went to settle in Canada and elsewhere in the British Empire than in the United States or other foreign countries. All that was needed to secure that end was, he believed, that greater and more widespread knowledge of the enormous advantages and possibilities of the country should be circulated. His remarks applied not only to agriculture, but to the lumber industry. Lumber lands were being acquired by syndicates of United States capitalists, while they were practically unnoticed by British capitalists. In various industries, too, the moment the cute Yankee realised that there was a sufficient demand in Canada for a particular product, he immediately crossed over and established works in competition with English capitalists, and with the Canadians themselves. There were so many openings for the profitable investment of capital in Canada, that he thought it was of the highest importance they should be bronght more prominently before the investing public in this country. There was fruit cultivation, both in the maritime provinces and on the West Pacific Coast, which, when properly conducted, was found to be most prosperous. In the autumn of last year, when delegates went over to the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, they had a magnificent demonstration of the enthusiastic loyalty of the Canadian people to the British Empire. They went there to study how they could strengthen the commercial relations and increase the trade between the Mother Country and Canada. He was bound to confess that the present trade relations were not satisfactory. England took from Canada 23 million pounds a year of produce and goods, and did not tax them a single penny, but unfortunately Canada still taxed the 10 million pounds worth of goods England sent to the tune of two millions a year. He hardly called that reciprocity or fair trade, and, though England was grateful to them for the one-third rebate off their import duty, it hoped that in the near future Canada would feel itself able to make a substantially greater rebate. Then in the matter of imperial defence, England was spending 66 million pounds this year, or £1 12s. per head of the whole population; and beyond bearing the cost of their own militia, although the five million inhabitants of Canada enjoyed the benefit of that expenditure on imperial defence, he was sorry to say they did not give us any further contribution. Lord Brassey would be able to bear him out that there was a strong body of opinion in Canada that a reasonable contribution ought to be made. At the present moment Canada had infinitely the best of it so far as the trading were concerned, and in the matter of imperial defence, she received what might be regarded as a preferential tariff. With regard to the development of Canada, he suggested when he was out there that Canada should be ambitious enough to run a British Empire Exhibition five or six years hence. Canada was so prosperous when he was there that she had 13 million of dollars surplus in the exchequer, and the country was developing rapidly. A British Empire Exhibi tion, with a fast line of steamers previously established between England and Canada, would do more for the development of trade between the two countries than possibly anything else. Personally, he would infinitely rather that the British Government gave a substantial subsidy to a fast line of steamers between England and Canada than that they should have given the subsidy they had to the Cunard Company to run steamers to American ports; and he hoped some change in that direction would take place. With regard to the Canadian bounty system, they had heard how the bounty system had strangled the sugar trade in the West Indies, but the proceedings that were taken to put a stop to it had not been altogether successful. He was sorry to find that last year additional bounty Bills were passed through the Canadian Parliament. He thought a 20 per cent. duty was quite a sufficient drawback against English manufacturers in competition with enterprising Canadian manufacturers, but when he learnt that the iron and steel manufactures of Canada would proba. bly get two million of dollars bounty this year, he felt that that was a still further handicap which they would be glad to have removed. He believed in all fiscal matters being absolutely left in the hands of the Canadian Government; England preserved her right to make her own fiscal system, and Canada enjoyed the equal privilege of making her's; and, therefore, it was only by friendly reasoning, and by a consideration of all the pros and cons, that he thought relations might be arrived at which would be still more likely to promote increase of commerce between Canada and the Mother Country. Lord BRASSEY, K.C.B., said that having had a long, personal, and hereditary connection with Canada, he always endeavoured to be present on any occasion when the interests of Canada were under review, and by his presence to show his sympathy with and his earnest desire for the advancement of that great territory. The author had referred to Canada's growing prosperity. He could say something on the subject from personal experience. Many years ago, for a purely philanthropic purpose, he acquired a considerable holding of land in the vicinity of Indian-head and Qu-appelle Railway Stations. He sent out several hundreds of emigrants, and undertook farming on a large scale. For many years he failed to find purchasers for the land which he desired to dispose of, but that difficulty, he was happy to say, had now been entirely removed. It did not command the prices to which Mr. Griffith had referred, but he believed he was gradually liquidating the situation, although he did not charge interest on a long lockup. His emigrants had flourished as fully as he could have wished, but not in his employ. The scheme did not provide as fully as might have been desired for the conditions which obtained in Canada, and his emigrants arriving in the piping times of Canadian harvest, found they could do at that moment better elsewhere. He was glad to say that every one of them whose career he had been able to trace had succeeded, and, therefore, from a philanthropic point of view, the experiment left nothing to be desired. Farming was not altogether a success with him, but when the farmer was living in London and the farm was in the Far West of Canada the conditions could not be regarded as ideal. Not long ago he paid a visit to the locality, and found quite a number of people working on various scales as regards extent of holding, and was delighted to hear from everyone of them a cheerful tale. He was, therefore, able to bear out all the author had said with regard to the agricultural prosperity of Canada. Mr. Griffith referred to a rather difficult question, namely, the treaty-making power of Canada. England must be prepared to find, as the States of the Dominion increased in population and resources, and in all that constituted the greatness of the country, that Canada would desire that England should have less control over her local affairs. That would not imply less love for the Mother Country, or less determination to rally round the old flag when contingencies arose which called for the display of loyal sentiment. He believed the sentiment of Canada was voiced in the lines of the poet, which he remembered were quoted by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, in a speech delivered at Liverpool on one of the occasions when he was bidding farewell to England after a visit here: "Daughter am I in my mother's house, But mistress in my own." He did not apprehend that evil consequences would arise, such as they might deprecate, from a concession in the sense which he assumed was recommended by Sir Wilfrid Laurier. If the views to which Sir Wilfrid had been giving expression were accepted by the Government of the Mother Land, then it would follow that in treaties which mainly affected the local interests of Canada, the initial step would be taken by the responsible Ministers of Canada, and when they had advanced far enough in the negotiations, the matter must come before the Home Government. Any agreement would require the assent of the Crown, which would be given upon the advice of the constitutional advisers; and, therefore, in the second stage and not in the first, the responsible Ministers of the Crown at home would have a controlling voice in the policy of the Empire, even when the matters under treatment were essentially those of the local interests of one of the dependencies. Mr. Griffith spoke of more rapid steam communication between England and Canada, to the importance of which he (Lord Brassey) most heartily subscribed. He believed it would be a matter of wise policy on the part of the Government at home to be very liberal in the subsidy to a Canadian ocean mail service. Swift communication was one of the bonds of Empire, and he looked upon the proposal favourably from that point of view. He also regarded the establishment of such a line as valuable for the purpose of training officers and men as naval reservists. It was quite clear that the establishment of such a service would involve the building and maintenance in efficient working order of a number of vessels certain circumstances, be which would, under valuable from a naval point of view as the eyes of the fleet. He, therefore, hoped that the proposal would receive careful consideration. He was one of the tens of thousands in this country who had a warm regard for Canada, and he hoped that that great colony might ever flourish. Mr. W. T. R. PRESTON (Canadian Commissioner of Emigration) thanked Mr. Walton for his presentation of certain views which occurred to him during his visit to Canada. He was sorry, however, that while an annual interest was taken in Canada by some of the great societies no result apparently seemed to follow from the meetings. The paper was full of information for the consideration of the British public in respect to the colonies. A great many papers after they were read were consigned to oblivion, but he thought there was a sufficient audience present who would very gladly meet together for the purpose of finding a solution, from the British standpoint, of some of the questions which the author had presented. He could not altogether agree with the proposition that State-aided emigration would be wise. He agreed that there ought to be some kind of aided emigration in dealing with the congested population of this country, where there were so many who were crying out for work, who were anxious to do anything by which they might earn a competence for them. selves and their families and for whom no avenue seemed to be open. It might be said, why did not the Government provide some channel whereby that population could be transported to some place where they could get a living and provide an independence for their families? There were political aspects which made it a question of rather serious import. He did not know enough about British politics to speak definitely on the point, but the contingency was not improbable, that if there was State - aided emigration to Canada candidates might go to the constituents and intimate to voters that if they voted on certain lines they would be assisted to get to a country where they might find for themselves a competence which they could not find at home; and such a thing might take place in Canada as candidates for Parliament suggesting to voters that they would not be asked to return the money if they voted the right way. He did not believe in any kind of aided emigration which made an emigrant absolutely dependent. He hoped to see something of the kind carried through, but upon a broad and really solid financial and business basis, so that any money advanced should be returned by the emigrant to whom the favour had been granted. It was desirable to have a certain independent spirit which should be maintained all through one's life. He knew something about the working of great organisations in Europe, which, he thought, speaking to a Christian audience, ought to teach them many a lesson. He referred to the distribution of the funds of the late Baron Hirsch, by means of which there were gathered together Jews throughout the whole world who could not support themselves, who were assisted in emigrating to the various countries where they might obtain a living and an independence for themselves and their families. He frequently told the managers of that institution that they were making a huge mistake, because they were making those whom they were assisting entirely dependent instead of independent. Something upon the line of Government assistance, but upon a business basis, would, he believed, result in enormous good to this country, and would assist in maintaining a vast population which, in a generation or two, would be a source of strength and influence to the Empire, which this Empire sadly needed. England stood to-day in her magnificent isolation, with the prospect of having all the world against her. It had been so before; it might be so again. England was the only great nation of the world taking little or no interest in the movement of her population. France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia did something towards diverting the stream of their surplus population to countries where, perhaps, as statesmen viewed the future, they might give them less trouble than if they went to others; and yet this country, requiring, as it must require in the future as in the past, the moral as well as the material support of the colonies, was not doing so to the extent that the importance of the subject demanded. The time would come when statesmen must face the question, and thus try to retain our people within our own boundaries. Mr. HAMAR GREENWOOD said he was particularly pleased with that part of Mr. Griffith's excellent paper which referred to treaty-making powers. It indicated the gross ignorance of the Canadian national spirit when people alleged that the demand for treatymaking powers necessitated separation from the Mother Country. No such thing, to his mind, was ever intended by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, or by any other reasonable Canadian; but he was certain that six millions of democratic people living together resented too much mollycoddling from any headquarters. The national spirit of the Canadians was but a commendable evolution of those instincts which were strongest and best in the British breast. He hoped that the Canadians would have treaty making powers. Any measures passed by the Canadian Government must, of course, be subject to review by the Government of the day sitting at Westminster, and he trusted that no generation of Canadians would ever arise who would wish to insist upon a treaty or upon a policy that would in any way militate against the general well-being of the Empire. Canadian loyalty was a true loyalty to Canada and the Empire; but with the growth of their national spirit he insisted that they should have a growth of their local powers, and that did not mean any disloyalty to the dear old Mother land. He thanked the author for his admirable paper, which he had thoroughly enjoyed, and which he hoped would do something to dissipate the ignorance which was still prevalent in this country. As one who took some part in public life he had himself been called an alien, a foreigner, and a Yankee, and certain political opponents of his went so far as to say that they hoped the present Aliens' Bill now being considered by the Government would not only include gentlemen like himself, but would deport them! He hoped the time would come when every Englishman would realise that a Canadian was as much a Britisher as he or she who was born in London, even within the sacred parish of Westminster. He hoped also they would realise that when a man intended to leave the homeland he should not forget his obligations to his race, but endeavour to settle in some portion of the British Empire, where he, and those who were born unto him, might uphold the splendid traditions of the great Empire. Miss WEBSTER wished to call attention to one of the author's statements which was not much thought of in England, namely, the great disadvantage of so many American settlers coming into the North-West of Canada. The American settlers were imbued with the same love of their motherland as Englishmen, and were trying everything they could locally to disseminate their influence, and to induce the Canadians to agitate for an annexation to the United States. That feeling was much more prevalent in the North-West than it was in Central or Eastern Canada, and she was very much astonished at it when she visited several farmhouses in that neighbourhood, two years ago, almost before the great American exodus occurred. From letters from her correspondents she gathered that there was quite a propaganda in some districts to induce people to believe that they would be able to obtain a much greater amount of money from Americans and American capitalists if they became citizens of the United States of America. Originally many people in Vancouver who were not British settlers came from Oregon. She noticed with pride that the author had said that many Canadian doctors studied in England. After being in the States for some considerable time she found there that although Americans thought a very great deal of McGill College, Montreal, no American in America put the slightest confidence in either English or Scotch medical men; in fact, she knew of several instances where English doctors, after struggling there for some years, had been obliged to return to England. She also wished to ask why it was that so many English settlers did not remain in Canada. During the last decade or longer settlers had gone out there, and had found that the work in Canadian farmhouses, both for men and women, was far harder than it was in England. Although she came from a Lincolnshire farming family, she had no idea what work could be from early morning till late at night until she stayed in a Canadian farmhouse. It was also the case with citizens that the hours of work were longer, and both in Canada and the United States, workmen tried to turn out more work in the time than their fellows; those that were slowest being the first to be discharged when work became less urgent. Mr. GRIFFITH, in reply, said the Chairman referred to the desirability of more women emigrating to Canada. He had always observed that in Canada one could talk with the grandchildren of a man or a woman who came from Ireland or Great Britain, and speak to them about a particular place in the old country, and could draw tears to the eyes of the boy or girl, although they had never been to the country. It was a most extraordinary thing, because he did not think the treatment of the ancestry of the person affected in that way was any better than it ought to have been. Notwithstanding all that, the love for their old country was remarkable, and was not to be traced to the great constitutional powers of government, which some complacent Englishmen referred to as the solution of a case of that sort. He thought that that spirit was due to women entirely; they had loved the old country, they remembered the old spot they once lived in, they did not leave willingly (in the old days, at any rate), and when they settled in the new country, they taught their children about the land they loved so well. That had been transmitted down from generation to generation, and the wonderful good feeling which existed in the colony towards England could in that manner be traced to the women. The Chairman had referred to the part which he (Mr. Griffith) had taken in advertising Canada in this country. He must protest, because the Chairman had done him too much honour; he thought that to Lord Strathcona and, in the next place, perhaps, to Mr. Preston was chiefly due the very able way in which the claims of Canada had been placed before the country. Mr. Walton was very much afraid that Canada would become Americanised. He thought the fact that the Canadian Government was encouraging American immigration ought to do a great deal to dissipate any fear. There was also the fact that the American came to a country in which there were chances for improving his material position; he also found that the laws were administered better than the laws of the country which he had left. Every factor made for contentment. He might point to a concrete case to prove what he had said. He believed that a large proportion of those who controlled the great lumber industry of Canada came originally from the United States of America, and there were no more contented or desirable class of citizens in the Dominion than these very people. Everybody had been interested in what Lord Brassey had said, par ticularly in regard to a fast line of steamers. He thought his Lordship's testimony in that respect was particularly valuable, especially coming as it did from one who might be regarded as an expert. Mr. Preston had taken partial exception to the very general proposals he made in regard to State-defrayed emigration. He only raised the question in a very general way, the ground he took being the humane ground; as to the details, no doubt they would have to be dealt with with considerable care. He thanked Mr. Hamar Greenwood for the kind remarks he made, and hoped he would be spared for many years, to place before the British public the oratory of Canada. Miss Webster was very much afraid that Canada would become Americanised, but he thought the remarks he had made in regard to Mr. Walton's contentions would answer what she said on that head. She also referred to the hard work on the Canadian farms. He had some experience of Canadian farms, and confessed that the work was hard; anybody who went out to a Canadian farm expecting there would not be hard work would be very much disappointed. On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, a vote of thanks was unanimously accorded to Mr. Griffith for his paper. Correspondence. STATISTICS OF IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES. In summarising my paper, Mr. Burt, I think, scarcely does me justice. He wrote on May 5th, after hearing my paper read on the 4th. Had be awaited the issue of the Journal on the 6th, and read it in its entirety, he would, perhaps, have gathered that in no way do I minimise the tremendous growth of export trade in the United States and Germany. I do not claim that, as a whole, the position of the iron and steel industry is more satisfactory than in 1870-4, because of the cheapening of food supplies, but I do claim that the margin between imports and exports in the 1898-1903, as compared with the 1868-72, quinquennium, is satisfactory when that margin is measured in its food-purchasing value. Before a definite verdict can be pronounced, the internal consumption must be determined. In my detailed tables, page 553 (which were not quoted at the meeting), I have fully emphasised the tremendous growth of the margin between exports and imports in Germany and America, both in percentages of the output of each country in 1893-97, and in percentages of the British output in that period. Mr. Burt urges that I ought to have converted these margins into their purchasing equivalents, forgetting that for only 22 years has Germany had such a margin, and the United States only for seven years. Besides, while part of the British exports are exchanged against food stuffs, America only barters her iron and steel wares for tropic foods, manufactured articles, and general luxuries. Germany also does not exchange proportionately so large a volume of her commerce for food as the United Kingdom. For these reasons the margin given in its food-purchasing value would be misleading for these countries, even could a 35 years' curve be prepared. If Mr. Burt had awaited the publication of the Journal, or, better still, had spoken from his place at the meeting, I might, had he then employed the illustration with which he concludes his communication, have suggested, as I suggest now, that the discoverer of the mare's nest was not the writer of the paper, but that the announcement of the lusus nature was due to Mr. Burt's misapprehension of the contents of the paper. W. POLLARD DIGBY. Trafalgar Buildings, May 16th, 1904. THE LIBRARY. The following books have been presented to the Library since the last announcement :— Ashley, W. J., M.A.-British Industries, a Series of General Reviews for business men and students. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1903. Presented by the Publishers. Baker, Richard T. and Henry G. Smith.-A Research on the Eucalypts, especially in regard to their Essential Oils. Sydney: W. A. Gullick. 1902. Presented by the Technological Museum, Sydney. Bond, George M.-Standards of Length and their Practical Application. Hartford, U.S.A. The Pratt and Whitney Co. 1887. Presented by the Publishers. British Rainfall, 1902, compiled by H. Sowerby Wallis and H. R. Mill, D.Sc., LL.D. London: E. Stanford. 1903. Presented by the Editors. Burton, Wm., F.C.S.-A History and Description of English Porcelain. London: Cassell and Co., Ltd. 1902. Bygott, John and A. J. Lawford Jones.-The King's English and How to Write it. London: Jarrold and Sons. 1903. Presented by the Authors. Calvert, Albert F.-Impressions of Spain. London: George Philip and Son, Ltd. 1903. Presented by the Author. Ceylon Handbook and Directory for 1903-4, compiled years. Sydney W. A. Gullick. 1903. : Presented by the Agent-General for New South Wales. Coldstream, W.-Grasses of the Southern Punjab. London: Thacker and Co. 1889. Presented by the Author. Digby, William, C.I.E.-Natural Law in Terrestrial Phenomena. London: W. Hutchinson and Co. 1902. Presented by the Author. Findlay, Alexander, M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc.-The Phase Rule and its Applications, with an introduction to the Study of Physical Chemistry, by Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1904. Presented by the Publishers. Gamble, J. S., M.A., C.I.E., F.R.S.-A Manual of the Publishers. Groth, Dr. Lorentz A.-The Potash Salts: their Production and Application to Agriculture, &c. London Lombard Press, Ltd. 1902. Halsey, F. A. and S. S. Dale.-The Metric Fallacy and the Metric Failure in the Textile Industry. New York: D. Van Nostrand and Co. 1904. Howe, Henry M.-Metallurgical Laboratory Notes. Boston. 1902. Presented by the Boston Testing Laboratories. India, Census of, 1901.-Two Volumes. Calcutta. 1903. Presented by the Secretary of State for India. India, Rainfall Data of, 1902. Published by the Meteorological Department of the Government of India. Calcutta. 1903. Presented by the Department. Jackson, W., A.R.C.S.-A Text-Book on Ceramic Calculations. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1904. Presented by the Publishers. Jennings, Arthur S.-Wallpapers and Wall Coverings. London: The Trade Papers Publishing Co., Ltd. 1903. Kerr, J. G., M.A., LL.D. and J. N. Brown.- London: Blackie and Son, Ltd. 1903. Presented by the Publishers. London Statistics, 1992-3. Presented by the London County Council. |