It Is Not Uncommon For The Land Speculators To Sell A Farm To A
Respectable Settler At An Unusually Low Price, In Order To Give A
Character To A Neighbourhood Where They Hold Other Lands, And Thus
To Use Him As A Decoy Duck For Friends Or Countrymen.
There was very noted character at C - -, Mr. Q - -, a great
land-jobber, who did a large business in
This way on his own
account, besides getting through a great deal of dirty work for
other more respectable speculators, who did not wish to drink at
taverns and appear personally in such matters. To Mr. Q - - I
applied, and effected a purchase of a farm of one hundred and fifty
acres, about fifty of which were cleared, for 300 pounds, as I shall
mention more particularly in the sequel. In the meantime, the
character of this distinguished individual was - for he was long gone
to give an account of his misdeeds in the other world - so
remarkable, that I must endeavour to describe it for the edification
of the reader. Q - - kept a shop, or store, in C - -; but he left the
principal management of this establishment to his clerks; while,
taking advantage of the influx of emigrants, he pursued, with
unrivalled success, the profitable business of land-jobbing.
In his store, before taking to this business, he had been accustomed
for many years to retail goods to the farmers at high prices, on the
usual long credit system. He had thus got a number of farmers deeply
in his debt, and, in many cases, in preference to suing them, had
taken mortgages on their farms. By this means, instead of merely
recovering the money owing to him by the usual process of law, he
was enabled, by threatening to foreclose the mortgages, to compel
them to sell their farms nearly on his own terms, whenever an
opportunity occurred to re-sell them advantageously to new comers.
Thus, besides making thirty or forty per cent. on his goods, he
often realised more than a hundred per cent. on his land
speculations.
In a new country, where there is no great competition in mercantile
business, and money is scarce, the power and profits of
store-keepers are very great. Mr. Q - - was one of the most grasping
of this class. His heart was case-hardened, and his conscience, like
gum, elastic; it would readily stretch, on the shortest notice, to
any required extent, while his well-tutored countenance betrayed no
indication of what was passing in his mind. But I must not forget to
give a sketch of the appearance, or outward man, of this
highly-gifted individual.
He was about the middle size, thin and limber, and somewhat loose
in his lower joints, like most of the native Canadians and Yankees.
He had a slight stoop in his shoulders, and his long, thin neck was
continually stretched out before him, while his restless little
cunning eyes were roaming about in search of prey.
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