STATISTICS OF THE TllAOE, INDUSTRY AND RESOURCES CANADA, AND THE OTHER PLANTATIONS IN 44 -. u> 20M 1 MCGILL UNIVERSITY i II THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. STATISTICS TRADE, INDUSTRY AND RESOURCES CANADA, AND THE OTHER PLANTATIONS IN I3vtti0t) ^tunica. BY HENRY BLISS, ESQ. LONDON : JOHN RICHARDSON, 91, ROYAL EXCHANGE. Viice Four S/iillings, a KRRATUM. Page 22, last line^or “ Sterling li. lOd.” read “ Sterling — =” LONDON: C. UOAVOUTIl AND SONS, BtLL YAHD, TtMrLE BAR THK COLONIAL SYSTEM, &c. To plant vacant countries, acquired by conquest or dis- covery, to afford and exact mutual advantages, for their productions in our markets, and in theirs for our manu- factures, and thus to create new and independent means of supplying our wants, multiplying our population, and extending our power, is, and for nearly two centuries has been, the Colonial System of Great Britain ; with various modifications, indeed, and occasional excep- tions, bounties and prohibitions having now, in general, given way to such protecting duties as are sufficient for securing a decided preference to native industry, and at the same time, by dread of foreign competition, exciting to the utmost, invention, frugality, and exertion. An opinion, however, seems to be prevailing, that this system is founded in error, unapproved by experience, and supported only by prejudice and self-interest; in illustration of which position, no example is more fre- quently cited, than the trade and condition of the North American colonies. There are, who believe this doctrine exceedingly profound ; there are, to whom it seems as fallacious and superficial. The present is not an attempt to solve the controversy, but rather to urge and aid inves- f B 2 THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. tigation, as far, at least, as relates to the example ^st mentioned, the trade of the northern plantations in tish America. The situation of these provinces is now becoming, in many respects, extremely critical. Intel nal dissension, which seems inseparable from the constitution of their government and society, has, probably from lecent changes in this and neighbouring countries, received a new impulse, and been carried, in some parts, to an un- usual extremity. Claims are also advanced in that quar- ter by foreign powers, to dominion of land and water, utterly subversive of British interests ; some of which claims are already asserted by force, and others, it is feared, may prove still more successful through unequal compromise. In this country, at the same moment, the whole Colonial System is threatened with abandonment, and the staple trade of the Canadas seems first destined to be put without the pale of protection. Yet the natural advantages of those colonies have of late been made so much better known, and more available ; their population has been so rapidly augmented by a tide of emigration, diffusing industry and capital throughout their forests; the resources of the country have been so far developed, and means of communication so greatly improved ; that if the present system of Colonial policy could be maintained, a very few years must witness an immense advancement in that career of prosperity, which is just opening to those possessions, and would demonstrate their value to be as the right arm of power and wealth to the British empire. It is, therefore, the more desirable, at the present moment, to ascertain the position in which those domi- nions, commonly called The Canadas, now stand; and as far as relates to their trade, industry, and resources. Q 1 THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. 3 such is the object here proposed. In which pursuit, though there is far less reason to be satisfied with the information within reach, than to regret what seems unat- tainable, enough may still be collected to create surprise and deserve consideration. The opponents of Colonial trade and policy cannot be too well informed of what it is they are about, and what the magnitude, the dependance, and the importance of that, which they are seeking to destroy. They may better learn to estimate the respon- sibility they have undertaken, and perhaps begin to doubt, whether it be so certain, that the system they would sub- stitute will produce results equal to what they would supplant. 1 he statistics here collected may also serve as a point of comparison, both with the past, and the future. With the past, they present proofs of increase and pros- perity rarely exceeded in any country ; with the future, they will exhibit, what it concerns those, who are to direct their trade, and industry, and destiny, to consider. That the Canadian provinces will become a rich, populous, and powerful country, is certain. No minister, no policy, can prevent that. But whether that wealth, and population, and power, shall be British, is for the wisdom of Govern- ment and Parliament to determine. May it not be hoped, that the new constituents, and their representatives, who have now succeeded to power, will make it a point of honour and of pride, not to suffer the empire of their country to receive any detriment under their authority, not a single island to be lost, not one colony severed, not an inch of frontier or of fishery usurped, nor any source of wealth or industry to decay ; lest it should be written to posterity, that a Reformed Parliament knew not even to sustain and preserve that greatness, which the Borough- B 2 i THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. mongers had been able to acquire ? What policy will be henceforth pursued, or what will be made of the Colonial, as of other the British dominions, is indeed uncertain , but of the Canadian Provinces, as now delivered into the hands of new rulers, the commercial condition and le- sources, and the effects and advantages of the Colonial system, are here to be reviewed. POPULATION AND EMIGRATION. The first act, and principle, of Colonial economy is emigration, and the vast extent of unoccupied lands, the fertility of their soil, conveniency of situation, and salu- brity of climate, in the northern plantations, taken in conjunction with the superabundant population and want of employment in the United Kingdom, present one of the most obvious and important advantages of the policy and empire of Great Britain. The whole superfice of the British dominions in this quarter is computed to comprehend about 3,400,000 square miles of land, of which not more than 126,500 have as yet been explored. The number of acres oc- cupied or granted amounts to about 27,000,000. Of these, 4,000,000 may be cultivated, and are peopled with upwards of 1,200,000 inhabitants. Twenty-three million acres of crown lands, and it seems as many more of private property, are available for immediate culture, and settlement by emigration. More particular details of the increase and condition of those resources are exhibited in the following Tables. POPULATION AND EMIGRATION. 5 Account of the number of Acres of Land granted and ungranted in the North American Colonies,"^ Granted Cultivated, Granted and Unculti- vated. Ungranted and Unculti- vated. 'I’otal, avail- able for im- mediate Cultivation and Settle- ment. Upper Canada Lower Canada P. E. Island Newfoundland N. Brunswick Nova Scotia 8,602,4i20 10,603,709 1 ,380,700 2,000,000 4,750,098 1,032,956 2,065,913 138,070 200,000 475,009 7,569,464 8,537,796 1,242,630 1 ,800,000 4,275,089 5,500,000 5, 500,000 1 1 ,000,000 1,000,000 13,069,464 14,037,796 1,242,630 1 2,800,000 5,275,089 27,3.36,927 3,911,948 23,424,979 23,000,000 46,424.979 Census of the Population of the North American Colonies in theYears— 1784. t 1811. 1817. 1824. 1 1825. 1 1827. 1 1831. 1 ' 1832. Upper Canada . . Lower Canada . . Newfoundland . . P. E. Island ^ 10,000 113,000 10,701 77,000 151.097 423,630 234,865 1511,917 257,814 New Brunswick f Nova Scotia / Cape Breton } 32,000 82,053| 74,176 123,848 20,000 * The number of acres granted is taken from official returns ; the culture of Lower Canada, from the census of 1831. The culture of Upper Canada is computed at one-half that of the lower province, such being very nearly the proportion of population. Of Newfoundland, all accounts of this nature are omitted, as no accurate data can be obtained, and estimates heretofore made have proved very erroneous. The culture of the other provinces is assumed to be one tenth of the lands granted. The quantity of crown lands available for immediate settlement, is taken from the official inquiries and report of Mr. Richards. t The numbers for the year 1784 appear to have been calculated from very authentic data, and are generally considered as an accurate account. The census for the other years was by actual enumeration, with the excep- tion of that for Upper Canada, in 1811, which was collected from data given in the returns of assessment. “The number of people residing throughout the island of Newfoundland was 10,701 in the year 1784. In 1789 they were increased to 19,106; 6 POPULATION AND Estimate of the Population in 1806 and 1832 . 1806. 1832. Upper Canada 70,000 287,000 250,000 542,000 Prince Edward’s Island . . . . !Nc wfoundland ............ 15.000 40.000 35.000 75.000 New Brunswick 35,000 100,000 Nova Scotia and Cape Breton 70,000 165,000 Total. . . . • . ' 480,000 1 ,204,000 This estimation cannot, it is conceived, be thought at variance with the preceding Table, nor will the in- crease here exhibited be considered improbable, after the Table which is to follow. Number of Emigrants from the United Kingdom to the British North American 'Colonies during the last twenty years. England. Scotland. Ireland. Other parts. Total. 1812 to 1821 1822, 23, 24 1825 1826 1827 1828 23,783 19,971 47,223 90,977 (a) 27,291 (M 9,097 (c) 12,818 (a) 16,862 (c) 13,907 (a) 1829 3,565 2,643 9614 123 15,945 (c) 1830 6,799 2,450 18,300 451 28,000 (c) 1831 10,243 6,354 34,133 424 50,254 (c) 1832 17,731 4,379 27,631 164 49,905 (c) Emigrants to the Lower Ports, not included in the \ above, for the years 18^5, ^27, 29, 30, 31, 32. ^ 315,056 36,000 (d) 351 ,056 and in 1791 they were reduced to 16,097. The greatest quantity of land in cultivation during this period was 8034 acres, in the year 1785, when only 10,244 people wintered on the island; and only 4299 acres in 1789, when the population was at the highest.” — Maepherson, (a) Parliamentary Returns. (b) Estimated upon the average of the ten years preceding. (c) Colonial Returns of Quebec alone. (d) Estimated at 6000 per annum. EMIGRATION. 7 The question, how many of these emigrants have passed over to the United States, has been often asked, and as variously answered, but seems generally believed to have formerly exceeded one half, and been latterly less than a fourth. But as neither the voyage from the United Kingdom to Quebec, nor the journey from Quebec to the western districts of the United States, is shorter or cheaper, than by way of New York, it would be singular if many emigrants, whose destination was to that country, should prefer the longer, dearer, and perhaps more perilous route. Some American statistics will contribute much to a better solution of this question. By their last census it appears that there were in the United States but 53,655 foreigners not naturalized. As no foreigner can be naturalized until he has resided there five years, supposing all who arrive were naturalized as soon as possible, and that transient persons are not included in the census, still the numbers of emigrants and settlers for a period of five years past could not have exceeded 53,655, which gives an average of 10,731 annually. The American returns of customs show the average of strangers arriving by sea during the last twenty years to have been about 7500, nine-tenths of whom are from the United Kingdom.* This would reduce the number who go over through Canada, to about 3231 persons; and though colonial accounts make this number greater, yet the emigrants, who go out through the United States into the colonies will probably equal this dif- ference. * Hinton’s United Stales. 8 POPULATION AND Destination of the Emigrants arrived at Quebec in 1830. For Lower Canada . . . ■ 1L500 Upper Canada . . • • 20,500 The United States . • • 6,254 j 50,254 Number of Emigrants, and Places of thdr Departure and Destination, arrived at Quebec in the year 1832. Whence. Emigrants in- tending to settle in Lower Canada. Emigrants in- tending to pro- ceed to Upper Canada. Emigrants in- tending to pro- ceed to other parts. Total. Total. Total. Males. Females. Males. Females. Males. Females. Males. Females. England. Ireland . Scotland . Other parts. 1,601 2,113 936 82 1,033 1,512 739 82 8,901 14,156 1,516 6,196 9,829 1,136 12 12 9 10 10, .502' 7,229 I6,28l! 11,350 2,494 1 ,885 82* 82 17,731 27,631 4,379 164 4,732 3,366 24,603 17,161 1 24 19 29,359 ' 20,546 49,905 Upon the whole, therefore, as parliamentary returns upon this subject are known to be very defective, and the Colonial accounts are limited to Quebec, and are even thought below the full number landed there, the emigrants included in those statements, who have gone over to the American territories, are not probably more, than those not included, who have remained in the EMIGRAXrON. 9 U British provinces, having either arrived at the lower ports, or entered Canada through the United States ; so that the whole, who have settled in the Colonies during the last twenty years, may be fairly set down as above 300,000 souls. Of a truth, the greatest events, whether in the poli- tical or natural world, are not always those, which make the greatest noise, or engage most attention. The scene of these transactions is remote, the circumstances detached, no observation can comprehend them, no description represent, and few have the imagination to conceive the real nature of what the figures foregoing attest. But if justly considered, there has not occurred in the Colonies, nor perhaps in the United Kingdom, during the last two years, an act more worthy of wonder and praise, for the boldness of enterprise, and impor- tance of results to the British empire and the human race, than this voluntary, fortuitous, unassisted, and unexampled, emigration. By gradual and silent, but constant and increasing progress, this operation has been going on, till effects are now produced by it in one year, which formerly required half a century to accomplish. Colonies are planted or augmented, the foundations of a mighty people are laid, the wilderness is made to blossom like gardens by the river side, and the wild and fertile regions of the earth are subdued yearly and daily, and replenished with industry and enjoyment; and yet there is room. Although there are among us some, who, as if afraid to trust the Great Author of Nature with the administration even of this single planet, contend that he has made for it laws of 1 u 10 POPULATION AND human propagation incompatible with those of human subsistence, and that the increase of population is at variance with the capabilities of the physical world. There are some, who, with these facts before them, would rather have us renounce obedience to the first and great commandment both of nature and revelation, Mftthw F than the faith of their own dogmas. And there are others, who talk of the burthen of Colonies, and propose to cast off the incumbrance, apparently because the grand circumstances, in which they find them, exceed their capacities, or disagree with their theories. While such persons have been exceedingly industrious in reviv- ing either a theory of commerce, agitated in the seven- teenth century, but in terms so intelligible it was speedily exploded, or the error of a far older fallacy, (Achilles and the Tortoise,) the converse of whose foot-race is now ap- plied to population and subsistence; while these dispu- tants have been endeavouring to increase our industry by lessening its objects, and by employing foreign labourers, give subsistence to our own ; while they have made it evi- dent that the arithmetical progression can never keep pace with geometrical, and have only left it doubtful whether there be in this any analogy to the increase of mankind and their sustenance, or, if any, whether it be such as assumed ; in the mean time, three hundred thousand persons, like the philosopher of old, have cut short the controversy, by rising up and migrating, where they have found no lack of employment, and have created abundant subsistence and wealth. Within even two years above 100,000 of our countrymen, finding them- selves a burthen and a care in these kingdoms, have had the fortitude and enterprise to rise up and abandon EMIGRATION. 11 their native seats, to pass an ocean, enter upon the un- known and untrodden forests of Canada, and have there formed the nucleus of a great community, have planted the germs of towns and villages, and of all the arts and comforts of civilized life. The child who, born at this season, shall be so strong as to come to four score years of age, will live to know the descendants of these emigrants have multiplied in happiness and plenty to the number of several millions of souls. Yet the lands they are there tilling will in one year give them thirty for one ; and the cod fish, to which, as was said of swine, nature seems to have given life as a kind of salt to preserve them for the food of man, will reproduce more than nine millions successively, and come in shoals with its fry on to the shores, and into the nets of the fishers ; and the forest in which they dwell may, by an axe and a saw, be converted into, or exchanged for, the beautiful textures of England, and all the luxuries of the tropics and the East ; but neither their forests, nor their fisheries, nor their agriculture, have been made available or exchangeable, nor even the country habitable, by any other system than the Colonial. Let these circumstances be viewed as merely a relief to the surplus and suffering labourers in this country, and the immediate and pecuniary benefit, which can be told and counted, will appear less important indeed, but perhaps more attractive to the tastes of some econo- mists. Three hundred thousand emigrants in twenty years give an average of fifteen thousand annually. Had these remained in the United Kingdom, they must either have been supported at the public cost, or have displaced as many labourers, who would have had u POPULATION AND no other resource, than charity, want, or crime ; unless, indeed, it can be shown in what one branch of industry here, the while, supplies of labour have not exceeded the demand. The subsistence then of this number, at five shillings a week, or 195,000/. a year, (if the average lives of such persons as usually emigrate may be taken at thirty years,) would be worth the price of 3,315,000/., which, multiplied by the twenty years, equals a capital of 66,300,000/. These things put together are great and marvellous events, to have effected, or advised, or eontributed to, which would transmit to posterity the name of any Minister as the benefactor of his country and mankind ; as, to have misunderstood the nature, and importance, and mistaken the cause and dependence of this movement, would prove the last misfortune to his fame. These are certainly great events, and great in- terests, on which not only millions unborn are deeply dependant, but millions in existence, for such are the numbers of the present generation, who either have already emigrated, or may hereafter emigrate, or re- maining at home be benefited by the removal of others. And if these classes, both at home and in the Colonies, possessed that organ which they ought to have, in the feeling and conviction of all public men, but which they, being unassociated with any sect or faction, unhappily have not, the voice of their complaint against the measures, which are impending, would perhaps be raised to those who govern their industry and destinies, and their case stated in some such manner as this ; — ‘ We are many, poor, industrious, and loyal men, ' who desire nothing better than to work hard while itsLi. EMIGRATION. 13 * we are strong, that we may eat and not die, for ‘ unless we get food, we shall not long have strength to ‘ work. But, as we can find no employment here, or ‘ so little as to promise nothing but alms or want, we ‘ have resolved, not indeed to abandon our country, ^ but to emigrate to her Colonies, where, holding the ‘ same allegiance, and enjoying, as we hope, the same ^ protection, we shall find the best means and materials ‘ of producing precisely the very things which are most ‘ wanted at home. There we have before us a rich and ^ almost interminable forest, covering an equal extent of ‘ the best of soils. At home you demanded of us wood, ‘ but the land was all devoted to more profitable cul- ^ ture : you demanded corn, but the land could not ‘ produce a sufficient supply : now we can give you ‘ abundance of both. Let us in Canada be your hus- ‘ band men, and the hewers of your timber, and the ‘ sawyers of your deals. We are told, that you have ‘ some unwillingness to give us this work, because the ‘ Danes or Poles will do it cheaper. Is it then the ^ same thing, whether the woollens, cottons, and other ‘ manufactures you give in return, clothe their backs ‘ or ours ? Do not take the raiment from your chil- ‘ dren, and cast it to the Danes. We do hope and ‘ trust you will give us the refusal of this labour, if ‘ indeed we are still British subjects, and members of ‘ the same community. The Poles, they say, will do it ^ cheaper : but will the Poles receive your poor emi- ‘ grants, and give them employment and lands ? Will ^ the Poles not only work, but fight for you ? Will they ‘ identify their industry, wealth, lives, and independence ‘ with yours? But the Poles will not do it cheaper, if u 14 POPULATION AND ‘ this is to be paramount to all other ties and interests, ‘ they cannot do it cheaper, than we are willing, than we ‘ are endeavouring, to do ; only they are nearer to your ‘ market, and carry thither at less cost. But you cannot ‘ wish to see your shipping supplanted by theirs, or your ‘ seamen depressed to the same condition. We seek no ‘ monopoly ; we ask only for preference and protec- ‘ tion ; under w’hich you, instead of paying dearer, have ‘ created by your Colonies such a competition, that wood ‘ was never before supplied to you at so low a profit, nor ‘ probably could be under any other regulations. Your ‘ manufactures are here indispensable requisites of ex- < istence. Do not drive us to attempt making them for ^ ourselves. W^e lia.ve wood and corn 5 we can laise ‘ seeds, and tobacco, to give you in return. Exchange ‘ labour and productions with us, instead of foreigners ^ and rivals. So shall all things abound to all, both of ^ you and ourselves, and not only in peace, but also ^ during wars, wherein almost half the age of men and ^ nations appears to be consumed ; and so shall happi- ^ ness and content follow us, and remain and abide with ‘ our fellow-labpurers at home, knowing that ill-requited ^ or vainly-solicted employment are no longer their fate ^ and prospect, but that the Colonies will at once in- ‘ crease the abundance of food, and the materials and ‘ the demand for labour, and at the same time diminish ^ the number of bands to work and of mouths to be ^ filled, and that the poorest may look forward to emi- ‘ gration as a good provision for their children, through * centuries to come.’ * • The provincial legislatures have lately, by recommendation of the Co- lonial Department, been induced to impose a capitation tax upon all who emigrate to the northern Colonies, if with the con.sent of Government, of 4s.6r/. EMIGRATION. 15 Such are the wants and prayers of the emigrants ; such their number and importance, and such the in- and if without, of 9s, per person. It is a very serious and important ques- tion, whether this measure be cither constitutional, or even legal. Restric- tions so imposed appear inconsistent with the relations of Colony and Mother Country, Great Britain, it is conceived, did not win and so long defend and foster such possessions, by her arms and policy, for those only of her subjects there planted or adopted, to the exclusion or restriction of her metropolitan children, but to be the common and unclosed asylum to all in the United Kingdom, who might seek to better their condition by emi- gration. The tax seems also contrary to the spirit and even to the letter of the stat. 3 Geo. 4, c. 119, s. 29, which provides, that no acts of Lower Ca- nada, whereby any duties are imposed on articles imported by sea, “ o?' whereby Upper Canada may be directly or indirectly a^ectedy^ shall have the force of law, until the same be laid before parliament thirty days previous to the royal assent’s being given. The tax is considered oppressive j it is levied upon poverty and misery, from the class least capable of paying it, and at the moment the money is most wanted to alleviate distress or en- courage exertion. It is an unequal tax : the pauper is required to pay the same sum as the emigrant with capital. The tax is impolitic ; it tends to check emigration, and divert it from British Colonies to foreign states : it tends to impede and prevent the planting and reclaiming the earth, of which nearly a sixth part is yet unpeopled ; and to keep up that excessive popu- lation in Great Britain and Ireland, which has been the source of so much suffering and crime, and to the diminution of which, by the extraordinary emigration of the last two years is, perhaps, to be mainly imputed the tran- quillity here enjoyed during an epoch of unexampled excitement. The objections to this tax are so many, great, and obvious, that it could never have been imposed without a very urgent and specious purpose. That purpose was to provide a fund for the relief of such emigrants as were landed in the Colonies in disease and destitution. A most laudable purpose un- doubtedly and a most necessary. What then is the cause of complaint? That the means devised greatly exceed the end; and that the same end might better have been attained by other means. The whole number of emigrants landed at Quebec in 1831, was upwards of 50,000, and there was then, and is now, every reason to believe, that the number in future years will not be less than 80,000. Assuming one half of them to be subject to the lesser charge of 4s, 6d., and the residue to 9s., the whole amount col- TJ POPULATION AND crease of population in the country, to which they go for employment and settlement. See next what they lected will exceed £^27.000. There is no reason whatever for supposing that such a sum could be required. Emigrants, to the number of 25 000 passed through Prescot, in Upper Canada, during the ^ear l8ol. ^ any of them being diseased, and otherwise chargeable, were relieved by the parish, which consequently applied to the Provincial Parliament for aid. The sum of £250 was all that was given, and all that was asked. Seven thousand emigrants, says a Canadian paper of 28th May, 1832, have al- ready landed. Of these, the number relieved by the Emigrant Society has not exceeded 68 ; and the expense of their relief has been under £lo currency, or about 5s. per person. This happens to be exactly tlie amount of the lesser tax. 4s. 6d. The whole number relieved at Montreal during 1832, a season of pestilence and extraordinary distress, was 10,244, and the whole expense of their relief 4s. 3d. currency per person, or 3s. lOd. sterling. Striking examples these of the wisdom of a law which proposes to make provision for the poor, by taxes that increase their number and poverty, and to extort from misery a fund for its relief. The whole sum expended in Lower Canada during 1832, from the fund created by this tax, was £6,105 currency, the whole collected was £6,605 ; many emi- grants having arrived or embarked before the law took effect. 1 he relief required in future years will, probably, never be so great, as during the ravages of cholera, yet the sum levied may exceed four times that amount. The inhabitants of Upper Canada, a province fast filling with thousands of British emigrants, and capable of receiving millions, are loud and unani- mous in their complaints against this imposition. The whole commercial interests of the other provinces regret and deplore both the principle and amount of this tax. The emigrating classes in this country, the persons most interested, seem not to understand the nature of an infliction so dis- tant, or to want a friend and organ to make their remonstrances heard. Taxes upon knowledge find no lack of assailants ; there is no dearth of long speeches from those who seek to commute taxes upon prudence apparently by taxes upon patience : theories, abstractions, and predictions of national wealth and improvement are rife, and the dupes they have made still more abundant : the interest of consumers is defended with much eloquence by those, whose only share in the labours of society is consumption and elocu- tion : duties upon costly wines of foreign production are abated, to the great relief of the crapulous classes : even a large revenue can be hazarded EMIGRATION. 17 will there find to do, and what resources that country oflf'ers, and what advances it has already made in com- merce and production. riie industry of the colonists is principally engaged in agriculture, fisheries, mines, and the forests ; in exporting the produce of which to the United King- dom, and other J3ritish possessions, and to some foreign countries, and in importing thence, in exchange, the various requisites, whose growth or manufacture is ill suited to the climate or condition of these plantations, consists their trade, and the employment it gives to British shipping. Under each of these, and some other heads, separately, shall here be exhibited, such facts and statistics as have been collected from official docu- ments, public prints, or private sources of authentic information. to promote the increase of tobacco-smoke ; but emigration, a question of no supposititious facts, or disputable consequences, but solved by experience, and demonstrated by statistics, the means of greatest relief to those in the utmost need, means of multiplying at once both production and producers, the requisites of existence, and the numbers who exist; emigration has so little attraction for economists, that a tax to restrict and embarrass it, is viewed with indifference, and an alteration of duties to destroy it, is hailed with applause. Emigration has the fault of being connected with, and de- pendent upon, the Colonial system. It is the sacrifice of Abel, accepted of God, and prospered mightily, and naturally regarded with aversion by those, whose offering, though far more costly, has been blessed with no such results. Whatever may be the merits of that sect there is one thing, at least, in which they are wofully deficient, success, save only in the num- ber of converts, who either assent to a specious epithet, without inquiry into facts, or, perplexed with abstractions, profess themselves convinced. C fl- ( 18 ) PRODUCE OF THE FORESTS. The most important object of industry, as the first and most striking feature in the appearance of the country, is the forest, the lofty, thick, and unmeasured forest ; all unplanted by the hand, and most part un- trodden by the foot of man, and where, without having strowed or sown, he has only to enter and reap, and gather in, what nature, through many years, has been so bountifully preparing for his use. It is the bene- volent supposition of some naturalists, that whatever changes have taken place in the formation of the globe, were such as necessary to render it fit for the habita- tion of man ; and certainly the wisdom and kindness of such a Providence is evidently to be recognized in its latest work, of clothing this portion of the new continent with such continued groves of tall and massy trees, so congenial to the subsistence of the human race, in its earliest stages, and so favourable to the suc- ceeding introduction of the arts and discipline of civi- lized life. For even the wild animals, harboured in the woods, are those whose flesh is very grateful to the taste, and whose furs and skins are useful for the raiment of men ; and beside the trees whose fruits are esculent, there are others distilling juices sweeter than the sugar canes of India; and these things, which were articles of necessity to the savage, continue, and even become more valuable, as luxuries, to the rich and re- fined society, while of all materials for manufacture, none Cl FORESTS. 19 is of such primary and universal use as timber, which, even when consumed to ashes, ceases not to be con- vertible to the wants and comforts of mankind. In the present, as in all similar investigations, it is unfortunate, that more extensive or accurate informa- tion of the whole trade and industry of a community can rarely be procured, than what is found in the Custom-House returns of exports to other countries. The science of political economy, which, like other inductions, ought to be founded on a thorough col- lection, analysis, and comparison of facts, has, as yet, been principally concerned in the invention of theories and abstractions, with scarce any other sources of information or proof, than the returns of revenue, popu- lation, and maritime trade. That which is generally of most importance, internal commerce and production, being least known, is least regarded. In the northern colonies, two of the necessaries of life, shelter and fuel, are almost entirely supplied from within their own woods; the amount of that industry, however, must be left to conjecture : but for food and clothes, and their many comforts and refinements, the forests are now almost useless except by intercourse and exchange with distant countries. The extent and value of those exchanges are shown in the succeeding accounts. c Produce of the Forests exported to all parts in 1830. 1 Ashes. Deals, Morels, and Battens. Deals, Plank and Boards. Hand- spikes. Hoops. Lath- wood. Masts and Spars. Oars. Poles, Treenails &c. Shingles. Staves. Timber. Barrels. No. Feet. No. No. Cords. No. No. No. No. No. Tons. Quebec 45,921 1,817,964 723,034 22,180 146,360 1,316 2,665 11,867 2,000 56,040 6,392,215 186,277 P. E. Island — — 75,600 — — 268 420 — — 279,600 78,600 7,816 St. John's, N.F.L. — — 19,993 48 29,100 — 206 2,150 1,663 — 32,568 — St. John’s, N. B. . . — — 19,205,000 2,333 — 4,717 4,222 7,568 3,782 3,668,460 505,277 232,515 St. Andrew’s .... — — 15,596,200 — 2,000 581 496 805 3,000 11,023,500 1,420,100 25,700 Halifax — 1,115 9,876,000 2,057 293,000 616 1,322 1,737 2,080 2,979,000 3,661,200 26,182 45,921 1,819,079 45,493,827 26,618 470,460 j 7,498 9,331 24,127 12,525 18,006,600 ^ 12,089,960 478,490 Produce of the Forests exported to all parts in 1831 . Ashes. Deals, 0wrrl^ and Battens. Deals, Plank, and Boards. Hand- spikes. Hoops. Lath- wood. Masts and Spars. Oars. Poles, Treenails &c. Shingles. Slaves. Timber. Barrels. No. Feet. No. No. Cords. No. No. No. No. No. Tons. Quebec 49,915 1,877,015 10,180 15,100 189,000 1,918 2,643 14,891 16,372 51,200 5,589,816 227,065 P. E. Island — 275,643 — — 248 570 — — 259,200 64,331 6,401 St. John’s, N.F.L. — — 19,511 — 36,400 8 8 978 110 — 29,000 St. John’s, N.B. . . — — 21,782,500 1,159 — 3,950 2,920 5,524 8,143 4,336,800 302,367 186,913 St. Andrew’s — 15,557,500 250 573 — 1,086 3,122 7,126,000 177,750 16,942 Halifax — 8,833,000 2,300 1 ^ 228,150 228 642 3,316 578 3,042,000 2,863,200 33,261 49,915 1,877,015 46,278,334 18,559 ' 453,800 1 6,925 6,783 25,795 28,325 14,815,200 9,026,464 470,582 Value of the above Exports in 1831. £, s. d. Ashes 30,153 barrels=131, 875 cwts. 3 qrs. 13 lbs. Pot, 325.6c?. 214,298 5 8 19^763 = 68,471 — 1 — Pearl, S5s. . 110,829 18 9 Deals 1,753,546 3-inch, 1205. per 100 105,212 15 4 123,469 deal ends and battens, 305. per 100 . . . 1,851 0 0 46,278,334 feet boards, planks, and deals, 505. per 1,000 feet . 115,695 16 0 Handspikes 18,559, I 5 . ........ . 927 19 0 Hoops 453,800, 105. per 1,000 226 18 0 Lathwood ...... 6,925 cords, 205. ........ 6,925 0 0 Masts and spars . 6,783, IOO 5 . . . . . . . . . . 33,015 0 0 Oars 25,795, 25 2,579 10 0 Poles, &c 28,825, Sd . . . 354 1 3 Staves 1,372,648 standard, 30/. per 1,200 ..... 34,316 4 0 7,653,816 other, 7/. per 1,200 44,646 0 0 Shingles 14,815,200, 155. per 1,000 11,111 8 0 Timber 470,582 tons, 205 470,582 0 0 Currency £1,153,471 16 0 Sterling, lOr/. £1,038,124 12 5 FORESTS FORESTS. 23 This is that timber trade, the subject of so much obloquy, to what may be termed the speculative in- terests, whose industry consists in abstractions, utility in promises, who alone accuse this trade, and whose only grievance from it is, that it interferes with their theo- ries, and disproves their conclusions. This is that timber trade, which, contrary to all their dogmas, has for five and twenty years given employment and wealth to colonists, emigrants, shipowners, and manufacturers; enabling them to exchange labour and commodities with each other, and husbanding and retaining among us all the profits and proceeds, some twenty or thirty millions of money, which would else have been given away to aliens and rivals, for nothing, but what we have been thus able to produce for ourselves. This is that timber trade, by which the maritime supremacy of this country has been sustained, new markets created for her manufactures, an asylum and provision found for her surplus population, the requisites of existence, and the number of percipients multiplied, and, at the same time, a large revenue, nearly one-twelfth of the whole customs, levied, without difficulty, evasion, or complaint, without impeding any industry, bearing upon any distress, or causing any scarceness. This is that timber trade, which has made supplies to con- sumers more constant and more abundant, which has broken down the Baltic monopoly, reduced its price from above twelve pounds (the average of 1809, 10, and 11, or from six pounds and sixteen shillings on the average of 1806, 7 and 8, exclusive of duty), to two pounds five shillings a load; and, by which, though the foreigner (upon an average of twelve years pre- u ^4* FORESTS. ceding 1811, compared with the average of the last seven years,) continues to bring hither nearly as much, he is compelled to sell it at one-third the price, the Colonies having more than doubled the supply, and, by the most frugal and industrious competition, reduced profits to the lowest rate. Of all divisions of this trade, the production and export of deals is now becoming the most important ; and this is the sole portion of the business to which any application of machinery can be rendered available. An attempt has been recently made in some of the Colonies, to ascertain the amount of industry and capital engaged in this employment, and the quantity and value of deals yearly produced. This has been done with great care and detail in New Brunswick; in Lower Canada the number only of mills has been returned. A table follows, to exhibit what information has been received, and what is still to be desiderated. Some conjecture of that which is wanting may be drawn from that which has been ascertained. Account of the number and value of Saw-mills, with the quantity and value of Deals, Boards, ^c, sawn yearly. No. of Mills. Men employed. Valuation of Mills and appurtenances. Sufficient to produce yearly, deals. Feet. Valuation of such yearly production. Upper Canada . . . Lower Canada . . . New Brunswick. . Newfoundland . . . P. E. Island Nova Scotia 737 229 3,798 £232,030 103,840,000 £261,207 FORESTS. 25 The internal consumption of deals must of course be great in a country where, excepting the principal towns, almost every building is of wood. But the capital invested in mills must not be mistaken for all the amount of property embarked in the whole timber trade. In the account so minutely made for New Brunswick, the estimate of buildings, wharfs, canals, coves, and other outlays and establishments necessary for carrying on the trade, is for some counties ap- praised at three or four times the value of the mills ; and upon the best information to be obtained, there has appeared, except in the assertions of certain writers, who have neither experience nor evidence to support them, no reason to apprehend any exaggeration in the estimate heretofore made, that the whole property em- barked in or dependent upon the timber trade exceeds two millions sterling. MAPLE SUGAR. There is among the productions of the forest one to be mentioned, not so much on account of its value, though that is more than commonly supposed, as for its curiosity, viz. sugar extracted by evaporation from sap of a species of the maple, acer saccliarinum, a large and shadowy tree, much admired for the beauty of its tints in autumn, and much esteemed as timber, for strength, weight, and closeness of grain, its wavy fibre, and sus- ceptibility of polish. The quantity of sugar thus made annually in Lower Canada has been stated, on the best 26 FORESTS. authority,* at 24^,329 cwts., to which there cannot be added less than 6,000 for the production of all the other provinces, making the whole amount, of Sugar .... lbs. 3,396,848 Value, Sd. . . . of42,460 I2s. THE FUR TRADE. Under the same class of productions may be included the furs, or peltries of those wild animals which are bred and captured in the forests. In this trade consists the chief and almost the only industry or commerce, by which the native Indians contribute any thing to the common stock and exchange of the requisites for human exist- ence. Combining amusement, hazard, peril, and gain, this pursuit seems the principal chann of savage life ; nor perhaps has the civilized state any labour so agree- able, though the occupation of a fisherman may resemble it most. A portion of this peltry is also procured by the colonists, not indeed as a separate business, except in Hudson’s Bay, but in other parts, they make traps, which lie in wait while the planters labour or sleep, and hold fast the prey till they return to secure the spoils. The number and value of these articles, ex- ported in the years 1830 and 18gl w^ere as follows. • See the splendid topographical description of the British North Ame- rican Colonies, by Joseph Bouchette, Esq., Surveyor General of Lower Canada. Furs and Peltries exported to all parts in 1830.* Beaver and other. Bear and Buffalo. Deer. Fox and Fisher. Linx, Cat, and Martin. Minx. Musk- rat. Racoon. Tails of Martin, Fox, &c. Weasel. Wol- verine Badger. Wolf. Ui Hhds. adescribec Bales and casks. 17 No. Quebec 12,188 533 1,22J 4,460 13,622 100 34,40.-2 141 700 . . 18 . . . . 1 , . P. E. Island .... * • • St.John’sjN.F.L. 1,507 704 792 • 75 2 St. John’s, N. B. ■ • • • • 7 1 1,890 St. Andrew’s . . . • • Halifax • • •• — 29 3 Hudson’s Bay.. . ■ • • • ♦ Official returns. Furs and Peltries exported to all parts in 1 831.* K) . ■ Beaver and Otter. Bear and Buffalo. Deer. Fox and Fisher. Linx, Cat, and Martin. Minx. Musk- rat. Racoon. Tails of Martin, Fox,&c Weasel. Wol- verine Badger. Wolf. Undescribed. Hhds. Bales and casks. No. Quebec 70,262 399 645 622 11,132 1,612 43,377 89 2,290 26 5 P. E. Island . . . . • • • . . . . ■ . . • • . , , , , , , , , , St. John’s, N.F.L, 2,354 1,321 1,425 1,162 . . . . 34 . . 4 . , St. John’s, N. B . • • • . . . . . . . . 14 8,658 St. Andrew’s ... • . • . . . . . . , , . . , , , . , , , , , , , Halifax . . . . . . . . . . 2 ■ 31 . . Hudson’s Bayf . . 54,328 3,451 6,822 45,453 7,686 331,192 236 1,718 5,938 126,944 3,850 645 8,765 58,010 9,298 375,731 325 2,290 34 1,744 5,947 2 45 8,658 * Official returns. t The returns from Hudson^s Bay for the years 1830 and 1831 not being within reach, those of the last year, 1832, are here substituted, and are believed to represent a fair average of the annual export. FORESTS. 529 In giving the value of these furs exported, those of Quebec, Newfoundland, and Hudson’s Bay only, can be accurately appraised ; the others, being less detailed, depend upon information less exact, but probably near the average. To the whole should be added the furs carried into the United States by the inland trade, according to statistical wTiters of that country. * Value of Furs and Peltries exported in 1831. Beaver . . 126,944', at 25s. . i"! 58,680 0 0 Bear . . . 3,850, 20s. . . 3,850 0 0 Deer . . . 645, 3s. . 96 15 0 Fox . . . 8,765, 10s. . . 4,382 10 0 Linx . . . 58,010, 8s. . . 23,204 0 0 Minx . . . 9,298, 2s. . 929 16 0 Musk-rat 375,731, 6(/. . . 9,393 5 6 Racoon . . 325, 1^. 6d, . 24f 7 6 Tails . . 2,290, 1^. . 114 10 0 Weasel . . 34, 6d. . 0 17 0 Wolverine 1,744, 3s. . 261 12 0 Wolf . . . 5,947, 8^. . . 2,378 16 0 £203,316 9 0 Undescribed from Halifax and St. John’s, estimate of the average value yearly . . 15,000 0 0 ^Ixported to the United States by inland trade f . • 16,146 0 0 £234‘,462 9 0 Sterling ef^l 1,016 4 ^ * Hinton. t Ibid. «30 FORESTS. The fur trade is fluctuating, and seems rather de- clining. Still, as there are vast countries, north of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, where neither the soil nor Climate are fit for plantation, and where nature, who has not made the earth for man alone, seems to have reserved an asylum for her creatures of this de- scription, it is probable that peltry will always continue to be an important article of export from Canada, as it still is from the north of Europe, and even from Ger- many to this day. SHIP BUILDING. To the forest also must be ascribed whatever of Colonial industry is engaged in the building of ships ; once a very ample and lucrative employment, after- wards, from the decline of maritime interests in England, the cause of much bankruptcy and distress, but now, in some measure beginning to revive, and being con- ducted with greater skill and prudence, it not only supplies the losses, and equals the increase, of naviga- tion in those provinces, but answers again, in a very limited degree, as a remittance home for the manufac- tures of the United Kingdom. How far this industry has been heretofore car- ried, what it now is, and is capable of becoming, may be learned from the next table, imperfect as it appears. Among other advantages of communicating such facts, in the tabular form, one is, that even blanks may serve for confession of ignorance, request of in- formation, and its depositary when acquired. Number aiicl Tonnage of Ships built in the Northern Colonies, in the several Years. 1825. 1826. 1827. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1831. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. Quebec 61 22,636 59 17,823 35 7,550 30 7,272 21 5,465 11 3,059 9 3,250 P. E. Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . • St. John’s, N.F.L. . . . . . St. John's, N.B. . . 94 21,160 102 24,780 77 16,323 48 10,898 48 7,649 St. Andrew’s .... 12 2,240 Halifax 95 . . 146 15,333 119 . . 105 12,064 — * Colonial Journals. — Some assistance, for suppljring the blanks of 1831, may perhaps be derived from a table hereafter to be inserted, of the registered tonnage in that and the preceding year, showing an increase of 17,836 in 1831. This proves the ship- building not to have been less, but it might have been greater, registers being yearly cancelled, as the ships are lost Or transferred. CO 32 FORESTS. Some portion of the new ships built in 1831 was for remittance, or sale, in the United Kingdom, and other British ports. Indeed the Canadian journals, in enu- merating and appraising their exports for that year, ascribe to this purpose the whole tonnage built at Quebec, and estimate the value at ^£10 a ton. Upon very good information it appears, that about an equal amount was constructed for the same object in the lower ports. The whole shipping, therefore, to be set down among productions of the forest exported, will be of the value and quantity succeeding : JVew Ships, Tons, 6,500 at o£10 . . £65,000 Sterling o£58,500 Aggregate Value of Exports the produce of Forests. Timber and Ashes . . £1,038,124 12 5 Furs and Peltries . . . 211,016 4 2 New Ships , . . ^ . 58,500 0 0 Sterling 1,307,640 16 7 These exports are almost all carried to, and ex- changed in, the United Kingdom and British West Indies. What the nature of that exchange is, and who the carriers, are interesting questions, hereafter to be examined. In the mean time, to illustrate the extent and value of this division of colonial industry, and the character of the system, by which it has been created and fostered, let a comparison be made of the amount, FORESTS. S3 above given, with the statement to follow, of similar exports during the same years, from the whole United States of America. Exports, the produce of Forests, to all parts, from the United States of America, in the years 1830 and 1831.* 1830. Articles. Value in dollars. 1831. Value in dollars. Ashes . 1,105,127 935,613 Timber of all kinds 1,663,242 1,688,976 Furs 641,760 750,938 Ginsing 67,852 115,928 Bark and Dyes 220,275 99,116 Naval Stores 321,019 397,687 Manufactures of Wood 275,219 4,263,477 Sterling ^■959,383 MANUFACTURES. Manufactures, the British Northern Colonies have scarce any, except such as are of primary necessity, and the simplest invention, and those on the smallest scale, and in general belonging rather to the cate- gory of tradesmen or mechanics than manai’acturers : there are foundries, distilleries, breweries ; there are tanners, and one or two sugar refiners; and there are, of course, those domestic productions, usual in families, candles, soap, and coarser articles of clothing ; and there are some few mills for carding the wool • Oflficial returns. Hinton, Reuses Statistics. D 34 MANUFACTURES. and fulling the web. Of all, the iron foundries are alone important. These supply stoves and culinary utensils for the use of the districts where they are situated, making no other appearance among the ex- ports, than the inconsiderable amount which will be given in a subsequent place. Here, however, may be mentioned the only other articles of manufacture which the returns of Customs show to have been ex- ported, viz. soap and candles, of which there were sent from Quebec, almost entirely to the other northern Colonies, — In 1830. In 1831. Of Soap. ...... lbs. 83,400 lbs. 81,819 Candles.... 62,778 36,811 A very minute and accurate census of Lower Canada was taken in 1831, the returns of which, as far as relates to manufacture, are below, and are the only details that can here be added. Establishments of the same nature, in all the other Colonies, cannot exceed a similar number, and in most kinds there are fewer, in some none. Mills and Establishments for Manufacture of all kinds. Ashes. Corn Mills. Saw Mills. Carding Mills. Fulling Mills. Iron Works and Foundries. Distilleries Oil Mills. Others. Upppr Canada. TiOWPi* Canada 489 857 737 90 97 121 70 14 64 New Brunswick . . . . . . 229 P. E. Island Newfoundland Nova Scotia 03 Ot MANUFACTURES, 36 MANUFACTURES. The reason of this state of things is apparent. As long as the productions of their agriculture and forests can be exchanged for manufactures in the United Kingdom, so long will the industry of the colonists be applied to those easiest and most lucrative employ- ments. But if protection be withdrawn from their wood and corn, and the home demand of these articles taken from them, and transferred to the north of Europe, the colonists will be compelled to manufacture for themselves w’hat they will have lost the means of procuring from this country, and cannot do without in their own. And the country they are planting hap- pens to possess great natural facilities for manufactur- ing, water power, the cheapest of all, in unbounded profusion, immense beds of coal, a climate and soil pe- culiarly favourable to flocks, and the culture of flax ; and even the cotton from the valley of Ohio and Missis- sippi will soon be brought down to the sea by the channel of the St. Lawrence. It is perhaps worthy of some con- sideration to the opponents of colonial trade, who insist that the capital and industry of the Canadas may be easily transferred from their present to some other em- ployment, whether that transfer and employment will probably be such as it suits the interest of this king- dom to enforce. It would be difficult to describe or imagine a country^ whose habits and wants, whose productions and re- sources, whose situation and condition, render a con- nexion with the United Kingdom more desirable for both ; nor would it be easier to establish that connexion on a better commercial system. These Colonies have no manufactures, no monopolies, no tariffs in peace. Cl MANUFACTURES. 37 no armed neutralities in war, no surplus population, no rival production, no jealousy of British wealth and power ; but they have an identity of feeling with the interests, of pride in the success, and fidelity to the allegiance, of the British Crown and Empire ; they have acts of parliament for laws of trade ; duties of 20 and 30 per cent, in favour of British productions ; and they have immense rich and unoccupied lands, and inex- haustible resources for the chief materials of manufac- ture and means of subsistence. With all the riches of such provinces before us, inviting, whosoever is hungry, and unclad, and unemployed, to come to the forests^ work, eat, and be clothed, shall we, instead of going thither to help ourselves to our own timber, still cling and confine us to those employments only which we can do cheapest at home, clothing half Poland, Prussia, and Norway with fine raiment, while half our own popula- tion is in rags, till at last the labour of infants shall become too dear, and extreme necessity enforce the same policy by which, if earlier adopted, that extreme necessity had been spared? PRODUCE OF THE MINES. Gypsum and grindstones, lime, coal, and iron, have long been among the staple productions of the British Northern Colonies. Mines of copper and lead have been discovered within a more recent period ; other and richer minerals are still in supposition ; but the first mentioned are so extensive, and raised in such abun- dance as to form a very considerable article of export 38 MINES. trade. Freestone, granite, marble, clay, and slate of excellent qualities exist in various parts, and are there used for the purposes of building. Manganese and antimony are also found, and a small quantity of the former is exported. Produce of the Mines exported to all parts in 1830. Gypsum and Lime- stone. Grind- stones. Lime. Bricks. Iron Castings. Manga- nese. Coal. Quebec P. E. Island Tons. .No. 1,192 Hhds. No. No. 240 Cwts. Chaldron. St. John’s, N.F.L. St. John’s, N.B. . . St. Andrew’s .... Halifax 1.748 29,194 44 253 14,437 2,457 i Q “t A. 555 86,500 33,000 137 3,603 1 1 ^ 75,195 1 30,900 555 119,500 240 137 3,603 Produce of Mines exported to all parts m 1831. Gypsum and Lime- stone. Grind- stones. Lime. Bricks. Iron castings. Manga- nese. Coal. Quebec Tons. No. Hhds. No. Pieces. Cases. Cwts. Chald. P. E. Island . . . , ^ 134 44 St. John’s, N.F.L. St. John’s, N.B. St. Andrew’s Halifax 6,635 1,954 47,857 12,048 950 1 Q OACk 328 290,000 24,750 2,500 50 3 11,609 56,446 1 32,238 328 317,250 134 44 50 11,612 MINES. 39 Value of Exports the produce of Mines, 1831. Gypsum . . 56,446 tons at 10^. . j£28,22S 0 0 Grindstones . 32,238 . . 30,s. . 48,357 0 0 Lime . . . 328 . . 10^. . 164 0 0 Bricks . . 317,250 . . 50^.per M. 792 0 0 Iron Castings 44 cases, 100^. . 220 0 0 134 pieces, 5s, . 33 10 0 Manganese . 53 cwts. 60^. . 150 0 0 Coals . . . 11,612 chald.25^. . 14,515 0 0 i^92,454 10 0 Sterling oC83,209 1 0 These exports give frieghts to about 80,000 tons of shipping annually. The mineral resources of the Northern Colonies have by no means been yet explored. Whatever in- deed is known has been less the result of inquiry, than of the voluntary, and almost obtrusive, disclosures of nature herself, who has scattered indications of these her gifts on the very surface of the land, and even on the shores of the sea, so that if the eye did not heed them, man’s foot would stumble where they lie. Enough, however, has been ascertained to make it unquestionable that the mines of these provinces are destined to become an immense and inexhaustible source of wealth and power. The island of Cape Breton, the eastern parts of Nova Scotia, the country between the Gulph of St. Lawrence and the river St. John’s, in New' Brunswick, the peninsula of Gaspe, in Lower Canada, contain beds of coal of vast extent; and in New'foundland, also, the u 40 MINES. same mineral is known to exist. Those veins which lie near to the surface have for some time been partially opened in various places, and in one or two the pits have been worked to some extent. But within a few years the General Mining Association of London have invested a large capital, about <£ 130,000, in the mines of Nova Scotia. Piers have been constructed, rail- roads laid down, steam-boats, mills, shops, and houses built, and every preparation made for prosecuting the enterprize on a large scale. About 500 men are al- ready employed in these mines. Coal, coke, tar, and iron, are the objects and produce of their labour. In the last year, 1832 , they shipped above 33,000 chal- dron of coal, and made about 2,500 of coke. Fifty vessels at a time have been seen waiting at the mines for freights ; and from the extension and improvement of their operations, the company expects, apparently with reason, to ship 100,000 chaldrons in the ensuing year. A Company of a similar nature has recently been established in New Brunswick, with a capital of £10,000, for working the mines at the head of the Grand Lake which communicates with the river St. John’s, and is navigable up to the very pits by vessels of 100 tons. These will probably be the means of supplying, not only the internal consumption of that province, but a considerable export to the eastern coasts of the United States. The duty at present levied by the Americans upon the importation of this mineral is 2 dollars and 16 cents, about 9,y. 8J. sterling, a chaldron. As they have little bituminous coal in that country, and other fuel is becoming scarce and dear, it is probable that this duty will be much reduced. MINES. 4*1 Indeed, late advices from that quarter state that in modifying their tariff, the rate upon coal, it was ex- pected, would be altered to 15 per cent, ad valorem^ or perhaps admitted free. Of the produce of the iron mines which exist at Marmora in Upper Canada, on the Saint Maurice, in Lower Canada, at Halifax, Annapolis, and Pictou, in Nova Scotia, and it may be to a small extent in some other places, no detailed accounts can here be given beyond those already inserted. They may, perhaps, one day, be the means of destroying the monopoly now enjoyed in this country by the Swedes, in the very important article of iron fit for the manufacture of steel, the production of which is here prevented by the want of wood for fuel ; and thus these Colonies would render for the second time, in a lesser degree, the same service they have already so eminently performed in timber and deals. The present discrimination in our duties in favour of Colonial iron amounts to £\ Is, Gd. per ton; the charge upon foreign being «£1 10^., upon Colonial 2s, Gd, This must produce its effect in time, which, however, it may be well worth while to accele- rate by the encouragement of an increased discrimi- nation. Specimens of rock salt have been found by the na- tives in New Brunswick; and salt springs exist there, in Nova Scotia, and in Upper Canada, and are very productive, some yielding nearly eight per cent, on evaporation by boiling. To how great an extent the manufacture is or might be carried on, has not been ascertained. There are, besides, a number of other minerals found 42 MINES. in these dominions, but their existence is as yet only a subject of curiosity, and of no importance to industry or commerce. Since the invention of the steam-engine, no mineral is more important to national wealth than coal, and since that engine has been made applicable to naviga- tion, no mineral is more important to national power. If, as seems most probable, naval conflicts are in future to be decided by the power of steam, which may be applied, not only to conduct the battery, but also to discharge projectiles, the political importance of these dominions to Great Britain begins to appear scarcely less striking in this respect, than it has hitherto proved by the shipping and seamen they have created. Those gigantic and earth-born machines, which at once sur- pass all human hands in precision and delicacy of labour, all animals in strength and docility, and the elements themselves in extent and rapidity of exertion, rivalling the winds, overcoming the waves, and making the depths of the earth accessible to man ; these engines may not only be composed here in all their parts and members, but also be furnished with that which gives them life and action, in unlimited and inexhaustible supplies. Nature and the arts have conspired to make the Gulph of St. Lawrence the seat of empire in America. Cape Breton is its gate and key ; Quebec, with its silvery spires and batteries con- fronting heaven, is the citadel ; and the towers along the steeps of Halifax, and cannon that bristle on the shore, guard the port and arsenal of Marine. Within reach, the commerce of the Atlantic is carried by, on the stream from the Gulph of Mexico, as on the bosom MINES. 43 of a river, as the commerce of the five great lakes will descend the broad St. Lawrence by the gatesof Q ue- bec. Cape Breton, Halifax, the islands of Grand Manan and Bermuda, not only secure the navigation of the ocean, but they shut up and form a chain of blockade along the whole American coast. Late be the necessity of exerting such a power again, as its former exercise was brief and successful 3 but it is only by such pledges that this country includes many people in her empire, and imposes the laws of industry and peace. As no portion of that empire is more important than this, so none might be rendered more secure. Great Britain may easily vanquish all her enemies in that quarter, only let her have the energy to defy them. Nothing is wanting to her means but the talent to understand them, and the spirit to exert : nothing is wanting, but the spirit of a Chatham in her councils, or of a Pitt, greater than his father. PRODUCE OF AGRICULTURE. Farinaceous, leguminous and fibrous plants, esculent roots and vegetables, some fruits, and the common herbage of the fields, with the cattle it supports, form the agricultural productions of the Canadian Provinces. As cultivation is every year extended, these produc- tions are yearly increasing ; still both tillage and pas- turage are as yet in general confined to the mere margin of rivers and roads, and other favourable situ- ations, and seen from any great eminence, the whole u 44 AGRICULTURE. culture appears but as lines and spots through the forest. With the assistance of the census, which has lately been taken in some districts, an attempt may be made to approximate towards a statement of the cultivation, stock, and produce, of all these Colonies ; and by an- nexing the accounts of exports, a general idea may be collected of their agricultural industry and resources. Census of the whole Produce and Stock in Agriculture of Lower Canada and Estimate of the other Provinces^ in 1831 .^ PRODUCE. STOCK. Wheat. Other Corn and Pulse. Potatoes. Horses. Neat Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Bushels, Bushels. Bushels. No. No. No. No. Upper Canada. . . . 1,702.328 2,601,025 3,678,208 58,343 144,853 271,171 147,568 Lower Canada. . . . 3,404,756 5,202,050 7,357,416 116,686 389,706 543,343 295,137 Prince Edward’s } Island ^ Newfoundland . . . 207,000 414,000 1,449,000 4,000 32,000 58,000 20,000 New Brunswick . . 150,000 300,000 712,500 2,100,000 4,997,500 11,000 91,000 143,000 59,000 Nova Scotia 356,250 17,000 151,000 231,000 97,000 5,820.334 9,229,575 29,581,924 207,029 808,559 1,246,514 618,705 * In this estimate the stock and produce of Upper Canada is assumed at one half those of the Lower Provinces, the population now bearing that proportion. Newfoundland is entirely omitted, for reasons before given. For the other Colonies, of the lands in cultivation, five per cent, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and ten in Prince Edward's Island, are sup- posed to be in wheat, and producing fifteen bushels an acre ; ten per cent, in other corn and pulse, at the same rate of production ; and fifteen per cent, in potatoes, at seventy bushels the acre : and the number of cattle is com- puted from the census of Nova Scotia in 1827, according to the supposed population at present existing in that province, in New Brunswick and Prince Edward’s Island. Produce of Agriculture exported to all parts in 1830 . J ! Apples. Barley, &c. Beef and Pork. Berries. Biscuit. Butter, Cheese, and Lard. Cattle. Flax and other Seeds. Flour. Hams and Tongues. Hides. Oat and other Meal. Tobacco. Vege- tables. Wheat. • • Barrels. ] 1,001 Minots, or bushels. 56,915 Barrels. 16,804 Gallons. Cwt. 9,932 lbs. 189,894 No. Bushels. 895 Barrels. 71,679 lbs. 42,529 No. Barrels. 2,422 lbs. 19,651 Bushels. Minots, or bushels. 590,101 P E Island r f - - * * 84,094 244 2,426 1,112 354 1,818 269 137,156 795 St. John’s, N.F.L. 14,855 1,060 130 St. John’s, N. B. 170 12,533 196 3,780 St. Andrew’s 286 199 175 1,480 1,286 208 2,900 Halifax 260 3,478 434 496 107,636 926 10 7 158,757 20 1,268 2,691 19,651 302,723 590,916 Total . . 1,261 144,943 17,247 15,351 10,107 313,969 3,324 1,101 72,033 44,347 C7l -4 Produce of Agriculture exported to all parts in 1831. Apples. Barley, &c. Beef and Pork. Berries. Biscuit. Butter, &c. Cattle. Flax and other Seeds. Flour. Hams and Tongues. Hides. Oat and . other Meal. Tobacco. Vege- tables. Wheat. Quebec Barrels. 852 MinotSjOr bushels. 53,581 Barrels. 14,309 Gallons. Cwt. 7,210 lbs. 41,190 No. 16 Bushels. 70 Barrels. 81,114 lbs. 94 ^90 No. Barrels. 728 lbs. 35,607 Bushels. Minots, or bushels. 882 1,329,269 P. E. Island 134,457 408 5,694 1,551 1,292 2,296 894 216,749 11,749 St. John’s, N.F.L. 5,160 1,120 500 St. John’s, N. B. . . 820 138 21,943 2,719 St. Andrew’s 446 6 2,924 81 226 1,573 Halifax 248 25,258 1,087 112 85,724 407 5 QH/1 1 O A 146,727 OU4 loU 260 Total . . 1,100 214,562 15,802 5,272 7,348 157,475 2,055 75 82,406 26,816 1,650 1,802 35,607 369,150 1,341,278 AGRICULTURE. 47 Value of Exports^ the produce of Agriculture in 1831. Apples . . . 1,001 at 15s. per bbl. . . . £750 15 0 Barley, &c. . 214,562 . . 3s. per bushel . . 32,184 6 0 Beef and Pork 15,802 . . 60s. per bbl. . . . 47,406 0 0 Berries . . . 5,272 . . Is. per gallon 263 12 0 Biscuits . . . 7,348 . . 17s. 6d. per cwt. . . 6,429 10 0 Butter . . 157,475 . . Is. per lb. . . . 7,873 15 0 Cattle . . . 2,055 . . lOOs. per head . . . 10,275 0 0 Flax seed 75 . . 5s. per bushel . 18 15 0 Flour . . . . 82,406 . . 35s. per bbl. . . . 144,210 10 0 Hams, &c. . 26,816 , . 9d. per lb. . . 1,005 12 0 Hides . . . 1,650 . . 20s. each . . . . 1,650 0 0 Meal . . . . 1,802 . . 20s. per bbl. . . . 1,802 0 0 Tobacco . 35,607 . . 6d. per lb. . . . 3 6 Vegetables . 369,150 . . Is. 6d. per bushel . . 27,686 5 0 Wheat . , 1,341,278 . , . 6s. 8d. do. do. . . . 447,092 13 4 £729,538 16 10 Sterling, £ 656,584 19 2 As a comparison has above been instituted with the United States, in exports, the produce of forests, the same may here be pursued in those of agriculture. In this, it is of course to be expected, that the Americans should have greatly the advantage. But there are allowances to be made, which will not only diminish that advantage, but even turn it against them. Value of Exports^ the Produce of Agictilture, exported from the United States to all parts in the years^ 1830. 1831. Dollars. Dollars. Cotton 29,674,883 25,289,492 All other 17,304,449 21,971,941 Value of all exports, the produce of agriculture, except cotton, sterling, £4,943,686 15 0 • Official Returns, Hinton and Reuss. a ;l 48 AGRICULTURE. ) ■ ! \ r' It appears, therefore, that if cotton, which cannot grow in the Northern Colonies, be excepted, the whole American exports of agricultural produce bear the proportion of little more than seven and a half to one of the Canadian, though population is ten to one greater in the United States ; that is, combining these proportions, agricultural production, (with the above exception,) appears by returns of exports, as four to three in favour of the Colonies. The climate and soil of dominions so vast must of course be various, and the difference is frequently ex- treme between places of no great distance. In general, however, it may be said, that the lower districts, nearer the sea, though of excellent soil, and eminently capa- ble of producing hemp, flax, seeds, and the coarser kinds of corn, will probably never be very abundant in any but the spring-wheat ; unless, perhaps, in Prince Edward’s Island, and it may be in some other situa- tions peculiariy favoured, where by a singular excep- tion the general rigour of the winter seems much re- laxed. But, in the interior, and especially in the w^estern districts of the country, where the climate is more equable and temperate, and the fertility of the land more uniform and luxuriant, not only the produc- tions just mentioned, but wheat and tobacco of the finest quality, and to an almost unlimited extent, may be grown, and must one day form a principal staple of exportation. Indeed, in these two articles, there al- ready exists a very considerable trade, they being almost the only agricultural productions which can, under existing duties, be sent to the United Kingdom. And as this trade has been, if not created, yet within AGRICULTURE. 49 the six last years greatly advanced, by the Colonial System, and is thereby, if further pursued, capable of effecting the most important results, let a brief sketch be given of its progress hitherto, and its pros- pects for the future. The only protection formerly given to colonial and also to Irish corn, was in the average price at which importation was permitted for home consumption, and that price was (by the stat. 21 Geo.?, c. 30,) in 1791, but two shillings lower than the average at which foreign corn was admitted, the duty on both being the same, viz. 2i i :u li i: FISHERIES. vent his subjects from interrupting in any manner, by their competition, the fishery of the French, during the temporary exercise of it granted to them on the coasts of Newfoundland ; that the settlements w/tic/i shall be formed'' should be removed ; the French un- interrupted in cutting wood for repairing their scaf- folds, huts, and vessels; and that the thirteenth article of the treaty of Utrecht, and the method of carrying on the fishery, which had at all times been acknow- ledged, should be the plan upon which the fishery should be carried on there : the French fishermen building only their scaffolds^ confining themselves to the repair of their fishing vessels, and not wintering there ; and the British not molesting in any manner the French during their fishing, nor injuring their scajfolds during their absence : and that the fishery betiveen the islands of St, Pierre and Miquelon (ceded to France), and Newfoundland, should be limited to the middle of the channel. With this. His Most Christian Majesty, in a counter declaration, stated himself to be perfectly satisfied : adding, that in regard to the fishery between the island of Newfoundland and those of St, Pierre and Miquelon, it is not to be carried on by either party, but to the middle of the channel ; and his Majesty will give the most positive orders that the French fishermen shall not go beyond this line. His Majesty is firmly persuaded that the King of Great Britain will give like orders to the English fishermen. By the treaty of Utrecht, the French possessions in Newfoundland were ceded to Great Britain, and the French were to be allowed to catch and dry fish on that part of the island which stretches from Cape Bo- FISHERIES. 75 navista, round the northern extremity, and down the western side as far as Point Riche ; with the privilege of erecting, on that part of the coast, stages and huts necessary and useful for drying their fish, during the fishing season. In neither of these treaties or declarations, it is con- ceived, is there any stipulation for an exclusive fishery on the coasts of Newfoundland, nor can even any such implication be deduced from the terms employed, nor any presumption raised that such was probably the intention of the high contracting parties. On the con- trary, where even a pretension of that kind was enter- tained by France herself, she seems to have been suffi- ciently careful and explicit in the terms used to record it ; viz. — in regard to the fishery between Newfound- land and St, Pierre and Miquelon : that it was not to be carried on by either party but to the middle of the channel^ and the French would give, and trusted Great Britain also would give, orders to that effect. It is true that acts of parliament were passed after the treaties of 1783 and 1814 (28 Geo. 3, c. 35, and 5 Geo. 4, c. 51), enabling his Majesty to remove, if it should be necessary, all stages and other ivorks, erected by British subjects for the purpose of fishing, between Cape St, John and Cape Raye, and also all their ships, vessels and boats found within those limits ; and subjecting those who refused to depart, when required, to a penalty of o£"200, if prosecuted within twelve months. But these statutes are expressly declared to be passed for enabling his Majesty to fulfil the pur- poses of treaties, and to make such regulations as were expedient respecting the fishery. A similar power of 76 FISHERIES. i~- removing persons is also given by the 59 Geo. 3, c. 38, passed to enable his Majesty to fulfil the Convention of 1818 v^'ith the Americans; yet that government has never imagined itself to possess, in consequence, any exclusive rights. It is evident that the only object of these statutes, as far as affects the present question, was to enable his Majesty the better to fulfil that part of the treaty and declaration, (if indeed the latter was not a voluntary act, and excluded from the treaty, that it might not be obligatory or irrevocable,) as to the preventing British subjects from interrupting the French, and to obviate “ the inconvenience which might arise from competition,” as the title of the first mentioned statute expresses it ; and if the statute has any further extent, it is with respect to France purely gratuitous, and can never have the construction or effect of enlarging a treaty with a foreign power. The very word competition,^' which so frequently occurs in these acts and treaties or declarations, implies the exercise of a concurrent fishery; and every provision made that the French might not be interrupted, shows that the British were not to be excluded, as their pre- sence and concurrence alone could create any fear of interruption. On moving and explaining the first of these acts, in 1783, Mr. Pitt expressly declared in the House of Commons, that there was no engagement to give France an exclusive fishery, within the limits assigned ; dwelling upon the distinction between that sort of con- currence which molested, or tended to molest, and that which did not. The original contract of the treaty of Utrecht seems never to have been considered, by either FISHERIES. 77 party, to have ceded any exclusive fishery. It was treated as a concurrent right in the complaints of the French ambassador in the year 1764, as is believed, and, as is evident, it was so treated by the Board of Trade in their instructions the year after, founded upon those complaints. There is, indeed, in the ex- pressions of the treaty of 1814, something so loose and indefinite, that France may possibly found her present claim either upon the terms of former conven- tions, or upon the actual possession and condition in which she held this fishery in 1792. If she stands upon her former right, the terms of treaties already cited appear a sufficient answer. If it be her actual possession in 1792, on which she rests her pretensions, it is a fact, which may be asserted without fear of con- tradiction, that neither then, nor at any previous time, since the treaty of Utrecht, had France an exclusive fishery within the limits assigned to her, but a concur- rent right was condnually claimed, and exercised, by the British fishermen. The most singular part of the question is, that Great Britain, by the convention of 1818, conceded to the United States the liberty of taking fish, in common with British subjects, within the greatest portion of the limits assigned to the French in 1814; which liberty, when infringed upon by the French, was de- fended by the Americans with armed ships, and is now peaceably and concurrently exercised by them both. Thus, it seems, we may grant to others what we might not have used ourselves ; and while we are perplexed for arguments to prove our right to our own waters and dominions, the portion which has been Oi 78 i ' i: ■k ku f'! j rj ik FISHERIES. ceded to another power is without hesitation asserted and established by force. It is however to be observed, that these claims and incroachments of the French were made under the dynasty of the elder Bourbons, always considered more ambitious of extending the colonial and maritime power of their kingdom, than scrupulous as to the means. But since, under the liberal principles of the Revolu- tion, the best understanding now so happily prevails between that Government and our own, it will not, it is hoped, be difficult to induce France to waive so futile a pretension, and cease to molest and annoy our fishermen upon our own coasts, engaged irr the most harmless and useful occupation of multiplying the com- forts of life and the means of subsistence. To these disadvantages of the British fishery, from concession and interruption, others have been added, by the high duties imposed on our fish in France, the United States, and some other countries; most of which would undoubtedly have been too happy to have reduced those impositions, as a purchase either of the fishery in our waters, or of the abatements lately made in our duties upon their productions. But, ap- parently, it has been thought more politic, or more dignified, first to make the concession on our part gratuitously, and expect, on theirs, a gratuitous return. Nor is this the worst. The prevailing theory of trade is not only opposed to stipulating for new markets, but utterly indifferent to those already possessed. By an unsolicited change of the wine duties, by charging the rate not according to the value, but according to mea- sure and quantity, (an apparently equal, but really t FISHERIES. 79 unfair, discrimination in favour of foreigners, who exclude our manufactures, and of that class among ourselves, which is least engaged in their production, and best able to bear the burthen of taxation), by thus discouraging an old ally, and repulsing a constant customer to the amount of of2,000,000 yearly, for the sake of alluring one who wants nothing of us, buys but about the annual amount of c£400,000, and pretends to rival us in every industry, and oppose in every ad- vancement ; by this policy, in addition to many other evil consequences, we have now incurred the risk of losing the only foreign market, in which the British fishermen were received with favour. Portusal has hitherto allowed in her duties a discrimination of fifteen per cent, to the preference of British fish, of which, in consequence, some S or 400,000 of quintals have been annually sold im her harbours. That this preference will still be continued is uncertain and im- probable; if it be, the British fisheries will in future be indebted for it rather to the forbearance of a foreign government, than to the fostering care of our own. It has lately been asserted, on high authority, that this preference was of no advantage. Maxims, which would speedily bring a counting-house to bankruptcy, are expected to lead a great empire to wealth and happiness. Among so many more legitimate subjects of complaint, it seems scarce worth the while to mention the with- drawing of bounties on the British fisheries, and their continuance to the French and American. The effect of this circumstance has been something mitigated by Cl if i i k fti \ f i - M i I 80 FISHERIES. small colonial bounties, which some of the local legisla- tures have granted, in order to sustain their share of the fishery in the Gulph of St. Lawrence ; but these are expenses, which they now appear, either willing to abandon, or unable to support. Notwithstanding all these causes of regret, it is a subject of congratulation, that the British colonial fisheries have, by unwearied industry and enterprise, been so far sustained, as still not only to equal the pro- duction of either of their rivals, but even to surpass that of both of them together. If the internal con- sumption of fish in North American colonies may be taken at 350,000 quintals, the export, on the average of late years being about a million, an aggregate is made exceeding both the quantity caught by the French, which is stated by their government to be 245,000, and the quantity caught in the Gulph by the Americans, which is estimated at 1,100,000 quintals. If the quan- tities exported, by each of the three competitors, be regarded as the criterion of their profit from the fisheries, the comparison is still more favourable to the British ; the whole export of the Americans appear- ing under 250,000, which added to the French would still make less, by from 3 to 500,000, than the quantity yearly exported from the northern colonies. If the fisheries be estimated according to the values above given to the British and American, and the French dried fish be appraised at their average price in France, and the oil they make, may in the absence of all accounts be assumed to be equal to 750 tuns, the amount fished up annually by each, and all these three i D TRADE AND NAVIGATION. 81 powers, from the w'aters of British America, will stand thus — British fishery . <£834,182 American . . 552,500 French . . . 261,875 <£1,648,557 TRADE AND NAVIGATION. In reviewing the progress and present state of the northern colonial commerce, and of the shipping it employs, some former period must be selected for a term and measure of comparison, and none appears so proper as the year 1806. It was, in fact, from that date that the colonial system, which had been inter- mitted during the war, was restored, after the hostili- ties, waged by some countries, against the power, by others against the commerce of Great Britain, had given her the severest lesson of the miseries and dangers of foreign dependence. In 1807, the Americans, in their wisdom, as the phrase is of their public acts, interdicted all intercourse with the Bri- tish dominions, and renounced the commerce of the sea. The intercourse between the northern and southern colonies immediately revived. War with Prussia had preceded this, war with Denmark followed, and the ascendancy of France, and the extension of the continentcil system throughout the north of Europe, caused such embarrassment and dismay in this country, that its ministers seem to have resolved nevei* again to G I i ' S2 TRADE AND NAVIGATION. suffer it to depend upon precarious sources of supply for articles of the first necessity. To the continental system of France, and the non-intercourse of America, was opposed the colonial system of Great Britain, and it discomfited both. For these reasons only compari- sons are here instituted with the epoch of 1806 , which also represents a fair average of several preceding years. The most accurate criterion, as well as the most in- teresting view, of the increase in trade of these provinces, is that presented by returns of the tonnage, employed by their exports. Wherever further accounts of quantities or value could be found they are here inserted, under distinct heads of the several divisions of Canadian commerce, with the United Kingdom, with the British West Indies and other possessions, with foreign countries, or, among the northern colonies with each other. This, however, should be preceded by a statement of the registered tonnage, owned in each colony, at the respective periods of comparison. t ! 1 1 i L‘- IM I The Registered Tonnage of the Northern Colonies in the yearsy 1805.* 1806 * 1830.f 1831 t Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 292 15,874 1,234 291 17,583 1,062 332 28,372 347 30,975 P. E. Island 18 957 51 17 896 46 130 7,491 135 7,661 St. John’s, N. F. L. 169 7,756 1,083 178 9,011 842 477 29,931 498 31,446 St. John^s, N. B. -I 297 29,275 300 32,406 and > St. Andrew’s . . . . j 133 12,979 895 112 12,371 724 95 8,755 93 7,407 Halifax 761 38,933 3,641 667 32,082 2,384 1,226 72,216 1,299 83,981 1,373 76,474 6,904 1,265 71,943 8,058 2,557 176,040 2,672 193,876 • Moreauj t Official returns^ TRADE AND NAVIGATION, u HOME TRADE TRADE WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM. Of all by far tbe most important is the home trade with the Mother-Country, which affords not only the best, but almost the only, market for the staple productions of these Colonies, and returns what they would be unable to purchase in any other manner, nor perhaps procure at all, unless indeed a change of policy in the Imperial Government should drive them to manufacture for themselves. The following accounts will exhibit the value and the amount of this intercourse, at the former period just mentioned, and at the present time. Official Value of the Imports to and Exports from the United Kingdo?n to and from the Northern Colonies,^ Exports. Imports, British. 1805 1806 298,515 649,042 196,020 865,311f 330,092 746,129 191,425 950,662f 1,149,146 1,874,868 257,113 2,131,981 1,265,849 2,315,765 303,797 2,619,563 1830. 1831. * Official Returns. t The total of the two years 1805 and 1806, comprehends the exports to Hudson’s Bay, not included in the divisions, of British and Foreign articles. HOME TRADE. 85 Quantities and Real Value of the Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom exported to the Nor them Colonies ^ 1830.* Quantity. Declared Value, Cotton 11,434,448 £.349,256 Earthenware 2,299,720 33,177 Glass 17,326 60,234 Do 583 Hardware and cutlery, cwts. 23,923 110,185 Iron and steel 7,879 98,582 Leather 410,019 65,247 Linen manufactures, . .yds. 2,215,109 81,960 Salt . bushels 1,331,564 .21,941 Silk manufactures . , , . .value • * * 71,613 Soap and candles . . . ....lbs. 1,157,667 27,693 Woollen manufactures, pieces 74,771 244,372 Do 1,052,411 _ _ 67,523 All other articles — . . value .... 594,767 \£.1,827,133 Timber and Ashes exported from . the Northern Colonies to the United Kingdom* 1806. 1830. Ashes 31,359 200,585 Battens 8 953 Deals 693 19,652 Lathw’ood . . . . . . fathoms 0 5,415 Masts, &c. under 12 inches. 554 3,655 Masts, &:c. of and over 12 X 224 1,297 inches ... 3 Oak plank . . 0 83 Staves 13,888 50,255 Timber . . . . 15,149 385,472 * Official Returns. I k; f ‘ V. L i ) 86 HOME TRADE. Other Articles, 1806. 1830. Butter and Cheese. . . . lbs. 0 134 Corn, wheat 9,787 58,963 other 0 2,649 Flour and meal . . , , . cwts. 45 61,916 Furs . 455,828 599,681 Hides 4,034 1,052 Oil, Castor 687 39,408 Do. Fish 5,920 10,500 Do 2 271 Do 114 69 Seeds bushels 4,467 3,138 Skins 0 30 Do 130,808 384,922 Tobacco 0 33,899 Wax 0 104 Whale fins . cwts. 13 89 In giving accounts of the navigation employed in the trade of the Northern Colonies, it should be remem- bered, that, unless where otherwise specified, the whole tonnage mentioned is of British shipping, with the ex- ception of a single foreign ship from Quebec to the United Kingdom in the year 1820. Number (f Ships i Tons, and Men, employed in the Trade of the Northern Colonies with the United K ingdom* 1805. 1806. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 69 14,139 69 15,076 87 20,404 79 19,041 P. E Island 1 100 1 121 6 1,572 29,669 St.John’s, N. F. L. 215 28,901 116 12,386 225 131 14,717 St. John’s, N. B. T St. Andrew’s . . J 17 3,679 15 3,687 19 5,505 23 6,818 Halifax 41 7,934 44 9,824 68 15,413 55 11,836 343 54,753 245 41,394 405 72,563 288 53,412 Report of the Committee on the Timber Trade, 1821. 00 •a HOME TRADE, Number of Ships, Tons, and Men, employed in the Trade of the British Northern Colonies with the United 1830. 1881. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Sliips. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 738 205,659 9,319 859 238,273 10,643 887 249,'340 11,266 918 257,997 11,578 P. E. Island 33 7,199 889 30 6,149 292 26 5,091 280 24 5,257 240 St. John’s, N.F.L. 251 84,908 2,001 177 21,440 1,205 257 34,704 2,024 164 19,728 1,203 St. John’s, N.B... 499 149,266 6,825 575 170,521 7,686 423 128,669 5,840 482 148,951 6,458 St. Andrew’s 68 19,414 895 78 19,701 896 44 12,949 617 58 16,112 745 Halifax 107 1 28,545 1,326 97 24,800 1,125 95 27,363 1,288 67 19,184 968 Total. . . . 1796 445,086 20,705 1811 480,884 21,797|1648 443,795 20,491 1661 458,455' 20,656 CO 00 Official Returns. HOME TRADE, HOME TRADE. 89 Great and surprising as these numbers must appear, this trade is far from what it might speedily become. A glance at the map is sufficient to demonstrate that the main natural outlet, as well of the American Medi- terranean waters, as of the exports borne over their surface, is through the banks of the St. Lawrence, and beneath the walls of Quebec. These advantages of nature have already been vastly improved, and will soon be perfected, by stupendous works of art, which at once secure the defence of the country in war, and facilitate the labours and intercourse of peace. The immense and fertile regions in the interior are rapidly becoming peopled by emigrants from these kingdoms. The neighbouring states of Western America are already for advanced in population and production ; and the canals which they are opening from the val- leys of the Ohio and Mississippi to the Lakes, will ren- der the St. Lawrence the great channel of communica- tion with the whole interior of the northern continent. THE WEST INDIA TRADE. The intercourse between the West Indian or southern colonies, and the northern or Canadian, ranks next, though far inferior, in importance to the trade of each with the United Kingdom. The following are such statistics as could be collected of the commercial ex- change, and of the tonnage employed, between these two divisions of the empire, during the same years^ 1830 1831, compared with the period of 1806. 90 WEST INDIA TRADE. Exports f rom the Northern to the Southern Colonies in Corn 1806.* 2,578 Bread and Flour , , . 1,176 Beef and Pork 1,535 Fish 113,961 Do 36,741 Butter... 337 Cattle 2 Boards 811,315 Shingles 295,225 Staves 327,326 0 Hoops Imports into the Northern Colonies of the principal articles of West Indian production in 1806.* 1831. t Sugar lbs. 1,805,590 Molasses gals. 163,107 Coffee lbs. 66,375 Rum gals. 888,706 * Official Returns, Edwards’ West Indies. t All endeavours to procure returns for 1831 have proved unavailing. Colonial journals, however, give the following account of imports into Que- bec, Halifax, and St. John’s, N. B. From St. John’s, N. F. L., P. E. Island, and St. Andrew’s, no accounts have been received. Imported into Quebec, Halifax, and St»John*s, N» B.,in 1831 * Sugar lbs. 11,367,083 Molasses gals. 789,186 Coffee lbs. 230,540 Rum gals. 2,568,741 Number of Ships ^ Tons and Men employed in the Trade of the Northern with the Sotithern Colonies in the Years 1805, 1806.* 1805. 1806. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships* Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 21 2,927 12 1 17 2,386 13 1,787 P. E. Island St. John’s, N. F.L. 48 4,950 51 5,715 47 4,950 54 6,463 St. John’s and St. Andrew’s, N. B. 14 1,540 22 3,296 15 1,682 25 4,442 Halifax 42 4,641 50 55,79 44 4,405 69 7,992 Total. . . . 125 13,858 135 16,211 123 13,423 141 20,684 ^ Official Returns. WEST INDIA TRADE. Number of Ships, Tons and Men employed in the Trade of the Northern with the Southern Colonies g in the Years 1830, 1831. 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 63 9,710 529 57 8,113 453 57 7,940 443 54 7,259 417 P. E. Island 6 696 37 9 878 49 4 594 29 4 373 20 St. John’s, N.F.L. 83 8,826 582 93 10,628 688 54 5,605 379 71 7,821 515 St. John’s, N. B.. . 75 14,530 665 60 10,334 501 39 6,819 308 64 10,869 512 St. Andrew’s .... 90 16,871 809 150 26,180 1,319 56 9,739 456 100 17,997 859 Halifax 304 30,980 1,806 317 32,356 1,979 276 27,843 1,621 296 30,577 2,751 Total. . . . 621 81,613 4,428 686 88,486 4,989 486 58,540 3,236 589 75,896 5,074 WESl' INDIA trade!. WEST INDIA TRADE. 93 As upon comparing, in the last tables, the year 180G with the year 1830, the effects of adhering to the Colonial System may be understood, so by comparing the trade of 1830 with that of the succeeding year, may be seen some of the consequences of the vacilla- tion and change of that system, in consequence of the late arrangement with the American Government, and the revocation of the Order in Council of 1826, to which, Mr. Huskisson is reported to have said, that sooner than set his hand, he would have cut it off, and cast it from him. Under the protection of that order, the British tonnage employed in this trade from the Northern to the Southern Colonies had increased from 36,082 tons, in the year 1825, to 105,436 in 1829. View of the Trade between the Northern and Southern Colonies at the several periods of 1825, (when the Americans were admitted mider the 6 Geo. IV» c. 114), q/ 1828 and 1829, (when they were excluded under the Order in Council in 1826), and of 1831, (when they ivere admitted by the revocation of that order in November, 1830.) Inwards. Outwards. 182 . 5 * ... Ships. , ... 327 Tons. 37,654 Ships. 315 Tons. 36,082 1828 t . • • ,...679 78,601 727 96,731 1829 t . . . . ...745 93,221 807 105,436 1830 t ... . .. .768 95,205 743 95,196 1831 *.., , .. .486 58,540 589 75,896 ♦ Official Returns. t The account of the three years is taken from the late Parliamentarr Report on the West India Colonies, and differs somewhat from other official statements. 94' WEST INDIA TRADE. The effect of the arrangement with the United States was felt in the latter part of 1830, by the sudden repeal of the American restrictions, and the revocation of the Order in Council, which immediately followed, must have come into operation with the year 1831. The consequences have been all that were foreseen and told, on the part of the northern colonists. In the first nine months of the last mentioned year, 30,000 tons of American shipping, and but 15,000 British, were em- ployed from the United States to the British West Indies outwards, and the same amount of American, and but 20,000 ^t^ynwards ; * a proportion of three to two in the fe«ner^ and two to one in the^KwetTin favour of the Americans. The intercolonial trade, it is seen, has declined above one-fourth. The West Indies have found their supplies neither better, nor more abundant, nor cheaper. Prices have nominally been nothing lower, and really have been much higher ; for the Americans have taken little in return but specie from the West Indies, and as that exportation depre- ciates the prices of all their own productions, it must be the same thing in this respect, whether the price of what they buy rises, or the price of what they sell de- clines. The real character of such a measure, as well as of the contrary policy, may, perhaps, admit of the fol- lowing illustration. That there are, among the native tribes of Canada, persons of great sagacity, has often been remarked ; but some of them have also a degree nf information fai beyond the curiosity they discover for acquiring it, or the means they are believed to possess. In particular, the relations of this country * President’s Message. WEST INDIA TRADE. 95 with the United States, seem to be understood by them quite as well, at least, as by some, in whom such know- ledge was more requisite. To a Chief of this charac- ter, a man grave in years and wisdom, a traveller was recently explaining the terms of the commercial ar- rangement above mentioned, and recapitulated the inducements offered on the part of the Americans, and the advantages conceded on ours. The old man, with a slight expression of scorn, succeeded by a deep sigh, answered, ‘ The Americans, brother, treat your mi- ^ nisters, as they do our hunters. In purchasing furs ‘ of us, they bring very good scales, but have often Most or forgotten the weights. On such occasions, ^ they assure us that their right foot weighs just a ^ pound, and their right hand half a pound. * Verily the Americans are a wise people, and if ^ there be truth in the tradition of our fathers, so are ^ the Beavers. For the Beavers on a certain stream are ^ said to have once proposed, in a treaty with the Fish, ^ that the Beavers, on their part, should have free ‘ liberty to enter and use the waters, and the Fish, on ‘ theirs, to come on shore. Nothing could appear to * be more reciprocal, nothing more strictly mutual. ^ Some old Sea-fish, indeed, had got an idea that it * might intercept the communication between them and ^ their young fry, in the lakes above ; but all the Gud- ‘ geons. Boobies, Noddies, to a great majority, were in ‘ favour of the bargain, being principally directed by ‘ certain Flat-fish, who having always been in the ‘ habit of creeping to the bottom, which they justly ‘ said was a mere continuation of the shore, professed ^ some experience of this measure, and declared that WEST INDIA TRADE. ‘ by such a treaty, food would be obtained, cheaper and ^ better, and more abundant. The treaty was accept- ^ ed ; the Beavers entered, dammed the stream, and ^ preyed upon the Fish. But what advantage the Fish ^ derived from the reciprocity on their part, remains to ‘ be discovered.’ And how, he was asked, should the American pro- positions have been treated, by your advice? The Chief cast his eyes a moment on the ground, and replied in another apologue. ' A Bee-hive being in commotion, the Wasps in the ^ neighbourhood sent to offer their assistance, urging that ‘ they could work cheaper than the Bees, and carry hea- ' vier burthens, and fly faster, and were, besides, ori- ‘ ginally of the same family, differing only in the ‘ length of their bodies, and the twang of their voice. ‘ And certain Drones supported the proposition, being of ‘ opinion, that over-production was the great evil, and to ' find consumers, the chief want in the economy of Bee- hives ; and they said that it was an intercourse which ^ God and nature had willed, and that either the Wasps ^ would work for nothing, or, if paid, take honey in ‘ return, to get rid of which was the object, no matter ^ who took it. Let the Drones turn out, cried the Queen-Bee, and the Wasps never enter; for what- evei oui cai 1 ici s consume, supports the common ‘ race, whatever they lay up, increases the common ' stock ; and though they may fly slower, or go further, ^ and carry dearer, yet do they bear, not burthens only, ‘ but stings, to be used against the Wasps. But this ‘ hive is too small for our numbers, and we must send ‘ forth a swarm.’ WEST INDIA TRADE. 97 It must not, however, be forgotten, that it seems never to have been the intention of the late administra- tion, tliat the opening of the Colonial trade to the Ame- ricans should operate as a sole and separate measure ; but coupled with a revision of the act 6 Geo. 4, c. 114, and of Mr. Iluskisson’s schedule, which experience had proved utterly inefficient, and in many respects prejudicial to the objects there proposed. Some pro- gress liad been made in this revision, when the present ministers succeeding to office, other alterations were made, no way objectionable, but one the most deplor- able, and, it is conceived, injurious, viz. limiting the new and only efficient protecting duties to the years 1834 and 36. Thus, though change, and fluctuation, and uncertainty, have been not the least among the evils heretofore complained of in this intercourse, those evils are repeated and prolonged, even in its final adjust- ment ; and though the experience of ten years has demonstrated the inefficiency of the former schedule, to that the trade seems in a short time doomed to return. An interesting statement of the results of the recent arrangement has lately appeared in the American journals. The diligence and minuteness with which that government collects and examines statistics, and the sagacity of their inferences therefrom, seem to evince that they choose rather to deduce principles from facts, than to defy facts to differ from principles, and may, perhaps, serve also to explain their uniform success in negotiating commercial arrangements. The following is a summary of principal facts in the statement just mentioned. H 98 WEST INDIA TRADE. Tonnage from the United States to the British West Indies* British. American. Average of 1858, 1859, and 1830 (the Bahamas only being open) 104 5,565 Year 1831 (all the Colonial ports open) 17,903 40,955 Tonnage from the United States to the British, Swedish, and Danish West Indies, and to the Northern Colonies* Average of 1828, 1829, Year 1831 ending 30th and 1830 (the Baha- September (all the Co- - mas only being open.) lonial ports open.) British. American. British. American, British West Indies 104 5,565 17,903 40,955 Danish do 153 59,085 41,730 Swedish do 54,419 117 7,199 N. A. Colonies , . 11,831 91,539 74,776 79,364 The only conclusion to be drawn with any certainty from these statements appears to be, that as the decline in the American trade to the neutral islands is of 34,575 tons, and the increase to the British islands is 35,660, they have merely transferred the destination, without making much addition, to their shipping em- ployed in the West India trade. The effect of which, therefore, upon British tonnage, would be only to put out of employment an equal amount heretofore engaged in carrying supplies from the neutral islands to our own. Whether this account, which appears to be official, be correct in other respects, no means of ascertaining are at hand, but as far as relates to the trade with the Northern Colonies, it differs widely from the following return of the British customs ; though that difference 1 WEST INDIA TRADE. 99 may partly be accounted for, by the different periods taken in the respective countries for the termination of the year. Tonnage between the British Northern Colonies and the United States, 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. British Vessels ,, Foreign do..,.. Tons. 32,809 52,804 Tons. 20,755 54,633 Tons, 36,307 16,567 Tons. 27,182 15,724 It may be suggested, as an approximation to accu- racy, that this account should be substituted for that of the American statement, as far as relates to the trade with the Northern Colonies : but unfortunately for this purpose, the year 1830 in the British returns ends with the 31st of December in that year, and consequently includes three months after the American ports were thrown open. If, however, it be permitted to adopt the average for the years 1828, 29, and 30, from the American statement, in which the year ending with the 30th September excludes those three months, and assume 11,831 tons to be the amount of British ton- nage departing yearly from the United States to those Colonies before the late arrangement, and then take our own returns for the year 1831 as correct, it will thus be found, that British tonnage has gained in the direct intercourse between the Northern Colonies and the United States 24,476 tons, which is 5,064 tons H 2 a 100 * WEST INDIA TRADE. less than the quantity lost in the trade between the Northern and Southern Colonies ; and the Americans have, according to the above return of the British Cus- toms, lost in their intercourse with the Northern Co- lonies 36,237 tons, of which all over the amount gained by British shipping in the same trade may be attributed to accidental or irrelative causes. Of the 29,540 tons British lost in the inter-colonial trade, 17,799 seem to have been compensated by so much British shipping from the United States to the West Indies, and the remaining 11,741 may represent the deficiency of sup- plies said to be felt in the West Indies since the open- ing of the ports. Upon the whole, therefore, from the foregoing state- ments, the account of profit and loss may be stated thus : — In the Trade between the Northern and Southern Colonies The Northern and the Uni- ted States The Southern and the United States The Southern and Foreign Islands Total . . . Nett . . . . British Navigation. American Navigation. Gained. Lost. Gained. Lost. 29,540 24,476 36,237 17,799 34,575 35,660 42,275 64,115 42,275 35,660 36,237 35,660 21,840 577 WEST INDIA TRADE. 101 Such have been the results to British navigation and colonial industry and trade. That the reduction has not been far greater is un- doubtedly owing to the more efficient protection given by the new schedule ; that the reduction has been so great, is as evidently due to that schedule’s being tem- porary ; the Americans forbearing to begin, and the Canadians afraid to prosecute, a trade, which will soon become, so much more favourable to the former, and prejudicial to the latter. It is earnestly to be hoped that His Majesty’s go- vernment may be induced to recall this subject to their attention, and inquire whether the present rate of pro- tection given to the Northern Colonists in the ports of the Southern be equal to that which the Southern enjoy in the ports of the Northern ; and if upon such inquiry the latter be found to amount to 18, 25 , and 34 per cent, upon the value of the principal articles, while the former is from 11 to 13, and in no case higher than 20; and that the protection to the Southern is perma- nent, but that to the Northern is to be reduced in 1834, and reduced again still further in 1836; whether, with- out dealing unfairly and unequally between the Canadas and the West Indies, the wood and corn of the one may not be deemed worthy of the same measure of protection, as the rum and sugar of the other ; or, if it be too much to ask, that they should be equal in amount, whether, at least, the present inequality ought to be further increased by the limitations and grada- tions now approaching. If there be any principle of justice and impartiality observed in this subject, or any respect to the maritime policy of the empire, seeing u 102 WEST INDIA TRADE. that it is upon the Northern exports that the shipping depend for employment, surely the British Canadian provinces are intitled to ask that the present protecting duties should be continued. There has lately been submitted to the Board of Trade, to Parliament, and the public, a collection of Statements and Calculations relative to the West India Colonies^' in which are some representations of the trade between them and the Northern provinces, of a nature too extraordinary to be here passed without remark. The facts upon which these representations are founded, are not only much at variance with the advices received from Canada, but are scarcely less in- consistent with themselves, and are applied to prin- ciples which may be retorted with irresistible force against those from whom they emanate. First, with regard to prices (Statements, pages 15 and 16): cod fish is represented as 10 per cent, cheaper in New York than at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Committee of the House of Commons, in their late report on the West India Colonies, take notice of this, and confess it difficult to be reconciled with the fact, that colonial fish is sent even to Brazil, and there competes with the same article from New York; but the Committee ap- pears not to have been aware of several other important facts, and among them of this, that colonial fish is sent in considerable quantities from Halifax to New York, and that too under a duty of one dollar a quintal, and of a dollar and a half a barrel. But, in the State- ments and Calctilations,'' the price of cod fish in New York is made 85 . \ \d, sterling a quintal, by computing dollars at Id , ; while the prices current of fish a"t WEST INDIA TRADE. 103 Halifax arc reduced into sterling at the rate of 90 lor 100/. currency, which is reckoning dollars at 4a. 6cI. sterling : and though 6 per cent, is stated to be allowed for premium upon bills drawn there upon London, still the value of the dollar is not by that reduced below 4a. 3d. Such bills, however, have in fact been at Halifax for many years as high as 9, 10, and at times even 15 per cent. ; there being in that colony an ex- cessive issue of paper not convertible into specie, in which depreciated currency the prices current are given. Next, although in comparing the prices of white pine boards (pages 17 and 23), that article is very fairly stated to be cheaper in the Colonial than in any of the American ports, the accounts given of the rates of freight appear not only so disproportioned to the bulk and stow^age of the articles mentioned, that the same vessel (page 18), in the same voyage, seems to be earning at one time 10a. a ton, and at others above 30a.; and the aggregate freight earned by the whole vessel seems at variance with the rates appor- tioned to different articles : but, altogether, rates of freight are so erroneous, that combined with the prices of articles as stated, there must not only be two dif- ferent values in the same market for articles perfectly similar in quality, accordingly as the articles are brought from either Canada or the United States ; but the same American articles, at the same time and in the same place, must command one price, if brought through the Neutral Islands, and another if brought through the Northern Colonies. For example, white oak staves are stated to cost in the Colonies, 10/. 6a. 2d, ^ in the United States, 61, 10a. 2d, (page 69). Yet the BBai 104 . WEST INDIA TRADE. freight from the States to the Colonies is stated at 405. 10c?. (page 71), which, though by the way nearly one half more than the actual rate, would make the price of the staves there about 8L 11 5 . instead of 10/. 6s. 2d. Again : pursue the same staves from the Colonies to the West Indies, for which voyage the mean rate (page 70) is stated to be 4/. 75. Ic/., making the whole cost either 14/. 1 15 . 3r/., if Canadian, or if Ameri- can (including the duty of 3s. Did.), 13/. II 5 . 2^d. White Oak staves, it is said (page 71), are carried from the United States to the West Indies, generally (z.c. to St. Thomas’s), for 3/. I 5 . 2d., and from St. Thomas’s to Jamaica for 4'0s. 10c/., making the whole cost 1 1 /. 125 . 2d., or (including the duty of 125. 6d.), 12/. 4... 6d. And all these staves alike are represented as sold in Jamaica for 14/. I 5 . Ad. (page 29). Yet about eight million of American staves were imported through St. Thomas’s; three through the Northern Colonies; and, stranger still, colonial staves went with them to the number of five millions (pages 69 and 70). Upon such statements of facts a calculation is made of the enhancement of prices paid by the Southern Colonies to support the Northern, amounting, upon fish, to 75,544/. ; upon other articles, to 86,677/., for the prime cost. The latter item includes the duties paid on American productions, the amount of which, though shown by a Parliamentary return to be only 57,277/. lAs. Id., it is insisted cannot be less than 64,085/. 14^., and though the whole of it is in fact paid, not to the Northern Colonies, but into the treasuries of the Southern. To these items 94,801/. is added for difference of circuitous freight, though the WEST INDIA TRADE. 105 j whole of this is earned by British, and the greater part by West Indian vessels. Then follows a charge of a nature still more singular. Credit is given to the West Indies for paying 15 per cent, upon the value of their j I whole supplies, in consequence of losing the advantage 1 of bartering rum and 7iiolasses for American supplies, I in place of giving cash or bills of exchange the fact I being, on the contrary, that the trade with the North- j ern Colonies is almost altogether a barter trade, and ! that the Americans take away little but cash or bills. Yet this item is charged against the Colonies at 187,576/. The sum of these charges is 444,598/., being more than one-third of the value of the importations from Canada, which are stated at 1,250,511/. As the whole cause of these complaints has been removed by the late arrangement of Colonial intercourse, it would be unnecessary to allude to them, but for the manner * in which the West Indies are stated (page 80) to be ' affected by the new Act and schedule of 1 Wm. 4, c. { 24. Without taking any notice of the duties repealed | by that Act, amounting upon the articles enumerated to ^ above 25,000/., the additional duties are computed as charged upon all importations. Colonial as well as foreign, at 30,682/. Then, nothing but the saving of extra freights through St. Thomas’s being debited at 72,698/., the nett advantage derived by the West Indian colonists, in consequence of the opening of the trade, is made to be 42,016/. That is, although the trade be now' open and free, and the West Indians are perfectly at liberty to buy all their supplies, excepting fish, from the Americans, paying only the duties, (which, calcu- lated upon the whole amount of their importations in ! u 106 WEST INDIA TRADE. the year 1825, when the trade was last open, would amount, according to the new schedule, to only 78,480/.) yet they are still represented as paying no less than 402,582/. for the protection of the Northern Colonists. An enhancement so gratuitous, absurd, and impossible, at once demonstrates the errors both of fact and prin- ciple, upon which the whole computations have been founded. It is evident that the utmost addition of price, which the present duties upon foreign supplies can now cause in the West Indies, is the amount of those duties ; the whole of which being paid to their own treasuries, is, in fact, but shifted from one pocket to another, and substituted for taxation in some other perhaps more objectionable mode. Or if it be insisted that the same duties are virtually paid on all bought of the Northern Colonists, though there can be no more reason for saying that this is paid into their pockets, than that as much at least is taken out of the pockets of the American, yet, if the competition thus created is to go for nothing, the advantage of bartering produce go for nothing, or be reckoned at 187,000/. against the Canadian, where it did not exist, and for nought where it does exist in his favour, the West Indians have yet to consider whe- ther they are not labouring to establish a principle which may be retorted with at least equal justice and effect against themselves. For without alluding to their protection in the United Kingdom, but regarding the Colonial trade alone, if the duties imposed in the West Indies to protect the Northern Colonies are to be cal- culated upon the whole supplies imported, as so much paid to their use, it must be equally true, that the duties WEST INDIA TRADE. 107 1 h imposed in the Northern Colonies to protect West In- dian produce are to be calculated in the same manner, as so much paid to the use of the West Indies. Now the protecting duty in the latter instance, computed upon the importations into the Northern Colonies of only two articles, rum and sugar, amounts to more than the whole sum paid in the West Indies upon all those supplies, taking the whole. Colonial as well as foreign, to be chargeable with the duties. For example : Imported into the Northern Colonies hi 1828. Protecting Duty. Amount. Sugar 135,087 cwts . . . 5^. per cwt. . . . 33,771 15 0 Hum 2,077,209 gallons.. 6c/. per gallon . . . 51,930 4 6 i:.85,701 19 6 These remarks are made with great reluctance, and strictly in self-defence, as the statements alluded to are not unfrequently cited to the prejudice of the preseht regulations of Colonial intercourse. The most sincere sympathy for the West Indian interests exists among all connected with the Northern Colonies ; and the real cause of West Indian embarrassments, the interference and agitation in their internal affairs, through the in- fluence of private combinations in England, must be viewed as a violation of all Colonial rights, and all social justice. The inhabitants of both those divisions of the empire are fully sensible of the advantages of exchang- ing labour and productions with each other, nor were complaints ever of late heard from those Colonies of either any deficiency of supplies or enhancement of their price, or inconstancy of importation, or exportation 1 cr 108 WEST INDIA TRADE. of specie, until the protection to that exchange of labour and production was so weakened in amount, or limited in duration, that the Canadian Colonists began to give up the trade. Scarcely a single fact or a single reason was urged on the part of the Northern planters^ previous to the Order in Council of the 5th November \8S0^. for re- admitting the Americans into the West Indies, scarce a single anticipation was then made, which has not been justified by events, and proved by the amplest evidence in the late Parliamentary inquiry.* And, above all, the gradations of the temporary schedules of duties, by the 1 Wm. IV., c. 24, have produced the same identical results, which were repeatedly represented and earnestly pressed upon the attention of Govern- ment and Parliament, but always in vain. The tes- timony given by persons of the highest characters for intelligence, and no way connected with the Northern Colonies, ought alone to be sufficient to obtain the permanent establishment of the present schedule of duties. Questions appear to have been propounded to the witnesses in every shape and aspect to procure some tittle of acknowledgment of benefits accruing to these West Indies from the readmission of American vessels, but, with one or two slight exceptions, this ingenuity was exhausted in vain ; until at last the in- terrogators seem to have been driven to that never- failing recourse against the evidence of experience, that the effect was not in consequence, but in spite of ♦ See the testimony of A. Macdonnel, James McQueen, James Colqu- houn, Peter Rose, Esquires ; and, indeed, that of almost every person ex- amined confirms the same opinion. WEST INDIA TRADE. 109 its cause ; and the Committee report as if they looked forward to the period when the temporary duties shall entirely terminate, for a remedy of those evils, which the prospect and approach of that termination has alone caused. Certainly these circumstances and con- siderations are at least entitled to further attention and inquiry. Attention and inquiry could hardly fail to prove the permanence of the present duties alike ne- cessary, both as an act of justice to the Northern Co- lonies, and of policy to the Southern. TRADE WITH THE EASTERN COLONIES. With other parts of the British dominions, the trade carried on by the Northern Colonies is of recent date and of no great extent. To the possessions in the Mediterranean, on the coast of Africa, to the Mauri- tius, and into the Pacific Ocean, voyages are occasion- ally made, and ships arrive thence in return; of these an account is annexed. H I o Trade with the Eastern Colonies in Africa, with Gibraltar, and Mauntius,^ 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec with Mauritius .... 1 170 12 Prince Edward’s Island .... St. John’s, N. F. L. Gibraltar 1 123 7 3 355 23 4 421 26 St. John’s^ N. B. Africa . . . . 4 554 28 3 428 25 2 283 14 4 543 29 St. Andrew’s Halifax with Gibraltar . . . . 2 195 12 2 177 11 3 304 18 2 241 13 Africa 2 315 16 1 121 7 Mauritius — . 1 128 7 2 308 19 1 187 11 Pacific 1 402 10 Total 9 1,402 64 10 1,329 75 8 1,065 63 12 1,513 86 * Official Returns. TRADE WITH THE EASTERN COLONIES. ( 111 ) THE FOREIGN TRADE, Since the year 1825, the North American colonial ports have been thrown open to all nations. Those provinces are now treated commercially as so many counties in the United Kingdom. There is no part of the world with which they are prohibited from trading as freely as the merchants of Glasgow or Liverpool. No advantage could be more specious in theory, more popular, more vaunted, as well by those who conferred as those who received the boon. But like many other objects of common esteem or plausible description, it wdll not stand the test of statistics ; upon such examina- tion it shrinks to that class of commercial benefits, which are much more easily adorned with seducing epithets and pompous abstractions, than verified by experiment and official returns. It is now about twenty years since the free ports of the Northern Colonies have been par- tially opened, and during the last six years their inter- course with all nations has been entirely emancipated by act of parliament ; yet their trade with foreign coun- tries is of all the most unimportant, the least improving, and the least beneficial. The reason is obvious. Their best markets are found within the British dominions. There the productions of colonial industry meet pro- tection ; in foreign countries, with the exception of Portugal, they find none. Thus almost the whole colo- nial trade is essentially a home trade. Number of Ships, Tons, and Men employed in the Trade of the Northern Colonies mth all Foreign Countries.* 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. 1 Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec, British Vessels . . 38 8,129 360 8 909 47 2o| 4,795 231 5 589 30 Roreiiorn ll 136 6 P. E. Island, .... British 1 49 2 2 81 5 2 115 7 5 234 15 Foreign St. John’s, N.F.L., British 221 28,212 1,693 224 27,646 1,699 212' 25,374 1,707 218 27,269 1,671 Foreign St. John’s N. B., British 42 12,749 439 14 1,665 92 s'. 409 109, 9,654 14 470 1 105 73 8,961 4 461 Foreign ! 85 12,219 526 85 12,219 528 30 3,383 165 30 3,383 165 St. Andrew’s, .... British 1032 16,991 2,219 225 7,674 544 678 16,948 1,456 190 6,809 424 Foreign 194 22,572 737 192 24,275 790 94I 2,518 302 29 2,058 1 83 Halifax, British 28 5,787 315 36 4,538 290 106| 11,804 653 123 12,050 674 Foreign 159 18,028 879 154 18,139 872 93| 10,060 502 86 9,778 493 Total British . . . . 1362 71,917 5,028 509 42,513 2,677 1127| 68,690 4,524 646 55,912 3,275 Total Foreign .... 438 52,819 2,142 431 54,633 2,190 221! 16,506 1 989 146 15,292 845 Total of both 1800 124,786 7,170 940 97,146 4,867 1348| 85,196 5,513 792 71,204 4,120 * Official Returns. FOREIGN TRADE FOREIGN TRADE. 113 The destinations of this tonnage was either to the United States or to other foreign countries. As the American trade is perhaps the greater in amount of navigation employed, though not in value of the articles exchanged, statistics of the intercourse with that country follow next. Value of Imports into and Exports from the Northern Colonies to and from the United States. Imports. Exports. £. sterling. £. sterling. 1^05* 257,400 178,812§ l^^OG* 320,240 1830f 851,934 146,318 1831+ 913,914 194,605 Account of Flour imported into the Northern Colonies from the United Barrels. 1803 49,701 1804 40,813 1821 131,035 1830 149,966 1831 150,645 An account follows of the specie imported into the United States, from both the Northern and Southern Colonies, in the year 1830. As very little intercourse then existed between that country and the British • Seybert. f Hinton. ^ Reuss. § The value of exports in 1804. — Seybert. II American Returns of Customs. 1 u 114 foreign trade. West Indies, almost the whole of this money must have been drained from the Canadian provinces. Value in Dollars. Gold Silver 81,34d 237,953 319,296 Sterling.. £71, 842 Such are the accounts of this trade furnished by the official returns of the United States. It will be seen, even from the imperfect statements below, that in the value of exports and imports, the American are widely different from the returns of the British Customs. The discrepancy can only be explained by supposing the Americans to comprehend the inland trade also, which is not included in the British. Value of Imports and Exports by Sea^ into and from the Northern Colonies^ from and to the United Stales,* 1830. 1831. P. E. Island. . . . St. John’s, N. F. L. St. John’s, N. B. , . St. Andrew’s t • • • • Imports. Exports. Imports. Exports. £6,585 £2,538 £5,081 £500 72,946 7,458 50,259 15,514 48,800 294,181 14,250 27,998 196,055 41,287 ♦ Colonial Accounts. t In 18?9, being the latest account of values from that port. 1 FOREIGN trade- 115 Account of Flour imported into the Northern Colonies from the United States,"^ 1830. 1831. Quebec P. E. Island. . . . St.John’s, N.F.L. St. John’s, N. B. 33,374 bis. 28,378 bis. St. Andrew’s^. . . 4,319 Halifax 64,060 Imported into Canada 7 by inland navigation j ^ It is sufficiently evident from this, that the maritime commerce between those Colonies and the United States, is of no great importance for the value of articles exchanged. In point of navigation the inter- course is of more moment ; the account of tonnage will exhibit this, and, at the same time, afford some ground of conjecture for supplying the blanks of the two preceding tables. For want of better informa- tion the following statement must serve for comparison of the past and present condition of the American trade. Tonnage entering Inwards to the Northern Colonies from the United States. British. American. Average of 1787-8-9 J 15,524 1806 1816§ 18,378 75,807 Average of 1820-l-2§ 10,464 66,029 183011 20,755 54,633 * Colonial Accounts. t In 1829. t Reports of the Lords of Trade, 1791. § Official returns of the United States. II Official returns. I 2 Numbe?^ of Ships, Tons, and Men, employed in the Trade of the Northern Colonies with the United States.^ 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. ‘ Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec, British Vessels .... 4 822 33 2 158 8 8 2,802 112 Foreign Vessels. . . . 4 432 19 4 432 19 P. E. Island, British • 1 60 4 Foreign St. John’s, N. F. L . British. . 3 233 15 50 5,146 279 21 2,330 137 Foreign . 3 409 14 1 73 4 St. John’s, N. B. British 31 7,489 340 10 984 57 106 9,267 448 98 8,064 407 Foreign . . 85 12,219 526 85 12,219 528 30 3,383 165 30 3,383 165 St. Andrew’s, British 237 13,797 776 225 7,674 544 323 15,404 929 190 6,809 424 Foreign .... 177 22,557 720 192 24,275 790 32 2,283 195 29 2,058 183 Halifax, British 5 468 27 17 1,639 97' 89 8,688 471 107 9,979 559 Foreign 159 18,028 879 154 18,139 872: 93 10,060 502 86 9,778 493 Total British Vessels . . 280 22,809 1,191 254 10,455 706 574 41,367 2,243 416 27,182' 1,527 Total Foreign 421 52,804 2,225 431 54,633 2,002 162 16,567 895 150 15,724 864 Total 701 75,613 3,416 685 65,088 2,708 736 57,934 3,138 j 566 42,906 2,391 * Official Returns. FOREIGN TRADE FOREIGN TRADE. 117 It is not to be dissembled, however, that the fore- going accounts exhibit also effects, as well of the derangement in our commercial relations with the United States, as of the alterations of our own laws of trade. For the future, a better prospect is already opening to this department of colonial commerce. The vast beds of coal that lie, scarce hidden by the soil, in so many places, to so great an extent, throughout the Lower Provinces, will, undoubtedly, soon become no less a resource to the interests of navigation, than to the wealth of those countries, and the power of the British empire. It is probable that 2 or 300,000 chaldrons of coals, the freight of nearly as many tons of shipping, may within a few years be exported to ports of the United States, whertcfuel must yearly rise in price, and be ultimately supplied entirely from similar sources. The demand, also, in that country for gypsum, lime, and grindstones, is not like to decline ; and, perhaps, at no distant day, their duties upon fish may be reduced, and both deals and iron added to the staple articles of exchange from these colonies. The trade with other foreign countries is of far greater value to the colonial industry, and, consider- ing the length of the voyage usually made, is more important to British navigation, than the maritime intercourse with the United States. The articles ex- ported are all of native production, fish, victual and timber ; and the proceeds are in general remitted to the United Kingdom, and contribute to discharge the balance due for British manufactures. d Number of Ships, Tons, and Men employed in the Trade of the Northern Colonies with other Foreign Countries* 00 1806. 1807. British Vessels. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 1 192 6 1,173 3 632 8 1,606 P. E. Island St. John’s, N.F.L 18 2,124 57 7,868 19 2,090 42 5,553 St. John’s and } 1 164 1 164 St. Andrew’s, N.B. ^ Halifax 3 423 2 261 3 436 2 340 21 2,739 65 9,302 26 3,322 53 7663 * Official Returns. FOREIGN TRADE Number of Shipsy Tons and Men employed in the Trade of the Northern L^olonies with other Foreign Countries,^ 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec, British Vessels .... 16 3,973 198 3 431 22 25 4,725 217 4 477 28 Foreign Vesssls. . . . 1 136 6 P. E. Island, B. V. . . 1 49 2 2 81 5 1 55 3 4 152 9 F. V. . . St. John’s, N. F. L. B. V. .. 217 27,856 1,671 221 27,291 1,676 162 20,228 1,428 191 24,282 1,494 F. V. . . 2 336 14 St. John’s, N.B. . .B. V. . . 7 1,706 71 1 199 10 1 106 8 3 354 25 F. V. . . St. Andrew’s, . . . .B. V. . . 2 255 13 F. V. . . Halifax, B. V. . . 22 4,917 278 19 2,899 193 17 3,116 182 16 2,071 115 F. V. . . Total British . . . . 263 38,501 2,220 246 30,901 1,906 208 28,485 1,851 218 77,336 1,671 Foreign . . . . 1 136 6 2 336 14 Total 264 38,637 2,226 246 30,901 1,906 208 28,485 1,851 220 27,672 1,685 * Official Returns. FOREIGN TRADE The same Account arranged according to the Destination of Tonnage in other Foreign Trade. 1830. ‘ f V' ■ ? 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Foreign, Europe 1 British Vessels 240 34,278 1,949 188 23,037 1,421 192 26,331 1,717 182 22,507 1,396 Foreign Vessels 2 336 14 Madeira and Azores, B. V. 1 5 312 23 10 611 50 4 346 20 3 236 14 F. V. Brazil and Columbia, B. V. 8 1,734 91 40 6,782 406 9 1,132 63 27 4,295 244 F. V. ! 1 136 6 China, B. V. ' 3 1,703 129 1 586 45 F. V. St. Pierre, B. V. 7 474 28 8 471 29 2 90 6 6 298 17 F. V. Total British .... 263 38,501 2,220 246 30,901 1,906 208 28,485 1,851 218 27,336 1,671 Total Foreign .... 1 136 6 2 336 14 Total. . . . 264 j 38,637 ‘ 2,226 246 30,901 1,906 208 28,485 1,851 220 27,672 1,685 FOREIGN TRADE FOREIGN TRADE. 121 \ '^J^his trade with foreign Europe and South America admits of being yearly and permanently extended in all those productions which are brought down the broad St. Lawrence, and also, it is to be hoped, by the inex- haustible fisheries of the Gulph, the coasts and rivers of British America. Of these exports it may be pre- sumed that far the greater part will ever be carried under the British flag. TRADE OF THE NORTHERN COLONIES WITH EACH OTHER. The maritime intercourse carried on around the sea shores, between the islands and the main, and the bays, harbours, and estuaries of the continent, has already become important both to commerce and navigation, and evidently admits of large and rapid increase. The extent of sea coasts, and the number and con- veniency of ports for shipping, are by no means the least of advantages which characterize this country ; and the variety of its productions, wants, and employ- ments, is sufficient to keep up continual exchange and intercourse by maritime navigation. Deals and other wood, coals, gypsum, grindstones, fish, and provisions, are thus brought to markets, and deposited in the principal places of export, and articles of manufac- ture or produce imported, are taken away, and diffused along the shores. The account subjoined presents a view of the pre- sent amount of this trade, as far as the same can be collected from returns of the customs ; which, however, by no means comprehend the whole voyages of the coasting craft, but such only as arc made from one province to another. Number of Ships, Tons, and Men, employed in the Trade of the Northern Colonies uith each other,* 1830. 1831. Inwards. Outwards. Inwards. Outwards. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Quebec 128 14,655 725 130 9,153 515 146 15,633 816 125 9,828 566 P. E. Island 253 10,586 633 275 12,885 746 279 11,323 686 349 16,221 926 St. John’s, N.F.L.. 310 22,426 1,160 336 32,278 1,645 308 22,276 1,158 355 30,871 1,595 St. John’s, N. B. . . 1134 57,806 3,551 1043 44,586 2,667 1104 55,046 3,373 1029 45,570 2,728 St. Andrew’s 749 31,756 2062 652 31,283 1,792 234 11,555 724 241 10,021 715 Halifax 1 1483 67,641 4,270 1722 99,270 5,147 997 95,638 3,234 1161 114,686 3,505 Total.... 4057 204,870 12,401 4158 229,455 12,512 3068 211,471 9,991 3260 227,197 10,035 * Official Returns. INTER-COLONIAL TRADE, INTER-COLONIAL TRADE. 123 In this account, the trade of that port which is pro- bably destined to become the greatest, appears at pre- sent the smallest in tonnage. The intercourse between Quebec and the lower ports is capable of great im- provements, as well by the application of steam, which abundance of coal renders so easy, as by the opening of canals, which at a small expense may connect vast bodies of water, and abridge tedious and perilous voy- ages of half their danger and length. The lower ports will thus become, what in a measure they already are, the depots of the West India trade, with the whole interior; and steam boats and vessels from the Western Lakes may soon, without a single transhipment, bring down the cheap productions of Upper Canada, corn, provisions, and staves, and carry back the sugar, salt, coffee, and rum of the British Colonies, to the farthest shores of the inland seas. THE INLAND TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES. By the great lakes, Erie, Ontario, and Champlain, by the river St. Lawrence, by a long line of inland frontier, from the point where the parallel of forty-five meets that river, to the source of the St. Croix, and finally, by this water also, it may easily be conceived, that a commercial intercourse of some value and im- portance is carried on between the British Colonies and the United States. But it is one, of which, to give any definite or entire account, is scarcely less diffi- cult, than it has proved vain to prescribe regulations. Great Britain has for some years acknowledged the ex- pediency of admitting all descriptions of wood, by these u 124 INLAND TRADE. channels free of duty. How a person of Mr. Hus- kisson’s reputation could ever have conceived and introduced the contrary policy, is not to be accounted for, either upon the principles he is supposed to have adopted, or those he seemed inclined to discard. A more unfortunate specimen of commercial legisla- tion, than the schedules of the celebrated act for regu- lating Colonial intercourse, the 6 Goo. 4, c. 114, has seldom been placed upon the statutes of any country. It prescribed the same amount of protection, the same duties on the same foreign articles, whether imported into the Northern or Southern Colonies, into Canada or the West Indies ; two countries, the most different in situation, productions, wants, climate, and every circumstance; the whole of which seem not only to have been mistaken and confounded, but the principal feature in that intercourse, the carrying trade, entirely sacrificed or forgotten. Every object of the act was defeated by its own operation, every intercourse em- barrassed, all the Colonies dissatisfied ; the Americans only enjoyed the benefit, but without knowing its value, till lost. The whole succeeding difficulty with that government, and with the Colonial trade, originated from the impolicy and inefficiency of these schedules, which imposed heavy burthens, where no competition was feared and foreign productions were, on every account desired, and offered the mere name and sha- dow of protection, where, without it, foreign industry was sure to destroy the Colonial, and supplant British navigation and trade. After the experience of some years, Mr. Huskisson retraced his steps, and redeemed his fame ; for, as far as respects Colonial intercourse, his INLAND TRADE. \25 reputation depends less upon the wisdom or success of his original measure, than the energy with which its faults were amended. The best thing in govern- ment is to commit no errors, the next best is, when committed, to acknowledge them, and correct. The want of protection to the Northern Colonies in the ports of the Southern, was supplied by the other extreme, an entire prohibition or exclusion of American shipping from the British West Indies, while at the same time the intercourse between the Canadas and the United States was left open, and gradually facilitated by repeal of impolitic duties. The succeeding administration, in revoking this prohibition, corrected the original mis- take, which had made that prohibition necessary. The schedule of protecting duties, proved by expe- rience to be utterly ineffectual, was revised and re- enforced. Unhappily, his Majesty’s present ministers have limited the continuance of the new schedule to a very short period, after which, the intercourse be- tween the Southern Colonies and the United States is to revert to all the errors, which the minister who in- troduced it seemed^disposedso:to amend ; for it cannot be believed that the exclusion of American vessels w'as done merely from vindictive motives, to annoy the United States, not to revive and re-enforce^ the system of Colonial protection. But the intercourse between the Northern Colonies and the United States is, undoubtedly, now established upon a much more profitable footing than at any former period ; and if the principles at present adopted be extended a little further, the inland and transit trades of Canada may become second to none in value and increase. i i 126 INLAND TRADE. Partial and insulated statistics are all that can here be given of this division of Colonial commerce. To begin with the St. Croix, the following is an account of the open boats, with cargoes, crossing that river from the American to the British shores, at St. Andrew^s : Inland Trade of the St. Croix. ^ Boats. 1830. Tons. Men. Boats. 1831. Tons. Men. British 795 3,194 1,445 353 1,289 514 Foreign 17 15 17 62 235 107 812 3,209 1,460 415 1,524 621 Some timber and boards, or deals, to no great extent, are also brought dowm from the American branches of that water, in rafts. Cattle, to the number of perhaps 10,000 head, fresh meats, butter, and other provisions, are carried over; British manufactures. West Indian produce and specie, and some furs are taken back in return. Such are the principal imports and exports in this quarter. Next, of the traffic, by land carriage, from the state of Maine to Lower Canada, there have been imported in 1831,t Horses. Beeves, Sheep, Fresh Fish, 24S 1,394 936 14 Tons. The value of these, and some other articles not enumerated, is stated at of 15,000. The returns are similar to those last mentioned. Of the intercourse between the state of Vermont and what are called the eastern townships of Lower Canada, no details have been collected, or none pub- lished. It cannot be of great amount or value, nor Official Returns. t Colonial Accounts. INLAND TRADF.. 127 will probably become so, until the navigation of the St. Francis be improved, and connected with the Lake of Memphramagog, which the parallel of latitude, here forming the American boundary, crosses in about the middle. A steam boat is already plying upon this lake, and its waters, when connected with the St. Lawrence, will undoubtedly become the seat of con- siderable commerce. Notwithstanding the frequent portages, the St. Francis is already the channel by which about 1,500 barrels of ashes, some timber, and other articles are brought into the St. Lawrence, and British manufactures sent up, and into Vermont. The intercourse on Lake Champlain was much in- terrupted by the impolitic measures already referred to in the laws of Colonial trade. Most of those errors have since been remedied, and the trade, which declined under their operation, and which has also been diverted by a canal to the Hudson, seems to be now recovering, and perhaps already equals, and will probably soon exceed, its former amount. The following returns show what it was in the years 1824 and 5, to which is annexed what appears a very imperfect account of the quarter ending 5th July, 1831. Principal Articles imported into Lower Canada by the Lake Champlain,* Quarter end- 1824. 1825. ing 5th July, 1831. Ashes barrels 6,171 6,028 1,840 Wheat bushels Other Corn 6,356 2,654 * Colonial Accounts. ^ 128 INLAND TRADE. Quarter end- 1824. 1825. ing 5 til July, 1831. Flour and Meal. . Rice . barrels ...lbs. 964 293 59,218 Beef . barrels 464 2,811 Pork Butter, Meat and other ) 6,069 14,462 Provisions . . . . Tallow ...lbs. 1 1,411,967 1,621,866 73,897 89,618 Tobacco 227,114 127,862 295,078 Cattle 4,831 6,305 3,398 Furs 25,982 38,104 Hides and Skins. ...No. 24,709 29,301 21,410 Boards and Deals. ...ft. 870,890 407,567 Timber feet 17,554 53,000 63 7,500 As a rail-road has been projected between the shores of this lake and the hanks of the St. Lawrence, and the Richeheu, by which both those w-aters are united, is capable of being made navigable for steam-boats throughout its whole course, and as works are already in operation for removing or avoiding the impedi- ments of that channel, and another canal from the Missiscoui Bay of Lake Champlain to the South River, a tributary of the Richelieu, is about to be commenced, it seems probable that the intercourse in this quarter will soon receive a very great increase. From the parallel of forty-five on the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, the commercial intercourse with the American territories is at present carried on in large boats or batteaux, built for ascending the rapids of that rivf»r A INLAND TRADE. 129 Princvpal Articles imported into Montreal from the United States down the St, Lawrence,* 1830. 1831. Ashes barrels 15,375 18,112 Wheat bushels 2,646 Flour barrels 36,781 42,000 Beef 77 1,541 Pork 2,868 3,910 Tobacco, leaf 132 93 Do. manufactured. ...kgs. 1,806 2,302 Of the intercourse between the British and American sides of the Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the Straits of Niagara and Detroit and other waters westward, no returns appear to be made to the customs in this country, and no certain information can be here ob- tained. The tonnage owned on both sides seems nearly equal on the two lakes, though very different on each, if the following estimate of amount approach nearly to the truth. Ontario. I Erie. Vessels. Steamers. Tons. | Vessels. Steamers. Tons. British .. 100 9 12,700 10 3 1,600 American 30 5 4,500 j 150 10 17,000 130 14 17,200 1 160 13 18,600 * Colonial accounts. K ii 130 INLAND TRADE. INLAND INTER-COLONIAL TRADE. It belongs also to this chapter to give some account of what may be called the inter-colonial inland trade upon the rivers, lakes, and canals of these provinces. Principal Articles imported into Lower from Upper Canada down the St, Lawrence. 1830. 1831. Ashes barrels 9,745 10,482 Wheat bushels 252,330 409,975 Flour barrels 92,584 85,026 Beef 1,936 1,020 Pork 10,935 12,643 Tobacco, leaf . . . 385 406 Do. manufactured. . . . kgs. 364 185 Hides* ... No. 13,583 14,676 In a Report of the Provincial Parliament of Upper Canada, the whole exports from that province down the St. Lawrence in 1831, are estimated as equal to 400,000 barrels of 220 pounds each, and the imports upwards as 10,000 tons of merchandize. In 1830 the imports upwards appear to have been above 8,000 tons: and the whole trade downwards to have been equal to 316,000 barrels, being about double that of the year 1826. The navigation in which this commerce was con- ducted (including, however, the imports from the Ame- rican bank, given in page 129,) was as follows : 1830. 1831. Boats 534 4-64 Batteaux 696 971 * Including hides from the American bank. INLAND TRADE. 131 By a later inquiry of the parliament in Lower Canada, it appears, that the quantity of merchandize, carried on the St. Lawrence from Montreal upwards, was, in 1832, about 20,000 tons, and the produce brought down, not less than 66,000. The navigation consisted of above 600 Durham boats and 1,200 batteaux. The transport of agricultural produce through the canal, from Burlington Bay into Lake Ontario, during the six months ending with December, 1831, appears to have been of pork, 223, flour, 4,072 barrels, wheat 22,468 bushels. Transport of the principal Articles between Lakes Erie and Ontario, From Erie to Ontario, 1831 . By the Queenston Welland Canal, Portage. Total. Ashes . . . . barrels 2,600 650 3,250 Boards . 985,888 2,000 987,888 Flour. . . 30,081 11,035 41,116 Pork . , . ... do. 8,600 4,139 12,739 Staves. . No. 137,718 137,718 Tobacco .... hds. 300 300 Do..., 412 412 Do.... kgs. 196 105 301 Timber . 28,500 28,500 Do 4,187 4,187 Wheat . . . . bushels 210,101 65,000 275,101 Whiskey . . barrels 1,795 1,795 From Ontario to Erie, 1831. By the Queenston Welland Canal. Portage. Total. Merchandize, cwts. 14,734 9,000 23,734 Salt .... 14,182 14,182 K 2 ltd u 132 INLAND TRADE. . The whole transport in 1831, the first year the canal has been in operation, was about tenfold greater than in 1829. The business on the canal is reported to have been in 1832 fourfold more than in 1831. Almost all of the above produce downward was of colonial origin. Sloops and schooners, decked and open boats, and steam vessels, to a very considerable amount of ton- nage, are employed in the inland navigation of the other parts of the great river of Canada, on its nurhe- rous tributaries, and on the secondary rivers in the lower province of New Brunswick. But of these, the attempt would here be vain to approach towards a cor- rect account, further than an enumeration of the steamers, of which the value is most important and the information most detailed. These, in point of conve- nience, velocity, and dimensions, are inferior to none in any country. They vary in size from one hundred to fifteen hundred tons, and in power from twenty to that of two hundred and fifty horses. The whole have been built since 1810. Account of the Number^ Tonnage, and Power of the Steam Boats employed on the Waters of the Northern Colonies. Estimate of Estimate of No. Tonnage. Horse-Power, Lake Erie ........ 3 600 90 Ontario 9 2,700 810 Simcoe 1 150 , 30 Rica 2 300 60 St. Francis .... 3 600 150 ' St. Louis 5 1,000 250 Carried forward 23 4,300 J'3S0 1,390 INLAND TRADE. 133 Estimate of Estimate of No. Tonnage. Horse-Power. Brought forward rs 1,390 Rivers Ottawa and Rideau 6 600 180 St. Lawrence .... 17 8,500 2,040 St. John’s 3 450 90 Gulph of St. Lawrence. . . . 3 1,200 225 Bay of Fundy 2 400 100 Halifax Harbour 1 100 20 Total *55 16,600 4,005 It is by the Welland Canal undoubtedly that the productions of the vast interior of Canada and the Western States of America will in future find their easiest, shortest and cheapest channel to the sea. The immense extent of coasts along the Upper Lakes, Erie, St. Clair, Huron, Michigan and Superior, and the rivers w^hich fall into them, would naturally be sufficient to make a prodigious increase of intercourse and wealth in this quarter ; but this increase will be augmented and accelerated beyond all example, by the enterprise and industry of the Americans, who are extending the na- vigable communication of these waters into the great val- ley of the Mississippi, by the canals between the Illinois and Lake Michigan, the Ohio and Lake Erie, the former of which works is far advanced, and the latter near • In this account are included three boats now building, but to ply the next season. There were in the United States at the close of the year 1829 more than»54,036 tons of steam-vessels. — Hinton. ** A larger amount, we apprehend,’’ (adds the same author,) ** than the tonnage of steam-ves- sels in the aggregate of all other nations.” I’he number and tonnage of steam -veessels in Great Britain in 1829 were, ships 316, tons 26,564. — Parliamentary Returns. Mr. Reuss, in his late Statistics of American Trade, gives the whole number of boats now running on the western waters of the United States, as 198. m I I ! 134 INLAND TRADE. completion. By these, tobacco, corn, and provisions,* and even cotton, to the amount of several millions of * “ In 1823 not less than 300,000 barrels of flour, 50,000 of pork, 12,000 hogsheads of tobacco, 22,000 of bacon, 100,000 kegs of lard, &c, valued at 3,590,000 dollars, passed the Falls of the Ohio descending. ** There were, last year, about one hundred sail of brigs and schooners plying between our ports on Lake Erie, and the other upper lakes, with seven steam boats. The tonnage will be increased 50 per cent, in the present year, and be doubled before the expiration of 1828, and trebled or quadrupled when the great Ohio Canal shall be finished. Many will soon be required for the navigation of the lake Michigan. All this business, ex- cept what was carried by four or five little vessels, has grown up since the termination of the late war in 1815. There are also many vessels on Lakes Ontario and Champlain. Of flour 385,535 barrels, 44,057 of beef and pork, 31,175 salt; 1,500,000 bushels of grain chiefly wheat, 17,905, peas and beans, 761 tons of clover-seed, 120 of wool, 841, cheese, 1,126, butter and lard, 159 of hops, 143 furs, 9145 boxes of glass, 1,608,000 gallons of spirits, were among the articles which passed the New York canals during the last year. The whole number of boats and rafts was 18,950 : of tons* 242,368. The tolls paid amountedto 771,780 dollars, 10 cents.’’ — Harris- BURGii Convention, 1827. Among the exports from New Orleans in 1831 were 54,630 hogsheads of tobacco. [ : iJ r t I i Extract from the Appendix to a Report of a Committee of the Pro- vincial Parliament of Upper Canada on the Inland Trade. Letter from Alfred Kelly, Esq. of Ohio. “ 1 he price of transporting a bale of cotton from Nashville (Tennessee), or from Florence (Alabama), to Portsmouth, which is the southern termi- nation of our canal, or to New Orleans, will be about the same, as I am in- formed by those engaged in the forwarding business on the Mississippi and its waters, and will be for a bale of cotton 336 lbs. weight, from 80 to 100 cents, provided any considerable amount of business be done. “ The toll through the Ohio canal at the present rates will be about sixty cents per bale, and the transportation about the same, in all one dollar twenty cents per bale. I think it probable that our Board of Commissioners may agree to reduce the toll somewhat on cotton and tobacco going from the i f INLAND TRADE. 135 money, will be yearly put afloat on Lake Erie; and once afloat there, if it may thence descend to Montreal Ohio to the Lake, say to fifty cents per 336 lbs. ; and if there is a large amount of business done, the freight may be reduced to the same, in all one dollar per bale. The freight from Cleveland to the southern termina- tion of the Welland Canal ought not to be over fifty cents. Tobacco pays the same rate of toll, and can of course be transported at the same price. The amount will then stand thus: — On a Bale of Cotton, Dol. Cts. Freight from Nashville to Portsmouth. . . . 0 90 Freight and Toil to Cleveland . 1 0 Cleveland to Welland Canal 0 30 Welland Canal . 0 10 Thence to Montreal , 0 86 Dol. Cts. 3 16 Thence to Liverpool 0 0 Add Insurance .................. . . . .0 22 (Duty, one shilling sterling.) 3 38 Contrasted with Dol. Cts. Freight from Nashville tqNew Orleans . . 0 90 Freight thence to Liverpool 0 0 Insurance at 1^ per cent. (I may not be right as to this, say) 0 30 Duty, 17s. 6d. sterling 3 74 4 94 ** Some of our forwarding merchants on the Ohio, to whom I have shown your calculation, think very favourably of sending cotton and tobacco by way of Montreal to England, and promise to introduce the subject to their correspondents in the cotton country. ** Our canal is now completed to Portsmouth, with the exception of the two lower locks at the termination, one of which will be completed this fall. ** I presume the canal is now filled with water ; it was filled near to its termination when 1 last heard from it five or six days ago.^^ [It is a great pity that the people of Ohio are mistaken as to the discrimi- nation in the duties of the United Kingdom.] 136 INLAND TRADE. without a transhipment, that port is evidently destined to be the great mart of exchange for all the interior of America. The Rideau Canal, now completed, and the canals of the St. Lawrence, for which the par- liament of Upper Canada have just made a grant of above c£60,000, will make a double channel of ship navigation from Ontario to the island of Montreal, and either a passage deepened behind that island, or the enlargement of the locks of La Chine, will do no less than connect Lake Huron with the Ocean, and with the Mersey and the Thames, whence exports may be carried beyond the seas and in the same craft set down at any port along a coast of inland waters ex- ceeding three thousand miles beyond Montreal. Thus the vast interior of the new continent is about to be laid open, an event perhaps not less important than its original discovery ; an event full of interest to British commerce, and to colonial industry, and colonial policy. Great Britain has opened her colonies to every nation who will either open its ports to them, or its colonies to her. The Americans, among other powers, have accepted these terms. But nature and situation have hitherto opposed such obstructions, that with their new plantations of the west, the richest and now^ also the most populous part of their dominions, we have hitherto enjoyed little intercourse, except through the old Atlantic states. Now, however, new channels of communication are opened. By the canals of Ca- nada, direct and easy access is given to a coast and frontier of immense extent, wdiich is by other canals of the Americans connected vvith, and made the outlet of. INLAND TRADE. 1^7 the whole interior valley of the Ohio and Mississippi. 43'. 608 6239 814,380 39,554 6366 836,668 40,470 SUMMARY OF EXPORTS, &C. SUMMARY OF EXPORTS, &C. 141 Comparison of Exports and Tonnage Outwards from the Norther n Colonies, in the years 1806.* 1831. Increase. Exports .. stg. £1,457,588 £3,304,702 £1,847,114 Tonnage 124,247 836,668 712,421 As the above prices denote the real value of ex- ports at the periods given, and that value was much ^ higher in 1806 than in 1831, it is evident that the ac- tual increase of industry and commerce is very imper- fectly measured by such estimates. The best standard of comparison is that which also at the same time pre- sents the most interesting aspect of colonial trade, to wit, the tonnage it employs. By that criterion the production of these colonies, and the shipping sup- ported by their commerce, will be found to have in- creased nearly sixfold in a period of five-and-twenty ^ars. COMPARISON OF COLONIAL WITH FOREIGN TRADE. The great increase of the United States of America, and the importance of their trade to Great Britain, have long been themes of much vaunting, not only among the writers of that country, but with most public men in this, and particularly with a certain sect or fac- tion, who seem, by a singular transposition of cause and effect, to attribute whatever commercial prosperity exists in that republic to its political institutions, and ♦ Canada, by David Anderson, 1814. It is here supposed that his account includes the trade of the colonies with each other, which, however, is not expressly so stated in his work. a 142 COMPARISON OF COLONIAL whatever political dissension, to commercial laws. So little information, and so much credulity, prevail on this subject, that the question is not unfrequently asked, how is it that the Canadas have not made the same progress in trade and improvements as the Ame- rican States? There are many to dispute about the cause ; few think of doubting or ascertaining the fact. Let an attempt be made here. There can be nothing vain-glorious, it is hoped, in such an inquiry, nor any thing invidious even to the most sensitive minds, as the only object is to investigate the truth, and demon- strate, both to the colonies and to the mother country, how little reason either has to repent or abandon that system, which has hitherto formed the charter of their connexion and prosperity and independence. The Americans are a successful, rich, and fortunate people, but there is nothing in their success, riches, or fortune, to be envied by a British subject, unless it be the good opinion they hold of themselves, and the impression it makes upon others. It can be shown that, as far as returns of exports and tonnage avail, the colonies in Canada have very far surpassed the United States in the increase of maritime commerce and navigation. Trade of the Northern Colonies and of the United States compared. Produce of Agriculture ex- C ported. Value | Fisheries Forests Manufactures Exports of native origin < Whole exports of all kinds . . Whole tonnage employed thereby. British tonnage, do Whole imports Imports from the United Kingdom. 1806. 1831. Trade of the Trade of the Canadas. United States. Canadas. United States. £• stg. £. £. £. No distinct account. 7,284,375 556,584 10,633,823 do. 701,100 834,182 425,132 do. 1,093,725 1,307,640 959,283 none. 609,075 none. 1,861,578 No distinct account. 10,957,409 2,881,617 13,787,338 1,457,588* 22,845,816 3,304,702 18,294,881 124,247* 1,135,504 1,244,498 124,247* 69,350 149,079 no account. no account. 4,329,036 23,218,003 050,662 8,613,122 2,619,563 8,236,677 Increase. Decrease. Canadian. American. American. £. £. £. no account. 3,349,448 do. 275,968 do. 1,252,503 134,442 do. 2,829,929 1,847,114 108,994 4,550,935 79,729 1,668,901 376,445 * These two sums are taken from the work on Canada by David Anderson, who appears to have made these estimates by assum- ing the commerce of all the lower ports to have then been equal to that of Quebec, of which he had official accounts. The rest of the Table is compiled from the returns of British or American customs. WITH FOREIGN TRADE, 144 ^ COMPARISON OF COLONIAL In this table one of the most material circumstances has been as yet omitted, the difference and proportion of the population, which would in every instance aug- ment the advantage of the colonies by tenfold; for though the increase of population also has been greater in Canada than in the United States, the latter are still ten to one in point of numbers, and scarcely less in point of capital. Yet during a period of five-and- twenty years, not only have the whole exports and the tonnage employed in the commerce of these colonies increased far more than those of the Americans, but at the present moment the former export more in quantity and value from their forests, and nearly twice as much from their fisheries. The value of cotton, for which the climate of Canada is unfit, turns the exports of agricultural produce much in favour of the United States. But in the»* intercourse with the United Kingdom the colonial trade has nearly trebled in amount by an addition of 1,668,901/. while the exports of British produce and manufactures to the United States is even less than it was in 1806, and exceeds by only some 350,000/. the average of three years, 1805, 6, and 7. There is, however, one description of exports in which both the previous stock in 1806, and the increase made since, are entirely with the United States, manufactures. The colonists have none. The Americans have added to theirs threefold. The in- dustry and trade, in which they have made the greatest advancement, happens to be precisely where they com- pete most with the United Kingdom. And this is the people whose intercourse we are conjured to cultivate at the sacrifice of the colonies, and whose progress is im WITH FOREIGN TRADE, 145 hailed as the best resource and encouragement to our own productions and trade. Honour to the Americans for their enterprise, industry, thrift, and invention; theirs is a good work and a great, to reclaim a conti- nent from waste, and bring into cultivation the fertile regions of the earth : but never be it forgotten, that the fairest portion of that hemisphere is British still ; and that we may derive from it far more advantages than from the American territories ; and be it known, moreover, that more advantages from it are even now already derived. For, since with reference to the present subject, the condition of the West Indian Colonies is similar to that of the Canadian, and the best interests of both are equally endangered by the Anti-Colonial theory, let the latest accounts of their whole trade and navigation be stated and added to the above, and the aggregate will show the whole value of all these plantations in that quarter to the maritime wealth and empire of Great Britain. Account of the Imports^ Exports, and Shipping to and from the British Northern and Southern Colonies, from and to all Countries, in 1831, Inwards. Outwards. Imports. Exports. Shps. Tons. Men. Ships. Tons. Men. Northern Colonies . , • • • • Sterling. £4,329,036 3,304,702 6,239 814,380 39,554 6,366 836,668 40,470 Southern Colonies . . £4,530,008 8,394,484 4,458 531,758 39,304 5,448 562,751 39,879 £8,859,044 11,699,186 10,697 l,346,138j78,858 1 11,814 1 1,399,419 80,349 WITH FOREIGN TRADE, 147 Let a comparison be instituted here between the trade of these possessions to the United Kingdom and the trade of some foreign countries, whose pro- ductions and industry so much has of late been done to encourage, and so much more is perhaps in prepara- tion. Trade between the United Kingdom and the Northern and Southern Colonies compared with Foreign Trade, Official Value, 1831. Northern and Southern Colonies. United States. Russia. Russia, Denmark, Sweden & Norway. France. Imports into tlie United Kingdom £9,864,939 6,660,239 722,911 722,389 ft Q72 A OAO ti(\A 2,198,325 1 94^1 4^9 2,317,686 Exports from ,8,236,677 315,565 90,472 Whole Tonnage Inwards. . British Tonnage Inwards . , 349,188 316,361 466,698 132,945 ooy,uoo 152,841 90,311 Here then are colonies containing about two millions of inhabitants, who export, of the production of their lands and waters, nearly as much as the twelve million Americans do from theirs. And the intercourse be- tween these colonies and the United Kingdom, on the aggregate of exports and imports, is, in amount and value to this country, more than equal, and if the whole British empire be one community, is to that community more than double, the amount and value of all com- merce with the United States, and by the same rule is nothing less in value, than the whole British trade to that country, and to Russia, to Prussia, Denmark, Swe- den, Norway, and France, combined. Add to this a comparison of British navigation employed in these 148 COMPARISON OF COLONIAL respective trades, compute the wealth acquired by these freights, aud the maritime power by the seamen who earn them, and then may the depth of the riches of the wisdom of the Colonial System be understood. It may perhaps be asked here, how is it that the Americans, seeing their foreign commerce has so little increased, are still making such great and rapid ad- vances in wealth and improvement ? The answer to this inquiry bears directly upon the present subject. It is the home trade that has of late years built up the American commonwealth, as it is the coasting trade which is become the great support of their maritime power. This, however, is not the whole nor the main part of the solution. But, if names and terms be a little neglected, or defined according to what is alone essen- tial in the present inquiry, it will be discovered, that the Americans, within the last half century, have founded no less than eleven great colonies, called by them states or territories, and now containing several millions of inhabitants. The very situation of those plantations has in fact imposed upon them the most rigid mode of the old colonial system. For most of them, as the Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Mis- souri, Mississippi, the North-west Territory, the Michi- gan, and the Arkansas, have little or no communication with any foreign country, except through, what may be termed in this respect, the Parent States on the Atlantic. And this, the natural and necessary application of colo- nial policy, has been strongly re-enforced by the positive laws of that confederacy, which has mutually agreed to give to each other’s labour a further preference, by du- WITH FOREIGN TRADE. 149 ties of heavy amount upon foreign productions. Their positive tariff has perhaps been unnecessary, and may be repealed, but the natural protection of situation and circumstances will for ever perpetuate among them this mode of the colonial system. In that country also has this policy already been crowned, and will probably be ever attended with complete success. But the great advantage of the Americans, resulting from the more decided preference given to their home trade and in- dustry by the very position of their plantations, is one which need not be envied by Great Britain. For to her its absence has been more than compensated by another circumstance in the position of her colonies, which has been of vast importance to her, and entirely wanting to the Americans. Their new states and ter- ritories have directly, at least, added nothing to their maritime power, but the British colonies have added far more to the naval means and resources of the em- pire, than even to its population and wealth. All the advantages either of nature or society, are never lavished upon any one condition. If new plantations are near and adjacent to the parent country, little or no duties are required to secure the mutual preference and ex- change of labour, and little or no benefit is derived to shipping and maritime power. If plantations are dis- tant, and an ocean intervene, the duties for mutual protection must be more, but their trade will secure to the mother country the supremacy of the seas. There still remain two tables more to be exhibited, and a third, of still greater importance, to be desired. An account of the whole colonial intercourse of the 150 COMPARISON OF COLONIAL British empire, the trade of every island, country, and province, not only with the parent kingdom, but with each other, and the ships and seamen employed in all those divisions and varieties of commerce, would pro- bably present something immense and almost incredi- ble, in wealth and industry and power. But this appa- rently, like the accounts of internal production and home trade, is one of the secrets of the empire, re- served for those only who guide its course and admini- ster its means : for, that any mortal could undertake the responsibility of subverting or tampering with so ancient and successful a system, without having tho- roughly studied and digested and mastered these de- tails of its causes, and dependence, and consequences, from the first origin, through all changes and grada- tions, would be a folly to suppose, or a libel to assert. Accounts, however, have recently been published by parliament of the whole colonial intercourse with this country ; highly important documents, and too interest- ing to the present subject to be here omitted. They set forth and collect the whole trade of each British possession with the United Kingdom, and the shipping thereby employed, and compare the whole with British commerce and navigation to all foreign countries in all parts of the world. The first table relates to exports and imports. There should have been added to this the tariffs imposed by each country upon the staples of British industry, that it might be seen how much of the value on each article we are obliged to pay into the treasuries of foreign powers, before we are permit- ted to deal with their subjects. In the second table# WITH FOREIGN TRADE. 151 relating to shipping, it will be obvious that the greater distance of the colonies makes the real amount of ton- nage employed by their trade far greater, than the ap- parent, as compared with foreign intercourse. a Trade of the United Kingdom with the British Colonies and Possessions; Year ended 5th January y 18o0. NAMES OF THE BRITISH COLONIES, &c. Heligoland Gibraltar . . Malta United States of the Ionian \ Islands Isles of Guernsey, Jersey, ) Alderney and Man 4 mrica: ^ Sierra Leone and Settlements i on the Western Coast . » . . S Cape of Good Hope St. Helena Mauritius Est'a: Last India Company ’sTerrito- ries, Ceylon, &c. (including # China, the trade with which v country cannot be sepa- ^ j rately distinguished) . . . . J i New' South Wales | Van Diemen’s Land I Swan River | Jatnerira : j British NorthernColonies,' viz. ! Settlements of the Hudson’s \ Bay Company ^ Official Value of IMPORTS into the United Kingdom. £. s. (h 7 8 34,535 11 9 20,784 I5i> 2 109,448 12 6 276,145 12 2 258,572 6 5 238,133 16 5 5,813 12 7 451,998 15 3 T',? 44,530 10 8 92,528 12 1 33,191 16 2 60,5 22 3 10 Official Value of Exports from the United Kingdom. British and Irish Produce and Manufactures. £. s. d. 69 3 2 988,234 9 9 458,178 17 8 34,254 8 3 309,464 19 1 350,348 13 3 347,003 5 3 30,047 18 0 256,082 1 8 5,465,224 7 4 187,243 16 11 44,181 13 0 27,548 17 2 60,036 9 Foreign and Colonial Merchandize. £. 145 129,381 47,180 4,990 s. d. 0 11 9 8 4 2 9 11 99,593 14 2 161,431 13 10 36,424 9 7 1,604 4 2 24,448 11 3 553,763 7 9 63,376 17 8 14,731 13 8 9,661 6 8 7,815 2 3 TOTAL EXPORTS. Declared Value of British and Irish Produce and Manufactures exported from the United Kingdom. £. s. d, 214 4 1 1,117,615 19 5 305,359 1 10 39,244 18 2 409,058 13 3 511,780 7 1 383,427 14 10 31,652 2 2 280,530 13 1 6,018,987 15 1 250,620 14 7 58,913 6 8 37,210 3 10 67,851 11 8 £. s. d. 55 O 0 504,163 10 10 224,009 16 1 30,464 16 11 319,994 18 10 M4,253 0 6 257,500 10 5 45,531 7 4 205,558 13 8 3,660,217 14 5 219,094 15 1 55,980 14 5 35,606 4 8 64,662 2 9 Or i'O COMPARISON OF COLONIAL I ^9lnterira — continued. I Newfoundland and the Coastl ; of Labrador j Canada New Brunswick Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, \ and Prince Edward’s Island 5 ISiHtifti) Untnes, viz. Antigua Barbadoes Dominica Grenada Jamaica Montserrat Nevis St. Christopher St. Lucia St. Vincent’s Tobago Tortola Trinidad Bahamas Bermudas Demerara Berbice Honduras British Whale Fisheries . . Total 243,628 4 0 306,604 13 7 569,451 12 4 980,476 9 2 213,842 16 7 252,224 17 11 61,701 6 10 275,526 2 6 285,500 14 6 129,793 15 6 489,214 6 0 345,612 7 3 141,911 19 11 24,761 4 4 359,813 14 2 84,918 5 4 3,741,179 13 3 2,620,801 7 8 40,958 3 6 7,789 10 4 78,278 6 1 23,771 1 1 192,280 17 9 92,769 10 7 157,533 8 5 48,314 3 4 414,548 3 8 96,483 0 9 158,385 8 3 46,062 7 7 33,243 15 0 5,600 10 9 694,001 10 4 313,538 12 10 17,915 1 0 49,234 13 0 4,901 18 1 19,366 7 1 1,762,409 19 5 448,112 12 11 325,051 10 5 46,485 5 10 190,795 4 a 753,710 3 10 361,086 8 11 6 0 0 19,863,840 12 9 15,534,882 2 11 67,213 1 9 1 373,817 15 4 339,699 19 8 136,945 13 2 1,117,422 2 4 709,140 15 7 22,698 11 0 274,923 8 11 224,393 3 10 22,440 16 5 297,966 18 11 243,827 14 2 16,864 11 2 146,658 6 8 123,101 7 1 24,216 9 8 369,828 16 11 293,417 10 6 2,717 17 11 27,479 2 3 24,583 7 3 8,097 13 6 93,015 18 10 88,247 10 7 140,682 9 0 2,761,483 16 8 1,684,726 15 7 513 5 10 8,302 16 2 7,531 6 10 1,452 5 6 25,223 6 7 21,456 18 7 4,465 2 7 97,234 13 2 71,717 13 11 3,191 2 4 51,505 5 8 37,681 17 10 3,408 9 11 99,891 10 8 94,665 19 i 5,306 7 5 51,368 15 0 49,326 4 1 66 10 3 5,667 1 0 4,922 2 0 42,539 10 5 361,078 3 3 252,851 18 4 ; 2,290 8 4 51,525 1 4 39,571 1 3 5,451 0 7 24,817 7 8 22,490 16 9 ; 54,124 3 10 502,236 16 9 487,585 6 1 5,102 17 1 51,588 2 11 51,213 10 7 38,568 15 10 792,278 19 8 256,993 11 1 2,173 7 7 2,179 7 7 6 0 0 1,765,078 17 1 17,299,961 0 0 10,996,245 16 10 1 WITH FOREIGN TRADE. Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries; Year elided 5th January, 1830. NAMES OF THE FOREIGN COUNTRIES. Official Value of IMPORTS into the United Kingdom. Official Value of Exports from the Un British and Irish Produce ' Foreign and Colonial and Manufactures. ' Merchandize. ited Kingdom. TOTAL EXPORTS. Declared Value of British and Irish Produce and Manufactures exported from the United Kingdom. (IBurope : £. &. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. 5. d. £. s. d. Russia 4,406,575 3 2 2,157,481 15 7 999,741 15 7 3,157,223 11 2 1,435,804 17 9 Sweden 196,157 2 9 54,726 18 3 ! 103,490 0 5 158,216 18 8 38,252 2 8 Norway 77,^224 12 7 96,472 17 9 50,063 13 2 146,536 10 11 64,233 16 2 Denmark 494,929 8 5 158,356 7 7 69,288 7 4 227,644 14 11 95,246 19 5 Prussia 1,361,628 15 9 252,576 3 8 533,596 17 9 786,173 1 5 189,011 5 2 Germany 1,613,656 4 7 8,386,290 9 6 1,829,436 4 3 10,215,726 13 9 4,473,500 14 8 The Netherlands 1,555,743 15 9 2,854,648 1 2 3,019,309 5 1 5,873,957 6 3 2,050,014 1 2 France 2,086,993 10 10 509,921 1 3 337,896 11 6 847,817 12 9 491,388 3 11 Portugal Proper 397,500 2 7 2,283,749 15 7 46,679 15 2 2,330,429 10 9 1,195,403 5 7 Portugal Azores 13,595 15 7 50, 146 11 2 6,599 3 9 56,745 14 11 31,244 10 6 Portugal Madeira 17,823 1 1 60,610 10 8 7,869 16 5 68,480 7 1 40,283 2 9 Spain and the Balearic Islands 1,119,723 9 6 1,478,989 0 0 216,481 9 10 1,695,470 9 10 861,674 13 3 Spain and the Canaries 61,396 5 7 80,212 17 8 43,198 3 1 123,411 0 9 50,009 19 6 Italy and the Italian Islands . . 908,773 18 3 4,007,185 14 11 899,691 16 1 4,906,877 11 0 2,202,029 14 0 Turkey and Continental Greece 452,591 18 4 1,394,588 1 0 83,114 15 8 1,477,702 16 8 568,683 15 10 Morea and Greek Islands .... 9,657 2 2 — — — — Africa: ; Egypt. 226,343 4 11 132,382 12 9 795 17 2 133,178 9 11 59,304 15 0 j Tripoli, Barbary, and Morocco 30,719 0 4 .... 453 0 0 453 0 0 I Senegal — Cape Verde Islands .... 93 6 4 93 6 4 240 0 0 Isle of Bourbon .... 16,137 5 4 1,328 18 11 1 17,466 4 3 16,341 10 0 COMPARISON OF COLONIAL Sumatra, Java, and other ) Islands of the Indian Seas 5 Phillippine Islands New Zealand and South Sea ^ Islands • 5 85,781 18 9 381,864 4 11 29,571 16 8 9,198 12 11 583 0 9 826 7 11 aimer ira: Foreign West Indies, viz. Hayti Cuba Port Rico St. Croix St. Thomas Cayenne Martinique Surinam United States of America .... States of Central and Southern America, viz. Mexico Gjuatemala Columbia Brazil States of the Rio de la Plata Chili Peru I Total £ 79,200 14 5 272,225 15 8 22,049 9 0 10,905 10 4 18,068 4 0 4 9 4 3 9 2 0,202,605 18 10 154,670 6 6 11,464 2 1 84,595 18 9 1,469,015 2 9 536,050 19 3 61,514 5 11 69,839 11 8 24,139,183 6 0 692,693 16 8 592,931 4 0 8,998 13 6 373 4 2 535,717 10 11 3,818 0 4 5,854,396 15 3 520,516 6 8 499,815 0 3 4,566,010 4 3 1,289,055 14 10 1,375,742 11 2 376,552 11 1 40,683,080 9 0 51,951 15 8 433,816 0 7 254,884 18 8 125 18 4 9,324 11 3 4,720 17 0 320 4 5 1,146 12 4 838 14 10 6,645 3 5 699,339 0 1 297,709 12 3 17,335 2 10 610,266 6 10 371,618 3 8 42 9 10 9,041 3 4 8,310 2 0 83 5 8 456 9 10 589 14 0 23,584 15 8 559,302 6 7 287,773 6 2 38 4 7 3,856 4 11 3,884 10 0 249,122 19 6 6,103,519 14 9 4,823,414 18 2 124,126 8 2 644,642 14 10 303,561 17 0 12,879 1 9 512,694 2 0 232,702 10 6 76,327 17 9 4,642,338 2 0 2,5l 6,039 17 9 17,337 19 0 1,306,393 13 10 758,539 1 3 3 12,955 15 0 1,388,698 6 2 818,949 16 11 13,176 4 5 389,728 15 6 300,171 3 8 ,855,088 17 2 49,538,169 6 2 24,846,377 3 2 WITH FOREIGN TRADE. Navigation employed in the Trade of the United Kingdom with the British Colonies and Possessions. NAMES INWARDS. OUTWARDS. OF THE BRITISH COLONIES, &c. BI IITISH. FOREIGN. BRITISH. FOREIGN. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. lEurope : Heligoland 1 on 0 28 10,191 6,966 4,361 97,211 1 3 151 Gibraltar 16 1 795 88 1 Malta 11 2 034 • • • • 90 3 235 United States of the lonion Islands 38 5^326 108,068 • • • • .... 42 OA 4 940 Isles of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Man 2,184 10 1,393 1,922 1 1 4 171 198 Africa : I Sierra Leone and Settlements on the Western } i Coast , . . . . ^ j Cape of Good Hope ! St. Helena and Ascension 1 Mauritius ^ 103 37 2 41 27,912 8,225 699 .... .... 116 35 3 1 ! 31 ,909 1 7,705 634 6,391 — — 1 .... .... 27 — — ! I East India Company’s Territories, Ceylon ^ 1 and China ^ 1 New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land } 1 and Swan River . . . 5 186 30 100,407 8,970 .... .... 147 81 82,940 28,719 — — COMPARISON OF COLONIAL J) ^tttetica: British Northern Colonies, viz. Newfoundland and the Coast of Labrador Canada New Brunswick Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Prince ^ Edward’s Island 5 British West Indies, viz. Antigua Barbadoes Dominica Grenada Jamaica Montserrat Nevis St, Christopher’s St. Lucia St. Vincent’s Tobago , , Tortola Trinidad Bahamas Bermudas Demerara Berbice Honduras British Whale Fisheries, Pearl Fishery Total. 3 866 5 1,274 148 17,822 .... .... 306 31,246 — — 778 227,909 .... .... 760 221,694 — — 561 155,160 1 89 460 133,469 — — 121 30,146 .... .... 126 31,738 — — 46 9,781 43 9,367 _ 65 17,190 82 20,887 — — 12 3,011 12 2,921 — — 41 12,349 37 11,031 — — 286 85,710 276 82,558 — — 5 1,253 4 944 — — 8 1,892 8 1,996 — — 24 6,224 26 6,804 — — 22 5,290 • • • • 19 4,209 — — 53 14,379 p • • • 42 12,084 — — 26 6,594 • p p p 29 6,913 — — 5 1,317 3 606 — — 94 22.224 82 20,474 — — r 7 1,360 7 1,338 — — 3 620 p • p p 9 2,256 — — 190 55,250 183 53,687 — — 29 7,710 • • • • 23 6,070 — — 42 11,184 p p p • 33 8,847 — — 113 35,982 119 39,540 — — 1 259 — — — — — 5,332 1,007,668 13 1,570 5,182 989,008 14 1,695 c Ox WITH FOREIGN TRADE. Navigation employed in the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries.' NAMES OF THE FOREIGN COUNTRIES. Russia Sweden Norway Denmark Prussia Germany The Netherlands France Portugal Proper Azores — ^ Madeira Spain and the Balearic Islands Canaries Italy and the Italian Islands. . Turkey and Continental Greece Worea and Greek Islands INWARDS, OUTWARDS. BRITISH. FOREIGN. BRITISH. FOREIGN. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. 1,829 348,665 85 25,038 1,451 280,806 97 25,659 109 16,536 143 25,046 77 10,787 86 15,103 110 9,985 553 86,205 89 7,750 577 59,663 201 24,576 622 53,390 431 66,343 793 83,766 744 125,918 628 127,861 426 74,639 406 79,047 689 101,194 513 49,917 718 106,063 541 49,316 1,174 117,661 964 97,593 832 79,271 871 84,266 1,328 106,548 1,082 59,756 1,369 112,634 787 47,880 390 42,229 64 7,171 359 40,429 102 15,673 161 12,873 2 184 127 9,056 1 87 11 2,031 1 220 14 2,279 — — 535 61,500 63 6,191 402 47,287 86 11,977 25 2,878 .... .... 49 6,053 — — 385 56,035 22 4,734 314 45,734 16 3,297 73 10,453 .... .... 74 10,674 — — 1 218 — — — — — — Cx 00 COMPARISON OF COLONIAL f 'll Africa: Egypt , S7 Tripoli, Barbary and Morocco . - - » 8 Senegal Cape Verde Is^lands .... Isle of Bourbon .... Sumatra, Java, and other Islands of the ^ Indian Seas ^ 2 Philippine Islands 4 New Zealand and South Sea Islands I America : 24 Cuba and other Foreign West Indies 33 United States of America 192 Mexico 13 finafeTTiala Columbia. 19 Brazil 15.5 States of the Rio de la Plata 55 Chili T-** 1 3 Peru 11 Foreign Parts (not otherwise described) .... Total 1 i 8,327 V 7,569 11 3,117 _ 818 — — — — ■ — — . Nil. . . .... .... Nil. — « • • • • • « • .... 3 546 2 437 .... .... .... • • • • 3 785 499 4 1,492 6 2,141 1,033 .... 2 401 1 334 450 •• • • .... 2 327 — — 4,469 48 7,867 1 173 6,061 8 2,190 58 12,536 19 5,248 61,343 450 162,327 238 76,191 482 170,703 3,386 .... .... 21 3,369 — — 1 300 — — — 3,486 1 130 19 3,363 — — 34,119 .... .... 193 42,509 6 1,542 10,087 3 480 48 9,048 3 459 2,084 .... .... 22 4,713 — — 2,163 .... .... 8 1,287 1 228 — — — 45 7,600 193 40,771 176,867 5,205 708,733 7,454 1,074,171 5,080 728,555 WITH FOREIGN TRADE, THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. Such is the colonial system ; such its results; such the difference between regulating the trade of far countries by acts of parliament, and submitting to the regulations prescribed by the interest or hostility of foreign powers. This it is, to found plantations and protect their com- merce ; to extend the scene, and multiply the objects of industry beyond what one country or one climate can afford ; to make supplies of all the earth has pro- duced or man contrived, constant and secure, beyond the reach of aliens or foes ; and to accumulate the con- veniences of life within one community, and exchange and diffuse them to all its members, beyond the ability of any people to acquire, in any country, at any age. For how is it, that an island, no way eminently favoured in soil or climate, nor placed in the immediate and natural channel of intercourse, but situated above the fiftieth degree of northern latitude, surrounded by powerful nations differing in religion, language, man- ners, and laws, and occupying positions full of danger, with repeated threats, and occasional attempts to use them for subjugation; how is it that such a country has not only defied and discomfited all assailants, but has been made the metropolis of many people, the great mart and emporium to which the productions of every land and climate are sent and exchanged, and from which they can never be excluded, but through which only they may be, they have upon a time once been, permitted to reach the shores of neighbouring powers? How is it that Great Britain has made herself the THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. 161 head and ruler of a vast confederacy of kingdoms, and islands, and provinces, spread through every quarter of the earth, and has made her empire, like the sea on which it rests, to touch every coun- try, and embrace and contain the whole earth? How is it, since such things have not been eternal, nor do they spring out of the ground, how have they been accomplished? how has this enormous dominion been composed ? It derived its first origin from the labours of the Long Parliament, and was the only one of its works which survived its existence, and in a measure compensated its crimes ; and, to use the lan- guage of that period, it likened the kingdom of Eng- land to a grain of mustard-seed, then sown, as it were, and the smallest of all germs ; but while men slept, it grew night and day, and has become so large as to shadow the earth, and give shelter to its tribes. Du- ring two centuries that policy has been in operation, and within that period has created a larger and richer empire, than Rome acquired in seven ; and as the pre- sent age would judge the opinion of any Roman senator, had Rome produced, or history preserved the conceit, that the greatness of his country was not in conse- quence of its military policy, but in spite of it ; so pro- bably will posterity esteem the British statesman, who affirms, that the wealth and power and greatness of this empire are in spite, and not in consequence, of the colonial system. Never, in any instance, has the experiment of either that or any other policy been crowned with such large, rapid, and complete success. Who is he, the minister, who dares challenge for himself the responsibility of M 162 THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. either dissolving that empire, or destroying the charter of its intercourse and prosperity, mutual preference and protection in industry and trade ? It is not so difficult to be understood by any who will consult maps and official returns, and can combine the sciences of geo- graphy and statistics, that upon the possession of the Canadian and the West Indian provinces, the balance of naval powder in the world depends. The very pal- ladium of our maritime ascendancy may be said to be kept for Great Britain, where it was lost to France, in the citadel of Quebec. Surrender, or suffer it to be purloined, take from this country the navigation em- ployed by the exports of the Canadas and the West Indies, or even of either of them, and transfer it to the United States, and with it you have, in the latter case endangered, and in the former transferred, the supre- macy of the seas. The Colonial System is so eminently prescribed by nature and society, that the history of the commerce, industry, and propagation of the human race, has in all ages and countries exhibited but some modification of that economy, which it was reserved for the glory of England so to develope and improve, as in a compara- tively short time to have become the mother of many people, and the arbiter of all, and to have filled the vacant regions of the earth with cultivation and hap- piness, and received back into her own bosom the abundant harvest of their labours and increase. And this system is one, which, though indeed she may re- nounce, she never can destroy. It is immortal, and irresistible. She has for some time placed herself at its head, and administered its measures, and reaped D THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. 163 its exceeding great rewards. Let her beware how she seeks to overthrow it, lest haply she be found wrestling with a mightier force, and be worsted in the contest. A system so rooted in the profound and common prin- ciples of nature and society, is too strong to be over- come by the sophistry of dogmatists, though enacted in the statutes of parliament. The inhabitants of the • United Kingdom refuse to confine themselves to the area prescribed by the shores of these islands. Who will build up that wall which shall prevent their seek- ing the waste and fertile tracts of the New World, and covering them with industry and population? The first act and principle of the Colonial System is emigration. You have only to choose whether the colonies thus founded, or peopled, shall be parcel of your own domi- nions, or augment the power and wealth of your rivals. In this choice there can be little doubt, or chance of mistake ; the danger is, lest having chosen in favour of yourselves, and your own empire, you really legislate in favour of alien and rival powers. The second ac^ and principle of the colonial system is commercial pro- tection. It is not enough to tell your emigrants that they carry with them the same rights of liberty and property as enjoyed at home ; but their trade and industry, also, must be treated and preferred, as if they were only separated from you by the Pentland Frith, ‘ or the Irish Sea. Indeed, in the present state of navi- gation, and of commercial and social relations, the distance of Canada is now not greater than Scot- land’s was formerly, nor is the connexion less import- ant. Otherwise, finding it impossible to trade and exchange labour with you, the colonies must either be M 2 fe 4 164 the colonial system. driven to form first commercial and, finally, political confe- deracies with other powers, or to exclude your industry as you exclude theirs, and endeavour to produce them- selves those things which they at present procure from you. Let ministers then elevate and enlarge their views to the great circumstances in which they are placed. Let them endeavour to comprehend the whole dominions of Great Britan as one society, and the colonies for its integral parts, as much as if they adjoined Valentia or the Land's-End, and then enact laws of trade. Let but the imperial government be like the dominions, and equal to the means they have undertaken to admi- nister ; let them have the fortitude, the prudence, and the justice, to say, to the economists, dispute ye, and to the fanatics, exhort ye ; but for neither the cant of philo- sophy, nor the cant of religion, will we betray the grand colonial confederacy of islands and provinces beyond seas, which, with these kingdoms, compose such an empire as the world never saw, such as, by your prin- ciples, could never have been founded, and such as your counsels would soon dissolve and destroy. The Colonial System cannot yet perish. If it be not lor us it will be turned against us. Its advantages are too great and obvious to be lost, and if renounced by this country, can not fail to be seized and secured by some other. Already have the United States adopted the same policy under a difterent name, and with the same success : nor is there any nation in Europe which does not prefer the example of such experiments, to the unsucessful or unattested precepts of the Anti-Colonial party. It has been written by one high in the confidence THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. i f f i V I 1 65 of that party, that, “ The great value of colonies has “ been considered as not admitting of dispute, and no “ pains have been taken to trace by facts in v^hat way they are valuable. Had such an examination been “ properly gone into, it would have been shown that the ** possession of colonies affords no advantages which could not be obtained by commercial intercourse with independant states.”* So quietly do persons omit the difference between home trade and foreign, subjects and aliens, friends and enemies. What advantages could he obtained also is a safe qualification to prolong disputes, but if what advantages have been and are obtained be any thing, that point admits of immediate test and proof» by the tables already adduced. It can not, in order to solve this controversy, be necessary to dissever our colo- nies; it may be sufficiently conjectured what our trade and navigation would then become with them, by consi- dering what they now are with other foreign dominions, and computing the proportions of territory and popula- tion, and the chances of hostility, and the effects of rivalry. Strip Great Britain of her colonies, her foreign trade barely exceeds that of the United States.f Strip Great Britain of her colonies, and her whole tonnage * Financial Reform, t The imports into the United States, according to the latest accounts, 1831, were 103,191,124 dollars, or £23,218,003 of real value, being less by only £921,180 than the whole official value of imports into Great Britain from all foreign countries: and in the same year the whole Ame- rican tonnage departing outwards from the United States to all foreign countries, was 972,504 tons, being less by only 101,667 tons than the whole British tonnage outwards from the United Kingdom to all foreign countries. u 166 THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. ill foreign trade barely exceeds the American tonnage in tlie foreign trade of the United States. Strip Great Britain of her colonies, and her whole foreign trade is less than the foreign trade of France by one-fourth. Strip Great Britain of her colonies, and even her tonnage in foreign trade but a little exceeds the whole (French and foreign) departed outwards from France. But how stands the comparison with regard to exports? France competes with Great Britain in all other markets, but has scarcely any trade to British colonies. Take these from Great Britain, and her whole exports of British origin to foreign countries are exceed- ed by the exports of France.^ Not only, therefore, does the maritime supremacy of the United Kingdom depend upon the Colonial System, but her commercial wealth and greatness neither had any other origin of old, nor has now' any better support. It * The imports from foreign countries and the French colonies into France in 1829, were 764,828,678 francs, about £30,593,^7, e^^ding by £6,453,964 the official value of imports from all foreign tean^einto Great Britain in 1830. The exports from France in the same year were 652,455,610 francs, or £26,098,224 real value.— 27ie Times, The tonnage outwards from France in 1827 is thus stated in the Commercial Dictionary. Ships. Tons. Men. To foreign countries 8,347 655,343 61,768 French colonies 496 120,989 7,110 French fisheries 6,234 124,665 45,095 15,077 910,997 113,973 In the sum of shipping to foreign countries foreign tonnage is included, and may be estimated at one-half. The number engaged in the fisheries is singularly at variance with the official statement of the French government mentioned in page 64. Of the above exports about one-third in value is com- posed of three articles coming into direct competition with the staples of British manufacture, viz., silks, cottons, and woollens. Q THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. 167 is by the Colonies that she is great, by the Colonies rich ; and without them she ceases to be either the first mari- time or the first commercial nation, and becomes, what France has long threatened to make her, and what is the inevitable consequence of that natural state of things so much desired by some, a power of the second order in Europe, And what is that? To be Spain without the ^ Indies; like her, to raze out the plus ultra from her escutcheon, or bear it as a testimony of feebleness and loss ; to be treated like Denmark or Switzerland in war, or buffeted like Holland in peace. It is painful, but perhaps it is time to contemplate events, which, as seems to some, are so near their ac- complishment, that the present generation will not have passed away before these things shall be all fulfilled. Such causes they tell us are in progress. The seeds of disunion, the elements of dissolution, have long been sown to the wind; and the reaping will be attended with such a tempest, as shall scatter through the world the fragments of the mighty^'^te^ith and powerful Empire of Great Britain, dissolve the United Kingdom into three republics, Eng- land to an heptarchy, and each heptarchy to an anarchy, till five persons shall be divided in one house, three against two, and two against three. God forbid such omens! God avert their prognostics ! But whenever that empire, like all human combinations, shall have reached its dissolution and term, there are two things which will remain to fill the minds of after-ages with marvel and praise: two public documents will alone suffice to con- vey an adequate, and truly a sublime, idea of the riches and the power of that confederacy, viz. the catalogue of its dominions and of their trade and navigation with the 168 THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. metropolitan kingdom ; and the orders of its sovereign in council, which, in 1807, shut up the sea. The one will show how that power was acquired which swept the fleets of all nations trom the face of the waters; the other, how that victory was used. For as nothing has transmitted a more exalted opinion of the naval power of ancient Greece, than the treaty which prohibited the great king from passing certain Capes or coming within sight of the sea, so hereafter can nothing give posterity so grand a conception of the power and policy of Great Britain, as that mandate, which forbade the world to trade wdth her enemies except through her own ports, and that muster-roll of auxiliary colonies, whose industry and commerce enabled her to enforce the decree. In « our case too, as in that of Athens, the same inquiry can not fail to be made by future times, and perhaps the same answer given. “ Ast, cedo, quomodo rempublicam tantam perdidistis tam cito?” “ Proveniebant Oratores, novi, stulti, adolescentuli.” It cannot be, that a reformed parliament will be led into such measures, and by such men, as to occasion that interrogatory, or justify that answer. It cannot be, that inability to administer a great and powerful empire is to be concealed, by making it as small as the capacities, or as distracted as the counsels, of any administration. The best result to commercial questions expected from Re- form was, that the introduction of men of business from the maritime and manufacturing towns, would make scholastic theories of economy, as yet no less miscon- ceived than misapplied, give place at last to inquiry, and to facts, and experience, and truth; that no longer the THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. 169 interests of consumers, but the interests of producers, would be the object and criterion of our policy; that the relative terms of cheap and dear would be referred, not to prices paid by purchasers only, but to the cost sustained by the whole community; that all the bankruptcy, the beggary and misery concealed under what is termed the transfer of capital, and hitherto estimated at nothing would be exposed, and valued, and brought into account; that it would no longer be thought the same thing whe- ther we exchanged goods for articles produced in foreign communities, or for the same articles produced in our own; and that economy and industry w'ould be recalled to their first principle, never to hire others to do for us what we must be idle if we do not for ourselves ; and, finally, that this subject would be for ever separated from politics or party, and considered and treated as para- mount to all factions, and all other questions. Such representatives have now succeeded to power, and in numbers sufficient, it is hoped, to secure such re- sults, and to inculcate some impression of their own cha- racter upon the conduct of public affairs. May they prove able to preserve and administer the great, and rich, and fortunate empire they are called to govern, wdth justice, and with talent, and wdth energy, and wdth all success ! THE END. LONDON : PR17CTEI> BY C. ROWORTH AND SONS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. D L /\Noe