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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernldre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols —^ signifie "A SUIVRE ". le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre fiim^s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. ' errata d to It e pelure, :on d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 TI N E) ADDTIESS OF THE HON. JOHN A. MACDONALD TO TUE ELECTORS OF TUE ilTV OF ^ KIISTGSTOI^, WITH EXTRACTS FROM MR. MACDONALD'S SPEECHES Delivered on different occasions in the Years 1860 and 1861, &c., &c., &c. / .. ' i I I ' I I » I N • ' • » . COnSTTnUN'TS. Pages. Address to the Electors of Kingston v Part I.— Mr. Macdonald's personal position. Allusions to the personal position of Mr. Macdonald and of other Members of the Government 1 Union of moderate Men of both Parties, upon tlic defeat of Mr. Uincks 9 Part II.— Charges against the Government. The charges made are mostly of a general nature 11 Electoral frauds 12 The Mercer case 13 The York Roads 15 The " Double Shuffle." 16 The exclusion of Mr. Brown from the Committee of Public Accounts 18 The charge of Lavish expenditure in connection with Railroads and Canals 20 The charge of " French Domination." 21 V The charge of Subserviency to Roman Catholic influence 23 ' The Prince of Wales' reception and the Orange difficulty 27 Mr. Brown on Orangeism » M< Anderson's extradition Part. Ill—Enumeration of the measures passed by the Govern- ments of which Mr. Macdonald has been a member. Clergy Pv-eserves 48 Crown Lands Management 53 Seignoriai Tenure 55 The Reciprocity Treaty and the Adjustment of the Tariff 61 The abolition of Tolls on the Canals 66 The value to the country of the Grand Trunk Railroad and the Canadian Line of Steamers 66 The encouragement of Home Manufactures 70 i The abolition of Imprisonment for Debt 71 The organization of the Militia 71 Improvement of the Common School System 73 The Independence of Parliament Act and the Establishment of a Board of Audit 75 Registration of Voters 75 Other Measures introduced 76 Lower Canada Legislation 76 CONTENTS. Fart IV.—Remarks on the Composition and Policy of the Brown-Dorion Government. Pages Mr. Brown a governmental impossibility 78 Mr. Brown " in " and Mr. BroAvn " out " 78 Mr. Thibaudeau's three reasons for joining Mr. Dorion's Govern- ment 82 Mr. Brown and his i)arty 84* The factious nature of the opposition 85 Mr. Brown and the Bunk Charters 87 The maintenance of the union between Upper and Lower Canada 88 Appendix A. Representation by population 96 The Land purchase at Sarnia 1 14» Mr. Foley justifies Mr. Macdonald 129 Appendix B. Report of the Minister of Finance of Canada 129- •'^-- ---.y > ' TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF KINGSTON. Gentlemkn, It is my intention to ofli.r myselT again as a Candidate for your suffrages, at the next Election. During the last two Parliaments I liavo not only had the honour of being Your Representative, but I have been a Member of the (^vern- ment, and as such may be exi)Octed 1)y you and by the Country to vindicate the policy and defend the Conduct of the Administrations with which I have been connected. In order to do this in some measure, T have caused extracts from several speeches delivered by me during a tour thro' Western Ca- nada last year, to be published with tiiis address. These Extracts are ])nhlishod exactly as they were reported, and without revision or correction (for I have had no time to devote even to their perusal,) but they will serve, I feel assured, to shew to you tliat we have not been luiwortiiy of llie confidence bestowed upon us by the last two Parliaments, and that we have every right to expect that our course will be a])proved of by the Ct)iuitry. I have no hesitation in saying that the Legislation Ibr Canada, since 1 804-, will favorably compare with all that has been done by the Legislature or Government, from the Union up to that time ; we have settled the Clergy Reserve question on fiiir reasonable terms ; we have made Lower Caiiada contented and progressive by abolishing the Feudal Tenure ; we have given Canada the great political ad- vantage of an efficient .Second Chamber ; we have perfected and consolidated tho Municipal Institntions of l)()th Upper Canada and Lower Canada ; we have decentralised the jndiciary system in Lower Canada and esta])lishe(l Local Courts. In both sections of the Province, the expenses of the x\dniinistra- tion of Justice, in a great measure, will be borne by the Localities instead of being, as they formerly were with respect to Lower Canada, defrayed out of the Public Chest. VI Wc have ill ofTcct abulisihccl iniiirisuniniMit for debt ; wo have saved for the uiifurtiiiiatc debtor what is cssuntiul [vf the comfort of himself and his family. And wo have carried out, and nearly perfected the educational system of Upper Canada. I must refer you to the extracts appended to this address as to our past conduct. I will now say a low words as to our future. It is my intention to introduce next session — A BANKRUPT LAW For Upper Canada, I attempted to carry such a Law last session, but the Upper Canadian opposition defeated rae. Never did Men behave so well as did the Lower Canada majority, Although all Lower Canada was against the bill, although the Boards of Trade of Quebec and IMontreal protested against it, they voted for my bill, lest it might be said that Frencli Domination governed and controlled legislation for ITpper Canada. Tliey voted therefore for the second reading, but there was a majority from Upper Canada against it. In tlie next slage of the Bill, (going into committee,) another vote was taken, and again there was a majority of Upper Canadian Represen- tatives against it. Under these circumstances, I could not ask the Lower Canadian Members to carry a measure, Avhich was decidedly distasteful to Lower Canada, and apparently had not the sanction of those su[){)osed to represent Upper Canadian interests. With bitter regret therefore, I was obliged to postpone 7ny Bill. It is only a postponement, however, because if I live and have the p')wer, it will become the Law of the land. Nothing could be more factions or unprincipled than the course of the o})position on this question, and although they professed to be in favor of the principle of the measure, tliey voted against the second reading of the Bill, and therefoie voted against its principle. This they did on they weak pretext that the measure was cumbrous and ex})ensive. Now, it is true that the Bill contained a great many clauses, but we had no Bankruptcy- Law in U[)per Canada, and it was necessary to introduce a com- plete system : the measure was not cumbrous, but comprehensive and complete. In expense, the Bill would h:ive effected a great saving, because it provided for three Judges at moderate salaries, instead of addii the C speci intini postp and Avhol nian^ thouj vu adcliiig to tlio s.'ilai'ies of UiirLy-fivo County Judges, as proposed by the Op[)ositiou. Vou will readily see tluit iu etricimicy three Judges specially appointed to settle and adjust Bankrupt estates would be intinitcly preforabK^ to thirty-live Judges, who would naturally postpone the IJanlcruptcy cases to tlieir ordinary duties as County and Division Court Judges. On the opposition, therefore, I throw tho whole responsil)ility of deferring a measure which would have made many an Ui)ptr Canadian home hajijiy, and gi\ en many an honest though unfortunate man, a new sphere of usefulness. The public attention has been aroused to the question of UNIVERSITY REFORM. It has been alleged that the expenditure of the University and University College at Toronto has been excessive, and that til e same or a higher standard of education could be attained at much less cost. The Government see the great importance of maintaining this Great Provincial Institution in its full efficiency, but they are at the same time aware of the great service rendered to the youth of Upper Canada by the other Seminaries existing there. The University act provides that any surplus remaining after ])aying the necessary expenses of the Provincial University and College, shall be appropriated by the Legislature to the furtherance of Academical Education. The Government have ordered the issue of a Commission to enquire into this expenditure with the object of applying any surplus that may exist, ailcr iully providing for the requirements of tlie University and College, to the support of the othei Seats of Learning in Upper Canada. They design further to ask the legis- lature for additional aid and assistance to those Institutions from the Upper Canada Ruilding Fund, a fund belonging to Upper Canada and apiplicable only to Upper Canadian purposes. Great progress has been made during the last eleven years in LAW REFORM. The expense of litigation has been much decreased, the Ad- ministration of Justice has been brought to every man's door, and tho Administration of law regarding Criminals has been rendered more prompt, certain and efficient. I think further Reform is required, Vlll and that tho increase of jtirisdietion in the County and Division Courts, and a decrease of tlie fees of their officers are essential to the interests of the Country. Tho settlement of the Clekgv Reserve question has met with the decided approval of the people ol" Upper Canada, one fragment of that question still remains, in the existence of the IIKCTOIIIE.S. Tt was the intention of government to have introduced a measure into the legisliUnre ibr the ptirpose of their abolition on terms fair and reasonable to all parlies concerned. Technical reasons have hitherto i)revei)tc'd this, but now, T believe, all parties interested are willing to join in a measure Ii»r this purpose. The Government will not relax its exertions to efTcct a CONFEDERATION OF THE RfllTLSlI NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. We must however endeavour to take warning by the defects in tho Constitution of the United States, which are now so painfully made manifest, and tolbrm (if we succeed in a Federation) an eflicient cen- tral Government. The course of the Administration has been surrounded with diffi- culties. On taking office in 1854<, the responsibility of completing the Grand Trunk Railway v/as thrown upon us. In 1857, caiTie a great connnercial and financial crisis, which ruined so many of our best men, depreciated property all over the Country and destroyed the Public Revenue. The Province has survived all this, and never, I am hajjpy to say, has the Revenue been more flourishing, the Country more prosperous, or the public criMlil, higher. In carrying out our Policy, we have not increased the Public Burthens, for, as has been shewn by the Minister of Finance, the average amount of taxation per head is the same, as in the time of Mr. Ilincks or a little h.-ss. We have however readjusted the Tarilf on imported articles so as to se<5ure a sufficient revenue, and at the same time incidentally to IX encouni<;c home Duxniiractnrcs. Tlio .succoss of our Policy in this respect is alrciuly shi-wri by llu^ numerous miinuructorics of every descri])tion, which have sprung up iu Ijoth sccti(»iis cf the rrovinco. I nnnex to this nchlress the Finance Minister's Report i^wm which you will see that the PUBLIC DEBT, instead of hfiuj^ .f;7(),0()0,000 as alleged by the opposition press i?j only $58,000,000. 'J'liis debt is not larirc, aiitl when you consider, that all our i)ublic works iire cc)ui[)leted ; — that for the future wo will only have to provichi Ibr the ordinary ail ministration of alliiirs, and that the Country is rai)idly iu creasing- iu wealth and populiitiou, you will see that the debt will speedily diminish and linally disappear. We liave ])een charged in Parliament, during the last session, with having made unauthorized advances to the cm AND TRUNK RAILWAY. Nothing can be more untrue. If there be one thing more tlian another, for which the present Ciovcriiuient deserves credit, it is for not exceeding the aiilliority given them by the Constitution. It liasj been stated by iMr. Dorion that the d'overnment advanced to the Grand Trunk Railway, 1,168,830 017. This sum is made up of the following items : Advance on account of postage $ 73,000 00 Advanr^c ov Uf rcbriiary, 18G1, to keep line 0})en. 1'20,000 00 Lo;in Oil 'JDn ..11/ City Boials t 316,333 33 Loan on £i.'2,500 strrliiig. 6 ju-r cent preference Bonds of Grand Tiinik llaihvay 172,830 67 Exchanges on Grand Trunk Railway, received from Bank of U pi>er Canada 486,666 67 Making in all $1,168,830 67 Now, Mr. Dorion should have stated that of this sum, the Public accounts shewed that $24-ri,7l2 85 were repaid, and I will now call your attention to every item contained in the above statement. M 1. The first item of $73,000 Aviis not an advance, but a payment for work clone in carrying the maiis ; 2. The second item of $120,000 was a payment made on accoimt of postal service in order to enable the Grand Trunk Pi-ailway to pay their men who had struck for wages and to keep open the com- munication between Toronto and Quebec, which had been blocked np by snow. The Grand Trunk llailv\aiy are rapidly paying off this debt, if they have not already done so, by the daily carriage of the mails ; 3. As to the " Loan on Toronto City Bonds, $316,333 33." This loan, as appears by the papers laid before Parliament in April, 1860, (more than a year ago) was made out of the unemployed balances arising out of the 5 per cent new loan at the recommendation of Ihe linaucial Agents, upon sterling Bonds of the City of Toronto, at 80 per cent, of the value. It bore 5 par cent, interest, the security was undoubted; and it was considered by Mr. Gait a good temporary investment, an opinion, in which })arliament certainly coincided last year, when it was submitted to them. Mr. Gait, in the late debate, stated that this loan had been directed to be called in, that $132,568 had already been paid fjaek, and that failing the prompt payment of the remainder, the Agents in London liad been instructed to realize the Toronto City Bonds, wliich being held at 20 per cent, discount, and always hitherto saleable at par, he liad no doubts would imme- diately replace the outstanding ])alance at $183,765 33 ; that the Government had nothing to do with the Grand Trunk in the tran- saction, had never had any negotiation with that Company about it, and were perfectly satisfied with the security they held. 4. As to the " Loan on Preference Bonds of Grand Trunk Pi-ailroad, $172,830 G7." In regard to this the facts are plain : — At the period when the Prince of Wales had just sailed from England on his late visit to Canada, on the invitation of the Legislature, expressly given on the occasion of opening the Victoria Bridge, he (^Mr. Gait) being in London, was applied to by the Grand Trunk Board there, in view of the prostration of their credit, from the non-payment of interest on their Bonds, and from an apprehension that the com})lete insolvency of the Company would take ])lace before the Prince's visit could be terminated. It was represented that a sum of .£40,000 to X50,000 ) XI would meet the most pressing- claims, and that the Company might still be able by a little delay to postpone, and possibly to avert the misfortunes that have since overtaken them. Under these circum- stances the Board pressed Mr. Gait at once to sanction a claim they had on the Government for postal service, amounting to about !it!200,000. This was refused ; and they then proposed in addition to the claim to lodge with the Agents of the Province Preference Bonds for J642,500 sterling, as security for a loan from unemployed funds then in London for the amount required. To this proposition Mr. Gait assented, and under it the sum of $172,830 67 was loaned by the London Agents. Of this sum $113,144 89 were subsequently found to be actually due to the Company and consequently appears in the accounts as repaid. The real loan was therefore only $r)5,685 78, while the security held, even at the present selling price of Preference Bonds (sny 70 per cent.) is worth $144,783 33, and the Company still claims arrearj of postal money of about $80,000. It was also stated in the debate that at the time, and in fact during all last year, the Government actually had in their hands money belonging to the Grand Trunk, .. 250;329 17 for the works of the Arthabaska line, so that in fact the loan was made from their own money. This transaction is the only one where the Company obtained any aid from the Government ; and certainly under the circumstances, it cannot with any truth, be called an ) advance of Provincial funds, while small and pitiful as it was, it certainly saved the Province from the iiiortification of a refusal by the Prince to open the Victoria Bridge, which must have occurred, had the insolvency of the Company been complete before that event. 5. The last item is a charge of Kxchange or Grand Trunk Paiilway received from Bank of Upper Canada $488,666 67 In explanation of this item, it may be necessary to state that the Bank of Upper Canada was niijsointed by llio Lafontaine-Baldwin administration, the fiscal ngent of the Province : nud tluit administra- tion thus made it the sole depository of the iiovincial fiiiids. We found it so, and have continued to carry out the same policy. Last year, rumours got abroad aflccting the credit and position of the Bank. The Government, however, satisfied themselves by a rigid enquiry of the solvency of that Institution. They therefore continued to de- Xll i')> posit the public funds in the Bank, as they felt sure that a witli- drawal of the account, would have been considered as a want of confidence on the part of the Government, and would probably have created a panic and a run upon the Bank. This panic might and probably would have extended to the other Banks, and Canada might have seen a more disastrous financial crisis than it has ever experienced. The Government therefore continued to employ the Bank of Upper Canada as the depository of the Public Revenues. The Province is obliged to remit to England, half yearly, large sums to meet the interest of the public debt. This is done by the purchase of Bills of Exchange, and the Province bought from the Bank of Upper Canada, for the purpose of remittance, a draft or Bill of Ex- change on the Grand Trunk Bailway Company in London which was indebted to it, for the sum of $488,666 67 and of course the Bank of Upper Canada charged the Province with the amount. The Bill was sent to England and accepted by the Grand Trunk Railway Company, who thereby promised to pay it. In consequence of the financial embarassments of the Company, they were unable to pay the Bill, and it was protested. The only consequence of this was that the Bank, which was responsible for the amount of the Bill, and had charged it to the Province, would be obliged to civditthe Province with the amount again. The only reason why this item appears in the public accounts at all, is that the Minister of Finance wished to hold the Bill, and thus have the double security of tlie Bank and the R railway Company for the account. My sentiments on the subject of REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION— arc well known and I have attached to this address, a copy of my speech in Pnrliameni on that subject. It is quite clear that with the present feeling in Lower Canada, no government could be formed from either side uf the House to carry out that principle. The Brown-Dorlon Administration, who professed an intention to grap- ple -vith the question, consisted of twelve, of whom seven were decidedly opposed to its adoption, and every one of those seven who were in the House voted last session against it. So would it be with every other administration, and the question must therefore be an open one, and go to the country upon its own merits. This is not a party ists a] politic venti( whicl Th( shew: whicl princi ingto] last s< Unite Kii > XIU party question, and ought not to be made one. Western ministerial- ists are in favor of it : Central and Eastern Canada of all shades of politics are opposed to it, while the opposition have, in solemn con- vention, declared that it is not an efficient remedy for the evils, from which they allege the Province is suffering. The fratricidal conllict now unhappily raging in the United States shews us the superiority of our institutions, and of the principle on which they are based. Long may that principle, — the Monarchical principle, — prevail in this land. Let there be no "looking to Wash- ington," as was threatened by a leading member of the opposition last session ; but let the cry, with the moderate party, be " Canada United as One Province, and under One Sovereign." I have llie honor to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient, humble servant, JOHN A. MACDONALD. Kingston, 10th June, 1861. > Part I~Mr. Macdonald's personal position. ALLUSIONS TO THE PERSONAL POSITION OF MPi,. MACDONALD AND OF OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT. i' I Mr. Macdonald, fit the Kingston dinner in November, 18G0, thus addros.st.'d his constituents on thi.s subject : " I have been, as probably all of you are av/are, honored with demonstrations similar to this within the past few weeks, and have been deeply jrratified l)y the confidence which has been shown in all parts of Upper Canada, which I have been able to visit, in myself and the Government of which I am a mcmb.or ; und I have likewise been honored with invitations to numerous other places, which, however, the exii^encies of public business will oblige me to forego. But those demonstratiojis, put them altogether' — enthusiastic and I cordial and generous as they were — did not and do not insj)ire those feelings within me which are caused, on returning to my old liome and my old friends, by such a welcome as this. [Loud ap])]ause] Sir, when I have looked back u[)on my public life, I have often felt bitterly and keenly what a foolish man I was to enter into it at all. [Cries of " No, no."] You have all seen how I have been attacked, maligned and calunniiated ; but I must say this, that I have not been singular in that. In this country, it is unfortunately true,, that all men who enter the public service act foolishly in doing so. If a man desires peace and domestic happiness, he will find neither in per- forming the thankless task of a public officer, for the moment he assumes the duties of office he becomes exposed to the assaults, per- sonal as well as jiolitical, of his opponents, and to the attacks of every puny, miserable libeller in the land. [Applause.] It has been so in my case ; but when I see around me the old friends who now come forward to do me this honor, I feel that T am am})ly, liberally com- pensated. [Cheers.] I ibrgct all the calumny with which I have been assailed, all the abuse which malignant opponents have showered upon me, when I receive this overflowing bumper, this kind, this cordial and enthusiastic reception from my old and tried friends. It is here, although years ago I gave up my residence amongst you, where all my hopes are centered; here my infancy was pass(!d ; here my Loyish Jays were .spent ; here in maiiliooJ J l.iljored in honest incliislry; here iiny lellow-siihjcet.s honored me by electing me tlieir re|)resentative in rarliiinifnl ;— and now when I comeback alter seventeen years of public lil'e and receive irom them this overwhehniniT demonstration, I accept it as a crowning- ju-oofthat all that bus been sfiid of nic behind my back has not ufU-cted their minds ur wenkeni-d their contidenee in m<'. [Load cheers.] I take it as evidence on their part thut tliry do not believe that the lad who <,a-ow np umongst them, who acquired and })ractised his prof;\s,si(>ii — his trad(.' — amoniist them, \\ho as a man was so well known to Ihem nil, has so entirely ciian<^ed his n;ituro and become so de,^'rad('d as to be unworthy Ionizer of iheir sujiport. [Cheers.] Sir, when 1 said the life- ofu [loiiticnl riian in America was hard, I did so n>r the purpose of drawing a distinction between the jiosition of i)ublic men in this critain tlnit however much parties may disngrce upon prin- ciples, Ihey sustain (>iicli other's dignity. They know that the country whieli has a degraded class of politicians must tdso have a degraded popukition. [Clieers.] But in this country how dil'ierent do we find it. You all know lunv I have been personally traduced, and how those wiih whom i laive acted in the (xovernment have been asi)ersed. As far as those charges against myself were made here, I felt they were of small consequence ; for here, among tliose who were acquainted with my character, I knew they would be of little injury to me. In other parts of the country, however, where T was not so well known, tlnnr continued and ceaseless repetition, it Avas to be expected, would have some eflect ; but I am ha]ipy to say that by the opportunities which have recently been }ircsented nic elsewlu:n*e iu Upper Ciuiada, 1 ha\'e in a great degree been enabled to dispel these illusions. I am proud to s;iy that where I have addressed audiences like this, composed of sensible und reasoning men, ] have received distinct and emphatic assurances that the exphaiations which T have given are satisftictory. [Cheers.] As 1 said before the attacks upon me are of a two fold character — first my political conduct is assailed and then my personal character. Now, 1 challenge a full discussion and a tree and deliberate cpnsiderat'on of all my political acts ; but not conttmt with this my ])rivate character has been assailed, and even during the past few days, within thes(> very v/alls, has been attacked by the leader uf the Opposition. [Hisses] T say that these charges, made in other parts of the country, might have had some 3 effect ; but in this place, wliere I have gone through six or seven elections triam})hantly by your valiuible aid, I am quite convinced that there is no', one among vou avIiu does not Ijelievo them to be falsehoods. [Clicers.] T might then well allbrd to pass tliem by in silence ; but as I have before nie a ncwspajier conducted by the aljle, energetic but thoroughly unscrupulous leader oftlie (Opposition, brin- ging charges against me alli'cting my ])ersonal character — charges which derive their force not by downright assertion but hy mean insinuation — I take this early opportunity, the earliest in fai-t which has been presented to me, orre})lying to them. 1 do so not for your satisfaction, because I do not imagine ibr a moment that you would think me guilty of them; but take this the first public opi)()rtunity of calling your attention to them, in orch^r that through the medium of the ])ress there shouhl go forth to the "whole jx-opie of Canada my liort but complete refutation of them. [Cheers."] At Simcoe, Ik^ thus addressed those present : " It has been stated by the G/ohe that I would not venture to Kingston, much less go to Norfolk — and it is a source of great pride to me to have so satisfactorily and so completely distippointed Mr. Brown in such expectations. At the same time, as the Giobe has said so much alwut Ministers not going oftener before their consti- tuents, I would remind my hearers that the constitutional practice is in Canada, as it is in England, that no Minister of the Crown can ll make himself answerable to any particular locality or to any public meeting. Tne leader of the Opposition may perambulate the country ns be iikes, and have all the meetings he likes ; but, at the same time, he can say what he pleases, for, unlike a -Minister of the Crown, ho is not responsible for every word he utters. No Minister of En- gland goes about the country haranguing crowds, nor can any Cana- dian Minister do so. Thus Mr. Brown possesses, and makes all the use of he knows how to, an unfair advantage over the members of the Government." At Guelph, ho also spoke to the following effect : " A public man in this country gets plenty of abuse, and I have got more than my share of it. [Hear, hear.] But as I have uniformly acted according to the best of my ability and judgment to advance the interests of the country, although I have no doubt committed many errors, I feel that my motives were honest, and that having done my best for the country, I am enabled to bear up against slander and calumny. I now have the proud satisfaction of knowing, from meetings like this which have been lately held in Upper Canada, that although for so many years traduced and slandered, I can face them 1 * at Iho piiLlic ])oard, and that tlioy are willing not only to give me anojjportunity oroxjilaining my course, but also on an inclement night like this, when the roads are l)ad, to come some thirty or forty miles to do me this honor. [A|>[»lause.] If I have suffered by mis- representations and calumnies of all sorts, iif my motives have been impugned and my life traduced, I shall in future be supported by the knowledge that the bono and sinew of the land have given me their confidence and bidden me God speed in ray career. [Cheers.] I must say that I did not expect this magnificent demonstration in Guelph. When I read the newspapers of the Oppositioii, T saw, they said that no body attended a dinner to meet mo but a parcel of para sites, toiidies and oflice-seekers. It was so stjited in a print published this very morning ; but I find that here as at other places is a fair representation of the bone and sinew, the pith and marrow, of the country. When T am told by those acquainted with nearly all pre- sent, that among you are to be found the industrious farmer who has come thirty or forty miles from his home to greet me, the enter- prising merchiint and the honest, hardfisted mechanic, I would ask how many oflice-seekers sit around this table 1 ['* Not one !"] Thank God, in this country and in that part of it particularly favored by nature, with bountiful crops and good markets, you have no occa- sion to look for office. [Cheers.] To sustain yourselves honorably, you have your own stout hearts and brawny arms, and all you look for from me or the Government of which I am a member is good government — all the desire we have is that the administration of affairs should be honestly conducted, that you shoidd be fully pro- tcv^ted in your property and lives, and that the law should be impar- tially and faithfidly administered. [Loud cheers.] That, we know, is all you looked for, and feeling thus we can afford to laugh at the sneers of our opj)onents. " At Milbrook, he spoke as follows : " When I first entered the room my eyes were greeted with the announcement, " John A., the welcome guest of Cavan," and I feel sensible of the high honor conferred upon me by the warm, kind- hearted Irish reception I have received. [Cheers.] I have come among you, not only as a stranger, but as one who has been for years in public life and who has been attacked and abused to such an extent as to gain for him the distinction of the best abused man in Canada. I have received this abuse without stint and have suffered by it ; but it is from meetings like this, that I am encouraged to rise superior to those attacks made upon me and to go on in my course, knowing I am supported by men like those I see around me — men whom I have never seen before, who have no personal motive to serve, who have no claims upon me, and who ask nothing from me. [Cheers.] It has been said in the Opposition papers that the men > who ulteiid tlic'se ileinonstralions are only oilico-holdcrs or oflice- seekers and ex[)octaut,s of Government iiivors. Now, T would ask who among tlioso present are the parasites and oflice-seekers ? [Cries of" none."] I sec around me the independent yeomen of the County and the hard-handed industrious farmers — men who have no interest in me, heeause tliey have no personal acrpiaintance with me and look to me for nothing oxce])t an honest desire to govern the country to the best of my ability and its interests — men who have nothing to guide them exce])t Iho public ])ress in iurming an opinion as to whether I am worthy of such a reception as is accorded me this night. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the confidence thus shown me. iSiich receptions as those afford encouragement to public men who enter into the arena of public liie, to cast aside all sensibility to the calumny and attacks with which a factious and ma- lignant press may cover them. I accept the demonstration as a proof that you are like all true Britons, ready to give a man fair pluy — ready to hear explanations and give calm consideration to what may be laid be fore you. [Cheers.] It is in that spirit that I come here this night. I have announced at other places, and repeat it now, that I shall be most happy to answer any question that may be put to me regarding the administration of the ailairs of the Province ; and whether my answer shall accord with their opinion of right or not, I think you will admit it as full, explicit, and honest. [Cheers.] " I At Toronto, he thus addressed those present at the dinner : " It may be seen clearly that, although in the exercise of your inde- pendent judgment as free men, you may not, })er]iaps, agree in think- ing that all we have tlone is right or for the best, still, whatever may be our sins of omission or commission, you do not believe that the Government has erred willingly, but that they have acted to the best of their judgment, and that evory rnistako and every shortcoming are sins of the head and not of the heart, [Great cheering.] What, let me ask, have we to gain by the position assunietl ? W hat have I to gain ])y the jjosilion which I have held so long? Certainly it has not made my fortune. [Hear, hear.] Certainly I have not fattened on the public plunder. Certainly 1 have not so fattened on the spoils of office as to .staiid before you as a millio?iuhe. 1 am sure that, when I first entered the public service, my name stood infinitely better at my banker's than it does at the })rescnt time ; and my cre- ditors feel, as I feel myself, that I should have been a wealthier man, and have held a much higher jiosition in point of credit and standing if I had uninterrn[)tedly pursued my jirofession instead of uninterrupt- edly, for many long years, devoting myself to the public service. |]Applause.] 1 regret to say, from my own personal experience, that it is a thankless office that of a Minister of the Crown. In England^ a man devoting hinisolf to the public service is sure of receiving- aye, from his o{)p<)neiits — a genoroii.s considcriition, ii generous appre- ciation ; hut in this country, indeed over the whoh- of this continent— we find that much of the intellect, much of tlui worth, is driven into private life ; for the moment a man j)resumes to take a particular course of action — the moment he has the courage and manliness to connect himself with a particular party and thnt party becomes the predominant party — that moment the Opposition set upon him, malign his public and private character, traduce his family and connections, and impart to each and every action the basest and meanest of motives. [Cheers.]" At St. Thomas, the following remarks were made : " I am like those who hear me, a Canadian, heart and soul. I heard the gallant ollicer who returned thanks for the army and navy say he was. That, I l)elieve,is the feeling that exists in every breast here ; and though 1 have the misfortune, like my friend Ihe deputy adjutant general, to be a Scotchman ; still, I was caught young, and was brought to this country before I had been very much corrupted. [Laughter.] Since I was five, years old I have been in Canada. — My affections, my family are here. All my hopes and my remem- brances are Canadian ; and not only are my principles and ))rejudices Canadian, but (what, as a Scotchman,! feel as nuiclias anybody else) my interests are Canadian. [Applause.] Sir, when I see that, while I have been in the })ublic service, 1 have made so many generous friends — for, with the exception of a few old personal acquaintances, all those present at this large gathering are unknown to me — I feel that I have some reward for tlie great amount of obloquy and misre- presentation to which T, like other public men, have been subjected during a long couse of political life. [Cheers.] For sixteen or seven- teen years — I forget how long — I have been a member of the Provin- cial Parliament, and this is the seventh year during which I have held my present office. In all that time, I have committed many sins of omission and commission, for lam but human ; but I should be insensible to the feelings which actnate every man, if, in attempt- ing to govern, and in governing the count i-y, I had not acted, as I thought, for the best. [Applause.] I have had the satisfaction, on a very late occasion, of addressing a very large number of my fellow- subjects at Brantford on matters of public interest. I do not know if your attention has been called to the subjects of which I then spoke, but I shall not weary you by entering into all the topics on which I felt it necessary to address the meeting there, because it was the first demonstration given to myself and my colleagues in Western Canada. In speaking of the Government, and its claims to ])ublic confidence, it is necessary, of course, that I should be egotisfical and that I should net, to Ji crrtuin extent, as my own trumpntei wlion T lulvort to thn monsiirt's passed (or the good of the country. ]Jiit this is the only way in which the country can judj^e of its governors; they can only predict the future from the past, and augur what men will do from what they have done, and looking back to these measures, I think we can aj)peal with some confidence to the people of Canada nnd those who are interested in its welfare." At Brantford, Mr. Mardonald said : " If there is one thing more than another to make mo re- joice in my longevity, it is that it has given me this opportunity of returning my thanks to the many gentlemen I sec around nic for the magnificent reception given me. This is a reward for miiny of my trials. Fur a great deal of the ohicjquy I have suflrred this is the compensation T fee] and shall continue to feel for the reniiiinder of my days. [Cheers.] The Chairman has truly said that the lile of a politieau is not a bed of reuses ; but there an; compensations for that life, thorny as it is. My reward is in my meeting face to face a number of niy fellow subjec's in Canada, who although ])ersonally imacfjuiiiuted me, have extended to me a cordial invitation to this bancjuet ; v/ho although they have read the repeated nnd con- stant attacks made upon mc and those connected with mo in the Goverument — in which my character has been aspersed, my honesty questioned, my motives impugned — have conlidcnce in me and place reliance in my conduct. My compensation is in meeting imder such happy circumstances the tliree or four hundred gentlemen present, nearly all of whom are personal strangers to myself and I feel that, receiving such compensation, a politician is not so much to be pitied as otherwise one AVould think him to be. It shows this — that when a man is conscious that his motives are good, his pur[)ose honest, his meaning well, he will receive a generous consideration at the hands of his fellow countrymen. That is what I feel and know. J know thiit in a long course of political life I have made many mis^.ikes— that the Government of which I am a member has, of course, made errors and been guilty of omission as well as of commission ; but feeling as I do, I can say lionestly and in the fac(! of you all, strangers tluaigh you l)e, thai tlu- desire of the Government is good, their motives good ; that we have done whnt we could in an humble way for the purpose of promoting the social, educational and mornl interests of this country ; and if Ave hnve made mistakes in workini>- out our designs, th(^peo})le, knov.'iiig us not to be criminal, can endorse us, believing that if the Governuient has erred it was an error of the head and not of the henrt or of the inten- tion, [rheers.] As the chairman has truly remarked, I have been in political life 17 years. In 184-7, when (p.iite a young politician, I 'M' cnti'i-cd iiiU) Pin-liiimcnl, and Imvo rcniiiiii(rominent mendier. I say the reiison I have held the position Cor s«- many years is this, that I have hcen supported ])y a lar;]f(! and inllueulial pirty who acted on principles which they thought \V(^ro rijiht— upon pnil- cii)les that involve our connection with the b'ri>isli empif«>, the maintenance of th(! Union hetween tlie Provinces, the maintenaiK.-e of tlu! ireedom of speech, of tiie liherty of the press, and of those other ri;;hts which a free people ever hold dear. Tiiat ftreut party to which 1 helon-,' have kept mo in my position, and they are all men who like those i)resent came forward gcn(>rously and heartily because they believe the (lovernment is trying to the Lest of their ability and judgment to carry out their principles. [Cheers.] " At Hatnilton, he spoke thus: " As an old public servant, as having been before the public for very many years [I have been a member of Parliament ibr some 16 years, and a member of the government for fidly G] .1 feel supportedby a demonstration of this kind, exhibiting such a generous coniidence. Although, as you know is the case in all free countries, especially on this contin(!nt, public men are liable to constant and wanton at- tack, to have their motives misrepresented, their conduct misstated — although they are open to the greatest obloquy and the most violent assault, not only on their political course but their private character, while the effect of sucdi continued and causeless calumnies is to make the life of public men certainly the very reverse of a bed of loses, insomuch that ])erha|)s the most valua])le men for int(dlect, social ])nsition and high moral character, retire into private life ratlier than he suVjjected to them — yet mcelii]gs of this kind are a reward to the politician, [Hear.] And, yir, when a man like myself lias once entered on the track, he cannot go back. Having assumed certain duties, he cannot, in justice to liimself, in justice to the position he has voluntarily taken, in justice to his coiistiUients, in justice to his party, or in justice to his own princij)les, recedes He cannot retire. He must submit, as 1 have submitted, to continued attack, to have his character maligned, his motives misreprc^sented, his actions even misstated. But when I see such an assemblage as this, iKitwithstaiiding all that has been said against me, showing that I still maintain such a position in Canada, that in the first place I am not afraid to meet you, gentlemen, [lJear,j and in the second place, you arc not afraid to do this honor to me, and those with whom I am l>roiul to act, [llciir and IiiiiirliU'r.J T lrv\ I liiivo my oiiMjlalioii and rcwaril. [(Mict-rs.] When I speak i»t tlioso willi \vlii»iii 1 ;icf,I of course do not only spcuk. ol' tny (•ollfUf;u(.'.s iit llie Connril boaril, who aid inc us I do tluMU, witli niutiiul counsel and advici;, (and althuufxh you may liavo seen statements, in tlie public prints, aljout dissensions and eontiaual (juarrels lii'twwH'n members of the caljinot, so that you mi<.dit limey the council chamber uas a scene of con- tinual slril'e, ami lliat as we had dilli'rent political prineiples we only clung to odicc (or tlu^ sake of its emoluments. I must say that if there over was a united band it is the Council, who tlirouiih the confidence of rarlianu.'nt nl presoit advise the head of this government) — but f allude also to those wIkj as re|>resentatives of the people have kept US in power, Juid to those ^\•ho by their votes have returned those representatives, and who compose the majority of the people of Ca- nada. UNION OF MODERATE MEN OF BOTH PAUTIES, TJPON THE DEFEAT OF Mil. lllNClvS. At St. Thomas, Mr. Macthmakl spoke ou ihiw subject as fol lows :— " The Government that was formed in 18.")!- was a Coalition Go- vernment — Coalition in one seii.se, but not in another — eoalition in its proper but not in its corruf(t signification. It has been said that neither England nor CuJiada likes a Coalition Government. If coali- tion between two parties means that, fur the sake of emolument or position they sacrifice principle, then Coalition Governments ought not to receive the confidence of the people. Jhit if a Coalition Go- vernment means, what 1 contend the coalition of ISSi was, the junctiort of a number of men who, forgetting old (juarreis which have been wiped out, and who, instead oi' raking i\[> the ashes after the fire of dissension bad burned away, and endeavoring to re-kindle it, finally extinguished it, and refused to })roIong discord and the ruin caused by it — then I say that coalition is the act oft.ie patriots — [Cheers.] It is wvW known, t^ir, that I have always been a member of what is called the Conservative party. I could never have been called a Tory, although there is no man who more respects what is called old fogy Toryism than I do, so lrineiples to get into power and form the coalition. Now, long before the Conservative party, led by Sir Allan McNab, had any expectations of being called in to admi- 10 ^i nisler the aflairs of the Province, they considered the great question of the clergy reserves and found that it tlireatened in 1854, to assume the form it did in 1836, when W. Lyon McKenzie, a high authority on that point, said it was the cause of the rebellion. Parties were again divided, household against household, father against son, relative aganst relative. It was important, therefore, that the question should be settled at once and forever, so that the fair prospects of Canada and its hopes of prosi)erity should not be destroyed, and the country reduced to a state of anarchy through an agitation, which was one of religious feeling rather than of real importance to our material well being. So in 1853, when we, the Conservative Opposition, twenty in number, ac- ting together strongly and unitedly, found there was a prospect of a dissolution by Mr. Hincks government, we felt that, as Conserva- tives, we should not be patriotic in resisting any longer the well understood wishes of the people of Upj)er Canada, and, he fore t\\o election, resolved that if the returns shewed that another settlment was required, v/e would not oj)pose it. The returns did show that the people of Upper Canada were in favor of a final settlement, and I claim for Sir Allan McNab, and those who acted nnder him, that our coalition was not made with the exjiectation of office — not even with the most distant hope of office, for we were in a hopeless minority — but jnst to have that great occasion of discord finally removed. [Applanse.] Wlu.'n, in consequence of the dissensions in the ranks of the administration of that day, and of tlie desertion of very many of its supporters, Mr. Ilincks found it necessary to abandon the reins of power; there was really no great question to prevent the Conserva- tive party from coalescing with men of constitutional and moderate views, although they had previously belonged to what was called a different party ; and from that time until now, m^en brought up in the Conservative school have acted with those brought up in the Liberal School — acted as a united government — acted together, because they think alike. • ii <( again Part II -—Charges against the Government. THE CHARGES MADE ARE MOSTLY OF A GENERAL NATURE. At Belleville, Mr. Maedonald nsed the following language : " I know that Mr. George Brown himself would not rise in his place in Parliament and charge the Government with personal cor- ruption, although he might insinuate it through the columns of his newspaper ; and I challenge him or any member of his party to put his finger upon one single act of corruption or injustice of which the Ad- ministration have been guilty. We may have erred in judgment, but it is only in judgment and not in the henrt ; and no man can jwint out a single case in which we have profited l)y the jiassage of any Act of Parliament, or show in fact that we are not poorer men this day than the day we entered office. [Loud applause.]" At St. Catherines tlic ?iame subject was thus alluded to: " You can only judge of the future oi politicians by their past. It is true that charges have been sown broadcast over the land against us ; but I would ask you to listen for a while to our explanations regarding thv-m. [Hear, Hear.] We have been accused of incapacity. Gentletnen, a man cannot, on this point, be his own jndjre jt is iiot tor me, Iherefore, to vindicate myself from this churge, or lo say whether I have acted with discretion and ability, as a statcMuan j^laccd in a | rominent position in the discretion of aflairs, and it is (jiiite open for those who think the course of the (loveriiinent has be(>n erroneous, to say that, if other men had been in the Guvi-rnment they would have done better than we. But they must appeal to the ..talute bot)k to prove their words, and you should examine it loo. If you find there the evidence of hasty and ill considered legisliition, blame ns accordingly, but if not, then we are entitled to credit instead of blame. But the charge of incapacity is not the only one that is made; we have been charged with the most unblushing corruption : it has been said that we have remained in office for tlie sake of public plunder, for the purpose of 12 filling our pockets and those of our friends. Yet, sir, when I have asked our opponents to hnnrought Ation of 3llowes 3r hap- i of the co])ied y shall I tribit- niiuo- soe. if 1 to do ig tliat ven on -ly the enient iaugh- iig the y trial of contested elections altogether from the floor of the House, and a legal tribunal, called an election committee, was established to pre- vent the determination of the validitv of elections from being; made a party matter. The members of such committees come forward to the table and are solemnly sworn in, and compose a legal tiibunal, just as much as the Judges of the Queen's Bench or the Common Pleas are, to try cases by law. In the Ptussell case, it was alleged that there were frauds, and it wasattem))ted to expel Mr. Fellowes by a vote ot of the House ; but we said, " No, we must sec the law carried out — there must be an election committee to try the case," and they there- fore declare that we were accomplices in the fraud ! We were bound, sir, to see that there should l)e no Lynch law here, either in the case of Mr. Fellowes or of any body else. It was just the same in princi- ple as when you see a murder committed before your eyes, you haven't the right to hang the murderer at once, but must send him to the a})pointed court. The accusers of Mr. Fellowes might say ri fraud had been committed, but we were obliged to have the cjtse t> -nt to the tribunal a]ipointed by law, that the offence might be proved. [Applause.] ^^lill more was said about the Quebec frauds, inasmuch as one of those charged with being implicated by them was Mr. Alleyn, my friend and colleague. It was SEiid that he held his seat on the strength ( t 15,000 bad votes. Well, this case too had to be sent to an election committee, on which the majority of the members were political friends of the present Government, and strong suppor- ters of iVIr. Alleyn and myself; yet, although they believed the sit- ting members, including the Provincial Secretary, had the majority of legal votes ; and although thoy believed the frauds commenced on the other side, yet they found that some injudicious friends of ours, without any concert, finding their opponents were putting in false votes at one of the polls, put in lots of names themselves at another, and on this account, as well as because there was some fighting in the streets, and they thought there had not been absolute freedom of election, they declared the seats vacant. What was the consequence ? To shew that Mr. Alleyn had a majority of legal votes, wIumi h^ went to his constituents again, he was unanimously re-elected. [Cheers. "] THE MERCEPw CASE. At. St. Catharines, a place where Mr. Mercer v,";s personally known to many of the inhabitants, Mr. Macdonuld thns referred to the history of the Norfolk shrievalty : " There is another charge made against us, that we have been guilty of the sale of olfices to help our friends, and I call the attention of the meeting to that, liecanse you know the only person who was mixed up with allegations of the kind — I mean the late lamented 14 y .; Lawrence W, Mercer [Seiisiition.J Until Mr. Mercer came to Toronto, with a petition nnmeroiisly signed here, I had never seen him ; and let me now detail the fiicts, as 1 have done in Parliament before, but as I will do again to refresh the memories of the people of Upper Canada- [Api)lause.] The separation of the County of Wel- land from that of Lincoln had been decided upon before the Govern- ment of which I was a member was formed, and it was our duty to a})|)oint the County olfieers. You remember that such was the popu- larity of Mr. Mercer both in Lincoln and Welland, that he laid before the Government petitions signed by all the public men, magistrates and others, of this part of the eoimtry, praying for his appointment as Sheriff of Welland. I never before saw such a large and respectable petition hi iiivor of any one man whatever, and although 1 knew nothing of him personally, I was extremely anxious to appoint him, the ratlier as he came suf)portedby my friend Mr. J. C. xMorrison, then the member for Niagara, now Solicitor General West, who pressed for his nomination. I however found that the Hincks Government had made a solemn pledge to Mr. Ilobson, the present worthy Sheriif, that he sliimld have tiie office, and I felt bound to carry that promise out, especially as we were a Coalition Government and had to consult and do justice to both parties, and then, as several Conservative appointments had recently been made, we tlierefore appointed Mr. Hobson, of course much to the mortification of Mr. Mercer, and the mortification too ofmy friend the Solicitor General. I am happy to learn that Mr. Hobson has proved himself a most worthy official. I could not but feel, however, that Mr. Mercer must be considered, as he had thrown away all his long services as Deputy Sheriff, and I told him I would do all in my power to serve him in any legitimate way. [Hear.] The next thing I knew was Mr. Mercer's coming to me, telling me that Sir. llapelje, the Sheriff of Norfolk, was going to resign — going into the milling business, I think — and asking me if he could be appointed. I said I must of course consult my colleagues, but that if Mr. Eapelje resigned, I should be anxious to carry out my promise to him. Well, Mr. Rapelje did resign, and Mr. Mercer received his letter of appointment, and I need hardly say that I never heard of the transaction between the two. Indeed, they both gave evidence before the committee of the House, that I had never been told any thing about it by either of them. [Applause.] Now, before Mr. Mercer bou-hi 'hat office — and another thing I have to complain of is, that this was made a party cry and that Mr. Mercer was hounded to his grave — in order to be sure that he was right and made no mis- take, he consulted Dr. Skeffington Connor, who is now a member (if Parliament, as to whether it was improper or illegal in any way to act as he did. Dr. Connor gave his opinion in writing to Mr. Mercer that the transaction was not contrary to law or public policy. What more could poor Mr. Mercer do, than to take advise in the matter from a competent authority ] The advice proved erroneous, and he it 15 conse(|nently lost every thing he had in the world. lie lost liis office, and he lost his property too, because, as an honest man, ho gave up his property to the last to satisfy Mr. Eapalje and keep his honor clear. Thus he was driven almost out of the country — driven to sup- port his family by p'lrchasing fish at Gaspu, wliere he got the disease of v,iiich he died; and, even after his burial, the Globe had the baseness to state that \ had deserted him, and that I was the cause of his death, [yiiame.] I have thesatisfactiunof knowing that, during all these troublesome times, when I had learned Mr. Mercer's worth, I did not act like Dr. JSkefiiugton Connor. When the vote was taken in the House to censure Mr. Mercer, I stood by him, because I saw that he had done all he could to ensure his being right. Dr. Connor, however, had not the manliness to vote in his favor. Mr. Brown's Solicitor (leneral was true to his party, but was not true to his friend or to his position as a professional man. [Loud cheers."] f « THE YORK ROADS. To clear away the popular misnnder.stnnding in reference to the York Roads, Mr. Macdonakl, at St. Catherines, thus referred to the subject : " You may have heard some thing about the York Road jobs — the Leader — Mr. Beaty — and all that sort of thing. lean tell you how it all stands. AVhen the Hincks Government was in power, they put into the market a lot of roads and other property in Upper Canada, which was a source of expense rather than profit, and Mr, Beaty, a member of the York Road Company, bought the roads about Toronto, just as other companies did in other parts of the country. Soon, however, from all parts of Upper Canada, petitions came pouring in, that the railways had destroyed the value of the roads. In some cases they had indeed rendered them almost useless. Mr. Steele, who bought the Woodstock Road, went to his grave without leaving a farthing, because he was ruined by his purchase. The Government did not w^ish to do injustice in the premises, so they submitted the case to an independent board — the Board of Audit, headed by Mr. Langton, who, if he has any political leaning at all, is opposed to the present Government, and who has been praised by Mr. Brown as an honest and upright and capable man — [he is, indeed, almost the only public servant Mr. Brown has so given credit to.] What could the Government do better than to leave the matter to an independent and impartial board and act upon their report ? This they did, and this is the great Beaty job. [Laughter and cheers. "] 16 THE " DOUBLE SHUFFLE." At St. Catherines the Attorney General West also made the following comprehensive statement as to the exchange of offices among the Members of the Government, popularly called the " Double Shunie."— " If there is one thing, gentlemen, thnt has been trnmi)eted from one end of the country to the other, it is the course the Government pursued when they resumed office after the disastrous and humiliating defeat of the Two-Days administration. [Hear, hear.] I allude to what has ])een called the " double shuffle." [Laughter,] I wish our course on that occasion to be distinctly understood, and I think, when you hear the position we were placed in, you will leel that we were fully justified in acting as we did. Sir, when we resigned our positions in 1858, we had a large majority in Parliament. We were not then driven out 'heeause we had lust the confidences of the House j on the contrary, Ave had a very large working majority ; but we, who " cling to office for the sake of [jublic plunder,'*' resigned our places at once, rather than see our Queen insulted o)i the Seat of Government question. We might have retained our position without difficulty, for that very day, half an hour after the vote was taken, I appealed to the House on the question of confidence, which Mr. Brown, with his usual want of judgment, brought up, and when I accepted the vote on the adjournment as one of confidence or want of confidence, a majority of 14 sustained us. You all rfiiiember how greedily Mr. Brown clutched office, how he tried to form a government, how he conld only do so by abandoning all his principles, how the Gover- nor General could not within the constitution grant him a dissolution, how he was forced to resign, and the present Government was formed. Well, the law says, in the first place, that any man holds office until his successor is appointed, and that any minister can return to his office within a month of his resignation without going to the people for re-election, and in the second place, it provides that any member of the administration can exchange office with his fel- low ministers, also without going back to his constituents. Now there was no necessity for our making that exchange of offices at all, and las an individual and other members as individuals, expressed as law^yers our opinions that we were not obliged to do it ; but there was a diffiirence of opinion, and in order to bring ourselves as clearly under the second clause of the law as we were under the first, we did effect the exchange. In going back without re-election, we complied with the spirit of the law ; in exchanging offices we com- plied with every letter of it too. [Hear, hear.] They say, however, tha< v. ^ were wrong in thus occupying oflices whose duties we did not intend to perform, and it is the general im|)rcssion that if there wa:> any thing wrong, it w^as in the exchange. But the same kind of \ 17 \de the f offices lied the 9(1 from srnment liliating lliide to I wish [ think, that we ned our ^^e were House ; ve, who laces at U'liment fiiculty, ppealed i), with •ted the tidence, greedily lit, how Gover- lolution, nt was 11 holds ter can it going les that his fel- Now ices at pressed it there clearly irst, we m, we 'G com- >wever, ive did if there kind of \ procedure is common in England. If any memher there desires to leave t'arliament, he cannot resign as he can here, but he accepts the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, gets his commission, whose duties he never intends to perform, vacates his seat by becom- ing an office holder, and then resigns his office for the next man who wishes to do likewise. It was in a precisely similar spirit that our exchange was made, and the malignantly foul charge that we swore to what was false is so evidently untrue, that it is hardly necessary to say any thing about it. [Hear.] V hut, Sir, is perjury ? It is stating as a fact what is not a fact, and s\veuritig to it. But when we took office fur the sake of holding it but momentarily, all we stated was, that while we held office we would ))erlbrni its duties, and this we intended to do, whether we held our position for one minute or for 20 years. [Applause.] And it comes with a bad grace from Mr. Brown to make this charge — from him, I say, more than from some of his colleagues, for they were entrapped by him — for he knew that on the very first day he accepted jjower, the Governor told him he could give no promise of a Dissolution, exjjvessed or implied, and altliough he knew he could not retain his place for more than two days, yet he swore to discharge oflices he knew he could not perform. [Hear, hear.] 1 can prove this out of his own mouth, for with his usual want of policy and judgment, he told the people of Gait the other day, that one of the reasons for his accepting office was, that he should drive us back to our constituents. He said : " When llie Brown-Dorioa Administiation consented to be sworn in, it was " with the full knowjedgt! that ihey mifjht not hold o/fice for 21 hours, but there " was this other arguments in favor of our ruuninij the risk of Sir i *' Edmund Head's machinations, that if we took office and were kicked out by " the Governor General wo could all be returned again, while the others would " have to undergo the same ordeal but would not have the same success." What petty trickery this was ! Although he knew he could not get a dissolution — although he knew he could never perform the duties of his position as Finance Minister— yet he took office for the sake of sending a few members back to their constituents, and giving them a little trouble and annoyance. But, Sir, what was the result of that course ? There are but two tribunals that could judge of our course. The question had a constitutional and a legal aspect. It we acted unconstitutionally, the only tribunal to decide whether we did so, WBK tho ni.^H Court of Parli'Anicnt. Tf we acted iiU-gulIy, the coitVis of law could alone settle that. The subject was solemnly submitted to Parliament, and by a deliberate vote they decided that we had acted quite constitutionally ; and I have no doubt we did, for we acted legally too, as was found when the matter came up on two several actions before the two Courts of Queen's Bench and Common Pleas. [Hear.] And just mark another bit of petty cheating. The great Grit party could not risk a farthing upon the issue, but they got a man to bring the actions who was insolvent. [Laughter.] So 18 that if they could not punish us, tlicy at least cheated us. [Great laughter.] They sued us, not in one action, whi^ih would have settled the whole case, but they brought several aciions, for Xd,000 a piece, one against me, one against Mr, Smith, Mr. Vankoughnet, and others, and took care that when they failed we should have a pauper to look to for our costs. [Applause and laughter.J The judges did not difler in the case. The six judges gave their judgments that we were L-ight in retaining and exchanging our offices. Constitutional and legal tribunals having thus decided the matter, is it not absurd to charge us with a breach eiiher of the Constitution or the law t [Loud cheers.] But these courts of law, it appears, are of no value uow-a-days. [Oh !] II there is one thing more disgraceful than anotlur in Mr. Brown's course, it is the attacks he has lately made upon myself and the bench of justice in Upper Canada. On the occasictn to which 1 have alluded, the Globe, Mr. Brown's organ, did not hesitate, day after day, to insinuate that our judges were under my thumb, that I could get them to give judgment as I liked, thus iisjiersing their honesty as arbiters of justice. [" Shame."] Now I believe that Upper Canada is pround, and has good reason to be proud of the high character, both for honesty and learning of her Bench. [Cheers.] No honest Liberal, no honest Reformer, no honest Radi- cal, however extreme may be his ])olitical opinions, will cast a stain "^ni the ermine of Sir Jolin Robinson or the other Conservative judges, and no Conservative will breathe a word against Mr. Justice Richards or the other Reformers on the Bench. We all know that they are honest, that they are beyond all i)rice and all purchase. [Hear, hear.J Yet the GVoie did not hesitate to assail them, and it assads them this veiy day in connection with the extradition case, insinuating that iliey are under my control, that I have an underliand connection with them. It is almost needless to say that I have had no commu- ©ieaiion with them about this Anderson case, and that I had none with them, either direct or indirect, about the resumption of our seats, f Hear, hear, and cries of" So it is."]" pa pel Cayl calur how his n (' garbt than THE EXCLUSION OF Mr. BROWN FROM THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. The St. Catharines' papers report Mr. Macdonald to have spoken as follows of the refusal to add Mr. Browns' name to the Com- mittee of Public Accounts : « There is another charge brought against us, which is, that we are so afraid of having our accounts examined into by Mr. Brown, that, lest he should ferret out our malpractices, we have turned him off the Committee of Public Accounts. Now, that Committee was of great consequence in the Province before the Board of Audit was 19 established by the present government, though now, when all the money dealings of the Province come before that Board, it is of much less importance. The reason, however, why Mr. Brown was left off was, that if he had been put on, you could not have got gentlemen to sit with him (Laughter and cheers). Mr. Gait, the present Finance Minister, had just taken office when Mr. Brown was left off that committee. He had no sins to answer for — he had had no opportunity of committing any — his accounts could not be wrong — he might well have said, " Let Mr. Brown be on the committee if he wishes it." But he remembered how Mr. BroWn had acted to his predecessor, the Hon. Wni. Cayley, a man of the highest worth, one of Nature's no- blemen, a man of large family, whose feelings were wounded by every attack made on him, and who himself felt a stain as acutely as a wound. (Loud choers). When Mr. Brown was appointed by Mr. Cayley a member of the committee, year after year, instead of acting as a faithful committee man, he used the whole of his power for the purpose of trumping up false allegations to write in his news- paper every morning. Although it was solemnly ordered by the com- mittee that until their investigations were complete, there sViould be no publication of them ; and although the allegations made were as false as those I have been exposing, he used the evidence in his news- paper for the purpose of ruining his political opponents. When Mr. Cayley vindicated himself, as he did vindicate himself, refuiingevery calumny, overthrowing every charge against him, establishing fully how faithful had been his stewardship, and how carefully upright his management of the public finances had hean, these statements were V garbled by the Glolje, and some of them altogether suppressed. More than this, however, forgetftil of his duty as a committee man, as a member of Parliament, as a man and a gentleman, Mr. Brown had the baseness to tell Mr. Cayley before the committee that he was a liar ; and Mr. Cayley would have been well excusable, though, as Attorney General, I could not have justified him in such a course, if he had given Mr. Brown a severe castigation on the spot. (Hear, hear). This was why the Government, sustained by the House of Assembly, thought it necessary to mark its sense of Mr. Brown's mis- conduct by leaving him off the committee. We put on the same number of his party — the same number of Reformers — but for him we substi- tuted an abler man, Mr. Howland — and even Mr. Brown cannot say that committee was inferior to any other ever appointed. That, sir, is our answer to this charge. (Loud applause.)" 20 THE CHARGE OF LAVISH EXPENDITURE IN CONNEC- TION WITH RAILROADS AND CANALS. Mr. Macdonald roferred at several places to the charge that his Government have been lavish in their expenditure in connection with the Public Works of the Province. He said, at Brantford ; " It has been charged that we have increased the taxation to an un- common extent. Now, the debt of the country is considerable ; but I must tell you that the basis of it w^s laid in iSil, long before 1 and ray colleagues came into ofiice, that it was increased by our public works, the canals, the Grand Trunk Railway, and the construction of piers, harbors and lighthouses, which previous Administrations ini- tiated, and for which the present is not responsible. (Applause). For instance, I will take the Grand Trunk Railway. Mr. Brown and myself strongly and persistently opposed the grant to that road as proposed by Mr. Ilincks ; but we were beaten and the road became a fixed fact. 'I he Ilincks administration was subsequently defeated and I entered office before the road was completed. It was the dtity of the Government to finish it, the country having paid to it £3,000,000 sterling, which would have been so much thrown away had the work been sU);i;)ed ; and I am very glad to say it is finished. I contend that we liave not added a single shilling to the original construction fund ; hid finding the road was going to stop for want of means, we were obliged to postpone our claim to enable the shareholders and bondholders to come in before them, and by a new issue of prefe- rential bonds to let the road be completed. In no other respect have we added to the debt of Canada." (Cheers). At Hamilton, the subject was thus touched upon : " In the first place, it has been charged against us that we have been increasing the burdens of the country by our reckless expendi- ture of public money, and maladministration of public affairs. If there is one charge so often made that people conclude it is a fact, it is this. As to the alleged maladministration of the Government, I deny it ; I maintain that the affairs have been cared for as economi- cally during the past seven years as at any previous time, and that, for its eiliciency, the machinery for controlling our affairs is managed with as much care as in any other country. It is true that the expenses of administering justice, Sec, increase almost an- nually, but so does our population and so does our revenue. Our salaries here are as small as in any other country where such a thing as bribery is not y)ermitted. We might adopt the Russian system, by which a General gets JG4-0 a year, and makes jG^jOOO by stealing from his soldiers, but it would be hardly satisfactory ; although from Kllj^lff'own to the hiimblet'^ clr jt in the P< st Office, all the civil iwvan** of tho Crowu have • ^^ .an firsl-clusis private cstablishmenta give tii^^r employees, [lieu. At St. Thorn >4.-*, the < 4irge was disposed of as follows : " It has been alleged that we have greatly increased the burdens of the country. iNow, in the first place, the present (Government is not responsible for the amount of the public debt of Canada. It owes its commencement to Lord Sydenham, who borrowed a million and a half before any member of the present Administration was in office at all. Even tho canals were built before this (Government came in, so that we have neither the merit of making these works nor the blame of incurring debt to carry them out. So with respect to our railway enterprises ; they were commenced by the Governments previous to ours, and whether they are for the good of Canada or for its prejudice, we cannot praise ourselves for them, nor are we liable to the charge of having increased the debt of Canada therefor. Our duty certainly has been, so fur as the CJrand Trunk Railway is con- cerned, to aid in completing it by every means in our power. When the province had invested three aud a half millions of money in the road, we could not allow it to remain unfinished — we could not allow it to be broken up — the bones of the country destroyed. We are, therefore, responsible for having, by every possible means, endeavored to complete it, and thus to secure the most extensive and most perfect continuous railroad system in the universe. But we are not resjwn- sible for the great amount of the debt of Canada. (Great as that debt may be — vt^ry coiisiderablc as it is when you speak of it as aa amount — it is small \\\ com[)arison to the great wealth of Canada j small when you consider how great works we havo to show for it, not merely of a temporary character, but whieli will endure for all time, for us, and for our children's cliildren, sim-e for every pound of that debt we have so much railway and so much canal. [Applause.] " ' I I THE CHARGE OF « FRENCH DOMINATIOTT. " Mr. Macdonald spoke of the charge of '' French domination " at several of the dinners at which he was entertained. At St. Catharines he remarked : " Another charge sown broadcast over the country, is that the Upper Canadian section of the Cabinet is over-ridden by the French members of the Government, and over-ruled by the Catholics. It is said that John A. Macdonald and his five Upper Canadian colleagues are merely the tools of the Lower Canadians, and are obliged to do just as they please. Yet, when I ask which of all our measures has been parsed owing to French (lominntion ,inst exactly tour Honuin Catholics and eight *rotestanls ! [Hear, hear.] It must then be in Parliament that French influences prevail ; but tht re, out of 130 members, there are 88 British to 42 French men — two to on(^ — and the proportion of Protestants to Roman Catholics is nearly the same. [Applnuse."] The subject was spoken of at St. Thonias, in the foll<»wing language : "You have heard through the public prints that the present government is subservient to French interests ; that I. am the tool of Mr. Cartier and Lower Caiuida. Now, 1 assure you that in Lowei Canada Mr. Cartier has been assailed by the Opposition papers in a different direction — he has been told by the French prints that he is altogether an Englishman, and untrue to Lower Canada interests — [Laughter] — that he is a mere tool in the hands of that Orangeman, J. A. Macdonald— [Laughter] — that he is neglectful of the interests of his church, and that in Upper Canada and the townships of Lower Canada he allows Orangemen to prevail. [Hear and liau^hter.J One paper has even gone so far as to say that JUmian Catholicisnoj must be depressed, and Orangeism must be triumphant, unti? John A.. Macdonald is snufled out — [Laughter and cheers.] The cliargef»,. gentlemen, against him and myself, are equally unjust. I believe that Mr. Cartier and I are actuated by the same ]>rinci]ile of doing justice' to our common country, and allowing no dominancy of one .religioEv over another* " THE CHARGE OF SUBSERVIENCY TO ROMArT CATHOLIC INFLUENCE. From the several references made at various places to the charge that the Government was subservient to Roman Catholic influences, that at Caledonia is chosen, to illustrate this subject. Mr. Macdonald there said : — " Amongst the accusations brought against the Government, it has been said that I and my Upper Canadian colleagues sacrificed the interests of Upper to Lower Canada ; and that we hold to our Lower Canadian connections simply for the sake of office. They say we are traitors to our race ; that we knuckle to Frenchmen ; that we 24 'W ', are faithless to our religion ; and that we are under Roman Catholic influences. These are the charges most frequently made ; because, were they true, they would involve such an amount of misconduct, both personal and jMsIitical, as would cause us to deserve condemna- tion — to deserve to lose the confidence of the people of Upper Ca- nada. But, gentlemen, it is very strange that the Opposition, while in Upper Canada they make these charges against the Government — while in Upper Canada they say that I and my colleagues have sa- crificed the interests of U])per Canada to Lower Canada and French infiuence — pursue precisely the same policy in Lower Canada, but from a diflerent point of view, for there the Rouge party, which is the Opposition in Lower Canada as the Grit party is the Opposition here, make it a cry against us, that Mr. Cartier, my colleague, is far too British in his principles, that he is under my thumb as an Upper Canadian, that he is governed altogether by me and by my friend, the Postmaster-General, both of us being Orangemen. [Hear, hear, and laughter.] But, Sir, I say here distinctly, that the charges against both of us are equally untrue — neither Mr. Cartier nor myself is actuated by any such feelings as are attributed to us — we attempt, in our humble way, to advise the head of the Govern- ment for the good of the whole country and the equal interest of all. I see, before me, the motto, " Equal Rights ;" and I'contend that in all our legislation, in all the measures wc have carried through Par- Imment, we have this principle in view. [Applause.] 1 know perfectly well, that it is quite impossible for any Government, from whuisoevcr j)arty chosen, to escajje all error for six long years — the time during which I iiave been Attorney General — but I feel sure that we have governed to your satisfaction ifi the main, and that after the explanations I am ready to make, you will believe that, altliough we may have eiied, we have at least had good reasons for our course, and have exerted ourselves honestly to do what we thought right. If you are satisfied of that, I leel sure you will look with a kindly eye upon those mistakes wc may have committed, and which it is in j)uor human nature to commit. [Cheers.] Before I advert to other business, I would speak again about this " French domination.'' At the last general election, you will remember how the cry was raised against us and how we were said to be subser- vient to " Popish influences"— and I have no hesitation in admitting that in consequence of this, the friends of the Government were defeated in several parts of U])pcr Canada, and that if this cry, which misled many, had not been raised, we should have had a large ma- jority in Upper Canada. It was got up the very energetic, able, but unscrupulous leader of the Opposition, Mr. Geo. Bruwn.— [Hisses and groans.] Ho it is, too, who still brings the same charges ngainst us ; but I call your attention to the fact that in the present adminis- tration there are twelve members, but on\y four Roman Catliolics, the other eight being Protestants ; and you cannot suppose that four Ro- man coun twel [Hea and was he w get a at on altho «r 25 ^ (» man Catholics would outweigh and overrule, in the Councils of the country, twice their number of Protestants. [Hear.] And of the twelve, I may tell you further, there are only three Frenchman. [Hear, hear.] S j that at the Councils of the Province, British blood and Protestantism really do prevail. [Hear.] But when Mr. Brown was called uppon to form a Government — that person who once said he was so true to the interests of Upper Canada that he could not get Lower Canadians to join him in a Government, so that he was a " Governmental impossibility" — [Hear, and laughter.] — he entered at once into an alliance with the Rouge party in Lower Canada, and although he charges me and my colleagues with succumbing to Ro- man Catholic influences, though we have but four, out of twelve mi- nisters, Roman Catholics ; and with subserviency to French interests, though we have but three out of twelve, yet he put six Catholics into his Cabinet ! [Hear, and laughter.] Now, Sir, as I have had occasion to say before, there is no reason in the world why Mr. Brown, or others, should not have as many Roman Catholics as Pro- testants in his Government, for are we not all equal in his country? Have we not all the same rights'? And if we get the right man in the right place, it does not matter what his race or religion may be. But, Sir, I do complain that the very man who tried to defeat us at the polls, and drive us from power, ou the false charge of selling Upper Canada, and selling Protestantism, should have formed his Ministry — which, however, only lasted for two days — [Cheers and laughter] with more Roman Catholics and more Frenchman in it than there had been since the Union. [Applause.] It has been stated, as an argument in favor of Mr. Brown's present views, that French opinions predominate, not only in the Government, but in Parliament. You will see how true this is when I 'ell you that of the 130 members in the Lower House, there are 88 of British or British Canadian origin, and only 4J Frenchmen. British blood, therefore, predominates in the Legislature by more than two to one. [Cheers.] But I have this to say for the credit of Lower Canada li- berality, that purely Roman Catholic French constituencies again and again elect Protestant representatives of British race. I believe, if i remember right, there are 16 or 17 British members in Lower Canada, the majority of whom are elected by Frencli constituencies. The following extract from a speech at London is inserted here, as it bears somewhat on the same subject : " Among other cries raised against us at the last elections was this, that we favored Roman Catholics by encouraging separate schools. There was to be no peace witn the present Government until the 19th clause ot theSchuol Act, by which Separate Schools can be established, should be abolished. Now, we have never disguised our opinions,and i 26 we said, as I say now, that though we were not responsible for the esta- blishment of Separate Schools, which are a legacy of Mr. Baldwin's, it was one thing to establish a system and another thing to repeal it after it had been introduced. We have neither the credit nor the blame of originating the 19th clause, but we are resolved to support it, because there was a privilege conferred, not only upon Roman Catholics, but on others, and we had no right to deprive a party of the privileges the law confers upon it, unless it has been shown to have been abused by them, [Hear.] As far as my own opinions are concerned, I am decidedly in favor of the continuance of the separate school clause, and I will tell you the reason. As a Protestant, I should not like, if 1 lived in Lower Canada, to be obliged to send my child to a school of which the teacher was a Roman Catholic, and perhaps a Roman Catholic Clergyman. [Hear.] It is the duty of a religious teacher, if he believes any thing to be true, to try to enforce it on the belief of his pupils. It is the duty of a sincere Protestant clergyman to try to proselytize every Roman Catholic. It is the duty of every sincere Roman Catholic to try to impress on others what he believes to be right. As an ardent Protestant who conscien- tiously Ijelieves that Protestantism and truth are one, I would not willingly subject my son to the chance of being turned by its teachers into what I consider wrong. [Applause.] And t appreciate the like feeling among my Pvoman Catholic brethren. [llenewed applause.] Why, the Catholics and the Protestants do not even read history alike. We look at the reigns of Henry VII 1, Mary and Elizabeth from o \e point of view — they form quite a different one. It is of great ct ns J- quence therefore, that in our educational system, provision should be made allowing various kinds of teaching. [Hear.] In my own town of Kingston, I can vouch for the 19th clause producing much good. Before we had a separate school, when Protestant and Catholic gen- tlemen assembled to get school trustees elected, the Catholics tried to get in so many, the Protestants so many, and ti.ey were objects of suspicion to each other. But now they elect their trustees separately, they stand, side by side, and while the Protestant schools are pro- gressing in numbers and in the standard of education, the Roman Catholic feels that he can raise his own mon<'y to send the child to the school he likes, whether the separate or the common school. [Ap- plause.] The measures of the Government on this subject have been sanctioned and approved by one man, whose authority is conclusive, and who will be remembered with gratitude long after he is dead and the present partizan objections raised to him have been forgotten, as the founder and apostle of education in Canada— 1 mean Dr. Ry- erson. That gentleman's conduct has been maligned and his motives impugned in a most unscrupulous manner, though no man can really doubt his sincerity in the cause of education in Upper Canada, with which, with a lofty ambition, he has aimed at connecting his name for ever." 27 name THE PRINCE OF WALES' RECEPTION AND THE ORANGE DIFFICULTY. The subject of the reccjption of the Prince of Wales was frequently alluded to l)y Mr. Macdonald. The explanations he gave at Brantford of the " Orange difficulty " are reported as follows : " This has been a great year for Canada. The chairman'has alluded in graceful terms to the auspicious visit to Canada of the son of our present Sovereign — our future Sovereign. He has spoken of Her Majesty as she deserves ; she is not merely a Queen appointed by law, but she reign in the hearts and affections of all her subjects. We are proud that we live in the times of such a Queen ; and our happiness is increased by a knowledge of the fact that our children will in all human ])robability live under a king who, from his visit to this country, has satisfied us that he has all the virtues of his royal mother. [Cheers.] Why, ho carried the hearts of Canada by storm. The people were loyal before his visit, but their hearts swelled within them when the saw the son of their Sovereign — so kind, so considerate, and always willing and anxious to please every body. If loyal before, they are twenty times more so, if possible, now. [Loud Cheers.] And it is particularly gratifying to me that the day selected by the gentlemen of the County of Brant fur this dinner should be the birthday of our future sovereign and son of our })eloved Queen. This is not a more temporary gratification, but one of lasting remembrance. As for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, his visit to Canada formed a most important epoch in his life ; as long as he lived ho would remember it as his first act of royalty. Before he came here he had been laboring to form himself for the country, but he had been undergoing a course of only until he came to this country ; and here first he had assumed the position and taken stand as sovereign of Canada. [Applause.] He did not come, as we are proud to know, simply as the heir to the Crown of British l"'mj)iTe ; but with the added dignity of tiio (lirocl representative of Her Majesty, who, unable to come herself and gratify llic. wishes of the Canadian people, appointed him to be for the time her locum tenens, giving him for the time all her powers, all her position, as far as granting honor to this country was concerned; and we have the gratification of know^ing that not only our future sovereign, but the direct representative of Her Majesty has visited this large, great and magnificent Colony of ours. Besides the great honor conferred, the people of Canada must feel that the visit will be of great and ])ermanent advantage. It has called the attention of the world to the position and prospects of Canada ; and it will have a lasting effect u[)on all our great national interests. The country will be sought after : its great resources and wealth thought of in a goverment of the training 28 manner never known before ; and if much of the riches of the mother country ^;ours into Canada — if we find as I believe we shall find, that our character, our resources, and our position are much better understood in Europe than formerly — it will all be owing to the visit of the Prince of Wales to this country, f Applause.] It is quite true that in this world we have no perfect happiness ; and we have an instance of it in this case. We know that the visit of His Royal Highness was in some respects accompanied by mistakes and heartburnings, for which, however, the Prince was not responsible ; from which he was perfectly free. If there has been any feeling of discomfort or annoyance, we all know that His Royal Highness was not the cause of it; if any interest of any character has been insulted or neglected, he was not responsible for it. On the contrary, we hold the Prince as dear to us as ever, and felt more proud of him the day he left Canada to visit the United States than the day he first put his fi)ot on our soil. [Loud cheers.] But there has been, I grieve to say, an unpleasantness to which the chairman has alluded ; there has been a source of discontent and heartburning ; there has been a source of a feeling in Canada that a large and respectable Association of men has been neglected and their position ignored, that a wanton insult has been offered to them, that their dignity has been wounded. [Cheers.] That feeling the chairman has given expres- sion to in no equivocal language and that feeling is entertained by the great majority of the people cf Upper Canada. [Applause.] When it was announced that His Royal Highness was to come to Canada in place of Her Majesty, we all received the announcement with the greatest pride and satisfaction, and did not anticipate that any of the difficulties tlnit subsequently occurred would have taken place. We hoped that the whole of His Royal Highness's course through Canada would be one unbroken triumph ; and I fear that if that prospect was destroyed, it was because the Prince's progress was advised and directed by an individunlhigh in position, high in power, and occupying a high post in the Imperial Government, but who un- fortunately was not acquainted with Canada, who did not know our people and their social and religions relations, and who judged of things in this country by the position and bearing of things in the country in which he lived. It follows, as a matter of course, that when Her Majesty sent her son to represent Fler, She took the same course with respect to him that She would have taken with respect to Herself. Had she come to this country Herself She would have been accompanied by some member or members of Her Ministry, to whom She would have looked for advice ; and by whom Her progress would have been directed. As you well know, when Her Majesty visits her Scottish residence at Balmoral, She is always accompanied by one or more ministers, and the same is the case when She goes to Ireland. It was only the other day that She returned from Prussia, whither she had been accompanied by Lord John Russell, Minister same c ' laws a I 29 for Foreign Affairs, in order that he might be at hand to give Her advice should circumstances arise requiring it. In carrying out this political practice and usage, when She sent lier son here to represent herself, She sent with him as She would have brought with herself one of the membt-rs of Her cabinet — that member who was most particularly connected with the colonies, His Grace the Duke of Newcastle — to give him advicn as to how he should proceed during his royal progress in Canada. Anyone ac(iuainted with British con- stitutional practice will see that She was only literally carrying out a recognized principle. No one has so strictly observed constitutional usage as the Queen. She has never niiide a mistake in this respect. In this case She ccrluinly did what She has always done — acted in accordance with the constitution of the country. [Applause.] I know that it has been attenjjited to nuke the Provincial Administra- tion responsible for the progress of tho Prince of Wales, for the ad- vice given to him ; and for the course adopted by him in this country. But you will see from what 1 have stated, that i^is Pt.yal Highness could not be ndvised by the Provincial Admin isliut ion and by the Imperial Administration at tlie same time. The Duke of Newcastle came here in bchalfof the Imperial Ministry, was endowed with all the powers and responsibilities } and such being the case, there could not possibly exist two separate bodies to advise, who might not have agreed, and certainly would not have agreed as to the courye the Prince finally took. [Loud cheers.] It should be borne in mind that the members of the Canadian JVIinislry have taken precisely the same oath as that the Duke of Newcastle took with respect to the laws and the liberty of the subject. The Provincial governmoiU, as a government, are bound to gi\ o advice to the Governor General. That is their duty — nothing more and nothing less. In any case aflecting the interests of Canada they are bound to give advice to His Excellency the Governor General, or to the Administrator of the Government ; and they cannot, without a dereliction of duty,, shrink from it j but they cannot, without an assumption of undue power, exceed it. [Cheers.] This being the case, I show the whole argument against us to be fallacious. We were bound lu giVe advice to the person who a Iministered the affairs of this country ; but the Prince of Wales no more administered the affairs of this country than, the most humble man in it. He came out here as the representative of Her Majesty, but did not exercise the functions of a Governor Ge- neral. The I'rovincial Government had no pov.'er 'hr :'jjbre to advise him. We were bound to advise the Governor Joucr. i ; we could not go beyond our duty and advise one who was not the ("'vcrnor Ge- neral. [Applause.] You know we are in a state of Colonial depen- dence ; and long may the connection between this and the mother country exist. But the ])eop]e of this country have rights to sustain ; they have their own position to uphold. It is within the recollection of every man among us that it is only lately we became possessed of 30 the rights we now enjoy. It is only within a few years that after a long agitation and stubborn contest, we were accorded the privilege of governing our own affairs as we think proper. But while we enjoy our own rights, we must take care not to trench upon those of others ; and it would have been a great mistake to force advice upon the Trince of Wales when he was to be guided by Impe- rial considerations and by the officer of Her Majesty sent with him for the purpose. It is only l)y respecting Imperial rights that we cau claim and enjoy our own mid be able to say that we possess all the same rights in this country as the inombers of the Imperial Govern- ment in Great Britain. That is the view taken by the Provincial Government of which I am a member. You may remember in reading the debates of last season — not very jirofitable or interesting matter — [a laugh] — that the subject of the Prince's visit was discussed ; and there was a very natural anxiety that his Royal Highness should be received in a manner worthy of his position and of the country. At that time — I call the particular attention of those who hear mc to this point, for it is made a ground of party attack upon the Government, that they neglected their duty in not giving their advice with regard to the Prince's progress ; — at that time, the whole ol the Opposition party in Parliament took the ground that the Provincial Government were not and ought not to be responsible for the progress of the Prince of Wales. [Cheers.] It was an after- thought to hold them responsible, induced by the natural desire to fasten a charge of dereliction of duty upon the Ministry, and thus lead to a forfeiture of the confidence of the people. Why, if you remem- ber tlie speeches that were made in the House at the time, you must recollect one made by Mr. McGee. You must remember the language that hon. g jntleman used with regard to the visit, and to the impropriety of the Governor General and the Ministry interfering in the matter at all. And lest it should be said that this was merely an individual opinion, I will refer to the motion of Mr. Brown, who in the absence of Hon. J. S. Macdonald, moved the appointment of a committee choseti from both sides of the House, to consider the most fit- ting manner of rrceiving the Prince of Wales, The fact is, the Oppo- sition felt the Prince of Wnles would rouse to enthusiasm the feelinsr of every man in this country, and feared John A. Macdonald and Cartier would take nrlvontage of that feeling to destroy the influence of the Opposition and build up themselves. [Applause.] They then argued that it wos not the duty of the Government, but of the Legis- lature, to receive the Prince ; and that it would only make it a mat- ter of party political triumph if the Government interfered at all. That this was the feeling of the Opposition then is clearly apparent. In the speech that was delivered from the throne in the beginning of the present Session an allusion was made to the happy prospect of the Prince of Wales' visit ; and the address being before the House, Mr. McGee, the hon. member for Montreal, made the following remarks. — I quote from the Mirror of Parliament : — 31 " Mr. McGee said he did not intend to speak, and should not have spoken, had h not been the inn|)res8ion on many minda that the first paragraph of the address should not go to the public without an expression of opinion from hon. gentlemen generally. That paragraph, as they were all aware, had reference to the visit to Canaila of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. It would be in the recollection of Mr. Speakei — for no one had been more concerned in bringing about this desirable result than himself— that the address of both Houses was agreed to with great unanimity on all sides. Therefore, what he would desire to express now— he did not care whether tion. gentlemen on this side of the House would agree with him— was that, if His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales should, bi/ the command of her Majesty and under the adcict of Her cimsltuthnal advisers, yW\i Canada, it was highly desirable that he should be received by all classes of Her Majesty's subjects with invariable good will — not, he would say, with perfunctory kindness, but with hearty good will. In the Imperial point of view the object of His Royal Highness' visit was, no doubt, to increase the good feeling existing between this Colony and the mother country and also to impress the people of the [-nited States with the value of monarchical institutions. As regarded ourselves the object of the visit could no doubt be to make an advertisement. As regarded the Grand Trunk Railroad Company their object was no doubt to make money. [Cries of " oh,"] There was no qoestion about the matter, although hon. gentlemen might cry "oh," but whatever might be their object, the object of Imperial statesmen — the men who looked before and after- -was to increase the attachment between Canada and the mother country. Well, that being so, he wished to say, as one of the representatives of the city where His Royal Highness would Srobably be first and most prominently introduced to the people, that if His loyal Highness was to be chaperoned bv a person standing between the people and His Royal Highness, and whom the people thoroughly detested ; if His Royal Highness' visit was merely made the instrument for rebuilding the popu- larity of an unpopular Governor General, it were really better that His Royal Highness should not visit the Province. (Cries of " shame.") " Mr. Speaker — There must be no allusion to His Excellency the Governor General. " Mr. McGee — Why, it was His Excellency's speech that was the order of the day and he was speaking to it. [A laugh.] He did not raise this question ; but he wished to say that if an unpopular Governor General were to stand bet- ween the Prince and the people — if they were to see His Royal Highness made the instrument for whitewashing the double shuffle and the two sets of oaths taken by Hon. gentlemen opposite — if, in short, they were to see the visit con- vened into a political object and a display of flunkeyism, instead of an expres- sion of loyalty to tiie throne and to the person of the Queen— if they were to see an unpopular Governor General standing between the Prince anJ people, then a great deal more miscliief than good would be the result. " Mr. Speaker— Order. [Cries of " chair."] " Mr. McGee — Well it should be understood that if His Royal Highness came here under the present circumstances under the advice and protection of gentlemen opposite, and with a Governor General who hail a historic name or an actual name— his reception would not be such as every loyal subject and every attached subject would desire it to be." Here was a distinct annoiincemenl of those members of Parliament who spoke on the subject, against the Groverument interferiug at all, 32 and I have no doubt these same gentlemen will now denounce us as traitors to the country for not advising the Prince, forcing him to go where we wished, and to act as we choose. In answer to Mr. Mctxee's, the only notice taken of it was by Mr. Gowan who had intended to reply but said " lie hud been advised that the best way to treat it would be by passing it over in silence." And I would have passed it over in silence also, and not raked it from the ashes in which it lay, had not the very party to which I belong now said that we were guilty of a violation of the constitution because we did not interfere. [Loud applause.] I will now refer to the motion of Mr. J. S. Macdonald, who wished to have a committee chosen from both sides of the House to make arrangements for the visit. My answer was, of course, that the Prince of Wales would come to this country attended by his own Imperial advisers, and that the Provincial (govern- ment would have no right to interfere as to His Royal Highness' course, and that if they did they would probably be told it was none of their business. But I objected to a committee ofthat kind because it involved the expenditure of the public moneys. Youallknov/ that the Government of the day are alone responsible for the disbursement of the public money. I pointed out that under the constitution we could not hand that responsibility over to any body, whether a mem- ber of the Legislature or not ; and that we could not, as long as we possessed the confidence of Parliament, entrust to any one the expendi- ture of the large sum of money that would be required for the purpose of receiving the heir apparent to the British throne in a manner worthy of Canada, and as he ought to be received by the people of this country. On the 14th of May Mr. Brown, in the absence of Mr. J, S. Macdonald, moved the appointment of the committee. Mr. Brown said " the Legislature had invited the Prince and the Legislature, as representing the people of Canada, ought to receive him. It was not a political matter and the Government ought not to lake the entire control out of the hands of the Legislature." '< Mr. Cauchon said it was desirable that the demonstration should not be a parly affair, but thought it would be saved from tliat character by some member of the opposition seconding the address to be moved by tlie government. " Mr. Brown said his motion went further than that. The Prince was a guest of the Legislature and they were the proper body to take action in regard to his proijress through the Province. If the reception were left in the hands of the Executive^ tiiere was diiuger ul it being legardtu u.s a pany aiiair.^^ There, gentlemen, you will see, that before the Prince came, when the opposition were naturally as anxious to do honor to His Royal Highness as the majority of the House, and to claim that they were as loyal subjects and as sincere in their desire that Canada should give a worthy reception to the Prince — they were at the same time anxious to prevent what they feared, ni\mely, that the government would take advantage of the enthusiasm created by the Prince's 83 was a ; • I presence and make political capital out of it, and to avoid this pro posed that the whole oi" the royal proffress shoidd be under the ma- iiagonient of a committee chosen equally ironi boUi sides of the House.— And they now say that the y-overnmcnt ought to have assumed the responsibility, and thai \vv were guilty of a dereliction of duty in not doing what they tlien said we oiiglit not to do. [Loud applause.] Now, supposing the government had, ibr the sake of avoid- ing responsibility, consented to the ajjpointment oi' a committee, what would have been the ])ositiou of the committee? They would have held no position in the state, being a mere voluntary body without adminisirative powers. Supposing these diliicultics had arisen, as they probably would, would the committee have advised the Duke of Newcastle ? Were they constitutional and responsible advisers? And what would the Duke of Newcastle have said to them had they offered their advice I — " Pray who are you I" [Laughter.] He would, of course, have paid no attention to their suggestions. And this was ' the course the opposition would have adopted ; and now they de- nounce the government ibr not having interiered, for not having stood between the Prince and the people, ibr having allowed every body, whether of high or lo\ r degree, a free opportunity oi'approaching the foot of the throne, and without respect to party politics of any kind whatever, paying their loyal duty to the Crown. [Applause.] When Mr. J. S. Macdonald's motion was before the House, 1 said " the prince dur- ing his visit would not be directed by the Government or the Legis- lature but would be accompanied by his own advisers, and would consult Her Majesty's Ke})resentative here, the Governor General, and of course the Governor General could not receive advice from gentlemen who had no confidence in his Government. The Ministry could not admit the unconstitutional principle that this money should be voted and expended, except on their responsibility." I said that the Government were responsible for the expenditure of the money, but as to where the Prince w^culd go, how long he would stay in the country, and as to his line of progress, he was to be governed entirely by the advisers who would come with him ; and if those advisers had not come, Her Majesty would have been guilty of that which she had never before been guilty of, a violation of constitutional usage. And the doctrine which I laid down was accepted by the Legislature ; the motion was lost, and the matter was left just as the Governor had put it — that, as a Ministry, we should see to the disbursement of the funds, and that it should be done handsomely. We should never have been able to stand up before Parliament and the country if we had received the Prince in a mean, sordid manner. [A])plause.] And I may say now — I am happy to inform you — that, while it is admitted by everybody, and while we have the pleasure of knowing His lloyal Highness was gratified, pleased and surprised by the hand- some and magnificent reception he had met, the people of Canada will be surprised to learn at the proper time the economical way in 3 34. which they liave given that admittedly ftraiid reception. [Loud cheers.] Well, returning to the con.stitiiliunal (jnestion — the course of Government was clear. VVe were acquainted with the outlines of his progress. We knew he would gt» to C^iiebec, the capital gf the Province ; to Ottawa, the future capital ; to Montreal, to visit the ma- gnificent Victoria Bridge ; and to the other principal cities and the great wonders of nature in the country. We knew the main points at which he would stop, and made arrangements to give him a worthy reception at each j)lace. We made suggestions as to what was to bo done, but merely suggestions, as we had no authority to advise. There our duty ended ; and when His Royal Highness came he was accom- panied by the Duke of Newcastle, his constitutional adviser. Now I must say I think it unfortunate that the Prince was advised by the Duke of Newcastle. He was a man of undoubted integrity and honor, and of high rank and position ; but liable to look at things from an Imperial point of view. He was like myself a member of an admi- nistration, depending U[)on Parliament lor support, and had to con- sider what effect the j)rogrcss of the Prince woidd have upon tlie mother country and the Palmerston Administration. [Applause.J He did look upon thiiigs from an Imperial point of view ; and from his course upon the Orange question, I am quite certain that the Duke of Newcastle thought more of the condition and prospects of the Palmerston Government than of the Province. Why, we know that at the very time the Duke of Newcastle was saying he would not recognize the Orange Institution in any manner, a bill was being passed through the Imperial Parliament, with the sanction of the Government, declaring it criminal to wear the badge or colors of the Orange Order, 'i'hat fiict, no doubt, was pressing upon His Grace, and we can easily understand what his feelings were Avhen asked if it would be convenient for His Royal Highness to receive an address from the members of the Order in this country. He felt that by giving his consent, he would be practically opposed to the legislation of the Imperial Parliament, in which he and his Government had a very small majority — and that majority he was liable at any moment to lose. Whatever effect that might have upon his mind, he evidently never thought of the effect of his course upon Canada. I must say that his Grace acted in a most manly and straightforward manner, assuming the responsibility where he alone was responsible. I believe the letter he wrote to the Mayor of Kingston was most injudicious and dictatorial. I am satisfied that had he made the request, in the name of the Prince, that the Orangemen would not appear in badges and regalia ; from one end of the country to the other they would have abandoned them, and I am convinced that had His Grace pursued this course, there would have been no difficulty. [Cheers.] It is one thing to lead a man by kindness and courtesy, and another to shake a halter and say "come along." [Laughter and applause.] But while his course was dictatorial and injudicious, while he sacri- 35 ficod Iho liood foci in j!,' of the people fit Cnniuia, I inusl sny tli.it Ills Gnico iniiii fully took nil Ilia rcspdiisibility npon liirnsolf. jiud I will eNi)l:iiii liow. 'I'he rrincc imd roaclicd Olliiwn when Iho iiewTi arrived that there was likely to be difficulty at Iviiigslon. Ol' course, I was exceedini^ly anxious that every tliiuir .should pass over \vell at that place ; and therefore, while His lloyal Highness went up the Upper Ottawa,! left for Prescott, for the i)urposc f»f meeting a do[)iita- tion sent specially down to come to somt^ arrangement witl: the Duke of Newcastle. I accompanied them hack and introduced Ihem to His Grace, with whom they hsid a long, earn(\st and aninuited conversation on the matter. We pressed, in stronger and more emphatic language than His (Trace was ]>rt)l)ably accustomed to hear^ what we thought it was his duty to do and what might Ik; the conse- quence if he persisted in his threatened eours(\ In doing so, I did not act as a mend)er of the (loverninent, l^it as representative of Kingston, whose interests T hatl at heart. T am not going to enter into a discussion as to the propriety or impropriety of the conduct of the Orange Association. One thing is (juite clea.r, that they had a legal right to assemble in the streets; that like any other loyal sidj- jects — and God knows there were none more loyal — they had the right of jiresenting their humble duty to the so)) of their Sovc^reign. Whether they chose to do so in the peculiar garb of the Order or not, depended upon themselves ; tliere being no law to prevent their apj)earance in such regilia. It may not have been in good taste to do so, but the way to avoid it was not by writing tliat letter, but to ask them to refrain for the sake of the Prince. When they were toUl that they must act in such a manner as was agreeable to bis Grace, and if tliey did not, the place ^\•here they assembled would not be honored by a visit ftom the Prince, they naturally felt dee])]y wounded and annoyed. All this was pressed strongly u})on the Duke of New- castle. He admitted the truth of it. He said he Avas quite aware of the difference of the law in England and in Canada ; he was quite aware that the Mayor had no right to prevent the Oi-a))gemen a])pear- ing in procession ; that if he did attempt to use force to prevent them, he would be committing a breach of the law for which he would be lield answerable ; but his Grace said — and I am exceedingly- grieved that he persisted in the course — " as the Prince of "Wales may visit Ireland next year, I cannot and will not advise him to take a course here that he cannot take there." For this determination and the results of it the Duke of Newcastle rests responsible. In speaking of this conversation, 1 speak with confidence as to the meaning of his statements, because tliere were four gentlemen of character and standing present who are finite ready to voneli for the truth of them. We pressed upon his Grace also these considerations : The Orange Association were not forcing their way unduly into the presence of the Prince, but the committee of reeepiion had notified them and given them a place in the pi'ueession : and tlie diflerent 3- 3fi ludgt.'S ill tho country liuuuienl iu vain, lirially Icll: and as I hail no ollicial duty to perfl>riu, I resolved to cast in luy lot with my own people at Kingston. I therefori' returned tJiere witli the ch'putatiou and staid there, i. lelt it wmdd ])e very bad taste to tnite'r into the i'estivities at other places, nor did I see Ills lloyal Highness a^aiu until the iiionu'ut he was leavinjj; the country, when 1 went to pay him iiiy respecKul iluLies and bid him Ua'u\v'cll. [Applause.] J have said before and now re[»eat that the coursv? taken by the Duke oi' iNewcastle was hi;j,hly injudicious. Jlad the Prince landed in Kingston under the circunislauces stated by the Mayor, what wouUl litive been the conse([Ueuees? He would liave |)le;(scd tlie Orange institution, because, although not recognized officiiUy their riL its would havt? been viiidicated ; aial on the other iiaiui, the Uoi! an Catholics would have been [)leased, because tluiy would have succeeded so l;ir that the Duke oi' Newcastle v/ould not have carried out the recoguitiou of the Order. Tlio people oC Kingston would have been pleased, because the riiiice had honoreil them with a visit and accepted of their hospitalities. But us it was every body was displeased. The ])eople of Kingston were aiuio/ed because their city was avoided ; and the Duke of Newcastle had left behind him a rankling wound which would reipiire all the temper and modera- tion of tho pidilic mind to soothe ; where we expected, and if he had acted judiciously there wouldhave been,gratiilcation ajid jnide. All that w:i lost by the injudicious and dictatorial conduct of the Duke of Newcii>Lle, antl upon him alone rests the responsibility. As iar as the Government is concerned, we feel we have carried out the constitution literal! . ; as iiir as I personally am concerned, I stood by the rights of the })eople and vindicated them as strongly as T could. I entreat the })ardou of genllemen })resent for dwelling upon this matter ; but it is of great im[)ortance that I should put the views of uiyselt' and my colleagU(>s in the Administration lairly before tliem and through them before the country. [Cheers.] Well, ha- uig done so, 1 will glance at the position taken by the Oppo- sition oa the subject. They said "Oh, you should have resigned. 37 You slioiild Imvo aclvisoil the Princn of Wulrs. nnd if your ndvino was not ri'S|i('ctcMl, you should liiivo rcsiiriK'd." 'J'hc coiisf ititlional maxim with ri'iiiird to advice; was this: if tiio (I'ovcnimt'nt the ad-, ic(^ of the Duke of Newcastle, who is here as my constitutional adviser." Were wo to resi.'jii a)ul hand over tlu; (jovernmeiil of this country to "joint fiulhority," Jh-own, Doriou and j\lc.(iee, liecausc the Priru'c ol \\'al<'s |)referred to take the advice of the Duke of New- castle to that of Sir h'dmund Head i [Laughter and cheers.] Why, the whole thing can bo madi; so ridiculous that you will see at once the absurdity of the argunu nt of tlio Opposition. Supposing- "we had rcsi;;ti(Hl liecaus(i the Duke of Newcastle would not take our advice. VN'hat then? The (iovcrnor (iciural would have sent lor Mr. Brown, who Avould have spi nt a couple of weeks in forming his ministry, scattered all over tlie country. Was the Prince of \\'ales to remain in the harb(»r of Kingstcai for a fortniglit, liaving his meals conveyed to liim in a small hoat, till Mr. iirowu had succeeded in maki.'ig an Adniiiiistratioii ? And tluMi, supj)Osing he had remained ; what would Mr. Prowu have done I He would tiien have had to advise — it would have l>een his laisiness to advise ; and the Duke of Newcastle havesaid^vould , " I refused Cartier and iMacd(»uald, and I can't agree with you." [Laughter.] Mr. Prown would, of course, in virtuous imligiiatiou, have resigned at once ; and the Prince of \\'alcs would have been at King.ston till the present day. [Cireat laughter.] Tliis is precisely Uic line of ara'nmeiit adopted by the Op[)0sition. I know that with all their Jiiults, jiontlemen would prefer the pr(\sent Government to one hurrietl touctlu-r uruler the cin-umslajices jioinlcd out — tliey wcaiUi rather have the de'il th(>y knew tlam the de";! they did'nt know [laurrhter] ; fhoy woidd rather have the in-cscut Administration with the sins of seven yc^ars on their lu^ads, than trust their interests to the untutored zeal of a Brown and of a McGee. [ixreat applause.] I know majiy of my own friends are a.s ardent Protestants as myself, ^\'ell, 'hose very friends 38 TVOiiUl liavc hccn Cue first, lo say, Imd T resigned, "You should liave stuck to tlio .ship to the last." The (lovcrninent are quite leady,- ^vheu they receive constitutional notice, gracefully to walk out ; but luitil lUen it would he cowardly, and treasonable to the party who have so long sustained us ,to break up that party and throv.- them into unex])ected oj)position, in return ibr the generous and hearty sii])[)ort they have given us, through good and evil report, for seven long years. [Loud and prolonged cheering.] 1 trust you Vvill J ardon me for occupying so much of your time. [Cries of " go on."] No; I think I have said enough; that 1 have exposed the fallacies of the O])position, and run the fox to earth. [Cheer.s.] And no one knows the absurdity of their arguments more than the leaders of the 0[)position, who are exceedingly anxious to take the places of the Government now that the Prince JO Wales is gone and there is no advice to be tendered. At Kingston Mr. Mucdonald enlarged upon this subject in the follow] Ui^ languuf^c : " The first thing that strikes mCjOn reading the speech delivered in tiiis hall a few evenings since, is the exceeding anxiety displayed by Mr. Ih-own thtit the Orange body should not be insulted, or having been insulted should obtain redress. VV'hy it seems to me that he has taken the whole Orange body under his especial charge ! f Laughter.] lie comes down here and tells the Orangemen how they were insulted, as if they did not unde/stand their own rights, and how d(ieply and strongly he feeis for them. It is most surprising how that gentleman should liave the har^lihoud — the reckless auda- city — to come here and set himself upas the champion of Orangemen. [Cheer.s.] W^hy, Sir, how did I become an Orangeman 1 I was not an Irisliui.ui by birth, and had little to do with ])olitics in those days. It was in 1844, in times v\'hen Orangemen were on the descent, when the Provincial Legislature had proscribed them, forbidding them to wear ihvii' regalia, and declaring their processions illegal, and at a time Miien they were about to pass a law preventing an Orangeman from becoming a juror or a consta])!e, or holding any ofhcial position imdir the Crown, thus branding him. as an outlaw and a traitor to his eoiiiitry. I, .Sir, and many others like myself, felt deeply indig- nant at this wholesau'^ proscription of a respectable and loyal body of men. I Avas not an Oraugeman, 1)ut 1 knew many of tiie best men in Kiiin-st(ni were — men of intelligoiice and sterling worth — and I resolve vl tlidt if they, auiong whom were many of my best friend>», were to ho proscribed and lioimdct-l down merely because they were Orangemen, I woidd go in wdli them and submit to tin.' same ob]o([uy, the sa)ne proscription. [Loud cheers.] Then, Sir, 1 became an Orangeman, and it was lor the purpose of showing mysympathy should I re quite to ^v•alk to the larty and generous il rejiort, 1 trust [Cries 1 huve to eartli. rgumeiits 'eedingly le Prince H in llie delivered displayed jr liaving le that he charge ! men how 'a rights, surprising- ess auda- ingemen. I \v''as not lose days. 3nt, when them to , and at a •angcman I position traitor to )]y indig- al body of best men I — and I t iriendji, hoy were ! obloquy, 'Came an iympathy 39 with men whom T believed to be outraged ]>y the conduct of the Legis- lature, [llenewed cheering.] What then, Sir, did Mr. Brown do ? At that very time he was urging the Administration, of which he was a prominent supporter, to put down Orangeism. Why, we read^ in the G/obe of those days that they had their ieet on the Orangemen, and where bound to keep them there. [Hear, iiear.] At the very time when I from synqmthy with their wrongs joined the body, Mr. Brown was lioundiug on the Government for the ])urpose of repressing them. [A[)phiuse.] And, Sir, while I, as an Orangeman, have ever since been true to its principles, that gentleman has turned his coat again and again. [Loud cheers.] Have you not seen him insult the whole Roman Catholic population of Canada by his ridicule of" Mary de Charbonnel ;" have you not seen him describe the nun- neries, monasteries and convents of Lower Canada in hinguage which I will not recall in all its vileness by longer dwelling upon ; have you not seen him duringthc elections of IH:")?, charge my col- leagues and myself with being sold body and soul to the Pope and Popery; — and this is the man who in 184.1, and until he quarreled with Mr. Hincks, because he would not pay- his Haklimand election expenses, said that Lower Canada was of immense imjiortance to Upper Canada — that the Reformers of Upper Canada owed a deep debt of gratitude to the French of Lower Canada, that all the mea- sures of liberty and reform had l)een carried by their aid, and that they must put their heels on the neck of these Orangemen and keep them down! [Great cheering] But the tables have been turned. When he saw a Government formed in which he had no place, he mounted this Protestant horse and rode from one end of the coimtry to the other, saying that John A. had sold himself to the Pope and the Lower Canadians. And what were the consequences of that " No Popery " cry ? 1 believe, Sir, if it had not Ijeen for that cry, John A. would have had a large majority in Upper Canada in 1857. [Great applause.] Why, such was the cry raised then that Mr. Benjamin, who was a Grand Master of the Orange Association, had very great difiiculty in securing his seat lor the North Riding of Hastings, because he supporteanied by his own advisers, and would not be advised by the Provincial (rovern- ment, put himself in eomnuuiication with the Governor (ToneraU requesting him to ask the Duke of ]Sc\vcasMe whether an address from the Orange body would be embarassing to the Prince or not. Aid. Alexandeii — Was the Governor General obliged to lay his letter to JMr. Cameron before the Council? Hon. i\'r. Macdoxald — No ; he did not lay it before the Council. [Hear.] Air. ( hmu rou. as the liead of the Orange Institution, very ])roj)erly went to tlie Governor (icneral as an oflicer subordinate to the Duke of Ncvvcisli.', ai;d he told him he really did not know whether the addrcs.s woidd be embarrassing or not, but said he ^\•ould ask the Duke as soon as he saw him and give him an early answer. The rej^ly -accordingly came, in which the Governor General, after making Mr. Cameron's request to the Duke, says it would be very embarra.ssing. jS'ow, INlr. Brown says that this was an official intimation ; but it eouK! not be, from the very fact that Sir Edmund Head's letter was marked " private." [Hear.] Aid. Alexander — The reason T asked you the last question was liecausc ]Mr. lirown stated in this room within mv hearing that it 42 was more than he dare do to wrlU' a letter to jVIr. Cameron without the knowledge of hi.s Council. Mr. Magdonald — Well, here is Mr. Brown's own paper in which the letter is inserted, marked " private," us follows : " [Private.] *• Os Board the ' Victoria,' «' Aug. 13, 1860. " My Dear Sir, — I have seen the Duke of New {istle, ami t have no *' liesitation in saying- that my impies-^ioos are confiiined. Tlie address of *' which you spoke would be verp enihurrassing. I am mucli obliged to you " for liic candid and straightforward manner in which you spoke to me on the " subject. If there were any doubt on tlie point at issue, I would not hesitate " to say so. " Yours very respectfully, " EDMUND HEAD. •' Hon. J. IIiLLYARD Cameron." There was a private letter in which Mr. Cameron asked tlie Governor General to ask the Duki^. of Newcastle whether an address would be embarrassing, and the reply, conveyed in a private letter also, was that it would be very embarrassing. What then did Mr. Cameron do I As a constituti<,>nal lawyer lie knew there was no appeal from the Duke's decision : he did not appeal to the Pro- vincial Govorament that the Duke was interfering improjjerly, but upon learniiig the Duke's views upon the matter, put tlie address in his pocket and did not make any ilirfher eU'ort to present it — thereby showing, with Lord Palmerston and Mr. Brown, that the course we took was the only constitutional course. [Cheers.] TliC following additional remarks are added from the speech of Mr. Macdonald's, at Toronto : " I have read the remarks which have been ma le in the pre.ss — the reports in the newspapers of tiic meetings lu^ld in various parts of Canada — the proceedings of the uutting held in Toronto with re- spect to the proceedings of the Did;e n{' Newcastle — and I read with peculiar satisfaction the remarks oi' th(^ lion. John II. Cameron. [Great cheering.] That gentleman, who stands high as a lawyer, and who has considerable experient'e as a legishiter, went to Quebec for the })urpose of consulting the (lovernor General as to whether an address Irom the Orange body wouUl l)e acceptable to the Prince, or whether its being oflered would be an embarra.ssiiiont. His Excel- lency told him, as ap})ears by Mr. Cameron's speech, that reference must be had to the Duke of Newcastle, as the adviser of the Prince, and that as soon as he [the Governor General] ascertained what the sense of the Duke was, he woidd inform him [Mr. C] The Governor k^ithout which 43 did communicate with His Grace, and the moment he ascertained that such an address would be enibiirrassiufr he acquainted Mr. Cameron with the fact. Mr. Caniero assumed the res|)onsibility of not presenting such an address, and the very fact of his doing so — the very fact of his receiving the assurance stated, from the Prince's res- ponsible adviser, and acting u{)on it — of his not protesting against the action of the Diike of Newcastle, if he thouglitii wrong, and seek- ing the advice of the Provincial Administration — showed that he exonerated the ministry Irom any rcsponsil»ility in the matter, and that he believed the Duke of Newcastle to be the proper authority to consult as to the I'rince's wishes and whose opinion must be deferred to if they would act in accordance with them. [Cheers.] No appeal was made to the Provincial (rovernraent ; they were not asked toad- vise ; no protest was made against the course of the Duke of New- castle by Mr. Cameron or any portion of the Orange body — of which was a member — [Applause] — from any quarter of Canadii ; they were not asked to interfere ; they were not told they had been guilty of a derelection of duty ; but all parties seemed to agree thtit, as the Prince came here as the representative of the (^ueen, he could only be advised by a sworn adviser of the Queen herself. Here I shall leave thispoint, satisfied that I have proved my case. [Cheers.]" ♦ •♦*•»« * ♦ *■ ♦♦• Mr. PuRDY— -I would like, honorable sir, to understand how you as an Orangeman, felt when th3 host was hoisted before you in the city of Quebec ? A Voice — lie did not like it at all. [Laughter.] Hon. Mr. Macdoxald — I have great pleasm*e in answering the question. I can only tell him huw I would have felt had the circum- stance occurred, ])ut as the host was not elevated I cannot say how- I should have felt. [Great Laughter, and cries of " sit down now^, Purdy."] Mr. Purdy — Then, I Avould like to know how you, ns an Orange- man, felt when lloman Catliolic Bishop and Priests " su})erseded" you and other members of the Legislature in the procession at Quebec. Hon. Mr. Macdonald said in reply, that the P».oman Catholic bishops and priests had looked for no precedence, asked for no prece- dence, and took no precedence, in any of the processions. [Great cheering.] He said further, that at Quebec the civic authorities had sole charge of the nrrangenients, just in the same manner as the civic authorities at other places visited by the Prince had cliarge ; and that therefore neither the Government nor the Legislature had any right or authority in the matter. Notwithstanding, however, that the civic powers alone had authority, the members of the Govern- ment had a place in the corf.eixe immediately behind His Royal High- ness. [Immense a]>plausc.] With regartl to the Roman Catholic Il \ 44. hierarcliy, he would say this : that; although under the old French law, which with other French laws (ireat Britain had bound herself to respect hy a .stipulation in the treaty ceding Canada to her, the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Lower Canada, were entitled to all the rights and privileges they enjoyed in France, yet to avoid any difficulty or jealousy, they gracefully gave up precedence to the English Bishop. [Cheers.] Yes, although they might by Jaw have claimed prece- aenco — although every right they had under the sovereignty of France was preserved to them under the sovereignty of England — they of their own accord and actuated by a noble motive, gave prece- dence to that venerable and venerated old man, Bishop Mountain of Quebec. [Tremendous applause.] Mr. brown on ORANGEISM. .'* 1 iS'n.e(~e, K:i. Macdoui'Ad i.s reported to bave referred to the course of Mr. Brown towards tiie Orani^enicn, and sbown its want of consistiMicy : " I must now read from the G/obe of the 13th July, 1858, a speech delivered by Mr. Brown iu an Orange Lodge on the previous evennig : " Tlicre was no tliitiking man," said Mr. Brown on lliat c^casion — " cer- tainly ro man jirofcssiny l-'roleslant principles — lie cared not to what dononii- nation ne belonj^i^d — who dispa.'^sionati.'iy looked back npoii and examined the hi>toiy of Kunipo before the; battle ol tiio Ho^ne — who called lo mind the great and important cv(?iits broujiiit about by that contest— who could fail to express ft!elini>;8 of thankfulness and gratitude to Almighty Cod that I'.ie arras of King "William were victorious*, and that the onliglitened monarch was enabled to e^5- tablish the principles of liberty, not only in his own day, but for all future time. (Applause.) There was one view someiirnes taken of Orangemen, in which he confessed he never had any sympathy, and in which, as a Scotchman, lie be- lieved lie never could syni{)athize — namely, that it was i;it(-nded to keep alive those old national hatreds which might naturally be as.sociated with revolu- tionary strupoles in Ireland. He was eonvin(;ed that not one gentleman pre- sent, came there with any thought of gloryini^ over a victory gained two cen- turies ago by one section of the people of behind over the other. The feeling which animated them he did not doubt was one of joy, that the great principles of civil and religious liberty then contended lor, had be(Mi established ; and of gratitude to the men who had shed their lile's blood lor these principles." These, continued Mr. Macdouald, were Mr. Brown's sentimcnis in lSf)8, when Ik^ wanted the Orangijmen's votes; and yet in 184-3, when he did not want the Orange vote, this was his language: — Orangehm is a banrfuf, Inst.it iitio'i (Utd rnaJ tenant society. Orangeism is a liiclion sunk so low tliat is has ])een the policy of ev ry Whig Government to suppress it. Justice to Ireland rc<]itir<^s lliat Orangeism should be suppressed, '^fhese malignant Orange ^Soeieties have ]>ecn wafted to this side of the Atlantic 1>y designing men. I'beirdays as a party are, however, numbered. This miserable combination lives and r salus geisn « ' 45 _i( oer- VVhig « and reigns by subverting the rights of the people. On the principle of sahfs popa/i suprema lex, the Government is IhjuikI to }mt down Orun- geisra. A person," Mr. Brown said, " has left Jielleville for the purpose of organising all the Orangemen of British America in one body. Can anything,''' ho added be conceived more wicked than such conduct? [Loud laugiiter.J "That was Mr. Brown's language when he did not want the Oran- gemen. Then, during the time of the diffieultics at Kingston, he wanted the Prince to land there, as every one else did. As member (or Toronto, he did not desire it to bo slighted in the same manner as Kingston had been ; and besides he wanted to hand into the Duke of Newcastle a document he had prepared protesting against the awful and corrupt conduct of the present Government. Well, every issue of his newspaper ])raised the Duke of Newcastle, whose course he thought it well to sustain by pitching into the Orangemen. Thus, it a[)pears, in 18-i.3, Mr. Brown was in favor of suppressing the Orangemen 5 in 1857, before Ihe election of that year, he endorsed them ; in 1858, he com- plimented them in one of their lodges in Toronto ; and in 1860 he said it was not convenient to discuss the propriety of suppressing them, but there could be but one feeling in the minds of all right-thinking men as to the occurrences at Kingston and Belleville — namely, "that the men who have driven the Royal party away from these towns have been guilty of an outrage unexampled in malignity and utterly inde- fensible." And this is the man who charges me with being an enemy of Orangemen." x\t St. Catherines, the subject was also broached, in the follow- ing language : " I will not detain you by speaking of what is called the Orange difficulty, because I will not weary you. I will say, however, that I joined the Orangemen, not when they were a powerful party, but in 184"!, long before I entered Parliament, when they were proscribed and oppressed, when they had been prevented by law from walking in procession, and when a bill was before Parliament to prevent them from acting as juro s or constables, or from holding any office whatever. Mr. Brown, however, who used to hound on the Baldwin. Government to pass these measures against the Ijody, and said " we have our foot on their necks, we have them down, and we must keep them down," became, in 1857, almost an Orangeman. He went to an Orange Lodge and made a speech about William of Orange and Nassau, and all that because he wanted the Orangemen's votes. The other day, again, he came out about the Orangemen, at Kingston, who, I think, were a little indiscreet, but who were ill-used and in- sulted, and said their course was wanton and malignant, that they were a parcel of rowdies and blackguards, because at the time he wanted to keep well with the Duke of Newcastle. No body was 46 tlien so com])lai.sant :is Mr. Brown ; he almost kissed Ihe Duke of Newcastle's feet when he went Itelbre him with a budget of griev- ances. Jjut the Duke, throwing them indignantly asiile, said he had nothing to do with that sort of' thing, but that he must go with his grievances to the Parliament of Canada, and from that moment Mr. Brown tried to jmt upon me all the responsibility, and said 1 had wantonly insulted the Orangemen. [Loud and prolonged applause.] Mr. Brown has now insulted, now cajok'd the Orange body. Does he think they are children? Does he think they are fools ? If so he is mis'aken ; men can be fools once, but not twice — tit least not those who have the good sense of the members of the Orange Association. [Loud Cheers.] " i I ANDERSON'S EXTRADITION, At St. Catherines, Mr. Macdonald thus alluded to the Anderson Extradition Case : " I would like to say a few words about that Anderson extradition case, as an attempt is being made to get up a cry against us on the ground that, as they say, we are going to hand over a fugitive slave to certain death. [Hear.] There was a treaty made, called the Ash- burton treaty, negotiated by Lord Ashburton on liie part of England, and by the celebrated Daniel Webster, on the part of the United States. — It was essential, as we were bordering on the United States, tliat tliere should be some provision made by which criminals escaping from one country to the other — robbers, murderers, counter- feiters, violators, &c., — should not lhercl)y get rid of the consequences of their crimes ; and it was accordingly provided in that treaty that a man who had escaped from tlie States into Canada, or vice versd, and who should be shown, to the satisfaction of the magistrate, to have committed certain crimes, should be sent back .[Hear.] Now, in this case, a negro slave is charged with murder. — The evidence relating to his crime was taken in the ordinary way before a magistrate in Brantford,wliom the Globe calls " my Henchman, Bill Matthews," and he sent it down to the Government with his certificate as a magistrate, that, in his opinion, the case had been made out, and that the party could be surrendered by the government. Now, -when a magistrate makes such a statement, the government may at once surrender the accused, the responsibility being primarily thrown on the magistrate under the treaty, and under the law which we passed to carry out the treaty. But as this was a case where there was likely to be a good deal of excitement, and as it was the first instance in which the treaty was called upon to be enforced with rcsjiect to a runaway- slave who had committed murder, and the question was involved of the right of a slave to use the knife to procure freedom, 1 told Mr. Freeman, vrho defended the negro, that, though I differed with him 47 as to his law, there! slioiikl be a writ ol" hahras cor2)us issacc], oiid the matter could be ljroiii>ht licfbrc the biMich. Were wo not right in this? [*' Cerhiiiily,"' "right,"" "riglit."] Was it not more proper that in a case ol'life and deatli, a case alfecting a man's existence, there should be no doubt at all as to whether he ought to be surrendered or not ? [Hear, hear.] .So anxious was T, moreover, that there should be no obstruction in the way oi' his case being brought before the courts, tliat I w rote to Mr. Freeman to see that the man was fully defended, and tlmt J, on behalf of the government, would undertake to pay the negro's costs [Loud applause.] .Strange to say, however, Mr. Brown, of the (rfdjc, attempts to make it a matter of political caj)ital against me.tliat instead of sending the man to be tried in the .States — instead of usiu2,' my power as a member of the government, and I had the powc>r losend him at once to Missouri — I sent the matter \.o the Judges, to have it fully decided whether a case, was fully made out against him. [Cheers.] I am quite astoni.'slu'd at this, for T would rather have any oije of my fellov/ suIjJcc.s, be he white or 1>laek, tried by the Mniyna Charta, by the law of the land, by a legal tribunal, than have his case deoided by any Cabinet whatever. The case now stands thus. If the courts decide that the man ought to be discharged, there is an end of it ; and no allegation can be afLcrwarJ;^ made by the United States, if we should apply for the extradition of a Canadian cniuinal, that they will not surrender him because we have refused to give up a murderer to them. What more considerate thing could we do than to say, " W^e will not surrender him at once, though we have the power, but we will have his case tried before our courts, and as he is poor we will furnish him with money to defend himself." Yet the Globe, to this very day, basely insinuates that I am using underhand means to procure a judgment against him." [Cheers.] (•) (*) The following letter WU9 addrcsHod to Mr. Macdouald by Mr. S. B. Fi-eeman^ Q. C, formerly McmluT of Assembly for the City of ilamiltou, and politicaliy op- posed to Mr. MaudouulJ. He acted as Counsel on behalf of Aaderao n — (V My dear Sn:, Hamu-TOX, 18th December, 1660- I can hin'dly tell you lioAv gratified I was at the rcceiyit of your telegram, for it gave me the assurance that the Crown will afiord every aid to biiutr Anderson's Oa:-e before the Court of Krror and Appeal : — The matter of txpense iy c:' minor coiijsido- ration. I have the s rongest hope that I shall be able to relieve yen I . iia the neces- sity of making an order for the surrender of " the negro." Your action in this matter is alike creditable to you f' > lings of In-manity and your sen.'ie of the importance of the question in a national puiui oi vitw. 1 will at once communicate with Mr. Harrison, Yours truly, To the Hon, J. A. Macdonat.d, Atty. Genl., Kingston, S B. FREEMAN. Part III. — Enumoratioii of tlio measures passed by tlie Governments of which Mr. Macdonakl lias been a member. CLERGY RESEPwVES. Mr. ?,l!icdonald spoke of ihe sfttlcincnt of tiie Ck.'i'gy Reserves at a number of pluces. The first (;xtraet is from a speech delivered al St. Thomas : " We have called the attention of tlie legislature to, and have succeeded in passing many measures, and I am happy to say that the greatest proof of the value of our measures is this, that even those who were most strongly opposed to us, who were most iierce in their attacks on the government, tlieir motives and their course, while the measures were before the House of As- sembly, have acquiesced in those measures since they became law, so that all our legislation has received the general sanction of the people and of the Opposition themselves, and not a single one of those great measures that the government has introduced and carried into operation, has any one ever attempted to repeal. [Applause.] I may take the me- sure of the Clergy Reserves, of which you have spoken, which av:is most strenously opposed while it was passing through parliament. I may take the Seigniorial Tenure question, that of Law Reform, and if leisure would permit, I could go over a long list of our acts, not one of which has ever been assailed by the papers even of our opponents, but all of which have been accepted as laws which were proper and right. [Applause.] It is said, sir, that that country is liie happiest which has no history. It may be exciting and pleasiuG lor tlie reader to read of great wars and great conquerors, but that history, so exciting to the reader, tells of misery and des- truction to the cuuuM-y concerned. Those wars, though they may have brought out the great talents of great minds, have been ruinous to thousands of people. And so it is witli administrations. That government which is satislieil with being useful — with doing its duty to the people who ])laeed it in power — which, when it finds a prac- tical evil, sets itself to work to reduce it in a practical way, is not a government about which you can get up much enthusiasm. I am happy to say, however, that the administrations of which T have formed part have been of this kind. They have been contented with coun I oppo heav peac take take Ron 49 being useful in their clay and generation, and whenever any thing has been pointed out that was necessary for the relbrm of law, or for the protection of the liberty of the sid)ject, tliey have met it, and instead of making it a matter of parly agitation, or getting up before it a cry at the liustings, they have remedied the evil, crlmly and quietly, and they have their reward. [Cheers.] I say we have our reward. [Loud cheers.] 1 shall be quite satisfied, ailer present dispute are forgotten, long after this Government has ceased to be, to have it engraved upon my tombstone that I was concerned in the settlement of the clergy reserve question, [Hear.] But while I claim that for myselfand those who acted with me, T must bring it as a distinct charge against those who were politically opposed to us, that although they had agitated this question from the beginning, although they upbraided us with trying to raise up a State church and a dominant religion, yet, when we came down with a bill to finally to settle that question, it met with the most uncompromising hostility from all of them. From the moment I introduced the bill, until it received the royal sanction, it was o})posed by those who had agitated the country, but were not sincere in their expressed desire to settle it. [Hear, hear.] They wanted to use it still as a political lever, on the hustings and on the stump. They were regardless of the evils caused by that civil and social and religious quarrel so long as they could use it, and say " we go for a settlement, but these old Tories are trying to rule over you, to destroy the equality be- tween man and man, religion and religion,aud won't hear of it." This country has a right to comjilain of the partizan and unparliamentary opposition which took place on that occasion. [Applause.] — Thank heaven, however, the measure became law at last, and now Ave have peace, and quiet, and prosperity ! Every possible objection was taken to the bill, but the greatest was, that there was a certain sum taken by way of commutation, and given to the English, Scotch and Roman Catholic Clergy, which, by the action of previous govern- ments, had been a charge upon that fund. You must remember that we can't have all we want, and we must endeavor to get as nealy what we want as possible. The Clergy Reserves were settled by an ]mperial act of Parliament in 1840. — That act gave certain preferences to certain churches, but notwithstanding this, IMr. Bald- win, the head of the Reform party, said in the House of Assembly, that the man would be an enemy to his country who should re-open the question. It was, however, agitated, and we had to appeal to the Imperial Parliament again to give us power to alter the former settle- ment of 184-0, which we ourselves should have been ha])j)y not to have disturbed, had not the country been again convulsed about it. We received that power, but there was a proviso in the act, that we should not affect the position of these individuals who had stipends charged upon the fund, to whom the British government considered the faith of the Queen was pledged. — We had, therefore, either to pass a 4 50 bill, proscrvinp; these riglits, or wc could have no hlllntull. Wo did pass the hill, ami, instead ol'|)ayirire was w si)lomn meeting of the Coii- serviilive Itiulers, who came to the nnaiiinioii.s com.'hisioii lliat iftho people of TT|)|icr Caiiuda cleci(h'd lit the polls to re-opeii tin; r'lereople of tapper Canada npon the qncsiinn, li-ey had not the remotest expeelation of entering olliee, hut liacl shafied their course for the purpose of giving pea(!e to the eouiitry. When the present Administration was formed, tln^y setlh d that question, although o])|iose(l by Mr. nrown,wh() from lirsttol:;st voted against the hill. And why? l)ccaiise tin; d'overnrm-nt went for jus- tice — and scant justice it was — to tho clergynuui of this country who had gone into the wilils of Canada njton the (iiith of the Jkitish (lovern- menl, who promised them an ade(piato sid)sistence. Ihit the jieoplo of the country, who fought for a {iriuciple, and not for tln' sake of the money s:» id the confiscaticjn of the lands would add to the treasury, stood by the Government, and when the bill was intr(»dueod they supported it, quite satislled that those clergymen should not btMurncd into tlie streets to beg their bread, lie was proud to say that the course taken by the clergy was highly creditable, to them, 'i'hey said " We knoAV our lands were valuable and in a few years will be a source of great wealth ; yet secure us only against want for the remainder of our lives, and we will give the property up for the sake of having peace in the country, and th.at avc who are the miinsters of peace and kindness, may not be the means of imliappiness and dis- cord." The consequence was that Ijrother was no longer arrayed against brother, religion against religion, the question was settled forever and the country was at peace. He then alluded to tlie argu- ment of those o})poscd to the government on the question, that the Reserve should become Crown lands. If the course advocated by the opposition had been carried out, the revenue arising from the sale of the lands would liave gone into the [lublic chest, and the people of Lower Canada would have had the same right to the money as they had to that accruing from other Crown lands ; whereas, by the provi- sions of the government measure, the people of Upper Canada, afler settling with the clergy, had a million of money to distribute among the municipalities. If the other plan had been adopted Lower Canada woidd have had one lialf, and according to Mr. Brown, two-thirds of this sum." The next and last extract relating to the Ciergy Reserves is from a speech delivered at London : " I may again mention, though I have alluded to it before, that prominent question of the Clergy Reserves. You all know how the country was agitated about that. In 1836 it was the cause of a 4' 52 rebellion. In 1854- it assumed almost the same formidable dimen- sions. The government of the day took up that question, resolved that it should no more be a question of strife, setting man against man, and family against family, and the settlement was made in a manner to which the whole country has acceded, so that there is no longer a lecling that one church is dominant, or that one man has eccTesiustically any superiority over another. The Clergy Reserve bill, which I had the honor to introduce, declared that henceforth there should be a severance of the connection between Church and SUite, and tiiat every man should worship God as he chose. In settling this, we were surrounded with difficulties, but the chief difficulty was c;iused by agitators who had kept the (juestion afloat for use at public meetings, as a moans of working against the party who were sup- posed to suj)port things as they were — None were more disappointed than those persons when the government measure was introduced; and, if we had not known them, we should have been surprised at their persistent opposition to a bill calculated to remove all difficulties in a practical way — [Hear, hear.] Now, gentlemen, as this is the first great measure we introduced ; one too, on which we staked our reputa- tion and existence, I may repeat what I have said on prev^ious occasions on the subject. [Hear.] You know that in 184-0, there was an Act of rarliament passed by the Imperial Legislature which alone had the power ofdealing with the question, making a certain settlement of the Clergy Reserves. An agitation, however, arose in the country against that measure,and there was a strong feeling that the set tlemcnt should be altered, although it had been adopted as final by the Reform and Conservative parties ; and, although Mr. Baldwin, [Avhose patriotism, now that he is in his grave, no body dou hts, or his sincere desire, accord- ing to his light and conscience, to act fur the benefit of the country,] stated in my presence, that the man who should attempt to disturb the suttluuient of 1840, woidd be an enemy of his country. However, it was again agitated, and to remove that occasion of sectional strife, we were obliged to apply to the Imperial Parliament to allow us to legislate upon it. That leave was granted, provided we preserved the faith of the British Crown, which was considered pledged to the clergymen whose sti])ends were paid out of the reserve funds. We knew that we could not get the royal assent to any measure which did not preserve the rights of these clergymen, and we introduced a clause for the purpose of settling that forever, providing that instead of being paid their incomes from year to year, until the last clergy- man should have died, there should be a commutation of these sti- jieiid.s, Oil e-juiineicial princi[)ks, that each man should have his life valued, and the value of his salary capitalized and invested for the good of the church. This clause we had great difficulty in carrying, and one source of attack was, that we were giving a large sum of money to liivored churches, that we v/ere showing undue favor to the dominant Church of England, and the established Church of i dimen- esolved against ide in a re is no nan has lleserve iceforth rch and settling iilty was it public ere sup- ipointed Dduced ; rised at flic ul ties the first r reputa- ccasions m Act of had the at of the ' against it should brni and triotism, , , accord- ountry,] ) disturb however, al strife, Dw us to reserved d to the Is. We e wliich iduced a instead ; clergy- liese sti- i his life I for the arrying, ; sum of favor to urch of 53 Scotland, and were making a special grant to Roman Catholicism, which had the small sum of jGoOO a year charged upon the fund. You must remember that every clergyman who had £\bQ or JESOO a year charged upon the fund had by law a mortgage on the whole of the clergy reserves, and we could not devote a farthing of their proceeds to any purpose so long as one such clergyman remained alive. Under our plan, however, we paid them the fair value of their incomes, and were thus enabled to apply the whole of the enormous balance to the local purposes of Upper Canada. To the credit of the churches con- cerned, and of their clergy be it said, that, great as was their loss, and enormous their sacrifice — for they had a claim on the full half of the proceeds — they acquiesced in the settlement we proposed, because they felt that they ought not to be the cause of strife, and would not be placed in a false position, and have it said that they looked more afler temporal than spiritual things. Though the pittances paid were small, I am happy to have personally received assurances from the clergy of these churches — from their bishops downwards — that they are happy our legislation succeeded. [Hear, hear.] You may re- collect that we took a different view altogether from, the Opposition on that question. The Opposition contended that the original reser- vation of one-seventh of the lands of Upper and Lower Canada was a fraud upon the people — that it was made against their will, and was against their interests. It was therefore said that the reservation should be wiped out, and the Clergy Reserves considered as being a portion of the public lands of Canada, and dealt with like the other Crown Lands. What would have been the consequences if that even had been carried out? As fast as the Clergy Reserve Lands were sold, the proceeds would have gone into the public treasury. Lower Canada would have got her share, and if the Globe is to be believed, by far the larger share. What is now the fict ? We have settled the cause of strife, satisfied the Clergy, and appropriated more than a million of money to the Municipalities of Upper Canada, to be expended for Upper Canada purposes alone, in making roads and bridges, for paying their debt, or for other useful objects. [Loud cheers.] " CROWN LANDS MANAGEMENT. In reference to the course pursued by the Government regard- ing Crown Lands, Mr. Macdonald, at Milbrook, thus s})oko of the action taken by liie Government : " The system adopted by Mr. Vankoughnet, which thathon. gentle- man had fully explained at a dinner in the West, he (Mr. Macdonald) was happy to say had been very successful. That system was attacked strongly by the Chairman of Mr. Brown's meeting at Lon- 54 don. It was denounced as injurious to the country ; that it was similar to the old Canada Company's system, and that it allowed large portions of land to be bought by rich men for the purpose of keeping out the poor man and actual settler. How unjust these objections were they would see when he stated what the plan of the government was, which in a new country like this he thought was the best that could be adopted. One of the chief obstructions to the opening of the back country was the enormous expense of the surveys. In order to encourage immediate settlement and save this great expense the government laid out the external boundaries of the town- ships, but did not survey them into lots. They put these township? into the market, and anyone might become a purchaser. But no oua was allowed to take the land for speculative purposes. The purchaser was obliged to survey the whole of the township into lots within six months after the purchase, and then to settle the land before he could procure a patent ; and every lot that was not actually settled within a certain period reverted to the Crown. And not only was this the case ; but in order to prevent any thing like a monopoly of the land — the purchaser, like the Canada Company, holding it until the industry of the surrounding farmers had made it valuable — every second town- ship only was sold. By retaining one township in this manner, if at any time the pnrty owning land asked too high a price for it from the settler, all the latter had to do was to step into the next township and get it at is. an acre. [Cheers.] By Ihe system adopted by the Government they had saved tlic great expense of the surveys of the townships ; they procured their survey within six months after sale, and their settlement within two years ; and the settler was secured against any loss by speculators. The gentlemen Avho had purchased lands from the Government on these conditions had done so, not as had been charged to make profit for themselves, but with a view of sending on agricultural men from England to settle upon them. The plan did not, however, prevent emigrants coming to Canada on their own account, but formed an additional and valuable aid to the settle- ment of the whole country. But, it was charged, the Government sold land to the rich in order that they should benefit at the expense of the poor man. Instead of that being the case, the Government made the rich men Avho bought, the agents for the improvement of the wild lands of the country. [Loud cheers.] He made this expla- nation, knowing the peo|)le of Cavan and of the country to be deeply interested in the question of settling the country, and to place the policy of the Government in its true light before them."'' 55 SEIGNORIAL TENURE. At the Brantford dinner, Mr. Macdonald referred as follows to the Seignorial Tenure question and its settlement : " The Government had appropriated JE30,000 a year for the purpose of wiping out the obstruction to enterprise and advancement which the feudal tenure presented. This seemed a large sum, but they had been in the habit of expending much larger amounts for the purpose of making roads in Upper Canada, and opening the country to settlers. And if they had done so, were they not justified in expending the amount for the purpose of opening up one of the most beautiful countries under the sun to British enterprise and British skill, for an P^nglishman would never think of settling in Lower Canada, when the Seignorial Tenure existed. When the Govern- ment of Brown, Dorion and McGee was formed, it was the firs* stipulation that this question should be immediately settled and the money paid to Seigniors. There was this difference, however, in the modes proposed — that whereas the present Government were taking out j630,000 out of the public revenue to pay the Seigniors, the Brown-Dorion Administration had made an arrangement whereby they would take out ;er)00,000 in one lump from the Municipal Loan Fund. [Cheers.] While the })resent Government were willing to pay for their dinner a shilling a day, the Brown-Dorion Cabinet agreed to run in debt for their '* grub " for a whole year. [Laughter and cheers.] " But" said Mr. Brown, " we were to pay out of local funds in Lower Canada*" Why, already every penny of local funds had been appropriated for the purpose, and there was not a farthing left. Crown dues, marriage license fees and every other available fund had been set aside ; and when it was stated that £500,000 was to be taken out of local funds, something was stated which was impossible. On this point Mr. Brown had been contradictedby his own Attorney General, Hon. J. S. Macdonald, who declared that the money was to have been paid out of the revenue of the Province, and was not to be paid back. Not a single member from Upper Canada dare get up and endorse Mr. Brown's statement, because they well kneAV that it was not correct. [Cheers.] And because the Government had settled that question, because they had introduced into Lower Canada pre- cisely the same peace as in U[)per Canada — because they had opened the door for enterprise and industry — they were attacked and abused by the Opposition, who had they the power would have settled it on terms far more disadvantageous to Upper Canada. [Applause.] " 56 At St. Catharines, Mr. Macdonald gave the histoiy of the at- tempts to settle the Seignorial Question, and the Constitutional thus reports his language : " You have heard a good deal, probably, nhout the Seignorial Tenure, and how it has been charged that we have wilfully applied the funds of Upper Canada to improve Lower Canada, and to remove its Seignorial burdens. I wish particularly to make a few remarks on this subject, inasmuch as Mr. Brown, in a speech just published in the Globe, says more that is untrue than he has ever done in any one speech before. The Seignorial Tenure was a great burden on Lower Canada. No men in the Seignories could be a freeholder, or could freely sell his lands to whom he pleased, but had to pay rentes to the landlord, and if he sold his farm had to pay the Seigneur one tenth of the purchase money, while if the landlord did not like his new tenant all he had to do was to say, " I will give you ten per cent, more than the purchase money agreed upon, and take the farm myself." The farmer had to draw his grist to the landlord's mill, though it might be a bad one, and had to perform degrading duties, which were not always, though they might be, always enforced. [Cheers.] This, of course, kept the Seignories closed to British settlement and the employment of British capital. [Hear, hear.] Now, the fact is, that several bills were, from time to time, introduced to remedy this, and one charge made by Mr. Brown in his speech at Lo; don, reported in his newspaper to-day, is that, in 1852 or 1853, lie says I introduced a Resolution into Parliament against the passing of a Seignorial Act, under which the Seigneurs were to be paid out of the general revenue of the Province, and that I said it was a Lower Canada matter, to which we ought not to be called upon to contribute any portion. Now Mr. Brown knew that, although he was stating what might be literally true, it was altogether false in spirit. We opposed the Seignorial bill of that day because its proposition was simply to lower the rentes, which were thought to be too high, and to compensate the Seigneurs out of the general revenue. " This " said 1 " does not relieve Lower Canada from the seignorial system. We were quite willing to remove that curse from Lower Canada, if you will sweep it away entirely." My then leader, Sir Allan McNab, said he would go as far as any OLe to relieve Lower Canada from the degrading system under which she was suffering ; but that merely lowering the rentes was of no good to us in Upper Canada, that British people would still be prevented from going in to settle. We then pledged ourselves, however, that we would go for any rational measure which should make Lower Canada a country fit for freemen to live in, and, sir, we have faithfully carried out that pledge, while we have done equal justice to Upper and Lower Ca- nada. (Hear). We first took all the local funds that could be appro- priated, and we then thought the balance required would be JG 150,000, \ .* 57 so we provided that that amount should be taken out of the treasury, hut at the same time we provided that whenever it was doi.e, an equal amount should be taken to be expended in Upper Canada for Upper Canada pur[)Oses. We were obliged to form a commission to ascertain what the value of the rights of the seigneurs was. That comuiission has nearly finished its labors. It found that the appro- priation would be insufficient, and we therefore provided that a sum of je30,000 a year should be paid out of the general revenue, to get rid of the tenure for ever. We can well afford that sum. We pay more than that every year for opening up roads in the back woods, and surely, if it is important that a new country should be developed, it is much more important that an old country should be, which lies between us and the sea. (Hear. When Mr. Brown came into power he had to make nearly the same arrangement, and although in his London speech he ventures to draw a distinction between our course and his, I think the advantage is altogether with us. I see he now admits that the Municipal Loan Fund for Lower Canada, which is a charge on the whole Province, was to have been used by him although he formerly said a local fund was to have been taken for the purpose. His proposition was to take £500,000 at once, and add it to our debt, to pay the seigneurs altogether. Ours simply takes the interest of that sum, annually, which we can pay without running into debt any deeper, and mortgaging for it our property and our children's weUiire. [Cheers.] " At St. Thomas, Mr. Macdonald spoke of the oppressive nature of the Feudal imposts, and shewed that their removal opened up Lower Canada to the enterprise and capital of Her Majesty's subjects. He is thus rej)orted by the Prototype : " There is another question, sir, to which I will call you attention, because it has been much used against us. There has been much misapprehension in regard to it, and I venture to predict you have heard if, at ihn hustings, and electoral contests. I mean the question of the seignorial tenure. I spoke about it at some length at Brantford, and was allerwnnls told ]>y many gentlemen that they had been under a total misapprehension until then, as to its details. (Hear), It is well known that, in the old L'rench settlements, the tenure of lands was altogether different f- ai what it is in Upper Canada. Here, a man gets his estate in free and common soccage ; he is lord of the soil, and if his farm is paid fur, he has the free and exclusive right to it, for himself, his family and friends while he lives, and for his heirs when he dies. In the seignorie.s, the case was very different. The whole country is divided into seignories, as Upper Canada is into townships, and the seigneur was lord of the soil, while the Jiabitantoi farmer did not own the land, but paid 3d or 6d or in some cases more 4 \ 55 per acre, as a yearly rent. In addition, he was obliged to perform a great many other duties to the landlord, degrading to himself, which left him a mere lessee, instead of being a freeholder. This retarded the whole material progress of the country, ay you will perceive when I tell you, gentlemen, that a farmer could not go to the best grist mill in his neighborhood, but whether his landlord's was good or bad, though it was built on the old system, which was in vogue when the U. S. loyalists came in, though it might grind very bad flour indeed, he had to go there, though there might be a most magnilicent building close by, furnished with all the latest improvements, owned by another man. More, if the holder sold a farm, he was obliged to give the landlord one-tenth of the price, — The habitant had to furnish a certain number of fowls or so many cnpons a-year to the seigneur ; he had to perform corvee and other feudal services. (Marks of atten- tion). If an Englishman, Irishman or Scotchman, wished to go in and buy— you'will remember, in connection with this, that the great cry of Mr. Papineau was to keep the British out of the country — all the landlord had to say the French farmer who sold was, " I will give you ten per cent more than the price agreed upon, break off the bar- gain, and buy the farm myself." (Hear;. Now, such a system — the system of the dark ages — was ruinous to the interest of Lower Ca- nada — no Englishman would settle th ro, no emigrant go in, so long as he could get lands in Upper Cauda in free and common soccage. The whole country was kept bound, altliough Lower Canada ought to be prosperous like ourselves, for it lies between us and the sea, we being behind it, and just as much interested in its prosperity as Elgin is in that of Middlesex. — Now, other (jlovernnieuts besides that of which I am a member had felt the difficulty of the question, but we first undertook to settle it. The seigniorial tenure was like the clergy reserves in Upper Canada. There was a necessity that it should be settled ; and we took it up as boldly as we did the other question here, and there, as here, the political mountebanks and agitators did not in reality desire its settlement. In the first place, we appropriated all the local or special funds that could be found in Lower Canada ; there were very few of them, but we took them to compensate the seigniors. For the seigniors had deeds for their rights ; they had the same claim to their rental and other rights as you have to your farms. They had to be compensated, and to do so, as 1 tell you, we took all the local funds, and provided, that if a further sum should be wanted, a small sum of £30,000 per annum should be taken from the public chest. The value of the claims of the seigniors was carefully examined by sworn arbi- trators, who went from seigniory to seigniory, and found out what they were worth ; and in our legislation we provided, that instead of paying them the capital, we should only pay them the yearly rental to which they were entitled. Now, X30,000 is not a very large sum ; as I said at Brantford, we take every year larger sums from the public revenues to pay for the survey of new lands, for opening up new rm a '^hich irded vheii grist bad, n the deed, ding by give lish a give } bar- -the Ca- long ;cage. 59 roads through the wilderness, in order to allow the settlonient of the country to go on. [Hear.] If we can afford to pay £30,000, to open up new country to immigration, how much more important is it to do the same in Lower Canada, and open up the whole Province to Bri- tish capital, to British enterprise, to the British settler. [Ap})lause.] The present Government carried their measure against a most bitter Opposition, they have since been bitterly assailed ibr taking the funds of the Province for a Lower Canadian purpose, anil by none more bit- terly than by Mr. Brown, who, in his most able and energetic style — and how energetic he is you are all aware — denounces us for appro- priating all the local funds of Lower Canada, and then taking ^630,000 a year more, to make Lower Canada like Upper Canada, a place fit for Britons to live in — [Hear] — and after all the misrepresenta- tions, you will be surprised when I tell you that when Mr. Brown formed his junction Avith Mr. Dorion, he was of course obliged to as- sume the same position as we did — of course lie had to settle that question — and the first sti])ulatioii made between him and his Lower Canada colleagues was, that the seigniors should be paid in full. [Hear, hear.] You hear very frequently that these sums were to have been paid by Mr. Brown out ufthe local funds, Init that is a mere misrepresentation ; there were no local funds in Lower Canada, every local fund that could by any possibility be used for the puriiose of repaying the seigniors, had already been np})ropiiated by law and set aside for that object, and XliO,000 had to be taken from the general revenue to pay the balance. When the term " local funds" is used, you hear what could not in the nature of things exist, and besides, you learn from the statement of all Mr. Brown's Lower Canada col- leagues and from that of Mr. J. S. Macdonald, his Attorney General West and my successor, that the payment of the seigniors from public funds was the basis on wliich the administration was formed. [Hear.] Of course, when Mr. .i. S. Macdonald stated that, we knew it was true, because we knew in the first place that no government could be formed with the assistance of Lower Canada unless on that basis, and in the second j)lace we knew that there were no local funds. When we hear that local funds were to be used, the meaning is this : we had a municipal loan fund in Upper and Lower Canada, under which the municipalities borrowed money, and the Province superin- tended the payment. The Upper Canada fund had been expended by the municipalities ; they had borrowed every farthing of it. In Lower Canada, they were more prudent, or not so enterprising, and the arrangement was, that out of that fund, wliich was a local fund in one sense, they were to half taken half a million of ])ounds. But although it was a local fund in one sense, the Province had to pay for it. [Hear.] The Province was responsible for it. Now, it was a distinct understanding between Mr. Brown and his colleagues that the £.500,000 should be thus added to the already very large debt of Canada, instead of taking as we proposed £30,000 60 a year. That annual sum we can pay almost without feeling it, but they were to have taken half a million of money — two mil- lions of dollars — and added it to the debt of Canada ! When our measure was going through, we were surprised to find the opposition it encountered in the Upper House, but we soon found out the reason — the seigniors did not want to be obliged to receive merely the interest ; they wanted the cash in hand, to lend it out at eight or ten Eer cent. We, however, said, "If you want the interest, you can ave it, but if you want to settle your claim for ever, we will give you seventy-five per cent of it, three shillings and ninepence on the dollar — if you give us a distinct profit, we will pay you the cash, not otherwise." [Applause.] Well, we settled the question, in a manner the least burdensome to the public chest, without diminishing our credit, and by ap[)ropriating je30,000 a year, as I am happy to feel we can do without any inconvenience, we opened up a great country to the enterprise of British subjects. [Loud cheers.]" The last extract relating to the subject which we shall offer is taken from a speech at Hamilton, as follows : " 1 now pass on to the question relating to the Seigniorial Tenure. I have been subjected to a great deal of attack in connection with this ; taunted with wilfully abandoning the rights of Upper Canada and allowing Lower Canada to pocket £30,000 a year from the public chest for a local purpose. You all know the nature of the seignorial tenure ; whereas, in Upper Canada, every immigrant who comes to this country buys a farm, whether with the capital he brings or the money he saves, and that farm belongs to him and his heirs for ever, the Lower Canada farmer was in a condition of the veriest slavery. He and his children were obliged to pay a rental for every acre of his farm, for all time, and by no possibility could he attain to be a free- holder. He was obliged to take his grist to his landlord's mill, be it ever so poor and oldfashioned, and pay him toll. He could not sell the farrr he had inherited from his fathers, except he paid over fully ten per cent of the purchase money to the sJgneur, and this, though he had got the land in a wild state, and improved it in every possible way himself. Moreover, if the landlord did not like the new buyer, he could break up the sale by paying for the land 10 per cent above the price agreed upon, and he could thus, according to the cry that was raised in Papineau's time, " Keep out the British." Well, while Upper Canada was increasing in wealth and prosperity. Lower Canada was oppressed and depressed, British enterprize was kept out and immigration all driven up West, owing to these laws. And, as the prosperity of the two parts is as mutually dependent as is that of Wentworth and the adjoining county, we resolved to settle the question. The first thing we did was to appropriate every local fund 61 there was in Lower Canada to pay the seigneio'Sf for the courts had decided in favor of their chiims, and it woukl have been confiscation and robbery to deprive them of their property. And as tlieir funds did not seem sufficient to defray the whole amount, the Legiskiture set aside jG 150,000 from the public chest, and finally, after the Com- missioners had visited every Seigniory, it was fouirl that j£500,000 might arrange for the whole tlnng, or that jG30,000 a year would pay the value of the rentals, &c. We wore surprised to find a strong resistance made to our bill by the Seigneurs in the Upper House, but at length we found they were trying to defeat it and the Admi- nistration together, because they expected a better bill from Mr. Brown, who would have paid them their claims in full, cash dowr, whereas we proj)osed to give them only the interest, or 75 per cent of the capital, if they choose. [Cheers and laughter.] — Mr. Brown admits that he was to have paid the £500,000 in full, but he says it was from local funds, whereas in fact there were no local funds, we having aj)propriated them all. The local fund was the Lower Canada Municipal Loan Fund, which is not a local one in the proper sense, because the united Province is responsible for its repayment. [Cheers.]" THE RECIPROCITY TREATY AND THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE TARIFF. On the occasion of the dinner at Hamilton, Mr. Macdonald remarked : — if il "It is, as I have often said before, useless to discuss the abstract principles of Free Trade and Protection, but it is matter for consola- tion that the Tariff has been so adjusted as incidental to encouraging manufacturing industry here. I hope all will see the advantages of a home market. [Hear.] I cannot go the length of the Chairman |"Mr. Buchanan] who has so long applied his mind to finance and questions of political economy, in stating that it would be well almost to increase our debt for the purpose of securing protection to our manufacturers, but I feel that whoever created this debt, the Go- vernments of which I have been a member have the credit of com- mencing the system by which, through it, to raise up a home mar- ket, and give a double market to the farmer and the labourer. If we were altogether an agricidtural country, we should be dependent for the value of our produce on the quantity of the harvest on the Baltic and Black Seas. As it is, when we have attained our full development, we shall not be so. Manufactories are springing up, East and West, and I hope this great commercial City will see the advantage of encouraging them. [Hear, hear.] If you go to Montreal and look at the enormous factories at work near the canal basin, you will realise what a source of wealth to a city and country they are. You have here no other source of wealth, save your commercial busi- 62 ness nnd intercourse with tlio back country. When I look at that, I think how, by the encoumgenient of niannflicture.s, you might qua- tbii[)le your population and relieve Hamilton from its present tempo- rary state of depression, and I hope, then, we should have as strong supporters hero as we have in every other part of the country where manufacturers are considered to beofvidue. [A])])Iause.] I shall now make one other eiiarge acainst I\lr. 13rown, of which, if he be guilty, he is deej)ly reprehensible. One great cause of the i)rosperity of the farmer in Upper Canada is the reeiprocity treaty and the con- sequent interchange of agricidtiual commodities and raw materials; Ho has found a market where there M'as none at all before for him. Although that treaty has existed tor 10 years, and is to exist for 10 years yet; although the liiith of (ireat Britain and the United States is })ledged to its contiiuiance, although on no principle of internatio- nal law can it be repealed, alfhongli its repeal would bring injury to Canada as well as the United States, it has been the aim of Mr. Brown to raise in the legislature of the United States a feeling against it, and the Globe has been constantly fdled with articles cal- ling on the Americans to complain of the injustice to them of our ta- rill. (Cries of '^ shame,"] What have we done save for the pur- pose of revenue, to put duties on manufactured articles? Now the treaty does not relate to manufactures at all! But because we choose to increase the duties on manufactured goods which do not come within the treaty, and altliough they have increased the duties on si- milar articles in the United States to an extent considerably larger than ours, so that more duty is payable on goods going from Canada to the United States, than on those coming from tho United States into Canada Mr. Brown says we are doing the Americans injustice ! If the Reciprocitv Treaty is repealed, it will be due to such agitators as he. [Hear.] But hear what the Co7istitutiorm'AySfWiG organ of Mr. Buchanan's administration : " Canadian Sentiments on the Reciprocity TREATY.— Ia noticing the ap- pointment of Mr. Hatch by tho President to examine into the operation of the reciprocity treaty upon revenne and trade between Canada and the United States, the Toronto G/o6e admits that the Canadian tariff is in violation of the spirit and intent of the treaty, and operates injuriously to American interests. In consequence of this course (faction, the Globe anticipates a partial or total abrogation of the treaty, altough it was agreed that it should remain in force ten years. It is supposed that the United States will maintain that the ten years' clause may be rightfully set aside, upon the ground th.at the treaty has been broken by the imposition of higher duties than was contemplated by either party when the treaty was entered into. Lord Lyons, in a despatch to the Governor General, speaks of this as follows : " As the Constitution is the organ of President Buchanan's Administration, and is in fact the Official paper, I thought it riglit to express to General Cass and to the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Appleton, my surprise, that an ar- ticle of such a character should have been allowed to appear in it. " are, 63 strong T Dm sure, after reading the article, you will think Lord Lyons had a right to express such sentiments. [Applause.] This is un instance of the sound patriotism of the leader of the Opposition ! He thought it \yould be a good rod to break our lieads with, if he could get the United States to interfere in the matter of our tariff— and if they did, it would be an insolent interference — so that our farmers might bo led to believe we were indeed tiieir enemies. [Chcers.J And while on the one hand he thus endeuvorcd to ])reju(lice the agricultural interests of the country, the siinKj geutlemau acted in the same way when Canadian manufacturing interests cjiniein contact Avith British. A representation was made by the Slieliield cut tiers against our scale of duties, and they iirotcsted, in language which avo very ju-operly resented, against our right to encourage manufactures in Canada. [Oh, oh!] J haA^e in my hand a memorial, sent by the Chnmber of Commerce, of Slieffield, in lsr)9, to the Duke of NcAvcastle, from which T .shall read one or tAvo pages, fgiA'ing their so-called reasons for such a i)rotest : " We now hog respectfully to rcptato the reasons wliy ,snch enquiry is nppre- heiidetl. Tliese reasons may be said to be twofold, — First, — I'hose arising; from a conviction that it is tlie deliberate policy of tli(> Government of Canada l() tester native manufaclures by fl.y we iiave virtually broken the treaty with the United States because we have increased the dutiCv'j on manufactures. [Hear, hear,] Moreover, we place at this motnent a tax on these articles considerably les^ than that which the Ameri- cans, themselves, impose, though it would be no more Uvin fair and equal reprocity, while both countries admit produce frr. , i >• have our tariff as high as that of tho United States. [Hear.] it is therefore f absurd to say that, either in spirit or letter, we have infringed the treaty ; and it is very wrong of Mr. Brown to say that we have done so, and acted prejudicially to the interests ot the United States. [Applause.] Now, in m iking tho rc-adjustnient of the tariff, we adopted this system : in the first place, we took off the duties on the necessaries of life which the poor man uses, as much as possible ; in the second place, we increased those on articles of luxury, which the- rich man buys ; and, in the third, we raised the taxation of those goods which our own mechanics can manuflicture, so as in a manner to give them incidental protection. Although this is an agricultuml country, every man, you see, is not adapted for agricultural pursuits. There are many whose physical constitution unfits theui for farining. We have opo'jed up a means for givinr: thr\-.c p'jr>")ii e'^ipk^y:-;-';'. In every part of the country, East and West, [ am happy to say ma- nufactories are springing up — we hear of woollen mills, aye, and of great cotton factories, too, being erected. Foundries, machine shops, tanneries, Sec, are flourishing, and are giving employment to many, while they are creating a home market for the farmer. [Loud applause.] " 66 THE ABOLITION OF TOLLS ON THE CANALS. At the dinner at St. Catliariues, Mr. Maodonald said : " One of the clun-gcs broiifiht against the Ciovenimeiit is, tliat we have taken the tolls oll'tlie canals in the interest of Montreal and of Lower Canada. Now 1 thoujj.ht the canals were made for the pur- pose of carrying tiown to the sea the produce of Upper Canada. Before they Wi-re made, the expense ofgolting grain to market was so great that some works of the kind were absolutely necessary to alloAV the firmer any yirolit at all. (Hear, and applause.) 'J'lie tolls on the vessels and freights ])assing through the canals were not very large, they amounted to only about X2r),000 a year, ;ind as our shij)ping in- terest Wiis ilejiressed, and a Well ibnnded comphiint was made that we had subsidized railways but done nothing Ibr the water lines, we took (i/fthe tolls in certain ciises, in order to give every op])ortunity for Cpper Canada produce to get to market as ehea[»]y and as quickly as jtossible. We expected to increase the value of our ships and of our er(j|is in Upper Canada, and i am luijipy to tell you we liave hecu successfid. [Hear.] Notwitstand iug, the great rednction of tolls, snch has been tlie great increase in biisiness in consequence of the abini- dant crop with which a gracious Providence h;is Idessed us, that there will b(Mio delicieucy in the amount of tolls ccdlected this year as comparv'd with l;ist. [Hear, hear, and clieers.] I call the attention of those who hear me to the very great importance of this measure, and to the great tidvantage to Upper Canada of our canals being as free as if they were the running waters of the 6t. Lawrence. You know perfectly well that many a V(\sscl has b'^en rotting at the ( wharves here because parties wcudtl not risk money to puy the tolls and go and seek freights. But what is the case now ? "If a man has -ri vessel, he risks notiiing, and juiys no toll for taking it down even as far as (iaspe, with the produce of Upper Canada. He can there ex- change Hour lur fish, and bring what he gets up to Upper Canada, just as freely as if he v/ere only going from Port Dalhousie to King- ston. And we slial! lind before long that in many a ])lace in Upper Canada craft will be employed in sunnner running nj) and down, and thus conducting what is of far greater consequence to a country than foreign trade, I mean a successful and active home commerce. [Hear, hear.] " THE VALUE TO THE COUTJTr.Y Oi^ THE GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD AND THE CANADIAN LINE OF STEAMERS. A dialogue on this subject occurred at the dinner at St. Thomas, which is thus reported in the London Prototi/pe : Mr. James Blackwood — Will tbo honorable gentleman explain, if the tolls are taken oli our canuls, and the Grand Tr:nk Railway does not pay, of what value are they to ls ? — has disc one gr.ai the wis( Gra vatt 67 liut we unci of he piu- ^anada. ; was so o allow i oil the y I'lvge, ping in- itio that nos, we ortunity (juickly i.s and of ve hecn i|l.s,snch aLuii- lat there year as ittentioii measure, being- as e. Vou g at the the tolls man has 1 even as here ex- Canada, to King- in Upper 3wn, and itry than iinmcrce. TRUNK lERS. Thomas, xplain, if way does lion. Mr. Macdonald — The value of the Grand Trunk Railway to Canada is simply this — it is the avenue by whieli the whole west is connected with the whole east. 'J'he whole produce of Canada, whether agricultural or not — wheat and goods of all kinds — was for- merly locked up during tlu; winter. Now, sir, we have the means of sending our produce from the c.xtrenie east lo the extreme west, and vice versd, x\i 'duy moiuent, and at the right time, when prices are highest. [Hear.] Mr. Elnckwood — The value of these works is evinced by their divi- dends. [Hear, hear, and no, no.] Hon. INJr. IMacdoniiKl — T fully agree with the iKMitlcman that, as a commercial sptn-ulat ion, the value of the (-'rand Trunk Railway is evinced by its dixidciuls. To the sharfholclcrs of that railway, the stock, if they get no dividend, is not worth much. I am sorry to say, for tlii'ir salie-s — however, it is their own ailair — that it will be some years belore their stock will have mii'.-h I'oiumercial value in this country. It is, however, rpiite a dilllrent thing to say that the road is of no commercial vahie to the shareholders, and that it is of no com- mercial value to the country. If I have i;).^, and invest it in the saving's baid\S, so as to get inter(^st, it gives im^ a commercial return. But if, instead, 1 lutke a j)atli from my house to the rcjad, it m;ty not yield me a coimn icial return, but it e'nal»les me to get out to the street. [Apphiuse.j Mr, Rlackwood — 'J'he argument holds good with respect to our own interest. But ^\■lly slnjuld it a])ply to the carrying of goods from CUii- cago to Liverpool, and vice voau, at a less. I ask as a Conservative, I came here as a Iriend of the administration, and I ilon't want ])eople to go away, or to go away myself, and report that this speech was a humbug, antl that i\]r. Macdonald's position won't stand the light of argument. I a\ ish to have my mind earnestly antl conscientiously made up. If this is for the gootl of Canada, let it be shown ; but if we are carrying only Ibr the profit of the 'cute Yankee, and if we are subsiiii/inga line of steamers which does not jiay ; if, indeetl — and there is a feeling a])road to this jnirport — we are paying three prices for what W(^ get done, let it be exposed. I should like to go back to my neighbors antl say that ministers have been belied. [Hear, hear.] Hon. Mr. Ahicdonald — I am exceedingly obliged to my friend who has addressed us, because my object in coming here was litirly to discuss all those diilt-reut questitms. I must say I agree with him on one ])oint ; if the Grand 'JVunk Railway has been carrying fi^reign grain across its lines at a loss, to the ol)struction of our local traflic, the ])ractice ought to be ])ut an end to, and I huvo no (loid)t tne wisdom of the legislature will put an end to it. [Ajiplause.] The Grand Trunk Railway, you will see, is like other corporations or pri- vate companies. I'eople have their capital invested in these concerns, 5' 68 and are associated for the purj)Ose of making money out of them. It would never do for the government to be directly concerned in making railways — this must be done through the instrumentality of private companies — The first duty of a railway is, however, in every case, towards the country through which it passes. It must perform that work fully and satisfactorily, before it ventures to take an ounce of foreign freight. It is only when the Grand Trunk has less local traffic to do than it can do, that it can be allowed in any way to enter into the general traffic of the west. [Applause.] There is another point in the remarks of the gentleman, in reference to steamships. \Vc established a line of ocean steamers, for which we paid je4-0,000 subsidy. The line was fortnightly in summer, and monthly in winter. Without it our canals and railways were useless, for such were the supposed difficulties of the navigation of the St. Lawrence, such the expense of freight and insurance between Quebec or Mont- real and Liverpool, that although we could carry from the West to Quebec chea})er than we could send through the United States to New York, and therefore ought to give the preference to our own route, especially lor our own produce, still, freights from New York to Liverpool were so much cheaper, that our trade was finding its way through a foreign country. To prevent this we established our service, following in humble imitation of the British Government, who very wisely granted a subsidy to the Cuiiard Company in its infancy. But we found that a fortnightly line in summer, and a monthly line in winter, could not at all compete with a line going weekly from New York and Boston as certainly as the week came, so we established a weekly line too, giving it -£'2,000 a trip, or JE10-I<,000 a year as subsidy. I am happy to say the line has been a complete success, in consequence of the zeal and ability of my hon. friend, the Postmaster General, the Hon. Sydney Smith — I may praise him, for he is not here. In consequence of his exertions in Europe, he having visited Britain, France, Germany, &:c., for that purpose, we have effected an arrangement with the United States and several European Governments to regard our line with equal favor to others. And notwithstanding that we have had to fight against two subsidies — one given to the Cunard line, and one to the Galway Company — great has been our success. For although the postal arrangements only went into cflect in the middle of the summer, and our line is scarcely known as yet in the western States and in Europe, the foreign postage we shall receive will be upwards ofJCSO.OOO, so that we shall actually j)uy no more for the weekly line this summer than we did before for the fortnightly one. [Cheers.] You must remember, too, that this is only a beginning, it takes a long time to break up old connections. A merchant who has got into the habit of writing his letters for the Wednesday's Cunard steamers will not change in a hurry. But I have no doubt whatever that the line will be self-sustaining, and that we shall virtually have he 69 the communication with Europe for nothinsr. as the ])ostage will pay the whole subsidy. [Cheers.] You must recollect, also, that although the line was established for carrying mails, the great object was to introduce steam power into the St. Lawrence, and to cheapen freights. This is rapidly being done. In a few years, with the influence of steam propellers, and the weekly example of this steam- ship coming and going, not only carrying mail bags, but laden with the produce of Canada, it will be fully accorn})lished. We are already beginning to enj(»y the advantage of our railways and canals, and it will soon be shown that our route to Europe has the recom- mendation of being the most direct and cheapest too. I am much obliged to the gentleman for calling my attention to this subject, a ▼ery interesting one, which I should otherwise have entirely over- looked. I shall be happy to answer further questions, either to-right or during the short time I shall be among you to-morrow. fLoud and continued cheeriiig, amidst which Mr. Macdonald resumed his seat.] Mr. Blackwood was understood to express himself perfectly satis- fied, and hoped the meeting would attribute his remarks to their S roper motive ; he desired to have misconception removed. [Hear, ear.] At the Branlford dinner, Mr. Macdon.ild remarked on this aubject : " Among the other arrangements of which I think the Government may justly boast, arc the postal service '.id the present efficient ocean service. While the United States have been unable, with all their wealth, to maintain a line of ocean steamers, Canada has been able to support a successful line, and that too under the great disadvantage of the mother country subsidizing a line running against our own. The Canadian system has been so admirably managed, that while we have had to increase the annual subsidy for the pur- pose of securing weekly instead of fortnightly trips, the increase in postai^e is such that it amounts to half the subsidy,. £50,000. [Cheers.j Thus, we do not pay more now for the weekly service than we paia for the fortnightly service two years before. [Loud cheers.] T hare no doubt that before long, my friend, the Postmaster General, will have the pride and satisHiction of announcing that our service is self- supporting." [llcnowed cheering.] 70 THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF HOME MANUFACTUR.ES. In relation lo llio Enconragciiionl ol" native industry, Mr. Macdonald s:iid, at London ; " It is not necessary for the ic^overnment to discuss llie question of protection or free trade. In order that the Province miirht keep its faith with the [mblic creditor, in order that Canada niijiht be honest — and I am sure that every man hero would he willinji; to make a sacrilice of his wealth, and his means to keep her credit — there has been an adjustment of the customs duties, frcm which our revenue for Provincial jmrposes is chiefly derived. \Vliile we keep up the taxation on luxuries, and on those artich^s Avhicli we can manufacture ourselves, there has been a diminution in taxation op those articles of prime nf essity which our manufacturers can work uj). The conse- quence IS that in every j)artof the country, ])oth in I'^pper and Lower Canada, there are mai.nfactures springinu- up. A\'e hear of hundreds of industrious mechanics and artisans cond>iniug together to establish woollc u and cotton mills, c^c, and it is quite certain — I am quite satisfied, and you must be so too — that the wants of the country, owing to its rapid material progress, A\ill so ])rc'ss upon the treasury^ that they will always be in advance of the revenue. The manufac- turer can therefore safely commence to ap))ly his capitid to his business, without (l-ar that by oi;e stroke of the ])en, all his ent< rprise will be destroyed, through the reduction of the duties. [Hear, hear.] Well though we have so adjusted the tariff, as to encourage every manu- facturing interest in the country ; I wi.sh it to be understood that we have not increased the taxation over the taxation of our jiredecessors. It is true we have [)ut a higher duty on some articles, chiefly those we can manufacture ourselves, but the free list has been enormously increased. Goods that were heavily taxed in the days of our })rede- cessors are free, and under the tariff as it now stand;3, after having been adjusted under the responsibility of the})resent government, the amount of taxation levied in Canada on each man does not equal what was levied in the time when Mr. Hincks was the financier of the country. [Hear, hear. "] Again, at St. Catharines, Mr. Macdonald renmrked, by way of further illustration that taxation is not heavier now than during Mr. Hincks' adjnini>tration. " It is said that we have increased the taxation of the country. 8ome of you will be surprised to hear that we have not raised the taxation higher than it was during the time of Mr. Hincks. We have, however, readjusted the Tanlf, reducing the f stores, soldiers' barracks, officers' quarters, together vfitf: great military works of every description, to do with thera whatever we choose, with but one re 'rvation, that we should appro- priate the funds, if Vv'c soM any of the property, to keeping up an -active force in Canada. [Hear, hear.] Although at iirsi the militia ■U'as a serious exjiense, because we could not at once dispose of those propertin of the coiisistent course of the Government in regard to it. [Cheers.]" (« 75 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PAFtLTAMENT ACT AND ESTABLISH iM EN T OE A BOAllD OF AUDIT. THE At l^rnntt'ord, Mr. Mjicdoiiald thus reforod to the InclcpciKlcncc of" Parliament Act and llie cstal)llslirncnt of a Board of Audit : " The present government liuve been charged with using their patronage and po\wr for the purpose of securing the eUxtion oi' their iriends and putting money into their pockets. But the present Speaker of the House, who hud ])een a member of the Government, is tlie very person who introduced a bill which i)reventsany one sitting in ParliannMit who has a contract with the CTOvernment, receives money from them or is in any way pecuniarily connected with them. It is a consolidation and completion ol all the laws thai had over been passed ibr the piu-pose of secnring an independent Parliament and Iree from the possibility of influence by crown j)atronage. For fear that it migiit be said that the lawyers enjoyed the ])atronage of the Government, I myself introduced a clause into the bill dcjiriving them even of the power of pn^sccutiiiu" cases on behalf of the Crown while occupying seats in Parliament. [Cheers.] Now it is said that there is p great deal of corruption in our bo(jks. Onr Government has intro- duced a most thorough and perfeet system of auditing the public ac- counts, and has apj)ointfd a man as Auditor General, Mr. Langton, whose character has been praised even by the Oj)position. Many liave in liict, lauded him to the skies because they thought his jKtlitieal tendencies were towards Pveform rather than otherwise. His honesty (• and fitness iijr the (jffice have been admitted by all parties in the House andcountry ; and not a single farthing of the j)ublic money is paid out without a voucher for it and iiassinjr through his hands, the (Jovernment being responsible lor it to Parliament and to the country. [Cheers. ''] REGISTRATION OF VOTERS. At S;. r::-e!incs, i\I';. Macuonald remarked: \ ou may luivc lionrd a great deal of election frauds. The Govern- ment found that lliese iVaiids were practised alike by friends and foes; that they were d(nnorali:?;ing to the country and destructive of the purity of election : and they tberetbre introduced an admirable system of registration, l)y which a correct list of votes is made out from the assessnient-rolls. You may all have seen or heard of cases in wliich bad votes v.ere recorded ; but that has been com})letely done away with by the introduction of the registration system. [Cheers. J 7« OTHER MEASURES INTRODUCED. Mr. Macdonald, at London, thus hriefly enumerated some of the other measures introduced under the auspices of the Govern- ment of which he has been a member : They had fostered and maintained, as far as their resources would permit, the agricultural societies of the country, and they had founded a noble institution for the encoura;,'cment of arts and manufactures. [Applause.] They had framed a measure for the proper inspection of railways and steamers, thus securing safety to the lives and pro- perty of the public. They had c1os(m1 the Municipal Loan Fund of Upper Canada, which had threatcni'd rapidly to increase the public debt. They had enabled every municipality in Upper Canada, with the exception of one or two, tomoet their engagements and prevented that being charged to the public fumls of the Province. They had reformed the law, and decentralized it by increasing the jurisdiction of the local courts. They had established an eflicient system for the inspection of jails and prisons. They had legislated in such a manner that there could be no more fraudulent assignments. They had in- creased the exemption of property of unfortunate debtors liable to be sold for debt. The present Finance Minister had greatly decreased the burdens of the people, and by is judicious arrangement for the conversion of the public debt, the country received five per cent, in- terest on the Sinking Fund instead oftliree as formerly, thuseffecting an enormous saving ; and besides they had got the British Govern- ment to receive iJ35,000 per annum instead ofjC7.'),000 for thesinking fund — thus distributing the burden over a series of years and making our children i)ay a portion of the cost ofonr public works, which were constructed for their benefit as well as our own. [Applause.] LOWER CANADA LEGISLATION. At St. Thomas, Mr. Macdonald took the opportunity of speaking in the following terms of Mr. Cartier and his Legislation with respect to Jjower Canada : I am proud to call the Hon. Mr. Cartier not only my political but my personal friend, and if you knew him as well as I do, you would see how worthy he is of esteem. — Until lately — indeed until he came in as minister of justice — the Lower Canadians were suffering very much from the French system of the concentration of the courts. There were courts only at Montreal and Quebi.c, and an inferior one in the district of St. Francis ; jurors and witnesses were obliged to go hundreds of miles to attend them, and often had to remain for six weeks away from their homes and families. Now fancy if, in Upper omc of »overn- would founded uctures. jpeclion nd pro- ^iintl of J public a, with evented ley had sdiction for the manner had in- le to be jcreased for the ;ent. in- jffecting Govern- ! sinking making ich were (« 77 Canada, a man from Sarnia had to go to attend a court in London— if indeed there were but three courts in tht> country, at London, To- ronto, and Kingston — what our people would say. Would they stand that ? [No, no.] Now Mr. Carliur introduced, in the first place, a municipal system, almost identical within our own, taking pattern by our municipal law, which, since its consolidation, is almost perfect, and adopting it for Lower Canada, with Iho' ght changes which the diilercnt laws and institutions of the joun .y required. In the second ])lace, ho introduci-d our county sy item in the matter of courts — establishing county courts and county jails, and county organizations, just as we huv«; them. As I before said, he took the Clergy lleservcs of Lower Canada for this — Lower Canada, too, having had one-seventh of its lands reserved, just as Upper Canada had — and he forced the municij)alities to erect jails, like Upper Ca- nadians. [Hear.] Ho introduced this system by degrees, and a plan is now in operation, by which, in Lower Caniaia, they ptiy their jurors as we do in Upper Canada, instead of out of llie j^cnerul fund, as they did bi>fore. [Cheers ] Again, in consequence ol" the expense of the tuhninislrulion of justice in Lower Canada, although Lower Canada has far loss crime [I am sorry for U])pcr Canada to say it] and there is far less necessity for the parajjliernalia of courts, the cost was far greater than in Upper Canada, lint, I am hoppy to say, that inconsequence of measures lately introduced, the ex}ienses of the administration of justice are JC3.'),000 less than they were in the time of the late Attorney General East, and although the system is only in its commencement, they are already rather less than in Upper Canada. peaking on with tical but ii would he came ng very courts, rior one liged to 1 for six n Upper IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■^ 1^ 1 2.2 i "- IIIM 1.8 M IIIIIM V] 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 «^ 4^. Part IV.-— Remarks on the Composition and Policy of tlie Brown-Dorlon Government. MR, BROWN A GOVERNMENTAL IMPOSSIBILITY. At London, tlie Attorney General West asked : " Who brings the charges against us of yielding to Lower Canada iti- fluenee t Who rides the Protestant liorse against the present govern- ment, hnt the loader of the late administration, Mr. Brown, who with great ability and zeal, endeavors to establish in the minds of the peo- ple of Upper Canada, not a fict bnt the impression that we have been nnjnst to protestanism and TJ])[)er Canadian interests. Let me now call the attention of the meeting for one moment to some ques- tions which have agitated this country, by which you can see how futile those charges are, how unjustly, and liow completely they can be answered. Whenever the leader of tlie Oppositit ' finds there is but little chance of getting office, he l)econu.\s mo;e Ujiper Canadian and more Protestant. [Hear, and laughter.] But the moment he sup])oses there is a chance of a change, his Protestant zeal becomes small by degrees and beautifully less ; he becomes quite ready to coalesce with these well-abused Lower Canadians, and to make any arrangement that pleases them. [Great laughter.] Why, sir, he said in the House, in my hearing, with a stentorian voice, that he was a governmental ini^jossibility ; that he knew that so long as he re- presented the interests of Upper Canada and of Protestantism, he could not take office. Yet the moment that, on an unexpected vote, which nobody anticipated, on the seat of government question, we resigned, he was quite ready to forget that he was a " governmental im.possi- bility" — he at ouce formed an alliance with Lower Canada, with these very nica he had been abusijig and reviling. [Cheers and laughter.] " MR. BROWN «'IN" AND MR. BROWN "OUT." The following contrast between the views of Mr. Brown " in '' and Mr. Brown '' out " is taken from a speech delivered at St. Catharines : " A Voice. — What abont Mr. Brown and Mr. Thibaudeau ? " Mr. Macdonald. — I must say a few words on that topic, sir, and gentlemen, and call your attention to the difference between Mr, Brown " out " and Mr. Brown " in." [Laughter.] Just as diiferent tes' inh < bot Vs. n and eiit. TY. mada iii- ; govern- rlio with the peo- we have Let me ne ques- see how they can 5 there is ranadian incnt he becomes ready to lake any sir, he t he was as he re- he could e, which resigned, impossi- ida, with lecrs and n n " in '' ed at St. !, sir, and veen Mr, diiferent (\ as black is from white is J\Ir. Brown '' out' nnd Mr. Brown '• in. ti [Hear and laughter.] You may remember, tluit at the elections of 1857, when wo aj)i»ealed to the country, the cries tliat were niised against us were, in tlui lirst place, " Fren<'h Domination," and in the second, " No roi)ery." [iJear and laughter.,] In the third ])kice it was said we had thrown over llepresentation by ropnialjon alto- gether j and, Iburthly, that wo Avonld not vote ibr the abulition of Separate f^chouls. So vigorously were those cries raised tlnu Mr. George Benjamin, once CIrand Abister of the Orangemen, A\'as very near losing his election, bi.>cause he was said to be in league with the Pope, through ns ; and ^Mr. O. 11. (xowan actnally was delealed iu North Ontario because he also was a friend of the Tope. [Applause and laughter.] Well, what will yon say when I inform yon, that when Mr. Brown gut f'/t, he became a greater Iriend (jf the ['ope than I had been. [Langhter.j lb; had, of course, to go back to his eon- stituents for re-election, aiul so had .Mr. Thibaudean, his Minister of Agricidture, who was of course obliged U) giv(! his reasons for joining Mr. Brown's Goverinnent, since Mr. Brown was not very pojnilar in Lower Canada. This gentleman said he had joinc:d Mr. Brown's Administration Ijecause, in the lirst jilace, tlicre were more Boman Catholics in it than there had been in any other since tlie Union, and that there were 6 Catholics against 6 Brotestants in it ; wlu'reas, in my government there only -t against 8. [Hear.] Now, I have no objection, as I said belbri', to Mr. Brown's thus having 6 to 6. Pro- testants and Catholics are both sidijects of Her .Majesty — are both inhabitants of the land — both contribute to the ])uh!ie revenue — and both bear a {art of the public burthens. ]3ut M'hat I do ohjectto is, that Mr. Brown, who for seven long 3-(.'ars has abused the Goverii- ments of others because they had two or three Roman Catholics in them, should have turned round the moment he came in, and ap})oint- ed a greater number himself. I never asked the question, and never will ask, what a, maifs religion, race or ancestry may be : if he is a capable man, the '• right man ibr the right j)lace,"' that is all J ever enquire into. But, sir, how unjust, howini(putous it is of Mr. Brown to bring up these charges to rouse the country, when the moment he gets into ollice he becomes all tliat and more for which he has l)eeu abusing us. [Applause.] 'Jlie next point of diiferonce between Mr. Brown oat and Mr. Brown i?i, is, that while end he stated that Upper Canada was misrepresented and misgoverned — tiiat it had a majority of inhabitants, and ought to have a majority of representatives in Par- liament. There was to be no quiet in the country until llepri;scnta- tion by Population was obtained. But when Mr. Brown got in then Eepresentation by Population was only to be granted with certain checks. [Laughter.] Now, Representation by Population means that the majority of the people should elect the majority of the Pwc- presentatives, and that being so, how in the world can there be any check upon it ? Checks would destroy the working of the principle : 80 '"! checks would obstruct its operation ; we could not for a long time understand what the proposed checks were. But when Mr. Thibau- deau went to his constituents, he gave as a second reason for his having joined Mr. Brown's Cabinet, that it was formed of a majority of members who had voted against Representation by (Population to the last. [Applause.] There were only five members of Mr. Brown's Government in favor of Representation by Population, against seven opposed to it. All the Lower Canadians were against it, and Mr. J. S. Macdoaald, the Attorney General West, was, and still is, i)ledged to oppose it. He, then, the champion of Re{)resen- tation by Population — he who had attempt(;d to put us out because we would not at once, against the wishes of Lower Canada, force that measure upon them, — the moment he got in, so formed his govern- ment that Representation by Population was impossible to be granted. [Cheers.] Well, sir, the last and greatest churge brought against us at tliu last general election was that we would not repeal the 19th clause of the Common School Act, and abolish Separate Schools. I repeat, we had not passed that law ; we found it in existence, enacted by the Baldwin Administration, which, you will admit, was not opposed to Common Schools, and we had to carry it out. *' Why did you not repeal the 19th clause ]" asked some. I will tell you why. It is one thing to give a new right — quite another thing to deprive a man of an established one, especially if it is not proved that he has abused it. [Hear, hear.] If the separate schools had been proved hurtful to our common school system, then we might have asked Parliament to do away with them ; but the able and energetic super- intendent of common schools, Dr. Ryerson, said they widened and strenthened the basis of that system, and we could therefore do no such thing. [Hear.] I have never hesitated to express my own opinions on this point. I have always been against the repeal of that clause, and the consequent destruction of separate schools, and for these reasons. In the first place, you know that there is a large Protestant population in Lower Canada, and I wish the Catholics in Upper Canada to be in the same position as the Protestants are in Lower Canada. Why, when Lower Canada was a French Province, almost altogether Roman Catholic, such was the liberality of its people that they passed a separate school bill, much more extensive in its terms and granting considerably more protection to the Pro- testant schools in Lower Canada, than tlio Roman Catholic now enjoys here. [Applause.] And, as a fair man, [ could not, sir, admi- nister one kind of justice to my Roman Catholic friends in Upper Canada and deprive them of a privilege they enjoyed, while at the same time my Protestant brethren in Lower Canada were enjoying the same rights to a greater extent. [Hear.] Again, the schools ia Lower Canada are mostly in the hands of the Roman Catholic clergy, and as I would not willingly, if I could avoid it, send ray child to a Roman Catholic school, so I would not compel Roman Catholics to ng time rhibaii- fbr his najority tion to Brown's ;t seven it, and ind still jpresen- becanse rce that govern- ^ranted. ainst 113 lie 19th ools. I enacted iras not Vhy did )a why. eprive a he has proved e asked c super- led and e do no ay own 1 of that and for a large lolics in 5 are in rovince, y of its ctensive he Fro- lic now r, adrni- 1 Upper at the injoying hools ia 5 clergy, liid to a liolics to 81 send theirs to Protestant institutions ; tor, if a teacher believes a given thing to be truth, it would be his cltity to impress it on his pupils, and as I would not like to subject my son to the proselytizing influences of a Roman Catholic priest, so 1 would not force iloman Catholic children to be placed under the care of Protestant school- masters. Well, though Mr. Brown, out, had said the clause must be l•e\^ei\lcd cofde qui conte — that sectarian schools must be abolished at once — no sooner did he get m than an arrangement was come to with Messrs. Dorion and McCtcc, that a commissioner, messenger oc agent should be appointed in order to run all over the earth, examining into the systems of Belgium, Switzerland, Prussia, &-c., to find* out one which would work to the satisfaction of all parties. [Laughter.] And while this commissioner was away — and if he were well paid he would stay away a long time — while he was preparing his report as to a plan which should reconcile all people and make Iloman Catholics and Protestants think alike — [laughter] — what do you think was to be done ? Why, things were to remain as they are, and separate schools were not to be attacked at all. [Hear, hear and laughter.] " A Voice. — Who was the commissioner to be I Mr, !McGee ! [Laughter.] " Mr. Macooxald. — Mr. McGee has denied that he was to be, and I will therefore say nothing more as to that. I will, however, quote you the two }iasstigcs in the G/obe which show the truth of what I have just stated, hi December, 1859, when M. Brown thought he ' had no ciiance of getting into office, he wrote: " Electors of Upper Canada ! These instructions of Charbonuel are bein;^ car- ried out all over the country. Now at this moment it is done secretly. Komish priestcraft loves a secret l)arii;ain. Depend upon it, wlienever you see a candi- date shirkini^ the iSectarian School ques-tion — talking of conciliation — talking of leaving things as they are — however strongly he may profess general opposi- tion to Sectarian SlIiooIs — that man has a secret bargain with the priests, and will be found next session where the priests want him." " In 1858, however, when Mr. Brown formed the Two-Days'- Ministry, what was the language of M. Dorion, as reported in the Globe ? It was as follows : " It was agreed by himself (Dorion) and his colleagues the question should be taken up at once, and an iufjuiry should be made without delay into the systems prevailing in .such countries as Belgium, Ireland and Prussia, where the same difficulties had arisen, and where ihey had more or less been satisfac- torily settled ; in order that the Common School law might be so amended as to make it work more in harmony with the people of both sections of the Pro- vince, Protestant and Catholic, and until that inquiry was made, the system should remain as at present." [Cheers.] 6 82 ME. TIIIBAUDEAU'S THREE REASONS FOR JOINING MR. DORION'S GOVERNMENT. Mr. Macdoiifild, iit Calodonia, thus referrtKl to the tliree reasons given by Mr. Tliibaud(;au for joining the Brown-Dorion Govern- menl. Th(; report is from the Dunvillc Independent. " You must know, gentlemen, tliat when Mr. Brown rode the high Protestant horse [laughter] he did not render himself very popular in Lower Canada ; and therefore it was that when he ibrmed u Govern- ment, this great champion of Upper Canada rights liad to show that Roman Caiiiolic and French influences would be carefully preserved by him. So when one of the most j)roniincnt members ol his administration, the President of liis Council and Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Thibaudeau, went before liis constituents for re-elec- tion, he gave three reasons for joining JMr. Brown. The first rcaso7i was that there were more Roman Catholics in his Government than there had been in any other since the Union. [Hear and laughter.] The second was that though Mr. Jkown had been in favor of repre- sentation by po})ulation — although, for years, both in and out of Parliament, through his newspapers, and by every other means, he had agitated the jmbjic mind, saying that, as Upper Canada had a larger population, it ought to have a larger re[)resentation than Lower Canada — although the continuance oi'the Union and the best interests of the country wore jeopardized by the agitation of that question prematurely — yet, [said Mr. Thibaudeau] among the twelve members of his administration, there were seven pledged against the principle. [Laughter and great applause.] You may remember that Messrs. Brown and Dorion, in their explanations in Parliament, stated that they had agreed upon the ultimate setlement of the question of representation by population, but that it was to be with certain " checks and guarantees. " What these " checks " were we never could find out, though we subjected the administration to a long and close cross-examination on the floor of the House. And we did not understand, if the principle was a good one, why any check should be necessary — if representation by population were granted, of what use would it be with " checks " upon its legitimate operation % But Mr. Thibaudeau disclosed what the real " check " was. It was that the six Lower Canada members of Mr. Brown's Government were all opposed to representation by population, and would vote against it to the last ; while one of its Upper Canada members, Mr. J. S. Macdonald, had always voted against it too, and still consistently opposes it. So that, although he opposed us for not granting representation by population prematurely, the first thing Mr. Brown did, was to enter into a fallacious and dishonest arrangement >yith Mr. Dorion, that he would at some time take up the principle, with a Cabinet the majority of whom were pledged to oppose it to the 83 G MR. easons lovern- le high pulur in jovern- 3W that eservecl ol his ster of re-clec- t rcaso?i lit than ighter.] f repre- out of ans, he I had a )ii than he Ijest of that twelve iiist the ber that iament, of the 36 with 'ere we )n to a And we check nted, of ration 1 It was 3rnment lid vote ers, Mr. istently granting , Brown nt with le, with to the last ! [Laughter and derisive clieers.] Another grcai cvy against us used to be that we h;id not introduced a measure to tibolisli r^i-parate Schools ; 1)ut what is the fact with regard to Mr. Brown's course on thissuhjecl? ^\'hy, though he attacked us because we carried out the law as we found it, [for, bear in mind,, we did nut make it]— though he said the 19th clause of the Conmion School Act ouiiht to be done away with at once — though he thundered out every day, Ihrcngh the columns of the Globe, that there was to be no jx^acc ii]>od that subject, no delay in settling thiit fjuestion — yet the third and /as/ reason why Mr. Thibaudeau joined INlr. iJrown was, that a ^ieiillcnian A\as to be sent, of course without delay, wiio was to wander over all Europe, and ])erhaps a little of Africa, to examine all the school sy.vtcms in vogue, to come back when he had found on a system to please every body and displease nobody, and had put the Province^ to all the expense of his pleasure trip, and il his system i)leased the House, then it should be adopted. A Voice— "Mr. McGee." Mr. jMaedonald — And they do say that the individual to be chosen was Mr. McCiee. [Laughter."] At the London dinner the subject was also touched ujxm, as follows : " With regard to representation by population, Mr. Brown, in his vigorous and able way, had stated in his newsjiapev and in Parliament, that Representation by ro])ulation must be granted, and that there would 1)6 no peace until it was. It was urged by him and his jnirty, in that election, that Upper Canada had more people and more wealth than Lower Canada, but only the same number of members ; and it was asserted as a sine guano?i that Upper Canada was wronged and would not submit longer to it, and that it must have representation by popu- lation. On the other hand, Lower Canada had contended this was a federal union, that they had a right to equality of representation, and that their interests and institutions were in danger if Represen- tation by population were granted. Well, the cry for the measure was made from one end of the country to the other ; and it was said the measure must be accorded^ no matter whether the demand for it led to bloodshed or not, no matter whether the country was plunged into all the horrors of civil war, and no matter whether the Union between the Provinces should be severed. In f ict, so strong was Mr. Brown's advocacy of the measure, that he said he was a " governmental impossibility" because he was true to the rights of Upper Canada. Yet, when an opportunity offered, he took office and agreed that while the principle of Representation by Population should be granted by Lower Canada, there .should be applied certain wholesome checks. [Laughter.] Since August, 18.58, the Covern- 6* 84 i'>' mcMil. had been endeavoring to find out what these cheeks were, hut without effect. They hud learned, however, from Mr. 'i'hihaudeuii, the nature of those checks. That genthuiian, in giving exphiuatious to his constituents why he had joined the Brown-l)orit)n Administration, gave as the hrst reason, that of the ten men in tlie Cahinet seven were pknlged l)ody and soul against llepresentation by Population, and that therefore it could not pass. These were the checks spoken of hy Afr. Brown. [Applause.] The very man whoa feAv months l)efbrc }v.u\ said the measure must he carried at all hazards — who had agitated the country from end to end in its fiivor — whoAvas hound to have it even if it cost blood — that man so arranged his Cabinet that of the twiilve men composing it only four and himself could or would liave voted for it. [Tremendous apj)lause.] MR. BROWN AND HIS PARTY. Al ('aledonia, Mr. Maedonahl thus spoke of \he manner in which Mr. Brown controls his j)ar1y : '' .iVfr. JJrown is not the exponent of the views of a party, l»ut l^y his superior will and energy he forces his party to do just as he wishes. lie is, in fiict, the whole ])arty. He said a few years ago, '" Re})re- .scntation by ro})ulalion is tlie only thing that can save lis," and the party at once »"eplied,'* We must have representation l)y jiopulation." Rut the other day he said, " Re[)resentation by ]^o])ulation is not the remedy, we must have dissc^lution,'' and the i>arty at once echoed, *' Rej)rcsentation by ro[)ulalion is not the remedy." [Hear, hear.] A i\y\v years ago he wrote, " (jentlemen, you must light for the abolition of separate schools'" Now he says they must " remain as they are." 'J'he j)arty Ibllowed his dictum then, they follow his dictation now, and so, by his force of will, he lashes them in like whijipcd spaniels. [Loud ajiplause.] They have no mind of their own — they have no princii)les of their own — if he says" that's black," they say it is black ; if he declares it is white, they swear it is white. They blindly follow him, their Protestant Pope. [Cheers.] Well, he has now commenced to agitate for the dissolution of the Union, because he finds that so long as the Union lasts, he cannot obtain and retain power ; and, degraded though Canada, nnder his system, wonld be, he would rather be a little King in Upper Canada, than remain in the cold shade of op))osition. I am quite satisfied, liow- ever, that in spite of this, the Union wid last — that this agitation about dissolution and an nndefinable " joint authority " will pass away as the other cries have passed away, and that next year, if Mr. Brown lives and is still a political character, he will say, " Gentle- men, we have changed our mind, we must have no dissolution, no * joint authority.' " [Cheers.] 85 At London, Mr. Macflon-ild rcitcalcd ihcsc views in other language, llms : " There are not Uv(» ])artios only, there rirc three. There is the party 1 lead, the parly Mr. Rruwn leads, and the party headed liy Messrs. Foley, .T. S. Mai'donald and Connor, and these two latter parties hate eaeli other like poison. [Launhter.] Last session their enmity hecanie so /a^ party, although these [)eo}ile will join factiously, and against reason vote against every measure of the Government, though they secretly approve of it, I cannot submit to the charge of being in the minority in Upper Canada, [Applause.] I first found out this s]>irit when I introduced S6 amriHiiro cflt'CfiiifT the Law Courts, (IcooUralizing thorn, and incroas- 311,2,- Iho jurisdiction of the County Courts, thus diminisliinjr the expenses ol" legislation. I ibund it was ojtposod on tlie lirst reading, althoM.ii,h many opposition members had eNj)ri'Ssed to me their approval of It. When I objected, and said it -was iMi(air, they told me thoy would not allow us to lop;islate, if they could help it, while we wore in a minority in lJp])er Canada, and they would oppose all our mea- sures, law or no law. [Hear, and cries of sliame.] — Whil(> giving exam|)les, I will mention a bill 1 introduced last year, framed hy Dr. Byerson, to compksto our system of education, as regarded the Com- mon and CIrammnr i^^chools of the country, lie said if lie could get that ('(^nunon School AmendnuMit Act passed, he would require no more. J found the bill to be drawn up by that gentleman with his usual ability, am! that it in fact was the com])l(^tion of our system. I had every confidence in the Rev. Gentleman's desire to make the Com- mon School system the pride of Canada, and wished to get the bill through, l)ut at the same time I said *' Dr. Ptyorson, though 1 believe this bill is as you say it is, a good one, you will lind it meet with the ananimous ojiposition of tlie Upper Canadian meml)ers of the anti- Ministerial ])arty." " Oh no,'' said ho, '• that cannot bo, for I liave seen most of them myself, 1 have talked with them, I have conversed with Mr. So and so about every clause, anil the O[)position are in fav(n- of the Bill." " Oh," 1 replied, " I know them better than you do, they jnay ajiprove of it secretly, but they will try to defeat it, and, if they can't defeat it, thoy will vote against it, that they may say " here's an ITjipor Canada J^ill forced upon us by tlie votes of Frenchmen." But 1 carried the Bill through Committee, clause by clause, the mem- bers of the Opposition sitting near me and making suggestions, some of which I acce|)led. Yet on the third reading they united against it, every man of them, so as to say "see here, an U})per Canada School Act has been forced upon us by Lower Canada votes." I, however, challenge any man to show that we really have legislated with Lower Canada votes against the interest of Upper Canada. [Cheers.]" Mr. Macdonald enlarged on the subject at London, tlius : ** Those who assail us, Mr. Chairman, cannot point to one of our measures they wish to have repealed, although like Mr. J. S. Mac- donald, of" law or no law" notoriety, they have voted against them all. Those men have had the shamelessness to neglect their duty so far as to vote against good measures, though the moment they were carried they were perfectly satisfied with them. I will give you an instance of this, to show you how com])letely subservient the Oppo- sition party is to Mr. Brown. When my friend and colleague the Postmaster General, two years ago, introduced the present jury bill, 87 ncrcas- lig the (■ading, 'liroviil lie thoy e were ir inea- iriviiig by Dr. e Com- )iilcl get uiro no i.s usual ] had c Com- thc bill Ijolieve vith the lie auti- I have iivorsetl i are in you do, and, if " here''s hmen." le me ni- ls, some ainst it, Canada es. » I, gislated !Janada. of our ;. Mac- st them duty so ly were you an 3 Oppo- sfue the iry bill, which greatly simiilificd the working of the jury system and reduced its expenses, Mr. McKellar, who had just n^furned that morning from his constituency, g(»t up a) upraised the bill — said it was a splendid measure — a great improvement. Yet when the vote; came Mr. IJrowu held up his finger, and siiid, ** You must not vote Ibr that bill," and Mr. McKellar, in obedience to his master, voted airainst it. [Hear.] Again, in regard to the Common JSchool bill of last session,! may say that Dr. Ryerson brought it to me, telling me it woidd remove all the obstructions of the system, and said, " if that bill is passed I will eonr;ider our Common I^^chool system complete." f told him we were likely to have a short session, and as the bill related to matter of de- tail, not absolutely uecess ry, tliough they did oil the machinery, it might delay us too much, as the 0[)position were siu*e to vote against it. " Oh ! no," said ho, " they all aj)|)rove of it. 1 have talked with so and so and so and so, (giving me the names) *' and they will help you through with it." fcjaid I, " 1 know them better then you do," and when, to oblige him, 1 introduced the bill, they all ojiposed it. [Shame.] When we were in Committee of the Whole, after the second rmding, they all crowded round the table. I made son:.e sug- gestions to amend tlie bill, which were received, they made others which I accepted, and all went on harmoniously. AA hy was this ? Be- cause what is done in Committee of the whole is never reported — there are no votes taken. [Hear, hear.] But when it came to the final stage, these same members all voted against the bill, Avith the excc])tion of one member, Mr- Bymal, the member for .South Went worth. " There, Doctor," said I, " you see to what extejit faction will go !" [Laughter and cheers.] It is really surprising, considering the ubstruetions we have met with, that we have got on so well ; but the country is be- ginning to understand the manceuvre, and to see that we have really gone steadily on, doing what the country required, and doing it honestly too, [x\pplause.]" MR. BROWN AND THE BANK CHARTERS. In reply to a (pustion put to him at St. Calhe'rines, Mr. Mac- donald said : " One of the very Banks which had recently suspended payment in Toronto, received its charter through the exertions of Mr. Broyrn himself, who introduced the Act into Parliament, and carried it through'" 88 THE MAINTENANCE OF Till-: UNION nETWKlON UIM'KR AND LOWEll CANADA. At llic St. Cti'lH-'rincs' dinnrr, aftor ,st;iliiiii^ that a Govcnmient wan n<'(M'ssarily forljiddcn Iroiii (IccdariiiLf its policy in advanco of tlie iiK^eting of P.irliarnoiit, Mr. Macdonald thus coiitiiiucd : " l^iit, Sir, tlierc is one point of our polioy on wliit-h wo can ho explicit ; wo (losing ooiitinacd union with Lowor Caiiiula. Cut off, Its wo should ho by disunion, IVoni diroct conimiiuicution with tho sea, wo shoukl ho doptjudont on tho oiiprico ol' tho IJnitod Statos as to whothor we should :ii)i)ronch tho senhoard at Now York. Wore disunion to occur, Ui)per Canada would ho a niiscrablo little back .state; Ra- Central Canada, ronioinbcr — (.'anadn.siiy oast of tho 'J'ront — would join with Lowor Canada, as all its doiKaidonce is on Ih ; 8t. Lawrence, and it has not those coniniunications which you have with New York. Upper Canada would then bejiin a little east of Cobour^-, while Lower Canada would be larj^cr and more important tliau it is now. '.riiat you will see, would never do. Now we are a nation, equal, if not superior, to any saA-'o Great l^ritain itself, as to our credit in the money market, ^\'e will not be broken up into two or three wretched little states. United, we will continue our rapid onward pro, iSt. vc witli liiiii it i.s I nation, ir credit or til roe onward ■ Queen, il said : )er Pro- m. No ."■ere dis- C)f tlie of the rty who been, i fought cheers.] should 1 ]>efore 1 — great )o.sition. ming a position 'e again snnk into two wrctclied niunii-i|ialities, with difrcrcnt interests, diHer- cnt rcligimis, and opjiosinii |>rt'|iit(!d, Mr. Jirown had si-.id in the (tVahr — ** \W»idd lj|i|ier (^iuiada |»rt>s{ier with an ignorant and untMlu- " cated race possessing the eiiainnd and mouth of the .St. Lawren-e ? " AVe think not. No policy c(.uld he inore suicidal than a separation ** of the iVovinces. It wouhl materially weaken the Colonial i'lnipire *' ol'Ciroat J5ritain." [Clu'ers.J \ es, continued Mr. Macdonald, it would seviM" the connectioji with (ireat Hrilain, yet such was Mr. Brown's desperate political position, that he had ]iressed lor ii disso- lution, and committed his wliele party to it, even at tlic expense of breaking the haj)py connection bt tween Canada and England, [(^reat a|iplauso.] Then, again in October, 1853, Mr. JJmwn, through the G/o/jc, said — " In a country ^\■lli(dl has no foreign aliairs to control, " it would be seen that one Tjcgislalure ought to suflice. To give *• Congress tnertdy control of llie 'fariU'and I'ost Office would muke it " a nullity ; and if tlu,' nianugeiuent of legal aiiiiirs and (]nestions *• relating to publiir morality were committed to it, there would be " no need for local Legislatures. *' 'I'liese sentiments so pt)werfully expressed by Mr. l]rf)wn in IS'ili and 18r)5,are mine (Mr. Macdonald's) in ISGO. [Loud and long (Mintinued a])plausc.] It is the duty, in my opinion, and T liopc^ also in the oj)iiiion ol' those jiresent, of every lover of his country, to keej) it in the high ])Osition it had attained — to keep it from retrograding, and, by separating lJ])])er Canada from I^ower Canada, dush its glorious firospects to the ground. What would Upper Canada be, separated Irom the sister I'rovince, but a petty municijjulity, having no exit to the seaboard, and in a constant stale of dependence u])on the good-will of the neighboring Republic ? You may talk of the domination of Lower Canada, but it [lossesses sjtlendid water communication and all the advantages which fit it lor union with llie Upjier IVovince. Nature has joined the two touother, and that man is no lover of his country who would sever th'- boiuls tiiat unite them. [Loud applausf^] Lower Canada is certain to becoiue a manulacturing country. The climate and popu- lation are both fsvorable to tlie promotion of manufactures. This being the case, l'j)[>er Canada will have a home market for its pro- duce, aial Lower Canada will supply it with manufactured goods. We shall not then be dependent upon the crops in Europe for a market for our products, as we are now, when even a good crop on the Black Sea affects the ])rice of our grain. By becoming one great country, by having . large po[iulation of manufacturers in Lower Canada and farmers in Upper Canada, we shall have a domestic market and be sure to get a good reward for our labor. All this will be lost if we return to the position of things before 184-0. It is true that wher two peo})le of different races, antecedents and associations are 90 together, there must be a certain amount of animosity and heart- burning ; but so it was once between England and Scotland, and so it was between England and Ireland. I believe on the whole it is extraordinary that the Union has been so successful. In twenty years the assimilation and amalgamation between the two Provinces has been wonderful. All Moderate men begin to appreciate the advan- tages of the Union ; and if it were desirable to maintain the standing oftheconntry — and who would say it was not desirable — we must continue the Union ; we must look indulgently upon each other's faults and foibles ; we must try to get over these little discrepancies instead of enlarging them for mere party political purposes. [Loud cheers.] " At London, Mr. Ma.cdonald spoke of the absurd nature of the " joint authority" scheme : ^ " On gunpowder plot day, 1859, Mr. Brown found out that represen- tation by population was not worth a farthing, that it was no real remedy. He set it aside, though he had called it every thing for Upper Canada, and he raised uj) a new myth, a new phantom which he called "joint authority." [Derisive laughter.] If we ask our- selves what this joint authority is, we shall see how crude the idea is. Is it a legislature or is it a bench of bishops ? If it means any thing, it means that Canada is to be divided into two, that there are to be two separate legislatures, but a central power. Now, if the joint authority which is to govern all Canada is to legislate on all points affecting Eastern and Western Canada, why, that is what we have just now. The only difference would be that under the pro- posed system we would have three parliaments, any amount of speakers, any amount of maces, one central power, and two wings, not doing any thing, however, because the central body, if it was entrusted with real power, would do every thing. But if the real power was to be in the local governments, the central one would be of no use whatever; it would be a mere figure-head. But, sir, it would have this effect, and indeed the whole scheme means this, that when Mr. Brown found that he cuuld not be Prime Minister for the whole of Canada, he was quite willing to be Prime Minister of Upper Canada for a while, and advise Her Majesty's representative on the affairs of one half of the Province. [Loud applause.] To such a consummation I am altogether opposed ; I am a sincere Unionist, I nail my colors to the mast on that great principle. Our first object is union with Great Britain, under the government of our beloved sovereign. Queen Victoria ; and I say that next to the union with Great Britain, next to having our Queen as ruler, I look to the union of the two Canadas as most essential. [Cheers.] After the Govern- ment of which I was a member, and continue to be a member, had settled the great questions to which I hav*:, alluded, there were, un- til ^ 91 lieart- and so ole it is twenty ovinces advan- tanding e must otlier's ?pancies [Loud ! of the jpresen- no real hing for 1 which sk our- he idea ms any icre are ^ if the 5 on all t'hat we he pro- ount of ) wings, r it was he real 'ould be it, sir, it ns this, ist(^r for ister of ;ntative I'o such ionist, I bject is beloved n with e union rovern- •er, had re, un- f| fortunately, no great principles on which parties were divided — an unwholesome stale of things for them, as has lately been the case both in England and Canada ; politics became a mere struggle for office. I am hapj)y that now we have a new principle announced, on. which we can agree or disagree, I am glad there is a party willing to agitate the country on the question of disunion, because we can then fight and struggle upon the subject, it can be our war cry. [Hear.] I go with all my power and Ibrce in favor of the continuance of the union, and 1 say this — whntcver may have been the antecedents of any man in Canada, whether he has acted with me or against me, if he bo(?omes a disunion ist, I disown him ; and I don't care what may have been the antecedents of another, though he may have struggled fiercely against me, if he enters himself as a supporter of the union with England, under Her Majesty the Qneen, and of the union of the two Canadas, I hail him as a brother, and am ready to act with him. [Cheers.] Cod and natnre have joined the two Canadas, and no liictious pulitician should be allowed to sever them. The Siirae great waters flow past them, the mighty tit. Lawrence conuects them, their interests are the same. Our country, sir, is one. The agricultural products of Upper Canada will flow to the cities of (Quebec and Mont- real, and Ije deposited there, and there will be a reciprocity of benefits. In Lower Canada there is an incalculable amount of water power for every manufacturing purpose. There is a large industrious and frugal population, living for six months of the year in enforced idleness. It must become a great manufactvu-ing country. Then, sir, we shall see that wholesome exchange of commodities in active operation which our recent legislation has j)romoted,we shall have the farmer sending his wheat down, not to be in all cases forwarded to Europe to compete with Russian, Turkish or Egyptian wheat, but we shall find a pur- chaser at our own door, get a reasonable price for it, and the Lower Canada consumer of Upper Canada produce will send back the manufactures which he has been busily working at and preparing, in his different scene of industry, during the winter months. [Loud cheers.] " Mr. Maedonald, at St. Thomas, alluded to the growth of Canada since the Union, saying: " There is one ([uestion in which the government is to some extent interested, and to which it is to some extent committed. It is that of the confederation of the Provinces. Confederation is one thing, joint authority is anotluT. It was formerly stated, that, by unit- ing with the Lower Provinces, we should put an end to French influence and cure Lower Canadian domination. I do not go into the question with any such spirit, believing that the union between Upper and Lower Canada has been a great success. It took a century 92 before Scotland got over the feeling of opposition to the union with England, and really began to enjoy the benefit of that union. He knew what opposition there was to the union between England and Ireland. And when we consider that the union of Canada took place only a few years ago, in 1840, I am surprised at its early success. From two miserable municipalities having no credit, no standing of any kind, we have grown to be a nation. [Hear.] We are considered in the light of a nation ; we are equal in population to the United States when they assumed the resi)oiisibility of independence ; in wealth we are far before what they were. When wc consider that tlie French of Lower Canada used to look to France for a model, the British of Canada to England, and tliat when the union took place the two Provinces were actually fighting hand to hand, and sword to sword, we may well wonder that civil war has died away, that political dissentions are only kept up by political demagogues, and that we have risen to such a height of credit before the civilized world." At Hamilton, the following remarks fell from the Attorney Ge- neral West : " And I will now draw your attention to but one subject more. This is now a great agricultural country, and is going to be one of the greatest manufacturing countries in the world, possessing as it does great water power, an industrious [)opulation which, as it increases, will of course contain more and nnjre ))oople untitled for agricultural pursuits and wanting other means of employing their industry. — Especially will manufactures spring up in Lower Canada, and we shall have the manufiicturer of Lower Canada sending lis goods to Upper Canada in exchange for the wheat and other productions of this more favored section of the Province. But in order to do so we must resist as one man this cry of dissolution of the Union. [Rap- turous applause.] We are now one great country, with a population of nearly 3,000,000 — equal to that of the United States at the time c>f the declaration of Independence — standing as to our credit at the capitals of Europe equal — aye and superior to — most nations of the European world. [Cheers.] I hope that the Union between Great Britain and the Colonies, especially this colony, will long continue, but that if we ever are severed from her we shall be severed as one people — great in territory, great in resources, great in enterprize, great in credit, great in capital, as we can only be through and during the Union. [Cheers.] To dissolve the Union would be a suicidal act, Ibr we should revive the same state of things as in 1837, when one Province was exclusively British, the other exclusively French, with no com- mon laws, without similar systems of administering justice, insomuch that a man at one end of the Province would not find the same law as in the other, and what was a crime in one might be a virtue in '■'I lion with ion. He and and >ok place r success. Hiding of jnsidered o United ence ; in idcr that odel, the dok place sword to ay, that rues, and civilized rney Ge- 3ct more. nc of the s it does increases, ricultural dustry. — I, and we 1 cfoods to notions of do so we 1. [Rap- opiilation ime (>f the e capitals European itain and hat if we le — great n credit, 10 Union, jt, for we Province no coin- in somuch lame law virtue in n 93 the other. As I said a day or two ago, whatever may have been the political existence of any man, if he be for the [Jnion, I hail him as of the same party as myself, if against it I denounce and disown him. And if I had any influence over the minds of the people of Canada, any power over their intellects, I would leave them this legacy — " Avhatcver you do, adhere to the Union — we are a great country and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it; we shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken." God and Nature have made the two Canadas one — let no factious men be allowed to put them asunder. [Loud and long con- tinued cheering.] " Mr. jNIacdonald, at Gnelpli, j)ointed out the great and conti- nually advancing prosj)erity of the country and attributed it all to the Union : " He said — What was Upper Canada previous to 1840? A wretched municipality, having credit neither at home or abroad, with no home market and without communication with the seaboard. But ])y the Union we attained a high position in the world. We have a magni- ficent line of water communication, a direct trade with Europe, can obtain credit to an almost unlimited extent in England and have every prospect of becoming one of the m^^^.t prosperous and thriving commu- nities in the world. Are we going to spoil all this by severing the Union in order that Mr. Brown may govern a part of it ? (Cries of " no, no.") That is the whole secret of the agitation. Mr. Brown, finding he has no chance of again governing the whole country, even for two days, cares not whether he throws it into the condition it was in half-a-century ago, if he only has an opportunity of reigning in Western Canada. The language the poet Milton put into the mouth of his Satanic majesty is very applicable to his case — " I would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven.^' (Applause.) Mr. Brown's ambition is such that he would rather govern half of the country — and the half which would be depressed and ruined — in order that he may call himself the first man in it, than have the prospect before him of being forever excluded from the government under the Union. I hope and feel you all a^ee with me in the importance of for the future founding our party, its hopes and its prospects, upon the Union of Canada audits Union with the Crown of England — Union now under our beloved (iueen, and Union under her son, when in the course of time and by God's providence he becomes our Sovereign." 94. The list of extracts on the subject may be concluded with Mr. Macdonald's reference to it at St. Thomas. " Mr. riiairman, I cannot press too strongly upon your attention the close connection that exists between Upper and Lower Canada. [Cheers.] Sir, I am heart and soul a Unionist, [(ireat applause.] After the governments, of which 1 have been a member, had settled the questions which agitated the country, there was scarcely any great principle left on which parties were divided. That is an un- wholesome state of things, where no great principle is at stake. When no great questions divide parties, politics are apt to become a perso- nal matter — ])eople struggle for i)arty purposes and not for the sake of principle. I am glad that, in consequence of late proceedings and. acts performed by a largo and respectable i)arty in Canada, we can agniu form ourselves into i wo parlies — Unionists and Disimionists. ^Cheers.] I, sir, as I said before, and the government with which 1 act, are Unionists in heart and soul. We go for union with Eng- land and union with Lower Canada. [Cheers.] If you will only consider, you will perceive in what a position Canada is placed. We have one of the finest positions on the globe — the most magnificent system of inland navigation in the world — no where else can any thing l)e seen like our waters ; our great lakes, our magnificent 8t. Law- rence. And, sir, we are only in our infancy — our untaught minds cannot appreciate the wealth our children will see rolling along those waters — the treasures of the West pouring down them, to be deposited in the great PJa^st. They will also see this, that from the extraor- dinary fertility of Upper Canada ; the mildness of its climate, the richness of its soil combining to render it the finest agricultural region in the world, it will develop itself as a great producer of food. In Lower Canada, they will see one of the greatest manufacturing coun- tries under the sun. You must know that many parts of Lower Canada have a soil as rich as the best portions of the AVestern Pro- vince, but a climate so severe and rigid, that it compels the hardy and industrious population to endure six months of enforced idleness. During the long winter they have scarcely any occupation, while at the same time they are anxious to work, being the most industrious, careful and frugal people in the world, handy and apt in learning the various arts. They have water power in the most astonishing quan- tity, and they have thus within their reach all the materials for a great manufacturing country. — Men, women and children can work in the factories during the winter; a certain portion of them can go to the fields in the summer time. (Applause.) Hence it will be seen that the farmer of Upper Canada must send his produce to be consumed by the manufacturers in Lower Canada. In return he will receive ma- nufactures, such as clothing, made in our own country. (Applause.) We shall then have a home market. At this moment we are altogether dependant on the crop in England, or the crop on the Baltic Sea, as to ^'ith Mr. ittention Canada, iplaiise.] d settled cely any s an un- . When a perso- e sake of ngs and. , we can inionists. 1 which th Eng- ,vill only ;ed. We gnificent ny thing St. Law- t minds tng those leposited extraor- late, the al region food. In ingcoun- j{ Lower tern Pro- lie hardy idleness, while at lustrious, rning the ng quan- ir a great rk in the go to the that the ; limed by 3ive ma- pplause.) Itogether Sea, as to 9b whether the produce of our farmers is worth much or little. A single harvest on the continent of Europe, approaching in amount to that which we have fortunately, by the blessing of Providence, been able to reap in Canada, would render our wheat almost valueless. People there are close to England — the farmers are many of them serfs, living cheaper and more coarsely than we could ourselves, or would allow our servants to do — they can produce much cheaper than we can, and live upon less. Thus, ns I said, we are altogether depen- dent on their crops as to whether the fruits of our industry shall be worth much or little. [Hear.] But when we have a home market, as I expect we shall, we shall be independent — we shall be able to sell our produce to our artizans, and our own tradesmen will supply us with the fruit of their labor in exchange. [Hear, hear.] Pardon me, if I again, and in conclusion, call your attention to the necessity of forming one great party of Unionisl.s in Canjida. I would say this, lliat I consider every man who says he is in favor of the union, of the complete union of the Canadas, and the complete union with England, to belong to my party, whatever his antecedents may have been. And though he may have fought side by side with me in Parliament, he is diametrically opposed to me if he raises his finger for the repeal of the happy union which now exists. [Long continued cheering.] " Appendix A. REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. Spcecli of Mr. Macdom^ld in the Legislative Assembly, 19th April, 186L Attorney General Macdonald rose and said : this important question had been fully and fairly discussed by members on all sides of the House. He had been in Parliament for seventeen years, and had never heard any subject so ably debated, from every ])oint of view. So much so had this been the case, that if the speeches had been fully reported, or, better still, if each member would lake the trouble to prepare his speech, a volume would be formed which would be, for all time to come, a faithful repertory of all that could be said on the subject and almost a hnnd-book to our constitution. [Hear.] His lion, friend the member for South Simcoe could say that the attempt, if attempt there had been, to prevent ample discus- sion of his bill, had been a signal fiiilure, and he had received the just reward of the zeal and sincerity with which he had pressed it forward. He had forever connected his name with Re])resentation by Population. He Avas no trading politician — he had not used the question for the purpose of exalting himself or attacking a Govern- ment, but impressed with the importance of the subject, he had brought it forward upon its merits. It would be an ill-judged policy on the part of this House if, after the full discussion of this measure, it should not vote upon it according to its merits. It could be no longer said that discussion had been stifled. And it would be a cri- minal waste of the public time to let it go to a second reading for the sake of courtesy, when the whole debate would be had over again. [Hear.] For the subject had been exhausted, every argument had been used, every clause of the bill was understood, and its merits and defects were known. He, for one, should give his vote on the merits of his lion, friend's bill. [Hear.] Well, looking at the bill thus, he could not give his vote for it. [Hear, hear.] He would give the same vote as in July, 1858, against the introduction of a measure of this kind. It seemed to him that the measure was pre- mature, until such time as the census was completed, fully showing in what manner we could deal with the question fairly. If there was to be a readjustment of the representation of the country, il must su 97 y, 19th portant ill sides irs, and )oint of lies had ake the which t could titiition. )iild say disciis- Lved the ressed it entation ised the Govern- he had policy neasure, d be no je a cri- T for the ;r again, lent had s merits on the the bill e would ion of a was pre- showing If there , il must xj & be done with an accurate knowlcd^re of all the facts. (Hear.) But there wore serious objections to the bill itself. In the lirsit place there Wiis no limit to the ainouiit. of rt>i)re.sL'ntatioa. If the measure was carried out, we should soon have a piirliameut as numeroii.s and as cumbrous as that of Great Britain. There was no muxinuim set down. It was said that as the counties incrca&ed in })opulution, so must the numbers of representatives increase. Tliat was a vicious prinei[)!e, which had been dissailowed last session by that very House. The i)rincii)le of allowing a constituency to have more than one representative was dissalluwed in the ])ill to divide Montreal, Quebec, and Toronto into sepisrate electoral districts. The only principle by which the only true relation between the constituency and the representative could bo established was by havino- one re- presentative to one constituency. Mr. Foley. — That is a matter of detail. Hon. J. A. Macdonald. — It went to the very principle of the bill. In fact, to adopt the measure v/uuld be to take a retroj^rade step. Well, looking further th;ui the bill, and at the principle of represen- tation according to |ioj)ulation, he would say now what he had always said ; he was opposed to it and always voted against it. His hono- rable friend from Cornwall had cliarged the Conserv^ative party, the other day, witii h Lving commenced the agitation of the subject. That was not the cr.se. The question was never mooted until it was brought up by the Baldwin administration in 1819. From 1S40 to 1849, the country ucce})ted the constitution. It had been adopted by the representatives of the })eople of Upper Canada and by the gover- ning power in Lower Caniula. There was a great deal oi' doubt and hesitation in the mind of Upper Canada at the time, and almost uni- versal dislike to it on the part of Lower Canada, but both set them- selves honestly to work it out to the best advantage. And so they went on until IS-l-Q, when a measure to increase the number of re- presentatives in the House was introduced by the Lafontaine-Baldwin Government. He deiied his honorable friend to shew that in any way whatever the Conservative party had supported that measure : on the contrary, they had always adopted a contrary course. Iri 1849, '50, '51, and '52, the Conservative party had voted against it as one man, and were, in fact, so close driven that if one of them had changed his vote, tlie measure would have been carried. It depended, they might remember, on the question whether tiie Speaker had a casting vote or not, under the two-thirds clause, and Mr. Morin decided that, under the act of Union, he had not. Mr. Go WAN — That bill did not involve Representation by Popula- tion. " Hon. J. A. Macdonald — He knew that. But at that time Mr. Chauveau, an eleve of Mr. Papineau, moved an amendment involving Representation by Population. They would find, on the 18th March, 1849, that he moved two resolutions. 7 98 li«t. Mr. Chauveau moved, seconded by Mr. Laurin, and the question was put. " That it is to be regretttnl the inhabitants of the late Province of Lower Ca- "nada have not been constitutionally consulted with respect to the passing of *• the Act of the Imperial Parliament re-uniting tliCtwo late provinces of Upper " and Lower Canada, and that the said Act contains provisions contrary to <' justice, and to the rights of British subjects." " The only yeas on this were Messrs. Chaiiveau, Laurin and Pa- pi neaii. 2nd. Mr. Chauveau moved, " That among tlie provisions which are contrary to justice and the rights of " British sul>jecls, is that vvhicli establishes an c(iual numberof Representatives " for each f-fclioii of the Province formerly coiislitiitiiig the Province of Upper " and Lower Canada, without taking into consideration tiieir respective popu- <' lati(m." [The divi.-^ion was the same.] Mr. Foley — Every one knew what that was for. " Hon. Mr. Macdonald — lie did not know wluit the hon. member meant by thnt. They were two resolutions on the solemn record of the House proposing a change in the quantity of the Representatives of Upper and Lower Canada, and the conservative party voted against them in the most distinct way, showing that not a single member of the party was in favor of altering the 1)asis of the Union. The only motions from which it might be inferred that they were in favor of a change were one made by Mr. John Gamble, and another by 8ir Allan. McNab, that if a constituency had more than 20,000 people it should have two re})rcseiitcitives. These resolutions were however moved ( as amendments, for the pur])ose of defeating the second reading of the bill to increase the number of members of Parliament. He had said, and urged it in his humble way, and warned the Lower Cana- dians at the time against such legislation. True, the increase was based on the principle of equality, but he had pointed out as strongly as he could that if they Avere at liberty to discuss the question at all they could not fetter themselves to the question of equality. The Union was a distinct bargain and a solemn contract, reduced to writing, and if it were meddled with at all — if they could exercise their independent judgment with regard to it — if they could alter it in the slightest degree, they could not bind the Colonial Legislature ; but must leave several questions open to be discussed ; the principle of equality being as liable to be brought up as the principle of increase. [Hear.] And so it had proved. [Hear, hear.] He was directly op- posed to the })rinciple of Representation by Population as a conserva- tive, because it led by logical sequence to universal suffrage. His hon. friend the member for North York had attempted the other night to draw a distinction between the constituent body and the Pi-epre- sentative body, and said the alteration in the one did not involve the alteration of the other. That was not a correct argument. In this ontatives fl against leraber of The only favor of a Sir Allan 1 it should er moved { reading of , He had ver Cana- rease was ,s strongly ition at all .ity. The reduced to d exercise lid alter it igislature ; ? principle if increase, irectly op- con ser va- ra ge. His )lhcr night the Ptepre- nvolve the t. In this n 99 bill, the Representative body was to be altered as the members in the constituent bodies increased. But thai was not all. 'J'lie reprcscMi- tation was to be based on the number of people, men, women and chiklren, which brought up Iho wliole subject of utiiversnl suf- frage at once, [t led directly to it, and as a conservative, he must oppose it with all his might. Dr. Connor — Absurd, absurd ! Hon. J. A. Macuonald — Tiie hon. member might think it fi])surd, but there were gentlemen even on the Opposition benehes who, though they might not agree with the argument, wt)uld nut think it absurd. [Hear. J He was opposed to universal stiHnige. he repeated it. Ex})erience had shewn that it left a naticiu weak and led it towards anarchy and desj)otistn. Unless there was a midilU; power, unless property was protected and made one of the principles on which representation was based, ihey might perluqis have a people altogether equal, but they would soon cease to have a peojtie alto- gether free. [Hear.] Mr. Foley — Perhaps before the Attorney General went further, he would allow him to read a resolution expressive of his views on Pvepresentatiou by Population at a particular time. When the mea- sure was before tlic House to equalize the representation of TJpper Canada. Mr. Gamble moved in amendment, seconded by Sir Allan MacNab— " That all the words after « That " be left o"ut, and the bill be re-committed for the purpose of ijiscrting the following words . " And be it enacted, that whenever the population of either Pection of the " Province shall exceed that of the other by ono-third, every county or riding " tlien containing within its limits a population of 30.000, shall be entitled to " send a seconcl member to rtspresent the coiuity or riding in the Legislative '< Assembly. And it shall be the duly of the (Governor in Council to divide such *' county or riding into two ridings of compaot and ailjacent territory as nearly " as can be ot ecjual numbers in relation to population, for the purpose of such " representation, and to designate tiie boundaries of such ridings as shall be " entitled to be represented, &c." Among the yeas taken down was the name of the Hon. Attorney General West, and almost all the other Conservatives. [Hear, hear.] Still, the Hon. gentleman affected to place the House under the im- pression that he never voted for Representation by Population. [Hear, hear.] Hon. T. A. MAcnoy\T,'^— 'T^br b'^M .'-"'•-*b;v,"n mi-vlil, as av^'I l.ave saved himself the trouble ot reading tiiat resolution. He had pre- viously mentioned the reason for which Mr. Gamble brought it for- ward. [Hear.] Another objection he had to the princi[)lc involved in his hon. friend's bill was this — that if Representation by Popula- tion were adopted, it must either increase indefinitely the number of representatives, or else compelled the adoption of the vicious system of altering the territorial limits of constituencies every time there had to be a readjustment. Now, it was of the very greatest importance, of 100 ])viiVv!n-y ini[)ortiUico iiidood, that Ihc Eiire Avas anolh r reason favorable to county organizations. It \\:iS that, in them, men were trained to the duties of administra- tion — learned to bear and l()rbear — learned how to make judicious compi-omises— and get all sorts of crotchets driven out of their minds. Let nil tli'^se be thought of before we talked of introducing a general systoia of l)reaking up counties into scpiares, to M'hich .system such a principle as that ot this bill must infallibly lead. [Hear.] lie was satisfied that the best means of securing good government was repre- sentative institutions, but representative institutions being merely a means to an end were liable to be altered, just as the experience of the country might dictate. There was no inalienable right in any man as such to exercise the franchise. Otherwise on what ]n-ineiple could we say as we did say, that one man had a right to thi! fr;in<^!iise br-cause he was assessed for J650 of real estate, while we deprived of the riglit a man who was assessed for JG4'9, a man whose natural capacity might lie greater in every way 1 Yet no one ( in this House olijected to that arrangement, unless, indeed, the junior member for Montreal, who, if he understood him rightly, had ex- ])ri\ssed himself in favour of universal suffrage. The objection to that system was ol)vious, though ]"»erhaps on this continent, from the ge- neral dilfdsion of wealth among the people, it was less obvious than in iMu-ope. If the })rinciple of representation by universal .suffrage was adopted, the result would be in this country as it had been in other countries, that those who had no property would come to have the gov(^rning ]x)wer, the power of im])osing the burdens on those who had property. In all countries where universal suffrage had been introiluced, it amounted in the long run to a confiscation of property, and men of property had been obliged as in France, to seek refuge in despotism, to rescue them from the tyrannical power of mere numbers. While po[)ulation was one of the chief elements on which represen- tation should be based, it was still only one of the elements, and the true principle by which representation should be regulated, was that all interests .should be represented, ("Hear, hear.] That was the princi])le of representation in England, and under it England had flourished, and had withstood the storms of revolution, of foreign war, and domestic dissension. From the time that England had repre- (i > kept up I ill the 1 interest to rest, as [Ilenr.] ary prin- cipalities ely, they 1 o(" party sen to bo arty pnr- iiizations. niinistra- jiidicioiis ir minds, a general !m such a lie was ^as repre- merely a rience of right in rvvise on ul a right ite, while 19, a man '^ct no one ( the junior jf had ex- ion to that m the ge- ious than 1 suffrage I been in 3 to have on those had been ' property, refuge in numbers, represen- , and the was that was the jland had eign war, ad repre- pluces like Niagara, although he hojiod his lion, friend the member for tluittown would not consider he wasspeakiiigin disparagenifiil of Niagara. .Tust OS old iSarum iuid (nitton in ngland, when oik; was an old tree and another an old house, were the means of introducing great men into parliament, so Niagara had relnrned an hon. grntleman, wlio was worthy to represent the most important conslitueiiey in a country. He would be strongly in favour of increasiuir the bnrgh representation and giving representatives to sueli towns as Ih-antibrd, .St. Ilyaeinth, &:c. Now, as regarded tin* (jueslion of reprc sentaliun by population so strongly ])ressed ujx.n the; attention ol' the House, while he be- lieved his hon. iriend, the member for South ."^imeoe, was sincerely and truly, heart and soul, attached to the advocacy of that |)rinci|)le, ((jj he couid not pay the same con;j>Iim(>nt to the great body of hon. gen- tlemen opposite who furujed Her Majesty's op|)cisition. The member for North Oxlbrd, in the most candid manner, announced his opinions, and not his om'u opinions alone, but those t;f the pre;) t body of re- formers of Ui)per Canada, when ho said tliat representation by popu- lation Avas not a snflicient remedy, \A'as not the remedy, 'fhat was setth^l hnig ago, not only by that hon. gentleman, but by the whole body of the reformers of Ujiper Canada, at the Convention in 18f)9, Hon. .T. S. IMacdonald — Not all the Eeformers of Upper Canada. Honorable J. A. r>Tacdona1d said he understood the hon. member for C(jrnvvall was not present. But at all events it was a very large, very numerous, very respectable, and most influential collection of Relbrmers from Upper Canada, and the residts they arrived at might be held to be a fair indication of the o])inions of the Refl)rmers of Upper Canada on ini|x)rtant questions. The I^elbrmcrs in that convention came to the conclusion that represention by Pojiulation was, to use the language of hon. gentlemen o]»]>ositc, no (flic lent remedy for the evils under which Upjier Canada suffered, and the other day the hon. member for North C)xf( rd repeated that statement. He [Atty. Gen. Macdonald] made bold to deny that Upper Canada had been suffering under evils. AVhen they asked 102 wlmt those evils were, thoy were told that the interests of Lower Canada were mainly eonsultrd, and that the ministry of the day, having? n majority from Lower Canada, Inid overridden Tpper Canadian interests, had proventi'd TJi»pcr Canadian leiite.s might arise, that great question had been settled in a manner satisliictory — aye Avithout c.\ce])lion — to every one. Hon. Mr. Foley— No ! No ! Hon. .1. A. Macdonald — The lion, gentleman might say no, but he was Milling to meet him in the presence of the hon. gentleman's own constituents, and ask llu-in if they were not satisfied. He was sure he would receive from tluMn an aliirmative answer. D'hc people of Upper Canada were satisfied v»ith tliat measure ; in the first place, because it settled the question for ever ; in the second ]ilace, the different religious denominations and their clergy were satirsfied ; and then in ^'. '•>, next place, instead of that enormous ])roperty being a matter of disi)ute and covetousness between different sects and denominations in LIp[!er Canada it had been wiisely distributed among all the municipalities of Upper Canada, to be used ])y them for such useful fmrposes as they saw fit, to [)ay their lionest debts, to educate their children, or to improve their roads. The question had been. removed from the arena of party dispute, and had l)een settled in sneh a manner as to satisfy every i)arty and every interest. [Cheers.] But the hon. gontlenuin also quoted the Jury Law. And wliat was the complaint in thai case 1 One complaint had ref'erencj to a Bill 103 Lower e (l;iy, rpper i in an i lint ion ople ol' pposito mid not on one int to a oy look i Upper Clergy 3 wliole iniversul Clergy e should mil way, (question ig father disjuitcs niunnor o, but ho itleman's lie was ic people rst place, lace, the led ; and being a pcts and 'd among for such educate ad been Hlled in Cheers.] hat was J a Bill which came down {'nnn the T'ppor House, permitting juries to render verdicts, although the jury was not unan» ..ous. Hon. Mr. Foley-— That was not the Bill at all, I voted with you on that Bill. Hon. J. A. MACDONAi.n went on to say that because lie niaile a speech declaring that the Jury ought to be unanimous, and the majority of the HoiiNt> wont with hjni and threw out the 13111, wishing to preserve the olil .Saxon principle uhicn had prevailed from tlie time of King Alfi-ed npwjirdM, that the unanimous verdict of a Jury of twelve men .should bo nnpiired, and because the French actually voted that tlic law of J^iii/hind which had come down to us from our Anglo-Saxon ancestoM nIiouUI be main- tained, that was French domination ! The other .fury Bill, to which the member for Waterloo had retcrr(>d, Avas introduced for the purpose of cutting down the enormous expentie.s "f the old system, and it had been ellectual in reducing them to a most remarkable e.\- tenl. 'J'his had again and again been proved. His hon. friend from Kent (Mr. McKellar) when he first got the Bill, rose in his place and said it was a great im|)rovement on the old system. And yet (he was sorry to say for the independence of that hon. member) he was after- wards whi|)ped in by the hon. member for Toronto, his leader, and compelled to vote against the Bill at its third reading. And why ? Because he was told it was an Upper Canadian moiusiiro of a (lovern- ment which had not the majority in Upper Canada, and no matter how good it might l)e, it must be voted against in order to resist French domination, although it reduced the expenses of the .Jury sys- tem by at least one-third or one-half. And so it was with other measures he had introduced In one instance when he introduced a Bill which had met with universal approval in the profession, — that effecting an alteration of the Surrogate Coiu-ts, lie saw his hon. friend from l^^oulh Ontario (Mr. IMowat), and the hon. member for .South Oxford (Dr. Connor), engaged in eagerly cutting up the Bill, as the word was ])a8sed along to op})ose it — cutting up and hur- riedly reading the marginal notes, in order to see if th(?y could find nothing, on account of which to oppose the Bill ; and the member for Cornwall then rose and said — ' Good Bill or bad Bill, law or no law, we will vote against every Bill the Government introduces," becaus« forsooth they are not sujiported by a majority of I'pper Canada. Hon. Mr. Foley — And a cumbrous bill it is. Hon. J. A. Macdonald— I venture to say the hon. gentleman knows nothing alxmt the working of the Bill. Hon. Mr, Foley — I venture to say I know a great deal more about it than you do. Hon. J. A. Macdonald believed the hon. gentleman opposed the bill without reailing it, and he was pretty well satisfied he had not; read it since. [Laughter.] This, however, had become a grave mat- 104 ter, from the manner in which hon. f^entlemen oi>posilchacI treated it. Threats, most disloyal threats, had hecn held out in order to j)revent hon. members fr()m exercisinj^ their own jnd^ment on the siihjcct. [Hear, hear.] There had been threatening statements that the peo- ple of Upper Canada would rise in tlu'ir miglit and pnsh him and his colleagnes from their stools and put others in their j)laee. Was that a right argument 1 Was it becoming for hon. gentlemen to rise and threaten this lloiisc with an appeal to aims, that would set man against man, introduce a state of civil war, and repeat in thisconntry the dreadful scenes which were now being enacted across the border — and they had all heard the awful news that had come to night of men of the same blood killing each otlier, as in the first French revo- lution. The member for North Oxford (Mr. M;.cdougall) rose in hi» place and threatened this House and the country with a resort to arms, and why ? Because we choose to have our own opinions about the readjustment of re|)resentation in Parliament. These lion, gentle- men ought to consider \vell tlie cfli-ct of such appeals, which would be ■wicked, were they not absurd, lie asserted \\wyo, was no feelinjf among the people of Upper Canada, which would warrant such ap- peals, whatever might ]»t; their feeling on the jirinciple of Represen- tation by Population, or their desire to have an adjustment made. If there was a loyal people in the world, it. was the peo})le of Upper Canada, and he was confid(Mit tin y would not look to Washington [Cheeis] — notwithstanding that tluy were invited by the member for North Oxford to look to Washiuglon. Mr. Macdougall — I will not allov/ the hon. gentleman to misrepre- sent me. My argument was that if this course of policy was pursued, the peoj)le of Ujiper Canada might be driven to look to Washington. Hon. J. A. Macdonald — The honorable gentleman threatened that the country would ro])el, and he was not alone in making such a threat — the member fcr North York distinctly lold the House the same thing. They knew too that the honorable and able member for North Oxford was not only taking a high posi- tion in this House, but was connected with the })ublic ]>ress, with what might perhaps ]»e called the leading pa])er in Upper Canada, the * Globe.' 'fhey knew that that hon. member, as much almost, if not more than the hon. gentleman who loatts the Opposition, guided the counsels of tluit j)aper, and they found the same thing announced in its columns. In an article in the Globe of the 18th >^eptember, 1860, while the Prince of Wales was here, the following passage oc- curred : — ** I-.et the f imps, let the Duke of Nt^vcastle and his r.olleagties be assured, that we have reacht" I a crisis in lliis c.o.intiy which must eiiJ, urul that speedi- ly, ill one of tvvft Wiiys ; either in a chanye of tlie I'/iioii Act, with the aiil and assent of the Imperial Parliament, thai will secure etpial rights and immunities to the people of Upper Canada in proportion t • their numbers, or in a violent disruption of the present |)oiitioal relations of the provinces towards each other^ and possibly towards Great Britain-" (Sensation.) (| % 105 pate.d it. j)revent subject. the peo- and his ^iis that rise and iet man country xirder — niglit of ell revo- ;e in his to arms, bout the , gentle- v'ould he feelinjj such ap- epresen- t made. f Ujiper ?hington niber for lisrepv^!- pnrsiied, liinaton. reatened making Lold the ble and gh posi- ss, with Canada, Imost, if guided nounced itcmber, age oc- I assured. It speedi- i aitl and imuiiilieg a violent ;c'.h other. And what made it still more wicked, was that those hon. gentle- men rose in their places, one after another, and threatened us with rebellion, because fbrsoolh the majority in Parliament would not ac- cede to a principle which they themselves said was no remedy. What did the hon. member for North Oxford, and those who acted with him say ? " Upper Canada labors under great evils ; Kcj)resentation by Population is no remedy ibr those evils ; and, thereiore, if you don't concede Representation by Population, we will deluge the country in blood." [Sensation.] Did not tliis clearly shew that those hon. gentlemen were not sincere, and tliat they were making this ques- tion simply a means of agitating the public mind, without caring about the injury they would bring upon the ])rospects of Ujiper Ca- nada 1 When people set the wheels of revolution rolling, though it were merely for some temporary and party purpose — jjcrhaps to carry an election, perhaps to obtain ])ossession i. f j)ower — there was no say- ing when and where the revolution might stop. And deep would be the criminality and sin of those men who, ibr any puri)osc of that kind, would announce to the world that the people of U})per Canada were going to throw offtheir allegiance to their t^overeign, and look to W'ashington, introducing a civil war of man against man and brother against brother, because forsooth we will not agree to a principle which those very men themselves say now is no remedy at all for the evils under which the country labors. [Cheers.] Could j)olitical i)roHigacy go iarlher I This, it a])peared, was to be their cry at the next general election, but they would find that wherever there was a sin of thiit kind, tlierc v\'as a corre.s])onding retribution, a corresponding })iinishment. [Cheers.] The uieniber for North Oxford was the only menibc r of the Opposition who had risen in his j)lace and candidly and slniight-fbrwardly stated liis opinions on Representation by ropniatioii. lie gave the hon. gentle- man every credit lor his candour. But v/e had found the member for North York rising and threatening us with war unless Represen- tation by Population were ct)n('e(led, wliile the hon. gentleman had himself declared that it is no remedy. So the member for South Ontario — and he was sorry to include that the hon. gentleman in the categury — thcuah he announced at the Toronto Conventieii that Repieseiilaiioii l)y P(i|!nlation was no remedy for the evils in question, he too joined in the cry that the jieoplc of Upper Canada would rise and rebel because of the refusal of what he himself luui declared was no remedy. This was the language of the member for South Ontario : " It is phiin that if we dr.^ire the inlerostsof this country— if we wish to secur« •urselves against hankrnplcy- if we are nut ready to submit to the grossost de- gradation—we must look out" for soirie other measure than representation accord- ing to population to obtain relict.'" Hon. Mr. Mowat— That is a false statement of mys})eech, you will find that I took this ground, that Representation by Po])ulation is a 106 good thing, but tiiat the difficulties of our position were pressing:, that it might take considerable time to obtain it, and that we might add to our demands other things still more valuable than Representation by Population. Atty. Gen, Macdonald — I merely ask, were not those words uttered? Hon. Mr. Mowat — It is unfair to pick out one sentence. Hon. Mr. Foley — Read the whole speech. [Laughter.] Atty Gen. Macdonald then read the whole paragraph, of which the above sentence formed a part, and said the hon. gentleman pain- ted the evils under which Upper Canada laboured , and stated that from all those evils Representation by Population would be no relief. The hon. gentleman could neither evade nor explain away his own words. In the " Globe" of the 19th May, 1859, he found the follow- ing words : " How comes it ? " ask certain crab like reformers, " that representation by *' Population is now treated as a minor measure, and that larger organic chan- " ges are pressed for as of greater importance." The interrogatory admits of an easy reply. We urged Representation by Population so long as w^e regarded that measure sufficient to secure the rights of Upper Canada, and afford a reasonable ut it." Vaugh- ns yes- Upper oint of e hon. itation g, and id, and 107 hon. gentlemen opposite had taken it np again, not, he believed, in any sincere spirit, but for the purpose of being used at the next gene- ral election in order to strengthen their party, and damage the pre- sent government. He [Mr. JVIacdonald] would not object to the par- ty using every legitimate means to defeat their opponents ; but he would appeal to the patriotism of the hon. gentlemen opposite, for the sake of their common country, not to persevere in the course indicated by the speeches of their leaders in this House. They knew that Mr. Seward the Secretary of State for the United States had declared that he would look to the acquisition of Canada as a means of indem- nifying that Republic for the loss of the Southern States. They knew that in consequence of the unhappy war which was now raging in the United States, there was every prospect of the emigration and Avealth from the old world— the great bulk of which found its way to the Western Prairies of a foreign country, — now finding a home in Canada. They knew that in consequence of this fratricidal war, and this inevitable disruption, Canada had every prospect of being the great nation of this continent. They knew all this, and yet they saw that the honorable gentlemen opposite, fur factious and party purposes, for the mere lust of office, were ready and willing to blight all this fair prospect, to prejudice if not ruin our hopes, our well grounded 1io]k's, just at the moment of fruition, by the factious insanity of their course. [Hear.] Let them imagine the feelings of the emigrant just landmg in our country. He would come here because he had been informed that it was a land of law and order, of peace and ])rosperity, and he thereibre had changed his orifiinal intention of settling in the United States — now become a prey to intestine war, — and what would first salute his ears? He would hear that the lead(>rs of a great party in the Province had openly avowed that unless a Pieform Bill was carried, imless there was a readjustment of the Representation, unless the majority would yield to the minority, they would cause the very foundations of society to be broken u]), and the scenes, tiie bloody scenes now being- enacted in the United States repeated in this country. [Hear. J And when they thoiiiiht that these threats were held and used by a party not sincere in their desire (or this reform (for they had formally aban- doned it in Convention as a remedy,) surely tliey must feel that jiarty was col "nittiiig the greatest of political sins. [Apjilause.] He (Mr. Macdonald) could understand an enthusiast, a one idead fanatic acting in this manner, and he might respect his sincerity — but when all these evils were to be inflicted on the country, when the stream of wealth and healthy emigration was to be diverted from us, when we were to have no longer peace in our borders, when all this ruin was to happen from the fiictiousness of a party, for partisan purposes only, the country must believe with him that the depth of political wickedness had been reached by them. And verily, verily, they would have their reward ! Whenever a member of that party went 108 to the polls ill Tipper Canada and was opposed by a Ministerial can- didate, whether Conservative or Reformer, the Ojjposition candidate wonld find himself confronted by the damning evidence of the poli- tical hypocrisy of his party and his party leaders, in such a manner as would overwhelm him with shame and convince the honest farmers of his constituency of tlie propriety, nay, the necessity, of repudiating his doctrines, and his disloyal principles- [Ajiplausc,] The yeomanry of Upper Canada were too intelligent and too loyal to their Sovereign and the best interests of their country, to allow themselves to be made the dupes of a parcel of political hacks, or calmly to siifTer those great interests to be sacrificed for selfish and party ends* [Loud cheers.] On the heads and on the consciences of that party rested the responsibility of the evils which must result from the revolutionary sentiments which had been uttered, the unpatriotic threats, the disloyal langiinge which they had heard, and the risk of ruin to our material and social progress. The people of Upper Canada would mark it, and as the crime was great, signal and condign would be the consequent [mnishment. [Hear, hear, hear.] Hon. Mr. Foley — Call spirits from the vasty deep, and they will come. Hon. J. A. Macdonalo did not doubt the people of Upper Canada woiikl see the furoe of his iirgiiment, and that gcnitlemen opposite "would discover, when they wont to the polls, the woeful mistake which they hud committed. Mr. Connor — You are fond of jmjphcsying. Hon. J. A. Macdonald — The honoriible gentleman would see that he was a true ])r(jphet. [II(>ar. hear.] The honorable gentleman from North Oxford had referred to the jjlatfbrm of the Toronto Convention, according to which each section of tho Province was to have a local Parliament for the purpose of managing its own affairs, with som« "joint authority" for some other inexplicable purpose, which no mortal man knew. This "joint authority " he took it, must not be a mere governing power, but a legislative power. It must be so, if it had to settle tho great questions which afTected the whole Country, and ho gleaned as much from the speech of Mr. Brown at the Convention, where he said " the collection of Pv,evenue to meet the necessary expenditure of the general government and the interest and the sinking fund of the public debt — the managetnent of the Post Office — the control of the navigation of the St. Lawrence from Lake Superior to the Gulf, and the enactment of common commercial and criminal laws, would 1 ap[)rehend em- brace the main if not the sole duties entrusted to the central govern- ment." Thijt was to say, every possible subject connected with life, freedom and property, must be legislated upon by the governing Dody ; so that for all practical intents and })urposes, the scheme was a most unwieldy one, for it resolveditself into one large Parliament and tk 109 1 can- iidate poli- anner lonest iity, of " The their selves suffer ends» party 1 the triotic risk of Upper l1 and hear.] !y will (^ two smaller ones. In other words, it would he exactly the same body that was now sitting here, witli two others holding th(>ir ses- sioiiS, the members for Upper and Lower Canada sitting in sojmrate Committee rooms, as overgrown Cuunly Councils, and seltling tibout roads, bridges, (fee. And alter all the question of Representation by Population would then ju-escnt the same (lifficulty which it did nov.'. — (Hear, hear,) It had been alh^ged that Upper Canada jiaid 70 per cent of the Ilevcnue and Avuuld it not .still insist u])on having a ju-o- portionate representation in this Joint rarliument as it in^sisti-d upon having a preponderance now. (Loud cheers.) But they had a right to complain of lion, gentlemen, because if they sincerely thonglit that the " joint authority" scheme was a good one, it was their duty to press it on the Covernment, and this tin y bad not done. 'J'ho only feasible scheme which presented itself to' h.s mind, as a remedy for the evils complained of, \vas a confederaliou of all tlie ])ruvinccs. (Hear, hear.) Ihit in speaking of a eonfedoration lie must not be understood as alUiding to it in the sense of the one on the otlier side of the line. For that had not been successful. But when he said this, he did not say so from any feeling of satisfactioji at such a re- sult. Far from him be any such idea. lie heartily agreed with the junior member for .Montreal (Mr. McCce) in every word of regret which he had expressed at tiie nnhapjty and lamentable state of things which they now witnessed in the t^lates, for he remcniljered that they were of the same blood as ourselves. lie still looked hopefully to the future of the Unitod States. He believed there was a vigor, a vitality, in the Anglo-Saxon character and the Anglo- Saxon institutions of the United States, that would carry them through this great convulsion, as they bad carried through our mo- ther country in days of old. (Loud cheers from both sides of the House.) He hojied with that lion, gentleman (Mr. McCeo) that if they were to be severed in two, as severed in two he believed they would be, two great, two noble, two free nations would exist in place of one. (Hear, hear.) But while he thus sympathised with them, he must say, let it be a warning to ourselves that Ave do not split on the same rock which they had done. The flital error which they had committed — and it was perhaps luuivoidable from the state of the colonies at the time of the revolution, was in making each state a distinct sovereignty, and giving to each a distinct sove- reign power, except in those instances where they were specially reserved by the Constitution and conferred upon the general govern- ment. The true principle of a confederation lay in giving to the ge- neral government all the principles and powers of sovereignty, and that the subordinate or individual States should have no powers but those expressly bestowed on them. — We should thus have a power- ful Central Goverrmient — a powerful Central Legislature, and a pow- erful decentralized system of minor Legislatures for local purposes. (Hear, hear.) Take the plan of dividing Upper and Lower Canada 110 as proposed by the Toronto Convention, and where would be all their hopes of an assimilation of our laws? (Hear.) We were one people, having all our interests in common. An assimilation of our laws was being rapidly elTected. Indeed, during the twenty years that the two Provinces had been united together, there had been a closer union eflectcd than had been effected between England and Scotland with all the long years of union that existed between those tAVO countries. [Hear, hear.] Besides having a common Parliament and a common Government, we had a common municipal law — a common educational system, and the same crim- inal and commercial law; and by the abolition of the feeignorial Tenure we were slowly but surely approaching the same manner of holding lands. By slow but sure degrees, they Avere becoming rapidly amalgamated ; and when he looked back lor twenty years, he was surprised and gratified to feel th tthe experiment had been ciiiiuently successful. Hon. gentlemen boasted of the majority obtained by them in Upper Canada at the last election — obtained by influences against the ])resent Government, which he had already referred to and pressed on the attention of the House and through the House on the Country. Yet he had no hesitation in saying, as there were not two but three ])arties in Tipper Canada, that he was not only at the head of the largest party in the House, but he commanded the largest united majority in Upper Canada. [" Hear, hear," from several members, and ** oh, oh," from Mr. Foley.] The lion, gentle- man might cry " oh," but the fact was, nevertlieless, as he stated. Our first great consideration should be to calm this agitation. The true way to deal with the question was to consider it solely on its merits. Let every man who was in favor of Representation by Popu- lation go to the poll and fearlessly declare it, and every man who was against it, go likewise to the poll and make the declaration ; no matter what their politics might be, let them fairly and candidly state, irrespective of every other consideration, whether they were or were not in fiivor of this principle. He would even go so far as to say, with the hon. member for East Durham, (Mr. Burton) that no matter what a man's political antecedents might be, if he was strongly impressed with the necessity of the principle, he ought to support any ministry which would undertake to carry it, and secure a majo- rity in Parliament for that purpose. This question, like every other great question, must be left to work its way on its own merits. His hon. friend, the Postmaster General, had adduced proofs, which need not be again repeated, to the House, that all subjects of great public interest in England — Reform in Parliament, Free Trade, Catholic Emancipation, Repeal of the Corn Laws, and the abolition of the Slave Trade — every great question had been removed from the arena of party struggles and strife, and had worked their way upon their own merits. [Hear, hear.] So must this question ; and a^.i r -t had fairly worked its way by discussion in Parliament, by discussion, at I d be all vere one ation of 5 twenty ogether, effected lion that s having common le crini- eignorial aimer of )ecoming years, lad been majority ained by 1 already I through lying, as was not nmanded ar/' from 1. gentle- e stated. on. The y on its by Popu- man who ition ; no candidly y were or ) far as to i) that no s strongly ;o support e a majo- 3ry other rits. His iicii need 3£it public , Catholic n of the the arena ipon their tur 't had u&isioa at 111 the polls, by discussion in the Press, they could fairly assume that the public mind had been educated upon it, and that it was ripe for a verdict to be passed upon it one way or the other. But he must admit that it was in vain to hope that the question could be settled in the present temper of the two Provinces. The hon. gentleman opposite had laughed and jeered during the whole of this debate at the Postmaster General, l)ccause, being in favor of Representation by Population, he remained a member of the Government. Why, just lookback to the 12th of July, 1858, and see what took place then. A motion was made on that day, similar to that now before the House, for the introduction of a Bill lor readjusting the representa- tion of the people in Parliament on Ihe basis of population, and on the same day they found the majority of the hon. gentlemen opposite who voted with the hon. member for Toronto, voting in its support, and the whole of the hon. genllcmen who formed the Lower Canada section of the Brown-Dorion administration -v oting against it. A motion \\'as at that time made to give the Bill llto ihroc months' hoist, and Messrs. Thibaudcau, Dnimmond, Dorion, in fact the whole of the Lower Canada members of Mr. Brown's Government, and the hon. menil)(;r for Cornwall, one of the members from Upper Canada, voting to ilirow out the Bill on the first reading. Hon. Mr. Dorion — Not on the first reading. Hon. Mr. Cautier — Yes, it was the very same motion. Mr. DuNKiN — And moved by the same member. Hon. Mr. Macdonald. — Yes, they all voted to throw out the bill at once, without even giving it the consideration of a second roadiug. On the 30th day of July — but a li'W days after this vote was taken — they found the hon. Mr. Brown and the hon, Mr. Dorion forming an administration and attempting to grapple with the question on which they had just before been seen to be hopelessly divided. Ifow they did grappie with it might be inferred from the fiict that after two years' experience, after two years' cogitation, the lion, member for Montreal would give precisely the same vote that lir gave on the 12th day of .Tuly, 18.58, and that although on the 30th July lie formed a- government to settle tjie question he was now about to vote against representation by population, and in favour of the motion for the six months' hoist, which had been seconded by his f^ ruier colleague, the hon. member for Portneuf [Hear, hear.] :Su that it was quite clear that neither the present goveniment, nor any oiltvi- guv rament having a majority in the House, as at present constimieci, ci nid take up this question or settle it. lie defied hon. gentlemen oppo^-iic to form an administration possessing the confidence of a majority in the House,, whatever might be the result of next election, no matter what might be the character of their administration, whether it was formed exclu- sively by hon. gentlemen on the opposition benches, or whether it was a combination of parties of different political opinions ; under the 112 feeling at present existing between Upper and Lower Canada, it was impossible that they could carry out the principle of representation by population. It must, therefore,be left to work its own way on its own merits. If it had real merits, if it had vitality, if it was a correct principle, if it was just alike to the people of Upper and Lower Ca- nada, whatever might be the temporary feeling or prejudice against it, it would be found that in the long run, truth was strong and must prevail. As was the case in the other great questions it might take a long time to make a proju'r impression, but if it had truth on its side it certainly must and would become sooner or latei the law of the land. If hon. gentlemen opposite wouKl but reflect for a single moment they would see that by the course they were taking, making this a question of party, they were causing this to be a matter impossible to be carried out, and declaring to a certain extent that they themselves and those connected with them must for ever remain in hopeless Opposition. Surely there were questions enough besides this for them to quarrel about and make the sub jeols of party strife — surely they might put this one question aside, like the Slave Trade question in England, and not regard it as a question affecting one party more than another. They might leave this question to fight its own way. They could take up other issues on which to quarrel and divide ; and if they would only adopt this course they would prevent the unwhole- some, the unholy agitation now going on ; they would avoid all the injury which would otherwise result to the national interests of the country ; they would avoid all the agitation on this subject as a matter of party consideration at the polls. J3y setting it aside from party politics, they would preserve peace, prosperity and quiet to the land ; Ijut by making it a matter of party strife, they agitated the country from end to oiid and frustrated every possibility of its becom- ing the law. Agitation would set interest against interest, section agamst section, and prevent the possibility of its passing into law. [Hear.] Dissolution of the Union had been spoken of. But he really hoped that this had been held out as an mpty threat. He believed that the best interests of the Province were dependent on the conti- nuance of the T^nion, and that our national prosperity and future greatness were involved in its being preserved intact. But before enlarging on tUi.s point, he desired to say a word on another subject. It was m^-^t nnrctjsonable to expect the majority to yield to the minority. He believed that the majority of the people of Central Cannda would be found to act with the Lower Canadians on this point. [Loud cheers from the Ottawa members,] If even, unfor- tunately, a dissolution of the Union were to take place, the people of Central Canada could not be expected to remain with Upper Canada. Supposing a dissolution to take place to-morrow. Upper Canada could not for a moment insist that the line should be run as in 1791. If the people of Central Canada desired to be connected with Lower Canada, Upper Canada must yield. The whole of the interests of v' , it was ntation its own correct kver Ca- against id must ht take its side V of the moment ig this a ssible to msclves lopeless or them ly they stion in ore than '. They ; and if nwhole- :l all the ts of the ject as a de from et to the Lted the 1 becom- , section ito law. le really believed le conti- d future L before another to yield eople of madians M,unfor- )eople of Canada. Canada in 1791. 1 Lower erests of 113 tlie country, from Kiji^stoii to the old Provinco lino, Iho whole coun- try lying botwc'on the .St. Lj.wrence und llio Otliiwa, and the anIioIo Valley of the Oltiiwa wero inseparably connected with Lower Ca- nada. Central Canada neitli(>r bought nor sold in the West. iMontreal and (Quebec wero her markets, and indeed every element of her jiroy- perity was bound Uj) with the ))rosperify of Lower Cana(hi. 'J'hey could not e.qicct for a momenl that with all the adv:uitag( s of trade and commerce in the East, Central Canada would consent to 1»l' joined to Upper Canada and allow herself to be cut off from the sea, and ho sej)arated from the sources of her prosperity, that, in short, she would look North and .South, and West, and every where, but in the qnarter from which her only help would come. [Hear, hear.] Draw a line between the two Provinces, and Upper Canada would bo obliged to surrender this lariifo and growing portion of lier coimtry, and it would also be found that the agitation for P.epresentafion by L'o])idation was worse than useless, lor Central Canada woidd have given a preponderance of population to Lower Canada. Such nuist be the result of this cry of dissolution. (Ib^ir, hear.) P'.it \ui believed that that cry was a mere em))ty threat, lie could not bring hinitiilf to believe that those by whom it was used were sincere. Cod and na- ture had joined us together. .Stretched the Cull length alojig the Northern Shore of the i^reat lakes and cotnnianding the mighty .St. Lawrence, we possi^ssed the same conimou interests — int(n'ests which were only now begiiming to be developed. Pva[)idly and steadily Lo^\'cr Canada was becoming one of the most important manufacturing countries in the world. Upper Canada was increasing in an equal ratio in agricultural {u-osperity. i^hxcli was the rapid increase of this western world — such was the productive })ower of the west, that no European market would bo found for its immense cereal productions, and Upper Canada must therefcn'o look for n wholesome interchange of commodities with the Easterii i'rovince, Upper Canada being the producer and Lower Ctinada the consinner. Upper Canada would send to Lower Canada the jiroducts of her soil, and LoAver Canada return the fruits of her manulacturing industry, and thus, year by year, the Union would become a greater and still greater necessity. Would they consent to (brego all these benefits, to .scatter all these advantages, because of their determijialion to impose Representation by Population upon Lower Canada? Who could lay his hand on any serious evils tlrat had occurred under the Union ? For liis part he was surprised at its marvellous success. A\'hen they considered that at the time of the Union the country was torn hy domestic dissensions, and Uj)per Canada overwhelmed vrith debt, and that now because of the Union the country possessed the best credit in the world after the mother country, would they consent to a S(>v(n-anco of that Union, because U)>per Canada had a majority oC a tenth or thereabouts over Lower Canada ? We were now ap})roaching to a population of 8,000,000 of people — we wero approaching to the popu- 8 114 laljon of the United States at tho time tlicy declared their indepen- deiiee, wo wore standing at the very threslioUl of nations, and when admitted we shoiikl occnj)y no unimportant position among the nations of 1 he world. Lung might wc remain connet-ted wifii Great J3ri- tain. He hoped for ages, ibr ever, Canada might reniiiin united with the mother country. But we were fast ceasing to he a dependency and assuming the jjosition of an ally of Great Jiritain. — England would 1)0 the centre, surrounded and sustained hy an alliance not only wilh Canuihi hut Australia, and all her other possessions ; and there won hi thus he formed an immense confe(h.Mation of freemen, the greatest confederacy of civili/ed and intelligent men that ever had an exislonco on the face ol the (ilobe. (Cheers.) lie hoped to live to see that day ; and it would surely come, if our statesmen would only he patriotic enough to lay aside all desire to do that which tended to rend the existing Union and allowed us to continue to progress as wo had jjrogressed since 1840. lie believed his hon. friend from North Waterloo was one of those who entertained feelings of ])atriotism and hjve of country, and that, though a strong- party man he could, when occasion demanded, lay aside all party feeling for the good of the Province. lie asked the hon. gentleman to carry out that principle on this qiu^stion. Ijot him and ail others return home, to the sphere of their influence and usefulness ; let them use every legitimate means for the purpose of carrying out their views on the other su])jects on which they had set their minds ; but do not in the name of our common country, do not make this a mat- ter of party agitation and party strife. Let each go home and imbue his neighbours as far as he could with his particular views on other matters ; but let them all set aside party feeling in a matter of such vital consequence as this, and work together for th 3 common good on the principle of Union, and not on the principio of one section fighting and striving against and seeking to annihilate the other. (Loud cheers.) i THE LAND PURCHASE AT SARNIA. Speech of Mr. Macdonald in the Legislative Assembly, 17th May, 1861. Hon. Attorney General Macdonald moved that the House at its rising do adjourn until eleven o'clock to-morrow. He made his motion, he said, for the purpose of having an opportunity of making the statement which he had promised to the House in refer- ence to the purchase of land at Sarnia. While he was making a tour in the West last fall, he saw, to his surprise, certain charges against him, in different newspapers, as a member of the Government, and afFecting others with whom he was connected, relative to this pro- perty. He took occasion to state to his own constituents at Kingston, and also at St. Catherines, from general recollection, all the facts indepen- iid wJicji c nations i(,'ut J3ri- litcd with lendency lMi,i>land iancc not [ions ; and freemen, liat over ho[)ed to statesmen )at which )iitiniie to his hon. itertained 1 a strong- all party i-entleman ail others ; let them T out their linds ; but his a mat- md imbue s on other ter of such )n good on le section the other. MBLY, use at its made his rtunity of e in refor- :ing a tour ;es against ment, and this pro- Kingston, the facts 115 connected with the subject, and although there v somf imma- terial errors in that statement, he Ibund that, upon tin \ho. , it v. is correct in the most iui[)ortaiit p;irtieulurs. On looking ov'«»r tlie fi** (tf the leading paper of the ()p[)osition, he ibund the charg s set lor mt full lengtli, in an article })iiblished IfMh December, iJSfiO. lie j re- sumed most hon. members had seen the artiele. lie should M<'f, therefore, trouble the House by reading it at length, but as it wound lip by asking a series of ([uestions, which shewed the nature of the charges brought against himself and Messrs. (J/owski iV Co., with whom he liad acted in this matter, he would only read that j)ortiou of it. But before doing this, he might take the opportunity of saying that he had taken occiision to look into the whole matter as it adl-cted himself and those gentlemen, and he thought ho should be able to convince the House that the pro])erty had been ae([uired fairly and legitimately, lie knew how important it was that liis character should be free from stain, hnving been so long in [)ublic lile, and holding as he did now, and had clone, most a prominent position as a ])ublic man. And it was important, too, that the character of the gentlemen with whom he had been associated in this matter should also be frec^ from staiii, because two of them were men of high j)osition in public life — one of them being the present Finance Minister, and the other the Hon. Mr. Holton, a member of the Brown-Dorion Government, and the other two, although not gentlemen of political standing, were gentle- men of high standing in the private walks of life, as would be under- stood when he stated that one was Mr. (izowski, and the other Mr. Macpherson. He stated at Kingston, and at St. Catherines, that tliis property at Sarnia, in which he had an interest — although a silent interest — was acquired by these gentlemen who were known as the firm of Gzowski cV Co., before he was a member of the (government ; in fact, when he was in the Opposition. The Globe of the 19th December, 1860, contained extracts from several journals on this sub- ject, and an article of its own which wound up as follows : " A few questions dispose of the whole case : 1. " Did Mr. Macdonaid, as a Minister of the Crown, recommend a sale of public lands, in the purchase of which he was himself personally interested ? 2. " Were these lands actually sold to himself and his partners at a merely nominal price ? 3. " Did Mr. Macdonaid and his partners afterwards sell those binds to a Bankrupt Railway Company, at an enormous advance ? 4. " How was this extraordinary sale brought about ; what motives and influences were brought to bear, to secure its accomplishment ? 5. " Did Mr. Macdonaid at a public dinner given to him and his constituents, allege that the purchase of the lands was made while he was out of otiice, when the trudi was that he was Attorney General at the time, and as such recommended the sale ? " These questions were pertinent to the matter, and he should discuss them one by one. The first set forth that he was interested as a 8' 116 •ff purcliascr with Messrs. (I/owski &:. Co. Nou' ho slioiilcl mention shortly how he becuiue coiiiiffted with it, iuid luf would show the IIouso and the country, tluit IMessrs. (J/owski h;td i-very right to [)iir- cliii.su — that they acted in a correct spirit — and that they odendecl against no law of the land, or of niorahty,or of j)r()iKrty,or of honesty, or of honor. And that being tlio case — if these gentk'nien acted only as they hail a right to tict — acijnired projx'rty when they had a right to ac(piire it — he could not sih; how it could be said they were wrong in conveying an interest in that |iro[)i'rty to himself, or that he was wrong in acquiring it. It must be known to every member of the House, who was at all conversiint with the railway transactions of Upper Canaila, that tlu; lirm ol"(l/f)W,ski \: Co., consisting of tho four gentlemen ho had named, originally became the contractors, under the local charter, of tin; roiid from Toronto to ( Jnel})h, and which road wns aftivrwards extended to Si;rnia. .Sid)se(piently, as they all likewise knew, this road became a ]»ortion of the (irand Trunk llailway, and these gentlemen, who had u contract originally from tho local company, afterwards became the contractors 11 ir tho construction of the (Jrand Trunk llailway from Tonaitoto i^^arnia. As he believed had been the case with the contractors of almost every railroad in C'auada, they were obliged, not only to construct tlu,' road but to pnrehnse the right of way all along the line of the road. Of course it was their interest to })urehase tlic right of way on as ( aoap terms as possible, and i( it could be done, by voluntary arrange i.icnt. Where a voluntary arrangement could not be made with the jr (hat he licniljer of nsactions iig of thn ntractors, clj)h, and tMitly, as ho (J rand nrigiiially i liir the arnia. As u.st every t lh(.' road road. Of I as cheap nig( i.ient. hu ))r<)pri- and gave ' purposes, { to exercise ocame the Sarnia, he lucity — he ^r, to write Majesty's I, respect- at Point ot a mem- 2d so until 'ir behalf, ransaction nt interest or sliortly lie conclu- he (irand f, it might it ill. He e iiro]ierty .it account and interest in 1^ -t and such othe r prop^''y ns eonld bo there. At that l me, tlie whoh' of Ih'' iiiilif nrf|iiire( \V' iry lands were iiives ted in the principal c'iicers, or as they were coniiiK)nly called '< Tlie Respective (Jlli^. rs " of Her Majesty's Ordnance. 'I'hey Imd sole control under instriicl ions IVoni tlic \Var()flice in i'liigliuid.and bought and sold just ;i«- llicy pIcMsod. Neither the rrovinciid ( lovernnient nor the Frovitici (1 ricgishdure had any tiling to do in the matter, — nor hiul the rrovince iiny legal or e(putab!e interest whatever in those lands. In this case, as in every other, tiie contractors attt^mpted to ma Ui' the pf'vchase by direct coHinuniicalion with tiic parties interested, aiiu oii the Glh of June, 1853, ho wrote the Ibllowing letter : KiN(;sT0N, 6di June, 1853. Gentlomea. — " Tlie contrjicfnis for the construetioa of the Toronto iiiid Surnia Raihviiy, (iinl it necessai y lor tluMr purposes to obtain the eoiiUul oi tlio ^hlrsh and Shoal al I*ohit Jviwuid, in Saruiu. " They are aware that this {^hoal as well as the Point belong to the Military Government — and luive therefore instrnctei tne to apply tor tlie ri;!]it of occu- fancy. It is iniportant that a title .should bo i.'iv(Mi lh"tn fi r as rniieli of the 'oint and Hay, as is not absolutely recjuired for iriilitary purposes and for what- ever may be res(3rved, forthoise purpos;e8, tliey ilesire loobiaiua license of occu- pation on the usual terms. " As the place applied for is of little value, and .is tlie dredifing and fdliiigup of tlie Marsh will increasu the salubrity of the vii-iinty, antl thus preserve the health ol any garrison that may be stationed there, tliey trust iheio will be no ditlieidty in obtaining their object. '' The contraetors are desirous of pressing their works with all speed, and will therefore be much ()bligeec- tive officers at xMontreal, authorizing the disposal of the land. This was the first time he had seen it, lur he had no means of knowing the correspondence between the authorities in England and the respective officers at Montreal. This letter was dated the 31st December, 1853, and was as follows : No. 277. (Copy.) Office ok Ori-'Nance, 21st Doc, 1853. Gentlemen. — The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, have authorized tlie sale to the Toronto and (iuelph Jxailway Company, at a fair ami reasonable price, of tlie portion of the Military Reserve, at Point Edward and Port S;uii!a, which is iK-cessary for the extension of the Line of Uailway across the lieserve. I have receiveil the Ikiard's commands to notify the same to you, in re])ly to your letter of the Uth July last. I have, &c., „„ ^ . (Signed) G. 13UTLEK. Ihe Respective Officers, Montreal, Canada. This letter s'-.owed the carelessness with which business was transacted at the IJoard of Ordnance in England, because the applica- tion was made by him as the Solicitor, on behalf of the Contractors 119 lication lit was ligstoii, led the by last Ive want pp ill the [Messrs. of Her of this ired to god to ILolton, to sell , a right ?s, that spective rnincnt. Ly the He from res}>cc- 1. This ai owing md tlie lie 31st , 1853. y, have fair and .■rird and y across reply to of the Grand Trunk Railway, and not on behalf of the Toronto and Giielph Railway Company. Now, he had been furnished with so much of the correspondence between Messrs. Gzowski &; Co., and the respective ofncers, as \\onld indicate the course of Ihe negotiations, and prove still iurther by whom and for whom the pro])erty was purchased. The lirst letter which he would read, was as follows : Office of Ordnance, Montreal, 6th July, 1854. Messrs. Gzovvski, & Co. Toronto. " Gf.nti.emkn, — I am instructed by the respective olliocrs to return to you the plan of Port Sarnia reserve, upon which you will perceive the ground which it is necessary to retain for military purposes, has been marked (coloured yellow.) " The commander of Royal Eiirrinocrs has also marked on ihe plan, (colored pink) the ground applied ibr O'! a previous occasion, anil a'.so tin' track proposed for the railway. And tiie res[)ective oliicers conceive there will be no ilililculty in so running the line as to clear the space nnjuired for defence, and I am to state that on recnipt of a revised plan, steps will be adopted to lietennine what portion can be leased, and what altogether disposed of to the Company. " I have the honor to be, *' Your most obdt. humble sevt. W. W. BLANKORNE." Another letter was as follows OrncK OF Ordn.wce, Montreal, iSili August, 1854. 5s was pplica- ractors Messrs. (izowski & Co., Toronto. *' (Jentlf.men. — Willi reference to your letter of the 9di instant, on the subject of Ordnance Land at "^arnia, we beg to acquaint you tliat iio objectioi will be made to the establishnieiU of the terminus of the railroad at tiu; point A on the plan, but we are of opinion that the carriaire-shop miglit be retired beyond the precincts of the block marked yellow, and the merchandize sIkhI bmught con- sidernbly nearer to the track and to the Point, with which ;iltera'ii)ns there would be no objection to letting the space outside tlie pencil lines with the re.s- triction against the erection ol any olhei buildings. '• As soon as vour a>sent to these arraimemeiits is notilled to us, steps will be inime-.I lately taken by Mr. JCIliolt, to ascertain the value of the laud to be sold and that to be let. ** The plan is re([iie.-ted to be returned. We have the honor to be, Centlemen, Your most obdt. lunnlilo sevt. WILLIAM RELL, Cul. Com. R. Artillery. W. P. WULEF, Lt. Col. Com. R. Eniir., Canada. W. ELLIOTT, 0. S. Hd. Qrs. W. W. RLANKORNE." 120 Here, llion, jillow liini lc» rG])ciit, was an ofH.T made by the firm of Gzowski & Co., to purdiuse till the kinds which the Ordnance Department had to sell at Point Edward, and to lease such of the j[iroper'v as the Department desired to keep ; and following tliat offer there was a bargain struck and agreed to between the respective parties. At that time he [AJr. jNhicdonuld] was not a member of the Govern nu'iit, but in hopeless Op])Osition. As lie had already stated, "when the negotiations were commenced, there was no ground to expect lliat any portion of the jn'operty woidd ])e handed over to the Province. The negtttiations fur tlie sale were commenced in 18.53 ; they did not come to an end until IS-^-i, but they were fully completed before he took office as a Minister of the Crown. The bargain was made whilst he was in Opposition, although it Avas perfectly true that the conveyance from the Horse Guards was not received until 18.56. Now every lawyer and every business man will know that a Largain for a sale was concluded whenever the parties to it agreed upon the sale. So here, the bargain was obligatory on both parties so ' soon as the terras were agreed upon, and the conveyance subsequently receivetl from Lord Panmure was not the sale, but simply the voucher or evidence that the sale had been made, lie did not know why it took from 31st December 1853 to 1856 to comjtiete the title deeds, but presumed it was caused by the comminiications between the respective offices in Canada, the War Of Pice and the Treasury. Those delays were constantly taking place in England, in consequence of the inmience amount of correspondence which was passed between tlie different Circumlocution Offices in England and between England and Canada. There was however the agreement to buy and the agreement to sell, aixd this bargain would have been held good had the deed not been made out for five, ten, or any number of years. The conveyance had the {lis]ied sometime ago and excited some remark, had omitted the im- portant words " all the necessary preliminaries have been arranged as to the parts to be sold and tlie quantity of the reserve to be leased," When this despaclh was received, the Provincial Govern- ment had no objection — of course they could have no objec- tion — to the transaction. It had been said that the matter must have passed through his hands as Attorney General. But he had nothing to do with it as Attorney General. No ])oint of law was in- Aolved, and it was brought before the Council as all other communi- actions received through the Provincial Secretary. The Government could not object to the sale — the property had been sold, and tliey were bound to carry out the contract. In fact it v/as a mere matter of form. The lands did not belong to the Provincial Government, and they granted the Order in Council as they were compelled to do. It was by reason of no recommendation or report of his that the Order was issued. It was issued simply to carry out the law of Ihc land, for the Statute of ]8o6 which transferred the Ordnance lands to the ProvincQ, provided that such transfer was " subject nevertheless to all sales, agreements, leases, or agreements to ici'se entered into v/ifii the officers, or by the principal ofiicers of Ordnance empowered by them," Then, there were other charges which did not ailijct him or Messrs, Gzowski cV, Co., Init the llun. JolinPvoss, ]Mr. Boss — although lie had no interest in tlie Vv'orld in the matter — was said to have joined in the conspiracy for the purjiosc of putting a sum of money into the jiockels of Gzowski & Co., by injuringand robbing the (irand Trunk Railway of which he was President, The Ordnance oliiccers took the Siune course; with respect to the Grand Trunk Pailwa.y a.s they did towards the Government, They said that they had sold to Messrs, G/owski &r- Co., so much land, and they wrote to the ( irand Trunk Railway Company to askif the conveyance to Messrs. (izowski, & Co,, would be satisfactory to them. It was absurd to say that the Hon, John Ross connived against the interestsoftlie Province in order to put money in the pockets ol'3Icssrs. Gzowski &: Co., seeing that he had no interest in the mailer one way or the other. Mr. Ross was not in the Government at the time. On the contrary, he was in decided Opposition, The Ordnance Oflieers sent to Mr, Ross, as President of the (Jrand Triii:!:, to know if the conveyance oftlia lands to xVhssrs. Gzowski lV Co. v.-as .satisfactory to the Company, Mr. Ross sent for the Engineer of the Comjiany, and desired him to loojc over the deed and see if it covered all that was wanted for a terminus and other railway accommodation, lie rejdied that they were am])ly suliicient, and of course the Gram! 'J'runk Company did not ol)ject. On lliis point, he had asked Mr. Ro.ss for a note, and he liad sent the following : 12-fc *•' Thursday. ** My dear Macdonuld — " In reply to your enquiry about ilie doed from tho Ordnance Dopartmont for the Sarnia lan(l, I need only say tliat the coiilraetors, Gzowski &. Co., were bound in their contract to provide rijrlit of way and station yrounii, the quantity oi the latter to be determied by the Kiiirineer of the Company. Poor Pliilpotts as you are aware was Solicitor for the Ordnance ;it Toronto, and in the autumn of 1856, he brought to me the deed irorn Lord Panmure to the contractors for the Narnia, and informed me that the respective udicers had directed him to obtain from me a certificate of the sufficiency of the deed, which after examina- tion I gave, as it vested the property in the contractors, who were thereby enabled to convey to the Company such quantity as might, by the Engineer, be required for th" purposes of the Company. Philpotts did not shew me his correspondence with, or instructions from, tlie respective otficers, and why they desired my certificate I am unable to say. Philpotts was well aware that the Company could not legally hold more property than was needed for right of way and station ground, and must have been aware, I should think, that the contractors, in making the purchase, were acquiring more land than could be lequired for Railway purposes. "JOHN ROSS." The deed came from Lord Punmure, because the land \vas not vested in the Province. Had it belonged ♦o Canada, the deed would have been signed under the great seal of the Province. But it was expressly exempted by tlie Act of 18r)6. To tliat act a schedule was attached of the property transferred from the Imperial (ruvernment to the Provincial Government. The schedtde contained a list of all the reserved lands, excerpt the hind sold " to the contractors of the Grand Trunk Railway." That pro}K'rty was specially reserved in the Act. It was sold, not to the Grand Trunk Railway, but to the con- tractors. The letters he had read shewed this — that the sale M^as to Gzowski & Co., and that the i)lan sliewed that a certain quantity was to be reserved for military purjioses, another quantity lor rail- way ])iirposes and all the rest to go to Gzowski & Co. He was personally ignorant of the mode in which the negotiations were carried on, but had been kindly furnished with such papers by his partners as were necessary for liis and tlicir defence. He had no means of getting at or knowing the correspondence between the respective officers here and the War Office a' home, but he would read an extract from the Montreal Commercial Advrrther, the writer of which was apparently possessed of reliable inibrmatiun : *' So explicit was the understanding tliat one of the Inspectors of Orr/nance, Colonel Harness, we believe, after all the jireliniinaries hael been arranged, reported strongly against the expediency of selling to the Grand Trunk Rail- way Company, a square mile of laud instead of tliirty acsres, for which consent had been given, pointed out how great lln^ value of this land would became from its situation at the terminus ol the Kailvva}', enabling them to create on it a city of 30,000 inhabitants, hostile in its interests to other parts of the country." From this extract it is evident that the ordnance officers were not deceived into the opinion that the land was wanted for Railway pur- 125 DAY. poses only, for Colonel Harness is reiircsontcd as statin^' that the land was not wanted (or ilaihvay nnrjioscs but was siiflicicnt to build a city of 30,000 iidiabitants npon, and \w. therefore opjiosed the sale. He (Mr. Macdonald) had not seen it, nor had G>:owski «.V Co., seen it ; having? said so nuich he would come to another point in the attack made upon the Government. One of the questions put to him by the Glolje was whether he had not, to use a familiar i)hrase, pnt the screw, as a member of the Government, upon an insolvent railway company to compel them to purchase the land at a large })rice. Now he had never sold the land t)r any [lorlion ol' it to the Grand Trunk Railway or to any other Company or person, nor did he enter into any negotiation (or the sale or speak to or attenij)! to influence any Company or person to buy. He sold to his partners Gzowski tV Co., all his share in the ]iropcrties they jointly held at Sarnia and had no interest in any disposition they made of the property. He htid no communication with its jiartners whatever cxce]>i that the jiroporty was likely to turn ont well as they had received sni eifer i'-'V a ]">rlion of it. It mnst be remembered that he (Mr. Macdon;il(i) was also interested in COOS acres of land at Port Sarnia wiiicli he had pur- chased from the Honorable Malcolm Cameron for jCoOoO. The deed convey iiig the propicrty was dated September 24, ls53, and the land was bought on the joint account of ."Messrs. Gzowski and himself, as other land. When he sold out to his other jiartners, he sold out the interest he posscssi'd in all the lands. He was not ashamed to state the reason Avhich induced him to sell. It was because, like many others in Ujijier Canada, he had in 1852 and 1853 speculated too freely; and when he received a fair offer for it from Messrs. G:ki & Co., through your agency, you will oblige me l»y answering the ioUowirig que.stioiis : 1. Did I ask you, directly or indirectly, verbally or in writting, to purchase this property or any piirt of it / 2. Had I at any timii, any communication, directly or indirectly, with you on the gut)ject of tiiis property or any part of it ? 'h. Were you aware at ilie time of the negotiation with or purchase from Gzowski & Co., that I had any interest in the property ? You, of course, understand that I desire your letter for the purpose of using it for my own justilication. Yours very truthfully, J. A. MACDONALD. T, E. Black wKi.T,, Esq., Montreal. The answer from Mr. Blackv/cU was as follows : Montreal, March G, 1861. My Dkar Sin. — With reference to the purchase of the Point Edward property at Sarnia, referred to in your letter of the tth instant, and the receipt of ■which I now beg to acknowdedge, I have uo difficult}' in answering each and all of your questioa in the netiative. The only persons Avliom I knew in the transaction were Messrs G/owski and McFherson, nor did I know, until the 28th of November last, when sailing out of Boston habor on my way to England, that you had even held any interest in that or any other property at Harnia. On the occasion referred to I was informed by a mutual friend of ours that you had once held property there, but for the reason I before mentioned, the information had no effect in reference to the purchase. I am confident that you never asked me, directly or indirectly, nor I'id any friends of yours, in or out of the Government, so far as 1 am aware of, pre.«s upon me, re- commend or influence me in the judgment which I held, which 1 sdll hold, and for which I aloae am responsible. I am, my dear Sir, Yours very truly, THOS. E. BLACKWELL. The Hon. John A. Macdonald. 12S Hp would now in conclusion aguin reply Lrieliy to the questions of tlie Gl(A>e.. It iiskeil : 1st. " Did Mr. Macdonald, as minister of the Crown, recommend a sale orpiil)lic lands in the jiurohase of which he was himself person- ally interested \ " That he did not, in any way whatever. — There was no necessity fur the Government even beinii,- consulted about the sale, the question was never referred to him as Attorney (M^ieral, it was reported on by the Provincial Secretary, and so much as a matter of course that he had utterly forgjotten, until it washroiight to his attention recently, that there had ever been an order in Council about the matter at all. [Hear.] 2nd. Were these lands actually sold to himself and his partners at a merely nominal price." He had suited thiit the lands were sold nt a ])rice fixed upon by the res[)ective oflicers; there was no hucksteriiig about the matter at all — nothing w;is done to induce the oflicers to sell the lands except at such a price as they chose, for no one knew better than the officers themselves that tliey could not be forced to sell exce])t they chose, unless for strictly railway juu'poses ? [Hear.] 3rd. " Did Mr. Macdonald and his partners afterwards sell these lands to a bankrupt ilailway Company at an enormous advance ? " The lands were not sold by him at \\\\ exce])t to his partners, and those gentlemen did not sell to the railway but to Mr. Baring. [Hear.] ■tth. " How was this extraordinary snle brought about ? What mo- tives and inlUienccs were brought to bear td secure its accomplish- ment ? " The motives he had explained — he had shewn that no influence had "been exercised, and that ho had no interest in the sale. 5th. " Did Mr. Macdonald at a public dinner given to him by his constituents allege that the purchase of the lands was made when he was out of office, when the truth was that he was Attorney General at the time, and as such, recommended the sale? He had fully answered all that — the sale was completed — the whole transaction was linished before he was in office — and could have been enforced by law against the respective officers in this country. What he had stated to his constituents was therefore true in every respect, true in spirit^ true to the very letter. — [Hear, hear.] If there was any man in that f louse who could lay his hand on his heart and say conscientiously that neither directly or indirectly had he used his position, it was he — He stood free, as free as any one there, and as did also Messrs Gzov^'ski cV- Co. his co-proprietors from any transaction except such as honest men in any position had a right to engage in. [Loud cheers.] 129 ,ioiis of mend a I)crson- ?cossity uf'stion rtod on rsG that eceiitly, r at all. tiiers at I by the at ail — xccpt at ! officers r chose, II these Lce ? " lers, and Baring. i'^hat mo- omplish- ence had n by his when he General ted — the id could in this ore true ir, hear.] .1 on his 3tly had any one ors from on had a MR. FOLEY JUSTIFIES MR. MACDO.VALl). Legislative Assembly, Sth INlay, 1861. Mr. Foley rose and said — he regretted he was iinavoidalily absent, the night before, when the Attorney General West was making his explanations about what had been termed the Sarnia job — Mr. Speaker. — Order, order. Mr. Foley begged pardon for tilluding to a previous debate, but wished to say in reference to the matter whicli was then under discussion — A Voice. — You did not hear the discussion. Mr. Foley said it was true he had not heard the discussion, but he had that morning seen the documents and the papers brought down by the Attorney General and read a sketch of the debate. Mr. Speaker. — Order, order, order. Mr. Foley could not let slip this the last opportunity he had in that Parliament of saying that the explanations of tlio Honorable Attorney General met with his hearty approval. [Loud cheers.] Appendix B. REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF FINANCE OF CANADA. To His Excellency the Right Honorable Sir Edmund AValker Head, K. C. B., Governor General of British North America, S)-c., ^-c, ^, May it please Your Excellency : I have now the honor to submit to Yonr Excellency the Public Accounts, and the Trade and Navigation Returns for the year 1860, The Report of the Board of Audit, certifying the accuracy of the Public Accounts, and explaining the mode in which the transactions connected with the Public Debt are treated, is also herewith sub- mitted. The magnitude of the transactions connected with the Public Debt is such, That I consider it will greatly simplify my analysis of the accounts for the year if, in my present review, they are entirely separated, and considered wholly apart. It would, manifestly, only lead to future confusion to treat these items as properly belonging to any one year. 130 The intention of the Lefj^islaliire, in sanctioning the operation, was mainly, if not wliolly, with the view of introducing a great reform into the system of contracting Public Debt — to efiect the best terms now as regards the annual charge for interest — and at the same time, to make an easy and liglitly-pressing provision for its ultimate and comj)lete future extinction, it now becomes my duty to show the extent to which the measure of conversion lias l)een carried — the cost of the operation — the annual saving effected — and the amount of Debt which, under the authority of Parliament, will be henceforward in [)rocess of gradual but certain litiuidation. 'J'iie Act i)assed in 1858 first authorized the issue of Consolidated Stock, but being Ibund defective, it was amended in 18r)9, and Par- liament then siinctimied the creation of new ft per cent. Stock, or Bonds, to be exchanged, at their relative value for our then existing Provincial Debt, both direct and inilirect ; and also, for the redemp- tion, in cash, of certain portions of the said J.)ebt. Although a con- siderable amount of Debentures (about $2,900,000) were redeemed and purchased in 18.^9, it was not until the very close of that year that the state of the London Money Market permitted the attempt to carry out the main object in view. During the last Session, informa- tion was laid before Parliainent of the steps taken in regard to the new Loan and conversion ; but from the nature of the terms offered to holders of the existing Debt, it was at that time im.possible to fore- tell the extent to which the o])cration would be carried. The Ac- counts now show the residt up to 31st December last; but being necessarily conlined to the Iranctions of" the actual year, they would ILiil to cojivey a correct or com])lete exposition of the results arrived 1 at, based upon the legislation of IH.'iS and 1859. The Public Debt, in 1858, consisted of the following items: — 1. The ordinary Provincial Debt, bearing generally 6 per cent, interest^ and including the Bonds issued in aid of the Railways . - - $37,395,77.5 18 2. The Municipal Loan Fund Btaids, secured upon those special funds, bearing 6 per cent, interest 9,057,792 00 3. Miscellaneous Securities issued for various Trusts, bearing 6 per cent., and in some few cases even a li'irhev yj.^*} of interest _ _ - - 4. And the Imperial Guaranteed Loan of $7,300,000, bearing 4 per cent, interest, with a Sinking Fund of 4 per cent., in addition to accruing interest thereon -___-- The charges upon the Revenue, in regard to the three first items, were for interest only, and the mode in which it was proposed to deal with them, consisted as regards — The First Class — in the substitution, at their relativ value of 5 per cent. Bonds or Stock, irredeemable for 25 years, and afterwards, at the option of the Government. 1,T38>37 97 7,300,000 00 131 e rat ion, a great the best at the lor its my duty as been ed — and nt, will oljdated I lid Par- took, or existing redemp- ^h a con- edoemed hat year ttempt to infbrma- ird to the ns olFered e to Ibre- The Ac- hat being ey would .s arrived is: — 95,775 18 57,792 00 38.^37 97 00,000 00 irst items, cd to deal value of 5 fterwards, IV' The Second and Third Classes— to raise by the issue of undoubted 5 per cent, securities the rn<^ans to jturchase or redeem those which were of less valuable character, from wanting the direct engagement of the Province. In the case of the Imperial Loan, it was desired to eflect such a chiinge in its terms, as would ri'Iieve the Provincial Rerenue from the very heavy chariic; fortius thinking Fund, (4 per cent, per annum), and also to secure such an alteration in the iuvcstmeiit of the Sin- king Fund as would cause it to become a source of Revenue. As regards the last item, the transaction has now been fully com- pleted, and its results can be distinctly stated. $7,300,000 00 Pro])ortion of cost t»f Management, and Discount on new Loan Amount of Loan ------- Portion of Sinking Fund applied in 1858-'59, in pur- chase of JGH'tjOOO India IBonds, at 4 per cent, in- terest ---...-.- 805,085 28 Sale of 3 per cent. Consols, £619,030 7-5ths Sterling, producing at 95 per cent. 2,861,983 75 Balance required for purchase of X 1,326,500, 5 per cent. ; India Stock, at 102 i - $6,614,530 00 Less - - 2,861,983 75 3,752,546 25 53,678 00 Total cost 7,473,293 28 for final redemption of Imperial Loan, including, as shewn by the Auditor's Report, $150,630 72c. discount on 3 per cent. Consols, which must have been sustained either in greater or less degree, according to the state of the Money Market, whenever sold ; and also, $161,330 premium on Indian Stock, which is in like manner shewn as probably to be realised as the securities are sold to pay off the original Loan. Deducting the amounts realised from the formerly existing Sinking Fund, new Debt has been created, for the purpose of making these investments, equivalent in amount to the Imperial Loan, including all discount and charges, of $3,806,224 25c., creating an annual charge for 5 per cent, interest and ^ per cent for Sinking Fund, of $209,342 33 c, in lieu of that previously existing, viz. : 4 per cent, interest and 4 per cent. Sinking Fund, on $7,300,000 or $584,000, or a reduction of immediate burden of $374,657 67c. For the perfect understanding of this transaction, it must be noticed, that the former Sinking Fund would have amounted, at 31st Decem- 9* 132 ^\ ber, 1859, to $3,817,699, yielding $114.,530, while, by the change of investment, it now produces on the net amount, deducting discount on sale of Consols, $177,068, yielding a positive gain of $62,538 per annum, until absorbed by the payment of the Imperial Loan. This will be gradually modified, as in future years the original Loan is paid off; but the immediate positive gain in investment, and relief in annual charge, is very evident. The total amount of new Securities issued during the year, being the gross amount of the 5 per cent. Debt, has been as follows : Bonds $24,937,857 70 Inscriptions of Stock, 2,326,151 07 $27,264,011 77 From this amount, deducting the sum raised in connection with the Iraperird Loan 3,806,224 25 There remains 23,457,787 52 Of this amount there has been applied in re- demption of j62, 106,000 Sterling, of the for- mer 6 per cent. Debt, held in London, $11,504,245 59 shewn as follows : je2,106,000 Sterling $10,249,200 00 Premium of Exchange of 5's for 6's, according to esta- blished rate of value Expense of Conversion 1,219,353 31 35,692 28 11,504,245 59 And there remains the sum of. $ 1 1,953,541 93 "Which has been thus applied : Proportion of discount and management $ 300,359 00 Debentures redeemed in Cash. Applied to extraordinary Ser- vice of 1860 $1,263,332 00 Applied to ordinary Service . . 768,793 35 Excess of payments on Special Funds 13,121 00 Investments on Call 949,1 17 00 and Cash Balances 2,305,928 00 6,098,574 00 5,300,291 35 $11,699,224 35 The difference consisting of the unclosed accounts with the AgentSt ange of liscount ,538 per original ent, and ir, being 7,857 70 6,151 07 4,011 77 6,224 25 .7,787 52 04,245 59 53,541 93 00,359 00 98,574 00 00,291 35 199,224 35 le AgentSt 133 Before, however, leaving the question of the redemption of the 6 per cent. Sterling Debt, it is important to shew its future bearing on the questions, of its present annual charge, and of the future Debt of the Province. There has been redeemed the sum of (je2, 106,000 sterling), $10,249,200 which bore Interest at 6 per cent 614,952 To effect the redemption there has been issued, as shewn, including all costs of operation, $1 1,504,245. which bears 5 per cent, interest .$ 575,212 and ^ per cent. Sinking Fund 57,521 Total annual charge $ 632,733 Increase of present charge $ 17,781 It will therefore be observed, that by the small annual additional payment of $17,781 over the former charge f()r interest alone of $614,952 — the means are absolutely provided for the entire liquida- tion in fifty vears, of an amount of debt equal, before the conversion, to $10,249,200. The new Stock and Bonds are guaranteed to bear 5 per cent, in- terest for twenty-five years. After which they are redeemable on six months' notice by Government. Should, therefore, the credit, of *.he country improve, as may be hoped, it may hereafter be possible to replace them by seciu-ities bearing a lower rate of Interest — by taking advantage of a favorable money market. The Province is also protected against the risk of an unfuvora]>le market when the former debt matured — which being payable at a specific date, must have been met. The Auditor's Report states the whole outstanding debt, direct and indirect, at . . - ^ . $65592469 But from this must be deducted the amount of Indian Government Stocks held in trust for the Province, by the Imperial Treasury, to pay at maturity the Imperial Loan of 7300000 The actual debt of the Province, inclusive of every en- gagement, direct and indirect, in the hands of the public for which its credit and revenues are in any way pledged, is therefore 58292469 134 Of this debt no less a sum than - - - - - is represented by the transactions for the conversion, and by the moderate Sinking Fund of ^ per cent., this large sum will be wholly extinguished within fifty years, provision having been thus made for its gradual liquidation j there, therefore, remains the sum of ..---..- to be hereafter paid ofTor converted. Of this amount there were outstanding at the 1st January, in Mu- nicipal Loan Bonds, which are called in and will be paid off from unappropriated proceeds of Loan, 27264.011 Keducing to the unprovided debt, and making the total bearing interest at the following rates : Old Debentures 5 per cent., $922821 do 6 do 27130463 do 8 do 28630 New do 5 do 27264011 Total, - Less. — Interest on Indian Stock, - $356532 Deduct 4 per cent on Imperial Loan, - 292000 Annual Interest, ----_- Sinking Fund, new loan, ^ per cent, on $27264011 31028454 2936544 $28081910 $55345925 $46141 1627827 2290 1363200 $3039478 64532 ' $2974946 $136320 Total charge for Public Debt on Securities issued, $311 1266 It is not necessary to advert here to the engagements of the Pro- vince towards Special Funds which are more or less under the con- trol of Parliament ; nor to the receipts on the Indirect Debt from the Municipalities, Railway, &c., these are noticed in the Auditor's Re- port as affecting the amount to be annually provided, but they do not modify the position of the Province towards the Public Creditor, which it is my present object to state. The Ordinary Income and Expenditure of the year now closed pre- sents no unusual features, and, being set forth in full detail, requires no particular remark. C I I I ^ 264011 1028454. 2936544. 8081910 >5345925 135 ORDINARY INCOME. Customs, $4756724 18 gxcise, 306536 35 Post Office, 405317 38 Territorial, 644806 41 Public Works, 286226 25 Miscellaneous— including interest on Investment and Advances, 797411 37 Special Revenues, 244907 34 Guaranteed, &c., accounts— less advances repaid. - 673796 03 $8115725 31 $46141 1627827 2290 1363200 ^3039478 64532 ' 12974946 $136320 ^3111266 the Pro- the con- from the tor's Re- ;y do not Creditor, osed pre- requires ORDINARY EXPENDITURE. Interest on Public Debt, and charges, - . . Sinking Fund — New Loan, .. _ . _ Civil Government, ------- Administration of Justice, East, - . - - Do. West, Police, -.- Penit':>ntiary, -------- Ley;.- 'ion, -----._ Eui 1, 1, Hospitals and charities, 1267 4537 2806 4961 6407 922 2656 966 1756 533 1781 Lower Provinces. . 1106 1182 496 857 691 261 24 214 • • • * . • Total .... 41076 39176 36699 53183 21274 22439 32097 12810 8778 10150 In connexion with immigration, it is interesting to note the progress of settlement in the two sections of the Province ; and there is, therefore, subjoined : SCHEDULE of Lands Surveyed and suhdivived into Farm Lots, from 1851 to 1860, incUisive. Year. LowKR Canada. Upper Canada. Acres. Acres. 1861 .... 130400 .... 266856 .... 1852 .... .544700 . . . . 42S2751 1034906 311326 179S30 560955^ 290690i 307559 i 717046 403349 1853 .... 3552.00 1854 .... 220950 1865 471916 1856 .... 280420 1857 .... 210000 1858 .... 214608 1859 .... 366495 1860 328639 Total Acres .... 3123378 .... 4495794 .... 139 Of the lands thus surveyed, and with ihose previously open for settlement, the following Mateiiieiit .shows the disposal : 1860. 6481 376 979 533 1781 .1. 10150 rogress ere is, I Lots, L.D A. Si -s B C u o >^ rs « hi t3 s 3 O P •3 « r. «> c o s H H -3 0>C5I^MCOCOO ■— ,: o CO "1* Qo CO i.*! c< C33 '-0 C» Tt 05 tp l~ 5j O O -^ r- CO ■»!<-- -^ r- c» fff o« '■a So * S-o ^ CB - ^ S »■ jir-CTjiNCif^o— • 1) CO ■^ (?< xi ov •^ o t: — • CO >0 CO O CO CO ^ ■^ W CO CO — c* -^ CO J'X>OCOO-<00 aJCOOCOt-CCO^C* CO r- CO >o CO 'O CO ■+iai'rr-co — xc< ^ ^^ Tj« CO C^ "-^ c* CO CO X >o i;: CO •-0 — fN o o o ii w rr e» '.o — • o c>» a» 1^ CO a. p rffO, Oi CO O 05 e; CO o S "" " S ^' w »■ 'C — CO O CO i~ -73 J; CO — . c» ■.« cn c» (^ u oj CO ■«r C5 CO 1^ cv C C( o r- *T l?M~ o ^ O CO 1^ O — f ^ —CO CO — ■?»—. l~ lO C» lO 'X c» CO ic CO IN o o CO CO CO CO o ^ O 05 O '<< ' ■ itJCO Qowr-i-c — cococ* CO »1< O 1^ f X o> ^ o cr. — C-. I- CD •>*' CO o CO O) 1< O CO O — X X CO — CO O CO CO X IN r- o «+) 'X -t X CO X — CO ■ CO ?1 — — I?* CO CO o CO X ;o o; CO 1" to — >rt — CO ■^ — Q >0 •* ift I* ■n rf o CO 10 35 CO CO i x cji t o i< O C5 o t- o- — t 00 CO CO T o i?5 "O X t- 5^= .— ^ CO O) CO — <35 X !■- W O -T O CO CO t- r- C5 X CO o i — Tf C C- Cj <; 0-. 0> 'O (N (N _: io~x a> o M — i-t^?«-** CO f^ X CO o o — o X >o -Irt — t ©» X «■» — OV C» (X CO o C< l^ CO IN X ; < Amount of Sales. Crown Lands, IT. C. •aiBQ • - if^ m I -J o~. t~ CO CO r^ • O ^J X f. — ' /J -N IN X t~ 1 r, CO ~i — CO '^ z; 't 1; C (•- CO ■^ o — CO t- c"j CO / cr, >y. — o c in i^ c — 'O -IT 'i' ..<< — — c« r- CO ^ CO ^ cv o — "N ov ■«T — I c-» to 00 1* — a> IN ^ "T GO O CO Ch — , — r» CO Q CO — 2J cj o «- >n O /; CO C5 ^ ^ CO CO ^ "S" IN X CO »0 t- i c< r- — i/ C- — "# ■^ >.T» CO t^ 05 Q CO 5) -r CO CO ■o»^ 1" C/)-r o» c -r CO "^^N CI CO C-. — <^ IN OIN t- '5" in CO X I-. 1—1 I c« o o ' •«r CO CO •^ I — t^ X CO lO ■^ o •o " iC CO f" *♦ O — O IN — m CO c o IN o; t^ ■fl< >« *^ CO -# X (»^ — — — IN C£> IN • OS r- X o X o o ?| I* CO C* X CO "vJ "^ ?:^05X(N — coin — t" — Q in c'. — o o« j;COOroC«CD'«fC* "s w in '»' — — CO CO CO c c — CO — ■"J* — t-co IN »CI CO CO — (N CO -2 '5 CO l> in in o in o in o ■X X X' X X » CB X 05 O in in CO or; X X o 1-1 H < H Oh < o 2 o o — in IN 1^ O CO I- X ■>* 'T 1< CO X Q to ^f2 t- in o o ^ ^. — 0 iC T-» C» CO o» Ci f s « CO o — • r- ■T W c>» O -, 0-. — CO Ci ac 'o <5 05 -}" CO o ~ ,- Tf GO CO X y; co^. '- T ■73 >C '^' CO ix I;- 05 C5 /« CO (M -X C3 * CO /: M ■rf o; o Ci (^ CN (N 'wO rr ■«1( 1-1 rf to CO Ol -« >* -^ "* -o <35 — l- W CO CO Tf O ;/3 Ci X CO CO IC CO Cr O —i C< (- Cft •rr CO >0 CO w C?V CO CO t^ (^ o CI Statement of tlio Imports and Exports and Duty collected from 1851 to 18<>0. Duly. ih;-)! -imrn-n IS.I 2!)."»(i(>.t:< iN.-.;j 4i1!m:ji 1S.')1 JOOOTt)!) IMfw :J;)->7{)!H 18.W 4.")I()|-2S inrn :ii»27:Jt)s IS.OS 33tiSI.')7 Iso!) 1tr){j32(j laUO 47.")lj721 Knic per cent. Iniporla. Export.1. $ $ I3^ 2ii:inni I2')(i»721 '•>i 202.S(J4!i;t l.')307()07 13 :ji;»si4:i(i 23SOI303 \2 4(J.')2!)32r> 23019190 10 3i;os(iUii) 2NIW4U1 m 43.-)NJ3s7 32047017 10 3!t43()r)!)S 27(M)()G24 IIJ 2fK)7.SJ27 23172(J()9 1^1 33.0."),-) M)| 247()69H1 M 3444 Hi21 34tJ31890 Upon this statemcMit it is sati.sfuctory to notice the fact, that, not- withstanding tlie ciiangcs that have taken })lace in the Duties levied on various articles, the propurtion of charge upon the whole importa- tion of tlie Province is not now higher, than it was in 1851 and 1852, proving that the large engagements contracted in the various impor- tant ameliorations in tlie phy.sical condition of the country, have not been attended by any increased pressure upon its industry. Taking another view of the question of Taxation by Customs Duties, it may be remarked that the amount levied y^cr head in 1851, was about one dollar and sixty cents, or eight shillings ; while in 1860 it will cer- tainly not exceed $1.70, or eight shillings and six-pence, notwith- standing the enormous increase which has undoubtedly taken place in the aggregate of individual wealth within the last Decade. The Foreign Trade has also been satisfactory, as is hereby shewn : Suu's Inwakus. Suiivs Outwards. No. Tonnage. No. 1 Tonnage. 1647 .... 59326.5 .... 1704 .... 637447 1461 .... 541144 .... 1524 .... 574126 179S .... 622579 .... 1821 .... 6588.53 1H90 .... 705342 .... 2018 .... 781755 1168 .... 419553 .... 1219 451241 1494 .... 550573 .... 1.532 .... 573648 3047 .... 748425 1848 .... 73136T 1667 .... 6I3S13 .... 1 1662 .... 632046 nifi .... 641662 .... 1618 .... 640571 1993 .... 831434 .... 1923 .... 821791 ■^ n^ Tilt' liitonml Tnulo liy the CiUiMls a|)|)i;irs to Invo rxprricnccd an uliiKist iiiiilltriiily steacly uiitriiU'iitulioii. Ii li;is hccii us follows : Sta TKMMN r sliowiiiLi" llic ( iross .Mo\(in(iit. d' 'roiiii!ioi> W'sst'ls nnd J'ldpcrly |i;issc(l uii itini tiiroiiuli the l'roviiu-i;il Ciiiiuls, cxclusivo of tin'. Uidcaii CJiiiiiil. Jor ten siu'i't'ediiig* yt-nrs, vix : |{iirlmuliiii V.Mr. WcIIuikI. Si. F.iuvri'iico. f'liaiiibly. li,.y. Sl..\riii'.N. Total.?. Tuns, Toil-.. Tm„.. 'J"(iii«i. T..i.<. I^'jl .... 1 l(il.V)0 !iii7tilf) •Jl)l 117 .JIUIllS 'j(Mn() ;i:i!t()ii:i.) Is.rJ .... l():i 7 •.'.•>:» 107^(HI I7(ti:i'j (;:ti(i:i-.' 'JOTTOIJ 37-217liI IS;");} .... llHi!)! Id 1 IMdno •J,M7.)1 .to7( »■.'() •na m :»!)n.fs{ is'jl .... I7li:i|.s i;;7iii-.M |.)7.)7I Oli)>.)ti •:7ii-.v» ;t7(l!tlf,'7 is.V) .... 1. '100^(1(1 Il!tli7.)> ■r.l-.'V) .ti:":i;-2 •277.").') 1 107 '.'t ;,-)() IS.'ili .... 2I.">>I)'J i:iri-.77 'jM)7:i() ;■) r, 1 1 7 :U7(»'«7 •KiMUl!! 1V>7 .... •:()iii.')0() i'.N;f(is{ ':!ii7.".i .'.'l.MDI :i-.v.s(»i Il(i-.'!KI2 IsV .... '.'(CJiiss:! i;;i;:i;i(;s -()()' is •i]i:-i :!:;7ii7 •i-.'():i;!.-):i l^.VI .... i,')ii(i.")',"i i:!77l()| :pi7i.") 1 !!().>!• '3'l|s-J2 3MI70S9 iMiO .... 2 is:.'.")!) J l.'),").M)(Jl ■t.»iiiii;{ 2tJi;iJ7 •i;tti7(>r) •l^!»^3^^ X. i>. — The Ridcaii Ciiiial lifliiin.s arc iiul iiu ludud, liaviii^'' only U-ca m I'liaij^c oi the Province (liniii- the la>l lliri.''.' y.'C.r.s. In considering the above r»etiirn, it inu.st ids(* l)o Lome in mind that during llie la.st three years a large movciueiit of Tonnage has taken j)lace by rail, \vhit:h cannot ai)peur in the ordinary Trade Table.s. The Revenue and Expenditure liave, in common with all tlie great interests of the Province, experienced a jirogre.s.sive increase, Tlie form in which the Public Acconnts were submitted j)rior to 1858 prevents a com])lete comparison, but the Ibllowing table has been prepared of the Income and Expenditure of the Consolidated Fund, since hSSO. Statement of Income and Expenditure of the Consolidated Fund, from the 31st December, 1850, to 31st December, 1860. Y I] A II. INCOME • EXPENDITUIIE. ISol . . 3>JS2321 • • 30.'30119 . . lh'a2 3i)7(i7(H) 3{),0yosl . . lSo3 . . :y2>26;n 3 17.s72(j . . is.>t . . (iOssllO ^1171911 .. IHno . . -)>7()I(J() 4779.">22 . . ISoG . . ;>9s!t.j 13 .')1-13(J21 . . ]«.07 . . 53,j-27ri t 5(J92942 . . 1858 . . '10-2970?) 6 133274 . . 1859 . . {i-24hti79 6099570 . . 18t)0 . . 7047930 7u3tJ]79 . . JS'. B. — The charge for 1800, includes ,9490,218 adihtional latcre.'st, transferred ljy the conversion of Debt from guaranteed Account to ConsoUdated Fund. 10 146 It does not fall within the scope of a Report upon the Finanres and Trade of the country, to advert particularly to its legislation, but as the two ini|)ortHnt (.jiiestinns of the Clergy Rcservesitand Seignorial Tenure, Loth have luid a vital bearing on the peace and progress of the country, and have also materially ailected the charges ii])on the Revenue, it may not be amiss to record the fact, that, the Clergy Reserves were settled in 1854, by a measure of commutation of all existing claims, leaving the residue of the funds and lands, to the Muniei})alities ol' Upper and Lower Canada. Under this Act there has been paid to the Municipalities of Ujiper Canada the sum of $2,82r),697 6{y And a further sum is in hand for distribution at 1st July, 1861, of 310,060 33 Total $3,135,757 99 With an estimated amount to be hereafter realized from Lands sold, and to be sold, of no less than. . 2,565,959 00 In Lower Canada the funds have been applied by Parliament to the erection of Court Houses and Gaols in the new Judicial Districts. The Seignorial Tenure was also partly adjusted in 1854, by the capitalization of certain local funds, with an aid of $600,000 (jS 150,000) from the Public Exchequer, and an equal amount to the Upper Canada Building Fund. But its final settlement took place in 1859, when the claims of the Seigniors were fully provided for by the grant of 6 per cent permanent annuities by the Province to an estimated amount of £30,000 ($120,000) per annum, coupled with a grant of equal amount to the Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund of Upper Canada, and the repeal of the Lower Canada Municipal Loan Fund, under which the right to borrow about four millions of dollars remained still unexercised. As it appears not to be generally understood how far the repeal of the Lower Canada Municipal Loan Fund afforded the means of ad- justing the Seignorial Tenure question with fairness towards Upper Canada, it may be proper to state that under the Upper Canada Municipal Loan Fund Act, the Municipalities of that section had borrowed almost the whole sum authorized, $7,294,800 00, whereas in Lower Canada the amount borrowed has been, up to this date, only $2,262,540 00, Of the difference of $5,037,460 still remaining for Lovver Canada, the power to borrow was re[)caled to the extent of about $4,000,000 — the balance being held for By-laws sanctioned, but not acted upon up to this time. The interest at six per cent., therefore, on the Upper Canada Debt, is $437,888 ; on the Lower Canada, $135,752. By the 147 noes and I, but as aignorial ogress of upon the e Clergy ion of Lill s, to the ct there 5,697 6ij 0,060 33 5,757 99 5,959 00 ament to Districts. by the $600,000 t to the place in sd for by ice to an d with a Fund of lal Loan if dollars repeal of s of ad- is Upper Canada tion had whereas this date, Canada, 100,000— . upon up tie Upper By the Auditor's Report, the rate of one shilling in the pound will yield, in Upper Canada, $240,285 — and in Lower Canada estimated at $100,000, leaving a deficiency for Ui-per Canada of $197,603, and for Lower Canada $35,752. Li view, therefore, of the excess of charge fiir Upper Canada, a sum equal to the Seignorial Pcrnianent Annuities w;is placed at the credit of the U})per Canada Fund, and, to j)rc'.-ent any increase of liability from Lower Canada, their Act was ri'iicaled; while, to com- pensate the Upper Canada Municipalities, — who were not debtors to tlie Province, — the revenues of the Municipalities (Clergy Pvcserve) Fund were expressly made over to them, to tlie exclusion ol" all those in default, — an arrangement which, at the valuation made of the Fund ($2,565,959) with the addition of $511, 3;:!2 OS, paid in 1860, and payable in 1S61, indemnified them for tlieir share in the relief aflbrded to the Municipalities in delimit. It was also provided that whenever a Municipality discharged its default to the Province, its interest in the Clergy Pveserve Fund revived. Having adverted in ireneral terms to the ]irogress of Canada during the last ten years, as evidenced by statistical returns, I now proceed to trace the gradual increase in the Public Debt, with a brief resum6 of the Legislation by which it has been created, it is the more necessary to do so, because in almost every case where an indirect liability has become chargeable on the Kevenue, it has occurred after the expenditure of the money borrowed had ceased; and the ])ublic only learn the nature and extent of burdens arising out of})ast Legis- lation simultaneously with the suspension of an outlay which, while it lasted, gave, it may be feared, an unwholesome stimulus to specu- lation. Thus the increased charges required to meet these demands, have arisen when the country was least prepared for them, and no doubts has caused a feeling of dissatisiiiction Avitli present legislation, which, if justifiable at all, really appertains to the acts of former Parliaments. It does not become the undersigned, in bis official report to Your Excellency, to offer any criticism upon wluit the Legislature has been pleased to sanction ; but it is his duty to point out, with a view to the future avoidance of the evil, that, with the exception of the comparatively small sums received from the Municipalities, the whole Indirect Debt of the Province — upwards oC thirty millions of dollars, created prior to 1855 — has become an absolute charge upon the country, although at the time the obligations were incurred, it was not anticipated that any part would ever become payable. To elucidate the progress of the debt, I submit the three following statements, from 1851 to 1859. The year 1860 is omitted because it 10* 148 contains the transactions connected with the conversion of the doht, and would only produce confusion in any coni])arative review ; it has also been iully stated in the first part of this Kepurt : — Statement of the Public Debt from the year 1851 to 1860. Year. Direct. 1 Indirect. Total. i 1850 Existinsr Debt.. • . s cts. . . . . -1 S cts. $ cts. 187x25(15 53 1851 17807S47 lS(ili4773 184851 til 17415797 172125 !(i 18813214 2147025(3 24430975 25535031 53 05 72 15 13 92 52 17 11) ■ 'i 2l)73(i25 25 . 3(;90(M0 55 . . . 11437591 22 . . . 2!43ti03li ()3 . . . 28() 121)71 22 . . . 2!»9444()1 (i3 . . . 308(M055 30 , . . 304(il429 98 . 28G07013 3o . 1 T i 1 .1. i T 20481472 78 1852 1 22355113 (iO 1853 1 29922752 94 1854 1855 i_ ^ 3S85I833 78 45855217 35 1856 4^757(1 If) 55 1857 185S r " 52334911 82 54892405 15 1859 5l14-mi.l .Ui 1 AMOUNT OF DEBENTURES REDEEMED. In 1851, $3+1425 27 1852, 76989 01 18.53, 1310331 55 1854, 1244404 .50 1855, 2766006 43 1856, 49.S262 47 1857, 816390 00 18.58, 204753 34 1859, 2897840 69 $10156353 26 )f the doht, ^iew ; it has o 1860. Total. $ CtS. lS7«2.")(ir> .03 2()1S|.|72 7« 223.");-) 113 UO 2<)9227.V2 94 3.sS.')|.V)2I7 35 1s7n7()if) 55 ■)23349ll 82 ')l.S9210rj 15 54142014 4() D. 25 27 39 01 31 .55 04 .50 06 43 62 47 PO 00 o3 34 40 69 53 26 of such Act. 1857. 1858. 1859. Totals. i CtS. 1071 57 $ CtS. 204753 33 $ CtS. ,$ CtS. 6169906 00 290 67 9*64 '93' i; ; ..: 710203 15 ) 1 11204 63 J 19128 00 1 423916 70 1 . .. . 600000 00 I543 33 1400000 00 I777 73 * • • • • • • • 834444 1:1 I474 03 267474 03 ] 104065 97 1 3S000 00 1 1916666 67 1 3747333 33 j 13195966 67 2311666 66 1 . 100000 00 1330 67 1 7299992 01 1500 00 ^000 00 a 212500 00 42i>040 00 2191040 00 80000 00 ' 120000 00 1 545506 65 1000000 00 '; (i44433 32 1 120000 00 1 2 2 j 1000000 00 j 754433 33 1000000 00 1299999 9S I 000000 00 2 1 644433 32 1 i66G2 26 2171686 m 273b039 97 ! 1 :45515S32 19 1 ,nslatioii of the Parhameiit in which the ^'several of the Acts are of a general Cexception of the large items of Railway (■iX, ($-2,81(),500) to be ehar<^eable aaaiiist tl the Province. i 25 199 24 !S5500 00 i9h74S 05 .99300 00 J99992 01 .■(i6S66 26 I.SOOOO 00 191040 00 9610699 24 16298040 06 15337976 63 . 4269186 63 $45515632 19 JOHN LANGTON, Auditor 14-9 A Statement of all Debentures issued from 1H51 to 1859, showiii; UNDER WHAT ACT 12 Vic. 9 Vic. 7 Vic. 12 Vic. Provin 13 and 16 Vic. 18 Vic. lb Vic. 12 and 12 Vic. 13 and 14 and 18 Vic. 16 Vic. 16 and 18 and 23 Vic. 19 and 20 Vic. 22 Vic. 22 Vic. Cap. 6 Public Worlcs Cap. 65 Reljellion liOsses , . . . Cap. 34 Well.ind Canal Cap. nS Rt;l)cilion Losse.s iai Debentures, Lower Canada. . . .Turnpike Trusts, ice. 14 Vic. Cap. 2 Public Works Cap. 157 do Cap. 4 do Cap 3 Seigniorial Fund . . . . 16 Vic. Cap. 58 and 17 Public Works j Cap. 112 & 13, & 14 Vic. Cap. 94.. .Court Houses, L. C. 14 Vic. Caps. 2 and 68 Lunatic- Asylum. . . 15 Vic. Cap. 73, . .St. Lawrence and Atlantic Kailroad. . . Great VVe.' \jO ••••••••••••••••••• CIO ••••••• Caps. 84 and 14 do ! Date of Acts. 2.5th Ajiril, 1849 19th June, 1S46 9lli December, 1M3 2.5th Ai)nl, \>A9 1851. $ cts. 381.593 05 290 67 500 00 , 9335 (W I 19128 00 1852. I 10th Aujiust, ! 14th June, ISth Deer., do 25lh April, Novr., ?,]ay, Augt., do 10th ] 30ih : 10th 1K")0' 1m3 1Vj4 do , IMO ) 1N02 i I lh-)9 ( i 18.50 ^' j do I 1144S 00 25400 00 423916 70 59457 97 ]2{J00 90 '194()6(;() 67 : 973333 33 1853. $ cts. 3312 00 $ < 976933 3*76308 22* 1866 95 330110 33120 1946666 ■l-t0s222 133S333 30th ]\lay, IS.w 10th Novr., ISA) do do 19th lOih 4ih 1st lOih Hith 41 h i 1971400 I June, \s:n s MilV, IS")9 July, 1^.)^;, June, J>57 Auf.ni.st, lN")S Mav, IS.09 Totals , 147735 40 3794463 M ,11004790 It would be almost impossible, in the earlier years, to distinguish how much of each i8.sue under .some Act passed, and how much was on account of later years, or for redemption of DebeiiUnes falling due and < character. In the analysis below, I have, therefore, considereil the i.ssue of each year to belong to the L Guarantees, and Municipal Loan Fund. With regard to the aid to the Great Western Railroad, I have onh the original Act, and the amount repaid in 1858, ($936,833 33) to bo chargeable against that year, as it wa Third Parliament of Canada Ordinary Serivcos of 1851 and 1S.52. Ilailroad Guarantees Fourth Parliament of Canada Ordinary Services of 1853 and 1854. Railroad Guarantees ......... Municipal Loan Fund, U. C Fifth Parliament Ordinary Services of 1S55, 1856 and 1857. Railroad Guarantees Municipal Loan Fund, L. C Sixth Parliament Ordinary .Services of 18.')S and l.'^oP. Total . . 149 1851 to 1859, .showing under what Act, and llio date of sncli Act. 1851. 1852. 18.53. 1854. 1855. 1S56. 1857. 18.58. 1859. Totals. $ cts. 1593 05 290 67 $ ct.s. 3312 00 $ cts. 976933 .55 576664 50 $ els. 2585756 67 $ ct. . 56821 33 $ Pis. 1903171 57 $ C'IS. 2047.53 33 $ cts. .4; ct.s. 6169906 00 2!)0 67 710203 15 500 00 37630S 22 186a 95 330110 00 920 00 500 00 19t;i !)3 i. .. . 9335 6.S 1 1 1 204 63 9!2S 00 19128 00 423916 70 423916 70 600000 00 494456 67 486666 67 600000 00 14()()0I)0 00 905J13 33 347777 73 267174 03 S3-144.1 40 • ••••... 267171 01 144S 00 59457 97 12600 9U 33120 00 • ••••••• 104065 97 5400 00 1 •••••••' . . 3s000 00 1946666 67 • • . 1946666 67 973333 33 1946666 67 827333 33 1 3747333 33 440S222 67 '4407740 00 43^^0000 00 I3l950|i(i 07 1 1338333 33 973333 33 ' 23 1 1 •i66 (ii) i 16.S00 00 1229000 Of) S3 200 00 ii6.->nn.i (i7 ..«• 100000 (KJ : 1971400 00 2720266 67 213:!:«) 67 693.";0() DO 64000 00 1 72!)9!)92 01 ' 684000 00 ; 173000 00 16000 00 212500 00 428040 00 2191040 00 80000 00 120000 00 .54551)6 6,') i 000000 00 120000 00 *; , I 000000 00 1000000 00 7.")4-i:i:i -AA 129r)9:>9 9s ; !..!].!!!..!!!!!!!! '.','.''..'] 1000000 00 , 1 644433 32 7735 40 3704463 >S4 ,11001790 22 8159924 50 ,9739390 00 3060139 34 i 43i,i;tiii2 26 21716.86 66 2738039 97 :4551.5.s32 19 I ! ! I I ; I I of each is.sue under some of the Acts, \va.s chargeable to the Leg isiiitioii of the Parliament in which the )ebeiilures falling due and authorized to be renewed, ina,smn(;h as .sevenii of the Acts are of a gcnieral ach year to belong to the Legislation of the same pt riod, with the exception of the large items of Kailway estern Railroad, I have only considered the amount now out.standin^-, (.S"2.81(),500) to be chargeable against ! against that year, as it was applied to the General Expenditure ot ilie J^rovince. I 1S52 $lGr.l9f) 24 8x^.).')U() 00 9610699 21 1 1S54 K:).sT)S 05 7.' 't93ll0 00 7il)9!l!l2 01 16298040 06 56 and 1857 STiiiWiti 26 4:;>>oi)oo 00 2i;)1040 00 15337976 63 (1 1,S59 426918() 63 T.iial Jj;4.5515h32 19 JOHN LANGTON, Auditor. 150 Those statomoiits shew tluit t]ie I'uLlic Debt lit 31st December, isr)0, was !;slS Jf^O.nfin.;").'] Since isNiied ---_-__ 4r),r)ir).S;^J.l 9 Since redeemed $<)•!. .'2 OS, 3 97. 72 > ■('■•^'> >!iiir:- t(j iMialyNc the iiiodc inwliich llie Pidjlic Delit has been contracted, I shall iirst eonsiiU'r the m hole issiii' ordfl)t, — ^^-l'"),- fjlo.S.'i-i.lf), — sHbdixidiny it accordingto theseveral rarlianienl.s nnder udujse acts it has bLcn (•rcated. The jieridd antecedent to Isl .hiniiarv, 1S51, was that in M'hicdi the M'di'ks (j1' iiilernal iiaviii'ation were ceniinenced, and in a prrat niea- SLU"e ceniplrlcd. it alsu cux'ered tlu' leii'islatioii ol' a lucal eliaractc r, lor I'oads, Harbors, l)rid;Lies, cVc. 'iiic policv t)l' assistin;^' ilailways rect'ived its iirst sant-tion in 1S-|}), when tlio j^narantce Ad was jiassed, thoniiii no issue ofsecnrilies to(»k jilace uiidt r that .\el. It Avas sid)S('(|n(MJlly anicndcd (14- iV If) \'ic. cap. 7.'i) by oxtiMidniii' tlie g'liurantoe to tlic ))riiicipal, and by the issiio of llonds lunrinii' tin' direct engM<);einoii! ol'llu' l^ro\ince; whereby the (ireat. Western, Korthern, St. Lawrence and Atkmtic, and t^neln'c and ilielnnujitl. Hail ways were prtjceeded with : Furthest' objcets, prior to lSr)l,a deljt had been created, anioiniiin;j; to ____.- - .^r; 1.^^78 2 ")().") 53 And as is sliewn in the foregoing statement, tliere has l)een issniMl for Oixlinary ^Jervices t)fIS5I and '52 ^'^J^)I!19 '21 For Hailruad (uiarantees - S2sr)5U() 00 Less redeemed in 1S51 an 18' 2 •iS:i93-Jt;! 77 ■llS3(il. 28 Total debt authorized prior to 1S52. - 27971-900 -19 A new Parliann-nt was ek^ct(>d in the utitiimn of 1S51, and closed in 1851. In l,sr)2, the (Jranil Trnnk Act passed, jirantiim- a. lin.itcd anioimt of ProN iiicial aid. whitdi was afterwards increased by tlu-snm uf £900,000 slerlms; in 1851, in the Iirst Session of the liillowina' Tar- liament. ]n \SX], (Hi Vic. Cap. 22) the Mimici|ial Loan ITmd system was introduced in rp[ter Canada, uidimitcd in aniouut. The ordi- nary rid)lic Works — (Jaiials, Ihers on the Lower St. f.,awrence, \i'., M'ere also ]iro\"idod for. The Tiegislation of this rarlianiciil, ])roduco dinang its own continuance, a Debt of . _ - ,s i;juJ597l4' 72 And as is shown, has snb-erling, with other restrictions. A further loan was also made, as alrcacly stated, of Je900 ,000 to the Grand Trunk Railway Company. The years 1S54, 1855, und 1856, were very prosperous — good harvests, high prices, and a vast expenditure by Railway Companies and Mu- nicipalities. In 1856, however, the (irand Trunk became unable to raise money to complete its works, and the first Relief Act was passed, fallowed in 1857 by the second Relief Act ; both, however, relating to the j)reviously existing debt created under the legislation of 1850, 1852 and 1854, and not adding thereto. The amoimt of public debt created during the continuance of the Parliament of 1854- 57, was, - -$14697336 26 And there has since been issued, under the authority of Acts, then passed. 610540 00 The redemption of debt during the same period was $153.17906 26 40S0658 90 $11257247 36 The present Parliament, elected in the winter of 1857-8 has seen the conclusion of the Decade. Its Legislation hns, in a financial point of view, been confined to provisions against the heavy charges unex- pectedly arising from the vast guaranteed Debt. It has re peeled the laws permitting their increase. It has provided for the conversion and final licpiidation of the Public Debt on terms involving no in- creased charge upon the Pwevenue. And it has readjusted the Impe- rial Guaranteed Loan on such terms as to afford a very sensible relief in the amount of annual charge. The only serious increase of lia- bility has been that arising out of the Seigniorial Tenure, rendered necessary by the Legislation of 1854, which was, however, accom- panied by the repeal of an indirect engagement under the L. C. Mn- nieipal Loan Fund Act, of double the amount thus assumed. The crisis and bad harvests of 1857 and 1858 most seriously affected the Province, and caused Parliament to limit its expenditure to works i V )" 00 26 90 36 '. 152 considered of pros.siii<^ importance, ciirtailinp- even Ihese in tlie most .strin<>-eiit. manni'r. JsOt \vith.standin<>' the rcdnelions cLceti'd in expen- diture, the liiihn-e olTvevenne arising; troni tlie Jitate ul'the eonntry, coupled with the necessity of providinir at tlie same time for the in- terest on 'I'hirty Millions of, anaranteed and indireet Dehl, pnxhieed for the years lSf)7-S, a very serious deliciency in tlu; llevonne, amonntin^ to ahont $4-r)0U000, which thoujih niati^rially redneed in ISilO and 18(i0, lias still continned the cause ol luiNiety and ri^gret. The debt created for J'ublic W'cjrks, and lor ihc serviee ol the country has amounted to $-12GyiS() 63 And there has been redeemed, exclusive of the trans- actions of ]S60 connected wiUi the conversion of the Public Debt, 3]02r)f)4. 03 ^1,166,592 60 It is however, proper to remark that in the redemption of the Pu- blic Debt, is included the Debentures assumed Iroiii s[)ecial funds amounting- to $2,43o,l52, the interest on which as is shown in the Auditor's Ptoport, still has to be provided by the Province. Tn concluding his remarks upon the Pnl)lic Debt, the undersigned desires to submit the Ibllowing summary ol its position as alli-cted by the legislation of past years. The legislation, prior to 1852, has produced a debt of $27,974^,900.49 From 1852 to 1854 $16,298,04-0.66 Less Redeemed 2,554- ,736. 05 13,74-3,304.01 From 1854 to 1858 15,337,906.26 Less Pvedeemed 4,080,658.90 1 1,257,247.36 From 1858 to 1859 4,269,186.63 Iss'd as shewn in 1860, $27264,011.77 Do. Cons. M. L. Fund, L.C 71,500.00 27,335,511.77 Less — Redeemed 1858-9 3,102,594.03 31,604,698.40 Do. Do. 1860 15,885,086.42 Do. Do. India Gov'ment Stock 7,300,000.00 26,287,680.45 5,317,017,95 Present Debt $58,292,469.81 lf)3 Auninst ^vluVll nro liold funds tt) vcdocMii llio oiilslandiii^' Mtinioi|ial ]jo;iii !''iiiid l](iii(l.s, -^•,i^3u,r)ll'. Ol' till- iircsciit dchl, lu'urly oiu'-lialf, or A-7,2':i l',()l 1, is IssiiimI dii tcnns pruvidinu' liir its idliiii.iti' liipiidii- lioii ; ;i id under ilic aiitlioril.y iilrciidy unuitcd l-y i'arli.iiiifiii, ii niiiy be (.•\|K'ct('d lliat, llic ^^'ll(lll• rfiiiaiiiiiu' d(d)t. will l)c