COLONIAL LAND AND EMIGRATION COMMISSION.
THIRTEENTH GENERAL REPORT
OF THE
COLONIAL LAND AND EMIGRATION
COMMISSIONERS.
1853.
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her
Majesty.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE
1853.
THIRTEENTH GENERAL REPORT
OF THE
COLONIAL LAND AND EMIGRATION
COMMISSIONERS.
Emigration
Appendix,
No. 3.
Colonial Land and Emigration Office,
April 21, 1853.
MY LORD DUKE,
WE have the honour to submit to your Grace
our Annual Report on Emigration from the United
Kingdom, and on matters connected with the
disposal of lands in the British colonies. We
shall begin, as on former occasions, by adverting
to the emigration which attained, in 1852, the
greatest height yet reached, under circumstances
which invest it with peculiar interest.
In the Appendix we place a Table, showing the
emigration from the United Kingdom for every year
since the conclusion of the war. It will be seen
that in the 38 years ending on 31st December last,
there had left this country 3,463,292 emigrants,
but that of these, 1,791,446, or considerably more
than half, have emigrated in the 6 years commencing
with 1847; that the average annual emigration
during the last 6 years has been 298,584, and that
the number who left the United Kingdom in 1852 was
368,764, being 23 1/2 per cent. above the average,
and 9 3/4 per cent. above the emigration of 1851,
the largest that had before occurred. We proceed
to notice the points connected with this emigration
which appear to us most worthy attention.
The great bulk of the emigration from the United
Kingdom has for many years consisted of Irish;
and although we have no means of ascertaining
the precise number who have emigrated from
Ireland, we believe it may be safely assumed, as
has been done in former Reports, that nine-tenths
of those who have sailed from
Liverpool, and one-third of those who have sailed
from the Clyde to North America, in addition to
all who have sailed from Irish ports, have been
Irish. To these have to be added the number sent
out to Australia in ships chartered by this Board.
Assuming these data, the Irish emigration during
the last 6 years has been-
1847 219,885
1848 181,316
1849 218,842
1850 213,649
1851 254,537
1852 224,997
Making a total in the 6 years of 1,313,226
The impulse which raised the emigration to so
great a height was given by the famine of 1847,
and then apparently commenced that general
practice of remittances from America which has
since attained so wonderful an extent, and which
is now sufficient to defray more than the whole
expense of Irish emigration. We have stated in
former Reports the amounts returned to us by the
principal mercantile and banking houses connected
with America as remitted through them; but we
reproduce them here to show the rapid progress
which they have made in the last five years. They
are as follows:-
Money sent home from North America
by persons who have previously emigrated.
1848 ÷460,000
1849 540,000
1850 957,000
1851 990,000
1852 1,404,000
It must be borne in mind that large as these
returns are, they take no account of money sent
home through private hands, of which we have no
means of obtaining information, but wbich can
scarcely be supposed to be inconsiderable. We are
bound also to add, that although we believe the
great bulk to be sent home by Irish emigrants to
their friends in Ireland, there can be no doubt
that a portion of the remittances through Liverpool
and London are from English emigrants to persons
in England.
The effect which the large emigration must have on
the population of Ireland was pointed out in our
Report of last year, but as the question is now
attracting much interest, we may be allowed to
revert to it.
It will be remembered that the census showed a
total population in Ireland on March 31, 1851,
of 6,515,794, with a decrease during the
preceding 10 years of
1,659,330. Assuming the natural increase of the
population to be 1 per cent. per annum, or 65,157
a year, which we showed to have been the rate of
increase between 1831 and 1841, the emigration of
1851 would have been nearly four times, and that
of 1852 much more than three times the whole
increase. But as emigration carries away more
than a due proportion of the young and healthy,
we think it probable that in point of fact the
births of those who remain behind do no more
than replace the deaths among them.
We have repeatedly expressed our opinion that
nothing would arrest this emigration so long as
the bulk of the peasantry remained in the state
of hopeless destitution which has been so
frequently described in works and reports on
Ireland. The usual obstacles to a wholesale
emigration, such as-the love of home,-the dislike
to a strange country,-the fear of the sea voyage
and the want of means,-have long been smoothed
away in the case of the Irish. The moral obstacles
have been over-come by the example of the
thousands who have already gone, and the want of
means is removed by the liberal remittances to
which we have above alluded.
But it is obvious that such an emigration could
not be continued for many years without exhausting
the native labouring classes. And it is
confidently asserted, that in some parts of
Ireland this result has begun to appear. It is,
therefore, not without satisfaction that we have
observed, in the Irish emigration of 1852, a
considerable decrease as compared with that of
the preceding year, amounting, according to the
calculation which we have given above, to 29,540,
or nearly 2/17ths of the whole. We are not in a
position to offer any decided opinion as to the
causes of this decrease; but taking it in
connexion with a co-incident decrease in the
able-bodied paupers in the work-houses from 86,303
in January 1851, to 50,938 in January 1853, and
with the acknowledged scarcity of Irish labourers
in England at this moment as compared with former
times, we cannot but regard it as a hopeful sign
of an improvement in the position of the Irish
peasantry. It is true, indeed, that the returns
furnished to us show little or no increase in the
wages of labour; but this fact, although it would
appear to show that labour is still in excess, is
not inconsistent with a considerable improvement
in the condition of the labouring classes. We
apprehend that although wages are still at a
minimum, the number receiving them, and the
proportion they
Appendices,
Nos. 1 & 2
bear to the unemployed, is considerably larger
than formerly.
The emigration from the whole United Kingdom
during the years 1851 and 1852 was distributed
as follows:-
United British Australia. All other Total.
States. North places.
America.
1851 267,357 42,605 21,532 4,472 335,966
1852 244,261 32,876 87,881 3,749 368,764
Showing an actual decrease on the emigration to
other places than Australia of 33,551 souls, and
an actual increase on the emigration to Australia
of 66,349. Of this actual increase 22,661 is
attributable to the operations of this Board. The
numbers sent out by us in 1851 having been 11,693,
and in 1852, 34,354. The decrease in 1852 in the
emigration to the United States was, it will be
observed, about 9 per cent., while in the
emigration to British North America it was nearly
23 per cent. We have no means of ascertaining the
reasons for this disproportion, but we should be
disposed to believe that of the English who might
otherwise have gone to Canada, and who are not
generally in so destitute a state as the Irish,
a portion have been diverted to Australia.
Australian Emigration.
We now turn to the emigration to Australia; and
first to the emigration unconnected with the
operations of this Board.
We stated in our Report for last year that in the
first instance the intelligence of the gold
discoveries had had little effect in stimulating
emigration to Australia, the spontaneous
emigration of the last half of 1851 not having
been greater than in the corresponding half of
1850. But in the first three months of 1852 the
emigration increased to double that of the same
period of 1851, and at the date of our Report
(6th May 1852) it was going on very rapidly. The
proportion which the spontaneous emigration of
1852 bore to the similar emigration of former
years will be seen by the following table, which,
however, refers only to ships under the Passengers
Act,* and sailing from ports at which there are
emigration offices:-
* Ships carrying fewer than four steerage
passengers to 100 tons burthen do not come
under the Passengers' Act.
...regulations to the above colonies and to South
Australia, and the sums paid in each colony in
aid of their passages and outfit during the years
1851 and 1852, and the first four months in the
present year.
German Emigration, Appendix No. 28.
Before we leave the subject of emigration, we
would beg to call attention to a memorandum by
Her Majesty's consul at Leipzic respecting German
emigration, which we print in the Appendix, and
which, though scarcely falling within the scope
of our Report, will be valuable to those who take
a general interest in European emigration. It will
be seen from this document that the German
emigration during the last six years has very much
exceeded the emigration from this country for any
equal period before 1847, that it appears to be
rapidly increasing, and that among the emigrants
are large numbers of persons in comparatively easy
circumstances. It will likewise be seen that
nearly one-fifth of the emigration of 1852
proceeded from English ports, principally, we
believe from Liverpool and London, and that the
great bulk of it, as of the emigration from the
United Kingdom, was directed to the United States.
The estimate of the number of Germans now
inhabiting the United States and the British
colonies gives some striking results, though it
seems scarcely possible to attribute to it the
minute accuracy which in some instances it
affects.
PASSENGERS ACT.
We pass next to the Passengers Act, which at the
date of our Report of last year was before the
House of Commons, but which subsequently passed
through Parliament, and has introduced
considerable alterations into the law for the
regulation of emigrant vessels.
Alterations in the Law.
This Act was proposed in conformity with the
recommendations of a committee of the House of
Commons which sat in 1851, and was intended to
remedy deficiencies which the experience of late
years had developed in former Passengers Acts,
and to meet the altered circumstances under
which emigration was being carried on. The
principal alterations which it introduced were
the extension of its provisions to Australian as
well as American emigration, the limitation of
the size of berths and the separation of single
men from the other passengers, the enforcement of
a scale of hospital accommodation and privies,
the regulation of the stowage of heavy cargo, the
assimilation in quality of the provisions of the
emigrants and crew, the removal and marking of bad
provisions, the issue of cooked provisions instead
of uncooked, the employment
of passenger stewards, of interpreters, and of
medical men in certain specified cases, and the
recovery from the owner, charterer, or master, of
the expense of assisting shipwrecked emigrants.
The Act also for the first time made "stowaways"
and their abettors punishable, and gave a power
to bodies having the management of docks to
control the resort of runners to the quays at
which emigrants are landed. Lastly, to meet the
case of certain foreign vessels which had gone to
sea in defiance of the former Passengers Act,
without the clearance of the emigration officer,
vessels so proceeding to sea were made liable to
forfeiture in the same manner as for a breach of
the customs laws.
The Act came into operation only on the 1st
October last, and our experience of its working
has not therefore been sufficient to justify our
expressing an opinion respecting it. We learn
from our officer at Liverpool that those portions
of it which take effect before a vessel leaves
the port have been enforced without difficulty,
and that from vessels which have put back he has
learned that the alteration in regard to the
cooking of provisions has worked well. We may add
that the clauses which subject to forfeiture a
vessel sailing without the emigration officer's
clearance, and which provide for the recovery of
the expenses of shipwrecked emigrants, have
already, during the short time they have been in
force, been found very useful.
We would take this opportunity, however, of
alluding to a misconception as to the scope of
the Passengers Act which seems to be very general,
and which leads to disappointment, especially
among the better class of emigrants, who are now
proceeding to Australia. The Passengers Act,
proceeding on the principle of interfering no
further in contracts between shipowners or
charterers and emigrants than is necessary to
protect the most helpless class, has prescribed
a minimum of space and food which shall be
provided for each statute adult, and requires
the emigration officer to see that that minimum
space is given, and that the articles put on
board for food are of good quality and of the
legal quantity. Few, however, of the better class
of emigrants would be content with no more than
the Act secures them, and accordingly in most
private ships sailing to Australia a more ample
dietary and greater space is promised, and a
proportionately higher fare is charged in
consequence. In some instances these promises
have not been fulfilled, and complaint has not
unnaturally been made to us either
that the promised space was not given, or that the
additional articles of food were not sufficient or
good enough. To these complaints we can only
answer, that the emigration officer has no power
to interfere where the requirements of the
Passengers Act have been absolutely complied with,
and that for any breaches of contract beyond the
scope of that Act the complainants must proceed in
the usual course of law. We are anxious to make
this explanation public, because we fear that many
persons who are not familiar with the state of the
law have attributed to neglect or indifference on
our parts an inaction which really proceeded from
want of power.
By the 4th clause of the Act, vessels carrying
mails under contract with the Government are
exempted from its operation. This exemption was
introduced principally to meet the case of the
regular mail steam-vessels, which could not be
subjected to detention by the emigration officer-
which are already under other Government
superintendence-and which from the nature of
their contracts are never likely to take any
large number of steerage passengers. But as we
found that the clause was being worked to exempt
from the Act all vessels which might obtain a mail
from the Post Office, we thought it our duty to
call attention to the fact, and the Postmaster-
General in consequence announced his intention not
to put a mail on board any but the regular
packets, except on condition that the exemption
from the Passengers Act should not be claimed.
The great increase of emigration from Liverpool
and London during the past year made it necessary
to increase the staff of the emigration officers
at those ports; and accordingly in the month of
July, three additional assistants were added to
the establishment at Liverpool, and in August,
two assistants to the establishment in London,
making the former to consist of six. and the
latter of five officers. An emigration officer
has also been appointed at the port of
Southampton, principally with reference to the
emigration now carried on at that port under
this department.
Small Number of Casualties to Emigrant Vessels.
With respect to the safety of emigrant vessels at
sea, we have again thankfully to acknowledge an
entire exemption from accident in the case of
vessels sent out by this Board. In regard to
private vessels sailing from ports at which
emigration officers are stationed, it appears
that from London one ship, the "Sir Fowell
Buxton" bound to Melbourne, with 161 passengers,
was wrecked on the coast of Brazil. No lives,
however, were lost,
and the passengers have been since forwarded to
their destination by the consul. From Liverpool
two ships have been wrecked-the "Bhurtpore," for
New Orleans, with 378 passengers, on the Blackwater
Bank off the coast of Wexford,-and the "Mobile,*"
for the same destination with 34 passengers, also
off the coast of Wexford. In the former case no
lives were lost-in the latter, nearly all. One
vessel, the "St. George," bound for New York, with
124 passengers on board, was burnt at sea, when we
regret to say no less than 51 of the passengers
lost their lives, principally women and children
who could not be got off. In this instance there
seems strong reason for believing that the master
and crew were guilty of deserting the vessel
prematurely, and that had proper exertions been
made by them the calamity might have been reduced
within narrower limits.
These are the only serious accidents which are
known to have happened to vessels sailing from
the ports at which emigration officers are
stationed; and considering that the number of
emigrants from those ports was, in the course of
the year, 350,647 souls, exclusive of the crews,
the result appears to us one for which there is
great reason to be sincerely thankful.
Prosecutions.
The following prosecutions under the Passengers
Act have been instituted by the Government
emigration officers in the United Kingdom during
the year 1852:-
Place. Party Nature of Offence. Result of
prosecuted. Prosecution,
showing the
Money recovered
for Emigrants, and
Amount of Penalties.
Liverpool Hallett, Francis Violating the Fined
25l.
9th Section of and costs.
Passengers Act
in Sept. last.
Liverpool Johnstone, Robert Not finding a Fined
15l. and
passage for 3l. compensation.
John M'Furth This case to
according to govern all the
contract. others holding
Johnstone's
tickets or three
months imprisonment.
Liverpool Scott,J.& Walter Receiving passenge Returned
the
money without passage money, 16l.
issuing tickets.
* The "Mobile," on account of the small number of
passengers, did not come under the Passengers' Act.
Place. Party Nature of Offence. Result of
prosecuted. Prosecution,
showing the
Money recovered
for Emigrants, and
Amount of Penalties.
Liverpool Keeling, T. Jas. Taking money Fined
50l. or
without being a three months'
licensed broker. imprisonment.
Liverpool Croak, Richard Acting without Fined
5l. or
authority in the one month's
sale of passage, imprisonment.
in violation of
the 66th clause
of Passengers Act.
Liverpool Croak, Richard Altering a ticket, Fined
5l. or
in violation of one month's
65th clause of imprisonment.
Passengers Act.
Liverpool Marks, Mark Conspiring to
Acquitted.
Fairburn, William defraud Garner by
giving a bill on
New York for 1,025l.
for 305l.
Liverpool Fairburn, William Being concerned in Fined
5l. or
letting of a passage three months'
without having imprisonment.
authority to do so. months'
impri-
Cork O'Leary, Daniel Receiving deposits Fined
20l. or
without authority. three month's
imprisonment.
Cork Hendevant, T. Irregularity in Fined
5l.
issue of
provisions.
Limerick Connell, Math. Deception and
Deprived of
ill-treatment licence for
to emigrants. six months.
Limerick Shea, John, and Found on board
Imprisoned one
M'Innerny, Dennis fraudulently week with hard
attempting to labour.
obtain a passage
to New York.
In addition to the above sums recovered by legal
proceedings the following amounts have been also
recovered by the intervention of the Government
emigration officers; at London (about) 3,000l.;
Liverpool, 1,210l. 6s.; Dublin, 10l.; Belfast,
44l. 10s.; Londonderry, 16l. 10s.; Limerick, 170l.
5s.
Emigration.
A portion of the proceeds of these sales have
been applied in conformity with the terms of
settlement towards the passages of emigrants to
Otago.
There have also been sent out to Nelson 60 persons,
equal to 47 statute adults, the relatives or
friends of residents in the colony. The expense of
the emigration of these persons has been defrayed
partly by the contributions of their friends in
the colony, and partly out of the land funds. The
contribution paid or promised by their friends was
at the rate of 10l. per statute adult, a sum which,
in consequence of the recent rise of freights, bore
a less proportion to the whole expense than was
probably calculated at the time when it was
received, but which would in most cases have been
sufficient to pay about one half of the whole
expense of passage.
Appendix, No.12
We place in the Appendix two returns of the
immigration into and emigration from the Port
of Wellington, and the Settlement of Canterbury,
during the year 1851, and also a comparative
statement of the European population of the
districts of New Zealand for the years 1848,
1849, and 1850. Appendix, No. 13.
CANADA.
Immigration
The whole number of emigrants landed in Canada in
1852 was 39,176, of whom there were,
English 5,611
Irish 19,603
Scotch 5,422
Germans 5,159
Norwegians 2,197
From the lower provinces 1,184
39,176
The emigration of 1851 having been 41,076, the
decrease in 1852 amounted to 1,900.
The decrease in the number of English was 245
The decrease in the number of Irish was 5,977
The decrease in the number of Scotch was 1,638
7,860
But on the other hand there was an increase in
the number of Germans of 4,519, and of Norwegians
of 1,972.
The ships which sailed from English and Scotch
ports appear to have had unusually favourable
passages, the average length of voyage having
been, from English ports 31 days, and from
Scotch, 32. From Ireland the average
voyage was 43 days, and from the continent of
Europe, 52. To the shortness of the passages from
England and Scotland may probably be attributed
the small mortality, which from English ports,
excluding Liverpool, amounted to only 0.25 per
cent., and from Scotch ports to 0.32 per cent.
From Ireland, including Liverpool, it amounted
to 0.50 per cent., and from foreign ports to 0.72
per cent. The greatest mortality from any British
port was, as might have been expected, from
Liverpool, amounting to 1.15 per cent., and from
any foreign port was from Christiana, amounting
to 1.38 per cent.
Four emigrant vessels were wrecked in the Gulf or
the River of St. Lawrence during the year, namely,
the "Olive Branch," from Stockton, wrecked on an
iceberg; the "Nerio," from Antwerp, wrecked on
Bird Island rocks; the "Lessing," from Hamburgh,
wrecked on the coast of Labrador; and the
"Trusty," from Scarborough, lost on Cape Gaspe.
In the latter vessel only was there any loss of
life, 13 of the passengers out of 134, and 5 of
the crew having been drowned. In the other cases
the crews and passengers were all saved, though
with the loss of their property.
The total number of persons assisted to emigrate
by parishes or private individuals were, from
England 548
Ireland 3,350
Scotland 606,
Continent of Europe 202
4,706
and to 3,544 of this number, landing money in
various amounts, to the extent of 2,600l. was
paid, either through the emigration officer at
Quebec, or through private agents. This return
does not, of course, include any whose passages
were paid by remittances sent home by their
friends, of whom we have no means of obtaining
a return.
Of the whole number of emigrants who arrived at
Quebec, there
Settled in and about Quebec 1,176
Settled in Montreal and the Eastern Townships 1,100
Went to the Ottawa country 2,500
Went to the United States by Lake Champlain 2,800
Went to Western Canada 31,600
39,176
But of those who went to Western Canada, it is
estimated that about one third, including 5,000
foreigners, went to the Western States. On the
other hand, however, it is estimated that the
immigration into Western Canada from the United
States has amounted to from 3,000 to 4,000.
It is stated by Mr. Buchanan, the emigration
officer at Quebec, that the emigration of 1852
was healthy, and satisfactory beyond any previous
year, the emigrants being generally "well clothed
and comfortable in appearance, and presenting none
of that squalid misery which in previous years I
have felt called upon to notice." He adds that
the decrease in the number of paupers, and the
unprecedented demand for labourers of all
descriptions, had removed all anxiety as to the
future of the emigrants.
In respect to the prospects of emigrants to Canada
during the present year, we cannot do better than
quote Mr. Buchanan's report. " With reference,"
he says, " to the prospects and demand for labour
in 1853, I consider them most satisfactory. The
immense railway system now undertaken by these
provinces will greatly stimulate general
prosperity, involving, as it will, the
introduction and expenditure of a large amount
of capital, which will secure steady and
profitable employment for the labouring classes
for several years to come; so that Canada never
presented a more favourable opening for the
reception of all classes of Her Majesty's
subjects, or such others as desire to seek a
comfortable home. The demand for labour is on
the increase, and some apprehension exists that
a scarcity will be felt during the ensuing season.
The wages paid during the greater part of the year
to common unskilled labourers were 4s. sterling
per day. Should, therefore, the emigration of 1853
experience any considerable decrease, which I
fully anticipate, owing to the improved and
satisfactory condition of that class in the mother
country, and the great impetus given to emigration
since the gold discoveries in our Australian
colonies, the railroads already under contract
may be considerably retarded, and both public and
private enterprize materially suffer."
Mr. Hawke, the emigration agent for Western Canada,
speaks in similar terms. " As to the prospects of
1853," he says, " I have conversed with many
intelligent persons on the subject, and they
are of opinion that able-bodied unskilled
labourers will be able to command a dollar
per day throughout the spring and summer months.
Agricultural labourers must either get equal
wages, or the farmers will not be able to retain
them in their service; as these extensive works
will not be completed for several years, and as
such a large outlay of money will stimulate
every other branch of business, I do not think
it will be possible to overstock the labour
market for many years to come; in fact, the
prospects before us are of the most cheering
description, and capitalists, merchants,
mechanics, farm servants, and common labourers
may safely calculate on finding in Canada an
abundant demand for skill, capital, and labour
to a profitable as well as to an almost
unlimited extent."
Mr. Buchanan adds, that in the month of September
last agents from the United States had been in
Quebec distributing printed notices for 10,000
men to be employed on the Illinois Central
Railroad, and offering wages of one dollar a day,
with steady employment for three years.
Land sales.
Since our Report of last year, a considerable
alteration has been made in the regulations for
the disposal of land in Canada. By an Act passed
by the Provincial Legislature in 1841, it is
provided that the regulations for the disposal
of the waste lands shall be fixed from time to
time by the Governor in council. As soon as this
Act came into operation, regulations were issued
under it establishing a system of sale at fixed
prices, according to situation, without auction,
and for immediate payment. These regulations were,
on the 6th August last, superseded by regulations
which altered the previous prices, sanctioned the
payment of the price by instalments, and prescribed
actual occupation and certain settlement duties as
the condition of a grant. We place in the Appendix
a copy of these regulations. (Appendix, No. 43.)
NEW BRUNSWICK.
Immigration.
The number of immigrants who landed in New
Brunswick in 1852 was only 2,165, being a
decrease, as compared with 1851, of 1,305
souls. Among the earlier immigrants there
were many cases of small-pox; nevertheless
the deaths on the voyage and in quarantine
did not amount to 0.20 per cent.
Of the immigrants nine tenths are said to
have been Irish, and of the whole number
fully two thirds proceeded at once to the
United States, having taken the route of
St. John on account of its superior cheapness.
We
may, therefore, assume that the whole addition to
the population of the colony by last year's
immigration did not exceed 700 souls.
In the meantime, the demand for labour throughout
New Brunswick appears to be very great; and it
seems to be universally expected that as soon as
the construction of the railways for which
contracts have been already taken is commenced,
the demand will become infinitely more urgent.
To stimulate the introduction of labourers the
Colonial Legislature in October last passed an Act
reducing the tax payable on immigrants to a uniform
rate of 2s. 6d., and facilitating the commutation
of the tax on persons incapable of maintaining
themselves; and the Local Government likewise
suggested than an attempt should be made to set on
foot an emigration of pauper children from the
workhouses of this country; of whom it was stated
that 500 would find ready employment. The Poor Law
Commissioners, however, to whom this proposal was
referred, did not consider that sufficient
provision existed in New Brunswick for the
protection of these children; and your Grace,
looking to the failure which had attended similar
schemes in other colonies, disapproved of it.
Progress of the colony.
The past year it is stated has been one of unusual
prosperity in New Brunswick. The prices of its
staple exports (timber and deals), have been well
maintained; and all the saw-mills, amounting to
584, have been fully employed. The demand for
shipping consequent on the increased trade to
California and Australia has given a great impulse
to shipbuilding; while an abundant harvest and a
high rate of wages have placed the labouring
classes in very favourable circumstances.
The advance which New Brunswick has recently made
is illustrated by a volume of statistics, compiled
and printed under the authority of the Provincial
Legislature, of which we have recently received a
copy. It appears from this volume, that between
the years 1840 and 1851 the population of the
province had increased from 154,000 to 193,800,
or 25.84 per cent.; the inhabited houses from
20,242 to 26,369, or 30.26 per cent.; the places
of worship from 268 to 423, or 57.83 per cent.,
and the acreage of cleared land from 426,611 to
643,954, or 50.94 per cent.
This advance it appears is considerably greater
than the advance in the neighbouring states of
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, although not
so great as in Massachusetts; and it is peculiarly
a subject of congratulation, since within the
period to which it refers the
protection on colonial timber, which was considered
the mainstay of New Brunswick prosperity, has been
abolished, and the colony left to advance by its
own natural powers.
NOVA SCOTIA.
Immigration.
The emigration to Nova Scotia, at all times
inconsiderable, has during the past year been
less than usual, having amounted to only 165
souls. In our Report of last year, we mentioned
that an Act had been then recently passed by the
Provincial Legislature, which among other things
devolved on the Commissioners of Crown Lands the
duty of corresponding with this Board, and of
collecting and forwarding to us annual returns of
the number of tradesmen, mechanics, labourers, and
apprentices which the formed settlements were
likely to require. As we have received no such
returns, we presume that the demand for labour is
not so great in this as in the neighbouring
province of New Brunswick.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.
Immigration.
The whole number of emigrants who arrived in
Prince Edward Island in 1852 amounted to only 32.
From the absence of any statement to the contrary,
we infer that there is no present demand in this
colony for an increased labouring population.
MAURITIUS.
Immigration
The number of Coolies who arrived in the colony
in the year was 16,796, comprising besides
children, 12,318 men, and 2,926 women. It will
be seen that the gradual increase in the
immigration of females continues; the per-centage
of women being, in 1852, 19.19 per cent., against
15.93 in 1851, and 14.70 in 1850. The number of
departures was 3,313.
Of the male labourers who arrived in Mauritius
in 1852, 750 had been previously in the colony,
and on returning to India had taken with them
sums of money, amounting in the aggregate to
161,757 rupees; being, on an average, about
215 rupees a man.
The Mauritius Government, in conformity with an
intention to which we referred in our last Report,
appointed an emigration officer at Bombay, and
emigrants have been received from that port. But
it was found that the cost of passage to Mauritius
from Calcutta and Madras (including that of women
and children) averaged 4l. 13s. 9d. for every adult
male labourer sent out; while the cost from...
[Tables to be appended]
