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A Diary in America, With Remarks on Its Institutions. Part Second
A Diary in America With Remarks on Its Institutions Part Second Author:Frederick Marryat Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 21 CHAPTER II. The next question to be considered is, whe ther, independent of their being important to us as an out-post to defend our transatlantic posse... more »ssions, .the Canadas are likely to be useful to us, as a colony, in a commercial point of view. This requires much consideration. It must be admitted that, up to the present, we may consider the Canadas to have been a heavy burden to this country. From what I am now going to state, there are many, who agreeing with me in most other points, will be likely to dissent. That I cannot help ; I may be in error, but, at all events, I shall not be in error from a too hasty decision. That it is wise and proper for a mother-country to assist and support her colonies in their infancyis undoubted. In so doing, the mother-country taxes herself for the advantages to be hereafter derived from the colony; but it may occur that the tax imposed upon the people of the mother- country may be too onerous, at the same time that no advantages at all commensurate are derived from the colony. When such is the case, the tax is not fair; and the colony for whose benefit that tax has been imposed, is looked upon with ill-will. This is the precise situation of the Canadas, and this is the cause why there is so strong an outcry against our retaining possession of these provinces. The bonus of forty-five shillings on a load of timber, which is given to the Canadas by our present duties, is much too great; and has pressed much too heavily on the people of the mother-country. It has, in fact, created a monopoly ; and when it is considered how important and necessary an article timber is in this country, —how this enormous bonus on Canadian timber affects the shipping, house-building, and agricultural interests—it is no wonder that people wish to ...« less