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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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matter to the associations of manufacturers on the one hand and to the Immigra- tion authorities on the other. This showed me that it was hopeless to expect Mr. Bell to act as local correspondent of the Emigrants' Information Office. I put the question to him nevertheless, and got the negative answer that I expected. Mr. Bell talked a good deal about the "remittance man English immigrant in general to adapt himself to the new conditions and to take and the failure of the up hard work different from that to which he had been accustomed. that Canada was less troubled with the "remittance man

He admitted said that many of the apparently unsuitable English immigrants, when brought than formerly. He also to the end of their resources, unexpected grit and determination and developed into useful workers. He thought down to hard pan," as he put it, often showed there was some flaw in the system under which English boys were brought up and educated, which made them disinclined to work under rough and hard conditions. He had noticed that it was quite different with young Scotchmen, for instance. At the same time he admitted that there was a distinct change in feeling towards the English immigrant in the last few years. induced him to employ an English clerk in his office. Now he would not hesitate Five years ago nothing would have to employ one. He attributed the change to a growing appreciation in England of the conditions prevalent in Canada and of the class of man likely to succeed there. He spoke warmly of the improved social conditions in Winnipeg, and held that any man who was fond of the good things of life, such as music, art, and social enjoyment, would find all to hand in Winnipeg.

He

I next visited Mr. Golden, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba, and a local correspondent of the Emigrants' Information Office. He took a less gloomy view of the British immigrant than almost anyone I had so far met. thought that the lack of sympathetic handling might account for a good deal, and that patience and understanding would serve to bring out the good qualities often concealed by a repellent manner. He thought that any strong and willing man would be able to make a living in Canada, whatever his occupation before coming there. He was unexpectedly pessimistic about child emigration as at present conducted, and gave vent to opinions as to the criminality of the "Barnardo boy" class, which I had been assured by the Immigration Department at Ottawa were exploded heresies. He suggested that the task of the local correspondents of the Emigrants' Information Office in proposing alterations in the would be much simplified if they could be supplied with a list of the alterations

Circular made since the last issue. The bulk of it was now subject to so little alteration that it was really a waste of time to read the whole through carefully.

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I next called at the Dominion Immigration Depôt. Mr. Bruce Walker had gone east, but Mr. Gelley, his assistant, showed me every courtesy. I inspected carefully the fine Immigration Buildings, in which immigrants can obtain free lodging for a week. Discretion is used to extend this period if any useful purpose can be served. A family, for instance, is often kept for some weeks while the husband samples work in a particular locality. All the arrangements are admir able. Mr. Gelley was clearly conscious of a distinct improvement in the class of immigrant in the last two years, both men and women. which he had to cope was, naturally, for help on the land.

The chief demand with being able to place any willing and healthy man who might present himself. He But he was certain of received a certain number of applications for mechanics and artisans, and, if a suitable man came in, he supplied the demand, although the Government to attract immigrants of these classes. But there could not be was not the policy of said to be any marked or distinct demand for labour of this kind. Among artisans, he thought a carpenter was about the best to emigrate. If he would go out among a group of farms, and would turn his hand to anything in the carpentering line, he would be certain to get on. arrive

It was noticeable that far more emigrants now ticketed." as it were, to a particular destination. This is the result of invitations from friends or relatives. Immigration from this source is largely on the Increase. Such immigrants as a rule escape the Commissioner of Immigra- tion altogether, or only come in for advice as to the journey.

All deportations west of Port Arthur are carried out by the Commissioner of Immigration at Winnipeg. The procedure is exactly that so clearly described to me at Ottawa, and in practically all cases except those of criminal convictions a careful investigation is carried out by the officers of the Department before the authorities at Ottawa issue the order of deportation. Mr. Gelley assured me that the result of these investigations was to show that the application for deportation

put in by the local authority concerned was rarely made lightly. that every reasonable chance was given to a man about to be deported to dispose He was satisfied of his effects. He quoted cases to show that the Immigration Department is by no means anxious to deport anyone likely to become a useful worker. One case was that of a widow in distress with three young sons, who was anxious to be deported. Mr. Gelley advised strongly against it and took the matter in hand. three boys placed on farms, and the woman, relieved of them, found employment herself. All four are now contented and prosperous. Four men were waiting in He got the the building to be deported. I saw them all. close confinement. The other two were apparently allowed to go about at will. Two were criminals, and were in One was a young man who was found to be tuberculous shortly after his arrival in Canada. The other was a particularly bad case. The man, Ethelred Nicholls, had been proposed for emigration by a small society in England, but had been rejected by Mr. Obed Smith on the ground that he was ruptured and was otherwise physically unfit for farm work, which was what he proposed to undertake. Some misguided clergyman, nevertheless, collected money for his passage to Canada, and he came out as an emigrant paying his own passage. should have escaped the immigration authorities at Quebec. He did escape them, It is inconceivable that he and took up work or a farm near Brandon. He had to give it up after a day or so, and then tried some kind of navvying work. This too he had to give up at once, as he was absolutely physically incapable of doing it. Winnipeg, and it was decided to send him back to England. A look at the man He came into was enough to show the least skilled observer that it was hopeless to expect him to do hard manual labour anywhere. He was stunted and frail, and appeared to be deficient mentally as well as bodily. He was said to be tuberculous as well as ruptured.

Mr. Gelley spoke of the excellent prospects for domestic servants and children brought out by recognised societies in the North-West. He said that few emigrants appeared to have any knowledge of the baggage regulations on the Canadian rail- ways, and most of them got into difficulties in consequence. He told me about the harvest trains, which were, just at this time, bringing batches of 4,000 or 5,000 men from the east. Many of the harvesters, he said, who came up with no intention of stopping stuck when they got west, or came back to reside permanently the following year. Ontario young men.

In this way he thought they were getting quite the best of the I spoke to Mr. Gelley about endorsed letters of invitation. The Commissioner at This corroborates the complaint of the Ontario authorities. Winnipeg apparently acts independently of Ottawa in this matter. Letters of invitation endorsed by him are accepted by Mr. Obed Smith and the Immigration Officers at Quebec as evidence of the ability of the writer to find work or a home for the relative or friend to whom the letter is addressed. Settlers residing west of Port Arthur should therefore sent such letters through the Commissioner at Winnipeg to save time and trouble.

I next called at the Girls' Home of Welcome. I found that Mrs. Sandford has severed her direct connexion with the Home and now devotes herself entirely to bringing out parties of girls; is, in fact, a regular emgiration agent. The new Superintendent of the Home is Miss Christine Muldoon.

The Home is subsidised by the Dominion Government; otherwise it could not make both ends meet. of girls than two years ago.

Miss Muldoon thought they were getting out a better class British societies, including the British Women's Emigration Association, and also The Home receives girls sent out by certain recognised the four parties or so brought out each year by Mrs. Sandford. The demand for domestic servants seems to be insatiable. When a party of girls arrives, the Home is in something of a state of siege. The girls are only promised $10 a month at first, till they have proved themselves, and they are often assailed on the trains, when actually on their way to a situation, by offers of double that amount in order to secure them. The scarcity in Winnipeg is as great as in the country. In the town itself parlourmaids are in demand as well as "generals," but in the country, naturally, chiefly the latter class. Miss Muldoon did not think that any girl that had passed through the Home had had to be deported. The girls look on the Home as a natural place of resort between situations. Very many of them get married, as is only to be expected, and, when they want servants themselves, they come to the Home for them.

Miss Muldoon promised to act as a local correspondent of the Emigrants' Information Office.

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