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The Canadian Agricultural Tariff of 1843

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Robert Leslie Jones
Robert Leslie Jones*
Affiliation:
Marietta College
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Extract

Upper Canada acquired a wheat-growing reputation during the 1830's comparable to that of the Genesee Valley or of Ohio. At that time, it was remarked, “the great and almost sole object of serious interest to the Canadian farmer was to grow wheat as largely, and to repeat the crop as frequently, as any decent return could be obtained.” Nor was this unreasonable. Lord Durham was informed that “in Upper Canada, the whole of the great peninsula between Lakes Erie and Huron, comprising nearly half the available land of the province, consists of gently-undulating alluvial soil, and with a smaller proportion of inferior land than probably any other tract of similar extent in that part of North America, is generally considered the best grain country on that continent.” The red and white winter wheats grown in Upper Canada in a favourable season, when exported to Great Britain, were “spoken of by millers as a grain of superior quality” and “brought the highest prices the markets would afford.” Finally, the merchants in many places were accustomed to pay cash for wheat, while they would receive other products only in trade. When he had a steady market, the wheat farmer had cause for thanksgiving; but all too often he lacked it.

The ordinary market for the surplus wheat and flour of the Canadas was the United Kingdom, but the amounts exported fluctuated widely from one year to the next. Poor crops or good crops, increases in acreage, and especially the capricious Corn Laws, were the determining factors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , November 1941 , pp. 528 - 537
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1941

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References

1 Journal and Transactions of the Board of Agriculture of Upper Canada for 1855-56 (Toronto, 1856), p. 36.Google Scholar

2 SirLucas, C. P. (ed.), Lord Durham's Report on the Affairs of British North America (Oxford, 1912), vol. II, p. 216.Google Scholar

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11 Christian Guardian, Feb. 5,1840. The American duty collected on Upper Canada wheat in 1835 amounted to $60,000, which would place the imports at about 240,000 bushels (Journals of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, 1836-37, Appendix 7, p. 6). In 1836 the Rochester millers imported 200,000 bushels from Upper Canada, ( O'Reilly, Henry, Sketches of Rochester, Rochester, 1838, p. 361 Google Scholar). These imports were in part to be accounted for by demands in the western states occasioned by abnormal immigration (Quebec Gazette, quoted in Montreal Gazette, June 1, 1835).

12 Thus, in 1836, Lower Canada imported about 480,000 bushels of wheat from Europe (Morning Courier, Montreal, Dec. 31, 1836).

13 Journal of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, 1821, in Report of Ontario Archives, 1913 (Toronto, King's Printer), p. 430.Google Scholar

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16 1 Wm. IV, c. 24.

17 Journal of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, 1835, Appendix 11, p. 15. The same was true of wheat imported into Lower Canada from Russia ( Colonial Advocate, York, 10 17, 1833 Google Scholar).

18 Speech of March 3, 1843, in Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, ser. 3, vol. LXVII, p. 250.Google Scholar

19 Daily Advertiser (Rochester) quoted in Colonial Advocate, Nov. 12, 1831. Cf. also Canadian Courant, Oct. 27, 1832, and Journal of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, 1835, Appendix 11, p. 15. This had become a practice as early as 1820 ( Hodgson, Adam, Letters from North America written during a Tour in the United States and Canada, London and Edinburgh, 1824, vol. II, p. 51 Google Scholar). Similarly, cheap Upper Canada flour, probably milled from spring wheat, had long been sold in Lower Canada for domestic consumption ( Bouchette, Joseph, The British Dominions in North America, London, 1832, vol. I, p. 369 Google Scholar).

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33 Shirreff, , Tour Through North America, p. 369.Google Scholar

34 Montreal Transcript, Sept. 28, 1843. Cf. Canadian Courant, March 27, 1833.

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36 Ibid., May, 1842, p. 80.

37 WilIiam Hutton of Belleville to his brother, June 25, 1834, in British Farmer's Magazine, 04, 1835, p. 109.Google Scholar

38 He refers not to the true prairies, but to the “oak openings” and “small prairies” of the Ohio Valley. Cf. Bidwell, P. W. and Falconer, J. I., History of Agriculture in the Northern United States, 1620-1860 (Washington, 1925), p. 267.Google Scholar

39 0n the Ohio cattle droving industry, see Bidwell, and Falconer, , History of Agriculture in Northern United States, pp. 177–8.Google Scholar

40 British American Cultivator, 04, 1843, p. 55.Google Scholar

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42 Colonial Advocate, Feb. 17, June 16, July 7, Aug. 25, 1831.

43 Toronto Examiner, July 29, 1840, Dec. 1, 1841.

44 Cf. Creighton, , Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence, pp. 288–320.Google Scholar

45 Mackay, R. A., “The Political Ideas of William Lyon Mackenzie” (Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, vol. III, 02, 1937, p. 18).Google Scholar

46 Toronto Examiner, July 29, 1840, and later numbers.

47 Ibid., April 6, 1841.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid., Dec. 1, 1841.

50 6 Vict. c. 31 (Statutes of Canada, 1843).

51 7 Vict. c. 1, and 7 Vict. c. 2.

52 9 Vict. c. 1.

53 Canadian Agricultural Journal (Montreal), 06 1, 1844, p. 88.Google Scholar

54 Agriculturist and Canadian Journal (Toronto), 05 1, 1848, p. 87.Google Scholar

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57 Canadian Agricultural Journal, 03 2, 1846, p. 42.Google Scholar

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60 Toronto Examiner, April 1, 1846.

61 Tucker, G. N., The Canadian Commercial Revolution, 1845-51 (New Haven, 1936), pp. 103–4.Google Scholar

62 The claim for the 1847 tariff is made in Innis and Lower, Select Documents, p. 360, in these words: “In many respects it was a protective tariff, and the beginnings of Canadian protection may be dated from that year.”

63 Keefer, T. C., The Canals of Canada (Toronto, 1850), p. 33.Google Scholar