PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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each, in his measure, is right. Many English emigrants, morever, both male and female, come out with the idea that in Canada all persons are equal, and that no one need obey any orders and regulations which he or she does not like. A Magistrate, for instance, told me that he had before him recently the case of a young English emigrant who had been arrested for disobeying the police; his defence was that he had been told that no one in Canada need obey anybody. I think the abrupt mode of speech which Canadians affect is due not so much to the absence of any idea of courtesy or respect (personally I met with no end of little acts of kindness from perfect strangers whose outward manners were repellant) but to a false notion that they thereby show their independence. It is impossible for a new arrival to grasp these peculiarities at once, and as, in the long run, he will have to conform to local customs and habits, it is especially necessary for him to avoid undue self-assertion at the outset.
Barely half the present population is British born, and if the enormous immigration of Americans and other foreigners continues the British immigrant will find alien influences too strong for him. It is difficult to say that the friction between British and Canadian affects their practical relations to any great extent, because the necessities of life in a new country must override personal jealousies, but there is no doubt that it exists. I might mention a few casual instances which I met with. An English lady told me that though she had married a Canadian and had been living in Canada for several years, she always felt Canadians never looked upon her as one of themselves. Three- fourths of the conversation which I had with an immigration agent were taken up by his denunciation of the drunkenness and inefficiency of British immigrants. An English barrister who had been thirty years in the west said to me: "Everyone tries to get An English money out of
here; they look upon Englishmen as fools to be milked." you waiter who was in Canada for a time told me that he was going back, and "would not like to bring his wife to such a country." A policeman in the west attributed his non- advancement to the fact of his being an Englishman. A blacksmith in British Columbia told me that Canadians did not like the English because they thought they ought not to come there to compete with themselves. An English sailor at Esquimalt said to me: "The Canadians look upon us Englishmen as dogs." These are small incidents in themselves, but they might be easily multiplied, and they illustrate the kind of current of feeling that exists, though generally it may flow underground and unheard. But it may be hoped that the gradual recognition of each other's good qualities, and their common dislike of the American immigrant, may in time eliminate any jealousy that now exists between Englishmen and Canadians.
The Emigration of Children.
I visited many Children's Emigration Homes, such as the Birmingham Catholic Emigration Association at Ottawa, Dr. Barnardo's Homes at Toronto and Winnipeg, the National Children's Home at Hamilton, Mr. Fegan's Homes at Toronto, and the Manchester and Salford Homes at Belleville. I saw Mr. Bogue Smart also, who is the Canadian Inspector of British Immigrant Children.
The above-mentioned Homes take boys and girls in England, train them, send them out to their Branch in Canada, and place the boys out with farmers, and the girls either on farms or in towns. They visit them regularly, change their situations when necessary, and send the worst failures pack to England. The Church Army, I was told, sent out many good lads, who were looked after by the local clergy. The usual agreement is for the farmer to provide the child with food, lodging and clothing and to see that he goes to school after school age (14 years) the child receives a small wage of $2 a month and upwards, rising as his usefulness increases. All such wages are sent to the Home, and kept for the child until they are wanted. Older boys get about $40 a year, and boys of 17 years $65 to $70'; girls get from $3 to $5 a month after school age, and later $8 to $10 or make their own terms. As soon as the children receive wages they have to provide their own clothing.
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In the case of Dr. Barnardo's Homes some of the children taken out are younger than those taken by other Homes, and all under 12 years are boarded out at a payment of about 58. a week; it being thought that a better class of home for so young a child is thereby secured. But the other Homes consider that the number of respectable farmers willing to take their children for nothing is quite sufficient. At Mr. Fegan's Home a long Roll of Honour is hung up, on which are inscribed the names of all the boys who have paid back to the Home the $50 which their immigration cost.
Boys of 17 years and over used to be taken by Dr. Barnardo to his Home in Winnipeg, and taught farming in Manitoba; but the scheme did not prove very successful and since his death the Home has been practically closed.
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Though some of the children come from Industrial Homes, a few, it may be, from reformatories, and all from very poor surroundings, yet the percentage of failures is very small, not much greater, probably, than the failures of children of well-to-do parents. The difficulty of getting good homes is greater in the case of girls than of boys, as more depends upon the suitability of the farmer's wife. I looked through the books at the Homes and saw many cases where the children had saved $100 to $200, with which to start work on their own account either on a farm or in a town; many get tired of farm life in a few years, and come back to the towns, where they are not wanted. In this, however, they are only following the example of many others, for though the total population of Ontario has increased by 409,000 during the last twenty years, the rural population has declined by over 100,000. I think that the principal danger to which the children are liable is that of being overworked, for the average Canadian farmer is close- fisted and "toils terribly"; but the children's complaints on this account are not numerous, and the constant visiting by ladies and gentlemen from the Homes, as well as that of ⚫ Canadian officials, is a great protection.
It has been suggested that it is a needless expense to keep so many Reception Homes in Canada, and that over-lapping is caused thereby, and that the Canadian Government might distribute the children on arrival. But I was assured, and feel convinced personally, that a healthy rivalry exists between the Homes, that the Masters and Matrons take an interest in the children such as no Government Department could do, and that this personal relationship is one of the greatest factors in the success of the work.
Altogether, the opinion that I formed in my previous visits, that the emigration of children is on the whole the most economical and the most successful of all methods of emigration, was confirmed. But four things are essential,-(1) careful selection of the children and the farmers; (2) a few months' training; (3) a distributing Home in Canada; and (4) frequent visiting and inspection.
Female Emigrants.
I visited many Women's Immigration Societies or Hostels, such as the Women's National Immigration Society in Montreal, the Women's Welcome Hostel in Toronto, the Girls' Home of Welcome in Winnipeg, the Women's Hostel in Calgary, the Women's Home of Welcome at Regina, and the buildings of the Y.W.CA., which exist in most places. Besides these special organizations for women and girls, accommodation is reserved for them at the various Immigration Depôts throughout Canada, and at those of the Salvation Army. The arrangements of bedrooms, dining-rooms, bath-rooms, &c., were ample and good. I think that female immigrants owe a great debt of gratitude to the ladies both here and in Canada who have done so much to ensure their comfort and safety. The immigrants stay in these Homes till they procure situations, and very few have to remain more than two or three days, the demand for domestic servants being very large. Out of 37 who had come to the Home at Montreal a day or two before I arrived, 35 had been placed out. At the Y.W.C.A. persons may board and lodge for a few months, and longer if there is room. The cost at Brandon was $1 a day, at Regina about $25 a month, and at New Westminster $1 to $5.50 a week. As a rule, the Y.W.C.A. aims at getting a superior class of tenant, and the poorer emigrant girl would have to go
elsewhere.
Besides the protection afforded to females on arrival, they may take advantage of the protection en route offered by the British Women's Emigration Association, so that they have now every chance of starting well. The danger of a breakdown arises afterwards either from misuse by the female immigrants of the greater independence which they enjoy, or from their inability to adapt themselves to local habits and methods of work, or from attempts to copy those who are richer than themselves. In a country where the servant spends £2 or £3 on a Sunday hat, and the typist travels in a Pullman car, immi- grants who are foolish and giddy may easily lose their heads. Many ladies complained to me of the inadaptability of British servants, and one told me that she never took one till the servant had had a year's experience in Canada. In small houses or farms where only one servant is kept she generally has meals with her mistress; but this practice is not universal, and where there are two or three servants it is very unusual. Few servants care to go on to a farm; the life is often isolated and rough, and sometimes the accommodation is so limited that the servant has to make up a bed in the kitchen. Many mistresses will teach their servant cooking.
It seems to me very natural that these immigrants should find service in a new country, and under new conditions, to be very strange at first, and that Canadian ladies are unreasonable who expect otherwise. Sometimes it may be that the servant is too particular; one, for instance, told me that she was disappointed with the winter, which