Emigration: the British farmer's and farm labourer's guide to Ontario.

institutions and other circumstances from which in new lands it is tree, the British farmer's competitors in the.market where he sells his produce are the agriculturists of countries in which the cost of production is lowest.The price of land, the impedi- ments to its free transfer, the impossibility in many cases of purchasing at any cost, the charges for rent, and for taxes national and local, the maintenance of a State church, as represented by tithes' or their equivalent, are obviously important elements in the British farmer's calculations and considerations.The exist- ence, too, of game preserving, under the protection of laws of feudal origin, however ameliorated by friendly arrangements between landlord and tenant, is notoriously a source, in too many instances, of great loss and annoyance, and constitutes a burden the latter would always gladly be rid of.Still if the British farmer does not make much money he lives in moderate comfort and contentment.With a considerate landlord many difficulties are got over ; at all events in good seasons.But then many seasons are not "good" and the British climate is peculiarly fickle and uncertain.Three or four bad years means that hundreds of tenant farmers go behind irreparably and for ever.Now, what on the other hand is to be said in favour of a change, say to Ontario, the premier province of the Dominion of Canada ; and what does Ontario offer by way of contrast to the difficulties above described ?In the first place the farmer in Ontario is a producer, under taking all things together-the most, instead of the least, favour- able conditions.Canadian wheat, oats, barley, beef, cheese or butter are the very competitors the British farmer has to dread.We shall deal with figures later on.Meanwhile that one fact speaks for itself.(2.)He need pay no rental, for if he be only a small capitalist,he can buy land with the money he pays at home for rent, or if he should happen to prefer renting, he can rent a good farm for from eight shillings to sixteen shillings sterling per acre.(3.)His taxes are light.Those he pays indirectly, for Federal purposes, represent the current expendi-GUIDE TO ONTARIO.ture of the public service, or interest on a debt contracted for public improvements, railways, canals and other public works, for which he consequently gets value.His local taxes are for schools, roads, the protection of the law, and contributions to railways or other matters from which he derives direct advantages.(4.)He pays no poor rates for there are few paupers.(5.)He pays no tithes or their equivalent, for there is no State church to maintain.(6\) He suffers no appreciable injury from game, and what little he cares to shoot, or has time for shooting, he is welcome to.(7.)If he rents a farm the conditions are the simplest, and he can buy one on easy terms at any time, .'There is always plenty of improved land in the market^plenty of people or com- panies are willing to advance money on mortgage at some 7 oi 8 per cent, interest, and the whole cost of transferring a tine farm, settling title, and all, does not ordinarily amount to the value in Canadian currency' of a British five pound note.Now in this general way we have surely said enough to induce the British farmer to believe t&ere may be some good, if not conclusive, reasons why he should emigrate.Others will present themselves as we pro< e^d. WHITHER SHALL I EMIGRATE ?We have now incidentally opened up the way to a consider- ation of the next question : " To what Country or Colony shall I GO ?"In trying to settle this point satisfactorily, let us clearly understand whom we are talking with.The farmer we have in our mind is the man with moderate capital, say from 250 to 2000 sterling, and usually nearer the less rather than the larger amount after all his debts are paid, with good health, steady habits, a will to work, and a family growing up needing to be settled in the world.We leave out of view for the moment the large capitalist on the one hand, or the man with no capital, on the other.We shall see what are the require- numerous are the}' everywhere that a population exists.All the leading denominations have colleges for ministers, and any young man with a call to that office may, without difficulty, obtain the necessary theological training.A LAND OF SELF-GOVERNMENT.Ontario is preeminently the land of self-government.The people, in all municipal matters, really manage their own affairs.Every village of 750 or more inhabitants, every town of 2,000 and upwards, and every township, has its council elected annu- ally by the rate-payers.The whole have, by their Reeves or Deputy Reeves, a representation in the County Council which meets periodically.A vast .amount of business that needs special Acts of Parliament i'rr "Great Britain is successfully carried on by these municipal!bodies under the provisions of the general law.The taiees,; for local purposes, are very light indeed.The farmer and< his sons take their share of the expense by what is* .calledstatute labourputting the roads in order annually.Nearly every one joins in this, although a money payment or a substitute is allowed.But as friends and neighbours all tal;"part in the work with their teams, and the season chosen is a leisure one, the duty is, after \il, pleasant, and not regarded as Dnerous. THE FRANCHISE.Practically, every owner or 'occupier has a vote for members of the Provincial Legislature which meets annually at Toronto, or for the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa.In Ontario, too, there is an income tax franchise for the young men in cities, and a farmer's sons' franchise for young men working on their father's farms.The income tax in Ontario is a municipal tax for local purposes only. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.Law is cheap and plentiful, and administered by Judges, Police Magistrates and Justices of the Peace as efficiently and righteously as in Great Britain.There is not a judge on the the people, generally plain farmers or merchants.In rural Ontario happily there is very little crime but a universal respect for the law and those who administer it. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.As a matter affecting the health and comfort of residents in rural districts, it may be well to add that the medical prac- tioner is omnipresent.The medical schools in Ontario are very strict in the matter of qualification, the profession is very popular, and there is no settled part of Ontario without an efficient practitioner within easy reach. SUMMARY OF ADVANTAGES.Up to this point, then, the British farmer will have lost nothing by the change from the British Isles to Ontario, while in some respects he will be an obvious gainer.He will secure :(1.) Free land, cheap land, and plenty of it, purchasable and transferable without trouble or airy serious cost.(2.) Free schools, as good as any in the world, which his children may attend without any loss of caste or social position, and leading up to the highest educational honours.(3.) Free churches -and no tithes or charges for any but his ownvoluntarily supported.(4.)Not Quarter Sessions or County Boards rule, but the management of his own local affairs to the expenditure of the last six-pence.(5.) A free vote.(G.)All the protection and safety that British law itself can ensure.

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