Solicitor Gene-
ral told us last year that the annual value of our agricultural
produce is at present over $612,000. Mr. Murray has calcu-
lated that there are nearly throe millions o'f acres of land
suitable for settlement on our eastern and western shores, all
at present unoccupied. When with such slight efforts now
put forth in the cultivation of the soil we raise produce valued
ot £153,000 per annum our whole population being only
161,000 what may we not anticipate when our present antiquti-
ted laws which impede settlement are repealed, the country
thrown open to enterprise in lumbering and farming; the
districts surveyed and made accessible ; information regard-
ing their soil, climate and capabilities widely circulated, and
means taken to attract emigrants to our shores, as is the case
in all the other provinces I

A word or two now about our jfisheries. Fears are
entertained by many that they are failing and may
become exhausted. Believe me such fears are utterly
unfounded. Of course they are now, as they have always
been, subject to considerable fluctuations ; aud as we
all know last year's results wore unfavourable. But so long
as the great Arctic Current, laden with the germs of fish life
and furnishing the true home for the Commercial fishes, con-
tinues to wash our shores, no one need dread an exhaustion of
our fisheries. Tb<;ir increase in value has been steady up to
the present hour, and with the aid of science they are capable
of indefinite expansion. Within a dozen years the value of
codfish, our grand staple has doubled. Where is the country
in the world of whose staple production a similar tale could be
tcfld! The more railways aro extended in those countries
which consume our fish, — such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and

I \

.,'^ >'■*

THIS NEWFOUNDLAND OF OOTlS.

Brazil— the greater the demand for our codfish. Risks in its
shipments are now immensely less than in former years, partly
owing to the state of all markets being made known by
telegraph, and partly to increased facilities for its transpor-
tation inland by railways ; so that I am told it is here becom-
ing more and more a " cash article," like the flour of Canada
and the United States. It is a mistake to suppose there has
been any falling off in the quantity of codfish exported during
the last 57 years. In the year 1849, 1,175,167 quintals of cod
fish were exported ; in 1874,1,609,724 ; in 1875, 1,130,235 ; in
1876, 1,364,008 quintals. In the five years ending in 1856 the
average annual value of the products of our fisheries was
$5,166,129 ; during the five years ending 1876 the annual
value rose to $7,847,661— being an increase of $3,681,532, since
1856, in the annaal value of our fish products. Such a result
ought to quiet all our fears. What we want now is to call in
tho aid of science, and secure the services of an able practical
and scientific man to act as Fishery Commissioner. We havo
the most valuable fisheries in tho world, but unlike all other
countries, we have no one specially charged with watching
over their interests.

Did time permit I could show you that the tabic of our
exports and imports, the deposits in our Savings Bank now
reaching above a million dollars — and in our other Banks
whose shareholders are in ''pastures green" — and the healthy
state of our trade while most other countries have been
suffering from depression, — that all these further indicate
steady progress, and give promise of a prosperous future for
This Newfoundland of Ours. But I must now close. I
trust my subject will be to some extent an apology for the
unwarrantable length of this address. If I have detained you
too long, you can console yourselves with the thought that
you have been suffering for your country. I respectfully sub-
mit that I have made out my case and adduced sufficient
evidence to prove that the land we live in is not exactly, as
many believe, a stranded iceberg, but one that has all the
elements of prosperity in itself, and a great future before it.
I have proved, I flatter myself, that since imjust and oppres-
sive legislation ceased and it obtained a fair chance, it has
mode rapid progress and is likely, ere long, to overtake its

THfSl XEWFOUNDLANI) OF OVlXH,

sister provinces which got a start of it iu the race. Nor is
our progress merely material — it is also social and moral.
During my residence here of twenty-Kve years I have obser-
ved a very great amelioration in many directions. The asperi-
ties of political and religious conflicts ai-e greatly softened.
Though there is still room for a little improvement, the
political warfare is now carried iu bettor taste, with more
moderation and greater regard for the amenities of life.
We have learned that our opponents arc not necessarily
fiends, knaves, or jack-asses, and that it is hardly polite to
yay so. I think that even the odium theeloyicum is greatly
toned down. The patriotic" spirit is rising gradually above
pal'ty strife and denominational zeal. This is what we require
to cultivate and extend, especially among our young men, on
whom the future of the country depends — that patriotism
which so respects and loves the country as to be willing to
make all racritices for the promotion of its highest and best
interests, and which will regard any trust which the country
commits to their keeping as among the most sacred of human
pledges — that enlightened patriotism which recognizes that
the true greatness and happiness of our country consists not
in more material prosperity, but in the education, the intelli-
gence, the virtue and the religion of its people. Let us each
try to do our part bravely and faithfully to leave the country
better than we have found it. And let our watchword bo

" Forward.'"—

'• Slauding still is childish folly,
(roiug backward is a crime ;
Nouc slioul;! patiently endure
Any ill that be can ciu:e.
Onward ! Keep the march of time —
Onward ! while a wrong remains
To be conquered by the right ;
While oppression lifts a finger
To affront us by his might ;
AVhile 6n error clouds the leason
Of the universal heart,
Or a slave awaits his freedom,
Action is the wise man's part

" Lo ! the world is rich iu blessings-
Earth and ocean, flame and wind

THIS XK^FOUNDLANl) OF OUItS.

■al.

cr-

eri-

ed.

tbo

lore

life.

irily

;eto

iatly

bOVG

[uire
1, on
;tism
ng to

best
untry
uruan

that
ts not
ntelli-
s eacli
)uutry
ord be

Have uunuinbercd secrets still.

To be ransacked when you will,

For the service of mauiuiul ;

Science is a child as yet

And her power and scope ylmll f,'row,

And her triumphs in the future

Shall diminish toil and woe ;

Shall extend the jjouiids of pleasure,

Witli an ever-widening ken,

And of woods and wihUirncssos

JJake Mie happy homes of men. "

^^^

5»

— :o:— •

No, I.

In support of the statement that our fisheries are not
deteriorating, the foUowing extract from Professor Hmd
Report on the Effect of the Treaty of Washmgton on our
Fisheries carries with it great weight : e " on our

"About forty years ago, the" Bank Fishery, so far as
regards Newfoundland, entirely ceased, and the fishei^ ha
since been carried on altogeUier within shore, and is expend
-g, year by year, further and further up Labrador. As fa.

how that the increase, during the last sixty or seventy years
since for instance 1804, has been almost perfectly unilorm
when you take into account the increase in the population ^f
the coun ry. Of course it is to a certein extent depend nt on
upon hat. and subject al«o to those fluctuations which con-
tinually take place in our fisheries-in the mackerel and cod
fi hones-and m the marine cUmate on the American coa ts
Also m the herring fishery the increase has been contZouJ
since I80O smce when there has always been a mean of one
milbon quinta s It reached one million quintals iu 1842 and
afj^rthatit either approached to or rose above it conUnu

The following is a table showing the exports of cod
£sh from Newfoundland since 1867 ■ t » ^oa

1807
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875

1871)

Quintals.

1,06(),215

1,169,948

1,204,086

1,213,737

1,3^8,726

l,221,lu7

1,369, 20.3

1,609,724

1,136,235

.1,304,068

■ IWiii w '«"•

~^"

-!W?-

■". T ^' 7:7::

-lDr=5

ArPENDIX.

The following T.-iblo from tbc same lleport, hIiows lb',
gradual progress of tho value of tbo products of tbo Xew-
foiindland flsborioH, duriug cacli group of live years, from
liSi52 to 187G, iuclu.sivo : —

Average Value of Exports— Group of five years —

18o2 to 18.JG
18u7 to 18G2
18()2 to 1800
1867 to 1871
1872 to 187G

.$j,ir,(),129
r),i;>2,;392

0,080,445
7,011,407
7,817,001

The way in which tbfj Arctic cnrront which sweeps along
our shores, sustains our fishoi-ies will appear from the follow-
ing extracts from Professor Hind's Jveporl : —

*' It is a popular error that the cold of tho Arctic seas
is unravouruble to fish life. In tiutb the Arctic seas and
the groat currents flowing from them are in many places a
liviLig mass, a vast ocean ol living slime, and the all-pervading
life v.'bich exists there affords the true solution of the problem
v.hich has so often presented itself — where the food comes from
wliich gives .sustenance to the countless millions of fish "which
s\\aiTJi on the Labrador, on tho ccast of Newfoundland and
in Uomiijiou and United States waters, or wherever tho Arctic
ciuToat exerts an active influence." " This "slime" of the ocean
appears to live most abundantly in the coldest water and in
tiie neighbourhood of ice. The grsat ice-drift coming from"
tiio [Spitsbergen seas, sweeping round Cape Farewell, then
North-westerly by Davis' Straits, is augmented by immense
bergs and lloes from Baffin's Bay and Hudson's Straits, and
at length, on the banks of Labrador, countless thousands
of tlJChO ground, bringing with them tlicir "slime." Thus the
slime which accompanies the ica-bergs and ice-floes of the
Aiclic current, accumulates on the banks of Northern La-
btudor, and romlors the existence possible there of all those
forniH of niavlne life — from tho diatom to the minute crusta-
cean — from tho minute crustacean to the crab and prawn,
together with niulluscous animals ;ind starfish in vast pro-
fusion, which contril)ute to the support of vast schools of
cod, wliich also find their home there."

J
1

ii;
In

sal

AITEKDTX.

No. II.

EviJouoea of llio progi-ess of tUo Culony aro supplied from
tlio ailviiuco iu the KKporLsond Iiuportn, the Deposits in tho
Saviu<4s' liiink and private liaulcs, and from tbo Iteveuue —
Iu 1800 the vahie of the Exports was $J,004,y05 ; in 1870>
$H,1(;S,:}10. Iu 1H(50 tho vaiuo of Imports was *r),78J,849 ; in
1H70, S7,'20:>,U07. At the close of 1870 tho deposits iu tho
Savings' P>ank amounted to $1,011,800. It is uuderstood that
our two private banlcs have very large sums, us deposits, at
the same rate of interest as that of tho Savings' Bank. Tho
Hcveuuo iu 1800 was $721,^90 ; iu 1877, $833,008 Tho public
debt of tho Colony in 18T0 was Sl,Jn!),3-l(). In 1785 tho popu-
lation of Xewfouudland was 10,211 ; iu 18.'37 it had risen to
122.038; iu 1800, to 110,530; and in 1874 to 101,371. In
180'J tho total number of boats employed iu tho shorii fishery
was 14,705 ; in 1874 they had increased to 18,011. In 1809,
tho number of per.sons onga<^ed iu catching and curing
fish was 37,259 ; Iu 1871, 45,85 1 persons wero so employed.
In 1874, the number of vessels, iueludiug sealers -was 1,197
with a ttnnagu of 01,551 tons, manued by 81,394 iishermcii
sailors.