Canada and the British immigrant

The prairies have also their Icelandic and Norwegian and Swedish settlers, who are generally credited with being of an excellent type. Then in the cities and in the railway construction camps are Italians, somewhat quarrelsome and ready to use their knives amongst themselves, but excellent workers in all the digging and delving necessary for the making of a railway line or preparing for the foundations of some great new building. It is said to be the ambition of many an Italian to become the owner of a fruit store, and to judge by the numbers of such little shops in every city—over whose treasures of apples and oranges and bananas a dark-eyed woman or child is keeping guard—it must be an ambition often fulfilled.

It is odd, indeed, how the different nationalities seem to have such strong predilections for particular trades. Every considerable centre of population in Canada must surely have its Chinese laundries, very numerous in the large towns. The Chinese, too, go into business as restaurant keepers, or keepers of tea and curiosity shops; and in the West they enter domestic service in private houses or hotels. But one never sees a Chinaman engaged in the rag-and-bottle-collecting business, for instance. Indeed, that occupation seems to be left wholly to the Jews; while the porters on the Pullman cars are nearly always negroes, with an occasional Jap on the western lines.

It is often said that much of the hardest and heaviest work in city and mine and railway making is done by foreigners. In that respect alone the country owes them a real debt; but there is no doubt that the bar of differing language and customs prevents Canada getting the best contributions to her total strength from the little-understood and often-misunderstood foreigners. As time goes on the Canadians may be more successful than hitherto in bridging the gulf that separates them from the newcomers of alien speech, but at present the tendency is for the foreigners to cluster together in certain districts in the country—certain quarters in the cities—where it is difficult to reach them with Canadianizing influences. In unskilled labour and in some more skilled trades they are formidable competitors to the newcomer from the British Isles. But in a measure—because of their coming in such numbers—the Briton is all the more the man Canada wants; and it is satisfactory that the proportion of British-born to the whole number of immigrants has of late tended to rise. During the decade ending March, 1912, the British immigrants outnumbered the foreign-born by nearly 300,000. This is leaving the newcomers from the United States out of account; but they also outnumbered the foreigners.

As has been stated already, the man wanted most of all is the man willing to go on the land. Every province, from Nova Scotia in the east to British Columbia in the west, has land waiting for the farmer, the market gardener and the fruit grower.

In this connection it may be mentioned, that it is not necessary for any one to pay a premium for a youth to “learn farming” in Canada. If he is willing to work and of at least ordinary intelligence, however inexperienced he may be, a lad can earn his board and lodging and at least a few dollars during the busy months; and the money spent on the premium had far better be laid by to help the boy in starting for himself later. Usually the promised instruction in farming is given in much the same fashion as when a big boy begins to teach a little one to swim, by pushing him somewhat violently into the water. The farm pupil is plunged into any work at which he can be made useful, the farmer trusting to his learning the business by practising it; and usually he does learn much in this way. If possible, however, it is well for a boy thinking of farming in Canada to learn how to milk, and to attend to a horse before coming out. Milking is an especially useful accomplishment, and may very much aid him in getting a good situation and fair wages.

If the newcomer is young, even though he may already be possessed of some capital, it is often a good plan for him to take a situation for a short time as “a hired man,” in the region where he proposes to settle, with a view to getting into the ways of the country; learning how best to adapt himself to prevalent conditions, including those of climate; and also how to estimate properly the values of land and stock in that particular district.

A man does not need to fear that he will lose socially by working for a farmer, for, in the country, little attention is paid to the arbitrary social distinctions of older lands, and in most farmhouses a willing, obliging, courteous, adaptable “hired man” is trusted much like one of the family. Sometimes, indeed, it is difficult for him to fit happily into his strange environment; and there are cases (the facts must be faced) where a mean master endeavours to take advantage of the newcomer’s ignorance. In general, however, a man who is willing to work, is of good manners and character, and is not ashamed to learn will be treated with respect and kindness. In fact, his value will be speedily recognized, for there are two sides to this question, and the ideal “hired man” is perhaps as rare as the ideal employer.

In the towns, especially in the older provinces, social conditions are more similar to those of England, and it is often asked what a man does and who his father was as well as what he is. Even in the centres of population, however, the way of a young man of character to a position of influence and comfort is more easily found than “at home.” No doubt the free educational system of Canada is a check on the snobbish spirit; for in their school days, at least, the children of the village magnate and of the most prosperous farmer of the neighbourhood meet on equal terms with those of the hired man, the mechanic, or the doer of odd jobs.

In after life this early lesson, that quality in muscle or brain or moral character does not depend upon class or length of purse, can never be quite forgotten; and it may often happen that the clever, industrious son of some poor man may climb to a position in the community to which his former school mates, though sons of the richest man in the village, can only look up. And, if the poor man’s son never climbs, he comforts himself with the reflection that “Jack is as good as his master,” which is an assertion sometimes open to question.

However, the practical application of all this to the immigrant, even though he may belong to the class which prides itself on good birth and good breeding, is that in Canada, especially in the country, no honest work will injure his position in the eyes of his neighbours. The point that counts for or against him is—will he work? or does he think it more “gentlemanly” to waste his time and strength and money with other idle young men of kindred spirit? The fact is, that while the Mother-isles have sent of their best to Canada, they have sent also many a useless scamp. It has been well suggested that the friends of such ne’er-do-wells ought not to imagine that transplanting “a poor stick” to “the colonies” will necessarily change its nature. If the young man’s misfortune is lack of ability or character, he stands more chance in Canada of disgracing the name of Englishman than of doing anything else; but if his lack is merely the wherewithal to start in farming, or business, or to obtain a college education in England, it is well worth while to try sending him to Canada.

I know men, some British, some Canadians, who have had the force to work their way through every difficulty to satisfactory positions; and what one has done another may do. For instance, the ranks of the ministry in all the churches, though in some cases they may obtain help from bursaries in the theological colleges, are largely recruited from those who have had their own way to make; and have been obliged to earn the money to pay for their college expenses. Sometimes, indeed, the student may have had to stop midway in his course to make money enough to finish it. It is the same with all the learned professions—many men “put themselves through” the university and are probably none the worse for the battle.

Now here, I believe, is a chance for some of the lads who come out from the “Old Country” in early youth, either alone or with their parents. Amongst the men whom Canada needs are earnest, Christian ministers to work in her wide land amongst all the scattered peoples—foreigners, British immigrants and native Canadians; but perhaps it is scarcely necessary to say that this is not an avenue to wealth; and the man who adopts the ministry as a profession must be actuated by a higher motive than ambition. She needs, too, men who will make a life-work of teaching, a profession which in Canada is largely left to women, in spite of (or it may be partly because of) the fact that men are paid about twice as much as women of the same standing and for the same work.

Rates of wages are, of course, much higher in town than country; but rents and living are high in proportion. For example, take the case of a married man with a family. If willing to work on a farm, he may get an engagement by the year at from $20 (£4) to $30 (£6) the month (the wages varying considerably in different parts of the country), whilst the unskilled worker in the city will get probably from $1·50 (6s.) to $2·50 (10s.) for a ten-hour day; but the former may count on steady work and a free house with a garden, and also on some such extras as milk, vegetables or apples; while the townsman may frequently lose some days’ pay on account of bad weather and have to disburse a very high proportion of his earnings as rent. Moreover, if there are children to consider, the advantages of the country compared to the town are great both with regard to health of body and of mind.

There are other possibilities in the country besides work on the farms. For instance, there is a demand for skilled workers in cheese factories, creameries, and so forth; and it seems to me that there would be a good opening in many a village for a man who had in his fingers some such trade as that of a shoemaker or harness maker. Often the country people have to take articles that need repairing to a distant town because there is no capable workman in the village where they go for their “mail” or groceries. If such a man had a taste for country life, he could often get a small house and a good garden cheap; and in the farmer’s busy seasons could, if he chose, add to his income by doing outdoor work at good wages. In this way he might soon be able to own his own house, paying for it in instalments; but, indeed, in some of the cities—Toronto, for instance—a thrifty working man often speedily saves enough to make the small first payment necessary to buy a house, and then gradually works off the remainder of the debt. Others buy lots on the outskirts of the town and put up for themselves small “shacks,” which they transform bit by bit into comfortable little houses.

But there are numerous evidences that in other lines than farming the British immigrant is needed, and can, under ordinarily fortunate circumstances, with industry and thrift, prove himself to be of value to Canada. For instance, it is noticeable that the first of the Imperial Home Reunion Associations was founded in Winnipeg by business men who believed that it would be for the advantage of the Dominion if the numerous British workmen employed in the cities and towns could immediately have their wives and children with them, instead of having to send money over to the “Old Country” for their support. This step would not have been taken had not the workmen in question proved their value. Another evidence is that of one’s senses. Alike in the far West, and in centrally-situated Toronto, one cannot enter a store or a street car without hearing voices that one recognizes as those of comparatively recent arrivals from Britain. These have obtained situations in a great variety of occupations; and if one sends for a gardener, a plumber, or a paperhanger to work about one’s house, it seems that every other man in such trades is English.

The Dominion government confines its direct invitations to immigrants to “farmers, farm labourers and domestic servants,” all of whom belong to classes singularly little troubled by fear of competition; but the Provincial governments sometimes venture to give a broader invitation. For instance, in a letter recently received from Mr. Arthur S. Barnstead, Secretary of the Department of Industries and Immigration of the province of Nova Scotia, it is stated that “the industrial expansion upon which Nova Scotia has entered has created a strong demand for industrial workers. Many of our plants have been unable to secure the necessary number of native workers, and thus have been compelled to engage British and foreign labour. Miners have been imported for our coal mines, iron workers for our steel works, as well as textile and other tradespeople. Last year, in the occupations taken up by the English-speaking newcomers to Nova Scotia, mining came first (numerically), though farming followed closely; and the list of 2,736 persons includes, besides “housewives” and children, craftsmen, tradesmen, clerks, professional men, soldiers, and others.”

Rapid industrial expansion is proceeding in other provinces, with a consequent demand for workers of all classes, and altogether, I am sure that the British immigrant of the right stamp—used to work and not expecting to get “good money” without giving a due equivalent for it—may find many an opening in Canada—in the cultivation of the soil, or in some other of the numerous occupations which civilized man has devised for himself. But there comes from British Columbia the warning, which may apply to other provinces also, that “the man without a trade, the clerk, the accountant and the semi-professional” has not a good chance for employment, unless he will do manual work in an emergency, or has means of support “for six months in a year while seeking a situation.”

XVII

THE WOMAN CANADA NEEDS

JUDGING by statistics, it may be averred that Canada needs women in general, especially in some districts, even more than men. At any rate, according to the census taken in 1911 there was, in a total population of a little over seven millions, an excess of males over females of four hundred and thirty-seven thousand, and as each year the immigration returns show the arrival of more men than women (the figures for 1911 were 211,266 males and 82,922 females), the disproportion between the sexes is growing continually greater; but it cannot be said that at present the Dominion makes the same effort to attract women as men. For instance, the bonus given to booking agents is less on a woman than a man, and the only way in which a woman can acquire a free grant of Dominion crown lands is in the character of a widowed mother of a child, or children, under eighteen years of age.

Possibly this inequality of opportunity has arisen from the notion that a woman is not suited for doing homestead duties—and many women are not—but as a matter of fact the wife of a struggling newcomer is often left alone for weeks at a time on the homestead, while her husband “hires himself out” to a farmer, or works on a new railway. In British Columbia, as already mentioned, a woman may take up a pre-emption, which is practically the same—so far as the obligations of residence and cultivation are concerned—as the Dominion free grants.

It must, I think, be frankly admitted that the isolation of the life in many instances either on a homestead or on a great Western farm is hard for the woman. Some little time since I met a bright young woman, with one small girl of four or five, who was thankfully travelling south to Vancouver from an island in the neighbourhood of Prince Rupert, where for a considerable part of two years she had been living on a pre-emption whilst her husband had been away working on the new railway. She told me that, with the exception of one solitary young man—a neighbouring homesteader—she had had no neighbour nearer than three miles away, and that there had been days during the two years when she had been so ill that she could not leave her bed to give bread to the little one, who, scarcely out of babyhood, had had to be sent herself to the “bread box” to get something to eat. Such a story seems suggestive of possible tragedy, but the woman did not dwell on what might have been, but rejoiced simply in the fact that the hard task was over, and that, largely through her effort, they had the patent for the land, which now they would be able to sell if they could find a purchaser.

I could not help thinking that one quality of the woman that Western Canada needs is courage, and another is resourcefulness; and perhaps if I repeat here the story told me by the wife of a successful pioneer farmer in Saskatchewan, it may help, more than any generalities, to give an idea of a woman’s lot on a prairie farm. Mrs. Smith—as I will call her—had gone as a bride to a little house of one lower room (fourteen feet by sixteen) and a half storey upstairs. She, by the way, had spent her girlhood in the West, and perhaps knew from experience how to manage under circumstances which would have sorely tried an Englishwoman of her class.

The tiny dwelling, lined with building paper and thin boards, was not plastered for a year or two and at first the one room was kitchen, dining-room and washhouse. The house was a full mile from the next one, and stood in the centre of a great field of wheat, which sometimes, when the babies (who soon arrived) began to toddle, seemed to the young mother to grow perilously high, for she had heard stories of little ones wandering off into the tall wheat and being lost.

The coming of the little ones to a pioneer woman is often a terrible test of courage and endurance, for it is hard to get either doctor or experienced nurse at the right time. Sometimes the prospective mother goes into town to a hospital or to some friend; but generally she stays at home. The neighbours do the best they can, and often all goes well—and sometimes it does not. In such a case and in many another emergency the rural telephone is a wonderful boon and comfort—and may be even counted a life-saving agency. Incidentally, I may mention that women, competent to take care of mother and infant or to help in case of sickness, who would be willing to take charge also of the domestic arrangements of a little house, while its mistress was incapacitated, would not be likely to lack work in the West. Many people, who could hardly meet the high charges for a regularly trained nurse, would be glad to pay well for such services. Mrs. Smith told me, however, that it was practically impossible to get help, and that a neighbour had driven hither and thither for a week in a vain search for someone to take care of his wife, at last getting an old woman from the immigrant shed in a somewhat distant town. My informant’s impression was that there was “a great chance” for “hired girls” in these prairie communities, for on the farms they are treated like “one of the family.” Nevertheless they generally prefer to stay in the towns.

Gradually things improve as the neighbourhoods get settled, though the great farms of the exclusively wheat-growing districts “make few neighbours.” The more so, because many a Western farmer develops a passion for adding field to field—or “quarter-section to quarter-section.” The Smith farm, for instance, grew to be “seven miles” round; and the husband was often working a mile away from home, but after the first few years he managed to get a man and his wife to live on the farm. Despite the isolation, Mrs. Smith did not regard the life as a hard one. She “liked the farm very much,” she said, and thought the women in the West had “easier times” than those in the East, for the regular “hired men” lived in the bunk-house, though they came to the house for their meals, and after the first two years she did not have to cook for the harvesters and threshers, whose meals were provided from “a cook car.” She was, however, fortunate in having a husband who was both considerate and capable.

As to the social aspects of life, she had been used in her girlhood, though that, too, was spent on a prairie farm—near Regina—to go out a great deal in the evenings “with her musical brothers” to meet other young people, and no doubt she felt the change to the new district, where, of the few women who could be counted neighbours, some were very rough. But soon there were alleviations. From the first there was a church only five miles away, and later there were services in the school-house, which, by the way, in that section at least was very much of a social centre.

Mrs. Smith usually boarded the lady who taught there, and the section had “fine teachers,” who brought on the little flocks of from sixteen to twenty-six children most successfully, lent books to the readers of the community and got up the summer picnics in connection with the school—the more enjoyed, perhaps, because other entertainments were so few and far between. These consisted of a Sunday school Christmas tree, an occasional concert, or a public dance to which “nice women” did not go—at least, in that particular district—as it was open to everyone who could pay, and was attended by men of the rougher sort, who thought it impossible to enjoy themselves without much whiskey.

By the help of the neighbours, the mail was usually brought from the post office, ten miles distant, three times a week, and the Smiths subscribed for several magazines and newspapers. The telephone, when it came, was “a great help”; but, when “the children began to want to see people” and to need somewhat better education than could be gained in the little country school, this family moved into one of the gay, bustling little prairie towns. Mrs. Smith’s experience, it must be remembered, was that of a pioneer, and there are districts in the provinces where that kind of life is becoming a thing of the past, though pioneers are still plentiful.

In the particular town to which the Smiths moved (and I have reason to believe it not exceptional) there is a high proportion of young people in the population and brides are often numerous, whose trousseaux are, perhaps, accountable for setting the pace in a style of dressing which is costly, and which seems almost incongruously handsome in comparison with the tiny houses in which many of the young couples dwell. But money is easily earned and quickly spent by the eager optimistic Westerner; and, doubtless, if domestic servants were easier to get and to keep, more well-to-do folk would turn their attention to building larger houses.

In the rural districts of the older provinces there are plenty of somewhat isolated farmhouses; but there are also many farming communities where the families are close enough together to enjoy a good deal of social life; and where this is the case the country life is a delightful one, for young folk especially. The boys and girls on the farms learn early to do the work of men and women; but it is work which, if not overdone in amount, is healthful for mind and body; and the informal country merry-makings have a charm of their own.

A sleigh ride of several miles, on a moonlight night, through a lovely snow-covered landscape of hill and woods and valley, does not detract from the enjoyment of an informal carpet dance, especially when the vehicle is a big box sleigh, filled with a dozen lively lads and lasses, whose songs and laughter ring out above the jingling bells. A wedding feast or a barn-raising bee, a church social, or a school concert, a “strawberry festival” or a “Christmas tree”—country folk know how to enjoy all these things; as they enjoy chance meetings in the store or at the church door—and now there are in most provinces Farmers’ Clubs and Women’s Institutes to aid in the good work of drawing together country neighbours of all the different denominations. Above all, the country is the place for the little ones, where they may spend their first years amongst the animals and birds and flowers, which the normal child loves, leading a simple, outdoor life.

But one of the needs of Canada is more women (she has some already) who shall appreciate the country and know how to make the best of it for themselves, their families and their neighbours. She wants women of any race, British or foreign, who are strong enough and wise enough to discover ways of developing the fine possibilities of country life, and counteracting any tendency towards its degeneration into dulness and stagnation. To-day the trend of the population of this new and supposedly agricultural country citywards is a fact which is at once remarkable and rather disquieting. Perhaps it is due in part to “the earth hunger” that besets many a farmer, and inclines him to sacrifice to it the comfort of his family and the possibilities of congenial society. Whatever its cause, women may, perhaps, do quite as much as men to stem the current and make country life what it ought to be.