Canada and the British immigrant

by Emily P. Weaver

Many years earlier, in 1851, the Islanders had secured responsible government. At that time the Parliament consisted of a Governor and Legislative Council, appointed by the Crown, and an elective Assembly. Later, the Council also was elected by owners of leasehold and freehold property worth $325 (£65) and over. Finally, in 1893, the unusual arrangement was made of amalgamating the two branches of the Legislature; and now fifteen councilmen, chosen by the property-owners, and fifteen assembly men, elected by the men of the Province, on a property qualification so low that scarcely any man is excluded, sit and vote together.

The legislature of Prince Edward Island, which first met in 1773, is housed in a fine old, grey stone building in Charlottetown, fronting on Queen Square, about which are other public buildings, including the Law Courts, the General Post Office, the Custom House, and the market building, which every Tuesday and Friday, when the country people come in to dispose of their produce, presents a very animated scene.

But to return to the government. The expenditure on the salaries of the Lieutenant-Governor, the cabinet ministers and the members of the assembly; the administration of justice; the support of schools and public works and some other charges amount to $420,000 (about £84,000). Three-fourths of this is met by the subsidy from the Federal government, and the remaining quarter is raised by provincial taxes, which are very low. The province is represented in the Dominion parliament by four senators, and four members of the House of Commons.

The population, despite the prosperity of the island, diminished by over nine thousand between 1901 and the next census year, 1911. It has been suggested that this was due in part to the “lure of the West,” and perhaps in part to the fact that many of the people are descended from that race of wanderers and excellent pioneers, the Scotch. During the great migration of the American loyalists northward, the Island of St. John obtained a considerable addition to its population. These were of various races; but in 1803 Lord Selkirk brought out eight hundred Highland crofters, and after a short time of hardship these colonists settled down happily. Many of their descendants still dwell in the island.

There are a few manufacturing establishments at the capital—Charlottetown—and at others of its small centres of population, but chiefly of a description depending directly on the industries of fishing and farming.

The island is naturally a favourable place for fishermen. Its fisheries of cod, mackerel, herring, lobsters and oysters are important, the latter fishery being the most valuable of its kind in Canada. The “Malpeque oyster,” from the bay so named, is widely famous, and the provincial government is taking steps “to extend and develop this industry by the replanting and cultivation of an area estimated at one hundred thousand acres.”

The tourist trade is such an important branch of the island’s industries that, in this connection, it is matter for congratulation that the summer visitors can find trout in the numerous streams and can enjoy sea-fishing from boats. As for game, moose and bears need not be looked for in the “Garden” province; but wild fowl are plentiful in the season.

After all, however, the soil is the chief source of wealth, and the island possesses “a fertilizer of singular value and potency” in the mussel or oyster mud found in vast quantities in all its bays and river mouths, and consisting of “the organic remains of countless generations of oysters, mussels, clams and other bivalves.” This is a veritable “mine of wealth to the island,” enriching the poorest soils, so that they grow excellent crops of clover, turnips and potatoes.

In times past the settlers of Prince Edward Island made the mistake—common in farming virgin soils—of continuing year after year to raise the same crop, without taking any measures to secure the continued fertility of the soil. Happily, through private enterprise and government encouragement, more scientific methods are coming into fashion, and the farmers are going extensively into dairying. In consequence, many farms have gone up 50 per cent. in value and productiveness during the past two decades; and, in the last census, little Prince Edward Island could point with pardonable pride to a much greater product from her dairy factories than could be shown by either of the far larger provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

In proportion to size this province has the largest population of any, but there is room still for many a good farmer. It is not a land of free grants, but there are farms for sale at reasonable prices which could be farmed to great advantage by men with a little capital, trained in good English methods. Of course the prices depend on situation and worth of buildings, as well as on the quality of the land, but farms of different sizes ranging from ten to two hundred and fifty acres may be bought at from about £2 the acre (in the case of good-sized farms) to £16 the acre.