Travels and experiences in Canada,the Red River territory and the United States

Preface

In giving this, my first work, to the world, I would take the opportunity of thanking the gentlemen connected with the various important newspapers in Europe, and America who, during my travels in America, published my letters in their respective journals, and commented upon their contents with much consideration and kindness. It is not unknown to them, and to a large number of their readers, that I have no pretension to the education of a scholar, although possibly, as far as knowledge of the affairs of my fellow -work men is concerned, I may have as practically useful an education as most men. To those of my readers who do not know me personally, I may briefly state, that my father was, at the time of my birth, a farm labourer in Ireland, and that when I was six years of age, he brought my mother and myself, from Ireland to England, and settled with us a few miles from London, where he followed his old occupation. I was myself employed on a farm as a labourer until the 20th year of my age, when, prompted partly by a desire for novelty and change, and partly by a wish to secure more lucrative -employment I came to London, where I obtained em¬ ployment as a paviours labourer, and I followed that business until I rose to the rank of street mason and paviour. The little learning I may have, has been what I have picked up in my leisure moments ; in other words, I am a selftaught man. I need scarcely state that I make no pre-

VI

PREFACE.

tensions to grammatical perfection or elegance of style ; all I have endeavoured here to do has been to express homely and, as I believe, useful truths in language which, if not highly polished, is, I know, at least intelligible to those for whose benefit this has been written. I am confident, therefore, that my work, if not found wanting in other respects, will receive, in spite of my rough and ready style, favourable consideration at the hands of my readers.

In dedicating this work (by permission) to the Governor General of Canada, I have neither considered his Excel¬ lency’s politics, nor his exalted rank, but have dedicated it to Earl Dufferin because I firmly believe, that he is the right man in the right place, fully understanding his duties and responsibilities, and ever ready and anxious to perform them with credit to himself and benefit to the Canadian people. Nothing can exceed the courtesy extended by him to all classes of the community ; he has ever manifested an earnest desire to assuage injurious dissensions, to unite clashing interests, and to firmly consolidate the union of the various sections of the Canadian Confederation.

I cannot refrain from noticing in this place the generous and patriotic conduct of Mr. James Mulligan, of St. James,. Fort Gary, Manitoba, who, during my stay there, deposited £100 in the Merchant’s Bank of the City of Winnipeg, in the names of Mr. Boyle, Editor of the Irish Canadian , Toronto ; Mr. M. P. Byan, M.P., Montreal ; and Mr. P. F. Johnson, Kanturk, Ireland, as trustees for the assistance of such Irish emigrants to Manitoba as may arrive in that province during the next two years. I trust that the example of Mr. Mulligan will be followed by others of my wealthy countrymen in Canada and the

PREFACE.

Vl l

United States. There can be no more beneficent act of charity than the extension of help in the hour of need to the too often helpless and nearly penniless emigrant. A verv little assistance at a critical moment means often to -emigrants the difference between a life of prosperity and happiness, and a life of abject pauperism and misery. They are alone and in a strange land, and help coming to them there from the hand of a fellow countryman is doubly dear. In aiding their less fortunate countrymen, pros¬ perous Irishmen in Canada and America, should, for the honour of their country, not be behindhand. And now, with many thanks to all my kind friends in Europe, Canada, and the United States, for the hospitality and courtesy I have received at their hands, I venture to issue this account of my experience and travels, trusting it will meet with their approval and receive their support.

PETER O’LEARY.

London.

.

TRAVELS AND EXPERIENCES

IN

CANADA, THE RED RIVER TERRITORY,

AND

THE UNITED STATES.

Chapter I. Why I Went To America

To get information upon any matters requiring special attention has been the ambition of men in all ages, and under all circumstances ; to acquire knowledge of different races and of unknown countries travellers have braved danger and death in a thousand forms ; and when we read of the exploits and achievements of the explorers of distant regions, we are struck with admiration at their courage, endurance and intelligence. Any man who has visited a far off land and on his return diffused the in¬ formation that he derived, has been a public benefactor, because, in a measure he contributed to the knowledge of the people. This is why I have written this book on Canada and the United States, giving an honest opinion from

A workingman’s standpoint

on these countries as fields of emigration for those of the toiling masses who purpose leaving the United Kingdom to seek new homes in other climes. During the last thirty years over four millions left Ireland alone, most of them

B

2foin" to the United States. Looking through the emigration statistics of that country, I find that from 1847 to 1852

IRISH EMIGRATION

nearly doubled that of any other country, the next being that of Germany ; while from England it was comparatively small. Of the emigrants engaged through the instru¬ mentality of the New York Labour Exchange in 1868, 7,397 could not read or write ; the most of those emigrants were from the United Kingdom, as the Germans generally prefer to go West ; their ignorance denotes the low status of the working-classes in Great Britain and Ireland, countries which, from time to time, have been loudly pro¬ claimed the most enlightened in the world. With un¬ bounded territories and unlimited resources this influx of hard-working men was of the greatest benefit to the United States, and the result was that the Republic rapidly rose in the scale of nations, although the govern¬ ment of that country has not acted right to those people who went to make a home under its flag — but more of that in another chapter. England has more colonies and dependencies than any other country, and it is only natural that she would try to direct the current of emi¬ gration to their shores ; the colonies themselves being very anxious to get settlers. Steam navigation, the electric telegraph and joenny newspapers led to a diffusion of knowledge between different countries and peoples, this materially assisted emigration, because such knowledge enlarged their views and expanded their ideas; but it is only recently that the

PLAN OF DELEGATING MEN

from various organisations to report upon the prospects that awrait workingmen in the new countries has been thought of; this was really a step in the right direction. During the last few years numbers of trade unions have been formed and found exceedingly beneficial to the toiling classes, because the}^ taught self-reliance, unity and cohesion, and had a properly organised directing power.

THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS’ UNION is the last, and perhaps the most important of these

WHY I WENT TO AMERICA.

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O

"bodies, as it lias done more to call attention to the grievances under which the people laboured than any other of these organisations, and many men of position and wealth have given it their support on that account. Some two years ago the council at Leamington determined to send a couple of

DELEGATES TO IRELAND,

to endeavour to form a union in that country, as well as to report on the general condition of the labourers. My¬ self and Mr. Gardiner were selected for that purpose. Accordingly, we landed in Dublin in May, 1873, and during the summer we travelled through the counties of Limerick, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, and Waterford ; numerous meetings were held, and a deal of information given to the public on the wretched condition of a class, the worst fed, the worst-clad and worst housed probably in Europe. The cabins or houses in which the labourers live are entirely unfit for human habitation, the walls made of mud or clay, about six feet high and often not so much ; the roof, of rotten thatch ; no windows, except one or two immoveable panes of glass fixed in the wall to admit light ; the floor of earth, moist and unwholesome, no sanitary arrangements; no rooms or separate sleeping places for the different members of the family; no plastering or whitewash on the walls or roof, scarcely any furniture, except a few basins, a pot, and some stools; the bed, a heap of straw in a corner, and the covering of the scantiest kind ; the above is no fancy description of

AN IRISH PEASANT’S HOME

in the nineteenth century, their being 95,000 of such homes in Ireland. Their food is also of a corresponding nature, being either potatoes or Indian cornuneal, boiled into stir-about — without milk, butter or sugar — and fre¬ quently not enough, even of that. In evidence of this fact I will quote a passage from a leading article of the “ Flag of Ireland” newspaper, of the 23rd of August, 1873, which says, “ The condition of this class of our people is admittedly wretched, perhaps in no country is there to he found a more famished and forlorn human being than the farm labourer of Ireland, he is ill-paid, half-starved and

WHY I WENT TO AMERICA.

miserably housed; his wages are insufficient for themaintenance of a single individual in anything like comfort, still less a whole family ; his children consequently are ragged and without shoes; in the coldest weather he is himself half - naked, and his wife shrinks from making her appearance before strangers; the bounden duties of religion are often neglected, because the family are in a state of semi-nudity and ashamed to be seen among their more favoured fellow - creatures ; he is entirely ignorant of any of the world’s comforts, his dwelling at once strikes the eye of the stranger with horror — nay, with doubt, as to whether it is the abode of human beings; — at most there are but two rooms, and frequently only one, in the miserable hut, and into this apartment is huddled every living thing belong¬ ing to the weary toiler: the husband, the wife, the chil¬ dren, the pig, the cock and hens, and perhaps a donkey, or a goat, all dwell in the one solitary chamber. The extent to which this habit

DEMORALISES TTIE LABOURER

cannot be easily measured, the delicacies of better society cannot possibly be observed under such circumstances, and the moral sentiments are sure to be deprived of that tone which purifies man and elevates him above the brute.” With a state of things like the above it is no wonder that the only

AMBITION OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE

is to leave the country, and this they are doing at an enormous rate. Although the mission of myself and Mr. Gardiner did not end in a union like that at Leamington, still a great deal of good was done ; the newspapers took up the subject and discussed it in leading articles ; prominent men wrote numerous letters, each giving his own views; and a general feeling in favour of the unfortunate labourer was created, that I am glad to say has not yet died out. Political economists are divided in their opinions about

THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

being applied to labour. Some asserting that the work? man has a right to participate to a reasonable extent in

WHY I WENT TO AMERICA.

the wealth and prosperity of the country, others saying that the capitalist has a right to get cheap labour if he can, and certainly this was the reply of the farmers of England when the union applied for higher wages for its members. Acting on the maxim that “ Method is the Soul of Business,” the union determined to organise a large emigration, and thus lower the supply and increase the demand, and for this purpose the president,

MR. JOSEPH ARCH

visited Canada and the United States in the autumn of 1873. On his return a great many labourers went to the Dominion, where they were well received, and since then thousands of stalwart Englishmen have left their country, never to return ; indeed, it is only since the formation of the union that anything like a large emigration from England set in, but from Ireland it has been going on for at least thirty years. During the ten years, from 1845 to 1854, one million five hundred and twelve thousand one hundred Irish landed in the United States, all those people paying their own passages, or else friends in America doing so for them, there being then no emigra¬ tion clubs or societies as there are now in England. A few years ago,

MR. JOHN FRANCIS MAGUIRE, M.P.

for the City of Cork, travelled in Canada and the States, and on his return published his great work — “ The Irish in America” — which went through several editions. This was the first time that the Irish in the United Kingdom had any information about their countrymen on the other side of the Atlantic. Although Mr. Maguire’s book was beautifully written and its effect beneficial, it was not a book of general information for an emigrant ; Mr. Arch was the first to undertake that dut}r on behalf of the English labourers’ union, and as example is stronger than precept, it was determined by some gentlemen in Ireland that a workingman should proceed to America to get as much information as possible for the emigrating classes. The mission was offered to me by the hon. secretary,

MR. JOHNSON, OF KANTURK,

G

WHY I WENT TO AMERICA.

wlio has done more for the elevation of the farm labourers of Ireland than any living man, for whilst others were talking, he was acting, and energy is the key to success in any undertaking. I accepted the duty, on condition that I should be permitted to remain in America during the winter, so as to know as much as possible about the cold season ; I also at the same time determined to see work¬ ing-class life in all its aspects, and to travel as much as possible through those sections of the country that are held forth in the United Kingdom as eligible places for the people to go to. Without egotism, I flatter myself that I have seen as much of the country and inhabitants, in the same length of time, as any man that ever went out. I saw public life in hotels, and private life in the mansions of the wealthy and cultured, as well as in the homes of the poor man, and in the log huts of the settler. I have seen American civilisation in every phase, from the most refined in the large cities, to that of the Indian tribes inhabiting the region north of Lake Superior, or the fertile plains of Manitoba. I have

COLLECTED EVERY POSSIBLE INFORMATION

about the prospect awaiting the emigrant, and to do so I have travelled some thousands of miles, have endured some hardships and privations, and to place the knowledge I have of these matters in a readable form before the public is my ambition. I do not want to write anything sen¬ sational or to draw upon imagination for subjects, my object is to tell a plain concise and unvarnished story of my experience and impressions, and to add to the in¬ telligence of the masses about that great Western World which for generations to come will absorb into its bosom the surplus population of Europe. That there is

ROOM FOR MILLIONS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF

the Atlantic there cannot be a doubt, and every infor¬ mation bearing on our cousins across the ocean must be interesting to a large section of the public, and to collect that information I visited Canada and the United States.

i

Chapter II. From London To Derry

Having received credentials and letters of introduction to influential people in the Dominion, I determined to travel with as little encumbrance as possible, all my wardrobe and papers being packed in a small carpet bag and valise, so that I might be my own porter in case of emergency. I left Euston Square Station for Dublin, on the morning of the 18th of May, 1874. Any one seeing from the railway carnage the grand mansions, lovely villas, fine jiarks, excellent farms, and beautiful lawns and gardens of the wealthy, could not well imagine how there could be

POVERTY, WRETCHEDNESS, AND IGNORANCE

in such a country, but that there is, no one can doubt, and if they do, let such a person visit one of the “ Allan” Line of Canadian steamships on her departure from Liverpool, where he will see the

AGRICULTURAL LABOURER

and his family, after years of unceasing toil, in a state of destitution, leaving his country, and in the majority of cases the passage being paid for him, as he has scarcely money enough to purchase the necessary clothing.

The North - Western Railway between London and Holyhead passes through every class of scenery. Here a lovely valley, covered with splendid vegetation ; there a hill, crowned with a ruin of some feudal castle or ancient fortress ; now the train dashing over some river, im¬ mortalised by poet and historian. At length we reach Crewe, a wonder in itself, from the great number of trains

FROM LONDON TO DERRY.

passing through it daily. Shortly after we cross into North Wales, the scene is superbly grand ; the sea on our right, the Welsh mountains on our left; through tunnels and over the stupendous Britannia bridge, that spans the Menai Straits, which divide the

ISLE OF ANGLESEY

from the main land. This sacred island of the ancient Druids looks comparatively poor, yet it is evident there is more equality among the people than in any part of England ; there is a sameness and air of comfort about the houses, that is not to be seen in this country ; besides, there appears to be a bit of land attached to each dwelling, either to support a cow or to cultivate, as the owner thinks tit.

We arrived in Holyhead at six o’clock in the evening, and had to wait there until twelve for the North Wall boat. The town is built on the projection of a mountain, and appears to be more or less dependent on the port and railway for its business ; the houses are small, but all look neat and clean. At last we were on board of the boat, and at midnight were steaming out of the harbour ; the night was very cold and

A DECK PASSAGE TO DUBLIN

was anything but pleasant. I am surprised that there has not been some legislation to regulate the passage between England and Ireland, as at present it is a disgrace. We have Acts of Parliament to protect steerage passengers on emigrant ships; we have Acts of Parliament protecting the very poorest of the people in common lodging-houses ; we have an Act of Parliament regulating the labour of women and children in factories, and we have an Act of Parliament to prevent poisoning by adulteration ; but an Act to compel the steamboat lines, between England and Ireland, to provide something like decent accommodation for steerage passengers is as necessary as any one of those measures. I have crossed the Channel by four different routes, and their arrangements for steerage passengers are all wretched, in fact, inhuman ; women and children have to stow themselves away on deck among cows and pigs, as best they can. There are no female stewards for the

FROM LONDON TO DERRY.

third class, and there is an indiscrimate mixing of the sexes ; sea-sick women and half drunken drovers huddled together in any nook or corner where they can find room. Surely it is time this abominable state of things was done away with by the strong hand of the law. We made the passage in six hours.

THE ENTRANCE TO DUBLIN BAY

is magnificent, the Hill of Howth on the right, the watering places of Bray and Kingstown on the left, and in the background the high ridge of the Wicklow mountains. The sun had just risen and reflected in the blue waters of the bay ; the dark brown mountains on both sides of the entrance, the villas and mansions of the gentry scattered here and there, made up a glorious scene, and one not easily forgotten. As we steamed up the Liffey we passed Poolbeg, the Pigeon-house fort, the historic shore of

CLONTARF,

the famous battle-field on which the Irish King Bryan Boiroimhe defeated the Danes, on Good Friday, 1034. On that memorable day 14,000 Danes fell, as well as the two sons of the King of Denmark, Gurth and Sitric. The Irish army also suffered severely, having lost 8,000 men, besides the heroic old king and his son, Prince Murroagha, or Morgan O’Brien, it is recorded of the Prince that his right arm was swollen from the continous swinging of his axe. This action was one of the decisive battles of the world, as it destroyed for ever the Danish power in Ireland, but it paved the way for the Normans, as a number of aspirants to the throne sprang up, the royal line of the O’Brien’s being nearly all killed at Clontarf, this weakened the Irish power on account of the contention for the sovereign authority which ensued.

The steamboat came alongside the quay at the North Wall, where we disembarked and very glad we were to do so, as myself, and the other third-class passengers were trembling with the cold. Dublin has been so often written about by tourists, newspaper correspondents and others, that it is unnecessary for me to say much about it, but as various people will see the same object from d if-

FROM LONDON TO DERRY.

ferent standpoints, I take the liberty of giving my im¬ pressions of

A CITY THAT OUGHT TO BE THE METROPOLIS OF A NATION,

but is only that of a province. Any one who has seen the bustle and business of an English or Canadian town, would be surprised at the want of either in Dublin. Here all the railway systems are concentrated, yet there does not seem to be much traffic in the streets or along the wharfs; there are scarcely any four-wheeled vehicles used in the transit of goods, a striking evidence that there are no heavy manufactures of any sort; it is true there are some very fine buildings, but they were all erected when Dublin was the seat of an Irish Parliament, the Custom House, the Post Office, the Law Courts, the Exchange, the Bank of Ireland (formerly the Parliament House), and Trinity College, structures which would adorn any capital in Europe, but, on the other hand, an air of decay seems to overhang the entire city. In Dublin there are a great many whiskey shops and public-houses, which must be

A SOURCE OF POVERTY AND CRIME,

and, in my opinion, the sooner a large number of them are shut up the better. This is a hard sentence against a trade licensed by the State and returning to it immense revenues, but I am fully impressed with its truth, my experience teaching me that wherever they abound thepoorer the place, and that they are the greatest drawback to the well-being of a community, certainly if they are any benefit at all, Dublin is pretty well blessed or cursed with

them, as the case maybe. Centuries ago a feudal baron would carry fire and sword into a town or territory, he would kill and bum on every hand, and often not spare age or sex ;

then, when the fear of an offended Creator would creep on him with old age, he would found a monastery and endow it lavishly, or else build a splendid church, or perhaps do some other pious act to cover a multitude of sins ; this is almost the case with

DISTILLERS AND BREWERS

in our own day, as most of them affect philanthropy in some way ; one preaches to a Sunday school, another gives

FROM LONDON TO DERRY.

liberally to the Society of Railway Servants’, others expend large sums in re-building and embellishing churches and chapels, but it is doubtful whether they ever consider the wretched creatures who fill the prisons, the workhouses, and the lunatic asylums, or the squalor, poverty, and crime that stalk abroad through the consumption of the articles they manufacture ; truly charity covers a multitude of sins and it has need to do so, whilst our brewers and distillers availing themselves of this promise, grow rich by making others poor indeed.

There are some very nice places around Dublin, such as Kingstown, Bray, Rathgar, &c. ; the Phoenix Park and the national cemeterv of

GLASNEVIN

are well worth a visit; the O'Connell monument is a piece of magnificent woi'kmanship and an evidence of the respect his countrymen had for the great tribune ; the monument is an Irish round tower, about 150 feet high and built of solid masonry, the mortuary chapel or mausoleum is in the mound or bank on which the monument is erected, and the massive oak coffin is deposited in a splendid tomb with open ends; the coffins of his two sons, John and Morgan, are laid in a side vault of the mausoleum, all the surroundings are solemn and imposing.

After spending two or three days in Dublin, I started for Londonderry by the Ulster Railway, being accompanied to the station by

MR. SHIEL

the Ontario Emigration Agent. There were a number of emigrants going by the same train, and Mr. Shiel paid every attention to them, such as sending messages home for those that could not write, seeing that their luggage was properly labelled, &c. The railway for some mile& runs along the coast and through places rich in historical associations ; in this respect there seems to be a great connection between the written and the unwritten history of Ireland ; this is seen at once by a person speaking the Irish language, as the names of towns, villages, and plough¬ lands indicate some interesting historic incident, and the traditions and poetry of a bygone age are handed down in

FROM LONDON TO DERRY.

the native tongue even by the illiterate and uneducated peasantry. We reached Derry late in the evenng ; I took charge of my own luggage and carried it to

AN emigrants’ lodging-house,

a few doors from the office of the Messrs. Allan, where I paid sixpence for a bed ; in this house everything was well managed, plenty of boiling water, clean beds, care taken of luggage, and every question answered with courtesy, and this is a deal to a poor stranger. There were a great many emigrants waiting for embarcation, mostl yyoung people. A man from the Allan office called and told them to be ready for the tender at nine o’clock in the morning, and cabin passengers at three in the afternoon. I was up early, determined to see as much as possible of a town so famous in Irish history.

LONDONDERRY.

During O'Neil’s wars with Elizabeth, it was held for that leader by the O'Dohertys’ of Inishowen, and in the great rebellion of 1642 it was garrisoned by a detachment of the Irish forces by order of Owen Roe O'Neil. The Williamite army defended it against the Earl of Tyrconnel, who commanded the army of James the Second. This is one of the most heroic defences recorded in the annals of history. The hero of the Williamite forces was a reverend Mr. Walker, a Presbyterian minister, when afterwards he was mortally wounded at the battle of the Boyne, and the fact was made known to the Prince of Orange, the Prince ex¬ claimed, "Serve him right, what the devil broughthim here ?” this, to say the least, was ungrateful. Derry is a very nice town, clean and well built and picturesquely situated at the head of Lough Foyle ; the old city walls are still intact, and are on an average about 13 feet thick ; there is a monu¬ ment on the wall to the memory of Walker, and a great many old guns are mounted here and there, denoting the .ascendancy of the Orange party in the past. During my rambles I entered into conversation with an old man who was mending the road on the wall. He regretted the im¬ poverished condition of Ireland, said there were scarcely any manufactures and but little trade in Derry, he pointed out to me the triangle, called the Diamond, the scene of

FROM LONDON TO DERRY.

IS so many bloody contentions between two sections of the same people — the Orangemen and the Catholics — he de¬ precated Mr. Gladstone’s policy of disestablishment, as, in his opinion, Protestants only were fit to rule. When parting I offered the old man sixpence which he respect¬ fully declined to accept, saying that he had been a total abstainer for twenty years and had two sons also abstainers, and, through sobriety and economy, he had enough to live on even if he did not do any more work ; and, so I left him thinking that he was in many ways a good man, but that bigotry and religious intollerance had darkened his better nature, and asking myself the question, “ When will mankind learn to adore God without smashing each others skulls for his sake V*