“Minnesota, with the co-operation of the Government at Washington, has relied with confidence upon the probability of such a colonisation of the fertile valleys which stretch beyond the international boundary, from the lakes of Superior and Winnipeg, or the western limits of Canada, to the Pacific colony of British Columbia. Our mails, our trains of regular transportation, and our steam-vessels on the Red River of the North, are already provided as important links of international communication from Toronto to St. Paul, and thence to Fort Garry. The projected railroads of Minnesota, with extensive grants of land from Congress in behalf of their construction, harmonise in a north-western trend to the valleys of the Red River of the North, and the still more remote Saskatchewan. Our whole commercial future has been projected in concert with the victories of peace, even more renowned than war, of which we still hope to witness the achievement in north-west America, irrespective of the imaginary line of an international frontier.
“Animated by these expectations, which the march of events has hitherto justified, we invoke the ‘sober second thought’ of the country upon the subject of our continental policy. With the suppression of the Southern rebellion; with dispassionate discussions by all the parties interested; with the happy accord of minds like Cobden in England and Chase in America upon the best methods of revenue; and lastly, with the lessons and suggestions of the next three years, a treaty, eminently deserving the designation of a reciprocity treaty, will probably be submitted to the Congress of 1864.”
When the Committee of Commerce, to which the Legislature of New York referred its petition against the Reciprocity Treaty, made their report, they gave expression to very different sentiments; and enlarged on the magnitude of the present possessions of the British Crown on the American continent, and the probable grandeur of their future, in a manner which indicated certainly the existence of a feeling not far removed from jealousy. With great truth they say, that the value of the British North-American possessions is seldom appreciated: stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, they contain an area of at least 3,478,380 square miles. The isothermal line of 60 degrees for summer rises on the interior plains of this continent as high as the 61st parallel,—its average position in Europe. And a favourable comparison may also be traced for winter and other seasons in the year. Then, elevated by the subject, and warming by degrees, the Committee draw a glowing picture of this enormous empire. “Spring opens simultaneously,” they say, “on the plains, which stretch for 1200 miles, from St. Paul’s to the McKenzie River. Westward are countries of still milder climate, now scarcely inhabited, but of incalculable value in the future. Eastward are the small settlements, yet distant from the other abodes of civilisation, enjoying the rich lands and pleasant climate of the Red River.” It may well surprise the inhabitants of these isles, who have not got 100 miles of natural navigable rivers in the three kingdoms, to learn that this same Red River is capable of steamboat navigation for 400 miles.
The following extract from this Report gives perhaps the best idea of the British Possessions in a few words which can be presented to the reader:
“It is asserted by those who add personal knowledge of the subject to scientific investigation, that the habitable but undeveloped area of the British Possessions westerly from Lake Superior and Hudson’s Bay, comprises sufficient territory to make twenty-five States equal in size to Illinois. Bold as this assertion is, it meets with confirmation in the isothermal charts of Blodgett, the testimony of Richardson, Simpson, Mackenzie, the maps published by the Government of Canada, and the recent explorations of Professor Hind, of Toronto.
“North of a line drawn from the northern limit of Lake Superior to the coast at the southern limit of Labrador exists a vast region, possessing in its best parts a climate barely endurable, and reaching into the Arctic regions. This country, even more cold, desolate, and barren on the Atlantic coast than in the interior latitudes, becoming first known to travellers, has given character in public estimation to the whole north.
“Another line, drawn from the northern limit of Minnesota to that of Maine, includes nearly all the inhabited portion of Canada, a province extending opposite the Territory of Dakota and States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, possessing a climate identical with that of our Northern States.
“The ‘Maritime Provinces’ on the Atlantic coast include New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward’s Island, and Newfoundland. Geographically they may be regarded as a north-easterly prolongation of the New England system. Unitedly they include an area of at least 86,000 square miles, and are capable of supporting a larger population than that at present existing in the United States or Great Britain. They are equal in extent to the united territory of Holland, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, and Switzerland.
“New Brunswick is 190 miles in length and 150 in breadth. Its interests are inseparably connected with those of the adjacent State of Maine. It has an area of 22,000,000 acres, and a seacoast 400 miles in extent, and abounding in harbours. Its population some years ago numbered 210,000, whose chief occupations are connected with shipbuilding, the fisheries, and the timber trade. Commissioners appointed by the Government of Great Britain affirm that it is impossible to speak too highly of its climate, soil, and capabilities. Few countries are so well wooded and watered. On its unreclaimed surface is an abundant stock of the finest timber; beneath are coal fields. The rivers, lakes, and seacoast abound with fish.
“Nova Scotia, a long peninsula, united to the American continent by an isthmus only fifteen miles wide, is 280 miles in length. The numerous indentations on its coast form harbours unsurpassed in any part of the world. Including Cape Breton, it has an area of 12,000,000 acres. Wheat, and the usual cereals and fruits of the Northern States, flourish in many parts of it. Its population in 1851 was declared by the census to be 276,117. Besides possessing productive fisheries and agricultural resources, it is rich in mineral wealth, having beneath its surface coal, iron, manganese, gypsum, and gold.