iculture, &c. in this Province, when
His Excellency was pleased to open the proceedings of the meeting with
the following SPEECH:--

The purpose for which I have caused this meeting to be convened,
is of the first importance to the Country: And I am delighted to
find myself surrounded on this occasion, as I hope to be on every
occasion, by those distinguished Persons, from whose station, stake
and consideration in the Country, I may expect the most powerful
aid in promoting the great objects I have in view, if we are all
fully impressed with the expediency and necessity we are under,
each in our several stations, of doing all that may depend upon us,
to accomplish the purposes which I am now to bring more
particularly under your consideration.

The purpose for which we are met is, to enquire whether some
encouragement and excitement may not be applied to Agricultural
pursuits, to operate, discreetly and gradually, in a manner to
relieve the country from the great difficulty and disability under
which it is laid by the vast sums which we pay for our food, and
from the very disadvantageous effects which this produces on the
cost of labour, and consequently in all branches of our industry.

Under ordinary circumstances, the high price occasioned by
deficiency in the supply of any article in general demand,
operating as a premium upon increased production, has a direct and
natural tendency to remedy its own evils. This, in fact, is an
effect which _is_ working here, though slowly, to cure the malady
of which we complain; and if other branches of industry were not in
an excited, forced, and somewhat unnatural condition, it would be
unnecessary, superfluous, or perhaps disadvantageous, to interfere
with the sources and currents of supply, which ultimately
accommodate themselves in the most advantageous and fittest way, to
meet demand. But these are peculiarities in the circumstances of
this Country, which must appear very obvious to all persons who
have correct notions of the extent of her business and dealings,
compared with the limited Population and Capital we possess, which
occasioning powerful competitions in other branches, would appear
to demand some additional encouragement and adventitious aid, to
draw Labour and Capital in greater quantities, to the cultivation
of the Soil.