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ON THK O00A8ION OP THR Formation of a Liberal Conservative Association. BY TII08. WHITE, Jr. MONTREAL t DAWSON BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 1874. it'.- diJiz^itisim«i^. ¥Amum^M ' wmtimm-wmr^m^^^mmmimm ^ i t' vr TWEl!!fTT YEAES OP LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE ADMINISTRATION IN CANADA. On Tuesday, the 5th March, 1874, a large and influential meeting was held at the village of L'OriginaJ, in the County of Prescott, for the purpose of forming a Liberal Conservative Association for the Couaty. The Hon. John Hamilton, Senator, presided, and Mr. Thomas White, jr., delivered an address, taking for his subject, " Twenty years of Liberal Conservative Administra- tion in Canada." After some references to the recent election, and to the fact that the defeat of Liberal Conservative cause was due altogether to the absence of proper party organization, Mr. White proceeded as follows : — We are here to-day for the purpose of forming a Liberal Conservative Association. Mr. Hamilton has told you that aU through Ontario a similar course is being adopted by the party. You, gentlemen, have not been alone m the absence of proper organization. Unfortunately it has been the lot of the party gene- rally to neglect the organization of the ranks and to depend upon the great skill and statemanship of the leader. We have been dis- posed to think, because our party has been in office for twenty years, it was impossible that it could be defeated, and we have trusted to that skill ard statemanship and to the fact of prevJbus triumphs, rather than to our strong united effort to win the contest. To-day the party is becoming more orgr.nized than I believe it has ever been, and from one end of Ontario to the other, and in the other provinces as well, the electors who hitherto have had Liberal Conservatism inscribed upon their banners, are uniting, so that when the day arrives they may be ready for the contest with the certainty of succees. (Cheers.) It has occurred to me, as we are about to organize, that if possible we should know the grounds upon which we organize. Are we as Liberal Conservatives entitled to maintain our organization and to look forward to future party triumphs ? Is the record of the past such as we may be proud of? Are the achievements of the party during its long tenure of office, such as, looking bajk upon them, justify us in keeping alive our party organi- zation, and in looking forward with confidence to the achievements of electoral triumphs in the future ? As an answer to these questions, it may not be amiss, as we are about establishing this association, if I should refer, as briefly as the circumstances will permit, to the history of the last twenty years, during which the party of which we are members has held office and guided the destinies of this country. I oay twenty years during which they have been in office, because although for eighteen or twenty months our opponents held the reins of power, the legislation and results of those months were such as scarcely to take from the Liberal Conservative party the fair credit of having done whatever has been done during the last twenty years to promote the prosperity of Canada. (Cheers.) FORMATION OP THE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE PARTY. Let me, Sir, at the outset, refer to some of the incidents con- nected with the formation of what to-day is the Liberal Conserva- tive party. Such of you as attended some of the meetings that were held during the contest will remember that one gentleman — a learned gentleman, who evidently thinks he has more knowledge than those whom he came to address, and who traversed this county from one end to the other for the purpose of explaining the political views of Mr. Hagar, the member for the county — attempted to throw ridicule upon the term "Liberal Conservative." Not having much Confidence in your education and intelligence, he told you that an eminent Professor, Mr. (ioldwin Smith, had declared that the term Liberal had been attached to Conservative as a deodorizer. And supposing you might not understand the meaning of that word, he kifodly vouchsafed the information io you that it meant taking the oflFensive smell from the latter name. Now, I think it is worth while to-day to point out that we are entitled to the name upon the highest grounds of the historical record of the past, and that judged by that record that name is entitled to the respect of all who rejoice to call themselves by it. [Cheers]. The party which to- day calls itself the Liberal party of Canada is not the old Liberal mmm kmnifmmmmmmmmmmm^^mmSM^mM to in Is >e i- ts f e h ♦ I 3 party of the Province of Canada. As far back as 1848-49, when Eobert Baldwin and Louis Lafontaine were the great leaders of that party, the restless spirits who constitute the Clear Grit and Eouge parties of to-day began to show themselves. Then it was that Mr. Malcolm Cameron and others, who were at that time in Parliament, started what is known and designated as the Clear Grit party of Canada— composed of men in the Liberal ranks, but dissatified with the staunch conservatism of their leaders — men not satisfied with such leaders as Baldwin and Lalbntaine, who thought by going a little faster they would manage to achieve greater things and estab- lish greater popularity for themselves. And as in Upper Canada so in Lower. The Liberals, as they call themselves, of to-day are not the Liberals of those days. Then the Eouge party, the party of Jean Baptiste Eric Dorion and L'Avtnir, raised the war cry against the old Liberals, and erected platforms the planks of which were regarded as extravagant then, and are happily as to a large number of them, considered equally extravagant to-day. The year 1854, which saw the Liberal Conservative party spring into existence, was memorable for the attempts of these restless spirits, who to-day claim a monopoly of the liberalism of the Dominion, to breaK down a liberal administration, composed of the men who had been the col- leagues and were the successors, as leaders of the party, of Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine. In Upper Canada the malcontents were led by Mr. Brown, the present leader — or, perhaps, more properly dictator — of the so-called Liberal party, and thej included such men as Messrs. Hartman and Wright, members for two of the Divisions of York. In order to break down a Liberal Government, Mr. Brown supported in all the constituencies Conservatives in pre- ference to old Liberals ; and as a result the Conservative party was strengthened, and the old Liberal party weakened. In Lower Can- ada, for the first time, the Eouges appeared in numbers in Parlia- ment. Nineteen young men, led by Mr. Dorion, some of them men of earnestness and ability, but extravagant and almost revolutionary in their opinions, were elected to the Legislative Assembly. But they were elected, not as Liberals, but as Rougis opposed to the Liberal party of the day. Thus although the Liberal Government, '''and the part}' represented by it, had a large majority over any of the other parties in Parliament considered singly, they found them- selves in a minority when confronted with the three parties — Con- servatives, Clear Grits and Rouges— combined, and were compelled on the mt. ting of Parliament to tender their resignations. t FORMATION OP THE COALITION OF 1854. When the time thus came for the change of Government owing to the defeat of the Ministry, the question that arose in the minds of the old Liberals was this :— Shall we hand over the government of this country to the men who, calling themselves Liberals, have broken down the Liberal party by the declaration of extravagant views, by the enunciation of principles far more radical and reckless than any we are prepared to accept, and by a restless ambition which we cannot approve ; or shall we not rather unite with the Conservatives, who have gone to the country declaring, in refer- ence to the great questions which then agitated it, that if the decision at the polls ^as against them, they would no longer offer resistance to their settlement, but would, on the contrary, assist in such a solution of them as would forever remove them from the sphere of public or political agitation. Then came the coalition of 1854 ; then came the union between the true Liberals of the old days and the Conservatives ; then came the party which for twenty years since that time has governed us under the 'title of the liberal Conservative party of Canada. (Cheers.) And who shall say, looking at the great benefits of their rule, that they were not entitled to the name then and since of Liberal Conversatives ? (Loud cheers.) Do you want proof of the entire acquiescence of the foremost Liberals of that day in this arrangement ? I ask you to refer to a letter dated September 22nd, 1854, addressed by Eobert Baldwin to Sir Francis Hincks, then Mr. Hinoks, in which that great old Liberal leader gives in his adhesion to the celebrated coalition of parties. ^ In that letter he endorsed the action taken, * Spadina, 22nd Sept., 1854. My Dear Sir, — It is not easy for persons to satisfy themselves fully as to what they would themselves have done under a given combination of circumstances in which they have not heen placed, and certainly in no department of human affairs is this more true than in politics. The materialti with which one has to deal are so various, the prejudices to encounter often so violent (and not unfrequently unjust in proportion to their violence,) that the public man who boldly affirms in a spirit of condemnation, that had he been in the position of another he would have done one thing and not have done another, must be either deficient in experience, or in judgment, or reckless of assertion. If, therefore, by its being « on all sides said that I would never consent to a coalition," it is meant, in that way, to draw a contrast between us to your prejudice, all that I can say is, that those who undertake thus to speak for me, under- take to do so far more positively than I could presume to do myself. For, however disinclined myself to adventure upon such combinations, they are unquestionably, in my opinion, under certain circiunatances, not only and told bis old friend and colleague that the best thing that could be done for the party and for the success of its principles, was what he had done. And the bitterness with which even Robert Baldwin, whose claim to be considered a Liberal few will now dispute, was persecuted because of his acquiescence in the measure by which the Clear Grits and Kouges have been so long kept in opposition, was exemplified shortly afterwards when a number of his friends, old political opponents ae well as allies, requcf^ted him to enter the Legislative Council as the member of the York division. Instead of acquiescing in a selection, the absolute fitness of which could not bo questioned, these Clear Grits, headed by Mr. Brown, these men who claim to-day to be the Liberals of Canada, brought out a no- body, politically, in the person of Mr. Charles Bomaine, to oppose him, and thus forced the old statesman, whom, however men may have differed from him politically, all were compelled to honor ond respect, back into private life, and soon after to a sorrowing grave. One wonders to-day that the spirit of Robert Baldwin does not rise to rebuke the hypocrites and traitors, who having thus cast reproaches upon him in his maturer years, now venture to deck their banqueting halls with his honoured name, (Cheers.) THE QUESTIONS TO BE SOLVED. The party having thus been formed, let us for a moment look at questions that divided the country at that time. The two leading questions were the Clergy Reserves and the Seignorial Tenure ques- tions. The first was a subject which many years before was one of justifiable but expedient, and even necessary. The government of the country must be carried on. It ouyht to be canied on with vigor. If that can be done in no other way than by mutual concessions and a coalition of parties, they become necessary. And those who, under such circum- stances, assume the arduous duty of becoming parties to them, so far from deserving the opprobrium that is too frequently and often too successfully heaped upon them, have, in my opinion, the strongest claims upon public sympathy and support. You have expressed yourself most anxious for my opinion. I feel therefore that I should fail in doing by you what, under similar circumstances, I should expect from you, were I to omit applying the foregoing remarks to the particular transaction which has given occasion to them ; with respect to which, then I add without reserve that, in my opinion, you appear to have acted in this matter with judgment and discretion in the interest at once of your party and your country. Believe me to be, my dear Sir, Hon. Francis Hincks, M.P.P. Yours truly, (Signed,) ROBERT BALDWIN, ip§!t#Pia ^sW^SfJ^n '"'""•mmm 6 the clemcntfl in the rebellion of Upper Canada, and the other under which the people of Tjower Canada were made to pay dues at differ- ent times, contrary to, and destructive of all chances of material prosperity. These questions constituted the leading issues of that time. They were large, important questions, requiring solution at the hands of the public men of the country. What was done ? The Clergy Itcscrves were secularised ; and you well remember the agita- tion made by the so-called Liberals, the Clear (rrits, against the commutation clause of the Act of Secularization, simply for this reason ; that by means of that commutation clause all chances of future agitation upon the subject were swept away. The Con- servative party at that tin)e — for the very principle of Conser- vatism is to destroy as far as it can the cries of agitators and the trade of demagogues, endeavoured to take from the arena of public discussion mere questions of popular agitation. The commutation clauses was introduced as the conservative element into that bill. And by one stroke the whole question was removed from political discussion ; and although the Grits got up petitions, signed by some eighty or ninety thousand people, against the clause, it was carried successfully through and became law. I venture to say that to-day there is not a man in the entire province but rejoices that that which set neighbour against neighbour, one class against another, which placed the badge of religious inferiority upon some, and the badge of superiority upon others, has been removed from the political arena. From that time to this we have heard nothing of the discussion of the Clergy Reserves. (Cheers.) The Seignorial Tenure in Lower Canada was in like manner forever swept away. In this the party has been attacked by the Liberals of Lower Canada, chiefly because in the settlement of the question it had adopted principles which entirely removed it from the political arena. From that daj to this men can do what they could not before. Now they can sell their lands without paying the hds et ventes, carry their grain to the mill without paying the rights of hanaUt6, till their soil without the oppression of the cetis et rentes, and are freed from a number of other dues which pressed and oppressed the people of that province. Equality of religious denominations before the law and free tenure of land in Lower Canada, were established as the result of the union which took place between the Liberals and Conservatives in 1854, and are among the achievements of the Libe 1-Conservative party. (Cheers.) 11 mMmmmm^mmimmiimB^m wmmi NEW CRIES OP THE AGITATORS. Well, gentlemen, these questions being removed, the agitators who had broken up their own purty, and who have now ventured to assume the name of the party broken up, started new queations of agitation. The first one was the question of "No Separate Schools." Realising that in Lower Canada the union of the old Liberals and Conservatives had secured in that Province a majority to the (Jov- erument, they set themselves to work in the weftt for the purpose, if possible, of bringing from this Province a large majority against the administration of the day, and thus provoking sectional .strife. They started this question of no separate schools, coupled with the l*ro- testant cry, as one of the most effective ways of doing this ; and for upwards of eight or ten years every hustings in Upper Canada rang with the cry, '< No Separate Schools." The Liberal Consen ntiv-s, although they went to the elections and suffered defeat m many parts because of those cries raised against them, because they acted upon the principle that the man who believed that religion and edu- cation should go hand in hand was as much entitled to have his conscientious opinions respected as the man who was a Secularist in the matter of education, yet lived long enough to see their opponents acquiesce in the wisi. u of their course, and consent to separate schools being made a constitutional enactment, embodied in the Bri- tish American Act [Loud cheers] . Then the cry of representation by population was taken up ; and a more dishonest cry — and 1 am prepared to prove what I say by words from the mouth of its chief advocate — was never raised in the country. It was declared throughout Ontario that the man who would not go for representa- tion by population was a traitor to hij. country ; it was declared that the Ministers who refused to accept it ^re traitors to their country ; and in every public assembly the dis nssion was as violent as discussions well can be. It is something for us to know that the leader of the Conservative party, a man whom I am proud to acknowledge as a leader, throughout the whole of the discussion, opposed strongly what he believed to be the impracticable scheme of representation by population, and that he lived to find his opposition to it vindicated out of the mouth of his chief opponent. He su"-- gested as a means of solving the question, and meeting the demands which were made for representative reform, a union of the different Provinces, and he made the suggestion almost in the very terms of the constitution which we now possess. (Cheers.) •' ' mmGammm !' Let me give one extract from a speech made by Sir John A. Macdonald in Parliament lo show how accurately he described, as a remedy for the agitation, the measure which has since been applied. He was di^cussir ; the question of representation by population ; and after pointing out the difficulties of getting it he said : "l^he *' only feasible scheme which presented itself to his mind, as a remedy "for the evils complained of, wasa cunfederatiencf all the provinces. " But in speal'ing of a confederation, he must not be understood as *' alluding to it in the sense of the one on the other side of the line." And then he went on to point out wherein the distinction should exist. Let me, sir, ask your special attention to this distinction, for it is most remarkable when compared with the A.ci of Union. " The fatal error which they had committed — and it was perhaps " unavoidable from the state of the Colonies at the time of the " revohition, was in making each state a distinct sovereignty, and " giving to each a distinct sovereign power, except in those instances "when they were Gpecially reserved by the coustitution and con- " ferred upon the general Government. The true principle of ^i "confederation lay in giving to the general Government all the ** principles and powers of sovereignty, and that the subordinate or " individual states should have no powers but these expressly be- " stowed on them. We should thus have a powerful central Govern- *' meni — a powerful central legislature, and a powerful decentralized *' system of minor legislatures for local purposes." I ask you to read the Constitutional Act we have to-day as the foundation of our Parliamentary system, and see whether every principle enunciated in that statement made in 1861, before there was any talk of coalition — aye, when the very idea of the confederation o" the provinces was opposed in the strongest manner by the Clfiar Grits of Upper Canada — look at it and compare it with those statements and yo" will find every principle laid down is embodied in that act of legislation. We have to-day j; strong central government ; a st. ong central legislature, and we have provincial legislatures with limited power. We have a central government with all powers net specially reserved and limited to the local legislatures. And we have strong local legislatures and governments, so far as strength is necessary to enable them to pro- perly carry out the local legislation for the different provii ccs. On this principle there was a distinct issue between parlies. The Clear Grits, after the formation of the Brown-Dorion Administration, and because of the embarrassments arising out of that remarkable com- bination, began to h>3dge a little on the question of representation. : iS'Ur^^Mi-Si 9 by population, and the Toronto Convention of 1859 was the result. What was the solution proposed there ? Simply this, a dissolution of the union, separate Legislatures in each ProTince, and some joint authority — so unimportant that it was not con- sidered worth while to describe it in detail, to manage such matters as were common to both. Here, then, was a distinct issue, and looking at the Act of Confederation we find that the Conservative principle of centralizat'on is embodied in it, against the radical doctrine of the Cloar Grit Convention of 1859. (Cheers.) I promised you I would prove that tho agitation for representation by population was a dishonest one. At the time the discussion on the confederation resolutions took place Mr. Brown made one of the leading speeches from the Ministerial benches, and in the course of that speech this passage occurred ; Mr. Brown was spenking of the opposition to details of the measure, and he said : — "I see an honorable friend now before me for whose " opinions I hfave the very highest respect, who says to me, * Mr. " 'Brown, you should not have settled this part of the plan as you " * have ; here is the way you should have framed it,' 'Well, my " 'dear sir,' is ray reply, ' I perfectly agree with you, but it could " ' not be done. Whether we ask for Parliamentary reform alone or " ' in union with the Maritime Provinces, the French Canadians " • must have their views consulted as well as us. This scheme can " ' be carried, and no scheme CJ'n be that has not the support of both " ' sections of the Province.' " And yet knowing this to be the fact, Mr. Brown raised the cry on every hr"'ings in Upper Canada against the men who would not support or could not carry representations by population ; he made it a special cry against them that they yielded to the French Canadian opposition to it ; he set man against man, neighbor against neighbor, Province against Province, in the interests of his agitation, and all in behalf of a measure which he was com- pelled afterwards to admit never could be carried. (Cheers.) Surely Sir John Macdenald has a vindication of his mature statemanship m opposing representation by population, in this admission of his great adversary. (Cheers.) OTHER QUESTIONS SETTLED. Then, gentlemen, the Liberal Conservative party, in addition to the settlement of these great questions, and uncjubtedly they were great questions, brought about law reform, extension of the munici- pal system, improvement of the school laws, and such other measures ««jrSKl-.Si*Hi.' mmmmmmm 10 of legislation in the old Province of Canada before confederation as left us at the time of confederation with only one question to be solved by the Parliament of the country. And what has been the career of the country since ? Although not until 1 864 was the question of confederation even discussed, although only in 1867 was the question of confederation finally carried, yet when the Liberal Conservative Government left office they handed to their successors, a united British America, with the single exception of the Colony of Newfoundland. (Cheers) Contrast, .sir, these performances with the most ardent hopes of the most enthusiastic speakers on the subject of Confederation. Mr. Brown, f»nd I prefer to refer to him because he can hardly be said to be a partial witness on behalf of Liberal Conservatism, in his great speech in Parliament, after describing the extent of territory and the diflferent Provinces which it was intended to include in the union ultimately, said: — "Well, sir, the bold "scheme in your hands is nothing less than to gather these countries "into one — to organize them all under one government, with the "protection of the British flag, and in hear.iest sympathy and aflfec- " tion with our fellow-subjects in the land that gave us birth." " When ?" shouted the incredulous member for North Hastings, Mr. Wallbridge. " Very soon," answered the impetuous Sir George E. Cartier. But Mr. Brown was more cautious, and gauged with a keener eye the difficulties of the work; — " The hon. member for "North Hastings asks when all this can be done? Sir, the whole " great ends of this Confederation may not be realized in the life-time " of many who now hear me. We imairine not that such a structure "can be built in a month or in a year. What we propose now is but " to lay the foundation of the structure, to set in motion the govern- " mental machinery that will one day, we trust, extend from the " Atlantic to the Pacific." There was the statement of Mr. Brown as to the work before them — a statement which showed that be had BO hope even within his lifetime that that could be accomplished which the skill and statesmanship of the Liberal Conservative party have already accomplished. A confederation extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific was the dream of the far-off future for Mr. Brown. To-day we have that confederation ; we have representa- tives from all the provinces, except one — the Prorince of Newfound- land, taking part in the legislation of the Dominion of Canada. (Loud cheers.) I ask you, therefore, whether, looking at the past political record of the Liberal Conservative party of the country — looking at the important questions they have settled — we have SMf fwf^ yJ^^ 11 not reason to be proud of the name and to determine to stand by the old flag whatever others may say of it, or however others may traduce it. (Renewed cheers.) NO NEW QUESTIONS BEFORE THE COUNTRY. There is another test as to the work of the party, and it is a test worth referring to. You have noticed the discussions during the time tlie late Government was in office ; you have heard the cry of reform raised from every hustings ; you have seen the men lately in opposition denouncing the administration of our party and declaring the ministers re-creant to their duty, and vaunting, if they only had the offices, if they only had power, of the magnificent reforms they would effect, thus making the country more happy and prosperous. But what do we fi.nd ? Look at the record of measures which Mr. Mackenzie has given us in his address to t'le electors of Lambton as the policy of the Government, and where is the single measure, the single new question, which they announce as remaining for them to settle which has not been wiped out by the old party, and in the wiping out of which the country has been largely benefited? (Cheers.) Now look for a moment at the questions brought for- wwd. Mr. Mackenzie in his address— I shall not trouble you by reading the address — gives us eight subjects which he says are going to engage the attention of Parliament. First, the adjustment of the franchise. What that means I confess I don't quite know. I am aware that the franchise is different in the different Provinces of the Dominion, and I am aware that in the new election bill introduced at the late session of Parliament, and which wa j promised to be introduced again, the proposal was made to make it the same in all the Provinces. Then it is a question which the old government promised to arrange, the measure for which was actually laid upon the table of Parliament, and which was wholly their measure. Next, we have the ballot. The ballot was a question agreed to by the old Government ; and it is well to point out one little fact in answer to the general charge that they were forced into taking measures from the Opposition and had no principles of their own, Mr. Mackerzie, the leader of the present Government, is himself a new convert to that measure. Up to the last session of Parliament, or certainly the session before, he voted against every proposed introduction of the ballot into this country although on the Opposition benches. When the bill was introduced Ir t session, this agreement was come to — that the House, irrespective of party, the individual members of the : 12 Government, irrespective of their ministerial character, should consider the matter ; and if there was a majority in favor of the ballot being introduced into the election bill before Parliament, the Government promised it should be introduced. And here we have another instance of a question taken up by the Grits and continued. Next we have abolition of property qualification. Perhaps I may be permitted to say that that never has been a party question in Canada. It is abolished for the Province of Ontario, and it was abolished on motion of Mr. McCall, the member for South Norfolk, a Conservative, and not by the Liberals. Then there is the question of insolvency. I don't know how they are going to deal with it. Two leaders of the Govern- ment — Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Dorion — have voted against an insolvency Act within the last two years. It is not a party question, nor has it been a party question, and in promising to deal with it the Government arc simply fulfilling the promise of their prede- cessors. Next we have a court of appeal. Now, there have already been two bills introducod in favor of a court of appeal by Sir John A. Macdonald, and both have been withdrawn because of the great opposition in Lower Canada, ^^aether the Government can over- come the difficulties of this question is hard to say, but this is evident, that the question is Sir John Macdonald's, and not Mr. Mackenzie's, who is simply following out his policy. Then we have the canal system. Before this Government came in the enlargement and improvement of the .canals was the declared policy of the old Government. They had appointed a commission to obtain informa- tion on this subject ; they had given out contracts on the Welland Canal and the Lachine Canal near Montreal ; and they were pro- ceeding with the whole work as rapidly as possible. So that it is absurd to speak of the enlargement and improvement of the canals as a new question belonging to this Government. Then there is the improvement of the Militia system. Well, gentlemen, this system has gone through a great many improvements in the country ; but this we know, that it is due to the Liberal Conservative party that we have any volunteer militia system at all. In 1855 the bill for the establishment of such a force was first introduced, and the whole number of volunteers was to be but 5,000. And yet a bitter opposition to the bill came from the Eouges of Lower and the Olear Grits of Upper Canada. Their cry was that it was absurd for our people to be made play at soldiers, and every attempt ^as made to bring ridicule on the force. I remember that ic those v^tm*" 13 days the men were afraid to walk alone in uniform down the streets, because of the disposition of people to laugh at them as mimic sol- diers. (Cheers.) And the people who did this were loud mouthed Liberals. (Laughter and cheers.) If the Government improve tiie militia system, they will deserve the thanks of every loyal man in tbe country ; but upon the loyalty of the people themselves must depend the success of out militia system, and very little they can do will give a better system than that of to-day. (Cheers.) These are the questions — the policy — all of them questions dealt with by the old Government — which these men have taken up and oflfer us. Last of all we have the only matter upon which there is difference between us — the question of the Pacific Eailway. You will all admit the policy of completing the Pacific Eailway. It is an important thing for the country. But, gentlemen, in deviating from the policy of the old Government in the manner proposed, Ministers are r.ot making a change which will commend itself to the judgment of the people of Canada. So much for politics in Canada during the existence of the Liberal Conservative Government. PROGRESS OF THE COUNTRY. Now let us look at the progress which tbe country has made in those 20 years of Liberal Conservative administration. For the purpose of comparison I take the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and for this reason ; that I have not been able to get access to the trade and navigatiou returns of the Lower Provinces previous to 1867 ; but, at any rate, as they were not part of Canada, and as the policy of the Liberal Conservatives had no effect upon them, they are better left out for the purpose of comparison and to show the progress made during the 20 years. In 1854 when the Liberal Conservatives came into office the aggregate trade of the Province of Canada was $63,548,515. In 1872, the last year for which we have mil returns, the aggregate trade of the two Provinces of Ontario and Quebec amounted to $153,990,704, an increase of upwards of 142 per cent. That is progress of which any people may fairly be proud. [Cheers]. Then take the aggregate trade of the whole Dominion — and I give you the statement as made by the Finance Minister last week at Ottawa. For the year ending on the 30th June last, it amounted to $216,000,000, which, assuming the population at four millions — rather more than the population really is — represents $54 per head of the population. Well, gentlemen, ths aggregate trade of the United States, which we have been in the habit of looking upoa I as a wonderfully prosperous country, for 1870, was $961,420,146, which, taking their population at 38 millions, equals $25 30 per per head for the trade of the whole of the U. States, as compared with $54 per head for the aggregate trade of the Dominion of Canada. And that you may he assured that this statement of the United States is not an exceptionally low one, we will go hack to 18G8. I find at that period the aggregate tradewas only $17.09 per head, while the trade of the Dominion the same year was $50. Since that time we have constructed railroads in every direction. When the Government came in in 1854 the Grand Trunk had only been commenced. The Great Western was in operation, but none of the other railways that have since made Canada so prosperous were even in a state of construction. Since then we have gone on building railways in every direction, until, taking the population into account, the miles of railway of Ca- nada are almost equal to those of any other country on the face of the globe. Many of these roads have been aided by large subsidies, by which the Government enabled the companies to carry on the wovk. Harbors have been constructed and improvements of every kind effected by those subsidies. In the one matter of lighthouses — and in a country like this, holding, as it does, the great channel of com- munication between the Great West and the other side of the Atlantic, it is of the utmost importance that navigation should be made safe for vessels of every ]escription — the improvement is strongly marked. During the last seven years since Confederation the Government have built 28 lighthouses in Ontario, 20 in Quebec, 37 in Nova Scotia, 39 in New Brunswick, and one in British Columbia, making a total of 125 ; whereas before that time we had altogether only 186. But, in addition to the lighthouses, they con- structed 16 fog-whistles and six lightships; and there were in course of construction when they left oflBce, five lighthouses in Ontario, 10 in Quebec, 12 in Nova Scotia, two in New Brunswick, and one in British Columbia, making a total of 30. The fog-whistles under contract numbered five. These improvements alone have involved an annual expenditure of about $120,000 since Confederation fortlae purpose of building up our means of communication and making the navigation of our rivers and coasts safe for every description of .Taft. (Cheers.) What I wish you to observe is, that all this has been accomplished without perceptibly increasing the taxation of the people. (Cheers.) We hear of the extravagance of the old Gov- ernment. Look at the progress made, the expenditure incurred by public works of every description, and then at the small taxation of 15 the present, — and for the purpose of aiding you I give you this fact : that when the Liberal Conservatives came Into power in 1854 the Customs duties bore to the imports the relation of I4j^ per cent., while in 1872 the relation was only 11 1-6. When there is an achievement of that kind to show, when the country is prosperous in every direction, and the taxes of the country not increased, it is but just to say that the party that performed this is entitled to the con- fidence of the people of the country, and is one to which, I am quite satisfied, the people of this country will yet give their confidence in the future. (Load cheers.) I am aw^.re that it may be said, in reference to the percentages I have just given, that there was but a small excise revenue in 1854, whereas in 1872 the revenue from excise duties was large. That is true. But, even adding the Excise duty in 1872 to the Customs, and the relation of both together is only 15^ per cent. And when you take into account the territorial reve- nue of old Canada, which is not included in the revenue since Con- federation, the difference is more than made up, and we have actually lower taxation to-day than we had in 1854 — while the ability of the people to bear the burden of taxation has been enormously increased^ And, in this connection, it should be remembered that in our annual expenditure we do not simply maintain the Government at Ottawa, but, to a large extent, through the subsidies to the Pro- vinces, the Provincial Governments as well. (Cheers.) I am aware, gentlemen, that the common answer to these statements is, that the prosperity of the country springs from the industry and enterprise of the people, and is in no way due to the Gover t iient. I should be sorry to take from the people of Canada, in tbp slightest degree, the great credit which is due to them as an enterprising and progressive people. I am too proud of my country as a native Canadian to do that. But in a country like Canada, situated as we are in close proximity to the United States, the great element of prosperity mist always be confidence in the political institutions of the country. That confidence has been more than once shaken by the political agitations of unthinking men ; and only by the removal of those questions of agitation, by their solution in a manner satisfactory to the public at large, can we secure that political quiet which is the best guarantee for public confidence, and the best incentive to the introduction and investment of capital among us. To the settlement of the great questions to which I have to < y referred is due the confidence of the moneyed men of the world in the future stability of our political system, and the great prosperity which has folk)wed . 16 that confidence. And as to the administration of the Liberal Con- servatives during the last twenty years is due the removal of those causes of agitation, to them must be fairly accorded credit for the prosperity of Canada. THE SYSTEM OF PERSONAL ATTACK. During those twenty years the common mode of attack of the Opposition was to assail the personal characters of members of the Government. They were called corruptionisls, and I can re- member that in old elections, instead of giving us the name to which we were entitled, they headed their lists " liberals," " Corrup- tionists," Where are the evidences of corruption from that time to this ? Where is there a single charge made of personal corruption against any single minister of the party in the country ? It is quite true that on one occasion they thought they had a case against Sir John A. Macdonald. He had dabbled in lands up at Sarnia, they said, and they thought the job would afford a good ground against him. But he made his explanation in Parliament ; and what said the leader of the Opposition? Here is the report: ** Mr. Foley " ( . aid not let slip this the last opportunity he had in that Parlia- " ment of saying that the explanations of the hon. Attorney-General " m< with his hearty approval." That is the only charge of personal corruption ever brought against a member of the old Government, and his vindication from that charge came from the leader of the Opposition himself, (Cheers.) Wg never heard of the Sarnia job after that day without reflecting upon the efifect of assuming things upon insufficient foundation to damage the reputation of public men. Sir John A. Macdonald, at the time he entered public life, had probably the largest practice of any solicitor in Ontario, with pros- pects before him which could not have failed to amass for him great riches and to have made him to-day one of the wealthy men of the country. But after 30 years service — 20 years of which were spent in an official capacity — he is out of office literally a poor man. Is that likely to be the case with men who go into public life for the purpose of filching the public purse, taking their share in contracts, and otherwise furthering their individual interests ? I have in my mind's eye one public man, at any rate, who, a year or two ago, was without visible means of support, known to be in debt at every turn. !Now he is rolling in wealth — but I am inclined to think that the position public life gave him helped to it — why or how I don't pre- tend to say. Thank God, in the whole record of the Liberal Con- .jppp JiiliMiiiniiiiMi Iff WI P fJ *-'***^-?- 17 servative admip'stration there has not heen a similar instance ; our Ministers have left public life without the stain upon them of having taken a sixpence of the ;iublic funds. (Loud cheers.) When, a couple of years ago, Sir John Macdonald, at a public meeting in the city of Hamilton, stretched forth his arms with the exclamation, " These hands are clean," he stated what was literally true. With all the temptations of public and official life, he has retired from office without a single stain of corruption upon his personal or public character. (Renewed cheering.) PRECEPT AND PRACTICE CONTRASTED. The truth is, sir, that the charges of politick vice, of official corrup- tion, were made by the Clear Grits in order to conceal their own practices as a party. During the last session of Parliament we had one rather remarkable case brought forward by Mr. Mackenzie, upon which he asked the sense of Parliament, and put on record his own opinion to show how . jrribly reckless the old Government was and how pure ho was in comparison with them. Mr. Griffin, in 18*72, was a post-office inspector, and he wrote a letter to a post-master in the County of Welland, in which he simply said this : " If you •* cannot support Dr. King, who is the Ministerial candidate, take "no active part against him and give no ground of complaint against "yourself." That was a suggestion made by an officer of the Gov- ernment to his biother official ; butit so shocked Mr. Mackenzie that he got up in the House and moved this resolution: — "That it is "highly criminal in any minister or ministers, or other servants "under the Crown, directly or indirectly to use the power of office " in the election of representatives to serve in Parliament ; and an " attempt at such influence will be at all times resisted by the House, " as aimed at its own dignity, honour and independence." Well, gentlemen, we have just passed through a general election, and let me ask you how this has been observed These gentlemen had scarcely obtained seats when the Ottawa Mayoralty election came on. And what occurred ? The deputy head of at least one Department went round to his subordinates and said, " If you cannot vote for the " Ministerial candidate, you must not vote against him." Why ? These men were paying taxes, and had as much interest in the proper management of the city of Ottawa as the Government themselves. But the Liberals made a political contest out of a municipal election, and the Government were found saying to their emoloyes, "You must " not vote at all wxleaa you vote for tho Ministerial candidate 1'* 18 Then, in the Kingston election the Finance Minister visited the Post-office and Custom House and told the employes to vote for Mr. Carruthers, or not to vote at all. Then, again, in the Argenteuil election letters were sent to postmasters of the County telling them to vote for Mr. Gushing, or not vote at all. The ease of the Central prison at Toronto is another beautiful exemplification of the manner in which these pure Ministers, these liberal-minded Ministers, these ministers who record it as an offence against the dignity and honour of Parliament for members of a government, or even sub- ordinate officials of a government to attempt to exercise influence in an election, carry out their opposition principles when they obtain office. Mr. MoKellar with his uwn hand wrote to the Superintendent of those works ordering him to bend the men to the nomination for West Toronto, in order to increase the apparent majority for Mr. Moss, the Ministerial candidate. In this case, not only was official and Ministerial influence used, but the public exchequer was mulcted to the extent of the half day's pay of each of these men, in order to provide a party triumph. (Cheers.) Even in this very county we had, during the last election, some illustrations of how Ministerial influence was used. We saw here an old contractor, who in times past when the Conservative party had contracts to give, was a Conservative, traversing the country in the interests of the Ministerial candidate, and endeavoring by dint of his old Conservative associations to win Conservatives from the cause. If rumour be true he did not come altogether empty handed, and he soon after received his reward. The election was scarcely well over when a contract for the Ottawa booms, awarded to one gentleman, and the work by him actually commenced, was cancelled on the technical ground that the tender was a few minutes late, although its deposit in the post-office within the specified time was attested by the post-master, and the work was given to new contrac- tors, one of whom was understood to be our old friend, the renegade missionary to the County of Prescott. (Cheers.) I have the infor- mation from undoubted sources that in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the most unblushing use of ministerial and official influence was made in the elections. Mr. Mackenzie has boasted in his address that he had voluntarily given up, on behalf of the Govern- ment, the great advantage of so ai*ranging the days of election as to make the result of one influence that of others. But what was the fact ? With the influence cf the two governments at his back he felt tolerably confident of Ontario, and he did fix the elections on one sna i lHPlj ii § HU tn 'i ii I wj » Wi umuumu m tm mmm 19 day in old Canada. But in the other Provinces, where the influence of success was likely to be greatest, he deliberately so arranged them as to secure the greatest advantage. In New Brunswick they were arranged so as to leave the elections where the Opposition was supposed to be the strongest, to the last, in order that the influence of success elsewhere might have its effect in favour of the Govern- ment candidates. And in Nova Scotia, where by the local law the elections must be held an one day, be so arranged that they should all take place a week after the result in Ontario and Quebec became known. And what then was seen ? Why from every hustings the most unblushing use was made of the argument that the influence of the constituency with the Government would depend upon the fact of their sending a Ministerialint to represent them. The Adminis- tration it was urged, had already secured a working majority, even though the Province should go as a unit against them ; and was it wise that they should voluntarily range themselves for the then coming Parliament with the ranks of a hopeless minority ? Such was the cry, and its effect is unfortunately but too well known. Even the Local Premier, acting for and speaking for his friends in the Dominion Government, went from platform to 'platform, reminding the constituencies that their chances of ministerial favors depended upon their granting ministerial support. And by means of these influences and arguments, by means of this prostitution of official and ministerial power and patronage, in violation of the doctrine I have quoted to you as enunciated by Mr. Mackenzie in the case of the Griffin letter, a large majority of supporters was obtained for the Government from the Maritime Provinces. (Cheers.) Coming again nearer home we have the illustration of the influence of the vacant shrievalty of this county. We know there were genelemen who, in times past, had worked in the ranks with you, and who were found working on the other side. (Laughter.) It was said of them that they had this office dangled before them, and were looking for- ward to the occupancy of the coveted place. The late Sheriff had died some months before. Under ordinary circumstances it was the duty pf the Government to have filled the office promptly. But it was more convenient to keep it as a bait for aspirants during the elections. We had rumours in every direction as to who the fortunate man would be, and we had either passive or active resistance on the part of some genthmen, accounted for by the fact that they had received this much encouragement at least, that the vacant office must be filled, and they were wonderfully clever fellows, and wonder- I r t 20 fully well qualified for the position. (Laughter.) Well, the election was scarcely well over, and the necessity for this means of using Ministerial and official influence past, when a f^ntleman was appoint- ed — who had at least this merit, that he had not deserted his party for the chance of an office, — and I am inclined to think there are a good many sore heads in the County of Prcscott to-day on account of this matter. (Cheers and laugnter.) These are but a few illus- trations of how the gentlemen who are now in office can, from the opposition benches, lay down doctrines such as those embodied in the resolution I have read to you, and then, when in office, can in viola- tion of these doctrines, prostitute Ministerial influence and the patronage of the Crown to their own party interests, as was never done in Canada under any former administration. (Cheers.; THE PACIFIC RAILWAY SCANDAL. And now, sir, let me say that I had some doubts whether, in an address such as that which I am now delivering, I should refer in any way to the celebrated Pacific Scandal, the immediate cause of the downfall of the Liberal Conservative Government. But it occurred to me thaf, now that the elections are over — now that men's minds have cooled down, now that there are no votes to be got by discussing the question and denouncing the public men of the country in connection with it, now when the sober second thought must be beginning to assert itself, that now might be a good time to look at the question fuirly and dispassionately, and deal with it as it really deserves to be dealt with, to see what it really amounts to, and whether it was the heinous, unpardonoble crime which it has been so frequently described to be. I did not discuss it during the election, tind for this reason, that I did not consider that it was fairly an issue in the contest. The charges had been discussed in Parliament, the Government found itself in the minority and had retired from office ; it met the punishment of the ofiience or mistake, or whatever else the calmer judgment of the country may call it, by being driven from official life ; and a new administration had taken office. That new Government had, through its Premier, submitted its policy to the country, and that policy, and the conduct of the new Government were the issues in an appeal by themselves to the people. Let us, however, now look at the question. You are aware of the charges brought by Mr. Huntington, in his place in Parliament ; but in order that we may deal with them fairly, I will venture to quote them for you again. Tbey are contained in a series of resolutions, 21 the first of which was as follows : — '* That in anticipation of the " legislation of last session, as to the Pacific Hallway, an agreement " was made between Sir Hugh Allan, acting for hims' f and cer- " tain other Canadian promoters, and G. W. MoMullen, acting for <' certain United States capitalists, whereby the latter agreed to "furnish all the funds necessary for the construction of the oontcm- " plated railway, and to give the former a certain percentage of " interest, in consideration of their interest and position, the scheme " agreed upon being ostensibly that of a Canadian company with " Sir Hugh Allan at its head." To begin with, the statement of this resolution is incorrect. If you look at the agreement made between Sir E!ugh Allan and the Americans you will find that it is not an agreement made between Sir Hugh Allan, with certain Americans acting through Mr. McMuUen, but an agreement between Sir Hugh Allan and Mr. McMullen and his Chicago friends acting together, and with united interest^ with certain Americans connected with the North orn Pacific Railway. The important point, however to remember is this, that there was nothing improper in such an agreement, except in so far as it led up to the circumstances constituting the other charges, and it is important therefore that you should remember it in that connection. The second resolution was to the eifect ** that " the Government were aware that these negotiations were pending " between the said parties." Now, had the Government been aware of such an agreement as is referred to, there would have been nothing criminal in the knowledge unless they were parties to it, and sacrificed the interests of the country, as there is too much reason to believe the present Ministers are doing, in order to promote its success. But as a matter of fact the Government possessed no such knowledge, even at the time Mr. Huntington made his charges, far less at the time referred to. The testimony of every Minister who gave evidence before the Commission went to show this, that until the agreement was produced before the Commission they had no knowledge of its existence. What they did know, they knew in common with the public generally, that it was reported that Sir Hugh Allan was arranging to obtain American support and American capital to enable him to carry on that contract for the construction of the Pacific Bailway ii he obtained the contract ; and what the Grovern- ment did as the consequence of that knowledge was to so pass the Acts incorporating the Pacific Bailway Companies and the General Act authorising the construction of the line, as to defeat these nego* oiations if they were proceeding. (Cheers.) Then the third reaolU' fet:'' 2? I ! li tion reads, "That subsequently, an understanding was come to ^' between the Government and Sif Hugh Allan and Mr. Abbott, " one of the Memberi cf the Honourable the House of Commons of " Canada, that Sir Hugh Allan and his friends " (which read in the light of tl context, meant clearly his American friends, as they, by the statement of the first resolution, were to furnish the funds) *' should advance a large sum of money for the purpose of aiding " the elections of Ministers and their supporters at the ensuing " general election, and that he and hi«? friends should receive the " contract for the construction of the railway." In answer to this it is sufficient to say tnat in all the evidence taken, and in all the documents submitted, there is not one syllable to justify the accusa- tion of such an agreement. Sir George Cartier, it is true, did give to Sir Hugh a letter dated the 30lh July, in which he promised that the contract would be given to a company organized as Sir Hugh Allan had desired; but it is equally true that that letter was promptly repudiated by the first minister. Sir John A. Mao- donald, aud withdrawn by Sir Hugh Allan ; and that it was so withdrawn in good faith is proved by the fact that the con- tract actually given in no way resembles in terms the condi- tions agreed upon in that letter. (Cheers.) Aud the last charges are, " that accordingly Sir Hugh Allan did advance a larg" sum of " money for the purpose mentioned, and at the solicitations, and under " the pressing Instances of Ministers ; " and '' that part of the moneys " expended by Sir Hugh Allan, in connection with the obtaining of ** the Act of Incorporation and charter, were paid to him by the said " United States capitalists under the agreement with him." Now, I put it to you, gentlemen, to say whether, reading these charges together, i^emembeiing especially the first referring to an agreement between Sir Hugh and certain Americans, and the last referring to the payment of money by the latter to the former, it is possible to arrive at any other conclusion than that the charge was, and was intended to be, that the Government had sold the Pacific Bailway charter to foreigners for foreign gold, and in doing so had beer trai- torous to the country. (Cheers.) As I have already pointed out to you, if thare was any agreement between Sir Hugh Allan and the Americans — and there was such an agreement — it wae a matter with which the people of Canada had nothing to do. Sir Hugh is a public man, in the sense of bc'.ng the leading commercial man of the Dom- inion; he has a right to enter into any agreements he may deem proper, and with whomsoever it may please him to negotiate ; he caa mmmmmm 23 do, in ordinary business, any lawful thing that he desires to do. There was in the agreement nothing either dishonorable or improper in itself. It was simply a quostion to be discussed on grounds of public policy, whether the Canadian Government should accept the offer provided by that agreement for the construction of this Pacific railway or not. And the answer to the charges is to be found in this fact, that the Government did not only refuse to accept those offers, but did all in their power to so frame the charter as to prevent the agreement being carried out. (Cheers.) The Government, Sir, took this course in the face of strong temptations to a different course. TV hfcin, after the elections, the negociations for the granting of a charter were almobi concluded and the contract was about to be given to an independent company, composed only in a very small degree of the former Canadian associates of Sir Hugh Allan, Mr. McMullen, taking alarm at the prospect of exclusion, went to Ottawa, presented himself to Sir John Macdonald, and by the production of the indis- creet letters of Sir Hugh Allan, attempted to force him into a change of policy, and an admission of American interests. He held, as he thought, a trump card. Here were letters so compromising in their character that their publication, although the Government was utterly ignorant of their having been written, mus'i have been embarrassing, and their suppression could have been obtaiaed by simply doing what these charges of Mr. Huntington state that the Government had not only agreed to do, but actually did. And what was Sir John's con- duct ? In spite of the strong temptation to purchase the silence of the man who tims attempted to blackmail him, he remained true to his conception of public duty, and simply bowed Mr. McMullen out of the room with this statement : '-' If Sir Hugh Allan has made " that agreement with you, and is not able to carry it out, that is a " matter for you to settle between you ; the Government are no " parties to it, and^cannot undertake to become parties to it. If he is " unwilling to pay back any money he has obtained from you under <' that agreement, that is a matter also between you. Sir Hugh is " quite able to pay any money he owes, and the courts of the country " are open to you to enforce payment. But so far as the Govern- " ment is concerned, it was not a party to the agreement, knew " nothing of the agreement, and the policy it has resolved upon is that " the Canadian PaciSo Railway shall be built by Canadians, with '< British and Canadian capital, and under British and Canadian " control. Under thesa circumstances. I have nothing more to say ** to you. Good morning." I ask you Sir, whether that was the HmKtmttimm I i 24 ■condact of a man who had so bound himself by an agreement as charged bj Mr. Huntington, that he could not do justice to his country in the awarding of this contract ? (Cheers.) The gravamen of the charge is not that Sir Hugh Allan subscribed a large sum of money to the rloctions. He, as a wealthy ntember of the party, had a right to do this, if he chose to do it. Even the pure minded gen- tlemen who now sit on the Ministerial benches, and who are so horrified at the idea of money being spent at elections, could, if they were for a moment seized with that rare commodity, candour, tell us of some pretty laro^ expenditures during the last elections, and could perhaps tell us that the source of that reservoir, from which an almost never-ceasing supply ran mto the different counties, is to be found in the remarkable change recently announced in their views on the subject of American connection in the matter of the Pacific Kailway. I have no doubt that Mr. E. W. Scott, who from his seat at Ottawa, sent forth his missionaries into the different counties, could tell us some- thing. I have no doubt that throughout the country, as, for instance, in one of the divisions of Montreal, we could find evidences of expenditures, which aggregated over the whole Dominion, would make the contribution of Sir Hugh Allan, great as it was, appear small. The truth is, and I admit it with regret, that money does get spent at elestions, and my own experience is that those who bawl most loudly for purity generally manage to spend the most. (Cheers). The gravamen of this charge, I repeat, is not the mere fact of subscription by a wealthy member of the party to the election funds of the party. The gravamen of the charge is, and if that could be established it ^ -^uld be a damning one, that Sir John A. Macdonald, being the first minister of the CroTn, entered into such an agreement with Sir Hugh Allan, who was at the time both a contractor and an expectant contractor, and accepted money from him for party purposes on such terms, as prevented him doing his duty to the country in r^ard to any contract in which Sir Hugh Allan was interested. Is there anything in the records of Parlia- ment since the elections of 1872, or in the evidence taken before the commi ision, or in the well known facts connected with the Pacific railway charter, to justify this charge ? Take the first. It is true that Sir Hugh Allan, or rather the firm of which he is the head, was a contractor, a contractor for carrying the ocean mails. Well, wh::fc aappened ? The very first session after these transactions took place, that contract had to be renewed, and it was renewed at half 4Jie price of ibe old one I Did that '^ook like being bound by any mmm 25 agreement against the interests of the country ? And as to the second vre know from the testimony of a gentleman, who certainly shewed during the November session no disposition to befriend the late Government, that Sir Hugh Allan was compelled to abandon, one after another, all the special features of the Pacific railway charter upon which he had set his heart, and was not even consulted, but on the contrary his advice was actually rejected, in the matter of the gentlemen who were to compose that company. I know, of my own knowledge, that in relation to one gentleman especially, with whom he had been acting in railroad matters, he felt deeply chagrined at not having been able to secure his presence on the board of directors. Did that look as if there had been an agreemont which bound ministers to Sir Hugh Allan against their own independent con- ception of their duty to the country ? (Cheers.) The truth is that the moment it became known that Sir Hugh Allan had so far committed himself to his American friends, the one object of the Governmen'j, both in framing the charter and in naming the directors, was to prevent the success of the scheme thus arranged. Sir Hugh Allan's letters, whatever eflfect they have upon others, are in my judgment the strongest vindication of the Government from the charges made against them, for no one caa read the letters, and from them gather what were the intentions and desires of Sir Hugh, and compare these with the actual terms of the charter finally granted, without feeling that the Government had certainly in no way become bound to carry out the views of Sir Hugh, but were, on the contrary, in a position to offer to them the most strenuous opposition. (Cheers.) Lookat these letters of Sir Hugh Allan. You have heard a great deal about them, let us see how far they bear out this charge of a sale of the Pacific Railway charter. It is said that an absolute agreement to sell the charter was arrived at on the 30th July. Now, let me draw your attention to a couple of lette.s which I think absolutely disprove this statement. On the 24th October, Sir Hugh Allan, writing to Mr. McMullen, who it will be remembered was, according to the terms of the agreement, his partner, said : " No action has yet (so far as I know) been taken by '* the Government in the matter of the Pacific Rdilroad. The oppo- " sition to the Ontario party will, I think, have the effect of shut- " ting out our American friends from any participation in the road, " and I apprehend all that negotiation is at an end. It is still un- " certain how it will be given (the contract) but in any case the " Government seem inclined to exact a dechiration that no foreigner \ i! 1 ill ' Mi 26 <' shall have, directly or indirectly, any interest in it. But every. *' thing is in a state of uncertainty, &nd I think it unnecessary for " you to visit New York on this business at present, or at all, till " you hear what the result is likely to be. Public sentiment seems <* to be that the road shall be built by Canadians only." Was that the letter of a man who had already secured an absolute agreement for the contract and who had paid for it? Was it likely that he would have written in this strain on the 24th Oc- tober, three montbc after his agreement, if, as was allied, he had actually purchased the contract, and got the absolute agreement in his pocket, on the 30th July previous 1 Look again at the reply to this letter from Mr. MoMuUen, who has since professed to know that such an agreement had actually been entered into. It is written in indignant terms, and evidently without reserve, and yet from its opening word to its closing there is not even a suggestion, by way of reminder, of such agreement. But instead he suggests a means by which Sir Hugh might get over the scruples of Ministers, and at the same time carry out his agreement with the Americans, and that suggestion is as follows : — " I should think you could have " it avranged as we have several times talked," (mark these words, which certainly negative all idea of positive agreement oonc)udeii three months before,) " i. e., the stock held by you subject to pri- " vate arrangement with the others. And whatever street rumour " may say if public opinion, I should judge this would do all that is " needed." There is a suggestion to escape the objections of the government, but no attempt to advise a standing upon the bond, as certainly would have been advised if there had existed any bond. But Sir Hugh Allan by this time knew enough of Ministerial intentions to understand that while naturally anxious to secure the sympathy and pupport in a great public work of the wealthiest man in Canada, they could not be induced to accept his views, aud as a consequence we find this last reply by Sir Hugh : " You really know as much about *' the Pacific railroad contract as I do " (And this from a man who is alleged to have completed the purchase of the contract three months before.) " I am assured that the Government have resolved " to form a new Company, but under what conditions, or who the " parties will be, I am ignorant. It is said that the whole matter *' will be arranged by the end of this month, and if so we will soon " know it. I have not changed my views of what it ought to be." Now, gentlea>en, I hbL you to look at those three letters, written long after the date on which, according to tho statements made, this f m!;"!w H bond had been entered into, written in the full confidence pad free- dom of private correspondence. Are they such as would have been written by men who had the Government in their power, having secured the agreement and paid the money for it ? The present Ministerial party are alwnys ready to quote against our old leaders the letters of Sir Hugh. I submit that they must he ready to quote them all, and 1 am willing to leave the whole case to any unpreju- diced man upon these last letters, to say whether they do not nega- tive any such crime as that charged by Mr. Huntington in his cele- brated resolutions. (Cheers.) Upon one other point, gentlemen, it may be worth while to say a word in connection with this Pacific scandal. During ouv recent contest, one of the candidates, Mr. Boyd, was fond of referring to vshat he was pleased to call this THE ALLAN BRIGADE OP TWENTY-SEVEN. The charge made was that these 27 gentlemen had been pur- chased by this money of Sir Hugh Allan, and were under such obligations to him as to destroy their independence as members of Parliament. Indeed, the fact of their presence in Parliament, in view of the statement of their purchase, was proclaimed as one of the reasons for the very sudden dissolution. Now, what is the fact ? Why, Sir, the letter of Sir Hugh Allan, in which the reference is made to 27 members of Parliament, was actually written one month before there was any question, according to all the testimony pro- duced, of money arrangements between Sir Hugh and the Govern- ment or individual public men. The arrangements with the late Sir George E. Cartier, for a subscription to the Election Fund, were made on the 30th of July. The letter in which the 27 members are referred to was written on the 1st of July — one month before the money arrangements. (Cheers.) And what was that letter ? It was addressed to Mr. G. W. Cass, and was dated on the Ist of July, 1872, and in it Sir Hugh developed his plan of obtaining sdch influ- ence in Paiiiament as would secure for his company the contract for the constrnction of the railway. And here was the basis from which he started. Referring to the French-Canadian party and its influ- ence in Parliament, Sir Hugh said : '' It consists of 45 men, who " have followed Cartier and voted as a solid phalanx for all his '< measures. The Government majority in Parliament being gener- " ally less than 45, it follows that the defection of one-half or two- « thirds would at any time put the Government, out of office. It *' was, therefore, evident that some means must be adopted to bring 28 " the influence of this compact body of members to bear in our favor, " and as I soon made up my mind what was the best course to pur* " sue, I did not lose a moment in following it up." And what course did he pursue? Certainly not that of bribing these gentle- men, but that of identifying himself with great public enterprises in which their constituents felt the deepest interest. He pointed out that " a railroad from Montreal to Ottawa, through the French " country, north of the Ottawa River, has long been desired by the *' Freach inhabitants." And then he goes on to say that' he " saw " in this French railroad scheme, and in the near approach of the " general elections, when Cartier as well as others had to go to their " constituents for re-election, a sure means of attaining my object, " especially as I proposed to carry it through to the terminus of the " Pacific." And then he proceeds to tell how he at once popularized the scheme, and himself in connection with it, by personally identi- fying himself with it, by visiting some of the parishes and making speeches about it, and enlisting the interest of the Roman Catholic clergy in connection with it. and then comes the reference to the 27 members, which has been so terribly perverted during recent dis- cussions : " This succeeded so well that in a short time I had 27 out *' of the 45 on whom I could rely, and the electors of the ward in " this city (Montreal) which Cartier himself represents, notified him '' that unless the contract for the Pacific Railroad was given in the " interests of Lower Canada, he need not present himself for re-elec- ** tion. He did not believe this ; but when he came here and met " his constituents, he found to his surprise that their determination " was unchangeable." Thus, gentlemen, you will see that the sup- port here spoken of was secured one month befoio any arrangement, good, bad, or indififerent, was made between Sir Hugh Allan and the Government. (Cheers.) It was influence secured in a manner perfect- ly legitimate — that is, in identifying hiioself with great public enter- prises in which the people felt the deepest interest, and which they therefore instructed their representatives to support, and as the surest way of supporting them to give their hearty support to the man upon whose co-operation they depended for success. Every one knows that during that election both parties among the French- Canadians, anxious to secure what my respected friend, the Curd Labelle of St. Jerome, called Le Grand Tronc du Nord, vied with each other in insisting that Sir Hugh Allan should have the Pacific Railway contract as a sure means of realizing the success of their local enterprises. If there was anything corrupt in influence thus obtained, — and I confess, gentlemen, to being unable to see it, — then both parties were equally guilty, for both parties were equally earnest in the support they extended to Sir Fugh. (Cheers.) THE JUDGMENT OF THE FUTURE. Sir John Macdonald, gentlemen, committed a great mistake in being personally connected with any question of money for the elections, and he has most grievously suffered for it. It was a mistake result- ing from the absence in Canada of those political organizations which in England assume the management of these things, and it was a mistake which he committed in common with other public men of both political parties, and, if I am not greatly mistaken, in common even with members of the pure government which we have presiding over the destinies of Canada to-day. But no man in Canada, from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver, would venture the assertion that a single sixpence had stuck to his own fingers, or tended to enrich himself. The money he obtained he spent in aiding his friends throughout Ontario in their elections, and the whole amount obtained by him did not exceed what I venture to say has been spent in three elections that I would name, during the late contest in this country, on the Clear Grir side alone. (Cheers.) I venture, sir, to think that the maturer judgment, the sober second thought of the people of this country will yet vindicate the character of the great statesman who has so long presided over the destinies of this country and whose name is so eminently associated with the twenty years of Liberal Conservative administration in Canada, from the bitter aspersions which a mad jealousy and disappointed ambition . have heaped upon it. (Cheers.) I venture, sir, to think that that judgment will shape itself after this fashion : Here is a man, who, at the cost of professional prospects which might have made him one of the wealthy men of the land, entered at an early age the service of his country, and for thirty years has uninterruptedly given to that service the eminent abilities with which God has endowed him ; who for twenty years has been in official life, and has during that time solved all the great questions which separated and agitated the country, and has given to it measures which have brought peace and prosperity to the people ; who finding a number of isolated Provinces, with hostile tariffs and local agitations, has welded them into one great Dominion, in the enjoyment of free constitutional government under the Crown of Great Britain ; under whose administration t people have, both socially and politically and materially, enjoyea a M 80 prosperity certainly not excelled by that enjoyed by any other people on the face of the earth ; who has made the name ot Canada known and respected the world over, and has made for himself an honored name on both sides of the Atlantic ; who has received at the hands of his Sovereign honours such as have never been bestowed upon any other colonial statesman ; but who at a time of great political crisis, when tho interests alike of his party and his country seemed at stake, was tempted to aid his friends in a contest against sectional prejudice backed by the substantial aid of large money support, by accepting from a wealthy member of his party a large subscription towards party funds ; who suflTered defeat from it ; but who through- out all the period of these discussions remained uncharged even of personal corruption for bis own advantage ; who even when accepting this subscription to party funds, was careful not to allow it to embarrass him in his public duty ; and when the time came to deal with the wealthy donor, kept himself in a position to treat with him on terms of perfect independence, and with a single eye to the public interests. (Loud cheers.) And, sir, when hereafter, when the discussions of to-day have been forgotten, and the influences which prompt those discussions have passed away, the correspondence of Sir Hugh Allan with his American associates comes to be read, and from it is ascertained what Sir Hugh aimed at, and that is contrasted with what he got in the charter, it will require neither skill nor courage to vindicate the great Liberal-Conservative leader from the aspersion of having entered into an agreement to sell a valuable public franchise for gold, with which to corrupt the electors of the country. (Cheers.) Perhaps, gentlemen, the time has not oome for that sober, second thought to assert itself; but that it will come, I feel as certain as that I am addressing my good friends in the County of Piescott to-day. [Cheers.] REASONS FOR THE ASSOCIATION. And now Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, why is it that we are to day forming this association ? I have shown you that the policy of the past has been sufficient to solve all the great questions which have agitated the country during the last quarter of a century. I have shown you that the party which has just attained to office, after years of agitation, has not one single reform which it can call its own upon which to appeal for public sympathy and support. If then the great questions which have agitated parties in the past have been settled, why should we have a party organication such as is I mMMMRiMniiiil 31 ler people da knowD 1 honored ^be hands ^ed upon political y seemed ; sectional jport, by scription througb- i even of accepting ow it to e to deal h him on le public hen the 58 which )0Qdenc3 be read, 1 that is 5 neither e leader bo sell a electors has not It it will -lends in e are to jolicy of J which ury. I ce, after call its rt. If ist have ih as is now proposed ? We must not forget that under the oonstitui'onal system which we happily possess in Canada, based as it is on tho model of that of the mother land, government by party is essecdal to the well-being and the proper government of the State. An opposition in x'arliament is as essential as a government, and per- forms almost as important a function in the administration of the affairs of the country. Not an opposition influenced simply by a factious desire to upset the administration or embarrass it in its work. That is not the ordinary work which a party out of office has to perform. The gentlemen now in power and their friends did their best when in opposition to bring our entire constitutional system into disrepute by forgetting this sound rule. Every measure of the old Government was opposed with all the bitterness they could bring to bear upon it, and that from their peculiar temperament was not a little. And yet today we have the statement from Ministerial lips, that the policy of the new government will be in the main the same as that of the old (cheers). The duty which is before us, as Liberal Conservatives, is to illustrate by our conduct what a consti- tutional opposition is, as the party when in office, presented the spectacle of a constitutional government. The duty of an opposition is not to obstruct but to assist the government in carrying on the affairs of the country. That does not imply that the government should be supported, but it does imply that all measures submitted by them, and all acts of adminstration committed by them, shall be subjected to such fair and candid criticism, as will tend to produce as nearly a perfect government as it is possible to have. And it is because of the necessity for this opposition, in the interests of good government, that the Liberal Conservatives should organize in every part of th#Dominion as you are proposing to do here to-day. Such an organization will prove to the Government that it is certain to be subject to a wr-tchful vigilance ; and it will give to the minority elected to fight the battle of the Opposition in Parliament the en- couragement of knowing, that although he representation of the party in Parliament has been greatly reduced, there is a stalwart body of men in all the constituencies upon whose intelligence and political firmness and integrity they can rely for support. (Cheers.) PROPOSED NEW PARTIES. The difficulty which may present itself in the formation of these associations is a definition of distinct principles. But there is one principle, and I name it not as distinguishing us from onr opponents, 32 for that would imply a charge I should bo very sorry to make, yiz., the principle of British oonneotion, irhioh should coDStitute a first plank in any platform the party may adopt. (Cheers.) You know, gentlemen, at this moment efibrts are being made in different parts of the country to start new parties. We have in the city of Toronto one party taking as its motto "Canada First," and another taking as its motto " Empire First." From my point of view both titles are admirable as mere mottes, but neither by itself meets the requirements of the country. •' Canada First." — Let that be our motto, in every- thing affecting the interests and prosperity and well being of this country ; let it be our motto in making the name of Canada an hon- oured name whether in legislation or commerce the word over ; let it be our motto in the dissemination of such information relating to our institutions and resources as will make the Dominion an attrac- tion for the emigrating millions of the old world. " Canada First !" Let that be our motto so far as the interests of the Dominion, separate and distinct from those of the Mother Country, so far as they can be so, are concerned. "Empire First!" Let that be our motto so far as the interests of the glorious Empire with which wc connected are concerned. " Empire First !" Let that be our motto in our reverence for the dear old flag, and in our prayer that it may be borne as loftily in the future as it has been in the past. And if at any time danger should threaten it, and we should be called upon to vindicate in other form than by words our loyalty to the throne, then let " Empire First " be the guiding star under which we shall illustrate that the Queen has in this new .l>ominion as loyal stalwart sons, and as devoted and fair daughters, as in any other part of her vast realms. (Loud Cheers) But let us take neither to the exclu- sion of the other. Both are mottoes worthy of our Aspect, and worthy of being accepted by us. Our great object should be as a party to so conduct our public discussions, to so maintain our principles and views, that when the time of electoral struggle comes as come it must before long, we shall be able o show such a front as to save us from the defeats of the past, and secure for us the triumphs of the future. (Loud cheers, during which Mr. White resumed his seat). rffmmmt'^m make, viz., itute a first You know, 'erent parts of Toronto }r taking as 'h titles are squirements o, in every- iing of this idaan hon- l over J let relating to i an attrao- da First !" Dominion, , so far as bat be our I which wo our motto liat it may And if at lUed upon he throne, h we shall d stalwart art of her the exclu- ipect, and i be as a atain our gle comes a front as r us the [r. 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