CO885-(20-21) — Page 136

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

EMIGRATION

REPORT

BY

-4

Mr. F. G. A. BUTLER, CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE, EMIGRANTS' INFORMATION OFFICE,

VISIT

SIR,

ON A

TO CANADA, 1909.

MR. BUTLER to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Emigrants' Information Office,

31, Broadway, Westminster, S.W., 5th November, 1909. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you, to be laid before the Earl of Crewe,

a copy of a report which I have made to the Committee of the Emigrants' Informa- tion Office on my recent visit to Canada.

The Under-Secretary of State,

Colonial Office.

(Confidential.)

I have, &c..

F. BUTLER,

Chairman.

REPORT ON VISIT TO CANADA, 1909.

In

I left England on the 30th of July and arrived in Quebec on the 5th of August. I left Quebec again for home on the 10th of September and arrived at Liverpool on the 17th of September. This gave me five clear weeks in Canada. During that time I visited Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver twice, and the following places once :-Hamilton, Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Victoria, and Medicine Hat. nights, except at Medicine Hat, where I had a clear day but not a night.

In each of these places I spent one or two Ottawa, where most of my discussions with responsible Dominion officials naturally took place, I had altogether three full days. Appended to this report is a record of my more important conversations and interviews. recorded in these conversations which it is impossible to embody in a report. That A great deal of detail is detail will, I trust, be found both interesting and useful by those who have the time and patience to read it. The report itself is concerned with general questions such as the adequacy of our methods and information, and the policy of the Canadian Government in some of the more important aspects of the emigration question. It is virtually a summary of the impressions made on me in a few main directions by my visits, conversations, and enquiries. It has the fault of all summaries-it can hardly hope to carry full conviction unless read with the details of which it is the abbreviated expression.

3

EMIGRANTS' INFORMATION OFFICE PUBLICATIONS.

What struck me principally throughout the tour and at every turn was the general accuracy of the information given by the Emigrants' Information Office. I had copies of the "Canada Circular" and "Handbook with me, and these were put to tests of various kinds. They were looked through by Mr. Blake Robertson, the Assistant Superintendent of Immigration, and he confessed that he was unable to make any suggestions for their amendment except in three or four very trifling matters of detail. He thought that the account given of conditions in Cañada was very accurate and just, though he said that the Immigration Department would not, for its own part, give the information about the demand for mechanics and artisans which the books contain. That, however, he admitted was a question of policy rather than of accuracy. The books were also examined, sometimes of neces- sity very cursorily, by various people whom I met, both official and unofficial, and in no case was their accuracy challenged. While this is true of detail, it is no less true of the general tone of the books. All that I saw and heard strongly con- firmed the accuracy of the general picture which the Emigrants' Information Office draws of Canada. Anyone with experience of work on the land is bound to find employment. Anyone who is physically strong and also willing, even if he has had no experience of the land, is certain of work of some kind. Domestic servants, especially of the "general" and "cook-general" class, are in very great demand. Mechanics and artisans, although skilled individuals are practically certain to find employment sooner or later, should not be encouraged to go to Canada in any con- siderable numbers or indiscriminately, but should be advised with particular refer- ence to the locality and the demand of the moment, and should, generally speaking, be able to support themselves for a time whilst they look for work. The publica- tions were, of course, originally prepared with great care, and are scrupulously kept up to date by all the means at the disposal of the office. But the almost startling lack of criticism which I found demands a special explanation. It is no doubt largely accounted for by the thoroughness with which the ground was covered by the visit of Mr. Jones, the Chief Clerk of the Emigrants' Information Office, to Canada in 1907, and by the revision of the sections of the "Canada Handbook," arranged early this year, by Canadians in a position to carry out that revision with knowledge and authority. The standard can best be maintained by continuing to have the sections of the "Handbook" revised by responsible people in the various Provinces, and by keeping as large a list as possible of useful local correspondents.

LOCAL CORRESPONDENTS.

I devoted a good deal of attention to the latter point during my tour, and I was able to secure the services of twenty-one new local correspondents, a list of whom is attached. It will be seen that a number of them are Secretaries of Boards of Trade. I felt very strongly that was desirable to get into touch with unofficial correspondents of this kind who are in a position to express an opinion on the matters with which the Emigrants' Information Office is concerned and to ascertain prices of land, cost of living, &c. the Boards of Trade of the towns in which I stayed. Much more might be done I was only able to approach the Secretaries of by writing to the many others whom it was impossible to interview personally, explaining to them the aims and objects of the Office, and asking them if they will fill up our forms of enquiry in future. In this matter I found a considerable difference between the Secretaries of Boards of Trade in large cities and the Boards of Trade in the smaller towns, such as Brandon, Regina, Calgary, and Edmonton. The Secretaries of Boards of Trade in places like Montreal, Winnipeg, and Van- couver consider that the functions of their Boards lie rather in the direction of financial and commercial questions than in the direction of questions of the supply of labour for the various trades or for farm work. The Secretaries of the larger Boards of Trade invariably fought shy of undertaking to fill up our enquiry forms. The reason, I think, is partly that they are very conscious of the dignity of their position as Secretaries of what are practically the Chambers of Commerce of large commercial and business centres, partly that in the larger cities they are very much afraid of the trade unions and so hesitate to touch anything which might savour of encouraging workers to come in. In places like Regina and Brandon, on the other hand, I had a distinct feeling that the Secretary of the Board of Trade was rather flattered by the invitation to act as local correspondent to the

(14871-2.) Wt. 24300-G 3v. 5, 1209. D & 8.

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