New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-09-12

THE EFFECT OF POLITICAL AND COM
MDRCIAL ISOLATION.


EMIGRATION TO TIE UNITED STATES NJ"
DEEMED INEviTABLE-THE CANA
DIAN FRENCnMAN's SKILL
,n,pr,nILIrY AND THRIFT
Quebec, Sept. 9-When Newt ranoc wa" ,bers
,endorcd N England after Wolfes Vic,ois' NV. s
90 ooo ,,ersors in the colony There hau
80 mo eoicraton worth speaking vi ii'i'
So o,,or l102 There has been none sin'0
-, - LID conquest in 1890. NevertheioSS
,he French "a nadians in Canada ana 'he =.
States pow number over 2,poooV"' i'"N -,
~, estimated that there were near n'''i'
Eno,isb souls" in the American coioncc' anu VIZ
NOT more than 10000 persons hao come !" ~
GOO from the first outflow from ola 10 ave"
C"u,and Tbr Frcnch-Canadians have, there-
fore. multiplied much faster than tne Ai,'eii0"n
no,onists did. The conditions of life have changed
~. .ho h.tter AZ course: but making allowance
o., that the fecnndity of the French has been
.orotbinc marvellous. Until lately, many OF
,bem entertained the hope that French Cahaoa
r;cht some day become an independent nation
The 0ospcl of natonalism, of partcularsm wac
preached by such journals as :" La Neri'e' vi
oucbec. and "L'Etcrdard." of Montreal. as well
az by politicians like Mr.. MERCER but 'he
STAMPEDE to the United States Is taking inc
heart out of the Nationalists Nj. Mcrcier'
elected from Office few months ago. says he
shall not return TO pnblic life except TO advoca'c
the political union OF Canada with the Lhi'eo
States. or lend hand in campaign Tor Sc
curing the independence OF Canada, which "oui"
he long step toward political union.
In 1865 French Canadian startled the Jana
dian Parliament by stating that $4,000 french
Canadians had enigratcd to the United Sta'eo
durinr the previous twelve months. Canada wa9
then arranging for Confederation, which was 10
DO a cure-all and in the debate it was agreed tha'
the exodus would be checked by the construction
of local railways and by the opening OF the mar
kets Of the maritime provinces to the french |ah"
dian farmer. Instead Of abating the exodus mas
steadily increased. From forty to fifty thousand
French Canadians will cross the line this year
The maritime markets are of no use TO the haoi-
tant. for the maritime farmer raises the same sort
OF crops: and the building Of branch railways mas
done little more than furnish the people WIN
cbeap means Of egress The American market rs
the natural market of French Canada, and so long
az the French are excluded from it or have to pay
toll in order to get into it, just long will the
rush of population across the frontier continue
A considerable number of those who go TO the
States in the spring return in the fall with their
earnings and spend the winter at home Inc
movement In that respect resembles the migration
of Irish harvest hands to England and OF Llmou-
sins and Auvcrsnats to Paris. But the great ma
iorty of the emigrants 20 to stay AS was sao
in former letter, they are beginning to- settle on
the abandoned farms of New-England. In the
Eastern part of the Province OF Ontario the SOL
is not much better than IL is on the hillsldes OF
New-Hampshire. Thirty years ago the french
Canadians began TO cross the Ottawa. River and to
take up lands on Which the Engllsh-speaklhg
farmers could not make living, and to-day they
linn elam of n.
They seem TO be about to repeat the process IN
New.England They say the natural fertilizers
discovered in Florida will enable them To ralse
good crops there better than all, they will escape
the Mckinley tariff which grinds their faces while
they remain in Quebec.
Some idea of the proportions OF the exodus
may be gathered from the bald statement that this
year it will carry of per cent Of the entire
French population of Quebec Province. If New
York State were losing per cent of its people
every year by emigration to foreign land, you
. would conclude that there was something radically
wrong lie Canadien." Montreal paper, keeps
two commissioners travelling from parish to parish
TO INQUIRE into the great flight" The other day
one of them visited the parish of Stc.-Lucc, in
the county Of Rimouski. The parish co5taincd
1905 persons at the last count in April, 1891,
but since September /, 1891 no fewer than Ids
have gone, over two-thirds of them to the United
States and the rest to other parts of Canada.
I'm old times those lower parishes grew nearly
oil the wheat consumed in the colony. OF late,
potatoes have been the staple crop. The soil is
good and an unlimited supply Of manure can be
had in the form of fish and seaweed from the
St. Lawrence Down TO 1890, the potatoes were
shipped to Boston and New York. where they easily
held their own against American potatoes, but the
duty of twenty-five cents per buslel has taken the
off fra1 is ire1 N
pay that toll that is, to accept the Boston price
less the duty, because the United States is his
only available market lie still sends his best
potatoes to Boston, but the second best have 10
I've sold at home and fetch more than from six
TO ten cents per bushel There is no money in
this, and so he is pulling up stakes and going
where he can raise potatoes and get living
price for them.
In paper which he published two or three
years ago, when he was Premier OF Quebec, Mr.
MERCER calculated that by the end Of 1891 there
would be 100000 French Canadians in Can
ada and million in the United States, the latter
figure. which looks large, including the children
born in the States 10 French Canadian parents
For time the Quebec Government attempted
TO "repatratc" the emigrants Agents were en-
ployed in Ncw-Englan1 to induce them TO return
and they were promised free grants Of land in
the newer parts of the Province. The scheme
has been abandoned Efforts were also made
10 turn the current of emigration from New
England to Manitoba and the territories be-
You'd, where the French Canadian voyageurs in
the employment of the fur companies had cstab-
lished settlements hundred years before; but
this, too, proved failure. In New England
they have their choice Of working in the factories
or of farming, whereas in Manitoba there is
nothing for them but whcat-growing in a sub
oil flroo of fiva
struck ny late early frosts. Besides, il is
far cheaper for French Canadian to move him.
self and his family TO New-Ensland In the
winter those who are thinking Of emigrating