“‘Rejoice with trembling,’ may we think of this,
When life’s full cup is with Thy bounty crowned,
That so we be not blinded by our bliss,
Or fall asleep upon ‘enchanted ground.’”
--_Barton._
It seems appropriate, in closing this record of my first twelve years
of missionary labor, that something should be said concerning the
progress made in the Indian work in British Columbia, as well as in the
settlement and development of this one-time colony, but now the richest
and most wonderful province, from the standpoint of natural resources
and marvellous possibilities, in the Dominion of Canada.
It is only a short time since British Columbia was described as “a sea
of mountains,” uninhabited and uninhabitable except at long distances;
covered with forests, a great part of which were inaccessible; its
rivers filled with fish, and its river beds streaked with gold.
The marvellous resources of the country were little dreamed of by
Canadians--as the inhabitants of Ontario and Quebec were alone
called--when I reached home on this first visit. Speaking to large
audiences in the leading cities and towns in the East, of the great
cedars and firs, which attain immense proportions, “sometimes towering
three hundred feet in the air, and having a base circumference of from
thirty to fifty feet”--of whole forests of these magnificent trees
that would average one hundred and fifty feet clear of limbs, and five
to six feet in diameter--the people appeared incredulous. And when
I turned to the subject of fish and told them I had seen in a small
stream flowing into the Fraser River the large salmon so numerous that
in forcing their way up the stream they had rubbed off their fins and
tails, my audience looked at one another. When I went on and told them
of having seen a wave come in at Departure Bay, on the east coast of
Vancouver Island, and deposit bushels of herring on the shore, the
preachers on the platform pulled my coat and said, “Oh, Crosby, that is
an awful fish story!” But when I went on and spoke of crossing a little
stream in the upper Chilliwack Valley, and of my little pony stepping
on some of the beautiful silver salmon that lay thick in the stream,
and that they jumped about so violently as to nearly knock the animal
off his feet, the people laughed outright, “Oh! Oh! Oh!” and I knew
they did not believe me.
To-day, however, the eyes of the financial world are turned towards the
profitable investments in British Columbia. An ever-increasing number
of companies are establishing great saw-mills, and shipping lumber to
all parts of the world. Whereas once the Indian bands alone congregated
at the mouths of the great rivers during the fishing season, to gather
for their own consumption, now scores of large and magnificently
equipped canneries, employing large numbers of men, line the river
banks, and are engaged in packing salmon of different varieties as
well as other kinds of fish. The mountains in all directions are being
prospected for minerals, and fresh discoveries are being made almost
every day. Agriculture has advanced with the general advancement of
the country, and it is now known that there are millions of acres of
land suitable for cultivation which have not yet been settled upon.
In the raising of fruit, particularly, the opportunity is almost
unlimited, and some day the hillsides and benches which were thought
to be worthless will be planted with orchards. In a recent interview,
the Hon. R. G. Tatlow, Minister of Finance in the local Government, a
gentleman of wide experience and of twenty-six years’ residence in the
province, expressed himself as follows:
“I am satisfied that every industry in British Columbia is only in its
infancy. We have forests illimitable for lumber, land in millions of
acres for agriculture, and the seven thousand miles of shore line are
washed by seas teeming with fish.
“The total production of the province for the year ending June, 1906,
was over $50,000,000.
“Details of this production should be of public interest. Taking,
first, the lumber industry, the value of the lumber cut reached over
$6,500,000. The mineral output of the province was $22,461,325, with
eleven smelters in operation. Agriculture also advanced in common with
other lines of work during the year. The product of provincial farms
and orchards reached the sum of $6,500,000.
“There are splendid opportunities for mixed farming in many sections
of the province. The best evidence of this is the fact that we exported
butter, eggs, poultry and cheese to the value of nearly $2,000,000.
“Horticulture is rapidly coming to the front. It is becoming one of
our most important industries. In 1891 the acreage under fruit was
6,500; ten years later it had only reached 7,500, but advancement has
since been phenomenal. A year ago there were 22,000 acres cultivated by
orchardists and fruit-growers, and I fully believe that by the end of
1906 there will be 40,000 acres used in this manner.
“Fishing, of course, has long been an important item in the commerce of
the province, but even this industry shows signs of great expansion.
The total values from our fisheries amounted to $7,500,000.
“When one considers these facts, can there be the slightest doubt that
the present prosperity will be maintained?”
The future for British Columbia looks very bright, with four
transcontinental railways seeking entrance through her unopened valleys
and stretches of upland to ports on her magnificent shore line; with a
climate unexcelled for variety, from the clear, bracing, dry climate of
the interior to the mild, humid climate of the coast; with her abundant
resources of timber, minerals, fish, farm and orchard; with the
ever-widening market of the Orient, as well as in the great North-West
Provinces, for her products, she must speedily take her place as the
imperial province of our great Dominion.