IMAGE EVALUATBON TEST TARGET (MT-3) / f/j r/- !.0 I.I 1.25 9^12.8 ISO l"^^ u 114 1^ 1^ 12.0 21 2.2 1.4 '.8 1.6 i "/ <^>;. ^^^ -s*. >^*- '^^^V .0.: ^ w ^J'? ^ ■M /y^ ^/W Hiotogi-aphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14$80 (716) 873-4503 <> v^r^^' ^^^\-^«t ^<}^^ ^^ ^ Va CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadicn ce microreproductions historiqces ^ Teshnica! and Bibliographic Notes/Notas techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographccally unique, v»/hich may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se pi-ocurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger unn modification dans la m^thode normals de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. r "] Coloured covers,' Couverture de couleur □ Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagee I — I Covers restored and/or laminated/ I J Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul^e D D D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur^es et/ou pellicul6es □ Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Y Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^color^es, tachetdes ou piqu^es a □ Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 7 Pages detached/ Pages d^tach^es Shcwthrough/ Transparence □ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations sn couleur Bound with other material/ Relie avec d'autres documents Quality of print varies/ Qualite in^gale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comorend du materiel supplementaire Cn Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion J along interior margin/ La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de Ij distortion le long dc la marge int^rieure D Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que CGitaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. D D Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t§ film^es d nouveau de faqon k obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commen;aires suppl^mentaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est f:lr.)6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X ■■^HMii^H^H mm^^^ wmmam^ m.mmmmm ^^m^m mi^^^ ^^^^ wam^mm wmm^^ 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X ails du tdifier un« nage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of tha original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specsfications. L'exemplaire fi!m6 fut reproduit grflce d la g6n4rosit6 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6x6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at de la nettet6 de ■'exemplaire filrn^, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filrnage. Oiiginal copies in printed paper covers a'-e filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustroted impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires origmaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmds en commengant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le ces. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fi!rr.&s en commenpant par la premiere page qu* comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The la^t recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —•»• (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning 'END "), whichever applies. Un des symboies suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifio "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left \o right and top to bottom, as many frames as roquired. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimds d des taux de reduction different? Lorsque le document es; trop grand po:;r dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il 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. rrata o 3elure, 1 d □ 32X 1 2 3 .,,„.„, 4., ,,:_,,:, 2 3 4 5 6 K immmmmmmmm CONFEDERATION EXAMINED IN THE LIGHT OP REASON AND COMMON SENSE: AKD THE BRITISH N. A. ACT SHEWN TO BE i UNCONSTITUTIONAL. BY MARTIN I. WILKINS, a.C. PUBLISHED BY Z. S. HALL, BOOKSELLER AND STATIONER, HOLLT8 STREET, HALIFAX, N. 8. 1867- \r i A t m t a'\HV^ i .. .- ^ i.** ""-^ t) JI'j .4.?!/. !iO',T i; ' y'j :f /■. iKfKt If I nnt nyroiui <':?^* ff i' A. \i. 1 t r r«! 1^-. i.i ^/-frr-jTiir^^iO/:;'^ i- iSS; Td THE PEOPLE OF NOVA SCOTIA^'-n'- >/'J1({ ,!v- _ - i. .. . - . . •■ • . .. ■ - ' ■'. • ■ ' ui; :..« .HlJi'''!!.'t r*."'J'f''' f'« .-■.*> (jf.,' ( ill **.:>,(|i-s/' . ! ■ !t it., <)(i'i.' ;:Vd'! j-orjir ;!'( if -..a '"^'' ' It is iTiy purpose, in the following pagei^, to expose the fallacies 6J' ft Pamphlet on Confederatiok, " by a Nova Scotian," which has been widely circulated, and, though shallow in the extreme, is (jalculated to mislead the unwary. It bears strong evidence, of being the work of one? of the unauthorized individuals, who pretend to have visited London, clothed with authoritj', to overturn all our political institutions. Although the author comjilaius, in refer'ence to imputations 6a8t on their spotless reputations, that " no one ventures under hia signature in open day to prefer a charge, tfec," he has not mustered courage to put his own name to this tissue of mere sophistries. VVhen the delegates returned to the Province they did not meet with a very flattering reception. They had no ovation ; and no illuminations, bonfires, .ind other demonstrations of felicitous welcome hailed their returti. They were not escorted to their homes with torches and banners, and through triumphal arches ; no cannon thundered forth a noisy welcome. They wei-e received in solemn, sullen, and ominolis silence. No happy smiles greeted them ; but they entered the Province as into the house of mourning. • Conscious that they had forfeited the confidence of their fellow subjects, they found it necessary to solicit approbation, and hL.ve put forth this pamphletr; but not one of them dared to put his name to the tricky and deceitful electioneering manifesto. It is well known that they had no part in the preparation of the scheme of Confederation which was manufactured in Canada; for D'Arcy McGee, at a public dinner at Kingston, with imprudent candor, probably under the inspiration of champagne and claret, boasted that it -was the work of John A. McDonald, the Canadian Attorney General. 'The whole plot was contrived in Canada, the Nova Scotia Delegates are rot entitled to the unenviable merit of the least paiticipation in its composition, and it is but charity to suppose that they bad not even sense enough to understand it. '*^' It would therefoTO scarcely do for one of the political adven- turers to present himself to the peo[)le, in person, and ask them "o)ie and all to liail it as they toould a deliverer, and to dose with it as a boon of pridelesa value, and to feel thai a debt of gratitude is due to the men whose untiring efforts at length secured it, and handed U over to their country an endwing proof of their ability, and pledge Of their patriotism^^^'f^^^^ ^^ *^^^^^-^^ ^^^^ '^.■>^L.iLj^^-i;^-.-.:^jj. -.i: ■ As the author of this attempt to procure approval under false pretences comes begging for favor anonymously, I will, for the sake of convenience, call hira Lazarus, the most characteristic name I can think of. He opens with a rhoclomontading homily on union. The old hackneyed truism " union is strength " is tlie text. Every social and political beatitude is made to flow from union. There would be no civilization without union, and we have any amount of phil- osophical twaddle on this indispensible principle in human affairs. Well, we arc ready to admit that men could not get along ver}' well without union ; for, indeed, and it is a wonder his sagacity had not detected the curious fact, we should have had no human family at all if it had not been for the union of Adam and Eve. But I can scarcely admit that all social and political unions are conducive to peace and happiness. When a tender, confiding girl gives her affections to a man, and they marry ; is this social union necessarily productive of happiness ? What if he should turn out a very brute in his conduct, and treat her with every species of cruelty and inhumanity ? Has this social union produced the peace and happiness she anticipated ? In like manner, if a small Colony of a few hundred thousand people enters into a political marriage with one or two larger Colo- nies, having millions of people, does it necessarily follow that this union must produce peace and happiness? What if the larger Colonies should combine to rob the small one of her independence, should tyrannize over her, and trample on her rights and liberties : how much has the suffering Colony gained by this union ? Union may be good, or it may be evil, profitable or unprofitable. The elements of union may be beneficent cr malevolent. There may be a union of angels, and there may be a union of devils. To which of these classes shall we refer that ill-fated or auspicious union, as it may hereafter prove, between the leaders of our Govern- ment and the leaders of the Opposition, which has excited the admiration of the Province ? Was this union angelical or diaboli- cal ? Was iu like the noble friendship of Brutus and Cassius, inspired by an undying love of country, or was it like the selfish, crafty and ambitious conspiracy of Anthony, Lepidus, andA^iGDS- TUS, against the life of Rome ? r, -, • - There is nothing like union I Men, he says, unite to make railroads, telegraphs, and steam navigation. So we would remind him, they sometimes unite to rob, to defraud, and to betray. Na- tions also, like individuals, may unite for good, or they may unite for evil. They may unite to defend, or they may unite to destroy, the liberty of their neighbors. England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria united, to preserve the liberty of the European nations from the ambitious grasp of Napoleon. Russia, Austria, and Prussia united to rob the Poles, and divide their country among themselves ; and if we allow them, Ontario and Quebec will unite to rob and oppress Nova Scotia. i Eve. But to return to tliat celebrated union, which Lazarus haa unaccountabl}' overlooked, but which Nova Scotia will not soon forget ; it is very remarkable that these men, who hated each other with most deadly animosity — two of them leaders of one political party, and the others similarly rehited to the opposite party — and had pursued each other with all the bitterness of the most rancor- ous malevolence, should all of a sudden forget their enmity, cordially embrace each other, and affectionately unite, for the patriotic purpose of conferring a blessing on their country, in the shape of Confederation. This, indeed, was a wonderful outpouring of the spirit of harmony. Tlie history of mankind cannot show a more wonderful manifestation of self-abnegation, and disinterested devotion lo the public service ; and Lazarus might have pointed with pride to tliis wonderful combination of heterogeneous elements, to illustrate Ihc marvellous power of the spirit of union. " Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the Jiead, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his gar- ment." , _ . . / .a: • . ; .... So much for the philosophy of union, — social, political, and moral ! I will not fellow the example of Lazarus, and deal in mere declamation, but will establish the following propositions, by argu- ments logical, conclusive, and irrefragable. That the Colonies were sufflfiiently united, and that, if a closer political connection was desirable. Confederation is the worst system by which they can be combined. That the Constitution provided for the Colonies by the British North American Act, would, if adopted, rob Nova Scotia of every particle of independence, and reduce her to the degraded position of a dependency of Canada. - ',. ; • That the British Nortii American Act is unconstitutional and void, and until it is ratified by a Provincial Statute, in no manner binds Nova Scotia. That the Province, under Confederation, would, in a financial point of view, be reduced to ruin. That the Canadas would dis- pose of our Fisi'ERiEs to obtain commercial advantages to them- selves from the United States. That the Canadas, if Confederation be accepted by Nova Sco- tia, will sell our Railroads to pay off our public debt, and will keep our money into the bargain. That Confederation is a Canadian Scheme, carefully prepared for the subjugation of Nova Scotia, and adopted by our Delegates ' from motives of personal interest. That the delegates had not a shadow of authority from the Legislature, to procure an English Statute, for the Confederation of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and that what little ; authority they had, they mos* grossly abused./* That the people ^ ive it in their power to reject ConfederatioUiL *■„ w in a constitutional manner, and that whether it is accepted or re- jected, depends on tlielr own conduct, at the next general election. t,ti, ■;i.» r. CONFEDER^nON IS NOT UNION. There is confessedly much in the doctrine of Union, that' forces itself upon our approvnl, and there is probably not a think- ing rajui in Nova Scotia, who would not, agree to Colonial Union of some sort ; but the subject is surrounded with difficulties, and there are thousands who think and feel convinced that it would be better to renuiin as we arc ftn'ever, than to enter into a Confedera- tion tiiat will dnnlnish rather than increase the prosperity, and will certainly endanger the peace of the Province. Let the people well consider the nature of Confedcfi'ation ! Confederation and Union are not the same, but vastly dissimilar. Union always implies strength. Does Confederation imply strength or weakness? We need not; go back into the remote history of Confederations, to illnstrate their inherent weakness and'defectivencss. We need not call attention to the Greek Confederacy, and the unceasing civil wars that prevailed among the States of Greece wliilo confederat- ed : Nominally united, they were ever torn to pieces by internal discord. To perceive the true nature of Confederation, as distin- guished from Union, we have not far to go, and it is a proof of the ama^.ing infatuation of Lazarus, tliat he has been betrayed into the foUj' of maintaining " the tremendous straggle and sacrifice made by our repvHican neiglibours, rather than suffer the disintegration of their CQmmon country ." If he had the sense of an owl, he would have avoided the mention of the Ameiican confederation, as care- , fully as he would hide his purse, in thi; presence of a gang of" London pick-pockets. ' ' ,' ,~ . ■ . - . ., ' The written constitution, by which' the United States wei'o confederated, as a political fabric, is very far in advance of the , British North American Act, which embodies the wretched consti- j' tution provided for us. This 1 will show as I proceed. ,*„,!}• In the meantime, let us consider the condition of the tlin'ieen States, when they confederated. They had contended.since 1775,/ against the tyranny of Geojge the third, as they called it, and yet- the Stamp Act and Tea Duties Act were, as compared with the encroachments on the rights of the people of Nova Scotia, by sub- ordinating them forcibly to Canada, acts of political kindness and maternal benevolence. In 1783 the King declared them Indepen- dent and sovereign States. They became then thirteen separate and isolated countries, without th3 least political connsclion with each other. They had no longer, like the British Colonies, a com- mon Sovereign, to unite and bind them together. It became ex- pedient for them, in some manner, to combine for mutual security. They unfortunately chose to link themselves together by the flimsy and rotten chain of a confederation, just as the ridiculous British North American Act proposes to deal with us. Had they chosen vi iliirteeu el775, ■ and yet 'ith tb(! by sub- ess and idepen- eparate . >n witU a coai'- ,mo ex- ecurity;^ e flimsy' British chosen n Union, instca<] of confedcrulit)n, llicrc never won!! have been occasion for " tJie tirmendova struggh ttncl ftacHJlce^'* to which poor Lnzarns alludes, with so much childish simplicity. With thera there was a nece«isity, for sojpe kind of political coudiination. They liad no common head, and so thoy unfortunately agreed to try the dangerous experiment of a confederation, and what has heen the result? Just that ^'•tremendous utrugfjlo. (ind sncrijice" which has made the hair of mankind to stand on end ; a struggle in which probably as man}' human lives as there arc now in both the Canadas, have been saci diced on the blood-.stained altar of confedoration ; — in which ?uch a multitude of young and vigorous men, in the prime of their manhood, have been cut down, that their bodies, if piled up, wouhl make a mound as high as citadel hill, find their blood, if collected in a reservoir, would float a division of the Royal Navy. England in upwards of tAO humlred years, contracted her national debt. This " TREMKNoors stuuoglk and sacrifice," by the instrumentality of that paradoxical species of urnon called Cou- iederation, cost the States, in debt and destruction of property, probably more than twice the amount of the national debt, in three years. And a confederation inHnitdy worse than this, is attempted to be forced, on these now, for the fust time in their history, unhap- py colonies ! How the Ministers and rarliament cf O'eat Britain could perpetrate the njadness of attempting to convert these pros- perous and pcacable colonies into a con federation, with the example of the confederated not iiniled States, and the military despotism with which the Southern States are denuded of every political right and liberty, and the overwhelming debt and consequent taxation with which the Northern States are paralized, the legitimate fruits of confederation before their eyes, baffles every elfort of the human imagination to conceive ! But was there any necessity for disturbing the political rela- tionship of the Colonies to each other? Were they not really more closely united than the States of America were before the " tre- mendous STRUGGLE AND SACRIFICE?" What United the States? A president elected every lour 3'ears — a mere bone for all the dogs in the country to flght about ! Ever since they had a confederation have they not been afflicted with discord and threatened with civil war ? The Colonics had no I'resident to quarrel about. They had a common Sovereign, who enjoyed the cheerful allegiance of ever}' man in British America. Can thislKJ said of them at this moment? Has not the bare mention of Confederation, to be forced upon us already^and before the event, shalvcn the confidence, and staggered the lo3'alty, of ihoutands who, a year ago, would have shed their blood for the Queen? ' ; ' '' '. .V : ' ■. -..:'"[ ,:'' ' '. .. ' V;V :.'i^ " ..!. Have the Colonies trot lived t%ether as affectfoftM^V>^ As bro- thers and sisters under their common parent? Have they ever quarelled, or has an angry or menacing message ever passed from S-; j r|i one to the other? How long will tlicy have this blessed hannony to boast of, after the curso of Confederation passes over them, to blight and destroy their hitherto nnbroken concord ? What will Confederation give them that they do not enjoy already? Diey are no more the same Ihantlie gentle, tame and useful domestic cat, and the Qerce feroci- ous and terrible tiger. There is something very attractive in the idea of union, and therefore many persons even of intelligence, are inclined to approNs of confederation, because they are influenced by the impref sloH, that confederation means union, when it in reality means noliiing but discordi. Their error arises from a raisappUoa- tion of the English language, of which the advocates of confedera- tion artiiilly avail Uiemselves. Wtien one of thera uudert/ook to conduct a paper, la the interest of confederation,, Ue deceitfully called it the " Unionist," and J^azai-ua, in the same manner, endea- vours to pulf CoNFEftEKA'noN, uudcr the pseudonym of Union. Archbishop Connolly addressed an excellent letter, to the public in favor q? confederation^ wliich he evidently mistook for union, aad iio one can read that able and bcnxivolent communication, without perceiving, that the archbisliop, from its beginning to its conclusion, was iia reality deeirous of advocating a uni^n of the colonies, and inadi'ertently employed the word con federation^ to express the sen- timent of Kcnion. Let the archbishop appl\' his vigorous understand- ing, to a consideration of the coll, arative merits, of federal and legislative union, and judging from the spirit of his letter, there can be little doubt, as to the kind of union, he desired to see accom- plished. I may here remark, that I never meet an advocate of confe lora- lion, who does net admit, that a legislative uiaiou, would be much preferable to a federal union. If then there be two kinds of union, wlvcrcof one is universally admitted to be far better tlian the other, why should we adopt the woj-st of the two? The only 'inswer I get, is. that the best kind ot union is found to be unattainable? " Why " I ask? '•'' Because there is a French element in Canada at makes that kind of nuion impraetieable." " Then," I reply, " liere is an element of discord, which will make confederation, iiotonJj' more dangerous, l»ut absolutely impossible; for whatever renders a legis- lative union im^jossiblc, must make a federal union fatal to the peace of the confederating colonies-" In. plain woi'ds, •" if the Ca- nadian French wUi not have a legislative union with us, we cannot have a fedeial union with them; for if, at the outset, we cannot cordially agree, we shall be sure in the end bitteiiy to quarrel." It is my desire to impress strongly on the mind of the peoi)le ithe most important distinction between a Confederation and a Union. Th^y no more resemble one another than the h£p,rtlessT s iS f 10 i ■ I ;. se]fl8b, unprincipled combination of intrff^ning political knaves resembles the refined and elevated friendship of virtuous and honorable men. The word ijnion expresses every thing that is lovely ; — C0NFRDERA1I0N, all tliat is hateful. The one is an angel of light, tiie oth )r a spirit of darkness ; anct the men who i.ve en- deavoring to force an odious Confederation upon us, have stolen the wings of the angel, to ^over and conceal the cloven feet of the OIVIL. l*oor Lazarus was unfortunate indeed, when, to illustrate the principle of union, and the volue of Conl'edoration, he called atten- tion to " THE TREMF.NDODs STUUGGLE AND SACRIFICE" of the Northern States, to maintain a Confoderat'on, a politi<'al system so conducive to the peace and prosperity of the Confedernted States that it >'!ost probab!}' two millions of lives, an— ' ■■^ir''l V>i )uU^ !■■'■» s; -!'-i'!'! fr*- - iV. ■,';,;; THE UNION OF ENG LAND AND SCOTLAND. ,, .v^ When Lazarus refers to the union of England and Scotlantt, wc have him again up to his neck in the mire of stupidity. '• In her case," he says, speaking of ScotTand, '•'' union put an end to alt international jealousies and dissentions, to prchibitive tariffs, and to that mutual isolatioii, wliich tvasfed its poioer in assailing instead of huildirg up the strength and resources of the two nations. The lesson is pregnant ivith iyistrnction to eve')y one of us." In spite of the grammatical confusion of these sentences; I cannot help contem- plating them with peculiarly pleasurable sensations, aiid no person can feci more grateful than I do for the suggestiouT they im[>art» The political condition of England and Scotland, before the union of 1707, in relation to each other, was fraught with innumerable evils, among which he reckons ^^ inlci national jealousies" ^^ dissentionsj'* &c. WLai, was the nature of the connection between England and Scotland, when all these evils smote the prosperity of the two States? They had the same Sovereign, b-^ distinct legislatures. They had a federal union. It was cojifederati:>n, therefore, to. which they owed all these calamities. While confederation existed between them they were miserable and unprogressive. They united and became liappy and prosperous nations ; and what was the na- ture of tlieir union? A Legislative union. The two nations became one, the counties of Scotland became counties of England, and vice vei^sa. The reason why there were so many eleuients of discord before the union was that they had separate legislatures^ who, representing the people of each kingdom, occasionally brought the two countries into collision with each other. If they had en- di I in W( w< h: \y th tl C or 11 rn\ .;''";;5i'V' '. 5«.'V'jrV)''^iV'v'') :;!f?,V''''l' ^H^ .irlrt.y A} Iv naves IS and that IS angel uve eri- stolen , of tho lite the itten- oiLhern it /;ost nillions nded on tes, and • headed eadth of J. ■■■.: A' cotlaml, Wi fo aU s, and to istead of he lesson ,(i of the contcm- person im[>art. union of bio evils, ejitionSj* England the two slatnres. eforo, to. n existed 5y united s the na- nations Kngland, Hients of islatures, r brought kad en- joyed one legistatui-e tills could not possibly bave happened, and no matter how two States or Colonies are united, so long as they retain separate legislatures it is impossible to prevent them from coming into collision with each oiher. And this it is that makes a confederation the very worst sytem by which countries can be politically connected. ,j I will presently show that there never was k confederation go^ certain to set the Province^ at variance vvith each other as the silly,'! scheme by which it is proposed to confederate the thj'ee Colonie3.,j^ For instance, having a ^o'lse of Assemb'y of oui* own, can the discussion of the important subject of confederation be shut out now that we have got rid of the late contemptible majo/it}'? Whalif, if the people of Nova Scotia, by Dheir representatives, refuse to acquiesce in the confederation, and respectfully inform the Queen that they consider it essential to the peace and prosperity of the Province to reject confederation ; that when the delegates repre- sented the people of Nova Scotia to desire a federal union with'-' Canada and New Brunswicli, they misrepr«jentod them,— and that the British North An.crican Act commences with a falsehood when it states that ^'' the Provinces of Canada^ Nova Scotia,^ and New Brunswick have expressed their desire to be federally united into one domain." Here we shcU have collision at the very outset, and what will the result be ! Tlie Act must be repealed, as far as Nova Scotia is (roiicerned, or the lovely principle of union, inherent ifltr confederations, so philosophically descanted on and eloqnentlyj? eulogized, will illustrate itself* by an Imperial order to the Gover- nor General to put the military forces of Caiiada in motion, ac- quaint Nova Scotia to inaugurate an harmonious union at the point of the bayonet, and to baptize the imix)rtant monster confederation in blood.- . > But the moment the British Government find thc«t Nova Scotia" in the nature of epistles, to the producing classes, designed to allure them to confederation, are peculiarly racy. They are head- ed respectively : *' What Union will do for the farmers of Nova Scotia." "Its advantages to the fishermen." " The Artizan and Laborer." • ' ^ > M Union, «9 he persists in calling Confederation, is to work mira- cles for the farmers, fishermen, and artizans rnd. laborers. Cash markets are to spring up for the farmers, the fishermen ai'e to grow rich, and laborers and artizans are to hpve high wages, and moro Avork than they can attend to. This is very promising and partic- ularly cheering, but we are not informed how Confederation is to accomplish all these wonders. ; , Will the earth yield more fruit to the farmer, and the sea ' more vish to the fisherman, after Confederation ? Where is this i cash market for agricultural produce to come from? The Canadas can bring agricultural produce into the market much cheaper than our farmers can. At present, notwithstanding the duty they have to pay, ' they send cheese, butter and other articles, in considerable quantities, into Nova Scotia. Let us have Confederation, with the advantages of free trade it establishes, and ourfurmers will be driven out of their own markets, by the pork, beef, cheese, butter, poultry and other productions of Canadian agriculture. At present our farmers are protected, by duties on Canadian produce.* One of the objects of Canada in confederating was to force open our market to the pro- ductions of Canadian agriculture. Their object was to add, the six hundred thousand consumers of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- ~ -*.:: ^ ■■ -..,?. *The Act imposes duties, but there is a clause, whicli authorises the Gover- nor, by Proclamation, to allow articles of Colonial produce to enter free. ' The Act is annual, and, without a proclamation, a tariff is sent to the collec4' tors, in which certain articles are marked free. This, of course, is illeg i ;) but what do the Executive Council care for law? They are independent ox the Statutes, which they violate continually. 13 wick, to their own market, by taking off the duties, by which their agricultural produce was kept out of our markets. We receive hundreds of thousands of barrels of flour, from Canada, a great part of which is consumed by our farmers. How are they to find a cash market in Canada? They might as well expect to find a cash market for ice, snow or water in Canada, as for agricultural produce. Canada is one of the best agricultural countries in the world, and exports a vast quantity of agricultural produce. Confederation, as will be shown, wUl greatly Increase the taxes of our farmers ; it will take away what protection they have ; it cannot confer on them any advantages of markets or cash prices that they Ao not already possess ; but it will let in the Can- adian farmers to jostle them out of their own markets. vr>»iiiTJ There is one blessing that Confederation will confer on our farmers, which Lazarus, I presume, has omitted to enumerate with .characteristic modesty, lest, he should be overwhelmed with the gratitude of our agriculturists : At present the farmer has to do a trifle of militia duty, in order that in time of danger, he may be prepared to defend the country, but he could not be required to serve beyond the limits of the Province. Confederation will afford a much more extensive field fo'' his warlike aspirations, and our new king, the Governor General of Canada, our new Imperial State, can, at any moment, by an order conveyed witii the rapidity of lightning, command the I.ieut. Governor to send up the whole mi'.i- tary force of Nova Scotia, and every farmer of the fighting age must leave his plough, strap on a knapsack, shoulder a musket, and march a thousand miles away from hi9 family and his farm, to irrigate the foil of Canada wi*h his blood, and to manure it with ihe dust of his bones. r 1;, .,;,•;■..,/..- This Province is almost surrounded by the sea, and no attack can be made on us except by an enemy that can ride over the Bri- tish navy, so that no farmer of Canada can ever be required to march to our aid, while our farmer must hold himself in readiness to be ordered up to Canada, on every danger to the Canadian fron- tier, which has always been, and must ever be, the point of attack. Confederation vherefore will give the Canaaians a noble army of fifty thousand brave No\a Scotians, which they will no doubt make a liberal use of. whil^ no Canadian will be required to shed his blood for Nova Scotia. When, therefore, I make search for all the benefits that Con- federation is to shower so profusely on our farmers, what do I find ? Why, that it will assuredly greatly increase his taxation, and rob him of his market in Nova Scotia, probably of his life, in Canada ! THE FISHERMAN'S PROSPECTS FPvOM CONFEDERA- TION. The FiSHEuiEs, if protected and preserved, are of more value than the Gold Mines of AusxRALfil ; as if necessary can be easily r tmmmm 14 demonstrated. Eveiy barrel offish represents, and will exchange for, 80 much gold. Every pound ot Gold taken out of the mine, leaves a pound less in it, and the more gold comes into the market the less valuable it becomes. Not so with fish — while one barrel is being consumed another is produced, and as it is consumed it makes room for another ; the value of it can never sink, for a bar- rel of fish is intrinsically worth as much to day as it was a thou- sand years ago. Gold changes in Such value, fish never dees ; so that after a gold mine is exhausted, and no longer worth working, the fish mine will continue as rich and productive as ever. There is no property that we possess, which, if they were deteuded and preserved, as they ought to be, is of more valuo tlian tie fisheries. It can also be easily demonstrated, that if the hsheimen of the United States were excluded from our fisheries, the duties, wliich they impose, as a protection to their fishermen, would be taken off — for, in that event, the duties would fall exclusively on their own consumers, and not mostly on our fishermen as they now do. While the duties are protective, they principally fall on the foreign pro- ducer ; when they cease to be protective, as they would do ; when their fishermen were expelled from our waters, they would raise the price of fish on the consumer, without a compenssiting benefit to iheir fishermen, and the consumer, not disposed to pay, without any corresponding benefit, more for an article of food than was neces- sary, would cause the duty to be taker, off'. We should then have their markets free to our fishermen. The Yankees, instead of help- ing themcelves to our fish, would have td pay for them, and multitudes would find profitable employment in our fasheries. They would create a cash market for pur farmers, who would supply them with provisions and agricultural productions. Protection and pre- servation of our fisheries are the onl}' means by which the fishermen can be encouraged, and our farmers can, to the extent of their numbers, obtain this cash market spoken of in the first epistle to the farmers. ' ^""'^' Now I will enquire how Confederation is to produce this double encouragement to our fai-mers and fishermen, ^^ /■,,.; ,„■" The Briiish and Canadian Governments pri^' tlielr lifeaclfe together, and by a treaty with the United States, in 1854, for certain advantages to Canada, in which we hn^d no kind of interest, conferred on the citizens of the Republic the privilege of fishing, and even of landing, on our coasts. Thus Canada, for her own selfish purposes, caused our invaluable fisheries to be opened to the republicans, who in a very few 3 ears, with their eharaCteristjc cupidity, if the privilege hac} ooutinued, would have destroyed one of our most valuable properties. The Reciprocity Treaty has happily teiTninuted, and if we escape Confederation, wo may^.by refusing again to ratify such a treaty, and by enforcing the laws for the protection of the Fisheries, caU into existence an industrial class of fishermen, which can scarcely be said to exist. J'fosperity may then attend our fisher- 4 t'i th .I' 15 scbangc e mtne« \ market barrel is 3umed it )r a bar- a thou- Ices ; so (vorliing, There ded and [SHERIES. en of the as , wTiich iaken off ,heir own o. While eign pro- lo ; when r^ise tiic >eriefit to thout any as neces- hen havo d of help- iiem, and es. They >ply them iind pre- fisherrat.i t of their epistle to )dnce thift leir heads 1854, for 3f interest, of fishing, X her own sned to the iracteristjc ,royed one and if we- tify such a e Fisheries, which can oui' fisher- men, in which the farmers would participate. But will Confedera tion tend to the protection of our fisheries? If we confederate, thej' will be assigned to the United States for the most trifling consideration of ji.dv&ntage to Canadian agriculture and commerce ; and if there were no other reason why we should not place ourselves in the power of Canada, a regard for the security o' this invaluable property from sc.crificc and spoliation, should induce us to reject Confederation witliout a moment's hcoitation. For the eflc'ct of Confederation on our fisheries, let us look at the conduct of our curious government, and the revelations of the political plicnomenon, who calls himself our prime -minister. We have on our statute book Chap. 94, " of the deep sea fisheries," which in section 3 declares, all foreign vessels, *■'• found fishing^ or preparing tojish, or to have been fishing^ within three marine miles'^ of our coasts and harbors, '•'Jorfeited." This statute, which was suspended by the reciprocity treaty, resumed full force and vigor, the moment the treaty was ended. By the law of thu land then, which all^ from the Queen down to Dr. Tupper, are bound to obey, no foreign vessel can lawfully fish within our fisheries : In de- fiance of this law, we find American fishermen licenced to take fish in cur waters, and that British and Canadian Ministers are busily engaged in a new scheme to disposic of bur fisheries, in another treaty with the United Staces. Hear our great statesman ! "The Provincial Secretary " (says the Reporter on the 23rd March last) " vindicated the action of the Government in agreeing to grant licences to American fishermen to fish in our waters " — " and show- ad thut the x>resent arrangement, was made at the earnest suggestion of the British Government." — "27ie British Government ivere under the impression that, were this privilege conceded for one year, it would lead to reciprocal commercial relations, oetween the United Staies and the British American Pwvinces" — "jffe informed the House, that Canada and Neio Brunswick readily yielded acqvAes- ixnce to the views of the British Government on this subject." ilei'Q then we have our Executive Council, daringly violating and actually repealing, an act of the Legislature, to enable Canada to barter away our Fisheries ; and we have a conspiracy among the slippery politicians, of the three provinces, to s.acrifice one of the richest, and most valuable of the resources of Nova Scotia. The lea'ier of the Government imprudently and unblushingly, in the iIot.3e of Assembly, informed the representativesof the people, that the Executive Council, supposed to be responsible to them, have tfiken the liberty of granting licenses to American fishermen, to tfmter our Fishery, and violate the law of the Province, and the leader of the opposition and his friends, instead ot denouncing this attrocious illegahty, not only make no attempt to vindicate, the rights of the people, but actually lend it their countenance. And why is this? Simply because the Executive Council and leaders of the opposition, have combined in a plot with Canadian sharpers, to place our most valuable property, at their disposal, to be surren- ■■''' 16 derecT to the United States, in consfderation of certam comniercfal advantages, to be conceded to Canada. It is scarcely possir)ler that the Attorney and Solicitor General, can be ignorant that these fishing licences are illegal, and that the granting of them is a daring piece of preswmption, on the part of the Government. What is the necessary inference for such condsjct as this ? It is impossible to escape conviction that Nova Scotia, like the poor traveller to Jericho, has' fallen among thieves^ and that she will be stripped^, and wounded^ and left half dead., if we don't soon put an extin- guisher upon Coni'edcration. Confederation then is to enrich the fishermen by transferring the fisheries to the United States I we-U ^ne, Lazarus ! If THE ARTIZANS and LABORERS under CONFEDERATION. Tlie tWrd epistle to these classes, is quite as refreshing as the two former, to the farmers and fishermea. Confederation is to *'^ extend our great [Kiblic works," and give steady and increasing employment to '•^ builders^ engineers, earpenters, minefSj and many other occuptitions" and all the laboring classes, immediafely on the advent of Confederation, are to renounce fish and potatoes, and re- gale the inner man, with roast beef and plum-pudding. But here again this angelic visitant, contents himself with simply ann€>unc'- ing the glad tidings, but does not explain the process, by which the dietary revolution is to be accomplished. What does he tsean by the extension of our great public workaf If his calculations are to to be relied on, we shall, after paying our expenses, out of the pen- sion allowed us, have $14,000 left in the chest, if something doe» not happen to create a deficit. Will CaiKida send us money, to ex- pend on our great public works? Will Canada n>ake railroads for us? These, if we require them, we must make with onr $14,000, If we want braach railroads, from our present lines, or any ather public works, or improvements, we must borrow the money, if any one will lend it, and impose direct taxation, on the farmers, fisher- men, laborers and artizans, to enjoy it. Lazarus does not tell us, how much of this kind of taxation, it will require, to secure the advent of roast beef and plum-pudding. Our great public woiks indeed I When Canada has laid her yoke on our necks, and swal lowed up ail our revenue, and we have expended the paltry pit- tance, allowed us for onr support, we shall have to make our pub- lic works without money, ars the Jews, in similar bondage, made their bricks without straw ! ,§ EFFECT OF CONFEDERATION ON MANUFACTURES. But the most amusing and encouraging picture, presented to us, is the magical effect Confederation is to have upon our manu- factures. Nova Scotia is to raanafacture, not only for tlwj con- n mmercia! po8siT)ler hat these ; a daring hat is the )ssible to iveller to stripped., an estin- erving the RATION. ling as the ,tion is to increasing and many tely on the >e9, and re- But here / announo- y which the je taean by ions are to of the peh- sthtng does- )ney, to ex- lilroads for ar $14,000, V any other >ney, if any ners, fisher- not tell uSt secure the iblic woiks , and swal paltry uit- ike our pub- dage, made TURES. 3resented to our manu- 'or tlie con- federacy, but she is to ^'■become a rival and a successful one oj England^ in manufacturing to a large extent, for the j)eople of the United States." These are the very words of the pamphlet, and he who penned tltem, is said to be one of the profound political philo- sophers, to whose wisdom, we are indebted for the blessed constitu- tion, presented to us by the B. N. A. Act. Tlic only commodity the Yankees at present allow us to manu- facture for them is children, and these they will not take until they are fit to work : while useless and expensive, they allow us to keep them ; when they become profitable they kindly take them off our hands. I am not profoundly versed in political economy ; but if I was asked how this great change in our manufacturing relations is to be brought abouu, I should say that it can be accomplished in only one of two ways : First, by annexation, — If Nova Scotia was a member of the Union, we should soon be a prominent manufac- turing State, but then we should be under the curse of confedera- tion, tiie last misery a people should voluntarily bring upon them- selves. The other alternative would be to kill all the manufacturers of the New ilngland States, and follow up the remedy by making the president dismiss his ministers, and take Dr. Tupper's cabinet. If he desired to wreck the ship of State, this is the dangerous crew with which he must man her, and McCuUy and Mr. Archibald might be slupped as supernumeraries. We might possibly, under such circumstances, be permitted to oviertrade the Yankees, as they I now are, by the ignorance and incompateucy of our Government f and Legislature, allowed to overtrade us. But this is not the way I in which Lazarus, who has recently been engaged in illicit trade, . ; contemplates the introduction of our manufactures into the United i States. He evidently intends to evade their protective duties, but I he docs not consider that when he did smuggle them in, he would I find their market already supplied by their own manufactures, and % that when sold, they would not pay freight or the coot of oan'ying Ithem. ' ,, So much for our prospect of manufacturing for the United ^States in the good days of Confederation. Let us see if Lazarus is ■not quite as happy in his anticipations of our manufacturing for the ^■confederacy ! At present we have a few manufactures struggling: into life which should be fostered and protected as much as possible. The present low duties on manufactured goods, operate as a trifling protection to them ; but if the duty be taken off by confederation ^ will not the advanced manufactures of Canada at once nip our infant manufactures in the bud? Is not this one of the principal reasons why the Canadians are so anxious to get confederation, that ^t may, to the extent of our population, open a free market for their -Inanufactures. We pay millions of dollars for the manufactures of ,T,he United States \ the Canadian manufacturers will compete suc- cessfully with the Yankee manufacturers for these dollars, as confederation will let his goods free into Nova Scotia, while the Yankee will have to pay a duty on his. One thing is certain, that 2 ^^^fi^;ji!- ->. I 18 with Canadian mannfactnres let in IVee, and United Spates mann- factures admitted at a low duty, no manufactures can exist here, and those that have embarked their capital in manufactures may close up as soon as they can, if Confederation bo accepted. I do not think it possible, with free trade, for a young country to have manufactures. Capitalists will not run the risk of Investing their money in manufactures, exposed to the competition of the more advanced manufactures of older countries, without pro- tection. They wUl send their capital to other countries, where it is protected, as we have known our moneyed men to do. Where capital goes, thither will laborers follow. If Canadian manufactures are let in free, our manufacturing capital will go out. Where then the artizans and laborers are to get increased employment under Confederation, I cannot see, and Lazarus has been very careful not to attempt to explain. If they want increased employment, after confederation comes in, they will have to join the fishermen, and seek for it in some other country. The epistles to the farmers, fishermen, and artizans and labor- ers have ended in smoke. "J uvuoi «»»« ,-;.> ..jn ju;i;.th; v."- - i., ■, HOW THESE CLASSES AUE TO BE ENCOURAGED. I have shown that confederation will not benefit these classes ^ and that it will ruin one of our most valuable resources — the fisher- ies. - will now give Lazarus a receipt for bringing back our sons and daughters, whose exile he so pathetically laments, for giving our farmers good prices and cash markets, for creating and sup- porting a numerous and prosperous class of fishermen, and for calling manufactures into existence, and creating wages and en* courageraent \o artizans and laborers, m^^iymnn im^:.,iii 'U'^iii if In the first place, we must place at the head of affhirs, men who have sense enough to know that there are only two ways by which nations can grow rich — namely : by making and creating property, or by taking it from other nations, as our neighbors do, in the matter of the fisheries. The Tupperian political economy begins with salaries and ends with delegations. The farmer must have a sale for his produce, and to obtain this, he must have customers. His best customers are, what Nova Scotia has not, and confederation cannot give, plenty of manufac- turing laborers, miners and fishermen. To get a good stock of these we must invite capitalists to embark in manufactures, and we must do so by protecting their capital from foreign competition, as the Yankees do. Our sons and danghters went away to get wages, the wages of protected manufactures will bring them back and thousands along with them. To get fishermen ^ to make con- sumers of our farmers' produce, and get riches out of the sea for thempelves, we must send oonfederation back to Canada from whence it came, and save- our precious fisheries from Canadian cu« :v V' h{ I 1« ; Hiann' ist horc, res may 1 young i3 risk of npetition lOut pro- wheve it "Where ufactnres here then nt under arefol not ent, after men, and and labor- , I,. 1 ,1 '■ ;AGED. •se classes y -the fisher- pk our sons for giving 5 and sup- >r\, and for 2es and en- ffairs, men wo ways by n(\ creating jigbbors do, al economy d to obtaiu , wbat Nova of roanufac- od stock of actures, and competition, awav to get T them back o make con- >f the sea for lanada from Caaadian cu- pidity and spoliation ; vfo must tarn all foreign fishermen out of our waters, and make the United States, with their thirty millions of poople, a free marke' for our fish. To have plenty of miners, we must not make Canada a present of our revenue, but take oil the royalty, which is nothing bu'. a tax, on one of our most valu- able exports, and thus help our miner to sell his coal cheaper in the foreign market, and there to undersell the foreign coal. In this way we shall so increase the demand for coal in the foreign market, that instead of a few hundreds we shall have thousands of miners, to consume the produce of agriculture, and instead of crip-'', pling our «»xports with a nonsensical royalt^s we shall obtain a much greater amount of revenue, in a more legitimate way, by the multiplication of consumers. The best political economists in the wrrld are these keen' visioned practical men who regulate t ic com.u.ovce of the United States, and who leave no industrial interest neglected or unpro- tected. The worst-, are the contemptible pohticians of Nova Scotia. By the sound nest of their commercial system the United States created more wealth in the last seventy years than probably any other nation ever did in the \arae space of time since the world began ; and they have spent an ' wasted more wealth in three years of civil war than any other people ever threw away in so short a time. And how is thb explained ? Why, they made their wealtli by the wisest commercial system, and they lost it by the most stupid politioal system. In other words, a wise and vigilant pro- tection of their industrial classes made their fortune ; an accursed Confederation scattered it to the winds. '' ' . ', . '■' . '. ' ■ ■■ THE NEW CONSTITUTION UNDER CONFEDERATIOit • ', Aspect" and serious remarks to Upon Lazarus' chapters headed "Political ^* General Legislatuuk,'' I have some very make. The Constitution of the Senate of the Confederacy is touched veiy gently in these chapters, and indeed it appears that easy as he found it to enlarge on the blessings of confederation in its other aspects, when he came to face the difficulty of bringing before his readers the perfection of the Constitution of this branch of the new Legislature, his confidence vanished, his glibness forsook him, and he has been almost struck dumb. Well indeed might he hold his peace on such a subject I But before I examine the Constitution of the Senate, a word or two on the House of Commons. This has been constituted on the basis of population, and in fact it could not well be otherwise ; but this does not prove the wisdom of our en- tering a Confederacy with only 19 out of 181 members. " But*' aays Lazarus, " tJie trutJi is" {and here he actiially professes to tell the truth) " the very spirit and essence of constitutional government render injustice to a part nearly impossible voiihout affecting the whole,'" If we had a legislative union there would really be some I HKKfe. It 20 trrith in this plausible proposition, — but it bfls no force when pre- dicated by ft confederation where the several Provinces retain a separate and ijidividual exJBtence, or in other ^vords, where there is really ]io union at all. Of course if they had become united in a Legislative union an injury or injustice to one part would be a detriment to the whole ; but it is not so in the case of a confedera- tion, and if \vc were foolish enough to confederate with the Cana- das under tlio B. N. A. Act a deadly wound might be inilicted on Nova Scotia without causing a pang to Canada. To illustrate this wo need not go lar. Canada, if we confederate, will assuredly transfer the fisheries to the United States. This would, in my estimation, be as great a calamity to Nova Scotia as the destruc- tion of our coal mines ; and yet Canada, so far from feeling the injury, would gain all the advantages of a market in the United S^iates for her raw materi-d and vast agricultural productions, while we should lose one of our most valuable resources. So we perceive that what would be an irreparable loss to Noya Scotia would be u positive gain to Canada..' „ ,,„y> -^ .j .:'M'\',;-- The Canadas and the Maritime Colonies have different inter- ests, and a system of trade that would benefit the former might prove prejudicial in the extreme to the latter. Therefore, before we confederate we should look ahead, and if we find that in the House of Commons, elected on the basis of population, we must^ even with the assistance of New Brunswick, be in a minority of 147, we would be unwise to confederate. We could not deny the justness of representation by population in the Lower Branch, but we could deny the wisdom of committing our rights and liberties to the mercy of a Legislative Assembly, in which though justly repre- sented according to our population, we were not^ effectually or virtually represented atall. ''^'^^ '^* .^..is^... - .^..'Mj /ui*u„ V -• . '6'i\'\> THE CONSTITUTION > (,. OP THE SENATE. ■ But look at the constitution of the Senate !,Aii«,iM>iffii/ fr/5 When the States of America confederated, the justness of representation by population was admitted, but the effect of small States conl^derating with larger and more populous ones, had there been no way of devising a means of restoring the equilibrium of power that would have been disturbed by the pi-eponderating in- lluence of the larger States, would have made a Confederation , under a General Legislature impossible. The really great states- ; men who framed the Constitution devised a method, and the only practicable one, of compensating the small States for the necessary inferiority in the lower Branch by giving them a correspondingly greater influence in the Senate. Oregon, therefore, when she was admitted into the Union with 50,000 inhabitants, and got one representative in the lower Branch, received as many senators as New York with 4,000,000 of population, and consequently 33 re- presentatives in the Houp^pt ii^resentatives, 21 "oH. Let 119 consider the efTect of this arrangement ! If one or two of the Inrgc States, having a majority in the FIouso of Representa- tives, combined to engross too much power, the small States could combine in the Senate to keep tlie majority in the other Branch from tyrannizing over tliC minority. The Senate, therefore, so constituted has been found, on several occasions, to be the conser- vator and saviour of the Constitution. Tliere would have been no Confederation without this equality of representation in tho Senate, for those who represented the weaker States in the Assembly which framed the Constitution ■were very different men from our delegates, and could not have been induced by any amount of bribery to agree to such a Consti- tution of the Senate as the artful Canadians have pawned off on our ignorantly incompetent and wilfully corrupt delegates. *' Where," says Anthony Trollope, " would be the State sover- eignty, or individual existence of Rhode Island and Delaware, unless they could maintain, in at least one House of Congress, their State-equality, with that of all other States in the Union ? In those early days, when the Constitution was being framed, there was nothing to force the small States into a Union with those whose populations preponderated. Each State was sovereign in its municipal system, having preserved tho boundaries of the old Colony, together with the liberties and laws given to it under the old colonial charter. A union might be, and no doubt was, desira- ble ; but it was to be a nnion of sovereign States, eacii containing equal privileges in that union, and not a fusion of the different populations into one homogenous whole. No State was willing to abandon its own individualit}'', and least of all were the small States willing to do so. It was therefore ordained, that the House OF Representatives, should represent the people^ and that the Senate should represent the States." These remarks apply literally and precisely to the British N. A. Colonies, at the present moment. The old colonies had just been declared independent by the King, and were disposed to con- federate. The Queen hjis given us precisely the same liberty as the other Colonies had extorted by force of arms from George the third. Each Colony is independent of the others, and after con- federation is to maintain its individuality. In framing a consti- tution for them, the principle of representation by population in the House of Commons, and of representation of colonies in the Senate, should have prevailed. Each colony, therefore, should have been represented by an equal number of Senators, and if 72 were required, each of the six colonies, for it is absurd to write 4 out of the 6, would have had 12 Senators. But 5 for each colony would have been sufficient. The United States commenced with 26, and 30 would have been ample for the six colonies. Had this common-sense arrangement been made, the two Canadas, with their overwhelming majority in the House of Commons, could have easily been compelled to respect the rights of the smaller If. *,JH: 22 colonies, who if out-voted in this Branch, couhl with their majority in the Senate, have secured their indepenUonce. But the B. N. A. Act gives the Canadas not only a majority of 147 in thd House of Commons, but double the number of Senators, that Nova Scotia ? id New Brunswick together would enjoy, if foolish enough to confederate on such absurd conditions. This is not a new scheme of the Canadas. In 1861 when Tkollofe visited America, he as- certained the views of the politicians of Canada, on which he makes the following remark. " The Canadian idea wotdd be, that the two Canadas J should furm two iStates of such a confederation, and the other Provinces a third State. But this slight participation in pow- er, luoidd hardly suit the views of New Brun.nuick and Nova Scotia.** Had he known the quality of our politicians, he would have express- ed himself differently, and said, that ^'•considering the men who regidate ths affairs of Nova Scotia and New BrunswicJc, although such an arrangement would be fatal to their independence, I think it more than probable that the artful Canadians ic'll succeed in duj^ing the others into such a prejiosterous confederation." ■ . ,, .,,, „ , ■ ;, ,) . Any one who considers the subject, will perceive that a confe- deration, on fair and just principles, is impossible, under any ar- rangement which gives a preponderating influence to one or two of the confederating States, and taking our condition as to geogi'aphi- cal position, population, and relative interests, into consideration, no confederation is either j-easonable or possible, unless all are equally represented in one branch of the Legislature. On the basis of population, the Canadas must have an overwhelming ma- ^jority, in the popular Branch. If they have it also in the Senate, they can ride rough-shod over the other Colonies. The others therefore cannot confederate, unless they can muster a sutlicient force in the Senate to counterbalance the majority of the Canadas in the House of Commons. This can only be done by giving all the confederating Colonies an equal number in the Senate. Thus the Canadas would have a majority in the House of Commons, the other Colonies would have a majority in the Senate, and conse- quently they would be bound mutually to respect each others rights. When the Canadas attempted to use their majority, in the House of Commons, to injure the others, these could delend them- selves, and defeat tlie attack upon their rights in the Senate ; and so, if the majority in the Senate attempted to trespass on the rights of the minority, the majority in the House of Commons could coun- teract and defeat the project. ','.'■' But if this outrageous Act, is allowed to come into force, the Canadas commence confederate operations, with a ready-made ma- jority, of 147 in the House of Commons, and of 24 in the Senate, over both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia combined. Wher^theii will be the independence of the latter colonies? . . nc When therefore we are told, that the Canadas have nearly 3,000,- 000 of people, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia only 6C0,000, w.eretply, "True^but^thaSe^pJlf is.j^tej^dfid.^tp i;e£jceseji,t, Co;*a-. Id fl NiES, not ftopulation. The Lower House is to represent i)opulation. Canada must there have a majority, but as indopeadont Colouiea, we will not consent to any inferiority to Canada, and if wo are not permitted to have equal representation, in the Senate, wo will not confederate." This is the language our delegates, like those of the smaller of the states, should have ubed, in ai'r^ugiug *V.((«c/i«?n« of union" with thn larger colonies. ; • kv * !.».:..-«:. '? .j^;') Had our delegates the sense to have insisted on this indispensa- ble condition, of perfect equality in the Senate, and had the Senate been so constructed, as to represent the colonies, for which they are chosen, which^ I shall show, has not been done, wo should, as far as legislation is concerned, liavo been comparatively safe. To illustrate this, I will suppose, that New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, had each as many senators, as each of the Canadas, and that it was proposed to spend $4,000,000, out of the general revenue, on canals, or other works in Canada. The money would be spent, altogether in Canada, and for the benefit of the Canadians. They would easily carry the measure with their majority in the House of Commons. But in the Senate, the lower colonies could meet them, and propose to allow the grant, on condition that $500,000 were al- lowed to each of the Maritime colonies, for similar improvements. In this case it is plain, that the Canadas must either give us a fair share of the revenue, Dr go without the $4,000,000 ; for Nova Scotia and Now Brunswick having an equal number of senators could re- fuse the appropriation. Constructed, however, as the Legislature would bo under the B. N. A. Act, the Canadas would snap their fingers, in the face of our representatives, tell them that we did not require the money, and would take the $4,000,000, in spite of the maritime colonies, who would be taxed for, but never handle a cent of the money. It is plain then, that if we accept confederation, on the terms our delegates have agreed to, we might as well have no representation at all, as tl>e Canadas can pick our pockets, as much as they please. We are frequently tolu by the advocates of Confederation that the Canadas cannot tax us without taxing themselves. This is a monstrous fallacy, and the sooner it is exposed the better. By the B, N. A. Act they are authorized lo impose every kind of taxation, with the solitary exception of a land tax. I will now prove that the}' can tax us without taxing tbemselves. The Act does not, like the American constitution, prohibit the imposition of duties on EXPORTS. Let us suppose that, when our coal mines come into full operation, we shall export millions of tons of coal, and the Canadas take it into their heads to raise a revenue by imposing an oxport duty on coal. Of course our nineteen representatives in the House of Commons would remonstrate against this, as a tax that would fall exclusively on Nova Scotia, and would contend that as the coal mines are reserved to this Province they should be exempt from taxation. They would be answered, " True, the coal mires are yours, and you can do as you please with them : we dont intend 24 Ii< I it to interfere with them ; but when coal is op the surface of the ground, it is an article of comraerce, and no longer a coal mine." Where is there any power in the constitution, that wo possess, to prevent the imposition '^f this export duty ? We have 19 voices out of 181 in the House of Coranions, and no represe^itatives at all in the Senate, for the 12 who reside in this Province are the Governor- General's servants, not 'irs, and holding their oftices for life, are in no manner acoounfcuwie tO the pe<»ple of Nova Scotia. Here, then, is a case in which they can tax us without taxing themselves. It is tho answer of a fool to say, as I have heard some of the friends of Confederation allege, " It is not likely they would impose such a tax^ or act so uvjiaMy." My reply is, " The Act gives them the power to do so, and that is enough forme : and I will reject the act^ because it gives them the power to rob Nova Scotia" But I go further, and assert that they may, if thej' please, tax anything iu Nova Scotia, and exempt it from taxation in the Can- adas, as the Act does not, like the American Constitution, provide that duties ■inill be uniform over all the Provinces. Suppose, however, that they did tax all alike, but applied the revenue, when collected, exclusively to Canadian purposes, and on Canadian improvements, and gave us no share of it, would it not be a great consolation for us to know that we had been all taxed alike? But let us see if we are reprosented at all in the Senate ! The people of Nova Scotia will elect 19 out of the 181 members of the House of Commons. The Act says (Sec. 22) that we are to be " represented" in the Senate by 12 Senators. The verb " to repr^' sent has a >ery different meaning 'n the British Parliamentary voca- bulary from what it has in the English dictionary. In the latter 'i signifies •' to be a substitute for " " to be ap2mnted by" " to speak the mind of " In the former it seems to signify ^'' to ridicule," ^'' to mock" '-'• to insult" '•^ to degrade" -.J »' A representative is the agent of the person who employs him and appoints him. If I am to ha,vo an agent I must appoint him myself He cannot be my representative if he is appointed by another. What would the Queen say if the Sultan insisted on appointing her ambassador or representative at Constantinople? But this is exactb' the kmd of representation that we are to have in the Senate of Canada! The Grand Turf, the Governor- General, is to appoint the Senators to represent Nova Seotia ! 1 ! *:"^,f Let us see what the Act says on this subject. ^^'%::^^'*'''"f^'fi Section 22. "Which three divisions shall be equally represented in tlio Senate as follows : — Ontario by 24 Senators, Quebec by 24 Senators, and the Maritime Provinces 24 Senators, 12 thereof representing Nova Scotia, and 12 thereof ?*tfprescrt.,;.;;, '•M.j-/yi^.; ;)";">=-{;.' •■" p By this Act the peojyle of N'ova Scotia', Trho havi6 enjoyed a represontatire constitution for more than a century, are to have a .nev, supplemental Legislature, constructed on a principle that ■would disgrace the political intelligence of Tartars, Chinese, Ja- panese, or South Sp:A IsLANDt.is. Nova Scotians to be represent- 26 ed by twelve Senators, named by John A. McDonald, D'Arcy McGee, and their colleagues of the Canadian Executive Council, who know not half as much about the people of this Province, as we unfortunately know of them ! ! ! There must be something in the reports of the irregularity of the habits of these men, for an imagination that Nova Scotians would submit to such degradation, must be the offspring of intemperance or insanity ! " The people of this Province, in their LegisiatnrG, are pronoun- ced incompetent to appoint Senators to represent themselves, and make laws to tax them, and dispose of their lives and property, and a Governor-General, some hanger-on of the British Ministry, who never probably saw Nova Scotia, who does not own a rood of land in the Province, and does not jare a rush for the people, is to ap- point the men, to whom their dearest interests are to be intrusted, , and he is only restricted in his choice by a ildiculous property qua- \ lification, while he himself may be a bankrupt, sent out to repair a shattered fortune with the ten thousand a year which the Art fixes as his salary ? Nova Scotia therefore is to be represented, by the creatures and tools of the Governor General ; — ^she Is to have no choice, or voice in the selection, of tne senators ; — when appointed, they are to be beyond the reach or control of tlioae, wh<\»n, by the mockery of this diabolical constitution, they are preu'adea to represen": ; — they may systematically vote against the interests of the Province, and yet neither the people, nor their Legislature, can call them to account ; and they are to remain, a pensioned nuisance, for life, or until they pass out of moral into physical corruption I The Senators of the State, are elected by the State-Legislartures, and they come back, andgiveanaccountof their stewardship, every six years. What would Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, and the rest of those real statesmen, unbribed and uncorrupted^ who framed the Constitution, have said had it been proposed that the President should nominate the s'^.nators, for the several states? They would have instantly expelled the mover, as a maniac. These men did not make a constitution, in which a multitude of ofHces were created, to be corruptly bestowed on themselves, and placed at their disposal, to corrupt and bribe, other equally faithless ser- vants of the people. The ofl3ces they created were to be filled, not by them, but by the people. Their work was one of purity and patriotism ; that of our constitution-makers, has been a work of most offensive foulness, and most loathsome corruption. The Am- erican Constitution is consequently, as a political fabric, as far su- perior to the wretched constitution, contained in the B. N. A. Actfj. , as the sublime morality of the Decalogue is to the sensual frivoli- ties of the Koran. • -iff And this is the way in which the delegates have watched over the interests of the Province I It is not possible to imagine, that these men have erred through mere ignorance. They must have 21 over that have designedly sacrificed the rights and interests they were sent to protect. Betore the Canadians concocted their plot, Nova Scotia was as happy and free as any country under the Heavens, where would she be, if this confederation could be forced upon her, r.hich I shall shew that it cannot? She would be bound hand and foot, and placed absolutely at the mercy of the Canadas. With 19 members in a House of Commons of 181, and no representation at all in the senate, if she suffered herself to bo dragged into this confederacy, she would have no more protection for her liberty, than the Poles, and, I say it without the least exaggeration, she would be really Jbetter and happier under the government of the Czar of Russia, than under the tyranny of the unscrupulous political schemers of Canada. ;, , Put happily it is not too late to escape the snare that has been set for us, as I shall now proceed to demonstrate. ,fe.v%^ ■> « . ■ > t . ,.,.i.:„. '....., ■ ... . ..... ..,.:.., ... . _-:_., ... ... 1>: ,.:.Vii.t.:,- w;m:.;,' .;if ,J;;v, ;i:he b. n. a. act is unconstitutional. ■ ' ^^ The Constitution of Great Britain is what is called a mixed government, and limited monarch}'. The Queen is not absolute, neither is the Parliament, but both are subordinate to the laws and customs of the Empire. The people are the source of all power, ^^ voci; popuU suprema lex,'"* the Queen is the s. i.-^/ v uj The Act declares that the 12 Senators are to refiflde in the Province. The Quebec scheme had not this provision, but they were intended to reside in Canada. If Parliament have power to manufacture such a Senate to tax us, they can require the Senators to reside anywhere, or to be of any nation, color or complexion : Instead of making it necessary that they should possess landed estates of the enormous value of $4000, they might require them to be taken out of the Poor Asylum, or they might require them to be taken out of Preston or Hammond's Plafns, and that their property qualification, instead of being $4000 in real estate, should consist of 4000 cents in moccasins, birch-brooms; and blue-berries. They might require them to reside in Otaheite or Kamschatka^ or they might make it requisite that they should be citizens of the United States, or that they should belong to the MiCmao, Dogrib or Cherokee Indians. If they can do as the Act proposes there is no limit to their authority, they are absolutely sovereign, our I'epreseniative constitution was a delusive chimera, and we are not possessed of the rights of Britons, but are the abject slaves of a worse than eastern despotism. But, thank Heaven, they have no such power, and they would never hare enacted sueh an illegal and unconstitutional statute, if, as its preamble proves, they had not been grossly deceived by the Colonial Delegates. The Act, then, confers on Canada the right of taxing Nova Scotia, while she is not only unrepresented but actually mis- represented* Representation ineauj having members, appointed 31 >f«».i by ourselves in the Legislature, and this, of course, includes both Branches. Would Ireland or Scotland be represented in the Britisu Parliament if she only sent members to the House of Com- mons, and none to the House of Lords? Then Nova Scotia, which has no representatives except false and sham ones, in the Senate, is not represented in the Canadian Parliament, and therefore cannot be taxed by that body. There is no principle of constitutional law more clearly defined than that taxes, being the gift of the peo- ple, no British subjects can be taxed by any Legislature in which they are not represented. We, not being represented in the Im- perial Legislature, cannot be taxed by them, and if we cannot be taxed by them, a /oj'^i'ori, they cannot authorize any other body to tax us. If the Imperial Legislature cunnot tax us themselves, they cannot make a Legislature in Canada to tax us, without an Act of our own Legislature authorizing them to do so. ■ va lo ^.')*i:,'o But we are told that the Queen always did appoint our Legis- lative Council. This is true, and very unwise was it in the people of Nova Scotia not )ong since, to have insisted on electing them. Had they been elected we should have escaped many evils, and probably there would have been men there who would have made some resistance to Confederation. But bad as the old system was, we had some control over the appointments, as the Executive Coun- cd, who recommended them to the Queen, was responsible to the House of Assembly The appointments also were made by the Queen, and not by a subject, and if an improper person had been recommended, we could obtain an inquiry into his character, if the case were a flagrant one. So that we had some security against the appointment of improper persons to legislate for us. ■'^'^' "' *''^" ' ?■ But what control would the people of this Province have over the appointments of the Governor General, if we accepted confede- ration ? Can we censure his conduct in the Canadian Parliament ? He has a majority of 162 in one House, and 72 in the senate, for they are all his nominees and creatures, and among them the very men he has appointed to misrepresent us. The Legislature of Nova Scotia might as well try to squirt back the falls of Niagara with a fire engine, as to pass any resolutions condemnatory of his appointments, for the worse they were for as the better for Canada. "ir Can we carry our complaint to the Queen? It must pass through the hands of the Governor General, who would probably ^ refuse to transmit it. But if he should graciously condescend to transmit it, what reception will it meet with ? Her Majesty will " call our attention to the B. N. A. Act, and remind us that we are no longer her subjects, except through the medium of Canada, to whom she has handed us over, and with the iron-heel of Canada on our necks, being in torment, like Dives, we shall lift up our eyes and see our former sovereign afar off, and she will say, as was said to him, " between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed," — the Gulf of St. Lawrence, aind, though you cannot repose upon the r 32 bosom you can go and stretch your tortured limbs on the Plains of Abraham." nU I often hear it argued that the Queen creates the House of Lords, and therefore it is constitutionai that the P^xoeutive should appoint the senate. There never was a greater error tban to sup- pose that the Queen appoints the upper Branch. The Peers hold their position in the constitution by the same tenure tiiat the Queen holds the throne. In the theory of the constitution they both hold their position by the will of tbo people, for the popular ■will is the foundation of all. power. The Queen sits on a throne established by election. Her predecessor, William the Third, was elected by the people, and she holds under a conventional settlement made with their representativ es. 1. The Queen never makes a peer, quasi a legislator. She is the source of all honor and dignity, and she occasionally raises a sub- ject to the peerage, as the reward of public services or meritorious conduct, and he by virtue of his nobility falls into the ranks of the Upper House and becomes a legislator. The House of Lords ■• are wholly indepehdent of the Queen, and they hold their status in i the constitution by the same right that she holds the sceptre. She neither can nor does create that House, and all the constitution allows her to do is occasionally to repair it. If she attempted to create Peers, to influence their legislative action, she would be guilty of treason, against the constitution,, and her conduct would be revolutionary. No prudent Sovereign would allow his minis- ters to mention such a thing as a creation of Peers for such a pur- pose. It was done once only in the reign of Anne. It was threat- ened in the reign of William IV., and the moral force put on the ' Lords on that occasion has done more to weaken the foundations of the British constitution than all the efforts of all the radicals and chartists, that ever weres in England. , [ The Queen does not create the House of Peers. All she does ] is occasionally to repair the venerable edifice, as it shows symp- ' ' toms of decay, but she is no more the makeji* of it than the artificer who puts an occasional repair on the noble cathedral of St. Peters, or St. Pauls, can be confounded with its illustrious archi- tect. Gibbon remarks that the nation whose Executive makes its Legislature has lost its freedom. This is literally true, and if Nova Scotia submits tc have her Senators made bj"^ the Executive of Canada she is not only not free, but does not deserve to be • free. Some people pretend to be afraid of elective Councils, because the Senate of the United States are elected, and they blindly advo- cate Governor-made Councils, because they think it more English. These people labor under a melancholy delusion, for, in truth, there is nothing English in such a constitution of a branch of the Legis- lature. A Legislature will represent the power that constitutes it. If it is appointed by the Executive it represents the Executive ; if II 33 by the people it will represent the people ; and a nation is free or dependent in exact proportion to the power of the people over their Legislature. If the people have the appointment and control of their Legislature, they are free ; if the Executive appoints their Legislature, they are slayes. The appointment, therefore, of the Legislature, or any Branch of it, by the Executive, is not English, but Fkenoh, Russian, and Turkish, and I sincerely pity those deluded men who are willing to put their own necks under Canadian tyranny, and are trying to bring that degrading yoke on their fellow-subjects. The Senate of the United States, elected by the Legislatures of the States, was the best working institution of the kind that any nation ever possessed, next to the British House of Lords. No nation can manufacture a House of Lords, it cannot be made by human hands, and it is a very important element in that noble con- stitution which grew up, under Divine Providence, the fruit and offspring of multitudinous accidents. As we cannot have at, let ns have that which is next to it, and has proved so great a success. If we are to be taxed, the Legislature that taxes us must not be created by Canadian Executive Councillors, to whose tender mercy the B. N. A. Act so benevolently commends us. All the powers on earth cannot compel us to have our Legislature, or any branch or part of it, created by tha very men who have endeavored to fix the curse of confederation on us. Here then we will make our &U ad, and insist that having no part or voice in the nomination of the Senate, but on the contrary, the Senate being the creature of Canada, and in that respect, so far from representing us, hostile to us, and their pretended repre- sentation of us a mockery and an insult, we will refuse to be bound by the unconstitutional Act, and we will significantly direct the attention of Her Majesty's Ministers to the fate of the old Colonics, sealed as it was by Imperial Legislation, not half so unconstitu- tional as this. We shall ask them if a paltry tax on stamps, or duty on tea, demanded by the suffering parent State in her hour of need, was to be compared, in tyranny* and oppression with the B. N. A. Act, by which we are not indeed taxed by England herself, but what is ten times worse and more degrading, lianded over to Canada to be robbed, taxed, and oppressed, at her good pleasure. ■ •& ■a. t. if Let me here propose a question or two, for the consideration of those distinguished Jurists who have procured the enactment of this extraordinary Statute : t ,!,. Can Nova Scotians, with a complete Legislature of their own, be taxed by the Imperial Parliament ? Can the Imperial Parliament create another Legislature in Canada, to tax Nova Scotians, as well as their own Legislature? Can the Imperial Parliament confer on Lord Moack's senators authority to tax Nova Scotians? 3 34 '. Can tbc Imperial Parliament take tbe property of Nova Sco- ilahs, or confer on a Legislature of Canada the right to take sofch property ? Is there any other power that can assign or alienate the Fish- eries, Railroads, and other property of Nova Scotia, than her own Legislature? .,.',^ ,. ,^,. If a Statute of the Pi'ovincial Legislature was necessary to authorize foreigners to take fish out of our waters, is not a similar Statute indispensable to authQrlzo Canadians to take money out of our pockets? * /^f ?.'./. , .^ ^>;^ «,^vn. ; '.' Have Nova Scotians any constitutional rights, or do they hold life, liberty and property, simply at the will of the Imperial Par- liament? ? f 1 ( i When these questions are atiswered, in the only way they can be, the B. N. A. Act has not a constitutional leg to stand on. But the preamble shows that the British government are not charge- able with intentionally trespassing on our rights, and if it were true, as there stated, that we had " desired to be federally united," there would have been nothing wrong on their part. P is easy to be seen that they were not ignorant that the Act would not be constitutional, without the consent of our Legislature, and theio- fore the crown officers, to whom the Act must have been submitted, have caused the preamble to ba worded as it is. But the preamble is false, and this appears to have been the only share our delegates had, of the labor of preparing the scheme ; they furnished the ne- cessary ingredient of falsehood and deception. ...^^.^ ..^-^ ^.•i A? ftp »■ THE FINANCIAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECT. It is not my intention to criticize minutely the figures by ^^hich Lazarus has attempted to prove that in a financial point of '*vl6w. Nova Scotia is not to suffer by confederation. All our revenues except $ir>5,000, being the am^utit of casual revenue, and that derived from crown lands, gold fields, and Hospi- '*tal for the Insane, uncertain sources of income, ar6 to be paid into the Canadian chest. Our revenue for 1866 is estimated at $1,631, - 500. We send to Canada, then, $1,476,500, and she allows us a pension of 80 cents a he«d, and a bonus of $60,000— in all $324,- 000. Lazarus has attempted to show that this sum and the above $155,000 are enough for our expenses, and that the enormous sum of $14,000 will actually be found in our treasury at the end of the yf;ar. >,: j^, Now, it is obvious, if this be true, that if it became necessary for us to incur any extraordinary outlay, say for branch railroads, main-roads, bridges or any other purpose, we should be bound to iend round the tax gatherer to eoilect direct taies. We cannot impose indirect taxes. of 35 > < The account seems to stand thus. Canada receives from us..... $1,476,500 ■' ''\ She advances for us $1,103,000 '» ' ' *** Also .a pension and bonus. . . . $324,000 *" '' • '. '» iii i-i'. : f >l'-'^' -( ..,.| $1,427,600 "' Balance in favor of Canada. . $48,900 $1,476,500 ;asual lospi- id into ,631,- us a. IS324,- above IS sum lof the [essary |road», md to cannot According to Lazarus then, both parties gained by this trans- action. Nova 8eotia has $14,000 in her chest at the end of the year, and Canada has $48,900 in hers. There is this difference, however, which does not appear to have attracted his attention, — that what Nova Scotia has to spare is her ov/n, and what Canada has to spare comes out of the pockets of Nova Scotians. Now, I cannot understand upon what principle Canada has a right to keep this $48,900. But there are one or two items not taken int« account, and it" in figuring up accounts I am at liberty to omit an item or two, I can prove whatever I please by figures. What has he done with the $81,600 We are to pay annually for the Annapolis Railway? By the time the Pictou Railroad is finished our debt will pro- bably have reached $8,000,000 ; we must then be prepared te meet this annual demand of $81,600, and we will also have to pay $100,000 for the Avon bridge. We must therefore come to direct taxation next year to raise at least $241,600, less the $14,000, and it i9''quite obvious that in a very short time we shall have the plea- sure of becoming familiarly acquainted with the tax gatherer. - |; Let us s*ie what sort of an arrangement has been made re- "sfiecting what may be termed the retiring allowances of the several Provinces. This has been calculated on 80 cents a head. It gives Ontario $1,116,872 for ever; Quebec $888,528; Nova Scotia $264,000. Ontario gets a bonus of $80,000, Quebec $70,000, and Nova Scotia $60,000. Nova Scotia's pension increases until her population reaches 400,000, so that she can never receive in this way more than $320,000. Ontario will always have $1,196,872; Quebec $958,528 : but Nova Scotia can never receive more than $380,000. As Ontario and Quebec have the whole Senate, and a majority of 147 in the House of Commons, they have made a very snug bai- gain of it, for they will not only enjoy their separate allowances, but they can and will divide between them, all the revenues of the four colonies, over and above the disbursements they have assumed to provide for. '«'* 'r Now, I should like to know wh}^ if Ontario and Quebec are to have 80 cents a head, on their present populations. Nova Scotia should not have the same on her population, until it equals what theirs is now? Why should she not have a million of 80 cents, when her population reaches a million ? 3G I have shown that now, even according to Lazarus* own ciphering, Canada gets $48,900 out of Nova Scotia. Her profit will increase na our population and revenue increases. This re- venue, with little over JiOO,000 people, is now $l,G.'n,500, and by the time we reach three times our present population, our revenue, with the greatly increased taxation Canada will lay on us, will pro- bably not be less than $6,000,000, which we will then hand over to her, and yet we will receive no more than we do at present. We shall send up six millions and get back $380,000. We may reasoaably expect that our expenses will keep pace ^ith our population. If therefore we now pay $465,090 we ehall require $1,395,270 to pay our expenses ; but our allowance ■will never bo more than $380,000, and the casual revenue, which is not likely to increase, to any great extent, so that in those good days w'3 will have to raise, by direct taxation, nearly a million be- sides the six millions raised by indirect taxation, and which Canada has generously undertaken to dispose of. ' .. v. .vf. v* It is not my intention to resort to figures further that I have done, and I simplv add, that, when the Annapolis Kailroad is finished, we shall have incurred a public debt of at least nine mil lions. Canada assumes $8,000,000 ; we must therefore provide for the one million by sending the tax-gatherer round, und as a matter of certainty, our direct taxation would increase every year, as long as we are a Province, if we were to enter the Confederation. \ But let us look at our public debt 1 This, if we enter confed- eration, will never be paid ; but, so long as we exist, we shaH have to pay the interest, as I will proceed to demonstrate. The debt was contracted for railroads, and we now have the rail oads to represent it- If these roads, as our population increases, begin to <• pay something more than working expenses, we shall be able to . dispose of them, so as to reduce or even extinguish the debt, pro- vided the roads are not given with our revenue, to Canada, under the curse of confederation. Canada would, of course, put them in -. the market and sell them, as she would our fisheries, unless Laza- rus will show us how we can prevent her, with our 19 members in one House and none in the other. Let us suppose that in a few years tb'" ^ ./Iroads are found to pay their working expenses, and four per ct r t. toward the interest. We may then find a company, which, being able to borrow money at 3 per cent., would purchase the roada, and enable us pay off the ' debt. This company would clear $80,000 a year by the operation. If we give our revenue and railroads to Canada, she and not we, \vM profit by this financial or commercial operation. The debt will be paid, but it will be paid with our money, or the sale of our railroads, which is the same thing. But where is the arrangement that, in this event, Canada is to pay us the $480,000 yearly of interest, which she would no longer have to pay for us. That interest will continue still to go to Canada with the rest of our annual revenue. agi of, mo 37 Bnt we could mako Buro of soiling onr railroads, if not for the full cost of tlicm, at all events so as tjrcatly to reduce our debt. Suppose we sold them for one half the cost, or $4,000,000, we should reduce our annual interest from $480,000 to $240,000. By this means we have cleared off half our debt, and ro ruisod our credit that wc can borrow the other half at three per cent., to pay otr our creditors. In this case our interest would como d')\vn to $120,000, and we should have $300,000 set free for other improvc- raents. If Canada makes this arranj;;omont she will have this sum set free, and we shad not <!m; ; iiv-tJ- > But whatever confederation or union there was any authority for arranging, applied to all the Colonies, and they could not pick out three of theiii and confederate them alone. Of this they seem to have been sensible, and they tried to get over the difficulty by making provision, in the Act, for the admission of the two other Colonies into the confederation. But this cannot help them. It, on the contrary, condemns tliem, lor it proves that they were con- scious of acting without authority, in venturing to confederate three out of the five Colonies. a , ,j^;:,s,vc V 1. ;■■■ t.i ,, This disobedience of their instructions is of itself fatal to the Act, as it was clearly the intention of Nova Scotia, as expressed by her representatives, to have a union, not with one or two, but .all the Colonies. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick could not, under any circumstances, enter with safety into a confederation with Canada, without the aid of the .wo other Maritime Colonies, 40 as it would require the combined strength of the four to counter- balance the weiglit of Canada. But what have they tried to do? Even after leaving out two of the Maritime Colonies, they did not insist, as, if they had com- mon fjense they would have done, that, as Canada would have a majority of 147 in the House of Commons, each of the three should have an equal number of Senators, so as to give the Mari- time Colonies a decided majority in the Senate, to which they would be entitled, and without which they could not confederate ; but they actually agreed that Canada should be divided intatwo, and the other two be rolled into one, so that Canada, having a great majority in one Branch, should have an equally decided one in the other also. In other words, they made Canada absolute, and that there might be no mistake on this point, they gave Canada the appoint- ment of the Senators for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick besides. But this union was to " ensure just provision for the rights and interests of this Province." How men like these were to ensure the right and interests of the Province cannot well be imagined ! Had these rights and interests been placed in jeopardy by falling into such hands we might have given them up for lost, and as to in- suring them against such a risk, no amount of premium would have induced the most adventurous insurers in Christendom to underwrite the policy. You might as well ask underwriters to in- sure a house on fire or a ship actually in the hands of pirates. In executing their commission, then^ they were bound to pro- vide that any arrangement that was made should contain effectual provision for the security of our rights and interests. And h&w have they discharged this part of their duty? » * ■- • '• i • If to transfer to Canada our whole revenue for all time to come, for a paltry pittance, the mess of pottage for which these hungry Esaus have attempted to sell our birthright, — if to confer on Canada the power of taxing us at pleasKre without even the shadow of representation in the Senate, and with 19 out of 181 members in the House of Commons, — if to give Canada the right of disposing of our invaluable Fisheries, — if to give Canada power to sell and pocket the price of our Railroads, — if to allow Canada to place the yoke on our necks, and to trample out every vestige of our liberty and independence, be to " ensure just provision for the rights and interests of the Province,^ then the delegates bave faith- fully executed this part of their commission. : ., . - i I But I assert, without fear of contradiction, that they have, in no solitary instance, discharged the trust committed to them ; and have they the wer.kness to imagine that we will, in any manner, be bound by what they have done ? If I appoint an agent, I can only be responsible for his lawful acts, and may disavow all those that are not within the scope of his authority. What autliority did Nova Scotia give these delegates, to agree to a federal union between Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia? What authority did she confer on them to agree that Ca- 41 nadian Executive Councillors should appoint Senators to represent her? What authority did she give them to agree that Canada should have an arbitrary power to tax her people ? What authority did she confer on theiu to place our invaluable fisheries at the disposal of Canada ? What power had they to agree that Canada might take and dispose of our railroads and other public works? Wl^at autho- rity did she confer on them to agree that our revenue, for all time to come, should be remittcu to the treasury of Canada ? What au- thority had they to agree that the militia of Nova Scotia, might be marched up to Canada, whenever the Governor General chose to require their serviceu ? Right and interests indeed ! What do they mean ? We have a right to spend our own revenue, we have a right to tax ourselves, and to be exempt from taxation at the hands of any other Legisla- ture than our own, we have a right to our fisheries, railroads and other property, we have a right to be a self-governed, free and inde- pendent people. These are some of our rights and interests. Where would they be if we consented to be bound by the just provision our worse than worthless delegates have pretended to make for their securitj^ ? They would be gone forever 1 . -: •"" y Thus it is manifest that they were not authorized by any ^i-e, or any other act of our Legislature, to arrange a federal union of the three Provinces, and that they have not fulfilled any of the instructions, with which they were charged, on visiting Eng- land. The preamble therefore of the B. N. A. Act, reciting that Nova Scotia desired a federal union, is absolutely false. When these men informed the Government and Legislature of Great Britain that Nova Scotia desired such a union, a fraud and imposition was practised on them. Now we know that fraud vitiates every transaction. A Statute is not exempt fmm the operation of this all pervading principle of Justice. The Statute, therefore, which could not have any effect without tho consent and desire of Nova Scotia, as soon as it is made to apptjar that such consent is wanting, that the desire has never been expressed, and that a gr r -. i imposition has been practised on the Legislature to obtain ii. \ .. traent. must fall to the ground. ' '■ ^ '-' -l'^ Nc >•' ^.e' the people to look at the constitution that has been erecttu i the ruins of our ini-titutions, which this Statute, like a political earthquake, has razed to their foundations. A Governor General, nobody knows who, or what he may be, is clothed with almost all the attributes of the Queen. A Parlia- ment is constructed for three independent and separate Colonies, on a principle which givee one of them a majority in one Branch over the other two combined, of 147, and in the other of 24. The Senatt, as it is called, is manufactured by this Governor General, accord I. g to his will and fancy. Nova Scotia is pretended to be repreM l ?d, in this body, by twelve Senators, and how are they chosen to represent her? The Governor General, who does not know a man in the Province, sends an order to some political com- ■'I* '.rvi ■■■ -., ''^r-^\r'- 42 mission merchant here, to pick him out twelve sycophants,* jaat as he wouM order so many horses to be purchased for his stables. Those persons chosen no one can tell by whom or on what terms, are sent up to Ottawa, and there rigged out in the livery of the Governor General, paid by him the wages of their corruption, and sent by him, and as his hired servants, into the Senate House to represent Nova Scotia. And these livery servants of the Gover- nor General constitute all the representation that this Province has, for the protection of her rights and interests, in this Branch of the Legislature. The paople of Nova Scotia have nothing what- ever to say in the appointment of these men, to whom hr r dearest interests are confided, but the^' are the purchased commodities of a Governor General who knows ho more about us than he does of the inhabitants of Jupiter or Saturn. We have, then, in the whole of this new Parliament, but nineteen persons out of 253, to represent our interests, and it is obvious that as far as they can be of any service to us in such a crowd, we might just as well send 19 turkey cocks, as so many of the "lost intelligent men. in the Pro- vince. The constitution provide. :' ""■ "f\\ the revenue of this Pro- vince, except a few dollars of pin-m she is allowed, shall pass into the Canadian treasury. Canada .. to make certain advances for us, but what remains after these disbursements she pockets for her own use. The balance after these advances may amount to millions of dollars, but no account is rendered to Nova Scotia of its expenditure, nor is she permitted even ^o enquire what becomes of it. . Canada may make thxk balance as great as she pleases, for she can tax us to any amount she thinks proper, and we have no imaginable waj'^ of preventing her from stripping the very coats off our backs. She may send the tax-gatherer to every man's door, and demand just what she pleases of direct taxation, and she may make our tariff' to suit herself, and thus tax us also indirectly to her satis- faction. The constitution gives to Canada tlie disposal of our Fisheries, the most valuable of all our resources, and it authoi''?:es her to take, and dispose of, our railroads and other public works. The constitution places us under the power of Canada, as completely as the Hebrews were held in subjection by the Egyptians, or the negroes of the Southern States by the slave-owners of that country. The constitution not only gives Canada a right to do as she pleases with our property ; but she can take our lives also, for we may be ordered up to Canada to fight and shed our blood for our oppres- sors. And this is a true sketch of the constitution which the delegates have provided for this admirably balanced confederation, as they call it. It is neither a Union nor a Confederation, but a sale of the Province to Canada, and the only price paid for the purchase is an office of emolument to each of the delegates. . . -^ -— — — . iiii i --T- * I call them so advisedly : The first batch have received the ear-mark of the Delegates : Of course, like them, they will be men of easy political virtue ; and like them will, in consideration of their offices and salaries, be satisfied with very small mercies for poor Nova Scotia. ._'»■' -- ■.^•liH*-' I j--\' 43 When I look at this Cbnstitution I cah scarcely credit my senses, and ask, " Can this be the product of human intelligence?" Impossible — it bears the most incontestable internal evidence of being the work of animals, bearing no closer rcserablaace to the human species than babotms and monkeys. The Beaver, impelled by mere animal instinct, makes for the preservation of iN family a fabric which, in intelligence of design and skillfulness of construc- tion, is as far superior to this barbarous political structure as the glorious light of day is to the fitful glimmering of the firefly. It may be confidently asserted that no nation of savages that ever existed on this Continent possessed a more imperfect and absurd political system than that which has been embodied in the IJ. N. A. Act for the government of these noble Colonies. And this is the Constitution for the maintenance ot the peace, thetdvancement of the prosperity, and the security ot the social and political rights of Nova Scotia, that these men have secured for their country " an enduring proof of their ability, and pledge' of their patriotism" nay, but A STUPENDOUS MONUMENT OF ASININE STUPIDITY AND UNBLUSHING PERFIDY ! ! Now let ™6 ask the people to consider the manner in which Confederation has been attempted to be forced upon them. The scheme, as I have shown, was devised by the Canadians, who not being able to agree among themselves, found in the spoliation of the Maritime Colonies a platform on whl'ih they could unite. Thus we often find men who hate each other, like our political leaders, shaking hands over deeds of iniquity. Thieves seldom rob each other. They generally dislike and would cheerfully injure each other if they did not find it more profitable to lay their heads to- gether and rob other people. Thus to ascend from infiuitessimally paltry rogues to really great ones, Napoleon and Alexander, after slaughtering a few hundred thousands of each other's sub- jects, met at Tilsit, embraced each other as if they had always been the dearest friends, and went deliberately to work to rob the weaker nations and divide the earth between them. So the good Samaritans of Canada, having agreed on doctoring Nova Scotia, paid a visit to our politicians, to feel their pulses, examine their tongues, and make what Dr. Tupper would call a diagnosis of their moral health. They returned to Canada, well satisfied with the result of their professional visit. The scheme which they had prepared they well knew could not be impo /ed on Nova Scotia otherwise than by fraud and corruption. The^ would therefore naturally secure the leaders of the Government in the- first place, if they found them of the right stuff* for their purpose. Having made suie of these, all they would have to fear would be the Opposition, which might prove too strong lor the Government, and defeat their plans. They would therefore next proceed to manage the leaders of the Opposition, and then the coast would be clear. To gain the leaders of, both parties, all they would require would be to give them their re8j:3Ctive prices.. The scheme, it will ims 44 ^ • be observed, gives the Canadian speculators a very respectable stock in trade, to make their purchases withal. The 36 United States, with over thirty millions of people, have 72 Senators. The scheme has the (^ ane number for four Provinces, and less than four millions of people. Why are these poor Colonies to maintain as many Senators as the United States? Because the offices were required by the Canadian traders to purchase Nova Scotian and New Brunswick politicians. If the Senators are paid even not rhuch higher than those of the Republic, they will cost probably $4,000 each, or upwards of two hundred and eighty thousand dollars a year in all. Five Senators appointed b}' the Legislature of each Colony would have been as useful as fifty ; but then there would not have been as many oliices at the disposal of the traders as were necessary to perfect their purchases, /u. w.;*^,^ ■, , : , .. '^^ v.,: . ... - Thus, then, they had to tempt our leaders of both parties, whose trade and occupation in life had been office-hunting, with 72 Senatorships, 4 Lieut.-Governorships, and probably a good many other ships of the same kind. Now it will be remembered of our leaders of the two parties, that as long as there were only a few offices to contend fir in Nova Scotia, they fought each other for them li'je famished wolves. JosEPHus relates that the enemies of Daniel, who had procured the irrevocable decree of the Medes and Persians, as soon as they found that the lions had not injured him, invented a story that Darius, to fcave his favorite minister, had caused the animals to be crammed to satiety before he was cast into the den, and that the reason why they gave him so civil and friendly a reception, on his involuntary visit, was, that they had not room in their stomachs for the accomo- dation of the prophet. The Canadians having this story before them, probably took the hint, and by throwing to each of oui voracious place-hunters a good fat office, appeased their appetites, subdued their rage, and produced that millenial harmony, which has filled the public with amazement. At all events it is evident that the thaumaturgists of Canada got these men, who, up to that time, had hated each other with malignant and uncoaipromising bitterness, so completely re- conciled, that they returned from Quebec with thejr arms round each others necks, and what is quite as remarkable a phenomenon, they who were never known to agree about anything before, in all their lives, came back in love with confederation, and with each Other. ■* ^w Don'tletme ever hear any moreof the impossibility of miracles I Let these men be exhibited in the European centres of learning, with an accurate history of their political career, and their past and present relation to each other, and German neology would be scattered to the winds! '' That their hands are not clean, is not even attempted to be denied. Some of them have notoridusly received their offices al- i,. v/. 45 ready, and their own friends are speciitatfng on the splendid prizes in store for the rest of them. No man can be so blind as not to see that a most dangerous plot has been contrived in Canada and that both parties, in this Province have been betrayed by their ro '^rj^ctive leaders, who have endeavoured to chrry it into exccutiorj, i spite of the people, who were not in any manner to be allowed io interfere with it, and it must be admitted that the conspirators have manifested no lack of resolution to brave all the consequences of their daring enterprise. But here we perceive the hand of Providence plainly at work on these deluded men, whose eagerness for ofBce has so completely blinded t.heir understanding, that just at the moment they are con- gratulating themselves on having obtained a glorious victory, the tide of the battle takes a sudden turn, and in consequence of the want of common prudence and ordinary generalship, they are completely routed and ignominiousl}' defeated. If they had possessed common sense they must have foreseen that in the end the people must and would triumph, and therefore their attempt to exclude the consideration of confederation from them was as ill-judged as it was insolent and dishonest. If, again, they had possessed but a trifling knowledge of constitutional law, thej' must have perceived that a Statute of the Provincial Legisla- ture was indispensable to give effect to the provisions of the Eng- lish Act. Had such a course been pursued, we should have been placed in this unpleasant predicament, that we should have been compelled to oppose a confederation forced upon us by the forms of the constitution. This would have been exceedingly disagreeable to a loyal people, and if the Queen had lost their affections she would have owed it to the conspirators against the people's rights, and not to the people themselves. But, thanks to a merciful Providence, we have escaped this dreadful calamity, and by the goodness of God, in having darken- ed the understandings of oui enemies, we can reject confederation — the greatest evil that could befall us — without violating even any of the forms of the constitution. We have it in our power to pre- vent the only measure that could place us under the curse of such a system — a statute of the Provincial Legislature — without which, the Canadians can no more introduce confederation than Lake Superior, into Nova Scotia. « The conspirators have now played out their game. They fan- cied that they had checkmated the people, but they forgot to make the only move on the board that could secure the victory. The wretched majority with which they worked theirdangerous intrigue has ceased to exist. They have allowed their troops to be disbanded, and they are surrounded by the army of an injured and insulted people, and must surrender at discretion. As long as that infa- mous majority existed, the people were powerless, and Nova Scotia was as it were in a state of seige. The seige is raised, and the army that encompassed us is dead and buried. For the last month I #e # I have watched thc'motions of the enemy with intense anxiety, lest some one might suggest to them the weak point in their position. Wlien the House of Assembly came to a natural death, without their having obtained an Act to confirm the B. N. A. Act, I felt all the exultation that must have swelled the bosoms of the beleaguered Jews when they awoke in the morning and discovered that the an- gel of Death had swept off the plague-smitten host of Sennacherib. Now, people of Nova Scotia, let me give 3'ou a little friendly advice ! Let tlie danger^you have escaped be a warning to you for the future ! Lay aside, once and forever, the nonsensical symbols of party strife ! Let the hateful watchwords of party — " Conserva' tive " and " Liberal " — -"be forever abolished ! Take the advice that Lazarus has given you to unite ; but do ?o for a different purpose, and in a different sense, from what he intended. Unite, not for, but against Confederation. Unite to defeat the foulest attenipt that was ever made to sacrifice the best and dearest inter- ests of your country! Unite to preserve your independence! Unite to retain and preserve, a* the apple of youi eye, the control over your revenue ! Unite to escape the greatest evil and misery with which a country can be socially and political!;/ affected, the extortion of your property by arbitrary taxation, at the will of a Legislature in wliich you are not represented, that is in no manner responsible to j^ou, and over which you would have no more control than over the motions of the Heavenly bodies ! Unite for the preservation of your invaluable Fisheries, and to f>reserye your railroads and other property from sacrifice and spoliation I ' *'' Vi Your enemies will raise the cry of " Intercolonial Railroad in danger.** Let them cry till they are hoarse ! You have Railroads enough ! The Intercolonial Road is no necessity of yours. To Ca- nada onl}' would it be indispensable, and the schemers have made it a part of their plan of Confederation to enable them to have access to your markets. Under Confederation Nova Scotia and New Brunswick would be a nice little garden for the Canadas, and the Railroad would enable them to comr down and gather the fruit and pluck the roses. They never w£ ited the Railroad before, and in 1851, when the same guarantee of the Imperial P.arliament, even on better terms, was offered, the enterprise was defeated by the intrigues of Canadian Executive Councillors. They backed out of it again, I think, in 18G2, and would not now lay hold of it if they had not fancied that they had secured all the revenues of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and did not require it to get their manufactures and other property into your markets and their fin- gers into your pockets. One thing is certain ; it will never pay its working expenses, and will be an eternal bill of expense when made. So you need not break your hearts about the Railroad, and from the ta^te we have recently had of the kind and benevolent- intentions of Canadians towards us, the more insurmountable the obstacles to our closer intercourse with them the better. At the ensuing election Confederates will offer for Ottawa. \r 47 r You will have to set up men to oppose them and keep them out, but any sort of men will do foi that purpose, as their election will araountto nothing more than that it will afford them an opportunity of visiting Canada and seeing the Falls. Return the ablest men to our own IloUvse of Assembly charged with the glorious mission of sending Oonfederation to its cloven footed inventor, the great enemy of mankind, who has contrived it as the most effectual de- stroyer of the peace and prosperity of this Province. My object in composing this treatise has been to enable the people to form a just estimate of tbe constitution that has been presented to them, for what is called a confederation of the colonies. When I hear it asserted that an Act of l*Hrliament hav- ing been passed we must submit to it, as to an irrevocable decree of the Supreme power, such language is peculiarly offensive, and savors much more of Eastern slavery than of British freedom. Tlie people of this Province have certain established rights, which neither'tlie Queen nor Parliament can abrogate or trespass on ; and if an Act of Parliament interferes with those rights, the Act is void and can have no more effect on them, than the wind that passes over the desert of Sahara. As British subjects, we will cling to our rights, and not suffer them to be wrested from us. When Charles the First imposed un- lawful taxation on the people of England, they did not submit to the invasion of their rights. Had ho asked John Hampden for a gift of five thousand pounds, he would cheerfully have put his hand in his pocket, and paid the money, but when thirty-one shillings were demanded from him illegally, be did not put his hand to hi» purse, but on the hilt of his sword, and surrendered his noble life rather than his freedom. When Parliament laid a tax on the old Colonies, they did not fold their arms, and tamely submit to injus- tice because it was dressed in the garb of an Imperial Statute. They indignantly denied that Parliament had power to pass such a law, and flew to arms to vindicate what British subjects should prize above every other political privilege, the right of self-taxation. So the people of Nova Scotia when they are told by a few insignificant and most contemptible place-hunters that they have procured an Act of Parliament to confer on Canada the power to tax them, and that they must needs submit, whether they will or not, will laugh the over-bearing insolence of these men to scorn. 1 have demonstrated the unconstitutionality of the B. N. A. Act, and it rests with the people to decide, at the next election, whether they will accept confederation or not. I have endeavoured to dis- charge a duty that every patriot owes to his country — that of ex- posing her enemies and defending her from iiijustice — and if I have succeeded in assisting my fellow-countrymen in arriving at a sound judgment in reference to this momentous subject, my object will be fully attained, and I ask no other reward than the pioud pon- sciousness of having conferred some benefit on my native Province. MARTIN I. WILKINS, {]