The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-11-27
CANADA AND OUR COUNTRY.
A IDISP.4sSIOyATE Study OF THE
QUESTIONS BEFORE THE CANADIANS
WHICH THEY MUST ANSWER.

Political Cui0n, HeclprOctty, sommerc's'
Uatou, Annexationy They Havo Been
Growing Harder TO Answer for an HIM
dred Years-Now They Must he An
s,xered-Attempts Made TO Stavo OF the
Day or soiution-Some Endeavcrs 10
solve tho Problems - Cnnnda's Present
Condition. Political and financiai-her
snnu,te.lmni Incrense in Population, Her
unormou. Isubiic Indebtedness - Mr..
B,nIe.s suu,"ing Up Against Sir John
Mncdona,d'- " National Policy"
Tvrosro. Nov g5.-1; ia n old saying that In
times %; distress, mems minds are nrt to get
rsyolu,i ,nary twist. Canada has boon suffer-
ing from commercial depression since the last
Of her great public works. the Canadian
Pacific was finished. in 1885: ard while on tho
surface thers Ii no sign OF nny revolutionary
acheunos hey oud the establishment OF q Poiiti-
cal Union CLUB in Toronto anu the advocacy OF
pnl,,ic,i unitn with the United states by sew
.-nl nrsspnpcrs, t.ench as well as English.
there is n profound feeling OF unrest among
thu peoplr From the first. tho country has
besn severed commercially from tho continent
to which II belongs. and such spurts OF prosper
tty ma !. has enjoyed have been due In tho main
TO the syrenl. urs ot borrowed money. Cana
da's most ,,r,syer,as tima was from 1880
100 Oman. tho existence OF tho Marcy ElEn
recipr,ri- = ttn..y, which gave her iree entry
into IN, tni,el h.ateS FOR her natural prod
nets rhr ;'gilnrnn wax in 1862 and the
war ~ the rebellion. from 1861 to 1850. helped
10 swell her exports in that reriol anu eNalt
their pric.. rafting those exceptional condi-
tiona aside. sha has never progressed very
rapidly save under the stimulus OF loans, anu
IL happens that the point has been reached
when fur,hcr borrowing on heroic scale
might prove dangerous.
Before giving the views OF prominent Cana
dams upon III, question OF Political Union. 1t
will he necessary for the benefit OF tho Amer
lean reader to describe MS briefly us possible
how tho state Of things Just referred t. has
come about, and to furnish some account OF
the situation in general.
IHE DOMINION.
Tho dominion possesses n greht abundance
Of natural resources Deposits of coal. iron.
and limestone lie side by side in Nova Scotia
and British Coucib iu. There are 10000 square
miles OF hituminous Goa. In those two prov
tncs. aud $4,000 OF liguite in tho Northwest
Tori ori,s. Iron. nickel. "copper" salt. and
phosrhates abound in Ontario nnl Quebec:
there il petroleum in Western Ontario and the
Clasp peninsula. and an immense field of 1t
In tho TERRITORIES: plumbnGo. State. building
stone. and materials for making brick.
quantities: no country contains greater or
moro numerous wnter powers: the forests OF
vhta nine and spruce arc the most extensive
OF their kind anywhere: there are rich fish
cries on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. and
richer still in Iiudson's Fay. with vast tracts
Of friti'o pyairie land in Manitoba and the
Terr.t,ii.S but all this potential wealth. be-
ing slut ont Of its natural market in tho
United States. is OF little practical value. Tho
people are law-a abiding. thrifty. Intelligent.
anil within the limits OF their narrower hori-
zoB. Just as enterprising as the people OF the
United States: but their efforts to foster trade
betwsen scattered provinces lying within tho
same high latitude have not come to much.
and they are being drained Of thelr best blood
by the enormous flow OF population into the
United States. which their commercial isola-
tion entails.
How largo tho exodus. as 1t Is called. has be-
come may be gathered from the Canadian
blue books. At the census Of 1881 the popula-
ton OF the Dominion was 4325,OOO. At the
census OF 1901 it was 4.S33.0OO. Between
ana @ Hs ESFops n
cured at cost OF three million dollars. Tho
natural increase may 10 pu. at 4 per cent.
ropuI"ti latte in ISL Ought to have shown nus
WSsSes. wss on eat
million Of native and European-bo born Cana
% have Se s p n
worse than dsport 100000 of the choicest men
and women every year. Annexatton could not
northern peoples will always tui.l their faces
to the sun. but it would certainly diminish it
by lettering the economic environment.
THE QUESTION OF EMIGRATION.
The drain is perhaps the most severe from
the Province Of Quebec. The French Canndi.
ans are ffoeking into NeW England by thou.
early and not Being hauntel BY The Tear y'" d
having 70 make an eIal dyisiop q their prom
COUNT Tor lie smaIInsss q tho family in r. rur u
sss ' s as. S @ SSBRR nfo4
rss:ives fsrss "aSber q ssttsrs from ,f Hu
Scotia; New Branswicki and Prince Edi%ard
aniy From issS e 1890 the Isss Sss
hi ts SsK HrsapH stsSs
II. Manitoba. tho Territories and british
Columbia. the newer portions Of the Domin.
Ion, show n good increase. though tho per.
portions Of the United states. The S stats o. d
sos .han tho Whos Do%nea
The percentage re o. inGrslse IN thrf23uEan1ut the
:a H"asi IN ss one Knows nSss.
ths percentage tends to diminish as popula
ton expands.
Meanwhile tho debt Of Canada has grown
with ominous rapidly. In 1871. four year.
uercnrfsierati ion. the net Federal debit wa:
$7s,OOn.UO. and the popM!!tion. according t,
DEBT per head s2l.50. In ls,l. with n, popu'
lAtton ~ +.Si3OW. the net Federal debt was
Sl:bS.tEO OO. or nearly $50 per hru,!. On III,
other hand. between 1877 and 1871 the Unite,
states paid OH m less tlap sixteen hundred
millions of Federal debt. reducing the dob
per head from S57 to Sl33O
Oi lats some Of tn" Canadian provinces have
contracted debts a their own amounting. {
S2'iUUkN net There are no returns Of thu
m .nlciral indet tedness of Canada. but il j.
hunvy. In Ontario the municipalities have fol
lowed the example OF the Fedora ant
Provincial Govern mants. and hurdeno! t,em
selves nv voting subventiuns to railroads b."
snles bonuning factories uni other local pro
lecis. I'll. I'd ,rnl and Provincial debts aion,
represent a liability per henh Of 400, wherens
lc'Or,iinR to the census bulletins OF rs a. th'
fe Ieral Stntc. county. muufrpi! ana srhop
druts, all put together. OF the American leo
rlr M cunt to less than S:;3 per head. Tn,
dent.h Tearing capacity q thn, Ameri"anI Is o
COURSE. greater than that ~ thu Cnnndan-
the,,. again. wIiio the Canadian don't IL con
Giant ) mounting urwarH tie Indebtedness, o
the United STATES Is Diminishing and THE
I-dera portion ot it Will PROBABLY DO en-
tinguiHhel before ion:.
Tni. IL why Canadians are alan med Theil