"Mr. Derby coolly discusses the question as to whether concession or
coercion will best succeed in inducing the British Provinces to 'come
over,' and his recipe for all outstanding grievances is the following.
He says, in his report of January 1st, 1866: -
"'And if as an inducement for this treaty and in settlement of Alabama
claims we can obtain a cession of Vancouver's Island, or other
territory, it will be a consummation most devoutly to be wished for.'
"Would our Government 'devoutly wish' such a consummation?
"Mr. O. S. Wood had to resign his position as manager of the Montreal
Telegraph Company: that was done by public opinion in Canada. But Mr.
Potter, who attends a meeting to enforce the annexation of a part of
the Queen's dominions, by the consent of the Washington Government, is
still Consul at Montreal.
"But what are these dominions which Mr. Potter would annex? Read what
Mr. Ward's Report of 1862 says: -
"'The great and practical value of the British North American Provinces
and possessions is seldom appreciated. Stretching from the Atlantic to
the Pacific Oceans, they contain an area of at least 3,478,380 square
miles - more than is owned by the United States, and not much less than
the whole of Europe, with its family of nations!
* * * * *
"'The climate and soil of these Provinces and possessions, seemingly
less indulgent than those of tropical regions, are precisely those by
which the skill, energy, and virtues of the human race are best
developed. Nature there demands thought and labour from man as
conditions of his existence, and yields abundant rewards to a wise
industry.'
"Specially, as regards Canada; let us recapitulate her progress, as
compared with that of her giant neighbour, the United States.
"During the interval between the last census and the preceding one
(1850-1860), the decennial rate of increase of population in Canada
exceeded that in the United States by nearly 51/2 per cent. - Canada
adding 40.87 per cent. to her population in ten years, while the United
States added only 35.58 per cent. to theirs. She brought her wild land
into cultivation at a rate, in nine years, exceeding the rate of
increase of cultivated lands in the United States in ten years by
nearly 6 per cent., - Canada in 1860 having added 50 acres of cultivated
land to every 100 acres under cultivation in 1851, while the United
States in 1860 had only added 14 acres to every 100 acres under
cultivation in 1850. The value per cultivated acre of the farming lands
in Canada in 1860 exceeded the value per cultivated acre of the farming
lands of the United States - the average value per cultivated acre in
Canada being $20.87 and in the United States $16.32. In Canada a larger
capital was invested in agricultural implements, in proportion to the
amount of land cultivated, than in the United States - the average value
of agricultural implements used on a farm having 100 cultivated acres
being in Canada $182 and in the United States $150. In proportion to
population, Canada in 1860 raised twice as much wheat as the United
States - Canada in that year raising 11.2 bushels for each inhabitant,
while the United States raised only 5.50 bushels for each inhabitant.
Bulking together eight leading staples of agriculture - wheat, corn,
rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, peas and bean, and potatoes, - Canada,
between 1851 and 1860, increased her production of these articles from
57 millions to 123 millions of bushels - an increase; of 113 per cent.;
while the United States in ten years, from 1850 to 1860, increased
their productions of the same articles only 45 per cent. In 1860 Canada
raised, of those articles, 49.12 bushels for each inhabitant, against a
production in the United States of 43.42 bushels for each inhabitant.
Excluding Indian corn from the list - Canada raised of the remaining
articles 48.07 bushels for each inhabitant, almost three times the rate
of production in the United States, which was 16.74 bushels for each
inhabitant. And as regards live stock and their products, Canada in
1850, in proportion to her population, owned more horses and more cows,
made more butter, kept more sheep, and had a greater yield of wool,
than the United States.
"Our British Government having thus allowed the treaty to expire, and
having thereby damped the energies of the colonies, and excited the
hopes of the Protectionist and Annexationist parties in the States,
what are we to do?
"In the first place, Parliament should express its condemnation of the
failure of the executive; in the second, its desire for peace and
fraternity with the United States; and in the third, its determination
to stand by the Queen's dominions on the other side of the Atlantic.
Language so just and so clear would lead to the inevitable result of
renewed negociation. But who should negociate? The incapable,
nonchalant people who have so signally perilled the interests of Great
Britain, - or new and capable men? Or should the whole state of our
relations with the United States be remitted to a plenipotentiary?
"What ought we to seek now to secure, in the interests of peace and
civilization?
"1. A neutralization of the 3,000 miles of frontier, rendering
fortifications needless.
"2. A continuance of the neutrality of the lakes and rivers bordering
upon the two territories.
"3. Common navigation of the lakes and the outlets of the sea.
"4. An enlargement of canals and locks, to enable the food of the west
to flow unimpeded and at the smallest cost direct in the same bottom to
Europe, or any other part of the world.
"5. Neutrality of telegraphs and post routes between the Atlantic and
Pacific, no matter on which territory they may traverse.
"6. A free interchange of untaxed, and an exchange, at internal revenue
duty rate only, of taxed, commodities.
