American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-10-07
Canada.

Political matters among our neigh
bors across the line are unusually mix
ed, and a contemplation of the causes
will be interesting to Americans. Can
ada has large territory and small pop
ulation. The area of country included
in the present Dominion extends from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, comprising
all of British North America except the
island of Newfoundland. The total
population is scarcely more than one to
each square mile of the total territory.
For years the several provinces were
direct dependencies of England, and
the home Government. But under con-
federation, while certain supervision
is retained by England, yet the Cana
dams are thrown entirely upon their
own resources. By confederation a
costly railway from below Quebec to
Halifax, Nova Scotia, was essential.
This road has cost some twenty-five
millions of dollars and does not pay
running expenses. Then the Govern
| ment made an agreement to build Pa
ciic railway of 5000 miles long, to ex-
tend from the Ottawa River to the Pa
cific Ocean. This agreement was a
condition on which the little colony of
British Columbia consented to join the
others. If carried out in its entirety it
will bankrupt Canada, and if not car
ried out the British Columbians threat
en- to leave the confederation, and thus
break up the compact. The present
Dominion have a difficult task.
They have an annual expenditure of
some twenty-five millions of dollars,
which is constantly increasing; they
have debt of one hundred and fifty
millions, and undertakings for public
works sufficient to make it over two
hundred millions. From 1867 to 1878
they had no trouble, for money was
easy and easily borrowed. But now
general depression has settled over the
country, the community in British Co
lumbia insult the Governor General, and
demand the pound of flesh, in the shape
of a railway which they never can build,
while in the older provinces they have
undertaken a vast canal system, which
alone will cost thirty to forty millions
of dollars. Then there is danger deep
err than arises from the outskirts. The
Province of Ontario, formerly Upper
Canada, has a much larger population
than any other of the components of
the Dominion, and its tax-paying pro-
portion is even greater than its pre-
dominance in population. The people
are as intelligent and well informed as
any community of equal extent in any
country, and since confederation they
have frequently found the representa-
tives of poorer provinces combining
against, them to construct expensive
public works in out of the way places, OF
which Ontario paid seventy per cent.
and received no possible benefit.
Canada is combination of people
only bound together, by sentiment of
loyalty to the British crown. Its people
do not trade largely together, except
those of Ontario and Quebec. 1t has
vast system of local governments, and
over all a general parliament OF two
hundred and six members in one house
and eighty in another, with cabinet
of thirteen members, and costly de-
partment service. Ithas altogether too
large an engine for the work to be done,
and the people who pay for it begin to
see it. Its debt is already as large per
head as ours, with no such cause for its
creation. Its ratio of expenditure is
fully as great, and constantly increas-
ing. If the small colonies should drop
off we believe the older provinces would
eventually feel rejoiced, and in the end
would be glad that their miniature ma
ton had seen its day. We look for an
exciting session of the general parlia-
ment this winter, and for radical
changes within short time in the whole
Chicago Post.
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