(2) The activity of certain steamship agents who were desirous of selling transportation in the interest of the companies with which they were connected and of themselves profiting by the commissions reaped.

(3) The activity of certain individuals in the Province of British Columbia, among the number one or two Brahmins, who were desirous of exploiting their fellow-subjects, and certain industrial concerns which, with the object of obtaining a class of unskilled labor at a price below the current rate, assisted in inducing a number of the natives to leave under actual or virtual agreements to work for hire.

A few of the natives may have emigrated to Canada of their own accord or because of the desire of relatives, but had the aforementioned influences not been exerted it is doubtful if their numbers would have been appreciable.

How these several influences have been counteracted and an effective restriction obtained by administrative measures in such a manner as to render legislative action unnecessary will be apparent from an account of what has been accomplished, as the result, in part, of the present negotiations and, in part, of legislative enactments and regulations already in force, the application of which to this class of immigration has not been hitherto wholly apparent.

(1) The misleading effects of the distribution by interested parties of literature of the class above described has been offset by warnings which the government of India has issued, whereby the natives have become informed of the risks involved in emigration to Canada and of the actual conditions in so far as it is desirable that such should be known to persons about to sever their connection with one country for the purpose of taking up residence in another.

(2) The steamship companies which have been in any way responsible for the recruiting of emigrants have been given to understand that the governments of Great Britain and Canada and the authorities in India do not view with favor any action on their part calculated to foster further emigration from India to Canada.

(3) The power of the steamship companies to ignore the wishes of the Governments has been rendered largely inoperative by the application to emigration from India of the regulation of the Dominion government prohibiting the landing in Canada of immigrants who come to this country otherwise than by a continuous journey from the country of which they are natives or citizens and upon through tickets purchased in that country.

(4) The Indian emigration act (XXI, of 1883) was framed with the view of affording protection to the natives of India who, at the instance of private individuals or corporations, might be induced to leave India to work under indenture or agreements for hire in other parts of the Empire or in foreign lands. It was found that, once away from India, advantage was not infrequently taken of the necessities of this class of labor and that individuals were subjected to great hardships and privations. To remedy this the act provides that emigration in the sense of the departure by sea out of British India of a native of India under an agreement to labor for hire in some country beyond the limits of India other than the island of Ceylon or the Straits Settlements is not lawful except to countries specified in the schedule of the act "and to such other countries as the governor in council from time to time by notification declares to be countries to which emigration is lawful." Every such notification "must contain a declaration that the governor-general in council has been duly certified that the government of the country to which the notification refers has made such laws and other provisions as the governor-general in council thinks sufficient for the protection of emigrants to that country during their residence therein.”

It is therefore to be said that emigration (in the sense defined) to Canada from India is not lawful under the Indian emigration act and can not be made lawful except through the action of the Canadian government in making the necessary laws, to the satisfaction of the government of India, for the protection of Indian emigrants.

It will therefore be seen that of itself the Indian emigration act solves the problem so far as it relates to the importation of contract labor from India to Canada, and this is the one class to be feared, since without some agreement to labor it is hardly to be expected that the number of immigrants will be large. To render this law wholly effective so far as Canada is concerned, it would be sufficient to prohibit the landing in Canada of immigrants who come in violation of the laws of their own country.

(5) With the danger of the importation of native labor under contract or agreement removed, there remains for consideration only such classes as might

desire to emigrate from India of their own initiative or as having left India and gone elsewhere-to China, for example-might be induced, by agreement or otherwise, to emigrate to this country. To the immigration of the latter class the regulation of the Canadian government requiring a continuous passage from the country of which they are natives or citizens and upon through tickets should prove an effective bar, whilst as to the former the same regulation, the warnings issued by the government of India, and the greater care which it may reasonably be expected the steamship companies will exercise in the future, should prove a real deterrent. It will be apparent, moreover, that, having regard for the policy of the India government in the protection of the natives as set forth in the Indian emigration act, the government of Canada is fully justified in requiring, as has been its policy, of persons coming to Canada without a knowledge of conditions and with manners and customs wholly different from our own, especially where such persons are ignorant of our language and are without any agreement guaranteeing work, that they should, for their own protection, be in possession of a sum of money sufficient to insure their not being reduced to a condition of mendicancy or becoming a public charge. The regulation at present in force, requiring all immigrants to have in their possession a sum of at least $25, constitutes a requirement which, for the protection of the Indians themselves, is an obvious necessity. Should this amount prove inadequate, it could be increased.a

There is thus in the last analysis a dovetailing, so to speak, of Great Britain's well-known policy in the protection of the native races of India and Canada's policy in the matter of immigration.

Whilst effective as a means of restricting a class of immigration unsuited to Canada, it will be apparent that the arrangement as herein set forth is one which finds its justification on grounds of humanity as strong as are the economic reasons by which it is also supported. The liberty of British subjects in India is safeguarded rather than curtailed, the traditional policy of Britain in respect to the native races of India has been kept in mind, and the necessity of enacting legislation either in India or in Canada which might appear to reflect on fellow British subjects in another part of the Empire has been wholly avoided. Nothing could be more unfortunate or misleading than that the impression should go forth that Canada, in seeking to regulate a matter of domestic concern, is not deeply sensible of the obligation which citizenship within the Empire entails. It is a recognition of this obligation which has caused her to adopt a course which, by removing the possibilities of injustice and friction, is best calculated to strengthen the bonds of association with the several parts and to promote the greater harmony of the whole. In this, as was to be expected, Canada has had not only the sympathy and understanding, but the hearty cooperation, of the authorities in Great Britain, and India as well.

It will be noted that while Hindus are not specifically excluded, or, in fact, ever mentioned, in the Canadian immigration act or orders of the governor in council relative thereto, practically insurmountable barriers have been erected against them. The most formidable of these is the application to Hindu immigrants of section 38 of the immigration act of 1910, which provides that any immigrants who have come to Canada otherwise than by continuous journey from the country of which they are natives or citizens, and upon through tickets purchased in that country, may be excluded." The law of 1906 as amended in 1907 and 1908 contained a similar provision. The peculiar efficiency of this provision is due to the fact that there is no means by which a continuous journey from India to Canada can be accomplished.

a The amount of money required in the case of Hindus was increased from $25 to $200 by an order in council dated June 3, 1908. (Appendix B, No. V, p. 99.)

See Appendixes A, p. 83, sec. 30; F, p. 117, sec. 38; B, No. III, p. 98; and G, No. IV, p. 142.

CHAPTER VI.

FOREIGN ELEMENTS IN THE POPULATION OF CANADA.

The native and foreign born population of Canada in census years since 1871 is shown in the following table:

TABLE 45.-Population of Canada, by general nativity, census years 1871 to 1901.

The table indicates that immigration, or at least permanent immigration, to Canada in the thirty years preceding 1901 was relatively small compared with more recent years, for in 1901 the total foreignborn population present was only 93,501 more than in 1871. There was an increase of 54.1 per cent in the total population during the period mentioned, but to this increase the foreign-born element contributed only 4.9 per cent. In the absence of data regarding children born in Canada to foreign-born parents during the time under consideration it is impossible to determine just what effect immigration has had on the total increase.

The total population of Canada by country of birth in the census years 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901, and also the per cent that the persons of each nativity formed of the total population in those years, is shown in the following table:

TABLE 46.-Population of Canada, by country of birth, census years 1871 to 1901.

TABLE 46.-Population of Canada, by country of birth, census years 1871 to 1901-Continued.

The following table shows the total population of Canada in 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901, with the foreign-born element classified according to the general classification of immigrants to Canada previously referred to:

TABLE 47.—Population of Canada, by general nativity and country of birth, census years 1871 to 1901.

b Less than 0.05 per cent.

c Includes Belgium, Holland, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

d Includes Austria-Hungary, Italy, Roumania, Russia, Turkey, and Syria.

e Includes China, India, and Japan.

f Includes Australasia, Newfoundland, at sea, and other.