d demand arises. To us,
therefore, it seems perfectly clear, that even if the capital were
forthcoming, there is not labour enough in the country for the
simultaneous construction of a tithe of the projected schemes.

There are considerations connected with this matter which entail a
great responsibility upon the government. The capitalists are, in
fact, putting at its disposal the means of maintaining a great portion
of the poorer population for many years to cone. If this be properly
attended to, emigration, which principally benefits the labourer, may
be discontinued. We have now arrived at a pass when the absence of
those who have already emigrated becomes a matter of regret. There is
work to be had nearer than the Canadian woods or the waterless
prairies of Australia--work, too, that in its results must be of
incalculable benefit to the community. But the government is bound to
regulate it so, that, amidst superabundance of wealth, due regard is
paid to the ECONOMY OF LABOUR. It is rumoured that some railway
directors, fully aware of the facts which we have stated, are
meditating, in their exuberant haste for dividends, the introduction
of foreign labourers. We doubt whether, under any circumstances, such
a scheme is practicable; but of this we entertain no doubt, that it is
as mischievous a device as ever was forged in the cabinet of Mammon!
Some years ago the cuckoo cry of the political quacks was
over-population. Now it seems there is a scarcity of hands, and in
order to supply the want--for we have drained the Highlands--we are to
have an importation from Baden or Bavaria, without even the protecting
solemnity of a tariff. If this be true, it seems to us that government
is bound to interpose by the most stringent measures. It is monstrous
to think, that whereas, for many years past, for mere slackness of
labour, we have been encouraging emigration among the productive
classes of our countrymen to a very great degree; draining, as it
were, the mother country to found the colonies, and therein resorting
to the last step which a paternal government, even in times of the
greatest necessity, should adopt--now, when a new experiment, or
social crisis--call it which you will--has arisen, when labour has
again reached the point where the demand exceeds the supply, we are to
admit an influx of strangers amongst us, and thereby entail upon
ourselves and posterity the evils of prospective pauperism. We have
been already