aj IMAGE EVALUATION TESf TARGET (MT-3) ^n6 d partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et da haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'imaQ6£ ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivar>ts illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Wi EL CA En AD] Be T] A ther; well last, Thoi diesi Nort The Algi Tl to a euth nary of P( one < men< to Vi own Qov€ bad i f^ If***^ Qt»^ *^osep^ poPe. REVIEW OF THE SESSION. AN ADDRESS DEIJVKRBD IJY TUF; HOIT. TIEiOS. ^W^HITE, TO THE I ELECTOES OF CARDWELL, AT MONO MIIiLS, ONT., JUNE 10, 188(] CABDWELL CUNSERTATIVES. Enthusiastic Mass Meeting of Electors at Mono Mills. ADDBESS BY BOfi. THOMAS WHITE. Review of the Late Session- The Heasures Passed. THE RIVAL POLICIES CONTRASTED. A large and thoroughly representative ga- thering of the elector-! of the county of Card- well was held at Mono mills on Thursday last, when their representative, the Hon. Thomas White, minister of the interior, ad- dressed them prior to his departure for the Northwest Territories and British Columbia The chair was occupied by Mr. William Algie, of Alton. The Hon. Mr. White, on stepping forward to addiess the meeting, was received with enthusiastic cheers, and after some prelimi- nary observation... he said -.—The last session of Parliament, as you know, a;entlemen, was one of considerable interest. Before Parlia- ment met there were speculations abroad as to what its effect would be. Some of our own friends even feared that possibly the Government might be defeated. An event bad occurred which had excited e profound agitation, a serious agitation, in the adjoining province of Quebec. The rebellion in Ihe North- west, follow<:d as it was iiy the an est of Louis Riel and his trial and execution, had excited among the people of the province of Quebec an agitation which piomised at one time to engulf the administration and to destroy it. My honored colleaf.'ues, the French-Canadian members of the Government, recognized at that time the principle that the law of the land MOST BE ADMINISTEHED irrespective of class, creed or nationality, and have stood by Sir John Macdonald in vindi- cation of the laws of the country in a manner that I am sure must enlist the full sympathy and eupport of the sober-minded people in all parts of the Dominion. Lat in the province of Quebec there were large meetings held for the purpo'< of denouncing the Government. Sir John Macdonald and the French-Canadian members of the Cabinet were burned in effigy, hanged in eflSj- ', every form of insult that could possibly be of- fered to them was offered to them, and there were those who felt that the members from that province might when the time came go back upon the principlesof their life time and on this one question destroy the administration of the day. When Parliament, therefore, met it met under circumstances of great interest, but I am glad to say, as you already know, as it progressed it was found that with the exceotlon of a very few gentlemen who bed committed themselves in advance, the representatives of the province of Quebec acted upon the principle that although they may have had ties of sympathy of a national character with the unfortunate leader of the rebellion in the Northwest, yet they felt that the Government in vindication of the law had done nothing more than what was right. (Cheers.) We found not the defeat of the Government, but that it was sustained by a 2 V, lai-Rer majority than any Government has ob- tained on a question of party con- troversy. This showed to the Gov- ernment that the course thev had taken, although painfui, necauoe the execution oi a fellow being and the act of administration under which a Government is compelled to advise it, must always be pain- ful, in vindicating the laws of the country was iieartily approved of by the country at large. (Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, as to THE MEASURES which were adopted during the session. It is, perhaps', not .surprising that in view of the early completion of the Ciinadian Pacific railway Northwest matters occupied a prominent position. I have simply to men- tion to you, and the mention of them is suffi- cient, some of the measures adopted in refer- ence to the Northwest. Since I last mot you in Cardwell I have visited that country in (he performance of my duty ; I went northward as far as Prince Albeit, and southward through southern Manitoba, meeting with the settlers there and di^'cuesing with them the atl'airs of that part ot the country. They presented to me at almost all of those meet- ings statements and suggestions of improve- ments which they believed should take place in the laws of the country, and I am sure it will he to me a matter of the greatest satis- faction that I will be able to eay to them that nearly every suggestion presented to me at that time has since been adopted, not only in consequence of my having gone there, but by the progre-^s of time, and by the arrival at that period in the history of the country which rendered every one of these changes necessary. (Cheers.) Thus, in the next Parliament we will see representatives from the Northwest Ter<'i- tories, and then no section in this Dominion will be without its fair represent ition in the councils of the country. (Hear, hear ) That was a measure of the greatest possible im- portance, but it was a measure that could not be adopted until the population of the coiu- try had increased somuwlm^, and until a nu- merical ccuKUS of the country was taken as it was last summer. We have in this shown our more — - LIBBHAL 8VSTBM OK OO; KUNMKNT ^ than that which obtains on th« other side of the line. There these territories would have had no ropiesentation in the Congress of the country except territorial representation. which would entitle their representatives to speak but not to vote. Here we have given people who have gone in there within the last four or five years all the rights which are held by the other provinces of the Dominion, and their repre- sentatives will, as members of Parliament, have all the privileges which other members of Parliament possess. (Hear, hear.) Then another question which agitated the North- west was THE JUDICIAI SYSTEM that prevailed there, j. the early history of the country it was absolutely neces-ary (hat a somewhat primitive system .should be adopted. I believe the pre^eiit system was inaugurated by the Mackenzie Government, and both Governments recognizee* the princip'e that in that country the true policy was to employ stipendiary magistiates, so that the people could have their wrongs righted and disputes settled without any appeal — something like the principle in your division courts with a criminal jurisdiction added. But as the population was increasing and becoming more dense in certain, portions of the terri- tories, it was found that a change was neces- sary, and during the past session we have given a judicial system to the Northwest sub- stantially the same as that of other provinces — ^judges appointed for life having full juris- diction in criminal and civil matters — with the right to appeal to their own Court of Appeal just as in the other provinces. That was a change which was greatly needed, and the result of which I believe will militate largely to the advantage of the people. Then we have adopted what is called THE TORRBNS LANO SY.STBM, a system by which the transfer of land is made easy, and which has been in operation in the Australian colonies for about a quarter of a century and has worked remarkably well. I believe the Legislature of Ontario has adopt- ed it as a permissive system, and has applied it to the metropolitan county of York, but as a permissive system it has not worked as well as it is expected to in a new country like the Northwest, where the transfers of land have been few, and where the fee of the land still largely remains in the Crown. In (•uch a territory I believe such a system could be adopted and successfully carried out. That has been in accordance with the desire of the people of the Northwest lerritories. Then we have also amended to some extent I '6 Appeal TUB LAND LAWS OF THK NOUTHWEST, luttkiiig Kettloment morts euHy, yhnplifyiiig the HyBtem by which outiies can be made, aud ainondiug the hiws in many other respecte to tiie advantage of the settlers in those teiri- torieH. Tliese four measures constitute in themselves a full measure of work in any or- dinary session of I'arliament, and you will see in regard to them that they are all emin- ently practical aud cannot be said to be in any way whatever mattes of party policy or of party contvoversy, but practical measures which will urdoubtedly result in very great advantages to the people of these Northwest Territories when they are brought into opera- tion. (E'iar, hear.) Then, gentlemen, an- other most i n portant and practical measure was introduced and carried through the house by the Hon. John Carling, minister of agri- culture, with the object of establishing experi- mental farms. Now there has been another s^'p terest-bearing assets to offset that debt. Tak- ing these assets, and we have reduced the in- crease from S106,47G,361 to $05, 207, 164, that is to say, we have interest-bearing assets to make up that difference. Now, what has been the effect of it. They told us that this enormous increase WOULD AFFECT OUR CREDIT. Has it done so ? Do we stand better or worse to-day in the money markets of the world ? The average interest on the net debt in 1878 was 4.65 per cent., while to-day it is only 3.80 per cent., or a difference of .85 in favor of the present as compared with the past. I think, gentlemen, that that will show that the standing of the country in the money markets of the world is a good one, in view of what wp have been doing to cause that in- crease. (Hear, hear.) I have said that we have increased the net debt by $65,207,- 164, but the average interest on our assets when Mr. Mackenzie was in power was only 1.63 per cent., while to-day it is .'!.94 percent., or an increase in favor of the pres- ent of 2.31 per cent. (Cheers.) We have increased our debt, it is true, but the increase in our debt since 1878 has been $50,000 a year leas than during the five years that Mr. Mackenzie was in office. (Cheers.) More than that, during the five years. the Liberals were in office they increased the debt by $1,997,613 more than they expended on capi- tal account — nearly two millions of borrowed money to enable them to carry on the gov- ernment of the country — while from 1878 to 1885 we have expended $24,740,553 more on capital account than we have added to the public debt. (Cheers.) You have not felt any serious taxation as a result of that in- crease ; you have not paid any more than at that time for articles you consumed, and, on the whole, you have had a fair measure of prosperity ; and yet we have been able to ex- pend no less than $24,740,553 more than we have added to the public debt. (Renewed cheering.) Let me also give four items of expenditure which make in tb jmselves more than the whole increase in the debt. There are the debts allowed to the provinces. That is simply a matter of account. They were debts owed by the provinces, and the provincial debt is lessened to that extent. This item amounted to $7,177,- 718. Then on the Canadian Pacific rail- way the subsidies and the amounts we paid on those portions of the road we had 1» build, that is between Port Arthur and WinnipeK and between Yale and Kamloops, on the Pacific coast, we paui $4(3,987,81)4 ;on Dominion lands, for surveyH, etc., $2, 430,035, and on ordinary Miscellaneous public worlis charged to capital $14,954,624. or on these four items alone we have, independent of all the other expenses which are necessary in a growing country like this, nearly six and a half million dollars MORE THAN THE BNTIRK IXCnBASE in the public debt. Then they tell us that we have enormously increased the public ex- pendHure. That is (juite tiue, but in the nature of things in a country like this, grow- ing as it is, if the Government recognize that their business is to benefit the country they will recognize the necessity of this expendi- ture. That is the policy of this Government. But look at the facts. First there is an in- crease of interest of $2,370,599, but, inas- much as there is a large increase in the iti'er- est upon our a^setr, which should fdiriy be deducted from that, that item will be greatly reduced. Let me give you a sample by wav of comparison. The annual increas« in th') net interest from 1873 to 1878 was $290,368, while from 1878 to 1885 it was only $133,518. or less than half the increase during the time Mr. Mackenzie was in office. (Cheers ) Now among the things upon which we hdve had increases, in the charges for debt and the subsidies to the provinces, there is an increase of $3,588,833, but of this there is $1,391,261 increased in- terest ou assets and $486,519 increased sub- sidies to the provinces. Then there is an increased charge upon revenue of $1,892,752 or 35 J per cent., but the revenue has increas- ed 46^ per cent, so that really is not an in- crease. When we get a still larger revenue as the result of larger expenditure it is an economy instead of extravagance to make that increase. Then there is an expenditure of $2,300,000 in connection with the North- west rebellion, which really belongs to capital and never sh( uld have been included in tlie charges against consolidated fund. These three items make up $7,781,586 of the in- crease which has taken place during that time. Against Ihe balance we have first an exoenditure on public works of $1,303,768. The Government could adopt Ihe prmciple of expending no money on public works whatever, could lay down the principle of erecting no public ^buildings in our towns or cities, or of making no improvements in our haiborsor rivers, but ofusirsg the revenues of the country to pay the expenditure in connection witii the mere functions of Government. But that is not the policy of this Government. The policy of this Government is to make WISE AND LIBKKAI, E.\PB.\n:TURK8 upon the oublic works of this country. (Cheers.) Then as to the Indians, there is au increased expenditure of $688,101 ; but the Opposition complain that we do not expend enough on the Indiana. Then, on the Mounted Police there is a necessary increase of $229, 501; on the fisheries, in connection with their protection and development, $179,- 912 ; on immigration and quarantine, $325,- 716 ; on Dominion lands, by causing larger surveys in the Northwest, $91,095 ; making In all an increase of $2,828,097, leaving less than a million dollars to be spread over all the other items of ordinary expenditure. Now, gentlemen, it is also said that the de- partments are increasing very largely. In connection with my own department — the Department of the Interior — in the whole of theyear 1878 there were received and registered 4,642 letters, while in 1885 there were received and registered 27,660 letters. For the five months of this year just ended, tliere were received and registered 20,048 letters, and for the month of May, which has just past, there were received and -ecorded in the de- . partment 4,728 letters, or 86 more than the entire number received and recorded in the whole year 1878. I think you will all admit that fact alone amply justifies the increased expenditure m that department. (Cheers.) If you think that can be done without some I increase in the staif of the department, then I I would like you to try your hand at it. (Hear, bear.j Now, gentlemen, so much for that. But, beaten as they have been ou m atters of policy, for they are abandoning their attacks upon the National 1 olicy and the Canadian Pacific railway, although their leaders are as fanatical as ever upon the subject, they have adopted a new kind of cry to obtain office if they can. It would be simply attectation to say that the Opposition do not expect to wm the next election. "Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disap- pointed." (Laughter and cheers.) But \ they do expect to do so. In toe first I place they expect to carry the whole prov- ince of Quebec with them, that instead ! of our having some fifty-two Conservative ; members from Quebec, it will be about the 8 other way, aud they think if we luaiia^^e to get a dozen or flttecD we will have done well And why ? Hiiuply because the Guvernraeut, in what they believed to be their seuse o( duty and obligation to the country, allowed the law to take its course in THB CASE OF L0CI8 RIEL. We saw the agitation in Quebec last fall, and we beard the statement of Mr. Meicier on the Champ de Mars, a statement which for sa- crilegious blasphemy could hardly be etiualled by the lowest demagogue, when he hkuued Louis Riel to the (Saviour v>f all mankind, and the execution atRegina to the'sacritice on Calvary. (Sensation.) Upon that ground they hope hereafter to secure such a support in Quebec as will enable tht ;n to sue ceed at the elections when they take place. They are issuing to-day their manifesto: "Louis Riel WAS the representative of the French race in Canada ; French Canada impl .ed the Government (as they say) to spare his life, and the Government refused, and, therefore, it is the business oi French Canada, irri,- spective of old party lines altogether, to unite for the purpose of punishing the men wLo executed Louis Riel." And then they hope to gain them in the province of Ontario by this plea, that although a great many of their leaders in this province believe in their hepits that he deserved his fate, and that no otner course was open to the Government, and that although they had announced in their news- papers before the execution that if lliel was not executed the Government would be de- serving of the severest cens'ue, and that it would be another evidence that the G )vern- ment were at the beck and call of the French- Canadians of tlie province of Quebec — iliey now ^■\y "If the Government have lost their friends in Quebec by this course we are going to take advantage of the Government by cast- ing our votes as usual with this people who-c only ground of complaint is that Kiel was execuied," and they believe they will h'ive their old support iu the province of Ontario as tirm as it ever was before. Looking at the two parties one cannot but feel that the party which so readily changes its front as the Liberals are doing to-day iu the province of Ontario is not worthy of the support «f law-abiding, weil-intentioned citizens. (Hear, hear.) AVhy at the last general elec- tion, both in verse and m prose, from their platforms and their press, ^e heard of nothing but the iniquity of the Quebec Bleue. Everywhere we hearCi tlieir allianoe with the Conservatives of Ontario abused. I remembtr when 1 came up here to support my good friend, Mr H-imel — and when I had an opportunity of meeting political opponents on a political platform, — that everywhere the question was TIfESB TBUHIIILK (^UKUBC BLKU8. (Hear, hear.) They weio described as per- sons with hoofs, horns and tails which they scarcely concealed. Now all that is changed. The Quebec Bleus ba^e donned little wings ; they are angelic cherubs which ilt up aloft arid look after tho fate of poor Neddy. They propose now to coalesce with the very people whom they used formerly a^ a bugaboo with which to frig'iten ihe people of Ontario. 1 do not think that policy is likely to be a suc- cessful one. (Hear, hear ) I do not believe they will have tht success they expect in the province of Quebec Thiii is happily not a religious question. The Roman Catholic Episcopate ot that province have objected to and have denounced the agitation. (Heai, hear.) Some of them have even gone so far as to prevent high masses being said for the repose of the soul of Louis Riel, because they saw in i< an attempt to make political capital out of the sacred ordinances of the church. (Hear, hear.) Even should they succeed to some extent in the province of Quebec, that the people of Ontario even their wwu friends will permit success to follow such an agitation, 1 cannot for a moment believe. (Hear, hear.) Dut some of them say that the Government must be condemned because, although the Government were right in exe- cuting lliel, still, at the same time, they had so mismanaged AKKAIUS IN THB NOUTHWB.ST tliat thev ought to be condemned for that fact. Now, in the ordinary nature of things, there may have been blunders in the admin- istration of the artair.s of the Northwest, re- moved as that country is from the seat of Government : but I want to point out to you tliat if everything the.se people say was true, it would fail to justify, even to the slightest extent, ^he rebellion which took place in the Northwest. (Cheers) The Opposition Justify the lebellion on two grounds . Oae was that the half-breeds had not had tbeir Indian titles extinguislred, and the (3tL'er that they were not permitted to have their laniis surveyed in accordance with their wishes. Now the outbreak took place on the banks of the Saskatchewan. There were * m li.ilt'.breetlH ai KdmontoD, (jii' A ppello, Cypress Hills, an«l Roattertd all over the TerritoricH, but only i:) the Saskatchewan dlrttiict did the outbreak take place. Why the half-breeds at Edmonton, ho far from reboUing, enlisted under Captain Depgeorgm. of the (j5th Bat- tHlion, for the defi ucc of their Queen and c'ltinrry. (Cheers ) With regiird to the extinguishment of the Indian title in 18tJ"J, when the c( uutry wiih taken possescion < \ by the Govern luent, it was apreed that each irilf- bried should receive KJO acres, or the equivalent in n rip, and that each child of the half-breed born within the territory at that time should receive 240 acres What was the position on the Saskatchewan ? You have heard a great deal about th*) peti- tions that were sent down Well, gentle- nun, there was one from Prince Albert district In 1878 i)rayit'g for scrip ; :W of the signers had actually received it in Manitoba There was another petition from Gaoriel Dumont, and 44 others in September, 1882 ; of these 3i> had received their scrip in Manitoba. Then on the 19th November, 1883, William Bremmr and others, 32 in^ll, senta petition ; 24 ha ' 'Iready received *,heir scrip. (Hear, hear ) Of the entire niimber of settlers in the aitturbed district, 258, no less than 177 had received their scrip in Manitoba before tl;ey went there at all and had ao claim whatever on account of their Indian title. (Cheers ], I think that will fairly show that the ribelliou broke out where they had no claim. Then, gentlemen, a commission was Bent up last year to settle all these claims, and of 1,G8(; cases only 38 were from the disturbed distiicts, showing, as you will see, that there was no ground of com- plaint on that score, (dear, hear.) Then as to TUB MATTKrt OP SUUVEYS, the policy of the Government was adopted in 1871 and has been carried on ever since. They adopteiJ what is called the rectangular system of survey, and every Ontario man who has gone up there is delighted with it. Then the Government adopted the plan that where there was any considerable settlement of half-breeds along the rivers and they de- sired their own system of ten or twenty chains front and running back a mile or two, the lanas would be thus surveyed. It was done a Edmonton, St Albert, St. Laurent, Vic- toria, Prince Albert and at Fort Saskatche- wan, and the only place where it was not adopted, because there were only two settlers at the time of survey, was in the now well known township of Ht. Louis de Lan(s')vin. It is true that people asked for this system of surveys, but thoy had come in after the rect- angular system of curveys was adopted, and the only thing therefore (o justify the rebel- lion in this respect was that the Government, having adopted a particular kind of .survey, would not connent to change it for the rettl'Ms Mho tubsiqueutly went in there. That was THR WHOLB OHIBVANnfJ, and I venture to say that no man, unless h) does so for paity purposes, will sny that this .justified an outbreak. (Hear, hear.) Now, the Opposition say that the Government had driven away a number of these people, or at least frightened them away, by giving their lands in the town- ship of St. Louis de Laagevin to the Prince Albert Colonization company. Well, I ob- tained, or rather Mr. Pearco, the inspector c f mines and a member of the Land board, whom I sent up last fall to settle some land matters, obtained from every one of the settlers, with ce exception — and he could not be founu — aindavitB declaring, with the exception of two, that they tjr. • not even heard ot the Prince Albert 'Colonization company and these two had never been threatened or inter- fered with in '\ny way by either the agent of the company or the agent of the Government. (Hear, hear.) They thought so little of it that they went on with their im- provements and no single half-breed — a thing which cannot be said of almost any one pro- vince of this Dumiuion in the dealings be- tween settlers and the land department — has ever been deprived of his land from the time ho went into that country down to the pre- sent time. (Cheers ) Not only were they not deprived of their lands, but they had con- ditions granted to them which the ordinary settler from Ontario could not get. Under the conditions uptn which settlers settle upon the lands in the Northwest, failure to fulfil them renders the land liable to cancellation. The half-breeds, as to most of them, did not fulfil their conditions ; and yet not only*did they not have their lands cancelled, but the Govern- ment took the trouble long before the rebel- lion broke oat, to send Mr. Duck among them and implore them to make their entries and fulfil ibeir conditions of settlement. More than that, only this last winter I have ray- self, in answer to a petition sent me from t'' e half-breeds on the Saskatchewan, who asked 16 «■ for another year because of the difficulty \u Ketting the flO fee, caused letters to be written to each one o^ thera, GUriNQ THKM A YEAK'S DELAY, and asking them to remain un the laud and cultivate it. (Hear, iiear.) As I have eaid, I obtained these aliidavits. and almoot the last night of the session Mi . Laurier dealt with them, and he undertook to prove that these affidavits were not worthy of credit be- cause, as he says, the Government agent had threatened, had, in fact, forced them to sign papers which they did not thoroughly under- stand. Well, gentlemen, I had heard that was going to be done^ and I obtained an ex- planatory letter from Mr.Pearcea'id affidavits from Mr. Duck, who witnessed some of them, faud from Mr. Marion, a half-breed, who wit- nessed them, 'coih of whom swore that the statements had been read over to Ihe settlers in French and Cree, whichever they best un- derstood, that they perfectly understood them, and that they signed them without any pressure whatever. ja reply to these Mr. Laurier said : — " Anv man must ad that very little weifihi can attacli to <• :ivll8 'ratned with the exclusive object of exculpating the Govera- niont, obtained by agents of the i jvernment, ami obtained from people who were lately In- hurgenls, whose lelatives were Jate'y in- surgents, and who themselves or their rela- tives are still liable to Iraprisonmeni, to coercion and pnalshniont. It must strike anyone's mind tiiat ince poor peoplc.ignorant and illiterate as they are known to be, must be an easy prey to the long-liearted agent of the Government. And we have the evidence of that." Now, gentlemen, what does the evidence amount to. He took the ground that these people were not to be believed on oath, anci he (Mr. Laurier) read a letter from a gentle- man in Prince Albert, whose name he did not even give, enclosing a statement pur- porting to be signed, but not sworn to, by some of those half-breeds. The statement ot the half-breeds is :— "That Mr. William Pearce, commissioner of Dominion lands, did, on the occasion of his visit to our sett'.sment in the month of De- cember, 1885, present to us for slunaturo a ' document whirjh wa.s stated to contain only » statem mt that we knew noth.ng of the exist- ence cf the Prince Albert Colonization com- pany when we settled on our land." That was signed by a number ci half-breeds, but was not sworn to, end we are asked to beli )m obtain- ing these limits the same as any private ir dividual, provided always that no special ad- vantage was given to him that would not be given to outsiders, and no one has ventured to mpke that charge, (^Hear, hear.) Now, Mr. Cameron, of Huron, who is the chief liar I bad almost said, but who is the chief ohargor, recently said in the house in regard to this malier : " I charged that the Government had par- celled out among their political friends a large portion of the public resources of Ihls Domin- ion, in some four or live different instances, and in only five or six dilf-'reut Instances those charges have beeuteontradicted." Let me give you one of the charges he cited in Parliament Mr. Taylor, the membur tor South Leeds,, wrote the following letter to the Department of the Interior in 1882 : GANANOciiiE, ;^."d October. 1882. To the, Hon. the .' linisler of the Interior, Ot- tawa : " Dear Sir,— A friend of mine wishes me to enquire on what terms *} j department will grant a timber limit la t .e Nortii west terri- tories, In townships supposed to be HO, 40 and 41, In ranges 18, 19 and '20 west, at a place called Passenger Hill. He is anxious to se- cure a limit. Your ea.ly reply will much oblige. " I have the honor to be, sir, " " y onr obedient servant, "(Signed) Gko. T/ .lor." Now, that was not a very dangerous letter. What was tne answer to it? It was as fol- lows ; — " Department of the Int*>vior, ) " Ottawa, 10 October, 1882. ] " Sir,— I have the honor, by direction of the minister, to acknowledge the receipt of youi' loiter of the 3rd instant, enquii-lng on what terms the Government will grant you a tim- ber limit 1.1 the Northwest territories, In town- ships a 0, 4(> and 41, in ranges 18, lOandviO west, of the seconu meriaian ; and in reply herewith enclose a copy of the timber reguia- 1 Ion. " I have the honor to be, sir, " Your obedient servant, " (Signed) A. Russell, " For Surveyor Ganenil." That was not a very serious matter. There never was anything rjore done about it ; no timbei limit was given, and yet upon that^- the writing of that letter — Mr. Taylor is charged with being bought by the Govern- ment, and the Go- tjrnment is charged with corruption and favoritism. Then a charge is also brought againot the first minister. Sir John Macdonald, by Mr. Cameron, in these words : — "Now, sir, I find that th » som of the First Minister of this Dominion and the Kon of Sir Charles Tapper have been using the'" a 1 p »w- erfiil influence with this adn/iilsrratli>n In order to secure larg'.> slices of the public domain and the public resourccF of this coun- try. For years they have been trading on and speculat-^ng in that influence and in the re- sources of the Dominion secured thereby." Gentlemen, I will not detain you with reading Sir John's reply and what took place in the house, but 1 will say this, that Sir John refuted every single charge advanced by Mr. Cameron. I might, however, in- stance just two cases as an illustratiou. Here is one charge by Mr. Cameron ; — " These worthy sons of worthy sires do not appear to have limited their operations tu coal and timber lands. They were willing to turn a penny in any v< ay out of the public resources of the count y, over wnic their fathers then had full "ontrol. and so they applied for ll»e salt sprinf^s flowing into Lake Winnlpegosls, and Mr. Hall, of the Department of the Inter lor, wrote them thai those lake salt spring'^ could bo had at $5 an acre. These young men appear to have had a blind share in that dei\l also." The official record in the department with regard to that is as follows : — "On the '29th August, 1883, Macdonald A Tapper applied, unler Instructions from tlielr client, Ml. Peter Barclay; of IJirtle, for a salt springof Lake Winnipegosls. Ihey wore In- formed that if their cliant can establish prior- ity of discovery he can get forty acres at ."? 10 an acre on ihe prescribed conditions. He was called upon to prove his discovery in three months. This was more than a year ago, and the department has heard no more about it " Another charge of Mr. Cameron's was : — "When tl.e lato Minister of Railways fixed the tetnrlnus of the railway at Port Moody, the son of the Premier and the son of the Minister i of Rail ways applied to this Government, over j which their fathers wielded unbounded sway, for 400 acres of the foreshore at Po t Moody. Whether they got It or not, I do not know ; but It is very likely they did not complete the contru:;t, l)>'uauso !.he C.inadlan Pacific rallw wrote to the department about these lands ; but the agent of the Govern - mert reporting that they were of present value and prospective important ), the lan^s 12 were never sold. I think I can fairly say, tbeiefore, that as to these matters there was no ground for the charge of corruption, and they are a fair sample of all the charges. Let me give you a few facts in relation to THE DISPOSAL OP TIMRER LIMITS. For instance, there were '2,029 applications for licenses, because it was during the boom period. The applications involved no corrup- tion. Of these 568 orders-in-council were passed, and the persons who obtained them were bound to pay rental for one year ($250) The Governmeat received in this conntction $24,0G2.27, and the people who paid this never received the limit ; where two persons applied for the same limit they had to com- pete for it, and for bonuses in this way we received $21,262, besides the $24,000 for ground rents in relation to limits for which no license wan ever issued, and in relation to which the people who paid the money never got the limit. As a matter of fact there were only ninety-six licenses granted altogether, out of over two thousand applica- lions. And there were only three members who received licenses or leases : Mr. M. K Dickenson, who is a lumber merchant ; Mr. Hugh Sutherland, an opponent of the present Government, and Mr. Rykert, who applied not for himself but as a trustee for one John Adam, for whose estate he v/as the solicitor. Then they h»ve made a good deal out of the question of permits. Now there were 6,837 permits issued, but 4,581 of these were oidiiiary settieo' free permits to enable them to get lumber to put up theii' houses, out- buildings, etc.; ovnr 2,000 were to setclers wanting a greater quantity than the free pel mils gave, and most of the otbeis were for cutting limber and ties in connection with the railway operations then going on in the Northwest. Then the charge was made ag:).inst Mr. Co8:igan, that he got a permit, and so he did. Mr. Costigan is not a rich man and he is not ashamed of it, and in the pursuit ot his business be got a permit to take out some ties tor a railway that was being built, pa'.d in advance 20 per cent, and went to work and cut his ties, but I believe, as a matter of tact, that the winter comiug on operJ'tions bad to be stopped and he never got a aollar for bis ties, while the Government got his $275. Mr. Costigan was not a minister of the Crown at that time. Then, gentlemen, we were told that we ware giving gracing leases. Well, by paying an annual rental of two cents an ac>e any ot you who wish can obtain a grazing lease by plac- ing witbiD three years one head of CAttle for every ton acres. We have received already for rental $76,531 and we will save as the result of having these cattle in our own ter- ritory on the beef supply to the Indians and to the Mounted police no less than $121,500 on a three years' contract. With regard ^o the charges about members of Parliament being interested in the colonization com- paniee you all know that anybody had a per- fect right to obtain a colonization grant. Among tho members of Parliament who weto incorporators in these companies were three Grits, the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, who was president of one of them, Mr. Gunn and Mv. Hugh Sutherland, and three Conservatives, Mr. Small, Mr. Wallace (York), and Mr. Beaty, and I think I can fairly «ay that Mr. Wallace has done more in connection with his York colonization company than all the others put together. As to Mr. Small, although an applicant in connection with others, the appli'^ation was made before he was a member of Parliament, and us\ a m:\tter of fact he never gut the lands, and was, therefore, not interested in any coloniza- tion company that went into operation. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, that is the oolicy of slander which has been adopted when everything else has failed. If timo would permit I would gladly answer all the scan- dals promulgated by the Opposition last ses- sion, but I will only say that the Government of Sir John Macdonald have at any rate this claim upon the country : they are earnestly desirous of promoting the best interests of the coaatry in every respect ; they are believers in the country, believers that Canada is a country of great possibilities and capabilities, and are desirous of devoting themselves in the future as in the past to ^be work of developing the material resources of the Dominion. (Hear, hear.) That is a positive policy and r.ot a mere negative policy like that of the Opposition, and I do not feel ia the slightest degree alarmed as to what the result will be at the next election. I feel perfectly contident that so far as I am per- sonally concerned in supporting that policy and in doing what I can to advance it, I have been acting in accordance with the wishes of my constituents in Cardwell. (Lond cheers) I thank you gentleman for the earnest attention which you have given to these remarks. (Prolonged cheering.) On motion of Mr. John Kelly, seconded by Mr. John Leggatt., a hearty vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. White for his able ad- dress and the meeting broke up with three cheers for the Queen and Mr. Whii^e. BIB