VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER ELEVEN.



APPENDIX. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

ARTICLE 1.—SECTION 1.

1. All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

SECTION 2.

I. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts eight; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one; Connecticut five; New York six; New Jersey four; Pennsylvania eight; Delaware one; Maryland six; Virginia ten; North Carolina five; South Carolina five; and Georgia three.

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill up such vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECTION 3.

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be first assembled, in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointment until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President, pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

7. Judgment, in case of impeachment, shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit, under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

SECTION 4.

1. The times, places, and manners of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof, but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

SECTION 5.

1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorised to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide.

2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

SECTION 6.

1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to or returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.

SECTION 7.

1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objection at large on their journal, and proceed to re-consider it. If, after such re-consideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary, (except on a question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

SECTION 8.

The Congress shall have power—

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises, shall be uniform throughout the United States.

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States.

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalisation, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof; and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads.

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court: to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations.

10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

11. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.

12. To provide and maintain a navy.

13. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.

14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

15. To provide for organising, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased, by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings; and,

17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

SECTION 9.

1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be passed.

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given to any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to or from one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditure of all public money shall be published from time to time.

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

SECTION 10.

1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the neat produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States, and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE 2.—SECTION 1.

1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no senator or representative, or person holding any office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

3. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such a majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said House shall, in like manner, choose the President. But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors, shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the Vice-President.

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

5. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President: neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:—

9. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

SECTION 2.

1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur: and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. But the Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

SECTION 3.

1. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may on extraordinary occasions convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

SECTION 4.

1. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other crimes and misdemeanors.

ARTICLE 3.—SECTION 1.

1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts, as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour; and shall at stated times receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

SECTION 2.

1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress shall make.

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such places as the Congress may by law have directed.

SECTION 3.

1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

ARTICLE 4.—SECTION 1.

1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings, shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

SECTION 2.

1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he has fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

3. No person held to service or labour in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour; but shall be delivered up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due.

SECTION 3.

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

SECTION 4.

1. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and, on application of the legislature, or of the executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

ARTICLE 5.

1. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions of three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article: that and no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

ARTICLE 6.

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislature, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution: but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

ARTICLE 7.

1. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

George Washington, President and Deputy from Virginia

New Hampshire. John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman.

Massachusetts. Nathaniel Gorman, Rufus King.

Connecticut. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman.

New York. Alexander Hamilton.

New Jersey. William Livingston, David Bearly, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton.

Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mafflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Governeur Morris.

Delaware. George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jun. John Dickenson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom.

Maryland. James McHenry, Daniel of St Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carrol.

Virginia. John Blair, James Madison, jun.

North Carolina. William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson.

South Carolina. John Rutledge, Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler.

Georgia. William Few, Abraham Baldwin.

(Attest,) William Jackson.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.

Art. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right, of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Art. 2. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Art. 3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner prescribed by law.

Art. 4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Art. 5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Art. 6. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

Art. 7. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of common law.

Art. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Art. 9. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Art. 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Art. 11. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State.

Art. 12. 1. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-president; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such of the number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death, or other constitutional disability of the President.

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President: a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

END OF VOL. II.



VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER ONE.

CANADA.

Of what advantage are the Canadas to England?

This question has been put to me, at least one hundred times since my return from America. It is argued that the Canadas produce and export nothing except timber, and that the protecting duty given to Canada timber is not only very severely felt by the mother-country, but very injurious to her foreign relations. These observations are undeniable; and I admit that, as a mere colony compelled to add to the wealth of England, (sending to her all her produce, and receiving from her all her supplies), Canada has been worth less than nothing. But, admitting this for the present, we will now examine whether there are no other grounds for the retention of the Canadas under our control.

Colonies are of value to the mother-country in two ways. The first is already mentioned, and in that way, the present advantage of the Canadas as colonies is abandoned. The other great importance of colonies is, that they may be considered as outports, as stepping-stones, as it were, over the whole world; and for the present I shall examine into the value of these possessions merely in this point of view. We have many islands or colonies under our subjection which are in themselves not only valueless, but, moreover, extremely expensive to us; and if every colony or island is to be valued merely according to the produce and advantage derived from it by the mother-country, we must abandon Heligoland, Ascension, St Helena, Malta, and, even Gibraltar itself. All these, and some others, are, in point of commerce, valueless; yet they add much to the security of the country and to our dominion of the seas. This will be admitted, and we must therefore now examine how far the Canadas may be considered as valuable under this second point of view.

I have already shewn that the ambition for territory is one of the diseases, if I may use the term, of the American people. On that point they are insatiable, and that they covet the Canadas is undeniable. Let us inquire into the reasons why the Americans are so anxious to possess the Canadas.

There are many. In the first place, they do not like to have a people subjected to a monarchial form of government as their neighbours; they do not like that security of person and property, and a just administration of the law, should be found in a thinly-peopled province, while they cannot obtain those advantages under their own institutions. It is a reproach to them. They continually taunt the Canadians that they are the only portion of the New World who have not thrown off the yoke—the only portion who are not yet free; and this taunt has not been without its effect upon the unthinking portion of the community. What is the cause of this unusual sympathy? The question is already answered.

Another important reason which the Americans have for the possession of the Canadas is, that they are the means of easy retaliation on the part of England in case of aggression. They render them weak and assailable in case of war. Had they possession of the Canadas, and our other provinces, the United States would be almost invulnerable. As it is, they become defenceless to the north, and are moreover exposed to the attack of all the tribes of Indians concentrated on the western frontier. Indeed, they never will consider their territory as complete "in a ring fence," as long as we have possession of the mouths of the St Lawrence. They wish to be able to boast of an inland navigation from nearly the Equator to the Pole—from the entrance of the Mississippi to the exit of the St Lawrence. Our possession of the Canadas is a check to their pride and ambition, which are both as boundless as the territory which they covet.

But there are other reasons equally important. It is their anxiety to become a manufacturing as well as a producing nation. Their object is, that the north should manufacture what the south produces; and that, instead of commercial relations with England, as at present, that American cotton-manufactures should be borne in American bottoms over all the world. This they consider is the great ultimatum to be arrived at, and they look forward to it as the source of immense wealth and increased security to the Union, and of their wresting from England the sceptre and dominion of the seas.

It may be said that the United States, if they want to become a manufacturing nation, have now the power; but such is not the case. Until they can completely shut out English manufactures, they have not. The price of labour is too dear. Should they increase the tariff, or duty, upon English goods, the Canadas and our other provinces will render their efforts useless, as we have a line of coast of upwards of 2,000 miles, by which we can introduce English goods to any amount by smuggling, and which it is impossible for the Americans to guard against; and as the West fills up, this importation of English goods would every year increase. As long, therefore, as we hold the Canadas, the Americans must be content to be a very inferior manufacturing nation to ourselves; and it may be added that now or never is the time for the Americans to possess themselves of the Canadas. They perceive this; for when once the Western States gain the preponderance in wealth and power, which they will in a few years, the cause of the Eastern, or manufacturing States will be lost. The Western States will not quarrel with England on account of the Eastern, but will import our goods direct in exchange for their produce. They themselves cannot manufacture and they will go to market where they can purchase cheapest.

But do the views of the Americans extend no further? Would they be satisfied if they obtained the Canadas? Most assuredly not. They are too vast in their ideas—too ambitious in their views. If Canada fell, Nova Scotia would fall, and they would obtain what they most covet—the harbour of Halifax. New Brunswick would fall, and they would have then driven us out of our Continental possessions. Would they stop then? No; they never would stop until they had driven the English to the other side of the Atlantic. Newfoundland and its fisheries would be their next prey; for it, as well as our other possessions, would then be defenceless. They would not leave us the West-Indies, although useless to them. Such is their object and their earnest desire—an increase of territory and power for themselves, and the humiliation of England. The very eagerness with which the Americans bring up this question on purpose that they may disavow their wishes, is one of the strongest proofs of their anxiety to blind us on the subject; but they will never lose sight of it; and if they thought they had any chance of success, there is no expense which they would not cheerfully incur, no war into which they would not enter. Let not the English be deceived by their asseverations. What I have now asserted is the fact. The same spirit which has actuated them in dispossessing the Indians of territories which they cannot themselves populate, which prompted the "high-handed theft" of the Texas from Mexico, will induce them to adopt any pretext, as soon as they think they have a chance, to seize upon the Canadas and our other transatlantic possessions.

If what I have stated be correct, and I am convinced of its truth myself, it will be evident that the Canadas, independent of every other consideration, become a most important outpost which we must defend and hold possession of. Let it be remembered that every loss to us, is an increase to the power of America—an increase to her security and to her maritime strength; that whatever her assertions may be, she is deadly hostile to us, from the very circumstance that she considers that we prevent her aggrandisement and prosperity. America can only rise to the zenith, which she would attain, by the fall of England, and every disaster to this country is to her a source of exultation. That there are many Americans of a contrary opinion I grant; that the city of New York would prefer the present amicable relations is certain; but I have here expressed the feelings of the majority, and it must be remembered that in America it is the majority who decide all questions.

To prove that I am not too severe upon the Americans in the above remarks, let me refer to their own printed documents.

The reader must be informed that the Canadian rebels, with their American auxiliaries, made incursions into our territory near the boundary-line, burnt the houses, took away the cattle, and left destitute those parties who were considered as loyal and well affected, or, in fact, those who refused to arm and join the rebels. When pursued by the militia, or other forces, the rebel parties hastened over the boundary-line, where they were secure under the American protection. This system of protection naturally irritated the loyal Canadians, who threatened to cross the boundary and attack the Americans in return. It was, however, only a threat, never being put in execution; but upon the strength of this threat, application was made to the Governor in the State of Vermont, requesting that the arms in the American arsenals might be supplied to the citizens for their protection. The Governor very properly refused, and issued a proclamation warning the citizens of Vermont not to interfere. This offended the majority, who forthwith called a meeting at St Albans, the results of which were ordered to be printed and circulated. I have a copy of these reports and resolutions, from which I shall now give some extracts. Let it be observed that these are not the resolutions of a few lawless and undisciplined people, bordering on the lakes, as the sympathisers are stated to have been. The title of Honorable denotes that the parties are either Members of the State or Federal Governments; and, indeed, the parties whose names appear on the committee, are all of the first respectability in the State.

"Meeting of the Freemen at St Albans.

"Agreeable to a notice circulated throughout the county, about forty-eight hours previous to the meeting, two thousand of the freemen from the different towns in the county assembled to take into consideration a recent proclamation of the Governor, and an extraordinary letter accompanying the same, and also to express their sentiments on Canadian affairs, especially such as have recently transpired in the neighbourhood of latitude forty-five degrees.

"Jeptha Bradley, Esquire, of St Albans, was called to the chair, and, agreeable to a resolve of the meeting, appointed the Hon. SS Brown, Hon. Timothy Foster, and GW Kendall, Esquire, a committee to nominate officers.

"The following gentlemen were nominated and appointed:—

"Hon. Austin Fuller, of Enosburgh, President.

"Vice Presidents."

+======================+========+ YColonel SB Hazeltine, YBakersfield.Y +———————————-+——————+ YHON. Horace Eaton, YEnosburgh. Y +———————————-+——————+ YDoctor IS Webster, YBerkshire. Y +———————————-+——————+ YWilliam Green, Esquire,YSheldon. Y +———————————-+——————+ YMartin Wires, Esquire, YCambridge. Y +———————————-+——————+ YHON. Timothy Foster, YSwanton. Y +====================+============+

Secretaries.

+==============+====+ YJJ Beardsley, YSheldon.Y +———————-+————+ YZoroaster Fisk,YSwanton.Y +============+========+

"The following gentlemen were appointed a committee to prepare a report and resolutions for the meeting:—"

==================================+ YHenry Adams, Esquire, YSt Albans.Y +—————————————————- YNL Whittemore, Esquire, YSwanton. Y —————————————————-+ YRA Shattuck, Esquire, YSheldon. Y +—————————————————- YBradley Barlow, Esquire,YFairfield. Y —————————————————-+ YIB Bowdish, Esquire, YSwanton. Y +============================

"The letter of certain citizens of Burlington, and the proclamation of his Excellency, Silas H. Jennison, were then read by the Secretary, JJ Beardsley, Esquire After the reading of the letter and the proclamation the meeting was addressed by several gentlemen, in an eloquent and impressive manner, and their remarks severally called forth great applause.

"The committee, on resolutions by Henry Adams, Esquire, chairman, then presented the following report and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted."

After having in the report stated that threats have been made, they then attack the legality of the Governor's proclamation and conduct, as follows:—

"The committee have no evidence to show that the execution of the threats above-mentioned, or that any invasion of the rights of American citizens, would knowingly be permitted by the existing government in Canada, or approved of by a majority of the citizens in the Canadian townships; but when they bear in mind that civil law is suspended in Canada, and in its place are substituted the summary proceedings of military courts and the capricious wills of petty military officers; when they consider the excited and embittered feelings which prevail along the frontier, and which some have studied to inflame, and also the character of a portion of the population which borders upon our territory, they deem it not improbable that acts of violence might be attempted, and even that a gang of marauders might be gathered together, and led to make some petty invasion into our territory, disturbing the public peace, and committing acts of outrage. If this be deemed improbable, still a state of suspense and doubt is not to be endured. Every family on the frontier should live in a state of undisturbed repose. The ability not only to resist aggression, but to redress injuries with summary justice, furnishes a certain, if not the only guarantee of perfect quiet.

"With these views, at recent meetings of the people, a committee was appointed to wait upon the Governor and request the use of a part of the arms in the State arsenal. This request has been denied; and the reason assigned by his Excellency is, that he has doubts whether by law he can loan out the arms of the State to be used by the people of the State for their own defence. Without commenting on the technicalities which so much embarrass his Excellency, or inquiring into the wisdom of that construction of the law which infers, that because the State arms are to be kept fit for use, therefore they are not to be used, the committee would beg leave respectfully to suggest to the people that, inasmuch as they are to receive no aid from the State, it is their duty at once to arm themselves, and to rely upon themselves.

"While the governor has thus declined furnishing any aid for the security of the frontier, he has issued a proclamation enjoining upon the citizens of this State the observance of a strict neutrality between the hostile parties in Canada. The propriety of our Governor's issuing a proclamation on an occasion like the present, merely advisory, may well be questioned. It neither creates any new obligations, nor adds force to those already resting on our citizens. When it is considered that our relations with foreign powers are solely confided to the general government, and that if the people of this State should boldly break the obligations of neutrality, the governor of the State has no power to restrain at to punish. It must be admitted, that a proclamation of neutrality issuing from our State executive seems to be over-stepping the proprieties of the office, and should be exercised, if at all, only in case of a general and glaring violation of the laws of nations; and even then it may reasonably be questioned whether the ordinary process of law would not be sufficient, and whether gratuitous advice to the people on the one hand, and gratuitous interference with the exclusive functions of the general government on the other, would become pertinent by being stamped with the official Seal of State. We are not aware of any express authority in our constitution or laws for the exercise of this novel mode of addressing the people; and it can only be justified on the ground, that the chief magistrate has something of fact or doctrine of importance to communicate, of which the people are supposed to be ignorant. In neither point of view is there any thing striking in this otherwise extraordinary document.

"No facts are set forth before unknown to the public, except that a representation has been made to his Excellency that 'hostile forces had been organised within this State,' of which organisation our citizens are profoundly ignorant.

"To the doctrine of this proclamation,—that the declaration of martial law, by Lord Gosford, changes the relations between the United States and Canada, we cannot assent. Our relations with Great Britain and her colonies rest upon treaties, and the general law of nations, which, it is believed, her Majesty's Governor in Chief of Lower Canada can neither enlarge nor restrict.

"To assume that our citizens are ignorant of their rights and obligations as members of a neutral independent power, is to take for granted that they have forgotten the repeated infractions of those rights which have so often agitated our country since the adoption of Federal Constitution, which led to the late war with Great Britain, and which have given rise to claims of indemnity that are still due from various powers of Europe. Every page of the history of our country portrays violations of her neutral rights by the despotic and haughty powers of Europe, among whom England has ever been foremost. Your committee do not deem it necessary to enlarge upon this subject."

After the report came the resolutions, a portion of which I subjoin:—

"Resolved—That the safety of the people is the supreme law, and we recommend to our citizens to arm themselves for the maintenance of this law.

"Resolved—That the proclamation of martial law in Canada, and placing arms in the hands of people unaccustomed to their use, hostile to our institutions, and heated by intestine dissensions, have a direct tendency to disturb the peace of our citizens, and demands the immediate interference of the general government.

"Resolved—That our government ought to take immediate measures to obtain redress for the injuries and insults perpetrated on our citizens by the people of Canada.

"Resolved—That as friends of human liberty and human rights, we cannot restrain the expression of our sympathy, when we behold an oppressed and heroic people unfurl the banner of freedom.

"Resolved—That we hope that time will soon come when the bayonet shall fail to sustain the last relic of royalty which now lingers on the western continent.

"Resolved—That we concur in the opinions which have been fully and freely expressed in the British parliament by eminent English statesmen; that 'in the ordinary course of things, Canada must soon be separated from the mother country.'

"Resolved—That it is the duty of every independent American to aid in every possible manner, consistent with our laws, the exertions of the patriots in Lower Canada, against the tyranny, oppression, and misrule of a despotic government."



VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER TWO.

THE CANADAS, CONTINUED.

The next question to be considered is, whether, independent of their being important to us as an outpost to defend our transatlantic possessions, the Canadas are likely to be useful to us, as a colony, in a commercial point of view. This requires much consideration.

It must be admitted that, up to the present, we may consider the Canadas to have been a heavy burden to this country. From what I am now going to state, there are many, who agreeing with me in most other points, will be likely to dissent. That I cannot help; I may be in error, but, at all events, I shall not be in error from a too hasty decision.

That it is wise and proper for a mother country to assist and support her colonies in their infancy is undoubted. In so doing, the mother country taxes herself for the advantages to be hereafter derived from the colony; but it may occur that the tax imposed upon the people of the another country may be too onerous, at the same time that no advantages at all commensurate are derived from the colony. When such is the case, the tax is not fair; and the colony for whose benefit that tax has been imposed, is looked upon with ill-will. This is the precise situation of the Canadas, and this is the cause why there is so strong an outcry against our retaining possession of these provinces.

The bonus of forty-five shillings on a load of timber, which is given to the Canadas by our present duties, is much too great; and has pressed too heavily on the people of the mother country. It has, in fact, created a monopoly; and when it is considered how important and necessary an article timber is in this country,—how this enormous bonus on Canadian timber affects the shipping, house-building, and agricultural interests—it is no wonder that people wish to get rid of the Canadas and the tax at one and the same time. It is also injurious to us in our commercial relations with the northern countries, who refuse our manufactures because we have laid so heavy a duty upon their produce. This tax for the benefit of the Canadian produce was put on during the war, without any intention that it should remain permanent: and I think I shall be able satisfactorily to establish, that, not only is it unjust towards our own people, but that, instead of benefiting, it will be, now that the Canadas are fast increasing in population, an injury to the Canadas themselves.

Up to the present period, timber has been the only article of export from Canada: we certainly have had the advantage of a large carrying trade, and the employment of many thousand tons of shipping; but, with this exception, the timber trade has been injurious, not only to the mother country, but to the colony itself, as it has prevented her real prosperity, which must ever depend upon the culture of the land and the increase of population. The first point to which the attention of a colony should be directed, is its own support, the competence and supply of all the necessaries of life to its inhabitants; it is not until after this object has been obtained, that it must direct its attention to the gain which may accrue from any surplus produce. In what way has the timber trade benefited the Canadas? Has it thrown any wealth into the provinces? most certainly not; the timber has been cut down, either by those Canadians who would have been much better employed in tilling the land, for every acre cleared is real wealth; or by Americans who have come over to cut down the timber and have returned to their own country to spend the money. That the profits of the timber trade have been great is certain; but have these profits remained in the Canadas?—have the sums realised been expended there?—no; they have been realised in, or brought over to England, shared among a few persons of influence who have, to a certain degree, obtained a monopoly by the bonus granted, but the Canadas have benefited little or none, and the mother-country has received serious injury. That the parties connected with the Canada timber trade will deny this, and endeavour to ridicule my arguments, I am aware; and that they are an influential party I well know; but I trust before I have concluded, to prove to every disinterested person, that I am correct in my view of the case, and that the prosperity of the Canadas is a very different question from the prosperity of the Canadian timber merchants, or even the proprietors on the Ottawa.

When the protecting duty was first imposed, there was no idea of its being a permanent duty: it was intended as an encouragement for ships to go to Canada for timber, when it could not be got in the Baltic. It was, in fact, a war measure, which should have been removed upon the return to peace. The reason why it was not, is, the plea brought forward, that the taking off the protecting duty would be a serious loss to the emigrant settler, who would have no means of disposing of his timber after he had felled it, and that the emigrant looked to his timber as his first profits; moreover, that it gave employment to the emigrant in the long winters. That those who have never been in the country were led away by this assertion I can easily imagine, but I must say that a more barefaced falsehood was never uttered. There are varieties of emigrants, and those with capital speculate in timber as well as other articles; but let us examine into the proceedings of the emigrant settler, that is, the man who purchases an allotment and commences as a farmer—for this is the party to whom the supposed philanthropy was to extend. He builds his cottage and clears two or three acres, that is, he fells the trees; as soon as he has done this, if the weather permit, he burns them where they lie, the branches and smaller limbs being collected round the trunks as fuel to consume them. This he is compelled to do, for the land having been so long smothered by the want of air and sunshine, arising from the denseness of the forest, has a degree of acidity in it, which the alkali of the wood and ashes are required to correct, previous to his obtaining a crop. I do not believe that a settler ever sold a tree when he was clearing, although if water-carriage was convenient, he may afterwards, when he was in competent circumstances, have done so. Having raised his crop from the first year's clearing, what is his employment during the winter,—cutting down timber on the Ottawa for the English market? no; cutting down timber on his own property as fast as he can, so as to have it ready for burning in the early spring, and having a crop off this, his second clearing. And so he continues, with full employment on his own farm, until he has cleared sufficient for the growing of his corn and the pasture for his cattle. When he has become independent and comfortable, and has a few thousand dollars to spare, then he will erect a saw-mill, and work up his own trees into lumber for sale, but by that time he must be considered as a rich man for a settler. The timber trade, therefore, is hurtful to the Canadas, in so much as it prevents them from clearing land and becoming independent people, who by other means would become so. The timber which is cut down for exportation, is chiefly from the forests on or near the Ottawa river, and the emigrant settler has neither interest or concern in it.

It may be argued that, as settlers do, as soon as they are in better circumstances, erect saw-mills, and work up their trees into lumber, that it would be unfair to deprive them of that advantage. I will grant that; but the fact is, that you will not do so; for of the quantity of timber and lumber exported from the Canadas, it is only one-half which is sent to the British market, the other half is divided between the West Indies, the United States, and their own consumption; and the demand of the United States will so rapidly increase, that, in a few years, the Canadians will care little for sending their timber to England, even if the present duty were kept on. I consider that this bounty upon cutting timber is very injurious to the American provinces, as it distracts their attention from the real source of wealth, which must consist in clearing the country; for, to show how great a difference this makes to them, it must be observed, that a farm which was only worth two dollars an acre when the settler first came to it, will, as soon as others have cleared around him, rise to twenty or thirty dollars per acre. Every man, therefore, who settles and clears land, not only benefits himself, but increases the value of the property of those all around him; while the feller of timber on the Ottawa only puts a few dollars into his own pocket, and does no good to the province, as the timber-dealers in England reap all the harvest.

It would appear very strange that the ship-owners should have joined the Canadian timber merchants in persuading the government to continue these duties, were it not from the fact that the ship owners appear, invariably, to oppose any measure advantageous to their own interests. That the carrying trade to the Canadas is of importance is certain; but of how much more importance to the ship owner is the reduction of expense in building his ship, which must ensue if the timber duties were reduced. The ship owner complains that he cannot sail his ship at as low a rate as foreigners; that he must be protected, or that he cannot compete with them in any way; and yet he opposes the very measure which would materially assist him in so doing. But the fact is, that, as I shall eventually show, the carrying trade with Canada would not be lost, though the cargo would not be the same; and there is every reason to suppose that the employment of the shipping would very soon amount to the same tonnage as at present.

The next consideration is, to what should the duty be reduced, so as not to affect our revenue? This is a question easily answered.

In the Report on Timber Duties, Appendix Number 10, we have. in round numbers, for the year 1833:—

==================================================== Y YLoads. YDuty paid.Y —————————————————————————————— Y Y Y (pounds) Y —————————————————————————————— YTimber exported from Canada and American Y Y Y —————————————————————————————— Yprovinces, calculated in loads Y 719,000Y 300,000Y —————————————————————————————— YTimber from the north of Europe, in ditto.Y 444,000Y 985,000Y —————————————————————————————— Y Y1463,000Y 1,285,000Y ====================================================

Now it is certain that, wherever the timber may come from, the same quantity will be required; we have, therefore, to fix a duty upon timber coming from all parts of the world, by which the revenue will not suffer. A duty of 25 shillings per load will give, upon the whole importation, a revenue of 1,453,000 pounds, not only an increase of revenue upon the timber at present imported; but there is every reason to suppose that it would occasion a much greater consumption of timber, and of course a great increase of revenue. I do not consider that it would be advisable to make this reduction immediately. There is a large tonnage, employed in the Canada trade, which might as well wear out in it; and it would be but fair to allow those who have embarked their capital in the trade, to have time to withdraw it. As the Canadas are not yet prepared to send other produce to the market, we can, with great propriety, confer this boon upon the present timber trade. The reduction of the duty should be gradual, and extended over ten years, at which period the final reduction to 25 shillings per load should take place; by which time, if Canada be cherished, she will have other produce for the market.

The more I consider the question, the more I am convinced that this alteration would be a benefit to all parties. We then should be able to build ships at a moderate price; we should have a fall in house-rent; and, indeed, it would be of advantage to every class in this country; and, however interested people may argue, the removal of this protecting duty would be the greatest boon and kindness which we could confer on our transatlantic possessions.

Let us now inquire what are likely to be made the future prospects and produce of the Canadas as the population increases, and the resources of the country will be developed.

Lower Canada is a sterile country; not that the land is in itself bad, but from the severity and length of the winters. The climate of Lower Canada is precisely the same as that of Russia, and so might be its produce. The winters are tedious, but not unhealthy, as they are dry. The summers, like all the summers in the northern regions, although short, are excessively hot. It is owing to this excessive heat of the summer that the maize, or Indian corn, which will not ripen in this country, can be grown in Lower Canada, and it is the principal corn which is raised. The French Canadians who inhabit Lower Canada are but indifferent and careless farmers, yet still they contrive to live in apparent comfort: but the question is not whether the inhabitants of Lower Canada can support themselves, but whether they are likely to be able to produce any thing which might become an article of export to England. I should say yes: they may produce tar and hemp, two very important articles, and for which we are almost wholly dependent upon Russia. Tar they can most assuredly produce; and, with the same climate as Russia, why not hemp? Hemp will grow in any climate, and almost in any soil, except very stiff clay, and I consider the soil of Lower Canada admirably adapted to it. Up to the present time the French Canadians have merely vegetated, but as the country fills up, and they gradually amalgamate with the other settlers, there is no doubt that they will rapidly improve.

Upper Canada has been, and is still, but little known. At the close of the war, there was not a population of 40,000 upon the whole province: even now there is but 400,000 upon a territory capable of receiving and supporting many millions. It is, without exception, the most favoured spot in North America, having all the fertility of the southern and Western States, without being subject to the many and fatal diseases which are a drawback upon the latter. Although so far north, its climate is peculiarly mild, from its being so wholly surrounded with water, which has the effect of softening down both the cold of the winter and the heat of the summer. It abounds with the most splendid timber; is well watered; the land is of the richest quality; the produce is very great, and the crops are almost certain. I particularly notice this as I consider Upper Canada to be the finest corn country in the world.

At present the resources of the Canadas are unknown; the country has not been explored; it is without capital, and I may add without credit, but its prospects are very favourable. The timber trade to England will in a few years, even allowing the present bonus to be continued, be of little advantage to Upper Canada; they will find a much better market as the Western States fill up, as then there will be a great demand for lumber, which will be obtained cheaper from Canada than from any portion of the United States. Even now lumber is sent over from Upper Canada to those portions of the United States bordering on the lakes. I have pointed out the want of timber in the Western States, that is, of timber fit for building; they have some in the State of Wisconsin, which will soon be absorbed, and then the Canada timber and lumber will be in demand, and I have no doubt that there will be a very extensive exportation of it.

The next article of produce to which the Canadians should direct their attention is the fisheries on the lake, which may be carried on to any extent and with great profit. The trout and white fish, both very superior to the Newfoundland cod, are to be taken with the greatest ease, and in vast quantities. I have mentioned that the Americans have already commenced this fishery, and the demand is rapidly increasing. As the West fills up, the supply would hardly keep pace with the demand; besides that it would also be an article of exportation to this country.

There are millions and millions of acres to the north and about Lake Superior, fit for little else than the increase of the animals whose furs we obtain, and which will probably never be brought into cultivation; yet these lands are rich in one point, which is, that the maple-tree grows there, and any quantity of sugar may be collected from it, as soon as the population is thick enough to spare hands for its collection. A maple-tree, carefully tapped, will yield for forty years, and give six or seven pounds of sugar, fully equal to the best East-India produce, and refining well. A few tons are collected at present, but it may become a large article of export.

The United States appear to be rich in most metals, but particularly in lead and iron; [note 1] the metal which they are most deficient in is copper. It is said that the copper mines in New Jersey are good; those in the West have not yet proved to be worth working. Canada, as I have before said, is as yet unexplored, but I have every reason to believe that it will be found rich in minerals, especially copper. I argue, first, from its analogy with Russia, which abounds in that metal; and secondly, because there is at this time, on the shores of Lake Superior, a mass of native copper weighing many tons, a specimen of which I have had in my hand. We must not forget to reckon, among the other products and expected resources of Canada, the furs obtained by the Hudson Bay Company. Of course, if the Canadas are wrested from us, we shall have to depend upon the Americans for our supply of this necessary article. The value in Canada of the furs exported to this country, by the company, amounts, as I have observed in my Diary, to about a million and a half of dollars.

I now come to what I consider will be the most important export from the Canadas. I have stated it to be my opinion that Upper Canada will be the first corn country in the world, and in a very few years we may expect that she will export largely into this country; already having had a surplus which has been sold to the Americans. It must be recollected that America, who used to supply the West-Indies and other parts of the world with her flour, has, for these last few years, in her mania for speculating, neglected her crops, and it is only during these last two years that she has redirected her attention to the tillage of her land. She will now no longer require assistance from Upper Canada, and the yearly increasing corn-produce of that province must find a market elsewhere. After supplying the wants of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, this surplus will find its way into this country. As the population of Upper Canada increases, so will of course her growth of wheat be greater, and in a very few years, we have reason to expect that there will be not only a constant, but even a more than requisite, exportation of corn to this country. Now what will be the effect? Corn from Canada is admitted at a fixed duty of 5 shillings per quarter, therefore as soon as the supply from thence, is sufficient, the corn laws will be virtually repealed, that is to say, they will be exchanged for a permanent duty of 5 shillings per quarter.

I think that the remarks I have made will incline the reader to agree with me, that the reduction of the duties on timber will be a real boon to all parties: to the Canadians, because at the same time that the supplies of lumber to the West Indies and elsewhere will give a certain profit, they will no longer have the true interested of the colony sacrificed for the benefit of parties at home; to the mother country, because it will relieve the expenses of the builder, lessen house-rent and agricultural expenses, and at the same time increase the revenue;— to the ship-owner, as it will enable him to build much cheaper, and to compete more successfully with foreign vessels, with the prospect also of the carrying trade soon reviving, and the freight of the corn proving an indemnification to him for the loss of that on the timber. That a few interested individuals would complain is undoubted, but it is high time that a monopoly so injurious in every point, should be removed; and the profits of a few speculators are not to be for a moment considered, when opposed both to the interests of the colony and of the nation.

I may as well here remark that it would only be an act of justice to the provinces, and no less so to ourselves, to take off the prohibitions at present in force against the importation of goods from France and other countries. The boon itself would be small, but still it would be a stimulus to enterprise, and the time has gone by for England to impose such restrictions on her colonies. I say that we should lose nothing, because all these articles are imported by the Americans; and if the Canadians wish to procure them, they can obtain them immediately at Buffalo, and other American towns bordering on the lakes. At present, therefore, all the profits arising from these importations go into the pockets of the Americans, who are the only parties benefited by our restrictive laws. We should therefore remove them.

I shall now support the arguments in this chapter, touching the relative value of the corn and the timber trade to the Canadas, by some extracts from the evidence given in the Report of the Committee on the Timber Duties.

Q. "Have you ever formed an opinion of what rate per quarter wheat could be exported to this country, so as to yield a profit to the exporter?"—A. "I cannot call it to mind accurately, but I think the estimate I once made was between 40 shillings and 50 shillings."

Q. "Would it not follow that, unless the price of wheat in this country were to rise to 40 shillings or 50 shillings per quarter, the population that your former answer would transfer front the timber trade to the agricultural would not be able advantageously to employ themselves?"—A. "No; I do not think it follows necessarily. If all our population were devoted to agriculture, our settlements would be more dense, and their roads more perfect; in fact, all the social offices more perfectly fulfilled; which would enable them to bring their wheat to market at a more moderate price, and thus they might obtain a larger profit even with a lower price. We should bear in mind, in relation to their agricultural produce, that the farmer of course first feeds his own family, and that price affects him so far as it relates to his surplus produce, and that price rather affects his luxuries than his means of subsistence. I am not aware that the present prices would prevent a farmer obtaining that return which would enable him to purchase at least all his necessaries."

Q. "What do you suppose is the average expense of the conveyance of wheat from the remote parts of Canada to Montreal?"—A. "I believe the cost of bringing wheat from Niagara to Montreal was about 15 pence colonial currency, but I am not certain; it is not now lower. I once made a table showing the cost of taking produce of all kinds from three points on Lake Ontario and on Lake Erie, and sending up articles to the same places."

Q. "What is the freight from Quebec to England?"—A. "The ordinary rate has been from 8 shillings to 8 shillings 6 pence a quarter for wheat."

Q. "Do you know the price of wheat in this country?"—A. "I believe the last average was 40 shillings."

Q. "If at 40 shillings you would probably allow 10 shillings a quarter, by your present statement, as a fair deduction for the expense of bringing it into this market?"—A. "I should think so."

Q. "Do you think the price of 30 shillings would pay the agricultural producer in Canada for the production of wheat; would afford a return for the investment of capital in the production of wheat in Canada?"—A. "I should be loth to speak to a point on which I have not sufficient knowledge."

Q. "Is it not indispensable to form an opinion upon that point to justify the opinion you have already given?"—A. "I think not. I have that feeling, that the consequence of their not having the timber trade would be, that they would produce other articles, and that their condition would not be deteriorated. I am led to that conclusion by seeing the present condition of the State of New York, which once depended on the timber trade; I look also to Vermont; and when every man tells me that he laments and has lamented that he ever meddled with the timber trade, I think that I am justified in my opinion, for no one will pretend to state that the land of Vermont, or even of New York, equals that of Canada. While speaking of the soil of Canada, I would observe that Jacobs has estimated the average return for wheat on the Continent at four to one, of Great Britain seven to one, and Gourlay has estimated the return of Upper Canada at twenty to one. Many state that Upper Canada is unrivalled in comparison with any other piece of land of equal extent."

Q. "Are you aware of the extent of exportation of agricultural produce from Canada?"—A. "I am; I can state it from memory. The largest quantity of wheat exported in any year was in 1831, and I think amounted to 1,300,000 bushels."

Q. "Can you make the same statement with reference to corn and provisions as to other articles?"—A. "Canada exports a great deal of corn."

Q. "Which Canada?"—A. "Both Upper and Lower Canada."

Q. "Does Lower Canada grow corn enough for her own consumption?"—A. "I should think Lower Canada did, and more."

Q. "Does Upper Canada?"—A. "Upper Canada a great deal more."

Q. "Have you the amount of the exports?"—A. "I have the exports of 1833; the two Canadas exported 650,000 bushels of wheat."

Q. "How much flour?"—A. "About 91,000 barrels."

Q. "Have you any account of the imports of flour from the United States into Lower Canada?"—A. "I have not with me but can give it very nearly."

Q. "Do those exports of which you have spoken just now comprehend the United States flour?"—A. "No, they are exclusive of Colonial production."

Q. "Is not Lower Canada, as well as Upper Canada, in the habit of supplying herself, to a certain degree, with American flour and wheat, and exporting her own produce, on account of the state of the corn laws last year?"—A. "Yes, it is done to a certain extent. I have some indication as to the quantity which comes from the United States into Upper and Lower Canada being small. In the returns of the traffic last year through our Welland Canal, about 265,000 bushels of wheat passed through, of which 18,000 British and 22,000 American only went to Montreal. All the rest went to Oswego, for the New York market: but the destination in future will probably depend upon whether the internal communication is improved in those colonies, and on the state of the market in New York and in the Canadas."

Q. "If there is sufficient capital, is there any reason to suppose it would not be beneficial to engage in both?"—A. "I do not think it is a question concerning the abundance of capital, but the good to be derived from the preservation of the Canada timber trade by enormous protecting duties. I am confident that the timber trade is inimical to the best interests of the Canadas; it would be possible to make the timber trade more beneficial than any other pursuit in the country, and the way to render it so would be to give immense protecting duties to the timber trade of Canada, allowing all other articles of produce to be open to general competition; but, by such a course, England would not be benefiting Canada."

Q. "Can you state the average prices of wheat at Quebec the last four or five years?"—A. "I think 5 shillings or 6 shillings. Canadian currency; the latter rate is equal to 5 shillings sterling, which is 40 shillings a quarter; but I do not suppose an average of several years would be over 4 shillings, 2 pence, that would be 33 shillings, 4 pence. There are peculiar circumstances that attended the last three or four years."

Q. "Has it been higher the last three or four years than the three or four years previously? A. Considerably higher than the ten years previously."

Q. "Do you think 30 shillings a quarter would have been the average of the ten years preceding?"—A. "I should think so, but I cannot now speak positively."

Q. "Are the committee to understand it to be your opinion, that if the timber establishments were broken up and no more timber exported from Canada, there would be no loss to that country?"—A. "There might be an immediate loss, and a very great subsequent gain. I think there would be an immediate loss attending on the mills, possibly 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds."

Q. "Has it not been the fact that there has been a constant and gradual increase of tonnage into Quebec for the last fifteen years?"—A. "Yes."

Q. "Presuming that those establishments were to be broken up and no more timber exported, do you think that gradual increase would still continue?"—A. "No; the first consequence, I think, very possibly would be a very material decrease."

Q. "Subsequently the same tonnage would be required for the carriage of corn as at present?"—A. "Some years hence, for corn and other articles."

————————————————————————————————————

Note 1. The following description of the iron mines at Marmora are worthy the attention of the reader. It is from the engineer who was sent to survey them.

"To Isaac Fraser, Esquire

"The water power at Marmora, and its sufficiency for all hydraulic purposes, may be better imagined than explained to you by me, from the fact, that the falls occur upon the Crow River, at the foot of untold lakes falling into Crow Lake, the deepest inland lake in the province, and just below the junction of the Beaver River, which latter has its source in the Ottawa or Grand River, or the waters flowing parallel therewith, and by the outlet at the Marmora Falls: these head waters, on the confluence with the waters of the Otonabee, and Rice Lake in Crow Bay, six miles below the works, form the great River Trent, second in importance and magnitude only to the St Lawrence. It is sufficient for me to add, that I deem the water power at the works abundantly equal to all the purposes of machinery and manufacture, which can for centuries be established there.

"Immediately adjoining the works there is an ore bed, from the partial development of which, and from the opinions I have received of its superior quality, it would appear to be of the purest kind of iron ore, except native iron, in the same veins with which is an admixture of red paint and yellow ochre, and in separate veins and beds at this locality, those paints occur in some quantities, several barrels of which, especially the red paint, Mr Hayes disposed of at 25 shillings per barrel, at the works, and it seems probable they would become profitable articles of commerce. Here also there is a bed of purely white marble, not seemingly stratified, but in large blocks; and a quarry of superior stone for lithographic purposes, the quality of which has been tested and reported favourably upon. This ore bed would be from its situation within any wall constructed for the custody of the convicts, but from the great jumble of mineral substances, which the careless opening of those veins has occasioned, it is not possible to hazard an opinion as to the probable extent of minerals here, but from, if I may judge by appearances and from geological analogy, the few acres surrounding, it is probable they are sufficiently extensive to be an object of consideration—several hundred tons of ore have already been taken out for the furnaces. There is at this place a well-built bridge and a wharf at which the ore brought from the lake ore beds is landed, and from thence carted or wheeled up to the ore bank.

"At a distance of four miles by water, that is at the Crow Lake, in the township of Belmont, Newcastle District, the principal ore bed occurs. I may confine my observations respecting this ore bed to the qualities and varieties of the ores to be found there, and of the extent of the deposit give you an idea, by fancying my feelings when I first saw the mountain. My surprise was great, and my first conclusion was, that it would be more than sufficient to supply the world with iron for ever. The ore here is in great variety of magnetic ore, easily quarried and, in fact, it can be quarried, loaded, and transported to the works, roasted on the ore bank, broken up into particles, and put upon the furnace, at an expense not exceeding 2 shillings 0 pence per ton; as I observed it is strongly magnetic, and although mixed considerably with sulphur, it is easily freed from that deleterious mineral by exposure to the atmosphere, and to the action of air and frost, and by this species of evaporation, a new and valuable commodity could be procured in great quantities, namely, the copperas of commerce.

"With a boat of fifty tons burthen—and there is depth of water enough for a 74 gun ship from the wharf at the works, to this mountain of ore— navigated by four men, 150 tons of ore could be brought down in two days—so readily is it quarried, and so handily put on board. Intermediate to this bed and the works, several other deposites of iron are discovered—one of a superior quality, surpassing in magnetic power any other ore yet discovered, possessing what mineralogists call polarity—and near to this, meadow and bog ore, not a mile distant from the works, is to be found in great quantities. The works are to the north-north-east and eastward, surrounded by beds of ore, of which five have been tried and brought into use—but as they are inland, and consequently more expensively procured, they merit but this passing observation, that in quantity and quality they are valuable.

"For the present I am, Sir,

"Your obedient servant,—Engineer"



VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER THREE.

THE CANADAS, CONTINUED.

To one who has a general knowledge of the various English colonies, to which emigration is constantly taking place, it appears very strange that people should emigrate to such countries as New South Wales, Van Dieman's Land, and New Zealand, when Upper Canada is comparatively so near to them, and affording every advantage which a settler could wish. Of course the persuasion of interested parties, and their own ignorance, prevent them from ascertaining the truth. Indeed, the reports upon Upper Canada are occasionally as highly coloured as those relative to other colonies, and nothing but an examination of the country, I may say a certain period of residence in it, can enable you to ascertain the real merits of the case. I have neither land nor interest in Upper Canada, and, therefore, my evidence on the question may be considered as impartial; and I do not hesitate to assert that Upper Canada promises more advantages to the settler than any other English colony, or any portion whatever of the United States.

I shall now make a few remarks upon emigration to that province, and point out what the settler will have to expect. I have read many works upon the subject; they are very inaccurate, and hold out to the emigrant brilliant prospects, which are seldom or never realised. The best work, independently of its merits as a novel, is "Laurie Todd," by Mr Galt. And first, I address myself to the poor man who goes out with only twenty or thirty pounds in his pocket.

If he credit the works written to induce people to emigrate, all that he has to do is to build his log-hut, clear his land, and in three years be an independent man.

It is true that he can purchase fifty acres of land for one hundred dollars, or twenty-five pounds; that he has only to pay one-tenth part of the sum down, which is two pounds ten shillings sterling. It is true that he will collect a Bee, as it is termed, or a gathering of neighbours to run up the frame of his house; but, nevertheless, possessing his fifty acres of land and his log-house, he will in all probability be starved out the very first year, especially if he has a family.

To a poor man, a family is eventually of immense value. As soon as he has fairly settled, the more children he has the faster he will become rich; but on his first arrival, they will, if not able to work for themselves, be a heavy burthen. If, however, they can do any thing, so as to pay for their board and lodging, he will not be at any expense for them, as there is employment for every body, even for children.

The only article I should recommend him to take out from England is a good supply of coarse clothing for his family; if he would take out a venture, let it be second-hand clothes, and he will double his money if he sells them by auction, for clothes are the most expensive article in Canada. I once saw some cast-off clothes sold by an acquaintance of mine in Upper Canada; a Jew in England would not have given five pounds for the lot, yet, sold at auction, they cleared twenty-five pounds, all expenses paid. He cannot, therefore, take out too much clothing, but the coarser and more common it is the better. Let him supply himself from the old clothes shops, or the cheap stores. New clothes will soon become old when he works hard. Having made this provision, let him buy nothing else; but change his money into sovereigns and keep it in his pocket.

As soon as he arrives at Quebec, he must lose no time in taking the steamboat up the St Lawrence, and landing near to where he has decided upon locating. If he has made no decision, at all events let him leave the city immediately, and get into the country, for there he will get work and spend less money. Instead of thinking of making a purchase of land, let him give up all thoughts of it for a year or two; but hire himself out, and his wife and children also, if he can. If he is a good man, he will receive four pounds a month, or forty-eight pounds a year, with his board and lodging. The major part of this he will be able to lay by. If his wife must stay at home to take care of the children, still let her work; work is always to be found, and she may not only support herself and children, but assist his fund. By the time that he has been eighteen months or two years in the country, he will have his eyes open, know the value of every thing, and will not be imposed upon as he would have been had he taken a farm immediately upon his arrival. He will have laid by a sufficient sum for him to begin with, and he will have become acquainted with the mode of farming in the country, which is very different from what he has been used to in the old. He may then go on and prosper.

The next description of emigrant settler to which I shall address myself is he who comes out with a small capital, say from two hundred to five hundred pounds; a sum sufficient to enable him to commence farming at once, but not sufficient to allow him to purchase or stock a farm which has a portion of the land already cleared. The government lands fetch at auction about ten shillings an acre, and they are paid for by instalments, one-tenth down, and one-tenth every year, with interest, until the whole be paid; of course, he may pay it all at once, if he pleases, and save the interest. He must not purchase more than four hundred acres. He can always procure more if he is successful. His first instalment to government for the purchase of four hundred acres will be eighty dollars.

His next object is to have a certain portion of his land cleared for him. The price varies according to the size and quantity of the portion; but you may say, at the highest, it will cost about sixteen dollars an acre. Let him clear ten acres, and then build his house and barns. I will make two estimates, between which he may decide according to his means.

Estimate 1.

============================================+ Y YDollars.Y +—————————————————————— YInstalment to Government Y 80Y ——————————————————————+ YShingle-house Y 400Y +—————————————————————— YFurniture Y 100Y ——————————————————————+ YBarns and sheds Y 400Y +—————————————————————— YTen acres clearing Y 160Y ——————————————————————+ YOxen Y 80Y +—————————————————————— YCow Y 20Y ——————————————————————+ YPigs and poultry Y 20Y +—————————————————————— YPlough, harrow, etcetera. Y 20Y ——————————————————————+ YSeed Y 50Y +—————————————————————— YHorse and wagon Y 100Y ——————————————————————+ YAbout 300 pounds Y 1,430Y +—————————————————————— YTo this (if you have no family Y Y ——————————————————————+ Yable to work) for a man and his wifeY 300Y +—————————————————————— YExpenses of living the first year Y 200Y ——————————————————————+ Y400 pounds Y 1930Y +============================================

Estimate 2.

+========================+======+ Y YDollarsY +————————————-+———-+ YInstalment to Government Y 80Y +————————————-+———-+ YLog-house and furniture Y 100Y +————————————-+———-+ YBarn Y 60Y +————————————-+———-+ YClearing Y 160Y +————————————-+———-+ YOxen Y 80Y +————————————-+———-+ YCow Y 20Y +————————————-+———-+ YPigs and poultry Y 20Y +————————————-+———-+ YPlough, harrow, etcetera.Y 20Y +————————————-+———-+ YSeed Y 50Y +————————————-+———-+ YHorse and wagon Y 100Y +————————————-+———-+ Y150 pounds Y 690Y +========================+======+

But choosing between these two estimates, according to his means, that is, by reserving, if possible, one hundred pounds for contingencies, he has every chance of doing well. He must bear in mind, that although every year his means will increase, he must not cripple himself by an outlay of all his money at first starting. After the first year, he will be able to support himself and family from the farm. I have put every thing at the outside expense, that he may not be deceived; but he must not expend all his capital at once; his horse or oxen may die— his crops may partially fail—he may have severe illness—all these contingencies must be provided against.

But the settler who goes out under the most favourable circumstances, is the one who has one thousand pounds or more, and who can, therefore, purchase a farm of from two hundred to four hundred acres, with a portion cleared, and a house and offices ready built. These are always to be had, for there are people in the Canadas, as in America, who have pleasure in selling their cleared land, and going again into the bush. These farms are often to be purchased at the rate of from five to ten dollars per acre for the whole, cleared and uncleared. In this case all the difficulties have been smoothed away for him, and all that he has to do is, to be industrious and sober.