WHY ENGLISHMEN DO NOT EMIGRATE TO BRITISH COLUMBIA.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1720, 3 September 1862, Page 9

WHY ENGLISHMEN DO NOT EMIGRATE TO BRITISH COLUMBIA.

The North British Rtview conclude# a long and interesting article on the affairs of British Columbia, with this plain statement of facts: . There are two obstacles to the speedy colonization of British Columbia—namely, its great distance from England, and the want of toads into the uteriWhile Canada, the Cape, Australia, and .jiqw Zea' offer their lands on liberal terms, it is scarcely expected that the British emigrant, unless extraordinary inducements, will turn hia atfentt the youngest and most distant of the colonies,

voyage of five months or an expensive, journpy aci the Isthmus must be undertaken before. he can react. the settlement. The distance of the colony from the mother country counterbalanes for the present it* great attractions, aud will continue to do to until a road is constructed across British. North America. This is a desideratum which we believe U now seriously engaging the attention of scientific men and of states* men. Without it, not only will British Columbia continue practically inaccessible to the best class of emigrants, but a permanent barrier muV continue to be interposed to (he colonisation of a territory not inferior in fertility to (he best portions -of' Canada. The basin of Lake Winnepeg and the valley of the Saskatchewan heve been recently explored by,order of the British government and Canadian Parliament. The quanity of land in British North America fit for settlement, and capable of cultivation, is estimated at no less than 500,000 square miles. The climate is no drawback, the heat of the summer being sufficient to bring most of the cereals to maturity over vast tracts of country far north of the 4tfth parallel, The Red river settlement it an example; of jbe great productiveness of ibis portion of the American con* tinent; and there are, it as been ascertained, enormous areas in the Saskatchewan and Lake Winpepqg: basins equally suited for agriculture, and rich in roost of the element* of wealth. The passes of the, .Rocky Mountains hare been examined, and these expeditions have resulted in the discovery that there exists no practical difficulty in the construction, of a road, and even a railway, from the shores of Lake Superior to Fraser river; and as British vessels can now proceed for two thousand miles into the Amsricap continent by the St. Lawrence and the canal and take navigation of Canada, a road for the remainder of the distance to British Columbia ought, considering its importance, to present as few difficulties in a financial as it does in a enrineering point of view. , . In the colony itself the want of communication is severely felt. The force dispatched to aid the first colonists in road-making has proved whplly inadequate, and there are no fnnds, in the present undeveloped state of the colony, available even for ,'the . moet necessary public works. Possessing as yet Rttlq or no export trade, and the gold of the miners passing over the boundary into the United States, territory, tperade die duty on its export, the public resources of the couutry are restricted to such duties as can be levied on imports, and these in a somewhat unsettled state of society, are not always easily collected. Capital for making the first roads in a new colony might, we think, be endowed with the elements of success; immigration would set in, and a rapidly increasing population would soon enable (he local government to pSy off. (he debt thus incurred, and the commerce of Great Britain pould not but feel in a short time the effect of so provident as outlay. Such is the course adopted by th« Government of the United States in its new settlements. Roads are the first necessities of civilisation ; wilheut them there can be neither trade, social progress nor political government. , At present the population of British Columbia is almost wholly fed and clothed from the neighboring States of Oregon and California. The exports of the colony are insignificant, and consist only of a few tons of oil, a little coal, and some barrels of cranberries. Some spars that were ordered from England had to, ha purchased from a neighboring State, although the forests of British Colombia abound with the finest timber in the world. There were then in the colariy no means of transporting them to the coast. Hay, which sells at prices ranging from £S to £l6 per ton, is imported from California, as are building materials from Puget Sound and Oregon. “In our present state,” writes an intelligent settler, “we are compelled to. sit or. an American chair, wear an American hat, read an American book, and patronize an American tailor 5 ,in fact America reigns supreme, and this most be the case while we are driven of necessity to American mfttketa ta obtain our supplies. All the articles that we require now fetch here three times their cost in England, and are, moreover, of an ihferior description. A ready and remunerative market is a great boon to the shipper; but we have more to offer—we have good harbors and a free port. Not one iota of duty has to be paid on the goods shipped to Victoria : there they can remain till they are sold; and when sold, first-class paper on England in payment is at the disposal of the merchant.” These facts cannot be generally known in England, The imports into British Columbia and Vancouver Island amouut to 700,000 dollars yearly, but the gold of British Columbia, in consequence of the absence o( trade with the mother country, instead of finding ita way to England, goes to swell the exports of the precious metal from California.