THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 199 



less ; and the low prices which obtained for so long have already 

 ]proved a great stimulus to the use of tin in its application to new 

 purposes, and in course of time — in the opinion of those who are 

 good judges — increased consumption will jDrove an important 

 factor in price. All that can be said now is that good miners 

 have no difficidty whatever, as I am told, in obtaining employ- 

 ment, and can earn a very fair living. Yet emigration still con- 

 tinues, and probably the fact of a considerable exodus having 

 taken place during the depression in 1878-9 has afforded facilities 

 for young men and women to join friends already established in 

 Canada and elsewhere. If this be so, it affords a reasonable 

 ground for believing that the money spent on emigrating families 

 by the relief committees was not wasted. At the same time it is 

 true that the universal demand for the Cornish miner gives him 

 opportunities of good employment all over the world, and 

 although we cannot but regret to see our population decreasing 

 (as it has done by 10,000 in a decade) and the best men going 

 away, yet it is satisfactory to remember that those who have gone 

 to earn their fortune in other countries are not altogether lost to 

 this county. Many return, no longer as working miners, but as 

 men of considerable means, such as they might never have 

 acquired at home, and able and willing to use those means in an 

 enlightened manner for the benefit of those around them. The 

 evident uncertainties of mining make it a matter of the greatest 

 importance that the other industries applicable to the county 

 should be actively developed. Any man who, from the fruits of 

 foreign travel or scientific research, is able to offer suggestions 

 which may lead to new channels for Cornish labour and capital, 

 deserves the thanks of his countrymen. 



It is in the meantime satisfactory to note that the supply of 

 early vegetables, upon which so many depend in the western 

 district, has increased considerably. From data kindly given me 

 by a friend in that district, I learn that where 9,000 tons of 

 potatoes were disposed of in 1879, 10,000 tons were supplied in 

 1881, and that in the same period the supply of brocoli rose from 

 7,000 to 11,000 tons. The cultivation of strawberries and other 

 fruit on the steep banks of the Tamar, is also on the increase. 

 The supply of fish obtained on our coasts during the past three 

 years does not appear to have undergone any uausual fluctuations, 



