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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

20PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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to remedy what does not come up to his expectations. The Canadian farmer, for instance, struggling to get in his harvest before a frost comes, would be the loser in time and money if he stopped to explain gently to the new farm hand from England how he should hitch up the team or drive the reaper. He expects him to do it, and is not slow to say what he thinks if he has not the Canadian trick of it. The root cause of the trouble may very well be that quality of quiet persistence, an unformulated, sub-conscious, but none the less vital determination to have things his own way which explains the position of the Englishman in many parts of the world. The Canadian does not realise that he is face to face with a characteristic which accounts for his own national existence. His own possession of a full share of it makes it the less easy for him to tolerate it in others. As Canadians who waxed plaintive on the subject, if the flow of emigration were often said to reversed, Englishmen would probably find the Canadian immigrant just as tiresome for just the same reasons. But the facts are against us. The flow of immigration

is, and will be, westward. It is on the Englishman, and not on the Canadian, that the onus of adaptation lies.

However all this may be, I am convinced that the average Englishman going to Canada at present starts with an appreciable handicap in the estimation of his new countrymen. The question arises whether anything can be done to remedy the situation. It is doubtful whether any very definite steps can be taken. The case calls for sympathy and education on both sides of the Atlantic. The Canadian people require to understand better the difficulties which, for the reasons above stated, the Englishman finds on landing in Canada, and the Englishman, on his side, must learn to understand the kind of conduct and the line of action which the Canadians desire and expect of those who come amongst them. One will watch with great interest the efforts which are now being made by Sir Hugh Graham through the medium of the Canadian Press to create this sympathetic attitude on the part of the Canadian people, and the results of the corresponding appeal which he made to the Press of this country to enlighten the people of the United Kingdom as to the qualities and equipment needed for life in Canada and the frame of mind in which a man should go there. The Emigrants' Information Office, on its part, can hardly do more than work through its publications and through the enquiries which come under its notice. at the beginning of the "Canada Circular" and "Handbook" met with universal The "Hints to Emigrants" which figure approval in Canada. I invariably brought them to the notice of those who gave utterance to any expression of opinion as to the failure of the English immigrant to adapt himself to Canadian conditions. Everyone to whom I showed them said at once that they were precisely what was required and well calculated to create the attitude of mind which would do away with the difficulties of which they spoke. Advice in the sense of the "Hints" will continue to be given to everyone who enquires personally at the Office, and every reasonable opportunity will be taken to bring the "Hints" specially to the notice of those who seek advice by letter.

CHILD EMIGRATION.

Another question which engaged my attention specially during the visit was that of child emigration to Canada. With one exception, viz., the Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba, everyone with whom I discussed the question, whether official or unofficial, strongly approved of child emigration as at present conducted. It was very evident that the demand for children is very many times larger than the supply, and that the number emigrated under present conditions could, with safety, be increased four or five-fold. Under the existing system child emigrants come in from three sources: the poor law children (sent out by Boards of Guardians); industrial school children (sent out by the Home Office); and children sent out privately by recognised emigration societies. The Boards of Guardians and the Home Office work through the recognised emigration societies, so that ultimately all the children reach Canada through this channel. receiving homes maintained by the societies, and from there are immediately dis- They are sent direct to tributed to families through the medium of adoption, hoarding, or indenture. Provincial legislation places the emigration society concerned in loco parentis to the child until he attains a certain age, and places upon the society the task of periodical inspection of the child in the home to which he has gone and of removing him if the home is found to be unsatisfactory. In the case of the poor law children there is the additional inspection undertaken by the Dominion Government at

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the request and expense of the Home Government. The Dominion Government also, through Mr. Bogue Smart and his assistants, have a general supervision over the fulfilment by the societies of their responsibilities towards the children of all three classes. This supervision is mainly exercised by means of a periodical inspec- tion of the receiving homes, when all the records and accounts and the reports of the society's inspectors are open to the officer of the Dominion Government. Such inspection of the receiving homes is carried out not less than once a year, generally more frequently. The Dominion officials find no difficulty in satisfying themselves whether the societies are carrying out their duties towards the children.

Mr. Smart showed me in great detail his system of obtaining and recording reports on poor..law children. I was much impressed by the carefulness and minuteness of the system. He explained that the individual reports are retained until a volume of 250 or 300 has been collected, and that the volume is then sent in duplicate to the Local Government Board. As collect this number, he did not think that this could cause any undue delay in the takes only about a month to transmission of the reports to England. discriminate between the children arriving in Canada, he would say that the poor He said that, if he were called on to law children were the best, the industrial school children next, and the emigration society or private homes children next. fidently that 95 per cent., or even more, of those who came out were satisfactory.

But all were good, and he claimed con- It was quite evident that the Government would favour the idea of increasing the volume of child emigration provided that the present system were adhered to. They laid great stress on this point. The present system pre-supposes a certain period in England prior to emigration during which the children have been trained in certain elementary qualities and duties, and those in charge of them have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with their characters and judging of their suitability for emigration to Canada. This preliminary period is, of course, passed in some institution under the control of a Board of Guardians, or in a reformatory or Industrial School, or in a home conducted by a private emigration society. Mr. Bogue Smart could not recommend or support any scheme for the introduction of children into Canada which dispenses with the preliminary period in England. The corollary of such a preliminary period in England is the practice of despatching the children to the families in which they are to live or work immediately on their arrival in Canada. By this means the Canadian Government hope to avoid, or at any rate to keep as remote as possible, the stigma involved by having been brought up tion," which might prejudice them in the eyes of employers in Canada. It is, of

in an

institu- course, impossible to escape this idea altogether, but, at any rate, in Mr. Bogue Smart's opinion, it is better to keep it on the English side of the Atlantic than to introduce it into Canada by supporting any scheme for training homes in Canada. It is hardly necessary to add that during my visit I was invariably treated with the utmost kindness and consideration by the numerous Dominion and Pro- vincial Government officers whom I met. Many of them showed me acts of personal kindness beyond anything called for by the official or semi-official introductions which I had. I was also very much impressed by the courtesy and hospitality of the many unofficial Canadians with whom I was brought into contact.

15th October, 1909.

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F. G. A. BUTLER.

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