IRELAND AND AMERICA. 
 
 RAILWAY COLONIZATION 
 
 COLONIZATION CURRENCY. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIDGES. 
 
 Reprinted from the “Monthly Kiiuv.iy Recobd.*' 
 
 LONDON: 153, FLEET STREET 
 
 1847. 
 
RAILWAY COLONIZATION 
 
 COLONIZATION CURRENCY. 
 
 Tim condition of Ireland, 
 tlie present system of 
 nml jiovi*rty not only to the St. L 
 pool mnl JMarylebono; the 11 in 
 some loO.OOO tierce mid ignur 
 employment will probably 111:1b 
 general distress even of the 1111 
 drain upon the general roson 
 dilative; all these eireiunstanee 
 
 almost a nation of paupers, who, under 
 and migration, parry with them disease 
 wrenee, Imt into the very heart of Bivcr- 
 ltening aspeet of England itself, where 
 ill “navigators"’thrown suddenly out of 
 i einploymeiit lor themselves ; and the 
 Idle classes, arising from the continuous 
 res, for works not immediately repro- 
 nid of Government an expansion 
 
 of the Jichl of indns/ri /—the only cllerlnal and permanent remedy for 
 the national suilering. 
 
 But no Government., it has been observed, has a right to stimulate 
 Emigration without commensurate Colonization; which are two totally 
 distinct processes, and yet the. one must, for the healthy conduct and 
 prosecution of both, he ever the measure and gauge of the other. To 
 destroy the rookery of St. Giles’s, and scatter the miserable inmates 
 among oilier neighbourhoods, where there is neither room nor prepara¬ 
 tion for them, is emigration without colonization. 
 
 'The British Government is bound, and under the imperative obliga¬ 
 tion, to do all in its power to make colonization not a mere refuge for the 
 diseased and destitute, but an attractive enterprise and means of ad- 
 
4 Railway Colonization and a 
 
 vancement to the adventurous of the yeomen and middle and educated 
 classes, so that these may he encouraged to go forth and to “build houses 
 that they may inhabit them, and to plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of 
 them.” This is to he done, as we have ever impressed upon our trans¬ 
 atlantic friends, by an enhancement of the price of land, so as to main; 
 land really worth purchasing. 
 
 And foremost among the works of preparation, calculated not only to 
 give immediate employment to thousands of families, now destitute—to 
 open up tracts of land for Settlement—to return a clear income, over and' 
 above the replacement of the capital invested, out. of the land to which it 
 at once gives a prodigious increase of value, is the construction of a 
 cheat Kailway. 
 
 Let 11s premise a few words on the present aspect of speculation and 
 
 t importance to the. homo 
 If, instead of seeking in- 
 
 t the crude Standing Order 
 
 ni the shares and 
 L-lief would have 
 table expendi- 
 ested, and the 
 5 otherwise in- 
 
 investment—a subject which is 
 railway interest, not less than to the coloni 
 demnity for a virtual suspension of the li; 
 had assumed the responsibility of sus) 
 adverted to,which precludes the “leasing 
 way or railways until half the capital ot 
 expended on the works,” an immediate 1 
 been given to the money-market, a coi ] 
 ture of not less than 50,000,000/. would 
 confidence so induced would have obviat 
 evitable—a 5 per cent, floating debt for ii\ e or six years to come. 
 
 The Standing Order, which was recommended by a Committee wherein 
 the old Companies were largely represented, was, it may be, concocted 
 with a view to crushing new. Companies; but it has most detrimentally 
 affected the interests of both old and new. While, on the one hand, the 
 young Companies cannot introduce a Kill to curtail or abandon projects 
 which experience and sane consideration have shown to be extravagant 
 and unnecessary, the old Companies cannot, on the other hand, take 
 advantage of the most favourable terms to increase the public accom¬ 
 modation by the amalgamation of remunerative, because necessary, 
 branches and feeders; and thus, by consolidation, reduce the universal 
 pressure and liability. 
 
 As regards Continental projects, while we should, etc/eris paribus , 
 rejoice to see Paris and London and Vienna brought into rapid steam 
 intercommunication, it is not to be concealed that the conduct of Trench 
 Directors towards English shareholders has been not only injurious, but 
 ungrateful and insulting; ami that worse, consequences are yet likely to 
 ensue from such investments of English money: and the shareholders of 
 the Boulogne and Amiens Kailway, whose Directors have actually been 
 lending English money to a rival project, and lately refused to hear 
 English shareholders except in the French language, though ready 
 enough to have their railways made with English sovereigns, have only 
 come to the beginning of the end. 
 
 On the other hand, the Colonics are integral parts of the British 
 empire; English colonists, even on the past most unsystematic, and de¬ 
 plorable systems or no-systems, make the best, customers of the English 
 manufacturer. The establishment of colonial railways would give a 
 tenfold impetus to British as well as to colonial commerce; the develop- 
 
Colonization Currenaj. 5 
 
 intuit of colonial resources, by facilities of intercommunication, would 
 enhance the value of the lands, which Government are evidently disposed 
 to "rant in large quantities, as an inducement to this sort of investment; and 
 such a price might accordingly be placed upon the lauds so enhanced in 
 value, to ho paid by easy instalments, over a period of years, as would, 
 with interest, replace the capital invested, while it would give the settler 
 ample room and verge enough to invest his own capital in immediately 
 reproductive pursuits, and would leave the traflie on the line an unbur¬ 
 
 dened source, 
 
 to the adventurers and to the 
 In the Neport of Lord Mi 
 lion from Ireland, the legis 
 ■' the elleet that may he antii 
 of works of undisputed usef 
 British North America—surv 
 already been completed, under the 
 
 cut, hut of actual clear revenue 
 
 .Select. Committee on Coloniza- 
 ; is specially called upon to consider 
 d by tire promotion or encouragement 
 >—such as the railways projected in 
 f which are now in progress, or have 
 auspices of Government.” 
 
 present a summary of the principal 
 
 i Appendix to this paper w 
 evidence adduced on tin's subject. 
 
 By an examination of this evidence, we find that the. single, province 
 of New Brunswick possesses an available held for llailway Colonization 
 of twelve, millions of acres of unlocated territory—that it is not oidy 
 eminently productive as respects agriculture—abounding, too, with tim¬ 
 ber of large growth, the sale of which, transported by a railway, must 
 more than pay the expense of clearing—but rich also in coal, iron, copper, 
 and other minerals; with seas, bays, and lakes teeming with fish. Spile 
 of all these natural advantages, we perceive that neither New Bruns¬ 
 wick, nor any portion of the three hundred.millions of acres, the ne¬ 
 glected imperial patrimony of British North America, has added greatly 
 to the aggrandisement either of colonists or the mother country—that 
 Great Britain is actually pour amid all these abundant riches, while the 
 United .Stales, without, on the whole, greater natural advantages, are 
 covered with railways, and with all the. signs and tokens, means, elements, 
 and appliances of wealth and civilisation. We find that'a few thousands 
 of poor Irish arrive annually in New Brunswick, of whom half, after 
 being cured of fever, pass on to the United .States—that only occasionally 
 is any large portion of them profitably absorbed. And we note in every 
 paragraph of the evidence, that all this disparity of progress is traceable, 
 to the want of system and preparation on the part of the British or 
 Colonial legislatures, who yet are desirous to adopt and carry out measures 
 of improvement, if the practical means of doing so can bo satisfactorily 
 demonstrated. We find that, not only as the first step to civilisa¬ 
 tion and commercial and agricultural improvement, but as the only 
 means to economise and give ettect to our military strength, and, in 
 the event of war, to preserve. America to England, a cheap railway 
 is above all things an absolute requirement. That, in connection 
 with the opening up of the country by railways, it is the opinion 
 of the Colonial Minister of the Crown that we must restrict the sale 
 of lands by tin enhancement of price to cover the expense of improve¬ 
 ments, as well as to attract and retain the hotter class of emigrants; 
 and that the local legislature of New Brunswick has so far practically 
 coincided with this view as to pass an Order in Council that no land 
 
6 Railway Colonization and a 
 
 meanwhile shall he disposed of within two miles of the projected railways 
 
 through that province. 
 
 We have arrived, then, at the knowledge of two principles of action, 
 of which, without any more Blue-books, it is time that there should 
 forthwith be a practical exemplification on the part of the British Go¬ 
 vernment. 
 
 1. The land must be adapted and prepared for colonization, by the 
 establishment of railwaj-s, roads, bridges, mills, schools, churches, and 
 other requisites of social life, so as to make emigration, not a last result 
 of poverty and dependence—a cruel imposition and a task of sorrows, 
 difficulties, and disappointments—but a heroical and attractive work for 
 the English labourer, yeoman, and gentleman. 
 
 2. This land itself is the Custom House from whose treasury the 
 fund for all these preparatory works shall accrue; and this must be regu¬ 
 lated so that men of moderate capital may not be deterred by grasping 
 demands, either in the price of land or the price of labour; nor, on the 
 other hand, the labourer, by inadequate remuneration, be left without 
 the hope of ultimately realising independence. So that, not merely the 
 man of capital in money, but of capital in energy and intelligence, and 
 industry, may be aided and encouraged, out of his savings, gradually to 
 become an independent freeholder. 
 
 We have adverted to the fact, that Earl Gukv, in his despatches to 
 Lord Ei.gix. has again and again expressed his opinion in favour of 
 enhancing the price of land, so as to cover the expense of preparation; 
 and to the effect that, an such a principle, the price of were land miyht 
 he actually less than when sold in an unimprored slate at a nominal price. 
 The price of land in New Brunswick is at present 2s. 6d. per acre. 
 We. shall show that it is for the interest of the British Government as 
 well as of the British public, of the Provincial Government, and of 
 the colonists of every class, that this price be increased manifold; the 
 enhanced price involving an immense revenue to the colony, a com¬ 
 parative relief from all other taxation to the settler, an attraction to the 
 uneasy classes in England, Ireland, and .Scotland, from the younger sons 
 of the aristocracy down to the able-bodied poor; and, by reaction of agri¬ 
 cultural production and commerce, a never-failing and ever-increasing 
 market to the mother country. 
 
 The system of increasing the price of land, so as to cover the ex¬ 
 penses of improvement and preparation, is no novelty. In the Austra¬ 
 lasian Colonies, the minimum price of 20s. an acre embraces a supply of 
 labour, and other elements of social advancement; and various experi¬ 
 ments have taken place, under the direction of public Companies, with a 
 still higher price and a higher scale of attraction. But the transition 
 from the home system of leases and rents, to that of absolute freehold, 
 to be purchased out and out, has been made too rapidly, whether as 
 respects the accommodation to the yeoman, the profit to the colonising 
 body, or the progress and success of the experiment. The price called 
 for was too heavy, even while it was inadequate—an apparent paradox, 
 but a truth, the conviction of which must precede any successful ex¬ 
 hibition of the great principle of preparation. In the last and pending 
 experiment of oue of the most prominent of the Antipodal Colonising 
 Companies, the price of laud is fixed at Two Pounds an acre, or 
 
Colonization Currency. 1 
 
 120/. 10s. for ;i property comprising 60£ acres—fifty of these being 
 country land, ten close to the town, and a quarter of an acre within 
 the town. Of this sum, three-eighths is expended in emigration, equal 
 to about the passage-money of two adults, per property of 120/. 10s.: 
 two-eighths in preparation, by roads, bridges, mills, See.; one-eighth (of 
 which one-third is to he an endowment in land) in educational and re¬ 
 ligious purposes; and the remaining two-eighths, or 2d per cent, (one- 
 third also in land) goes towards expenses and profit to the Company, be¬ 
 sides 5 per cent, on the expenditure of the live-eighths devoted to emi¬ 
 gration and preparation. The benefit of this system is well and fully 
 exhibited in the concluding paragraph of the prospectus in which it is set 
 forth:— 
 
 ‘■In all new countries, lands partially occupied acquire no increase of value 
 until church and market have been formed in the neighbourhood; but so soon 
 as this is accomplished, the same lauds which had cost but a few shillings an 
 acre, sell freely at 10/. an acre and upwards, in proportion to their nearness and 
 the goodness of the roads. This result, especially in Canada, is generally 
 wailed for in thriftless discomfort through a long series of years ; but, with 
 respect to this experiment, it is to be carefully noted that church and market go 
 along with the first party, and this being secured at a cost of 40s. an acre to the 
 first purchasers, the advantage is solid, and the gain certain." 
 
 The evil of the system lies in killing the goose that lays the golden 
 eggs; the land is at once disposed of, and for ever, at a really inadequate 
 price, considering the immense prospective benefits held out, and yet at 
 a price—being ready money for such prospective benefits—pressing 
 deterringly upon the limited resources of the small capitalist. Passing for 
 a moment from this system, so fraught with great good, and not small 
 evil, let us consider whether any other system presents itself, also in 
 operation (for we would rather combine systems, the result of ex¬ 
 perience, than pretend to originate), from which we may glean a useful 
 and available principle. AVo have adverted to the proposal suggested 
 in the evidence to enable the emigrant to acquire land by a reserve from 
 his wages on the principle of the savings’-bank. The modern English 
 Building Societies may be regarded as an application of this principle 
 to Home Colonization, and must possess vitality, and effect real good, 
 seeing that from 400, in 1843, they have increased to 1,290 in the pre¬ 
 sent year, and arc now being established also for the same purpose 
 in Canada and New Brunswick. As originally constituted, with their 
 cumbrous and unjust machinery of withdrawal and redemption fines, 
 bidding of premiums, and deduction of discount from advances, these 
 societies were, perhaps, adapted too much for the benefit of the lender, and 
 to throw dust in the eyes of the borrower; but of late an equitable 
 rule has been adopted, based upon the unerring principle of an annuity 
 certain, and the easy extension of which to the purposes of railway con¬ 
 struction in combination with colonization, will almost suggest itself. 
 An annuity ol‘ 10 per cent, for about fourteen years is equivalent to pay¬ 
 ment of the principal in that period, with 5 per cent, interest; in the 
 ease of the 60/. shares of the New Building Societies, an annual sum of 
 6/. is now charged for thirteen years, which is equivalent to receiving re¬ 
 payment of the money borrowed, at less than 5 per cent. 
 
 To adapt American colonization to the preparation principle now 
 
8 Hailicay Colonization and a 
 
 urgently recommended by Earl Gkey, and which lias been systematically 
 pursued in all the Australasian settlements; at the same time, to insure a 
 greater benefit to the State and to the revenue, and a lighter burthen to 
 the settler; and, moreover, legitimately to enlist those prudent classes 
 who, if they remain at home, support the Building Societies (the con¬ 
 verse and auxiliary to Life Assurance), we would submit the following 
 plan of Railway Colonization—a plan which, it will be observed, replaces 
 the capital invested in the construction of the railway, as well as in other 
 physical and moral preparation, out of the land, leaving the income after¬ 
 wards accruing from traffic a clear revenue. 
 
 To insure a fair comparison in every detail and calculation between the 
 proposed system and that of the. Societies we speak of, we shall, in all 
 cases, assumethe 60/. share as the basis of our estimates. 
 
 We suggest that, in each experiment, a society or body of colonists 
 act concurrently with the British or Local Government, or otherwise 
 with a Railway or Colonising Company—that the Government or Com¬ 
 pany, coincidently with successive expeditious, make; an extensive in¬ 
 vestment, over a period of years, in the supply of labour, and also in 
 free cabin-passages to persons of the middle class, in proportion to the 
 land sold—in the construction of wooden railways—in ordinary roads— 
 in bridges, grist and saw mills, and similar physical preparation—in en¬ 
 dowments for schools and churches—in sites for villages, public parks and 
 cemeteries, and for purposes of local "overnment. 1 hat the settlement 
 being thus ill the way to become eminently attractive, both to labour and 
 capital, the lands be disposed of in ft / 1 I 1 ire representing, 
 
 at option, a fraction of an acre of frontage, or building, or wharf-land; 
 ora moderate portion of accommodation land near the town; or a still 
 larger portion of country or farming land; possession to lx taken accord¬ 
 ing to a priority to be determined by ballot; and payment to be made, 
 either at once or by annual instalments ol 61. per share (being at the 
 rate of 10 per cent.) for a period of 13 years; leaving the yeoman in 
 command of a balance of cai>ital for seed and reproductive investment, 
 aud giving him the opportunity to pay for his land gradually out of 
 accruing profits till it becomes an unburthened freehold; his family' being 
 entitled to a return of his payments, with interest, in the event of his 
 premature decease; while he may secure the possession to his family', if 
 he please, by a life assurance. 
 
 An example will more readily exhibit the practical working of such a 
 principle. 
 
 The nucleus of a flourishing settlement is to bo formed on a line of 
 railway', in British North America. The same principle, be it specially 
 noted, is as applicable to the waste lands of Ii;i:i.am>. stive as respects 
 the there superabundant clement of labour; but, first, wo must there 
 have moral evcurit;/ which distant colonization alone will gradually su¬ 
 perinduce. The site for the town embraces 
 
 1.000 acres, in 4,000sections of ( acre each, at 00/., equal to ... ;t'240,000 
 
 The suburban lands, 40,000 acres, in 4,000 sections of 10 acres 
 
 each, at 60/., equal to. 240,000 
 
 And the country lands, 160,000 acres, in 4,000 sections of 40 acres 
 
 each, at 60/., equal to. 240,000 
 
 Making up the investiueut, on 201,000 acres, of....,. £720,000 
 
£'.240,000 
 
 Jiy its adoption, millions upon millions ol' acres of territory now waste 
 might bo covered with wealth and civilisation; and, in Knglaml, the 
 very name of workhouse might become obsolete. 
 
 Land and population arc the only true foundation of a currency; land, 
 becoming rapidly enhanced in value by labour impressed upon it in the 
 diape of railways and agriculture, is the proper measure and gauge, as 
 veil as basis, of all national wealth and greatness; and the value of the 
 and and its superstructures, in the shape of railways and buildings, and 
 
10 Railway Colonization and a 
 
 food, proportioned to the wants and numbers of the population, must 
 determine the amount and quality of a national currency. “ The only 
 just and secure basis that can be adopted,” says a modern writer, “where¬ 
 upon to found a permanent and invariable currency, is by having recourse 
 to landed possessions and the numerical strength of the people residing 
 thereon. It was upon these two principles that the beneficial fabric of a 
 landed aristocracy derived its power, influence, and respect.” True; the 
 currency in those days of which the laud was the foundation, was incar¬ 
 nated in quotas of armed men, whose services were furnished to the 
 Crown, as the tenure of all possessions; while, now-a-days, is exhi¬ 
 bited a modification of the same feudal principle. “ Such portions of 
 land as individuals can acquire by an equitable purchase, truly, and, in 
 fact, belong to them severally, but subject to proportionate taxation 
 according to quantity and an appraised valuation; the amount thus col¬ 
 lected being used to secure protection to every one.” Land therefore is, 
 and must be, the prime basis of the currency: it was so in the days of 
 feudalism; it will be again; and, unlike gold, it never will take wings to 
 itself and ilee away. 
 
 Though dealing here, for obvious reasons, mainlv with the question of 
 a Colonization Cukrencv, based upon the national landed properly in 
 new countries, we need not observe that we assent to the principle so 
 ably propounded by Mr. John Tayi.ok; the right of the Stale to sym¬ 
 bolize its taxation resources of any kind. We admit, moreover, that in a 
 country of high civilization, the precious metals, if abundant 0110111 ///, 
 form the most commodious and convenient basis for a currency: and Mr. 
 B, SiiAKl'K. of Chiswick, a practical writer on the subject, while advo¬ 
 cating the establishment of a Bullion and Plate Deposit system of Cur¬ 
 rency, in connection with, and in extension of, the powers of the Bank 
 of England, only asserts what we feel to be the truth—that gold and 
 silver, “ in common with other descriptions of property, should form the 
 base on which a paper superstructure must be raised:” and that the 
 “ precious metals, from obtaining more easily a general recognition of 
 their value, will always have a preference awarded them.” 
 
 The currency, then, must be adequate to represent and to transfer this 
 land and its productions from band to mum, and 11110 me mumnai treasury 
 of mutual protection. The principle is not new—it is older than rail¬ 
 ways—it is set forth, mufatis mutandis, in David llume and elsewhere; 
 and he, too, did not make it, but found it, and illustrated it. 
 
 The real property of Grc-at Britain is estimated at about 2,000,000,000/.; 
 its personal property at 2,-500,000,000/.; its population at about 30,000,000 
 souls: and all these vast elements of production and reproduction are 
 sought to be combined, adjusted, and made available, by a monetary in¬ 
 strument of, at the utmost. 30,000,000 of national notes, which are not 
 national, and 30,000,000 of pieces of grid, which are constantly flying 
 off to other countries, and thereby disturbing all our commercial and social 
 relations. 
 
 What principle guides 115 at present? The Government, happens to 
 owe to the Bank of England eleven millions of sovereigns, and it per¬ 
 mits the Bank to use its credit to something more than this amount. 
 If the Government hud happened to owe a hundred millions to the Bank, 
 it would have happened that the Bank might be allowed several times its 
 
Colonization Currency. 11 
 
 present credit; for, as to tlio restriction that issues above that amount 
 must bo convertible into tjoM, that is altogether rendered nugatory by the 
 permission to issue a single million ineonvertibly. So it happens; and 
 it might have otherwise happened. There is, therefore, no principle here 
 whatever. 
 
 The amount of 51. per head was not, in practice, found too little for 
 the last generation—how then, we tire asked, can a fraction of that pro¬ 
 portion satisfy the requirements of an age of tenfold energy and vigour, 
 of a population in the increased ratio of three to two? 
 
 Gold can never proportion itself to the requirements of society ; the 
 absolute quantity of gold bears no known relation to the absolute quantity 
 of wealth, in the shape of land, food, productions—natural and artificial— 
 within the country; and it is, moreover, within the country, ever varying 
 in amount; wealth being rightly described as the “ accumulation of the 
 products of appreciated genius, talent, and indus 
 
 i only be ob 
 Government. Li 
 represented; and 
 national property, 
 Great JJritain ] 
 of what A r oi 
 obstacle to a nati 
 
 iiolhh 
 
 t the 
 
 ” That proportion 
 md the authority of 
 must be artificially 
 iul representation of 
 
 ses hundreds, yea, thousands, of millions of acres 
 :tly and parenthetically referred to as the grand 
 destruction by its Government—noun usd. It, 
 possesses thousands ot square miles of territory, stretching over every 
 line of longitude east and west of Greenwich. Within these islands the 
 Crown owiis a tax revenue of some 50,000,000/. per annum—without 
 and beyond our shores, in the colon// of Ireland as well as in the colonies 
 of New Zealand and America, the proper combination of the elements of 
 production would realise for the British nation an imperial rent-roll of 
 immeasurable amount. But its lands are left in a state ol unproductive 
 wilderness, and what ought to be its greatest and most boasted treasure 
 —its population—is for the most part wallowing in poverty, ignorance, 
 and misery. So much for our land; so much for our labour; while our 
 realised capital, in Ihe same manner, is equally inoperative; for the in¬ 
 strument which should represent it, and aid its transfer from one person 
 to another; its dispersion from the great stagnant reservoir to the cisterns 
 of Ihe community: is ludicrously inadequate. 
 
 How to adjust the relations of these three elements; how to combine 
 them for the national benefit; how to diffuse the results of their combi¬ 
 nation; is the prime province of the statesman. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 OPINIONS OF F.AIU. GHKV, AN11 SUMMARY Of KVIMWOB OK Till; sriMRCT or 
 
 1.—Opinions of Hurl Grey. 
 
 1. The tie.-.patches to and from Earl Grey, in relation to this subject, to which 
 wo would first of all direct attention,.extend over the present year, the first 
 bearing dale the 31 st December, ISIfi, 
 
14 Railway Colonization and a 
 
 (purcd, to carry into immediate effect one of these colonization railway?, would, 
 on the part of Earl Grey, he indeed to “keep the word of promise to the ear, 
 and break it to the hope,” 
 
 II.—Evidence of J. R. Gadlnj , Esq. 
 
 1. John Robert Godlev, Esq., is the son of a landed proprietor 
 counties of Leitrim and Meath. lie resided for live months in America, 
 and has devoted much attention to the subject of systematic colonization 
 
 2. Mr. Godley was the chief promoter of a system of colonization, f 
 in a memorial to the Prime Minister some months airn. 
 
 3. Mr. Godley*? memorial to Lord John Russell was very numerously 
 fluentially subscribed by the landlord? an 
 it embodied were—that emigration is absoh 
 any measures that may be adopted to relieve the Irish popula 
 productive works in Ireland, or otherwise; and that the disc 
 landlord and tenant in that unhappy country cannot he perm 
 unless in connection with such a large emigration as shall p 
 consolidation of farms, and reduction of excessive competi 
 market; that a little emigration is, in truth, a dangerous lb 
 pletely inoperative, except as respects the comfort of the emig 
 public works in Ireland, of themselves, only tend ultimately 
 enhance the evil they temporarily remedy. It was suggested 
 Company should be encouraged to undertake a scheme of col 
 bonuses— ol. per head for every emigrant family settled in th 
 head for passage-money. 
 
 4. The principles propounded also embraced what 
 man Catholic patriarchalism. Each body of eiutariv 
 spiritually governed, by a priest, with 
 
 tn Irish Income-tax. 
 
 'bility o 
 
 rlit rail a sort of Ii 
 la; accompanied, a 
 endowment by the State, to bon-p: 
 
 alternative of Irish migrat 
 wliieh can liardlv lie oxagt 
 G. The United States a 
 sequence of their superior 
 . cation by railways or other 
 of towns and pities, seeurii 
 even the most promising s 
 
 . Mr. Codley w 
 
 n to England— 
 
 md physi, 
 
 
 towards any system which should cmhrac 
 should possess the five pre-requisites of r 
 
 8. With the present public economy of Car 
 immigration of 40,000 souls per annul 
 tngeonsly absorbed in British North Ann 
 
 III.—Evidence of George Peodiciion, Esq. 
 
 1. Mr. Pemberton settled in Canada, in 181G, and Ids evidence is the result 
 of 30 years’ experience as a merchant in the district of Quebec, where be was 
 largelv engaged in the export of timber; a landowner to a moderate extent ; 
 and a member of the Executive and Eegislat ive Councils. lie also visited many 
 parts of Upper Canada, the United States, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, 
 and had given a good deal of consideration to the subject of the condition of 
 emigrants. 
 
n equal voice) mode- 
 land sales go into the 
 d out in roads through 
 )egun to contribute to 
 it large tolls also are 
 oceeds of sales should 
 Mr. Pemberton thinks 
 or the employment of 
 
 '7* 
 
 y having been settled 
 trs Emigration Agent, 
 Indian aifairs. [Mr. 
 the Indian tribes, and 
 excursions and other- 
 
 1846, 9,000 landed at 
 England; 4,500 pro- 
 
4. By this system lie has greatly promoted the benefit of his tenants, as well 
 as improved his properly. Many purchase within fifteen years, though some 
 prefer to pay the rent, ami among these are men now of large property. No 
 sober and industrious man, with 10/. to begin with, has failed to realise. 
 
 5. The other grantees, including Lords Melville, Westmoreland, and Selkirk, 
 and Sir George Seymour, have invested largely, with the view of promoting 
 settlement, but had not benefited themselves; although Major Head has 
 asserted that, with proper cultivation, the island might support, by agriculture 
 
 alone, ten times the present population. 
 
 6. Mr. Cunard does not think that there is any field for public works as a 
 means of extensive employment, either in roads or docks, though he admits that 
 he has himself effected much by road-making, is ready to receive 1,000 tenants 
 
22 
 
 Railway Colonization and a 
 on the liberal terms above indicated, and that the fisheries are vastly productive. 
 Indeed, he says, “ I do not know how it is we do not use the benefits lying at 
 our door.” There are few mineral productions. 
 
 7. In Cape Breton coal is abundant, equal to Newcastle, and used for the 
 steamers; competing advantageously with that of Pennsylvania, which is 
 anthracite, the Cape Breton being bituminous. 
 
 8. Mr. Cunard had established a sort of savings’-bank principle with liia 
 colliers, deducting 10 per cent, from their wages as a reserve fund to be invested 
 in land—a plan which had been highly useful. 
 
 9. Bailways would greatly stimulate colonization; and, in conjunction with 
 these, thousands of families might be absorbed at Miramichi and Eastern Heiv 
 Brunswick in logging, lumbering, and shipbuilding. 
 
 10. As a commercial speculation, he cannot speak confidently as to the Hali¬ 
 fax and Quebec Railway; but it would give employment to thousands of 
 families—the nucleus of a village might be formed at every station. As a mili¬ 
 tary road also, and for imperial purposes, the object is valuable ; the commerce 
 of Canada would traverse it in the winter, anil it would tend to consolidate 
 British North America. Halifax is the termination of the Atlantic voyage, and 
 the naval depot. 
 
 11. The St. Andrew’s and Quebec Railway would certainly benefit Hew 
 Brunswick, and passes through a fine and valuable country ; but Mr. Cunard 
 thinks it is too near the boundary, and, in the event of war, might be seized by 
 the States and destroyed. The frontier ought to be defended by fortifications. 
 [We need scarcely say that we here dissent in toto. A railway along the 
 boundary would be the best of all defences in the event of a war, accompanied 
 by a line of blockhouses. The rapid intercommunication for troops would 
 increase a hundred-fold their effective force.] 
 
 12. Mr. Cunard does not consider that there is any more danger in naviga¬ 
 tion between Halifax and Boston than from England to Halifax. The insurance 
 is about the same to Boston as to Halifax. 
 
 13. As respects emigration, something might be saved by having the port of 
 embarkation in the west of Ireland; but the use of steamers—though shortening 
 the voyage from 44 days to a week—would be too expensive for that purpose. 
 Government, however, have steamers employed merely for exercise round the 
 coast; why not (says Mr. Cunard) send them to Halifax with 1,000 emigrants. 
 But, he concludes, “ it would be wrong in me, perhaps, to suggest that the 
 Admiralty would not like this.” 
 
 VI.—Evidence of J. 3. TJniuche, Esq. 
 
 1. Mr. t'niacke has been a member of the Provincial Parliament since 1830. 
 His father was Attorney-General of the province. 
 
 2. The emigration into Xova Scotia, chiefly to Cape Breton and the eastern 
 counties, is very small—in 1843, 650; in 1S46, 698. Much of the land is in the 
 hands of grantees, many of them official; or possessed by squatters on suffer¬ 
 ance. The emigration is mainly composed of the friends of existing settlers. 
 The emigration^ at present, could hardly be increased to more than 1,000 
 annually. Colonization is not a favourite subject in the colony. The Irish, 
 I'renclij German, and Scotch keep distinct; but there is little sectarian 
 separation. 
 
 3. The Irish make good emigrants. They can live as well in Nova Scotia on 
 lOd. a day as in Ireland : and, as their wages are 2s. 6d. sterling a day, they are 
 soon enabled to save and buy land. 
 
 4. On the collieries in Cape Breton wages reach os. Gd. a day. Cape Breton 
 coal finds a market in the provincial settlements in the United States and West 
 
5. The Halifax and Quebec Railway, now under survey, would 
 to open and develope the country, by tin-owing unsettled lands int 
 Of this line 115 miles would be in If ova Scotia, extending fro: 
 Bay Verte. It would tend to make Halifax a great seaport town; 
 ble at all seasons, and possesses a very fine harbour. 
 
 6. As regards comparative distances and freights from Halifax, 
 ports of the United States, in the event of the formation of railv 
 coast to the St. Lawrence, Mr. Uniacke’s evidence exhibits the folio 
 tions:—Halifax to Montreal, 700 miles, 28 hours; Boston to 1 
 miles, 14 hours; Boston, 500 or 600 miles further front England 
 Boston, one week’s sail, or 40 hours by steam. 
 
 7. The freight of a barrel of flour from Cleveland to Hew York 
 Boston, 6s.; to Montreal, 2s. lid.; Montreal to Quebec, 3s. Id. 
 Halifax, by railway, 3s. 4d.; Montreal to Halifax, 6s. 5d. 
 
 8. The transit duty through the United States is 24 per cent 
 a railway through Hew Brunswick, would counterbalance the abt 
 of charges. 
 
 9. There is a more friendly feeling on the part of British Am 
 the Western States than the Eastern, and a railway would pro 
 bring the trade of the Western States, the granaries of Ohio, &c 
 and this even with the competition of United States’ Railways. 
 
 10. The opening of a railway would give such an enhanced 
 alternate reserved territories of the Government as woidd pay i 
 would throw lands into the market for sale and lease on more reas 
 and would open markets in every direction for agricultural pro 
 
 11. Ho coal has been found north of the St. Lawrence; the c< 
 
 America competes favourably with that of the States, even under : 
 of 4s. a ton; it is sold at the mines at 32s. a ton. 
 
 12. Mr. Uniaeke acted as the Honorary Secretary to the Committee of the 
 Halifax and Quebec Railway at Halifax! A public meeting took place in 
 Halifax in November, 1845, when resolutions were passed in support of the