36 BEYIEWS — CANADA AT THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 



Mr. Letailleur's success in replacing rare furs by sheep skins prepared 

 and dyed in various ways and colours, appears likely to commend itself 

 to Canadian manufacturers. 



Comparing the Canadian part of the Exhibition with its European 

 rivals, Mr. Tache says : 



"In the first class, embracing all that relates to the extraction of mineral sub- 

 stances, and to the minerals themselves, we were among the last, and far behind 

 most countries, in regard to metallurgical operations, for the very simple reason 

 that we are deficient in the population and capital -which carry on, and still more 

 deficient in the men of science, who in France, England, Austria, Prussia, Belgium, 

 and other countries, direct and enlighten the labors of the mine. But if we pro- 

 ceed to an examination of the minerals in their natural state, our section at once 

 assumed the first rank, and no country was in a condition to compete with us for 

 a moment, either in the aggregate or the details of the department. The class of 

 Canadian minerals was the most complete, and had the advantage of displaying 

 at a glance to the learned observer the geological configuration of the country, 

 with reference to the industrial results which it may yield. For this success, 

 which is a mere repetition of that obtained at London in 1851, Canada is indebted 

 entirely to the geological commissioners ; and this shews to demonstration, the 

 necessity of continuing the labors of that commission on a more liberal scale. 

 We possess in the bosom of the earth the untouched riches, which in England have 

 been the main element of industrial and commercial greatness ; but the conditions 

 of progress towards that greatness, are the light of science, and extensive enter- 

 prise. Mining operations cannot be profitably conducted on a small scale. 



When we reflect that the iron whieh abounds in Canada is nearly of the same 

 quality as that of Sweden, that it is found in places, surrounded by immense 

 forests, and that, we have at hand the stone, sand, and other matters which are 

 necessary for the smelting, moulding, and casting of the metal, we may well won- 

 der that every year we import from England, Sweden, and the United States, 

 manufactured iron to the amount of more than £1,000,000. But, we must again 

 observe, success attends such enterprises, only when undertaken on a grand scale, 

 whatever the abundance of the raw material. The working of an iron mine is not 

 for limited means, nor to be carried on on a petty scale. A cheap market must be 

 a full market. In Europe blast furnaces are now built, capable of smelting 

 80,000 lbs. per diem. The want of coke in Canada, be it observed, doe3 not oppose 

 an obstacle to the successful prosecution of iron-works. Ours is a country of rich 

 forests 270.000 square miles in extent. Sweden smelts her iron with charcoal only, 

 and sells it to England for a paying price ; the English convert it into steel and 

 send it to other countries. Other European countries use charcoal, notwithstand- 

 ing the general scarcity and dearness of wood in Europe." 



It appears also that " no country could compete with us in the show 

 of woods, and particularly of the kinds used in ship-building, includ- 

 ing in the estimate all the various species. In this class are embraced, 

 moreover, all the products of the chase and the fisheries, in which 

 departments the Gulf, and the vast territories of the Saguenay and 

 the North-West, place us beyond competition, if not as producers, 



