to
JIfatrg
of
by
J.G. Worts, Esq.
7)
Archives Edition
CANADA AND ITS PROVINCES
IN TWENTY-TWO VOLUMES AND INDEX
(Vols. I and 2)
SECTION I
NEW FRANCE, 1534-1760
(Vols. 3 and 4)
SECTION II
BRITISH DOMINION, 1760-1840
(VoL 5)
SECTION III
UNITED CANADA, 1840-1867
(Vols. 6, 7, and 8)
SECTION IV
THE DOMINION:
POLITICAL EVOLUTION
(Vols. 9 and 10)
SECTION v
THE DOMINION:
INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION
(Vols. 1 1 and 1 2)
SECTION VI
THE DOMINION:
MISSIONS; ARTS AND
LETTERS
(Vols. 13 and 14)
SECTION VII
THE ATLANTIC PROVINCES
(Vols. 15 and 16)
SECTION VIII
THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC
(Vols. 17 and 18)
SECTION IX
THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
(Vols. 19 and 20)
SECTION X
THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES
(Vols. 11 and 22)
SECTION XI
THE PACIFIC PROVINCE
(VoL 23)
SECTION XII
DOCUMENTARY NOTES
GENERAL INDEX
GENERAL EDITORS
ADAM SHORTT
ARTHUR G. DOUGHTY
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
THOMAS CHAPAIS ALFRED D. DKCELLES
F. P. WALTON GEORGE M. WRONG
WILLIAM L. GRANT ANDREW MACPHAIL
JAMES BONAR A. H. U. COLQUHOUN
D. M. DUNCAN ROBERT KILPATRICK
THOMAS GUTHRIE MARQUIS
VOL. 7
SECTION IV
THE DOMINION
POLITICAL EVOLUTION
PART II
AND ITS PROVING]
DIAN
PF
jfc\
SIR ALKN. \NDKK TILLUCH GALT
FIRST KINANCK MIN1STKR OF THE DOMINION
l-'rom a
CANADA
AND ITS PROVINCES
A HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN
PEOPLE AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS
BY ONE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES
ADAM SHORTT
ARTHUR G. DOUGHTY
GENERAL EDITORS
VOLUME VII
,*/,
Y N
»
PRINTED BY T. & A. CONSTABLE
AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS
FOR THE PUBLISHERS' ASSOCIATION
OF CANADA LIMITED
TORONTO
GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY
1914
p
SS7
V.I
Copyright in all countries subscribing to
the Berne Convention
CONTENTS
DEFENCE, 1812-1912. By C F. HAMILTON
L UNIVERSAL SERVICE ...... 379
II. REBELLION AND MOBILIZATION . . • 3s6
III. VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA? ... -39'
IV. THE FENIAN RAIDS ...... 4°6
V. THE MARITIME PROVINCES ..... 4'3
VI. THE DEAD PERIOD . . . . .421
VII. THE NORTH-WEST REBELLION ..... 43°
VIII. THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR ..... 43&
IX. THE KEW TEMPER ....... 442
X. THE REORGANIZATION .... • 445
XI. THE SYSTEM IN 1912 .... . 449
XII. IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION ...... 460
DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912. By J. M. COURTNEY and
ADAM SHORTT
CONFEDERATION AND FINANCE . . . -47'
THE DOMINION AND THE PROVINCES . • 473 •
JOHN LANGTON AND DOMINION FINANCE .... 476
EARLY ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS . . . 479
THE PUBLIC DEBT ....... 486
NATIONAL BOOK-KEEPING ...... 488
PROVINCIAL OPPOSITION TO FINANCIAL TERMS . . . 489 •
MANITOBA IN THE DOMINION ..... 491
BRITISH COLUMBIA IN THE DOMINION . . . 492
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND IN THE DOMINION . . . 493
BETTER TERMS AGITATIONS ...... 493 -
rll
viii THE DOMINION : POLITICAL EVOLUTION
FACE
ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN IN THE DOMINION . 495
BETTER TERMS ONCE MORE ... . 49&
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ... -49s
THE EARLY MINISTERS OF FINANCE . . 499
THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE ... 5°3
APPENDIX I ... . . S°7
Extract from the Resolutions adopted at Quebec in October
1864, at a Conference of Delegates from Upper and Lower
Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
and Newfoundland
APPENDIX II . . . . . . • S°9
Extract from the British North America Act, 1867 — viii.
Revenues ; Debts ; Assets ; Taxation
APPENDIX III . . . . . • • 514
Ministers of Finance and Receivers-General since Con-
federation
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION. By W. D. SCOTT
I. THE GROWTH OF POPULATION . . . . • 5'7
Canada's Population at Confederation — The Decennial
Census of 1881— The Decennial Census of 1891— The De-
cennial Census of 1901 — The First Decade of the Twentieth
Century
IL THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES . . . . -53'
The Negroes — The Icelanders — The Mennonites — The Mor-
mons— The Doukhobors — The Crofters — The Barr Colony —
British Immigrant Children — Other British Immigration —
United States Immigration — Austro-Hungarians — The Italians
—The French— The Belgians— The Dutch— The Swiss— The
Germans — The Scandinavians — Turks, Armenians and
Syrians — Greeks, Macedonians and Bulgarians — The Chinese
—The Japanese— The Hindus— The Jews
III. LAWS RESPECTING IMMIGRATION • . . . 572
IV. THE IMMIGRATION POLICY OF CANADA . . . -577
V. IMMIGRATION PROPAGANDA ... . . 579
In Great Britain and Ireland — In Continental Europe — In the
United States
VI. RAILWAY EXTENSION AND IMMIGRATION . . .58?
Ready-made Farms
VII. THE PROBLEM OF FUTURE IMMIGRATION . . .588
CONTENTS ix
INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912. By DUNCAN C, SCOTT
I. THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS .... 593
A Policy of Expansion — The North- West — South Saskatche-
wan Inspectorate — Eastern Canada — British Columbia — The
Yukon — The Sioux — The Eskimos
II. SOCIAL LIFE OF THE INDIANS ..... 6l2
Indian Education — The Present Legal Position of the
Indians
III. THE INDIAN DEPARTMENT ..... 620
IV. THE FUTURE OF THE INDIAN . . . . .622
V. STATISTICS ........ 623
THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912. By WILLIAM SMITH
L THE NEW DOMINION ...... 629
IL DEPENDENCE ON UNITED STATES MAIL SERVICE . . 634
IIL THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POSTAL UNION . . .636
IV. RECENT DEVELOPMENT . . . . . .641
NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM. By J. A. RUDDICK
I. GENERAL VIEW OF FARMING IN CANADA . . .65!
II. THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY ..... 654
The Introduction of Domestic Cattle— Cheese and Butter
Production in Canada
IIL GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE . . 663
First Attempts — Agricultural Societies — Boards of Agriculture
— The Dominion Government and Agriculture — Experimental
Farms Established — The Dairying Service — The Health of
Animals Branch — The Tobacco Division — The Exhibition
Branch
IV. THE POSITION OF CANADIAN AGRICULTURE . . .67$
ILLUSTRATIONS
SIR ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT, FIRST FINANCE
MINISTER OF THE DOMINION .... Frontispiece
From a photograph by Topley, Ottawa
SIR RICHARD JOHN CARTWRIGHT MINISTER OF
FINANCE, 1873-78 ...... Facing page 486
from a photograph by Topley, Ottawa
SIR SAMUEL LEONARD TILLEY, MINISTER OF
FINANCE, 1872-73, 1878-85 ... ,,490
From a photograph by Toplty, Ottawa
GEORGE EULAS FOSTER, MINISTER OF FINANCE,
1888-96 ... „ 496
From a photograph by Elliott and Fry, London
WILLIAM STEVENS FIELDING, MINISTER OF
FINANCE, 1896-1911 ..... ,,502
From a photograph by Elliott and fry, London
DISTRIBUTION OF ABORIGINES . . „ 593
A BLOOD INDIAN 608
Frtm the painting by Edmund Morris
INDIAN WARRIOR OF THE PLAINS ...» 616
Fnm tht ttatui by A. Phimisttr Proctor
THE POSTMAN OF THE NORTH . 632
Drawn from life by Arthur Heming
DEFENCE
1812-1912
VOL. VII
DEFENCE, 1812-1912
I
UNIVERSAL SERVICE
FROM 1782 to Confederation the defence of British
North America against the United States was the
subject of anxious precautions on the part of the
imperial authorities and their representatives in the New
World. From 1782 to the Crimean War the system which
they devised guaranteed the security of the country. The
great republic during that period was a restless neighbour,
grudging the British provinces their independence within the
Empire ; once there was actual war, and often there were
rumours and threats of it ; and in every crisis the British
defensive arrangements were adequate. The period from the
Crimean War to the end of the American Civil War saw a
change ; the danger was greater, and the military system of
the provinces was undergoing a change which yielded defen-
sive arrangements the adequacy of which, untested by real
war, may seriously be doubted. After Confederation the
American pressure relaxed, and when Canada was again
brought to feel the need for military preparation, the impetus
to reorganization arose from conditions existing across the
ocean.
The old system of defence was definite, coherent and
intelligent ; it has passed utterly away, and, indeed, is all
but forgotten. It was in essence the stationing in the
country of a strong garrison of imperial regular troops and
the requirement of universal service by the inhabitants.
In peace those of military age were grouped in mobilization
formations, but were given little tactical training ; annual
musters served to inform the authorities as to the numbers
M
380 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
and residences of the men, and to keep alive in the public mind
the consciousness that personal service was demanded and
obligatory. In war the men thus rendered available were
organized into corps under varying conditions of service ; as
many of these corps as possible were trained as regulars, the
militia proper comprising the men who on account of physical
unfitness or urgent economic reasons could not be taken into
continuous service. Under this system the country could
put into the field practically every able-bodied man who
could be spared from the necessary work of the community.
The classic example of the working of the old system is
found in the War of 1812. The Americans trusted to a
militia system that had no effective stiffening of professional
soldiers ; they contemned regulars and made imperfect use of
the powers of leadership and organization of such as they had ;
the bulk of the troops which they provided were corps raised
hastily for short periods of service, officered by men untrained
to leadership and disbanded when they had begun to acquire
experience. These levies were met and repulsed by the British
forces, which were heavily outnumbered,- but which usually
surpassed their antagonists in training and discipline. In
pursuance of their policy of ' raw troops and short enlistments '
the federal and state authorities of the United States during
the war raised forces numbering more than half a million.1
Of these only some 50,000 were regulars ; about 5000 were
sailors and marines ; and militia of various sorts numbered
470,000. Many of these troops were confined to the Atlantic
seaboard, and, enormous as was the number of enlistments,
the forces which actually confronted the British army in
the Canadas were surprisingly small. The 50,000 American
regular troops gave the British more trouble than the whole of
the 470,000 irregulars.
Prior to the arrival of the reinforcements liberated by the
ending of the Peninsular War the British land forces fell into
the following categories :
1 General Upton's Military Policy of the United States, which is followed in the
text, puts the number of enlistments at 527,654. The Statistical Abstract of the
United States, 79/7, also official and of later date, puts the enlistments at 576,622
and the individuals who enlisted at 286,730.
UNIVERSAL SERVICE 381
1. Regular troops from overseas :
In the Canadas — one regiment of cavalry ; thirteen
battalions of infantry ; a proportion of artillery
and other services.
In the Maritime Provinces — three or four battalions
of infantry ; artillery and other services.
Employed at sea as a raiding force, based on Bermuda —
four battalions of infantry.
2. Regular troops raised in British North America :
In the Canadas — about a dozen battalions of infantry,
known as Voltigeurs, Chasseurs, Fencibles, Select
Embodied Militia, Incorporated Militia, etc.; de-
tachments of cavalry and artillery.
In the Maritime Provinces — three or four battalions
of infantry (Fencibles, Embodied Militia, etc.).
3. Militia :
In the Canadas — (i) Numerous ' flank companies ' of
infantry ; the men remained in these continuously,
but were granted frequent leave to labour on their
farms. (2) Occasional levies of all the able-bodied
men.
In the Maritime Provinces — occasional levies to repel
raids, support regulars engaged on expeditions, etc.
Thus from thirty-five to forty battalions of regulars, from
one-third to one-half of them raised locally, and sundry militia
forces as far as possible of continuous enlistment though of
intermittent service, made good the defence of the country.
It is difficult to estimate numbers ; but in British North
America, a poor country dependent upon local harvests for
the food of the army as well as of the people, there were
70,000 or 80,000 men of military age ; probably some 20,000
or 25,000 were available for service as provincial regulars
or militia. The man-power of the British provinces was
scientifically used to its last ounce.
This system was devised in the period following the rupture
of the Peace of Amiens and preceding the outbreak of war
in 1812. It was part of a general scheme. In the United
Kingdom Windham and Castlereagh, under the spur of the
382 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
Napoleonic danger, were working out a system of organization
which is seen at its most interesting moment in 1808, when
Lord Castlereagh carried through parliament his Local Militia
Act. Castlereagh's general idea was the provision of a land
force in two lines. Omitting details, the system resolved itself
into a trained nation for defensive and a regular army for
offensive service.1 The British soldiers charged with the
defence of British North America had been trained in the
school which worked out this theory. In 1803 was passed
the Militia Act of Lower Canada ; in 1808 the Militia Acts
of Upper Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were
enacted ; there had been previous legislation, but these were
the statutes under which the war was fought.
The keystone of the system was the presence of a strong
regular garrison. From 1804 to 1809 the garrison of British
North America was increased from 3500 to 9000. The
mother country in 1809 had abroad four armies, each in
excess of 20,000. Though it was necessary to garrison places
as far apart as Heligoland and New South Wales and to keep
substantial forces within the United Kingdom, yet as the
dispute with the United States grew more acute British
statesmen steadily augmented the regular forces in the
American colonies. The British garrison was kept at about
the strength of the American regular army. Of the British
regulars more than a quarter were raised locally, the colonies
supplying the men and the United Kingdom bearing the
expense. There were in 1809 four battalions of fencibles —
the Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick, the Newfoundland and
the Canadian — numbering 2236 exclusive of officers.
The militia acts of the four mainland provinces on the
whole were remarkably alike. The following features were
common to all :
I. The obligation to serve was universal, except for some
exemptions for Quakers and other persons whose religious
convictions forbade military service. The usual age limits
were 1 8 and 60; men between 50 and 60 were to be called on
only in case of a levy en masse.
1 The County Lieutenancies and the Army, iSoj-iStf, by the Hon. J. VV.
Fortescue.
UNIVERSAL SERVICE 383
2. Militia officers and non-commissioned officers were
alluded to only in their administrative capacities, and no
provision was made for training them.
3. The country was divided into districts. The regimental
division was the county, the regiments being given a number
of battalions varying with the population ; the strength of a
battalion varied from 300 to 600. Company districts were
delimited with a view to the number of men available ; a
company usually comprised from 40 to 60 men, though
provision was made for companies as small as 20 and as large
as So men.
4. The captains were to enrol all men liable to service, and
were to forward their rolls through their field officers to the
higher military authorities.
5. Periodical musters were to be held ; attendance was
compulsory ; neglect was punishable. No pay was allowed,
either for officers or men. Usually there was one muster a
year, though there were variations of practice.
6. A certain very slight amount of training was prescribed,
also without pay.
7. Provisions as to arming the militia varied somewhat,
but in general the authorities, while encouraging the men to
provide their own weapons, undertook to issue arms and
accoutrements. The question of storage was met by provid-
ing for their being kept by the individual militiaman under
bonds as to retention, care, etc.
8. When necessary the whole militia could be called out.
In the Canadas the period of service was six months ; in the
laws of the eastern provinces no limit of time is mentioned.
In the Maritime Provinces the militia could not be sent beyond
the provincial boundaries. In the Canadas the militia could
be marched from either province to the assistance of the
other, and it also might be taken across the border into the
United States if military necessity arose.
9. Authority was given to local officers to call out the
militia under their command in cases of sudden emergency.
10. Elaborate provisions were laid down for calling out
portions of the militia and embodying them for continuous
service. A specified number of recruits could be demanded
384 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
from a district, the officers of which were required to produce
the men. The machinery prescribed was the ballot or lot,
and the process of warning the men, drawing lots, arranging
the roster, etc., is described in minute detail in some of the
acts. In Lower Canada the quota could be made up by
1 command.' Men drawn could provide substitutes. In the
Canadas the term of service for men so drafted was limited
to six months, provision being made for the relief of one
contingent by another.
H. The discipline of the militia in its assembling, training,
etc., was provided for in some detail.
12. Provision was made also for discipline, alike on active
service and in peace. In war the disciplinary code of the
British service was to apply, with some modifications, such
as the prohibition of the flogging of militiamen. In peace
militia punishments, fines, etc., were rendered enforceable
by the civil power.
This was a mobilization rather than a training scheme.
The organization was administrative rather than tactical.
Companies ranging from 20 to 80 men — battalions of 300
or 600 rank and file — regiments of one battalion or half a
dozen battalions — such formations obviously were unsuited
for operations in the field. But, on the other hand, such a
system would lay hold of the men of the country, group them
in convenient subdivisions, and render them accessible for
further organization ; add to this the slight degree of training
given, the absence of concern as to the tactical efficiency of
the militia officers, as contrasted with the minute care with
which their duties of enrolling and balloting were prescribed,
and the evident anxiety to effect the distribution of arms in
advance of actual hostilities ; recall the express stipulation
in Lower Canada that, when the militia captains and colonels
had called up their men in response to the summons, a further
organization into tactical as distinguished from administrative
units could be effected. On assembling these considerations
it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the militia organiza-
tion was designed primarily as a machine for producing the
men who, on becoming available to the higher authorities,
UNIVERSAL SERVICE 385
would be regarded as a mass of recruits, to be arranged in
such formations as might prove suitable. Put broadly, while
the distinction was not made in express terms and was not
rigidly enforced, the scheme of defence contemplated two sets
of officers, one to secure the men, the other to train and lead
them. There was some spirited and stubborn fighting by
levies of the local militia, notably at Lundy's Lane ; but, in
practice, the ordinary militia officer was designed to act as a
local mobilization functionary.
The weak point in this system was the limitation upon
the time for which a militiaman could be compelled to serve.
Six-months enlistment was too short for serious campaigning,
and accordingly the authorities were forced to rely on volun-
teering to fill the provincial regular regiments to which they
had such extensive recourse. In procuring volunteers they
had the lever of the compulsory militia service and the
advantage of having all the inhabitants assembled before
them ; and when the emergency came they worked over
and over the recruits furnished in this way, drawing the
more willing and adventurous off into voluntary regular
corps, embodying others in various special corps, and leaving
the residue to be summoned en masse in time of urgency.
A form of special corps employed in Lower Canada was the
1 Select Embodied ' battalion ; this was kept permanently
on foot, but was composed of successive drafts of six-months
men ; corps of this type were principally employed for
garrison purposes. In Upper Canada a favourite corps was
the ' flank company ' composed of the more active men of the
district ; the men remained in these continuously, but were
at liberty to attend to their farms when not actually needed.
One observation which it is necessary to make is that the
mobilization process provided was leisurely ; but events
marched slowly then, and the Canadas could rely on two
factors which would give time for preparation : a belt of
thinly settled country, difficult to traverse, intervened
between them and the American settlements ; and the Ameri-
can mobilization, with its preference for militia, was slow and
ill-suited for offensive movements. It is also plain that the
whole plan depended upon the presence of a considerable
386 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
regular garrison. In 1809 there was one regular soldier for
every six or eight male inhabitants of military age. The
regular officers of the garrison of some eight or nine thousand
troops had the prospect of providing drill-masters and
leaders for some twenty thousand new troops. These officers
would be augmented by a considerable number of colonials
who would be given commissions, but these would become
regular officers, and would be trained and formed by the
existing system. Further, it must not be forgotten that
more than a quarter of this regular army was locally raised —
a native North American force. Impending over everything
we see the professional officer and the standard of discipline
and obligation of a regular army.
In 1826 Sir James Carmichael-Smyth, after an exhaustive
examination of the military history, conditions and resources
of Canada, expressed the opinion that the defence of the
country was practicable with the means available. His plan
was the construction of certain fortifications and lines of
communication, the holding of the Great Lakes, an attack
on the American seaboard, the use of the oversea regulars in
formed bodies at the decisive points, and the relegating of
stretches of frontier of secondary interest to the care of
provincial regulars and militia. In accordance with his
recommendation the Rideau Canal was built by the home
government, to afford, in case of war, a safe and retired water-
way between Montreal and Lake Ontario. Large sums of
money also were spent in fortifications at Halifax, Quebec,
Kingston and other places.
II
REBELLION AND MOBILIZATION
/nn*HE events of 1837, 1838 and 1839 bring us to the next
point of interest. During the twenty years that
followed the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 few changes
occurred in the system of defence, and these need not detain
us. The real development lay in the rapid increase of the
population as compared with the regular garrison ; by 1840
British North America had some 350,000 men of military
REBELLION AND MOBILIZATION 387
age, whereas the normal size of the garrison remained at six
or seven thousand men. The insurrections and the external
menace that followed tested the system, and this although the
military measures taken were little more than police operations.
Sir Francis Bond Head had sent all the regular troops out
of Upper Canada, and when, on the night of Monday,
December 4, 1837, he learned that a rebel force was encamped
on the outskirts of Toronto, he was compelled to rely on such
forces as the militia system, and it alone, could provide.
Toronto, with 2500 men of military age, furnished less than
300 for his force ; the core of this local force was a small
volunteer company which had been drilled by Colonel Fitz-
Gibbon. In two days about 1000 men came in from places
as far east asCobourg and Whitby and as far west as Hamilton,
St Catharines and Niagara ; on Thursday, December 7,
Colonel FitzGibbon moved upon the rebels at Montgomery's
Tavern with 1000 or uoo men and left a force of 200 to
keep order in the town. Within the next few days militia to
the number of 10,000 or 12,000 are said to have reported at
Toronto. The number of men of military age in the district
from Lincoln to Northumberland inclusive was 45,000, so
that, if these figures are correct, one quarter of the able-bodied
men mustered for duty in the very region which had hatched
the revolt. Some writers have asserted that many of the
militia who assembled in Toronto at heart sympathized with
the rebel leader, Mackenzie. If this was the case, it is a
singular reflection that the system of universal liability,
impressed upon men's minds by periodical assemblies from
which no one was excused, caused men who were not aggres-
sively loyal to place themselves at the disposal of the author-
ities. Under the later system the disaffected and lukewarm
would have remained quietly at home, and would have been
inaccessible to those responsible for the maintenance of public
order.
In this spontaneous muster the organization and training
were of the crudest. The force led by FitzGibbon to Mont-
gomery's was little better than a mob. The swarms of men
who poured into Toronto were utterly untrained and almost
unarmed. Transport was lacking, except where water could
388 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
be used. The commissariat service of the regular army
undertook the supplying of the forces assembled ; it was the
subject of much grumbling.
These crude levies were more than equal to the summary
suppression of Buncombe's rising in the western peninsula
as well as Mackenzie's operations. Five hundred of the
levies assembled at Toronto were transferred to Hamilton,
to march by way of Brantford to the township of Burford,
where some 300 of the disaffected had assembled at a village
called Scotland. Simultaneously parties of militia moved
upon the rebels from Simcoe to the south, and from Woodstock
and London to the west. Before this converging movement
the rising collapsed without the formality of a fight. Dun-
combe's assembly took place about December 5 or 6 ; by the
I4th the local militia had gathered, arranged for local security,
and marched upon the centre of disaffection.
The occupation of Navy Island in the river near Niagara
Falls by Mackenzie followed. The government had 1800
militia posted at Chippawa under Colonel Cameron before
the need for troops in the western district had ended, and
Colonel MacNab's arrival from Burford brought the force
up to 2500. The militia could do nothing of real military
value (for the cutting out of the Caroline did not seriously
incommode the filibusters) until heavy artillery was provided
by the regular establishment. The militia were in civilian
clothing, the government supplying them with nothing more
than arms. They rapidly improved and soon were capable
of stout fighting. When Sutherland attacked Amherstburg
with the schooner Anne the local militia captured the vessel.
The assembling on the frontier was done well. The first
gathering, on Januarys, 1838, numbered 400; in a few days
the Detroit River was guarded by nearly 4000 militia ; Essex,
Kent and Middlesex had about n,ooo men of military age.
In December 1838 the ruffians who captured Windsor and
attacked Sandwich were beaten by 170 local militia whom
Colonel Prince collected on short notice. The affair of the
Windmill below Prescott showed how efficiently the St
Lawrence frontier was organized. On November II, 1838,
the filibusters were known to be on the river, though the point
REBELLION AND MOBILIZATION 389
of their intended descent was uncertain. Late on the I2th,
after some cannonading between armed steamers, they landed
250 men. At 7 A.M. on November 13 they were attacked by
80 regulars of the 83rd, who had come to Canada from New
Brunswick, and over 400 militia, and were cooped up in the
famous windmill ; in this fight the British lost 50 officers and
men, or 10 per cent. During the first rising in Lower Canada
Glengarry and Stormont furnished 2000 men for operations
about Beauharnois. During the second rising Glengarry sent
across the river into Lower Canada two regiments numbering
1000 men, while Stormont also furnished a battalion for this
service. At this time there were about 20,000 men in the coun-
ties of Upper Canada on the St Lawrence River, and about
6000 in the Upper Canada portion of the Ottawa valley.
As the danger of insurrection shaded into that of war with
the United States, mobilization took place in the old manner.
Regular reinforcements arrived ; in 1839 there were in the
Canadas 17 battalions of infantry and a regiment of cavalry
in addition to artillery and departmental services. The men
supplied by the militia were organized in semi-permanent
formations, officers being sent out from England for this
purpose. Before long there were 4 battalions of ' incorpo-
rated militia,' 12 battalions of ' embodied militia,' and over
30 special corps — cavalry, artillery, riflemen, etc. Upper
Canada contained about 100,000 men of military age, and the
militia could place in the field 40,000 men, with a good deal of
professional leadership, and under legal conditions making
for firm discipline. Pains were taken to guard the Great
Lakes ; during 1838 three steamers and two or three schooners
were armed, and two or three armed steamers and a small
gunboat were built.
In Lower Canada the government was supported by the
regular army and the forces supplied by the British Canadian
population. The province in 1837 contained some 3000
troops, while the British Canadian population may have
comprised from 35,000 to 40,000 men of military age. The
corresponding figure for the French-Canadian population
probably was 100,000. In Montreal and Quebec the method
followed was the formation of volunteer companies of infantry,
390 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
artillery and cavalry. In Quebec an English-speaking popu-
lation of 12,000 or 15,000 furnished for general service in
Canada a battalion of 1000 men, quite on a regular footing ;
three companies of volunteer artillery, and about 1600 local
volunteers ; in all nearly 3000 men. Montreal, with an
English-speaking population of 22,000, had a ' Volunteer
Militia ' of about 2000. The English-speaking population of
the Eastern Townships turned out on the militia principle,
and contributed a considerable number of rifle corps, cavalry
troops, etc. The 2000 men whom Sir John Colborne took to
St Eustache in December 1837 included a militia battalion
and two troops of militia cavalry. The force which he led
to Napierville in November 1838 included 500 volunteers as
well as 400 Caughnawaga Indians. It is noteworthy that
the rural militia of the Eastern Townships furnished some
officers who, like MacNab and Prince in the upper province,
showed real leadership, attacking rebel gatherings unhesi-
tatingly when conditions were favourable, and fighting with
determination on occasions such as the sharply contested
skirmish at Odelltown, when they were outnumbered.
In the Maritime Provinces the events of 1837 and 1838
caused some concern, and the New Brunswick legislature
strengthened the militia law. The most important change
was the giving of authority to the government to enrol 1200
militia for service in British North America, and further, if
this force and the queen's troops should be moved out of the
province, to embody an additional contingent of militia to
do garrison duty in lieu of the regulars. At this time New
Brunswick had about 40,000 able-bodied men. Soon after,
in 1839, this act proved of service in the ' Aroostook War '
with the State of Maine. An aggressive state administration
in Maine so handled a disputed boundary question that both
parties found themselves stationing armed forces in the debat-
able district. The Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick,
Sir John Harvey, had at his disposal first two and then three
regular battalions and some regular artillery ; under the act
of 1837 the legislature furnished 850 embodied militia, who
were posted at Woodstock on the upper St John, and the rest
of the militia were put in order. An incident that gave great
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA ? 391
pleasure was the passing of a resolution by the Nova Scotia
legislature authorizing the dispatch of 8000 militia to aid
New Brunswick ; the Nova Scotia militia at this time mustered
about 25,000 men.
After the Act of Union the old system was continued in
the new Province of Canada ; such changes as were made
were in the direction of developing the tendencies that have
been described. By this time, however, the system was
doomed. During this period the militia fell into an un-
popularity that has survived as a tradition. The rustic
array on training day easily lent itself to satiric description.
Men without arms, without accoutrements, without drill,
who assembled only once a year, naturally presented no very
martial appearance. There was no public understanding of
the distinction between mobilization and training, and lads
who repaired to the training-day assembly with visions of
military pomp suffered painful surprise. Thus the general
tone of public opinion became contemptuous. It also became
to some extent hostile, for the muster was an interruption of
work, often highly inconvenient. Yet another circumstance
which discredited the training day was the intemperance that
occasionally marked it. Canada in the first half of the nine-
teenth century was far from being an abstemious country,
and about mid-century the total abstinence movement was
only beginning. The men who came to the muster were often
in a bad temper, and the officers were subjected to the
temptation of pacifying them by what is termed hospitality.
At that period there was hard drinking at most gatherings.
It must be borne in mind, too, that many descriptions of
training day make no mention of excessive drinking. Still,
the muster was going out of favour.
Ill
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA?
THE Crimean War is associated with the commencement
of the reorganization of the land forces of the British
Empire, a reorganization in which British North
America shared. The regular garrisons of the self-governing
392
DEFENCE, 1812-1912
colonies, as distinguished from imperial stations proper, were
first reduced and then withdrawn. The self-governing
colonies made a beginning with the policy of taking a larger
share in their own local defence.
It is necessary now to state what the old system had been
costing the mother country. This cost must be reckoned
both in terms of money and in terms of military efficiency.
British statesmen adhered throughout this period to the
principle of keeping the regular garrison substantially equal
to the standing army of the United States. The figures are
interesting :
Year
Regular Troops in British
North America
American Army
Establishment
1821 .
6,9OO1
6.2OO
1835 • •
4,500
7,2002
1840 .
15,300
12,500
1847 . .
9,700
10,300"
1854 • •
6.5001
15,000
The annual cost of these troops to the British taxpayer
in 1850 was about £80 per man. Exact figures can be given
for certain years. In 1858-59 the four original provinces of
Confederation cost Great Britain £378,441. In 1861 the
total cost to the British exchequer of the garrison of British
North America was £413,566, made up as follows : Canada
(2432 troops), £206,264 ; Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
(1881 troops), £149,495 ; Newfoundland (239 troops),
£20,807 J British Columbia (138 troops), £37,000. British
North America was not the only drain on the imperial purse ;
in 1861 the colonies proper, as distinguished from military
posts like Gibraltar and Malta, cost £1,715,000 for military
defence. In Canada during the decade 1841-51 the provincial
revenue ranged from less than £400,000 to about £500,000
currency ; during this period the average imperial military
expenditure in Canada must have exceeded £500,000 sterling
a year. That is, Great Britain expended more in safeguarding
1 Including the garrison in Bermuda.
* The strength was about 4000.
* Establishment as reduced on the termination of the Mexican War. During
that struggle it was nearly 31,000.
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA? 393
the province than the legislature did in administering it.
During all this period the expenditure by the province on its
militia was very slight, the force defraying most of its expenses
from the receipts from fines for non-attendance. From 1851
to 1853, for example, the yearly appropriations by the legisla-
ture were about £2000 currency. These sums were mainly
expended in the upkeep of the office of the adjutant-general,
a provincial officer who administered the force.
• During the period from the battle of Waterloo to the
Crimean War the British regular army was dispersed over the
world in an extraordinary manner. In 1821 the colonies
absorbed 31,500 troops out of a total of 101,000 ; in 1854,
40,000 out of 140,000. In 1861, when the subject was
examined with great care by a committee of the House of
Commons, it appeared that garrisons were maintained in no
less than thirty-four oversea possessions or dependencies,1
and that during the decade then closing these detachments
had accounted for an average of 42,600 men. In 1861, out of
41,600 men in garrisons abroad, 20,900 were posted in purely
imperial fortresses and stations and 20,600 in colonies that
might be expected to contribute to, or indeed to provide for,
their own defence and internal tranquillity. This system of
detachments prevented the adoption of short service and the
linked battalion system, with the concomitants of a large
reserve, a systematic feeding of foreign garrisons, and the
provision of a powerful striking force. The army lacked the
means of rapid and effectual expansion. In June 1854 the
force that wealthy and powerful England sent to the Crimea
was only some 30,000 strong ; by May 1855 she had reinforced
it with only 21,500 men, many of these being immature lads
unsuited for campaigning. The remedy could only be applied
by drawing to England the 20,000 men scattered among the
self-governing colonies. In time, under Edward Cardwell,
this was effected and the army was re-formed. In 1882
Great Britain with conspicuous ease sent to Egypt a force not
1 Prince Edward Island was the only colony without a garrison. The troops
had been withdrawn in 1854, the reason assigned by the imperial authorities
being that desertion was excessive, and that the local authorities in their desire
for settlers failed to assist in preventing it
VOL. VII. B
394 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
far short of the army that she had mustered with difficulty
in 1854 ; in the South African War the army system kept
150,000 regular troops abroad for two years ; and the expedi-
tionary force of 1912 stands at 160,000. At the base of these
vast improvements lay the withdrawal of the garrisons from
the colonies.
The process of diminution was leisurely and was not con-
tinuous. Colonial garrisons were stripped to reinforce the
army before Sebastopol, but at the conclusion of the war there
was an augmentation of the garrisons in British North
America, partly because of the diplomatic difficulty with the
United States arising from Howe's efforts to recruit for the
British army in New England, partly for the singular reason
that England did not contain sufficient barrack accommoda-
tion for her own army, and had for a while to use the old
oversea quarters. By 1861 the number had dropped; then
the American Civil War and the Trent incident caused it to be
increased to 17,000 men. Reduction was recommenced in
earnest in 1867 and was completed in 1871 when Quebec was
evacuated, leaving the garrisons of Halifax and Esquimalt
the only imperial troops in British North America.
Before this portion of the sketch is completed reference
must be made to two regular regiments that are still remem-
bered in Canada, the Royal Canadian Rifles (colloquially
termed the ' Bull Frogs ') and the looth Royal Canadians.
The former of these was a ' colonial corps ' maintained in
Canada by the imperial authorities. Desertion was prevalent
among the regular troops, owing to the attraction the high
civil wages paid locally exercised over the younger soldiers.
To meet this, recourse was had to a localized corps of old
soldiers, near their time for pension, and so more inclined to be
steady. The regiment was formed in 1840 and was recruited
by allowing men to volunteer into it from line regiments
about to leave the colony. The battalion, which was noo
strong, was a fine body of men, said to have more medals
than any other regiment in the service. It was useful for
garrison work, though the age of the men and the absence of
any provision for a reserve made it less suited for service in
the field. The regiment furnished a detachment of a hundred
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA? 395
men for service in the Red River colony in 1861. It was
disbanded in 1871. In 1858, during the excitement caused
by the Indian Mutiny, popular interest in the defence of the
Empire took the form of raising an additional battalion for
the regular army. The looth Royal Canadians, as it was
designated, left Canada to take its place in the roster of the
regular army ; Canada supplied the men and the officers,
the mother country bore the expense. A depot was main-
tained in Canada for three years and then discontinued ;
after that no arrangements were made for continuing the
enlistment of men, the regiment had to find its subsequent
recruits elsewhere, and its connection with the country dis-
appeared with the passing of the first batch of men. When
the regular army was territorialized it was assigned to Ireland
and became the 1st battalion of the Leinster regiment. It
retains its reminiscent title of Royal Canadians in a paren-
thetical way,1 and in 1900 there were two ' Royal Canadian '
battalions in South Africa, this Irish battalion and the first
contingent sent by the Dominion.
When the governments of British North America were
bidden to develop their native forces, they turned to volun-
teering, in preference to the development of the old militia.
It has already been noted that the militia was not in high
esteem. What military spirit there was in the country ex-
pressed itself in the form of association in small voluntary
corps, such as the troops of cavalry near Toronto which for
years had been kept in being by the personal exertions of the
Denison family ; the Montreal Fire Brigade, a species of in-
fantry battalion ; the special artillery company maintained by
the Halifax militia, and the ' uniform companies ' of artillery
which maintained an existence in New Brunswick. It must
be noted that two important developments altered the military
problem. The regular garrison was no stronger than in 1812
— was indeed less numerous — while the militia could have put
over 100,000 men in the field. Simultaneously the isolation
of earlier days had disappeared, and in the event of war far
less time would have been available for mobilization. There
was real need for a force that could be put into the field with
1 It is described in the Army List as the ist Leinster (Royal Canadians).
396 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
reasonable celerity. In the winter of 1854-55 a commission
consisting of Sir Allan MacNab, Colonel E. P. Tache and
Colonel T. E. Campbell considered the problem of defence ;
the inclusion in so small a body of two important members
of the administration testified to the seriousness with which
the government regarded the question. Colonel Baron de
Rottenburg, assistant adjutant-general, was secretary. Its
deliberations and report had as result the act of 1855, with
its double system of ' sedentary militia ' and ' volunteers.'
The commission had declared that the principal reliance of
the province for ' effectual defence ' must be upon the
sedentary militia, and that its prompt appearance in the field
in an emergency, armed and equipped, was preferable to
peace-time attempts at drill. The provisions for mobilization
explicitly directed that when the militiamen had been drafted
for ' actual service ' they should be marched to such place as
the commander-in-chief should appoint ; they should per-
form this march under such officers as should be detailed by
the commanding officer of their territorial battalion ; arrived
at the place of assembly they should be embodied into com-
panies and battalions, in such manner as the commander-
in-chief should direct ; when so embodied they should be
commanded by such officers as the commander-in-chief should
think proper to appoint. The real innovation was with
regard to arms. The commission proposed that for the
immediate arming of the sedentary militia 50,000 smooth-bore
muskets, with 100 rounds of ammunition for each, should be
stored at a considerable number of places which would make
convenient points of assembly, and that 50,000 further stand
of arms should be kept in the principal arsenals of the province,
such as Quebec and Kingston. The act gave legislative
sanction to this suggestion. The imperial government had
22,000 stand of arms in the country ; the Canadian govern-
ment applied for these and contemplated paying for them,
only to have the legislature refuse to make the appropriations.
The commission also recommended the formation of a
volunteer force that should (i) provide other branches of the
service than the infantry of which the sedentary militia
would be composed, and (2) attain a proficiency which would
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA ? 397
enable its members to assist the sedentary militia when
4 actually embodied for service.' A separate division of the
act was devoted to the ' active or volunteermilitia companies.*
The establishment of these was placed at 1 6 troops of cavalry,
7 field batteries, 5 foot companies of artillery and 50 com-
panies of rifles, the total strength not to exceed 5000. Seven
' volunteer marine companies ' also were authorized. Engi-
neer companies were mentioned but not provided for in peace
time. The legislature undertook to provide the arms and
accoutrements. The uniforms were to be supplied by the
volunteers themselves. The care of arms, which experience
proved to be a difficult problem, was touched on vaguely,
three expedients being mentioned — entrusting them to the
individual volunteers, charging the captain with their care,
or providing armouries ; the weapons provided were Enfield
muzzle-loading rifles, then the newest type of small-arm.
The Province of Canada paid the home government for these
weapons.
The volunteer field batteries were to train for twenty days
in the year, ten days being continuous. The other volunteer
corps were to submit to training on ten consecutive days ;
the men might be encamped during the whole or a part of
the training. They were to be paid for their drill, the rates
ranging from $i a day for a private to $2.10 a day for a
captain. The volunteers were to be used to preserve internal
tranquillity. Their period of service was five years ; in peace
a volunteer could leave on giving a month's notice.
The nucleus of a militia department was enlarged. There
was to be an adjutant-general (a colonel), two deputy
adjutants-general, one for each division of the province
(lieutenant-colonels), and each of the eighteen districts was
to have an assistant adjutant-general (a major), who was to
act as staff officer for the colonel commanding.
The volunteer force was to consist of a number of separate,
unrelated companies ; the act allowed them to be formed into
battalions in war, but not in peace. This deliberate reluct-
ance to form separate companies into battalions draws our
attention to one feature of the new movement, a feature that
exercised a lasting and unfortunate effect upon the Canadian
398 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
forces. The volunteer companies authorized by the legis-
lature plainly were designed to be auxiliaries of a regular
army, and, indeed, of the sedentary militia when mobilized.
The purely Canadian headquarters, the adjutant-general's
office, had no other function than to hand over to the regular
army a set of volunteer companies and militia recruits. The
work of administration, other than the mere providing of
men, was left to the regulars, and the provincial authorities
seem to have ignored the fact that administrative work is
necessary to an armed force. The imperial government
maintained a large medical staff in the country ; it usually
had over twenty commissariat officers in Canada and the
Maritime Provinces, and the staff that kept the machine
working was very large. Into this completely organized
machine the isolated volunteer corps quietly fitted. When
they camped they were fed by imperial commissariat agents,
their sick were cared for in imperial hospitals, and their
arrangements were made for them by imperial staff officers.
From the financial standpoint the situation was that the
province paid for a number of separate corps, but bore no
share of the cost of the staff and administrative work by which
the corps profited, and no share of what British administrators
of that time expressively term the dead-weight of the system
— what in modern business terminology is styled the overhead
cost.
There was no question about the popularity of the new
force ; corps were raised so rapidly that in 1856 the law was
modified by the provision that unpaid companies might be
raised ; the paid companies were to be styled Class A, the
unpaid ones Class B. By January 1857 the Class A category
had an establishment of 4565 and a strength of 3652 ; there
were 16 troops of cavalry, 7 field batteries, 4 companies of
foot artillery and 34 rifle companies, with 29 field guns. In
Class B were 6 troops of cavalry and 17 rifle companies ; the
establishment was 1500 and few of the corps were organized.
By 1858 the Class A volunteers had attained a strength of
4724 effectives, while in Class B there were 22 corps, those
which were organized having about 560 effectives. Thus the
volunteer force had a total strength of some 5300. During
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA ? 399
this period the expenditure suddenly increased to between
$150,000 and $200,000 a year. It included little beyond
what was spent on arms, accoutrements and drill pay. The
men bought their own uniforms ; in one company in Montreal
the expense on this account was $70 each, and the price of
the private's outfit in some of the Toronto companies ranged
from $18 to $24. The effect was to confine membership to
the well-to-do. The fact that the men owned the clothing
soon proved a great inconvenience.
The enrolment of the sedentary militia was kept up. In
1857 there were 427 battalions, some 60 of which were not
organized, with 244,000 men ; in 1858 there were 443 battalions,
of which 394 were organized, and 275,000 men on the lists.
The actual number liable for service probably was 300,000.
That is, 300,000 men of military age supplied 5300 volunteers,
or 176 per cent. In 1858 the flank companies make their
last appearance ; the historic Lincoln militia furnished two
uniformed flank companies and were given loo ' percussion
muskets,' i.e. smooth-bores.
In 1858 and 1859 the government found itself in financial
straits as a result of the great panic of 1857 ; it had to
retrench, and among other things cut down the expenditure
on defence to sums varying from $60,000 to $100,000. The
instrument by which it effected that reduction was the act of
1859, which aroused great resentment among the volunteers.
The number of corps in Class A was lessened ; their establish-
ment was reduced ; the annual drill dropped to twelve days
for the field artillery and six days for the other arms. The
post of adjutant-general was abolished, and the whole
administration was marked by pinching economy. A few
of the provisions of the act were constructive : permission
was given to form separate companies into battalions, and
the volunteers were to be inspected. Under the new order of
things the number of the volunteers fell to 4400 and the force
was greatly depressed.
Such was the position of the indigenous forces of Canada
when the storm of the American Civil War broke on the
continent. Hostilities began in April 1861. In Septem-
ber we find the government of Canada — presided over by
400 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
E. P. Tache and John A. Macdonald — realizing the danger of
its position, and addressing a minute to the governor setting
forth the defenceless position of the province. There were
only 15,000 rifles in store ; of modern artillery there was
none ; in eight weeks navigation would close, and the only
line of communication with England would be through the
United States. As late as 1839 the old system had provided
reasonable safety ; the new system, complicated as it was
by the recent rapid changes in armaments, failed to guarantee
security. The government asked for 100,000 rifles and a
proportion of artillery, and hoped that the legislature would
' organize an efficient force to be drawn from the ranks
of the sedentary militia.' Britain instantly sent 30,000
rifles, artillery ammunition, greatcoats and blankets. In
November occurred the explosion over the Trent incident
and British North America was threatened with war.
While the government asked the imperial authorities for
more rifles and for clothing for 100,000 sedentary militia,
volunteers enlisted in numbers. By the end of the winter of
1862 the new force was rather over 14,000 strong — cavalry,
1615 ; artillery, 1687 ; engineers, 302 ; infantry, 10,615.
The infantry had 182 companies, of which 89 were grouped in
12 battalions, the remaining 93 being independent. Allowing
for the ' volunteer militia ' of the lower provinces, there were
about 19,000 volunteers in British North America. In 1861
Canada had about 500,000 men under forty, and the Maritime
Provinces about 125,000 ; so that the volunteers numbered
about three per cent of the men of military age in the country.
Popular ardour showed itself in volunteering. But the
authorities were observing certain characteristics of this type
of force :
1. At this moment, when war threatened and martial
ardour ran high, many companies had fallen to pieces. It
was plain that in a volunteer force much depended on the
personal qualities of a few officers.
2. Volunteering appealed to the towns, and not to the
country. The cities of Canada, with 275,000 population,
supplied 8525 volunteers, or 33 per looo ; the rural regions,
with 2,250,000 population, 16,485, or 7j per 1000. This was
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA ? 401
after vigorous attempts to interest the country districts in
the new force.
3. Few volunteer corps mustered, for inspection at least,
up to their very small establishments ; in 1864 the 402 corps
paraded 15,173 all ranks, or less than 38 per company.
Meanwhile a series of political events determined the
future of the Canadian militia. In January 1862 a strong
commission was appointed to consider the question of defence.
The political members were Georges fi. Carrier, John A.
Macdonald, A. T. Gait and Sir Allan MacNab ; Colonel
Campbell, C.B., and Colonel Cameron represented the
provincial forces ; and Colonel Daniel Lysons, C.B., a regular
officer with experience with British volunteers, who was sent
out for the purpose, represented the imperial point of view.
The report of this commission, dated March 15, 1862, con-
stitutes another strong plea for the recognition of the sedentary
militia as the real defence of the provinces. It declared that
the situation demanded a Canadian active force of 50,000
men, a Canadian reserve of the same number, a strong
body of regular troops, and command of the Great Lakes.
The native forces should consist of : (i) volunteer militia
corps raised in the cities ; (2) active battalions of ' regular
militia ' to be raised in the rural districts. As for the ' regular
militia,' each regimental district should be divided into
1 sedentary battalion divisions ' and should be subdivided
into ' sedentary company divisions ' ; each regimental division
should furnish one ' active ' and one ' reserve ' battalion,
' to be taken as nearly as practicable in equal proportions
from the male population of such division, between the
ages of 18 and 45.' Cities were to be regarded as military
districts and to furnish volunteer militia in lieu of ' active
battalions of regular militia,' the authorities having the power
to raise regular militia in them if they failed to furnish
the full complement of volunteers. The proposed force was
to be :
Upper Canada — 4149 ' volunteer militia,' 23,382 'regular
militia,' total 27,531. The force to consist of 27^ battalions
of infantry, 5 battalions of garrison artillery, 7 field batteries
and 1 6 troops of cavalry.
402 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
Lower Canada — 5144 ' volunteer militia,' 17,369 ' regular
militia,' total, 22,513. The force to consist of 24 battalions
of infantry, 3 battalions of garrison artillery, 3 field batteries
and 1 1 troops of cavalry.
Thus the whole force would be 50,000. The distribution
by arms would be : infantry, 41,400 ; garrison artillery,
6400 ; artillery, 850 ; cavalry, 1350. At six guns to the
battery the field guns would number 60. The battalion was
to be about 850 all ranks. The reserve force was to duplicate
this first line.
The recommendations with regard to training caused the
rejection of this plan. For the filling of the ' regular militia '
the familiar machinery of volunteering backed by the ballot
was prescribed. Every ' active battalion ' was to be called out
yearly ; the usual period of training was to be twenty-eight
days, and it was never to be less than fourteen days ; recruits
who had not been present at any former training were to have
fourteen days' additional training, and it should be within the
power of the commander-in-chief to call out the reserve force
for six days' training in each year. The militia should be
encamped when practicable, and trained to camp life. The
volunteer militia should be required to train for the same
number of days as the regular militia, under circumstances
suited to its convenience — with the proviso that some portion
of the time be consecutive and in the summer months, so as
to train each corps to battalion movements. The annual
muster of the sedentary militia was to be continued. The
period of service was to be three years in the regular militia
and five years in the volunteer militia. In war a militiaman's
compulsory service was to be one year, or at most eighteen
months. A staff of considerable size, including permanent
adjutants and sergeant-majors for battalions, was recom-
mended. The officers of the volunteer and regular militia
were to be required to pass examinations as to their military
qualifications, and ages for retirement were laid down. Pro-
vision of a modest kind was to be made for the payment
of officers — fi for each day of actual service. The pay
of privates and non-commissioned officers was to be 5Oc.
a day. The official estimate of the cost was $1,110,090 a
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA ? 403
year, or slightly over ten per cent of the provincial revenue.
This plan was not realized ; the volunteers were destined to
triumph ; the old militia system was to come to an end.
John A. Macdonald, who was the minister responsible for
military matters, moved the adoption of the measure in a
speech that betrayed a consciousness that he was essaying a
difficult task ; the government was weak and the proposals
were unpopular. The opposition attacked the bill fiercely ;
there was a secession, the government was defeated, and
Cartier and Macdonald retired from office. Sandfield Mac-
donald and Louis Victor Sicotte succeeded them, expressly
pledged against schemes so extensive.
The policy of the new administration was set forth in
two acts, one for the volunteers, the other for the militia.
In brief it was a substantial strengthening of the volunteers ;
an attempt to continue the militia organization, but to make
this expressly inferior and subordinate to the volunteers ;
and an improvement in the training of the officers. The
able-bodied men of the country were to be divided into three
categories : (i) the volunteers, to be increased to 35,000 ;
(2) the ' service militia,' divided into battalions of 850
all ranks, formed by aid of the ballot, liable to six days'
drill in the year, and officered by men with some military
qualifications ; (3) the ' non-service militia,' answering to
the old sedentary militia. The volunteers were to be supplied
with clothing, but were to receive no pay, though money
was to be given as ' proficiency prizes.' Provision was
made for the first time for the official encouragement of rifle-
shooting. Volunteer officers were to be senior to militia
officers of the same rank ; they were to qualify at the military
schools which were authorized by this legislation. Out-
side the provision for military schools the Militia Act re-
quires little attention, as the older force was rapidly falling
into desuetude. There were the familiar provisions about
drafting men and posting them to ' first-class service,'
1 second-class service ' and ' reserve ' battalions ; the period
of service was increased to three years. Every third year
the municipal authorities by means of the lot were to place
the names of those on the rolls upon a roster, and the men
404 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
were to be called out in this order ; thus the battalions
would be disbanded and reconstructed every third year.
Under the act of 1863 there were enrolled ill battalions
of 795 men each, or some 89,000 altogether. The old general
muster, which for some years had been suspended by execu-
tive act, now shrank to an annual muster of the service
men posted to organized ' service battalions.' There was an
enrolment in 1869 and another in 1871. Then it became
the custom to postpone by act of parliament each enrolment
as it came due. This continued till the act of 1883 removed
the injunction from the statute book, though enrolment
remained permissive. So ended the last vestige of the old
militia of Canada.
The great achievement of the policy of the Sandfield
Macdonald ministry was the provision of training for officers.
Henceforward no officer of the service militia was to be
appointed or promoted, except provisionally, until he had
satisfactorily passed through the ' school of military instruc-
tion,' or had sustained the questioning of an examining
board. To enable officers and candidates for commissions
in the volunteers and militia to perfect themselves, the
commander-in-chief might establish a school in each of the
two great divisions of the province, and for that purpose
might enter into arrangements with the officer commanding
Her Majesty's forces in British North America, for the best
means of effecting this in connection with any regular regi-
ment or regiments ; for this purpose $100,000 was to be
appropriated.
The provision of military schools was a great boon to
the volunteer force. The services of several regiments of
the regular army were utilized, and classes of officers and
candidates for commissions were formed at Toronto and
Quebec, and later at Montreal, Kingston, Hamilton and
London. The maximum period of attendance was three
months ; candidates taking a second-class certificate, to the
effect that they were competent to command a company,
were given a grant of $50 ; on taking a first-class certificate,
guaranteeing that the holder could drill a battalion, a further
grant of $50 was given. Uniform, subsistence and travelling
VOLUNTEERS OR MILITIA ? 405
expenses were allowed ; the officers and candidates attend-
ing were not admitted to the mess of the regiment furnishing
the instruction. The province paid allowances to the
imperial officers, non-commissioned officers and men engaged
in the work of instruction. The schools were eagerly
attended ; by January 1865 over 500 certificates had been
taken, half of each class, and 200 aspirants were in attend-
ance ; by April 30, 1866, over 700 first and 1400 second
class certificates had been granted, and nearly 250 pupils
were at the schools. Instruction in the schools was supple-
mented in the autumn of 1865 by the famous three weeks'
camp at Laprairie under Colonel Garnet Wolseley, after-
wards the commander-in-chief of the British army. Cadets
to the number of 1000 from all parts of the province were
assembled and given an excellent training, the individual
being ' employed in turns upon all military duties, from that
of regimental field officer down to that of private sentinels.'
The scheme of instruction was judicious, and the teaching
was at once strict, thorough and sympathetic. It is to be
observed, of course, that this is one phase more of the old
question of imperial help. At the Toronto and the Quebec
school alike there was a complete battalion, and each school
was a by-product of the battalion's work. Each battalion
cost the home government about $300,000 a year, so that
the sum which the provincial government appropriated was
about a seventh of the total cost of the institution by which
Canada profited so much.
By the middle sixties the country had definitely settled
down to trusting to a paid volunteer force, which now was
termed the ' volunteer militia.' When John A. Macdonald
returned to power the new government accepted the popular
preference. It was evident, however, that volunteering
proper was unsuited to the country districts ; the evening
drill to which the town corps trusted was not practicable
in farming communities ; and the difficulty was perplexing.
406 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
IV
THE FENIAN RAIDS
SUCH test as the new organization was called upon to
undergo was furnished by the frontier troubles, which
reached their climax in the Fenian raid of 1866, and
sputtered out in the demonstration of 1870. The first
frontier dangers originated in Canada, and the government
had to undertake duties of repression ; for Confederates
and Confederate sympathizers within the province planned
a series of attacks upon the Northern States, the counte-
nancing of which would have been as inexcusable infringe-
ments of neutrality as were the filibustering attacks of 1838
and 1 839. One outrage, the raid upon St. Albans in Vermont,
actually was perpetrated in October 1864, and it became
absolutely necessary for Canada to guard her frontier. The
regular troops employed for the purpose were supplemented
by three provisional battalions of volunteers, about 2000
strong, who were on service from the end of December 1864
until the end of April 1865. For political reasons these
companies were grouped in battalions so as to bring the men
of Canada East and Canada West together ; companies
were moved from Quebec to Windsor and from Woodstock
to Laprairie. The headquarters of the battalions were at
Windsor, Niagara and Laprairie. The volunteers were
placed under the command of the officer commanding the
regular troops in British North America, and so came under
the articles of war. The reply to the call was prompt, but
the four months' absence from business was a considerable
hardship, and when in November 1865 the government
found it necessary to place another force of ten companies,
700 men, at various frontier points, there was little volun-
teering and in some corps the draft was necessary. Towards
the end of 1865 the Fenian Brotherhood commenced its
activities, alarms were frequent, and the volunteers often
furnished guards to protect their armouries from attack or
incendiarism.
On March 7, 1866, Fenian menaces provoked a more
THE FENIAN RAIDS 407
serious call to arms. The order was for 10,000 volunteers ;
'they must be out in 24 hours,' John A. Macdonald's1
order ran, ' and for three weeks and whatever further time
may be required.' The adjutant-general, Colonel Patrick
MacDougall,1 received the order by 4 P.M. on the yth, and
by 4 P.M. on the 8th the corps notified were assembled at
their headquarters, not 10,000 but 14,000 strong, the men
having turned out in greater numbers for service than for
inspection. Colonel MacDougall declared that 30,000 men
could have been assembled in forty-eight hours. This force
of 14,000 comprised the following units :
Upper Canada — cavalry, 2 troops ; field artillery, 5
batteries ; garrison artillery, 6 batteries ; naval volunteers,
3 companies ; infantry, 6 battalions and 85 independent
companies. Total, 107 units.
Lower Canada — cavalry, 7 troops ; field artillery, 2
batteries ; garrison artillery, 2 batteries ; engineers, 2 con-
panies ; infantry, io>£ battalions and 27 independent
companies. Total, 51 units.
To mobilize this moderate-sized force orders had to be
issued by the district officers to 158 units. The supply of
artillery for the 14,000 men was only 24 field guns, or less
than two guns per 1000 men. The provision of cavalry,
9 troops, is surprisingly small, as frontier service would
mean much patrolling, and there were about 20 troops on
the lists. The corps when brought to the frontier were
associated in numerous small battalions. On March 28 all
but 17 companies were relieved from ' permanent duty.'
After March 31 the frontier was guarded by a string of posts,
held by about 5300 men, all infantry : 3573 at nine places
in Upper Canada, and 1717 at a greater number of places
in Lower Canada. In April these corps were relieved by
others, the screen being kept up. During these months the
volunteers naturally got a considerable amount of drill.
Their numbers rose to 25,000, and in addition two special
corps were raised — the Civil Service Rifles, and a corps of
1 Macdonald was minister of Militia (a post created by the act of 1863) as well
as prime minister.
* Afterwards Field-Marshal Sir Patrick MacDougall.
408 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
some 2000 Grand Trunk Railway employees formed into
six battalions, apparently to guard, as well as to work, the
railway lines of communication.
Beyond keeping these forces afoot the Canadian govern-
ment did nothing in the way of preparation for campaign-
ing. Through the latter half of May 1866 intelligence was
received from many quarters that a Fenian invasion was
imminent. During the last week of the month it was known
that a Fenian concentration at Buffalo was in progress ;
yet no arrangements were made. On June I the Fenians
landed at Fort Erie. On May 31 the adjutant-general was
ordered to call out 14,000 volunteers. They were ready
within twenty-four hours. On June 2 all the rest of the
force was called out, and on June 3 the province had more
than 20,000 men under arms. There was the same readiness
to offer service for actual fighting that had characterized
the earlier mobilization. Sixty Canadians hastened from
Chicago to offer their services to their country, and instances
occurred of farmers marching into the county town armed
with rusty musket and pitchfork. In a couple of days the
following forces were on hand at the several points of possible
attack :
Niagara frontier — approximately 975 regulars, 1800
militia, total 2775 ; 6 guns.
London frontier — 800 regulars, 2000 volunteers, total
2800 ; 10 guns.
St Lawrence frontier — 1542 regulars, 3514 volunteers,
total 5056 ; 1 1 guns.
Lower Canada frontier — 1320 regulars, 1276 volunteers,
total 2596 ; 12 guns.
At Montreal — 800 regulars, 900 volunteers, total 1700 ;
2 guns.
At Quebec — 960 regulars, 579 volunteers, total 1539 ; 4
guns.
A total of some 16,500 men and 45 guns.
In addition there were large bodies of volunteers at
detached posts and assembled in readiness at their homes.
When we reflect that the Fenians at Fort Erie brought
between 1000 and 1500 men across the river, with no artillery,
THE FENIAN RAIDS 409
no cavalry and no stores or supplies of any kind, the madness
of their enterprise is apparent. The operations on the
Niagara frontier were unsatisfactory, in that the Fenians
inflicted a check on a detached force and then escaped,
whereas they should have been crushed. Early on the
morning of June I the Fenians crossed the river and took
possession of Fort Erie. At noon on the same day Port
Colborne was occupied by 400 volunteers ; at 1 1 P.M. these
were reinforced to a strength of 840, all infantry. At night-
fall on June I Colonel Peacocke was at Chippawa with 400
regular infantry, 200 regular artillery with 6 guns, and 150
regulars and 765 volunteers in support at St Catharines.
Early on June 2 Colonel Peacocke moved with some 1500
men and 6 guns from Chippawa towards Stevensville, to join
the Port Colborne force. At 7 A.M. on June 2 there were in
the immediate theatre of operations British forces aggre-
gating some 2800 men with 6 guns, and no cavalry. The
Fenians brought into action some 800 or 900 men, all infantry
except for a few mounted scouts. So far as putting men
on the frontier went, the authorities had heavily outnumbered
the Fenians within twenty-four hours of the landing of the
marauders.
The showing is less satisfactory in other respects. The
preliminary distribution was made with bad judgment and
shows great lack of forethought. Had some competent officer
like Colonel Wolseley been directed to prepare a plan of
defence in advance, the story would have been different.
Assuming the soundness of the plan of placing one column at
Port Colborne and another at Chippawa, we may be sure
that (i) the three or four troops of cavalry available would
have been sent to the front first, instead of being sent twenty-
four hours later than the infantry ; (2) the Welland field
battery would have retained its guns and the Hamilton field
battery would have been sent on with the rest of the forces ;
(3) the Port Colborne column would have comprised at least
a troop of cavalry and a battery of artillery, as well as a couple
of battalions of infantry ; (4) Peacocke's seizure of Chippawa
would have been covered by a cavalry screen that would
have facilitated his subsequent march ; (5) the Port Colborne
VOL. vn c
4io DEFENCE, 1812-1912
column would have been commanded by a specially selected
officer, sufficiently senior not to be superseded by the chance
arrival of a regimental officer, and provided with a proper
staff. Thus, with no greater effort, the concentration would
have been one of 2300 infantry, 150 cavalry, and 14 guns.
The Port Colborne column would have had 840 infantry,
sufficient cavalry to prevent surprise, and guns enough to
have supported its attack ; also, its movements would hardly
have been so eccentric. As it was, the luckless column con-
sisted of 840 men on foot ; it had neither cavalry, artillery,
staff nor transport ; the only horse with it was that ridden by
the regimental officer who accidentally found himself a briga-
dier. On paper a force composed exclusively of infantry that
goes rambling about the country in the presence of an enemy
is likely to come to grief, and so it proved in fact. Peacocke's
force, through the eccentric mobilization that dispatched his
cavalry to the front last instead of first, had to advance upon
Chippawa unprotected by proper reconnaissance, and lost
much time on June 2 through the same lack.
The other arrangements were incredibly bad ; the merits
of the mobilization end with the alacrity shown by the men
and the rapidity with which they were hurried to the frontier.
For several days there was no commissariat service worthy of
the name, and the country's soldiers were saved from destitu-
tion by the charity of civilian relief committees. The troops
sent from Toronto on June I were on June 4 relieved from actual
lack of food by the arrival of a trainload of supplies which
their fellow-townsmen had collected on the previous day and
dispatched to Fort Erie. On the Eastern Townships frontier
it was necessary to have recourse to the same expedient.
Not only was the commissariat bad ; the equipment of the
volunteers was most discreditable. Several regiments were
in need of boots ten days after the mobilization. They had
few or no haversacks, and in consequence went long periods
without food. There was a scarcity of water-bottles and the
men suffered agonies from thirst ; they had no camp cooking
utensils and ate their food without plates, knives or forks.
Many, with the cheerful irresponsibility that is the peculiar
property of the private soldier, regular or irregular, went to
THE FENIAN RAIDS 411
the front without a change of underclothing. The majority
wore boots that crippled them. The cavalry volunteers took
the field without picket ropes, with ordinary hunting saddles,
without carbines, and with revolvers having shooting powers
which were the subject of grave doubt. The superior officers
were unprovided with maps. Yet there had been constant
alarms since 1864, and the Fenian Brotherhood had been
threatening invasion since 1865.
In themselves the raids need scant attention. The
Fenians had intended the raid at Fort Erie to be one of a set
of concentrated movements that were to include an attack
on Prescott, from which town a line of railway led to Ottawa,
and an invasion of the Eastern Townships ; but the com-
bination broke down. On June 7 about 1800 Fenians crossed
the frontier of Lower Canada and did some plundering at
Pigeon Hill and Frelighsburg, but they scattered before the
British forces without a fight. Sundry demonstrations oppo-
site Prescott, Brockville, Cornwall and the Eastern Town-
ships came to nothing, though they imposed much labour
on the Canadian forces. Four years later, in May 1870,
a still more farcical attempt at raiding the Eastern Town-
ships was made, and some hundreds of Fenians, of a type
much inferior to those of 1866 (who in large part had been
trained soldiers), assembled at St Albans in Vermont, and
attempted to cross the frontier at a point commanded from
the Canadian side by a strong natural position known as
Eccles Hill. The filibusters at once came under the fire of an
outpost on the hill composed of a few volunteers and some
thirty local farmers armed with rifles and styling themselves
a ' Home Guard.' The fire of this party was sufficient to
repulse the Fenians ignominiously. Further west a crowd
of Fenians gathered at Malone in New York and crossed the
border, only to be summarily evicted by the local volunteer
regiment, supported by a company of regulars that did not
find it necessary to fire a shot. So ended the Fenian raids,
except for a slight attempt in 1871 on the border of Manitoba ;
in this case the United States troops arrested the Fenians in
time to save them from the necessity of fighting a party of
Canadians which was approaching the frontier.
412 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
In the autumn of 1866 there occurred an episode that had
a marked effect upon the future development of the armed
forces of Canada. Apprehensions as to Fenian descents
continued, and in August a volunteer camp of exercise was
formed at Thorold, a convenient point on the Welland Canal
from which to guard the Niagara frontier. Some regulars
formed a ' permanent brigade nucleus,' and 6000 volunteers
were passed through the camp. The training lasted for seven
weeks, the volunteers coming in successive batches for a
week's training, there being two or three battalions at a time
in camp. A similar camp was projected at St Johns, near
Montreal, but fell through. Except for the special camp
at Laprairie in 1865 — which was for the purpose of training
officers, not rank and file — this was the first experiment in
training the ordinary corps in camp. The process of associat-
ing the scattered companies in battalions went on vigorously,
the authorities probably having had enough of issuing orders
to one or two hundred units in order to put ten thousand
men in the field.
Confederation in 1867 found Old Canada, now the separate
provinces of Ontario and Quebec, with a volunteer militia
consisting of corps having an establishment of nearly 40,000
and a strength of about 33,750. Of the 31,000 volunteers
proper (for two or three thousand men were accounted for by
two special corps, the Civil Service Rifles and the Grand
Trunk Brigade) over 21,000 were in Ontario and rather less
than 10,000 in Quebec. The force was better found than in
1866, the whole of the infantry having been equipped with
haversacks, water-bottles and greatcoat straps in lieu of knap-
sacks ; there were some reserve stores of these articles, and of
boots, knapsacks and ammunition. The field batteries had new
guns — muzzle-loading Q-pounders and 24-pounder howitzers —
and new carriages, harness and stores. Most of the cavalry
had Spencer repeating rifles, but an inadequate supply of
saddlery. The infantry had Snider rifles ; the short reign of
the muzzle-loading rifle was over, and the province had 30,000
breech-loaders, then the best in existence, which were to be
the weapons of the force for thirty years. The military schools
were doing good work ; by the end of 1867 the officers of the
THE MARITIME PROVINCES 413
two provinces had taken 3600 certificates, of which nearly
1000 were first class. There was no sign of departmental
corps, though the latest legislation authorized such formations.
There had been a brisk building of drill sheds, and the country
had 107 at the end of 1867. There was active encouragement
of rifle shooting ; ranges were being laid out, targets procured,
liberal prizes offered. There were several improvised gun-
boats on the St Lawrence River and the Lakes — rather to the
annoyance of the United States. The headquarters organiza-
tion was beginning to be overtaxed.
THE MARITIME PROVINCES
THE system that grew up in Old Canada governed the
subsequent development of the forces of the Dominion.
The Maritime Provinces, however, had defence systems
of their own that must be noticed ; that of Nova Scotia
presents points of unusual interest.
Nova Scotia in 1861 contained about 85,000 men liable
to service, there being 58,000 between the ages of 18 and
45, and 27,000 between 45 and 60. In January 1859 the
lieutenant-governor, the Earl of Mulgrave, after a survey of
the field, reported to the Colonial Office that the militia
existed only on paper. He proposed raising a volunteer force,
the men to drill gratuitously and to furnish their own uni-
forms. With some difficulty he induced the home government
to supply the rifles and accoutrements free. Mulgrave also
exerted himself to start the recruiting for the volunteers,
which soon was brisk. It will be convenient to give at once
a summary of the progress of this force :
1861 (about) 30 companies (about) 1,500 effectives.
1862 54 „ 2,350
1863 56 „ 2,364
1864 I 8 „ 829
1865 12 „
This rapid rise and sudden drop in the volunteer force
DEFENCE, 1812-1912
must be read alongside the figures setting forth the develop-
ment in the militia :
Year
Bat-
talions
Enrolment
Trained
Officers,
total
Officers
qualified
1862 . .
60
43,ooo
_
I863 . .
104
48,600
35.000
1,885
688
1864 . .
no
56,000
42,000
2,122
1,491
1865 . .
117
59,000
45,600
2,500
2,500
Thus we observe that the drop in the number of volunteers
coincides with a leap forward in the numbers, training and
efficiency of the militia. Mulgrave and his adjutant-general,
Colonel R. Bligh Sinclair, in fact, in 1860 laid down a plan of
progressive reorganization, the deliberate and clear intention
of which was that the volunteers should play a part subsidiary
to the militia. The first plan proposed by Mulgrave was that
each corps should be the volunteer company of the militia
regiment, so that the establishment which he originally
contemplated was 48 companies, each 60 strong, or 2880 all
told. This idea, however, was soon abandoned. At the end
of 1862 we find the adjutant-general demanding that volun-
teers and militia go ' hand in hand.' By the end of 1863, at
once the high-water year for the volunteers and the year of
the long step forward with the militia, the adjutant-general,
noting that the average strength of the volunteer companies
was 42, recommended (i) that corps with less than 45
effectives be disbanded ; (2) that in future no corps be
authorized without the consent of the local militia command-
ing officer. What was happening was that the volunteer
privates — often young men of the better classes — were taking
out militia commissions.
Next year saw the drop in the numbers of the volunteers.
The adjutant-general noted in his report that the companies
had been drilling and uniforming fewer men than their rolls
showed ; that few of them were large enough for effective
use ; that while some volunteers helped in training the militia,
others looked idly on ; that at times militiamen were tempted
THE MARITIME PROVINCES 415
to think that they could evade their compulsory service by
joining a volunteer company and then neglecting it ; and that
the rifles of the volunteers were not cared for as well as could
be wished. The volunteers of Halifax had been consolidated
into a battalion ; * with regard to the rest, the following policy
was laid down :
1. Volunteer companies were urged to consolidate with
the militia battalions of their district.
2. Volunteers hereafter formed to be ' militia volunteers/
and to be supervised by the commanding officers of their
militia battalions.
3. Volunteers to be under the same training as the militia,
such training to count in with any other work which they
might do.
In short, the volunteers were shepherded back into the
militia from which they had emerged. They had served to
stimulate the military spirit, and often had been a species
of officers' training corps. The instability of such a force
had been demonstrated ; of the eighty companies organized,
many had fallen to pieces before the pressure of the regula-
tions had driven them into the ranks of the militia.
We may now turn to the militia, which had been the
real object of the reorganization. An early difficulty — one
which was never properly solved — was the supply of arms.
The legislature of Nova Scotia could not be prevailed upon
to buy rifles, and to the end of the period the militia remained
unarmed. Leaving this weak spot, we may notice that the
central machinery of organization and training consisted of
the lieutenant-general, the adjutant-general, three or four
inspecting officers borrowed from the imperial army, one or
two staff-sergeants at headquarters, and a force of drill-
sergeants which seldom exceeded twenty, also borrowed from
the regulars. The regular army also afforded much inci-
dental help. The inspecting officers and drill-sergeants
moved assiduously about the country, sometimes enduring
much hardship (for the favourite drill period was the winter),
and instructed volunteers and militia officers and non-
commissioned officers at their homes. In order not to
1 Now the 63rd Halifax Rifles.
416 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
interfere with business, three or four hours was considered
a day's work ; and a militia officer qualified by an examina-
tion after twenty-eight days' instruction. Thus the qualifi-
cation was slighter than that given in the military schools
of Canada. AH the instruction was given locally ; camps
were not resorted to in Nova Scotia. The expenditure, it
may be added, rose from $11,500 in 1861 to something over
$20,000 in the following years, and was swollen in 1865, by
some purchases of material, to $95,000.
The leading features of Lord Mulgrave's plan may now
be noticed. The object was the development of a large,
organized, lightly trained force, under a considerable number
of moderately well-trained officers, and capable of rapid
mobilization. A good level seems to have been aimed at
rather than a few crack corps. The volunteers were to be,
not a separate force, but a means of developing the militia.
The steps in the process were to be :
1. The reorganization and training of the officers. The
rank and file were to be left alone until the inefficient officers
had been removed and a sufficient number of leaders prepared.
2. Qualified non-commissioned officers to be obtained
when the officer situation had been dealt with ; and these
to be given a considerable amount of responsibility and work.
3. Insistence on the officers and sergeants doing the detail
work of enrolling, classifying and subdividing their men.
4. Once the framework of leaders was prepared, the calling
out of the mass of the population for four or five days' train-
ing in the year.
All this meant sweeping away the old officers and the
old arrangements, and this was done with a thoroughness
rare in a democratic community. The officers of the old
force were nearly all over age, and they were replaced, the
new requirements being youth, physical fitness, intelligence,
' a reasonable amount of practical elementary education,'
and qualification. The process began in December 1860,
and at the end of 1862 there were 851 applicants for com-
missions and 817 officers and cadets under training. In
1863 the system was well enough advanced to allow the
calling out of the militia, and the five days' training was a
THE MARITIME PROVINCES 417
success ; nearly 35,000 men responded, and their behaviour
was characterized by ' a cheerfulness and sober regularity '
which the authorities attributed to their finding trained
officers able to instruct and handle them. There was
general eagerness to be instructed. The training of the
officers (who by this time had been put into uniform) had
made such progress that the headquarters staff was con-
sidering the problem of the militia non-commissioned officer
and the squadding of the force. The idea was to subdivide
the company districts into smaller areas, in each of which
a sergeant should be responsible for warning the men
and otherwise working the system. This was never fully
carried out, though some progress was made ; one induce-
ment discussed was the supplying of uniforms to qualified
sergeants.
The ensuing years told a tale of progress, the people year
by year turning out for drill, and the qualification of the leaders
advancing. At the end of 1867, after the establishment of
Confederation, we find Colonel Sinclair reporting that ' the
whole available militia force has now been called out for five
days' training for five successive years.' He went on to
make a singular suggestion. ' The annual five days' train-
ing of the whole force,' he wrote, ' has now fully attained
the object originally aimed at — the complete organization
of the whole force of martial age for administrative purposes,
and giving them a tolerable idea of parade, discipline and
marching, while the more intelligent have gained an amount
of military knowledge which would be useful if required.'
He added that these gratuitous services must have been
heavily felt, and went on to compute that the training of
45,767 men for 5 days was equivalent to 228,835 days ; and
that this again was equal to training 5448 men for six weeks
— in his opinion the more advantageous period of training.
Accordingly, he proposed that henceforward
the whole of the militia force of all arms, excepting
those between the ages of 1 8 and 22 (attained), be formed
into reserve for muster only during peace. This would
give about 15,000 young men, minus those too remote
to join, for militia, artillery and naval brigade service,
418 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
together with such volunteers as could be induced to
join, subject to such training as may be decided on. . . .
These young men, from 18 to 22 years of age, to be
subject to four years' service, or such period as may be
deemed best for administrative purposes and preliminary
drill.
That is, he proposed in effect Lord Kitchener's scheme
for Australia and New Zealand.
The Nova Scotia system has been the subject of a good
deal of praise, and there is, indeed, much to be admired in
the skill with which the reorganization was carried through,
and the loyalty with which the people rendered their stint
of personal service ; to the provision of competent leaders
the masses responded with a fine public spirit. At the same
time, it must be remembered that after all little had been
done beyond laying the foundation for a system of mobiliza-
tion. The men were neither armed nor clothed. Except
for some garrison artillery, which in the case of Halifax
could be expected to strengthen the garrison by about 1500
men reasonably well trained to the guns, the force consisted
exclusively of infantry. There was no idea of a native army,
complete in itself. It was purely a system designed to pro-
duce auxiliaries to an English army.
The military revival began to affect New Brunswick in
1860. While there were about 60,000 men of military age
in the province, of whom 47,500 were ' first class service '
men under 45, only 32,400 militia were enrolled, there being
I cavalry regiment, I regiment of artillery and 34 regi-
ments of infantry. There also were volunteers, who were
carefully associated with the militia, their official designation
being ' companies of militia enrolled for voluntary drill and
exercise.' There were 50 of these companies, of which 31
were uniformed ; the average strength was 37 ; and the
province had about 1400 men more or less instructed in the
rifle. The province had 3000 rifles, taken from the stores in
Quebec and given to it free.
Revision of the law followed, the militia being divided
into four categories : Class A, volunteers ; Class B, single
men and widowers without children, from 18 to 45 ; Class
THE MARITIME PROVINCES
419
C, married men and widowers with children, from 18 to
45 ; sedentary militia, from 45 to 60. The enrolments
under this system in successive years were :
Year
ClassA
Class B
Class C
Sedentary
Total
1862 . .
1, 700
18,800
6.IOO
3,700
30,000
1863 . .
IJOO
I9,OOO
J4,OOO
6.OOO
4O,800
1865 . .
1, 8OO
18,500
I7,OOO
7,000
44,000
1866 . .
2.OOO
18,750
I7,8OO
7,200
45,800
The volunteers received no pay, but were given arms,
ammunition, company allowances and cloth for their uni-
forms ; they also enjoyed certain tax exemptions. Their
attendance was small as compared with their nominal strength,
and it became apparent that volunteering was not suited
to farming districts. Several drill-sergeants, drawn from
the regular troops, worked with the volunteers, militia
officers being exhorted to fall into the ranks of these com-
panies so as to profit by the teaching. In 1863 the St John
volunteers, who were of old standing, were formed into a
battalion. In 1865 a training camp of twenty-eight days was
held, attended by 950 officers, non-commissioned officers
and men, drawn from the various battalions of the force.
This was repeated in 1866, but was not attended to the full
establishment of 15 companies each of 63 all ranks.
Prince Edward Island had a militia system dating from
1782, which by the middle of the nineteenth century had
fallen into desuetude. It also took to volunteering, and in
1859 the mother country gave it JOOO stand of rifles and
100,000 rounds of ammunition, following this up in 1860 and
1 86 1 with additional gifts of field guns, rifles and munitions.
The volunteer companies were associated with the terri-
torial regiments of militia, but were sometimes known as
the ' volunteer brigade,' the number of companies being
34 in 1863 and 33, with 756 effectives, in 1864. The militia
law was remodelled, and by 1869 we find that the ' regular
militia ' had been enrolled and given from three to nine days'
420 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
training, though they had no arms. There were 16 regiments,
which were 7119 strong, 1541 men being absent. The
volunteers had 2 troops of mounted rifles, 2 companies
of artillery, and 30 companies of rifles ; they numbered
altogether about 1800. By 1872, the year before union,
the 4 regular militia ' had mustered 12,400 strong, and there
were only 9 corps of volunteers — 2 troops of mounted
rifles, 2 batteries of artillery, and 5 companies of rifles with
a strength of 455. The volunteers received no pay ; in
return for 16 drills in the year each secured a grant of $3.20
for his uniform. By this time the muzzle-loading Enfields
with which the volunteers were armed were obsolete and of
little use.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shared in the Fenian
alarms of 1866. In March there were rumours about a
descent upon Halifax, while in April some hundreds of
marauders gathered on the frontier of New Brunswick,
accomplishing a slight violation of it at the island of Campo-
bello. About 1000 local troops were called out — 3 batteries
of artillery and 14 companies of infantry ; of the infantry
7 companies were volunteers and 7 were militia. In addi-
tion ' Home Guards ' were formed ; these were militiamen
who met for drill, were armed, and supplied themselves with
rough uniforms of scarlet flannel. Regular troops were
sent from Halifax, the deficiency there being supplied by
calling on the volunteers and militia to supplement the
garrison ; the Halifax volunteer battalion, for example,
furnished 150 men for nearly two months. Throughout the
whole of Nova Scotia about 15,000 militia were assembled
ready for action ; the rifle companies in the neighbourhood
of Truro volunteered for service in New Brunswick. Speak-
ing generally, however, the militia system, while suited for
a general mobilization, proved not to lend itself as well as
the volunteers to the instantaneous furnishing of a small
force to deal with a petty raid ; and Nova Scotia military
opinion in 1866 and 1867 tended once more to the encourage-
ment of the volunteers, who began to increase in numbers.
THE DEAD PERIOD 421
VI
THE DEAD PERIOD
AT the time of Confederation somewhat extensive plans
of defence were in the air. Military opinion favoured
certain permanent fortifications, notably the rearma-
ment of Quebec and the construction of works to protect
Montreal. A fortress at Fonthill to protect the Niagara
frontier was also contemplated. The committee, consisting
of John A. Macdonald, Georges E. Cartier, George Brown
and A. T. Gait, which visited England in 1865, entered
into an understanding whereby Canada undertook to con-
struct works of defence at and west of Montreal, and to
spend at least a million dollars a year in training the militia
until Confederation was accomplished ; Great Britain on
her part engaged to complete the fortifications of Quebec,
to provide the whole of the armament for the fortress, to
guarantee a loan for the fortifications to be erected by
Canada, and, in the event of war, to undertake the defence
of every portion of Canada with all the resources of the
Empire. The imperial government obtained legislation em-
powering it to guarantee a loan of ^1,300,000 for this purpose,
but the fortifications were not erected, and in 1872 an arrange-
ment was effected whereby this guarantee of a military loan
of £1, 300,000 was exchanged for an imperial guarantee of a
loan for £1,000,000 for the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The Dominion adopted the system of a volunteering
militia, which had been worked out in Old Canada. This
was rather to the disgust of the Canadian volunteers, who
had been led by their experiment in 1865 and 1866 to favour
a ' regular ' or compulsory militia. Many volunteers had
suffered severely in purse during those years ; no career was
offered them, they paid the same taxes as their neighbours,
they sacrificed the time in which they might have been
earning money, and were actually at a disadvantage with the
stay-at-home competitors whom they had been defending.
The official reports of this time make frequent mention of
the feeling of the force that service should be compulsorily
422 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
equalized. The act of 1868, however, in effect continued the
Canadian policy of 1863. It read as if it were establishing a
system of universal training, for it continued the old theoretical
liability to service, the old paper enrolment, and the usual
elaborate classification of the population by age and family
circumstances. The militia was divided into ' active ' and
' reserve.' The active militia was subdivided into the
1 volunteer militia,' the only force that had any real existence,
the ' regular militia,' the old quota force, now and hence-
forward a phantom on paper, and the ' marine militia,' a
form of service that had no driving force behind it and that
soon faded away. The reserve militia comprised everybody
whose name was not enrolled as belonging to one of these
other categories. There were 1 86 regimental divisions,
grouped into 22 brigade divisions, and these further combined
in 9 military districts. The act contemplated the drilling
and paying of 40,000 men, a figure that a few years later was
increased to 45,000. Officers of the reserve also were to be
drilled from eight to sixteen days a year. In practice the
militia department contented itself with managing such corps
as chose to continue in existence. The volunteers and militia
of the old provinces came under the jurisdiction of the
Dominion. The volunteer force at the outset comprised
37, 1 70 men, contributed as follows : Ontario, 21,816 ; Quebec,
12,637 I New Brunswick, 1789; and Nova Scotia, 928. This
force was distributed among the several arms as follows :
cavalry, 1386 ; field artillery, 719 ; garrison artillery, 3315 ;
engineers, 116 ; infantry, 31,634. It was arranged that each
province should contribute a quota to the 40,000 men who
were to be paid for training, and efforts were made to recruit
the volunteers in the more easterly provinces up to this
establishment. In 1870 quota and actual enlistments com-
pared as follows :
Quota Enlisted
Ontario .... 18,070 20,956
Quebec .... 14,432 I5.°66
New Brunswick . . 3,264 3,327
Nova Scotia . . . 4,284 4»I92
43,541
THE DEAD PERIOD 423
Subsequently additional corps were raised, and had all the
corps in existence been recruited up to their establishment
they would have numbered about 45,000. In 1870 the force
turned out in satisfactory strength when the Fenians made
their last attempt. Ontario alone provided nearly 13,500
men with 18 guns and Quebec contributed considerable
numbers. The force on this occasion was better organized
and equipped than in 1866.
In these years an important innovation was made by
those responsible for the force — that of the annual camps.
Mention has been made of the camp held at Thorold under
Wolseley's command. This succeeded so admirably that it
was repeated, and for several years the whole of the militia
were annually assembled, at first for eight days, on one or two
occasions for sixteen, and finally for twelve days. In 1869
many of the corps were billeted in their county towns ; after
that they were put under canvas. The expedient of the camp
saved the rural volunteers from extinction ; in Old Canada
and in the Maritime Provinces it had been found that farmers
could not be assembled for evening drills as townsmen could ;
the farmer could, however, at certain seasons take a fort-
night's holiday and devote the whole time to training. At
first battalion camps were held, and then brigade camps,
the latter being found to be much more advantageous. In
these years the city corps attended camp with the rural
regiments.
During the carrying out of these details of organization
the imperial forces in Canada were steadily reduced. At
last, in 1871, came the day when the Royal Artillery and the
6oth Rifles — the two corps that had hoisted the British flag
at Quebec in 1759 — evacuated that place. The only imperial
troops left in Canada were the 2000 or so who for thirty years
continued to garrison Halifax. The most noticeable effect
of the evacuation was the disappearance of the military
schools , from 1864 to the end of 1870 these had granted
nearly 6000 certificates. The Canadian authorities tried to
replace these by forming schools at Toronto, Kingston and
Montreal with the militia staff as instructors. The makeshift
gave little satisfaction, and the means for military qualification
424 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
suffered a decline. No attempt was made to utilize the
garrison at Halifax for instructional purposes.
Prior to the withdrawal the Red River expedition took
place. It became necessary to dispatch an armed force to
assert Canadian jurisdiction over the prairie country acquired
from the Hudson's Bay Company, and Colonel Wolseley was
selected to organize as well as to command it. The whole
expedition comprised some 1400 men, a battalion of regulars 1
and two small battalions of Canadians, the Ontario and the
Quebec Rifles, each 350 strong. Recruited from the militia,
these Canadians in effect were regulars, for they were embodied
for a considerable time. Recruiting began on May I and the
two corps were raised with great celerity ; the expedition
started from Collingwood in June. After proceeding by water
to ' Prince Arthur's Landing ' 2 in Thunder Bay the brigade
had to traverse 660 miles of wilderness, rock, river and lake
to Fort Garry.3 Thanks to careful organization and fore-
thought the journey was a brilliant success, and the appear-
ance of the troops instantaneously pacified the disturbed
prairie region. The cost was only about $500,000. The
regulars returned at once, but the Canadian troops remained,
and a permanent garrison was maintained at Winnipeg,
ultimately taking the form of the Mounted Police. In 1871
a Fenian scare made it necessary to strengthen the force at
Winnipeg, and a small expedition, 215 troops and 60 voyageurs,
was forwarded late in the season. The orders were issued on
October 12 ; by October 19 the men had been recruited and
were at Collingwood ; they left Thunder Bay on October 24
and arrived in Winnipeg on November 18, bringing the force
up to 1150 men.
Collapse came in the early seventies. By 1871 deficiencies
in numbers were beginning to appear. Then came the
financial depression and the reduction of expenditure. The
money spent on the militia from 1868 to 1876 ran from
$1,000,000 to about $1,250,000 ; in 1877 it was cut down to
$550,000, and it stayed at $600,000 or $700,000 for years ;
not until 1885 did it reach the million mark again. Until
1875 the number of militia trained ranged from 30,000 to
1 The ist 6oth Rifles. ! Now Port Arthur. * Now Winnipeg.
THE DEAD PERIOD 425
35,000 ; in 1876 it dropped to 23,000, and from that year
until 1897 it was about 20,000. The drill period fell from
1 6 to 8 or 12 days ; establishments were reduced, the com-
pany being cut down from 55 to 42 ; camps were almost
abolished. The urban corps reverted to the old volunteer
practice of evening drill at their armouries ; the rural regi-
ments were allowed to attend camp only in alternate years.
The city corps in process of time forgot that they ever had
attended camp, and came to regard that method of training
as unsuited to their circumstances, and in this way arose the
separation between city and rural corps. Owing to the long
intervals between camps and to the disappearance of the
understanding that a man who engaged to serve for three years
should be obliged to hold to his contract, the rural corps when
they did attend training were mere assemblages of raw men.
The advances of this period almost all lie outside the active
militia, to employ the word now used of the voluntary service
force. These advances may now be noticed.
First, there was some development as regards the com-
mand of the force. Originally an adjutant-general had organ-
ized it in peace time ; the last of these adjutants-general was
Colonel Robertson Ross, an able imperial officer who retired
in 1873. In 1871 a statute was passed making the rank of
major-general the highest in the force, and in October 1874
Major-General Selby Smyth was gazetted to ' command '
the militia ; the adjutant-general now became a subordinate
of the major-general commanding. Selby Smyth was suc-
ceeded in 1880 by Major-General Luard, who was followed in
1884 by Major-General Middleton. The act of 1883 put the
general commanding on a more definite footing ; he was to
be an imperial officer, at least of the rank of colonel, and a
major-general in the militia. It was enacted that he ' shall be
charged, under the orders of Her Majesty, with the military
command and discipline of the militia.'
Secondly, the Royal Military College at Kingston was
founded in 1876. As an educational institution this has
proved exceedingly successful. It was designed to give a
general as well as a military education, the idea being that
through its work the civilian population would contain a
VOL. VII D
426 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
number of prominent men trained to be leaders in case of need.
It thus has stood somewhat apart from the military system
of the Dominion, many graduates omitting to give the benefit of
their training to the armed forces of their country. Of late there
has been some change, and since 1910 every cadet is compelled
to take a commission in the militia, if he does not enter the
imperial or permanent forces, and to serve at least three train-
ings. Up to July 1912, 89 graduates have entered the perma-
nent force, of whom 7 have died, 7 have joined the Mounted
Police, and 24 have entered non-military branches of the gov-
ernment service. About 150 have joined the imperial forces.
Thirdly, in 1883 a small arsenal was opened in Quebec.
It has grown, and now makes artillery ammunition as well as
large quantities of rifle cartridges.
Fourthly, this period saw the founding of the ' permanent
force,' as the Canadian regular army is cautiously termed.
The absolute need of a permanent artillery establishment
was soon felt, if only to keep the works and arsenals at Quebec
and Kingston from utter ruin. Two batteries, A and B,
were raised in 1871 and stationed at these two places ; later
a third battery, C, was raised in British Columbia. At once
a corps and a school, the force was excellently organized by
two imperial officers, Colonel T. Bland Strange and Colonel
G. A. French. It had a remarkable effect on the militia
artillery, hitherto a backward arm. Now, under the stimulus
of sympathetic instruction and careful inspection, it made
progress that is one of the singular features of this dead
period. The first intention in raising this corps was to make
it a species of self-perpetuating school, not unlike the Swiss
method of having each set of pupils instruct their immediate
successors. The idea was to draft officers, non-commissioned
officers and men from the militia batteries, give them a year's
training in the corps, and return them to the militia as in-
structors. The plan broke down in Canadian practice, and
the men in the artillery schools soon became ordinary regular
troops, there being a tendency to find recruits among time-
expired men of the imperial army.
In 1884 the artillery schools were followed by the infantry
and cavalry schools. The Cavalry School, which developed
THE DEAD PERIOD 427
into the Royal Canadian Dragoons, was opened in Quebec ;
the first infantry schools, which ultimately became the Royal
Canadian Regiment of Infantry, were stationed at Fredericton,
St Johns and Toronto. Coming as the result of a long-con-
tinued agitation by Generals Selby Smyth and Luard, these
schools were not as fortunate as the artillery in their relations
with the active militia, and for years encountered more or less
hostility within the force. The feeling that the money spent
upon them was filched from the active militia possibly had
its origin in remarks made by the generals. Both Selby
Smyth and Luard, while recognizing the valuable military
qualities of the rural infantry, and insisting that they were
not treated fairly, despaired of their attaining efficiency, and
suggested their abolition and the spending of the money so
saved on permanent instructional corps.
Another feature of this period is the appearance of the
Dominion Rifle Association and the Dominion and Ontario
Artillery Associations. These semi-private associations for
the encouragement of skill with the soldier's weapons were
encouraged by the Militia department and have played a con-
siderable part in the development of the force. The rifle
association has tended to emphasize individual, the artillery
associations co-operative, skill.
A very serious feature of the military policy of Canada
has its roots in this period. It has been remarked that the
earlier forces were organized for the purpose of furnishing a
congeries of ancillary units to an English regular army ; the
idea of a self-contained native army was broached only in
Old Canada and was defeated there. Confederation removed
from the Dominion the regular establishments around which
the pre-Confederation regiments were to rally ; it brought
to Canadian statesmen no conception of the duty or the need
of making a Canadian army out of the unrelated corps of the
Canadian militia, and public opinion on the subject did not
exist. A military force is an army when its organizers have
borne two sets of considerations in mind. The fighting men
must be grouped in certain proportions of cavalry, artillery
and infantry; that is, there must be a just distribution
of the three arms. Certain absolutely essential non-fighting
428 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
adjuncts must be provided : (i) a head office, or staff ; (2) the
numerous departmental services that clothe the soldier, issue
to him munitions of war, feed him, guard his health, pay him
and perform a multitude of other services that are necessary
if he is to fight effectually ; (3) the provision of stores, i.e.
tents, blankets, clothing, boots, ammunition and innumerable
other things. The Canadian force was utterly deficient in
each of these three departments. The administration was
absurdly centralized, and the routine was such as to throw
every possible obstacle in the way of organization in peace or
expansion in war. There were no departmental corps ; the
departmental services were badly arranged, the custody and
issue of such stores as existed being in civilian hands. Even
worse was the neglect of stores and material.
In evacuating the country the imperial troops left con-
siderable quantities of stores of various sorts, and on these, as
on its capital, the militia lived for years with apparent cheap-
ness. The Snider rifle was superseded in the British service
about 1875 by the Martini-Henry ; by 1885 the grooves had
been worn out of the Sniders owned by Canada, but the
militia did not discard the ' gas-pipes ' till 1 895 or even later.
The ammunition supply was inadequate. Breech-loading
field guns were adopted in the British service in the eighties ;
not till the nineties did the Canadian artillery discard its
muzzle-loaders. There were no heavy guns for coast defence.
The government had camp equipment in 1875 for 50,000 men
and in 1877 enough for only 40,000. In the latter year it
had blankets enough for 20,000 out of the 120,000 men
whom it might be necessary to employ. Regiments marched
into camp with knapsacks that had been obsolete when the
Crimean War was being fought. In 1877 there was no reserve
of clothing ; to keep the 40,000 men of the peace establish-
ment supplied with uniforms a yearly supply of about
14,000 suits was necessary, and parliament voted money
enough for about 5000 suits.
Major-General Herbert, an exceptionally able officer,
served in Canada from 1890 to 1895. He effected two im-
provements. He reformed the permanent force, the cavalry
and infantry of which had been rather inefficient ; he modern-
THE DEAD PERIOD 429
ized its training ; began the practice of sending officers and
non-commissioned officers to England for instruction; and
formed its separate units into regiments. He succeeded in
effecting a slight improvement in the headquarters staff,
obtaining the appointment of a quartermaster-general and
an assistant adjutant-general. He also effected some changes
in the territorial districts, which were very badly arranged for
mobilization purposes.
One or two specific events occurred about this time.
The absurdity of the retention of the Snider rifle was so glaring
that a beginning was made at rearmament ; nine or ten thou-
sand Martini-Henry rifles were bought just as they were
becoming obsolete, and the cartridge factory at Quebec was
adapted to the production of ammunition for that weapon,
which was in general use at rifle meetings. Then a purchase
was made of 1000 Martini-Metfords — a '303-inch calibre single-
shot rifle, using the ammunition of the new arm with the
breech-action of the old. Negotiations took place with the
imperial authorities on defence subjects, and an arrangement
was reached for the joint defence of Esquimalt ; the imperial
army fortified and garrisoned the place, and Canada contri-
buted some barracks and a money payment that amounted
at the outset to about $45,000 a year.
The Venezuela alarm in 1895 caused the government
hastily to rearm the militia. The military authorities held
that the Martini-Metford or single-shot '303-inch rifle would
be sufficient for a force of such rudimentary training, but the
political authorities, once their interest was aroused, charac-
teristically determined upon the best, and 40,000 Lee-Enfield
rifles and 15 maxims were purchased, while arrangements
were made for the gradual rearmament of the field artillery
with 12-pounder breech-loaders, the gun used in Great
Britain by the horse artillery. It is to be observed that the
peace establishment of the militia was only 37,000, so that
to an uninstructed glance the supply of rifles was sufficient.
But the militia comprised some ninety battalions of infantry,
and in the event of serious danger each battalion would be
raised to 1000 men. Ninety battalions of infantry would
need 80,000 rifles ; the Canadian government provided 40,000.
430 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
VII
THE NORTH-WEST REBELLION
IN 1885 occurred the North- West Rebellion, which may be
studied as an example of the working of the defence
system of this period. The campaign was waged in the
northern prairie regions, two or three thousand miles from
the provinces that had to supply the greater portion of the
troops. In 1 88 1 Manitoba and the Territories had a white
population of less than 60,000 ; in the same year Winnipeg,
the one town of any size, had about 8000. Communication
between these provinces and Eastern Canada was imperfect
in that the Canadian Pacific Railway line north of Lake
Superior was not completed, the gaps aggregating nearly a
hundred miles. The railway traversing the southern prairie
was a governing factor in the military operations. No
fighting occurred along it, and this belt of peaceful country
provided the starting-point from which the several columns
marched. The disturbed area was about two hundred miles
to the north of the railway. There were three centres of dis-
affection : Batoche, where the half-breed rising occurred ;
Battleford, near which the Indian chief Poundmaker had his
residence ; and the area inhabited by the group of Indian
bands under the influence of Big Bear. Riel's half-breeds
brought five or six hundred men into action ; Poundmaker
probably had a smaller force ; Big Bear had some few hundred
men. The total number of half-breeds and Indians who
actually took up arms probably did not much exceed 1000.
The total number of Indians on the plains, however, was over
25,000, and there were numerous French-speaking half-breeds
in addition to those in the Batoche district. It would have
needed little to cause the rebellion to spread to these elements.
The first success in the military operations was the localizing
of the insurrection, and this, from the purely military aspect,
was achieved by the rapidity with which troops were thrown
— first, into the railway belt, and, secondly, into various places
north of the line, Edmonton being a conspicuous example.
The troops provided by Eastern Canada comprised
THE NORTH-WEST REBELLION 431
2906 infantry, in nine small battalions and two detachments ;
178 cavalry, in three troops ; and 240 artillery, two batteries,
with four guns and two machine guns. The artillery was
wholly permanent, comprising A and B batteries ; each
battery had only two guns and very few horses. The cavalry
consisted of the Cavalry School from Quebec, the Governor-
General's Body Guard from Toronto, and an improvised corps,
the ' Dominion Land Surveyors' Intelligence Corps.' The
infantry were supplied as follows :
Ontario — five battalions and two detachments. The
latter were the Infantry School corps from Toronto (92) and
the company sent by the Governor-General's Foot Guards of
Ottawa (51). Three of the battalions were supplied by single
city corps : the Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto (280), the
7th Fusiliers of London (263) and the Royal Grenadiers of
Toronto (265). Two were composite regiments drawn from
rural corps. The York and Simcoe battalion (346) was
supplied by the I2th and 35th, and the Midland battalion
(382) by the isth, 4Oth, 45th, 46th, 47th, 49th and 57th, all
in the district between Toronto and Kingston.
Quebec — three city battalions, each supplied by a single
corps. These were the 65 th Rifles (315), a French-speaking:
regiment of Montreal, the Montreal Garrison Artillery (299),
an English-speaking regiment, the latter serving as infantry,
and the gth Voltigeurs (230), a French-speaking regiment
of Quebec.
Nova Scotia — the Halifax battalion (383), a composite
city corps made up of the 63rd Rifles, the 66th Fusiliers and
the Halifax Garrison Artillery.
In addition a few corps were held under arms at their
homes for some time.
These corps were thrown into the West with considerable
rapidity, considering the imperfection of the line of com-
munications and the unfavourable season. The troops used
the railway wherever it was open, and crossed the series
of gaps either by marching or by being driven in sleighs ;
those who went first suffered considerable hardships, as the
weather was cold. The skirmish at Duck Lake occurred on
March 26. A and B batteries arrived at Winnipeg, the base,
432 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
on April 5, ten days later. The Toronto and Ottawa contin-
gents arrived on April 7 and 8. The Halifax battalion, the
last of the eastern troops first ordered out, arrived on April 22 ;
subsequently the Montreal Garrison Artillery arrived on
May 20. Most of the corps were forwarded from Winnipeg
quite promptly, though a few were detained for five or six
days. The actual journey from Toronto occupied about a
week. Individual staff officers proceeded to Winnipeg by
the route through the United States. It may be added that
a number of regiments, including those from Toronto and
Halifax, sent comparatively well-trained men. In some
instances employers threatened their men with dismissal if
they went to the front. Several contingents furnished by
corps were largely composed of recruits. Major-General
Strange found that the 65th contained a considerable number
of men who had never fired a rifle.1
The western country raised over 2000 troops. These
comprised 474 mounted men, 62 artillery with 2 guns, and
1475 infantry. Winnipeg furnished two troops of mounted
men (84), a field battery (62), and three battalions of infantry
(1076), or 1222 in all. One troop of cavalry, the battery and
one battalion existed already, and the remainder were im-
provised. West of Winnipeg there were raised by local
initiative 770 of all ranks — seven or eight troops of mounted
men numbering 475 and four infantry companies numbering
295. In addition there were nearly twenty local militia
companies, ' home guards,' etc., among whom over a thousand
rifles were distributed. There also were some 2500 civil
employees, of whom nearly 1800 were transport men ; the
others were commissariat and hospital staff, telegraphers,
couriers, herders, etc. The English-speaking population of
the prairies, which in 1 88 1 had been less than 60,000, thus
provided over 2000 troops and over 2000 civilian employees.
The new corps were raised expeditiously.
The Mounted Police numbered 555, but were caught in a
peace distribution highly disadvantageous for military pur-
poses ; about 400 were in the disturbed area, most of them
1 Gunner Jingo's Jubilee, p. 418. Strange speaks highly of the spirit dis-
played by this corps.
THE NORTH-WEST REBELLION 433
being immobilized by the pressure of the insurgents in their
vicinity. The number who actually joined the three columns
employed was about 150. Mounted Police guns were used
by Otter's and Strange's columns.
Thus the total force available was :
Sent from the East ....
Organized at Winnipeg
Organized west of Winnipeg
Mounted Police .....
5.870
The distribution of the 5330 militia was :
Infantry 4,380
Cavalry ..... 650
Artillery 300
Nine guns and two machine guns were employed.
The operations consisted of the distribution of forces along
the Canadian Pacific Railway line, and the dispatch, from the
base so formed, of three columns northwards to the area of
revolt. General Middleton, the general officer commanding
in Canada, marched from Qu'Appelle to Batoche and Prince
Albert ; Lieutenant-Colonel W. D. Otter, from Swift Current
to Battleford ; and Major-General Strange,1 from Calgary to
Edmonton and then easterly down the North Saskatchewan
against Big Bear. Of the 5000 odd troops in the country,
corps whose original strength was somewhat in excess of 2100
formed these three columns. Middleton had two battalions
of infantry, part of a third, and a half-company of regular
infantry, about 720 all told ; about 150 irregular horse, and
about 150 artillery, with four guns and a galling. Otter
had a battalion and three detachments of infantry, making
400 in all, 100 artillery, with two guns and a gatling and
30 mounted men. Strange, who moved in three successive
echelons, had a battalion and a half of infantry, about 475,
and less than 150 mounted men, with one gun.
1 The officer of the Royal Artillery who had helped to organize the artillery of
the permanent force. He was ranching near Calgary when the outbreak occurred.
434 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
Stationed north of the railway line, mainly supporting
Middleton's column, were three troops of cavalry, three
battalions and part of another, and some localized companies
— altogether some 1300 infantry and 160 cavalry. Three
battalions of infantry, about 900 strong, and a number of
localized companies, held points, such as Regina and Cal-
gary, along the railway. About 160 mounted irregulars did
duty near the frontier south of the railway.
One feature of this distribution is singular. The opera-
tions took place in prairie country and were against enemies
accustomed to move about on ponies. General Middleton
left his own troop of regular cavalry and his two troops of
militia cavalry, which had received more or less training, on
his line of communications, and relied for mounted men
exclusively upon corps raised subsequent to the outbreak of
hostilities.
The same indisposition to use cavalry is shown in the
way in which the force from the east was moved to Winnipeg.
The regular cavalry did not reach Winnipeg till April 19,
a fortnight after the arrival of the artillery, and did not leave
for the front till April 24 ; the Governor-General's Body
Guard, a well-trained militia corps, arrived in Winnipeg on
April 15 and was detained there till April 23 ; while the
Dominion Land Surveyors' Intelligence Corps, a hastily
raised force, arrived in Winnipeg on April 1 1 and was sent on
two days later. Thus the mounted troops first were held
back and then were forwarded in inverse order of training.
Had the ponies of the rebels not been in poor condition
owing to the season of the year, and had their leadership
not exhibited hesitancy, timidity and ineptitude, this lack
of mounted men might have proved awkward.
The staff and supply arrangements were of a haphazard sort.
Staffs had to be found for the base and for the three columns,
and officers were picked up on the spur of the moment.
Major-General Laurie, a retired army officer who had had
much to do with the pre-Confederation Nova Scotia militia,
was described as officer commanding at the base, but his
principal station was Swift Current, the advanced base of
Otter's column. At Winnipeg the district commander, who
THE NORTH-WEST REBELLION 435
was on Middleton's staff, was replaced by Lieutenant-
Colonel Jackson, D.A.G. at London, who arrived on April 2
and found himself simultaneously in command of the district
and principal supply, pay and transport officer. On April 4
Jackson was ordered to ' take steps for the formation of a
commissariat corps.' He had to organize a staff, forward
stores and supplies, send troops to the front, superintend
the organization of new corps, provide for the safety of the
town, attend to the financial arrangements, and perform a
multitude of other services.
Everything in the nature of stores was unsatisfactory.
The 5000 troops had three kinds of rifles — Snider, Winchester
and Martini-Henry. Much of the ammunition was bad ;
one of Strange's subordinates complained of the quality of
his cartridges, and was advised by that humorous com-
mander, who knew he had to make the best of things, to
wait till the enemy was at close range. The machine
guns were bought in haste. The saddlery was exceedingly
bad. Much of the hospital equipment had to be purchased
in New York. Boots, shirts, socks and similar necessaries
had to be furnished by the men themselves. The stores
branch had enough of these articles for the permanent force
only, and was under the necessity of purchasing everything
for the troops in the field after hostilities had commenced.
The medical service had to be improvised. The transport
arrangements were extravagant, the teamsters being paid
from six to ten dollars a day. The military operations alone
cost nearly $5,000,000 ; Wolseley had made a three months'
march over a difficult country with 1400 men for $500,000.
It was the story of 1 866 over again. As for staff work,
General Middleton proceeded to Winnipeg before the actual
fighting occurred ; immediately after Duck Lake he went
to Qu'Appelle and organized his own column, taking with
him the natural base commandant ; and the adjutant-
general at Ottawa built up the base staff at long range and
piecemeal.
436 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
VIII
THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR
'HT'HE movement that has transformed Canadian militia
organization followed the South African War, and
obtained its driving power, first from the enthusiasm
roused by that struggle, and afterwards from the increased
national appreciation of the problems confronting the
British Empire and of Canada's interest in those problems.
Prior to the South African War there was an amelioration
in the attitude of the public, and an increased liberality on
the part of the government. The concession of drilling all
regiments every year, the step that marked the end of the
era of indifference, came in 1897, when, for the first time in
many years, the government found itself in moderately easy
financial circumstances ; the innovation sent up the number
trained each year from 20,000 or less to about 30,000. There
was some improvement in the provision of stores, equip-
ment and armament.
Major-General Hutton, who took command in 1898 and
left early in 1900, has the distinction of having caught the
public attention by his doctrine that the Canadian militia
should form a self-contained military force, complete in all
its parts. He was fond of calling it the ' Canadian Army.'
He associated the congeries of tiny battalions and regiments
into higher formations ; a list was published showing six
divisions, fifteen infantry brigades, two cavalry brigades and
five artillery brigades. Some brigades had four, some five,
and others six battalions ; the number of brigades in the
divisions varied ; still, the force felt for the first time that it
should aim at acting in large and carefully organized masses.
General Hutton recommended the formation of adminis-
trative departments — army service corps, ordnance store
corps, army medical corps, army pay deoartment — and
also a corps of engineers. By 1900 three of these improve-
ments had been taken in hand : two field companies of
engineers were supplied with proper equipment, a militia
army medical service had been inaugurated with the raising
THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 437
of four bearer companies and four field hospitals, and the
organization of four army service companies had been
decided upon. In the camps General Hutton insisted upon
a simplification of drill and the trial of more advanced
work.
In 1898 it was considered necessary to place a detach-
ment of the permanent force in the Yukon Territory, and
accordingly a force of 12 officers and 191 other ranks made
the journey overland. They left Ottawa on May 6, reached
Vancouver on May II, and, travelling by the Skeena River
and Teslin trail, reached Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River
on July 25.
Late in 1899 the South African War broke out, and it
continued until May 31, 1902. Canada participated in this
war in three ways :
1. By furnishing troops directly, officially, and in part at
her own expense. The number so sent was 2446,
or one-third of the entire number dispatched from
Canada to South Africa.
2. By allowing troops to be raised within the Dominion
by the government of the United Kingdom and by
Lord Strathcona, the high commissioner of Canada,
who raised a regiment at his private expense. The
government of the Dominion acted as local agent,
facilitated the work, enjoyed a good deal of the
patronage associated with the formation of these
corps, but bore no part of the cost. The number
so sent was 4886, or two-thirds of the number dis-
patched to the theatre of war.
3. By raising a battalion for garrison duty at Halifax,
thus releasing a line battalion of the British army
for South Africa. This garrison battalion numbered
1004.
Thus Canada found troops for one purpose or another in
connection with the war to the number of 8300. A certain
amount of duplication is included in these figures, many
having served in two or more consecutively raised corps.
The troops dispatched to South Africa were as follows :
438 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
Canadian contingents proper :
First contingent — sailed October 30, 1899 ; returned
in November and December 1900 :
2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian
Regiment : I battalion, 1150 all ranks.
Second contingent — sailed early in 1900: returned
in the winter of 1900-1 :
Royal Canadian Dragoons1 : 2 squadrons, 379
all ranks.
Canadian Mounted Rifles 1 : 2 squadrons, 378
all ranks.
Royal Canadian Artillery : I brigade division
of 3 batteries and 1 8 guns, 539 all ranks.
Troops raised in Canada, but only indirectly by the
Canadian government :
Sailed in March 1900 ; returned in March 1901 :
Lord Strathcona's Horse : 3 squadrons, 597 all
ranks.
Sailed early in 1901 ; disbanded locally after the
conclusion of the war :
South African Constabulary2 : 12 squadrons,
1238 all ranks.
Sailed in the winter of 1901-2 or early in 1902 ;
returned after the conclusion of the war :
2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles : 6 squadrons,
925 all ranks.
loth Canadian Field Hospital, A.M.C., 62 all
ranks.
3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Canadian Mounted Rifles :
16 squadrons, 2064 all ranks.
Total, 41 squadrons, 3 batteries and I battalion.
Of the 7300 troops sent out to South Africa some 5200
took part in the fighting, the four regiments of mounted
rifles raised in the spring of 1902 arriving after peace had been
1 The mounted troops of the second contingent originally were styled ' 1st
Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles,' the nucleus of which was the permanent
cavalry, the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and ' 2nd Battalion C.M.R.,' the nucleus
being furnished by the North-West Mounted Police. Subsequently the titles in
the text were adopted.
1 These squadrons were simply the Canadian portion of a force of 7500 men.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 439
proclaimed. The casualties were 88 killed in action,1 136
died of disease or accidental injury, and 252 wounded.
The battalion raised for Halifax was known as the 3rd
Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment ; the first contingent
and this unit were organized as component parts of the
permanent infantry. The 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment
remained in existence from March 1900 to September 1902.
By an odd chance, the imperial battalion it relieved was the
ist Battalion Prince of Wales's I^einster Regiment (Royal
Canadians),1 the battalion that had been raised in Canada
in 1858 in much the same manner as the later Canadian
forces for South African service.
A considerable number of Canadian officers were sent to
South Africa unattached, for instructional purposes, while
others made their way over privately and found employment.
A conspicuous example in the latter category was Lieutenant-
Colonel Samuel Hughes, M.P., at that time the command-
ing officer of a rural regiment, the 45th Victoria. A dozen
years later, in 1911, he became minister of Militia. Colonel
Hughes was successful as intelligence officer in the opera-
tions for the suppression of the rebellion in western Cape
Colony.
All of these corps were dependent on the military re-
sources of Canada for their organization, mobilization and
equipment ; the Dominion found their clothing, arms, pre-
liminary supply of ammunition, necessaries and horses, the
imperial government and Lord Strathcona repaying it in all
cases except those of the first and second contingents. The
first contingent was raised very rapidly ; orders were issued
on October 14, and it sailed on October 30. The stores,
however, were taxed to provide the equipment of this single
battalion for war service ; the very cloth of which the brown
campaign uniform was made had to be manufactured after the
order to form the regiment was given. The second contingent
was organized in about a month, the orders being issued on
December 20, 1899, and the troopships sailing on January
1 About twenty others, including th« well-known Major A. L. Howard,
nicknamed 'Gat,' were killed or died in South Africa after leaving
corps.
• See p. 395-
440 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
20, January 27 and February 21, 1900. The stores depart-
ment found the outfitting of these corps more difficult than
that of the first contingent. Strathcona's Horse was raised
and dispatched in about six weeks ; the South African Con-
stabulary in about eleven weeks ; the 2nd Canadian Mounted
Rifles in seven weeks ; the field hospital in less than four
weeks ; and the four last regiments of mounted rifles in from
four to seven weeks.
The first and second contingents cost the country almost
two million dollars. The Halifax battalion cost $834,000 in
its two years and six months of life. The total cost to Canada
was $2,830,000.
The first contingent was organized round a nucleus of
officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the permanent
infantry, a number of cavalry and artillery permanent officers
and men being allowed to join. It was regarded as belonging
to the Royal Canadian Regiment, though the terms of enlist-
ment and the legal footing of the men from the active militia
were not those of the permanent corps. The Dominion
government had full control of the organization and pre-
liminary arrangements, including the selection of the officers.
The cost of its transport to South Africa was borne by Canada,
and it was paid at the rates received by the permanent
infantry until it landed. It was then taken over by the
imperial authorities and paid at the rates of British regular
infantry. These rates were much lower than those paid by
Canada ; the British private got a shilling a day, the Canadian
50 cents. The Canadian government contributed the differ-
ence. The imperial government sent the regiment home
and met all charges for pensions for wounds.
The second contingent was dispatched upon the same
terms as the first. It was, however, more highly paid, the
Canadian government granting it Mounted Police pay, so that
the private got 75 cents a day as against 50 cents received by
the infantry.
Lord Strathcona paid his contingent at Mounted Police
rates. The later forces raised were paid the very high rates
granted by the British authorities to irregulars in the war,
five shillings a day with occasional allowances, while first and
THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 441
second class troopers of the constabulary got seven and six
shillings a day.
Lord Strathcona appointed the officers of his contingent,
with assistance from the Canadian government and the
Militia department. The constabulary officers were selected
by the governor-general personally, on behalf of the Colonial
Office. The Canadian government had the patronage of the
other corps, subject to the approval of the secretary of state
for War. The officers commanding all these forces except
the constabulary corresponded with and reported to the
Canadian minister of Militia.
All the Canadian contingents that saw fighting did well
and proved themselves valuable troops for the kind of war
in which they were engaged. There was no difficulty in
recruiting the successive corps, despite the fact that for all but
the first regiment ability to ride was demanded. It was less
easy, after the first rush, to procure suitable officers, and by
1902 the number of those qualified and willing to go overseas
was by no means large.
Two weaknesses in organization developed. The first
was the absence of proper means to make good the wastage
of war. One draft was sent to reinforce the first contingent
and one to Strathcona's Horse, but these proved entirely
insufficient. Further, they were raised as hastily as the
corps they were to reinforce, and received little preliminary
training. On June 5, after only six months' campaigning,
the Royal Canadian Regiment marched into Pretoria with
but 438 of all ranks present out of 1150 who had landed ;
the wastage had been 712, of which 162 had been casualties
sustained in action. The Royal Canadian Dragoons, after
less than eight months in the field, had 86 on parade out of 379.
The second weakness was the short period, one year, for which
the first and second contingents and Strathcona's Horse were
enlisted. The constabulary engaged for three years and the
later contingents for ' 12 months or until the termination of
the present war in South Africa.' The short enlistments
meant that seasoned corps were continually being withdrawn
from the theatre of war, to be replaced by newly raised ones ;
in the case of the first contingent a good deal of mortification
VOL. vu K
442 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
was felt over the fact that six of the eight companies refused to
prolong their services for a few months, though requested to
do so by Lord Roberts.
IX
THE NEW TEMPER
FROM the South African War onwards there has been a
new temper in the public life of Canada towards the
treatment of the problems of defence. A coherent
effort has been made to give Canada a militia army capable
of effective service.
The increase in expenditure is a fair indication of the new
spirit. From 1894 to 1898 the usual militia budget was from
$1,200,000 to $1,600,000 ; these expenditures were swollen
in 1896 and 1897 by the spending of about $1,750,000 for the
new rifles and field-guns bought under the spur of the Vene-
zuela incident. From 1898 to 1904, which may be described as
a period of transition, the annual cost of the militia proper
was about $2,500,000 ; in addition there were outlays, then
regarded as imperial contributions, on the South African War
and on the garrisoning of Halifax and Esquimalt. From 1904
onwards there has been increased expenditure. In 1904-5
it was nearly $4,000,000 ; in 1905-6 nearly $5,600,000 ; in
1907-8 nearly $6,800,000 ; it fell, in the two years following,
to $6,500,000 and $6,000,000, and went up to $7,000,000
in 1910-11 and $7,580,000 in 1911-12. The number of men
trained in 1904 was 35,000 ; in 1905, 39,000 ; 44,000 in 1907
and 45,000 in 1908. In the years immediately following it
fell off somewhat, rising again in 1911 to 45,000.
In addition, Halifax and Esquimalt are garrisoned, not
as a temporary imperial contribution, but as part of the
Canadian system of defence and as part of the routine of the
Canadian regular forces. Those forces have grown accord-
ingly. As late as 1904 they remained below the thousand
mark. There is legislative sanction for their increase to
5000 men, but the authorities have not sought to procure
more than 3500 all ranks, and the actual number in 1912 was
about 3000. The two seaports absorb 1425. Thus Canada
THE NEW TEMPER 443
gets for its increase in expenditure of some five and a half
millions a year an increase of about 25,000 in the number of
the active militia trained annually, an increase of over 2000
in the permanent force, the upkeep of one large and one
small fortress, and the improvements in organization and
preparation which must now be described.
An account must first be given of a remarkable change in
the management of the force. As a rule the general officers
commanding had not found their period of service happy.
Apart from disagreements resulting from the incompatibility
of temperament that occasionally showed itself between
regulars and militia, there was a grave difficulty on the
subject of command. General Hutton quarrelled on this
score with Sir Frederick Borden, the minister who presided
over the department from 1896 to 1911 ; and the same trouble
occurred between the government and Lord Dundonald,
who in his brief tenure of office, from 1902 to 1904, sketched
the scheme of reform that has since been adopted. Lord
Dundonald brought a series of contentions to a head by
insisting on what he regarded as his legal rights and refusing
to resign when differences arose. The government thereupon
took the step of dismissing him — a dangerous step as it proved,
for he was an exceptionally charming and attractive man
with whom there was much public sympathy; and there
ensued an agitation which would have been dangerous to the
administration if the two political parties had been at all
evenly matched in the general election of 1904.
In point of fact, the organization of the country's armed
forces in its highest aspect ensured friction. Between the
minister and the general officer commanding there was, not
exactly a division of authority, but an appearance of such a
division. The general was by statute charged with the
4 military command and discipline of the militia,' words that
regular officers were disposed to interpret as confiding to the
general a definite field of authority within which he was to be
responsible and supreme. But he held his post by appoint-
ment from the governor in council, and the minister of Militia
sat at that council. The position in practice was that the
general was encouraged to take a certain attitude of independ-
444 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
ence within the sphere of technical direction of the force ;
while if he did this the minister could, and did, dismiss him.
The situation proved to be exquisitely unworkable. General
Hutton's departure was largely due to his assertion of exclusive
control over certain purely military officers such as the
adjutant-general and the quartermaster-general. Lord Dun-
donald's quarrel, while based on his impatience with the
interpolation of political considerations into militia problems,
and on the slowness with which the government acted on his
carefully thought out recommendations, had as its immediate
cause the peremptory interference of a minister — not the
minister of Militia — with appointments to a new corps that
was being organized.
The solution adopted was to invest the minister with the
nominal as with the actual authority, and definitely to make
the senior soldier subordinate to the minister as his technical
adviser. This was done in the militia act of 1904 ; the pre-
cedent set by the establishment of the Army Council in Great
Britain was followed in Canada. By the act of 1904 the
minister of Militia was to ' be charged with and be responsible
for the administration of militia affairs ' ; he might have a
militia council ' to advise the minister on all matters relating
to the militia which are referred to the council by the minister.'
Henceforward the civilian minister became the practical com-
manding officer of the militia. The principal military officer
now became the chief of the general staff, and militia ad-
ministration settled down to management by the minister in
council. An unexpected result of the change was that the
minister came more into contact with his higher officers, and
that the soldiers had greater influence with regard to the
technical problems handled by the department. The first
chief of the general staff was Major-General Sir Percy Lake,
who remained in Canada as chief of the general staff and
inspector-general from 1904 to 1910, his administration being
characterized by great success.
This is the place to mention that in the militia act of 1904
the old theoretical declaration that all men of military age
are militiamen shrinks into a provision that all able-bodied
men, with the necessary exemptions, are liable to service.
THE REORGANIZATION 445
It keeps alive the old powers of enrolment, balloting and the
rest. It makes a provision for the use of private property
in case of emergency. It stipulates that there shall be an
' Active Militia,' and gives statutory authority for a ' Reserve
Militia ' ; the militia of either category in case of need can
be recruited by the machinery of enrolment and ballot.
And to conclude, it provides for an inspector-general, who
shall, in commercial terminology, furnish an audit of the
work of organization and training done by the militia council.
THE REORGANIZATION
THE militia council, speaking broadly and with certain
reservations, has carried into effect, with very con-
siderable developments, a general plan of organization
which Lord Dundonald had devised in 1903. He demanded
that the system adopted should, on a small and inexpensive
basis of peace preparation, provide the power of large expan-
sion in time of war. Such an expansion, he urged, should not
consist of the mere enrolling of great masses of men eager
to fight but possessing neither organization, training, arms,
equipment nor good officers. To be of any military value at
all it must provide for great numbers of partially trained
riflemen filling up the framework of a field army carefully pre-
pared and equipped in time of peace. The existing system
he condemned as providing only a small number of men
inadequately trained and with no organization for enabling
them to be expanded up to the war establishments that would
be necessary for defensive preparations. Accordingly he
proposed to organize and train in peace the skeleton of a
sufficiently large army. The units of this skeleton force
should be complete in well-trained officers, non-commissioned
officers and a small number of selected privates, ready to be
filled up on mobilization by the ' flesh and blood,' consisting
of able-bodied citizens registered up to the full war establish-
ment of each unit and trained as far as was possible without
taking them away from their daily work.
446 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
Upon this general idea Lord Dundonald based an elaborate
and carefully worked out scheme. The keynote was decen-
tralization ; he desired to retain the existing districts for
administrative reasons, but to group them in five large groups
to which he applied the term ' higher commands.' The first
of these was to comprise the Maritime Provinces, the second
Quebec, the third and fourth Eastern and Western Ontario
respectively, and the fifth was to be in the West. His pro-
posal was that each ' higher command ' should have a com-
mander and a fighting staff, leaving the work of routine
administration to the existing district staffs ; in this he
anticipated development in army administration in Great
Britain. He urged that the district officers commanding
be given greater powers, and he declared that a decentraliza-
tion of stores and equipment was necessary. The five
' higher commands ' on mobilization were to turn out com-
pletely organized troops, substantially as follows : Maritime
Provinces, an infantry division, an infantry brigade, a cavalry
brigade and some garrison artillery ; Quebec, an army corps
less an infantry division and two cavalry brigades ; Eastern
Ontario, an infantry division, an infantry brigade and a
cavalry brigade ; Western Ontario, an army corps less an
infantry division and two cavalry brigades ; the West, an
infantry brigade and two cavalry brigades. The distribu-
tion of arms would be :
Cavalry 20 regiments 10,300 men
Artillery 17 brigade divisions
(250 guns) 14.300 „
Engineers Various units 3,300 „
Infantry 60 regiments 63,800 „
Departmental
Corps Various units 6,400 „
Other details 4,100 ,,
This force of roughly 100,000 Lord Dundonald termed
the first line of defence, and he advocated the provision of a
second line of substantially the same strength to furnish
reinforcements. To obtain this second line he proposed an
elaborate scheme whereby every unit of the first line should
carry extra or reserve officers who on mobilization would
THE REORGANIZATION 447
set to work at once to organize the reserve formations. In
addition he drew up a scheme of training, the most noteworthy
feature of which was a proposal for a 'central training camp '
of at least 20,000 acres, at which the permanent corps and a
few officers and non-commissioned officers from each militia
unit should be given higher training. Attendance at this
he proposed to stimulate with money grants somewhat in
the manner of the old military schools of the sixties. The
work of this central training ground he would supplement
by active teaching by means of lectures in company armouries,
the provision of which he urged. He also desired to have
paid and permanent adjutants and non-commissioned in-
structors.
The minister declined to make this report public, and to
Lord Dundonald's disgust insisted on treating it as con-
fidential ; part of the friction that led to the quarrel was the
general's impatience at the government's insistence upon
carrying out important recommendations such as that for a
central camp in its own way and at its own time. Some
features, such as the provision of additional officers intended
to organize the second line, have been dropped ; there has
been a remodelling of the ' higher commands,' which now are
' divisions ' and ' divisional areas ' ; and there have been im-
provements in matters of detail. Despite these changes and
developments, however, the scheme outlined in this sup-
pressed report has been carried out with remarkable fidelity.
Sir Percy Lake, an organizer and administrator of consummate
skill, coming to the country at a moment when the situation
was exceptionally difficult for a regular officer in his position,
brought into force, and improved upon, this brilliant scheme.
Before the break occurred Lord Dundonald effected some
successes in the higher organization. At headquarters the
stores branch was brought over from the civil side, the
superintendent of stores becoming quartermaster-general ;
the engineering branch moved over to the military side ;
the ordnance branch made its appearance ; a medical service
branch came under the supervision of the general ; and an
intelligence branch was set on foot. This staff reorganiza-
tion was reflected in the establishments, and there appeared
448 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
on the militia list : the first company of the permanent
engineers ; the corps of guides, a service designed to supple-
ment through the exertions of militia officers the work done
by the intelligence service at headquarters ; the army service
corps, partly permanent and partly militia ; the army
ordnance corps ; a corps of signallers ; and a small body
of military staff clerks — the army medical corps was already
in existence. One of the interesting things about this
phase of the organization was the zest with which the militia,
officers and men, threw themselves into the work of these
administrative troops. Finally, Lord Dundonald took
especial pains with the training of the militia. General
Hutton had put new life into the ' annual drills,' but, as
instanced in his controversy with Colonel Hughes, retained
a deep suspicion as to their availability in active service.
Dundonald, who had commanded colonial troops in Natal,
showed greater confidence in militia soldiery, spurred them
on to more advanced training, and, to reduce the elementary
training to the smallest dimensions, prepared simplified drill-
books, which were hastily abolished when he was dismissed.
One reform effected by Lord Dundonald was an increase
in the cavalry ; in some cases this was managed by disband-
ing rural infantry battalions that had become inefficient, and
recruiting for the new corps among the local owners of horses.
A very great service which he accomplished was the per-
suading of the government to spend a sum of about $1,300,000
a year in munitions of war — ammunition, stores, clothing,
etc. The task of accumulating stores was taken up with
some approach to system, though the progress was so slow
that in 1904 there were not more than seven million rounds
of rifle ammunition, or seventy rounds for each man of the
prospective ' first line.' About this time the Ross rifle
factory was started. Of a different pattern from the Lee-
Enfield with which the imperial troops were armed, this
rifle became the subject of an acute controversy. The two
weapons take the same ammunition, so that if Canadian
and imperial troops were to act together the worst evils of
diversified armament would not be incurred. Af icr a period
of disfavour the later marks of the Ross rifles established
THE SYSTEM IN 1912 449
themselves as good target weapons, the earlier marks being
under a cloud through imperfection of workmanship rather
than of design. The central camp came after Lord Dun-
donald's departure ; it is situated at Petawawa, on the Ottawa
River about a hundred miles above the capital ; it embraces
a hundred square miles, and is an admirable training and
artillery practice ground.
XI
THE SYSTEM IN 1912
THE system of to-day (1912) contents itself with voluntary
service, and with voluntary service alone, in time of
peace. In time of national emergency the existing
voluntary corps would be raised to war establishment so as
to produce a force which, with the addition of units formed
on mobilization, would amount to a total of about 150,000
of all ranks : that is, a mobile field army of 125,000 and
25,000 allotted to garrisons and to duties on the lines of
communication.
This force, after it had taken the field, would need to be
maintained in numbers and efficiency ; with this object in
view an attempt would be made to recruit, train and equip
another 100,000 men.1 For this first reinforcement, and for
any that were subsequently raised, the compulsory powers of
the Militia Act might be used ; indeed, they might easily be
invoked for the original mobilization.
The distribution of arms in the Canadian land forces in
1912 is as follows :
The permanent force comprises : two regiments, each of
two squadrons, of cavalry, the Royal Canadian Dragoons
and Lord Strathcona's Horse ; a horse artillery brigade of
two batteries, one heavy battery of artillery and four
garrison companies of artillery ; one field company and two
fortress companies of engineers ; and one battalion, of ten
companies, of infantry. There are also various detach-
ments, etc., of the Canadian Permanent Army Service Corps,
1 Wastage varies with the different arms. In the case of a field army it is
calculated to average about seventy per cent during the first year of a war.
450 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
Permanent Army Medical Corps, Canadian Permanent Army
Veterinary Corps, Canadian Ordnance Corps, Canadian Pay
Corps and Corps of Military Staff Clerks.
In the event of a general mobilization the batteries of horse
and the battery of heavy artillery would be employed as field
units ; the garrison, artillery, fortress engineers, and a propor-
tion of the infantry would be allotted to coast defence ; and the
remaining personnel would be distributed for various purposes.
As regards the active militia the particulars are :
Cavalry, squadrons . . . 140
Artillery :
13-pr. batteries . . 4
l8-pr. batteries . . ' . . 31
Ammunition columns for these . 12
5-in. howitzer batteries ... 2
Ammunition columns for these I
Heavy batteries 5
Ammunition columns for these . 5
Garrison companies . . » . 13
Siege companies .... 2
Engineers :
Field troops . . 41
Field companies . . 92
Infantry, battalions . -99
Army Service Corps, companies 18
Army Medical Corps :
Cavalry field ambulance . 7
Field ambulance . . 14
General hospitals . . . .2
And in addition various detachments, etc., of Corps of
Guides, Signalling Corps, Canadian Army Veterinary Corps,
Canadian Postal Corps and Canadian Ordnance Corps
(non-permanent) .
These corps have war establishments well in excess of
125,000. To exhibit the progress of a decade we may set
down the distribution of 1912 and 1902, at war establishments.
1912 1902
Cavalry 21,000 7,500
Horse, field and heavy artillery 7.5OO 2,500
Siege and garrison artillery . 2,000 3>5°°
1 One troop has a wireless section attached.
1 Each has a telegraph detachment attached.
THE SYSTEM IN 1912 451
1912 1902
Engineers .... 2,000 500
Infantry . 100,000 85,000
Army Service Corps . . 2,000 400
Army Medical Services . . 5,ooo 2,000
Other services and departments A moderate number None
There has been an increase in numerical strength, due
largely to the appearance of new corps in the West ; and
the fighting arms bear to each other a relative proportion
better adjusted than in former days. There has also been an
advance in the provision of administrative services.
There are twenty infantry brigades, most of them having
the orthodox four battalions ; in addition there are a number
of unbrigaded battalions, many of these being western corps
that as yet have no neighbours near enough for association.
There are seven cavalry brigades, besides regiments that are
intended for use as divisional cavalry, and a few units, chiefly
in the West, which remain unbrigaded. The brigade organi-
zation for some time has been taken seriously, the officers
commanding these larger formations exercising a certain
amount of authority.
In Eastern Canada eighteen infantry brigades are grouped
into divisions, and of these there are six. At Sir John French's
suggestion the ' higher commands ' are now termed ' divisional
areas,' and each of these is expected to provide a division of
the newer British model ; in addition, Eastern Canada is
expected to provide four cavalry brigades. A division is a
self-contained composite force consisting at full war estab-
lishment of : three brigades, or twelve battalions, of infantry ;
a cavalry regiment about 500 strong ; and an artillery force
comprising 4 heavy guns (6o-pounders) , 8 howitzers, and 36
field guns (i8-pounder quick-firers) ; there also would be 500
engineers. Thus there would be nearly 16,000 fighting troops —
12,000 infantry, 3000 artillery and 1000 cavalry and engineers.
In addition there would be the corps of guides to collect infor-
mation ; the signalling corps to maintain communication ;
and, to wait upon the fighting line, nearly 2000 adminis-
trative troops — principally of the transport, supply and
medical branches, but also police, postal officials, ordnance
452 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
corps, veterinarians, clerks, etc. The actual number of men
with a division would exceed 18,000. A cavalry brigade
would comprise not quite 2500 men, with four guns. The
mobile field force for Eastern Canada would comprise six
divisions, or about 96,000 combatant and 12,000 adminis-
trative troops, and four cavalry brigades with some 10,000
combatants ; and there will be certain corps designed to
furnish garrisons, guard railway bridges and perform other
duties on the lines of communication.
Western Canada has at present forces which provide one
infantry brigade (in Manitoba), three cavalry brigades, and
various scattered units. We may expect to see the infantry
brigade grow in time into a Seventh Division ; in the mean-
time the main reliance is upon mounted troops. The prairies
have corps which at war establishment would produce some
17,000 troops, and the British Columbia militia at war
establishment would be about 6000 strong.
One word of caution is necessary. Apart from the fact that
the voluntary system leads to wide variations in efficiency,
there are gaps in the existing field formations. To complete
them there are still needed thirty-six batteries of artillery,
three field troops and four field companies of engineers, four-
teen army service companies, and five field ambulances, and
in addition sundry ammunition columns and supply parks.
Every professional soldier who has had dealings with the
militia since Confederation has lamented the failure of the
government to supply arms, ammunition, clothing and other
equipment. For a while there was improvement. At the
time of writing there has been some slipping back ; new
corps have been organized with great rapidity, and the satisfy-
ing of their demands for arms, uniforms and equipment has
made deep inroads on the stores, and the new regiments have
been outfitted only by raiding the stores kept to mobilize
older units. At present there are in the country perhaps
200 modern guns of the various sorts used by a field army ;
the mobile field army contemplated would need not far short
of 400 ; and there should be a reserve behind that supply
to replace weapons worn out, broken or captured. There
are about 100,000 more or less serviceable '303 rifles in the
THE SYSTEM IN 1912 453
country, and the Ross rifle factory, if given ample notice,
could turn them out at the rate of 8000 a month ; its present
utmost rate is 3000 a month. On mobilization the demand
would be for 100,000 to 120,000 rifles ; many of the Ross
rifles in the armouries are of the imperfect earlier marks ;
their parts are not interchangeable ; the Lee-Enfields which
were bought in 1895 are becoming worn out. The supply
of rifle ammunition is much better than it was some years
ago, though even yet not up to the requirements of modern
war. It also suffers from the fact that much of the reserve
is unduly old. Over the whole question of rifles and ammuni-
tion hangs the fact that before long it will be necessary to
change from the '303 to a '276 weapon, possibly automatic.
The apparatus both of the Ross rifle factory and the govern-
ment arsenal can easily be changed to the new calibre. The
situation as regards machine guns is unsatisfactory ; so is
the question of the rifle for horse soldiers. The artillery
ammunition supply is in a fairly satisfactory condition.
When, however, we come to the question of equipment
other than arms and ammunition, the situation is really
serious. It always has been bad. Of late the authorities
have been increasing the numbers for which provision has
to be made ; they are in a position to estimate the wants
with greater accuracy ; and they have failed to meet these
wants.
When the imperial conference of 1907 met there was laid
before it a paper on patterns and provision of stores, prepared
under the supervision of Sir William Nicholson, quartermaster-
general, and Sir C. F. Hadden, master-general of the ordnance.
In dealing with stores this memorandum said :
It is a mistake to suppose that equipment can be easily
obtained or improved on mobilization. Some few articles,
such as blankets or boots, might, it is true, be got, but
only at the cost of delay in the readiness of the force to
take the field. It is, therefore, necessary that all articles
required as the first outfit of any force should be in
possession, or held in reserve ready for issue.
The provision of such reserve involves not only the
capital outlay necessary for the purchase of the stores,
but also that required for suitable storehouses in which
454 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
to keep them, and, in addition, an annual charge for
personnel necessary for their care and custody.
There is also the question of ' turnover,' by which is
meant the utilization of the articles which have been in
store longest to meet ordinary peace ' wear and tear '
requirements, replacing them in reserve by new articles.
This is not an unimportant point, as, although equipment
may not deteriorate in store to any appreciable extent if
properly looked after, military requirements change in
course of time, and articles for which there is no regular
outlet grow out-of-date and useless.
We hold in reserve in this country [the United King-
dom], for an expeditionary force, stores and equipment
(a) To complete the war outfit of every unit required
for the force ;
(6) To replace war wastage for a period of six months.
There are, of course, other classes of reserves held as
well, but these need not be enumerated.
Colonial governments should, it is thought, be urged
to hold complete, for all forces which they contemplate
being able to put into the field, reserves of class (a), and
to make, during peace, definite arrangements for the
supply of stores required under (b) .
We may classify the stores needed by Canada under
three heads :
1. Stores needed for the peace establishment, which now
stands at 3500 permanent troops and 60,000 active militia.
These embrace (i) personal equipment, clothing and neces-
saries for the individual soldier ; (2) regimental equipment
supplied to units, such as camp-kettles, tools, blankets,
rubber sheets, saddlery, signalling gear, etc.
2. Stores needed for the 90,000 additional men who will
be brought to the colours on the first mobilization ; and the
additional stores required for regimental purposes, not only to
complete the war outfit of existing units, but also to meet the
requirements of units such as ammunition and supply columns
that will be formed on mobilization.
3. Stores needed for reserve purposes ; that is, for the
100,000 reinforcements, and for the replacement of stores
belonging to the first force mobilized that have been worn out,
wasted, lost and otherwise rendered useless.
THE SYSTEM IN 1912 455
The Militia department now has on hand personal equip-
ment and clothing sufficient to supply, after a fashion, the
60,000 militia of the peace establishment. They would not
be outfitted well, as many articles with which it would be
necessary to supply them would be old, and of more or less
obsolete pattern and design. As for regimental equipment,
there is just enough to send the existing corps to camp for
training. A few years ago it was necessary to hold the train-
ing camps one after another, and to shift the equipment about
from one to another.
For the 90,000 men, not now in the militia, who would
come trooping in on the order being given to mobilize, there
would be scarcely any personal equipment or clothing.
Less than 70,000 of them could be put into even a semblance
of uniform — that is, given coats and trousers of military
pattern. Only some 50,000 could be given military head-
gear. There would not be greatcoats for 20,000. As for
puttees or gaiters, mess-tins, belts, haversacks, bandoliers,
pouches, less than 10,000 men of the 90,000 could be supplied,
and many of these articles, such as mess-tins and bandoliers,
cannot be purchased, at short notice and in bulk, in the
country. Of the 90,000 men a considerable number would
be obliged to take the field without any pretence at uniform ;
the majority would have no greatcoats of military pattern,
and greatcoats are indispensable if men are to march and
bivouac ; while the other articles are hardly less important.
As for the camp-kettles, saddlery, signalling apparatus, and
other articles of regimental equipment, the shortage is very
great, and many units would find themselves unable to cook
their food, to entrench themselves, or, in short, to live, if
forced to take the field.
Of stores of the third category, for the outfitting of the
100,000 reinforcements and for maintaining the force already
in the field, there are none.
Thus if the Canadian militia were mobilized at present,
considerable numbers of men would have no uniform ; still
larger numbers would have no equipment of the sort that
renders camp life tolerable.
Allied to the question of stores is the problem of decentral-
456 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
ization. Mobilization stores should be dispersed through the
country so that each unit could recruit to war strength, outfit
the whole number joining, and parade with its regimental
equipment without worrying the higher authorities. Such
meagre mobilization stores as do exist are not sufficiently
decentralized ; the Militia department is hardly responsible
for this. Proper storehouses of course are necessary, and
the force needs numerous buildings of an inexpensive nature.
The rule has been for the Public Works department to con-
struct any buildings required by the Militia department,
and the Public Works department has been slow to take up
the sort of work that the military requirements of the country
demand. Of late an arrangement has been effected whereby
the Militia department builds for itself all structures whose
cost does not exceed $15,000. This opens the way to the
provision of local storehouses and the proper distribution of
mobilization equipment — where there is any.
We have been taking for granted that in the event of a
general mobilization 150,000 troops will be at once forth-
coming, whereas the raising of that force, not to mention the
subsequent provision of reinforcements, is an anxious and
difficult problem. To obtain the prompt appearance in emer-
gency of 150,000 men there is a peace establishment of about
63,500, of whom 3500 are permanent and 60,000 active militia ;
thus it would be necessary to obtain at least 90,000 additional
men. In point of fact the active militia who present them-
selves annually for training never number more than 45,000
and occasionally fall below 40,000, so that the gap between
war establishment and peace strength will be nearer 110,000
than 90,000. In the armies of continental Europe, or in the
British army, these men would appear automatically ; they
would be reservists, that is, trained soldiers earning their living
in civil life, but ready instantly to swell the army. In Australia
and New Zealand, when the system recently adopted by
those countries has had time to operate, there will be militia
reservists enough to bring the first line up to full strength ;
that is, there will be at hand, known, registered and available,
great numbers of men who recently have done their training as
citizen soldiers. There is no provision in Canada for a reserve,
THE SYSTEM IN 1912 457
and the 90,000 additional men (for we cannot call them
reservists) must be sought in other directions.
Three or four thousand reservists of the British army are
living in Canada ; these men are paid a small sum yearly by
the government of the United Kingdom to be ready to rejoin
the imperial army, but Canada in case of need might find means
to enrol them in her force. As a next resort there are the
members of the civilian rifle clubs. This rifle club movement
was begun in 1901, and has made steady progress, and there
are now in existence 450 clubs composed of civilians, number-
ing some 25,000, who on emergency automatically become
militiamen. Thus there are perhaps 25,000 in sight out of
90,000 ; the imperial army reservists may be counted on to
make up for the rifle club members who might be physically
unfit and otherwise unavailable. Many persons who have
trained with and left the militia may be expected to join.
The number of these is unknown. When the schedules were
being prepared for the census of 1911 the Militia department
sought to have included a question as to whether the person
giving information had undergone military training of any
sort ; the department of Agriculture, which has charge of
the census, refused, however, to allow this question to be
included in the schedule. For the rest Canada must trust
to recruits, who will come to the colours undisciplined, un-
drilled and untrained to shoot. In point of fact, each militia
captain should keep lists of the men who have served in his
company, and of the persons in his vicinity who might be
expected to enlist, who belong to the category of men of the
first-class reserve, and to whom it would be necessary to apply
the ballot if volunteers were not forthcoming ; he should know
pretty closely who would compose his 120 men. Something
of this sort is being done in England by the National Reserve
movement.
Another and more difficult problem would be to find the
additional officers ; not far short of six thousand would be
needed on mobilization, and there are only some three or
four thousand now on the list. The Officers' Training
Corps in Great Britain seek with some success to fit young
men in universities, colleges and secondary schools to be
VOL. vii r
458 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
military leaders in time of national peril, and a beginning has
been made in establishing something of the sort in Canadian
universities.
The advances in recent years have been in organization
rather than in training, and the lists of corps and formations
that have been cited are lists of groups of men who after
all are ill-prepared for that difficult thing, the pledging of
life and honour upon the battlefield. There has been real
improvement in musketry ; the force still shoots badly as
compared with regular armies, in that, while it possesses good
individual marksmen, the average is low, a lack of fire disci-
pline is observable, and there is little knowledge of collective
firing. None the less, there has been an advance in recent
years. The training of officers remains defective ; yet the
greener the troops, the more experienced their leaders should
be. Instruction in leadership has undergone improvement ;
efforts have been made to adjust the conditions of training to
the circumstances of the busy man who is the real social leader
in Canada, and therefore the proper military leader ; the
improvement in the knowledge of the officer is somewhat
masked by the higher and more subtle demands made upon
him ; still, there is betterment. The non-commissioned
officers, in their lack of knowledge, their shortcomings in
leadership, and their disinclination to exercise authority,
are the weakest point in the whole system. The problem of
the private remains as difficult as when Selby Smyth and
Luard despaired. An absolutely raw man cannot be made
an efficient soldier in twelve days, or in sixteen days. And
the militiaman comes to camp a raw recruit, disabled by his
lack of elementary drill from profiting by the higher training
which he absorbs readily when given a fair chance.
This twofold problem, of the raw recruit at the peace train-
ing and, worse still, of the raw recruit on mobilization, may
be solved by the cadet system. In Australia and New Zealand
universal training is in force alike for young boys, for adoles-
cent lads, and for young men. If Canada had the Australasian
system the twofold difficulty would disappear once the system
was under way ; the eighteen-year-old recruits would come
to the militia practised in the elementary training the lack of
THE SYSTEM IN 1912 459
which in the Canadian recruits of to-day cripples all efforts
to give them advanced training ; and the additional personnel
required on mobilization would be supplied by the reservists
between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five, just dis-
missed from their three years' service. No proposal has been
made by any public man in Canada to establish the Australian
policy of compulsory service from eighteen to twenty-one and
reservist service for four years longer. But a general adoption
of the cadet system in peace would give the force recruits
practised in elementary drill, and on mobilization would
complete it to war establishment with men of higher training
and better discipline than can be hoped for at present. It is
probable that each year 75,000 or 80,000 Canadian youths
attain the age of eighteen. If 50,000 of these had undergone
four years' cadet training, the militia would get recruits fit
for comparatively advanced training, and after a few years the
bulk of the male population between twenty and thirty, on
whom it would be necessary to draw for the 200,000 who
would be needed to complete mobilization and to maintain the
force in the field, would have some knowledge of military
discipline and would be partly trained.
Colonel Hughes, who in 1911 succeeded Sir Frederick
Borden as minister of Militia, has made this cadet problem
peculiarly his own, and is pushing the organization work
vigorously. There is an officer of the headquarters staff
specially charged with this work ; there are now some 700
cadet companies and squadrons (for there are a few mounted
cadets in the West) and about 27,000 cadets ; and a beginning
has been made with the training of cadets in local camps
under military conditions. This movement is allied to the
movement promoted by the Strathcona Trust for the physical
training of school children, and has been taken up somewhat
unequally by the educational authorities of the provinces,
Nova Scotia leading. A feature of these movements is the
interest taken by the Militia department in the teaching
profession ; instructors in physical training are being furnished
for female teachers, while schoolmasters who interest them-
selves are commissioned as officers, given sundry allowances,
and encouraged in every way.
460 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
XII
IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION
" I "HE earlier military relations between Great Britain and
the several colonies were not imperial in the modern
sense of the word ; they did not become so until the
opening of the twentieth century. The era of the colonial
garrison provided by the United Kingdom ended for Canada
in 1871, and during the thirty years that ensued there is little
to record. Whenever Great Britain was threatened with
war, as in 1877-78 and in 1885, individual Canadians volun-
teered their services, and a party of Canadian voyageurs was
engaged by the United Kingdom for the Nile expedition of
1885. The leading event in the way of imperial preparation
for war was the formation of the Colonial, now the Overseas,
Defence Committee. The danger of war with Russia set
numerous seaports all over the Empire clamouring for defences,
and as a co-ordinated policy on the subject became necessary,
there was formed a joint committee representing the Admir-
alty, the War Office and the Colonial Office ; this proved so
useful that it was made permanent. It has developed into
an important though little known body, a technical sub-com-
mittee of the more widely known Imperial Defence Committee,
and the most convenient channel for exchange of views
between the mother country and the dominions. It may be
added that the colonial conference of 1887 made a beginning
with the solving of an administrative difficulty of real import-
ance— the terms under which colonies might use imperial
officers. Cases had occurred of imperial officers being threat-
ened with the loss of their pensions for helping colonial govern-
ments, and it was arranged that henceforth employment by
colonies was to count, for purposes of promotion and retired
pay, as imperial service. Some twenty years later this principle
was pursued to its logical end, and it is now provided that the
pensions of officers who have been employed by the dominions
as well as the United Kingdom shall be defrayed proportion-
ately by the governments that have benefited by their services.
The imperial awakening at first set the military reformers
IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION 461
of the Empire off upon what proved an unprofitable line of
agitation. In 1900 New Zealand passed an act known as
the ' New Zealand Defence Act Amendment Act, 1900,'
which among other things sanctioned the formation in the
colony of an Imperial Reserve Force which was to be expressly
available for use overseas in imperial wars. The New Zealand
government submitted to the colonial conference of 1902 a
resolution proposing that a similar force be formed in all the
dominions. Encouraged by this, the War Office submitted to
the conference a definite scheme whereby each dominion should
maintain local forces ear-marked for imperial wars, as follows :
A ,. (2 mounted brigades!
Australia L infantry brig*ade ) 9,oc
XT -71 A f ! mounted brigade \ . cr.-.
New Zealand [2 infantry ba^lions| • • 4,5<x>
~ (\ brigade division, field artillery \
\i infantry brigade /
16,500
The government of the United Kingdom pressed this
scheme upon the prime ministers of the dominions, and it
was decisively rejected. In resisting it the Canadian minis-
ters observed that the proposal, as well as the suggestion of
direct contributions for naval defence which Lord Selborne
had put forward, ' would entail an important departure from
the principle of colonial self-government,' and they made the
counter proposal that ' Canada in the development of its own
militia system will be found ready to respond to that desire
[of the mother country to be relieved of some of its burdens]
by taking upon itself some of the services in the dominion
which have hitherto been borne by the imperial government.'
They also avowed a desire to carry out their defence schemes
in co-operation with the imperial authorities. By 1907,
when the next conference met, the War Office had aban-
doned the scheme of prearranged contingents and ear-
marked local forces. There was debate about the Committee
of Imperial Defence, that new and interesting body which is
exercising an increasing influence in the larger politics of the
Empire. In 1903 Sir Frederick Borden had been invited to
attend this committee, and had discussed with its members
462 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
two subjects relating to Canada, the approaching revision of
the Militia Act, and the taking over by the Dominion of the
garrisoning of Halifax and Esquimalt ; in 1905 the committee
had prepared a plan of defence for the Commonwealth of
Australia. The Hon. Alfred Deakin, the prime minister of
Australia, urged that the dominions should have the right, not
merely of consulting the committee, but also of sending repre-
sentatives to explain their views. British opinion was moving
in the same direction ; there was ready agreement, and an
important step, of a semi-constitutional nature, was taken
in the relating of the defence problems of the several portions
of the Empire. It may be interjected that in 1907, in 1909,
in 1911 and in 1912 representatives of Canada and the other
dominions sat in the committee. In 1907 Sir Frederick
Borden and the other defence ministers sat with the com-
mittee ; in the subsequent years the premiers, and most, if
not all, of the dominion ministers then in England, attended.
To return to 1907, the practical and technical counterpart of
the decision with regard to the committee of imperial defence
was a series of steps that culminated in the establishment
of an imperial general staff. The British army had undergone
reorganization, and a general staff had been created. That
staff laid before the conference certain important papers.
Two, signed by General Sir Neville Lyttelton, the chief of the
general staff, dealt with ' The Strategical Conditions of the
Empire from the Military Point of View ' and ' The Possibility
of assimilating War Organization throughout the Empire,'
while Sir W. G. Nicholson, quartermaster-general, and Sir
C. F. Hadden, master-general of the ordnance, signed a paper
on ' Patterns and Provision of Equipment and Stores for
Colonial Forces,' from which quotation has already been made.
Sir Neville Lyttelton's strategical paper laid down three
fundamental principles of imperial preparation :
1st. The obligation imposed on each self-governing com-
munity of providing as far as possible for its own security.
2nd. The duty of arranging for mutual assistance upon
some definite lines in case of need.
3rd. The necessity for the maintenance of that sea
supremacy which alone can secure any military co-operation.
IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION 463
He proposed to secure the recognition of these principles
in the defensive preparations of the Empire by the organiza-
tion of an imperial general staff. This carried the idea of
establishing in the Empire common types of organization,
co-ordinated plans for action, a common way of thinking on
military problems, a common doctrine of war, and a common
standard of education among the higher officers. This was
driven home by Lyttelton's second paper, on assimilating war
organizations throughout the Empire. This memorandum
proposed a common terminology and a uniform system of
associating troops. After urging the importance of unity of
system he observed :
In view of the probability that the colonies will take
an ever-increasing part in future wars in which the
welfare of the Empire is at stake, it has, for the same
reasons, been thought advisable to submit, for the con-
sideration of the Colonial Conference, the subject of the
possibility of assimilating the war organizations of the
colonies more closely to that of the United Kingdom.
Five proposals were put forward. The first was that the
same military terms should be used throughout the Empire ;
in Canada the infantry unit is termed a ' regiment," whereas
elsewhere in the Empire it is termed a ' battalion.' The
second was that any unit sent as part of a future contingent
to an imperial war should be composed of the numbers
prescribed by the British war establishments. Thirdly, if a
number of units were sent, they should be grouped in the
same standard manner : mounted troops should be organized
as ' mounted brigades,' and dismounted troops should be
organized into divisions, or at least into infantry brigades,
with a due proportion of divisional troops. Fourthly, what-
ever the size of the contingent sent by a colony, it should be
accompanied by the requisite number of administrative field
units. Fifthly, administrative units on the lines of communi-
cation should be provided entirely by the United Kingdom.
These suggestions were accepted by the conference, a
cautiously worded resolution of approval being passed.
The defence conference of 1909 saw the military authorities
of the Empire still working along the same line, and the prin-
464 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
cipal achievement in the way of land defence was the develop-
ment of the imperial general staff. Sir William Nicholson,
the new head of the general staff at the War Office, put in
several papers in which, after some observations upon the
general situation, it was suggested that the dominions should
plan to give mutual aid in war time.
Free from the administrative difficulties which are
inseparable from the work of providing reliefs and drafts
of trained men for Indian and Colonial service, and from
the financial burden which this implies, their task is
reduced to one of so adjusting their organization for home
defence as to admit of the dispatch, without delay and
without dislocation, of whatever forces they may be
prepared to send to the aid of the mother country or of
any other portion of the Empire.
Better organization and better training were urged upon
the dominions, and it was suggested that their defence acts
might be amended so as to make it possible for units to
volunteer as such for oversea service. The requirements as to
organization were laid down in greater detail ; for example,
no less than thirteen species of line of communication units
were mentioned. The proposals for the imperial general staff
were more elaborate, and showed that progress had been made.
Canada by this time had in her service several general staff
officers, had sent several officers to the Staff College at Cam-
berley, and was organizing her section of the imperial general
staff. The conference arrived at agreement upon a number of
points. General concurrence was expressed in the proposition
' That each part of the Empire is willing to make its prepara-
tions on such lines as will enable it, should it so desire, to
take its share in the general defence of the Empire.' It was
agreed that the war establishments of the home regular army
should be accepted as the basis on which the organization
of units of the forces belonging to the dominions should, as
far as possible, be modelled. This agreement extended even
to questions of transport, it being arranged that the first-line
transport 1 of units should be of imperial pattern, while the
1 First-line transport comprises vehicles such as ammunition-carts and water-
carts, which are kept close to the troops. Second-line transport comprises wagons,
which are kept at some distance on the road from the units they serve.
IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION 465
second-line transport might be of local pattern. Any con-
tingent sent overseas by a dominion was to be accompanied
by a due proportion of administrative units, both with and
in rear of the fighting troops. The dominions agreed to adopt
the field service regulations and training manuals issued to the
home regular army ; they were to be consulted in the revision
of these treatises. The dominions were to adopt as far as
possible imperial patterns of arms, equipment and stores.
The officers performing general staff duties throughout the
Empire should (i) be responsible to and under the control
of their own governments, (2) be members of one body, the
imperial general staff. These general staff officers were to
improve the education of the officers of the local forces.
In the following year occurred the visit of inspection to
Canada made by General Sir John French, the imperial
inspector-general. Lord Kitchener had been invited to visit
Australia and New Zealand and prepare for them a scientific
scheme of defence ; the Canadian government asked Sir
John French to scrutinize the system that had already been
devised and was under way. The imperial inspector-general
arrived on May 20, 1910, and made his report early in July,
his duties having taken him as far west as Banff. Lord
Kitchener had been given a free hand in Australasia and had
reported a scheme of universal service, which provides :
(i) cadet training to give elementary drill, thus enabling the
militia proper to undergo real training ; (2) more or less
trained reservists to fill the cadres on mobilization. Sir John
French in his report contented himself with the following
rather guarded observation :
I am not called upon to express opinions on the subject
of universal service, nor do I wish to do so, but I am not
prepared, at present, to say that the volunteer system is
inadequate to the requirements of the Dominion, because
that system has not yet, in my opinion, had a fair trial.
He went on to say that ' the full measure of service and
obligation which a volunteer, whether officer or private, takes
upon himself must be exacted,' and to observe that this was
not done. His report, which recognized what had been
attempted, nevertheless pronounced the force to be far short
466 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
of what it should be. He summarized the principal short-
comings as
lying in an insufficiently developed organization ; in-
adequate knowledge in the higher command ; l in the
test qualifications for officers and non-commissioned
officers of the active militia laid down in regulations not
being strictly enforced ; and in the rank and file not being
compelled to fulfil their engagements. Only when the
regulations which govern the constitution and mainten-
ance of the Canadian militia are strictly enforced will it
be possible to say whether the present system meets the
defensive requirements of the country or not.
Sir John French laid great stress upon sound organiza-
tion, and criticized the organization of the militia, on the
grounds that the proportion between the various arms of
the service was not correctly adjusted and that the divisions,
which it was proposed to form on mobilization, would
find themselves in an organization to which they had not
been accustomed in peace, and placed under commanders
and staff who would have had no sufficient practice in hand-
ling such formations. It must be borne in mind that at this
time the system of ' higher commands ' existed and that the
divisional organization was imperfect. The annual camp
trainings were pronounced ' only a large collection of troops
without any organization in formations of all arms." His
examination of the mobilization arrangements was searching
and his verdict unfavourable. ' At present,' he said, ' it
would not be possible to put the militia in the field in a fit
condition to undertake active operations until after the
lapse of a considerable period.' He insisted on the import-
ance of having an adequate staff, adverting to, and meeting,
the ignorant attacks upon the headquarters staff that had
been common in Canada. We may pass over numerous
criticisms on points of detail, and notice that he suggested
the organization of the militia of Eastern Canada into one
cavalry division of four brigades, five infantry divisions,
two field forces, and garrisons. Two divisions were to be
1 By ' higher command ' here Sir John French meant the art of leading large
bodies of troops.
IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION 467
found in Ontario west of Toronto ; a third in Eastern
Ontario ; a fourth in the Province of Quebec ; and another in
the Maritime Provinces. For these formations there would
be lacking one cavalry regiment, one battery of horse
artillery, seven brigades of field artillery, four howitzer
brigades, one heavy battery, three field troops of engineers,
five field companies, four telegraph detachments, twelve
army service companies, a cavalry field ambulance and
three field ambulances. For the West he recommended
mounted rifles supported by horse artillery, with a certain
amount of infantry and perhaps heavy artillery to defend
Winnipeg and other important centres, hold posts on the
railway lines, and to act as rallying points to mounted rifles.
Sir John French's report was followed by a rapid
advance in organization. The ' higher commands ' dis-
appeared and were replaced by ' divisional areas,' an
attempt being made with greater vigour than before to
adjust the troops within an area to the purposes of mobiliza-
tion. Six divisions were formed in the East instead of five,
and the organization already explained was devised. An
attempt was made to remedy the bad proportion of the arms
and to make good the deficiencies ; and mobilization pre-
parations were pushed in all directions except that of
providing stores.
The imperial conference of 1911 showed that progress
had been made in the matter of the imperial general staff,
which by that time had been two years in existence, having
been created early in 1909. This was principally apparent in
the arrangements effected for loans, attachments and inter-
changes of , and between, officers of the regular army and officers
of the forces of the dominions. Canada, for instance, was
able to report five general staff officers at work and six more
(one for mobilization duties at headquarters) about to be
employed. Something had been done towards working out a
system that would respect the principle of local control and yet
permit free interchange of advice and assistance ; in Canada
the difficulty had been met by allowing correspondence to take
place between the general staff officers in Canada and in the
United Kingdom, on condition that it was open to the inspec-
468 DEFENCE, 1812-1912
tion of the minister. The formation of a ' Dominions section '
in London was advised. Considerable progress was reported
in the standardization of military education in the Empire. As
early as 1903 Lord Dundonald had set on foot a movement to
have Canadian permanent force officers subjected to the same
examinations as those of the regular army, and by this time
the system was working in a fairly satisfactory way. Another
matter that was arranged was the regulating of visits from
the imperial inspector-general ; regulations were drawn up
under which that officer's services would be available for
any dominion desiring them. The Dominions section was
created on April I, 1912 ; it consisted at the outset of one
officer from Canada and one from Australia, its duties being
described by a competent authority as ' to study our [the
United Kingdom] system of education, training and staff
duties ; to learn the latest ideas on the subject of strategy
and tactics ; to supply the chiefs of the imperial general
staff with information on local matters in their respective
dominions, and to correspond on all such matters with their
local chiefs.' 1
So we come to the end of our survey. The defence
problems of Canada now are defence problems of the Empire.
The outlook is not so much southwards as seawards. The
congeries of scattered units, raised for purposes of the narrowest
local defence and designed to be mere auxiliaries to an army
furnished by the United Kingdom, have become a national
army, planned as a coherent whole, and designed to fit into
a world-wide system of military preparation. Great weak-
nesses of organization persist, and still greater weaknesses
of training, and there is an indisposition to exact all the
services that a man contracts to perform. But the outlook
of the force is imperial, the plans of its organizers are definite
and intelligible. With all its imperfections, it is the national
army of Canada, designed at once to guard her soil and to
enforce the integrity of the British Empire.
* The Times Empire Number, Overseas Edition, May 24, 1912, p. 8.
DOMINION FINANCE
1867-1912
DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
CONFEDERATION AND FINANCE
IN Britain, after the delivery of the annual budget speech,
the question whether the national treasury is in the
enjoyment of a surplus or is weighted with a deficit,
is never a subject for debate. There the national book-
keeping is conducted on such plain and sound principles that
every one knows at once whether the revenue for the year has
balanced the expenditures and whether in consequence certain
taxes may be lessened or remitted, or whether it is necessary
to levy additional taxes, or float a loan, to meet the financial
needs of the year. In Canada, however, it is commonly the
curious privilege of the minister of Finance to congratulate
the country on having a surplus of revenue over expenditure,
and his disagreeable duty to ask parliament to authorize
the government to place a new loan on the British market in
order to provide for the exceptional expenditures which the
enterprise, prosperity and progress of the country demand.
If the ordinary revenue and expenditure of the Dominion
were fairly uniform in amount and similar in character, and
if the purposes for which loans are effected were of an excep-
tional character and rarely occurring, the system might com-
mend itself to the intelligence of the ordinary citizen. But,
since the expenditure on what is called capital account is as
customary and continuous as many other forms of national
expenditure, and since there is endless dispute as to what is
and what is not properly to be considered capital expenditure,
the time-honoured system of presenting to the public of
Canada their annual financial statement and public accounts
is scarcely conducive to a clear understanding of the matters
in question. It is obviously discouraging to any well-meant
effort on the part of the people to understand the national
471
472 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
finances to find that after the annual financial statement is
made, it is almost invariably attacked on the ground that
it is quite erroneous and misleading. Quite irrespective of
the party in power, members pf the opposition proceed to
demonstrate with statistical evidence, apparently as convinc-
ing as that of the government, that the country is burdened
with a deficit instead of enjoying a surplus, and that the out-
look for the future is altogether of a different complexion
from that presented by the government. These and other
strange phenomena in connection with Canadian finances we
find are not the products of yesterday, but were introduced
at Confederation, and can only be understood through the aid
of a clear appreciation of the system of finances established
for the Dominion at that time. It will be necessary, there-
fore, to set forth as clearly as possible the financial features
of Confederation and the foundations laid immediately after-
wards for the future conduct of the Dominion finances and
national book-keeping.
While providing for the ultimate confederation of the
whole of the British provinces in North America, the British
North America Act effected at first the union of only the three
most important provinces — Canada, Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick. In the process of confederation Canada was once
more divided into two provinces, henceforth named Ontario
and Quebec, but corresponding to the old provinces of Upper
and Lower Canada. The discussion which took place at
the conferences preceding Confederation 1 made it plain that
considerable time and much detailed negotiation would be
involved in determining what were to be the ultimate financial
obligations of the Dominion and the provinces respectively.
Moreover, while it was a simple matter to determine the
sources of national and provincial revenues, yet there were
features connected with this which gave no little concern
to those negotiating the union. One of the most important
was the prospect of the provinces having in the future to rely
upon direct taxation for a large part of their revenue, and
direct taxation was at that time extremely unpopular through-
out the British provinces.
1 See Appendix I to this article.
THE DOMINION AND THE PROVINCES 473
THE DOMINION AND THE PROVINCES
Certain arrangements, partly permanent and partly pro-
visional, were made in order to avoid dangerous complications,
especially the temporary paralysis of the finances, and conse-
quently of the functions of government, while the new central
and provincial governments were being established. It was
determined that the Dominion government, which was to
take over permanently the customs and excise duties which
constituted much the greater part of the previous provincial
revenues, should also assume all the provincial debts and
provide, out of the central revenues, certain definite cash
subsidies for the support of the administrative functions of
the new provinces. The executive government, the Civil
Service and the public buildings at Ottawa, previously be-
longing to the united provinces of Canada, were taken over
as the nucleus of the Dominion Government Service, except
those which were connected with the functions assigned to
the future provincial governments, such as education, crown
lands, etc.
In accordance with the financial arrangements arrived at,1
the British North America Act provided that the duties and
revenues formerly collected and appropriated by the three
provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with
the exception of such portions of these revenues as were re-
served by the act to the new provinces, should constitute the
revenue of the Dominion of Canada. These revenues were
to be combined into one ' Consolidated Revenue Fund ' to
be appropriated for the public service of Canada subject to
such conditions and charges as were provided for by the
British North America Act. The specific charges on the
Consolidated Revenue Fund arranged in the order of their
precedence were as follows :
1. The cost of collection and management of the fund.
2. The interest on the public debt.
3. The salary of the governor-general.
The remainder of the fund might be appropriated by the
1 See Appendix n to this article.
VOL. vn c
474 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
parliament of Canada. As we shall see, it was not long before
a further series of preference charges were added by the
Dominion government.
All stocks, cash, bankers' balances and securities belonging
to the several provinces were to be transferred to the Dominion
and the debts of the respective provinces were to be reduced
by corresponding amounts. The public works and other
property of the provinces, which were to become the pro-
perty of the Dominion, were specifically enumerated in a
special schedule to the act, all other property to belong
to the new provinces. It especially mentioned that lands,
mines, minerals, and the royalties on them, were to belong to
the respective provinces. In the case of Ontario and Quebec
the distribution of the provincial debts, credits and other
properties as between them was to be settled by a board of
three arbitrators. As already indicated, in taking over from
the original provinces the chief sources of revenue, including
customs and excise, the Dominion was required to assume
all the debts and liabilities of the provinces contracted up to
the time of Confederation, whether some of these should or
should not afterwards be judged to belong to the respective
provinces. In case any of these liabilities were subsequently
declared to pertain to a province, all revenues and assets con-
nected with them were to be credited to the province and
all payments made in connection with them would be charged
to it. The adjustment of the obligations in connection with
several features as between the Provinces of Ontario and
Quebec and the Dominion of Canada involved difficult and
protracted negotiations, and was ultimately settled only
within the last ten years. The first board of arbitrators
appointed simply settled the general principles of division
between the provinces and the Dominion, leaving it to the
officials to work out the details. In certain cases this was
found to be impossible ; hence a final board was constituted,
consisting of Chancellor Boyd, Justice Caussault and Justice
Burbidge, to dispose of the remaining difficulties.
In order to establish a basis for the adjustment of the
obligations as between the Dominion and the provinces, a
certain definite amount of debt, for which the province was
THE DOMINION AND THE PROVINCES 475
to be henceforth liable, was allowed to each province. These
amounts were officially referred to as the ' Debt Allowances ' of
the respective provinces. Any debt which a province might
prove to have in excess of its debt allowance, while assumed
by the Dominion, was yet to be charged to the province.
Interest at the rate of five per cent on this excess debt was
to be allowed to the Dominion and might be deducted from
any other moneys due to the province from the Dominion.
In case, however, the actual debt of a province should prove
to be less than its debt allowance, the Dominion government,
not having to meet this obligation elsewhere, was required
to pay over to the province interest at the rate of five per cent
on the difference between the amount of its actual debt and
the amount of the debt allowance. The debt allowances of
the respective provinces were as follows : for Ontario and
Quebec, jointly, $62,500,000 ; for Nova Scotia, $8,000,000 ;
for New Brunswick, $7,000,000.
Apart from the adjustment of the debts of the province
to be assumed by the Dominion, each province was to be
allowed from the Dominion treasury certain annual grants in
support of its legislative and executive government. In the
first place, there were certain specific amounts to be granted
annually as follows : Ontario, $80,000 ; Quebec, $70,000 ;
Nova Scotia, $60,000 ; and New Brunswick, $50,000. In
the second place, a per capita grant was to be made to each
province on the basis of eighty cents per head of the popu-
lation, as determined by the census of 1861. This allowance
was final in the case of Ontario and Quebec, but in those
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the amount was to follow
the increase of population at each decennial census until the
population reached 400,000 in each province, at which the
allowance per capita would be made stationary. To New
Brunswick a special annual grant of $63,000 was allowed for
ten years, there being deducted from this, however, whatever
interest might be due to New Brunswick on the difference
between her actual debt and her debt allowance. These
financial terms as between the provinces and the Dominion
were intended to be final ; in the language of the British North
America Act, ' such grants shall be in full settlement of all
476 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
future demands on Canada.' The settlement, however, was
not of long duration.
The future finances of Canada were further materially
affected by the obligation laid on the Dominion by the British
North America Act to construct the Intercolonial Railway,
in order to connect Halifax with the St Lawrence, this being
a condition of the lower provinces entering Confederation.
It was further stipulated that this undertaking should be
commenced within six months after the issue of the pro-
clamation establishing the Dominion. The contribution made
to this enterprise on behalf of the imperial government was
the guarantee of a loan to be negotiated by the Canadian
government to the extent of £3,000,000 sterling, at not
more than four per cent interest. Various conditions were
attached to this guarantee, such as the priority of the interest
charges on the Canadian revenue, the establishment of a
sinking fund for the repayment of the loan, etc.
With reference to the constitutional features affecting
Dominion finances, it was provided in the British North
America Act that among the powers conferred upon the
Dominion government were :
(a) The right to deal with the public debt and property.
(b) The raising of money by any mode or system of taxa-
tion, whereas the provinces were limited to direct taxation.
(c) The borrowing of money on the public credit. All
bills for the appropriating of money or the levying of taxes
must originate with the House of Commons, and everything
for which money is appropriated or taxes levied must first
be recommended to the House of Commons by a message of
the governor-general.
JOHN LANGTON AND DOMINION FINANCE
The management of the Canadian finances during the
important changes incident to the formation of the Dominion
and the division of its functions from those of the pro-
vinces was largely in the hands of John Langton, the first
auditor-general of the Dominion. Langton had been in
charge of the Audit Office of United Canada since 1856
JOHN LANGTON AND DOMINION FINANCE 477
and possessed exceptional ability and industry. Before his
appointment, in Canada and in practically all the other
provinces at the time of Confederation, the chief revenues
and expenditures were collected and disbursed by special
boards. These boards after collecting the revenue first de-
ducted the cost of collection and transmitted to the treasury
only the net surplus. Where the chief functions of the
boards were the administration of public works, certain
revenues being also collected, they applied the revenues
obtained so far as they were available and drew upon the pro-
vincial treasuries for the excess expenditure only. Langton
introduced the system of requiring all moneys received and all
money paid out to be entered in the public accounts in order
that the full details of all financial transactions might be
laid before parliament. This system was transferred to the
Dominion at the time of Confederation, when Langton became
the first auditor-general. We thus find evidence of Langton's
guiding hand in the act respecting the collection and manage-
ment of the revenue and the order of the public accounts
passed in the first session of the Dominion parliament. It
is there provided that ' the public revenue shall include all
revenue and public money whether arising from duties of
customs or other duties, or from the Post Office, or from tolls
for the .use of canals, railways or other public works, or from
penalties or forfeitures, or from rents or dues, or from any
other source whatever, whether the moneys belong to the
Dominion or are collected by officers of the Dominion for
or on account of or in trust for any province, or for the
Dominion Government or for any other party.' This meant
that all funds which came into the hands of the Dominion
government, whether in the way of actual revenue or only as
deposits or trust funds, however temporary their custody,
had to be entered as revenues and their disbursements as
expenditure.
This system of national book-keeping no doubt had the
advantage of bringing all the money paid over to the govern-
ment and all the payments made by the government officially
within the purview of parliament. But it would appear that
this object might have been secured without bringing all
478 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
manner of receipts and payments into one account entered
in a single balance-sheet. In fact, it has been practically
impossible to accomplish the object sought ; while, owing
to the very unsatisfactory classification and treatment of
expenditures on so-called capital accounts, the real income
and expenditure of the country have been beclouded and
obscured. On the one hand, it is impossible for the ordinary
citizen to obtain a clear idea of what it all means ; while, on
the other hand, it is possible for those whose interest it is to
cultivate false impressions, whether of an optimistic or pessi-
mistic character, as to the country's finances, to accomplish
their purpose with considerable facility and without the
opportunity being afforded for clearly refuting their spurious
demonstrations.
In accordance with the system decided upon, the officials
of the government were instructed that all moneys, from
whatever sources derived, should be paid to the credit of the
receiver-general. Wherever possible such moneys should be
paid in by the collectors to such banks as might be designated
by the governor in council, and should not be taken out except
to transmit them to the receiver-general. Where there is no
bank available the governor in council may direct how the
moneys collected are to be paid in. The expenditure of
public money was required to be made by cheque upon some
bank upon the warrant of the governor in council, the cheque
to be signed by the receiver-general and countersigned by
the minister of Finance, or the representative deputies duly
authorized. As we shall see, this system was changed in
1878.
Another of Langton's ideas introduced immediately after
Confederation, but which did not long survive in an active
form, was that of a Board of Audit. Under the supervision
of the minister of Finance, this board should report upon such
accounts as might be referred to it. The board was to consist
of the various deputy ministers and of the auditor-general,
who should be chairman of the board. All accounts were
to be revised in the first instance by the deputies of the
respective departments and finally by the auditor-general.
ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS 479
EARLY ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
Before Confederation and for some years afterwards
there were two ministers concerned with financial affairs and
two deputies. One was known as the receiver-general and
the other as the inspector-general. After Confederation the
latter was known as the minister of Finance. The receiver-
general took charge of the income of the government, including
placing of loans by the financial agents in Britain, while the
inspector-general supervised all the expenditure of the national
funds. All warrants for payments on behalf of the govern-
ment were to be prepared by the deputy inspector-general,
afterwards designated the deputy minister of Finance. The
auditor-general was also required to examine and check every
payment on government account, whether from ordinary
revenue or trust funds of any kind. It was his special duty
to see that no appropriation was exceeded or any warrants
issued for which there were no parliamentary appropria-
tions, and that no money warrant should issue except on his
certificate. In the case of a difference of opinion between
the auditor-general and the officials of any department, the
minister of Finance, on the authority of a written opinion
from the law office of the crown, might overrule the auditor-
general. If there should arise an emergency during recess,
on the report of the minister of Finance that no parliamentary
provision had been made for a service which was of the nature
of an emergency, the governor-general in council might order
a special warrant to be prepared, to be signed by the governor-
general in person, and on the authority of this warrant pay-
ments might be made until parliament assembled, when the
matter must be laid before it and an indemnity sought for
the expenditure incurred.
Such were the chief provisions made during the first
session of the Dominion parliament for the administration
of the financial affairs of the Dominion. In the main these
provisions are still in force, although we shall have occasion
to point out certain changes or modifications of a more or
less important character.
480 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
Immediately after Confederation it was of course neces-
sary to provide for the requisite expenditure to carry on the
affairs of the country between the proclamation of the new
Dominion on July I, 1867, and the election and assembling
of the first Dominion parliament. This expenditure was
incurred on the joint responsibility of the ministers of the
crown.
The first parliament of Canada was opened at Ottawa on
November 7. Just before the assembling of parliament the
Hon. A. T. Gait, who had been appointed minister of Finance,
resigned, and was succeeded by the Hon. John Rose of
Montreal, while the Hon. Edward Kenny of Nova Scotia was
appointed receiver-general. One of the first measures of the
Dominion parliament was the appropriation from the Con-
solidated Revenue Fund of $5,264,279 towards the expenses
of the public service from July I, 1867 to March 31, 1868.
No detailed estimates were submitted for the appropriation
of this sum, which covered the amount previously spent on
the responsibility of the ministers and left to their discretion
the expenditure of so much of the remainder as might be
required until the end of March 1868. The whole expendi-
ture, however, was to be accounted for in the regular way. It
was further provided that the Dominion government might
redeem or purchase any debts or liabilities of the old province
of Canada, or of Nova Scotia, or of New Brunswick, and
might issue debenture stock of the Dominion in lieu of these
obligations, provided that the new debt did not exceed the
debt redeemed and that the interest on the new debt did not
exceed six per cent.
A loan of $5,000,000 was authorized to be raised for general
purposes. In connection with this first general loan, it was
provided that Dominion loans might be raised in either of
the following ways : first, by the issue of permanent stock
to be authorized by order-in-council and to be known as
' Canada Dominion Stock,' the interest on this not to exceed
six per cent, payable half-yearly and chargeable to the Con-
solidated Revenue Fund — this stock should not be redeemed
in less than ten years, but, after that time, should be redeem-
able at the option of the government on six months' notice ;
ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS 481
second, by government debentures redeemable at definite
stated periods ; third, by exchequer bills or bonds in sums
not less than $400 with interest not to exceed six per cent
and redeemable in periods fixed by order-in-council — these
periods usually of short duration ; fourth, by terminable
annuities following the most approved English tables, the
interest not to exceed six per cent. These methods of rais-
ing the money authorized by parliament naturally followed
those then in vogue in Britain. All the moneys so raised
were to form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
Canada.
Authority was also given for the raising of temporary loans,
usually through the sale of exchequer bills on temporary
advances from the banks, at any time, to meet the needs of
the Consolidated Revenue Fund, but such loans must never
exceed the authorized revenue or add to the public debt of the
country.
In addition to the loans already mentioned, special loans
for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway were au-
thorized. The first was for £3,000,000 sterling, at not more
than four per cent interest as provided for by the imperial
government, which had undertaken to guarantee it. The
second was for £1,000,000 sterling on the credit of the Con-
solidated Revenue Fund with interest not to exceed six per
cent. The difference in interest between the two loans in-
dicated the value of the guarantee by the British govern-
ment. There was a further loan of £1,100,000 sterling for
fortifications in various parts of the Dominion. This was also
to be guaranteed by the British government and provided
with a sinking fund. Following the lead of the British
North America Act, which set forth in order of preference the
three chief charges against the Consolidated Revenue Fund,
the Dominion government added the special loans to the
preference list in the following order :
4. The cost of the Intercolonial Railway, principal and
interest.
5. The sinking fund for the Intercolonial Railway guaran-
teed loan. This was fixed at one per cent per annum on the
capital amount. The fund, although invested in Canadian
482 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
securities, to be under the control of the commissioners of the
British treasury.
6. Any sum which might be advanced out of the Con-
solidated Fund of the United Kingdom for the Intercolonial
Railway. No such moneys, however, were required to be
advanced.
7. The extra loan of £1,000,000 sterling for the construc-
tion of the Intercolonial Railway on the security of the
Canada Consolidated Revenue Fund alone.
8. The special loan of £1,100,000 sterling for the con-
struction of certain fortification works in Canada guaranteed
by the British treasury and to be a charge on the Consolidated
Revenue Fund of Canada, after the Intercolonial Railway.
9. The guaranteed loan and interest on it of £300,000
sterling, or $1,460,000 for the purchase of the rights of the
Hudson's Bay Company in the North- West Territory, which
was transferred to the Dominion.
10. The sinking fund to provide for the repayment of this
loan.
All the loans guaranteed by the British government have
since been paid off, and now that the credit of Canada has
been well established the system of issuing preference loans
has been abandoned.
Two other methods of raising money were also authorized
immediately after Confederation. No definite limits were
placed on the sums which might be obtained in these ways.
The first was connected with the establishment of the post
office savings banks. Before Confederation both Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick had established government
savings banks and through them had obtained very consider-
able funds, which thus constituted a loan from the public
at a moderate rate of interest. Recognizing the financial
possibilities of this system, the Dominion government in
taking over the savings banks from the Maritime Provinces
continued the system, but soon established throughout
Canada a general Post Office Savings Bank. The ordinary
deposits were allowed four per cent, but special deposits of
not less than $100, where the withdrawal was subject to
notice, were allowed five per cent. The deposits when re-
ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS 483
ceived were credited to special account, and when the amount
exceeded $5000 the excess was to be invested in government
debentures of either the Dominion or the provinces. The
uninvested moneys were to be allowed five per cent, the
expenses of managing the system to be paid out of the differ-
ence between the interest paid to the depositors and the in-
terest allowed by the government to the fund. Any balance
above expenses was to be paid over to the Consolidated
Revenue Fund and any deficit on the management was to be
paid out of the same fund. This method of meeting the ex-
penses of management was afterwards abandoned, and the
collection and management of the savings bank deposits
were simply charged to ordinary expenditure. The rate of
interest allowed was afterwards reduced from four to three
and a half per cent, and later to three per cent. The ad-
vantage to the government at the time of establishing the
savings banks was that by this means a considerable propor-
tion of the authorized loans were taken off the ordinary stock
markets, and as the British stock market was not then so
ready, as later, to absorb Canadian securities at a moderate
rate of interest, the leaning of the stock market was a matter
of considerable importance to the value of Canadian securities.
The situation at the present time, however, is very different.
Canada can now borrow on such advantageous terms that an
allowance of three per cent on deposits with the post office
savings banks when the cost of collection and management
is added, instead of representing a financial advantage to
the government, represents a financial loss, since the moneys
thus obtained could be procured at less cost in the open money
market.
The other method of securing large loans from the public
was operated under cover of affording security to the public
for the premiums paid to the various insurance companies.
Before Confederation the fire insurance companies made
deposits with the government of various securities, whether
public or private, foreign or domestic. After Confedera-
tion, however, all insurance companies, whether fire, lift-,
inland, marine, guarantee or accident, were required to take
out licences to be issued by the Finance department. Such
484 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
licences were to be issued, however, only after the companies
had made certain deposits in cash or certain prescribed
securities. Each insurance company had to make a deposit
of at least $50,000, and when the same company carried on
different lines of insurance a separate deposit had to be made
for each. When a company had over $50,000 in premiums,
it might retain twenty-five per cent of the remainder below
$100,000, as also the net amount of losses actually paid, but
had to deposit the remainder with the government. The
receiver-general invested the cash deposits of the companies
in Dominion stock in trust for the company, and the interest
on the stock was paid to the company when its public deposit
was over $100,000. Various provisions were made to meet
special conditions, but they did not affect the central provision
of the measure. These requirements undoubtedly improved
the security furnished to the policyholders, although they
might lower the rate of profit to be obtained by the company
and consequently diminish possible bonuses to the policy-
holders. The system furnished, however, a very large and
more or less permanent market for Canadian government
securities and, as in the case of the savings banks, assisted
in maintaining a fair price for the successive issues of Do-
minion securities on the stock markets. The original act
relating to insurance companies has been amended many
times, but the central financial features of the first Dominion
act still remain.
It was rather difficult for the general public to understand
just how much of the deposits received from the savings banks
and insurance companies represented additional funds for
the government over and above the proceeds of the specific
loans authorized and negotiated. In the first place, the
securities deposited on behalf of the insurance companies
were partly British and foreign securities and partly Canadian
securities, purchased in the open market. When, however,
the cash deposits were invested in Dominion stock not con-
stituting part of any previous loan, the government was
thereby furnished with extra receipts and the public debt
increased to a similar extent. In virtue of this situation
there arose protracted controversy between the government
ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS 485
and the opposition as to the extent to which savings banks
and insurance companies were furnishing the government
with new funds and thereby increasing the national debt.
In his budget speech of 1871 Sir Francis Hincks referred to
the vigorous criticism which had been directed against the
government on account of its manipulation of forced loans
from the public by means of the post office savings banks
and the extensive deposits required from the insurance
companies. In reply to this criticism he pointed out that
only a portion of the deposits made by the insurance com-
panies and received from the savings banks represented
increased funds placed at the disposal of the government.
Some of the securities deposited by the companies were
British and American and thus did not benefit the Canadian
government in any way ; while others represented portions
of the securities issued by the Canadian government as part
of the regularly authorized loans. Such Canadian securities
represented neither an increase of the Dominion debt nor an
increase in the Dominion revenues. Only so much of the
insurance and savings bank deposits as were obtained in cash
and invested in Dominion stock represented an increase of
revenue and of debt. Thus out of about $4,000,000 of insur-
ance deposits only $1,837,000 afforded new revenue for the
government, and out of $2,387,650 of savings bank deposits,
$1,859,000 represented new funds for the government. If,
however, these facts were not made sufficiently clear to enable
ministers of the crown and other members of parliament
to understand the proper bearing of the returns available,
it is little wonder that the ordinary citizen was entirely
bewildered by them.
In the depositing of its securities the government was
authorized to make arrangements with one or more financial
agents in London or elsewhere. As a matter of fact the
government divided its financial dealings between Glyn, Mills,
Currie and Company and Baring Brothers and Company,
of London, and the Bank of Montreal, in Canada. Later
the Bank of Montreal, having offices in London as well as
in Canada, virtually conducted the whole of the Dominion
government's business in the negotiation and management of
486 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
its loans. At this point it may be well to indicate briefly the
process followed in negotiating a government loan.
THE PUBLIC DEBT
The gross public debt is made up of the loans contracted
in Great Britain, the loans contracted in Canada, the deposits
in the government savings banks, the Dominion note cir-
culation, the trust funds, balances due to the provinces of
the Dominion and what are called miscellaneous and bank-
ing accounts. That portion of the public debt contracted,
domiciled and payable in Great Britain comprises more than
half the gross public debt. When a loan is required, the
financial agents of the Dominion in London call for tenders
therefor, issuing for that purpose a prospectus giving the
amount of the loan, the minimum tender to be sent in, the
rate of interest, the manner in which the loan will be issued,
whether by registered stock or debentures or partly by each
and convertible from one to the other. The prospectus also
states whether the loan is to be secured by a sinking fund,
and if so the amount to be set aside each year towards this
fund. Accompanying the prospectus a blank form of tender
is attached, and as the prospectus is fully advertised and
as Canadian investments are popular, a very great number
of tenders are generally sent in. The tenders are opened
publicly in the office of the financial agents at the date and
hour set forth in the prospectus. Not infrequently the loan
is over-subscribed. When this is the case the allotment is
made in manner as follows : say the loan is to be £5,000,000
and the minimum is placed at 98 for a three per cent loan
and the tenders were received in this manner :
£250,000 at 104
300,000 at 103
450,000 at 102
500,000 at 101
750,000 at 100
1, 750,000 at 99
4,000,000 at 98
£8,000,000
SIR RICHARD JOHN CARTWRIGHT
MINISTER OF FINANCE, 1873-78
From a photograph by Tofley, Ottawa
THE PUBLIC DEBT 487
All the tenders at higher than the minimum rate would receive
allotments in full of their tenders, and those who tendered
at the minimum would receive allotments for a quarter of
their tenders. Allotments are paid in instalments spread
over a short period of time, and if paid in full or earlier than
the due date, a reasonable discount is allowed and interest on
the loan is allowed to commence from the date just before the
instalments fall due. There is another form of borrowing in
Great Britain besides the fixed time loans, and this is by
way of exchequer bills. This is a method used by the imperial
authorities as well as by those of the Dominion. Whether
in anticipation of the receipt of revenues from taxation or from
temporary necessity, or from the reason that the amount is
comparatively small and therefore not desirable to be funded
into a long term loan, the Dominion issues exchequer bills,
generally for six months, taking the form of Dominion pro-
missory notes payable out of moneys coming into the ex-
chequer. As an example, the Dominion government pays to
the governments of the provinces the Dominion subsidies
half-yearly in advance, and it might well happen that on some
occasions the cash in the exchequer was not sufficient to
meet the sum required, which is somewhere over $4,500,000.
In that case the Dominion government might as a tem-
porary measure issue £1,000,000 in exchequer bills. The
same necessity might arise through heavy payments being
required immediately to be made on account of contracts
on the great national undertakings. These exchequer bills
are in much favour with large financial institutions in Great
Britain and often on the continent of Europe, as, bearing
interest and only having a short term of currency, they are
very convenient in forming part of the cash reserves of banks
and discount companies.
The amount of loans made in Canada for fixed terms is
very small. The Dominion can get better terms in England ;
and with mortgages, municipal loans, and other forms of
investment allowed by the Trustees acts, the Canadian
investor in Canada can get better rates than could be paid
by the Dominion authorities.
488 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
NATIONAL BOOK-KEEPING
The early legislation of the Dominion prescribed that the
government accounts were to be kept by double entry in
the offices of the receiver-general and minister of Finance.
Annual statements of the public accounts were to be prepared
as soon as possible after the conclusion of the fiscal year,
setting forth the state of the public debt and the amounts
chargeable against each of the public works for which any
part of the debt had been contracted. A statement was
also required of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and of the
various trusts and special funds under the management of
the government, and such other accounts and matters as might
be required to show what the liabilities and assets of the
Dominion really were at the date of the statement so made.
As we shall have occasion to observe, the demonstration was
far from successful. In the very language used to describe
the accounts there was considerable ambiguity, which was
likely to mislead those not intimately familiar with the
domestic arrangements and usages of the department of
Finance. Thus the term ' Consolidated Fund ' is used in
several different connections. The Consolidated Revenue
Fund of Canada, to give it the full title as used in the statutes,
means primarily, as we have seen, all revenues coming into
the Dominion exchequer, whether derived from taxes, im-
posts or loans, gathered into and consolidated in one great
revenue account. From this is paid both the ordinary ex-
penditure and capital expenditure. Again, the term ' Con-
solidated Fund ' has been employed for many years to desig-
nate the ordinary revenues and expenditures of the Dominion
apart from loans, trust accounts, etc. There is a third sense
in which the term ' Consolidated Fund ' is used. It is applied
to the third statement in the public accounts, in which are
included the ordinary receipts and expenditures, the sums
paid for railroad subsidies, etc., and the balance of which is
the difference between the assets and liabilities in the general
balance-sheet.
OPPOSITION TO FINANCIAL TERMS 489
PROVINCIAL OPPOSITION TO FINANCIAL TERMS
We have seen that the debt allowance and annual subsidies
granted to the provinces at the time of Confederation were
declared to be in full settlement of all future claims of the
provinces on the Dominion. A strong dement in Nova Scotia
led by the Hon. Joseph Howe, himself one of the earlier pro-
moters of the idea of Confederation, strongly opposed the
terms of the union, both before and after Confederation.
After Confederation the agitation against its terms was con-
ducted with much vigour. Strongly worded protests were
sent to the home government setting forth the grievances of
Nova Scotia and urging the repeal of the union, as far, at
least, as that province was concerned. For various reasons
the home government was adverse to seeing the work of
Confederation undone, and the representations of Nova Scotia
were unfavourably received. At the same time the colonial
secretary represented to the Dominion government that it
would be advisable to consider carefully the claims set forth
by Nova Scotia. At the time of the first election for the
Dominion parliament Dr Charles (afterwards Sir Charles)
Tupper was the only supporter of the government returned
from the Province of Nova Scotia. During the first session
of parliament the members for that province led by Howe,
while attending at the capital, gave expression to their views
on matters relating to the treatment of their province, yet
stood aloof from the general business of the session. The
chief objections of Nova Scotia to the financial arrangements
provided by the British North America Act were :
First. That the principle assigning to each province a
debt allowance based on so much per head of the population,
and also the granting of a subsidy on the per capita basis,
ignored entirely the tax-paying factor and resulted most
unfairly to Nova Scotia, as compared with the others, and
particularly the Canadian provinces.
Second. That in the appropriation of public works by
the Dominion, Nova Scotia as a province lost most of her
public works which were of any value, while Ontario and
VOL. VII H
490 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
Quebec retained many which were of a revenue-producing
character.
Third. That Nova Scotia since coming into Confederation
had not only been subjected to increased taxation, but the
principle upon which the taxes were imposed discriminated
strongly against her.
Fourth. That if Confederation had not taken place and
Nova Scotia had raised her tariff to the general rate levied
by the Dominion government, the revenue would have met
all her liabilities, provided for her local services and left a
surplus. Under existing conditions, however, the revenue
provided for her provincial needs was quite inadequate to
meet those needs.
In support of these contentions Nova Scotia had furnished
to the home government various statistical and other returns,
which were referred for consideration to the Dominion govern-
ment. At the close of the first session of the Dominion
parliament the prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald,
opened a direct but confidential correspondence with the
Hon. Joseph Howe, making overtures for a frank and thorough
discussion of the various points at issue, and indicating the
readiness of the Dominion government to do whatever was
possible and reasonable towards reducing legitimate griev-
ances of the eastern province. To this Howe replied that
while there was much bitterness throughout Nova Scotia
towards both the home government and the Canadian govern-
ment, and while he personally sympathized with the desire
for the repeal of the union, yet he did not favour the ex-
treme policy advocated by some of defying both the imperial
and Dominion governments and seeking annexation to the
United States. He admitted that he was not hopeful of their
ability to convince the home government of the necessity for
repealing the union. He therefore felt inclined to accede
to the request of the prime minister to have the facts of the
case thoroughly investigated. This policy prevailed. The
whole matter was taken up carefully between the two govern-
ments, with the result that during the session of 1869 an act
was passed revising the financial terms of the British North
America Act on which Nova Scotia was admitted to the
SIR SAMUEL LEONARD TILLEY
MINISTER OF FINANCE, 1872-73, 1878-85
From a fliolografk by To/ilty, Ottawa
MANITOBA IN THE DOMINION 491
Dominion. On a careful analysis of the statistics furnished
the debt allowance for Nova Scotia was increased from
$8,000,000 to $9,186,756. This new allowance was to be
treated in the matter of interest, etc., as though it had been
originally stated in the British North America Act. The
annual allowance for the province was also increased from
$60,000 to $82,698, being $2698 greater than the amount
allowed to the Province of Ontario.
Once the constitutional right of the Dominion govern-
ment to grant better terms to a province was recognized, and
one province had actually secured a revision of the financial
terms prescribed in the British North America Act, it was
naturally difficult to bar the claims of other provinces. The
sequel proved that the financial arrangements established at
Confederation were to be frequently the subject of claims for
revisions, sometimes at the instance of individual provinces
and sometimes by a joint attack upon the Dominion treasury.
Not unnaturally, perceiving the advantage secured by Nova
Scotia, the other maritime province, New Brunswick, early
in 1871, also began to agitate for better terms. Its claims,
however, were passed over, for a time at least.
MANITOBA IN THE DOMINION
Immediately after Confederation steps were taken to
have the North-West Territory transferred to the Canadian
Dominion from the control of the British government. In
order to accomplish this it was first necessary to obtain the
assent of the Hudson's Bay Company, to which the territory
had been granted by charter. This was eventually accom-
plished, the company receiving a cash subsidy of £300,000
sterling and considerable grants of land. When this territory
had been transferred to the Dominion steps were immedi-
ately taken to create a part of it the Province of Manitoba.
It was necessary to determine on what financial basis the new
province should start its provincial career. The arrangement
arrived at was embodied in the Manitoba Act of 1870.
Although the province had no debt and could not therefore
be granted a debt allowance as in the case of the older pro-
492 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
vinces, yet it was to be paid interest on a sum which would
be the equivalent of the debt allowances of the other pro-
vinces. This was fixed at $472,090, on which interest was
to be paid at the rate of five per cent. For legislative and
administrative expenses the province was granted a subsidy
of $30,000 per annum, as also the usual annual grant of eighty
cents per head of the population, estimated at 17,000 souls.
This per capita subsidy was to increase with the increase of
population as determined at each census, until the population
reached 400,000, at which the grant should be stationary.
As in the case of the other provinces, these subsidies were to
be in full settlement of all future demands on Canada.
BRITISH COLUMBIA IN THE DOMINION
The next province to be admitted to Confederation was
British Columbia, which entered the Dominion on July 5,
1871, in accordance with the terms of the British order-in-
council of May 16 of that year. This embodied the terms
agreed upon as between the representatives of British Col-
umbia and the Dominion government. The financial terms
were that the Dominion was to be liable for the debts of British
Columbia at the time of the union, the province to be granted
a nominal debt allowance at the rate of $27.77 P61" head
of its population, being on the same basis as the allowance
made to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the population of
British Columbia being taken as 60,000. As usual, interest
at the rate of five per cent was to be paid by the Dominion
on the difference between the actual provincial debts and the
nominal debt allowance. In addition there was an annual
grant of $30,000 and the usual allowance of eighty cents
per head of the population, estimated at 60,000 souls, this
amount to increase with the increase of population until
the latter amounted to 400,000 souls. The most onerous
feature, however, was that the Dominion should construct
a railway to connect the Pacific coast of British Columbia
with the Canadian railway system. This undertaking was
to be entered upon simultaneously from the East and the
West within two years of the union. The conditions as to
BETTER TERMS AGITATIONS 493
the construction of the Pacific Railway later proved to be
more onerous than anticipated, and were modified in 1875
under what were known as the ' Carnarvon Terms,' the chief
feature of which was the extension of the time for constructing
the railroad until the close of the year 1890. In 1872 the
imperial government, desiring to lay the general discontent
throughout Canada over the terms of the Washington Treaty,
agreed to guarantee a loan for £2,500,000 sterling towards the
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND IN THE DOMINION
The next province to enter Confederation was Prince
Edward Island. Arrangements were completed in 1873
and the necessary measures taken with the approval and co-
operation of the home government. The financial terms
were made particularly generous in view of the isolated
position of the province and a prospective arrangement of
better terms for the other provinces. The debt allowance
on the basis of $50 per head of the population amounted to
$4,701,050, with interest at five per cent on the difference
between the actual debt and the debt allowance, an annual
subsidy of $30,000, as also the customary annual allowance
of eighty cents per head of the population. A special annual
grant of $45,000 was made to extinguish the claims of the
great landlords to whom much of the land had been formerly
granted. This amount was to be reduced, however, by the
interest at five per cent on any capital sum not exceeding
$800,000 which the Dominion government might contribute
towards the buying out of the large proprietors.
BETTER TERMS AGITATIONS
As indicated, pressure was again being brought to bear
upon the Dominion government to revise the financial terms
granted at Confederation and subsequently in favour of all
the provinces. The national revenue was in a very pros-
perous condition during the early seventies, and the Dominion
government of the day, being badly in need of popular sym-
494 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
pathy and support, had not the courage to resist a measure
likely to be favourably received in every province. Among
the acts passed in the session of 1873 was one to readjust the
amounts payable to the several provinces of Canada by
the Dominion government so far as their debt allowances
were concerned. The joint debt allowance with which the
Provinces of Ontario and Quebec entered Confederation was
$62,500,000. It was found, however, when all the floating
debts had been gathered in, that these provinces had a greater
debt than their allowance by $10,506,088.84. It was con-
sidered expedient, therefore, to relieve the provinces of this
debt and to increase the debt allowances of the other provinces
in like proportion, as also to increase the equivalent amounts
on which interest was paid to Manitoba and British Columbia.
Prince Edward Island, as we have seen, was specially pro-
vided for during the same session in the terms of its entrance
to the Dominion.
This, however, was not the end of the better terms agita-
tion. The new province of Manitoba made constant com-
plaint that it was unable to meet its expenses out of the
revenue supplied by the Dominion. As it had no public lands
to sell, it seemed, apart from the appeals to the Dominion
government, to have no alternatives but bankruptcy or
direct taxation. Direct taxation was out of the question
and bankruptcy was not easily achieved, because a province
without visible assets found it difficult to acquire creditors.
Twice the Dominion government yielded to argument and
importunity. In 1876 the province was granted a temporary
annual increase of $26,746.90 in order to raise the revenue
to $90,000 per annum. Again in 1879, instead of this tempo-
rary grant lapsing, it was increased so as to raise the annual
income from the Dominion treasury to $105,000.
In 1884 all the provinces once more joined in a siege of the
Dominion treasury. By an ingenious device they managed
to persuade the Dominion government that when in 1873 an
increased debt allowance was granted, it ought to have dated
back to Confederation. Hence they now claimed, not only
the arrears of capital, but of interest as well. On this basis
an adjustment was effected, and what was done for the
ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN 495
three original provinces was granted in like proportion to
the three new provinces of Manitoba, British Columbia and
Prince Edward Island. The amounts by which the capital
basis of the several provinces was increased ranged from
five and a third million dollars for Ontario and Quebec jointly
to $83,000 for British Columbia, and the extra interest
charged on the Dominion treasury amounted to upwards of
$358,000 annually.
Even this new arrangement brought small comfort to
Manitoba, whose annual income was increased by only
$5500. The following year the Dominion government made
an effort to bring to an end the chronic agitation for better
terms on the part of the prairie province. Parliament passed
a rather complex measure, so complex, in fact, that it re-
quired another act in the following session to explain what
it meant. In substance the act transferred to the province
the ownership of its swamp-lands, granted a land endowment
for the University of Manitoba and enlarged the basis for
cash subsidies. These concessions were granted on the basis
that they should be accepted by the province as a final settle-
ment of all claims on the Dominion. The finality lasted for
not less than thirteen years. In 1898 a further allowance
was granted on account of the cost of public buildings and
a government house.
In 1887 an attempt had been made to reopen the matter
of provincial subsidies. In that year the then premier of
Quebec, the Hon. Honore Mercier, called a conference of the
provincial premiers at Quebec, and the outcome was a demand
for better terms. As, however, the majority of the local
governments were in opposition to the government at Ottawa,
the movement met with little favour. It was concluded that,
while this political condition continued, there was little pro-
spect of again securing better terms.
ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN IN THE DOMINION
When the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan
were created, it was necessary to extend to them financial
subsidies which were proportionate to the amounts granted
496 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
to the other provinces, but with the addition of certain special
grants in lieu of the public lands, mines and royalties, which
were retained by the Dominion government. Identical sub-
sidies were granted to each of the two provinces and were
as follows :
(a) For the support of the government and legislature,
$50,000.
(b) An annual allowance of eighty cents per head on an
estimated population of 250,000, this to increase with the
population of the province until it should reach 800,000 souls.
(c) As the provinces were not in debt, each was granted,
in lieu of a debt allowance, interest at five per cent on
$8,107,500, this affording an annual subsidy of $405,375.
(d) In view of the provinces not having their public lands
as sources of revenue, a further annual grant was made based
on population, as determined by the quinquennial census
returns. The amount allowed until the population should
reach 400,000 souls should be $375,000, from 400,000 to
800,000 souls $562,500, from 800,000 souls to 1,200,000 souls
$750,000, over the last population $1,225,000.
(e) A special annual grant for five years for public build-
ings, $93,750.
BETTER TERMS ONCE MORE
Finally, in 1907 the whole question of subsidies was once
more thrown into the melting-pot and once more a ' final and
unalterable ' settlement was reached. This was set forth
in a petition of the Canadian government to the imperial
government for an amendment to the British North America
Act, increasing the subsidies and allowances of the several
provinces. The petition sets forth that
It is expedient to amend the scale of payments author-
ized under Section 118 of the Act of Parliament of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly
called the British North America Act, 1867, to be made
by Canada to the several Provinces of the Dominion for
the support of their Governments and Legislatures by
providing that —
GEORGE EULAS FOSTER
MINISTER OF FINANCE, 1888-96
From a photograph by Elliott and h'ry. /.am/on
BETTER TERMS ONCE MORE 497
A. Instead of the amounts now paid, the sums here-
after payable yearly to the several Provinces for the
support of their Governments and Legislatures to be
according to population, and as follows :
(a) Where the population of the Province is
under 150,000 $100,000
(b) Where the population of the Province is
150,000 but does not exceed 200,000 . 150,000
(c) Where the population of the Province is
200,000 but does not exceed 400,000 . 180,000
(rf) Where the population of the Province is
400,000 but does not exceed 800,000 . 190,000
(«) Where the population of the Province is
800,000 but does not exceed 1,500,000 . 220,000
(/) Where the population of the Province
exceeds 1,500,000 .... 240,000
B. Instead of an annual grant per head of population
now allowed, the annual payment hereafter to be at the
same rate of eighty cents per head, but on the population
of each Province, as ascertained from time to time by
the last decennial census, until such population exceeds
2,500,000, and at the rate of sixty cents per head for so
much of said population as may exceed 2,500,000. An
additional allowance to the extent of one hundred
thousand dollars annually for ten years to the Province
of British Columbia.
Such grants shall be paid half-yearly in advance, to
each Province ; but the Government of Canada shall
deduct from such grants, as against any Province, all
sums chargeable as interest on the public debt of that
Province in excess of the several amounts stipulated in
the said Act.
Since the advent of the present government an agitation
has been in progress in British Columbia for the amendment
of these ' final and unalterable ' terms for an amendment
in its favour, the outcome of which is still in doubt.
The history of this subject would seem to indicate that
inasmuch as increase of revenue is a perennial requirement
of each government, and inasmuch as increase of taxation
is a most unpopular measure to be proposed by any govern-
ment, wherever it is possible for provincial governments to
498 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
evade this result by an appeal to the Dominion treasury,
it will be difficult to fix any final and unalterable terms
putting an end to future demands on the Dominion treasury.
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE
As already indicated, the manner of presenting the annual
statements of the Dominion finances adopted from the first
session of the Dominion parliament rendered it possible for
the ministers of Finance, on behalf of the government, to
claim that there was a surplus of revenue over expenditure
on the year's transactions. At the same time, as a matter
of fact, the surplus was largely fictitious, inasmuch as the
public debt of the country was steadily increasing, and the
so-called surplus was more than absorbed by other expen-
ditures, which it was convenient to describe as capital ex-
penditures, and on that account to exclude them from the
ordinary items charged to the yearly revenue. There can be
no question of the advisability, as a matter of information,
of snowing how much of the annual revenue is derived from
annual taxation and how much from loans or other sources
which are not of regular periodical occurrence. It is also
desirable to show how much of the annual expenditure is
devoted to public works and services of a more or less per-
manent character, as compared with those which are obvi-
ously annual and temporary, and must therefore be renewed
each year through additional outlay. But the distinction
which from the first was drawn between ordinary revenue
and expenditure and the exceptional revenue and capital
expenditure did not follow the lines indicated. Admittedly
permanent and exceptional structures which were of the
nature of capital investment were regularly charged to the
current revenue, while other expenditures, such as salaries,
were sometimes charged to capital account. Moreover,
what was considered capital expenditure by one minister of
Finance might be treated quite differently by his successor.
It is even found that the same minister of Finance, when
his annual revenue was low, charged certain items to capital
account ; whereas, when the revenue was flourishing, the
THE EARLY MINISTERS OF FINANCE 499
same or similar items were charged to annual revenue. The
exhibition of a surplus on the annual returns does not result
in the reduction of taxation, but simply indicates that the
surplus may be taken to reduce the deficit on capital ex-
penditure. Indeed, it is considered a special triumph of
successful finance to demonstrate that a very respectable
proportion of the cost of certain public works has been made
out of the surplus revenue, and that only the remainder had
been added to the annual deficit and therefore augmented
the national debt.
There can be no doubt that this peculiar method of treat-
ing the national income and expenditure arose from a tradi-
tional colonial horror of direct taxation, with a consequent
necessity for disguising actual deficits and consequent increase
of taxation under other terms than those commonly employed
in such connections.
Canada has been in many respects fortunately situated
as regards the creation of her national debt. Most of
the older countries have built up their great national debts
largely through military expenditures. The Canadian national
debt, on the other hand, while not above criticism as to
certain ill-advised and wasteful features, has nevertheless
been accumulated in consequence of such public works and
other permanent expenditures as were required to convert a
comparative wilderness into the abode of prosperous and con-
tented citizens. The chief question for Canadians, therefore,
in surveying their finances is not whether the expenditure
of the Canadian revenue should include the construction of
public works which may last for years, but whether that
expenditure is indispensable to the needs and requirements
of the country, or represents unnecessary or extravagant
outlay which might well have been spared.
THE EARLY MINISTERS OF FINANCE
Inasmuch as in this matter as in many others the policy
adopted during the first few years after Confederation largely
determined the lines followed ever since, it would best illus-
trate the principles and policies involved if we were to make
500 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
a brief survey of the methods followed and principles adopted
by the first ministers of Finance for the Dominion, who were
admittedly men of exceptional abilities in financial as well
as other lines. Moreover, these men were confronted with
critics of quite a high order.
John (afterwards Sir John) Rose, in his first budget speech,
admitted the difficulty of the situation in which the Dominion
found itself at Confederation owing to the legacy of debt and
financial confusion which had been left by the political diffi-
culties preceding Confederation, and which were partly due
to the rooted objection of the majority of Canadians to submit
to adequate taxation. Rose frankly confessed that in order
to dispose of the large mass of floating debt, it was neces-
sary to secure loans wherever they could be had. He was
inclined to give a preference to foreign loans as bringing new
capital to the country. In this connection he mentioned as
sources of revenue for the future, the proposed Dominion
stock and the issue of exchequer bills, also the deposits to
be required from the insurance companies, the establishment
of the post office savings banks, and the extension of the
government notes, now known as Dominion notes.
In the matter of expenditure Rose referred to the neces-
sity for keeping this in check ; incidentally we learn that a
considerable portion of the militia service, such as barracks
and supplies, was charged to capital account. In the matter
of loans also there existed a very hazy distinction as to what
was to be charged to capital account and what to current
revenue. One important reform which he introduced was
the requiring of all unused appropriations to lapse at the end
of each fiscal year. In this way all the expenditures author-
ized would be brought before parliament each session. This
reform proved to be of great importance, but it was found
to be somewhat inconvenient to adhere rigidly to the rule in
all cases. Hence some years afterwards certain special votes
were allowed to extend beyond the fiscal year on the authority
of an order-in-council, but such extension was not to exceed
three months. In 1868 Rose was able to point out that the
floating debt had been reduced from over seven millions to less
than two millions, the reduction having been effected by the
THE EARLY MINISTERS OF FINANCE 501
floating of new loans, the establishment of the savings banks
and the realization of the insurance deposits. He introduced
with much success the system of raising money by the sale of
inscribed stock, that is, stock inscribed in the books of the
receiver-general as distinguished from bonds with attached
coupons. Arrangements were afterwards made for the issue
and transfer of inscribed stock in England, and still later for
the investment of British trust funds in Dominion securities.
Sir Francis Hincks, on succeeding to the position of Finance
minister in the latter part of 1869, followed up the general
policy of his predecessor. In his first budget speech of
1870 he admitted that he did not quite agree with his pre-
decessor in his effort to reduce the items of expenditure to
be charged to capital account. Yet Sir Francis Hincks him-
self, when a couple of years later the revenue had risen to
unexpected proportions, transferred more of the items from
capital account to ordinary expenditure than did Sir John
Rose. This indicated that it was not so much a matter of
principle as of funds, and had the revenues of the Dominion
retained their buoyancy for a few years, we should doubtless
have escaped much of the controversy of later years. The
point of view and policy in this reduction of charges to capital
account is well illustrated in the report of the auditor-general,
Langton, prefaced to the public accounts of the year 1873 and
which is as follows :
It has always been the practice to charge annually
against the Capital Account of the various Public Works
all expenditure for permanent additions and improve-
ments, and there has always been a great difficulty in
deciding what class of work should be so treated, and what
should be charged to Consolidated Fund. Formerly no
definite test existed by which to distinguish the two
kinds of expenditure ; and though for the last eight or
ten years much less has been charged against Capital
than used to be the case, still there is no doubt that, as
will always occur whilst a Capital account remains open,
much expenditure has been so treated, which should
more properly have been considered chargeable against
income. To remedy this, Parliament has during the last
two years distinguished in its votes what is to be classed
502 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
as Capital, and what as Consolidated Fund Expenditure ;
but expenditure is often taking place on the same work
on account of both votes, and it is not always easy to
decide how a particular item is to be charged, or upon
whom rests the responsibility of making the distinction.
We look upon it, therefore, as the greatest improvement
in the Public Accounts, which has been introduced for
many years, that you should have authorized all the
miscellaneous Public Works Expenditure, which had
been included under Capital in the Accounts in 1870,
to be transferred to Consolidated Fund. The same
thing has been done in the Accounts which we now
submit, even when there was authority given by Parlia-
ment to treat the service otherwise, and the only Public
Work which has been included in Capital, is the Inter-
colonial Railway. It is to be hoped that this system
will be continued, and that nothing hereafter, excepting
absolutely new works of national importance, will be
authorized by Parliament to be charged against Capital.
In view of this probable change in our system we would
recommend, what has already been frequently reported
upon, that there should be a thorough revision of the
balances of Public Works as they now stand in the State-
ment of Affairs, with a view of striking out items which
are no longer real assets, and of bringing the existing
balances into harmony with the new system.
Unfortunately the revenue of the Dominion did not main-
tain its buoyant proportions. Great public works had been
undertaken during the temporary period of prosperity which
required to be continued and paid for during the succeeding
years of trade and financial depression. It being incumbent
upon the minister of Finance to exhibit a surplus if at all
possible, even under the most adverse conditions, there was
a distinct reaction in the matter of charges to capital account
from which the country has not since recovered. Ten years
later, in 1881 and 1882, the financial returns showed a re-
duction of the public debt. During the recent years of pros-
perity in some years the debt has been reduced, but on the
whole there has been a declaration of many millions of surplus
simultaneously with a steady increase of the national debt.
WILLIAM STEVENS FIELDING
M1NISTKR OF FINANCE, 1896-1911
from a pkolografk />j- Klliett and fry,
THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE 503
THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
As regards the system of managing the public finances,
considerable improvements have taken place from time to
time. In 1869 the department of Finance was formally
established. This department was to have ' supervision,
control and direction of all matters relating to financial
affairs, public accounts and revenue and expenditure of the
Dominion.' The auditor - general and deputy inspector -
general were to be officers of the department of Finance.
The Board of Audit, already referred to, was to perform its
duties under the supervision of the minister of Finance. At
the same time a ' Treasury Board ' was created, to consist
of the minister of Finance, the receiver-general,1 the minister
of Customs and the minister of Inland Revenue. It ' shall
act as a committee of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada,
on all matters relating to finance, revenue and expenditure,
or public accounts which may be referred to it by the Council,
or to which the Board may think it necessary to call the
attention of the Council.' In the course of its duties the
Treasury Board may require from any department or officer
' any account, return, statement, or document, or information
which the Board may deem requisite for the due performance
of its duties.' The board shall have a secretary through
whom to communicate with the public departments, and he
may or may not hold any other office as the government sees
fit. From that time the Treasury Board has played a very
important part in the financial administration of the country.
The following year, 1870, the office of deputy inspector-
general was abolished, and the auditor-general was made
deputy minister of Finance. In 1885 the number of members
constituting the Treasury Board was increased to six — the
minister of Finance and receiver-general, who was ex officio
chairman of the board, the ministers of Customs, Inland
Revenue and Justice, the secretary of state, and one other
minister, to be nominated by the governor in council.
Subsequently, by the act 50-51 Viet., the Treasury Board
1 See Appendix in to this article.
504 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
was reconstituted and now consists of the minister of Finance
and any five of the ministers belonging to the king's Privy
Council for Canada, to be nominated from time to time by
the governor in council.
In 1878 a bill was introduced to abolish the office of
receiver-general, but, owing to other complications, it did
not pass. In the following year, however, 1879, the depart-
ment of the receiver-general ceased to be a separate depart-
ment, and thenceforth the minister of Finance was declared
to be ex officio receiver-general. At the same time the
deputy minister of Finance was to discharge the duties of
deputy receiver-general.
In 1878 an important act was passed providing for the
better audit of the public accounts. With several amend-
ments introduced from time to time, chiefly in matters of
detail, the present system embodies the general principles
of this measure. One of the objects of this act of 1878 was
to render the auditor-general independent of political influ-
ence by making the tenure of his office the same as that of
the judges. He was also given full control of his office, and
may promote, dismiss or suspend any officers, but such regu-
lations as he may make for the administration of his office
are subject to the approval of the Treasury Board. Provi-
sion was made for the appointment of a deputy minister of
Finance who should also be secretary to the Treasury Board.
He is required to keep the accounts with the financial agents
of the government in England, and with the banks employed
by the government to receive and pay public moneys, ' and
the accounts of moneys paid for interest on Canadian stock,
debentures or other Canadian securities.' He must counter-
sign all Canadian debentures and keep a record of them,
and also a record of all Dominion notes, savings bank deposits
and other trust funds. He submits to parliament annually
the public accounts as countersigned by the auditor-general.
The auditor-general must see that no cheques are issued
in excess of the funds authorized by the governor-general.
The old Audit Board, which had become moribund, was
virtually done away with. The deputy heads of the various
departments charged with the expenditure of public money
THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE 505
are required to audit the accounts of their departments in
the first instance, and are responsible for the correctness of
such audit. The auditor-general, in discharging his duties
on behalf of the House of Commons, has to see that all
appropriations made by parliament are expended in a proper
manner. To this end he is given all necessary legal and
administrative authority to write vouchers for payment, to
investigate accounts and to obtain such information from
the various departments, or elsewhere, as may be deemed
necessary. He shall make a full report to parliament on all
expenditures and report in full the particulars of cases where
his decisions have been overruled. Such overruling may
occur on the authority of the Treasury Board supported by
a written opinion of the minister of Justice that there is
authority to pay the moneys in question. In all cases of
dispute between the department of Finance and the auditor-
general as to the payment of cheques issued under the author-
ity of the minister of Finance, the Treasury Board shall judge
of the validity of the auditor-general's objections. Full par-
ticulars of all such cases shall be reported to the House of
Commons by the auditor-general. One of the main matters
with which the department of Finance is intimately con-
nected is the customs tariff, so far as it relates to revenue.
In Canada, however, for many years past, the tariff has been
primarily a matter of trade policy and only incidentally a
revenue-producing instrument, hence the tariff history falls
more properly within the province of the article in this work
dealing with economic history,1 and there its treatment will
be found. The other important matters with which the de-
partment of Finance is exceptionally concerned are those of
currency and banking. The department of Finance under-
takes the issue and redemption of Dominion notes and the
custody of the gold reserves held against the specially author-
ized issues of Dominion notes and the deposits of gold hi
exchange for Dominion notes above the amount of these
issues. It also administers the issue of the copper and silver
coins as received from the Mint. In connection with the
Treasury Board it deals with the issue of certificates for the
1 See ' General Economic History, 1867-1912,' in section v.
VOL. vil I
506 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
establishment of new banks and the general administration
of the Bank Act. In this connection it receives and publishes
monthly and annual returns required from the banks. The
details of these functions, however, are dealt with more fully
in connection with the article on the history of the banking
system of Canada.1
1 See ' The Banking System of Canada ' in section v.
APPENDIX I 507
APPEN DIX I
EXTRACT FROM THE RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT QUEBEC IN
OCTOBER 1864, AT A CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES FROM
UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, NEW BRUNSWICK, NOVA
SCOTIA, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND AND NEWFOUNDLAND
60. The General Government shall assume all the Debts
and Liabilities of each Province.
61. The Debt of Canada, not specially assumed by Upper
and Lower Canada respectively, shall not exceed, at the time
of the Union, $62,500,000 ; Nova Scotia shall enter the
Union with a debt not exceeding $8,000,000 ; and New
Brunswick with a debt not exceeding $7,000,000.
62. In case Nova Scotia or New Brunswick do not incur
liabilities beyond those for which their Governments are now
bound, and which shall make their debts, at the date of Union,
less than $8,000,000 and $7,000,000 respectively, they shall
be entitled to interest at five per cent on the amount not so
incurred, in like manner as is hereinafter provided for New-
foundland and Prince Edward Island ; the foregoing resolu-
tion being in no respect intended to limit the powers given
to the respective Governments of those Provinces by Legis-
lative authority, but only to limit the maximum amount of
charge to be assumed by the General Government ; provided
always that the powers so conferred by the respective Legis-
latures shall be exercised within five years from this date, or
the same shall then elapse.
63. Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, not having
incurred debts equal to those of the other Provinces, shall be
entitled to receive, by half-yearly payments, in advance, from
the General Government, the interest at five per cent on the
difference between the actual amount of their respective debts
at the time of the Union, and the average amount of indebted-
ness per head of the population of Canada, Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick.
64. In consideration of the transfer to the General Parlia-
ment of the powers of taxation, an annual grant in aid of each
508 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
Province shall be made, equal to eighty cents per head of the
population, as established by the Census of 1861 ; the popu-
lation of Newfoundland being estimated at 130,000. Such
aid shall be in full settlement of all future demands upon the
General Government for local purposes, and shall be paid
half-yearly in advance to each Province.
65. The position of New Brunswick being such as to entail
large immediate charges upon her local revenues, it is agreed
that for the period of ten years from the time when the Union
takes effect, an additional allowance of $63,000 per annum
shall be made to that Province. But that so long as the
liability of that Province remains under $7,000,000, a deduc-
tion equal to the interest on such deficiency shall be made
from the $63,000.
66. In consideration of the surrender to the General
Government, by Newfoundland, of all its rights in Mines
and Minerals, and of all the ungranted and unoccupied Lands
of the Crown, it is agreed that the sum of $150,000 shall each
year be paid to that Province by semi-annual payments ;
provided that that Colony shall retain the right of opening,
constructing and controlling roads and bridges through any
of the said lands, subject to any laws which the General
Parliament may pass in respect of the same.
APPENDIX II 509
APPENDIX I I
EXTRACT FROM THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ACT, 1867
VIII. REVENUES J DEBTS ; ASSETS ; TAXATION
102. All Duties and Revenues over which the respective Creation of
Legislatures of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick p°^1u^ted
before and at the Union had and have power of appropriation, F^^M
except such portions thereof as are by this Act reserved to
the respective Legislatures of the Provinces, or are raised
by them in accordance with the special powers conferred on
them by this Act, shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund,
to be appropriated for the public service of Canada in the
manner and subject to the charges in this Act provided.
103. The Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada shall Expenses oi
be permanently charged with the costs, charges, and expenses collection,
incident to the collection, management, and receipt thereof, e
and the same shall form the first charge thereon, subject to
be reviewed and audited in such manner as shall be ordered
by the Governor-General in Council until the Parliament
otherwise provides.
104. The annual interest of the public debts of the several Interest of
Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick at £[££?d'1
the Union shall form the second charge on the Consolidated Debts.
Revenue Fund of Canada.
105. Unless altered by the Parliament of Canada, the Salary of
salary of the Governor-General shall be Ten Thousand
Pounds1 sterling money of the United Kingdom of Great
» ' On aznd May, 1868, an Act was passed by the'Senate and House of Com-
mons of Canada reducing the salary of the Governor-General from ^10,000 (at
which rate it had been fixed by this section) to £6,500 ; but the Act having been
reserved for the sanction or disallowance of Her Majesty, on 3oth July, 1868, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies notified the Governor-General as follows :
' While it was with reluctance, and only on serious occasions, that the Queen's
Government can advise Her Majesty to withhold the royal sanction from a bill
which has passed two branches of the Canadian Parliament, yet a regard for the
interests of Canada, and a well-founded apprehension that a reduction in the
salary of the Governor would place the office, as far as salary is a standard
of recognition, in the third class among Colonial Governments, obliged Her
Majesty's Government to advise that this Bill should not be permitted to become
law (Dom. Sess. Papers, 1869, No. 73. — Todd, ParL Gov. in CoL 144).' — Con-
stitution of Canada, Joseph Doutre, Q.C., p. 350.
510 DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
Britain and Ireland, payable out of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund of Canada, and the same shall form the third charge
thereon.
io6. Subject to the several payments by this Act charged
° ft°tim on *^e Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada, the same
°~ shall be appropriated by the Parliament of Canada for the
public service.
Transfer of 107. All Stocks, Bankers' Balances, and Securities for
stocks, etc. money belonging to each Province at the time of the Union,
except as in this Act mentioned, shall be the property of
Canada, and shall be taken in reduction of the amount of the
respective debts of the Provinces at the Union.
Transfer of io8. The Public Works and Property of each Province,
property in enumerated in the Third Schedule to this Act, shall be the
lle- property of Canada.
Property in 109. All Lands, Mines, Minerals, and Royalties belong-
Mines'etc m*> to t^ie severa^ Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and
New Brunswick at the Union, and all sums then due or pay-
able for such Lands, Mines, Minerals, or Royalties, shall belong
to the several Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia,
and New Brunswick in which the same are situate or arise,
subject to any trusts existing in respect thereof, and to any
interest other than that of the Province in the same.
Assets con- no. All Assets connected with such portions of the
ProllncTaf11 Public Debt of each Province as are assumed by that Pro-
Debts, vince shall belong to that Province.
Canada to be in. Canada shall be liable for the Debts and Liabilities
Proll^dai of each Province existing at the Union.
Debts. 112. Ontario and Quebec conjointly shall be liable to
Debts of Canada for the amount (if any) by which the debt of the
Province of Canada exceeds at the Union Sixty-two million
five hundred thousand Dollars, and shall be charged with
interest at the rate of five per centum per annum thereon.1
1 ' In reference to Provincial debts, an Act was passed by the Parliament of
Canada (36 Viet. c. 30) to readjust the amounts payable to and chargeable against
the several Provinces of Canada by the Dominion Government, so far as they
depend on the debt with which they respectively entered the Union, providing
as follows :
' Section I. In the accounts between the several Provinces of Canada and the
Dominion, the amounts payable to and chargeable against the said Provinces
respectively, in so far as they depend on the amount of debt with which each
Province entered the Union, shall be calculated and allowed as if the sum fixed
by the H2th section of the " B. N. A. Act, 1867," were increased from $62,500,000
APPENDIX II 511
113. The Assets enumerated in the Fourth Schedule to Assets of
this Act, belonging at the Union to the Province of Canada, Ontario and
shall be the property of Ontario and Quebec conjointly.1
114. Nova Scotia shall be liable to Canada for the amount Debt of
(if any) by which its public debt exceeds at the Union Eight Nova Scotia,
million Dollars, and shall be charged with interest at the
rate of five per centum per annum thereon.
115. New Brunswick shall be liable to Canada for the Debt of New
amount (if any) by which its public debt exceeds at the Union Br«inswick.
Seven million Dollars, and shall be charged with interest at
the rate of five per centum per annum thereon.
116. In case the public debts of Nova Scotia and New Payment of
Brunswick do not at the Union amount to Eight million and I1J?teres* to.
Seven million Dollars respectively, they shall respectively an^New
Brunswick.
to the sum of $73,006,088 and 84 cents, and as if the amounts fixed as aforesaid
as respects the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the " B. N. A.
Act, 1867," and as respects the Provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba by
the terms and conditions on which they were admitted into the Dominion, were
increased in the same proportion.' — Constitution of Canada, Joseph Doutre, Q.C.,
P- 354-
1 THE FOURTH SCHEDULE
ASSETS TO BE THE PROPERTY OF ONTARIO AND QUEBEC CONJOINTLY
Upper Canada Building Fund.
Lunatic Asylums.
Normal School.
Court Houses
in
Aylmer,
Lower Canada.
Montreal,
Kamouraska.
Law Society, Upper Canada.
Montreal Turnpike Trust
University Permanent Fund.
Royal Institution.
Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund, Upper I
Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund, Lower Canada.
Agricultural Society, Upper Canada.
Lower Canada Legislative Grant.
Quebec Fire Loan
Tami -couata Advance Account.
Quebec Turnpike Trust.
Education — East.
Building and Jury Fund, Lower Canada.
Municipalities Fund.
Lower Canada Superior Education Income Fund.
— Constitution of Canada, Joseph Doutre, Q.C., p. 355.
512
DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
Provincial
Public Pro-
perty.
Grants to
Provinces.
Further
Grant to
New Bruns-
wick.
Form of
payments.
receive, by half-yearly payments in advance from the Govern-
ment of Canada, interest at five per centum per annum on
the difference between the actual amounts of their respective
debts and such stipulated amounts.
117. The several Provinces shall retain all their respective
public property not otherwise disposed of in this Act, subject
to the right of Canada to assume any lands or public property
required for Fortifications or for the Defence of the Country.
118. The following sums shall be paid yearly by Canada
to the several Provinces for the support of their Governments
and Legislatures :
Dollars
Ontario .... Eighty Thousand
Quebec .... Seventy Thousand
Nova Scotia . . . Sixty Thousand
New Brunswick . . . Fifty Thousand
Two Hundred and Sixty Thousand ;
and an annual grant in aid of each Province shall be made,
equal to Eighty Cents per head of the population as ascer-
tained by the census of One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one, and in the case of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
by each subsequent decennial census until the population
of each of those two Provinces amounts to Four hundred
thousand souls, at which rate such grant shall thereafter
remain. Such grants shall be in full settlement of all future
demands on Canada, and shall be paid half-yearly in advance
to each Province ; but the Government of Canada shall
deduct from such grants, as against any Province, all sums
chargeable as interest on the public debt of that Province in
excess of the several amounts stipulated in this Act.
119. New Brunswick shall receive by half-yearly pay-
ments in advance from Canada for the period of ten years
from the Union an additional allowance of Sixty-three thou-
sand Dollars per annum ; but as long as the public debt of
that Province remains under Seven million Dollars, a de-
duction equal to the interest at five per centum per annum
on such deficiency shall be made from that allowance of
Sixty-three thousand Dollars.
120. All payments to be made under this Act, or in dis-
charge of liabilities created under any Act of the Provinces
of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick respectively,
and assumed by Canada, shall, until the Parliament of
APPENDIX II 513
Canada otherwise directs, be made in such form and manner
as may from time to time be ordered by the Governor-
General in Council.
121. All articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture Canadian
of any one of the Provinces shall, from and after the Union, j^1'^
be admitted free into each of the other Provinces.
122. The Customs and Excise Laws of each Province Continuance
shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, continue in force
until altered by the Parliament of Canada. Laws.
123. Where Customs Duties are, at the Union, leviable Exportation
on any goods, wares, or merchandizes in any two Provinces, J£° importa-
those goods, wares, and merchandizes may, from and after tween^two
the Union, be imported from one of those Provinces into the Province*.
other of them on proof of payment of the Customs Duty
leviable thereon in the Province of exportation, and on
payment of such further amount (if any) of Customs Duty
as is leviable thereon in the Province of importation.
124. Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of New Lumber
Brunswick to levy the lumber dues provided in Chapter
Fifteen of Title Three of the Revised Statutes of New Bruns-
wick, or in any Act amending that Act before or after the
Union, and not increasing the amount of such dues ; but
the lumber of any of the Provinces other than New Bruns-
wick shall not be subject to such dues.
125. No Lands or Property belonging to Canada or any Exemption
Province shall be liable to taxation.
126. Such portions of the Duties and Revenues over Provincial
which the respective Legislatures of Canada, Nova Scotia, Consolidated
and New Brunswick had before the Union power of appro- Fund?"
priation as are by this Act reserved to the respective Govern-
ments or Legislatures of the Provinces, and all Duties and
Revenues raised by them in accordance with the special
powers conferred upon them by this Act, shall in each Pro-
vince form one Consolidated Revenue Fund to be appro-
priated for the Public Service of the Province.
DOMINION FINANCE, 1867-1912
A.PPEN DI X III
MINISTERS OF FINANCE AND RECEIVERS-GENERAL
SINCE CONFEDERATION
MINISTERS OF FINANCE
Gait, Sir Alexander Tilloch,
Rose, John,
Hincks, Sir Francis, .
Tilley, Samuel Leonard,
Cartwright, Richard John, .
Tilley, Samuel Leonard,
McLellan, Archibald Woodbury,
Tupper, Sir Charles, .
Foster, G. E., .
Fielding, W. S
White, W. T., .
July i, 1867, to Nov. 4, 1867.
Nov. 1 8, 1867, to Oct. 9, 1869.
Oct. 9, 1869, to Feb. 22, 1873.
Feb. 22, 1873, to Nov. 5, 1873.
Nov. 7, 1873, to Oct. 16,1878.
Oct. 17, 1878, to Dec. 10, 1885.
Dec. 10, 1885, to Jan. 27, 1887.
Jan. 27, 1887, to May 23, 1888.
May 29, 1888, to July 13, 1896.
July 20, 1896, to Oct. 6, 1911.
Oct. 10, 1911.
RECEIVERS-GENERAL
Kenny, Edward,
Chapais, Jean Charles,
Robitaille, Theodore, .
Coffin, Thomas, .
Campbell, Alexander, .
July i, 1867, to Nov. 16, 1869.
Nov. 1 6, 1869, to Jan. 30, 1873.
Jan. 30, 1873, to Nov. 5, 1873.
Nov. 7, 1873, to Oct. 16, 1878.
Nov. 8, 1878, to May 20, 1879.
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
I
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION
CANADA'S POPULATION AT CONFEDERATION 1
THE Dominion of Canada, composed at first of the
four provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick, came into being on July I,
1867. The population of the four provinces named was in
1861 as follows: Quebec, 1,111,556; Ontario, 1,396,091;
Nova Scotia, 330,857 ; New Brunswick, 252,047. To this
confederation was added in 1870 Manitoba, with a popula-
tion of slightly over 12,000 ; in 1871 British Columbia, with
a population of 36,000 ; and in 1873 Prince Edward Island,
with a population of 95,000.
In the years following Confederation the immigration to
Canada was as follows : 1868, 12,765 ; 1869, 18,630 ; 1870,
24,706. In 1871 the first census of the Dominion of Canada
was taken. Census figures are of particular interest in
studying the immigration question, for they show the net
result of the immigration movement. For the four provinces
which, at the taking of the census referred to, constituted the
then Dominion, the birthplaces of the people were as shown
in the table on the next page.
From this table it will be seen that of the 3,485,761
population 2,892,763 were Canadian born, or, adding those born
in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, 2,900,531 souls,
leaving to be accounted for by immigration only 585,230.
Of this number 488,304 were from the British Isles and British
1 For the growth of population before 1867 see the sections dealing with New
France, the Two Canadas, United Canada and the various provinces.
(IT
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
possessions ; 64,447 from the United States ; 24,162 from
Germany; and 2899 from France, leaving a balance of 5418
coming from all other countries.
Country of Birth
Ontario
Quebec
New
Brunswick
Nova
Scotia
Total for
Canada
Canada ....
1,178,510
1,113,168
245,735
355,350
2,892,763
Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland
1,152
997
2,409
3,210
7,768
British Isles
367,869
59,459
32,314
25,882
485,524
Channel Islands
246
482
52
72
852
Other British Possessions
1,201
252
142
333
1,928
Austria
86
13
3
102
France
i,75i
723
305
120
2,899
Germany .
22,827
854
246
235
24,162
Italy.
89
95
8
26
218
Russia and Poland .
296
105
Q
6
416
Spain and Portugal .
207
54
18
26
305
Norway, Sweden and
Denmark
245
198
87
58
588
United States .
43,406
14,714
4,088
2,239
64,447
Other Foreign Countries
1,090
290
56
95
1,531
At Sea .
306
42
35
47
430
Not given
1,570
70
90
9»
1,828
Total for Four Provinces .
1,620,851
1,191,516
285,594
387,800
3,485,76!
The same census shows the origin of the people to have been
as follows :
English
Irish .
Scottish
Welsh
British .
French .
German .
Dutch .
Negro
Indian
Swiss
Scandinavian
Various .
Not given
706,369
846,414
549,946
7,773
2,110,502
1,082,940
202,991
29,662
21,496
23,035
2,962
1,623
2,989
7-561
Total
3,485,761
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION 519
Comparing the table of origin with that of birthplace,
one is struck with the great variation in the proportion be-
tween the two as to different races. The people of British
origin are approximately four times the number of persons
born in British possessions ; those of German origin are
eight times the number born in Germany ; while the people
of French origin are almost 374 times the number born in
France. The latter race were, of course, the first settlers,
and consequently their natural increase covered a much
longer period than did that of the other races referred to ;
but even so the increase is phenomenal.
The census figures already quoted take no cognizance of
Prince Edward Island, the North-West Territories or British
Columbia. The figures available for those provinces are not
very complete, but such as exist are worth noting, showing
as they do the nature of the population in the country.
The census of 1871 of Prince Edward Island gave the
population as 94,021, of whom 80,271 were born on the island
The birthplaces of the remaining 13,750 were as follows :
England .... 1957
Ireland .... 3712
Scotland . . . .4128
British Colonies . . . 3246
Other Countries . . . 384
Not given .... 323
Year by year since that date the native-born population has
proportionately increased, and the immigration has decreased.
The last few years, however, have seen a change, and the
British immigrants are beginning to see that opportunities
await them there, and it is confidently expected that a portion
of the flow of immigration will proceed hereafter in the
direction of Prince Edward Island.
The 1870 census of Manitoba gave the province a popula-
tion of 12,228, with birthplaces as follows :
Manitoba and North-West Territories . 11,298
Other portions of Canada .... 289
England ...... 125
Ireland ....... 49
Scotland ...... 248
520
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
10
9
1 66
27
7
Other British Colonies
France .
United States .
Other Countries
Not given
The Blue Book for 1870 gave the population of British
Columbia, exclusive of Indians, as 10,586, divided as follows :
White race, 8576 ; coloured race, 462 ; Chinese race, 1548.
THE DECENNIAL CENSUS OF 1881
The immigration into Canada for the next decade
amounted to 339,608. This period is worthy of note in that
it saw the immigration of the Mennonites and the com-
mencement of the movement of Icelanders to Canada. Both
of these races will be dealt with later on.
In 1 88 1 the decennial census was again taken, and although
accurate figures for the whole of Canada for 1871 are not
available, the following table of birthplaces is interesting as
showing in a general way the component parts of the popula-
tion at the two periods :
Birthplace
Census of 1871
Census of 1 8S I
Canada ....
British Isles and Possessions
Foreign Countries
Total Population
3,004,673
498,533
99,39°
3,715,492
478,235
I3I>°83
3,602,596
4,324,810
From the above table it will be seen that the number
of persons born outside Canada increased from 597,923 in
1871 to 609,318 in 1881, or a net increase of 11,395. This,
taken in conjunction with the gross immigration of 339,608
for the ten years from 1871 to 1880 inclusive, shows that there
must have been a serious exodus from Canada during the
decade under consideration. During the ten years many of the
597,923 in Canada at the taking of the census of 1871 would
naturally have died, but a normal death-rate would account
for only a small percentage of the apparent discrepancy.
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION
521
The United States has for many years been a strong factor
—in reality almost the only one — in draining Canada of her
sons. Not only has she done this, but for many years she
ultimately secured a considerable proportion of the immigrants
who came intending to make their homes in Canada. To
show the extent of this emigration to the United States the
following table, taken from the census volumes of that country,
is given, showing at each census the number of Canadian-born
persons resident in the United States :
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
I47.7H
249,970
493,464
717,157
980,938
1,179,807
From these figures it will be seen that the Canadian-born
resident in the United States increased from 493,464 to 717,157
between 1870 and 1880, and with this large emigration of
Canadians it is only reasonable to suppose that there was
likewise a heavy emigration of new settlers from the Dominion
to the United States.
THE DECENNIAL CENSUS OF 1891
The departmental figures of immigration for the next ten
years are as follows :
V»*r
British
Continental
United States
Total
I car
Immigration
Immigration
Immigration
Immigration
1881
17,033
9,136
31,822
47,99 1
1882
41,283
12,803
58,372
"2,458
1883
45,439
9,677
78,508
133,624
1884
31,787
6,15*
65,886
103,824
1885
i8,59i
3,<>72
57,506
79,169
1886
23,507
4,995
40,650
69,152
1887
3i, '04
12,376
41,046
84,526
1888
30,852
12,962
44,95*
88,766
1889
19,384
4,320
67,896
91,600
1890
",793
2,938
50,336
75,067
Tntal fnr
A UUU 1U1
280,773
78,43<>
526,974
886,177
ten ycurs
VOL. Vll
522
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
These figures were collected by the department of Agri-
culture. They are not wholly accurate. From 1882 to 1891
a count was kept of persons crossing the international boun-
dary at various points. Those entering Canada were counted
as actual immigrants, though no precautions were taken to
make sure that they intended to remain in Canada. Many,
no doubt, were Canadians returning after the absence of a
few weeks. This practice was abandoned in 1892 as mis-
leading and has not since been resumed. While this explana-
tion casts a certain discredit upon the figures, so far as
immigration from the United States is concerned, it reflects
in no way upon the figures referring to British or continental
immigration to Canada, which may be taken as approximately
correct. For the decade under consideration -it will be noticed
that the British immigration totalled 280,773 and the con-
tinental immigration 78,430. Then, again, in 1891 came the
test of the census figures. From them we ascertain that at
the two periods the birthplace of the people was as follows :
Birthplace of the People
1881
1891
Canada ....
British Isles and Possessions
Foreign Countries
Total Population
3.715.492
478,235
I3I,083
4,185,877
490,252
I57,"0
4,324,810
4,833,239
From these figures we see that during the decade 1881-
1890 the number of persons in Canada, born in the British
Islands and possessions, rose from 478,235 to 490,252, or an
increase of only 12,017, while those born in foreign countries
increased from 131,083 to 157,110, or an increase of 26,027.
Yet the British immigration was 280,773, the foreign 78,430.
Thus, if we discard altogether the 526,974 reported as coming
from the United States, and make all due allowance for the
usual decrease through death, it is still necessary to fall back
on the explanation that many who announced their inten-
tion of settling in Canada ultimately went to the United
States.
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION
523
THE DECENNIAL CENSUS OF 1901
For the next ten years the immigration to Canada was as
follows :
British
Continental
United States
Total
Year
Immigration
Immigration
Immigration
Immigration
1891 . .
22,042
7,607
52,516
82,165
1892 . .
22,636
8,360
3<>,996
1893 . .
20,071
9,56*
...
*9,633
1894 . .
16,004
4,825
...
20,829
1895 . .
14.956
3,834
...
18,790
1896 . .
12,384
4,45'
...
16,835
1897 . .
n,383
7,9*i
2,412
21,716
1898 . .
"• '73
1 1 ,608
9, "9
31,900
1899 . .
10,660
* i,938
",945
44,543
1900 . .
10,287
19,047
13,543
48,877
Total for
ten years
151,596
99,153
89,535
340,284
The heavy immigration for 1891 from the United States
has already been accounted for by the faulty system of
collecting statistics, which was, however, abandoned at the
end of that year ; and while the returns for the next five years
are no doubt inaccurate in showing no arrivals, still the
number coming from the United States at that time was
certainly very small. During the ten years 1891-1900 we
find a British immigration to Canada of 151,596, a con-
tinental immigration of 99,153, and a United States immigra-
tion of 89,535, or a total influx in the ten years of 340,284.
In the census of 1901 the birthplaces of 14,829 persons
were not given. Leaving these out of consideration, we find
684,671 who had been born outside Canada as compared
with the 647,362 in the census of 1891. This means a net
increase over and above the deaths of 37,309. The number
is so small when compared with an immigration of 340,284
that there must have been still a movement to the United
States. That this movement was of persons who entered
Canada before 1891 is clear from other facts. The census of
524 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
1901 showed, then resident in Canada, 74,674 persons who
had immigrated to Canada between 1891 and 1895, and
148,647 who had entered the Dominion between 1896 and
1900 or 223,321 in the ten years. Thus, if of the total
number of newcomers she retained 223,321, it is obvious that
her total loss of some 300,000 emigrants must have been chiefly
from those resident in Canada before 1901.
For the years 1891-95 the number of settlers arriving,
according to immigration figures, was 182,413 ; in 1901 the
census showed 74,676 of these persons resident in Canada.
In the years 1896- 1900 the immigration was 157,871 ; the census
of 1901 showed that 148,647 of these were then living in the
Dominion. This is conclusive proof that, for the time being,
at least, the movement towards the States was on the wane.
During this decade there occurred two notable movements
to Canada — that of the Mormons and of the Doukhobors.
Both will be dealt with more fully later on. During this
period Galicians and other Austro-Hungarians also began to
come in large numbers.
As the census of 1901 gives the last available figures of the
population of Canada, it is considered wise to copy here two
tables, one showing the year of arrival of the immigrant
population at the taking of that census, and the other showing
the countries whence the immigrants came.
When Immigrated
Before 1851 ..... 68,148
1851-55 • • 28,483
1856-60 ..... , . 26,045
1861-65 ...... 19,172
1866-70 ...... 29,140
I87I-75 ...... 42.430
1876-80 .... . 33,844
1881-85 .... . 64,702
1886-90 .....'. 77,263
1891-95 ...... 74,674
1896-1900 ..... 148,647
1901 to March 31 . . . 10,636
Not given ..... 61,487
Total . . 684,671
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION
525
\Vhence Emigrated
British Islands —
England
Ireland . •
Scotland
Wales
Lesser Isles .
British Possessions —
Australia
India .
Newfoundland
New Zealand
South Africa
Other Possessions .
Foreign Countries —
Austria-Hungary
Belgium
China .
Denmark
East Indies .
France
Germany
Greece
Holland
Iceland
Italy
Japan .
Norway and Sweden
Roumania . •
Russia
Spain and Portugal
Switzerland
Syria
Turkey
United States
West Indies
Other Countries .
Born at Sea . .
No. in Canada
in 1901
201,285
IOI,629
83,631
2,518
956
991
1,076
12,432
374
128
863
Total .
684,671
526
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
THE FIRST DECADE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The immigration to Canada for the next ten years was
as given below :
Year
British
Immigration
Continental
Immigration
United States
Immigration
Total
Immigration
1901
13,039
17,210
25,234
55-483
1902
20,717
31,271
34,6l4
86,602
1903
5°»r4i
38,826
46,250
135,217
1904
55,9o8
35,394
43,283
134,585
1905
65,400
36,690
44,532
146,622
1906
97,757
54,373
63,782
215,9"
1907
132,060
88,626
56,687
277,373
1908
55,727
35,849
57,124
148,700
1909
52,344
40,941
90,996
184,281
1910
112,638
65,851
124,602
303,091
Total for
ten years
655>73i
445,031
587,104
1,687,866
By fiscal years and by nationalities the total immigra-
tion to Canada from July I, 1900, to March 31, 1912, was
as on table attached :
Nationality
Fiscal
Year
1900-1
Fiscal
Year
1901-2
Fiscal
Year
1903-3
Fiscal
Year
1903-4
Kisca.
Yenr
1904-
English and Welsh
9,401
i A?6
13,095
2,8 ;•?
32,510
7,046
36,694
10,552
49,61
11,74
Irish
933
i,3"
2,236
3,128
3,99
Total British .....
1 1 810
1 7.2 ?O
4I.7Q2
50,^74
65,35
South African
Australian
3
r ()<>-•
11
8.SC7
'"46
J ^.OQC
21
58
11,137
2
20
10,08
I \2
225
301
858
79
I
7
14
Brazilian
Chinese
Dutch .....
7
2C
2
•5C
2-3
2
169
"28
French
German
360
984
431
1,048
937
1,887
23
1,534
2,985
||
i,74
2,75
Greek
81
161
193
191
c
Hebrew
''76?
1,01 5
2,066
3,727
7-7 J
Italian
4,710
6
3,828
3,37«
4,445
3-47
3:
Newfoundland
New Zealand
Portuguese
Polish
162
210
335
2
274
5'9
23
669
i?
5
74
i
4O
5
Roumanian
Russian, North- Eastern Slates
i$i
1,044
682
55'
2,467
1,292
438
5,5°5
1,734
619
i,955
845
2/
J
i,3-
Doukhobors
Mennonites
12
52
I
'"38
7
n
5
:
in
17
73
128
i
2*
2
10
88
16*
308
417
4<
Icelandic
912
jgc
260
i,on
9>7
2,477
396
2,151
4
1,8.
Norwegian
Turkish
$
£
1,015
17
112
1,746
43
113
1,239
%
',3<
Egyptian .
Syrian
i
464
48
1,066
7o
I
847
46
34
58
6.
i
Maltese ......
2
1
Negro
...
...
...
i
United States Citizens (via ocean ports) .
68
73
...
58
i<
* *
Total Continental, etc. ....
From the United States
19,35*
17,987
23,732
26,388
37,099
49,473
34,786
4S,«7i
37,3<
43,5^
Total Immigration ....
49,149
67,379
128,364
«30,33«
146,2^
l-i seal
Period.
Fiscal
Fiscal
I.S...I
Fiscal
Fiscal
Year
9 months
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
Totals
1905-6
ending
March 31,
1907-8
'9«*9
1909-10
1910-11
1911-13
1007
65,932
41,658
91,412
37,482
41,144
86,212
96,806
601,963
15,846
10,729
22,223
11,810
14,706
29,924
32,988
171,897
5,018
3>404
6,547
3,609
3,940
6,877
8,327
49,328
86,796
55,79'
120,182
52,901
59,790
123,013
'38,iai
823,188
46
23
76
53
97
86
144
581
322
18$
180
171
203
266
184
1,833
10,170
4,045
21,376
10,798
9,757
16,285
21,651
142,652
1, 106
650
1,214
828
910
1,563
1, 601
10,184
71 179
2,529
56
557
1,068
3,295
7,779
2
5
i
4
13
• ••
28
18
92
1,884
1,887
2,156
5,278
6,247
17,571
389
394
1,212
495
741
931
1,077
5,972
1,648
i,3'4
2,671
1,830
1,727
2,041
2,094
•8,330
1,796
2,377
i,340
i,533
2,533
4,664
25,809
•94
' 90
278
159
203
455
393
1,927
254
545
1,053
192
777
693
4,690
7,127
6,584
7,712
1,636
3,182
5,'46
5,322
53,997
7,959
5,i'4
11,212
4,228
7,118
8,359
7,590
71,407
1,922
2,042
7,6oi
495
271
437
765
13,893
340
1,029
3,374
2,108
3,372
2,229
2,598
16,094
89
30
70
65
82
116
61
595
6
2
2
2
2
13
6
34
725
',033
1,593
376
1,407
2,177
5,060
14,451
7
3«
7
i
5
19
'9
'43
396
43'
949
278
293
793
5,681
3,'52
1,927
6,281
3,547
4,664
6,621
9,805
48,755
1,103
1,049
1,212
669
i,457
2,132
1,646
15,144
204
...
...
...
...
41
24
305
...
...
...
...
• ••
101
12
29
61
32
42
•97
19'
601
'72
112
195
129
211
270
230
i,7'7
'9
4
48
76
So
209
479
474
297
290
160
300
535
628
4,121
168
46
97
35
95
250
205
3,794
1,802
1,077
2,132
1,135
2,017
3,213
2,394
2|,743
1,415
876
i,554
752
1,370
2,169
1,692
' -:.Vx
357
232
489
236
517
469
632
82
208
563
79
75
20
60
i,533
18
10
8
2
2
3
...
53
336
277
732
• 89
195
124
144
5,373
'9
31
So
4
14
3
2
443
...
...
• ••
...
...
...
2
...
...
...
...
...
...
5
42
1 08
'36
73
7
12
138
521
387
2,124
2,623
6
10
5
3
5,203
'23
89
'33
94
1 86
203
143
1,279
...
...
• >•
...
...
...
3
3
44-472
34,217
83,975
34,175
45,206
66,620
82,406
543,404
57,796
34,659
58,3'*
59,832
103,798
121,451
133,710
752,120
189,064
124,667
262,469
146,908
208,794
3.1,084
354,237
2,118,712
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION 527
It is certain that a proportion of those who gave their
destination as Canada ultimately went to the United States.
It is also just as certain that many who gave their destina-
tion as the United States ultimately settled in Canada.
Until 1908 no system existed in Eastern Canada of checking
the number coming from the United States, and it is, there-
fore, difficult to say how far one movement offsets the other.
It is, however, likely that, after making due allowance for
deaths, the 1911 census will show a smaller number of per-
sons born outside Canada than might be expected from the
above table. If this proves to be the case, the explanation
is, as before, the movement to the United States. While
Canada offers greater attractions to the agriculturist than
does the United States, the United States, on the other hand,
offers great inducements to skilled mechanics and a broader
field for certain classes of professional men than is possible
in a country with only eight million people. It is well known
that a large percentage of the young men who yearly com-
plete in the universities of Canada their courses in electrical
or hydraulic engineering and kindred professions are at once
given employment by the large companies in the United
States.
This flow of population from Canada is an important
factor in the question of immigration, and statistics relating
to it are of value. The Canadian Immigration department
keeps no statistics of the movement outwards. The United
States figures of arrivals from Canada are available. It is
practically the only country which makes any inroad upon
the population of Canada, if we except Italians and certain
Asiatics. Many of these are at most ' birds of passage '
who have no intention of establishing permanent homes in
Canada. They come in order to acquire sufficient money
to enable them to live in the land of their birth, and at the
earliest possible moment after fulfilling their mission in the
Dominion they go home. Before quoting the United States
figures, and lest the reader may infer that Canada is losing
as much as she is gaining from the United States, it should
be pointed out that the two countries adopt different standards
in collecting their statistics. To illustrate this difference we
528 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
will take a supposititious case of two Italians who arrived
in America for the first time in the spring of 1901, one at
Montreal and the other at New York. Both return to Italy
in the autumn, and in the following spring return again to
their respective homes in America. They repeat this journey
each year. Upon his arrival in the spring of 1910, the
Italian residing in Canada has been counted in Canadian
statistics only once as an immigrant, the other nine times
he is classified for statistical purposes as a ' Returned
Canadian.' The Italian who arrives at New York has, on
the other hand, been counted ten times as an immigrant to
the United States. He would appear as ten immigrants in
a United States statistical table for the decade. This ex-
planation of the method of collecting statistics is necessary
to arrive at the truth. It is well known, for instance, that
many Canadians yearly spent the winter in the lumber camps
in Maine and Michigan. It is also common for families from
the eastern provinces to go at all times to the Eastern States
and, for periods of varying length, to secure employment
in the cotton mills and other manufacturing industries there.
Yet they have no intention of residing permanently in the
republic.
It is thus apparent that many Canadians are counted as
immigrants to the United States who in reality go there for
a temporary purpose only. It is also clear, at least in some
cases, that, year after year, the same persons are counted
as settling in the republic. This system results in an apparent
loss to Canada which in reality does not exist, at least to
the extent which United States immigration figures would
indicate.
The table given below is a portion of Table vm of the
' Annual Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigra-
tion for the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1910,' and covers the immigrant aliens admitted from
British North America divided by races. While the table
includes those arriving from Newfoundland as well as
Canada, the number from Newfoundland is small.
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION
529
IMMIGRATION OF ALIENS FROM CANADA TO UNITED STATES
FOR THE NINE YEARS FROM JULY I, 190 1, TO JUNE 30,
1910, SHOWING RACES OF PEOPLE.
Fbeal
Fiscal
Fiscal
Fiscal
Fiscal
FbcU
Fiscal
Fbcal
Fiscal
Race of People
Year
1901-
Year
1901-
Year
I90J-
Year
1904-
Year
1905-
Year
1906-
Year
1907-
Year
looS-
Year
1909-
Totals
1903
190$
1904
1903
1906
1907
190!
1909
1910
African, South
3
9
9
103
103
Z7*
212
614
Armenian
. .
• •
35
in
89
5*
73
360
Bohemian
. .
3
" 6
39
36
53
90
3'3
Bulgarian
. .
I
33
179
394
868
670
3,335
Chinese .
, .
13
21
16
9
*
3
7
70
Croatian .
. .
16
96
43§
43*
489
499
1,980
Cuban .
1 t
I
a
6
I
3
i
14
Dalmatian
. .
. .
•
17
50
43
39
58
333
Dutch .
9 t
I
1
34
328
473
383
499
1,636
East Indian
, ,
t .
17
6
89
393
130
837
English .
Finnish .
French .
454
3
900
4
a,337
48
740
59
61
1,191
97
80
4,515
33li
10,2';'.
330
4,*05
IO,708
398
12,850
I3'ooo
14,314
44.V-7
1.845
31,773
German. .
3
18
91
290
1,131
3,468
3.031
3,082
10,104
Greek .
f t
16
56
334
433
4571
36i
1,677
Hebrew . ,
. .
8
II
439
1,818
*,393
2,780
2,262
9.701
Irish . .
12
156
133
191
705
3,038
3.950
5,310
13,494
Italian .
3
10
no
943
3.887
3.348
4,33*
3,900
16.533
ter.
179
97
• •
113
5*3
a
145
* •
304
645
3
195
I
74
a.*7S
6
Lithuanian
15
'io6
101
207
193
631
Magyar .
• •
"s
180
368
426
653
348
1.978
Mexican .
. .
, .
I
4
a
5
12
Pacific Isles
t t
t ^
t t
t t
i
I
Polish .
m ,
8
249
830
I.O57
1,709
1,388
5,231
Portuguese
..
,.
3
18
4
6
2
33
Roumanian
* •
. .
33
in
239
333
291
997
Russian .
Ruthenian
••
s
i
?!
It!
262
201
393
454
345
•97
1,184
1,136
Scandinavian
S
II
lag
3*5
1,378
1.759
1,634
2,034
Scottish .
12
74
149
380
1,734
4,132
4,819
3.745
I7!o35
Slovak .
..
I
9
46
140
H4
1 60
144
614
Spanish .
7
S
9
7
15
26
31
*9
127
Syrian
7
46
133
178
197
173
733
Turkish .
, .
, .
I
II
71
28
13
14
137
Welsh .
. .
z
9
*3
159
318
269
251
1,030
West Indian
a
2
3
10
5
3
15
3
4*
Not given .
13
3
1
I
36
"5
135
404
Totals . .
636
1,038
3.837
3,168
3,063
19,918
38,510
31,941
J6.555
178.686
From the above it will be seen that in the nine years
referred to Canada lost to the United States, according to
the figures of that country, 178,686 aliens, or almost 20,000
per year. Yet this outflow cannot in all respects be classed
as a loss. Of the races of people specified in the table only
nine are now sought after by the Canadian Immigration
530 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
department — against the others the restrictive regulations
are fully enforced. The real loss in the nine years may,
therefore, be given as follows :
Dutch .... 1,626
English . 44,397
Finnish .... 1,845
French . . . 31,773
German .... 10,104
Irish . . * . 13,494
Scandinavian . . .' 7,165
Scottish .... 17,035
Welsh .... 1,030
Total . . 128,469
The above figures take no account of United States
citizens who may give up their residence in Canada and
return to the land to which they owe allegiance. In this
connection it is only fair to state that the United States
commissioner of immigration at Montreal claims that there
were 22,832 such cases during the fiscal year 1909-10. Before
the fiscal year 1909-10 no mention is made of any such
movement, but it is only natural to suppose that as the
number of United States citizens in Canada increases there
will be found a certain percentage who will return to their
former home.
If we make an allowance for a death-rate of 15 per 1000
per year, take into account the return movement, already
mentioned, of Italians and a few other nationalities, and
also consider the movement of people from Canada to the
States, it is expected that the census of 1911 will show an
immigrant population of about 1,600,000, or an increase
of, roughly speaking, 100,000 per year since 1901.
Having dealt in general terms with the immigration
movement from Confederation until the present, a brief
review of the movement by races of people should be of
interest.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 531
II
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES
THE NEGROES
IT is not to be wondered that the eyes of the negro turned
longingly to the land under whose flag he need call no
man master. He had been transplanted from equa-
torial Africa to the temperate climate of the United States ;
there to lose the freedom of savagery and to be forced to
toil as the slave of a taskmaster who demanded at least a
fair day's labour. Some of those who longed for liberty
fled to Canada, and to-day the descendants of escaped
slaves form the chief part of the twenty odd thousand negroes
in the Dominion. Western Ontario, New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia harbour most of the offspring of this un-
solicited immigration. Whilst no one will deny that there
are many upright and respected citizens amongst the number,
there are few thoughtful Canadians who would care to see
the present number increased by fresh arrivals. The 1851
census of Upper Canada gave the negro population at 2102,
while the 1861 census showed 13,166 ; it is therefore apparent
that it was during this decade that Canada received her
coloured population. At no time has the immigration of
this race been encouraged by the government, and it must
be with regret that students of the immigration problem
view the movement of coloured persons from Oklahoma to
the western provinces which commenced during the year
1911. The negro problem which faces the United States,
and which Abraham Lincoln said could be settled only by
shipping one and all back to a tract of land in Africa, is
one in which Canadians have no desire to share. It is to
be hoped that climatic conditions will prove unsatisfactory
to those new settlers, and that the fertile lands of the West
will be left to be cultivated by the white race only.
THE ICELANDERS
In 1872, owing to unsatisfactory conditions in their
homeland, a movement of Icelanders to America commenced.
532 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
In 1874 more than five hundred came to Canada, and in
the following year the settlements at Gimli, Hnausa and
Icelandic River, on Lake Winnipeg, were founded. In
the selection of their location the Icelanders were appa-
rently influenced by the plentiful supply of timber and the
close proximity to the fishing grounds, for which industry
their past experience well fitted them. With the limited
amount of capital which the majority possessed, the chance
to cut and sell firewood and employment at good wages on
the fishing boats proved a great boon. The land in these
settlements is, however, much more difficult of cultivation
than that in other parts of Manitoba, and, consequently,
their material advancement has not been as rapid as that
of the sister settlement between Baldur and Glenboro,
where wheat-raising brought quick returns.
The settlement on Lake Manitoba has had to face many
difficulties. There was an outbreak of smallpox in October
1877. The disease, though mild at first, increased in viru-
lence when the cold weather forced the people into their
small and badly ventilated houses. The plague spread
from one end of the colony to the other, and more than
fifty persons died. The bad roads were another drawback
for many years, and it was not until 1906 that a railroad
was completed to Gimli.
The difficulties in a man's way often bring out the best
that is in him. Whether or not this was the reason of the
success of the Icelanders, it is certain that their progress
has been phenomenal. In power to acquire a knowledge
of the English language they are in a class by themselves.
An Icelander who knows no word of English when the
ground is being prepared for seed in the spring will speak
the language with scarcely a trace of a foreign accent by
the time the harvest is being garnered in the fall. The
Icelandic girls have shown a willingness to enter domestic
service, and they quickly acquire the Canadian customs,
both in dress and in ideals. When they return to the home
they become unconscious teachers, and it thus happens that
Canadian customs are rapidly being adopted by the Ice-
landers as a whole No people show a stronger desire for
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 533
the education of their children. As a result they are,
considering their numbers, prominent in mercantile, pro-
fessional and political life.
A report by the secretary of the department of Agricul-
ture, dated August 9, 1876, is of interest as showing the
exact condition of a portion of the Icelanders at the time
of their arrival in Canada.
As respects the Icelanders on board the Phoenician
which arrived at Quebec on the 2Qth July the number of
souls was 402. The whole of them proceeded to Toronto.
The Medical Inspector there pronounced them to be as
the previous party were, healthy and strong. The total
amount of cash possessed by the party was $3804. There
was one worth $500 ; one with $480 ; one with $200 ; one
with $150 ; one with $120 ; six with $100 ; fourteen with
from $90 to $50 ; and fifteen with from $40 to $20. A
large number of others had smaller sums. Of the party,
48 souls intended to go to Nova Scotia, but on represen-
tations made to them after landing at Quebec, by the Im-
migration Agent for the Government of Nova Scotia,
these persons decided to change their destination and
proceed to Gimli. The placing of these Icelanders with
their countrymen at Gimli, on the west shore of Lake
Winnipeg, will make it necessary to advance them very
considerable funds from the Immigration vote, either as
simple aid or a loan to enable them to winter there. They
do not expect the former. Such an advance might be
secured under the amendment to the Dominion Lands
Act. The Icelanders whom I visited had not the slight-
est notion of the amount of money necessary to enable
them to start in the new colony and live there until next
harvest.
From the above account it will be seen that the prospects
of the party were not very bright. But events have shown
that what Nova Scotia rejected proved a boon to Manitoba,
as they and their descendants are now counted amongst
the finest types of settlers in the prairie province. The Ice-
landers become naturalized at the earliest possible moment,
and take a keen interest in the political questions of their
adopted home. In religion they belong largely to the
Lutheran and Unitarian churches.
534
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
.,
i,
„
The following table shows the immigration to Canada
from Iceland :
In Canada at taking of census of 1901 . . 6,057
Immigration during fiscal year 1900-1 . . 912
1901-2 . . 260
1902-3 . . 917
1903-4 • • 396
1904-5 . . 413
1905-6 . . 168
1906-7 . . 46
1907-8 . . 97
1908-9 . . 35
1909-10 . 95
1910-11 . 250
1911-12 . 205
As will be noted, there is a regrettable falling off in the
arrivals of this very desirable class. This is to be accounted
for largely by the fact that as the population of Iceland
dwindles it becomes correspondingly more difficult for those
desiring to leave to dispose of their holdings. Yearly the
government sends a delegate to Iceland to place before the
people the advantages offered by the Dominion. In addition
to this the steamship lines receive $5 per head for all adults
and $2.50 per head for minors brought from Iceland, irre-
spective of occupation, upon the understanding that the
ocean transportation to the immigrant is reduced by those
amounts. Icelanders are the only class to whom this arrange-
ment applies.
THE MENNONITES
From far-off Russia, with its autocratic government,
have come many of the present settlers of the Dominion —
the Russian Jew, largely a dweller in cities, the Russian Pole,
the Russian German, the Russian proper, the Doukhobor
and the Mennonite. The two last mentioned are of special
interest in that they arrived in communities, settled and
still remain in communities, and still hold religious beliefs
different in many respects from the well-known creeds of
Anglo-Saxon countries.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 535
The term Mennonite, applied often in Canada in a racial
sense, is in reality a purely religious designation. Early in
the sixteenth century Menno Simons established a sect whose
fundamental doctrines were : baptism only on confession of
faith ; complete separation of church and state ; and an
absolute refusal to take oaths or engage in warfare. In
Holland and in Germany the sect secured many followers ;
but, as might be expected in countries where warfare was
then so common, they were subjected to the most bitter
persecution. Strange as it now appears, an asylum was
offered them in Russia, and under Empress Catherine n they
were offered free lands, exemption from military service, re-
ligious liberty and many other privileges. Thereon, between
1783 and 1788, ensued a heavy emigration of German Men-
nonites to the plains of Southern Russia. Here for almost a
century they dwelt undisturbed. When, however, in 1870
the Russian government withdrew their privileges, it became
necessary for them to seek a new home, where the require-
ments of the state would not interfere with the dictates of
their consciences. They turned their eyes to Canada. The
Canadian government agreed to exempt them from military
service, gave them the right to affirm instead of taking oaths,
modified the homestead regulations to allow them to live in
villages, as was their custom, and in various ways held out
inducements which resulted in a movement of these desirable
people to the Dominion.
In 1874 there arrived at Quebec 1532 Mennonites des-
tined for Manitoba. The immigration agent at Quebec, in
making his annual report, says of them :
They were of a robust appearance, very mild and tem-
perate, docile, and under the thorough control of their
leaders. They brought a considerable amount of specie
with them, as well as drafts for large amounts on various
banks. Their clothing was well adapted for the climate
of Manitoba, consisting for the most part of home-made
heavy cloth, and they were nearly all supplied with fur
coats, caps and mitts. Such people cannot fail to make
good settlers.
The Winnipeg agent reported that while they arrived
536 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
rather late in the season, they succeeded in a short time in
erecting suitable homes on their farms and making all neces-
sary arrangements for winter. For six years the Mennonites
continued to arrive regularly, the movement being as follows :
1874, 1532 ; 1875, 3258 ; 1876, 1358 ; 1877, 183 ; 1878, 323 ;
1879, 248. Their early years in Canada were but a promise
of their after-success. Peaceful, law-abiding, industrious,
honest, the Mennonites have proved themselves one of the
most desirable classes who ever came into the Dominion.
Settled on good land in Southern Manitoba, they have achieved
not only material success, but are honoured and respected by
all classes who come in contact with them. The census of
1901 showed 31,797 Mennonites in Canada, divided by pro-
vinces as follows : Manitoba, 15,246 ; Saskatchewan and
Alberta, 4273 ; Ontario, 12,208 ; Quebec, 50 ; Nova Scotia,
9; British Columbia, II. Those in the western provinces
are the immigrants of 1874-79, together with their descend-
ants ; those in Ontario the descendants of the Germans who
came from Pennsylvania at the close of the eighteenth century
and settled in the vicinity of Waterloo.
THE MORMONS
Marked difference in religious belief from what is well
known and recognized has, in all places and at all times,
brought the innovators conspicuously before the public. The
religious faith of the Mormons no less than their marked
material success has attracted attention to their colonies in
Southern Alberta. The Mormons, or the Latter-Day Saints,
form a religious sect founded by Joseph Smith, Jr, in 1830.
Smith claimed that he had discovered certain gold plates upon
which were inscribed the records of Mormon. By the alleged
aid of ' Urim and Thummim ' he was able to translate these
into English, and published a translation under the title of
The Book of Mormon. The translation was accompanied by
a certificate from eleven men who claimed to have seen the
plates. Immediately after the publication Smith began to
preach his new doctrine and quickly made many converts.
He was killed in 1844 and was then succeeded by Brigham
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 537
\j\j i
Young. Under Young's guidance, and that of succeeding
presidents, the church has prospered, and to-day numbers
over 300,000 adherents, found largely in the Western States.
Between 7000 and 8000 live in Southern Alberta.
Polygamy, openly preached and practised after 1852, is
the article of faith which brought the most adverse criticism
against the Mormons. In 1890 Woodruff, the then president
of the church, issued a manifesto forbidding polygamy.
Much discussion has taken place as to whether or not the
Latter-Day Saints continue the practice. Whatever may be
true of Mormons in the United States, no evidence has ever
been brought against any of those resident in Canada that
they were breaking the laws of the Dominion in this regard.
The movement of Mormons to Canada commenced in
1887 and continued until 1905. According to the census of
1901 the Mormons were divided as follows : British Columbia,
125 ; Manitoba, 65 ; New Brunswick, n ; Nova Scotia, 73 ;
Ontario, 3377 ; Quebec, 3 ; Alberta, 3212 ; Saskatchewan,
13 ; unorganized territories, 12 ; total, 6891. For the first
few years after the census of 1901 there was a considerable
immigration of Mormons to Southern Alberta. At the
present time (1912) they number considerably over 7000
souls.
James S. Woodsworth, Superintendent of All Peoples'
Mission, Winnipeg, in Strangers Within Our Gates, has the
following to say of the Mormons in Alberta :
The colony has grown rapidly and prospered. They
have large grain farms and cattle ranches, and are enter-
ing extensively on dairying, fruit farming and sugar re-
fining. In their enterprise they compare favourably with
other settlers. . . . But though Americans they are in
no true sense American, and their presence is a serious
menace to our Western civilization. No one doubts their
industry — they have made the desert to rejoice and
blossom as the rose. But of greater importance to our
own country than material development are freedom
and morality and true religion, and to these the system
of Mormon is antagonistic. . . . The practice of poly-
gamy will subvert our most cherished institutions. But
more dangerous even than polygamy is the utter surrender
VOL. vn L
538 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
of personal liberty and the acknowledgment of the abso-
lute authority of the priesthood. This means the end
of all free government and is the confessed aim of the
leaders of the Mormon Church.
As opposed to Woodsworth's opinion, the following
quotation from Canada's Growth and Some Problems Affecting
It, by C. A. Magrath, will be of interest, especially as Mr
Magrath has spent many years on the borders of the Mormon
settlement. He says :
So far as my observations go, and I believe I know the
Mormons as well as any man in Canada, I see no reason
to hold them up from time to time as a menace to our
social life. . . . There are Mormons who offend against
the law as well as members of other sects, but in the latter
case the sect is not brought into prominence as it is with
the Mormons. Criminal offences are as light [as], if not
more so than, in many other sections of the country.
Polygamy is a dead letter. I am not going to say that
some do not believe it is right, but one of the doctrines
of their church is to live within the law of the land, and
to do that plural marriage cannot exist Polygamy never
was an essential of the Mormon church. There are great
numbers — 98 per cent, I understand — who never entered
into plural marriages.
As will be observed, there is a great difference of opinion
between the two authorities quoted above, and, at whatever
point between the two versions lies the real truth regarding
the Mormons, certain it is they have been successful settlers
and have never occasioned any trouble to the Canadian
Immigration department.
THE DOUKHOBORS
As in the case of the Mormons, so in the case of the
Doukhobors, religion is the factor which has brought them
into prominence. To Aylmer Maude in his A Peculiar People
we are indebted for the following description of the religion
of the Doukhobors :
What is true of other men is true of them — they have
not always lived up to their beliefs. Like other sects their
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 539
views have varied from man to man and from year to year.
They were for the most part an illiterate folk who seldom
put their thoughts on paper. They accepted the decisions
of recognized leaders, one of whom always came into
authority as soon as his predecessor died. Through long
years of persecution they learnt to conceal their beliefs ;
and it is impossible to say with certainty and exactitude
what as a community they have believed at any given
moment, though the main trend of their thought and the
matters of practice on which they differed from their
neighbours are plainly discernible.
The name ' Doukhobor ' (spirit wrestler) was formed to
describe those whom the orthodox Russian Church con-
sidered to be wrestling against the Holy spirit. Like
many other religious nicknames — Quaker, Shaker, Metho-
dist, etc., the name stuck. It admitted, however, of an
interpretation which rendered it innocuous, and the
Doukhobors claim to be those who fight, not with carnal
weapons, but with the spirit of truth. Recently they
have begun to call themselves ' The Universal Com-
munity of Christian Brotherhood,' but to the rest of the
world they have remained Doukhobors.
Orest Novitsky in his book published in Kief in 1832
notes the connection of the Doukhobors :
(1) With theGnosticsin their opinion of the Holy spirit.
(2) With the Manicheans, in their belief in an inward
light, in their opinion of Jesus Christ, and in their belief
in the pre-existence, fall and future state of man's soul.
(3) With the Paulicians in many matters, and especially
in their rejection of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, and in
general of the authority of a visible church.
(4) With the Anabaptists in their theocratic aspirations
and their dislike of mundane governments ; also in their
repudiations of infant baptism.
(5) With the early Quakers, especially in their belief
in the Christ within and their non-resident principle.
The Doukhobor sect was founded about 1740 and rapidly
increased in numbers. Sometimes they suffered persecution
for attempting to convert others to their faith, or for attempt-
ing to evade their military duties ; at other times they were
left to pursue their own course without hindrance. In 1799
thirty-one were sent to the mines for preaching openly that
540 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
rulers were not needed. In 1801, at the Milky Waters, near
the Sea of Azof, was established the first Doukhobor colony,
which increased until in 1816 it contained about three thou-
sand persons. From this date they have had six leaders in
succession : Sav61y Kapdustin, Vasely Kalmikdf, Ilarion
Kalmikdf, Peter Kalmikdf, and after his death his wife
Loukeresja Kalmikova, who upon her death was succeeded
by Peter Veregin. During the years 1841-44, when under
the leadership of Vastly Kalmikdf, the Doukhobors were
transported to the Caucasus by the Russian government as a
result of, or punishment for, crimes committed in the internal
management of their community. Here they resided until
immediately prior to their emigration to Canada.
Inasmuch as Veregin is still leader (1912), particular
interest from a Canadian standpoint attaches to him. On his
mother's side he was a nephew of the last leader, a woman,
and had been much in her company. Upon her death, accord-
ing to a confidential report of the governor of Tiflis,
Veregin set out for his native village of Slavyanki.
Here in solemn gathering before all the people, his mother
submissively announced that her son Peter was begotten,
not by her husband Vasely Veregin, but by Peter Kalmi-
kdf (the next to the last ruler), and that this secret was
well known to Loukeresja Kalmikova (the last ruler), who
had only awaited Peter's coming of age in order, during
her own lifetime, to hand over to him the inheritance
of his ancestors. After these words, both she and her
husband fell at Peter's feet, and, when they had done
so, all the people imitated them. In this way the new
Leader's right of succession and connection with the holy
race was established, so that it was unnecessary for him
to prove his divine origin by any miracles, his title being
acknowledged on the strength of his birth.
Whatever truth or falsity there may be in the account
given by the governor of Tiflis, certain it is that Veregin
became the recognized leader of the larger portion of the
Doukhobors. A small and influential portion, however, was
opposed to his leadership, and contrary to the tenets of their
faith commenced an action in the Russian courts to secure
for Michael Goubanof, the brother of Loukeresja Kalmikova,
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 541
the communal property which had been held in her name.
The action was successful, and the property was administered
by Goubanof for the benefit of that portion of the sect which
opposed Veregin.
Veregin's leadership commenced in 1886, and in 1887 he
was without trial banished to Shenkoursk. The banishment
was supposed to be for five years, but he was not released at
the expected time, and in 1894 was sent to Obdorsk. During
his period of banishment he succeeded by means of messengers
in keeping in touch with his followers, and in 1893 sent them
five commands :
1. To serve God.
2. Since war offends God not to perform military
service.
3. To divide up their property equally that none might
be rich or poor.
4. To cease from killing animals for food and from the
use of intoxicants and tobacco.
5. To refrain from sexual relations at least during the
time of their tribulation.
These orders resulted in a division amongst the Dou-
khobors, some agreeing to them and others refusing to
obey them. Owing to the fourth instruction the followers
of Veregin were designated the Pasters. These, receiving a
further order from their leader to burn on St Peter's Day all
their arms as an outward and visible sign of their profession
of the principle that war was wrong, meekly obeyed. This
action drew upon them the wrath of die Russian government.
They were roughly handled, and about four thousand were
removed from their homes and scattered amongst the Geor-
gians and other tribes. This was in 1895.
An agitation in favour of the Doukhobors now commenced
in England and other countries. Tolstoy was their most
noted champion, and by his writings enlisted sympathy in
their cause. Finally, in 1898, the Russian government agreed
to permit of their emigration. In September 1898 two
Doukhobor families, accompanied by Prince Hilkoff and
Aylmer Maude, arrived in Canada to ascertain if a suit-
able location could be secured for a colony. At length the
542 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
Canadian government agreed to allow the Doukhobors to settle
in a compact body, giving to each male eighteen years of
age one quarter section (160 acres) upon the payment of the
usual $10. The payments were in their case to be extended
over three years, and they secured the privilege of performing
cultivation duties en bloc instead of on each individual home-
stead, as is the general rule. The government exempted
them from military service. Since no booking agent would
secure a bonus from the government for selling them tickets,
as was then the rule with most desirable European immigrants,
Canada agreed to make an allowance of £i per head for each
Doukhobor, and the money was to be spent in purchasing
necessaries for them upon arrival.
These terms and conditions proving satisfactory, the
movement to Canada commenced, and between January and
June 1899, 7363 Doukhobors arrived — the first party on
January 27, and the next some two weeks later. They
wintered at East Selkirk, Winnipeg and other points. Small
bodies of the men, under the supervision of Canadians,
proceeded, however, to the districts allotted to them and
commenced the erection of dwellings.
A desire to follow #nd to be guided by the instructions
and advice of a leader is a great advantage in handling any
large body of men, provided the judgment of the leader is
good. Too often, however, among the Doukhobors, especi-
ally in their early days in Canada, those recognized as leaders
were as ignorant of what should be done as were the rank and
file of the party. It was thus a case of ' the blind leading the
blind.' Nor were the Doukhobors at all times ready to
follow the disinterested advice given them by government
officials. Writing to the department a day or so after the
arrival of the Doukhobors in Winnipeg, the commissioner of
immigration there, after pointing out that two of the leaders
were disputing about the final selection of the land for the
colonies, continues :
I may say they are not, by any means, Universal
Brethren, from the fact that they do not agree on every
point ; they have their dissensions like ordinary mortals,
so that a little difficulty may arise at times of this nature.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 543
Some of them too, I understand, at Portage la Prairie,
especially, are pilling for fish, so that they are not all
strictly vegetarians.
These trivial faults, discovered upon a day's acquaintance,
were mild compared with those the officials observed later. As
early in the spring of the year as possible the Doukhobors were
located on their lands in the vicinity of Yorkton, Swan River
and Prince Albert. Considering the small capital at their dis-
posal their progress was rapid. Railway work furnished them
with the means of securing stock and food until such time as
their first crops were harvested. In addition to this they
received assistance from the Quakers in the United States.
An employer of Doukhobor labour, under date of Sep-
tember 27, 1899, wrote from Swan River as follows :
I formed [at first] a very unfavourable opinion of the
Doukhobors generally, as a class of settlers altogether un-
suitable for Canada. After an experimental trial of them
as labourers on the Canadian Northern Railway during
the last month or so, I have found them to be without
exception the best men I have ever had on railway work.
I have completely changed my opinion in regard to them,
and believe they will make first-class settlers. In fact
they are ' cracker-jacks ' and superior to any other class
of foreign settlers I know of.
While the Doukhobors accepted assistance when necessary
they were not paupers, and to show the trait of independence
in their character, as well as to illustrate their peculiar style
of correspondence, the following letter (abbreviated) is given :
THUNDER HILL, AMINIBOIA,
VILLAGE VASNECNIR, April 3, 1901.
OUR KIND BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST THE
QUAKERS :
In the beginning of our letter we bring you our sincere
pure-hearted thankfulness for all your charities given us.
May the Lord save you with an everlasting salvation
for all your kind interest in us. May the Lord give you
His Grace, and may He reward you from the bounties of
His Almighty Hand with both heavenly and earthly
blessings.
544 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
We have heard from Mr H. Harley, Swan River, that
you wish to send us some sheep. We, all your brethren
of the North Colony, unitedly ask you to take our request
into consideration.
Our request is this — that you would not send us any-
thing more, as we are not now in need of anything ; be
at rest, as we have already passed the first trials and diffi-
culties of settlement : we now possess the necessaries, and
are capable of earning for ourselves our daily bread.
We send you our sincere love to you all, and wish you
all that is good from God.
With sincere love to you from your sisters and brothers
in Christ of the Christian Community of the Universal
Brotherhood.
The Doukhobors of the North Colony,
Near Thunder Hill,
SlMION RlBION,
Doukhobor.
From the date of reaching their colonies material progress
was rapid. Land was brought under cultivation ; cattle and
horses were carefully tended ; comfortable homes and barns
were erected ; houses were kept neat and clean, and any
ill impressions which had been formed by their Canadian
neighbours against them were fast disappearing.
Then, like a bolt from the blue, came the crash. In July
1902 rumours began to spread in the Yorkton district that
the Doukhobors were acting in a peculiar manner. But, so
secretive were they regarding their doings, that one of their
Quaker friends who had acted as a temporal and spiritual
adviser and benefactor, and who was then paying them a visit,
noticed nothing peculiar in their actions. Early in August
an immigration officer, who passed quietly through their
districts, reported that they were beginning to be affected
by a strange religious craze, the result of the teaching of an
agitator who had come among them and who was reported
to be from New York. While the craze was still confined to
a few, these had burned their sheepskin coats and boots and
had made foot-gear by plaiting binding twine into sandals.
In his report the officer says : ' They claim it is a sin to wear
the skin of any animal as a portion of their raiment. Although
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 545
they have been vegetarians they have now stopped eating
eggs, butter and milk, claiming that by using milk they are
robbing the calves of their food.'
The craze spread rapidly, and finally the affected settle-
ments, on August 21, 1902, turned their horses, cattle and
sheep free, giving them, as they said, to the Lord. The
animals were promptly rounded up by government officials
and held. At the same time an effort was made to bring
the misguided fanatics to their senses. Mr Speers, general
colonization agent, who was charged with this difficult and,
as it proved, unsuccessful mission, in his report said :
They are a quiet, inoffensive, sullenly established
people, and when they make up their minds seem very
determined. They speak highly of Canada and Canadian
institutions, but are fully determined to stick to their new
theory.
I endeavoured to point out that their sheep would be
destroyed by wolves ; that their cattle would perish dur-
ing the winter, and that it was not an act of humanity
or Christianity to turn these domestic animals adrift to
hunt for themselves ; but they said, ' We have given
them to God, and God will take care of them.' I can only
recommend that the herd they have given to the Lord be
carefully collected and sold by public auction.
This was done, and the funds, $16,024.25, deposited in
the bank as a trust account, to be used in relieving distress
later on.
The craze, instead of diminishing, spread. Not only did
the numbers of the fanatics increase, but their views became
more extreme. Finally, they commenced a march eastward
to meet, as they imagined, Jesus Christ. Cold weather came
on and they suffered severely. Refusing to listen to the
advice of sane Doukhobors and government officials who
advised them to return to their houses, they pushed forward,
chanting their weird hymns and carrying their sick on
stretchers. At Winnipeg they said God would tell them
what to do. The press of all countries was full of their
doings, the reports as a rule being out of all semblance to
the real happenings.
546 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
Speers in his report upon the pilgrimage wrote
The ardour and zeal of the pilgrims were simply mar-
vellous. They prophesied warm weather. In this they
were disappointed, and after discarding their heavy cloth-
ing the wind was not ' tempered to the shorn lamb.' They
prophesied no snow. They prophesied no hunger, no
fatigue. In all these they were disappointed, but evi-
dently looked upon their hardships as tests of faith, and
prosecuted their march even though exhausted and ema-
ciated. Proceeding to Minnedosa the condition of the
pilgrims was pitiable. Weary, footsore and exhausted
they were scattered for many miles westward from that
town. A train was arranged for, and as the weather had
turned very inclement the pilgrims, numbering 450, were
entrained and taken to Yorkton. If they had been per-
mitted to proceed eastward in their emaciated condition
they would not have survived more than a few hours, as
the mercury was then 18° below zero, and the mortality
among them before long would have been appalling.
They were certainly a misguided people, and I felt it my
duty to do what I could to relieve the hardships they were
enduring until such time as the dawn of reason would turn
their attention in the right direction. At least 80 per cent
of this throng of misguided people have been the dupes
of their more gifted leaders, and, as in all such movements,
the more illiterate have become the greatest enthusiasts.
They exhibited a collective imbecility in their sad march
that is rarely met with, but I feel that its results will be
beneficial. It has brought about disappointment and
chagrin to many of its participants, who feel embarrassed
that they entered upon a crusade abandoning the com-
forts of home and squandering a great deal of their
substance.
Peter Veregin arrived in Canada in December 1902.
Whether or not he was the Christ the pilgrims were going out
to meet, as has been suggested by some, it is difficult to say.
At any rate, he discountenanced such movements.
In May 1903 a small pilgrimage again commenced. The
pilgrims believed that they, like Adam and Eve before the
Fall, were living without sin, and they considered that, like
Adam and Eve, they should go in nature's garb. In the end
the government interfered. The women and children were
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 547
forced to return to their colonies, and the adult male members,
twenty-six in number, were given three months with hard
labour in Regina gaol.
To illustrate the peculiar vagaries of the minds of these
deluded people a case is here quoted. Six of them came to
the conclusion that it was sinful to compel horses to pull
binders, and so they set fire to the machinery and completely
destroyed it. When arrested at the instigation of Peter
Veregin, these fanatics were, on a charge of incendiarism,
sentenced to two years in penitentiary. When they had
served over a year of their sentence they adopted a new line
of reasoning. This was now clear to them, they said :
1. To work animals is a sin.
2. We destroyed machinery to prevent this sin.
3. We are imprisoned for doing what was right.
4. It is wrong to imprison persons for doing right.
5. We must not assist officers in doing what is wrong.
6. If we continue taking food we are assisting officers
in doing what is not right.
Therefore WE MUST NOT EAT.
In this they persisted. A few days after their release
one died in the hospital and the others returned to their
colonies in a very weak state.
In July 1904, August 1905 and May 1906 pilgrimages
of Doukhobors took place, in each of which from ten to
forty-seven persons were involved. They were, however,
of short duration. The desire of the pilgrims seemed to
be to evangelize the world. Occasionally during their
marches they divested themselves of their clothing. In
July 1907 occurred the last of the pilgrimages : thirty-five
persons, commencing a march eastward, were joined at
times by new recruits until, when they reached Fort William,
they numbered eighty souls. Here they camped, and, on
New Year's Day 1908, they marched naked through the
streets. For a time they occasioned considerable trouble.
Finally the Ontario government loaded them in trains and
returned them to Yorkton. Since that time there has been
no further appearance of this form.of religious mania.
When the Doukhobors arrived in Canada, entry for home-
548 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
steads was made by their committee for the whole party.
Later, it was claimed that either fictitious names had been used
or that entry had been made for males who had not attained
the age of eighteen years. An investigation was held by a
commission, and as a result of recommendations made, the
Doukhobors were given a grant of fifteen acres for each man,
woman and child, instead of 160 acres to each male entitled
to a homestead. This resulted in the Doukhobors losing
about 1700 quarter sections, which were taken up by persons
of other origins desiring locations.
Peter Veregin, on behalf of the Doukhobors, has made
extensive purchase of fruit lands in British Columbia, and
from all reports it is expected that they will soon have a
flourishing and productive colony there. About thirty-five
per cent of the Doukhobors have now broken away from
the communities and commenced operations on their own
account. Herein lies the solution of all the Doukhobor
difficulties, and it is hoped that, even in spite of the un-
favourable criticism which the religious fanatics amongst
their number have brought upon the whole colony, they
will yet develop into good Canadian citizens. This their
fine physique and their industry render them capable of
becoming.
THE CROFTERS
In 1883 a settlement of crofters, that is, small farmers
and fishermen from the Highlands of Scotland, were settled in
a colony south of Wapella and Moosomm in Saskatchewan.
The first party consisted of ten families. These were supple-
mented in the following year by forty more families. They
were assisted to emigrate by Lady Gordon Cathcart, who
advanced to each family about $500. Good judgment was
used in selecting the location. The soil was excellent ; the
country, rolling and well watered, had many natural hay
basins and, generally speaking, was well suited for mixed
farming. In 1888 a similar colony was established at Kil-
larney, Manitoba, and in 1889 another at Saltcoats, Saskatch-
ewan. Six hundred dollars for each family was advanced for
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 549
the purpose out of imperial funds, the loan being secured by
a mortgage on the homestead.
Progress in these colonies was at first very slow. Al-
though the colonists had good land their crops compared very
unfavourably with those of other farms in the same district.
Most likely the difference was caused by improper methods
of cultivation. The stock purchased upon arrival was
probably not the best, nor were the prices as cheap as might
have been arranged for. The purchase of machinery was
much more extensive than the acreage under cultivation
warranted. In consequence the interest upon the debts
incurred soon became a heavy burden. All these and other
causes tended to retard the progress of the colonists. They
became discouraged, and some either abandoned their allot-
ments or sold out and moved to other districts. With a better
knowledge of the country and a new generation familiar with
Canadian ways, a marked change has come about in the
condition of the crofter, and to-day the great majority are
prosperous. The younger people all speak English, and
some of them no other language, but the older members still
cling to Gaelic, their mother tongue.
The crofters and the Barr Settlement, next to be described,
are the only two attempts in recent years to settle British
people in distinct colonies. The colony system has the
disadvantage that the settlers have no neighbours to learn
from. When newcomers live alongside Americans and Cana-
dians familiar with the best methods of work, they quickly
learn from the experience of others.
THE BARR COLONY
In a class all by itself was the Barr Colony or the All-
British Settlement. The founder, the Rev. I. M. Barr,
was a smooth talker devoid of organizing ability. Leaving
Whatcom, Washington, U.S.A., in December 1901, he
announced that he was proceeding to England with the
object of encouraging the settlement of South Africa by
British colonizers. Meeting with little encouragement he
550 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
applied early in 1902 for a position in the Canadian Immigra-
tion Service. Soon after this was refused he commenced
writing in the British press, suggesting an all-British settle-
ment in Canada under his guidance. Gradually his project
assumed shape, and in the autumn of the year 1902 he
visited Canada and succeeded in getting certain home-
stead reservations made for his proposed colony west of
Battleford.
His party sailed in March and April 1903. Barr professed
to have made very elaborate preparations for their reception,
but, unfortunately, these preparations were only on paper.
The subsidiary companies he had formed (on paper) to meet
the wants of the colonists included a transport company, a
stores syndicate, a colony hospital and a home-building and
ploughing department for absent members. Advance agents
who were sent out by Barr were hampered in their work
through lack of capital, lack of experience, and through
instructions that all matters of importance must be left
untouched until the arrival of Barr himself. Ignoring the
fact that only well-broken horses should be placed in the
hands of inexperienced colonists, one of the agents purchased
a carload of bronchos at Calgary for their transport service.
He used a closed car and furnished no food, and the horses
starved or were smothered before the car reached its destina-
tion. The Saskatchewan Herald, on March I, 1903, after
giving a full account of Barr's projected scheme and of the
subsidiary companies, ended with the following prophecy :
The Immigration department will have to step in at
the last moment, handicapped by want of time, to bring
order out of chaos and help the immigrants out of the
dilemma into which the dilatoriness of the managers has
placed them.
Cablegrams to Barr, in England, brought forth the
one reply — that he was looking after his colony, and neither
required nor desired assistance. Feeling certain that if
left to the tender mercies of Barr the colonists would be
helplessly stranded, the Immigration department made some
preparations by having suitable tent accommodation erected
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 551
at Saskatoon, the point from which the overland trek of
one hundred and eighty miles was to commence, and by
engaging for the colonists freighters at three dollars per day
for man and team. The latter arrangement Barr repudiated
immediately upon arrival, but the better sense of the colonists
prevailed, and as a result the Canadian teamsters were en-
gaged. Thus at least a portion of the small army on march
were well acquainted with the route and with Canadian
customs.
When the overland march commenced the Immigration
department found it necessary to take charge to a certain ex-
tent, erecting tents at intervals of twenty miles, and having
the route patrolled by experienced men who were competent
to give assistance in the many unforeseen difficulties which
occurred. Speers, who represented the government, in report-
ing to the department wrote
We have endeavoured as far as possible to relieve suffer-
ing, and while it has been impossible to have competent
men always present either to hand over a loaf of bread
or to pull an overladen team out of a mud-hole, the main
points have been pretty well covered. The people are a
good lot and are showing a great deal of courage.
After a tedious and long drawn out journey the goal
of the colonists was reached. Here Barr had established
his stores syndicate, the only one of his subsidiary com-
panies which made any real beginning, but as he was selling
flour at $6 per bag, potatoes at $3.60 per bushel and oats
at $1.25 per bushel, the scheme collapsed, as the people
were unable to pay such prices. The cost of transportation
was undoubtedly heavy on goods he had for sale, but had
proper arrangements been made the supplies would have
been floated down from Edmonton via the Saskatchewan
River, and would have been in readiness for the arrival of
the colonists and sold at much more reasonable prices.
Barr's stock-in-trade answer, ' Keep your hands off and
let me and my people alone,' prevented this.
Finally, on the last day of May 1903, feeling amongst
the colonists against Barr reached such a pitch that he
552 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
was deposed as leader, and the Rev. George E. Lloyd, his
lieutenant and a gentleman who had worked hard, intelli-
gently and conscientiously in the interests of the colony
since its initial stages, was appointed with others to act
as a committee in handling the affairs of the settlers.
A noticeable improvement at once took place. Approxi-
mately 2000 persons came to Canada under Barr's auspices.
Of these about 1600 persons reached the colony in the vicinity
of Lloydminster and entered for 550 homesteads. The
majority were inexperienced so far as agriculture was con-
cerned, and as a result their progress at first was not rapid.
At the end of the first season the ground under cultivation
averaged possibly three acres per homestead, although a
few of the more diligent settlers had thirty or forty acres
broken before snow fell in the autumn. During the first
winter many of the horses died, largely through improper
feeding and lack of proper attention. From this date for
three years the progress, although steady, was not rapid.
Speers, in making a report in November 1906, wrote :
The Barr colonists entered the district with the idea
that they would be All British ; to-day the population is
cosmopolitan, and constitutes a very progressive people
both in commerce and agriculture. The advent of people
of other nationalities largely assisted the English settler,
but the cultivation of the land is not yet as great as it
should be considering the extra quality of the soil.
Since 1906 progress has been fairly rapid, and the English
settlers around Lloydminster, many of whom were entirely
without farming experience upon arrival, are now as pros-
perous and contented a community as there is to be found
in the Dominion.
BRITISH IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
No article on immigration would be complete without
reference to the immigration of British children. Since
Confederation this work has been carried on continuously
under the supervision of the home government. The
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 553
children are of three classes : (i) those from private homes
and schools ; (2) those from industrial schools ; (3) those
from union and poor law schools. On those of the first class
the Canadian government pays and always has paid a bonus
of two dollars each. The children are inspected and looked
after by the societies under whose auspices their emigration
is effected. Those belonging to the third class are also in-
spected by officers of the Canadian government, who visit
them at least once yearly and interview each employer
as to the satisfaction the child is giving, and the child as
as to the manner in which he is treated by his employer.
Any well-founded complaint against the employer results
in the child being moved to other surroundings. When
children belonging to this class arrive in Canada the British
government makes a payment, graded according to the
age of the child, of such amount as will be sufficient to
reimburse the Canadian government for the cost of in-
spection. These inspections are continued until the child is
seventeen years of age.
Before children are designated for Canada they are
examined by a physician. Those considered physically
unfit are not allowed to come. On embarking at Liverpool
the children are examined by a Canadian government agent.
They are always examined at the port of debarkation, by
both civil and medical officers. No children from reforma-
tories are ever sent to Canada. Sometimes the environ-
ment of the children in the mother country has been bad,
but rapid improvement is usually effected by changed
surroundings in the homeland before emigration, and especi-
ally by life on a farm in Canada. That the work is for the
good of the children no one can doubt, and as a compara-
tively small number have been failures, it is for the good of
Canada too. Since Confederation the number of children
who have been brought by the various societies to Canada
is upwards of 60,000. Applications are received by the
Canadian office of each society engaged in this work for
children brought out under their auspices. As a rule the
child is placed with some one of its own religious faith.
With the numbers arriving it would be supposed that all
VOL. VII M
554
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
applications could easily be filled, but such is not the case,
as the following table for ten years will show :
Fiscal Year
Children immigrated
Applications received
IQOO-I . . .
977
5,783
I9OI-2
1,540
8,587
1902-3 . . .
1,979
14,219
1903-4 . . .
2,212
16,573
1904-5 . . .
2,814
17,833
1905-6 . . .
3,258
19,374
1906-7 . . .
1,455
15,800
1907-8 . . .
2,375
17,239
1908-9 . . .
2,424
15,417
1909-10 . . .
2,422
18,477
Total for ten years
21,456
149,203
From the above it will be seen that only about one-
seventh of the applications received could be filled, and it
speaks well for the children that the farmers of Canada are
so eager to receive them into their homes. Applications
are now not infrequent from farmers who themselves arrived
as immigrant children, and some even specify that they wish
a child sent from the same institution as that from which
they came.
OTHER BRITISH IMMIGRATION
The Barr colony and the crofter settlements have already
been mentioned. Of the remainder of the British immigra-
tion, of those who, of their own initiative and in the hope
of bettering their circumstances, have made their homes in
Canada, little need be said. They are to be found in all
parts of the Dominion and in all walks of life. Compared
with other European settlers the British start with the
advantage of having the same mother tongue as Canadians ;
with this exception they are on an equal footing with all
others and must be prepared to compete on these terms.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 555
Much is said of the preference which Canada should give to
persons from the mother country, but there is little senti-
ment in business, and if an Italian immigrant can do more
work than an Englishman, the Italian ' gets the job.' Fortu-
nately for Canada and for the immigrants there is usually
work for both.
Considering the immense number of British immigrants
arriving — some 674,000 in the first decade of the century —
it speaks well for them and well for the country that so few
have failed. Those who do not succeed are the exception.
Although the success is of varying degree, it is as a rule
according to the energy and tenacity of purpose displayed.
There are few British immigrants in Canada who are not
in a position much superior to that which they would now
be occupying had they remained at home.
For the last twelve fiscal years, 1901-12, the immigra-
tion from Great Britain and Ireland amounted to 823,188
in the following proportion : English and Welsh, 601,963 ;
Scottish, 171,897 ; Irish, 49,328. The largest number in
any one year was for the twelve months ending March 31,
1912, when the total reached the immense figure of 138,121,
made up of 96,806 English and Welsh, 32,988 Scottish and
8327 Irish.
UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION
The people from the United States most readily adapt
themselves to Canadian conditions. The greater portion
come from the Northern and Western States, where climatic
and agricultural conditions closely resemble those of the
Dominion. As they are largely of the agricultural class
and come to Canada to take up farming, they know the
proper course to adopt immediately upon arrival. United
States immigrants may be considered the most desirable
for a number of reasons. They understand Canadian con-
ditions so well that their success in the so-called dry belt
of Alberta has been greater than that of the Canadian born ;
immediately on arrival they put large tracts under culti-
vation, and induce the railway companies to provide trans-
portation facilities in the districts where they settle ; they
556 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
use the most recent machinery and labour-saving devices,
and are thus an object-lesson, more especially to foreign
settlers, who, without this clear proof of the value of improved
machinery, would be slow in commencing its use ; and,
lastly and most important of all, they employ upon their
farms large numbers of the immigrants of all races, who
yearly arrive without sufficient capital to commence opera-
tions at once on their own account, and who must seek
employment with others until they have saved enough to
begin work on their free homesteads.
Much is spoken and written of the danger that Western
Canada may become Americanized. The force of such
arguments depends upon what is meant by ' Americanized.'
If it is to be taken to mean the growing up of a sentiment
in favour of annexation with the United States, the charge
is groundless ; if it means that the progressiveness of the
American will be copied by the Canadian, the more rapid
the Americanization the better. The Western Canadian
is never averse to learning, no matter who may be his
teacher. Sometimes the American settler finds in turn that
in many things he may safely follow the lead of his Canadian
neighbour.
When speaking of the possibility of annexation to the
United States it is well to remember that probably not more
than fifty per cent of the immigrants from the United States
were born there, and that, in addition to the ten per cent of
the immigrants who are Canadians returning to the Dominion,
which they left when the conditions were adverse, there are
numbers who, while born in the States, are children of Cana-
dian parents, and look upon themselves as really Canadians.
Nor must it be forgotten that a considerable portion were born
in the British Islands, and, coming again under the same flag,
immediately upon arrival look upon themselves as Canadians.
The immigrants from the United States become natural-
ized at the earliest opportunity, while those who may be re-
patriated upon a three months' residence are quick to avail
themselves of the opportunity. Generally speaking, the
Americans are staunch supporters of the Canadian system of
government, and are ever ready to point out wherein it is
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES
557
superior to that which they have left. More especially is this
true with regard to the Canadian system of judiciary. No
warmer advocate of the appointive system of judges exists than
the American, who has had experience of the elective system.
It has already been stated that the majority of the Ameri-
can settlers are from the Northern and Western States.
The arrivals by states for the fiscal years 1901-10 were as
follows :
Wyoming . . 1,441
Connecticut . . 1,298
Texas . . . 1,131
New Jersey . . 876
Virginia . . . 698
Kentucky . . 626
Arkansas . . 572
Alaska . . . 571
Tennessee . . 412
Nevada . . 385
Arizona . . . 299
New Mexico . . 244
West Virginia . . 214
Indian Territory . 217
Maryland . . 200
North Carolina . 189
Louisiana . . 182
Florida . . . 172
Alabama . . 171
Mississippi . . 106
Delaware . . 89
Georgia . . 83
District of Columbia 50
South Carolina . 38
Hawaii ... 34
Not given . . 41,938
Total . . 479-623
North Dakota
78,786
Minnesota
66,735
Washington
50,517
Michigan
24,904
Iowa
21,757
Massachusetts
21,468
Illinois .
20,188
New York
19,770
Wisconsin
15,805
Montana
15,515
South Dakota .
".735
Idaho
8,365
Nebraska
7,967
Oregon .
7,656
Ohio
6,372
Pennsylvania .
6,301
Kansas
5,826
Missouri
5.313
California
5.276
Indiana .
5.090
Maine
5.058
Oklahoma
4-7II
New Hampshire
3,237
Colorado
2,983
Rhode Island .
2,257
Utah
Vermont
l!824
In the above statement the 41,938 who are classed as
' not given ' are largely made up of those who crossed at high-
ways where no immigration officer was stationed, and who
were examined by customs officials. As they drove across
558
IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
the international boundary in preference to travelling by
train, it is presumed that the great majority were from the
border states.
The nationalities of the immigrants from the United States
are as follows :
Nationality
1903-4
1904-5
1905-6
1906-7
1907-8
1908-9
1909-10
1910-11
Totals
U.S.A. Citizens . .
12,648
15,477
33,013
20,479
31,4"
33,474
65,190
77,353
289,045
Returned Canadians
4,432
3,6i3
5,000
2,502
5,160
5,538
12,750 16,567
55,562
Germans .
4,072
4,068
2,764
1,608
4,488
3,230
2,380 1,123
23,733
English .
1,739
1,119
1,182
691
1,481
1,508
2,047
2,78l
12,548
Irish.
1,186
5"
336
203
363
446
570
775
4,390
Scottish .
1,150
600
5i6
324
723
768
799
1,161
6,048
Welsh .
65
28
29
45
28
55
68
77
395
Norwegians
3,513
3,014
1,945
1,065
2,548
2,252
2,249
1,088
17,674
Swedes .
2,236
1,842
1,258
785
1,795
1,344
1,384
1,535
12,179
Icelanders
310
327
190
54
42
4°
33
5
1,001
Danes
283
254
K.I
159
385
207
247
214
1,910
Russians .
114
135
119
156
530
699
1.414
1,255
4,422
Finns
173
121
119
90
152
238
584
1,847
3,324
Dutch
US
51
38
19
72
104
97
92
588
Swiss
81
31
31
37
58
64
106
125
533
French
272
2O4
180
78
an
157
209
257 1,568
Belgians .
48
18
24
22
93
91
139
ill1 546
Other Nationalities
3.325
643
856
726
2,946
4,024
7,074
6,375' 25,969
Not given
9.467
11,596
10,158
5,6i6
5,826
5,593
6.458
8,703
63,417
Total Immigration
from U.S.A. .
45,229
43,652
57,919
34.659
58,312
59.832
103,798
121,451 524,852
Those whose nationalities are not given in the above table
entered Canada at points where no immigration officer was
stationed, and while examined by the customs officer as to
their desirability as immigrants, were not questioned as to
their nationality. As the large majority were farmers with
stock and implements which they had secured when farming
in the States, it is likely that they were largely United States
citizens.
AUSTRO-HUNGARIANS
One of the largest contributors of immigrants to Canada
of late years has been Austria-Hungary. The term Austro-
Hungarian, however, has no very definite meaning. Such
words as English, French, German, Norwegian convey to
the mind a class of persons of certain language, type, appear-
ance and peculiarities. Not so with the term Austro-Hun-
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 559
garian. Austria-Hungary is not a country wherein dwells
a particular class of people, but is a certain area under two
constituted governments, ruled over by one sovereign. The
population is made up of a number of races with different
languages, religions and social ideals. Divided into a large
number of provinces, the country as a whole has an area of
240,942 square miles and a population of about fifty millions.
Of these forty-five per cent are Slavs, twenty-five per cent
Germans, sixteen per cent Magyars ; the remainder consist
of Roumanians, Croatians, Ruthenians, Servians, Poles,
Bohemians, Jews and numerous other races. Of the different
races the Germans are the most desirable in every respect,
their educational standard being much higher, their industry
more noticeable, and their ideals more closely approaching
those of Canadians than is the case with the other races.
The provinces which have contributed most largely to the
movement of immigrants to Canada are Galicia and Buko-
wina. The North Atlantic Trading Company, which will
be mentioned later, brought Canada to the attention of the
people in these two provinces especially, and the movement
once commenced continued through the indirect immigration
work carried on by those who were successful in their new
homes. The census of 1901 showed 28,407 persons in Canada
who had been born in Austria-Hungary, and 18,178 of these
were classified as Austro-Hungarians, the balance presumably
being of German origin. Since that date the immigration
movement has been large, nearly 140,000 arriving in the
years 1901-12.
Coming from a country where agriculture is the principal
industry, the Galicians and others from Austria-Hungary
are fitted in some ways to make suitable settlers in Canada.
They have been, however, embarrassed for want of capital.
They have, moreover, preferred to settle on lands well covered
with timber, and the cost of clearing the land and bringing it
under cultivation has been higher than that of cultivating
prairie land. In the majority of cases when the $10 entry
fee for a homestead was paid and a not very habitable house
erected, the head of the family, together with any other
members able to act as wage-earners, found it necessary to
560 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
seek work in order to secure funds to purchase stock and
machinery. Employment could generally be secured with
farmers in the harvesting season, with threshing outfits during
the autumn, and in the bush during the winter. In this way
the men have secured some knowledge of the English language,
as have also some of the women who have become domestic
servants.
The Galicians and other Austro-Hungarians are settled
largely in the eastern portion of Manitoba and in the northern
sections of Saskatchewan and Alberta. They have improved
their positions by coming to Canada, but whether or not they
are a valuable acquisition to the Dominion is an open question.
They are slow to assimilate and adopt Canadian customs,
and, after all is said, this should be the final test as to the
desirability of any class of immigrants. If they will not aid
in forming a people united in customs and ideals, their room
should be more acceptable than their company. Time will,
no doubt, work wonders in their case, as it has in the
case of other nationalities, and eventually it is hoped that
they will make good Canadians. The process, however, will
be slow.
What has already been said refers to those who have gone
upon farms in Canada. Those who have settled in the cities
form an entirely different problem. Living as they do in
crowded, insanitary and usually filthy quarters, existing upon
food and under conditions which a self-respecting Canadian
would refuse to tolerate, they enter into unfair competition
with the wage-earners of Canada and constitute a source of
danger to the national life. Crime is all too common among
them, and it is without doubt the city element of this people
which has brought about the prejudice which exists against
Galicians in the minds of Canadians. Since 1906 no effort
has been made by the Canadian government to secure further
immigration of this class. But, although all the restrictive
regulations mentioned later on are enforced against them,
large numbers still arrive, and are likely to arrive for years to
come. A flow of any particular class of immigrants is usually
difficult to start, but when once commenced it is often just
as difficult to check.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 561
THE ITALIANS
According to the 1901 census there were then in Canada
6854 persons born in Italy and 10,834 persons of Italian origin.
Between the fiscal years 1901-2 and 1911-12 nearly 62,000
immigrants arrived from Italy. The large majority of the
Italians cannot, however, in the true sense be classed as im-
migrants, for they do not come with the intention of making
permanent homes. They are ' hewers of wood and drawers of
water ' who, by living at the lowest possible expense and by
working diligently, hope to accumulate sufficient wealth to
enable them to live comfortably in ' Sunny Italy.' They
arrive with little that cannot be carried tied up in a hand-
kerchief, and leave with a travelling outfit of about the same
dimensions. Stored about their persons, or transmitted
already to their native land, is the money they have earned
during their sojourn here.
If we except the hand-organ man and the fruit-dealer,
practically all are engaged at work as navvies. In every city
you see them digging drains ; on railway construction from
the Atlantic to the Pacific their services are eagerly sought.
The Italian is a good navvy. He obeys the orders of the
4 boss.' He is not anxious to go on strike, as he counts that
any increase in wages would in the short period he intends
to remain in the country no more than reimburse him for
the wages lost while the strike was on. At construction work
he boards himself, or, if eating at the contractor's boarding-
house, is likely to be satisfied with whatever fare is furnished.
He has no desire to insist upon exceptionally clean sleeping
quarters, and, in a word, is exactly the class of help which
contractors desire for the rough work of railway construction.
When times are slack the Italians flock to the cities, and in
their little colonies in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and
Vancouver huddle into their cheap boarding-houses and live
under appalling conditions, at a rate so low as almost to
shatter belief in the much talked of ' increased cost of living.'
When work is again available they are shipped off by employ-
ment agents to points at which their services are needed.
562 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
They have arrived from their native land with the idea
that it is for them to right their own wrongs in person. Thus,
while crimes committed by them against other than Italians
are uncommon, stabbing and shooting affrays are all too com-
mon where men of their own race are the victims. Edward A.
Steiner, in his book On the Trail of the Immigrant, writes
thus of the Italian attitude towards crime :
The worst thing about the Italians is that they have
no sense of shame or remorse. I have not yet found one
of them who was sorry for anything except that he had
been caught ; and in his own eyes and in the eyes of his
friends he is ' unfortunate ' when he is in prison and
' lucky ' when he comes out. ' He no bad,' his neighbour
says. ' He good, he just caught,' and when he comes out
he is received as a hero.
Of the Black Hand societies, of which we hear so much
in the large cities of the United States, little as yet has been
heard in Canada. That they exist is admitted by those most
familiar with the Italian in the Dominion, but as their threats
are invariably addressed to members of their own race, infor-
mation is unlikely to be furnished to the courts, or even to
creep into the press of the country.
That labour is necessary to carry on the large public works
throughout the Dominion is admitted ; that, if not on hand,
it must be brought to the country is conceded. We may,
however, hold that the help should be secured from such
immigrants as are considered desirable, so that the country
may have as its labourers those who intend to become per-
manent residents. The Italians are not of this class. They
merely save money with which to return to their native
land.
The enforcement of the regulation requiring Italians upon
arrival to present their penal certificates has resulted in the
rejection of many. A penal certificate is a civil document
showing the number of convictions registered against the
person to whom it is issued. As each Italian is supposed by
the laws of his own country to possess one, the fact that he
is without one is taken as evidence that he does not wish it
seen, or, in other words, that it shows him to have been
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 563
convicted of crime. As many have been rejected, either on
account of information furnished on the penal certificate or
through not possessing a penal certificate, it is evident that
many of the Italians attempting to come to Canada (and
the same is true of the United States) belong to the criminal
class. The government has never encouraged immigration
from Italy, except, for a very brief period, in the case of some
northern Italians. The large number of arrivals from Italy
is accounted for simply by the fact that those emigrating
desire work, and that the work awaits them in Canada.
THE FRENCH
With the population of France at a standstill and the
people prosperous, it is not to be expected that any great
movement of settlers should take place from that country ;
nevertheless, since the beginning of the twentieth century
there has been a steady flow of emigration to Canada. The
number for the years 1901-12 was 17,970. As in 1901 there
were only 7944 persons in Canada who had been born in
France, this class of population has more than doubled in
the last decade.
The French coming to Canada have settled largely in
Quebec, Ontario and the western provinces. There are
several very progressive colonies in Saskatchewan. The French
are an industrious and thrifty people, and will make a success
of agricultural work in the Dominion.
More important than the movement from France is that
of ' Returned Canadians ' from the Eastern States. These
people left Quebec when Canada was far from being as
prosperous as it now is, and are returning to Canada to take
up free homesteads in the prairie provinces, or to secure crown
lands in Quebec or Ontario.
THE BELGIANS
The people from Belgium also make excellent settlers.
Of these there were 2280 in 1901, and since that date the
arrivals have been 10,184.
564 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
THE DUTCH
The Dutch are as yet slightly represented in the Dominion,
there being in 1901 only 385 in Canada who were born in
Holland. In the first decade of the present century 4895
arrived, and a heavier immigration is expected in the future.
They make good settlers, and those who have already come
have made very rapid material progress.
THE Swiss
The Swiss are lightly represented in the immigration
returns, only 1717 having arrived between 1901 and 1912.
They also make good settlers.
THE GERMANS
In Canada in 1901 there were only 27,300 persons who had
been born in Germany ; there were, however, 310,501 of
German origin, or almost six per cent of the total population
of the Dominion. In the early days, as stated elsewhere
in this article, Canada received considerable German immi-
gration both directly from the Fatherland and indirectly
from the German settlements in the United States. The
descendants of these settlers form the greater part of the
present population of German origin. The immigration from
Germany during the years 1901-12 was about 25,000. In
addition to the above a considerable portion of the immigra-
tion from Austria-Hungary and Russia is of German origin.
For the fiscal years 1909-10 and 1910-11 the unnaturalized
Germans from the United States numbered 2378 and 1123
respectively.
Sturdy, intelligent, honest and industrious, the German
makes an ideal farmer, and he is in other walks of life a good
citizen. Although he clings to his language he also acquires
English, and the younger people especially adopt Canadian
customs. They are amongst Canada's best settlers, and it
is to be regretted that the laws of Germany prohibit the active
immigration propaganda which would enable the Dominion
to secure a much larger number than are now arriving.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 565
THE SCANDINAVIANS
Icelanders have already been dealt with. As of them, so
of the other Scandinavian races — Swedes, Norwegians, and
Danes — nothing but good can be said. The larger part of
the immigrants of these races go on the land ; but whether
they engage in agriculture or take up employment in the
cities they prove hard-working, honest, thrifty and intelligent
settlers of whom any country might be proud. In addition
to those coming direct from the homeland many have been
moving for years past from the Western States into Saskatch-
ewan and Alberta, and are there looked upon as amongst the
most progressive settlers. They readily acquire the English
language, become naturalized at the earliest possible moment,
take an interest in the political questions affecting their new
homes, and, in a word, ' become Canadians.' In 1901 there
were in Canada 2075 Danes and 10,256 Norwegians and
Swedes. Between 1901-2 and 1911-12 over 4700 Danes and
over 36,500 Norwegians and Swedes arrived in the Dominion.
With the Scandinavian race there is really no question of
assimilation. They are sprung largely from the same stock
as are the English, and, when they have acquired the language
and become acquainted with Canadian customs, they will be
as other Canadians. True, the first generation will be dis-
tinguished by their accent, but even this disappears in the
second generation.
TURKS, ARMENIANS AND SYRIANS
Turkey, Armenia and Syria supply some of Canada's
most undesirable immigrants. With them assimilation is out
of the question and, except rarely, they are not producers.
The Italians have their faults ; Canadians may not approve
of the manner in which the Poles and many other Eastern
European races live. But these people are at least workers.
If they take money out of the country when they go back
to their homes, they leave behind them tasks performed, for
which as a rule they have received no more than they have
earned. But with the Turks, Syrians and Armenians it is
different. They live under conditions which are a menace
566 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
to the country, and their time is spent in trade and barter.
Like the Gypsies, they are quick to avail themselves of
naturalization, not that they admire Canada's form of govern-
ment or take any interest in political events, but merely
because of the extra protection which naturalization affords
or which they imagine it affords. They are of a wandering
nature, and many of them have lived on both sides of the
international boundary. It is not uncommon to meet people
of these classes who carry with them when travelling natural-
ization papers from both Canada and the United States.
They find them of value in passing from one country to the
other. There were 1571 Turks and Syrians in Canada in
1901, and of these 481 were naturalized. Since that date
there have arrived 2456 Turks, 5229 Syrians and 1473
Armenians. Pedlars are no great acquisition to any country,
and there are few people in the Dominion who would care
to see the day arrive when people of these races might be
pointed out as fair samples of Canadian citizens.
GREEKS, MACEDONIANS AND BULGARIANS
The Greeks, Macedonians and Bulgarians are all dwellers
in cities when that is possible. If city work is not available
they take railway construction work, and, as they can live
on very little, they are able to save a large part of their
earnings. The Greek is rapidly branching out into two
new callings, shoe-polishing and confectionery. Amongst the
Macedonians and Bulgarians the highest ambition seems to
be to keep small stores where they sell the necessaries of
life, even if in a small way, as it gives them a better oppor-
tunity to prey upon their countrymen.
The modern Greek, Macedonian and Bulgarian have far
from a high sense of truthfulness. The writer has seen squads
of forty or fifty examined at the ocean port. Each one
gave an address to which he was proceeding, and gravely
informed the inspector that the person he was going to join
was his brother. Each one gave the same address. When
asked if he had any relatives accompanying him, each stated
that he had none. When confronted with the statements
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 567
of others of the party these dissemblers would then change
their story and claim to be cousins, brothers-in-law, or to have
any other convenient relationship to the one already in the
country. A recent case occurred in which a Macedonian
naturalized in Canada sent his naturalization papers to a
friend in the United States who desired to come to the
Dominion. This person, when stopped by an immigration
official, demanded entry as a Canadian citizen. The fraud
was discovered, the would-be immigrant was fined and de-
ported, and the Macedonian Canadian citizen was fined $250
for aiding and abetting the entry of an undesirable.
Practically all these three classes in the Dominion have
arrived since the beginning of the present century, the Greek
and Macedonian immigration numbering 3997 in the first
decade and the Bulgarian 4484 in the same time. Since the
1910 Immigration Act came into force the rejections amongst
these classes have been very heavy. None are now admitted
if they can be legally kept out.
THE CHINESE
Chinese immigration has undergone many changes. It
was openly encouraged in the early eighties when Chinese
labourers were needed in the construction of the Canadian
Pacific Railway. In 1886 an agitation carried on by trade
unions resulted in the imposing of a head tax of $50 on this
class of immigrants. In 1901 this was increased to $100 and
in 1904 to $500. In 1901 there were 17,043 persons in Canada
who had been born in China. The number of those of
Chinese origin was probably somewhat larger. Between
1901 and 1912 upwards of 30,000 entered Canada. Very few
of the Chinese arriving in Canada come on their own initia-
tive. Their fares and head tax are paid by ' tyees ' or con-
tractors, who hold them practically in bondage until they repay
the expense entailed in bringing them to Canada, together
with an exorbitant profit. They are industrious workers,
very thrifty, live well according to their standards, and
insist upon receiving the highest rate of remuneration which
their services can secure.
568 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
The Chinese in Canada may be divided into four classes :
merchants, dealing largely in teas, silks, opium and other
oriental products ; gardeners who devote their attention
almost entirely to garden products, and who in British
Columbia appear able to make large profits after paying a
yearly rental of $25 an acre for their land ; restaurant keepers
and laundrymen ; and, lastly, domestic servants. In the
last-mentioned occupation they give excellent satisfaction
to their employers, but as their wages have doubled since the
imposition of the $500 head tax, it is their proud boast that
it is the Canadians and not themselves who are mulcted.
For this boast they apparently have good grounds.
Generally speaking the Chinamen are quiet, inoffensive,
law-abiding people, if we leave out of account their tendency
to gamble and to indulge in opium. Many missions exist for
their conversion to Christianity. It is true, however, that
while large numbers profess conversion some will admit to
their intimate friends that they have done so because, as
they say, it is ' good for blizness.' When gambling they are
not averse to deception, but in business transactions they
are credited with having a strict sense of honour ; many who
know them best say that a Chinaman's word is as good as
his bond.
The large increase in numbers arriving during 1910-11 is
reported to have been caused by the circulation of a report
in China that the Canadian government intend raising the
head tax to $1000. Although not popular, the Chinaman
may be said to be now the least hated Oriental on the western
coast. As the desire of the Chinese is to accumulate wealth
to take back to their native land, and as assimilation is out
of the question, they cannot be classed as desirable, but,
unless the numbers arriving increase very largely, they cannot
be said to constitute any great menace to Canada.
THE JAPANESE
The Japanese are, from a Canadian standpoint, the most
undesirable of the Orientals. Belonging to an emigrating
race, filled with patriotism for their own country, and living
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 569
within such easy reach of Canada's western coast, they
might, if allowed to come, flood the Province of British
Columbia and dominate not only the labour market, but,
through the investment of capital, the principal industries
as well. That they are industrious and capable is admitted
by all acquainted with them. They would, however, never
become Canadians, and their arrival in large numbers is,
therefore, a contingency which should be carefully guarded
against. Unlike the other Orientals, they are not content to
remain ' hewers of wood and drawers of water.' Possibly
this desire to figure in all walks of life is not unconnected
with the dislike which the white races bear towards them.
There were about 4700 Japanese in Canada in 1901. Be-
tween 1901 and 1912 about 15,000 entered the Dominion,
the heaviest immigration being in 1907-8, when 7601 arrived.
There was a great falling off in the numbers (495) arriving
in 1908-9 as compared with 1907-8 ; this was the result
of an arrangement between Canada and Japan, whereby
the Japanese coolies arriving in any one year were to be
restricted to a certain number. Japan has kept well within
the number arranged for. So long as this arrangement
remains in force Japanese immigration need cause no anxiety
to Canada.
THE HINDUS
Of the different immigration problems which from time to
time have faced the Dominion, that of the influx of Hindus
appeared for a time to be possibly the most serious. This
movement commenced in 1905. The arrivals up to the
close of the fiscal year 1911-12 were 5203. British Columbia,
the nearest province to the Orient and the one possessing
the climate most closely resembling that of their native
land, was the ultimate destination of these unwelcome
comers, and British Columbia was not slow in expressing
her disapproval of them. ' A White Canada ' was her cry.
That these immigrants were British subjects ; that many
had fought for the Empire ; that many expressed their
willingness to do so again should occasion arise — all this in
no way lessened the antipathy of the white race towards them.
VOL. VII N
570 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
True, there were some imperialists who, recognizing in
the Hindus subjects of the same sovereign, argued that they
were entitled to enter the Dominion as a matter of right,
and that any action towards restricting their movements
from one part of the British domains to another would
endanger the existence of the Empire. But the counsels of
the advocates of ' A White Canada ' finally prevailed, and an
order-in-council was passed providing that persons of Asiatic
origin, other than Chinese and Japanese, must have in their
possession $200 at the time of landing in Canada. This
came into force in 1908, and the numbers arriving imme-
diately dropped from 2623 in that year to almost nothing.
The Hindus who came to Canada were largely from the
Punjab and, physically, were a fine set of men. The term
Hindu as here applied is a misnomer, denoting as it does a
religious sect rather than a race of people. In religion they
were divided, some being Hindus, others Buddhists and
others Mohammedans. It is doubtful whether with their
constitutions, suitable for the country and climate from
which they came, they will ever become thoroughly acclima-
tized in Canada. Pneumonia and pulmonary troubles have
already resulted in the death of no small number. Their
bodies were disposed of by cremation, the burial method of
their own country ; possibly this is the only one of their
customs which might with advantage be adopted.
Saw-mills and railway construction work afforded employ-
ment to the Hindus. While they were able at most times
to secure employment, it was at a lower rate than that paid
to white men or even to Japanese or Chinese. They were
unaccustomed to Canadian methods, and though able to
speak a little English were slow to learn more. Their
greatest disadvantage, however, is their caste system, which*
prevents them from eating and sometimes even from work-
ing with white men, or even with others of their own race
who belong to a different social scale — for this is practically
the meaning of caste. Now that the influx is checked the
Hindu problem is ended. Those already in the country are
occupied in the various mills, and yearly some go to the
United States and others back to their native land.
THE IMMIGRATION BY RACES 571
THE JEWS
Scattered over the face of the earth, a people but not a
nation, the Jews seek the land where they may hope to reap
a harvest from their labours. Canada, in common with the
United States, has proved a loadstone to draw these wan-
derers from the ends of the earth. Russia, Austria-Hungary,
Germany and England have furnished in the order named
the Hebrews who have settled in the Dominion.
Efforts at colonization on the land have been made. Two
of the most important were at Wapella and Hirsch. Neither
has proved a conspicuous success. More recently the Jews
have attempted the cultivation of the finer grades of tobacco
in the Province of Quebec, and although their efforts are
apparently meeting with success it is as yet too soon to
predict the final result. They cannot be classed as agricul-
turists, and the number who have engaged in this occupa-
tion is small compared with those engaged in trade and
barter or who take up manufacturing.
The Jews are pre-eminently dwellers in cities. The
clothing trade in its various branches provides employment
for many ; other occupations that attract them are cigar and
cigarette making, shoe-repairing, fruit-dealing and vegetable-
dealing, and rag and other varieties of peddling.
The increase in the Hebrew population has been very
rapid in Canada, rising from 667 in 1881 to 16,131 in 1901 ;
since then the immigration of this race has amounted to
over 50,000. According to the census of 1901, of the 16,131
Jews then resident in Canada 13,470 lived in twelve cities.
In Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg the conditions under
which some, especially the Russian Jews, live are far from
satisfactory, either as respects air-space, ventilation or clean-
liness. Sweat-shops have not yet reached in Canada the
deplorable condition found in the United States, but the
tendency is in that direction, and the Jews are one of
the strongest factors in bringing this about. No effort is
or ever has been made by the government of Canada to
induce Jewish immigrants to come to the Dominion, and
'the influx has been entirely unsolicited. In their move-
572 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
ments to America they are aided largely by their philanthropic
societies. These also do useful work amongst their own
people by looking after those unable to support themselves.
Ill
LAWS RESPECTING IMMIGRATION
HAVING briefly reviewed the different nationalities
coming to Canada, we pass to a consideration of
the laws respecting immigration. From time to
time new immigration acts have been passed, notably in
1869, 1886 and 1906. The last and existing act was passed
in 1910, and it is noticeable that, while, as a rule, consider-
able criticism is directed against government legislation by the
opposition, in passing this act the two great political parties
were as one. The act was framed with the object of provid-
ing the immigration officials with the necessary machinery to
carry out the government's policy of inducing the immigra-
tion of farmers and of female domestic servants from approved
countries. At the same time it aimed at enabling immigra-
tion officials to keep out of Canada all undesirables, irrespec-
tive of the countries from which they came. The act was
the result of the experience of eight years with the then
existing law, and was made up of such portions of this law
as had proved valuable. Portions of the United States Act
and of the Australian Act were added, and entirely new
features were included which seemed to meet the end in
view.
A brief resumt of its important points may not here be
out of place. The act, stripped of legal phraseology, may
best be understood by considering it under four heads.
(i) That portion providing for carrying on an immigration
propaganda. (2) Provisions for the protection of immi-
grants. (3) Provisions for the exclusion of undesirable
immigrants. (4) Provisions for deportation after arrival
of immigrants who prove to be undesirable.
The act provides first for the appointment of officers, and
for the establishment of offices within, or outside, Canada.
LAWS RESPECTING IMMIGRATION 573
A provision is made for the punishment of those making
false representations to induce or deter immigration to
Canada. The most important provisions under the second
heading are regulations for the protection of female immi-
grants while on board vessels. Heavy penalties are also
imposed upon vessel owners for breach of contract with any
immigrant. To increase their revenue shipowners have
been known to overcrowd their vessels ; in order to prevent
this the act stipulates that no vessel carrying immigrants to
Canada shall have on board more than one adult person,
including crew and passengers, for every two tons of the
tonnage of such vessel. It has happened in the past that
during the voyage immigrants have frequently spent more
of their money than they could well afford upon drink, and
to check this the sale of intoxicating liquor to steerage
passengers, except with the consent of the master of the
ship or of a duly qualified medical practitioner on board
the ship, has been prohibited, and a fine is imposed of not
less than $10 or of more than $50 for each offence. It has
happened that unscrupulous persons would offer employ-
ment to immigrants on what afterwards proved to be unfair
terms, or would charge exorbitant fees for securing or pro-
mising to secure good openings. It is often difficult to
prosecute such cases under the Criminal Code, and the act
accordingly gives to the governor in council authority to
make regulations safeguarding the interests of immigrants.
These things — an immigration propaganda and the regu-
lations for the protection of new settlers — may very well
be left to departmental management. But provisions for
excluding immigrants affect personal liberty and should be
regulated by statute. This has been done in part. But
the government has, in addition, power to pass orders-in-
council to deal with situations and conditions not easily
covered by an act of parliament. Speaking in the house
on this subject the Hon. Frank Oliver said :
We want to be in such a position that, should occasion
arise, when public policy seems to demand it, we may
have the power, on our responsibility as a Government,
to exclude people whom we consider undesirable. If this
574 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
power is given to the Government, then the Government
can be held responsible should there be a sudden influx of
an undesirable class of people. We cannot tell at what
time, or under what circumstances, there may be a sudden
movement of people from one part of the world or another,
and we want to be in a position to check it, should public
policy demand such an action.
This view of the situation was adopted by parliament,
and the governor in council was given wide powers. The
discussion which took place upon the bill showed that Canada,
in common with other young countries, whose natural re-
sources attract the residents of the overcrowded communi-
ties of Europe, is fully aware of the necessity of sifting
' the wheat from the chaff ' in the multitudes who seek her
shores. That the exclusion provisions are drastic none
can deny ; that their enforcement has brought and will
bring hardship on some all must admit. They were passed
by members of parliament fully aware of these facts. The
Hon. Frank Oliver said :
Let it be distinctly understood by each member of the
Committee upon whom rests the responsibility of legis-
lation, that if we deem it necessary to pass a law restrict-
ing immigration, the fact of that law being upon the
statute book places upon the Government of the day the
responsibility of enforcing its provisions. The restrictive
provisions of our immigration law which are now in force,
and which will be in force under this Act, mean hardship
in many cases. There are heart-breaking instances, hun-
dreds of them, under its administration. But it is the
law, not of the Government, but of the Parliament of
Canada, and it expresses the mind of our people in regard
to these questions, and the responsibility of the Govern-
ment is to carry out the will of the people thus expressed.
It is impossible to enforce a harsh statute in a soft way.
I would wish that every member of the House should ap-
preciate the full measure of his responsibility in endorsing
the drastic exclusion provisions of this immigration law ;
he must share with the Government the responsibility
for the hardship which occurs under it. It would not be
acting fairly by the country, and the Government would
stand to be condemned, if, having been authorized by
LAWS RESPECTING IMMIGRATION 575
Parliament to enforce certain exclusion provisions, the
Government did not give effect to those provisions. I
do not think there is any member of the House who ap-
preciates more than I do the terrible hardships that arise
under the administration of this immigration law ; but
under the responsibility which I hold from this House, and
from the country, I have a duty to perform, and I wish to
perform it, while as leniently as possible, yet as honestly
and as fairly as possible, and as much in accord with the
instructions of Parliament as possible.
It is thus clearly evident that parliament passed its
exclusion provisions duly aware of the effect they would
have. In brief, the section dealing with this subject abso-
lutely prohibits the landing in Canada of criminals, diseased
persons, those mentally or physically defective, procurers,
prostitutes and pimps, beggars or vagrants, those likely to
become a public charge, and all charity immigrants, except
those having from the superintendent of immigration at
Ottawa, or the assistant superintendent of emigration for
Canada, in London, written authority to go to Canada.
It also excludes those who do not comply with the condi-
tions or requirements of any order-in-council which may
be passed by the governor in council as above mentioned.
The reason for the exclusion of most of the classes enume-
rated is self-evident, but without some explanation that
referring to charity-aided immigrants might seem unduly
harsh. It may, therefore, be mentioned that during the
year 1907 over 12,000 immigrants were sent to Canada by
charitable organizations. These persons were the unem-
ployed, chiefly drawn from the overcrowded quarters of
large cities. Their position was often due either to their
own intemperance or incompetence. A prominent immi-
gration official said of them that they ' for the most part
lack that self-confidence and self-reliance so necessary for
success in a new country and under new conditions.' In
the autumn of 1907 many of these people were out of work
and a burden on the communities in which they lived. The
Immigration department received some very harsh criticism,
and accordingly an order-in-council was passed prohibiting
576 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
charity-aided immigrants from coming to Canada except
on the terms above mentioned. The new law is, therefore,
merely a continuation of the old policy.
The exclusion provisions so far dealt with are the statutory
ones. In addition to those enumerated the governor-general
in council may :
(1) Provide that immigrants shall have in their posses-
sion a prescribed amount of money.
(2) Provide that immigrants coming from countries
issuing passports or penal certificates to persons leaving
such countries shall produce these before being allowed
to land in Canada.
(3) Prohibit the landing in Canada of immigrants not
coming by continuous journey from the country of birth
or naturalization upon a through ticket purchased in that
country or prepaid in Canada.
(4) Prohibit the landing of immigrants belonging to
any race deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements
of Canada, or of immigrants of any specified class, occu-
pation, or character.
(5) Prohibit the landing of passengers brought by trans-
portation companies which refuse to comply with the pro-
visions of the act.
Of these five clauses the government put the first three in
force as soon as the act was assented to by the governor-
general in council. The first provides that every immigrant
arriving in Canada between March i and October 31 must
be in possession of $25 at the time of landing. If he comes
at other times of the year he must be in possession of $50
unless he is going to assured employment at farm work, or,
in the case of females, to assured employment in domestic
service. A relaxation is also made in the case of persons
going to join father, mother, brother, independent sister or
children, provided that in each case such relative is able
and willing to support the immigrant arriving. In order to
overcome the rigidity of the act in its exclusion provisions,
the minister of the Interior has power to permit any person
to enter Canada for a specified period of time.
The act provides for the deportation of those who after
arrival prove undesirable. This means that if within three
THE IMMIGRATION POLICY OF CANADA 577
years they come under the classes mentioned as liable to
exclusion, or have been inmates of a gaol, asylum, hospital
or other public charitable institution, they may be deported.
The law also provides for the deportation of anarchists
and similar undesirable classes. Deported persons are re-
turned to the country from which they came at the expense
of the transportation company responsible for bringing them
to Canada.
Possibly the most drastic section in the whole act is that
which provides as follows :
No court and no judge or officer thereof shall have
jurisdiction to review, quash, reverse, restrain or other-
wise interfere with any proceeding, decision or order of the
Minister or of any Board of Inquiry, or officer in charge,
had, made or given under authority and in accordance
with the provisions of this Act, relating to the detention
or deportation of any rejected immigrant, passenger, or
other person, upon any ground whatsoever, unless such
person is a Canadian citizen or has Canadian domicile.
To understand the full force of this section it need only be
stated that for the purpose of this act no person, unless born
in Canada, or unless he has resided at least three years in
Canada, can be considered as a Canadian citizen, or as having
acquired a Canadian domicile. This provision refusing access
to a court of law applies, of course, only to those rejected
immediately upon arrival, and does not refer to those ordered
to be deported after admission. The reason for this legisla-
tion is that the immigration officers are the best judges of
those who are, and of those who are not, qualified to land in
Canada, and they should be trusted to discharge their dudes
justly.
IV
THE IMMIGRATION POLICY OF CANADA
THE immigration policy of the government of Canada
at the present time is, and for many years past has
been, to encourage the immigration of farmers, farm
labourers and domestic servants from countries which are
classed as desirable. The list of countries has undergone
578 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
change from time to time, and at the present includes the
United States, the British Isles, France, Belgium, Holland,
Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and
Iceland.
On the other hand, it is the policy of the government to
do all in its power to keep out of the country undesirables,
who may be divided into three classes :
1. Those physically, mentally or morally unfit whose
exclusion is provided for by the immigration act already
quoted.
2. Those belonging to nationalities unlikely to assimi-
late and who, consequently, prevent the building up of a
united nation of people of similar customs and ideals.
3. Those who from their mode of life and occupations
are likely to crowd into urban centres and bring about a
state of congestion which might result in unemployment
and a lowering of the standard of Canadian national life.
While neither the Immigration Act nor the orders-in-
council passed thereunder prohibit the landing in Canada of
persons belonging to the second and third classes above
mentioned, still their entry has been made difficult. Their
coming is discouraged in a number of ways. Chinese are
subject to a head tax of $500. The number of Japanese
coolies has been limited by arrangements between the two
countries. Orders-in-council have been passed requiring
(i) Asiatic arrivals to have $200 in cash at the time of
landing ; (2) the production of passports and penal certificates
by persons coming from the countries which issue these ;
(3) the continuous journey of all immigrants from the
country of their birth or citizenship on tickets purchased in
that country or purchased or prepaid in Canada. All these
regulations put obstacles in the way of immigrants from
Asia and Southern and Eastern Europe, and, consequently,
the numbers coming or likely to come from those countries
are correspondingly diminished.
Briefly, this is the immigration policy of the government.
In so far as the administration of the restrictive part of the
policy is concerned the Immigration department has at all
times endeavoured to be both just and humane, bearing in
IMMIGRATION PROPAGANDA 579
mind, however, that its duty is to Canada and to Canada only,
and that while every applicant for admission who is likely to
be an acquisition to the country shall be admitted if the law
will permit it, on the other hand, every person who is likely
to be a detriment to the country must be rejected if the law
will allow it.
It may be here stated that until 1903 immigrants, upon
arrival in Canada, underwent no medical examination which
might result in their rejection through physical or mental
unfitness. In 1903, however, a medical examination was
commenced, and from that year rejections at the ocean ports
have been frequent, both upon medical and civil grounds.
The rejections at border points between Canada and the
United States commenced in 1908-9. During the fiscal years
1902-12 8500 rejections were recorded at ocean ports and
51,015 at border stations on the United States boundary.
Even with the care exercised in the rejection of undesirables
when they apply for admission, a certain percentage enter
Canada who prove failures and who are deported. During
the years 1902-12 5626 such deportations were made.
IMMIGRATION PROPAGANDA
IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
IN Great Britain and Ireland the immigration propaganda
is carried on by advertisements in the newspapers,
particular use being made of agricultural journals and
papers circulating wholly or largely in the agricultural
districts. Little use is made of newspapers whose circula-
tion is largely urban. Advertising in newspapers is of two
classes. Regular advertisements call attention in brief form
to the advantages which Canada offers, and give the address
of the nearest government office where full information can
be obtained regarding the country. But a more effective
advertisement consists in accounts of trips through Canada
by journalists of note. The insertion of this matter is
arranged for by the department, sometimes at a regular
58o IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
advertising rate, sometimes in return for advertising which
has been given to journals and paid for. In practically no
case does the department advertise in a newspaper which
refuses, when requested, to publish a reasonable amount of
good reading material regarding the Dominion. During the
winter of 1910-11 the department advertised in 550 papers
in the British Islands.
Weekly a column of Canadian news, edited to suit the
tastes of the British reader, is prepared at the London office
of the Canadian Immigration department and sent to over
600 papers. This news, while having no direct, or very little
direct, bearing on immigration, brings Canada before the
reading public, and is good for the Dominion from an immi-
gration standpoint.
Similar publicity is secured in a bi-weekly cablegram
from Canada dealing with important non-political Canadian
events. All the leading papers publish this cable in full, and,
received as a government statement of events, it is regarded
as authentic, widely quoted and commented upon, and in this
way brings Canada prominently to the front. In the British
Islands a method of advertisement which has been very
satisfactory has been the exhibit wagons, of which there are
two, one working in the north of Scotland and the other
throughout Ireland. Two motor cars also travel throughout
rural England from the middle of March until the end of
October. These cars contain samples of Canadian grains,
etc., and the persons in charge stop wherever a crowd can
most conveniently be collected, lecture on the Dominion and
distribute pamphlets. These cars are present at as many
markets and fairs as possible, and regular exhibits are also
made at many of the fairs. Atlases are distributed at rural
schools, and the rising generation used to agricultural life are
thus made aware of the advantages which Canada has to
offer.
Farm delegates are also sent to the British Islands. Those
of the farm delegates who are well fitted for public speaking
lecture about five nights a week at meetings which are
advertised in the locality selected. In almost all cases the
buildings are filled, and, as a rule, magic-lanterns showing
IMMIGRATION PROPAGANDA 581
views of Canadian farm life are used in explaining the work
which immigrants may expect to find upon their arrival.
All those engaged in lecture work are carefully warned to keep
well within the bounds of truth, and to arrange for as good a
report in the local press as it is possible to obtain. In this
way the lecturer reaches, not only those present at the
meeting, but also the reading public of the papers in which
the report is inserted. Very often the chair at the meeting
is occupied by the mayor or some important municipal
officer, and at times by clergymen or others interested in
emigration work. At the conclusion of the meetings it is
usual to invite inquiries, and any points upon which the
audience may be in doubt are then thoroughly explained.
Others of the farm delegates are advertised by the booking-
agents as being present in their offices to give their personal
experience of farming in Canada, and in the majority of cases
a large number of inquirers call to learn of Canada from the
lips of men who have had practical and personal experience.
The regular offices of the department from which this
work is directed in Great Britain and Ireland are nine in
number, situated at London, Liverpool, Exeter, York,
Birmingham, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin. The
general work of all these offices is twofold in character:
first, to encourage all desirable persons to emigrate to Canada,
and secondly, to discourage the emigration of those who, for
any reason, are likely to prove failures. Of these reasons,
lack of adaptability is one of the most common, one of the
most serious, and also one of the most easily perceivable to
a person trained in dealing with emigrants. In the British
Islands it is customary for booking-agents who come in con-
tact with any one about whose success they have doubts to
refer him to the nearest government office, where his case is
considered and advice is given in the best interests of Canada
and of the prospective emigrant. As there are over three
thousand booking-agents in the British Islands, this phase
of the work is very important; and when it is considered that
booking-agents suffer a pecuniary loss from every prospective
emigrant discouraged from emigrating, it is only fair to them
to say that they deserve credit for the manner in which they
582 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
carry on their work. There are, however, some who are
more concerned in looking after their own interests than after
the interests of Canada ; but it is impossible for them to
carry on their work contrary to the regulations of the depart-
ment for any length of time without coming into conflict
with the authorities, and the steamship companies have
evinced a willingness to withdraw their licence from such as
persist in misrepresentation or give bad advice. A number
of booking-agents have been forced out of business on account
of their unfair dealings. Inasmuch as a bonus is paid to
booking-agents selling tickets to farmers, farm labourers and
female domestic servants, each one of these booking-agents is
looked upon practically as an agent of the department, and
they are supplied with literature for distribution among their
prospective customers. The same method is followed by
Australia, New Zealand and other colonies seeking immigrants,
but so far Canada has been able, by its superior class of
literature and by the advantages which the country offers, to
hold the services of practically all the agents. It thus hap-
pens that a person desirous of leaving the old country and
going to a booking-agent for advice is much more likely to
be directed to Canada than to the other colonies. The bonus
paid at the present time (1912) is £l per head on adults
who will engage in the occupations specified, and IDS. on
their children between one and eighteen years of age. For
the calendar year 1909 the bonus was paid upon 4063 men,
2647 women and 1405 children, while for the calendar year
1910 the bonus was paid upon 9813 men, 6015 women and
2840 children.
Before leaving the question of the payment of bonus to
British booking-agents it might be well to quote a short
extract from a circular letter, issued by the department to
these agents, setting forth in brief the department's views on
the question of British immigration.
The circular says :
In a country with a population of nearly fifty millions,
such as the United Kingdom, which has no new territory
for occupation, there must necessarily be a large yearly
increase of population, which must either find an outlet,
IMMIGRATION PROPAGANDA 583
or add to the congestion of the great cities. Every year
there is a very large movement of people from the United
Kingdom to North America. For a long time the larger
part of this yearly movement went to the United States
and a very small part to Canada. That which went to the
United States was lost to the Empire ; the part which
went to Canada aided in building up the Empire.
It is not the expectation of the Government of Canada
to increase unduly the outflow of people from the United
Kingdom, but it is its desire to turn to the benefit of the
Empire in Canada a greater proportion of the natural and
necessary annual outflow from the mother country.
The Canadian Government in confining the bonus to
emigrants of certain callings has selected those callings
which may fairly be expected to fit people for the oppor-
tunities existing in Canada. By making special exertions
to secure these classes for Canada, the booking agents
will be doing their best for the emigrants themselves, for
Canada and for the Empire.
It is believed that, although the classes particularly
desired by Canada might find a field for employment at
home, the removal each year of some part of the natural
increase there will leave room and opportunity for others
who would, under other circumstances, be crowded out
of these advantages.
The classes of people on whom bonus is paid by the
Canadian Government are expected, by reason of their
experience at home, to find scope for their abilities in the
occupation of the vacant lands of Canada, or in the em-
ployment upon the lands now occupied and cultivated.
And while it is not asserted that people of other callings
or conditions of life should not come to Canada, or may
not find a career open to them in this country, it is desired
to have it well understood that the Government of Canada
assumes no responsibility with respect to any other im-
migration than that of the classes mentioned as eligible
for bonus payment. It is not asserted that the farmer or
farm labourer is necessarily a more desirable citizen than
any other, but it is a simple fact that the demand in
Canada is for people to occupy the as yet vacant lands of
the country, or to aid in the cultivation of those already
occupied. This it is which justifies the Government in
assuming the expense of immigration effort. To go be-
yond the attempt to meet these requirements would be
584 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
to use the money of certain classes of Canadian taxpayers
for the purpose of securing competitors against them in
their several callings, for which they would naturally hold
the Government to account.
For these reasons booking agents will be good enough
to understand that the present large bonus is only offered
to secure the fullest compliance with its conditions, and
they must expect the officials of the Immigration Branch
to look strictly into every bonus claim made, not as show-
ing any lack of faith in the booking agents, or as discrimi-
nating against any class of people, but simply as a matter
of business to make sure that money is not being paid
except on the due fulfilment of conditions that have the
sanction of all classes of the Canadian people, who, in fact,
are paying the money.
It is not in the interest of the individual emigrant that
he should remove to Canada unless there is reasonable
prospect of his success here. The arrival in this country
of any large number of immigrants who are unfitted for
the conditions here, must necessarily react against the
continuance of the movement. In spite of the fact that
his failure to succeed is due to personal causes, the un-
successful man will blame the country, and complain to
his friends at home, thereby deterring them from coming
out, and the efforts of the Immigration Department will
be discredited with the people of Canada, who will there-
fore withdraw their support from those efforts. The men
wanted in Canada are those who will do well here, who are
recognized in the United Kingdom as being fit, but who
are looking for the wider opportunities of the new country,
not to be found at home. The efforts of the Canadian
Immigration Department are not directed towards those
who are merely looking for a place where they may live,
but towards those who, while they are able to live under
present conditions in the United Kingdom, are on the
look-out for an opportunity to better their position in life.
In all the British offices lecturing is one of the most im-
portant branches, and hundreds of lectures are delivered every
year by the regular staff. The distribution of Canadian
atlases and school maps is having an excellent effect in direct-
ing the attention of the rising generation towards Canada,
while millions of copies of immigration pamphlets distributed
IMMIGRATION PROPAGANDA 585
in the past few years have gone a long way towards dispelling
that ignorance regarding Canada which was at one time only
too noticeable in the mother country.
IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE
On the Continent officers are maintained at Paris and
at Antwerp. Here, too, newspaper advertising is carried on,
atlases are distributed, personal inquiries are answered, and
a knowledge of Canada is disseminated by all means possible.
The government agents have the assistance of certain selected
booking-agents to whom a bonus is allowed on passengers
booked by them. In 1899 the government entered into an
agreement with the North Atlantic Trading Company to
promote emigration to Canada from certain Continental
European countries upon the understanding that the com-
pany was to receive a bonus on each agriculturist and female
domestic servant from the countries in which the work was
carried on. From time to time this agreement was altered
by the addition to, or the elimination from, the contract of
certain European countries. The last agreement was dated
November 28, 1904, and was to run for ten years, subject to
cancellation on four years' notice by either side, or subject to
cancellation at any time if in the opinion of the minister of
the Interior the company was failing to live up to its contract.
During the continuation of this contract it was the cause
of much discussion in parliament. As there are strong laws
against promoting emigration in some of the countries con-
cerned, the Canadian government agreed that the names of
the persons interested in the company should be kept secret.
The opposition in parliament attacked this secrecy, and the
result was political strife over the question. The last con-
tract, entered into in 1904, provided for educative work
regarding Canada in Holland, Denmark, Russia, Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Luxemburg, Norway, Sweden, Finland
and Switzerland. The company was to spend annually not
less than $15,000 on its work. The government agreed to
pay the company £l for each man, woman and child of the
agricultural class brought to Canada, and for each girl of
VOL. VII O
586 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
eighteen years of age or over of the domestic service class.
It was provided that in no one year should the government
be called upon to pay a bonus on more than five thousand
Poles, Galicians and Bukowinians. While discouraging this
immigration to this extent the government gave special aid to
encourage the operations in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The company carried on their work actively. In the end,
however, the minister of the Interior claimed that the com-
pany was devoting too much attention to the southern and
eastern countries, and too little to the northern countries.
This, he held, was in violation of the agreement, and in 1906
he gave notice terminating the contract. The total amount
paid to the North Atlantic Trading Company from 1899 to
1906 was $367,245. This was the only case in which the
government has ' farmed out,' so to speak, its immigration
propaganda.
IN THE UNITED STATES
In the United States the department has sixteen regular
offices. At each one of these offices a regular immigration
propaganda is carried on throughout the year. Advertisements
appear in the newspapers, and news about Canada is circu-
lated. During the advertising seasons advertisements appear,
as a rule, in about five thousand newspapers. Next to news-
paper advertising, the exhibits at autumn fairs in rural villages
and county towns is the best method of advertising in the
United States. These exhibits are seen by exactly the class
of people who are wanted in Canada, and no stronger argu-
ment can be made to them than a view of the products of
the country. From the regular offices and at exhibitions
are distributed large numbers of the pamphlets prepared by
the department. These must be kept strictly up to date,
otherwise they arouse the suspicions of the Americans. For
example, the pamphlets presented in 1913 must report fully
on the crops of 1912, be they good, bad or indifferent. If
the figures published should be for the year 1911, it is im-
mediately inferred that there was something to conceal about
the crops of the following year.
RAILWAY EXTENSION AND IMMIGRATION 587
The literature distributed by the department in Great
Britain, on the Continent and in the United States is com-
piled at Ottawa. Great care is taken that all statements are
correct. Every effort is made to keep the maps and statis-
tical information strictly up-to-date. Some of the pamphlets
deal with the Dominion as a whole, while others deal with
individual provinces. Besides distribution from the offices
outside Canada, a large amount is distributed direct from
the head office.1
VI
RAILWAY EXTENSION AND IMMIGRATION
' I "HE work just outlined has an immense influence in
directing immigration to Canada, but another factor
is equally, if not more, important — railway construc-
ion. Not only are workers required, and immigrants brought,
to build the railways ; the new areas opened up prove an
* The amounts
given herewith :
FbcalYear
1867-68
1868-69
1869-70
1870-71
i87i-7a
1872-73
1873-74
'874-75
1875-76
1876-77
1877-78
1878-79
1879-80
1 880-8 1
1881-82
1882-83
1883-84
1884-85
1885-86
1886-87
1887-88
1888-89
1889-90
spent upon immigration by the Dominion of Canada are
f
36,049.76
26,951.80
55,96599
54,004.20
291,296.57
338,179.10
309,352.90
'54.351-42
186,403.06
161,213.32
214,251.05
2'5.339-*4
373.957-7'
511,208.83
423,860.90
257.35493
341,236.39
244.789-°9
202,409.26
110,091.76
FhcalYe«r
$
1890-91
181,045.38
1891-92
177,604.83
1892-93
180,677.43
1893-94
202,235.53
1894-95
195.652.97
1895-96
120,199.00
1896-97
127,438.14
1897-98
261,194.90
1898-99
255,878.88
1899-1900
434,562.61
IOOO-I
444,729-63
1901-2
494,841.55
1002-3
642,9' 3 74
1903-4
744,788.50
1904-5
972,356.69
1905-6
842,668.23
1906-7
611,200.76
1907-8
1,074,696.51
1908-9
979.326.16
1909-10
960,676.03
1910-11
1,080,208.45
I9II-I2
',354.736-67
588 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
incentive which the land-hungry of other countries cannot
resist, and they flock to a region traversed by a railway.
First the Canadian Pacific Railway, at a later date the
Canadian Northern, and more recently still the Grand Trunk
Pacific have opened up immense tracts. A railway to the
Peace River will probably result in a stampede to that
country greater than has ever taken place to any portion of
the now settled districts of the prairie provinces.
READY-MADE FARMS
The new scheme of the Canadian Pacific Railway for pro-
viding ready-made farms for British settlers has brought to
Canada numbers who might not otherwise have come. In
the vicinity of Sedgewick and of Strathmore in the Province
of Alberta the company has taken a portion of its holdings
and commenced work. It erects a comfortable house and a
barn on each farm and places a certain area under cultiva-
tion. The settler purchases before leaving England, usually on
the instalment plan covering a number of years. When he
arrives in Canada his home is ready for him, and he under-
goes little or none of the pioneering hardships with which the
early settler had to contend.
VII
THE PROBLEM OF FUTURE IMMIGRATION
AT the present time there is no large number of persons
/"JL in Canada whose presence is a menace to the country
from a political, moral or economic point of view. The
reason for the absence of such a problem is that representatives
of undesirable nationalities have as yet come in small number
only. Who would care to see Alberta a second Mississippi
or Georgia, as far as population is concerned ? Who would
wish to see the day arrive when British Columbia could be
termed the ' Second Flowery Kingdom,' as might easily
happen if the doors were thrown open to the Japanese ? Who
would not regret to see the ghettos and slums of New York,
THE PROBLEM OF FUTURE IMMIGRATION 589
with her hived population and her reeking sweat-shops, dupli-
cated in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg ? These are the
questions which to-day confront Canadians, and this is the
problem of the future. More important than the drilling of
armies, more important than the constmction of navies, more
important even than the fiscal policy of the country is the
question of who shall come to Canada and become part and
parcel of the Canadian people.
Fifty years ago the United States was receiving practi-
cally the class which is to-day coming to Canada. With
the disappearance of free lands the character of the immi-
gration to the United States has changed, and now Southern
and Eastern Europe are furnishing most of her new settlers,
and a large percentage of her immigrants remain in the cities.
The people of the republic are now awake to the danger
which this involves, and anti-immigration leagues and similar
organizations are being formed to bring the question promi-
nently before the public. Canada, with this object-lesson
before her, has no excuse if she allows the same evils to grow.
Much has already been done to prevent this. One sugges-
tion for further checks is the introduction of educational
tests. It is, for instance, suggested that no one over ten
years of age shall be admitted who is unable to speak, read
and write either English, Welsh, Gaelic, French, German,
Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or Icelandic. This
would practically confine immigration to the countries where
immigration work is now carried on.
E. N. Lewis, M.P., introduced in the House of Commons
in the session of 1909-10 an ' Act to Amend the Immigration
Act,' which provided among other things that ' From and after
the 1st January, 1911, natives of Europe south of Forty-four
Degrees, North Latitude, and east of Twenty Degrees, East
Longitude, and natives of Turkey in Asia, shall be prohibited
from entering in and settling in Canada.' This bill was not
passed by parliament, but the fact of its introduction shows
that the importance of restricting immigration vigorously
is not being entirely overlooked. How far international or
diplomatic considerations might prevent such checks it is
difficult to say. Stephen Leacock, Professor of Political
590 IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION
Economy in McGill University, writes in an article on
Immigration in the National Review :
The prairies of the West blossomed and withered under
the suns of unnumbered ages before the coming of the
harvester ; the forests of British Columbia have slept
in silence for countless winters before the prospector
measured them into their billions of feet of timber.
Let them stand a little longer till we can rest assured
that the men who fell them will belong to a nation worthy
of the task.
In checking undesirable immigration it must be decided
what constitutes an undesirable, and the following definition
is put forward for consideration : undesirable immigrants
are those who will not assimilate with the Canadian people,
or whose presence will tend to bring about a deterioration
from a political, moral, social or economic point of view.
INDIAN AFFAIRS
1867-1912
•
REFERENCE
;Jlroquoi«
H
^ J8iou»
j Athapascan
_J Kootenay
INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
I
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS
A POLICY OF EXPANSION
IN two preceding sections the relations of the colonial
governments with the Indians have been set forth.
It has been shown that, when under imperial and
colonial control, Indian Affairs were administered in the
Province of Quebec first, then in Upper and Lower Canada,
and lastly in United Canada, in a spirit of generosity and
with an increasing desire to deal effectively with the Indian
problem. Succeeding what was purely a military rule, a
broader policy of advancement had been evolved, and this
policy had been accepted by the Canadian authorities when
in 1860 they assumed full control of the Indians. The
Maritime Provinces had been less attentive to their wards,
but had not treated them with indifference. When the
British North America Act by the ninety-first section gave
the Dominion power to legislate for * Indians and lands
reserved for the Indians,' the transition was easy. The
Province of Canada had, in working order, a division of
the executive dealing with Indian Affairs, and the business
of the small Indian bureaux of Nova Scotia and New Bruns-
wick were readily absorbed. The department of the secre-
tary of state dealt with Indian matters ; the acts passed
by Nova Scotia and New Brunswick affecting Indians were
repealed ; and in 1868 a Dominion act, which consoli-
dated previous acts and summed up the best features of
Indian legislation, was placed on the statute book.
594 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
The policy thus well established was not changed ; it
has been only developed and amplified year by year down
to the present time. It was found elastic enough to accom-
modate the problem of handling the native tribes of the
Great Lakes, the Prairie Indians and the Indians of British
Columbia. Expansion in both the inside and outside ser-
vices of the department followed upon the extended sphere
of action which accompanied the development of the western
country, and the changes which necessarily took place in the
executive will be dealt with separately.
The two main streams in the record of Indian adminis-
tration under federal rule are : first, the treaties with the
western Indians for their lands and, arising partly from
the obligations of those treaties, the consequent attempt to
render them self-supporting ; secondly, the development
of the policy of Indian education, which, from its beginnings
amongst the Indians of Ontario and Quebec, has been
extended and amplified so as to embrace the majority of
the Indians of the Dominion.
THE NORTH-WEST
The necessity which existed for an adjustment of Indian
claims in the West was forced upon the attention of the
government by unrest among the Indians of Manitoba
during the half-breed disturbance of 1870 and afterwards.
The Indians had ceded portions of this province by treaty
to the Earl of Selkirk in 1811, but they had begun to doubt
the validity of that treaty, and when settlers began to take
possession of their lands they resented the fancied encroach-
ment, sometimes by force.
In 1871 Wemyss M. Simpson was appointed a com-
missioner to negotiate a treaty, and he issued a proclama-
tion to the Indians calling upon them to confer with him
in July and August. After overcoming the extravagant
demand that two-thirds of the province should be given
to the Indians as a reserve, the commissioner found no diffi-
culty in obtaining the acceptance of the terms which he
offered, and the treaty was signed on August 3, 1871. The
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 595
territory ceded by the Indians comprised a large portion of
Southern Manitoba. The considerations accepted by the
Indians were reserves, annuities, schools and other minor
benefits. These will not be detailed here. The obligations
imposed upon the government by the ten treaties with the
Indians which have been made since Confederation will be
dealt with together, as only slight variations occur in their
terms. Nearly the whole of the remaining portion of the
province was ceded under like terms on August 21, 1871.
In relation to these first two treaties difficulties arose. The
Indians claimed that certain verbal promises, involving better
terms, had been made to them. In 1875, to quiet these
claims, the individual annuity was increased from three to
five dollars per annum.
The next undertaking that confronted the government
was the extinguishment of the Indian title in the Lake of
the Woods district to a vast tract which separated the
territory of the Robinson Lake Superior Treaty from that
lately acquired in Manitoba. Preliminary negotiations had
been carried on in 1871 by Simpson and his associate com-
missioners, S. J. Dawson and R. J. N. Pither, but, save the
acceptance of a money payment if the Indians would permit
of the construction of a road between Lake Superior and
the Lake of the Woods, known as the Dawson route, no
advance was made until the appointment in 1873 of the
Hon. Alexander Morris, lieutenant-governor of Manitoba and
the North- West Territories, J. A. N. Provencher and S. J.
Dawson, as commissioners to negotiate a conclusive agree-
ment. The resulting treaty was an important one ; it
secured the right of way of the Canadian Pacific Railway
and freed a large tract of agricultural and mineral land
from the overshadowing Indian title. The mineral wealth
of the district was known to the Indians, one of whom said
that ' the sound of the rustling of the gold is under my
feet where I stand.' There was, therefore, much discussion,
and there were not a few difficulties to overcome, but the
treaty was signed on October 3, 1873. The words of the
chief Indian speaker which concluded the conference were
memorable.
596 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
Now you see me stand before you all ; what has been
done here to-day has been done openly before the Great
Spirit and before the Nation, and I hope I may never
hear any one say that this treaty has been done secretly ;
and now in closing this council, I take off my glove, and
in giving you my hand I deliver over my birthright and
lands ; and in taking your hand I hold fast all the pro-
mises you have made, and I hope they will last as long
as the sun rises and the water flows, as you have said.
At this time the western boundary of Ontario was in
dispute, but in granting the reserves the Dominion doubt-
less thought it was conveying its own domain. However,
when the boundary dispute had been settled, the Province
of Ontario was found to possess, with a paltry exception,
the whole territory ceded by the treaty. The Dominion
thereupon made claim from the province for the expendi-
ture under the treaty and for the cost of its future adminis-
tration, as the province had benefited chiefly by the con-
clusion of the treaty, receiving the lands free of the Indian
title. After weary delays the case was decided in 1910
by the Privy Council in favour of the province. The ques-
tion was decided on points of law, and the Lords of the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council found that there
was not sufficient ground for saying that the Dominion
government in advising the treaty did so as agent for the
province ; that ' they acted with a view to great national
interests, in pursuance of powers derived from the Act of
1867, without the consent of the Province and in the belief
that the lands were not within that Province. They neither
had, nor thought they required, nor purported to act upon,
any authority from the Provincial Government.' The re-
serves allotted by the Dominion under this treaty have not
yet been confirmed by the province, but in view of the
unforeseen legal complications the words of the Indian chief
should, and no doubt will, fix the spirit in which the uncer-
tainties will be cleared away.
The determination of the government to continue negotia-
tions with the Indians until all the western territory should
be free of Indian claims led to the signing of four other
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 597
successive treaties in the years 1874, 1875, 1876 and 1877.
In the first-mentioned year the Hon. Alexander Morris,
associated with the Hon. David Laird, then minister of the
Interior, and the Hon. W. J. Christie, met the Crees and
Saulteaux of the plains at Fort Qu'Appelle. The dealings
were rendered difficult and almost dangerous owing to the
old feuds between these nations, but the firmness and fair-
ness of the negotiators triumphed over all opposition, and
the treaty which conveyed to the crown a large part of the
present Province of Saskatchewan was signed on September
15, 1874.
In September of the next year Morris, whose fellow-
commissioner was the Hon. James McKay, met the Indians
of Lake Winnipeg and obtained from them a cession of a
vast tract of country surrbunding the lake. In the years
1908, 1909 and 1910 the limits of this treaty were extended
northward as far as the 6oth parallel of latitude, to com-
prise all the territory between the Province of Saskatchewan
and the shores of Hudson Bay. The concession by the
Indians included the right of way of the proposed Hudson
Bay Railway and its terminal. In the late summer and
autumn of 1876 Morris, McKay and Christie concluded
a treaty with the Indians whose territory lay in what is
now the northerly parts of the Provinces of Alberta and
Saskatchewan. This treaty was signed at Fort Pitt on
August 23, and at Fort Carlton in the month of September,
1876, and an important adhesion to it was made in 1888.
In 1877, on September 22, the Hon. David Laird, lieu-
tenant-governor and Indian superintendent of the North-
West Territories, and James F. McLeod, commissioner
of the North-West Mounted Police, entered into a treaty
with the Stoneys, Bloods, Peigans and Blackfeet at the
Blackfoot crossing of the Bow River. After this, treaty-
making activities ceased for some years. An enormous
stretch of country from Lake Superior to the Rocky Moun-
tains had been freed of the Indian title, to the content of
both parties to the agreements. Much of the success of
these negotiations was due to the personality of the Hon.
Alexander Morris, whose sympathy for the Indians won
598 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
their respect and confidence. The Hon. David Laird was
also a power in council, and the high integrity and absolute
justice of these men has placed their names high in the roll
of pioneer western administrators.
In 1899 the attention which had been directed to the
valley of the Peace River led to the extinguishment of the
Indian title over a tract of 342,700 square miles. A joint
commission to consider the Indian and half-breed claims left
Edmonton in the summer of 1899 and returned successful
in the following year. The Indian commissioners were the
Hon. David Laird, J. H. Ross and J. A. J. McKenna.
In 1905 and 1906 an important treaty, to which the
Province of Ontario was a party by consent, was concluded
with the Indians of the Albany River and James Bay and
the interior posts north of the watershed of Lakes Superior
and Huron. The writer was one of two commissioners re-
presenting the Dominion, his associate being Samuel Stewart
of the department of Indian Affairs. D. G. Mc Martin was
the commissioner representing the Province of Ontario. In
1906 the last of the ten treaties negotiated since 1871 was
made by J. A. J. McKenna with the Crees and Chipewyans
of the northern part of the Province of Saskatchewan.
The only land to which the Indians have not ceded their
title to the crown is situated in the far northern parts of
Canada, and it is doubtful whether it will at any time in
the future be necessary to extinguish the Indian title over
these territories. The land conditions in the Province of
British Columbia and in the Yukon will be referred to later.
The texts of the treaties dealt with are alike in all essential
particulars. The Indians, on their part, promise to obey
and abide by the laws of the country, and to maintain peace
and good order between themselves and the king's subjects
and all other tribes of Indians, and to observe the conditions
of the treaties. The promises on the part of the crown are
more definite : special reserves are to be set apart of the
area of one square mile to each family of five. This provision
appears in each of the treaties, and in only one of these
(Treaty No. 8) is there a stipulation that land may be taken
•^ in severally. The next condition of importance is the pay-
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 599
ment of annuities : an annual payment of $5 is to be made
to each Indian, man, woman and child, with an additional
payment of $20 to each chief and $10 to each councillor or
headman. Schools are to be established, annual grants are
to be made to provide for the purchase of ammunition, twine
and nets. Agricultural implements and tools are to be fur-
nished at a certain ratio to the population once for all.
These payments and obligations devolve upon the Dominion
government, with the exception of the payment of annuities
under Treaty No. 9, for which the Province of Ontario is
responsible.
There has been only one breach in the mutual regard with
which the treaties have been observed ; that occurred in the
half-breed Rebellion of 1885, in which several of the Indian
bands of Treaty No. 6 in the northern portions of Alberta
and Saskatchewan were involved. Influenced by the half-
breeds, with whom they were closely connected by ties of
blood and association, they took to the war-path. The first
message they had received from the rebels had failed to in-
duce them to forget their allegiance to the crown, but, after
the engagement at Duck Lake, which was exaggerated in all
the reports until it seemed a signal victory for the half-
breeds, certain of the bands were allured, by the promise of
plunder, to join the factious party. These Indians for the
most part belonged to bands that had not settled on their
reserves, but had continued to wander about the country,
hunting and trapping and leading the aboriginal life. The
most revolting of the atrocities which followed the first overt
acts were perpetrated by such Indians — by Big Bear's band,
for example. This band ruthlessly massacred two Roman
Catholic priests, the Indian agent, the farming instructor and
several other white people at Frog Lake. The change from
apparent friendliness to deadly enmity was sudden. The
last reports which had been received from all points before
the outbreak spoke of the contented state of the Indians.
They had small cause for rebellion ; owing to the failure of
their crops a large supply of provisions had been sent to the
districts which afterwards became disaffected, and the Indians
had before them no fear of starvation.
6oo INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
In the Battleford district, to the desire for immediate
plunder was added the fear caused by half-breed reports
that troops were on the way north who would massacre the
Indians or enlist them as soldiers. This led to the sacking
of the town of Battleford, the murder of the Indian farming
instructor at Eagle Hills and the looting of settlers' homes
at other points near Edmonton. When Battleford became
the refuge of the settlers of the district, it was invested by
the Indians for weeks, and was only relieved by the arrival
of the Canadian troops. At the battle of Cut Knife Creek,
Poundmaker, who was one of the signatories of Treaty No. 6,
mustered three hundred and fifty warriors. But even in the
disaffected districts many of the chiefs were able to control
their followers and maintain their loyalty. A roll of honour
might be written with such names as Pakan, Mistawasis,
Ahtahkakoop, Moosomin, John and James Smith, Blue Quill
and Sharphead. The Indians of Southern Saskatchewan and
Alberta, although they were approached by runners, main-
tained a strict neutrality. When the disturbances were over
the rebellious Indians were for a time deprived of all treaty
rights ; payment of annuities ceased, and while they were
not allowed to suffer, and continued to enjoy their reserve
lands, they were treated with marks of disfavour. The
moving spirits in the foul murders were tried and executed,
and portions of the loot were recovered. Gradually the
treaty obligations were resumed, until at the present time
the obligations on both sides are in full force in the districts
that were the scene of the rebellion.
As may be surmised from the record of past Indian ad-
ministration, the government was always anxious to fulfil the
obligations which were laid upon it by these treaties. In
every point, and adhering closely to the letter of the compact,
the government has discharged to the present every promise
which was made to the Indians. It has discharged them in
a spirit of generosity, rather with reference to the policy of
advancement which was long ago inaugurated in Upper
Canada than in a niggardly spirit as if the treaty stipulations
were to be weighed with exactitude.
The quiet fulfilment of these manifold promises might
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 601
have gone on undisturbed had it not been for the calamity
which overtook the Indians of the plains in the disappearance
of the buffalo. For years these animals had been carelessly
butchered by Indians and whites alike for the sake of their
hides, and the plains were covered with the bleached bones
lying where che carcasses had rotted in the sun. In 1878 and
1879 the remainder of the herds, once fabulous in numbers,
failed to drift into Canadian territory. The Blackfeet blamed
the American Sioux for preventing them from crossing the
line, but extensive prairie fires which ran from Wood Moun-
tain to the Rockies effectively accomplished what hostile
Indians could hardly have designed and carried out. Some
of the Canadian Indians crossed the line and followed the
decreasing herds, but in 1879 the majority of the Indians
in the North- West Territories were thrown upon the govern-
ment for support. The sudden emergency was vigorously
met ; supplies of flour and beef were made available at the
different posts, and comparatively few lives were lost by
actual starvation. But there was much suffering. Edgar
Dewdney, who had been appointed Indian commissioner for
Manitoba and the North-West Territories in May 1879,
reported conditions at the Blackfoot Crossing in July 1879
as follows :
On arriving there I found about 1300 Indians in a very
destitute condition, and many on the verge of starvation.
Young men who were known to be stout and hearty fellows
some months ago were quite emaciated and so weak they
could hardly work ; the old people and widows, who with
their children live on the charity of the younger and more
prosperous, had nothing, and many a pitiable tale was told
of the misery they had endured.
The system of rationing which thus began in a time of
dire necessity, and which embraced the whole native popu-
lation dependent upon the buffalo, has been continued to
the present day. Each year has seen a diminution of the
number of Indians rationed, until now some bands are inde-
pendent of the government food supply. In no band are
the whole of the members still fed gratuitously.
VOL. VII p
6O2
INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
This is the result — and, upon the whole, the remarkable
result — of instructing the Indians in farming and stock-raising.
The policy was adopted when it became evident that the
Indians must depend upon some food supply more certain than
the buffalo. In the autumn of 1879 seventeen instructors
were established at different reserves in the territories ; imple-
ments, tools and seed were supplied, and the business was
begun of teaching agriculture to the Indians, whose hatred
of work is proverbial. The most sanguine forecasts were
made as to the results. The Indian commissioner reported in
1880 : ' In another year I think a few instructors might be
dispensed with in some districts where the Indian reserves
are in good working order, and they can be placed in a new
reserve where the Indians are not so far advanced.'
It is quite within the mark to say that no instructors have
been dispensed with. The task undertaken by the govern-
ment was heavy, and even now the staff must be maintained.
The expense, too, has been great, but not so great as the cost
of food would have been ; and the outcome of the farming
policy, plus the result of education, has been to place the
Indians of the West within measurable distance of the desired
goal — self-support. Upon this question it will be illuminating
to contrast the crops of the Indians harvested on a group of
reserves in 1885, and also their cattle and buildings, with their
present harvests, herds and houses.
SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN INSPECTORATE
Potatoes,
Year
Oats
Wheat
Barley
Hay
and
other
Turnips,
Peas,
Onions
Horses,
Oxen
and
Houses
Stables
Ware-
houses
Fodder
and other
Cattle
Roots
bush.
tush.
busk.
tons
bush.
1885
1,170
6,398
2,399
3,938
18,741
411
375
171
8
1911
105,663
78,296
750
20,956
15,15°
4,897
56i
648
43
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 603
From the sale of lands these Indians had, in 1911, funds
standing to their credit to the amount of $262,074.86. To
this must be added what is still unpaid for the lands which
they surrendered. In 1885, on the other hand, they pos-
sessed no financial resources whatever. The many activities
which brought about this result undoubtedly flowed from
the treaties with the Indians of the West, but the policy in
its entirety is not made necessary by the treaties. As has
been shown, it arose from the spirit which had long animated
the government.
Indian agencies have always been among the pioneer
posts of civilization in the undeveloped territories. They
appeared before all other incoming agencies except the early
traders and the missionaries. Agents of the Indian depart-
ment were frequently the sole representatives of the law in
unorganized districts. This pioneer function of the depart-
ment has lately been once more made evident by the establish-
ment of agencies in the Far North — at Fort Simpson on the
Mackenzie River and at Fort Smith on the Slave River. The
agents are justices of the peace, mining recorders, forestry
officers, issuers of marriage licences, as well as Indian agents.
Portable saw-mills form part of their outfits. Cattle, seed
and implements have been transported at large cost to these
remote points, and millwrights and farmers are employed for
their special duty. The experiments in the Far North l will
be of general interest and utility, apart from their special
bearing on the Indian problem in those districts.
A new factor entered into the maintenance question when
lands specially reserved for Indians under the treaties became
valuable as a tribal asset. These lands, it will be remembered,
were set apart in the area of one square mile to every family
of five — an allotment far in excess of any quantity which
could be used by Indians in purely agricultural operations..
The surplus land in many of the reserves has been surrendered I
for sale and sold at public auction to the highest bidder. A
late enactment makes it possible to pay to the Indians at the
time of the surrender as much as one-half of the total amount
realized. The balance forms part of the Indian Trust Fund ;
1 Fort Simpson is in latitude 61° 50' N. Fort Smith in latitude 60° N.
604 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
the amount capitalized may be expended for works or ser-
vices which properly represent capital ; the accrued interest
at three per cent is either distributed in cash or used for the
current needs of the band. As the distribution of cash is
not an unmixed benefit to the Indians, the surrenders which
provide only for this disposal are not of the best type. More
provident arrangements are those which stipulate that the
funds shall be spent in agricultural operations, the erection
of houses, and other material advantages.
The surrender of a portion of the Blackfoot reserve in
Alberta may be analysed as a case in point to show how
Indians may be advised to make a prudent use of their estate.
On June 18, 1910, 115,000 acres of the Blackfoot reserve
were surrendered. The total amount of the sale was not to
be less than $1,600,000, or an average of nearly $14 per acre.
This amount was to be divided into three funds. The sum
of $50,000 was to be set aside for the purpose of purchasing
work horses, farm wagons, harness, feed, oats, mowers and
rakes, for Indians, to permit them to begin farming. The
amount expended for each Indian is to be paid back and
credited to the fund within six years, from the proceeds of the
sale of his harvest.
The sum of $350,000 was to be expended within five years
in the interests of the reserve in general. One hundred and
sixty cottages were to be erected and furniture was to be
supplied ; one hundred stables and two buildings in which
to house machinery were also to be built. Two complete
agricultural motors, gang ploughs, grain separators and farm
machinery were to be purchased. This fund was to be used
to pay the cost of boring wells where they were required,
or to purchase a well-boring outfit, and also to defray the
expenses of seed grain and grass seed, and general repairs to
roads, culverts and fences.
The residue from the sale of the land was to be capitalized.
The interest accruing from this capital, together with the
interest on any deferred payments on surrendered land, was
to be used to defray the expenses of operating the agricultural
motors and machinery and grain elevators ; to meet such
general expenses as should be in the interest of the band, and
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 605
to pay the cost of blankets and food for the aged and infirm,
as well as a regular weekly ration to all members of the band.
This ration was set at seven pounds of meat and five pounds
of flour weekly, and one pound of tea monthly, for each
member. In this surrender, as will be observed, no cash is
to be distributed to the Indians, and the whole expenditure
is defined and controlled.
EASTERN CANADA
Attention has been drawn away from the Indians of the
older provinces because the centre of interest and expenditure
has for some years been in the West. The necessities of the
case made this inevitable, and, moreover, dealing with a free
new country with a people as yet unaware of civilization
lent attractiveness to even the driest details of administration.
But the progress of the Indians of Ontario and Quebec has
been steady since Confederation, and their future is well
assured. These provinces present some sharp contrasts in
Indian life, and within their boundaries we find both the
most highly civilized of Canadian Indians, and also many
bands who still subsist by the primitive means of the hunt
and the fur trade.
In Ontario one band has fully worked out its problem and
become merged in the white population. The Wyandottes
of Anderdon, a band of Huron stock, were enfranchised in
l88r. By education and intermarriage they had become
civilized. One of their members had represented the county
of Lambton in the provincial parliament. They were self-
supporting, and the experiment of enfranchising the whole
band was not in any way hazardous. A few other bands in
both provinces are ripe for like treatment, but it is not the
present policy of the government to force Indians into full
citizenship. Each year sees a larger number engaged as
labourers off the reserves, as lumbermen, teamsters, farm-
hands, and also as clerks in stores, book-keepers, and in
employment of a like nature. When by amendment of the
Indian Act it has become possible to enfranchise Indians
606 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
without unnecessary and tedious formality, numbers of those
who now subsist apart from the reserves will embrace full
citizenship.
The nomadic tendency of the Indians of the Maritime
Provinces has operated to prevent their steady improvement.
Many of them leave their reserves in the summer to wander
about selling their baskets and other wares, and under these
circumstances the cultivation of gardens or farms is impos-
sible. The reserves in these provinces consist of excellent
land, and during the past few years an effort has been made
to assist the Indians with their small farms and gardens and
to give them instruction in the methods of planting and of
taking care of their crops. In comparison with the lavish
expenditure of money and energy on the Indians of the West
this attempt has been feeble, and the government can fairly be
charged with some indifference to the Micmac Indians.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
The Indians whose territory lies west of the Rocky
Mountains between the mountains and the Pacific Ocean,
in the Province of British Columbia, are in many respects
the most interesting natives in Canada. They belong to
six linguistic stocks : Tsimshean, Kwatkinte-Nootka, Haida,
Kootenay, Dene and Salish, and these stocks are again
divided into many groups.
Space cannot be given to anthropological details ; the
pages to be devoted to the whole period now under review
might readily be filled with a study of these interesting people.
It would be unfair to bring into too great prominence their
outstanding merits, as but little attention has been given to
similar characteristics of the Algonquin and Iroquois stocks.
It may briefly be said, however, that they excel in the domestic
arts, and that their canoes, utensils, basketry and weapons
have an artistic as well as a utilitarian value. They respond
quickly to training and education, and speedily adopt the
customs of civilization.
In the Far West there had been no well-defined Indian
policy before the creation of the colony of British Columbia.
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 607
The early traders and the Hudson's Bay Company dealt with
the Indians as opportunists. They met from day to day any
difficulties that arose, and overcame by immediate methods
the menace of war or sudden adverse turns of the trade.
The Hudson's Bay Company was nowhere stronger, better
organized, or commanded by more virile officers than on the
Pacific coast and in the mountain interior, and there, as
elsewhere, the company treated the Indians with a measure
of fairness nicely calculated to meet its own special interests.
It had no motive beyond that of getting the highest profits,
and no rule which could not be reversed when the jealousies of
the trade demanded such reversal. It is useless, therefore,
to search for any broad view of the Indian question during
the regime of the Hudson's Bay Company. While the
company held Vancouver Island under the charter of 1849,
ten reserves were set apart on the island and conveyed to
the Indians in 1850-51-52. In 1858, however, when British
Columbia was established as a crown colony, we find coming
into the Indian question the views of the British government.
When James Douglas (afterwards Sir James) received his
instructions as governor of this colony, he was advised to
consider the best and most humane means of dealing with the
native Indians, and that it should be an invariable condition,
in all bargains or treaties with the natives for the cession of
land possessed by them, that subsistence should be supplied
to them in some other form.
The policy adopted in British Columbia was in some re-
spects unfortunate. Many present-day complications would
have been avoided if definite cessions of territory had been
arranged after the model of the treaties and surrenders which
had been established by usage in Canada. But it must be
admitted that in British Columbia geographical and ethno-
logical conditions were obstructions to cessions of large dis-
tricts, and Governor Douglas simply went on making small
land grants to the Indians out of their domain without recog-
nizing or otherwise compensating them for their title to that
domain. Without a definite bargain between the crown and
the Indians, the Indians, as time goes on, become the prey to
their own desire for gain. Education and experience show them
**
608 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
that in the public lands they have a vast and rich estate
which their ancestors never alienated ; often they become
the victims of designing persons who heighten these feelings
and are quick to seize upon the legal points and press them.
We shall see how this failure to obtain cession of territory in
British Columbia is now causing administrative difficulties.
Although the Indian title was not recognized as worthy
to be the subject of treaty between contracting parties, the
motives which governed the setting apart of the reserves
were commendable. Permanent village sites, fishing stations
and burial grounds, cultivated lands and all the favourite
resorts of the tribes (to use the terms of Sir James Douglas)
were secured to them, and they were legally authorized to
acquire property in land either by direct purchase or by the
operation of the pre-emption laws of the colony on the same
terms as the colonists.
When British Columbia entered Confederation the docu-
ments did not fail to mention the Indians. The imperial
order-in-council of May 16, 1871, clause 13, provided that
the charge of the Indians and the trusteeship and
management of the land reserved for their use and benefit
shall be assumed by the Dominion Government, and a
policy as liberal as that hitherto pursued by the British
Columbia Government shall be continued by the Dominion
Government after the union. To carry out such policy,
tracts of land of such extent as it has hitherto been the
practice of the British Columbia Government to appro-
priate for that purpose, shall from time to time be con-
veyed by the Local Government to the Dominion Govern-
ment in trust for the use and benefit of the Indians on
application of the Dominion Government ; and in the
case of disagreement between the two Governments re-
specting the quantity of such tracts of land to be so
granted the matter shall be referred to the decision of the
Secretary of State for the Colonies.
By clause 10 of the address embodied in the schedule,
section 91 of the British North America Act, 1867, which
assigned to the exclusive legislative authority of the parlia-
ment of Canada ' Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians,'
A BLOOD INDIAN
frtm tke fainting by Edmund Mortis
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 609
became applicable as between the Dominion and British
Columbia.
Owing to the vagueness of such general terms, before many
years had passed the difficulties surrounding administration
became apparent. It was hard to measure present by past
liberality, and to limit and parcel the obligations upon the
Dominion by the previous action of the provincial govern-
ment. The land allotments were especially difficult, and
after much discussion were finally regulated by joint action
of both governments in 1875. The insertion of a clause in
the joint order-in-council admitting a reversionary interest
of the province in lands set apart as Indian reserves has been
productive of administrative difficulties, as the consent of the
province must be sought and obtained before the Dominion
can grant title to any Indian lands. The Indian estate can-
not, therefore, be managed freely, and the Indians who are
intelligent and well aware of the strength of their claims have -
a double grievance — the alienation of a large and valuable
province without compensation except reserves, and the denial
of the full enjoyment of these reserves.
These matters are now engaging the attention of the
Dominion and provincial governments, and a solution of the
problem may be arrived at before long.
Although the Dominion government had no treaty obliga-
tions to fulfil, the scale of Indian support has been a fairly
liberal one, and in furnishing free medical attendance, in the
establishment of hospitals, in the encouragement of agriculture
and, even more largely, in the provision of education, federal
appropriations have been employed. The enormous expense
for food which has been incurred on the plains owing to the
disappearance of the buffalo, and the natural hatred of the
plains Indian for labour, were, in British Columbia, entirely
absent, and what has there been spent is not, in the main,
for subsistence for the Indian, but for management and for
Indian advancement.
The excellent physique of the Indians of this province and
their willingness to work have made them a valuable asset
in the labour market. In the salmon canneries, hop-fields
and fruit farms they are constantly engaged in congenial
6io INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
employment, and even in the more arduous toil of the packer,
miner, or navvy their labour is in demand. Despite this
intermingling with the white people, and despite the efforts
of missionaries and educators, many of the degrading native
customs still exist. The hold of the ' pot latch ' and other
wasteful feasts is, however, gradually weakening. Any one
who desires to understand the social progress of which these
Indians are capable, and also the strength of their attachment
to an adopted religion, should study the history of the Metla-
katla settlement under the Rev. George Duncan.
THE YUKON
The relations of the government with the Indians of
the Yukon have not been marked by any departure from
established policy. No formal treaty has been made with
them for the cession of their aboriginal title, but they have
not been neglected. The Indian population is estimated at
3500, and no doubt the small numbers, compared with the
vast extent of the territory which they might be said to occupy,
would deter the government from acquiring the overshadow-
ing Indian title. The mineral wealth of the territory is its
sole asset, and is one peculiarly inaccessible to Indians, and
this fact would support the position of the crown. But the
protecting arm of the government is extended to the Indians
of the Yukon ; Canadian legislation on behalf of the Indians
applies to them, and the Dominion Exchequer has provided
money for their benefit since the first years of the mining
activities.
The commissioner for the Yukon Territory is charged
with the superintendency of Indian Affairs and is authorized
to expend the funds which parliament appropriates for the
Indians. These consist of grants for food and supplies to
relieve distress, and for medical attendance and medicines.
The Church of England missionaries have taken an interest
in educational and evangelical work amongst the Indians,
conducting several schools, towards the maintenance of which
parliamentary grants are made. The most important in-
THE DOMINION AND THE INDIANS 611
stitution i3 a boarding school near Carcross ; the building
lately erected by the government will accommodate thirty
pupils.
THE Sioux
The Sioux are not indigenous to Canada, but, as refugees
from the United States, they forced themselves upon the
attention of the Dominion government. The first bands
poured in after the notorious massacre in Minnesota in 1862.
They settled in Manitoba, and for a time their presence was
a source of anxiety to the authorities. But they were treated
with fairness, their destitution was relieved, and when settlers
came into the country the men were found useful as labourers.
They were granted reserves, and, although no treaty obliga-
tions existed, they have been assisted with agricultural
implements, and their children have been educated in schools
provided by the government. A progressive band, part of
Sitting Bull's followers, who rushed into the country after
the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, is established in the
Qu'Appelle valley. The Sioux, notwithstanding the violent
causes of their migration, have been law-abiding and peace-
able since coming into Canada, and have received but little
aid in comparison with the lavish outlay upon the resident
Indians. The Sioux stock is independent and virile, and the
representatives of the stock in Canada are self-supporting.
THE ESKIMOS
It is only within the last few years that the government
of Canada has acknowledged any responsibility for the
Eskimos. These savages, existing in the Far North, and only
coming into contact with whalers, or, more infrequently, with
explorers, were remote from the centre of interest. Although
for many years missionaries have been active among them,
they have not advanced the claims of the Eskimos to humane
consideration. The extension northward of the influence of
the Dominion, and the residence of a commissioner in the
612
INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
,»*"
'-*
country to which the Eskimo regions appertain, have brought
these people under the direct purview of the government.
From the nature of their environment and their manner of
life it will be somewhat difficult to form or carry out a policy
tending to the amelioration of their present condition, which
is in many ways deplorable. But no aborigines are more
worthy of attention than the Eskimos ; they are self-reliant
to a high degree, and have pronounced qualities both of heart
and intellect. Wherever they have been degraded morally
and physically, and these cases are infrequent, the result has
arisen not from any inherent depravity ; and their destitution
most frequently arises from the precarious nature of their
food supply and not from laziness or improvidence.
The government gives a small appropriation for relief of
distress amongst them, and it has been expended in places
where the most southerly representatives of the race come
into contact with Canada's northern outposts, at Fort
Churchill and Charlton Island. At Blacklead Island and
Ashe Inlet, also, assistance has been given through the
Church of England missionaries, but as yet nothing has been
expended at Herschel Island or along the North-West Passage.
So far only the eleemosynary function of government has
been used in behalf of the Eskimos, but there is no reason
why in course of time elementary education should not be
introduced among them, as they show a desire to acquire
knowledge and to profit by it.
II
SOCIAL LIFE OF THE INDIANS
INDIAN EDUCATION
DURING the period under review a great increase has
occurred in the educational facilities afforded the
Indians, and the policy of the department has been
extended to meet the needs of the western provinces and to
carry out the obligations imposed by the various treaties, to
SOCIAL LIFE OF THE INDIANS 613
which reference has been made. Before Confederation no
financial assistance was given by the legislatures to Indian
schools. The Province of Canada administered a fund,
known as the Indian School Fund, which was formed from
contributions made by certain bands in Upper Canada. The
federal government first recognized the necessity of assisting
the fund in 1875-76, and the first grant for the purpose was
$2000. This enabled the department to establish schools on
various reserves in the Maritime Provinces, as well as in
Ontario and Quebec, and the trust fund of the Indian bands
also began to be used as the interest of the Indians themselves
in education increased. In 1874-75 the Dominion spent
$2474 on Indian schools from the general appropriation.
The treaties which had been made with the Indians between
1871 and 1879 provided for the establishment of schools, and
in 1879, after Sir John A. Macdonald was returned to power,
the question almost immediately received the attention of
his government. Nicholas Flood Davin was appointed to
report on the system of Indian education adopted by the
United States. He was also to visit the North-West Terri-
tories and report on the applicability of that system to the
conditions in the territories. He found, to quote his own
words,
that there is now barely time to inaugurate a system of
education by means of which the native population of
the North-West Territories shall be gradually prepared
to meet the necessities of the not-distant future ; to wel-
come and facilitate, it may be hoped, the settlement of
the country, and to render its government easy and not
expensive. A large statesmanlike policy, with bearings
on immediate and remote issues, cannot be entered on
too earnestly or too soon.
Following generally the advice given by this report, the
first industrial school was established at Battleford in the
year 1883, and in the following year two schools were estab-
lished, one at Qu'Appelle and the other at High River. In
the establishment of these new schools the department
adopted the principles which had long governed Indian
INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
education in the older provinces. The control of the schools
by the churches was recognized, and after an interval, during
which the whole of the expenses of the institutions were met
by the government, the system of the per capita grant, so
long in vogue in the east, was adopted as tending to economy.
In the year 1887 the then deputy superintendent-general
inaugurated a policy of expansion which resulted in a very
large increase in the expenditure. In 1878-79 the whole Indian
school appropriation for Canada was $16,000. In 1888-89
the expenditure was $172,980.93. For the year 1903-4 the
expenditure was $393,221.48. At the present time (1912)
it is almost double the last figure. The expenditure for the
last fiscal year, 1910-11, was $539,145-53, and the establish-
ment was as follows :
Class of School
Province
Day
Boarding
Industrial
Total
Ontario . . «• «'*'*,
84
4
5
93
Quebec . . . '•:
24
24
Nova Scotia .
II
...
. . .
II
New Brunswick
10
• t *
• • •
10
Prince Edward Island
I
• • •
i
British Columbia .
46
8
8
62
Manitoba
41
9
2
S2
Saskatchewan .
19
»3
2
34
Alberta .
8
16
2
26
North-West Territories
2
3
5
Yukon .
5
i
...
6
Total .
351
54
19
3»4
The following statement shows the religious denomina-
tions under whose auspices the various schools are conducted,
and the number conducted by each in the several provinces,
during the fiscal year 1910-11 :
SOCIAL LIFE OF THE INDIANS
615
Province
Un-
denomi-
national
Roman
Catholic
Church
of
England
Metho-
diit
Presby-
terian
Salva-
tion
Army
Ontario
41
26
I?
9
...
• • •
Quebec
5
14
2
3
...
...
Nova Scotia
...
II
...
...
. .
IO
Prince Edward Island
I
British Columbia
2
20
18
17
3
2
Manitoba .
3
II
»3
IO
5
Saskatchewan
II
16
7
Alberta
• . •
12
8
6
North- West Territories
...
2
3
...
...
Yukon
...
...
6
...
Total .
5'
IIS
93
45
»5
2
It cannot be gainsaid that in the early days of school
administration in the territories, while the problem was still
a new one, the system was open to criticism. Insufficient
care was exercised in the admission of children to the schools.
The well-known predisposition of Indians to tuberculosis re-
sulted in a very large percentage of deaths among the pupils.
They were housed in buildings not carefully designed for
school purposes, and these buildings became infected and
dangerous to the inmates. It is quite within the mark to
say that fifty per cent of the children who passed through
these schools did not live to benefit from the education which
they had received therein.
Again, for a long time no attention was paid to a question
of the very first importance : what was to become of the
pupils who returned to the reserves ? The danger was
recognized that they might lapse to the level of reserve
life as soon as they came into contact with their parents.
Little, however, was done to grapple with the difficulty.
In fact, this relapse actually happened in a large percentage
of cases, and most promising pupils were found to have
retrograded and to have become leaders in the pagan life of
the reserves, instead of contributing to the improvement of
their surroundings.
616 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
For many years the industrial schools gave practical in-
struction in manual trades, in printing, shoemaking and car-
pentry ; but the results were discouraging, and the teaching
of these trades, except elementary carpentry, has been almost
wholly abandoned. As the years have gone by the purpose
of Indian education has become clearer, and the best means
to be employed to reach the desired end are becoming appa-
rent. Speaking in the widest terms, it is now recognized that
the provision of education for the Indian means an attempt
to develop the great natural intelligence of the race and to
fit the Indian for civilized life in his own environment. It
includes not only a school education, but also instruction in
the means of gaining a livelihood from the soil or as a member
of an industrial or mercantile community, and the substi-
tution of Christian ideals of conduct and morals for aboriginal
conceptions of both. To this end the curriculum in residen-
tial schools has been simplified, and the practical instruction
given is such as may be immediately of use to the pupil when
he returns to the reserve after leaving school. At that moment
he is assisted by a grant of cattle or horses, implements,
tools and building material, and he receives special advice
and supervision from the agent or farming instructor. Marri-
ages are arranged between former pupils, and the young wives
are given domestic articles as a dower. It is sought by this
method to bridge over the dangerous period of renewed con-
tact with the reserve. Strict medical supervision checks the
evils which resulted from the admission of tuberculous children
into the schools. The contract under which the boarding
schools are now conducted gives the department control, and
a higher standard is established for buildings and for division
of the work.
A beginning has been made in the important work of
developing and improving the day schools. In many places
these schools are quite sufficient to meet the educational
needs of the Indians, and all that is required is to bring the
children within the circle of their influence. But the Indian
day school of the lowest type is a burden to the teacher and
an inexplicable punishment to the scholar, almost useless in
its result. The problem is to substitute for such a school an
INDIAN WARRIOR OF THE PLAINS
From Ike sl,itue by A. Pkimisttr Procter
SOCIAL LIFE OF THE INDIANS 617
institution where brightness and active interest take the place
of indifference and a sense of defeat.
Even white children do not find school life more attractive
than days of liberty without intellectual effort, and the
Indian children are no exception to the rule. In the case of
white children school life is made attractive by a variety of
means, and behind everything else is the authority of the
parent. These pleasant features of school life, its rivalry and
its rewards, have been heretofore most frequently lacking in
the Indian schools. Moreover, the apathy, if not the activel ^
hostility, of the parent must be reckoned with. The Indian)
child has to study in a foreign language ; he leaves a home
where an Indian language is spoken and comes to a school-
room where English is spoken. His case can only be com-
pared with that of an English child who pursues his studies
in a German or French school. Again, the severe deterrent
of poverty is often present ; some children have no proper
clothing to wear during the winter, and the provision of any
food for a luncheon at the noon hour is neglected of sheer
necessity.
The improvements now sought for are to offer such induce-
ments for a full and regular attendance as will overcome these
obstacles to success. In the first place, it is necessary to
engage and retain the services of teachers qualified for the
special work ; then, to give small rewards for regular attend-
ance and progress, to issue footwear and clothing to poor
deserving pupils, to supply a plain warm meal in the middle
of the day, to vary the exercises by games and simple calis-
thenics. These are the best means to banish the idle teacher
and the empty schoolroom, and they are being gradually
introduced wherever they are needed. Not a few of the
women teachers have taken up instruction in plain sewing,
knitting, mending and cooking, with beneficial result. The
teaching of elementary agriculture is also prosecuted in
favourable localities. At present the number enrolled in
schools of all classes is 11,190, the average attendance is
6763, and the percentage of attendance is 60-44.
VOL. VII
i
618 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
THE PRESENT LEGAL POSITION OF THE INDIANS
As the relations of the government with the Indians are
largely influenced by the laws which have been passed from
time to time affecting them or their estate, it is necessary to
record the present legal position of the Indians, which is in
many respects peculiar.
So far as the general life of the country is concerned, an
Indian is almost as free as any other person. He can engage
in business, he can own property anywhere, and, subject to
certain restrictions which will be mentioned hereafter, he can
exercise the franchise. He can also devise his property
except the lands reserved for himself and his tribe, and he
can rise to any social position in the community to which his
efforts and talents may entitle him. When, however, it
comes to his life upon the reserve, as a member of an Indian
band or community, the case is very different. There he is
subject to certain legal disabilities and restrictions under
which he has been placed from time to time by act of parlia-
ment. In the first and second divisions of this history the
early acts of the legislature have been noted. The present
Indian Act is an outgrowth from these early statutes. It
was revised in 1886, and since that date some additions and
amendments have been made. The old provisions as to the
alienation of reserved property still exist, as no lands can be
surrendered and sold without the consent of the Indians and
the approval of the government. In 1911 an important
amendment was made which affects this power of alienation.
Under this amendment it is possible, by following certain
procedure, to alienate a reserve without the consent of
the Indians. The country has developed rapidly ; and it
has been found that certain reserves, formerly distant from
incorporated towns and cities, are now contiguous to the
municipal limits. The proximity of Indian lands with a
tenure so peculiar does not make for the interests either of
the public or of the Indians themselves. An amendment
to the Indian Act gives the governor in council power to refer
to the ' Judge of the Exchequer Court of Canada, for inquiry
and report, the question as to whether it is expedient, having
SOCIAL LIFE OF THE INDIANS 619
regard to the interest of the public and the Indians of the
Band, that the Indians should be removed from the reserve
or any part of it.' Following the report of the judge, and
with certain safeguards, the Indians may be removed and
placed elsewhere. It will be perceived that, however neces-
sary it may be to deal with special cases, this is an important
departure from the old British usage.
In order to preserve the special lands from encroachment
the statute provides strict measures to prevent trespass on
either lands or timber. Lands within the reserves cannot be
taxed. Although the courts are open to Indians, no person
is allowed to take any security, lien, or charge upon real or ^
personal property on the reserve ; and the barter and ex-
change of presents given to Indians or of property acquired
by annuities granted to them is prohibited.
Even the reserve lands cannot lawfully be held by an
Indian unless he has been located by the council of the band
with the approval of the superintendent-general. The devise
of property is carefully regulated by the act. The super-
intendent-general must approve of each will, and in case of
intestacy the property devolves on the next-of-kin. He also
has power to appoint guardians of minors and their property,
and is the sole judge of the persons entitled to the property of
the deceased Indian. All these provisions are necessary to
protect the Indian property and prevent its being dissipated
by will or gift to persons who have no legal standing as
Indians.
The statutory provisions with reference to the sale of in-
toxicating liquors have become more strict. The severest
penalty for infractions of the law is six months in gaol with
or without hard labour, and the highest fine that can be im-
posed is $300. The irregularities arising from certain abori-
ginal dances or ceremonies, where human or animal bodies
are mutilated, form an indictable offence punishable by an
imprisonment of not less than two months or more than six
months.
Under certain somewhat oppressive regulations an Indian/
may become enfranchised. He then ceases in all respects! -»
to be an Indian. This process of enfranchisement requires!
620 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
a preliminary probationary period of three years before he
can receive a patent for his lands within the reserve, and
another period of three years before he can receive a share
of the capital funds of his band. As the maintenance of
the reserve intact is the basic principle of the Indian
administration, it is clear that great care must be used in
enfranchising Indians and allowing them to hold land in
fee-simple.
The Indian franchise for the Dominion elections is estab-
lished by the Franchise Act of 1898, which places the Indians
on the same footing as white persons ; that is, they come under
the laws established by the provinces in which they reside
for the conduct of provincial elections. In the western
provinces and in the Province of New Brunswick the Indians
are specially deprived of the right to vote. In the remaining
provinces they may vote if they have the proper qualifica-
tions. The Indian Act provides for a measure of municipal
government of the bands by the chiefs and councillors.
The section of the act known as the Indian Advancement Act
may be applied to any band of Indians declared by the
governor in council to be fit subjects for this application.
It gives greater power to the council of the band and further
extends the municipal system.
A
Ill
THE INDIAN DEPARTMENT
Confederation Indian Affairs were attached to
the department of the secretary of state. The secre-
taries of state, who were also superintendents-general
of Indian Affairs, were :
H. L. Langevin, July I, 1867, to December 7, 1869.
Joseph Howe, December 8, 1869, to May 6, 1873.
T. N. Gibbs, June 14, 1873, to June 30, 1873.
The department of the Interior was created by 36 Viet. cap.
24; and from July I, 1873, the Indian branch was attached to
that department, except during the period between October
17, 1878, and August 4, 1885, when Indian Affairs were
THE INDIAN DEPARTMENT 621
administered by the Right Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald,
president of the Privy Council, as superintendent-general.
With this exception the successive ministers of the Interior
were superintendents-general of Indian Affairs. The depart-
ment of Indian Affairs was constituted a separate department
by 43 Viet. cap. 28, assented to on May 7, 1880. By the fourth
clause of the act the minister of the Interior, or the head of
any other department appointed for that purpose by the
governor-general in council, shall be the superintendent-
general of Indian Affairs.
By an order-in-council of March 17, 1862, the office of
deputy superintendent-general was revived and William
Spragge was appointed to that position. Spragge continued
in office until his death on April 16, 1874. His successor,
Lawrence Vankoughnet, remained in office until his super-
annuation on October 10, 1893. He was an officer whose
character specially fitted him for his duties. He applied
himself, from the most conscientious motives, to the task of
advancing the Indians and protecting and developing their
estate. He was allowed a greater degree of freedom than
any deputy superintendent-general since Confederation. His
ideals were high. He took thought for the Indians, and
while he had idiosyncrasies and some failings, he was con-
sistently their friend. His successors in office have been :
Hayter Reed, October 2, 1893 ; James A. Smart, July I, 1897 ;
Frank Pedley, November 21, 1902.
The growth of Indian business west of Lake Superior,
which followed the making of the treaties and increased with
the settlement of the country, necessitated an expansion of
the staff and the creation of many new offices. The enormous
North-West Territories, remote from the federal capital,
required a separate bureau near the scene of operations,
which could deal more effectively with emergent as well as
routine matters. The same was true of British Columbia.
The first Indian superintendent of British Columbia, Dr I. W.
Powell, was appointed in 1872. The first Indian commissioner
for the North-West Territories, the Hon. Edgar Dewdney,
was appointed in 1879. As railway and telegraph communica-
tion gradually brought the most remote points within reach of
622 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
Ottawa, the utility of these offices ceased ; a few years ago
they were abolished, and local Indian agents and inspectors
are now under direct control of the department.
IV
THE FUTURE OF THE INDIAN
IN concluding this general survey of the relation of the
government to the Indians a few words should be
devoted to the future of the tribes. The paternal policy
of protection and encouragement has been pursued from
the earliest times ; what is to be the final result ? It is clear
that we are possessed of facts which enable us to reply to the
question with some degree of confidence. To possess ourselves
of the key to the answer, it is only necessary to contrast the
present condition of any Indian community in Ontario or
Quebec with its past condition, and also to endeavour to
realize the vicissitudes through which it has struggled. We
find that from very wretched beginnings and amid all the
dangers surrounding their position many of these bands have
progressed until their civil and social life approximates closely
to that of their white neighbours. The poorest and most
shiftless Indians are not worse off than the paupers who are
dependent upon the charity of villages and cities, and those
who are at the top of the Indian social scale live with the same
degree of assured comfort which is enjoyed by the white
workman and small farmer. Above these two classes there
is another division within the Indian population, small as
yet, but constantly growing — the class of well-educated,
enterprising and ambitious Indians who really belong to the
life of the nation in no restricted sense.
The degree of general progress which makes it possible
thus to divide and classify the Indian population of the older
provinces has been developed within less than a century,
and in this relatively short time we have arrived within
measurable distance of the end. The happiest future for
the Indian race is absorption into the general population, and
I
STATISTICS
623
this is the object of the policy of our government. In the
Indian communities now under discussion we see the natives
advanced more than half-way towards the goal, and the final
result will be this complete absorption. The great forces of
intermarriage a/ld education will finally overcome the linger-
ing traces of native custom and tradition. It may be some
time before reserves disappear and the Indian and his lands
cease to be marked and separated. It would be foolish to
make this end in itself the final object of the policy. The
system of reserved lands has been of incalculable benefit to
the Indians, who require secure foothold on the soil, and
great caution should be shown in regard to any plans for
separating the Indian from his land or for giving him power
to alienate his inheritance. There is nothing repugnant to
the policy which is being carried out or to the exercise of
useful citizenship in the idea of a highly civilized Indian
community living upon lands which its members cannot sell.
There is no reason why the Indians of the West, who have
been subject to the policy of the government for less than
fifty years, and who have made remarkable advances, should
not follow the same line of development as the Indians of the
old Province of Canada. They have like difficulties to over-
come, and the forces which work towards their preservation
are similar ; they should have the same destiny.
STATISTICS
THE following statistics, compiled from the latest reports
of the department of Indian Affairs (1912), will give
some idea of the present numbers and wealth of the
Indians of Canada :
Provinces and Districts
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
Nova Scotia .
New Brunswick
Population
8,113
24J8I
io,373
1,969
1,903
624
INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
Provinces and Districts
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
Quebec
Saskatchewan
North-West Territories
Yukon
Total
Population
300
26,393
12,817
9,545
5.262
3.50Q
104,956
ESKIMOS
Davis Straits. .
Cumberland Sound . .
North shore of Hudson Strait .
South ,, „ „ „
North-eastern shore of Hudson Bay .
Western „ „ „ ,, .
Arctic coast-line to Herschel Island .
Herschel Island ....
Total .
Total native population .
260
330
5°o
400
500
1,360
850
400
4,600
109,556
Value of
Value of Live
Value of
Value of
Value of Real
Province
Implements
Stock and
General
Household
and Personal
and Vehicles
Poultry
Effects
Effects
Property
9
1
1
9
$
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba .
New Brunswick .
171,478.00
192,924.00
74,246.00
6,550.00
610,508.00
666,549.00
130,508.00
6,500.00
26,753-00
372,615.00
84,334.00
8,285.00
39,207.00
396,0 1 aoo
42,285.00
24,480.00
9,790,071.00
7,747,276.00
1,885,221.00
180,751.00
North-West
Territories
2,880.00
20,980.00
35,275.00
22,990.00
376,200.00
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Prince Edward
7,014.00
378,703.35
9,399.00
488,103.30
4,200.00
115,520.00
10,065.00
414,888.90
156,999.00
6,050,852.55
Island . .
780.00
1,045.00
880.00
2,950.00
43,465.00
Quebec
Saskatchewan
61,931.00
201,090.00
97,335-50
556,914.00
83,767.50
70,686.00
155,550.00
100,968.00
1,971,572.00
9,074,523-00
Total
',097,596-35
2,587,841.80
802,315.50
',209,393.90
37,277,020.55
STATISTICS
625
Province
F1SX"
Wajtnand
other Induttiiea
Rent* of Landi
ToUl Income
$
I
9
1
Alberta
28,466.50
*72,272-'8
1,854.00
522,373.16
British Columbia .
594,115.00
684,069.00
1,500.00
1,668,498.00
Manitoba
63,654,00
68,003.50
30.00
242,444.73
New Brunswick .
12,685.00
74,100.00
...
94,537-00
North-West Territories
126,350.00
34,720,00
...
179,550.00
Nova Scotia
16,190.00
83,253.00
8.00
116,252.00
Ontario
261,957.35
747,563.05
42,168.90
',5'o,59'-3°
Prince Edward Island
1,445.00
14,980.00
17,509-00
Quebec
146,325.00
273,812.00
5,887.22
577,300.87
Saskatchewan
260,966.00
140,643.00
14,624.00
738,251.40
Total
1,512,153.85
2,393,415-73
66,072.12
5,667,307-52
Profiocc
Value of Land
inRcMnret
Value of Public
Property
Total Value of
Private Fencing
and Buildinfi
Value of Farm
Products
1
t
t
t
Alberta
8,696,189.00
92,076.00
153,860.00
219,780.48
British Columbia .
4,387,491.50
232,830.00
1,503,648.00
388,814.00
Manitoba
',337,778.00
54,130.00
161,940.00
'10,757-23
New Brunswick .
69,251.00
22,785.00
42,900.00
7,752.00
North-West Territories
201,929.00
«5,975-oo
74,261.00
18,480.00
Nova Scotia .
58,172.00
37,180.00
48,793.00
16,801.00
Ontario
5,930,235.00
251,993.00
1,537,006.00
460,002.06
Prince Edward Island
19,884.00
7,800.00
10,126.00
1,534.00
Quebec
006,599.00
149,320.00
521,049.00
151,276.65
Saskatchewan
7,814,444.00
56,963.00
260,856.00
322,018.40
Total
29,421,972.50
921,052.00
4,3 '4,439-00
1,697,215.82
The Indian Trust Fund, which is made up of capitalized
annuities, the proceeds of timber and land sales, funds held
for special purposes and accrued interest, amounted on
March 31, 1911, to $6,592,988.99. Under the provisions of
the Indian Act the capital can only be spent with the consent
of the Indians and the authority of the governor-general
in council for such permanent works as properly represent
626 INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1867-1912
capital. The accrued interest may be spent for current
expenses or for cash per capita distributions to members of
the Indian bands.
The moneys granted by parliament out of the consolidated
fund for various purposes amounted to $1,592,996.25 for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 1911.
THE POST OFFICE
1867-1912
THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
THE NEW DOMINION
WHEN the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick joined themselves together to
form the Dominion of Canada the control of
the postal system of the newly created Dominion was vested
in a postmaster-general, who was a member of the federal
government. The deputy postmaster-general of the former
Canadian service was made deputy postmaster-general of
the new system, and the provincial postmasters-general of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were made post office
inspectors in their respective provinces. At the time of
Confederation there were 2333 post offices in the former
province of Canada, 630 in Nova Scotia and 438 in New
Brunswick. The revenues from the three provincial systems
were $914,784, $51,714 and $50,769. In none of the three
provinces did the revenue suffice to meet the expenses,
the deficits being $9536 in Canada, $27,559 in Nova Scotia
and $16,037 in New Brunswick.
The first step taken by parliament after Confederation was
a thorough-going reduction in the postal charges. The rate
on letters circulating in Canada was reduced from five cents
per half-ounce to three cents per half-ounce, and there was
a considerable reduction in the postage on newspapers. It is
interesting, as an illustration of the effect of postage reductions
in progressive countries, to note that in 1871, three years after
the rates were lowered by forty per cent, the revenue exceeded
by $55,000 that of the year 1867-68.
The boundaries of Canada were widened in 1869 by the
acquisition of the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company,
630 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
and in 1871 by the admission of British Columbia as a province
of the Dominion, and the Post Office department had to
assume the burden of providing for the postal requirements
of these vast stretches of country. In both the Hudson's
Bay territory and British Columbia postal services had been
in operation for some years prior to their becoming part of
Canada. From early times the Hudson's Bay Company
carried on its trade with London by annual voyages between
the Thames and Hudson Bay, and after the amalgamation
of the company with the North- West Company of Montreal
in 1821, trips were made twice a year between Montreal
and Fort Garry by canoes by way of the Ottawa River and
the Upper Lakes. In connection with these trips the com-
pany maintained a vast system of communications with their
distant forts. The couriers travelled by canoe along the
Saskatchewan and other northern rivers in summer, and by
dog-sleds along the same courses in winter. Thus communi-
cation was not only very infrequent, but very slow, and it is
told of a factor in one of the remoter forts who received his
copies of the Montreal Gazette in two large half-yearly packets,
that he confined his daily reading of the newspapers to the
copy which was dated twelve months earlier.
In 1853 the isolation of the settlers was much alleviated
by the United States government, which established a
monthly post between the end of its railway system in the
North-West and Pembina on the borders of the Hudson's
Bay territories, sixty-five miles south of Fort Garry. The
territorial government placed a courier on the route between
Fort Garry and Pembina. As the territories had no means of
connection whatever with Canada or any other British pos-
session, they became virtually a dependency of the United
States Post Office. From 1853 until 1869 all letters posted
in Fort Garry were paid in United States stamps, and, in
addition to the stamps, a penny sterling was charged for
conveyance to the United States office at Pembina. All
letters entering the territories from Pembina were charged
a penny to take them to their destination in the territories.
At the time the territorial service was taken over by the
Post Office inspector on behalf of the Canadian Post Office
THE NEW DOMINION 631
there were seven post offices. This little system was ad-
ministered by a postmaster at Fort Garry under the direction
of the governor and council of Assiniboia. When the Canadian
Post Office took charge of the service it arranged with the
United States government for the regular exchange of mails
between Fort Garry and Windsor, Ontario.
The earliest mention of postal arrangements for British
Columbia is in 1858. In August of that year the colonial
secretary represented to the Treasury that owing to the
establishment of the colony, and the large immigration
movement which was reported to be going on, it was desirable
to establish regular communication between it and Great
Britain. A proposition was discussed to send the mails for
British Columbia to Halifax, to establish a connection be-
tween that point and Colon, Panama, and to open a service
from Colon to Vancouver Island, but it was rejected on the
ground of expense. It was decided finally to send the
mails to Colon by the steamer, which ran twice a month to
that point, and to ask the services of the United States office
to forward them to San Francisco. Tenders were to be
invited for a regular service to Vancouver Island. In 1859
the British consul at San Francisco reported that the over-
land mail between St Louis and San Francisco arrived very
regularly in about twenty-four days, and that he had arranged
with the postmaster-general of the United States for the
transmission of British correspondence for British Columbia
by this route. The arrangement was confined to letters,
however, as it was necessary to keep down the weight of the
mails. The mails for British Columbia were all addressed to
the care of the British consul, whose duty it was to forward
them to their destination by the best means that offered.
The government of Canada had been giving some atten-
tion to the question of the settlement of the plains in the
North-West, and the establishment of direct communication
between the territories and British Columbia and Canada.
Before Canada acquired the territory its government saw
with anxiety the thousands of miles of fertile soil held by
a few hundred employees of the Hudson's Bay Company,
which in the interests of the fur trade discouraged settlement.
632 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
It realized that, with the rush of settlers which was going on
into the North-West States, it would be impossible for the
company, whose claims were far from indisputable, to prevent
the country from falling into its natural destiny of supplying
homes for millions. Since the occupation of the country by
settlers was inevitable, the concern of the government was
that the settlers should be of British stock, and that there
should be no question that the country should be under
British rule. As matters stood at the time there was little
ground for assurance on either point. The only practicable
road into the territories lay through the United States, and
it seemed probable that the tide of immigration which was
fast converting the plains of the North-Western States from
hunting grounds of the buffalo into farming homesteads
would not spend itself at the invisible boundary, but would
continue northward, and that, as the country came under
cultivation, the settlers would be compelled to look to the
United States for its government. The anxiety of the Cana-
dian government was heightened by a report that gold had
been discovered on the Saskatchewan, as it knew that neither
the government nor the company could stay the inrush of
fortune seekers if the report should prove to be well founded.
In 1862, therefore, the Canadian government entered into
communication with the Hudson's Bay Company with a
view to constructing a wagon road and telegraph line from
the western boundary of Canada to British Columbia. The
scheme involved the placing of a steamer line between some
point on Lake Huron or Georgian Bay and Fort William,
and also the opening of a land route to Fort Garry, which
should, however, take advantage as far as possible of the
water stretches lying between Lake Superior and Lake
Winnipeg. The Canadian government was anxious to estab-
lish communication westward as far as the boundary of
the Hudson's Bay territory, and looked to the company as
representing British interests in the territories to co-operate
in the enterprise. The company was aghast at the pro-
position. Instead of answering the communication of the
Canadian government, it addressed itself to the British
government, denouncing the scheme as visionary, and declar-
I
u.
O .£>
II
° !
w Q
THE NEW DOMINION 633
ing that it had no money for such a purpose. The Canadian
government then sent two of its members, L. V. Sicotte and
W. P. Howland, to London to interest capitalists in the pro-
ject, and a company was formed to carry it into execution.
The government offered extensive land grants along the line,
and asked the British government to join in a guarantee of
interest on the outlay, which was estimated at £500,000.
The British government declined to associate itself with the
Canadian government in the scheme, alleging that it would
be of little use to Great Britain until a submarine cable was
laid, and that it anticipated that in the establishment of
telegraphic communication with the colonies, Great Britain
would be required to bear a large proportion of the outlay.
Owing to this refusal on the part of Great Britain, and the
uncertainty as to the title to the lands in the territories, the
Canadian government allowed the scheme to drop, so far as
the line beyond the Red River was concerned.
The settlers on the Red River, however, were determined
to take advantage of the goodwill of Canada, and they
offered to construct a road from Red River eastwards to the
Lake of the Woods, if England or Canada would establish a
route from Lake Superior to meet their road at the Lake of
the Woods. An agreement was soon arrived at, but it was
not until 1867 that the work of construction was commenced.
The route was completed in 1871, and it was at once made
use of for the conveyance of immigrants into the new pro-
vince. During the first year 604 immigrants passed over this
route ; but although everything that was possible was done to
make travel expeditious and comfortable, the natural diffi-
culties were too great for this route to compete successfully
with the road in from Pembina, until the railway was com-
pleted along the north shore of Lake Superior.
When British Columbia entered Confederation in 1871
it brought with it a fully developed postal system, which
had been in operation since 1864. Prior to that date there
had been a simple arrangement for the delivery of letters
within the colony which was made by the lieutenant-governor,
and which, as he informed the colonial secretary, was main-
tained entirely by the postage collected. In 1871 there were
VOL. VII R
634 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
thirty post offices in the new province. These covered a
large extent of territory, principally along the course of the
Fraser River. There was a main route which ran from
New Westminster to Barkerville, a distance of 478 miles.
The mails were carried over this, weekly in summer and
fortnightly in winter. From this main route there branched
off at Quesnel a route to Omineca, 350 miles in length, over
which the mails were carried monthly. On Vancouver
Island there were two weekly services — twenty-four miles
and thirty-five miles respectively. In addition to these long
service mails were exchanged daily between the adjacent
offices of Victoria and Esquimalt, and of New Westminster
and Burrard Inlet.
Prince Edward Island was admitted as a province in 1873,
and Canada was geographically complete. At this period
the island had 180 post offices, and in the last year of her
existence as a separate colony the postal system produced a
revenue of about $12,000, half of which came from the city
of Charlottetown.
II
DEPENDENCE ON UNITED STATES MAIL SERVICE
IT will have been observed how completely isolated the
western provinces were from Ontario and Quebec. A
letter from Toronto for Winnipeg left Canadian terri-
tory at Windsor and did not enter it again until it passed
the boundary-line north of Minnesota. It took ten days in
the passage. Similarly, a letter to Victoria left Canada at
Windsor, and reached the Pacific through United States
territory, and was conveyed by a United States steamer to
its destination. Three weeks were usually occupied in the
transmission of a letter from Toronto to Victoria. Matters
were no better between the older Canadian provinces and
the Maritime Provinces at the time of Confederation, so far
as direct communication was concerned. In 1867 the only
sections covered by the Intercolonial Railway were those
between Levis and Riviere du Loup, 120 miles in length,
DEPENDENCE ON UNITED STATES SERVICE 635
and between Halifax and Truro, 60 miles in length. The
great stretch of country between Riviere du Loup and Truro
(a distance of 500 miles) had to be traversed by stage
coach. In the same way the only direct route over Cana-
dian territory between Quebec and St John, New Bruns-
wick, involved a stage journey between the St Lawrence at
Riviere du Loup and the mouth of the St John River. The
usual course for the mails between the Maritime Provinces
and Quebec during the early years of Confederation was
through the State of Maine to Bangor, and thence to Portland,
where connection was made with the Grand Trunk system.
It was not until the completion of the Intercolonial Railway
in July 1876 that the cities of the Maritime Provinces were
brought into direct communication over Canadian territory
with the cities of Quebec and Ontario, and it was ten years
later before a line of railway connected the western provinces
with the rest of the Dominion.
Owing to Canada's dependence on the United States for
the means of communication between the several provinces,
the obligations under which the Canadian Post Office lay to
that of the United States were very considerable, but fortun-
ately the obligations were by no means all on one side. The
construction of the Great Western Railway between Niagara
Falls and Windsor greatly shortened the distance between
New York and the New England States on the one side and
Michigan and the North- Western States on the other, and
when a direct line was built the United States Post Office at
once took advantage of this line for the transmission of its
mail between the east and west. The Canada Southern
Railway, which was built through the same district a few years
later, is even more advantageous to the United States Post
Office than the Great Western, and it has always been
extensively used for the conveyance of United States mails.
In consequence of this mutual obligation, negotiations were
opened in 1874 between the two departments, which led to a
convention by which each department agreed to place its
mail trains at the service of the other without charge for the
conveyance of mails from boundary to boundary. By this
means either department is able to make use of the mail
636 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
trains of the other department for the conveyance of its mails
when for any reason it seems desirable to do so. A still more
important provision of this convention was the stipulation
that the rates of postage, which would carry a letter or other
article anywhere within the country of origin, would, without
further charge, carry the letter to its destination at any
post office in the other country. Until this convention was
made, the charge on a letter from Canada to the United
States was the sum of the domestic charges in each country.
Thus a letter passing anywhere within Canada was subject
to a charge of three cents per half-ounce, and a charge of the
same amount was made by the United States Post Office on
a letter passing anywhere within United States territory.
When a letter passed from one country to another it was
charged six cents per half-ounce, three cents of which was
retained by one country and three cents was sent to the
other. This convention did away with this arrangement,
expensive to the public in both countries and troublesome to
the two departments, as exact accounts had to be kept of
the contents of every mail passing between the two countries.
Thereafter the charge of three cents per half-ounce, which
would carry a letter from Toronto to Montreal or any other
post office in Canada, would also carry it to New York or to
any other post office in the United States. Each country
retained the postages on all letters and other matter sent to
the other country, and all accounting was thus dispensed
with as between the two countries. The effect of this con-
vention was to make of the two countries one postal territory,
within which correspondence circulated with entire freedom.
Ill
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POSTAL UNION
MEANTIME a much wider project was on foot, the
aim of which was nothing less than to make a
single postal territory of the whole world. To make
clear the significance of the scheme it will be necessary to
set out briefly the conditions under which correspondence
DEVELOPMENT OF THE POSTAL UNION 637
was exchanged between the different countries of the world.
The state of affairs just described between Canada and the
United States prior to 1874 will serve as an illustration.
The rule with regard to correspondence passing from one
country to another was that it was subject to the postage
of both the country of origin and the country of destination,
and if it were required to pass through other countries on
its way to its destination, the postage of the intermediate
countries was charged as well. Special conventions between
two countries might change this rule, but it was of very
general application. This rule had two consequences. One
was that rates on correspondence between different countries
was necessarily very high and that they varied as between
the same places, according to the routes by which the corre-
spondence was sent. Thus in 1873 the rate on a letter from
Canada to India was twenty-two cents if it were sent by
the Canadian steamers to England and thence to destina-
tion. If the same letter were sent by way of the United
States, the charge was only thirteen cents per half-ounce. A
letter from Canada to Chili, Peru or Ecuador would be
charged forty cents per half-ounce if sent by way of Great
Britain, while the rate, if the letter were sent through the
United States Post Office, was only twenty-five cents. The
extreme instance of variation in the rates according to the
route chosen was in the case of letters from the United
States to Australia. There were six different routes by
which letters might be sent, and the rates were fivs cents,
thirty-three cents, forty-five cents, fifty-five cents, sixty cents
or one dollar according to the route. The other consequence
of the rule by which each country took its postage on letters
or other articles passing through its territory was a most
complicated system of accounts. Between Canada and the
United States difficulties were reduced to a minimum by the
fact that the same system of currency and unit of weight
was employed in the domestic service of each country. But
in Europe the case was different. A customary route for
letters passing between Great Britain and Germany was by
way of France. In making up the account of the amount
due to each of the three countries concerned in this transac-
638 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
tion, the letter was charged at so much per half-ounce in
England, so much per ten grams (about one-third of an ounce)
in France, and so much per loth 1 in Germany. This most
ordinary instance of the difficulties of arriving at the amounts
due to each country for the conveyance of correspondence
will give some idea of the intricacies arising in the case of
letters passing through several countries, each with its
system of currency and unit of weight. With the increase
of international correspondence due to the expansion of
commerce and the growth of social relations, as well as to
the improvement in the means of conveyance, the trammels
imposed by the diversity of local customs became intoler-
able. Special postal treaties were made by the leading
administrations with a view to greater uniformity in the
arrangements and to the reduction of the charges, and
in 1863 a conference of the principal administrations was
called at the instance of the United States for the discus-
sion of post office theory and practice, with the hope that
some conclusions might be reached which would tend to
greater uniformity among the different post offices. The
discussion proved far from fruitless, and during the ten
years that followed many treaties were made in which were
embodied the principles settled at the conference. Great
Britain was very active in the making of conventions with
other countries, and her colonies enjoyed the benefits of all
such arrangements.
Notwithstanding these conventions there was still much
to be accomplished in the way of simplifying and lowering
the rates. An inspection of the Postal Guide of the time
will make this clear. The list of foreign postages in the
Guide contains the rates to 127 countries arranged alpha-
betically. These rates are charged when the correspondence
to which they relate is sent to its destination by way of
Great Britain. There are nine different rates for letters,
ranging from ten cents per half-ounce, the charge on letters
to Austria and the several German states, to forty cents
per half-ounce, the rate on letters to Chili, Peru and other
countries on the west coast of South America. There are
1 A loth was the equivalent of a half-ounce.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE POSTAL UNION 639
two other lists in the Guide, not as long as the first, but
including many of the countries mentioned in the first.
No person having an extensive foreign correspondence would
venture to put the postage stamps on his letters without a
constant reference to the Guide, nor could the foreign mails
be prepared for dispatch in any of the exchange offices until
every letter had been gone over laboriously by specially
trained clerks, who noted and corrected all irregularities and
charged additional postage where necessary, in conformity
with the terms of the several postal treaties in operation.
Finally, elaborate accounts were made up to accompany
each mail, setting forth the debits and credits as between
the corresponding countries.
The impediments to the free development of foreign cor-
respondence due to the magnitude and variety of the postal
charges were fully appreciated in all the more advanced
countries, for by this time they had all adopted Rowland
Hill's principle of a low uniform charge for their domestic
correspondence. But how were these impediments to be
removed ? The mere statement of the difficulties in the
way of obtaining the consent of the various countries to
arrangements which would make a low uniform rate possible
for foreign correspondence seemed to show the hopelessness
of any attempt in that direction. Contiguous countries
like Canada and the United States, or Germany and Austria,
might come to agree to acceptable working arrangements,
particularly where there was little or no diversity between
them as respects currency or standards of weight, but a
glance at the varieties of currency and weight standards
in use in the different countries, coupled with the sense
that these were among the matters which every country
would hold to most closely, would be enough to discourage
most reformers. But fortunately there was before the
world at that time the example of a postal union of very
considerable scope. In 1850 Austria and Prussia had
entered into a treaty, closely resembling the convention
which was made later (in 1874) between Canada and the
United States, and the other independent German states
at once sought admission into the union. A comprehensive
64o THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
scheme was proposed, embracing all the independent states,
and its success was so signal that in the following year
(1851), at a conference in Berlin, the idea was mooted of a
union which would comprehend all the countries of Europe.
Matters were not quite ripe for so far-reaching a project
at that time, and it was not until 1874 tnat the German
Office invited the countries of Europe and the United States
to consider the plan for a genera! union which had been
drafted by the director-general of that office. The director-
general, Von Stephan, was a man of great eminence, whose
position in relation to international postal schemes was
similar to that occupied by Rowland Hill in regard to cheap
uniform postal charges. The idea of a broad union, which
was thrown out in the conference of 1851, did not fall on
barren soil, as the success of the conference held at Berne in
1874 can only be explained on the theory that that idea had
been simmering in the minds of postal reformers. Twenty-
two countries were represented at the conference, and the
deliberations lasted less than four weeks. By the end of
this time a convention had been signed under which these
countries, which did nine-tenths of the postal business of
the world, engaged that, so far as the conveyance of mails
was concerned, they would together form a single postal
territory, over which each other's mails would pass as freely
as the mails of each would circulate within its own territory.
The postage rates of the countries within the union were
lowered and simplified, and by 1878, after many amend-
ments had been made in the original scheme, the rates were
practically uniform within the whole union.
It was in 1878 that Canada joined the Universal Postal
Union. The beneficial effects of the union on the foreign
correspondence of Canada were immediately felt by the
public. The long lists of countries with the settled postage
to each were removed from the Postal Guide, and in their
place was a statement as to the rates on all classes of corre-
spondence to all leading countries, so simple that it could
be mastered in a few minutes. The charge on letters to
all those countries was five cents per half-ounce, on post
cards two cents each, and on all other mail matter one cent
RECENT DEVELOPMENT 641
per two ounces, with the provision in the case of samples
of merchandise that a minimum of two cents should be paid,
and in the case of commercial papers that a minimum of
five cents should be paid. The Universal Postal Union is
one of the greatest of human achievements, not only for
its immediate practical results, but also as an indication
of what may be accomplished in regard to other schemes
of a world-wide character.
IV
RECENT DEVELOPMENT
HAVING placed its external relations on a satisfactory
footing, the Post Office department concentrated
its energies on the development of its domestic
service. For many years the history of the department
was practically comprised in the annual statements of the
increase in the number of post offices, of the miles of mail
routes, and of the revenue and expenditure. The most
important point in connection with the mail service was
the completion of the line of railway running between the
provinces on the Atlantic and those on the Pacific. In
1876 the Intercolonial Railway was finished. By this the
Maritime Provinces were brought into direct communica-
tion with Ontario and Quebec. At the same time a direct
service between Canada and Great Britain throughout the
year was made possible. Until the Intercolonial Railway
was completed the steamers of the Canadian line, while
running to Quebec and Montreal during the summer, were
obliged to make Portland, Maine, their winter point, the
British mails being carried between Portland and Montreal
by the Grand Trunk Railway. Now, with the Intercolonial
Railway available, the British mails were landed at Halifax
during the winter. It also became possible to shorten the
time between Great Britain and all the provinces of the
Dominion during the summer by landing the mails at
Rimouski, a port on the St Lawrence on the line of the
Intercolonial Railway, 180 miles below Quebec. From
642 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
Rimouski the mails were carried by fast trains to the Mari-
time Provinces in the East and to Ontario and Quebec in
the West.
The communication by railway through Canadian terri-
tory between the Atlantic provinces and Montreal was carried
forward to Winnipeg in November 1884, and to Vancouver
on the Pacific in July 1886. Winnipeg was not without
railway connection with Eastern Canada until 1884, for
since 1879 there had been a railway in operation from
Pembina, but the connection was maintained by the aid of
the United States railway system. An interesting incident
in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway west-
ward across the plains was the establishment of a post
office known as ' End of Track, C. P. R.' The post office
was in a car roughly fitted up for the service, which moved
westward a few miles every day with the progress of track
laying. A money order service was carried on by the post-
master, and during the period between January I, 1885, and
November 7 following he had issued orders to the amount
of over $65,000.
The construction of the through line of railway between
the Atlantic and the Pacific, though essential to the security
of Canadian autonomy, threw a heavy financial burden on
the Post Office. At a time when there were but a few
thousand settlers west of the Ontario boundary-line and the
total postal revenue for the provinces and territories in the
western country was only $239,000, the Post Office was
obliged to maintain a daily exchange of mails by travelling
post office through to the Pacific coast and to keep up an
expensive postal system in that new country. In 1887-88,
the first clear year after the railway began to carry the mails
for the eastern and middle provinces to the coast, the outlay
for the mail service west of the Province of Ontario was
$459,000.
The charges on newspapers have undergone several
changes since the date of Confederation. At that time the
rates on papers sent from publishers to subscribers ran from
six and a half cents each per quarter for weekly newspapers
to forty cents per quarter for daily newspapers. In 1868,
RECENT DEVELOPMENT 643
when the rates established after Confederation came into
force, they were reduced to five cents per quarter for weekly
papers and to thirty cents per quarter for daily papers. In
1875 a change was made in the mode of fixing the charges.
Until that time the charge had been so much on each paper,
disregarding the element of the weight of the paper. The
Postal Act of 1875 made weight, and weight alone, the basis
of the postage charge. The rate was made one cent per
pound. In 1882 the charge on newspapers sent by publishers
to subscribers was wiped out altogether, and until 1899 the
Post Office transported all papers from the offices of publica-
tion to subscribers free of all cost to either publisher or
subscriber. In 1899 a charge of a half-cent per pound was
imposed on all such papers, except in the case of weekly
papers where the conveyance was within an area of forty
miles in diameter. The charge of a half-cent was afterwards
reduced to a quarter-cent within an area of three hundred
miles, and was made uniformly a quarter-cent per pound in
1908. At the same time the area of free distribution of
weekly papers was increased to a diameter of eighty miles.
The rate of postage on letters was maintained at the rate of
three cents, which was established in 1868, until 1899, except
that in 1889 the unit of weight was raised from a half -ounce
to one ounce.
The rate on letters passing within Canada and sent to
the United States was lowered to two cents per half-ounce in
1899, in connection with the establishment of the imperial
penny postage on Christmas 1898. The imperial penny
postage rate, though long advocated by John Henniker
Heaton and others in England, did not become a practical
question until 1897. In that year an imperial conference was
held in London on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond
Jubilee, and Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial secretary, in
the course of an address to the delegates to the conference,
urged the adoption of the penny rate on letters circulating
within the Empire. In pursuance of the idea of reducing the
rates on letters within the Empire, the postmaster-general
of Canada issued a notice that all letters sent from Canada to
Great Britain, or to other parts of the Empire, might go at
644 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
the Canadian inland rate of three cents per ounce. This
being objected to by Great Britain as calculated to force the
hands of the other members of the Empire, which for various
reasons were not then prepared to accept a reduction in the
rates, the notice was withdrawn. After some correspondence
the British Post Office decided to call a conference of the
self-governing colonies to discuss the question of a reduction
in the imperial rates, particularly a suggestion of that office
that the rate be made twopence per half-ounce instead of
twopence-halfpenny. The conference met in July 1898, and
after some discussion the postmaster-general of Canada
proposed the establishment of the imperial penny rate on
letters circulating within the Empire. The proposition was
seconded by the representative of South Africa, but was
opposed by the Australian and New Zealand representatives.
The Australian representative stated that so far as those
colonies were concerned, the proposal would be less serious
in itself than in its results upon the inland postage of
Australia. The inland rate in Australia was twopence per
half-ounce, and as the establishment of a penny rate through-
out the Empire would necessitate the acceptance of the same
rate within Australia, there would ensue a loss on the inland
business of ^250,000 a year. The secretary of the British
Post Office also criticized the motion as a business proposition,
stating that the experience of that office had been that the
Post Office is likely to be conducted best if it is conducted on
commercial principles. At the next meeting of the conference,
however, it appeared that the British government had decided
to allow imperial considerations to prevail, and it was finally
agreed that such parts of the British Empire as desired a
penny postage among themselves should be left to make
their own arrangements for that purpose. Accordingly the
imperial penny postage scheme was inaugurated on Christmas
Day 1898, embracing Great Britain and all the more im-
portant colonies except Australia. It was only in May 1911
that the adhesion of Australia made the scheme comprehensive
of all the parts of the British Empire.
On January I, 1899, one week after Canada had accepted
imperial penny postage, the Canadian inland rate on letters
RECENT DEVELOPMENT 645
was reduced from three cents to two cents per ounce. This
reduction also affected all letters going to the United States.
The financial results of the two great reductions, which
amounted to sixty per cent in the case of letters sent to all
parts of the Empire and thirty-three and one-third per cent
in the case of those circulating within Canada, or posted for
the United States, are extremely interesting in their bearing
on the maxim that in post office affairs reductions in the
rates are always followed by such augmentations of the
correspondence affected that the losses of revenue due to the
reductions are quickly made up. In the fiscal year 1897-98,
the last full year under the older rates, the net revenue of the
department was $3,527,810. Three years later the revenue
had so far recovered that it was only $107,000 short of
the total of 1897-98, and in the following year (1901-2) it
exceeded the figures of 1897-98 by $360,000.
The Imperial Penny Postage Conference had an important
consequence, not foreseen at the time. When the penny
postage question was settled, the postmaster-general of Canada
took advantage of the presence of the Australian repre-
sentatives to discuss with them a scheme for a Pacific cable.
The proposal for a cable across the Pacific had been before
the world for many years, but the interests of the cable
companies, coupled with general indifference on the part of
the public, kept the scheme in abeyance in spite of the zeal of
its advocates. As recently as 1896 a committee, composed of
representatives of Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand, had the scheme under investigation. A large body
of evidence was taken and a report was adopted recommending
the scheme. But it had sunk again into the background
when the energy of the postmaster-general of Canada revived
it, and before the representatives of the conference parted
plans were adopted for the prosecution of the scheme. The
cable was laid between Vancouver and Australia and New
Zealand, and was ready for business on December 8, 1902.
There was an immediate reduction in the cost of cabling
between Australasia on the one hand and America and
Europe on the other. The charge between Great Britain
and Australia and New Zealand was lowered from four
646 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
shillings and ninepence a word to three shillings a word.
The Pacific cable is the first and most important link in a
telegraphic system which will ultimately bind together the
whole British Empire by lines touching on British territory
only.
The conference which in 1898 gave penny postage to
the Empire confined its attention to the postage on letters,
leaving untouched the scarcely less important subject of
the charges on newspapers and magazines. The charge on
periodical literature circulating within the Empire remained
the same as that between its several parts and the rest of the
world, that is, one cent for each two ounces in weight. In
1903, when penny postage had demonstrated its various
advantages in the case of letters, the postmaster-general of
Canada set on foot a movement for the cheapening of the
postage on newspapers and magazines. As a result Canadian
newspapers and magazines can be sent to Great Britain and
to many of the colonies at the same rate as they can be sent to
any part of Canada.
In 1907 negotiations were opened between Canada and
Great Britain and the United States, which had important
consequences on the circulation in Canada of periodicals from
those countries. Since 1874 publishers in the United States
had been sending their magazines at the United States inland
rate, which for many years had been one cent per pound,
while publications of the same nature from Great Britain
were charged by the British Post Office one cent for two
ounces. The negotiations with the United States were made
necessary by the large quantities of merely advertising
publications which were coming into the country under the
guise of magazines, and which were hampering the officials
and delaying the attention due to more important material.
The rate on all publications passing either way between
Canada and the United States was raised to one cent for four
ounces, except in the case of daily newspapers, which was
fixed at one cent per pound. The British Post Office reduced
its rates on newspapers and periodicals coming to Canada,
under certain conditions which in no way interfered with the
efficiency of the arrangement, to one penny per pound. The
RECENT DEVELOPMENT 647
objects aimed at by the two agreements were completely
realized. The advance in the postage rates on United States
periodicals excluded the class of publications to which
objection was properly made, and the lowering of the charge
on British publications has been followed by an enormous
increase in the circulation of those publications in Canada.
The money order system in connection with the Canadian
Post Office has attained large proportions, and the extent of
its transactions at home and abroad has become very great.
The number of post offices transacting money order business
has risen from 515 in 1868 to 3311 in 1910, and the amount
of orders issued in Canada has increased from $3,350,000
in 1868 to $61,000,000 in 1910. When Confederation was
achieved the only countries with which money order business
was transacted were the United Kingdom and Newfoundland.
In 1875 an exchange of money orders was arranged with
the United States. In 1883 conventions were made with
Belgium, Germany, Italy and other European countries, with
Australia and New Zealand, and with Jamaica and Barbados.
In 1884 a convention was made with France. Since that date
negotiations have been opened whenever the occasion seemed
opportune, until, in 1910, there were thirty-six separate
conventions in operation with as many different countries.
The Post Office Savings Bank was one of the first insti-
tutions established by the Canadian government after Con-
federation. It was founded on the model of the English
system, which had been in successful operation since 1861.
Its object, in the words of the statute of 1867, was ' to enlarge
the facilities now available for the deposit of small savings,
to make the Post Office available for that purpose, and to give
the direct security of the Dominion to every depositor for
repayment of all money deposited by him, together with the
interest due thereon.' The institution, at its commencement
on April I, 1868, laid eighty-one of the principal offices under
contribution, and by the end of the first year the number was
increased to 213. During the first year there were 6865
accounts opened, and the amount deposited was $861,655.
In 1910, notwithstanding the large number of trustworthy
savings banks throughout the country, the sum of $8,816,000
648 THE POST OFFICE, 1867-1912
was deposited. The number of persons having accounts in
the Savings Bank in 1910 was 148,893, and the amount stand-
ing to their credit was $43,586,000.
For many years after Confederation the department
was obliged to look to parliament annually for assistance in
meeting its expenses. The maintenance of an expensive
service from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the sparsity of the
population, and the comparative lack of commercial and
industrial development, made this inevitable. But the Post
Office has shared fully in the advantages due to the growth
of population, and from the expansion of the business of the
country. Since 1903 the revenue has outrun the expenditure :
in 1911 the net revenue of the Canadian Post Office was
$9,146,952 and the expenditure $7,954,223, thus leaving a
balance in favour of the department amounting to $1,192,729.
NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
VOL. VII
NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
I
GENERAL VIEW OF FARMING IN CANADA
THE area of the land in Canada now under cultivation
or enclosed for pasture is nearly fifty million acres.
According to trustworthy estimates this is less than
one-sixth of the total land available for such purposes.
The climatic and soil conditions which prevail over the
greater part of these vast areas are favourable to the pro-
duction of cereals, grasses and vegetables, and of the fruits
of the temperate zone, not only in abundance, but of the
very highest quality. Live stock of all kinds thrive exceed-
ingly well, and are remarkably free from disease. These
conditions, if taken advantage of in an intelligent and pro-
gressive manner, supply all the essentials for a great and
successful agricultural industry.
During the past twenty or thirty years the development
of the agricultural resources of Canada has shown rapid
progress. This is true also in a lesser degree for as long
as sixty or seventy years. In the earlier periods, however,
of the country's history agriculture advanced but slowly.
The earliest settlers, and especially the French, applied their
energies more to fur trading and hunting than to farming,
and by the time their descendants found it necessary to
turn their attention to the cultivation of the soil, they
had lost the skill in agriculture which their ancestors may
have possessed. Many of the first settlers in Ontario and
the Maritime Provinces, being mechanics, tradesmen, dis-
charged soldiers or anything except farmers, had practically
no previous agricultural experience, and it naturally took
them some time, with the lack of facilities then existing,
652 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
to acquire a good working knowledge of their adopted
vocation.
The settlement of Western Canada, if we except the
Selkirk colony of Red River, which was founded in 1812,
offers no parallel to the conditions under which the pioneers
of Eastern Canada first hewed their homes out of the bush.
The clearing of the forest with its unremunerative labour
is a very different thing from the ' breaking ' of the prairie
and the immediate returns which follow, to say nothing of
the improved facilities of transportation of the present day
and the ready markets for the produce of the land.
The first and, to some extent, the second generation
on the land in Eastern Canada were more occupied in
clearing off the timber than in cultivating the soil. They
were lumbermen rather than farmers. Down to 1859 the
value of the forest products exported, including $1,107,275
for pot and pearl ashes, exceeded that of the agricultural
products, but since that date agriculture has been in the
lead.
Lack of adequate markets was a great drawback to
pioneer farming in the East. There was no incentive to
produce anything which was not required for the actual
sustenance of the family. When the price of wheat rose
from thirty cents to two dollars a bushel during the Crimean
War, many an Ontario farmer gained his first real start
towards independence. The building of railways in the
fifties was another important factor in bringing a measure
of prosperity to the inland counties.
The unit of occupancy in Eastern Canada is one hundred
acres more or less. In the prairie country the holdings are
much larger, and there is some attempt to carry on capital-
istic farming with the aid of traction machinery and the
working of large areas. In British Columbia the holdings
vary from ten to twenty acres up to several hundred ; the
lesser area for the fruit grower, the greater for the cattle
rancher.
Landlordism, as it exists in Europe, is practically un-
known in Canada. The class of men who in the Old World
would be tenants under such a system, in Canada, owing to
GENERAL VIEW OF FARMING IN CANADA 653
the ease of acquiring a freehold, would soon become owners
themselves. The Canadian farmer, as a rule, is a working
man engaged in what may be termed subsistence farming,
and generally on land of which he holds the title.
The early annals of agriculture in the eastern part of
the Dominion of Canada deal chiefly with the production
of cereals, in limited quantities, and of flax, hemp and wool.
The farmer produced his own food and the raw material
for the clothing of himself and family. The flax and wool
grown for the purpose often passed through the various
processes of carding, spinning, dyeing and weaving at the
hands of the female members of the family.
Among the cereals wheat has always been the leading
crop in Canada. The valleys of the Richelieu and Thames '
were famous in the early days of the nineteenth century for
the quantity and quality of wheat produced, and now the
fertile plains of the West yield an ever-increasing quantity
which already bulks large in the agricultural production
of the country. The quantity of wheat exported from
Canada in 1773 was 487,000 bushels, which was increased
to 1,010,033 bushels in 1802. There were in addition some
exports of flour and biscuit. During the first twenty years
of the nineteenth century the exports of wheat decreased,
while, on the other hand, the export of flour was increased
to some extent. In 1829 the Wheat Midge appeared in
Lower Canada, and in 1849 it was found in the eastern coun-
ties of Upper Canada. The export of wheat in 1855 was
9,390,531 bushels, but owing to the ravages of the midge the
quantity fell off in three years over fifty per cent. It was
estimated that the loss from the ravages of the midge was
$2,500,000 in 1859. In the fiscal year ending March 31,
1910, the quantity of wheat exported was 60,431,253 bushels,
to which must be added 3,064,161 barrels of flour.
As agriculture is to be dealt with elsewhere in this work
under the head of the several provinces, beginning with
Confederation, further reference to the development of the
industry is unnecessary here.
654 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
II
THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY
THE INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC CATTLE
'"IP* HE earliest attempt to introduce cattle into Canada,
if a somewhat traditionary account is to be relied on,
was made by the adventurer, Baron de Lery, who
landed some stock on Sable Island in 1518. Some cows
were included among Cartier's list of supplies for his third
voyage in 1541, and Poutrincourt, in 1606, brought cattle
for the struggling colony at Port Royal. It remained, how-
ever, for Champlain to make at Quebec the first permanent
introduction of cattle. He mentions having ' cut hay for
the cattle ' in 1610, and a map published in 1613 shows a
place where ' hay was grown for the cattle.' The colony
had a herd of sixty or seventy cattle at Cap Tourmente
in 1629, some of which were killed by Kirke while on his
predatory expedition to the St Lawrence in that year. The
French minister, Colbert, under Louis xiv, began sending
representatives of ' the best dairy cows of Normandy and
Brittany ' to New France in 1660, and Tracy brought some
cattle from France in 1665 along with the famous Carignan-
Salieres regiment. All authorities agree that the French-
Canadian breed of the present day is descended from the
stock thus imported from Normandy and Brittany in the
seventeenth century. In the year 1667 the number of
horned cattle in New France was 3107, which was increased
to 9181 head in 1695 a"d to 33,179 in 1734.
After 1632, when the Acadian settlements began to
acquire a permanent character, more cattle as well as sheep
were procured and ' fruit trees were planted.' Fur trading
and fishing were to some extent abandoned for agricultural
pursuits. In 1671 there were reported to be 866 head of
' horned cattle ' in all Acadia. A census in 1693 showed
878 horned cattle at Port Royal, 461 at Minas, 309 at
Chignecto and 38 on the River St John (New Brunswick),
probably at Jemseg. Haliburton states that there were
THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY 655
T557 cows and over 5000 young cattle at the Basin of Minas
alone at the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. In 1713,
when Acadia was ceded to England by the Treaty of Utrecht,
a number of the Acadian families migrated to Prince Edward
Island, or, as it was then called, the Island of St John,
which still remained under French rule. These were the
first settlers in the island province, and it is quite possible
that they took some cattle with them. When Captain
Holland surveyed the island in 1764, he reported that the
number of cattle at that time was inconsiderable.
After the expulsion of the Acadians the fertile lands
which they had occupied tempted many settlers from New
England, who brought live stock with them to the various
districts in which they settled. The German settlers went
to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in 1750-53. In 1754 the govern-
ment supplied them with ' 74 cows, 867 sheep, 114 pigs, 164
goats, besides poultry.' In 1760 they had 600 cows, and were
exporting both butter and cheese from the district. In 1761
a company of fifty-three families from New Hampshire, of
Irish descent, settled at Truro. They brought with them
117 head of cattle. During the same year a number of
Puritans from Connecticut landed at Yarmouth, and they
had 267 cattle in 1763, which number was increased to 954
in 1784. When the United Empire Loyalists settled in Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in the
memorable years of 1783, 1784 and 1785, there were further
additions made to the live stock of these provinces.
It was through the coming of the United Empire Loyalists
that live stock was introduced into the Eastern Townships.
The government made a distribution of cows, implements,
etc., to the new settlers in that district. The extreme
western portion of the Province of Quebec south of the
St Lawrence, including the county of Huntingdon and the
seigniories of Chateauguay and Beauharnois, was settled
between 1800 and 1830. A few French Canadians moved
into this district and some loyalists migrated westward
from Lacolle, but the majority of the settlers were Scottish
and Irish families direct from the old country. The cattle
for this district were procured from the United States and
656 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
from the older settled country near Montreal. These coun-
ties have since been developed into one of the best dairying
and pure-bred stock centres in Canada.
When La Motte Cadillac and his associates pushed their
way westward to the Detroit River in 1701, they took with
them some young ' calves,' the descendants of which were
probably the first cows seen in Upper Canada. It was
some years, however, after the settlement was planted before
any land was occupied on what is now the Canadian side
of the river, and it may be assumed that the real introduc-
tion of domestic cattle into Upper Canada was coincident
with the coming of the United Empire Loyalists in 1783-85.
The government distributed cows among these settlers as
was done in the Eastern Townships. The cows were pro-
cured from Lower Canada and from the United States.
West of the Great Lakes the first mention of domestic
cattle is made in connection with Lord Selkirk's settlement
on the Red River. There is in the archives of the Hudson's
Bay Company at Lower Fort Garry a record to the effect
that in 1813 Lord Selkirk shipped a bull and a cow from
Ballin Ghobhainn in Ross-shire to Stornoway, and that the
animals went thence with a party of colonists via Hudson
Bay and York Factory. There appears to be no mention,
however, that these animals reached Red River, which is
not surprising considering the difficulties of the overland
journey. In 1823 a herd of three hundred cattle was
driven from the south and disposed of to the Red River
colonists.
In 1825 Alexander Ross, the historian of the Red River
colony, in his journey from Oregon to the Red River, found
two cows and a bull at Fort Cumberland, on the Saskat-
chewan, and remarks that ' the introduction of domestic
cattle from the colony of Red River gives a new feature
of civilization to the place.' The same historian, speaking
of the Red River settlement in 1831, refers to the decline
in the price of dairy produce as the result of over-production.
In his evidence given before the Select Committee of the
House of Commons (England) on the Hudson's Bay Company
in 1856, Colonel Lefroy said, ' There are domestic cattle
THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY 657
at most of the forts now, even low down on the Mackenzie
River.'
Some cows were evidently taken across the mountains
into the northern interior of British Columbia as early as
1837. There is a reference in Hudson's Bay correspondence
to a bull, a cow and a calf at one of the northern posts that
year. In a letter written in 1840 the chief factor at Stewart
Lake expresses his displeasure to a subordinate at Eraser
Lake ' for not sending the bull.' l
In 1843 the Hudson's Bay Company, realizing that the
boundary question was likely to be settled with the United
States, and that the joint occupation of the Oregon territory
would end, established a fort on the site of what is now the
city of Victoria, in order to be on the right side of the line
when the boundary was definitely fixed. For some years
previously the company had maintained large dairy farms
at Nisqually on Puget Sound and at Fort Vancouver on
the Columbia River. These farms were stocked with dairy
cattle which had been driven up from California and which
were of Mexican (originally Spanish) derivation, having
been brought to California by the mission fathers. The new
fort was supplied with cattle, and in 1846 the company had
two dairy farms of seventy cows each. The produce of
these farms was supplied to the northern posts, and was
also used in the trade with the Russians in Alaska.
The descendants of the cattle introduced from France
have been bred without much intermixture of other blood
in some localities in the Province of Quebec. In 1887 a
commission was appointed to establish a pure-bred registry.
Animals which conformed to certain standards were accepted
at that time, and the progeny of these original entries
are eligible for registration in the French-Canadian Herd
Book.
The Ayrshire was the first of the recognized dairy breeds
to be introduced into Canada after the Conquest. Lord
Dalhousie, who seems to have been very active in matters
pertaining to the improvement of agriculture, both as Lieu-
tenant-Governor of Nova Scotia and as Governor-General
1 Rev. A. G. Morice, History of On NorOur* Inltrior of British Columbia.
658 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
of Canada, imported Ayrshire cattle into Quebec in 1821 for
the purpose of improving the breed of cows. It is claimed
that some animals recorded in the Canadian Ayrshire Herd
Book established in 1870 can be traced to the importations
by Lord Dalhousie. In the very early days Scottish ship-
masters brought out Ayrshire cows for the use of the passengers
on the voyage, and sold them on arrival at Quebec or Montreal.
These cows, owing to their superior qualities, became popular
with the farmers, who frequently induced the captains to
bring several cows on a voyage, in order that they might
secure them for breeding purposes. In 1845 J. B. Ewart
of Dundas, Ontario, made a direct importation of Ayrshire
cattle. John Dodds and James Logan of Montreal brought
over more cattle of this breed in 1850 and 1853 respectively,
and after that large numbers of Ayrshire cattle were imported
into Ontario and Quebec.
In 1868 the first pure-bred Jersey cattle were brought to
Canada by Harrison Stephens of Montreal. The Jerseys
were exceedingly popular for some years and prices rose
very high, one breeder refusing $26,000 for a single cow.
The Jerseys afterwards suffered somewhat from the natural
reaction following this unnatural advance. Sir John Abbott
imported a number of the Guernsey breed in 1878, 1881 and
1883, and these were probably the first direct importations.
A few animals were imported into Nova Scotia from the
United States about the same time. The first introduction of
the Holstein breed occurred in 1882 by the importation of
animals from the United States. In 1884 and 1885 there
were importations made direct from Holland. M. Cook,
Aultsville, Ontario, J. S. Hallam, H. Hillgartner, C. Wagler,
New Dundee, Ontario, and J. W. Lee, Simcoe, Ontario, were
among the first to introduce this breed.
The shorthorn is not generally included among the special
dairy breeds, but some excellent milk producers are found
among cows belonging to certain strains or families. The
Board of Agriculture for New Brunswick made the first im-
portation of pure-bred shorthorns in 1825 and 1826. Judge
Robert Arnold, St Catharines, Ontario, and G. W. Smith of
St Thomas, Ontario, imported shorthorns direct from England
THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY 659
in 1826 ; and from 1832 down to 1854 a large number of these
animals were brought into the country.
Until comparatively recent years pure-bred cows of any
breed were not held in high favour by the average dairy
farmer. This prejudice, however, has almost totally dis-
appeared, as is shown by the number of pure-bred cattle in
Canada at the present time, and the high prices which are
paid for choice animals of good breeding.
CHEESE AND BUTTER PRODUCTION IN CANADA
The use of butter and cheese as foods for man dates
back to the very earliest times, and their manufacture is
undoubtedly among the oldest of the technical arts. The
early French colonists evidently brought with them some
knowledge of the art of making the soft cheese which has
always been the peculiar product of France. On the Island
of Orleans, and in one or two other localities in the Province
of Quebec, examples of this type of cheese are still made by
the French-Canadian farmers, who follow methods that have
been in practice since the earliest days of the province.
The manufacture of butter, the art of which is easily
acquired, naturally followed the introduction of cows ; and
while for many years, owing to lack of markets, the quantity
produced did not exceed the requirements of the family, as
the population increased and the proportion of non-producers
became greater, successful butter-makers began to find a
market for their product.
The United Empire Loyalists brought the art of cheese-
making to the Eastern Townships, to the St Lawrence Valley
and to the Lake Ontario district. As early as 1 80 1 there was
reported to be a surplus of cheese and butter at Kingston,
Ontario, some of which was exported to the United States.
In Gourlay's Statistical Account of Upper Canada. (1822)
reference is made to butter and cheese in Sandwich, Walpole,
Rainham, Norwich, Saltfleet, Bayham and other townships.
Cheese-making was engaged in extensively in the early fifties
by some of the English and Scottish settlers, who followed the
methods of the farm dairies in the old country. Cheese-making
660 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
on the farm reached its highest development in the county
of Oxford in Ontario and in Huntingdon and Chateauguay
Counties in Quebec. Since the introduction of the factory
system ' home-made ' cheese has almost entirely disappeared.
There were over a million cows in British North America
in 1861. The home market was supplied with butter and to
some extent with cheese, although the imports of cheese were
considerably in excess of the exports in that year. The dairy
outlook in the early sixties was not encouraging. Progress
was impossible under the conditions which then existed.
When the quantity of milk produced exceeded the needs of
the family, the surplus butter and cheese was ' traded ' for
groceries and other requirements at a valuation often below
the actual cost of production. Moreover, the production of
butter and cheese was limited to the amount of labour which
the farmers' wives and daughters could spare from their
other arduous duties.
The introduction of the factory system improved the
situation and gave a new impetus to milk production. The
factory product, being more uniform and of a higher average
quality, was more suitable for the English market than the
home-made article, and the great trade in the export of cheese
which then began was made possible. The system of making
cheese in factories originated in Herkimer County in the State
of New York about 1851, and for some years that district set
the standards and fashions for the rest of America in connec-
tion with the industry. The factory system was exactly
suited to the labour and other conditions in Ontario and
Quebec, and, as a consequence, it was extended very rapidly
as soon as it became known and understood. The results
were so important that the rise of the dairying industry in
Canada has been associated in the popular mind with the
beginning of the factory system. This view is hardly correct,
but it must be admitted that the starting of the first cheese
factory marked a distinct epoch in the progress of the industry.
The first cheese factory in Canada was established in
Oxford County, Ontario, in 1864, by Harvey Farrington,
who came from New York State with that purpose in view.
During the following year four factories were established near
THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY 661
Ingersoll in the same county, and one at Athens, Leeds
County, the first in Eastern Ontario. A factory in Hastings
County began operations in 1866 near the town of Belleville,
which soon became an important dairying centre. So rapid
was the extension of the factory system that in 1867 it was
estimated that there were two hundred factories in the
Province of Ontario.
The first cheese factory in the Province of Quebec was
opened by E. E. Hill, at Dunham, Missisquoi County, in the
spring of 1865. Others followed in 1867-68 in the same
county and in the adjoining county of Brome. In 1872 a
factory started at Rougemont in Rouville County, by
Fregeau Freres, was the first to be established in a French-
Canadian district. A combined cheese factory and creamery
was opened in St Denis, Kamouraska County, in 1881, and
after that date the factories multiplied rapidly throughout
the province.
In the early seventies attention was directed to the factory
system of manufacturing butter which was then coming into
vogue in Orange County, New York. The first creamery
in Canada was established at Athelstan, Huntingdon County,
Quebec, in 1873, by a company of farmers, but it ceased
operations after a few weeks with heavy loss to the pro-
moters. Another was started later in the same year at Helena,
Huntingdon County. These pioneer creameries were oper-
ated on what was known as the Schwartz system, the fresh
milk being placed in large shallow pans surrounded by cold
water. The cream after rising to the top was removed by
skimming in the old-fashioned way. In 1878 the system of
1 setting ' the milk in deep cans surrounded with cold water,
or ice and water, was introduced. Some of the creameries
first tried the plan of having the fresh milk delivered to the
creamery to be placed in these cans, but after a trial this
system was abandoned for the plan of setting the milk in the
deep cans at the farms and carrying the cream only to the
creamery. It was thus that the cream-gathering creamery
had its origin.
Cheese factories and creameries have been established in
all the provinces of Canada. In New Brunswick the first
662 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
cheese factory was opened in 1869 near the village of Sussex.
This was followed by a creamery, also near Sussex, in 1884.
In Nova Scotia the first cheese factory was established in
Paradise, Annapolis County, in 1870, to be followed by a
second, controlled by a company of farmers, in Onslow, near
Truro, in 1871. This latter factory afterwards formed the
nucleus of what became the first milk condensery in Canada.
In 1892 the first creamery was established in Nova Scotia
at Nappan in Cumberland County. Although Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick are well adapted for dairying in many
localities, the industry has not made the same growth in these
provinces as it has in Ontario and Quebec.
The dairying industry has made more progress in Prince
Edward Island than in the other Maritime Provinces. The
island province with its well-developed agricultural areas,
its fertile pastures and favourable climate, offers an almost
ideal condition for the production of milk suitable for the
manufacture of cheese of fine quality. A small cheese factory
was established at Little York in 1882. During the follow-
ing year three other factories were established, but none of
these proved very successful. Genuine progress was made in
1891, when the Dominion department of Agriculture, through
the dairy commissioner, undertook to organize and manage
a number of factories for the purpose of illustrating right
methods of operation.
The factory system took root west of the Great Lakes
through the erection of a cheese factory at Shoal Lake, Mani-
toba, in 1886 ; a creamery at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan, in
1890 ; a small cheese factory near Calgary, Alberta, in 1886 ;
and another at Chilliwack, British Columbia, in 1895. A. C.
Wells of Chilliwack was the pioneer of modern dairying in
British Columbia. While dairying makes little progress in a
successful wheat-growing district, the northern sections of the
three prairie provinces have some well-developed dairying
areas. Creameries are also doing .well in the Fraser Valley,
British Columbia.
The centrifugal cream separator was introduced into
Canada in 1882. Next to the factory system this was the
most important improvement ever made in the dairying
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 663
industry. The first importation was a Danish machine for a
creamery at Ste Marie, Beauce County, Quebec, owned by
the late Lieutenant-Colonel Henri Duchesnay. The centri-
fugal separator offered such important advantages that it was
quickly adopted in all localities where it was practicable to
have the fresh milk delivered at the creamery.
Ill
GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGEMENT TO
AGRICULTURE
FIRST ATTEMPTS
earliest attempts, by the governing authorities in
Canada, to encourage agriculture relate chiefly to the
growing of hemp and flax. In Governor Murray's
report on the state of the government in Quebec in 1762,
he said, ' The raising of hemp and flax, for which the lands
are in many places extremely proper, must be the object of
most serious consideration.' In 1786 Lord Dorchester, then
governor, appointed a committee to inquire into the popula-
tion and agriculture in Quebec, which then included what is
now Ontario. The magistrates at Cataraqui wrote to the
committee and recommended ' the propriety of encouraging
by bounty the raising of hemp and flax and the manufacture
of potash.' The loyalists farther east also petitioned for a
bounty to be allowed on ' pot and pearl ash as well as on
hemp.' In 1822 the legislature of Upper Canada voted £300
to purchase machinery for preparing hemp fibre, and £50 a
year for several years for its care and operation. The home
authorities wished to ensure a supply of raw material for the
manufacture of cordage for the navy, to replace that which
had formerly been secured from Russia, that source having
been cut off by the closing of the Baltic ports as a result of
the Napoleonic wars. Notwithstanding this active encourage-
ment, and the fact that the price of hemp rose in Canada
from £25 per ton to over £100 during the early years of the
664 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
nineteenth century, the growing of hemp was never very
extensively followed.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
The organization of agricultural societies was encouraged
by some of the early governors. Probably the first organiza-
tion of the kind was the Quebec Agricultural Society founded
at Quebec on April 6, 1789. Similar societies were organized
during the same year at Halifax and in Hants and Kings
Counties, Nova Scotia, under the patronage of Governor
Parr. But it required more than the presence and moral
support of the governor and other dignitaries to make such
organizations effective. Funds were lacking, and for that
reason, if for no other, very little was accomplished.
A considerable impetus was given to agriculture in the
Maritime Provinces by the letters of ' Agricola ' (John
Young) which appeared in the Acadian Recorder of Halifax
during the years 1818 and 1819. As a result of the interest
thus awakened Lord Dalhousie, then Lieutenant-Governor of
Nova Scotia, called a public meeting at Halifax on December
19, 1818, the outcome of which was the organization of a
provincial agricultural society. The legislature made a grant
to this society of £1500, of which £540 was set aside for
the importation of improved live stock, seeds and machinery,
and certain sums were distributed among the county societies.
It was suggested that dairy cattle should be imported from
Ayrshire.
In the year 1830 the provincial legislature of Upper
Canada passed an act to encourage the organization of
agricultural societies in the several districts of the province.
A number of societies of a more or less perfunctory character
had existed in the province for some years. The Agricultural
Society of Upper Canada was organized in 1845 with Lieu-
tenant-Colonel E. A. Thompson as president, and the first
provincial exhibition was held at Toronto under the auspices
of that society in 1846. It was deemed worthy of special
remark that some pure-bred ' Durham ' cattle were on
exhibition at this show.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 665
BOARDS OF AGRICULTURE
Boards of Agriculture for Upper and Lower Canada were
established in 1850. Membership in these boards was looked
upon as an honorary position, and the appointments were apt
to go to those who were able to pull the political strings
rather than to men with special qua litir.it ions for leadership
in matters agricultural. It was hardly to be expected that
a body thus organized, without any direct responsibility,
would prove very aggressive, or take its dudes very seriously.
The Boards of Agriculture were, however, possibly the best
means that could have been adopted in the circumstances to
promote or foster the agricultural industry, and they paved
the way for the more effective organization of the department
of Agriculture under the direct control of a responsible
minister. In 1852 an act was passed providing for the
establishment of a Bureau of Agriculture and to amend and
consolidate the laws relating to agriculture. Five years
later the head of the Bureau of Agriculture became the first
minister of Agriculture in Canada. The Boards of Agricul-
ture distributed the annual government grant for agricultural
purposes to the various county societies. The total amount
of the grant in 1852 was $21,557. After Confederation the
Boards of Agriculture were continued for some years under
provincial auspices.
THE DOMINION GOVERNMENT AND AGRICULTURE
A Bureau of Agriculture and Statistics, administered by
a minister of Agriculture, was planned as a part of the new
government machinery at Confederation. Immigration was
assigned to the department of Agriculture at first, and the
annual reports during the early Confederation period deal
chiefly with statistics of immigration, quarantine, etc. The
agents who represented the department of Agriculture in
Great Britain down to 1892 were in that year transferred
with the Immigration branch to the department of the
Interior.
VOL. VII T
666 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
An order-in-council dated April 17, 1877, provided for the
appointment of a Dominion Council of Agriculture, composed
of four representatives each for Quebec and Ontario, one for
each of the Maritime Provinces, one for British Columbia,
and one for Manitoba and the North-West Territories
combined. On the 25th of the same month an organization
meeting was held at Ottav/a at which the Hon. David Christie
was elected president and Joseph Perrault secretary, and
twelve committees were struck to deal with as many different
phases of agriculture and allied subjects. The scheme was
well planned, but it appears to have been abandoned after
the change of government in 1878, and the Committee on
Forestry and Forests, of which Sir Henri Joly was chairman,
was the only one to present a report.
The Standing Committee of the House of Commons on
Immigration and Colonization was for some years the only
public body, under Dominion auspices, which gave any
attention to agricultural affairs. In 1878 this committee
inquired into the export trade in live cattle, which had in-
creased from a few head in 1873 to over 7000 in 1877, and
which was then seriously threatened by the Duke of Rich-
mond's bill to prohibit the importation of live cattle into the
United Kingdom.1 During the same session some evidence
was taken on the beet sugar industry and the growing of
sugar beets.
EXPERIMENTAL FARMS ESTABLISHED
During the session of 1884 the House of Commons took
the first definite step in the direction of agricultural im-
provement by appointing a select committee on the motion
of G. A. Gigault, then member for Rouville, now (1912)
deputy minister of Agriculture for Quebec, ' to inquire into
the best means of encouraging and developing the agricultural
industries.' This committee reported in favour of establish-
ing experimental farms, and accordingly, in 1896, a bill was
introduced into parliament by the minister of Agriculture,
Sir John Carling, with the object of giving effect to that
1 This bill did not become law.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 667
recommendation. William Saunders was chosen to organize
and direct the experimental farms system, which at first
consisted of a central farm at Ottawa, with branch farms
or stations at Nappan (Nova Scotia), Brandon (Manitoba),
Indian Head (Saskatchewan), and Agassiz (British Columbia).
Additional branch farms or sub-stations have recently been
established at Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island), Ros-
thern (Saskatchewan), Scott (Saskatchewan), Lethbridge
(Alberta), Lacombe (Alberta), Kentville (Nova Scotia),
Cap-Rouge (Quebec), and at Ste Anne-de-la-Pocatiere
(Quebec). The establishment of others is now under con-
sideration. No better evidence of the value and usefulness
of these farms could be adduced than the public demand,
which has resulted in a large extension of the system after
twenty-five years' trial. A Dominion botanist and ento-
mologist, who had been appointed as an honorary officer of
the department in 1884, was included in the experimental
staff.
The equipment at the central farm at Ottawa includes
chemical, botanical, entomological and cereal breeding
laboratories, with a trained man of science at the head of
each. Soil analysis ; investigations to determine the com-
position of wheats and the influence of environment as affect-
ing their milling qualities ; the relative value of various
fodders, plants and root crops ; the examination of well
waters ; the identification and control of plant diseases and
of insects injurious to farm crops and trees, are among some
of the more important assignments to these laboratories.
On what may be termed the more practical side, there are
experts in charge of horticulture, animal husbandry, field
crops and poultry. Through these several divisions the
experimental farms conduct many experiments and investi-
gations bearing on the economics of agriculture.
To the experimental farms has fallen the task of finding,
or rather producing, an apple which will grow in the prairie
provinces, and of developing a wheat with the earliest possible
ripening habit while, at the same time, retaining the valuable
and essential qualities of hardness and a high percentage of
gluten. With the first problem some progress has been made.
668 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
By mating the Siberian crab Pyrus Baccata with some of the
hardier varieties of apples grown at Ottawa, and by grafting
hardy crabs and apples on the cross-bred trees grown at the
branch farms in the West, a useful culinary fruit has been
assured which will be of great value to the inhabitants of that
part of Canada. It is confidently believed by those in charge
of this work that a reasonably good eating apple, sufficiently
hardy to winter on the prairies, will yet be found.
With respect to the wheat problem a more definite and
distinct advance has been made. In the search for early
ripening wheats both high altitudes and high latitudes have
been explored all over the world. A wheat was found at
Lake Ladoga, north of St Petersburg in Russia, that ripened
ten days earlier than the Red Fife, which has been the standard
variety of the North-West. The Ladoga itself proved to be
inferior, but crosses between it and Red Fife have resulted in
several strains which have more or less of the early ripening
habit of the Ladoga with the superior milling qualities of
the Red Fife. The northern limit of successful wheat pro-
duction has thus been pushed many miles farther north,
adding for practical purposes a very large area to the map of
Canada. This peaceful conquest of a large territory is one of
the romances of modern agriculture. That which has cost a
tremendous toll in human lives and money at other times
and in other lands has been accomplished in Canada by
the intelligent labour of a few government officials with an
insignificant outlay of public funds.
The free distribution of samples of seed grain has been an
important division of the work of the experimental farms,
with a twofold purpose. First, it permits of an extensive
system of co-operative testing of new varieties of grain under
widely different conditions, and, secondly, it introduces to
inquiring and progressive farmers improved strains of seed
which give them an increased yield. The propagation and
distribution of seedlings of hardy forest trees for shelter belts,
and of ornamental shrubs for the beautification of prairie
homes, is another line of effort for the improvement of rural
conditions in that part of Canada. Experiments in the
feeding of live stock and in the production of milk, beef and
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 669
pork, tests of various methods of renewing and conserving
soil fertility, the effect of early and late seeding, the raising of
poultry and bees are some of the ether lines of work followed.
The annual reports of the central and branch farms,
together with the numerous bulletins relating to the experi-
ments conducted, are sent free of charge to any person who
applies for them. Practical farmers have come to recognize
the value of the information thus obtained, and to look upon
the farms as a most reliable ally in attacking the various
problems which daily confront them.
The San Jos6 Scale Act (1898) and the Destructive Insect
and Pest Act (1910) are administered by the entomological
division of the experimental farms. The former prohibited
the importation of nursery stock from countries where the
scale occurred. In 1901 the provisions were modified to
allow stock to enter at six customs ports after fumigation
with hydrocyanic acid gas. The act of 1910 is more general
in scope, and is intended to give the minister the necessary
powers to prevent the introduction of any destructive insect
or pest.
THE DAIRYING SERVICE
A conference of delegates from all the dairymen's associa-
tions in the different provinces met at Ottawa on April 9,
1889, and petitioned the Dominion government to appoint a
dairy commissioner. The suggestion was well received by
the government and by parliament. The result was that
on February I, 1890, Professor James W. Robertson was
appointed dairy commissioner for the Dominion, with J. C.
Chapais as assistant dairy commissioner to give special atten-
tion to the French-speaking districts. This marked the first
important step by the federal government for direct assistance
to the dairying industry. The commissioner visited all parts
of Canada during the summer of 1890 to study the needs of
the situation, and in the spring of 1891 organized a staff of
experts to carry on the various services which had been
planned. It would be impossible without overloading these
pages to relate in detail all that has been accomplished
670 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
through these services during the past twenty years. Some
of the more important undertakings for the advancement of
the dairy industry were as follows :
(1) Experimental work was carried on at several places
in 1891 and 1892 to determine the relative value for cheese-
making purposes of milk containing different percentages of
fat, with a view to establishing a system for the payment for
milk at cheese factories according to its relative value based
on a butter fat standard.
(2) The organization and operation of winter creameries
to demonstrate the possibility of keeping factories open all the
year round was begun in the winter of 1891-92. The butter
trade suffered as a result of the intermittent character of the
supply of fine creamery butter. That which was needed for
winter use was accumulated in the autumn and held in
storage until required. The quality deteriorated before it
reached the consumer, and in consequence the trade in butter
was curtailed to a considerable extent. It was demonstrated
that creameries could be operated successfully during the
winter months, and that a first-class quality of butter could
be manufactured at that season of the year. With a more
regular supply of a freshly made article, the consumption of
butter increased rapidly, and there are now many factories
making butter during the winter months.
(3) In 1892 the commissioner was authorized by the
government to start a co-operative cheese factory in Prince
Edward Island. The machinery was lent by the government
and it was afterwards purchased by the co-operative society.
An expert was placed in charge to organize the business and
to conduct the factory as a government dairy station. In the
autumn of that year a consignment of the cheese manufactured
at this station was exported to London, where it was sold at
the highest market price. When the people of the island
province knew that they could get full prices for their cheese,
they became convinced that they could make an article of
the finest quality. New factories were organized, and the
government supervision was continued for several years and
was extended to eleven factories in all. Other dairy stations
were opened in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to illustrate
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 671
the operation of cheese factories and creameries along proper
lines.
(4) In 1895 the work of organizing the cold storage services
was begun. Owing to improvements in other countries and
the keener competition which followed, the export butter
trade of Canada had shrunk to almost nothing. There were
no facilities for the carriage of butter in cold storage. No
creamery owner could get a refrigerator car unless he had a
car-load of butter to ship. There was no cold storage on
the steamers sailing from Canadian ports, and few creameries
had any facilities of this kind. The commission was author-
ized to arrange with the railway companies to send refrigera-
tor cars once a week over stated routes for the purpose of
developing the butter trade. Under this arrangement a small
shipper with a few packages of butter now has it carried as
safely as the shipper who sends hundreds of packages. The
creameries were encouraged to erect cold storage rooms by
the payment of a bonus of $100 to those who provided such
equipment. In 1895 the steamship companies were induced
to provide insulated chambers in which ice was used as a
refrigerant. While this was an improvement, it did not fully
meet the situation. In 1897 a further agreement was entered
into with the steamship companies for the installation of
artificial refrigeration on a number of the transatlantic ships,
the government paying half the cost of the machinery up
to $10,000 per steamer. With these improvements the butter
trade began to develop, and the export trade from Montreal,
which was only 32,000 packages during the season of 1894,
increased to 539,000 in 1902. Refrigerator chambers with
temperatures suitable for the carriage of cheese have also
been provided through financial assistance from the govern-
ment. Aid was thus given in providing cold storage facilities
on thirty-four steamers sailing from Canadian ports. The
result is that since 1902 practically every new steamer placed
on the St Lawrence route has been fitted with cold storage
chambers. This has been done without assistance from the
government, the trade now being sufficient to warrant the
expenditure.
(5) The creameries established by private enterprise in
672 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
the North-West Territories during the early nineties did not
prove financially successful, and the situation was rather
critical, owing to the fact that many of the new settlers were
depending entirely on the dairying industry. The govern-
ment came to the rescue in 1894 and the following years by
authorizing the dairy commissioner to take over the manage-
ment of existing creameries owned by associations of farmers,
and to advance sufficient money to pay off the pressing debts.
Loans were made to pay for the equipment of new creameries
that were to come under the same management. Confidence
was at once restored, and under expert supervision the business
grew and prospered, so that the department of Agriculture
was able at the end of 1905 to give up the active control of
a large number of creameries which had been assisted to a
position of independence and stability. New markets had
been opened up in the Orient and in the Yukon which are now
of great value to the industry in Western Canada.
(6) In 1902 the dairying service undertook to demon-
strate the advantages to be derived from the curing of cheese
at a proper temperature. It had been well known for years
that the ordinary summer temperatures in Canada destroyed
the mild flavour and mellow texture of Canadian Cheddar
cheese. Yet these are the very qualities that give value to
cheese of that variety. Owners of cheese factories had been
urged to provide the necessary equipment to control the
temperature in their curing rooms, but, although the advan-
tages were generally admitted, no progress was made in
that direction. It was decided, therefore, to build and equip
four large central cool cheese-curing rooms to illustrate in
a commercial way the advantages of the proper method of
curing. These curing rooms were operated for five years.
They handled a large quantity of cheese, and the benefits
were so clearly demonstrated that a large proportion of the
factories are now provided with the necessary equipment
for controlling the temperature in the curing rooms, so that
it does not go above 60° F.
(7) The cow-testing movement, begun in 1904, was
intended to encourage a study of the production of indi-
vidual animals, so that the poor ones might be discarded
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 673
and the best ones kept for breeding and milking purposes.
The records which have been obtained show that the milk
yield of a large number of the cows which are kept on dairy
farms in Canada is below the point of profit, and owners
are being led to realize the importance of giving some atten-
tion to this matter. By this means the average produc-
tion of all cows in Canada is being materially increased. An
active propaganda to encourage this work is still continued.
In 1899 a Live Stock commissioner was appointed as an
assistant to the commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying,
and more attention was given to improvement in the breed-
ing of animals, the judging of live stock at exhibitions, and
steps were taken to nationalize the records for pure breeds
of live stock. Experts were employed as speakers at Farmers'
Institutes and other agricultural gatherings, sales of pure-
bred live stock were organized, and many other means,
including the publication of special bulletins, were employed
to promote the live stock industry.
In 1901 an enlargement of the scope of the Dairy branch
was effected, and divisions of Dairying, Live Stock, Exten-
sion of Markets, Cold Storage, Fruit and Poultry were
established. An act, popularly known as the Fruit Marks
Act, was passed to provide for the grading, marking and
inspection of packages containing fruit for sale, which came
into operation on July I in that year. Cargo inspectors
were first employed in 1901 to watch the loading and dis-
charge of all perishable food products at Montreal, Halifax
and St John, and also at London, Liverpool, Glasgow,
Manchester and Bristol.
In 1903 a Seed division was organized in connection with
the Dairy branch, with the object of protecting farmers
from the sale of impure and useless seed, to prevent the
spreading of noxious weeds, and generally to encourage the
use of pure seed on the farms of Canada. The Seed Control
Act, passed in 1905, gives a certain measure of control over
the Canadian seed trade. A seed laboratory was established
at headquarters, where the vitality and purity of samples
of seeds taken by the inspectors, or sent in by farmers or
dealers, are accurately determined.
674 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
On January i, 1905, Professor Robertson resigned his posi-
tion as commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying for Canada,
and a further reorganization was effected by which the
Live Stock and Poultry divisions were made into a separate
branch with F. VV. Hodson at its head, and the Seed division
also received the status of a branch under G. H. Clark,
leaving the divisions of Dairying, Extension of Markets,
Fruit and Cold Storage in the original branch, with J. A.
Ruddick as dairy commissioner.
THE HEALTH OF ANIMALS BRANCH
This branch is in a sense the oldest of all the purely
agricultural branches of the department, having had charge
of the cattle quarantine stations since 1876. D. McEachran,
F.R.C.V.S., who had a private practice, gave part of his
time to the service as chief veterinary inspector. In 1902
the need for more thorough organization resulted in the
appointment of J. G. Rutherford, V.S., whose title was
changed to that of veterinary director-general in 1904. The
Animal Contagious Disease Act was passed in 1903 and the
old act of 1885 was repealed. This branch has performed
valuable services for the live stock interests of the country.
A biological laboratory was established at Ottawa in 1902,
to facilitate scientific research and for the pathological
examination of specimens sent in by departmental officers
and others. Anthrax vaccine, tuberculin and malline are
manufactured at this laboratory. Measures have been
adopted with a view to eradicate mange in cattle, maladie
du colt, anthrax, black quarter, glanders and other similar
destructive diseases of live stock. Since 1905 the positions
of Live Stock commissioner and veterinary director-general
have been held by the same officer.
The Meats and Canned Foods Act (6-7 Edw. vn, cap. 27),
which was passed during the session of 1906, is assigned
to the Health of Animals branch for administration. This
act provides for the inspection, by a duly qualified veteri-
narian, of all carcasses of animals intended for export, and
of canned goods of all descriptions.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURE 675
THE TOBACCO DIVISION
Of late years some attention has been given to the
tobacco-growing industry. Tobacco has been growing in
many parts of Quebec and in Essex and Kent Counties in
Ontario for many years under more or less crude condi-
tions. An expert was brought from France in 1905, who
reported favourably on the outlook for Canadian-grown
tobacco. Experiments have been undertaken in the culti-
vation of different varieties of the plant and in the ferment-
ing or curing of the leaf. Tobacco stations have been
established at Harrow, Essex County, Ontario, St Jacques-
le-Majeur-de-PAchigan, Montcalm County, Quebec, and St
Cesaire, Rouville County, Quebec. The Tobacco division
has already demonstrated that Canadian tobacco has some
distinct qualities of value, and that it is possible to over-
come some of its defects by following proper methods.
THE EXHIBITION BRANCH
The Dominion government has, through the department
of Agriculture, given considerable assistance of late years
to national and special exhibitions in Canada, which have
had for their chief object the promotion of agricultural
interests. Canada has been fittingly represented at all the
large international expositions held during the past twenty
years, and a permanent Exhibition branch has been organized
to carry on this work from year to year. The other branches
of the department co-operate with the exhibition staff in
collecting samples of grain, fruit, dairy and other agricul-
tural products.
IV
THE POSITION OF CANADIAN AGRICULTURE
THE Census and Statistics Office, a branch of the depart-
ment of Agriculture, issues a monthly bulletin which
is made up largely of agricultural statistics, Canadian
and foreign crop reports, and departmental notes. A supple-
676 NATIONAL AID TO THE FARM
mentary bulletin for December 1910 gave the total area of
field crops grown in Canada that year as 32,711,062 acres,
and the value of the crops as $507,185,500. The total
annual production of milk is estimated at $100,000,000,
and the value of live stock raised annually together with
the wool and eggs produced is approximately $200,000,000.
These figures serve to give some idea of the extent of Canadian
agriculture.
Since 1890, in which year the Canadian exports of cheese
first exceeded those of the United States, Canada has easily
occupied the first place among cheese-exporting countries.
In 1904 the quantity exported (233,980,716 Ibs.) was nearly
equal to the combined exports of all other countries, and
its value was greater than that of any other single article
exported from Canada in that year. In 1906 the exports
of wheat exceeded those of cheese in value, for the first
time since 1879. Canada now takes her place among the
great wheat-producing countries of the world, ranking fifth
in 1912, and being exceeded only by Russia, the United
States, British India and France. In view of the rapid
settlement of the wheat lands in the prairie provinces, there
is every reason to believe that in a very few years the wheat
crop of Canada will be exceeded only by that of Russia and
of the United States. It is even within the possibilities
that Canada may reach first place in the not far distant
future. As an exporter of wheat and flour Canada ranked
next to Russia in 1910, being the United Kingdom's second
largest source of supply.
Canada also occupies a position of importance in the
international apple trade, competing closely with the United
States for first place. The fruit-growing industry, as a whole,
has made great advances in the last decade. More scientific
orchard methods, better and more careful packing and
grading of the fruit, have raised the quantity and quality
of the crops from the old orchards, while improved facilities
for storage have extended the season, and better trans-
portation enables the grower to market his fruit over a much
wider area. With a constantly expanding market in the
prairie provinces, where fruit is not grown to any extent, in
THE POSITION OF CANADIAN AGRICULTURE 677
addition to the markets of Great Britain, it is not surpris-
ing that a rapidly increasing acreage is devoted to fruit
growing in the eastern provinces and in British Columbia.
In the evolution of agriculture in Canada the farmers
of each succeeding generation have had to meet new con-
ditions and have had to deal with new problems. The
progress which was made in the earlier periods is a tribute
to the energy, resource and industry of the pioneers. Con-
ditions are now becoming more stable, and the Canadian
fanner is beginning to benefit from the accumulated experi-
ence of those who have gone before him. With this advan-
tage ; with the information that conies to him through an
intelligent and widely circulated agricultural press ; with
numerous government bulletins and reports ; and with
discussions at public meetings and annual conventions of
organizations representing the different branches of agricul-
tural activity — the path of progress is cleared of many of
the difficulties that formerly existed.
Printed by T. anil A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Pre«
F Shortt, Adam
5011 Canada and its provinces
S57
19U
v.7
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