RETURN exhibiting the aggregate Quantities of Articles Imported at the PORT of OAKVILLE, during the year ending the 5th day of January, 1845. (Continued.)

RETURN exhibiting the aggregate Quantities and Values of Articles Imported at the PORT of OAKVILLE, during the year ending the 31st December,

1843.

RETURN exhibiting the aggregate Quantities of Articles Imported at the PORT of OAKVILLE, during the year ending 5th January, 1843.

REPORT.

To the Honorable the Legislative Assembly of Canada:

The Select Committee appointed, with power to inquire into the past and present course of Trade between the Lakes and the Sea-board, and between the different Atlantic Ports in America and Great Britain,--the comparative amount of traffic passing through the United States and this Province, the cost and time required in transportation, and the general cost of Ocean freights; Also, the practical operation of all existing Treaties, Acts of Parliament, Despatches. Orders in Council, Rules and Regulations, of the respective Governments of Great Britain, the United States, and this Province, and of all Tariffs, duties, and tolls; and the effect already produced and likely hereafter to be produced thereby upon the trade of this Province, as well as upon agricultural, manufacturing, shipping, and general interests; also the effects produced upon the inhabitants of the United States and of Canada; and generally all matters and things relating to the home and foreign trade of this Province; and other references,-beg leave to submit the following Report:

(1. On Postal Subsidies.)

1. Your Committee have examined the official documents and returns, and also all the evidence that could be procured during the short time they have been enabled to give their attention to the various subjects submitted to them.

2. His Excellency the Governor General having, at the opening of the present Session, recommended to the notice of the Legislature the increasing value of the Lake commerce of Canada, and the importance attached to emigration and the employment of Ocean Steamers, Your Committee cannot too strongly urge them on the favorable consideration of the House. The increasing value of the Lake trade is referred to in the reply of the British Consul, J. Edward Wilkins, Esquire, of Chicago, [See App. No. 1. Report of Mr. Wilkins, British Consul, Chicago] who points out the unatisfactory operation of the coasting trade in British vessels,. as well as on the direct Import and Export Trade, between the Western regions and Great Britain, and other transatlantic countries, by way of the River St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, the restrictions which exist, and at the same time suggests a remedy. This document is entitled to attention.

3. The proportion of the Lake Trade diverted to New York is as six and onehalf million tons to about half a million forwarded to Quebec. The relative valueand amount of tolls is also given in Appendix No. 2. The comparisons madeby Messrs. McAlpine and Kirkwood was as 85 to 15 in favor of New York (as shewn in their Report to the Harbor Commissioners, Montreal), which corresponds very nearly with the above quantities.

4. The imports into Canada by the canals and railways in the United States, in the year 1856 amounted to the sum of $28,216,180 [See Trade and Navigation Returns, Table 2, p. 134], while the imports into the United States by the St. Lawrence Canals, through Canada, during the same year was only $13,492 [See said Returns, Table 7, p. 129]. The value of the exports from Western Canada, through the ports of New York and Quebec, are not given in the Trade returns. However, the exports from Canada to the United States amounted to $17,979,753 [See said Returns, Tuble 14, p. 188].

5. In 1850, the Provincial Government discovering from the comparative amount of toll received on the Erie and St. Lawrence Canals, that the trade of the Lakes was diverted to New York, instituted an investigation, and attributed the cause to the high price of ocean freight from Quebec to Liverpool, [See Report of Chief Commissioner of Public Works in Journals, 1851] the large amount paid by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, as a postal subsidy, to the mail steamers plying between Liverpool and New York, representing at 5 per cent., a capital of £7,000,000 sterling, the effect of which was to force an equal amount of tonnage in packet ships (which were displaced by those steamers) into the emigrant trade, thereby reducing return freights to ballast prices.

6. Emigration at the port of Quebec increased from 20,000 in 1844, to 90,000 in 1847, after which it decreased within three years to 32,292; while emigration at the port of New York had increased from about 80,000 in 1847 to 331,276 in 1851, See App. A. No. 3. Return Chief Agent Emigration]. A more striking instance of the diversion of the ocean trade from Quebec to New York could not be adduced. This diversion does not arise from any defect in the navigation or excess in the prices of freight between Quebec and any ports in the interior. The comparative prices of freight from Chicago to the sea-board average from 25 to 50 per cent. in favor of the St. Lawrence [See App. No. 4. Letter of Secretary, Board of Trade, Toronto; Letter of K. Tully, Esq., Civil Engineer, Toronto; Letter of Mr. Bundy, Toronto; Opinions of W. Kenighan, Chicago; Letter of Secretary, Board of Trade, Quebec: and see also App. No. 7, Evidence of Captain Pierce before Committee].

7. As an additional proof of the natural advantages the St. Lawrence possesses, reference is made to the Appendix, which shows the comparative length, dimensions, and capacity of the canals, railways, and natural water communications through Canada, compared with those through the United States. [See App. A. No. 5]. From the above facts it is apparent that the mails, passengers, emigrants, and every description of goods can, at the present moment, be conveyed from Quebec to Chicago or any lake port in the interior, or vice versa, at less cost and in less time than from New York, notwithstanding that the high price of freight between Quebec and Liverpool has diverted almost the entire trade of the lakes to and from Europe to New York.

8. To regain this trade it is proposed to establish a daily line of screw steamers of not less than 2,000 tons burden, with a speed of from 10 to 12 miles per hour, between Liverpool and Quebec [See App. No. 6], to connect with another line of steamers of 1,000 tons burden, of the same speed to the Welland Canal and Railway, Toronto or Hamilton, intersecting a line of similar steamers on lakes Erie or Huron to Chicago. By this connection, first class passengers could reach Chicago from Liverpool, over the Grand Trunk Railway, by Quebec in about 12 days; emigrants and light freights, by rail and water combined, in about 15 days; and by steamer throughout, in from 15 to 20 days, thus shortening the passage, as per the log of the "Dean Richmond," from 62 days to 12 or 20, and also lessening the price of transportation from 25 to 50 per cent [See App. No. 7. Captain Pierce's Evidence].

9. The proposed line of ocean steamers would not interfere with any existing interest, neither would it give any exclusive privilege, steamers could be placed in the line as required, receiving a share of the subsidy in proportion to their tonnage, until a sufficient number is provided. Those not familiar with the trade of the West are startled at the idea of a daily line, but, when reduced to figures, it will not be found formidable; 2,000 tons per day for 200 days, the length of the season, makes only 400,000 tons. We find the Erie Canal, before its enlargement, with

locks of only 90 x 15 x 4, in 1853, conveyed 4,247,832 tons, valued at $207,199,570, on which tolls amounting to $3,204,718 were received. To show that the prin cipal portion of this trade is carried on in the summer season, we find that, out of 3,129,118 barrels of flour conveyed from Buffalo to New York in 1856, only 482,000 barrels were conveyed by railway during the five months the Erie Canal was closed, (as shewn in the Canal Commissioners' Report, 4th February, 1858), proving conclusively that the bulk of the trade of the West comes forward during the period of navigation, which by way of Quebec commences as early, and continues as late as by the Hudson.

10. Owing to the saving in distance by this route (some 500 miles), two days would be gained in the conveyance of the mails to Quebec over New York, and a communication established with a lake coast of double the extent of the seaboard of North America, creating a direct trade between the producer and consumer, which would yield a greater revenue than the amount of the subsidy paid by the Government; and, while attracting a large traffic to the Grand Trunk Railway and the St. Lawrence Canals, which do not now pay the cost of management, would render them productive. The establishment of this trade will be the means of removing restrictions and charges imposed by the Customs regulations in the United States, and all evasions of the Reciprocity Treaty by making England our best market, would cease, as it would be reached at less cost through our canals and by our own vessels, than through the United States. It will also create an identity of feeling with the citizens of the Western States, which cannot fail to produce the most important commercial and political results, and may truly be considered a national object. For these reasons your Committee recommend a joint Address to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty may be pleased to recommend to the Imperial Parliament to grant the same amount of postal subsidy to the ocean steamers between Liverpool and Quebec as now paid to the line of steamers between Liverpool and New York, upon condition that a daily line be established between Quebec and Liverpool in summer, and a weekly or a semi-weekly line, as may be required, between Portland and Liverpool in the winter.

(No. 2. On Duties, Tolls, and Public Debt.)

11. Your Committee, having examined into the practical operation of the duties, tolls and public debt of the Government of the State of New York, and of this Province, have given due consideration to its bearing upon the trade of the respective countries. The public debt of Canada has increased from year to year to about fifty millions of dollars, twenty-five millions of which have been created since 1853, principally in the construction of railways yielding no income [See Public Accounts, 1857, p. 223]; while that of the State of New York has been reduced to about $31,000,000, (as shewn in the Comptrollers Report, State New York, same year, p. 63), of which about twenty-five millions have been expended in the construction of her canals, the income from which repays the interest, and, under the provisions of her constitu tion, will repay the principal within twenty years, leaving thereafter, notwithstanding the reduction of the tolls by one-third, a liberal support for the maintenance of her State Government with the assurance that when the debt shall be paid off tolls may be almost wholly removed. It is therefore imperative, if Canada is to become a successful competitor for the trade of New York, that her public debt be reduced to the same limit within the same time. The trade of Canada has been diverted through other channels; both her imports and revenue have fallen off; available capital cannot be obtained at any reasonable rate of interest; and a general depression prevails throughout the country requiring immediate relief.