A Letter from Major Robert Carmichael-Smyth to His Friend, the Author of 'The Clockmaker' Part 4

(33) It is curious to observe, that in 1822 the Americans themselves fought the battle of England with Russia. The extravagant claims of dominion over the Northern Pacific Ocean and the North-West Coast of America, which Russia proclaimed at St. Petersburgh on the 9th October,--"It is not permitted to any but Russian subjects to partic.i.p.ate in the whale or other fishery, or any branch of industry whatever, in the islands, ports and gulfs, and in general along the coast of the North-Western America, from Behring's Strait to 51 north lat.i.tude"--were not pa.s.sed unheeded by the British Ministry of the day, and it was communicated to the Court of St. Petersburgh that England could not submit to such usurpation. The result of these representations were not imparted to the public; but when these pretensions were made known at Washington by the Russian Minister, the American functionaries protested against them with so much vehemence that it was likely to endanger the amicable relations of Russia and the United States--thus fighting the battle of England as it has since proved. In December, 1823, a treaty was entered into at Washington between Russia, the United States and England on this subject, and the Russians retired farther north than 55.

The Marquis of Londonderry was Secretary of State for foreign affairs up to August, 1822, and Mr. Canning succeeded him; and to the watchful care of these two eminent statesmen it may be owing that Russia and the United States did not divide the coast and territory between them.

(34) See Sir Peter Laurie's description of prisons.

(35) In spite of so large a portion of the French population being agricultural, i.e. belonging to that calling in life which developes muscular strength and activity--in spite of that proportion being on the increase as compared with the rest of the inhabitants, it is proved that the number of recruits rejected as unfit for the military service from deficient stature, health and strength, is slowly, surely and constantly on the increase, 40 per cent. are turned back from this cause, and yet the required height is only 5 feet 2 inches.

(36) Several companies have, I believe, been formed for the working of these mines, and the shares, I have heard, were one time rather high.

The ore, however, is at present sent chiefly to Boston. The opening of the proposed Line of Railway would no doubt cause a great quant.i.ty of it to be sent to Montreal or Quebec and there shipped for England,--enabling the colonies, therefore, to take a greater quant.i.ty of our manufactured goods.

Lake Superior.--"Copper abounds in various parts of the country; in particular some large and brilliant specimens have been found in the angle between Lake Superior and Michigan. Henry and others speak of a rock of pure copper, from which he cut off 100 pounds weight."--_Montgomery Martin, Esq._

(37) It is true that Montgomery Martin, in 1834, says, "and if Railroads do not take the place of ca.n.a.ls, I have no doubt the greater part of Upper Canada will in a few years be intersected with ca.n.a.ls. I recommend the latter to the Canadians in preference to Railroads, as by their means the country will be drained, rendered more fertile and _more_ healthy."

Since that time several ca.n.a.ls have been finished, and I have no doubt, as the country becomes more populous, others may be undertaken for the purposes of drainage and internal communications; but my own personal knowledge has satisfied me that Railroads would be far more useful and a far more ultimate benefit, for there is no doubt that the waters of Canada have a general inclination to subside. Mr. Martin himself says, that "the Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, have evidently been at one time considerably higher than they are at the present day;" and although Mr. Martin considers the subsidence of these waters has not been effected by slow drainage, but by repeated destruction of barriers, still the fact shows that the waters are subsiding.

Be this all as it may, I do not think that even Mr. Montgomery Martin himself would suggest a communication by ca.n.a.ls from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as well might he recommend a man to travel by a slow heavy coach when a light quick one could be procured; and thus we dismiss the subject of ca.n.a.ls.

(38) To encourage this Steam Company, who have so n.o.bly performed their task, Government granted, I believe, 52,000 a year.

(39) Such, for instance, as the carrying letters for a penny, and removing such taxes as bear particularly heavy upon the poor.

(40) The Governor-General, in his opening address to the parliament of the province of Canada on the 18th January, 1849, says--"The officers employed in exploring the country between Quebec and Halifax, with the view of discovering the best line for a Railway to connect these two points, have presented a report which contains much valuable information, and sets forth in a strong light the advantages of the proposed undertaking. I shall lay it before you, together with a dispatch from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, expressive of the interest taken by her Majesty's Government in the execution of this great work."

(41) See Mr. Charles Pearson's Speech on this subject.

(42) The feeling of loyalty becomes so natural to soldiers after a few years service, that it remains impressed upon their hearts in general for the rest of their lives.

(43) "So great is the fertility of the soil of Canada, that fifty bushels of wheat per acre are frequently produced on a farm where the stumps of the trees, which probably occupy an eighth of the surface, have not been eradicated; some instances of eighty bushels per acre occur; near York (now Toronto) in Upper Canada 100 bushels were obtained from a single acre. In some districts wheat has been raised successively on the same ground for twenty years without manure."--_Montgomery Martin._

(44) A return of the public money expended in Arctic expeditions was called for. It appears that since the peace, or from the year 1815 to the present, 428,782 have been expended in Arctic expeditions.

(45) Mr. Alderman Sydney said--"that convicts had ceased to be sent to Norfolk Island or New South Wales for a considerable time, and he understood that Lord Grey had been influenced on the question by the perusal of a pamphlet which abounded with information of a most convincing character."--_Times._

(46) Yes! to the value of its resources we now seem indeed to be awakened. Earl Grey, in his despatch (dated 17th November, 1848,) to Lieutenant-General Sir John Harvey, Lieutenant-Governor of Halifax, says (after speaking of the final Report of Major Robinson on the formation of the Halifax and Quebec Railway)--"I have perused this able doc.u.ment with the interest and attention it so well merits; and I have to convey to you the a.s.surance of Her Majesty's Government that we fully appreciate the importance of the proposed undertaking, and entertain no doubt of the great advantages that would result not only to the provinces interested in the work, but to the empire at large, from the construction of such a Railway." Again, his Lordship speaks of this Railway as "a great national line of communication," and yet on the 4th August, 1848, was issued the following letter from the Treasury Chambers:--

"Sir,--With reference to your letter of the 18th ult. relative to the expenses incurred in the survey of the proposed Line of Railroad between Halifax and Quebec, I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to request that you will move Earl Grey to instruct the several officers in charge of the Governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, to cause the proportion of the Railroad survey expenses to be defrayed by each province, to be paid into the commissariat chests on the respective stations.

"I have, &c.

(Signed) C. E. TREVELYAN."

"H. Merivale, Esq., &c. &c."

(47) "We cannot afford to spend 50 a year on a convict at home: let him be sent to a colony where his labour is absolutely necessary, and where, though by his good conduct and his industry he may finally attain a decent subsistence, yet where he will be unable to acquire affluence, and which he will be prevented from leaving for a happier or a richer sh.o.r.e: this will be punishment without sentimentalism, and without vindictiveness."--_The Times_, 19th February, 1849.

"As it is obvious that we must either retain our convicts at home or send them abroad, and the latter can only be accomplished by transportation to a colony, it is obvious (especially after the results of the last experiments) that we must either found a new colony, as in 1783, or adopt the French system, which has nothing certainly to recommend it."--_Globe_, 17th February, 1849.

(48) Lieutenant Synge has observed: "The necessity of protecting works further in the interior against hostile tribes of Indians is a formidable impediment to their successful prosecution at present." How easily would this impediment be removed by paying these Indians with guns, blankets, &c., and employing them to guard the convicts and the works.

(49) "The hostility of the Indians overcome, (or what for the present would more effectually restrain England's advance, the possibility of their sufferings being increased by the progress of civilization,) the pa.s.sage of the Rocky Mountains may rather prove a stimulant, as it will be the last remaining obstacle, and, attention being called to the subject, may urge to exertion the talents of such men as have elsewhere conquered every natural difficulty, however formidable."--_Lieutenant Synge_, "_Canada in 1848_."

(50) "More especially the very great opportunities afforded by the cessation of convict labour in our Australian colonies should not be overlooked. The great present pressure in these colonies, in consequence of the want of such labour, should be removed in connection with the relief and profitable employment of portions of our surplus home population."--_Same Author._

(51) "To derive from these measures the chiefest benefits they may confer, the work must be executed under the superintendence of the Imperial Government."--_Same Author._

(52) "Great as is our civilization and intelligence, compared with the empires of former days, we have no right to think that the goal of prosperity and glory is attained. England has by no means reached the zenith of earthly power; science is as yet but in its infancy; the human mind has scarcely arrived at adolescence; and, for aught we imperfect beings know, this little island may be destined by Divine Providence to continue as a light unto the heathen--as a nucleus for the final civilization of man."--_Preface to "Taxation of the British Empire,"

published in 1833._

(53) This of course would only be a temporary arrangement previous to their being sent to distant parts.

(54) "So long however as the empire's heart is overburdened by a surplus mult.i.tude, it should be remembered that most fertile and lovely tracts of country, many times larger than England, exist in the body of that empire, which never yet within the knowledge of man have yielded their fruits to his service. A manifold-multiplied value also is given to every part of the connected communication between it and the Atlantic, and thereby also to every part of British America, when once the goal of the Pacific is attained."--_Lieut. Synge._

(55) An officer whose character stands high both in the navy and in the army--whose talents have long been exercised in the North American Colonies--who is acquainted with their value, and who well understands their naval and military defences.

The writer of this letter sailed from Cork on board H. M. frigate Pique, in January, 1838, with a wing of the 93rd Highlanders, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Macgregor, and he is happy in having this opportunity of publicly thanking Captain Boxer, the officers and crew of the Pique, for the great kindness received by every individual of the regiment. And he cannot do otherwise than refer particularly to the officers of the gun-room, who must have been exceedingly inconvenienced by having a large party of officers joined to their mess, and who yet had the tact and politeness to show they never felt it. It was a long and stormy pa.s.sage of six weeks from Cork to Halifax, but it was a happy and a merry one; although a damp was at first thrown over us by the sudden death from accident of a serjeant of the Light Company, and another poor fellow was washed away from the chains during the pa.s.sage.

(56) "We have now enjoyed more than thirty years peace, and when it was proposed to invest the Capital, which we could so readily throw away on arms and gunpowder, upon actually productive works, the cry was raised of impending ruin and bankruptcy. The lodging of deposits with the Accountant-General was to result in 'ruinous, universal and desperate confusion.' The money was lodged, and no ruinous confusion took place.

The Acts were obtained, and ruin was again predicted; 'where was all the money to come from?' The money has been got, 112,100,639 has been raised in the course of three years, involving, it is true, much suffering to some cla.s.ses, but not to the nation at large."--_S. Smiles on Railway Property._

(57) If once it was understood by the public that Government had taken the initiative, and was determined to a.s.sist and see carried out a great national work such as has been suggested, there is no doubt that many people who are now paying high poor rates would join together, and a variety of small Emigration Companies would be formed to a.s.sist poor people to emigrate, and these poor people would willingly and cheerfully quit their native land, when they had before them the certain prospect of immediate employment; and if the penny postage was added to the system, they would be nearer to England in the North American Colonies, than the poor people of England and Scotland were to each other only a few years back.

(58) "Four hundred millions of people yet to be introduced into communication with the rest of mankind! What a prospect for the merchant, the manufacturer and ship owner. But there is still a higher and holier prospect. Four hundred millions of active and intelligent human beings have to be brought within the pale of Christianity! Wary stepping, too, it will require to enable us to succeed in realizing either of these objects. To a.s.sist us, an abler man for the task could not be found than the author of the work before us."--_Liverpool Standard_, _Review on Montgomery Martin's recent Work on China_.

(59) "n.o.body can doubt that the western coast of North America is about to become the theatre of vast commercial and political transactions, and it is impossible to estimate adequately the value which may soon accrue to every harbour, coal mine, forest and plain in that quarter of the globe."--_Morning Chronicle, 15th Feb. 1849._