386 STATE OF THE INHABITANTS 



tives the puffs regarding Upper Canada have been circulated ? 

 The unthinking poor too often become the dupes of the design 

 ing in all parts of the world. 



America has been emphatically styled &quot; the poor man s 

 country ; &quot; but Upper Canada does not now merit such a 

 title. The system of store pay, which is so general in the 

 province, operates against the poor man, and does not affect 

 the rich. The system of selling land in large lots on credit 

 has a similar effect ; while the late rise in the value of land 

 seems to me to be chiefly destructive to the poor man s hopes, 

 by diminishing the demand for labour, and increasing his diffi 

 culty of purchasing land. 



In stating my belief that the middle-aged agricultural 

 labourer of Britain need not change his residence to Upper 

 Canada, I supposed him to be without capital, having con 

 stant employment, and living in some degree of comfort at 

 home. The chance of such a person becoming an independ 

 ent landowner is small, with irregular employment and store 

 pay. The case of the rural inhabitants in many parts of the 

 Highlands of Scotland and Ireland is, however, different, and 

 they would find their condition improved by a change of resi 

 dence. The sober, the prudent, and the industrious of any 

 country will, however, succeed in Upper Canada, if they can 

 laugh at the hardships of first settlement, and with perseve 

 ring industry look forward to be ultimately rewarded. It 

 seems to me to be a country chiefly for the young, and those 

 seeking to provide for a family. 



Of the unagricultural population of Upper Canada, and 

 their prospects, I am not well qualified to speak. Clergymen, 

 lawyers, and doctors, seem not to be much cared for by the 

 inhabitants, and but indifferently rewarded. Bricklayers find 

 ready employment. Stone-masons are not wanted. Joiners, 

 who can put a great deal of rough work through their hands, 

 are in constant demand at higher wages than other tradesmen, 

 with the advantage of employment in winter. Tailors, shoe 

 makers, and blacksmiths, have good wages in towns and vil 

 lages. When they commence business on their own account 

 in the country, the thinness of the agricultural population 



