The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-02 00:00:00

THE CANADAS.

[We have much pleasure in inserting the following
from an old friend and most enterprising man.—ED.
SUN.]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR, —I have now been here nearly six weeks, and dur-
ing the entire time I may say I have been continually
in motion, both in Canada and the United States ;
and as, in all my journeys, I have made it my
business to converse with a large number of persons
of all sizes and conditions, I think I have acquired
a considerable amount of knowledge of the resources of
this continent. The more I see of it the more I am
surprised and gratified. It is indeed a wonderful
continent. The eastern portion of the United States is
undoubtedly in advance of the Canadas in point of pro-
gress, but the natural resources of the latter are un-
doubtedly the greater. The complete system of rail-
ways that we have now in progress will totally revolu-
tionise the British portion of the continent in a -very few
years, and open out resources that are only waiting for
the construction of the railways to be developed. The
two great elements of Canada's prosperity are timber and
corn ; the latter is immense, but the former is inex-
haustible. In one region alone, that of the Ottawa
River, there are at present 80,000 square miles, almost
all of which is covered with the finest pine and other
timbers ; and it is calculated that if only one pine tree
per acre be cut down each year from these forests, there
is enough to yield double the quantity now taken out
annually for 500 years to come. But a large quantity
of this land will be rapidly cleared of its timber, and
then brought into cultivation for wheat, Indian corn,
potatoes, &c. The land already cleared in the district
is most productive, and I have seen large farms there
as orderly and as beautifully kept as anything I have
ever witnessed in the old country.'
Such things as beggars and poor-houses are utterly
unknown in this country, and from the moment an emi-
grant and his family land they have employment at what
in Ireland at least would be considered gigantic wages.
2s. 6d. a day is the lowest that a labourer gets ; and
when lie has been a short time in the country, and that
he has got some animal food into him, those wages be-
come ss. a day.
If the whole of Ireland were to come here there would
be employment for every one of them, for the emigrant's
labour is capital that enriches not only the man himself
and his employer, but also the country, inasmuch as a
labouring man can live right well (with meat in abun-
dance two or three times a day) for less than one half
his earnings. The Canadian population are truly Bri-
tish in their feelings, and whatever might have been the
wish of some of them to " annex" themselves to the
United States a few years ago, that delusion has com-
pletely vanished. This change is caused not only by
the advance that has taken place, but is also rapidly
progressing in the material interests of the province, but
also because the people enjoy a most complete form of
constitutional government. It in every respect re-
sembles our own. The Governor-General (Lord Elgin
at present, admirably suited for his office) is in the
light of the Queen, and he must form his Ministry
from the party forming the majority in the House
of representatives. 'Whereas the Legislative Assembly
resembles the House of Peers to the extent that its
members (the number of whom is undefined) are elected
for life.

The chief complaint of the Canadians against Great
Britain is not a great one after all It is simply that
England knows nothing about them. I tell them this
is a complaint that will soon be remedied ; for that as
ElOOll as it is known that Canada is really deserving of
being pushed, and that investment here will repay, we
shall be sure to have abundance of English capital.
It is a curious and, at the same time, significant
fact, that numbers of United States citizens are emi-
grating into Canada, as affording a finer field than
their own country for making money. This is espe-
cially the case in the timber regions that I have just
alluded to. They make capital settlers in a new country,
for the example of their energy and go-aheadism spreads
throughout the entire district in which they settle. They
also become right good subjects of Queen Victoris. By
the bye, the popularity of the " Little Queen" (as she
is almost universally called by Americans) is extraor-
dinary. They (the United States people) are universally
loud in her praise for her qualities, both as a mother, as
a woman, and as a Queen. But perhaps the fact that
she has not received Mrs. Beecher Stowe at Court has
in some degree contributed to produce this effect. I
have conversed with many people belonging both to the
slavery and to the non-slavery states. The former
would naturally be pleased, but even the latter say (and
some of the people in the abolition states are much more
bitter against slavery than English persons) that it is
bad taste on the part of English ladies to interfere with
the internal and domestic arrangements of a foreign
state ; but, say they, the Queen has refused to take a
part on one side or the other, and in that way she shows
not only her good sense but her good feeling.
To revert for a moment to that part of this long and
rambling letter relative to the Ottowa River district,
I should mention to you that there is not the slightest
exaggeration in stating that there are at least 50,000
sites for water-mills, with any amount of power—for the
whole country is one continuous ascent, and the rivers
are constantly hemmed in by gigantic rocks and islands,
so as to form innumerable water-falls, varying in height
from 2to 25 feet Every one of these will come into
operation, as the railways are constructed that will
enable the produce of the districts to be removed.
You will see by the enclosed paragraph, which I shall
feel greatly obliged if you will insert in The Sun, that
we have no desire to have gold discoveries here. In
fact they would annihilate all the prospects of prosperity
now in store for the Canadas.—Yours truly,
Montreal, 25th July, 1853. C. P. R.

MR. PIISEY.—Mr. Pusey, the celebrated agriculturist,
and President of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, is at present sojourning in Edinburgh, and is
about to make several short agricultural tours in the
neighbourhood.
RIBBONISM.—It is reported that a special commission
will be issued ere the close of the present month for the
counties of Monaghan, Louth, and Antrim, for the trial
of the gangs of Ribbon conspirators that are now in
custody.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PUBLIC) SERTICES.—On Thurs-
day evening last, the inhabitants of the " Ward of
Coleman-street" assembled together to present to Mr. S.
Read, of London Wall, who, with his wife, her mother,
and his eleven children, will sail in a day or two for
Adelaide, Australia, mementoes of the respect and regard
he has won amongst his neighbours and friends by a
faithful and highly efficient performance of the duties of
an overseer, an auditor, and likewise as one of the guar-
dians of the parish at the City of London Poor-law
Union Board, of which he has been for some years one
of the vice-chairmen. The tokens comprised a purse of
100 guineas unanimously voted in vestry, also of another
purse containing 272 guineas, raised by voluntary con-
tributions amongst the parishioners and his friends,
together with three splendidly-bound Bibles from one of
the inhabitants. The several offerings were accom-
panied by a vote of thanks, handsomely written, framed,
and glazed, expressive of the great gratitude felt towards
Mr. Read, for his efficient public services, accompanied
by the best wishes of the parishionersfor the future
welfare of himself and family in the far distant land of
their destination. On Tuesday last a similar presenta-
tion to the extent of 50 guineas was made to Mrs. Read,
by the chairman and other members of the board of
guardians of the city of London Union.
ANOTHER POSTAL ANOMALY.—A remarkable illustra-
tion of the injustice arising from the present rate of
foreign postage has just occurred. We find in the Times
of August 20 that the mail just brought by the screw
steam-ship Harbinger, from Australia, was the largest
ever landed at Southampton. It consists of 250 boxes
and bags of letters and newspapers. As there is no con-
tract existing between the Government and the General
Screw Steam-ship Company for conveying letters be-
tween this country and Australia, the Harbinger's mails
all come under the designation of ship-letter bags, and
the letters are charged to the public at the rate of Bd.
per half ounce, instead of ls., which would be the case
if conveyed by postal contract. Of this Bd. 4he Post-
office appropriates 6d. to itself for merely distributing
the letters throughout the kingdom (an operation per-
formed for id. in the case of inland letters), and pays
2d. each to the ship. Thus the General tost.office
charges three times as much for merely delivering the
letters to the public as is appropriated to the vessel for
bringing the mails by steam from the Antipodes ! Now,
suppose the case of some poor peasant, in a neighbouring
Hampshire village, receiving one of these letters from
his son, just landed at Melbourne ; the Post-office would
mulct him of 6d. for conveying the letter fourteen miles,
whilst the proprietors of the Harbinger had conveyed it
14,000 miles for 2d, If each one of the 450,000 letters
contained in this great mail could be followed to its re-
spective destination, the amount of hardship inflicted
upon the friends of poor emigrants would be found to be
so great that it would present an irresistible plea for an
ocean penny postage.