Commercial Geography Part 24

The northerly region of Canada produces furs and pelts. As long ago as 1670, Charles II. granted to Prince Rupert and a stock company the lands comprising a very large part of Canada around Hudson Bay, and secured to them the sole right to trap the fur-bearing animals of the region. In time the company, known as the Hudson Bay Company, transferred all its lands to Canada, and out of the domain thus annexed various provinces and unorganized districts have been created.

The company now exists as a corporation for the merchandise of furs. For the greater part, Indians are employed as hunters and trappers, and the pelts are collected at the various trading-posts, known as "houses" and "factories," to be sent to the head-quarters of the company near Winnipeg. Nearly every Arctic animal furnishes a merchantable pelt. The cheaper skins are made into garments in Canada and the United States; those commonly cla.s.sed as furs are sold in London. Several other fur companies are also operating in Canada.

The fisheries of the coast-waters and the Great Lakes are among the most productive in the world. Everything within the three-mile limit of the sh.o.r.e is reserved for Canadian fishermen. The smaller bays and coves are reserved also within the three-mile limit. Beyond this limit the waters are open to all, and a fleet of swift gun-boats is necessary to prevent illicit fis.h.i.+ng. Salmon, cod, lobsters, and herring form most of the catch, amounting in value to upward of twenty million dollars yearly.

The output of minerals varies from year to year; since 1900 it has averaged about sixty million dollars a year. The gold product const.i.tutes nearly one-half and the coal about one-sixth of the total amount. Nickel, petroleum, silver, and lead form the rest of the output.

Iron ore is abundant, but it is not at present available for production on account of the distance from transportation.

Commerce is facilitated by about eighteen thousand miles of railway and nearly three thousand miles of ca.n.a.l and improved river-navigation. One ocean-to-ocean railway, the Canadian Pacific, is in operation; another, an extension of the Grand Trunk, is under way. The rapids and shoals of the St. Lawrence and Richelieu Rivers are surmounted by ca.n.a.ls and locks. Welland Ca.n.a.l connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the Canadian lock at St. Mary's Falls joins Lake Superior to Lake Huron. By means of the lakes and ca.n.a.ls vessels drawing fourteen feet may load at Canadian ports and discharge at Liverpool.

The harbors of the Atlantic coast have two great drawbacks--ice and high tides. Some of the steams.h.i.+p lines make Portland, Me., their winter terminus. The Pacific coast harbors are not obstructed by ice. An attempt has been made in the direction of using Hudson Bay and Strait as a grain-route, but the difficulties of navigation are very great and the route is open only two months of the year.

Practically all the foreign trade is carried on with Great Britain and the United States. The trade with each aggregates about one hundred and fifty million dollars yearly. The exports are lumber and wood-pulp, cheese and dairy products, wheat and flour, beef-cattle, hog products, fish, and gold-quartz. The chief imports are steel, wool, sugar, and cotton manufactures.

Politically, Canada consists of a number of provinces, each with the usual corps of elective officers. A governor-general appointed by the Crown of Great Britain is the chief executive officer.

=Nova Scotia.=--This province is prominent on account of its coal and iron, and also because of its geographic position. The iron and coal are utilized in steel smelteries and rolling-mills, gla.s.s-factories, sugar-refineries, and textile-mills. It is one of the few localities in the eastern part of the continent yielding gold. _Halifax_, the capital, has one of the best harbors of the Atlantic coast of North America; it is not often obstructed by ice, and is the chief winter port. Halifax is the princ.i.p.al British naval station of North America, and this fact adds much to its commercial activity.

=Prince Edward Island.=--The industries of this province are mainly connected with the coast-fisheries. During the summer the island is visited by thousands of fis.h.i.+ng-vessels for the purpose of preparing the catch for market. Fertilizer manufactured from the refuse is an incidental product. _Charlottetown_ is the capital.

=New Brunswick.=--Fisheries and forest products are both resources of this province. Coal is mined at _Grand Lake_, and an excellent lime for export to the United States is made at _St. John_. Lumber, wood-pulp, wooden sailing-vessels, cotton textiles, and structural steel for s.h.i.+p-building are manufactured. A s.h.i.+p railway, seventeen miles long, across the isthmus that connects this province to Nova Scotia, is under construction. _St. John_, the capital, is the chief seat of trade.

=Quebec.=--This province was once a possession of France, and in the greater part of it French customs are yet about as prevalent as they were a century ago; moreover, the French population is increasing rapidly. The English-speaking population lives mainly along the Vermont border. As a rule the English are the manufacturers and traders; the French people are the farmers.

_Montreal_ is the head of navigation of the St. Lawrence for ocean steams.h.i.+ps. It is also the chief centre of manufactures. These are mainly sugar, rubber goods, textiles, light steel wares, and leather.

The last-named goes almost wholly to Great Britain; the rest are consumed in Canada and the border American States. _Quebec_ is the most strongly fortified city of the Dominion.

=Ontario.=--This province is a peninsula bordered by Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Farming is the chief employment, and barley is an important product. Most of it is used in the manufacture of malt, and "Canada malt" is regarded as the best. Several of the trunk railways whose terminals are in the United States traverse this peninsula. _Toronto_, the capital and commercial centre, is one of the most rapidly growing cities of North America. _Hamilton_ owes its existence to its harbor and position at the head of Lake Ontario. _Ottawa_ is the capital of the Dominion. At _Sudbury_ are the nickel-mines that are among the most productive in the world.

=Manitoba=, =Saskatchewan=, and =Alberta=.--These provinces include the level prairie lands of the Saskatchewan and the Red River of the North.

They comprise the great grain-field of Canada. A considerable part of the wheat-growing lands are yet unproductive owing to the lack of railways. Much of the product is carried to market by the Canadian Pacific and its feeders, but a considerable part finds its way to the Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads. The coal of Manitoba and Alberta is an important fuel supply not only to the provinces and states surrounding, but to the railways above named. A good quality of anthracite coal is also mined in Alberta. _Winnipeg_, the metropolis of the region, is one of the great railway centres of Canada.

=British Columbia.=--British Columbia, the Pacific coast province, has several resources of great value. The gold mines led to its settlement and commercial opening. The salmon-fisheries are surpa.s.sed by those of the United States only. The beds of lignite coal have produced a very large part of the coal used in the Pacific coast States. The forests produce lumber for s.h.i.+pment both to the Atlantic coast of America and the Pacific coast of Asia.

_Vancouver_, the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is connected with various Asian ports by fast steams.h.i.+ps. _Nanaimo_, _Wellington_, and _Commox_ are the centres of the coal-mining industry. The copper-mines at _Rossland_ produce most of the copper mined in Canada.

=Newfoundland.=--Although a Crown possession, Newfoundland is not a member of the Dominion of Canada. The extensive fisheries are its chief resource. The Labrador coast, which is used as a resort for curing and preserving the catch, is attached to Newfoundland for the purpose of government. _St. Johns_ is the capital.

The islands of Miquelon and St. Pierre, south of Newfoundland, are a French possession. Fis.h.i.+ng is the ostensible industry, but a great deal of smuggling is carried on.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What, if any, climatic or topographic boundaries separate Canada and the United States?

Which of the two countries is the more fortunately situated for the production of food-stuffs?

Which will support the larger population?--why?

The harbors of the Labrador coast and of Cape Breton Island are superior to those of the British Islands, situated in about the same lat.i.tude; why do the latter have a commerce far greater than that of the former?

Compare the industries of the eastern, middle, and western regions of Canada with the corresponding regions of the United States.

FOR COLLATERAL REFERENCE

Statesman's Year-Book.

Statistical Year-Book of Canada (official government publication, Ottawa).

CHAPTER XXII

MEXICO--CENTRAL AMERICA--WEST INDIES

Mexico and the Central American states occupy the narrow, southerly part of North America. Structurally they consist of a plateau about a mile high, bordered on each side by a low coast-plain. The table-land, or _tierra templada_, has about the same climate as southern California; the low coast-plains, or _tierra caliente_, are tropical.

=Mexico.=--The United States of Mexico is the most important part of this group. The people are of mixed Spanish and Indian blood, but there are many families of pure Castilian descent. The latter, in general, are the landed proprietors; the former const.i.tute the tradesmen, herders, and peons. There is also a large unproductive cla.s.s, mainly of Indians, who are living in a savage state. In general the manners and customs are those of Spain.

The agricultural pursuits are in a backward condition, partly for the want of good system and an educated people, but mainly for lack of the capital and engineering skill to construct the irrigating ca.n.a.ls that are needed to make the land productive. Maize, rice, sugar (cane and panocha), and wheat are grown for home consumption.

The agricultural products which connect Mexico with the rest of the world are sisal-hemp (henequin), coffee, logwood, and fruit. Sisal-hemp is grown in the state of Yucatan, and has become one of its chief financial resources. Oaxaca coffee is usually sold as a "Mocha" berry.

The logwood goes mainly to British textile makers; and the fruit, chiefly oranges and bananas, finds a market in the large cities of the United States, to which large consignments of vanilla and tropical woods are also sent. Cattle are grown on more than twenty thousand ranches, and the greater part are sent alive to the markets of the United States.

The native long-horn stock is giving place to improved breeds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MEXICO]

Gold and silver are the products that have made Mexico famous, and the mines have produced a total of more than three billion dollars' worth of precious metal. The native methods of mining have always been primitive, and low-grade ores have been neglected. In recent years American and European capital has been invested in low-grade mines, and the bullion production has been about doubled in value; it is now about one hundred million dollars yearly. Iron ore is abundant, and good coal exists.

The manufactures, at present of little importance, are growing rapidly.

The cotton-mills consume the home product and fill their deficiency from the Texas crop. All the finer textiles, however, are imported. Most of the commodities are supplied by the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, the first-named having about half the trade. Most of the hardware and machinery is purchased in the United States.

Railway systems, with American terminal points at El Paso, San Antonio, and New Orleans, extend from the most productive parts of the country.

One of the most important railways crosses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and, in order to encourage commerce, the harbors at Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz have been deepened and improved. This interoceanic route is destined to become a very important factor in commerce. It shortens the route between European ports and San Francis...o...b.. six thousand miles, and between New York and San Francis...o...b.. twelve hundred miles.[57]

_Mexico_, the capital, is the financial and commercial centre. _Vera Cruz_ and _Tampico_ are connected with the capital by railway, but both have very poor port facilities. Steams.h.i.+p lines connect the former with New York, New Orleans, Havana, and French ports. It is the chief port of the country. _Matamoros_ on the American frontier has a considerable cattle-trade. The crop of sisal-hemp is s.h.i.+pped mainly from _Progresso_ and _Merida_. _Acapulco_, _Manzanillo_, and _Mazatlan_ for want of railway connections have but little trade. The first-named is one of the best harbors in the world. _Guadalajara_ has important textile and pottery manufactures.

=The Central American States.=--The physical features and climate of these states resemble those of Mexico. The Spanish-speaking people live in the table-lands, where the climate is healthful. The coast-plain of the Atlantic is forest-covered and practically uninhabited save by Indians. Guatemala is the most important state. A railway from _Puerto Barrios_, its Atlantic port, through its capital, _Guatemala_, to its Pacific port, _San Jose_, is nearly completed. British Honduras is a British territory acquired mainly for the mahogany product, which is s.h.i.+pped from _Belize_. Honduras has great resources in mines, cultivable lands, and forests, but these are undeveloped. Salvador is the smallest but most progressive state.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROUTE OF PROPOSED NICARAGUA Ca.n.a.l.]

Nicaragua is politically of importance on account of the possibilities of an interoceanic ca.n.a.l. A treaty for this ca.n.a.l, involving both Nicaragua and Great Britain, has already been signed by the powers interested. Many engineers regard the Nicaragua as preferable to that of the Panama ca.n.a.l. The shorter distance between New York and the Pacific ports of the United States, a saving of about four hundred miles, is in its favor. The longer distance of transit and the dangers of navigating Lake Nicaragua are against it. Costa Rica is favorably situated for commerce, but its resources are not developed. A railway from _Puerto Limon_ is nearly completed to _Puenta Arenas_, an excellent harbor on the Pacific side.

Coffee, hides, mahogany, and fruit are the only products of importance that connect these states with the rest of the world. About half the trade goes to the United States. The Germans and English supply a considerable part of the textiles and manufactured articles. The coffee of Costa Rica is a very superior product. Much of the mahogany and forest products goes to Great Britain. Fruit-steamers call at the Atlantic ports for bananas, which are sold in New Orleans and the Atlantic cities.

=The West Indies.=--The climate and productions of these islands are tropical in character. Sugar, fruit, coffee, tobacco, and cacao are the leading products. From the stand-point of the planter, the sugar industry has been a history of misfortunes. The abolition of slavery ruined the industry in many of the islands belonging to Great Britain.