46. COMMERCE, TARIFFS AND TRANSPORTATION. Early Trade Rela In their earlier condition the various provinces of British North America, now form ing the Dominion of Canada, were all alike subject to those general laws which embodied the principles, if not always the practice, of the British colonial system. Owing, however, to variations in location, natural resources and the character of the inhabitants, the commerce and tariffs of the various provinces were more or less adapted to their special conditions.
Before the conquest of Canada the Mari time provinces, under the general name of Nova Scotia, were valued as a market for British goods and as a field for the furnishing of naval supplies, chiefly sailors, fish and timber. Nova Scotia's trade was almost entirely devel oped in connection with New England and the West Indies. Trade with French Canada was illegal, on both sides, and for the most part unprofitable, except for furs in exchange for British manufactures. It was but natural, therefore, that after the conquest of Canada and the independence of the United States, Nova Scotia should still continue to trade chiefly with the New England States and the West Indies, and only to a limited extent with Canada.
Owing to their extensive coast line and nu merous harbors, New Brunswick being also well supplied with river navigation, the question of transportation was long a simple one for the Maritime provinces. For Canada, the Saint Lawrence and its tributaries had always fur nished the great highway of the country. But above Montreal the river was greatly obstructed by rapids, hence the trade to the West was first developed along the easier Ottawa route, which passed by way of Lake Nipissing to the Georgian Bay. There it followed the sheltered northern channel and the Saint Mary River, with a portage at Sault Sainte Marie, up to Lake Superior, and on, by numerous lakes and streams, to the vast Indian country beyond.
The coming of the Loyalists, the first settlers in what is now the province of Ontario, ren dered necessary a regular traffic up the Saint Lawrence and along the lower lakes. From
Montreal to Prescott and Kingston this traffic was carried on by means of various forms of large flat-bottomed boats, known as bateaux, which were towed up the rapids, later with the aid of horses. These bateaux brought up lim ited supplies of European imports, chiefly Brit ish goods, and took down the furs and, so far as their space would allow, the potash and flour of the Western settlements. The Revolutionary War had led to the building of the first British vessels on the lakes. After the peace, several of these became trading vessels and others were built, the number steadily increasing with the growth of the Canadian and American settle ments on either side of the lakes. The pres ence of lake vessels diverted the greater part of the Indian trade from the northern to the southern route.
At first most of the surplus produce of the Western settlements found a ready local market in supplying the temporary needs of new settlers, and in furnishing provisions for the Indian posts and the British garrisons. With increasing crops, however, there soon arose a necessity for export, especially of such articles as wheat, flour, peas, salt meat and various minor provisions. About the beginning of the 19th century the amount of provisions produced in western Canada was nearly equivalent to the amount purchased by the British govern ment for consumption at the garrisons and posts. In 1801 the total exports of Canada amounted to $4,800,000. This growing trade required a more extensive and economical means of conveyance than that afforded by the bateaux. A trade in staves and various forms of timber having developed about the same time, and being sent to market in the shape of rafts, these were utilized to convey such pro visions as might suffer a little exposure. Large square scows were also built for the purpose of taking provisions to market in bulk.