M HALIFAX TO /ANCOUVE R PULLEN-BURRY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER A SELECTION FROM MILLS & BOON'S LIST OF GENERAL LITERATURE TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF CRICKET. By ARTHUR A. LILLEY. With a Portrait in Photogravure and 32 Illustrations. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. net. TRAMPS THROUGH TYROL. By F. WOLCOTT STODDARD ("Dolomite"). With 27 Illustrations. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. net. MY IRISH YEAR. By PADRAIC COLUM. With 15 Illustrations. Demy Svo, IDs. 6d. net. FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER. By B. PULLEN-BURRY. With 40 Illustrations. Demy Svo, 12s. 6d. net. THE ITALIANS OF TO-DAY. By RICHARD BAGOT. Crown Svo, 2s. 6d. net. RAMBLES IN NORWAY. By HAROLD SIMPSON, With 8 Illustrations in Colour and 32 from Photographs. Crown Svo, 68. A QUEEN'S KNIGHT: The Story of Count Axel de Fersen. By MILDRED CARNEGY. With 12 Illustrations. Demy Svo, 7s. 6d. net. INVOLUTION. By LORD ERNEST HAMILTON. Demy Svo, 7s. 6d. net. ST. CLARE AND HER ORDER : A Story of Seven Centuries. By the Author of "The Enclosed Nun." With 20 Illustrations. Demy Svo, 7s. 6d. net. ENGLAND v. AUSTRALIA. The Record of a Memorable Tour. By P. F. WARNER. Demy Svo. Illustrated. 7s. 6d. net. RAMBLES IN IRISH WAYS. By ROBERT LYND. Illustrated. Crown Svo, 6s. MY ITALIAN YEAR. By RICHARD BAGOT. With 25 Illustrations. Demy Svo, 1Os. 6d. net. RAMBLES AROUND FRENCH CHATEAUX. By FRANCES M. GOSTLING. With 5 Illustrations in Colour, 33 from Photographs, and a Map. Crown Svo, 6s. RAMBLES IN THE BLACK FOREST. By I. A. R. WYLIE, Author of " My German Year." With 5 Illus- trations in Colour and 24 from Photographs. Crown Svo, 6s. BY B. PULLEN-BURRY FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AUTHOR OF "JAMAICA AS IT is," "ETHIOPIA IN EXILF.,' "A GERMAN COLONY" ILLUSTRATED MILLS AND BOON, LIMITED 49 RUPERT STREET LONDON, W. PuUiihed W12 F PREFACE TT is customary to write a preface in launching a new book into the stream of publicity, so I take the opportunity thus afforded to say that I am not so optimistic as to imagine that the Canadian- born will endorse all that I advance. But if this volume of impressions received during several months spent in British America succeeds in pro- moting a greater interest in, and a better under- standing of the vast and magnificent Dominion of Canada, my efforts will be well rewarded. B. PULLEN-BURBY. 128 PICCADILLY, LONDON, February 1912. 1363533 " Land of the sweeping eagle, land of commercial swing, We toiled for years in the snow and the night, because we believed in the spring. And when we needed ye most, ye spoke of a northern wilderness Of stunted shrubs and lakes congealed, and children in distress. But the sun of our West has risen, and now by its light we see, Fit nucleus for new empire, a land of one mind and free. And think ye, we who have toiled in the night have prepared the repast for thee ! " CANADIAN. CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER I Depressing conditions in Britain The Empress of Ireland A visit to the steerage Philanthropic schemes Election talk Pre- maturely " annexed " A volte-face policy Sir W. Laurier's charming personality . ' . . . . . . p. 3 CHAPTER II The playground of history French settlers King James's grant in 1621 Confederation explained Historical Halifax The Premier His wish for Reciprocity Fisheries and Steel The Anna- polis Valley . p. 13 CHAPTER III A Canadian authoress The Acadiens and their history Dr. Saunders' book A prediction fulfilled No heckling ! The Hon. Clifford Sifton . ._ . . / . . . . p. 27 CHAPTER IV Openings in Nova Scotia Proximity to markets A land of berries Bargain prices A Swanley student's success Zangwill's description The marshes Truro Agricultural College . p. 35 CONTENTS CHAPTER V A visit to Little Brook The Acadiens at home St. John The Ex- Premier Reversing falls Agricultural opportunities . p. 42 CHAPTER VI Frederickton Dean Schofield Good schools Climate and char- acter Home in the making A chat with Mr. Ellis New Bruns- wick's forests Moose-hunting Natural gas . . p. 54 CHAPTER VII Old Quebec The habitant Places of interest on the St. Lawrence Religious problems Church property and policy . . p. 65 CHAPTER VIII The affairs of Quebec Conservatism Non-compulsory education Expulsion of Protestants Tuberculosis Dufferin Terrace The deed that won Canada Asbestos mines . "., . . p. 74 CHAPTER IX Montreal in Winter View from Mount Royal Population Ratio of emigrants Sir W. Van Home History of the C.P.R. Co. Its splendid management . "" . . . . p. 83 CHAPTER X Clubs Dr. Ritchie-England Milk stations Infant mortality Ty- phoid and consumption French institutions A visit to McGill The Royal Victoria College Back to the land . . p. 91 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER XI Ottawa The Government Buildings Immigration problems Well- paid women Champlain at the Chaudiere Rideau Hall The Laurentian Lakes . . . . . . .p. 105 CHAPTER XII Professor Macoun The National Museum Mrs. Paget's book The Right Hon. R. L. Borden A multi-millionaire . . p. 118 CHAPTER XIII Ontario's first settlers Newark described Heroic incident Town- ships Scotch pioneers The Ottawa Valley Legislative dead- locks p. 130 CHAPTER XIV A high standard Ontario's cities The source of wealth Labour- saving implements Mr. James on natural resources Agri- cultural shows Immigration outruns accommodation . p. 137 CHAPTER XV Mrs. Huestis on reforms Ne Temere Temperance The Editor of the Globe Mormonism Mrs. Murphy's reply . . p. 146 Public instruction Separate schools F. Vaughan's lecture A har- bour for Toronto Sir James Whitney The Hydro-Electric line Porcupine and Cochrane Census revelations . p. 159 xii CONTENTS PART II CHAPTER I A meditation and a vision * * . . . . p. 171 CHAPTER II Twin cities Favourable location Local matters The C.N.R. Co.'s projects Opinions of leading men The Kakabeka Falls p. 176 CHAPTER III Kenora and Kewatin Waving grain Main Street Prairie trails The Selkirk Settlement Its short life History of Assiniboia The Riel rebellion Confederation . . . . p. 182 CHAPTER IV Mr. Taft on the pact Commissioner Roland A story with a moral Tightening Imperial bonds . . . . . p. 191 CHAPTER V Motoring through Winnipeg Yards and cattle pens An expert on wheat The Commissioner of Immigration . . p. 198 CHAPTER VI Sir W. Whyte His retiring speech Manitoba's grievance A pleasure resort A miscellaneous collection An English lad . p. 206 CHAPTER VII Agriculture The unfit A lady's testimony A warning to women. p. 216 Xlll A record clearing A peaceful invasion The C.P.B. Co.'s Land Com- missioner Soils and climatic conditions " Dry " farming " Mixed " farming p. 222 The homesteader Mrs. Osborne's appeal for women Town-sites Coronation A novel railway tour Mrs. Bennett of Eegina p. 230 CHAPTEE X The " North-West Mounted Police Illicit whisky Col. Hanbury Williams New Government Buildings Traveller's tales p. 236 A magisterial visitor Juvenile precocity The Premier of Saskatche- wan Great wheat crop Sunset on the prairie Growth of Saskatoon The new University . . . " . . p. 242 CHAPTER XII The need of leaders Arrival at Edmonton Y.W.C.A. Phenomenal resources The Peace Biver Election results The Premier- elect President Taft's utterance ; . p. 251 CHAPTEE XIII Government Buildings Premier Sifton A charming authoress Father Lacombe Octogenarians meet An English schoolmis- tress Differing nationalities A Galician settlement . p. 258 CHAPTEE XIV Edmonton Archdeacon Gray Court for juvenile delinquents " Old timers " Hudson Bay Fort Jasper Park Yellowhead Pass p. 271 xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER XV Agricultural lands First sight of the Rockies Women's Press Club The Lacombe Home Calgary's resources Six hundred commercial travellers "You get shops" . . .p. 282 CHAPTER XVI A talk with the Indian agent Ready-made farms Irrigation Block Strathmore Professor Elliott Mr. Carleton . . p. 289 CHAPTER XVII The hotel at Banff Alpine Club Mountain scenery The Great Divide Lake Emerald Nervousness The Yoho Valley p. 300 CHAPTER XVIII British Columbia Fruit growing The Selkirk range Snow-sheds Glacier House Historical sketch Whymper's description Mountain game . . '','" . . . p. 309 CHAPTER XIX The Kootenays Trail, Rossland, Nelson British- grit "Miserable English" Cranbrook's reputation Nation-building . p. 316 CHAPTER XX Sicamous for the Okanagan Fruit districts B.C.'s mineral wealth Placer- and Zode-mining Cariboo in 1862 Vancouver city Prince Rupert Fishing and lumber . . . . p. 326 CHAPTER XXI Residential areas New Westminster A talk with the rector Concerning women A beautiful poem A Ladies' Club An Indian visitor Premier Macbribe The Malahad road Trafalgar Bay Conclusion p. 337 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE CITY OF QUEBEC . . ''%> '" ;i ' " . Frontispiece FACING PAGE ST. ANDREWS, N.B. . . - ? .^ vi '. .'' . 1- * '" 6 A BLOCKHOUSE, USED FORMERLY IN WARFARE AGAINST THE INDIANS . . . . . , ., =, . .14 A TYPICAL COUNTRY SCENE /?**-. 36 DIGBY, N.S. . . . ..-.,-..., -* : . . : .V . 43 ST. JOHN, N.B ,, . . v , , ^, . 50 A DEAD MOOSE . . 60 CHATEAU RICHER 71 THE STATUE OF CHAMPLAIN .,..-!> . 80 MONTREAL .84 DOMINION SQUARE v ,j **.-. . 90 LORD STRATHCONA'S RESIDENCE 102 GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS AT OTTAWA 106 THE PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY 108 A LOG JAM 128 KING STREET, TORONTO ... ^ ... 144 BALA . . .164 LAKE TEMISKAMTNG 166 THE FALLS OF KAKABEKA . . . . . . 181 KENORA . . . .' . . . - . . . 182 MAIN STREET, WINNIPEG . 193 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE BROKEN PRAIRIE . . ... ... . . 223 A HABVEST FIELD . 228 AN INTERESTING INTERIOR . . .... . 233 ROCHE MIETTE 280 REAPING OATS . . . v . . . . . 282 STBATHMORE . . . .' **" : ; . . , 291 IEBIOATION WOBKS AT BASSANO . , . . , ... 292 PROFESSOR ELLIOTT IN HIS ELEMENT . . . . . 294 THE C.P.R. Co.'s READY-MADE FARM . . ... 298 BANFF'S FAR-FAMED HOTEL 300 LAKE LOUISE 303 ALPINE CLUB'S SUMMER QUARTERS 306 THE HEART OF THE MOUNTAINS 306 SIB DONALD 311 GLACIER HOUSE ; 312 MOUNT BEQBIE 327 THE CARIBOO BRIDGE 329 CAJPILANO CANYON . . 344 VICTORIA 348 PART I CHAPTEE I Depressing conditions in Britain The Empress of Ireland a visit to the steerage Philanthropic schemes Election talk Pre- maturely " annexed " A volte -face policy Sir W. Laurier's charming personality. AST passed through London on August 11, 1911, ^~*- on my way to Liverpool to join the Empress of Ireland, bound for Quebec, I experienced none of that joyful anticipation, or elation, at starting to explore unknown lands with which I have so often set out upon former travels. At this time London's workers were seriously dislocating the commercial machinery of the country. Troops were in readiness to suppress anything ap- proaching mob law. The esoteric meaning of Agadir incidents and their accompanying conversations was not discoverable in any of the revelations of the Liberal Government, any more than were the pro- visions of the new Irish Home Rule Bill. The Lords had been shorn of their time-honoured privileges. Responsible persons were declaring that the Mother of Parliaments lay at the mercy of a demagogue and empiric whose ambition to do great things was only equalled by his lack of constructive genius and his mediocrity of achievement. My pessimistic mood was, however, not of long con- tinuance. The weather was fine throughout the 3 4 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER short passage of six days. An endeavour on the part of the elements to play at pitch and toss was stifled in its birth, and we slipped at the rate of nineteen knots an hour through the smooth, sunlit seas. As we approached the American continent we awakened one morning to find that an escort of infant icebergs lay in the wake of the track of the Empress, soon to be hidden from view by fog-banks off the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This ocean-going steamer belonging to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company's Atlantic service is a good sea boat, beautifully fitted up, the service better than that on most liners. An opportunity offered to visit the steerage passengers. I had often watched their crowded deck, and had mentally com- pared the respectable, well-dressed looking men and women with the usual style of persons travelling third-class. The unaided conclusion I had arrived at was that there seemed no Latin element present. I was therefore glad to find my surmise actually the case, for the purser told me that only persons of British, or Scandinavian nationality were taken on board as emigrants. There were over 800 of them on this occasion, and as we walked through the saloon they were trooping in to tea ; nor was there a countenance which instinctively gave you to think " his life was of the damndest " amongst any one of them. Here was good solid human material going towards the building of a nation of oversea Britons, but England was the poorer for this wholesale transportation of her honest workers. What is she taking in to replace the gaps left by such as these ? The answer is not far to seek. Everything that is TEA IN THE STEERAGE 5 undesirable in the shape of aliens and outcasts ! It is pitiful to think that their advent to our shores is compelling the British-born to seek their livelihood beyond the seas, yet this is the truth. Several times during the months I spent in Canada, men have told me they would never have left the old country had it not been for the competition of Yiddish, Poles, or others in East London. The steerage tea consisted of bread and butter, hot fish, boiled eggs, jam, cocoa, or tea, and as much of it as they liked. After this substantial meal a supper of bread and cheese and biscuits followed in due course. When one reckons that 6 10s. covers passage, with four meals per diem, even Mr. Keir Hardie could scarcely think the fare exorbitant, or the passengers unfairly treated. The cabins were clean, and there seemed no lack of fresh air. I asked the purser if amongst such a number they never had disturbances ? His answer was, that such occur- rences were very rare. The ruly ones controlled the unruly. Even in the crowded steerages of British steamers it is interesting to note that the principle of self-government is at work. On the first-class deck they were a seriously minded collection of home-returning Canadians after the Coronation festivities. The all important elections in the Dominion were then looming in the near distance, and the thoughtful, strong faces of the men, as they sat in little groups discussing politics, assured one that it was with some anxiety that they awaited September 21. " The coming election is one of the most crucial 6 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER in our history," said a passenger, and I began to understand that at this date it was practically im- possible for the most experienced to forecast whether the " outs " (Conservatives) would oust the " ins " (Liberals). '' The whole thing means this," remarked a lady named Mrs. Botterrell from Montreal. " Shall we remain British, or shall we become Americanised ? ' She was descended from generations of Loyalists, and related how an ancestress, despising the rebels, had ridden through Maine in 1776 to New Bruns- wick after the war with England had broken out. In the course of conversation this lady went on to tell me that she had lately purchased a farm, in the vicinity of St. Andrews, N.B., the fashionable sea-side resort, and was sending there some Swiss cows she had purchased in Europe. The farm was the last thing in cheapness I had ever heard of. It comprised 400 acres of land, cleared in parts, with a house and stable in fair condition, within five miles of rail, and she had bought it for 200 1 Mrs. Botterrell further explained that it was, of course, a bargain ; the owner was anxious to be rid of it ; the land, if not of the best, was good enough for Ayrshire cows to graze upon and already the lumber was bringing in a small income. This lady, who has at various times brought out whole families and satisfactorily settled them, is meditating some philan- thropic scheme with regard to her newly acquired purchase. Apparently, she is only awaiting some favourable co-operation on this side of the Atlantic prior to offering British lads a good home with first- rate agricultural training. CHEAP FARM LAND T Land at less than 10s. an acre set me thinking. I thought it would be well to inquire a little into these farms going begging in the Maritime Provinces. It seems that in consequence of the superior attrac- tions of prairie farming in the West many a farmer has sold his land for a mere song and gone off to seek prosperity in pastures new. " You will find," said Mrs. Botterrell, " that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are feeling the loss of their young men, and that the Governments of both these provinces are trying now to attract emigrants, which they never did before." A well-known citizen of Toronto had much to say on the question of Reciprocity. He did not doubt that it would be advantageous, commercially, to the Dominion, nor did he agree with those who con- sidered its ultimate objective spelt annexation. That argument, said he, had been used for all it was worth years ago, when dollar and cent coinage had been introduced, but it had proved to be worthless. The Americans had never made it manifest that they were land grabbers, either in the case of Cuba or the Philippines. Interesting sidelights on a people pursuing the independent administration of its own affairs, finding its highest ideal in the autonomous development of a nation within the British Empire were afforded by talks with various persons. A Government dissolving Parliament without pro- rogation, or without providing supplies for the public service, seemed indeed in a hurry to surrender its fiscal autonomy, which, it was generally agreed, would assuredly follow any entangling alliance with 8 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER the United States such as the projected Reciprocity pact. Certainly theorists would find it hard to out- line a scheme giving more individual liberty than that enjoyed by Canadians, who are governed by an absolute democracy, moved at times to heroic action, as in the late Boer War, by a wave of strong Imperial feeling. Nor could coercive methods bind a colony to its parent by a stronger tie than that of senti- ment, which has proved that blood is thicker than water. It was more than interesting on arrival in Canada to peruse American journals which seemed to have already " annexed " the Dominion without waiting for the mandate of its people. The attitude of the Press, south of the line, was amusing. There was a splendid candour on the part of the scribes which everybody now admits contributed largely to the ultimate decision of the Canadians to reject Reci- procity. The New York Journal wrote in these terms : " Intelligent Americans will favour this treaty. Intelligent Congressmen will vote for it. Eventu- ally, beyond question, the whole North American continent will be one nation." The Union Sun of Lockport, N.Y., was also exube- rantly candid. ' We may as well begin calling our Northern neighbours Americans, because, as the second greatest political unit on the American conti- nent, they are entitled to it in exactness, if not in usage." Sir James Whitney of Ontario declared, subse- quently, that he was in a position to state that dozens of speeches containing references to annexa- POOR BUSINESS IN THE STATES 9 tion had been suppressed. And now, after the opera is over, it is delightful to read the ingenuous manner in which President Taft at Ohio avowed his desire for commercial union. '' The greatest reason," said he, " for adopting this agreement, is the fact that it is going to unite two countries with kindred people lying together across a wide continent in a com- mercial and social union." We may be perhaps pardoned for thinking that it would have been better in their own interests if they had kept " annexation " in cold storage till after September 21. Although the utmost interest was taken in Great Britain at this date in the coming election, few real- ised how intense, south of the 49th parallel on the American continent, was the desire to see the Reci- procity pact signed and sealed. It was openly spoken of as the greatest thing before the country since the Civil War. Although the measure dealt only with agricultural products the American manufacturers had their own views upon the subject. It is no secret that the latter have for some time past complained that business is not so good as it should be, which drew from Mr. J. J. Hill, a well-known American citizen, this observation : ' ' They would not have to complain of poor business if the Canadian market was open to their goods. Canadians have plenty of money with which to purchase our manufactures." This gentleman, who controls the railways which have already some branches operating in Western Canada, had, at this date, nineteen others, according to the information collected by the Canadian National League, waiting to cross the border. Speaking at a Reciprocity banquet in Chicago, he was even more 10 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER explicit. He looked forward with positive dread to the future union of the British Empire as a com- mercial federation under a system of preferential advantages securing to a colonial producer of raw materials and food products the British market, as a colonial market would be ready to take the goods of the British manufacturer. " Our best customer, Great Britain, and our third best, Canada, will trade less and less with us and more and more with each other. What," he asked, " does a temporary hardship to some interest here, or there, amount to as compared with the possible loss, or severe con- traction of the combined markets of Canada and Great Britain drawn into a close commercial com- pact, which last year took from us nearly $800,000,000 worth of all our product ? " You have to visit Canada to get your views of its politics enlarged. No doubt some of my readers are unaware that in former years Reciprocity proposals from Ottawa to Washington were rejected with scant courtesy, the only reply being to raise the tariff wall higher and still higher. Sir Wilfrid Laurier himself alluded to this in 1901 at a banquet in Montreal. " We are not sending any more delegations. But I rather expect, and I would not be surprised if the thing were to take place in a few years. I say ... I rather expect that there will be delegations coming from Washington to Ottawa for Reciprocity." Again, in 1903, in proposing Grand Trunk Railway legislation, he was no less uncompromising, and gave his hearers to understand that Canadians must work out their own commercial salvation in no un- CYNICAL DISREGARD OF FACTS 11 certain terms. " I have found in the short experience during which it has been my privilege and my fortune to be placed at the head of affairs by the will of the Canadian people that the best and most effective way to maintain friendship with our American neighbours is to be absolutely independent of them." Once more he repeats his political convictions at the Imperial Conference in 1907. " There was a time when we wanted Reciprocity with the United States, but our efforts and our offers were put aside. We have said good-bye to that trade, and we now put all our hopes upon the British trade." In face of the facts that the Canadian protective policy and connection with British trade has been ac- companied by increasing investment of British capital, by rapidly growing trade'with the Mother Country, and a great immigration of British-born people resulting in an enormous increase of wealth to the Dominion, it is difficult to explain Sir Wilfrid Laurier's sudden volte-face proposals, advocating and championing Reciprocity, without consulting party, or people. Those who can read the riddle of the Sphinx may solve to their own satisfaction the reason of the Ex-Premier's eagerness to pass this anti-British measure. No wonder that the present leader of the Conservative Government alludes to his political opponent's " cynical disregard of known facts." The burning question was in the red-hot stage when I first landed on Canadian soil. In the huge dining-room of the Chateau Frontenac hotel, over- looking the St. Lawrence, built on historic ground, I found myself next morning seated at a small table in close proximity to Sir Wilfrid and his secretaries. 12 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER The "silver-tongued orator of the Dominion" is, as everybody knows, possessed of an attractive person- ality. With his refined, regular features and aureole of white hair, tall, slender, perfectly dressed, suave and benign in his bowed acknowledgments to various friends who passed to other tables, he reminded me of pictures of several historical personages who left their mark in their day upon the countries in which they lived. To my mind Sir Wilfrid Laurier's is a priestly face. Instead of ordinary twentieth-century attire, had he been arrayed in the scarlet gown and hat of a cardinal familiarised to London playgoers of late by Sir H. Beerbohm Tree's impersonation of Wolsey in Shakespeare's Henry VIII., others than modern re-incarnationists could well believe they saw in this distinguished statesman the re-incarnated soul of a Mazarin or of a Richelieu ! The playground of history French settlers King James's grant in 1621 Confederation explained Historical Halifax The Premier His wish for Reciprocity Fisheries and Steel The Anna- polis Valley. npHERE is a fascination luring you on to inquire * more of the historic past of Nova Scotia as you journey through its pleasant lands. To the student wrapt in the lore of an age which is past, the diversified and picturesque peninsula, with its ex- tended and indented coast-line, rich in the possession of natural harbours and spacious bays, is the play- ground of history ; for this province, more than any other on the American continent, was the scene for centuries of some of the most obstinate contests between the English and the French nations, fighting for ascendancy in the New World. The first French settlement was made in 1605, at Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal, situated on the south-western coast of the peninsula, and its site was only chosen after a prolonged and searching examination of the sea-board as far south as Cape Cod. The old fort is of exceptional interest to American tourists. For their forefathers, as British colonists under Sedgwick, sought to wrest this stronghold from the French. Curious relics of the original settlers are to be found zealously guarded by families in 13 14 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER the neighbourhood. In parts only, did the French colonise Nova Scotia. On the east coast of the island of Cape Breton, which, separated by the Strait of Causo, eighteen miles in length from the mainland, is at present the northern portion of the province, they built and fortified Louisbourg, reckoned in its day one of the strongest fortified cities in the world. Captured in 1745, restored three years later, it fell into the hands of the British in 1758. The stone walls of Louisbourg alone, two and a half miles in circum- ference, were twenty-five years in building, costing the French thirty millions of livres. This formidable and wellnigh impregnable fortress, called " The Dunkirk of France," is now little more than a grass- grown mound ; only a stone archway or two are left to locate the former site. Its complete demolition was ordered in 1760, after the fall of Quebec and subsequent capture of Canada, when the laurels of war fell to the armies of England. To-day the rhythmic rising and falling of the waves of the Atlantic sound like a continued requiem, mourning departed greatness. Sic transit gloria mundi! British connection with Nova Scotia begins with the grant given by King James I., in 1621, to Sir William Alexander, comprising what is still known as the Acadien Peninsula, with the island of Cape Breton including New Brunswick and Gaspe. Sir William, loyal to King and country, called the land Nova Scotia, which, nowadays, includes only the peninsula and island. The history of the quarrels between the French and English settlers, who each disputed the owner- ship of the other to the territory, is too lengthy to GROWING INTEREST IN CANADA 15 enter into, nor is there space to record interesting episodes in the defensive warfare of the early colonists against the attacks of the Indians. An unenviable state of affairs lasted until 1713, when by the Treaty of Utrecht the peninsula was finally ceded to Great Britain; the island of Cape Breton, however, did not become a part of the pro- vince until 1820. In 1867 Nova Scotia, as a con- federated province, became an integral portion of the Dominion of Canada. With the exception of the Acadiens, whose in- teresting history will subsequently be touched upon, the population of this province is English-speaking, the greater part of its inhabitants being descended from several thousand Loyalists who settled in the Maritime Province after the Declaration of In- dependence in 1785. Under the British North American Act the Con- federation Charter leaves to the Government of each province important powers of self-government, such as deal with education, judicial administration, provincial taxation, municipal affairs, roads and bridges, etc. The Federal authorities at Ottawa control matters of national importance, such as the militia, banking, customs, fisheries, postal service, etc. In the departments of Agriculture and Im- migration there is joint jurisdiction between the Provincial and the Federal Governments. No other explanation is needed for the foregoing brief outline of the past history of Nova Scotia than to refer to the awakening interest circling round things Canadian, together with a desire on the part of many for a closer understanding between the 16 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Mother Country and the Daughter, who is mistress in her own house. It is a long step from Halifax to Vancouver and back again. When I contemplated revisiting Canada I admit that to include the Maritime Provinces in my programme did not occur to me, but I was begged by persons interested, not to repeat the injury done to this most historic portion of the Dominion by almost every visitor, writer, or tourist, who, landing at Quebec or at Montreal, turns his back upon the Atlantic seaboard to commence at those ports his knowledge of and travels in Canada. Nor have I been led to repent yielding to the persuasive words of those desirous that the Maritime Provinces shall not be ignored. Although in a volume such as this, where one can only hope to record the impressions of a few months' transcontinental travel and deal with topics, sundry and diverse, which have struck one as being of exceptional interest, it is hoped that the power of the pen may possibly draw the thoughts of those interested in Canada into channels where they may be led to appreciate the historic side as well as the commercial interests of the Dominion, with an occa- sional glimpse into sociological phases of life on the farm and in the big cities. Looking back on the days spent in these little- visited parts it has been borne in upon me that not only do persons miss some of the most attractive and beautiful spots in British North America, but that many people in the Old Country are actually losing some of the best opportunities ever offered in the way of ready-made homes and cleared lands at nominal prices, the result of the enormous attrac- tion which the development of the Prairie Provinces has had for the men of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick. Halifax is situated on a peninsula, and possesses one of the best harbours of the world. The city was founded in 1749 by Governor Cornwallis, to strengthen the power of the British in those parts, and the first representative assembly of Nova Scotia was convened here in 1758. The sea comes in east and west of the peninsula ; on the west, its stretch of three miles is called the North- West Arm, whilst south and east of Halifax is the harbour, which narrows as it reaches the upper end of the city, then expands into a magnificent basin affording ten square miles of safe anchorage. From the Citadel, built on a height of 250 feet above the sea, a magnificent view of the arm, harbour, basin, and strongly fortified island of St. George at the entrance, together with Macnab's Island, three miles nearer, is to be obtained, with the town of Dartmouth climbing up the hill opposite, across the harbour. On a fine day the sight is exceedingly fine. Canadian soldiers in scarlet, but oftener in khaki, have replaced British Tommies now no longer garrisoned at Halifax. Owing to the policy of concentration adopted by the Admiralty, this city has also ceased to be a naval base, somewhat to the regret of the Haligonians. British in its military spirit, in its customs, and in its sympathies, Halifax has played an important part in our wars as well as in the history of British North America. 2 18 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Sea lords, war lords, civilians of high degree have paced its streets, worshipped in its churches, made love to its fair ones in leafy gardens as well as at military balls. Here, overlooking the Atlantic, the Duke of Kent, great-grandfather of our present Bang, took up his residence, and his memory is still honoured by the people of Halifax, although Prince's Lodge, a famous place in its day, has lost the glory it possessed when inhabited by Royalty, for the railroad now runs directly through the grounds. The Provincial Buildings, with the fine Legislative Hall, and Library, may attract the visitor, but the public gardens of Halifax, although of moderate size, are the most beautiful and the most restful that one could wish to wander and muse in on a hot summer's afternoon. One of the most profitable half-hours I spent in this city was the sequel to presenting a letter of introduction to its Premier, the Hon. George H. Murray. Taking into account the fact that he has persuaded the voters of Nova Scotia for some fifteen years that he is the most able person to govern them, proves that he must be a man of parts. Political leaders of Canada seem to have made Nova Scotia their training ground. The present Premier of Canada hails from Halifax, as also the Hon. W. G. Fielding and many other noted public men. The reason of the weakness of the Conservatives in this Maritime Province is, that up to the present time, they have failed to find a leader to oppose their Liberal Premier, who is a political giant, owing much of his popularity to a charming personality. PREMIER MURRAY OF N.S. 19 I found Premier Murray in a suite of rooms at the first hotel in the city, and verified the descrip- tion I had read of him as " six feet of Cape Breton Scotch." His broad shoulders and the kindly smile of his large Scotch face are points which linger in my memory of him. Some talk of the past per- formances of his Government relating to the establishment of technical and engineering schools, an agricultural college, and of the Dominion Iron and Steel Works at Sydney, paved the way to the one important topic of the day. If Reciprocity was carried, said he, it would be a good thing for Nova Scotia. Her fisheries would be immensely benefitted. The province was dis- tinctly agricultural, with a considerable trade in lumber. Perhaps some industries would be tem- porarily hit, but the gain would be proportionately so much greater that he hoped to see the proposed pact passed by a sweeping majority. I asked if Reciprocity between Canada and the States were established whether there would be a shortage of wheat for the home markets. " Not in the slightest degree," was his reply. " There is more than enough for England and America too. Besides," he added, " we are near neighbours with those across the line. Here in Nova Scotia the ties are very close, not only racially, but owing to a great deal of inter-marrying. We cannot afford, moreover, to be on anything but good terms with them." Here I demurred, and asked why the Canadians could not stand on their own feet ? " Well, now, look at it ! ". the Premier continued. 20 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER " Here are we under eight millions, and over there they muster ninety millions ; besides, there is this : they want our wheat and they want our lumber. Why should we not let them have it ? ''' I felt that any objections I could advance he had heard probably to nauseation, so although in no way sharing his views, as the time was limited, I asked the Premier what his opinion was as to manufactures. " Oh, there," he exclaimed readily, " I am with you. Don't you make any mistake. So long as farm products only are included in this pact, I agree to it, but Reciprocity in manufactured articles I admit would be dangerous." ' Your manufactures then must be protected," I suggested. " Oh, it would never do ! Why, they would be stifled in their birth, or at least before they could stand alone ! We should be in a worse state than you are in on the other side of the Atlantic we should be the dumping ground for their surplus." " You are not affected by the talk of annexa- tion ? " I inquired. " No, it does not trouble me at all," replied he, laughing. Inquiring into the reason of his confidence, he read a letter to me from a friend of his at Boston, in which the American discussed this point and reasoned that the annexation of Canada would be fraught with positive danger to the States. ' You know, do you not, that Great Britain has withdrawn troops and ships both from Canada and THE MONROE DOCTRINE 21 the West Indies, thereby giving tacit concurrence to the Monroe doctrine ? * J As I had been at Kingston, in Jamaica, when Port Royal ceased to be a naval base, I was familiar with this view, which I believe is taken by naval authorities at home. " Well, don't you see that any over-bearing, or aggressive act on the part of the Americans, would convert England's Navy into an enemy instead of what it is at present, its ally, practically/' he ex- plained. After conversing on the chief features of Nova Scotia, the Premier alluded to an accident which befell him a year or so ago, necessitating the ampu- tation of his foot, and I afterwards learnt that his political opponents were among the first to evince their sincere sympathy upon the occasion of this sad occurrence. The Premier is professionally a lawyer, and although one may be forgiven for a certain prejudice against legislators being taken from a theoretical instead of a practical class of men, when our own lawyer-ridden Government is taken into consideration, yet a visit to this man, with his kindly manners, honest bearing, with shoulders which blot out the landscape, makes one understand how it is that the Nova Scotians returned him to rule over them in 1897, 1901, and 1906. With the exit to the west of so many young men, Halifax has become somewhat sleepy and inclined to lag behind in general go-aheadness, say the critics ; whether this be the case or not, it is sufficiently advanced to have already instituted legislation dealing with juvenile delinquents. 22 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER The result of the probational system which is more fully treated farther on in these pages seems both humanitarian and satisfactory. One lad had been sent to the Niobe, the Canadian cadet ship; others placed amid better surroundings ; whilst ladies were dealing " effectually with girl offenders. The gentleman who explained to me the judicial modus operandi said that the laws of Nova Scotia were splendid, but they were not properly enforced. They had on the Statute book an eight-hours' day for children, but those in high places hinted to others to go gently, because the interests of certain persons are involved ! It was my lot throughout Canada to visit cities celebrating their provincial annual Exhibitions. In the one I visited at Halifax, specimens of coal and steel, models of fish, in addition to useful farm exhibits, were displayed. I made mental notes to look up steel, fish, and apples, which seemed to me in a cursory survey to be the chief sources of wealth. In this province one is hearing continually of the Sydneys, and it is a part of one's education to learn that it is a term of triune significance. Situated on the north side of one of Nova Scotia's renowned harbours lies North Sydney ; three miles away is Sydney Mines ; whilst the town of Sydney, seventeen miles to the east of the latter, is the headquarters of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company. It is most advanta- geously situated for manufacturing iron and steel at rates which enable it to compete with any place on the North American continent, since the best quality of iron ore comes from Newfoundland, Cape EXTENSIVE FISHERIES 23 Breton itself is one vast coal-field, and near by are the limestone and dolomite required in the manu- facture of steel. This vast industry employs many thousands of workpeople. That Sydney is far more advantage- ously placed than Pittsburg in the States can be proved by a few comparisons of the following nature. At Sydney the coal is closer at hand, coke ovens save all the volatile constituents of the coal. At Pittsburg the coal has to come eighty miles by rail, and the limestone, which at Sydney is almost on the spot, has to be brought 130 miles to Pittsburg. Then the convenient situation of the seaport of Sydney on the Atlantic counts for much, whereas the nearest seaport to Pittsburg is Philadelphia, over 350 miles by rail, and 878 miles farther from Europe than Sydney. The fisheries of Nova Scotia, employing 40,000 hands, are the most extensive in the world, and the yearly catch never fails. One glance at the map of the Maritime Provinces will show the reader what an enormous extent of coast-line there is. Over twenty varieties of fish are found in these waters, but cod, lobster, mackerel, haddock, and herring are the most valuable. For fifty years a big trade in dried fish with the West Indies and South American countries has been carried on. Probably those who have had a riding acquaintance in the by-ways of Jamaica have had a cruel olfactory experience of Nova Scotian fish cured by Bluenose fishermen. The small depots where this commodity is sold in an advanced state of decay to negroes, who despise it if it is not " tasty," are often kept by Chinamen, 24 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER whose imperviousness to offensive smells is obvious to any traveller who has penetrated into the lanes of Canton. When, in Jamaica, you are in the neigh- bourhood of these tit-bits, your sufferings are purga- torial until you have escaped from the sphere of their influence. The fisheries of Nova Scotia are valued at $7,287,099; and I read at the Halifax Exhibition that 60 per cent, of Canada's fish comes from the Atlantic sea-board. In this province, where the inhabitants proudly boast that cyclones, drought, and pestilence are un- known, with all the wealth of mine, of forest, of sea, and of the quarry, agriculture and horticulture rank high above other industries, and the branch which has been brought to the highest degree of perfection is the apple industry. The trade began to assume proportions in 1880, when 20,000 barrels were ex- ported. In 1911 over 750,000 barrels were shipped from Nova Scotia. The apple, say some enthusiasts, is the biggest thing above ground in Nova Scotia, and it should be the crest of the province. As I passed through the far-famed string of valley-lands, the Annapolis, the Cornwallis, the Gaspereau and the Windsor, sheltered from the sea winds and mists of Fundy's shore by a range of hills known as the North Mountains, the trees (Gravensteins) were laden with their rosy fruit ; but I would love to see those orchards in the spring time, when they are in blossom and show a gleaming whiteness against the brilliant blue of a Nova Scotian sky. No wonder that opulence reigns in the farmhouses of the valley communities, for the apple growers live fairly close together, since a good THE APPLE INDUSTRY 25 livelihood can be made out of a comparatively small area in this industry. " At my place there is a quarter-acre garden, and on half of this there are fifteen trees, and from these I picked fifty barrels," writes a successful fruit grower. The output of apples in 1909, if packed in barrels, say the experts, would stretch from Edinburgh to London and twenty miles beyond. Not only is the climate adapted to apple raising, but the soil possesses all the elements for building firm fruit tissue. It is formed, they say, from the disintegration of the trap rock of the North Mountains, partly from the syenitic granite of the South Mountain, together with the red loam and coarse-grained sand of the new red sandstone, which abounds in oxide of iron, lime, and gypsum. The industry is such an important one in Nova Scotia that a few particulars may not be amiss. Forty apple trees are planted to the acre, and ten to fifteen years elapse before they are in full bearing. In the valley of Annapolis there are insect pests and fungus diseases. Up to date apple growers spray their orchards three times every season: shortly before blossoming, immediately the blossom fades, and again a fortnight later. The mixture used is made of 4 Ib. of copper sulphate, 4 Ib. of quicklime, and 40 gallons of water ; and to this is added J to J Ib. of Paris green. Spray- ing outfits are heavy items, but the outlay must be incurred if failure is to be avoided. The apple growers would have been badly hit if the Reciprocity pact had gone through. There would have been no chance for their Nova Scotian 26 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER apples in the Canadian West, as the supply would have come from the middle and western United States. The duty, they argued, must be retained to save home markets. It was ridiculous to imagine for a moment that the farmers of the Annapolis Valley were going to find a better market in the American cities than in Europe, since the American apples were the keenest com- petitors of Nova Scotian Gravensteins and of all other varieties right through the season in the markets of Europe. CHAPTER III A Canadian authoress The Acadiens and their history Dr. Saunders' book A prediction fulfilled No heckling ! The Hon. Clifford Sifton. A DAY or two after my arrival at Halifax I sallied - *~^ > forth to discover one of Canada's best known women- writers. The day was warm, for in August the Nova Scotian climate is not unlike our own. Without much difficulty I arrived at the house in- dicated by the address I had been given. Here I was hospitably and cordially received by Miss Marshall Saunders, authoress of Beautiful Joe. 'Tilda Jane and For His Country are also from her pen, and are fascinating children's stories, for whom she seems to have a genius for writing. But the special interest to myself was the fact that this lady has, both by her life and her writings, identified her- self with a people concerning whose existence even many of us in the Old Country are ignorant. I refer to the modern Acadiens, the descendants of those unfortunate French people who were expelled from their homes in the middle district of the peninsula early in the eighteenth century, and whose mis- fortunes and sufferings form the theme of Long- fellow's Evangeline. In her book entitled Rose a Charlotte we are introduced to the descendants of those who returned after their scattering to settle again near the scene of their former home. 27 28 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Miss Marshall Saunders, who is a thoughtful, in- teresting-looking woman, spent a summer among the Acadiens ; therefore it may be safely assumed she has correctly depicted their habits and customs, and has fully and sympathetically described a people still preserving the memory of hardships and privations, though five or six generations have lived and died since they were distributed along the sea-board from Nova Scotia to Georgia. " Do they still brood over their tragic history ? " I asked her, as she described to me the generous, simple, and intensely devout character of these French people, who retain the language and manners of a period anterior to the French Revolution. " Oh, you must go and see them for yourself," she declared ; " it is only when you get to know them well that you may find at the back of their minds some story of a heart-rending nature, bequeathed from the fourth or fifth generation, which has not been allowed to die a natural death ; otherwise they are light-hearted, and welcome you cordially. The older women still wear the old silk handkerchief over their heads which you may see in many parts of Normandy to-day." " I should like to visit them immensely," was my remark. ' You can do it easily on your way to St. John. I will write you out the address of the little French inn I stay at." Then the one long Acadien village was graphically described, which extends for thirty miles along the white-ribboned coast-road between Yarmouth, a seaport on the southern coast of the peninsula, and Digby, where the steamer starts for THE ACADIENS 29 St. John, N.B., across the Bay of Fundy. We were joined at tea by Miss Saunders' sister, who, as secretary to their father, Dr. Saunders, one of Canada's literary octogenarians, tall and spare, but as erect as a youth of twenty, has been kept busily employed of late. The conversation ranged over the vicissitudes of the Acadiens. Dr. Saunders, who is an authority on the historic data of his province, considered that they largely owed their misfortunes to the intrigues of their own countrymen in Canada, who seduced them from a Government inclined to treat them with justice and to extend to them its protection. They were insti- gated to a rebellion which was bound to end in ruin ! For the benefit of some who have hazy notions of the real circumstances which inspired Longfellow's Evangeline, I may call to their remembrance that by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the peninsula of Nova Scotia was ceded to Great Britain. Failing to comply with its conditions, together with the fact that Eng- lish settlers were unceasingly annoyed by predatory attacks of Indians, incited and abetted by French colonists, and the reverses which the British forces were sustaining at that time, the authorities deter- mined to dislodge the Acadiens from their settlements and to disperse them amongst the British colonies, where they could not unite to annoy the English. A proclamation was therefore issued at the different settlements requiring the French people to assemble on the same day at certain places. In answer, 418 able-bodied men met in the church at Grand Pre on the basin of Minas, the scene of Longfellow's poem, where they were locked in prior to deportation from their homes. During the summer months many a 30 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER tourist endeavours to identify the road from the chapel to the shore, a mile in length, which, as the male prisoners drawn up six deep were ordered to advance, was thronged with weeping women and children. These with members of other French communities were subsequently taken to the New England States, 1,000 refugees were landed at Massachusetts, others in a deplorable condition went to Philadelphia, and a few were taken even as far south as Georgia. In Minas the community owned 255 houses and possessed quantities of cattle. Haliburton says of them: " Hunting and fishing gave way to agriculture, which had been established in the marshes and lowlands by repelling with dykes the seas and rivers which covered these plains. At the same time these im- mense meadows were covered with numerous flocks." Even to this day if a dyke has to be cut the French Canadian is preferentially employed. The Abbe Reynal's description of the Acadiens' fraternal, communal life bears out the poet's lines : "But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners; There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance." He writes : " As soon as a young man arrived at the proper age, the community built him a house, broke up the lands about it, and supplied him with all the necessaries of life for a twelvemonth. Then he received the partner he had chosen, who brought him her portion in flocks." " Built are the house and the barn. The merry lads of the village Strongly have built them and well ; and breaking the glebe round about them, Filled the barn with hay, and the house with food for a twelve- month." DR. TUPPER'S PROPHECY 31 Father Leblanc, the Notary Public in Evange- line, was by no means a fictitious character, for he is mentioned in the petition of the Acadiens to George III. Taken prisoner by the Indians whilst travelling in the King's service, his house was pillaged, and for four long years he endured captivity in a French fort. In the above-mentioned petition the Acadiens complain that in Pennsylvania alone, 250 souls, more than half the number landed, had perished from want and disease. "Many despairing, heart-broken, Asked of the earth but a grave, and no longer a friend nor a fireside. Written their history stands on tablets of stone in the churchyards." As the author of an important contribution to the historical literature of the Dominion, Dr. Saunders has recently given to the public a work entitled Three Premiers of Nova Scotia. (The Hon. J. W. Johnstone, The Hon. J. Howe, and the Bight Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, G.C.M.G.) From "every point of view this book, written with great literary ability and in graphic style, is indispensable to any student of the political history of Nova Scotia, for these three Premiers were without question the chief actors in pre-federation days. In connection with the interesting career of Sir Charles Tupper, it was with some interest I discovered that, in 1860, a lecture on " The Political Condition of British North America " was given in several of the towns of Nova Scotia by Dr. Tupper. With wonderful foresight he then predicted the actual conditions of the present time. ' Who could doubt that under these circumstances, with such a 32 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER federation of the five provinces (to which ulti- mately the great Red River and the Saskatchewan country might be added) as would give us the position due to our extent, resources, and intelli- gent population, untrammelled either by slavery, or the ascendancy of any dominant church . . . British America would in a few years present to the world a great and powerful organisation, bound in- dissolubly to the throne of England by a community of interests and united to it by the Viceroyalty of one of the promising sons of our beloved Queen, whose virtues have enthroned her in the hearts of her subjects in every section of our Empire, upon which the sun never sets." Dr. Saunders, who was well acquainted with all the leading men of the period dealt with in his book, is, in the estimation of his contemporaries, considered to be the author of a work imperatively demanded, and one which no one else could have so efficiently performed. Inheriting her father's literary qualifications, we shall hope that further glimpses into the historic side of life in Nova Scotia will proceed from Miss Marshall Saunders' gifted pen. Before I left this interesting household, I was shown upstairs, where she keeps her feathered pets, doves and pigeons of varying sorts, in nests cleverly contrived in the flooring of a balcony. On learning that she was advertised to give a lecture in the Women's Building of the Agricultural Exhibition next day on " Squab Raising," I arranged to be present. From various ladies whom I questioned on the subject, it appeared to me that apart from agricultural openings, stenography was the best for STENOGRAPHY FOR WOMEN 83 women, and it is actually the case that if a girl with a good English education is an efficient short- hand writer and stenographer, she can earn, espe- cially in lawyers' offices (she should beforehand, acquaint herself with legal phraseology), salaries varying from $40 to $75 per month. The necessary training takes about eight months, and the cost of a course of lessons in shorthand and typing at a business college, such as are to be found in every city in Canada, is generally about ten dollars monthly. Girl typists are in every office one enters ; the male clerk has long since turned his attention to more lucrative employments. During my visit to Halifax, I was, by the kindness of friends, motored over the beautiful drives in the neighbourhood, but my chief interest, as well as that of everybody else, was centred on the election- eering campaign proceeding in the city. Sir Wilfrid Laurier spoke one evening to many thousands in a packed audience at the Arena. Although too far away to catch the thread of the Premier's eloquent speech, it was a surprise to find on looking around that although many refrained from joining in the applause, giving one to imagine they held opposite views, there was no heckling whatsoever. Not a question was asked. Whether the critical and analytical powers have yet to be developed in a Nova Scotian crowd, I do not know, but when we left and some- body of our party called it a " tame show," I felt the term was not out of place. The advertisements and electioneering mottoes at this time were not uninteresting. The Evening Mail had in type so that those who ran might read, " THIS is THE ONE 34 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIRST DAY OF THE LAURIER GOVERNMENT'S BOTCHING AND BUNGLING AT THE HALIFAX POST OFFICE." Swiftly following on the heels of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Hon. Clifford Sifton, a great Liberal Leader, came with " concrete facts and cold-blooded conclusions " to root up the fallacies of his former chief's vague generalities. In showing how the farmers of France, Belgium, and Germany had 'prospered under Protection, I thought his argument was applicable to our own country. Speaking of the markets of Canada, he said " We have a home market which takes 85 per cent, of our produce, and this market we are asked to throw open practically to the whole world " (meaning the 90,000,000 inhabitants of the United States) . ' ' The result of the pro j ected Reci- procity pact becoming law, would be," said he, " to so tie us to the United States that we would be to all intents and purposes a commercial dependency of the big republic absolutely under their control. How much value then would be attached to the bare political independence left to Canada ? " Where would be our interest in the affairs of the Mother Country ? What Canada's position in the Empire ? Where would be the unity of interests upon which to build up that Empire ? were some of the questions forcefully asked. The enormous development and changes of the last twenty-five, or thirty years have apparently swept away all the reasons which had ever existed in favour of Reci- procity. Halifax is said to be sleepy and provincial, but it woke up to think about these matters. CHAPTEB IV Openings in Nova Scotia Proximity to markets A land of berries Bargain prices A Swanley student's success Zangwill's de- scription The marshes Truro Agricultural College. T3EFORE I left England for Canada I was fre- *-* quently and urgently requested to keep my eyes open as to openings, industrial, or otherwise, which in the course of my travels might appear suitable to women. It was borne in upon me during my stay in the Maritime Provinces, and notwithstanding subsequent transcontinental experiences I have found no reason to modify my first impression, that, as the Canadians say, right here, there are opportunities for persons of either sex possessed of small capital, especially so in the case of two or three women who would combine their finances and their interests. My reasons are briefly these. In the first place there are many persons who like out-door life, and who have some knowledge in growing fruit and flowers. The class, however, in my mind, is that which is unfitted from various reasons to rough it and to mix with the polyglot population of the West. Any one who is not young and strong is ill-advised to go on prairie farms, which means practically a severance for life frominterests and friends in the Old Country. Now the position of Nova 35 36 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Scotia, lying nearest on the Atlantic sea-board to the United Kingdom, and the frequency and moderate cost of transit (10, second-class) preclude the necessity of drastic separation from relatives, or from much that England affords in interest which cannot be found on the American continent. The voyage from Liverpool to Halifax takes less than a week ; it is equally easy to cross to New York and proceed via Yarmouth to Nova Scotia. Then the climate is by no means so rigorous as that in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It resembles more that of the northern parts of the United States, but has not the same extremes of heat and cold. It is, so far as health statistics are concerned, proved to be one of the most hygienic in the world. In summer, bright cloudless days succeed each other. In the autumn, right up to Christmas, the Nova Scotians are blessed with the mild weather known as the Indian Summer. Skating and snow are looked forward to. Often when the ground is covered with a white mantle, overhead, there is a matchless expanse of blue sky as at midsummer. Spring is tardy, and March and April are unpleasant months. But when May sets in, summer, like a fairy, arrives at once, and a world of flowers and fruit mature with surprising rapidity. That which appealed to me after a few inquiries and my own observations was this, that fruit-growing in Nova Scotia, with a view to jam-making, might be carried on lucratively and effectively by women. Not only are apples a great export, but plums, cherries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, cran- berries, and small fruit generally, grow exceedingly well ; and in a country which imports its jams and AGRICULTURAL OPENINGS 37 pickles, there seems to me an enormous field open. If women with a little capital could combine and organise they might ultimately make jams not only forj the Dominion, but for those ninety millions south of the line! Dairying, with cheese-making, is also an industrial opening; but fruit-growing in a country so well adapted for it, is probably more lucrative and easier for women. If you glance at the map, you will see Nova Scotia's striking advan- tage as a commercial centre. To say nothing of Canadian and American, its proximity to European markets stands in marked contrast to fruit-growing in British Columbia, which up to the present is dis- advantageously placed in this respect. That the fruit of Nova Scotia is of the highest quality there is every evidence. The growers too have this advantage in their more perishable fruits, like plums, which ripen so much later in the season than the crop in the United States, that their entry into that market is unopposed. An expert in fruit raising, of Massachusetts Agricul- tural College, U.S. (formerly of Nova Scotia), considers this industry offers excellent investments for two classes of persons. Those bringing 2,000 to 3,000 can buy good orchards in bearing, yielding from the start good interest. Then there are others who with a few hundreds buy up unimproved lands and develop them. Lands for the latter purposes can be had from $10 upwards, says he, and set with apple trees inter- planted with plums and small fruits. If this is done a plantation is quickly established on a paying basis. Strawberries give returns the first year after planting. Where the soil is favourable as much as $300 profit 38 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER from a single acre has been made by a contributor to the Gardening Annual Report for Nova Scotia. Cranberries, a very popular fruit in Canada, are easy to grow and are in season for a long time, but inquiries addressed to the Agricultural, or Horticultural De- partment at Halifax will soon put one au courant as to which crops are likely to be most profitable. It may perhaps be thought by my seriously recom- mending fruit-growing in this province to the attention of women with small capital who would be willing to join with others, that possibly I have engaged myself as an advertising agent, or that I have some personal interest at stake. I assure the reader that I am abso- lutely disinterested. My opinion is this, that in view of the abounding opportunities now thrown open to acquire, for a small outlay, lands, partially if not wholly cleared, with a house of some description (owing to the tide of emigration having set westward with the boom of the Prairie Provinces), now is the psychic moment to purchase at a low figure that which the homesteader in the West is in the act of making for himself. To explain better my meaning I quote as follows from a list of farms for sale : (1) 210 acres, 4| miles from Antigonish, 50 culti- vated, 40 in pasture, and 120 under wood. House of 7 rooms, soil fertile, but neglected, because of the death of former owner. Price 200. (2) 100 acres, 5J miles from Antigonish, 60 culti- vated, 30 in pasture, 10 under soft wood. House of 6 rooms in fair condition, good water supply. Price 120. Terms cash. SWANLEY STUDENT'S TESTIMONY 39 (3) 150 acres in Antigonish County, 50 cultivated, 50 in woodland, fir, spruce, and pine. Land in fairly good condition, pasture easily arable. Good house of 6 rooms. Thirteen miles from rail. Price 100 cash. (4) 310 acres at Waterlow in Lunenburg, 70 culti- vated, 56 in pasture, 100 under wood. 1,000 cords pulp wood in timber land ; 3 miles to market. House of 8 rooms, barn for 2 horses, 14 cows, etc. Small orchard. Price 240. (5) A property of 200 acres, 5 miles from station and 16 from market, with a house of 9 rooms in Pictou will be sold for 200. In pursuance of my idea that here lies a sphere for women loving out-door life, I called on Mr. Arthur S. Barnstead, the Secretary of Industries and Im- migration, and I found that other Englishwomen had not only been struck by the advantages offered in this respect by Nova Scotia, but had actually put in practice the theory I was mentally evolving. I have before me the copy of a letter written in answer to my inquiries to Mr. Barnstead from a friend of his, which he has kindly placed at my disposal. Mrs. John Brander, who was known at Swanley Horti- cultural College as Miss Eunice Watts writes ' Women could make a comfortable living by running a small farm and sending strawberries, rasp- berries, rhubarb, asparagus, beans, corn, tomatoes, etc., to Halifax, and they could do most of the work themselves. Bee-keeping is also paying. ' We have had ten or eleven years* experience in this province, and have come to the conclusion that 40 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER mixed farming in connection with an orchard is the most paying. We keep about twelve cows and heifers (Guernseys), and send our cream to Wolf ville by train, where we have been receiving 27 cents a pound for butter-fat all through the winter, while our neigh- bours, who have had the extra work of butter-making, have had very poor returns, at times as low as 17 cents for butter, this winter. I think that the winters are almost too severe for women to undertake the care of cattle unless they have a competent hired man. Butter alone is the least part of dairying/' Wolfville is in the centre of the peninsula, not far distant from the apple lands. Here stands the Acadia University maintained by the Baptists, who are, numerically, the largest religious bodyin this province. It has been said of Nova Scotia that it yields a greater variety of products for export than any territory of the same superficial area, and Zangwill has described this country as " a land of green forests and rosy cheeks, a land of milk and molasses, a land of little hills and great harbours, of rich valleys and lovely lakes, of overflowing rivers and oversurging tides that with all their menace did but fertilise the meadows with red silt and alluvial mud." He refers here to what is known as the inexhaustible marsh, which term is applied to wide meadow stretches formed by the extraordinary power of the tide in the Bay of Fundy, where between high and low tide there is at times a difference of sixty feet. The tide sweeping in with a rush carries with it a vast amount of solid matter which, before the country was settled and reclaimed, was left upon the land after high tides. The Acadiens erected dykes to keep out AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, TRURO 41 the tide, and the land thus reclaimed forms a vast natural prairie where the accumulated deposits of ages have produced a soil at places eighty feet deep. The land is marvellously fertile, producing heavy crops of hay annually. When renewed fertility is required the dyke is opened and the tide once more floods the land to leave a heavy deposit of soil. This curious circumstance accounts for enormous supplies of fodder around the Bay of Fundy, an immense advantage in dairying. There is a famous Agricultural College at Truro in this province, situated in the centre of an extensive agricultural district ; a farm in connection with it of 225 acres is used for educational and demonstrational purposes. Its Dairy, Poultry, Horticulture, Bio- logical, and Chemical Departments are splendidly equipped, and one of the aims of the institution is to inculcate a spirit of enthusiasm for the land. In view of the decline of the rural population, which the latest census reveals to have commenced in the Dominion, its usefulness goes without saying. Ladies join short practical classes which deal with Horticulture, Dairying, and Poultry. In the course of my visit to the Maritime Provinces I was unable to visit Prince Edward's Island, the garden of the Gulf, although William Cobbett, in a fit probably of sea-sickness, speaks of it as " a rascally heap of sand rock and swamp in the horrible Gulf of St. Lawrence." CHAPTEE V A visit to Little Brook The Acadiens at home St. John The Ex- Premier Reversing falls Agricultural opportunities. 'TRAVELLING is not a difficult matter in Canada ; * the check system relieves you of all anxiety concerning your belongings. Of course if you cling to a hold-all, or dressing-bag and a tea basket, with a few other etceteras, you are likely to be in a bad way, for porters are scarce, and everybody on the American continent handles what are known locally, as " grips," themselves. In the matter of trunks I should advise one of good size if your travels are to extend over a short period, but if you are going to settle, take everything you need with you; cost of transportation is cheap com- pared with the amount you would pay and the quality you would get should you decide to buy what you want in Canada. A well-equipped restaurant car is attached to the trains, which means, that although fasting may be meritorious, you are not called upon to hunger or thirst before the end of your journey. When I departed from Halifax it was with the intention of paying a flying visit to the Acadiens. About four p.m. I alighted at a primitive station called Little Brook, some thirty miles south of 42 WITH THE ACADIENS 43 Digby, to which place on the following day I in- tended to return in order to catch the boat for St. John. Inside the station where I left my trunks a woman sat spinning yarn at a wheel ; an old peasant wore on her head a folded black silk handkerchief ; all of them spoke Franqal (Acadien for Frangais), which was Greek to me, however much I tried to decipher the meaning of sentences shouted all the louder when I shook my head. At last, a shy boy came forward to drive me to Hotel Lombard, a couple of miles away. In a one-horse buggy we quickly passed through a treeless district, for the most part grazing land, sloping gently to the sea. Turning abruptly on our left where the road from the station joins at right angles that which follows the line of the coast, I alighted, to be very cordially welcomed by Madame Lombard, who thought nothing too good for a friend of the writer of Rose a Charlotte. The landlady was of a type familiar to those who have travelled in France short and squarely built. Every- thing upstairs was spotlessly clean, and the house, which had possibly half-a-dozen guest-rooms, was inviting-looking and comfortable. There was time for a walk before the evening meal, so I set out northwards along the white road, which was separated from the sea by fields. Occasionally houses clustered together, but you could not walk a quarter of a mile without passing a human habita- tion of some sort. My destination was Church Point, three miles away, where on the almost flat landscape a lofty building broke the monotony of road, fields, and dwellings. Here indeed was a scene of ecclesiastical activity. Opposite the handsome church was the cemetery. Somewhere amongst those humble graves Madame Lombard had, a few days previous to my visit, laid to rest her marital partner, the father of her numerous family. Priests in birettas were walking in the grounds adjoining a building which I was given to understand was a boys' school. Nuns, beyond, were occasionally to be seen going busily in and out some institution the nature of which I did not learn. The distance was greater than I thought, and the good fare set before me on my return, especially the choice apples and fragrant coffee, with no lack of cream, was very acceptable. A long talk with my hostess revealed the fact that there were many thousand Acadiens between Digby and Yarmouth. Her sons and daughters were all, with the exception of her Benjamin an engaging child of seven years earning their livelihood : two girls were teachers, another a milliner. Her husband's family had come from the South of France, she explained; he was not of Acadien stock. They had nothing to com- plain of, said Madame Lombard smiling ; they were not rich none of the French people were but with industry and thrift she could live on her few acres, together with the hotel, which in summer was fre- quented by tourists and parties who came out in automobiles from Yarmouth. The conclusion I arrived at was, that these French peasants lived simple, frugal lives of piety and industry, where seemingly, the only pleasure consisted in meeting the neighbours at Mass on Sundays with an occa- sional visit from the cure. A few days after the death of the father one of FROM DIGBY TO ST. JOHN 45 the daughters had unthinkingly struck a few notes on the piano. When reminded that it was only a day or two after the funeral, and that it would not be seemly for neighbours to remark on such sounds proceeding from a lately bereaved household, the little boy previously mentioned, who continually dreamt of his father since his death, expostulated, in French, on this wise. " But why not, my mother ? My father loved always to hear the music, and he liked always to see us happy. If he can see us still, he would not like for the piano not to be played upon, or to see my sisters cry." Wisdom is occasionally heard where you least expect it. When I drove away from these simple, religious people I thought if they had no claim to the kingdom of heaven I did not know any who had. Crossing the Bay of Fundy I was amused at my entourage. Home-returning Americans, who seemed devoted to Nova Scotia as a summer haunt, talked Reciprocity. " If the Canadians don't know when they are on to a good thing, why it ain't for us to tell 'em," said one. Two young women on my left belonging to New Brunswick were conversing with a Yankee. He 'seemed to be of opinion that if the measure was " turned down " by the Dominion, no other chance to change its resolution " would ever be offered." A home-returning episcopal gentleman from the States sat on the other side and discussed religion in terms of dollars. 46 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER The province of New Brunswick is a perfect store- house of historic memories. Over three hundred years ago, Champlain, the founder of Quebec, steered his quaint, square-rigged vessel into the river where, at its mouth, now stands the capital of the province. It was on the day of St. John the Baptist. What else could a devout son of Mother Church do but commend the river to the patronage of the saint by naming it after him ? Amid the wondering Indians of the Mic-Mac tribe the noble explorer came on shore at what is now known as the public landing. Surrounded by many of his followers, gentlemen of France, black-robed fathers and tonsured monks, with pomp and ceremonial he planted the Lilies of France where hitherto the savage signs of the Mic-Mac chief, Membertou, had been recognised. From the heights of Carleton, named after an early governor, whereon stands a Martello tower, built in 1812, and one of several erected for defensive purposes in Canada, may be seen the Isle of Pheasants where Champlain says he saw " wild grapes and a great quantity of fowl," and where to-day the Marconi station silently points to a date in the veiled future when human beings in their communications with each other will have learnt how to eliminate time and space. The place bristles with the memories of a stirring age, wild stories of privateering fleck the spot with the romance of daring. The first English settlements in New Brunswick were made by parties from Massachusetts, who chose the lands bordering on the St. John River. A few years later they were joined by their own kinsfolk, for several thousand of the best blood of the New THE AWAKENING OF A PROVINCE 47 England States, known as the United Empire Loyalists, landed where Champlain had done before them. Dissociating themselves from their 'rebellious countrymen they laid the foundations of a loyalty to the British flag which has influenced the growth of Canada up to the present time. St. John is nowadays a busy ocean-port, with a considerable trade ; a dry dock and ship-building plant is to be erected ; its industries are chiefly pulp- and saw-mills, lime-kilns, foundries, engine and boiler works. Having met the late Premier, the Hon. J. D. Hazen, in London, my first visit was to him. Under the Borden Government he now occupies the post of Minister of Marine and Fisheries, and has been succeeded in the Premiership of New Brunswick by the Hon. I. R. Fleming, formerly secretary to the provin- cial legislature. Nothing is more significant of the awakening of the province than its programme of railway and other development in the future; most im- portant of all, its prospective activity in the systematic effort to secure a steadily growing stream of desirable immigrants from the Old World. Mr. Hazen is a tall, handsome, middle-aged man coming from one of the best families in New Brunswick. I found him in his office dictating to a stenographer. After touching upon the resources of the province, in which agri- culture ranks first, lumber second, minerals and fisheries bringing up the rear, we alighted on to the chief topic of the day. Unlike the Premier of Nova Scotia, Mr. Hazen was exceedingly emphatic in explaining how un- favourably New Brunswick would be affected should 48 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER the Reciprocity pact be carried in the forthcoming elections. " For the last twenty years/' he explained, " the transportation policy of the Government has been, not only to unite the provinces of the Dominion by transcontinental railways, but to provide for the growing development of east and west trade. If the pact is successfully carried it will mean that instead of the wheat coming to the Atlantic ports to be shipped for the home market, that trade will be diverted from north to south." Any one who has looked into the matter knows that the principle of east and west transportation ran through the agreement with British Columbia. It also actuated the Laurier Government when the building of the transcontinental railways was decided upon. Nothing could be clearer than Sir W. Laurier and the Hon. Mr. Fielding's own words on the subject. In a long speech the latter gentleman, when urging the Government to assent to a new transcontinental railway, declared : " It is desirable that we should give our American brethren to understand that Canada is resolved to work out her independence/' ' You have a large number of French in New Brunswick/' I remarked. " How do they regard the measure ? " " We have," replied Mr. Hazen, " an increasing number of French Canadians coming into the north of the province and taking up land, and then in another part, descendants of the French expelled from Nova Scotia early in the eighteenth century. They are law-abiding, industrious people, but the NATURAL GAS NEAR MONCKTON 49 last thing they want to hear about is ' annexation/ You should go amongst them," he added. ' You will find them happy and contented under our rule." " They don't want to be Americanised ? " ' c No, indeed ; they would lose their own language, and after that their nationality." " I thought they might follow Laurier's lead," I remarked tentatively. " Not necessarily. He has not always followed the Church's lead." The Ex-Premier went on to explain that the French Canadian had not stood aloof in times of trouble. He helped when there was a rising in the seventies, and again offered his services in the Boer War. " Of course you are going to Frederickton ? " he asked. I had every intention of doing so, and whilst the stenographer prepared letters of introduction, the Premier told me of a fairly recent discovery of natural gas not far from Monckton. I thought it would be an interesting and novel sight, so " long distance " was called for, and within a few minutes, arrange- ments were made for a visit to that town. New Brunswick presents on the map the form of an oblong square, with three sides on the water front and its coast-line is 600 miles in length. There is no lack of water, for it is traversed by magnificent rivers and has numerous lakes. Everybody has heard of the " reversing falls " of the St. John River, where the volume of its waters passes through a narrow rocky gorge on its way to the ocean. The phenomenon is thus accounted for. When the tide is low there is a fall of fifteen feet into the harbour 4 50 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER of St. John. At high tide, the incoming water struggles triumphantly with the river current and causes a fall in the opposite direction. At half- tide the surface is smooth. One day I watched a launch coming from the direction of the harbour, in which a gentleman and little girl were sitting, pass swiftly under the bridge out into the open waterway beyond. " Ain't that just a dandy ride," said a youngster at my elbow, whereat we were joined by a tramway conductor, who told weird stories of the awful, bottomless caverns below where we stood. The violence of the currents down there, said the man, was such, that no diver had ever been per- suaded to descend a second time ! Settlement as yet has taken place mostly along the rivers, and no finer country than the valley of the St. John River is to be found on the American continent. On either side as you steam up to Frederickton, the seat of government, are neat well- built houses surrounded by cultivated lands with a background of cedar, pine, spruce, hemlock, and maple. The climatic conditions are like those of England ; there are excellent markets, facilities for transport, abundant fertility, magnificent sport (ad- mittedly the best in the Dominion) within reach, and every farm has its area of wood affording neces- sary fuel, besides timber, which is always useful. Personally speaking, were I going to settle in the Dominion, instead of a prairie farm, with no other prospect for hundreds of miles than level wheat tracts, where your neighbour's house may be the only one on the horizon, and he a Galician, I would infinitely prefer a home in New Brunswick on that magnificent THE ST. JOHN RIVER DISTRICT 51 waterway the St. John River, where the people possess high standards of life, where there are running streams and silent forests, beautiful flowers and fruit of all description, together with good markets for everything that you can grow ; at present the best ones are undoubtedly in the province itself. Owing to the steady growth of the urban popu- lation the demand for all kinds of farm products is greater than the supply. The prices in New Bruns- wick are 100 per cent, higher than they were ten years ago. The producer of first-class articles can practically get his own price. Potato growing is a most lucra- tive trade, and will continue so to be considering the continual development of the Dominion. That agriculture has been somewhat neglected for the lumbering industry is evidenced by the fact that immense quantities of beef, pork, poultry, eggs, even dairy products, are actually imported into the province. The capacity for fruit growing has only just been discovered, but the reason for the back- wardness of agriculture and the scarcity of labour many farms lying practically un worked is, that the lumber trade which exports annually to the value of from $6,000,000 to $7,000,000 takes the men from their farms. The population of this huge province is not over 350,000 people, the whole of the Maritime Provinces containing only 1,060,678. In New Bruns- wick the proportion of English-speaking people is about three-quarters, the remaining fourth talk French. Its accessibility from Great Britain, its cheap lands, fertile soil, and agreeable climate, with the points I have already mentioned; should appeal to men, or women, possessed of small means, preferring country life. It offers, in my opinion, like Nova Scotia, exceptional advantages to women. Before me are long lists of farms on the market, some with houses, no doubt requiring repairs, but when com- pared with homesteading in the West, where houses, barns, etc., have all to be built, the prices seem absurd. In the county of Charlotte, which includes the islands on its shores and is situated in the extreme south of New Brunswick, I read of small farms with house (or house and barn) which seem to me just suitable for two women, or even two or three girls to work either for growing fruit and flowers, or for dairying purposes at a figure so low that it would be within the reach of many. Thus, 40 miles from St. John, 200 acres, 75 cleared, house of 7 rooms, barn, piggery, etc., all in fair condition Price 80 (owner too old to work the place). Another 12 miles from St. Andrews, 4 from station, 100 acres, 25 cleared, good house and two barns Price 80. And yet another, 3 miles from wharf on Deer Island, 40 acres with 20 cleared, no buildings Price 60. St. Andrews, which is only 60 miles from St. John, is a favourite resort all the year round. It is the Atlantic terminus of the Canadian Pacific line, and steamers run daily to the United States as well as to St. Stephen on the St. Croix River, having 7,000 inhabitants, 80 miles west of St. John. If any of my readers are sufficiently interested to inquire more of these opportunities, they should write to Mr. A. Bowder, 37, Southampton Street, Strand, W.C., or direct to the Agricultural Depart- OUTDOOR LIFE RECOMMENDED 53 merit at Frederickton. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, so far as my perceptive powers are to be trusted, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia offer, with these cheap lands, fertile soil, good climate, avail- able markets, exceptionally promising openings for British girls, and by far the pleasantest, for in adapt- ing themselves to a healthy open-air life they would be absolutely their own mistresses. In order to ensure success it would be well to possess a practical knowledge of horticulture. Supposing three or four girls combined forces, each perhaps possessed of 80 to 90, they might, if they were determined to succeed, do well on a small farm similar to those described. CHAPTER VI Frederickton Dean Schofield Good schools Climate and char- acter Home in the making A chat with Mr. Ellis New Bruns- wick's forests Moose-hunting Natural gas. r TMIE town of Frederickton is the provincial seat * of government; it is situated on the right bank of that majestic river the St. John, with a background of forest trees. Its public buildings, its frame houses with well-kept turfed spaces in front, its suspension bridges under which swiftly plying craft, gasoline launch, or canoe, passed on their way up stream, were beautiful and picturesque as I stood watching the scene bathed in the gorgeous crimson hues of sunset. Numbers of country folk drove past in buggies, or gigs, on their way in, or from the city. On the morning following my arrival I visited the cathe- dral, where I found Dean Schofield kindly disposed to describe its various points. Suffice it to say that the edifice, which is built of stone in Gothic style, possessing handsome coloured windows, standing near the river on a quadrangular plot of grass, bordered with silver-birch, elms, maple, and linden trees, was struck by lightning in the summer of 1910. The tin coping hanging over the sides in long strips, as I saw it, is to be replaced by copper. The timber for the interior has to come from British Columbia, 54 FREDERICKTON 55 since lengths, cut locally, are too short. Fortunately the building was insured for $50,000, but before it is completely restored it will cost considerably more than that sum. I inquired of the Dean if the Anglicans were numerically, the strongest religious body in New Brunswick. " At present," said he ; " but so many French Canadians are entering the province we can't say how long we shall remain so." The Dean, who is a Canadian, told me he was edu- cated at Windsor College in Nova Scotia, the oldest in- stitution of the kind in Canada, founded by George III. He had subsequently trained at Leeds Theological College, and he went on to describe the arduous life of the parish priest in this particular part of Canada. There were seventy parishes in the province, churches were for the most part twenty miles distant the one from the other. Each parish and some were over 200 square miles generally 'contained four places or worship, which, now that British societies were withdrawing grants, were mostly self-supporting. The Government offices were not far away. Armed with the Premier's letter of introduction, I sought out the Superintendent of Education, to learn that in 2,000 schools a good English education is obtain- able ; indeed Government grants are not refused to districts where the children number only six or seven ! Referring to the severity of Canadian winters, Mr. Carter waxed eloquent upon the effect of cold upon the character of a people. It produced the cult of the fireside, was beneficial to family life, caused strong and abidirg ties of love for home and country; it was bracing morally and physically, making for virility and manliness. With all of which I quite concurred. It interested me to know how they managed to placate the Roman Catholics, since there was no separate establishment for them. It seems that under this provincial Government religion in school consisted of Bible reading and moral teaching ; in Roman Catholic districts priests could teach their religion after closing hours, " and the scheme works well," was the Superintendent's conclusion. From Mr. Hubbard, the Secretary for Agriculture, details concerning the climate were given me. The weather was good from April to December ; the first three months of the year were taken up with the lumber industry. Having already mentioned the great scope for agriculture in the Maritime Pro- vinces, I may say that Mr. Hubbard emphasised the present need of garden produce, and remarked that the country was exceptionally good for strawberries, raspberries, currants, and berries of all sorts. This was a day devoted to interviews, and on my way up a long lane to call on Dr. Jones, the Chan- cellor of the State University, I met a young woman with a big baby boy of two years old, with whom I conversed. She had been a housemaid in London, and had come to the country six years before. Soon after her arrival she had married ; her husband earned $1.75 (about*seven shillings) a day, and was building a home on their own bit of land. Would I come and see it ? She would so like to show it to a lady from England ! Leading the way along a narrow path we struck off from the lane, and there PROMISING SETTLERS 5T was her little house in course of growth. A kitchen, sitting-room, and bedroom were habitable, the rest was " coming along." On the piece of ground which the husband had purchased, was a patch of maize and a few vegetables. With two pigs and a calf outside, and a Singer's sewing-machine inside, the house augured well for the future. Mats made of old clothes torn to ribbons and worked on sacks lay upon the floor, and were signs -manual of ingenuity and thrift. That day I was in an expansive and talkative frame of mind, the country pleased me, and I was interested in the folk whom I met in my walk. An old man was chopping the hedge, and whilst I could not help thinking how " British " he looked, he saluted me respectfully, and I elicited from him that his mother's people had come from Dunfermline, his father's, originally, from London ; that his paternal great-grandfather had settled in those parts when he came up from New Hampshire in 1775. The old man spoke not only grammatically, but without accent or twang. I was fortunate in finding Dr. Jones at the Uni- versity. At the time of my visit the place was empty, for it was during the long summer vacation. There were 180 pupils, paying merely nominal fees, and a staff of eleven professors. Engineering and forestry received special attention. Many of those receiving training at this college found well-paid posts in the West, which wanted engineers to construct rail- roads and bridges. The University is finely situated on a rising hill at a little distance from Frederickton. That evening I returned by rail to St. John, and the day following paid a visit to Mr. Ellis, the editor of the Globe, who had sat for fifty years in the Legislature of the province. This charming white- haired old gentleman, speaking in the purest English accents, was of opinion, that any measure tending to promote amicable conditions between a nation with which they had such close commercial and social relationships should be welcome. He, too, deplored that the West had taken from them some of their best blood. In almost every family in St. John some member had been lured away ! One of his own sons was in Seattle, another in Saskatchewan. In connection with a lady whom I met casually, my interest was aroused in the attractive field for sport which New Brunswick's vast forest-lands, in- tersected with exquisite lakes, afford. She had, the year previous, been with a party in the Miramichi district, and she described most graphically how, one morning quite early, she stood at the entrance of the log hut placed at the disposal of shooting parties, everything around being swathed in thick mist, when out of the grey dawn, gradually, the great antlers of a moose appeared almost opposite where she was standing. Moose, cariboo, and deer are plenti- ful in this province, of which two-thirds is covered with forest. The bear is frequently shot; other fur-bearing animals the racoon, the wolverine, the marten, lynx, otter, musk-rat, wood-skunk, and hare turning white in winter are also denizens of the woods. Whilst wild geese and wild duck, with part- ridges, plovers, and grouse abound, the great rivers teem with fish, of which, perhaps, the salmon and the trout are most sought after. To sit in the^bow of a THE MIRAMICHI DISTRICT 59 canoe and run down fifty miles of the hurrying waters of the singing Miramichi, from the forts to the settle- ment, affords opportunities of watching the animals on either bank, since the craft is noiseless as it passes over the troubled waters, the " singing " effectually hindering any conversation from reaching the shore. The Miramichi district is well remembered as having been, in 1825, the scene of the most awful forest fire upon the continent. Incalculable value in timber was reduced to ashes ; prosperous farms as well as the town of Newcastle were totally destroyed, many persons seeking refuge in the river. Its light was seen as far as the Magdalen Island out in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and cinders carried by the terrific hurricane fell at Halifax. Thanks to the system of game laws the moose has increased in numbers ; to-day, instead of hundreds, thousands roam the forests. Admittedly, moose- hunting is the best sport the North American continent boasts of, and many noted sportsmen, including Selous and Prince Henry of Battenburg, have, under the efficient guides procurable in New Brunswick, enjoyed this exciting chase. Two methods of hunting these animals have been described td me " calling " and " still-hunting." When so disposed, the cow summons her mate. The period when this mood is upon her is generally early in October. Woodmen have been able so to imitate this "call" with the assistance ofja cone-shaped piece of birch bark that they can bring a moose bull within range. " Calling " starts one hour before sunrise on mornings when there is scarce a breath of wind. Once the game has answered, the fewer calls the 60 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER better; the best places for this method are lake shores, or meadows. In some localities where there is plenty of water the moose can be approached easily by the expert canoeist. Sportsmen say it is the weirdest thing in the world to hear in the unbroken stillness of the backwoods the whine ending in a grunt. Some- times the bull will answer the battle cry of a rival. At the end of October the weather becomes colder, the moose leave the water for higher ground, and are " still-hunted." Here silence is as imperative as in the first method. An early start is made, an open space approached to get the wind necessary to suc- cessful stalking. As a rule, when not disturbed, the moose feeds "down wind" ; his eyes protect the front, and his wonderful sense of hearing and smell the rear. From five to fifteen miles is generally covered by a hunter in " still-hunting." In a pamphlet entitled " A Successful Moose Hunt in New Brunswick," the Hon. Charles Scott of Missis- sippi, U.S., tells of one of these creatures who visited his camp at night. It was at Beaver Lake, and the cabin possessed two compartments, one serving as kitchen, the other bedroom. One morning, at 2 a.m., he was awakened by a noise in the adjoining room, and felt sure somebody was trying to get through the window. " Peeping in," says he, " with great caution, you can imagine my surprise at seeing the head of a big cow~moose poked entirely through the window.". She ran away immediately when she saw Mr. Scott on the premises, but he discovered later in the morning, that she had disposed of a dish of butter and had " Uckecfthe platter clean." He goes on to relate that on the night following a plate with meal ' / I I /JBH MOOSE-HUNTING 61 and salt was placed ready for " the Lady of the Lake," who called for it somewhat earlier than on the previous occasion. Another hunting incident is related of a magnificent moose which instantly made off on discovering the dangerous proximity of the sportsman. On this occasion Mr. Scott waited, feeling certain that his quarry was too gallant to desert his mate feeding on the adjacent shore. His opinion proved correct. The bull, with a full appreciation of his danger, turned and made the water fairly fly as he swam rapidly towards the cow. It is sad to relate, however, that his gallantry did not save him. Monckton, on the Petitcodiac, which flows into the Bay of Fundy, where a difference of thirty feet occurs between high and low tide, is a town of considerable importance, where the industries include the work- shops of the Intercolonial Eailway, and numbers about 12,000 inhabitants. Arrangements having been made for a visit to the Maritime Oilfield Company, Ltd., where 60,000,000 cubic feet of gas comes out of the earth daily and is ready without further treatment of any kind for lighting streets and other purposes, I was met at the station by two gentlemen, Mr. Sumner and Mr. Boggs, both of whom are interested in this commercial venture. A visit to the house of the former was a revelation as to what cultivated taste and wealth can do in the way of combining comfort with luxury. Mr. Sumner is a typical Nova Scotian, hospitable, cheery, with those character- istics which we call British transplanted to another hemisphere. Mr. Boggs is a genial American of burly stature. A motor drive, accompanied by the latter 62 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER gentleman and Mr. Sumner's two daughters, of about fourteen miles through undulating agricul- tural land, brought us to wooded heights. Here we alighted in drizzling rain to see the gas coming up, under terrific pressure, from a well sunk into the bowels of the earth. When it was turned on, we stood at a respectful distance, and the chauffeur, who manipulated the arrangement, stuffed up his ears with wool as the gas was allowed to escape for a few seconds. The roar was terrific ; we were distinctly relieved to see it safely bottled up again. It seems that for the last fifty years petroleum has been known to exist in this region from cer- tain surface indications and the general geological structure. From time to time operations have been carried on desultorily by different oil men. However, in the year 1899 the New Brunswick Petroleum Company, Ltd., obtained a license from the Crown for a period of ninety-nine years to prospect and develop oil and gas within the pro- vince over an area of 10,000 square miles. After unsuccessful operations this company, ten years later, transferred its right to the Maritime Oilfields Com- pany, Ltd., organised by Dr. J. 0. Henderson of London, England. This company first sunk three wells in Westmoreland County, but without satisfactory results. The work was then transferred to Albert County, where immediate success crowned the new de- parture. Ever since, continuous records of successes have been scored, until in the closing months of 1911 there were twenty-two wells producing fifty barrels of oil and 60,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The gas is found in quantities at an average depth of 1,800 feet, VISIT TO THE OILFIELDS 63 and under pressure varying from 150 to 600 Ib. per square inch. Mr. Boggs said that the oil produced is of a high quality when refined, giving excellent commercial results. The gas is composed wholly of methane and ethane, without a trace of sulphuretted hydrogen, and is ready for consumption without any treatment. Its heating power is enormous, a thousand cubic feet producing 1,280,000 British thermal units, which is considerably in excess of the calorific value of the natural gas from the Pennsylvanian fields. The Maritime Oilfields Company has entered into an agreement with the Monckton Tramways Electricity and Gas Company, Ltd., to supply the city of Monckton with gas for all purposes. A ten-inch pipe line, capable of delivering about 10,000,000 cubic feet per day, is now being laid from the wells to the city, a distance of about nine miles. At the same time a complete network of piping is being laid down all over Monckton, so that in a short time this ideal lighting and heating agent will be within the reach of every household. Sufficient gas has already been developed and shut in to supply the needs of a city ten times the size of Monckton, and development work is still proceeding. The Company will soon require to find fresh markets for this gas. At no distant date St. John, Amherst, and the intermediate towns will be benefitting by the wonderful discovery. The purity of the gas, together with its high calorific value and freedom from sul- phur, renders it invaluable to manufacturers for the production of cheap power. In a modern gas-engine Mr. Boggs declared that natural gas will give power at one seventh the cost of steam ; nor must one omit to mention that a process has been recently discovered whereby gasoline in commercial paying quantities can be extracted from natural gas, and the possibili- ties for larger development can hardly be exaggerated. As we left the wells the chauffeur, who was addressed as Mr. Corbet, had evidently thought out a surprise in the way of motoring in Nova Scotia. On our way to take lunch in a small house belonging to the Com- pany we negotiated a short cut down a precipitous slope, with such sharp descents, turnings, and twis tings that although the driver's skill was manifest, we were kept busily engaged in clinging on and keeping our equilibrium. The rapid negotiation of this wild descent will be ever green in my memory, not only because it led to , a most welcome meal cooked in a stove heated by natural gas, but also because instead of a short cut to luncheon it might well have been a short cut to eternity. CHAPTER VII Old Quebec The habitant Places of interest on the St. Lawrence Religious problems Church property and policy. 'TVHE story of the province of Quebec and of its * unique capital, that splendid anachronism of the American continent, has been the constant theme of abler pens than mine. Jacques Cartier, in the year 1534, first sailed up the noble river, although it was Champlain who early in the seventeenth century perceived the un- paralleled strategic advantage of the height over- looking the confluence of the St. Lawrence with the waters of the St. George, and founded a settlement there. Until that date, since which five generations have lived and died, when the stronghold of France falling into the hands of the British sounded the knell for ever of French domination in the New World, Quebec has been the scene of romance, of high hopes, and of wild ambitions, which the colonial history of no other country can surpass in interest. The glory of God and the honour of France were synonymous terms to the frocked and monkish en- thusiasts whose burning zeal led them often, to cruel deaths at the hands of the Indians for the sake of whose souls they continually waged aggressive spiritual warfare. 5 65 66 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER What alluring dreams of adventure inspired the brave and chivakous sons of the gentlemen of France to penetrate unknown fastnesses of nature, to cross deep broad rivers in search of mysterious seas vaguely spoken of by the aboriginals ! Men of meaner clay, with less noble aims, also sailed across the Atlantic to New France in search of gain, and in official capacities wrung from the industrious habi- tant the reward of his toil, some to perish miserably, dishonoured and unsung. For a century and a half the Lilies of France waved in the breeze over " Old Quebec," the chosen seat of government. Within its walls were held councils of state, and from its halls were circulated, near and far, decrees for the temporal and spiritual welfare of a trans- planted people in which the priestly element played the leading part. Thus it came about that that picturesque personage, the habitant, became estab- lished on French soil in Canada, probably for all time, since under British rule the French religion and laws are assured, although British criminal law prevails. The first sight of this interesting province is at Rimouski, where the steamers stop to land mails and passengers. This little town, insignificant as it looks from the river, is the chief of its shire, the seat of a bishopric, and an important outpost of Roman Ecclesiasticism. The cathedral, seminary, and convent, fine stone buildings, are conspicuous at nearer quarters. Many visitors come here for the summer months and find the pier which stretches nearly a mile into deep water a cool and charming promenade. In the vicinity the woods are full of game, attracting many THE SIMPLE LIFE 67 sportsmen. A beautiful coast drive of six miles eastward takes the visitor to Father Point, the well-known telegraph and signal station. Still farther from Rimouski in an easterly direction lies Metis, a charming watering-place, six miles from the station on the Intercolonial Line, and here many people own a cottage, or stay at farmhouses in the neighbourhood. The bathing is ideal, and the habitants, glad enough to profit by the now annual influx of visitors, often place their houses at the service of their guests and shift for themselves in outhouses or in various ways. A girl whom I met afterwards at the Chateau Frontenac hotel at Quebec had just spent a month on a French Canadian farm with a party of friends. I asked her if the terms were expensive, at which she laughed and said : " Oh my, no ! it's the cheapest thing I know of. We each paid six dollars a week and were very well boarded at that." ' What did you get to eat in such an outlandish place ? '" I inquired. " Mostly farm produce eggs and chickens, cream in abundance ; they all keep cows." " I wonder it pays them to do it at that price," I remarked. " Pays them ! " she repeated quickly ; " they are the simplest people in the world, and have few wants. They are delighted if they have taken $500 at the end of the season with which to go through the winter." She went on to say the party of five or six had taken all the bedrooms in the farmhouse. 68 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER " But where did the habitant and his family sleep? " I inquired. * Well, they lived in the kitchen. We used to think they slept in the cowshed." " Or the apple loft, or the piggery/' interposed her friend with a laugh. ' What do they live on during the winter ? " was my next question. " If the habitant has plenty of potatoes and roast pig I guess he does not pine for luxuries." Asked how she and her friends spent their time she said ' We ate, we sewed, and we read ; of an afternoon a farm horse was fastened to the caleche, in which we took turns to go out driving." This is a high-backed gig with a hood to it, and is quite a pre-Revolutionary French vehicle. Before you reach Riviere du Loup, where oppor- tunities for visiting the far-famed Saguenay present themselves, there is a beautiful natural harbour called Bic, where the British fleet in 1759, on its way to Quebec with Wolfe on board, anchored. Before it returned the French power in Canada had died a tragic death. An islet in the vicinity called I/isle du Massacre was the scene of a savage story in Indian warfare. Some 200 Mic-Macs concealed themselves here in a large cave on the approach of a hostile tribe, but their place of retreat was un- fortunately discovered, and the enemy failing to dislodge the Mic-Macs heaped up wood around the mouth of the cave and set it alight. The latter, forced to leap through the flames, were despatched in escaping ; but it is gratifying to learn that the AN HISTORIC RENDEZVOUS 69 Iroquois, for they were as usual the offenders , paid for their cruelty in being successfully ambushed on their way home, so that few were left to tell the tale. British America is the home of Nature's wonders, and the Saguenay river on the north bank of the St. Lawrence, opposite Riviere du Loup, is awe- inspiring and mysterious. Deeper than the latter by 600 feet, flowing dark and solemn between two walls of sheer rock, you appreciate the frame of mind of those who first named Cape Eternity and Cape Trinity. This dread river, associated with majesty and gloom, has been described by a traveller as " a natural chasm like that of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea cleft for sixty miles through the heart of a mountain wilderness." At the mouth of the Saguenay another interesting place, Tadousec, has a story of its own, unequalled in interest by any other settlement on either bank of the St. Lawrence, for it is probably the oldest rendezvous of white men on the American continent. There seems little doubt that it was, long before Champlain laid the founda- tions of French Canada, the resort of Basque fisher- men whose forefathers from time immemorial had visited this place. Here a strange story of the church bells exists, which is so typical of the way in which the Catholic religion has left its impress upon this land that I will relate it briefly. One of the last of the Jesuit missionaries, whose courage and devotion to duty will be remembered as long as the Dominion of Federated Provinces holds together, was Pere Coquart, who lies buried 100 miles up the Saguenay. Associated with his labours 70 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER was the saintly Pere Labrosse, who for nearly thirty years laboured amongst the Indians, until, in 1782, he had reached the age of three score and ten, with unabated force and undimmed eye. On a certain day he was spending the evening with friends, when at nine o'clock he rose with a heavenly look of peace on his face and bade all present a last farewell, saying he would die at midnight, when the church bell would toll to let his people know his spirit had left his body. He quitted his assembled friends; the bell tolled at midnight; they hastened to the church. Before the altar, in peaceful attitude, Pere Labrosse lay dead, and in every church throughout the scattered settlement, wherever the departed priest had ministered, invisible hands, so the story runs, had tolled the bells of the churches, thus bearing to his people the sad news of his death. It is the continued life of Old France in French Canada that strikes the visitor as he travels through this province. Many of the farms and seigneuries date back to the French occupation, but in course of time they have become smaller in consequence of the law of inheritance, which causes subdivision of properties ad infinitum. When the land no longer permits of the latter plan, the last of the family goes out into the world to try his fortune elsewhere. His conscience in the priest's keeping, industrious and moral, the habitant often passes from birth to death without any knowledge of the outer world, so closely are his steps through life watched by a vigilant priesthood ever on the alert to guard their flock from contact with Protestants who may seduce it from the true faith, Tithes are still paid as in THE HOME OF THE HABITANT 71 pre-Bevolution times in France. Nowhere else in the world are the priests of any cult so immune from taxation. The real estate of the Church is not taxed, and its property is enormous in value. In connection with this fact M. Bourassa, the leader of the Nationalist movement at Montreal, during the recent Eucharistic Congress, alluded to the good understanding between the civil and religious authorities. " From this concord/' said he, " we have laws that permit us to give to the Catholic Church a social and civil organism that exists in no other province of Canada/' and certainly it may be added in no other part of the Empire. Under the Union Jack, Quebec enjoys free political institutions where power follows the majority of votes. The last thing that the French Canadian of to-day wishes is to return to the French allegiance, for he speaks the language and holds the faith of an era prior to the godless Revolution ; moreover he has been taught from his youth up that his language and his religion are inseparable, that his Church is the last bulwark between himself and the extinction of his nationality. The individual conscience, the education of the young, politics, all is under the rule of the theocrats. In the accompanying picture of Chateau Richer near Quebec, a typical picture of a French Canadian settlement, study well the tiny wooden house of the habitant, with the long strip of land adjoining; then note the lofty, hand- some church which has been built by the pence of the poor. Recollect that the Church levies taxes, not contributions, for the building and maintenance of churches and clergy-houses, and that it also levies 72 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER a yearly tax for the support of each parish priest ; and mark ! these taxes are enforced by the civil courts. At the conquest of Canada (1759) it seems there were four different orders of nuns and about one hundred monks of various kinds. Catholic Kings of France had previously held that there were already too many communities and convents in French Canada, that an increase would be prejudicial to the interests of the country. There are in this province, at the present day, no less than twenty-five monastic orders, with 3,000 members, and fifty-five convents with 10,000 members ! These are facts which lead one to wonder what the future has in prospect for a people, honest and simple, segregated nearly two centuries from the rest of a world which has gone on full steam ahead, while it has been sheltered in a mediaeval backwater under ecclesiastical shepherding. With the development of Western Canada, the French province ceases to be a dominating factor in the political life of the Dominion. It is inter- esting to learn that Irish Roman Catholics resent the use of the French language in their churches. Whis- pers, too, are rife that the secular clergy do not always see eye to eye with the monastic refugees from Europe. Discontented murmuring, too, is heard occasionally, when industries such as launder- ing and dressmaking, carried on in untaxed conventual establishments, compete unfairly with those of the tax-paying laity. The theocracy which sits astride the civil power has been warned by Archbishop Bourne that it would be well to recognise the priority of the English language in educational and pro- THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 78 gressive interests. Surely these facts should in- duce the Roman authorities to consider their respon- sibilities from a twentieth-century standpoint, not from that of the Council of Trent ! In the province of Quebec, which in size equals France and the kingdom of Prussia combined, there are 1,429,260 Catholics, about 80,000 Anglicans, 58,000 Presbyterians, and 42,000 Methodists. About 1,000,000 are classed as farmers, and most of them own the farms they cultivate. Geographically, there are five divisions : the settlements on the St. Lawrence, the eastern townships between the St. Lawrence and the New England States, the district north of Montreal and Quebec, the Gaspe peninsula, and lastly the almost unexplored country to the north of the St. Lawrence from the Labrador boundary. Gaspe is settled in the regions about its borders, and in the summer is given over to sport. Quebec is the seat of the Provincial Legislature, but there is complete self-government in the muni- cipalities : the country is divided into townships in the English sections and into parishes in the French. Special efforts are now being made to colonise the north-eastern portions of the province, the object being to repatriate those French Canadians who have been attracted to centres of industry in the States, as well as to retain those ambitious youths who might be lured by the superior opportunities of the great North- West. To concentrate and to isolate is a policy finding favour with the Roman hierarchy. CHAPTEB VIII The affairs of Quebec Conservatism Non-compulsory education Expulsion of Protestants Tuberculosis Dufferin Terrace The deed that won Canada Asbestos mines. TT is instructive to learn how affairs in this pro- *- vince are regarded by those of the same race in France at the present day. A modern French writer declares that the policy of the Roman Church in Quebec is (1) complete and final acceptance of British rule; (2) final severance from France; (3) passionate defence of the integrity of the French Canadian race ; and this policy seems to have been accepted hitherto by the British authorities. The Roman hierarchy has been left in its own preserve, and the Quebecers have abstained accordingly from revolutionary movements. An example of the all-pervading influence of the theocrats was afforded some time since, when through clerical manoeuvring the municipality of Montreal actually refused Mr. Carnegie's offer of a library ! The Index controls the reading of the entire people ! " The French Canadians," says this writer, " regard modern France with pious horror, and hold her up as an example of the triumph of secularity. Their youths are cautioned and advised to go to Louvain and Fribourg Universities, rather than to Paris. In Canadian dioceses there is no room for French 74 DEFECTIVE EDUCATION 75 priests ! He asks how long will this isolation in which the Church strives to keep its people last ? and suggests that the French in Canada will remain strict Catholics and be behindhand with their British fellow subjects, or, they will break from clerical re- straint and lose that cohesiveness which binds them together. It certainly seems against the trend of the day that human beings should, in enduring the bondage of outgrown creeds, be hindered in their evolution, handicapped in their rivalry with a race which has long ago shaken off intellectual shackles." Education is not compulsory in Quebec. Owing to the predominancy of clericalism, members of various religious orders, without diplomas, or training, have the care of the young, and this archaic arrangement is not destined to afford up-to-date instruction. There are, at the present day, Catholic schools in Ontario where children cannot speak a word of English, and it is probable that the Provincial Legis- lature will not let this matter escape their notice, and that some measure will be devised to provide for the effective instruction of the English language in Catholic districts. With Protestantism without and free thought with- in, added to the dangers of dispersion and absorption, the priest must ever be on the alert. In a booklet entitled Canada of To-day, Mr. Maxwell, the author, referring to a policy which has been busily at work during the Laurier Administration that of the gradual expulsion of Protestants from certain areas writes : "In Quebec the fact is accomplished and cannot be undone. But that is no reason why the process should be allowed to continue unchecked 76 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER until M. Bourassa, the Nationalist leader, has realised his dream of five Roman Catholic and French-speak- ing provinces on the Atlantic coast." Does this loyal son of the Church hope to succeed when his grandfather Papineau failed ? He apparently pro- fesses to believe that a more general use of French in the western provinces would contribute to the unity of the Canadian people. Mr. Maxwell naively remarks : " He would scatter miniature Quebecs over Canada ! " One-third of the population of the United States is Catholic, but a more enlightened priesthood wield a restraining influence over its heterogeneous flock. The ratio is about the same in the Dominion. It would be strange if the New World were destined to be the ultimate theatre of a struggle between the forces of Progress and those of Reaction. Some of us who listen to the heavenly music of the God- set march of Progress look back upon the historic page, where he that runs may read, to see how land after land has burst the bonds of superstition and thrust its minions from its borders. Gathering up one's impressions of this bit of medievalism, so pic- turesque, so striking, but such a block on the evolu- tionary highway, one draws a sharp contrast be- tween the simple French people, endowed with a really religious temperament, and those who occupy the seats of the mighty in a sphere of spiritual tyranny which for its own purposes pursues a policy of extraordinary extortion, not unknown in eccle- siastical records, the precursor in other lands, and at different epochs, of expulsion, or suppression. In so doing I am but following the wishes of a professional RELIGIOUS EXTORTION 77 man, a French Canadian, who exclaimed, " Don't mix up the Roman Catholic people with the Roman Catholic Church." I was given to understand by persons of in- dubitable integrity that the casual visitor has no notion of how things are managed in this province, and what the house-to-house visitation of the priest, on never-ending quests for money, means to the parents of large families, or to the infirm worker. " I never tell them," (meaning the nuns) " how much I earn. I have learnt by experience ! They take everything from one," said an old French- woman in confidential whispers. A young medical man whom I met had just returned from a patient whom he described as a worker on the railway, and whose pay was $1*75 per diem. The old fellow was very sad ; when questioned as to the cause of his low spirits, he informed the doctor that the parish priest had just called for ten dollars, that being his share to pay for some ecclesiastical requisition in the church. " They pick them pretty clean, I assure you," said the practitioner ; " the Church just leaves them with a bare living." " Do you mean that the younger generation of educated French Canadians submit to be mulcted in this way ? " I asked. " Oh, they are getting away to the States all the time to escape persecution at home; then after a few years they reappear with an Anglicised name." " How do you mean ? " I questioned. " Monsieur et Madame Pierre, on returning to 78 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Canada, are known henceforth as Mr. and Mrs. Stone. That sort of thing is happening frequently." I had been informed that in country parts the parish priest sometimes audits his parishioners' accounts so I inquired if this could really ever occur. " Oh my, yes ! How better assess the tithe due to the Church ! " The doctor went on to say that it had been openly admitted that the chief factor in returning Conservatives to power was in some districts not so much the talk of annexation, or of the commercial disadvantages of Reciprocity which many did not understand, as it had been the meinory of the spectacle in the first city of the Dominion of the pomp and display at the Eucharistic Congress, held at Montreal two years ago, when above the Union Jack, which could scarcely be seen for the Tricolour, waved the Papal Standard bearing the Triple Crown and the Crossed Keys. This was corroborated by several persons in Mon- treal, who in describing how those Protestants who had offered hospitality to Catholic bishops and others on that occasion, instead of displaying a hostility to the Congress had united so far with their Catholic neighbours as to help make it a success, had been sorry for their pains, since Father Vaughan, in exe- crable taste, had hailed the opportunity to revile the Protestant religion. In this sketch I have represented actual conditions in this province, as I understand them; and in connection with the foregoing it is instructive to note that the report of a Royal Commission to inquire into the ravages effected by tuberculosis in Quebec has just ABNORMAL MORTALITY 79 been issued. Here the death-rate from consumption is far greater than in Ontario, or the neighbouring States of the American Republic. The causes are ascribed to the greater poverty of the French Canadian population, their complete ignorance of the simplest rules of health. Curious to relate, the women of the city of Quebec are twice as prone to consumption as British women, and more frequently succumb than the males of their race. The reasons given by the Commission are (1) that the latter suffer from lack of fresh air; (2) the remarkably high birth-rate among the women is probably a factor, since, during the weakness follow- ing childbirth resistance to infection is lowered ; (3) the large families in the small houses make over- crowding a condition highly favourable to developing the tubercle bacilli. This state of affairs is serious, since one-third of the deaths in the province are attributed to tuberculosis. Therefore the boast of the French Canadian priest that there is no race- suicide amongst his people, as in modern France, takes a different complexion when one places beside that fact the abnormal mortality of the women owing to the poverty-stricken condition of the husband whose small means, reduced by priestly extortions, do not suffice to supply his wife with a good house and sufficient nourishment necessary to restore her strength after a succession of childbirths. A rudimentary knowledge of the conditions of this province suffices to show that the abnormally large families of the French in Canada is a phenomenon easily accounted for. It is the direct outcome of priestly politics. One of the chief planks in the 80 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER ecclesiastical platform is the numerical strength of the French Canadian nation. Win the confidence of a newly married devote, she will tell you that the first question asked in the confessional is whether she is adopting artificial means to restrict her family. Apparently, the priest, who contributes nothing to the State, fattens at the expense of the habitant and his much-to-be-pitied wife, whose state in default of ordinary care and food leaves her an easy prey to bacilli. No more beautiful view on the American continent is there than that which confronts the visitor from the famous Duff erin Walk in front of that magnificent hostel the Chateau Frontenac, where, standing on a commanding and conspicuous site, a fine statue has been erected to the memory of the great discoverer, Champlain. Here the rivers blend their waters ; afar, on the horizon, are the blue Laurentian hills ; beneath, the quaint narrow streets of the lower town ; whilst on the right, higher up, the firm lines of bastion and rampart remind one of the great deed which won the Empire on this continent. Its story has been told a thousand times how the tiny cove on the river's bank was safely reached and how twenty-four volunteers 'from the Light Infantry in single file led the way up to the path that ran like a thread along the cliff ; how the rest leapt from the boats, and " like a chain of ants " climbed its face ; and how Montcalm, with fixed looks, saw before him, not a company, but an army in battle array, High- landers with waving tartans, their plumes blowing in the wind. The fortunes of half a continent were decided in fifteen minutes. " They run," cry the THE STATUE OF CHAMPLAIN. ASBESTOS MINES AT THETFORD 81 soldiers. ' Who run ? " demands the dying Wolfe. c< The enemy, sir," was the reply. The hero gives a clear order for cutting off their retreat, turns upon his side, in dying accents utters those oft-repeated words, " Now, God be praised, I die in peace ! " Not far away, in the Governor's garden, stands a monument raised to the joint memory of the two generals, Wolfe and Montcalm, where by a happy thought the mind of the visitor is directed to a sphere where the souls of heroes are united in the light of a clearer understanding than pertains to this mortality. The Laval University, the Montmorency Falls, and the shrine of St. Anne of Beaupre, where the maimed and the halt have tossed aside their crutches and gone away healed, are sights for tourists. A matter-of-fact person such as myself was more interested in some asbestos mines an hour or two by rail, south of the city of Quebec. In 1893 the first modern reduction plant was installed at the Bell Asbestos mines at Thetford, and the separation of the fibre effected upon a large scale for commercial purposes. Asbestos is an indestructible mineral sub- stance, composed chiefly of silicic acid and magnesia ; it has been known as a curiosity since the earliest times, although the ancients were not aware of its practical utility as fire-resisting. The mines at Thetford are worked like open quarries, asbestos having been found about 200 feet from the surface. The manufacture of roof shingles has stimulated the industry ; the process whereby they are shaped and pressed by hydraulic power has been in use the last four years. Boards for partitions and flooring are now being made, it being expected that three-fourths 6 82 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER of the output will be utilised for building purposes. The offices at the mines are built of asbestos ; a pre- paration covers floor and walls, whilst the roof is covered with the shingles already mentioned. The manager told me that these mines dominate the in- dustry of the world. It seems that Marco Polo described asbestos cloth made of Chinese asbestos as well as its mode of manufacture. I read that it has been suggested that the Biblical characters who survived the ordeal of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace were probably clothed beforehand in asbestos cloth ! CHAPTEK IX Montreal in winter View from Mount Royal Population Ratio of emigrants Sir W. Van Home History of the C.P.R. Co. Its splendid management. 'T^HE method of geographical progress adopted * in this volume is not necessarily accompanied by sequence of time. On leaving the Maritime Provinces I immediately proceeded to Winnipeg on my way to the Pacific coast, not only to see the harvest in full swing, but because during the autumn months the eastern cities are practically forsaken, the residents closing their houses to seek change of air in the country, or at the sea-side. Therefore my visits to Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto were paid during the winter months, on my return from Western Canada. I was glad to see Montreal under Arctic conditions. To pass rapidly through streets thickly covered with snow, to the sound of tinkling sleigh bells, leaning against rugs made from the skins of the musk-ox, your driver in cap, coat, and mitts of fur, is a novelty to such of us who do not roam far from our British fire- sides in winter. Ski-ing and skating naturally attracted the youthful part of the community. Snow and slippery streets, however, make little difference to the Canadian-born, whose house is specially adapted for extremes of cold weather. When the 83 84 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER sun shines on glittering snow and the sky is blue, with an absence of wind, it seems to me that neither the babies in their perambulators, nor the infirm and aged are adversely affected, however many degrees below zero the thermometer may register ; that is to say, on such occasions they certainly are in evidence in the streets. Notwithstanding that it has been my privilege to visit the Royal mountain at Montreal, both in autumn and in winter, it would be difficult to say whether the robes of crimson and gold wherein the glorious colouring of the maple is the predominat- ing feature, or when wreathed in thick coils of gleaming whiteness, becomes it best. The view from Look- out Point, 900 feet above sea-level and 750 from the river, repays the climb. Far away in the distance the mountains of New York, Vermont, and the Adirondacks bound the horizon. In the middle distance the St. Lawrence pursues its course through the fertile province of Quebec, and the Lachine rapids, near which is still to be seen the abode of La Salle the discoverer of the Mississipi, are visible. Below, the rapidly extending city of Montreal, located on two sides of the mountain and upon the plain between it and the river, spreads itself out before you, and you recollect having been told that it is thirteen miles long and ten miles broad. Whatever the season of year when you gaze upon this panorama, you feel impelled to dive into the book of memory and after- wards to try to picture the scene when the first white man approached the Indian palisaded city of Hoche- laga, which originally stood upon the site now occupied by Montreal. A Breton sailor the famous Jacques THE HISTORY OF MONTREAL 85 Cartier who had planted the Cross on the Gaspe cliffs it was who, returning to the scene of his adventures the preceding year, pursued his discoveries in 1535, and sailed up the unknown waterway of the great St. Lawrence. Passing the gloomy Saguenay, stopping at the future Quebec to fraternise with friendly Indians, he advanced up the stream in a galleon of forty tons and two open boats to land at the Indian village. It was not, however, until 1642 that a French colony was established here with the coming of Sieur de Chomely, Maisonneuve and Marguerite Bour- geoys, whose sole ambition, apparently, was to convert the red man from his ways. Space forbids enthusing upon the early develop- ment of the French settlement, so rich in historic memories, so full of religious fervour, to-day so interesting to the onlooker, as the last stronghold of mediaevalism. In 1760, when Montreal fell into English hands, it numbered only 3,000 inhabitants, but its geographical situation, favourable for commercial enterprise, ensured it from the earliest days, an importance bound to grow with the development of the Dominion. In 1870 the population was 100,000, which in 1901 had climbed up to 266,826 ; but the latest census reveals how enormously the city is growing : its figures this year stand at 587,756, which includes municipalities not yet incorporated, but which are really parts of Montreal, such as Westmount, a fine residential suburb, Maisonneuve Lachine, and others. Montreal has more than doubled its population in ten years, and probably in less than another decade it will reach a million. 86 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER " We are getting an annual addition of 50,000 emigrants," the Bishop of Montreal informed me as we sat in the episcopal study, looking out on to the rear of the snow-covered cathedral, known as Christ Church. ' We get 14 per cent, of the emigrants, which is more than the province of Saskatchewan, so that our population is assuming a cosmopolitan character like that of New York. We have Irish, Italians, Syrians, Greeks." " And 60,000 Hebrews, I am told," I interrupted. " I think your informant was scarcely correct," he replied, smiling ; " perhaps we have as many as 40,000." " In what proportion are the French ? JJ I asked. " Probably about three-fifths of the whole, but we shall know soon when the details of the census are published." The Bishop, who has li ved in Canada twenty years, is a popular figure in Montreal ; like all the clerics and most of the laity he is much interested in the ultimate fate of the Ne Temere decree in Canada. There is no dearth of philanthropic institutions, judging from the list he gave me, in Montreal. Indeed there seems to be a home for every class of human derelict. There are hostels for emigrants, and for young women looking for situations, but the most outstanding benevolent institution is the Royal Victoria Hospital, the most magnificently equipped on the American continent, if not the largest, built and endowed by Lord Strathcona and Lord Mount- Stephen. We spoke of the industries attracting emigrants, for there are shoe, tobacco, and many other factories A PROMINENT CITIZEN 87 in the city, and the enormous shipping, in con- nection with the fact that Montreal is the great ocean-port for the commercial export and import of the Dominion, as well as the centre of railways enter- ing from the east, the west, and the south, combine to make the city one of gigantic enterprise with a record for stability inspiring confidence in the security of speculative possibilities. Therefore one is not surprised to learn that there are here many multi- millionaires. A prominent figure among the citizens of Montreal is Sir William Van Home, a man of restless energy and of untiring industry, to whose constructive genius Canada owes its steel road linking ocean with ocean. A day spent at his fine mansion in Sherbrook, Street, which is a storehouse of art treasures, was unlike any other experience in the Dominion. It is seldom that one finds a first-rate business man an art connoisseur and a collector of early Oriental pottery, besides being himself an artist of no minor merit. Amongst the old masters, Spanish and others, that line the walls of his house, are can- vases covered by his own rapid brush, in which the subjects chosen are some of the rural forest scenes near to his country house at St. Andrews, N.B. At the present time Sir William's interests are largely centred in Cuba, where the railway he constructed runs through the entire island. A visit to Cuba several years ago had convinced him that it was the most fertile spot in the world, and an activity and development, owing to his foresight and subsequent enterprise, are going on there little suspected by the general public. Sir William tells many a good story. 88 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER During the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, at one place he was the recipient of expostulations from local orthodoxy for allowing his men to labour on the Sabbath. As a matter of fact the regular work was partially suspended on the seventh day of the week, but sidings and accessories were often com- pleted on the Sunday so as to commence a new section on Mondays. To these strict observers of the Lord's Day his reply was to the effect that in laying side- tracks on Sunday mornings he was only following their example. To my query as to whether the transcontinental line was mainly a political proposi- tion he replied : " It was the direct outcome of Confederation ; its construction was a condition of British Columbia joining the Federal Provinces. For several years it hung fire until finally, pressure was put upon the authorities at Ottawa by the British Government to carry out their obligations." I gathered that the interesting portion of the history of this undertaking dates from the time when the Federal Government, unable to carry out the pro- ject, eventually put the matter into the hands of a company incorporated in 1881, endowing it with 25,000,000 acres of land and $25,000,000 in cash ; presenting it also with 700 miles of railway which the Government had already constructed at a cost of $35,000,000. At that time nobody in the Dominion realised the value of this gift in land, save perhaps a few wealthy business men who had made moneyin rail- way enterprises, south of the boundary line, and who, having seen the American prairies turned into wheat granaries, foresaw the potential wealth of the immense 89 expanse of uninhabited prairie land in Canada. Some of these magnates were caught, it seems, at the psychic moment when with pockets stuffed with dollars they were looking around them for profitable investments. Once started, the work was completed in five years ; over 30,000 workmen were employed ; and notwith- standing the extreme difficulty in financing the road to completion, when those responsible pledged almost their last dollar to procure the necessary funds, they never faltered, but pressed steadily onward to a finish. Apparently the policy of this great company is to keep clear of political partisanship. In the first place, it has the most cosmopolitan body of stockholders ; and in the second, its vast projects are such as to make partisanship impossible. In 1896, when the Liberals came into power, it co-operated heartily with Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Administration in forwarding Canadian interests ; and now, as then, seconds every effort made by the Government's Immigration Bureau to bring good settlers into Canada. Having cast much bread upon the waters in past years, the returns are fast coming in, and there is no need to emphasise the fact that they are vastly satisfactory. Its auxiliary sources of income are rapidly and steadily developing ; its system of hotels, and one can speak from personal experience, is the best managed in Canada; its fleet of steam-ships for ocean, lake, and river service numbers sixty-seven. Two "Empresses " are building for the Pacific route which is charged with the function of feeding the railway with freight, for every ton of Chinese and Japanese goods brought by the C.P.E. Go's ships to Vancouver, en route for Europe, means a haul of 3,000 miles over the contin- 90 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER ent, and rates accordingly. The Company's rail and steam system semi-girdles the globe. The most timid traveller can start from Liverpool, cross the American continent and reach Hong Kong, tranship there to a P. & 0. steamer, and thus complete the circum- navigation of the world among English-speaking people and under the Union Jack. The steady growth of C.P.R. mileage is no less remarkable ; at no time during the last six years has it had less than 400 miles under construction. In 1910 the addition was 460 miles, and in 1911, 753. This enormous transportational combine of railroad, steam-ship, and hotel employs no less than from 70,000 to 80,000 people, according to the season's requirements. At Montreal, not a hundred yards from the com- fortable and well-known Windsor Hotel, whither every one wends his way, are the colossal buildings at Windsor Street Station, where the headquarters of the Company are situated, and here Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, the President, has his offices. In the accompanying picture of Dominion Square the Union Jack waves from the tower of the buildings referred to. The C.P.R. Company have from the starting point of their enterprise manifested a fairness and public-spiritedness which has earned for them the goodwill of the people, not only of Canada, but of the Empire, and which in these days of hostility to great financial corporations, Combines, and Trusts, speaks well for its administrators, whose ability and honesty in the interests of the proprietors have also gained the well-merited respect of financial bodies in the Old, as well as in the New World. CHAPTER X Clubs Dr. Ritchie-England Milk stations Infant mortality Typhoid and consumption French institutiono A visit to McGill The Royal Victoria College Back to the land. HpHE interests of the first city of British America * are not confined to the preservation of the entente cordiale between the French and the English, nor to the study of past mis-managed municipal finance, nor to the fact that the citizens of Montreal have so impure a water-supply that it is necessary to buy drinking water. The English-speaking inhabi- tants of Montreal have led the way in many intellectual movements resulting in benefit to the community, of which by far the most important has been the forma- tion of the Men's Canadian Clubs. It was found that business men, too fatigued after the day's work to attend public lectures, rarely found opportunities for hearing the topics of the day discussed by capable speakers, so an association was formed to arrange that during the luncheon hour men of note should on approved occasions address them on the needs, resources, history, .and institutions of Canada. At the present day these clubs are invaluable factors in forming, educating, and determining public opinion on questions directly concerned with the welfare of the nation. Pledged to no course of action, they 91 92 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER represent a body of thought inspiring, educative, or otherwise. This activity on the part of the men has been closely followed by the women of the Dominion in the cities ; the members of the Women's Canadian Clubs propose, as in the case of the opposite sex, to encourage patriotism and to foster a spirit of inquiry into the historical and material treasures of their country. In the words of the constitution for that of Montreal, "The object is to give women opportuni- ties of hearing orators and men of eminence speak on various subjects. Ithasthereforebeenresolved toinvite speakers who will bring inspiration and instruction to address the members of the Club five times during the season (October till April). Before each address there will be a simple and informal luncheon." Such speakers as Viscount Midleton, Professor Adler, Mrs. Humphry Ward, M. Bourassa, and Sir W. Laurier have addressed the club at various times, and its membership includes several hundred women. One day during my stay at Montreal I was in- vited to a lecture at another Club known as The Montreal Women's Club. Organised in 1892, it claims to be the first Women's Club in Canada, and the object originally outlined, " to promote agree- able and useful relations among women of artistic, literary, scientific and philanthropic tastes," has certainly been achieved, for at the present day the ladies of Montreal, by their various affiliated associa- tions, stand for all that appertains to culture in home life and activity in citizenship. The later phase of committee work has had actual results in the sphere of philanthropy. For four years its WOMEN'S CLUBS 93 members laboured before they succeeded in the formation of a Medical Inspection of Schools Com- mittee. Two years later they procured the appoint- ment of a Pure Food Committee. The afternoon when I was present was devoted to Patriotism. The National Anthem and a vocal rendering of " Lest we forget," together with an interesting summary of Canadian history, when the speaker (" a daughter of the Empire ") compared the infant colony to the ugly duckling, which only awakened maternal pride on reaching a respectable maturity, united to make an attractive programme. Upon another occasion I was a guest at a council meeting of the Local Council of Women of Montreal, which was formed some fifteen years ago in the belief that the Association of Women's Societies, such as those already mentioned, into a general organisation would lead to mutual sympathy and united action in matters of general interest. The Women's Local Council of Montreal is at the present time affiliated with nearly forty such societies, its policy being to serve as a medium of communication and a means of prosecuting any work of common interest ; but any society entering the Local Council in no way loses its independence in aim or method. An elementary knowledge of the public work con- nected with hygiene, education, the care of the sick and infirm, as undertaken by these representa- tive Local Councils of women, to be found probably in every city in Canada, suffices to make one realise the importance of measures proposed, considered, and sent up by them to the National Council of Women (first established by Lady Aberdeen), which 94 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER in its turn prepares a schedule of needed reforms or suggested improvements in Canadian legislation dealing with the physical and moral welfare of the community, which is sent finally, to the authorities of provincial legislative bodies, directly concerned, to read, mark, learn, and digest. Reviewing the struggle going on in the British Isles to obtain justice for tax-paying, wage-earning women, one cannot sufficiently commend our Cana- dian sisters for having organised themselves so efficiently, thus, in their National Councils, repre- senting a consensus of opinion which Canadian politicians are scarcely likely to oppose, or to ignore. The Local Council of the Women of Montreal were discussing with much animation the success and plans for the continuance of their milk stations, which in view of the appalling infant mortality 55 per cent. dying under the ages of five years were started in the summer months by Dr. Ritchie-England, the capable president. Whilst infants were succumbing daily during the intense heat, out of those brought daily to the stations who had enjoyed its minis- trations for a fortnight, none had died. I visited one of these excellent charities, where the nurse in charge, one of the Victorian order founded by Lady Aberdeen, said that they were then giving milk specially modified to over ninety babies, and during six months only three had died. I told her of the impression left upon me after a visit to the Found- ling Department of the Grey Nuns, where everything apparently, which up-to-date methods and self- sacrificing efforts on the part of the sisters could do for the unfortunate little things was done. SLUM AREAS IN MONTREAL 95 " Well/' said she, " my experience here has taught me to think that if it is so difficult a matter to save some of these French legitimate babies, how almost impossible it must be for the nuns to rear the illegitimate infants, often wrapped up in news- papers and found in their doorway." " But you give milk to other than French Canadian mothers ? " I asked. " Oh, yes ; but the greater number are French. Comparing them with Jewish women and others, I consider that, at least in urban districts, the French Canadian are by far the weakest race." A talk with Mrs. Henderson, the newly appointed official to the Juvenile Court just established, was enlightening as to the growing evils of slum areas in Montreal. " I would like to tell you," said she, " that two- thirds of factory labour in this province are done by women and children, and in connection with that fact, add this : that in no city, not even in New York, where I have worked in the slums, is there a greater proportion of girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen living immoral lives ! Does that look as if they were sufficiently paid ? >: " How are the men employed ? " I queried. " Many of them swell the ranks of the loafers and of the unemployed. It is scarcely their fault," she added ; " the employers pay women and children, who can quite well manage the machinery, much less than they would pay men ; in fact," she con- tinued, " if monkeys could be trained to do it, we should then have all the women and children on the streets." I told her the same economic difficulty obtains in older lands. '* The Labour members are fighting for an eight- hours' day for factory workers, but it was thrown out by the owners. At present the women and children's working-week comprises fifty hours." I alluded to the illness resulting from the bad water supply in Montreal. ' Well, that is the reason we have the largest per centage of typhoid on the American continent/' she exclaimed ; " and Dr. Blackadder, who is a well- known, reliable, medical man, stated that in the province of Quebec occurs the largest proportion of deaths from consumption in any part of the civilised world." Without entering into further details the unpro- gressive French regime at work in Montreal is ap- parent ; from any humanitarian point of view it is absolutely appalling ! A study of the internal affairs of this backward province is the strongest argument in favour of restricted families as well as for State intervention to prevent the marriage of tuberculous, unfit persons. Surely from every standpoint it is better to rear three or four healthy children than from eleven to twenty consumptive, rickety weak- lings. No wonder that the convents are filled with so many congenital wrecks of humanity ! Given ordinary hygiene, and enlightened conditions, the youthful generation should be healthy, sane, and self- supporting. Another benevolent institution is the University Settlement, which originated from a Girls' Club formed by the Alumnse Society of McGill in 1891. LA FEDERATION NATIONALS 97 The work now carried on by seventy volun- teers under the able guidance of Miss Helm (under five different roofs) in the slums is splendid in its purpose, which is to raise up a race of good, efficient, and patriotic citizens. Kindergartens, libraries, and reading-rooms for children, sewing circles, courses in cooking, carpentering, basketry, millinery, type- writing are given, and close upon 500 young people are benefitted by its various agencies. In the sphere of benevolence and charity, the French ladies of Montreal have also organised their labours. Although not affiliated with the Women's Local Council of Montreal, they occasionally work together in pursuance of the same philanthropic object. The Federation Nationale Saint Jean- Baptiste is their leading association, which, similar to the English-speaking network of clubs, is composed of affiliated societies such as the Factory Girls' Club, that of the telephone girls, and others. The Federa- tion was started in May 1907, with the benediction of the Pope and under the patronage of Archbishop Bruchesi in these words : " Saint Pere benit de tout coeur Dames Catholiques de Montreal que se sont reunies en association pour travailler d'apres les enseignements de TEglise & fortifier leur action dans la famille et la soci6te. (Signed) >J< CARD. MERRY DEL VAL." A glance at the enormous charitable institutions in Montreal carried on by nuns of different religious orders goes to prove that the spiritual principle in woman has always been more active than in man, that her heart has ever been more readily touched T 98 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER by the sight of suffering and by the infirmities of human nature, that she has responded far more readily to the stimulus of a gospel of love than has the priest with his material outlook, grasping for power, exercising his wits to devise means to obtain the wherewithal to raise immense and costly temples to emphasize to the world how superior and how far exalted above other creeds he stands in his own judgment, be it understood. But the woman, like Mary, has chosen the better part, and as a follower of the Great Exponent of Love has gathered into her fold the aged, the infirm, the nameless, and the little children. For such, one has no other feeling than admiration, affection, and respect. Self- sacrifice and selflessness are the credentials of saint- liness. " There is no action," says Ruskin, " so slight but it may be done to a great purpose and ennobled therefor/' A visit to the famous convent of the Grey Nuns is an object lesson as to how women can organise a vast institution where about 300 nuns feed and educate some hundreds of children up to twelve years of age, tend and care for about 200 aged men and women, and where forty persons, lay helpers as well as sisters, have charge of the Found- ling Department. Other religious houses in this city devote themselves to the care of Incurables, the Blind, Orphans, the Deaf and Dumb ; whilst the educational houses are too numerous to mention. The Chateau de Ramezay in the old part of the city, the home of the last French governor, is dis- tinctly interesting. It is now a Museum for relics of the past, and contains old maps and weapons THE McGILL UNIVERSITY 99 connected with the early warfare between its rival possessors which preceded the conquest of Canada. The Seminary of St. Sulpice, the churches of N6tre Dame and The Bonsecours, close to the Market, are worth visiting. The latter is the Sailors' church, and in front of the lights swing little toy steamers to emphasize the particular feature which makes this marble-walled church a favourite place of worship with those who go down to the sea in ships. In the matter of education Montreal is much indebted to the public spirit and munificence of Canadian millionaires. The McGill University owes its origin to the Hon. James McGill, a merchant of the city, who died in 1813, leaving forty-six acres of land with a dwelling-house and 10,000 to found a College, or a provincial University. This bequest was conveyed to a Royal Institution, which in 1802 had been incorporated " for the establishment of free schools and the advancement of learning in the pro- vince of Quebec." A charter was granted in 1821, but owing to protracted litigation the work of teach- ing in the new University was not commenced till 1829. For thirty years its existence was chequered by financial and other difficulties, until in 1852, with an amended charter, its prospects brightened. A course in Law was begun in connection with the Faculty of Art in 1848, and the department was established as a separate faculty in 1853. The Faculty of Applied Science was not regularly organised till 1878 ; that of Agriculture in 1907. The Governors of the University, in whom are vested the management of finances, the passing of University Statutes and ordinances, also the appointment of professors, and whose number is limited to twenty- five, together with the Principal and the Fellows, forty-two in number, constitute the Corporation, the highest academical body. Incorporated with McGill University is Mac- donald College, situated twenty miles out of Montreal, at Ste Anne de Belleville, consisting of three depart- ments, the School for Agriculture, that for Household Science, and that for Teachers ; also the College of British Columbia, which has two teaching centres, the main* College at Vancouver and a departmental building at Victoria. Affiliated with McGill are Mount Allison, Acadia, and Alberta Universities; also the Theological Colleges located in close vicinity to the University campus at Montreal, which are : (1) Congregational, (2) Diocesan, (3) Presbyterian, (4) Wesleyan. McGill University is affiliated with Oxford, Cam- bridge, and Dublin Universities, under conditions allowing undergraduates who have taken two years' work and have passed the second year sessional examination in Arts, to pursue their studies and take their degree at either of those Universities on a reduced period of residence. In a conversation with Dr. Peterson, the Principal, it was impressed upon me that British lads, intending to make their way in Canada, should at least spend a portion of their college career in a Canadian University, since it was much easier to obtain positions afterwards. The approach to McGill is imposing. The avenue up to the original building leads directly across the campus, to the right of which are grouped the magnificently equipped buildings dedicated to Physics, Chemistry, THE ROYAL VICTORIA COLLEGE 101 and Engineering, the generous gifts of Sir William Macdonald. Beyond and above the campus, also to the right, rises the new Medical building, only opened in June 1911, also donated by this wealthy citizen of Montreal. To the left of the campus are Molson's Hall and Redpath Library. It was my good fortune to be shown over the University by Miss C. M. Derick, M.A., Assistant Professor of Botany, who has been in charge of that department since the death of Dr. Penhallow. This able woman explained to me how different McGill life was in her student days, and how great the influence its former Principal, Sir William Dawson, who held office over forty years, had brought to bear upon the status of the University during his long association with it. A visit to the Royal Victoria College for Women, situated in the residential quarter of the city, and a talk with its Warden, Miss Hurlbatt, is worthy to be recorded. This charming and cultured gentlewoman takes a keen interest in the development of the in- tellectual life of the Dominion, and considers that the Men's Canadian Clubs are invaluable institutions at the present time when the youthful nation is shaping its course. She considers that the opportunities afforded of hearing not only experts, but some of the world's foremost thinkers on a varied selection of topics can only result in broadening the mental horizon and affording food for thought to men who have immense responsibilities thrust upon them. The Royal Victoria College, the gift of Lord Strathcona (a photograph of whose Montreal resi- dence I was able to secure, taken when occupied by members of the Royal Family), instituted in 1898, 102 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER is the sequel to a sum given by him in 1883, to endow a College and classes for women. It offers residence and opportunities of college life to the girl students of McGill who follow the courses in Art offered by the University. Lectures are given by the pro- fessors, either in the College itself, or in the University Buildings, and the women attend the laboratories for practical instruction. The College on Sherbrook Street, not far from the University, is a fire-proof building, and is built on generous lines from both artistic and utilitarian standpoints. The Assembly Hall is magnificent and spacious, larger than any other in the University, and is used by the latter for important functions. Out of the 294 students who have graduated from the Royal Victoria College, 98 have married, but 32 of these had previously been engaged in teaching ; 108 are at present teachers, five are nurses, four sub- sequently qualified and practised in medicine, three hold positions in Young Women's Christian Associa- tion work, three are journalists, two hold Civil Service appointments, one is holding a paid appointment in Charity Organisation work, two have subsequently qualified to teach Domestic Science, three are dead, leaving about fifty unmarried, not professionally occupied. The courses offered by McGill form a useful pre- liminary for specialised work. The total charges for tuition, board, and residence range from about $403 to $460 for the whole College session, including the summer classes ; or from $350 to $400 exclusive of the summer classes. Feeling that my mental grip of the educational "BACK TO THE LAND' 1 108 facilities afforded by McGill would be incomplete without visiting Macdonald College, I set off one afternoon to Ste Anne de Belleville, where a lady whom I had met at one of the numerous Women's Clubs in Montreal, Miss Macmillan, Superintendent of the Men's Residence, kindly explained to me the aims and objects of this College, another munificent gift of Sir William Macdonald. The Scheme means briefly " Back to the land." Underlying all its activities in Agriculture and in Household Science, as also in its School for Teachers, the basic idea is the dissemination of knowledge especially essential to the needs of the population in rural districts. No one recognises more fully than the donor that the rural communities are the producers of the wealth of Canada, and the advantages which the Dominion should reap from this College founded, erected, equipped, and endowed by a citizen of Mon- treal are increased and improved farm products, greater comfort and enjoyment in the home, better taught schools for children, and a finer sense of individual responsibility. It was on a Saturday after- noon when I visited it, and a basket-ball match was proceeding between the Royal Victoria College team and the girl students of Macdonald. The game was swift and graceful, taking place in a fine gymnasium in one of the chief buildings. Afterwards, via an underground passage, we returned to the Men's Re- sidence, where the same game was being energetically played in their gymnasium, between Macdonald men and " The Harriers." An article on this College by Miss L. Robins, one of the lecturers, is so descriptive that I quote from 104 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER it as follows : " The harvests of 1904 were on the fields when Sir W. C. Macdonald purchased the Robert Reford Ayrshire stock farm and five smaller farms, 561 acres in all, on the beautiful Ottawa River near the village of Ste Anne de Bellevue. In May 1905, as by enchantment, the College build- ings began to rise one after the other on a fifty-acre field sloping towards the river ; the administration building with its offshoots, the bacteriology-biology- entomology building and chemistry-physics building, the women's residence, the men's residence, the horticultural building, the greenhouses, the barns, the day-school, the houses of the workmen, staff, and principal. Within, laboratories, baths (that rivalled those of Old Rome), swimming pools, gymnasia, reception rooms, etc., appeared. Water, lighting, and heating systems were rapidly installed. Plate-glass windows through which the sun's rays have an un- obstructed entrance into well-lighted rooms ; oak furniture strong enough to stand the wear and tear of a century, the best of linen, blankets, and Royal Worcester china, already have made life a very pleasant thing to hundreds of students. Good roads, green sward, young orchards, experimental plots, farm produce, shrubbery and flowers cover the once bare brown earth." CHAPTER XI Ottawa The Government Buildings Immigration problems Well- paid women Champlain at the Chaudiere Eideau Hall The Laurentian Lakes. A VISIT to Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion, *~^- is bound to be interesting at all seasons of the year, but it was with some curiosity as to the degree of cold I should experience that on the eve of 1912, on arrival, I bestowed myself and my effects into a comfortable sleigh. Political life had relaxed its energies during the brief respite afforded by the Christmas recess. Hard- worked members of the Federal Government were still away in the provinces, enjoying the ease and comfort of the domestic hearth. In Ottawa the shops still bore traces of the festive season. On New Year's Day the streets were scenes of an interesting activity. From the windows of the Hotel Russell, which is centrally situated in close proximity to the colossal Chateau Laurier, a new hotel which the Grand Trunk Pacific Company is building, and which will soon be open to the public, one had a good view of the gentlemen of Canada, who from far and near assembled to attend a Levee held in the Senate Chamber. The presence of the popular member of the Royal Family who represented His Majesty on this occasion enhanced the interest of an 105 106 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER annual state function. On the same day the Mayoral elections resulted in the return of a well-known citizen, Mr. Hopewell, to that dignity; whilst horse-racing in the afternoon in Lansdowne Park and " A Choco- late Soldier " in the way of theatrical entertainment showed that Ottawa was live and rejoicing. The city, certainly, is one of many interests, utilitarian, scientific, literary, social ; but over and above all the prevailing atmosphere is that of the Civil power, for up to date the military and the naval forces of this ambitious nation are significant only from the fact that they are still in their infancy. My first visit, naturally, was to the Parliamentary Buildings, which are magnificent erections, situated on a rocky eminence overlooking the Ottawa, the third river in size and importance in the Dominion. No finer spot could have been chosen, for looking across the frozen Ottawa from the terrace at the back of the Buildings, a vast panorama unfolds itself of winding river and undulating country bounded by the blue Laurentian range, the composition of which is still somewhat of a conundrum to the geologist. Although its height is only a few hundred feet above sea-level it should inspire respect as it contains the oldest rocks as yet discovered in the world. The site for the Canadian Parliament House is unique in that it affords a fine opportunity for the display of the architect's skill. The Buildings are on three sides of a square. The central, which provides accommodation for the Senate and the House of Commons with a fine Library in the rear, is approached by flights of steps in the middle and at each side of the vast quadrangle, whilst GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS 107 east and west are the Government departmental offices. The towers with their fine proportions, built in modern Gothic style, are exceedingly beautiful, and can be seen from any part of the city. The three buildings are uniformly built of rock-faced sandstone brought from the Nepean quarries close to Ottawa, the dressings are of sandstone found in the State of Ohio, and the red stone used in the arches comes from the State of New York. No great pomp marks the interior of the Senators' Chamber, or that of the Commons; in the former you tread on a crimson carpet, in the latter you walk over a green one in somewhat second-rate condition. Each member has a desk in front of his seat, to which his name is affixed. Over the Speaker's chair in the Commons, which is the boundary line between the factions, sit the reporters ; above them are galleries running round the Chamber open to both sexes cages for women are not considered necessary ! An attendant, speaking perfect English, assured me he was a French Canadian, and with a politeness which comes sometimes as a surprise on this side of the Atlantic, showed me over the building. There were 220 seats in the Commons. "But where will you accommodate new members ? " I asked. " There's room for another row at the back over there," he said, pointing to the sides of the Chamber. ' We expect to have an addition after the Redis- tribution Bill has passed." " Every ten years they are obliged to pass a Bill of the kind, are they not ? " I casually inquired. 108 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER " Representation in Canada is according to popu- lation ; at least that's the idea," remarked the man. I groaned inwardly, wondering why young nations can get sane and reasonable laws passed, whilst our statesmen are content to haggle over the pence a maidservant shall contribute weekly to insure her health during those years when her strength is at its best, at a time when the injustice of our repre- sentation is a clamant evil. Where would all those excitable Hibernians, who as I write these words are ruling the roost under King Redmond at West- minster, be if population was the basis of represen- tation? We passed through corridors and reading-rooms, where every newspaper published in Canada and a table full of British journals lay at the disposal of members, on our way to the Library. This again is an architectural gem. Built in rotunda form, its lofty dome is supported by massive and flying buttresses crowned with pinnacles. The interior is inviting-looking to the last degree just the sort of place where you would like to be turned into loose during a Canadian winter. The choicest Canadian woods are inlaid upon the floor, the book- shelves are richly carved in white pine : there are three stories with galleries giving access to the books, and the total number of volumes amounts to 1,000,000, the Library being supported by a Parliamentary grant. As I looked about me, the attendant men- tioned that the librarian's room was close by, so thinking it might be interesting to talk to the keeper of the nation's books I immediately requested the man to take in my card. QUEEN VICTORIA'S CHOICE 109 Mr. M. J. Griffin is a well-known man of letters and contributor to British journals, as well as a first-rate talker, besides being an out-and-out Conservative, who would die in the last ditch rather than yield an inch to the onslaught of democracy. I spent a good hour talking to him in his warm and comfortably furnished study. My first question was to inquire how it came about that Ottawa was chosen as a seat for the Federal Government ? " It was Queen Victoria's choice," he informed me ; " she was never here in her life, but she acted no doubt under the advice of Sir Edmund Head, the Governor-General." " How long ago ? ' : I asked, because Ottawa gives one the impression of respectability as to age, not as a city rejoicing in new birth. " In 1858. There had been a good deal of dispute about the seat of government between the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, so Her Majesty was asked to choose a site/' he explained ; adding, * You would have seen the surrounding country to greater advantage if you had come in late spring. Over there in each valley amongst the hills," and he pointed in the direction of the Laurentian range, " there are the most fertile spots and farmsteads to be found anywhere." " Do they belong to French Canadians ? " I asked. " Oh, no ; different nationalities, probably the ubiquitous Scot amongst them ! " Speaking of the way in which the province of Ontario had impressed me, he said : " There is no doubt that it is the Banner province. There are 110 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER many descendants of good old families to be found in every town of Ontario; many of them have lovely houses with beautiful lawns and well-kept gardens." Since the rebels of 1775 in the New England States belonged for the most part to the plebeian portion of the New England settlers, whilst those who left them to enter the Maritime Provinces and to settle round Lake Ontario represented some of the best blood in England, one can readily under- stand that this is the case. I remarked how I had just heard it said that the Maritime States were inhabited by a people with no initiative, always waiting for the Government to do something for them, whereat he laughed somewhat scornfully, declaring that most of the best brains that ever ruled this country came from Nova Scotia. Bef erring to the Borden Ministry as " honest men," I asked him for a definition of graft as understood in the sense Canadian, for to my British blunt way of looking at things it seemed to be a polite term for thieving. It is not needful to repeat Mr. Griffin's explanation of the word, for there was no reason, so far as I could see, to correct my original idea of its meaning. Another interesting visit was one to the Super- intendent of Immigration, to whom I unburdened myself of a problem which was the result of a study of emigration propaganda, in which the demand seemed limited to farm labourers and domestic ser- vants. It had been revolving in my mind some time without having found its solution. ' Where," I asked, " are the sons and daughters INTERESTING SOCIAL CONDITIONS 111 of the great class of farmers and agriculturists in this country ? *' " Coming into the towns as fast as they can. Our offices are full of women. They come here as stenographers ; they go to manufacturing centres as factory hands and into places of business." " Anywhere, in fact, except on the land," I sug- gested, for if there was one thing that struck me more than another, it was the practical refusal of the unmarried women of Eastern Canada to associate themselves in any capacity with the agricultural life of the western prairies. The alleged reason is, they know too well the hardships inseparable from its climatic and crude conditions. Many have told me in pitying sincerity that ignorance and mis- representation only, can account for any attraction that life on prairie farms may possess for their British sisters ; for themselves, nothing would induce them to go West ! "It is our duty to try to keep them out of the towns," he remarked. " Of course it is education that is doing it. The boys go off to the Universities to be engineers, or parsons, when they should be farmers ! " " What is the remedy ? " I asked. " You would not stop their education ? " " No ; but we are trying to run it on lines dealing more with agriculture." In Ottawa, the number of women earning good wages as stenographers, and in other capacities, who seem quite contented with their lives and not anxious to be entangled in matrimonial nets where the cooking of food and the washing of dishes seem, 112 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER as things arrange themselves in Canada, obligatory upon the wife when means are limited, is sufficient to make one think seriously. " Men say they don't like asking women to marry, when they themselves are probably earning very little more than our salaries," a clever girl said to me. She was engaged in one of the Government offices, and with two women bachelor friends was living in an apartment under very comfortable circumstances. " And you know you can't live cheaply in Ottawa," she explained. " Coal is 305. a ton, and you must have warmth." " How do you manage about your meals when you are out all day ? ' I asked, interested in this combined housekeeping. " We get them at a capital restaurant kept by an Englishwoman quite close to the house," was the reply. I was invited to an impromptu tea, which was deftly prepared. These ladies, as evidenced by the frequent telephone calls, had a large circle of friends, the books of the day lay on their tables, and they were apparently not only as happy as mortals have any right to be, but were interested in the problems of the day ; indeed it was a pleasure to converse with them. Nor was it amazing that not one of them, or of their friends who dropped in, seemed desirous to exchange their independence for wifehood. Not far away at the corner of the street an enor- mous building belonging to the Young Men's Christian Association, housing a large number of bachelors, "UN-WRITTEN UP' WOMEN 113 had previously arrested my attention; and these two phases of Canadian life to be found side by side in the city of Ottawa as in other cities, where men and women of the best type, industrious, intelligent, broad-minded, and capable are growing increasingly reluctant to take upon themselves marital respon- sibilities afford food for speculation as to what the necessarily altered type of the future Canadian will be in view of the prolific French Canadian on the one hand, and the incoming European or American emigrant on the other. In these days of enlightened ideals and of pro- gressive thought and literature, no one who has any notion of the cost of living in urban centres can express surprise that the daily task and common round associated, as it must be for couples of moderate income, with the continual preparing of meals and washing up, does not appear to be an entrancing prospect for life as compared with one of independence and comfort. Some day, when co-operative house- keeping on a large scale is adopted, things may be different. Again, in contrast with that large class of noble women who in various ways at this critical time in the history of Canadian development are doing splen- did work in a public-spirited and intelligent manner, one meets with a class of persons who complain that no writer on life in Canada has ever done them justice ; or, as they express it, " written them up " truthfully. Women of this type are possessed of an ignorance so abysmal that even the perusal of the daily newspaper is apparently too much for their weak brains, unless indeed it be to see how 8 114 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER their tea-parties compare with their neighbours' in the " Society " columns of the Woman's Page. Over-dressed and parasitical, their self-centred lives appear so shallow and aimless to the intelligent observer, that he or she is speechless with contempt for the type of mind that could imagine for a moment that the reading public of Great Britain, or that of any other sane nation, could possibly be interested in the flimsy social doings of women characterised by a vulgarity and a lack of courtesy unknown to any class of persons, but to that which has suddenly leapt into great wealth unaccompanied by breeding, education, or good nature. If such persons yearn for notoriety, it would be well to acquire a rudimentary knowledge of English grammar, to cultivate a refined voice and manner, and to study carefully correct pronunciation : these being, all the world over, the initial qualifications of gentlewomen. With regard to the rise in prices, not only in the cost of living, but generally, I may here note that, in a conversation I held with one of the leading busi- ness men in Ottawa, I was informed that during the last few years the prices of articles used in the build- ing trade have advanced 100 per cent. Three years before, this gentleman had built a house which had cost $3,500. If, said he, a replica of it were to be erected at the present time, it could not be done under $7,000. A friend of his had bought some land near Mon- treal for $28,000 some seven years since, which he had just sold for $280,000. Probably the explana- tion is, that some railway company, or trading concern can find no other site. One is constantly THE CHAUDIERE FALLS 115 hearing of remarkable sales of land, which owing to the rapid development of business in Canada occasionally fetch record prices. The Ottawa River is the boundary between the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, which are con- nected with each other by a fine suspension bridge, a hundred yards below the Chaudiere Falls Ottawa lying at one end and the manufacturing city of Hull, with an almost French population of 16,000, at the other. Here are to be found the largest saw-mills in the world. With an inexhaustible supply of water power, every available space for flour-mills, pulp-mills, and for various industries has been taken below the Chaudiere Falls. Of the various tributaries of this river, the Gatineau, which flows through the northern forests for over 300 miles and enters the Ottawa a short distance from the capital, is worthy of mention; also the Rideau, a smaller river which plunges in double falls over a layer of rocks into that magnificent stream only a mile east of the Parlia- ment Buildings, and has given its name to streets and to canals and to Government House itself. When the earliest voyagers passed up the Grand River (the Ottawa), they saw the "slow dropping veil of thinnest lawn," and cried out Le Rideau ! Le Rideau ! Those French explorers were not insensible to Nature's grandeurs, and Champlain thus describes the Falls of the Chaudiere as they burst upon his enchanted sight three hundred years ago. " The water falls at one point with such impetuosity upon the rock that it has in course of time worn out a deep and wide basin. Into this the water rushes 116 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER with a whirling motion, boiling up tumultuously in the midst, so that the Indians call it Asticou, which means cauldron (Chaudiere)." This waterfall pro- duces a noise that may be heard two leagues away. The explorer relates how he paddled up as near as possible to the demon-haunted falls, " where the Indians took the canons and our Frenchmen and myself, our arms, provisions, and other commo- dities." He speaks of the sharp rocky portages where they passed the falls and rapids, until a few hours after they embarked upon a peaceful lake, " where there were very beautiful islands filled with vines, walnut, and other agreeable trees." The expedition penetrated seventy miles up the Ottawa, until Allumette Island was reached, where a large settlement of friendly Algonquins received them kindly. Bideau Hall, the present residence of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught in his official capacity as Governor- General of the Dominion of Canada, is a mass of rambling buildings standing among gardens and terraces, and is about a mile and a half distant in an easterly direction from the Federal Buildings. The reception-rooms are large and handsomely furnished, but the private suites are not spectacular as to decoration. Local rumour runs to the effect that $100,000 was voted by the last Government for repairs and for redecoration of the Viceregal resi- dence. Since the accession to power of the Con- servatives an inspector reports that, judging from work actually done, he can only account for $20,000 of that sum. No wonder questions are being asked as to the expenditure of public moneys ! THE DUCAL FAMILY 117 One hears on all sides of the popularity of the Ducal family. Its members meet with a hearty wel- come wherever they go. Princess Patricia has won the hearts of all, from the children who came to her Christmas party to the students of McGill University who cheered vociferously in her honour. There are beautiful drives past Rideau Hall in the direction of an attractive residential suburb, Kockville, over- looking the broad river ; in summer the neighbour- hood is charming. Fishing amongst the lakes in the Laurentian Hills is a favourite sport ; trout and black bass are to be found. These sheets of water are any size from 30 to 300 acres, and they lie among beautifully wooded hills. In the month of May these lovely retreats are most attractive, the trees are beginning to put forth leaf and blossom, the woods are picturesque with trailing arbutus, witch-hazel, and other flowers, whilst the Canadian partridge, the ruffled grouse and other birds fly overhead. Professor Maooun The National Museum Mrs. Paget's book The Eight Hon. E. L. Borden A multi-millionaire. "DERHAPS at Ottawa, more than at any other * city in the Dominion, one meets with inter- esting individuals who can record to their credit " something attempted, something done " for the benefit of the community, whose ways of looking at the world around them are not those of persons who circle in narrow grooves, or stick in ruts of conven- tionality. The life-histories of such stand out in clear-cut relief against the humdrum existence of their fellows. It was in the empty halls of the recently erected Museum that I met Professor Macoun, a prominent figure in the department which deals with the geo- logical exploration of the Dominion. His conver- sation, tinged with the glow of happy retrospective memory, was one of the most interesting I listened to in Canada. He explained that the fine building, destined to be the future storehouse of the nation's curios and art specimens, was as yet in its earliest stage of existence ; then with a keenness rarely met with in octogenarians rapidly reviewed his numerous journeys and experiences. From the Professor's erect bearing and bright, spirited manner, it is scarcely possible to imagine that 118 CANADA'S OCTOGENARIANS 119 he is much over sixty. With a buoyancy and touch of humour he told me how, year after year, he had explored the Rockies, and had climbed every peak almost in the southern end of the range. With several other famous scientists he had explored these mountains to find the most suitable route for the transcontinental railway. (It is, however, to the genius of Sir Standford Fleming, another of Canada's grand old men, that the C.P.R. Co., is indebted for the discovery of the pass which enables trains to run through to the coast. Quite recently the last-named octogenarian has submitted to the Dominion Government a scheme to complete the telegraphic girdle of the world, bringing Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa into touch with each other, without passing through the territories of other nations.) It would be hazardous even to conjecture how many thousands of miles Professor Macoun has travelled in the course of his annual excursions. In speaking of the first voyage up the Red River of a steam-boat, some forty years ago, he described very graphically how the Indians had assembled at a certain point to see this wonderful invention of the white man, and with what curiosity they watched the gradual advance towards them of this wonderful ship, propelled without sails and without oars. Possessed by the spirit of mischief the Pro- fessor had suggested to the captain to give them a salute from the steamer, and accordingly a prolonged screech was the result. In a moment the terrified Indians had fallen flat on the ground, and were wriggling and writhing as fast as they could through 120 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER the prairie grass to get out of range of the murderous toy of the white man's invention. The prairie had looked alive with red snakes ! Upstairs, an Art Gallery already contains a fair collection of pictures. A number of geological speci- mens still remain in packages, and it will be some time before the Museum is anything approaching com- pleteness. Mr. Camsells, who is the first geologist to find diamonds in Canada, which occurred near Lytton in British Columbia, informed me that the scientists of that department are already preparing for a great Geological Conference to be held in the Dominion in the summer of 1913, when members will be taken in a special train from one end of Canada to the other. No better field for geological research in the world can be found than British North America, where, so far, very little effectual work has been completed when the enormous extent of territory is taken into consideration. It was a piece of good fortune to gain an introduc- tion to Mrs. Amelia Paget, whose husband is in the Department of Indian affairs, and whose sympathies with the Indians are the result of a life-long acquaint- ance with them. This lady first saw the light of day a few miles south of the Arctic circle at the Fort of Good Hope, one of the Hudson Bay Company's trading stations in the North-West Territory, close to the Mackenzie River. Moreover she had, as a young girl, the unique experience of having been with her family captured and carried 300 miles north of Fort Pitt by hostile Indians during the second Riel rebel- lion in 1885. Although the latter had burnt and looted the LIFE IN THE WILD NORTH-WEST 121 settlement at Fort Pitt, the official and his family were not ill treated. Friendly Crees had been with the marauding party, and had procured a horse for their mother, although the younger captives trudged along wet and barefoot. She remarked : " It was wonderful we never caught cold, for we used to lie on the ground at night, with our clothes and hair soaking wet." Their release came about eventually, through the intervention of friendly Indians. This lady's maternal family had for five generations held positions in the Hudson Bay Company. " They used to send the girls to school at Bed Eiver, where there was an Englishwoman, a Miss Davis, who kept a school and educated them splendidly/' Mrs. Paget explained, when speaking of the Company's officials, who were often members, or descendants of good Scotch families. What life could have been in the wild North- West in those days fascinated me to think. I was curious as to their mode of existence, so I asked ' ' What did you wear in those isolated places when you were a girl ? " " Wear ! " she exclaimed ; " why the very best serge and linen that money could buy. It all came through the Company. They never brought shoddy things as the ordinary traders. If they had, I don't believe they would ever have kept their trade with the Indians." " And the Indian knew a good thing when he bought it ? " I asked. !t They learnt long ago that they were well paid for the furs they bartered for commodities. The Hudson 122 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Bay blankets were made in England especially for the Company. I wish I had some of them now. They were thick and good and never wore out very different from what you get in the stores nowadays. They were catalogued as to size, so that the Indians knew exactly the article they wanted," explained she. Mrs. Paget has written a valuable work entitled The People of the Plains, in which she describes sym- pathetically and graphically the life and customs, with their religious beliefs, of the Crees and Saulteaux, her life-long friends, to whom she is devoted ; their gentle and dignified manners are to her their striking characteristic. " I have heard of savage, revengeful cruelties, but I have never seen that side of Indian nature, and speak as I find ! " she had observed with some warmth when that topic was uppermost. Last year, in company with a friend, she spent several weeks camping out and driving over 1,800 miles across the prairies, visiting the different reserva- tions, where she is well known and where the Indians hailed her approach with feelings of genuine welcome. Here she read to various chiefs portions of her book, wherein she describes ceremonials, or folk-lore, asking them if she had given accurate descriptions. The four tribes inhabiting Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the Crees, the Saulteaux (formerly the Ojibways, but so named by the French who found them at Sault Ste Marie), the Assiniboines, and the Sioux. An interesting interview, although a short one, was |hat with the Eight Hon. B. L. Borden. It was a day or two before the assembling of Parliament, otherwise THE RIGHT HON. R. L. BORDEN 123 access to the cabinet of the Prime Minister of the Dominion would have been impossible; as it was, some perseverance and waiting were necessary on my part before I was admitted to his private sanctum. The official suite of the Premier is on the second floor of a departmental building overlooking the big quadrangle. Mr. Borden received me with the utmost courtesy, cordially shaking hands, after which I explained the reason of my visit and the task upon which I was engaged. The room was by no means sumptuously furnished, but it looked fitted to the use which it served. A large writing-table occupied the centre of the apartment covered with papers of all kinds and writing material. As I explained that an ex- pression of his views on one or two prominent matters, much discussed in Great Britain, would be received with great interest, he foraged amongst sundry printed matter lying in front of him. '' The subjects you speak of are distinctly interest- ing, but I should scarcely like to pronounce an opinion without some forethought ; but," he went on slowly and thoughtfully, " here are some of my speeches during the election campaign in the west, which will I think afford you the required information and give you a correct idea of my views, generally." I thanked him, saying how fully aware I was that official utterances were hedged by circumstance. " Are you staying long in Ottawa ? " was his next question, to which I replied " Long enough to get some idea of the place and its people." In the course of a few remarks I gathered that the 124 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER new Premier had made no lengthy stay in London for several years. But, in describing briefly the intellectual activities of women in Britain to-day, with special reference to the group of writers and others who have the right of entry to the Lyceum Club, I hoped that when next in the Empire's metro- polis he would afford its members the privilege of hearing him speak on Canadian affairs. " It is good of you to have admitted me," I said as I rose from my chair, " for you must be excessively busy just before Parliament meets." " There is a great deal of work on hand at present," he said, opening the door. " Indeed there must be," I replied. " Canada is making history every day." * You are quite right," he observed, as if the idea had not struck him before ; " that's just what we are doing, making history as fast as we can. In a new country such as this it is impossible that it should be otherwise." The Premier impressed me very favourably as a man of quiet manners and of deep thought. His grey-blue eyes under thick bushy brows have a pleasant human expression in them, while the set of the countenance, at times live and alert, is more of the tranquil, contemplative type. Of ordinary stature, he looks about forty. Perhaps the most important measure to which the Liberal-Conservative Party is pledged, is the cleans- ing of the Augean stables of departmental expendi- ture. Scandal upon scandal was unearthed in the closing weeks of the recent session, and " not a tenth has yet been told ! " In the Premier's manifesto, if PUBLIC EXPENDITURE 125 returned to power, he engages that a thorough re- organisation of the method by which the public expenditure is supervised shall be made. The increase in what is known as ordinary controllable expenditure, from $21,500,000 in 1896 to near $74,000,000 in 1911, is proof, he considers, of an extravagance beyond possible defence; whilst to the man in the street these figures announce that " graft " has been hard at work during the Laurier Administration. A day or two after this interview I attended the opening session of Parliament. When I found my way to the strangers' gallery the thinly attended House had been sitting for about an hour. A member of the Opposition was endeavouring to arouse interest in that somewhat unprofitable Government under- taking, the Intercolonial Kailway. Little pages in black suits and white ties sat upon the steps of the Speaker's chair, alert to catch a nod from a member who wanted a book from the library, a notice sent to the Press gallery, or possibly a letter posted. I immediately espied the Ex-Premier looking debonair and astute. Opposite him, across the table, in front of the Speaker, sat the leader of the Con- servatives, who during the lengthy speech previously alluded to, of a Mr. Emmerson, which although accompanied by an unction and fervour of diction which should have carried conviction with it, was from my view-point, and evidently from that of others, absolutely uninteresting, took the opportunity to make the tour of his side of the House to shake hands with and to talk to members present. Once he dis- appeared, to return with two gentlemen who marched 126 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER up to the table before the Speaker's chair. The central figure was the new member for the Yukon, Dr. Thompson, who was formally-introduced to the House by Mr. Borden. " Let him take his seat," cried the Speaker, whereat those present welcomed the new aspirant to political honour by a clapping of hands. With the thermometer registering 28 below zero the opportunity for sight-seeing in my case was limited, but visits to the Mint and the Archives are certainly interesting; so also is the Anglican cathedral, where a really learned divine, in the person of Canon Kitson, is worth hearing. One morning, however, regardless of deep snow and a driving wind, with the temperature somewhere about 25 below zero, I took the street car to the offices of Mr. J. R. Booth, Canada's far-famed lumber king. The offices, pulp-mills, and paper factory are built on islands close to the Chaudiere Falls, where the water power drives the machinery in one part only, of the factory. Mr. Bastido, who had kindly offered to show me over, took me at once into a huge build- ing, where I saw spruce logs cut into lengths entering through an aperture in the wall, where they were immediately seized by the machinery, stripped of their outer bark to be cut, ground, and crushed by divers methods ; then mixed with water until a suffi- cient consistency is reached, when the pulp is welded into sheets between heavy rollers. Then I entered a second building, where the pulp undergoes the sul- phite process, being cooked in huge " digesters " with an acid, the product of sulphur fumes operating THE LUMBER KING 127 on lime, which gives a greater strength and cohesive- ness to the pulp. In the third building this mixture, whitened by an ordinary blueing process familiar to washerwomen, in the proportion of 25 per cent, of sulphite pulp to 75 per cent, of that crushed in the ordinary manner, looking exactly like milk, was run over large sheets to pass through a series of rollers which dry and press at the same time, appear- ing finally in huge rolls of white paper ready for the printer's ink. Over 120 tons were turned out daily. On entering the Booth offices I had seen an enormous freight train loaded with logs of all descriptions pass slowly round to their yards. This was, so I was informed, the daily supply from the forests to feed the mills. The owner of these works is another of Canada's grand old men. Mr. J. E. Booth, whose keen business reputation is only exceeded by his philan- thropic temperament, does not even know the extent of his multi-millionairism. He is frequently seen in the streets of Ottawa. Said a lady, in describing him and his good-heartedness in sym- pathetic terms : " If you saw him you wouldn't think he was worth three cents." The moral of her remark being that in Canada the rule holds good Appearances are at times deceptive ! Interested in this self-made octogenarian, I asked my companion if the mills were the source of all his wealth. " Oh, no," was the reply. " He owns enormous forest limits in various parts, possibly together amounting to 10,000 square miles. Over 2,000 men are employed in the forests getting out the logs. We 128 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER are very glad to see the snow; it's just what our people have been waiting for." " I suppose the recent rise in the value of land accounts for a good deal," I remarked, thinking of Mr. Booth's enormous wealth. "Exactly!" answered Mr. Bastido. "In 1867 Mr. Booth bought a timber limit for $50,000 which is now worth $2,000,000. There is one thing which characterises all he has ever put his hand to. He will have the best of machinery, no matter its cost- liness, and he will sell only the very best paper. Don't you know he built a railroad from Ottawa to Parry Sound ? " " No," I said, open-mouthed with amazement. " I never knew one man tackle any raikoad alone." " Well, he did. The Grand Trunk bought it off him, and his engines were so good the Company immediately used them for hauling their heaviest freight trains ! " No wonder the people of Ottawa like to tell you of J. E. Booth. I sorrowed to leave the Federal Capital without meeting Colonel Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia, one of the most popular men in the Dominion, to whom I had a letter of introduction. The Boy Scouts and the 4,000 regulars of the Canadian standing army are absolutely outside this department, the object of which is to train citizen soldiers and to build up local militia, the idea being that it is all important to form an efficient army of marksmen as well as good riders. There are some sixty thousand enrolled in the Militia at present ; the headquarters at Ottawa represent the school of AN AFTER-DINNER SPEECH 129 instruction for the movement. Cadet corps in urban and rural districts are already doing splendid work, and the summer camps, during which time military discipline is maintained, are looked forward to by college lads who have joined the Militia. In a recent after-dinner speech, the Minister pointed out that in the history of British warfare many of those serving in the Crimean and Napoleonic wars were mere lads, adding : " There are no better fighting men than young men after they have seen service. There is more money spent to-day," he continued, " on police constables, magistrates, courts, and prisons, than there is on the Militia. The city of Ottawa spends more money in forcing the people to live morally than is spent on the local militia force. The ranks of crime are not recruited from the boys who wear the uniform from the soldiers. From the moral view-point I am strongly in favour of doing away with the police and training the boys of the country in obedience and discipline." CHAPTEB XIII Ontario's first settlers Newark described Heroic incident Town- ships Scotch pioneers The Ottawa Valley Legislative dead- looks. 'TMIE city of Toronto, stretching ten miles on -* the northern bank of Lake Ontario, was, in pre-colonial days, the rendezvous of aboriginal tribes for council, or for war. The word Toronto means in Indian " a meeting-place." It was first occupied by the French, who built a fort here in 1749, called Fort Rouille. Soon after, British traders came up from the south, and in the wars between the English and French it was burnt by the latter to prevent it affording shelter to their enemies in 1759. With the subsequent history of Ontario and in its early settlement by the United Empire Loyalists many a romantic and stirring story is closely inter- woven. In an interesting paper entitled " The Peopling of the Province," by C. C. James, M.A., Deputy Minister of Agriculture, read in 1899 before the Historical Society of Ontario, the various ethnic elements to be found in the people of this province are described, and no better authority can be cited to explain the racial make-up of its present popu- lation of 2,687,641. In the records of the above- named society many names preceded by Van, occur, 130 such as Van Cleef, Van Skiven. Their owners, who came in 1783 from the State of New York, where lived many descendants of the first colonists of Dutch nationality, assisted in laying the foundations of Upper Canada. There were also Germans among the first settlers, probably descendants of disbanded Hessians from the Palatinate, which in the reign of Queen Anne had been for years the constant scene of devastating warfare between the French and Germans, who had accepted gladly the invitation of Mohawk chiefs to settle in New York State in 1710. Ontario in reality owes its Protestant settlement to the Loyalists, who prior to the Declaration of Inde- pendence in 1785 had settled about Niagara, on the Lake, among whom were descendants of Puritans and Pilgrim Fathers ; for these in succeeding genera- tions had gradually sought homes on the western frontier of the settlements in New England. Among them were Quakers as well, who had been persecuted for refusing to fight against the Mother Country. These were joined afterwards by refugees, who, sailing down the St. Lawrence, landed on June 16, 1784, at Adolphus Town. After due survey they had selected the Bay of Quinte as their future home. In 1812 the population of the province had grown to 75,000. From 1825 to 1850, streams of people poured into Upper Canada. This inrush was due to the failure of crops in the British Isles, an outbreak of cholera, and much social unrest, together with the free grant land policy of the Canadian Government. In 1824 the population was 137,000; by the year 1851 it had leapt to 951,000. 132 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER It was at the little town of Niagara, then known as Newark, where the river flows into the lake, that the first Government was established ; afterwards York (the present Toronto) was chosen as the capital of the new province. A writer thus describes the little town of Newark, which in 1795 contained about seventy houses. '' There were several very excellent dwellings, inhabited by the principal officers of Government. Most of the gentlemen in official stations in Upper Canada are Englishmen of education, a circumstance which must render the society of the capital agreeable, let it be fixed where it will." In the short war which broke out in 1812 between Great Britain and America, an heroic incident occurred near Newark, showing how a woman's heroism more than saved the situation. A militia- man lay wounded in the United States camp, at Queenston Heights, where his wife, Laura Secord, obtained permission to visit him. One day the English prisoner overheard a plan to surprise a small party of British troops with Indian allies. Laura left the camp at 3 a.m. with her pail, as if she were going to get milk for her wounded husband. Out of sight she threw it from her and found her way through the forest for a distance of twenty miles to the British position, where she warned the com- mander against the impending attack. When the American troops, 700 strong, arrived, they were them- selves surprised. The British, appearing first on one side in their uniform and then on another side with their coats turned inside out, whilst Indians glided from tree to tree, whooping terribly everywhere, made A SUCCESSFUL RUSE 133 them think that they were surrounded by a large body of troops. The ruse succeeded splendidly, for the British officer sent word that as he should not care to see them all scalped, he thought they had best surrender. They took his advice, and 542 gave themselves up to a force of less than half that number. The system of municipal government established after the memorable landing at Adolphus Town, 1784, is interesting. As the first settlers of Ontario hailed from New York State, they naturally brought with them ideas of self-government. The first Legislature sat in 1792. The year following, an Act to provide for the nomination and appointment of parish and town officers within the province affords insight as to how far they had proceeded. This Act heralded an era of Town Meetings and Quarter Sessions until, in 1841, Upper and Lower Canada were united under the name of the Province of Canada, and a District Councils Act continued until 1849, when a Bill was passed which gave to the province municipal govern- ment in the present form, excepting that in 1896 a County Council Act was passed. Townships are the basis of all organisation. At first these were scattered settlements, gradually con- nected, for the most part, by military roads. As population increased, new townships were surveyed adjacent to these roads, varying in size from 28,000 acres to 87,000 acres. Of late years the regulation size of a township all over the North- West is six miles square, its boundaries running exactly north, south, east, and west. 134, FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Occasionally, a crowding together of residents in a township occurs ; these desire a name and recogni- tion. The ratepayers, of whom at least a half must be resident freeholders, present a petition to the Council of the township, which sets apart this section as an unincorporated village, the latter being subject to the provincial laws regulating townships. When the Census returns show that 750 inhabitants occupy 500 acres, a petition of 100 resident freeholders and householders may request the township's Council to have the village incorporated. When the population of such an incorporated village numbers 2,000 it may become a town ; when the latter can boast of 15,000 souls it may become a city. The system of making these changes is statutory. The Council makes an application, and a notice to this effect is publicly advertised for three months, after which the petition is made to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, and in due course the name and extent of the municipality are proclaimed. To return to the earlier days of this province it is not too much to say that her Scottish pioneers did much to build up the new country. Early religious conditions are illustrative of the characters of the first Evangelists, who, like the Jesuit missionaries of a century previous, traversed scattered settlements, afoot, or on horseback, in dug-out, or in birch-bark canoes, to pursue their sacred calling wherever their countrymen needed them. Sometimes a rough build- ing in a leafy secluded spot was the assembling place of hardy descendants of old Covenanters. Describing one of these primitive places of worship the Rev. Norman McLeod wrote in 1845 : " The psalm THE OTTAWA VALLEY 135 is given out, and you feel a thrill as each joins his homely voice to the plaintive measure. You preach, you rebuke, you exhort, you admonish, you comfort, and then quickly comes the hour that you must part. The thought strikes you that the church door will not be opened again for many a Sabbath ; that the autumn leaves may fall and rustle at its threshold, but no passing foot will clear them away. When you see that, oh, it is then that you know what a vacancy is ! " The Presbyterians in Scotland were trying at this time to meet the demand for preachers. There is no more romantic or historic spot in Old Ontario than in the Ottawa Valley, where the fur traders and the voyageurs pushed back the Indians, and to-day the great lone Northland is as yet but half explored. In the old Huron country there are still to be seen the sites of French forts, Jesuit mis- sions, and Indian villages, proving that French Canada does not monopolise the sphere of early romance, for here were the fighting grounds of those fierce red men of the woods, the Hurons and the Iroquois. Here, too, heroic martyrs rendered up their souls to God, and French explorers blazed their trails as they penetrated westwards. It was in the year 1841, when the suggestions put forth in a former Governor's report were embodied in the Union Act, which in uniting Ontario with Quebec, gave to both equal representation. The latter province at that date numbered 600,000 souls, Ontario 500,000. For years following, a series of deadlocks occurred in the Colonial Legislature. If a railway was to be built, or any form of expenditure 136 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER incurred, the question was, invariably, which province was to bear the cost ? At length, weary of these conflicting occurrences, Sir John Macdonald perceived that the only way of salvation for Canada lay in Confederation. The Act to that effect was passed in 1867. CHAPTEE XIV A high standard Ontario's cities The source of wealth Labour- saving implements Mr. James on natural resources Agri- cultural shows Immigration outruns accommodation. ~V17"ITH the foregoing historical sketch in one's mind, if space permitted, it would be an interesting study to inquire into the way in which the cities of Ontario have attained their present importance. A people whose ancestors were not only aflame with loyalty, but accustomed to hardship and fearless of danger, were capable of turning any wilderness into a garden of roses if such lay within the range of human achievement. From educational, sociological, and philanthropic standpoints, the inhab- itants of Old Ontario, active, serious, and intelligent, descendants chiefly of United Empire Loyalist stock, are doing great things. They are upholding to-day, with no feeble grasp, the high standard of Anglo- Saxon civilisation in Canada. A glance at the great and flourishing cities of this central province of the Dominion testifies to the quality of the class of Empire-builders within its borders. Toronto, so far as trade and population are con- cerned second only to Montreal, in matters of greater moment, to my way of thinking, takes an easy first. Ottawa, with 100,000 inhabitants, is the chosen seat of the Federal Government, probably the most 137 188 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER beautiful in situation of any in Canada. Hamilton, near the fruit gardens of the province, is a thriving industrial emporium, with a population of 60,000. London, with 49,000, ranks fourth on the list. Brant- ford, Kingston, Windsor, Guelph, and Berlin are all too important to be omitted. If the visitor is really curious as to the causes which in less than 150 years have changed former Indian hunting grounds into great cities, a cursory study of local conditions will show that the land and its scientific treatment is the source of an opulence evidenced by things seen. Such an inquirer should take any opportunity which may occur to visit agricultural shows before passing on to pastures new, or retracing his steps homewards. Every December cattle shows are held at Guelph. As early as 1625, dairy cattle were imported from Great Britain to the lower St. Lawrence. Lord Dalhousie, in 1821, imported Ayrshires, his example being followed by Governors, merchants, and farmers. It was esti- mated some years since, that there were in the Dominion over 50,000 pure-bred Ayrshire cattle and considerably over 300,000 Ayrshire grades, the best dairy cows in Canada. Until about fifty years ago, agricultural methods were, in Ontario, as primitive as in other lands, but the conservatism of the past has disappeared, and the work on the modern farm has been revolu- tionised by the advent of labour-saving machinery in all departments, with the result that a reduction of farm hands to work a given area has thus been introduced. Whereas, formerly, the sickle was in use, the harvester now cuts and binds the heaviest LABOUR-SAVING MACHINERY 139 crop. Where the grain was threshed with a flail, the machine nowadays travels from farm to farm, threshes and cleans the grain as fast as two men can fork the sheaves into it. Haying, too, is per- formed by labour-saving contrivances. Ploughs, harrows, and cultivators are to be seen on which the farmer sits while driving. The steel frame wind-mill is often used for pumping water and for cutting food for stock. In the dairy the modern cream separator obviates the necessity of setting the milk in vessels and subsequent skimming. The important step of opening an Agricultural College at Guelph, in 1874, was followed by a Report of a Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1881 ; the outcome of this was the foundation of a new department dealing with nine branches, namely, (1) The Ontario Agricultural College, (2) The Ontario Veterinary College, (3) Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, (4) Live Stock Branch, (5) Farmers' and Women's Institutes Branches, (6) Dairy, (7) Fruit, (8) Colonisation, (9) Statistics and Publications. In an address on the work of this department, on January 17, 1911, Mr. James declared that the question before them was how best to conserve labour. Millions of acres required draining, hence the campaign for wider drainage. They had millions of fruit trees, but only a few thou- sand well cared for and productive. He urged the intelligent use of labour, for in Ontario land was cheap, but labour was dear, the reverse of European condi- tions. ' We have never advertised, or boomed our fruit, or our farm lands," the Deputy Minister of Agriculture 140 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER remarked to me. " But for years we have been grow- ing better fruit than British Columbia can furnish ; only, as I say, we never thought of talking about it. We have a climate in the extreme south of Ontario so mild," he added, " that peaches, grapes, melons, and tomatoes flourish and ripen far better than any- where in the British Isles." My reply was to the effect that the Dominion was so huge that it possessed a variety of climates. " Then," continued he, " look at our proximity to markets. The perishable fruits don't have long to travel to reach the consumer. Things are different in British Columbia. We have got everything fruit, farms, mines, lumber, water-power, and the best sport in the world." When I first visited Toronto I had an opportunity of seeing the horticultural products of this rich pro- vince at the Canadian National Exhibition, where the handsome buildings are permanent, and only used for this annual show. The Coldstream Guards were playing, and the grounds thronged with well- dressed, respectable-looking people of the farming classes. Side-shows of all descriptions and stalls with candies and other attractions for the youthful were well patronised. On a roof-garden looking over the lake one saw the distant smoke of the incoming Niagara boat. During the Exhibition week as many as 150,000 entries showed the interest taken in agricultural shows. The chief attraction, apparently, was an exact re- production of the Coronation pageant, the Canadian National Exhibition having had experts posted at intervals in order that no detail should be overlooked. AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY 141 The dresses and uniforms had all been purchased in London for this special occasion. Among the exhibits Ontario cheeses, made under the co-operative system, looked specially inviting. I was told that there are over a thousand factories. Perhaps the grapes and plums came next in one's estimation, but amongst such a plethora of good things it would be difficult to say which product was the choicest of its kind. There was only one impression that could be left upon the mind of the visitor, the word prosperity conveys it. The December cattle show at Guelph already men- tioned is a famous annual institution, and last year (1911) crowds testified to their appreciation of an opportunity afforded, not only to inspect fat Christmas stock, but to listen to a series of lectures given by experts, especially one upon the many ways in which electricity can be applied on a farm, and the saving which will follow co-operative use of farm machinery. However brief this notice of the important part played by agriculture and horticulture in Ontario, we cannot take leave of the farmer without dis- covering if he is affected by Canadian immigration, for labour is wanted badly on the farms. Unfor- tunately, it seems that emigrants good for that purpose are deflected from this province by the greater attraction of the prairie wheat-fields. Although Toronto is an English city, and in no way resembles Winnipeg, where it is the exception to overhear the English language on the street, and although British people do filter in by devious paths, a large foreign element has, as in the case of 142 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER Montreal, been added within the last few years, con- sisting mostly of Russians, Jews, and Italians, who tend to segregate themselves in special areas, as is their custom on the American continent. Toronto, with other towns, is also suffering from the cityward drift of population, and perhaps nowhere in the Dominion is an adequate Tenement Act more needed. Indeed, the question of rents, which are enormous, is by no means confined to the poorer classes : it is heard on every side, in every town one enters. In Toronto, especially, houses are excep- tionally highly rented. A lady from the States, whose husband had recently accepted a post in that city, complained that she could find nothing suitable for her small family of four under $50 dollars a month, that is, having a furnace, without which life in Canada is better described than experienced. On one occasion I talked to the middle-aged waitress at a tea-room who attended to my wants. She had come to Toronto from St. John, N.B., where her husband had failed in business. The tiniest house and the least expensive she could find was $20 a month. I wonder what our artisans would say if they could find no house to live in under 50 a year ! It would be well for intending emigrants to realise that higher wages in Canada have to meet greater expenditure on the necessities of life. It was in a well-known block of offices off Yonge Street, the narrow but chief thoroughfare of Toronto, where banks with classic fa9ades look incongruous beside shop buildings of the most commonplace order one wondered how many of the passers-by could distinguish between Corinthian and Perpendicular IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS 143 types of architecture where experts may be con- sulted on subjects ranging from mining to morals, that the changing nature of Toronto crowds was emphasized in my hearing. Fifteen years ago, it seems, the type was different. " The last few years have introduced so many ele- ments that we have here in Toronto, problems not only made by our own increasing population, but by immigrants of an inferior order," was the obser- vation of a Canadian-born and well-known citizen of Toronto, who in the early days of the rush to the Yukon went thither as medical missionary, to run a much-needed hospital and to minister to the spiritual needs of his co-religionists. No more interesting talker than this gentleman did I find in Canada ; but, so far as the Yukon being the only place " clean mad for the muck called gold," the dollar-fever in various stages of develop- ment is to be found all over. Foreign ethnic elements coming into a country bring with them the dangers of insanity, ignorance, and crime, and there is a real danger in the fact that incomers receive a vote before they are properly educated to use it. It is interesting to learn from students of immigration problems that the first native-born generation after the emigrants have settled in a country contains the largest percentage of crime. The young people grow up to consid* themselves far ahead of their parents, who conse- quently cannot control them. Some of them con- sider that immigration does not increase the popu- lation, but merely displaces the original stock. The fact is, that new races come in and perform the 144 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER manual labour, whilst the old stock rises in the social scale. As families adopt a superior standard of living the birth-rate tends to fall. It is generally considered that one must look for the highest birth- rate from the classes nearest the soil, and it is therefore not unreasonable to suppose that immigra- tion will lead ultimately to the displacement of the people of a country. In years to come nobody can imagine that Canadian characteristics will remain unaltered. It is for those interested in philanthropy and sociology to see that whatever changes arise the result may be an improvement, instead of the reverse. In this volume I have, in later pages, frequently emphasized the fact that suitable accommodation is not adequate to the needs of the wage-earning women in Canada, let them be emigrants, or native born. In proof I offer the following personal inci- dent. It came to my ears that a great firm in Toronto, who have the reputation of paying their employees fair wages according to their skilled or unskilled labour, advertised for 1,000 machinists. I inter- viewed a member of this firm to inquire if they proposed to ofier accommodation for this influx of industrial workers. No ! they certainly were not prepared to do so, was the reply I received. There was " plenty of accommodation in Toronto," I was informed. On this point I demurred, but was requested to assure myself of the fact by visiting the Y.W.C.A. and the Frances Willard Home, which latter has a building to accommodate about sixty in course of erection. Whereupon, I promptly interviewed officials belonging to these institutions, and received the same THE HOUSING PROBLEM 145 uncompromising reply from both to the effect, that at present the housing problem was a clamant one. They were unable at present to meet with the needs of women employees, and to deal with such a large number of women as advertised for would be com- pletely beyond the powers of either of these insti- tutions. In recording this incident my point is this, to warn British women and girls who are wage-earners, that although conditions are far from ideal in England, let them be quite certain that they are not going from bad to worse by emigrating to Canada, where as strangers in a strange land they will find rent, food, and clothes cost more than in Great Britain. Four to five dollars a week, which is a frequent wage, does not go very far I can assure them in any part of the Dominion. ^- 10 CHAPTEB XV Mrs. Huestis on reforms Ne Temere Temperance The Editor of the Qldbe Mormonism Mrs. Murphy's reply. TOURING my stay at Toronto in November and *-^ December of 1911, the Local Council of the Women of Toronto (subject to the Canadian National Council of Women of which the Duchess of Connaught is Honorary President) prepared a list of certain reforms which they considered necessary for the public welfare, and submitted them to the members of the newly elected Provincial Legislature for their consideration. Its capable and broad-minded president, Mrs. Huestis, is a charming lady, whose beautifully appointed house, with its aspect of refined comfort, its wealth of flowers, and all that contributes to make a home inviting-looking, was in itself direct contradiction to those archaic females whose creed is, that if a woman enters the arena of public life she thereby neglects her proper sphere, which according to their narrowed percep- tions is the home, and the home only. I asked the lady to explain to me some of the reforms for which their Council was agitating. " The importance of our Local Council," said she, " consists in the fact that it is speaking for about forty women's societies, having a combined 146 ON SOCIAL REFORM 147 membership of five thousand women; so you see we represent the best portion of our sex in this city." " These societies are, if I understand rightly, the various clubs you have here, such as the Business Women's Club, the Musical Club ? " I mentioned several of the numerous women's associated interests which I had heard of. ' We have delegates from those bodies at our local councils ; and then there are women's institutes in the different counties which put us in touch with the farmers' wives, who also have a network of clubs throughout the province. Yes, we have quite a number of measures on our platform con- cerning women and the care of children ; but what we cannot get our legislators to understand is the necessity of dealing with the feeble-minded now \ " " I suppose that your Government is so busy in developing lands and projecting railroads that social measures come last on their programme," I remarked. " Our men are busy all the time," she replied. This is exactly what meets the eye. Every man in Canada seems working at express speed, as if everything that can be accomplished is to be done in his lifetime. * What we particularly want in Toronto are separate trials for women, where the public shall be excluded; then, in the case of criminal assaults, examinations should be made by women doctors, or, at least, in the presence of a matron, or woman official. Then we want police women to deal with disorderly houses and disreputable characters of our 148 FROM HALIFAX TO VANCOUVER own sex, and to be present during trials when women are prosecuted." " Have you got juvenile courts to deal with con- victed children ? " I asked. "