COLONIAL POLICY. 305 



the option of placing his grant in the hands of government for sale at 

 the regulated price, in preference to subjecting himself to the annual 

 tax. 



I am a decided enemy to the plan of the government now pursued 

 of chartering " land companies ;" I cannot understand why the go- 

 vernment should resign to a body of speculators the opportunity it 

 possesses of well settling the county; the only advantage a land 

 company attains over the government is by puffing. There would be 

 no necessity for puffing, provided the government only follow the 

 plan I have suggested of selling all the land at a uniform fixed price 

 for ready money, without making any reserves, except certain spots 

 selected as the sites for towns ; and every emigrant, in communi- 

 cating with his friends at home, if he merely state the simple truth, 

 would be the means of inducing many to follow his example. 



An anecdote of an Irish labourer writing home to his friends about 

 Upper Canada, may not be here out of place. After praising the country 

 in various ways, he added, that he had meat twice a week ; upon 

 showing his letter to his employer, he was reminded that he had 

 meat every day of the week, as well as three times a day. " Faith did 

 he not know that by the same token, but sure his friends would 

 disbelieve all he had said if he told them that." 



The settlement of a colony should go on progressively ; remote 

 parts should not be prematurely called into notice, as in the case, for 

 instance, in respect to that tract of land in the eastern township of 

 Lower Canada, now belonging to the North American Land Com- 

 pany. It is situated upon the frontier line dividing that province 

 from the United States, which of itself is a reason why its settle- 

 ments should be deferred until the intermediate country be inhabited. 

 There is plenty of excellent uncultivated land between the company's 

 track and the St. Lawrence river, either in the hands of government 

 or of private individuals, much more eligible for the settlement of 

 emigrants. The climate of the most southern portion of the eastern 

 townships is as rigorous as in the immediate vicinity of Quebec ; it 

 is a mountainous district, which accounts for the severity of the 

 winter. The settlers near Stanstead (the frontier town) are obliged 

 to house their cattle five, if not generally six months out of the year ; 

 maize (Indian corn) is frequently cut off, and even wheat is a preca- 

 rious crop, but oats succeed admirably. When I was at Stanstead in 

 1833, the inhabitants were dependant upon Montreal for their supply 

 of bread. I met on my journey to Montreal many waggons laden 

 with barrels of flour, and when the distance is considered of eighty 

 miles, principally over a very bad road, its value must have been 

 considerably enhanced ; a very great drawback to the emigrant se- 

 lecting that portion of the country, as he must necessarily purchase 

 his daily food at an exorbitant price for a considerable period. Mon- 

 treal is half a degree of latitude north of the frontier line, and yet the 

 harvest upon the island of Montreal and upon the borders of the St, 

 Lawrence, was decidedly a fortnight earlier than at Stanstead, when 

 I happened to travel from one place to the other in 1833. The dif- 

 ference was most evident as soon as I passed the Richelieu river. 



In the course of time, the company's tract in the eastern township, 



M.M. No. 3. R 



