THE EMIGRANT AND SPOKTSMAN 

 IN CANADA. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE EMIGRATION QUESTION. 



ON the emigration question, as on most others, there is a 

 considerable conflict of opinion. Some deplore the annual 

 loss of the bone and sinew of the country, and fear that, 

 owing to the continued stream of emigration from her 

 shores, England will not be able to hold her position as 

 the first manufacturing country in the world. Others 

 maintain that were it not for the outlet thus afforded for 

 the overflow of population in these little islands, famines, 

 riots, and epidemics would be the consequences of an 

 overgrown population confined within too narrow bounds. 

 I would only observe on this subject that if a careful 

 examination were made, it would be found that those who 

 are most vehement in decrying emigration are those 

 who are most actively employed in enriching themselves 

 by means of cheap labour. The cheaper the labour 

 market, the faster they can make money. It is hardly 

 decent for a man to say, " I am opposed to emigration, 

 because I want to keep down the labouring classes; I 

 want to keep labour low in order that I mav make money 



