CO882-(1-2) — Page 372

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CANADA.

THU

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:

C.O. 882

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

****- THE present condition of Canada is a very remarkable one in the history of British Colonial Dependencies. After a long period of what may now be termed misgovernment, and a rebellion, from the effects of which a country does not readily recover, an æra of contentment and pros- perity has ensued to which it is difficult to find a parallel. Much of this is attributable to the form of government, usually denominated re- sponsible government, which prevails in this as well as in the other North American Provinces, and to the vigorous energies of a population derived from the mixed races of Great Britain, Ireland and France. But this flourishing state will best be confirmed by ascertained facts, which Il will briefly submit.

Responsible government was established in Canada on the re-union of the two provinces, though it can scarcely be said to have been thoroughly adopted before the administration of Sir C. Bagot, who succeeded Lord Sydenham. In his time, and in that of his successors, espe- cially in Lord Elgin's, the system fully obtained, and it has worked most satisfactorily. Closely observing the model of the British Constitution, ministers retire when adverse majorities affirm their inability to carry on the government to the satisfaction of the country, and they are suc- seeded by men in whom greater confidence is reposed. All legislative enactments, as in the mother country, require the formal assent of the Crown before they can become the law of the

CANADA.

land; and as a prudent avoidance is observed by the Imperial Authorities in all interference with legislation purely domestic, so does the local Parliament submit with a good grace, to that control over its laws which is only exercised by the Crown in matters of prerogative, or when principles are violated on which the affairs of the whole empire are administered. Indeed it may be asserted that the laws passed by the Canadian Parliament since the establishment of responsible government have, with scarcely an exception, been sanctioned by the Crown. To substantiate by statistical documents the prosperity of the province, which is only yet in its infancy, as the great lines of railroad are not finally completed, and the effect of reciprocal free trade with the United States is too recent to admit of demon-

stration, I subjoin the following table, shewing Table A.

its population, its revenue and expenditure, and

its imports and exports, drawn from the latest returns (1854) in the Colonial Office.

subjoin further the value of imports and Table B.

from 1847 to 1853, both year, exports in each inclusive, the revenue and expenditure in each Table C. of the same years, and the revenue from canal Table D. tolls. I also annex a statement of the quantity Table E. and value of public land sold in Canada in each year from 1847 to 1853, both inclusive. With respect to railways it is by no means an unimpor- tant feature, as demonstrating the energy of the province, to know what has been accomplished, and as the funds have been largely drawn from this country, proving thereby the confidence which is entertained by capitalists here in Cana- dian securities, the statement in Table F. will Table F.

be found interesting.

Simultaneously with the industrial progress above described another change of a scarcely less important character, indicative of the tran- quillity reigning in the province, should be men- tioned, I refer to the military force. On the 1st January, 1847, the force stationed in Canada, and maintained wholly at the charge of the British Treasury, consisted of 7,149 soldiers, besides

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