canadian immigration and emigration

Canadian Immigration and EmigrationSource: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Sep., 1890), pp. 476-491Published by: Wiley for the Royal Statistical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2979447 .

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476 [Sept.

II.-Canadian Immigration and Emigration.

THE following is an Annex to the Report of the Canadian Minister of Agriculture for 1889:-

"Sir,-In considering the relations of the figures of immigration from the published records kept since Confederation, it should be borne in mind that no attempt has been made to furnish the corresponding figures of emigration; and there is now no mode by which these can be ascertained. But if the totals of the ins and outs by every Canadian railway and steamship line carrying passengers were obtained, the result would be the net immigration or emigration.

Canadian Emigration as shown by United States Census. "The figures established by the decennial censuses of the

United States, as compared with corresponding facts in Canada, throw much light on the subject, and present points of great interest.

"T The following tabular statement shows the numbers of 'British American nativities,' as enumerated by the United States census at four decennial periods:

British Americans in United States (U. S. Census volumes).

Years. Numbers. Numerical Increase. Increase per Ceit.

1850 ........ 147,711 '60 .......4.. 9,970 102,259 69-22 '70 ........ 476,5 7 2 226,602 90o65 '80 ........ 710,575 234,003 48.1 9

"It appears from this statement that the period of greatest activity in the emigration from Canada, in relation to population, was between the years 1860 and 1870. The fact is also established that there was in the United States in 1880 the number of 710,575 persons born in British America, a figure equal to 16'40 per cent. of the population of Canada at that time.9

" It appears, on the other hand, that the total number of persons not born in Canada, but living in it-that is, immigrants, as found by the census of 1881, was 6o9,318; figures equal to 14'08 of the population, as enumerated.

"I assume the substantial correctness of both the recorded enumerations. But I think it well to say that, if there is likeli- hood of either being in excess, it is that of the United States, for the reason that the enumerators were paid simply by the tale of heads, while in Canada such mode of payment was thought by Dr. Tache' to be a strain of temptation too strong to be put on

9 " The ' nativities' from Newfoundland are not included in the above United States figures. Including Newfoundland, the total figures of British American nativities are 717,150, by the census of 1880."



1890.] Canadian Immigration and Emigration. 477

them, the numbers of persons recorded by each census enumerator in Canada being only one of the grounds on which payment was made for services, and care was taken to put that in such a way as not to be an inducement to exaggeration.

" It may be generally stated that the immigrants to Canada, as shown by the census figures, are a set off, or counterpoise to the emigration of Canadian 'nativities' to the United States; but the immigration is not, as has been contended, a simple substitution, or replacement, in the sense that it occupies the place of the out-goers. The records furnish sufficient proof of this, as I will presently show,

" It is plain, from a study of the facts, that the movement of Canadian 'nativities' to the United States, as shown from the four decennial census records above recited, has been in obedience to what it is not too strong a term to say is a law of population, which is common to the continent; and a law, moreover, that has equal force in the agricultural counties of England.

Emigration from States in similar position to Canada. "To substantiate this position I will first take emigration from

States in corresponding position to Canada, to the newer Western States, as established by the United States Census of 1880. I select what is termed the North Atlantic group of States. The emigration of 'native-born,' or citizens from the States named, was as follows; the percentage of such emigration to population in each of the States being as follows:-

Emigration of Native-Born United States Population from the following named States by United States Census, 1880.*

Numerical. Per Cent.

Maine .182,257 24 New Hampshire 128,50 35 Vermont .178,261 41 Massachusetts 267,730 20 R1tode Island 49,235 24 Connecticut 140,621 26 New York .1,197,153 25

Jersey .180,391 o Pennsylvania .798,487 19

3,122,640 Mean 25 65

* In this and the three following tables I have taken the calculations of percentages from Scribner's Statistical Atlas, but I have made a general verification by comparisons with United States census volumes.

"We have thus established the fact of a numerical 'exodus' from the above named nine important States of 3,122,640, or a mean of 25-65 of their total population. The great State of New York had lost at the period named no less than I,197,153 of its native-born population-that is, 25 per cent. of the total of the



4 7 8 Miscellanea. [Sept.

State. New Hampshire had lost 25 per cent. of its population; Vermont, the depleting drain of 4i per cent.; and if we take the central State of Ohio (which, perhaps, has the nearest analogies for the purpose of comparison with the Province of Ontario), we have the fact of an 'exodus' of 941,2I9 of its native-born population, or 28 per cent. of the whole, at the period named.

Western States receiviny the 'Exodus.' "It is next of interest, for the purposes of this enquiry to see

where this great 'exodus' has gone. The fact is shown by the following table:-

Native-Born Immigration into the following named States, from the United States Census, 1880.

Numerical. Per Cent.

I11iIlois ........... 784,775 3 z Michigan ................... 445,123 36 Wisconsin . ....... . 216,895 24 Minnesota ................... 210,726 41 Iowa .623,659 46 Missouri ....................... 688,161 35 Kansas .652,944 74 Nebraska .259,288 73

3,893,571 Mean 45

"The Urnited States census affords the means of extending the figures of both the above tables to all States, but it is not necessary to go further to establish the fact of 'exodus' from the group of States on the North Atlantic seaboard to the above named group of agricultural States. These latter had received from the former a numerical inflow of native-born population amounting in the aggregate to 3,893,57I, or a mean of 57 per cent. of their total population.

Distribution of Population in the United States. "It is next of interest, in this relation, to establish the general

fact of distribution of population in the United States, which shows how enormous has been the drain from the old States on the eastern face of the continent, to the great prairie region, which has been called the Interior Valley, between the two great ranges of mountains.

Distribution per Cent. of Population in the United States, Census 1880. Per cnt.

Atlantic plain ............. .. 29-84 Appalachian region ............... .. 3 i3 8 Interior valley . ........ . 53-5o Cordilleran region . ...............3 z8

I00*00




" Roughly speaking, the Atlantic Plain, which contained almost the whole population of the old thirteen States before the settlement of the prairie region, had, in 1880, only retained 29g84 per cent.; the Appalachian and the Cordilleran Regions embracing, generally speaking, the mineral resources of the United States in the east and west, contained only i6-64 per cent. of population at the period named, while the Interior Valley, embracing the great prairie region between the two mountain ranges, contained 53-50 per cent. of the whole population of the United States. It is thus shown that the filling up of vast areas of agricultural lands was the attraction which caused the great accession of population. This Interior Valley is the analogy of a large portion of the Canadian North-West, now commencing to be filled up.

Similar movement in England.

"As bearing on what I have called the law of movement of population from agricultural districts, when population in them has reached a certain density, we have corroborative facts of great importance from England. I recently read in the weekly edition of the London Times of 27th March, 1889, a report of a paper by Dr. William Ogle, of the Registrar General's Office of England, containing facts on this subject. He took fifteen of the leading agricultural counties in England, and, omitting from them every urban district with a population of io,ooo or upwards, he showed that there had been a decline in the population of these counties in the thirty years from 1851 to 1881 of X per cent.; but taking the period of fifty previous years, when the population was less dense, from 1801 to 1851, there had been an increase of not less than 73 per cent. Dr. Ogle particularly noted that there was no change in the relation of the birth-rate to the death-rate, the decline in population being due to migration or emigration, or both, amounting to an exodus. He especially remarked, respecting the county of Huntingdonshire, that being one which is intensely rural, that its population had increased between 1801 and 1851 by about 73 per cent., but that in the period between 1851 and 1881 there was a diminution of population of i '8 per cent. The numerical migration or emigration from this county in the years named amounted to 25,937, arising from the fact that the land in the then conditions was not able to sustain the labour of those who left. This large exodus from that county consisted -mainly of young people of both sexes. And it was, as Dr. Ogle further pointed out, the very flower of the population that left-that is, persons under 20 and 30 years of age, leaving a very much larger percentage of persons over 55 years in proportion to population, a fact which has placed the population which remained in a weaker position.

Movement of Population to United States Cities.

"lIt is next of interest to notice the movement of population in the United States from the rural districts to the cities. This has



480 Miscellanea. [Sept.

been very remarkable, and it is very clearly shown by the following table:

United States Urban Population in Cities of 8,ooo and over, at the Decennial Periods named.

Years. Total. Ur ban. Ratio per Cent.

1790 . ............... 3,929,214 131,472 3 3

1800 ............... 5,308,483 210,873 3-9 '10 ............... 7,239,88i 356,920 4 9 '20 ................. 9,633,822 475,135 4-9 '30 .............. I2,866,o0o 864,509 6.7 '40........................ 17,o69,453 1,453,994 8.5

'50 .............. 23,1 9,876 2,897,586 1z-5

'60 . 3 1,443,321 5,072,256 i6-i

'70 ............. 38,558,3 71 8,011,875 20 9 '80 ............. 50,155,783 11,318,547 z22'r

" It is thus clearly established that the movement of increase of population in the cities has grown steadily and rapidly from the first census taken in the United States in 1790 to the last in 1880, from the ratio of I in 33 to very nearly I in 4. There cannot be any doubt that the great drain of rural population from the old States on the Atlantic seaboard would have been very much more severe if a considerable portion of it had not been retained in the cities by commercial and industrial pursuits; the urban pursuits themselves having been vastly stimulated by the demands arising from the wants of the great areas of territory opened up by agricultural occupation, a process which, while it made a serious drain of population on the one hand, caused a quickening of energy on the other. It is undoubtedly true that these industrial pursuits thus stimulated, have been the chief cause of the attraction of the French Canadian emigration from the Province of Quebec to the manufacturing New England States; while the opening of the great areas of agricultural lands in the new States of the central region, which caused the drain from the older States, at the same time, but in a less degree, caused the emigration from Canada.

The States containing Canadians.

"Coming to the movement of Canadians to the United States, the volume of which in three decennial periods I have already stated, I have compiled from the United States Census of 1880 a record of Canadian 'nativities' (eliminating Newfoundland) found in the following States of the Union, arranged in the order of numbers:




'British American Nativities' in the following named States, Census of 1880.

Ratio per Cent. States. Numerical. to Popu <ation of

each Statc.

Michigan . 48,770 20 93 Massachusetts 116,430 14'96 Now York .83,517 I 1175 Maine .36,989 ; zo Illinois .33,870 4 61 lv innesota .29,475 4 13 Wisconsin .28,808 4'05 New Hampshire 27,079 3.81 Vermont .24,611 3 46 Iowa .21,019 2-95 Cslifornia .18,405 2 59 Rhode Island 18,156 2 5 Connecticut 16,380 2 34 Ohio. 16,026 22z5 Kansas .12,496 ' .75 Pennsylvania .12,203 1I71 Dakota .10,661 X go

654,895 -_

Aggregate per cent -.905+

"In the above named seventeen States were found over go per cent. of Canadian emigrants at the date of the last United States census, and very nearly 50 per cent. of the whole were found in three States-Michigan, Massachusetts, and New York. The French Canadian immigration went mainly to the New England States.

" It has been stated that the outflow of Canadians to the United States continues with even greatly increased energy, but I cannot see signs of that. We have an important test in the facts contained in the quinquennial census of the State of Massachusetts, taken in 1885. The figures in the following table are of interest:-

Canadians in the State of Massachusetts.

Years. Total. Numerical Increase. Per Cent.

1870 .............. 66,216 '80 ...............1 16,430 50.214 75'83 '85 .............. 143,768 27,338 2 3 48

"Considering the relation to the respective total populations, the outflow is less. I think the conditions of the cause are changing.

Americans in Canada in relation to Population. "In considering the relative movements referred to, another

comparison may be made; the Canadian 'nativities' in the United




States, according to the last United States census, reached the figure of 14 per 1,ooo of the population, while the number of persons of United States birth found to be settled in Canada, according to the census of 1881, was I8 per i,ooo; and in the Province of Ontario, 23 per I 000.

Nature of the Movement of Population.

"The nature of the movement of population from agricultural districts, in the United States, in England and in Canada, is not difficult to understand. If a farmer has a family of sons and daughters numbering from 5 to 7, they would not all, when they grow up, stay on the farmi, for the reason (1) that it would not be able to support them according to their expectations; and (2) because they become seized with an ambition to set up and act for themselves. The sons, with perhaps the exception of one, who might stay on the homestead, would either move to obtain land for themselves or find occupations in urban pursuits; and the girls also, in the same way, to a large extent, would seek occupation or marry. It is thus we have seen that agricultural counties in England have increased in population until reaching a certain density, when it remained stationary or declined. When a population is sparse and there is unoccupied land, the land is rapidly taken up and the population rapidly increases; but when the vacant lands become occupied a surplus of population begins to be thrown off. In the Province of Ontario, for instance, we saw the population increasing with great rapidity, by leaps and bounds, when the country was filling up, from 1831 to 1861. Afterwards the increase went on more moderately, when there was less land to be taken up, and population became more dense. An emigration, then, began to be thrown off. These facts will clearly appear from a consideration of the following figures taken from the censuses:-

Population and Increase per Cent. in Province of Ontario.

Years. Population. Increase per Cent.

1841 . ...... . 445,688 92 '51 ................ 952,004 109 '61 ........... 1,3 96,og I 46 '71 ........... 1 ,620,85I 16 '81 ........... 1,.. 923,228 19

"I take Ontario simply for an illustration. The same class of facts exist as respects other provinces in Canada and individual States in the neighbouring Uinion. The experience of the Australasian colonies is to same effect. And Dr. Ogle shows, as before stated, the agricultural counties in England are governed by the same law of movement.

Emigration not necessarily a sign of Weakness. "Emigration from a State or province, even when large figures

are reached, is not simply or necessarily a sign of decline of pros-




perity or vitality in the population. It may be, in certain conditions, the reverse. England is a very wealthy country, with a dense population and a large emigration; New York is a very populous and prosperous State, with rapidly increasing wealth, yet it had lost by emigration or exodus from its borders, at the date of the last United States census, in round numbers not less than a million and a quarter, or 25 per cent. of its native population; and Ontario is a prosperous and rapidly progressive province which, when its population reached the figure of a million, and when it had begun to accumulate wealth, began to throw off an emigration, and its decennial increase dropped from the ratio of 92 and 0og to i6 and i9 per cent. It may be assumned beyond question that its realised wealth was not nearly so great when the decennial increase of population was 92 and jo9 as when it was only i6 and 19 per cent. but then it had larger areas of vacant land to settle. It was in fact the accumulation of wealth and population which enabled the emigration to take place. Important improvements in agricultural methods, which may come from the experimental farms, or increase in urban pursuits, would imply a demand for employment of more dense population, as we have seen is the fact in England.

Relative extent of Emigration from States and Provinces. "The relative e"migration from the Canadian provinces, as

before shown, has not been nearly so large as that from the group of States on the Atlantic seaboard. We have seen by the figures established by the census returns, that the emigration from the Canadian provinces has been very nearly 2 to 1 less than that from the group of prosperous States of the American Union in a corres- pondingf position. The inference from this undoubted fact is that the movement has not been influenced by the frontier line except adversely. The immigration figures of last year, and particularly those accompanying customs retarns, show the beginning of a movement of a reflex current, which, judging from the past experience of the continent, will, in the immediate future, become a much more important stream, unless the vast areas of the Canadian North-West are not such as will attract settlement-which is not the fact-or unless the movement should receive some important check.

Number and Value of Immigrants at last Celisus. "The total number of persons living in Canada on 4th April,

1881, who were born in other countries, such being, therefore, immigrants, was 609,318, equal, as stated, to 14f03 per cent. of the total population. In relation to this fact, although not strictly speaking a movement of population, it is within the scope of this report to show what this immigration implies in relation to increase of wealth of the Dominion. It has been stated on the authority of the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, and our experience generally coincides, that, as an average, each immigrant brings a value of $6o into the country. These 609,3I8 would therefore have brought $36,559,080. Counting each family at an average of five persons, we have in the number stated 121,894 families. It is




a very moderate estimate to assume that the average immiigrant family, successfully settled, becomes an annual producer of value to the extent of $400 each. I think this figure might be placed higher, as very often the women and children are also producers by wage earning; but simply assuming the moderate estimate I have stated, we have an amount of annual creation of wealth from these immigrant families equal to $48,757,600. If, further, we follow a method of the Washington Bureau and capitalise the value of the immigrants in Canada a-s shown by the census enumeration of 1881, at $Iooo each, we have the large figures of $609,3I8,000. The accretion of value in the Dominion from immigration is therefore simply enormous, and it has undoubtedly in the past vivified every interest and industry in the country, including the wages paid to working men.

Influence of finmigrattion on Percentage Increase of Population. "In considering the influence of the immigration as bearing on

the figures of ratios of increase of population in Canada, it is well to keep in mind that the influence which moved the outflow has been quite distinct from that. which has brought in the inflow; and that the inflow, as already stated, has been a counterpoise rather than a simple substitution. The outflow would have obeyed the law which produced it, if the inflow had not come. There is nothing to show and no reason to believe that the increase of population in Canada in the last decenniad would have been greater than that in the adjoining New England States of Maine. Vermnont, and New Hampshire. The first named of these States showed a decline in the same period of *2 and the latter two a gain of only 5 and 2 per cent. respectively, instead of the large comparative increase of 18-97, or, in round numbers, 19 per cent., as shown by Canada. England and Wales showed only 14-34, and Scotland 1114 per cent. increase in the same period; while Ireland, a more purely agricultural country, showed a decline of 4-69. There is no reason why the rural portions of the old provinces, where there are no more considerable areas of unoccupied or unappropriated land open for settlement, should not have shown the samne kind of movement of population as the rural districts in England, as shown by Dr. Ogle. There is no reason to believe that the vital force of the population in Canada is greater than that in the New England States or the rural districts of England. It is to the immigration, therefore, that we owe the large increase of 19 per cent. in our population during the last census decenniad. If we deduct the immigrants from Canadian natives, that is, i4-08 per cent. of the whole, according to the census of 1881, we should only have an increment of 4 89, a trifle less than that of the New Engfland State of Vermont. The difference between this figure and thlit which would appear if the natural increase were stated is the emigration in obedience to the law of movement before referred to.

" In relation, therefore, to the two great factors of wealth and population in Canada, immTnigration. is proved to have had a simply enormous influence; and the comparatively small cost that has been incurred in inducing and guiding it, is very trifling in com-




parison. It is scarcely as dust in the balance when compared with the demonstrable fact of value of result.

" I have taken the figures of the immigrants found by the last census for the purpose of these remarks, for the reason that thev avoid a controversy which has arisen respecting the published immigration figures of the Department; and also because these are simply returns of immigration without including emigration; but a fair consideration of the meaning of those figures brings the same result.

Manitoba and N.-W. Immigration Question. "You desire that I should furnish you with some remarks on

immigration statistics furnished by the departmental reports in relation to Manitoba and the North-West between the years 1881 and 1886 inclusive; and that I should show, at the same time, how the figures compare with those of the quinquennial census of Manitoba in 1886, and that of the three provincial districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1885. The figures of immigration, as stated in the departmental reports, for the years named, were as follow:

Immigration to Manitoba and the North- West in the Years named. 1881 ..................... . 22,oo0I '82 . .................... 58,751 '83 .................... 42,77z '84 .................... 24,040 '85 . 7,240 '86 ....................'"5.............. I 99

Total in six years ................ 166,403

"In order to make a comparison of these figures with those of the census returns referred to, we must, to avoid duplication, have reference to the months in which the censuses were taken, the immigration figures being for calendar years. We have thus to account for nine months of the immigration in 1881, the other three months being included in the census returns; for seven months in 1886. The elimination from the immigration figures to make the parts of calendar years correspond with census years, to obtain an accurate basis of comparison, as above stated, can only be made by estimate based on an appreciation of the activity of the immigration movement during the months in question. I have, on a consideration of the facts, made an estimate, that the figures of immigration which the Department has to account for, in a comparison with the census figures according to its returns, amount to 152,962.

" It is well to state that much less than the half of the whole of these numbers were set down as immigrants from places outside of Canada in the Departmental reports referred to, the remainder being simply migrants from the old provinces of Canada. That is, roundly speaking, 76,480 immigrants and 76,480 Canadian migrants from the old provinces of the Dominion. The distinction is essential in considering the facts in relation to Canadian popula-

VOL. LIII. PART Ill. 2 K




tion; and it is of interest in relation to the considerations arising out of those particular figures. I take, however, the whole of the 152,962 as those which I have now to account for in a comparison between the immigration and census figures of Manitoba and the Territories.

" The first point to establish to show the increase within the period referred to is the total population of Manitoba and the North-West Territories in 1881 and 1886 respectively. The figures are as follow:-

Combined Total Population of Manitoba and the North- West Territories. 1881 ... .1 8,706 '86 ..1 96,4z4

Increase .............. 77,7I8

"I may explain here that the natural increase of population is not taken into account in this report, for the reason that it was very small among the Indian and Metis population, which formed a large part of the factor of comparison for 1881, and natural increase was not a special feature of the crowds of persons who went in from that year to 1886.

"I think it well to explain that in making a comparison of the populations of the province at the two periods named, it has been necessary, for the purpose of accuracy, to eliminate the enumeration in the census district which was considered to belong to Manitoba in 1881, but subsequently ceded to the province of Ontario, for the reason that it was not again enumerated in 1886; and I think it well further to point out, as so much misapprehen- sion seems to have arisen, that the census of three provisional districts only was taken in 1885, while that of the whole of the North-West Territories was taken in the decennial enumeration of 1881. There was found in those portions of the territories not taken in 1886, that is, in Athabaska, Keewatin, and the organised territories, a population of 30,931 in 1881. It is clear, therefore, that these figures must be brought in to make an accurate comparison. If we allow for one year's progress of the three provisional districts at the rate of increase in Manitoba (and this is, perhaps, too little to allow, as it happened that the year after the rebellion was one of very active settlement in these territories), we shall have the figures adjusted as I have above stated them.

" The issue then stands as follows: Immigration as stated by the Department ................ I5z,96z Census increase from 1881 to 1886 ........................... 77,718

Immigrants and migrants to be accounted for.... 75,244

How such Immigration and Migration are Accounted for. " Divided as above stated, I have still to account, after deduct.

ing the census reported increase, for 37,672 immigrants and 37,672 Canadian migrants. I find the following sufficient reasons:

" The position of the Pacific Railway construction is first to



1890.(] Canadian Immnigration and Emigration. 497

be considered. The work had been carried through the Rocky Mountains and completed to the valley of the Columbia River long before the close of 1884, and a very active progress had been made, a progress approaching completion of the remainder of the railway to the Pacific coast. I stated to the committee, from information I had received, that it was estimated as many as 40,ooo persons connected with the building of the railway, in one capacity or other, went into the north-west during the period of construction, and it is undoubted that very large numbers con- tinued to go forward with the progress of the railway work after it passed the western boundary of Alberta and entered the province of British Columbia, which was not included in the census returns which were taken in 1885 and 1886. I cannot say with precision, nor can it be ascertained what those numbers were, but I can allege with positiveness that they were large, and materially affected the figures of the balance above stated. Very many of those persons who entered the north-west via Manitoba during the construction of the railway did not stay. I explained to the committee that these had been counted as immigrants, and I still think properly so, when the fact of their character was at the same time stated. I cannot specify the number of them who left, but I allege positively that these materially affected the balance I have to account for.

" It is known that settlement in the province of British Columbia was active during the years named, and that very many immigrants and migrants went in via' Manitoba by the Canadian Pacific Railway. We have no means of ascertaining the precise figures of these, but it may be alleged with positiveness that they were a material factor in the immigration figures above stated. The estimated population of the province of British Columbia bv the ])epartment on the 4th April, 1887, that is the first year after the figures of immigration at 31st of December, 1886, was I [4,286; the census records in 1881 gave the population at 49,4i5. The difference between these figures is 64,827, and the consideration which arises from this fact is material to the matter in discussion. We shall have the next decennial census returns in a few months, therefore it is perhaps not worth while now to enter into any argument as to the correctness of the estimate.

" It is beyond doubt that during the years of the excitement of the 'boom' in Manitoba many thousands from all parts of Canada, and from outside of Canada, went in to make their fortunes in all sorts of ways, and these were not improperly counted as immigrants. It is equally well known that after the collapse of the 'boom' they again left in thousands. I cannot say how many, but the fact is very material to bear in mind, in order rightly to understand the question in issue. Such 'booms' and collapses have been common in the settlement of the western States of America, and the circumstances connected with that in Manitoba are neither a reflection on the correctness of the immigration figures relating to it, nor the suitability of Manitoba as a field for settlement.

"It is well to bear in mind that a large portion of all those 2 K 2




-who returned to the old provinces after the 'boom' were Canadian nigrants, and therefore they were not lost to the population of the Dominion.

" It is next to be considered that the census of the three provisional districts in 1885 was taken during the year of the Ml'tis rebellion, long before the hot excitement of that event had passed away -a condition highly unfavourable even for finding the ordinary population of those districts, as it is known that many settlers left in consequence of the rebellion who afterwards returned or had their places filled by others.

" The whole of these circumstances are reasonably and amply sufficient to account for the disparity of figures between the census and immigration returns, without affording, as I have already said, any ground either for reflection on the figures or for disparagement of the country as a field for settlement. We nave seen within a few months in the United States a rush of immigrants into the district of Oklahoma when it was opened up. That was an excitement somewhat similar to the Manitoba 'boom,' and men under its influence went there by thousands; but when the collapse came they returned by thousands. There is nothing in that circumstance, however, affecting the propriety of classifying those who went in as immigrants; nor was yet even the exodus out a reflection on the suitability of that country for settlement.

"Upon a careful review of the immigration figures, as they were reported to the Department, and the very great activity- I may almost say the rush of the movement between the years 1881 and 1883 inclusive-and after applying to them the test of criticism, I have no doubt in my mind as to their substantial accuracy. The importance of that movement which, year after year, I examined, could not have been described by smaller figures. But these were never claimed to be anything more than approxi- mate, and were always so stated, the information having been obtained by questions and count, with the single intention of ascertaining the truth as nearly as possible. I may further observe that the total movement of travel, in the years named, was much larger than the figures above stated, as was shown in the reports, but after the allowance which was made for this, and when the number of persons for whom the character of immigrants was claimed by the agents is examined, there is nothing which shows unreasonableness in the statements.

Comparison with Australian Colonies. "The figures of immigration are very distinct in all countries

which receive large numbers of immigrants, from those of emigration. Take the Australian colonies, for instance, entirely sur- rounded by ocean, a fact which affords easy means of ascertaining inflow and outflow. The latest returns which I have give the following results:

Immigration and Enigration in Australia, Nine Years. Total immigration by sea from 1879 to 1887 ........ I,846,59z Emigration by sea in the same period ................ z.... I,83,787

Excess of immigrants over emigrants ........ 56z,805




" And these figures are accompanied by a note to the effect that the emigration by sea was probably in excess of the figures recorded.'0 We have therefore the fact that not nearly one-third of the numbers reported to have arrived remained. The disproportion between the immigration and emigration as shown by these figures is enormous. It far exceeds the disproportion as above shown between the increase of population accounted for by the census returns and the immigration reported by the agents of the Department of Agriculture, even in the not ordinary circumstances of Manitoba and the North-West Territories as above stated, and including the migration from the older provinces-the figures in Australia relating purely to immigration and emigration, as established by a sea line.

"The figures of expenditure for immigration service by the Australian colonies are also of much interest in comparison with our own. I have at hand such expenditure of all the Australian colonies from 1879 to 1887 inclusive. It is as follows:-

Expenditure for Immigration by the Aumstralian Colonies. $

1879 .2,121,544 '80 . 830,7I3 '81 ...................... 623,483 '82 . -- 1,207,853 '83 .------- 2,446,346 '84 ...................... 1,409,303 '85 ...................... 267,994 86 ......................... ......... I,246,8c6

'87 ...................... 1,124,320

Total in nine years ............ I 2,278,362

"We have thus an expenditure of over twelve millions and a quarter of dollars for immigration purposes within the years named. These figures show an expenditure far in excess of that of Canada for the same service. The expenditure of Canada for the same period (which was that of largest expenditure) for the same service, including all establishments in Europe and Canada, was $2,682,452.

" The population of all the Australian colonies at the last general census of 1881 was 2,742,550; but it was then very rapidly increasing by immigration, the increase over the previous enumeration in 1871 being 38-87 per cent.

I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant,

JOHN LOWE, Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OTTAWA, 14th April, 1890.

To the Honourable John Carling, Minister of Agriculture.

10 " By Mr. Hayter, one of the most eminent of the statisticians of Australia.



490 MWiscellanea. [Sept.

APPENIx.-British American Emigrants in Second Degree in the United States.

"As cognate with the subject of the foregoing report, it may be interesting to look at the United States' claim, as stated on page 674 of the United States Census of 1880, relative to the numbers of British Canadians in the second degree, that is the children of the Canadian emigrants in the United States. The following table is given:-

ANumber of Persons in the United States, 1880, hkaidng One or Boeh Panbs British American.

States and Territories Having Having (Topyalation, 26,354,iz4). British Ainesican Fathers. British American Mothers.

Alabama . . 451 301 Arkansaa . . 920 644 Arizona. 500 533 California . 20,333 19,275 Colorado .5,517 5,614 Connecticut . . 22,887 .2,436 Dakota . .10,145 10,230 Delaware. 241 23 1 District of Columbia . 538 5I9 Florida . . 561 433 Georgia . .522 3Z7 Idaho . .682 6i4 Kentucky. 1,205 1,003 Louisiana . .1,350 878 Maryland . .1,053 1,053 Massachusetts. 152,350 1 57,248 Minnesota .................. .. 40,311 38,628 Mississippi. 460 302 Missouri . .10,855 9,847 Montana . .2,772 2,509 Nebrska.. 9,383 9,867 Nevada . .2,793 2,784 New Hampshire .................... 34,302 34,113

M, Mexico . .344 230 North Carolina . .262 290 Oregon . ..4.............. 4,328 3,5 60 Rhode Island . .23,533 24,158 South Carolina . 179 141 Tennessee . .825 576 Texas ... . .......... 3,111 2,468 Vermont . .43,253 41,500 Virginia . .685 588 Washington . .3,612 3,429 West Virginia . .412 348 Wisconsin . .44,939 43,015 Wyoming .537 524

Total by enumeration 446,151 44o,z76 Remaining States and Terri- tories (population, 23,801 ,659) 493,096 491,132 estimated.J ............................ J

939,247 981,408

Number of resident persons 177,157 born in British America ..."I'llJ I



1890 ] The Suez Canal. 491

" These figures refer to the whole emigration, including New- foundland, and it is distinctly stated in the rule given for computa- tion in the page of the volume above stated, that the two sums of those having British American fathers and those having British American mothers are not to be added together, for the reason that the two columns run into each other and include the same persons. It is further expressly stated that the whole or the greater part of the 717,157 of the British American emigrants are also included. There is then the presumption that the children of the Canadian immigrants numbered 2i8,170. Or to take another formula given in the volume referred to: for every i,ooo persons born in British America, 1,3i0 had a British American father, and 1,292 a British American mother. By taking 1,300 as an average, we have 2I5,ooo persons in the States born of British American parents outside of British America. For a full detail of the method of the United States Census Managing compilers, I refer to the volume at the page stated.

" If we take the State of Massachusetts, census 1885, where there is large Canadian family settlement, and a population of 143,768 Canadians, we have the following results :

Born in United States of Canadian mothers ................2 ;7,278 , , fathers ............... . 4,)117

both parents Canadian ............ 46,z63

97 658

" J. L."

III.-The Suez Canal.

THE following is taken from the Statist of the 21st June, 1890:-

"Abstract of the Report of the board of directors, read by M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, at the Annual Meeting on 4th June, 1890.

" In stating last year that the expenses of the undertaking, after twenty years' working, only amounted to i i per cent. of the receipts, the directors said that the special and characteristic advantage of the working of canals is that this constant, and it might be said indefinite, progress is obtained without any appreci- able increase in the expenses, no rails being used or coal required, and but a very slight increase being necessary in the staff, compared with the enlarged receipts. The directors are, however, bound to say that the work of the board is greatly facilitated by the zeal of the staff of all ranks; and such devoted services have led them to consider how they can assure the staff that security in the future which they merit. The scheme adopted (which is detailed in the report) was shown at the Exhibition of 1889, and was awarded a gold medal by the jury of the Section de l'Economie Sociale; the total charge on the company's funds to-day does not



canadian immigration and emigration

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