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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent ia mAthode. errata ito t B pelure. on A n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE RECIPROCITY TREATY, zvs HISTORY, GENERAL FEATURES, AND COMMERCIAL RESULTS; OBLIVKBBD By the Honorable JOSEPH HOWE, of Nova Scotia, On the 14th DAY OF JULY, 1865, AT THE §xtid Intetnatiflnal Cflmmral Cfliikntiflu, HELD AT THE CITY OF DETROIT. SP£C1ALLY REVISED FOR PUBLICATION BY MR. HOWE- XX.A.ltAXZiTO]>a- : FRINTKD B7 T. ii R, WUITI, AT THE SFKOTATOR STEAM PRESS, PRINCESS SQUARE. 1865. PREFACE The importance which is universally attached to the .specc*. delivered by the Honorable Joseph Howe, of Nova Scotia, at the International Commercial Con- vention, at Detroit, and the valuable results, which, by common consent, are attributed to it, have induced us to issue it in pamphlet form for general distri- bution. The facts, no less clear than eloquent, and the forcible argument of this speech, have already produced a wonderful effect in inducing harmony and unaminity, where serious dissensions had before shown themselves. And it is not too much to expect that its general circulatioiv will tend to the removal of prejudices against the residents of the British American Provinces, and of hos- tility to an amicable and final arrangement of reciprocal free trade in the products of the two Countries. The speech has been carefully revised by Mr. Howe himself, from the various published reports of it. Spectator Office, HAliaTOK, 20th July, 1866. T. 4 R. WHITE, THE RECIPROCITY TREATY! (UlEAT SrEF.cn OF THE HONORABLE JOSEPH HOWE, AT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONVENTION, AT DETROIT. DELIVERED ON FRIDAT, 14th INSTANT. Hon. Joseph Ilovvf, of Nova Scotia, took the iioor and made a long and eloquent speech. He said : I never prayed for the gift of eloquence till now. Although I have l)asscd through a long public life, I never was called upon to di.scuss a question so im. portant in the presence of a body of repre- sentative men so lar^e. I see before me merchants who tliink in millions, and whose daily transactions woulc! sweep the harvest of a Greek Island or of a Russian Principali- ty. I sec before me the lacn who whiten the fjcean and the great lakis with the sails of commerce — who own tht railroads, canals iind telegraphs, which spi cad life and civil- ization through this great country ,making the waste plains fertile and the ivilderucss to blos- som as the rose. I see bcibro mo the men whose capital and financial skill form the bul- wark and sustain the Government in every crisis of public aiTair8.(Cheers.) On cither hand I see the gentlemen who control and ani- mate the press, whose laborious vigils mould public sentiment — whose honorable ambition I can estimate from my early connection with the profession. On tliose benches, Sir, or I mistake the intelligence to be read in their faces, sit those who will yet be Governors and Ministers of State. I may well feel awed in presence of an audience such as this ; but the gieat question which brings us together is worthy of the audience and challenges their grave consideration. What is that question ? Sir, we are here to determine how best we can draw together, in the bonds of peace, friendship and com- mercial prosperity, the three great branches of the British family. (Cheers.) In the presence of this great theme all petty inter- ests should stand rebuked — ^we are not deal- ing with the concerns of a City, a Province or a State, but with the future of our race in all time to come. Some reference has been made to " Elevators " in your discussions. What we want is an elevator to lift our souls to the height of this great argument. Why should not these three great branches of the family flourish, under different systems of government, it may be, but forming one grand whole, proud of a common origin and of their advanced civilization ? We are taught to reverence the mystery of the Trinity, and our salvation depends on our belief. The clover lifts its try-foil leaves to the even- ing dew, yet they draw their nourishment from ft single stem. Thus distinct, and yet imited, let us live and flourish. Why should wo not? For nearly two thousand years we were one family. Our fathers fought side by sidi; tkt Hastings, and heard the curfew toll. Tho> fought in the some ranks i or the sepulchre of our Saviour — in the earlier and later civil wars. We can wear our white and red roses without a blush, and glory in the principles those conflicts es- tablished. Our (oir •'. ancestors won the great Charter and \' .''.I of Rights— estab- lished free ParliameL - the Habeas Corpus, and Ti ial by Jury. Oui Jurisprudence comes down from Coke and Mansfield to Marshall and Story, rich in knowledge and experience, which no man can divide. From Chaucer to Shakespeare our literature is a common in- heritance. Tennyson and Longfellow write in one language, which is enriched by the genius developed on either side of the Atlan- tic. In the great navigators from Cottereal to Hudson, and in all their "moving accidents by flood and field" we have a common inter- est. On this side of the sea we have been largely reinforced by the Germans and French, but there is strength in both ele- ments. The Germans gave to us the sover- eigns who established our freedom, and they gire to you industry, inti'lligtucu and thrift : and the French, who have dJRtinguishea thcmRclvcg in arts and arms for centuries, now strengtiicn tlie Provinces wiiich the for- tune of war decided tl»ey could not control. But it may be Hiiid we have been divided by two wars. Wliat tiicn ? The noble St. Law- renco is split in two places — by Ooat Island and by Anticosti — but it comes down to us from the same springs in the same mountain sides ; its waters sweep together past the Pictured Rocks ofLake Superior, and encircle in their loving embrace tlie shores of Huron and Michigan. They are divided at Niagara Falls as we were at the revolutionary war, but they come togetlier again on the peace- ful bosom of Ontario. Again they arc divid. cd on their passage to the sea , but who thinks of divisions when they lift the keels ol commerce, or when, drawn up to heaven, they form the rainbow or the cloud ? It is true that in eighty-five years we have had two wars — but what then ? Since the last we have had fifty years of pence, ond there have been more people killed in a single campaign in the late civil war, than there were in the two national wars between this country and Great Britain. The people of the United States hope to draw together the two conflicting elements and make them one people. And in that task I wish them Ood speed I (Cheers.) And in the same way I feel that wo ought to rule out everything disagreeable in the recollection of our old wars, and unite together as one people for all time to come. (Cheers.) I see around the door the flags of the two countries. Upited OS they are there, I would ever have them draped together, fold within fold — and let " their varying tints unite, and form in hea- ven's light, one arch of peace." (Applause.) He thanked the Board of Trade, and the people of the city for the hospitality extended to the Provincial Delegates, and proceeded as follows to the general exposition of his subject : — The most important question to be considered at this great meeting of the commercial men of North America, involves the relations which are to subsist between the inhabitants of the British empire and the citizens of the United States. Before we can deliver a rational judgment upon this question it becomes us to consider what those relations are now. The British Government controls the destinies, and regulates the trade of 250,000,000 of peo- ple, distributed over the four quarters of the globe, and in the British Islands alone the machinery in constant running order does the work of 800,000,000 more. Now, in what spirit has the British Government, controlling this great empire, dealt in commercial mat- ters with the United States? It has extended to them all the privileges of the most favored nation, and has opened up to them, on the most easy terms, the consumption for every- thing that thay can produoe, of all these peo> pie. Millions of emigrants, and hundreds of millions of money have flowed in hero with- out any attempt, by unwise laws, to dam up the streams of industry and capital. Leaving those of her provinces that have legislatures free to regulate their own tariffs. Great Bri- t4iin restrains them from discriminating, as against the productions of this country, oven in favor of her own. Though > nrdencd with an enormous debt, and always compelled to confront the military monarchies of Europe with a powerful force by land and sea, the people of England prefer to pay direct taxes to burthening commerce with heavy import duties. Year by year the highest financial skill of the nation has been employed to dis- cover how its tariff could be simplified — port charges reduced — obsolete regulations re- moved ; and year by year, as trade extends and revenue increases, taxes are reduced or abolished upon articles of prime necessity, consumed by the great body of the people. I notice that some writers in the west com- plain that wheat is sent into this country from Canada, duty free ; but it should be re- membered that the surplus of all the cereals, ground or unground, is not only admitted to the British Islands duty free from the United States, but to almost, if not to all, the ports in our widely extended Empire. It is some- times said that because this country admits breadstuifs from Canada, manufactures free of duty should be taken in return. But Great Britain and the Provinces take annually an enormous quantity of breadstuffs and meat from this country, but do not ask from you the privilege that some persons would claim from us. In three departments of economic science Great Britain has made advances far outstrip- ping in liberality the policy of this or of any foreign country. France and the United States continue to foster and extend their fisheries by high bounties, but she leaves her people, without any special encouragement to meet on the sea, and in foreign markets, the unfair competition to which they are subject- ed by this system. Great Britain throws open to the people of this country the coasting trade of the entire Empire. A ship from Maine, or Massachusetts, or from any State in the Union, may not only visit and unlade at the port to which she has been cleared, but she may go from port to port, and from Province to Province, until she has circumnavigated the globe, the dis- cretion of her owners being the only limit to the extent of her transactions. The Govern- ment of the United States gives to British subjects no participation in their coasting trade. Whether they find a market or not, they must break bulk and sell at any port they enter. With her fifty colonies spread over the face of the globe^ your shipowners participate in the same privileges as our own. And when I tpcak of tho shipoing interest, it muHt be admitted to incli a many in* terestg — the lumber interest, (and an im- Eortant intcreiit it is,) tho induntry of the laclcBmith, of tho catillccr, tho rigRer, tho ropemalcur, and of the man who works in copper. All these branches of industry are represented and fostered by this policy of Urcnt Britain. (Cheers.) Mr. Yoi'NOLOVE, of Philadi'lpliio — I would ask the gentleman if the riglits he speaks of, on the part of the shipping interest, are de- pendent on the Reciprocity Treaty ? Mr. Howe — Yesterday, our worthy friend, Mr. Hamlin, talked about Reciprocity in "slices," and I am now simply showing you how many slices we gave you before tlie Re- ciprocity Treaty was negotiated. (Loud cheers and laugliti-r.) I assert tliat Great Britain, with a liberality which would do honor to any Government, hos thrown open this w1m>1o trade without any restriction. She says to us, if not in so many words, " You are all children of mine, and are dear to me. You are all on the other side of the Atlantic, possessing a common heritage: make tho best of it." (Hear, hear.) Your vessels are permitted to run to Halifax, from Halifax to St. John, from St. John to British Columbia, and from British Columbia to England, Scotland, or Ireland. They are allowed to go coasting around the British Empire until they rot. But you do not give us the privilege of coasting anywhero from one end of your Atlantic coast to tho other. And now I iiope that our friend from Maine will acknowledge that in granting this privi- lege, with nothing in return. Great Britain gave you a pretty largo rIIcc. (Cheers and laughter.) The citizens of this country may build in any of its ports steamers or sailing vessels, and clothe them with the character and in- vest them witli the privileges of British ships, by registering them in any part of the Em- pire. In peace this is a great privilege, and gives to tho ship-builders of Maine and Mas- sachi^setts, a very decided advantage over those on the opposite side of the Bay of Fun- dy. In war, assuming Great Britain to be a neutral, it is a protection. I trust I havo shown, 1st, That the British Empiie is suffi- ciently extended, populous and powerful to bo independent of the hostility or fiscal errors of any foreign State ; 2nd, That her commer- cial code is characterized by principles of liberality so broad, as to invite exchanges with all the world; and that, altogether inde- pendent of the Reciprocity Treatyj she has granted privileges to this country for which no equivalents have been asked or given. The Reciprocity Treaty was a special ar- rangement, forced upon both countries by a long frontier, by the proximity of rich fishing grounds, and by the difficulty of drawing ac- cante and recognised boundaries upon the sea. I need not enter upon the history of this question, which has been most accurate- ly given by Lozcnzo Sabine, Esq., in his very able reports to the Boston Board of Trade. It is sufficient for us to know that for forty years the use by American ci'.!" ns of the in-shoro fisheries upon the coasts of British America was in controversy between tho two Governments. That every year American fishing vessels were seized or driven off, it being impossible to define accurately a sea line of five thousand miles — that disputes were endless, tending ultimately to the em- ployment of naval forces witli evident danger of hostile collisions and of war. On the other hand, tliu Canadians, seeing the great staples of tho United States freely admitted into every part of the British em- pire, naturally claimed that their breodstufi's should pass with equal freedom into the Uni- ted States, the greater portion being only in transitu to tho mother country. Tlie mari- time provinces, admitting breodstufi's from the United States duty free, and ail their manufactures under low import duties, not exceeding 10 to 12} per cent.,naturally claim- ed that their own unmanufactured staples should be admitted free into this country. They as fairly claimed that their tonnage should be entitled to the right of registry in the United States, and to participate in its coasting trade. Tho Reciprocity Treaty was a compromise of all these claims and interests. For tho Provinces it was an unfair compromise. The riglit of registry and to trade coastwise was not conceded. The free interchange of the produce of tho soil, tho forest and tiie mine, was satisfactory. Tlie right to navigate Lake Michigan was perfectly fair to both countries. But the retention of the bounties gave to the fishermen of tho United States an unfair advantage, and for tho free navigation of the rivers and canals of British America no equi- valents were given. To tho m ritime pro- vinces tho concession of the in-shore fisheries, with the right to dry and euro fish upon their coasts, was particularly distasteful. So long as American fishermen were kept outside ot a line drawn three marine miles from tlie head- lands, as fixed by the Convention of 1818,the mackerel, herring, and alc-wifo fisheries were secure from intrusion within those limits, and the codfishery within tho great bays of Newfoundland was a close preserve, while tho protection of tho revenue in all the pro- vinces gave the Governments but little con- cem. But the moment that American fish- ermen obtained the right to fish in all the bays, harbors, and estuaries of British America, the line of operations was doubled in length, and the privilege, if they chose to use it, of carrying on illicit trade with the 8 iiiliabiUntM of tlio Hou I'tMist, ami of HiniliiiK K(hi(Im into tliu iitU^rior fivo of (iuty,gavu tliotii (fU'iliticH (Xtrutiifly (liniciiit to lontrol. A vory large umoiiiit of NpiritH niul iimnufHc- turt'H liavo in tliiH wny bi-(>n introtiiicutl into tliu maritime rr3vinc('H fnto of diity,withiu tlio (MiHt ten y'.>arR,iliat it would not Im> cany to trace in tlio re^uiiir trotic rotiirnH. Ho (iiRtnHte> fill woH tiiiH ((rcat I'onccHRion, without i'<|uivuiunt, to tliu poopio of tlic Lower Prov- incuR, tliat it witRtienouncml by Rome of tlicir abi(!Mt public men nn iiii nnreqiiiti'd HAcritlco of tiiuir int(*roHtii, In tliiR connection it in but riglit to hHow tliat, wlietiicr the treaty wom fair or unfair, in tlie worliing of it, tiie citizens of this country liavo liod mivanloKeM not contemplated when it WUH Higned. The arrangement waa com- pleted on tlic 5tb of June, 1854, but was not to como into full etVitct till ratiiied by tho Colonial LcgiHlature. Mr. Marcy requested that pending the deciHions of tho Provinces, tiie American tlMhcrmen should be permitted to enter U|K>n tlie iuHhore tiHhcries in as full and ample a manner as they would bo when the treaty came into force. Tho concession waR yielded and tho British and Colonial cruisers withdrawn. — When tho Colonies claimed tho free entry of their products, pend- ing tlio ratification of tho treaty in return for tliia concession, existing revenue laws wero j>lcadcd, and this very reasonable claim was denied, so that at the outset tho citizens of the Republic enjoyed the chief advantages of tho treaty for nearly a year before the Colon, ists were practically brought within its scope and operations. Again, when the civil war broke out, onc> half tho seaboard of the United States was blockaded, and all the advantages of the Reciprocity Treaty, so far as the consumption of the ten millions of people in tho Southern States was a benefit to the Provinces, were withdrawn. — ^Assuming that the treaty runs over ten years, it will be seen that for the whole of that period the people of this coun- try have enjoyed all the benefits for which they stipulated, while the British'Americans, for one year of the ten, have derived no bene- fit at all,and for four entire years have lost the consumption of one-third of the people with whom, by the treaty, they were entitled to trade. Recognizing the political necessities of the period, British subjects have made no complaints of this exclusion, but it ought to be borne in mind, now that the whole sub- ject is about to be revised Let us now look at the working of the treaty and estimate, if we can, in a judical spirit,it8 fair and legitimate fruits. We must confess that, as a measure of peace and Na- tional fraternity, it has been most successful. It has extended to the Gulf of St. Law- rence and to the North Atlantic, the freedom and the security enjoyed by the Great Lakes, under a kindred arrangement. There Iia\c been no more intruHiouR, warningH,captureR — no rival Hquadrons guarding bounilarieR not |M)HRible to tletinu.ThiR treaty Hettlcd amiealily, the lanl Itounilary <|ueHtion, about whidi tlie Uovernmi nts of Great Britain and the United States could,by any poRRibility, dlRpute. TIiIh waH agrcat matter,hiul no other good been ur- eompli8hed,and ho Ih no friend to cither coun- try who would desire to throw open thiH witlo field of controversy again. Looking nt tlu^ induRtrial rcHults of the treaty, any fair mind- ed and dispaHHionatu man must admit tliat they have far HurpaHMed, in utility and value, all that could have Iwon hoped by the moHt sanguine advocates of tho measure in 1854. — The trado of the United States and of tho Pro- vinces, feeble, restricted, slow of growth, and vexatious before, has been annually swelled by mutual exchanges and honorable competi- tion, till it is represented by a grand total of 9460,330,391, in about years. This amount floems almost incredible, but who can hazard an estimate of the figures by which this trade will be expressed ten or twenty years hence, if thiswise adjustment of our mutual interests be not disturbed ? It there be any advantage in a balance of trade, tho returns show that the citizens of tho United States have had it to the extent of $55,951,145. But in presence of tho great benefits conferred upon both countries by the measure, it would bo a waste of time to chaflTer over their distribution. In tho interests of peace and honest industry ,wc should thank Providence for the bleR8ing,and confidently rely upon the wisdom of our statesmen to see that it is preserved. Mr. Chairman, let me now turn your atten- tion to some of the topics touched by other gentlemen in tho course of this three day'H debate. Some gentlemen seem to be appre- hensive that if this Treaty is renewed it will lead to illicit trade along the frontier. For a long time your duties wore lower than ours. Mr. Sabine said ho was once a smuggler. At that time he could not carry on trade or busi- ness at Eostport and bo anything else. The traders on the whole coast of Maine were engaged in tho same business, and so was Massachusetts; and small blame to them. The smuggler is a check upon the extrava- gance of governments, or the increase of taxation. (Cheers.) Any country that raises its tariffs too high, or increases its taxation too far, will be kept in check by smugglers. The boot was formerly on your leg ; it is now perhaps on the other. You have been driven into a war which has created a large expen- diture and increased your taxation. It would perhaps pay at this moment to smuggle some articles from the provinces into this country. You are entitled to defend yourselves against it. But at the same time bear this in mind, that one of the main objections in the mari- time provinces to this treaty, was that it gave to your people the power of smuggling. , 9 Aiul that power you posscAb, and may use to any extent you please. (Laughter.) Over thousands of niilci^ of coast wo can not afford to keep revenue officers. Down come cutters from Maine, with flour, {lotk, salt, &c. ; but who can tell what they have in the salt ? (Oreat laughter.) Why, sir, we sometimes laugh at Yankee notions; one of those is what is called white-eye in the provinces — a life destroying spirit which these coasters bring and deluge our coasts with ; and it comes in the salt. (Laughter.) So in like manner with the tea, tobacco and manufac- tures. Why a fisherman can land on any part of our 5,000 miles of coast, and when chal- lenged by our custom house officers, he can answer that he has a right to land there. The custom house officer withdraws, and the white-ej'e is landed. And I tell you what we do to adapt ourselves to the circumstan- ces. We are free traders, and wc maintain our Government, have an overflowing treas- ury and carry on our public works, with a tariil of ten per cent. (Hear, hear.) The only way we can keep out smuggling is to keep our tariff so low as to make it not worth while for any one to smuggle. Let me now draw your attention for a moment, to the value of these North American Fish- cries, You have behind and aroimd you here, boundless prairies, which an all bountiful creator annually covers with rich harvests of wheat and corn. The ocean is our prairie, and it stretches away before and around us, and Almighty God,for the sustenance of man, annually replenishes it with fish in myriads that can't be counted, having a commercial value that no man can estimate. The fecun- dity of the ocean may be estimated by the fact that the roes of thirty codfish annually replace all the' fish that arc taken by the firitish, French and American fishermen on the Banks of Newfoundland. In like man- ner the schools of mackerel, herring and of all other fish that swarm in the Bays and trim around the shores, are replaced year by year. These great store-houses of food can never be exhausted. But it may be said, does not the free competition which now exists, lower the prices ? No. Codfish have never been higher in the markets of the world than they were last summer. Herrings are now selling in Baltimore for $13 a barrcL Thirty years ago I used to buy No. 1 mackerel in Halifax for $4 a barrel. They now cost $18, and I have seen them selling since the Re- ciprocity Treaty was signed for $22. The reason of this is tliat, relative to all other em- ployments, fishing is a perilous and poor business, and that, with the progress of set- tlement and growth of population in all these great States and Provinces, to say nothing of the increased consumption in Spain, the Mediteranean, the Brazils and the West In- dies, — all that your fishermen and ours can catch will scarcely supply the demand. I placed before the committee a paper, signed by two American merchants, carrying on trade in Prince Edward's Islanu, which proves that under the Treaty, your mackerel fishery has flourished and expanded to an extent un- exampled in its former history. Taking two years prior to the existence of the treaty and contrasting them with the last two years, they show that your mackerel fishery has grown from 260 vessels measuring 18,150 tons, valued at $750,000 and manned by 2,750 men and securing a catch worth $850,000, to GOO vessels, measuring 54,000 tons, employ- ing 9,000 men and securing 315,000 barrels, worth $4,567 500. So with the herring fish- ery, it is equally prosperous. I have seen two American seine boats take 500 barrels of herrings, at Baltimore prices, worth $6,500 on the Coast of Labrador, in a summer af- ternoon. The net fishing is also profitable. The Bank earns and the Mill grinds while the banker and the miller sleep. The fish- erman sets his net at night; and finds in the morning th)^ a kind Providence, without a miracle, except the " wealth of seas," that standing miracle, has loaded his nets at night with a liberal hand. These fisheries, sir, are sufficient for us all. The French, who are anxious to build up a powerful navy maintain 10,000 men by their bounties in these North American waters, and it is most creditable to our fishermen, that in the face of these bounties and of yours, they have been able, by strict economy and hardy en- durance, to wrestle for a share of these ocean treasures, to maintain their families and in- crease their numbers. A gentleman asked^But had we not the right to fish on the Banks of Newfoundland before the treaty ? Mr. Howe — Yes, but not in the great bays of Newfoundland, and along the coast lines where the people of Newfoundland, who fre- quent the Banks but little, catch all their codfish. Some of these bays are twenty or thirty miles in width, and deeply indent the island, being broken into numerous fiords or smaller bays, where fish are plenty. By the treaty American fishermen can now use all these bays, as well as those upon the coasts of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Bruns- wick and Prince Edward Island. The com- mand of the inshore fisheries gives to your people the opportunity to supply themselves with bait, whether they resort to the banks or fish around the coast. I trust I have thus shown you, Mr. Chair- man, that the fisheries are inexhaustable, and of inestimable value; that free competition does not lower the prices, and that your fish- ermen and the French hAve special aids to stimulate their industry. But my great ob- jection to the abrogation of this treaty is that it throws open again a wide field of contro- versy. Who can measure by the eye a mile even upon the land ? And how are your 10 fishermen to measure accurately three marine miles at sea even in fair weather T In a fog it is impossible to do so. And the naval of. ficers who may be sent uown to guard our mutual rights will bo as much mystified and puzzled as they were before. But it may be said you gave us your in- shore fisheries when we gave you ours. You did, but they were of comparatively little value. This was the objection that we took to the treaty in Nova Scotia in 1854. Let me illustrate. Suppose a farmer, living on a poor farm, exhausted by successive crapping, were to say to a neighbor having a rich soil in high cultivation, let us save fencing and throw our farms into one. (Laughter.) That was your proposition, and it was accepted. Now mark the result—that while your ves- sels have swarmed in our waters for the last nine years, carrying off enormous values every year, we have never sent a vessel south dur- ing all that time, or caught a single cargo of fish on the coasts or m the bays of the United States. (Hear, hear.) Let me ask your attention to another mat- ter which requires to be explained. Mr.Sey- mour, of New York, who made an excellent speech in favor of the resolution, took excep- tion to the high tariff of Canada. Now, in the provinces our people are naturally anx- ious' to improve their internal communica- tions, and bring them up to a level with other portions of the continent. Yielding to the pressure the Government of Canada has expended large sums in the construction of railroads and canals ; and let me say that for every pound expended, this western country has, either directly or indirectly,derived some benefit. But the money being expended, of course the interest has to be paid, and that this might be done changes have been made in the tariff from time to time. But you have been compelled to raise your tariff, and although I have not the two to compare, I assume that yours is much higher than that of Canada. Of this wo do not complain. Why should you ? Both countries must maintain their credit and pay their obligations. — I was very much amused by a speech made by Mr.Morrill in your Congress, who assumes that "the magnificent railway improvements of Canada have been made with the profits derived from the Reciprocity Treaty." But Mr. Morrill ought to know that out of about £13,000,000 expended upon the Grand Trunk Railway and the Victoria Bridge jCIO,- 000,000 were subscribed by a body of British capitalists who have never got a shilling in return for their outlay. I was even more amused at the gentleman from Maine who took exception to the construction of the In- tercolonial Road. He ought to remember that a very large amount, for which Canada pays interest, has gone to improve and restock the road running through Maine to PorUand,and to pay interest to the American proprietors from whom it was leased. As respects the road from Halifax to Bangor, I am happy to be able to inform him that the Go;vemment8 of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have made 160 miles of that road since the Treaty was signed, while the State of Maine has not yet made a single mile to meet us. It ought to be remembered that Canada is spend- ing, at this moment, a million of dollars on her frontier. For what ? To keep her own people from coming to injure you ? Why, there is not a man would ever come. It is to keep the people from your side, who abused the rights of hospitality, from injur- ing or compromising us. The necessities of Canada from these large expenditures compelled hei to raise her im- port duty. And after all Canada cannot levy a tax upon your manufactories that she does not also lay on those of Britain, so that you may be easy on that point. We are no more fond of taxation than you are, and there is no more popular cry for a man to get up in our Legislatures than that of reducing taxa- tion. Passing from the subject of railroads, let us speak of canals. I candidly confess, that when I came to this Convention,! was ignor- ant on the subject of western extension, but I listened with great pleasure to the speeches made here,and especially to that of Mr.Little- john, and I begun to foel the importance of the question. But this has been felt in Ca- nada for many years. Has not Canada al- ways been in advance of her means in trying to improve the course of navigation ? I know that a large portion of her debt has been expended in these canal improvements to accommodate the great West, and I know there is no question at this time which en- grosses the attention of Canadians more than how they can best extend these highways of commerce. (Cheers.) And let me say, that from what 1 have heard here, when New York and Pennsylvania and Canada have done their best, and made their canals as effi- cient as thay can, there will be business enough to occupy them all, and the produce of the great West will still crowd all these avenues. (Loud cheers.) The complaint that Canada has given drawbacks and discriminated has been fairly met by my friend Mr. Ryan. There is no complaint against tho Maritime Provinces, as the Boards of Trade of Boston and New York acknowledge with great candor. Newfoundland takes nearly all her bread- stuffs and pork from this country free, and all your manufactures, under a very low tariff. As Spain, the Mediterranean and the West Indies take all her codfish, she has very little to send in return. Prince Edward Island sends you barley, oats and eggs, and takes from you by far the largest portion of her whole import from other countries. 11 My 'friend, Mr. Hamlin, seemed reluctant that any expression of opinion should go from this body. When any expression goes, it must go from American citizens. All we can do is to express an individual opinion. It is for American citizens to judge of what their own rights are. That is for you, and not us, to determine. But I do not believe that any expression of opinion from anybody of men in tliia country, will be looked upon as an interference with the authority of this government, if I know the men at the head of your affairs, and understand your system. (Applause.) I may say that I believe this whole matter might be safely left in the hands of the very able man who presides over your State Department. (Cheers.) I have no hesitation in saying, as a British subject, that the manner in which he has dealt with the variety of vexed questions between the two countries, for the last four years, gives me a fair assurance that upon this question, as upon all others, he will deal with these important interests as an intelligent, able and experienced statesman. (Loud cheers.) But I quite agree with Mr. Hamlin and other gen- tlemen, tlirtt in mailing this treaty you must have regard to the revenue vou have to raise. I know that to bo perfectly true. You have had a large expenditure, and I entirely ap- prove of the spirit in which this assembly recognizes the duty of the Government to sustain the credit of the country and main- tain its obligations. We know you must do that. Why, if you did not, we should share in the disgrace ; we should feel, as a part of the British family, that when you had issued your bonds and sett them largely into foreign countries, ve should bo disgraced as well as you if you did not sustain them. (Cheers.) But I believe that the resources of this country are so vast and varied, and the development of its industry is so rapid and extensive, that you will bo able to master tlic debt, maintain your credit, and ileal with your neighbors in a kindly spirit beside. Vvhy, sir, if it was said by your minister that this treaty could not be renewed in consequence of your financial wants, there is not a man in tl'e colonies but who would take that answer. (Cheers.) But if it were done in any otlier way, we would say " it is not done from necessity — it is not done for revenue — it is done in temper, and it is an indication of the feeling which wo must en- deavor to eradicate." If Mr. Seward or any of your ministers tell us that they cannot re- tain this treaty and have a revenue, we shall be satisfitid, and will live beside you and bo good neighbors, and wait until your finances are in a better condition. (Loud cheers.) Now, I quite admit the general principle laid down by Mr. Hamlin, that is not wise to enter into treaties that shall withdraw large portions of produce from the operation of general revenue laws. But there may be circumstances that will render it expedient to make exceptionB to that rule. We have a large debt in England. But, nevertheless, one of the most signal illustrations of this principle was that great achievement by that noble man,whose loss is deplored by all par- ties, and who was in all respects a represen- tative Englishman, I mean Richard Cobden. (Great applause.) The treaty that bo con- cluded with France was justified by the pub- lic necessities, and the importance of that trade. And the exception to the rule in the case of the Reciprocity Treaty is justified in the same way. The French Treaty was essen- tially a Reciprocity Treaty, and has rapidly developed the commerce of the two countries, and has bound with tics of amity and peace the people of two great countries who for centuries thought they ought to be natural enemies. Among the interests represented here is the lumber interest. Now, I know something of the lumber trade, although the Province I come from is not very largely interested in it ; but the provinces of Canada and New Bruns- wick are. The gentleman from Maine seems 10 be afraid of the competition of colonial lumber. I wish I had all these gentlemen on the river St. Croix. On the one side of that river is built the town of Calais, and on the other the town of St. Stephens. They are connected by a bridge, and they have a rail- way for the transportation of lumber. It is about twenty miles long, and it accommo- dates the lumber of the two countries. The merchant from Calais is loading a vessel at his wharf, and he has not got lumber enough to make up his cargo. Down goes from the other side a few loads of lumber to make up the cargo, and the next day down goes American lumber to load a British ship. These two countries are thus made one by that reciprocity, and I do not believe, in tlie case of a war, that there is a single man in St. Stephens who would shoot a man in Calais. (Laughter.) They are kept together by this treaty, and why should it not be so with re- ference to these Western States ? If there is more lumber in Michigan than in Canada why should it not go there; and if there is more in Canada than on your prairies, why should not our lumber go out upon the prai- ries? Why would any one refuse to the poor settler the privilege of buying the cheapest lumber he can get ? [Loud cheers.] But it is said that there is danger of the price of your lumber being affected by the in- troduction of ours. There is no evidence of this. The price of lumber last year was very high, and I know that since this treaty has been in operation the people of Bangor have all got rich. But let us reassure them.There arc causes at work over the face of this continent that must always keep up the price of lumber. Nobody plants a tree except for shade, and 12 every body is cutting them down. Many of these States arc almost cleared of pine from the seaboard back to the lakes. There are a million of axes cutting down trees, and millions of firesides burning them up, to say nothing of railroads in every section of the country in want of fuel. These are our securities that the price of lumber will never get too low. It has passed away or is before the pioneer.— Every poor German or Irishman who goes into the backwoods and destroys the timber tends to keep up the price of lumber, and no man in the State of Maine believes that the price of lumber can come largely down. But even if it should, is it not better that it should be so. When a hundred logs are thrown into the river, the Almighty furnishes the trees and the means to bring them down free. Why, then, should we divide the river and the forest by restrictive regulations? But we do not own all the timber in our posses- sion. In all the Provinces we liavc abolished our alien laws. The American citizen can come and buy mines and timber and land wherever he likes. And I know of men in Maine and Massachusetts who own as much as 20,000 acres in one block in Nova Scotia. A large portion of the lumber of our Pro- vince is owned by citizens of this Republic. Take the case of the river St. John, and you will find that American lumber comes down there paying no taxes, and the whole of that river is alive in the summer with your lum- ber, taken oif our land, and worked by enterprising Americans. If there is an American vessel there she loads it and carries it to your own ports, or to England ; and so the lumber trade, twisted and intertwined as it is, is a trade owned in fact by the two countries. A word with regard to coal. I was amused at the exception taken to the action of a gentleman from Philadelphia, and at the statement made by some other speaker that he could see nothing but coal and iron. Well, they are very good things to see, and I am happy to say that in Nova Scotia we have them both in large quantities ; and we have them near the sea therefore I have great sympathy with a Pennsylvanian who does not undervalue coal and iron. But let me say this, that I have just done what I never had an opportunity of doing before — I have seen the front and rear and centre of this State of Pennsylvania. I have seen there what reconciles me to all the misfortunes that may happen to her if this treaty should go into effect. Pennsylvania is so rich in a fertile soil ; so rich iu honest industry ; so rich in iron and coal ; so rich in fruits, and ii all that can embellish or give animation to industrial life, that she need care nothing about this treaty. Qod has been good to her, and her thrifty sons have mode the best use of the blessings that have been bestowed upon them. As I passed over that State and saw her fertile fields, I should have fancied I was in one of the richest districts in England, but for the wooden fences. I visited her great work- shop, and I saw a city that has no rival on this continent — a city only matched by three or four in Europe. There Pennsylvania stands in her beauty and power, and she need not fear competition from any of our provin- ces. But as with timber so with coal. Do you think we want all the coal in Nova Sco- tia ? I think not. There is hardly a steamer comes down from New York or Boston that does not bring American capitalists to invest money in our coal. Now a few words in explanation for the gentleman from Buffalo^ wlio asked me if the Provinces had not received some compensa- tion by blockade-running, for the loss of the Southern trade, and I answer, certainly not. We have fifty seoports where wo maintain officers, and from whence we carry on foreign trade. But one out of the fifty has hod any- thing to do with blockade-running. Now, then, if fifty citizens of this country had the option to do a thing, and but one had done it, it would be rather hard to bring a charge against the whole lot for the wrong done by one. But who has carried on this blockade- running? Not our Nova Scotia merchants. Has anybody put any Nova Scotia capital into this business? I do not believe £5. Then where did the capital come from ? It came from your own country, cither in the form of gold brought there, or it came in the shape of bills drawn on the cotton loan in England, by your own people. A gentleman from New York, or Portland, or Boston, or anywhere else, comes down to Halifax, and says to one of our merchants, I want you to buy 100 barrels of pork. He buys it and .ships it to whatever place he is directed. Our merchant receives his commission, and that is all he has to do with it. Even in this way I know of very few merchants who have touched it at all. There are a few, a very few, but whether they have made a profit by it I do not know. It has not amounted to anything as a business, as compared with the general volume of our colonial trade. I have not been home lately, but I should not be very much surprised if, when I get there, I find that the rebellion caved in so rapidly that some of these bills have not been paid in England. Mr. Allen — I did not inquire tor any cap- tious motives. I have no doubt that American traitors are as deeply concerned in it as Ca- nadian speculators. (Great applause.) Mr. HowK— I believe you did not ; and let me say, also, Mr. Chairman, that no gentle- man from the Provinces has taken offence at anything said or done in this assembly. We are accustomed to free debates at home, and let me assure Mr. Hamlin that none of us felt 13 nggricved at. his banter yesterday, which wc accepted as a compliment to our shrewdness. Mr. Chairman, I must now touch upon a subject of some delicacy and importance. It lias been urged by Mr. Morrill in Congress, aud by the people of the United States that the treaty ought not to be renewed, because it had bred no friendship toward them across the lakes — that in their struggle the sympa- thies of the Provinces were against them.— Well, if that were true in its fullest extent, which it was not— if they had not hod one sym* pathiser among the native people and British residents of the Provinces, it could fairly be pled in response that when Qreat Britain was at war with Russia the sympathies of the American people were very generally with the latter country. I was in the United States at the time, aud wiis perfectly astou* ished at the feeling, llussia was at that time a country full of slaves, tor the serfs had not been emancipated, and England was at war with her to prevent her aggressions U]H>n and making slaves of the weak neighbouring countries. How the American people could sympatliise with Russia was a perfect puzzle at first sight, and could only be explained in the same manner that much of the sympathy for the South on the part of the British suli. jects could be explained. And when the Cana- dians once had a rebellion within their bor- ders, where were the sympathies of the Ame- rican people then ? Were they with the Canadian Guvernmeut or were they with the rebels ? Why, they (the Americans) not only sympathised witli them, but I am sorry to have to say it, tliey gave them aid along the frontier in many ways, and to a very large ex- tent. I am happy to have it to say, that du- ring the whole four years of the late rebellion in the United States there has not been de- veloped a particle of evidence to show that a single citizen of any British North American Province had put a hostile foot upon your soil. [Loud applause.] Everything of which complaint could be made has been the act of your own rebellious people, in violation of the hospitality and right of asylum every- where extended to them on the soil of Great Britain and her dependencies. I make these remarks in no spirit of anger or of excitement, but to show how unfair it is to hold any Government or people responsible for the actions of a few evil-disposed individuals, as well an how natural it was for sympathy to be aroused in the minds of people on one side or another. In our rebellion, when its atten- tion was called to their acts, the United States Government exerted itself to keep its own citizens within bounds, and all that could have been asked of the Provincial authorities has been frsely done to prevent any cause of complaint against them. It is something to be able to say that during the four long disastrous years of war just ended not a single act of which complaint could be made has been committed by a Canadian. Notwith- standing the false reports that were circulated, I do not believe there was a single intelligent citizen of my Province, at least, who did not believe that the capture of the "Chesapeake' off the coast of Maine, by rebellious citizens of the United States, was nothing less or more than an act of piracy. And so of the St. Albans raid. The Government of Canada acted most promptly and nobly in connection with that affair ; and has repaid the money which rebellious citizens of the United States had carried into their territory from the States banks. (Hear, hear.) As to their harboring the rebels and extend- ing to them the right of asylum, is there a single American here who would have his Government surrender that right? There was not an Englishman, nor an Irishman, nor a Scotchman, nor an American who would not fight three wars rather than give up that sacred right. (Applause.) How many ex- cellent citizens of the United States were there among them at this moment, and how many were there who had helped them to fight their battles, who dare not go back tu their own native lands across the ocean on account of political offences ? The American people would not give these people up to their respective Governments and thus sur- render their right of asylum ; they would every man of them fight first. (Applause.) It is very proper that criminals should be given up, and a treaty for that purpose has been made between England and the United States. They could sympathise with political offenders, but need not sympathise with crim- inals. When Abraham Lincoln fell by the hand of the assassin the act was reprobated throughout the Provinces as well as through- out the British Empire. (Hear.) But admit- ting that a large number of people in the Provinces sympathised with the rebels, what of that? Did not a very large number in the Northern States sympathise with them ? Nobody ever saw two dogs fighting in the street, or two cocks fighting in a backyard, without having his sympathies aroused, he scarcely knew why, in favor of one or the other of the combatants, and generally the weakest. (Laughter.) Suppose a good deal of feeling was excited in some portions of the British Provinces, was that any good reason for re- fusing to allow us to tmdc with our breth- ren south of the Lakes? The sympathy expressed for the South ought to be well bal- anced by the young men whom they had drawn from the Colonics into their con- flict. (Hear, hear.) For one ton of goods sent to the Southerners, and for one young man sent to aid their cause, we have sent fifty tons and fifty able-bodied soldiers to the North. The people of the Provinces might lay the charge against you of having seduced their young,men away from their homes and left thpir bcKlies bleaching on Southern plains u or rotting in Southern priBons. Only a short time ago I met no less than thirty British Americans going home on a single yessel,after having served three years in the war, and having left scores of their companions behind to enrich the soil. At Wash- ington I met with a brave son of one of my colleagues in the legislature of Nova Scotia, who held the rank of lieutenant in a Massachusetts regiment, with only one leg to take back to his home instead of two.— (Loud cheers.) I met another veteran from my Province who had fought in twenty battles and was on his way home. In my own fami- ly and person I have suffered not a little by this unliappy rebellion. I have five boys, and one of them took it into his head to enter your army. Ho has now been for marly two years in the 23rd Ohio regiment, and has fought in all the battles in which that regiment has been engaged during that period. Ho was in both the great battles under Sheridan, in which Early's forces were scattered and the Shenandoah valley cleared. (Loud and long continued applause.) All the personal benefit that 1 have derived from the Reciprocity Treaty or hope to derive from its renewal, will never compensate me or that boy's mother for the anxiety we have had with regard to him ; but when he produced the certificates of his commanding officers show- ing that he had conducted himself like a gentleman, and had been faithful and brave, it was some consolation for all our anguish to know that he had performed his duty. (Enthusiastic applause, during which the speaker's feeling nearly overcame him; as this subsided, a gentleman proposed " three cheers for the boy," which were given with great viva- city .) I know that it has been asserted by some and I have heard it uttered since I camo to the Convention,that if the Reciprocity Treaty is annulled the British Provinces will be so cramped that they will be compelled to seek annexation to the United States. I beg to be allowed to say on that point that I know the feeling in the Lower Provinces pretty thoroughly, and believe I am well enough acquainted with the Canadians to speak for them also, and I speak for them all, with such exceptions as must be made when speaking for any entire population^ when I make tJie assertion that no consideration of finance, no question of balance for or against them, upon interchange of conuno- dlties, can have any influence upon the loyalty of the inhabitants of the British Provinces, or, tend in the slightest degree to alienate the affections of the people firom their coimtry, their institutions, their Gov- ernment and their Qukin. There is not a loyal man in the British American Provinces, not a man worthy of the name, who, whatever may happen to the Treaty,—- will become any the less loyal, any the less tme to his country, on that accoant. There is not a man who dare, on the abrogation of the Treaty, if such should be its fate, take the hustings and appeal to any consti- tuency on annexation principles through- out the entire domain. The man who avows such a sentiment will be scouted from society by his best friends. What other treatment would a man deserve who should turn traitor to his Sovereign and his Government, and violate all obligations to the country which gave him birth ! You know what you call Copperheads, and a nice lifu tlioy have of it. [Laughter.] Just such a life will the man have who talks treason on the other side of the lines. [Applause.] The very boy to whom I have alluded, as having fought man- fully for the " Stars aud Stripes," would rather blow his own father's brains out than haul down the honored flag under which he has been born, the flag of his nation and of his fatherland. [Cheers.] I do not believe there is a young Canadian in the American army who does not honor his own flag as you honour yours, and they would be worthy of being despised if they did not. If any mem- ber of the Convention harbors the idea that by refusing Reciprocity to British America, they will undermine the loyal feelings of the people of those Colonies, he is laboring un- der a delusion, and fostering an impu> tation upon the character and integrity of a great and honorable people of the most das- tardly kind that can by any possibility re- ceive a lodgment in his breast. [Loud and continued applause.] Some gentleman from Maine asked me if we were not building forti- cations in the Provinces. Well, after so many threats from Northern newspapers, that so soon as the rebellion had been put down and Mexico attended to, the face of the army would be turned to- wards Canada, it was not to be wonder- ed at that the mother country should be come a little anxious about her children so far from home, and send out an experienced ofScer to report upon the situation. The of- ficer did not report any armed force in sight, but reported that, if they did come, Canada was in a very poor condition to receive them ; and it was resolved to build some further Ifortifications at Quebec, and there has been some talk about places further westward, but no action has been taken. But what do we see on the other hand? I passed down the Penobscot river a few weeks ago, and what did I see there? — a great frowning fort, of the most approved pattern, looking as new and pretty as if it had just come from the mint. (Laughter.) At Portland, also, I observe some extensive fortifications in progpresB, and have been informed that you are at work in the same line at other points, so IMt nothing need be said if Canada did invest some money in costly fortifications. But I have no faith in fortifications. I do not rely on military defences : 15 We seed no bulwarks, No towbrs along the steep ; Our march io o'er the mountain waTOf and our homes aro in the mart, on tho moun- tain and thu prairie, wherever there is good work to be done, and God't) gifts to be appro- priated. I have faith in our common brother- hood — in such meetings as tliis— in MUch social gatherings as that magnificent demonstra- tion which we all enjoyed so much last night. I sincerely hope that all thought of forcing annexation upon tho puoi^le of Cantula will bo abandoned, and that if not, you will seek a more pleasant sort of annexation for your children and children's children. It was a novel mmlc of attai.'hing them that the people of Detroit adopted in lasliing a fleet of their steamers together, and getting tip such a grand cntertiiinmont, and there was no (jucstion that it had a Ktrong teiuloucy to promote one kind of annexation, especially among the young people. (Laughter.) As a measure of self-protection, I put myself under the care of a pretty little New Brunswick woman, and charged her to take good caro of me until wc got safe ashore. (Laughter and applause, twice repeated.) I fear I am detaining you too long. (Cries of " go on" from all parts of the house) In conclusion, let me say, that in dealing with this great subject, I have spoken in an open, plain man- ner, and kept back nothin,^ that ought to bo said upon it, considering the limited time at my disposal. My friend Mr. Hamlin wished us to " show our hands " ; wo have done so, and shown our hearts also in all sincer- ity. Tho subject is of vast importance to us all. Though living away down East, I take a deep interest in the great West, and I trust God will spare my lifo long enough to permit me to explore its vastness more thoroughly than I have yet been able to do, that I may tho better discuss tho great interests created by its commerce. British America has a great West, as yet almost entirely undeveloped, out of which four or five States or Provinces may yet be formed, to pour their wealth down tho great Lake Huron into Canada, and througli the Straits, past the city of Detroit, to the ocean, while the manufactures of the United States, of England and of the I'rovinces go back to supply the wants. The moment Pro- vidence gives me opportunity, I will return to tho West and examine its rcsoiu'ccs, and understand its position, in order that 1 may lay before my own people, anrl tho people of the Provinces generally, and tho capitalists of tho mother country, an ade- quate idea of its importance, with a view of promoting a more active settlement and de- velopment of the territory on both sides of tho boundary line, for the trade would be as valuable to the world on one side as on the other. Thanking the Convention for the courtesy of so extended a hearing as had been granted him, the honourable gentleman left the platform, amidst deafening and long con- tinued applause. Printed at the Spectator Steam Press, Prince's Square, Hamilton, C. W.