CANADIAN-AMERICAN RECIPROCITY.
LTO THE ED/TOR Or THE " SPECTATOR." J SIR,—In reading your issue of March 4th I came across a letter by "Emile," under the above title, in which he states, "even to-day half the population of the Western Provinces is American by birth or adoption." I wish to deny absolutely such a statement, and for that purpose I will not give you my own assertion, as "Exile " has apparently done, but I quote you the figures taken from "The Canada Year Book," 1908, issued by Mr. Archibald Blue, Chief Officer, Census and Statistics Office, Ottawa, May, 1909. I give you first the population for the whole of Canada at the various Census years, and how principally constituted by birthplace. I then give you the population in the Provinces under the various Census years, and how constituted by birthplace. Lastly I give you the immigration figures from 1905 to 1909 inclusive— the book does not give the years from 1902 to 1904 inclusive— but you can form an idea from what has been given you here both before and after those years, by which you will thus see how absolutely wrong " Exile " is in his statement.—I am, Sir, &c., AN ENGLISHMAN. Montreal, Canada. March 20th, 1911.
[Reasons of space unfortunately prevent us publishing the long and elaborate table accompanying this letter. It, how- ever, abundantly establishes the fact that in 1901, the last year for which the Census figures are available, the population of American origin was a very small proportion indeed of the total, even in Western Provinces. For example, in Manitoba there were 225,200 people of Canadian, 30,600 of British, and only 6,900 of American origin. No doubt the proportion is higher now, but out of a total immigration into Canada of 148,700 persons in 1908, only 57,200 caine from the United States.—ED. Spectator.]
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