The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1863-06-15

The weekly steamers at Quebec and the
large number of merchant ships at Montreal,
all bringing large numbers of immigrants, do
not wonderfully build up the population of
Canada, but nine-tenths Of them-so we were
told by one well posted, in Montreal-make as
little delay as possible in the provinces, and set
their faces unflinchingly for the fat praires and
inviting soils of the great Northwest. In this
the Canadas are disappointed. Jonathan
thrives under the misfortunes of war; John
Bull stands still amid the halcyon moments of
profound peace!
Z. But then Jonathan is terribly taxed! And
are not the Canadians taxed? Who says they
are not? Last year the public expenditures,
with no extraordinary draft upon the excheq-
uer, were not less than 13,oO0,0OO, while the
public revenues, from all sources, were less
than s 100000. How long can she go on
spending nearly double her income, and her
people remain untaxed? Recently she abated
the tolls upon her canals around the rapids of
the st. Lawrence, but now the question of re-
imposition of tolls is one that is staring the
statesmen squarely in the face.
Yet, it is said, the States are terribly in
debt; the war is crushing them with its heavy
burden And who will say that Canada is free
from debt or freer than her neghbors? Do
our readers know the extent of the public
debt of Canada? If not they will be amazed
at the magnitude of the sum. 1t is already
not less thanEs II 900 900 equal to debt for
our Government of s2,000,000,0O0! And yet
the Canadians talk Of our public debt, and
our taxes, which are so light that we scarcely
feel them.
Our people have just cause to be proud of
their heritage. The lines of life have fallen to
them in pleasant places We are suffering
from a surfeit of good things. We send of our
abundance to feed the starving subjects of the
British Crown. The Canadas, rich in natural
resources, are cursed with poverty. The low
er province is largely populated by shiltless,
loose, ignorant population, without energy,
without enterprise, and they are held in vassal-
age to spiritual domination that is not very
friendly, to say the least, to great mental and
physical development.
The upper province is one ofnature's favor
ed localities. Under the stars and stripes,
with her free churches and free schools, her
open bibles and inquiring minds, she would be
the rival Of Western New York, Ohio and
Michigan. But she is clogged by the "Con-
servatives" of the east. With much larger
population than the eastern province, and in
creasing at a much more rapid rate, she can
have only an equal voice in the councils of
tba Stata The e,,ast;ar # communicative
based on population is one now pushing for
solution. Canada West insists upon it; Can
ada East resists it. Then the school question
is becoming a troublesome one. A portion OF
the Crown Lands are consecrated to educa-
tional purposes. Canada West, with her
protestant population, demands that the school
fund shall not be divided between religious
sects. Her statesmen point proudly to New
England and New York for the glorious
workings of a free universal school system.
Canada East, with her priesthood and cathol-
icism, demands a division of the fund, and
this is likely to be one of Canada's vexed ques-
tons. The elements of dscord-possibly of
disunion-are rife on the North as well as at
the South of us. The exact end it may be
difficult to forecast. We have said Canada is
poor. Millions have been exhausted-squan-
dered would be a better word-upon her pub
lie buildings, and now she suffers for the means
to make those buildings-her asylums partic-
ularly = answer the full purpose for which
they were designed. But her day of deliver
ance and salvation may yet come; how or
when precisely we dare not predict.