34G 



The, Progress of the New Dominion, 



Miircli 



1883. 



circles the earth willi one eontiii- 

 uoiis and iiiibi'okoii strain of the 

 martial airs of ]Mii;'laii(i/" 



Jjiil lliose nieiiioraMe wortls 

 were spoken many years ai^'o. In- 

 <lee(l, nowadays, such an idea would 

 hardly rceur to the mind of either 

 ]<viiii,-!isli or Anu'rican statesmen 

 fitandinn' on the same historic 

 grouiul. Tlie I'.ritisli garrison has 

 |)een withdrawn Iiiult since from 

 tlie citadel ol the ancient capital, 

 and the martial airs of Eno-land are 

 no loiiii'er lieai'd in "one contin- 

 uous and iinbi'tiken strain '' in the 

 Dominion of (Canada, ^'et no one 

 can sav that this fact is a matter 

 of re^M'ct, save to the old iidial)i- 

 tants, who have [)lcasant memories 

 of the times when society found 

 its c-reatest charm in the ])res(M!ce 

 of I'liiii'lish reo'iments. The with- 

 drawal of the troops from all the 

 cities except Halifax — and here 

 only one re^'iment is kci>t — is in 

 itself a!i acknow]edt;'ment of the 

 proo-ress of ('anada in wealth and 

 ])opulation, and of her ahility to 

 de|>end on herself entirely in times 

 of peace, and in a threat measure in 

 times of war. We now see a city 

 far more husy and prosperous than 

 the Quehcc of tlic days of Daniel 

 Welwter — a (^uehec which the 

 rouii'li hand of im])ro\emei . has not, 

 however, heon able to divest of its 

 ancient Norman character. On 

 tlie .\tlantic seahoard, on the 

 hanks of the St. Lawrence and 

 great lakes, in the interior of a 

 region which was a wilderness a 

 few years ago, in the midst of the 

 prairies of the North-west, cities 

 and towns have sprung u}) with the 

 rapidity so characteristic of Amer- 

 ican colonisation ; and though sev- 

 eral of them already surpass the old 

 French capital in size and jiopula- 

 tion, not one ))osscsscs the sanu> 

 interest for the Euroi)ean or Ameri- 

 can Iravi'ller. I''rom the lakes to 

 the sea a large fleet is constantly 

 employed in carrying the wealth of 



the thjurishing communities wliich 

 have grown up in the West and hy 

 the side of the St. Lawrence. Rail- 

 ways are stretching across the con- 

 tinent itself, carrying capital and 

 l)opulation along with them into 

 the prairie-lands of a region larger 

 than iM'ance, whose hold explorers 

 were the lii'st to venture centuries 

 ago into the Western wilderness. 

 In the prosperity, wealth, and con- 

 tentment of several millions of 

 ]teoph', we recognise the results of 

 that wise colonial ])olicy which lias 

 given self-government to (Canada, 

 and established in that de[)endency, 

 as in (ttlier jiarts of the colonial 

 eiin»ire of I'^ngland, free [)arlia- 

 nieiits, which follow closely the 

 ]U'actice and usages of that great 

 body which has been heretofore the 

 ])rototype of all delibei'ative assem- 

 blies throughout the w(U'ld. 



It has long been the belief in the 

 parent State that the jirogress of 

 the Dominion of Canada lias heen 

 very slow compared with that of 

 the United States, ami that the 

 opportunities which it offers for the 

 investment of capital and the ac- 

 (piisition of wealth are very inferior 

 1o those of the enterprising rich 

 country to the south. The geo- 

 grajdiical exi)ression "America," 

 to manv Englishmen and Scotch- 

 men still conveys the idea of the 

 United States, though ('anada, in 

 reality, occupies the greater part 

 of the continent. 1 now propose to 

 show, that though Canada is over- 

 shadowed in manv res[)ects hy the 

 great Repul)li(!, though her wealth 

 and })opul;i'.ion are very much in- 

 ferior, yet she has fairly held her 

 own in certain branches of indus- 

 trial activity, and can now offer to 

 airriculturists a far larger area of 

 profitable wheat-lands than any 

 actually possessed hy her neigh- 

 hours. 



'J'he settlement of Canada was 

 contennwraneous with the colonisa- 

 tion of Ne" England. During the 



sma: 



