CANADA. 



to UM ftirj eouacil im ITnghiH). . kgislativ. council. UK member* 

 of which ww. appointed <br lifs by the kit*, and form*! UM second 



. 

 between UK pro- 



estate, sad a representative assembly, or third estate, elected for 

 fear years. A k>og oourss of violent " 

 vaMhtl Hou 



in 1887, when Ul-oonoertod and 



In the following year 

 UM Earl of Durham, who had been appointed governor of Canada 

 aad high onumtaainnsr for the adjustment of Canadian affairs, made 

 a report, in accordance with which the Act 3 and 4 Viet c. 85, for 

 UM rsmaioa of the provinces was passed on the 23rd of July, 1840. 

 Thai Act authorises the appointment of a legislative council by the 

 crown of not fewer than 20 members ; and enacts, that the two pro- 

 vinces shall return an equal number of representatives to the House 

 of Assembly (at present 42 each) ; that the city of Toronto shall 

 return two members, and the towns of Kingston, Brockville, Hamil- 

 ton, Cornwall, Niagara, London, and Bytown, in West Canada, one 

 sash t that the cities of Quebec and Montreal shall return each two 

 emnnn, and the towns of Three Rivers and Sherbrooke one each ; 

 that the members of the House of Assembly shall be elected for four 

 years ; that all writs, proclamations, journals, Ac. of the council and 

 assembly shall be in the English language only ; that the entire duties 

 aad revenues of the province shall form one consolidated fund, and 

 the sum of 76,0001. is specifically appropriated for the civil govern- 

 ment of the province. The Act was brought into operation during 

 the administration of Mr. P.ml.-tt Thomson, who was created Lord 

 Sydenham. The House of Assembly also passed, with his assent, the 

 responsible government' resolution*, for the permanent establish- 

 aseat of this system, whereby the government of the province for the 

 time being is identified in policy with the majority of the representa- 

 tive body. 



The tenure of land in the Seignorial districts of Lower Canada, that 

 is, with two exceptions, of lands granted by the crown of France, in as 

 follows : A tract of land, Tarring in extent but sometimes large, as 

 hi the case of the seignory of Beauharnois, which is six square leagues 

 was granted to a seignor, or lord of a manor, to re-grant to others 

 at a certain fixed rent (cent). The seiguor held of the crown upon 

 the accustomed rents and dues, according to the custom of Paris : he 

 had a local legal jurisdiction, which is now abolished ; he performed 

 homage on a mutation of possession ; he was to reside by the express 

 condition of some grants (lenirfm et lieu) ; certain timber was to be 

 reserved for public purposes ; he was to make roads ; he bad the pri- 

 vilege of trading with the Indians ; with certain other privileges and 

 obturations. Any settler, not already possessed of land, was entitled 

 to demand of right, from the seignor, a grant of waste land, usually 

 of about 90 acres, at the accustomed rent, commonly a ' sol ' or penny 

 an acre a rent of the nature of our chief rent in free and common 

 socsge manors ; the grantee was personally to occupy his land under 

 the penalty of its re-union to the domain ; he was to clear the land ; 

 to make and repair roads ; with some other provisions of a similar 

 kind. The system had many advantages. The settler hod no more 

 land than his means enabled him to cultivate ; what he received he 

 was to cultivate ; he was to reside ; he was not required to apply any 

 part of his previously-accumulated gains in the purchase of his land, 

 and the whole of his capital was free to be employed in agriculture. 

 As his family increased, his children were enabled to apply for new 

 grants, and to extend the settlement of the country. 



Upon the establishment of the English authority in Canada, the 

 enforcement of the law against the tenants continued, but was ne- 

 glected by the crown against the seignors. The mill-service bos been 

 abased by conditions of grants that no mill of any kiml shall be 

 erected by the tenant. The accustomed rent has been increased, as 

 though It was a farm rent, and this has also been done to evade the 

 Density of forfeiture imposed on the seignor in case he sold the land 

 for a fixed sum. The abuses of the system occasioned many com 

 plaints in the province, connected also with a strong feeling in favour 

 of the commutation of the fines payable on alienation. But instead 

 of submitting the subject to the Provincial Legislature, which was 

 perfectly competent to deal with it, the government passed the Impe 

 rial Act of the Oeo. IV. c. 69, called 'the Canada Tenures Act, 

 which placed matters in a worse state than before. Instead of ci.forc 

 big on the sefarnora UM duty to make grants, which many refused to 

 do ; placing the rent in a uniform state, and checking the abuses o 

 the seignors; this Act enabled tbs seignors by paying the fifth ( 7 um< 

 to the crown on the alienation of land, to have the tenure of the uuu 

 commuted into free and common soeage ; the waste lands, which they 

 only held on trust for public purposes, became private property ; an< 

 UM tenants, whose grievance, were alleged to justify this measure, 

 wars left more completely at the mercy of UM seignors than before. 



There are 228 seignories hi Lower Canada. They are almos 

 incloeed by the town-hip., or lauds held hi free and common socage. 

 >per Canaxla the land is held upon the tenure of free and 

 common socage. The system of land-holding Is defective in not being 

 connected wHh a general land-tax on all waste lands not fat the posses- 

 sion of the crown. 



By the establishment of the Canada Company, which was incorpo 

 rated by Act of Parliament and by Royal Charter in 1826, a consider 

 able impulse was given to emtgnitioa from the mother country to 



Canada, and to the settlement of many parts of the province. Many 

 nblio works, and improvements, such as roads, bridges, Ac., have 

 wan executed by this company, aad by the British American Land 

 Company, which was incorporated by Royal Charter and Act of 



Parliament in 1834. The following table shows the amount of emi- 

 ration from the United Kingdom to all parts of the world, and the 

 iroportion of emigrant* who went to British America in the four 



Total Emigration from the United \ 



Kingdom I 



To Br!tlh North America j 



from the 1'nitrd Kingdom j 



Of which, from Ireland . 



from England . 



:. - ' r. : . 



it4. mo. i85i. mi. 



599,438 



41,167 



58,588 

 9,551 



0,R49 



SJ.901 



19.7H4 



10,11! 



3,055 



.-,-. 



4J.60J 



13,930 

 11,675 



:. 



887,7J 



31,876 



17,093 

 9,538 

 5,65 



Of the population of Canada East, 890,261, as many as 669,528 are 

 natives of Canada of French origin, and 125,580 are Canadians of 

 other than French origin ; 51,499 are of Irish origin ; 14,565 of 

 Scotch; 12,482 are from the United States of North America ; and 

 11,230 from England ami Wales. The remainder U composed of 

 natives of the European continent, and of our own colonies. In Canada 

 West, the population of which is 952,004, the Canadians of French 

 origin number 20,417, and the Canadians not French, 526,093: the 

 Irish, 176,207; English and Welsh, 82,699; the Scotch, 75,811; 

 natives of the United States, 43,782; natives of Germany and 

 Holland, 9957. With respect to the whole of Canada, of which the 

 ;otal population is 1,842,265, the seven principal items stand as 

 follows : Canadians of French origin, 695,945 ; Canadians, not French, 

 651,673 ; Iriish, 227,766 ; English and Welsh, 93,929 ; Scotch, 90,376 ; 

 natives of the United States, 56,214 ; of Germany and Holland, 10,116. 

 At the time of the surrender of Canada to Great Britain, the popula- 

 tion was chiefly French, and located in the lower province. Although 

 this class has not been much increased by immigration, its numbers 

 have in the course of 90 years increased about 1000 per cent. The 

 progress of Canada West has been still more remarkable. In 1791, 

 the date of the Constitutional Act, the population was 50,000 ; in 

 1811 it was 77,000; in 1824 it was 151,097 ; in 1832 it was 261,060; 

 in 1842 it was 486,055; in 1851 it amounted to 952,004. 



The agricultural census in 1852 shows the following results : 



Canada East: Occupiers of land, 94,449; of whom 13,261 held 

 10 arpeuta and under ; and 4585 held above 200 arpents. The number 

 of arpents held amounted to 8,113,915 ; of which 3,605,517 arpente 

 were under cultivation; 2,072,953 under crops; 1,502,355 under 

 pasture ; and 80,109 in gardens. There were 4,508,598 arpents in 

 wood or wild land. The arpeut, which contains about six-sevenths 

 of an acre, U the common measure of land in Lower Canada. Of the 

 land under crops 427,111 arpeuts produced 3,075,868 bushels of wheat ; 

 42,927 produced 668,616 bushels of barley; 46,007 produced 341,443 

 bushels of rye ; 165,192 arpents produced 1,182,190 bushels of peas ; 

 590,422 yielded 8,967,694 bushels of oats ; 61,781 produced 530,4 1 7 

 bushels of buckwheat; and 22,669 arpents produced 400,287 bushels 

 of Indian corn. Of potatoes 4,456,111 bushels were yielded by 

 73,244 arpents; of turnips 369,909 bushels by 8897 arpeuta; of clover 

 and other grass-seeds there were raised 1 8,921 bushels ; of carrots 82,344 

 bushels ; of mangel-wurzel, 103,999 bushels ; of beans 23,602 bushels ; 

 of hops, 111, 158 Ibs.; of bay, 965,653 tons; of flax and hemp, 

 1,867,016 Ibs. The amount of tobacco obtained was 488,652 Ibs. ; of 

 wool, 1,430,976 Ibs. ; of maple sugar, 6,190,694 Ibs. ; of cider, 53,327 

 gallons; of fulled cloth, 780,891 yards; of linen 889,623 yards; of 

 flannel, 860,850 yards. The livestock included 11 1,819 oxen, 294,514 

 milch cows, 180,317 calves or heifers, 236,077 horses of all ages, 

 629,827 sheep, and 256,219 piga. The dairy produce amounted to 

 9,637,152 Ibs. butter, and 511,014 Ibs. cheese. Of provisions there 

 were prepared 68,747 barrels of beef, and 223,870 barrels of pork. 

 The fish cured amounted to 48,363 barrels. 



Canada West. Occupiers of land, 99,860 ; of whom 9976 had 10 

 acres and under, and 3080 had above '200 acres each. The total 

 number of acres held was 9,823,233 ; of which 3,697,724 acres were 

 under cultivation, 2,274,588 were under crops, 1,367,644 were under 

 pasture, and 55,489 were in gardens. Of wood or wild land there 

 was an extent of 6,125,609 acres in 1852. Of the land under crops, 

 the proportions devoted to the different productions stood thus : 

 Wheat, 782,115 acres, produce 12,692,852 bushels; barley, 29,916 

 sores, produce 625,875 bushels; rye, 38,968 acres, produce 479,651 

 bushels; peas, 192,109 acres, produce 2,878,394 bushels; oats, 

 421,684 acres, produce 11,193,844 bushels ; buckwheat, 44,265 acres, 

 produce 689,384 bushels ; Indian corn, 70,571 acres, produce 1,696,618 

 bimhfls; potatoes, 77,672 acres, produce 4,987,475 bushels; turnips, 

 17,135 acres, produce 3,644,94 2 bushels ; clover and other grass-seeds, 

 42,460 bushels ; carrots, 174,896 bushels ; mangel-wurzel, 54,226 

 bushels; beans, 18,109 bushels; hops, 113,0641bs.; hay, 681,782 

 tons ; flax and hemp, 50,650 Ibs. Of tobacco, the production 

 amounted to 7<>4,4761bn. ; of wool, 2,699,764 Ibs. ; of maple sugar, 

 3,681, 605 It*. ; of cider, 701,612 gallons ; of fulled cloth, 627,466 yards ; 

 linen, 14,955 yards ; and flannel, 1,109,801 yards. The live stock included 



