o
of the carrying trade soon reviving, and the freight of the corn proving
an indemnification to him for the loss of that on the timber. That a
few interested individuals would complain is undoubted, but it is high
time that a monopoly so injurious in every point, should be removed; and
the profits of a few speculators are not to be for a moment considered,
when opposed both to the interests of the colony and of the nation.

I may as well here remark that it would only be an act of justice to the
provinces, and no less so to ourselves, to take off the prohibitions at
present in force against the importation of goods from France and other
countries. The boon itself would be small, but still it would be a
stimulus to enterprise, and the time has gone by for England to impose
such restrictions on her colonies. I say that we should lose nothing,
because all these articles are imported by the Americans; and if the
Canadians wish to procure them, they can obtain them immediately at
Buffalo, and other American towns bordering on the lakes. At present,
therefore, all the profits arising from these importations go into the
pockets of the Americans, who are the only parties benefited by our
restrictive laws. We should therefore remove them.

I shall now support the arguments in this chapter, touching the relative
value of the corn and the timber trade to the Canadas, by some extracts
from the evidence given in the Report of the Committee on the Timber
Duties.

_Q_. "Have you ever formed an opinion of what rate per quarter wheat
could be exported to this country, so as to yield a profit to the
exporter?"--_A_. "I cannot call it to mind accurately, but I think the
estimate I once made was between 40 shillings and 50 shillings."

_Q_. "Would it not follow that, unless the price of wheat in this
country were to rise to 40 shillings or 50 shillings per quarter, the
population that your former answer would transfer front the timber trade
to the agricultural would not be able advantageously to employ
themselves?"--_A_. "No; I do not think it follows necessarily. If all
our population were devoted to agriculture, our settlements would be
more dense, and their roads more perfect; in fact, all the social
offices more perfectly fulfilled; which would enable them to bring their
wheat to market at a more moderate price, and thus they might obtain a
larger profit even with a lower price. We should bear in mind, in
relation to th