----------------------------+--------+----------+
Y Y1463,000Y 1,285,000Y
+==========================================+========+==========+

Now it is certain that, wherever the timber may come from, the same
quantity will be required; we have, therefore, to fix a duty upon timber
coming from all parts of the world, by which the revenue will not
suffer. A duty of 25 shillings per load will give, upon the whole
importation, a revenue of 1,453,000 pounds, not only an increase of
revenue upon the timber at present imported; but there is every reason
to suppose that it would occasion a much greater consumption of timber,
and of course a great increase of revenue. I do not consider that it
would be advisable to make this reduction immediately. There is a large
tonnage, employed in the Canada trade, which might as well wear out in
it; and it would be but fair to allow those who have embarked their
capital in the trade, to have time to withdraw it. As the Canadas are
not yet prepared to send other produce to the market, we can, with great
propriety, confer this boon upon the present timber trade. The
reduction of the duty should be gradual, and extended over ten years, at
which period the final reduction to 25 shillings per load should take
place; by which time, if Canada be cherished, she will have other
produce for the market.

The more I consider the question, the more I am convinced that this
alteration would be a benefit to all parties. We then should be able to
build ships at a moderate price; we should have a fall in house-rent;
and, indeed, it would be of advantage to every class in this country;
and, however interested people may argue, the removal of this protecting
duty would be the greatest boon and kindness which we could confer on
our transatlantic possessions.

Let us now inquire what are likely to be made the future prospects and
produce of the Canadas as the population increases, and the resources of
the country will be developed.

Lower Canada is a sterile country; not that the land is in itself bad,
but from the severity and length of the winters. The climate of Lower
Canada is precisely the same as that of Russia, and so might be its
produce. The winters are tedious, but not unhealthy, as they are dry.
The summers, like all the summers in the northern regions, although
short, are excessively hot. It is owing to this excessive heat of the
summer that the m