A Letter from Major Robert Carmichael-Smyth to His Friend, the Author of 'The Clockmaker' Part 3

"Our exports have increased in value since 1824 from 38 millions to 68 millions."

(14) "It will be found by the Parliamentary Tables, which all can consult, that the amount of money raised in those eighteen years was nearly 1500 millions. The total revenue raised in those years was more than 981 millions; and the total of the money borrowed was more than 470 millions; making, in all, 1451 millions. And it is worth while to note, that, in one of those years, namely, in 1813, the sum of more than 150 millions was raised in revenue and loan, of which nearly 82 millions was loan for the national use; and this in a single year; and that year 1813, in the midst of a dreadful war, and thirty-five years ago;--since when the country has grown much richer."

"Now, dividing the sum of 1451 millions by eighteen years, it appears that 80 millions a year was raised; and, taking the legitimate expenditure of the country, during those eighteen years, at an average of 45 millions a-year, a sum so high as to preclude all cavil, it appears that the country raised and expended eighteen times the difference between 45 and 80 millions, that is 630 millions; notwithstanding which expenditure, let it be observed, the country _got richer and richer_ every day."--_Bradshaw's Almanack, 1848._

(15) "Our economical friends need not be alarmed;--we are not going to propose a large addition to the military force of the empire."--(_Times._) No:--but before it is reduced and its system interfered with by those who understand not its working, we would strongly recommend the perusal, first of the evidence of Sir Herbert Taylor before the Finance Committee on this subject, and then that of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and we would ask the intelligent public of Great Britain to reflect well before it allows her present army to be trifled with. We firmly believe our army to be in as high a state of discipline, and as ready "to go any where and do any thing," as it was at the moment his Grace gave up in France the active command of it.

As to our Navy,--let those advocates for reduction go as my friend Captain B----r wished they would,--to the top of the monument, and look around at the forest of masts they will see of vessels coming from and going to all parts of the world; then reflect for a moment on the power required to defend all their interests; and (if they dare), [see Note (63)] then come down and ask for reduction.

We strongly recommend the perusal of the letter of Emeritus on this subject in the _Times_ of the 5th February.

(16) "This vast power has penetrated the crust of the earth, and drawn from beneath it boundless treasures of mineral wealth which without its aid would have been rendered inaccessible. It has drawn up in numberless quant.i.ty the fuel on which its own life and activity depend."--_Dr.

Lardner._

(17) "It seems a provision of Providence to have formed different races to bring about, by their crossing, an improved state of things. The Teutonic variety is undoubtedly the most vigorous and able, both in body and mind, of all the species of the genus of man that exist, and seems destined to conquer and civilize the world. The Teutonic variety, in its different sub-varieties, agree best with a temperate climate; it is, however, capable of bearing a high degree of cold, but seems to prosper best northward of 45 of northern lat.i.tude.

"Teutonic prevailing in Great Britain and part of Ireland, 22,000,000."--_Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena._--_Alex. Keith Johnson._

And it is very curious to observe, that, in the new world, the first colony of Great Britain we reach after crossing the Atlantic is called Nova Scotia; and the last land we should leave after crossing the continent would be New Caledonia; and both in Nova Scotia and New Caledonia (Vancouver's Island) nature seems to have placed great deposits of coal, as if she there intended the industry of man and the advancement of science to overcome all natural barriers between the different nations of the earth.

(18) "A pint of water may be evaporated by two ounces of coal. In its evaporation it swells into 216 gallons of steam, with a mechanical force sufficient to raise a weight of thirty-seven tons a foot high. The steam thus generated has a pressure equal to the common atmospheric air; and by allowing it to expand by virtue of its elasticity, a further mechanical force may be obtained at least equal in amount to the former.

A pint of water, therefore, and two ounces of common coal, are thus rendered capable of doing as much work as is equivalent to seventy-four tons raised a foot high."

"The Menai Bridge consists of about 2000 tons of iron, and its height above the level of the sea is 120 feet; its ma.s.s might be lifted from the level of the water to its present position by the combustion of four bushels of coal."--_Dr. Lardner._

(19) "In addition to the instances of combination between directly competing companies, recent experience has furnished numerous instances of the tendency of smaller lines, sanctioned as independent undertakings, to resign their independence into the hands of more powerful neighbours."--_Report of Board of Trade._ It is not to be doubted, therefore, that all proposed or partly finished Railways in the North American provinces will readily join in the grand undertaking, making one great interest for the whole.

"The traffic of a system of lines, connected with one another, can always be worked more economically and conveniently under one uniform management than by independent Companies. The Company which works the main trunk line, and possesses the princ.i.p.al terminal stations, can run more frequent trains, and make better arrangements for forwarding the traffic of the cross lines, than it could afford to do if two or three separate establishments had to be maintained, and the harmony of arrangements depended upon two or three independent authorities.

"It is found also in practice, that unless a very close unity of interest exists among the different portions of what really const.i.tute one great line of communication, it is scarcely possible to introduce that harmony and accuracy of arrangement which are essential to ensure speed and punctuality. Many important branches of traffic also are apt to be neglected, which can only be properly developed where a long consecutive line of Railway is united in one common interest. Coals and heavy goods, for instance, can be conveyed for long distances with a profit, at rates which would be altogether insufficient to remunerate a Company which had only a run of ten or twenty miles: and thus many of the most important benefits of Railways to the community at large can only be obtained by uniting through-lines in one interest."--_Report of Board of Trade on Railways. Sess. 1845._

(20) "The two most expensive commodities in England are crime and poverty; of these the most costly is poverty; and the extent of poverty, by its sufferings, vastly increases the amount of crime. You have heard the expenses of poverty. The cost of crime in England and her penal establishments exceeds a million and a half."--_Speech of Francis Scott, Esq. M.P._

(21) "The circ.u.mstance which must first strike any person as extraordinary, in regard to the expatriation of criminals from this country, is the choice of the station to which they have been sent. That a country which, like England, is possessed of an almost boundless tract of unsettled fertile land within four weeks' sail of her own sh.o.r.es, should, in preference, send her criminals to a territory which cannot be reached in less than as many months, thus multiplying the expense of their conveyance, is a course which requires for its justification some better reasons than have ever yet been brought forward."--_A. R. Porter, Esq., Progress of the Nation._ This system has, we believe, come to a close, and Gibraltar and other places fixed upon; (some in Great Britain); but her convicts ought not to be employed at home if it can be avoided, as they of course perform the work that would be performed by the labourers of the country, many of whom are thus thrown out of work.

Since the year 1824, a considerable establishment of convicts has been kept up in Bermuda, employed in constructing a breakwater and in perfecting some fortifications at Ireland's Eye. The number at present (1836) so maintained is about 1000.

(22) And why should not English convicts be sent to work in the Rocky Mountains? We all know that the highest peak of Great St. Bernard is 11,005 feet above the level of the sea, and is covered with perpetual snow. Between the two main summits runs one of the princ.i.p.al pa.s.sages from Switzerland to Italy, _which continues open all winter_. On the most elevated point of this pa.s.sage is a monastery and hospital, founded in the tenth century by Bernard de Monthon. The French army, under Bonaparte, crossed this mountain with its artillery and baggage in the year 1800; and here Bonaparte caused a monument to be erected to the memory of General Desaix, who fell in the battle of Marengo. If, then, a monastery and hospital have been established since the tenth century, and are still to be found in the old world at such an elevation, and in such a climate, what objection can there be to the establishment of a convict post, under similar circ.u.mstances, to open an important road in the new world? We have seen that Sir George Simpson crossed the Rocky Mountains at a height of 8000 feet, but lower pa.s.ses may yet be found.

At all events our soldiers are exposed to every diversity of climate and every hardship; and we see no reason why healthy and powerful criminals should be more cared for. It was also suggested in 1836--"The gangs might be moved to other and more distant spots, and employed in similar works of utility, and in this way would relieve emigrants from many of the hardships and difficulties which they are now doomed to encounter at the commencement of their settlement."--_A. R. Porter, Esq._

(23) "It would indeed be a heart-sickening prospect if, in looking forward to the continued progress of our country, in its economical relations, we must also contemplate the still greater multiplication of her 'criminals'. Still we fear that, for a long time at least, we shall have of them a large proportion, and that arrangements must be made for their employment. What we have already stated prove that there is no decrease as yet."

One of our periodicals observes--"We have no hope that a cla.s.s of criminals will ever cease to exist in this country, and it will always therefore be a question, what is to be done with them?.... There are certain conditions directly _essential_ to every successful effort for the repression of crime; the legislature should see that the penal code, while as merciful as a reasonable philanthropy can demand, should yet be severe enough to be truly merciful--merciful, that is, to the entire community."

(24) "The flight of a quarter of a million of inhabitants of these islands to distant quarters of the globe, in 1847, was one of the most marvellous events in the annals of human migration. It is nevertheless a fact, that the migration of this year is nearly equal to that of the last."--(_The Times, 1848._)

"Nor is there any reason to believe that 1849 will witness a diminution in the rate at which this extraordinary process of depletion is going forward; on the contrary, there is every symptom of its probable acceleration."--(_Morning Chronicle, 1849, on Irish Emigration._)

(25) A few extracts concerning them will be interesting. "The chain of the Rocky Mountains, after being considerably depressed in lat.i.tude 46 and 48, attains a much higher elevation from lat.i.tude 48 to 49, and, continuing in a westerly direction, it separates the affluents of the Saskatchewan and M'Kenkie from those of Columbia or Oregon and other rivers which flow into the Pacific. These mountains appear to decrease again from about 58 to 62 northern lat.i.tude, where probably they do not exceed 4000 feet in height; and, still further north, are estimated at less than 2000 feet, between the lat.i.tudes of 42 and 58 north.

Several peaks rise far above the snow line.

"Wherever the head waters of the rivers, on the east and west sides of the Rocky Mountains, approach nearest each other, there have been found pa.s.ses through them. Of these, perhaps the most important is the south pa.s.s. Between Mount Brown and Mount Hooker, in lat.i.tude 52, another very important pa.s.s, offering great facility of communication between the Oregon and Canada, by the waters of the Columbia and the north branches of the Saskatchewan, which, flowing into Lake Winnipeg, gives easy access to Hudson's Bay and the great lakes.

"Among the most awful features of mountain scenery lies the great northern outlet of the territory, resembling the southern in many of its features, with even more sublimity of character, but especially in having the sources of several great rivers within a very short distance of each other. Here are the head waters of the Athabasca and north tributaries of the Saskatchewan, which falls into Lake Winnipeg; and on the east the northern waters of the Columbia, and the eastern branch of Frazer's River, near a deep cliff in the mountains, which has been called by British traders the Committee's Punch Bowl."--_Rev. C. G.

Nicolay._

The first who penetrated the Rocky Mountains was Sir Alexander Mackenzie, then in the service of the North-West Company. In the year 1793 he crossed them in about lat.i.tude 54, discovered Frazer's River,[A] descended it for about 250 miles, then struck off in a westerly direction, and reached the Pacific in lat.i.tude 52 20'. In 1808 Mr. Frazer, also under the orders of the North-Western Company, crossed the Rocky Mountains and established a trading post on Frazer's River, about lat.i.tude 54; and in 1811 Mr. Thompson, also an agent of that company, discovered the northern head waters of the Columbia, about lat.i.tude 52, and erected some huts on its banks.

[A] Frazer's River has its embouche six miles to the north of the 49th parallel, which defines the United States boundary. It is a mile wide. The country around is low, with a rich alluvial soil.

Fort Langley is twenty miles from its mouth.

Sir George Simpson made a journey of 2000 miles in forty-seven days, from the Red River, via Fort Edrington, to Fort Columbia, in 1841; he crossed the Rocky Mountains, at the confluence of two of the sources of Saskatchewan and Columbia, at an elevation of 8000 feet above the level of the sea.

(26) Little, perhaps, did Mr. Pitt suspect the time was to be so near, when that country he had loved so well and served so n.o.bly, would be able to send any quant.i.ty of artillery by the mail; and that not eight or ten hours would be required, but hardly three. Would that he was amongst us now. What could England not hope for, or expect to see realized, in her advanced condition, if directed by such a mind as his.

(27) "It is about 900 miles in length by 600 at its greatest breadth, with a surrounding coast of 3000 miles, between the parallels of 61 and 65 north lat.i.tude. The coasts are generally high, rocky, rugged and sometimes precipitous. The bay is navigable for a few months in summer, but for the greater part of the remainder of the year is filled up with fields of ice. The navigation, when open, is extremely dangerous, as it contains many shoals, rocks, sandbanks and islands; even during the summer icebergs are seen in the straits, towards which a ship is drifted by a squall or current, rendering it very hazardous for the most skilful seaman. The transitions of the thermometer are from 100 to 40 in two days, and the torrents of rain are surprising. Whether in winter or summer the climate is horrible. The range of the thermometer throughout the year is 140 degrees. The sea is entered by Hudson's Strait, which is about 500 miles long, with a varying breadth and with an intricate navigation."--_Montgomery Martin, Esq._

(28) "The settlement on the Red River, distant from Montreal by the Ottawah River about 1800 miles in lat. 50 north, lon. 97 west, is elevated 800 feet above the level of the sea, contiguous to the border of the Red and Asinibourn Rivers, along which the settlement extends for fifty miles. The soil is comparatively fertile, and the climate salubrious; but summer frosts, generated by undrained marshes, sometimes blast the hopes of the husbandman. The Hudson's Bay Company by the introduction, at a great expense, of rams and other stock, have improved the breed of domestic animals, which are now abundant. Wheat, barley, oats, maize, potatoes and hops thrive; flax and hemp are poor and stinted. The river banks are cultivated for half a mile inland, but the back level country remains in its natural state, and furnishes a coa.r.s.e hay for the long and severe winter which lasts from November to April, when the Lake Winnipeg is unfrozen and the river navigation commences--via Norway house entrepot--at the north extremity of the lake. The population is in number about 6000, consisting of Europeans, half-breeds and Indians. The two princ.i.p.al churches, the Protestant and Roman Catholic, the gaol, the Hudson's Bay Company's chief building, the residence of the Roman Catholic bishop, and the houses of some of the retired officers of the fur trade, are built of stone, which has to be brought from a distance; but the houses of the settlers are built of wood. A great abundance of English goods is imported, both by the Hudson's Bay Company and by individuals in the company's ships, to York factory, and disposed of in the colony at moderate prices. There are fifteen wind and three water mills to grind the wheat and prepare the malt for the settlers. The Hudson's Bay Company have long endeavoured, by rewards and arguments, to excite an exportation of tallow, hides, wool, &c. to England, but the bulky nature of the exports, the long and dangerous navigation of the Hudson's Bay, and the habits of the half-bred race, who form the ma.s.s of the people and generally prefer chasing the buffalo to agriculture or regular industry, have rendered their efforts ineffectual."--_Montgomery Martin, Esq._

(29) "It is true there is another communication via Montreal, but the country in that direction is not of such a nature as to admit of introducing the rollers or the waggons upon the portages."--_Bishop of Montreal._

(30) Mackenzie says, "There is not perhaps a finer country in the world for the residence of uncivilized man, than that which occupies the sh.o.r.e between the Red River and Lake Superior; fish, various fowl and wild rice are in great plenty: the fruits are, strawberries, plums, cherries, gooseberries, &c. &c."

(31) "Of this profitable trade the citizens of the United States possess at present all but a monopoly. Their whaling fleet consists of 675 vessels, most of them 400 tons burden, and amounting in all to 100,000 tons. The majority of them cruise in the Pacific. It requires between 15,000 and 16,000 men to man them. Their value is estimated at 25,000,000 dollars, yielding an annual return of 5,000,000 or 20 per cent. The quant.i.ty of oil imported is about 400,000 barrels, of which one-half is sperm. When we add to this profitable occupation for many persons--the value of the domestic produce consumed by them--and the benefit that is thus conferred upon both agricultural and manufacturing interests--the importance of this branch of business will appear greatly enhanced. The whaling fleet of England and her Colonies may be considered as not exceeding at present 150; about twenty whales are killed annually in the straits of Juan de Fuca--besides the whale fishery on the banks and coast is important--cod, halibut and herring are found in profusion, and sturgeon near the sh.o.r.e and mouths of the rivers. Already the salmon fishery affords not only a supply for home consumption, but is an article of commerce, being sent to the Sandwich Islands. They are also supplied to the Russian settlements according to contract. The coast swarms with amphibious animals of the seal kind, known by the vulgar names of Sea Lion, Sea Elephant and Sea Cow--but above all with the common seal. The traffic to be derived from these in skins, oil, &c. could not but be lucrative."--_Rev. C. G. Nicolay._

(32) We are quite aware that the American Lines are made at a much cheaper rate, but we are here advocating a grand permanent link of connexion with Great Britain and all her Colonies and dominions--and however cheaply the Line may be opened, we must not deceive ourselves, but look to a proportional outlay to the greatness of the undertaking.

It is in its results and consequences that we look forward to the great benefit and financial return to Great Britain and to her people, both abroad and at home.